Mind if we skip the part where I apologize for my absence and nonblogging? Mmmkay great

I realize that a lot has happened in the past month +.

We celebrated Christmas…

My mom, dad, brother, Andrew, Beasley and me

(the reindeer headbands have definitely become a tradition)

New Years Eve…

Crazy late night partier…(9:30pm)

and my 27th birthday…

angel food cake with whipped cream + strawberries and T.I. <3

haha birthday cupcake destruction

I actually spent all three holidays with my other family – work. Thankfully I love them lots so it wasn’t a big deal And thankfully I was still able to spend time with my real families, too. I am pretty damn excited for holidays this year though – I’ll be on maternity leave so I won’t have to worry about working Christmas or New Years!

Lots has been happening with the baby, too. I guess that was bound to happen – now that I’m 8 months (32 weeks)!! It’s been going by so so fast. I think I only have 20 days left of work? And I’m pretty sure I am getting bigger by the day, at least that’s what I keep hearing. “Are you sure you’re not having twins??” is another common one :/

I have so much to update about pregnancy/baby, etc. but I’m going to make a separate place for that so you aren’t bombarded by baby posts

I have been trying really hard to eat well and get all the nutrients I can now, basically making up for all the cans of alphaghetti I ate in my first trimester . I have a bunch of food pics for you and even a recipe! Oh yes!

brown rice veggie sushi

roasted veggie sandwich with hummus + cream of mushroom and spinach soup

2 eggs, kale, avocado, ketchup with black rice toast + hemp hearts and banana with almond butter and chia seeds

mashed yams with a veggie sausage, sautéed carrots, celery and kale and salad with pomegranate arils, avocado and pumpkin seeds

Protein muffin with blueberries, maple syrup, almond butter and hemp hearts

awesome awesome soup! I’ve made it 5 times already!

baked beans on a veggie burger with lots of goat cheddar, romaine salad with avocado and roasted pepper dressing

protein pancakes with blueberries, maple syrup and hemp hearts

lots of bbq shrimp with salt, pepper and lemon and mixed greens with quinoa and avocado

mixed greens, roasted broccoli, fried haloumi cheese, veggie sausage, brown rice and raspberry vinaigrette

spinach cakes on top of mixed greens and brown rice

I have been trying to get this recipe from Andrew for the last 2 years – it’s definitely one of my favourites. I finally got him to write it down

Spinach and Mushroom Cakes

- 8 oz fresh spinach

- 4 mushrooms, diced

- 1/4 onion, diced

- 4 cloves of garlic, diced

- 1 egg

- 1/3 – 1/2 cup grated cheese

- 2 tbsp + 1 cup bread crumbs (I used finely chopped spelt crumbs)

- 2 tsp sriracha, or to taste

- salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 400F. Steam spinach until wilted. Remove and squeeze out excess liquid. Fry onion + garlic until soft over medium heat in a little bit of oil. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and fry until mushrooms have browned. Chop spinach and throw in pan with mushrooms, onions and garlic. Cook off any excess liquid from the spinach and mushrooms and add the sriracha. Remove from heat and put mixture in a bowl to let cool for approximately five minutes. Add the cheese and mix together with your hands. Add the 2 tbsp of bread crumbs. Make into patties with your hands. (Our mixture made 2 big patties and 1 small one). Dip into whisked egg and then into bowl of bread crumbs. Place on pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 15 minutes per side. Let cool for about 5 minutes before eating. 

It finally looks/feels like winter now – just as of today

yesterday

today

so I am off to make a big pot of this soup and then venture out to the grocery store and then to our birthing class tonight! 

Hope you’re all doing well! If I don’t procrastinate for another 2 months, you’ll probably hear from me again really soon!

Lots of hugs,

Paije xo

]]> http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2012/01/15/snowday-sunday/feed/ 3 paijery famchristmas NYE partier! work love monster twins? sushi lunch breakfast win protein pufff soups! mess pancakes sups salad best meal yums no snow snowday http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/like-a-boss/ http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/like-a-boss/#comments Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:09:43 +0000 paijery http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/?p=3870 ]]> Heya friends! 

