Tim's 2 cents

Tim and Chris went camping this weekend. He thought since I'd started posting recipes on my blog I might be interested in posting what they had for dinner. I suggested he post it on his own blog - but he's not quite ready for that yet. (It's coming though...I can feel it).

And so I indulge. Let's call it camping hash.

As many eggs, sausage and hashbrowns and you can scrounge tossed into an old camping frying pan. Top with cheese.

Or cheesies if you run out of the real thing.

Bok Choy

Step One: Get all the ingredients out onto the counter.



Step Two: Prep ingredients and seperate them into the order they'll be cooked in. Set the table!




Step three: Get all the ingredients into the pot at the right time *setting a timer helps despite my temptation to insist I'll remember...



Step four: Enjoy delicious Coconut Curry Shrimp (I adapted the recipe from tofu to shrimp)

The only Bok Choy question that remains is: Are you suppose to use this part of the Bok?

Play Date

Natalie and Magdelyn

They played in the street, they jumped on the couch and they asked for meat as a snack. They're bound to be forever friends :)


And while they played, Joshua climbed into a drawer to get the ball. Shocking to watch since magdelyn never crawled - let alone into drawers.

Boys.

My husband and my brother are currently whispering {WHISPERING?} in the TV room. I'm the only other person in the house. Can anyone hear my eyes roll?

but's secretly its kinda cute...don't you think?

Ingredient Challenge

Ingredient Challenge: I've decided to challenge myself to cook with one new ingredient each week.

Tune in later in the week to see what happens with my BOK CHOY!!

victoria day

What a lovely day for shopping. Time restraint free. No naps to co-ordinate. No turns to take with my shop like girl husband. I fed the cling-on (read: 19month old who's favorite phrase is "Up On Mommy") and dashed for nearly 6 hours. A few observations, shall we?

1. Someone needs to tell their nearly adult child that NUDE UNDERWEAR would have been the perfect accessory under that otherwise cute white skirt.

2. When I ask if there are any flameless tea lights in the store I don't anticipate a 20min tour of every candle accessory in Winners. I could write a whole post entitled, "When good customer service takes a wrong turn." It was hard to say "thank-you" at the end but I did it.

3. When used very sparingly the junior trendsetters section of winner is not off limits to a 30+ year old. It should have been off limits to the 55+ year old shopping next to me.

4. A 50 year old who cares about what she looks like is totally sexier then many 25 year olds I saw. Cheers to aging with style.

5. To the clerk who rang me out: Commenting on the total hurts a little when your talking to someone who doesn't make a habit if shopping. Zip it. I have gift cards, okay?

I love you Queen Victoria.

Helpful

Love of water + Love of copying mommy = Carwashing being the best chore ever

do it yourself - dinner

Since selling the store, our meals have gone from ... 3.5 stars to 4.5 stars. They're still not up to Denita's 5 stars, but we're moving in that direction. For a grand total of $14.00 we enjoyed the following (not including wine or tip). Dinner consisted of Cedar Planked Salmon with Dill Dip, Grilled Asparagus and a side of Garlic and Grape Tomato Pasta. Yumm.


BEFORE:

AFTER:

Cedar Plank Salmon

Soak a untreated cedar plank for 8 hours.
Stir together the following marinade and brush or marinade Salmon with 1/2 the sauce prior to BBQ'ing. BBQ salmon for 20 min on soaked cedar plank stopping mid way through to brush on remaining sauce.

2tbsp Olive Oil
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1tsp lemon rind (opt)
1 tbsp chives (or green onion)
Pinch of each Salt and Pepper

Serve with the following chilled dip (if you chill for an hour the flavors blend nicely, but that Salmon is so good all on its own we hardly used it.)

Sour Cream Dill Dip
1/2c Sour Cream
2tbsp grated cucumber
2 tbsp dill
1 tbsp chives (or green onion)

On The Side:

Grilled Asparagus
Toss asparagus with Olive Oil and Kosher salt, Grill for last 10 minutes of salmon - turning once at the 5 minute mark.

Pasta ... I'll deal with the pasta later, because really - it could (and has been) be a meal all to itself.

Curly

For those of you, far away, who wish they could be closer to the back of my childs head, check it:


It happened so quick. In retrospect I swear we woke up one morning and she suddenly had curly hair. Like instant pudding, one second it's all milky and the next second it keeps its shape. Wierd.

Finally,

Something Tim and Magdelyn can do together.


