cooking catch-up

I've been on holiday hiatus.  Now that the holiday season has come and gone, the boys have gone back to school and we've gotten back into our school routine, my blog will hopefully follow suit.

We recently celebrated a big birthday in our house.  Mommy (aka, me!) turned the Big 4-0.  *sigh*  How can that be? 

 I'm not so sure, but I'm accepting it.  I'm getting more used to to the idea that I'm no longer in my 30's.  I'm approaching it more by thinking of what I can accomplish in my 40's now, instead of what I can no longer do now that I'm 40.  For instance, I've grown my hair out again.  There's that stereotype that older women (am I really an "older" woman?) shouldn't have long hair.  Forget that!  I want long hair again, so here it is.  Also, I'm eating healthier than I ever have in my life.  I hope to continue to run half marathons and strive to run a full marathon sometime in my 40's.

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We celebrated a lovely Christmas with my Mom, niece, brother, and his girlfriend.  I also was able to visit more with my other brother and his girlfriend.  Being with family during the holidays is the best.

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Now for the fun stuff.  My dear sister gave me Dreena Burton's third cookbook, Eat, Drink and Be Vegan, for my birthday.  Have I mentioned she's my favorite sister?  Eventhough she's my only sister, she really is the best.

I've been cooking my way through this fabulous cookbook, after reading it cover to cover.

I made Hempanola with pecans and dried cherries. 

It held up great in almond milk and was so yummy it didn't last long in our house.  I'll be making round two tomorrow with slivered almonds and apricots.

Another great recipe was her banana cream pancakes.  They're made with coconut milk.

I served them with her recipe for warm raspberry sauce, substituting blueberries for the raspberries since I didn't have any in my freezer.  So delicious!

I made a delicious vegan Christmas feast and I did not take pictures.  Boo!  It included chickpea cutlets, mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies (brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes), and various Christmas cookies for dessert.  Delicious!

But, I did take pictures of some of our New Years Day munchies.

Pizza Focaccia:

Delightful Artichoke Dip (from Dreena's The Everyday Vegan)

Roasted Red Pepper Dip (also from The Everyday Vegan)

And, back to Eat, Drink and Be Vegan.  Chocolate Mint Melties.  I had my eyes on these when I first saw them in the book.  So minty and chocolately and deliciously chewey.  I just made these last week, but I'll be making them again soon.

Now, this next photo is a sort of the best of both worlds.  It's a combination of a modified version of Fusilli Roasted Veggie Primavera from Isa Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction and Dreena's Cashew Cheese.  I used some different veggies than what Isa had in her recipe and stirred in the cashew cheese.  What resulted was a miracle in its deliciousness and the fact that it pleased all 3 of my boys!  Definitely a miracle!

One last sweet treat to show you.  Again from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan..."You Got Peanut Butter in My Chocolate" Cookies.  Yummy!  Kari, this is the recipe I sent you today.

It's getting late (after 11pm my time!) but one more thing before I sign off.  I decided we need to begin a new tradition in our home: candles at dinner.  Maybe it's because my husband is a firefighter and that's why my boys appear to be pyromaniacs, but they love a candle.  We lit candles at dinner all through the Christmas season and they ooo'd and aaahh'd over them.  I know they've missed having candles lit at dinnertime and I have as well.  So, we're starting it back up again.  Maybe I'll get a little more creative and come up with a better centerpiece.  But for now this will do just fine.

Good night for now and until next time...

breakfast for dinner

We have breakfast for dinner quite often.  When I first started it, the boys thought it was hilarious.  Breakfast for dinner?!  Now, it's their favorite dinner.  It's great for me because I usually don't have to pick up anything specific at the store, I almost always have all the ingredients on hand.  And I can pre-measure my dry ingredients in the afternoon so dinner comes together quicker in the end.

