Two date nights in one week

I stumbled upon this a week or so ago at Nugget Market and was SOOO tempted to buy it, but it was $$$ so I passed.  But then this week I went and they were on sale!  If that’s not a sign then I don’t know what is, right??

I mean I have been whining for a week now about how my breakfast game is struggling.  So this seems like divine intervention giving me the green light.

Because let’s be real.  I could easily just MAKE a dairy free, gluten free (grain free, paleo, etc) pumpkin bread on my own.

How cool that it has cashew flour and pecan meal!?  I unique twist that I was way excited to try out.  If you think about the cost of cashews and pecans, it’s kinda a steal at $5.99.

It’s a little squat (as most grain free loaves are), but it’s not like I am using it for a sandwich, so I don’t care.

I first tried it out on Tuesday morning with cashew butter and was SUPER into it.

It’s not very sweet, so that’s good, and definitely has a dominant pumpkin flavor with bold nutmeg and ginger notes.  And it’s fluffy with a light crumb – not dense at all.   I’m pretty sure it will only last for 4-5 servings, but for a treat, it’s not too too splurgy.

I spent the morning at library with both kids because I still didn’t think P was healthy enough for school.  I was wrong, though.  He was totally fine.  Oh well.  It’s hard to make the call by 8:45 am but his spirited dance performance during story time made it pretty clear that he was over his cold.

Yep.  This guy.  Again.

After lunch I banged out a TON of prep.  I juiced and shaved lemon and ginger for the next batch of kombucha.

I made a single lemon flavored bottle in my last batch and it was AMAZING, so I wanted to do that for the entire next batch.  They just keep getting better and better!  I haven’t bought a kombucha from the store in a month!  So pleased with this little hobby.  🙂

My SCOBY is a healthy MFer.

The rest of the prep included muffins (“cupcakes”) for Valley’s class.  I chose to bring snack her birthday week so I could bring her a birthday treat.  There’s a kid in her class who avoids gluten, dairy, and egg, so I really wanted to accommodate him.  His mom always brings his snack, but I’ve been that mom, and I wanted to give her a break and make him feel included.  So I embarked on a pretty tough baking challenge.

Since I was using aquafaba in place of eggs, I roasted chickpeas at the same time.

In addition to bean water, the muffins had banana, applesauce, oats, flax meal, cinnamon, avocado oil, salt, and baking soda.  Basically baked oatmeal.  But then you add frosting (coconut cream and sugar) and sprinkles and any kid is fooled.

I also made dinner for my sister and the kids. She called last week and offered TO COME OVER AND BABYSIT so Kyle and I could go out on a date.  I don’t think I could say yes fast enough.

I made them fried rice and once Kyle was home we were off!  I have never had a babysitter feed the kids, but I trust my sister, and she had no problem with doses or anything.  Hooray!

Meanwhile…in downtown Sac.

Check out the special menu with the message below the date!  Thank you Mulvaney’s.

This place has been on my radar for a while.  It has a new menu every night and focuses on all things local (and seasonal).

We started with a very meh amuse bouche, which neither of us were into, but whatever.  It was basically raw shaved carrots.  Weird.

In addition to the bread and butter (which I passed on), we split a red mustard frisee salad with B&L bacon, radish, hazelnuts, and a bacon vinaigrette.  The server mentioned it as one of her favorites and I liked it a lot.

But the highlight was the rib eye.  Wow wow wow.  The balsamic reduction butter was OUT OF THIS WORLD.

Kyle got the duck with risotto.

We both agreed this was one of the best places we’d been to in Sac (although Kru is still WAY AHEAD) and we’d happily go back again.

Make a wish, my love!

Kyle had an early morning train to catch, but these fools didn’t get the memo on sleeping in.  Boo.