healthy – Peaceful Reader

Basics of life

We’ve been cooking, reading, and walking the dogs here. The weather has moved into cold Fall making it not as much fun to take lazy, long walks with the two beautiful pups that we love and I’ve spent more recent time reading than watching.

Groovy Girl was home for the weekend though and we did start a new Netflix series, The Queen’s Gambit, which is quite good. It’s about a young girl who becomes a chess prodigy during the 1950s. The costumes and the acting are so good and the story is very intriguing. Cuddling on the sofa with her is one of my favorite activities not matter the season.

I did read an entire chapter book this weekend which is always exciting. I started The only Black Girls in Town by Brandy Colbert during a free read time Friday at school. The 6th grade class I was in were very book involved (yeah!) and I just pulled this one off the cart because no one picked it up. I read three quick chapters and pretty much wished I could spend the rest of the day with it. I continued to read it on Friday night and finished it Saturday evening right before I started watching game 4 of the World Series. What a good book! I started another small chapter book, Planet Omar: accidental trouble magnet by Zanib Mian which is perfect for young 3rd, 4th grade readers and features a Muslim family navigating a new town and school.

And speaking of the World Series-what an amazing end to that game and Brett Phillips will always be remembered for his hit and the fun he had air-planing around the field. The game was good but became fantastic if you stuck around to the end. It reminds everyone why baseball is so joy-filled.

In between watching and reading I’ve made some excellent food! Yes, excellent! Last week I made this Roasted Tomato Soup from How to feed a loon blog and I loved the flavor of late summer really ripe tomatoes and the fresh basil together. This fed me all week at school and we just finished up the last of it for a late dinner last night. My mother-in-law sent me this naan recipe and I made it yesterday afternoon on a whim. Didn’t really have a plan for Indian food so we enjoyed the toasted naan with our leftover soup. It will be easy to make these again because the recipe pulled together and the dough had a good rise in about an hour.

This morning for breakfast I whipped up this Cozy Turmeric Porridge from my favorite Minimalist Baker. A small bowl was so warming to my soul on this chilly morning and I have enough leftovers for the week. I did not have pomegranate seeds on hand but topped our bowls with a little Agave syrup, coconut milk, and cinnamon sprinkles.

Before Groovy Girl arrived home on Thursday night she said she was excited to come home to eat vegetables! Wow! How many teenagers say that!?! She says food is less than exciting (bland) and no good veggies at school so I made sure we had tons of good colorful vegetables in our fridge. She loves sweet potatoes and when she saw me unpacking them she asked if we could make sweet potato fries. I used this recipe from Gimme Some Oven and they were delicious although not as crispy as I would have liked. This week I’m going to make this Pumpkin black bean soup (also from Minimalist Baker) and this Winter Roasted Vegetable Soup also from my mother-in-law. I love soup, it’s versatile and gives me a warm yet light lunch at school.

We are getting closer to the election and while I’m very anxious I also have to be filled with hope. Make sure wherever you are that you go vote.

Prepping for an amazing (and mostly vegan) Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! I’m ready for the Macy’s Parade and for relaxed cooking tomorrow. I did some pre-cooking tonight and I’m feeling peaceful about what needs to happen tomorrow. Everyone enjoy a happy holiday. It might be about enjoying family or enduring family but either way, find at least one blessing in your day.

Menu

Early appetizers: blue chips and our homemade salsa

Soup/Salad course: Wild Rice Soup and Big Green Salad
I found a local farmer who sells big bags of microgreens for a reasonable price and it was a 5-minute drive from my house. I’m pretty pumped about this revelation. Find them at Rainbow City Farm on insta.

Dinner:
Celebration Vegan Roast
Just Bare Roasted Chicken (I couldn’t find a local one)
Sweet Potato Casserole
Green Beans with pomegranate seeds
Healthy Corn “Casserole”
Mashed Potatoes with vegan mushroom gravy
cranberry – orange raw relish
Jicama/Avocado/Mango salad (from my Friendsgiving recipe book)
Homemade pretzels for our bread (Groovy Girl’s recipe)

Everything but that roasted chicken is vegan. My theme is comfort food with a Native American flare. I’m learning and working to experiment with a variety of recipes. Heather and Tristan are bringing the pies. And I found good almond milk whipped cream for the tops!

