The last bites of December – part 2

After the last round of mini muffins was such a hit I decided to make another batch.  But we were out of banana, so I opted  for the next favorite puree of the house.  Pumpkin!

P didn’t like them as much as the banana ones but still ate them when Earth Balance was added.  It was probably because they weren’t as sweet.  I used a tiny bit of maple syrup but otherwise they were just rice flour, chia and flax, coconut oil, baking powder, and almond milk.  Again, I didn’t write a recipe down because it was my typical “bake by look” approach.

Picking up where I left off with my previous food recap…

Kitchen craping continued!

I’m never without kale, so I made a basic massaged kale salad.  The boys wanted shrimp so I sautéed some for them, but added nooch and and hemp seeds to mine for an easy protein and nutrient packed dinner.

Bread and cheesy tofu sauce (from a few weeks ago) on the side.

Which brings us tooooooooo a holiday party!

We were at my parents’ house for a long weekend which included a holiday party and a wedding shower (for my middle sis).

The only note I have about this party fare is ROSEMARY MARCONA ALMONDSSSSSSS.  I ate them almost exclusively for dinner, along with some desserts that were hidden in the laundry room because they had peanut butter and my mom didn’t want the guests to contaminate her entire house with P around.  She’s the best I tell you.  But yeah, it was a rather meat-y party and I wasn’t in the mood so I stuck to the almonds, veggies, and forbidden fruit (peanut butter fudge squares).   Yes, squares is way plural.

Look!  Proof I can still do my hair!

Apparently I was too wrapped up in the right stuff to bother with food pics for the rest of the weekend but my sister’s shower was pinterest chic and their was a dairy free quiche and spinach salad with candied pecans and pomegranate seeds that I owned.  Also, leftovers galore because my mom bought 30592 times the amount of food she needed for the holiday party.  Apparently when you get older you just want to booze and food is not a priority because there was hardly any comida touched…but the bar scene was INSANE.  My dad was on point as mixologist.

Since it took us a million and one decades to get back to Davis (hashtag holiday traffic) we swooped into the store for some rotisserie chicken.  I whipped up a Caesar on the side.  Along with brown rice (quick setting on the rice cooker) and dinner was done.

Make yourself comfortable buddy.

Pulled this tri-tip from the freezer for dinner another night and seared it on both sides before adding it to the oven with a bunch of baby carrots.

SO RICH.  Intensely rich.  A little goes a long way with tri-tip (which is one of the only kinds of beef I like).  P, on the other hand, loved this soooooo much, which surprised me a little since it’s kinda chewy.

We bought it from Costco and the portion was enough for two dinners (almost).  We had the second serving a week later.

But we had to bulk it up with extra veggies that second time (see below) but still had tricolor quinoa and carrots.

That was several days later though, so let me back up to pre-Christmas so I can get this post in order.

Uhhhh, I don’t even know.  Obviously this was some breakfast I ate.  I guess I was out of bananas still because I was doing smoothies up until I took a grocery shopping hiatus and tried to make do with odds and ends from the freezer and pantry.

Another pacman lunch.  I’m sure there was fruit involved too…unless he had just eaten a whole apple on the car ride home (from wherever we were that morning).  I probably had kale for lunch.  Unless it was the day my sister and her fiancé came to visit because that day we got take away sandos from Nugget.  Otherwise kale FO LYFE.

I have shown this dinner a million times by now, but it never disappoints.  It may even be our NYE meal because we love it so much.  But I’m trying to pump myself up to make something “special” for that night.  TBD.

You know the combo by now, right?  White rice, broccoli, and Asian flavored salmon (fresh grated ginger, tamari, olive oil, and fish sauce).

I keep forgetting to take pics of these as I eat them (I’ve had them a few times but they stay in the freezer so they are generally eaten in haste when food photograph is the last thing on my mind).  I posted the recipes back when I made them.  Some are lactation cookies.  Some are just cookies.  But I like pretending that if they have oats they are essentially the same as oatmeal.  It’s a fair comparison right?

This looks a hot mess but it tasted legit.  Allow me to explain.

Nevermind, explaining isn’t necessary.  Omelets yo.  AM in the PM is what you do when you have slim pickins in the fridge.

We all enjoyed it, I just wish I’d made a bigger one because P wanted seconds and we were all out.  Oops!  That ripped missing portion was his because I wasn’t ready yet but he couldn’t wait any longer.  Hangry meltdowns may be a genetic thing.  Or a universal thing.

Nothing super fancy for the 24th.  Kyle requested spaghetti and meatballs but we didn’t have spaghetti on hand so I just made penne and meatballs.  We almost always have ground beef in the freezer (I buy organic grass fed yadda yadda in bulk when it’s on sale).

That massive vat is what I now have to use to cook enough pasta for our family.  It looks insane right?  Appetites like whoa up in here.  My portion is on the right above, which includes some of the spaghetti squash casserole I made earlier this month (see previous post).

I’m going to do a separate post recapping our Christmas festivities, but for now, here’s the waffle mix I made the night before.

It was loosely based on one of Ashley’s recipes, but then I changed it so much as I was cooking it ended up being pumpkin and gingerbread-y instead of blueberry-y.  It turned out great!

[Insert a couple of days of holiday cheer]

After we got back to Davis we were in the mood for healthy fare big time.  Kale and kale and more kale.  As you can see, dinner was basically that.

The next couple days were a bit of a scramble as I tried to get our ducks in a row before making a grocery list and hitting up TJs/WFs.  Per usual, the pantry and freezer came to the rescue.

I bought this on impulse from Thrive a while ago and was waiting for a fun use for it.  Red rice seems a good match for sausage, no?  And why not throw in some kale for good measure!?

P was a big big fan (we all were) and had seconds that filled his bowl just as much as his first portion.

His favorite was the sausage (which he polished off first, of course) but he definitely ate the rest with just as much gusto even after the meat was gone.

I cooked the rice in the rice cooker earlier in the day and then fried it in lots of olive oil with the sausage that night.

It was a little nutty with a chewy texture and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  Alter Eco makes such great stuff.  I adore their chocolate, obvs, but I’m finding more and more that their other stuff is great as well!  And I have Thrive Market to thank for it, because I’d never have known about their diverse line of products otherwise.

And speaking of Thrive Market – they are having massive sales right now for the end of the year AND they are starting to sell their own private label items (for way cheaper than you’d find anywhere else) – so if you haven’t joined yet, I’d say 2016 is your moment.  I just placed and order which included their new honey dijon dressing and it’s super clean ingredients like the kind I would make at home.

Back to dinners.  We had leftover bacon from Christmas breakfast, so I put it to use in our dinners the following week.  What goes with bacon better than brussels sprouts?  Nada.

I sautéed it all in the bacon’s own fat, plus some white balsamic vinegar.  Then I nestled in some eggs to make it a hash of sorts.

I placed the lid on and let them steam while Kyle and I went to put V down.

Got back to gooey yolk perfection.

It was a big hit with the boys, as is pretty much anything with bacon.

I ate 10% of the bacon in my own bowl and gave the rest to P.

Also, we paired the dish with biscuits I made a few days prior.

I made these for Kyle because we had extra gravy and he loves biscuits and gravy, so I figured why not.  He loved them.

And with that, I’m going to call it a year.

See you on the flip side, where I will show off alllllll the yummy chocolate and sweets Santa got me.  🙂

Cheers to a 2016 that is as full of love and joy as 2015 was.