Happy Easter

Weekly Menu
Monday: Risotto
Tuesday: Spinach, Feta, Egg White Frittata with Fruit and Hashbrowns
Wednesday: Chilled Noodle Salad with Mango
Thursday: Fish Tacos
Friday: Pizza
Saturday: Hummus Pitas
Sunday: Easter Dinner, I'm bringing baked beans

Weekly Pantry List
Olive oil, fresh garlic, milk (5 Tbsp), 1 egg, mayonnaise (2 Tbsp), soya sauce, yeast, flour, sugar, brown sugar, white wine (2 cups), Montreal Steak Spice, bread crumbs, Special K cereal (or Rice Crispies), cumin, lemon juice

Weekly Grocery List
parmesan cheese, 1 cup
feta cheese
pizza cheese (or use some feta)
sour cream (need 3 Tbsp)
eggs (6 egg whites)
Firm white fish (enough for fish tacos for all)
5 tomatoes
cherry tomatoes (1 cup)
bean sprouts (1 cup)
spinach (about 4 stuffed cups)
coleslaw mix
cucumber
mushrooms (for pizza)
3 red onion
3 onions (1 for pizza)
4 red skinned potatoes (or more for hashbrowns)
1 bunch green onions
1 large carrot
1 ripe mango
4 limes
3 avocados
cilantro
fresh mint
fresh basil
fruit (for fruit salad)
3 baby peppers
12 mushrooms
1 red onion
2 tomatoes
1/2 zucchini
fresh basil
1/3 bulb of fennel
arugula (need 2 cups)
unsalted peanuts (1 cup)
1 19 oz can of chickpeas
1 19 oz can of red kidney beans
arbio rice (2 cups)
8oz rice-stick noodles, medium width
1 carton veggie stock
flour or corn tortillas (or MASA flour)
whole wheat pitas
These are for the leftover risotto and could be altered or substituted with whatever you have left over in your fridge.

Leftover Risotto
It's amazing the differences between Hannah and Harper. You'd think because they come from the same gene pool they would be a lot alike. But really they are very different. The morning is a perfect example.

When Harper wakes up it's like there is a switch that gets turned on. There's no slow return to consciousness, it's up and at 'em right away. This morning she was out of bed, "GeMornin Mommy, I go downstairs!" So I hear her go down the stairs, run at full force to the kitchen and drag the stool over to the cupboard, the whole time yelling, "My have bekfast!" She is a constant ball of energy in the morning, only sitting long enough to have her usual three breakfasts. Between these breakfasts she runs from room to room chattering constantly and moving from one activity to another until she finally finds what she wants to do. She's also the morning greeter who runs over to whomever has emerged from upstairs calling out, "GeMornin, Daddy (or Hannah or Momma)!"

Hannah will get up and make her way to our bed, if she hasn't already at some point during the night, looking for a warm parent to give her a cuddle and help her wake up. If she finds one of us in bed she snuggles up and wraps herself around you so that her long limbs mixed with your morning fuzziness make it difficult to tell how you'll ever get free. Although, I can't say I mind being trapped in a morning snuggle with her in a nice warm bed. She will lay quietly for a few minutes, depending how tired she is, and you think that she is dosing lightly like you, she's not. She's actually either coming up with the most difficult question of your parenting career (at least since yesterday morning), or she's recalling some little tiny event that happened at least two years ago and preparing to ask you about it without actually disclosing any of the details like, "Why did you say that it was green?" These questions will leave you completely stupefied but she'll  be patient with you and walk you out of your morning fog to bring you up to speed. Eventually you will detangle from each other and come downstairs where Hannah will play quietly for awhile before being ready to eat her breakfast.

Recipe
I think that I have already posted a risotto, it is just so easy and great for using up leftovers. The following veggies are what I had to use up, really whatever you have to use up will work as well.

olive oil

3 baby peppers, cut in inch size pieces
12 mushrooms, quartered
1 red onion, roughly chopped
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1/2 zucchini, roughly chopped
6 cloves of garlic, 3 chopped and 3 pressed
little handful of fresh basil, chopped (leaves and stalks)
1/3 bulb of fennel
1 19 oz can of red kidney beans

2 cups arugula

2 cups arbio rice

2 cups of white wine (roughly)
4 cups of veggie stock
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 400F.
Dump all your veggies in a roasting pan, using the chopped garlic, season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil, about 1/4 to 1/3 of a cup depending on your leftover veggies. Put the pan in the oven and roast for about 30 to 40 minutes.

In a saucepan heat stock and leave on simmer. Heat 2 Tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet and add the pressed garlic and saute for a few seconds, then add the rice, stir until the rice become opaque and coated with oil. Add the wine to the rice and stir until no liquid remains. Add the stock to the pan a cup at a time and stir, waiting until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next cup. While the risotto is cooking stir often but you can walk away for a little while to retrieve children if need be. Once all the stock is absorbed add the cheese and stir until melted and then add the beans to heat. Serve mixed with the veggies or with veggies on top or on the side as you like. I have made risotto without the cheese before and it works too if you're out or are trying to avoid it, it does add a little extra saltiness so you may want to adjust the seasoning.

Spinach, Feta Egg White Frittata with Fruit and Hashbrowns
When I was about ten years old I headed out on my bike. I don't remember where I was heading but as I rode down the street I watched one of our neighbor's playing catch with his son on the front lawn and BASH, I ran into a parked car. I knocked out most of my two front teeth and can remember crying myself to sleep in my mom's arms on the coach in the family room. Shortly after, I was awoken and we spent the rest of Saturday at the dentist office while they fixed my teeth. Let this be a lesson to children everywhere, watch where you're riding! Because the dental story does not end there, I'll spare you all the details along my life, but it is how I found myself in the dental chair for four hours today while they took molds and such to make me some new teeth. It is also how I found myself listening to an audio book, Water for Elephants.

The first chapter of the book is told in the voice of an old man. He talks about age and I just loved the trueness of his statements. He talks about how when you're five you know how old you are to the month, you're five or five and a half. Somewhere along the way you drop the half but you still answer the age question with an immediate and confident 23 or 27, as you get into your thirties it changes. Suddenly someone asks your age and you start to answer and then need to pause, 33? no 34...yes, I'm 34. The older you get the less certain or concerned you become (according to him). He states, "what's the difference between three weeks and three years? So, I'm 90...or 93."

