Lentil recipes, Hagia Sophia, and why every little boy needs gymnastics....

Howdy.  

Today was one of those days that seemed much longer than it really was.   We rushed through schoolwork to try and have a free afternoon, which we then spent sitting around and staring at each other while waiting for various contractors to show up at the house.   The first group did show up, which leads me to celebrate because THIS will be happening soon:

Why yes, that IS our indoor pool! 

The second appointment didn't show, so we sat around and watched a PBS NOVA episode about the Hagia Sophia, and called it bonus schoolwork.   That led to this in my dining room:

That was quickly followed by making dinner, with my little sidekick:

And during all of that, I finally connected the camera to the computer and found these gems:

Which led me to contemplate just what it was about gymnastics that I loved so much for our boys.   There are so  many things (the physical strength and learning how to control their muscles, their awesome coach who is a great role model for them, and the focus on sportsmanship (the judges do NOT take lightly to non-gentlemanly behaviour!)) that we love about the boys being in gymnastics, but honestly.....the thing  I think we love the most is this:

They might get to compete individually, but gymnastics really is the best of both an individual sport AND a team sport.  These boys (this is only half of the team - they were split up into two sessions at this meet, unfortunately) are taught from the very beginning that they are a team of gymnasts, not individual athletes.  They might not be passing balls to each other on a field, but they are very much competing as a team and supporting each other as a team.  I love that about this sport - they learn how to handle the stress of individual performances, but yet have an amazing support group holding them up.   It's an awesome dynamic.

It can get to be an expensive sport, but man, it is worth every penny to me when I see what these guys can do and how much they love each other.

But back to dinner.   We got dinner made, and the table was put back together, so I started moving plates of food onto the table to eat.

I came back into the kitchen and instantly knew that Theo had been there.  How did I know, you wonder?  Because of this:

It's like one of those Poltergeist movies or something around here.  ;)

But he also does this, so he can stick around forever and ever, amen.

Yes, friends, he cleans up after himself, too.  Love this kid.  

And because she's the only one not yet featured in today's post, here's a pretty Baby Girl:

Alright, I need to get rascals in bed, but don't you worry!  Here's tonight's recipe, courtesy of Mr Grahaminator!

Lentil Sloppy Joes

1 cup dry lentils (I usually use green, because they're the easiest to find around here)

2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup water

1 green pepper, diced

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tbsp yellow mustard

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp vinegar

Bring the broth and water to a boil in a medium saucepan.   Once it is boiling, add the lentils and cover.  Reduce heat and simmer until the lentils are tender (stir often and add water if it gets too dry).

Once the lentils are cooked, move them to a large frying pan, along with the green pepper.   There should be some water/broth mixture left in the lentils, but if not, add water to cover the bottom of the pot.   Simmer until the green pepper is tender.

Add the ketchup, mustard, sugar, and vinegar.   Continue to simmer, this time covered, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  You want the lentils to kind of fall apart and get "mushy."

Add ketchup, mustard, sugar, or vinegar, to taste.   These are the quantities that we used tonight, but you might have to adjust it to suit your family's preferences.

Serve warm, on buns.   Sweet potato fries are the perfect side dish with these sandwiches!

Feeding a family of 7.....and trying to stay in budget

Hi, y'all.  Happy Sunday!

I don't usually go grocery shopping on Sunday, but this weekend seems to be shaping up to be one of those weekends where we make an exception.  After being seemingly healthy this last week and into Saturday, Baby Girl had a really rough night on Saturday night (she just couldn't seem to get comfortable), and then woke up on Sunday morning with a rash that looked very similar to what I remember chicken pox to look like.    She's not running a fever or really even acting like she doesn't feel well, but the rash is still there and I'm just planning for staying home all week to keep her away from the general world.

Anywho, the possibility of a self-quarantine means that my normal Monday grocery shopping trip might not happen, and I needed to go today while Mike could hang out at home with the rascals.  

I sat down after Mike and the boys got home from mass (Ruthie and I stayed home this morning to keep her away from others) and started my weekly routine of taking stock of what we had in the pantry and forming our weekly menu.....and building the all-important grocery list.  

