Beach, 2011

We're at the end of another fun beach trip. We've spent our last 3 beach trips with friends, but this year we flew solo. Last year we went with our church life group. And the year before, we went with Ethan's playgroup. In some ways, it was more fun being with our family. But in other ways, it's more fun to be with friends! We managed to visit family (Lance's cousin, Frank), make some new friends, and squeeze in some surfing (Lance) and fishing. Mostly, the baby stayed indoors (does anyone have any tips for keeping a baby happy on the beach, instead of their just eating sand?)

Tiger Nuggets

This is another attempt in my quest for child-frendly-and-healthy-proteins. These are Jessica Seinfeld's Rice Balls. Her recipe includes either spinach, broccoli or butternut squash puree. I used spinach, which tinted the nuggets green. If I were to do it over, I would use the butternut squash instead. These were actually very good. However, my kids wouldn't eat them until we declared that they were TIGER FOOD!...AND THEY WERE THE TIGERS! Here are my tigers.

Bubble Station & Party Prep

I meant to show these after our "Feasting on Fresh" potluck a few weeks ago. Lance installed a "bubble station" next to our deck. It may not look exciting, but I love it!!! THe kids love bubbles, but they make me kind of crazy, because I have to hold the bubbles while they blow, and they end up making us all sticky. So this way, the mess is kept to a minimum! Lance screwed on a cheap potholder with holes in the bottom. Then, we found a plastic container that we could slide down into it (we used an empty cottage cheese container) to fill up with bubble soap. Pour in a little soap and the kids stay happy and (relatively) clean! Or at least I stay clean! Here's another little thing that I made for the party. A box, wrapped in scrapbooking paper and a little sign glued on top (a free downloadable label from here). I thought it turned out cute.

Nan's Veggie Tuna

When most Southerner's wax nostalgic about their mother's cooking, it typically involves delicious casseroles, fried chicken or tasty pies. Not me. My lunch bags were packed with avocado & sprout sandwiches, and I came home to dinner of lettuce wedges topped with "Nan's Homemade Ranch" (yes, I have that secret recipe!) This was one of my favorite things my mother made for me. Here's a recipe, although I'm a bit intimidated to make it. It's called "Veggie Tuna," although there is no tuna or meat otherwise. It is given the title because it's very close to a tuna-like consistency. Although I've never made this, I thought I'd share it with you!

Using pulp from juicer: 5 lbs. of carrots run through juicer. Drink the juice and save the pulp for the recipe.
2 stalks celery, chopped fine
1 bell pepper, chopped fine
1 small red onion, chopped fine
1 large tomato, chopped fine
½ c. Vegenaise
2 tbsp. soy sauce (or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos)

Using food processor (makes a smaller quantity)
2 c. processed carrots
½ bell pepper, chopped fine
1 stalk celery, chopped fine
½ small red onion, chopped fine
½ tomato, chopped fine
¼ c. Vegenaise
1 tbsp. soy sauce or Bragg’s

Juice the carrots in an electric juicer. Save the pulp. Finely chop the celery, bell pepper, onion and tomato. Add the pulp of the carrots to the chopped vegetables. Add the mayo substitute to the mixture. Then add Bragg’s or soy sauce. This is great as an open faced sandwich on hearty whole grain bread, topped with a thin tomato and cucumber slice.

7 Months

The more months that pass, the harder these pictures are to take. These days, the baby is everywhere. Now, I put her down on the floor and she has done a full-fledged army crawl across the room. It's harder these days to keep those tiny little toys out of arm's reach. A couple of times I have found her with little choking hazards in her mouth and in her tiny clenched fist. She puts everything in her mouth, and gets very upset when a favorite toy gets taken away. She is still a happy, happy baby and I'm surprised every day that babies like this exist out in the world. But back to the wiggling...Jewell is all over the place. So the majority of my pictures look something like this:With a little of this thrown in...And then a little of this!followed by a little of this. And here we are again, at 6 Months, 5 Months, 4 Months, 3 Months, 2 Months, 1 Month

KB Gets Her Hair Cut!

Can I tell you how much I love little girls with pigtails? I always pictured myself with a little girl that always wore pigtails. Wrong. My little one will wear a ponytail for a max of 180 seconds before the ponytail holder hits the floor. So today I decided to stop trying. We chopped it off! Doesn't she look so much older? Cute, but older! Boo hoo!

