Kiran Berrien Lawrence

Japan

2011-03-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

What a nightmare the people of Japan are going through right now! I know, that is a huge understatement. I have been thinking about what I can do to help. I don't have tons of extra money and the rainy weather we are having doesn't lend itself to a garage sale. Organizations seem to need money the most though. Logistically it is probably hard getting donated supplies halfway around the world. This morning it occured to me that I could donate all of the money from sales in my Etsy shop! So that's what I am doing. Stop by, have a look, tell your friends, put it on Facebook if you feel like it. The money will go to the Red Cross.

Oh that series...

2011-03-03T11:53:00.000-08:00

How did you all like that nice little series on veganized Hawaiian food? I totally failed on that one. What can I say except that the craving passed. Actually, it more than passed. I made some teriyaki chickpeas and I couldn't even stand to smell it. In fact it went straight into the compost, immediately. And that was the end of my veganized Hawaiian food. But, I did find some fun links of other people's recipes, so in case you actually wanted to try some of the things I promised at least you can try these.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJWacC03El8

http://ieatfood.net/2008/11/11/vegan-spam-musubi/

http://thegothichomemaker.blogspot.com/2010/02/vegan-kalbi-with-hurry-up-kimchi-and.html

http://www.veganhappyhour.com/?p=384

The poke I couldn't find anything for. I think the best thing there would be a little seaweed salad with the same seasonings.

SO there you have a little round up of vegan Hawaiian food recipes that I have not tried but if the craving comes again, most likely after the baby arrives, I will try some!

Winter Salad

2011-01-31T15:19:00.000-08:00

Oh I have to start taking pictures of the food again! I am so bad about that! Lazy? Perhaps. More likely just forgetful. I made a very pretty and delicious salad for dinner last night. We had a family dinner with my parents, sister and brother and law and of course, my kids and husband. We started with this lovely salad then we did make your own pizzas. I put out naan bread for the crust, roasted butternut squash cubes, chard, caramelized onions, sauteed vegan sausage, a few different types of cheese, apple slices, tomato sauce and hummus. Everyone assembled their own pizzas and then we ate together when they came out of the oven. It was fun and it took some of the pressure off of me to prepare a big meal.

Here is what went into the salad:

3 steamed beets, cut into thin wedges
4 blood oranges, supremed
large handful of small, briny black olives (Nicoise olives would be good here too)
1/4 cup crumbled sheep's milk feta
2 heads of butter lettuce, torn into small pieces
dressing made from 2 parts olive oil, 1 part sherry vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

It was a big hit and with all of the beautifully colored beets, blood oranges and black olives it really was pretty.

Vegan Long Rice recipe coming soon. Stay tuned!

Big News and a New Series

2011-01-25T13:39:00.000-08:00

Let's just get to it. The big news. I am pregnant. This will be baby number four, and it will be our last one. I have always wanted four kids. I feel so lucky to be getting my wish! Wish me luck!

This pregnancy is challenging my vegetarian lifestyle a lot. I have been having crazy cravings for meat. I haven't succumbed so far but it is hard! Perhaps I just need to eat more protein, but the usual vegetarian protein sources do not appeal to me at all. The thought of tofu is hard to bear. Instead it is pate and sausage that I am dreaming of. Of course, the reality is that I do not want to support the meat industry which is why I have not given in. But really, it is a challenge. Those of you out there who have been pregnant know how strong those cravings can be.

Years and years ago, right after college I moved to Hawaii. I ended up staying there for five years, during which time I lived with a local family. I discovered some wonderful foods there, most of them meat based, many of which I have been craving during this here pregnancy. So, I thought it would be fun to do a little series on the blog of veganized Hawaiian dishes. A few of the foods that I am missing these days are:

Chicken Long Rice
Kalua Pig and Cabbage
Kal Bi Plate Lunch
Poke

I am sure others will come to mind but this will be the beginning. This week I will get to work on the Chicken Long Rice and will post my veganized version next week. This will be challenging but fun and hopefully ultimately satisfying!

Have a lovely week!

Weekly Menu and My New Etsy Shop!

2011-01-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

Hello! How was your week? Mine was unexpectedly busy due to the broken elbow of my 5 year old boy. He broke his elbow a week ago Friday and ended up needing to have surgery on it. Ugh! Last week was a blur of medicine, Kaiser visits and movie time on the couch. He is feeling much better now, thank goodness. Hopefully he'll be back to his old busy self again in a few weeks.

Yesterday I spent some time creating an Etsy shop. I have a thing for vintage things and have been collecting things for some time with the extension of opening a shop on Etsy at some point. Well, that time has come! Check it out. There will be more items coming over the next week.

Finally, here is my menu for this week. I am eager to be back to normal again with school and cooking and all of our other activities. Hopefully everyone stays healthy and whole for awhile!

Monday: Corn Chowder, Dill Pita Toasts, Salad and Crudites with dip
Tuesday: Black Bean Chili with all the fixins (I am still trying to instill a love of beans in my little sweethearts, and their daddy)
Wednesday: Cauliflower Curry, Baked Acorn Squash with Brown Sugar and Butter, Steamed Greens, Naan
Thursday: Pasties with sweet potato and collard green filling, salad
Friday: Fritatta, salad, smoothies
Saturday: Pizza Night - make your own on Naan

Have a great week!

Happy New Year, My Weekly Menu and Kale Lasagna

2011-01-10T16:42:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year! Sorry I've been gone for so long! Life was overwhelming me for awhile there and I just wasn't feeling like blogging. I wasn't feeling like doing a lot of things and blogging was one thing I could cut out. I am finally feeling more on top of my game and ready to blog again. So here I am, beginning with my menu for the week. I am so happy to be back to meal planning. It really does make my household run more efficiently.

Monday: Kale Lasagna (see recipe below), sauteed broccoli rabe with garlic
Tuesday: Taco Tuesday! This is going to be a regular item on my menus each week. This week we are having tofu tacos with all the fixins...salsa, avocado, sour cream, cheese, corn and so on.
Wednesday: Stuffed Squash (stuffed with lentils and sausage), steamed baby caulifower with butter and salt. I got some cute little tiny squashes and cauliflowers at the farmer's market this week. So, each person will get their own squash and their own head of cauliflower. Cute and novel for the kids, I hope.
Thursday: Rice with veggies, scrambled or fried eggs, lettuce. Whenever I make rice now I add a whole bag of frozen mixed veggies to it. My kids love it and it is an easy way to add veggies with no prep. On top of the rice each person gets an egg however they want it. My kids like to wrap it all in a lettuce leaf and eat it up. Easiest dinner ever but super healthy and good!
Friday: Make Your Own Pizza. I use Naan bread from Costco for the crust and everyone tops it however they want.
Saturday: Vegetable Curry, Brown Basmati Rice, Raita, Chutney and Raisins. I might even make a Mango Lhassi to drink if I am feeling ambitious.
Sunday: Soup Night. I am copying a childhood friend's tradition of Sunday Soup. I make a big pot of soup, homemade bread and a giant salad. I love soup night!

Kale Lasagna

I know this doesn't sound sooo super appealing to kids, but it turned out to be tasty and between this and a side of brocolli rabe my kids got a double dose of healthy greens. Can't go wrong there!

1 bunch kale, washed
2 containers ricotta cheese (I use whole milk ricotta because I have scrawny kids who are well served by extra fat, you could certainly use part skim or low fat in its place)
2 eggs
1 C grated parmesan cheese
2 C grated mozarella
2 jars tomato sauce (I use Whole Foods brand eggplant marinara so they get another veggie with no effort on my part whatsoever)
16 no boil lasagna noodles

In a food processor chop the kale as finely as you can. Place kale in a large bowl along with ricotta, eggs and parmesan. Mix until well combined.

In the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish, pour 1/2 cup of tomato sauce. Layer 4 noodles on top, followed by 1/3 ricotta mixture, 1/4 mozarella and a cup of tomato sauce. Repeat layers 2 more times. On final layer, place 4 noodles, remaining sauce and remaining mozarella cheese. Cover tightly with tin foil. Bake at 375 for 1 hour. Remove foil and cook under broiler until top layer of cheese is browned and bubbly. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

I hope your family enjoys it!

Changes

2010-11-09T12:27:00.001-08:00

Hello long lost blog friends! I've been a busy mom lately and my blog has been suffering! When I orginally started this blog I was planning to write about all things related to kids birthday parties. It sounded so fun and right up my ally since I love throwing parties for my kids so much! I even had a spin off business in mind. Well, the reality is that party planning is just one of the many things that I love. I also love to cook, get dressed up, play with my kids, knit, sew, read and on and on it goes. I have been trying to come up with a cute, clever name for this blog. A name that would reflect all of the things that I want to use this space to write about. Well, I finally decided to leave it all open ended and just name the blog after myself. So here it is. The new and improved KiranBerrienLawrence.blogspot.com. Stay tuned for lots of fun posts and more recipes, of course!

Get Up and Go Smoothie

2010-08-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

My husband and I used to be big Diet Coke drinkers. I have given it up, in part because a friend of mine whose mother had just died of cancer, told me that her mother's oncologist said two big things you can do to eliminate your risk of developing cancer are to eliminate plastic containers and artificial sweeteners from your life. I got rid of all the plastic when my first baby was born. That was right when all of the BPA/Pthalate buzz was beginning. Diet Coke was much harder but I won the battle!

My husband is still struggling. It is his only source of caffeine as he is not a tea or coffee drinker. We all know how much caffeine is appreciated when the kids are wee ones, as our are. I came up with this smoothie for him as a way to help get his energy going without the caffeine or the soda. He says it works. My kids love it too and it sure is an easy thing to serve them on a busy morning. I throw it all together at night then just whizz it up in the blender in the morning.

Get Up and Go Smoothie

6 oz calcium fortified orange juice or your favorite milk, if using a non-dairy milk I would suggest an unflavored one
2 scoops of protein powder
2 T acai juice
1 T unsweetened pomegranite juice
1 t fish oil (or flax oil)
1/2 C frozen mixed berries
1 packet of berry flavored amazing grass greens mix

Throw it all in a blender and blend! Yum!

More Enchiladas...Green Ones This Time!

2010-08-25T13:01:00.000-07:00

Now you all are going to think I have an obsession with enchiladas. Maybe its just the fact that we are in the middle of a 100+ degree heat wave and I need something to eat with my margaritas. Whatever reason, I've been making enchiladas. This recipe is for green enchiladas, which my husband said he liked best. They came out a bit spicy for two of my kids but were the easiest thing in the world to make. Once again, I made these like a casserole instead of rolling each one. If my kids think it is supposed to come out as a perfect roll and it doesn't trouble ensues. Its not worth the drama to me, so I make a casserole and everyone gets a square. This is another great back to school pantry dinner.

Sorry for no picture! They got eaten before I remembered to take one!

Groovy Green Enchiladas

1 package of 12 corn tortillas
2 Field Roast apple sage sausages, diced (any veggie sausage would work but I happen to love the Field Roast brand. I bet their chipotle sausages would be really good in this too)
1 shallot, diced
1 T olive oil
1/2 package of Daiya cheddar cheese
1/2 C vegan sour cream
1 jar tomatillo salsa

Heat the oil in a skillet, add shallots and saute, then add sausage and cook until browned.

In a glass 8x8 baking dish pour 2 T of the salsa.
Spread 4 tortillas with 1/4 C of the sour cream.
Place the tortillas in the dish on top of the salsa so that they cover the bottom of the dish. Spread 1/2 of the sausage mixture on top and sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese.
Sprinkle 1 T of salsa over all.
Make another layer of tortillas spread with sour cream, followed by sausage mixture, then cheese then another tablespoon of salsa.
Follow with 4 more tortillas, pour remaining salsa over the top, letting it fall down inside the dish. Top with the last 1/3 of the cheese.
Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

A Manly Vegan Football Party

2010-08-24T07:42:00.001-07:00

I was reading through the Forum on The Kind Life this morning and came across a thread about someone throwing a Football Draft party for her husband. She had a lot of meat eaters coming but wanted to keep things Vegan. I responded to the thread but also thought it would make a good blog post. No pictures, since my party was months ago and those pictures are trapped in my old, broken computer.

My husband and I host an annual Super Bowl party. It is not about the football for me at all. As you know, if you've been reading this blog, I love a good party. I love the chance to throw a party with all of that heavy, guy food that no one eats everyday. One year I did it with a retro theme and got out my grandmother's old recipe book for inspiration. This year, since going veg, I made everything Vegan. It was an interesting challenge to make a whole vegan party menu for a group that included no vegetarians, let alone vegans. But I did it, and everyone was happy. I used no faux meats in this menu. I find that a lot of meat eaters can detect even the best of it, and are often put off by them. Instead I just used vegetables.

Here is the menu:
Muffaleta Sandwiches from one of my favorite Vegan cookbooks, Veganomicon
Bean Chili served with tortilla chips, chopped cilantro and tofutti sour cream as garnishes
Alicia's Cheesy, Oozy Guacamole Bean Dip
Spinach Artichoke Dip, inspired by the recipe in The Kind Life (recipe below)
A giant salad with lots of goodies in it and vinaigrette dressing
A big platter of these delicious Snickerdoodles
Plenty of beer and lemonade (we have a tree with tons of lemons always needing to be used)

It was a big hit. No one noticed or cared that there was no meat.

Spinach Artichoke Dip, inspired by the recipe in The Kind Life

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip:
1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained and mashed up with a spoon
1 bunch spinach, washed, steamed and the water squeezed out (I wrap it up in a clean dish towel and wring it out that way)
1 cup Low Fat Vegenaise
1 cup grated vegan cheddar cheese (or regular cheddar cheese if you roll that way)
1 garlic clove, finely minced

In an oven proof casserole dish place artichoke hearts and spinach and mash/mix together. Add remaining ingredients and mix together well. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve hot with tortilla chips or veggies.

