Chris spent the weekend working on a big project, so I spent some much-needed time around the house doing fun (and some not-so-fun) projects.
I finished all of the chair cushions for the dining room (so exciting!), and the table is all finished, with the exception of some wax I need to polish it with before we use it. And I made a teeny bit of progress on the actual chairs. They became quite the pain to paint, as they have a lot of great detailing. It really made me wish I had a sprayer to paint them with. Or someone who could do it for me! Kidding. Kind of...
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So the dining room is coming together. I have a few more small-ish projects I want to do in there before I do a before & after post. Stay tuned!
I also spent a lot of time in the kitchen this weekend. Cleaning and cooking! Since Chris had to spend the entire weekend working, I decided to make it as pleasant as possible for him by making some tasty treats.
For dinner on Friday, I made mexican chickpea tacos, which were a huge hit! Though I will not take credit for the recipe, as my friend, Claire, introduced me to it from a blog she follows. I did mine slightly different than the recipe on the blog, and really liked the simplicity of them. Of course, I forgot to take a photo of the chickpeas once they were in the actual tacos, but here is a look at them marinating. Yum!
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{ click here for the link to the recipe I used/adapted. }
I used regular taco shells, as opposed to making them into lettuce wraps, though I may try that in the future. I also only added guacamole, lettuce and tomato. The marinated chickpeas are so delicious that I wanted them to have the spotlight, rather than add a bunch of other flavors that would drown them out.
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Saturday, we had leftovers, while I slaved away on the dining room, and Chris continued work on his project. Then I made dark chocolate covered strawberries as an afternoon treat! I think I may have been more proud of my clean kitchen, then my strawberry efforts, as you can barely see the strawberries in the photo! Ha! A clean kitchen island is definitely my happy place, though it doesn't look like this as often as it should!
Sunday, I made a delicious (faux) chicken salad on top of a bed of spinach. I have shared the recipe before, but here it is again. So simple!
Beyond Meat (lightly seasoned "chicken")
0% fat greek yogurt (I like Fage)
diced celery
grapes, halved
pepper, to taste
Use the combination that you like best (I like extra grapes!), pour on top of spinach, and enjoy!
And for dinner last night, I made a great vegetarian chili with corn on the cob (even though there is corn in the chili as well...
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It was a bit of a random assortment thrown in to make the chili, but it actually turned out pretty good. The nice thing with chili, is that it doesn't need to be a precise recipe. Just know your key ingredients, and throw them into the pan to simmer away all afternoon. Here is my rough recipe.
2 cans kidney beans
2 cans black beans
1 diced white onion
4 cans fire roasted tomatoes with green chilies (medium)
1 16 oz can tomato sauce
1 packet taco seasoning
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp cumin
1/2 package frozen corn
Combine all ingredients, simmer until beans and onion are tender. Enjoy!
All in all, it was a great weekend! I got some great exercise in, and spent some much needed time at home, tackling several "chores" that have been neglected the past few weeks.
Although we were disappointed that Chris had to work, we are looking forward to the long weekend so we can get out and do some day trips exploring more of Colorado!
What did you do this weekend? Any big plans for the holiday weekend?
