Daybook

Daybook for Today, February 27, 2010 

 

A Picture Thought to Share . . . One of my very favorite photos of my Grandma Ruth.  Taken this past summer holding Luke.  She just looks so regal.  Grandma passed away on the 13th. She lived a full life full of love.  She will be missed.

Outside my Window... It is sunny!!!  Finally!  This long dark winter thing has gotten old.

I am thinking... and excited to announce that we signed on a house!!!  We found a one-of-a-kind house and property and jumped on it.  I didn't think we'd be making a decision so quickly but, like I said, it is truly one-of-a-kind.  I'll share details once the inspection is over (on Monday) and I can breathe easier.  I feel like I still can't quite believe it's mine just yet.

I am wearing . . . Jeans, charcoal grey three quarter length sleeve sweater, red rose earrings. 
 
From the school room... let's not talk about "the school room."  It's been a bit quiet lately.  We have been watching some Baby Signing Time with Luke however and he seems to really enjoy it. 

I am thankful...for answered prayers! 

From the kitchen... Date night tonight!  Thinking we're going to go to sushi.  Very excited!

I am creating... idea folders for decorating, paint colors and gardening ideas in our new house; we'll have a garden and room for lots of flowers!  Gardening lists are being organized based upon vegetable garden, fruit and nut trees and grape and berry varietals, herbs and medicinal (thinking elderberry, echinacea, chamomile and mints, etc.)  Trying to think about what we can do this summer and what we'll plan on in the next few years.  Also researching and thinking about growing some rambling roses, peonies and hydrangeas too . . . I'm a big fan of big, showy flowers.

I am reading.... as nerdy as this sounds, I'm hoping that on our date night tonight we can schedule in a leisurely visit to the local bookstore.  I need some new inspiration.

I am hearing. . . Quiet.  Both boys are napping (shockingly!  At the same time!!) and T. and I are taking it easy.

Around the house... My husband vacuumed today while I was away at a momaha.com team meeting!  Praise the Lord!  I hate vacuuming.  Thank you, honey!

One of my favorite things... is scented candles.  They just make the house smell like a home.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

• Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.  Please pray for us!
• Home Inspection on Monday!  

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here

Feeding the Whole Family - a cookbook review

When you're out grocery shopping and choosing the food your family eats, Cynthia Lair, author of

"Feeding the Whole Family: Recipes for Babies, Young Children and their Parents" 

asks you to consider the following:

• Can I imagine it growing? 
• How many ingredients does it have?
• What's been done to the food since it was harvested?
• Is this product “part” of a food or the “whole” entity?
• How long has this food been known to nourish human beings?

On it's third edition, Lair's cookbook for feeding the whole family is chock full of great information and inspiring recipes. Spanning the globe with influences from French, Greek, Thai and the American Northwest cuisines, Lair's recipes are varied and easy and incorporate real, whole foods.

The first 55 pages are introductory, and truly, a joy to read. I found myself underlining points throughout and even learned a few tips and tricks! She quickly and efficiently explained the importance of certain cooking techniques, including soaking grains and legumes to increase their digestibility, while on the next page discuses the importance of sitting down for family meals. Her discussion on foods to eat when pregnant and breastfeeding, and how to later incorporate baby's meals with what the family is eating was very helpful.

Most of the recipes include options for feeding babies and toddlers from the same familial pot, sometimes by removing certain ingredients mid-cooking to mash and serve separately before other spices are added, others by creating a “buffet” of sorts to make individualized plates once dinner is served with parents having the opportunity for more and spicier palates while younger children can still have a varied plate. She provides several tips for working with picky eaters (children and adults alike!) and offers great encouragement for raising healthy eaters.

To read the rest of the review, please click here . . . 

Two Thai Soups

Lent starts this week and we are on the lookout for great vegetarian meals to round out our Friday meals.  I've been on a bit of a Thai kick lately and recently made this pumpkin and coconut soup (pictured to the left - picture is from the cookbook as it is much prettier than my picture was!) to GREAT reviews and I look forward to making the omelette soup, below, from the same cookbook in the weeks to come.  Thai is such a nice, refreshing way to eat meat-less that you don't feel like you're missing out too much, plus both soups are quick and easy to make with little preparation (other than shopping for the ingredients!)  Enjoy!

