Mmmmmm...

1 cup milk
1/4 cup brown rice uncooked
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp. (or more) honey

Put in little dipper crockpot before bed. Top with chopped pumpkin seeds, raisins and milk and savour individual serving of steaming hot rice pudding for breakfast in the morning.

Lunch Today and Thoughts on Slow Food

Today’s lunch was super quick to make. In fact, I had already gone to bed, too tired to think about packing a lunch, resigned to the fact that I would have to forage at the buffet in my office building. Finding myself up with a grumpy 1 year old at 3am I decided to “make lemonade from lemons” as it were, wandering around with a baby strapped to my back and pack a lunch. I just realized that it’s all premade so it was a super-quick and nutritious lunch to make.
Today’s bento has cut up chicken sausage – mmm… a favourite for sure – we had extra after supper one night so I cut it up an stuck it in the freezer. Actually, I cooked it and then held it back in the kitchen because whatever gets put on the table tends to get eaten. I also have 2 mini-banana muffins which were also frozen. The baggie said “sweet” so that’s promising. I probably actually put sugar in them. There was also homemade berry jello with blood oranges in it. For veggies I have cut up cucumber – precut in a container in the fridge – and baby carrots. So, all homemade and good for you, and all premade.
I was on a roll (and baby still not asleep) so continued to make a breakfast bento and a snack bento. Oh, ya! I may be tired today, but I am well fed. The snack bento was very similar to the lunch with a couple of pieces of sausage and cut up cauliflower and cucumber. The breakfast was superb – frozen strawberries dated “August 2008” and a frozen mini-quiche, again from the freezer, made from my friend’s “happy chickens”. Mmmm... summer strawberries and happy chickens - does it get any better than that??

I’ve been thinking a lot about the food we choose lately. I haven’t bought strawberries in the winter in a couple of years – they just taste like cardboard – but it wasn’t until this year that I really started to pay attention to what vegetables and fruits are in season. I’ve recently read “The 100 mile Diet” and have realized that to eat locally here means finding food in the summer and freezing it for the winter. Hence the August strawberries. Man, were they good. And hit the spot in the middle of winter when it seems like we’re in the middle of another 100 year ice age. Of course, I think I could plan to hoard away enough food to get one person through the winter, but I’m shopping for 2 kids and a nanny (who cooks, too) and a husband who hasn’t changed his lunch since junior high school. So it’s an uphill battle, to be sure. We all have our challenges.
I’m not thinking this way to change the world or anything big like that, it just doesn’t make sense to me that we insist on eating produce from Chile and China when, with some attention and planning, we could be eating far better quality stuff from actual farmers around here. It just makes more sense. I just found the Calgary slow food site which has a fantastic directory for sourcing local foods. I think some field trips will be in order this summer!

wow, has it really been 9 days since that last post?!?

Life has just gotten a little crazy at work. I was on a (very useful) project management course Monday and Tuesday, barely in my office because of meetings yesterday and finally taking a deep breath today! I don't really get near the computer at home much anymore. I check my email on the Internet from work and then download and delete at home on the weekends.

There are tonnes of pictures on my camera that are just waiting for me to have a spare moment to download them. Sadly, the green line problem seems to still be there, so I need to figure out where to take my camera to get cleaned. Professionally. Because Dearest Mechanic Husband almost gave me a heart attack with what he tried to do to it last night (see this post about the ill-fated ipod). I took some pictures last night that I am really excited about. A., who is really becoming a beautiful girl, rather than a little kid, had her hair done up in a bun with flower barrettes all around it. With my fast 50mm lens I was able to catch the picture indoors at night without a flash. The colors turned out fantastic - oh, I am so happy! Except for that darn green line through every picture that i really need to figure out.

I also discovered an exquisitely simple "recipe" for non-wheat pizza crust. This one comes from a good friend who also can't eat wheat. Her recipe is 1 cup spelt flour, 1 cup milk, 1 Tbsp oil and a pinch of salt. Well, I've already alluded to my inability to follow any recipe, so this is my adaptation which everyone in my little family just loved. Pizza is the one big thing I really missed when I went off of wheat. There's just no substitute.

Simple Pizza Crust
Approx: 1 1/2 cups spelt or other flour.
1 cup milk.
a little salt a little baking soda.
1 Tbsp oil.
mix until it forms a dough. pat onto baking pan. Top with a little olive oil, Italian spices, an garlic powder.
Bake at 350 until cooked.
Top with pizza toppings and bake again until cheeze is gloriously melty. Yes, melty is a word.

