Sunday, February 28, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
22 weeks
The belly at 22ish weeks. Things are still going well. I saw my midwife yesterday and I gained a respectable 5 pounds this month. With Asher I gained in spurts and it seems this pregnancy is going to be the same way.
In other pregnancy related news, I'm really excited because we are going to take a live Hypnobabies class this time. I did the home study course with Asher and could have just done that again, but I feel like I'll get more out of a live class. Fortunately, because I've already done the course, I get a discount to do the live class. And I get to take it with two of my fellow pregnant friends--Amy and Andrea. We start next month. I'm really looking forward to it.
In other pregnancy related news, I'm really excited because we are going to take a live Hypnobabies class this time. I did the home study course with Asher and could have just done that again, but I feel like I'll get more out of a live class. Fortunately, because I've already done the course, I get a discount to do the live class. And I get to take it with two of my fellow pregnant friends--Amy and Andrea. We start next month. I'm really looking forward to it.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
grinding wheat
We've been grinding our own wheat for several months now--ever since we got our kitchenaid grain mill attachment. It's super satisfying to see the wheat go from a whole grain to a beautiful soft flour.
As you can see, Asher loves to watch. If he hears the mixer going he comes running and climbs up on his stool to be near the action.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Guest Post: Asian Inspired Salmon Dinner from Jared
My husband, Jared, is an excellent cook. It's one of the reasons why I fell in love with him. He often makes us delicious meals, which I rarely post about because I feel bad not being able to post the recipe... and Jared very, very rarely uses any kind of recipe when he cooks. He is the master of making things up out of his head. However, he's recently decided to start sharing some of his knowledge with us here on my little blog by writing up some of his meals. Enjoy!
From leftovers to a restaurant quality meal in 15 minutes....
Over the years, Katrina has referenced my love of cooking. And I do love it, finding the creative process of crafting healthy,exciting dinners to be very satisfying. I have toyed with the idea of keeping a casual food blog, but as my lovely wife has pointed out, it might be frustrating because I am an "intuitive cook", not measuring ingredients, throwing together whatever feels right, and often not even tasting my creations before they are served. This process makes it challenging to record how I make my meals; sometimes I can't remember how I make a particular dish until I try again. But as an experiment, I thought I would start writing a guest post here and there about meals we enjoyed. My ideal cookbook would contain principles as well as recipes--what kinds of flavors and seasonings go together, how to prepare different types of food, etc. This flexible approach would allow one recipe to teach you how to cook a class of foods, instead of a single dish.
I mostly wanted to record this meal because it made such a pretty picture. :-)
Dinner came together in several steps. We had some leftover quinoa (one of the most perfect foods ever), and so I made a little lunch out of it. I cubed a small yam, then boiled it on medium heat, keeping water just covering the yams. When the yams started getting soft I put 1/2 cube of vegetable bouillon in. I put in two cans of garbanzo beans, drained, as well as the leftover quinoa, about 2-2 1/2 cups cooked. I mixed everything together, adding a few tablespoons of light soy sauce (I would have used Braggs Liquid Aminos if I had some on hand). I left the dish this way for Asher to eat, and added a bit of hot sauce to ours, which made it nice.
We were talking about what to make for dinner, and Katrina suggested salmon. This is how I often cook, picking one ingredient or idea and then building a meal around it. I asked her whether she wanted salmon and potatoes or salmon and rice, with a more Asian approach. We had bok choy that we needed to eat, so we picked rice. But instead of making rice, I decided to just use the leftovers from lunch. One of my favorite things to do is to transform leftovers into interesting variations. So here are the elements of the meal:
Salmon
The two elements of cooking fish such as salmon are cooking it and flavoring it. If you are using frozen (Costco has wonderful individually packaged salmon steaks), the way you thaw it also affects the outcome. I like my salmon with a golden, crispy outside and tender, flaky, and moist interior. I didn't mean to do this, but the inside of the salmon was just a bit frozen still when I started cooking it, which ended up turning out very nicely. I put some olive oil and a bit of vegan butter in a HOT saucepan, and swished around the sizzling oil and butter. I then put the salmon steaks pretty side down, and covered them (if the fish is completely thawed I don't cover it). I sprinkled a bit of powdered ginger on the tops. I waited a few minutes and flipped them over, then poured a mixture of hot sauce and orange juice (about 1 Tbsp hot sauce and 3 Tbsp orange juice) over the salmon steaks, then covered them again. How long to cook each side is something you get a feel for, but you want the flesh to be completely opaque and the outside golden brown. The fact that the insides were not completely thawed allowed the outsides to get a gorgeous and crispy golden brown while keeping the insides tender.
