Roasted Edamame

Roasted edamame is my new favorite roasted vegetable. My kids absolutely loved it, I loved it, we all loved it. I made a big pan of roasted cauliflower and edamame to serve along side falafel patties the other night, I had a hard time saving any for my husband who wasn't home for dinner, the kids just wanted to keep on nibbling the crunchy toasty beans, I did too.

The preparation is very simple too and cooking time and temperature can be adjusted to what's already in the oven. Cook it longer at lower temperatures and shorter at higher temperatures, so easy!

Roasted Edamame
oven 350˚
cooking time 35-40 minutes

one 16 ounce bag of shelled edamame
2 TBSP oil, I use olive oil
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
pinch of pepper

pour the frozen edamame into a 9x13 in baking pan
pour the oil over it and stir to coat the beans
sprinkle on salt and pepper
bake for 35-40 minutes at 350˚
or for a longer or shorter time depending on oven heat
serve and eat while hot

Do you roast vegetables for your kids? I have found that my kids will eat most vegetables when they are roasted. They will actually eat most vegetables but they like them best roasted, except green beans, they like those better steamed. I have found that if I serve two different vegetables with dinner they like having a choice. They have to try both then they can have seconds of the ones they like best. What happens when you serve them two they don't particularly like? Ahhhh, they learn to like one of them, will wonders never cease.

Peace and Love--

Our Food Rhythm

Seems like I'm talking about rhythm a lot lately, doesn't it? I just read Kim John Payne's book Simplicity Parenting and we are trying to institute more of his ideas for living simply with less. We have pared down kids toys and in conjunction our own junk too. One thing he urges is to find a natural rhythm and go with it, I talk more about rhythm in this post and you can find more information on the importance of rhythm at WhyWaldorfWorks.com. I've always found that a simple mostly natural life suits me best, thankfully I have a supportive husband who believes we are headed in the right direction and our wonderful creative sons prove us right day in and day out.  If you have kids and are struggling with them in any way I cannot recommend the book Simplicity Parenting enough, it is a true gem in this day and age.


One thing I have instituted now in my role as chief head cook is setting up a food rhythm. I can't believe how a simple schedule of foods has made meal planning SO easy. And my kids seem to be taking it really well and my husband well if it's ready to eat when he gets home from work I think it's good with him. I was worried that setting up a specific food for each day would seem limiting and hard to work around but it really is the exact opposite. I know what I am going to make because it's right there for me to see.

• Sunday is roasted meat, big family dinner with all the fixings-this not only brings us together to talk about our upcoming week but gives us leftovers to use for the rest of week
• Monday is rice
• Tuesday is pasta
• Wednesday is beans
• Thursday is soup
• Friday is cheese (pizza night most weeks!)
• Saturday is leftovers or crockpot dinner

I'm not limited in what I can make each day it only has to have ______ as part of the main meal. So dang easy, my kids ask everyday what day is it, when I answer with whatever it is, they have no complaints because they like that food, it's safe and they know they will eat it. I don't shy away from foods they don't like either I just keep offering them up, eventually they'll come around. I even got them to eat prickly pear cactus and chayote squash last week on bean night, they were a topping for our bean tacos on homemade tortillas. They tried them because they had to, but to them the beans were really what was for dinner.

I can't believe how such a very simple easy plan has made such a difference in our lives. Not only in having a ready answer for that dreaded "Hey what's for dinner mom?" question but for my peace of mind as well. I know what's for dinner every darn day and that to me is priceless.

Peace and Love--

Just Another Meatless Monday #52 Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Moosewood Cookbook, signed by Mollie Katzen is Kristi of Veggie Converter. Kristi is a consistent supporter of Just Another Meatless Monday and her entry of Vegan Purple Aloo Gobi last week won her a signed just for her Moosewood Cookbook! Yeah Kristi, drop me an email with your address and I'll send your book to Mollie to sign and she'll send it on to you.

