I swear it's a yummy pinwheel

Trust me I have been there... You go to a party, excited to see what appetizers (aren't they the best part of a meal?? love me some snacks), they are serving, you make your introductory small talk while also locating and surveying the buffet (yes I am from the South) ...."Hello?  Excuse me...."  "Oh, sorry," I reply recovering, "What did you say?"  "I asked your name," the party guest replies.  Distracted from the site of the dreaded yet perfectly cut ham party roll up, I, disappointed, excuse myself (hope that was no one important) and find the bar table to grab a drink.

THIS IS NOT THAT!  DISCLAIMER: I also would not serve this as an appetizer.  However, it is my new favorite lunch sandwich.

This is my spin on the veggie sandwich I tasted at the Trader Joe's kitchen counter.

Ingredients:

Wheat Tortilla (can use whole wheat or whole wheat lavash bread to be healthier)
Trader Joe's White bean hummus (can use regular hummus of course or any variation thereof)
mixture of arugula, spinach, and herb mixed salad
sun dried tomatoes
cucumber
carrot

Directions:
Simply spread the hummus.  Add the cutup veggies, salad and sun dried tomatoes, roll up and dig in.

You could also try with an olive tapenade or add some other veggies (I would just keep them crunchy as they are needed for added texture).

There is a Hidden Tree Hugger in All of Us

"We have to move," I said to my husband in a self realization panic.  "What?  Why?  What are you talking about,"  he responded with a mixture of concern and whatever emotion comes along with eye rolling.  "I made my own granola today,"  I said quickly in hoped that the faster it came off my tongue the less true it would be.  I explained further,  "We live in California and I made my own granola, so we have to get out of here soon."  

Confession: We haven't moved and I haven't stopped making granola, cause it is so darn yummy.  

Here is a recipe but I encourage you to have fun.  I have used various dried fruit instead of dried cranberries including a yummy fruit medley from Trader Joe's that has mangoes and some other fruits,  as well as banana chips and dried blueberries.  Today's batch has dried cranberries and dried blueberries.  I use more pumpkin seeds than it calls for (I like the whole kind but Trader Joe's also sells just the pumpkin seed "meat" if you'd rather) because I omit the nuts for the finicky baby- but I am sure almonds would be delich in this!  Here is the recipe- adjust cooking time depending on whether you want crunchy or chewy granola (chewy less time, crunchy is more):

Fruit and Seed Homemade Cinnamon Granola (okay add nuts if you want)

Ingredients

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• 1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 2/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cranberry juice (not Ocean Spray cocktail- this is yucky unsweet, dare I say bitter, pure cranberry juice but great for this purpose)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/2 cup chopped roasted and salted almonds (I omit these but would be good I am sure!)

Directions

(If you don't buy the already roasted sunflower and pumpkin seeds)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds on a baking sheet . Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly toasted. Set aside to cool.

Preheat or Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. 

In a small saucepan, combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, cranberry juice, and cinnamon cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves.

In a separate bowl mix together the oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and almonds (if using).

Pour the maple syrup mixture over the oats and seeds and stir.  Spread this mixture onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Stir in the cranberries (or whatever other fruit) and bake for an another 10 to 15 minutes until the mixture begins to brown.  Let cool but eat some warm as this is my favorite time to eat it!  Keeps up to a week but our doesn't last that long.  My husband loves it to go as a white trash parfait (in a Tupperware) with yogurt and fresh berries for his commute. 

Oh pizza how I miss thee!

Pizza is probably one of the things I miss most while not eating dairy.  It is like torture when someone orders it (someone being my husband:).  Though not quite the same as that with bubbling,creamy, salty cheese, the craving can be somewhat averted by getting some good pizza dough at a bakery or Italian deli (or making it yourself is really pretty easy) and topping either with sauce and sausage cut up or sauce and pepperoni.  Tonight, I decided to try goat cheese and see if the baby can tolerate it.  I made the following pizza and, boy, was it yummy!


