Tuesday: Red Lentil Soup
Wednesday: Pizza
Thursday: Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil, Garlic and Shrimp
Friday: After Skating Snacks!
Saturday: Santa Fe Chowder with Tortillas
Sunday: Salmon with Dill Sauce, Roasted Baby Potatoes, Greek Salad, Sauteed Veggies, Green Beans and Buns with Ice Cream and Berries and Chocolate Covered Mini Cheesecake
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. We were surrounded by loved ones. The girls ran around wildly excited with all their cousins Christmas Eve night at my cousins, we barely saw them. When we were getting ready to leave my cousin announced that Santa was in Canada and Hannah panicked, her eyes grew big as she rushed around trying to find my dad to kiss and get her stuff on so she could go home to bed. We left out cookies and milk and water (because, Santa might be thirsty and sometimes milk just doesn't do it) and carrots and Harper's eye grew big and round when she saw they were all gone in the morning. The girls slept until 7:45! I know, this was the greatest gift of all. We leisurely opened gifts, and got breakfast ready. The girls were a little crazy, especially since Santa had left a little chocolate in their stocking and they ate it right away. Well, actually that's not entirely true, Hannah ate some and then decided, "I'm going to wait to have anymore chocolate until I have some healthy stuff, that way my belly will not get sick." Harper on the other hand...well, her and I are a lot alike. My parents and grandma came for a very relaxed brunch (we don't get out of our pjs, they usually come dressed though) and then we played and relaxed until it was time to go to my parents for dinner. It was lovely.
Leftovers
Boxing day. What to do on Boxing day, shop and take advantage of the sales? Not really my style, laze around all day playing different games with the kids, doing the crossword and working on our renovation plan on the computer, yeah that sounds about right. Really the day flew by, we watched the Canada vs Finland game at 2:30 and suddenly before we knew it, it was time to get the kids ready for bed.
Recipe
Like most today, we are having leftovers. My mom made a veggie tourtiere, veggie gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans and coleslaw - yum!
I will share one of our favorite Christmas morning recipes, though. I don't actually remember a Christmas without it, it's called Coaca Mocha and wee put it in our coffee or in warm milk for the girls (it's actually a really easy nice thing to give as a gift).
1 can sweet and condensed milk
4 oz of chocolate (I use milk chocolate chips, you could use whatever kind you like, as long as it's sweetened)
1 cup of whipped cream (no added sugar when you whip it)
Melt the chocolate and condensed milk together until smooth. Fold in the whipping cream until all mixed in and keep in fridge. Add as much or little as you like to a cup of coffee or warm milk.
The girls finishing the last of it...
Red Lentil Soup
Tomorrow, tomorrow we'll do something more substantial. Dave took the girls outside to shovel the driveway and play in the backyard this morning. The girls play really well together, but also play so differently. When they play outside they often play in the playhouse and cook things and such, but Hannah is always on the move, running here and there whereas Harper is usually sitting doing the cooking or moving to a do-dee-do pace. Today they were running around playing and throwing snow, after awhile Harper made her way over to the apple tree, laid down under it and starred up at the branches for quite awhile. There is a sense of quiet reflection in her. The image of her laying under the tree gives me a sense of peace. Dave soon made his way over to join her and they laid there together, quietly observing.
Recipe
We've finished up the last of the baking and eggnog. We are heading into a bit of a detox and I have to admit there has been baking and treats around here for so long I'm a little worried that it may be a little rough. We started with this soup found here. We all love this soup and it's super quick and easy to make.
Pizza
This is what we've been doing over here, mostly.
Recipe
My new favorite topping for pizza is hot banana peppers - it's so good.
Pasta with Tomatoes, Basil, Garlic and Shrimp
Hannah and Harper spent the morning building forts with the couch cushions this morning. They were having a little trouble with one of the roofs and Harper was starting to get a little frustrated. Hannah, upon seeing Harper's frustration, encouragingly cheered, "We can do it, expert builders never give up!" This seemed to work but, where does she come up with these things?
Hannah has also been singing the twelve days of Christmas over and over again. My favorite line? "Two turtle bugs!"
Recipe
There's no real recipe here, I sauteed the shrimp in a little olive oil with a couple of cloves of pressed garlic until cooked added in little cocktail size tomatoes chopped and some fresh basil and then tossed it all together with some brown rice spaghettini.
After Skating Snacks!
