Howdy, bloggigans! Tonight I write to you amidst wet and dreary weather. Unfortunately, the weather has been in this crummy state all day, so our plans to visit the Asheville Botanical Gardens were foiled. Nonetheless, we did manage to entertain ourselves with a visit to a local museum, a little shopping, and food, of course. Here’s how the day went:

Upon waking to a gray and cold day, my hopes of venturing out on another hike were dashed. Nonetheless, I comforted myself with a bowl of savory oats. Seth is completely disgusted by my savory oats habit, but I don’t care—they’re friggin’, fraggin’ delicious.

Then we headed to the Colburn Earth Science Museum.

I think our favorite part of the museum was the weather exhibit. Seth and I spent several minutes pretending to be meteorologists.

At another exhibit, I showed off my anatomy skillz and pointed out the greater trochanter to Seth.

It was all fun and games until the grammar Nazi (i.e, me) discovered a typo in the diamond display. Honestly, who allows a typo in a museum exhibit?!

For lunch, we headed to Homegrown, a cafe focused on locally grown food. I ordered the Falentil Cakes (lentil-based falafel) and a bowl of the Carrot Ginger Soup. Both were fresh and flavorful. Many thanks to Cat for the recommendation!

Tonight’s dinner was half-improvised. First, the non-improvised part: Ellie’s Broccoli with Toasted Garlic.

Although I love broccoli prepared in pretty much any way, this was a particularly tasty rendition of my most beloved vegetable. Seth really liked the crunch of the garlic chips sprinkled on top.

Try the recipe for yourself: Broccoli with Toasted Garlic

Now for the improvisation. I had tofu in the fridge and needed a sauce. Hm. With my limited kitchen stock here at the cabin, I knew I had to be creative—my usual soy sauce/nut butter combination was not an option tonight. Once I spotted the maple syrup and mustard, however, dinner was served.

Seth loved the combo, as he professed it to be one of my “top 5 meals” that I have prepared for him. Apparently, complex cooking is not always the most popular.

What dishes have you improvised lately? Were they successful?

We’ve got another DVD to watch tonight, so I must bid you good night. ‘Til tomorrow…

EDIT: Happy blog birthday to me! It’s officially been three years as of today, March 9th since I started the Broccoli Hut. Quite fitting, considering today is National Registered Dietitian Appreciation Day:)

If you’d like to take a trip down memory lane, take a look at my very first blog post.

Filed under: Meals