Other news: R. (14 months) started taking steps on her own the day before yesterday. It was great fun. We all laughed and played and she teetered around. Until she crashed and thumped her head. She was a little more cautious after that and wasn’t taking steps on her own at all yesterday. She’s also started doing something a little disturbing. You know when babies are going to cry and there’s a pause first and you know the longer the pause the louder the cry will be? Well, R. holds her breath like this until she passes out. She’s only out for a second or two – long enough to take a breath in – then she looks confused, like she’s forgotten why she’s so upset. Apparently this is completely normal, though somewhat disconcerting. It was downright frightening the first time it happened because she was in the bath. She had just figured out how to open the shampoo bottle and had closed it on her thumb. So, I see the deep breath in, go to un-pinch her thumb and she flops face-first into the water. I hauled out really quickly, thank goodness, I don’t know what would have happened if I’d been farther away.

Oh, ya, and it's my birthday today. So far, So good.

Making Broth - The Lazy Way

I keep seeing instructions for making stock by boiling huge post of bones on the stove for hours. Just to keep the record straight, there really is a better way to do this, folks. A lazier, easier way.

Get out your crockpot. Fill it with bones (eat the meat first.) and vegetable scraps (I have a special bag in the freezer to collect vegetable scraps for the next time I am making stock. If you don't have anything collected add at least add one carrot). Fill the rest with water and add a splash of vinegar. Put the lid on, turn it on to low and walk away for 12 hours or so. It really is that easy. After 12 hours strain the liquid out and discard everything else (it will be tasteless anyway). I like to store my broth in med sized zipper baggies in the freezer. Then I can pull one out whenever I decided I need it with no forethought or planning whatsoever. My kinda convenience...

One more thing - I like to put the bones and soggy vegetables into a big zipper bag (with tongs) before discarding because I don't like smelly garbage. It's to save the dogs' sanity, really.

I'm a little bit of a nut about my stock. Just to show how much of a geek I have become (thanking all the engineers I am blessed to work with) I took the ultimate step at thanksgiving and measured the longest turkey bone before going to the store to purchase a new crockpot. I wanted to make sure the bird bones would fit. Yes, I know. There's no going back now.

Now, you might wonder what to do with all this wonderful stock now that you've made it. My favourite use is to cook rice in it. Adds flavour and nutrients. It's also good in stews, soups and sauces. If you eat couscous or quinoa you can use that as the cooking liquid. Of course, there's always chicken noodle soup...

Mmmmmm.... Purple Potatoes!

I did not tweek any of these photos. I swear. Aren't these potatoes lovely??
They made me think of Disposable Aardvark's all purple lunch.


This is a Shepherd's pie with Turkey cut up on the bottom layer mixed with leftover gravy. Then there were leftover carrrots and frozen peas, topped off with mashed potatoes. I think it tastes even better with mashed sweet potatoes but others in my house find that just a little too wierd.
Here is a picture of the whole thing finished and in the oven. I actually ended up pulling it out of the oven soon after that as we were invited over to the inlaws for supper. One less meal to figure out this week.

Things to do with Leftover Turkey

In honor of the turkey I bought because it was on sale last week, and I couldn't resist:

supper:
turkey quesadillas
turkey tacos
indian butter turkey
fried rice
turkey casserole (peas and noodles)
shepherd's pie

lunch:
turkey salad (mayo, grapes)
turkey salad with pesto
turkey rice wraps or salad wraps
fried rice
Pasta Salad
turkey barley soup
turkey noodle soup (for sickos)

freezer:
turkey bits for baby
turkey bits for fried rice
turkey bits for turkey noodle soup


and, of course,
stock with the bones

On Food

I found a nice little summary pocket guide here on the foods that have the highest and lowest pesticide exposure. Did you know that (according to their website) you can cut your pesticide exposure by 90% if you avoid or buy organic the top 12 offenders?

Interestingly, I found that a couple of things I always buy organically are on the best list, so I am going to reconsider buying these organically (onions, avocado, broccoli). Of course, this only looks at how much pesticides the end product has, not how much is poured onto the plants and into the soil. Buying organic is almost always better but can be awfully expensive.

I'm also trying to figure out how to eat more local and fresh foods. The 100 mile diet where I live takes a lot of effort. Our growing season is so darn short that most of the year almost nothing is in season. I've realized that probably the best way to do this is preserve food from the summer to eat in the winter - isn't that what our prairie ancestors did? So, hopefully I can plan things next summer to put the best summer fruits and vegetables in the freezer and we can rely on stuff shipped from Peru a little less. Another idea I had was to grow food indoors. Our house is just too small right now and the light's not very good for indoor gardening... I'm trying to figure out if I can do this even on a small scale. Herb pots, anyone?