I think I liked this so much because when I turned 32 I thought I was 33 and once I turned 33 I started saying I was 32. When you're younger you never think that this could happen, how could you ever loose track of your age? It's one of the things that defines you; Hannah's five, has brown hair, brown eyes etc... Her age is very important in explaining or describing who she is and, in her eyes, one of her greatest accomplishments. If you were to describe me as being 32 with brown eyes and brown hair or 33 it makes no difference, as I'm writing this, I'm thinking was it this year or last year I was confused, am I 33 or 34?

Recipe
Simple, easy and good for you. This recipe was from The Novice Chef.

Olive oil

1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
2 very full cups of spinach
1 cup egg whites, about 6 eggs
2 Tbsp milk
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/3 cup crumbled feta

Preheat oven to 375F and spray a 9 inch dish.
In a saucepan over medium heat saute the onions and garlic in a little olive oil until soft. Add the spinach and saute until slightly wilted.

Beat together eggs and milk in a mixing bowl; add onion, garlic, spinach, green onion, tomatoes and pour into greased 9 inch dish, sprinkle feta over top and season with a little salt (although the feta is probably salty enough) and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes, until the middle is no longer jiggly.

Hashbrowns

Dice up 4 red skinned potatoes (or however many you like), toss with a little olive oil and Montreal Steak Spice and bake on a parchment lined baking sheet for 30 - 35 minutes, until crispy.

Serve with your favorite fruit or fruit salad.

Chilled Noodle Salad with Mango

"Momma, do you think Santa and the Easter Bunny are friends?" "I don't know what do you think Hannah?" "I think they must be friends because they both sneak around in the night."

We're gearing up for Easter weekend here, or well at least Dave is, thank goodness. Easter is Hannah's favorite holiday, we read Easter books all year round and she talks about it constantly. She likes it more than Christmas and Halloween which blows me away a little bit. So there's a little pressure to make it good, although she's fairly easy to please. I have a problem having tons of candy in the house, I eat it, but also I have trouble letting the kids eat tons of candy. I use to ration it with Hannah and she would end up having a few candies everyday for weeks, is that any better than a bunch over a couple of days? At least over a couple of days they're gone quickly and we can move on, right? To avoid the mountain of Easter candy, the Easter Bunny brings a gift for the girls and hides a few things like playdough and bubbles and a little candy, genius or boring depending how you look at it. Easter seems to sneak up on me every year, luckily Dave's on the ball and has been collecting the gardening toys and candy for the girls all week (as well as hiding the candy from me, it's a little pathetic, I know - I feel like I need to clarify that I ask him to hide it). I think that we are ready and have the whole long weekend stretched in front of us!

Recipe
I use to have a subscription to Vegetarian Time and found this recipe in it. You can find it on the web site here, I do alter it ever so slightly. This is one of my favorites for the summer, you know how I said I could drink that dressing last week? Well, this one is the same, perhaps because it has 1/2 cup of brown sugar in it!

Dressing

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (2 - 3 limes)
1/4 cup soya sauce
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 red jalapeno, finely chopped (I leave this out because Hannah doesn't seem to like any spice)

Heat all ingredients in a sauce pot over low heat until the sugar is dissolved.


Salad

8 oz of dried rice-stick noodles, medium width

1 large carrot scraped in ribbons with the peeler

1 cup bean sprouts

1/2 cucumber, cut in half and sliced thinly crosswise

1 1/2 cups spinach, chopped

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup mint, chopped

1/2 cup basil, chopped

1 green onion, chopped

1 ripe mango, sliced in strips

1 cup peanuts unsalted, ground and then lightly toasted

Soak rice noodles in cold water for 15 minutes and then put them into a pot of boiling water and cook for 5 minutes. Once noodles are ready, drain and rinse with cold water. Mix all ingredients in a large salad bowl, except spinach and toss with dressing. Place a little spinach in the bottom of each serving bowl and add the salad and toss together, this way if there are leftovers the spinach doesn't get all soggy.

Fish Tacos
Hannah and I read these books together, it's a series called Junie B Jones. These books seriously crack me up, the other day we were reading one where the boy she liked told her he thought they should chase other people (they're in kindergarten). Today it was dreary and rainy outside and we had a new one from the library. When Harper went for a nap, we curled up together on the couch under two cozy blankets and read the whole book together. We both giggled and laughed at Junie B, it was definitely the perfect rainy afternoon!

Recipe
I know that I have already put up fish tacos but this one is a little different than the last.

Tortillas (I still can't find MASA flour these days so I bought mine) flour or corn.
Olive oil
firm white fish (we used cod)
1 egg, beaten
3 Tbsp of milk
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 cup Special K cereal, crushed

Cut fish into 2 inch strips. Mix the egg and milk together in a bowl and the bread crumbs and crushed cereal together in another bowl. Heat 1 to 2 Tbsp of oil in a pan over medium heat and dredge the fish through the egg and then the crumbs and fry in pan in batches until all is cooked, drain on paper towel lined plate.

2 cups coleslaw mix
juice of 1 lime
3 Tbsp sour cream
2 Tbsp mayonnaise

Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

2 ripe avocados
1 small tomato, deseeded and chopped
1 tsp cumin
1 large clove garlic, pressed
juice of 1/2 lime
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp fried onions

Mash avocados and mix in all other ingredients and set aside.

2 tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Mix together and set aside

I also fried some onions up to add because I've decided that everything tastes better with fried onions.

Put a little of everything in your tortilla and enjoy!

Pizza
It's Good Friday and so Dave's home and we decided to start on the yard work. We have these tall cedars that block all our sun in the front and this beautiful but very sick tree in the back that needs to come down. So we all meandered down to my parents to borrow the chainsaw and Dave cut them all down. The girls were playing back and forth between the front and backyard all day as we were cleaning up the trees and trimming others. Hannah came out to me and said there are these birds in the backyard that are going all crazy! We go back and there's two birds that are flying all around very distraught, landing on the fence and then taking off again over the area where we took down the tree. There wasn't a nest in the tree but it was clearly impratant to them. So now I'm distraught and so is Hannah, we're all in the backyard and I'm apologizing to the birds and trying to explain how we had to take it down because it was sick (so now my neighbors probably think I'm a little crazy). I hope that they find a new tree to love and also stop circling the backyard because now, I think I'm more creeped out than distraught...did you ever see the movie The Birds? If so, you know what I mean.

We had pizza for dinner, if you need a recipe there's one here.