Veggies
I wanted each of the elements of the meal to complement the others, so I kept the flavor of the veggies light. I enjoy bok choy because it combines a radishy flavor with the flavor of the greens. I sliced two carrots into thin rectangles, and started those cooking in a bit of vegetable oil (you could also use wok oil, or olive oil). I put some ginger on those and splashed some rice vinegar on them after they cooked a bit. I cut up the bok choy and stirred that in. I turned off the veggies, because I didn't want them to overcook.. timing everything so all the dishes are finished at the same time takes practice, as we know. When I turned them back on I added some light soy sauce (why anyone would ever need full sodium soy sauce is beyond me, and I like Braggs even more ever since we discovered it a few months ago), as well as some more ginger. When it was nearly finished, I sprinkled on some sesame oil (you don't want to burn sesame oil). Bok choy really does not need to cook long at all; I would have cooked it a touch less than I did tonight.
Quinoa Pilaf
I took the leftover quinoa-garbanzo bean-yam dish and wanted to jazz it up a bit. So I sprinkled on some Indian Curry we got at an Asian Market, put in a heaping spoonful of coconut milk, and put it back on the heat. I also threw in a bit of coconut water we had in the fridge, but didn't need to. When it was almost done I squirted on some lime juice.
I wanted to make it look pretty, so shaped the quinoa into domes, garnished the salmon with some clementine segments, put a few leaves of cilantro on the pilaf, and placed some sliced tomatoes on the side. The finished product looks pretty enough to be in a restaurant (with a taste to match; you will need to take my word for it), but I literally threw it together in about 15 minutes! The quinoa dish ended up being a bit spicy on its own, but everything together tasted great.
As a side note, we eat fish rarely, which ends up being about every other month at most.
From leftovers to a restaurant quality meal in 15 minutes....
Over the years, Katrina has referenced my love of cooking. And I do love it, finding the creative process of crafting healthy,exciting dinners to be very satisfying. I have toyed with the idea of keeping a casual food blog, but as my lovely wife has pointed out, it might be frustrating because I am an "intuitive cook", not measuring ingredients, throwing together whatever feels right, and often not even tasting my creations before they are served. This process makes it challenging to record how I make my meals; sometimes I can't remember how I make a particular dish until I try again. But as an experiment, I thought I would start writing a guest post here and there about meals we enjoyed. My ideal cookbook would contain principles as well as recipes--what kinds of flavors and seasonings go together, how to prepare different types of food, etc. This flexible approach would allow one recipe to teach you how to cook a class of foods, instead of a single dish.
I mostly wanted to record this meal because it made such a pretty picture. :-)
Dinner came together in several steps. We had some leftover quinoa (one of the most perfect foods ever), and so I made a little lunch out of it. I cubed a small yam, then boiled it on medium heat, keeping water just covering the yams. When the yams started getting soft I put 1/2 cube of vegetable bouillon in. I put in two cans of garbanzo beans, drained, as well as the leftover quinoa, about 2-2 1/2 cups cooked. I mixed everything together, adding a few tablespoons of light soy sauce (I would have used Braggs Liquid Aminos if I had some on hand). I left the dish this way for Asher to eat, and added a bit of hot sauce to ours, which made it nice.
