Quinoa Tabouli

This Monday morning started like most others, with a moan of “Monday can’t be here already,” followed by the recognition that I have a great job in an amazing country and wonderful learning experiences planned. My personal planning started with breakfast.

Oatmeal with banana, almond butter, flax, hemp, chia seeds, and cinnamon

School was wonderful. I moved the kids around and rearranged the class a bit, so everything seems new and exciting. This week we are doing one of my favorite literacy units on multicultural books. Each child starts the week with a different multicultural book and throughout the week, they get to go on “mind journeys”- little trips to the country where their book takes place. Their mind journeys are recorded in graphic  organizers which I’ve designed to look like a big suitcase. They are already really enjoying the unit too.

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The fun of learning was interrupted with the fun of eating at noon.

Leftover veggie stir fry from last night- accompanied by a pear.

Rice, frozen wok mix vegetables, vegetarian “chicken” breast, raisins, soy sauce and agave.

The day continued with digital photography club, assembly, and PE.

On Friday, the parents received a letter about which teacher their kids will go to next year. The little girl I tutor is coming into my class next year. When she came to me today to begin tutoring, she busted in screaming, “Yippie, my wish came true! You will be my teacher next year!!” This made me feel good. Two of my current students were in my class at the time packing up their bags to go home. Upon hearing her excitement, they informed me that they were both sad when they found out they were coming to my class last year. They wanted to be with the other Year 4 teacher. This made me feel bad. They then told the little girl that being in my class was better than they imagined and now they are really glad to be with me. One child even said that she used to hate reading and hate literacy all through school until she came to me. Now, literacy is her favorite subject, even better than art. This made me feel good again.

Another thing that made me feel good, an after-school Green Monster… or two.

1-ish cups milk, 1 frozen banana, 2 handfuls of fresh spinach, ½ scoop Sunwarior protein powder, 1 heaping Tbsp. almond butter

All fuelled up, I made my weekly run to the grocery store to stock up on lunch fixings for the week.

Each week, I try to prepare salad  fixings to keep on hand at school. I wash, tear, and store ¾ of a head of lettuce, then chop up carrots, peppers, celery, and whatever else I have on hand.

Having everything chopped up makes lunches so simple. I simply put it all together and toss on any additional ingredients I’m hungry for.

The other ¼ of lettuce stays at home for future use.

This week, I also prepared one of my favorite recipes, quinoa tabouli. I didn’t get it all mixer up before leaving for dinner so you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for a finished shot.

Ingredients

• 2 cups quinoa prepared per box instructions and cooled
• 1 cucumber, chopped
• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 bunch green onions, (8) sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped mint
• 2 cups fresh chopped parsley
• 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• pepper and salt to taste

Directions

1. Combine the salad ingredients, including quinoa, in a medium bowl.
2. Mix the dressing ingredients together and stir into the salad mixture.
3. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

After chopping veggies and cooking quinoa, I headed out to dinner with the Aussies and Lisa. Sadly, Lisa must return to England tomorrow morning. She couldn’t leave without having Sex on the Beach from her favorite Brazilian restaurant though! Dinner was delicious and the company was superb. I’ll miss her once she goes again.

Spending time enjoying good food and good friends- this made me feel good.

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