Okay, I'll come clean...It's embarrassing, but I'll tell you...

The reason I'm late with today's post is because I watched a cheesy Lifetime movie last night. When it was over I was tired and went straight to bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow I realized that I had completely forgotten to post!

Well the movie was bad...but this dish isn't (ooo, that was smooth). Nice flavors, good numbers, tasty warm and even cold right out of the frig as a snack. Add in the sugar snap peas and little carrots, and you've given yourself a serious boost towards a

Here is the recipe for Quinoa salad. It's essentially the same as the brown rice salad from the other day.

The only changes we made are the quinoa and an additional red pepper.

We think this salad is just as yummy as the first one; give it a try and let us know if you like one grain more than the other.

Ingredients

• Quinoa, 1 cup ( grams)
• Peas cooked, 1/2 cup (82 grams)
• Sunflower seeds, raw no salt 1/2 cup (66 grams)
• Anaheim pepper, 1 pepper chopped (38 grams)
• Red pepper, 1 pepper chopped (66 grams)
• Green onions, 1 bunch chopped (66 grams)
• Hothouse cucumber,

Simple and refreshing, this salad is right on mark. Intended as a side dish, I had it along with a quinoa salad the other day for lunch.

Ingredients

• Carrots, shredded 1 lb (490 grams)-shredded is recommended over grated. Grated carrots are thin and end up rather soggy.
• Parsley, chopped 1/4 cup (16 grams)

•Dressing

• Lemon juice, fresh 1 TB (18 grams)
• Vinegar, 1 TB (14 grams) –sherry or white wine vinegar would work. We used rice wine vinegar because it’s what was in the pantry.
• Dijon mustard, 1 tsp (4 grams)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 4 TB (46 grams)
• Buttermilk, 2 TB (30 grams)
• Salt, 1/4 tsp (2.5

Donna Hay is an Australian cookbook author and magazine editor. She is one of my favorites…and Martha Stewart's too!

I came upon her cookbooks a few years ago and she has reawakened the foodie in me with clear, simple recipes and exceptional photography. The cookbooks are so lovely they could be coffee table books. I don’t mean to gush, but really, you will be so inspired by the photography you’ll want to tackle every recipe.

Because the books are published in Australia, there are a few funky ingredients, they use the metric system for measurements, they have different names

In Unplugged Kitchen, author Viana La Place gives us a whole other perspective on the food-wrapped-in-plastic world of the average supermarket. There's much to learn from her "don't throw it away" tips and her suggestions for what you don't need in your kitchen (we however, will not be getting rid of our Cuisinart).

Viana says, "To eat well means to know how and when to eat, it means eating appropriately. It is an attitude of respect toward the food you eat. It requires focus, an opening up of the senses, an embracing of the moment." Do you have an attitude of