Proud Wife

We're finally more than halfway through the work week, woo! Matt has a very optimistic way of counting down to the weekends and vacations which always cracks me up, and in his mind tomorrow may as well already be Thanksgiving. It goes something like this...it's already past hump day, and there are only 2 more work days till the weekend, then only 2 days of work next week before we head home to Vermont on Wednesday for the holiday weekend, which means essentially it's already Thanksgiving break. Whatever helps you keep your chin up. ;)

But enough about work, let's talk about food. Dinners this week have strayed pretty far from the meals list, partly due to laziness and partly due to Matt catching a cooler full of striped bass when fishing in the ocean on Sunday.

I'll admit the bloody ice is kind of gross, but I always feel like a proud wife when Matt comes home from a day at sea with a big catch for the family. Striped bass is high up the food chain, which means it has a high mercury content, so - while it's delicious - we try to limit our intake to once every few weeks. This is enough to last us a while! Sunday night Matt cleaned and filleted the fish and we packed it away into portioned bags in the freezer, but kept out some for dinner this week.

On Monday after work, I cut the fish into strips and made homemade "fish sticks." I breaded Riker's with panko breadcrumbs, but for ours I used plain unsweetened coconut; then I baked them in the oven until crispy, and on the side I made a seriously delicious dip with Fage Greek yogurt and some toasted coconut dip mix I picked up at the wine fest over the summer.

I could've eaten that dip by the spoonful, so good!

Last night I finally made the Broccoli "Cheese" Soup I've had on the list for a few weeks now, from my Eat Clean cookbook. It seemed the perfect curl-up food for a cold evening, served alongside a few Lightlife "chick'n" strips.

I loved, loved this soup. It was filled with broccoli and carrots and pureed with vegetable broth and milk till creamy. It also used one of my favorite ingredients, nutritional yeast, instead of cheese, and honestly you couldn't even tell. It tasted just like cheddar. I typically only use yeast for coating popcorn and tofu, and occasionally in salad dressing, but this soup expanded my horizons and I can't wait to try using it in dips, potatoes and all other kinds of things.

Tonight Riker and I were on our own for dinner since Matt had plans to go for a night mountain bike ride with his friend Chris. When carb-hater dad's away, mom will play - veggie pasta for dinner! Shh.

I steamed some broccoli and spinach, then sauteed red and green peppers, zucchini and cherry tomatoes together with olive oil, herbs de Provence and crushed red pepper. Then I tossed all the veggies with mini curly pasta. I made a double batch so I have some for lunch tomorrow too.

Riker ate his at the table with some homemade chicken nuggets, but I saved mine for after he had bath and bedtime and I could eat my big bowl of goodness parked on the couch watching last week's CSI. Another guilty pleasure for when Matt's away in the evening. He's a CSI-hater too.

This mama's pretty tired so it's off to bed to read a few chapters of my newest book (the last book of the Legend trilogy is out, finally!) before I crash. Have a good night!