Day 12: Friday's Feast *Made by Ryan!*

Yup, you read that right; Ryan made dinner tonight. With a little bit of help and a couple of good recipes on hand, Ryan made a delicious Whole30 approved dinner (for me at least).

Ryan's!

Leslie's!

 We had been planning on burgers so we made burgers, roasted brussel sprouts with bacon and sweet potato fries. I had my burger on a bed of butter lettuce and he had a gluten free roll.

We made nomnompaleo roasted brussel sprouts which have become a favorite of ours! It's so easy and so delicious! We also made sweet potato fries with cinnamon and paprika (pre-cut from FreshDirect).

And as a treat, I made cashew cheese!!!!! I have had cashew cheese ravioli from Juice Generation and when I found out how easy it was to make, I couldn't wait. Not only was this perfect on my burger, it would make a great dip for chips, or on top of cucumbers as an appetizer. The cheese on my burger even "melted" and was "cheesy." It was sweet and creamy and I didn't miss not having cheese on my cheeseburger.

It was so easy to make! I found a recipe and just like the recipe says, it is stupid easy!

Cashew Cheese
 Recipe from Bold Vegan

1 cup cashews
3 cups water + 1/4 cup
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp lemon juice

1. Soak cashews in 3 cups of water for 1 hour or more. You want them soft!

2. Drain and rinse the cashews and put in a food processor with salt and pepper and lemon juice.

3. Pulse for 1 minute to combine ingredients.

4. Add 1/4 cup of water and process for a minute until all ingredients or combined and it has formed a creamy mixture and is smooth!

Serve and enjoy!

I have so much left over - I can't wait to find ways to use this!

I am so happy I let Ryan cook tonight and I know it made him happy! I just watched and helped read the recipes but he prepped, cooked and served! It was a great Friday night dinner together. I know during the week we like being on our own for meals because we have our own timing for the evening so it is nice to come together at the end of the week for a great meal together.

I'm not sure what our plans are this weekend but we were invited to our new neighbors important Sunday afternoon for some tea. Maybe I'll bring cashew cheese appetizers! I also want to make chocolate chili Sunday for dinner which needs to simmer for 2 hours so I could make it a let it cook while we are at the neighbors and come home to a wonderful dinner! I have a few recipes planned for this week including another serving of pad thai! If Ryan can have pasta once a week then I certainly can have spaghetti squash a couple of times!

I love that I really have been making something new each night. Whole30 has given me the confidence to try new recipes, be creative and experiment with new ingredients. I never would have bought ghee if I hadn't started Whole30. Or realized that it is okay to eat half an avocado without weighing 31 grams to have only 1 point! I feel free from counting points and weighing and I know Ryan is so much happier seeing me happier. He is also less stressed having to weight my food and worry about measuring oil to exactly 1 tsp. I am still measuring for recipes of course but I am basing my proteins and fats on the Whole30 guidelines and I feel better. I told Ryan I wanted to continue Whole30 after the 30 days were done and I mean it (maybe a few paleo brownies here and there, but really sticking to no grains, no dairy, no sugar)!

Have a great night everyone!

XO