friday+saturday+sunday

[black bean burgers on gluten free bun+roasted sweet potatoes.]

[gluten free/vegan bagels+daiya strawberry cream cheese.  yes]

[confused]

[lactofermentation! this is cortido+can't wait to try it]

[depressed]

[sour stomached pitbull]

[sweet potato+kale chowdah]

recipe:

1/2 onion

1 sweet potato

3 red potatoes [can be replaced with additional sweet potato]

1 Tbl. coconut oil

-combine and saute-

salt/garlic salt to taste

pepper to taste

thyme to taste

1 1/2 boxes of vegetable broth

-cook until potatoes are soft then mash to desired mashiness-

4-5 kale leaves sliced in thin ribbons.

2 Tbl. nutritional yeast

-simmer for a couple minutes-

-eat-

-fill bowl again-

-repeat-

-add and simmer for a couple of minutes-

weekender.

I've decided I'd like to be a professional weekender.  I would like to get paid for this position.  A cool 2 million per year would suffice just fine.  I'll need a little extra cash, you know, for all the DIY stuff I'll have time for.  With includes but is not limited to:

-Gardening

-Building furniture [with what tools....?]

-Painting

-Baking

-Inventing new recipes

-Potting plants [this is different from gardening]

And other various good ideas from pinterest.

I wouldn't mind if this job didn't include digging out plants [which we did this weekend], lawn mowing [our mower isn't self-propelled], tilling, getting attacked by bugs, and the like.

This weekend was the weekend of spiders.  We did yard work and encountered thousands of spiders. Big ones, little ones, hairy ones, ones with white bums, and I'm fairly certain, a tarantula.  Do tarantulas live in Iowa?  To top it all off, I went to put a glass in the dishwasher this morning and there was a daddy long leg spider in it.  Yuck yuck yuck.

I'm fairly certain that Justin is afraid of spiders too.  He denies it, but I know the truth.

And now let the iPhone photos of the weekend commence!

 

Can Rady has some pancakes?

Prease?

The menu for vegan week four.  We're still rocking it.  Some of us miss meat a little more than others...  Some of us might be grumpy about it.  Some of us may have even requested to go to taco bell for lunch even though that one of us hates taco bell.  Basically I'm winning at veganism.  But I've lost 10 pounds so I made this:

COWBOY CAVIAR!  And we finished it in less than 24 hours.  I expect to have gained at least two pounds from this weekend.

And finally, we got this little Lady a year ago from this weekend.  As Justin said, she seems to have adjusted just fine...  Spoiled.

98% vegan

I say that because, occasionally, I cheat.  Like the cookies that my brother brought me from Germany, I'll be damned if I don't eat those puppies!  But for the most part, we've been vegan for 2 weeks and 1 day.  And it's not too bad.  I'll admit, I did have to text my friend whose husband is vegetarian last night and beg for her veggie burger recipe.  But other than that, it's going well.  So well that when I see chicken it grosses me out.  No worries, hamburgers still look amazing.  Hopefully our veggie burgers tomorrow will kick that craving.

Another benefit to going vegan is I've stopped eating candy.  I went cold turkey off of it.  And I don't miss it.  That has never happened to me before.  Usually when I give up candy I get really grumpy and think about it constantly.  That has not been the case this time.  I made black bean brownies for J's birthday last week that weren't stupendous, but we'll get there.  

The worst thing I've made while being a vegan was probably my vegan chili.  Horrible.  The best thing was the vegan waffles.  They.  Were.  Amazing.  Crispy and delicious.  Even if we went off being vegan, I'd never use my old recipe again.  I could eat waffles every day.

I'm even eating spinach.  It's happening people.  I didn't put one piece of spinach in the discard pile tonight. [Background: the discard pile is where I place all of the unsavory bits of food that aren't fit for consumption.  Be it an item that touched the table -the horror- an iffy looking leaf of lettuce, or a particularly menacing spinach stem.  Justin also makes discard piles, but he usually forgets they're discards and eats them...]  This week of vegan meals is looking to be the best one yet.  Pizza, veggie burgers, and one pot pasta are on the list.  

Happy Monday!

a collection of photos from anniversary weekend

Here is what we did [but mostly ate] this weekend.

Wonderful.

Brisket.  I called the caterer to get the recipe.  

Also mashed potatoes and asparagus.  Let it be known; I hate asparagus.  There.  It's out.

Worst picture ever, but one of the only ones we have together from the weekend.  Also how weird does my arm look?  Whoa.

Because he looks cute in it.

Raspberry lemon bars.  

Mini golf strategy right here.

So this course you had to ride this thing across the putting green to get to your ball....?

My form.  Poor quality form right there.

Justin is much more of a professional glidey thing rider.

But not as good of a putter.  Just saying.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo.  Tacos yo.

And margaritas.  Poor Justy looks a little pale in this picture.  He caught a spring-time cold.

Holla!  Angel food cake.  Homemade.  Gluten-free.  It's gone now, and we shall mourn.

Es el fin.

