Eating
We love fresh fruit & oats around here. So SuperBoy’s breakfast is fairly simple. After a long stint with Super Baby Food, how can I give up the wonderful properties of grains multiple times a day? So we start the day with oatmeal, yogurt, and fresh fruit. Nina’s Coffee Cafe in Saint Paul has a similarly delicious oatmeal that’s such a sweet way to start your day. He loves theirs lots, as they also have cranberries or raisins to boot! (Another great reason for Nina’s with a small child: the buses run on Selby frequently and can be viewed out their huge windows.) The other day we shared a smoothie as well. LouLou Ingredient’s Blueberry Smoothie. So delicious for mama & tot! Love her recipes. If you’re not a subscriber, you are missing out.
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Gardening is one of those wonderful family activities we love to do. It teaches J about stewardship, caring for the food we eat, having fun in the dirt, and doing something productive and delightful with us. Talk about nourishing the whole person of the child! I remember when he was still an infant and in the sling and I was out weeding two summers ago. It was heavenly. And then last summer he would wobble around in the tomato patch and try to put things into his mouth that didn’t belong there (i.e., sticks, compost, etc). Even if you don’t have a backyard, you can still do a considerable amount of gardening if you have a windowsill or even little terrace. Fresh herbs? Yes, please, thank you! And compost? The best thing to do with your kitchen scraps: grow fertilizer & reduce your garbage can waste. 1) Last year’s garden. We had a massive garden last year. See post here. We also got really into composting. See post here. Now that it’s March (though there is lots of snow on the ground still around here in the Metro area), I’m contemplating our garden for this spring and what will be in it. J has a little book on gardening that he likes to paw through and point & name his favorite garden items. You guessed them: blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries. Luckily we have all those in the ground already from last year. We also planted two apple trees for…
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Chop, Boil, Puree. That’s it. 1) Chop. My dad worked in a slaughter house for years to put himself through school. He still likes to answer his phone with phrases like “City Morgue. You stab ’em, we slab ’em.” Or, “You slice ’em, we dice ’em.” I don’t know that there’s a correlation between the former employment and the City Morgue (animals v. humans, not such a big stretch), but I always think of those phrases when I’m chopping a bunch of anything. As an aside, my dad will eat any meat product, despite the fact that he knows what nasty stuff goes into those no-brand hot dogs. Sigh. I worked with a bag of organic apples from the Coop, and just washed, sliced, and chopped them. You don’t have to go too small, but the smaller it is, the smaller the peels will be. I don’t peel the apples at this stage for J as he doesn’t seem to choke on the occasional peel piece. Younger kiddos, definitely peel them because no amount of blending or even ricing can completely get rid of the peel. 2) Boiling water. You can add the apples before or after the water boils. Whichever you prefer. Just go until the apples are soft. 3) Puree! I added a little bit of water from the stockpot to ease the softening. Usually I use a food mill (which produces better applesauce, in my opinion), but today was a Vitamix day. (I.e., easier.) 4) Serve! and…
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My aunt’s recipe: 1) 1/2 cup unbleached white flour + 2) 1 cup milk + 3) 3 eggs + 4) 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg = batter. Split into 3 equal parts for 3 pancakes! Then preheat oven to 425, have three glass 9 inch pie dishes ready with a generous tablespoon of butter in each. Slip them in at the last few minutes of the preheating to melt the butter. Yank them out, add the equally separated batter. Watch them. In our oven it takes about 8 minutes. It could take up to 11. It should be bubbly and nicely light brown in parts, and still yellow in the middle. Add syrup, freshly whipped cream, berries, powdered sugar, or just eat plain! Delish.
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This was our quick go-to vegetarian dish over the weekend. We try to abstain from meat at least twice a week, mostly for health reasons but also as a little reminder that just because you have access to all the food in the world, others do not. Almost like a suffering in solidarity sort of spiritual thing. The Coop had a handy-dandy bag of root veggies I had grabbed the other week, and we had black beans & tomatoes & rice in the pantry. Add garlic, onions, chicken stock, and some seasoning, and you’ve got a little feast. I think I diced up about 5 big cloves of garlic, two small onions, and added 2 bay leaves, basil & oregano. You know the drill: saute the onions in olive oil, add the garlic, seasoning, and chopped-into-1-inch-pieces veggies. Let it all season & soften for about 10 mins gently stirring it around. Then add the 6 or so cups of chicken stock (or veggie stock) and bring it to boil, then down to a simmer until the veggies are soft all the way through. Then put into Vitamix, and voila! Pepper, salt, and you’re all set. The parsnips make it so sweet and delicious! 1) Winter vegetable soup. 2) Beans with rice & tomatoes. How can you go wrong here? Just season the heck out of your garlic & onions & olive oil, add beans & diced tomatoes, then pour over rice! I…
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We ate so well this weekend! It started with inspiration from Frugal Granola‘s menu plan: Carrot Cake Waffles from Willow Bird Baking and ended with Farmgirl Fare‘s delicious pizza. I hate to say I didn’t take a single photo. Not one. And we had fresh whipping cream that my sister whipped up for the top of the waffles, and pure maple syrup, and fresh fruit! The pizza ended up being a few cheese, a few andouille sausage, and a few veggie medley (artichoke hearts, yellow bell peppers, carmelized onions). I tripled her dough recipe to feed 10 hungry adults and one starving toddler. Yes, little J loves loves loves homemade pizza. My family did most of the cooking and I got to bask in the glow of happy feasting! Great food, good family time, and happy tummies. I hope you ate well this weekend!
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