Did you all have a decent Halloween? Our neighborhood was awesomely on top of it and we all texted to make sure everyone had (safe) plans to make it extra special for the kids. Since 2020 is such a dumpster fire otherwise, I really wanted the littles to have a good experience. They are young enough that they don’t have many memories or knowledge of what a “normal” Halloween is supposed to look like, so creating a covid friendly, but still fun holiday wasn’t too hard. We had lots of yard games and pre-packaged treats…although to be honest, at this point, just being around other kids is a thrill.
Anyway, the rest of the day was fairly normal. I cleaned the house and did a bunch of random things to get our post-Hawaii lives organized while Kyle took them to karate. It’s so hard to get anything done with them around 24/7! I can accomplish SO MUCH with an hour to myself.
And then we had a Halloween festival organized by our church at a local park, which was a blast.
And then Kyle broke in the new grill for the first time!
I marinated a skirt steak in olive oil, tamari, and balsamic vinegar (plus salt and pepper) for him to BBQ.
I’m not sure who missed this more! The kids LOVE steak. Kyle loves grilling. And I love having anyone else cook anything that takes some of the load off my plate.
The cornbread was an impulse buy from Nugget. I saw it first thing when I walked into the store the other day and couldn’t resist it! It did NOT disappoint. It was soooo soft and fluffy and had the most cake like crumb. The best part was the top – all sticky and sweet.
The only work I had to do was roast Brussels sprouts! And clean up. It was the perfect meal before heading out to the neighborhood to trick or treat.
One of our neighbors (and oenophile on account of her viticulture career), had champagne flutes on a tray on her porch that she was pouring on demand. I mean, does it get any better!?! So we got to drink while socializing in the cul de sac and letting the kids run around in costumes and play games.
And now that I’ve recapped the 31st of October, here are a few meals from the previous week(s) that I just now uploaded.
In one skillet I stir fried broccoli and beef in a teriyaki sauce. In another pan, I fried rice with mixed veggies, eggs, and sesame oil.
Cookies for breakfast is a thing when you have nothing in the house.
But then I pulled some leftover zucchini bake from the freezer so I had that with nut butter for a few days, too.
Sorry if you’re sick of seeing this grain salad, but I’m not tired of eating it, so it dominates 50% of my camera memory card.
Twice this week I had to eat in the car because we had to zip off to swimming before I got a chance to sit down.
Easy Mediterranean plate with TJs frozen falafel, fried halloumi, spinach and tomato salad, and pita with hummus.
I still need to perfect my cheese frying skills. I used a non stick skillet because I thought it would be easier, but I don’t think it really did?? I don’t know. It always seems dicey in the beginning but then if I leave it to really get a proper sear, it doesn’t get totally stuck on the pan. That said, I’m trying to phase out using my non-stick pans (I quit them years ago but then somehow started using them again a year ago). Using a stainless steel pan for cheese, though?? Is that a train wreck waiting to happen? Should I go with my cast iron? Ideas welcomed!
Another night, another bowl!
If it aint broke…
I made a lemon tahini dressing to pour all over some roasted veg, brown rice, and chickpeas. Then I added avocado and roasted almonds on top too.
Hippie bowl heaven, right there.
Breakfast repeats, just as good as ever. Zucchini bake with peanut butter (above) and Real Phat bread with Miyoko’s butter (below).
I feel the same way about non-stick pans. We got stainless steel, which I love, but somehow I keep pulling out the couple of nonstick we still have. Mainly for eggs, but sometimes the ease of not worrying about as much sticking is so appealing…
it’s definitely eggs that are the issue. thats what made me switch over and then i got used to them. now im switching back to stainless but may look into other options…like the green pan?
When I was looking around I came across this article https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-nonstick-pan/amp/. That being said, a really well seasoned cast iron is probably the safest, although I’ve yet to really master getting my cast iron seasoned enough for eggs.
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