Books for Toddler Boys

Seems like all I've been posting lately is about food, food, and more food! I've had more misses than wins in the kitchen lately so I wanted to avoid food all together (but look out for an amazing honey garlic citrus balsamic chicken that will make you lick the skillet) and write about something else I hold near and dear to my heart which is reading with my son. We are working on bambino dos right now so I've got this overwhelming urge to spend as much one on one time with him as possible now while I don't have an infant attached to me. Wee man loves reading and will sit down quietly if you read the back of a can of shaving cream and happily ask "again" when you are done. Here are some of my favorite books to read together with him:

Truck noises and farm animals, need I say more?

Little Blue Truck is about a big purple cat (just kidding, I couldn't resist, it's about a little blue truck) who is always polite to the farm animals when driving through the country. Then a big yellow dump truck zooms through and is rude to the animals and gets stuck in a mud puddle. This story lets you and your kidlet make vehicle and animal noises and you can discuss (as much as possible with the age limits) how important it is to use your manners and help others out, even when they are not so nice.

Any night that ends in "y" is a good night to read a book  about  love.

We got this book for Neal's 2nd birthday and it's my go to book when I need a short story night. I love that I can make up the tune to the song and its full of saying "I love you" and kisses and positive affirmations for their growing personality.

Exploring nature instead of buying crap.

I adore this book. My mom found it at a thrift store while I was pregnant and it's STILL a favorite of ours. I love that the lyrics are about looking at things in nature and around the home instead of "hush your face little person, I'll buy you this crap if you shut your pie hole".

Pooping? Not listening? Generally acting a fool? Check, check, and check.

We love our dog and Neal laughs through this book every time we read it. This poor man has 10 dogs who escape one morning and it goes through their escapades in the city. And there is a page devoted to pooping, and the dogs faces are priceless.

Dinosaurs Roaring, the title tells it all really.

Another quick read, this books teaches opposites through dinosaurs. The pictures are very colorful and I really like that it talks about length, weight, personality, texture, colors, and all sorts of other opposites as opposed to the traditional up/down, in/out, over/under.

Of course, wee man still loves any book to do with trains (especially Thomas), Halloween/monsters, pooping, and dinosaurs so we have those token character books that aren't horrible to read but nothing I get excited about when he drags out of the book bins. He loves interactive books like pop ups, textures, and he even got a really cool magnetic Thomas book where the pages are magnetic so the little train magnets it came with can play on the page.

Hope these books inspired you to go curl up with one of your favorites and read with your kiddo!

Gluten Free Biscuits

You ever cook something and really the recipe flops but you don't want to call it a fail because you know it has so much potential? Yeah? Well, this was that kind of recipe for me. I've been lusting for good gluten free biscuits like I grew up with for five years and finally decided to bite the butter and just make some. Gluten free flours don't rise like wheat does so these looked like poofy crackers but they tasted spot on. Next time I will roll the dough a little thicker to get the height I want.

Biscuit? Fritter? Shortcake? Cracker? Whatever it was it sure did go down smooth with a dollop of strawberry jam!

2 c. flour (whatever your prized gluten free mix is but have a few cups of cheapo rice flour on hand for dusting)
1 Tbsp baking powder (yes, tablespoon not teaspoon)
3/4 c. milk
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c. butter

Mix all ingredients together with a pastry cutter until crumbly then form into a ball in the bowl. Roll out on a floured surface (see comment on cheap flour above) until about an inch thick. In the pic above I did half an inch and it just didn't work right. Tip of the year DO NOT cut your biscuits out with a drinking glass or a jar, the dough needs the crisp sharp edge that a cookie or biscuit cutter gives. With out this your biscuits could turn out more UFO shaped than cylindrical.

Bake on an ungreased sheet for 10 minutes at 450 F.

Quick Spinach Quiche

This time of year I go on a produce bender when all the beautiful fruits and veggies are shipped up from Chile and then I have a refrigerator full of food that I'm not quite sure what to do with. I bought a large clamshell of spinach and had no clue what to make, but I also had two dozen eggs (gotta remember to look at what I already have before going shopping...) and a pie crust that needed to be used so a spinach quiche was the only logical choice, right?

Brunch-tastic!

4 eggs

1/2 c milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 c. chopped onion (I used purple because its what I had)

1 c. cheese (cheddar, swiss, mozerella, fontana, gouda, whatever is on hand)

9" pie shell (again, I swear by the Gluten Free Pantry's Pie Shell)

pepper to taste

Sprinkle the chopped onion on the bottom of the unbaked pie shell and then fill the pie shell with the fresh spinach until its completely but loosely full. Spinach shrinks like crazy when it cooks so don't worry about it. Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl then dump it on in as well. 

Bake at 350 F for roughly 45 minutes then get your quiche on.