We were talking about what to make for dinner, and Katrina suggested salmon. This is how I often cook, picking one ingredient or idea and then building a meal around it. I asked her whether she wanted salmon and potatoes or salmon and rice, with a more Asian approach. We had bok choy that we needed to eat, so we picked rice. But instead of making rice, I decided to just use the leftovers from lunch. One of my favorite things to do is to transform leftovers into interesting variations. So here are the elements of the meal:
Salmon
The two elements of cooking fish such as salmon are cooking it and flavoring it. If you are using frozen (Costco has wonderful individually packaged salmon steaks), the way you thaw it also affects the outcome. I like my salmon with a golden, crispy outside and tender, flaky, and moist interior. I didn't mean to do this, but the inside of the salmon was just a bit frozen still when I started cooking it, which ended up turning out very nicely. I put some olive oil and a bit of vegan butter in a HOT saucepan, and swished around the sizzling oil and butter. I then put the salmon steaks pretty side down, and covered them (if the fish is completely thawed I don't cover it). I sprinkled a bit of powdered ginger on the tops. I waited a few minutes and flipped them over, then poured a mixture of hot sauce and orange juice (about 1 Tbsp hot sauce and 3 Tbsp orange juice) over the salmon steaks, then covered them again. How long to cook each side is something you get a feel for, but you want the flesh to be completely opaque and the outside golden brown. The fact that the insides were not completely thawed allowed the outsides to get a gorgeous and crispy golden brown while keeping the insides tender.
Veggies
I wanted each of the elements of the meal to complement the others, so I kept the flavor of the veggies light. I enjoy bok choy because it combines a radishy flavor with the flavor of the greens. I sliced two carrots into thin rectangles, and started those cooking in a bit of vegetable oil (you could also use wok oil, or olive oil). I put some ginger on those and splashed some rice vinegar on them after they cooked a bit. I cut up the bok choy and stirred that in. I turned off the veggies, because I didn't want them to overcook.. timing everything so all the dishes are finished at the same time takes practice, as we know. When I turned them back on I added some light soy sauce (why anyone would ever need full sodium soy sauce is beyond me, and I like Braggs even more ever since we discovered it a few months ago), as well as some more ginger. When it was nearly finished, I sprinkled on some sesame oil (you don't want to burn sesame oil). Bok choy really does not need to cook long at all; I would have cooked it a touch less than I did tonight.
Quinoa Pilaf
I took the leftover quinoa-garbanzo bean-yam dish and wanted to jazz it up a bit. So I sprinkled on some Indian Curry we got at an Asian Market, put in a heaping spoonful of coconut milk, and put it back on the heat. I also threw in a bit of coconut water we had in the fridge, but didn't need to. When it was almost done I squirted on some lime juice.
I wanted to make it look pretty, so shaped the quinoa into domes, garnished the salmon with some clementine segments, put a few leaves of cilantro on the pilaf, and placed some sliced tomatoes on the side. The finished product looks pretty enough to be in a restaurant (with a taste to match; you will need to take my word for it), but I literally threw it together in about 15 minutes! The quinoa dish ended up being a bit spicy on its own, but everything together tasted great.
As a side note, we eat fish rarely, which ends up being about every other month at most.
vegan pound cake and mango coconut ice cream
For Valentine's Day I made this delicious vegan pound cake and mango coconut ice cream. The next day we had company over and we added the sliced mangoes on top. Oh my goodness!
This pound cake is really, really good. You'd never know it was vegan and actually has tofu in it!
For the ice cream all I did was mix 2 cans of coconut milk with one package of frozen cubed mangoes and few tablespoons of agave in the blender. This is not an exact recipe--do what you want and tastes good. I threw the mixture in our ice cream maker and let it go to work. Coconut milk ice cream is amazingly delicious!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
19 months old
As of Sunday, my baby is 19 months old. I didn't even realize it until that night when I got online for a minute. I totally hadn't realized the date until then. February is flying by! This cute boy is getting harder to take portraits of because he wants to play with my camera. If I have Jared to help distract him, it works better, but I did manage to snap this picture of him today all by myself. It was the ONLY one where he smiled and looked at the camera. I had to put a stuffed animal on my head to get it. His smile melts my heart.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Food, Inc.
We watched the Oscar nominated documentary Food, Inc. tonight. Go watch it. Just do it. Everyone needs to see this film so you can better understand where our food is coming from. The vast majority of us have no idea--which is a major part of the problem. Then go vote for change with your money. We all have to eat, right?
By the way, if you have Netflix you can watch it instantly anytime online.
Friday, February 19, 2010
getting started [updated with bread recipe]
Baking bread on a regular basis is something I've been wanting to do for a loooong time. I am finally getting started! Yesterday I made a double batch of whole wheat bread and rolls made with our freshly ground whole wheat flour. The bread was a hit! So yummy. Olivia said it was best bread she ever had, even going so far to say she hopes this bread is in heaven. (Olivia is prone to hyperbole.) I am definitely going to keep this up. It wasn't nearly as time consuming as I anticipated. And nothing beats warm homemade bread with honey or jam.