This week I'm doing something a little different, check it out. I met Michelle Stern of What's Cooking With Kids last year at BlogHer Food, we cooked together in an iron chef style competition. Actually, we cooked against each other in that competition, what a fun and crazy night it was. But the next day when I was speaking on the subject of food, kids and the future there was Michelle, asking pointed important questions and smiling encouragingly. She was engaging, smart, friendly and made very good points. We chatted on and off the rest of the weekend and have been friends ever since. When I heard she was coming out with a cookbook, The Whole Family Cookbook, I was so excited for her. She blogs but she also teaches kids how to cook at parties, in their home and now in her own cookbook. I can't WAIT to get my hands on her cookbook, in the meantime check out the recipe Michelle sent me to try out, Crispy Tofu and Asian Dipping Sauce.

YUM

Crispy Tofu with Asian Dipping Sauce--from The Whole Family Cookbook
**plan ahead to drain of excess water from tofu, about 30 minutes to one hour**
 ingredients
2 Packages Extra Firm Tofu
3 TBSP cooking oil

Asian Dipping Sauce
2 TBSP soy sauce--I used Tamari Sauce
1 TBSP sesame oil
1/2 TBSP honey, agave nectar or brown sugar--I used dehydrated cane juice
1 TBSP rice vinegar
1 clove of garlic
fresh chives to taste--whoops we didn't have any!
chile oil, optional

drain the water from the tofu
cut it into approximately 1/3 inch thick slices
cut each slice diagonally into triangles
 line a rimmed baking sheet with a clean dish towel
lay the tofu slices on it place another towel over the top and then another baking sheet on top
place, place a something heavy on top of it to press out the water so the tofu will get crispy when cooked
make the sauce by combining the first 4 ingredients, mixing well
peel the garlic and press into the sauce, mix again then set aside until the tofu is ready
when the tofu is done draining heat the oil in a large well seasoned skillet over medium high heat
when the oil shimmers add some of the drained tofu triangles
cook in batches until all are done
snip the chives over the sauce if using
serve the sauce and the tofu triangles together

peeling garlic

mixing sauce

how could you NOT love these?

I have to say my kids don't like tofu that much, they tolerate it at best. When Michelle sent me a choice of recipes I picked the tofu recipe because I knew it would be a hard sell with my kids. They willingly helped make it, they love to help in the kitchen! They willingly ate it and dare I say enjoyed it.  The dipping sauce is AMAZING and makes this recipe sing. My husband and I love tofu and of course this recipe was a hit with us as well, we'll be adding this to the regular rotation.

Peace and Love--

The Penny Worthy Project

FINALLY I found a rummage sale with decent prices and some cool things. I didn't buy too much because of the 'stuff' cleanse we are on. I took 5 more miscellaneous bags of things to the thrift store this week, our house is looking better and better. Summer is going to be much more pleasant knowing that our house isn't full of stuff we don't use or want getting dusty and grungy looking. And beyond that Fall will be so nice because the big post "I've-spent-all-summer-outside" clean won't be so tedious.

I was putting on my face cream the other day and walked away from the bathroom, when I came back in I looked at my drawer open to the world. It looked disgusting. It was full of things I don't use, empty containers and tangled hair bands. I pulled the drawer all the way out, dug through it and found so much stuff to donate. I had 13 bottles of nail polish, in real life friends have you EVER seen me with my nails painted? No, then why do I need 13 bottles? I donated them, and the polish remover, and some very unbecoming make up. I ended up with an entire grocery bag full of donations. I kept one tray of face care and one tray of 'jewelry' like hair ties, bobby pins and broaches and it all kind on slides around in there now. The whole room just feels better to me now, lighter.

On to my treasures! Now that the I have broken the seal on Christmas shopping(!) I am now actively looking for goodies, this will be some five year old's ornament this year!

a little trike

little angel

I have a weakness for old tinsel stars

this bracelet is so beautifuland it looks really old

the little basket, so sweet with it's lid will go just about anywhere, I'm thinking of using it as a healing kit-put little things to make kids feel better, Burts Bees bug bite stick, an ice bag, a couple bandaids, some essential oils

This oil painting which I have no idea where to hang but I love it

I also got 5 records-Iron Butterfly, REO Speedwagon, Peter Frampton, America, Van Halen, I realized they are about the only rock and roll records we have. They sound really good on the vintage console record player, although can you really tell when the 17 minute classic In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida is skipping? No you can't, don't even try, just let it play.