It's hard to stay in budget, and it seems to be getting harder and harder.  One of the things I miss most about living in Arizona would be the cost of groceries - it was pretty easy to stay in budget out there, and even throw in some "special" items throughout the week.   Back here in New England?  Not so much.   Things are pricy....and getting worse.

I recently bumped up our budget to $150/week for feeding the family of 7.  This is supposed to include things like the baby's formula and paper products.  I've switched to buying both of those things at a wholesale club in town, which helps immensely, but it still takes some planning and commitment to trimming waste.  We use every single morsel of food that I buy, even if it means that the chickens are eating it instead of us.   Waste is a four-letter-word around here!

Add to that the fact that the two older boys are in the height of their gymnastics competition season and working out HARD and competing even harder and......well.....we're eating a lot of food.   Which means that I'm buying a lot of food.   Keeping it to that $150/week for all 7 of us is hard, but I'm managing, even with allowing us one "going out" meal a week.  (I put it in quotations because it's technically take out from the local Thai place, but we call it our "night out" meal.   That runs us $32/week, so I'm really working with about $120/week for groceries).

Here's how I did this week:

The Menu

Sunday:

Breakfast - scrambled eggs, fruit (dozen eggs, produce)

Lunch - leftovers (we always start the week trying to clean out the fridge) or hummus wraps

Dinner - Roasted butternut squash and apple soup, salads (just needed to buy produce)

Monday:

Breakfast - smoothies (frozen fruit and veggies, almond milk)

Lunch - pita tunafish sandwiches, salad, fruit (pita is homemade from ingredients I keep on hand, in bulk, purchased tuna and produce)

Dinner - spaghetti, green salads (1 jar of spaghetti sauce, fresh mushrooms and tomatoes and frozen spinach to bulk it up, store-bought noodles)

Tuesday:

Breakfast - pancakes (all things I have on hand)

Lunch - Quinoa fried "rice"  (quinoa I buy in bulk and keep in the freezer, veggies will be whatever I need to use up, soy sauce and garlic I keep on hand always)

Dinner - sloppy joes, sweet potato fries (I did splurge on this one and bought real ground beef at Joseph's request ($8 for just over a pound!!!!! Yikes!  Normally I'd not spend that and we'd just do lentil sloppy joes, at a much much much cheaper $2/lb)   I had to purchase the meat, buns (because I'll not be home to make our own), and a sweet potato to bake up

Wednesday:

Breakfast - oatmeal (bought one box of instant oatmeal - it will give us two breakfasts)

Lunch - make your own salad bar with green salads, black beans or garbanzo beans, hardboiled egg, almonds, and sunflower seeds (bought both kinds of beans to replace the ones that I'd be using up this day since they were on sale, but I didn't *need* to buy them for the week)

Dinner - Burrito bowls using this bean recipe and this rice recipe  (I bought another jar of salsa, bag of rice, bag of beans, and tub of sour cream to replace what we'd be using up, but it wasn't necessary.   I had a bit of wiggle room this week, so I used it to replace things).

Thursday:

Breakfast - smoothies (using frozen fruit and almond milk)

Lunch - homemade "lunchables" with homemade pita wedges,  hummus and veggie sticks (carrots and celery), fruit   (bought cans of garbanzo beans to replace what we'd be eating and another bag of carrots and celery and fruit)

Dinner - this is our splurge take out meal.  We always get Thai food on Thursday.  I'm pretty sure that the boys all think that "Thai Thursday" is the actual day of the week......I bolster it with a choice of salads or fruit so that we don't have to order as much food, but the main dish is something from the restaurant

Friday:

breakfast - scrambled eggs (bought a dozen eggs) and fruit or oatmeal (they can choose)

Lunch - bean and rice burritos, made with the leftovers from Wednesday night, salad and fruit

Dinner - If Baby Girl isn't sick, we might go to the parish Soup and Stations, but I bought food as if we weren't going to go.  Our back-up meal will be Southwest Salads (bought an extra ranch dressing for the pantry in case we used it before).

Saturday:

Breakfast - pancakes 

Lunch - Chickpea "chicken" sandwiches, either on leftover pita bread or tortillas, fruit

Dinner - We're going to try this falafel recipe, with big green salads.   It's a lot of chickpeas in one day, but I really want to try them and Saturday's the best day for me!

