What's Good This Week

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Remember how last week I said we'd be going out for dinner on Thursday to celebrate our 10 year anniversary in Sweden?

I lied. It was a decoy. 

Here's what I did instead: On Wednesday I got up at the crack of dawn. My alarm went off at 4am and I caught a 4:30am bus to the airport, then hopped a 6:50am flight to Frankfurt. 

From Frankfurt, I boarded a flight to Vancouver. While I was sitting on the tarmac (for THREE HOURS thanks to delay after delay after delay) I texted my sister a photo of this amazing Swedish diaper rash cream and told her I'd just found it in my closet and realized I forgot to include it in a package I'd sent her earlier, but that I'd send another package soon.

Dun dun dun!

A cool 15 hours later, after a long-haul flight, a train, a bus, and a ferry ride, I walked into her house and said, here it is! Special delivery! And then she lost her emotional little mind and I went over and gave my newest niece a squish.

How fun is that?! 

And can I tell you how freaking awesome it was to sit on a long haul flight without a child in my lap?  Even though the flight was very delayed it was still so pleasant. I finished a book (who has read The Testaments? Can we discuss it, please?!). I snoozed for a bit. I got some work done. I watched a couple of movies.  

Bliss, I tell ya!

It's a super quick trip to BC, especially considering how long the trip is, but I needed to squeeze it in before my full-time contract starts in February. Make no mistake, though, I definitely am making the most of each and every one of the six days that I'm here. 

My first day was just a chill day hanging around home and shaking off the jet lag. My sister and niece and I went out for lunch at one of the local craft breweries, which is something I miss SO MUCH when I'm in Stockholm. They had delicious beer, a good veggie burger, and even vegetarian poutine!

On Friday afternoon I headed into the city to go out for an early birthday dinner with some of my girlfriends. The last birthday that I spent with these ladies was 10 years ago, when we spent an evening eating takeout and drinking wine and doing a VERY haphazard job of packing up my old apartment. (I had to repack 90% of the boxes in the morning before the movers turned up.)

It was so nice to spend an evening with old friends, hanging out in my old hood, eating great food and drinking delicious BC wine. 

And then on Saturday Sarah from Sustainable Cooks, aka my blogging BFF (or blog wife, as I call her) got up at the crack of dawn and drove up from Seattle to hang out with me for a day. This is the third time we've gotten to hang out IRL, and the first without our PITA kids dragging us down. Mom goals!

We took over my mom's kitchen and made dinner for my family, my in-laws, and ourselves, including roast chicken (this is Sarah's roast chicken recipe) a cheesy potato casserole, and roasted veggies kinda like my Mediterranean Roast Vegetables.  

Sunday morning (today! my birthday!) we're taking a morning ferry into town and crashing my brother's waffle brunch (it's his birthday tomorrow), because he's no dumb dumb and he knows that having two food bloggers on site when he's slinging waffles for 20 people can only be a good thing. We're making a batch of my Vegan Banana Waffles and also a batch of Sarah's Whole Wheat Waffles. 

I've got a few other fun things on the agenda for my remaining days here, including a NHL hockey game (so excited!) and dinner out with my cousin, and a luxurious night allllll by myself in a hotel room before I start the journey back to Stockholm. It's really a ridiculously short trip given how far it is (and how expensive the tickets are) but given the opportunity to squish my tiny niece and spend some quality time with my family all by myself, I just had to do it.

41 is looking pretty good so far... Did I tell you 2020 was going to be The Year of Katie or what?!

Can we talk about how annoying airplane food is? Normally we fly with Lufthansa, and I never order a vegetarian meal because they always have a vegetarian pasta as one of the choices. This ticket I ended up booking through Air Canada, so I *did* order a vegetarian meal because I don't know what their usual offering looks like. 

As it happened, my first flight was operated by Lufthansa after all, and even though I they had a vegetarian pasta on the menu and I had clearly stipulated lacto ovo and not vegan for my meal, they brought me the vegan meal. I mean, it was fine. Some sort of curry with rice, but what really annoys me about the vegetarian meal is that you don't get a proper dessert. 

Everybody else gets a brownie on their tray, and I get a stupid fruit cup? Who decide that vegetarians don't like dessert? That is false, airline catering companies. False, false, false. I'm on a 10 hour flight and I want the damn brownie! Screw the fruit cup!

As luck would have it, there were some extra brownies on board, so mid way through the flight one of the crew walked around with a tray of them, and I scored one then. But seriously, I would like to banish the fruit cup. 

ON HEY NUTRITION LADY THIS WEEK

Because I had a kinda hectic week I decided to update and re-publish a couple of older posts that I think deserve a little love. First up, these Cheesy Baked Spaghetti Squash Noodles. It's like a low-carb vegetarian lasagna made with spaghetti squash instead of pasta, and it is gloriously good. 

And next, one of my favourite meal prep or batch cooking meals, Winter Veggie Meal Prep Bowls. These beauties are doused in the most addictive magic tahini sauce you'll ever taste. I highly recommend. 

WHAT’S TRENDING ON HNL

Yeah, yeah, we all know that Mung Bean and Coconut Curry is in number one. So let's look at what else is topping the charts:

1. Black Bean and Quinoa Freezer Burritos. Always a fan fave. 

2. Turmeric Latte Mix. Don't mind if I do!

3. Chocolate Black Bean Smoothie. Mmmm. Bean smoothie.

4. Slow Cooker Chickpea Curry. Google is telling me this post is in need of a face lift. 

5. No Sugar Banana Bran Muffins. Good times, good times. 

COMMENT OF THE WEEK

Andrea left the following comment and 5-star review on my Savory Cottage Cheese Muffins recipe:

Believe it or not I was actually planning to comment on the old recipe just before I saw that you had updated it. I’ve made it so many times over the years for my kids. It’s such a fantastic recipe for a high calorie but healthy snack (something I searched high and low for on the internet to help give my underweight toddler a boost). The kids always devour them and I love being able to keep them at the ready in the freezer. I had previously substituted quinoa flour for the soy flour. Look forward to trying this new variation!

These muffins have been a huge hit this time around, I'm so glad so many people are enjoying them!

Meal Planning

Guys, do you hate meal planning? Does trying to figure out what to make for dinner each week have you pulling out your hair? 

I want to remind you about the excellent vegetarian meal planning subscription, Green Plate Club. GPC is all about easy, delicious, family-friendly meal plans that are put together weekly to minimize time spent cooking, reduce food waste, and save money. 

Each week Green Plate Club subscribers get a 5-day vegetarian, 5-day vegan, and 3-day flexitarian meal plan. Not just one, but subscribers get access to all three! Here's what's on this week's menu:

????VEGETARIAN
Crispy Gnocchi with Butternut Squash and Sage Brown Butter
Feel Good Bowls (pictured)
Curried Red Lentil Soup
Cheesy Artichoke and Olive Baked Orzo

WHAT’S GOOD AROUND THE WEB

1. Can mindfulness evolve from pursuit to wellness destination?

2. If you've ever wondered if a 15 minute workout is worth it, the answer is yes.

3. Veganuary is huge, but is it really as simple as animal foods bad, plant foods good?