Working for the Weekend

It's been a long while since my family has had a weekend together.

It's been a busy few months and this was the first time we were able to all be together all weekend. We milked it for all it was worth!

I know I've been neglecting the blog this week but with work, kids, hubby, and a head cold to boot it's been rough. I'm feeling back on track though and should be ready to roll for this next week. Tonight starts 3 more nights of work however...so the blog will be silent until Wednesday with a WIAW I hope!

Anyway...the weekend technically started on Thursday morning when I got off work. It was a quick beach run exploring the roads less taken...

 

 

And then breakfast on the boardwalk with my work buddy Alli. I had just gotten some fantastic news so we celebrated with mimosas!!

Please don't mind the decidedly un-vegan scrambled eggs...it's why I say I'm "mostly" vegan...hey, I'm not perfect!!

Oh, and what is this fantastic news you ask???

Well about six months ago I started the long process of being commissioned into the U.S. Navy Reserves Nurse Corps...and Thursday morning I found out I was selected!!!  I'll be commissioned into the Navy Reserves next week!!! 

More on that later...for now back to the weekend...

Thursday night we BBQ'd with friends and tried to get to bed early! 

Friday wasn't entirely exciting...some studying...grocery shopping...spent some quality time with my buddy Bex.  Again...to bed early for an early morning the next day.

Saturday started with the head cold in full force...but that couldn't stop me from dragging my butt out of a warm bed and into the cold waters of Mission Bay.  I'm lucky enough to be a mentor for the SheRox Triathlon Series here in San Diego.  I personally have 7 mentees and help put on clinics for the numerous other mentees in our area.  Saturday was our transition clinic and I was the demo girl for the "correct" way to transition...it was a great morning with amazing motivating women. 

After that we jetted home so I could eat and shower before taking the family to Balboa park.  Addy has ballet there weekly with the San Diego Civic Youth Ballet.  If you have a little ballerina and live in the San Diego area I highly recommend them! 

While Addy danced her little heart out we had a playdate with one of Shanne's friends from school.  We picked Addy up after class and let them all play in the fountain to cool off for a while before heading off to our next task...

We then went home to rest for a bit and prep for our long awaited date night!!

Mike has been so busy lately it's been hard to carve out some time for ourselves...but we had booked this night months in advance.  It was a murder mystery dinner in downtown SD with our good friends Daz and Sarah.  We dressed to the nines..

And started our evening at the Top of the Hyatt (more pics to follow later but they are all on Sarah's camera!!). 

We then cabbed it to the Marriot to start our dinner adventure....

Complete with murder...

 

And Mike acting ridiculous (doing Lion's Breath "face yoga")...don't ask...it's a long story...

Afterwards we headed to Searsucker bar in the Gaslamp. 

It was a great night followed by a rare morning sleeping in!!

This morning I had promised the hubs a big breakfast.  To him means biscuits and sausage gravy...clearly a vegan/gluten free nightmare!!

I make a non vegan/gluten filled version for hubby...but biscuits for the kids and I must be GF.  I found this mix...

And the cooking directions are already vegan when made with vegetable shortening...

Then I whipped up the rest of the gravy using my go-to soyrizo and my new fav vegan/gluten free goodie soy tempeh (I generally use soy products sparingly but at 22 grams of protein for 4 oz this stuff is vegan goodness!)...

Gluten Free Vegan "Sausage" Gravy

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 5 min

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 1 yellow onion diced
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 2 oz soyrizo (soy chorizo)
• 2 oz soy tempeh crumbled
• 2 tbsp brown rice flour
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 2 cups plain vegan milk (I used plain almond)
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• Fresh cilantro to taste

Instructions

In a greased saucepan cook onions until clear and slightly browning. Add garlic and continue to cook for another minute. Add soyrizo and finely crumbled tempeh. Cook until warm. Add brown rice flour and cornstarch and continue to stir. After another two minutes add milk and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and stir continuously. The mixture will begin to thicken. Bring to a simmer, add cilantro and serve warm over warm gluten free biscuits.

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After that monstrous feast (there were hashbrowns, veggies, and eggs for the family)...it was time to harvest some tomatoes from the garden (tomato ideas anyone??)...

Now it's naptime!  Hope your weekend has shaped up as well as mine did!  Until later...enjoy!

XOXO

 

Jackie

Weekend Warrior

The title of this post has many meanings...I can't really consider myself a "weekend" warrior since I tend to work many weekends (working tonight actually).  My weekends usually occur during the week. 

Also, if you know me IRL (in real life) you know that I'm in the process of joining the Navy Reserves...and they are frequently called weekend warriors...but that's another post for another day.

This weekend however I felt like a weekend warrior...super busy, over planned, lots of tasks...

But I got it all done!!

My weekend started on Friday morning after I got off work.  My friend Alli and I headed over to Bonita Cove down in Mission Bay...what a beautiful morning it was!

We were really excited to get in the water!

After a swim/run combo we headed out to breakfast...only problem?  I forgot alternate footwear and ended up sporting my work shoes (love my Danskos!) to the cafe.

Oh well, no harm, no foul...though I may have gotten a small parking ticket...parking signs are much harder to read when you are sleep deprived!

Saturday was spent cleaning, chauffering, circuit training...

See...working out is fun!  Wheelbarreling reminds me of being a kid, but it's harder then I remembered!

Picnicing...(with my monstrous vegan, gluten free portabella mushroom sandwich and cilantro pesto tofu from Whole Paycheck Foods)...

And bbq'ing/playing around with our circus friends (Shanne's got this 2 high down!).

This morning though was when the real warrior'ing began (Angel was really, really trying to help).

Daddy took on a project (he likes to take things apart, what can I say?)...

Addy wanted to "reorganize" her room...

And of course, I cooked!