Hummus Pitas
We spent the whole entire day in the yard today, Dave and I are beat. It took a total of four loads to the dump, all the trimmings are gone and two roots are removed (only eight to go). The girls were out all day as well, except for Harper's nap. They were very helpful, Hannah hauled branches to the trailer, dug in the dirt and helped Dave tie the tarp down on the dump loads. It's so funny how things we find to be hard work are so much fun for little ones. Although I have to tell you, I do love a day of yard work, lunch outside, a cold beer at break time, and the sleepy lull feeling after it's all done and I'm showered and it's close to bedtime. Although we do have a little hiding to do this evening.

So I had already written the bit before I put Hannah to bed but I have to add this. Hannah gets to stay up five minutes longer (I know it's not very long, she doesn't seem to care and loves the extra time) than Harper, we use this time to do whatever she wants to do, usually we play a game or do a puzzle together. Tonight she told me she wanted to make an Easter surprise and asked for the markers and told me I couldn't watch. I sat on the couch and watched the hockey game and she set to work. She then asked me for the extra Easter basket and set to work hiding whatever it was she was making. When we went up to her room she let it slip seven times that she had decorated eggs from the fridge and hid them. I'm pretty sure she didn't realize that she let it slip and I didn't say anything, I just silently counted to see how many times it would happen. She then continued to talk and speculate about the hidden surprises and where the Easter Bunny would hide the eggs, letting it slip where hers were hidden. She then talked about what would happen if one of her surprises were to break and leak oil everywhere, her pride for being sneaking and using the word oil instead of yoke beamed through her little face. She was so adorable I just wanted to devour her. Dave just checked on her and she's lying in bed with a huge smile on her face, fully awake, and very proud that she did not tell me about the surprise. She also told him she hid four...she thinks (we may be slightly concerned about the unknown amount of real eggs hidden in our house), and left one in the fridge so I wouldn't be suspicious when I went to have my breakfast (I eat one poached egg every morning).

Recipe
I was really tired at dinner and forgot to take a photo.

Hummus

1 19 oz chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 clove garlic

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt (if needed)

¼ cup water (more to achieve desired consistency)

1/4 cup cilantro (optional)

Put all ingredients in a food processor and whirl until smooth, or desired consistency

Pitas
Hummus
2 tomatoes. sliced
half a cucumber, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
feta, sliced
red onion thinly sliced
any leftover basil or mint you may have

Load everything up on a pita, fold over and enjoy!

Happy Easter
Hannah was up at 4:20 this morning waiting to hunt for eggs. We're pretty sure she did not go back to sleep. Harper got up at 7:00 and that's when we all came down to hunt for eggs, me included. Hannah's excitement for the eggs she hid quickly dissipated when she saw the gardening toys on the table and spotted her first chocolate egg. I found five beautifully decorated eggs (we hope that's all of them), one sitting on a living room chair, luckily no one sat on it. Hannah and Harper hunted for eggs, although it was tough to get Harper to look instead of eat. Hannah lead Harper around the house and pointed out eggs to her so she could find some. At one point during the hunt Hannah walked around the dinning room table and an egg just fell, as if out of no where (or from the top of the chair). Once all the eggs were found, we found her in the dinning room walking around and around the table waiting to see if another would fall.

We had Easter dinner at my cousin's and it was so fun. The kids all ran and played together and ate dinner around little tables. They laughed and paraded around the house chanting some chant. Hannah said the best part of the night was playing with her cousins and eating chocolate. Our Easter dinner is Ham (well not mine, but for some), schwarties, roasted veggies, baked beans, killer coleslaw, green salad (with strawberries, nuts and I think goat cheese), cabbage rolls and different yummy bread from Stella's Bakery. It was delicious and there was also chocolate cake, cookies, apple pie and cheese cake.

I made the baked beans and found another recipe as I was not happy with my old one. This one turned out really good. It's from Honoring Health.

Boston Baked Beans
1.5 lbs dry navy beans
water
1 large onions, chopped
1 tsp salt
1 cup ketchup
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 tbsp dry mustard
2/3 cup blackstrap molasses
1/4 cup dark amber agave nectar (or 1/3 cup brown sugar)

Rinse and pick over the dry beans for debris. Soak beans in enough water to cover by a couple of inches overnight. Once soaked, rinse the beans very well and place in a large soup pot and cover with 4 inches of water. Bring to a boil and boil for about 45 minutes until the beans are tender. Drain the cooked beans and place in the crock pot with the remaining ingredients. Simmer in the crock pot on high for 2 to 4 hours until all of the flavors are well combined.

I hope you all had a really great weekend and a great Easter (if you celebrate). Have a wonderful week, I hope the sun shines down on you!

In Threes

You know how when you open up Yahoo there's these little news (I use the term news very lightly here) stories. Well, this week there was one about making a grill cheese sandwich in the waffle maker. We quite like our grill cheese over here so I thought we'd try it. The girls loved it because it looked funny. But it really was very good. I used city rye bread, which is a light, airy rye and it made it kind of like a cheese bread.

Weekly MenuMonday: Stir Fry with Vermicelli Noodles
Tuesday: Bread Salad
Wednesday: Chickpea and Spinach Soup with Savory Waffles
Thursday: Grilled Fish with Mango Salsa, Asparagus and Potato Soup
Friday: Perogies and Coleslaw
Saturday: Veggie Dogs with Chili and Cheese
Sunday: Shrimp Pasta with Salad and Strawberry Shortcake

Weekly Pantry List
Balsamic Vinegar, soya sauce (I'm told Braggs is best), olive oil, fresh garlic(need 21 cloves), nutritional yeast, flour, baking powder, baking soda, marjoram, rosemary,thyme, lemon juice or vinegar, butter or margarine, 3 eggs, cumin, chili powder, pickles, mustard

Weekly Grocery List
parmesan cheese
veggie dogs
olives (1/4 cup)
sour cream
milk (need 2 cups)
cream cheese (need 1/3 cup)
fresh fish fillets (we had pike and white fish)
broccoli
cauliflower (need 1/2 small head)
1 bulb fennel (also called anise)
1 green pepper
8 mushrooms
3 avocados
cucumber
zucchini
5 stalks celery
4 large carrots
6 + 2 1/2 lbs red skinned potatoes ( bought a 10 lb bag and have leftovers)
1 tomato
spinach (5 oz)
7 baby sweet peppers (this was what they had when I went, you could use 3 large ones instead)
2 red onion
2 yellow onions
2 large white onion
2 lemons
1 lime
1 mango
pea pods (1-2 cups)
cilantro
fresh basil
edamame beans (frozen, 1 cup)
vermicelli Noodles
1 can artichoke hearts
1 19 oz can six bean medley
1 19 oz can of black beans
1 19 oz can of chickpeas
1 5.5 oz can of tomato paste
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes
2 cartons of veggie stock
1 loaf crusty bread
hot dog buns

Stir Fry over Vermicelli Noodles
Plus 15C outside today. Time to start taking down the overgrowth in our yard, which is pretty well everywhere. I'm very inspired to clean it up. Since the gardening and lawn maintenance urge doesn't seem to strike very often around here I decided to strike while the iron was hot, or the sun was warm. Maybe this year will be different (I've said that every year for the past five years), perhaps we'll at least get rid of the overgrowth before we quit. Although, after taking down the first tree/bush thing my back is killing me and Harper fell asleep at 5:30 tonight so I have a feeling I may be up at 3 am. Can you cut down brush at 3 am? It's probably not a good idea. Dave tried to wake her up but it was really kind of sad, she skipped her nap today and spent three or four hours playing outside, hopefully she'll just sleep through and be well rested.

