We have had a WEEK! It has been such a major countdown to get to this break, I’ll tell you what. I don’t know who is more excited – me or the kids!?
We now have two glorious weeks off of distance learning, and I plan to spend the entire time without ANY semblance of a schedule. Sleeping in til whenever, watching holiday movies, playing in nature, all that jazz.
If I won the lottery I would spend all my $$$ on puzzles and just cuddle up with them on repeat. With coffee topped in coconut whipped cream.
Apparently my 2020 fantasy is a pathetically lonely one.
I made a huge farro and kale salad again, which lasted me three lovely days.
It was legit.
I love the candied pecans from iherb so much. Thank goodness my online game is strong. I have the CSA rotation/schedule down to a decent science at this point thanks to all the practice I had last spring and summer.
The only thing I have to figure out (STILL) is my soy milk creamer.
Kyle went to a few locations while he was away this week and said it’s nowhere to be found. Plus several of you guys have confirmed the same…so now I’m wondering what in the world is going on??
Silk!! What are you doing to us!!
Thank goodness I had everything prepped for this dinner before we went to karate because we had QUITE the drama unfold that kept us occupied until 6 pm. I swear, the universe knows when Kyle goes out of town.
Pro tip: if you are a parent during covid times and you are no longer allowed to go to any indoor activities anymore, do not (I REPEAT DO NOT) leave your car running for light/heat/music/whatever while the activity is going on because you will drain your car battery and then be stranded in the cold/dark.
Fortunately we have extra long jumper cables (which we bought after a tricky situation a few years back). Anyway, I digress.
I bought these for the kids’ stockings, but wanted to “sample” a few…
The eggnog is good in a small serving. I don’t think I could handle more than one square. Kinda like the drink itself!
The caramel filled one was awesome. The pumpkin spice was very subtle, but in a good way.
On the left are the TJs meatless burgers, on the right are the Beyond burgers. I cooked both in the oven and we did a little taste test. We were unanimously in agreement that Beyond burgers were superior – both in texture and flavor.
We had them with Caesar salad on the side (because amazon/WF gave my romaine instead of butter lettuce last week and I had to do something with it).
Since I have been in a polling the audience kind of mood lately, tell me what’s your fave Caesar dressing?
I usually stick with tessemae’s creamy. I can’t seem to find any others (dairy or non-dairy) that wow me. They are either too tangy or weirdly sweet or the consistency is weird. I want something thick but still pourable. I used to buy the 365 brand in glass bottles way back when there was a Whole Foods in Davis, but then I got hooked on tessemae’s and haven’t branched out much. The one I used this time was Bolthouse Farms which uses greek yogurt and I didn’t really like it. I got it because I like the cilantro avocado (ranch?) dressing by that company, so I figured I’d like their Caesar too, but sadly I was wrong. Highly recommend the Bolthouse Farms cilantro avocado dressing though. I use it for all the southwestern/taco salads I make.
One night we had quinoa chili, which I made extra huge so that we could have several servings of leftovers for their lunches.
I pressure cooked it at night in the instant pot and then left it on warm overnight. We woke up to the most insane aroma…and then had to wait alllll day to dig in. Such torture!
I used both black and pinto beans plus ground beef. I added corn to it for their lunches, just to make it different. It was a big hit both ways.
I forgot about this cake for a while but now it is an afternoon staple. The perfect pick me up to hold me over to dinner. And VERY good paired with ginger tea.
We took a free fermentation class over zoom hosted by the library and I was so shocked that the kids were so into it! In an ideal world, I’d watch it by myself (or go to a class in person!) but obviously that’s not happening, so I set them up with a snack, kept our video and audio off, and we all watched them make kimchi together. P was SO INTO IT. He was paying such great attention, I think he could do it on his own now. Which is good because they said they are dropping off supplies for us soon to try it on our own. I will let you know how that goes, if/when we get to it…
Can’t finish out a week without pizza!?
The Silk soy creamer is my favorite. Not a fan of other plant milk creamers. Almond creamer weirdly gives me a belly ache. I just don’t like it. I’m in Southern Cali and I usually find it at Super Target, Stater Bros (they only have small cartons). There was a time Walmart &Winco had it, but not anymore. Also, in the past I’ve found it at Albertsons. I bet Vons has it too. Sometimes I run into it not being in stock at Target, but for the most part they usually have it. I’m always complaining that there aren’t enough soy options as far as flavors. Why does almond & coconut get all the love? Hope you can find some soon.
I absolutely agree Tessemae’s is the best. I have stopped trying other store bought brands because you can’t compete with it. If I’m feeling adventurous and have the ingredients on hand I sometimes make the homemade caesar dressing from Oh She Glow’s Caesar salad recipe (I think it’s on her blog but I have her cookbooks, too).
Got it. Glad to know we are on the same page!
They just got it back on shelves!!!! I think they changed the label a bit so maybe thats why is was MIA for a few weeks? And you are totally right…soy is so neglected now that other milk alternatives are on the scene.
Catching up on some of your posts! Onceuponachef.com has an excellent caesar dressing recipe but it’s definitely not vegan 🙂