danawyyc

The Infectious Enthusiasm of a Toddler–Snow in April Sucks

April 15, 2011 by danawyyc 3 Comments

Last night it started to snow. In April. Not even early April, but April 13th. I was not impressed. I’m quite done with winter and snow in particular.

Gordie on the other hand looked out the window and said “It’s snowing!” with the enthusiasm of a child who had been hoping all Winter for just one day of snow.

This morning when I looked outside there was over a foot of wet, heavy snow. Seriously? I am almost desperate for Spring. I need sunlight again. And grass. Remember grass? I don’t ever want to leave the house again.

But Gordie takes one look and demands to “Go play in the snow!” He couldn’t have been more excited.

So I grabbed some things for a snowman and spent 20 minutes getting us both into our snow gear. Gordie had the best time and honestly, it was the best part of my day too. Usually the snow in Calgary is too dry to stick together, so it’s nearly impossible to make snowmen and it’s usually unpleasantly cold at well. Today the snow was perfect and it was right around freezing.

It’s hard to stay in a bad mood when someone around you is having so much fun. That being said – snow in April still sucks.

Cinnamon Raisin No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread

April 14, 2011 by danawyyc 2 Comments

Ever since I first posted about No-Knead Bread I’ve been thinking about what kinds of variations I could try. Cinnamon raisin was first on my list. I love raisin bread, but I hate that you can just about never get it on whole wheat bread. So I gave it a go and it is awesome. Seriously I just want to eat this all day. Gordie loves all the bread I’ve made so more. He asks for Mommy’s bread all the time.

This recipe and directions are almost identical to my Whole Wheat No-Knead Bread Recipe. There is the obvious additions of raisins and cinnamon, a slight increase in the amount of yeast because cinnamon inhibits yeast production and a little extra water.

Note: you will need an oven proof dish with a heavy lid to make this – Dutch ovens are perfect for this but other oven proof dishes like casserole dishes can work too.

(Adapted from Calgarian Julie Van Rosendaal’s take on Jim Lahey’s no knead bread method on babble.com)

Cinnamon Raisin No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup raisins
½ tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
2½ cups water (this is more than the standard recipe because whole wheat flour is thirstier than refined flour and it’s even more than my regular whole wheat flour recipe because the raisins soak up some of the water)
wheat bran, cornmeal or additional flour for dusting (wheat bran worked really well)(I use Robin Hood – Best for Bread Flour which works well as it is high in protein as most Canadian flours are which is necessary for making good bread)

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl stir the flour, yeast, salt and cinnamon together with your hands. Then add the raisins.
Add 2 cups of the water. Mix the dough and water together with your hands until you can no longer see dry flour. You can run your hands under the tap to wet them if you are worried about the dough sticking to them, but it’s not really necessary.
Check your dough, it should look wet but the flour shoimageuld absorb all the water. You couldn’t knead this dough if you wanted too. If your dough still looks dry add a little at a time and mix until it looks wet. I found 2½ cups of water to be perfect. Don’t stress out too much about it though, I’ve made it both too dry and too wet and the bread still turned out fine. It was just a little dense when it was too dry and it was harder to move when it was too wet.
Cover the bowl with saran wrap and leave it on the counter for 12-24 hours. Whenever it is convenient for you. The dough should have risen noticeably and you’ll probably see some little bubbles at the top. image
When you are ready sprinkle wheat bran, flour or corn meal on the top of the dough as well as on a large tea towel.
Use a spatula to loosen the dough from the bowl and drop it onto one side of the tea towel. Fold the dough over on itself a few times and then sprinkle the flour (or whatever) on the top.
Roll the dough onto the other side of the tea towel and coat the other side with flour (or whatever) again. Fold the tea towel over the top of the dough ball and leave it out for 1-2 hours. (Don’t leave it on the stove it will get all sticky and attach itself to the tea towel when you are preheating the stove – trust me).
In the last half hour preheat the stove to 450F with your oven safe heavy lidded pot inside to make sure it’s nice and hot.
Take the pot out of the oven and dust the inside with flour, this will help keep the raisins from sticking and burning to the bottom (or whatever). Roll the dough into the hot pot, place the lid on and stick it in the oven for 30 minutes. Then, take the lid off and bake for 15 more minutes.
For best results, let the loaf cool before eating, but if you really want warm bread, you can cut it right away and it’s still really good.

