Lucky In Lunch

I know that we've been hearing about quinoa on every health food blog for a while now, but I feel that some people see it as some scary foreign food. People think that they will have to make a trip to the health food store and buy some cheesecloth and seaweed junk or something. That is definitely not the case.

There are only two ingredients that are required to cook quinoa. The actual grain and double that amount of liquid. If you make one cup of quinoa, you add two cups of liquid. For a fast, easy and super healthy lunch, I make a quarter cup of quinoa and add flavor with half a cup of vegetable stock. Bring the two ingredients to a boil in a sauce pan, reduce the heat, place a lid on top and let simmer for fifteen minutes. That is all that it takes to get a super boost of protein. fiber, iron and magnesium. Once cooked, I usually add a pinch of shredded cheese, a scoop of my favorite salsa, and of course some Sriracha (the nectar of the gods.) Easy (but not hardly as fun) as pie.

Once your quinoa is cooked, the possibilities are endless. You could let it chill in the fridge and add it to a salad later, or just cook it with water and add milk, cinnamon and honey for a hearty sweet breakfast. This stuff is so good for you and so so delicious.

Shiny New Crosley Cruiser

My a m a z i n g future mother in law got me this super cute little doozy for Christmas this year.  It's a Crosley Cruiser. I find this record player to be perfect for a person like me who is just starting to discover the awesomeness that is collecting vinyl.

The compact design is perfect for any space, and the sound is just loud enough to enjoy in my apartment with friends.  The speakers are built right in the unit, so there is no need to make room for bulky hardware.

I should mention that she found this vintage record stand at a garage sale last summer for me, then spray painted it this lovely robins egg blue (She is the spray paint queen).

I just love looking through the records with all of their artwork and charming little details that just arent present with digital music downloads.  My fiance found me a collection of vintage records (mostly classic rock from the seventies) and it is such an experience carefully examining them and thinking about how someone took so much care of them for all these years. 

My hipster status went from about 7.5 to 11 by adding this to my living room. I'm excited to expand my collection, and spend many good times with friends listening to the sounds of the past. 

Gussy boy loves it:)

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The Diana Mini

Hello friends!  I thought that featuring my favorite non-animate thing in the whole world would be a perfect way to kickoff my first blogging experience!  The....... DIANA MINI by Lomography.

Not only is this little chestnut cray cray adorbs (am I too old to say that?), but you can get some super fun and interesting results.  You can juxtapose images on top of each other to create muti-layered, ghostly photos by choosing to advance the film only a small amount between each shutter release.

Another awesome feature of the Diana Mini is that it has this big, beautiful and bright flash on top. The flash comes with tiny cellophane strips that change the color of the light hitting your subject.

When you use both of these awesome features together (layering images/multiple flash filters), you can get some pretty awesome surprises when you go pick up your film.

Kudos to Lomography for creating this little wonder.  It continues to entertain and inspire me.

-RAT