Anyone else feeling the effects of the time change? I definitely missed the lost hour yesterday as I felt like I was playing catch up all day. So much that this blog post didn’t get written. With one child at preschool and the other one napping, I better hurry and get this done while I can!
How Dinner Went Down Last Week
Sunday
Vegan Creamy Sun-dried Tomato Penne with Mushrooms
I was in the mood for creamy pasta. Not able to turn to dairy, I used cashews to create a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce for penne. The sauce included 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup soaked cashews+1/4 cup of the soaking water, 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (oil soaked, but drained), 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon dried basil, and 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic. All ingredients were combined in the blender. I added sauteed mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes to the pasta. It was really rich, almost too rich, but it curbed my craving for creaminess.
Monday
Freezer night. Tim had some vegetable lasagna and I had some 3 Bean Vegan Chili. (As a side note, that recipe can be made without the slow cooker; I’ve done it that way a few times) For the life of me, I can’t remember what Meghan had; I think it was just some odds and ends. This was a strange night as we don’t usually all have different things for dinner. I love being able to just grab food out of the freezer and reheat though!
Tuesday
Butternut Squash Apple Soup with Apple Cheese Panini with a green salad.
This old picture really makes me laugh. It doesn’t matter, though, because I love this soup. I really love soup, salad, and sandwich nights. I didn’t follow the panini recipe exactly. For Tim I used cheddar cheese (didn’t want to buy gruyere), for Meghan just cheese, no apple, and for me I tried Daiya cheddar “cheese” for the first time. I was completely floored by how much I liked this cheese substitute. I have tried fake cheeses in the past and been disgusted with them. Literally had to throw them out they were so bad. The fake cheese world has come a long way in the past few years, because this stuff actually tastes good and melts like real cheese. I won’t eat it often, as it’s definitely not a “whole food”, but to occasionally fill in the void being dairy-free has left me, it’s perfect.
Wednesday
I made the mixture for my peppers with a little of the Daiya cheese shreds instead of the goat cheese it calls for (you know…since I had a package anyway) and it worked well. Next time I think I’ll just leave it out, though, as I think it would have been fine without it.
Thursday
Oven Roasted Chicken with Garlic Wine Sauce, Roasted Cauliflower and Broccoli, and a green salad
I didn’t follow a recipe here, so I don’t have much to share. I simply seasoned the chicken, gave it a sear, then put the (oven safe) skillet in the oven. When the chicken was finished cooking I used the same skillet to make a quick sauce. For the roasted veggies, I prepared them like the simply roasted cauliflower, but added some broccoli to the mix.
Friday
Omelets with roasted veggies
Breakfast for dinner! Yum. My omelet included mushrooms, red peppers, and Daiya cheese. (Okay, okay, I know I said I wasn’t going to eat this stuff often. But I have to finish the package, right?) Tim and Meghan’s omelets were made with just cheese. Like father, like daughter. We had a mix of roasted veggies on the side. I roast a ton of vegetables in the winter. It’s my favorite way to prepare vegetables.
Saturday
I had a hair appointment Saturday afternoon (finally!) and it went long, so I stopped at the grocery store and got “take out”. I just got a variety of things from the deli counter at our local specialty grocery store. They make delicious food!
Look at that–I finished this post and the baby is still sleeping! Woo hoo! Time to go tackle the next item on my to-do list. Have a great Monday!
Question: Any great dinners planned this week?
I would love to do vegetarian on most nights of the week, but the family complains ((sigh)). Coming up with some workarounds to not have to make an entire separate meal for myself. I do love me a veggie stir fry with brown rice. My favorite! The rest of the fam can throw some chickens in theirs.
My husband used to complain, but now he’s just used to it. Although there are plenty of meals where he says, “This was good, but it’d have been even better if you put some chicken in there!” He thinks chicken would make just about every veggie dish better.
I could definitely tell there was a time change! Monday was rough….
Awesome meals! I’ve started slowly filling my freezer with meal we can just pull out too. I plan to make a lot more before hunter gets here too since I can only imagine he’ll wipe me out in the beginning!
That is such a good idea! There will be many nights when you may want to spend time cooking in the kitchen, but it just won’t be possible!
I totally agree with you on the grab and reheat thing from the freezer. We are having leftover lasagna tonight, and I have some cooked pasta in the freezer for later this week. I will toss it with some garlic, red pepper, and olive oil, top with some form of protein, and voila…dinner is served 🙂
The time change definitely affected me! I could not fall asleep for the life of me last night!
Anyways, all your meals look wonderful again!
I’m making breakfast burritos right now – bet they would taste good even without cheese. Whole wheat tortillas, soy sausage, salsa, and eggs (cheese if you prefer to finish your package off :-0). Roll them up place in the oven (350) for 20-30 minutes till the tortillas are crunchy and enjoy – we usually add more salsa.
That sounds great! My husband loves breakfast burritos and I’ve never thought to have them for dinner. I’ll have to try that some time.