different dinners + goals in review.
wow, where exactly did october go? how about 2010.. where did 2010 go? can you believe there are only two months left in the year?
i have had a mellow halloween today. after publishing my post earlier today, i ate two pieces of buttered toast, went to my nephew’s blessing at his church and then came home and lounged with marshall & the pups. i thought about working out.. but then i decided to cook instead!
marshall requested pasta and i felt like a salad.. so i made both!
i had several vegetables that were begging to be eaten. i got to work on chopping them up.
on one tray: broccoli, purple cauliflower & red onion.
another tray had sweet potato and kabocha. actually, this was my very first experience with a kabocha squash (i know you are probably disappointed to hear that, heather!)
i roasted the potatoes and squash for an hour and the broccoli, cauliflower and onion for 30 minutes~ both at 425 degrees.
meanwhile, i prepped some extra firm tofu that had been in my tofu press for a few hours.
after dicing it, i put the tofu in a ziploc bag along with trader joe’s 21 seasoning salute and some olive oil.
a whole new meaning of “shake & bake”!
i baked the tofu for about 25 minutes at 425 degrees.
i made a batch of my classic hummus that would be incorporated in both my salad and marshall’s pasta.
for marshall’s pasta sauce, i mixed about 3/4 cup of the hummus with the juice of 2 lemons, dried basil, dried oregano and a whole bulb of roasted garlic!
i love roasted garlic. it is sooo simple.
before:
pop it into the oven for 45 minutes..
after:
i tossed some farfalle noodles with the sauce and some parmesan cheese.
when the tofu was done, i tossed half of the batch into the pasta.
bon appetit, babe!
he didn’t eat that whole bowl of pasta. instead, he plated some up along with a bunch of the roasted veggies and said he enjoyed every bite.
with marshall out of the way (
) i got to work on assembling my salad and mixing my dressing. in no time, my dinner was ready.
romaine, spinach, feta cheese, roasted sweet potatoes, kabocha, red onion, purple cauliflower, broccoli and tofu.
for the dressing, i simply watered down some of the hummus and added a little dijon mustard for a nice kick.
delicious! i love all the colors.
it was really simple to make two separate dinners that used several similar components. and the best part is both marshall and i were able to satisfy our individual cravings. everyone is happy.
****************************************************************
since it is the last day of the month, i decided i better come clean on my october goals. some went well, others.. eh.. not so much.
time to be accountable! in a PASS / FAIL format 
- drink a gallon of water a day. PASS. only missed a couple days on this one!
- eat more protein. PASS. i have managed to get 40% of my calories from protein intake most days.
- remember to take my vitamins! FAIL.yeah.. i am forgetful.
- increase mileage. PASS. check out my mileage page, i am right on track for my goal!
- be consistent with exercise. PASS. i have worked out 5-6 times a week for the whole month.
- flipping finish unpacking!! big fat FAIL. i am such a procrastinator!
- put things away. PASS. i have developed a good habit of putting things away more often.
- read a book. FAIL. didn’t even start one.
- look into going back to school. VOID. this one is on hold.
- create more meals & moves pages. PASS. i made a whole bunch of meals pages, but i need to work on the moves pages a bit.
there you have it. my 10 goals for the 10th month of the year in review. i will have to work on those ones i failed at! there’s always tomorrow, right?
well, i am going to go back into the kitchen and make banana nut pumpkin muffins. what can i say, i love to bake.
one last time.. HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
this one is from 2008.. she was so little!
Qs~
1. did you have goals in october? how did you do with them?
2. do you eat the same meals as your significant other/roommates/family or do you eat separate meals?
xo. janetha g.
meals & moves 
where on earth did you buy that squash? i’ve BEEN to that place! the sticker threw me-i’ve had many of those hanging out at my house…. (it’s maybe a half hour from portland, and a super cute place)
It was just at my local grocery store! How funny!
CUTEST PICTURE EVER! Haha!
Anyways! Love your monthly goal lists…and you did pretty damn good considering you were going through a rough and stressful time, get it girrrl! And there IS certainly always tomorrow.
Tofu looks delish! Enjoy your evening Janetha! Happy Halloween!
Your salad and homemade dressing looks so good!! Somedays cooking trumps exercise:)
Billy and I eat different meals probably 3 out of 7 days a week.
My biggest October goal was to get my knee feeling better! I have iced, rest, and foam rolled! Mission accomplished:) Great job on passing most of your goals! Have a great week!!!
Jason and I eat sort of the same and sort of differently. I’ll usually make something and he’ll add something to his portion of it, usually chicken.
With all my culinary training I have yet to master tofu. I need like a tofu 101 or something. My silken tofu dessert are fabulous, but anything savory I suck. And I’ve totally been ODing on Kabocha. I m gonna turn orange, I swear.
You reached most of your goals! woo hoo. Thanks for reminding me I totally need to update my pages! I have so many recipes to add!