Tonight I made pancakes and waffles, with my new waffle maker!  Well, I made pancakes on the griddle and waffles on the waffle maker.  Although you probably could have figured that out.  We also had fruit salad.  The boys are purists, and very set in their ways.  They can always tell when I try to make their pancakes different.  Whether I use whole wheat flour or try to veganize the recipe, they can tell.  So, I made their standard pancakes that I've been making for over 15 years.  They're good, but unfortunately they aren't vegan.  However, I did sneak some whole wheat flour in there.  Sneaky! 

For my waffles I used Isa Moskowitz's pumpkin waffle recipe.  They were vegan and so delicious served with pure maple syrup. 

 

I made chocolate chip brownie waffles last weekend.  Whoa mama, they were good.  And yes, they too are vegan.  

I'm kind of going backwards, but I want to mention lunch too.  I love mock egg salad sandwiches, and my sweet boy loves them too.  Today I tried Dreena Burton's egg-less salad recipe from The Everyday Vegan.  It's very easy to make and so delicious.  Mash the tofu as you would mash hard boiled eggs.  The recipe called for chopped pepper (I used a sweet red pepper), green onion, and celery (which I didn't have because it's a favorite of our guinnea pig).  Also a bit of apple cider vinegar, agave nectar, Dijon mustard, dill, salt and pepper.  Mix and put it on your favorite bread.  This is mine:

Stone House's Northcountry.  So yummy.

And here's the egg-less salad mix:

My helper wanted to be in the pictures too.  Don't you love that smile?

I served my sandwich with spinach and I would have liked to have put a slice of tomato on there, but I forgot to pick one up at the store.  The red pepper made up for it though.  I didn't miss the tomato at all.  And Mr. Smiley loved the sandwich so much I had to make a second one.

We'll be finishing up the leftovers tomorrow.  I can't wait!

busy tuesday

Tuesdays are busy for us.  After I pick the boys up from school at 3:30 we head over for my oldest son's piano lessons.  I've decided we can't come home before hand because we're usually late for the lesson.  So we take our time walking across campus looking at the squirrels and chipmunks.  We find pretty leaves or pinecones.   But today it was pouring rain, so instead we ran across the wet sidewalks, I was trying to swerve my youngest around the puddles.  You know boys are drawn to puddles, right?  Actually, I think all kids are drawn to puddles.

I wasn't really in the mood for a full day like today.  The boys have been getting up early because of the time change...they have yet to adjust.  As a result they've been a bit on the cranky and irritable side...not so fun.  But, one of these mornings they won't get up at 5:30.  Hopefully tomorrow is that morning.

It was a rainy day, a day I would have just rather come home, stoked up the fire in the fireplace and snuggled with my boys on the floor.  But I knew if I cancelled piano, my oldest would have taken that ball and run with it.  Anytime he wasn't up for a lesson, he would want to cancel.  So we went.  And all was well.  He played, the other boys and I explored the building like we usually do, savoring our time in the stairwell.  They like to hide under the stairs.  There are plenty of students who like seeing a 6 year old and 2 year old in the halls.  They're all away from their families and I think it helps them remember their families back home.

On our way home I had that let down feeling.  The kind of feeling you get when you've had a marathon-type of day and it was finally over.  The feeling that lets you know you can take a deep breath and relax.  The vibe was good in the car, we heard some of our favorite songs, and we knew that we were headed home.

It's a good feeling.

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Onto the meals for the day...

I was sad to see I was out of Cheerios this morning.  But it was a good day for a bowl of oatmeal.  I had mine with a touch of natural sugar, cinnamon, raisins, and pecans.  And don't forget my favorite chai tea! 

We had a coffee date with some other new moms from the boys school.  Nickel got a cup of fruit and a muffin and I finished my chai.  It was nice to talk with the moms and my boy did much better than I expected, given the cranky morning he had.

He makes for a pretty cute lunch date though.

Now, on to lunch.  I had my favorite salad as big as my head.  I took two pictures so you could get a feel for the size of this monstrosity.