So how did you spend a thrifty week? Please feel free to share any thrifty living posts from pantry living etsy stores, to ebay listings, hyena cart stores, thrifting finds, crating, poetry, upcycling, budgeting, meal planning or anything else you may do to survive and thrive in the world today.

Peace and Love--

Not Mom Fail?

Sometimes the best things hurt the worst. They can be torturous while they pan out, but in the end it's for the best. It doesn't always seem like it, especially when you are in the middle of tough love with a teenager. I'm not going to fool myself and proclaim that our tough times are completely behind us BUT this one appears to be a win for the mom.

It had been a few weeks since our last interaction when I got a text from the teen, "can I sleep on my bed in the garage?" that's heartbreaking. But I stuck to my guns and replied "no, but if you're willing to follow some simple rules you're always welcome in our house". Expecting no answer or worse vitriolic spew I went on with my night. A later text read "what are the rules?". I laid them down. No drinking, no legal or illegal drugs so on and so forth. And the deal was struck. Two days later our oldest son was home, warm, safe, employed, graduated and loved. My heart could stop breaking and my brain could stop second guessing.

No one ever said I'd have to turn my back on my son, they just don't tell you that. No one ever said I would worry every night, wondering if he was warm. These are things you get to discover on your own journey, with your own kids. They don't tell you because everyone is different, no two stories are the same. Or maybe they don't tell you because they think we might stop procreating. Sweet genius it is more painful than pushing out a bowling ball, at least there you have finite goal, get this thing out of me.

Peace and Love--

Exciting news

Well two exciting pieces of news. Neither one of them pertain to this particular beast

he neither ate bread off the counter OR protected any cookies, in fact he had a pretty boring day.

Exciting piece of news number one: the Moosewood Cookbook I'm giving away for 52 weeks of Just Another Meatless Monday will be signed by Mollie Katzen! I tweeted her and asked if she would and she agreed! So when I pick the winner I'll mail the book to Mollie and she'll send it on to you. Isn't that AWESOME? If you haven't linked a recipe you still have time, I'll be announcing a winner on Monday.

Exciting piece of news number two: I'm going big time! I am going to be writing for the Mushroom Channel. I was chosen as one of ten bloggers to write posts for their blog. This is a paid writing gig my friends! I am so excited to get started, my first post will be up in late April. I'll be sure to mention it about 8 billion times between now and then, don't worry. The other writers chosen were:

• Kimberly from Poor Girl Eats Well
• Susie and Chelsee from We Are Not Martha
• Greg from Sippity Sup
• Julie from Julie’s Raw Ambition
• Paula from Bell’Alimento
• Shaina from Food for My Family
• Megan from Stetted
• Janel from Eat Well with Janel
• Denise and Lenny from Chez Us

Congratulations my fellow bloggers, I can't wait to be inspired by you.

mushroom strudel, the recipe I submitted

So there you have it my big exciting news. Hope you have a wonderful day.

Peace and Love--

Four Cheese and Spinach Manicotti

Four Cheese and Spinach Manicotti was a HIT for pasta night in our house. Ricotta, Cottage, Mozzarella, Feta and Spinach all stuffed snugly in pasta shells and baked in a red sauce delighted everyone, except the dog, he didn't get any. That's OK, today he stole half a loaf of bread off the counter to make up for it. Guess who didn't get any again leftovers tonight? Guess who hid in the bathroom after I discovered his little mid afternoon snack? Guess who took 20 minutes trying to figure out where she put the bread? Yes, it was ONE of those days.

