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Okay, we had lunch in church today and while the theme was “Italian” I decided I could something almost related. My family has been raving over my version of Ratatoulille (no, I've not watched the movie. Each time I say I enjoy making Ratatoulille folks assume I've watched the movie) so I thought I'd rustle up a pan of that and also a pot of Parmesan pasta to go with it (just make sure you don't get the Parmesan cheese from the green can; be a brick and get the real kind and of course you will be forever spoilt. Never again will the green can do). Verdict: Most of my brethren loved it too. Okay, lest I forget, here is my recipe for posterity. A big eggplant If you can get the vegetables from your garden, wonderful! For today's dish, I got everything from the store. Okay, ratatouille takes a bit longer than the time I would usually spend on cooking. Besides, I really don't like to cook my vegetables to death but this dish is different. The combination of all the flavors is incredibly delicious! This is what I usually do:
The next time I make it I'll try to remember to take a picture and stick it right here.
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I've shared this original Valentine's Day cum Chinese New Year craft with my newsletter subscribers as well as off-line friends and it has been very well-received! Hope you like it too. Feel free to share it with your friends!
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I have a few blogging friends who asked about the origami fall wreath. I shall be posting instructions in the next few days so do check back! Now let's see if I can get the kids back to some kind of routine again. |
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The word origami is Japanese. oru means "to fold", and kami means "paper" Have I mentioned that I love this ancient Japanese art of paper-folding? It has so many uses and it is so satisfying and fun too. Origami also uses both sides of the brain and it was experimentally proven that origami training creates conditions of intensive interaction of hemispheres and that it is especially effective in developing intellectual and creative abilities of children (7-11) and also their motor abilities of both hands. So yes, origami is part of our curriculum here in the Gibson household.
On October 13th, I did my first Moms' Workshop at the request of my good friend who heads a cover school. My workshops have always been with children, so I was a bit nervous. But everything fell into place. We all had fun, cutting up and creating something suitable for fall.
And this was what we made: a fall wreath.
This can be adapted and made into a Christmas wreath too. When I have the time, I shall post instructions on how to make this wreath.
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 This was before I cut the marshmallows with a pizza cutter.  This was the little bowl of marshmallows I shared with my neighbors. What do they remind you of? I brought the rest of the marshmallows to church today and my dd offered them to our dear brethren after the service. Some thought she was offering tofu, LOL. Don't let the looks deter you. They are yummy and taste like the real thing. In fact, they taste better than the real thing! Here is the recipe if you want to try it out yourself. |
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My children seem to tolerate dairy these days.
At least I know my son does. He used to break out in tiny rashes when he had dairy but he seems to have outgrown his sensitivity to it. I'm so thankful! (I'm hoping he will also outgrow his egg allergy. He did break out the last time I gave him a tiny bit of meatloaf that had an egg cooked in it).
As for my daughter, her eczema remains status quo whether or not she eats dairy so I let her enjoy it once in a while. I try to only give them organic dairy, and if I had my way, raw, unpasteurized dairy products. But that doesn't happen too often.
Anyway, DD8 had Alfredo sauce with fettuccine for the first time a fortnight ago and the beatific expression she wore when she had her first mouthful was just memorable. I didn't care for the ingredients in the store-bought sauce,so this afternoon, I made my own Alfredo sauce with organic ingredients and both DH and DD gave me a big thumbs-up. For some reason, DS didn't care to even try it.
So here it is just you case you want to whip up something super easy, very rich and very pleasing. As it is so very, very rich, you will not want to eat it too often, LOL.
Alfredo Cream Sauce 1 onion, thinly sliced ½ cup butter 2/3 cup heavy cream 1 ¼ cups grated Parmesan cheese ¼ teaspoon salt (depends on your taste) pinch of nutmeg black pepper
Heat butter in a medium saucepan and cook onions soft. Pour in cream and heat through. Add cheese till it is melted. Add nutmeg and pepper.
The next time I make the sauce, I'm going to stir sliced mushrooms with the onions, and throw in already browned ground beef (preferably grass-fed) to the mushrooms and onions before adding the rest of the ingredients. Then hey, presto, easy beef straganoff for your pasta or brown rice. For years, I had used instant mushroom soup when I made beef straganoff. But since weaning my family off processed stuff a few years ago, I had not made straganoff...one of my husband's favorite meals.
