Spring Break

Well it's only Tuesday which is good news. I've really been taking my dear sweet time getting focused on the homework I have to do. I thought I would just stay in school mode, and that was my plan - but I guess my body wants to be in Spring Break mode so here I am... posting about all the delicious foods I made today. I haven't been making as many yummy recipes lately for various reasons such as time and money but today I felt inspired and maybe rested enough to actually prepare something. Perhaps it was because this morning I dreamed about all the ingredients I need to make this strawberry salad I've been thinking about the last few days...

Anyway I was reading Natasha's blog and she posted about a bean salad she made and it looked amazing. I've been wanting to try a bean salad, so I decided I would today.

Here is the scrumptious result:

I followed Natasha's recipe only I added bow tie pasta, a little sweet corn, tomato, and some lemon juice. The rest is kidney, northern white and black beans, cilantro, cumin, EVOO, cucumber, and a little salt and pepper. I'm calling it Power Pasta and Bean Salad cause it's so healthy.

Then for an afternoon snack I wanted something a little sweet so I looked on Pintrest for Nutella recipes, which there are plenty of and I found a really simple, AMAZING fruit dip. It's such a good feeling when you have all the things a recipe calls for without having to go to the store! I just happened to have some plain non-fat Greek yogurt and Nutella and fresh Strawberries. And since I didn't want to make too much dip, I kind of guessed at the amounts and did a heaping spoonful and a half of the yogurt and a heaping spoonful of Nutella, mixed and the proceeded to practically inhale it. I literally couldn't stop long enough to get a cool food magazine style picture, so here is what I manged. 

 

Basically all you need to know is that this is super good. I think a fruit salad and this dip would be a dream. 

We have been having a spell of cold, dreary weather (I know it's the opposite in dear old Minnesota.. figures) so I've been staying inside more than I'd like to. I've decided to take up biking as a hobby/form of exercise/mode of transportation and then we get cold, rainy weather which puts a damper on riding a bike (haha - pun intended). But when it finally gets to be sunny again, I'll be out as often as I can and I think I'll post a bit more on how much I love to ride and how it makes me feel! I just love it. 

And I just thought I'd share, I visited a church over the weekend I feel like I may finally be able to call home (for now). The people were friendly, and Dinah, a woman I met, showed me around and introduced me to some of the people involved in the young adult group. I have to say - I think this is the first time ever that I've visited a church where someone took that much time to welcome me. I am very thankful I found it, and look forward to next Sunday. I've been seriously longing for a church I can connect to. I miss that very much. Minnesota still feels like home to me and when I think about it I always think I really did leave my life there. Even though I am doing new things now and it's a new season, it's still hard to think about what I'm missing there. But praise God He is faithful and good. Praise Him.

Spring flowers