The decisions we make

As parents, we are faced with decisions about our children from the moment we conceive. On my vacation, I ran into a family whose decisions impact their life every day. I want to tell the story of that family.

Once upon a time, there was a young woman who found herself pregnant. She was a teenager, not married and living in a very small town. She sought prenatal care for her child, at at one point was told that her child had terrible birth defects. She was advised to end the pregnancy and was told that he would likely not live to be born, and if she did carry him to full term, that he would not live long or would be a vegetable. She declined to end her pregnancy, instead opting to give birth to her baby.

This baby was born, and he did have a number of problems, the mos pressing with his brain being malformed and misshapen. She named this child Angel.

Angel did not die. He grew, he learned to hold his head up, he learned to eat, he learned to talk. Soon he entered school. His vision was in question, and therapists focused on helping this little boy learn to walk independently. He started with a walker, then progressed to a cane. He greeted people, he would tell you about his mom and his grandma and grandpa. He was a cheerful and happy child.

Fast forward 4 years. Yesterday I was talking to a friend of mine before heading home. I saw three people walking down the street, two women and a tall young man, wearing a jaunty cap, moving at a fast pace, aided only by the slight support of a cane. As they came closer, I realized that I knew them. It was Angel and his mom and grandmother. They went into a restaurant and I entered to talk with them. Angel greeted me, told me about his dog who had died, and made sure that I had greeted his grandmother. He was delightful, engaging and definitely NOT a vegetable.

The decisions we make, indeed. The experts don't always know everything or what is best.

Vacation

So looking here, I see that I have not posted since April. In reflecting, I can see that I was somewhat busy but also in a bit of a funk.

We have just returned from 10 days of blissful vacation. It was so nice to be somewhere where I didn't have to worry about work or what was going to happen that day. We played in the lake, played in the river and fished. I saw some good friends, laughed a lot and played a lot and spent some great time with my parents!

I knitted, I spun, I cooked and I napped.

And today, we drove home. We spent about an hour parked on the top of Wolf Creek Pass, waiting for the car to cool down.

And now, we are home. While I could have spent a few more days on vacation, I am thinking of sleeping in my own bed with great joy.

And the great thing? Me, the person who has never been able to get an orchid to bloom.... walked into the bathroom and found that one of the orchids I put in the bathtub before leaving has now put out a beautiful bloom.

Life is good!

We were busy today!

I got up this morning to find out that school was cancelled today due to a hazardous material leak from a train about 5 miles from here. About 250 homes in our community were evacuated, but fortunately almost everyone is back home. We should have school tomorrow too. I was busy today though! I got some work things completed, which was really nice. I also cooked and crafted. My kids had some friends over too and I think everyone had a great time.

Here's what I cooked today:

Salmon Patties - lunch for all
A loaf of whole wheat bread
Turkey meatball soup
Chocolate chip cookies



Salmon Patties:

3 cups cooked brown rice
1 cooked fillet of salmon - ours was about 10 ounces
minced onion
minced bell pepper
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/3 c lite mayonnaise
1 egg
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
2 grated carrots

Flake the salmon and mix all ingredients together. Form into patties and cook in skillet on stove with a little bit of olive oil. I had to add the breadcrumbs to get it all to stick together. The teenagers in my house loved these! They were really yummy!


Turkey Meatball Soup

2 egg whites, lightly beaten
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese
4 Tbsp Italian seasoning, divided
1 pound lean ground turkey
carrots, diced
onions, diced
celery - thinly sliced
garlic
Chicken Broth
1 cup pearl barley

mix the egg whites, bread crumbs, cheese, half the Italian seasoning and the turkey together. Form into meatballs and cook at 350 for 15 - 20 minutes or until no longer pink

Chop the veggies and put into sauce pan with a small amount of heated olive oil. Saute the veggies until they are fragrent, add garlic and cook until soft. Add chicken broth and seasonings to cover the vegetables and bring to a boil. Add pearl barley. Turn heat down and simmer for 30 0r so minutes.

I also added some sliced cabbage about 15 minutes before we ate and added the cooked meatballs at the same time. Yummy!

**I was out of eggs by this point so I used 4 Tbsp of ground flaxseed mixed with 1/4 cup water. This creates a thickener about the same consistency of eggs, plus it tastes good!



Whole Wheat Bread - from this website: http://wholewheatbreadrecipe.blogspot.com/

3 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1 cup warm water
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 packet dry yeast

Step 1: In a large mixing bowl combine 1 cup of water ( at a temp. of 110 to 120 degrees F ) with the salt, the honey, the yeast, the oil and the milk and stir until mix.

Step 2: Mix in the flour and stir until the dough starts pull away from the bowl.

Step 3: Place the dough on a lightly flour surface and knead the dough for 6 to 10 minutes or until the dough become smooth.

