Subdued by the Flu

Monday: Falafel
Tuesday: Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Eggplant Balls
Wednesday: Mussels, Sweet Potato Fries, Garden Beans and Salad
Thursday: Migas and Fruit
Friday: Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza and Tomato and Artichoke Pizza
Saturday: Wild Mushroom Risotto with Pickerel
Sunday: Spicy Chickpea Stew with Corn on the Cob, Rocky Road Square and Vanilla Ice Cream

Falafel

The flu is continuing to run through my children and I'm quite certain that Harper will get the fever tonight, she seems to be two nights behind Hannah. We all got very little sleep last night with both girls waking often, Harper every 20 to 30 minutes, and Dave had to work late tonight. Remarkably we had a really good day today despite all the sickness and tiredness. We played a lot of Lego and read a lot of stories, played in the backyard and had a picnic and I still managed to get the back laundry area clean, sort through and reorganize the toys down here as well as get a few loads of laundry done. I was marveling to Dave at how well today went, how balanced I felt. Dave just shook his head and laughed because when he asked Hannah what she did today she said nothing, watched mom clean...seriously? Apparently we don't see the balance in the same way.

At dinner tonight Harper was in fine form. Hannah was trying to tell me something but every time she'd start to tell me Harper would yell, "Mommy, look at me, this is me sipping my water!" "Mommy, look at me, this is me chewing my food!" with very exaggerated head bobs and a lot of mmmmm noises and singing. "Mommy, look at me, this is me NOT playing with my straw!" Poor Hannah all she wanted to tell me was that she was not very hungry, she was very patient.

Recipe
We had falafel tonight which you can find in this post.

Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Eggplant Balls
Cozy blankets permanently parked on the couch, extra Kleenex boxes throughout the house, Charlotte's Web splayed open on the back of the couch, markers and half drawn pictures on the kitchen table, a half played game of memory on the floor in the family room and the sound of two little girls coughing in their sleep...the flu is still here. It was another sleepless night as Harper got the fever last night and Hannah continued to cough throughout the night. Today was another slow day around here full of quiet games, T.V. and lots of books. Hannah seems to be on the mend but her energy is still low and she is still coughing like crazy, Harper had the worst of it today. She was really so sad. She wondered around in a constant fragile state with tears and snot covering her face saying, "Pease you play membory with me?" We would play a couple times and then part way through the third game she's get distracted by nursing or a book and the whole thing would start over a few minutes later when she realized that she was no longer playing memory, poor Harper.

Recipe
I had an eggplant left from last week that needed to be cooked today and so I made the eggplant balls from MidwestVeg.com . I will definitely make them again, they added a nice texture and taste to the pasta but I would add a little more seasoning to them. I would add three times the amount of onion, another clove of garlic and maybe even a few red pepper flakes to the eggplant mixture the next time I make it. Here is the recipe unaltered.

Eggplant Balls:

1 large eggplant, peeled, diced

2 Tbsp onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp parsley
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, beaten
Preheat oven 375F.
Combine the panko, nutritional yeast, oregano, parsley and salt in a food processor. Pulse until fine and well combined. Dump into a medium-large mixing bowl and set aside.

In a large non-stick skillet saute the onion for about 5 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds to a minute. Add to the breadcrumb mixture.

Using the same pan saute the eggplant for about 15 minutes or until soft. Allow to cool.

Dump the eggplant into food processor and process until smooth and sort of pasty. Add to breadcrumb/onion mixture. Add the egg and mix well. Form balls using a measured tablespoon and roll into balls. Place balls onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper lightly sprayed with cooking spray. I sprayed the tops of them as well. Bake for 20–25 minutes at 375° flipping half way through to ensure even browning.

Tomato Sauce
Olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp oregano
28 oz tin of whole tomatoes
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of spinach, chopped (optional)

In a sauce pan heat a good glugg of olive oil over medium low heat and saute garlic and oregano a minute or two, until fragrant add in the tin of tomatoes and let simmer on low for 25 minutes (leave the tomatoes whole). After the sauce has simmered break up the tomatoes (I use kitchen scissors right in the pot) and add the red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the spinach if using a couple minutes before serving.