Four Cheese and Spinach Stuffed Manicotti
oven 350˚

ingredients
14 manicotti tubes
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 cup cottage cheese
1 cup feta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
2 eggs
8 ounces chopped frozen spinach thawed and drained
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 cups favorite red sauce

cook manicotti tubes according to manufacturers directions on box
when finished cooking drain and rinse in cold water
meanwhile make the filling by mixing the ricotta, cottage and feta cheese together
add 1 cup of mozzarella and the eggs stir until combined
using kitchen scissors snip the spinach into the cheese mixture making sure no big chunks get in the filling
stir in the pepper and salt along with the spinach
mix well
begin filling the manicotti tubes attempt to fill them evenly
as they are filled lay side by side in a baking pan
if you get to the end and have filling left over fill a few tubes
cover over with the red sauce
sprinkle on a scant handful of the leftover mozzarella
cover with foil and bake 30 minutes in a 350˚
remove foil sprinkle with leftover cheese and serve

mr. innocent, don't buy it!

I reheated the leftovers for lunch today and I swear they were even better the next day, but then most foods are right? I really love leftovers for lunch, do you?

Peace and Love--

Copy Cat Girl Scout Samoas Recipe

Yesterday I posted about simple foods, I do encourage those, I also encourage making homemade treats for your family. I can't bring myself to buy Girl Scout Cookies, I'm not a scrooge, I just don't think the Girl Scouts receive enough money from the sale of them. It's like those fundraiser programs where you buy "stuff" and the school receives a "portion" of the sale. I'd rather just make a donation to the organization than buy "stuff", I have enough "stuff" thankyouverymuch.

Enter the Homemade Copy Cat Girl Scout Samoas recipe. I actually saw a mention of a recipe somewhere a few weeks ago and thought "ohhh yeah" except it was a whole lot of making cookies and dipping in toppings and stuff, this recipe is an easy bar cookie version. At the time I saw the recipe I was still slogging through the legions of girls being pushed at shoppers exiting the store by their mothers. The frantic "Buy some cookies?" floating through the air and the exasperated "NO" from many more potential buyers than "Yes". I feel for the girls selling them, I really do, at the same time I still don't buy their cookies. Instead I make my own, while I'm at it I really should write out a check to Girl Scouts of America for the past 20 years of NOT buying cookies.

Copy Cat Girl Scout Samoas Cookie Recipe

shortbread cookie base
1 cup cold butter
2 cups flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup dried coconut, not the moistened kind but the dried kind from the health food section

whirl the butter, flour, sugar and salt in a food processor
they will clump up a bit but won't make a "real" dough, that's OK
simply press the crumbles firmly into an 11x7 baking pan
then sprinkle on the dried coconut, press to adhere
bake for 20-22 minutes

meanwhile make the caramel topping
in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat cook together:
3/4 cup of butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons corn syrup
1 can sweetened condensed milk
cook and stir, always stirring
until it boils
then reduce heat and simmer for 7 minutes, keep stirring, don't stop!
remove from heat until cookie base comes out
then make the chocolate topping
chocolate drizzle topping
1/2 cup chocolate chips**
1 teaspoon of butter
melt gently together
set aside until cookie base comes out

when the cookie base comes out use a big flat spatula to drizzle the caramel over the cookie, you as much as you like, I used about 1/2 to 3/4 quarters of the caramel, the rest can be kept in the fridge for up to 3 days
then drizzle the chocolate over the top making sure to get the chocolate kind of evenly distributed
cool in the fridge for at least an hour then cut into bars
store in the fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container

chocolate, coconut, caramel oh yeah!

**We have one in our house who doesn't like chocolate (FREAK) so I made these a little light on the chocolate, you could definitely make these with more.


Why can't the Girl Scouts sell cookies like I did? Can't their dads take them to the Moose Club, set them up on stool and direct his friends to buy their cookies like mine did? SO easy, #1 seller every year.
 

Peace and Love--




my faithful helper Jakey Boy, helping me protect the cookies and find some good light...dreamer

Setting Your Rhythm

Why would anyone want to set a rhythm for their family? Sounds kind of hokey doesn't it? I mean who needs a rhythm in today's fast paced world, we never know what might come up, who might call us on the phone and invite us where? It also sounds kind of hippie too, "dude, I found my rhythm, like far out" But what about if you replace the word rhythm, with schedule. Does it sound better that way? Why do you have a schedule? To know when you work next or volunteer next or take the dog for a walk. All of those thing are scheduled so the person performing them has time to get the job done without overlapping into another part of the day. To make everything run smoothly.

