Willow

Do you see that beautiful yellowish greenish color of the willow?!

Sign of Spring #1 !!!!

Yay!!

xoxo

Souper dee Duper

I made soup adapted from Emeril's Cream of Broccoli recipe tonight, and I LOVED it. I don't think Jay liked it as much as I did though... he didn't eat as much as he usually does. He swears he liked it, but I don't believe him. :)

I am always intimidated at the thought of making soup, but this was really easy and turned out yummy and filling. I am definitely going to be making it again

My sister-in-law typed out the recipe and sent it to me, so I don't have a link and can't find the exact recipe she had. But here are his original ingredients/what I used, and the process I did...it's a bit different from the original, anyhoo :)

3T olive oil--I never measure oil, do you?

1c. sliced leeks, the white part -- I used 1 small organic onion

1lb. broccoli--I used a 1lb. frozen bag of organic broccoli - easy breezy

2 bay leaves

1/2t salt

1/4t pepper --I never measure S/P either...or any spice, for that matter :)

1/8t allspice--We don't have allspice, so I used a mix of cinnamon, ginger,

and a teeny bit of Chinese Five Spice powder

1/2t garlic

1/2t thyme

4c. vegetable stock

1c. milk

Heat oil in a pan. Add onion, broccoli, bay leaves, S/P, spices. Add stock, bring to boil, reduce to a simmer and leave 15 minutes. *Take out bay leaves.* Add milk.

Puree in batches in blender. The first batch I pureed TOO much, and the second 2 I did a bit less. Next time, I will probably puree it even less.

We had it with shredded cheese on top and home made croutons a la Jay.

Views from our meal:

Peek-a-boo A)

Peek-a-boo B)

Breakfast of Champions

Sometimes, when you have a 1.5 year old, you need to get creative with breakfast ideas to keep her interested. When this happens, you raid your cabinets and refrigerator to see what you can put together that has a bit of nutrition and a bit of interest and a bit of something new.

Last Friday when this happened, a little something I like to call "Flower(ish)-breakfast Friday" was born.

It looks kind of like a flower.... right? I wanted a stem, too, or a leaf, but couldn't figure out what to use.

Ritz crackers (not your typical breakfast base, but at least they are organic?), topped with flax seed almond butter, a slice of banana, and a cinnamon cheerio. In the middle: organic blueberries.

She gobbled this up!! Wonder what I will come up with for tomorrow morning... probably nothing fun, because I will be dashing out the door to get my pearly whites cleaned.

xoxo

Sweet Summer

I was Green Girl today! (x3)

1) I have been saving my #5 plastic containers (mostly chobani yogurt - P.S. you HAVE to try the pineapple one!!! Its vacation in a breakfast) to drop off in the #5 recycling bin at Whole Foods.BUT I never quite made it to Whole Foods. They're in my car ready to go tomorrow, though!

2) Hanna was in cute pink cloth diapers all day! I love using them, and I really would like to have her in them as much as possible from now on.

3) I broke down all of our cardboard and packaged it up to go to the recycling center.

I got all the way there, and they are CLOSED on Tuesdays and Wednesdays! Ugh! Guess I will be making the trip back there on Thursday. (It's not that far, I'm dramatic.)

Here's the face Hanna gave me when I told her to smile for the camera on the way to the recycling center... Let's hope her "smile for the camera" smile improves by the time she gets to Kindergarten for picture day :) Awww my cutie.

For dinner tonight, I grilled vegetables (on Mr. Forman) and we made paninis with the veggies and mozzerella cheese, with baked beans on the side. Can you tell I am pining for warm weather? I marinated the veggies in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, garlic, salt, and pepper. The peppers were broiled and then peeled, and the eggplant and onion went on the grill. YUM!

Valentine's Day Blankey!

For Hanna's second Valentine's Day, she got a homemade cozy blankey! She is in loooove, and it's such a simple thing to do, I don't know why I haven't made these before.

I got the fabric at Joanne Fabric... 1 yard of owl print fleece, and 1 yard of plain pink fleece. Match them up together, cut a square shape off of each corner. Then cut strips about 4" long and 1" wide all along each side. Tie strips together around the blanket, and wah-lah!