Pumpkin and Coconut Soup

from Thai: The Essence of Asian Cooking

serves four to six

1 lb pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks

2 garlic cloves, crushed

4 shallots, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste (if you can't find this, substitute anchovy paste)

1 lemon grass stalk, chopped

2 fresh green chilies, seeded

1 Tablespoon dried shrimp, soaked for 10 minutes in warm water to cover (find these at an Asian market)

1 pint chicken or vegetable stock

1 pint (2-1/2 cups) coconut cream

2 Tablespoons Thai fish sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 lb cooked shelled shrimp

salt and ground black pepper

To garnish - 2 fresh red chilies, seeded and thinly sliced and 10-12 fresh basil leaves

Put the garlic, shallots, shrimp paste, lemon grass, green chilies and salt to taste in a mortar or food processor.  Drain the dried shrimp, discarding the soaking liquid and add them.  Use a pestle or process to grind the mixture into a paste.

Bring the stock to the boil in a large pan.  Add the ground paste and stir well to dissolve.  Add the pumpkin chunks and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the pumpkin is tender.

Stir in the coconut cream (the thick cream on top of the can of a coconut milk.  You might need two cans to make up the total amount of cream that you need.  Make sure NOT to shake the can before opening it to make sure that the cream stays seperated.)  then bring the soup back to simmering point.  Do not let it boil.  Add the fish sauce, sugar and ground black pepper to taste.

Add the prawns and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until they are heated through.  Serve in warm soup bowls, garnished with chilies and basil leaves.

Enjoy!

Thai Omelette Soup

from Thai: The Essence of Asian Cooking

serves four

1 egg
1 Tbsp peanut or coconut oil
1.5 pints or 3-3/4 cups vegetable stock
2 large carrots, finely diced
4 outer leaves Savoy cabbage or bok choy, shredded
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish

Put the egg in a bowl and beat lightly with a fork.  Heat the oil in a small frying until it is hot, but not smoking.  Pour in the egg and swirl the pan so that it coats the base evenly.  Cook over a medium heat until the omelette has set and the underside is golden.  Slide it out of the pan and roll it up like a pancake.  Slice into 1/4-inch rounds and set aside for the garnish.

In a large pot, heat the stock with carrots and cabbage and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, then add the soy sauce, sugar and pepper.

Stir well, then pour into armed bowls.  Lay a few omelette rounds on the surface of each portion and complete the garnish with the cilantro leaves.


This post is written in conjunction with the Carnival of Meatless meals at Mama Says, Real Food Wednesday and Foodie Friday.

10 ideas to Journey toward Easter as a Family

This week begins the season of Lent in the Christian church.

I didn't grow up in a family that celebrated Lent; I've only been celebrating it for a few years, so it's still new to me. But now that my oldest is almost 3, I've been thinking of ways to more fully encompass our faith as a family during this season.

Though Orthodox Christians began Lent on Monday, many Protestant denominations and Catholics begin Lent tomorrow, on Ash Wednesday. The three pillars of Lent (I like to think of them as a three-legged stool; all three are essential to making the stool stable) are

prayer, fasting and almsgiving. 

The season of Lent is a time to focus on these spiritual practices and grow in one's faith.

Below are some ideas I've gathered -- some easy, some more difficult -- that you can use to begin your family's journey toward Easter.

1. Today, on Fat Tuesday, make pancakes for supper. Traditionally, Christians practiced extreme fasting during Lent, including abstaining from all animal products (including eggs, dairy and butter) and yeasted breads throughout the entirety of Lent. Fat Tuesday, the day before Lent begins, was traditionally the last day to clean out the cupboards so rich foods and items like donuts or pancakes were traditionally made to empty the cupboards before Ash Wednesday.

To see the other nine, click here for the whole article . . . 

Daybook

Daybook for Today, February 11, 2010

Outside my Window... It is just barely daybreak and the snow is almost glowing white.

I am thinking...and praying and hoping for a big prayer intention coming up.  We are in the process of trying to get approved for a First Time Home Buyers FHA loan and are looking at houses!!!  I am so excited.  We've been living in such expensive places the past several years and the past year had been so difficult that it seems like a dream that we're even able to do this right now. What an answered prayer.

So. Please excuse any lapse in blogging lately and in the next several weeks!  It seems like all of my online time these past few days has been taken up with real estate searches, finding a new favorite every day, than researching and thinking about how we could fix up a house and plan a garden, etc. so all of my time has been doing google searches for such random things like "black and white kitchen tile floors," or "climbing rose varieties" or "farmhouse porch design" or "refacing a brick fireplace," or "tips for buying an REO house."  My mind is swimming.  I know I have several comments and e-mails to get to, but you might have to wait a bit before I'm able to respond!  I read them all!  I really love them!  And I appreciate your patience!

I am wearing . . . Jeans, black three quarter length sleeve shirt and socks.  No makeup yet, no earrings.  Cup of coffee in hand.  
 
