Archive for June, 2011
Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad
I think I have a new favorite cookbook and it’s called Appetite For Reduction. I love all things Isa and I think this might be my all time favorite Isa cookbook. I simply want to make every recipe in this book. Everything sounds so good and looks so easy to make. I’ve only had a chance to make 3 or 4 recipes so far from the book and they have all been delicious. The first recipe I made was the Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad. I pre-cooked some red quinoa the night before so I had it all ready too make this salad for lunch the next day. By having the quinoa ready this recipe came together in a flash. You slice some red onions, chop some romaine and drain and rinse a can of chickpeas and mix it all together with the quinoa. Then you make the recipe for the Balsamic Vinaigrette, which I am a huge fan of, and then mix it all together and serve. We devoured this salad and then again the next day because it keeps so well in the fridge for a few days.
For me the best part of this salad was the recipe for the Balsamic Vinaigrette. I love that Isa uses cashews in the recipe. It gives the dressing such a nice creaminess. I want to put it on everything.
June 30th, 2011
This is the current smoothie I’m addicted to: bananas, almond milk, blueberries, peanut butter, raw cacao powder. Did you know that blueberries and chocolate go perfectly together? They bring out something special in each other.
June 20th, 2011
Chickpea-Almond Brown Rice Stir Fry with Tamari-Peanut Sauce
This was the very first meal I cooked for us since we brought Miles home from the hospital. Up until then we have been well taken care of food wise from friends and family. My non-cooking husband even cooked a meal for us one night. Of course when the time came for me to have to start making dinners again we pretty much had nothing in the fridge/pantry. After standing in the middle of the kitchen wondering what the hell I was going to make for dinner I all of a sudden remembered that I had a whole container of brown rice from some Veggie Heaven take out a few nights before, then I saw a can of chickpeas in the pantry and found some broccoli in the fridge. The rest of the dish just kept evolving while I was cooking.
I first sauteed some onions and garlic in oil then added the broccoli and chickpeas. While rooting around the fridge I found a bag of almonds so I chopped them up and tossed them into the pan along with the leftover take out brown rice. While this was all “stir frying” together I was trying to think of way to get Reno to eat this meal. I knew by the looks of it she wouldn’t eat it at all. I have in the past gotten her to eat similar dishes, usually with noodles instead of rice, if I put peanut sauce on it. We were running low on peanut butter, thanks to all the smoothies I’ve been making, so it was heavier on the tamari then on the peanut butter. Which is better for a stir fry anyway. The sauce was made with: tamari, peanut butter, water, orange juice and ginger powder. I added it to the stir fry right towards the end of cooking it and cooked it for a minute more just till it was heated through.
By then…Reno had emerged from her bath and declared that she would NOT be eating this dinner. I informed her that she WOULD be eating it and if she didn’t want to eat it then she was welcome to go straight to bed. If I know that she’s not going to like something I’ve made I’ll always give her another option but I knew she would like this. She complained through the whole thing. First that it was made with rice and not noodles and I always make peanut sauce with noodles. Then she was fine just eating the rice but that there was all “this stuff” in the way of her doing that…that “stuff” was the chickpeas. Oh and she also wasn’t going to be eating the broccoli which is actually a vegetable that she likes. After she had basically eaten 1/2 of her bowl she claims that her belly is full. Which was too bad because that’s when I decided to announce to Peter that there was some ice cream in the freezer for me and him when we were done with our bowls. Well wouldn’t you know it…Reno wanted some ice cream…she quickly ate the rest of her meal. 
The meal was delicious and I can’t wait to make it again. I hope to have the time and mental capability to write the measurements down so I can post the recipe for you all.
June 17th, 2011
Miles
born 5/27/2011
9 pounds 9 ounces
I finally..FINALLY..had the baby! His name is Miles and much like his older sister he didn’t want to come out on his own and was born 13 days late (his sister was 14 days late) by induction which later turned into a c-section because of his hugeness. He was so big that he never could of come out with me just pushing. So thank goodness the option of a c-section exists. I have to give credit to my midwife however for trying all her tricks to get him to come out the “regular” way. We tried and we tried and we realized it just wasn’t going to happen. The OB who performed the c-section looked at me all wide eyed after Miles was delivered and just said “You made the right decision letting us get him out this way!” I actually found that quite funny while I was shivering uncontrollably on the operating room table from the all the numbing meds that were pumped into me. Recovery from the surgery has taken longer then I expected but I’m finally feeling better 3 weeks after the fact.
I’ve even cooked a few new meals this past week that I’ll be posting about soon. Its fun not having much in the house and just pulling together a delicious meal with what little is around. One thing that has been saving me from starving most afternoons are smoothies. I love being able to throw a bunch of ingredients into my VitaMix and within seconds I have a drinkable meal. In fact I’m probably going to make myself a smoothie after I finish writing this post.
Anyway…Miles is perfect. He’s a “good baby” much like Reno was. Reno is adjusting to not being an only child anymore. She has some rough moments with us and we have them back with her. All will be well again…eventually. 
June 16th, 2011