Slow August Day in Fertile

{Cloth napkins-YES!}

We had an lovely vacation getaway in Northern Minnesota the past long week. It was spectacular and I have many stories to tell but on the way home, we stopped at an amazing restaurant, Cafe Mir, in the small town of Fertile, IA. Honestly, I’d never heard of Fertile before today. Now I’m a fan and I will be back. I was impressed that they have their own small public library.

My mom’s garden provides swiss chard to the chef and they use sustainable, local ingredients when possible. Not hard to do when you’re in Iowa; we have so much produce and organic farmers raising sustainable meat. While many restaurants are on this bandwagon not always is the food as amazing as the concept. Everything we ordered was delicious. There were 5 of us and we ordered a sauteed eggplant dish as a starter, and as meals, we had a pork and beef lasagna, a braised leg of lamb, Hrbek’s ribeye steak, and a wood-fired Margherita pizza for Groovy Girl. I had a “cornucopia salad for dinner, the lighter eater that I am, which is roasted sweet corn, feta, mixed hot and sweet peppers, cilantro, and lime. It was such a refreshing combination and a perfect amount. We had rhubarb pie for dessert and they make their own fresh bread as well.

{rhubarb pie}

The table was interesting with a lot of mismatched glasses, plates, and bowls giving it an authentic old farmhouse appeal. Also, they used real cotton napkins which just warmed my heart. I don’t know when I’m going to take the time to drive an hour and a half north to dine again at Cafe Mir but I know there are other treats on the menu I want to try. Road trip anyone…? I’m also curious to see what they will change seasonally.

{unassuming front of Cafe Mir}

After being on vacation I am realizing that my need for real food, homecooked, slow-cooked grub plus my natural inclination to eat small meals is often confounding to people. I just like to know where my food comes from and I’ve purposely spoiled myself. I like real greens not iceberg lettuce in a salad. Why bother? I’m not a meat eater and I prefer small batches of food compared to large platefuls. I’m not trying to be a pain; I just like what I like.

Happy Holidays!

Weekend festivities

It snowed last night which means for many children celebrating Christmas that Santa’s journey will be made much easier in his sled. My children are all older yet they appreciate snow a little more at this special time of year. I love the snow when I can stay inside, curled up in front of the fire with a very good book. Luckily I got most of my errands/shopping done yesterday.

I have a lot of cooking and baking to do today and I thought you might like some recipes. Heather and Tristan have been vegan for about a year now and that changes our holiday meal drastically. We are pretty healthy eaters leaning more toward vegetarian so it’s not like a cooking crisis but traditional meals like oyster stew and clam chowder on Christmas just won’t do. Instead will be having a carrot and potato soup with fresh homemade bread, a salad and homemade vegan brownies for dessert. It will be a simple meal sandwiched between two church services.

Tomorrow we are going to have a tofu/potato scramble, vegan cinnamon rolls and mimosas (luckily those are vegan naturally!) for breakfast after a few gifts have been opened. Later in the day we will sit down for a late supper of turkey lasagna (my husband begged for one non-vegan item), a a vegan roast (Heather and Tristan are bringing it), this amazing cauliflower dish from Jaime Oliver, mashed potatoes and vegan gravy, and a vegan berry pie. I’ve got my work cut out for me so I don’t know why I’m still standing around.

Happy holidays everyone for what you may celebrate may be different than I; I wish for you a happy and contented life as we move into a new year. Another year for Trump to mess things up giving us all the more reason to stand up and be heard.

Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth, and

JOY to the World.

I could be salad girl…

That could be my Superpower…

I love and miss the lovely salad I made a few weeks ago with swiss chard but when the opportunity arose to create another salad for a school event I searched again online.

{Source}

I found what I was looking for at the Minimalist Baker. Arugula, dried cranberries, and nuts plus a homemade dressing were all ingredients I had in my kitchen. I followed the directions for the dressing just right; the salad I played around with just a bit.

I used feta cheese instead of bleu, I added some spring greens because arugula can be too peppery for many, and I added a handful of cherry tomatoes and small sliced red and orange peppers just because they happened to be in my crisper. Why not?

I loved the pecans, toasted and warm, mixed with the tartness of the dried cranberries and the lemony spark of dressing was just the right tang. I will keep this one close as I loved the flavor mix and it was easy to adapt to what I already had.