From the school room... Lloyd has been sick the past week or so.  What was a long-term sniffle has turned into croup which means lots of DVR-ed "Max and Ruby" and "Little Bear" while snuggling on the couch.  And lots of books and puzzles.  He's also been into play dough a lot lately and always wants to help me "make dough."  whenever I am making bread or muffins.  Which is probably happening again today.

I am thankful...for coffee.  With two sniffling little ones and staying up late talking and dreaming with T., and then my mind racing with ideas even when I lay my head on the pillow, coffee is a major  part of my morning routine.

From the kitchen... I haven't been very good at meal planning the last few weeks.  Either I make a huge batch of something and we eat on it for days (some of my Super Bowl chili is still in the fridge) or I've just been grabbing some frozen meat out of the freezer and throwing something together at the last minute.  I haven't been sleeping well and that affects my ability to do or think about anything, I think.  I do have two new recipes queued up to post in the next few days, if you follow me on Twitter you might have seen a clue or two, but I'm working on some new inspiration!

I re-read Nina Planck's Real Food for Mother and Baby this past week and was inspired anew in regards to feeding Luke.  I'm also loving Jamie Oliver's Jamie at Home: Cook your Way to the Good Life.

I am creating... lists and bookmarked ideas for a new house.  A "Priorities" list for when we look at houses (one of these priorities is, "room for a (future) piano," another is "fireplace"), a "remember to look for" list for when we look at houses (like, say, electrical outlets in the bathroom and kitchen, coat and linen closets, garbage disposals, etc.  Things we have lacked in previous homes we've lived in.) and a "Questions to ask" list depending on the property (we're looking at some rural-ish properties so this city girl needs to remember to ask about things like heating oil, wells and septic systems along with when was the furnace replaced, does it have central air and how old is the roof?)  Any suggestions to add to my lists? 

I am reading....A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (which I am LOVING.  I feel that we had similar backgrounds growing up and I find myself laughing out loud here and there.  The recipes are fantastic too.  Maybe we'll be making her ginger, banana and chocolate chip bread today.  We'll see.), The Backyard Homestead and the New Organic Grower by Eliot Coleman.  I'd like to say that I'm reading through Signs of Life by Scott Hahn, that I picked up this past weekend, but with this new "buying a home" thing, I've been inspired to re-read some favorites in the hopes of a garden this year!  My goal is to read Signs of Life over Lent.

Speaking of Lent, keep your eyes peeled for a few posts about this upcoming season in the next few weeks. . . several of us Catholic Mama bloggers are working on some good ones, so I'll be linking to others for inspiration too!

I am hearing. . . Max and Ruby.  Lloyd has woken up.  And I am trying to appease him while frantically finishing this post.

Around the house... Luke is getting into everything lately.  I think some well-placed baby gates are in order.

One of my favorite things... is spending time with my husband once the boys are asleep, talking and dreaming about our life.

A Few Plans and Prayer Intentions For The Rest Of The Week ...

• Pray for guidance, patience and grace as a mama of two. And for some conclusion and peace of heart and mind for some specific prayer intentions for our family.  Please pray for us!
• Hopefully visiting with a new friend over coffee within the next few days!
• We're going on a road trip this weekend - checking out the communities and houses that we're looking at in and around Omaha.  I'm actually really excited.  I love mini road-trips.
  

Thank you to Peggy for hosting! Please go visit other daybooks here

A Commercial Break

There is too much sex and violence on television.

There, I said it. I am upset with what I see on television and what my children have the opportunity to see. Parenthood has made me a prude.

I'm tired of turning on the evening news while making dinner and instead of seeing the weather being quickly assaulted with all that is wrong with the world. Violence to women, incest, children being arrested for violence in high school. All in the first five minutes, local news, from 5 p.m. to 5:05 p.m.

And then a commercial break comes on and up pops a movie preview for an R-rated movie that scares even me (I'm talking to you, “Legion”), followed by an ad for Viagra or other male enhancement drug.

According to a 2001 study by the American Psychological Society, by the time the average American child finishes sixth grade, he will have witnessed  

100,000 acts of televised violence including 8,000 depictions of murder.

Major studies have affirmed that the effects of all this violence include:

• Children becoming less sensitive to the pain and suffering of those around them.
• Children becoming more fearful of the world around them.
• Children being more likely to behave aggressively and gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems.

Is it that I never noticed all the violence and sexuality on TV and in commercials before I had children? Or is it becoming more prevalent?

To read the rest, click here . . . 

Fifty Dangerous Things (you should let your children do)

We have an antique wagon in our collection that my dad and his siblings played with when they were children. Crafted out of heavy duty steel, the wagon is unique with air-filled dualie wheels in the back and an interesting axel and hitch system.