CSA 2011, Week 2

Another week of CSA Cooking! Unfortunately, no cinnamon rolls worked their way into my box this week. This week we recieved: Cabbage, Broccoli, Lettuce, Strawberries, Green Onion, Spinach, snow Peas, Radishes, Bok choi

This time of year we receive a bounty of green onions. Here are some of the things we do with them:
1) Freeze them!
2) Throw them on top of a baked potato
3) Test out this recipe for Asparagus, Green Onion & Goat Cheese Quiche
4) Or this Jasmine Rice with Carmelized Green Onions
5) Oh...And check this out. Chicken Breast with Goat Cheese, Carmelized Green Onions & Thyme.
6) And then here are even more great ideas for what to do with green onions.

See why I love the CSA? I never would have run across some of these ideas, had I not planned my weekly menu around how to use up some green onions!

This week I'll also be trying this easy snow pea recipe, steamed broccoli with lemon, cabbage rolls, & a bok choy salad (also uses green onions).

Feasting on Fresh

Last night we hosted a potluck dinner with some friends from church called "Feasting on Fresh." I adore potluck dinners, but always leave feeling so weighed down. So this time, we asked people to bring food inspired by whole, unrefined foods. I didn't want people to get weighed down by "rules" of what they could or could not bring, but just bring something in the spirit of the evening. We had such a great time, and the most amazing food!!! (See picture below: Please note that this is too many lemons. I could have added some sugar and called it lemonade.)The party started at 5. All afternoon we delayed the setting up, due to a 10% chance of rain. Finally, at 5:00 (as guests started to arrive), we decided to move indoors. It was a little kink in our plans, but it worked out just fine. We ate quinoa salad, russian carrot salad, collard greens & cornbread, wheat berry salad, kohlrabi/apple slaw, coleslaw, kale & white bean soup, cucumber & tomato salad, yellow squash & goat cheese custard, radish dip & crackers, cowboy caviar, asparagus, fruit salsa & chips, orzo & broccoli salad. And I'm probably forgetting some other delicious foods!! Dinner was topped off with some amazing cupcakes, cookies, pie and freshly whipped cream!
I made radish dip (I can't find the recipe online, but it's radishes, cream cheese, & green onion) and also summer squash goat cheese custard (pictured above).

Are you a church friend who would enjoy "Feasting on Fresh"? We invited people we thought would enjoy it, but we hope to do this again! If you would like to join us next time, let me know. We'd love spending time with you!!

Titus 2: Flower Arranging

Our church has a program called Titus 2 Women, based on the verse from Titus 2, which advises older women to teach younger women to love their husband & children, to be self controlled, pure, kind, submissive & hospitable. About once a month, we take a variety of topics that women are able to teach each other, meet in homes and just talk! Some topics are fun & "light," while others are more serious. In the past year (since it started), we've talked about foster care, forgiveness, hospitality, infertility, cooking, parenting, marriage, & raising a child with learning differerences. My friends Jana, Lauren, and Amanda each demonstrated several different styles & ideas. I love these nights!

Seasonal Spotlight: Radishes

Radishes. I'm still trying to figure those guys out. I've tried them a number of ways and just can't figure out how to make them in a way I enjoy. Don't they look pretty just like this? My friend Danna eats them raw. How do you like to eat them?

This week I'm trying this Radish Dip
This Steamed Radish recipe looks pretty easy.
Radishes with Pea Puree looks like a tasty appetizer.
Simple Roasted Radishes

Here are some more ideas of what to do with all the radishes on chowhound here and also here. And here are some reasons why I should try to love radishes. (I said try!)

CSA 2011, Week 1

It's that time again! Week 1 for Avalon Acres CSA. It's not too late to sign up either! Avalon Acres offers produce packages, meat packages, cinnamon rolls, breads, eggs. It's a great CSA, this is now our 4th year. In 2009, I took pictures (almost) every week, if you would like to see what a package looks like. Keep in mind, produce varies year to year, week to week. Even our package from this week will be slightly different from another person's box, because they split them up to give the greatest variety based on what they have. Pictured above is one week of the 1/2 Bushel (or "Produce Only Family Share").

Here's what we got this week: radishes, broccoli, kale, strawberries, lemon balm, lots of lettuces, green onions, & kohlrabi. Here's the complete list of "this week's harvest", from Avalon Acres. And look at this: A Suprise! We didn't order it, but I'll take it! And they are yummy.
This time of year we get lots of greens. This week, I'm going to try to freeze the winter greens (not the lettuces). This or this website show instructions on how to do this. I will freeze in small portions and throw in smoothies, lasagnas, or maybe puree them to sneak them into recipes. Have you ever frozen spinach or other dark winter greens?

I've never used Lemon Balm before, but this website says that "Lemon Balm is best known for its calming properties, and has been used for centuries as a mild form of drugs like Valium." Interesting. I'm going to throw it into some tea or ice water. I'll let you know if I turn into super-mama.

