Farmgirl Paints: so i'm not a size 3 & caprese quinoa

After my shower the other day I went for my comfy shorts. You know the ones that look sorta cute, but more than anything the fit is just right? I pulled them on and they were SKIN TIGHT. We are talking sausage roll tight. My blood pressure immediately shot up. I started doing sumo squats to try and stretch them out, the whole time I'm fuming under my breath. Did I shrink them?? Did I gain more weight?! Finally I ripped them off and kicked them around the floor a bit, frustrated that another article of clothing was going to my twelve year old. Then I picked them up and looked at the label. They WERE my twelve year old's!!! WHAT? So then I'm like oooh I could actually pull up a size 3 pair of shorts;) HA! Uh can you say psycho?! It took me about a millisecond to lose my joy and then another millisecond to get it back again.

I'll be honest. I've been down on myself this year. It's been a roller coaster emotionally with the move etc...and I've put on about 15 pounds, which makes me mad. Going on vacay recently and eating like a banshee didn't help much either, but that's besides the point;) The thing is as women we can be really hard on ourselves.

I work out. I kill it at the gym. I eat healthy most of the time. I believe our bodies are worth fighting for. It's not wrong to try and look good. Because to me looking good equates feeling good. What is wrong is letting satan steal my joy when I can't fit into a size 3 or if I don't like how my face looks in a picture etc... There's some kool aid being passed around in society that we have to be itty bitty to fit in...to feel pretty. Well I'm not buying in. Speaking of pretty...thank you for all the sweet compliments from my previous post. I hope you know I wasn't fishin' for them. I was referring more to a feeling than an outward appearance, but I'll take it. Made my head about explode.

I went to lunch with a friend recently and she started off saying, "I don't want to offend you" and immediately I was like oh no what is she gonna say. She went on to say that she's starting to think about aging and it's bothering her a bit, and that if it bothers her than it really must bother me. I was like oh how so?? In a nutshell she went on to tell me she doesn't care about her looks...and it's apparent that I do. Whew I was worried it was going to be something bad, she didn't offend me at all. I do care. I've mulled this one over and there is nothing wrong with caring. Caring to me means taking CARE of yourself and I think that is what the Lord calls us to do with our bodies. We only get one. It's when we get out of balance and either don't care enough or care too much that it affects our lives and that's when there should be a check in our spirit. That's what I had the other day...a little what the world are you freaking out about check!

Since we are talking about caring for ourselves, this gal has done just that. I'm so inspired by her fit journey, and apparently she eats a lot of quinoa. I've never had it, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I found a yummy recipe here.

Fresh Caprese Quinoa Salad
Ingredients
-1/2 C quinoa
-8 oz fresh mozzarella
-1 carton grape tomatoes, halved
-fresh basil (I only had cilantro)-2T olive oil (I used maybe a tsp or 2.)-salt & pepper

Method
1. In a medium sized pan, bring 1 C water and 1/2 C quinoa to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and simmer on LOW until all of the water is absorbed. This should take anywhere between 10 and 15 minutes. *Cooking your quinoa on low is extremely important. If you let it simmer on a hotter flame, the water will absorb too quickly and the quinoa will turn out hard! (I've heard you can cook it in a rice cooker too.)
2. Cool the cooked quinoa in the refrigerator for at least an hour before preparing the salad.

3. To prepare the salad, slice grape tomatoes in half [hot dog way] and cut the block of fresh mozzarella into bite size pieces. Mix together. Then add the chopped basil and cooked quinoa and give the salad a toss. Next, drizzle on the olive oil and season with a little salt/pepper (to taste). Give your salad a final toss and serve cool or at room temperature.

I'm not sure what I think of quinoa. While I was eating I took too big a bite and about killed myself on a tomato or hunk of cheese. Geesh! Cut it up small! After that I was scared to eat anymore. It's supposed to be really good for ya. That's all I know. I'm sure I'll try it again soon:)