Fact: Bears Eat Gnocchi
Hello, hello!
Did you have a good Saturday?
I did indeed make my way to TJ Maxx…and, of course, I found some items that I just *had to have,* including a few t-shirts for 6 dollars (score!) and some 2 dollar agave nectar (strange, but score!). I also got this Marmot jacket, which Ryan says makes me look like a black bear:
Fact: black bear is best. Fact: bears eat beets.
But I didn’t just shop for myself. I picked up a little something for the kids as well:
A nice, plush winter bed! I think Baxter gave it two paws up. He’s a dog of exquisite taste, what can I say?
For dinner tonight, we tried something new: gnocchi!
When I was studying abroad in France my sophomore year in college (a lonnnnng time ago!), the little hotel we lived at served us gnocchi ALL the time, and I got really sick of it. Because of that, I’ve barely eaten it in the past 7 years! But, for whatever reason, it sounded really good tonight, so gnocchi it was. It was fun to experiment with something new!
But before the gnocchi, we had to figure out what to put on top of it! We (well, okay, I) finally decided on: caramelized onions, dried plums (sounds so much better than prunes, right?), and brussel sprouts. A little odd, but delicious!
For the onions, I chopped a large, sweet onion and covered a heavy-bottomed skillet with olive oil. Dumped in the onions and cooked for 10 minutes, at which point they began to brown. I added a bit of salt, gave them a stir, and continued to cook for another 10 minutes over low heat. I’ve found that the key to good caramelized onions is not touching them very much—hands off! Overall, the onions cooked for about 35 minutes, which got them really brown and soft…ours were almost a little too dark when all was said and done, but I like them that way!
About halfway through:
As the onions were cooking, I trimmed and halved the brussels sprouts, tossed them with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roasted them in the oven at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes until they looked like this:
Once the brussels sprouts were done roasting, I pulled them out of the oven, deglazed the onion pan with a little white wine, and added the brussels sprouts and dried plums (about 8, chopped in half). I also added 1/4 cup of fig balsamic vinegar, which cooked down for about 10 minutes until it was all thick and syrupy, coating the veggies nicely.
As veggies finished cooking, we brought a pot of water to a boil for the whole wheat gnocchi:
I wasn’t sure how this store-bought gnocchi would be, but I thought it was good! Soft and pillowy, but also dense and chewy.
This was great, but I gotta say…if we weren’t doing the vegan challenge, some goat cheese would have gone perfectly with this dish!
But it was delicious, either way:
Well, I topped this meal off with a BIG mug of chocolate peanut butter swirl “ice cream,” and now I am stuffed to the BRIM. For realsies.
As we ate, we watched the What Not to Wear episode with Mayim Bialik, aka Blossom! What a blast from the past! I used to love that show and all her kooky hats. I also had a big crush on Joey Lawrence…I melted with every “Whoa!” 
Tomorrow, I’ll post my Vegan Challenge wrap-up and introduce my new challenge for February! I’m really excited for this one!
Hope your Saturday night is lovely!
Night, all!
ahh ive been drying to try gnocchi! looks GREAt w. the brussel sprouts!
I can’t wait to hear about the new challenge! And I love love gnocchi, that looks so good! Sweet potato gnocchi is awesome, by the way.
I loaded up on the veggies tonight too! I’m jealous of your gnocchi though…
Blossom! I used to watch that show!!
Your brussel sprouts literally made my mouth water!
#1. love that coat. Supa supa cuuuute & cozy!
#2. Carmelized onions = my obsession. So so goooooood.
#3. Roasted Brussels AND carmelized onions? Heaven!!!
#4. Bears beets Battlestar Galactica?!
My Mom always makes gnocchi and brussels! The title of this post? Hilarious
Hehe, gnocchi always reminds of how in Argentina it was called ñoqui (and was everywhere!) and when Chris came to visit he LOVED it. Then later when he was back in the US he was at a restaurant telling his Mom how he wished restaurants here had it… and it was then she informed him that they did and it was gnocchi
All the yummy crispiness of those brussel sprouts and onions – I’m drooling looking at them and it’s not even 7am!
Fact: Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica.
Blosson? wow! See, I told you how fleecy coats can turn you into bears. I was the brown bear and you were the black. does that mean we’d fight each other? Anyways, love balsamic reduction. Also, are dried plums prunes?
lol– I guess we’ll have to have a battle of the bears one day when we finally meet. Fightint in a bear suit is a great way to get over the awkwardness of meeting someone you know only through the internet .
re: are dried plums prunes? YEP!!!
That gnocchi dish looks incredible! I don’t know how you make EVERY meal so gourmet…you’re talented! Enjoy your Sunday!
I cannot believe how good those Brussels sprouts look!! I haven’t tried gnocci yet
I know what I’m having for dinner tonight! That gnocci looks wonderful!! Bring your bear suit to Shreveport…it’s COLD here!!
I think it’s supposed to warm up a little by the time I get there! I hope so, any way
Fact: Gnocchi is amazing.
Fact: TJ Maxx has great deals.
Fact: Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.
Gotta love TJ Maxx’s food selections! I always come home with more spices and sauces than clothes or dishes. Your dinner looks fantastic (as usual).
Steven just doesn’t like gnocchi but I LOVE the chewiness! Maybe I need to keep working on him. It would be fun to try to make it from scratch!
what a cute jacket! I love finding cute stuff at TJ Maxx or marshalls and not spend a fortune on it.
I’ve never had gnocchi either, but it’s on my list of things to try.