Father’s Day weekend

Another fun one.  Saturdays and Sundays are my faves because I get to spend them with both my boys.

Friday evening Kyle BBQ-ed some shrimp and corn and I made a salad.

I marinated 2 pounds of shrimp in Garlic Gold red wine vinaigrette.  It contains garlic infused olive oil and red wine and Italian seasonings.  No garlic, so it’s totally FODMAPs friendly.  And the shrimp were freakin’ delish.

We got way too much.  Clearly.  But that means easy lunch leftovers.  Before is above, after is below.  Yeah, I bought cooked shrimp again.  I’m a wuss.  Raw shellfish still gives me the heebie jeebies.

I really can’t express how good the shrimp were.  I’m suddenly a huge seafood fan – and this marinade was really easy and really yummy.

 

That said, the rest of the meal was just as amazing.  I couldn’t possibly pick a favorite thing.

Corn and melon are SO summer.

I have had this cantaloupe for over a week.  I ate the first half long ago, but the second half has been in the fridge waiting to be used.  I decided I better get on it before it went downhill, so I used some in this salad (and froze the rest in chunks – awesome smoothies in my future!).

Let’s talk about this bomb salad.

Melon & Goat Cheese Salad [vegetarian, FODMPAs friendly]

Ingredients:

• 3 large handfuls spring greens
• 1/4 medium cantaloupe
• 4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled (I used Laura Chenel’s chevre)
• 2 tbsp TJ’s balsamic glaze

Directions:

Combine everything together (make as pretty as you want).

I scooped the melon out in thin slices, but cubes work too.

If you don’t have access to Trader Joe’s balsamic glaze, you can make your own (I think you just reduce balsamic vinegar on the stove top until it’s a thick sticky consistency).

So good!

I never thought much of the role of cheese in salads (having gone years and years asking for it be omitted), but it adds a LOT.  It’s creamy rich consistency goes so nicely with the fruity flavors.  The contrast of sweet and savory is pretty stellar.

I think it would be fabulous with citrus too.  And since we have oranges aplenty from our neighbor’s tree, you’ll definitely be seeing this again.

Oh and another warning, we got lots of corn for super cheap at the Farmer’s Market, so you’ll be seeing lots of it in the coming week also.

Dessert!  I ate half of it (3 bars of the 6).  SO GOOD.

The next morning was leisurely.  Hooray for weekends!

I tried a new to me granola by Udi’s.  The vanilla flavor wasn’t too strong, but I liked that it was a simple blend with just barely sweet oats and almond slivers.

 

Plus an egg on the side for protein.

We went to the Farmer’s Market later on, stopping by a field of sunflowers on the way.

It’s a few minutes from our house and we thought it would make a great photo backdrop.

I ate an entire bag of kettle pop kettle corn at the Farmer’s Market.  Salt and sugar together are impossible to resist.

Then P fell asleep and we went for a walk around a new (to us) park up by the hospital in North Davis.

For dinner (slash afternoon snacking) we continued our weekend tradition of al fresco dining.

Newcomers to the group this time included dry roasted almonds with salt & olive oil (omgomgomg!) a bottle of Veuve Clicquot.  Anyone know how to pronounce that champagne name by the way?

This uber fancy bottle was gifted to Kyle (last year) for his graduation from MBA school by my bestie Alene.  It’s so special it has it’s own clothes…

The almonds were from the Davis Farmer’s Market – from a farm called Sam Cabral and Family Orchard.  They have lots of nuts and olive oils, but these caught my eye immediately.  They’re crazy good.  Who doesn’t love salt?

The rest of the eats were goat gouda (farmer’s market), strawberries (farmer’s market), Mary’s Gone crackers (GF for me), and wheat crackers (for Kyle), and hard boiled eggs.

 

These berries melt in your mouth.

I got buzzed right away and had to pause so I didn’t impair my ability to nurse.  So we had seconds and thirds of the food…until evening came and we put P down.

We stayed up late(r than our normal 930 bedtime) to watch Suits.  My sis gave us the first season on DVD and we are almost done.  Love it.