A Bento Post with Pictures!

Angie asked for bento pictures so here they are! We went out off-roading this weekend with the whole bunch of us so I made bentos for me and the girls.

contents:
mine: baked hashbrowns, diced turkey leftovers, boiled egg, broccoli slices, apple slices, boiled egg (from my friend's happy chickens, yum!), blue cheeze (just because) and mango jello with a strawberry in the middle. (there were lids on the blue cheeze and jello, I just took them off for the photos.)
DD1: (bottom): boiled egg, honey orange (these things are teeny tiny), cut up apple, hashbrowns, broccoli slices. We added a strawberry (from frozen, not pictured) after she asked for mango jello with no jello.
DD2: (top) hashbrowns, cubed broccoli, cubed apple, egg yolks. Later we added some cubed turkey because there was some left over after daddy made his sandwich. she is such a big protein eater, I'm not sure this lunch would have quite done it for her.


Cooling hashbrowns. Now I have leftovers for another meal. Cooling before packing is one of the bento rules - if you don't you get condensation all over the inside of your box and everything's soggy. Also, we dipped the apples in emergen-c so they wouldn't brown.

My lunch was packed in a 800ml lock and lock box which is too big for me. I am usually careful to pack less calorie dense things in this box because it's just huge. The kids' lunches were packed in 296ml boxes. They never eat it all, but I can't find smaller boxes (that I like) for them. I use this size box for my breakfasts at work and it is just perfect. (To figure out what size box you should be using go here. I am nursing and find a 700ml box to be just about right most of the time)

verdict: when it's really cold out cold food is cold. this would have been a good lunch in the summer. Auntie A's thermos of soup looked pretty good....

The mango jello was Divine.

You might just get Pizza Casserole

A new family favourite was born this week. Pizza Casserole. This one is so easy and adaptable, it'll have a place on everyone's weekly menu.

Bottom Layer: Noodles (cooked - I used small penne but was thinking small shells would be ideal) and Crushed Tomatoes. Spice as you would pizza sauce which for me means lots of Oregano. Use lots of spices or you won't taste them at all. I used Rice noodles which always end up a little mushy when baked, but it made it edible for me (yay wheat intolerance), so I didn't complain. Neither did anyone else. It couldn't have been too bad. Don't use too much noodle mixture (an inch in the bottom of your casserole dish at most). This dish is about the toppings, not the noodles. Think Pizza.

Layer #2: Half a bag of spinach. This layer has nothing to do with actual pizza but is a good way to add more greens to the meal. It bakes down into a paper-thin layer.

Layer #3: Toppings. I used a generous layer of Mexican spiced beef (ground beef and chilli powder and tomato sauce), and yellow and red peppers (frozen from the summer harvest...yum). Feel free to go wild. Feel free to go vegetarian or make your own favourite pizza. I'm trying to think of gourmet toppings to use next time.

Layer#4: Cheeze. Lots of stretchy mozzarella. What pizza would be complete without cheeze? OK, I know, I know, but we're not in Italy, are we? I also added bacon bits and cheddar on top to simulate one of our favourite pizzas.

Bake 1/2 hour (or until cheeze looks melty) in a casserole dish at 350.

I'm embarrassed at how easy this is. I ate it 4 times last week - 2 suppers and 2 lunches. And I wouldn't be surprised if it shows up again on next week's menu.

Bento lunches:

When you follow the rules sometimes that makes things easier.
I've been making bento lunches since returning to work in November. For the most part they have been a haphazard mix of whatever I could scrounge up in the fridge. All be it, a yummy hodgepodge, and they certainly filled the hole, but lacking an underlying organization.
Then I read Just Bento's post and decided to try the 1:1:2 guideline. 1 part carbs, 1 part protein and 2 parts veggies. That's 1/4 of the container carbs, 1/4 protein and half veggies or fruits. Roughly. (You notice I call it a guideline rather than a rule...I'm not so good with rules)
Well, how much simpler that makes my lunches. They're more elegant now, and quicker, too. Probably about the same yumminess as before, but there is a zen factor in getting in your groove.

Spelt Cookies

Here is a recipe for spelt cookies that I am dying to try. It's from my newest favourite blog of a mom-artist who just had a little baby girl. She's one of those people that I mentioned earlier whose life I want to be.

Why I wish I had a small(er) camera, and what I love about bento this week. Yes, they're related.

