St. Louis Top Restaurants of the Summer

A trip is not complete without a visit to all of my favorite restaurants, in my opinion. I usually ask for Taco Bell as the first stop from the airport after a long plane ride. This time around, I spent a whole month away in St. Louis, Missouri, so I had plenty of time to visit all of the best restaurants in town. My brother took me to places I've never been before and I experienced things I hadn't tried (one little Korean Mexican place, but I didn't take a picture of my tacos). I hope you don't torture yourself with the images of these mouth-watering delicacies, but here is a sneak peek at the best meals I had during my summer in St. Louis. 

{The Cheesecake Factory: Skinnylicious Pear and Endive Salad. This was mouth-watering and simply amazing. It had a combination of all kinds of flavors, sweet pears, crunchy pecans, and savory blue cheese.} 

{Quintessential: Portobello Mushroom Burger and Sweet Potato Fries. The fries were the best part of this vegetarian meal. They were absolutely delicious. I ended up eating every single thing on my plate.}

{St. Louis Bread Co.: half a Poppyseed Salad and Mediterranean Flat Sandwich.}

{Mcallister's Deli: Pecanberry Salad.}

{Dewey's Pizza: half Killer Veggie with extra mushrooms and no olives, and half Margharita with Prosciutto}

{Olive Garden: Lasagna Primavera}

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

My last attempt at making a Quinoa Salad turned out fantastic. The salad was so rich in flavor, and every bite left me wanting more and more. Apart from being so amazingly delicious, it turns out that Quinoa is a very, very nutritious grain. An article in Forbes magazine calls it the "Supergrain of the Future" and says it contains protein, iron, lysine, magnesium, Riboflavin, manganese, and even twice as much fiber as any other grain! (I just looked it up to look smarter). Anyway, my Cross Fit obsessed brother is trying to make smarter choices in his diet and asked me to make him Quinoa. He said he loved the last recipe, but wanted something different this time. As always, I did my research on Pinterest and voila! We have a delicious, healthy, super food.

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Quinoa (I used roasted garlic flavored Quinoa, but any kind is fine)

• 2 cups water

• 1 diced tomato

• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced

• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced 

• 3/4 cup diced cucumber with peel

• 1/3 cup chopped olives (You can add more if you love olives. They're personally not my favorite thing in the world.)

For the dressing:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 2 tbsp agave nectar

• juice and finely minced zest of one lemon

• 2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 tbsp dried oregano (I just used Italian seasoning)

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

• 1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

• Boil Quinoa in two cups of water for approximately 15 minutes. Let cool completely and place it in the refrigerator.

• In a bowl, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, agave nectar, salt, pepper, and oregano to create the dressing. Whisk well. 

• Mix in the Quinoa with the dressing. 

• Add the tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumber, and olives and mix well.

• Serve cold and enjoy! 

Recipe adapted from here.

Auntie Lili's Quinoa Salad

Last weekend, at my cousin's baby's baptism, my aunt did a spectacular job with the buffet at the celebration. She had so many different flavors that blended in together perfectly. I loved every bite I took, but one thing that stood out to me the most was this Quinoa Salad. Recently, I had heard that "Quinoa is the grain of the future" or "Quinoa is the healthiest grain on earth". I had never tried it, though, and always had the curiosity to do so. This is the recipe to my aunt's salad that introduced me to this adorable "grain of the future". I succeeded to obtain the same flavor as the first time I tried it (humbly, I think mine was even better). Once I was done, thousands of ideas popped into my mind to make a variation of this salad. I could add mandarin oranges, green apples, or pears instead of grapes. I would also change the pumpkin seeds for sliced almonds. Diced cucumber and even garbanzo beans would go perfectly with this salad. 

Auntie Lili's Quinoa Salad
Ingredients:

• 1 cup white Quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons Agave nectar
• salt
• pepper
• cumin
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 3/4 cup grated carrots
• 3/4 cup peeled edamame beans 
• 3/4 cup grapes cut in half
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

Directions: 

• Boil Quinoa in two cups of water for approximately 15 minutes. Let cool completely and place it in the refrigerator.
• In a bowl, mix together the lemon juice, olive oil, dijon mustard, agave nectar, salt, pepper, cumin, and cilantro to create the dressing. 
• Mix in the Quinoa with the dressing. 
• Add the carrots, edamame, grapes, onion, and pumpkin seeds. 
• Serve cold and enjoy! 

