Cranberry Dijon Dressing

I hope everyone's week is going well.  We have had a busy whirlwind of the last week or so!  Kevin and I finally (FINALLY!) joined a local gym last week.  We have put this off for a while, (1) because we are still working on paying school loans and trying to save money wherever we can, and (2) we did not want to be part of that notorious "New Year's Resolution" group that get gym memberships and crowd up the gyms at the beginning of the year, but soon lose motivation and get snickered at by the regular gym people.

So far, I love it!  It is a fairly large gym, but not so much so that you feel intimidated.  They have an approachable weight room, mats for stretching and floor exercises, an open cardio area, several basketball courts, a cycling room, a large studio room for Zumba, and a lovely relaxing yoga studio.  I have been doing 3-4 days on, 1-2 days off.  I also alternate between yoga days, and weight and cardio training days.  I have felt moderately sore in certain areas, but the yoga helps a lot to keep me from feeling too stiff.

Since we have started a routine of going to the gym in the evenings (I don't know if we will ever be morning workout people!), much of my nights are eaten up by working out, showering, heating up frozen leftovers or making a quick salad, reading or knitting, and then bedtime.  Yesterday, however, was a rest day and I had one of my best girlfriends over for dinner.  I made us a lovely salad with baked sweet potatoes on the side.  For the salad I decided to create a new dressing (Yay!  Finally a new recipe!).  Hope you enjoy:

Cranberry Dijon Dressing

Servings: 2 cups dressing, approximately 8-10 servings
Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup filtered water
• 1/2 cup raw almonds
• 1/4 cup dried cranberries (craisins)
• 2 Tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp miso
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions:

1. Place all ingredients into a high speed blender and blend until smooth and creamy.
2. If the dressing is too thick for your liking, add water by the Tablespoon and blend until you have reached your desired consistency.
3. Serve as a sweet and tangy dip, or on a nutritious salad of your choice.
4. Store in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a week or so.  Add more water and shake if the dressing thickens after being stored.

Amy's Notes:

I used this dressing on the salad pictured below, which contained mixed salad greens, broccoli, carrots, red onion, chopped almonds, raw pumpkin seeds, and craisins.  So Yummy!
Also, please forgive the lower quality of pictures!  I have been working with my iPad camera, and have been testing out different Photo editing apps to get the best quality for my time and money.  Remember that all my images are Pin-able now too!