Moroccan Cous Cous

Today has been a pretty good day! I started my day off with a Green Monster! It had blueberry yogurt, one banana, about 2 cups of spinach, and a few ice cubes.
I dumped it into my waterbottle to drink on the way to church!
After church my mom and I went to Chipoltle while my Dad, brother, and sister went to KFC.
I have to say I was a little disappointed in this new Chipoltle in Gainesville! They don't fill up with as much stuff as other Chipoltle's! My mom got a fajita burrito and they put like 2 slivers of onions and 2 slivers of peppers on her burrito- it was so ridiculous! However because they stuffed it with less stuff I was able to eat it and not feel as stuffed as usual. After lunch I proceeded to lay outside by the pool for most of the day, taking a break to help my dad put away the pool cover and bring out and hose off some more of the pool furniture. I can't believe this is the first time I've got to lay out by the pool- tomorrow (or today I suppose) it is June! This is the latest we have ever opened the pool because our pump kept breaking. And even though I was laying out by the pool it still wasn't swimmable, we are still getting rid of the algae and balancing the chemicals- hopefully by next weekend it will be swimmable!

After a relaxing day by the pool I started cooking dinner- Moroccan Cous Cous inspired by the cous cous I had at Epcot in Morocco during my spring break trip to Disney World!
It was pretty delicious if I do say so myself! I looked up a bunch of recipes online and combine them all together to make my own

Moroccan Cous Cous
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon coriander
1 large onion
zest of one orange
1 cup raisins
juice of half a large orange (or one whole orange if its a small orange)
2 cups beef broth
2 cups cous cous
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds

1. Combine the spices in a saucepan and gently heat together for a couple minutes
2. Add half the onion and cook until soft
3. Add the orange zest and 2/3 of the cup of raisins and cook for a couple minutes
4. Add in the orange juice and beef broth and bring the mixture to a boil
5. Add the cous cous, stir to combine, cover and remove from the heat.
6. Let the cous cous sit covered for 5 minutes.
7. While the cous cous cook the onions until they are caramelized
8. To serve the cous cous spoon some on the plate, top with caramelized onions, and sprinkle the extra raisins and almonds on top. (Also if you still have some of your orange leftover you can garnish it with an orange slice).

I really liked it but my carnivore family again complained that there was no meat, so my mom grilled hot dogs for them. Hot dogs and cous cous??? I really don't understand why they think that meat has to be in every single meal. I think we had enough meat to last the entire week in our burritos for lunch!

When my mom and I went to Costco yesterday we picked up one of their ginormous boxes of Ghiradelli Triple Chocolate Brownie mix! Now I'm usually all for making things from scratch and hate box mixes- but these brownies are the exception. These are some of the best brownies ever and yes they come out of a box. I baked them up after dinner and enjoyed mine hot with some So Delicious Coconut Coconut Milk Ice Cream on top! It was definitely delicious, but I think the Vanilla Coconut Milk ice cream would have been a little better because brownies and vanilla ice cream just go perfectly together!
During dessert I watched the MTV Movie Awards with my sister- did anyone else see the New Moon trailer! I'm so excited I can't wait for it to come out!!!

Also I'm excited because Rachel and I are going to The Melting Pot tomorrow! She gets gift cards from her dad's credit card rewards, so every now and then we get to go! I love fondue and expect an update tomorrow filled with mouth watering fondue pictures!