UNrecipe

Today I bring to you a delicious and healthy UNrecipe.  Which basically means it's so stupid easy, my pitbull could do it.  Obviously that's not true.  My pitbull can't even defend me in the dark of the night when there are strange banging noises in the garage.  She hides deep under the covers and pretends not to be awake.  True story.  Also, please don't rob me?

Back to the UNrecipe.  This weekend Justin and I exclaimed that we would make healthier eating decisions and made new rules for ourselves [again].  This one was less unhealthy meat.  There have been studies done showing that red meat isn't the healthiest decision, so we've decided to cut back.  More chicken, fish, veggies, and legumes are happening over here!  

Tonight I threw together a delightful spring vegetable and chicken pasta dish.  It reminds me of alfredo without the obvious creaminess, and with the added bonus of fresh lemon juice.  So good and it took all of about 12 minutes to come together.  Honestly the longest part was waiting for the water to boil.

UNrecipe

8 oz. of pasta [gluten-free, or of your choosing.  We used shells because I didn't eat enough shells as a child and now I'm obsessed with them, but any shape would do as well.]

1 lb. of chicken [grilled, roasted, etc. Or no chicken if you're feeling particularly vegetarian]

Spring vegetables of your choosing, we used snap peas and asparagus.

The juice of 1/2 of a lemon

1/4-1/2 cup of grated parmesan

Many good cranks of freshly ground pepper

Garlic salt.  [My favorite can be ordered here.  It's the best ever]

A drizzling of olive oil

Just heat everything up and combine in a big bowl and toss.  It makes enough for 4 big servings, which is convenient because I love a good leftover lunch.

Leftovers.  That is all I have to say about that.

Today

My Iphone 3S is capturing what's going on today.  Aztec print, paper snowflakes, insulation blowing, grocery list making and all.

Lady is petrified of everything non-threatening.  Swiffers, Tape Measures, and now insulation blower tubes.  She cowered in the bathroom overseeing the operation.  Complete with dramatic shivers.

Insulation blowing is actually really boring.

These have been added to my wardrobe.  Justin is unsure about them.  I'm very sure about them.

Our rug from World Market got delivered yesterday.  We got it 40% off.  Pretty proud of that.  Don't worry, I've already spilled a large glob of chocolate icing on it.  

What one does whilst their husband, husband's friend, and the family pit bull blow insulation?  Make a bomb-diggity grocery list.

And admire the two foot tall Christmas tree with her paper snow flake friends.

Fun Fact: I had to look on Martha Stewart.com to figure out how to make a paper snow flake.  The first one I made fell in pieces because I cut the very important corner that shall never be cut.  Oops. 

Macaroni & Cheese

Not just any macaroni and cheese.  Macaroni and cheese with bacon.

We died and went to heaven this weekend with good food.  I can't even name a favorite.  But the macaroni and cheese was delightful.  And possibly a little too sinful for a Sunday.  Thank goodness God is a forgiving God.  I like this recipe because it doesn't require a roux for the cheese sauce.  It seriously makes the best macaroni and cheese either Justin or I have ever eaten.

Recipe:
1 Box of noodles (use shells to make your heart sing with happiness)
1 8oz block of Medium Cheddar Cheese
3.5 oz (approximately) of Farmer's Cheese-whatever that is
2 cups of milk/almond milk/soy milk
2 tsp brown rice flour
1/4 pound diced and browned bacon
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
4 tsp sour cream
1 egg

Cook noodles and drain them.  Cook to al dente.  I used quinoa noodles because they were the cheapest on the shelf.  Use your favorite.

Shred up the cheeses. Save some cheddar to sprinkle and brown on top.

Combine egg, flour, s&p and nutmeg, sour cream and milk in LARGE bowl with the rest of the shredded cheese, and bacon.

Grease your 2 qt. baking dish with -wait for it- the bacon grease.  You'll thank me.

Mix noodles into the cheese sauce mixture and then pour into the dish and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Menu

Growing up, my mom went to the grocery store about 4 times a week because we never decided what we were having for supper until the last minute and then we had to go and get any missing ingredients.

That was fine then.  But now I'm the one going to the grocery store.  And I don't like it.  After I've worked a full day, the last thing I want to do is figure out what to make for dinner.  Decide if I have the necessary ingredients.  Go to the store and fight the droves of people doing the same thing.  And then go home and prepare a meal.

No.

So I became a menu planner.  This helped not only with my sanity, but with saving money at the grocery store.  I now scan the ads before I decide what I'm going to make, and take inventory of our produce and pantry items.  I then make a list on Excel breaking down each meal and the ingredients I need from the store for each one with a miscellaneous column on the bottom.  We went from spending about 120$ per week on groceries to around $80, and I've had weeks where we've only spent about $40.  That's more like it.

This week's menu:

Monday:

Pizza (I had all these ingredients already)

Tuesday:

Pork Chops

Grilled Veggies

Wednesday:

Barbecue Chicken

Green Beans

Thursday:

Chicken Stir Fry

Rice

Friday:

Hamburgers

Oven Fries

Fruit Salad

Saturday:

Jerk Chicken

Grilled pineapple

Baked Potato Soup