Author Archives: Caitlin

WWAW

What We Ate Wednesday: Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week.

Y’all. I forgot to tell you. I had bacon last week! I was eating breakfast potatoes at a restaurant in California and didn’t realize there was bacon in it. And guess what?! It wasn’t NEARLY as good as I remembered. Bacon has become such a trendy food in the time since I became a vegetarian, so I think I started building it up in my head. But when I had it, it was just meh. So, hooray! I don’t miss eating sweet little piggies one bit now!

In other news, I will only be doing TWO more WWAW posts!! At that point I will have done one full year of What We Ate Wednesday posts, and I am kind of getting tired of writing them. But I hope to still post occasional recipes!

Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese and Kale Salad

I made Grandma Katie’s macaroni and cheese to celebrate the kids first day of school! This is definitely their favorite dinner. I also made this kale salad which I like even more every time I eat it. (Btw, I almost always use Parmesan, not Pecorino, because that’s what I have in the fridge.)

Thursday: Party Food

Ben’s amazing former boss, Congressman George Miller, is retiring from Congress this year and so on Thursday we attended a retirement party for him. It was such a great party honoring an amazing congressman. I can truly say that our country is better because of him!

Friday: Lost Dog Pizza

I wasn’t feeling so hot Friday afternoon so when Ben got home, he took the kids to go pick up pizza from Lost Dog. Yuuuu-uuum!

Saturday: Beet Salad, Burrata, and Baguette

I made this dish but used burrata instead of Bucheron. It was really good but I didn’t care for the greens–too bitter. Next time I will leave them out. We had been at a birthday party earlier, so the kids had already eaten. I don’t think they would have been too jazzed about this one!

Sunday: Quesadillas and Mexican Street Corn Quinoa Salad

We had some corn in our CSA, probably for the last time this year, so of course I had to make this salad! I also made some delicious flour tortillas using half white whole wheat flour and half plan white flour. I quadrupled the recipe to make 32 tortillas because they freeze really well.

Monday: Peach Pasta

I saw this recipe on the thug kitchen’s facebook page and knew I had to try it. I added feta to mine because I like to add feta to everything and Ben and Campbell added Parmesan to theirs. And I used peaches instead of nectarines because that is what I had.

Tuesday: Breakfast for Dinner

Green eggs using Mizuna from our CSA, biscuits (half whole wheat, half not), and hash browned potatoes (using CSA potatoes that I shredded, par boiled, and froze a few weeks ago).

WWAW

What We Ate Wednesday: Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week.

And here is this past week’s dinners!

Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese and Carrots

I made Grandma Katie’s macaroni and cheese and roasted carrots. The kids ate about 5 servings each!

Thursday: Lasagna and Salad

I flew out to CA first thing in the morning to meet Ben who was already there for work. We had a fun afternoon of sightseeing and then went to his aunt and uncle’s house in Walnut Creek for dinner–they made delicious veggie lasagna and a salad that had lettuce, a good amount of cilantro, mozzarella, and sunflower seeds with a sweet balsamic vinaigrette. It was super yummy!!

Friday: Buckeye Roadhouse

After a fun cocktail fundraiser for Ben’s boss featuring delicious CA cheeses, wines, and beers, we headed to dinner at Buckeyes with a few of Ben’s colleagues. Great food and company!

Saturday: Poggio

Ben’s boss had a fundraising dinner at Poggio, a delicious Italian restaurant in Sausalito. Deelicious!

Sunday: Spaghetti and Garlic Bread

We flew back to VA on Sunday and were greeted by our kids, Grandma Judi, and a delicious home cooked meal! (I made some tomato sauce with fresh CSA tomatoes a few weeks ago by combining several recipes I found online and then froze it. Perfect for dinners like this!)

Monday: Cauliflower Casserole

I haven’t looked at my Moosewood cookbook in ages but somehow it came up and I started looking through it and found this recipe! However I didn’t have more than a bite of it because I went out to dinner with some friends for a girls night!!

Tuesday: Stuffed Peppers

I made this recipe using Hungarian Wax peppers that I had cut in half and frozen a few weeks ago. The frozen peppers held up great! We used Field Roast “sausages.” I also made mini pizzas on whole wheat english muffins (using some more of that freezer tomato sauce)

WWAW

What We Ate Wednesday: Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week.

Oh dear! I am behind again! I will post last week’s set of recipes first and then the recipes from this past week (on time!). I just looked and I am only four weeks away from a WHOLE YEAR of What We Are Wednesday posts!!!

Wednesday: Roasted Eggplant Pizza

I love this pizza, though I cheat and buy whole wheat pizza dough from Trader Joe’s. Delicious and pretty easy!

Thursday: Chinese

We met our friend Angie who was in town for work for some Chinese. We all shared some tofu dishes and veggie dishes.

