Retreat from Sweets

Banana Ice Cream

We try to stay away from sweets and junk food for the most part. But it does seem like once we start with a little something there is suddenly all these things that come up and we have a three week stint of eating lots of treats. We are coming off one of these stints and so to ease the transition a little, for all of us, I made this banana ice cream. The idea comes from Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home cookbook and it is so simple and delicious. Slice some bananas and freeze them on a lined cookie sheet. Once they are frozen you can transfer them to a ziplock bag or container. When you’re ready to eat them, pop them in your food processor, I would think a blender would work as well, and whiz them up until they become creamy. That’s it – it would be really good with a little chocolate sauce – but I think its ideas like that, that seem to keep us on the treat stint so we had it plain.

Menu

Monday: Mediterranean Tuna over Couscous

Tuesday: Curried Potato, Spinach and Garbanzo Bean Soup with Naan Bread

Wednesday: Black Bean Quesadillas with Salad

Thursday: Portobello “Steak” Sandwiches

Friday: Sushi

Saturday: Bruschetta Pasta
Sunday: White Bean Hummus Soup, Toasts, Salad and Brownies with Banana Ice Cream

Weekly Pantry List

Olive oil, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, honey, margarine, fresh garlic, capers, curry powder, whole wheat flour, white flour, raisins 

Weekly Grocery List

Parmesan
Cheese (whatever you prefer for quesadillas)
Feta cheese(1/4 cup)
plain greek yogurt (1/3 cup)

sour cream
Olives (1/2 cup)
edamame beans in the shell (two small packages for steaming)
arugula
spinach (need 2 cups packed)
Fresh basil (2 good handfuls)

1 pear
2 red onions
3 onions
1/2 small head of green cabbage
1 lb red potatoes

1 red pepper
1 orange pepper

advocados
1 zuchinni
Portobello mushroom caps (4)
Mushrooms (1 ½ cups)

7 tomatoes (2lb + 3 tomatoes)
3 limes

1 lemon
1 package of powdered mushroom gravy
cilantro
pecan 1/3 cup
salsa
2 cartons veggie stock (need 6 cups)
1 can coconut milk (I use light)
3 can cannellini beans (white kidney beans)

1 can kidney beans
2 cans of chickpeas
2 cans of tuna

1 can artichoke hearts

Couscous
300g box of spaghettini

sushi rice
Nori wraps
Whole wheat tortillas

loaf of ciabatta bread
2 baguettes


These are for the sushi filling, you may choose to use different fillings
*shrimp

smoked salmon

capers

cucumber

carrot

avocado

cream cheese

orange pepper

Mediterranean Tuna over Couscous

I can’t get enough of listening to Harper talk these days. Her vocabulary has just exploded! She’ll repeat anything we say and I love listening to her pick up little expressions that we use all the time. Actually (although a little more garbled than that), this is my book. This is one of Hannah’s more commonly used words, actually. She also will yell at me as I pour milk or cereal, “Shwow down mama!” Perhaps we say this to Hannah when she pours things, I’m not sure. There’s really nothing like a little almost two year old parrot to make you accountable for what you say. Although the context is really, really important to be able to understand what she is saying. I often ask Hannah, thinking that there is some sort of secret sister kid code between them and she’ll understand everything Harper has to say. This is not so, Hannah will make up anything; I think she believes in the secret sister kid code too, but mostly she’ll just repeat the garbled sound louder to me. I know that soon I will understand almost everything no matter the context and I’ll probably, at times, long for the silent days but for now, I’m drinking up every little garbled word.

Recipe

On Mondays I often end up having to make up some dish because I shop on Tuesdays but don’t plan for Mondays. I know it doesn’t really make sense because there is usually not very much food left, but it forces me to use up what we have. This is exactly what happened today when I made up this meal. It was actually a fairly big hit and a definite make again for us.

½ red onion, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1 1/2 cups of mushrooms, sliced

4 large cloves of garlic, chopped fine

½ cup olives, chopped

3 Tbsp capers

2 tomatoes chopped

2 cans of tuna

¼ cup feta

2 artichoke hearts (from a can)

1 cup of couscous

½ lemon, the juice of

3 Tbsp olive oil

olive oil

red wine vinegar

Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet and then add the red onion and sauté for a few minutes. Add the red pepper and mushrooms, sauté for a few minutes and then add the garlic. Cook until the veggies are tender and add olives, capers, tomatoes, tuna, feta, artichoke hearts, lemon juice and 2 Tbsp olive oil and stir until all is heated through.

