Labor day as a trio

Kyle was gone over the long weekend so I had dessert every night.  Because chocolate is my security blanket.

That yellow coated almond was a lemon creme almond that the Nugget employee made me try (I was chatting him up while getting my bulk bin discount on and he said they were a hidden gem of an item).  It was so good!  Like a lemon cream pie kind of thing?  Not that I’ve tasted lemon cream pie…is it different than lemon meringue pie?  Because I used to LOVE lemon meringue pie, but haven’t had it in well over two decades.  All of that is to say, I should have bought more, but it’s fine because I still have pounds (yes, pounds, plural) of dark chocolate covered walnuts instead.

For breakfast I had nourish bread (sliced and stashed in the freezer from a while ago) with cashew butter.

We went to Home Depot for the kid’s craft.  Kyle usually takes them, so this was my first time going.  There were way more steps than I was anticipating!

I sent this pic to Kyle and he said it wasn’t usually so elaborate…more like glue a few pieces together and then let them decorate.  Lucky me!

It took a lot of hammering and then once we (I) finally finished one field goal, we (I) got to start back over from square one to do the second for kiddo number two.

They were super into it, though, and then they painted them and now I am very excited for the start of the football season.  I had my fantasy draft this week!  Game on.

Snack plate for lunch.

I ate all the entire bag of kale chips, naturally, because that’s basically a single serving in my opinion.  TJs has been sold out of the “zesty nacho” flavored kale chips (the green bag) AND the Pastures of Eden feta the last two times I have gone shopping.  What is up with my favorites going out of stock??  Are they ever going to get the firecracker chocolate bar back again?  Maybe I should write them…although that hasn’t worked for the salad dressing (that comes with the kale and broccoli slaw salad and should definitely be bottled and sold separately).  I’d buy cases upon cases!

Moving on to dinner…which looks like what I usually have for lunch. 😛

The kids had leftover (quinoa beef and black bean chili) that they wanted so I made this for me.  The candied pecans were from the Nugget bulk bin sale too.  Such a score for me.  I’m seriously set on bulk goods for the rest of 2018.

Desert face strikes!

I started a new cheesy show while Kyle was out of town (because I need to watch something while my brain decompresses at night).  It’s kinda the perfect background for cooking and food prep and browsing the internet.  Maybe you’re all in on it already.  It’s called Younger and has Hilary Duff in it.  She’s actually a good actress!  Anyway, the episodes are super short and I’m flaying through them.  They may replace Housewives at this rate!

I don’t have any photos of Sunday morning because I was trying to get a workout in and feed everyone before church, which is much harder to do without a partner involved.  But I did it!  I busted out a Jillian Michaels routine while they ate banana egg muffins and fruit and then I showered while they played “baby dinosaurs” (their new favorite game) and we made it!  Phew.  I may have been tempted to skip it, but I was volunteering in the child care so it wasn’t an option. 🙂

Once they were fed and settled down for naps/quiet time, I made myself a Thai inspired salad with leftover salmon.

The kale was massaged in the sesame soy dressing from Nugget, and then I just added salty almonds, cilantro, and carrots.

DEEEELISH.

Eaten while watching the US Open.  Serena is a queen in my book.  Get it girl!

We had a play date that afternoon, which was awesome.  P has totally hit it off with a boy in his class and they’ve had play dates twice in the past week and I think it’s making the immersion transition soooo much easier.  They both look forward to seeing each other every day and (bonus!) I really like the parents too.

I made cauli gnocchi for dinner with the last bits of greens in the fridge.

Topped with heaps of sun dried tomatoes (and their oils), and a hunk of manchego on the side.

I stayed up late doing some work before tackling more food prep for the coming week.  V is starting school on Wednesday and I am feeling e v e r y t h i n g about it.  Mostly good happy feels because she is SUPER excited.

Monday was the only day of the weekend that I had ZERO things planned.  So I took the morning way slow.  I went on a bike ride and pulled the kids on the trailer while they listened to whatever they wanted on their discmen (The Magic Treehouse stories for him, the Frozen soundtrack for her). And then we all ate breakfast once we got back.

Followed by LOTS of time in the backyard and gardening.  Our front and back yard needed serious attention and things are looking way better now.  Phew.  And we harvested more produce…much of which got eaten for lunch that day.

It was their idea to make an egg dish with the chard so I was happy to oblige.

This all sautéed down to not much, but I only used half of it (and jarred up the rest for another day).

All it had was eggs, olive oil, and tamari.

Which I cooked on low until it was allllllmost set and then finished it off in the oven.

Oh and I sprinkled some vegan cheese on top at the end too for fun.

Think they liked it????  They finished off the entire pan!

Kyle made it home in time for dinner, so I had a bowl of kale waiting for him.

He was SO EXCITED.  First off, he loves Caesar salads and would eat them several times a week.  Secondly, he told me he couldn’t think of a single vegetable he had all weekend…except maybe a tomato on a burger (but even that memory is hazy).  So I’m not exaggerating when I say he was thrilled to have some cruciferous veggies in his diet asap.

I used parmesan on his, but pecorino romano on mine – and the chicken was from a whole bird I made in the IP as part of the prep I did.

May as well close out the night with some dessert!!

Short week comin’ atcha!