I asked my dad about it one day and he mentioned that his younger brother had broken the axle once and had then welded a whole new bottom, drilled out and extended the axle, made it a dualie for better maneuverability and put a hitch on the back so he could not only pull another wagon behind the first, but pull both on his bike, which he had also outfitted with a hitch.

Age of completion? Eight years old.

When was the last time you let your eight year old weld? Let alone take apart and put back together a toy or object around the house? How often do we simply buy a new one of something without considering repairing it on our own?

With all of the play dates and organized sports, tutoring classes and homework, and driving back and forth from school to practice to home, most of today’s children don’t have much time to just sit and think and play. Nor are they encouraged to. Curiosity becomes dulled when the secret to a new video game is just a Google search away and who needs teamwork or the need to know your neighbors when you can communicate online in the privacy of one’s own home?

It’s a shame, really.

To read more of this book review, click here . . . 

The Well Dressed Salad

It's been a long, cold winter, and I'm ready for  some fresh, crisp spring vegetables.  We've been enjoying several salads and slaws with winter greens and vegetables recently, but wanted to organize and share some of my favorite salad dressing recipes before spring gardens burst forth. 


Though salad dressing is not the most exciting topic, good ones can be hard to find . . . and a good one really makes eating salads enjoyable!  I hope this inspires you to make your own and enjoy your garden's bounty!

Pesto Ranch
seen to the left

1 part mayonnaise
2 parts sour cream or yogurt
A good sized dollop of pesto
salt and pepper to taste

This is one of my favorite, easy recipes.  My son will eat veggies galore if he has the opportunity to dip it in pesto ranch.  Peas, carrots, cucumbers, salads, they're all up for consumption with a dab of this dressing on it.

It's very scientific.  I take a bowl, line up the ingredients and take out a large spoon.  First jar of mayonnaise, scoop out a spoonful and put it in the bowl.  Scoop out two spoonfuls of sour cream or yogurt.  Scoop out a half spoonful of pesto.  Throw in a pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir.  Taste and season to taste.    That's it. 

I developed this after making homemade ranch dressing using Pioneer Woman's recipe, below.  After a while it dawned on me that, rather than chopping up garlic and herbs and more each time I wanted to make ranch, I'd already done that when I made pesto every year for storage in the freezer so thought, why not just throw a spoonful of that in?  And it worked.  Voila!Pesto Ranch was born.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 part balsamic vinegar
3 parts olive oil
a dollop of dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

I normally make this dressing in one of two ways.  First, I make it for immediate use right in the bowl that I'll be serving salad.  I put the olive oil in first, then eyeball the vinegar, whisk in the remainder of the ingredients and let it sit in the bottom.  I then stack the vegetables on top, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. first to soak up the dressing, greens on top.  Then toss upon serving.

The second way I make this is for storage in the fridge or to send it with my husband for his lunch. I layer the ingredients in a jelly jar, screw on the lid and shake.  Since all of the ingredients are shelf stable, it will last in the fridge for weeks.  Make sure you allow it to warm up a bit before use as olive oil will solidify in the fridge.

Other favorites salad dressings we keep in rotation include:

Ina Garten's Caesar dressing - her use of mayonnaise rather than raw eggs is brilliant as it allows you to keep it in your fridge for up to two weeks!


Smitten Kitchen's Buttermilk Ranch dressing - I used it recently on her broccoli slaw and found a winner!  We love it.  The surprising use of apple cider vinegar makes it amazing.

Pioneer Woman's Ranch Dressing - simple, easy, tasty.  Tastes like ranch.  Period.

Any favorites that you recommend?  I frequently keep several vinegars and citrus on hand to make up unique dressings on the fly, but I'm always open to new ones!

This post is written in conjunction with Kitchen Stewardship's Salad Dressings Round Up, Real Food Wednesday, Fight Back Friday and Foodie Friday.

Lacto-Fermented Mayonnaise

Remember this post?  When I declared that I'd no longer be buying mayonnaise?  Ever again. 

Well, I haven't. 

And I've been delving into all manner of mayonnaise recipes online and in books, in search of the perfect one ever since.  I've resurrected curdled mayonnaise's more times than I'd like to admit (I've included my favorite remedy, below) and I've experimented with only egg yolks, egg yolks plus one egg, lemon juice vs. cider vinegar, by hand vs. blender vs. food processor vs. hand blender.  I studied Child, and Ruhlman.  And over the past few months I've really figured out the flavors and technique that I prefer.

And it surprised me.