I made this one with one head of romaine, a handful of spinach, some sesame seeds, one avocado, 6 button mushrooms, 8 asparagus spears and dressed with a pomegranate vinaigrette.  I sauteed the mushrooms and asparagus in a little EVOO.  I like the contrast of the warm sauteed veggies with the cool crisp romaine.  Delicious!

I finally made more cookies today too.  I had 2...since I hadn't had any dessert since Saturday.  That put me over the top though, and I wasn't hungry for dinner when the boys were eating.  My dinner came after their bedtime and I ended up having a big bowl of Cheerios topped with banana and raspberries.

So that's it.  I'm heading to bed for an earlier bedtime.  I'm sooooo hoping these boys can adjust so they can be happier.

Until tomorrow.

give a green smoothie a chance

I kept to my diet over the weekend.  It's getting easier saying no to the things I used to say yes to, like soft drinks, sweets, processed foods.  We ate lunch out and I skipped the soft drink, opting for water instead.  Saturday's breakfast was my famous bowl of Cheerios heaped with fresh fruit and my ever faithful cup of chai tea.  Lunch was Qdoba tacos, veggie style, minus the cheese and sour cream but heaped with pico and lettuce.  Yum!  Dinner was leftover vegan lasagna...so creamy and still delicious!  I finished the chocolate chip cookies, so there was an emergency on hand.  Baking was definitely on the agenda for Sunday.

Sunday's breakfast was a favorite for me and my youngest:  steel cut oats with blueberries and cinnamon.  My 2 year old an I eat 3 servings of this easily!  It's so warm and delicious, it almost tastes like a blueberry pie.

Lunch was a simple PBJ with pickles and apples.

And dinner was a favorite, Spaghetti No's with Mini Lentil Meatballs.  I don't have a picture, but Isa's photo is great.  I'm working on getting approval from Ms Moskowitz to link to her site.  Once I hear back, I'll add in the link. 

I noticed I ran out of popcorn, and my pumpkin seeds were long gone, so I was starting to panic...what was I going to snack on?!?  Nuts and dried fruit to the rescue!  Cashews, brazil nuts, dried cherries and apricots did the trick.

I did some baking, chocolate marble banana bread...heavenly.  And, as of Monday night, it's gone.  I'll have to make another loaf because everyone loved it.  I didn't have everything I needed to make the cookies I wanted, so that went on the back burner.  Chocolate banana bread stood in well as dessert Sunday night.

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Today's breakfast was a vibrant green smoothie with toast topped with pumpkin butter.  I'm loving my green smoothies.  I admit, I was a little scared at first.  But, if you add enough fruit, and most of it should be frozen, then you can't taste the greens.  I like to use kale partly because I still have some in my garden, but mostly because they have a great amount of absorb-able iron.  And, I tend to be iron deficient.  I used kale, pineapple, cantaloupe, pear, flax oil, and hemp seed.  You can add flax seed in place of the oil and hemp seed.  I just used what I had on hand.  If you want it to stay that pretty green color, be sure not to add anything purple or red.  Blueberries taste delicious, but they do turn it into a dark purple color, just an FYI.

 Today's lunch was a big salad.  And, I forgot to take a picture!  Crazy!  Not to worry, I'll be having another one tomorrow.  More details tomorrow on what I like to put in it too.

Dinner was leftover lentil meatballs with velvety cheesy sauce.  You gotta try that recipe, I'm just sayin'.

Now, on to the fun stuff.  The boys have been raking leaves all weekend.  They've been disappointed that my extremely efficient husband has been, up until now, munching up the leaves before they've had a chance to play in them.  So, we had a talk and asked Daddy to please leave the leaves so they could get their fill.

 Daniel is saving some leaves by keeping them on the deck.  My two year old was then jumping off the deck box into the leaf pile.  sigh

 Fall is in full swing.  It gets dark now as we're eating dinner and the first forecast for snow is in on its way for Wednesday night.  We could quite possibly wake up to snow on Thursday.  Hooray!

