Playing School...

Monday: Omelets, Fruit and Toast
Tuesday: Chickpea Salad and Pitas
Wednesday: Roasted Veggies Pasta Salad
Thursday: Taco Salad
Friday: Sea Bass, Smashed Garlic Potatoes, Grilled Veggies, Stir Fry Veggies, Corn and Salad
Saturday: Black Bean Burgers with Veggies and Roasted Potatoes
Sunday: Leftover Black Bean Burgers

Omelets, Fruit and Toast
I have my two nephews with us for the next couple of days, one is six and one is nine. Entertaining the six year old I've got, actually Hannah's got it they have been hanging out together since Hannah was born, two days after him. The nine year old...I'm feeling like just hanging out and playing in the yard is not going to cut it. So, I have dug into my teacher bag and am going to try and make the next few days fun. Today we played soccer, chess and made a paper mache volcano - which we plan to paint, make a playdough village for and then erupt! I'm really just hoping the nine year doesn't have to poke his eyes out from boredom and still likes to come to my house.

Recipe
I haven't shopped yet and to be honest, my kids actually dance around in joy when we're having omelets - it's really the easiest way to feel like a great mom.

Chickpea Salad and Pitas
I am exhausted! We did a few things today, made some cards, painted our volcano and made the playdough village around it, sewed our own bean bags and had an obstacle course in the backyard. I kind of thought the obstacle course might be kind of lame, but it turns out Hannah and the nine year old are quite competitive (this actually came as no surprise), Harper loved it (I think she was just so excited to be part of some sort of organized activity), I think the only one it wasn't a total hit with was the other six year old, who seemed to enjoy it the first few rounds - but tired of it sooner than the others. I ran with each child as they completed their part of the course, timing them and was beat by the time we finished! We retreated in the house for smoothies, popcorn and Walking with Dinosaurs, which I kind of feel like is cheating because it's TV, but justify it with the fact that it's educational.

Recipe
Hannah was at a birthday party tonight where they were having hot dogs (we sent veggie dogs for her) and so Harper also had to have a veggie dog, Dave and I had chickpea salad from here, this is almost always our "what are we going to have" dinner, in the post it's from we have in in pitas with potatoes and tziki - that's usually my winter version, for summer we have it as is.

Roasted Veggie Pasta Salad
Today was science day! I planned six experiments for the kids, one of them being the volcano eruption. We started by bending water with a comb, making chicken noises in a cup, layering liquids, creating a lava lamp we then erupted the volcano...which was very anti climatic as I didn't realize how much vinegar I would actually need (we did this again after lunch, after I sawed the top off and we had the right amount of vinegar) and then we made slime. The slime was blue and there were a lot of witty smurf comments from the nine year old (and then repeated by the six year olds and then repeated by the three year old). My favorite part of the day? When I was cleaning up for lunch all the kids were in the living room together and, although I didn't dare sneak a peak in case of ruining it all, I could hear the nine year old reading them Stanley's Wild Ride and all of them giggling out loud (including the nine year old).



Volcano!

 

 

 

 

I've been slimed!

 

Today was really fun, I felt like I was able to channel a little of that teacher that I'm suppose to be trained to be. It also made me realize that when I do go back to work, I'm going to be very exhausted.

Recipe
I was a little reluctant to make this pasta salad, because I feel like I have been making pasta salad a lot this summer, and then I realized I haven't blogged all summer and you would have no idea how overused pasta salad has been. It was pretty simple and really yummy!

Eggplant, peeled on two sides and sliced lengthwise into 1/2 inch slabs
Zucchini, sliced lengthwise in 1/2 inch slabs
Red onion, cut into 1/2 inch rounds
6 baby peppers (mix of yellow and orange), cut in half with seeds removed
3 tomatoes sliced in 1/2 inch rounds
Large handful of basil
1 can lentils, drained and rinsed
1/2 bulb garlic
Brown rice pasta, rigatoni
Olive oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Wrap the garlic in foil with a little drizzle of olive oil and a little pinch of salt and put on the preheated BBQ. Brush all veggies with olive oil and grill on the BBQ.

Cook pasta and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process.