First on the menu was a chia jam recipe by Powercakes...

Then I thought to continue her recipe an easier way for a busy mom and stuffed the jam in Bob's Red Mill gluten free cornbread mix muffins.  I veganized the muffins by using vegan "butter", almond milk, and applesauce instead of eggs...they turned out WAY better then I planned!  Though I do plan on making her full recipe as I'm pretty sure they will be AMAZING pre-race (ANY race)!

Next up was my favorite chocolate pudding.  I adapted it from this recipe...and it worked so well! 

You could sweeten it up with more stevia if you want, or maybe some agave, but I prefer it not too sweet with more richness...hint, it's better once it sits in the fridge for a bit to really blend the flavors...just saying.

Now it's nap time for me and a few nights of work...seriously busy week ahead...I'll post on that later...lots of good things coming!  Night y'all!

Vegan Chocolate Pudding

by Jaclyn Trosper adapted from the Rawtarian

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: N/A

Ingredients (Serves 4)

• 4 ripe avocados peeled and cored
• 6 figs (ends cut off)
• 4 T organic cocoa powder (unsweetened and plain)
• 16 drops liquid stevia (you could use agave or honey if you want, or even a flavored stevia would be amazing!)
• 2 tbsp almond milk to help blend

Instructions

Place all ingredients in blender or food processor. Mix well. I have a Vitamix so the consistency is super creamy...results may differ in other machines, but the idea is all the same. You can sweeten it up more if you want! Place in the fridge to set and let the flavors meld...what a treat!

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Things I Love Thursday

 

Let's talk about things I love...besides these two crazy kiddos!

I have noticed lately that all my blogger buddies have specific days devoted to specific types of posts...What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW) was a common theme and one I plan to implement eventually.

But when I really thought about it I knew that Things I Love Thursday (TILT) was a much better place to start!

I have recently run into a few wonderful ladies that are either now on the gluten free path or highly considering it for themselves or their children. They have no idea where to start! I remember that point...completely.

4 years ago.

Gluten and I don't get along.

Ok, now what?

There is freaking gluten in EVERYTHING!

I mean everything...bread, pasta, pastries, muffins, cake, sauces, gravy, pie, Kit Kats (yeah, that matters), croissants...well the list goes on...and it's daunting.

I wish I could have had someone to help me through the maze of gluten free offerings. Cause frankly, some of them suck. Like cardboard might taste better kind of suck.

So here I am...years later...I've made my way through the maze and found truly great products. I am now in a position to help someone else through.

And so TILT was born. Every week I'll feature some of my new and old favs in the gluten free world. Some are for me, some for my kids (yep, they are GF too), some are vegan, and some aren't. But they all are tested by myself and my family...and they all rock. Seriously. So here we go!

Bread was probably my first issue...I searched high and low for my fav...and here it is! Either Rudi's or Udi's are great (but the commissary...for my military folks...carries Rudi's).

 Pasta was another early issue.  Finding one that had the same taste and texture of it's glutinous counterparts was difficult...and required lots of taste testing (let's just say my dogs eat well).  I finally found Ancient Harvest quinoa pasta and was sold...plus it's also sold at the commissary!

Snacks were an early concern and luckily I quickly found these little gems of a snack in Glutino pretzels...I dare say they even outshine regular pretzels (and are now available at the commy as well!).

I did however have to go a long time without my fav snack, Goldfish.  I finally recently found these Schar cheese bites and I'm in love!  I've only found them at the Eastlake Sprouts but I'm sure they are available elsewhere.

As for my kiddos, they had a few requirements as well.  On the top of their list was waffles...the love waffles...with a kid like passion.  We were fortunate to find Vans waffles really early in our GF journey.  They come in many flavors and are available at the commissary as well.

Also a childhood staple is chicken nuggets...after searching for a while we settled on the Ian's brand and have been happy consumers ever since...sadly they are not available at commissary but widely available elsewhere.

My kids also really missed pizza...while there are multiple brands of premade crusts and frozen pizzas, my little chefs like creating their own pies.  Luckily my buddy Bex found this Bobs Red Mill crust mix and we've been making our own crust ever since.  It takes a bit more work but the outcome is totally worth it!

Lastly, our family's favorite breakfast staple...sausage links.  I abhor artificial ingredients and preservatives...and GF obviously.  These Jones sausages have none of the above and taste fantastic!  They are also uber cheap at the commissary (like $1 a box!).

I think that's a good start for now...there will be more TILT to come next week!

You didn't think I was going to leave you without a recipe, did you?

In keeping with the TILT theme I offer up one of my favs...vegan (can be vegetarian) enchilada casserole.  It's easy to make and heavenly to eat! 

It also includes a few more of my favorite products like Daiya cheese and all natural tortillas (again, I hate preservatives...and yes I'm aware they pic is upside down but I'm tired of fighting the darn computer!).  Hope you like it!

 

Vegan/Vegetarian Enchilada Casserole

by Jaclyn Trosper

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients (6 servings)

• 1 large red onion
• 2 small green bell peppers (any color will do)
• 2 zucchini squash
• 2 cans organic black beans
• 2 whole tomatoes
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 can enchilada sauce (I use mild for the kids)
• Daiya chedder cheese to cover enchiladas (approx 1 package) or regular shredded mexican cheese
• Corn tortillas

Instructions

Dice all vegetables into small pieces. Cook in large saucepan with drained beans until tender. Add cilantro, salt, cumin, and 1/2 C of enchilada sauce. Spray baking pans with cooking spray. Layer corn tortillas along bottom of pan. Pour vegetable mixture over top. Layer another layer corn tortillas over vegetables. Layer Daiya cheese (or regular cheese over top). Pour remaining enchilada sauce evenly over top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes until bubbly.

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