Pancakes and Pizza

This could also be called "we made creepy looking food". :) But, we both had fun. Making faces on food is probably great for all kids. Angelo requested a face for the pancakes- George used blueberries, but we only had blackberries. We made gluten-free pancakes, which turned out to be more crepe-like (if crepes are heavier and thinner, I don't know.)

Zombie pancake.

Monster pancake (berry juice poured in randomly).

The only recipe here is for the pizza sauce- one can tomato paste, one can tomato sauce, Italian herbs, garlic powder, and mix it up. We have left over sauce for pizza bread later. The crust is Glutino (gluten-free, of course) frozen crust. This is not exactly made from scratch, but we did have our hands in it. :)

Mushrooms for facial features.

I love Angelo's Cyclopes! :)

Pre-Thanksgiving Day

These are pictures from our walk this morning. It's the second time we've all ventured out together. It isn't exactly a great work out for me and not much at all for Dana, but Angelo really gets some exercise! And we all get outside and get to walk next to the creek. Today, we even saw a flock of turkeys in the woods! Over the weekend, Dana and I were able to get out for a couple walks and covered twice the area in about half the time, so I got a good work out and Dana a decent one. I may need to get out the roller blades! She's a very fast doggie and is a great trainer! :) I've also done more yoga lately and even taught a private lesson last week. This weekend, I'll be going to the Jill Parker workshop and show in Pittsburgh!!!

I thought I'd share my Thanksgiving menu. It is set up to maximize efficiency since I'll be the only one cooking (I suggested to my husband that he shop today and I cook tomorrow while he plays with Angelo. Really didn't want to deal with those crowds since we have had so much on our mind and waited until today to finalize our plans.) Normally, I avoid the microwave and the last time I bought a frozen pie was last Thanksgiving. Not that I've ever made one from scratch or bought a fresh one either, but it's Thanksgiving. And, of course, it suits my gluten-free, non-goitrogenic vegetarian diet. I won't be eating the pumpkin pie, so I'm taking the easiest way out possible with the frozen version. So, here it is!

Thanksgiving menu:

1. Mashed Potatoes: http://www.mashed-potatoes-recipe.com/healthy-mashed-potatoes-recipe/

FOR THIS MASHED POTATOES RECIPE WE WILL NEED:

1 1/2 lbs potatoes (Yukon Gold are arguably the best potatoes for making mashed potatoes, Russtes are also good)
5 Tbsp milk
2 Tbsp butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
Salt and Pepper

So we can really call this recipe healthy, we kicked out the cream and replaced it with milk. Cream has more fat which is bad for you (if you eat to much of it of course). It is also nice to hold back on the salt if you want to avoid some of the problems that to much salt brings (like high blood pressure).

Let’s get started – peel the potatoes and cut them into big pieces. Big pieces absorb less water than small potato pieces. More water – watery potatoes with less taste. Cover them with cold water, add salt, and bring them to boil and then simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. How do you know potatoes are cooked? They must be soft if you sick a knife or a fork in the fattest potato in the pan.

Done? Now you need to drain the potatoes and then put them back on low heat. This will make all the water evaporate (be carefull not to burn them) and potatoes will taste better – less water – more taste. Heat the milk (don’t add cold milk) and add it together with butter. Also add some salt and pepper. Now all there is left is to use a wire masher and mash the potatoes and this healthy mashed potatoes recipe is finished.

2. Roasted vegetables:

4-5 medium carrots

1 acorn squash

1 butternut squash

1 sugar/pie pumpkin

olive oil

fresh parsley

Salt

Cut up all veggies and parsley, drizzle with olive oil and mix well. Put all on a baking sheet and sprinkle with salt.

Put in oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

3. Turkey substitute: follow directions on package.

4. Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free corn bread: follow directions on package.

5. Sage butter: http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/sage-butter

1 stick {1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh sage plus whole sage leaves for garnish if desired

In a bowl combine well the butter, the chopped sage, and salt and pepper to taste and chill the sage butter, covered, for at least 1 hour or overnight.

