Week 30: The Sweet and The Sour

What's new?

Good Morning, all! Posting a day early this week, as we are headed up to the great Pacific Northwest, where our hearts are rooted deep in the moss-covered forests and where the smells of smoking salmon and never-quite-dried-out soil permeate your entire identity. A welcome getaway, after Week 30 hit us like a ton of bricks with the Praxis for Middle Grade Science. I am pretty sure I will have to retake that test, having guessed on 70/93 questions that decided to be all graduate-level chemistry and one biology question. Most of the content was not what the study guide eluded to, so really, I have no idea what my plan will be for the retake. I will know my score in 10-30 days, but I really am not being humble when I say that I don't even want to look. You know it is bad when you are praying for physics questions. Just please let there be a physics question. Or an earthquake. Or please let this be just a bad dream that I get to wake up from so I can start over. Yep. So that's that. And guess what? There are no start-overs in big kid world. You just have to keep moving forward. Breathe. Eat jars of salsa. Catch bugs with son. Lay in the grass. Sigh heavily. Watch the sun set. It won't look so bad in the morning, right? :) 

"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us."
Henry David Thoreau

Thankfully, aside from that experience, Week 30 brought to Kansas, for the first time ever, my Mom (and Henry's Amma). Henry and I were so happy that she could spend some quality time here, and her presence was such a comfort to me. 

Speaking of comfort, here is a deliciously-sweet comfort food recipe that we tried and loved this week, straight from my Goosberry Patch 101 Homestyle Favorites cookbook. The original recipe was submitted by Sandie Pfeiffer, but I made a couple of slight modifications that made my Mom and I want to eat this for breakfast, lunch, and dinner:

Broccoli Cauliflower Salad
1 head of cauliflower
2 small bunches of broccoli
1 cup mayo
2 tbs sherry cooking wine
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple-cayenne pecans (my own recipe, but you could use any candied nut)
1/2 cup finely chopped raisins
6 slices crisp bacon, chopped

Mix mayo, sherry, and sugar together. Set aside. Combine everything else into a large bowl. Add dressing mixture; mix well, and chill before serving. The original recipe called for 1/2 cup of chopped red onion and plain pecans (not candied). It also had you use 1/2 the quantity of broccoli/cauliflower and 10 slices of bacon, rather than 6. I love mayonnaise and see absolutely nothing wrong with egg, canola oil, and vinegar, which comprise mayonnaise. You could use Vegannaise instead, or omit, entirely, and this would still be tasty. Also, the original recipe called for red wine vinegar, rather than cooking sherry.   

Other Week 30 newness:

• New children's fiction. Mom brought a new Jane Yolen book for Henry, which he loves. The artist is Kelly Murphy, and her little monsters are adorable and fun! Romping Monsters, Stomping Monsters is a sweet addition to our library.

• New art. Mom also brought some new art, and it is quirky and beautiful; cheery and complicated. It is by a Swedish artist done with a mixture of watercolor and pen and ink. Just what I needed! I am getting it framed right now but will include a photo as soon as I have it back.

• New wine. One of my girlfriends here on Post left a sweet and very thoughtful goodie bag on my doorstep on test day, and inside was a wine I had not previously tried: a Sweet Red (Woodbridge 2011). Has anyone had this? It was extremely sweet! Even more so than a Gewurztraminer. I would classify this as a light dessert wine, for sure. Mom thought it would be good with spicy barbeque or Thai food, and I concur.   

Week 27: Sources of Energy and Motivation

What's new?

We hope you all enjoyed a safe and relaxing 4th of July in Week 27! This week, we tried a new yummy, easy quinoa recipe PACKED with pre AND post-running goodness. These muffins are amazing! Two muffins for breakfast provide me with enough energy to last until lunch without snacking. Normally, only a hard-boiled egg holds that kind of hunger power :) Quinoa is cheap, easy to prepare, and 1/4 cup of quinoa has 7g of protein, 30g of carbs, 3g of fiber, and 10% of your daily Iron. We call this nutrient-dense awesomeness. Why must we eat nutrient-dense awesomeness? Currently, life is much different than it was one year ago. I am solo-parenting a very energetic 2.5-year old. I am studying for a very hard exam in a couple of weeks and gearing up to become a student and eventually, go back to work as a middle grade science teacher (and/or maaaybe a high school biology teacher). I am also getting mentally prepped (maybe) for the Great Wall of China Marathon (May 2014)! I need foods that provide energy, motivation, and sleep. Do such foods exist? You bet they do! Do these foods include leftover bratwurst, beer and flag cakes from our 4th of July celebration? Noooot so much :) 

Bob's Red Mill Golden Quinoa Muffins

1 cup Bob's Red Mill Organic Quinoa

1 1/4 cups boiling water

1 cup fine ground cornmeal

1/2 cup raisins

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg, slightly beaten

1 Tbsp orange zest (I didn't have any oranges, so used lemon)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I used King Arther white whole wheat flour)

2 tsp baking powder

package instructions, per Bob himself: "In a large bowl, pour the boiling water over the quinoa grain, cornmeal, and raisins. Stir to moisten, cover and let stand refrigerated for 1 hour. Can be refrigerated up to 8 hours. Preheat oven to 375 F. Oil muffin tins and set aside. Sit into the quinoa mixture the honey, oil, egg, orange zest, salt, whole wheat pastry flour and baking powder. Mix quickly, being careful not to overmix. Spoon into prepared muffin tins. Bake for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Makes 12 muffins."

