Taco Salad - From My Kitchen

This salad is super easy to make, affordable, fast and yummy. I make this salad for dinner and it makes a satisfying. meal.

What you will need

For the quinoa: 

1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa

1/2 cup of salsa

1/2 cup of vegetable stock

For the rest: 

1/2 head of washed and torn lettuce

1 can of black beans 

1 cup thawed and rinsed corn 

1/4 finely diced white onion

1 cup of diced fresh tomatoes

1/2 cup of sour cream

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

3/4 cup salsa

corn chip 

Serves 3

Method

1. Combine the ingredients for the quinoa in a small pot. Bring to a boil then simmer until the quinoa is tender. Cool ahead of time. (I have added the frozen corn to the quinoa to cool it off faster if you couldn't do this ahead of time) 

2. For the rest, layer the ingredients for individual servings, or lay them all out on the table for guests to assemble themselves! Easy as PIE!

There are lots of other ingredients or substitutions you could make. Why not try avocado, grilled chicken, green onions, chopped bell peppers? I also like to serve extra corn chips on the side. Yum yum! Get creative but most of all, ENJOY! 

Gabrielle 

Crochet Lace Covered Rock - Build Your Home

I really like the combination of the delicate lace and the rough texture of rock in this project.

I made this lace covered rock for a wedding present this last week and painted "build your home" on the bottom to remind the couple to build their marriage on Jesus Christ.

To make your own lace covered rock, you can use any circular lace patten to start. Crochet the rounds flat until it covers up until the edge of the rock. Once the lace covers the top, you decrease the stitches quickly to make the lace stretch tightly over the rock. Or you can follow my pattern below. I'll also explain how to decrease stitches to get the lace snugly around the rock.

What you will need:

- #1 size crochet hook

- washed and smooth rock

- white or ivory crochet cotton 

- acrylic white paint (optional)

- small paint brush (optional) 

You don't need very much yarn but it all depends on how big your rock is. I used about 1/8 of a 1 lb ball.

Pattern Shortcut key:
ch= chain
sl st= slip stitch
dc = double crochet

Pattern:
Row#1
- ch 5 then sl st into the beginning of chain to make a small loop
- ch 5, turn

Row #2
- dc inside the small loop ch 3 (x7)
- ch 3
- sl st in 1st chain of row
Row #3
- ch 9, turn
- dc in top of last row's dc
- ch 6 dc in top of last row's dc (x7)
- ch 6
- sl st in 1st chain of row
Row #4
- ch 4, turn
- dc under last row's chain
- ch 2 dc x5
- ch 2 dc x6 (in next 7)
- sl st in 1st chain of row
Row #5
- ch 6, turn
- dc in last row between stitch 3 and 4
- ch 4, dc between 6 and 7
- repeat pattern all around
- sl st in 1st chain of row
Row #6
- ch 6, turn
- dc, ch 4, dc ch 4 repeat
Row #7
- repeat row #6 if the round needs to get bigger  but increase each chain by 1.

*also keep in mind the next instructions for row 8 and 9 should have an increased chain as well. 

Continue until the round covers the top of the rock. I only needed to do up to Row #7. The next rounds will be decreasing. Always check when you are half way around to make sure that the rock fits inside before it gets closed too tight.

Row #8
- ch 2, turn
- 1 dc under the last 2 chains of the previous row.

*Push the crochet hook through under the chain, wrap the yarn over, pull it through, then go to the next hole/chain from the previous row and wrap the yarn over, pull it through, then wrap the yarn over and finish the dc as normal. I do this instead of skipping to decrease stitches so that you don't get as many gapes.

- ch 4, 1 dc in the last chain and next chain repeat all around

*check your rock fit. The next round will make it tight really fast.

Row #9
- ch 2, turn
- 1 dc under the last 2 chains of the previous row
- repeat pattern all around pulling the lace tight around the rock as you go.
- sl st in 1st chain of row

cut and weave end in.

20 weeks Mama style

This is week 20! I'm half way there. It is really true that the time seems to fly when it is your second pregnancy. I am feeling the baby move finally. I was surprised because I felt Ezra move at 17 weeks when I was a first time mom. It is usually supposed to be the other way around: second time moms are supposed to feel their babies move sooner than first time moms. Either way, its an exciting time to be pregnant! 

There are these beautiful sunflowers that have finally bloomed in front of out kitchen window. I hope that I will have a chance to harvest them before the frost comes. 

  

 

 

 

Outfit Details: 

- coral and lace top - thrifted

- maternity indigo jeggings - Thyme 

- moccasins - Winners

- brown belt - Old Navy

- jewellery - Pieces I Enjoy  and the locket is a retro one from my mom. 

Enjoy! 

Gabrielle

Cream Soda - Taste Test

It was family dinner night (with the De Winters), and after the babies went to bed me, a couple of my brothers and my parents were involved in a very lengthy conversation about cream soda! From, when was cream soda invented, to what brand of cream soda was it that we drank as kids to what is the best available brand of cream soda you can get now?

