Making Costumes and Eating Treats!

Monday: Leftover Tamale Pie
Tuesday: Red Lentil Soup with Pitas
Wednesday: Portobello Sandwiches topped with Bruschetta
Thursday: Sicilian Fish Stew, Salad and Popovers (I may be addicted!)
Friday: Pizza and Salad
Saturday: Nachos and a Hockey Game
Sunday: Working Girl's Pasta

Leftover Tamale Pie
There was only decaf coffee this morning...I think that may be all I need to say. I spent the day in a total funk and I think it rubbed off on the girls. We need a do over tomorrow because this day pretty much sucked! On the up side the girls are asleep (despite the nap that Harper had at Hannah's skating lesson?) and Dave and I are about to watch the hockey game - I'm not entirely convinced that I'll be able to stay awake for the entire game.

Recipe
There was a lot of Tamale Pie leftover from the other day, which I had stuck in the freezer and was very relieved that I had today. It was even better today.

Red Lentil Soup with Pitas

Hannah dressed as Angelina Ballerina
for dance class.

We were suppose to have broccoli with this meal but when I took it out of the steamer there was a little tiny worm on it - eeeewwwww! Dave promptly looked up broccoli worms and I promptly threw the broccoli in the garbage (wasteful I know, but I just couldn't after seeing that sucker). Apparently, broccoli worms are quite common, they stick really well to the broccoli and don't often come off even if you wash it really well - I guess steaming it does the trick. The site went on to say that really if you've ever eaten any kind of processed food before, you've eaten much worse (just a little plug for cooking fresh as often as you can). Really when you think of it, we probably consume lots of pesticides and chemicals these days without even knowing it and I'm squeamish at the thought of a worm, it doesn't really make sense does it? When Hannah asked where the broccoli was and we told her what happened she said, "You threw it out, why didn't you put it outside with it's friends?" (meaning the worm) I explained that it was dead and she responded with, "Probably that worm would be happier if it was alive." Probably...

Recipe
Despite the broccoli incident (for some reason I feel like I can't use the w word in the recipe part of the blog), dinner was delicious. I love this soup because it's yummy, quick and easy and Hannah kept asking for more of the green stuff. It's from Moosewood Simple Suppers.

1 1/4 cups red lentils
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 mustard seeds (optional)
1 1/2 tsp anise or fennel seeds
1/4 to 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground ginger, or 2 Tbsp grated peeled ginger root
1 garlic clove, pressed or minced
4 cups rinsed, drained, and chopped fresh mustard greens, Swiss chard, or spinach (I used some arugula that I needed to use up)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup coconut milk

Rinse the lentils and drain. In a soup pot, bring 5 cups of water, the lentils, and salt to a boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook until tender, about 30 minutes.

While the lentils cook, warm the oil in a saucepan on medium, heat, add the mustard seeds, and cover until they pop. Stir in the anise, red pepper flakes, ginger, and garlic and cook for a minute, stirring constantly.  Add the greens and the salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the greens are just wilted.  Stir in the coconut milk and simmer for a minute. Remove from the heat.

When the lentils are soft, stir in the greens and coconut milk mixture and add salt to taste.

Portobello Sandwiches topped with Bruschetta

The sun came out for the first time today when we were picking Hannah up at the bus stop. Hannah and Harper were all ready to go play out in the backyard when we looked out the back and saw a very black sky...but it was still sunny in the front and so we hoped for the best and they went out and played. It started to rain lightly but they seemed happy and so I went to change the laundry over. When I came out and looked it was sleeting and getting stronger, the girls were hiding in the playhouse, their little faces peeking out the windows. I called them in (it was a bit of a fight to get them in) because it was coming down so hard (and shortly after there was some thunder and lightening). It later let up and the girls excitedly donned their winter boots, jackets, hats and mitts and went and played out in the snowy ice.

Recipe

These were really good, and although the mushroom and bruschetta seems like more of a summer meal we all enjoyed it.

4 Portobello mushrooms

1/4 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp Balsamic

2 Cloves of garlic

1/2 loaf of ciabatta cut crosswise and then in half to make four squares

olive oil

8 thin slices of Brie cheese

Mix together the oil, vinegar and garlic and marinate the mushrooms in it for at least half an hour before grilling over medium heat for about 15 minutes (until tender).

Grill bread with a little olive oil and then melt two pieces of brie on each piece of bread. Add the mushroom and then top with bruschetta.

3 Ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 Handful of chopped fresh basil

1 clove garlic, pressed

1 Tbsp red onion, chopped fine

salt to taste

Mix all ingredients together and let sit for at least half an hour to an hour.

For the veggies, I just roasted (at 400F) whatever I had left in the fridge with a little olive oil.

Sicilian Fish Stew, Salad and Popovers

I missed the registration for swimming this year and so Hannah was put on a waiting list for lessons. This was very disappointing because she loves swimming so much and because I feel like it's so important that she learn to swim, so it was stressing me out a little. They called yesterday to tell us that a spot opened up Thursdays at 4:30 which was a little disappointing because it means that we now actually have to go to swimming lessons Thursday at 4:30. Hannah is very happy though and I feel a little better about her not drowning.

As I was getting ready this morning there was a very sad face with a very large sticky out lip at my door, "Hannah won't wet me in her woom." So Harper climbed up in our bed while I finished getting ready in the bathroom and I could hear her playing I spy with herself. "I spy with my wittle eye something tat is wed. Is it the book? Nooo. Is it the cup?..." Once she finished her turn she then took her turn - she's so funny (don't worry I came out and played with her).

Recipe

My parents came for supper tonight and we had this stew from Moosewood Cooks at Home.

1 cup chopped onions
1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup chopped celery
1 green pepper, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves, pressed
pinch or crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp marjoram
2 cups bottled clam juice*
3 cups undrained canned tomatoes, chopped or crushed (28 oz can)
1/2 cup red wine

1/2 lb scallops, rinsed
1/2 lb shelled shrimp
Juice of 1 lemon (about 2 Tbsp)
Ground black pepper to taste

Capers (optional)
Black olives, chopped

*I couldn't find clam juice and so I used Clamato it was very tomatoey but still tasty. Dave didn't think too tomatoey, I would like to try it with clam juice or maybe using fish stock instead of Clamato. I did later find it at Safeway.

In soup pot, saute the onions in the olive oil on high heat for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the celery and bell peppers and saute, stirring for 2 minutes. Stir in garlic, crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne, oregano, basil and marjoram. Lower the heat, cover, and cook for 2 minutes. Add the clam juice, tomatoes, and wine. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the scallops and shrimp, and cook until the scallops are no longer opaque and the shrimp are just pink, about 4 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and season with pepper to taste.

Top each serving with capers and olives.

I served it popovers from this post, to which I may be a little addicted.

We also had a salad of mixed greens with toasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds, cranberries and pears drizzled with olive oil, balsamic and maple syrup.