I served the eggplant balls and sauce over some shell pasta - I think I would have used whole wheat rigatoni for this but, we only had white shells in the house and with the girls sick I couldn't venture out to get anything else.

Mussels, Sweet Potato Fries, Garden Beans and Salad
I was annoyed with Hannah today. It wasn't really her fault, she doesn't understand the complicatedness that makes up my brain. There are some things that just aren't logical, yet I still want them that way. Like how I teach Harper to say new words all the time, pronouncing them so that she can repeat them, but when Hannah tried to correct Harper's pronunciation of wove to love today I asked her to stop. "Why? She doesn't say it right and we need to help her learn how to say things...that's part of our job mooooom." Hmmm, how did she get so clever? I tried to explain the wanting my babies to stay little, while still wanting them to grow up strong...and then I looked at her puzzled little face and said, "You're right, it's our job to help her learn." So Hannah continued all day to try and teach Harper to say love instead of wove. I put Harper to bed tonight and when we finished reading stories I gave her a hug and kiss and told her I loved her and she turned to me, cuddled in and said, "I wove you mommy." Safe for another day.

Recipe
I love mussels and so do the rest of us. I made them for Father's Day dinner and it made me realize that they are simple, relatively cheap (compared to other fish or seafood - $6.99 for 900g) and a crowd pleaser - so why not make them more often? Dave worked late and didn't eat with us, when he came up from eating later in the evening he said, "Those were different than last time, weren't they?" I chuckled, "Yes, those were weekday mussels...there's no cream in weekday mussels." If you're looking for a more decadent mussel recipe try this one here, but these were very tasty and weekday safe.

Mussels

2 900g packages of mussels (these were already scrubbed and debearded), rinsed
1/2 small white onion, chopped
2 sticks of celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1/2 cup veggie stock or white wine (I used a combo of both)
olive oil

In a large soup pot heat a little olive oil and saute onion and celery for five minutes, add garlic and saute 30 seconds and then add fennel and saute another 30 seconds. Turn heat to high and add stock/wine and mussels, put the lid on and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, mussels should look mostly open when ready. Take out and serve, any mussels that did not open discard.

Sweet Potato Fries
3 sweet potatoes (I found some that were actually not giant, if you only find the giant ones, one would probably do just fine)
salt
olive oil

Preheat oven to 450F.

Peel and cut sweet potatoes into thin fry like strips. Toss with olive oil and a little salt and lay out on a parchment lined baking sheet in one layer. Bake for about 20 minutes (depending on thickness of fries), flipping once halfway through.

I just steamed the garden beans and we ate them naked - mmmmm.

For the salad I tossed together some arugula, cherries, feta cheese, toasted pecans and drizzled a little balsamic and olive oil over it all.

Migas and Fruit

There are just so many questions in a day. There are the why questions which are endless, literally, I try to avoid these with the, "Why do you think?" but this sometimes backfires with an answer and then the question why to her answer which really just spirals out of control. There are very logical questions and also very clever questions where I can trace the reasoning, these always fascinate me. Then there are the questions that come out of nowhere and although I can kind of trace the reasoning they are just things that I would never, ever have though. Such as this evening, Hannah and I were continuing to read Charlotte's Web and Hannah asked me, "When cows get sick do they die?" I answered, "Probably sometimes, but I think that sometimes they can get better too, I think it depends how they are sick." to which she responded, "I mean if they're throwing up sick."...do cows throw up? I mean I know that they regurgitate and chew...or something but do they get sick and throw up? Why don't I know this...why would I know this? Later as we were having a little cuddle and I could feel her wipe her nose on her nightie I told her to go get a Kleenex, she asked me how I knew she'd used her nightie to which I responded I that I was her mom and I knew everything. Hannah thought about this for awhile and said, "Well, maybe half of everything, you actually didn't know about the cows."

Recipe
Have you ever heard of migas? I'd never heard of them, but I think that the original recipe would be really yummy, I altered it a little (mostly omitting the deep frying part and using milk instead of heavy cream) and it was still yummy, a nice alternative to egg burritos. I found the recipe from Scarletta Bakes.

