Creativity and some veggies

Creative should have been Tosha's middle name. He is content when he creates something. I encourage and praise him, hoping that this feeds and grows his gift. Maybe his creations are just special to me, because I am his mother, but maybe they are little sprouts of something great to come:)



This is Sharkoctopus - they were supposed to create a monster at school. Antosha got his idea from a movie cover he saw at a store a while ago.



In this one Tosha packaged up some rocks and a couple pennies into a paper tower, colored it brown (because he ran out of brown construction paper) and said that everyone is going to think that he stole some money from the bank:) Don't know where he got this idea from...




This is our cooperative bowling project. We made the ball from rice and balloons.

Now for some recipes...
I made some great crunchy baked veggie fries from zucchini and asparagus with marinara sauce. I got the recipe from here and changed it up a bit.
I used Panko bread crumbs, used a whole egg instead of an egg white, and used Parmesan instead of Pecorino Romano. I also just used some already made Marinara that I had on hand. My crumbs and cheese mixture didn't stick as well as I wanted it to stick to the veggies, and mine don't look as pretty as I wanted them to look, but they tasted very good.



I would like to end on a sweet note...very sweet one, I might add:)



Dulce de Leche Brownies

Pineapple Butter Cake and Two Soups

Right before Easter, I bought a pineapple for $1 at Safeway - it was a little green, but I let it sit for over a week on my counter and it ripened up very well. As I was browsing through some of my fave blogs, I spotted an easy cake using pineapple. I made it right away, and it was goooood. I will make it again for sure, and I also want to try the same version, but with apples.

Pineapple Butter Cake by Chef Dennis
½ cup unsalted butter
2 cups chopped pineapple
2/3 cup flour
½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 whole eggs plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp grated lemon zest
powdered sugar to dust

Preheat oven to 350, butter a 9” round cake pan
In a large frying pan over low heat, melt the butter, reserve 6 tbs for later. Add the Pineapple and cook for about 10 minutes. In a small bowl mix together flour, salt and baking powder. In a large bowl beat the whole eggs and egg yolks until blended. Add the butter, sugar, vanilla and lemon zest. Stir in flour and pineapple. Spoon into prepared pan, smoothing the top. Bake until cake is browned, 30-35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Invert cake onto plate to remove the pan and then invert again and return to rack to cool completely.
Before serving dust with powdered sugar.

My comments - I used half the sugar, and the cake still was pretty sweet, maybe because my pineapple was very ripe.

I told the kids "Let's have soup for dinner." One said "Ooh, make my favorite baked potato soup!" and the other one said "No, make my favorite chicken noodle soup." What does a mother do in such a situation? Makes both! These 2 soups have very few ingredients, so they weren't too hard to make. While the chicken stock for one was simmering away, the potatoes were baking for the other. My handy mandolin also helped speed things up by slicing the carrots and the potatoes. It was all very painless:)

Baked Potato Soup from Curvy Carrot
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

For the soup:

5 russet potatoes, scrubbed well and dried

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, divided into two 1/4-cup portions

6 cups whole milk

2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

3/4 cup white cheddar cheese, shredded

1/2 cup green onions, chopped

1/2 cup sour cream

For the potato skins:

Reserved potato skins (from above)

Canola oil, for brushing

Sea salt and pepper

For topping: Additional cheese (I used an extra sharp cheddar), sour cream, green onion



Instructions

1. For the soup: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Poke tiny holes in each potato multiple times with a fork, and place the potatoes on a baking sheet.

3. Bake the potatoes until fully cooked and softened, about 1 hour.

4. Once fully cooked, remove the potatoes from the oven and let cool completely (about 1 hour or so).

5. Once cooled, slice each potato into two pieces and carefully peel back the skins, removing the skins intact as best as possible. (If you plan on using them for the crunchy potato skins, this is helpful. If you don’t plan on using them, just discard the skins.)

6. Place half of the potato “insides” in a separate large bowl. Using a potato masher or large wooden spoon, mash the potato into small pieces.

7. Slice the remaining potato halves into 1/2-inch (or bite size) pieces.

8. In a large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat, melt the butter.

9. Add 1/4 cup of the flour to the melted butter, whisking constantly until lightly golden brown, about 2 minutes.

10. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan well.

