Every so often, I need a weekend to myself for
a little rejuvenation.
It just seems especially appropriate to do this at times
when I am going through major changes in my life,
or if I have had a particularly stressful time or like now ...
a New Year.
On Saturday morning, I will grab a cup of coffee and sit down in a comfy chair with several blank pieces of paper and just start writing about how I would like this new year to look.
I will examine areas in my life such as:
Personal growth and awareness
Family
My home
Friends
Creative endeavors
Travel - Paris in the winter???
Spiritual
Learning something new ... always.
Volunteering and giving back.
Financial
New wild and crazy dreams to add to my bucket list.
I will also cook some healthy and comforting foods this weekend. I found this recipe for Kale and Couscous Salad
on the Poppytalk blog and tried it earlier this week.
I loved it so much that I made another
large batch of it last night and now, I can't wait for dinner.
It goes especially well with a glass or two of white wine!
Kale and Couscous Salad
1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 bunch of kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons finely minced onions
2 tablespoons tahini
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon water
1 garlic clove, finely minced
juice of 1 small lemon
1/2 teaspoon sirracha (or your favorite hot sauce)
pinch salt
1/3 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
1. In a small pot, cook the couscous according to package directions.
2. While the couscous is cooking, wash kale throughly and pat dry. Remove the thick, bitter stems and slice kale into thin ribbons. Cut again crosswise once or twice so you don't have large lengths of kale. Pour oil and vinegar over top and massage this into the kale using your hands, until all the kale is well-coated and shiny. Add cranberries and onions into the kale and toss.
3. Prepare the dressing by stirring together the remaining ingredients (except the almonds) - you may need to add a bit more water if you feel the tahini is seizing up, this is normal tahini behaviour, so don't worry. Stir until the dressing is creamy and smooth.
4. Fluff couscous when ready and divide the couscous into 4 bowls. Top with the kale mixture and then pour over some of the dressing. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Makes 4 servings.
(I changed the recipe a bit. I used Ocean Spray dried blueberries instead of cranberries and whole almonds
instead of sliced ones because I wanted more of a crunch.) Kale is higher in protein than most meats or so they say.
So, if you are being this healthy, you can also have
a piece of cake for dessert.
HAVE A LOVELY WEEKEND.
1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 bunch of kale
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
1/3 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons finely minced onions
2 tablespoons tahini
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon water
1 garlic clove, finely minced
juice of 1 small lemon
1/2 teaspoon sirracha (or your favorite hot sauce)
pinch salt
1/3 cup sliced almonds, lightly toasted
1. In a small pot, cook the couscous according to package directions.
2. While the couscous is cooking, wash kale throughly and pat dry. Remove the thick, bitter stems and slice kale into thin ribbons. Cut again crosswise once or twice so you don't have large lengths of kale. Pour oil and vinegar over top and massage this into the kale using your hands, until all the kale is well-coated and shiny. Add cranberries and onions into the kale and toss.
3. Prepare the dressing by stirring together the remaining ingredients (except the almonds) - you may need to add a bit more water if you feel the tahini is seizing up, this is normal tahini behaviour, so don't worry. Stir until the dressing is creamy and smooth.
4. Fluff couscous when ready and divide the couscous into 4 bowls. Top with the kale mixture and then pour over some of the dressing. Sprinkle with sliced almonds. Makes 4 servings.
(I changed the recipe a bit. I used Ocean Spray dried blueberries instead of cranberries and whole almonds
instead of sliced ones because I wanted more of a crunch.) Kale is higher in protein than most meats or so they say.
So, if you are being this healthy, you can also have
a piece of cake for dessert.
HAVE A LOVELY WEEKEND.
5 comments:
Nice to have time to oneself once in a while. Sounds as though you put it to great use! Thanks for sharing the recipe. I received three excellent recipes this week...one for a kale and pomegranate salad. Will send that to you. Good luck with your plans for the year!
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Yum. Kale and pomegranate salad. Never would have given this combo a thought. Thanks Linda.
Oh,your weekend plans sounded so nice so I hope it turned out really well for you! The salad looks and sounds yummy so I may give it a try sometime. I hope you came up with alot of great plans for this new year ahead. I have been doing alot of thinking too on what I would like this year to look like for me and my family.So we'll see how it goes!
Have a great week!
Hugs!
It was one of the nicest weekends. Very relaxing and a time to just kick back and have some time to myself after the Christmas holidays. Got a good start on some new ideas for this year and will continue to refine them and add to the list.
Thanks for stopping by Lisa. Always great to hear from you.
Meg
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