I made regular and mini muffins for breakfasting on Saturday but they were all gone by Tuesday. Actually I have one left that has 2 grams of peanut “hidden” in it, for tonight, but the normal ones are all gone.
Q: How many layers does it take to exercise outside in the Winter? A: All. All of the layers.
No photos of my breakfast, but I ate home-made granola at MOPS and had way more coffee than I usually do. It was an awesome meeting and V did especially great in child care so I was pretty pleased about the whole morning. I had kinda prepared myself for the worst, so getting time to myself with my mom friends (over breakfast and coffee, no less!) was a real treat.
I had the rest of this brussels sprouts salad for lunch, but bulked it up with extra dressing and chicken since I only had a small serving remaining.
After that I got to work on dinner.
We had a full afternoon planned, but knew that it would be fine thanks to the instant pot.
Just like the previous night’s meal, this was from the Ready or Not cookbook. I will keep linking to it because it is already one of my most used cookbooks and I’ve only had it for two months. Seriously guys, get this cookbook. You will NOT be disappointed.
Kabocha squash is officially my favorite. I feel bad for being so cliche. It’s soooo popular right now and all…Kyle’s still ranks butternut above all. I understand that. Butternut is almost almost allllmost as good.
I sautéed pork and mushrooms in the IP and then added the squash before dumping this sauce on top and closing it up.
Then I sat back and put my feet up for the rest of the day.
Ok, not really.
I did have this guy before naps were done and we had to go back out in the rain.
It was nice to come home to a cozy meal all done and waiting for us.
Y. U. M.
Not the most attractive to photograph, but definitely fantastic to eat.
It was a winner all around. Per usual for the nom nom paleo hit maker.
The next morning I had home-made cashew yogurt with granola and cashew butter for breakfast.
I made the yogurt a little too thick but I’m still working out the ratio of gelatin to milk at this point. At least the “tang” of the yogurt was good. Great, actually.
For lunch I had a Thai salad with kale, avo, and carrots,
It may not seem like much, but the dressing is really what makes the salad. I wanted to add more nuts, but I held off since I had a ton of nuts at breakfast with the nutty granola, nut based yogurt, and nut butter on top. Kinda seemed like adding more to lunch would be overkill. Can you even believe I just said that??? <— Maturity.
For dinner I thought I’d attempt to make my kids like tempeh (for the 349857th time).
I marinated it all afternoon thinking that may help (spoiler alert: it didn’t).
I also made Kyle an egg and cheese strata bake with grilled bell peppers and onions and old sourdough pieces.
It was hot out of the oven when I took the pic, so you can see the olive oil bubbling on the edges. Kyle loves when I make eggy breakfast casserole type things for his breakfasts. I don’t think he’d mind if I made these and lasagnas for all his lunches for the rest of time. Or Mexican food. Always Mexican food.
Dressing coated greens, a solid start to dinner…
I roasted the marinated tempeh and then added some slivered almonds to the pan for the last 5 minutes. Got a little bit smokey in the kitchen because of the burning marinade on the pan, but no smoke detectors went off, so it’s all good. I will never forget the days of cooking in our NYC kitchen (if you can even call it that) and setting off the smoke alarms on a weekly basis. It was nearly impossible to use the oven without doing so.
There was also roasted sweet potatoes in there.
Which was the kids’ favorite part, obviously. They both tried the tempeh, which I advertised as “crunchy bites that were like croutons in the salad” and P was luke warm on them, but V gave a hard pass. And she is a pretty adventurous and willing eater. So I ate most of their tempeh portion and served them more salad (greens and sweet potato) and then some avocado too. Oh well! I tried. Tempeh is still a no go. I don’t feel too strongly about forcing them to eat things that they very clearly don’t want because they aren’t picky eaters at all. Not sure how I’d feel if meals were a daily battle, but luckily that’s not my world. Tempeh is also a pretty hard flavor to like if I’m being honest. I love it, but I understand it has a weirdly bitter, nutty taste.
