Heirloom Berry Quinoa Salad

How Do You Stay Balanced With Your Life, Spouse and Children?

It’s too hot out. I know, Arizona, Texas, Mississippi (yes I spelled that in my head like we did in elementary school) etc all have it worse, but I’m serious, it’s too dang hot. I just want light foods that are full of flavor and aren’t going to heat up my house. This berry quinoa salad recipe is perfection. It’s easy, lasts for days so you can continue to enjoy it for lunch and it wont heat up your whole house. Plus, the berries are what really sell me. I love berry salads like, strawberry cucumber salad, teriyaki chicken salad with raspberries, and strawberry kiwi salad, but this one is more filling which sometimes you just need. (See the bottom of the post to find my ultimate favorite lemon berry salad. We are obsessed.) But that’s not all we are going to talk about today. I recently had an experience that blows my mind…

Blogging is crazy busy and can definitely put our lives out of balance. It’s actually quite hard to keep up this life. The internet doesn’t ever sleep and things, seo, social media, FDA guidlines, etc, etc, etc, are constantly moving and changing. That means that bloggers don’t really sleep either. We are constantly thinking up new recipes, creating, testing, photographing, editing, writing posts, searching for what keywords are being used so that we can link correctly, plugging everything through a dozen social media channels, writing and answering emails and comments, pitching brands, using social media to tout our posts etc. It’s hard. It’s more work than I can ever describe. And on top of it, we are just like all of you.  Which means that this applies to all of us. But to keep my story clear of why I’m ranting about this I’ll tell it from a blogger perspective.

We have significant others, children, errands, workouts, heartaches, financial worries, you name it. I sincerely believe that life is difficult no matter what your career is, and it’s more so when one person in the home is having to give all of their time and energy to something that ultimately does not care for the family. I actually mentioned that to a BlogHer staff at a conference, that we need to talk about how to balance more because it becomes so easy to forget to build a blanket fort with the kids and take your hubs out on a special date where you love and support one another, and do you know what? They didn’t agree. They didn’t think food bloggers needed to talk about how to stay balanced, have a happy marriage, and still be present with their families. In fact, they specifically said, “Food bloggers need to know about seo, how to take good photos, and how to build an audience. They aren’t interested finding balance with their work and home life, and being in a happier marriage and being better/happier/more present parent.” I disagree. Family is number 1 to me, and I still struggle to care for them as if they were priceless and not get sucked into the computer, phone etc.

So, this is going to be a series. We are going to talk about it. Starting now we are going to go through each little element of a happy marriage/family and if you have a perfect marriage, great, read on anyway because a great marriage is one that endures and that you’re always working on,  and a strong family where kids feel loved, cherished and important only happens when we take the time to be aware of them, us and what our real role is adults. It’s not about the money and the status, sorry BlogHer but it’s about finding real happiness and balance that can only come when we take the TIME to care.

Am I really the only person out there looking to find true balance in a hectic life? Am I the only mom that wants to be the parent laying under the stars with her kids treasuring them instead of hurrying them off to bed so I can finish my work?

Heirloom Berry Quinoa Salad

Yield: 1 recipe

Heirloom Berry Quinoa Salad

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 Cup Quinoa
• 1 1/2 Cup Strawberries, chopped
• 1 1/2 Cup Heirloom tomatoes, chopped
• 1 1/4 Cup Marinated Mozzarella (we buy the tub from Costco)
• Salt to taste

Dressing

• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil (We use the olive oil with the mozzarella)
• 1 Tablespoon Lemon Juice
• 1/2 Teaspoon Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Balsamic Vinegar
• pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Cook the quinoa according to instructions.

The key to this salad is salt. The dressing is super easy and has a light, summery flavor, the mozzarella is already marinated and the rest adds great flavor and variety, but an under seasoned quinoa is bland, really bland. I’d say that many of the quinoa salads I’ve tried are under seasoned unless it’s at a restaurant. Which I get, it’s scary to add salt because you don’t want to over do it, but just add a little at a time until it’s flavorful.

Nutrition Information

Yield: 1 recipe, Serving Size: 1

• Amount Per Serving:
• Calories: 1567 Calories
• Total Fat: 72.4g
• Cholesterol: 110.6mg
• Carbohydrates: 169.6g
• Fiber: 22.2g
• Sugar: 21.7g
• Protein: 64.6g

All images and text ©Carrian Cheney for Oh Sweet Basil.

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