Once veggies are done, chop them all up and place in a bowl with basil

Taco Salad

I headed out to the lake today with the girls. The plan had been to come out Wednesday night, but I was simply too tired and unprepared so I decided we would head out Thursday morning. My dad even came over this morning to watch the girls so I could get my grocery shopping done…we got out here at 4:30. I’m pretty sure someone filled my house with water making it oh so difficult to move at any sort of pace and they also sucked a bunch of time out of my day somehow. But, we’re here now. The girls were a huge help as I was unpacking the groceries they made up both beds with the clean sheets. They went swimming, we made dinner together, did the dishes and they are now asleep. It is late and they didn’t fall asleep right away, it took hours. They were in the room making tons of noise and I was letting it slide, until I noticed they actually had the audacity to turn the light on! I open the door and Harper’s up on the bed (not where she sleeps) looking at a book with all her stuffies, legs crossed not a care in the world…even when she saw me. This changed later when I heard Hannah get up to use the bathroom and I went over to the bedroom, Harper (who thought I was Hannah) started barking out some sort of order and when I said, “Harper it’s not Hannah it’s Mommy.” She immediately closed her eyes and pretending she was sleeping – little stinker. They finally fell asleep two hours after their bed time. The up side? It’s not my turn tomorrow night – sorry Dave.

Recipe
We had taco salad tonight, everyone helping to chop or wash or crumble, there is no real recipe, I feel like anything goes when it comes to taco salad as long as there's fresh squeezed lime juice and cilantro involved. We had lettuce, black beans, avocado, grilled sweet potato, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, cilantro, fresh lime juice and crushed tortillas chips.

Sea Bass, Smashed Garlic Potatoes, Grilled Veggies, Stir Fry Veggies, Corn and Salad
It was my parents 39th anniversary last night which we celebrated with a fabulous meal and some fabulous wine (which is why this post was not written last night). I am so lucky to have them as role models, for how they love and respect each other! Happy Anniversary!

Recipe
The thing is, out at the lake, you never make the whole meal. We brought out some sea bass fillets that were grilled on the BBQ and we had that with watermelon salsa from here. I also grilled some veggies - eggplant, peppers, onions, just brushed with a little olive oil and sprinkled with salt. The rest others made and it was delicious!

Black Bean Burgers with Veggies and Roasted Potatoes
When I left the city Thursday it was 33C in the city, by the time I got out to the lake it was 23C. It feels like fall out here, there's this little chill in the air (it's not cold, but not hot) and there has been a cool breeze all day long. This does not seem to matter to my children who swam two or three times today while we shivered on the dock. I'm not complaining, I will happily sit on the dock and watch my children swim for as long as they can stand the shivering because last year, I had to be in the water shivering too!

Recipe
I forgot to take any food pictures this weekend. But, these burgers that are only slightly altered from Cooking Quinoa were great and they BBQed up beautifully! I was so excited about that.

1 1/2 flax eggs (1.5 Tablespoons flax + 4 1/2 tablespoons warm water)

¼ cup quinoa flour(or flour of choice)

¼ cup cornmeal

1 yellow or white onion, diced

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced

1 yellow pepper, deseeded and finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced (more or less to taste)

2 teaspoons natural liquid smoke (optional)

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

½ teaspoon cumin

½ teaspoon salt

2 cups cooked or canned black beans drained and rinsed

1 cup cooked quinoa

½ cup bread crumbs

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

 

Make flax eggs by combining ground flax seed (or flax meal) with warm water and mixing well. Set aside. Combine quinoa flour and cornmeal in a small dish and set aside.

 

Heat a large skillet to medium heat and spray with olive oil. Add onion, jalapeno, red bell pepper and green bell pepper. Cook for 10 -12 minutes, until tender. Add garlic and cook for one minute more. Sprinkle with liquid smoke (if using), oregano, crushed red pepper, chili powder, smoked paprika, cumin, and salt and remove from heat.

 

Place black beans and quinoa in a food processor and pulse a few times until the beans are mashed but not pureed. Alternatively, mash with a potato masher or large fork. Transfer to a bowl and combine with onion mixture, bread crumbs and parsley. Stir in flax egg. Form into 6 patties and dredge each patty in flour/cornmeal mixture to coat. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes to allow to set. (Or the refrigerator for a couple of hours.) We then grilled them on the BBQ for about 12 minutes a side.

 

Leftover Black Bean Burgers

This was the conversation in the car on the way home from the lake today.

 

Hannah: I bet the sun is just hundreds of fireflies with their bums pushed together!

 

Harper: Boogers are good, everyone likes boogers!

 

Hannah: I like boogers, but I don't eat them.

 

Harper: Boogers are sugar!

 

I'm not even sure what to say about it.

 

Recipe

Hannah was at a birthday party tonight so Harper, Dave and I had leftover burgers for supper.

