Only two more weeks till Christmas, and the excitement is very real here at my house.
This past weekend in fact we went and had a visit with Santa and some breakfast.
Caroline was SOOOOO excited that she skipped right past the food and headed straight for the jolly man.
However when she got close enough she realized she was a little intimidated.
Her brother Andrew however knew the deal and jumped right up.
In fact he realized after breakfast that there was a few things he forgot to put on his list (namely a new REAL live puppy...don't tell but they may be getting that AFTER the new year).
Owen said he was too big to participate so he just enjoyed the breakfast and the company.
It was a great trip and to top it off the donations for breakfast went to my mom's Relay For Life Team.
Now that I have shared the little bit of kid fun (as I do so enjoy sharing my kids, and I hope you all don't mind) here is a spread/dip that I whipped up this weekend to put on a delicious sandwich:
Vegan Spinach and Artichoke Dip/Spread
recipe adapted from a friend's mother
1/2 C vegan mayo
1/2 C silken tofu
5 oz spinach (if you use frozen make sure you thaw and drain it)
5 oz kale
1 slice of lemon
1 clove of garlic
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 C parmesan "cheese"
1/2 C artichoke hearts
*you can use 10 oz of spinach if you prefer
I put all of the ingredients in the blender and then baked it at 350 degrees for 15.
You can bake it up to 20 (or when it gets bubbly) if you are serving it as a dip.
I added 3 slices of this on French bread and toasted it for 5 minutes.
One of the most satisfying sub sandwiches I've had (after it came out of the over I loaded up with some tomato as well).
What are some of your favorite subs?
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. I had to brave the long lines at the post office to mail out my Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap cookies today and sent Sharon her book that she won here.
Man my advice for the post office is try to get there when it opens because the lines get long VERY quickly.
What a delicious dip! It's been way too long since I've indulged in this favorite. Cute photos of your kids and Santa...mine were always too shy to get close :)
ReplyDeleteDarling pictures! I miss those days - my kids are grown and gone. It's true that it goes by in a flash. Love the kale in your dip.
ReplyDeleteI love this lightened up - we do love our artichoke dip here - but it is so heavy - that later - who needs dinner? The photos with Santa are picture-perfect sweetnesses.
ReplyDeleteWow your santa looks convincing! Santa visited our school last Friday but Lil' L didn't bother queuing up to see him as he was convinced that he wasn't 'the real deal'. I'm just glad that the 'real santa' is still planning to visit him this year and leave a sack of presents ;)
ReplyDeleteYour dip looks fantastic! It would be a great addition to buffet teas over the Christmas holidays.
So sorry that you had the hassle of queuing up at the Post Office to post the book. I really do appreciate your generosity with this giveaway and I am SO looking forward to reading the book over the holidays :)
I love the pictures!!! I had such fun with them at the breakfast!
ReplyDeleteFor Sharon: Our Santa is a man on a mission. His daughter passed away from breast cancer, so he volunteers his time every year to help us.
Love always,
Mom
Thanks for your kind comment regarding vegan week! The spinach dip I made was this recipe, and it was awesome! It was even better reheated!
ReplyDeleteGreat reading this
ReplyDelete