Recipe
I'm not sure how it happened but I had the perfect odds and ends to make a stir fry. My cousin had left me this dressing from a salad she had brought Saturday and I thought it would also make a good stir fry sauce, it did. Really, I love this sauce/salad dressing and was a little tempted to just drink it. These are the veggies I had but really you could use whatever you have left over in your fridge.

1 red onion, sliced

2 cloves of garlic, pressed

1 bunch of broccoli, chopped
1/2 small head of cauliflower
1 green pepper, cut in strips
3 large carrots, cut on the diagonal into rounds
3 stalks of celery, cut in inch size pieces
1 cup edamame beans
vermicelli noodles (I used two little nests), prepared as per package instructions
1 cup veggies stock
olive oil

Sauce
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 soya sauce (Braggs is best)
1 cup olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup nutritional yeast

Whirl up all the ingredients in the blender except for the oil, add that while rest the are whirling around.

Heat a little olive oil in the pan and saute the onions and garlic until softened then add the pepper, celery, carrots and saute until softened; finally add the broccoli, edamame beans and cauliflower. As it cooked I added a little stock here and there to prevent it from sticking. Once all the veggies are ready mix in the noodles and the sauce!

Bread Salad
Harper was not up until morning...well, my kids are always up during the night but she was not up for the day until morning. So there was no early morning yard work, you're welcome my neighbors. We were out in the yard today and it is glorious with the warmth and the sunshine. I don't want to complain about the spring because I do love it so much, but I am having a little trouble with the mud. Part of the backyard is dry but the rest is not at all. I want my kids to be able to play in the mud, it's so much fun, I want to be zen with the mud and I am, while it's outside but when it's time to come in I have issues. Seriously, what's a little mud? I'm trying really hard to be O.K. with it,  it cleans up, it's not that my house is totally spotless or anything, but my kids are seriously covered - they pretty much bath in it. I can put them right into the tub no big deal but it's the clothes and boots that are covered that stress me out (and their need to touch everything on their way to the bathroom). Oh, well I suppose soon it will all be dry and I'll find something else to complain about. In the meantime I am enjoying watching and listening to them make mud pies and run around the yard screaming in delight!

Recipe
I believe I took the idea for this salad from Moosewood Cooks at Home but I don't really follow any recipe and neither should you. There are a couple ingredients that I find to be key, the artichokes, the beans, the olives, the bread of course and some sort of cheese. Other than than those ingredients, I use whatever I have on hand and dress it all with the lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper.

1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
1 can bean medley, rinsed and drained
1 large tomato, chopped
3 baby sweet peppers, chopped
1/4 cup olives
1/3 cup grated cheese such as parmesan, feta or whatever you prefer
1 cup pea pods, chopped
1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
1 1/2 avocados, chopped
2 stalks celery
1/3 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/3 red onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup cilantro, chopped
3/4 cup fresh basil chopped
1 1/2 lemons, juiced
1 loaf of crusty bread (I use one that has olives baked in it, but anything will work)
olive oil
salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients except for the bread in a bowl and top with lemon juice and a really good glugg of olive oil (I would guess about 1/3 cup), salt and pepper and stir, taste and adjust if needed. Set aside.

Slice your loaf in 1 inch thick slices and brush both sides with olive oil. Toast the bread on a hot grill or in the oven on broil, flipping until both sides are nice and toasty. Once bread is done, chop it or rip it into little pieces. You can either add it to the large bowl all together or toss some in each bowl and top with salad (I like to do it this way so that if there are leftovers the bread can stay crispy instead of getting soggy).

Chickpea and Spinach Soup with Savory Waffles
The other day we bought a car and then that night found a leak in the roof. Today we brought said car home and the washing machine broke...do you think it's a sign? Are we being punished for our consumerism? Don't these things come in three's, what's going to be next? All in all it's not actually as bad as it seems. We think/hope the roof may be a minor repair and my brilliant husband took the washer apart and found the problem to be a $30 part (again, hopefully, as I am going to purchase the part tomorrow).

While Dave had the washing machine apart and the laptop open nearby we were discussing our dads. I came from a house, and so did he, of do it yourselfers. I don't ever remember seeing a repairman in our house. Possibly, one of my uncles may come by and help my dad work through a problem but never were the yellow pages brought out and used to call someone. What is lucky is that I married someone who came from the same kind of family, because its somehow ingrained in my blood that the yellow pages, for the most part, are used to order pizza. What is amazing though is that there was no Internet when we were younger. Tonight Dave had the washing machine apart while we read forums and looked at diagrams on the Internet to figure out what the problem may be and if we could fix it. When my dad would have had his washing machine apart it was a series of blind trial and errors until he found the problem, and he always did.

This also brings me to another thought about kids and risk taking. It seems that one of the major goals of teaching these days is teaching kids that it's good to take risks (by risks I mean ideas and theories, not illicit drugs and craziness). I don't remember this being something that needed to be encouraged when I was a student. Does access to resources like the Internet provide so much information that we are creating a culture where we're scared to try anything without first referencing a source? Or does it provide information that then encourages people to try things that they may never of considered trying before? I suppose it's maybe not the tool but how it's used.

Recipe
I was going to make a bread to go with this soup but we had to go pick up the new vehicle and it just didn't work out timing wise. So instead I made waffles, there is this wonderful waffle recipe that I wanted to make from Catherine Newman's blog but they need to rise overnight and so I will have to maybe make them on the weekend. I would suggest these if you think of it in advance. I think if you're having them for dinner you could probably prep them in the morning to cook them that night. Her description of them being yeasty goodness is bang on.

If you don't have the time this is the recipe that we use, it has been copied onto a recipe card for a long time and I can no longer remember where it came from.