Vegan Bacon and Corn Enchiladas with Roasted Padron Peppers

2010-08-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

One of the flavors I have missed at times since giving up meat is bacon. I don't miss the gross dead animal flavor, but that smoky fatty flavor and texture is so yummy and hard to replicate with vegetables. I am a huge fan of tempeh bacon, in a BLT or on a wedge salad it totally satisfies.

Some nights you just need a tasty and easy pantry meal. Especially now that school is starting again, being able to come home from a busy day of school and activities and driving children around, open the pantry and throw something comforting and delicious together with very little work is much appreciated. Here is a recipe for enchiladas that combines the best of bacon flavors with corn, always a hit.

Bacon and Corn Enchiladas

In this recipe I layer the tortillas instead of rolling each one into an enchilada. It is faster. Also, there are some kids out there who have a fit if their enchilada is not a perfect roll when it comes out of the pan. Of course, I have never met these kinds of kids. They certainly don't belong to me.

But, by all means feel free to roll them instead. It certainly makes things prettier. Just make sure you only do one layer of rolls in the pan.

1 package of small corn tortillas (I like the Ezekiel sprouted corn tortillas which comes in a package of 1 dozen)
1 jar of enchilada sauce
1/2 bag of cheddar daiya cheese
1 package of tempeh bacon
2 ears of corn
1 T olive oil

Cut the kernels off of each ear of corn.
Cut the tempeh bacon into 1/2 inch pieces.
Heat olive oil in a skillet and add corn and tempeh. Saute until corn is fragrant and bacon begins to get a little bit crispy.
Pour 2 T of enchilada sauce in the bottom of an 8x8 glass baking dish. Top with 4 tortillas, spread out to cover the bottom as much as possible.
Spread 1/2 the bacon/corn mixture on tortillas, top with a handful of cheese, sprinkle 1 T of sauce over all,
Top with 4 more tortillas, spread remaining bacon/corn mixture, top with another handful of cheese and 1 T of sauce
Top with a final layer of 4 tortillas, pour remaining sauce over the top, sprinkle another handful of cheese on top.

Bake at 400 degrees until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling around the edges. About 10 minutes.

Serve with vegan sour cream, avocado and pickled radishes.

Also great with a side of roasted Padron peppers. I was at the Farmer's Market this weekend and found lots of baskets of little padron peppers. I first had them roasted at a super cool pizza restaurant in Oakland. Easiest recipe ever and so super tasty!

1 small basket of padron peppers, as small as you can get
2 T olive oil
sea salt

Toss peppers in the oil. Roast at 400 degrees until starting to brown and soften some. Remove from oven and sprinkle generously with salt.

Thomas' Blueberry Souffle

2010-08-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

This morning we had a long car ride to a doctors appointment and on the way home my 5 year old said he wanted to try making up a recipe. He had thought it all up and just wanted to tell me the ingredients so we could make it when we got home. Here is his list:

2 eggs
some flour
lots of blueberries
a block of butter, melted
a pinch or two of salt
some sugar
half a mug of milk

When we got home I looked through some of my books and tried to find a recipe that had all of these ingredients. I found a recipe showed him the picture, expecting to see an excited face. Instead I turned to him and got quite a dirty look. A big frown and in a whiny voice, "Nooooo!". Hands on hips, pointing to the picture, "Mom, has someone MADE that before? Because if they have then it wouldn't be MY recipe and I want it to be MY invention." Okay. So I agreed to wing it with him. I wing it all the time when I am cooking regular food. I rarely use a recipe to make dinner, but not so with baking. I don't really love baking and the necessary precision always makes me a little nervous. I decided to use a pudding cake recipe as a guideline. I have made this recipe so many times that I know it in my head so he didn't KNOW I was using it as a guideline. Delightfully sneaky, I know.

Here is the recipe we finally came up with. It came out really well. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be very good. I knew it would be edible but I didn't expect it to be something I'd ever make again. But I will. Definitely. Maybe I have a future Top Chef contestant on my hands!

Thomas' Blueberry Souffle
(which is really more like a pudding cake)

4 C blueberries, I used frozen but fresh would be even better
2 T vanilla sugar
1 t cornstarch

6 T butter, melted and then cooled some
1 C sweetened condensed milk
2 eggs

1 C flour, I used about 3/4 whole wheat and 1/4 all purpose because it was all I had on hand, in the future I would make it with all all-purpose flour
1 3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

In a bowl, mix together blueberries, sugar and cornstarch and set aside.

In a separate bowl whisk together the butter, milk and eggs until well combined

In a third bowl stir together dry ingredients until well mixed. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just to incorporate but no longer than that.

Pour half of the batter into the baking dish, pour blueberries on top, then pour remaining batter over the blueberries, allowing some of the fruit to poke through in places.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes, until really brown on top and cooked through the middle.

A Favorite Store

2010-08-19T21:56:00.000-07:00

Have you ever visited this wonderful store? Imagine Childhood is not only a really beautiful and inspiring blog but they have a store with very well chosen items for kids. Not clothes, toys and art supplies and science kits and whatnot. Everything is geared towards inspiring kids to enjoy nature and the world around them. I just started a nice little Christmas list for my family there. Check it out.

Oh, and this post is right up my boys' alley. I am going to start saving corks so I can make it!

Hot Cocoa and Vanilla Sugar

2010-08-18T07:32:00.000-07:00

Fall must be in the air just a bit around here because my eldest child has been asking me to make him cocoa for breakfast every morning. He likes to have a hot drink in the mornings just like his mommy and he often refers to his cocoa as his coffee. Cute. I hate the commercial cocoa mixes. Every time I hear about a food recall or read a book like Mad Cowboy or The Omnivore's Dilemma I trust the items in the grocery store less and less. Today I searched for a recipe to make our own cocoa mix and found a nice one from Alton Brown. I have tweaked it just a bit based on the ingredients we had in the house and also to suit our tastes. It turned out well!

Hot Cocoa Mix:
2 C sugar
1 C cocoa powder
2 1/2 C nonfat dried milk (I wonder what I could use as a vegan alternative to this that doesn't involve a product like Coffee Mate)
1 t sea salt
2 t cornstarch
1/2 vanilla bean

Mix all ingredients except vanilla bean in a bowl and stir with a whisk until not lumpy and thoroughly combined. Transfer to an airtight jar and nestle the vanilla bean down into the mix so it is buried. Over time the vanilla flavor will become stronger. To make the cocoa fill half of your mug with the mix and half with boiling water.

Several years ago I was in a fancy food store and bought a jar of Vanilla Sugar for $11. At the time I thought it was the greatest discovery and used it in everything from cinnamon toast to banana bread. However, the hefty price tag made me just a little cautious. Until it occured to me that I could make my own. I know you may be reading this and thinking "Duh!" but it was a great discovery for me. Now I just refill my little jar with organic sugar and every year I replace the vanilla bean. What a bargain! If you haven't tried this, I urge you to do so. It makes the best cinnamon toast (along side a mug of hot cocoa perhaps?) and gives your french toast a lovely crispy crust.

To make it:

1 mason jar full of large crystal sugar such as the Vegan sugar you can buy from Whole Foods
1 vanilla bean (they are a bargain at Costco) snipped into thirds

Shake it all up and store for at least a few weeks before you use it so the vanilla flavor gets into the sugar.

Not to get ahead of myself but these would both make lovely homemade Christmas gifts. Something easy to make with your kids that anyone would enjoy. Just saying.

More Soup.

2010-08-04T15:11:00.001-07:00

The other day I made the refried bean recipe that Morgan posted on Little House of Veggies. Great blog, if you haven't visited do. Lots of kid friendly and really yummy vegan recipes. Anyway, I made the beans. They were delicious. At least I thought they were. I have a very bean resistant family. My husband doesn't like them and two out of my three kids seem to be somewhat averse to them. I am working on changing that by preparing beans more often, and by sneaking them in when I can. The point is I made a giant pot of beans and I was the only one who ate them and now I am tired of eating beans. So I did what my mom always did with leftovers. I made soup. Whenever my fridge gets too full or I have too many leftovers that I sick of eating I make soup and freeze it. It is great to be able to pull a jar of soup from the freezer. An easy dinner, especially in winter during busy school times and short days.

Leftover Bean Soup:

Whatever amount of leftover beans you have
1 tube of tomato paste
4C water
2 vegan bouillon cubes (Rapunzel brand is my favorite)
1 C frozen corn

Throw it all in a big pot, simmer until everything is combined well and tasty. Add more water if you need it. For every additional 2 C of water throw in another bouillon cube too. Any frozen veggies that appeal to you would be great here. I almost put in some collard greens but then decided to cook them for dinner that night instead. It is a pretty loose recipe, but it always turns out yummy and freezes really well.

Home at last and finally feeling settled

2010-08-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

I have been MIA for awhile. The reason for my long absence is my annual trip to Cape Cod. I go there with my kids every summer for the month of July. My husband comes for part of the time and my mom is usually there the whole time with me. My dad and sister stop in too. We had a great trip this summer, got to see some great friends and got the best beach weather I can remember having.

Since I've been home I've been doing a lot of laundry and a lot of vegetable canning. So far I've made it through 25 pounds of tomatoes, 25 pounds of green beans and 20 pounds of cucumbers as well as a bunch of eggplant. The freezer and pantry are quickly filling up with summer goodness.

My first go at a batch of brined dill pickles is in a crock on my counter. I am so curious to see how these turn out and it is taking every bit of my self restraint to stop from trying one. They are supposed to sit for 3-6 weeks. Its only been 4 days.

Because of all of the canning I've been doing, I've been relying on a lot of soups for dinner. It is so easy to throw a bunch of veggies in a pot and make a nice soup. If I serve it with bread to dip, my kids are usually pretty darn happy.

Today I am making a Cauliflower Soup, a variation on a recipe in Alice Waters' book The Art of Simple Food.

Cauliflower Soup

1/4 C olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 t coriander seeds, crushed with the side of a knife
1 t ground cumin
1/2 t chili powder
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t dried red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 head of cauliflower, chopped
6 cups water
3 veggie bouillon cubes (I like the Rapunzel Vegan brand), dissolved in water

Heat oil in a large soup pot, add onion, carrots and spices and cook on medium heat until soft.
Add cauliflower and cilantro, stir to coat with spice mixture.
Add water/bouillon and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for 40 minutes or until cauliflower is very soft. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup.
Serve with cilantro, a squeeze of lime and some chopped avocado on top.

Things I am Loving on this Summer Solstice Day

2010-06-21T17:29:00.001-07:00

We had a great weekend and a great day today. Summer is my favorite, by far, time of year.

*Kumquat Mojitos for Father's Day (more on the Kumquats later)
*The TVs my boys made out of old fence boards and the infomercials they performed on them
*My 5 year old writing out a recipe for a concoction that includes pizza dough, eggs and cheerios
*Swimming lessons for all of the kids!
*Planning our annual Cape Cod trip
*All the windows and doors open

Happy Summer!

A Well Celebrated 5 Year Old!

2010-06-02T09:54:00.001-07:00

My son turned 5 last month and boy was he celebrated! I mean, over the top, at least in my book. I made a total of three chocolate cakes for this kid.

First was the party at his school, then a small family celebration at home that afternoon, then pizza and cake with his t-ball team (he and one of his teammates share a birthday). A week later came his party with friends. We decided to do a party at a nearby ranch that included making castings of animal footprints, a naturalist led hike and a surprise archery lesson at the end. It was the perfect day! He invited just a few friends so it wasn't crazy and chaotic. Just a fun big boy party. The archery lesson at the end was a super fun surprise, made better only by a gift of his own bow from his grandfather.

For favors I gave each child a copy of this really cool book, wrapped in a map because the boy loves maps.

Instead of a big elaborate food spread I made lunch boxes for each kid with some of the birthday boy's favorite foods. For the parents, a big spread of cheese, baguette and lemonade because really, what's better than that? My son had big ideas about his cake. One morning before his birthday he presented me with a drawing of what he wanted his cake to look like. It was a square cake with a giant walking stick poking out of it. Apparently he thinks I work for Ace of Cakes. Ha! We talked about it and I explained that I wasn't really a good enough cake designer to pull that one off. So he thought for awhile and decided that a cake that looks like a hiking trail would be just great. Phew! Much easier! I made a round cake (my specialty), chocolate of course, and dusted the top with cocoa powder. Dirt! Then a few chocolate rocks which I had stashed away in my pantry, a few green gumdrops (leftover from gumdrop cookies at Christmas time) on a bamboo skewer and it was starting to look pretty woodsy and hiking trail - like. The finishing touch were footprints made by a toy dinosaur. Perfecto! A hiking trail cake.

Happy Birthday to my big boy! I can't believe its already been five years!!

Rhythm of the Home, Pie and Ice Cream

2010-05-31T22:27:00.000-07:00

Have you checked out Rhythm of the Home? It is a fantastic online magazine with tons of fun craft, cooking and inspirational ideas for families with young kids. The summer issue is out today and guess what? I contributed to it. So if you're in the mood for a little pie and ice cream have a look!

Special Dinner for the Mom

2010-05-28T07:36:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago we took the kids to see this fantastic version of the play Peter Pan in San Francisco. It was a Christmas gift from my parents and so much fun. We took BART into the city, had lunch, watched the show, played (and fell) in the big fountain near the tent theater, cruised through the Ferry Terminal (for those who don't know, this is mecca for food lovers everywhere) and finally went home. Three very tired and happy kids. My husband met up with my dad to see Robin Hood that evening so I was on my own for dinner with the kids. My kids really really wanted kid food that night and I really really didn't. At all. So I made them vegan chicken nuggets (Gardein makes the best ones), applesauce and carrot sticks, gave them a bath and tucked them into bed. I usually love sitting down at the table with my kids for dinner, but sometimes it is so nice to sit down by myself with a stack of magazines in a quiet and peaceful house. I had picked up a few goodies at the Ferry Terminal which all came together perfectly to make this super quick, yummy and grownup mama dinner.

