Brutally honest.

I was determined to make a proper meal for my tots this evening...that was the plan... I even declared it in my blog. I set an intention.

Why do intentions have a way of getting derailed? Today has been one of those days. Tot A refused to get dressed and that hour long fight cost us a trip to the grocery store to get real ingredients for a real meal. Tot B refused to leave the library (I had to return books before my trip) that cost us a trip to the park. We ended up going out for lunch because as I had planned to run my errands, take them to the park and grocery shop all before noon we had only completed one of the errands before 1pm. So getting home at 2 pm I decided to sew and finish prepping for my big sale at our local Fall Fair, what should have taken a couple hours of uninterrupted work (I know silly me) is still not done. Thanks to the mother of all fights between Tot A and I (Tot B just went along for the ride) we did not eat until 6:30.

This bring to the the bulk of my post. As a mother I am completely saddened by my daughter, I love her, I gave birth to her but (and maybe I am projecting) I can see us in the future. She is so willful, pressing my buttons, pressing her brother's, mostly she is a daddy's girl but he is away often and thus her acting out is directed towards me. I use to think I was a cool parent, pretty lax, communicative, I didn't ask much of them and give them free reign but lately little things are escalating into terse tense situations that I don't know how to control. I am starting to sound like one of those mothers.

I have tried positive re-enforcement and praise, leading by example, empowerment, making light of situations, joking about them but of late I am turning to discipline and anger. I DO NOT LIKE IT. It has always been hard with them but for the most part I had it under control. Even if I was having a tough day (and I had my fair share) I was there for them but now I feel like I am taking it out on them.

I am so sad I am feeling this way. I feel so bad because I am the adult and I know better....

I did pull off dinner, even if it was late... I had some gorgeous free run eggs from a friend and I have been dying to use them. We had scrambled eggs...

eggs by marisa's chickens
photo by me.

It has been some time since I...

Well that is a pretty bold statement and there are a lot of things that I haven't done in some time but my biggest concern is the family food situation. Since moving to my father's both my husband and myself have just not been making inspiring meals. We thought that our island life would be quaint and quiet. Though nightfall brings absolute stillness and darkness our days have been anything but. I am sewing like a madwoman (working on Kitsch in the Kitchen), children are exploring their new environment and my husband is commuting back and forth between mainland and our island sanctuary, a 5 hr trip door to door.

Tonight is one of those calms before the storm- Tomorrow I have the fall fair where I am going to hawk my sewn wares. Sunday I am driving and literally ferrying my children to the washington coast to spend time with the Aunties and Uncle. Monday heading to the big smoke to have dinner, date, birthday celebration for my husband.... and..... Tuesday going to Prague for a week (baby free vacation). Oh but it doesn't end there, because we have to do most of that in reverse to get back to our island... This is not busy work, most of it (if not all) is self inflicted but when I write it out like this, it appears to be slightly daunting...

So tonight I will cook a quality meal for my children and I!

A little late...Pass it On Week 6

OK OK, I know... I am late, don't yell at me! I know this post is several days overdue and we are nearly onto next week's pass it on, but I have been busy. I opened my etsy store.  I won't bore you with all the details. We'll just say that the children have started staring longingly out the window, hoping someone will throw them scraps.

This weeks pass it on recipe comes from the chapter Easy Curries, be forewarned "easy" does not mean quick.

Vegetable Jalfrezi
I am passing this recipe on  from Jamie's [Oliver] Food Revolution

• 1 medium onion, halved peeled and roughly chopped
• 1 fresh red chile, finely sliced
• thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
• small bunch of fresh cilantro, leaves picked off, and finely slice the stalks
• 2 red peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• 1 cauliflower, remove green leaves, divide into florets, and roughly chop the stalk
• 3 ripe tomatoes, cored, and 
• 1 small butternut squash, seeded, thick skin removed, and diced
• 1 x 15 oz can of garbanzo beans, drained
• 3-4 peanut/vegetable oil
• pat of butter
• 1/2 cup of jalfrezi or other medium curry paste
• 1 x 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• salt & pepper
• 2 lemons, 
• 1 cup natural yoghurt

Have all of your ingredients on hand. To save time prepare the whole vegetables except for the cauliflower. 

In a large dish, such as a dutch oven or heavy bottomed sauce pan on medium high heat add the peanut or vegetable oil, the onion, chile, ginger, cilantro. Cook for 10 minutes or until soft and nicely coloured. 

Prepare the cauliflower while the first ingredients are cooking. Open your canned ingredients and drain the beans.

Next add peppers, squash, garbanzo beans, and curry paste. Stir  and coat well. Then add cauliflower, fresh and canned tomatoes (no need to drain), vinegar and one can of water from the empty garbanzo beans. Bring to a boil then turn down to a simmer for 45 minutes. Check at 30 minutes to see if it is too liquid, leave the lid off for the remainder of the cooking time if it is. When the vegetables are tender taste and add just enough salt & pepper, being careful of over seasoning.

Garnish your curry with the cilantro leaves, serve with rice,  a salad, some fresh naan bread, lemon wedges and the yoghurt.

It serves 8, and yes for once Jamie's portions are pretty accurate. I had tonnes left over and my children will no longer starve as I sew myself into oblivion!

