Helping hands

In my ongoing effort to clean out the freezer and not forget about things buried in the depths of tupperware, I pulled some banola out for breakfast.

Hooray!  Food that is yummy that I didn’t have to prepare.  I don’t know why I am so apathetic about breakfast lately.  Truth be told, I’m not sure how freezer friendly it was, but I didn’t really care.  My coffee was sweet so I was okay with a more naturally/nutty tasting granola. After dropping P off at school we went to the store.

Even though we were JUST at TJs the day before, Valley and I returned to the store for a “field trip” on Monday with our MOPS group.  My favorite employee was there and recognized me and that gave my friends a laugh because OF COURSE they know me at the grocery store. 🙂

V enjoyed ringing up her groceries and most importantly, the sample.

After that it was off to the park.  Gotta get the wiggles out for the short while the sun’s out this week.

Back to this beautiful salad!

In case you missed it, my vegan Winter salad has been on repeat for a month or more now, and I don’t see the end of the phase hitting any time soon.

Need a refresher on the contents?  First up, curly kale massaged in balsamic vinaigrette.  Then roasted butternut squash, followed by half an avo, and topped with candied walnuts and dried cranberries.

Seriously, the most perfect thing I have ever made.  At least right now.  😛

We had the afternoon free (so rare!), so we enjoyed the down time together…snacking al fresco and playing on bikes and scooters.

Once they were happily in their own imaginary games I snuck inside to finish the prep for dinner.

I was making the roasted cauliflower and lentils salad from Gena’s Power Plates cookbook.

The smell of the lemon zest with sumac, cumin, salt and pepper was a promising start.

While they were in the oven I made lentils and then the kids decided they wanted to go to the park.  So off we went!

They have been re-doing so many of the parks in Davis lately, and the latest to get a face lift was one of our closest ones.  It finally reopened this past week and I couldn’t wait to see what it looked like now.

We ran into friends there and the kids were in heaven on the zip lines and climbing nets for over an hour straight while I got to hang out with a friend.  WINNING!!!

But eventually we had to head home to finish making dinner.

Lucky me, I had helpers ready to lend a hand.

I wasn’t sure how they’d respond to this meal which is why I had them be as hands on as possible.

I’m not sure if it’s like this with all kids, but mine are definitely more eager to eat things when they’ve been involved with the cooking process.

I added sunflower seeds to the salad, but otherwise made it as is.

I was super excited for the tahini dressing.  And the browned crispy edges of roasted cauliflower.

Oh man was this ever a hit.

We were BARELY able to save enough for Kyle (who was busy and not getting home until later that evening).  And I really mean barely.  The kids wanted seconds and thirds as did I.  It was seriously stellar.  I texted Gena that very night to tell her what an awesome meal it was.

I will make this again and again and again.

Kyle got home and ate dinner after the kids were in bed and I had dessert.

His parents brought me this box when they visited last month.  It’s from a shop in Boise that is insane.  We went once when we visited them and I got way too many kinds of bark.

Needless to say, the truffles did not disappoint!

Talk about a great day of food.  🙂  It may have even been vegan now that I look back…I can’t remember if there’s egg in the banola.  Either way, delicious!!