You’re gonna be bored of this breakfast shot soon. If not already. I’ll make something new this weekend just to have a different start to the day. it makes the weekends special. Until then…
Today was our last day with froggy, which meant I was doing some last minute scrambling the day before to finish up his adventure journal. I was not ready for homework this soon. I need to get my A game on before next year when it really matters.
The best part about having froggy come stay with you is the backpack, naturally.
Anyway, V and I went to creative playtime after his drop off and made it home in time for me to prep their lunches before pick up. That got them into bed faster than usual, which was nice because then I got to properly sit down and enjoy this, nice, and, slow.
Stars of the meal include these roasted nuts and this dressing.
I’ll get to the nuts in a sec, but first lemme tell you guys how awesome this dressing/marinade is!! Totally mind blowing! I’ve never tried any Kewpie products before, but bought this on a whim after Costco stopped carrying my beloved miso dressing and I went searching the aisles of Nugget for a replacement. I need an Asian-ish salad dressing on hand at all times.
It’s really really good. It’s unlike salad dressing in a way that I can’t really describe, but I don’t know that I’d use it exclusively as a marinade because it’s so good I feel it would be wasted in that limited role. After this one use I’m hooked.
Now for the nuts. I meant to share the recipe when I posted about it a few days ago but somehow forgot. Oops! Sorry. I don’t know if it’s a perfect recipe, but it’s good enough, and I will tell you the ways I may tweak it next time so you can hopefully improve upon it and get it just right.
Sesame Coconut Oil Roasted Almonds
Ingredients:
- 3 cups raw almonds
- 4 tbsp melted coconut oil (was too much – consider reducing to 2 tbsp)
- 1/2 – 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup sesame seeds
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp honey, warmed
Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F. Warm the honey and the coconut oil and combine them so they are melted together (this will help you avoid the issue I had of clumping honey clusters). Next add the almonds and toss them in the honey/oil. Once they are coated, add the rest of the ingredients, stir to combine, and pour onto a large greased baking sheet so they are well spread out. Roast for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
The salty sweet combo of these is irresistible and the savory nature of the sesame really gives them something special with the creamy coconut oil. I can’t stop eating them. They are the perfect salad topper, but they are also a perfect snack on their own.
Off to score some goals!
I had dinner all prepped so it was seamless when we got home.
Whole chicken from the IP made into…curry lettuce cups…AGAIN. We just love this recipe. V even said, out of the blue, how much she liked the meal and asked if we could have it again some day. There’s nothing I love more than someone appreciating my cooking, but it’s usually Kyle (or me) so when it’s one of the kids, it’s a real joy.
I put there’s in flatbreads and gave them lettuce on the side because it would be way too messy to have them attempt lettuce cups. Sometimes P is okay with it when they are super sturdy lettuce cups.
Once again I allllmost forgot to add mint, but remembered just in time to put it on mine and Kyle’s. Why do I always forget fresh herbs when I make meals. It’s like the end of the cooking process and I’m just so relieved that everyone is at the table and the chaos of the kids getting settled with their food makes my mind go blank. I swear it is alarming how many times a day my brain fails me. It freaks me out, to be honest. I hope this is just because I’m in the thick of this crazy time of life and that my synapses once lost will not be gone forever. Fingers crossed. Either way, I probably won’t remember that I felt this way in an hour.
I ended up going back for seconds an hour later and finishing off the meal. I didn’t feel like anything sweet (ie dessert) but knew I’d be hungry if I didn’t eat more that night and the curry chicken was so good I just went ahead and polished it off. Don’t mind if I do!
My kids aren’t super early morning risers (maybe I’m jaded but 6:30 isn’t too bad in my opinion) but until the time change, it’s quite dark at that hour nowadays.
I set them up with some crafts while I took on the pomegranates…
Our friends have a tree and gave me some for my birthday.
Such a gorgeous color!
They ate pom arils and pancakes for breakfast and then played until 9, at which point we packed up for stroller strides. It was a special pumpkin themed day, and they could hardly wait for the mamas to finish up with the workout so they could start their craft.
There was a potluck too, but we steered clear as soon as I saw a peanut butter and apple platter.
They went to playground instead and next thing I knew it was noon. Time flies when you’re surrounded by mom friends.
Once home, they read books while I made lunches.
Friday fridge scraping at it’s finest. Truth be told, I’ve been regularly giving them lettuce as their veggie when I run out of other stuff. Even when I chop a bunch of cucumbers, bell peppers, and celery at the beginning of the week, it’s definitely gone by Friday. So spinach and kale are my fillers because I always have one or the other on hand (they eat so many carrots, I try to give a bit of diversity).