Morel, Asparagus and Ricotta "Pizza"

2 plate sized Whole wheat tortillas
1 T olive oil
1/2 C fresh ricotta cheese
1 bunch asparagus, chopped into bite sized pieces
1 basket morel mushrooms (or whatever other mushroom appeals)
green garlic (or green onions or chives, whatever you have) sliced as thin as you can
truffle salt (or sea salt, any good finishing salt)

Paint the tortillas with olive oil and place under broiler on a cookie sheet until starting to get crispy, remove from oven and let cool while you saute the morels.
Morels need a good cleaning before you cook them. I soaked them several times and they finally got clean. Halve the morels and saute in olive oil until beginning to soften.
Spread the tortillas with the cheese, spread asparagus and morels over the top, then the green garlic, sprinkle with a little olive oil and broil again until asparagus is bright green and cheese looks melty. Sprinkle truffle salt over it all and eat immediately! So, not as good cold.

This was a perfect mama meal for a few reasons. It was quick and not at all messy to make and it was a delicious treat!

Have a great weekend!

Health and Healing for Little Phin

2010-05-27T07:14:00.001-07:00

I have a friend, who I originally met around 4 years ago at a playgroup for my oldest child. She announced that day that she was pregnant with her second and soon after I became pregnant with mine. We found ourselves at the same preschool, each of our two kids in the same class and laughed a little when we discovered we were both pregnant again, with our third babies at the same time. It seems that we have been on the same breeding schedule. A few weeks ago I ran into her at Target, each of our carts full of kids, and she told me she was pregnant again! I admitted my envy and congratulated her. A week or so after that I saw on her facebook page that her youngest, a little boy, had a tumor in his abdomen and she was waiting for test results. Those results came with very sad news, the tumor was indeed malignant and had metastasized. Her sweet baby boy, 18 months old, was diagnosed with Stage 4 Neuroblastoma. Chemo was started right away and they have been in the hospital ever since.

Krista and her family have been on my mind a lot these days. Not just because she is my friend and I know her kids, but because I have kids the exact same age and something like this has always been one of my greatest mommy fears.

You can read more about her story here. The reason I am posting about her story here is because I know there are some moms out there reading my blog and I am hoping you will say a prayer for baby Phin or send some healthy healing thoughts his way and some extra strength out to his sweet mommy who is by his side in the hospital all the time. I am not particularly religious but I do believe in the connection between people, especially mamas. Nothing bad can come out of lots of loving mamas and friends sending positive thoughts out to little Phin.

I would love to think of other ways to help my friend and her family, if anyone has ideas I would really love to hear them!

My Little Yellow Flower Pot

2010-05-26T20:29:00.001-07:00

I have a tiny yellow vase on my kitchen window sill, the sugar bowl from an old toy tea set. Every single day my middle boy appears at the back door for a brief break in the rauccus fighting game he is playing with his brother. Ahhh, little boys. He says the same thing, hands behind his back, in his sweet singsong three year old voice: "Mama, I've got a surprise for you! Close your eyes!". I close my eyes. "Surprise!!" he yells and holds out his little fists, filled with flowers. I keep them in my little yellow flower pot. They make me smile when I am doing the dishes.

An Easy Spring Dinner

2010-05-07T06:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Thursday, nearing the end of a week in which my husband had been working/schooling late every night. I had taken this killer exercise class that morning. I was tired and I didn't feel like a big cooking to-do. I had gotten masses of fresh fava beans in my CSA box on Wednesday afternoon so I knew it would involve favas. I didn't want pasta. So, I decided to grill them on my grill pan (the chimney for our real grill broke last summer...must replace that soon!). I tossed them in olive oil, salted them and grilled them until they were brown on both sides. I put a big pile of the grilled favas in the middle of the table along with some Oaxacan Queso we had gotten at the farmer's market and some bread. To drink I got out a bottle of special grape juice. The kids got a huge kick out of having juice from a wine bottle. For dessert I made the delicious yogurt cake from the Chocolate and Zucchini cookbook. We made it with heavy vanilla flavoring (added the seeds of one vanilla bean along with the called for amount of vanilla extract) because my three year old LOVES vanilla anything and has been putting up with a lot of chocolate due to his brother's recent birthday. We sat outside on the deck and enjoyed the warm evening. I enjoyed the fact that there was almost no cleaning up at the end of dinner!

Grilled Fava Beans:
2 pounds fresh fava beans, rinsed
a few good slugs of olive oil (use a flavored oil if you have it, so good!
a small handful of sea salt
lemon zest

Roll the beans in a towel so they dry off a bit. Put them in a big bowl, pour in the oil, sprinkle on the salt. Heat your grill pan to very hot. In batches put them on the grill pan, cook until dark brown on one side, flip them over, cook on the other side, move to big platter lined with a towel or paper bag or newspaper or whatever. Before serving zest the lemon over the beans. When its time to eat peel the beans from their pods then from the little white peel inside. Although, my boys don't bother with all that. They eat the whole thing, pod, peel and all. It would be a nice side dish too, if you wanted to peel them all yourself. That grilled flavor would be nice along side some sort of grilled protein.

I am going to try this for a grown up dinner party sometime too. Its like edamame only so much better in every way!

Are You a Saver?

2010-05-06T14:07:00.000-07:00

I am a saver. A huge saver. Not a money saver, oh no, my husband can vouch for that. What I save are food scraps. If you looked into my freezer on any given day you might mistake it for the trash. I have freezer bags full of random food scraps, all separated in their own special bags and lined up in tidy rows. I save the heels of loaves of bread, and the crusts that my 5 year old still demands I remove. Raisin bread, baguette, bagels, whole wheat, all mixed in together. They make excellent and FREE bread crumbs! I have a bag devoted to lemon rinds. Why throw the rind out when you squeeze a lemon, you never know when a recipe will call for lemon zest! Another bag is filled with vegetable trimmings: onion peels,carrots tops, broccoli stems and so on. Once the bag is full I make a pot of stock, which then gets jarred and goes back in the freezer. Homemade stock is so easy and so much tastier than the stuff in a box. When my kids don't finish their milk at a meal, it goes into a big pitcher in the fridge and gets turned into yogurt a few times a week. I've also been saving pea pods. One of my favorite spring treats are fresh peas, but I hate to throw out the sweet pods that they come in. So into a bag they go. Once I have accumulated enough I am going to make a pot of this soup.

I've always done this, but especially now, when times are tight, why not get extra mileage out of all of your food! It is so nice to be able to reach into the freezer to grab some bread to grind into bread crumbs or veggie scraps for soup, than to run out to the store to buy it when you realize you don't have it. Try it! Maybe you'll be converted too!

Birthday Fun and Carrot Soup!

2010-04-20T06:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe its been so long since my last post. We are in the midst of birthday season for our family and friends and time is FLYING by! Sunday was my birthday and we had such a fun day! The morning was spent at two fifth birthday parties. One at Chuck E Cheese, which, admittedly is not my most favorite place on earth but it was fun to be there with my kids because they love it so very much. Then on to a park birthday for another little friend. It was a gorgeous day and it was great to be outside with the kids running and the grownups chatting. After that we went to my parents house for dinner. I thought it would just be my family but my sweet husband surprised me by inviting some of my great friends to come too. A party! Fun!

When I awoke on Sunday my almost-five-year-old boy came in and whispered in my ear "mommy look under your pillow." I did and found a cute card that he had made for me. He wrote all the words himself and illustrated it with a rainbow and a pink pony. What girl wouldn't love that? So cute! A bit later he came back with a lovely little breakfast in bed of raisin toast and berries. It was so fun watching him get into the celebration of someone other than himself and I felt so proud of the big boy he is becoming. So, happy birthday to me! It was one of my best ever!

Tomorrow that big boy is actually turning five. I am frantically finishing up a few of my birthday projects for him. I hope I can get them done in time, without staying up all night tonight!

I hope you all had a nice weekend. Here's what's on the menu for us this week, and at the end an easy recipe for carrot soup.

Monday: Taco Night!
Tuesday: Tofu Stir Fry
Wednesday: We are having birthday pizza with the t-ball team as long as it isn't raining. Otherwise, whatever the birthday boy wants which I am guessing will be steak, baguette and green beans. His all time favorite dinner.
Thursday: Pizza Night
Friday: Make Your Own Burger Bar. I'll put out lots of toppings for each kid to put on his delicious veggie burger
Saturday: Its up to the dad. I will be at my sister's bachelorette party! Hooray!
Sunday: Pasta

and now the carrot soup. This is adapted from a recipe on the blog Orangette which was adapted from a recipe by Amanda Hesser in Cooking for Mister Latte (cute book).

1 T olive oil
2 lbs carrots, sliced in rounds
1 bulb of fennel, sliced thin
4 cloves of garlic (I keep a container of roasted garlic in my fridge which is a bit milder than raw and is so easy. Just grab a few cloves and throw them into whatever you are making. I find them at the olive bar at Whole Foods)
4-5 cups of hot water with 2 veggie boullion cubes dissolved in it, I like the Rapunzel brand OR use whatever stock you have on hand
Plain yogurt and curry powder as garnish

Heat olive oil in a large pot, add fennel and saute until soft. Add carrot and garlic and cook for a minute or two more, until bright in color. Pour in 4 cups of the liquid and simmer until carrots are very soft. Using a stick blender if you have one, or a regular blender if you don't, puree the soup. If it is too thick add remaining cup of liquid. Add a spoonful of plain yogurt and sprinkle with curry powder.

Weekly Menu and Easter Weekend

2010-04-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

We had a nice time over Easter weekend. We went (sans husband) to my parents ranch in Mendocino. It rained on Friday and Sunday and a little on Saturday but it was beautiful. Some of the things that happened over the weekend that were fun...

*mushroom foraging, resulting in a great big basket of morrels for Easter breakfast (delicious sauteed in butter with poached eggs!)

*pirate play on a big abandoned flat bed wagon at the top of a big hill. I was named Scurvy Sally, part of the crew belonging to Captain Scare Beard and Captain Black Tooth (I love the names the kids come up with!)

*a hike up a long hill during which it snowed! Keep in mind I have California babies so snow is a BIIIIIG deal for us!

Everyone was delighted to wake up on Sunday morning to discover that the Easter bunny had hidden baskets for everyone, even the grown ups! What a generous Easter bunny!

Now we are home and settled in to regular life. Here is what we are eating this week...

Monday: Spaghetti and carrot sticks. I was amazed at how much was eaten!
Tuesday: Pasta with potatoes, green beans and pesto (a recipe I found on Jamie Oliver's iPhone application. So cool!)
Wednesday: Taco Night! This is an all time favorite dinner in our house.
Thursday: Split Pea Soup with Ham, salad
Friday: Tofu stir fry, brown rice
Saturday: Date night!
Sunday: Sausage, apples, noodles

Birthday Project #1

2010-04-01T09:51:00.000-07:00

(I cannot get this thing to load horizontally and I don't have time to try anymore. Sorry!)

My eldest is turning 5 at the end of this month. I am amazed that he's such a big guy and am finding this age to be so very fun. He is so capable but still a little boy (still needs his mommy sometimes).

I have a few projects in mind for his gifts. The first is this needlepoint piece. I picked it up at a rummage sale last summer for 50 cents. He's always been a sporty sort of kid and started Little League T-ball this year which has been an absolute highlight in life for him. So, I think he'll like this. Maybe we'll hang it on the wall in his room, or maybe it will become a pillow on his bed. I am not sure yet. First I need to do the stitching. I have never done any sort of needlepoint before, aside from an occasional letter on a coin purse or item of doll clothing. I am taking it with me this easter weekend and am hoping to make a good start on it.

Have a Happy Easter, if you celebrate it. If not, enjoy the spring time! It is finally here for real!

10 surprisingly unhealthy kids' foods, and their healthier alternatives

2010-03-31T07:50:00.000-07:00

My friend Laura sent me this article while back and I have been meaning to blog about it. It wasn't all a surprise to me but some of it was. My kids love the squeeze yogurts mentioned but I can't see buying them that overly sweetened stuff, even if it is organic. I found these on Amazon and they have been a huge hit with the kids. They love to pick their colors, plus they hold more yogurt anyway. The best part, though? I can put anything in them that I want. Right now its plain yogurt sweetened with a little of my dad's bees' honey and a drop of vanilla.

10 surprisingly unhealthy kids' foods, and their healthier alternatives

And speaking of feeding kids and bad food and all that, have you been watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution? I am so thrilled that he is doing so much to make changes in the way we feed our kids in this country, like he did in England. If you get a chance go on over to this site and sign his petition!

Spring Around Our Yard

2010-03-30T22:12:00.000-07:00

I looked out the window this morning and saw all of the signs of spring! I decided to take a little walk around the yard and see what was what and here is what I found:

Signs of Grapes Coming

More Meyer Lemons

Soon to be Figs

Itty Bitty Apple Buds

Blood Oranges on the Way

Grapefruit Buds

Little Baby Apricots!

Wisteria Blooming and Smelling Wonderful

Lilacs, which never last long enough for me!

And my little corner garden ready for planting (this weekend?)

Weekly Menu

2010-03-29T08:55:00.000-07:00

A stomach bug has made its way through our house this weekend so we will be starting the week off bland. Very bland. I think it is on its way out. Thank goodness! The next few days will be heavy on laundry catch up!

I have started a new dinner tradition in our house. Monday and Friday nights are reserved for each boy to plan a meal and help me cook it. So far my younger boy has chosen Quiche every week. Luckily his older brother varies things a bit more.

