Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Black Bean Hummus, Pita Chips and Raw Veggies
Thursday: Shepherd's Pie
Friday: Pizza (yes, mine was vegan)
Saturday: Falafel
Sunday: Salmon, Roast, Roasted Veggies, Quinoa Salad, Green Salad, Beans and Bread with Birthday Cake and Ice Cream
Six years ago today I was about three weeks past my original due date, a week and a half past the second due date I was given, it doesn't matter how many times its adjusted, you still cling to that first one. I seriously thought that the baby would never come and eventually my body would adjust back to normal and it would be this weird thing that once happened. People would say, "Remember that time you were pregnant, but never had a baby? That was weird. How long did it take for your body to go back to the way it was? Imagine how different your life would be." Really, this is what I thought, you know it's not true, but there's a part of you that has mentally prepared for it. It's probably good that my mind was focused on this and not the fact that I was soon going to have a baby. Dave and I were going to be trusted with a baby. I remember being blown away by that because, I've never really ever felt like an adult. When we bought our first house, I thought what fools to trust us with a house. When we got married, I was sure we'd tricked someone along the way to letting us tie the knot and now a baby, for sure someone was going to find us out and stop this craziness. But, nobody has.
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| We turned the butterfly cake into a caterpillar...I know, backwards. My mom took this pic, I love how happy she looks. |
Recipe
You get to choose your meal for your birthday and Hannah chooses rice wraps every year. You can find the recipe here on this post (where I've called them salad rolls for some reason), I added cilantro and chopped peppers tonight - yum!
Leftovers
I feel like I could sleep for a week. I think it's the flu; aches, fatigue and a really sore throat. It's not quite bad enough to spend the whole day in bed, but bad enough to feel like I'm moving through water and could possibly fall asleep at any moment. When the girls heard I wasn't feeling well they came up with a long list of solutions for me from eating dinner to doing a puzzle. They ended by climbing on top of me and cuddling (suffocating) me up...hard. I get it though, they meant well and when they're sick I want to be able to cuddle it out of them.
Recipe
I had planned on making soup, but I just wasn't up to it - which was disappointing because I would have really liked to eat some soup (it was too late to start when Dave got home, he would have made me some). So we had lots of leftovers and had those - soup tomorrow.
Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Black Bean Hummus, Pita Chips and Raw Veggies
I'm still moving a little slow and have a bit of a sore throat, but I think I'm mostly on the mend. This book came in the mail today for Hannah from my sister. I love it. The stories in it are great and so are the illustrations, full of imagination and adventure, but really I loved it from the cover. When I asked Hannah who the cover reminded her of, she had no clue...
Recipe
The recipe for the soup is from The Best of Bridge: Aces, and the black bean hummus is from my little celebration, only slightly adjusted. I'm recommending both, I really loved the black bean hummus and will make it again.
4 large red peppers
1 large red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups veggie stock (it actually called for chicken)
1 Tbsp lemon juice or gin
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp ground pepper
Sweet basil
Cut the peppers in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down on a cookie sheet. Broil until skins are blackened and puffed. Remove from sheet and place in a plastic bag to steam (I used a paper bag and it seemed to work just fine).
Saute onions and garlic in butter until soft. Remove cooled peppers from bag and peel off skins. Cut into chunks and add to onions and garlic. Cook for 2 -3 minutes. Add lemon juice or gin. In a blender or a processor, whirl 1/3 of the mixture until smooth, season with salt and pepper and garnish with basil.
For pita chips, preheat oven to 350F and spray a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Cut pitas (1 per person or as many as you like) and place on sheet, spray the tops and sprinkle with a little salt (if you like) and bake in the over until almost crispy, flipping once. Usually it takes about 5 minutes a side but check often - they will crisp up once they cool.
Black Bean Hummus:
1 tsp cumin
pinch of salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil large handful cilantro, stems mostly removed
juice of half a large lemon
Add a little water if too thickPlace all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth and well combined. Taste and adjust seasonings accordingly. Serve room temperature or chilled.