For dessert we had pear crisp from Bake Me Blush, except I made it in a large dish instead of in little ones (although so cute I didn't have them).

6 pears, cored and sliced
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
2 tsp cinnamon
Sprinkle of nutmeg
2/3 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 375F.

Put the pears in an 8x8 baking dish.

In a bowl combine the flour, sugar, oats, cinnamon, nutmeg and melted butter. Cover the pears with the mixture and press down. Bake for 30 minutes until top is golden brown and bubbling around the edges. We had ours with frozen yogurt.

Pizza and Salad

Don't worry it's not done yet!

Hannah can be a very unique little girl (really, aren't all five year olds?). Last Halloween she had her heart set on being a pumpkin, which is actually a really hard costume to find for a four year old (easy if you're looking for a one year old). I was beginning to think...actually dread that I was going to have to try and make something, when we found this very funny costume at a second hand store that was warm and a pumpkin - Hannah fell in love with it and I was grateful that I didn't have to try and make something. This year when we asked her what she wanted to be, I kind of thought that since she was in school it would be something very popular that all the little girls were wanting to be, a princess? Strawberry Shortcake? Fairy? Dorothy? She chose a cake, she said birthday cake but as the explanation continued on she described a tiered wedding cake. Shit, I'm going to have to make something. My Mom and Dave both found one online to make that looked rather simple, and I kind of thought that Dave was going to make it but he was able to hold out longer and so I drank wine with my very good friend and cut and hot glued foam (my fingers once or twice) and cardboard to make what Hannah has decided will be a Halloween cake. I am very proud that I didn't wait until Sunday night. Although it has not yet been painted or decorated, there's still lots of time to procrastinate.

Recipe

A little while back I said I was going to try and find a really good pizza dough, there's one problem that I've realized about this quest, I hate making pizza dough. I'm not sure why, maybe because it's always Friday night and I'm tired? I don't know, but I hate doing it and so I've called off the quest and asked Dave to pick some up from Dianna's Pizza tonight.

For the salad I chopped up red onion, tomatoes, olives, cucumber, feta cheese and let it all sit together sprinkled with a little salt, pepper and oregano. I let it sit for about an hour at room temperature and then tossed in a little lettuce just before eating.

Nachos and a Hockey Game
We have a sick little one and so Harper and I laid pretty low today. She spiked a fever last night and seems to be on the mend with a very low grade fever today which means we read a lot of stories. She had a nap this afternoon while Hannah and Dave went out to get the Halloween candy and pumpkins and so I stayed in bed with her and read. By the time dinner was ready and the game was about to start she was sitting on the couch calling, "Pre-Game! Pre-Game! Go Jets Goooooo!" waiting for Dave to turn the game on. So I'm hoping for the best for tomorrow.

I just hope she's not sick for Halloween because she's so excited. In our house we buy the kid's candy (which I think is becoming quite common in lots of households) and then they can go by a toy with the money. The concept behind this is obviously so the kids don't get candy for a week, but in reality at this point it saves me and Dave. We would end up rationing the candy to a couple pieces a day for them and in the meantime we would eat it all. When I explained to Harper that she would get to go shopping and buy a toy her eyes lit up and she gave me the biggest bear hug! I hope she's well.

Recipe
I'm not entirely proud of this dinner for health reasons, but every once and awhile we have nachos for dinner and it's just so good and feels like such a treat, especially accompanied by beer and a hockey game.

The key to nachos is to do them on one layer or layer them, not dump a pile and then dress the top because you miss out on some serious good stuff. I made two single layered cookie sheets, one for us with hot peppers and one for the kids, each side tailored to them.

Preheat oven to 400F.

We used 1 bag of multigrain tortillas and topped it with the following:

Black olives, chopped
Pickled banana peppers
Black beans, rinsed and drained
Red onion, chopped fine
Cheddar cheese, grated
Mozzarella cheese, grated
Red pepper, chopped
Cilantro, chopped

We had salsa verde, refried beans and sour cream on the side for dipping.

Bring your own beer and find your own hockey game.

Working Girl's Pasta and Salad
Well, I'm really feeling like a bad mom for the nacho supper because Harper woke up this morning, had breakfast and has been throwing up since, and the last thing that nourished her body was nachos!!! On, dear. She's spent most of the day sleeping on the couch while Dave, Hannah and I have been getting ready for Halloween. Mostly by decorating Hannah's costume and carving the pumpkins. The costume is all ready to go, we're waiting and hoping that everybody's healthy tomorrow.

Recipe
This is from Jamie Oliver: Jamie's Dinners. It calls for anchovy fillets which I couldn't find at our regular grocery store and didn't make it to the market to pick some up. We had it without and quite liked it but I'm sure they add a nice salty flavour. The actual translation for this dish is Whore's Pasta, as many of you know or guessed, but maybe you don't put that title in a family cookbook and that's why he changed the name. I can just imagine what the conversation would have been tonight. "What's this called?" "What's a whore?" as Harper repeated the new word she learned, whore, everywhere and anywhere for the next week or two - yes, taking whore out of the name was probably a safe decision.

1 handful of fresh basil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
zest and juice of 1 lemon
olive oil
2 - 8 oz tuna steaks, chopped into bite size chunks or 2 cans of good quality tuna, packed in oil, drained

14 oz penne or spaghetti
8 anchovy fillets
2 cloves garlic, peeled and pressed
2 handfuls of soaked capers
1 handful of black olives, chopped
1 - 3 small dried chillies, crumbled to your taste, or 1 fresh red chilli deseeded and finely sliced
2 handfuls of really ripe tomatoes. finely chopped
optional: a swig of white wine
a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Smash the basil to a pulp with a pinch of salt and pepper. Add the lemon zest and juice and 2 good gluggs of olive oil. Mix this up and either rub over your chopped fresh tuna or mix with your broken up canned tuna and allow to marinate.

Get a large pan of salted boiling water on and cook the pasta according to the package instructions. As soon as you put the pasta on, put 3 or 4 good gluggs of olive oil into a large frying pan and put on the heat. As the pan starts to get warm, add your anchovy fillets and allow them to melt. At this point add your garlic, capers, olives and chilli and stir around for a couple of minutes. If you have used fresh tuna, add it to the pan now with all of the marinating juices and sear it on both sides. When done, add the tomatoes and a little swig of white wine if you have some. If you have used canned tuna, add it to the pan at the same time as the tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then simmer for around 5 minutes, stirring regularly, breaking up the tuna into smaller pieces. Correct the seasoning with salt and pepper.

The pasta should now be ready, so drain it in a colander, reserving some of the cooking liquid. Toss the hot pasta with the hot tuna sauce, add the parsley and mix well. you may need a few more gluggs of olive oil and a spoonful of cooking water to make the sauce nice and loose.

May the sun shine down on you this week and may you have a Happy Halloween!

