HI! How was your Christmas and New Years? Have you made any resolutions? Did anything exciting happen over the holidays? Are you going somewhere hot in the next few weeks?

Before we dive in deep and I share the ins and outs of this recipe, let me share some tidbits from the last four weeks. On Dec 16, we flew back to Ontario to visit family. We spent the first half of our trip at my parent's house in Wasaga Beach. It snowed a lot, which was pretty and wonderful and perfect for Christmas. Sebastian got to play with his cousins, which kept him busy, and I made a lot of Christmas cookies. We spent Christmas morning at my parent's house, and although Brent and I had a lot of fun picking out Sebastian's gifts this year, he is still slightly confused about Santa and was completely overwhelmed by all of the gifts. He assumed that if it was wrapped than it was fair game, and spent the rest of the day trying to unwrap everyone's gifts. It was adorable.

We spent the second half of our trip at Brent's parent's house, a few hours drive from my parents. While we were there, Sebastian peed on his uncle Drew and threw up on his GG's couch, and from that point, I pretty much knew the tone of the rest of our trip. The next day he had a fever which he held on to for 5 days. We spent our days cooped up inside because it was -13ºF the whole time. I've never been so excited to get back to Seattle and the rain.

A few days before New Years we went to a friends wedding and I booked a room at a fancy spa and we ordered room service, watched TV, I got a massage the next morning, and then we ate the most amazing brunch I have ever eaten in my life. And it was pretty much the best night ever, which makes up for the last half of our trip with a sick toddler.

We're now back in Seattle and Sebastian is feeling like himself. The tantrums have stopped, the crying all night has stopped, and the 4 am wake ups have all stopped. Oh my gosh guys, it was stressful. I'm halfway tempted to personally write every person from our flight from Toronto to Vancouver apologizing for the toddler that screamed the entire 4 hours. I used to be that super judgy person who would get annoyed if I was seated next to a child, and I guess this is just payback.

Since returning home I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen, experimenting and testing new recipes. Half of the recipes I've made are kid-friendly, so I'll spare you the details on those, and the other half have been some pretty good successes, example one, the roasted carrots and cauliflower bowl. I pretty much like to eat all of my meals in a bowl. Give me a fancy bowl and I'll pretty much fill it up with all the delicious things in my fridge. It's actually really helped add a lot of variety to my meals. Cauliflower, carrots, and chickpeas are such a good combination of flavors, and when they are roasted in some oil and spices, look out. I combined them with some fresh watercress, chopped avocado, and topped with a quick lemon yogurt sauce, and it was pretty much the best thing we ate all week. I'm looking forward to more dishes like this for the new year.

ZA'ATAR ROASTED CARROT, CAULIFLOWER, AND CHICKPEA BOWL WITH A LEMON YOGURT DRESSING

serves 2

prep time: 30 minutes

cook time: 12 - 15 minutes

1 head cauliflower, sliced

5 carrots, chopped

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and dried

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp flaked salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tbsp za'atar

2 tsp chili flakes

optional

- 1 tbsp

Trader Joe's everything bagel spice

sauce

1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1 small bunch watercress

1 avocado, chopped

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the sliced cauliflower, carrots, and chickpeas onto the baking sheet. note - if you want extra crispy chickpeas, remove the skins by gently rubbing the chickpeas through your fingers, and make sure to pat dry any excess water.

Drizzle the vegetables with olive oil until well coated.

Sprinkle with flaked salt, cracked black pepper, za'atar, chili, and flakes.

 Optional

- you can also add some Trader Joe's everything bagel spice if you have it.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until crispy and brown.

In a small bowl combine the sour cream or yogurt, lemon juice, and salt. Taste and adjust salt or lemon juice as desired. You want the dressing to be pourable. If it's too thick, add some water to thin it our.

In two large dinner bowls, plate the watercress, vegetables, and avocado. Drizzle with the yogurt dressing, and toss.

Serve immediately.