Lightweight Eats

Dan's birthday was Monday—the lucky guy got a whole holiday, just to celebrate. And we spent the long weekend doing just that. Over the course of the three days, we managed to do all sorts of incredibly fun things: go to the beach (and do a photoshoot!), ride our bikes for hours, watch a movie, go grocery shopping, bake bread, sip coffee in pajamas, eat french toast and pancakes, and more.

If you've never made french toast from scratch, there's no better time than now. On Friday, while Dan was finishing up his work week, I baked a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread. Saturday morning, we sipped coffee and cooked up some tasty cinnamon french toast. (Barely enough of the bread made it to Saturday morning. Sorry I'm not sorry.)

Although I would someday love to really compose a complicated dish from the beginning (growing and grinding the grains/fruits/veggies/spices, processing and baking, cooking, etc.), it was still incredibly satisfying to start from flour and end up with french toast. And somehow, the love that went into each step made the toast that much more filling and satisfying.

We've been experiencing this often recently. From freshly baked breads to homemade pastas to homegrown organic tomato sauces and more, putting more care into our food has made us eat more mindfully. There's something precious about a strawberry or a tomato grown in the backyard that makes it all the more satisfying, and something valuable about home-ground peanut butter that makes it harder to eat by the spoonful.

Have you had that experience?

Of course, we don't always have time for homemade hummus and fresh bread. When I'm traveling, racing, working, or in the throes of a nasty training week, getting nutritious food on the table quickly is definitely our priority. Those weeks we definitely rely on our freezer to get us through.

Hope you had a great labor day weekend filled with friends, family and good food.