Wordless Wednesday: Eight Eyes

Baked chicky-chick

Dinner tonight was a perfect combination: simple, get-in-my-tummy-yummy, and clean. You're dying to know what it was, right??? First check out this beautiful little birdie that we spied yesterday at Gran and Grandpa's. Yes, it snowed again. Yes, it's almost April. But we're kind of trying to teach the children that throwing ourselves on the floor, kicking and screaming, is not how to handle disappointment. So we didn't do that. Mother Nature - aren't we being good role models? Care to reward us with SPRING????

Back to the food... Dinner consisted of chicken, stovetop potatoes (organic red new potatoes chopped and sauteed in olive oil with salt/pepper until browned), and a lovely salad. I'm so delighted to see the girls eating salad - but when all four of our plates look exactly the same, as they do day in and day out - here we are again with the role model concept...Parents are powerful people. The chicken - this was possibly my favorite baked chicken tender/finger recipe. It couldn't have been easier and the coating had a nice crispness to it all the way around. 

Oven-baked Crusty Chicken
courtesy of Table for Two

• 3 antibiotic/hormone free chicken breasts
• Each breast sliced into 3-4 pieces that resemble pre-cut tenders
• 1 C whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 local, organic eggs
• Whisk eggs in a flat dish
• Combine bread crumbs and seasonings in separate dish
• Dip chicken pieces in eggs, dredge in bread crumb mixture, and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet
• Bake at 450 degrees for 20 minutes then broil for 3-5 minutes more

Salad Dressing (the girls really liked this one!)

• Fig balsamic vinegar
• Dijon mustard
• Honey
• Olive oil
• Pepper
• Salad - all organic produce: lettuce, red pepper, cucumber, carrot

Fun with food

I do not advocate for playing with food, necessarily. But eating should be fun, right? Well, yesterday was a lazy Saturday over here - I made it out for a run before the drizzle/snow started (again) and then we all settled in because our night out with friends and no kids included a KU win, some tasty beverages, and a late night. The girls were also tired, especially because they were found giggling in their bed at Gran and Grandpa's at 4 in the morning. When Gran asked what was going on, they were just sure that it was almost time to get up. It wasn't. 

After naps and between basketball-watching, we found a production of The Cat in the Hat on Netflix - a live performance by the London National Theater. It was 30 minutes long (perfect length, in my opinion) and included real actors instead of animated ones. Anyhow... what is the perfect dinner to fit the theme and is a snap to make? Well, green eggs and bacon, of course! Thanks to Uncle Travis' suggestion, we just tossed eggs and spinach in the blender - beautiful green eggs! I really liked the flavor that the spinach added and the girls cleaned their plates.

• Green Eggs
• 3-4 local organic eggs
• Big handful of organic baby spinach
• Pinch of salt
• Splash of organic local milk
• Blend away and prepare like scrambled eggs!

Continuing the fun-food today, I made the girls a colorful, silly lunch. Again, every morsel was devoured and they were so excited to tell John about what it had looked like. Eating is fun, isn't it?

Twin Talk

The girls do love to talk. And talk. And talk. I have no idea where they get it from... I'll stop there and let you enjoy some quotable quotes before you start pointing fingers. See - I'm a woman of few words. But you already knew that, right? Still going...

Elise: "My heart is broken."
Me: "Why?"

Elise: "Gramps didn't invite me for ice cream."

(which he really did, she just didn't hear him...)

Abby (crying from the bathtub): "Elise bit my toe!"

Elise: "But Abby told me to!"

Abby: "I meant to say 'I love you'..."

Elise: "I don't want that blanket on me. It makes me nervous."

Abby (walking through a doorway): "Duck"

John and I look at each other, confused.

Abby (walking through another doorway): "Duck"

Me: "Abby, what are you doing?"

Abby: "Uh, I don't want to hit my head. I'm Jeff Withey."

Me (to Elise, who is sitting quietly on the couch bench while Abby Jeff Withey plays a mean game of bball in the living room): "Elise, why are you sitting on the couch?
Elise: "I'm Tyler Self. He's not as good as the others."

Now, before you read this last one I need to share some background. A few weeks ago, John showed the girls the movie "Aristocats". For some reason, rather than focusing on the "cats" or "kitties", the phrase that stuck with Abby and Elise is that the movie was about "pussy cats". OBVIOUSLY, there is not another meaning associated with this phrase for my precious children. And I have responded very nonchalantly when one or both has asked "Mom, how do you spell pussy?". Cat. They are talking about CATS:

Abby (talking on the phone with John): "We were swinging daddy and I fell...."

John: "Did you fall on your tushy?"

Abby: "What did you say?"

John: "I said, 'did you fall on your tushy'"?

Abby (chuckling): "Ohhhh.... haha, Daddy! I thought you said 'Did you fall on your pussy'"!

