Yummy yummy in my tummy

Tonight's menu:
Hummus (albeit store bought) with flax seed bread
Cabbage & veggie soup (fresh new massive pot)
Stuffed peppers with ground beef


Hummus & flax seed bread

Excuse the candy cane spreader, I couldn't find any non-seasonal ones in the spur of the moment.

Cabbage & veggie soup

See February 2nd post

Stuffed peppers with ground beef

Ingredients

- 5 stuffed peppers, de seeded

- 1/2 can of crushed tomatoes

- ground beef, amount depends on size of peppers and if you want to make some extra meat balls on the side

- 3 cloves garlic, chopped/minced

- 3 tbsp brown rice

In a big pot, mix water with crushed tomatoes. In a bowl, mix together ground beef with garlic and rice. Mush together with hands. With a spoon, fill the peppers with the ground beef mixture. Once filled, place peppers in big pot with tomato sauce. Ensure that there is enough water to reach the tops of the peppers or at least most of the way and with a ladle take some of the sauce and pour on top of the peppers so they fill up with liquid, otherwise rice won't cook. Turn on burner and cover pot with lid. Cook for approximately 30 minutes. Once it starts to boil you can turn down the heat to a simmer. We put sour cream on top and always use bread to mop up the sauce.

Plate, serve and enjoy!

Don't throw the tops of the peppers away, save them for a dish the next day!

Half-a*% job tonight

I admit, I started out with good intentions, X-man was cooperating for the soup making, but then we went upstairs for a nap and it all went south.


Cabbage & vegetable soup


Ingredients:


- 1/2 a large cabbage, chopped
- 3 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 large carrots, sliced
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 3 tbsp crushed tomatoes
- salt, to taste


Fill a large pot with water. Put cabbage. Bring to a boil. Add carrots, celery, onion, salt and crushed tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Beets, turnip and chicken


This meal didn't turn out fantastic, it was definitely lacking something, not only in taste, but on my plate, as you'll see in the picture.


I'm wondering what else I could have added to the dish...Looking for ideas for next time.


Ingredients:


- 2 beets, sliced
- 1 turnip, sliced 
- 8 green onions, chopped
- 3 chicken breast, pieces
- 1 clove garlic, sliced
- 2 tbsp crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups water


Heat up canola oil in pan. Add onions. After a minute, add beets and turnip.
In small pot, place chicken in water. Bring to a boil. Add garlic and mix in crushed tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes.


Plate, serve and enjoy!

My poor plate  :(  And what is with the lighting in this shot?!

Feeling inspired

The morning started off really well with a workout. I'm part of a Biggest Loser Challenge with a group of lovely other new mums and one who has a home trainer business offered us a complimentary workout. I jumped on it, so this morning at 9:30am we were ready to go. It was painful at times, and I know I will feel it tomorrow, especially when I pick up X-man in the morning, but it felt/feels good. On top of it all, he got to spend quality 1 on 1 time with his papa which to be honest has only happened a couple of times in his 5 1/2 months.
As a result, and not to ruin the work I put in I decided to veggie it up at dinner. I had bought 2 cauliflowers last week because of a sale and decided to cook 'em up today before they started to go bad.
Therefore, tonight's dinner was steak with cauliflower and zucchini (+ a small baked potato for my husband).


Ingredients


- 5 small onions, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 small-ish cauliflower
- 2 zucchini, sliced
-  4 steaks
- 1 pack white mushrooms, sliced
- parmesan cheese
- bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Drizzle oil in ceramic baking pan. Distribute 3 onions and all the garlic all over the pan. I know, lots of garlic and onion, but they're so good for you and taste so good! Layer zucchini first, then cauliflower chunks. Sprinkle some cheese and bread crumbs. Cover with aluminum foil.  In it goes to the oven for 25-ish minutes. But, about 10 minutes in, pour in a cup of water. Timing depends how cooked you want your veggies.


Mushrooms and 2 onions go into pan with a bit of oil once hot. Season steaks with your choice of spices and throw into pan. Fry to desired degree.
Plate, serve and enjoy!

Great day, great food

X-man and I had a wonderful day today. We spent time together at the library where we read a few books, played, got me some books and I paid my $20 fine. I know! How do you get a $20 fine at the library? That's what happens when you take out 15 books at a time and don't return them on time!
Lunch was very yummy. Omelette with goat cheese and red pepper and pita bread.
Then the baby took a 2.5 hour nap next to me in bed which allowed me to start and finish the book, In Search of Sleep by Bonny Reichert. It talks about different sleep solutions for babies and toddlers with lots of quotes from fellow mothers, including the author who is one and also used to work at a parenting magazine. I felt really good after reading the book, and it helped me re-affirm my decision that the cry it out method is not for me. Co-sleeping feels right and is what I want to do. It's natural and most cultures actually do it. It's here in North America where mothers are made to feel like it's not right. As I was reading, I got a feeling of "Yes, this is what I want. This is how I want to do things for now." When I am ready, or should the baby show signs of readiness, I will transition him. I will still try to see if he'll stay in his crib, but I will not force it. That is that.
Feeling good led to wanting to cook. Imagine that! With all the vegetables we have I decided to make a chicken stir fry.