1/2 large red onion, carmalized

1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup milk
2 tsp lemon juice or vinegar
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp butter or margarine melted

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; stir in milk, lemon juice or vinegar and melted butter. Stir in beaten egg then add the onion and cheese. Heat your waffle iron (mine is a 9.99 special from Superstore, if you are major into waffles I hear that it is worth investing in a good one), and cook up your waffles just before eating.

The soup was very easy and quick and a definite make again. It was from Cook's Own: Vegetarian Dishes.

1 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced
2 onions, chopped
1 potato, cut in chucks
4 cups veggie stock
2 Tbsp each minced fresh parsley and cilantro
1 tsp dried marjoram
1 can (19 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Half pkg of 10 oz/ 284g fresh spinach, trimmed and chopped

In a large heave saucepan, heat oil over medium-low heat; cook garlic and onions, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until soft.

Add potato; cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add stock, parsley, cilantro and marjoram; cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until potato is very tender. Stir in chickpeas.

In food processor in batches or using hand blender in saucepan, puree just until chickpeas are coarse; return to pan. Add spinach; simmer for 5 minutes, adding 1/2 cup water if too thick.

Grilled Fish, Mango Salsa, Asparagus and Potato Soup
It really does come in threes. Dave called at lunch today and he was going to go to Midtown (a car wash where you step out and five people jump in your car and start cleaning it as it goes through a car wash) to get the car cleaned and it won't start (not the new one). I try not to be superstitious but, sometimes it's really hard. The car only had a loose wire and after the tow (or jump) it's a fairly inexpensive repair. So, even though things do come in threes I think we got lucky with the three we got, hopefully - we have yet to get the leak in the roof repaired.

See how short my thoughts were? I'm trying to make up for my long rant yesterday.

Recipe
We were actually going to have roasted potatoes with this meal but because of the car ordeal we needed to pick Dave up and so the cooking time for the potatoes wasn't going to work out. I had made some potato soup for lunch and so we had that instead.

For the fish I used fresh white fish and pike, drizzled it with a little olive oil and fresh lime juice and grilled it on the BBQ on high heat for about two or three minutes a side.

Mango salsa is a mixture of the following ingredients.

1 mango, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1/4 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Asparagus was placed in an oven proof dish drizzled with a little olive oil and baked in a 350F oven for about 8 minutes.

Potato Soup

olive oil
1/2 large white onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, pressed
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1/3 bulb fennel, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
5 medium size red skinned potatoes, chopped (skins left on)
1 carton of low sodium veggie stock
2 Tbsp fresh thyme, or 1 tsp dried
1 tsp rosemary
salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot heat a good glugg of olive oil and saute onions, garlic, carrot, fennel, celery, thyme and rosemary until soft. Add potatoes and stock and bring to a boil, lower heat to simmer and cook for 10 - 15 minutes until potatoes are tender. Puree with a hand blender or in batches in a food processor or blender. Return to pot to warm and add salt and pepper to taste.

Perogies
I have to say, I've been wanting to make perogies for a long time. I'm not sure why I have had this urge to make them but today we made them. They were delicious, but I'm pretty sure I will not make them again, they're a lot of work. If you don't live somewhere where you can easily get really good perogies, than it is definitely worth it. By good perogies I mean the ones where you can actually taste the tradition of grandmothers or babas teaching the younger generations how to make them. I picture it to be in a large kitchen with lots of women of at least three generations, maybe even a fourth in arms, with lots of laughter. I'm not saying this is how it is, I really have no idea, but that's how I picture it, and kind of what I taste. I do not mean the rubbery frozen variety that you can buy at any given grocery store. I am fortunate to live in a city with a large Ukrainian population where it is easy to buy really good perogies, that are probably better than the ones I made - although these were good. The only thing that may make me make them again is how much my little perogy maker loved doing it!

Recipe

This recipe is also from Cook's Own: Vegetarian Dishes.

Perogy Dough
8 cups of all purpose flour
4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk

Our very first ones complete.

1 1/3 cups sour cream

2 eggs

In a large bowl, stir flour with salt. Whisk together milk, sour cream and eggs; stir into dry ingredients just until soft shaggy dough forms.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead for 1 minute or until smooth. Divide into quarters; wrap each in plastic wrap and let rest for 20 minutes, Makes enough for 7 1/2 dozen perogies.

Potato and Roasted Garlic Filling
2 1/2 lbs potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 Tbsp olive oil

Hannah teaching Harper.

10 cloves garlic, peeled and quartered

1/2 cup milk

1/3 cup cream cheese, softened

3/4 tsp each salt and pepper

In a large pot of boiling water, cover and cook potatoes for about 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well and return to pot; mash with potato masher until smooth.

Meanwhile, in small saucepan, heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic and reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden and softened. Mash garlic and add to mashed potatoes along with milk, cream cheese, salt and pepper; stir until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. (Filling can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 24 hours). Makes 4 cups, enough for 7 1/2 dozen perogies.

To assemble
On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the quarters of dough at a time into a 17 inch circle. With a dry pastry brush, brush any access flour off dough. using 3 inch round cutter, cut dough into circles.

Harper got bored and wondered off, this is how I found her, after she called out, "Yust eating my nack Momma!"

Place rounded tsp filling in center of one half of each circle. With a different pastry brush, brush edges lightly with water. Fold dough over filling to form semicircle; pinch edges together firmly to seal. If desired, crimp by hand or with perogie crimper. Place on dish towel-lined baking sheet (perogies can be prepared to this point, arranged in 2 layers between waxed paper in airtight container and refrigerated for up to 24 hours; freeze in single layer, then store in airtight containers for up to 3 weeks).

In a large pot of boiling water, cook perogies in batches and stirring gently to prevent sticking, for 3 or 4 minutes from fresh, 5 or 6 from frozen, or until perogies float to the top. With slotted spoon transfer to colander to drain.

Meanwhile in a large heavy skillet melt a little butter over medium heat; cook some chopped onion until golden. In batches add perogies to skillet and cook, tossing to coat, for about 3 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve with sour cream.

Ready to serve and eat!

We also had coleslaw, I was going cut up fresh veggies and find a homemade coleslaw recipe but to be totally honest, I was tired and so I threw a few things in a bowl and put some store bought coleslaw dressing over it.

