Tuesday: Roasted Veggies Sandwiches
Wednesday: I Took the Night Off
Thursday: Wild Mushroom Ricotta Eggs with Roasted Potatoes and Honey Dew Melon
Friday: Veggies Burgers
Pasta Salad
I know I've mentioned Hannah's loose tooth and my angst about the whole thing, well today was the day. I was out front, suddenly horrified by the weeds growing up between my patio stone walkway to the front door, trying to quickly pull them up and I hear Hannah at the front door saying, "I lost my tooth!" I come up to see and as I'm standing there talking to her she faints, hits the door knob and then does a few little shaky convulsions. Now, for those of you that don't know, Hannah faints. They're called pallid spells and sometimes when she gets hurt, possibly mixed with other factors like fatigue or hunger...or not, her little body has a hard time handling it and she faints. It has happened close to a dozen times since she was just over one. It's a very normal thing and she'll grow out of it. Having said that, it still sends me into a complete panic every time it happens. I lose all sensation in my knees and my heart beats so fast I'm pretty sure you can see it through my shirt. She's usually out for a few seconds (which feels like an eternity) and when she comes to, I try my best to catch my breath and act like I'm not in a mad panic. She recovers quickly and is usually off and running. So after she woke up from fainting she called both sets of grandparents to tell them about her lost tooth. Dave then suggested to her that she go look in the mirror at the hole the tooth left behind in her mouth. Hannah climbed up on the counter, opened her mouth and looked in the mirror. She then said, "It makes me feel sick...I have to throw up!" and spent the next few minutes with her head hung over the toilet (but didn't vomit in the end). So, loosing teeth is apparently not for the faint of heart...except that the prospect of the Tooth Fairy coming seems to be able to make up for anything. Recipe
It's 34 degrees out today, too hot to cook. So I put together this pasta salad inspired by Mike's salad the other week.
1 500 g pkg fresh whole wheat five cheese tortellini, prepared according to package directions
1 each baby red, yellow, orange peppers chopped
6 sweet cocktail tomatoes, chopped
1 cob of corn, kernels removed - raw, it is nice and sweet
5 baby cucumbers, chopped
1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
1/2 cup kalamata and green olives, chopped
Boccachino cheese, chopped (I only had about 6 little balls)
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 19 oz can of lentils, drained and rinsed
Newman's Own LIGHT Roasted Garlic Balsamic, to taste
Mix all the ingredients together with a little dressing, taste and add more dressing if you need. The pictures really don't do the yummyness of this salad justice - it was perfect for a hot day.
Roasted Veggie Sandwiches and Fruit
It's hot, hot, hot. We were suppose to have a family picnic at the park but it's too hot. Luckily my cousin and his family offered their house and pool for all of us. We all brought our own picnic dinner and splashed and played in the pool. It was really wonderful to look around and see my Grandma surrounded by most of her children, while others milled about and most of my cousins were in the pool with their kids. Dave came later and my girls (and therefore me) were in the pool for almost two hours, I'm not complaining though given the heat and the excitement of all the kids this was the spot to be.
Recipe
1 eggplant, thinly sliced in rounds
1 zucchini, thinly sliced in rounds
3 sweet red peppers, roasted and sliced in stripes
1 portobello mushroom, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/3 cup olive oil
4 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
1/3 cup feta cheese
1 whole wheat baguette
Hummus
Marinate eggplant, red onion, zucchini, and mushroom in olive oil, vinegar, garlic and a sprinkle of salt and pepper in the fridge over night, stirring a couple times.
In the morning or early afternoon, roast your red peppers and grill your veggies in a grilling basket on the BBQ over medium heat for 30 to 40 minutes until soft and slightly browned in spots. Mix in the feta while it is still warm.
Cut your baguette lengthwise, spread with hummus and pile on the veggies, close it up, cut into individual sizes and wrap each one tightly with cling wrap and put in the fridge or leave on the counter for a few hours before eating (this gives the veggie juices time to soak into the bread a little but not make it soggy).
