red bell pepper

I was a brave lady this morning. Two reasons: Number 1- I was up with the sun at 6:30AM, and number 2, I made the key decision to bust out the beets for another go with juicing. Of course, there were some other delicious veggies/fruits involved. Last time I had juice for b-fast I used 1 whole large beet and it was a tad on the earthy side so this time I wanted to keep it real with a little less beetness. Into the juicer went 2 carrots, a hunk of cucumber, 1 small fuji, 1/2 of a small beet (I wasn’t trying to over do it this time), 1/4 of a red bell pepper, and an unpictured handful o’ spinach leaves.

First up the cuc and the fuji juice. I wanted to taste this combo plain before adding the rest and it was good! Yum yum.

The rest of the veggies made this redness. I tried this one on it own as well.

It tasted good alone, but the two mixed together was fab-u-lous! And, for the record, 1/2 a beet was perfection. I think I’ll stick to that from now on.

After a while, I realized the juice just wasn’t cutting it this morning so I had a bowl of Barb’s Ultima Flax and Granola cereal with USAM. It hit the spot and was the perfect carbolous entree to have before heading to 9:15AM spin class. I usually go to the 10:30 class, but as I said, I was up and at this morning so I decided to go early. And, it was awesome. the instructor, music, and his style was completely different compared to the 10:30 class and I’m pretty sure I was sweatier than I usually am. Maybe I need to be attending the 9:15 class from now on.

My big plans for the day included going to my niece’s sweet 16 birthday/my mom’s birthday party (grandma and grandchild born on the same day… cool huh?) My sis knew I was crazy busy and insisted that I didn’t need to bring anything, BUT if you know me, you know I wouldn’t want to give up the chance to cook. I knew there weren’t going to be many veggie options at the party, so I decided to make something veggie with a little protein- a quinoa (keen-wa) dish. I prepared the quinoa last night and then just threw a bunch of stuff in with it this morning and ta da, Confetti Quinoa was born.

And luckily it turned out to be quite delish. In Isaac’s words, “Amazing.” He said he would even eat it for breakfast. ha. I don’t know if I would go that far, but it does prove how much he liked it.

Have you tried this super grain? If not, give it a go. It’s gluten free, easy to digest, and it’s protein content is very high, making it a great choice for vegetarians and vegans (or anyone really). Best of all, it contains a balanced set of essential amino acids, making it a complete protein source. It is also a good source of dietary fiber, phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Go Quinoa!

Confetti Quinoa recipe to be posted soon….. (EBF version of a cliff hanger)