In the Kitchen: Rest

The kitchen has been quiet this week. Ross was sick with the flu all last week so I have been on my own with Liam. I didn't realize how much of a team we were until he was unable to flow with the natural rhythm of the family. I learn to appreciate him more and more during moments like this. I recall all that he does -  those moments that as soon as he is home he drops what he is doing to play with Liam. The way that they share a popsicle for an afternoon treat. The way those moments of play and treats add up to minutes of time when my mind can wander and create and dream. When he gives Liam a bath so that I can have a shower uninterrupted.  All those little moments of the day - how much he gives. How much I am learning to appreciate.  After a whole week of soups and teas - easy things in the kitchen like sandwiches have been all we want to eat. And those meals we are finding are very satisfying indeed. Less time spent in the kitchen has meant more moments for us to rest and recover and reconnect.  I am looking forward to our family rhythm getting back to its usual pace - where I am able to spend more time in the kitchen. Especially since the cooler weather is starting to come. I dream of baking breads and soups and chilies and every good yummy and soul satisfying thing. But for now, a sandwich and a coffee - yes please.

In the kitchen: Budget

The kitchen has been a busy place for me this week!  With ordering take out, needing to have snacks in the house, and buying drinks lately our budget for food has been a bit out of control.  This week I have really been trying to reel it in and man has it kept me busy!

Take out pizza... oh my. A favorite of ours on Friday when the week has been a blur and a visit from the energy vampire has left us weak both in will and physial strength.  I put my foot down on that pattern and decided to make our own take out pizza. I have a couple of recipes that I like for pizza, but my go to one when I am pinched for time is this one 

I am also realizing that with the heat, we were wanting sweet drinks in the afternoon. Lemonades and iced green tea sweetened with local honey have been constantly in the fridge. It has really cut down the impulse buy at the grocery store for a soda or cold juice.

Snacks.  On the go, snacks, I am learning, are so important to have.  I am trying to embrace the whole new need for snacks in the house and I am trying to have fun with it.  A snack that is a must in this house are crackers.  This little boy of mine could eat me under the table when it came to crackers. Boxes of crackers can cost a pretty penny here so I started making my own.  This recipe is amazing and is wonderfully paired with cheese. Our favorite popcorn has been on the table almost everyday, and a new favorite, kale chips now join the snack rotation.  Liam actually likes Kale chips a lot. They are very reminiscent of the roasted seaweed we eat all the time.

And then there is the necessary sweet. This week's afternoon sweet is banana bread. That was mostly due to the fact that I had bananas that were going bad. I added chia and flax to the mix so as to not feel as guilty when I break off a brick and slather it with butter for breakfast.

The kitchen has been a whirlwind, but it has been so nice to have the sweet and snack containers fully stocked. When they are I feel ready for the week  come what may. We have food in the house.

 What have you been up to in the kitchen lately?

In the kitchen

 

The kitchen has been a busy place! You would think that due to the humidity and the heat, it would actually keep me from using the stove or oven, but I think most of my creativity has been drawn to the kitchen. To creating things for breakfasts or lunches that we can grab and go.

On Saturday Ross and I were asked to go to his grandma's house where his mother and her sisters would be distributing the things of the household to the sisters and their children. His mother gave me the redish mixing bowl, and Liam inherited a set of plastic dishes that have been placed in his play area. We are currently saving our pennies to buy Liam a play kitchen, and until we do so, we have set up a little play camp site on the carpet for him. And oh my how he loves to stir his pot and put the lid on.

In the real kitchen, I have been busy making things that will make for easy lunches and breakfasts considering the fact that it is just too hot to do anything but reheat. Biscuits for breakfast, custard pie for after school sweets, and a dish called torta, a Filipino meat patty made from ground meat. In this case turkey, egg, tomato, garlic, onion, tomato, and potato. Eaten with rice and a bit of ketchup, they actually make for a very filling meal. Smoothies and popcorn are often consumed for snacks. And lots and lots of water.

I have been using grandma's mixing bowl for most of the things that I have been making in the kitchen. There is a beauty I think, in using things that are passed down to you. Standing at my kitchen mixing things, makes me think of her in her kitchen making and mixing things. Isn't it amazing - how items are able to hold such tangible memories and make such connection to the past.

Are you looking for a new popcorn recipe? Oh my - this one is our favorite. It must make it to our table for snack at least once a week. I recently started adding dill to the mix and oh my what a difference it has made! I also don't add butter because it seems as if Liam has a bad reaction to dairy - all except for yogurt for some reason.  But it is delicious! We like it with smoothies ourselves. Kale, blueberries, pineapple, banana, yogurt, chia seeds, flax seeds, and a bit of water seem to be our favorite lately. Liam can drink cup after cup of the stuff.

What have you been making lately?