The sage butter may be made 4 days in advance and kept covered and chilled.

Garnish the sage butter with the sage leaves.

6. Frozen pumpkin pie: follow directions on package.

7. Baked sweet potatoes: poke holes with fork and microwave on high for about 5 minutes, covered. Let sit at least 1 minute.

I hope your Thanksgiving is full of comfort and family warmth!

Delish Pumpkin Soup

After going to the Farmer's Market on Monday and Rich's Farm today (to pick out pumpkins), I found myself with lots of fresh vegetables! Today, I thought I would make a big batch of soup and freeze the left-overs. After much debate, Angelo helped me to decide which soup to make by picking up a pumpkin at least 3 times and saying "Can we make pumpkin soup?" Well, pumpkin soup it was!

I adapted this recipe from Ultimate Vegetarian (Parragon Publishing 2003) (Here is a picture of what the book's soup looks like. Mine didn't photograph well ...):

I doubled the recipe. This fed two adults and a toddler tonight and looks like we have enough for two more dinners (for all of us) and a lunch (for one of us- maybe enough for Angelo and I to share).

About 6 lbs. of "pie pumpkin" (one medium small and one small)

4 small or 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

About 6 TBSP of butter (you could use olive oil)

1 1/2 medium Onions

About 3 cloves garlic

About 7 cups vegetable stock (or at least 4 cups veg stock plus the remaining amount in water)

1 tsp ground ginger

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/8 tsp orange zest (I used a tiny grater instead of a zester) (optional)

2 bay leaves

salt and pepper

1. peel, remove seeds and cut pumpkin into 1 in. cubes

2. melt butter in large, heavy-bottomed saucepan. add onion and garlic an fry over low heat until soft but not colored.

3. add pumpkin and carrots and toss with onion 2-3 min.

4. add stock and bring to boil over med. heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add ginger, lemon juice, orange zest, bay leaves and cover and simmer over low heat for about 20 min., until pumpkin is tender.

5. Calls for discarding orange zest, if using, but what I used was so small, I left it in. Discard bay leaves. Cool soup slightly then press through a strainer or process in a food processor until smooth. ... so they say. I used a potato smasher and just smashed in the pot until I got a consistency I liked and it was really easy and pretty fast. No transferring from pot to food processor and back again.

I served it over garlic rice (recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking):

2 cups long grain rice

6 cloves garlic, lightly mashed and peeled

5 TBS olive oil

1 tsp salt

wash rice in several changes of water. drain. soak rice in 6 cups water for 1/2 water. drain thoroughly.

heat oil in heavy 2 quart pot over med. flame. when hot, put in garlic. stir and fry until garlic turns med brown color. add rice and salt. stir and fry another minute. add 2 3/4 cups water and bring to a boil. cover tightly, turn heat to very, very low and cook gently for 25 minutes.

I also have a pot of vegetable stock cooling on the stove, using the peels, ends and greens from this soup. It is so easy to make! Try it and you'll never buy pre-made veggie stock again!

Veggie Recipes

A few people have asked for some suggestions for recipes, so here are a few things we do around here. They also fulfill gluten-free and anti-inflammatory requirements. We eat organic and all natural most of the time. Tastes better and you feel better. It's more money, but so is poor function/poor health. I'd rather feel good. :)

Breakfast- usually either eggs and fruit or yogurt and fruit (blueberries in yogurt is yummy and easy. no cutting involved.) Sometimes, we'll have gluten free rice cereal, but usually only if we're in a rush.

