By Courtney

Right now in my refrigerator and on my counters I have: eggplant, onions, shallots, garlic, tomatoes, basil, and red and green peppers. Flipping through my beloved Mediterranean cookbook, trying to figure out what to do with the bounty, I saw a recipe for ratatouille. I’ve never eaten ratatouille before, but it looked delicious, and I wasn’t about to let my lack of zucchini stop me from trying it.

However, the recipe I had looked pretty labor-intensive and called for cooking the vegetables separately and to different degrees. I didn’t have time for that today, so I broiled the entire dish until it was soupy, charred, and aromatic.

I’ve yet to try ratatouille, but I assume this dish is very similar. It has a thick, stew-like consistency, and a delicious, sweet aftertaste.  It makes a great vegetarian entree or a side dish, either with a grain-like accompaniment or not. (I served it with quinoa.)

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 onion, halved and sliced into quarter-inch rings
• 3 large (about 1.5 pounds) tomatoes, cored and seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh  basil
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste (about a teaspoon and quarter teaspoon, respectively)

Method:

1. Preheat your broiler to high (if you have that option) and move the oven rack so that your pan will be about 5 inches from the heat source.
2. Toss everything but the chicken stock together in a heavy-bottomed cake pan or on a good-quality sheet pan. I used a cast-iron roasting pan, and it worked awesomely.
3. Broil the vegetables for 5-10 minutes, until those facing the heat begin to char.
4. Stir the vegetables, and replace under the broiler until those facing the heat begin to char.
5. Repeat until the vegetables have reduced by half.
6. Remove from the oven, pour the chicken stock over the vegetables, and cover with aluminum foil. Let rest for 1 hour, or until the vegetable juices and chicken stock have thickened into a stew-like consistency or a veggie gravy.

By Courtney

Mid July finds my refrigerator stuffed to the gills with zucchini and cucumbers, and I’ve got enough Roma tomatoes from my garden to not know what to do with (yet not enough to make sauce, which is annoying), and several bunches of basil who are growing weary of sitting in a glass of water and yearn to be eaten.

Friday night dinners exhaust me. I go hard all week. By Friday afternoon I’ve done 5 early morning workouts, followed by 5 45-minute power walks, followed by 5 full, busy days of work. One of my Friday night rituals from my pre-primalish days was to go to happy hour at the dog park (which meant walking there and taking a travel cup full of wine with me…classy) and then ordering a pizza and not leaving the couch for the rest of the evening. I haven’t done that in a while because A.) I don’t live close enough to the park to walk anymore, and B.) Pizza makes my ass big and my skin pimply and my tummy uneasy.

Tonight I’m bringing pizza back, and most of the ingredients I’m using come from my CSA share or my small garden in my back yard. If you’ve got some zucchini, Romas, or basil you need to use and you’re dying for some guilt-free pizza, this recipe is for you.

Mid July CSA Friday Night Pizza

Makes 1 16-inch pizza

Ingredients:

• 2 cups zucchini, shredded fine (but not pureed); about 1 large zucchini
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 1/4 cup flax seed meal
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sauce and toppings of choice. I used a drizzle of garlic-infused olive oil for the “sauce,” and then topped with Romas, kalamata olives, diced grilled chicken, fresh grated Asiago, and fresh shredded basil. And then I died because it was so good.
• Note: You will NEED parchment paper or nonstick aluminum foil to make this crust.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, coconut flower, flax seed meal, eggs, and seasonings.
3. Cover your sheet pan or pizza stone with parchment paper. Dump the “dough” onto the parchment paper and cover with another sheet. Using a rolling pin or very careful hands, spread the “dough” out until it’s about 1/4 inch thick.
4. Bake for 15 – 20 minutes (until it’s more stiff than doughy) Remove from the oven, flip the “dough” over, and bake again for 15 minutes.
5. Let the crust cool for a few minutes, then add your toppings.
6. Pop the pizza back in the oven under the broiler, watching carefully and removing when your toppings are as ooey and gooey as you want them.

Does it taste like New York pizza? No. Can you pick it up and fold it and dump it in marinara sauce? No. Is it delicious nonetheless and WAY better for you? Absolutely.

