Outside eating weekend

We had such awesome weather this weekend (status quo for Nor Cal, but still worth noting) so we really made the most of it.  Lots of outdoor time!

 

Friday morning started with Earth Butter-ed toast and a fried egg. <— yup, that’s a bite mark out of the toast

For lunch I had a big salad with greens, quinoa, carrots, tomatoes, and peanuts with peanut soy dressing.  Since I finished off the rest of the PB I just made the dressing in the jar.

 

I broke up P and his girlfriend Sophie for an afternoon walk and by the time I got home I was ravenous.

I had planned on doing Mexican for dinner (burrito night) so I got things started a little early with chips and guac. 

These chips are so so, but since we shop at the Co-op now, our pantry hasn’t had 365 tortilla chips in a while.  Sad.

 

Kyle was still at work and before I knew it my little appetizer hour turned into a full on meal… 

I finished off the Sabra guacamole.  By myself.  Oops!

Fortunately I had another one in the freezer, so I quickly pulled it out and submerged it in tepid water to thaw in time for Kyle to get some on his dinner.  I swear I did not mean to hog it all to myself but Sabra’s guac is SO GOOD!  Kyle even made the same comment out of the blue during dinner.

Speaking of dinner.

 

I ruined my appetite with the chip and guac fest, so I waited until I got hungry later on. 

But when Kyle got home, he had a burrito with cheddar cheese, guacamole, and a rice/lentil/salsa mix I made.

  

For the FODMAPs people, lentils are actually considered safe (although canned is preferable because they’ve had longer to soak).  I made these from dried lentils in the rice cooker.  Same with the mixed rice.  Then I combined both with lots of salsa.

 

Easy peasy burrito filling (leftovers make a great savory breakfast burrito or you can serve with a fried egg on top).

I had some of the filling plain and then decided to just honor my true craving (more guacamole with chips). 

 

Aaaand so I finished off the rest of the (second) Sabra guacamole.  Game, set, match.  FTW.

The rest of the night we played with our little one.

I wish I could sleep in on the weekends, but I can’t seem to snooze past 7.  I wake up at 6:30 on the dot, which probably has to do with the fact that I go to bed between 9 and 10 pm.  Oh well.

 

Eggs for the leftover burrito goods.

After breakfast, Kyle’s parents arrived.  They were in Sac for a few days before they headed over to visit us.

We gave them a tour of our casa and then headed over to the farmer’s market downtown.

 

Monkey face fell asleep while we picked out some goodies for later that night (green onions and goat gouda). 

For lunch Kyle got a veggie corndog from The Hotdogger. 

I was going to get the same until I checked out the menu at Fat Face.

Please devote your full attention to the Goat Classic.

Perrrfection.

I added sriracha too.  I’m obsessed with the stuff lately.

 

We hung out for a while before going to the Co-op to pick up the rest of the groceries for dinner.

Between lunch and dinner we didn’t do anything but chat and take a mellow stroll to the park.  Kyle showed his parents his work shop while I nursed, and then we dipped into some appetizers.

 

Lots of local goodies, including Fiddyment Farms pistachios, Central Coast Creamery’s goat gouda, Milton’s & Mary’s Gone crackers.

  

Enjoyed in the backyard. 

I just HAD to try the goat gouda, and holy #$%^ was it tasty.  It was salty and flavorful and basically the best stuff ever.  Way back when (like years ago) I planned on seeing how I tolerated goat products because they are noted to be easy for lactose intolerant people, but then I never really did it because I didn’t think I even liked goat cheese.  My sisters are both lactose intolerant and eat (and enjoy) goat cheese.  Now I’m second guessing my taste buds.  This stuff is legit!  And the best news of all is that I had no reaction to it at all (although the amount I had was very small).  I’m super excited to see where these leads me in terms of FODMAPs experiments.  Anyone tried goat’s milk kefir?  Or goat’s milk yogurt?  What a bummer that I’ve been missing out on such yummy-ness all these years…

Anyway.  In between playing hostess with the apps and vino and nursing my baby, I started to get dinner ready as well.