I can’t believe another week has gone by already! I don’t normally have weekends off and I’ve forgotten how fast they go by. It was definitely nice to spend the weekend with Andrew and cross tons of stuff of our to-do list. We just found out today that our nursery has to be re-drywalled and insulated. Yessssss. Ah, better now than later right? And now the baby won’t freeze when s/he goes to bed

This is the second week that we have meal planned and it feels so good to be organized. I swear being pregnant is so boss for getting things done. I woke up at 6:30 am this morning and started cleaning. And then had a nap. Wiin. 

Back to the meal plan….wanna see what’s on the agenda for this week?

—>Dairy-free Spinach Stuffed Shells

—>Fresh fish, grilled veggies + brown rice

—>Veggie burgers + french onion soup

—>Yam falafels

—>Quinoa lasagna  (for the hundredth time)

Tonight we made the stuffed shells and because we ran out of shells I had to improvise and use lasagna noodles. Bomb. And tons of leftovers.

before being baked and topped with cheese

I know it looks like I’m feeding a family of 5 but I need lunches for the rest of the week, too!

2 rolls with a simple salad with baby tomatoes, crushed walnuts and raspberry vinaigrette

We also meal planned successfully last week buuut I forgot to take photos. As you can tell by the photo above, the sun goes down way before it’s time to eat which = ugly photos. And when I get home from work at 7 pm I am too hungry to paparazzi my plate

I did manage to snag a couple randoms though. This is a food blog after all, yeah? 

mung bean pasta (so obsessed) with homemade bean + pepper sauce with goat cheddar

Side note: I bought the mung bean pasta this summer while in NC and it immediately went on my shit list when I got home. I couldn’t eat aaanything I bought in the US (I think because of my morning sickness?) so the mung bean pasta, many squeeze packs of Justin’s almond butter, Trader Joes chocolate bars all sat in the cupboard unopened for months. 

refried beans cooking

refried bean tortilla with fried red pepper, lettuce, tomato and avocado + side of Alexia wedges

leftover mung bean pasta, feta stuffed peppers, roasted beets, veggie burger onto of mixed greens

2 veggie sausages, 2 pieces of toast with goat cheese, avocado and a fried egg

I’m so happy that you guys were so receptive about the baby posts. Definitely makes my heart happy because it’s kind of a big deal going on in my life right now  

Random musings of being 25 weeks pregnant:

• Andrew felt the baby kick. Just a little one but he was very excited <3
• I forget everything. In the middle of telling a story I am completely lost. It’s taken me 3 hours to type this post! My brain in gone. 
• Rolling in bed is quite the task now. It’s hard to explain but if you strap a ball to your middle and try to sleep with it you’ll understand.
• Nightmares are getting scarier and more real. 
• I have acquired an i-don’t-give-an-eff attitude. With everything. It’s probably going to get me in trouble one of these days lol
• Celery and Tim Tams are my new favorite foods. Not together, obviously.
• I think I’m getting that line on my belly, the linea nigra. It’s really faint but it’s there. And so is the furry belly…
• My back is sore every night. I put a wheat bag that my mom made in the microwave and then on my back and it makes everything soo much better. 
• As whiney as this sounds, I wouldn’t change it for anything. As soon as s/he kicks I forget all of the rest of it. 
• Etsy will be the death of me. Or my paypal account. Speaking of, look what came last week! And no, we don’t know what sex the baby is, I just thought this would be cute for a boy or girl.

Okay time to shower, grease the belly <—-TMI?? and get some sleep! 

Night!

Paije xoxo

Tell me:

Do you meal plan? If you do, do you stick to your plan or do you change it according to how you feel that day?