8 large eggs

1/4 cup milk
1 cup yellow onion, diced (approximately one small yellow onion)
3/4 cup jalapeno, minced
3  Tbsp. garlic, fresh, minced
4- 5″ corn tortillas
Olive oil
1 1/2 cup plum tomatoes, diced
1 cup queso fresco, grated (you may substitute feta or any other sharp, salty cheese)
1 tsp. black pepper, ground
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cumin, ground

Preheat broiler

To prepare the corn strips, cut the tortillas in half and then slice them into thin strips (1/2 – 3/4″ wide). Coat a baking sheet with olive oil and lay strips on sheet in one layer, spraying the tops with oil. Broil in oven for a few minutes until crispy, flip and toast the other side as well.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl and whisk in milk, salt, pepper and cumin. Setl and whisk in milk, salt, pepper and cumin. Set the egg mixture aside.

Meanwhile, in another large sauté pan, warm a little olive oil over medium heat and sauté the onion for approximately 3 minutes or until translucent and fragrant. Add the jalapeno and sauté for an additional 3 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for one more minute. Pour in your egg mixture and cook, tossing and folding as you go, until the eggs are light, fluffy and cooked through. Add the tomatoes and tortilla strips and remove from heat.

Top with grated cheese and serve immediately, we added a little salsa verde on top mostly because we're obsessed.

We had some nice cold chopped up fruit with it.

Pear with Gorgonzola and Roasted Tomato with Artichoke Pizza
There's nothing like a grandparent to spoil you a little. Really, why shouldn't they? I know that I am often a little strict about what my kids eat, I have actually mellowed a little in the past couple of years and my parents and Dave's parents have respected this...for the most part. But really, there has to be some fun spoiling sometimes, that's one of the major bonuses of having grandchildren, I would imagine. Sometimes as a parent it's great too because you get to see the excitement of it all. Like Hannah's face today when I walked over to my parents to raid my mom's herb garden at 5:00 for dinner and my Dad's standing in the kitchen dishing up two bowls of ice cream saying, "Who would like a little ice cream?" (for the record I was never actually offered any...is that because I'm his child and not his grandchild. Does the rule still apply when you're 33? Maybe I should stop by my grandma's around 5:00 tomorrow). You should have seen the size of my little rule follower's (Hannah) eyes! I went out tonight and Dave and I passed as they we sitting down to dinner and I was heading out so when I got home tonight (after waking Dave because I forgot my key) he mentioned that the girls didn't really eat a lot of pizza, mmm...that's awfully strange.

Recipe
We went to this restaurant called Brooklynn's Bistro for my mom's birthday and we had these two really great pizzas. I tried to recreate them tonight for something a little different, I think the pear one was pretty close (although, honestly my memory is not that good), the other was good but not close to what we had - I know what I would do for next time though. I bought pizza whole wheat pizza dough and divided it in half to make the two pizzas.

Gorgonzola Pizza:

2 tsp margarine
3 Tbsp flour
1/3 cup milk
25 g Gorgonzola cheese (or more or less depending how strong you like it)
1 ripe pear, sliced thinly
2-3 Tbsp walnut pieces
Chives
Arugula

Preheat oven to 450F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper and then spray with olive oil.

In a sauce pan over medium heat melt margarine and then stir in flour. Whisk in milk and stir until thickened remove from heat and crumble in cheese stirring until melted.

Stretch out half of the pizza dough and then top with cheese sauce (you may not use all of it), you want a generous coating but not overflowing. Top with pear and walnut pieces and bake for about 10 minutes, crust will be done and the cheese will begin to brown on top here and there. Remove from oven and sprinkle with a few chopped chives and some arugula.

Artichoke Pizza:

6 tomatoes, halved
6 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
olive oil
salt
1/2 can of artichoke hearts, sliced (I used the ones in water but the ones in oil would be delicious)
handful of fresh basil and oregano
1 cup of Romano cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 200F.

Coat a pan or cookie sheet with olive oil and a little salt and then place the tomatoes cut side down on the sheet and tuck in the cloves of garlic around them. Roast for 6 to 8 hours. When ready peel the garlic and toss them in a blender or processor with your tomatoes, basil and oregano and blend until fairly smooth.

