• 1 1/4 cup uncooked wild rice  quinoa
• 4 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds 1 T slivered/toasted almonds
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped ginger
• 1 tablespoon barley miso
• 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 cup shredded red cabbage (finely chopped in food processor)
• 1 medium carrot, shredded (fintly chopped in food processor)
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions, 1 tablespoon reserved for garnish

Bring 3 cups water  2 1/2 C vegetable stock  to a boil in a medium pot. Add rice  quinoa and return to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and rice  quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together vinegar, garlic, sesame  toasted almonds , ginger, miso and crushed red pepper until blended. When rice  quinoa is cooked,  add to bowl with vinegar mixture. Stir in cabbage, carrot and green onion until combined and garnish with remaining green onion.

I need to tell you about my lovely Mother’s Day yesterday.  As I told you, I typically dread the day b/c no matter how much time has passed, it’s still a dififcult holdiday for me & hard to celebrate with my family.  So, I thought that I’d start out my day with a nice run with my husband.  We never run together b/c of schedules, or child care, etc.  Yesterday was going to be our day to go on a nice run together.  I started out running, but was wearing a pair of capri’s that kept falling down & I kept hiking them up.  They were loose around the waist & a pain in the a** for me to run like that, so after 1/2 mile, I turned around & headed home.  I finished my workout with tabata bootcamp, so the morning wasn’t an epic fail!

My kids gave me the most wonderful homemade gifts.  A lovely book & poem & a power point presentation about me being a mom.  They were the best & my most favorite kinds of gifts!  Then, Benji gave me a frame with a picture of my first 2 loves; my mom & my first puppy!  It was so sweet, so of course I began to cry.  Then, Stone (my 11yr old) wanted to leave b/c he had enough of me crying & Benji told Stone to wait, there was more.  Well, Benji wasn’t sure which picture to put in the frame, so he put 4 others behind the 1st & of course the tears were now streaming down my face.  I couldn’t stop.  He knew it was going to happen & began to laugh.  I was crying happy tears b/c it was such a lovely gift.  Poor Stone didn’t know what to do with all of this emotion, so while I was crying & Benji was laughing, he had to walk away with permission from Benji.  It was quite the scene.  We have a weird sense of humor over here.  Then, we proceeded to go to the cemetery b/c that’s what I like to do on Mother’s Day.  Well, it usually takes us 45 minutes to get to the cemetery & it took us over 2 hrs b/c traffic was horrendous!  Benji, the boys & my mother in law were drudging along until we finally arrived!  We saw my mom & many other relatives there & then went to see my mother in laws grandparents.  I used to think it odd that people could enjoy going to cemeteries, but there is a tremendous amout of history there, it’s absolutely fascinating.  I never went as a kid, but think it’s important for my kids to go & be comfortable & not “freaked out” by visiting people they loved & miss.  Well, they’re comfortable, here are a few pics. we captured yesterday.