Lunch- We usually have some combination of the following:
1. leafy green salad with a variety of vegetables, sometimes shredded cheese, chick peas/garbanzo beans or walnuts. Angelo likes a lot of raw veggies, so I'll set them on a plate for him to munch on. He'll even eat the lettuce sometimes. Annie's Naturals makes really yummy dressings. They make a delicious Sesame and shitaki dressing that even converted my salad-fearing husband into a salad eater. They also have a yummy low-fat Ginger vinaigrette and my current favorite is the Goddess dressing (has tahini in it! mmmm... )
2. Hummas (Giant Eagle makes an all natural selection in their deli) and brown rice chips/crackers (can't think of the brand, but Kroger sells the chips and they and Giant Eagle both sell brown rice crackers. the crackers come in plain, chedder and vegetable.) We also like baby carrots, cucumbers, raw bell peppers and celary with hummas.
3. Peanut butter and celery. this one's just for me. haven't given Angelo any peanuts yet.
4. cheese and brown rice crackers or sometimes we eat "Gluteno" crackers, but not too often since the potato starch is inflammatory. But it's such a small amount, I don't worry too much.
5. Today I mixed some almond butter with a little raw honey. Delicious! Just ate it out of a bowl like dessert.
6. Quorn makes some breaded Chicken substitute nuggets (meat and soy free) that are yummy and we used to have more often (though still in moderation). But, now that I'm cutting out more and more gluten, I've not had them in a while.

Dinner is more involved since there's another person here to either cook it or watch Angelo while I cook. Keep in mind that I'm still searching for variety since we are limited by what I can eat, my husband can or will eat and what we can easily serve or modify for a toddler. You may not have all these limitations. I don't follow any written recipes, but have usually gotten my original inspiration from one. Here are some of the things we eat for dinner (amounts are for two adults and a toddler plus sometimes a little left for next day's lunch) (you can add a salad to any of these):

1. Red beans and rice-
1 can red beans, undrained (you can also substitute black beans)
rice (4-6 servings)
1/2 small - medium onion
1/2 each red and green pepper, sometimes orange too
1/2 small spoonful of minced garlic
*dried
*oregano (about 4-5 shakes)
*thymes (about 3 shakes)
*rubbed sage (2-3 shakes)
*1 bay leaf
*cayanne/red pepper (1 1/2 shakes)
*white pepper (dash)
*black pepper
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
optional- Quorn ground meat substitue
(we like spicy/well seasoned food; if you don't or can't eat it, try this with oregano, thyme and sage only.)

pour olive oil into wok or large pan, set heat to medium
after a minute or so, add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds
add chopped onions and saute until clear or nearly so
add chopped bell peppers and saute until almost tender
add meat substitute if you're going to
add beans and seasonings, stir often until meat substitute and beans are heated through

Chick Peas and Quinoa (or could sub brown rice) stir fry
1 can chick peas/garbanzo beans, undrained
1/2 small to medium onion
1 medium tomato
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium zucchini
1/2 small spoonful of minced garlic
*few shakes each of oregano, thyme and black pepper
4 servings of rice/Quinoa

If using Quinoa and it isn't pre-washed, "wash" it. I put it in a bowl, pour enough water to cover plus a little more and then swish around. Hold your hand at the edge of the bowl and gently pour water out through fingers, which catch most of the Quinoa. I don't know if this is how you're "supposed" to do this, but it's what I do and seems to work. If you don't wash it (or get the pre-washed kind) the Quinoa will be overly crunchy. yuck.

pour olive oil into wok or large pan, set heat to medium
after a minute or so, add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds
add chopped onions and saute until clear or nearly so
add sliced squash and zucchini and saute until almost tender
add chopped tomato and stir about 1 minute
add garbanzo beans/chick peas
add seasonings and stir often until all is heated through
serve over Quinoa or rice

Pasta with sauce
Use brown rice pasta (penne gets less mushy) or Ancient Harvest's Quinoa and Corn blend pasta
Choose your favorite pasta sauce (we like Natural Choice, Muier Glens, and Annie's naturals. I have lofty ideas of some day making my own sauce. Until then... )
add garlic, onions, bell peppers, oregano, thyme, rosemary as mentioned above. You can also add Quorn brand ground meat substitute (if you are a family of meat eaters, try this and see if they notice. I'm betting they won't, but I haven't had meat in a really long time.)

or, you can add onion, garlic, spinach (frozen works great and is probably fresher than what you buy in the store) oregano, thyme, rosemary and Quorn brand chick'n (chicken substitute) tenders.