By Michelle

My husband and I really try to keep our lives relatively simple – we don’t like to be so busy that we’re running from one activity to the next without really taking time to be present in whatever it is we’re doing. We like to have the ability to be flexible with our schedule, at least a little bit, and to spend plenty of quality time just being with our children. In addition to all that, we value eating healthy, homemade meals as well as need to meet a very tight budget at the moment. Most of the time, we do a pretty good job, at least in my opinion.

Right now, however, is busy. The things that are making us busy are all great and are definitely important and worthwhile long-term, but I will definitely say that I will be glad when these things are taken care of and we can get back to a little more restful state. My husband is finishing his Master’s degree, we’re trying to sell our house, and we’re in the middle of making a decision about where we’ll be moving in August. Also, during this past month while our friends were living with us, there were about two full days in which none of the seven of us were sick.

Unfortunately, the fact that we’re busy does not mean that our grocery budget is any larger. If it wasn’t so incredibly much more expensive to get dinner from the Whole Foods bars or even buy a frozen natural/organic lasagna or something like that, I would (and maybe I still will if it really becomes necessary). Most of the time, our deep freezer is well-stocked with soups, casseroles, lasagnas, etc. that I’ve purposely made more of for busier times. But we’ve been trying to empty it out in preparation for moving and only have a random assortment of single ingredients remaining (including seven pounds of grass-fed beef liver – what can I do with those?? Liver and onions is not an option). And, the “busier times” we’re encountering at the moment are more like six months instead of the few weeks that our freezer meals could normally sustain us.

So, when life gets busy, what do you do for meals? Do you tend to eat out more? Get takeout? Buy pre-made things at the grocery store? If not, how do you manage eat nutritious and frugal meals during busy (both time-wise and brain-energy-wise) seasons of life? I’d love some encouragement and advice!

By Michelle

It’s about the time of the year when I feel like most of the “normal” vegetables in the grocery stores have spent many weeks traveling from Chile or Mexico or other far-away places and thus are pretty much not worth the price you have to pay for them, nutritionally or taste-wise. Here in the Pacific Northwest, there are actually still lots of things growing, but they are not necessarily things I know how to cook with or like to eat. Cabbage is one of those things in our family (even though I would consider it “normal” – unlike parsnips or celeriac or rutabaga). Our family gets a basket of vegetables each week from a local farm, and I have been known to dread the giant heads of cabbage that appear every couple weeks. Thankfully I’ve been trying lots of different ways to eat cabbage and have actually found quite a few that we like.

The recipe I’m sharing today is for a cold noodle salad – maybe not your first thought in the middle of winter, but actually a nice alternative to all the recipes for soup and other rich food I’ve been seeing lately. And a great way to get some more vegetables in your diet right now, too. It makes a huge bowl of salad, but it keeps pretty well in the refrigerator for the better part of a week. Both of my kids (ages 1 and 3) love it, too, which is great, though admittedly they are both pretty adventurous when it comes to food. Also, you can add pretty much whatever veggies are seasonal in your area or that you prefer. We’ve been getting cabbage and carrots pretty regularly here in Portland.

Do you have a particular winter vegetable recipe that you like? How about a good way to use large heads of cabbage? I’m always looking to try new things!

See more photos and read more about this recipe here.

Cabbage and Noodle Salad with Spicy Peanut Sauce

from Thoughtful Kitchen; adapted from a recipe supplied by Pumpkin Ridge Gardens, original source unknown

Basic Salad:
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti noodles (I think this would also be fabulous with rice noodles, making it gluten-free so long as your soy sauce and sweet chili sauce are also gluten-free)
1 medium cabbage, thinly sliced, whatever variety you like or have – red, green or Napa are all good
1 onion, again of any variety, diced or thinly sliced
2-3 large carrots, thinly sliced or coarsely grated using a food processor or hand grater

Optional (but great) Additions: 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced; 2-3 cups snap peas, halved and ends trimmed; 1 cup chopped cilantro (not pictured); 1-2 hot peppers, finely diced; roasted, salted peanuts for garnish

Sauce:
1 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup warm water
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper, or to taste
1/2 cup prepared sweet chili sauce (we like Trader Joe’s)
5 garlic cloves, minced
0-1 tsp salt

Note – if you are adding all the optional-but-great-additions above and/or have a huge head of cabbage, make one and a half or even two recipes of sauce to account for the added volume.

