Abnormal Nesting

Things feel good right now.  I know, aren't we all relieved not to find some 100 pound post again? We got that positive news about Colette's heart and I'm running with it.  Part of me wants to hold back on the relief knowing that more bad news could always be around the corner, since she still has a more minor heart condition and the omphalacele, the complications are endless.  But I'm doing my best not to live like that, I'll take the joy while it's here.  Someone recommended I read Ecclesiastes because it reminds us that life is hard, but it's also fleeting, and so we enjoy the times of joy and the simple bits of pleasure we get from life.  This was good advice so I'm loving what's in front of me.  

We're moving in a couple of weeks and we took some frames down this weekend and BAM we are unsettled.  We also made the bizarre decision to sell our couch and we likely won't be moved for close to two weeks. This means, as you might assume, that we don't have a couch only our super cozy wood floors and a few chairs. I don't know why we did this to ourselves.  Also they say I'm supposed to be nesting, but I can't.  Partially because we're moving and partially because we decided not to do a nursery or a shower before Colette is born.  I think there would be a part of me that would be tentative about celebration and constantly wondering what it would be like to have such a lovely nursery empty.  We don't need to send our minds there so we'll work out room details when she's coming home.  

So I cook.  A lot.  I have a nice kitchen in our place now, but our new home has a very old and tiny kitchen.  We'll be re-doing it but for a while my refrigerator will be in another room, as in I'll forget the milk and walk out of my kitchen into another room to get the milk. This is weird.  As for now I'll cook in my nice kitchen.  My friend Julie told me she makes her own almond milk, I was inspired, so I did the same.  I use the dried almond meal from the milk for my homemade granola, which Trever ate for three meals yesterday. Repetitive? Yes. But that's what happens when he's editing from home and I work late.  

Fun fact, I had a co-worker basically tell me I would lose my brains towards the end of my pregnancy. I didn't believe him. But then the other day I turned the oven on to dry out my almond meal, left for 5 hours, and realized while at a restaurant with friends that I probably burned my house down.  Suddenly gruesome images of my house melting and our cats slowing burning to death flooded my brain and I walked straight to my car without saying anything and drove home in a panic.  All was well, but I drove 15 minutes back at 10:30 at night because they had ordered pizza and I like pizza.  My friends were confused by me.  I was confused by my brain.

I also made granola bars.  They're really good and simply made from dried fruit and nuts and I make fresh bread a couple of times a week.  So at any given time in my kitchen you might find jars of floating almonds, a bowl of sourdough starter that looks like soupy bread dough, and some stacks of chewy bars for the taking.  Next up, kambucha.  I have friends that make this too and will give me some of their scoby.  Add jiggly pancake to my scary kitchen. Trever wishes I had different hobbies.  Recipes to come. 

Jam

So it looks like we're moving.  Not to Paris like some thought, maybe one day though. But just a few blocks away from where we live now. Radical. We really wanted a yard and although we love our place now it has bad juju.  The month we moved in my Dad got diagnosed with cancer and went through treatment which almost took his life, then Trever's Dad passed away, then we learned of our infertility, then we've had to endure the pain and joy of this pregnancy.  

Get me OUT! 

Some might say it's an interesting decision to be moving right now, it's not as if we have space for added stress, but it's also a nice distraction.  The place we are moving to is tiny, built in 1920 and full of character. It's got a ton of windows and loads of sunlight, there are tiny doors leading outside all over the house and the bedroom windows pull open like a disney movie.   We're going to re-do the kitchen so I've been losing untold hours to pinterest and kitchen stalking. I'm adding some of my finds to my CURATION page if you want to follow along with me in my distractions. Just as a side note, all of the images I use on my blog posts are Trever's suggestions.  So if the images are creating some sort of illusion that I'm more cultured than a goof from Victorville, we can all just let that go. 

Also I make jam now.  Remember in Friends when Monica makes all the jam after she breaks up with Richard? This is me, except less funny.  I was trying to find a natural Strawberry Jam recipe and I couldn't find one.  Everyone likes to add lots of sugar and pectin.  Pectin is like active yeast, it's a store bought products that makes a natural process happen a lot more quickly.  Jam gets its thick quality when the sugar, fruit, acid and heat work together for the good of those who love it. We speed this up with sugar and pectin, and really the sugar is just because it tastes good.  

So I experimented.  I made several batches of stawberry jam made with just the fruit, honey and lemon.  It takes longer to cook down but then when I lather it on my toast I don't have to feel bad. Also when it's hot off the stove before I bottle it I drizzle over vanilla ice cream.    

