midnight24

Super Easy Quinoa Salad This quinoa salad recipe is surprisingly easy, tasty and healthy! Whole grain quinoa cooks quicker than most grains and is an excellent source of protein, with over 10 grams of protein per cup of cooked quinoa. Prep/Cook Time: 15 – 20 minutes Ingredients: * 3 cups vegetable broth/water (I use half of each) * 1 1/2 cups raw whole grain quinoa (I use half red/half white) * 1 lemon, juiced * 2 tablespoons olive oil * 2 cloves garlic, minced * sea salt and pepper, to taste * 1/2 cucumber, sliced * 1 red and/or yellow and/or orange bell pepper, diced * 1 large or two small tomatoes, chopped Preparation: Cook quinoa in vegetable broth/water until it fluffs up, about 15 - 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. While quinoa is cooking, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic cloves, salt and pepper. Set aside and prepare veggies. When quinoa is finished cooking, allow to cool slightly, then toss with vegetables and dressing, stirring to combine well. Add more salt and pepper to taste if desired, and chill before serving. * Experiment by adding different veggies such as lightly steamed broccoli florets, zucchini, corn or even kale or spinach greens. Makes 6 servings Nutritional information: Calories Per Serving: 270, Total Fat: 10.5g, 16% RDA, Saturated Fat: 1.5g, 8% RDA Cholesterol: 0mg, 0% RDA Sodium: 518mg, 22% RDA Total Carbohydrates: 34.5g, 11% RDA Dietary Fiber: 4.4g, 18% RDA Protein: 10.4g Vitamin A 21%, Vitamin C 75%, Calcium 5%, Iron 15% ------------------------------------ Lentil Curry with Cashews and Yogurt Serves 6 Protein-rich lentils are a great choice to include in your regular diet. Here, they're prepared with curry powder, tomatoes and onions and spooned over rice with cashews and yogurt on top. Ingredients 2 cups uncooked brown rice Salt to taste 1 cup lentils, rinsed and soaked overnight in 1 cup water 1 large tomato, chopped 1 onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder 1/2 cup chopped cashews 3/4 cup plain nonfat yogurt Method Place rice in a strainer and rinse under cool water until water runs clear. Transfer to a medium pot. Cook rice over medium-low heat, stirring gently, until fragrant and toasted, 3 to 5 minutes. Add 4 cups water and salt, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until water is absorbed, about 1 hour. Uncover pot, fluff rice and set aside. Meanwhile, simmer the lentils in 3 cups water, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Add tomato, onion, garlic, curry powder and salt. Simmer for 30 minutes more, covered, until lentils are tender. Serve over rice. Top with cashews and a dollop of yogurt. Nutrition Per serving (about 10oz/303g-wt.): 420 calories (70 from fat), 8g total fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 230mg sodium, 75g total carbohydrate (14g dietary fiber, 5g sugar), 17g protein -------------------------- I'm vegetarian, I have thousands of recipes. If you are looking for specific things, let me know. I'm also a Registered Holistic Nutritionist. I have a few more on my website Food Love and Happiness - Holistic Nutrition Just make sure if you are eating vegetarian you still get protein, and you limit refined flours & sugars...and of course eat lots of veggies!

lots of great ideas for your photos. we still need to pick which ones we want printed and framed as well...so many to choose from. also...love your home decor!

the colour combo looks fine to me. don't stress about it. keep it simple...and do what you guys want, it's your wedding.

you look great!

thanks everyone. funny i never realized how popular 'peacock' theme weddings were until i started planning. such great colours it's hard to resist, eh!

Quote: Originally Posted by abbie32 Hello, I am so excited! My wedding date is FINALLY confirmed for April 6th, 2011 at the Akumal beach hammocks location. I can't wait to start booking everything in. I already started working on my boarding pass invites. haha Our vacation package from Canada is only for the Tulum or Coba resort, so which one would you recommend staying at? I'm so happy that I can still get married at the Akumal beach location, despite not staying there. Do you have your dinner and reception at the same place as your wedding or do you have them where you are staying? Just curious. I thought I read somewhere that you had to have your dinner and reception where you were staying. Thanks! you have to have your dinner/reception where you are staying. so if you are having your ceremony at akumal, but staying at coba or tulum the dinner/reception will be there. as for which side should you stay at, that's up to you. coba is a short distance to the beach and tulum is closer. tulum is on the other side from akumal. if you want to stay closer to akumal then pick coba. if you are wondering about the day of the wedding, there will be a shuttle for you and your guests to take you to the ceremony so don't worry. i think all the coba rooms are junior suites with jacuzzi tubs if that makes a difference. other than that everything else should be the same.

Quote: Originally Posted by jjohnson30 did anyone by their favors in mexico when they got there or did most of you bring them from home?? i know they said their is shopping at the resort but was wondering if their is anything for favors?? i bought maracas in playa del carmen the day before the wedding. they were selling them at the hacienda at the resort for $6usd/each. at playa i paid $1-1.50usd/each. i wanted specific colours, and needed 40 so i had to go to a few shops but i got them. not sure what else you are thinking of getting for favours...but go to playa. it's much cheaper than the resort. playa is about 25mins from the resort. you can take a collectivo, shuttle bus or taxi. it's not too pricey.

Quote: Originally Posted by swankster77 I'm not doing favors since we got our guests OOT bags... Another question (sorry I leave in 5 days so there will probably be many more before then)... Are you supposed to tip the Minister/Judge? we didn't...but honestly right after the ceremony we did a toast and took pics...and with everyone congratulating us it was so hectic...i don't even remember seeing the judge. she must of left immediately. i don't even remember seeing karla (WC) until it was time to go on the shuttle to the restaurant.

