Weekly Menu

This week I'm looking forward to some new recipes as well as some old ones.  We haven't had chili here in many many months.  Last night is was wonderfully comforting with our cool and wet day here and it made plenty of leftovers that went in to the freezer for some other nights.
Saturday--Chili, Cheesy Cornbread, Rice
Sunday--Hamburgers, butternut squash fries, hatch chili dip, green salad, baked beans
Monday--Pasta Spinach Bake with Creamy Lemon Sauce and Chicken (original recipe uses tortellini, but I'm using GF/DF pasta)
Tuesday--Thai Peanut Noodles  Everyone loved this dish a couple weeks ago!
Wednesday--Mexican Beef and Bean Casserole
Thursday--Tuscan Chickpea and Sun Dried Tomato Soup
Friday--Baked Potato Soup

Shedding Some Light

Today I think I'm going to tackle a difficult subject.  I've been thinking about writing about it for the last couple of weeks.  This morning on Facebook I came across someone else who wrote about it today and figured I probably should do so now too.  Depression, specifically depression during pregnancy.  What?!  Yes, did you know that depression (even with no other times of being depressed) during pregnancy can occur?  This current pregnancy of mine came just 3 short weeks after a miscarriage.  Shocked, definitely!  Ready, no.  Excited, no. Hormonally messed up, you bet!!!!  It's no wonder I fell.  Crazy hormones combined with awful all-day and night sickness.  Despite having 3 other kiddos to care for, I spent days in bed.  GROSS!  I've never been one to enjoy naps, stay in bed all day, go more than a day without showering, go days without getting dressed.  I didn't completely realize it at the time, I thought I was just pregnancy sick, but I had a feeling there was something more going on.   I suppose I'm sharing this just to help spread some awareness, to help others feel they aren't alone and that their feelings are okay.  I'm happy to say that now I am over it and am very excited to have this sweet baby. :)
Have you or anyone you know gone through this particular type of depression?  I encourage you to read the other article on this matter as she covers more and provides more information.

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Even Bigger Boy Now!

Saturday evening my big boy got even bigger.  John Paul can now ride his bike WITHOUT training wheels!  He had been asking, no begging, for the training wheels to be taken off for quite some time now, but with the heat of the summer we kept telling him, "Not now, when it cools off."  Well, it cooled off.  He got the hang of it within 20 minutes!

Dinner Revised to Chicken Curry

Do you every plan something for dinner and then just not feel in the mood for it?  That was me tonight.  It's hot again (okay, maybe not hot hot, but we had to turn the air back on) and I just wasn't in the mood for my quinoa and zucchini and beans meal that was planned.  I made the beans earlier today, so those are ready to go both for dinner tomorrow night as well as some other time.  Earlier in the day I had decided to add some chicken to the quinoa meal, so that was thawing.  Since I just wasn't in the mood for our usual dish, I went to one of my favorite cooking/recipe sites, The Kitchn, to get some ideas.  I wanted quinoa so I searched for some quinoa recipes.  One click led to another and I was on my way to some great Indian recipes.  Now, Indian recipes use rice instead of quinoa, but hey, why not substitute?  Another click or two led me to this great base recipe for Indian Chicken Curry.  I had everything on hand with the exception of the coconut milk.  A quick call to Mom's Pantry remedied the situation! :)  A can was delivered right away along with some time with Grammie Julie for the kiddos.  The bonus tonight, everyone had seconds!

My Version of Indian Chicken Curry
Ingredients
small bit of olive oil
1/2-1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
3 T curry
1 t cinnamon
1 t paprika
1/2 t sugar
1/2-1 t fresh ginger root*, minced
salt
2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves cut in to bite sized pieces
1-2 T tomato paste*
1 can coconut milk**
couple dashes of cayenne pepper
Frozen peas
Chickpeas

How To
Warm the olive oil in large skillet.  Add the chopped onion and cook over medium heat until slightly browned.  Add all of the rest of the ingredients except for the cayenne pepper, peas, and chickpeas.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes.  Add in desired amount of green peas and chickpeas and let simmer for about 5 minutes.  A minute or so before serving add in a touch of cayenne pepper.
*I keep a ginger root in a baggie in my freezer so that it is ready to go when needed.  Just set it out a for a few minutes to soften a bit then use a sharp knife to slice some ginger off, cut off the skin edges, then chop it up.  Fresh ginger always on hand!
*Rarely do I use an entire can of tomato paste when I open it.  So, I just put however much is left over in to a small baggie and spread it out and freeze it.  To use, just break some off and pop it in to your dish as needed.  Never waste tomato paste again.
**The original recipe called for 3/4 cup of coconut milk and 1 cup of plain yogurt. To keep it dairy free I just added the entire can of coconut milk and it turned out great.  Some of the reviews did the same as me and some did the opposite--all yogurt and no coconut milk.  Some used neither and subbed in half and half and cream cheese.  Also, the original recipe called for some lemon juice to be added at the end.  I had planned on doing that, but forgot. Oh and it called for a bay leaf too, but I didn't have that either.  It still tasted great!