Monday: Chicken Noodle Soup, saltines, applesauce
Tuesday: Spinach Quiche
Wednesday: Sausage, sauteed apples, steamed potatoes, broccoli
Thursday: Tofu and veggie stir fry with brown rice and steamed greens
Friday: To Be Determined By Currently Sick Boy
Saturday: Diner with my family
SUnday: Easter Dinner! Wow! That came fast.

I hope you all have a healthy week with great meals!

Back in Business and Amazing Haiti Pictures

2010-03-26T07:45:00.001-07:00

I have a new computer, new iPhone and lots of room for uploading pictures. I am back in business! Hooray! I've missed blogging while I was without technology. Spring is here, our backyard is blooming in purple. The wisteria and the lilac seem to have bloomed at once and I am keeping my back door and windows open so I can enjoy the scent while it lasts! The lilacs disappear far to quickly in my opinion.

I wanted to share with you some images of post-earthquake Haiti that my cousin, Andrew Berends took. He is an adventurous soul, wonderful photographer and documentary film maker. He made two documentary films in Iraq when the war first began. In 2008 he was imprisoned in Nigeria while making a film there. When the earthquake hit Haiti he went right away to help.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and have a great weekend!

Early mornings...

2010-02-25T10:44:00.000-08:00

I've been disconnected lately. I've had an unlucky few days when it comes to my technological devices. First my iPhone (and Kindle) were stolen from the car. Then my sweet 3 year old knocked my computer off the kitchen counter (BIG accident...he felt so bad) and broke it. Luckily my dear husband has left his computer home with me so I can write a little blog post. I hope to have all of my devices replaced soon. Until then I'll be blogging when a computer is available but it might be fairly intermitent.

My early bird of a 4 year old was up at 5 this morning. I was not because I had stayed up late chatting with a friend on Facebook chat. She moved away recently and it was one of the first times we'd had to connect in awhile. Anyway, he decided to make himself some toast that he could eat while he colored and waited for me to get up. Well let me just say that this kid is the noisiest toast maker in the entire world. He woke his brother up and it was so cute hearing them chat with eachother. Then I heard this:

"Hey do you want me to make you some toast too?"
"Oh, yes please!"
"Okay, I will cut the crust off for you too if you want. But don't tell mommy I am using her big knife. I know how to use it but she will get mad if I use it by myself."
"Okay."

Needless to say THAT statement got me out of bed. I hurried into the kitchen to find him very carefully cutting the crusts off the bread with my grandmother's cleaver. Uuuum. At least he was being careful? We put the knife away and finished up with the toast. I told him a butter knife would cut the crusts off the bread just fine. Had a little chat about being sneaky and so on.

Baby sister was up by then and when I came downstairs from getting her out of her crib I was presented, by my middle boy, with my own special piece of toast. A quarter of a piece of bread with a half a stick of butter pressed into the top of it, and a little nibble taken out of the top of the butter. I wish I had my iPhone so I could show you a picture of it. What a sweetie pie.

The Green Kitchen

2010-02-18T19:44:00.001-08:00

I just ran across this in my ramblings this evening. I thought it was kind of fun and worth sharing. If you're ever having a night like I am where you just want to hang out on the couch and watch tv but nothing is on and you've got eating on your mind, you might enjoy these short videos. Now, off to make my dinner...whole wheat spaghetti with gardein "chicken" picatta. Yum!

http://alicewatersgreenkitchen.com/

Cool Birthday Party Idea!

2010-02-15T17:01:00.001-08:00

I found this great company via nonchalantmom. I know so many moms who struggle with the material side of birthday parties. This is a neat way to do something useful and charitable AND have presents for your kids. Really smart!

ChunkyChef's Vegan Valentine Truffles

2010-02-14T18:43:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day! I have one sick valentine and two more who could come down with it anytime. Boo hoo! So, I am happy to present to you my friend Laura who writes the fabulous vegetarian cooking blog, ChunkyChef. Definitely stop by there when you need some healthy cooking inspiration. Her recipes are great! In her words:

For Valentines Day, this very unromantic soul decided to infuse some romance with her favorite treat: chocolate! Kiran has inspired me to do some vegan experimenting, so why not with chocolate truffles? I found two recipes at VeganPeace and Compassion Over Killing and made a trip to Whole Foods for vegan ingredients.

The nice thing about truffles is that you can so easily vary them to suit your tastes: you can add nuts, liquor flavors, hard coatings, powder coatings, etc. Just start with the base recipe and embellish from there:

Combine in a large bowl:

8 oz vegan cream cheese (Toffuti is delicious)
2 to 3 cups of powdered sugar (sweeten it to your tastebuds liking)
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or hazelnut or liquor, etc)
12 oz melted semi-sweet chocolate chips

Blend together until smooth. Refrigerate 2 or more hours, until it is a pliable paste. Roll into 1 inch balls. Now here comes the fun part- customizing!

You can roll them in the following toppings:

Fine ground nuts
Sprinkles (or jimmies)
Cocoa powder
Cocoa powder blended with powdered sugar to make it sweeter
Powdered sugar

For a hard coating: melt chocolate chips, white chocolate or peanut butter chips. Dip truffles in the coating and refrigerate to harden.

Serve your truffles with a nice cup of tea or a glass of wine and ENJOY!

Valentines Day Sandwiches and Soup

2010-02-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

Well I just spent the last hour and a half making little valentines sandwiches for my kids' preschool party tomorrow. I was asked to make cream cheese and jelly sandwiches in the shape of a heart. Of course I didn't get started on my sandwich production until everyone was in bed and that's when I discovered that my big heart shaped cookie cutter was missing. My guess is that it is in the backyard somewhere. Perhaps it was used in the sandbox? Who knows. I decided to use my little heart cutter to make a little window in the top piece of bread a la Linzer Cookies. They turned out to be quite cute. While all of the sandwich making was going on I had a big pot of butternut squash soup cooking. I am happy to be sitting down to a bowl of it now, in a wonderfully quiet house!

Vegan Butternut Squash Soup

2 Butternut Squash
2 T maple syrup
1 T Earth Balance butter
8 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 T olive oil
2 apples, cut into chunks with peel on
2 onions, diced
2 T thyme
2 T curry powder
4 vegan boullion cubes (Rapunzel brand is the one I prefer) dissolved in...
8 C boiling water
Roasted sunflower seeds for garnish
vegan sour cream for garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Split the squash in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Place squash side by side on a baking sheet and in the cavity of each one place 1/2 T butter, 1/2 T maple syrup and 2 cloves of garlic. Roast in oven until squash is really soft and browned (about an hour or so).

In large soup pot (I use my dutch oven) saute onion in olive oil. When beginning to soften add thyme and curry powder. Add apples and continue to saute for a minute or two more. Add water with dissolved bouillon cubes. Simmer. When squash is done cooking add it, along with garlic cloves, to the pot. Remove the skin as you add it. Simmer for 15 minutes more. Using an immersion blender puree the soup. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, add sour cream and sprinkle with sunflower seeds.

A New Routine

2010-02-04T05:51:00.000-08:00

I've started something new today. I am getting up first, before my husband and my kids. Not to workout, not to clean but just for some mommy time. I have always been a morning person. Early morning is by far my favorite time of day. So peaceful and quiet with so much happy anticipation for the day ahead. This is my time to have my coffee and breakfast and computer time or reading time.

I find myself spending a bit too much time on the computer throughout the day reading all of the wonderful blogs out there that inspire me. The trouble is that when I do that all day I never get to doing any of those the inspiring projects with my kids. And by the time I get the kids in bed, house tidied and dishes done in the evening all I want to do is hang out on the couch and watch a show before I am headed off to bed myself. I am SO not a night owl.

So now I get to have some quiet mommy time in a tidy house and greet my little sweethearts with a big smile because I am already recharged before they even get up.

When do you get your alone time?

Two Kinds of Vegan Cookies!

2010-02-02T16:37:00.000-08:00

I am a guest over at the ChunkyChef today. Laura has so many great recipes on her site. Check it out...

Weekly Menu

2010-02-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

Its February! Are you ready for spring? I sure am. I was very pleased when I was at the farmer's market this weekend to see some early glimpses of spring produce. One stand had pea shoots which I was tempted to buy. My most exciting find though was a stand with tomatoes! I am sure they were grown indoors but still, they were beautiful red, ripe tomatoes! I bought a bunch and they tasted as good as they looked, as is almost always the case at the farmer's market. I am still doing the vegan thing and I have a favorite new product. Lightlife Fakin Bacon made from tempeh. Have you tried it? It is fantastic! You coudn't trick anyone into thinking it was actual bacon if you put it on a plate next to their eggs, but in a with a little BLT? Amazing! Now you know what I've been doing with my tomatoes.

Here's what we're eating for dinner this week:

Monday: Taco Night. The kids get Masut ground beef from my parents' ranch, I get beans
Tuesday: Braised Seitan with brussels sprouts, kale and sundried tomatoes over soft polenta and sauteed mushrooms on the side (I went waaaay overboard with the mushrooms at the market this weekend. 4 new kinds!)
Wednesday: Mushroom Pizzas, salad with escarole, beets and oranges (my neighbor brought over a massive bag of oranges from her tree - so lucky!)
Thursday: Brown rice, baked tofu, baby bok choy, broccoli
Friday: Cereal and movie night. This is a new tradition in our house. Everyone gets to pick their favorite junky cereal and we eat it on the couch and watch a movie before bed. I am a firm believer that no food should be totally off limits to kids and as long as they are eaten in moderation and with other healthy stuff (bananas on the cereal, etc) then its fine as a special treat. If nothing is taboo then hopefully they won't crave it as much
Saturday: Date Night! Kids will have leftovers
Sunday: Super Bowl! I am still developing my menu for our annual party. I will definitely post it along with a recipe or two as soon as I have it all worked out.

What's on your menu this week?

Sunday Evening Date Night

2010-01-19T13:32:00.000-08:00

This Sunday we didn't have a babysitter for our usual date night. We put the kids to bed and decided it would be fun to have a little at home date night instead. We also agreed we wanted to eat something for dinner that felt a little junky but wouldn't leave us feeling like we'd eaten a bunch of junk. You know what I mean? So I turned to my Kind Life Diet book and found the recipe for artichoke dip. My husband isn't a huge artichoke fan so I altered the recipe slightly and ended up with warm Spinach Artichoke Dip with taco shell tortilla chips (as in neither of us felt like going to the store so we baked then broke a bunch of taco shells). To drink we had these fantastic agave sweetened sodas that I found at Whole Foods. We sat down on the couch with our dip and watched the baddest bad ass on TV, Jack Bauer in the 2 hour premier of 24. Talk about an evening of guilty pleasures! It was just right.

Here is the recipe for the dip, adapted from The Kind Life Diet book. It will definitely be on our table during our annual Super Bowl Party.

Hot Spinach Artichoke Dip:
1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained and mashed up with a spoon
1 bunch spinach, washed, steamed and the water squeezed out (I wrap it up in a clean dish towel and wring it out that way)
1 cup Low Fat Vegenaise
1 cup grated vegan cheddar cheese (or regular cheddar cheese if you roll that way)
1 garlic clove, finely minced

In an oven proof casserole dish place artichoke hearts and spinach and mash/mix together. Add remaining ingredients and mix together well. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Serve hot with tortilla chips or veggies.

Big Kid Stuff

2010-01-12T22:19:00.000-08:00

Tonight we went and signed our eldest child up for Little League. Man! I know this is such a cliche thing for a mom to say, but honestly, it seems like just yesterday we were bringing the kid home from the hospital! Signing up for Little League seems like such a big guy thing to do (granted, its the earliest level of Little League...t-ball...but still!). I will also be registering him for Kindergarten this month. Kindergarten scares me. It just does.

All of this big kid stuff going on made me think again of my favorite mommy-made Christmas present that the kids got this year. It was my favorite to make, anyway. I made each boy a first year story book (baby girl's will be coming soon, maybe Valentines Day?). It was such fun to sort through all of the pictures from each of my boy's first years and pick out my favorites. I put the selection of pictures into an accordion album that I bought here. It is fun to read the books to them and relive those early days with each child. It is also nice for the brothers to hear about each other's stories!

Maybe I will get ambitious and do an album for each year. For now, though, I am really enjoying the memories that come back every time we read the first year books.

Weekly Menu

2010-01-11T15:38:00.000-08:00

My husband has been gone for 11 days. Poor me. Boo hoo. He's FINALLY coming home tonight. Jumping for joy! Another grown up in the house will be very nice indeed.

Here's what's on our menu for this week:

Monday: Tacos (tofu for me, beef for the kids). I have tons of produce to use up so there will be cabbage slaw and guacamole for the tacos too.
Tuesday: Welcome Home Daddy Dinner! Spaghetti with Field Roast Vegan Sausage and sauteed collard greens
Wednesday: BBQ Tofu, sauteed collards, corn bread (maybe a few drumsticks for the boys. they have not fully embraced tofu)
Thursday: Grown ups are going out! Hooray! Kids are having mac and cheese with veggie corn dogs and carrot sticks
Friday: Another grown up dinner out. Lucky mama! Kids will be having pizza courtesy of Amy's Organic. My younger son loves pepperoni but I have discovered he loves spinach pizza just as much. Hooray! The older one likes the mushroom and olive. I keep a stash of the individual sized ones in the garage freezer for quick and easy dinner nights.
Saturday: Field Roast Meatloaf. salad, broccoli, mashed potatoes
Sunday: Soup night! I will be pulling out some split pea soup and some butternut squash soup out of my freezer. People can pick what they want. Along side...Acme Levain bread, cheese, salad

What's on your menu this week?

Back Again!

