A Fair and a Wedding!

Weekly Menu
Monday: Leftovers
Tuesday: Broccoli Bean Soup and Toast
Wednesday: Mushroom Burgers and Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
Thursday: Egg Burritos
Friday: Dinning at the Fair?
Saturday: Going to a Wedding
Sunday: BBQ Salmon, Mango Salsa, Potato, Corn on the Cob, Salad and Bread with Vanilla Ice Cream and Strawberries

Weekly Pantry List
Fresh garlic, olive oil, milk (1 cup), thyme, 2 slices of whole wheat bread (to make fresh bread crumbs), chili spice, pickles.

Weekly Grocery List
eggs
Cheddar Cheese (1 1/2 cup grated)
2 onion + 1 small
1 red onion
1 bunch of broccoli
Sweet potatoes (1 1/2 lbs)
1 potato + 2
8 oz mushrooms + 1/2 cup
Jalapeno pepper
1 red or yellow pepper + 1 red pepper
4 tomatoes
Cilantro
Fresh parsley
2 limes
1 can of navy beans
1 can of black beans
Veggie stock
Whole wheat buns
Whole wheat wraps
3/4 cup bulgur

If you are making the burritos without the leftover sweet potato salad.

Leftovers
So I put a bunch of my cookbooks in a garage sale this weekend, and then Dave came home from the library book sale with 17 new ones, this is actually more than I gave away. I'm addicted to cookbooks and Dave's addicted to the Library book sale. I think that since we got ereaders and he's less interested in books for us to read he feels he needs to fill that bag with cookbooks. We’re total enablers. Among the cookbooks was French Women for All Seasons, by the same author of French Women Don't Get Fat (which I never read), and it completely intrigued me. I've only read the first chapter and briefly flipped through some of the recipes but what I've picked up from her philosophy so far has really resonated with me. Essentially it's if you enjoy food while you're eating it, you'll eat less. I though about this throughout the day today, especially as I was mindlessly filling the hunger void by munching on beans while I made the girls lunch. When I sat down to mine and only had a sandwich with no beans to munch on the side I was very disappointed. It seems like we are in such a rush to eat our food and get on with the next task that we don't really pay attention to what we're eating or how much. This week I'm going to try and make a point of setting my utensils down between each bite, take my time to eat and enjoy my food each time I eat it, instead of trying to desperately fill the void of hunger and being left with the not hungry anymore feeling, but not really satisfied either...although, will I have to start eating at 4:30 in order to make it out the door for soccer at 6:00?

Recipe
I feel bad because there's never really anything exciting for Monday dinner, it's usually leftovers but if I leave them in the fridge I will slowly go crazy trying to get them used up before they go bad. So we had so much left from last night that we had it again tonight.

Broccoli and Bean Soup
Hannah loves gum. She loves it, I think that she may even take it over candy. This may be because she was denied it up until last Halloween, I'm not sure. My friend says that her children are also obsessed with gum and so perhaps it's just an age thing. Today at the grocery store she asked if we could buy some gum and I let her pick up a few Hubba Bubba from the bulk bin, you know the ones with cartoons in them...really bad cartoons. She always gets that kind because it's one of the only kinds that I can find that doesn't have aspartame in it, even though I'm quite certain that it's no better for you. She's allowed to have some when Harper naps and she cracks me up because she doesn't eat the whole piece she breaks pieces off and then after about 2 minutes well say, "Well, this piece is out of flavour! Better get a new one!" She's completely right, that gum has about 10 seconds of flavour but she spends more time throwing her gum in the garbage and breaking off a new piece than she actually does chewing and yet she couldn't be happier.

Recipe 
It's rainy and cool today (I know big surprise) and so I made some soup. I love this soup because the kids love it and it has beans in it so I feel like they're getting good substance from it even if we only have it with toast. It from Cook's Own Vegetarian Dishes and I have really just slightly altered it.

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, pressed
4 cups coarsely chopped broccoli (about a bunch)
2 1/2 cups veggie stock

1 potato, peeled and diced
1 cup canned navy beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat and cook onions and garlic until soft. Add broccoli, stock, potato, beans and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the veggies are soft.

Transfer to a food processor, or using  a hand blender, puree until desired consistency and return to saucepan. Stir in cheese, milk salt and pepper until cheese melts and serve right away.

We had this with lightly buttered toast and it was warm and delicious!

Bulgur and Mushroom Burgers with Roasted Sweet Potato Salad
The sun was shinning today but it was still cool and the girls opted to play inside most of the day. Usually I would kick them out the door on such a sunny day but, they really do happily play outside all day long on nice days that I thought I'd let it slide. Plus they were playing with the doll house and I love listening to Hannah role play, well except when she makes the mom be grumpy or mean or something because I'm pretty sure I know where she gets the idea and it puts my whole parenting self esteem into a free fall where I feel like the worst Mother in the world and worry that I'm completely and totally screwing up my kids, luckily that didn't happen today (it really sucks when it does...errr, I mean that never happens, everything is always perfect and rosy here). What I especially love to listen to is how she makes her dolls talk like she's reading a book, "Oh, my goodness! She cried, I didn't know we were going to a fair!" I just love it!

Recipe
The burgers are from Canadian Living and were really tasty. They did not hold together very well and perhaps a second egg would have helped, but then you run the risk of them being too gooey. I've just come to realize that often veggie burgers don't hold together but they still taste super yummy piled on a bun. The recipe said it made four burgers but they were really big and next time I will make them into six burgers. Hannah ate a whole burger, which was really quite shocking because they were really big, and then had some of the leftovers for lunch (she rarely eats leftovers for lunch).