I shall surprise him with it, next week, I think. Hmmm...maybe next month, since we're going to eat rich food again tomorrow, being Father's Day.
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Actually, this tip more fun than anything else. That it also saves some time is a bonus. We love fruit at our home. Unfortunately, too much raw fruit, especially berries, doesn’t go down well with my daughter so we have to ration and rotate the amount she consumes. You would think I’m offering her candy by how she becomes excited each time I give her cherries and strawberries. Anyway, here’s a tip how you can remove the strawberry leaves and stalk with finesse. Push one end of the straw up the bottom of the berry to the top where the leaves are, and hey presto! You get a beautiful and ready to serve strawberry without the mess and stalk. With a nice hollow middle, you may even want to stuff the berry with well, something! Maybe a picture will help!
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The picture is not clear, but here is my daughter with her origami animals resting on a black felt board: a mother swan with her nest of eggs, three cygnets, another two swans, a lotus by a lily-pad and a jumping frog. She is holding up the story she wrote about her sweet animals. Alas, her little brother has squashed most of the paper-swans so I'm glad I took a picture of them!
I think I'll include the story (unedited) she wrote here.
One night, a swan laid 3 eggs. Her 2 children wondered what she was doing. Another baby swan came up. She wanted the other baby swans to play with her. Her name was Slida. Slida got the Baby Swan who was blue (Glida) and the green one (Blyda) to come. They met the Golden Swan and the Night Swan who was awake only at night. Then they played with a lily-pad & frog. Then they went to bed. It had been a wonderful night. But now they were tired. Blyda yawned. Glida hicupped. Slida burped. Then they fell asleep. -based on origami
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A couple of times a week, when Josh takes a nap, we have what we call our “origami time." This is when my 7.5 year old daughter and I take out our treasured box of origami paper and fold, fold, fold. It is a time of relaxation for me too. It’s wonderful seeing how you can transform a piece of paper into so many different shapes. It is an art form that cuts across many disciplines and it is an art anyone can learn. It’s cheap as well. This afternoon, my daughter learned how to fold a swan and a cygnet. Delightfully, she made a few of each. Then she crumpled some paper and made “pastel eggs” and a little green nest for the mama swan. We made a lotus together. She thought something was missing, so she cut out a lily-pad and crumpled it a little to “make it more realistic.” She wanted me to make a jumping frog for her lily-pad. “What is a lily-pad without a frog?” she pondered aloud. So I made her a jumping frog. It’s fun making jumping frogs. I hope she learns how to fold one herself soon. She excitedly displayed the origami creations on a black felt board (which her daddy made a few years ago for her felt things) and said she was going to write a little story to go with it. I wonder how the story will turn out…ah, when she’s working on something like that, I don’t feel bad sitting in front of the computer! I remember last year when she learned to make an origami penguin. Well, she couldn’t stop making penguins. I think we must have at least 75 penguins in a big bucket somewhere. We had penguins of all shades and sizes (it drove me a bit crazy at one point). From that one origami penguin she folded, she became passionate about learning more about penguins. We checked out every book in the library on penguins and she spent several weeks just reading and learning about these fascinating birds. The highlight was when all of us drove two hours to Birmingham Zoo to catch the black-footed penguins (on loan from Baltimore Zoo) displayed there. When her passion was first ignited, she wanted to do a lap-book on penguins but we collected so much information we ended up with a “Penguin Notebook.” We will probably return to it one day when she is older and add in more information. I wonder if anything will come out of today’s little “origami time.” |
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Over the years, I’ve tried different playdough recipes but this is definitely the best one.