The next morning was not a sleep in day because we had plans for Father’s Day!  I packed a AM&J (fresh grind almond butter from the Co-op and home-made raspberry jam) on Udi’s GF tortilla for the road.  FYI, the tortillas are the best GF brand I’ve had in terms of replicating the texture of flour, but they crumble pretty easily.  Still a huge fan though.  Will definitely buy again and again.

Hello old friend lover.  Decaf soy misto.

When is Starbucks going to get on the almond milk train?

 

Our big plans?  U-Pick fruit right in our own ‘hood.  I almost don’t want to share this hidden gem, but for any locals, the Cloverleaf Farm has stone fruit and blackberries that are super ripe and dirt cheap.

We got a pound of blackberries for $2.50 and 6 peaches for $2 (they’re $1/lb).

Last time I was at a U-Pick he was on the inside!

He fell asleep on the way home.

After he woke up, I changed and fed him and then we headed to downtown Davis for lunch.

Just look at the Crepeville menu.  There is SO MUCH stuff I want to try!

Kyle and I split a couple of things, including the Midtown Benedict (left) and the Fuji salad.  The Benedict had with poached eggs over fresh sliced tomatoes and avocado on english muffins topped with hollandaise and a side of house potatoes.  The salad had mixed greens with glazed balsamic vinaigrette, fuji apples and home-made caramelized walnuts.  We got the gorgonzola cheese on the side.

This was by far the favorite.  I gave Kyle my share of the english muffin to keep things wheat free.  The potatoes were out of control.  We were both mmmmm-ing like fools.

Either our eyes were bigger than our stomachs or their portions are really generous because the side of tuna salad that I got (in anticipation of adding it  the salad) was totally unnecessary.  But hey, lunch for tomorrow!  Kyle did finish off the focaccia along with the apples and cheese from the salad.  And I took down the rest of the salad by myself.  It was legit.

The meal was excellent, the service was quick (even though it was packed from all the family meals due to graduation and father’s day), and the price was totally reasonable.  Needless to say, Kyle and I were really pleased with Crepeville and will definitely be returning.  Probably should try the crepes next time.

We walked around town for a while and returned home once P fell asleep.

His afternoon nap lasted quite a while, so Kyle and I watched golf and sipped on iced tea.

After he woke up (and I changed and fed him) we went to Target for a few essentials.  “A few essentials” turned into a lot of stuff, but whatever.  When Ghirardelli’s has a sale on chocolate, it becomes an essential.  Am I right?  Presents for mom and dad meant P deserved something too…so we got him a toy…just to be fair.  And stimulate his senses.  🙂

We were going to BBQ for dinner but the propane tank was empty when Kyle went to fire up the grill, so I improvised.

Veggie burgers (365 southwesterns flavor) on the stove top + chipotle lime mayo + quinoa salad.

I made this mayo by combining Nasoya’s vegan whipped nayonaise with lime juice and chili powder.  So simple, but so fun for the taste buds.

Kyle ate his on toasted bread (Village Bakery sells their bread at the Davis Farmer’s market for buy one get the second for a $1).  I ate my burger just piled atop the quinoa.

Quinoa salad with tomatoes & corn [vegan, gluten free, FODMAPs friendly]

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa (or the yield from 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa)
• 1 cup corn
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 green onion, sliced (green parts only for FODMAPs people)
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Combine everything in a bowl and toss until well mixed.

If you want to stir in the chipotle lime mayo (recipe below), I think that’s a brilliant idea too.  I plan on it next time!

Chipotle Lime Mayo [vegan, gluten free]

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup vegan mayo (I like Nayonaise whipped)
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1/4 – 1/2 tsp chili powder

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together.  Adjust chili powder to preferred spiciness.

After dinner we played with P and his new toy.

After he went to bed, I cut Kyle’s hair and we dug into our own treat.

This is basically a fancy Milky Way bar.  It’s soooo gooooood.  I had 4 pieces and probably would have had more if Kyle hadn’t stopped at 2.  It’s not that I am self conscious about my chocolate consumption (trust me, that’s long gone), it’s that I didn’t want to dominate the bar we were supposed to share on Father’s Day.  Tomorrow though, all bets are off.  Chocolate fairness does not exist on the average day.