Fall, fall, fall.

Monday: Eggplant Pasta
Tuesday: Red Bean and Rosemary Soup with Popovers and Salad
Wednesday: Honey Mustard Pecan Crusted Pickerel with Risotto and Brussel Sprouts
Thursday: Tamale Pie
Friday: Date Night
Saturday: Quiche with Caramelized Onions, Brie and Sage
Sunday: Shrimp, Steamed Broccoli, Baked Potato, Roasted Carrots Red Peppers and Onions, Salad, Bread and Fruit with Chocolate

Eggplant Pasta
Hannah started skating lessons today. She did so well, she fell a lot but kept popping back up...well until the last few minutes you could see her slowing down on those popups, taking her time to roll onto her knees and then slowly pushing herself up, but who could blame her? Her pour little tushy, but she can't wait to go back next week, kids have such great perseverance.

Recipe
This recipe is from Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Dinners: The Essential Family Cookbook and is a favorite around here. It's really easy, pretty quick and everybody likes it. It's usually made with penne which is ideal, but tonight I made it with what was leftover in the cupboard, spaghettini.

1 firm ripe eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
28 oz can of plum tomatoes
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1-2 fresh or dried chillies (optional)
A bunch of fresh basil, leaves ripped and stalks sliced
4 Tbsp heavy cream (I use 3 Tbsp milk instead)
1 lb rigatoni or penne
7 oz cow's milk mozzarella
1 piece of Parmesan cheese, for grating

Heat 4 Tbsp of olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat, when it's hot add the eggplant and stir around as soon as they hit the pan so they get coated in oil. Cook for about 7 or 8 minutes then add the onion and garlic. When they have a little color, add the canned tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar. Stir around and season carefully with salt and pepper. At this point, if you want to give the dish a little heat you could add some chopped fresh or crumbled dry chilli. Add the basil stalks, and simmer the sauce nice and gently for around 15 minutes, then add the cream (or milk).

While the sauce is simmering, bring a large pan of salted water to a boil  and add the pasta. Cook according to package instructions until it is soft but still holding its shape, then drain it, saving a little of the cooking water. I like to put the pasta back into the pot it was cooked in with a tiny bit of the cooking water and a drizzle of olive oil and move it around so it becomes almost dressed with the water and oil.

Add the sauce to the pasta and tear the mozzarella and basil and add in as well. Give it all a good stir, the cheese will melt a little and then serve topped with Parmesan.

Red Bean and Rosemary Soup, Popovers and Salad
I have a cold and so after grocery shopping this afternoon I collapsed on the couch with Harper and a puzzle. She stood in front of the couch and spread all the pieces out in front of her, it's a 25 piece puzzle and she's been trying to get it for a long time. Today it just clicked and she did the whole thing by herself, after each piece she placed in she clapped for herself. I think we should clap for ourselves more often, not necessarily for each other, we could, but there was something to the way she was able to congratulate herself, get a little giddiness out of the clapping bit, and then carry on with the next piece. When she put the last piece in the puzzle she looked up at me, very surprised, and said, "I did it!" Sometimes I want to eat her!

Recipe
The soup was perfect for today, thick and warm for a chilly day - thank you An Edible Mosaic for the recipe. The only thing that I will change next time is that it calls for water and 2 soft vegetable bouillon cubes, which are so high in sodium and I will try and change this next time. The popovers were very yummy, eggy, light and fun like a puffed up and then deflated crepe and I used them to scoop up every last little bit of soup. The popover recipe is from Catherine Newman's wonderfully warm blog.

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onion, diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
3 teaspoons fresh rosemary leaves, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves)
2 (15 oz) can dark red kidney beans (preferably no salt added), rinsed and drained
28 oz can diced tomatoes, with juices
2 soft vegetable flavored bouillon cube
1 cup water
Salt and pepper

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; add the onion and cook until softened and starting to brown, about 3 to 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the garlic and rosemary and cook 1 minute more.
Stir in the beans, tomatoes, bouillon cube, water, and a pinch of pepper; use a potato masher or a fork to mash a few of the beans against the sides of the pot.  Bring the soup to a simmer over high heat, then turn heat down slightly and simmer 3 to 5 minutes.

Taste and season with salt and pepper as desired

Popovers:

2 eggs

1 cup milk

¾ cup flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt (or half as much table salt)

3 tablespoons salted butter

Begin by preheating the oven to 450, then place a nonstick 12-well muffin tin on a middle rack to heat for five or so minutes while you mix the batter. Whisk together the eggs, milk, flour, and salt until it’s all mostly mixed (a few lumps are fine). Now cut the butter into 12 slivers, pop one piece into each well of the hot muffin tin, and return the tin to the oven until the butter is melted and foamy. Fill each cup half full with batter (use all the batter), then bake for 15-20 minutes (don’t open the oven door to peek before then) until the popovers are puffed and brown. Serve immediately.

Honey Mustard Pecan Crusted Pickerel with Risotto and Brussle Sprouts
It's like there's certain places you go and it doesn't matter how well behaved your children are or how calm I can be anywhere else, it just simply can't happen in certain locations. Every time we go to Safeway it's a gong show. We go once a week to get cheese there (I don't like the cheese at Superstore and I think that it's a better price at Safeway as well) and the girls always run, I always leave my patience in the car and let my crazy and frazzle all hang out. I have to be honest I've really given up on trying to make it work there, it's our crazy place.

Recipe
The recipe for the fish is from One Lovely Life, I would make it again except I would change the 2 Tbsp of honey to 1 Tbsp and I would increase the amount of pecans from 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup. The veggies were really delicious and I would make them again.

4 (4oz) cod fillets, patted dry (I used pickerel)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp mayonnaise
3/4c panko bread crumbs
1/4c chopped pecans
1/4c freshly grated Parmesan
1/4tsp salt
olive oil, for drizzling

Preheat oven to 450F.
In a small bowl, combine Dijon, honey, and mayonnaise until smooth (alternatively, you can use prepared honey mustard). In a shallow bowl or plate, combine panko, pecans, Parmesan, and salt.
Brush honey mustard over the top of each fillet and dip (honey mustard side down) into the bread crumb mixture to coat. Place fillets on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Drizzle with olive oil.
Bake for about 10 minutes, or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Veggies:
I washed and cut up carrots, brussel sprouts, red and white onion, a few leftover artichokes and garlic. I tossed them all with olive oil and then drizzled a Tbsp of balsamic vinegar over them and roasted them in the oven for about 25 minutes. When I took them out, I tossed them with another Tbsp of balsamic and served.

Risotto recipe is found here in this blog post, we just had it plain.

Tamale Pie
Hmmm, Hamam...I made the pie for Dave and the kids and then I went out for dinner with three really wonderful women; laughed very hard and ended the night at Ten Spa with a Hamam. After we finished visiting and lounging I came home to hear about how much fun Dave and the girls had tonight and then reviewed the contract for Dave's new job - life is better than good.