I want to post so many things with pictures but never seem to get to the computer at home anymore to download some. In fact, there's not a day that goes by that I don't wish I had my camera with me. Yesterday it was first to capture the crane rising into the fog with building half torn apart in the foreground. It was such a juxtaposition between magnificent rising into the clouds and broken down-ness that I was intrigued. Progress and destruction. Renewal and decomposition.
Then as we drove home and got to the top of the hill the sky lit up above the mountains in bright pink firey clouds and the town was completely engulfed in billowing white clouds. It was surreal. And we descended down into the clouds and my driving partner commented that now it was night, and I thought that no one down here knows the magic thing going on up above. And soon it became unbelievable even to us that there was anything other than what we were seeing down below.

But this post was supposed to be about bento. I was reading this article (I love the title: finding my balance) yesterday and thinking about the bento lunches I've been packing lately. They're rather a hodgepodge of whatever will fit into the spaces in the box. A yummy hodgepodge, I have to say, and I've been so happy with them, but today I created something that is simpler. My lunch is calming. And I wish I had a picture because describing it is pretty lame. I can't wait for lunchtime, and have been showing everyone at work my geeky bento creation.

Creating bento lunches has been an unexpected joy - I love making them. It satisfies my need for creativity. I hope it doesn't loose that appeal.

Ho Hum. I can't believe I've never posted about photography before. Or at least used the tag. If I had a teeny camera I could tuck it in my pocket and snap pictures at will. And download blog ones at work. But would I ever be happy with that?

Sauce Cups and G-F pasta- An Interesting day

I finally made it to the wholesale club store to find my sauce cups. I have become enamoured with bento boxes of late and am collecting the equipment and supplies to make them when I return to work (only 2 weeks left ; (
Much simpler than hunting around for cutesy Hello Kitty gear I perused the tupperwear aisle at my local grocery store using, and using these guidelines, picked out a couple of tupperwear boxes that fit my needs. For sauce and dip containers I bought some 1 oz take-out containersat the wholesale club. And voila! We're in business. Problem is the little containers come in packages of 250. For my needs, 25 would be plenty, so I'm wondering where I can unload a whole bunch of extra sauce containers. I mean share the love.

Also, have to rave about Chianti's restaurant. They have Gluten-free pasta and bread. I forgot what it is like to be able to order whatever you want off of the menu. I had the seafood special and it was spectacular.

ok, too tired to type anymore.....

Risotto!! Easy, Delicious and Good For You!

I have found the perfect risotto recipe!! Perfect in every way. Easy, Tasty (even hubby likes it, and he doesn't like either of the main ingredients in anything else.) and best of all it's super Healthy!!!

I'm not sure how much of a problem it is for copyrights to post a recipe here. I do recommend buying the whole book as there are tonnes of yummy healthy recipes in it. It's called
"The Ultimate Healthy Eating Plan
that still leaves room for chocolate"

by Liz Pearson and Marilyn Smith

(Liz Pearson's website is here. She has a new book out, Ultimate Foods For Ultimate Health, which appears to be the old book updated with new chapters added. I hope it still has this recipe.)

For those of you who haven't made traditional risotto from scratch, know that it's a labour intensive project. Yes, project. You have to stir and stir and stir for at least an hour. You get a book and a stool and sit at the stove and stir. It's made mostly of white rice which is nutritiously little better than Styrofoam. There's butter and heavy cream involved, which I'm not totally against, just not so good for the waistline - and I'm trying hard to get me one of those back. waistlines, I mean.

This new risotto recipe is nothing like it's predecessor.
Brown rice, Butternut squash. Simmer for an hour.
You don't even really need to stir it until the end when you add some high quality Parmesan. Brilliant! Absolutely Brilliant.

Egg Pizza!

post #101 is a recipe. This is my new favourite that I just invented last night.

Egg Pizza. For everyone who likes pizza but doesn't like crust.

I used a 10 inch cast iron pan and added a good dollop of butter in the bottom so it didn't stick. I used this pan so that I could saute some yellow peppers for toppings first and only have dirtied one pan. You could also use a quiche pan, and it would be prettier but make sure you do something so it doesn't all stick to the bottom.

6 eggs - mixed up. you don't have to beat them, or add anything else. Just put them in your pan and stick it in the oven. The egg should form a thin even layer on the bottom of the pan. This is your crust. Cook until the egg just sets (you're going to cook it some more later.). If you overcook it will be rubbery.

brush on tomato sauce
sprinkle oregano, italian spices and garlic powder.
add toppings (mine were sauteed leeks and yellow peppers)
add cheeze (I always use part-skim because it's less oily. Add Monteray Jack for extra flava.)
I added mushrooms on top. They make for a less mushy pizza that way.

Broil until cheeze is nice and brown. Serve to family and wait for the compliments to start coming in. This is serious pizza, baby, you'll all need forks for this one.