I Took the Night Off
Sometimes, for no rhyme or reason, we just hit one of those days where there's no patience left in the bank and we have nothing left to give. We all know those days where we long to be selfish and live only for ourselves, needing only to fulfil what we need and not worry about anyone else. It's o.k. to have those days...right? I ask, but I know that it's not only o.k. but actually necessary to be able to give all that we can to our children and families (including ourselves) all those other days. Today was one of those days. It didn't seem like it should have been, I have been living the high life lately with my sister watching my girls in the mornings so I can run, with Ruby visiting and my cousin on holidays my girls have had friends to play with all the time leaving my job relatively easy, but still I needed something today.
When I came out of the shower to Hannah saying, "Mom, Harper's writing on the walls with a pen!" something inside just kind of snapped...actually more like crumbled. I wanted to muster up the patience to deal with this maturely and properly but I came down to see her standing at the wall with a pen in one hand and a pencil in the other and as I told her to stop and starting walking towards her, she, in a mad panic, scribbled as much as she could before I reached her and took the pen and pencil away. I then gave her a choice to sit on the couch or help me clean up the marks. She chose to help (damn!). You know, it doesn't actually come off the wall easily, even with a microfiber cloth, which I gave her while I used an eraser to erase the pencil off. She kept saying to me, "Pease I use dat eraser?" and I kept answering, "No."..."Pease we share dat eraser?" "No."..."Peeeeeassssse" "No." This continued on and on until finally I had gotten all the pencil off and decided that the pen was not coming off.
Luckily for me I have this amazing support system and when I mom found out what kind of day I was having she and my dad took the kids for awhile so I could nap, this was after Dave had called and heard about the day and suggested I go out tonight, and when I called my cousin and asked if she was available she called back and said, "YES!!" (she may have needed a little time too). I am so grateful for these people and for my little ones who seem to forgive my crankiness, and didn't even want me to go out (which I don't entirely get, because I was very cranky and not very much fun to be around).
Recipe
My mom had brought over some pasta salad which Dave added chickpeas to and they all had for dinner. I went to East India Company for dinner and again, wasn't able to make it past the samosas on the buffet...perhaps next time I need to start from the other end.
Wild Mushroom Ricotta Eggs with Roasted Potatoes and Honey Dew Melon
It's amazing what a night off can do. I woke up full of patience and could feel how my energy had transformed to light and positive. I went to the beach today with my cousin and her three kids, plus one friend, and Hannah and Harper. It was really the perfect beach day, not too hot but hot enough to go in the water. The kids had a blast. The two older boys spent most of the day catching tad poles with a net and the younger ones soon caught on to the idea. Hannah was so adorable with a bucket which she would fill with water and then slowly dump out looking to see if she'd caught a fish, making the awww shucks body movements when there wasn't one in the bucket - I love her so much. Harper is now full on into the water, swimming around in her life jacket to the point that I had to actually drag her out (well, carry - not drag) of the water so I could pack up and get going, she complained about it half of the way home until she fell asleep mid cry - awww bliss!
Recipe
I was going to make a frittata but somehow lost the recipe I was going to use and didn't really have the energy or time to make another. So I just scrambled the eggs and they turned out really nice with some roasted potatoes and honey dew melon on the side.
3/4 cup Ricotta cheese (skim milk)
2 handfuls of mixed wild mushrooms, sliced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 tsp thyme
2 cloves garlic, pressed
a little Romano or Parmesan cheese for grating
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil
Heat a glugg of olive oil in a pan and cook onion until soft, remove and add mushrooms cooking until soft, adding the garlic and thyme in at the end.
Beat the eggs and cheese together until smooth. Spray a pan with olive oil and add the eggs, cooking over medium low heat, stirring until cooked, add in the mushrooms and onion and cook a minute or two until it's all warm. Grate a little Romano or Parmesan cheese over the top.
Serve with roasted potatoes and fruit.