And here are a handful of kohlrabi recipes, but I think I'll just roast mine.

Half Marathon Results

I did it! (before picture above, gear in hand. 2007 before picture here). Another Half Marathon under my belt! 5 years and 2 babies and 15 pounds later. There are some differences. This time I had much more confidence in my ability, although I was very concerned with the time commitment. I had zero problems training for a half marathon and nursing a baby. But it was a challenge in terms of timing. I also had knee pain, toe pain, and developed allergy-induced asthma (luxuries of aging). During the half marathon, I used an inhaler for the 2nd time in my life. I hope to never use it again!

So here's my report on the race! Unfortunately, the baby woke up at 3:45 am, ready to eat & play. (I was hoping to wake up at 5). I got my stuff ready - I ran with very full hands...an inhaler, headphones & iphone, 2 GU's. Kathryn & I were hoping to run under 2 hours, which was an aggressive goal for us. At 11+ miles, I could not longer keep up with Kathryn, so I told her to go ahead while I slowed down my pace. I started walking a few times, but tried not to walk for long. And here's the truth...the last mile, I contemplated whether or not I should go ahead and "relieve" myself. I thought about this for quite a while. In the end, I did not wet my pants, but hustled immediately to the bathroom after crossing the finish line. I stuffed my inhaler, iphone, and several freebies (bananas, water, powerbar) in my sports bra and hustled in the port-a-potty. My time? 2:00:27!!!! Yeah! Although it would have felt good to be 28 seconds faster, I am not that disappointed. I truly feel like it's a major accomplishment for anyone to run/walk 13.1 miles, no matter the speed.The very best part of the run was when Lance brought Ethan & Katie Belle to high five me at several points throughout the race. It was such fun to see their faces!

Chicken Apple Nuggets

I am trying to perfect a homemade version of the chicken nugget. So far I've tweaked these 2 chicken apple ball recipes (here and here). To the below recipe, I add a little ground flax seed, which helps it stick together while adding lots of nutrients. Here's the recipe, which makes 20-30 nuggets, depending on your size.

2 tsp Light Olive Oil
1 Onion, finely chopped
1 large Granny Smith Apple, peeled, and grated
2 large Chicken Breasts, cut into chunks
½ tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped
1 tbsp Fresh thyme or sage, chopped
1 Chicken stock cube, crumbled (for children over 12 months)
50g Fresh white breadcrumbs
1 pinch Salt, (for children over 12 months)
1 pinch Pepper, freshly ground (for children over 12 months)
1 dusting Plain flour, for coating
1 tsp Vegetable oil, for frying

Heat the olive oil in a pan and saute half the onion for about 3 minutes. Using your hands, squeeze out a little excess liquid from the grated apple. Mix the apple with the cooked chicken, and remaining raw onion, herbs, stock cube (from one year) and breadcrumbs and roughly chop in a food processor for a few seconds. Season with a little salt and pepper (from one year). With your hands, form into about 20 little balls, roll in flour and fry in shallow oil for about 5 minutes until lightly golden and cooked through.

On a whim, I decided to change these into Chicken Apple Nuggets. How did I do that? I squished them. I thought I'd do an experiment to see which "tasted better." The result? Lance & Ethan went STRAIGHT for the nuggets. Katie Belle preferred the chicken balls. Everyone definitely had a favorite though, although they were exactly the same. These don't have a crunchy nugget exterior, but I will definitely make some this way from now on.Bite-Sized - I've learned that's one of the best ways to get a little one to eat. Here are some more of my favorite proteins for little hands. I've frozen all of these (except the tofu & salmon). They are all great the second time around!

Salmon Fingers - I even did these when E was egg/dairy-free. My Replacements: Milk-free stuffing, Follow Your Heart Grapeseed Oil Vegennaise, and Flax Seed egg Replacement instead of eggs.
Black Bean Burgers - We used to eat a ton of these. For the kids, I just made small round meatball-sized 'burgers,' which are easier to eat.
Porcupine Meatballs - A great egg-free meatball.
Baked Tofu Sticks - Serve with some marinara dipping sauce, and they look just like french fries! Plus, they are very easy to make & have little hands help with.
Chicken, Quinoa & Apple Patties - I don't love these as much as they chicken apple balls, but it's a nice variation for those who have wheat allergies or want to try to get some quinoa in their diet.
Jessica Seinfeld's Rice Balls (can do with or without chicken) - these were delicious. Also very time consuming.

Do you have any favorite protein recipes that your little ones love?