What a fun-filled family day!!
Lunch at Karen’s
Lunch at my mother in laws was great! She made white bean and chicken chili, pimento cheese sandwiches (on the husband’s homemade ciabatta!) and cashew clusters for dessert.
White bean, jalapeño and chicken chili. It was delicious and brothy! I topped mine with some Fage –
I LOVE pimento cheese but I don’t buy it because I’d eat the whole tub at once. I’m going to make my own someday but I never remember to get the ingredients!! Soon, soon.
From above with a few tortilla chips –
And the cashew clusters bowl almost empty. I am proud to report that I only had a small bite of the husband’s. I had my fair share of desserts last night, plus I knew we were having ice cream tonight so I didn’t really need more than a tiny taste.
Afternoon Fun
We talked and walked (45 minutes) throughout the afternoon. The weather was perfect to be outside!
Cocktail Hour
I made myself a mocktail with diet tonic, lime seltzer, an orange slice and a cherry!
And I had a few of our homemade crackers –
Dinner
We just had my two parents for dinner and cooked up a nice spread –
Mustard-glazed grilled pork tenderloin –
Corn, pepper and brown rice party in a bowl –
And lemon-butter-dill seared green beans – (served in my grandmother’s Wedgewood bowl!)
The spread with some wine –
My plate –
With a glass of wine (plus 2 more oz refill)
Dessert
Breyers Vanilla (half a cup) with chocolate chips, a mini cream puff and butter wafers!! I have to admit, I had a few small handfuls of these chocolate chips! Not something I can keep on hand or I’d just nibble away!
As you can see, I’m enjoying our company and the food. But I think I handled today “in moderation” much better than last night!
First Day of Real Spring Break
Tomorrow I’m planning to get up early to join the husband at the gym, then my mom and I are going shopping and out to lunch!!! Tomorrow night is the mom dinner 🙂
Night y’all!
B_Hlthy says
i have been wanting to buy a whole tenderloin but I have only seen the pre-seasoned ones by hormel, etc. I usually end up buying just some lean chops, What kind of pork tenderloin is that one?
thanks!
Annie says
Hey Kath, did you MIL use a recipe for that Chili..it looks realy good and would love to try it
Kath says
B_Hlthy,
We usually buy the pork tenderloins in a 2 pack at the grocery store and use one and freeze one. They are not seasoned – I guess you could ask your meat department?
Annie,
She did have a recipe but it was a paper one and I have no idea where she got it. The soup consisted of canned jalapeño, chicken breast pieces, white beans, celery, chicken broth and seasonings, so you could easily make it from scratch and eyeball the portions or look for recipes with similar ingredients.
Kath
Betsy says
my mom, the true north carolina girl that she is, LOVES her pimento cheese. i, the true ohio girl, do not. she always tries to feed it to me, and i’ve just never enjoyed it! it always looks tasty though.
Alyssa says
That pimento cheese sandwich looks delicious! Do you know the recipe by chance? Have fun tomorrow fellow spring-breaker!
Beth says
Could you tell us how you made that corn/rice concotion….it looks so good!
edamame22 says
What is pimento cheese? Can you buy it and/or make it? I have never heard of it before. Also curious about those cashew clusters…are they made with peanut butter? Thanks for all your hard work maintaining the blog, especially with your family in town.
Ally says
What a beautiful dinner spread! I think I need to learn how to sear green beans because those look wonderful.
Something must be in the air, I had ice cream tonight as well- moderation is key!
Hope you had a great weekend- Ally
Kristie says
Your dinner spread is so lovely! Presentation sure is key isn’t it?
And that pimento cheese sandwich looks sooo good. Cheese sandwiches used to be my all-time favourite lunch back in the day when I didn’t know anything about eating healthy… only I used to eat big white buns filled with full fat processed cheese slices. Bad call on my part there haha.
Ana says
hey girls! kath said she doesn’t have the recipe but wants to learn. you can buy the cheese in any grocery (should be able to at least). check the cheese/dairy section.
Jennifer says
Might I just say that it is really refreshing not to see calorie counts next to your meals!
I also would love the recipe for the corn/rice ‘party’ 😉
Hmmm... says
Kath, so I just recently made Okra (from frozen) and I steamed it. It was SLIMY! Why?? Is your slimy too?
Nicole says
Anyone,
Is 5 minute/instant brown rice the same as the 45 minute brown rice?
Katers says
Have to disagree, Jennifer…I love the calorie counts. Although, I wouldn’t expect them when your family is in town. Hope you’re having fun, Kath!
LolaFunk says
Does anyone know how to get the tagcloud to have all the different sized texts?
LolaFunk says
Hmmmmm
Okra is naturally slimy.
Unless you fry it (yum!!!) or something, its going to be slimy. But its yummy, dontcha think?
Nikki says
Kath – go girl! I really think true health is recognizing that weird eating days and situations occur, but that there are always long walks, great workouts, friends and family, and nutritious home-cooked food to bring us right back to ourselves again! Enjoy your spring break!
Amanda says
I’ve never hear of pimento cheese. It looks delicious!
Dinner looked rather good as well. I love tenderloin!
MLT says
I too would love the recipe for that corn/pepper/rice dish! it looks awesome.
Thanks Kath!
Katers says
Well said, Nikki!
amy says
Pimento Cheese is def. a southern dish! If you want a really yummy recipe and splurge a bit, check out Paula Dean’s on the food network. Although I’m sure that someone out there has made a low-fat version, but that would not be as good as the real thing! I have had it before on cinn. raisin bread toasted. OMG…SO GOOD.
Fit Yogini says
I had pork tenderloin for dinner last night too. It was the first time I made it.
Kath says
Annie,
The pimento cheese was from Fresh Market, but if I make my own I will share the recipe!
Re. Corn/Rice,
There’s really no recipe – just throw everything together! I actually used dried corn, but you could use frozen/canned/fresh. It was about a cup of corn, plus 1/2 cup cooked brown rice, 1/2 a diced bell pepper, 1 diced and de-seeded jalapeño, a tsp of cumin, a tsp of chili powder, 1/2 a tsp garlic powder and S&P. But it was delicious. Kind of like corn bread!
edamame22 ,
Look for pimento cheese at the grocery store, but it’s not really a healthy product! There are lots of gross store brands, so I would recommend a freshly made kind from Fresh Market or a gourmet grocery store or trying to make your own. But it’s sooooo good!! Kind of like a spicy cheddar spread.
Hmmm,
Okra is slimy – the little white balls produce the substance. It’s actually a great thickener for soups and sauces for that reason. The slime doesn’t bother me, but I can see how it would be a strange surprise!
Nicole ,
The 5 minute rice is par-boiled to reduce the cooking time. Similar to plain instant oatmeal. It’s still perfectly healthy as long as the only ingredients are brown rice. Brandaid (http://www.ebrandaid.com/bestbrands.html) just did a review of instant rice, which should be posted on Wednesday. They recommended Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Whole Grain Brown, which is ready in 90 seconds.
Kath