I'm finally starting to get some use out of that crock pot I picked up at a donation resale shop. At first, I had no idea how to make vegetarian meals in that thing. I remember using one only for pot roasts in the past. Well, those days are long gone for me, so I've been searching around for ways to use it more to my veggie liking. Honestly, this was one of the quickest meals I've ever made, and it lasted us for at least 2 dinners and 3 lunches.
Ingredients:
* 1 c. red lentils
* 4 c. water
* 1 veggie bouillon cube
* 1 small diced onion
* 2-3 cloves garlic
* 1 large diced carrot
* spices (unmeasured): cumin, cayenne pepper, sea salt, garam masala
I started with the lentils and water cooking for about 30 minutes to an hour. Then I simply, added the rest of the ingredients, and voila, a soup was formed. Throwing it in the blender at the end would probably make it even yummier, but I never quite got around to that!
Tip: We usually ate it with some diced up greens (kale, spinach, or collards) added in when reheating.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Sneaky Healthy Pizza
We devoured some delicious pizza tonight. It looked like pizza, it tasted like pizza, but it certainly wasn't a typical tomato and cheese pizza from the neighborhood shop. This pizza was loaded with some secret, (healthy) ingredients. When it's one of those "don't feel like cooking, don't feel like eating out" kind of nights, pizza it shall be. There were a few steps involved, but it felt more like assembling than cooking.
Here are some of my tricks for getting healthy ingredients into pizza:
*Mixing shredded carrot into the tomato sauce.
*Adding a layer of sauteed spinach and garlic, and roasted zucchini and onion.
*Using a whole wheat pizza crust.
*Topping with non-dairy cheese (Especially during cold and flu season research shows that it's important to avoid dairy products because they are mucus forming in the body.
The layering process:
1. Carrot-filled tomato sauce
2. Loads of spinach
3. Roasted zucchini and onion
4. Topped with Daiya (non-dairy, non-soy) cheese. This "cheese" is a treat for me when I'm craving pizza. It's a little pricey and of course, processed, but it melts really well and tastes delicious.
.JPG)
Here are some of my tricks for getting healthy ingredients into pizza:
*Mixing shredded carrot into the tomato sauce.
*Adding a layer of sauteed spinach and garlic, and roasted zucchini and onion.
*Using a whole wheat pizza crust.
*Topping with non-dairy cheese (Especially during cold and flu season research shows that it's important to avoid dairy products because they are mucus forming in the body.
The layering process:
1. Carrot-filled tomato sauce
2. Loads of spinach
3. Roasted zucchini and onion
4. Topped with Daiya (non-dairy, non-soy) cheese. This "cheese" is a treat for me when I'm craving pizza. It's a little pricey and of course, processed, but it melts really well and tastes delicious.
.JPG)
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Sweet Potato-Carrot-Lentil Soup
It's wintertime and that means soup! We have been loving this one. It's hearty, delicious, and easy to make.
Ingredients:
-diced carrots (I use either 1 large carrot or 2 medium sized ones)
-cubed sweet potatoes (about 2 or 3)
-1/2 c. - 3/4 c. dried red lentils
-1/2 onion, diced
-2 tbsp canola or sunflower oil
-spices: 1 tsp. tumeric, 1 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, sea salt
-vegetable broth (about 4 cups give or take)
Heat the oil in a large pot. Add onions and saute. Stir frequently until they soften. Add spices and continue stirring until it begins to brown slightly. Add sweet potato chunks and stir to coat in spices. Add broth, carrots, and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until lentils and potatoes are softened. Use a potato masher or fork to mash up the potatoes and lentils. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
-diced carrots (I use either 1 large carrot or 2 medium sized ones)
-cubed sweet potatoes (about 2 or 3)
-1/2 c. - 3/4 c. dried red lentils
-1/2 onion, diced
-2 tbsp canola or sunflower oil
-spices: 1 tsp. tumeric, 1 tsp. cumin, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper, sea salt
-vegetable broth (about 4 cups give or take)
Heat the oil in a large pot. Add onions and saute. Stir frequently until they soften. Add spices and continue stirring until it begins to brown slightly. Add sweet potato chunks and stir to coat in spices. Add broth, carrots, and lentils. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer until lentils and potatoes are softened. Use a potato masher or fork to mash up the potatoes and lentils. Enjoy!
Friday, December 2, 2011
Homemade "Ice cream"
Who knew making ice cream could be so easy? Well to be fair, it's more like water ice, but it certainly does the trick. It's the perfect indoor, kitchen activity to do with a toddler.
You will need a few simple ingredients, and 2 bags, preferable one bigger and one smaller.
*We used one biodegradable ziploc freezer bag (I can honestly say this came from the first package of ziploc bags I've bought in at least 2 years!) and one reused tortilla bag which also had zip and was slightly bigger.
