Hello! And welcome back (if you’re back) or maybe you have today off to reflect on all the many incredible works of Dr. Martin Luther King. Either way, may today be a day of peace and love for you and for all of us. Love, friends, love.
And food. Food too.
This weekend was a total project weekend around here. We’ve been putting off some home maintenance tasks and just couldn’t handle it anymore, so Saturday morning we made pancakes…
then sipped our respective morning beverages (water for them, coffee for him, tea for me) and made an exhaustive list of projects. We decided to start with a biggie: completely repainting our master bath.
We realize now that our contractor for our master bathroom renovation made some poor choices, like using a flat paint instead of semi-gloss (Sherwin Williams told us Saturday that flat paint should never be used in a bathroom). Because of that, the paint by the shower had started to peel. Also, we were talked into EnduroShield for our glass shower which ended up being terrible. The water stains were horrific and we ended up having to scrub it with CLR for hours this weekend to get it to be clear again.
So as you can see, fun fun fun! Home ownership baby.
I’m totally exaggerating, but it was a project-focused weekend. We also made it to church for a wonderful message which really helped us kick our behinds into gear for the week. David tackled most of the home maintenance Sunday afternoon while I spent some time in the kitchen.
David has been eating boiled eggs and bananas for his to-go breakfast lately, so I boiled a bunch for both of us.
My “recipe” for easy peel eggs?
Place eggs in a large pot of water, bring to a boil, turn off the heat immediately and cover. Let stand for 12 minutes then pour into a colander in the sink and rinse under cold water. Sometimes I even throw a few ice cubes on top. Then I peel them about 15 minutes later.
Still feeling inspired by the incredible kale Cobb salad from Namastay Kitchen, I decided to try and recreate it in a jar for my lunch for the week.
First I needed to make a coconut milk ranch dressing, which need paleo mayo.
I can’t find the recipe I used (it’s lost in google land apparantly) but almost all these recipes look the same. What worked for me was 1 egg at room temperature and 2 Tbsp ACV. Blend well with an immersion blender. Add dry mustard and salt, blend well. Slowwwwwwwly pour in the olive oil while blending until you reach the consistency you’re after.
Some tips from you guys on snapchat: use LIGHT olive oil, not regular, or use avocado oil instead for a more mild flavor. You can also use lemon juice instead of ACV. It will last in the fridge for a week.
I used this coconut milk ranch recipe, which was OK, but next time I think I will try Cassie’s version.
I was surprised Hailey wanted to help with this part (she’s not usually a fan of messy hands)…
but she dug right in to massage that kale while I chopped toppings.
Gorgonzola and bacon… mmm…
Since kale salads taste better (and are easier to chew) to me after sitting in the dressing for a while, I layered it backwards. One large bunch of kale made 5 jars, but I had to go ahead and eat one right after making it. So good! (of course it was… bacon)
Since I was already in the kitchen, I went ahead and made a batch of hearty vegetable barley soup for our Tuesday night dinner.
And ended up eating a bowl right away too.
Needless to say, I wasn’t too hungry for dinner after all my kitchen sampling!
We all crashed pretty hard last night after an exciting Packer victory (Go Pack Go!) and am ready for another week (culminating with David’s birthday this upcoming weekend!).
How did you spend your weekend?
Any projects of food prep of note?
A more fun story to share perhaps?
Julie says
How do you store your eggs in the frig after you’ve peeled them? I’ve researched that and found so many different ways but have always been nervous to store them without the shells!
Brittany Dixon says
I don’t know if this is the “right” way or not, but what works for me is peeling, rinsing, and setting them to dry on a paper towel. Then I put them in a large tupperware container sitting on top of a paper towel. For us, they’ve stayed fresh from Sunday-Thursday/Friday with no issues! Hope that helps 🙂
Julie says
Thanks! I’ll definitely be giving that way a try this week since it’s worked for you!
Jessica says
Isn’t it amazing what contractors get away with? The horror stories I’ve heard just blows me away. I need to try your kale salad. It looks super yummy. Hard boiled eggs are one of my go tos too and my daughter loves them as well. Score!!
katie says
I need to grocery shop tonight before i go back to work! the weekend was full of good things, 2 different dates (oh the joys of being single), and church with my grandparents. Today I’m going cross country skiing! (it could be a disaster, we shall see).
John J. says
Another “healthy” blog: Projects done, tasty food, family sharing, appreciating MLK’s life! Your morning enthusiasm gave me an extra lift to make the most of this day! Have a good one yourself.
P.S. I know you do the “hard things” well!
Katy @ Dirt to Delish says
Love the looks of that kale salad! I’m always looking for new ideas for take-to-work lunches.
We also spent much of the weekend on house projects. I decided the laundry room had to be cleared out and painted ‘now!’, and recruited my poor husband for his second paint project of the weekend. 😉
Lizounette says
Are the salads in a jar soggy after a couple days? I’ve heard of this for making for lunches but haven’t tried and wonder how they hold up for 3+ days.
Brittany Dixon says
This is my first time layering it this way but I think with kale it will hold up fine. If you layer the traditional way- dressing, most substantial ingredients (like beans, carrots, etc), then tomatoes/cucumber type veggies, then cheese, then lettuce/spinach they have easily stayed fresh and not soggy for me for 5 days. That was probably a terrible explanation, but in short, no, they don’t get soggy and they’re awesome!
Katie says
Last week I made Whole Sister’s “dump ranch” (it’s coconut milk based) and it is seriously amazing. I’m not even a huge ranch fan but this is so good. A bonus- you don’t have to make the paleo mayo beforehand. I followed their recipe exactly but used avocado oil and added some dried dill because I 😍 dill. Just another easy option!
Brittany Dixon says
Oh thank you! I will definitely try that one!
Sara @ Oats & Rows says
So sorry to hear about your contractor issues! Sounds like a productive weekend though, which always feels good at the end of the day. A++ on the food prep!!
Laura says
Very similar weekend in my house. I made pancakes as well and since I never have buttermilk on hand when I need it I use a recipe that curdles the milk using white vinegar. It makes an extremely thick but light and fluffy pancake. Sunday food prep in my house often involves cooking a pot of beans for lunches and homemade plain yogurt. I was making hard boiled eggs but got burned out so back to scrambled!
Annie says
I love anything kale, my husband on the other hand cannot stand it but I’m thinking he may give it another shot when covered in ranch and served with bacon!
Katie @ Live Half Full says
Yum these look great! The dressing is perfect for Whole30, which I am doing right now! 🙂
Natasha says
I must try your salad and dressing recipe, I’ve been on a salad kick lately, but just cannot do anymore baby spinach, tried normal spinach this week and just couldn’t eat it, the bigger pieces are just too “planty”.
Love how you guys tackle your projects, we also have a few projects to do at home, just have not gotten around to it yet, we are considering moving, so not sure if we must spend loads of money or just doing fixer uppers…
Gassmama says
Try WholeSisters dump ranch, by far the best we have had, and my 7 year old picky as hell daughter loves it!