So...I chop up 5 cups of fresh ripe strawberries and place in a saucepan.  Then I add 1 cup honey and the juice of a lemon and let the jam simmer for close to two hours - until the jam sticks to the back of your spoon. That's it.  Then we consume it like ice cream. Yum

Blueberry Granola

I've been trying to figure out a healthy granola recipe.  Most recipes have some unhealthy oils and use a lot of sugar. Instead I used coconut oil and honey to make a really healthy and yum version.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Combine in a large mixing bowl:

10 c. oats // 1 1/2 c. unsweetened shave coconut // 1/2 c flax seed // 1 c. slivered almonds // 1 c. sunflower seeds // 3/4 c. chopped walnuts // 3/4 c. chopped macadamia nuts // 1/2 c. ground flax seed // 3/4 c. wheat germ // 3 tbsp. cinnamon // 1 tsp. nutmeg

Combine in a sauce pan and warm until blended:

1 c. coconut oil // 1 c. honey // 1/2 c. molasses // 2 tbsp. vanilla extract// 1 tsp. almond extract

Pour the ingredients from the saucepan into the mixing bowl with dry ingredients and mix together. 

Spread the granola across two baking sheets and bake for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through. 

Optional: Add 1 c. dried blueberries to cooled granola 

Cider Sour

My mom makes this drink that we're all crazy for, which we've dubbed the Cider Sour.  My one year old niece even gets all electrified when she sees my mom's cup, because just like us she's into the Apple Cider Vinegar. Yes! Apple Cider Vinegar made yum. So as you know due to our diets our bodies run acidic which causes a whole host of problems, and ACV is one of the ways to bring our bodies back to alchaline.  But of course it tastes like vinegar and so every time I drink it, it burns up my esophagus, just burns it all up. My mother is a goddess and makes this recipe that she tweaked from something she found online. It tricks the tastebuds into thinking they're happy with the tartness and sweetness and soda pop fizz. Hallelujah.

8 oz. Sparkling Water // 1/2 Lime // 1/2 Lemon // One dropper full of liquid stevia // 1/2 tsp. fresh grated Ginger // 1 shot Apple Cider Vinegar

Get into it! 

Peppermint and Dinosaurs

My blog has been such a drag recently.  It’s all so cheerless and contemplative, talking about souls and gods and cell babies. I want to encourage you dear reader(s), lots of things are good:

Trever has a sweater with a T-rex on it.  The bright colors reminiscent of the 80’s bring happy spirits and it reminds me that if nothing else there was once a giant lizard with tiny arms, and that’s rich.  It must have been an evolutionary flaw or maybe just a little Mesozoic humor, but either way they ended up dead and knit onto a Hedi Slimane sweater, poor guys. The sweater is made out of wool aka tiny needles, so I can’t touch him because I would rather not die of the heebies.

I got an essential oil diffuser, which is a hippie tool designed to do things to us through our nasal passage via smelly steam.  They can make us jolly, un-sick, free of anxiety, or in my case make my home smell like an enormous peppermint stick. It makes me feel clean and spritely.

We’re into Vietnamese food and I make vermicelli noodle salads and springs rolls and we drink sake to wash down the peanut sauce.  We bought rice paper to wrap lettuce, noodles, carrots, avocados, peanuts, cucumber, cilantro and mint into a translucent vegetable sausage.  Trever and I have roll offs like adolescents with an enormous duby. I always rip my rice paper, his are always flaccid, and we don’t make dirty jokes about them. The whole meal is like nine calories but the Mochi makes up for it. 

We have cat children.  They lay on our bed all day long like Victorian Aristocrats waiting for something interesting to happen. The thing about cats is they act like they’re stupid, you call their name and they behave like they’re gerbils with no brain, their face turned the greatest distance possible from you. DoiDoi. The ears give them away though, they dart back so they don’t miss a word. Genius brats, they never have to do anything they don’t want.  Sage…Sage…SageSage Sage, SAAAAGE, Sage the big fat cat, SAGE…ugh.

We ordered a record a month ago and it just came in.  I’m not sure when it was recorded but it sounds like the soundtrack on Splash Mountain, a little South American, with some French Horn.  Trever replicated that horn noise and I laughed like a 1950's house wife – ha ha what a hoot.

We have friends too. I just wanted to say that so you don’t think I sit at home with my cats, inhaling candy canes, drunk off Sake, and shimmying to the rhythms of the south. Not that I don’t do that, I do that.

So things are good.