*Milk. As much or as little as you'd like. I think we used about 1 and 1/2 cups. We first got our tutorial for this recipe from Kai's grandpa's friend. She used whole milk, but we chose to use almond milk in the chocolate variety! And I can fortunately say that almond milk works just as good as regular milk, and I imagine coconut milk would be even creamier. We'll be trying that next time.
*Sweetener if using plain milk. The chocolate almond milk was already sweetened (with evaporate cane juice aka sugar), so we dumped it in the bag as is. Nothing else needed! If you are sweetening, I would recommend agave syrup (which we used the first time) or maple syrup for the kiddos, but of course you could use regular sugar too.
*A drop or two of vanilla extract if using plain milk.
*A couple tablespoons of coarse salt. Be it sea salt, rock salt, kosher salt. Any and all!
*ICE!
Ok, so the fun goes something like this...
1. Pour milk in the small ziploc bag. (With yummy additives, if using... but not the salt!) Secure tightly.
2. Place bag inside bigger bag, and add ice and salt all around bigger bag. Secure tightly.
3. Wrap a kitchen towel around bag and get shaking! Shake, rub, shake, plop it up and down on counter top, shake some more. The shaking should only last for 5-10 minutes! And voila, you have ice cream!
*suggestions: The first time Kai made this, we also added chopped up strawberries as per his request, and strawberry ice cream he got. Go crazy, add whatever strikes your fancy!
You will need a few simple ingredients, and 2 bags, preferable one bigger and one smaller. *We used one biodegradable ziploc freezer bag (I can honestly say this came from the first package of ziploc bags I've bought in at least 2 years!) and one reused tortilla bag which also had zip and was slightly bigger.
*Milk. As much or as little as you'd like. I think we used about 1 and 1/2 cups. We first got our tutorial for this recipe from Kai's grandpa's friend. She used whole milk, but we chose to use almond milk in the chocolate variety! And I can fortunately say that almond milk works just as good as regular milk, and I imagine coconut milk would be even creamier. We'll be trying that next time.
*Sweetener if using plain milk. The chocolate almond milk was already sweetened (with evaporate cane juice aka sugar), so we dumped it in the bag as is. Nothing else needed! If you are sweetening, I would recommend agave syrup (which we used the first time) or maple syrup for the kiddos, but of course you could use regular sugar too.
*A drop or two of vanilla extract if using plain milk.
*A couple tablespoons of coarse salt. Be it sea salt, rock salt, kosher salt. Any and all!
*ICE!
Ok, so the fun goes something like this...
1. Pour milk in the small ziploc bag. (With yummy additives, if using... but not the salt!) Secure tightly.
 |
| The double bag system: outer bag filled with ice and salt. |
3. Wrap a kitchen towel around bag and get shaking! Shake, rub, shake, plop it up and down on counter top, shake some more. The shaking should only last for 5-10 minutes! And voila, you have ice cream!
 |
| The finished product! |
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Why I have loved co-sleeping with our child.
When I saw this article detailing an anti-co-sleeping campaign in Wisconsin my jaw dropped. Really?? Babies sleeping next to butcher knives?? This is the picture they are painting of a child sleeping in bed with the people that created him or her? Of course all families have different sleeping arrangements, what works for some may not work for others, but this attack on co-sleeping is just wrong, malicious, and deconstructive. In light of this recent campaign, I've decided to list a few of the numerous reason why sleeping with our child was the one of the best and most natural choices we've made as parents thus far.
1. We never had to buy a crib.
2. We never had to buy a port-a-crib. Traveling has always been a breeze; at a hotel, in a tent, visiting family; we all can curl up anywhere!
3. In the infancy months, Graham and I will both attest to the fact that we probably got MORE sleep than we ever had before!
4. Night time feedings were (and still are) easy and smooth. I, literally, just lift my shirt up and continue sleeping.
5. He transitioned into his own bed (a mattress on the floor, first in our room, then in his own) extremely easily. He loves his room. And when he wakes up in the middle of the night he easily finds his way into our room. (Definitely easier because of living in a small apartment.)
6. As an infant, we never had to "go get him" when he cried because he was always right there. Therefore, we rarely, if ever, had nighttime crying keeping us up.
7. We still have our "adult time" at night from the time he goes down (in his own bed) until we go to bed.
8. Makes going diaper free at night time all the more easy. If he wakes in the middle of the night, I just plop him on the potty which sits right next to the bed. During the day it stays in the bathroom.
1. We never had to buy a crib.
2. We never had to buy a port-a-crib. Traveling has always been a breeze; at a hotel, in a tent, visiting family; we all can curl up anywhere!