I’m sure this would be lovely with some butter or cinnamon cream cheese, but I eat it straight up.

My baby’s 2!

April 13, 2011 by danawyyc 1 Comment

Cranberry Turkey Burgers

April 11, 2011 by danawyyc 1 Comment

One of the problems with turkey burgers is that they can just be so dry and tasteless. These burgers compensate with the addition of spices, dried cranberries, parsley and green onions. My husband’s uncle served cranberry turkey burgers one year after Christmas. We liked them so much we tried to replicate them at home and this is what we came up with. Since then it’s become a family favorite and we’ve made it again and again.

Cranberry Turkey Burgers

Ingredients

1 pound Ground turkey
¼ cup Dried cranberries chopped
1 green onion (scallion) chopped, finely
1 TBSP chopped parsley
½ teaspoon Allspice
¼ teaspoon Ground ginger
¼ teaspoon Basil dried
¼ teaspoon Cinnamon

Instructions

You can cook these like any other burger but it’s generally recommended that they are cooked at a slightly lower heat for a longer time to ensure that they inside reaches the correct temperature.

Topping Ideas

Mayo, mango chutney, cranberry sauce, tomatoes, cucumber, lettuce, avocado. (but not all at once!)

Almond Zucchini Sauté–Tired Mom Side Dish

April 8, 2011 by danawyyc 2 Comments

I often seem to either make either a good side dish or a good meal but not both when I’m making supper. So I’m always on the lookout for quick, easy and healthy side dishes that I can manage to make in addition to whatever else I’m making for supper. When I saw this zucchini dish at Smitten Kitchen I knew I’d found a winner.

Almond Zucchini Sauté–Tired Mom Side Dish

Ingredients

1 TBSP olive oil
1 small handful of sliced almonds
1 normal sized zucchini (cut into sticks, you can cut them smaller than I’ve done above, I just don’t have the machinery or the patience)
optional: salt, pepper, parmesan cheese

Instructions

Heat the oil over medium heat. Add the almonds and sauté for a couple minutes until they are browned.
Add the zucchini and cook for about a minute just until the zucchini is heated.
Add a little salt and pepper and parmesan if you want. It’s really good with them, but I often forget and it’s still good.

No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread

April 7, 2011 by danawyyc 2 Comments

I’ve started baking my own bread. I made my first loaf on March 25. It’s now 11 days later and I have made 6 loaves of bread so far. I feel like some kind of supermom. But it’s so quick, easy and flexible that no superpowers are actually necessary. Seriously, I am at best an amateur cook, I rarely bake and never anything with dough – if I can make this, so can you. The only catch is you need a oven proof dish with a heavy lid. Dutch ovens are perfect for this. I managed to get one at Costco this fall for only $50 so that’s what I’ve been using but there are other things that can work like casserole dishes if you want to give it a try.

I’ve also made a number of mistakes that I’ve learned from that I’ll share as well. Amazingly despite the mistakes every loaf I’ve made has still turned out. This recipe is really resilient.

(Adapted from Calgarian Julie Van Rosendaal’s take on Jim Lahey’s no knead bread method on babble.com)

No-Knead Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients

3 cups whole wheat flour
¼ tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
2¼ cups water (this is more than the standard recipe because whole wheat flour is thirstier than refined flour)