Ingredients


- 2 chicken breast, cut into pieces
- 2 huge carrots, sliced
- 2 zuchinnis, sliced
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 5 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 1 bok choy, chopped
- 2 packets of udon noodles
- teriyaki sauce, as much as you want


Place noodles in boiling water. Boil for 3 minutes. Drain. Set aside.
Heat up oil in wok (or whatever you will be using). Once ready, throw in garlic and onion. Add chicken. When chicken is ready, throw in vegetables. Pour teriyaki sauce on top and mix well. Add noodles when vegetables are how you like them, be it more al dente or more well done.
Plate, serve with chopsticks and enjoy! 

Baby in the way

After a difficult afternoon/evening with X-man, dinner was finally ready, however eating it was another story. I eventually managed while holding the baby in my lap, his fingers smacking at my quinoa...it was wonderful.
Alrighty, this evening's menu was pork chop with dates and apples, quinoa with tangerine and raisin and spinach salad with cherry tomatoes, green onion and goat cheese.


Ingredients:


- pork chops, salted
- 1 apple, chopped
- dates, chopped in half (as many as you want)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup quinoa
- 1 1/4 cup water
- 1 can of mandarin pieces, or if you can't locate it like me, just use a couple of tangerines
- raisins, as many as you want
- baby spinach leaves, boxed, bagged
- cherry tomatoes, as many as you want
- goat cheese, as much as you want


Pork chops


Boil dates and apples a couple of minutes. Drain. Fry chops in a bit of oil. Once almost cooked, add fruit mixture and mix in with pork chops.

   

Quinoa


Boil quinoa in water until water is sucked up by the grains. Mix tangerine/mandarin pieces in a bowl. Combine and serve.

Salad


Mix spinach, cherry tomatoes, green onion and goat cheese in a bowl. Drizzle lemon juice all over.

Voilà, your dinner.

Continued lightness into the evening

X-man was very fussy at times and wanted to be held a lot today. Once evening came he got some cereal and then played in his highchair so I spent some time reading some of my favourite blogs and whipping up a quick and easy dinner. I didn't actually do much. My mum had brought over some wax beans yesterday and decided to cook them in tomato sauce right away for fear that I would forget about them in the fridge and they'd go bad. I hadn't defrosted any meat by 5pm so as I scoured the freezer I located a bag of ravioli I had just bought. Boiled that up, threw it in the pot with the beans and voilà! Of course, had a salad on the side as well, this time spinach with some other veggies.

I know, it looks like worms.

Feeling lighter

Of the mind and of the spirit.
X-man and I have been busy entertaining ourselves since his great grandma left and we're doing just fine. We have no routine whatsoever, it's fantastic! He never rises earlier than 8am so that works for moi.
However, after that one attempt with letting him cry it out, I haven't had the guts to try again. I know that you don't see adults sleeping in their parents' beds, but I get NOTHING done because it seems to be extending to also when he is awake sometimes. He'll spend max 10 minutes in his exersaucer, so far doesn't like the Jolly Jumper, his mats on the ground are a guess from day to day, more recently he starts to cry within minutes of being put down, my only saving grace that lets me run a load of laundry or get the dishes done is his high chair. This just means constantly picking up the toys he pitches on the ground, which is fine. However, I don't want him spending all his time in a sitting position in there. 
He scoffs at shushing and patting him when he is upset, he basically tells me to f-off when I try that. So, I think it's going to have be tough love with this guy, my own fault. My mum told me from the beginning to lay him in his crib to sleep, but I didn't want to be apart, and couldn't get up out of bed anyway for the first week and I loved so much being with him that I resisted. Now I and he are paying the price. I just keep thinking that we will be going away in a couple of months and he will have to sleep separate from me so I have to start at some point...

Who could resist spending every minute of the day with this squishy face?!

On a healthy note, eating is more or less going in a positive direction. As opposed to indulging in the Hershey Kisses that I have already bought for Valentine's Day (why so early you ask...I have no idea), I had some yummy cherries that my maman brought me yesterday. 

Also made a huge pot of tomato and veggies soup with lentils. Just had some now for the first time and it's not too bad.