Cheesy Appetizer & Family Fun

My sister, brother-in-law, and nephew visited us for a week. Since we had to work, things were a bit hectic, but we had lots of fun. They don’t eat meat, so I made some of our favorite vegetarian dishes. Since we usually don’t eat a lot of meat, it wasn’t really too much of a change from our normal meals. Interestingly, the dish that got the most praise was also the easiest. In fact, it’s just a very easy, no-cook appetizer. I didn’t take pictures of this cheesy appetizer, but I found some pics of when I last made it a few years ago. The pictures are not very good, but you get the idea…

Cheesy Appetizer

Ingredients

• Goat cheese
• Chives, chopped
• Salt
• Pepper
• Crackers
• Shaved Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Take the goat cheese out of the fridge and let it sit for about 10 minutes so that it’ll be easier to mix.
2. Mix the goat cheese with the chives and a little salt and pepper.
3. Spread the goat cheese mixture on the crackers.
4. Top the crackers with the Parmesan cheese.

We love chives and I have lots of them in my herb pot, so I used a lot. But you can use a lot or a little, depending on taste. I also used less Parmesan cheese than in the pics above. Everyone was really surprised how tasty these cheesy crackers were and how easy they are to make. One day we ate them with homemade tomato soup and another day with a salad.

Here are a few pictures from their visit.

And since things are busy, I planned our meals for the week and pre-cooked some of them today.

Meal 1: Egg white salad sandwiches with lettuce and tomatoes (I boiled the eggs this afternoon)
Meal 2: Beef pot roast and roasted veggies (I cooked the beef and the veggies this afternoon)
Meal 3: Pasta with veggies, herbs, & Parmesan cheese & a salad
Meal 4: Bok choy & mushroom stir fry with over-easy eggs
Meal 5: Salmon & a salad

I’m back to more regular workouts, and my cardio endurance is improving. I’ve also taken at least two barre classes per week over the past few weeks. The plan for this week is two barre classes, a couple of cardio sessions (hopefully at least one outdoors), and a weights workout.

Questions: What’s your favorite simple appetizer? Feel free to link in the comments. How is your meal and exercise routine at the moment? I finally feel somewhat back “in control.” I certainly could plan some more exciting meals and vary my workouts a bit more. However, our food and my exercise routine works with our busy life at the moment. Once things slow down a bit, I’ll get more creative again, but for now I’m glad that things are going smoothly…

Be well,
Andrea