Pre packaged coleslaw mix

1 green apple, chopped

part of a cucumber, chopped
some raisins
some pea pods, chopped

Veggie Chili Dogs

Here's my low down on veggie dogs. I don't really think that they are very good for you. I think that they are probably better for you than meat (?) dogs but are still very high in sodium and have ingredients that I've never heard of. The reality is that they don't taste very good. I know, you're thinking why on earth do you cook them? Well, I cook them for a couple of reasons. One reason is that Hannah loves them. The other reason is that no matter how many bad things that can be said about hot dogs I always liked them. It's not actually hot dogs but the experience of a hot dog that I like.When I was a kid we had hot dog day at school for hot lunch and we would get these bloated over boiled hot dogs with a milk and a little bag of chips...it was great. At the cottage there's a poker derby every year with a picnic after with games and hot dogs. They are easy to eat outside most everybody eats them, even if they don't all like to admit they like them.

So, I had this plan at the beginning of the week of how Saturday would go. It was suppose to be nice and Dave and I were going to spend the day in the yard playing with the kids and doing some yard work and then for supper I though we would fire up the BBQ and cook some hot dogs and eat them outside. It would be a little too cold but we wouldn't care, the first meal outside is always the best (and a little too cold). Well, we woke up to an inch of snow and so did not spend the day outside. We did have the veggie dogs but the BBQ ran out of gas and we had to finish cooking them in the oven. Hannah's excitement over having  the first ones of the season, even though indoors was worth it.

Recipe

The key to making veggie dogs taste good is to load them with up with your favorite toppings, then you're not really getting the full taste of the veggie dog, but the full experience. We loaded these ones up with chili, fried onions, pickles, cheese and mustard.

Chili

1 onion

4 baby peppers

8 mushrooms

1/2 zucchini

2 cloves of garlic

olive oil

2 Tbsp of chili powder

1 1/2 tsp cumin

5.5 oz can tomato paste

28 oz can of plum tomatoes

In a large pot, heat olive oil and saute onions, garlic, cumin and chili until soft. Add the peppers, mushrooms and zucchini and continue to saute until soft (add a little water to keep it from sticking if you need). Mix in tomato paste and can of tomatoes, breaking up tomatoes as you stir. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for at least 30 minutes.

While chili is simmering prepare your toppings and veggies dogs. Slice the number of veggie dogs you need in half and BBQ using your favorite BBQ sauce. Slice pickles and buns and grate some cheese. Slice or chop onions and saute in a little olive oil until almost crispy.When all is ready load up your bun and enjoy!

Shrimp Pasta with Salad and Strawberry Shortcakes 

Today Hannah and I went to see a movie at the IMAX theater. It was Born to Be Wild. As my cousin put it, it makes you want to move to Africa and help save animals. It was in 3D and Hannah wore her glasses the whole time and asked a myriad of questions throughout the movie along with lots of, "They look so close!" comments. I loved watching her little face light up while she watched the screen and ate her movie treats. Let's be honest, I think she was equally excited about the treats as she was about the movie.

Dave took Harper to the zoo today and although it was a little chilly she seemed to really enjoy it. Dave said they went back to look at the monkeys three times at Harper's request. She watched very intently as a Mommy and Daddy monkey seemed to be teaching a baby monkey how to swing from the ropes.

We ended our day at my Tant's for dinner. She made a wonderful pasta with a tomato sauce full of veggies, olives and shrimp. There was a delicious salad with mixed greens, grated cheese, red onion and artichoke hearts. She browned the artichokes first in a pan and then dressed the salad with balsamic and fresh lemon juice. For dessert she topped shortcakes with strawberries, chocolate sauce and whipping cream, how can you go wrong? It was delicious.

Here's wishing you all a wonderful week!

Quinoa and More

If you made far too much quinoa, as I did, this is how we used it up. I chopped up some toasted nuts, dried fruit, apple and put it in a pan with the quinoa, some cinnamon and nutmeg and warmed it all up with a little milk for breakfast the next day.

Menu

Monday: Rigatoni with Shrimp and Some Other Stuff

Tuesday: Veggie Burgers and Asparagus

Wednesday: Curried Quinoa with Cauliflower, Almonds and Dried Apricots

Thursday: Egg Drop Soup with Shitake Mushrooms and Edmame Beans (on the side)

Friday: Falafel

Saturday: Pizza (we ordered in), Salad, Chocolate Cake with Kahlua Whip Cream and Ice Cream*

Sunday: BBQ Salmon, Sauteed Peppers, Onions and Asparagus, Ziti Salad, Spinach and Strawberry Salad and Leftover Chocolate Cake

*I didn't add any of this to the grocery list

Weekly Pantry List

Olive oil, canola oil, rice wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, fresh garlic, walnuts, flour, baking powder, cumin, curry powder

Weekly Grocery List

Pecorino cheese (1/4 cup) - or whatever sharper cheese you may have on hand

Package of shrimp (400g bag)

eggs
plain yogurt (thick)

3 carrots

2 lemons

1 red pepper (need 1/2) 

1 zucchini
1 cucumber
4 tomatoes

1 bunch asparagus
1 bunch green onions
6 shitake mushrooms
fresh baby spinach (need 1/2 cup)
2 stalks celery
cauliflower

1 onion
1 red onion

Fresh thyme

2 bunches cilantro
flat leaf parsley

3 beets

Sweet potato (I used 1/2)

Lettuce

Green apple
fresh ginger (Tbsp grated)
edamame beans

Rigatoni
Almond slivers (need 1/2 cup)
dried apricots (need 1/2 cup, thinly sliced)
orange juice (need 1/4 cup)
Quinoa (need 2 cups cooked)

1 19 oz can chickpeas
1 19 oz can black beans

1 19 oz can lentils
2 cartons of veggie stock (need 6 cups)

Whole wheat hamburger buns

Whole wheat pitas

Rigatoni with Shrimp and Some Other Stuff

So our backyard is half grass, half snow with a whole lot of puddles mixed in. It’s a kid’s dream come true … well, at least my kid’s. There are too many puddles to let Harper play out there without an adult, because I’m worried about her drowning – not getting wet. Today we joined Hannah out in the yard to play and the girls were having a blast splashing in this big mud puddle. I ran inside for a minute to pull the sweet potatoes out of the oven and I look back and Harper is sitting in the mud puddle and Hannah is washing her hair with snow! Poor little Harper, although she didn’t really seem to mind.

Recipe

This is what we had in the house:

Package of shrimp, shelled
3 small carrots

1 zucchini

½ red onion

3 large cloves of garlic

fresh thyme

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

rigatoni (I had a sandwich ziplock bag full of dry rigatoni – technical measurement, I know)

3 beets

½ sweet potato

lettuce

green apple

walnuts

¼ c pecorino cheese, grated

This is what I did.