In the Kitchen

 

Hurricane and tropical storm season is still going strong in our little corner of the world. So much time has been spent indoors due to the rain and humidity and the heat and the overall general icky feeling. So surprisingly,  much of the creating energy has been spent in the kitchen. Have you heard about Alicia Paulson's blog posiegetscosy? It is one of my favorite reads, and recently she liked a recipe for a magic custard cake  and oh my it is magic indeed! If you're a fan of custard then I really do recommend it. Creamy tomato pasta, a recipe found in this book , made an appearance for lunch. Tuna salad on crackers has also been a favorite snack/breakfast/lunch during the week. And other yummies have made it to the table that were just too scrumptious to stop and take pictures of.  With the heat on top of large changes in scheduling and work for both Ross and I, we have been so wiped out. We have been turning to our favorite type of evening comfort:  carpet picnics and comfort food. As soon as that baby's head hits the pillow we are both stumbling over ourselves to set the food on the tray and turn on the apple tv. It's almost like there is a collective sigh with that first bite as we lean back and watch the beginning credits flash across the scene. We are currently obsessed with Flash, season one. He likes horror which I can't do, and I love BBC period dramas which he can't do, but a good Marvel or DC super hero story? Yes please.  Good food, a good show, and my best friend. Good times. 

I have been trying to continue to give Liam his sensory activity in the afternoons, and this week it was play dough. Using a recipe given to us from his pre-school, I added a few drops of orange peel essential oil, and it was quite nice. For next time, I am looking forward to making natural dye (it just isn't in the budget right now to buy food coloring) from here.   My eye is on the bright yellow using turmeric. 

Since I have been in the kitchen more, Liam has felt a need to be in the kitchen as well. Pulling pots and everything else out of their places seem to be his main focus. I was really trying to teach him how to stay out of certain areas, like the cabinet where we keep the pots and pans. But his curiosity is just so strong. So that battle I gave up as lost. And I was so glad that I did. One day, I stopped my flurry of activity to watch him, and that little boy of mine had learned all by himself how to put the lid on, how to take it off, and how to put it on again. He was so engrossed in his "work", that his attention was focused for a few good minutes. Often times I think that I am sorely responsible for his education and well being  - but at this stage that isn't alway the case. He is starting to use his surroundings to teach himself. Sometimes all he needs me to do is to leave him alone and witness. And witness I am so glad to do. I am learning so much from this little person. My oh my what a wonderful balance of teacher and student we both play. 

What have you been doing in your kitchen this week? 

A passing storm

A hurricane was scheduled to hit Hawaii today, but thankfully it veered north and missed the island. Souvenirs of this hurricane are heat and humidity. The air was so heavy today it was hard to breathe. A light rain fell on and off all day today. A perfect day to nest. To try to stay cool. We turned to comfort food and watermelon. Lots of cold cold watermelon. Currently that is Liam's favorite fruit and we are keeping the fridge stocked with it. A treat that Ross and I are enjoying immensely.

Today was all about this little boy. We read book after book, played ball, sang songs, played with ice, danced, took everything out of drawers (mostly him), put everything back into their places (mostly me), and did puzzles. Oh my, this boy of mine is starting to really understand puzzles. He can put together one of his nesting puzzles, and with each piece that he fits together, he looks up with this big grin and claps his hands and then raises his hand for a high five.

I took the camera outside and took pictures of the flowers surrounding our yard to try and document the passing storm. The rain made everything so green. So alive. There is a clean that perfumes the air right after the rain comes. I sat outside for a bit while Ross played with Liam inside. It was nice. Breathing in while listening to the faint laughter coming in through the screen door.

I had originally planned to get back to working on some long neglected WIPs, but instead paper crafting took precedent. Liam got some wooden animal magnets for his birthday. They are themed. Four themes to be exact. Ocean, Farm, Safari, and possibly animals down under. I have to check on that. We put two of the themed animals up on the fridge: Farm and Ocean.  This is a favorite spot for Liam. He loves taking them down and arranging them. Although it is nice to see that he understands the concept of taking them off and putting them back on again, there was something missing about the activity. It bothered me to see those animals on that stark white fridge. Lonely and homeless and devoid of a place to belong. So during nap, out came the construction paper, wrapping paper, recycled paper, glue gun, and out came a little scene for the ocean animals to live. They even got real starfishes and a shell to accommodate their little home. It was such a treat to see Liam wake up and discover this little scene. How he played with the starfish magnets and moved around the animals. Creating this little scene was such fun. I forgot how wonderful simple paper crafting can be. As I was crafting it, my mind was whirling with so many different ideas. About how this activity could be expanded as he got older. Since there are four themes, a theme on the fridge could be rotated every month. The medium in which to make the scenes could differ as well. Collages, painting, crayons/markers, tear art, thumb print stamping, are a few that came to mind. Collages or drawing/painting a background would be wonderful! A great activity to teach about ecosystems. I am starting a goodie book of all the activities and recipes I want to do as Liam gets older. This will definitely be one of them! Oh the possibilities!

The little animal magnet set was purchased at Target, but I also found them here if you're interested!