2009-12-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays! Yeah, I know, I am a little late. I got SO caught up in Christmas preparations and celebrations that I had no time for this fun little blog. We sure did have fun though! Santa was good to my boys, bringing them each a bike and a scooter! For the baby, a doll stroller and a little dollhouse that she's still too young for but loves to carry around anyway. I will post next week about all of the lovely things I made for each of my kids to accompany Santa's gifts.

As soon as Christmas was over we all came down with bad colds. As a result we are still digging ourselves out of all the Christmas decorations and aftermath. Tonight the tree comes down, 4 days too late, but at least it will be headed to the county compost by New Years.

I am still doing the Vegan thing, though I had a short lapse during Christmas. I still love it and highly recommend checking out The Kind Life Diet book. It has fabulous recipes and totally gives you permission to flirt with veganism at whatever level you are comfortable with. I am not pushing a vegan diet of my kids, thought I am making them a lot more vegetarian recipes. Here's what I made for them for dinner last night (I just had miso soup and roasted vegetables...it was all that appealed to me considering this nasty cold).

Kids Love It Pasta Bake:

1/2 bag of whole wheat pasta, cooked al dente

1 bag of baby spinach

1 jar of marinara sauce

1 can creamy tomato soup (Amy's has a great one)

4 slices of cheese, vegan or regular. Last night I used colby because it is what was in my fridge

In a casserole dish with a cover place all ingredients except the cheese. Mix it together well, making sure that it is nice and moist. Place the cheese slices on top to cover the entire surface of pasta mixture. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes. When bubbly, remove cover and brown cheese slightly. Serve hot.

My kids, all three, devoured this dinner, spinach and all. Hooray!

Vegan Update and a Few Recipes

2009-12-17T08:43:00.000-08:00

I am now on my third week of this Vegan experiment. I have to admit this last week as we've come closer to Christmas I've held strong on the Vegetarian but have slacked off a bit on the Vegan. Too many Christmas cookies and parties with temptation. But when I am home and cooking for myself I am continuing on the Vegan path. Honestly it hasn't been hard at all. There are some great recipes out there for Vegan versions of foods that I love. The recipes in the Kind Life Diet book are really really great. Some of them sound totally weird but when you make them they come out delicious.

The other morning I was really dying for a big eggy breakfast. I don't crave that often but I mean I really wanted it. So I decided to try my hand at tofu scramble to see if it satisfied. It definitely did. Here's my recipe:

1 package silken tofu

1 package baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1 leak, cut in half lengthwise then sliced into half moons

1 T safflower oil

1 t curry powder

salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a frying pan, add mushrooms and leeks and saute until soft. Place tofu in a bowl and mash up until no longer square. Once veggies are cooked add curry powder, salt and pepper. And tofu and cook, stirring often until water is cooked off and it has the texture of eggs. Serve with a few pieces of buttered whole wheat toast on the side.

And here's a not at all Vegan recipe. I promised this a long time ago on this blog and haven't delivered until now. Enjoy!

Grandma's Corn Chowder (which probably came from the Joy of Cooking as many of her recipes did):

Saute slowly until lightly browned:

1/2 C chopped salt pork

Add and saute until brown:

3T chopped onion

1/2 C chopped celery

3T chopped green pepper

3T chopped onion

Add:

1C raw peeled diced potatoes

2C water

1/2t salt

1/4t paprika

1/2 bay leaf

Simmer these ingredients until the potatoes are tender. Combine, stir in slowly and bring to the boiling point:

3T flour

1/2 C hot milk

2C whole kernel corn (fresh or frozen both work)

Heat but do not boil the soup. Serve it sprinkled with lots of paprika

Rhythm of the Home

2009-12-15T09:50:00.001-08:00

Have you seen this new magazine? It is online and really great. It is so creative and beautiful and very inspiring. Check it out!

http://rhythmofthehome.com/

I am a magazine junkie for sure and have been so sad to see so many of my favorites close up shop. But here is a new one that will take their places.

Oh, and they are having a giveaway!

http://rhythmofthehome.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/thank-you-and-a-giveaway/#comments

Inspiration from Mimi

2009-12-10T10:22:00.000-08:00

A few days ago my mom brought over a big black trash bag full of little girl clothes that she's been saving since my sister and I were children. I just sorted through it this morning and among the dresses (including a vintage Lilly Pulitzer dress! I have ALWAYS loved Lilly) were a pile of sweaters, hats, mittens and scarves that my grandmother had made for us. My grandmother Mimi was the sweetest woman you could ever meet. She was also an amazing knitter. She taught herself to knit and she taught me too. I have her to thank for my slightly funky way of holding the yarn and needles, but it works just fine. For every birthday and every Christmas Mimi gave us a beautiful sweater designed around our favorite color of the moment or whatever animal we were into at the time (horses for me...lots of horses). Looking through those sweaters made me miss her a lot (she passed away when I was pregnant with my first baby) but it also inspired me to get some new projects on my needles. I haven't been knitting as much lately, its been hard for me to find the time without kids trying to unravel everything. This weekend I will find some time to get knitting again.

Weekly Menu and Going Vegan

2009-11-30T16:04:00.000-08:00

After a fun week of cooking and eating whatever appealed at the moment I am happy to be back to planning our meals again. It really does make my life run more smoothly when I don't have to think about what's for dinner.

After reading a post by my friend who writes the blog The Chunky Chef, I bought Alicia Silverstone's new book The Kind Life. I have always wanted to try going vegan but have never really known what to do. She lays out a very clear and easy to follow plan on transitioning to a vegan lifestyle. I am not committing to a lifetime of veganism but I am going to try it out this week and see how it goes. If I like it I will continue on for another week. The menus below are all based on the recipes in her book, though I have added an occasional meat dish for my kids.

Monday: Amy's Frozen Pizzas, Salad, Ice Cream Sandwiches

Tuesday: Fried Rice, Sweet Potato Stew, Roasted Drumsticks for the kids, Steamed Greens, Oatmeal Cookies

Wednesday: Waffle, Sausage and Cheese Panini, Salad, Cupcakes

Thursday: Indian Food Takeout

Friday: Pasta, Pecan Crusted Seitan, Garlic Bread

Saturday: Tacos, Steamed Greens, Corn, Ice Cream Sandwiches

Sunday: Rice and Squash Stew, Baby Bok Choy, Grilled Steak for the kids, Mixed Berry Cheesecake

Home Again

2009-11-30T10:31:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week spent at my family's ranch. We left the Sunday before Thanksgiving with my dear friend and her boys who drove all the way up from Orange County just to be with us. What troopers her kids are for spending 12+ hours in the car! They are only 5 and 8 which is why I am so impressed. She left on Wednesday morning and on Wednesday evening my family arrived along with some old family friends. It was a mellow week with lots of hiking, fire building, cannon shooting and of course, eating! My boys were in heaven.

With my boys occupied by all of that outdoor fun, I was able to complete a few Christmas knitting projects the details of which I will post in the next week.

I will post some pictures soon. I am happy to be home now but am looking forward to our next trip to the ranch.

I hope you had a Happy Thanksgiving too!

A Word About the Pictures on My Blog

2009-11-29T11:37:00.000-08:00

I am not a talented photographer. I don't have the patience or they eye or the equipment to compose and take a great picture. Especially not for the everyday life pictures that go on my blog. I use my iPhone to take pictures and make them look like a polaroid with an iPhone application that I downloaded. My blog has snapshot of life and in my mind the iPhone is the polaroid of today.

A Nearly Perfect Day

2009-11-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday morning I got up and started the daily routine of getting the kids breakfast and ready for the day. As he was leaving to take the boys to school, my husband said he would like me to get the baby down for her nap and then he didn't expect to see me until the next morning. He gave me the entire day off (yes, I know how lucky I am)! Wow! Here's what I did...

I went to the Erica Tanov sale in Berkeley, had lunch and poked around on 4th Street (my favorite place to shop) then headed into San Francisco. I wanted to go to Britex, mecca for anyone who sews in the Bay Area. It has four floors of fabric, yarn and all kinds of sewing notions both new and vintage. I got some things for my dining room chair project and for some of the Christmas gifts I am planning to make. After Britex I stopped into a few departments stores looking for the Stella McCartney line of skin care. Finally a friendly sales woman at Saks sent me to Barneys. Boy am I glad I stopped in there! I asked about skin care and was told they did not carry that particular line but they were doing free facials with the organic line that they do carry and would I like one. Free facial? Ummm yes please! An hour later I left their private treatment room with lovelier skin and a much more relaxed disposition. But it didn't end there. The facialist had told who I am imaging is the sales manager in the cosmetics department about my sweet husband sending me off for the day and they did my makeup. I didn't feel at all pressured to buy a bunch of stuff, I just felt totally spoiled! Of course I did buy a few things, but I truly didn't feel pressed to do so. I have lots of warm fuzzy feelings for Barneys now, they treated me like a princess. What a delightful afternoon!

Fabulous Fabric Sale

2009-11-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

Do you know Erica Tanov? If you do then you will understand what I am so excited about in this post. If not you really should. I mean REALLY. She is a clothing designer and has the most wonderful shop on Fourth Street in Berkeley. There is literally nothing in her shop that I don't love. Her aesthetic and mine are right in line. A few weeks ago I was perusing her website and discovered by clicking on the EVENTS link that every Thursday from 12-3 she opens her studio up for a fabric sale. Not knowing what to expect, I went and was delighted. The most beautiful fabrics, remnants, buttons, trims and even a few clothing items were all for sale at really great prices. I bought some nice fabric for some of my Christmas projects that I have planned and finally found the right fabric for my dining room chairs. The best thing I bought, though, was this Fairy Costume kit which will be great for my daughter for some future Halloween. I loved it so much I went back again today!

Veteran's Day

2009-11-11T08:27:00.000-08:00

As a mother I have very mixed feelings about the military. I don't like it at all when my boys play "army man" as it always leads to someone getting hurt. I am very protective and try to censor what people like their dad, my father and their uncle Jon (who is in the Navy Reserves) tell them about the war that we are currently fighting and about what the military is in general. But, as an American I am very grateful for the people who are fighting the wars right now and who have fought in past wars as well. I am grateful to live in this very safe country and consider myself very lucky to have been born here. I want my boys to grow up to appreciate where our freedoms come from and the hard price that many men and women have paid to ensure it. On the other hand I don't want them to learn the gory details at this young, sweet age. For now I suppose we will talk vaguely about what the military does for us, until they are old enough to understand more. Then their father, the history buff, will tell them every detail of every war ever fought and no doubt will have some great book recommendations for them as well. Today we will take a moment to give thanks to all of our service people who are doing a terribly hard job all over the world, all in an effort to keep us safe and sound at home.

Weekly Menu

2009-11-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

I've been a bit of a slacker with my posting lately. My only excuse is that we've been in the midst of a busy birthday week for my son who just turned three. I'll post more about that soon. In the meantime I have a lot of produce to use up so here are my menus for the week, a day late.

Monday: Birthday Dinner! Mussels, baguette, salad and ice cream cake

Tuesday: Pork chops, chard, roasted beets, applesauce

Wednesday: Asian chicken wraps

Thursday: Roasted chicken, kabocha squash, collard greens

Friday: Pasta with sausage and rapini

Saturday: Sloppy Joes, salad

Sunday: Steak, roasted veggies, greens

Another Swap and a Soup Recipe

2009-11-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

I am a swapping fool these days! I have joined one other swap recently, the Button Swap. This one will be fun because it is pretty easy to accomplish and it will be fun, at least to me, to get a little package of buttons in the mail.

The chicken I was planning on making for dinner tonight was still frozen when it was time to cook. I decided to make Potato Leek soup instead. This is a much lighter version than I have had in the past, made with yogurt instead of cream. I also made cheese toast with each kids first initial written out with raisins which thrilled them. I love how easy to please these little ones can be (sometimes!). Here is my recipe...

Potato Leek Soup

1 1/2 pounds of potatoes, peeled and quartered

4 leeks, washed and sliced lengthwise into the thinnest strips you can make

4-6 cups of chicken stock

Salt and pepper to taste

2 C plain yogurt

Chopped herbs, whatever you have on hand that sounds good to you! I used cilantro last night.

Put potatoes and leeks in a pot and cover with chicken stock. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or until potatoes are very soft. Using an immersion blender puree soup. Stir in yogurt and gently heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste and serve!

The Holiday Season Has Begun!

2009-11-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year. The holidays are so fun to me, especially with three little ones. I am even more excited for this Christmas than last because my two older children remember the magic of Santa from last year and are already buzzing about it. This year I am really hoping to make a lot of their gifts, both to save money, and because I think handmade gifts are nice. I will fill in the gaps from some of my favorite Etsy shops. With all of this handmaking in mind, I have to plan ahead this year more than ever. I was so excited to hear about this Stocking Stuffer Exchange that Carrie at Between Hitching Posts is putting on. I got my list of kids today and will be making 14 stocking stuffers for kids all about the same age as mine. My mind is reeling with ideas and hopefully in the next few days I will settle on the ones that I will actually make. It will be so much fun to receive stocking stuffers in the mail for my kids too! One less thing to worry about on Christmas Eve!

Weekly Menu

2009-11-02T10:06:00.001-08:00

Another week with summery weather this fall! It reminds me of when I lived in Hawaii. Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it is still nearly 80 degrees everyday! Not complaining though...

Monday: Steak, roasted beets, broccoli, couscous

Tuesday: Roasted chicken with potatoes, baked Kabocha squash, peas

Wednesday: Corn Chowder (my grandmother's recipe, I'll post it later in the week), salad

Thursday: Mussels, toasted baguette, salad

Friday: Date Night! Kids will be having chicken nuggets, carrot sticks and applesauce

Saturday: Slow cooker Bison Stew, braised greens

Sunday: We will probably eat out after my son's birthday party

What are you cooking up this week?

