Pavlova

Either way, it’s delish and light and airy and perfect for summer.

It’s a pretty basic recipe consisting primarily of egg whites and sugar and fruit.  It’s basically a big meringue piled with cream and fruit.  There are several versions of the recipe here and here and  here.  And another recipe with fabulous photos that have made me really crave one now, here.

You can even buy a special mix called Pavlova Magic if you are not good a making things from scratch.

I’m hoping to make a Pavlova (‘Pav’ if you are an Aussie) this weekend as we haven’t had one in a while and my son (who was allergic to eggs until recently) has never tried it.

Find other great summer recipes today at We Are That Family and Works for Me Wednesday.

Tasty looking photo by bron marshall.  I hope mine turns out looking this good.

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And here is the part where I give you my excuse.  Frankly (and sorry if this is too much information), I was having boob issues.  Mastitis to be exact.  And, if you are a breastfeeding mother and have never had this, trust me, you don’t want to…ever.  I started to get on Friday for the second time this month as I’m trying to wean my almost 11 month old who has insisted on only eating off one side for months.  He was starting to wean himself, which is how I got it the first time, but then on Thursday I must have skipped one too many feedings because on Friday I felt like total shit.  Like I had the flu.  Friday night was even worse.  I finally fell asleep after lying there for HOURS in misery, only to wake up drenched in sweat at about 4am to Little C’s cries.  Lovely.

But, then Saturday morning I felt pretty good.  My body does really well (knock on wood) to fight off illness.  Took it easy though just the same.  I think I’ve got him down to two feedings now, in the morning and before bed.  All of the other times he had started to bite me, so those were taken away.  Sorry baby…no biting allowed!

Hence my not posting since Thursday, or whenever it was.

But, I have a couple of articles that I think are pretty cool that I wanted to share.

Veggie Terrain has a great post all about smoothies.  My son loves it when I make smoothies and I always have to share mine with him.  So, I’m always looking for new ways to make them super healthy to get some extra vitamins and nutrients into his picky little stomach.  She has a lot of other great veggie recipes too, so have a look around her blog.

Yesterday my hubby and I were talking about how well we do minimizing our garbage, but we’ve got nothing on this couple at Rubbish Free Year, who limit theirs to only one very small rubbish bag per year!  Granted, we are convinced they can do it because they don’t have kids, but it’s still amazing and we could all learn a thing or two for sure!

On another note, we took our oldest son to see Up this weekend.  It’s a lovely movie with some very valuable life lessons.  I just loved it.  After all of my travels and my desire to see so much more of the world, it’s a good reminder for me that I don’t need to leave my city or even my backyard to make wonderful memories for my children.  Some of my most wonderful memories are, just like Russell said in the movie, the “boring” ones.  So sweet.

It was a sad week too, with the passing of Michael Jackson and don’t let’s forget Farrah Fawcett.  I feel she sort of got lost in the shuffle and shadow of Michael Jackson even though so many had been following her illness and documentary.  I had a Farrah Fawcett glamor head as a girl that I put makeup on and did her hair.  Hilarious.  She was as much of an icon to me as MJ was, for sure.  Although I have been singing, Wanna Be Startin’ Something all weekend.

Did you read anything great over the last week or weekend?  If so, tell me about it.  Or maybe you have tips on weaning…hey, I’ll take it all.

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I took my car in yesterday for an oil change and tire balance since every time I was getting over 60 mph my car would vibrate so bad it felt like it was going to fall apart.

Well, they told me they couldn’t do the tire balance because my two back tires were bald and my right front one was splitting.

Oops.

So, I had to get four new tires and also a new CV boot and something else as one of my wheels was leaking some fluid of some sort.

I am clueless about cars and always take my car to the same place because they are very honest and trustworthy and I don’t feel like I’m being ripped off because I’m a woman.

Anyway, $942 later….my car runs like a dream.  Oh well, it’s paid for and $942 is a hell of a lot cheaper than a new car.  Plus, we have an ample emergency fund, so I never stress over things like this.

It still sucks though.  I hate spending money on stuff like that, even though it’s necessary.  $1000 gone.

So, after the whole car thing, that took pretty much all day after juggling between getting to and from the car place (which is across town) I was feeling a little deflated yesterday.

Then, my tenant told me he was on the search for a healthy oatmeal cookie recipe that he wanted to bake.  Huh?  The man has lived in that apartment for over 10 years and has he ever even used the stove?  He remembers using it once, but can’t remember for what.  Hysterical.

