Set for a short week

I made these cinnamon banana swirl muffins on Thursday and they are almost gone!

Kyle has been having them for breakfasts, and the kids have been having them for afternoon snacks.  I froze 6 of them, but since the rest are gone, I think I’ll pull them out for Kyle’s work breakfasts this week.  I’m always happy when low sugar things are a hit.  Mega cinnamon flavor on top of suuuuuper ripe bananas always helps decrease the amount of sweetener needed.  And since I was about to roast chickpeas, I used the aquafaba for the muffins thereby making them vegan (no eggs necessary)!

What else have I been up to this fine Sunday?

Shopping at THREE stores.  [OOF]  And lots of prep.

Priority number one was making candied walnuts.  As well as roasting squash.  Because my vegan winter is all I’ve been thinking about.

Check and check!

I also made this granola.   And baked two sheets of bacon (for the birthday boy).  And made Valentine’s Day cards 🙂

The only thing that was on my list that I didn’t get to was baking treats for his class, but I still have Monday for that.  Happy Birthday Abe Lincoln.

I had this before church but my stomach did NOT take to it kindly.  I actually had a weird IBS flare the day/night before that I thought was all resolved, but nope, wrong.  I almost didn’t eat anything because I was feeling borderline and could tell anything I ate wasn’t going to be well received and I should have just listened to my gut (pun intended) because I was feeling pretty blah the rest of the day.

There’s nothing more beautiful than a new jar of jam.

We finished off the previous one with cheese and crackers a few night’s back, but our freezer is super well stocked thanks to the July/August nectarine production.  Chia jam is the EASIEST to make so once the fruit is ripe I go to town and then I’m pretty set for the year.

I don’t even add sugar – just the sweet stone fruit simmered until it’s been reduced to thick gooey preserves.  For lunch the kids had SB&Js with cuties on the side.

And I got my beloved winter salad!

Sadly, this re-aggravated my gut (which had finally simmered down) and the rest of the afternoon was very annoying.

I forged ahead though but definitely wasn’t feeling like much for dinner.  I scrapped our original plan and made noodles to add to leftover short ribs.

That broth is so rich and thick, you can add anything to it and it’s pure gold.  Thanks to the pasta, I was able to stretch the leftovers into a meal for the whole family.  It makes me feel better about the $$$ cost of short ribs when they provide enough for 8 servings.

My stomach felt fine after dinner (I only had a tiny bit of short ribs and broth – no wheat) so hopefully I’m on the other side of the blahs.  I nursed a trilogy kombucha while watching the Olympics later and went to bed early.  YOU GUYS.  Sorry to shout but Costco has 6 packs of GT’s Trilogy!!!  I wanted to buy 3 of them but I stuck with one and am already regretting it.  Good thing I just pledged to brew my own.  I’m saving all my empty jars now.  I need 16.  It’s a tough job, but I think I’ll get there…