Cook the spaghetti in boiling water just until al dente, which is sometimes a couple of minutes less than the package directs. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water. Let drain in a colander to get rid of any excess liquid while you’re finishing chopping the vegetables and making the sauce.

For the sauce, place all ingredients into a bowl and whisk together until well blended. Taste, paying attention particularly to the saltiness, and adjust if needed. The amount of salt you need will depend mostly on your brand and type of soy sauce (i.e., low sodium vs. regular).

Combine the vegetables and cooked spaghetti noodles in a very large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon or possibly your hands. Add the sauce in portions and mix in until the ratio of salad to sauce is to your liking. Optionally garnish with peanuts, more chopped hot peppers and/or more chopped cilantro. Do NOT mix peanuts, if using, into the whole bowl of salad unless you’re serving it all right away – they will lose their crunch and become mushy quickly.

By Michelle

Our sugar free week ended about a week ago. Overall, I thought it was fine. It didn’t require a lot of thinking on my part (a little, but not a lot) and I didn’t care too much. I did feel good but not significantly better than normal. Well, except that the baby also started sleeping through the night and I had a ton more energy, but I’m not sure it had anything to do with the no-sugar diet. By the end of the week, I did feel a little deprived and was glad for it to be over, but that was probably because I didn’t have buy any “treat” foods that didn’t have sugar in them and so didn’t eat anything I would consider a “treat” for a week. I know, I am spoiled. I mean, there are plenty of people who are eating beans and rice for every meal and are thrilled just to have them, and I am complaining about voluntarily not eating a treat for a whole week. Uh, yeah, I feel pretty silly.

One thing I did learn was that when I wanted something sweet, it was usually because either (a) I needed to drink more water or (b) I really just wanted to stop and relax for a bit. The first day, we did admittedly eat a couple packaged items that had some sugar in them (bread and turkey bacon), but that was because I had been sick in bed over the weekend and didn’t get a chance to mix up some bread dough and give away the turkey bacon (it was nasty stuff, anyway). Other things I learned were that it wasn’t so difficult for me not to eat sugar or refined grains, but it was almost impossible for my three-year-old. He usually spends one day a week at his grandparents’ house with his cousins, and keeping him from eating something they were eating (and he usually can have) was, in my opinion, pretty cruel, so he had some multi-grain cheerios and probably a couple other things with added sugar. And we had dinner out one night, during which he ate an entire bowl of white macaroni and cheese. But it’s his favorite thing to order, we go out maybe 4 or 5 times a year, and there wasn’t anything better on the kid’s menu anyway. And, besides, this whole thing wasn’t about being legalistic and overly dogmatic but was about being mindful about the sugar in our diets and trying to eliminate it when possible. I still call it a success.

When I was planning our menus for the week, I didn’t have much trouble with dinner, had to tweak a couple things for lunch but was challenged to be a little more creative with breakfast. I wasn’t all that surprised, but having sugar-free breakfasts is something I’m going to try to do more consistently. It’s the one meal eaten on a completely empty stomach and thus probably the one in which eliminating sugar would be the most helpful in feeling better throughout the day, especially for my kids.

Finally, I wanted to share a few of our breakfasts, lunches and snacks from the week for any of you who are interested in reducing the amount of sugar you eat.

Breakfasts: scrambled eggs or omelets with spinach and cheese; peanut butter toast and milk; cheese grits; oatmeal with peanut butter and raisins

Lunches: peanut butter and banana sandwiches; whole wheat pasta with homemade or jarred sugar-free marinara sauce; grilled cheese sandwiches; fruit, nuts

Snacks: mozzarella cheese sticks; cheddar cheese; mixed nuts; peanuts; plain (whole milk) yogurt; applesauce (made of apples only, no extra sugar or even “apple juice concentrate”); fresh fruit; dried unsweetened fruit (raisins, mangoes, prunes); homemade flax crackers; tortilla chips

Any other suggestions for easy but sugar-free foods (but no artificial sweeteners), especially for breakfast, lunch, snacks or “treats”?