The salad recipe comes from The New York Times. If you're debating on whether to make this or not, I'm saying make it. The kids were so so on it but I loved it. You could eat it as a main salad with some fresh veggies on the side if you wanted and it would be a really great change to bring to a BBQ, especially if you're the only veg head and going to just eat the fixings!

Burgers:

Whole wheat buns
3/4 cup bulgur
1 egg, beaten
1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
2 cups (8 oz) finely chopped mushrooms
1/4 cup dry white wine or veggie stock
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp crumbled dried thyme

Place bulgur in heatproof bowl. Cover with 1 cup (250 ml) boiling water; let stand until doubled in bulk, about 20 minutes. Mix in egg, bread crumbs and parsley; set aside.

Meanwhile, in skillet, heat oil over medium heat; fry onion and garlic until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in chopped mushrooms, wine, salt, pepper and thyme; cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until liquid is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown, about 8 minutes.

Scrape mushroom mixture over bulgur mixture; stir to combine. Shape into four 3/4-inch (2 cm) thick patties.

Cook over medium low heat in a lightly oiled pan with the lid on for about 6 minutes a side. I grilled our buns on the BBQ and then fixed the burgers  with tomato, pickle, grainy mustard and a little mayonnaise.

Salad:

4 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 pounds), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

1 large onion, preferably red, chopped
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons minced fresh hot chili, like jalapeno
1 clove garlic, peeled
Juice of 2 limes
2 cups cooked black beans, drained (canned are fine)
1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro.

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Put sweet potatoes and onions on a large baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, toss to coat and spread out in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast, turning occasionally, until potatoes begin to brown on corners and are just tender inside, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven; keep on pan until ready to mix with dressing.

Put chilies in a blender or mini food processor along with garlic, lime juice, remaining olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Process until blended.

Put warm vegetables in a large bowl with beans and bell pepper; toss with dressing and cilantro. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve warm or at room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day.

Egg Burritos
It's funny how kids get stuck on certain things. Harper right now is stuck on this monster book. I have no idea where this book came from but it's a lift the flap book about a monster chasing and searching for a little girl (I know it sounds awful) and in every flap you can see the little girl running away until finally there's a page with a huge monster mouth that says, "GOT YOU!" and then the little girl laughs and says now it's your turn to hide. Not only is it scary to start but, the little girl's a cheat - you don't get to run away and change hiding spots during a game of hide and seek but Harper loves it and wants us to read it over and over to her. She's actually asked me to sing it to her when she goes to sleep at night. I believe it's also responsible for her creeping around the house and randomly jumping at you and yelling, "MONSTER!" in a little gravely voice.

Recipe

Whole wheat wraps
Eggs
Grated cheese
Tomato
Cilantro
Pepper
Mushrooms
Onion
Potatoes
Olive oil
Chili Spice

Or use up any leftover roasted sweet potato salad you may have from last night.

I don't really think that there's a recipe for egg burritos, you need to just add what you like. I cooked up some scrambled eggs and added a little white cheddar in at the end, then I added some of the leftover sweet potato salad from last night, tomato and cilantro. Alternatively, if I hadn't had any salad left, I would have roasted some potatoes, tossing them with a little chili spice and olive oil, and tossed them in with some sauteed onions, peppers and mushrooms and a little salsa and tossed it all in a warm wrap. These are great for soccer night because wraps are fairly quick to eat and we're never as organized as I think we're going to be.

Fair Food?

We went to the Niverville fair tonight and ate fair food for dinner. Friday nights you pay $12 and can get a bunch a food from vendors, most of these involve some sort of meat and is maybe not the best deal for a veg head but it was still fun (plus I made up for it later by almost eating an entire bucket of mini donuts, shh don't tell). The fair was great, there were so many different rides for the kids (there was also big rides) and I loved watching all their little faces light up as they went around and around. Harper went on her first ride ever, we started with the merry-go-round and she bawled when we got on because the man took her tickets, then loved the ride, then bawled when we had to get off, she's a ride kid. We stayed to watch the fireworks which were amazing, seriously I'm not usually a fireworks kind of girl but these were so great! Hannah had this look of sheer glee as she watched the colors explode in the sky above us. We put the girls in their pjs and they fell asleep on the ride home and Dave and I each carried a sleeping girl up to bed.

We're Going to a Wedding

I love the expressions that kids pick...or almost pick up. We were driving in the car the other day and Hannah says to me, "Wow mom, that girl is super connected!" "Connected?" "Yeah mom, connected she's listening to music, riding her bike, and holding on to a leash with a dog on it without even falling!"..."Do you mean coordinated?"

Or in the tub, she had filled up an old shampoo bottle with water and was shaking it and singing, "Shake it, shake it, shake it like a polar bear riser!" (shake it like a Polaroid picture).

She really cracks me up! We're going to a wedding today and the girls are staying with my parents for the night, fingers crossed (this is Harper's first night away).

BBQ Salmon, Mango Salsa, Potato, Corn on the Cob, Salad and Bread with
Vanilla Ice Cream and Strawberries

Harper did pretty good last night but Hannah was exhausted today. They slept in the same bed and I think that Hannah felt responsible for Harper and did some night time parenting throughout the night. She then woke up at 4:15 for the day. What a cutie, her eyes were as big as saucers tonight at my parents for supper.

It was such a glorious day today. I was a little tired from the wedding, we actually stayed and danced until the end, it was very fun! This morning was slightly rough going although the extra sleep in and no children did really help a lot. Once the girls got home and we were finally all organized (we may have had to go pick up our car at the hotel) Dave made pancakes on the BBQ side grill and we all sat outside and ate pancakes and fruit on the deck.

I hope you have a great week and the sun shines down on you!