The Great Pumpkin

2009-11-02T08:40:00.000-08:00

Well my plans for Halloween dinner were moderately successful. I did make the soup in a pumpkin, following this recipe. However it came out decidedly unsouplike. It was more of a bread and cheese mush. I will have to do some tweaking for next year. It tasted great, but I was hoping it would be a little more, well, soupy! Still, it was an impressive sight coming out of the oven and to the table. My boys were quite impressed.

Birthday Countdown

2009-10-28T15:33:00.001-07:00

My middle child is turning 3 in about a week! He is so very excited. This is the first year that he has been able to anticipate his birthday and he remembers the fun of his older brother's 4th. For the last week he has asked me every single day if it was his birthday yet. Being that he is only 2 his concept of time is a bit unclear. So, I got the idea of making this little birthday countdown at the bottom of our chalkboard. Now every morning after breakfast we tear off another tab and count how many days are left until he is finally 3!

Weekly Menu

2009-10-26T20:28:00.000-07:00

Thankfully we have a much less busy week this week than last, even with Halloween. Tonight we ate out between Kung Fu lessons and Spooky Story time at the library. Of all the meals planned this week I am most excited about the dinner on Halloween. I made this soup in a pumpkin a few years ago and it was really good but my kids were too young to really eat soup. This year they can handle it and I think they will be impressed when they see it come out of the oven. Unless everyone hates it this is going to be a fun Halloween tradition. I'll post the recipe later this week. Here's what we've got going this week. What's cookin' in your kitchen?

Monday: Out for dinner

Tuesday: Tacos with lots of veggies

Wednesday: Lentil Soup, Bread, Cheese and Salad

Thursday: Roasted Chicken, Potatoes, Broccoli

Friday: Pasta with Turkey Sausage and Rapini

Saturday: Halloween! Soup in a Pumpkin, Salad

Sunday: Corn Chowder, Oyster Crackers, Cheese and Salad

Dining Room Project - Part 1

2009-10-25T09:22:00.000-07:00

My little boys have successfully broken every single one of my dining room chairs and have also done a number of my great aunt's antique table. So, the table is in the garage awaiting repair and the chairs will soon be headed to a friendly neighborhood freecycler with no kids and a bottle of wood glue. While I wait for the table repair, and for the kids to grow up a little bit, I found a little table on Craigslist for $60. For that price it is okay if it takes a beating. I have plans to paint the table soon, inspired by this very stylish and creative mama.

I also have a collection of similar but slightly different old chairs that I am in the midst of fixing up. Right now I have six and can add more as I find them at flea markets and thrift stores. The first part of this big project is to find fabric for the seats of the chairs. I have been searching high and low for some reasonably priced navy blue and white fabric to cover the chairs with. So far the only thing I've found that I really like is some Marimekko fabric that costs upwards of $40 per yard. The other day as I was cleaning up in the garage I found a whole pile of white quilting squares that I had purchased for an uncompleted project a few years ago. I had the idea that maybe I should try painting my own fabric. Here is my first try at fabric printing. I have to come up with a pattern that I like but then, I think this will be very doable. Once I get the fabric painted I will be cover it with some matte vinyl so that it is totally kid friendly.

I am determined to use as many things I have around the house for this project rather than spending a bunch of money. I am using leftover paint from my son's bedroom for the fabric. I will post my progress periodically on this blog. In the meantime I am going to go buy myself a big sack of potatoes to practice printing with. If anyone has any tips about fabric printing I would love to hear them!! Or if you've seen any wonderful navy blue and white fabric around to make my life simpler that would be terrific too.

Lucky Me!

2009-10-23T10:00:00.001-07:00

I am so lucky! I received my Vintage Swap package in the mail this week and was absolutely delighted by its contents. This was only the second swap that I have ever signed up for so I wasn't quite sure what to expect at first. As I read through the blogs of all of the other amazingly creative women who also signed up I began to get excited. I was assigned my partner and exchanged a few emails with her. I read through her blog in order to try to get a sense of what goodies she'd like to receive from me. Well, she obviously did the same thing because her package was just perfect! I opened the box to find lots of little blue tissue paper packages each with a vintage sewing notion tied to the top. This is perfect as I am learning to sew and don't have much of a collection of these items and they will surely come in handy as I take on more complex projects. When I opened each package it got even better! A lovely autumnal tablecloth that went right onto my dining room table, a cool flowered sheet trimmed with eyelet and three sweet embroidered hankies (with three kids running around I can NEVER have too many of these!). So, thank you Emily for making my day (my week!) with such a wonderful package of vintage treats.

Oh and did you see that cute card that I think she made? I think that she should sell those on Etsy!

Bags and Another Recipe

2009-10-20T07:08:00.001-07:00

I've been sewing. My sweet husband took all three kids out for the entire morning and well into the afternoon on Sunday so I had the place to myself. I got my sewing machine out of the garage and made my kids the bedtime bags in Amanda Soule's first book, The Creative Family. I used an old toddler duvet cover from Ikea to make them and I was very pleased with the results. I am a beginner at sewing so the prospect of making a line bags with handles, which I also made, was a bit daunting. Thanks to Amanda's very clear instructions they came out very well. The boys love them and they have been making our mornings just a little bit easier, which I always appreciate. Then, since I was feeling so crafty I made a few bread bags out of dishtowels. After that I had to make some bread to put in them, of course! All in all a very domestic and very satisfying morning.

Now onto the recipe. I was planning to make a pork roast in my slow cooker for dinner tonight. However as soon as I got the whole thing ready to go I discovered it didn't fit inside so I decided to cut it half and discovered a massive bone right through the middle. The prospect of sawing through it grossed me out. So, I tied the whole thing back up and put it in my dutch over to braise. I wasn't sure how it would be, but it turned out pretty darn good! So here's the recipe:

Braised Pork Roast

1 T olive oil

1 pork roast (the one I made today was about 5 pounds)

1 orange, sliced

2 pears, sliced

4 cloves of garlic

3-4 T herby salt (I have a jar of herby salt that is a mix of herbs de Provence and gray salt)

1/4 C maple syrup

1/4 C water

Red wine

Brown roast on all sides in olive oil. Place in a dutch oven, add all other ingredients (add red wine until it covers about 1/3 of the roast). Bring to a boil on the stove then transfer to 325 degree oven. Cook for 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until inside measures 150 degrees. Remove meat, reduce sauce and serve.

Weekly Menu

2009-10-19T13:37:00.000-07:00

It really starting to feel like fall here now and my kids and I have totally gotten into the Halloween spirit. We spent an afternoon last week decorating the house with all sorts of Halloween garlands and even put bats up on our front windows, while we listened to Halloween music. Everyone has new rain boots, the rain coats and umbrellas have been pulled out of closets and we are ready for some comfort food! Here's what we're eating this week. What's cooking at your house?

Monday: Turkey Curry over Whole Wheat Pasta (recipe below), Zucchini, Sauteed chard

Tuesday: Crock pot Pork Roast, Applesauce, Cauliflower, Mashed Potatoes

Wednesday: Leftover Pork over Pasta

Thursday: My husband and I are going out so the kids will be having steak, brown rice and peas

Friday: Roasted Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Salad

Saturday: Make Your Own Pizza Night

Sunday: Crock pot Chicken Cassoulet, Whole Wheat Bread, Yogurt Cheese and Spinach Spread

Turkey Curry

1 lb. ground turkey

1 t olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves of galric, minced

1 T madras curry powder

1 t cumin

1 C chicken stock

1 C strained plain nonfat yogurt (or Greek yogurt)

1/4 C skim milk

In a skillet heat olive oil and brown turkey. Add turkey crock pot with onion, garlic, curry powder, cumin and chicken stock. Cook on low for 4 hours. Add yogurt and milk and cook for 30 minutes more. Serve over brown rice or wide noodles. I like to serve it all on a big platter over the noodles or rice and little dishes of raisins, shredded coconut, peanuts, chopped cilantro and cucumber for people to garnish as they like.

More Birthdays and More Vintage

2009-10-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

I was on my way to the craft store this weekend to scope out some Halloween costume patterns when I saw a huge sign that read "Vintage Sale! 75% off". Well, of course I HAD to stop. I am so glad I did! For $10 I got two really cute milk glass lamps which work, a few hankies, a hand knit onesie, hand knit overalls and a hand knit pink sweater with matching bonnet. It will be so sweet and cozy on my little girl.

We are marching through our Fall birthdays. My husband's is today. We decided to have a grown-ups only birthday dinner tonight while the kids play at home with one of their favorite babysitters. The kids and I put together a little breakfast birthday party for him before he left for work. Both boys helped their dad make a wish and blow out the candle. I hope it comes true!

Beans - Update

2009-10-13T23:09:00.000-07:00

Well I made some Baked Beans and Brown Bread for dinner the other night. The boys both loved the beans and ate everything right up. Tonight, however, when I fed them the leftovers for dinner, they didn't touch them. All they ate was broccoli and then asked to be excused. I ended up chasing them around with squeeze yogurt and fishy crackers to fill their bellies before bed. Not a huge success, next time I will save the fancy beans for grown ups! I thought they were great.

Beans!

2009-10-09T09:50:00.000-07:00

Last week I did something that I have been meaning to do for months but just haven't managed to pull off. I ordered a big box of beans from Rancho Gordo! Were you expecting something more exciting? The thing is, to me, new food discoveries ARE exciting, very exciting. I have heard so many raves about these beans so I ordered the Desert Island Sampler. I have some cooking on the stove right now which will become Baked Beans for dinner tonight. I also have some Brown Bread going in the crock pot. I hope my kids like this old fashioned New England dinner! I'll let you know how the beans turn out. Have a wonderful weekend!

Crock Pot Love

2009-10-07T07:39:00.000-07:00

I have finally discovered all that my crock pot can do for me. I've had it for several years but have used it very infrequently until this week. Now that we are back to school and I have two kids to get out the door every morning, plus a husband, a baby and myself, my mornings have been chaotic and stressful at best. I've been thinking about what I can do to improve it. One thing that I came up with is crock pot breakfast. I've been loving the recipes at A Year of Slow Cooking. I made her breakfast risotto (which I discovered on Heather's wonderful blog - thanks!) and this morning I made grits with maple syrup. Then I started thinking about how great it would be to make dinner a few nights a week in the crock pot too. So I searched on A Year of Slow Cooking and came across this recipe for enchiladas. I had enough of the ingredients to give it a go, but with several variations. Here is MY version, which was a great hit with every single member of my family, which does not happen very often.

Slow Cooker Fake Enchiladas

1 package corn tortillas (I used 6)

1 bag of frozen corn

1 bag of baby spinach

3C shredded cheese, I used a mix of cheddar and jack, but use whatever you have!

1 big can (24 oz) of green enchilada sauce

1 16 oz container of low fat sour cream

Spray a little olive oil in the bottom of the crock, then put 1 single layer of tortillas followed by 1 layer of corn, spinach and then cheese. Alternate these layers until your crock is full or you run out of stuff. Mix together the enchilada sauce and sour cream then pour over the top. If you have any cheese left over sprinkle some on top. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or so until everything is bubbly and melty.

Flea Market Finds

2009-10-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

What a lovely start to the new week I had. On Sunday I spent the entire day at the Alameda Flea Market shopping with my mom. It was the best ever! My husband and father both roll their eyes at the thought of flea marketing for 6 plus hours, to me it is heaven! My mom and I both found lots of little treasures. I found these three old quilts, all for a great bargain. I also got two new dining room chairs which you will see when I finish my dining room project. I even picked up a few things for my Vintage Swap partner. I have never shopped with an eye towards finding quilts before. There were so many amazing ones! I found a World War Two signature quilt in nearly perfect condition. It was absolutely gorgeous, but at $250, out of my price range, unfortunately. I have to say, to all of you quilters out there, I am in awe. I cannot even begin to imagine the amount of time and patience it takes to make one of these beauties. What a treasure for your families! My family will have to settle for someone else's work. I know I don't have the right personality for quilting, but oh how I wish I did!

First Domino and Wondertime

2009-10-05T10:13:00.001-07:00

Now Cookie and Gourmet. Yes, I just heard the news over on Ohdeedoh that two of my favorite magazines are closing their doors. I am a magazine junkie, always have been. It started with Highlights, then Teen and Seventeen and now the two magazines I most look forward to finding in my mailbox every month are Cookie and Gourmet. I am so sad.

A Few Things I Learned From the Past Weekend's Party

2009-10-02T06:54:00.000-07:00

Overall the party went well but it was one of the more stressful ones to pull off. It shouldn't have been, it was a very simple party. I think it was the time of day. Originally we had planned to have it at 11 am, a brunch. But then my husband ended up getting into a class that he wanted to take at the last minute (he is getting his MBA). So, I had to change the time and I decided to change it to 1:00 which is right smack in the middle of the day. The time change threw me, it shouldn't have, but it did. So here are a few tips I picked up:

1. 1:00 is an awkward party time for most young kids. Many people had to leave early to get kids down for naps. The birthday girl ended up missing her nap that day too. Not the end of the world, but not ideal either.

2. Don't try to blow up balloons on your own. It is worth the trip to Safeway or the party store to have them do it for you. I tried to blow up 3 dozen heart shaped balloons with a helium tank I had gotten from Target. I popped a lot of them. Leave it to the pros.

3. Kids love kid food and grown ups do too! Fluffernutters, chips and grapes are an excellent menu! Inexpensive and so easy to make, and everyone loved it.

4. Downloaded printables from the many talented people on Etsy make great invitations and favors. I just sent it to Fedex and then picked them up when they were done. Faster, easier and a nicer take home than cheapo goodie bags.

Overall it was a great and very fun party, but I will remember these tips for next time.

Mimi's First Birthday Party!