On the menu…

 

Miso Tamari Glazed Salmon
Cold Quinoa Summer Salad
Steamed Green Beans

The quinoa took the longest, considering I had to cook it and then let it cool.  But aside from that, the rest of the assembly is super simple (like everything I make).  Same with the salmon.  The marinade comes together in minutes and it only takes 10 minutes on the BBQ.  I started grilling the salmon at the same time as I started steaming the green beans and they were both done at basically the same time. 

 

Cold Quinoa Summer Salad [vegan, gluten free, FODMAPs friendly, nut free]

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 avocado, diced
• 1 cup corn
• 6 green onions (or scallions), thinly sliced (green parts only for FODMAPs people)
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• salt & pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Cook quinoa and then let it cool.  Add green onions and corn to quinoa and mix.  Add avocado, lime juice and tamari and gently toss until evenly distributed.  Salt & pepper as desired.

   

Such a light crisp salad, packed with yummy flavors.

 

I washed and chopped the ends off the green beans beforehand and then waited to cover them and start boiling the water until the salmon was on the grill.  I like them on the more done side, but most people like them just barely fork tender, so I left them that way.  With a little crunch. 

 

Miso Tamari Glazed Salmon [FODMAPs friendly, gluten free]

Ingredients:

• 4 salmon filets
• 1/4 cup coconut sugar
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 2 tbsp tamari
• 2 tbsp miso paste

Directions:

Combine coconut sugar, water, tamari and miso paste in a small mixing bowl.  Place fish in a pan.  Brush sauce over filets (there will probably be extra so feel free to reserve in the bowl).  Let fish marinate (mine sat for ~30-45 minutes).

Grill fish for ~10 minutes, periodically brushing extra marinade on fish (from either the pan or the mixing bowl).

Before (above) & after (below).

 

It all came together really nicely.

 

Yummmmm.

 

After everyone finished we just stayed outside drinking, talking, and soaking up the perfect weather. 

 

I went to bed before dessert.  No bueno on my part.  But I did steal a few squares the next night. 

Kyle and I were the first ones up the next morning, even before his parents and the little man. 

Coffee for three, decaf for one. Wah wah.

 

I made a cranberry coconut quick bread for breakfast.

 

Good with nothing, but great with Earth Balance. 

 

Gluten free and fab-u-lous.  And look at the sun pouring through the kitchen window! 

We started to go on a walk after breakfast, but it was really windy and P seems to be coming down with a cold so I decided it wasn’t a good idea.  Kyle and his parents forged on, but I turned back with the stroller babe.

We said goodbye to our weekend guests a bit later.  And then I randomly decided to go for a run.  I was slow as balls and it was pathetic and I don’t really even care.  My fitness has taken a total backseat and it is what it is.  What can I say, my priority list has athlete way way way below mom.  Poor atrophied muscles.  Ha.

It did work up my appetite though (as if I need it, I’m an eating machine). 

For lunch I made a big salad with the quinoa salad leftovers (on a bed of greens and carrots).

 

With Mary’s Gone crackers too.  And almonds.  And then more crackers. 

Kyle headed to work for a couple of hours after I ate, but once he got back home we drove to the fun downtown part of Sac.  Just because.  We didn’t have anything to do, but the weather was so nice and it was the weekend, so why stay in the house all day?

 

Kyle got fro-yo at yogurt a go go and we met up with a friend.  Good times.

 

On the way home we got dinner at Pluto’s.  I wasn’t that impressed.  Their employees are apathetic and it shows.  Not that it’s normal to be passionate about salad making.  Oh wait.

The ingredients available are hardly impressive.  No avocado.  No tofu.  No egg.  No peanuts. 

They did have candied walnuts on the list, but when I asked for them, she couldn’t find them.  Then she realized it was because the bowl was basically empty.  So she poured 3 nuts and a bunch of sugar dust into my salad and counted that as one of my 7 ingredients.  No fair dude!  I also got potatoes, carrots, strawberries x2, bean sprouts, and corn.  With a carrot miso dressing.  The dressing saved the salad, honestly, otherwise I would have given the whole meal a C at best.  In the end it was fine, but I don’t think I’ll go back.

 

I had two bowls of Udi’s GF blueberry cashew granola clusters for dessert.

 

Laundry fun to end the fun weekend.