Recipe
This recipe is from A Couple Cooks. The beans are suppose to be mashed but I realized this too late. It tasted good without them mashed but by mashing them I think that it would have given the dish a nice consistency.

6 au gratin or small oven proof dishes (or one 9 x 9 baking dish)
1 cup cornmeal for polenta (or prepared polenta, about two 18 ounce tubes)
3 cups pinto beans, cooked (or canned)
1 cup frozen corn
1 15 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups salsa (I used 1/2 cup regular and 1 cup mild)
2 teaspoons cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend (or a mix of Monterrey jack and cheddar)
Sour cream to serve

Preheat oven to 350F.

Make the polenta:

One cup corn meal
1 to 2 tablespoons butter
Salt and pepper

Bring four cups water to boil in a medium sauce pan. When the water boils, whisk in the one cup corn meal in a slow steady stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Continue whisking until the polenta begins to thicken (around 1 to 2 minutes). Add around 1 tsp salt.

Reduce the heat so that the polenta bubbles slowly. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until the cornmeal loses its raw flavor (taste every so often to check).

When the polenta is complete, turn off the heat and add 1 to 2 tbsp butter and more salt and pepper.

Chop the cilantro. Drain the can of diced tomatoes to remove excess liquid. If using canned beans, drain and rinse the beans.

In large bowl, coarsely mash the beans with a fork. Add 1 cup corn, tomatoes, salsa, 2 teaspoons cumin, 1/4 teaspoon cayenne, 1 teaspoon oregano, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 cup cilantro. Mix to combine.

Spread the polenta on the bottom of greased baking dish. Spoon the bean mixture on top of the polenta. Top each dish with cheese and remaining cilantro.

Bake for 20 minutes until heated through. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.

Top with sour cream to serve.

Date Night
My parents offered to take the girls for a sleepover so Dave and I could go out and celebrate his new job. We're not really paint the town kind of people and always end up at the same restaurant on our date nights. Tonight we decided on a different plan, we were going to pick out some wine and then pick up some different things from the Italian market and bring it home to eat and maybe even have a fire - I know we're super wild and crazy! So, we went to the wine store and then wondered around the Italian market like we were lost for awhile before deciding to leave and go to the Clay Oven (which is the restaurant we always go to) but, instead of ordering the veggie platter that comes with a sampling of a bunch of the most common Indian dishes we ordered off the menu...see, wild and crazy! It was delicious as always and we still came home and enjoyed a nice glass of wine.

Quiche with Caramelized Onions, Brie Cheese and Salad
This morning I went to Scattered Seeds (which is a very large craft show) with Hannah and my cousin and Dave took Harper to the park and to run a few errands. Dave said after everything they did together Harper would say, "Did you have fun Dad?" We then spent the evening cuddled together eating Gramma's Kettle Corn Popcorn (which Hannah and I purchased at Scattered Seeds), watching the Jets win and listening to the rain and thunder outside.

Recipe
Dave and I both liked this, Harper liked it as well until she heard that Hannah didn't care for it and then she changed her mind...but finished most of hers anyway. The recipe is from Closet Cooking, with a few alterations.

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cups onion, sliced

water as needed

2 cups pumpkin or butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

1 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

8 sheets phyllo dough, thawed as directed on package

1/4 cup olive oil

6 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 cup milk
3 oz Brie Cheese

1 tsp sage

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until tender, about 10-15 minutes.Reduce the heat to just a bit below medium, add 1/4 cup water, cover and cook until the onions turn a deep golden brown, about 50 minutes. You will need to stir every 10 minutes for the first 30 minutes and every 5 minutes for the remaining time. (Add a bit more water if it starts to get to dry.)

Meanwhile, toss the pumpkin with the olive oil and season with salt, pepper and sage. Roast the pumpkin in oven until tender, about 30-40 minutes and set aside.

Brush a sheet of phyllo pastry with the olive oil and fit it into the bottom of a greased 9 inch pie dish or spring-form pan with the ends hanging over the side of the pan and repeat with the remaining sheets placing them on top.

Mix the onions, pumpkin, eggs, milk, brie and sage and pour it into the crust. Bake in oven until golden brown and set in the center, about 25-45 minutes.

Shrimp, Steamed Broccoli, Baked Potato, Roasted Carrots Red Peppers and Onions, Salad, Bread and Fruit with Chocolate

Why is it that the weekends go by so fast, almost like they didn't even happen. Here we are again, another Sunday night. The sun was shinning bright today and the girls played in the backyard while I started to scrape the first window for painting. I could hear all this barking in the backyard and went back to check on them adn they were crawling around on the ground barking like dogs...go figure, but they were having fun and I went back to my window.

We had a very delicious dinner at my cousins tonight and again we barely saw the kids as they ran around together playing inside and out.

I hope you have a wonderful week and the sun shines down on you.

Happy Thanksgiving Part 2

Thanksgiving Dinner
We all gathered at my aunt's for Thanksgiving dinner tonight. It was a really lovely evening. Walking up to the house she had pumpkins on the walkway and steps, in her garage she had tables set up to eat at covered in rich fall coloured clothes and rugs on the ground with toys for the littles. It all looked beautiful but it was all the faces that I saw when we walked in the door that made the evening so lovely. Our family has grown significantly in recent years, it can be a little nerve racking having the large group and trying to make sure you have enough cutlery, and wondering where everyone will fit in. Amazingly though, it always just works out, they all arrive and everyone finds a place (and a fork) and at the end we always say, "That didn't seem too crowded." It's like Mary Poppins' (I almost wrote Poopings - my kids would have appreciated that) purse, I think because we're meant to be together to share these occasions and be reminded how lucky we are.

There are fourteen grandchildren (or great grandchildren) and thirteen of them are under the age of nine, twelve of them are five and under. I know that my aunt was a little concerned about what they would play with and do and I was kind of looking around our house to see what I could bring for the kids and then I remembered. Thanksgiving dinner use to be at my grandma's house and she had one toy box. In that toy box was a barrel of monkeys, a boxing Kangaroo puppet and a book. We would fight over the three toys for the first couple minutes (mostly with our siblings while we waited for our cousins to arrive) and then we were off. We played hide and seek, conquered our fears by sneaking down into the basement, had races up the front stairs and down the back and who knows what else, but we always had a great time! This is exactly what happened last night, the kids ran around together downstairs and outside. At one point I stood at the kitchen window and watched them all play in the backyard together weaving in and out from one another, building forts, worshipping the oldest, fighting, settling and helping the little ones.

I am so thankful...

Recipe
So for dinner it's a large pot luck. My responsibility was a salad and veggie gravy, my cousin made us a meat alternative loaf which was delicious and had a lot of the same seasoning that you would for turkey. The gravy I made was quite good and here's the recipe below.