If you don’t, teach me your secret of not spending $1,000,000 a week on groceries please

]]> http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/like-a-boss/feed/ 6 paijery lasagna yums mung beans beans sups leftovers breaks baby http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/back-to-the-norm/ http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/11/19/back-to-the-norm/#comments Sun, 20 Nov 2011 06:32:42 +0000 paijery http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/?p=3851 ]]> Okaaaaaay. This post has been in the works for like uh, 2 months?? Procrastination station over here.

I knew I missed blogging when I started updating my facebook status with the food I was eating

So I’m back! I think anyways. I’ve know I’ve sure said that before!

First of all, thank you soo much for all your congrats on the baby. It really means a lot to me! And I can’t believe that I am going to be 6 months tomorrow! So crazy but soo exciting

5  1/2 months

I know most people have a story about how they planned their pregnancy with their spouse, tried a bunch of times,  or something of that nature but that is not my scoop at all. Andrew and I had just started talking about marriage when I took that pregnancy test. When it came back positive we both kind of laughed awkwardly…..and then I burst into tears. I think I cried that whole day. I called my mom to tell her the news and she said “You can cry today. But tomorrow be happy, you’re going to be a mom”. She’s kind of a smart lady  

Anyways, I had never really read anything about pregnancy/babies before and started to feel reeeeeally overwhelmed. The biggest being money. We had been trying to get a renter in our basement suite for a month or two and nothing was working out (huge headache, LOTS of weirdos) and even though we bought our house completely renovated we still had/have an entire nursery to furnish! I had no idea how expensive baby stuff could be until I started doing some online window shopping. NUUUUUTS.  We have rented out our basement suite now and it’s definitely been a huge relief. 

So I thought I’d write down a few things that I have learned being pregnant so far. I know this won’t interest everyone but I swear I wish someone would have told me all the crazy things to expect <—for me anyways.

First Trimester

• morning sickness is real. Like beyond real. From weeks 7-11 I pretty much spent the entire time on the couch. Minus a week I spent in Charlotte, NC. I spent that week laying in bed until noon and then eating soda crackers and water trying not to throw up while shopping with my mom and aunt. THANK GOD I was on holidays from work.
• you won’t care where you throw up or who sees you throwing up. I puked on the plane in Minneapolis and then again in Charlotte. And then in the car at Andrew’s nephew’s baptism. Oh and many bathrooms. TMI? It’s like having the flu for a month. Or maybe even food poisoning. Uuuughh.
• food aversions are also very real. Included on my shit list was peanut butter, chocolate, COCONUT, eggs, any kind of veggie, salads, basically anything with nutritional value or green in color. The only thing I wanted to eat was bagels with cream cheese, pasta, alphaghetti (cans and cans), takeout anything, broccoli and cheese rice, SOUP, cheezies, gummy worms and pickles. Uncontrollable.
• totally forgetting what it’s like to work out. I had an energy level of about a 2 out of 10. Naps were mandatory, even after spending the day doing nothing.
• being completely batshit crazy. I needed to make Andrew about 100 of these:

Not joking at all either. I probably should of made a few for my family as well.

• awkward fat 4 months. My clothes stopped fitting and maternity clothes looked awful. I felt like I woke up one day and had gained 10 lbs. In my stomach. Lululemon has been amazing.
• big boobs. Woke up with those, too. It’s like dressing a shelf. Definitely love/hate. 

Second Trimester (so far at 24 weeks)