In times past, I made the mistake of skipping the cream of tartar as it’s rather expensive. Then to make the dough last longer, I put the dough in the refrigerator. After a few days, the dough would turn mushy and yucky and I had to toss everything away. I kept repeating that mistake all because I was too stingy to use my cream of tartar. But ever since I decided to part with my precious cream of tartar (I use it to make my own corn-free baking powder) for the playdough, wow, what a difference it has made. This playdough is just so manageable and fun to play with. I really like it better than the expensive store bought ones. Makes a good gift too! This playdough is also LONG-LASTING. It keeps up to six months or longer. It’s the cream of tartar that keeps it fresh. 1 cup water 1 tablespoon vegetable oil ½ cup salt 1 tablespoon cream of tartar Food coloring Saucepan 1 cup flour
Store the dough in an airtight container or a Ziplock bag. And do not put it in the fridge. |
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I read about this natural hair conditioner recently in one of Chet Day’s newsletters and I’m going to try it soon. Looks good especially if you have over-ripe bananas!
I wonder how many will be tempted to put a teeny spoonful in the mouth at this stage…
This step sounds fun. Maybe my daughter can help me with it. Wonder if my husband will…
Sure way to attract bugs if you go to the yard!
Hmmm…your hair is supposed to seem thicker after this. If you try it, let me know how it went! J |
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We had nice homemade ice-cream just now. A big banana Six frozen strawberries, Six frozen pineapple pieces (we had fresh pineapple yesterday; ate half and froze the remaining half) 8 ice cubes I processed the above in our trusty Vita-Mix. I downed a few spoonfuls (oh, it's cold!) and plopped the rest in two pretty ice-cream dishes : one for my daughter, and the other for my husband. I scrapped what’s left in the canister and froze them in two empty popsicle containers for sometime later or tomorrow. Yum.
Gently flavored and very refreshing. |
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Since the first file folder game went down so well with Josh, we’re planning to make more games soon. The secret is to assemble all you need, and then everything should be a snap. Now, what are some files folder games we can consider making in the next several weeks...
There, this will keep us busy for a while! J |
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My daughter and I just did something fun for our little Josh who turned two in April. I’d been thinking of making little games for him for a few months now, but so far, no dice. Yesterday, I decided to JUST DO IT! So here’s our first Josh project for July.
Josh’s’ Truck Folder Game I assembled all we needed on the kitchen bar, and in no time, we made a little quiet game for Josh. Materials: File folder Card stock (two white sheets) White envelopes (the short kind; 7” by 3.5”) A pair of scissors Double-sided tape Sticky tape Laminating paper (Clear Transparent) Ruler Craft-knife Small Ziplock bag Josh loves his trucks and I had thought of cutting pictures from old magazines and advertisements when I realized I could just use his magnetic vehicals to copy. I made 2 copies of 8 different vehicles each on white card stock. While the copier was doing its work, I cut four envelopes (7” by 3.5”) in halves. I used sticky tape to ensure that the backs were secure and didn’t flap around. Now I had 8 pockets. Then I cut out the outline of each truck from one of the cards. My daughter helped me tape each vehicle on each pocket. You could use glue of course but my mother bought me so many rolls of paper-thin double-sided tape (I cannot find these here in town, or at least not in that price range) when she was here for a visit, I frequently find myself using that kind of tape for projects/crafts. Now that my 8 pockets were ready, my daughter helped me arrange them on the spread out file folder; 4 on each side. I then cut two large pieces of "Clear Transparent" and laminated the two sections of the opened file. You will want to laminate it such that the file can be folded easily. After that was done, I used a craft-knife and slit the top of each pocket. Presto, you have pockets on file that are protected! My daughter helped me cut out the vehicles from the other stock card. Then we laminated those vehicles as well and placed the laminated cards in a Ziplock bag. The quiet game was ready! Not long after that, Josh woke up from his nap and my daughter taught him how to insert the cards in their respective pockets. This morning, after Josh correctly put all the cards in the pockets, he brought the file to me. I theatrically removed a card from each pocket and placed it next to the matching picture on the pocket. He was very thrilled each time I shouted “THEY MATCH!” enthusiastically. |
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I thought some readers might be interested in knowing what we ate last night. Our house-guest, Shang, was late. Due to weather conditions, his plane from The idea for last night's meal was one borne out of desperation last week. I had been so intent on trying new recipes for my children I forgot about the evening meal for my husband. This doesn’t happen too frequently, but it did last week.