Chinese stir fry
rice
Canola oil
veggies of choice - shredded carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, etc.
onions and garlic as mentioned above
*ginger
Quorn brand chick'n (chicken substitute) tenders.

Saute garlic and veggies as mentioned above, add Quorn chk'n tenders and cook for a while. add plenty of ginger (it is anti-inflammitory!) and a little extra oil if it is dry.

Hummas with pasta
use pasta suggestions above
Pre-made hummas- original or roasted garlic (large tub or two regular tubs)
saute garlic, onions, various veggies (squash, zucchini, bell peppers, shredded carrots all work well)
add cumin, corriander, black pepper, a dash of red pepper, a little salt
add a little water to thin out the hummas sauce

We also occasionally use the Garden of Eatin' taco kits and use the Quorn brand ground meat substitute, chopped tomatoes, guacamole, lettuce

A Taste of India makes some yummy all natural pre-made dinners. Just make rice and pour over the heated sauce and veggies for those lazy nights.

I'm sure there's more, but I gotta run. going to a movie tonight!!!

drink ginger tea

Lazy After Class Dinner

It's been such a long day. Up early since Angelo had his usual "flop fest" and we had to get up early for Kindermusik. (We co-sleep and since I had to get up and ready early, I snuck out of bed to shower and dress.) He was up about 9:00 am, which is about an hour and a half early for him. He was in a pretty good mood, but wanted to be held, so I finished the morning routine with him on my hip; not so unusual. He threw a few fits before we got there and I wasn't sure we were actually going to join the class. We eventually made it in and with a few hiccups, he warmed up and mellowed out. It all ended well. Joanna invited us to come over and play and Angelo and Bella had a _great_ play-date. We played outside and inside, ate Annie's mac n' cheese, enjoyed Tramp's lovely doggie company and left so worn out that he fell asleep within 5 minutes of leaving their house. He slept about an hour total in the car. Then Daddy (whose office is right beside the garage) brought him up. He nursed and cuddled for about a half an hour and then played adorably until Daddy was done with work and could play with him while Mommy got ready for work. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and got changed to teach. 

Seemed like there were very few people on campus, comparatively. found a good parking space and got to class in plenty of time. Had a great last class in the series. This has been such a great class!! It's a beautiful studio, there was a large enrollment and the energy has been up every week.  I wish we had a few more weeks in this cycle, especially since I don't have anything set up for the next class.  I've been working on it, but nothing has gelled up; it has been difficult setting up classes in Morgantown in general since I moved back. But, I am sure something will work out soon. In the mean time, it would be a good time for people to set up private lessons and use the instructional DVD. (www.TribalBellyDance.net/classes and TribalBellyDance.net/market)

Eventually, I got home about 9ish and find that Angelo is asleep on Daddy's chest; not suprising given that a "good nap" is 3 to 3 1/2 hours and he'd only slept one. Since I just want to sit and relax, I pull out an Amy's all natural frozen spinach pizza. Then I see that it has feta on it. Great for me and Angelo, bad for Eric, who hates feta. So, I search for other easy, quick options. First I put a box of Quorn Southwest "chick'n" nuggets (only available at Giant Eagle in Morgantown), then I start a box of Near East all natural garlic and olive oil cous cous. I pull out a bag of organic  frozen spinach and throw it in the wok with a little organic olive oil. When it's almost done, I throw in a couple fork-fulls of minced garlic. It is all done about the same time. Layer cous cous and spinach, arrange SW "chick'n" and serve. Yum! Could've used a little bit of salt, but considering how much energy I'd already expended, it was pretty darn good. As of now (10:37), Angelo is still not awake to experience this "masterpiece". 

I'm a member of the Tribe.net tribe "healthy food for lazy people", but don't actually follow it. :) Ha Ha!