• feeling normal again! Yaaay!! Work has been a trillion times easier but I did modify my night shifts – I still work 7am – 7pm for two days and then 7pm – 4am for two nights. So so glad my job is accommodating.
• a real pregnant belly! Oh yes…clothes look cute again! And thankfully Andrew’s sister-in-law has lent me ton of maternity clothes so I didn’t have to go out and spend a fortune on new clothes!
• really starting to enjoy being pregnant. I am so much more comfortable with how I look now and it’s so cute how excited Andrew is getting. He also loves the belly
• still having crazy cravings. I woke up one morning and could not get shrimp or banana bread out of my head. Obviously not together but I definitely made both that day. BTW, mama peas banana bread (subbing greek yog for Earth Balance) is so bomb. I think I ate half the loaf the first night. And it freezes really well, too. 
• nightmares. Terrifying nightmares. All the time. And when I fall back asleep I fall right back into them. Needless to say, I haven’t been getting very much sleep. BUT I did dream about melty chocolate chips cookies the other night
• acneeeeee. I look like I’m going through puberty again. No cute prego glow here. I never had perfect skin before but now it’s hormonal and random. Arms? Back? Face? Sure. 
• feeling the baby kick. best feeling ever. Same with hearing the heartbeat. <3

I obviously don’t have too many pictures (I finally took my camera out this week….) so I only have a couple food photos!

mixed greens with marinated tofu and mushrooms, bean salad, pasta salad and crumbled goat cheese

pumpkin bread pudding pancakes with lots of maple syrup and butter

chickpea flour pancake, 2 eggs, avocado, salsa and white cheddar (my breakfast 6 out of 7 days, plus or minus some greens or veggie sausages)

Fresh strawberries with greek yogurt and lots of chia seeds

cupcakes! mini chocolate with rose buttercream

hot chocolate almond milk with marshmallows

If you made it through this wordy post – congratulations! I have been having a really hard time trying to figure out what to do with my blog. I don’t know if I should just keep it as it is and keep the baby posts with the regular posts or to make a separate section so  you don’t have  to read about my pregnancy if you don’t want to. Any ideas?

I still have a million things to tell you (it has been three months since I blogged!!) but I don’t want to put you to sleep

Talk to you soon!

Paije xoxo

Have I left you in suspense long enough friends??

I just wanted to make sure that it was for real…….

Yes, yes. 13 weeks + 3 days and we couldn’t be more excited!

Baby veggie monster due March 11, 2012 <3

I’ll be back tomorrow with a more legit post! Hope everyone has been having an amazing summer! I CAN’T WAIT to catch up on your liiiiives!! 

Mucho amor.

Paije xoxo

Heey!!

*cricket* 

*cricket*

Soo I just wanted to let you guys (if anyone still reads this??) know that I am still alive and in a couple weeks my massive blogging absence will all make sense. Promise.

Until then, you can check me out on Pinterest <—- newly obsessed and pleeeeease wait for me to come back! BIG CHANGES  

Love love love ,

Paije xo

Hope you all got to celebrate + hang out with loved ones.

I worked this weekend but am now blogging from my parents house so it was aaaall worth it <3

I was up early this morning [6:45am is early for a holiday!] to walk Beasley and have breakfast with my mom.

Flax bread with honey + organic pb, 2 egg white + 1 egg omelette with red pepper, mushrooms and a TON of fresh dill, small orange

I spent the rest of the morning hanging out in the sunshine [aka making a barricade in the backyard so Beasley could come out and play] and taking photos/admiring my parent’s garden.

The happy camper

I think the lettuce looks like little trees.

Anyone want some fresh dill? ha ha

But seriously…this blanket is only about half of what is actually there. Any takers?

‘Lil strawberry patch.

Hidden strawbs.

My mom and I picked all these in about 5 minutes.  Red berry swoooon.

Peppers that put our pepper plants to shaame.

Jalapenos with sneaky dill.

Bolted spinach

Check out these HUGE leaves! Dinos.

My favorite part of the garden…

Kale!!  Ooooh yes!

I missed about a million things, but had to stop the photo shoot to help my pretty mama with the weeding

After doing some maaajah damage to the chickweeds we went inside to have lunch.

Homemade soup, lettuce mix from the garden, orangie, salad toppers and strawbs 

After lunch I had a gloooorious  two hour nap. Felt so so good. I wish I could have a nap every day of my life. Not sure if work would authorize little siestas though ha ha.