Preheat oven to 450F.

Spread the second half of the dough out and top with tomato mixture, artichoke hearts and cheese. Bake until crust is crisp and cheese is melted, about 10 minutes.

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Pickerel
Harper had a meltdown this evening before supper. The kind that really just needs to happen, even when you fix the original thing that was wrong it doesn't fix it because she's too far in and really it's not about that. It's about being up early and tired, about Dave being away, about spending a great day at TinkerTown but not having enough energy to make it the last 45 minutes. It started with not wanting to clean up the markers, to wanting to clean up the markers (which were already cleaned up), to many, many other things and in the end she wanted to sit and eat dinner on my lap which we really discourage around here. She was beside herself, Hannah was sitting up on her chair eating her supper and she looked down at the mess of a puddle that was us on the floor and said, "Harper can sit on my lap and eat supper, I don't mind." man, she's cute! Eventually, Harper was all cried and cuddled out and came up to the table to eat her supper.

Recipe
Tonight at dinner Hannah says to Harper, trying to encourage her to eat her fish, "It's pickerel fish, that's fish made from pickles - it's super yummy!" I don't usually use a recipe to make risotto anymore but I found the second pancake blog where he had all these tips about making risotto so I thought I'd try it his way. It was good...well, I think it was pretty much the same as always but good. I didn't follow his tips exactly though, he suggests using carnaroli instead of arbrio rice which I am curious to try, but already had arbio in the cupboard. He also added in some butter at the end with the cheese which I'm sure makes it really good but maybe a little unnecessary?

3 cups of stock
olive oil

1 shallot, diced finely
2 cloves of garlic, diced finely
2/3 cup of arbrio rice
A splash of dry white wine
1/3 cup Parmesan, grated
15 g dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated and chopped
2 handfuls of whatever fresh mushrooms you like (a mixture is good), sliced medium-thickness
1 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped roughly
Squeeze of lemon juice
Salt & black pepper to taste

Pickerel fillets

Bring the stock to a simmer, and pour a small amount of the hot stock aside into a cup with the porcini mushrooms to rehydrate, 15 to 20 minutes.

In a large pan slowly cook the shallots and garlic with a pinch of salt until they soften. Add the rice and rehydrated mushrooms to the shallots and toast on a high heat for about a minute, stirring (don't let it brown). Splash in the white wine and simmer until the alcohol has cooked away (about 30 seconds). Add the liquid from the mushrooms, leaving any sediment in the bottom of the bowl and a small pinch of salt to the rice and reduce the heat to a moderate simmer. When that liquid has absorbed, give the rice a vigorous stir and add a ladle of stock. Repeat until the rice is just cooked (it should still have some bite) and a little more soupy than desired, then remove from the heat and leave covered for 3 minutes. Vigorously stir in the cheese and season to taste.

While resting the almost finished risotto, heat a good glugg of olive oil in a pan and fry the fresh mushrooms until browned on the outside. Remove from the heat, and add the parsley and a squeeze of lemon juice. Season with salt and black pepper.

While the mushrooms are cooking heat a little olive oil in a pan over medium heat and cook the pickerel. Serve the risotto topped with mushrooms and fish.

Spicy Chickpea Stew with Corn on the Cob, Rocky Road Square and Vanilla Ice Cream
Hannah and I finished Charlotte's Web today. I was a little worried about how it was going to go over, we have actually read half the book a few times but then it kept getting forgotten and we'd start over again. We both sat on the couch and cried and cried while I tried to continue reading the final chapter...it was actually a really great moment together.

We went to my Mom and Dad's for supper and I do apologize because I thought that I had already posted this recipe but it's not here and I don't have it. I will get it and post it in next week's blog because it has become one of my major comfort foods since we became vegetarian. They make it a few times a year and I love it. I never make it myself because I feel like not having one of them make it, may take the comfort out of it for me.

I hope you have a wonderful week and the sun shines down on you (I can't believe that next time I post it will be August 28th!!!!!).