1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 good glugg of olive oil
1 cup white wine
3 cups veggie stock
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp thyme
flour and a little extra stock for thickening

I cooked the veggies in the olive oil over low heat for 45 minutes until they were really soft (not at all browned). I then added the wine, turned up the heat a little to simmer and let it simmer for 5 minutes. I then added the the stock, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and seasoning and let this simmer on low together for 10 minutes and then strained out all the veggies. I added a little flour in a little stock and shook it in a jar to disolve and then poured it into the gravy to thicken, bring to a low boil, whisking to get rid of any lumps (mine still had lumps but I'm sure you'll have better luck) until thickened.

For the salad that I brought I really just through together baby greens, baby spinach, some toasted peacan, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, grated carrot, cut up snap peas and chopped up dried fruit (a mix of apples, pears, apricots, peaches and prunes) and then tossed it all with the dressing in this post from my cousin.

I don't really have a proper posting for this week. It was just one of those weeks where I kind of let everything go (although I did get my whole house cleaned at one time, so that was a really exciting 5 minutes). Dave was away for a couple of days, we had leftovers at my parents one night, a cauliflowerr soup that I didn't care for another, a couple repeats and we ordered in once. Next week I'll be back in full swing, I have a lot of recipes in my favorites that I've been wanting to try. I do have a couple things that I want to share with you though...

I've posted a few photos from the 300 that my mom took of us last week as promised. I think the one of the girls walking away together is my favorite, with a five year old and a two year old it really has to be all about the action shots!

Wednesday Harper and I went grocery shopping together and I saw that they had mini oranges, which she loves, and asked her if she wanted to get some. She looked me straight in the eyes and yelled at me, "Ose are ementines!!!!" Later when we got home I'm putting the groceries away and she's pulled herself up to the kitchen table with a clementine (not a mini orange) and I hear, "Don't eat me, Don't eat me!! I ave to eat you ementine you're food. Oh, I didn't know I was food, O.K. I guess you have to eat me. O.K. I going to eat you now."

Finally, one meal suggestion. We had fish tacos Saturday and I prepared the fish a little differently than usual and it was really good. If you remember the Po' Boy Sandwich from this post, I used the same seasoning. I cut the fish in inch size pieces and placed them in a zip lock bag with 4 Tbsp of corn meal and 3 Tbsps of Old Bay seasoning and shook until all coated. Instead of frying it I preheated the oven to 450F, lined a baking sheet with parchment and sprayed it with olive oil, layed out the fish pieces on the sheet and then sprayed the tops. I baked them for about 10 minutes, flipping once. They turned out nice and crispy and perfectly easy for fish tacos.

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

Happy Thanksgiving Part 1

Monday: A Leftover Concoction with Salad
Tuesday: Chickpea Salad with Pitas
Wednesday: Salmon Dill Pasta
Thursday: Curried Veggies with Dhal
Friday: Prawns, Roasted Potatoes and Veggie Squash Bake
Saturday: The Night Hawk
Sunday: Pizza, Salad and a Jets Game

A Leftover Concoction with Salad

"Harper do you think you'll be brave enough to sit on Santa's lap this year? You need to sit on his lap and tell him what you want for Christmas."

The girls were playing dolls this morning and out of the blue Hannah puts on her sticky sweet voice and asks Harper about Santa. Harper just stared at her, like she was weighing if she would still get to participate in all the Christmas festivities if she decided not to sit on Santa's knee. Finally she said, "Yes."

It was one of those beautiful days today, the sun was shining and you could have worn shorts if you so chose. I love fall and one of the reasons that I love it so much is that I don't have to wear shorts, so I chose not to. The girls had a great day together, they played in the backyard for hours without fighting or hurting themselves, there wasn't even any playing in the mud. I was at a loss, I actually kind of wondered from room to room half doing things. It's not that there aren't a million things to get done in this house, it was just such unexpected free time that I was so unprepared...but it was still lovely.

Recipe
How do you use up a flopped risotto recipe? Add lots of stock and make a sauce for it. There was too much left (surprise, surprise) to throw it away so I made a tomato sauce, added in the leftover eggplant balls and crumbled in the two leftover black bean patties...it was actually quite tasty, but it did kind of look like ground beef.

Tomato Sauce
1/4-1/2 tsp hot pepper flakes
3 cloves of garlic, pressed
Olive oil
1 tsp oregano
28oz tin of whole tomatoes

In a pot heat a good glugg of olive oil and saute the garlic, hot pepper flakes and garlic for a minute (not letting the garlic burn) add the tomatoes, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, break up the whole tomatoes (I use kitchen scissors) and crumble in the black bean patties and add the eggplant balls.

We also had a salad with my favorite dressing from this post. In the salad we had pea pods, arugula, cucumber, tomato, apple, raisins, pecans and sunflower seeds.

Chickpea Salad with Pitas

There's something about the quiet of the morning. I rarely get this, because I love my sleep so much and so if the kids aren't up, neither am I. My children do get up at five in the morning, make their way into our bed where a) Harper nurses back to sleep while Hannah cuddles in close to Dave and we all fall back to sleep (this is like winning the lottery over here and is fairly rare) or b) Harper nurses while trying to run all over the bed and ends up kicking anyone and everyone, no matter how far they may think they are, Hannah cuddles up to me on the other side of my body where I'm left half on my side, half on my back in agony but with the hopes that maybe if I stay this way everyone will go back to sleep and revert to scenario a, this never happens, but yet I'm always hopeful or c) Harper nurses for a short time and declares it's morning by yelling, "I going to get my bekfest!" Dave or I stumble after her half asleep wishing the coffee was ready to go while Hannah and the lucky one left behind sleep until it's actually time to get up. I think since Hannah's been born I've gotten one or two mornings where I'm the first one up to welcome the day. I have time to wake slowly, drink a cup of coffee, listen to the house and all within peacefully sleeping...it's a good place to be.

There's nothing like big sister's tap shoes.

Recipe

This is a standard in our house and I love it. Sometimes I make it exactly like the recipe, other times I make do with what we have or add things here and there. Tonight we used goat cheese instead of feta and I added chopped olives to the mix, don't skip the mint it really makes this salad. The recipe is in this post, sometimes we have it as a salad but mostly I like it in a pita. Tonight we added a little cucumber on the side.

Salmon Dill Pasta

Something is happening, I can feel the shift. Hannah is again playing on her own in her room. I think that maybe she's not use to all the socializing she gets at school and needs just a little quiet alone time when she gets home, but it sure feels like she's turning into a big kid. I know that's crazy, right? She'll stay five forever. I'm not scared...maybe a little...

Dave's company is moving his department to Calgary and so he'll be looking for a new job soon. Hannah was asking him all about it tonight. She needed to know all the details about how we would move to Calgary (which we're not). "How would we get all those boxes on the airplane?" Dave explained about moving trucks. "Which way would the moving truck go? Which neighbor would it go past, the one on the left or the one one on the right?" Dave answered about twelve questions, I wonder how many there would be if we were actually moving.