When I woke up my mom was already getting started on supper. 

She made three different kinds of veggie burgers!

Big salad, quinoa salad, burgs, goudaa

grilled portabella  with melted gouda underneath a chickpea falafel burger, quinoa veggie burger + ginger sunflower oatmeal burger.

Recipes of the burgers to come ASAP!! They were all really good!!

We just finished taking Beasely for a walk and now I think I’m going to take another turn in the new massage chair [new piece of heaven] and head to  bed!!

Night loves!

Paije xoxo

Tell me…

Do you grow your own veggies?  You’ve seen our little planters One day I’ll have one as big as my parents’.

Do you have family sitdown suppers or do you mostly do your own thing?  Andrew and I still don’t have a table so most meals are eaten in front of the tv [shaame on us I know] or outside on the deck but we always have family dinners at our parent’s houses

]]> http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/07/04/a-canadian-4th-of-july/feed/ 14 paijery breakfast beas garden1 lettuce dill? dill strawbs strawbs strawbs peppers jalepeno spin rawr kale my mom! lunch salad sups burgss http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/chicken-chicken/ http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/chicken-chicken/#comments Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:35:30 +0000 paijery http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/?p=3786 ]]> I cooked meat for the first time in 5 years yesterday. 

I even made it Facebook official. 

Things are getting craaazy over here.

When I became a vegetarian 5 years ago I developed this total disgust for all things “meat”. I didn’t like the look of it, the smell of it and the thought of cooking it made me want to throw up in my mouth. I wouldn’t even read blogs that weren’t vegetarian/vegan. Funny how things change.

When Andrew and I moved in together I wouldn’t let him cook meat in our house (psycho much?). I really couldn’t just get the thought of those poor animals out of my head and I was in a way hoping that he would “see it my way” and quit eating meat, too.

Fast forward 5 years and Andrew still eats meat. So does everyone in my family actually. And I’m okay with that. I’m absolutely not going to start eating it again and maybe cooking with it isn’t so bad. Of course we buy all our meat from Pine View Farms where the animals are ethically raised, fed vegetarian diets and not pumped full of hormones. Andrew still eats a lot of meatless meals which makes me very happy but he also gets his barbecued burgers, too. Compromise <3

Soooo what did I make?? 

Well one of his favorite meals are those prepackaged chicken cordon bleus…

(source)

and when I saw Janetha’s chicken cordon bleu casserole I knew it would be a hit! 

I substituted the thyme with fresh oregano because Andrew is not a thyme fan and left out the ham for the same reason (picky picky). We can’t get Laughing Cow swiss in Saskatoon yet so I just used regular. Oh, and I halved the recipe, too.

I actually liked the smell of the sauce so much while it was cooking that I decided to make some for myself. I poured it over cauliflower and broccoli, topped it with swiss cheese and spelt bread crumbs and baked them both for 30 minutes @ 350F.

I ate half of this with barbecued asparagus and a pasta salad.

Swiss cheese has totally moved up to be one of my favorite cheeses. Goat cheddar will always be my #1 but swiss is a close second

The pasta salad was just made with a sauce of greek yogurt, honey dijon mustard, fresh dill + parsley, 1/2 lemon and a splash of pickle juice. 

***

Andrew and I just got back from taking Beasley for a roller blade and I can barely keep my eyes open! 

I’m off to bed so I can get up bright and early and go to woooork for the long weekend! Jealous?? Ha ha

Loves,

Paije xoxo

Tell me…..

Favorite cheese? (Vegans-fave vegan cheese or substitute) I loove goat cheese + swiss, obvs. Nutritional yeast ranks pretty high too though.

Food you could eat unlimited amounts of? Besides nut butters and kale, I can’t control myself around pasta salad. Homemade with lots of pickles please.