So, I found this oatmeal cookie recipe that has no refined sugar (yay!) and made them last night for a little cookie therapy.  YUM. I am giving my tenant some today for him to test to see if he likes them and wants to use that recipe.  Note about the recipe:  The instructions say to put the batter in the fridge for 20 minutes and this really helps to make it easier to work with.  I added extra flour before doing this and mine turned out a bit dry as a result.  Next time I will put it in the fridge first before seeing if it needs extra flour.  But, all in all, very nice cookies with a lovely flavor.

Thinking I will take the boys on a stroll to work off those cookies now.

Photo and recipe from Whole Grain Gourmet.

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It’s hard for me to find big blocks of time to cook with a 3-yr old and a 10-month old, who wants to be held all the time.  He’s such a baby! .   So, I like to find meals that don’t require too many ingredients and take only 30 minutes or less to prepare.

But, they have to be healthy too.  Here are some of my latest finds:

The other night we had Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala burgers (with Indian spices) with salad and edamame.   These were the first time we had these burgers and they were fantastic!  I’m sure they be pretty easy to make from scratch too, if you were so inclined (which frankly, I am not).  They were very much like bubble and squeak , but with Indian flavor/spices.  I added sweet chili sauce instead of ketchup…yum!  I’m making myself hungry.

Recently, I started receiving emails from Eat Better America and it had these recipes for “Healthified” Mexican Pasta Skillet and Black Bean Pasta Cancun that both looked really good and easy to make (and easy on the pocketbook as well!).

I was also watching PBS the other day (love that channel) and saw this recipe for berry pie.  Considering we love us some berries in this household, we will be making this once berry picking season starts!  I liked this recipe because it has very little refined sugar and instead uses Agave Nectar.

Tomorrow I hope to make a couple of mushroom/asparagus quiches using Gruyere cheese and some bread in my breadmaker.

And although I’m not vegetarian anymore (I was for years), I still like to cook without meat most of the time.  I ran across this blog, Veggie Terrain, and she has some really yummy looking recipes.  I am going to try Crunchy Blue Corn Chickpea Tacos (are you detecting a Mexican theme here at all?) and Cuban Black Beans and Rice (this post actually has a clip from Flight of the Conchords, which is one of my fave shows…so double bonus!).  And it has radishes in it, which rocks since I was wondering what the heck I was going to make with the tons of radishes that Big D insisted on planting.  He doesn’t even eat radishes!?

Also, if anyone has any good, healthy recipes for picky eaters, please let me know!

This post is linking to We Are That Family and Works For Me Wednesday.

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Ingredients/Directions

Heat oven to 375 F.

• Sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded cheese on bottom of pie crust
• Add 1 1/4 cup veggies, whatever you would like in your quiche
• Mix together 1 1/2 cups milk, 3 large eggs, 1 Tbsp flour, 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• Pour mixture into crust over the cheese and veggies
• Sprinkle 1/4 cup shredded cheese on top

Bake at 375 F for 50 minutes or until center is firm and top is golden.

I had to bake mine about 30 minutes longer than this, but I was baking two at the same time, so maybe that is why.

This time I just threw in some onions, mixed peppers, green beans and broccoli.  Just using what I had on hand.  I also just used some shredded mexican style cheese.  It was quite tasty.

Next time I plan to fancy it up a bit and use fresh spinach or asparagus with mushroom and Gruyere cheese.  Yum!  My brother in law makes a mean quiche and he uses Gruyere cheese in his.

Beware though, Gruyere is super expensive.  You can also use Swiss cheese for a similar taste.  I might do that, depending on the price I can find.

Some other great looking recipes I’ve found this week are:

• Asparagus Gruyere Tart at Simple Mom- there’s that yummy Gruyere cheese again.
  
• French Onion Soup at Cooking Tip Of The Day – I love a good French Onion soup, but I’ve never made one.  This one looks easy enough.
• Chocolate Chip Cookies – Healthified at 5 Dollar Dinners – I actually have a recipe with even less sugar that I will post, but this one looked good too.  I feel strongly that one can never have enough cookie recipes.
• Five Frugal Food Tactics From Trent’s Kitchen at The Simple Dollar – We do the freezer tip and I’m liking that cream of soup recipe.  So many of the canned cream of soups have partially hydrogenated oil, that I stopped buying them and making recipes that use them.  Now maybe I will go back to making them with this easy recipe.
  

Hope your weekend is as beautiful outside as mine is supposed to be.  Time to plant that garden!  Woo hoo!

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I had a few cans of chick peas that I wanted to use up (originally bought to make hummus that never came to fruition)  and the Recipe Zaar came back with Curried Chickpeas Over Rice.

I had all of the ingredients and we love curry dishes, so it worked!  I used coconut milk  I added some broccoli as well.  The recipe suggested serving it with mild flavored veggies, but I just mixed the broccoli right in.