Recipe

This recipe was inspired by this one at epicurious but I didn't actually have most of those ingredients. This one turned out really good and everyone gobbled it up although, I'm in no way saying it tastes anything like the one that inspired it.

1 large fillet of cooked salmon, we did ours on the BBQ

3/4 lb of pasta, cooked

Olive oil

1/2 red onion, chopped

1/3 cup white wine
3 cups veggie stock

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cornstarch

1 1/2 tsp lemon rind

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 Tbsp capers

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a pot heat a glugg of olive oil and saute onion until soft. Add the wine, veggies stock, sour cream and salt and bring to a boil. Boil for 40 minutes to reduce and then sprinkle in a little cornstarch and whisk to thicken. Add in the lemon rind, lemon juice, capers and season with salt and pepper. In a large bowl or platter scrape in the sauce and flaked salmon and mix, add the pasta and toss until combined.

We had this with kale chips found here.

Curried Veggies with Dhal

The weather has been unbelievably warm for October, plus 30 the other day. The girls have been soaking it up in the yard playing until bedtime. I love cuddling up with them in bed and being able to smell the outdoors on them. We have this playhouse in the backyard that was a gift from friends of ours that stayed with us this summer. It's brilliant, the girls love it and play in it for hours at a time. Hannah often plays on top of it, she can easily climb to the roof and stands or lays up there while Harper climbs through the windows and passes things up to Hannah. It has never really been an issue until as I was getting dinner ready and I looked out and saw Hannah on the roof, Harper standing on the window with her arms stretched up and Hannah had a hold of her wrists and was pulling her up in the roof. I didn't want to call out the window and startle them and have Hannah let go of Harper so I quickly made my way out to the playhouse. By the time I got out there Harper was sitting on the roof with Hannah. I very calmly (I'm practicing that Grace under pressure thing...more on that another time) took Harper down and explained that if you are not able to climb up on your own than you are not able to be up there. This actually seemed to make sense to both of them and we had no further incidents. I think (or hope) Harper was a little uneasy up there and this will no longer be an issue.

Recipe

We had some leftover curry in the freezer from this post over rice with raisins and coconut. As much as I stress about stuff in the freezer it's so great when you can just pull out a healthy meal and eat it with no fuss.

Prawns, Roasted Potatoes and Spaghetti Squash Bake

Harper's already asleep, it's 6:45 I think we may be up early tomorrow. I'm sitting on the couch listening to Dave and Hannah play chess. Yes, I said chess, Dave has been slowly teaching Hannah how to play. He also taught me when we first started dating...I think that Hannah may be picking it up faster than I did. She just informed Dave that she's going to take one of his guys but she's not telling him who, it's a secret. As a parenting team he and I each have our strengths, this kind of thing is definitely one of his. I taught the girls how to play Candyland, that was more at my patience level.

Recipe

My brain has been mushy the past couple of days and I have been forgetting things...o.k. maybe I always forget things but it has been mushy, I forgot to take a picture. I really hate it when I forget and the meal before was a repeat with no picture. Oh, well.

I marinated the prawns in a little olive oil and garlic and then strung them on skewers to grill. I also sprinkled some of that Old Bay Seasoning on them (seriously it's like the salsa verde of the fish world).

I roasted the potatoes in the oven at 400F cut up in cubes and tossed with a little olive oil.

Really good friends of my parents make this great squash recipe. I can't recall it exactly but it's what inspired this. I do remember them saying that the key is to saute the veggies separately so that's what I did.

1 spaghetti squash

1 onion, chopped

1 zuchini, chopped

2 cups mushrooms, sliced

I roasted the spaghetti squash whole, pierce it all over with a fork, at 350F for an hour and half. Once it was ready I scraped it into a baking dish. I sauteed the onion, zuchini and mushrooms (each separately) and mixed them with the spaghetti squash, topped it all off with a little grated Parmesan and roasted it in the oven until warm and the cheese was melted.

Just to note that Hannah had Dave in check and on the run and she killed his queen.

The Night Hawk

I love the cottage, I am so grateful for it. It is funny because there's a time that hits in the spring where I can't wait to get out there - it's all I think about. Then in the fall it's like we almost abandon it, I can never really remember when the last we were out was, nor did I know then that it would be our last weekend out. We drove out for the day today to close it up. The kids were really excited to go out and we were happy to be able to go out and close, it was our first time closing. On the way out Hannah had to go to the bathroom, funnily enough this is only the second time this has happened since going out to the cottage. We stopped at Falcon (about 10 minutes aways from the cottage) and I thought that the grocery store and all were open until the end of this weekend but they were already closed. I'd never been there when it was all closed down. Luckily there was a public bathroom open and Hannah crossed the road together to get to it. It was a little windy today and brisque, it felt like fall, not like the hot weather that we have been having the past little while.  I have to say that it was very beautiful and extremely eery. Usually when we're there, there are people walking, biking and driving everywhere. We didn't see a soul, not one person until we were walking back to the car and there was this one truck a little ways off and I picked up the pace. It looked out of place and creepy in the deserted area that we'd had to ourselves a minute ago and as silly as it was my heart raced as we got closer and closer to the car and I could see the truck getting closer and closer to us. Once we were finally inside I quickly (and quietly so no one noticed and thought I was crazy) locked the doors as we got our seat belts done up. It's funny how fear can sneak up on us sometimes (irrationally) and change the perspective of something for us.

Recipe

We stopped at the restaurant near the cottage on the way out. The girls had been so patient and good playing by themselves while we cleaned up and brought stuff in, we finally put a movie on for them while Dave shut the water off just before we left. They were then equally good in the restaurant, we were almost that creepy family (the one where you're sure that the children have been drugged) except for a little walking around and of course the loud voices that are simply excited and very hard to contain.

Pizza, Salad and a Jets Game

We took the kids on a walk with my mom to take some family pictures this morning. It was a beautiful fall day. We've had some really hot weather lately, I'm not complaining - when you live somewhere that gets to be minus forty in the winter you take all the hot days you can get, but it had been at the cost of fall weather which is my favorite. I love the crispness of the air. The area we walked in is all treed with a river running through it. Most of the leaves were down and so they were crunching under foot and the smell of wet earth mixed with leaves filled the air and just put me in a good place. My mom took almost 300 pictures of us and the kids, we just looked them over quickly I'll have a better look tomorrow and share. When we came home we had pumpkin pancakes for lunch. I've been craving something pumpkin and couldn't wait for tomorrow's Thanksgiving feast.

The recipe is from The Curvy Carrot and they were lovely and fluffy and just what I wanted.

1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup skim milk
1 cup pumpkin puree
4 large eggs, separated
4 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, and salt.

In a separate bowl, combine the milk, pumpkin puree, egg yolks, melted butter, and vanilla extract together, mixing well until smooth.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing with a spatula until just combined.