Serving
Tonight I served this over the quinoa (cooked in chicken broth) however I bet eating it with rice instead would make the dish taste even better!  Also, serving it with naan would be fabulous too.

Enjoy!
Shared on Today's Creative Blog 
and on Momnivore's Dilemma  

Hot Pumpkin Spiced Milk

Oh my, if I end this pregnancy at 200 pounds I know exactly what I will blame it on!  Hot Pumpkin Spiced milk!  Don't judge it as a crazy pregnancy craving just yet.  It is so yummy and the perfect warm drink to end the day.  I was drinking homemade decaf pumpkin spice lattes, but they (along with horrible allergies) really messed up my sleep, as in I wasn't sleeping.  So, I decided to try the same drink just without the coffee.  I'm hooked and sipping some right now :)
So, here's the recipe and how to.
Hot Pumpkin Spiced Milk**
In a microwave safe mug, plop in a couple spoonfuls of sweetened condensed milk, a couple spoonfuls of pureed or canned pumpkin, a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice, then fill the mug about half way full with milk.  Stir it all up.  Heat in the microwave until all warmed up to your liking (I like mine practically boiling). Then stir again and fill the mug the rest of the way with milk and reheat if necessary (I always do).  Sip carefully and enjoy!
**To make this dairy free, use vanilla almond milk and toss in a bit of sugar or cinnamon sugar in place of the sweetened condensed milk.

Weekly Menu

We've got a busy first half of the week in the evenings, so the menu is fairly simple.  To make up for it, we ate great last night and tonight!
Saturday--Roasted Eggplant soup, rolls, Roasted Veggie pizza too (see below for the recipe)
Sunday--Acorn squash pasta with bacon and sage, Pear and Blue Cheese Salad
Monday--Quinoa with zucchini and beans
Tuesday--Tacos with meat and beans, Mexican rice, and green salad
Wednesday--Spaghetti with sausage, green salad
Thursday--soup buffet (leftover soups from the past few weeks that I've frozen) and rolls
Friday--grilled salmon, green beans, Orange roasted Carrots and Parsnips

Anyone interested in our breakfast weekly menu?  Leave a comment here to let me know.

Roasted Veggie Pizza

Last night I made the BEST pizza!  It turned out so yummy and I can't wait to make it again.  It was spicy, sweet, and deep in flavor while being light yet very filling too.
I had made a batch of bread dough intending to make rolls to go with dinner.  I was making a roasted eggplant soup for dinner, but really wanted pizza.  So, I split the dough in half, half for the rolls and the other half for my pizza.  The vegetables that were roasting (425 for 30 minutes) were eggplant (sliced and chunked), zucchini (sliced), onion (chunks), and garlic cloves tossed with olive, Kosher salt, and black pepper.
While the veggies were roasting, I spread out the dough for the crust, spread a bit of olive oil on it along with some garlic powder and Italian seasoning.  Then, because I had a very small chunk of mozzarella, I shredded that and added it to the pizza crust.
After the vegetable were done, I put most of them in to the soup pot and saved some for my pizza.  I let them cool just a bit while I figured out what else I wanted on my pizza.  I had a single slice of prosciutto, some sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, a fresh block of mozzarella, and some pepperoncinis.  Mmm, I think that'll be good!  See...

There are roasted slices of eggplant and zucchini, chunks of roasted onion, squished cloves of roasted garlic.  Pure yumminess!  Add the sun-dried tomatoes, prosciutto, freshly shredded mozzarella, chunks of goat cheese (be  generous) all on top of the veggies.  Bake for about 12 minutes at 375.  While the pizza bakes, slice up a few pepperoncinis.  After the pizza is done cooking, sprinkle the pepperoncini slices on top of the pizza.

It smelled so good, we ate it right away and I forgot to get a picture of the entire pizza--that's what was left.  It made for a delicious breakfast.  :)
Enjoy!

