More Nor Cal love

For the first time since we arrived in Nor Cal, Kyle was able to sleep in spend the day with me (and not working).

Sleeping in is a thing of the past.

I made Kyle breakfast first while he got in some baby time.  He misses P so much when he’s gone.

That toast I made him is Semifreddi’s sour batard.  One of the best breads in the Bay Area in my opinion.

My breakfast was later because I was working on my dandy tea (still no GI upset with it, so that’s good).

In case you can’t tell, this is a very liquidy bowl of oats.  I used plain almond milk instead of water to cook it and then stirred in a bunch of nutritional yeast.  Then I added a fried egg on top.

After breakfast we had some family friends come over to meet the newest addition to the fam.

After our guests left I set to work on a dessert granola.  I wanted something healthy(ish) that I could munch on after dinner or as a late night snack that would satisfy my sweet tooth, but wouldn’t be terribly unhealthy.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola [vegan, gluten free]

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole rolled oats (certified GF)
• 1 cup steel cut oats (certified GF)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1/3 cup oil
• ~1/4 tsp salt (or more to taste – depending on the type of peanut butter used)

Directions:

Mix all the dry ingredients together (oats through cocoa powder).  In a separate bowl melt peanut butter, then add the rest of the liquid ingredients (syrup & oil).  Add wet to dry and stir until combined.

Spread onto a greased baking sheet (or one that’s lined with non stick or parchment paper).  Bake for 65 minutes at 225 degrees F.

Allow to cool then break apart as desired.

Is there a better combo than chocolate and peanut butter?

While my granola was in the oven, I made myself some lunch.

My mom had brought home a sample of one of the [vegan] sauces she had made at her cooking class the previous day so I could try it.

It was really good, so I figured I should share the recipe.

Romesco Sauce [vegan, gluten free]

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp oil
• 4 roma tomatoes
• 1 large red bell pepper
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 10 garlic cloves
• 1/2 cup marcona almonds
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp sherry vinegar
• 2 slices day old bread

Directions:

Cut roma tomatoes in half, cut de-seeded bell pepper in quarters, and dice the onion.

Toss with oil and garlic and roast for ~15-20 minutes at 400 degrees F (or until skins of tomatoes and peppers can be peeled off).

Pulse almonds in food processor until minced, then add roasted veggies and puree.  Next add the old bread and puree again.  Then slowly drizzle in extra virgin olive oil and vinegar until desired consistency is reached.

Optional: Thin with water as needed.  Spice up with red pepper flakes.

This is the sample she came home with (it doesn’t look like much in the solo coffee cup but there was plenty for my lunch).

It tastes like a creamy cheesy nutritional yeast sauce full of tomato and bell pepper flavor.  Super good.  I guess that’s the almonds.  I don’t use marcona almonds much, but maybe I’ll start now.  I’d imagine cashews would be a nice twist on this recipe as well.  Since I love my creamy dijon cashew sauce so much and all…

I made a rice bowl to feature the romesco sauce.  It had brown rice, spinach, carrots, and half an avocado.

I heated the rice with the spinach and carrots so the spinach got soft and wilty before I added the avo.

Then I coated everything in savory sauce.

Pretty bomb lunch if I do say so myself.

I had some chocolate peanut butter granola for dessert a little bit later.  Kyle joined in as well since he was bummed his NCAA bracket went bust loves chocolate and peanut butter.

After our dessert, we headed out for a walk.

For dinner, Kyle and I had a hot date.  Thanks to our babysitter, we took our first outing as a couple without P.

Beforehand we took lots of family photos.  I think this is the first time I’ve done my hair for real since having a baby.  It’s kinda unruly in the photos since I didn’t get it cut once while pregnant (to avoid chemical/fumes).  The next day my mom gave me a trim though, so it’s much better now.

We went to Sasa in Walnut Creek, which I blogged about previously.

It was just as delicious as last time, only this time I could drink!!!  I got bubbles, naturally. 🙂

No photos from the rest of the night because I was just enjoying my time with Kyle.  I did miss P immensely though and felt like a part of me was missing.  As much as I wanted to enjoy my freedom knowing he was in excellent hands and I didn’t need to worry, I still couldn’t wait to get home to him.

We got home to a happy sleeping boy though.  Soon after we all hit the sack.  He slept well for the first half of the night but didn’t want to go back to bed after 5 am, so I held him and rocked him out in the living room while watching Real Housewives of BH (it’s On Demand at my parents’ house so
I’m marathon-ing it up with zero guilt).

Finally others started waking up around 8-8:30, so I passed off P and took a shower before making tea and a breakfast rice bowl.

Smooch!

Breakfast rice bowls are a simple thing to make – you can just treat them like oats and jazz them up accordingly (doesn’t even have to be rice – use any leftover grain you have on hand).

I’ve been making peanut butter-y ones a lot lately.  They’re easy to throw together when you’re one handed.

All I do is take a hunk of peanut butter, heat it up in the microwave for a bit (20-30 seconds), and then stir in some almond milk until it turns into a nutty sauce.  This was chunky PB (all my parents had) so it didn’t get all the way smooth, but whatever.  Then I add in the rice, re-heat it some more, and then top it off with whatever I’m in the mood for.  Extra granola is a frequent favorite.  This time I added half a banana, fresh blueberries, and trail mix.

And when I say trail mix, I really just mean the chocolate chips and almonds picked out.  🙂

I topped it with a pinch of salt too.  You can add maple syrup or cinnamon if you want.

The rest of the day was mellow.  We hug around the house until lunch time.

Why are there 536,017 ways to hard boil eggs on the internet??  Every single one SWORE by their specific method.  Made it hard to know who to trust.  Mine were fine, but the shells kinda stuck on a few.

But I still made it work for a pseudo Cobb salad.  I have a special attachment to this salad.  If you know my real name, you know why.  Mine was definitely far from the real deal, but it did have eggs and [vegan] cheese and avocado.  That’s a step.

Romaine, carrots, daiya cheddar, tomatoes, avocado, and TJ’s balsamic glaze on top.  And Mary’s Gone Crackers on the side.

Once it’s all chopped up it doesn’t look nearly as good as it tasted.  So just look at this pre-chop photo instead.

After lunch Kyle and I took P to walk around the reservoir.  It was SO sunny and warm out, it felt more like July than March.  Everyone was out soaking up the rays – lots of BBQing and picnicing and dog walking.

Post walk snackage was Sabra-tastic.

My mom gave me a hair cut (at long last!!) and then it was time for dinner.

My sister has been wanting me and my mom to try Oyama sushi for a while now.  My mom isn’t a huge sushi person but the rest of us are mega roll lovers.

So we got seven rolls.  The bigger the better.

We also got 2 apps.  The chicken skewers were for my mom, the sunomono salad was for me.

Definitely like Oyama!  Even though they don’t have brown rice rolls, their sushi is big and they are very generous with the amount of fish and avocado, which I appreciate.  Lots of ginger too.  Mmmmm.

After dinner I packed us up food for the next day’s activities because we were heading off bright and early.  But more on that later!