Lovely Meals Lately: 08-05-2020

Heya, hummus fam!

What's kickin'? I feel like this is an especially good Lovely Meals Lately for some reason. In other news, we're bringing back the weekly Healthy Vegetarian Meal Plan posts on Saturdays! Hallelujah.  Let's get to it!

Lovely Meals and Snacks

Fajita night! This was such a fun change of pace. Jeff and I were both craving an authentic fajita night with sizzling peppers, flour tortillas, cheddar, and guac. Jeff used this chicken fajitas recipe to cook his chicken and then I used this skillet shrimp fajitas recipe for the shrimp, peppers and onions (I did 3 peppers and 1 onion).

We grated Tillamook sharp cheddar (my fave) and used organic flour tortillas. Served with salsa, hot sauce, and a salad for an epic meal!

We grabbed a loaf of local Dan the Baker's sunflower flax sourdough and holy moly...I'm a changed woman. Too good! I made a mash with avocado, lemon juice, and salt to serve underneath over easy eggs with some berries on the side. There is nothing like fresh bread!

I've been making this amazing cashew mylk for coffee and it's really changed the game. First, I soak a bowl of cashews (maybe ½ cup?) in water for an hour or overnight if I think ahead.

Drain and rinse then add to Nutribullet cup with a few cups of water, a splash of vanilla extract, a good pinch of cinnamon, a little pinch of salt, and a soft pitted Medjool date.

Blend until super smooth and creamy and voila! It'll separate in the fridge so just give it a good shake. It will last 3-4 days.

My favorite double chocolate almond flour banana bread for the win!

I had a bag of TJ's kale gnocchi in the freezer for months now and since I'm on a kick to use everything in the freezer, it was high time to use it. I sautéed it in ghee and then served it with olive oil and parm.

It was pretty good, but their sweet potato gnocchi is by far my fave. I had leftover buffalo sauce from pizza night and it was weirdly good dipped in that!

I made chia pudding to have something quick to grab for snacks that's not always crackers that don't fill me up. Simply whisk ½ cup of chia seeds with 2 ¼ cups non-dairy milk in a round Pyrex.

I like to add a pinch of cinnamon and a good squirt of honey. Whisk well and let it sit on the counter for an hour before refrigerating. Whisk again and then refrigerate for a few hours. I like to top mine with yogurt, some berries, something crunchy, and a swirl of peanut butter (added post pic!).

These KIND Frozen Bars completely took me by surprise. The dark chocolate peanut butter flavor legit tastes like a Snickers, and Jeff and I have been enjoying them while we watch Peaky Blinders at night. SO GOOD!

Whole wheat pasta mixed with some leftover starchy pasta water, cherry tomatoes, freshly grated mozzarella, and a container of TJ's vegan pesto. Easy dinner!

Corn quinoa chowder! Anyone else still appreciate soup in the summer? I sautéed chicken in the beginning to add to Jeff's portions later on. I used my corn and wild rice chowder as a guide but added celery and zucchini and used a cup of quinoa instead of rice, more liquid, and added cashew cream instead of almond milk.

Smoothie with frozen blueberries, a medjool date, avocado, cacao, chia seeds, half a scoop of my favorite chocolate protein, vanilla extract and unsweetened vanilla almond milk topped with cacao nibs and peanut butter. My favorite afternoon snack lately.

Pizza night! Harvest sausage pizza (I just take the sausage off mine, it's SO GOOD) with cauliflower wings and the chopped salad. We're obsessed.

5 Things I’m Loving Lately

WEARING: These days, I quite literally live in my align leggings. They're not cheap, but they're truly the most comfortable leggings in the world and I know I'll wear them for years. Once I tried them, I couldn't wear any others!

EATING: Snickerdoodle cookie mug cake...ok! This roasted beet frittata is gorgeous. Say hello to this 20-minute summer squash and corn salad that I want to make for lunch like yesterday.

WATCHING: Still obsessed with Peaky Blinders!

LISTENING: Anything by Mt. Joy.

CRUSHING: We got this pancake griddle when we got married and we've used it tons! It makes the perfect pancakes. The key is to not use any oil or sprays and cook them over medium low heat. You can check out my whole list of kitchen essentials here.

Have a fab week!