Until tomorrow, enjoy your evening.

challenges

I've been vegetarian for 5 years and vegan for almost 1 year.  However, I cheat from time to time, eating dairy (cheese, ice cream) and eggs from time to time.  But, I have an extreme addiction to sugar.  I envy those who pass up dessert, wishing I could do the same.  I can't.  So that's why I thought I could use a good challenge.

I decided to give up refined sugar and flour.  gasp!  I know...what is a girl to do, the week before Halloween and I give up sugar?!?  Argh!!!  But, I have done it before.  I gave up refined flour and sugar once before, about eight years ago.  Boy, that's a long time ago.  And, I'd given up candy once just in time for Halloween, but that was, and I'd be guessing, about 1991 or 1992.  Sheesh!  It's about time for me to start giving that junk up!

So I'm talking on the phone with my sister the other day and she asks, "What do you eat?"


That gave me the idea to share some of the things I'm eating.


This was my breakfast this morning.  A big bowl of Cheerios topped with fresh raspberries, bananas, and unsweetened almond milk.  I also had a nice big cup of chai tea with agave nectar and vanilla almond milk.  

 

 

 

My youngest and I had music class this morning, so I brought some cantaloup to snack on.

 

 

 

For lunch I bought a vegan sandwich from our local Coop with some pears, and pickles.  You gotta have pickles with your sandwich, right?

 

 

 This afternoon I snacked on some pumpkin seeds.

Then, dinner was a yummy vegan lasagna with asparagus, mushrooms, cashew cheese (courtesy of the fabulous Dreena Burton), and topped with Daiya cheese.

 

 

I have some vegan, gluten-free chocolate chip cookies that I'd made earlier in the week.  You can find the recipe here.  You may wonder how they could be good if they are vegan.  Try them, I ask you, and then tell me that they don't taste like mama's home made cookies.  So, I have them been happily eating them for dessert.  

It can be done!  And, I made it through the day without any Halloween candy or ice cream!  Hooray for me!

I'm curious to hear about anyway you like to challenge yourself.  I encourage you to try to make one healthier meal a week.  There is a site called Meatless Monday that might give you a place to start.  Another easy way to start eating healthier is to substitute unsweetened almond milk for your cows milk on your cereal.  You may notice a slight difference in taste, but you will only notice it the first time.

Happy eating!

The Story of Matthew's Birth

TMI alert:  This is a birthing story.  Even though I don't get very graphic in my description I do talk about vomiting, dilating, and breast feeding.  Consider yourselves warned.

It's 10pm as I begin this and this time six years ago, I was laboring in a hospital bed still hoping that my contractions would slow down...maybe even stop.  About an hour later, I was told that I would indeed have my baby before midnight.  I was shocked!  Seriously?  I wasn't due until the beginning of November.  We weren't ready.  The baby's room was still an office, we didn't have any diapers, my sister was planning on coming to stay with us just before Halloween so she could be with our oldest son while we were in the hospital.  I had a plan, and things were not going as planned.

I had actually been awakened the previous night, having contractions, unable to sleep.  I panicked.  It was 3am and I was writing notes.  Notes that would tell whoever may take care of our oldest son, Daniel, in case this turned out to be labor, what his routine was, what he liked to eat and when, what shows he liked on TV, what he liked to play with, etc.  Hmmm, this is eye opening for me.  I'm realizing that I may be a tad controlling.  Moving on...

After I made the list, I felt much better and did go back to sleep.  After sleeping for a few more hours, and getting my eldest ready for music class I thought I should probably call the doctors office and check in.  They thought I should come in and get evaluated and if things looked okay we could be on our way.  Before leaving, I threw a load of baby clothes in the washer...just in case.