11. Add the remaining flour and whisk to combine. Cook the mixture until thickened, about 8 minutes.

12. Add the potato bits and pieces and stir well.

13. Add the salt, pepper, and white cheddar, stirring well until the cheese is fully melted and incorporated.

14. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the green onions and sour cream. Serve immediately.

15. For the potato skins: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

16. Place the reserved, intact potato skins (or, if you are like me, irregular jagged bits of potato skins……) onto a baking sheet.

17. Using a silicone brush, lightly brush each skin with a little canola oil.

18. Sprinkle the pieces with salt and pepper (or other seasonings, if desired).

19. Bake for 15 minutes or so, or until potato skins are crispy. ***I would advise checking them quite often since oven temperatures may vary.

Comments: The instructions seem long, but the soup is so easy to make. I substituted 2 C of milk with water. I did not try making the potato skins, but maybe you will:) I just fried up some bacon.
I cup up bacon, green onion, and shredded some cheddar cheese, placed them in little bowls, and had Tosha add it himself to his soup - he loved doing that and ate 2 full bowls!

Chicken Noodle Soup
I don't really have a recipe, I just kinda make it. For the chicken stock I used
8 C of water
2 chicken thighs with skin on and bone in
1 onion
1 carrot
2 bay leaves
Salt to taste
I let it cook for about an hour, then I strain the broth. Discard skin and bone from the chicken and cup up the meat. Use the mandolin to cut up 2 carrots, and 2 potatoes into the soup. Let it cook for 10 more mins. Add in some chopped parsley and dill. The noodles, I cook separately (I use very fine egg noodles). To plate, I put some noodles into the bowl, ladle the broth w/ veggies and chicken over the noodles.

Some Easter Moments

The beautiful Easter morning started out with a latte and a piece of Colomba Primavera that I bought at the World Market for $5!(it 50% off because I bought it the day before Easter) It tasted almost like a Panetone...someday I'll stop being lazy and bake one myself:)



I just noticed the mess on the porch...didn't get to the porch with the cleaning.



The kids found all 40 eggs, and each found exactly 20 - I have no idea how that happened...they were happy. I had to tell them that I have never liked egg hunts. First because to the ones our family went, always had tons of kids there and all the kids were running, pushing, grabbing...that just wasn't my thing. I always found the least amount of eggs, that was very embarrassing because I was the oldest one there...so now I have to make sure everyone has enough eggs, and everyone is happy:)
We were also going to make the Empty Tomb rolls in evening...but that just didn't happen. So we made them on Monday...nothing wrong with that. The kids loved them, and had so much fun making them.

Waffles, Egg Coloring, and Dinner that only I liked

My plan for today was to make waffles, and then color eggs with the kids. Everything happened exactly as planned. The waffles are VERY good, I mean VERY good - the recipe is from the little booklet that came with the waffle maker...who knew those little booklets had such quality recipes.

Banana Sour Cream Waffles
Makes 4 to 6 waffles
1 C Flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, separated
1 C sour cream
1/4 C milk
1/4 C butter, melted
1 ripe banana, mashed
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In a small bowl, beat the egg white with a whisk until light peaks form. Add egg yolk, sour cream, milk, butter, and banana to the flour mixture and mix well. Fold in the whipped egg white. Pour 3/4 cup of batter into the waffle baker. Cook 6 to 7 minutes or until golden brown.

Oh, and I whipped up some heavy whipping cream with maple syrup, pares very well with waffles:)



Then the eggs...When I was imagining how it was all going to happen, I imagined the table filled with paints, markers, stickers, glue, glitter, papers to cut out little pictures, colored sand and the little dots with both sides sticky...it was going to be grand...but when it came to it, it was very simple, and I was happy that it was simple - just dye, markers and stickers. The whole process went very smoothly, I am still learning to relax, and not be so controlling...just let the kids create.