I started this last night while waiting at dance. I checked my NYT app several times and lost my entire mind. Today I’m publishing this and will work on a more thoughtful post about last night and today because other wise I might use words that are not peaceful at all.

Be Kind.

Beautiful Days…

Focus on the positive

#21daychallenge

Remember in March when I posted about the amazing meditation retreat I went to in Minneapolis. Yes. Read about it here if you missed it. Sadly I didn’t follow through. Oh I’ve meditated sitting in my chair or walking around the library waiting for a class and that is all good. My goal though is to make meditation a daily practice; one where I literally getting down on the mat, bolster, pillow, floor, blanket, whatever and make it a ritual.

I’m not good with follow through sometimes. The only ritual I maintained as my kids were growing up was reading to them at bedtime. That I did without fail. I began other rituals like prayers, blessings, and poems at dinner time. That didn’t last. We do have meals together-that is a good simple ritual we’ve maintained. So reading and meals are my two rituals. Makes complete sense as books and food are priorities for me.

I got up on Saturday and did it, just rolled up my favorite blanket, lit a peace candle, and plopped myself down facing the wall.

I focused on all manner of positive words, thoughts, and phrases. My eyes closed I just let the thoughts flow freely. I thought about my family, peace, love, harmony, gratitude, forgiveness, my dog, the earth, ice cream, sushi. It was far from perfect but it was a good start. The peaceful feeling stayed with me all day long. I loved it. It’s the honeymoon phase. The important and hard part is to keep it going.

Join me in my 21-day challenge if you’d like to make meditation or any good ritual as part of your daily routine. What change would you like to make?

Namaste.

Weekend Cooking; Recipes of the week

{The Kitchn}

I made this wonderful pasta dish: Lemony Ricotta Pasta with basil. I will definitely make this recipe again as it was easy and tasted great. Groovy Girl’s comment, “too cheesy,” didn’t even bother me one bit as I took another bite. I’ve got a lot of basil to use and am going to make a pared down pesto to freeze to use up my bounty.

I did make these healthy (and delicious!) swiss chard rolls. It’s a little like eating a sushi roll and the lemony flavor makes my mouth sing. They were very easy to make and it was my first time cooking with bulgar.

I plan to make this swiss chard risotto this week because I’ve acquired another huge bunch. Candace at Beth Fish Reads suggested risotto. I love risotto so it’s perfect.

I made a blueberry pie as my grocery store had USA blueberries on sale. And my husband LOVES pie. He left for RAGRAI yesterday and I wanted him to leave with a belly full of pie.

I also made him my mother-in-law’s famous chicken salad. It’s so easy (and worth it) to compliment someone on the food they make simply by asking for the recipe. I found myself in Target thinking about making the chicken salad and so I called Phyllis to ask for a run-down of the ingredients. As we were chatting about the recipe she relayed that Kaylee, my 22-year-old step-daughter, had called her and also asked for the recipe recently. That’s how simple it is to compliment someone on their cooking.

{the start of good chicken salad}

Curried Chicken Salad

Combine in a large bowl:

1 1/2 cups cooked (locally sourced or at least organic) chicken*, cut into bite-sized pieces (about 2-3 breasts)
1/2 cups seedless grapes, green or red (I always use red as my preference)
1 can water chestnuts, sliced and drained
1 can mandarin oranges or pineapple, drained (look for low-sugar content)

Mix together 1/2 cup olive oil-based mayonnaise or healthy egg-free substitute, 1/4 tsp kosher salt, and 1 tsp curry powder (I always use extra curry powder). Combine dressing with chicken mixture. I serve this on top of a bed of salad greens. It is delicious and a perfect meal for summer. Thanks Phyllis for all your inspiration!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme hosted by Candace. Click to her link to find many other food-related posts. Have a healthy weekend.

{Fake} Chicken Soup soothes the soul.

The other day I came home from school and it was so blustery cold out I knew I needed some soup. I have a special go-to soup recipe that my kids think of as chicken soup but it isn’t really. Everyone should have a few days in their week of meat-free meals if you want to be healthy.

My (fake) chicken soup:

I love to do all the chopping first so my mise en place is set and I’m not chopping and stirring at the same time. In every instance I recommend local or organic vegetables.