So, there you have it.  I spent $85 at one store and $19 at another, so with our planned Thai, that leaves me at $146/week.   Not bad - maybe I'll use that extra $4 to splurge a mid-week treat or something for the kiddos.   It's definitely much harder to stick to a budget now that the kiddos are bigger and eating more food (especially since prices are going up, too!), but I keep trying.   What are your tricks for staying within your planned budget?   Any go-to inexpensive meals?  Share in the comments below or on Facebook!

Alright, my workout awaits me!  Have a great night!

Five Faves: Pantry Cooking

Linking up over at Call Her Happy again today!

Sneaking in at the last minute because I'm cool like that.   And because I just spent waaaayyyy too long converting our "one-room-schoolhouse-lots-of-verbal-lessons" homeschooling lesson plan for tomorrow into worksheets and activities so we can take it on the road (Mr. Theo has a bunch of therapy sessions tomorrow).    

Today was also grocery shopping day, and I'm trying to clean out what we have in the pantry and restock in time for the projected snowstorms (yes, more snow) this week.   So, I thought, why not do a "What Heidi Always Has On Hand" .... also known as pantry-menu-planning......for this week's five faves?

One little catch, though, not everything in these recipes is a pantry-stable item - some of these recipes include fresh foods or perishables.   But, for me, these are "pantry" recipes.  The things that are produce-based or perishables are things that I consider our staples, and that i always have on hand.  If I don't have one of these things......it is way past getting to the grocery store!

Here we go!

1.

Indian yellow lentils.  

I always have everything for this recipe on hand, and it's my go-to "I don't want to grocery shop" meal.   Usually what happens is that any veggie that i have on hand that needs to be used up gets tossed into the recipe as well - the other night, I included extra onions, some tomatoes, and some kale.  It was still delicious!    Definitely a great "base" recipe to add into the rotation.

2.

Quinoa/black beans/corn

A meal that can be made quickly  (in less than 30 minutes), and tastes great as it is, or wrapped up in tortillas.   Definitely a win-win in this house.  At any point in time, I will have 2-3 bags of corn in the freezer, and since the fridge/freezer are hooked up to what the generator would run if we were to lose power...I don't stress about losing it (too much).   That makes this go-to meal a very easy one to have on hand!

3.

Sweet Potato/black bean burritos.

This isn't an "official" recipe that I can link you to, but it's always something I have on hand.  It's super scientific, are you ready?

1 can black beans (drained and rinsed) + one peeled and diced sweet potato + 1 jar pineapple salsa (we like Newman's Own)

That's it.    Dump it all into a pan, and cook on medium heat until the potato is soft.   Wrap it in tortillas.  If you have it, add sour cream.   If I want to bulk it up some, I'll add some cooked brown rice into the filling for the burritos.   If I have kale or spinach that I want to use up, I'll tear it into tiny pieces and add it in the last few minutes of cooking.   Once it wilts, it's an easy way to sneak greens into a reluctant kiddo - you can't taste it at all!

4.

"Southwest" salads.

It's probably not correct to call this those, but, well.....it happened one day and it stuck.   Again, no recipe to link you to, but it's a stand-by for me.   It's pretty simple:  take your basic green salad (the boys like romaine lettuce for this one).   Top it with a black beans (I used drained, rinsed canned beans), cooked corn, and tortilla chips/strips (crumble them up).   If I have any veggies that need to be used up (bell peppers taste especially yummy with this!), I'll add those in.   Toss it with ranch dressing (again, we like Newman's Own for this), and voila!  Dinner is served.

5.

Black Bean Burgers

I have played with this recipe so many times, just trying to use up what I had on hand, and it has never let me down.     Peppers get replaced with extra onions, bread crumbs are replaced with cornmeal or ground oatmeal, and it still always turns out wonderfully.   Make your own hamburger buns, and keep a bag of sweet potato fries in the freezer, and it's a super quick and easy meal!   Even my carnivore extended family loves these burgers!

