Sadie, Sadie, Domestic Lady!!

Today I took a sick day... I was not feeling so hot after last night.  I have spent most of the day cuddled up on the couch with my boy Drizzy :) He is a great cuddler lol...  It was a nice and relaxing day for me to catch up on sleep that I feel like I am missing!  Back to work tomorrow and then the weekend off!!  Cannot wait to have the weekend to enjoy the weather!  I checked the weather report and it said Sunday should get to 67! So great!

I have been having some issues with only eating Quinoa each night... I don't want to get bored with my diet!  So, tonight I attempted to make a dish that I would normally enjoy outside of the constraints of the "Virgin Diet."  Tonight I made homemade, vegan, creamy pesto sauce!!! I know... it sounds scary, but it was delicious!! I cannot explain how proud of myself I am!  I mean... I can make a sauce from a packet, or my homemade spaghetti meat sauce, but that is it!!  I was a little worried about this one because it asked for something I had never heard of-- nutritional yeast.  I searched high and low and found a HUGE container of it at Railway (or whatever it is called now).  It called for the larger amount of the yeast in the recipe, but after reading a few reviews I realized that I may not like the taste of it.  So, I reserved a little bit of the pesto and added a little bit of the nutritional yeast and a little plain coconut milk (to make it creamy).  O H M Y G O O D N E S S!!! So yummy!!

I sauteed a chicken breast (seasoned with salt and pepper) in a little olive oil and served it over Quinoa pasta.  I added some cherry tomatoes at the end.  It was delicious! I didn't even think about the fact that I didn't have Parmesan cheese!!  Here is the recipe if anyone else is interested!

Ingredients:

• 1 large bunch of basil (about 3 cups, loosely packed)
• 2-3 large cloves garlic
• 6 Tbsp raw pine nuts or walnuts (or a combination of the two)*
• 3/4 – 1 tsp salt, or to taste
• 6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)**

Preparation:

Place all ingredients except the olive oil and nutritional yeast into a food processor. Process to a finely ground consistency. Add olive oil and process again, until smooth and creamy. If desired, add nutritional yeast and process again until creamy. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

* I used cashews instead of pine nuts or walnuts
** I only used a small amount in a small reserved part of the full recipe.  Do what you think you might like!

Happy cooking everyone!!

<3 Carlye