Smash and chop two garlic cloves, one white onion, two large carrots, and two-three celery stalks. The celery and the onion I finely chop as my groovy girl is not a fan. The smaller I can make them the better. I had zucchini in the fridge so I diced that up as well.

Heat coconut oil to a stock pot. I am in love with coconut oil’s flavor. I recently sautéed a zucchini in a little coco oil and it added such a unique flavor. I have Nature’s Gate from Amazon as I don’t have any place that has good oil in town. I’m sad that it is not going to be available much longer in this version.

Add carrots, onion, and garlic to the warming oil. Stir and sauté and then add celery and zucchini. I add this later as they are softer veggies and won’t take as long to cook. Add freshly ground black pepper and just a little sea salt. You can add a little turmeric as well or choose to spice it up a bit. Once this base of vegetables are soft I add my cubed tofu.

If you are new to tofu cut it out of the plastic container, drain the water, and place square of tofu in the middle of a clean, cotton towel. Wrap the towel around the block and place a plate or a pot on top for about 8-10 minutes. This drains the extra water out of the tofu so it will soak up the flavors of your recipe. Unwrap the towel and slice through with a sharp knife to make small cubes. I slice about 5 rows through both ways and then two rows through the middle to create the bite-sized cubes. Lift the towel up and send the tofu tumbling into the vegetables. Mix the it all together gently as you don’t want the tofu to crumble. Put a lid on the pot and let everything steam together for about 10 minutes while you create your broth.

Many times I’ve made my own broth but this night I needed help. I have two different kinds of broth that I use in a pinch. One is Better than Bouillon and Orrington Farms Broth base both in vegetable. Both of these products are easy to mix with hot water. I added 6 cups of broth once the tofu has had a chance to pick up flavors from the vegetables.

Turn the heat up and once the soup reaches a steady boil add half a package of thick noodles. Give them a few minutes to cook and take the soup pot right to the table. This feeds a family of four but my crew (just the three of us now) finished almost all of it for dinner. I ate the last of for lunch yesterday. When Groovy Girl finishes her bowl there is a pile of celery in the bottom~okay, yet all the zucchini is gone. Yeah!

This post is linked to Beth Fish Reads Weekend Cooking meme. Click over and find many other food-related posts. Happy end-of-the Weekend!

Random Recipes + sneaking in some greens

It is pouring rain outside tonight. The television is off and Groovy Girl is off playing somewhere which means there will be a trail and a mess to clean up. How do I help her learn to clean up after herself? This is major life trauma right now. She’s 10 and we’ve made every kind of challenge, chore chart, and list we can think of. We’ve worked with her to show her what it looks like to play and then clean up. I’m glad she plays, I really am; I just which the second part of playing came easier to her.

When we were in New York City in June Groovy Girl, Greg, and I tried a sample of a Mojito Tea (non-alcoholic) that some tea shop was passing out on the street. We loved the zingy flavor and we made a list of what ingredients we thought it might have in it. I have been meaning to whip up a batch of what we thought might be in when I found a recipe in Bon Appetit/August edition that seemed pretty similar to what we thought. I made it tonight with Groovy Girl’s help. It was refreshingly wonderful and I will definitely make it again. It doesn’t have that mojito flavor we were going for yet so close. I may play with it to see if I can get any closer.

(image source)

Here is the recipe:

Honeyed Lemon-Mint Iced Tea

4 cups water

4 bags green or black tea (we used green)

1 bag mint tea

1/2 of a can of 12-oz can frozen lemonade or limeade concentrate, thawed

1/3 cup honey

ice cubes

fresh mint sprigs or leaves

thin lemon slices (we used lime)

1. In a saucepan, bring the water to boiling. Remove from heat. Add tea bags. Cover and let steep for 10 minutes. Discard tea bags. Add lemon or lime concentrate and honey, stirring until honey dissolves. Cool thirty minutes.

2. Transfer tea to a 1 1/2 quart pitcher. Cover and chill for several hours.

3. To serve, pour tea over ice cubes in tall glasses. Garnish with mint and lemon/lime wedges.

Makes 6 servings.

You could easily add a splash (or two) of alcohol to this for an adult beverage. In the heat here, right before the rain came down, we gulped it down as is.

