Tuesday: Salmon, Coconut Rice, Brussel Sprouts and Salad
Wednesday: Stuffed Potatoes, Salad and Baked Mushrooms
Thursday: Chana Masala with Pompadoms and Tomatoes and Cucumbers
Friday: Pad Thai
Saturday: Pizza
Soup and Grill Cheese Sandwiches
I came downstairs from getting dressed today to find the girls removing the ornaments from the tree and putting them in their stockings - which wouldn't have been a big deal except that the stockings are hung from heavy holders and one of them fell and just missed hitting them. We've had the conversation a few times about not touching the stockings because of this fact, and I was a little frazzled about the whole thing. I went into the other room and Hannah asked to hang the ornaments that her and Harper had made on the tree, I answered, "No, don't touch the tree, not until I come out." Now, I will fully admit that I was still coming off the stocking scenario and my answer was curter and bossier then it needed to be. I came out and it was time for lunch and I asked the girls to put away some of the toys, Hannah looked right at me and said, "Sure, but we would like to talk to you after we put the toys away." Once we all convened on the couch she looked at Harper, "O.K, Harper you wanted to start." Harper looked me straight in the eyes and said, "You were being wude to us." Hannah then continued, "Good job Harper, Mama you hurt our feelings the way you talked to us about hanging our new ornaments." Seriously? Seriously. How is it that my children are more mature than me? I was so proud of them, and of course told them so, after being sure that my apology was accepted.
Recipe
Skating always makes me so cold...I should rephrase, watching skating always makes me so cold. There were two different tomato based soups in the freezer that had been haunting me and so I combined them and made grill cheese sandwiches to go with them -yum!
Salmon, Coconut Rice and Roasted Cabbage
There is nothing better then having the whole family cuddled in our bed together reading stories and singing Christmas carols - nothing, I love it (Dave even joined in on the caroling)
Recipe
I wanted to have roasted brussel sprouts, but there weren't any at the grocery store. I then decided to roast green cabbage, but I would have had to backtrack to the other side of the produce department and so I got some red cabbage (odd, you'd think that the red and green cabbage would be together but lucky for me and my lazy shopping they weren't).
I chopped up the small head of cabbage, drizzled it with olive oil and salt and roasted it in the oven at 400F for 30 -40 minutes. It started to brown and crisp up on some of the ends and that's when I knew it was done. The first bite was good, the next better and then I became strangely and pleasantly addicted to it.
I had about a cup of coconut milk left from the other night and mixed it with a cup of water and two cups of brown basmati rice, cooking it according to package directions.
Stuffed Potatoes, Salad and Baked Mushrooms
I've only got one more thing left to bake (sugar cookies for the kids to decorate). We baked all day today and then I tried to fit in all in the freezer and realized how much there was. Oh dear, who's going to eat all this baking? I only let the kids eat so much and I already had to put on a sweater dress and leggings to go out for drinks tonight because I couldn't bare the thought of putting my jeans on. Seriously, I didn't even want to look at them because I know, that they know, and it's really rather humiliating. I think, I may need to send some to work with Dave.
Recipe
Stuffed potatoes are great for using up leftovers (like salmon) or just fun for the kids because they get to build their own. We also tried these baked mushrooms from Angie's Recipes which were really easy and quite yummy.
4 baking potatoes
Preheat oven to 375F. Wash and dry potatoes and lightly rub with oil and sprinkle with a little salt. Bake on the rack with a cookie sheet on the rack underneath for about an hour or more depending on the size of your potatoes. Cut them open and serve with a variety of toppings, we had the following tonight:
Steamed Broccoli
Salmon
Sundried tomatoes
Sour Cream
Baked Mushrooms
Baked Mushrooms:
1 lemon
1 Tbsp Fresh rosemary, chopped
2 Tbsp Olive oil
300 g White mushrooms, sliced
20 g Parmesan, grated
Salt and freshly mulled black pepper
Rinse lemon under running hot water. Dry and finely grate the zest. Squeeze out the juice for later use. Combine the chopped rosemary, lemon zest, and olive oil in a bowl.