Vermicelli Salad:

Cook Vermicelli noodles according to package (traders just got some good ones in their refrigerated section by the sushi) and let it cool. Add mixed greens, mint, bean sprouts, matchsticks carrots and cucumber, peanuts and cilantro.  For the dressing I used, fish sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, lime, sesame seeds, sweet chili sauce and rice vinegar. 

Spring Rolls:

Dip the rice paper in warm water (not boiling) for a couple second and spread on a cutting board.  Add one piece of lettuce and top with matchstick carrots and cucumber, avocado slice, bean sprouts, peanuts, cilantro and mint, then roll it up.  For peanut sauce I mixed peanut butter, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, rice vinegar and lime. 

Grain, Sweet Potato and Kale

Here's another fab, well balanced and filling kale salad. If you're the Trader Joes type you can get their mixed grains and it's a good replacement for the regular Israeli cous cous. If you want to be a super health freak, cous cous is actually just above rice in grain health benefits, so if you want to move up the ladder you can sub farro or quinoa. 

Israeli Cous Cous // Sweet Potatoes // Goat Cheese // Dried Cranberries or Cherries (try to avoid the kind with gallons of sugar)  // Slivered Almonds // Kale

Cube the sweet potatoes and roast at 425 for 25ish minutes. Follow the package instructions for making the cous cous, I make 1 cup. Break down the Kale by massaging it (yes that's what they call it) or flash steaming it. It makes it blend better in the meal, and much easier to digest and absorb the nutrients. Allow all the ingredients to cool (or keep all of it warm if you prefer) and add dressing to taste. 

Dressing:

Olive Oil // Lemon // Lemon Zest // S&P // Minced Garlic // Honey

ChChChChia

Some people are healthy, and then some people just like pain. My husband is one such pain inflicting health nut.  He does things like take shots of apple cider vinegar – straight – with no chaser – grin and bear it.  He also drinks a glass of Chia Seeds every night.  He once tried to get me to drink a glass and I COULD NOT.  He sat across the kitchen counter from me and watched like a disapproving coach over my inability to toughen up and drink the goop. I kept gaging into the sink and he had no sympathy for me, just pure disapproval. The thing about chia seeds is the longer you wait the more they absorb the water and the more dense and glue-like they become.  It’s made to weed out the weak, survival of the fittest.  If you can’t gag it down fast enough you’re out of the game because nobody can get down pure concrete.  Most people soak them and throw them into a smoothie, not Trever, he wants to feel the pain of health.

The thing is, if you can get them down you should.  Their main benefits are protein, fiber, calcium and omega 3&6 fatty acids, plus a HUGE amount of antioxidants. First, the antioxidants are known to fight cancer and premature aging.  The fiber keeps your digestive system moving aiding in colon health, and balances insulin, a necessary component for our high sugar American diets. There are host of reasons why inflammation is hard on our bodies, and it’s a chronic problem due to the way we eat.  I’ve been doing a lot of research on anti-inflammatory diets so I’ll probably discuss later, but for now this is a really helpful way to balance things out.  The calcium is crucial for bone health and a necessary dietary element for vegans.  Remember the nice visual I gave you earlier of chia seeds soaking up so much water that you have to down it like a frat boy before it becomes a solid mass? Well this lovely water absorption quality is actually really helpful in your digestive system, because it prolongs hydration and promotes nutrient absorption, great for before a workout. It essentially does what a sports drink does without the sugar. Also a vain side effect– it helps reduce belly fat. 

So there are a lot of recipes online for chia seed pudding, which is a way of tricking yourself into thinking you're eating a weird dessert when it's just maj healthy.  Some recipes will put you in the casket, others are amazing...as puddings go.  I have made both.  Some recipes tell you that it only takes thirty minutes to become like pudding, but if you’re using milk then it takes around 4 hours, or overnight (dairy milk takes longer).  Honey is absolutely essential to this pudding’s survival, just get it in there, lots of honey.  I did several versions, some with dairy free milk, some with cow’s milk to get the benefits from the fat, and they both worked well.  Note: if you’re the type that gags looking at rice pudding, just walk away, this isn’t for you. 

Blueberry Coconut Chia Seed Pudding

½ cup almond milk // ½ cup coconut milk // 1 tbsp. coconut shavings // 2 tbsp. chia seeds // blueberries // honey

Place milk, coconut, honey and chia seeds in a glass and stir until honey dissolves (you can sub this for agave if you prefer, it would mix in better) and cover, store in the fridge overnight.  Remove from fridge and drizzle more honey and add bluberry’s to top. 

