Party weekend was a big success. I don’t know why but I get a little anxiety leading up to things like this. Will the kids like the activities? Will P have fun? Will the other parents think I’m lame for being a minimalist? Will P realize that he’s not getting any presents? Anyway. It went great and everyone had a blast and I’m now ready to take a breather for a bit before starting on plans for my big girl.
Nourish bread and almond butter to start the day off right.
I froze my a$$ off on a bike ride. it was literally freezing at 30 degrees out but I really felt like cycling. It’s also one of the few things I can do easily right now with my foot issues. Ugh. I need to sort that out.
He wanted a pink cake but I didn’t want to give the kids food dyes and chemicals so I turned to WF (back when we went in Roseville on our way home from our ski day in Tahoe) and found this product by color kitchen.
It has beet powder and maltodextrin. That’s it.
And it made a lovely vivid pink frosting!
I frosted it, made a “P” out of sprinkles and called it a day. Pink candles too 😉
Did I mention this was the first time I made a sheet cake? It was the perfect size too!
Since I was doing last minute stuff to get ready for the party (I made a nature scavenger hunt for the kids to do at the park) I had a snacky lunch.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to my amazing, silly, special son!
This is what a big F I V E year old smile looks like. 🙂
After cake, we painted the things we collected from the nature hunt and then called it a day.
Dinner was a total afterthought, but I did manage to pull something together.
I had wanted to make Gwyneth’s “Frankie’s esque beet salad” from It’s All Good last week (for my lunch) but never got around to it (read: I didn’t want anything but my vegan Winter salad). It’s WAY simple – made from roasted beets, avo, and a simple vinaigrette – which made it the ideal option for this night. The only problem is, nobody really likes beets but me. The rest of the family tolerates them, but wouldn’t want a beet centered dish, that’s for sure.
Which is why I also pulled this from the freezer.
Freezer meals for the win!
I don’t even remember when I made this, but based on the ingreds I can tell you exactly how it came to be.
I probably got a two pack of GF pie crusts but only needed one and then decided to make something to freeze with the extra…and then threw everything random I had in the fridge in it. Kitchen sink quiche!
It was all kinds of random, but everyone liked it so that’s all that matters!
I had the salad on the side. Not the best meal of the week by any means, but whatever.
The next morning we had brunch plans 🙂
I’ve been really craving Pushkin’s. I swear it is the BEST breakfast in the area…and just happens to be GF and DF.
We got almond milk lattes to start. YES PLEASE.
And then this vegan parfait with coconut milk yogurt! It is to die for! I need to get their recipe for the yogurt..it’s insane. It’s so thick and rich and decadent. Weird side note: sometimes a lot of coconut makes me a little nauseous. It’s like it’s too much fat or something? It happens with canned coconut milk in my coffee all the time… ANYWAY. It happened after I had this dish last time at Pushkin’s and it kinda happened again, but since I was sort of anticipating it, it was fine.
I got the kids both waffles. They shared one and a half, along with a side of bacon, so I took the rest of the waffles home for me. <–my plan all along
Kyle got the BLT and added a fried egg on top. Two very enthusiastic thumbs up.
After breakfast, Kyle and V went home separately and P and I drove a few blocks over to Art Beast.
I’m trying to have some major one on one time with P because he’s going through something right now.
We had a really fun time together. I did a bunch of art too!
Van Gogh! He actually learned about starry night recently…
After we got home I let P have some solo time while I bottled my first batch of kombucha!
Look at that massive beautiful SCOBY on top! Amazing. Now I only have a few days of waiting for the second fermentation to finish before I give it a taste! So excited!
We tackled the weekly grocery shopping as a family after naps, and then I got to work on dinner. I made Gena’s tofu chop salad from Power Plates, only I used almond butter instead of peanut for the dressing. And I doubled it, because we are big time sauce people.
Check it out!! Peanuts! I didn’t give any to P (this time!) but just eating it IN HIS PRESENCE is a huge deal. Normally I’d swap in cashews or almonds or sunflower seeds for a recipe that calls for peanuts, but I had so many nuts at lunch (whoops, forgot to take a pic) that I wanted to have peanuts to diversify.
This dish was awesome. I added cilantro, but otherwise made no changes.
And then once V was bathed and in bed and P had his dairy dose, I went to my friend’s house to do some MOPS planning. Late night!!
Good thing I did so much prep before the weekend because I seem to have overextended myself a bit and am struggling to get any down time, either with me or Kyle. I know it’s just a phase though and I’m fortunate to have so many friends and opportunities (and kids who want me 100% of the time…), so I’ll focus on the positive and end the post with that. 🙂
Are you flavoring your kombucha with fruit or anything? I just started brewing too and made my first batch last week. I’m looking forward to experimenting!
Not yet! I wanted to make sure I got the hang of it with a plain batch first, but I may try to do a ginger one for this second batch I have going…
I’ve had the same issue with too much coconut (usually coconut butter)—it makes me a little sick to my stomach. Probably something about that particular mix of fatty acids…weird!
Your kombucha looks awesome!! If the bottles aren’t bubbly you can always add a splash of plain seltzer water. And be sure to pour from the bottle into a glass because there is usually a baby scoby in the bottle (that’s a good thing!) and you wanna remove that before drinking.
And it might really kinda suck, but the flavor improves a lot with each batch as the unique yeast/bacteria combo multiplies.
I love P’s pink cake!! I love that he wanted a pink cake! The scavenger hunt sounds super cool too. Kid parties are totally stressful to plan and orchestrate but it sounds like a great success in a really busy weekend :).
And i want a pushkin’s in my hood very badly.
Hey girl, BINGO on the coconut yogurt and not feeling great afterwards. I am doing really well on this protocol I had told you about—really well and at some point we need to share my routine and fabulous results. It’s been life changing. I started following you all those years ago bec we shared commonalities and now u r my fav blog friend so whenever you can do this too! The meal you made with the peanuts is a weekly occurrence forever in my house—I love the tofu with the peanuts, rice and sauce. I use broccoli. Your in a busy season of your life and just as you know motherhood comes with no vacation time, but a sh@t load of rewarding leasure and enjoyment. Cheers to that beautiful looking kombucha.