******

In case you were curious, my "must have" items in the pantry and fridge/freezer are:

quinoa

black beans

frozen corn

kale/spinach/chard

lettuce (I usually keep salad made/prepped in one of these containers)

lentils

onion

sweet potatoes

salsa

tortillas (I buy in bulk and freeze them, OR plan on making them myself)

ranch dressing

brown rice

If I start running low on these items, I definitely hit the grocery store before a snow storm hits!

*******

Enjoy the snow if you're getting some tonight, like we are!

Crowdsourcing: Can you help?

We're finally biting the bullet and replacing our blender (that I had accidentally taken apart to clean and then realized after the fact that the piece I thought was supposed to come apart wasn't really supposed to come apart and said blender had sprung a leak because of my overambitious cleaning.  Moral of the story?  Don't clean too hard.  You heard it first from me, folks!).

Anywho, after watching how well some of my kids who usually hate breakfast unless it's a carb/sugar fest of pancakes drank smoothies for breakfast, I'm sending Mike to the store to get us a new blender.

Now I need your help.  

Link me up, guys.  What are your favourite smoothie recipes?   Looking particularly for good breakfast ones that are non-dairy (we use almond milk if we need a milk substitute, if that matters) that are kid-approved.  I already have a freezer full of frozen bananas, and a box of straws in the drawer, so I'm ready to stock up and get smoothie-making!

Email me links, or post them below (or on FB).  Thanks!  If you know someone who's a smoothie master, tag them or send them this post, please!   I'm hoping for lots and lots and lots of suggestions for tried-and-true combinations!   

"More Nanny's" Butter Tarts

Back when Nicholas (now 6) was right around 18 months old, we were visiting my parents.   Growing up, we always called my maternal grandparents "Nanny" (Grandma) and "Poppy" (Grandpa), and we continued that tradition with our own circus clowns, calling my mom Nanny and my dad Poppy.   

There was a slight issue, though.....my maternal grandparents are still alive, and trying to explain which Nanny and which Poppy we were talking about was really confusing the circus clowns.  We needed a way to distinguish between generations of grandparents!

We tried "Great Nanny" and "Great Poppy".... but it didn't stick.

We tried "Nanny G" and "Poppy G".... but it didn't stick.

Nicholas, then 18 months, solved the problem for us during that visit to my parents.   I had been standing in the kitchen, with him on my hip,when my mom walked into the room. 

"Nanny!!" he exclaimed, happily.

Then MY Nanny (grandma) entered into the kitchen.

Nicholas paused, with a confused look on his face.   Then, his face lit up.

"MORE Nanny!!"  he cried!

......and that's what stuck.   "More Nanny" and "More Poppy" became the names that we called my grandparents, while "Nanny" and "Poppy" were reserved for my mom and dad.

******

Yesterday, we were stuck in the house during yet another snowstorm (we've gotten something like 37 inches of snow this week, with more predicted for tomorrow night and then again on Wednesday), and with a little boy who had a fever.    We made cookies.....and then Joseph begged to make his favourite dessert:  More Nanny's butter tarts.

Mike, who also loves butter tarts, jumped into the kitchen to help him make them.   Mike will *never* turn down an opportunity for butter tarts!

Since my copy of the recipe is hand-written and on index cards that have seen better days.....I thought I'd also blog about them, so that the recipe is a bit more accessible for future baking days.

Enjoy!

******

More Nanny's Butter Tarts

 For the pastry: 

6 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 lb shortening

1 egg

1 tbsp vinegar

cold water

For the filling:

2 eggs

2 cups brown sugar

2 tbsp vinegar

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 and 1/3 cups currant, chopped raisins, dates, figs, or nutmeats

Step 1:  The Pastry Dough

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.  Cut in the shortening.   Beat the egg in a small bowl, and then put it in a 1 cup measuring cup.  Add the vinegar and fill to the top with cold water.    Add this to the dry mixture, a little at a time (you probably won't need all of it), making a smooth dough as you mix in the water.

Step 2:  Cut up the raisins, if you're using them.

Step 3:  Make the filling.

Beat eggs only until the whites and yolks are well blended.  Beat in the sugar, then add the vinegar and the vanilla.   Stir in the melted butter and the fruit.

Step 4:  Line the muffin cups with pastry.

Spray your pan with cooking spray or grease it before using it.

