Bye, Erik!

Erik is moving on to his big brother's daycare next week. We will miss his little face! Bye, Erik! Good luck at Acorn!

New Challenge!

This climbing structure is at Brantwood Park.

Addie's not quite tall enough, and Dries is not quite flexible enough, but Nora and Ella were able to master it! ('Master', as in, 'get on top', that is.) But clamber, swing, and scramble? They could all do that!

Spring = Flowers

This picture was taken late May/early June, probably the first wildflowers we saw this year.

The perennial favourite of toddlers: Dandelions!!

Don't Play With Your Food?

Perhaps. I say it depends entirely on the game. Here we have our first course: salad, with a yummy boiled-garlic dressing. Lots of good things on that plate!

So the first person pokes their fork into the mix and spears something. Holds it up for the table to see, and declares:  "I spy ... with my little eye ... cucumber! Carrots! Arugula! Lettuce! Cranberries! Green pepper! Beets!"

They hold it aloft on their fork (or, let's be honest here, in their pudgy little fingers) until everyone else has found that same thing on their plates.

And then, we say, "Everyone ready? [dramatic pause]  NOMNOMNOMNOMNOM!!!" We eat it. With loud enthusiasm.

Why are you pointing that camera at me, lady? I'm busy eating my beets.

By the time we've had a couple of round-the-table I-Spy's, a good deal of the food on each plate has been consumed, everything has at least been tasted, new foods have been identified in a friendly and non-stress way, and we've all had fun.

Playing with your food is a great way to introduce kids to new foods.

More Park

Ada's getting to be a pretty good climber. She goes carefully, but she's persistent!

Where one girl goes, another often follows. Nora joins in.

Ella makes three!

But Erik? He's a rugged individual. No spiral for him!

Coconut-Lentil Soup

Your children uniformly, across the board, looooooved this soup. Just loved it. Two helpings for everyone, three for several. It comes from a very nice vegetarian recipe site, 101 Cookbooks, with a few tweaks to accommodate my tastes and my cupboard.

Ingredients:

1 cup green lentils
1 cup red split lentils
7 cups water
1 medium carrot, cut into medium dice
2 tablespoons fresh minced ginger
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons butter or margerine
8 green onions, thinly sliced
1/3 cup raisins (I used dried cranberries, because that's what I had)
1 398-mL can coconut milk
salt to taste

Method:
Put lentils in an extra-large pot, bring to a boil, reduce to simmer. Add carrot and a couple teaspoons of the ginger. Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the green lentils are soft. (The red ones will have vanished to create that yellow thickening.)

In the meantime, in a small dry pan over low heat, toast the curry powder until it's quite fragrant. (This doesn't take long, and I suspect this step can be omitted, though I did it.) Set aside.

Put butter in a pan over medium heat, all half the green onions, the rest of the ginger, and the raisins. Saute for two minutes, stirring constantly, then add tomato paste cook another minute or two.

Add the toasted curry powder to the tomato mix, stir well, then add to the simmering soup, along with coconut milk and salt. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes or so. It'll continue to thicken as it's simmered; you choose the consistency you like. Ours was pretty thick, much like porridge.

Cheap, nourishing, and yummy! Can be served over rice, though we didn't.

Menu Monday

Monday:
green salad
stuffed peppers
muffins

Tuesday:
cauliflower in tomato sauce
ginger-baked tofu
bananas

Wednesday:
cucumber salad w cilantro dressing
falafals in pita with yogurt sauce
applesauce

Thursday:
vegetables in peanut sauce
spinach pie
muffins

Friday:
veggies and dip
cheesy pasta bake
gelato

Back to the park!

We are thrilled that the park is dry enough to visit once again! Hooray for summer!