Because it had such a long simmer I took that time to make a cucumber salad from the chapter Lovin Salads- These salads are so quick and delicious they really don't need a whole week to themselves. I will just had them in here and there.

Evolution Cucumber Salad.

My tots love cucumber, yoghurt and anything salty.

• 1 cucumber, peeled and or seeded (I partly peel- and leave the seeds in as we use the long English variety)
• natural yoghurt
• olive oil
• lemon juice
• salt & pepper
• mint,chopped

Chop the cukes into bite sized pieces, add a dollap of yoghurt, a generous lug of oil, squeeze of fresh lemon juice, sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Mix all things together.

The salad could be done there but because this is an evolving salad you can add some chopped mint (we did) some chopped black olives, and fresh red chile.

food photos by me except for the obvious one of me in an apron, that was done patiently by my husband.

Jumping Jiminy crickets...

Last night with some friends, my husband and I went our for dinner to our mutually favourite restaurant, Vij's. If any one is familiar with Vij's they may know where this post is going. A little over a year ago Vikram Vij added something to the menu that caused a bit of a stir, crickets. 


I have heard that it was his wife Meeru Dhalwala that was behind this push, she wanted to introduce a dish that would utilize a local sustainable alternative protein. She points out in a June 08 article for the Vancouver Sun, that crickets are similar to prawns and lobsters sharing the distinction of arthropods.- Who knew? 


The crickets are roasted and ground into a flour that is  then used to make spicy indian styled flatbread called a paranta. The paranta is paired with a tomato-cumin chutney, and celeriac salad. The moisture and acid from the tomatoes and crisp texture of the celeriac add a nice contrast to the flakey crunch of the bread. 


The fist time I had this dish I was dining alone. It arrived with  a side of roasted crickets that stared apathetically away from me as I ate (maybe they were trying not to be noticed). I devoured the bread, ladled on the chutney and salad but couldn't get over the ick factor enough try a whole cricket.  I tried logic: I ate the bread the bread was good ergo the crickets would be good. My meal eventually ended and the crickets were still on the table. I suspect that this was the case for many diners, enjoying the bread but not wanting to look at what they were eating, so the crickets all but forgotten were left in the kitchen until requested.


Last night was the second time I ordered spicy parantha,  as it is an appetizer it makes a good sharing dish and armed with a couple of other brave souls we decided to bite the bullet and try a  whole cricket. When it arrived, it was without the tiny arthropods, if I hadn't had this dish once before I wouldn't have thought to ask about them. Without hesitation the server brought  a tiny mound of roasted crickets trapped in a ceramic dish,  my table mates and I  all looked to one another for courage. Sensing hesitation I picked out a nicely darken specimen  and popped it into my mouth. I was....surprisingly underwhelmed. It was crunchy from the roasting and slightly grassy but had no other discernible attributes.


If you like Indian styled cuisine Vij's is guaranteed to never disappoint and the spicy paranta  with or without the whole roasted crickets lives up to those expectations. 


Vij's


1480 W.11th Ave
Vancouver BC
694.736.6664


drawing by me.

Kitchen Jobs

painting brute force
tongs anyone?

I have actively been looking for jobs that the babies can do in the kitchen while I am cooking. Such as squeezing lemons, adding salt and pepper, brushing bread with oil etc. Even if seems a little mundane and not very exciting to me, tearing bread for croutons is a new adventure for them. However with this new found independence comes consequences for me..... olive oil to lemon juice, spills happen, so I brace myself to wipe up more, do more dishes and (what I dread most) more laundry.

Last nights dinner,

Potato & Pear soup with crusty croutons.

Making Cheese Omelettes with babies in the morning...

I probably won't blog about every meal but for now I am trying to build momentum.

This morning's omelettes were a hit. Why? Why not just crawl out of bed, throw some sort of cold cereal on the table and let the babies fend for themselves? Because I want them to be a part of the process and when we can and when we have time we should make that extra effort to do just a little bit better. Truth to be told it probably didn't take that much longer in the long run because they ate their eggs faster than they would have a cold cereal. The three of us made the eggs together and the three of us ate the eggs sitting down together at the table.

As the babies have become mobile and less containable, we have been content to let them just graze their dinner, we have felt that it was better that they eat something rather than fighting with them and eating nothing. We always put out a variety of foods, and have started designing our own meals that way. For a while this has worked and they have eaten several different types of healthy foods but now they are starting to show more and more preferences for the sweeter, salty and more processed items. We have never been junk food, fast food eaters, and tend to stick to a whole food diet but I can see how this mode of eating could start a trend in the opposite direction. We have started to negotiate with them to eat three, two, one bite(s) so that they get the treat after dinner. And they always eat the treat.

That is why this morning's eggs were a hit. We had a three egg & cheese omelette and the babies helped with nearly every step. This is what I learned from this mornings adventure

1) Participation is key.

• even if they can't crack the eggs yet, let them count them out.
• measure out ingredients and let them add them, ie. pinch the Salt and Pepper
• babies make great stirrers, it is not rocket science and chances are they have seen you do it several times.
• let them try stuff, I let them grate the cheese, (kind of) their muscles are not strong or coordinated enough and I ultimately did the work but letting them try gave them confidence.

2) It's funny when mummy flips the omelette onto the floor but that gives them the chance to practice their new skills all over again.

3) Babies love garnishes, letting them add the finishing touches gives them possession of their creation.