By Michelle

This week (starting Monday) my family and I are doing a “sugar free challenge.” This means we won’t be eating anything that has refined sugar (white sugar, brown sugar, evaporated cane juice, etc. etc.), unrefined sweeteners (honey, maple syrup, etc.) or refined grains (white flour, white rice, white pasta, etc.) in it. We will still eat fresh and dried fruit (with no added sugar), whole grains and the more-starchy vegetables. We already eat a very natural diet, so instead of using artificial sweeteners we’ll just be forgoing sweet-tasting foods as well as anything else with added sugar altogether. (It’s only a week; it can’t be that bad, right?)

At this point in our lives, I feel like this will require some effort, but not a huge amount. We don’t usually eat a lot of sweets anyway and have gradually been reducing our sugar intake over the last several months. I’m curious to see what I notice as far as how my body functions. Will I have major sugar cravings in the first few days? Will I still get super tired and feel lethargic at least once every day (or maybe that has to do with 11 months of waking up 2-6 times a night with the baby… need to work on that one, too)? Will I notice anything at all? It’s only a week, after all. We’ll see, and I plan to report back!

Have any of you ever attempted something similar? If so, how did it go? Better yet, anyone want to join me?? (If so, read more about it and sign up here!)

By Michelle

Hi there. I’m Michelle and I’m new here. I really enjoy food – shopping for it, planning it, cooking it, and eating it (but most decisively not cleaning up after it). I also really enjoy it when my body feels good, healthy, like it’s working the way it should. Because of that, I’ve been on a journey towards shifting my family’s diet towards wholesome, unprocessed, natural, (some) organic and nutritious – basically, “real” – food for about four years now.

I spent my childhood in Georgia, where my family’s diet was certainly not perfect but was far superior to most people I knew. A meat, at least two vegetables and sometimes a carbohydrate (all homemade) was our standard dinner while most of my friends were eating frozen TV dinners, boxed macaroni and cheese or take-out. My parents taught me to care about what I was putting into my body and gave me a solid foundation in understanding nutrition, and I am so thankful for that.

I ate what I would now consider a decent diet in college and then in the first years of marriage, but it wasn’t until I got pregnant with my first child four years ago that I really started to put major thought into what we were eating. At the time, I was working as an environmental scientist. I did a little research and was more than a little dismayed when I realized that the chemicals I was testing for in the soil and groundwater in amounts like micrograms (1/1,000,000 of a gram) were the same chemical residues on my apples and pears. In the last part of my pregnancy, I took a birthing class in which we wrote down exactly what we ate for two weeks, and I realized I had to work hard to get enough, or sometimes any, vegetables into my diet every day. These things along with the new responsibility of nourishing a tiny person first through my body and later through the food on our table spurred me to start making changes in what we were eating.

I started out small – the first thing we tackled was a bit random but was easy for us, switching to whole wheat pasta instead of white pasta. I really don’t remember all the steps along the way, but they have all been small. And, partially because we took it slow and simple and partially because I am just plain stubborn, they’ve stuck (for the most part). I am actually very happy with what we eat now, and yet I still realize that we have a long way to go.

So, welcome to our journey! I’ll be sharing some of my thoughts about the process, the particular choices we’re making, and especially some delicious recipes. You can also read more about me and my family and see some of my recipes over at my food blog, Thoughtful Kitchen.

By Katherine

In our house, the hour before dinner is the worst hour of the day; screaming, fighting, tantrums, unexplained episodes of crying and meltdowns over broken crayons or missing baby-dolls.  It is like this for everyone, no?  Complicating matters, for us, is that for the past several years I have worked the night shift.  This means that in addition to handling the ‘witching hour’, and dinner – I also have to get ready for work.  This doesn’t leave much time for dinner.  Often I would find myself ignoring my best-laid plans of the morning (grilled chicken breasts!  salad!  pasta and spinach!) for a quick and convenient box of Macaroni and Cheese, Spaghetti O’s, or something equally processed and fattening.    It’s hard, when it is fast and you are assured that your children will eat it – to forgo the simple solution for something healthier.