In another small bowl, using an electric hand mixer (or whatever you have on hand), beat the egg whites until thick and stiff. Gently fold the egg whites into the pancake batter, mixing until smooth.

Dave cooked ours on the griddle on the BBQ.

We went to my parents for dinner and had pizza and salad and watched the season opener Jets game. They lost 5 - 1 but you know, it really doesn't matter. They lost and still got a standing ovation at the end of the game by the fans. We were all just so happy to be watching our Jets again!

I hope that you had a great week. We'll be celebrating our Thanksgiving tomorrow at my aunt's with a very large group, we're so lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful, loving people. More on that next week.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all, I hope the sun shines down on you.

How can I not be grateful?

Monday: Tofu Stir Fry
Tuesday: Lentil Loaf, Sweet Potato Fries and Fennel Bake
Wednesday: Po' Boy Sandwiches
Thursday: Pasta with Oven Roasted Eggplant, Goat Cheese and Mint
Friday: Black Bean Patties, Avocado and Tomato Salad and Corn Bread
Saturday: Tomato Risotto (it was a flop), Eggplant Balls, Salad with Apple and Pear Short Cakes
Sunday: Breaded Pickerel, Roasted Potatoes mixed with Sweet Potatoes, Salad, Sauteed Veggies with Angel Food Cake (not from a mix) with Berries and Ice Cream

Tofu Stir Fry
It was another beautiful fall day today and Hannah was off from school. I know that she has just started and only goes in the afternoon but having her home all day seemed to give us this really relaxing freedom to the day. We spent lots of time outside with me in the garden, or what I would one day like to be a garden, and the girls helping out until they decided to wash rocks, which suddenly took all their time and attention. We came in for a snack and Harper was goofing around with her apple telling us she was going to put it in her eye or in her nose and on and on. Hannah was sipping her water and told her, "Everytime you say eye I'm going to drink!" She's only five and making up drinking games...do you think we should be concerned about this?

Recipe

I somehow seemed to end up with some odd leftovers in the fridge this week. It worked out well for this stir fry that we had tonight and everyone gobbled it up.

1 package of tofu, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
3 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
2 Tbsp ginger grated
3 cloves garlic, pressed

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 green pepper, cut in strips
5 green onions, chopped
1 Tbsp Mirin
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp Hoisin sauce
1/4 tsp cornstarch

1/3 cup ground peanuts

Heat the sesame oil in a large pan or wok and add the ginger and garlic and saute for a minute. Add the tofu cubes and Hoisin sauce and gently stir in pan until all the tofu is coated, let cook stirring often for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in the pan and add the cauliflower and green pepper and saute for a few minutes. Add the green onions, Mirin, soy sauce and Hoisin, push veggies to the side and add the cornstarch to the sauce whisking in until dissolved. Saute the veggies in the sauce until tender. Once the veggies are just about ready add the tofu back to the pan and sprinkle with peanuts. stir together and cook for a couple of minutes until tofu is warm.

Serve over brown rice.

Lentil Loaf, Sweet Potato Fries and Fennel Bake
I seriously considered getting rid of everything in the house that the girls play with and only having two of the same of everything. I thought this was a brilliant idea they could each have their own, no arguments, no fights over that's my toy or I had that toy first. Really, why doesn't every household with siblings do this? I then realized that they would never learn to share, be disappointed, stand up for themselves, argue, except defeat, win gracefully and many other things. Damn, I guess all that fighting has a pretty important purpose...I'm going to try and remember that as I listen to them fight over the five dollar doll that Harper bought with her birthday money for the one hundredth time.

Recipe
We're still using up some fridge leftovers and we had lentil loaf in the freezer that I was starting to loose sleep over so that's what we had tonight.

Po'Boy Sandwiches
Harper and I headed out to the mall today, after Hannah went to school, to pick up some hand cream from Lush for Hannah (her hands get so dry in the winter and it's already starting) and to pick up a book. She just cracks me up with her strut, she refuses to hold my hand in the mall and stops at every store window, stares at the manikins and says, "What tat guy doing in tere?" When we got to the book store she wondered over to the train table where there were a few other kids playing, stood there and watched for a minute, she then came running back to me and said. "tat guy not sharing, and tat not fair." I suppose the fighting is worth it, she stayed with me and looked, actually pulled books off the shelf.

Recipe
These are from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers, they were delicious but not low fat. I think that next time I would try them sprayed and in the oven instead of frying them to cut down on the oil. I made these a while ago and couldn't find the Old Bay Seasoning so I used some other fish seasoning and they were fine but the Old Bay is so good, it's got a good kick to it (in the end I found it at the grocery store in the spice isle).

1/4 cup cornmeal

3 Tbsp Old Bay Seasoning or other seafood seasoning
4 Boneless firm fish fillets (about 6 oz each)
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Topping
1/2 cup Tartar Sauce*
1 Tbsp minced red onion
3 romaine lettuce leaves, cut into a rough shred (we just used arugula)

4 kaiser rolls (we used thin bagels)
1 tomato, sliced

*Tartar sauce can be made by mixing 1/2 cup mayonnaise with 1/4 cup dill pickle relish (or chopped dill pickle) and 2 tsp lemon juice.

Place the cornmeal and Old Bay Seasoning in a bag and shake to mix well. Add the fish fillets, close the bag, and shake to coat. Heat the oil in a skillet (I divided it between two, so I could cook them all at the same time) on medium heat, until hot but not smoking. Add the fish and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Place the cooked fish on paper towels to soak up excess oil.

While the fish is frying, in a bowl, stir together the Tartar Sauce and onions, add the lettuce (we didn't do this part, because Harper doesn't eat lettuce) and toss until evenly coated. Toast buns and slice tomato.

Sandwich the fish fillet, sauce, tomato and lettuce on bun and enjoy.

I was going to serve this with green beans, but I completely forgot until we were halfway through dinner.

Pasta with Oven Roasted Eggplant, Goat Cheese and Mint
It's funny how with little kids everything that is big is a Mama or Papa and everything that is small is their child/baby. A large carrot is the small carrots mama, the same goes for makers, crayons and in this case the blade to the new food processor. Our processor broke today and I went out and bought a new one, as I was putting it together Harper's playing with a little extension piece that looks like the middle of the blade piece (she wasn't touching the blade) and talking to the Mama piece which was the blade...kids can really turn anything into a toy.

 

I'm also reading ScreamFree Parenting, 'nough said. No, not really I'll tell you how I feel about it once I'm past the first chapter. The introduction talks about how kids need parents who can keep their cool under pressure...I've already failed and I'm only a couple pages in. Not that I scream all the time, but I am not grace under pressure. We once drove out to the lake and I forgot to put the emergency brake on, as the car is rolling to the lake with my parent's dog in the backseat Dave's moving to the front to pull the emergency break and I'm yelling (mmmm...maybe it is about screaming) and trying to stop the car with my sheer strength. Luckily Dave pulled the break, he is definitely the cool one, I am...well, not Grace under pressure. I'll let you know how the book goes as I delve deeper, but there was this quote at the beginning that I loved.