Quote: Originally Posted by roxmysockz Great review - left a comment on the photos too x oooh thanks!!! i need 9 more!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by anacj13 Yay!! Thanks for sharing!! I've been waiting to see these pics for a while! We are thinkign about using Nora as well her prices are awesome and her engagement pics look amazing. Did you love working with her? Pros/cons? I love the pics and that you got blogged! here's the pics from nora's blog too to check out Wendy + Josh ~ Tulum, Mexico Nora's Wedding Blog i really enjoyed working with nora. i don't have any cons with her. she was professional, made me feel comfortable, took all the pic requests we asked for and more. if you have any more questions don't hestitate to ask.

Quote: Originally Posted by selassie11 Very nice! I'm also using peacock feathers and I love how simply you used them! KUDOS! l thanks...i didn't want to go overboard with them. so i added them and subtle touches of the colour scheme. everyone thought i was crazy for wanting black dresses/shirts...but once they saw how i was using the blue/green from the peacock feather to add colour they loved it. plus they now how outfits they can reuse.

you look amazing!

wow...stunning photos! you are so photogenic and your dress was beautiful. loved all the details to your wedding...the colours etc. congrats!

thanks for all the well wishes and compliments...i appreciate it!

Quote: Originally Posted by debbmach Congratulations, everything looked great. Love the pics, great to see pics taken by Nora...she's my photographer too! oh you will love her! she was great to work with.

Quote: Originally Posted by mareW9 Thanks for sharing! I love the boutonnieres and the guys' ties - we're doing something similar... where is the question now! we had a florist friend make the bouts for us and she picked the ribbon before we picked the ties. it took forever to find a tie under $50/each that matched that colour. if you are doing something similiar you might want to pick the tie before the ribbon because it's cheaper that way. that or bring a few options of ribbon colour with you when you shop for ties. we ended up getting our ties for $35/each...but because we bought 4 at once they gave them to us for $29/each. every other store we say ones at that matched were $50-75/each for a tie! we didn't even pay that much for the shirt or pants each.

Quote: Originally Posted by JENISE Congrats Wendy. You pictures look fab and I LOVE you dress! Gorgeous. Can I ask where you got your sandals? They are TOO cute. thanks! i got my sandals from town shoes they are 'kate & mel' Kate & Mel Shoes - The Shoe Company - Men's, Women's, Kids' Shoes on Sale

Quote: Originally Posted by jjohnson30 hi, my names jessica, my fiance and i are getting married at tulum on eather feb 22 or 23 of 2011. we have not been able to book yet but hopefully the prices will come today. this forum has been such a help in trying to find out information. we are getting legaly married in canada then a symbolic wedding at tulum. i just have to questions does anyone know what the cakes typicaly look like and what decorations they have on the tables at dinner thanks jessica hi jessica... we had a 3 tier round cheesecake. i think it had fondant on top, the cake was good, not too sweet. there is a pic on this site of it Wendy & Josh Destination Wedding Tulum Mexico Destination Inspirations i have to say the cake was much nicer looking than we expected

Quote: Originally Posted by Patourn I think it's Mexician if I remember correctly here's the link for all the restaurants at the GBP BAHIA-GOURMET.COM :::: you can check the menu for all of them the don pabalo is located near the tulum lobby by the buffet. it's a very elegant restaurant and the food is delicious.

Quote: Originally Posted by waybuloo Your photos are so lovely, I wish we were still allowed to bring in an outside photographer. Do you think they would know if I brought in my own one & just said they were my wedding guest? Like just brought them a day pass & said that they were staying at another hotel? before we got to the resort, i emailed karla the room guest list (as requested by her) and then told her we had one guest coming who was not staying at the resort. that was nora (photog), and she paid her for her own day pass. then in our meeting with karla when we got to the resort, i told her we were having friends/family do our photos so we did not need the resort photog for the day, just the ceremony as we got 10 pics included in the wedding package. we had 40 guests in total...and everyone is taking photos that they had no idea who was who anyways. if you can bring someone with you as a guest then do it. if not...i suggest you meet with the resort photog before your wedding day to discuss details.

we had the pleasure of having nora bohanon photograph our beach wedding in mexico at the gran bahia principe-tulum she took so many amazing photos, focusing on details and capturing the day! our pics were submitted and blogged on destination inspirations check it out!!! Wendy & Josh Destination Wedding Tulum Mexico Destination Inspirations

awesome! love your wedding pics too! congrats!

just noticed our wedding photos by nora were blogged on another site Wendy & Josh Destination Wedding Tulum Mexico Destination Inspirations she took so many great 'detail' shots...

just noticed our wedding photos by nora were blogged on another site Wendy & Josh Destination Wedding Tulum Mexico Destination Inspirations she took so many great 'detail' shots...

Quote: Originally Posted by waybuloo Hi Ladies, Does anyone have a copy or know the legal ceremony order? What they say & what the vows are etc? Do they actually make you repeat after them the vows or do you take your own? Any ideas & what is a sand ceremony? Do we bring that with us? Thanks Ladies i can't remember the exact order of the ceremony... but all you say is 'I DO'...nothing else you sign papers, fingerprint them, then your witnesses sign it you kiss...and then they pronounce you mrs & mrs...or husband and wife...i don't even know exact wording as most of it's a blur for me in my opinion...it would be weird to extend the ceremony after they pronounce you mr & mrs...because normally at that time you walk down the aisle. when we walked down the aisle we stopped at the end for photos with the resort photog (which is when i actually noticed he was there...he arranged with us a time to meet him the next day to see the photos)...and then someone handed us a glass of champagne...we all toasted...then proceeded with pics. honestly...with the legal ceremony there is not a lot of 'room' for personalizing it...it's doable...but could be confusing. just keep it simple...and if you really want to say somethingn special to one another save it for the reception speeches.