Ordinary Weekends are the Best Kind

Howdy folks! I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Mine was splendid. Here are the highlights:

1. Tried Ener-G Wylde GF Pretzels 

Pretzels are one of those foods that I have not eaten since I gave up gluten three years ago. When I received these beauties in the mail, I got super excited. Because Ener-G was kind enough to send me about a million products for review, it’s taken me a little while to get to munching on them. Friday, I was craving something crunchy and salty and I remembered the bag of pretz’ in my pantry. I have no idea how Ener-G has manage to create a dairy-free, egg-free, lactose-free, gluten-free pretzel that tastes just like Rold Gold’s. I have yet to try them with peanut butter (my favorite way to eat pretzels), but I am very pleased with the taste. I would describe it, but there really is nothing to say other than, “It tastes like a good pretzel.” In my opinion, saying that something gluten-free tastes exactly like something that isn’t gluten-free is the best compliment any product can get. Two thumbs up, Ener-G!

2. Got a new computer!!!!! FINE-AH-LEE.

Putting him right to work

3. Ate some Ener-G Pound cake

I am a big fan of cakes sans icing, so pound cake is obviously top five in the list of Best Cakes. It smelled sweet and was very moist right out of the package. Taste-wise, let me start by saying that Ener-G’s pound cake was delicious. However, it tasted less like pound cake and more like extremely moist and sweet corn bread. I love corn bread so that was quite alright with me. Like I said, it was sweet, but not overly sweet. The top layer of the cake was almost creamy, like it was drizzled with juice or something to soften it toward the end of the baking process.  Overall, I really liked the cake. The only problem I saw was the fact that it didn’t quite taste like pound cake. When I buy something, I expect to eat what the label says. If the “Pound Cake” had been labeled, “Sweet Corn Bread,” I would have had no qualms. 

4. Made some awesome, Magical Root Veggie and Greens Soup for my sick mommy. She called it magical because she felt better the next morning. I am going with it…

Magical Root Veggie and Greens Soup

The way I see it, soup is just an amalgam of goodies that all go together in a broth/cream/etc. Mama was sick, so I looked in the pantry and the fridge for some soup-worthy items. This is what I came up with. As always, these are ROUGH measurements. Don’t be afraid to use less of or add more.

• 2 cups Chicken broth (or any broth of your choice)
• 2 cups water
• 1 cup white wine
• ½ cup Tomato juice
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1-2 tsp cumin
• 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp Pepper
• 1 tsp ground bay leaf or 2 whole dried bay leaves
• 6-8 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 6 red potatoes, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 1 whole rutabaga, peeled and chopped (chop these a little smaller than the potatoes because they take a little longer to cook)
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 ½ cup cooked quinoa
• 4 cups greens, roughly chopped (I used Toscana kale, Swiss chard, and broccoli leaves.)
• Salt to taste (or seasoned salt like Trocomare)
• Sour cream for topping

Add first 14 ingredients to pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium high, cover, and cook until the rutabaga is tender. At this point, you can remove 1 ½ cups of the potatoes and rutabaga and blend to add a thicker texture to the soup. Add quinoa and greens and stir. Let simmer for 15-30 minutes so that all of the flavors can blend. Add salt to taste. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top. Enjoy!

Superfood City

5. Got a harness for Lucy to pull me on rollerblades. OMG fun. I have my own sled dog. Photos coming soon...

Tired girl

6. Accomplished some homework taskies (I know you wish you were me right now).

7. Got a haircut

Love it. Much needed.

8. Watched the Packers DEMOLISH the Bears. Thoroughly enjoyed watching B.J Raji dance in the end zone.

I should haveve taken a video of our celebration. Picture my stepdad (the Giant), my mom, and I in the living room dancing around and screaming. Now imagine 6 dogs joining in the screaming/howling activity. Or you could just having a look at Mon’s blog and you can see them in action.

9. Painted my nails. Not sure how I feel about this color… Kind looks like nail fungus, but I'm too lazy to change it.

Philosophy in the background. Almost as horrible as this nail color.

10. Devoured a long awaited a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I have not eaten one in quite some time.

Match made in Heaven

I had a really great weekend, even though it was rather uneventful. Sometimes, ordinary weekends are the best kind.