Relaxation Redux

Sunday, March 20, 2011

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Yesterday was so incredibly enjoyable and calming that we decided to do some of it again. This involved starting off with a yummy breakfast.

First, some multigrain pancakes...

Plus some Ghirardelli chocolate chips!

Then, some breakfast veggie patties...

Luna Burger: Kick Start Herbed Breakfast Veggie Patties

And again, an impressive list of ingredients

Then, we got cooking...

*sizzle sizzle*

Wheel. Of. Pancakes.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes w/ Ohio Maple Syrup and Breakfast Veggie Patties

Jon and I weren't feeling the pancakes today, however, so I whipped up a few spinach omelets for us.

Both of our spinach omelets were stuffed with fresh salsa and freshly shredded pepper Jack cheese, but I also crumbled up one of my breakfast patties to put in mine. This was a very SPICY breakfast! The patties really have quite a kick to them...Kick Start, indeed! We both agreed these would be great on a breakfast sandwich. (Just thinking ahead...)


Once again, we headed over to the park...

I decided to sneak away from the mayhem for a little bit to relax and read...

So nice to be out in nature, reading, drinking some coffee, and enjoying the day. From my seat, I can still check out the playground goings-on...

But, that also means I can be spotted, too...

We headed home and I made up a small snack for Jon and the boys.

For Jon:

Chopped green and red bell pepper, red onion, chives, and minced garlic plus 4 oz cream cheese

Veggie cream cheese spread

Whole wheat English muffin with a schmear

Tasty treat and good coffee!

For the boys:

(DYLAN) Whole wheat pretzel sticks and Sliced banana

(AIDAN) Sliced red pear and French vanilla & almond granola

Sunday also repeated Saturday's lounging around agenda with some more errands thrown in for good measure. Even dinner was a repeat...a delicious array of leftovers. But there was no complaining; everything was just as delicious as it was the first time around!

We did mix it up by making a nice Sunday night dessert...homemade peanut butter cookies. These cookies are rich and delicious and have only 3 ingredients!

1 cup peanut butter (creamy or crunchy), 1 cup sugar (I prefer brown sugar), and 1 egg

Mix all ingredients together

until nice and smooth

Place dough in 1 Tbsp balls on parchment-lined baking sheets; press dough with fork in criss-cross pattern

Bake at 350ºF for 10 min (or until edges get a little crispy)

Excellent dunked in milk!

This dessert is one of our favorite fallback treats to make when we want something sweet, but don't want to go to a lot of effort. We always have the ingredients on hand, so that makes it easier. Our kids are peanut butter cookie junkies!

Do you have any activities or recipes that you can do over and over without getting bored?

Sat-ur-day in the Park...

Saturday, March 19, 2011

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Woke up to another gorgeous day on Saturday and we really wanted to make the most of it.

First, we whipped up a quick breakfast using the apple cinnamon muffin mix we bought the other day.

Mixing up the batter

Muffins made with love...haha

Apple Cinnamon Muffins...ooh la la

After filling our bellies, we headed over to one of our favorite parks and immediately went to the playground. The kids were absolutely smitten! It has been a long winter...

Then, it was time for a family walk through the woods. The weather was just perfect and there were little signs of spring everywhere. We are definitely looking forward to more days like this!

All that running around made us famished, so we headed home for some lunch. Jon wasn't sure what he was in the mood for, so I raided the fridge and came up with a nice dish that really hit the spot.

Leftover whole wheat rotini plus chopped veggies (cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, carrots, radishes) and crumbled Feta

Tbsp Horseradish Mustard plus Tbsp Red Wine & Olive Oil Vinaigrette

All shook up and ready to eat!

We spent the rest of the day doing some light cleaning, home projects, and running errands, but it was still nice and relaxing. Quite a fun Saturday!


Before long, it was time to make some dinner and feed the troops. We were all anxious to use the kale for some chips and to try out the veggie burgers from the co-op.

Luna Burger: Made in Columbus w/ Ohio Ingredients = Awesome!

I normally stay away from pre-made veggie burgers because the list of ingredients is frightening, but these ingredients are outstanding!!

Torn kale leaves after a spin in the salad spinner...ready to be baked into chips

Dinner is served! Farmhouse Chili Veggie Burger on Whole Wheat English Muffin w/ Kale Chips

Veggie Burger w/ all the fixins...baby spinach, tomato, pepper Jack, and horseradish mustard

Soooo good! Jon said we definitely need to keep some of these bad boys in our freezer for an easy weeknight dinner and great summer grillin' fare. Delicious! We are excited to try some of the other flavors.


Do you have any food discoveries turned staples in your house?