2009-09-29T19:45:00.001-07:00

When my daughter was a tiny newborn baby I spotted some really cute cards in littlebrownpen's Etsy shop. I loved them so much and I knew they would be perfect for a birthday party down the line, so I bought them. This past week my baby girl turned one and we had a big birthday party to celebrate the milestone on Saturday. I used those invitations to build my theme around. I bought a bunch of heart shaped balloons for decorations, made a Red Velvet Cake with chocolate kisses and pink sugar sprinkles on top (I really wanted to use chocolate hearts but I could find any, not close enough to Valentine's Day, I guess).

For the menu I did two kinds of sandwiches. The kids, and a whole lot of adults, got Fluffernutter . For the adults I served Martha Stewart's Pork Meatballs with lemongrass and habanero chilis, from Costco, on french rolls with mint, cilantro, radishes, jalapenos, cabbage and red onions. I put the meatballs in my crock pot that morning along with an entire bottle of sweet chili pepper sauce and turned it on high, by the time our guests arrived they were ready to go. On the side were bowls of chips, grapes and some watermelon.

To drink I served raspberry lemonade for the kids and a Watermelon Sangria to the adults. I served the drinks in mason jars and made holes in the lids to stick a straw through. Sippy cups for all! Ha!

For favors I downloaded some sweet coloring cards also from Little Brown Pen. I had them printed and cut at Kinkos, then tied each set up in ric rac and stuck two small markers in the back. I don't do goodie bags of junk at my parties. I don't think any parent appreciates being sent home with a bag full of plastic junk that is headed for the landfill, but only after cluttering up the house or the car for awhile. I do like to give a favor but I always try to make it something that will be used more than once. The kids seemed happy to get them and my 4 year old son has already colored in all of the leftovers. I am saving them to use as gift tags, they are the perfect size for that.

I didn't have any entertainment. My kids are still young enough that a good party means having all of our friends over at once and playing hard in the backyard, and they did. It was over 100 degrees that day, the misters were on and before long all of the kids were down to their diapers with the sprinklers on and the wading pool full. It was a fun celebration, a delightful way to finish of our daughter's first year.

Watermelon Sangria

1 small watermelon

4 limes, juiced

4 oranges, sliced thinly

5 cups raspberry lemonade

1 bottle rose or white wine (I used Big House Pink)

In a large pitcher put all of the fruit from the watermelon and the lime juice. Using a potato masher smash the watermelon into as many small bits as you can. Add the lemonade, wine and orange slices. This is best made a few hours or more in advance. I usually make it the night before the party. Serve very cold.

Oops! I forgot the new blog!

2009-09-29T07:24:00.000-07:00

In my last post I forgot to mention the new blog that I wanted to share. We used to live in San Diego and our next door neighbor was a pediatrician. I have to admit this little complex of townhouses was the perfect place for new parents to bring home their first baby. We had the pediatrician next door and then next to her was a sweet older lady who had raised 4 or 5 kids, including a set of twins, and had 11 grand kids. Anyway, Laura, the pediatrician and I often chatted about crafty things like sewing and knitting, and also about foodie things. She has now started writing a blog with wonderful, healthy recipes. I made the Top Dog Tomato Basil Soup for dinner the other night and it was really good. So, if you are looking for some new recipes that are yummy and healthy check it out.

Meal Planning and a New Blog

2009-09-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

I am back to posting my meals for the week. I feel like it helps keep me organized, at least in the meal preparation department, and I can use all of the help feeling organized I can get right now! This week the weather has finally turned cool. Autumn is here and I couldn't be happier. On Saturday I was wondering when it would ever cool off, as I sat baking birthday cake on a 100 degree day. This evening I put extra blankets on the beds so everyone would be cozy. Which leads me to...SOUP! I have a whole bunch of soup that I froze last fall and winter and I am pulling out this week.

Monday: As I was running out the door for exercise class I pulled out a bag of pasta and white bean sauce with tomatoes that I had made last year and poured in a box of sweet potato soup. Wasn't sure how it would turn out but it was a hit!

Tuesday: Chicken stir fry with shiitake mushrooms, bok choy and peppers over whole wheat angel hair pasta

Wednesday: Barley and asparagus soup, spelt English muffins

Thursday: Whole wheat pasta with arugula, sun dried tomatoes and smoked turkey meat

Friday: This is the night that I usually get sick of cooking. We will probably have something like eggs and rice or waffles or pizza.

Saturday: Roasted chicken with vegetables, salad, brown rice

Sunday: I will be out somewhere, husband and kids will be having chicken leftovers

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

2009-09-23T22:14:00.000-07:00

One year ago today our family welcomed a baby girl. I cannot believe how quickly the year has gone by. My sweet tiny baby has grown into a VERY busy near-toddler who wants nothing more than to be in the mix with her big brothers. It has been wonderful watching her personality evolve. Happy First Birthday Mimi!

Retail Therapy

2009-09-18T14:44:00.000-07:00

I've been cranky this week! I don't know what it is. Maybe we just haven't found our back-to-school routine quite yet, or maybe its the heat which I was hoping would be gone by mid-September but isn't. Whatever it is, it has been hard to kick. The other night when my husband came home from work I went out for a little alone time. One of my favorite things to do when I am in a grouchy mood is to take $20 and go wild. I decided to go to a used bookstore near my house and I found some little treasures! I collect two things. Cookbooks and vintage linens. I was delighted to find these interesting old cookbooks and am so looking forward to reading through them! Oh and speaking of vintage linens, I just joined a vintage swap (which I learned about from Soulemama's blog) and I am SO excited to be a part of it!

Have a great weekend! Maybe you'll find some little treasures of your own.

Mama's Gettin' Lazy

2009-09-17T20:05:00.000-07:00

As the end of the week approaches I start to get sick of cooking. I stay at home with my kids and they are all preschool age or younger so I generally cook three meals a day. So when Thursday and Friday nights roll around sometimes I get SICK OF IT! Sick of cleaning up the dishes AGAIN, sick of trying to coerce young children to sit nicely through a meal, and sick of my own cooking. So tonight for dinner I decided to switch it up a little bit and do something fun. We made waffles. Now, I know to most moms out there the whole breakfast for dinner idea is nothing new. But it absolutely thrilled my boys and they ate a ton. And thanks to Bisquick there weren't many dishes to do and the clean up was easy. Hooray for breakfast for dinner!

Baby Shower

2009-09-10T16:28:00.001-07:00

This summer dear friend of mine was expecting her third baby so I decided to throw her a shower. She is not the kind of person who makes it easy to do nice things for. She is the person who, if you came to visit while she was on her death bed, would be trying to get up and get you a drink and giving you her spot on the bed. She is incredibly sweet and generous. So I had to get creative when I wanted to throw her a shower. I didn't want to try to pull of a big surprise, so I just sent her an invitation along with the rest of the guests (I checked the date with her husband before hand). That way she couldn't argue!

I was on Cape Cod when I sent out the invitations so I went to a cute little stationary store and bought some Lulu and Jack cards. Inside I wrote the details of the invitations. I am a big fan of handwritten invitations. Everyone prints them now and it looks very professional and tidy. But, I like the personal aspect and old fashioned-ness of a pretty handwritten invitation.

I decided to do a fancy lady's brunch. Us moms never get to sit down to a grown-up meal at a pretty table, in the relaxed environment of someone's home. I got out my wedding china (last used for my husband's birthday 2 kids ago) and polished up my silver. I even got out my great aunt's linens. I didn't want to go cutesy for the decorations, so I tried to keep the pink and blue theme subtle, but still present. The guest of honor didn't know the gender of her baby. Down the middle of the table I put all of our family's silver baby cups with pink and blue sweet peas in them.

When people arrived I offered a glass of sparkling rose (PINK!) or a glass of blue raspberry soda. I also had out a plate of crackers with smoked salmon and cream cheese.

As the guests sat down at the table to eat there were baskets of biscuits with nectarine butter and blueberry butter (whip together a stick of butter with a few spoonfuls of your favorite jam)

First I served bowls of cantaloupe soup (puree a cantaloupe with a little water and some salt) topped with crispy prosciutto. The main course was a potato and bacon torte and a little salad of heirloom tomatoes that I had picked up at the farmer's market that morning. For dessert we had bowls of lemon sorbet topped with blueberries and raspberries (pink and blue again!) and some ginger shortbread cookies.

It was a delightful morning of chatting and relaxing with mom friends, sans kids. Oh, and my friend just had her baby a few weeks ago. A baby boy! Congratulations!

A Long Time Coming

2009-09-09T20:16:00.000-07:00

About two years ago I bought my husband a hammock for Father's Day. We procrastinated on hanging it in the backyard. Our next door neighbor cut down one of the trees from which we were planning to hang it. Just reached right over the fence and sawed it down. For Christmas last year we got a new play structure for the kids that was placed between the OTHER trees we wanted to hang it from. There was no other place to put it. Yesterday I bought a hammock stand. Finally today I put the whole thing together and got to lie in the hammock while my husband (who got home from work unexpectedly early) put the kids to bed. HEAVEN!!

Etsy Can Be Dangerous

2009-09-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

There are way too many cute shops! I just spent over an hour browsing the Vintage shops and exercised a great deal of self control. All I bought was a cute, old fashioned sifter for $3.50 (I'll post a picture when it arrives!). But honestly, I am having over 40 people here for a party tomorrow. Is Etsy browsing the best use of my time? No! But its so fun!

New Cloth Diapers!

2009-08-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

I love cloth diapers. I really do. I just think they are so cute and fun and economical. I am excited to have been given the opportunity to test out a new brand of cloth diaper called CuteyBaby (patent pending). I got my test diaper in the mail today and I am so excited to try it out! My first impression is that the design is great and obviously created by a cloth diapering mom. The velcro tabs are removable so they don't stick to everything in the wash...brrrrilliant! I am going to test them out tonight on my baby girl.

All Better!

2009-08-26T12:54:00.000-07:00

My poor little boy who was so, so sick with meningitis two days ago is now outside fighting imaginary dragons with all of his might. Thank goodness for good health! I am so relieved that he is all better.

Here's What Happens When I Try to Clean My House

2009-08-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, I should have learned my lesson the last time I sent the boys out into the backyard so that I could accomplish something. Apparently I am slow learner. Look what happened when I sent them out to play so that I could try to clean up the house. A bigger mess! My entire deck was covered in green paint. I tried to take a picture but it didn't do it justice. Then I found this little reminder after I had cleaned off the deck.

Lots of Lobster!

2009-08-21T09:25:00.000-07:00

While we were on Cape Cod we were very lucky to eat lots of wonderful seafood. The favorites for my kids were clams and lobster (who wouldn't love that!). My older son learned to crack the lobster himself this summer and the younger one ate his weight in steamers. The last few days were there we had feast after feast with old friends who came to visit.

One evening we had a big clam bake in the back yard. Lobster, clams, corn on the cob, coleslaw and lots of melted butter. Since this sort of meal is guaranteed to get messy we ate at the picnic table in the backyard. I covered the table with black trash bags, then newspaper, all taped underneath the table. Then we just put all the food right down the middle of the table and people could grab what they wanted and eat. No plates to throw away or dishes to do. Just lobster crackers and coleslaw forks. At either end of the table we put a few rolls of paper towels. It looked great with all of the pretty red lobsters and bright yellow corn, and clean up was a breeze. Just gathered the whole thing up in a bundle and threw it in the trash.

The next day we had a new set of friends arrive for lunch and we made lobster rolls. My father made them and they were fantastic. According to him, the only way to make lobster rolls is a fresh lobster meat, a tiny bit of Hellman's mayonnaise (no other brand will do), salt and a toasted split top hot dog bun. He mixed in the lobster roe with the meat which was so pretty! The perfect lobster rolls were served up with a big bowl of Cape Cod potato chips and a pitcher of iced tea. What's better than that for a summer lunch?

Cheese Making

2009-08-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Last night I attended a cheese making class with my dad and sister. My father is a true cheese lover, he is without a doubt to blame for my cheese habit, and my sister's too. So, for Father's Day my sister and I decided to take him to a class to learn how to make the stuff. We found the class through the Institute for Urban Homesteading (a topic I am very interested in) in Oakland. It was really fun! We made three things: yogurt, ricotta and feta. I make yogurt all the time, so I knew that would be successful. A few years ago I attempted ricotta but it was a dismal failure. I was thrilled to learn some new tricks for the yogurt and ricotta, and to learn to make my own feta! I can't wait to order some cultures and get going at home. Best of all, at the end of the class you get to eat your results. A little feast of lemon herb ricotta, heirloom tomatoes from our teacher's garden, feta and good bread. What a treat!

What's Cookin - Weekly Menu

2009-08-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Here's what we're having for dinner this week, in case you wondered...which you probably didn't.

Monday - Chicken a la King, green beans

Tuesday - Roasted chicken with sweet potatoes, broccoli

Wednesday - Chicken tacos with avocado, tomato and all the other taco fixin's

Thursday - Dinner out - kids will get chicken nuggets and mac and cheese with their babysitter

Friday - Vegetarian curry, brown rice, green beans

Saturday - Dinner out - kids will get hot dogs and pasta

Sunday - Meat pie, green beans (I bought a big bag of green beans at Costco, can you tell?), salad

What is your family eating?

Finally Settled

2009-08-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

New logo and banner in the works. My sister's wonderful boyfriend is working on a logo and banner for me and I am so excited. This is just the beginning.

It has taken me two weeks to finally feel settled back in after a month long vacation. My older kids are in a daily preschool program which leaves my mornings free to get things done around the house. That makes a huge difference to me! I am amazed at how quickly the summer has flown by. Here are a few pictures from our vacation. I am already looking forward to next year.

The band concert, shave ice after the beach, wearing everyone out on the beach, pirate adventures, shooting Papa's cannon on the Fourth of July

What's Cookin - Weekly Menu

2009-08-04T08:22:00.001-07:00

I was so happy to get to the Farmer's Market this weekend! One thing that surprises me every summer when I am on the Cape is the lack of really great local produce during the month of July. The corn was coming just as we were nearing the end of our visit. We Northern Californians are quite spoiled in that regard.