Anyway, I decided to just concoct something with whatever I had in the fridge. A little of this, a little of that. And some love. My husband loved the meal. I decided to replicate it the evening the guest arrived. It was just easy and quick. First, cook the brown rice. Dish out as much as you want to eat in a big bowl. Mix in olive oil (as much as the people you are feeding like,) a pinch of sea salt, black pepper and stir in sliced pitted black olives. How much sliced olives you throw in depends entirely on taste. We like to have lots of them in our rice. The last two times, I didn’t put garlic, but I suspect freshly pressed garlic will taste good in the mix. (If you have been reading my blogs you will know by now that I LOVE the olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic combination! And do make it extra-virgin olive oil as that’s better for you.) The first time I made the olive rice, I used left-over brown rice (the long kind so it’s not sticky or gooey) and I didn’t stir in olive oil. That was also good so you might want to skip the oil if you are watching your fat intake. (Actually, I think butter will be yummy too. Put a couple of tablespoons of butter while the brown rice is piping hot.) Okay, that’s the rice. What about the chicken? All freezers should have pieces of chicken breast for emergencies, right? Before I freeze the chicken breasts, I separate and then slice them lengthwise so each piece is no more than ½ inch thick. I pat them flat in my ziplock bag and freeze them that way. It’s easier to remove a single piece if that’s all you need. After the chicken has defrosted, rub a bit of sea-salt (try not to use any other kind of salt as that is NOT healthy for you; besides sea salt tastes SO much better!) on the chicken breasts (a piece per person.) Put a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a pan, heat it up some and then pan fry the chicken breasts till they are slightly brown on the underside. Flip them over. You might want to sprinkle some black pepper on them. Now comes the fun part. If you have fresh rosemary (like I did,) the better. If not, the dried kind should do. Take a sprig ( 1/4 teaspoon of dried ones) of rosemary and lay it on each breast. Then pour your favorite vinaigrette over it. 1-2 tablespoons will do. I happened to have a bottle of Annie’s Naturals Roasted Red Pepper Vinaigrette in the fridge so that was what I used on both occasions. Cover the pan and cook on low-medium heat till the chicken is cooked (5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the meat and the heat). When you lift the cover, the mixed aroma of rosemary, chicken and vinaigrette should make your mouth water. Yum! As for presentation, that was what I did. I had a bed of shredded romaine lettuce (4-5 big leaves) on each plate. I put ¾ to 1 cup of mixed olive rice on the bed of lettuce and lay the chicken breast (and rosemary sprig) over the rice. I poured a bit of the gravy over the chicken. I also had a cup of steamed broccoli on the dish. That was it! Grape tomatoes would have had been nice but I didn't have them last night.
After I cleared all the dishes, we had hot tea, banana bread and some cherries. Satisfying. |
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Each Tuesday is POTATO DAY. My daughter LOVES potatoes. And since I only serve them once a week, it’s a treat for her. Lately, we've been enjoying my mother-in-law's fruit of labor. My daughter loves digging for potatoes when she visits her Nema and I enjoy cooking them. I usually throw potatoes in my stew-pot or toss them into my wok of stir-fried vegetables. But what she loves best is when I cut them in wedges or sticks and bake them with olive oil. When they are out of the oven, I sprinkle a teeny bit of sea salt and black pepper and oh, they are so good. She says she can live on potatoes and of course I understand. This morning I decided that I was not going to give her too many baked starchy foods IF I CAN HELP IT. I know this is not a popular topic, and many rather avoid it. But by now, people who keep up with health-related news know that vegetable starch that has been subject to high heat forms acrylamide, a carcinogen. And that is not good news. It is just another thing to worry about. (One day I may write an article related to what my wise husband sometimes says when I share with him another piece of research. “Living causes you to die," he will respond.) So what could this mother do after she washed, brushed,washed and semi-peeled the potatoes? I looked at my big trusty steamer, the one I use almost daily for steaming vegetables and decided that I was going to steam my potatoes. Yes, ma’m, not boil them, not bake or fry them but STEAM them. I’ve never steamed potatoes in all my years of cooking. At lunch time, I dished them out, drenched the hopeful heap with some extra-virgin oil, sprinkled a teeny bit of sea salt and the verdict? “WONDERFUL, mama! Yum, POTATOES!” So the next time you are not sure what to do with potatoes, try steaming them! It’s easier and so much healthier too. |