Oh, the things kids say...

Wordless Wednesday: Living Room Literacy Lesson

Meet me in St. Louie, Louie...

Nothing says "Happy Spring Break" like a weekend getaway with GREAT friends and your handsome hubby. Oh... and a swank hotel... and a fab wedding... and an orangutan...

Lana and Jamey - thanks for being tragically hip. You guys are a hard habit to break. 

Gran and Grandpa - thank you for taking care of our children, formerly known as Abby and Elise but currently being referred to as Bill Self and Jeff Withey. The puppy said her hotel (aka Gran and Grandpa's house) was pretty swank, too.

Foodie Friday: Fruit and Fish (not together)

We really don't eat on-the-go much - during the week, the girls and I do breakfast and lunch at home almost daily and dinners are about the same for the four of us, except for our awesome weekly dinner group. I also have always had a "thing" about taking food everywhere with us - I've felt like the girls, as older babies, toddlers, and now, should be able to have a meal or snack at home and easily last through an outing, such as grocery shopping or storytime, and back home before needing food again. I really made a point to not use food as a pacifier, of sorts, so that their attention and effort was put forth into the activity not exerted on a food distraction. (Now exiting the soapbox, stage left...)

Snacks are important and it is nice to have options that are ready, easy to toss on the table, or throw into the purse when necessary (which, despite my previous rant, does happen). The girls love KIND bars, which are more of a fruit/nut bar than a granola bar. And, when limiting grains, they are a nice choice. Here's a homemade bar that is somewhat similar and TASTY!

Apricot Coconut Bars
courtesy of shutterbean

• 1/2 C organic roasted unsalted cashews
• 1 C organic dried Turkish apricots
• 1 C organic unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/3 C organic rolled oats
• 2 T local honey
• 2 T organic coconut oil (melted)
• 2 T organic chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• Pulse cashews in food processor until small crumbles (I use my blender with the food processor attachment); remove and set aside
• Pulse apricots until ground; add remaining ingredients, saving cashews for last
• Once cashews are added, pulse everything again
• Smash into a parchment-lined 8x8 pan and pop into the freezer to harden (I left them for a couple of hours)
• Now try to eat just one. Do it. Only one!!!!

In the event that you need dinner as well, and not just a snack, these salmon cakes are quick and easy. I've made them in the past with frozen salmon that I baked, etc... but using a decent canned salmon (boneless and skinless) definitely expedites the process! The girls devoured them (especially Abby, queen of seafood).

Easy (simple) Salmon Cakes

Makes approximately 8 

• 2 cans salmon (I've been using the Wild Planet brand - boneless and skinless, sustainably caught wild Alaska pink salmon)
• 4-6 organic green onions (chopped)
• 1/3 - 1/2 C organic bread crumbs
• 1-2 local, organic eggs (depends on the size of the egg)
• Zest of one organic lemon
• Squeeze of organic yellow mustard
• Splash or two of Worcestershire sauce
• Salt, pepper
• Mix all together
• Form salmon cakes with hands
• Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan 
• Cook salmon cakes (I had room for 4 at a time); I'm not sure how long they cooked on each side - just until browned a bit
• Serve with some "dip dip" - we used sour cream and pickle relish mixed together; John added sriracha

Wordless Wednesday: The Dynamic Duo

Make someone else's bed

I believe strongly in the saying "you made your bed, now you have to sleep in it". But how about this one: "make someone else's bed for them"? Ever heard of that one? Nope, me neither - it's not really a saying (as far as I know) but its been stuck in my head all day. And here's why...

This morning is a bit fuzzy because we're a little sleep deprived - Elise has a cold, one of those no-matter-how-hard-I-try-to-breathe-through-my-nose-nothing-moves kind of colds. I spent last night trying to keep her propped, which kept me awake. :) Sidenote: Today is the most sleep-deprived I've been in a long time, yet I didn't cry at all. Not a single tear. Thinking back to the extreme sleep deprivation when the girls were babies - I cried so much. Not kidding - tears were my reaction to EVERYTHING. Anyhow, we all handled it quite well today, which makes me smile. Pat on my back.

Back to someone else's bed... Abby went trotting down to their bedroom and shut the door. She was very quiet, for quite some time. Then suddenly Elise came running to me, shouting: "MOM!!! Abby made my bed for me!". This was followed by a cinema-style embrace between the girls. Abby, tucked her hair behind her ears and put her hands on her hips and said: "Elise, I'd make your bed for you every single day". As I type, I'm wondering how I managed to not tear-up at this scene. It is a moment that goes down in the proud-parent moments. Here were my babies, taking care of each other, supporting each other, embracing one another, and wanting to do it again. And again. And again. 

We may spend a lot of time looking rather silly:

But I tell you what - at the end of the day, we make each other's bed around here. High-five, family. High-five. :)

Foodie Friday: Stop...It's Spinach Time!

