new bike

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Liam is definitely his father’s son. At eight years old, he stands a head taller than all but one of the kids in his class. The seat of his old bike was adjusted to the very limits, but it was time to get him something bigger. Did we go to the local sporting goods store and get him a perfectly functional but non-descript bike, like my white B’Twin?

No. We did not.

That? Is a Gazelle Freestyler 3-speed. It’s the same make as our Dutch bikes, and it is a work of art.

And that? Is a very very happy kid.

He took it out for several trips today, scratched a bit of the paint in the first hour, and had a blast. I’m sure there will be plenty of dings and scratches in the future – we may have to repaint it when it comes time to pass it on to Harry. But this is a bike that will stand the test of time. He is in LOVE with his new bike. And, I must admit, I’m a little smitten, too.

 

garden time!

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Spring has sprung here in Belgium! Which means, naturally, that it’s time to put in the garden. But first, a couple random shots of the boys enjoying rare cups of cocoa:

 

Liam looks thrilled beyond measure. Harry appears to be in shock that such a thing exists.

Now, on to the garden. Here is the before. Please to avoid looking at our redneck fencing. I’m hoping that will be replaced in the next year or so.

Much to be done in that plot. I spent an hour or two each day for about a week cleaning it up, turning the soil, and making it as hospitable as possible for all the seeds I was eagerly holding on to.

On paper it’s so neat and orderly. That means the reality will be a meticulous garden that practically weeds itself, right?

This weekend, Jesse built a trellis for our tomatoes and cucumbers, and a teepee for the peas to climb.

…or maybe that teepee was for kids to play in, I forget…

The first seeds went into the ground yesterday, with more planned about 2-3 weeks from now. The easy part is done. The hard part (the weeding, the constant upkeep, the harvesting before everything gets too big, the slug hunts) will be here before I know it.

first ride of the year

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Today has been a beautiful spring day. Sadly, Harry and I laid low with bad colds. Jesse and Liam took advantage of the wonderful weather and our absence and took the motorcycle out for the first spin of the season. Here are a few photos from their grand day out.

taking a walk at the parc.

This is the "I'm cool" pose

enjoying an ice cream

enjoying the day

at the parc, with the pond and l'Orangerie in the distance.

They had a really nice time! Now, the two men are outside taking the lay of the land for my vegetable garden, Harry’s half-napping on the couch, and me? I’m sipping TheraFlu. Ahhh, the life.

heaven in a bowl

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I made a new meal tonight. Or rather, I made a meal I haven’t made in about two years. We really enjoyed it the first time, as I recall. But somehow I never got around to making it again. This time I changed and simplified the recipe, so it would fit with our no-oil lifestyle. Oh, my goodness. Jesse literally said, multiple times, “This is the best thing you have EVER made!” I’m not quite sure that’s so, but it was absolutely delicious, and SO simple. It’s one of those meals that’s literally on the table in about ten minutes, but better than anything I’ve ever ordered in a restaurant. For the pleasure of your tastebuds:

Soba Noodles with Shitake Mushrooms and Snow Peas

ingredients:

  • 1 pack of shitake mushrooms
  • 1 cup of button mushrooms, roughly chopped
  • 2 cups of snow peas (I used a bag of frozen)
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
  • 2-3 cups of vegetable broth

Pour 2 cups boiling water over the dried shitake and let them rehydrate, about five minutes. Place the vegetable broth in a medium saucepan, drain the mushroom soaking liquid into the saucepan too, so you save all the delicious broth. Rough chop the shitake.

Place all the mushrooms in a frying pan with about 1/4 cup of water, the soy sauce, and the giner. Cook over medium heat until the mushrooms are softened, about five minutes. If using fresh snow peas, add them to the pan as well. If frozen, nuke those babies according to package directions.

Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil, add your package of noodles and cook until al dente, just a few minutes. Add the vegetables to the saucepan of noodles, give it a toss to combine, and get it to the table pronto. I like a bit of spice so I added crushed red pepper to mine. Delicious and elegant!

Carnaval!

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It was a rather busy week at school for the boys. It was the week before the Carnaval vacation, so it was filled with special events and parties.

On Tuesday, each class put on a theatre presentation for the parents. Harry’s class did a skit about woodland elves. He is the elf (lutin) in a grey sweatshirt with a long green hat.

Liam’s class did a montage of big bad wolf stories. First they sang the song “Promenos-nous dans les bois”. Roughly translated, the lyrics are:

We go walking in the woods
While the wolf is not there.
If the wolf was there
He would eat us up!
But since he is not there
he will not eat us!

and so on…

The song was followed by Red Riding Hood and the Three Little Pigs. Liam was the smart pig that built a house of brick. He had lines, but sadly there was too much noise in the room for me to get it on video. Next time! He really enjoyed acting, surprisingly, and tells me he’d like to do it again when he has a chance. Who knew?