We use a mini muffin pan (or a tart pan), because we like the smaller butter tarts.   You can make this in a regular muffin pan, too.    Since we have a little tart "press" tool (basically a wooden stick with balls on each end), we don't pre-cut the pastry.   Instead, we roll it into small balls and place that into the pan and smoosh (technical term) it down with the press tool.    If you don't have that, it's usually easiest to cut a small circle with a cookie cutter, drinking glass, or an empty, clean aluminum can, and then press that disk of dough into the muffin pan.

Step 5:  Fill the pastry shells.

Fill each pastry shell with the butter mixture, until the shell is 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full.

Step 6:  Bake!

Bake in a hot oven (450º) for the first 10 minutes, and then drop the temperature to moderate (350º) and bake 20-25 minutes, or until the filling is firm.  (This will just depend on how big of a butter tart you're trying to make!).

Then, let it cool and enjoy!

Graham's "Spicy" Veggies

Ingredients

1 tsp grated fresh ginger

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp mild curry powder

1 medium onion, diced

3 bell peppers, any colour, diced

8 oz sliced mushrooms

2 potatoes, peeled and diced

2 heads worth of broccoli florets 

2 tsp garam masala

1/2 tsp ground coriander

2 cup chicken or veggie broth

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp tomato paste

28 oz diced tomatoes

1 and 1/3 cup heavy cream

2 tbsp lemon juice

3 cups cooked rice (we like basmati)

Original recipe came from this book (which I HIGHLY recommend for your kids - we love it!), and then we tweaked it to make it less meat-heavy and a vegetarian option)

Step 1:

Prepare your veggies

Step 2:

Sautee your onion, garlic, and ginger in a little bit of water to keep from sticking, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent.

Step 3:

(not pictured)

Add your spices to the onion/garlic/ginger mixture, and cook until it becomes really fragrant, about 3to 5 minutes.

Step 4:

Add your veggies to the onion and spice mixture.

Step 5:

Add your broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, and honey to the veggies.   Dream of a larger pot for cooking for your family and resolve to shop online for one (and promptly forget while moving on to the next step of the recipe).   Cover and simmer until the veggies are tender.

Step 6:

Add in the cream and stir very carefully.  Simmer uncovered for about 10 more minutes, until it's thickened.

Step 7:

Stir in lemon juice, then serve immediately over rice.  Enjoy!

You will never go back...

...once you try these homemade hamburger buns!    

It's no secret that I'm a bread machine addict.   For the longest time, everyone teased me about buying the $5 machines at a garage sale, using them until the motor ran out, and then hitting another garage sale (or Goodwill if it was winter) to get a replacement.   The Circus was where bread machines came to die, it seemed.

Until Christmas a few years ago.  My brother spoiled us with the most amazing bread machine that is still going strong....something like 5 years later!   I used to use this thing almost daily, and now probably use it 3 to 4 times a week (we don't eat as much bread as we used to).   It's a great machine!

Anyway, yesterday was a snow day, where we ended up getting about 2.5 feet of snow in a 24 hour period.    I'd planned and shopped for meals that didn't need electricity to be prepared, since there was a prediction of really strong winds that could easily cause power outages.   

That meant that snow day meals included this beast:

Why yes, that *is* an indoor charcoal grill!   Thank you for asking!  

When we looked at this house, I thought this contraption was one of the silliest things that I'd ever seen.  Who would want to grill *inside* their house and make it all stinky?

Ummm...I'm not going to tell you how many times we've used it in the last six months. 

That would be silly.

Anyway, last night's dinner was supposed to be burgers on the grill.   And the rascals were SUPER excited for a "summery" meal in the midst of a blizzard......so when I realized, just after cleaning up from lunch, that I'd forgotten to purchase hamburger BUNS for said burgers....there was quite a bit of disappointment happening at the Circus.

But then I remembered.......I had a bread machine recipe from this book for hamburger and hot dog buns!

So, we loaded the ingredients into the bread machine and prayed that the power stayed on (it did).  About two hours later, we were enjoying some of   the most amazing hamburger buns that we've ever had, if I do say so myself!   Here's the recipe for you to try out:

Whole Wheat Hamburger and Hot Dog Buns

(1.5 lb recipe)

1 cup water

1 egg

2 cups all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup shortening

1/4 cup sugar

3 tsp active dry yeast

Place all ingredients into the bread pan, select DOUGH setting, and press start.