What if you apply a rhythm or schedule to your family life? When you set your family rhythm you are conscientiously saying these things are important to us, we want them in our life, here is where they fit. If you do roughly the same things day in and day out the routine becomes your rhythm, imagine how smoothly life would be if your kids knew what came next all the time.

If you look at the world around you, you'll find naturally occurring rhythms everywhere. Seasons come to mind for me, summer is bright full of life and on the go, things bloom. Fall is the natural end of summer, it winds slowly down, you harvest, gardens die, animals get slaughtered, you tuck in for winter. Winter brings a time to quietly live, reflect, recover from summer, slow down and rejuvenate. Spring brings a swell of life, things melt, animals are born, birds return and life blossoms. And then obviously the answer to the momentous swelling of spring is a high fallutin' summer, once again. One big natural rhythm, repeating, breathing in and out. Expanding and contracting naturally.

quietly painting

EXPAND

examining a frog

EXPAND  War Whoop in a Darth Vader costume

 Imagine each day as a small year, you know what's coming all the time. How soothing for small children to know that play follows snack, after play comes lunch, stories and rest, every day. It's what a body needs, moments of quiet/contracting and loud/expanding mixed throughout the day. 


In this day and age when everything is screaming at you to go go go! ALL. THE. TIME. Gah imagine living in a house with the TV blaring all day, bad news pouring out of it, none of it good for kids to hear, where is their rhythm? TV has to be a little louder and quicker to keep us hooked to it so we won't leave. TV has no natural peaceful rhythm and it steals it from our children, keeping them constantly ON and ENGAGED which is troublesome in places and times when they need to be quiet.

As you go about trying to set your rhythm think of the natural cycle of expanding and contracting. Ours works a lot like this:
sleep-quiet/contracting
wake and breakfast-loud/expanding
get dressed-quiet and contracting
drive to school--sharing, talking expanding
drive home with one boy-quiet reflective contracting
chores and housework-expanding loud joyous work
snack time-often quiet sharing of thoughts and creating food
post snack energy burn off-expand
lunch prep-quiet
lunch is loud raucous visiting-expand
rest-quiet contraction, shared stories followed by down time for mom and child
post rest play-expand
drive to school--contract
drive from school expand
after school play is a long expand time with a nourishing snack
dinner prep-quiet working
dinner--usually loud and visiting
clean up-loud
after dinner is some activity usually with the family as a whole working or playing in some capacity
wind down-quiet
snack-quiet
brush and bathroom-loud and a last chance expand
pajamas and stories--quiet, contraction and off to sleep


Our night time routine has been set since our middle son was a baby, sure we missed some parties but he and his little brother are asleep by 8 pm and up at 7 am-day in and day out. Weekends it's kind of a bugger, so we make them play quietly until 8am, our big sleep in. We get up early but our kids sleep solidly 11 hours a night, and when they get to stay up later it is exciting.


I've been reading Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne and I have to say I finally feel like someone gets what I have been working at with my kids for 18 years. It's time to slow down and enjoy the simpler things in life. Turn off the TV, eat simple foods, enjoy simple things and just be. And it's not easy because the bright and shiny newest best thing is always around the corner. At times I've veered off the path and gone after the bigger better shiny things, but I always find my way back. I think because it's so natural and it feels right.

Peace and Love--

Just Another Meatless Monday #52 Giveaway Post

It's time to celebrate, I've been hosting Just Another Meatless Monday for 52 weeks! An entire year of inspirational meatless meals from around the world. I love the friends I have made and all the delicious recipes that have come my way. To celebrate I decided to have a little giveaway. There was a hint in yesterday's post:

Did you figure it out? Yes, I'm giving away and brand new copy of one of my favorite cookbooks of all time, the Moosewood Cookbook. It is full of vegetarian recipes for all cooking abilities and it will inspire you again and again. I love this book, which is why I bought it for the giveaway. To be entered to win you MUST:

• be a follower and
• blog roll Hey What's For Dinner Mom? and
• link up a recipe to this post

Do all three and you will be entered to win the cookbook. Multiple entries of past recipes will be accepted. I'd really like to hit at least 52 recipes this week! I'm also working on getting Mollie to sign the book for you, we'll see how that pans out.