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Peel the beets cut into wedges place on a piece of foil and drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, wrap up tightly and bake in the oven for about an hour. Peel and slice, about ¼ inch thick, sweet potato, place on a parchment lined baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and roast for about 20 minutes (flipping halfway through).

Chop the garlic, onions, carrots and zucchini and sauté in a little olive oil until soft (start with the garlic, onions and carrots, adding the zucchini a little later so it doesn’t get over cooked). Meanwhile bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook pasta. Once veggies are cooked remove from pan and add the shrimp and cook until pink, remove as much of the extra liquid from the shrimp and add the veggies, cooked pasta, a really good glugg of olive oil, 2 Tbsp of balsamic vinegar, 2 tsp of fresh thyme, the pecorino cheese and stir until the cheese is melty and all is warm and combined.

Toast the walnuts (about ½ cup), wash and dry lettuce and slice half a green apple into thin slices. Toss together nuts, lettuce, apple, beets, sweet potato and drizzle all with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar and maple syrup (or whatever your standard dressing is) and toss.

Veggie Burgers and Asparagus

Harper fell asleep shortly after we got home from the grocery store and I called my mom to ask her to stay with her while I picked Hannah up (I am so lucky to be so close to my parents and have them be so generous with their time) from school. It's nice to be able to pick Hannah up on my own once in awhile and be able to focus my full attention on her and her day at school. It was a very big day, because today they walked to the gym without having to hold on to a rope but by holding hands with a partner instead.
 
When we returned home Harper was still asleep on the couch and Hannah and I curled up in the chair together and read some books while we waited for Harper to wake up. She's so busy these days playing with her sister and on her own that we don't seem to have a lot of time where we cuddle and read and chat just the two of us. It's kind of like junk food, now that I've had a little I remember how GREAT it is and I'm craving more and more. Why can't I remember this when she wants to play or cuddle and I'm trying to get a bunch of things done and I'm encouraging her to play on her own, or find her sister and play with her?

Recipe
We are always on the hunt for new veggies burgers, I'm really on the hunt for one that you can cook on the BBQ. These ones were really tasty, but not BBQ consistency. I slightly altered this recipe from Simple Bites: Real Food for the Family Table.

Whole wheat buns

Your favorite burger fixings
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
one can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cup canned lentils
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 egg, slightly beaten
1 cup bread crumbs (I used toasted fresh ones)
flour

Preheat oven to 400F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and then spray with olive oil, or whatever cooking spray you use.

Saute onion and red pepper with cumin until soft and let cool. In a food processor put onion, red pepper, garlic, cilantro, salt and pepper and pulse until chopped fine. Add the beans, lentils and egg and whirl up together until combined but still has good texture. Mix in, with a spoon, the egg and bread crumbs until combined (I may try to omit the egg next time and see if it's sticky and moist enough on it's own). Once it's all combined, put a cup of flour in a bowl, flour your hands and then form burgers, flouring the top and bottom of each one and placing on the cookie sheet. Once all are on the sheet spray the tops and bake in oven on bottom rack for 10 -15 minutes a side. you can cook these in a pan with a little oil (that is what the original recipe suggests). I just get tired of having to cook them in batches and so the baking seemed to work and they were all done at the same time. Put in the bun and top with your favourite fixings, we had fried onions, pickles, tomatoes, mayonnaise and mustard - yum!

1 bunch of asparagus
juice of 1/2 lemon
olive oil
salt and pepper

Wash and break the ends off of the asparagus. Place in a oven proof dish, squeeze over lemon juice, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and bake in the oven for 8 -10 minutes - until tender.

Curried Quinoa with Cauliflower, Almonds and Dried Apricots
Wednesdays are always so relaxing because we don't have to get out the door right away. Today started off no different, it did end quite differently. Dave worked late tonight and by the end of the evening I may have given Harper away if anyone had offered...I would have made sure they were nice and all...O.K I would have never giver her away, but I may have paused at the offer and thought about it for a moment or two before saying no.

It always takes me time to recognize and adjust to each new phase that my children enter. The past little while Harper has been an emotional mess come four o'clock, swinging from one end of the spectrum to the other. I thought that she may be tired or hungry but I think that it's a communication thing. Imagine if every fourth word you said you had to repeat four or five times before someone understood you. I'm quite certain, actually I know, I would go insane - I hate repeating myself! Sometimes we never understand her and just try and distract her, how maddening would that be? Well, until you were distracted and forgot all about it. I wonder if she ever comes back to those moments and thinks, "I was going to ask for some cheese but, something happened...now what was it?"  Anyway, I am vowing to be more patient with her and try to remember all the frustrations she faces in a day.

Recipe
This is not my recipe but I'm not sure where it comes from exactly. I got it from my aunt and uncle who come and visit every summer. They made it last time they were here.  I've never cooked quinoa before and came across this recipe and seemed to remember loving it. I remembered right and it's even better the next day!

2 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/4 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cooked quinoa, follow package directions
1/2 cup thinly sliced dried apricots
3 green onions
2 stalks celery thinly sliced
1 cup cauliflower florets, chopped
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped

Mix curry, cumin, vinegar, oil, orange juice, ginger, salt in a serving bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix until combined.

Egg Drop Soup with Shitake Mushrooms and Edamame Beans (on the side)
I have to tell you I'm not sure what has happened to me this year in regards to shoveling the snow. I will fully admit that before this year I never shovelled the snow, Dave always did it. Last year it was too hard with Harper so little, of course I could have done it once Dave got home but he always did it. This year, I think that I did most if the shovelling. The girls were the right age to play outside and so it was easy to get it done during the day. It turned into this obsession of mine, I was addicted to scraping it down to the pavement. Usually come January it's so cold (and Dave would be so busy at work) we would just start driving over it to pack it down but this year that didn't happen until at least the middle of February. Now my new obsession is the snow on the deck in the backyard. I make fun of people who shovel the snow off their lawn in the spring (sorry, I do!) and now I'm a total hypocrite because that is precisely what I did this afternoon. The girls played in the backyard and I shovelled the snow off the deck (well some of it) and I'm itching to get out there and finish tomorrow, go figure!

Recipe
This recipe is from a locally produced egg booklet from the Manitoba Egg Farmers. The girls loved it, I enjoyed it but am not sure if it's going to make the regular rotation and Dave worked late so I'm not really sure. I think this is also the first time I've ever had egg drop soup so it's possible that this particular soup is just not to my taste.