When the dough has risen long enough, the machine will beep.  Turn off bread machine, remove bread pan, and turn out dough onto a floured countertop or cutting board.   Gently roll and shape the dough into a 12-inch rope.

With a sharp knife, divide the dough into 8 pieces for hamburger buns, or 12 pieces for hot dog buns.

Grease a baking sheet.  Roll pieces of dough into balls and flatten for hamburger buns (flatten LIGHTLY) or shape into 6 inch rolls for hot dog buns.  Place on the prepared baking sheet.   Cover and let rise in a warm oven for 10 to 15 minutes until almost doubled.  

Preheat oven to 400º.  Bake 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.  Remove from oven and cool on racks.   When ready to use, split buns in half horizontally.   These will keep in a plastic bag in the freezer for 3 to 4 weeks.

White Bean Spinach Soup

How about another winter soup recipe?  Awhile back, I went looking for easy, low-fat soup recipes, and stumbled across this one.  It was a good start, but didn't quite fit our dietary preferences, so I tweaked it a bit.  Here's the finished product.  I like this soup because it's "warming" (one of those soups that just warms you through-and-through), and it's made completely of things that I always have on hand.  We just eat it as-is, but it would be awesome with a loaf of Italian bread!

White Bean Spinach Soup

2 shallots, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 cups broth (veggie or chicken would work fine)

2 x 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes

3 cans (or equivalent) cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

16 oz bag of frozen spinach (you can use fresh, too)

2 tsp dried rosemary

black pepper

crushed red pepper

Sautee the garlic and shallots in a small amount of water, over medium heat, until they are translucent.

Separate approximately 2/3 of the beans and put into a blender with about 2 cups of the broth (I eyeball it, sorry!).  Blend together.

Add the blended bean/broth mixture, the rest of the broth, tomatoes, rosemary, and rest of the beans to the shallot/garlic mixture.  Season with black and red peppers, to taste.



Bring to a boil and let simmer for 15 minutes.   Add spinach and cook until wilted (if fresh) or heated through (if frozen).   Serve hot.

That's it!  It's like a minestrone in flavour, but super easy to make, and the added beans give a great protein punch (and hold your appetite over longer).     Theo, especially, is a huge fan - he will quickly swipe your bowl when you're not looking!

Enjoy!

A week's worth of lunches.....

It's lunch time again.

The kids keep wanting to eat.  ;)  It's funny how that works.  I'm not sure why, but lunch always seems to take me by surprise.  For awhile, I was doing a great job pre-packing lunches.  I'd make them the night before and stack them in the fridge and just pull them out when it was time to eat.   Recently, though, I've been really craving hot lunches, and that's a bit harder to do with pre-packing.   We don't usually have enough leftovers to serve to everyone, considering all 6 of us have to eat at home or pack a lunch (Mike), so that's not really an option for us right now.  We're not huge leftovers fans, anyways, to be honest.

I thought I'd document our lunches last week, and post them here.  Both for future reference (for when I get into the inevitable lunch-making rut) and to share with you guys.   Send me any tips and/or favourite lunch time meals, please!  I'm always looking for new ideas!

Monday

Spaghetti squash, roasted and then tossed with butter, parmesan cheese, and herbes de Provence.   Apples on the side. 

Spaghetti squash is hit-or-miss here, but it'd been awhile since we had it, so I thought it was worth the try.   The price is right this time of year, that's for sure!

Tuesday

Black bean, cheese, and salsa quesadillas with green salads on the side.  They also shared a fruit plate with mango, orange, and apple slices.

For this one, I try really hard to minimize the amount of cheese needed, so I take a can of black beans and drain and rinse them well.  I mash them with a potato masher and then mix in about 1/2 cup of salsa.   I shred cheddar cheese and mix in about 1/2 a cup of that with the beans and salsa.   This will make 5 normal quesadillas or 4 really loaded ones.  Since we try to limit dairy and the kids LOVE to dip it in sour cream, I try hard to just have enough cheese to melt and hold everything together.