Vanilla Cinnamon Chia Seed Pudding

½ cup full fat cow’s milk // ½ cup almond milk // 2 tbsp. chia seeds // ½ tsp. cinnamon // ¼ tsp. vanilla // honey

Place all ingredients in a glass, stir, cover and store in the fridge overnight. Add some extra cinnamon and honey for good measure and enjoy!

Cashews and Kale

This is my new favorite Kale salad.  Chop up everything really small like a slaw so it's easier to eat and easier to digest. Buy an asian dressing or just make your own, it's simple.  This salad has all the greens of course, protein in the nuts, digestive cleansing in the ginger, alkaline in the lime & healthy fats in the oil. Eat up.  

Salad::

2 bunches of Kale // 1 bunch of Cilantro // 5 Green onions // 1 cup Cashews // Half a head of Napa Cabbage

Dressing (a little of this a little of that) ::

Rice Vinegar // Soy Sauce // Lime // S&P // Olive Oil // Sesame Seed Oil // Fresh Grated Ginger // Honey // Peanut Butter (optional)

Lemon Curd - sans sugar

I still have more lemons…so I looked up more recipes.  I found a lemon curd recipe and made it, but I felt so sinful for eating it because it's basically one part lemon, one part diabetic coma.  I decided to make a honey version and it's just as sweet and there's a lot less to feel guilty about.  

Ingredients: 

1 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup honey (I used raw honey)

4 tbsp. butter 

2 egg yolks

Place the egg yolks, honey and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat.  Continually stir it until it's thick and can coat the back of a wooden spoon (about five minutes).  Remove the mixture from the heat and slowly add the butter in chunks until each one has melted completely.  Pour into a small container and place a piece of parchment paper on the lemon curd to prevent a film from forming.  Allow it to cool and then put it on EVERYTHING. 

Limoncello

My mom gave me two huge bags of meyer lemons so I made bags of ice cubes out of them for later use and then I looked up recipes!

Limoncello is often times really really sweet and I can't handle it, so I figured I would go for a more tart recipe.  As it turns out there is no tart recipe.  Limoncello is basically 100 proof vodka infused with lemon peels and then mixed with simple syrup - and I wanted tangy.  So I made a non traditional version by adding real lemon juice to the mixture.  Most people store their limoncello in the freezer because the vodka keeps it from freezing, and if you add the lemon juice and freeze it will stay forever in a state of heavenly slush.

Ingredients:

1 bottle 100 proof vodka

10 lemons worth of lemon peels

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

1/2 cup lemon juice

Peel the ten lemons and get as much of the white pith off as you can.  Put the peels in a large sealable container and pour 100 proof vodka over.  Keep the container in a dark cool place for anywhere from 3 to 10 days (I did 5 and wish I did longer).  Once the vodka is infused pour over a coffee filter and into another container to remove the lemon rinds. In a saucepan warm the water and sugar over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and add to vodka.  If it's too strong add more water, if you want it sweeter add more sugar, do what feels right.  Then if you wish to be non-traditional, add the lemon juice to taste.  Drink in slush version, pour over ice, or ice cream, or add it to a mixed drink. 

Ciao

Citrus Watermelon Cooler

Summer is here and the sun is out.  June Gloom has finally decided to move along and what better way way to celebrate than with a cold summer cocktail.  

2 ounces Rum or Vodka

1 ounce Coconut Le Croix

1/2 cup Watermelon cubed

1/2 of an english cucumber peeled and cubed

Juice of 1 lime

1 tsp. agave

In a shaker muddle the watermelon, agave and cucumber. 

Add the alcohol, Le Croix and lime juice and fill with ice. 

Strain and Garnish with a Watermelon Slice. 

Maqluba

A very traditional Arab and Israeli meal is a rice dish called maqluba. We were served it so many times during our trip, I got home and was mad about finding a way to make it. It's usually made with some sort of meat, but I altered the recipe to make a vegetarian version.  The original recipe came from Jerusalem, which is an amazing collaboration of recipes from an Israeli & a Palestinian chef. 

Place eggplant slices on a paper towel to pull out any excess water. 

Rinse the rice and place it in a bowl with veggie broth and spices - set aside. 

Put a tsp. of coconut oil (or high heat oil of your choice) in a large saucepan and grill onions over medium heat until caramelized  - set aside. Do the same with the cauliflower & eggplant until lightly browned, set aside and sprinkle with salt. The eggplant will want to soak up a lot of oil, but don't keep adding oil or it will get mushy. 