Bake in the hot oven for 10 minutes. Sprinkle the grated Parmesan over the mushrooms and continue to bake 5 more minutes until the cheese has turned lightly browned. Remove and drizzle the rest of oil mixture and some lemon juice over.
We also had a tossed salad to round out this meal.
Chana Masala with Pompadoms and Cucumbers
I find it so fun and interesting when you are a part of learning with your kids, when you can actually hear their minds clicking everything into place. Hannah has been able to count to 39 for the past little while, but it seems no matter how many times she tried she just couldn't remember the number 40. Today in the car on the way to swimming it all seemed to click together as she made the association between 4 and 40, 5 and 50 etc, she was able to count all the way to 100 pretty much on her own. I was so proud of her!
Recipe
This recipe can be found here, we love it and eat it often. My sister is a pompadom fan (over naan) and so I thought we'd try them, Dave and the kids had never had them. They're really easy (especially since I bought them), you just pop them in the microwave and watch them puff up. They were good and easy, I am still a naan bread fan over them though - but they were great for a change.
Pad Thai
Well, Harper has been driving Hannah slightly nuts because she repeats everything, everything that Hannah says. She'll say it to Hannah or come running in the other room and say it to us. Sometimes Hannah kind of relishes in this, I think it makes her feel loved by Harper. Other times, it drives her crazy - there's no in between (which I kind of get, I'm kind of like that). Lately Harper has been saying, "Hannah repeats everything I say." This is particularly maddening to Hannah and I'm not super good at covering up my laughter...poor kid!
Recipe
This recipe was from the Canadian Living site and I'm already thinking about having the leftovers for lunch. Dave found it to have too much fish sauce (I didn't even notice it) but, they recommend a few changes to make it vegan - by omitting the shrimp and egg, and using soy sauce instead of fish sauce - so I may try using half soy half fish sauce next time. Don't be scared off by the long ingredient list it was relatively simple to make.
1/3 cup chili sauce
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp Asian chili paste or hot pepper sauce
In large bowl, soak noodles in warm water until flexible, about 15 minutes; drain and place in large dry bowl. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix together chili sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, 1/2 cup water and chili paste; set aside.
In wok, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium-high heat; stir-fry garlic, shallots and green and red peppers until softened, about 4 minutes. Add to noodles.
Add remaining oil to wok; stir-fry shrimp until pink, about 2 minutes. Add fish sauce mixture and bring to boil; reduce heat to medium. Stir in egg; cook, stirring, until sauce is thickened, about 1 minute.
Add noodle mixture, tofu, bean sprouts, green onions and chopped coriander; toss and stir-fry until noodles are tender, about 3 minutes. Garnish with peanuts, coriander sprigs and lime wedges.
Pizza
Thursday we received a Christmas parcel from Dave's parents. Dave's mom is a very talented sewer and this year she made us all our Christmas PJs! She also sent the girls a couple books (and an apron and a beautifully knit scarf for me - talent - I'm telling you!). One of the books that she sent was a this cute little cookbook for Hannah.
It's really cute because it has simple recipes that kids can actually make and then a place to write and talk about the experience, sprinkled with little stories, poems and advice here and there. This morning Hannah made her first thing, a smoothie. She did the whole thing herself except for the peeling of the pear, which I did with a sharp knife. Isn't she the cutest (why didn't we use her apron?!)?
 |
| Enjoying their smoothies in their adorable Christmas nighties. |
The artists (you may recognize some of them from "swims in puddle")...
The art...
Sunday...
Today is going to be a crazy, busy, wonderful day with a touch of shopping, a very cool 4 year old's birthday party and a gathering of beautiful souls. So I'm going to post this now, because I'm quite certain that when I end my day later I will be collapsing into bed full of gratefulness.
Seeing as though next Sunday is Christmas I'm not sure if I'll be posting. I wish you all Merry Christmas and/or Happy Holidays. I'm really just hoping you are able to stop, take a breath, look around at all the beauty and love in the people that surround you.
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment