Afterschool Conversation

Coming home from school in the car . . .

A: Mom, I like boys and girls.

C: You do, huh?

A: Yeah.

C: You're good at making friends with all kinds of people, aren't you.

A: Yeah. (Pause) I already have a boyfriend.

C: Oh, really?

A: Yeah.

C: Who is your boyfriend?

A: Carter. But Mom, don't tell him!

C: Okay, I won't tell him. What does that mean, that he's your boyfriend?

A: It means he's nice.

C: Yes, he is nice, isn't he.

A: But don't tell him he's my boyfriend, because he doesn't know.

C: Okay, I won't tell him, honey.

Best Lunch Ever

Okay, so maybe I was really hungry after cleaning the house and doing Tae-Bo, but this lunch blew my mind. It basically consisted of random items from the veggie drawer as well as some leftovers, and it was so incredibly delicious I had to post about it.

The key, roasting everything. I know, I know, everyone knows roasted veggies are so wonderfully sweet and delicious you can hardly believe they are the same items you eat steamed or cooked into soups. I eat and enjoy lots of vegetables, but often don't bother to roast them. I really don't know why. In about an hour I had an incredible lunch and enough veggies for several more meals. I was planning on making a stew but once I tasted the veg I just wanted to eat them straight. Threw in a little leftover brown rice and half a veggie sausage for some protein.The veg: half a red cabbage, half a container of grape tomotoes, one red pepper, and half a bag of baby carrots.The seasonings: cumin, salt, pepper, paprika, oregano, TJ's seafood grill and broil mix, and red pepper flakes.

I chopped everything up, tossed it in a big salad bowl with a couple of tablespoons (maybe only 1) of high quality olive oil, and stuck in on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes. Stirred a few times, and took them out when they looked a little brown and fairly soft.
Round two is delicata squash, onions, yams and sweet potatoes. Too full to eat any now, but will make a black bean dish with all the veg tonight or tomorrow and post some follow-up recipes if I can be patient enough to get out the camera before gobbling them down.Cheap, easy, healthy, and delicious.

Glory be to the Bean

I love coffee. Sometimes, lying in bed at night, I think about how morning will be soon, and I can have a cup. Many a pre-dawn morning I stumble out into the bright light (turned on by my morning-person child) and the only thing making it remotely possible are the beans waiting for me in the kitchen.

This morning, as I was making my second cup, I bumped the radio with the kettle, and a light came on. I had forgotten that the radio had a light, and I think it might have been broken, but this morning, like a little miracle, it shone.

I turned off the overhead light and turned to leave the room, but then I saw this:Everything in the room was dark, but the little miracle light cast a glow over the items needed to create coffee. It's pretty much the kind of lighting I would prefer in the dark morning, no harsh overheads, merely an inviting little halo reminding me that salvation is available in the kitchen.

Face Your Food

I don't write much about vegetarianism, except as it comes up in context (what I'm cooking, going to the farm, etc.). I'm not a vegan (though I don't eat a lot of dairy) or really even a vegetarian since I eat fish and seafood. I've just slowly worked my way here over the years -- first the red meat went (after I didn't eat it for a while and then had some prime rib which I felt pass under my ribs for 3 painful days, and that was that). In Wisconsin, I qualified as a vegetarian at that point. It's true, I can recall being at a barbeque in Wisconsin, eating some chicken, and being asked, "so, how long have you been a vegetarian?"

Then I stopped cooking meat at home. I just didn't like dealing with the raw meat. After a while, I stopped ordering it in restaurants. I still ate meat if I was served it at someone's house, but that didn't happen too often. So, at some point about 12 or 13 years ago, I realized I was basically not eating any meat except seafood, and I didn't miss it, so I would try intentionally not eating meat to see how that was. Turns out, it was pretty darn good.

I'm choosing to have my child eat the same as I do, for my convenience and for her health. I do think the right meat in small amounts can be part of a healthy diet, but I don't think it is required for proper nutrition as long as care is taken for a balance of protein sources. When she is older, my kid can make her own choices about what she eats, and she will no doubt go scarf some Big Macs and pepperoni pizzas. Lord knows I did. But I do talk to her about making careful choices about where your food comes from, and if the way it comes to you is something you can support with your beliefs and moral compass. If nothing else, I hope that message sticks. Her generation is going to bear the brunt of some of the choices of mine and my parents, and perhaps see the fall of the megafarms, mass production of monocultures and massive inputs to the soil. If she has a solid footing in local, organic, sustainable farming and how to create real food from things you get there and in your own yard, she will be equipped for what she may face.

Speaking of face, I started this post with a more light-hearted agenda, which was to say that there may be some irony in the fact that I frequently make Adelaide's food in the form of a smiley face. Today it was cereal for breakfast, and this for second breakfast:He looks a bit like the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz books. Lunch was face-free, but dinner tonight included some junk food (requested by A when shopping at Target, because she had seen kids eating them at school lunch):I won't bother to post more, but many a face-filled meal has graced her plate over the years.

Before, During and After

Okay, so I'll stop posting home improvement soon, I promise, because I know how dull it is and I don't want to scare away my 1.5 readers. But Alec suggested a before and after (I think he used the colorful descriptors "Superfund Site" and "MarthaCart Site" so this one's for him. I'm also posting a few "during" shots because the un-remodel included every cabinet and drawer. Yes, I am insane. But once you start, you find how dirty everything has become and how many take-out chopstick packs you were hoarding for god-knows-what reason.
The contents of two cupboards strewn about, the garbage and recycling overflowing and the sink full of soaking jars and bottles.
Iris eyeing the shelf-stable foods (and the camera catching only her eyes).









Two of the many cupboards which are no longer dirty, crammed full or disorganized. Ahhhhh.

And, finally, the shocking before and after that had everyone on the block desperate to re-do their kitchen via internet shopping, scrub brush and anti-viral wipes:

Some Assembly Required

Friday night's fun was the assembly of the new kitchen cart. Thank goodness I have years of Ikea furniture under my belt. At least these instructions had some written words, too, rather than simply the cryptic Swedish drawings. I consider it a success as there were no random parts left. Nothing more disconcerting than finishing up with a single screw or nut still in the package.


This afternoon's project: re-organize the kitchen to make use of the new space. I am considering a shelf or two above the cart since I think it could handle a little more storage space without feeling overcrowded.

Faux Meats Top Ten (or Five)

In searching for a reference to share with my mom regarding meat substitute products, I find the web to be lacking. Rather than spend much more time refining my search I decided to post my own favorites, since other people might be interested. As my mom knows, lots of yummy veggie meals don't require a meat substitute, since there are good ways to get protein from beans and legumes, enriched whole grains, and nuts. But sometimes you want to up the protein and flavor of a dish, and/or have the quick and easy convenience of a prepared protein source. So, here are my top five fakes, and how I typically use them. They are not in order of favorites, as they all serve a different purpose from one another.

1. Quorn naked cutlets. These basically can serve as a substitute for chicken breasts in just about anything. They are not a soy product (so a good alternative if you use a lot of other soy-based drinks and products) and they are frozen and therefore easy to have on hand. I like to steam/fry them to keep them moist -- a little olive or canola oil in the frying pan, brown both sides quickly, then turn down the heat and cover the pan to keep the moisture in and finish the cooking. They also can plunk right in a soup and are perfectly tasty without browning. I eat them on salad, in sandwiches, soups, stews, wraps, and "chicken" and dumplings. 1 cutlet has only 80 calories and 2.5 grams of fat, but 11 grams of protein.

