weekend update.

Okay so far it's been a seriously productive weekend.

Friday night was fun night. I went to Happy Hour with some friends from work. First I went to Porto Terra which is in the Hilton Executive Tower where I had a Mojito and then went to Mother's Bistro where I had a Ruby Red Martini. Glen came along and joined us at Mother's and then afterwards, we went to Lovely Hula Hands on N. Mississippi for dinner. Wow was that good! There wasn't anything on the menu vegan and so I was asking the waitress what I could order and she said she can just ask the chef to do a "vegan surprise." I did that once at Bold Sky (also on N. Mississippi) and was not disappointed so I said sure! It was SOOOO good and I was SOOOO happy!

Saturday was busy. Glen and I went grocery shopping and then we started the monumental task of cleaning out the garage. We try to do it once a year but it should be done WAY more often. We are joining in our neighborhood's garage sale mid-May so we were motivated to get crackin' on this. After our hard day, we were rewarded with Miranda coming over for dinner. My girlie! :-) For dinner, I made a version of a dish I call a "Monk Bowl." The Monk Bowl is quinoa topped with some kind of steamed greens such as kale or collards and then add a scoop of some kind of legume such as garbanzos or crowder peas and then drizzle some peanut sauce on top. Actually this dish isn't even called a Monk Bowl but I can't remember the name so I still call it a Monk Bowl. Anywho, it is always SO good. I also saute up a big skillet of mushrooms because that's the kind of gal I am.

So last night's Monk Bowl was different. I added another "topping" of cut up golden beets and carrots and sauted with a bit of butter and a cinnamon stick (this came out SO tasty Lilli!). And then instead of quinoa as the base, I made a batch of mashed potatoes to use. And not just any mashed potatoes. I tried a new recipe I got from New Seasons grocery store. It goes a little something like this...

• 1 lb russet potatoes (2 medium to large)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 celery root, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/2 tsp salt
• fresh ground white pepper
• Boil the unpeeled potatoes and garlic cloves in salted water and cover for 25 minutes. Add the celery root and continue to boil until the vegetables are tender. Remove potatoes, celery root and garlic. Turn the heat to hight and boil the water briskly while you prepare the vegetables.
• Peel the potatoes and the garlic and mash them with the celery root. Add about 1/4 cup of the reduced cooking water to make the potatoes creamy. Sitr in the salt and pepper to taste.

In our house, we love root vegetables so when I saw this recipe with the celery root, I KNEW it would be a hit! And it was! SO SO SO SO good! Mommy, I can't wait to make it for you!

Then for our dessert, we cut up fresh strawberries, added a bit of vanilla sugar from Penzey's and some fresh mint from the garden and spooned them over vanilla soy ice cream. Another winner.

Oh I forgot to mention, we had a bunch of mint picked because we also made Mojitos. Mizsmoochielips has been talkin' 'em up these last few days. I had one Friday night and so my appetite was whetted! Smoochie had fabulous pictures and the recipe so we went for it! Yum!

Today's big task has been starting to clean up Miranda's room. She moved all of her big stuff, clothes, and the things she needed immediately but there is still an assortment of boxes full of her little girlie geegaws, trinkets and toys. When I offered to go through it and pack it up for her, she said sure and dear reader, I have to tell you, inside, I did a happy dance. Go through boxes of her Hello Kitty collection, American Girls stuff and general girlie keepsakes? Heaven!!! Oh I did find a beer bottle. Not so Heaven. :-)

So far I've filled a couple of boxes of keepsakes to save, filled the recycle bin, filled the trash bin, and gathered up LOTS of potential garage sale merchandise. Did I mention I LOVE this kind of stuff? I love love love organizing. And I love order. A place for everything and everything in it's place is something I completely aspire to.

Now ask me if that's what my house and world actually look like, I'd have to laugh and say "Not even close!" But hey, a girl can dream! :-)

Comments

[Lilli]

Hey Buddy...I can attest to the fact that you Monk Bowls are superb. Glad the cinnamon worked out.

'Tis the season for cleaning and organizing, and you on ya' for doing the garage and the M-room. The latter must've been emotional.

We're still loving our Penzeys, using it all the time :)

[renee]

Nice post! You sure know how to ring a person's salavatin' bell. I'm so hungry I could fly, i could fly, i could fly...(to Portland)

[Jana]

And when are you coming down to organize my house? ;)!

Ah, the big night was last night, so we're maybe going to get back to "normal"?! Had a nice family dinner all together tonight for the first time in ages---but the after pageant dump is still present all over the house---can you say 11 tuxes in the dining room?

Your weekend sounds divine!

[stephanie]

Love your recipe's, your monk's bowl sounds great!

Not too fun, the cleaning process, but nice to have it done....yes??

[Sharon at Norah'Ss]

I have the collard greens in my garden. I have never had Monk Bowl made with anything. I would like it cause I like all that stuff.