3. In the infancy months, Graham and I will both attest to the fact that we probably got MORE sleep than we ever had before!
4. Night time feedings were (and still are) easy and smooth. I, literally, just lift my shirt up and continue sleeping.
5. He transitioned into his own bed (a mattress on the floor, first in our room, then in his own) extremely easily. He loves his room. And when he wakes up in the middle of the night he easily finds his way into our room. (Definitely easier because of living in a small apartment.)
6. As an infant, we never had to "go get him" when he cried because he was always right there. Therefore, we rarely, if ever, had nighttime crying keeping us up.
7. We still have our "adult time" at night from the time he goes down (in his own bed) until we go to bed.
8. Makes going diaper free at night time all the more easy. If he wakes in the middle of the night, I just plop him on the potty which sits right next to the bed. During the day it stays in the bathroom.
9. We get to cuddle with this little person we created.
10. We get to wake up next to this amazing little person smiling, singing, talking, kissing. The mornings have always been our most precious time of day.
11. The feel of his little hands gently rubbing my arm, the sound of his breathing...or snoring when he's stuffy, his tossing and turning, his whimpers when he's having a nightmare, his sleep talking. I love it all, and it's all been priceless.
12. And.... it makes for some great photo ops.
Friday, October 28, 2011
A Healthy Dessert
A "chocolate" smoothie. It's delicious. It's creamy. It tastes like ice cream. It's HEALTHY! And, it's 100% approved by a little boy who became obsessed with ice cream over the summer. He even said, "Mommy, it tastes like ice cream!".
Here are the 4 simple ingredients:
1 Frozen banana (must be frozen to get the creamy affect!)
1 spoonful each of almond butter and peanut butter (or 2 spoonfuls of 1)
Enough milk of your choice to make it drinkable (I use almond milk)
1 spoonful of carob powder (like cocoa powder but naturally sweet, thus eliminating the need for added sugars!)
Blend and serve. YUM!
You could also sneak in more healthy stuff like some chopped spinach or avocado, but because Kai usually gets at least one "green" smoothie a day, too; for us, this one is purely dessert!
Here are the 4 simple ingredients:
1 Frozen banana (must be frozen to get the creamy affect!)
1 spoonful each of almond butter and peanut butter (or 2 spoonfuls of 1)
Enough milk of your choice to make it drinkable (I use almond milk)
1 spoonful of carob powder (like cocoa powder but naturally sweet, thus eliminating the need for added sugars!)
Blend and serve. YUM!
You could also sneak in more healthy stuff like some chopped spinach or avocado, but because Kai usually gets at least one "green" smoothie a day, too; for us, this one is purely dessert!
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Potty Break
Goodbye diapers! Hello... pants? That's right, pants. No cloth pull-ups, no disposable pull-ups, no undies! Yes, when the weather starts to get colder, I will put underwear on him to keep his little heiny nice and cozy, but up until now shedding all the extra layers was the secret ingredient. For the past month, Kai has been living his days diaper free, and for the past week, his nights, too! It wasn't all easy, but through trial and error we finally found success and it went something like this:
Step 1- In-home diaper free: In the house we went diaper/pants free. This made it easy for Kai to just plop down on the toilet when we asked him if he had to go, which we did, a lot! We started out using a reward system, offering him a little treat after a successful potty-go. This fizzled naturally only after about 3 days. He just completely stopped asking for a reward! There were times when he was hesitant about going (even though I knew he hadn't peed in a long time), so I would say something like, "Wouldn't it be nice to show Ernie (or any of his stuffed animals) how you can go potty like such a big boy?" This worked EVERY time!
Step 2- Wearing diapers out of house: At first we still put him in a diaper when we went out. We found he always still went in the diaper out of the house. But when we would come home and remove his diaper, he continued to use the potty. Having a diaper on must be a comforting feeling for them since they've been in one their "entire" lives.
Step 3- Pull-up: I purchased a cloth pull-up (blueberry brand, I think). Kai was excited about the idea of wearing, "big boy undies", as we called it, but in fact, they are just a stand-in diaper. When out of the house, he would still pee in the pull-up. I think I used it about 2 times before deciding to just shed it all!
Step 4- No More Diapers: I decided that I was just going to have to be ok with wet pants and "accidents" and stopped using the pull-up or diapers out of the house, too. Cold turkey. I simply brought an extra pair of pants anywhere and everywhere we went. For the first week or so of this, I definitely used them. Sometimes he would have a full on pee if he was intently distracted by something else, but more often he would have a little tinkle and than run and tell me, "Mommy, I'm going pee pee in my pants." Then we would go to the bathroom and he would finish there.
