Dinner with Friends is a Great Way to Spend an Evening!

In my life, I am surrounded by some of the best people that I am lucky enough to call my friends.  Life can get a little hectic sometimes, and just when you're feeling sorta off-center, you remember that you're not alone.  We're working on making it a bit of a tradition to work really hard at scheduling time to get together and enjoy some good food, good conversation and just have a chance to relax.  Finally, we were able to make that happen again this week.  And it was just what I needed!!  Settling back into the regular days of the school year and the routine of that has been a bit tiring after such a flexible summer and next week I'm going to be adding homeschooling the boy through his senior year so things are going to get more hectic.  Time out with friends is a necessity.  The hubby was sick :( so I was solo and that was the only down spot of the evening.  My contribution?





A fruited quinoa salad with a honey-lemon vinaigrette!!  It was incredibly easy, and it would work well no matter what kind of summery fruits you had on hand.  I used blueberries, strawberries and kiwi, but whatever you like would probably work.  I tossed the fruit in a dressing I made using 3 T honey, 1 1/2 T lemon juice and a splash of balsamic vinegar to make a bright but not overpowering vinaigrette and it was perfect.  Once the fruit and dressing were tossed together, I added it to my cooked and cooled quinoa.  I used about 4 cups of quinoa.  Then, it just had to sit a bit to marry all the flavors and it was ready to eat.

Our dinner was rounded out by homemade black bean burgers, grilled corn and zucchini, deviled eggs and other delicious tidbits like hummus and avocado.  Something for everyone - well, unless you were looking for meat because this was a sans meat meal.  I am so lucky to have a group of friends who accept each others differences so easily and try and work to make sure there's something for everyone at the table.

I loved the little hostess gift I brought for my friend, Kathleen.  We're both runners and I know the toll that it takes on my feet.  In celebration of her 20 miler race on Sunday (which she did fabulous at!) I made her a homemade foot soak.  It was easy but I enjoyed every minute of creating it!



I mixed 1 cup epsom salt, 1 cup sea salt, 2 T of lemon infused grapeseed oil, a few splashes of lavender (could use peppermint, I just didn't have any on hand) essential oil, and the contents of 1 packet of peppermint tea.  The smell is amazing and I loved how it worked when I tested it out.  I hope she enjoys it!

You remember my brownie cookies that I adore from Post Punk Kitchen???  I redid them.  Into a gluten free cookie for my friend, Jen.  I made the recipe exactly as stated but I substituted rice flour, xanthan gum and potato starch for the flour.  And guess what?  They were completely a different cookie.  They tasted like a devils food snackwells cookie.  Still tasty but no longer like a brownie at all.  Interesting!



All in all, what a fantastic weekend with the exception of a nasty migraine on Saturday.  That I could have done without.  But my run Sunday was awesome, those 10 miles were peaceful and easy.  Next week I go back to big numbers of running and have a busy week, so fingers crossed I can work it all in.  Life is just busy sometimes always so I am just learning to try and roll with it...

Happy Labor Day!

Sheri