Christmas Day

The greatly awaited Christmas day has come. Bells are ringing, people singing...yeah, right. I am so glad to finally have the opportunity to say "Merry Christmas"! This is the day where people all around the world come together to celebrate one single thing--baby Jesus! On this day everything on the face of the world ceases to matter. People show love unconditionally. "It's the most beautiful time of the year," Justin Bieber said. This year was a little different for our family. We spent Christmas Eve at my aunt and uncle's house with all of my cousins, throwing fireworks and having a good time. The next day, on the 25th, we had the traditional Christmas Eve dinner that we usually have at my house for lunch. My mom and I spent all morning cooking, which was totally worth it when everyone went back for second and even third servings. This is what Christmas is all about--priceless quality time with family.

{Forever21 shirt and skirt, Kenneth Cole flats, Francesca's necklace}

{I tried this new recipe of Red Wine and Garlic Mushrooms. They were to die for.}

{Trying to make a simple salad pretty? Make a flower out of spinach leaves with a tomato in the center.} 

{Final outcome of working hard all morning. Two words: mouth watering}

Turkey and stuffing

Corn Souffle

Red Wine and Garlic Mushrooms

Arab Dolmas

Simple Salad

Arab Weekend

WARNING: IF YOU'RE HUNGRY PLEASE DON'T LOOK AT THESE PICTURES. 

The pleasures of Christmas: eating, eating, and eating! Whenever we travel to San Pedro Sula to visit my other half of the family, they greet us with banquets of exquisite Arab food. This time was not an exception. The motive for our trip was my cousin's new born baby's beautiful baptism. My godmother or "madrina" organized the whole event for her grandson and whenever you put my madrina's name with "celebration" in the same sentence, you can bet it's gonna be priceless. The moment I saw this baby I fell inlove with him. He was so serene and peaceful. He did not moan about everyone trying to hold him. Instead, he seemed to enjoy all of the attention. His older brother, who is turning three in January, is impossibly adorable too. Sometimes I wish I had a little brother...or maybe even better-a sister. 

Day 1 

 {Hotel Breakfast: Whole-wheat toast with fresh strawberry jam, mini cinnamon-raisin roll, a banana, watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, and a cup of coffee}

 {Lunch at the baptism: Jumbo shrimp, Fettuccine Alfredo with salmon, salad with mixed greens, green apple, cucumber, and pomegranate seeds...May I add, my godmother made ALL OF IT}

 {I could not stay away from the dessert table. Why choose one when I can have ALL OF THEM? (muahaha). I had a brownie, a lemon bar, a mini red velvet cupcake (not in the picture), and about a hundred yogurt covered raisins and pretzels (I could not stop. They were amazing)}

{For Dinner at my aunt's house that night we had "marmahon" also known as "couscous" with chicken, "hojas de uva" also known as "dolma", and salad}

Day 2

 {Hotel Breakfast round 2: Whole-wheat toast with fresh strawberry jam, fresh pineapple jam on the side, two cranberry-orange biscuits (one I ate afterwards so it's not in the picture), a small alfajor de dulce de leche, watermelon, pineapple, cantaloupe, and a cup of coffee}

 {Lunch at the "Club Arabe"'s all-you-can-eat Arab buffet: "Marmahon" or "couscous", chicken, "hojas de uva" or "dolmas", hummus with pita bread, and salad}

{Dessert table at the "Club Arabe"'s all-you-can-eat buffet: Pecan bar (I had two), banana bread, and strawberries with whipped cream (not in the picture)}

I'm not even sure my clothes fits anymore. And I know this doesn't end here. Christmas is coming! 

Little Things

As an OCD victim, I have found it hard to take my time to meditate on what life has offered me. Juggling between my sophomore year, ballet lessons, piano lessons, and social encounters has unfortunately limited my time writing on my blog. However, I am glad to come back and share some of the things currently making me happy, such as: homemade blueberry muffins, a romantically beautiful bouquet of flowers, Divergent by Veronica Roth, a simple yet exquisitely healthy salad, and the perfect little coffee treat to end the week just right. 

(If you're following me on twitter, these pictures might be a little familiar to you). 

{Last Sunday's baking: Mouth-watering homemade mini blueberry muffins}

{A sparkling Saturday night dinner accompanied by a beautiful center piece and a Louis Vuitton handbag}

{New addiction: Divergent from Veronica Roth's saga}

{Healthy, delightful, and homemade salad during lunch at school: Spinach, cucumber, edamame, strawberries, and Balsamic Vinaigrette}

{Homemade Almond Milk Cappuccino & Pirouline Chocolate Hazelnut wafers on a rainy Friday afternoon}