Shepherd's Pie
Winter has arrived and it's cold. We've been so spoiled with the nice weather lately that we haven't had time to toughen up (dear, mother nature - I am not complaining, simply explaining - please let the nice weather come back for a playdate - we've been having so much fun together). I've lived here almost all my life and every time I set foot outside today I kept thinking, "How do we get through this every year?" I think it must be a little like the first year of having a baby, you block out the really hard parts so that you'll have another or in this case stay another year. In the end there's always a good "war" story to tell. It does present the perfect day for to have a warm comforting meal though and so, Shepherd's pie.
Recipe
This recipe is from FatFree Vegan.
8 large or 10 medium potatoes
1/2 cup rice milk
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 ounces cremini or baby bella mushrooms
Two 15-ounce cans lentils, lightly drained but not rinsed (or about 3 1/2 cups cooked lentils with a little of their cooking liquid)
2 tablespoons dry red wine, optional
1 to 2 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce or Bragg’s liquid aminos (I would half this next time)
2 teaspoons seasoning blend (such as Spike or Mrs. Dash)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Freshly ground pepper to taste
3 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot
8 to 10 ounces baby spinach or arugula leaves
1 cup fresh bread crumbs or panko bread crumbs (gluten-free if needed)
Peel and dice the potatoes. Place in a large saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and transfer to a small mixing bowl.
Stir the margarine into the potatoes until melted, then add the rice milk and mash until fluffy. Cover and set aside until needed.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
While the potatoes are cooking, heat the oil in a medium skillet. Add the onion and saute over medium heat until translucent. Add the garlic and mushrooms and continue to sauté until the onion is golden.
Add the lentils and their liquid and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir in the optional wine, soy sauce, seasoning blend, thyme, and pepper. Cook gently for 5 minutes. Combine the cornstarch with just enough water to dissolve in a small container. Stir into the lentil mixture.
Add the spinach, a little at a time, cooking just until it’s all wilted down. Remove from the heat; taste to adjust seasonings to your liking.
Lightly oil a 2-quart (preferably round) casserole dish, or two deep-dish pie plates. Scatter the breadcrumbs evenly over the bottom. Pour in the lentil mixture, then spread the potatoes evenly over the top. If using two pie plates, divide each mixture evenly between them.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the potatoes begin to turn golden and slightly crusty. Let stand for 5 to 10 minutes, then cut into wedges to serve.
I can remember as a kid, playing outside in the winter. It was always a little crazy how it would be so cold out front, but in the back the wind would be blocked just enough and if you were bundled just right, you could be out there for a long time. Even if you were playing with other kids you could always get lost in your own thoughts and world, because of the layers of hat, hood, scarf that surrounded your face and ears, only to be snapped back by the crunching of boots on snow beside you. Call me an introvert, I loved it. I loved being able to play with other kids but have this kind of little retreat on my own too, I also hated that every time I wanted to turn and see my friends I ended up looking at the inside of my own hood - it was very frustrating. The girls played out in the backyard today before supper, they must of been out there for an hour and came in all rosy cheeked and full of snow asking for warm milk and to help make the pizza. As I rolled out the dough they sat at the kitchen table sipping their milk from mugs and pleasantly chatting together, it was such a funny little scene like two tiny grown ups having coffee.
Pizza
I made regular pizza for the kids and Dave and a bean hummus pizza for myself. It was really good, Dave had a couple pieces and agreed.
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil
5 cloves roasted garlic
1 tsp salt
1 handful of fresh basil
Preheat oven to 350F and wrap the garlic in foil with a little drizzle of olive oil. Roast until tender, about 25 minutes.
In a processor add all the ingredients, includind the roasted garlic, and puree together, add water a little at a time to get the right consistency.
