Indian Food and Quinoa Flakes

Good morning all! I don't know why since clearly I do not control the weather, but I feel the need to apologize to everyone visiting Boston this weekend for the weather. It's just yucky, especially for this time of year, rainy and cold. We swear, Boston can be nice :)

I woke up this morning freezing and all I could think about is hot yoga. I was going to go to the hour long class at 11, but I decided to brave the hour and a half class to go earlier. I usually avoid the long classes because of my short attention span, but I know I have to get used to a few long classes each week if I am really going to make it to 31 classes in the month of May. My arms hurt just thinking about it...

I know you guys probably think I live in a food bubble since I confessed to never really trying Mexican food (except chips and salsa) until I was in Arizona. Now I'm going to add to those thoughts because last night was my first try at Indian food. I think I've at least tried most of the major cuisines of the world now, at least I hope.

I was a bit nervous about Indian food because I'm never a fan of the smell of it, but I decided at the very least I hate it and I go to TCBY and have frozen yogurt for dinner (obviously I was hoping this would happen!). Eric and I went to Punjab in Arlington on a recommendation from a 3rd grader I tutor. Don't worry I did double check some adult reviews.

When we walked in, I was shocked at how big the place was. I mean I know this isn't downtown Boston, but still.

We got a nice table at the front of the restaurant with good views for people watching.

It took a little while for our food to come, which I probably wouldn't have noticed except that I never really order appetizers (unless I'm ordering one for a meal) and at places that don't give you bread or soup first, I start to get pretty hungry.

Eric ordered one of the dosas, which is a thin crispy crepe stuffed with spicy mashed potato and some kind of meat. I thought he got the chicken, but I don't exactly remember at the moment and he probably wouldn't appreciate me waking him up to ask :)

I ordered the chicken tikka, which is chicken marinated for 24 hours in low-fat yogurt and "exotic spices" and then cooked in the tandoori oven. It came with dal soup (which is lentil soup with Indian spices)...

Both of our meals came with a side of Naan...

The meal was different than anything I usually eat but I really enjoyed it. The chicken was so flavorful and moist and I loved the Naan dipped in the dal soup. Yum. I think Indian food can go on my list of things I like now, though I think I like Mexican more if anyone wanted to keep track.

This morning I ran out of oatmeal and decided to try something new, quinoa flakes...

I'm a big fan of quinoa so I figured I'd cook it like oatmeal. It needs a bit more water than oatmeal, which they tell you on the box but of course I didn't listen so I had to add some extra in the middle of cooking, oops. This is what it looked like cooked, with some cinnamon and chia seeds...

Then with chopped apple on top...

I really enjoyed the quinoa breakfast actually, probably not as much as I enjoy my oatmeal but definitely nice for a change. Perhaps some of my gluten free friends may want to try this? or everyone?

Alright, I'm off to go run some errands. Eric and I have a weekend filled with social events, and then we are headed to the Cape for April vacation (teacher perk). I know it seems weird to leave Boston when so many exciting things happen around here, but I think when you've been fighting Patriot's Day traffic, and watching people run for 25 years sometimes you just need a little break away from all the crazyness. I do wish a triple good luck to everyone running the marathon on Monday- I know you guys are going to be awesome! I hope the weather is going to be perfect for you :)

What are you all up to this weekend?