Weekend turn around

Not related to food, but it has to be noted…my two year old is suddenly looking way too grown up.

She is mischievous and wild and headstrong and will probably drive me and Kyle mad, but man is she ever something special. I finally uploaded a bunch of pics from the nice camera, and the quality is so much better than those of my iPhone.

Enough about the babes.  Kyle got home late late late Friday night so we were all asleep, but come Saturday morning it was a joy to have someone else to help share the burden of caring for such sick children.  And also talk to!  Not getting out means no stimulating conversation and that really makes you go bananas after a while.

So yeah, we laid low all weekend and by Sunday things were looking up for Mr. P.  Thank goodness.

I had oatmeal for breakfast on Saturday.  I can’t even remember the last time I had oats.  No real reason other than I craved different stuff, but in the moment, oats sounded just right.

I added chia seeds, mixed nut butter, and coconut manna (butter).

My weekend prep was very minimal but I did such an extensive job last week I still had a lot of those things left (dressings, roasted veggies, etc).

I did make some coffee “creamer” though in an effort to reduce my Califia mocha addiction.

1 can coconut milk + 1/2 tsp vanilla + 2 tbsp cacao powder.  I warmed the coconut milk up so it would all be liquid and then stirred the cocoa in so it melted.

Optional add ins: 1 tbsp maple syrup and a tiny pinch of salt

Pretty good!

P and I did some youtube art lessons while Kyle took V to farmer’s market.  He was soooo into these (me too).  V was also very happy to get out since she didn’t have the flu.  A win all around.

I baked a bunch of chicken breasts and used some in my lunch salad.

P just saw this photo and said that it looked sooo yummy and begged to have it for dinner tonight.  I told him I already had dinner plans for the night but assured him I’d make it asap.  So it will probably be on the weekly menu next week.  Fine by me!

It’s definitely a good sign that his appetite is back.  He skipped lunch and went straight to nap (his request!) on Saturday though.

The salad had kale massaged in Nugget’s Thai dressing, bell peppers, cucumbers, and these sesame coconut roasted almonds.  I had forgotten about them in the back of the pantry, but thanks to the re-organization last weekend they are back!  I ate a bunch on the side too.  They are almost better as a snack than as a salad add in, but that may just be because the Thai dressing is so intensely flavorful that little else can stand up to it.

We had leftovers for dinner because neither of the kids had an appetite so I’d rather clean out the fridge than put in the effort to make something new for palates that barely want anything.

I had the rest of the butternut squash soup and some of the ground pork.  Kyle had the rest of these noodles.  And the kids had leftover ground beef and rice (from tacos) and steamed broccoli.

I was soooo sloshy all night, I didn’t even have room for dessert.  That soup is seriously good stuff.

The next morning I went to stroller strides (although technically it’s called something else on Sundays because it’s a moms only – aka kids free – version). So, no strollers.  I’ve gone a handful of times and it always starts my Sundays off AMAZINGLY well because it’s at 7 am and so by the time I get home I have gotten a SOLID HOUR of sweat in and haven’t missed out on any family time.  I’m able to shower and feed us all before church.

I especially needed it on this Sunday because I hadn’t left the house at all the day before and because of the blah weather and blah health, I was getting into a bit of a rut.  No more!  I came home super energized and ready to get our lives back!  The night before P had really turned a corner and was noticeably better.  He was animated and making jokes, and even though he was still pretty lethargic, you could see glimmers of his normal healthy self shining through.

I had a chocolate protein muffin (seen above) for breakfast.  P called me out big time when he saw the melty chocolate chips inside and asked if I was having cake for breakfast.  He was not too far off!  It was the one I bought  (and brought home) from Choice Juicery.  It looks pretty small in the photo but was so nutrient dense I am glad it wasn’t bigger.  It held me over easily until lunch.

Massage massage massage.

Voila!

My kale ranch chopped salad had chicken, bell peppers, avo, and coconut bacon.  I meant to chop up carrots too, but completely forgot!

Oops.

In the end, this wasn’t a big enough lunch and I was starrrrrving all throughout our afternoon grocery shopping trip.  So as soon as we got home I started on dinner.

I was making the bacon wrapped chicken with lemon date sauce from Ready or Not.  I should have looked at the estimated prep time before embarking on this at 5:30 when my stomach was already growling, but oh well.  I went super fast and ended up beating the time Michelle put down for prep. Go me!

Frying some thighs before sending them off to the oven.

Meanwhile I made this sauce.

I had already soaked the dates in chicken stock in anticipation, so they were nice and soft and I didn’t have to cook the sauce as long as a result.

On the side I steamed green beans because I thought that would be good with the lemon date sauce as well.

As soon as the oven timer went off, everyone was in their chairs for food.

AMAZING.

Nom nom paleo does not mess around with her recipes.  They are always huge successes in this house.

There’s even a little bit of leftover sauce and chicken (I made 12 thighs thinking it would be wayyyyy too much but we only had two leftover!) so I am thinking that can be one of my lunches some time this week.

Dessert face strikes again!  Kyle gave me this in my stocking and I can’t believe it has taken me until now to open it.

It’s a chocolate bar topped with every sweet and treat you can imagine!  The tiny peanut butter cups are my favorite. Obviously.  The nuts aren’t too bad either.  😉

I had candied ginger on the side.  Looking forward to a full week with mostly healthy kids.  Woohoo!  🙂