My lunch!
I finally got around to the leftovers from Monday’s dinner. Just as good the second time around but I wish it had more dressing. I used smoked salmon instead of chicken this time.
V took a super short nap so I decided to get to Costco and get something crossed off the weekend to do list early.
As soon as the kids saw this it was in our cart. They have different characters on the stickers. Oh Disney. You are so sneaky. They were a good ($) deal though, so it was a win win.
They played in the back yard with the boxes from our haul while I put things away and made dinner.
One of the main perks of doing a whole chicken in the IP is having chicken on hand for last minute meal options. Thursday’s curry chicken was planned, but Friday’s dinner, which also used up the chicken meat, was not.
I’m getting ahead of myself though.
As soon as Kyle got home from work we went to fundraiser downtown for the Sonoma Fire Relief. It had a bounce house and – with white knuckles – we let V go in and have a turn. Eeeek! She was fine. I sprouted 10 gray hairs in the process though, I’m sure. But due to the aforementioned short nap, their moods were subpar, and we wound up leaving after only 30 minutes. She wailed the entire walk to the car, but we left without any broken bones, so I’m considering it a success.
Dinner was spaghetti with peas and chicken.
The kids got nooch which is basically a sure fire way to get them to eat anything. They like noodles and peas and chicken, so it wasn’t necessary in this case, but they each asked for more nooch multiple times throughout the meal.
Kyle got parm instead.
After getting the kids in bed and hot tubbing we got our dessert on.
After feeling bloated and blah the past few days, I finally got my period and now feel relieved that it wasn’t all due to my gut reacting to my indulgent (not strictly fodmaps friendly) birthday diet. I thought my body was back on track after a missed month, but it looks like I’m still having kinda wacky irregular cycles. Sorry for the TMI nature of this, but I don’t want you guys to think I’m a loser who can’t keep track of when 30 days comes. I assure you I can count. It’s been 45 days though. So at least now I know why my gut has been so sensitive this week. I was annoyed that I had made such an effort to reset it on Wednesday, and then again on Thursday, and didn’t feel like it worked. So that’s the silver lining I suppose.
These smores bars are really good. Even though the marshmallows aren’t fluffy anymore they’re still burnt and chewy, giving off a seriously authentic campfire flavor.
I had two squares for dessert. 🙂
Have a good weekend!
Gah, that Kewpie sesame stuff is UH-maaaaaaayzing!! Actually when i was in CA in august my parents had a huge bottle of it they had picked up at costco! I totally dunked about everything in it. Definitely better as a dressing than a marinade. Kewpie mayo is actually exactly as amazing as everyone says it is- I’ve ordered it online because stores here sell it for $$, i want to say i ordered it from target…?
Pumpkin painting is such a fun thing to do! Heck i would totally enjoy that:)) That’s too funny that the kids love nooch! It’s practically a food group for me, especially now that there’s a WF nearby, so my shaker jar is never empty….
glad the grumpy tummy was sorted out an not entirely due to your celebratory meals
I am always in awe of what your kids eat! I put a veggie on my daughter’s plate at almost every meal (if not a veggie, then a fruit which she will definitely eat), but she hardly ever eats it unless it is one of a very select few. I’m just curious–did you/do you have a one bite rule with veggies? I don’t know how to get her to taste things…she says she doesn’t like broccoli, but I seriously don’t remember her every putting it in her mouth. Same with peppers (raw and cooked) and raw carrots and and and…I don’t want to force it and make her cry and resist even more, but I do think she would like some things (carrots!) if she would just taste them. I kind of feel like she might be a bit young for a one bite rule (22 months), but I also want her to get used to veggies!
I honestly have no clues that I’m sure you haven’t already thought of – here’s a post I wrote a while ago: http://www.hungryhungryhippie.com/five-ways-to-get-your-kid-to-eat-broccoli/
Thanks!
What’s the recipe for the s’more bars?! I NEED those! Mmm! Also… for the whole irregular cycles… Try seed cycling, I had great results with that & if it doesn’t work for you… well no side effects & it’s a great way to get in fats! 🙂
Just looked into it – very intriguing! I may just try it because, like you said, it’s easy enough to eat seeds that I’d be eating anyway but this time with a purposeful pattern.
The smores recipe is here: https://acleanbake.com/paleo-smores-bars/