I spread it on the pizza crust as the sauce, topped it with sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, olives, tomato (deseeded and chopped) and banana peppers and baked it with the other pizza. When it came out of the oven and drizzled it with a tiny bit of olive oil and topped it with chopped fresh basil.
Falafel
So this is often the scene in the morning in our house (especially on the weekend). Harper wakes up too early, wakes Hannah up and then one of us (I was the lucky one today) goes and sleeps, I use that term very lightly, in Harper's room while the girls play. They always play very well together in the morning, but loudly. Today they were playing ship. The bed was the ship and there were waves and a lot of yelling and diving under the covers, stepping on my hair and pulling the covers off of me. This was actually fairly normal, but what I found very funny was when Harper accidentally dropped a stuffy on my leg and Hannah said to her (while sitting on my hair), "Harper don't drop things on mama, you have to be careful she's trying to sleep!"
Recipe
The falafel recipe can be found here. I of course didn't have the sauce, but lots of chopped up tomatoes and cuccumbers and it was really good. It's a really easy meal, but you do have to make it a little ahead so it can sit in the fridge for a couple hours before forming and cooking.
Salmon, Roast, Roasted Veggies, Quinoa Salad, Green Salad, Beans and Bread with Birthday Cake and Ice Cream
Yes, more birthday. We had the family party for my nephew and Hannah's 6th birthdays tonight. Have I mentioned that I can't believe they're six? Seriously. There's no baby left in there. They just keep getting bigger and bigger. I loved watching all the kids play together, I mostly loved how they moved in a pack!
The next couple pictures my mom took, the first one has the makings of a Normal Rockwell...
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| I love how animated they are! |
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| Let's eat cake! |
You did read that right, roast, I didn't make it. My mom cooked a roast for the meat eaters, we cooked salmon to go with it and for my family and I made a quinoa salad to be sure that I would get some protein. It seems complicated but really it was quite simple. My aunt made the salad and my cousin made the cake, which was vegan - I had two pieces!
The fish was just BBQed with a little olive oil, the beans I left naked and the bread I made in the breadmaker. It was the recipe below from Cooking Nook, this is the one that I make for our regular bread and I quite like it. The idea for the quinoa salad came from Good Life Eats, but I changed it quite a bit.
Bread:
For a 1 1/2 pound loaf:
3/4 cup milk
6 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white bread flour
1 tablespoon yeast
3/4 cup milk
6 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup white bread flour
1 tablespoon yeast
Put the ingredients into your bread maker in the order specified by the manufacturer's instructions. Set the machine for whole wheat bread and medium crust.
1 cup uncooked quinoa2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound)
3 roasted red peppers (from the jar), chopped
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1 avocado, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes for garnish
salt
freshly ground pepper
1 avocado, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp cumin
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro
1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes for garnish
salt
freshly ground pepper
I would normally add olives as well but, left them out tonight. I've also made this and added black beans.
Preheat oven to 400F.
Peel and dice the sweet potatoes, toss them with a little olive oil and roast them in the oven, for about 1/2 hour flipping halfway through.
In a large bowl whisk together oil, lime juice, cumin, cilantro, salt and pepper. Add in the rest of the ingredients, including sweet potato and toss together. Let sit at room temperature for 1/2 hour to an hour before serving to let the flavors meld - check seasoning before serving.
I hope the sun shines down on you this week, we'll be celebrating more birthdays. Seriously.
Sometimes, I post a day late because I've fallen behind on the recipes or the pictures. Sometimes, because honestly I'm just too tired once the weekend is done and we've gotten the kids into bed. Sometimes we're away and I can't get online to do it. Sometimes, I spend the evening after the guests have gone home, the kids have gone to bed and the dishes are all done feeling like I'm forgetting something, only to check facebook the next morning to see a post on my wall, asking where it is and I think ahhhh, that's what I was forgetting last night. Really, I'm surprised it doesn't happen more ofter, my memory is that good!
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