don't know what to make for dinner? inspire yourself.

Does this not inspire you? It does me!

 This is my kind of grocery shopping...

And how can I not be both inspired & crazy about food when this is how I get to grocery shop?!

 So I had to get things for dinner...but only knew I had chicken defrosted. What to go with it? 

Don't those tomatoes just scream-eat me! Make me the center of your sandwich! 

A vegetable often forgotten- cauliflower. In our house, it is a favorite! For whatever reason, they all like broccoli & cauliflower. WhY? Not sure but look at the size of it! And it literally was just picked. I had to buy it. I think for a lot of people, cauliflower is a accompanyment, it goes along with _____. But I use it for something very much close to my heart, mash potatoes.

so fresh & colorful. Thats what they say, eat lots of different colors. Yes, sir!

This is my basket. There is garlic onion parsley leek cauliflower & a very large leek! Oh and lemons because you always need a fresh lemon handy & gorgeous yellow zucchini. 

That was all the inspiration I needed. 

so. 

this is a family favorite. I make cauliflower into "mashed potato" substitution. 

NOTHING is wrong with mashed potatoes, but they are not vegetable in my book.

They are starch. 

and literally my favorite thing on a plate, but for my mommy nutrition mode, this is just a yum. 

seriously.

Start with cauliflower & leek. Chop up leek into smaller florets but no need to be tiny, you just want them close to the same size so they cook evenly in the pot. 

And clean & slice up the white & light green part of a leek. 

Add them to a pot you would boil potatoes in & cover with water. 

Cook until very soft but not disintegrating into the water. Pour off the water & put back on the stove to get rid of any excess moisture, this step is important. 

Then, add the soft cauliflower & leek mixture to your food processor with blade attachment. 

Puree. Add some butter & milk til starts to look like those familiar tator....and a generous amount of salt & little cracked pepper. Taste. Season again if needed. 

Then I use this as a side dish (oh, but its all vegetable!!)

and did I mention no carb too?

Are those the cutest chubby fingers?

That's my little helper, he LOVES to chop. 

And sits perched on the counter every time Chef or I am cooking. 

Tonight he chopped both the zuc & the parsley.

He's enough lovin' to keep me cookin'

The ended meal wasn't photographed (sorry)

but the Chef made chicken cacciatore with what we had gotten at the Farm stand. And it went perfect with the Cauliflower puree. 

Needless to say, we can't grocery shop like this all year, so find a stop with local veg & let that decide what's for dinner.

 and dessert.