It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas…

Monday: Leftover Stew
Tuesday: Swiss Chard, Chickpea and Tamarind Stew
Wednesday: Artichoke and Mushroom Fettuccine
Thursday: Breakfast Quesadilla
Friday: Sun Burgers with Oven Fries and Stir Fried Bok Choy
Saturday: Hot and Sour Soup
Sunday: Breaded Pickerel, Roasted Potatoes, Sauteed Veggies, Greek Salad and Ice Cream with Berries and Brownies

Leftover Stew
Well, it's almost time to get the Christmas decorations out and I'm staring at the pumpkins that somehow got brought to the backyard and are slowly melting into a gross goo on the table back there. If you're wondering what kind of people we are, this pretty much sums it up. How is it that we keep talking about how gross it is and yet neither one of us has ventured out back to collect them and put them in the garbage? Seriously. Today's the day. We are no longer going to be those people who let produce rot and freeze on their outside table, I'm going to bring them in...well, not right now...but, before I go to bed for sure.

Recipe
That stew and dumplings that I made Saturday well, it made a lot. We've had it for lunch twice, dinner tonight and I popped the rest in the freezer for an other meal. I think I'll half the recipe next time.

Swiss Chard, Chickpea and Tamarind Stew

We put up one of the Christmas trees today. We got an artificial tree from my cousin and put it up in the living room (we're still going to get a real tree for the family room - two trees I'm so happy!). I was really impressed with the girls and their decorating. They put almost all the balls on the tree and they're pretty well spaced out. So I turned on the tree in the window and the lights on the house, it's nice and Christmasy. I came down and the lights were turned off, I immediately blamed Dave, because it's not December 1st yet and he's a bit of a stickler but it was Hannah. When I asked her why she turned out the lights she looks at me rolled her eyes and said, "Mooooooooom, you can't turn on the Christmas lights before we start our calendars (advent), it's like too early." Seriously. Sometimes she's five going on fourteen.

Recipe
The down side of this recipe is that it looks just like the stew that we've been eating for four days, but the swiss chard was going to go bad so I had to make it today. The up side was that it tasted nothing like the other stew and was very delicious. The recipe is slightly adapted from Eats Well With Others.

1 lb swiss chard, chopped
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 tsp caraway seeds
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp tomato paste
14 oz canned chopped plum tomatoes, with their juices
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 can chickpeas
1 1/2 tsp coriander
3 tbsp tamarind paste
salt and black pepper
cilantro
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water

Saute onion and caraway seeds in olive oil on medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the onion is soft and golden. Add the tomato paste and stir as you cook it for about a minute. Add the canned tomatoes, water, sugar, chickpeas, ground coriander, chard and some salt and pepper. Add the tamarind. Bring to a boil, then cover with a lid and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes. When ready, the dish should have the consistency of a thick soup. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

While the stew is cooking cook the quinoa according to package directions. When ready to serve, spoon the quinoa into a soup bowl, creating a crater in the center and ladle the soup over. Finish with cilantro.

Artichoke and Mushroom Fettuccine
Harper and I ventured off to the fabric store today where I intended to buy a swath of material to use as a tree skirt.We were both swept away in the excitement of it all. Harper by hiding in between the closely positioned tables taking my breath away as I thought I lost her once, and the constant sway and state of instability this was causing to the rolls of fabric placed upon these tables. The women working there kept alternating between looking at her with adoring eyes (because she is pretty cute) and shooting daggers at us with their eyes at the potential for disaster that was happening (I'm pretty sure the daggers were meant for me and what they may have deemed a lack of supervision). I kept talking out loud (pretending to talk to Harper, but really talking to myself) and jumping from table to table trying to decide on a theme of fabric, playful and cute or woodsy and crafty or elegant...yeah, I'm not really elegant. Playful and cute it is. So I came home with three different kinds of fabric and a membership to Fabricland. This is what I've done with them. I realize that for some this is not much, but for me the fact that I actually did anything at all with the fabric is pretty amazing.

Recipe
This is a little bit of a lightened up version of fettuccine as I used milk and not cream, but I would not recommend eating it and then going for a run - it was not a good feeling.

6 cups mushrooms, sliced
2 cans of artichoke hearts, in water - chopped
Glugg of olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
Splash of wine
1 Tbsp margarine
1/4 cup flour
2 1/2 cups milk
Dash nutmeg
1/2 cup Parmesan, grated
1 package whole wheat fettuccine
Parsley

In a pan heat olive oil and saute garlic for a minute, add mushrooms and cook until starting to soften. Add artichokes and wine and cook until slightly browned, set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook fettuccine according to package directions.

Heat margarine and add flour making a roe. Add milk and whisk until there are no lumps continue to cook until mixture thickens, stir in nutmeg. Remove from heat and add Parmesan. Stir in the mushrooms and artichokes. Add the pasta in and mix until noodles are coated, served topped with a little parsley.

Breakfast Quesadilla
Today was a very interesting day for me, because I worked. I sometimes (rarely) substitute teach. My mom watched the girls for most if the day. What was so very different for me was that my mom had an appointment and so Dave came home in the afternoon. When I got home he was heading out to get Hannah from the bus stop and then he rushed around and took the girls to swimming while I went for a run. It felt like a little bit of role reversal and was kind of a nice change. It felt very odd to have a day not centered around caring for my own children...it was nice, but I was very happy to be snuggled in bed with the girls reading Christmas books and am looking forward to the morning together tomorrow.

Recipe
This recipe is from Marcus Samuelson's blog. I slightly altered it for what I had in the house and of course I omitted the sausage.

