Friday I got a break from cooking! I didn’t plan to, but it’s good to be flexible. I prefer to plan ahead for this food pledge, but it’s not too hard to be spontaneous and make good choices when necessary.

We started our adventures with a stroll along the art museum greenway with another fun toddler buddy. I think Patrick ate the entire trip: homemade granola, drinkable apple sauce, a banana, and dried pear chips.

Stroller-snacking buddies

We ran some errands in Raleigh, and as it got later and I watched Patrick get sleepy, I realized we needed to eat lunch in Raleigh or he would fall asleep without lunch on our 30-min ride home. (That would throw off his nap and the whole afternoon.) Luckily there was a “fresh and local” restaurant in downtown Raleigh that I was eager to try. Patrick thought it was a great idea:

Excited to have a lunch date with Mom-Mom

I’d heard great things about Market Restaurant, and I like the philosophy:

Market Restaurant is committed to serving whole, all-natural, unprocessed foods from local sources. We make every effort to support organic and sustainable farming practices while providing our guests with the best experience possible. Healthy food, prepared fresh, from local seasonal ingredients.

How could it be anything less than awesome… the owner/chef is from Baton Rouge! Hometown pride: woohooo!

Market Restaurant

I met Chad McIntyre, the owner/chef, on our way into the restaurant. I enjoyed talking to him about the menu, my real food pledge, and who we know in common from BRLA. (He worked with my cousin’s cousin.) It’s been exciting lately to talk to other people who are passionate about local, organic, fresh, real food… especially since I’m just getting started.

I ordered the Warm Apple and Blue Cheese salad: grilled apple tossed with pickled peppers, blue cheese crumbles and arugala with a honey vinaigrette. Patrick had the healthiest $5 kid’s meal ever: grilled shrimp and apples. We both loved our food. (Look, I think he’s stuffing 2 shrimp into his mouth in this photo before I even took a bite of my salad!)

Salad and shrimp kid's meal at Market Restaurant

The weather was perfect to sit outside on the patio, surrounded by herbs, fruit trees, and Chad’s solar project (off to the side). He’s building a solar beer tap system, to chill the beer by solar power. That’s a DIY project I can really respect! I can’t wait to try more of the Market Restaurant menu next time we get to eat out in Raleigh.

Side patio of Market Restaurant

After Patrick’s nap, another fun toddler buddy came over to play. They shared a snack of yogurt smoothies, whole-grain Wasa crackers with 1-ingredient apple butter, and grapes before going on a wagon ride.

Snacking buddies

For dinner, I thawed Ina Garten’s curried apple butternut squash soup I made the week before, sliced apples, and made grilled white-cheddar cheese sandwiches with Great Harvest honey whole wheat bread. Mmmm!

Curried apple butternut squash soup, grilled cheese, apples