I use to play rignette when I was a kid, I was a referee for a season and I also coached (and I use that term quite loosely) when I was in grade 12, but somehow along the way I seemed to have lost my skates. The weather has been beautiful here, but there is barely any snow so skating is the outdoor sport of choice. Since Harper and I don't have any skates we went out yesterday and each got a pair of skates and a helmet. I was pretty excited and today we spent a perfect winter afternoon, starting by watching my nephew's hockey game and then heading out to a friend's who has a great rink in her yard where we strapped on our skates and skated around. I loved being on skates again, it was so fun. I really loved watching the kids skate around together, pull each other around the ice on sleds, shooting pucks, climbing hills (after their skates came off) and enjoying winter. Harper was a trooper with her tiny little skates and her helmet, in the car on the way home when I asked her if she liked skating she said, "Yeah! I fell down a lot." Hannah has come such a long way from the beginning of the year, she is gliding so well and really moving out there. Me? I did alright, I suppose it's like riding a bike although I did have one pretty big fall...I kind of deserved it though. I was coming in and saw my nephew, the hockey player, skating across and I thought I'd come in and just snow his skates a little...I caught and edge and flipped up (actually had enough air time to think, oh dear - this may really hurt) and landed, luckily I didn't really get very hurt and it reminded me of my respect for Karma. We ended the afternoon/evening inside drinking hot chocolate and tea, eating snacks while all the kids ran around and played together. On the way home we went through the Christmas light display in the park and then Hannah fell asleep in the car, amazingly because Harper chatted (loudly) all the way home.
Recipe
We had snacks after skating and that was enough for dinner. I made some tortilla rolls to bring. They were really easy. I made two kinds, a bean and veggie and garlic and herb cream cheese and veggie.
Spread a whole wheat tortilla with either bean spread or cream cheese and sprinkle with chopped veggies of your choosing. I used yellow pepper, carrots, cucumber and snap peas. Roll up sealing with a little bean spread or cream cheese, wrap in plastic and keep in fridge until ready to cut (it needs at least 1/2 hour to press together a little) cut into 1 1/2" pieces and serve.
Bean spread
1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, pressed
Whiz all together in a food processor, adding a little water if too thick.
Santa Fe Chowder and Tortilla Chips
Happy New Year! It was quite a party over here, Harper fell asleep at 6:00. Hannah stayed up to watch the first two periods of the hokey game with us and I was thinking that we could keep her up for the whole thing, but she was exhausted. It's alright because the apple doesn't fall far, Dave and I had a nice evening drinking wine and watching hockey cuddled up together but I was asleep by 10:30. I kept saying, there will be a time when we get a babysitter and go out and party again, this scares Dave a little, but really I think maybe celebrate rather than party may be a better word. The truth is, I was really kind happy to ring in the new year asleep in my bed, I'm hoping this is setting the tone for 2012 as peaceful and restful!
Recipe
This soup recipe is from Moosewood Restaurant Daily Special. We topped it with crushed tortilla chips and chopped up banana peppers.
2 Tbsp minced fresh green chile (I omitted this for the kids and then added the heat with the banana pepper)
1 cup chopped onions
1 1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp canola or other vegetable oil (I used olive)
1/2 cup peeled and diced carrots
2 cups peeled and diced sweet potatoes
2 cups diced potatoes
3 cups water
1 cup diced red and/ or green peppers
1 cup chopped tomato
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup diced zucchini or yellow squash
2 ounces Neufchatel or cream cheese
1/2 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
chopped cilantro
In a soup pot, combine the chiles, onions, cumin, coriander, oregano, salt and oil and saute for about 10 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent.
Add the carrots, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the bell peppers, tomatoes, corn, and zucchini, cover, and cook on medium-high heat until the veggies are tender, about 15 minutes.
Ladle 3 cups of vegetables from the soup into a blender or food processor, add the Neufchatel or cream cheese, Cheddar, and milk, and puree until smooth. Stir the puree back into the soup and gently reheat, if necessary.
Serve topped with cilantro (and may I suggest, crushed tortilla chips and banana peppers).
Salmon with Dill Sauce, Roasted Baby Potatoes, Greek Salad, Sauteed Veggies, Green Beans and Buns with Ice Cream and Berries and Chocolate Covered Mini Cheesecake
A new year. The trees and decorations are down and put away for another year, much to Harper's chagrin. Hannah on the other hand was a delightful help. We had a wonderful dinner at my parents tonight to cap off the holiday celebrations. Back to normal living.
I hope that reflecting on the past year brings you a little wisdom to inspire you for the year to come.
Happy New Year, may the sun shine down on you in 2012!
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