I thought I would arrange a little taste testing session for our next family dinner. I didn't realize we were such cream soda snobs. It was hilarious!

I brought out a little of each can/bottle in a wine glass for each member of my family to try. Each member then rated the cream sodas out of 10. Here are the results:

1. Henry Weinhard's
2. Jones Soda
3. Crush
4. Dad's 
5. Blue Sky
6. Zeevia



I really wanted to include Stewart's and Schwepp's, and Boylan's but I wasn't able to locate these in time. We might have to do it again...

Henry Weinhar'd bottle lid. How appropriate, for all 8 of us who tasted, we all agreed that Henry Weinhard's was our favorite by far!

Tomato Basil Quinoa Salad - From My Kitchen

This year my dad decided to put a couple tomato plants in the garden to see how they would do. They did very well! From only two plants there is about 15 pounds of tomatoes. Since I am one of his favorite people, he gave me a few. I made this delicious salad featuring protein packed quinoa, fresh basil, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Very often in my kitchen, I won't use a recipe. Only recently have I started to write some recipes down. I thought I would share this one:

What you will need

For the quinoa:
1/2 lemon, juiced and zest
1 cup of water
1 cup of vegetable stock
1 cup of uncooked quinoa
3 Tbsp of your best olive oil
2 tsp dry oregano

For the rest:
approximately 2.5 lbs of fresh diced tomatoes (I used 3)
1 long english cucumber diced
1/4 white onion finely chopped
1 cup of fresh basil chiffonade
1/3 cup of feta cheese crumbled or cubed
a few garlic cloves finely chopped (optional)

freshly ground black pepper to taste

Serves up to 4

Method
1. Squeeze the juice out from half of a large lemon into a measuring cup. Fill the rest of the cup with water up to the one cup mark. Add these to a medium sized saucepan with the zest, vegetable stock and quinoa. Bring pot to a boil, then immediately bring the temperature down to simmer with the lid on until the quinoa is tender. Remove from heat and fluff.

2. For the rest... combine ingredients into a large serving bowl. I didn't add garlic to mine since I still have a pregnancy aversion to it. I did however, add a dash of garlic powder at the end.

3. Once the quinoa is cooled to room temperature, mix in the olive oil and dry oregano.

4. Add the quinoa mixture to the rest of the ingredients in the large bowl and gently mix with a wooden spoon.

5. Add pepper to taste. You may want to add some salt as well, but I didn't since the feta is already salty.

I made this one night when it was just me and Ezra eating for dinner. He really enjoyed it! I made sure that the quinoa was really soft for him. I made a huge batch because I wanted to have more for left overs. I'm glad I did. It was very yummy.

A Tip!
If you feel intimidated to cook with quinoa, or have found that when you have in the past its been bland, make sure you are adding flavor during the cooking process. That way you can get the flavor deep into the grain. To do this, simply substitute the water for a different liquid(s) such as: stock, juice of any kind (diluted), vinegar (diluted), salsa! You name it!

Once I realized that I could do this with quinoa, it quickly became a main staple in my pantry. It is such a protein packed grain that it leaves the body satisfied for a long time.

Enjoy!

Gabrielle

Birthday Date!

Friday night, we celebrated my 28th birthday. These pictures were taken behind Jesse's work's building in yale town before we hit the town.

19 week baby bump!

Outfit details
- black and white striped cami - Winners
- mustard sweater - Target
- floral screenprinted scarf - thrifted
- maternity pants - Zara
- sandals - Urban Outfitters
- black square cocktail ring and earrings - PiecesIEnjoy 
- silk purse - my auntie gave it to me when I was little

PIE Birthday Giveaway - Ooooooo!

Hello folks! So today is my 28th birthday. In celebration of it I am doing two things:

1. Win a Sky Blue Vintage Japanese Glass Pendant by Pieces I Enjoy!

I will be drawing a name on the 1st of October 2012 for the winner. In order to get your name in my hat, you must be a fan of Pieces I Enjoy on Facebook and wish me a Happy Birthday comment here on this post on this blog. The contest will be closed 11:59 p.m. on September 30th, 2012 PST. Only fans from Canada and USA may enter please. 

The winner's name will be announced on October 1st and will be requested to send me their mailing address by e-mail. The prize is non exchangeable and it is lovely! I will of course pay for shipping as well.

2. Every purchase made at my Etsy store between now and 11:59 p.m. September 30th, 2012 PST will receive a 30% refund (not including shipping) made through Pay-pal IF you wish me a Happy Birthday in the comments during check-out. Please allow up to two days for your refund.

Enjoy the rest of your summer! 

Thanks for all of the Happy Birthday wishes in advance! 

Gabrielle

Update - The Contest and Sale are now over! Thanks to all who participated. CONGRATULATIONS RHONDA! You won the contest. Please email me with your address so I can send you your gift. pie{dot}gabrielle{at}gmail{dot}com.