6 cups low-sodium veggie stock
6 shitake mushrooms, stems removed, thinly sliced
1 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
Dash of finely ground white pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach

In a medium saucepan, bring the stock to a simmer. Add mushrooms, soy sauce, white pepper and half the green onions. Return to a low simmer and cook for 3 minutes. Stirring with a fork, gradually add the eggs in a slow, steady stream. Add the spinach. Cook until the eggs are set, stirring to create shreds or ribbons of the eggs, for about 1 minute. Remove saucepan from heat. Ladle soup into bowls and garnish with remaining onions. Serve immediately.

We also steamed some edamame beans and had them on the side.

Falafel 
As we were walking back to the parking lot from the store today, Hannah said to me (with a very dramatic sigh), "I hate waving to strangers!" I asked her what made her think of that, did someone wave to her? She told me that there was a lady in the store on the way out that waved to her and she didn't like to wave to people she didn't know. I thought about this, it's a fair sentiment. Why is it that we treat children differently than we do adults? I'm quite certain that the woman would not have waved to me because that would have been a little odd. On the other hand, she was just trying to be friendly and make a child smile, what's wrong with that? I thought about it on the way back to the car because I don't want my children to be rude (by not returning a friendly gesture), but I do want them to be a little wary of strangers and be encouraged to trust their gut when something doesn't feel quite right. After thinking about all of this for a few minutes, feeling like this was a major learning moment, I said to Hannah, "You know, you don't have to wave back to someone if it doesn't feel right to you." She looked at me kind of funny and very matter of factly said, "I know, I didn't wave back to her."

Recipe
This recipe is good, the kids loved them and both went back for more falafel and sauce after they were done their pitas. I did alter the recipe slightly, you're suppose to deep fry the little falafel balls and I just couldn't do it so I baked mine and they turned out very yummy and flavourful, although I'm sure they are delicious if you deep fry them. Also, traditionally you eat these with a little Tahini sauce but I thought I had some and then didn't and so I made a little yogurt sauce instead which was really good. The recipe is from epicurious.

1 19 oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2 large red onion, roughly chopped (about 1 cup)

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

1 teaspoon salt

4 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon baking powder

8-10 tablespoons flour

olive oil spray

Chopped tomato

Chopped cucumber

Diced red onion 

Diced red bell pepper

Baby spinach

Chopped cilantro

1 cup thick plain yogurt

1/2 lemon, juice of

2 small cloves garlic, pressed

1/2 tsp salt

Pita bread

Preheat oven to 450F

Place chickpeas and the onions in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the parsley, cilantro, salt, garlic, and cumin. Process until blended but not pureed. Sprinkle in the baking powder and 8 tablespoons of the flour, and pulse. You want to add enough flour so that the dough forms a small ball and no longer sticks to your hands. Turn into a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for several hours.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and spray well with olive oil. Form the chickpea mixture into small balls and then flatten slightly into a disk and place on cookie sheet. Once all are on sheet spray the tops with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes a side.

While they bake, mix together yogurt, lemon juice, salt, garlic and set a side.

Serve in warm pitas with all your chopped fixings and topped with yogurt sauce.

Pizza (we ordered in), Salad, Chocolate Cake with Kahlua Whip Cream and Ice Cream

We bought a  new vehicle today. It's very funny because this is the second vehicle that we have bought together, the first since we have had kids. The first vehicle we bought was small, light in colour (inside and out) with a pretty small trunk - what did it matter it was just us? This one is larger and has a dark interior (which is a must with little ones), has lots of  storage and what excited us the most is, the back seats flip up to become booster seats, times have changed!

Recipe

I actually don't have any dinner recipes for you tonight. We ordered pizza, my cousin brought a salad which was really good - it had blueberries, spinach, pea pods, grape tomatoes, roasted soy nuts and sunflower seeds, and then I made a cake - it was for a birthday. I was looking online for a chocolate cake recipe and was having trouble choosing when I came across this recipe for Chocolate Truffle Cake or From the Bottom of My Heart Cake from Shoots and Roots. She tells the story about how once her mom's friend helped her mom cut their lawn in the backyard that was three ft. high. To thank her she made her this cake and ever since in their family they make this cake as a thank you to anyone who goes above and beyond.

(The original recipe was the Chocolate Truffle Cake from the Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook)

Crust

1 cup pecans toasted and coarsely ground

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

Filling

1 cup whipping cream

Two 8oz packages of semisweet chocolate chips or 16 oz of other high quality semisweet or dark chocolate, cut up

6 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

To make the crust stir the crust ingredients together in a bowl until well mixed. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 9 inch spring form pan with butter and press the crust into the bottom. Set aside.

Warm the whipping cream in a double boiler over low heat. Add the chocolate and stir gently until the chocolate is completely melted and combined with the whipping cream. It should look smooth as silk. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven to 325F. Add the eggs, sugar, and flour to a large mixing bowl and beat together with a mixer for ten minutes. It will change color and texture becoming a thick and smooth pale lemon yellow.

Fold 1/4 of the egg mixture into the chocolate then fold all the chocolate into the egg mixture. Folding them together this way helps retain the air we spent ten minutes whipping into the eggs while also bringing the temperature of the warm chocolate and cool eggs closer together. Pour into your prepared pan. 

Bake at 325F for about 45 minutes. The edges and halfway to the center should be puffed up. The center should be slightly soft and jiggly.  Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes.  Remove the sides of the pan and let cool until room temperature before moving to the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours. Serve with whipped cream. Store leftovers covered and in the refrigerator.

I served the cake with a little ice cream and whipping cream. I added a little Kahlua to the whip cream for the adults.

BBQ Salmon, Sauteed Peppers, Onions and Asparagus, Ziti Salad, Spinach and Strawberry Salad and Leftover Chocolate Cake
I went to a wedding shower today and you should have seen the food. It was incredible, not your typical dainty sandwiches that I'm use to (and absolutely love) but mountains of perogies, meatballs, potatoes, salads with two full tables of desserts. It made me wonder, is there really anything better than a perogy? I remember when I worked for the Winnipeg Folk Festival and Jackie Green's manager came into the office and asked, "What were those things we had for supper?" I told him they were perogies and he declared they were the best thing he's ever tasted, I believed him. There is something so comforting and delicious about perogies and I'm not even Ukrainian. I think that I need to put them on the menu for next Friday's dinner. I may even make them myself - let me know if you have a really great recipe.

I keep meaning to bring my camera to Sunday dinner and take pictures of the lovely meals but keep forgetting. I must try and remember for next Sunday.

I wish you all a happy week!