Boil 1 cup of water and pour over couscous, put the lid on and let stand for 5 minutes. Once the five minutes is up fluff with a fork and then top with the tuna mixture. I then dressed each one with ½ tsp of red wine vinegar and 1 tsp of olive oil.

I think that if you were not a big tuna fan this would also be very yummy with chickpeas.

Curried Potato, Spinach and Garbanzo Bean Soup with Naan Bread

Ever since Hannah was little she’s had this obsession (and I don’t really think that I’m exaggerating with the word obsession) that she has to watch people leave. She watches anyone leaving the house, we had hardwood floors put in a couple of months ago and every time one of the installers left she would watch them go. Lately there’s the odd time that she doesn’t watch people go, usually if she’s really engrossed in something and doesn’t want to tear herself away, but it makes me kind of sad. It use to be this constant, like she needed to watch you get away safely or send you off with an excited wave and a smile. Yesterday my Dad came over to watch the girls so I could go do a little shopping with my mom and grandma. I left and no one even came to the door, they both just yelled, “Bye!” I was glad that they were so excited to spend some time with my dad but was a little sad that they didn’t even give me a hug and kiss. Plus, Hannah didn’t run to the living room window to watch me go. Mom and I were just discussing this and I looked up and saw Hannah standing in her bedroom window looking down, watching me go and my heart fluttered, she gave me an excited wave and smile and I felt that I got away safely.

Recipe

This recipe comes from the epicurious website where it was rated 3 ½ forks out of 4. Dave, Harper and I loved it but Hannah is not a big curry fan. I don’t ever make separate suppers except when we have curry. I know that Hannah doesn’t like it and it is such a distinct flavour that I don’t feel I can make her it eat when I know she doesn’t like it. She does always try it though.

You’ll notice that in the photo you can’t see any spinach, I completely forgot to add it, but I’m sure it would have been really yummy.

2 can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed

4 Tbsp olive oil

2 cups chopped onion

5 tsp curry powder

1 pound small red-skinned potatoes cut into 1/2-inch cubes

4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk (I use light)

2 cups (packed) baby spinach leaves (about 3 ounces)

Transfer 1/3 cup garbanzo beans to small plate. Using fork, mash beans to paste.

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until beginning to brown, about 6 minutes. Add curry powder; stir 10 seconds. Add potatoes and stir to coat. Add broth, coconut milk, whole garbanzo beans and mashed garbanzo beans. Bring soup to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered until potatoes are tender, about 18 minutes. Add spinach (if you can remember); stir until spinach wilts, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Naan Bread

I’ve already posted this recipe here. I prefer to use whole wheat flour when I can and so I used 1 cup of white all purpose and 1 ½ cups of whole wheat flour this time and it worked out really well.

Quesadillas

So, we’re at that stage where it takes Harper an hour to go to sleep no matter what time we put her down or the time and length of nap she has had during the day. She sometimes fights her naps and so I have even tried letting her go without, but she’ll usually then crash at four o’clock. I think some of it may stem from the amount she’s learning these days because often when she lies down at night she can’t stop talking. I’ll say (many times a night), “No more talking its time to try and sleep,” she always says, “O.K. Mommy,” and then she continues to mumble and whisper talk to herself until finally an hour and a half later I wake up and she’s finally fallen asleep (she out lasts me every time). I know this too will pass, and I suppose I am getting a little extra rest in the meantime.

Recipe

I think that most of us have our own recipe for quesadillas, really that’s the great thing about them you can throw in whatever you like with a little cheese, cook them up and dip them in a little salsa and they’re always good.

Whole wheat tortillas

1 zucchini, grated

1 ½ cups or more cheese, grated (whatever kind you like or have)

1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed

½ red onion, sautéed

½ orange pepper, diced

½ cup cilantro, chopped

salsa, guacamole (recipe on this post), sour cream for dipping

Heat up the sandwich maker, put a little of everything on half a wrap, fold it over and cook it in the sandwich maker. Alternatively you can bake them in the oven or cook them in a lightly oiled pan over low heat until they brown and the cheese is melted.

