We didn’t want to be those parents. But only parents of premies might understand why we wanted to celebrate our son turning one year old, at his corrected age. We celebrated his actual birthdate a couple months ago but also invited people over two months later. We just didn’t tell anyone it was because we were celebrating on the inside. Read the rest of this entry »
You know it is a great soup when I make it two weeks in a row. It is not often that I repeat recipes in such rapid succession, but I only ate 2 servings and had planned to share it with our baby. I thought it was ok for him until I realized I used broth powder with salt in it.
Round two was solidified. Without any vegetable broth. The necessary salt was added after we removed baby P’s portion. Read the rest of this entry »
Who else is a fan of plantains? They might seem like an exotic ingredient, but even here in Toronto, they are usually very reasonably priced and less expensive than sweet potatoes. However, unlike sweet potatoes, their shelf life is not as stable, as they can only last a few weeks until they turn all brown. I never buy them with a plan, other than panfry in coconut oil, but this recipe was excellent, and I’ll probably buy more plantains just to make it again, it was that good.
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Last weekend, we tore up our garden. I think we did pretty well for keeping the garden going until the end of October. The tomato and tomatillo plants were ripped out, asparagus ferns chopped off, new garlic planted and we made a new lasagna compost garden to be ready for us next spring.
We continue to harvest a bit, too. I may even be able to store some of the Ayocote Morado runner beans, which only started to produce bean pods in September despite a summer of glorious red blossoms. I harvested them, too, but they are bright green and lush. I will try to dry them indoors. The kale keeps growing, though, and I hope to keep it going to capture some seeds next year. Read the rest of this entry »
I always loved eating peanut butter, but I ate even more of it while pregnant. Breastfeeding brought a whole new level of hunger as I build a new human and possibly even higher levels of consumption. It is usually limited to breakfasts and desserts, and even though I had stirred it into stews before (hello, African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew), this version is easily made in a slow cooker, simplifies the spices with curry powder, swaps chickpeas for kidney beans and I love how effortless the frozen spinach brings another layer of goodness. The coconut milk and peanut butter make for a creamy base that is deliciously paired with the sweet potatoes and carrots. I added some peanuts for garnish, but the crunch was a fun treat when they were immersed in the stew, too. Read the rest of this entry »
The original recipe was called “Scalloped Tomatoes”. I had visions of thinly sliced tomatoes smothered in creamy and cheese, akin to scalloped potatoes, except using tomatoes. Only a fool would thinly slice tomatoes that painstakingly which is probably why cubes of tomatoes are used here. Read the rest of this entry »
I forgot to mention in my last food post, but roasted tomatoes freeze incredibly well. They last a while in your fridge but if you want to savour some summer bounty during the winter, batch cook them up and stockpile them in your freezer. Last year, I bought a bushel of red bell peppers, chopped them up and froze them, and we are still eating through them!
If you need any ideas what to do with all this frozen (or fresh, if you have some made already) roasted tomatoes and bell peppers, I urge you to try this soup.
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I had hoped to do more garden updates, or even to spend more time working in the garden, but alas. Life happened. But I thought it would be fun to show you what it ended up looking like by the end of August. It is amazing how much it has changed since it was first planted in May (can see photos here). Read the rest of this entry »
So how about more tomatoes? Ooey, gooey, melt in your mouth roasted tomatoes. But you don’t have 45 minutes to an hour to wait, or even 3 hours for a super slow roast. Because you might have a baby that doesn’t leave you much time between his eat-sleep-poop cycle.. How about 20 minutes? Maybe that’ll work, just maybe.
Rob and I have been plowing through our tomato stash. Mostly me, since Rob doesn’t like them raw. Slow and steady it built up, as we waited for the green tomatoes to ripen on our windowsill. We had to pick them early, otherwise the rodents would take off with them. I blame the squirrels. Or maybe it is raccoons? I thought there were telltale teeth marks but my mom assured me the culprit (in that case) were earwigs. I know earwigs cannot lift a tomato on top of the fence, so I have multiple foes. I am surprised any rodent could lift them because some of the tomatoes are huge. One tomato I found on the plant that was turning red was 540g! Over a pound! Read the rest of this entry »
I was hoping to do a mid-season garden update but it took too long for me to share my July photos. I will try to photograph my current August jungle because it is quite impressive now that it is finally time for harvest. Read the rest of this entry »
There is something about pregnancy and being a new mama that makes you want to kick your lifestyle up a notch. When I could finally stomach something other than this easy lasagna, I was excited to incorporate more vegetables, more protein and more nutritious foods into my diet. This is why I was so happy it timed perfectly with the release of Jess Nadel’s second cookbook, Superfoods 24/7.
This summer we’ve been eating a lot of soups and stews. It could have been that we were immune to the hot weather, as we spent the majority of it in an air conditioned NICU. Or, more likely, that we’ve been making up for lost time and stocking our freezer with extra food. We have fully adopted making a second batch of a recipe and freezing half. Soups and stews are great for that. Read the rest of this entry »
Wow, it is incredible what a bit of sleep can do for you.
The good news is that Baby P is now home from the NICU but he has grown up enough such that his previous 3 hour around the clock feeding schedule didn’t come home with him. It was closer to every 2 hours when we were discharged home and let me tell you, when feeding can take 30-45 minutes and followed by a 20 minute pumping session, this doesn’t leave a lot of time before the cycle resumes once again. Read the rest of this entry »
In the past few months, and last few weeks especially, Rob has had to do a lot more around the house. And when Rob does the cooking, it means the kitchen is filled with curry.
More of a creature of habit than me, Rob has been cooking through our favourites, Dal Bhat, Tamarind Lentils and innumerable batches of Creamy Broccoli Dal.
He must have become bored, because one day he opened up his favourite cookbook, 660 Curries, and made chana masala.
the taste space 