It was very nice and my hubby loved it.  And it’s one I would have never thought of by myself.  I will definitely make it again as it falls into my qualifications of “yummy, healthy, quick and easy” for dinner recipes.

I made a double batch of it because this week I’m going to be making extra of everything in an effort to stock up my freezer with meals.  I love being able to just get something out of the freezer when I’m tired or running short on time.

I will be making double batches of the following this week.

• Spaghetti
  
• Thai Carrot Soup
• Chili (with parsnips…yum!)
  
• Quiche (will make two)
  
• Mexican casserole
• Homemade pizza (only one of these though)
  

I will also be making more bread and sweet potato oatmeal squares.

This post is linking to Menu Plan Monday at I’m An Organizing Junkie.

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Here are some more recipes I thought I’d share with you.

Sangria Punch at Cooking Tip of the Day – YUM…as the weather gets warm, don’t you long for drinks like this as you’re sitting in the sun on your patio?  This one is definitely on my Spring want list!  No more winter!

Buttermilk Banana Bread at Educate Empower Enjoy – Who doesn’t love a good banana bread recipe?  I have never tried one with buttermilk….going to have to give this one a try.  And it freezes well!

Red Beans and Rice – this is one of the best looking recipes I’ve seen for red beans, suggested by Simple Mom.  This one is definitely going going on the list for maybe even next week.

Pasta Meatball Soup – ooh, this looks yum.  Highlighted as super tasty and easy over at Org Junkie.  This kind of recipe is just my style.  This one might be going on the list too.  Don’t you love easy recipes, Moms?!

Chilaquiles Casserole at Delish – because who can pass up a good lookin’ Mexican dish?  I do love some good Mexican!  Plus, it’s always nice to have a good Mexican casserole type dish too for potlucks and parties…can’t wait to try it out!

Have you tried a new easy and tasty recipe lately, that is worthy of sharing?  Leave a comment wth a link so we can all check it out.

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Since I always feel like baking on the weekend, I thought I’d share a fun recipe.  Well, it’s healthy(er), so I guess it’s not fun to everyone.

I have a mega sweet tooth.  Often I crave brownies.  I am reluctant to make them as they are usually gone by the next day.  I have no self control when it comes to things like this in my house.

So, I was having another ‘need‘ for brownies the other day and started looking for a healthier version.

This is what I found.  They were pretty tasty…and gone by the next day.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup grade B maple syrup (I only had Grade A so I used it)
• 6 Tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

Directions

• Beat eggs, honey, syrup, vanilla and mix well
• Melt butter over low heat, remove from heat and stir in cocoa powder until well blended
• Blend in egg mixture
• Sift together flour, baking powder and salt
• Stir flour mixture and chocolate mixture together
• Pour/spread into greased 8x8x2 baking pan
• Bake at 325 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean
• Cool, enjoy!

These were more ‘cake like’ than I prefer brownies to be, but they still were pretty tasty.

I’m still on the lookout for a healthy, goo-ey, brownie recipe though.  If you have one, let me know!

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This is one of the dinners on my Menu Planning Monday plan for this week.  I love the combo of sweet potatoes and black beans.  This meal is so easy and very tasty.  It’s a good, quick meal to make when I just don’t have a lot of time, ideas or ingredients.  I usually use brown rice, but ran out of time, so I used white this time.

This makes enough for my husband, son and I, with some leftover, so I imagine it would feed 4 people.  Some salad with it would be nice too.

Ingredients

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 can (or equivalent) of black beans*
• 1 cup rice

Directions

• Cut sweet potatoes, coat with olive oil, spread into a roasting pan
• Roast potatoes on 375 F for 30 – 40 minutes or so, or until tender
• Cook 1 cup worth of rice according to directions
• Once sweet potatoes are roasted, combine with black beans to heat through
• Serve on top of rice

* I like to use Trader Joe’s Cuban Black Beans

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Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked brown rice
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• one small onion (diced)
• 2 cups veggie broth
• 1 can (or equivalent) cooked beans -white, red, black, chickpeas, whatever!
• 1/2 cup veggies*
• seasoning (salt, pepper, etc)

* I use more than 1/2 cup veggies.  I usually use 1.5 to 2 cups.

Directions

1. Heat oil in skillet.  Add garlic & onion and cook until golden, translucent.
2. Add beans and cook for a few minutes.
3. Add rice and cook a few more minutes.
4. Add veggie broth and bring to a boil.
5. Add veggies and seasoning of your choice.
6. Return to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover.
7. Cook for about 40 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

A one-pan wonder and super yummy!

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