Hey friends, I hope you are well!
It's been a quiet week around here due to work and general life chaos. Nothing bad happening, but I am up to my eyeballs at work, so the quiet early morning times I normally spend on the blog have been spent on work again. Also Odin, who no longer wears diapers (yay!) has started getting up really early in the morning to pee and then not going back to sleep.
I didn't quite have the finishing touches done on time to publish this post on a Sunday, like I normally do, but then I decided to go rogue and publish on a Monday instead because *I* make the rules here!
It always makes me anxious when I don't have time for the blog, but I got part way through the week and decided to give myself the gift of not caring about it. It's reassuring to know it'll aways be here, and I can pick it up when life allows.
Often times it's a matter of asking myself what I'm most willing to sacrifice to get things done. Sleep? Exercise? The blog? I'm trying to be a less snappy and more sane person (goals!) so made the decision that sleep and exercise get the priority.
This week I hosted some girlfriends for a casual Galentine's evening of sorts. I made Emmeline's Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos because I'll take any excuse to make them. Seriously, if you haven't tried them yet, what are you waiting for???
I got multiple messages the next morning asking for the recipe. My friend Alison said that she's heard me talking about them but they didn't sound that good to her... but has messaged me multiple times since trying them asking when we can make them again.
Since we were going with a game day ish theme with the buffalo cauli tacos, I steered my friend who was going to bring an appetizer towards Sarah's Jalapeno Cheese Ball, and my word it was delish. The recipe calls for bacon, but since I'm everyone's annoying vegetarian friend I recommended that she replace the bacon with chopped smoked almonds and it was amazing.
Emmeline and I are meeting Sarah in Chicago in a couple of weeks and I am so excited to see that lady's face IRL. We're going to a food blogging conference (yes, we are THAT cool!) that was supposed to be in New York in September 2020, but, you know, stuff happened.
I'm so excited that after being cancelled and reschedule twice this event is finally happening for real! I'm also excited because Emmeline and I scored a great deal on tickets when the US first opened back up for travel, so we're flying business class. We are very important business ladies, after all.
I'm looking forward to catching up on some reading and some blogging on the long flights, and to being on a long haul flight without any children to deal with. Emmeline had better behave!
Since I'm flying to the US soon, I went and got my 3rd shot last week even though I had covid in January and am surely all jacked up on antibodies still. The conference requires a negative covid test AND a vaccine passport, and I didn't want to take any chance.
I also didn't want to get sick ahead of the antigen test I need to fly to the US and have the whole thing cancelled at the last minute.
All three times I've had the vaccine I got overwhelmed with emotion the second they jabbed my arm with the needle. Mostly with gratitude for all of the scientists and researchers who have worked tirelessly to help protect us from this stupid virus, and for the healthcare workers who have been doing an exhausting, thankless job.
But also it made me reflect on everything we've been through, this collective anxiety and stress and grief. God willing I will finally get to see my family this summer, but this trip feels like a tipping point to me. An important first step.
If you're on the site this coming week be prepared you may see things looking a little wonky. I've discovered there are some back end technical issues that are causing the site to be slow, but also that there are some issues, including the fonts, that are causing content to jump around on the page.
This content jumping around is referred to as "cumulative layout shift" or CLS if you're one of the cool kids, and Google no likey CLS, so my site has likely been getting dinged in the rankings as a result.
Some of the ads are also causing CLS, so I'm having a convo with my ad network about scaling them back and removing some key ad placements. That'll likely mean I'll take a financial hit, but I don't want my site to be annoying to use so it is what it is.
Guys, I know the ads are annoying, I know there are a lot of them, but they pay for things like web hosting and groceries and technical support, all of which means you get this content for the low low price of FREE-99. Thanks for your understanding and your patience.
ON HEY NUTRITION LADY THIS WEEK
I think everyone should have a go-to chocolate cake recipe, and I also think that this Chocolate Yogurt Cake should be it. It's been made countless times since I first shared this recipe in 2012 (IYKYK), and it was well overdue for a makeover.
We also updated this recipe for Kale Lasagna, which is quite frankly a dream in a casserole dish.
WHAT’S TRENDING ON HNL
Yeah, yeah, we all know that Mung Bean and Coconut Curry and How to Cook Mung Beans are in the top spots. Yes, still! So let’s look at what else is trending.
1. 10-Minute Vegetable Ramen Noodles. Mmmhmm.
2. Black Bean and Quinoa Freezer Burritos. A HNL classic.
3. Pumpkin Seed Butter. A tasty and fun alternative to peanut butter.
4. How to Cook Adzuki Beans. Another part of our bean empire.
5. Savory Cottage Cheese Muffins. These are such a great snack.
COMMENT OF THE WEEK
J left the following comment and 5-star review on our Spicy Instant Pot Red Lentil Soup recipe:
That was delicious. It was so simple to prepare, I doubled up so there would be plenty to freeze (and am glad I did!).
I like things spicy, so used heaped tsps of chilli flakes, and 3 fresh chillies for good measure. The children said it smelled delicious, so I'm going to have to make a non-spicy batch for them now too.
Thanks again for the recipes. I love things like this that are simple and quick to put together for midweek dinners. Please keep them coming.
Thank YOU, J! Glad you enjoyed this one as much as we do.
THIS WEEK’S MENU
The kids' school hasn't published their lunch menu for this week yet, so this menu is subject to change. But here's what's on the plan for now.
HERE’S WHAT’S ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
Monday: A fun new soup recipe I'm testing.
Tuesday: BIG salad.
Wednesday: I'm having some colleagues over for dinner. Planning to make these Olive Oil Braised Chickpeas and Deb's Rigatoni a la Vodka. And maybe a kale salad.
Thursday: Leftovers!
Friday: Snack dinner. Gotta use up some odds and ends in the fridge.
Saturday: Family dinner / date night in. Send suggestions please!
Sunday: Pizza night. Made a fresh batch of Spelt Pizza Dough for the freezer so we're good to go.
Leave a Reply