Couscous salad and a not-nutrition-related-story!

Hello hello! How is it going on the other side of the screen? I’m really excited to share with you my summer plans in today’s post.

Has it ever happened to you that you fill out little forms, or buy a cereal box compulsively, or send a silly text just to win a prize? Well, I've tried that and many other things and I’m that person who just never wins anything. Not even a lollipop. But guess what? The first and only time in my life I ever won a prize was last November. Here’s the story:

Every year, my friends and I have a Halloween party at a friend’s house. Last year we decided to give it a theme and after hearing lots of suggestions, the one that won was “Anything But Clothes". Victor and I first thought of creating ourselves some outfits with pictures of everyone in our group of friends. But 2 days before the party…I came up with a different idea. Have you guys seen the video of “Somebody that I used to know” by Gotye? Well, it was being seen a lot during that time and we decided to get ourselves body-painted like the video. (Don’t worry, our special parts were covered with bandage!). It was a total success. 

(This is how they look like in the video)

(This is us!)

We arrived at the party and everyone was impressed. One of our friends told us about a costume contest that was going on, to which the prize was a trip to the Caribbean for two. We never really imagined we could win, but since it was free, we gave it a try. We uploaded a picture of us in the costume in an app called “Oohlala” and got people to vote for us. As you probably already imagine, 1 week later we won!!! They gave us a 3000$ gift card from a travel agency and we booked our trip to Riviera Maya. We’re leaving this Sunday for a week to a 4 star hotel with everything included! Can’t wait! From now on, you guys should give contests a try…some day the winner might be you :)

Right after that trip, we’ll come back to Montreal for a few days and then we’re leaving to Venezuela to visit my family. Then in August we’ll leave to France to visit Victor’s family. This might be the last summer in which I get to do so many things. Next year I’ll be close to graduation and I’ll probably need to get a job. I’ll try to get the best out of this one!

Going back to nutrition, here’s a healthy couscous salad I prepared for father’s day which I spent with my godfather and his family. They loved it and I hope you enjoy it too!

Serves 8, ready in 25 minutes

Ingredients:

-4 cups cooked whole wheat couscous (follow package instructions)

-1 zucchini, chopped in squares

-15 oz canned chick peas

-Juice of ½ lemon

-1 cup of chopped tomatoes

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/3 teaspoon pepper

-3 tablespoons olive oil

-1 tablespoon of herbs (I added a mix of basil and parsley)

Kitchin-it!

1. Add ½ tablespoon olive oil in a frying pan and heat over medium-heat.

2. Add the chopped zucchini and cook until soft.

3. In a large bowl, add the rest of the olive oil, the couscous, salt, pepper, lemon juice and herbs. Mix well.

4. Then add the tomatoes, chick peas and cooked zucchini. Mix well again.

5. Serve cool or at room temperature and enjoy it!