back it up a bit
/I’m obsessed with looking at kitchen appliances, countertops, cabinets, flooring, etc. and this house isn’t even fully ours yet. It’s just too much fun. If we do get the house, I am already jumping with excitement, that the kitchen will be getting a full remodel before we move in. I wonder if I’ll be able to find a good photography corner!! There are a lot of windows and light, so the odds are in my favor! Am I getting ahead of myself much?
Let’s back up to this morning.
I got a little butter crazy.
Almond butter.
Peanut butter.
I mean, why not?
Scottish Oats filled with chia seeds, banana, almond milk, cinnamon + vanilla.
We woke up to a 4” blanket of the snow, which made for 2 happy dogs. Kenna spends 80% of the time focused on the toy, while Dakota pokes at her, trying to rile her up.
If you have 2 dogs, this is the best toy ever! It’s rubbery, but super strong [we have tough chewers!] and shaped like an “S.” It’s their fav.
This is Dakota in hunt mode and Kenna not caring.
I made a BEAST of a salad for part of lunch today.
- romaine [from door to door organics]
- spinach
- tomato [from door to door organics]
- 1/2 avocado
- 1 egg
- 2 carrots
- sun dried tomatoes
- pizza sauce
- goat’s milk feta
- s+p
I typically don’t buy tomatoes at all during the winter, because they are out of season and never taste right. Surprisingly, this had great flavor and reminded me of summer. mmmm
Loved all of the different textures in this huge bowl!
I knew dinner was going to be late tonight because of a realtor meeting, so I prepped a little during the day. I already had a lot of leftover pizza sauce, which is great as a pasta sauce as well.
To go along with the red sauce, I made kale pesto again. This is a fun twist on typical basil pesto. It’s so tasty that I eat it by the spoonful! I first made this sauce on my 2nd detox day and it was definitely a keeper.
The sauce yields about 1 1/4c and is packed with an entire head of kale. It’s vegan, gluten free, filled with healthy fats, protein + even b12 [from nutritional yeast]. Chris + I both love topping pasta or any grain with both sauces instead of just one.
Just for something different, I decided to add sun dried tomatoes to the mix. Deeelicious!
Sun Dried Tomato Kale Pesto – yields 4-6 servings [adapted from Jan/Feb Vegetarian Times Kale Pecan Pesto]
- 1, 12oz bunch kale [any type], washed + de-stemmed
- 1c sun dried tomatoes, sliced [not packed in oil]
- 2T walnuts
- 3T almonds
- 2 large garlic cloves, peeled
- 5T nutritional yeast
- 3T olive oil
- black pepper
- pinch of salt [I used less than 1/8t total, but you may want more]
- ~2-4T cooking water [from kale]
- In a large pot, bring 1.5c water to a boil.
- Add in torn, de-stemmed kale and cover for about 4-5min. Kale should be wilted but still bright green.
- Drain liquid into a bowl and reserve.
- In a food processor, process nuts + garlic until fine.
- Add in kale and process, until combined. Scrape the bowl as necessary.
- Add in the olive oil, salt + pepper. Process again.
- Add in nutritional yeast + 2-4T cooking water.
- Process again, scraping when necessary, until desired consistency is reached. Add in more cooking water, a little at a time, if desired.
- Add in sliced sun dried tomatoes and process until chopped into small pieces.
*You can toast your nuts, for a deeper flavor if you choose, or add other spices.
*If you can only find the oil packed sun dried tomatoes, drain the oil and use 1/2-1T less of the added olive oil in the recipe.
The sauces were ready to go, so all I did when I got home, was cook a big batch of millet and make spinach salads. Topped with pesto + pasta sauce, it was simple + homemade + completely satisfying.
Time to get back to important business….you know, Ikea…Sears…Craigslist. :)
Gooooodnight!
Ash