]]> http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/06/30/chicken-chicken/feed/ 9 paijery uh huh br_cordon_bleu_med ccb sups sups sups p salad http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/wiaw-work-edition/ http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/2011/06/22/wiaw-work-edition/#comments Thu, 23 Jun 2011 04:08:08 +0000 paijery http://paijeisamonster.wordpress.com/?p=3768 ]]>  

I know I don’t usually post when I’m working because me + 12 hours of work = no time for anything but sleeeeeeeep but I got off a little early today so I found some time to join Jen’s What I Ate Wednesday party!!

5:30am

1 egg + 2 whites scramble with mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, laughing cow and ketchup, 1/2 english muffin with goat butter and 1/2 an orange.

So I stand alone with my orange peels, hey? Your loss!!

1/4 cup shot of aloe vera juice + spoonful of Essential Women Swirl

10:30am

work snack of cherry tomatoes and 2 Ryvita crackers with hummus

12:00pm

kale salad, pasta salad, oriental salad, ambrosia salad, deviled egg, chocolate dipped strawbs, watermelon, pineapple

We had a salad + fruit day at work so you can multiply this plate by about 3

5:30pm

handful of pecans, cashews and raisins. 

Pecans are my absolute favorite nut. Bold statement but very true.

7:30pm

Supper!! Salmon, yams and brusseys.

I baked the yam in the microwave first, sliced it, threw it in some tinfoil with chives, goat butter, salt + pepper and barbecued. Topped with bruschetta goat cheese.

Brussells were tossed in coconut oil with many shakes of Bragg Sprinkle and barbecued.

The salmon was just barbecued plain! I smothered it in honey mustard though of course.

8:45pm

vanilla greek yogurt with a crumbled oatmeal raisin cookie

That’s it lovelies! Beeeeeeed is calling my name! I just took Beas out for his last hoorah of the night and saw this beauty.

Sweet dreams! 

Paije xo

Tell me…

favorite nut? pecans for me!

favorite cookie? anything with oatmeal please!

Hope you all had a relaxing weekend. I worked a night shift and did some shopping. Just a regular weekend

We finally bought a dining room table! Only 3-4 more weeks of eating at the breakfast bar/floor.

We also got some new artwork. 

Yeah yeah! The house is fiiinally coming together! I’m suuper sorry I haven’t given you guys a tour yet. We are still trying to get shaat together with the basement so we can rent it out. Obviously, we’re movin’ like molasses. 

***

I had an orthodontist appointment this morning bright and early and I’m possibly only wearing my Invisalign braces for 6 more weeks! It’s almost been 4 looong years and I can’t wait! I’m not counting on it because I’ve been down this road twice before but maaaybe this time will be different! Damn snaggle tooth.

After my appointment I took Beasley for a walk down by the river. The water is SO HIGH. Half the province is flooded again this year and they have been evacuating tons of houses. Lame weather.

He is such a bossy walker

Brunch was a shiny plate of awesome. 

Protein egg puff with sun sparkly maple syrup and white chocolate wonderful pb.

Maple and peanut butter go soo well together dontcha think?

Food for Life gluten free multi seed english muffin with a laughing cow and strawbs jam.

Confession time. I  eat orange peels. All the time. And love them. Anyone else??

Have I told ya about my new bowl crush?

Meet The Loomm meal bowl.

 I loooove them. I use it for the egg puff and I don’t burn my hands! It goes in the oven, the microwave and the freezer. Bomb.

Speaking of crushes, I totally have one on this girl. 

White girl rap repressssssent.

I slaved away over a hot stove tonight to make supper for Andrew and me. 

Leftovaaaaaaaaahs!! I’m such a good date

Steamed kale with vinegar, Truroots bean trio and red cabbage cooked in a mixture of water, pasta sauce, curry powder and onion powder and a fried egg on top. Who likes runny eggs??? I suuuuure do.

Udi’s whole grain bagel with bruschetta goat cheese

Yeah babes so that’s about sums up my day. I’ve been crushing this chocolate bar and watching Vegas Vacation [faaaaave <3] but I think it’s time for bed! I had a loong nap today so hopefully I can get some sleep cuz I have a miiiillion things to do tomorrow.