A cozy blanket! When I gave it to her, she didn't want to put her coat on to go out, she wanted to be wrapped up in it and carried out to the car. Awww.

In other news, my Valentine got me a KINDLE! Totally unexpected. I downloaded about 15 free books (one full of chocolate chip cookie recipes!), and am trying to figure out a book to buy - suggestions for a good, light read??

Scones!

Made these chocolate chip scones yesterday with leftover buttermilk that I wanted to use up. They were soo easy and soo yummy.

Chocolate Chip Buttermilk Scones

Adapted from: joyofbaking.com

1 cup whole wheat flour + 1 cup bread flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, cold, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3-3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix together flour + sugar + baking powder + baking soda + salt.

Cut in tiny pieces of cold butter and mix in so it looks a bit crumbly.

Add chocolate chips.

Stir just so dough comes together. Hands come in... handy, here. I had a little trouble trying to do it with a spoon. Add a little more buttermilk (or flour) if you need it to help with the dough, but try not to over mix.

On lightly floured surface, knead dough 4-5 times, then pat into a big circle (about 7" across, and 1 1/5" high)

Cut the circle in half, and then cut each half into four triangle-shaped parts.

Place on baking sheet, and brush a little buttermilk on top.

Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown or toothpick comes out clean.

Delish!! And what a lovely Valentine's breakfast for your tummy.

Peter Piper Picked A Pepper

1. Pick a pepper

2. Slice a pepper

3. Broil a pepper (with olive oil)

4. After enjoying the sweet smell of summer from your kitchen mid-February.... Peel a pepper

YUM! Roasted red peppers are 10x better than raw red peppers. I might make these every. single. day. Can't wait til next time to put it on a samich with fresh mozzerella and basil.

Hoot, hoot!

On the refreshingly warm and sunny winter day yesterday, my mom, Jason, Hanna, and I went for a walk with the four doggies. On the way back, my mom spotted a little sleeping owl peeping out of a tree hole in a sunny spot!! So cute!! This was especially fun because Hanna and I have been very into owls lately. :) HOOT HOOT!!

Pancake O' Rama

Yesterday, in honor of Elmo's birthday, Hanna and I celebrated with a blueberry pancake breakfast together. I made 5-minute vegan pancakes. I found this recipe a few months ago and have made it many times since - so, so, SO easy, using things you already have in your kitchen.

When I put the blueberries in there I squished 'em when I flipped the pancake to make the juices go all through the pancake. :) --They would've been better if the blueberries weren't freezer burned - GROSS.

I saved the left over batter to make this morning, but switched it up a little bit. Llittle pieces of banana and squiggles of almond butter in there! Yummm! I liked them much better today than yesterday.

I kind of tweak this recipe a bit each time I make it and add whatever I feel like putting in there. Sometimes oatmeal, flax, chia seeds, fruit, nuts, etc. I always use whole wheat flour, and I halve the baking powder because 2 tablespoons sounds excessive to me and I have never had a problem with the fluff factor.

I think next time I'm gonna add some vanilla extract too, because without chocolate chips (like I usually put in there, of course, but have tragically run out), they are a little bland.

cupcakes & breadsticks

Yesterday as I was reading all the blogs I follow, I found some about one blogger's recipe for a "Single Lady Cupcake." A recipe for just ONE cupcake - perfect for someone like me who could easily eat more than one at a time. I tried it out and loved it - perfect when you need a sweet little smackeral of something!

Last night I made one for Jason, but I baked an oreo stuffed inside of it, topped it with a scoop of oreo ice cream, and drizzled it in chocolate syrup. I think he liked it? I'm recalling something along the lines of "it tastes like a pancake." At least it looked fancy...

Today, I used our garlic-herb pizza dough that we got at Trader Joe's last weekend (99 cents!? 99 cents!!!!) to make bread sticks. I took it out of the fridge to warm up a bit for 20 minutes or so, then rolled it out, cut it into strips, twisted them, and sprinkled garlic powder. I baked them in a 450 degree oven until they were golden brown. We had it with spaghetti and salad.. delish!

These would be cute to make and put in glasses down the center of a big table for a dinner party.