Portobello “Steak” Sandwiches

This morning I was sitting in the kitchen having my coffee and listening to the girls play in the livingroom. They play so well together in the morning. I love how everyday is a fresh new start for them, they never really seem to be concerned or tainted by what may have happened the day before. They also haven’t really had many frustrations mounted on their patience yet, and so things seem to roll easily off their backs as they play. This morning they were playing sleep, Hannah was reading stories to Harper. I love listening to Hannah read the stories from memory to Harper, if she accidentally changes a word she goes back and corrects herself. After story time Hannah tucked Harper in on the loveseat and then curled up to sleep on the couch. It was quiet for a minute and then Hannah would say to Harper, “Do you mind if I come into bed with you, I’m lonely?” “Ahw,” which is how Harper says yes, and then they cuddled up on the loveseat together. This lasted about a minute and then the whole process started over again. This game lasted for half an hour, sheer bliss for me.

Recipe

4 Portobello mushroom caps

½ red onion

1 loaf of ciabatta bread

2 packages of edamame beans, in the pod

½ small head of green cabbage

1/3 cup olive oil and more for drizzling

¼ cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp Dijon mustard

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp margarine

salt and pepper

1 package Club House mushroom gravy (I so cheated here), prepared*

*Use whatever brand you like just check the ingredients to be sure that its veggie, you’ll notice that some of the meat flavours are actually all made with soy products and artificial flavours. Honestly these aren’t really very good for you, but sometimes it’s just too much to make it from scratch. 

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place the mushroom caps down in a shallow baking dish, mix the olive oil, balsamic, garlic and mustard in a jar and then pour over the mushrooms. Swirl the mushrooms around in the sauce flipping a couple of times so that they are fairly covered. Bake in the over for 15 to 20 minutes (until they are very tender) flipping part way through.

Slice onions thin and sauté in a pan with a little olive oil over low heat until caramelized.



We just share these, family style.

Steam edamame beans according to package directions. Eat them as is or drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.

Steam cabbage (I also added the leftover shredded zucchini I had in the fridge) for about 10 minutes, until tender, and then toss with 2 tsp of margarine and season with salt and pepper.

Once Mushrooms are ready take them out and put the broiler on. Cut the loaf of ciabatta in half and slice one side open and cut it in half again so that you have 4 pieces. Place the bread on a pan and drizzle each with olive oil. Place under the broiler until golden brown.

If I could reach my BBQ I would have grilled the mushrooms and the bread but there is still a huge mountain of snow in front of it.

Place the bread on the plate and top with the mushroom, some onions and some of the gravy.

Sushi

Fridays are just so lovely. The sun is shining today, the snow is melting and we’re wearing rubber boots. Dave’s parents bought me these great rubber boots for my birthday two years ago and I am in love with them. These are the first rubber boots I have owned since I was a kid. I love how they look; pink with brown horses, tall and a buckle at the top – they are very cute. But it’s the freedom that they bring that has me smitten. Rubber boots are so liberating, especially when you live somewhere that has mountains of snow to melt come spring. I find that I walk like the kids when I wear them, looking for puddles. It’s like they come with a little water magnet inside the toes and you just can’t help yourself from steering your feet into a puddle. Once you’re in said puddle you need to splash a little, or at least kick up your feet a little to celebrate!

Recipe

We’ve never really made sushi before but I had it last weekend at a friends and she told me that it was, to quote her, “stupid easy” to make. Hannah loves sushi and so I thought that this would be a fun Friday night dinner. The process was really, “stupid easy” and both girls helped. Harper mostly ate her weight in rice while Hannah carefully chose her fillings and rolled hers. Ours were definitely not traditional since the girls chose what went in them. If you’re looking for some traditional combination of fillings the web has a million or just check out your sushi take out menu.

Rolling mat (I got mine at the grocery store for $2, you can get much nicer ones for more)

sushi rice, prepared following package directions

nori wraps

shrimp

smoked salmon

capers

cucumber

carrot

avocado

cream cheese

basil

tomato, deseeded

orange pepper

These were the fillings we used; our avocados had actually gone bad when we cut into them so we didn’t use them. Slice all your veggies in fine strips; you could shave the carrot with a peeler, and lay out so they’re ready to use. When the rice is ready lay it out on a platter and cover with a damp tea towel to stop it from drying out.

