Saving Daylight

I took this picture at 7:30 PM. 

I love this time of year.  I love the daylight.  I love the beautiful weather.

I love coming home from work and still having part of the "day" to enjoy.

Except for I was exhausted. 

And as much as I wanted to sit outside and soak up the sun.  I needed a nap.

I did lose an hour of sleep last night, you know.

And I was determined to not have any caffeine today.  ( Even though, I have to say that I am definitely missing the taste of coffee or tea in the morning... maybe decaf is in my future?)

But, luckily, a quick 20 minute power nap did the trick. 

And I was STILL able to enjoy the beautiful day.

I enjoyed it by cooking stuff.  And drinking lemon water. And staring out the open windows daydreaming about swimming, fruity drinks, sun tans, and grilling out.

Have I mentioned that I LOVE this time of year.

(Actually I love every "time" of year.  Because just when I start getting tired of a season... it changes to something new and better.  Change is good for me- it keeps me on my toes.)

So, besides working on my top secret muffin project - that is only "top secret" because I'm going to tell you all about it tomorrow- I went ahead and made dinner.

And made a HUGE mess of the kitchen while I was at it.

Which is nothing that Kev can't fix.  I've started calling him the "steam shovel" because he can come in the kitchen when I'm finished and get the kitchen spic n span in seconds.

It is pretty impressive.  And fortunate.

Otherwise, we would have to move every week.  I can't work in an unclean environment.  :)

Dinner was Asian inspired.

A stir fry - to be exact.

And I love making stir frys because you can tailor them to your liking.  Whatever that might be at the moment. 

Or more like whatever you have in your fridge at the moment.  It is a good time to use up some veggies that may be on their last leg/stalk.

I cooked some broccoli, sugar snap peas, and water chesnuts in olive oil and organic low sodium soy sauce.

Added in some organic chicken.

And served it over some Japanese buckwheat noodles.

I orginally had plans for brown rice.... but if I haven't already said it enough.. the buckwheat noodles are fantastic.  Best noodles I ever had. 

And they only take 5 minutes to cook.  And taste just as good cold as they do hot.

And will be there for you when all of your friends and family "disappear" because you talk about food too much.

And then just because I'm sure you were waiting on the edge of your seat wanting to know what else we had to eat this weekend.....

It was a faux semi-Thanksgiving dinner.  Because our Mardi Gras celebration is going to have to wait one more week.

I cooked sweet potatoes and red potatoes together in a boiling pot of water.  And then mashed them up and made them become friends.  They were thankful for the introduction.  And so were our bellies.

The green bean casserole was a repeat in our meal rotation.  Because it is just that good.  It super healthy and unprocessed and full of protein.  The usual cream of mushroom soup is replaced with crushed lima beans.  I love that.

You can find the recipe here.

Other than that, my friends, it is going to be a light week as far as cooking goes.  That is until Thursday when we will be celebrating Irish style. 

I am counting the days....