A Day Of DELICIOUSNESS

Back to my eats!  Yesterday was seriously delicious! 

Breakfast was in a hurry and very simple (and delicious in its own way)……

Yes…I ran off to school fueled by simply an unpictured espresso to watch my daughter perform in several skits and monologues!

So filling….in a parental sort of way!

By the time I got home I was STARVING though!  and craving salad in a BIG way.  Lately I find I have been constantly craving huge, fresh, crunchy salads!

While I didn’t end up with huge I ended up with delicious.  

FabTeen had made some organic Annies organic Mac & Cheese so I had some of that as well.  

Kids complained it didn’t taste like Kraft Dinner…but that is a good thing!  It is a little blander, but doesn’t have all of those ORANGE chemicals, does it!

On the side I added a perfect avocado.  I forced myself to give FabTeen half of this creamy green perfection!

Over the top of the salad and  Mac and Cheese I sprinkled heavily some nutritional yeast.  I started eating it because I had to…but I am finding I  love the stuff!

Finally…I once again begrudgingly shared this perfect, juicy, sweet, and stunning peach (the last one from the box on Monday!) with FabTeen.  The things you do for your kids!

Dinner started out almost a disaster, but turned out far beyond my expectations!

I wanted to use up some things I had on hand from the box….and  thought I would make some couscous with veggies with a sort of Moroccan type flare.  I LOVE Moroccan/Indian/Middle Eastern seasonings. 

I pulled out a box of couscous and these veggies….

Carrots, half a cauliflower, tomato, onion, garlic, ginger, and broccolini.

I was going to cook the couscous and add in the veggies.

Couscous  turned out to be moth infested!!  YIKES!  What now!!!

I debated brown rice…but was worried the veggies would turn out mushy.  So then I switched to white rice…then finally quinoa.  Despite all the indecision, somehow I ended up pulling together something that turned out FANTASTIC!

While not the original plan,  I decided to cook the quinoa separately than the veggies, and add it to the cooked veggies. 

While the quinoa cooked I went to work on the veggies.  I  rough cut several  cloves of garlic and diced up a bunch (quarter cup maybe?) of fresh ginger (yum) and a whole onion.  

One of my major philosophies is that you can never have too much garlic or too much ginger!

Although first I pulled  out the olive oil…last minute decision led to using coconut oil instead to saute these in the cast iron skillet.  Another last minute  decision  was to toss in a handful of sliced almonds so they would be toasted too.   (originally I was going to add them at the end!)

You can’t imagine  the gorgeous aroma that came out of this pan..coconut, ginger, onion, garlic…aaaaahhhhh…DIVINE!

Once these caramelized a little I began adding the other ingredients. 

First the carrots as they take the longest to cook.

Then the cauliflower, chopped into nice little bite-sized pieces.

Then a  handful or three of raisins.

Then a drained  can of chickpeas (trying to make this appealing to FabHubs…he hates cauliflower and quinoa but somehow beans in some form seem to pacify him!)            I generously poured turmeric, cinnamon, and cumin on top and  stirred to make sure everything was coated. 

By now the pan was so full, so I decided not to add the broccolini or the tomato.

I also decided to serve the quinoa on the side rather than mix it in.

OMG this turned out UNBELIEVABLE!

Even my quinoa, stir-fry, cauliflower-despising husband begrudgingly acknowledged, said, “this is actually pretty good.”

HA!  I will win him over yet!