Even Mr.Picky Carboholic Husband liked this one. He sceptically took one piece to begin with and then went back for seconds. He knows to be suspicious of my cooking. 4 year old Darling Daughter ate quite a bit, too, probably thanks to all that cheeze.

Hummus

1 can chickpeas
1/2 lemon (juice)
2 TBSP olive oil (or more if you need it thinner)
2-6 TBSP ground sesame seeds or sunflower seeds (opt.)
2-5 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste

whir it all up in a food processor until smooth. Add more oil if it won't move. My mom adds chopped up kalamata olives for fun and it's yummy. Obviously this is a throw-it-together-till-it-tastes-good recipe with amounts varried as you like. You can also add roasted red pepper or roasted garlic for something different. Someone I know uses yogurt instead of the oil. I haven't tried that yet.

My 4 yr old loves it. I like it with cucumber slices.

mmmm mmmm mmmuffins...

Made another batch of yummy muffins last night. Banana with oatbran. I'm not very good at following directions. I used less sugar than called for, kefir instead of sour cream, spelt four instead of wheat, and oat bran. I'd post the recipe but they weren't quite perfect - not quite sweet enough, too oily, and a little heavy. I may have tried to make them too healthy. I tend to do that. Next time, less healthy, I promise. And I'll consider the chocolate chips suggestion.

Good enough for a picture, though. I do love my camera. Here's another one. We were playing with shadows. Does a picture of A's shadow on the internet count as a picture of her???

Poached Salmon

Here's the recipe for poached salmon that graced our table last night. I thought it was pretty good, but apparently you have to like salmon to really appreciate it.

1/2 onion, chopped small
1 clove garlic, mashed
Butter for sauteing

Saute garlic and onions in medium pot (choose one with a close-fitting lid)
add:

1/2 cup chicken broth

Bring to boil. Add 2 salmon steaks. Cover and simmer 10 minutes per inch of thickness of fish.

Remove fish and keep warm. Continue cooking to reduce sauce to 1/4 cup.
Whisk in

1 TBSP Butter (must be butter, no substituting)

serve!

I also added some fresh parsley and green onions to garnish, but I don't think it's necessary at all. The original recipe that was the inspiration for this had capers. I think the better your chicken stock, the better it will turn out. Someday I will post about chicken stock - it's so easy to make, and far better than store-bought.

I made this with roasted baby potatoes and tomato salad. yum yum.

I've been trying to figure out yummy ways to cook fish lately, because it is so good for you, but always gets left in the bottom of the fridge too long waiting for me to figure out what to do with it. This one's a keeper.

Bran Muffin Challenge!

This is the Great Bran Muffin Challenge!

I am looking for a bran muffin that my husband will like. Which means it can't contain anything too weird (that he would notice, anyway). And it has to have raisins. If it's just like Tim Horton's makes, that's what we're going for.

It also can't be too unhealthy. No white flour. Not a lot of oil. And no white sugar would be ideal. Not that he cares about that stuff, but I do.

This is my quest to be the perfect housewife. Fresh baking in the morning!
Maybe then I can get away with not cleaning the house!

So, please let me know if you have a good recipe. If you post it on your blog I'll just link to you, or I'll post it here if you don't. I'm equal opportunity.

Mmmmm.... Green Juice!

I've started making the most delectable green juice in the mornings. I hope this stuff still tastes good when I'm not pregnant, 'cause right now it's just what my body needs to start the day. It's light and not too sweet and not "green" tasting at all.
Here's the "recipe". Anyone who knows me knows I use the word recipe in the loosest way possible. I don't follow directions well. You don't need to with this one.

First of all, you will need a blender, and a fine mesh strainer is optional.
Start with a small amount of water in your blender. 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Fill the blender (loosely) with leafy greens - spinach, kale, swiss chard.
Process.
If it refuses to move stir it around and try again. if it still refuses to move add a little more water.
When it's all liquidy fill the blender again with even more greens (but NOT more water).
Process again.
Strain through a fine mesh strainer. This step is optional, but I like the texture better if it's strained.

While your green juice is straining put the rest of the ingredients in the blender. You can really add whatever you want, but here are 2 variations I like. The sky's the limit. I find the banana really helps the flavour.

option1:
1/2 banana
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 cup plain yogurt

option 2:
1/2 banana
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 cup plain yogurt

Add green juice and process.
Makes one huge serving that's enough to fill a pregnant lady for breakfast. That might be 2 servings for normals.

Like any smoothee you can add just about any fresh fruit, kefir instead of yogurt, hemp seeds, almond butter, or udo's oils.

This stuff has got to be good for you!! Lots of vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium, iron if you use spinach, not to mention enzymes and fiber.