I hope the sun shines down on you this week!

Where Does the Time Go?

Strawberry picking!

Wow! I'm not too sure what happened. I thought I would take a couple weeks off blogging, and suddenly it's the middle of August. The summer is flying by this year. It started busy with a glorious family trip to Nova Scotia to visit Dave's parents and I kind of thought that we would just mellow out after that with slow, lazy days but, I discovered that I could be out at the lake with the girls during the week while Dave was at work and it just kind of snowballed into a back and forth, never really knowing what you're going to eat or with whom, kind of few weeks. I'm not complaining, it was really good and the busier (and by busy I mean swimming, going for walks, canoe rides etc...) I was, the less I dwelled on the fact that Hannah was going to be in full time school, and although I know it will all be fine, I'm a little concerned that Harper and I are going to be lonely and missing her. I know, here she goes again - kids grow up, get over it. I'll try.

Building Sandcastles.

I'm very curious and nervous about Harper starting pre-school two mornings a week. She's never been left without Hannah with anyone other than my mom and dad. I have a feeling that she won't look back and I'll be sad, until I realize that I am alone for the morning on a weekday and then I may skip all the way home...I'm hoping this is what happens anyway.

I am ready to start back into some sort of routine and I thought why not start with a proper menu plan and a little blogging. I hope that you all have been having a glorious summer!

Exploring the beach!

Monday: Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Salad
Tuesday: Tortillas and Homemade Refried Beans
Wednesday: Dal Makhani with Brown Rice and Cucumber and Tomato
Thursday: Shrimp Burgers
Friday: Whole Bowls
Saturday: Pizza and Salad
Sunday: Sea Bass, Smashed Potatoes, Yellow Beans, Corn on the Cob, Salad and Fresh Berries over Ice Cream

Riding the mini trains with cousins!

Pasta with Tomato Sauce and Salad
I took the girls school supply shopping this morning. I know, it's early! I feel like the last couple weeks are going to be busy and so I wanted to get this done and out of the way. Still, I couldn't get everything! Can you believe that? I started three weeks early and still they were sold out of pencil boxes in two different stores. I have to say, it's not doing a lot for my procrastination problem when things like this occur. I did buy the 64 box of crayons because it was on sale, but mostly because I always wanted it when I was a kid, you know the one with the sharpener in the back. There was always a couple kids in the class that had one and I always wanted all that colour choice...Dave tells me that now he thinks there's some 124 box or something and honestly I think it's only fitting.

While we were shopping Hannah was so excited about school supplies she ran into three people, knocked over a whole display of those large Mom calendars and fell and tripped and hurt her toe...she is so my kid!

Recipe
It feels really good to have a meal plan this week, it grounds me or something. Tonight we just had a really simple pasta and a salad. I thought I bought artichoke hearts, but when I got home it was hearts of palm which I had never tried. When I mentioned this, my mom's friend told me that they were really delicious on their own, in salads and so we tried them. I loved them, no one else really cared for them (I hate it when that happens).

Basic tomato sauce.

large glugg of olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, squashed and roughly chopped
2 -3 large handfuls of fresh basil (divided)
pinch of sea salt
1 28oz tin of whole tomatoes
a splash of red wine vinegar
Brown rice pasta

Heat the olive oil over low heat and add the garlic, one handful of chopped basil and salt until fragrant. Add the tin of tomatoes (keeping the tomatoes whole) and increase heat to bring to a boil and then simmer for half an hour. Once the sauce it ready use kitchen scissors (or whatever you like) to cut up the tomatoes in the pot and stir in a splash of red wine vinegar.

Cook pasta according to pasta directions, I always take it off a little under cooked and then rinse it under cold water. Then when I toss it in the hot sauce it doesn't over cook.

Add the pasta to the sauce and toss together. Serve with a generous topping of chopped basil and a little grated Parmesan cheese.

I made the salad about an hour before supper. I chopped tomatoes, cucumber (that I grew in my garden!), red onion, green olives and hearts of palm, sprinkled it all with a little feta, salt and pepper. I tossed it all together and then let it sit at room temperature.

Tortillas and Homemade Refried Beans
I'm not sure how other families work, but we seem to slide into the same old routine. We go along and things are good, we're all positive and making an effort (I'm mostly talking about parenting here) and then slowly things start to slide a bit and we catch them, and then a bit more and we catch a little less and then eventually I find myself laying on the bed telling Dave that I wish I could keep the kids up for another hour tonight so that I could have a shot at not being grumpy with them for a whole entire hour, but that I don't actually trust myself to pull this off so we better just put them to bed at regular time...