Our garden is beautiful this year with cucumbers just about ready, tomatoes heavy on the vein, basil beginning to bush out, and many zucchinis! Groovy Girl does not like this delicious squash and will do anything to avoid it. Tonight I decided to disguise it in a curry soup. She likes curry!

Also from August edition of Bon Appetit:

Curried Squash Soup

4 servings

Heat 3 T. vegetable oil (I used coconut) over medium high heat. Add two chopped large summer squash, 1 chopped small onion, and 1 tsp of curry (I used 1 T.); season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Cook until tender, 8-10 minutes. Add 4 cups chicken broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until tender, 25-30 minutes. Puree until very smooth. Serve soup warm or chilled, topped with sour cream, cracked pepper, and cilantro sprigs.

When I got to the 3rd paragraph of this I frantically searched for veggie broth paste in my refrigerator and came up empty handed. There were some old beef cubes from a chili recipe my husband made like two years ago but I didn’t want to use them. So I added just water, upped the amount of curry powder, a little more sea salt and pepper and hopped for the best.

I pureed it using my Braun hand-held immersion blender which I adore-I’ve had it for about 12 years and I have no idea what i’m going to do when it stops working. I am pretty positive that the second one I get will not be as good or as inexpensive. This one I bought after watching Emeril use it on his early shows on the Food Network. (I wonder if I should pre-prepare myself by buying this exact replica i found on Etsy)

The soup was not perfect but again I plan on trying it again with good broth and kicking it up a notch or two. Groovy Girl ate about half a bowl with a dollop of sour cream stirred in. She asked me twice what kind of soup it was and I said simply, “curry soup”, which was true. She did not say “Ewwww” or even use the zucchini word so I think I got away with my disguised soup recipe. I think once I play with the recipe she will enjoy it more. She never needs to know the main ingredient is sautéed squash.

I spent the better part of my day reading The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth. I’m half way through and am wowed by her writing. This is the first truly lazzzy day i’ve spent this summer and I’m pretty happy with it. And because I was taking it so easy Groovy Girl stayed in her pajamas for the day. We have a busy rest of the week so it was good to relax.

Weekend Cooking; Market fresh produce with an easy recipe

Weekend Cooking:

It’s a busy day here in the Holt household. My husband is off doing a shoot for 3M and I’m diligently working on homework to finish my Fantasy Literature course for Fresno Pacific.We also have a casual wedding this evening.

I did sneak out early this morning to go to our beautiful Farmer’s Market which I missed while in Colorado.

I picked up two baby eggplants, a basket of okra, and a nice-looking cucumber. I’ve been making a lot of easy dishes using garden produce especially using the large box of tomatoes I carted home from my mom’s house.

I plan to make this eggplant recipe from The Chew; a cooking show my mom introduced me to. For dinner last night I whipped this recipe up created by me using lots of fresh produce.

Garden-Fresh Vegetables and Rice

1-2 T. of olive oil

1 yellow squash, diced without the inner seed section

1 small zucchini, diced

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

4-5 soft tomatoes, diced

1 can of garbanzo beans

Several large pinches of sea salt and curry powder

Fresh ground pepper

Cooked brown rice as much as will feed your family

Saute the zucchini and yellow squash in olive oil for a few minutes and then added the garlic. Continue to saute to soften the dreaded squashes that my children despise but will eat if cut small enough. Add the chopped tomatoes which will create a nice juice. Add the can of garbanzo beans and stir to mix. Sprinkle in sea salt, ground pepper and curry. Serve in low bowls over brown rice. Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese, cilantro, or torn basil leaves. This is a perfect summer recipe because you can tailor it to what ever extra veggies you have on hand or what you find at the market. Spice it up with cumin or change the garbanzos to black beans for variety.

My husband just finished Ragbrai (the famous ride across Iowa) yesterday and he had three helpings. My kids each ate one bowl and the only complaint Groovy Girl had was that I hadn’t added enough tomatoes to her bowl. Enjoy!

Oh and Adam Duritz: What? Yes. He was part of my week!

The last night of Ragbrai I met up with my husband and we saw The Counting Crows together. I still love Duritz’s hair (real or not). He was fun to watch and the music was fantastic!

Happy eating.