This week I made this very simple and delicious Curry Sauce, it reminds me of the Curry Sauce in Bridget Jones' Diary, at least in the way it looks. I served it over hot brown rice, it was so good I wish I had made more rice so we could have eaten more of the sauce. As it is, I have the leftovers tucked away in the fridge for a some wonderful leftovers later this week.

Curry Sauce
2 TBSP good cooking oil
1 TBSP butter
1/2 a large sweet onion, chopped
2 TBSP curry powder**more or less depending on how you like it
1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
1 cup vegetable broth
1 13 1/2 ounce can coconut milk
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
dash of fish sauce
salt and pepper to taste

heat the oil and butter over medium low heat in a 10 inch skillet
when melted and warmed add the onion and cook until soft and translucent about 10 minutes, don't brown them
add the curry powder and ginger stir for 30 seconds
add the broth and stir, scraping up and crispy bits
add the coconut milk and whisk to incorporate
cook until reduced by half
add the basil and fish sauce cook for two minutes more
strain through a sieve
add salt and pepper to taste if desired
serve over rice, bulgar, french fries(!), baked potatoes or anything else that needs a dash of delicious

Oh and I will be checking to make sure the chosen winner has followed the directions, if they haven't I'll draw a new winner.

Peace and Love--

The Penny Worthy Project

A Thrifty Living Link Up

This week brought the annual gutting of our garage. Now we don't have a one or two car garage we have a behemoth 4+car garage. Before you get excited about that let me also remind you who parked outside all winter, even in 20 below weather, yes we did. Both of us, all winter, outside. A word of wisdom from us to you, just because you have the money, don't buy all the drywall you are ever going to need at once. Because you will have to store that drywall somewhere, flat and dry. And if you do buy all the drywall you'll ever need, for the love of space in your garage don't buy the 12x4 sheets. Good grief, it's like they ate our garage or something. It completely threw us off, and then we lost control. And it spiralled into an embarrassing junk hole for the winter. But now we have gutted, donated, sorted and swept the front half of the garage which means our boys are now able to ride bikes in very tight concentric circles and randomly ram dogs who try to bite bike tires. All in all a good day.

I am continually disgusted by the high prices at our local thrift shops, and I'm on a semi strike. It has to be something pretty cool and decently priced for me to buy it. Period. So I bought two little things this week, this old funky German cookbook:

Our kids are going to be learning German for the next 8 years and are already speaking it so I thought a cookbook I could at least peruse through might be nice.

This little tea strainer:

for loose leaf teas will be a nifty little gift next Christmas. So there it is I have officially started my Christmas shopping.

I had some book credit at our local Indie Book Store, Fireside Books so I bought this:

 And here is a sneak peek of the prize I picked up for the 52 week of Just Another Meatless Monday

Come back Monday to leave a vegetarian post and get entered to win!

I did use spend some quality time to soak up the sun and knit, I managed to make a new pair of wrist warmers for our youngest son. His pair from last last year were eaten by a dog. I even figured out ribbing so the ends stretch. The wrist warmers are essentially a long mitten with no hand, just a thumb hole. They are great to wear under mittens to keep the wrist warm or in loo of mittens in spring weather when you don't quite need a mitten. Best part though is that they are quick and you can use scraps of yarn, like getting an extra project for free.

So how  did you spend a thrifty week? Please feel free to share any thrifty living posts from pantry living etsy stores, to ebay listings, hyena cart stores, thrifting finds, crating, poetry, upcycling, budgeting, meal planning or anything else you may do to survive and thrive in the world today.

 I've linked up to Apron Thrift Girl for Thrift Share Monday.

Peace and Love--