Don’t worry oatmeal, I still luv ya!
Just a bowl of Coach’s Oats with pumpkin stirred in and some Justin’s Chocolate Almond and Barney Butter swirl on top. Plus spiced pecans!
M and I went to Pump this morning, meaning the weight class and not the thing that helps milk flow : )
On the walk home, I had the ultimate debate: I knew I had about 30 minutes before M would want to eat again, so did I shower or eat lunch!? Both had pros and cons, but I ended up choosing lunch. Otherwise I would have had to shower and nurse for 30 minutes hungry, and being hungry is no fun!
I thought about this salad all morning and couldn’t wait to dig in!
Mixed greens, olive oil, salt, avocado, No Bull Burger, Cville Crunch “croutons,” dried figs and GOAT FETA! SO GOOD!
And within 30 seconds of my last bite, it was time for Mazen’s lunch. Good timing!
We had more good timing this afternoon as M took a long nap in his swing while I had a 2pm freelance project possibility call. And then we played for a while when he woke up.
Afternoon snack: apple + cheese + choco almond butter
We took a walk later in the afternoon to go pick up Matt, who had walked to the bakery today. Happy times! The weather today was balmy and soooo warm!
We invited Karen over for dinner tonight since she hadn’t gotten to play with M in a while. He was all smiles for his KK!
She brought cheese – an aged gouda that had those delicious crunchy crystal bits that I love so much in cheese!
We’ve been lovin’ on these crackers lately:
Our meal was something I put together in my mind that came together really well:
Fresh Mona Lisa Pasta (ok, I had regular whole wheat in mind but Karen surprised us with the fresh kind!) with sautéed shrimp, wilted spinach and Uniquely Greek feta spinach spread as a creamy sauce. We just stirred the sauce in with a dash of hot pasta water and it turned into a nice creamy sauce in seconds.
A little sauv blanc to go with
Karen and I watched the show The Palace on Netflix with dessert. (Did you hear the royal news today!?!?)
Thanks again Justin!
Matt and Mazen were not the least bit interested in a show about royalty, so they played with birdies.
What an amazing looking dinner – and that cheese sounds like perfection! Karen is an awesome dinner guest. 🙂
The shrimp and spinach pasta dish looks delishy (my nephew’s favorite word!).
Is that supposed to be, we just stirred the goat cheese in with the pasta water to make the sauce?
The sauce being the Uniquely Greek spread. Guess that wasn’t clear since the sauce is the end product and the spread was still a spread.
Sorry Kath! My morning fog brain connected lunch’s goat feta with dinner’s Greek spread. No more blog reading for me before my first cup of coffee! 😉
Yum for the crystals in the cheese! In England at Christmas they do crystallised ginger hard cheese that’s slightly sour and goes well against the crunchy ginger crystals! Textures are always appealing when cheese is concerned!
LOVE The Palace! So depressed there aren’t more episodes! Also, that dinner looks fabulous!
Aged gouda is my #1 favorite. Those little crunchy crystals are addicting! Paired with an apple and a good stout… heaven. 🙂
I sure wish those no bull burgers were available out west! Maze makes me smile -love how happy he looks. Great looking dinner and so easy too.
They will ship if you’re interested!
You were making me think I was going to have to start calling you “the french toast lady” in lieu of “the oatmeal lady” when explaining my blog hopping for the day to the Mr! (Not that french toast lady is bad, mind you!)
Haha… Perhaps just the breakfast lady!?
He has the most adorable smile. Yummy eats!
You have such great, healthy but simple recipe ideas, Kath. Just love them. And also love the fact that you post every day (though I don’t know how you manage that), because when I go to check the blogs I’ve bookmarked every morning, many times nobody else has anything new out, but I can always rely on you to have something there to read with my coffee. It always starts my day out with a smile. Thank you so much.
I’ve been really into making my own almond butter lately. Currently, almonds are roasting in order to make some chocolate almond butter!