My roommate and I eat different things because we buy our own food. Plus, we have different tastes. She loves cheese and I cant stomach it. But she’ll help me finish a batch of cookies when Im afraid I’ll finish it all. Cant wait to see you next week!
love that you created 2 meals using similar ingredients, but helped each person really enjoy THEIR meal. That’s how i cook/create around here too.
MArshall and an entire head of garlic..whoa. You love him. B/c i notice your meal did NOT contain that much garlic.
YOur goals…love the update and it feels like yesterday you posted them about about 6 weeks ago that it was january. Where did the year go?!
Purple cauli, yum!
Kabocha squash, now i am truly the LAST person in the sphere to never eat it. LOL
girlfriend- marshall is one lucky boy!!! oh my goodness! your pasta dish looks GREAT! I have never roasted garlic!!! if its as easy as you say it is, i need to give it a shot!
I love your colorful salad. Yay colorful pretty food!
My only goal for october was to start running again and I did that! Win!
Usually we all eat the same thing here, but sometimes Kepa and I have different things if we both want something different. That usually happens with lunches.
I finally tried my first kabocha last month…. what a lovely squash! I picked up another one today as a matter of fact. :)
Went to a friend’s house for dinner and got a great picture of some costumes… a female “Hugh Hefner” and her two male “Playboy bunny” counterparts… too good. Pics on my blog tomorrow.
Sounds like a nice, relaxing day to me! LOVE this meal. This is basically how I cook for Josh and I 80% of the time. I find a few common elements, cook them up and then alter each a bit so we can have the meals we want (i.e. usually one is meaty and one is not). And that is the cutest puppers picture ever.
Love the salad. You have managed to combine my favorite things on this earth and cover them in my favorite condiments. This would be pure dinner bliss! :)
What was the verdict on the kabocha? Personally, it’s my favorite root vegetable, definitely lives up to the hype! Penelope Jane is flipping adorable!
Happy Halloween!! I love your scary costume! :D
I don’t usually make goals because I”m just lazy ;)
Star and I often eat separate meals (almost always) but it is okay.
Happy November!
That pasta dish looks SO GOOD. I need to try making Mike tofu like that…he says he hates it, but I think he’d eat it with that many carbs :)
I’m so glad I caught this post this morning!! It’s a great reminder to actually write down my goals this month. I usually set a few and forget them by the second week!
Hope you have a great day love!
Both of those dinners look delicious! You are becoming a pro at cooking for two different tastes. ;-)
awhh mannn….sometimes i hate that i try to “unplug” on the weekends…i feel like i missed out on SOOOO much! then again, it gives me something to look forward to on monday :)
i had a goal to stop drinking diet dew. epic fail. :) and i’m actually okay with that…haha.
i almost always eat a different meal than my family…again…totally okay with that… usually!
That salad looks sooooo good. I had tofu last night too for the first time in a long time, but it wasn’t nearly as tasty as yours. I really need to work on upping my protein intake so perhaps I’ll just make your tofu tonight! :)
Please overnight Penny to me. Thanks. :)
Rob and I usually eat the same meals but our sides will be different, e.g. salad for me, chips or tater tots for him. :)
I did pretty well with my goals this month, better on some than others. I think I am still a bit too ambitious for one month with most of my goals!
Nick and I eat similar meals. Our breakfast and lunches are different, but for dinner most of the time we will have the same thing. Sometimes he has a different side and he usually eats twice as much as I do, but we are eating mostly the same things! For a while there I was making two seperate meals and that got too hard!
xo
Kris
Penny is so cute in that lil pumpkin! Love it :)
You use hummus like I do, for so much more than just a dip. I love that it can be used inplace of a creamy dairy based pasta sauce. A super alternative for me when I need to stay away from dairy.
I LOVE that you used butterfly pasta ~ Kristin R (different now I guess LOL) was the one who told me Farfalle is butterfly…Now I can feel cool saying that too.
Delicious salad – I think that sometimes you just NEED to cook versus work out :)
Great job on your goals….I am so behind on you, but, will catch up before I see you this weekend – yahoo!!!!
xoxo ~ Me
P.S. Glad you liked the Banana Nut Pumpkin Butter Muffins :)
Why am I sniffing like I can smell the garlic thru the screen,(love garlic) that pasta looks great. I will definitely be trying pasta with tofu this week!
YUM! Everything looks delicious! I have one question…TOFU PRESS? Is that an actual kitchen gadget? I must find out…off to Google it! lol :) For pressing tofu in my own kitchen I use the food processor. lol :)
Gosh, that’s a cute puppy in a pumpkin!!! Even though that pic is old, I think she still has a “puppy” face by some of her expressions. SO DARN ADORABLE!
I was reviewing my October goals this morning and looked back at my Oct 1st goal post and sadly, I didn’t do all that great on my Octo-goals:( I was going to floss daily and try a new class at the gym, however, I just didn’t. Dang it, it’s not hard! I’ll just carry over those goals to November (plus a few others I didn’t do) and call it a day HA!