We cleaned up, the kids went outside to play. I really wanted to make something good to eat...started looking through one of my favorite magazines Everyday Food and saw this great meal - new potatoes, chicken, asparagus, and a lemon - all roasted together. So, I followed the recipe exactly (except I didn't have fresh thyme) It turned out beautifully, I plated the food for the kids - they ate the chicken, and then said that I should not make this anymore - "mommy potatoes and asparagus are sour" I said, "well, there is a little bit of lemon there" Tosha "I don't like sour potatoes and asparagus, could I please have what we had yesterday" I warmed the leftovers from yesterday and became sad. I missed my husband, he would have loved it for sure, because it was good...
Here is the recipe

Vegetarian Borscht and a New Bike

I make Borscht quite often. First, because it is my husband's favorite soup, second, because it reminds me of my roots, and third, because I am hoping that if I make it enough that my kids will love it too. Tosha says "Mom, I think I don't like it, but when I taste it, I like it." That's good enough for me:) I've been making it without meat lately, and I really like it. I don't have it written down anywhere, it hasn't stayed the same, the recipe keeps evolving over time.

Vegetarian Borscht
4-6 Servings
8 cups of vegetable stock
2-3 medium potatoes (medium dice)
1/4 of a head of a cabbage
2 medium carrots (shredded or diced small)
1/2 of a medium sweet onion (diced small)
1 red bell pepper (if you have some fire roasted peppers in a jar - they will work great too) (diced small)
1 can of white beans
2 medium or 1 large beet root (shredded)
2 Tbsp of Ketchup
1/2 cup good Marinara sauce
1 Tbsp of Sugar or Agave
1 Tbsp of Vinegar
2 cloves or garlic (pressed)
1-2 Tbsp of dill (chopped fine)
Salt/Pepper to taste
Olive oil for sauteing
Sour Cream
Start out with sauteing onions, carrots and bell peppers with some olive oil in a heavy bottom pot (dutch oven) for about 10 mins. Pour in the stock and bring to boil. Put in potatoes and cabbage. In a small frying pan heat some olive oil (1Tbsp) and start sauteing shredded beet root for about 10 mins sprinkle it with the sugar, then add ketchup, and marinara. Now it's ready for the soup. Add it to the soup, then add the vinegar (this will help preserve the nice dark red color), turn down the heat to low, and let it cook for about 5 mins. Wash the beans until they stop foaming and add to the soup. Add in the garlic, and dill and turn it off. Don't cover it. Let it just sit there for another 15 mins. Serve with a dollop of sour cream. This soup is even better the next day, so make enough for two days.
My Dad used to eat it with a piece of white onion or a green onion, he would dip it in salt a little and just bite it. I also saw a video where they showed how to make an authentic Ukrainian Borscht and they ground together some garlic, lard (SALO), and herbs (dill and parsley) with mortar and pestle and put some of that into the bowl, and then poured the borscht over that. I haven't tried that but maybe I will someday.

We FINALLY bought Alicia a "big girl" bike. She was SO happy and SO thankful, and did such a great job riding it. We had to go to the park to test it out right away.


Tosha would say that I love Alicia more if I didn't post a picture of him on his bike, so here is one of him!

Family Time

Alicia is keeping her favorite little puppy warm. She is such a caring little person, all her "babies" are very well taken care of.


We are very fortunate to be living so close to a National Park. This was a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn't help and still share it beacuse it was such a fun little outing. Kids loved throwing rocks itno the river, chasing after the ducks, roasting marshmallows, and climbing everywhere they could.

Cabbage & Noodles

Today I want to share an Eastern European simple simple dish of cabbage & noodles. It's one of those dishes that you want seconds and thirds...at least I do:) I found it in a Moosewood cookbook.

Serves 4
2 cups thinly sliced onions
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 Tbsp paprika (I didn't have any)
8 cups finely shredded cabbage (about 1 1/2lbs)
2 tsp salt
12 oz fine or medium-wide egg noodles
freshly ground black pepper to taste
dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt (optional)

In a pot with a tight lid, cook the onions in the butter on med heat until golden, about 15 min. Add the paprika and saute for a few seconds more. Stir in the cabbage, and the salt, and continue to cook for 5 more min., stirring now and then. Cover tightly and cook on very low heat for 40 - 60 min., stirring occasionally, until the cabage is very soft and brown. The longer it cooks the sweeter it gets.
When the cabbage is almost done, cook the noodles in boiling water until al dente. Drain them and toss well with the cabage mixture. Add a generous amount of pepper and, if you like, top with a dollop of sour cream.

My comments:
I sauted the onions, and cabage in the frying pan with some olive oil (also added a shredded carrot) for maybe 30 mins total, and didn't add the paprika. It turned out very very good and the kids loved it too!