What else?

Lots of other newness in Week 27:

• St Joseph, MO Remington Nature Center. An easy, 45-minute drive north from Fort Leavenworth (and well-worth it!), this is a beautiful building containing a plethora of phenomenal displays of native wildlife and ecological processes. The displays are both living and taxidermic, and both interactive and audio/visual. I HIGHLY recommend this place for kids and adults of any age, and the Riverwalk pathway is open at dusk, if you want to go for a great nature walk an hour or so prior to the center opening (at 10:00am). $3 admission for the general public and listed as one of the Blue Star facilities if you are a military family. 5/5 stars! :)

• Some new children's fiction worth mentioning: We are big Sandra Boynton fans around here, and I was looking for a book I knew Henry would respond to about feelings. I have seen other things that claim to be for his age-group that are either way too over-the-top serious, emotional, or just not enough to keep him coming back to read it. Boyton's Happy Hippo, Angry Duck is just our speed :) And you know what? I can think of plenty of adults of whom this would also be their speed...I am putting this under our "deployment resources" for sure. 5/5 stars. Dr Seuss always gets 5/5 stars. Biscuit books...Henry is obsessed with them. I honestly would rather read a lot of other things, but because he loves these so much, and we have already read all of the ones at the library, I figured it was time to own a few. Our new bugs book is actually non-fiction, and it has beautiful artwork and explanations of spiders, so it gets 5/5 as well. 

• Wine in a box (Bota Box Reisling). The same neighbor who told me about Green Smoothie Revolution also advised me to try wine in a box. This woman has some good advice! Why not? And white wine, too! I think the last time I drank this much white wine, I was 21...In all seriousness, this is nice for single wine servings, when you really only want one glass, and Ted and I had tried Bota individual boxes camping many times, so I knew it would be okay. Good for exhausted moms and girl's nights :) We'll just call this a momma deployment resource. 

• New neighbors...yeah, yeah, what is new, right? This is pretty much a constant. They seem very sweet, and their little girl is exactly Henry's age. He already let her give him a hug and liked it :) 

• New running shorts! It's gross how long it has been since I purchased new running shorts. Think about it: Running shorts are like underwear, but grosser. Okay, don't think about it. A message to the 15-25 year old girls who have decided to make the ONLY good fitting running shorts their latest fashion statement: "Keep your paws off of my running gear! I am flattered that you want to stick your twiggy, non-running legs in my running shorts and wear them with tall socks and a messy bun and this is considered fashion, but please. $30 for a cheap piece of nylon gives me ulcers, and thanks to you, this is how much I now have to pay. Go find something else!!"

:)

Week 19: A Flavor Explosion

What's New?

Week 19 was cut a little short by a nasty momma flu virus (ew!). Damn, I really need to stop licking the carts at Walmart :) Luckily, we started the week out with a bang and didn't lose any time in trying new things despite the midweek bump in the road. We were also able to get in some fantastic toddler bird-watching, and my kid is so into it! I never expected that he would be at all, but he is really good at remembering the names of things and at spotting critters. I will probably cry when he gets his first pair of binoculars. And he will think I am nuts. And that will be us for the rest of our lives together. That is all.

So, yes. I tried a new coffee, which is one I bought from the Coffeehouse at City Market in Kansas City the previous week, along with my loads of black jelly beans. It was bright, spicy, and a little green...they would hate me for saying this, but it reminded me of Starbuck's coffee. A lot of folks LOVE that, but I am going to stick with my Pete's Major Dickensen's blend, thank you very much. All time favorite is still Caffe Vita from Seattle, or Tully's, if I am near one somewhere on the West Coast. I'll try anything twice, but am a tough sell on replacing my true favorites (again, a reason this blog exists)!

A friend down the street surprised me with a jar of her homemade pineapple salsa. Since chips and salsa are a staple item (one of the 4 food groups, actually) in this household, and I have a salsa addiction, I was excited. I had never tried a tomato-based pineapple salsa before, and I have to say, I liked it! It was definitely different, and I ate the entire jar in 2 days, so I guess different is good :) I think this would be amazing on grilled tilapia, or mixed with rice and beans. A nice change of pace from a lot of cilantro.

Josh Cabernet (Vintage 2011) was actually something I tried a few weeks back, but I somehow forgot to mention it. This was a recommendation by a friend whose palate I trust more than just about anyone else's. I love how winemakers describe their wines as "approachable". What does that even mean? Have you ever met an unapproachable wine? C'mon. Yet Josh is one that I have approached several times already and loved it each time. I always love a confident cab with a soft finish that doesn't overpower everything. I think that's what "approachable" must mean :)

New Henry Stuff for Week 19:

• First time he reached up and held my hand while we were out walking. He even said, "holding momma's hand" and looked up at smiled at me :) MELT. Of course, on another occasion out walking, I reached down to grab his hand as we were crossing an intersection, and he had a complete meltdown the whole rest of the way home...

• Got our first library card! This boy loves his books, and we go through them pretty quickly now. Even with eBaying, a children's book habit (or an adult one, ahem, my HUSBAND) can spiral out of control REAL fast. The library (L-I-B-R-A-R-Y) is loads of fun :) xoxo