Oh and I have been trying to update/clean my google reader so I can be a better blog friend. If you haven’t noticed, organization isn’t one of my strong suits

Have a great sleep!

Big hugs <33

Paije xo

Tell me….

egg yolks:  runny or cooked??

orange peels: PLEASE tell me I’m not alone. 

crushes: spill yo guts.

Soo ten days without a post hey? I’ve had the WORST writer’s block lately. I start to blog but end up just staring at the blank screen for an hour. I love blogging but sometimes find it sooo hard to write what I’m thinking. Lots of times it feels like my posts don’t even sound like me. Do you know what I mean? 

***

Anyway, we had such an awesome time in Calgary. Even though we were there for less than 24 hrs I spent way to much money at Crate & Barrel, found a dresser that wouldn’t fit in my car at Ikea, ate a lot of great food and spent some quality time with this guy.

We went back to Gratitude but I forgot to take a pic of my meal. I did remember to take another pic of the bathroom though.

And had Spoonme for dessert:

I got vanilla bean but the gummy worm was the best part. By faaaaaar.

We were going to go to The Coup for supper but I had read a lot of reviews saying that there can be a long wait on Saturday night and after a looong day of shopping I was staarving and didn’t want to risk it so we went to Cafe Koi instead. Baller idea.

I had the Koi Garden Salad with five spiced tofu sticks. Delicious. 

Before we left they city we stopped at Planet Organic and loaded up on veggies and peanut butter puffins We also picked up salads for the 6 hour drive home, which I crushed in like 2 seconds. Best salad ever. Lucky for you I have the recipe!

Hail to the Kale Salad

slightly adapted from this recipe

serves 4-6

• 1 large bunch dinosaur kale (curly kale works but isn’t half as good)
• 3 cups of broccoli/carrot slaw
• 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
• 1/4 cup oil (I used safflower but I’m sure any kind of light oil would work)
• 1/6 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos (soy sauce or tamari would be fine)
• 2 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp dried oregano

Finely chop kale and mix well with broccoli slaw and seeds in a large bowl. Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over kale mixture. Massage dressing into the kale with your (clean) hands and chill for 2 hours before serving. 

I’ve literally made this salad like 5 times since we’ve been home. I’ve eaten it almost everyday for the last 10 days. Seriously, if this is the only recipe you try from my blog I’ll die a happy girl. Andrew has been eating this every day, too. LEFTOVERS people. And he doesn’t ever touch leftovers.  

That night I paired it with grilled tofu and grilled corn on the cob which was covered in goat butter. 

I‘ve also had it with grilled salmon, veggies and rosemary bread with laughing cow and sundried tomatoes. And the same placemat and glass of water.

And tonight I had it with leftover salmon, more grilled corn + goat butter (this stuff is soo good) and a super simple wheatberry salad.

Wheatberry Salad

Serves 4

• 2 cups cooked wheatberries (I cheated and bought frozen)
• 3 radishes, diced
• 1/2 orange pepper, diced
• 1/2 yellow pepper, diced
• 6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 3 tbsp grated goat cheddar
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• lots of fresh dill
• black pepper to taste

Mix everything together in a bowl. Donezo.

We also got our garden planted. Well half of it anyways. My mom showed up on Saturday with a new planter full of KALE!! Yes she is a total enabler. But only the best kind

Red curly kale (I think) and chives.

Peppers! Two red and two green.

The one on the end is a jalapeno pepper plant called Hot Stuff.

Julius red and yellow tomatoes.

It is officially past my bedtime. Yes it’s 9:30pm, the sun is still out and the birds are chirping but ya just gotta be responsible some times, mmmmkay?

<3 Nighty night,

Paije xoxo

Are you a fan of kale? Please say yes.  

Favorite ice cream/froyo/yog topping? Gummy worms apparently do it for me