Wipe out the pan and place a sheet of parchment paper the same diameter as the pan on the bottom.  Brush melted butter on the parchment paper and up the sides of the pan. 

Layer the sliced tomato, then the eggplant, cauliflower & finally grilled onions.  Pour the rice mixture over the vegetables and add garlic.  Make sure the rice is covered with liquid, bring to a boil, cover & lower to medium heat for 30 minutes.  

Turn the heat off, place a tea towel over the rice and cover again for 10 more minutes.  

This gets tricky, but put a plate over the pan and flip fast so the rice dish is upside down on your platter. Fancy. 

If you want to add a side yogurt sauce (which I highly recommend) just mix together a small carton of greek yogurt, thin slices of 1/2 of an English cucumber, 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper, 2 tbsp fresh chopped mint & the juice of one lemon.  

Maqluba Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant cut into 1/4" rounds

1 2/3 cups basmati rice

1 Large onion

Coconut Oil

3 medium ripe tomatoes cut into 1/4" rounds

1 Medium Cauliflower divided into large florets 

3 Large cloves of garlic halved 

1 Tsp. Tumeric, Cinnamon, All Spice & Baharat

1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper & salt 

Kumquat Bonanza

My sister's kumquat tree is HUGE and produces so much fruit.  When I got to her new house she didn't know what they were so I raided her tree and told her to love them. Kumquats are a type of fruit that is common in most of Asia and sort the red headed step citrus here in America. It's a cross between an orange and a lime, so it's tangy and sweet and a little bitter. You can eat the skins, so eat them like grapes. 

We had three baskets full so I called my friend Annette who makes a kumquat reduction sauce that mixes with champagne for a delicious spring cocktail.  You can also just mix it with sparking water if you prefer. Maybe even drizzle it over Crepes, or Vanilla Ice Cream with a little sea salt sprinkled on top (this idea courtesy of Taylor Neece who is always making better food choices than everyone else at the table).  So if you have a tree with what you thought were uneatable baby oranges used for decoration, don't let them go to waste. 

Place kumquats in a blender or food processor. Add water to cover the fruit and puree.

Pour contents of blender into a strainer an use the back of a spoon to force the juice through the strainer. Toss out the mass and the seeds.

Put the juice into a saucepan and heat with sugar added to taste.  (Don't omit the sugar otherwise it won't thicken properly).  Keep adding sugar until the flavor is a good ratio of bitter, tangy and sweet.  

Stir over medium heat until it's thickened to the consistency of maple syrup. 

Now you're ready for a kumquat mimosa. 

Grilled Vegetable Salad with a Black Bean Vinaigrette

There is a restaurant close to us that makes the most amazing vegetable plate.  One of the things I love about the food  in the middle east is that they aren't afraid to serve veggies.  Here everything has to have meat and if it doesn't it's a heavy pasta dish.  Vegetables can be good and filling, they can be a whole meal and make your appetite happy, I swear.  

1 Zucchini, 2 Carrots, 15ish White Mushrooms, 1 Yellow Onion, 1 Bell Pepper, 1 Avocado, 2 Corncobs, Fresh Rosemary, Fresh Thyme, Mixed greens , 1 Can of Black Beans, Olive Oil, Agave Nectar or Honey

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  

Dice zucchini, carrots, onion, bell pepper & mushrooms. Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Don't overcrowd the cookie sheet or the veggies will steam and they'll be mushy (in my photo they are overcrowded, don't follow my example).  Sprinkle veggies with salt, pepper, fresh rosemary & fresh thyme. Place the veggies in the oven and set the timer for 30 minutes. 

While the vegetable are cooking lay out a bed of lettuce.  Drain the liquid from a can of black beans into a small dish and set aside, place the beans on the lettuce. Cube an avocado and sprinkler over the salad.

Place a grill pan over medium/high heat.  Drizzle Olive Oil and sprinkle salt and pepper over 2 corncobs and place in the pan.  Turn every few minutes until the corn is grilled, about 10 minutes.  When it's finished cut the corn from the cob and sprinkle over salad.  

For the Dressing Whisk together the liquid from the black bean can (about 1/4 cup), 3 tbsp. Olive Oil, 2 tsp. red wine vinegar & a squeeze of agave nectar. 

When the veggies are finished pull them out and let them cool for 5 minutes.  Place them on top of the salad, drizzle with dressing, and yum. 

Photos by the ever fabulous Kayla Adams, who didn't stay for lunch because she got In-n-out to avoid eating 'leaves' as she calls them.  It broke my heart, it broke my little protein deficient heart.