So that's just what we did.  Thankfully my husband, who travels a lot for work - mostly out of state, was in town.  He had his last trip before the due dated planned in four days.  A month before the due date, plenty of time...or so we thought!  He came too and took our oldest to a friend's house after a while.  There isn't much interesting for a 3 year old in a hospital room.  Once we arrived at the hospital they had me go right into a room.  I wasn't officially checked in, I was assigned to a room designated for patients who weren't staying long term.  That made me feel more at ease because I didn't want to stay long term.

I was given saline, had a test for bladder infection, and then given a chance to relax and let the saline get into my system to hopefully slow things down.  My contractions weren't very close or consistent, but they weren't stopping either. 

I stayed in that room, most of the day, until about 2pm, when they moved me to a more permanent room.  They wanted to keep me overnight because the contractions weren't stopping.  Again, they hadn't gotten closer, but they hadn't gotten farther apart either.  Nothing else had changed.  But the saline hadn't helped and I didn't have a bladder infection.

I wasn't looking forward to spending a night in the hospital.  I was watching Oprah when the doctor came in to check me, she looked at the paper that tracked my contractions and said, "So, looks like your contractions are getting a little farther apart.  And, they're not as intense, right?"  I agreed with her, even though within the past hour I had noticed them getting more intense and being more regular.  But I wanted outta there!  I let her know that my house was only a minute or two away from the hospital and if things intensified we'd be able to return quickly.

It wasn't an hour after we got home and I was lying on the couch, in extreme pain, knowing I'd be returning to the hospital sooner than I wanted.  Chris made dinner for Daniel.  I called my Mom, told her the news of the day and that I would be probably heading back to the hospital to have the baby.  I vomited a few times and that's when I told Chris to call the OB.  I'm still not sure if he was speaking to the Dr. or not, but when he told them of my vomiting, they said that wasn't consistent with being in labor, that maybe I had the flu.  Uh no.  I do not have the flu!!

After Chris put Daniel to bed (it was so strange for me to not be doing these routine tasks) we called our dear friend and neighbor and asked if she could come over and stay while we headed into the hospital.

It was around 7:30pm and I was back, much more uncomfortable, unable to look anyone in the eye, waiting on someone to come escort us to labor and delivery, concentrating on my breathing, and trying not to vomit anymore.

Labor progressed, and they decided to not give me the steroid to help develop a premature baby's lungs.  Since I was past the 34 week mark, even by just a couple of days, they said there was no concern that our baby's lungs would be underdeveloped.  It was 10pm when the nurse informed me that I was dilated to a 9 and would definitely be having this baby before midnight.

I was shocked!  I really shouldn't have been because I had been laboring all day.  I just couldn't believe that I will actually be having our baby on this day, this September day.  I wasn't due until November!  I wasn't mentally prepared.  Our home wasn't even prepared for the baby.  I had just that morning talked to Daniel that the baby might come earlier than we expected.  My sister wasn't here.  I thought I had it all planned out and now that plan was out the window blowing down the street.

Then my fear set in.  As I was leaving the hospital a mere 6 hours earlier I began wondering if there could be health problems, should our baby be born this early.  My cousin's first born child was born five weeks early.  He was very ill, having to stay in the hospital for 5 weeks and needing 3 blood transfusions.  I was thinking of her and her then healthy 3 1/2 year old son and wondering if that would be my fate.

I solely breast-fed my first son, and I had planned on doing the same with this baby.  How difficult would that be?  How much time would they allow me to spend at the hospital?  How much time could I spend at the hospital since I also had a 3 1/2 year old?  I'm a very hands-on parent.  I never let Daniel out of my site while we were in the hospital.  I wanted the same for this baby.  Would he have to go to the NICU though?  Lots of questions and uncertainty filled my head as I was also preparing to welcome another baby into our family.

I started pushing at 11pm.  The doctor warned me that there would be a few extra people in the delivery room.  Some specialists needed to be there because of his being premature.  I didn't expect another 30 people to be in the room.  And, once our little Matthew Elbert entered the world at 11:22pm our room became a bustling place.  He was placed on my chest right away, but only for a minute.  He was whisked away to be examined by the many teams in the rooms.  Once they found out that he was a healthy baby, albeit a small baby (weighing in at 4 lbs 15 oz) they were gone quicker than you could blink your eye.

