Easy Like Sunday Morning...

When I was little, I went to church on Sunday mornings with my family. I have to say, I was not the most spiritual 5 year old. I usually spent most of the service drinking juice, eating cheerios and coloring in Jesus’ face on the front of the service bulletin (who ever said the grass in Old Jerusalem wasn’t Crayola Pink Sherbert?) Despite my propensity for pulling my sister’s hair and eating tic tacs from my mom’s purse during the sermon, I did actually enjoy Sunday mornings. I loved the tradition of spending the morning with my family. Plus, my dad usually made us pancakes when we got home. I was a foodie even back then ; )




Although the end of a weekend visit with friends is bittersweet, there is no better way to end it than a lazy bagel-eating, Friends-DVD-watching Sunday morning : ) While there was no gospel or pancakes THIS weekend, I loved ending the weekend with some good food and some time with loved ones...



Tia came down to New Jersey this weekend and we spent the weekend outside in the beautiful weather and doing some cooking together. It reminded me of old times when we used to just bum around my house in New Hampshire for the weekend doing nothing more than listening to country music, eating yummy food and enjoying each other’s company.



Here are some pictures of our weekend adventures (and of course, the food):

Pre-Tia’s visit I roasted up some chickpeas for Friday night tacos. I had my taco salad-style : )

When Tia arrived on Saturday we had falafel wraps with avocado and hummus with some crackers and apple slices on the side. TWIN PLATES!

Afterward, we walked around town and stopped by a local organic market for a smoothie/green juice. Yum!

For dinner, we decided to cook up some Indian food. I have to say, without two chefs in the kitchen, this meal may have been quite difficult. We got some inspiration from an Indian cookbook I got for Christmas a few years ago. We had to modify things a little bit to fit with the contents of my pantry and our cooking skills but the result was quite yummy.

Naan with chutney for an appetizer

Creamy Eggplant and Peas

Bhaingan Bhurta

1 chopped yellow onion

4 ounces pureed tomatoes

1/2 chopped serrano chili

1 clove garlic

1 tablespoon coriander

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon garam masala

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 sliced eggplant

1 10 ounce package of frozen peas

1/2 cup hemp milk

1. Saute onions in oil. When they begin to brown add spices and tomatoes.
2. While onions are browning, steam eggplant and peas in microwave.
3. Smash eggplant and peas together.
4. Add eggplant and peas to the onion/tomato mixture. Let simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add hemp milk. Cook for one more minute.

Wedding wine and Malbec Layer Cake to satisfy both red and white wine drinkers!

The main dishes were complicated- don't judge us for using microwave rice ; )

Notice I am wearing one of Pat's muscle t-shirts to avoid the splatter effect.

TIAMARIA!

My plate- SPICY!

It is a good thing neither of us is single because after the garlic and spices and that meal, we wouldn’t have had much luck at the bar later…

After dinner we enjoyed some drinks with Patrick and his friend Zach at a local bar. When we returned, there may have been some banana bread baking. Oops ; )

Sunday morning we slept in and then Patrick went to get some bagels. It was raining so when he brought back fresh, hot bagels and tofu cream cheese from Wonder Bagel he definitely earned the Husband of the Week Award. We scarfed our bagels on the couch in front of Season 6 Friends DVDs before Tia had to get back on the road : (

I usually try to avoid refined carbohydrates but these bagels were totally worth it.

It is still raining outside and I’m feeling pretty exhausted from the weekend activities. I think it is one of those “lounge on the couch and watch a movie” kind of Sundays. Errands will have to wait…

Do you have any Sunday morning traditions that you love to end the weekend with?