Step 5- Learning how to pull his own pants down: I think this was the crucial step for our successful potty-training. Kai likes to do things on his terms, so I think our incessant asking about whether or not he had to pee annoyed the bejesus out of him. He wanted to go when hewanted had to go. But in order to be able to run to the potty before it was too late, he had to be able to get his pants down by himself. So, we taught him. It was slightly challenging at first, but after a few tries he finally got it. First, pull your shirt up. Then, grab the sides and pull down. Then, reach around behind and pull down over your butt. Imagine having a pull-up on, too! What a lot of work that would be for the little guy! And, fortunately, pulling up is pretty easy. He always looks especially cute afterward, with the middle of the pants pulled over to one side and his shirt half tucked in to the top.
Step 6- Nighttime diaper-free: I honestly thought nighttime diapering was going to go on for a longgggg time before we even tried to cross that bridge. We did phase out nap-time diapering when he stopped wearing diapers at home, but nighttime, no way! It's such a long chunk of time... and he spends a LoT of it in our bed! We, honestly, did not have any intentions of allowing this to happen. But Kai, and his persistent ways, decided he was simply not going to wear diapers anymore, not even at night. He promised us that when he woke up in the middle of the night he would go potty without fussing. We assumed this would be a challenge because, to put it mildly, Kai is a bit of a "pouty face" when he wakes up... especially in the night. But so far, he's lived up to his word, and we keep the potty right next to the bed so it's a pretty easy transition for him, even when he's half asleep. And, I know I shouldn't be saying this, but knock-on-wood, we've had dry pjs and beds up till now.
So there you have it, the Rachel/Graham/Kai potty training extravaganza! I should also add that all of this was done in a pretty relaxed and calm atmosphere. There was no pressure, no anger, no irritation. If it happened it happened, if it didn't it didn't. And well, what do you know, but it's seemed to have worked. And maybe, just maybe, some part of this will help you, too. Happy pottying!
Step 1- In-home diaper free: In the house we went diaper/pants free. This made it easy for Kai to just plop down on the toilet when we asked him if he had to go, which we did, a lot! We started out using a reward system, offering him a little treat after a successful potty-go. This fizzled naturally only after about 3 days. He just completely stopped asking for a reward! There were times when he was hesitant about going (even though I knew he hadn't peed in a long time), so I would say something like, "Wouldn't it be nice to show Ernie (or any of his stuffed animals) how you can go potty like such a big boy?" This worked EVERY time!
Step 2- Wearing diapers out of house: At first we still put him in a diaper when we went out. We found he always still went in the diaper out of the house. But when we would come home and remove his diaper, he continued to use the potty. Having a diaper on must be a comforting feeling for them since they've been in one their "entire" lives.
Step 3- Pull-up: I purchased a cloth pull-up (blueberry brand, I think). Kai was excited about the idea of wearing, "big boy undies", as we called it, but in fact, they are just a stand-in diaper. When out of the house, he would still pee in the pull-up. I think I used it about 2 times before deciding to just shed it all!
Step 4- No More Diapers: I decided that I was just going to have to be ok with wet pants and "accidents" and stopped using the pull-up or diapers out of the house, too. Cold turkey. I simply brought an extra pair of pants anywhere and everywhere we went. For the first week or so of this, I definitely used them. Sometimes he would have a full on pee if he was intently distracted by something else, but more often he would have a little tinkle and than run and tell me, "Mommy, I'm going pee pee in my pants." Then we would go to the bathroom and he would finish there.
Step 5- Learning how to pull his own pants down: I think this was the crucial step for our successful potty-training. Kai likes to do things on his terms, so I think our incessant asking about whether or not he had to pee annoyed the bejesus out of him. He wanted to go when he
Step 6- Nighttime diaper-free: I honestly thought nighttime diapering was going to go on for a longgggg time before we even tried to cross that bridge. We did phase out nap-time diapering when he stopped wearing diapers at home, but nighttime, no way! It's such a long chunk of time... and he spends a LoT of it in our bed! We, honestly, did not have any intentions of allowing this to happen. But Kai, and his persistent ways, decided he was simply not going to wear diapers anymore, not even at night. He promised us that when he woke up in the middle of the night he would go potty without fussing. We assumed this would be a challenge because, to put it mildly, Kai is a bit of a "pouty face" when he wakes up... especially in the night. But so far, he's lived up to his word, and we keep the potty right next to the bed so it's a pretty easy transition for him, even when he's half asleep. And, I know I shouldn't be saying this, but knock-on-wood, we've had dry pjs and beds up till now.
So there you have it, the Rachel/Graham/Kai potty training extravaganza! I should also add that all of this was done in a pretty relaxed and calm atmosphere. There was no pressure, no anger, no irritation. If it happened it happened, if it didn't it didn't. And well, what do you know, but it's seemed to have worked. And maybe, just maybe, some part of this will help you, too. Happy pottying!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)