Friday: Pizza

It was a nice summer night so our neighbors ordered pizza and and we all ate pizza on the front lawn with our neighbors. I love our neighborhood!

Saturday: Cafe Rio

Ben picked up Cafe Rio and we ate it at the pool! Last weekend the pool is open 🙁

Sunday: Pizza Again!

Sam’s friend Charlie and his family had us up for a super fun Labor Day gathering at their river House. It was soooo fun! The kids played in the pool all day while the adults lounged and relaxed. We had yummy pizza for dinner and then headed back home.

Monday: District Taco

Clearly there was not a lot of cooking happening this week.

Tuesday: Spaghetti Squash, Brie, and Baguette

We had a spaghetti squash in our CSA so I roasted it and then sauteed it in butter with capers, as if it were pasta. It was really good! We also had brie and baguette. Yum!

WWAW 8/27/14

What We Ate Wednesday: Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week.

And here’s another back logged WWAW

Wednesday: Potato and Egg Tacos and Grilled Mexican Corn

This is super easy: scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, shredded cheese, tortillas. I also made this Mexican Street Corn. This is hands down the best recipe for Mexican street corn.

Thursday: Pizza at the Hawkins House!

We drove ALL day down to Atlanta and when we got there, my sister and family had a delicious cheese pizza and salad waiting for us!

Friday: Caprese Sandwiches

Rolls with pesto, fresh mozzarella, and CSA tomatoes. Yumm! We also had some lentil soup with the sandwiches.

Saturday: Quesadillas and Mexican Street Corn Quinoa Salad

Because I can’t go more than a week without making this salad...

Sunday: Date Night

We had a fun date night for our last night in Atlanta. We went to drinks at Marlow’s and then got Indian at a new place. Yum!!

Monday: Chuys!

Being able to stop at Chuy’s in Richmond makes driving back from Atlanta so much better!!

Tuesday: Dinner at Zoe’s Kitchen

I didn’t have a chance to get to the store and we had no food since we were gone all weekend. But dinner out is always fun! I’m glad Zoe’s Kitchen moved so close to us! I always get the grilled pimento cheese sandwich.

WWAW 8/20/14

What We Ate Wednesday: Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week.

Oops! It felt like it had been awhile since I did a WWAW post but I didn’t realize I was almost three weeks behind!!

Wednesday: Cheese Quesadillas, Pineapple Salsa, Beans, and Rice

I made this pineapple salsa and it was delicious–elevated the whole meal!

Thursday: Leftovers

Easy!

Friday: Chipotle

We picked up some of our favorite sofritas tacos!

Saturday: Graffiato

We realized at the last minute that it was restaurant week so Ben and I had a date night at Graffiato. It was AMAZING! We’ll definitely be going back!

Sunday: Vegan Pasta

I decided to try making some vegan “mac and cheese” since I had such a good experience with the one I got at The Randy Radish and my friend Diana made some that she said turned out great. I just googled for a recipe and while it turned out ok, it was not very exciting. Actually pretty boring. I won’t post the recipe since I can’t exactly recommend it.

Monday: Dinner at the Ball Park

We went to the National’s game with some of Ben’s work colleagues and got dinner there. They actually have a Shake Shack in the ballpark so it was a good dinner! We got the mushroom burgers (really good!!), fries, and shakes. The game was fun too!

Tuesday: Oyamel

Restaurant week was extended so we decided to take a family dinner night at Oyamel, my favorite restaurant ever, We had a great time and the food was fantastic as always!

Hello, birdie!

The other day I was cooking dinner and I asked the kids to go get me some basil from the back. They opened the door and then Sam decided he wanted to put his shoes on so Campbell waited at the door for him. Then Campbell starts waving and saying “hi!” I said, “who are you waving to?” and Campbell said, “the birdie!” So I go to look and this is what I saw sitting on the fence just 10 feet from our backdoor.

Eeek!!! After I closed the glass storm door, the kids and I stood there and watched the hawk until it flew away. It stayed for quite a bit and then came back a couple of times. It was really cool, if a little terrifying! The pictures really don’t do it justice. A cat-sized bird is just not something you are used to seeing in your yard!!

Swimming Sam

I am so proud of our little swimmer! We signed Sam up for some private swim lessons this summer and Sam loves his lessons and his instructor! He is always asking when he can have swim lessons! This weekend we were at a pool party and Sam started swimming farther than he has ever gone before, so I had to get a video! Way to go Sam!

WWAW

What We Ate Wednesday: Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week.

Late again. Blah blah blah. Same old same old!!! Sorry!