Step 4: Place a small amount of oil in a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl and flip the dough to cover the dough with oil. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise for approx. 1 hour , the dough should double in size. Note: This made take longer if the room is cold.

Step 5 : Take the dough out of the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into a 8 inches log and place into a lightly grease loaf pan.

Step 6 : Loosely cover the pan with lightly oil plastic wrap and let raise for 30 to 60 minutes until the dough raises approx.1 inch above the pan.

Step 7: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F place in center of oven and cook for about 40 minutes after 20 minutes loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil , test if the wheat bread is done by thumping the bottom of the bread it should sound hollow. Let brad cool on a rack then slice.

For this, I used my trusty Kitchenaid mixture. This was a really really easy bread recipe and it made a really nice loaf of bread. It will be great for lunch sandwiches.


Chocolate Chip Cookies

This recipe is from the book, Cookies for Kids. I think that this is the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever! Jacob helped me with these! (Actually he did most of the work)

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 6-oz package semisweet chocolate pieces
1/2 cup chopped nuts

I also added about 1/4 cup of ground flax seeds (leftover from the meatballs)

Cream butter, shortening and sugars together. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Add dry ingredients to butter mixture. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Bake in 375 oven for 8 - 10 minutes until golden.


Today I also took a great nap and started knitting a shawl with some homespun yarn. What a great day!

Two in One Day! Food this time

Wow, I just made a recipe from the most recent Cooking Light Magazine and it was yummy! Everyone enjoyed it and we will have this one again. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos, but it looked a lot like the photo on the Cooking Light Website. We had a spirited discussion as to whether I could use it and as long as I give credit to the website and photographer, I am going to use it. So, here it is:

Photo by: John Autry

Fingerling Potato-Leek Hash with Swiss Chard and Eggs

To trim Swiss chard, pull or cut the stems out of the leaves.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cups sliced leek (about 2 large)
• 12 ounces fingerling potatoes, cut in half lengthwise (about 4 cups)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 1/4 teaspoons Spanish smoked paprika, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, divided
• 4 cups thinly sliced trimmed Swiss chard (about 1 bunch)
• 4 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded Gruyère cheese

Preparation

1. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan. Add leek; cook 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Add potatoes and garlic; cook 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1 teaspoon paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chard; cook 4 minutes, stirring constantly. Using a spoon, push potato mixture aside to make 4 egg-size spaces. Crack 1 egg into each space; sprinkle remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon paprika over eggs. Cover and cook 3 minutes; sprinkle cheese over potato mixture. Cover and cook 2 minutes or until egg yolks are lightly set.

Here's what I did differently - You know I can never follow a recipe *exactly*. I used russet potatoes, twice as much Swiss chard - be sure to wash this well, and used cheddar cheese instead of Gruyere because that's what I had, although I'll bet Gruyere would be yummy.

Maybe next time I'll remember to take a photo!

Planning Ahead

My parents were here this weekend. We had such a nice visit and enjoyed our time together. It was different in that this time both of the kids had things to do on Saturday, so I had time with just my mom and dad together. We had lunch at Hu Hot, which is a great Mongolian BBQ place in Colorado Springs. We did not need to cook dinner last night!

We also went to several antique malls, two of which I had not ever been to. At one of them, they were having a scavenger hunt. They had hidden a number of paper rabbits through the store and those that were lucky enough to find one got to pick something from their table. I found a bunny and selected this stool. Isn't it pretty?



So today I am getting ready for the week ahead at work. On Friday we have "Vocabulary Day." Students have been asked to come up with a vocabulary word that they want to share and design/decorate a shirt around that word. Adults in the building will also be participating. I looked for a word that collective refers to tools used for spinning and even asked on Ravelry, but did not get an answer, so I chose the word "Accoutrements" meaning "equipment with a purpose."

I used Wordle - www.wordle.com to help me design my shirt and this is the finished product. I am ready for Friday!






Front:


Back:

So what's for dinner?

Buffalo! Burgers, that is. My parents came through last week and my dad brought me a few packages of buffalo meat that a friend of his had given him. I've never had buffalo before but I have heard that it's a great meat, very lean and tasty! Yesterday, I took out a package of buffalo to thaw out. I knew that I wanted to find a recipe that would be very tasty and unique. After a bit of searching, this is what I came up with:

Buffalo Burger Recipe: from http://www.chow.com/recipes/18752-buffalo-burger

TIME/SERVINGS

Total: 30 minutes prep

Active: about 20-25 minutes cooking

Makes: 4 patties (about 1/3 lb. each)

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lbs. of ground Buffalo
3 or 4 sun-dried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 med. onion, minced
2 Tbsp. of “Organic All Purpose” seasoning different herbs and spices in it.Or make up your
own blend.
Cheese-your choice of types and thicknesses
1/4 cup red wine
couple dashes of Lee & Perrins
1 lb. of 'shrooms, sliced

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Have a bowl big enough to hold the meat. Put the wine and Lee- & Perrins in the bowl.Chop the sun-dried tomatoes, and put that in with the liquid.

