what to make AFTER the holidays?

If I see one more potato,

eat anything else that tastes like Turkey

or see another pie I might throw a fit.

Reached for a family favorite in the realm of clean eating tonight and thought I would share it with you! It's simple. It's clean. And my entire family devours it. Best of all? It reminds me of my Grandma Veda's Casserole but in this dish cabbage replaces pasta. It's the bomb dot com you guys. Here you go...

UNSTUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced *I add more but we love garlic*

1 green cabbage, chopped

2 cans (14.5 ounces each) low sodium diced tomatoes

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

1/2 cup water

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning 

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink and onion is tender.

Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute.

Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 30 to 45 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8. I wish I could take credit for this dish or give proper credit-it was passed to me by a friend from a friend from likely an old Weight Watchers source. Apparently the entire dish is only 7 points in the old school WW Points program! 

If you try it let me know what you think! We often serve it as a one bowl dinner or add a salad. 

It's filling AND delicious. 

And bonus this week? 

It tastes nothing like turkey.

Enjoy...

-McGee

don't miss a thing.

With Mr. Man working out of town right now any time I spend decompressing by myself at the end of a night is priceless and sacred. Last night I was trying to get into Mr. Robot.

*Side note* Do we like Mr. Robot? I got a couple episodes in and I'm not entirely sure I'm getting it all nor want to keep going. Please advise!

So I was watching TV and winding down when our littlest comes in already mid-sentence as she does. She's very confident and loves to talk. ALL.THE.TIME. Like I literally hear HER voice more often and always louder than the voice in my head. Legit. I was trying to hear her while not missing anything being said on TV and got irritated. This is how the conversation played out...

Me: "Kiddo-seriously-I'm trying to watch this and I need to pay attention."

Kiddo: "Why do you need to pay attention?"

Me: "Because I don't want to miss anything."

Kiddo: "Oh because then you won't know anything about that person?"

Me: "Exactly. Please go play. This isn't a kid show....go!"

I know, I know but listen, I'm a great mom 90% of the time. Sometimes I just need a minute. And don't worry...I did keep watching to catch my breath after a long week but she also made me pause at the absurdity of what I had just done.

Hey kid...yeah I know you are looking for my attention and that our time together will go so quickly that there will be days I wish you were 6 again. But I really want to pay attention to this tv thing so I don't miss out on anything and know all about this fictional character on TV that I don't yet understand.

#Hello
#MomFail

So today...the kid went in for the ultimate kill. She found her makeup kit *someone* must have hidden in the very back of the bathroom cupboards far away from her little hands and she couldn't wait to go to town...on MY face. Taking my cues from our stellar convo last night I took her extended hand as she led me to her official grand opening of "Chloe's Salon" promptly at 12:01pm.

You should know...this makeup kit was not your ordinary six year old princess make up kit. This was the annual Christmas Edition of a Sephora gift collection that her Nana had gifted her older sister YEARS ago and has prepared MANY lovely little children's faces for their close up over the years, hence it's "hiding spot" tucked neatly away out of sight...

She practiced on herself and really nailed it so I was clearly all in for my very own make up sesh at her brilliant hands. As she picked each color and applied it with flair she would step back to admire her work and choose the next perfect shade for my face. I don't know much about makeup but I do feel like she's really got the whole eyeshadow wing thing down solid.

So I'm still not sure about Mr. Robot and I'm pretty sure I missed some key things about him last night but I do know my kid and I had a blast getting all dolled up. Our Sunday was one for the books.

Sometimes you gotta take the break, watch the show, check out for a bit.

But then you gotta jump back in...often both feet at a time...or at least both cheeks!

Love this kid.

-McGee

P.S. I have the strangest urge to watch Chitty Chitty Bang Bang again...