Veggies Burgers
I've skipped a day, it is actually Saturday because we spent last night at children's hospital with Hannah. It all started in the morning; she woke up yelling and screaming about how her back hurt. We couldn't even touch her she was in so much pain. She kept yelling, "I want medicine, make it better!" while Dave and I tried to assess what was actually wrong. At one point we just kind of stood there dazed as she cried and kind of even foamed at the mouth a little (while Harper was sound asleep an arm's length from her). Dave then suggested a water bottle and I walked out into the hall and kind of looked up and down in a daze because I didn't have a clue where to look for the water bottle. I went back in to the room and Hannah got up to vomit in the toilet and luckily my senses returned to me. I helped her to her own bed, gave her some Tylenol and stayed with her as she fell back asleep. The day then progressed like a regular sick day...except different. She layed on the couch and watched T.V., had a fever of 100F with Tylenol on board but kept complaining about having pain in her back, on her side and under her arm pit. She also asked to the turn the T.V. off three times to have a sleep, my child does not do this. Her T.V. watching is limited and so when she's sick, she actually kind of gets excited about being able to watch T.V. and will force herself to stay awake to watch. She may fall asleep with a show on (rarely) but when you creep over to turn it off or at least mute it (how much Umizoomi can one women listen to?) she'll wake up and say, "Mama, I'm still watching that." But Friday, she turned it off, like I said, she was sick but differently. My mom came by and checked her and suggested we get her checked out to make sure she didn't have an infection that was causing the pain. So off to Children's Hospital we went. They were really wonderful there, and when her white blood cell count came back abnormally high (40 - if that means anything to you) they called for a surgical consult, put her on antibiotics, gave her a CT and our overnight fate was sealed. I have to say I was very concerned, but not crazy worried that there was going to be something terribly wrong. It was looking into Hannah's tired, fevered little face as she kept asking me, "when can we go home?" that truly broke my heart. When we finally crawled into bed together after being emitted around 1 am I don't think I could have cuddled that little monkey in any closer without suffocating her. In the morning Hannah seemed to be on the mend, we read Charlotte's Web together while waiting for the doctors to check her and Dave to come back (with coffee). They determined that it was viral and we were happily sent home.
It is now bedtime and Hannah is upstairs brushing her teeth after a day of taking it easy (a.k.a watching T.V), giggling, drinking juice and eating a wide variety of foods in good healthy quantities. She is mended and we are very relieved and grateful to the wonderful staff that took care of us at Children's Hospital.
Recipe
This recipe is from the wonderful blog of Catherine Newman, I want to actually just make the bulgur part one night with a few added veggies it's so tasty, and they were delicious. I loved the texture and taste. Dave like the tasted but was not wild about the nutty texture.
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| Dave's parents gave me these little bowls in my stocking at Christmas, I love them because it makes me feel like I'm on a cooking show when I use them. |
1 Tbsp olive oil plus more for frying
Kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
3/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 cup bulgur
1 cup water
1/2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 cup canned pinto beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup walnuts
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves and stems, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup mayonnaise
Zest and juice of 1 large lime
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
Pulse the bulgur mixture, pintos, walnuts, cilantro, 1/2 tsp kosher salt and a few grindings of black pepper in a food processor until finely chopped. Form the mixture into 5 patties. Chill them for at least 10 minutes and up to a couple hours (or abandon them the night before and head out to the hospital, they were still good the next night). While patties chill, whisk together the mayonnaise, lime juice and zest, smoked paprika and 1/2 tsp salt.
Cook the burgers in a greased pan or griddle until browned on both sides, about 10 minutes. We then topped ours with fried onions, the sauce, pickles and slices of tomatoes (I realize that this paragraph is in a different font - I can't seem to change it for some reason and have gotten very frustrated, so I've decided to just go with it - it does make it look like there is something very important or interesting here though, doesn't it?).
We are heading out to the lake tomorrow morning (as long as everyone is healthy) and I won't able to connect online until Tuesday and therefore am going to post this early without Sunday's post.
Have a great week, I hope the sun shines down on you!
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