Wednesday

Homemade whole wheat pitas filled with salmon salad, green side salads, and apple slices.   The salmon filling is canned salmon, and lots of diced carrots and celery.  I add just enough mayo to hold it together, and then serve it at room temperature.   It tastes a lot like tuna, which my kids love.

Thursday

This one probably qualifies as leftovers, now that I think about it.  We'd made this recipe for dinner one night this last week, and I had enough of the filling leftover to make another round of burritos.   I threw green salads on the side, and a dollop of sour cream (again, the boys LOVE to dip things in sour cream!), and then there was a fruit basket to choose from if they were still hungry.

Friday

Roasted butternut squash and apple soup, grapes, and whole wheat crackers.  It was supposed to leftover whole wheat baguette, but, well....the sheepdog got it.  So, crackers it was!

*****

There you have it, a week of lunches at the Circus.  What are you eating for lunch these days?

Brrrrrr....

It's cold out, y'all.

Like, REALLY cold.

I'm trying to figure out if I can beg the grocery store clerk to bring my "order online and they'll get it for you" order to the car, too.   Because not having to unload the kids and walk through the zero-degree weather to get into the store might just be the motivation that I need to trust someone else to pick out my fruits and veggies.....

Cold weather makes me crave soup and stews.  Does it do the same for you?   And tea.  Lots and lots of hot tea.  Anything that I can do to make my FL roots not shrivel up and die during Maine winters, I'll pretty much do.  

I thought I'd post tonight's dinner here, since it's a recipe that I get asked for every time I mention that we're eating it.   It's a great winter soup - leaves you feeling all warm and cozy inside.   My beautiful friend Jody taught it to me, and we've worked with it to make it our own.   So, here goes:

Roasted Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 apples, the sweeter the better (we like Fuji), peeled, cored, and chopped into cubes

1 onion, cut into small wedges

2-3 cloves garlic, peeled, but leave them whole

6-8 cups broth (veggie, chicken, doesn't matter)

nutmeg

cinnamon

salt

pepper

olive oil

Alright - first thing you do is prep all of your veggies and fruits.   Preheat your oven to 350º while you're doing this.   Throw squash, apples, onion, and garlic onto a rimmed cookie sheet and drizzle it with olive oil.  Season with salt and pepper.   (I didn't use salt, because my broth this time was the "Better than Bouillon" chicken base, and it's salty enough as it is).  

Once everything's nice and tossed, throw it into the preheated oven.   Roast them at 350º for about 45 minutes, stirring at least once halfway through.   I like to roast it until the squash is nice and soft and the edges of the onion have started to caramelize.

Now, normally, I use a big stock pot for this step, but I'm about to head out the door and do a gymnastics practice run with the kids, and I need this to be ready when I get home.    I'm using my crockpot to keep it warm for me, so I don't have to reheat it when I walk in the door with hungry, tired kids.

Once everything is good and roasted, throw it all into a large pot.  Make sure to scrape the cookie sheet and get all of the juices that are left behind.    Add your chicken broth and either use a pureeing stick (that's what I do), or put it through a blender in batches to get it to the right consistency.   We use about 8 cups of broth for our soup, because we like it to be not as thick (it's easier for Theo to eat if it's a bit runnier).  

Season it with the nutmeg and cinnamon and serve warm with crusty bread.  If it's not sweet enough for your tastes (this totally depends on your apples), add a bit of maple syrup.

We've experimented with various spices and have found that this soup also works great with a combination of curry spices instead of the cinnamon/nutmeg option.   Try it that way, too!

*******

Alright, time to get moving, but first, how about a little beauty that I spotted over the last two days?

From this morning - I'm so grateful for the ability to homeschool these rascals.  I used to say that the thing that scared me the most about the idea of parenting was teaching a child to read (after all, I don't remember ever NOT being able to read!).   Homeschooling has shown me that not only is this fun and exciting, but it's awfully rewarding.  For the child, AND me!

From yesterday.  Well, in the middle of the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, so it was technically yesterday.  Poor munchkin has a cold and is all stuffy and not sleeping or eating all too well.   Doesn't change her beautiful smile and sheer happiness of being with you.  Love this girl!