Instructions

In a large mixing bowl stir the flour, yeast and salt together with your hands.
Add 2 cups of the water. Mix the dough and water together with your hands until you can no longer see dry flour. You can run your hands under the tap to wet them if you are worried about the dough sticking to them, but it’s not really necessary.
Check your dough, it should look wet but the flour should absorb all the water.You couldn’t knead this dough if you wanted too. If your dough still looks dry add a little at a time and mix until it looks wet. I found 2¼ cups of water to be perfect. Don’t stress out too much about it though, I’ve made it both too dry and too wet and the bread still turned out fine. It was just a little dense when it was too dry and it was harder to move when it was too wet.
Cover the bowl with saran wrap and leave it on the counter for 12-24 hours. Whenever it is convenient for you. The dough should have risen noticeably and you’ll probably see some little bubbles at the top.
When you are ready sprinkle wheat bran, flour or corn meal on the top of the dough as well as on a large tea towel.
Use a spatula to loosen the dough from the bowl and drop it onto one side of the tea towel. Fold the dough over on itself a few times and then sprinkle the flour (or whatever) on the top.
Roll the dough onto the other side of the tea towel and coat the other side with flour (or whatever) again. Fold the tea towel over the top of the dough ball and leave it out for 1-2 hours. (Don’t leave it on the stove it will get all sticky and attach itself to the tea towel when you are preheating the stove – trust me).
In the last half hour preheat the stove to 450F with your oven safe pot inside to make sure it’s nice and hot.
Take the pot out of the oven and dust the inside with flour (or whatever). Roll the dough into the hot pot, place the lid on and stick it in the oven for 30 minutes. Then, take the lid off and bake for 15 more minutes.
For best results, let the loaf cool before eating, but if you really want warm bread, you can cut it right away and it’s still really good.

This looks like a lot of steps but is really very little work and not very hard. Check out this youtube video where Jim Lahey demonstrates the process.

Making Muffins– Whole Wheat Pumpkin Ginger Nut Muffins

March 31, 2011 by danawyyc 1 Comment

I don’t bake very often. I like baking. In fact it used to be one of my favorite things to do when I was stressed. But I found that stress eating and stress baking were going hand in hand. So I decided that perhaps I should try different ways to manage my stress and bake a little less. It didn’t hurt that around the same time the oven at our rental unit was broken (I could use the stove and broil things, but not bake) so I couldn’t bake even if I wanted to.

Baking can be so great to do with kids though. You don’t tend to need much in the way of sharp implements and the heat is all at the end. I love ginger and I had some left over canned pumpkin from the holidays so when I found this recipe from the food blog Simply Recipes, I was sure I had found a winner.

Gordie loved them! I made them into mini-muffins because they are easier for little hands to hold. The pumpkin provides some good nutrients, but I wanted to see if they’d still be good if I used whole wheat flour. They weren’t quite as light as the white flour ones (or as pretty) but they were good and Gordie loved them just as much.

Making Muffins– Whole Wheat Pumpkin Ginger Nut Muffins

Ingredients

1½ cups whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon salt1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup pumpkin pure
⅓ cup melted butter
2 eggs beaten
⅓ cup water
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
½ cup chopped pecans
¼ cup chopped candied ginger (I like them roughly chopped but most kids will probably like them better if they’re pretty finely chopped).

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F.
Mix dry ingredients (flour, salt, sugar, baking soda, spices) in a large bowl.
Beat eggs in a bowl and then add the wet ingredients (pumpkin, melted butter, water).
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix with a fork. (I love how recipes say “do not over-mix” without over explaining what that means. I try to stop right after there isn’t any visible dry flour).
Spoon into the mini-muffin cups (using my non-stick muffin tray I find it’s actually better not to grease the pan) and bake for 17-22 minutes. Test a muffin with a toothpick. If it does not come out clean, bake for a couple more minutes and retest.
Makes about 24 mini-muffins.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Hummus

March 26, 2011 by danawyyc 2 Comments

After making peanut butter hummus I started to wonder if you could make a sweet hummus dish instead of the traditional savory hummus. A peek around the internet proved that this was indeed possible so I decided to give it a try. Now some of the sites I visited suggested that this could be an actual dessert. I’m still not sold on that. What I made would not really be good as an ice cream topping for instance, and if I were to add enough sugar and fat to make it that way, I’d rather just go for broke and use caramel sauce.

