Almond Broccoli Protein Salad

Here is a recipe to start off the New Year in a healthy manner. I made this salad for our New Year's dinner to take over to Nick's house. We had received an Amana ham from a vendor that Bruce worked with who sends us a ham every year. Usually, we save it for our Super Bowl party but we certainly won't be having one of those this year. So, we decided to have it on New Year's Eve and take it over to Nick's house. Nick's been home from work for 2 weeks since they have a break over the holiday and our granddaughter has not be going to preschool during this break so we figure there was less covid risk spending time indoors with them. The grandkids were so eager to show us all their toys and have us play with them.

I particularly had fun on their new gymnastic equipment that Santa brought them; a bar and balance bean that is low to the ground so you can't really fall off. The beam was great for me to practice my balance, even though my granddaughter kept coming over and wanting to hold my hand so I wouldn't fall over. I guess I looked sort of wobbly. They both love playing on these apparatuses. I did a forward roll on the bar which was one of my favorite things to do when I was in grade school and in gymnastics during high school. Has it really been like over 45 years since I did that? They were thrilled to see Grandma having so much fun on their toys, but perhaps not as thrilled as I was that I could even do anything on them! Nick likes to help them with bigger and better feats...show offs.

For dinner, I also made some scallop potatoes along with this salad to take over to eat with the ham and it turned out to be a wonderful dinner on the last day of the year.

For dessert, I picked up a few holiday petit fours at our local grocery store because I knew the kids would love them. Aren't they so cute? What kid wouldn't love one of these?

Grandson immediately downed three of them! Luckily, I also brought their remaining Christmas cookies from our freezer that they left at our house. Our holiday goodies are slowly dwindling down now.

I'm sort of sad that the holidays are over and all our special meals are coming to an end but I think we ended with a good one. This salad recipe is from Hannah Freese, RD. It has an Asian flare to it with the addition of the edamame for some added protein and the dressing has almond butter, soy sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar.

You can also make this salad rather quickly if you shop at Trader's Joe's because you can purchase the broccoli already cut up in small florets in a bag and you can buy frozen edamame already shelled in bag that holds exactly 2 cups.

It also has no sugar or unhealthy oils, thanks to Hannah, since that's the signature theme of her recipes. I love being able to fall back on her recipes that work nicely into my everyday life. Put this one on your list to try when you start thinking about healthy eating for the New Year. It will check all your boxes.

Makes 4 servings

3 cups broccoli, chopped into small florets
1 cup frozen edamame, shelled

3 stalks green onion, sliced
1/2 cup almonds, chopped

2 avocados, peeled and cubed

Sesame-Almond Salad Dressing

1/4 cup almond butter
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce or coconut aminos
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. water

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine the broccoli florets, edamame beans, green onions and chopped almonds.

2. To make the salad dressing, whisk together the almond butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, and water. Add more water if needed to achieve desired consistency.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to mix well. Top with avocado.

Meatloaf by Mark Bittman

Once again, I turned on the television yesterday and saw that Mark Bittman was on the Today show and was making his version of meatloaf . This must be meatloaf season. It was surprisingly similar to the Pioneer Woman's version who was also recently on. I was a little surprised of his version because Mark Bittman is into healthy eating and has lost a lot of weight and improved his health by changing his diet which he writes about in his book, Food Matters . His meatloaf recipe also included bacon and cheese! I must be doing something wrong. The thing to remember, which he writes about in his book, is that you can eat healthy without going extreme or changing your whole life. If you don't know who Mark Bittman is, he is a food writer and a four star chef with multiple cookbooks who loves to eat but changed his food philosophy to improve his health. He tells his story in Food Matters and provides a plan for responsible eating that covers a no-nonsense rundown on

Trader Joe's Gluten-Free Oatmeal, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip Cookies

I don't have very many gluten-free cookies on my blog because quite frankly, I usually don't like gluten-free. But occasionally, I do find a good recipe and this is one that is from the back of the Trader Joe's oatmeal and it's a good one. My friend brought some over to our house last weekend when Nick and family were here for our birthday celebrations and we all loved them. My friend lives a few blocks away and we walk the neighborhood together on weekends. We can easily go 5 miles in no time, talking non-stop. She loves exploring our neighborhood as much as I do and we discover so many favorite little spots. We even found a property with a horse (or more like a pony, I should say.) The views are always quite lovely, too. Bruce and I had our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary on July 18th and I made a point of walking past the house where we had our wedding reception. I told my friend, "Thirty-nine years ago today, there was a big party go

Waking Up in Vegas

and just like that...we were Waking Up in Vegas. Just like the Katy Perry song. We went to her 78th performance which was her second-to-last Las Vegas residency show entitled "Play". That was perfect for us because we went to Vegas simply to play. Her concert was a great finale for us because it was high energy and full of silliness, just the way Katy Perry is. And we were feeling it after three nights in Las Vegas. "Get up, and shake the gutter off your clothes now, That's what you get for waking up in Vegas". Here's what she said about her show: "I created this show after the birth of my daughter, Daisy Dove. When I met her, it was like all the love I was ever searching for finally showed up. This show is for everyone’s inner child and for the hope that maybe if we could all see life through the eyes of a child, we would be free. Because never forget, love is and will always be the key,” she said. We went to Vegas spur of the moment because Br

Sylvia's Scenario

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