Wednesday: Birthday and Half Birthday Dinner

Today was Campbell’s 2.5 birthday and Nana’s birthday was the day after we left San Diego so we thought it would be fun to have a joint celebration. We had quesadillas, mexican street corn quinoa salad, drinks of all sorts prepared by Ben, and of course CAKE! By the way, I don’t exactly follow the directions for that quinoa salad. I basically just cook the quinoa, grill the corn and peppers (or more accurately have Ben grill them) and then mix everything into a big bowl. Much easier!

Thursday: Pizzeria Mozza

Funny story. When we went to Pizzeria Mozza on our date night, we were surprised to see how family friendly it was and thought it would have been fun to take the kids there. Then when they brought us the bill they included a little flier that says Mondays you get 20% off your entire bill!! So we decided to go back with the whole family on Monday (it really is good!). But then on Monday they called us and said they had a problem with their ovens and had to shut down! But we were able to reschedule for Thursday and still get the 20% off deal! My cousin Elliott, who lives in San Diego, met us for dinner and Ben’s sister Rebecca drove down for the day from LA and had dinner too. it was really fun! We had most of the same things but this time we also got the funghi pizza and the goat cheese and leek pizza. Both yummy!

Friday: Burritos

We stopped by El Zarape and got more burritos to take on the plane for lunch/dinner. Hahah! What can I say, we really like Mexican food (this doesn’t even include the burritos we had for lunches over the last week).

Saturday: Beet Salad with Chickpea and Brown Rice Patties

I was so proud of myself for this meal. We just got home from San Diego the night before and had almost no groceries in the house. But Ben did pick up the CSA veggies at his office so we had a little bit to work with. I made this beet salad without the greens. And I decided to make warm goat cheese (like the ones in this recipe). They were amaaazing! I also made chickpea and rice patties, but they were just ok so I won’t post the recipe.

Sunday: Stuffed Hungarian Peppers, Roasted Carrots, Pasta

OMG. These stuffed peppers were so good–much better than I was expecting. We used field roast sausage and I swear, even a sausage connoisseur wouldn’t know these were meat free in this recipe! We also roasted carrots and Ben made caccio e pepe with orzo.

Monday: Roasted Baby Eggplants with Feta, Hummus, and Rice

This meal seemed so fancy for some reason! The eggplants looked really fancy. We just used Trader Joe’s hummus and I didn’t love it. I feel like whenever I am eating hummus at a party, it is always from Trader Joe’s and I always think it’s so good but then whenever I buy TJ hummus, I don’t like it. There are about 500 different options, so maybe I am just picking the wrong one. What is your fave??

Tuesday: BBQ dinner club

My friend Nicole hosted this month’s dinner club and it was a Summer BBQ theme. I made feta, mint, and watermelon skewers with drizzled balsamic from Trader Joe’s. After dinner, we roasted s’mores at the fire pit in Nicole’s back yard! Yum!!! I also made this delicious summer gnocchi for the rest of my family.

WWAW

What We Ate Wednesday: Every Wednesday I write a blog post with all of the vegetarian dinners we ate this week.

Ooops!! I am a little late again. But we were on vacation, so at least I have an excuse.

Wednesday: Macaroni and Cheese with carrots

I made my favorite dinner and served it with these carrots. Yum!

Thursday: Chipotle

I was planning to eat leftovers but we didn’t have any left! So Ben picked up Chipotle. I had the sofritas (tofu) tacos. They are amazing.

Friday: Burritos

We got into San Diego (more on our trip, to come!) late and although we had some food on the plane, Ben and I each decided we also needed a burrito once we’d landed. When in Rome, right? We had the Veggie Supreme burritos from El Zarape.

Saturday: Date Night in San Diego

My mom and Jerry took the kids so we could have a date night! Woohoo!! We went to Pizzeria Mozza and it was DELICIOUS! We had the ricotta stuffed fried squash blossoms (I could have eaten just these for dinner and I would have been happy), roasted cauliflower, and the organic margarita pizza with bufala mozzarella. Heavenly. We also enjoyed some delicious cocktails and lovely red wine.

Sunday: Burritos

Back to El Zarape for delicious burritos. I had the potato burrito this time and it was sooo good.

Monday: Crispy Chickpea Spaghetti

My mom said she’d been wanting to try this (after reading about it on this blog) so we made it! Yum as always.

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday at Barrio Star

Originally we were all going to have dinner here but after a long, fun, and exhausting day at the zoo, my mom said she’d take the kids home so Ben and I could have another date night 🙂 The tacos here were delicious!! I had the soy chorizo taco and a potato taco. Ben had tofu, fish, and potato. Yummy!!

Clean Teeth

The kids had a dentist appointment the other day and it went great! Good reports for both mouths! This was Campbell’s first real dentist appointment. We took her about 6 months ago but she really wasn’t ready and just cried the whole time and wouldn’t open her mouth. But this time, she was more than happy to let them clean their teeth while she watched Wild Kratts on the ceiling. And Sam was a champ as always. Good work guys!