2. Put minced onions, half of the 'shrooms in hot oil, salt 'em a bit, and cook until until they
soften. When softened, put in garlic, seasonings and some fresh ground Black Pepper until
“aromatic”, about 15 seconds or so. Set them on paper towel to cool. When cooled (room temp or
so), put them in the liquid.

3. Put the Buffalo meat in the bowl and “massage” the liquids, sun-dried tomato, herbs and spices into it. When thoroughly integrated, make into patties. 1 1/2 lbs. will make 4 for me, but you might like yours bigger or smaller.

4. Pre-heat oven to 350. Have a middle rack.


Put patties on a hot, oiled skillet/griddle/grill and let them cook about 5 minutes and then flip
them (carefully of course). Make sure they are starting to brown (about 2 minutes) then put them in oven. With 4 burgers, it will take about 15 minutes (about 160 F). At 12-13 minutes, put the cheese on them, and back in the oven. Bring 'em out at 15 minutes or so, cover 'em and let 'em rest a couple of minutes while you get plates etc. ready.

1. Use remaining half-pound of 'shrooms for a gravy mix if you like, OR, put them under the cheese on top of the patties then back in the oven. Or, just use all of the 'shrooms for a gravy.

Here's what I did differently:

• used soy sauce because I didn't have Lee and Perrins
• Omitted the cheese
• added additional sun-dried tomatoes
• Made 8 patties with 24 oz of buffalo meat

I was really impressed with how lean this ground meat was. There was almost no visible fat in the meat and it did not put out a lot of grease when cooking.

I would not recommend cooking these on the grill unless you add some sort of binder to the meat mixture. It is very lean and while it held together in the saute pan and in the oven, I don't think it would over an open grill.

Yum! Photos below with and without a bun. The red is ketchup the Dan added to his plate. Topping the burger is a mix of mushrooms and onions sauteed together with a bit of red wine. I also sliced some potatoes on the mandoline and seasoned them with a little bit of olive oil, seasoning salt, fresh rosemary and sliced onions. I love my mandoline! Slicing the potatoes very thin allows them to cook quickly, a plus when you are in a hurry. I had some fruit for dessert. This is a keeper recipe! I'm glad I have a few more packages of buffalo!

Here's a mandoline. Mine has an insert to julienne vegetables if you wanted.

Food and other thoughts....

Last night, I got a message about a family we are acquainted with. The mother of the family, who was right around 40 years old, died of ALS early Tuesday morning. ALS is such a terrible disease, trapping someone inside of a body that quits working. Her children are 16 and 7. The 16 year old rides with us to school every day and she went to school today. She got in the car and was talking about her mom. We all cried while she talked about her mom and how empty she feels right now. I asked if we could bring some food and she told us about how much food they have at their house, which is what got me thinking about how food symbolizes so much. I think that prayers are important for this family and for this woman whose soul is free of the confines of her body. I was also so filled with love watching my children react with compassion and understanding to someone who was obviously in so much pain.

Food is often synonymous with comfort. We make food for people who are sick, we feed a cold, we feed those we love, we go out to eat to celebrate, we have food when we are sad, we have food when we are happy.

Last night I had the occasion to make food for a very special person and friend who has been sick and had surgery. I put chicken and veggies in the crockpot and let it cook all night. My container was just a bit too small, so we had chicken soup for breakfast! I think that's a pretty healthy breakfast, actually. My point though, is that we took food to someone who needs our help and our love. It makes me feel good to be able to bring something to someone who needs the help and who I think so highly of.

Before leaving for work this morning, I put the fixings for Chicken Posole in the crock-pot. Actually, I had prepared it last night, so all I had to do was to dump it out of the bag and put it in the crock-pot this morning. It was wonderful to come home to good smells and the posole was warm and filling. We had it with some avocado, lime juice squeezed on top of the soup and some tortilla chips. Delicious.

Crock Pot Posole: 3 points per 1 cup serving (this is somewhat of an estimate - was 27 points for the entire crock pot. I estimated at 10 cups, it might have more room than that)

2 pounds chicken breast, diced into small pieces
1 cup dried posole (hominy)
2 cans diced tomatoes
4 cups fat free chicken stock
1 large onion, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
2 frozen, roasted green chili's with seeds (especially if you like it hot)
oregano to taste
minced garlic to taste
green chili powder to taste

Put all items in the crockpot in the morning and cook on low all day long. Before eating, garnish with some diced avocado, squeeze some lime juice over it and enjoy it with tortilla chips. I added salt to my bowl, but don't cook with much salt.