 

In raising my children, I have lost my mind but found my soul.

                                                        -Lisa T. Shepherd, Parent

 

Recipe

I was very found of supper tonight and think I will be perusing Marcus Samuelsson's blog more often, I did find it a little too vinegary and changed it from 4 Tbsp to 3 Tbsp.

1 medium eggplant, cubed
2 zucchini, cubed
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup mint, minced
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz goat cheese
1/2 lb pasta

Preheat oven to 450.  Line two baking sheets with parchment and spray with cooking spray.  Place the eggplant and zucchini cubes on these trays in a single layer.  Spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt.  Roast for 20 minutes. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water according to package directions. Mix the balsamic vinegar, olive oil, mint, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper in a small bowl. Toss together the pasta, eggplant, zucchini and goat cheese.  Add the dressing and serve.

Black Bean Patties, Avocado and Tomato Salad and Corn Bread
Today was the Terry Fox Run at Hannah's school and so the whole school went out for a walk together. They invited anyone from the school's community to join them and so I planned to go down with Harper and walk with Hannah's class. Dave ended up coming home early and coming with us, thank goodness because I hadn't really considered the whole Harper walking all that way. We ended up way back and then had to take a short cut back to the school because we were so far behind and the rest of them still beat us back. Regardless, it was such a beautiful day for a walk and I loved seeing the look of sheer joy on Hannah's face when she saw that Dave had come home from work early to walk with her.

Recipe
These were quite good and very easy. I found them on this blog, Cookin' Canuck.

3 pieces day-old or toasted whole wheat sandwich bread

3 tbsp olive or canola oil, divided

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp minced jalapeno pepper, membranes and seeds removed

1 tsp ground cumin

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 1/4 cups cooked brown rice

2 tsp fresh lime juice

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

For the patties: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse sandwich bread to form breadcrumbs. Pour into a bowl and set aside. Heat 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft. Add garlic, jalapeno, and cumin. Saute for additional 2 minutes. Scrape the mixture into the food processor. Add black beans, brown rice, lime juice, salt, and pepper. Pulse until the beans are chopped, but not pureed. Scrape the black bean mixture into a large bowl. Add half of the breadcrumbs and the chopped cilantro. Stir the mixture until combined.

Divide the mixture into 8 equal portions and form into patties. If the mixture is too moist to form patties, add more breadcrumbs. Place the patties on a baking sheet lined with plastic wrap and cover with additional plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour.

Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in a large skillet (preferably not nonstick, so a good crust can form) set over medium heat. Add 4 patties and cook for 4 minutes per side. Repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and remaining 4 patties.

We just had this with a mix of tomatoes, avocados and cilantro over them. We also had corn bread, actually that's a lie we planned on corn bread but Dave and Harper made Johnny Cake and we pretended that it was corn bread so we didn't feel bad about serving cake with dinner, it was really good. The recipe is from the back of the Purity cornmeal package.

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 1/4 cups milk

1 cup flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400F.

Combine cornmeal and milk and let stand 10 minutes. Add egg and oil to cornmeal mixture and mic well. Add all dry ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into a greased 8X8 pan or muffin tins and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

Tomato Risotto, Eggplant Balls, Salad with Apple and Pear Short Cakes
Harper keeps getting up at five in the morning. This morning Dave got up with her and finally convinced her to go back to her room and look at books while he slept in her bed. I was relieved that I could go back to sleep and felt a little relief of guilt when I thought Dave was going to get a little more sleep too. Until I heard, yes heard, the book she chose - it has this key and these doors and one of them is a high pitched voice yelling, "I'M READY! I'M READY! I'M READY!", the other is the sound of a fire truck - and she pushed them over and over and over again.

Recipe
I'm not even going to share the tomato risotto recipe I made because it was dry and not good. The eggplant balls which you can find here, except I made them smaller and overcooked them so they were dry. Luckily I had four glasses of wine (which is a lot for me) and so was fairly unphased by the poor meal I served our company...mmmm...do you think perhaps it was poor because I had four glasses of wine?

I think the dessert made up for it so I will share that recipe, which I slightly changed, found at Back to the Cutting Board.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

This is not quite as pretty as it could be but it was good.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or twice sifted whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. apple pie spice or cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 cup grated tart apple, such as Granny Smith
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Line two baking sheets with parchment; set aside.

In a large bowl combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, apple pie spice and salt.

Use a pastry blender to cut in the pieces of cold butter until the mixture resembled course crumbs. You can also do this with a food processor if you want.Stir in the grated apple.

Whisk the eggs and heavy cream in small bowl. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the egg mixture. Stir with a fork until just moistened. The dough will be thick. Use an ice cream scoop or 1/4 cup measuring cup to scoop the dough into mounds and place on the baking sheets about 3 inches apart. Don’t flatten and bake for 15 - 17 minutes.

Filling

1 cup light brown sugar

2 tsp. apple pie spice*

2 tbsp. butter

3 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds) sliced peeled Bartlett or Anjou pears

2 1/2 cups (about 1 1/2 pounds) sliced peeled Granny Smith apples

Combine brown sugar and apple pie spice in a small bowl. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add sugar mixture, pears and apples. Cover and cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep warm until ready to serve.

I whipped some cream adding a little sugar and cinnamon.

My nephew can't have dairy and so for him I whipped some coconut milk. You leave a can of full fat coconut milk in the fridge over night and when it's time to make, take it out without shaking it. All the thick cream will be resting on the top, open it and spoon that into a bowl and whip adding your choice of sweetener. Honestly this is not just for those who can't have dairy - it's delicious.

Build your shortcake by cutting the biscuit in half and spoon on the fruit, a little whip and then top with the other half of the biscuit a dollop of whip and a little of the fruit sauce.

Breaded Pickerel, Roasted Potatoes mixed with Sweet Potatoes, Salad, Sauteed Veggies with Angel Food Cake (not from a mix) with Berries and Ice Cream
Today I feel very grateful. This morning I headed out with a small group of women within a very large group of people for the Walk for the Cure for breast cancer. I am grateful to have a healthy strong body to carry me, to have people in my life who know how to love, support and listen without judgement or prejudice and to be able to return that love.

This afternoon, Dave the girls and I went to a fundraiser for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. It was put on by a family who lost their daughter when she was six months old. I can't even begin to imagine what that's like. I am grateful for the health of my children, their love of life and the times when I can just let it all go and live like them, in the moment loving life.

My dad made a delicious Sunday dinner tonight with a homemade angel food cake that my mom had made and as always Sunday dinner was full of good company and good food.

I hope the sun shines down on you this week!