More for me!
Any other tempeh lovers out there??
Thank you for posting about what you did/do when your kids don’t like part of the meal! I was going to ask when you said they didn’t like the tempeh. My daughter is definitely getting better about eating more things, but there are some things I just cannot get her to taste or sometimes she’ll taste dinner and not like it. I never know exactly what to do…I don’t want to cook her a whole separate meal but I am also not going to force her to eat something she tries and doesn’t like–it is just not worth the battle. I usually offer her more of what she did like, like you, and then will offer her any fruit or veggies I have in the kitchen (of course, she always eats the fruit, never the veggies 🙂 ). Anyway, it is good to hear from other parents on how they handle those situations!
Kabocha squash is soooo good, but I think delicata is my favorite!
The best thing about delicata is the fact that you can eat the peel. As a lazy cook, that bumps it way up in my favor 😉
I love tempeh of course you would have known that and my children do not and never wanted to eat it as many times as I tried. My husband likes tofu, but tempeh is a no go. We all love butternut and kobucha squash is my favvvvvv! I actually made it the other evening tossed wit baby bok choy, toasted walnuts, fermented bean curd and a light orange ginger sauce. It got high grades. Truthfully, if my husband doesn’t like it then it’s not a win for me. Funny, he eats like Kyle, loves egg bakes and make them all the time for him to take to work for breakfast and veggie lasagne or home made burrito for a work lunch and he is thrilled. Btw, your trip looked like a blast. We are heading to California on business and then driving the Big Sur from the north all the way down south to Palm Springs with wonderful stops along the way. My husband has business not far from where you vacationed. Do u recommend that area for us? Omg I have so much to tell you😳🙄. I ran into someone who child did the allergy dosing work like you and he is doing so well. He is older and she said after the original time of doing it that it has been life changing for them as a family and for her son of course. His excitement of being able to take part she said instead of sidelining certain situations is a major heart lifter ! I had tears as she told me because you have showed us your journey and the love and devotion is so beautiful and what the essence of love is all about. Okay I have bothered you enough. Have a great day.
elise, I am also not so keen on tempeh. I do like the bacon version of the brand in your post. I keep on meaning to try steaming it first before the marinade.Some people say it makes it more tender and picks up the marinade better. I love almost anything, and while I don’t hate it, there’s an almost green taste that bothers my allergies. Maybe slice it thin and steam it if you haven’t tried it like that before. Good luck!
Happy New Year Elise & family!!
I LOVE tempeh, but I also understand that I’m pretty much alone in that love. It’s the texture that draws me in. I love to marinate it in olive oil, lemon juice, tamari, green onions, garlic, a sprinkle of (or a pinch of fresh) ginger. Sauté as usual. It’s light and delicious! I have also been known to drown it in Frank’s Red Hot and dip in Vegan blue cheese dressing (but I am from a western NY!)
YUM!!!
I steamed it once and didn’t notice much of a difference and decided not to make the effort after that – ha! Maybe they would detect the difference though?? Kyle and I both like it as is, so it’s jut the kids I have to get on board…
OH THAT’S AMAZING for them!!! It really is truly amazing.
Kyle actually likes tempeh (and prefers it to tofu), so it’s just the kids that are the hold up.
You are going to have a blast on the CA coat! Carlsbad is suchhhhh a wonderful place. I definitely recommend. Encinitas is also a perfect spot.
Glad that P is back on the up and up!
I guess i am a total weirdo, i have never detected a bitterness to tempeh and i am often so lazy that i just chop and toss in salads from the package without reheating….! You could try adding it crumbled into a chili or beany stew as half the meat- ie instead of 1lb ground meat use 1/2lb meat and 1/2lb crumbled tempeh, my sister does that for taco meat mostly to save $ because she buys expensive meats and my nephew is a bottomless pit..!
I’m camp delicata (lazy here, and the skin must have more nutrients?) and then acorn squash for me.
That’s so smart!! I bet I’ll be doing that in a few years time…
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