ReDux Fail

Today was a typical Sunday around here, but it started more leisurely than usual. Riker spent the night at his grandparents' last night and Matt left the house at 5:30 this morning for a mountain biking race he competed in with his friend Chris, which meant the house was more still and quiet than it's been in a while. I took advantage and slept in until 8:30 before going over to my in-laws' to pick up the kiddo. I was greeted with hot coffee and a stack of pancakes when I arrived, and joined the family for a nice Sunday breakfast.

The rest of the day was spent doing rather uneventful things - cleaning, doing laundry, picking up groceries, the typical weekend stuff. A mid-afternoon break was had to taste Matt's new homebrew, which was delicious. I can't say I don't love a surprise pint with the boys on a sunny Sunday afternoon in Baratta Bar.

 I realized late in the day that I totally forgot today is Recipe ReDux day, and tried my best to whip up something for the post. Unfortunately this month's theme called for dessert makeovers, and since I'm trying not to eat too many sweet or keep baked goods in the house, this one was a toughie for me.

I tried to make a healthy almond cookie with almond butter, hazelnut flour, stevia and a few other ingredients, but it failed miserably. It wasn't sweet at all and the texture wasn't very pleasant. Definitely not blog-worthy and my first ReDux fail. :/ Oh well, can't win em all!

Dinner, however, was a winner.

Earlier in the day I caught part of a new Barefoot Contessa episode on Food Network, and my girl Ina Garten made these amazing looking salmon & avocado sandwiches. Matt had already taken salmon out of the freezer to thaw for dinner, so I knew the sandwiches had to be made in some form.

I ditched the ciabatta rolls and bacon that Ina used, and subbed in a huge juicy, red tomato. I layered arugula dressed with lemon juice on the bottom, followed by slices of tomato and seared salmon, topped with chopped avocado I tossed in lemon, salt, pepper and garlic powder.

So, so good.

I have a huge mountain of clean laundry staring me down in the living room, so (nerd alert) I'm about to get busy with the Indiana Jones marathon on TV and start folding. Looks like these two are too comfy to pitch in.

On a side note, Riker just figured out to smile when we say "smile" for a picture, and it's awesome. Love that face.

Have a good night!