Enter Chicken Tetrazzini and my new found obsession with freezing things.  This recipe makes TWO casseroles.  Two!  This means – we get to eat one now, and one later ( the days mom works).  I try to make this recipe on the weekend, when we can eat it for lunch or dinner (and my husband can help with the dishes), and then I save the other one for later on in the week when work and life make it too hectic to prepare a meal.  All I have to do is pop it in the oven, and we all eat something better than a boxed dinner.

I love this casserole, which I adapted by crossing a Cooking Light version and a traditional Betty Crocker recipe.  It is by no means a gourmet version of this dish, but it is a satisfying comfort meal that is healthy and balanced.  This recipe eliminates the traditional Bechamel sauce, reducing much of the fat and calories.  Plus, both of my kids will eat this. 

Chicken Tetrazzini:

1  tablespoon  butter

Cooking spray

1 1/2  cups  finely chopped onion

1 1/4  cups  finely chopped celery

1  tablespoon  freshly ground black pepper

1  teaspoon  salt

2  (8-ounce) packages pre sliced mushrooms – cut in half, and then pulsed in the food processor

1/2  cup  dry sherry

1 Tablespoon Dalmation Rubbed Sage

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2  cup  all-purpose flour

5 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

2  cups  (9 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided

5 oz.  1/3-less-fat cream cheese

7  cups  hot cooked angel hair pasta (about 1 pound uncooked pasta)

4  cups  chopped cooked chicken breast (about 1 1/2 pounds) – I bake mine in the oven with some sage and cracked black pepper

3  (1-ounce) slices white bread

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

Melt butter in large saucepan  over medium-high heat. Add onion, celery, sage, red pepper flakes, pepper, salt, and mushrooms; sauté 4 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Add sherry; cook 2 minutes.

Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup; level with a knife. Gradually add flour to pan; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly – mixture will thicken . Gradually add broth, stirring constantly. Bring to a boil. Add oregano. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Add 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese and cream cheese, stirring until cheese is melted. 

Cook pasta until al dente.  Drain and return to pot.

Pour sauce into pot with pasta. Add chicken, and stir until blended. Divide the pasta mixture between 2 (9-inch-square) baking dishes coated with cooking spray.

Place bread in food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse crumbs form. Combine breadcrumbs and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; sprinkle evenly over pasta mixture. Top with cracked black pepper if desired.

Bake 30 minutes, covering casserole with foil last 10 minutes to prevent browning.

For the frozen casserole: I take it out the day before hand (if I remember), and bake it for 45 minutes at 350 degrees with the foil on until the last 15 minutes.  Sometimes, I take it out the morning of (this is a more realistic scenario), and in this case I basically wing the cooking time.  You have to be careful not to burn the top but cook the casserole all the way through.  Usually, this takes me about an hour of cooking (with the foil over it) at 300 degrees, and thirty minutes at 350 degrees – removing the foil in the last fifteen minutes.

Nutrition Content (via SparkRecipe) :

Serves: 6 servings per casserole / makes 2 casseroles.

Serving Size : about 1 1/3 cups casserole

Calories : 403,  Total Fat: 9g,  Saturated Fat: 4.5g, Total Carbohydrates 39.1 grams, Sugars 2.7g, Protein 36g

By Stacy

If you are anything like me right now you are super psyched to be with family and friends today but a little hesitant about falling off the chow-wagon and blowing your entire weekly, aw, hell, MONTHLY calorie allotment, read below and try to implement a few of my strategies to save some calories and still enjoy the heck out of Thanksgiving dinner.

Turkey: Eat turkey, this lean protein is super healthy.  Avoid the skin, say no to gravy, eat plain breast meat and keep the portion to about the size of your palm.  (I know, so small, right!?)

Vegetables: Fill your plate as close to halfway full as possible.  Vegetables; green beans, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, squash, brussels sprouts and carrots are high in fiber, antioxidants and vitamins.  Avoid the dishes where the vegetables are served in sauces.  Baking and steaming with a little olive oil will save a ton of calories and allow you to eat more of the other stuff.