8 8-inch flour tortillas

6 eggs

1 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated
1 red onion, chopped
3 plum tomato, chopped
1 cup black beans, rinsed
1 avocado, sliced
Splash of milk
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Sour Cream
Salad Verde

Preheat oven to 450F and line two baking sheets with parchment, and spray. Alternatively you can cook the quesadillas in a pan, I like to use the oven because then they're ready at the same time.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a medium-sized skillet. Saute onions until slightly soft then add tomatoes, beans and salt and pepper. Cook until onions and soft. Remove from heat and set aside.

Crack the eggs in a bowl and add milk. Whisk until eggs are well-beaten. Pour the mixture into the hot skillet and stir continuously until the eggs are cooked to your liking.

Spread the eggs on top of one of the tortillas. Top with the bean mixture, sliced avocado and shredded cheese. Cover with the second tortilla. Place them on the baking sheet and spay the tops, bake in the oven until browned on both sides and cheese is melted. This will take about 8 to 10 minutes a side (watch closely), flip halfway through (I use two spatulas to keep them from falling apart). Cut in quarters and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Sun Burgers with Oven Fries and Stir Fried Bok Choy
Dave's mom made the girls each these beautiful wall hanging advent calendars, and so filling them has become one of our holiday traditions. Now, I'm a little bit of a stickler with giving the girls candy and chocolate (especially around a time when there are going to be so many treats), and we also didn't want to fill them with toys, instead a friend of mine told me they filled theirs with activities and I thought this was a lovely idea. So every year I fill each pocket with a little Christmas activity ranging from All reading Christmas stories in Mommy and Daddy's bed to Make a Christmas Craft or Bake a Christmas Treat, they range from big to small and usually include things we would already be doing like Christmas baking. Sounds like such a nice, easy tradition...the reality is it consists of me waking up at three in the morning thinking, "Crap, I forgot to fill the calendar...what are we going to do tomorrow?" Half the time I forgot last year and so did Hannah so really no harm no foul and those calendar's are still just as beautiful hanging on the wall empty. This year, there's been two mornings and I'm one for two. This morning I was up first, remembered my three a.m. wake up, and so I immediately wrote something out and as I was coming out of my room to fill the calendars (actually feeling rather proud that I'd remembered at all) there was a very sad little five year old standing on the landing with tears in her eyes and empty hands because there was nothing in her calendar. Clearly this year, I'm going to have to be organized or else face that little face every morning. Tonight I have cut out different Christmas shapes with all kinds of ideas written on them, hopefully I remember to put them in their calendars...

Recipe
I made the sun burgers from this post here. It makes about ten and so could probably be halved if you're not looking for leftovers.

We also had roasted potatoes and stir fried bok choy.

For the bok choy.
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
4 Baby bok choy, leaves removed and washed

Saute all ingredients, except bok choy, in a sauce pan until fragrant and sugar dissolves, add the bok choy and saute until tender.

Hot and Sour Soup
I remembered to fill the calendar last night, today's activity? Visit Santa. Hannah went straight to her calendar as soon as she woke up (I'm feeling the pressure) and so they bounced off the walls from six this morning until when we left around ten. We waited in line and tried to keep the girls from pulling up all the "snow" (cotton) from around Santa's village. When they finally got up to sit on Santa's knee the computer to take the picture had to be restarted and so they got to have a nice little visit with him. Well, Hannah had a nice visit, Harper (as you can tell by her picture) was kind of star struck the entire time. Harper did manage to tell Santa that she wanted a Lallaloopsy doll for Christmas, we were on the edge of our seats wondering what Hannah was going to ask for because she had been going back and forth between two things, she picked the one we didn't have and so, guess what I spent the rest of the day doing. That's right, trying to track down a gift that was sold out everywhere. Sigh, I never really thought I'd be one of those parents desperate to find a certain toy but, five hours and a quarter tank of gas later I found it and managed to get from Regent to Polo Park without having to backtrack back to Southdale which is kind of big for me.

Recipe
I had picked this soup from Verses from my Kitchen and Dave made it while I was out shopping. It was a really lovely meal to come home to; warm, light and tasty (it's also great for colds - with garlic, ginger and a little heat).

1 Tbsp peanut oil
Small piece of ginger, grated

900ml veggie stock
200 grams large rice noodles
1 Tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp dark soy sauce
2 Tbsp fish sauce
Pinch sugar
1 thick red hot chilli pepper, deseeded and sliced
2 Cloves garlic, pressed
10 Tiger shrimp
2 Green onions, thinly sliced
1 Lime, juiced
Small handful of cilantro leaves


Add the oil to a large sauce pan and add in the ginger over high heat. Fry for a few seconds and then pour in the veggies stock. Bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer for 10 minutes.

While the stock heats up, cook the rice noodles according to package directions.

Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, hot chili and garlic to the stock and reduce heat, simmering for 5 minutes. Add in the shrimp and continue to simmer for a further 5 minutes, until the shrimp is cooked. Add the lime juice, sugar, green onions and cilantro to the saucepan. Season to taste.

Run the noodles under hot water to prevent sticking and divide among the two bowls. Divide up the shrimp among the bowls and then pour over the stock.

Breaded Pickerel, Roasted Potatoes, Sauteed Veggies, Greek Salad and Ice Cream with Berries and Brownies
Busy Sunday around here for us. It was snowing lovely big, snowflakes all day and I admired it longingly as I pushed my children out the door to go play in it. Dave cut the trim for the front door and I am on my way downstairs to paint it after I've posted this. I'm very excited, it's been a year since I've been staring at the yellow spray insulation and can't wait to be looking at lovely trim. I'll post a picture next week, you may not really care to see it but I'm just so excited that I'm going to have to share.

I hope you've had a great weekend and the sun shines down on you this week!