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!