Snowy Day, not a Snow Day

Lots
of
snow
here
over
the
week-
end.
If it
had
landed
on
monday
I'll
bet
even
our
die
hard
town
would
have
declar-
ed a snow day. But it ended by sunday afternoon, and they're very efficient at plowing, so off to school! And welcome winter!

Ryan's lunch: roasted pumpkin seeds; mini banana blueberry muffin; steamed broccoli; mashed potato snowman w/black bean mouth & buttons; brown rice.

Friday was our second winter share pickup at our CSA. The bounty included 3 kinds of lettuce, spinach, baby greens mix, parsley, salad turnips, swiss chard, kale, carrots, parsnips, parsley root, celeriac, purple top turnips, beets, potatoes, shallots, red & yellow onions, leeks, popping corn, apples...and Brussels sprouts.

Now normally everyone says they don't like Brussels sprouts. But I cooked one stalk's worth anyways, and what do you know...Ryan was the only one who didn't want them, and Nate asked for THIRDS!

Sauteed Brussels

2 dozen Brussels Sprouts
2 T. Earth Balance
margarine
1/2 vegetable bouillon
cube (I like Rapunzel sea
salt & herbs variety)
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1/4-1/2 tsp. lemon juice
freshly ground pepper

Remove sprouts from
stalk, then remove one
layer of outer leaves.
Trim off any remaining
stem, then cut in half.

Melt Earth Balance in
saute pan over medium
heat. Add bouillon and a
little water if necessary
to keep bouillon from
burning as it melts with
the margarine.

Add sprouts, salt &
pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, adding lemon juice when sprouts begin to brown. When one side of sprouts are nicely browned, remove from heat and sprinkle with a little extra salt & pepper.

We served these with brown rice and a bowl of root vegetable soup, perfect after playing in the snow.

We decorated our tree and hung lights outside in time for the winter solstice. Dinner was a quick "picnic" before going to the Boy Scout Reservation's tree & light festival. We use their hiking trails a lot.
























Some of our favourite trees were a Lego ornament tree and one with recycled ornaments.

Cupcake Craziness

Monday:

Only AJ needed a snack
because Ryan and dada
were not back from their
trip yet...broccoli; apple
rabbits; roasted squash
seeds; tofu herb ravioli.


As soon as Ryan was
home he couldn't wait
to put up the tree.
Here's Maia checking
it out for the first time.



Tuesday:
Ryan's lunch was full of gifts...fried tofu with a spaghetti ribbon, banana walnut muffin square with a red bell pepper ribbon, steamed carrot with a chive ribbon...etc.

Nate's lunch:
sesame tofu;
broccoli; rice
ball; baby corn.




AJ's preschool class
has an inordinate
number of December
birthdays. Add that to
the holiday snack
craziness and it means
I've had to make two
batches of cupcakes in
the past 2 weeks.

I frosted this one for
myself, and then of
course everyone
wanted one. I call it
the "almond joy".



Wednesday:

AJ's cupcake of the
day was frosted with
mint frosting and
tiny dark chocolate
chips.




Ryan's lunch: root veggies & beans soup; red berry flax waffled with maple syrup & pomegranate syrup; 1/2 a clementine.

Dinner was a muffin tin
meal...peanuts, cukes,
veggie crackers, chick
peas, pretzel nuggets,
bell peppers, almonds,
carrots, clementine, rolls
of Tofurky slice, apple,
Veggie Booty.

Thursday:
All the boys had: dinosaur "cream cheese" & jam sandwiches; broccoli; cucumber slices; carrots. Nate had some Veggie Booty too, and Ryan had double layer sandwiches plus a stuffed pasta shell for his bigger 6-year-old appetite.

Nate's class did a white
chocolate wreath making
project. So I sent the
closest thing I had at the
time: frosting, chips,
sprinkles, and a lemon
poppyseed Boston Cookie
with a circle cut out of the
middle--he loved it.













Would someone please explain to my 2 year old that his brothers don't appreciate him hiding pretzel nuggets in their water cups and marbles in their boots. Doh.

Friday:

We're
expecting
a big
snowstorm
in the
afternoon,
so I made
a lunch
for the
occasion!

Ryan's
lunch:
snowman
rice balls;
kiwi;
cucumber;
brown
rice/carrot/edamame salad; green beans; trio of peanuts/almonds/cashews.

I beat the blizzard by just
a couple of hours and
made it to the farm for
our monthly winter
produce pickup. The
greenhouse has bags of
snow-covered leaves
packed along both sides.













I picked some sage from the herb garden, then hauled everything to the car. We got 2 green cabbages, some kale, leeks, mixed baby greens, radishes, spinach, popping corn, salad turnips, and a massive bag filled with various potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, parsnips, celeriac, onions, garlic, shallots, rutabaga, and winter turnips.

Blizzard dinner:
spicy sweet potato
pancakes with guacamole,
pumpkin miso muffins,
mushroom asparagus
tofu quiche.

The sweet potato pancakes
were delicious, but I hate
all the olive oil it uses to fry them, so in the future I'll make my usual baked wedges instead, but just add the extra seasoning and use the guacamole for dipping.

The pumpkin miso muffins from Just Bento were yummy, but I still like my own recipe better. I had to cook these for 5 minutes longer than indicated or they'd have been mushy.

My quiche was just another variation of my broccoli quiche, but this time with 4 baby bella mushrooms, 8 shiitake mushrooms, & a handful of asparagus, all sauteed with the onion, plus a little sesame oil added. Delish!