And then I decided to make it lacto-fermented, so that it would last in the fridge for six to eight weeks, just like store bought mayonnaise (fresh mayonnaise that has not been lacto-fermented lasts about five days).  To make this mayonnaise, you will need a little bit of fresh whey, so check out this post first to learn how to make it.  And why are lacto-fermented foods beneficial?  They are not only probiotic (so you won't need to buy that specialty, expensive yogurt - just make a sandwich with this mayonnaise and you'll be set to go!) but they are more mineral and nutrient rich than other modern commercial varieties and lacto-fermentation was the traditional way to preserve foods before pasteurization and the Industrial Revolution.  Plus, it's easy and it will allow you to make nourishing condiments for your family, from home, that last weeks to months in the fridge, very inexpensively!  Read this post for more information about the benefits of lacto-fermentation.

Please note, this mayonnaise does not taste like Best Foods/Hellmans.  It tastes better.  Best Foods is made with canola and soybean oils which have little flavor on their own, aren't good for us, and just make a mild flavored spread that makes bread moister.   

This recipe, on the other hand, is made with spicy, rich olive oil, raw apple cider vinegar (or lemon juice, I go back and forth) and just bursts with flavor.  No longer is it just used to make a sandwich moist or to blandly bind ingredients together in a chicken salad, this mayonnaise is an ingredient on it's own, with full flavor.  It adds to the finished product rather than just being a medium towards something else.  Though it takes a little time to get used to and to wrap your head around the concept of a flavor-full mayonnaise, we won't be going back.

Lacto-Fermented Mayonnaise

adapted from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

makes about 2 cups of mayonnaise

1 egg and 2 egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 Tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar or fresh lemon juice
2 cups olive oil
1 Tablespoon whey

Fill the bowl of your food processor or blender jar* in hot water until the  bowl is warm.  Dry thoroughly.

In the warmed jar or bowl, process the egg and yolks for 1 minute.

With the machine running, add the mustard, sea salt and vinegar or lemon juice.

With the machine still running start adding the oil in a stream of droplets, continuing until you have used half the oil and the sauce is very thick.  Do not stop processing until sauce has thickened.  Thin out with lemon juice or vinegar, (add a little bit at a time, up to a tablespoon or more) add the whey in at this time, then continue on with the remainder of the oil.  Season carefully with more salt, pepper and lemon juice or vinegar.

Decant into your storage container (I use a wide-mouthed, pint size jar) and allow to sit on your counter for 6-8 hours to allow the whey to begin the process of lacto-fermentation.  Lid, and store in refrigerator.  Will last 8 weeks or more!

Remedy for Turned Mayonnaise

adapted for blender or food processor use from directions in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking

You will never have trouble with freshly made mayonnaise if you have beaten the egg and yolks thoroughly in a warmed bowl before adding the oil, if the oil has been added in droplets until the sauce has commenced to thicken and if you have not exceeded the maximum proportions of 3/4 cup of oil per egg yolk [though Michael Ruhlman has some interesting things to note about mayonnaise in his book Ratio: The Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking - he contends that it is a basis of the amount of liquid, i.e. lemon juice or vinegar, or even a bit of water, to egg yolks, not oil.  Very interesting!  Okay, back to Julia . . . ].  A mayonnaise has turned when it refuses to thicken or, in a finished mayonnaise, when the oil releases itself from suspension and the sauce curdles.  In either case, the remedy is simple.

Decant turned mayonnaise into a glass measuring cup with a spout that will allow it to be poured gently. Rewash your blender jar or processor bowl and blades in hot water so it will be warm and clean.  Dry thoroughly.  Add 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard and 1 Tablespoon of sauce and process until they cream and thicken together.  Add in the rest of the sauce one teaspoon at a time at first, making sure each addition has thickened the sauce before adding the next.  Add one teaspoonful at a time at first, then gradually by Tablespoonful until all the sauce has been combined.

I admit, about every third batch of mayonnaise I skip a step (like warming the bowl) thinking that I know what I'm doing, and then end up with turned mayonnaise and always have to fix it using these steps.  They always work.


*Note - Julia loved making her mayonnaise in the food processor and despised the blender because the blender makes it harder to decant the mayonnaise.  However, I have an enormous food processor (14 cup or something ridiculous - whatever the largest one that you can buy domestically is, that's the one I have) and because of it's large size, I can't blend those three little egg yolks and one egg white because the blades don't go quite down to the bottom, so I always make it in my blender.  I've tried making it with a hand blender, but it turned and I ended up having to dirty my blender anyway to fix it, so I've just made it in the blender ever since.  Since I only make it every six to eight weeks, it's not a big deal to wash the blender.

This post is written in conjunction with Foodie Friday and Fight Back Friday.