I got the special plate

So far this week I’ve made two repeat dinners and continued the same lunch rotation that began last week(ish).

Here’s my lil snacky kinda lunch.

And then here I am right back to my kale salad lunch.

I’ve been having blended juices and coconut clusters for breakfasts because I got another massive bag of them at Costco last time we were there and I will probably eat the entire bag myself just like I did last time.  It’s a one pound bag for the record.  It’s sweeter than I’d usually go for but sometimes I let myself have nice things.

Also, that dessert plate has the same chocolate coconut fat bombs and “candy bars’ by GP that I posted about a few days ago.

And if you want links to any of these recipes they are actually organized enough now for you to find by their photos in the recipes tab.  Hooray!

Oh and since I was on the subject of sweet things.  Well.  Ok, I actually wasn’t going to blog abut this because I thought it may be too controversial and get into a heated comments section that I am not here for…but…I checked out the Whole 30 book from the library out of curiosity’s sake.  Guys, it’s so weird.  It doesn’t make any sense to me.  Why is eating packaged larabars okay and baking from scratch not?  I mean, I know what the authors of the book say about it, so I’m not actually asking, but it just seems so arbitrary to me.  Recreating a “sweet” like banana bread with “compliant” ingredients (what an annoying term!!) is forbidden but then they go and allow protein shakes that are essentially milkshakes?  If you are trying to set people up to have a healthy relationship with food and reduce sugar cravings, that’s an awesome goal, but it’s very confusing when you are trying to convince people to forget about their old favorites and NOT TRY TO REMAKE THEM while including a recipe for salmon benendicts and sausage and the likes by REMAKING THEM.  Why can you re-make a savory food with “on plan” ingredients but not a sweet one?  But then randomly allow protein shakes and certain store bought bars?  It’s odd.  Anyway, I could write a lot more about it, but I won’t because (a) it doesn’t matter what I think since (b) I’m not going on the whole 30 diet and (c) it has worked really well for a ton of people!

Time to pick basil!

Since summer is maybe kinda (tear emoji) coming to a close, I wanted to make a ton of pesto to freeze while our garden is still producing it in abundance.  I’ve already jarred heaps of tomato sauce, so this seems the next best way to stretch out summer produce as long as possible.

Don’t worry…the tomatoes haven’t slowed down like I previously thought.  They just had a wave of regrowth so there were only green ones for a week or so, but now they are all ripening again!

I made two jars of almond basil pesto and one jar of pistachio basil pesto.

The only other ingredients were salt and olive oil.  So simple and fresh…and off to the freezer for when I’m missing the taste of summer in January.

I bet I can get a few more jars in before school starts so maybe I’ll do a walnut + nutritional yeast blend next.

They asked to picnic lunch outside so I said sure and then loaded up their plates with hard boiled eggs, blueberries, nectarines, banana bread muffins, and seaweed. They were in heaven.

Here is dinner re-do number one.

The OG post on it can be found here.

Kale salad with chicken, feta, and seeds.  I never posted a real “recipe” per se, last time, and I won’t this time either because it’s obviously the kind of dish where ratios and precision don’t matter.

It’s delicious though, and you should give it a try because I found a new feta to offer you as an alternative to the last one I plugged.

It’s just as briny as the last, holds it’s texture about the same (holds a nice clump but yields to a crumble without much effort), and was actually on sale at Nugget.  I have no clue if organic is important in the non-cow milk world, but whatever.  Grass fed, organic, no GMO, I’ll take it.

Did you know I am special today??  😛

I grew up with “the special plate” and got my own when Kyle and I got married.  It’s most notably used on birthdays, but every once in a while we pull it out to celebrate job stuff, or any other accomplishment.  As an adult with a established career path, you don’t get very many opportunities for the special plate, but I took on a new job recently that I’m really excited about and Kyle demanded we made a big deal out of it.  It’s not a huge thing, but it’s still meaningful for me because with BOTH of the kids going to school next year, I have been trying to find something small and awesome to pour my energy into.  At least for the (combined) 6 hours that I will be childless during the week.

I served it with rice and once again used the broth from cooking the chicken breasts in the IP as the liquid for the rice.  Easy, fast, and much more flavorful.

The second repeat dinner was this Greek chicken salad.  Kyle was out of town so I went for it!

I picked a bunch of tomatoes from the garden, which was the part of the recipe that took the longest, so that goes to show you how fast it is to make.

Once again, I made chicken in the IP.  Then I used the liquid to make chickpeas from dried beans.

Then I threw it all together, chopped it up, and dug in.

Such a favorite right now!!  Me and feta have a full on thinggggg.

Side note: I saw this on a shelf at the library (it was in the “recently arrived” section right next to where the “books on hold” are) and just grabbed it to flip through while the kids played on the computers.  HOURS LATER I was half way through and they were still happily playing.  P is basically learning to spell thanks to reading rabbit and V is learning Spanish thanks to Dora, so I am pretty sure my work is done.  HA.  Ok, but seriously, I loved the book so much I ended up checking it out and bringing it home and I’m nearly done with it!  I don’t read for pleasure at all anymore so this is a big deal.  Maybe the CBD oil is doing more than I’m giving it credit for.  Just today I accepted an offer to go to the pool THAT VERY MOMENT (at gymnastics camp pick up).  It was an impromptu run-in that turned into an afternoon of summer joy and I am still baffled that I just went with it all!  The end result was a nap-less V who was pretty much a nightmare from 5 pm on, but I’d probably still do it again.  Look at me!  I AM special!