Instead I would suggest using it as a Nutella alternative. Or as a way to try to get your kids to try beans. Sort of a gate way food for beans. Overall, it wasn’t bad, people who tried it generally liked it, but I don’t think I’m going to have to make a new batch every week.

I’ve give a wide range for the maple syrup because it’s so easy to adjust to taste as you can just add more in and pulse the food processor for a few more seconds. We found that the cocoa came out more with less maple syrup, but it is definitely sweeter with more.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Hummus

Ingredients

1 can (16 oz) Chickpeas ; rinsed and drained
4 Tbsp Peanut Butter (I just used a big spoon – more if desired)
½ teaspoon Sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup cocoa powder
2-8 Tbsp maple syrup
¼ cup Water (more if needed)

Instructions

Drain and rinse the chickpeas
Add all the ingredients to the food processor (you can use a blender, but it’s not really not as effective. I have tried and don’t recommend it. I ended up buying a food processor so I could make hummus).
Run the food processor until the hummus starts to appear to bounce up and down (this won’t take a really long time) . Alternatively just check it every 10 seconds or so. You’ll want to scrape off the sides of the food processor because I find some chickpeas tend to stick to the sides and then give it another quick blend. If you are finding it’s not as well mixed or creamy as you would like just add another ¼ cup of water.

Cooking with the Kids
The kids can:

Measure and pour the ingredients
Rinse the chickpeas and put them in the food processor
Run the food processor (with supervision)

Serving Ideas With apple slices, as a sandwich spread, sauce on a dessert pizza, on crackers, with pita

Lentils and Ground Beef–Tired Mom Meal

March 25, 2011 by danawyyc Leave a Comment

Today I had a truly terrible sleep. My special needs brother had insomnia in addition to being agitated and anxious. This is not a winning combination. He tossed and turned and complained all night waking me up along with him.

Despite this bad start I was still going to go ahead with my plans to make cranberry turkey burgers. All I’d have to do was a little chopping and I was basically good to go. But the turkey was still really frozen. I seriously considered getting my husband bring home take out. I was just done.

Then I remembered Lentils and Ground Beef. My mother-in-law made it for my husband while he was growing up, but I had never had it before he introduced me to it. Now I make it fairly frequently. If you have cooked ground beef in the freezer, it couldn’t be easier. It’s not the most attractive dish, but it’s simple, quick and high in fibre, protein and iron.

Lentils and Ground Beef–Tired Mom Meal

Ingredients

1 can lentils
.5-1 lb of cooked ground beef. (really any amount is fine)

Instructions

Defrost the ground beef in the freezer (or cook and drain it in a pan).
Add the can of lentils with the liquid and the defrosted ground beef to a pan.
Cook on a low heat until there is no longer liquid in the bottom of the pan. If you need it quicker you can use a higher heat, but you’ll need to watch it and stir it more often.
When it’s done, put the heat down to the lowest setting and it will be ready when you are.

Serve it with a salad, in a wrap, with a side of bread or some onion rings. I usually just eat it out of a bowl by itself.

You Never Know When You’ll Be Confronted with a Scary Cow

March 24, 2011 by danawyyc 1 Comment

Although we have yet to find a monkey on our neighbourhood walks (despite frequently looking) we did have a run in with wildlife inside our own kitchen.

I know, it is possibly the cutest looking cow ever made. And it’s only about the size of my palm. Gordie loved this cow. It was one of the first things that he tried to get me to buy at the store when he was around a year. It’s been up on a shelf though so he hasn’t seen it in a while. The cow eventually found it way back to civilization and I thought Gordie might like to see how it can moo if you push it’s tummy. It seemed like this would be fun because he would be old enough to do it now.

Well, that did not go over well. After a lot of tears and snuggles, I told the cow to stop making noises and we reached a peace. I know Gordie is a little sensitive to noises, but the quiet moo of this cute little cow? Whoops.

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