Round 47 of Sleep Training

I'm not big on the idea of forcing Neal to sleep a certain way. I've always had a wretched time with sleep and have many memories of being very young and pleading with my mother that no, I really wasn't tired and couldn't I read a book and her telling me to go the hell to bed and just lay there quietly. As a teen I could just wait until they went to sleep then I'd go downstairs and turn on the TV and watch infomercials until I could go back to sleep, I was even on sleep medication at one point to help with my insomnia and even they didn't do diddly squat. I also remember being a very small child and trying every way possible to sleep in my parents bed, everything from crawling in next to her, taking the cat's spot at the foot of the bed, even throwing some blankets in the floor! When I'd get kicked out I'd crawl into bed with my younger brother and finish up the night/morning there.

So unfortunately Neal got my sleep habits.

When he was three weeks old we finally said fuck it and let him sleep in bed with us, we got so much more sleep having the baby in bed with us than trying to get him to sleep in his crib or us sleeping in the recliner together which I now know is a HUGE no-no. When he was about a year and a half he decided within a few weeks time that he was done nursing and he wanted to establish his own bed. PARENTING VICTORY!!! Well, he wanted to nap or fall asleep in his bed but he would always crawl back in with us.

Now at about two and a half we are trying to get him to fall asleep in his own bed by himself or at least stay in bed the entire night. I don't expect him to do both but he sleeps so fitfully when he is sandwiched between us and wee man shares my pillow with me and Texas is apparently my dog because he likes to sleep in the crook of my knee so by the time I wake up I literally have a 2-foot sliver of bed that I can sleep on. To say I wake up groggy and stiff is an understatement.

Before Seattle was overtaken by Snowmageddon 2012 he was going to sleep on his own very well, but then things changed as they tend to do and its like he regressed months instead of weeks. If he does that whiny cry like "waaaaaah I don't want to do this its harrrrrrrrd" then I just let him lay in bed and keep his own bratty self company and fuss at him to go put his head back on the pillow, but sometimes he gets this terrible distressed cry going and does that whole cry so hard you make yourself heave thing which is NOT the parent I want to be no matter how old he his so I go in and help soothe him down. And I know that's taking two steps back on my part because if he keeps getting someone to lay down with him to go to sleep and then wakes up a few hours later and no one is there, how can we expect him to put himself back down?

Parenting is a kick in the pants some days, but what really sucks is when you realize it's your own size 9's that are doing the kicking.

Easy Quinoa Dishes

I was diagnosed with Celaic in 2008 and it's taken me 4 years to really warm up to the idea of quinoa. I don't like pasta made with the stuff and the one other time I tried cooking with it, well, calling it a flop would be kind. But I've had a few quinoa sides at deli's that were pretty good so I decided to pick up a bag tri-colored quinoa at Trader Joes. Eating these two tonight made me change my tune completely, I just finished eating one for a light dinner and I'm already looking forward to eating it with lunch tomorrow.

I just grabbed what I had on hand in the fridge but since it's Sunday evening that means it was chock full of fresh fruits and veggies because we just got groceries. When I asked others who cook with this grain for recipes and ideas, they said to use it exactly like you would rice. I know I could have used my rice cooker to steam this up but I went ahead and threw it in a pot because it was just easier to clean that way. I cooked 1 cup of dried quinoa and expanded 3-4 times so I decided to half the batch and make two different kinds.

Light, Bright, and downright Cheerful

Cranberry Mint Quinoa
1 handful of dried cranberries
1 stalk of celery thinly sliced
2 stalks of green onions sliced
3-4 sprigs of spearmint
apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper

I barely covered the bottom of the cap with the vinegar because I wanted it to have a bit of bite without being overwhelming, same with the olive oil because I didn't want it to be heavy. Salt and pepper were to taste and wow is this one awesome. I think of cranberries as a fall/winter dish but the mint, celery, and green onion are all lovely springtime things so this dish screams end of winter/beginning of spring to me and it really hit the spot. I honestly wouldn't change a thing about this and it would pair quite nicely with a cashew curry chicken salad which is something else I love getting at deli's and am determined to learn how to make. And lemonade, that would be lovely. Makes me want to go on a picnic!

My new go to side dish for a family BBQ

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad
1 large spring of basil
1 thick slice of purple onion diced
6-8 cherry/grape tomatoes which happen to be a yellow heirloom variety
apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper

I can't really do bruchetta anymore but this works quite nicely as a substitute and made me think summer thoughts. Maybe its because it has freaking snowed this weekend  (thankfully it didn't stick but talk about an insult) but this made me want to bust out the grill and sunscreen.

Next on my agenda is cooking more with ginger. I have a bit of that and some meyer lemons that are singing a siren call on my counter, I haven't had lemon bars in years and they may be in my future at some point this week..

Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie is a big deal that isn't really but when it's gluten free and EVERYTHING is from scratch, its a big deal. The first time I had ever eaten home made chicken pot pie was the winter after my son was born when I had a box of the Gluten Free Pantry's pie crust mix and needed dinner. Badda bing, this is what my food driven brain came up with. The hubby said its really good and we eat on it until our stomachs are stretched to the max, then we put it in tupperware for lunch the next day, then we whatever is left in the casserole dish instead of scraping it in the trash. Lets just say kickboxing is gonna be extra hard tomorrow but so worth it!

Come to mama!

 

Ingredients:

The Gluten Free Pantry's Pie Crust Mix (find it online, at your local hippie grocer, or at your local mega super market)

2 chicken breasts or 4 chicken breast tenderloins

Veggies of choice (traditionally its potatoes, carrots, peas, green beans, onion, corn, and celery. I think of a pot pie like I think of a veggie soup... a scrap bucket of whatever you have in your fridge that needs to get gone).

2-3 Tbsp flour (I used rice flour but really anything will do)

3-4 Tbsp butter

1/4 cup of milk (I used soy but would have loved to use cow milk but alas, we don't buy it as a rule)

Salt, pepper, onion powder, minced garlic

Make your pie crust according to the box. If you have your own secret family recipe for pie crust go with what you love and know. I love the Gluten Free Pantry Pie Crust because its easy to make, I don't have to add a crap ton of ingredients and I already have the ones I need in my pantry, and it makes enough for 4 crusts. Tonight I made my deep dish pot pie and popped the rest in a bag in the freezer and I can make a fruit pie this spring/summer when I get a hankering for pie (read the hubby requests a pie).

In a covered skillet throw in about 1.5 cups of water, a pinch of salt (too much salt will dry out your chicken), a palm full of pepper, and your garlic. Toss in your chicken and cover with a lid until the breasts are cooked all the way. When they are done, turn off the heat throw them on the cutting board to rest but reserve your liquid and keep your skillet on the burner..

While the chicken cooks/rests chop up your veggies. However much you need is however big your dish is. I used a casserole dish and I chopped: 2 stalks of celery, 1 small red potato, 1 small blue/purple potato, a handful of baby carrots, a handful of mushrooms, a handful of frozen corn, a handful of frozen peas... and I think that's about it. Like I said, a scrap bucket. 

Prettiest scrap bucket this side of the Mississippi!

Cube your chicken and mix with your veggies. Line the bottom and sides of the dish with your crust (the instructions with my crust said to pre-bake the crust so I did) then dump the veggies in. For the sauce (gravy? what is the liquid stuff in the pot pie called?) take your the leftover liquid from your chicken and throw in your butter, onion powder, flour and a splash of milk. I did two tablespoons of flour and it thickened up too much, you want a very watery sauce not a gravy or a roux. The heat of the skillet (and the burner... well unless you have a gas range) will help thicken it up. Keep adding water until its the constancy of cream. Pour over your dish until it almost reaches the top.If you need to make more to fill it up, just get your water/salt/pepper/onion powder/flour mixture. If it doesn't match the same as the first batch, no harm no foul. It all blends in together anyway.

To the top I say, the top!

 Bake in the oven for whatever your pie crust wants. The chicken is already cooked but the potatoes and carrots will need to soften up. I did 425F for an hour and it worked out just grand. It smelled divine baking and all three of us were whining for the last 15 minutes that it needed to come out of the oven now. It just smelled super buttery and crusty and pot pie-y.

When it comes out of the oven resist the temptation to serve up spoonfuls right away. Let it sit on the counter for 5 minutes or so letting the gravy (I'm calling it a gravy) thicken up. Feel free to pick flaky pieces of the crust off the top though.

Too soon! Too soon! By the time we dished out seconds the gravy  perfect.

This doesn't need a side dish at all. I suggest drinking tea or a nice dark beer with this meal and you won't have room for dessert. If you do, pick something light like a single scoop of vanilla ice cream with some blackberries, or maybe a cookie. This meal will stick to your ribs and keep you smiling until bedtime, I promise.

The way I made it (again, deep dish style in a casserole dish with lots of veggies) serves 6 normal people or 4 starving people. Two adults and a toddler ate it for dinner and we have plenty of leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Jumping Jack Recipe

There is a dish in the south called Hoping John that is pretty similar to this but this dish is a lot more basic and "whole foods" so I it is dubbed Jumping Jack. 

2c uncooked brown rice (you can use white or even quinoa)

1 can black eyed peas (rinsed)

2 or 3 sliced roma tomatoes

sliced bunch of green onions

However much shredded cheddar cheese you want

Steam the rice and cook the peas. Layer in your casserole dish of rice, peas, onion, tomato, and then top with cheese. Thats it! Makes great leftovers as well.