The weekly menu

After getting home from LA it took a bit of time to get organized.  A week to be exact.  I’ve been feeling like I’m playing catch up without ever making any progress every day…the problem with these weekly Fremont trips is that I feel discombobulated after every weekend rather than restored.  Also, Kyle’s gone for the weekend so I’m definitely doing the one woman hustle.  But anyway!  Food!

We were desperate for less meat this week and lots more plants.  I was contemplating doing 7 days of no chocolate but nixed it.  I’m not saying it won’t happen in the future, but for now, I’m not in the mood.  At the end of these looooong days (P is in a tough phase right now and UGH is it draining for me to stay patient and understanding and emotionally supportive) I just feel like a little TV with something sweet is an okay way to treat myself.

After we got home on Friday Kyle grilled hot dogs and corn for a super simple dinner.  We had been eating carbs (bars, dried fruit, repeat) all day on the road so I just wanted something small and different from pantry fare.  The kids were hardly hungry too because I’d been using food as entertainment for much of the 7 hour drive…

OOooOOwwEEE…about this chocolate smores thing!?  Amazing.  And the dark chocolate with sea salt and almonds was equally good, but I already knew that because it’s a staple.

Pancakes to get us back in the groove.  It was like a normal morning in Davis with this meal. Minus the laundry, house and yard work, and 500 other things I’d been neglecting until after this trip.

And more fancy nut mylk for me because I just can’t let go of the LA vibezz.

Guys, this is good stuff.  It’s $$$ so that’s annoying.  But the clusters are big and munchable and the flavor is very almond extract heavy, but in an overbearing way.

Tee ball practice with my dude.

Followed by java numero dos and a walk to play at the park.

We were busy all Saturday that I didn’t have time to go grocery shopping so we stopped in for sushi take out on the way home from a birthday party.

Huku rocked it again.  We had extra for Kyle to eat the next day for lunch.

All the fish, thanks.

I fed the kids first and we ate our sushi while the kids played in the toy room…or not.

She was clothed when I left her, but this is what she came out in!

No chocolate?!  What was I thinking?

Fudge in my face.

On Sunday, I finally got my act together and had lists and meal plans ready to go.  We hit up Costco in the am and TJs in the pm.  It wasn’t the most fun of days but you gotta do what you gotta do.  I made them donuts because P had asked for them after we went to breakfast at Sidecar in LA and I was sad that he felt left out.  So I made some asap once we were home.

V found them too difficult to eat, so P got the leftovers the next couple of mornings.

Another mylk to start the day 🙂

This one (Date Shake) wasn’t as good as the other, so I had half and then filled the meal out with some granola (see above).  I still found myself sipping it over the course of the day though.  The cardamom flavor was very pronounced.

More leftovers for lunch.  I ate this outside because it was sunny and gorgeous.

I also tackled SO MUCH yard work.  My dad is building another raised bed for me, so I’m clearing out the space for it (which used to have plants that I hated and potted veggies).  The best part is that the drip is already installed, so as soon as it’s ready, we can plant!

Star of dinner!

I made a version of this salad only I doubled the dressing and used quinoa instead of coconut rice.

I almost forgot the cashews…

Finally a home cooked meal! Fresh and healthy.

And then a bunch of chocolate for dessert while I tried to get a bunch done before the work week started…

ROCKY ROAD is stealing my heart!!

On Monday, we went to the zoo.   Check out the panera order on line option!  I got a month of free bagels (totally randomly – not blog related at all) and this was my first time ever setting foot in the cafe.  It was so easy!  I literally ordered on my phone in under a minute, chose when to pick it up (now or a specific time) and then popped in and it was waiting for me on a shelf!  Normally the whole shlep of getting the kids in and out of the car wouldn’t be worth it, but the curb has been open every time I’ve gone and I’ve taken the kids in and it’s still been a sub 5 minute process. Yes please!

Raise your hand if you’re too close to a lion!?

The animals were really active and the lion’s roaring was making my chest vibrate.  it was creepy and amazing.

Open sesame 🙂

Lunch.  The youjjjj.

LOTS of sleep drama that afternoon.  Both kids.  What a week it has been…I’d say it’s adjusting to post-vacay life, but who knows.  He’s in a serious developmental phase right now that is kicking my butt.

I massaged this for a minute between tending to my chillin. P helped add the pinenuts.

Eventually, I gave up on his nap, but miraculously got her down after a lot of snuggles, so I had some solo time with my gardening buddy.

We ate the last tangerine from our tree, weeded, and played until his swimming.

Because she went down so late I had to wake her up to make it to swimming in time.  She didn’t love that, but was okay once we got to the fish bowl toy room.

Kid version below…includes a little bit of kale salad with a big bowl of wild rice and tofu.

I was saving this fancy (read expensive) almond cheese by Kite Hill for myself, but of course the kids saw it and immediately knew it was something $$$$ that they should want in on.  I gave them bites (big mistake) and they loved it, so then I had to share.

Kyle got real feta. As in from a sheep, not an almond.

This was super simple and very different from how I typically prepare kale btw.  It was inspired by this recipe. I massaged it with sun dried tomato oil (from the jar) and then added chopped up sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and wild rice.  And feta or almond cheese.

Dessert, yes please.

I got Elana’s almond flour cookbook from the library last week and haven’t had a chance to make anything from it, but have been eyeing the zucchini bread for a while.  Finally got some zucchini and made this.

Which I had some issues getting out of the pan, but throwing some nut butter on the problem is a quick (and delicious) fix.

This is cashew butter.

Pre-library park fun with my gal pal.  She’s a daredveil.  On the second level from a ladder all by herself. You go girl.

My little fairies playing in the yard.

1 2 3 jump!

Ant trail investigation.

Fairies need popcorn breaks too.

In the pm we had a park date with some friends…the walk in took a while because they decided using the bike racks to support them as they fly was more fun than playground equipment.

P and I made this chicken chop with a mango dressing while V was napping.  He had a little bit of quiet time but is intermittently dropping naps these days.  It’s nice to get some quality one on one time with him and he loves helping me in the kitchen, so win win. YAY.

He took all the leaves off the cilantro for me and added a bunch of other stuff to the bowl…and ate half the mango before it got to the dressing.  A true helper.  😉

 

I added the dressing and jalapeno separately so theirs didn’t have it.  I even coughed a few times when I caught a big bite of it!  It was really good though.

You know the drill by now…c h o c o l a t e.

Without a WF to buy Earth Balance’s vegan mac n cheese, I was forced to see what Nugget had.

This kind was made with

sweet potatoes and pumpkin!

I made the box while the kids ate breakfast, so it was all ready for lunch later that day.

After dropping P off at school we rode back home and had a park date with friends.

The kids loved this kind!

We went to farmer’s market for dinner!!!  And that’s all I’ve got for now.  See you on the flip side of this weekend when Kyle’s back in town 🙂