I didn’t know justins made pb cups….that is awesome news!
Glad you’re still rocking out the pumpkin! Nice!
And those delicious crunchy crystal bits are the best – I love cheese like that!
You’ve given me dinner inspiration with this post. On a related note, I have to share with you, I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much nut butter in my life since I found your blog. That’s not a bad thing, by the way. I consider it a controlled addiction. 🙂
I love, love, LOVE the little crystals in aged gouda! Whole foods has some great selections…now I have to get some!
And Maze is an absolute doll! His smile is contagious!
Mazen melts my heart to tiny pieces!
I LOVE learning about all of these great products! Goat feta and Hazelnut Nut Thins are definitely going on my shopping list! Thanks!
: )
I think I’d choose lunch over a shower too! Adding dried figs to a salad is the best
That salad looks delicious. My favorite is arugula alrhough nobodty else un my family does. Mazen is really filling out!
Your dinner looks so delicious, and also easy to put together. I’m going to try making it one night this week!
Ooo aged Gouda cheese sounds amazing. And I always choose lunch/eating before showering, especially since you’re supposed to eat within 30-60 minutes of working out to help rebuild muscles!
Getting plenty of greens and feta in in a day there, I see! 🙂
I tried those No Bull Burgers after seeing them on your blog and ended up loving them! Thanks.
Yay!
Loving these balmy days here too. (Southern Ontario) Although, it is hard to get in the festive mood! I guess the rumour is true…how exciting for England! 🙂
Yes, I heard about the royal news. 🙂 Can’t wait!
Boy does Mazen light up with the biggest smile when he sees Matt. Super cute!!!
We had a 68 degree day yesterday and again today!! Love it!! I had to break out the short sleeves again. 🙂
Goat feta? Sounds great!! What makes it stand apart from regular feta? Creaminess? Also, I adore Justin’s nut butters and had no clue he made peanut butter cups! My oh my could that be trouble…. 🙂
It has that goat cheese tang : )
I must make those spiced pecans! Every time I see them I wish I had some at that very moment!
GOAT FETA?! Two of my favorite cheeses in one. Where did you find that??
Whole foods!
Pasta looks awesome!! Yum
Ah, your salad makes me miss No Bull Burgers. I finished mine a few weeks ago and have been craving them ever since. Must order more! 🙂 Enjoy the spring-like weather today!
Look at the smile on M!! So precious!
I love cheese! All your meals looked so good! I want to try that pasta too. Yum!
Okay, I literally want to eat my way through your day! Delish-ous. Oatmeal will always have a place in my heart (and stomach!) Mazen looks gorgeous. He seems to love the camera. x
Wow, this all looks so yummy. Especially your cheese plate. And I love those hazelnut thin crackers. My favorite is the almond kind with the sea salT. Yummy!
We’ve been bombarded with the news! Poor Kate must be feeling dreadful, hopefully it doesn’t last to long in to the pregnancy! Making good use of your Justins Chocolate Almond Butter, good woman!
That spinach/shrimp/pasta salad looks SO delicous–can you please tell me how you sauteed the shrimp? I’m always so nervous about cooking shrimp–what spices (if any) to use, how long to cook it, etc. but LOVE to eat it so if you have any advice that’d be great!
We use safflower oil for high heat sauteing and just put about a tbsp in a pan, add the shrimp and DO NOT TOUCH them or they won’t get a golden crust! Once they look golden on one side, flip to the other one by one. These didn’t have any seasonings because they were going into a dish with a sauce.
I love cheese too. Your day looks perf 🙂
Completely off topic but can I get your opinion on rice and arsenic levels?
I’m really not up to speed on this topic, but I can tell you it’s not a big concern of mine if it’s not all over the news and things as a food safety alert
Cliff read an article on it. Not sure where (maybe he will chime in) and it was enough to concern him some.