We were left to comprehend what had just happened.  "We just had our baby!"  Amazing...

He stayed in my room our entire time in the hospital.  They asked if I wanted them to take him, so I could get some rest.  No thanks.  I'm good.

He was born Thursday night and I was technically able to stay for 48 hours, but since he was so little and early, they wanted him to stay Sunday night as well.  Thankfully they let me tag along and I was able to spend that extra night with him.  That's a long time, though!  I don't know how anyone can stay longer than that and not get claustrophobic and home sick!

Matthew was more jaundiced than Daniel was and he had to spend some time on a bili bed.  He didn't mind because he slept the entire time.  In fact, he slept his first entire 2 weeks of life outside of me.  He was very fuzzy too.  He had those little unpigmented hairs all over his body, called languo.  And, he was even too small for the premature clothes I bought him just after he was born.  But, he was healthy, home with us, and our baby boy.

Happy sixth birthday, Matthew!

The Feeling of Fall

The weather has been cool, cloudy, and a bit rainy the past couple of days.  It's quite a change from the hot, humid days we've had so far this summer.  Days that have brought us to the beach more times than I can count...

days that have taken us to the Sleeping Bear Dunes on numerous occasions...

days that have brought so many visitors into our home.  We have been so blessed this summer season to have 11 (so far!) family members or friends spend some of their vacation with us.  And since we've had so many visitors and so many adventures together, I can't quite talk about them all in one post.  Beginning in the next week or two I will begin sharing our summertime adventures with the people who chose to travel and spend some time in our beautiful part of the country.  Now, if they would travel up here in January, then we'd really know how much they loved us!  just kidding

But, back to the fall-like weather.  I love all of the seasons.  That's why Texas and I didn't get along so well.  Yes, it was kind of nice having the sunny, blue skies, and 65 degree temperatures on Christmas day.  But, that's not right.  I should be wearing a sweater, sitting by the fire sipping hot chocolate, watching the big snowflakes fall gently to the ground while listening to Barry Mannilow singing in the background.  I just couldn't get used to that crazy Texas weather.  Although, spring in February sure was nice!

But we've had such a fun summer!  I know fall is coming, maybe my most favorite of the seasons, and I wasn't ready.  Until this weekend.  The cool air, the smell of the pine trees wafting through the house, I was starting to long for soup and baked potatoes fresh from the oven.  Not to mention back to school time.  I love my children to no end, but I also love school and the endless office supplies that we must go look at and purchase (for the oldest boy anyway).  Have I mentioned my addition to office supplies?  Too bad I don't have an office.  I guess you could call my kitchen my office.  But, I digress...  I love office supplies:  pencils, pens, erasers, notebooks, calculators.  My oldest needs a protractor this year!  Yipee!!

I am looking forward to getting back into the routine of school.  Did I just say that?  Yes, I did.  I'm all for routines.  And this summer was probably the one time, since having our first child over 9 years ago, that I've been very lenient on our daily routine.  Which, has lead to many a cranky child (mostly the 2 year old variety) and mommy (not that often, but on occasion).  But, oh the fun we've had!

In a mere three weeks I'll be sending two of my boys back to school.  Both of them will be going full time which will leave me home with my youngest, for one more year.  Can I cry now?  Because I seriously could.  I love my boys, and I know that in an instant the years will fly by and they will be off to college, and then married with children of their own.  And, where does that leave me?  I'm not so sure yet, I'm still working on that one.  Baby steps...

Getting back to the topic at hand, this change in weather has given me more to think about than just a change in wardrobe, or a change in routines.  It has me thinking of the constant change in our lives.  Change is a good thing, change is the only constant in life.  And, change is good.

See you soon, autumn.