Thursday, Harry’s class went to an indoor play park for the day and had a grand time. On Friday, Liam’s class went to a local indoor mini-golf establishment. He now believes golf to be the greatest sport on the planet and insists we go as a family tomorrow :) Both boys had dress up parties at school on Friday as well. Liam’s class is studying pirates, so all the kids dressed up as pirates. Harry’s class dressed up as clowns. But since Liam was re-enacting a pirate scene for the photos, Harry decided to be THE pirate clown. I guess even pirates need comic relief.

Meal Plan January 30th

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Thus begins our first official week of our gluten-free experiment. J and I have been gf since Saturday. Why? I think gluten, or at the very least an issue with wheat, might be the source of some of J’s… intestinal issues. He’s not convinced, but he’s willing to go along with 3-4 weeks of gluten-free eating. Especially since I’m the one that cooks and he has very little say in the matter.

So these last few days I’ve been scouring the internets, looks for recipes and suggestions and info. And inevitably found the world of gluten-free blogging. Anything you want to know about, I swear there’s a blogging community built around it. How lucky for me!

Celiac Family hosts a weekly Gluten-Free Menu Swap, and I thought I’d join in. What better way to learn than to just dive in? I’m hoping to find lots of inspiration for menus further down the road, as well as some camerades who have been there/done that.

On this week’s plan:

  • Monday – leftover Irish White Bean and Cabbage Stew (minus the barley) with homemade corn tortillas.
  • Tuesday – Three Bean Chili served over rice.
  • Wednesday – Split Pea Soup and attempt number two on gluten-free corn muffins.
  • Thursday – leftovers
  • Friday – Pasta Night! This will be our first gluten-free pasta attempt. Making MamaPea’s sauce and lentil meatballs to accompany it.
  • Saturday - Fifteen Bean Soup, most likely served over rice or with homemade corn tortillas.
  • Sunday – usually pizza night in our house, but I’m not quite ready to start experimenting with multiple flours and the like. Let’s go with hommade baked beans, sweet potatoes, and broccoli.
Most everything here is a tried-and-true family favorite, with simple little changes – like gf pasta in place of regular, or corn tortillas instead of muffins for accompaniment. I know I’ll need to expand my repertoire if this becomes a lifestyle for us, but for this first week at least I wanted to keep it simple and comfortable, for everyone.

 

This week’s Gluten-Free Menu Swap is being hosted by Celiac’s In The House. If you’re new here from the Menu Swap, please leave me a cheery welcome message!

A new soup.

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Tonight’s supper was Irish White Bean and Cabbage soup. K will be following with the recipe. Mmmmm. Soup.

** edited many days later by K to add the recipe link and details :)

I found this recipe at SusanV’s FatFreeVegan blog – definitely one of my favorite sources on the net. I left out the celery (because Jesse considers it to be poison), the barley (because we’re experimenting with gluten-free eating for the next month), and the caraway seeds (because I didn’t have any).

The soup was good the first day, but amazing the next! A definite keeper. Served the soup with my first attempt at gluten-free corn muffins.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup corn flour (masa)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup rice milk
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 banana, mashed
  • 2 tablespoons applesauce
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Combined all the dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Whizzed all the wet ingredients together in the blender, then added to the dry and mixed together. This recipe made 15 small muffins, baked at around 375 for 20 minutes.

The tast was  good, although the muffins weren’t nearly as tender as we’re used to. And they didn’t store worth a damn. If you choose to make these, I recommend only making what you need that night.

It took me a while to work out the kinks in vegan baking. Vegan and gluten-free?? The family might be in for some dodgy experiments in the next few weeks.

sweet potato pasta

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Harry has decided that he will no longer willing eat a meal if it doesn’t contain pasta.*  I didn’t want to force feed him again, but I had some sweet potatoes in the cupboard that had to get used up. How to solve this epic problem? Turn to Google, of course :)

A quick search for sweet potato pasta will net you plenty of recipes, but most looked a little to thick and gelatinous for my tastes. I didn’t want something creamy and thick, I wanted something light — Spring-like but with an Autumn-flare, if that makes any sense to anyone but me.

Somewhere in my search I ran across this gem. The pictures sold me. Definitely check them out. My pictures look… edible. Her shots make me want to lick my computer screen.

I’m not going to re-post the recipe here. I never do that unless I change a recipe pretty much beyond recognition. Here are the changes I made:

  1. the original recipe calls for 1/2 cup of oil, although Sara says they use just enough to coat the bottom of the pan. I didn’t use any, as we are a no-oil household. Instead, I sautéed the onion in a bit of broth.
  2. I used half the amount of onion and ginger. Actually, I doubled the recipe, but didn’t double the onion and ginger. I have young palates to please. I think I would have loved the extra ginger, personally.
And that’s it! Definitely give it a go! Click here to go to the recipe :)

 

*Little man is in for a bit of a shock, because we’re getting ready to do some gluten-free experimenting for the next few weeks.

3 months

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October, eh? That’s only…. three months ago. Not so bad :)  Expect to see more posting over here. I’m seriously contemplating letting my personal blog die and just moving it all over here. In the mean time, here are a few pictures to help you catch up.