Here's what we've got cooking this week:

Monday - Roasted salmon, sesame somen noodles, peas

Tuesday - Ratatouille, baguette, salad, cheese

Wednesday - Split roasted chicken with potatoes, corn on the cob, salad, carrot sticks for the kids

Thursday - Dinner out, hamburger mac for the kids

Friday - Sweet potato and pork pasties with peas, salad

What are you eating this week?

Home Again!

2009-08-02T15:34:00.001-07:00

Suitcases in the attic

Laundry on the line

Granola in the oven

After a fun filled month on Cape Cod, it is so very good to be HOME!

Vacation

2009-07-10T17:21:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't figured it out already, we're on vacation on Cape Cod! During that time I will be taking a short hiatus from blogging. Back in business in August!

-- Post From My iPhone

Lessons Learned

2009-07-05T06:16:00.001-07:00

From my trip with three kids:

1. If you are taking a red eye alone with kids and can afford it, buy a seat for the lap child. I was reminded of my first night at home with my first baby when I kept falling asleep while nursing and almost dropping the baby. Dropping the baby is never good.

2. Get coffee immediately upon landing. I had no idea what was coming next and would have been much happier if I had had my coffee with me.

3. Make sure your drivers license is current before taking a red eye and then planning to rent a car. I got to Enterprise with my three tired and hungry kids only to discover that my license was expired and I could not rent the minivan I had reserved. So I called my parents to make the hour-and-a-half drive from Cape Cod to rent the van for me. Three hours of waiting with no coffee and no sleep, hohos and m and ms for breakfast, we were finally on our way. I felt like a teenager again but not in a good way. In an always needing to ask your parents for a ride whenever you want to go somewhere way.

4. Don't under estimate the California DMV. I did not have high hopes when I called the DMV to tell them my situation. I was so very happily surprised when an extension to my license arrived via fedex the next afternoon. We headed down to the nearest Enterprise office, put the car in my name and my freedom was restored.

Now I can got on with my vacation!

-- Post From My iPhone

The Dreaded Red Eye

2009-07-01T10:19:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, I was talked into taking the red eye to Boston for our annual Cape Cod vacation. I was seriously dreading it but I am here to tell you it wasn't so bad! It would have been nice to have had a seat for the baby so I could have gotten a bit more sleep. After years of sleep deprivation due to having babies close together, I handled being up all night on the plane just fine! More to come about our travel adventures soon.

-- Post From My iPhone

Weekly Menus

2009-06-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

We are packing it up and leaving for our annual month on Cape Cod tomorrow so I can't say much about what we'll be eating for dinners this week. I am hoping a lobster roll will be in the picture towards the end of the week, and some clam chowder.

I can tell you what I had for lunch today, though, if you're interested. It'll make you feel good about whatever you had, I promise! I ate baby cereal for lunch. Yes, those little oatmeal flakes that you mix with formula or water or whatever liquid you have on hand. I gave tacos to the boys and was starving but hadn't gotten anything for myself yet. I was trying to get the cereal into the baby while she mashed up her avocado and before I knew I looked down and the bowl was empty. Not the tastiest lunch I've ever had but at least it was one less dish to wash!

Wish me luck on the overnight flight with all three kids! I am kind of dreading it but some of my most well-traveled mom friends tell me this is the way to do it. So, here it goes...

Have You Ever Had a Day Like This?

2009-06-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

It actually all started last Saturday, when my washing machine broke. I have three kids under five two of whom are boys and one of whom wears cloth diapers, so this is nearly catastrophic in itself. In fact, the machine broke while washing a load of dirty diapers. Perfect. I called Sears and they said the soonest they could get someone out to fix it was on Tuesday. Okay, Tuesday between 1 and 5. I can make do until then. Tuesday rolls around, no one shows up, no phone call, nothing.

I call Sears, what's the deal?

So sorry for the inconvenience, they say, we'll have someone out on Saturday.

WHAT!?!? That won't do.

Hold on (puts me on hold), okay how's tomorrow morning between 8 and 12.

Great! Thanks! Goodbye!

The next day rolls around and my three kids and I spend another 4 hours waiting around for Sears. No show, no call. WTF! I call and throw fits which took several phone calls and on-hold waiting periods.

My boys are playing in the backyard during my phone calls, locked out because they wouldn't stop harassing me. 4 year old comes and bangs on the door, when I open it he points at his2 year old brother who has pooped diarrhea all over the ladder going up the jungle gym. Gross. While on the phone I use one entire package of wipes to clean him up then hose off the jungle gym, at the same time as I am arguing with the supervisor I finally got connected to about why they should waive the $75 fee.

Back inside, door shut, baby napping, I am still on the phone. I see the boys playing happily outside on the nice clean jungle gym. A few minutes later I hear a scream and my 4 year old shows up at the door again, this time in tears. He dropped a brick on his toe. How? Well, he and his brother wanted in the house so he threw the brick at the wooden fence around our yard, hoping to break the fence so they could come to the front door and ring the doorbell, thinking I would assume the person at the door was the washing machine guy and open it. Tricky but his little plan backfired and now he had a swollen, bloody toe. Great. Finally off phone with Sears with an e.t.a. of 2pm.

Now calling Kaiser. No appointments in pediatrics, have to go to urgent care. Of course.

3 pm the Sears guy shows up and gives me the news. $747 to fix our 3 year old, $600 Kenmore washing machine. No thank you! Off to non-Sears appliance store to buy NEW washer before heading to urgent care. Buy new machine to be delivered this Saturday.

Get to Kaiser and sign in at Urgent Care. Boys are wild, 4 year old hopping everywhere because his toe hurt, 2 year old running all over the place. Until...he poops in his pants...more diarrhea...everywhere. I go to receptionist and tell her we'll be right back, have to go clean up my son in the bathroom DON'T GIVE UP OUR SPACE!

In bathroom, both boys and stroller with baby in handicap stall.

I am on my knees cleaning poop, baby falls out of stroller face first on bathroom floor. I don't want to pick her up due to poopy hands. Make 4 year old snuggle her to try to console. No more clean pants for 2 year old. Order 4 year old to remove his underpants so his brother can wear them. Done. Out of the bathroom we go. 4 year old hopping, too proud to ride in stroller. 2 year old trotting along in too big Spiderman underpants, t-shirt and black cowboy boots. What a sight we must have been!

Finally get seen after an hour and a half wait in X-ray and then more waiting in Urgent Care. Toe isn't broken, just ugly and painful. Husband on the way from airport to take us to dinner. Get to car, no keys. Load everyone in stroller, baby sitting in 4 year old's lap, run back to Urgent Care. They have my keys. Get in car, drive to restaurant. Eat dinner. Just as we were leaving 2 year old poops all over the booth. I mean ALL OVER. I grab him and run to the car to clean him up YET again. But no more wipes. Have to use the seat covers that I had wrapped his poopy shorts from earlier in so they wouldn't dirty up my purse. Husband stays with other kids, cleans up as best he can with napkins and gives busser a big fat tip and a very sincere apology.

Finally, we make it home and off to bed, knowing the day ahead was BOUND to be better. And now its the weekend and whatever happens at least I'll have another adult to share it with.

Have you ever had a day like that?

Afternoon Dance Party

2009-06-25T21:30:00.001-07:00

On Saturday night my husband and I went to see the band SuperBooty. The band that opened for them was called Neverland, a Michael Jackson cover band. My husband and I talked about how brilliant the guy was, despite the fact that he was a bit odd. But, really, he wrote some amazing songs, made some amazing albums and was an incredible performer.

When my husband texted me this afternoon to tell me he had been admitted to the hospital in a coma I was shocked and so sad. It seemed like weird timing since we had just been experiencing his music a few days before. I was so sorry when I heard the news that he had, indeed, passed away. I mean I felt sadness like I felt when Princess Diana died.

In his honor instead of the normal afternoon TV time for my kids we had a Michael Jackson Dance Party. I put on the Essential Michael Jackson and the kids and I danced around the living room to songs that spanned his career. Then I decided they had to see some videos in order to get the full effect so I put on MTV which was showing nothing but Michael Jackson videos. My older son was very impressed and I got some good video of HIM impersonating Michael Jackson, with a little break dancing thrown in for good measure. It felt like an appropriate send off from my little family.

Backyard Fruit

2009-06-24T09:38:00.001-07:00

I can't tell you how excited I was when I went outside to water my garden last night and looked up and saw ripe apricots on my apricot tree. If you aren't into growing your own food you won't understand the excitment, if you are then you get it. When I reached up to pick them I saw a whole bunch of really big, ripe figs! Wow! My neighbors must have had a laugh if they looked out their windows while I was climbing the fig tree in my nightgown to pick all of the delicious fruit.

I have never had an apricot from my tree because they usually aren't ripe until July, which is a month that I usually spend on Cape Cod. The figs aren't usually ready to eat until August. I am not sure why everything is ripe so early this year, but I am guessing it is because of the crazy heat wave we had in early spring. The best part is that there are still tons little baby figs on the tree so it looks like I will have them to look forward to in August too!

Target Does it Again

2009-06-23T11:38:00.001-07:00

How cute are these new diapers from Target? FINALLY someone decided to make diapers cute. I hate the characters on the backs of most disposable diapers. It bugs me that my choices are Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Sesame Street or Blues Clues. The "green" diapers aren't much better. I know, most people would say, they are just diapers, kids poop in them, it is like wanting cute toilet paper! Well, you are talking to the girl who often wishes that Seventh Generation was still selling that brown toilet paper because I think it would look cool in the glass cylinder I store toilet paper in in my bathroom.

I usually use cloth diapers on my baby girl, partly for obvious eco-friendly reasons, but also because they are so darn cute! My washing machine broke down this week so I had to pick up some disposable diapers at Target. I decided to go cheap this time and buy their house brand, and when I got home and opened them up I was SO glad I did! Leave it to the folks at Target to come up with a cute design for their diapers. They are so good!

I am waiting for the washing machine repair man as we speak, so hopefully we'll be back in business with the cloth diapers soon. I have some fun new diaper covers to try out on the baby coming soon too. Aren't they cute?

Weekly Menus

2009-06-22T12:49:00.000-07:00

We had such a great weekend! You'd never have known it was Father's Day weekend around here. Saturday I got to spend most of the afternoon shopping with my sister at one of my favorite stores then I met some mom friends for a movie. After the movie my husband picked me up and we went to see this super fun band at this super fun venue. I used to go see them a lot back when I was single and living in the city. This was a reunion show for them, their first in about 4 1/2 years. They were still great! We had such a fun time! Sunday was spent celebrating my sweet husband, who my kids are so so lucky to have for a dad, and recovering from the previous night's festivities.

Now I am facing another solo week, well at least half week. My husband has been working so hard and traveling so much lately! We are looking forward to having him around for awhile after this trip is over.

Monday: Grilled steak, Caesar salad, green beans

Tuesday: Kids are going out for dinner with their Auntie here, while I get my haircut across the street. I can guarantee an Ollalieberry Milkshake is in their future.

Wednesday: Garlicky mushrooms on toast with poached egg, salad

Thursday: Split roasted Soul Food Farm chicken, tortillas, avocado, salsa

Friday: Peel N Eat Shrimp, sourdough baguette, arugula salad, carrot sticks

Saturday: Aidell's Teriyaki Chicken Meatballs on skewers with pineapple (kids will eat nearly anything on a stick, right?), steamed rice, edamame

Sunday: Black cod cooked with butter, capers, chopped tomatoes and black olives, baguette, steamed broccoli with olive oil and lemon juice

What happening at your place this week?

Happy Anniversary to Me

2009-06-19T21:05:00.000-07:00

Today is my five year wedding anniversary. We went out for a really nice dinner, then came home and tried to see if we could fix our broken washing machine. Yes, it broke mid-cycle on a load of cloth diapers. Mmmmm. When I think back to our wedding day five years ago I never could have imagined that I'd be sitting here in my house with three sweet sleeping children. I am lucky to have the life that I do, and so so lucky to have such a great man to share it with.

Have a great weekend and Happy Fathers Day to the daddies.

Watermelon and Rum...YUM!

2009-06-18T22:54:00.000-07:00

Here's what I came up with for the rum last night. I had a watermelon that had been sitting in my refrigerator for awhile now. My kids appear to be tired of watermelon so they won't eat it. Isn't it pretty? I love the little swirls around the seeds.

I chopped it up and threw it into the blender with some mint from the herb garden outside my door. Poured in a little rum.

Et voila! A lovely summer happy hour cocktail. The Anthropologie glass and Marimekko napkins make me happy too.

Happy Hour

2009-06-17T16:43:00.001-07:00

I am sitting here in my kitchen listening to my kids whine outside for a TV show, thinking about facing the next few days solo while my husband is traveling for work and gazing longingly at the bottle of Mount Gay Rum sitting on the counter. The rum was left out from last night's yogurt cake and boy is it beckoning! I am reminded of my grandparents who, every single day at about 5:00 poured themselves a cocktail, set out dishes of Goldfish crackers and cheese doodles and then sat back and enjoyed their Happy Hour.

As a stay at home mom of three young kids, I find the idea pretty darned appealing. It would be a nice transition into evening and a great way to celebrate surviving another day in this wild ride of motherhood. I think I might bring Happy Hour back! The kids could have a Shirley Temple (oh how I used to love Shirley Temples, even my father's version which was a glass of OJ with a glob of strawberry jam stirred into it) and I could have a nice little cocktail. Just one a day but definitely the hard stuff. My grandparents had the right idea. Now let me go see what I can mix with that rum. I know there's a bag of Goldfish in the pantry somewhere.