Potatoes: Sweet potatoes are actually one of the best foods you can eat!  Avoid the marshmallows on top, the brown sugar and eggs mixed in, a baked sweet potato, topped with cinnamon is a real treat!  Steam, boil or mash – this food is great for all ages!  My 10 month old daughter will be eating one and so will my 89 year old uncle!

White potatoes!  They are not the enemy, actually.  I sliced my potatoes into  coins, tossed with olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh rosemary and baked them for about 30 minutes.  Skins on for extra fiber.

Dessert: You know what?  It’s only one day, right ?  And think of all the calories you saved by eating all those veggies…. treat yourself.  Really! But, keep moderation in mind and don’t go overboard.  It’s a holiday, don’t deprive yourself, you’ll just feel cheated later on.  Eat pie and cookies (or, A cookie) … challenge yourself to eat a smaller than normal portion and to really savor each bite.  You’ll feel satisfied and in control of your meal, and your life.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

…and if you get a chance to take an after-the-meal stroll around the block, do it!  Kick a ball in the yard with the kids.  Go for a hike, or even better, start the day off with a local Turkey Trot fun run.

Roasted Autumn Veggies (Butternut Squash, Brussels Sprouts, Carrots, Turnips, Parsnips)

Rosemary Potatoes

By Stephanie

There is a package of tofu in my fridge.

There has never been a package of tofu in my fridge before.  I think I’ve said previously that I grew up in the Midwest (still live there, in fact), and people in the Midwest in the 80′s didn’t eat tofu.  They ate green bean casserole, tuna casserole, chicken divan casserole, pizza casserole, and pot roast on Sunday.

I blame the tofu on Meatless Mondays, which have become less a novelty and more a part of our routine around here.  We’ve even had some meatless Thursdays and Saturdays, because I’m finding it interesting and challenging (in a good way) to incorporate more vegetarian meals into our family rotation.  Since my last post, I’ve begun to find it easier to plan an entirely vegetable-based meal and not have it feel like just a collection of side dishes.  My husband has stopped taking his heartburn medication, and my kids (oldest, especially) have begun trying more of the things I put on the table.  I promised in my previous entry to keep you up to date on what we’re eating, and then I didn’t.  (*”I said I would and then I didn’t” is a quote from my favorite movie – bonus points to anyone who knows it!)  So here’s a look at some of what I’ve made lately:

• Barley Risotto with Parmesan Cheese.  My daughter helped with this, and it was a great meal paired with a thrown-together green salad full of dried cherries, pears, pecans, and shaved parmesan.  Though it took a little longer than traditional risotto, my whole family loved the toothiness of the barley, and the whole grain is a bonus!
• Quinoa with Moroccan Winter Squash and Carrot Stew.  This was the first thing I made that felt like a full meal all by itself, though I served it with some rustic bread for sopping up the stew.
• Falafel with Hummus.  This was OK, but not up to par with the hole-in-the-wall Middle Eastern place we used to frequent in Ann Arbor.  Anybody have a better falafel recipe?
• Mark Bittman’s No-Knead Bread (via Smitten Kitchen).  THIS.  Is changing my life.  I made it exactly as written the first time, but have been making it weekly since and tinkering a little each time.  Not that there’s ANYTHING wrong with the first version, mind you, but it’s strictly white flour, so I’ve adapted a whole-wheat version and just now I’m have a raisin-pecan loaf rising in the kitchen for tomorrow.  The speedy version is awesome, too, for those days when I don’t want to wait 18 hours for my bread to be ready.  In fact, one of my favorite meatless meals this last month has been sandwiches I made with slices of this warm whole-wheat bread, spread with pesto, and filled with slices of fresh mozzarella and veggies (zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, tomatoes) that had been grilled.  A hoppy IPA, some grilled asparagus on the side, and I was happy!

The tofu is because tonight I’m making Smitten Kitchen’s peanut sesame noodles, in hopes that my children will go for the familiarity of the peanut butter and tolerate the vegetables.  It’s a gamble, and the safer bet would be nightly chicken nuggets or grilled cheese, but it’s a gamble that we’re having fun taking together.