Date Night Success

Even though our "happy hour" never materialized, we had a fun date night.  I made a redo recipe of salmon in a parchment pack -- potatoes, zucchini, onions, olives, lemon, feta cheese, arugula and seasoned oil.

We watched Casino Royale (James Bond).  Neither of us had seen it.  It was way too long, but otherwise, not a bad free watch.  Dogs cuddled and slept through the entire movie which is first.

Only (sort of) downside -- I ate an entire canister of potato sticks.  Remember those?  I found them at the store recently and bought them again.  I swear it feels like I'm PMSing based on my mood and food cravings.  Anyway ... no junk food today.  The Green Dress is calling and I'm not going to mess it up over flavorless potato sticks.  Why was I so fixated on those yesterday?  I might have been "eating" my mood LOL.

Today is beautifully crisp and cool outside.  I have a treadmill workout and then we'll take dogs for some fun.  Unfortunately, with the garage sale, a long neighborhood walk outside is annoying so that will have to wait until tomorrow.  We might head to the park or the wooded trails.

I finished Burnout (Emily and Amelia Nagoski).  Here's what I need to remember.  When Brene Brown interviews someone, she hits the good stuff -- all of it.  The rest is filler and adds little to the value.  This is the second book I've bought and read after listening to the podcast and got exactly nothing else from reading the book.  You could argue that supporting the author is important and I'll give you that, but it was a waste of time and money.

House is CLEAN -- woo hoo.  Back is OKAY -- woo hoo.  Glad to have that finished this week.

I'm making a new recipe tomorrow.  Lots of relatively expensive items so, hopefully, it's delicious.  It is vegan (cream is from coconut milk).  Expensive mushroom and fancy lentils.  I'll let you how it tastes.

Creamy Mushroom and Beluga Lentil Stew

I also bought the ingredients for a quick carrot soup.  I'll try this toward the end of next week.  I'm still eating the lentil soup.  I've never made a carrot soup.  I like carrots, but not sure if I'll like it as a soup.

Carrot Soup with Tahini and Chickpeas

I looked for tofu options from Trader Joe's and they had a few.  I thought I'd need to go to Whole Foods to get a variety and that would be tough during COVID and the holidays.  I bought a package of firm tofu and a package of marinated tofu.  I'll try both in a couple of weeks (expiration dates are in December).  Silken tofu was missing though -- that's tougher to find.

Still figuring out what November's cooking challenge should be -- I'm leaning heavily toward tofu.  I think January should be a broader category -- vegan recipes.  That leaves December -- maybe just repeats since it's the holidays and lots to do and bake and make.  Not as much time for new stuff.  Sounds like a plan, Stan.  

I'll leave with pictures of my sweet boys.  I think both show their personality.  Duke is feisty and always on alert.  Monti is easy going and chill.  They were sitting on the bed in our front room watching the garage sale people drive by.

Have a happy Saturday -- hope you are enjoying great weather too.  Stay well.  Later gators.