Lay your Nori on your mat, shiny side down, and spread evenly with rice being sure to leave about an inch at the end to seal it. Choose your fillings and place about ¾ of the way up on your wrap, roll – tucking the fillings in with your fingers and rolling with your thumbs. Once you get to the end of the roll press down to be sure that it’s sealed and then you can slice them into rounds with a sharp, wet knife.

The instructions are on the back of the package of the nori wraps, with pictures if you find mine hard to follow.

Bruschetta Pasta

I’m exhausted today and I’m not too sure why. I feel the kind of tired like I’ve been doing home renovations all day or something. Dave and I have been talking at length about new cars and did take a few for a test drive today so maybe that’s it. I’ve also had this annoying cold all week that I’ve been fighting so it could be that as well. But there was this wonderful calm over the house this evening. After supper, there was still sunlight and although I was so tired it gave me this wonderful subdued kind of energy. Harper fell asleep early, having skipped her nap today – she’s such a rebel, and when I put her little sleeping body in her bed her room was still light. There’s something that I find so comforting about putting my children to bed and having it still be light out. It may be because it usually follows a day of running around outside, breathing in fresh air. Hannah played on her own quietly with her doll house while Dave and I sat and chatted on the couch. I loved how she kept peeking at us, trying not to make too much noise, because she knew it was past her bedtime.

Recipe

This recipe is so simple, quick and good. It kind of tastes like summer to me and it only takes about 20 minutes from start to table.

Olive oil

4 good quality, ripe tomatoes (about 2lb)

4 cloves of garlic, pressed

2 handfuls of fresh basil

parmesan cheese

1 300g box spaghettini (whole grain)

Cook pasta in salted water according to package directions. Chop tomatoes and basil and mix in with garlic. Once pasta is cooked, strain keeping a little bit of the cooking water in the pot (couple tablespoons), add the pasta back to the pot and add a glugg of olive oil and toss together. Top each serving of pasta with tomato mixture and some parmesan cheese.

White Bean Hummus Soup, Toasts and Salad with Banana Ice Cream and Brownies

I was putting Harper to bed tonight and she was playing and talking and I was getting annoyed. It wasn’t her fault, we’d only been in there for about ten minutes I’m just not very patient tonight. So I asked her nonchalantly, “Do you just want to go to sleep on your own tonight?” she replied yes or ahw as she says. So now I’m sitting in our room listening to her talk to herself waiting for her to call me back in. Wouldn’t it be amazing if she just fell asleep on her own? I think I would be so excited I wouldn’t know what to do with myself…and also a little sad too. I’m quite certain I will be in there before the end of the evening. I was called in there immediately after I wrote that, and I have to admit I was a little disappointed and a little happy all at the same time.

Recipe

We had Sunday dinner at our house this week but I forgot to take photos. The recipe for the soup is from Keep It Simple Foods. It was really simple and had a nice flavour. I served little toasts with some of the leftover cream cheese mixed with a little sour cream and dill, leftover smoked salmon (from the sushi) and capers as an appetizer.

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion

3 cloves of garlic

3 cans of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 limes, the juice and the rind

2 cups of veggies broth

a handful of chopped cilantro

salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium low and sauté the onion and garlic until soft. Add the beans, lime rind and cilantro and cook for a minute, then add the stock and lime juice, cover and bring to a gentle boil. Lower heat and simmer for another 5 minutes, blend with hand blender or in a food processor until smooth and serve.

Toasts

2 baguettes

olive oil

cracked black pepper

Cut baguette in ½ inch slices drizzle with olive oil (fairly generously), sprinkle with cracked black pepper and toast in the over until golden. I made extra to go with the appetizer.

Salad

Arugula

1 pear

½ cup toasted pecans

grated parmesan cheese

raisins

Olive oil

Balsamic vinegar

Honey

Salt and pepper

Toss the first five ingredients together and drizzle with the olive oil, vinegar and honey (3 parts olive oil, 1 part vinegar and drizzle of honey). Toss.

Have a wonderful week - may the sun shine down on you!