2. Field roast. My favorites are the apple sage sausages, the smoked tomato deli slices, and the celebration roast. The sausages are incredibly flavorful and high in protein, but I tend to use a small amount because they are also high in fat and calories. But one sausage can be enough for a whole batch of soup or risotto because they are so rich and delicious. The deli slices are great for sandwiches or just a grab and go snack. I like the "roast" in sandwiches as well. My five year-old likes all of these items straight up as part of a meal or a snack, so it is a great way to make sure she's getting the protein she needs. Not sure on the others, but pretty sure that the sausages are 244 calories a pop, 10 or 12 grams of fat, and a big fat 19 grams of protein.

3. Yves Jumbo Veggie Dogs. I tried to like veggie dogs for a long time with no success. Every brand I tried was limper and more disgusting than the last, until, at long last, I discovered Yves Jumbo Veggie Dogs. To be honest, I don't like the other kind of Yves dogs, and I used to only like the hot and spicy version of the jumbos (no longer available here), but this one, great. Great as a dog in a bun, sandwich, or tortilla (think bagel dog only healthier). Great in midwestern comfort food hot dishes (with rice and cheese, baked beans, etc.). Surprisingly good as an added protein boost in the unexpected (cuban black beans, tomato soup, leftover thai food). These pack a wallop protein-wise but not with fat or calories. One dog: 110 calories, 3 g fat, 16 whopping grams of protein.

4. Gimme Lean: Kind of a sticky mess from the tube, but this stuff is very flexible as you shape it and cook it as you like. They also have a ground beef type product, which I seem to recall is good but I don't tend to think of ground beef when I am cooking so I don't tend to get it. Sausage, however, is great for breakfast, with stuffing, pasta, soups, pizza . . . well, you know, times when you would use sausage? I tend to fry this as it has no fat on its own and the consistency presents a challenge if you don't have at least a little bit of oil to help you out. I think you could probably bake it on a lightly oiled pan, and certainly microwaving or popping it in a soup works. 1 serving: 60 calories, 0 g fat and 7 grams of protein.

5. Soyrizo: This is a recent discovery for me, as I was not really a consumer of chorizo in my meat-eating days, and so was not looking for a replacement. I only use this one in chili and soup, because try as I might to follow the guidelines on the package, getting any sort of browning or shape to this sausage eludes me. I think you might be able to deep-fry it into submission, but it is already very heavy on the oil so I hate to think what that would do to the fat. Well, I stand corrected, as I look at it the fat content is only 4 grams per serving (88 calories, 9 grams of protein), so maybe you could fry it up without too much guilt. But I like the flavor and heat of this one, and it would be too hot without cutting it with a lot of beans, tomatoes and greens.

While all of these products could be linked to a meat product (e.g. Quorn as faux chicken, Gimme Lean as faux sausage), I find it much more helpful to look at them as their own entity. Never having been a huge fan of meats (with the exception of Kopp's burgers, really greasy pepperoni and Thanksgiving turkey), I am not really drawn to traditional meat-centric meals. But many of the items listed above are essential in adding protein, flavor, and convenience to the meals I cook. They are not meat and would probably not fool any meat-eater into thinking that is what they were eating, but the point is that the stand on their own as tasty in their own right. I still feel like the best vegetarian cooking relies on whole foods and good seasoning, but realistic cooking in a reasonable time frame and with the kind of variety we tend to want is very much enhanced by the inclusion of some "faux" meats. Bon appetit!

Storage Solutions

Just when you think you have found the perfect childcare/storage solution combo, they go and tell you not to put the lid on.

Doggie Daycare

While there was no live puppy for Christmas this year, there were several toys with the doggie theme, and a surge in interest in the pre-existing stuffed animal dogs. The latest trend, dogs stuffed into the small play tent (aka doggie carrier), Q-Tip "bones" for snacks, and an elaborate set-up for the two moms and their puppies.The other stuffed animals are on the go in their rolling cart, but here's a close-up of the dog bed with dog and puppy names.
The center is for snack, dog bones and either pickles or a play area, not quite sure.