Labor Day

Today is Labor Day.  A day off of school.  A day off of work.  Time for a last summer hurrah.  Right?  Do you give a second thought to what we celebrate this day?  Wikipedia says Labor Day is the day that "celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers."  There are so many jobs out there.  So many that go unrecognized, thankless, unknown.  Of course there are those that get praised and recognized and thanked almost daily.  Today, I give thanks to the people who work without recognition in those jobs that no one wants, those jobs where they don't get paid what they should, those jobs that require workers toil day in and day out without a chance to get ahead.  I've read a couple of books that are quite eye-opening about this topic.  The first I read a couple of years ago, called Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich.  For this book, Barbara left her home and became part of the low-wage working class to explore if she could make it.  It's quite a read and just might cause a paradigm shift for you.  I sure do appreciate the work and people who take those low-wage jobs in the hopes of providing for themselves and family, and who want to honestly earn money and do the best they can with what they've been dealt.   The second book I read recently that somewhat covers this topic is Tomatoland by Barry Estabrook.  While the book talks about many things regarding the tomato, it devotes a couple of chapters to those who pick the tomatoes and their lives in this line of work.  Did you know that today, here in America--the land of the free, slavery and indentured servants still exist?
So, on this Labor Day, consider thinking about and giving thanks to those who work with little to show for all the work they do.  And, the next time you encounter one of these workers, show them your appreciation, because chances are we wouldn't be able to get by and live the lives we do without their work.

Weekly Menu

With the forecasted cooler temperatures this week, I'm really getting in the mood for Autumn.  Penelope and I did some fall decorating on Friday and lit a spicy fall candle.  I've had it burning ever since.  Last night I made some cinnamon rolls that I baked up this morning--so delicious and Autumny!  While grocery shopping yesterday, I picked up some pumpkin and organic semi-local apples for baking some pancakes and muffins. 
Any Fall cooking this week for you?

Saturday--Roasted Beef and Mushroom Soup with Rice and Thyme adapted from Everyday Food magazine October 2010 issue
Sunday--Grilled Salmon with garlic and capers, Brown rice, Jalapeno Poppers--cream cheese and  bacon, Green Salad
Monday--Pumpkin Dumplings from Cooking For Isaiah and roasted chicken legs
Tuesday--Thai Peanut Noodles with (left over) chicken
Wednesday--Momnivore's Caramelized Chicken Noodle Soup
Thursday--Adapted Rockin' Italian-Style Meatloaf, Baked Potatoes, Green Salad with balsamic vinaigrette
Friday--Quinoa with Zucchini and Ground beef and such

Heavenly Cappuccinos

There is something so soothing and re-energizing about a good cup of coffee.  Now that the weather is supposed to start cooling down--get this, the high today is 102 with a heat index of 100; it's going to be a windy day--it is September 1st after all, I look even more forward to my daily cup.  I'm so excited that I've been feeling better and can enjoy my mug of decaf (regular when I'm not pregnant).  I'm particular about my cup though.  I make 2 cups, one for me and one for Jaime, so the following is for 2 cappuccinos.  I start by boiling some water, about a cup and a third, and put 2 tablespoons of Starbucks' ground espresso roast in to my French press.  When the water has boiled, I pour that on top of the ground coffee and let it steep for 5 minutes.  While the coffee is steeping, I pour some half and half in to my mug and add a bit of sugar and do the same for Jaime's mug.  With about 1 minute remaining on the steep time, I heat the half and half in the microwave for 20 seconds.  Then hand whisk the warmed half and half to create the foam for the cappuccino :)  The foam is the best part!  Finally, I press the coffee and pour it in to each mug (the foam goes to the top when the coffee is poured in slowly).  Heavenly!

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While I love my homemade cappuccino and can happily drink it year round and multiple times a day, I am very excited for the upcoming seasonal coffee drinks from Starbucks.  I love the Pumpkin Spice Latte and Gingerbread Latte--though I get all my drinks done as cappuccinos.

Hold the whip cream, please. (Source)

Doesn't that just look delicious?!  The only problem is the price of these yummy drinks.  So, I have found some fantastic homemade versions online.
For a pumpkin spice latte, check out this recipe on TheKitchn (this is a fantastic site for info and recipes!). And, here's a recipe for the homemade gingerbread latte.
Enjoy and let me know if you give these a try.
***UPDATE: if you are more of a spiced chai kind of person, I just found this homemade recipe.