Variation on a Theme

My kids have a lot of food allergies. This puts some restrictions on our family's meal planning, since between the two of them I cannot cook with any dairy (butter, cheese, milk, sour cream etc), eggs, soy, peanuts, or tree nuts. I don't say this to complain, because really I don't feel they are deprived a thing; there are still so many varieties of healthy foods and treats for them to enjoy. Overall, I feel these dietary restrictions have forced me to create healthier meals for our family. If it weren't for the allergies, I might be tempted to dump a can of cream of chicken soup over some egg noodles many nights and call it dinner!

My children almost eat a vegan diet, since they cannot eat any animal products like eggs or dairy--except we do eat meat sparingly (so obviously we are not vegan, since the kids do eat meat in moderation, just no other animal products).

Anyway, still, trying to come up with a variety of kid-friendly healthy meals for dinner within these dietary constrains can be somewhat of a challenge. Thank goodness for soups and stews. Always chock full of veggies and tasty, my kids will gobble these up without even knowing they are eating a bowl full of beans and vegetables (ha, ha, ha!). There are so many good base options: tomato, cauliflower, butternut squash, sweet potato, spinach, split pea, lentil, or carrot to name a few favorites. Pair it with some crusty bread (homemade, or the cheap and fresh made grocery store french bread will do in a pinch) and, viola, you have dinner! My only worry is that I will soon weary Mike's already stretched thin "meat and potato" tastes, since, literally, if I let myself, I could make a different soup every night of the week.

I'll have to post some more of my favorites another time (contemplating starting an allergy cooking blog), but for now, here is this week's favorite, Red Lentil Soup with Lemon:

(modified slightly from a recipe found on Allrecipes.com)

2 tb. olive oil

1 onion finely diced

2 cloves of garlic finely diced

1 tb. tomato paste

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

1/8 tsp. chili powder

4 chicken bullion cubes dissolved in 4 cups hot water

1 cup red lentils

1 large carrot diced

2 tb. lemon juice

3 tb. chopped fresh cilantro

1 to 2 tb. olive oil for drizzling

1 pinch chilli powder

Saute onion and garlic in olive oil for five minutes or until soft. Stir in cumin, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Saute for another one to two minutes and then stir in chicken broth and add carrot and lentils. Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or until everything is soft. Using an immersion blender, or by pouring batches of soup into a stand blender, puree soup. Return to pot and mix in lemon juice and cilantro. Heat till warm, and just before serving drizzle with additional olive oil and sprinkle with chili powder.

JT Miscellany

What can I say about our little "Pooters" (nickname thought up by Olivia that has stuck!)?? He is nothing but sweet and fun these days at 21 months. He leaves us laughing and we love to squeeze and kiss his soft chubby face.

For several days I had heard JT insisting, "I wanna boo betty!" Of course we had no idea what a "boo betty" was, but soon put two and two together and discovered that he was requesting a bubble bath. This boy loves his "boo betty" time. Nothing is more hilarious than to hear his insistent raspy voice demanding, "I wanna boo betty"!

Olivia got this doll bed for Christmas. Though, apparently that morning began a little too early for JT's liking. I wonder if he was silently questioning why we got a bed that was two sizes too small??

Easy going; raspy, deep voice; happy all the time; emerging language that is too cute; obsessed with his "vroom vrooms" (cars and trucks); enjoys story time; loves his Daddy. We can't help but be enjoying Pooters every minute.

Olivia Miscellany

Since my blog posts are typically far and few between, I am very much not in the habit of documenting our daily life. Typically when I finally sit myself down to compose a blog post, my first tactic is to browse "My Pictures" for anything cute or noteworthy. However, since we're missing a storage card (thus left to work with storing just six pictures at a time on our camera's built-in memory) and our camera is badly in need of an upgrade, our pictures are not a good representation of our life.

However, I will take what I can get from the meager offerings of my picture folders, and try to retrieve some memories from the last three months for posterity's sake.

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There was a little girl,

who had a little curl,

right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good,

she was very, very good,

but when she was bad she was horrid.

I am enjoying having a daughter. Always dreamed of having a girl a first. I was ecstatic when that 18-week ultrasound revealed little Olivia. While I would never, ever use the word "horrid" to describe my little Chica, the dichotomy of her personality is emerging in some interesting and entertaining ways. I can't help but be reminded of another little girl (now grown woman) who can go from sweet to sour a bit too quickly for her own mother's liking, I'm sure.

Olivia's days are filled with art projects (she is loving glue sticks, collages, paints, stickers, everything!), preschool, princesses, dress up, music and dancing, and helping mom however she can. She is doing really well in preschool and Primary (now a big Sunbeam in Primary), and I have seen some amazing developments these past six months in her social skills, imagination, and vocabulary. She is eager to please her parents and teachers and is our most excited participant in Family Night each week.

However, with all the change and development come some typical growing pains: her frustration when she can't do everything all by herself (some button holes are just too small and some zippers in the back are out of reach); a little toddler brother who interrupts games and grabs toys and does not understand all the rules; a mommy who often requires a bit too much patience from her big girl and who says "just a minute" maybe a few times too often; a beautifully active imagination that now conjures up monsters and other scares that sometimes make it hard to be all alone in her room at night.

So, while most days around here with Olivia are sunny and bright, she also isn't afraid to tell her Mommy dramatically when she's had "the worst day ever!" or when she "hates" something that has happened that day. She is bright, opinionated, creative, and fun. I'm so blessed to be her mother and just know this little girl is developing a strong personality that will serve her well in life.

All dressed up in her Christmas-Sunday best:

My "big pink, puffy marshmallow" (as she describes herself) already to go play in the snow. The snow has been loads of fun for Olivia. Sledding in Daddy's homemade hill off the back steps, snowball fights, snow angels, snowmen. "I wish I could just sleep out here and stay out here [in the snow]" she tells me one day as she came in from outside reluctantly.