{Sidenote: The magazine was entirely her doing. She got off the potty to go get it.}

Lunch

I know your all interested in what I have for lunch. I can barely wait for summer and today's lunch felt like a taste of what's ahead. I enjoyed it with a book on the front porch rocking chair. On the menu was homemade roasted garlic hummus with veggies, and mango strawberry salsa with fresh baked tortilla taco chips. Yum.

And that, THAT, is what I could NEVER do when I owned a store.

Here are the no recipe needed, recipes:

Roasted Garlic Hummus

1 head of roasted garlic (roasting optional)
1 freshly squeezed lemon or 2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1 can drained and rinsed garbanzo beans
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tahini paste
1/4c warm water as needed

1. Cut the tip off a head of garlic till cloves are slightly exposed. Drizzle with olive oil. Wrap in tin foil and bake at 375 for 30-60 min as time permits. (Longer roasting draws out a sweeter and nuttier flavor in the garlic). Allow to cool so you can comfortably hold it.
2. Squeeze the roasted garlic into a blender along with all other ingredients.
3. Blend. Add water as needed to create desired texture.

Mango Strawberry Salsa

1 diced mango
1/2-3/4c diced strawberries
1/2 chopped red onion
2-3 tbsp cilantro
1/4 tsp sea salt
a dash of lime juice

Mix ingredients and dig in. Adjust to taste.

Baked Tortilla Chips

4-8 tortilla
olive oil
Sea, Kosher, or regular salt if you don't have either of the first 2
Spices as desired.

Preheat oven to 375. Lay out tortillas on a cutting board, 3 or 4 at a time. Cut them with a pizza cutter or sharp knife into 8 pieces. Brush them with olive oil. Sprinkle them with salt and whatever other spices you desire. I prefer plain, but paprika, dill or garlic salt are options. Bake for 6-8 minutes until corners are slightly turned up and brown. Store chips in an air tight container or bag.

Jumping

Yesturday, she had a nearly perfect day. I set the sprinkler up to water our yard and she made a bee line for it. Neither the water nor the weather was warm, but I wasn't about to discourage her first (fully clothed) sprinkler run. Priceless. Kid loves water. If only Tim had charged the video camera.

Later that evening she figured out that she could JUMP. Both feet off the ground leaps around the TV room. She was up hyperactively late. Which was fine, thanks to her 4 hour nap that afternoon.

Since it's been sunny, she's been going out onto the patio independently. This morning she came in from the deck holding her superman ball saying, "Opa throw ball." Thinking she was making a request I apologetically offered the explanation, "Sorry honey, Opa isn't outside yet." She turned around and ran back out. I followed with my coffee and heard Opa call out "Morning, I just tossed her up her ball."

She informs me of things now.

It reminded me of the day when she silently trudged up the stairs to find me. I was in my ensuite. She came into the room and said, "Daddy." I knew she was 'telling' me something so I walked out to the landing and called out to him to see what had happened. Incredulously, he responded "She went all the way upstairs to tell on me??!"

He had told her not to touch his thermos as it was hot, and wordlessly she'd gone up the stairs and found me to tattle. Daddy - had - said - no. It's not so astounding that she'd tattled. That's regular. But that she'd gone to such an effort to do so - and remembered the offense the whole way up the stairs was the baffling part.

What a turkey.

Momma.

I never knew

I never knew the day would arrive where I was so accustomed to child locks on cupboards that the ones without would throw me off.

That I'd feel worse about her being sick then the puke I was cleaning,

That the smell of her pooh would bother me as much as the smell of my own (Tim's is way grosser),

That, no matter where we are, she'd always be the most interesting person in the room to me,

That I'd love nap time as much as I do,

That when she gets hurt my stomach drops like I'd just received traumatic news,

That hearing her sing would be even better then hearing her talk,

That I'd find every developmental stage so intriguing, even the running away from me in the grocery store stage,

That I'd be so happy for her blue eyes - despite praying for brown ones.

That I'd know all the "Wiggles" by name

And, I certainly never knew that this level of love even existed.

***********************************

I had such a happy mothers day. Tim banished me to the front porch with a book and instructed me to do nothing...all blessed afternoon. I adore my family. I wouldn't trade them for the world. This evening Magdelyns heros [cousins] came over with their parents and mine and we had a potluck. As they were leaving Magdelyn pronounced "Everyone went away." Indeed they had, and it was well past her 7pm bedtime.

"Being a mom is like going to Europe. You think the books have prepared you, but nothing compares to seeing it firsthand." H.Epp