Back from the Blahs

I didn’t fall off the face of the planet, just disconnected for a bit this week while things got really stressful at work squashing my creativity in the kitchen. I think part of it was post-birthday blahs and being exhausted from keeping up with a busy running training schedule also, all I wanted to do was crash in the evenings! And this weekend has been very busy too, but with fun things! So many fun things that poor Miko is looking at me this morning wondering when I’ll get more time to spend with him.

It sounds strange, but I’m discovering after a busy and stressful week at work, I enjoy a busy and fun weekend more than a relaxing one at home. The change of pace and activities help me forget about work instead of sitting at home fretting about the possibly crazy week I might be facing while making the weekend seem longer and more fulfilling.

Friday was a long, but good day that started early with work and continued with meeting my sisters and a group of friends for a girls night out right after. We had drinks, a lovely dinner, and dashed to the movie theaters to catch Magic Mike, which is a perfect girls night out movie – it’s funny, fun, risky, offer’s a lot for the ladies, but has a serious story too. The evening was perfect after a crazy week, so nice to chat about something other than work.

Saturday I continued the busyness with a long run in the morning in perfect sunny and breezy conditions before we met my mom and sister at The Plum Vegan Cafe for a late birthday lunch. I adore this place and wish I could get to it more than just weekends. We started with a simple, but amazing bruschetta on panini bread.

I got a fabulous mock tuna melt sandwich that had a jackfruit and walnut pate for the “tuna” and melted Daiya cheese.

Hubby and my mom got the spicy mushroom tacos which looked amazing.

And my sister got the sweet potato avocado panini on ciabatta bread that was amazing, especially the fresh bread.

And we wrapped up lunch by sharing a chocolate brownie cake that was okay, but not as sweet or decadent as I expected – probably a good thing. :-)

Overall it was a great lunch that wasn’t pricey at all and each time I go, I always have a tough time narrowing down options on the menu since everything looks good!

For dinner last night, I really wanted to try Jennifer Cornbleet’s Ramen recipe, but it required me having to get this spiral slicer out which I have a not-so-good relationship with.

This time it was producing thinly sliced zucchini mush instead of angel hair zucchini noodles, so hubby got involved to fix it.

Turns out the blade was warped lower than it should be and after he took it off, bent it, and put the slicer back together, it started working a lot better producing what looked like angel hair noodles from the zucchini.

I substituted the mushrooms for chopped tempeh to make it more of a meal and it looked and tasted a lot like ramen soup!

I adored this because I was a big fan of the unhealthy, cheap packaged ramen soup as a kid and the broth and spiral sliced zucchini reminded me of it so much.

And, aside from the spiral slicer issue, it came together just as fast. A fun, throwback meal with an adult twist using veggies as the noodles and adding carrots and spinach, it’s a recipe that I will be doing again soon.