The arsenic/rice issue has been in discussion in the news since Consumer Reports released this article a while back:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine/2012/11/arsenic-in-your-food/index.htm
A good summary:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/daniellegould/2012/10/11/whats-in-your-rice-a-lot-of-arsenic-says-consumer-reports/
This is the first I’ve heard of arsenic and rice, but these articles are pretty alarming. I guess my response would be to eat rice in moderation, which is what I do anyways. I’m not sure I would avoid it 100%, but if I were a daily rice eater I’d probably look to other grains for nutrition (typing this with brown rice in my rice cooker..!)
Great dinner!
Are you still feeding Maze on demand or do you have him on some kind of schedule now?
My LO is just seven weeks old and I’m finally starting to see some kind of schedule develop which is really nice!
I still don’t know how you could not feed on demand! We’re on an every-3-hours schedule during the day, but he was the one who decided this. He gets hungry just about every 3 hours to the minute, although sometimes he goes a hair more or less. He has also been doing an eat-play-sleep schedule that he also self-implemented since he’s always happiest right after nursing and then gets tired about 1.15-1.5 hours after that. It’s not predictable by the clock because ever day our 3 hour cycles start at a different time (we don’t have a consistent wake time) but at least I can have some guess as to his schedule when we leave the house
Those nut crackers are intriguing!
Ohhh I JUST bought a pack of Justin’s Dahk chocolate PB cups… our post inspired me. I was doting some normal grocery shopping and I seriously, robotically, just threw them in my basket because of your post haha I’m psyched!
So two things:
Your No Bull burgers always look seriously delicious… like incredibly substantial… something that would totally satisfy a meat eater??
Also, Mazen’s eyes are still so blue! Gorgeous. Do you think the blue is going to stick??
Well I think they are satisfying, but I don’t know if you could get a meat lovin’ man to eat them in PLACE of a burger. Maybe in addition to on the meal plan though
Oh, and I have green eyes and Matt has blue, so we think so!
Ok so I love your blog. Everyday i check the recipes. I have an amazing book to recommend to you from a woman who eats real food as well. If you have time this is very enlightening I would love to share you thoughts. I think you will really enjoy! 🙂
http://www.amazon.com/Nutritional-Alignment%C2%AE-Living-Synergy-ebook/dp/B00AFG0H6G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354290553&sr=8-2&keywords=Nutritional+alignment
Let me know! Thanks~
Avid reader Lauren~
Looks like a really neat book – lots of good reviews!
choosing between showering and eating? makes me realize I am no where near ready for a kid. thanks for your honesty,
Well I did get in the shower eventually : )
I would choose EATING every time! Homoh-gomph!
I agree 100%! skin can wait, tummy no no no 🙂
@Jo: with a kid your priority list turns upside down and that makes you happy!
There is some magic in motherhood for sure….
Yummmy! Your snack looks amazing!
Goat feta? Maybe that would actually make me like feta, because I looooooove goat cheese.
I want your salad. Maze is adorable as always.
Justins makes peanut butter cups?!
I have to tell you that I just recently bought the 4 pack of Wild Squirrel Nut Butters off of your Open Sky account, and OH. MY GOSH. I’ve eaten nearly half of the jar of the vanilla espresso one. It’s not too sweet but it’s a great afternoon snack to keep me going for the rest of evening. Worth every penny!
🙂 I miss that stuff!
So you invited Karen for dinner, but she had to bring the food with her??
Um, no. we invited Karen for dinner and she surprised us with fresh pasta.
As I can’t eat nuts, suggestions to put in oats to make them more filling? I always end up starving by 9:30-10:00 when I eat them and seeing as I’m hard at work then, no time for a snack of anything until 11!!!
Anything with an extra boost of fats and/or protein would help with satiety. Seeds, an egg stirred in, cottage cheese, even avocado.
That looks like a delicious dinner! I didn’t know Blue Diamond made Hazelnut Nut-Thins.. must try!!
I still need to get my hands on a No Bull Burger. I’ve heard rave reviews from so many bloggers and I always forget to pick some up.