This becomes the holy shit moment, how did we slide so far? When did the carefree, unstructured days of summer become total chaos? It feels like we're never going to get back, like we've slid so far down that hill that I may not be able to make the climb this time, especially since I need to lead it, and right now I just want to continue whining about it instead (mmmm, don't tell my kids about the whining part). The carefree, unstructured was fun, but I suppose it's all fun and games until mommy looses her mind (and then it's a sport? No, no)...So not only are we going to inject some routine in our eating, but I am going to get off my ass and inject some routine back into our life.

Recipe
There is something so incredibly good about onions and cumin. We had homemade refried beans, with lime slaw and guacamole on corn tortillas, mmmm - it was delicious.

The refried bean recipe is from Moosewood Cookbook. They are easy and far better than any canned refried beans you buy in the store. The only thing is you need to remember to soak the pinto beans at least 4 hours ahead (I did mine overnight).

2 cups dry pinto beans, soaked
2 to 3 Tbsp olive oil
2 cups minced onion
5 to 6 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
black pepper

Cook presoaked beans in plenty of boiling water until very soft (about 1 1/4 hours). Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion, half the garlic, cumin, and salt. Saute over medium heat about 10 minutes, or until the onions are soft. Add remaining garlic, season with black pepper.

Turn the heat to low, add beans, and mix well. Mash with a fork or a potato masher, and cook for just a few minutes more. Serve right away or store in the fridge or freezer until time to reheat.

For the slaw I mixed together about 8 oz of shredded cabbage mix with 2 Tbsp mayonnaise, 4 Tbsp sour cream, the juice of a lime and a little salt.

For the guacamole I mashed two avocados with 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 large clove of garlic minced, a chopped deseeded tomato and the juice of 1/2 lime (to taste).

We piled it high on homemade corn tortillas (Masa flour and water) that Dave and the girls made, and it was delicious!

Dal Makhani with Brown Rice and Cucumber and Tomato
I love listening to the girls play house, especially when they are being nice moms. I don't like it quite as much when they are being mean moms and all my faults as a parent are laid out in front of me, then it feels more like a bad therapy session or something. But, when they are carrying their babies around in slings, nursing them and kissing Their booboos better, I love it. I did leave out the part where Harper first throws her baby down the stairs to get the booboo, before she can kiss it better - this part I just block out, it's easier that way. Today they were getting their babies ready to go to school, buying school supplies and new clothes. Hannah was explaining to her baby that, "She may feel a little afraid about school and that's OK, she did too the first time, but it turns out it's really fun. Really fun, like more fun than being home with mom all the time." So maybe, I didn't like that last part quite so much, but we are all looking forward to school starting again soon!

Recipe
Here's the thing, I love Indian food. I don't cook it very often (because I don't know how), half the time I don't really know exactly the names of the dishes that I love so much when we eat out, but I know that I love pretty much all of it. I was inspired by a cooking lesson on naan bread that I received (actually, Dave received the lesson and told me all about it) from my parent's friend, Ramesh, to try and cook a few different Indian dishes. Dave got this cookbook from the library for me, From Mom with Love, from which I made the Dhal Makhani that we had tonight. I have to say, it was fabulous - one of those dishes that as you're eating it, you're thinking I can't believe I made this. So I recommend it, but it is time consuming because you first have to make the precooked masala. The good news is that you end up with three more portions of masala in the freezer for the next time you cook it, which will be handy.

Precooked Masala

2 medium onions, peeled and sliced
1 large or 2 medium green chilies
2 cloves garlic
2 small pieces of ginger
1/2 cup oil
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
4 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
4 black cardamons
28 oz canned crushed tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp tumeric powder
1/2 tsp red chili powder
4 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp paprika

Grind onion, green chilies, garlic and ginger in food processor to a fine paste. Heat oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and black cardamons. When cumin seeds start to pop, add onion paste. Lower heat to medium-low and stir occasionally until onions turn golden brown (about 20 minutes).

Add the rest of the spices and tomatoes to onions. Stir. Turn heat to low. Cover and let cook for 40 -45 minutes, stirring occasionally. When oil separates from rest of the sauce, the masala is done.