Here are a few things that popped up in the kitchen this week:

• Honey Whole Wheat Bread
• I'm on a roll with homemade bread! This recipe is seriously simple and has produced two great loaves of bread so far. It also doesn't hurt when one of your precious children says "You're the best mommy because you make our bread.". Sigh...
• Banana Ice Cream:
• 2 organic frozen bananas
• Scoop of organic, unsweetened cocoa powder
• Scoop of organic peanut butter
• Blend all until creamy and delicious

• Quinoa Muffins (courtesy of Martha Stewart)
• 2 C organic quinoa, cooked (I rinsed 1 C of quinoa, toasted it in a dry pan, added 2 C of water, and it cooked up to about 3 cups)
• 2 C organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 C organic coconut sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 C organic raisins
• 1/4 C organic coconut oil
• 3/4 C local 2% milk
• 1 large local organic egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt; add cooked quinoa and raisins
• In separate bowl, combine melted coconut oil, milk, egg, vanilla
• Mix all together
• Bake in greased muffin tin (I greased mine with coconut oil) at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes

• Spinach Salad
• The recipe is not the important part here nor is the appearance of spinach in our weekly diet - the girls have been packed full of spinach since they were tiny, sometimes in soups or enchiladas... most often in smoothies... But this week the girls each ate an entire (child's size) spinach salad for lunch. And I'm so stinkin' proud! They were proud of themselves, as well - as soon as John got home that day, when he asked how their day had been, the first thing mentioned was "We ate salad for lunch!". A few weeks ago, I started thinking about how few times I've offered or required the girls to eat/taste raw, leafy greens. They consume so much of it in other forms that the act of eating a piece of lettuce just hasn't been a must. I decided it was time to change that. So, I've been eating a lot more salads. Each time I fixed one, I offered a bite - just one bite. They saw me eating salads more, which is so important. When adding spinach to smoothies, I offered a leaf - just one leaf. And we've been doing this for several weeks. The taste, the texture, the experience - just like that it became familiar. They picked out tomatoes, shredded carrots, raspberries, and blueberries to dress their salad; I whipped up a little homemade dressing. It was delicious... and so exciting! When it comes to feeding my children, my job is never done. I love the challenge; I love the reward!

Wordless Wednesday: Lovely Lucy

Foodie Friday: Carb loading

I've spent a lot of time in the kitchen this week. Last week. Every week. :) Food is so good. Taking time out of life to think about the food we eat, to plan our meals, to add to or take away from our diet as needed or wanted - it is all so important. I learned this week about the farms at two of our local dairies - about their cows, their pastures and feed. It is information that I find interesting and valuable as I make weekly decision about whether to buy this one or that one. 

This week, as I was preparing to do my second 3-day fruit/veggie only cleanse, I became engrossed with grains. Bad timing, but there's always next week for the cleanse because homemade bread and another batch of granola rule. I'm fascinated by food philosophies (vegetarian versus paleo versus vegan versus THE WORLD!!!!) and, as with most aspects in life, there are little bits and pieces from each one that I latch onto. I love the variety it gives to our diet but also the flexibility - the possibilities are endless...

Honey Whole Wheat Bread
courtesy of Versatile Vegetarian Kitchen

• 1 1/4 C warm water
• 2 tsp active dry yeast (I used one whole individual packet)
• 2 1/2 T local honey
• 2 1/2 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 C organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 3/4 C organic whole wheat flour
• 2 1/2 T vital wheat gluten
• Combine water and yeast in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook; let sit for 5 minutes; add honey; let sit for another 5 minutes
• Add olive oil and salt
• Turn mixer on and slower add flour and vital wheat gluten
• Mix for 5-10 minutes until dough comes together (can add water one teaspoon at a time if dough seems dry)
• Let dough rise in an oiled bowl, covered, in a warm place until doubles in size (1- 1 1/2 hours). I usually turn my oven on until it warms to 100 degrees, then shut it off and let dough rise there
• Punch dough down, form loaf, and place in an oiled 9x5 bread pan; let rise, covered with oiled foil or saran wrap, until dough is just above the edge of the pan
• Bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes; turn oven down to 325 degrees and bake for 15 minutes more

GREAT Granola
courtesy of 100 Days of Real Food

• 3 1/2 C organic rolled oats
• 1 C organic sliced raw almonds
• 1 C organic pecans
• 1 C organic unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1/2 C organic raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 C organic raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
• 6 T unsalted organic butter
• 1/2 C local honey
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• Mix oats, nuts, seeds, coconut, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmet
• Combine butter and honey on stove until melted and combined; add salt and vanilla
• Mix wet into dry until well coated
• Spread in an even layer on parchment-lined baking sheet
• Bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes
• This is seriously AWESOME granola!!!!