This bread recipe is courtesy of my friend Amy's mother-in-law. It is super simple and easy. The texture is wonderful--not heavy but with enough substance that you feel satisfied. It also doesn't fall apart too much on you either.
Makes 2 loaves:
Mix 3.5 cups warm water, 1.5 tsp. yeast (you can add extra if you want it fluffier), and 1/4 c. honey. Let the yeast proof then add half of 7 cups of flour, 2 tsp salt and 2 heaping tablespoons lecithin granules or olive oil (Amy and I both use olive oil) and mix it up and let it sit a minute. Then add the second half of the flour. Mix it on high in Kitchenaid for 7 min. Let sit 15. Dump onto a floured surface and divide in half. It will be quite sticky, so work quickly and with plenty of flour. Shape into loaves, put in pans and let rise until sticking over the top of the pan. Bake at 350 for 35min.
My notes: I ended up adding probably an additional cup of flour to my doubled batch which made two normal loaves, two pans of small rolls, and another small loaf with what was left. I let the bread rise about 3 hours I think. I'm sure the rising time will vary depending on how warm your house is, etc. Happy bread making!
Makes 2 loaves:
Mix 3.5 cups warm water, 1.5 tsp. yeast (you can add extra if you want it fluffier), and 1/4 c. honey. Let the yeast proof then add half of 7 cups of flour, 2 tsp salt and 2 heaping tablespoons lecithin granules or olive oil (Amy and I both use olive oil) and mix it up and let it sit a minute. Then add the second half of the flour. Mix it on high in Kitchenaid for 7 min. Let sit 15. Dump onto a floured surface and divide in half. It will be quite sticky, so work quickly and with plenty of flour. Shape into loaves, put in pans and let rise until sticking over the top of the pan. Bake at 350 for 35min.
My notes: I ended up adding probably an additional cup of flour to my doubled batch which made two normal loaves, two pans of small rolls, and another small loaf with what was left. I let the bread rise about 3 hours I think. I'm sure the rising time will vary depending on how warm your house is, etc. Happy bread making!
Thursday, February 18, 2010
a home birth in a spanish mattress ad
This is awesome! I wish we had such a positive and mainstream view of home birth here in the US.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
bits of thoughts
Cherry Blossoms in D.C., March 2009
Some things I've been thinking about lately... I will probably expound more on some of this in later posts...this post is mostly just for me to clear my thoughts a bit...
I spent ALL DAY yesterday reading Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol. Its our book club pic this month and I had checked it out from the library but then didn't start it until this weekend. It was due yesterday and I still had 3/4 of it to read, so I read all day to get it done. It wasn't the greatest book and I was really just pushing to get it done, but it did give some cool stuff to think about. Like that thoughts have matter and therefore can exert force. Thus our thoughts have the power to actually CHANGE the physical world. Interesting stuff to contemplate.
I've been thinking how this can apply to preparing for childbirth. I use self hypnosis for childbirth and the main idea of it is that our minds have the power to help our bodies relax and reinterpret the pain of labor so that it is manageable. I've been focusing more this time around on reading only positive birth stories. I've even been trying to limit them mostly to home birth stories since that is what we are planning. I want to keep only that image in my mind of a smooth, healthy delivery at home. I want to remain confident in my body's ability to birth my baby easily and without complication. Fear only leads to more tension which leads to more pain.
..............
I've also been contemplating lately more about the type of person and mother I want to be. I have this image in my mind of who I want to be and the things I want to do, but I'm not always taking the steps to get there. I want to do that more. I want to learn more about natural and herbal medicine. I want to exercise more. I want to increase my spirituality. I want to be more mindful and present. I want to use my time better and be more organized. I want to simplify. I want to grow my own food. I want to bake bread. I want to sew. I want to be an artist and create.
And I want to teach these things to my children. I want our home to be a happy place, full of love and kindness. Full of books and music and art. I want to foster creativity. Now that Asher is getting older I want to start doing art projects with him. I just began reading Young at Art by Susan Striker and am excited to get started on this process. I want to become more of an artist myself. I think all humans have an innate desire to create. I think it is one of our most godly attributes. I want to spend more time creating and making sure my children are encouraged to do that also.
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