This week Grammie Buzz and Pea visited! A quick mid-week trip before we meet again for my sister’s wedding in a few weeks.
We had a delicious dinner of slow-cooked short ribs with salad and sweet potatoes and blackberry pie made by Karen.
Mom and Dad loved the smoked trout salads I made them!
And the Kodiak cakes for breakfast
Mazen loved playing with his new pop-up toy and interacting with the Bears
Mom and Dad babysat while Matt and I bar hopped all around Cville. We had too much fun!
We sandwiched the extravagant weeknights with healthy meals of olive-topped black cod with herby rice and kale salad
And tofu and asparagus salad with leftover rice mixed in
Breakfasts included lots of eggs, strawberries, toast and coffee, clearly the week’s favorite
And some overnight oats minus the yogurt (we’re out) which I enjoyed very much!
More salads for lunch:
Smoked trout with orange (banana for Mazen), cheese and chips
And egg, avocado, greens and cinnamon almonds.
Happy Weekend!
Oh my goodness…that tofu looks SO good. What did you do to it?!?! Love all the food pics actually. But the baby ones clearly top it!!
It’s Twin Oaks brand – herb flavor. We pan-sear it in some safflower oil until it’s brown on all side : )
Tofu and asparagus looks delicious! Blackberry pie and the large dollop of cream on top is how to do pie!
Do you happen to have a particular recipe for your slow cooked short ribs?? Thank you!
I don’t, but I’ll hope Matt sees this!
This time I didn’t really use a recipe – just combined some stuff until it tasted good! It was 4 cups of beer (imperial stout), some ketchup, dash of vinegar, worcestershire, chili powder, cumin, garlic, S&P. I seared the meat to get some browning and then deglazed with the sauce. I brought it to boil, then tasted to see if the flavor was on, made some adjustments, and then poured over the shortribs in the crockpot. 8ish hours on low was great.
At the end I removed the ribs to serving plates, and then poured the liquid into a pot. The ribs release a lot of fat so I skimmed it off the surface (wish I had one of those fat separator guys for this) and then reduced to a syrupy sauce.
Ah how lovely to have babysitters!!! I bet you guys really appreciated that.
I’m going to agree with everyone, the tofu and asparagus look so delicious! 🙂 I’m definitely going out and buying this Twin Oaks Brand 🙂
Mazen is getting so big! Glad y’all were able to have a date night. Aren’t those the best?!
Your son is so adorable!
I’ve commented on your blog only a couple of times in the past but just want to say how much I love it! I find your meals so inspiring to add more variety into eating, as you mentioned 2 posts ago – not eating the same thing everyday! I love your honest and real approach to eating, how you don’t follow any of these dieting trends/fads. Also I love the fact you eat ‘proper’ bread ha! Anyway, just thought I’d say that and look forward to future posts!
thanks so much Sophie!
Yum, Kale salad is my favorite! And that tofu and asparagus looks delicious. Great photos as usual!
Everything on this page looks SO delicious, and you look great! I love the new format where we get so many good good pictures all in one post!
Karen’s blackberry pie looks delicious! Now I want pie!
I’ve got some fresh blackberries and raspberries right now and am wondering if Karen would be willing to share her pie recipe? It looks delicious!
Dear Kath,
You have a great blog and I might even like salads now because of your blog! Can you share that pie recipe? I’d like to convert it to a vegan version, since it looks like a cream/pudding version. Thanks!
Thanks! I’ll hope Karen sees this – she might have a link for it
Here it is! http://northcarolinacharm.blogspot.com/2011/05/blackberry-custard-pie.html
I love the black dress you’re wearing in your bar hopping photos!! Where did you get it?
Thanks it’s from LOFT
Bar hopping looks like fun…and yummy! Also love the black dress, classic!
The bar hopping looks fun! Was there a special occasion you were celebrating? Where did you go, and would you go again? What were the drinks?
You look very happy in the photos of you in the black dress. Good for you! : )
You look like a hot mama!!!
I love the black dress!
Those fresh strawberries looked delicious. Makes me so excited for summer. I think some strawberry shortcake will show up on our menu very soon. 🙂
I was wondering since strawberries are one of the dirty dozen do you eat only organic ones?
I aim for local with no pesticide spray
Hi Kath! I think we have similar taste in TV (I also love Downton Abbey and Call the Midwives)! What are some of your other favorite non-reality shows? Thanks so much!
Nashville!
Cute as a button! I’ve thought he looks just like you all along but I can see Matt in him in the first pic.
Hi! I am fascinated with the smoked trout you always mention in your posts, but I am scared to try it. Is the consistency like canned tuna? Are any brands better than others? I would love to hear what you think. Thanks!
Yes it’s a lot like tuna – but with almost a less fishy flavor and more smoke. I like it much better than tuna!
Lots of yummy looking food here! Would you mind sharing your trout salad recipe? I’d definitely like to try that! 🙂
It’s just Trader Joe’s Smoked Trout flaked over greens : )
I am definitely a pie person over a cake person .. The pie looks amazing!
Looks like a fun weekend! I like how you balanced out your extravagant time with healthy meals 🙂
Hi Kath! I was wondering if you could tell us more about this kale salad I keep seeing. 🙂 I tried to make kale . . . once. It was (kind of) a minor disaster. I tried to err on the side of not overcooking (because overcooked veggies are not good eats) but ended up finding it pretty, er, chewy. In an unpleasant way. Is there a special type of kale one uses for salad? It just seems like it would be too tough to eat raw.
Also, another request/suggestion for a post – I’m really curious how becoming an RD has impacted what/how you eat, especially after your post about variety and weight loss. Also curious if the knowledge you gained from studying for your degree has turned you off of certain foods or if you have any sort of nutritional “black list” – i.e. things that you no longer eat because they pose a risk, or for whatever reason. I know you don’t usually put any food totally “off limits” but I wonder if there are some things you greatly limit or choose not to eat?
Kale salad is a bit chewy, but you probably didn’t massage it long enough. If you have an acid (like lemon juice) and a salt, it should help to “cook” the kale. Massage for a good 3-5 minutes. I like laticino or curly kale both just fine.
Hmmm…really my only “rule” about eating is to eat real food 90% of the time. And to only spend my grocery store dollars on real foods (for the most part). So that said, if someone’s grandmother serves me a pie made from Crisco I’m not going to refuse a bite, but hopefully that event doesn’t come around too much. I’ll have a diet soda at my parents’ house a few times a year, but I don’t buy them for my own house. I eat all food groups and have a goal to keep sugar and alcohol to a minimum, but obviously that is hard for me to do : )
Love the little bowl (of peas?) for Mazen in one photo. My table looks just about the same right now. What food are you feeding him? My little gal is 8 months now and we are doing banana, avocado, peas, carrots, sweet potato and butternut squash – made by me. Also trying some jarred food that I don’t feel like making from home (raspberries, pears, etc.)!
It’s actually avocado! We’re doing lots of the same
what a little chunkster! could he get any cuter?! also how the heck did he get so old…i remember when you just told us you were pregnant….