Saturday, June 20, 2009

Summer Randomness

Josie lounging on the porch, trying not to fall asleep. Don't we look busy? Yes and no. We've been having fun doing our summer thang and that means spending a lot of our time outside which means less computer time (yay!), but I've started a blog post here and there, but never finished them. I decided summer blogging is more about pictures and less words, but you know how I am...it is hard for me not to go on and on.
Pancakes with fresh local strawberries. We had a strawberry patch at our old house, but haven't put one in our current garden yet. I miss it, but this is the first year we've really put any effort into our garden since I wanted to make sure the soil was okay (we live in a 100 year old house so I wanted to make sure there wasn't a lead issue). Two weeks straight we bought a gallon of strawberries at the Market at the Square. I thought I could make something with them or freeze them, but they were eaten au naturale within 24 hours (48 the second week) by the kids. I don't know what I was thinking. Here are some perfectly sweet strawberries on top of pancakes. No need for our wonderful Wisconsin maple syrup (thank you, Jennifer!!!) this time.
Here is Parker in front of Common Ground Co-op painting a thank you note to the farmers. What a great idea! I love the synergy between our local co-op and the farmer's market this year.
Typical summer lunch. Fresh berries (strawberries and blackberries this day), Chickpea Noodle Soup from Veganomicon (this soup is still a favorite even with the warmer weather), and Raw Red Pepper Aioli from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan (topped here with avocado for Parker and served with carrots, lots of carrots...I doubled the aioli recipe and the kids ate over 3 pounds of carrots with the dip that day...super duper yum!).Dema (and part of Parker) daydreaming of Lego at the neighborhood "Lego Club Meeting"
Pasta Puttanesca over whole wheat pasta. I double the sauce and don't really follow a recipe, but you can check this one out which is roughly what I do. I serve it over pasta one day and then quinoa the next. We've cut back on the Kalamata olives we buy due to cost so this is a treat these days. I can barely keep capers in the house because Josie finds them and will eat them out of the jar (she does this with olives too).Parker on top of the swing set in our park. He is usually up in a tree or here. One of our neighbor's calls him "Parker bird". Now all the little kids want to climb like Parker. He's not usually the "bad influence".Entirely Original Curried Pumpkin Hummus from Diet, Dessert and Dogs with carrots and apples makes a wonderful snack for the kids when they come inside for a break. I added some kale because I add kale to everything. I drizzled olive oil on top, but it doesn't need it and I would add more curry powder (I use hot). I also think it is a little sweet for carrot sticks, but would be perfect for collard wraps as DDD used it on her blog.
Here is a picture of the family patiently waiting for me outside Common Ground Co-op. I just was filled with such complete and utter love, happiness, and gratefulness as I saw them there, I couldn't help but get my iPhone out and take a picture. Josie and Dema are on the Xtracycle with the groceries, Parker rode his own bike, and Rob has the Chariot trailer attached to his for our Market at the Square produce.
Another quick summer lunch. I had the filling leftover from Quick Pinto-Potato Empanadas (a tester recipe for one of Robin Robertson's new cookbooks coming out) and some leftover Vegan YumYum's Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta Sauce so I stuffed the filling into large pasta shells (I don't buy them often because I can't find them in whole wheat, but they are nice once in a while) and covered it with the sauce and baked it. Served with baked tofu (since I had the oven on, it made sense to bake tofu at the same time) and apples...voila, lunch.
Josie working up an appetite at the park. She reminds me of my mother here. My mom used to stick her tongue out like this when she was concentrating on something. How I miss mom, but I love seeing her show up in my kids.
A few weeks ago kale was on sale at Common Ground Co-op (buy one bunch, get one free...heaven!) and I forgot to tell Rob not to buy kale at the Market at the Square so we arrived home with six bunches of kale and two bunches of collards. Six bunches of kale is not unheard of in a week, but we don't usually buy it all on the same day. It was great, we had green smoothies, green hummus, kale puffs, well you get the idea. I pretty much put kale in everything I could and we went through it in a flash. We are splitting a CSA share with our friends Kit and Emily so we received more greens mid-week. Then we received more greens from neighbors and I knew it was time to get out the big pots and make Susan's (FatFree Vegan) Green on Green Soup. I made a double batch (that means 4 pounds of greens, my friends) and I am so glad I did. I didn't have sweet potatoes so I used potatoes I had on hand and omitted the mushrooms (I forgot to soak the dried ones and didn't have fresh). I added a ton more nutritional yeast because I buy the stuff by the 6 lb. container and use it in everything. I love this soup (the entire family does), but I don't think to make it in the summer. No more. The picture is from a winter blog post (I didn't take a picture this time because the kids kept eating the soup before I could get a shot) and in the winter I like to add soy yogurt and za'artar, but for summer I like to go lighter and just add a few drops of hot sauce. I started eating this for breakfast (leftovers are often breakfast around here) and the kids would not keep their paws off it. Even Dema who would probably request pancakes every day went to requesting Green on Green Soup instead.Josie shares her brother Parker's love of climbing and her brother Dema's "no fear!" attitude. It is hard to get pictures of her because most of the time she is running. She keeps our family on track. She is the finder of any lost things, the comforter and protector of her family and friends, lover of animals, babies, music (especially anything with a good beat that she can dance to) and clothes, and her brothers' number one fan. Well, that sort of catches you up. I'm sure there will be more randomness in the hot humid days to come. I hope you are staying cool, enjoying life, and eating well!

3 comments:

Ricki said...

Your kids are just gorgeous--that first photo is a stunner. :)

And such delicious food! Thanks so much for the hummus link. I love the addition of kale--what a great idea. I will definitely try it that way. And it IS so yummy in collard wraps!

Paula Perry said...

seriously i can't read your blog before i eat lunch as it makes my stomach rummble, the food looks so good..mmmm i can almost smell it! cute biking photo. i'm just about to try cycling with my little one for the first time..i'm a bit nervous. any tips?

VeganLinda said...

Thanks, Ricki! I will buy some collards this weekend.

Paula, Try to relax and go slowly at first. Maybe a little trip to see how your little one likes the trailer/bike seat. Riding in the street is often safer than riding on the sidewalk, but I know many people with kids prefer to ride on the sidewalk...remember you are pretty much invisible on the sidewalk so keep an eye out for traffic turning into driveways and backing out. Above all, have fun!!!