Dal Makhani

1 cup whole urad (also called black lentils)

4 cups water
3/4 tsp salt
1/4tsp tumeric powder
1 Tbsp oil
8 oz sour cream
1/4 stick butter
3/4 cup precooked masala
1 tsp red chili powder
1/2 tsp garam masala
2 Tbsp coriander, chopped

Wash and soak dal for 30 minutes in warm water. Rinse and drain. Put dal in pressure cooker, adding water, salt, turmeric powder and oil on medium-high heat. Close lid and put weight on. After pressure builds up, turn heat to medium-low and cook for 15 minutes or until dal gets soft but not mushy. Turn off heat and leave it covered for 5 minutes. Put pressure cooker under cold running water to reduce pressure and open lid.

Put pressure cooker back on stove on medium-low heat. Add sour cream, butter and stir. Cook half covered for 30 minutes.

Add precooked masala and stir. Add red chili powder and cook for about 30 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally. Add garam masala, stir and turn heat off. Garnish with chopped coriander.

We had ours with rice and sliced tomatoes and cucumber on the side.

Shrimp Burgers
This is what the 2012 Summer Olympics has brought to our house:

Hannah is now asking for me to find and play her music by The Spice Girls, Dave and I have responded with The Beatles, The Who and The Rolling Stones.

She has also spent her entire day in the backyard practicing her Gymnastics.

Both girls try to use the living room couch as a hurtle and balance beam (perhaps this isn't a result of the Olympics).

They both have a strange obsession with Micheal Phelps, oh, and flags.

Recipe
I got this recipe from The Galley Gourmet. They were fantastic, the right juiciness and tastiness, we will have these again for sure. It makes six very generous burgers and I think I will make them into eight next time. I bought buns from St. Leon, they are Vin Rouge and Shallots (from Le Croissant) and toasted them a little on the grill.

2 slices of quality sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
4 Tablespoons mayonnaise
1 extra large egg, beaten
4 scallions, finely chopped
1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
1 Tablespoon dry Sherry
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper or more to taste (optional)

For the tartar sauce I mixed together a chopped dill pickle, red onion, mayonnaise, a few capers and a squirt of lemon juice, this is all to taste.

In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the bread crumbs to fine crumbs and transfer to a bowl ( you should have about 1 1/2 cups crumbs). Wipe the food processor clean and pulse the shrimp until there is an even mix of finely minced and coarsely chopped pieces, about 7 pulses. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and pulse once more to break up any large pieces stuck on the side.

In a large bowl whisk together the mayonnaise, beaten egg, scallions, parsley, lemon zest, sherry, salt, pepper, and cayenne (if using) until combined. Gently fold in the processed shrimp and bread crumbs and mix until combined.

Shape the mixture into 6 equal portions about one inch thick. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

I brushed the skillet with a little oil and cooked them over medium high heat for about 6 minutes a side, until they were nice and brown and cooked through.

We put a thick slice of tomato, the burger, some lettuce and tartar sauce on the grilled bun.

Whole Bowls

Harper is...well, she's is as difficult as she is cute these days. Which I suppose is a balance of some sort. Man, I keep reminding myself that these stubborn, non complaisant qualities are the ones that are going to serve her well as a teenager (hopefully) and adult. These are the qualities that make her strong. I don't wish for her to change, even though every single thing from brushing her teeth, to getting dressed, to picking up, to choosing something to eat involves her throwing herself on the floor. There's no, simple task that doesn't seem to involve some sort of battle. I just hope I'm still sane to see these qualities being used for good!

Testing some muffins in their fort!

Recipe

Tonight we had whole bowls from this post here.

Pizza and Salad

Have I mentioned our reno lately? It is happening slowly but surely. Mostly we are just making decisions and pulling together all the plans. We haven't actually done much actual work, we are waiting for the permit to go through for the wall and have the contractors come and take it out. Today, Dave and my dad cut out the kitchen floor in the eating area and laid new plywood to ready it for the hardwoods, the same will be done to the rest once the wall and cupboards come out. Harper, loves the new floor and I can't seem to convince her that it is not the actual floor that we will see in the end.

Recipe

We had dinner at my Mom and Dad's tonight for my aunt's birthday. Homemade pizza and salad with chocolate cake and ice cream.

Sea Bass, Smashed Potatoes, Yellow Beans, Corn on the Cob, Salad and Fresh Berries over Ice Cream

This morning I came out from the laundry room to this...

The girls had made homemade lemonade, toast and set the table - they are so adorable!

Recipe

Dinner was at Mom and Dad's again tonight, I know what leeches we are!

I hope the sun shines down on you this week!