My Darlin’ and I eat separate meals and have for the past few months since I’m on my own “feeding time” and pretty much eat the same things everyday. But, with my competition being this month (HOLY CROW!) I’ll finally be eating what and when he eats since I can be more relaxed on food choices. That will be wonderful:)
I live 20 minutes from Sauvie Island (where you got your squash) and was so surprised to see that sticker! They have a huge pumpkin patch and corn maze each year with beer tents and food carts, dogs runnin around all over and so fun!
Well I think you did AWESOME on your goals! I keep meaning to try your roasted garlic since I am such a stinky garlic hound. Maybe that can be a November goal for me!
Have a good Monday!
Love the doggy in the pumpkin!
I’m always making different meals with the same components for hub and child. Similar to yours, mine invariably involves a salad using the same ingredients used in a different dish for them. I LOVE your dressing using the diluted hummus — I will try that one tonight. We have a lot of leftover snack food (healthy though!) from Halloween — hummus, salsa, veggies, spicy meatballs, hotdogs.. etc. So they will have hot dogs tonight and I will have an interesting salad!
:)
The pasta and the salad both look great…I would love to try to make my own hummus…
totally unrelated but what does your tat say on your wrist???
Great job on sticking to most of your goals…my goal was to shed some lbs and I did and also to stick with my Turbo Fire workouts and I have done that too but just like you, the reading a book goal was no bueno! I always find myself reading a magazine instead of a book…does that count? lol
it says “Mable”–my yellow lab that died 3 years ago.
Sadly we eat separate meals and often at separate times as the beast gets hungry early (that would be my tummy) and the other beast (haha) gets home later.
You did pretty darn well on your goals. I didn’t have ‘set’ goals but I wouldn’t have done stellar. November I need to pull my socks up for sure!
Looks like you did quite well on your goals! I did good with mine as well, but always room for improvement.
DH and I eat at the same time, but we will usually cook our own meals. We do make stuff to eat together on occasion, but our diets can be a bit different. I don’t cook 2 different meals. We both cook. Sometimes we will share a main portion of the dinner (like the protein item, for instance), but I almost always have broccoli and John doesn’t eat that. He likes beans, and makes those, which I don’t eat. It works out well for us after 14 years of marriage LOL!
I’m ready for this year to be done and over with. Worst year of my life.
I made some goals for October, but failed all of them :( I haven’t finished my goals yet for November, but I need to. Both the pasta and your salad look incredible!!!
Jen
i love kabocha squash.
GUESS WHAT? Last night it was my first time having butternut squash! :)
The little puppy is toooooo cute!
haha Jason and I always want different thing and sometimes he’ll say “ill just have what your having” btu I KNOW he won’t so I always make something else….i don;t think we will ever be one of those couples that eat the same thing for dinner all the time!! im okay with that too :) I love cooking!
I know you make tofu and put it in pasta alot and I love this idea! I always think that pasta ‘should’ have chicken in it for the extra protein part but who says that tofu can’t work as well?? love it!
and also love heirloom veggies like the purple cauliflower!!
1) I didn’t have any goals, but perhaps I should have some for November. I went cookie/candy overboard on Halloween and am now facing the consequences….
2) I eat primarily the same meals as my husband, but usually with a variation. If we get pizza, I get veggie and he gets pepperoni. Or if make grilled cheese, I use real butter on his bread and earth balance on mine. Little tweeks help me keep my calorie count down without having to make an entirely different meal.
P.S. your Halloween costume was seriously spooksville. Nice job on the makeup. I was impressed!
I have never had kabocha squash either! I love butternut though ;)
one of our “goals” for the month or just in life is to cook different dinners! deej and i always go to the basics and for the past couple of weekends we’ve been trying to experiment a tad! it’s been kiiiind of fun haha i can’t lie :)
Hey Janetha,
I used to be really bad about taking my vitamins too! One thing that helped me was to put the jars in my desk at work. For some reason, it is way easier to take them when I am at work and I always have water at my desk.
omg puppy=precious. my goal in october was to survive my new job. it’s only been a week but so far so good! my hubs and i eat differently most nights. we share components but he eats grains/dairy and i can’t so we share proteins/roasted veggies or soups & salads
Ooh! The orange-purple action is beautiful!
I eat completely separate meals from my family, and I have ever since I became a vegetarian. If I cook for Seth, it’s usually some special request, so I prepare my meal separately.
Aww, little Penny in a pumpkin. So adorable!
I often make separate meals for Meeker and I, he will eat whatever, but I know he likes certain things better than roasted veggies/salads/etc – so I try to “meat up” his meals whenever I can. :-) But like yours…they usually have a lot of the same elements.
I want that dog..and that pumpkin ;) Precious!
My hubby will eat what I eat, but then ends up making a second, more caloric meal later. It’s unavoidable!
love all the colors in that dish! YUM!
I LOVE that you cook with hummus! I have never considering doing that, and I make it allllll the time. I am going to make this EXACT pasta, but sub in some sabra spicy hummus I have to finish! Delicious!!!