I am what I am

Today's recipe is for Creamed Spinach!  Get yer Popeye on!!  Seriously, this is some good shit.

I'm strong to the finish, yo

I was inspired to make this for lunch after seeing Kathy Patalsky's stuffed sweet potato picture.  It looked so yummy, except I'm not a huge fan of kale.  (I know, that's like vegan blasphemy.)  So I asked myself, what would be a good replacement for kale?  Spinach! Now there's a green I can get behind.  And what's even better than plain spinach?  Why, spinach in a creamy, garlicky sauce, of course!  I also really wanted that sweet potato, so I baked some up (see that little orange niblet in the top of the bowl?), topped them with my luscious spinach, and then some walnuts.  It was soooooo good.  And very autumnal.  And possibly slightly healthy.  Yays all around!

CREAMED SPINACH

1 big bag of baby spinach (I think mine was around 12 oz)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 cup cashews, soaked for about an hour
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
2 T. nutritional yeast
1 T. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp. fresh grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste

Saute spinach in olive oil over medium heat.  Add a few splashes of water if you need to get it steaming.  When the spinach is soft and deep green and shrunk down, add the garlic and saute for another minute. Drain spinach in a colander to get rid of excess liquid.  Set aside.

Put the remaining ingredients in a blender and whiz til smooth.  Pour into a small sauce pan and cook over medium/medium-high heat until thick and hot.  Stir in drained spinach.  Enjoy!

Hello, lunch.  Get in ma belly!

I also wanted to share some pics of our doings over the past week:

Apple Cider Cupcakes from VCTOTW.  Holy crap these were delicious.  Go make them, now! Do it! Do it do it do it!

Nom nom nom. These got made for Caileigh's teachers for conference day.  Did someone say brown-nose?

Caileigh as the Cheshire Cat.  Her dad made this costume.  He is sooooo crafty!

The cousins:  Finn, the Cheshire Cat, the Zombie Twins, and a cute little black cat

Jake dressed as Finn.  This way he's both characters.  wink wink

OMG.  Too cute!