Cold Cous Cous Salad

So clearly being in the final 4 weeks of my first pregnancy has made me a little obsessed with making cold side dishes...and eating Popsicles.
I'd wanted to try some sort of cous cous, veggie, feta combo for a while and this actually came out exactly as I was hoping!
Just like the White Bean Salad, this was very, very easy to make- and also like the white bean salad this made enough to make it a great "take-to-BBQ" or general entertaining recipe. It'd be really yummy alongside grilled salmon.

2 boxes cous cous, prep according to package directions (they have it next to the Rice-A-Roni & such...or if you have a large dry goods container of it make enough for 8 servings- very easy...)
Let cooked cous cous cool.

In a large bowl combine;
1 cucumber, chopped
1/2 a red onion, chopped
1 small-med red bell pepper, chopped
1 small yellow bell pepper, chopped
12-15 pitted kalamata olives, sliced
add a few handfuls (probably about 3/4 of a cup) crumbled fat-free feta cheese
Drizzle with olive oil
Squeeze the juice of 1/2 a lemon
Toss in the cous cous, add salt & pepper to taste

Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight, serve cold.

Any guesses as to when the little guy is coming? Yours is as good as mine.....
:o)

Summer-y White Bean Salad

It's HOT!!! ....and our baby is due in 4 days....I didn't realize how antsy I'd be in this "home stretch". My pregnancy has been AWESOME, time flew, I didn't even notice the weeks screamin' by! Now, I'm so excited to meet our son, it's hard not to count the minutes. Also, I'm startin' to FEEL it, can't tie a shoe, sleep is laughable, and it takes me a million years to do stuff!
However, the best thing for me has been to keep busy, so I gotta keep that up right up till go-time (which is SOON, I hope...)
We made some fun plans to eat with friends last Friday night. They've been amazing and keep inviting us over for dinner, which has been such a blessing for us- I still always want to bring something, but with the temps sizzlin and the extra lbs I'm hauling around these days, baking is out of the question for a bit.

I decided to make my version of this white bean salad to keep it cool, budget-friendly and SUPER EASY to make (standing in the kitchen with my puffy feet is no bueno, so I have to make stuff that has sitting breaks, or make stuff that I can bust out FAST, I prefer the latter)


In a large bowl combine
2 15oz cans white beans (drained, rinsed and patted dry)
1 15oz can sweet corn (drained & rinsed)
1/2 a red onion, chopped
1/2-3/4 of a cucumber chopped (you can peel it or not- totally up to you, I did not...)
a couple handfuls of arugula
Drizzle with olive oil and squeeze the juice o12/ to 3/4 of a lemon
Sprinkle w/ salt, add some cracked black pepper and stir up with a big spoon.

Cover and refrigerate for 4-6 hours, serve cold.

HAPPY SUMMER :o)

Since I'm not baking- go to (fonuts)!!

With the baby due in just a week and the temps topping 90 degrees outside, I have no desire to turn on my oven these days.
Lucky for me a new sweet-stop opened just in the nick of time!
(fonuts) are steam-baked donuts, the delicious creation Waylynn Lucas, genius pastry chef. She and business partner Nancy Truman opened the shop last week on 3rd street in West Hollywood...right near Bar Method, so I knew I'd have to get over and try it before the baby came!
Following along on twitter I'd been reading the buzz and it sounded like it was going to be awesome, then the first day they sold out- FAST. So I made sure to get there on the second day as early as I could, which due to a doctor's appointment was about an hour and a half after they opened.

The space is inviting and beautiful- a little vintage stove sits to the side for a coffee fixin's station and there's plenty of room for the long lines they are sure to have going forward.
The ONLY downside to my visit was that they were already out of Hawaiian, P.B. & J, chorizo, Maple Bacon and Glazed- all flavors I'm very excited to try on my next trip there.
I got a strawberry, a lemon, a rosemary, a gluten free chocolate-hazelnut, a banana chocolate and a cinnamon-sugar. I'm on maternity leave but still taking class, so I took the box down to Bar Method to share with my fellow teachers so we could all have a fun taste-test and compare favorites. Also, so I wouldn't eat the whole box on my own after I took class.

I also got an iced decaf latte- they've got great coffee...one note- I'm so used to going to Coffee Bean or making it myself, I ordered just like that "iced, decaf, late." didn't make any milk indication and it was WHOLE milk- so I couldn't really drink it because that is INTENSE. Totally my bad though, I'll be sure to be specific next time.
The overall favorite was the lemon- it's super zingy, REAL lemon flavor and the glaze is delicious. I also loved the chocolate hazelnut- it was super moist and had a deep, rich chocolate yumminess.
The strawberry was the sleeper/surprise. I wasn't sure I'd like that one and wish I'd ordered three of them- again REAL strawberries, freshness, oh, so delicious.
We didn't meet a (fonut) we didn't like, so I am very excited to go back and try their other flavors.
I got a little flyer/menu to add to our "take-to-the-hospital" folder so I can send someone for coffee & (fonuts) next week (or the week after) when I'm snuggled up with my newborn son.

Wishing (fonuts) all the best and sold-out success for a long time to come! Welcome to the fabulous 3rd Street area, I'm thrilled you're there and glad I can always go burn it off with a Bar Method class.

(fonuts) is located at 8104 West 3rd Street Los Angeles, CA 90048
I believe their hours next week will be 7am-7pm
Follow along @fonuts on twitter for all the latest info!!