We are having a super chill weekend. Finn and I were supposed to travel to Florida on Thursday to spend the weekend with my family but a combination of my dad having the flu + our flight getting canceled due to the non-winter storm that we had on Thursday meant that we rescheduled for a couple of weeks from now.
We had a lot of big wet flakes fall for a few hours but nothing really stuck. Finn thought it was very fun to look at them and try to catch them with his mouth…the cutest!
On Saturday morning we ventured over to Imaginon. Finn is really into play kitchens right now so I think that might be on the top of his birthday list. 🙂
I needed to grab a few things from ULTA on Saturday afternoon and PetsMart is right next door so we stopped in for a bit. Finn had the best time looking at the fish, hamsters and guinea pigs. He was walking around the store saying “animals.” He loves animals even more than play kitchens!
Other than that, we’ve stayed pretty close to home. We’ve gone on a couple of long walks (one with Virginia and Stella!) and this morning we went for a run. It was my first run since last Monday. I have been so inconsistent with fitness lately but that’s another post for another time.
This afternoon we are going to a birthday party for one of Finn’s classmates at MyGym and I’m really looking forward to that. I know Finn will love to play and hanging out with his school friends. He “talks” about them all the time. (He loves saying their names!)
That’s about all I’ve got in regards to the weekend so let’s switch over to recent eats. I’ve got details on a homemade sourdough pizza that I made as well as a quick and easy pesto panko salmon.
BREAKFAST
Loving yogurt bowls so much right now. Plain full fat greek yogurt with honey, banana, granola, peanut butter, dried cranberries, strawberries and blueberries.
“Snow day” banana cottage cheese oatmeal. One whole mashed banana, 1/2 cup oats, chia seeds, dash of salt, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup water, raisins, cottage cheese stirred in at the end.
LUNCH
Still loving soup and toast for lunch. This was a chicken noodle soup from Whole Foods prepared area because I didn’t have any homemade soup made. I’ve also been doing toast with peanut butter, honey, banana, chia seeds and hemp hearts (not with soup…just on its own for lunch).
DINNER
I don’t know how I missed sharing this but I did a cooking class a couple of weeks ago for a friend’s birthday at Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen. We made a stuffed pork loin and a kale salad. It was a fun evening and I highly recommend the cooking classes at Chef Alyssa’s to anyone who is local. They are so good!
Making homemade pizza dough with sourdough starter had been on my radar for a long time. I finally made it happen last weekend and it was so delicious! I used the King Arthur recipe but with active starter and did a slow rise overnight in the fridge instead of 2-4 hours on the counter like they called for.
I pulled the dough out and brought it to room temperature about 2 hours before baking. I preheated a baking stone for about 45 minutes at 450 degrees and cooked the pizzas one at a time for about 13 minutes each.
I did one veggie pizza with artichokes and mushrooms and one pepperoni pizza. YUM!
The other awesome dinner I made this week was a quick and easy air fryer pesto panko salmon. I made a little Pinnable graphic in case some of you wanted to save this. I’m not going to type out a formal recipe but here are the details:
- Season salmon fillets with salt, pepper (I used a lemon pepper grinder from Trader Joe’s) and then spread a thin layer of jarred pesto on top.
- Top with panko bread crumbs. I generously sprinkled them on and kind of pressed them into the pesto so they would stick.
- Drizzle panko with olive oil and give another sprinkle of salt.
- Air fry salmon for about 12 minutes at 400 degrees until internal temp was around 115-120. If you don’t have an air fryer, just bake it!
FYI: I also did this with chicken thighs and it worked great too! One more tip: you can also toss roasted veggies in pesto for a side item.
ETC.
I have had two cake fails lately. Boo.
First, I got this strawberry cake from a local deli on Valentine’s Day. I should have know when it was the sole slice of cake left in the case that it probably wasn’t the freshest. It was very stale and dry, which made me sad because I LOVE strawberry cake and it seemed like the perfect Valentine’s dessert.
Second, this carrot cake tasted okay for the cake part but the frosting had caramel spread on top of it. Caramel + carrot cake just do not belong together in my book.
Guess I need to get a redemption slice of cake this afternoon so that I end my weekend on a cake high note. 🙂
All of this talk about food has made me hungry so I’m signing off to go make lunch.
QUESTIONS
Do you cook fish/salmon at home? If not, why? I’m thinking of doing a salmon 101 post soon!
Have you ever taken a cooking class? If so, where and what kind of class?
What are your favorite toddler activities that aren’t really toddler activities? (Like our trip to PetsMart.)
I don’t cook salmon because I don’t like the taste. I actually really wish I liked it but I just don’t!! I’ve tried it many times. I enjoy most other fish and shellfish. Just had a nice fresh whitefish yesterday that my husband caught ice fishing, breaded with cornflakes and fried! “Cleaning” can keep toddlers busy – spray bottle w water and vinegar and a rag would entertain my daughter when she was little for awhile.
I like salmon. Every so often I’ll buy the wild caught salmon in the refrigerated section at Trader Joe’s. I cook it on the stove top and season with turmeric or onion powder. I’d enjoy a tutorial from you. I took a few cooking classes as a teenager. For some reason, I find kids like garden centers/nurseries. They want to touch and explore all the plants!
We do PetsMart all the time too! We also do the grocery store for fun- they can push the little kid carts for hours lol
Would love a salmon post. Can you also include tips on what is best option to purchase and where?
My husband used to take my boys to Home Depot to sit on the riding lawn mowers. They loved it! We also went to the smaller business airport to watch planes taking off and landing 🙂
I’d love a salmon 101 post!
Hello!
Love your food ideas. Just wondering, did you cook the oats for the breakfast or was it overnight oats? Thanks!
I LOVE Salmon and will happily read any tips you + your dad 😉 have to share with us about cooking it.
Pan seared salmon is my favorite preparation and I like to order this in restaurants. For the longest time I was intimidated to try this preparation at home but it’s actually pretty straight forward and something I am glad I decided to learn!