Arugula, Carmelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza


Ingredients:
1/3 a large red onion cut up
3 cups arugula
2.5 ounces goat cheese
pizza dough of your choice


Directions:
I carmelized the onions in Trader Joe's Organic Garlic Flavored Olive Oil.  Carmelizing onions is simple- just cook over low heat stirring occasionally make sure to use a large enough pan so that all the onions touch the bottom of the pan (this slow cooking brings out the sweet flavor and natural sugar in the onion- hence the term of "caramelizing" onions) until they are soft and turn a golden brown (about 15-20 minutes).  Add salt and pepper.  You can also add a little bit of sugar to help it along. Turn the heat up to medium and add the arugula. Cook until the arugula is wilted, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.

I use ready made pizza dough from a local Italian deli and roll it out with a little bit of flour (combination of rolling pin covered in flour and my hands- yes in the stereotypical knuckle rolling in the air NYC pizza shop window way (just for a minute or I end up with a hole in my dough from over zealous twirling).  Top the dough with the arugula/onion mixture. Crumble some goat cheese on top  and bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees. Allow to cool for a few minutes, cut and serve.

Ready for the oven!!!

Yummy Curried Vegatables

With this non-dairy deal, I find I have been eating a lot of meat!  I love meat, don't get me wrong, but since finicky baby just turned 6 months I am realizing I'd like to drop the last 20 pounds (gradually but definitely) in the next 6 months or so.  This meal is so hardy it feels like you are eating meat!


The key to this recipe, and actually every successful dinner for me, is to prep during the day and refrigerate until ready to cook.  I know this can be hard if your baby is still taking 20 minute naps like mine was until recently- but this meal is actually pretty easy- it just involves a little chopping during the day and some time to let them simmer when you actually go to cook them.  Since you are just dumping all the veggies into a wok- it is pretty easy and does not require too much clean up.  

Ingredients:


2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 teaspoons  high end curry yellow spices.  Both curry spice blends I use are from Whole Spice http://wholespice.com.  (It contains mustard seed, cumin, coriander, fenugreek, cardamom, cinnamon, chili and tumeric)
1 teaspoon curry vindaloo (It contains black pepper, coriander, cilantro, turmeric, cumin, chili california, chili passila,chili cayenne, ginger, garlic, yellow mustard seed, green cardamom, cinnamon, fenugreek, cloves, citric acid, tomato)
1 onion peeled and chopped into slices
6 tomatoes, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 zucchini cut into 1/2 inch slices
3 long yellow squash  cut into 1/2 inch slices
3/4 cup coconut milk
a handful of thin green beans
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat and cook onion until soft.  Add curry powders (both regular and vindaloo), then stir in the chopped tomatoes.

Add your potatoes and squash to the sauce. Pour in the coconut milk and cook until the potato is soft and cooked through. If needed add more coconut milk but the tomatoes will release water and create a nice sauce.  Throw in the beans.  Add sugar and more curry powder (if desired) and salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for a few more minutes until tender, then serve with rice. 

Head shoulders to your ears, to your ears

Determined to safeguard some time for myself, I signed up for an Alexander class. the Alexander Technique is named after Frederick Matthias Alexander, who in the 1800's developed it after he developed breathing problems and started going hoarse while acting on stage. I was first introduced to Alexander work in college where it was primarily used to create a neutral body that is being used efficiently in order to create characters. 


After having baby #1, I ended up with a severely herniated disk (an 11.5mm herniated disk to be precise- but more on that and the power of accupuncture later) and remember a fellow mom saying she was having back issues and worked with someone on Alexander and how much it helped. So, when I saw a listing in the local adult education bulletin, I took it as a sign and a great opportunity to put my money where my mouth (or back) is! I signed up for 2 two hour classes. 


It is amazing, once you become aware (or many times re-aware) of your body and tension, how much of the day we walk around with our shoulders to our ears. Some of the principles of Alexander work are to connect with our primary pattern, which is the layer of muscles we use to move until around age four.  After four, we start developing various habits and engaging layers of muscle particularly around the neck, scapula, and hips that are not needed to move and when engaged actually lead to fatigue and injury. By connecting to the axis of your spine ( think of the spot inside your facebetween your ears and behind your nose) and imagining it has a string and that your head is a helium balloon floating upward and then as a second point to ALLOW your shoulders to release one at a time (usually a first and second wave of release) while floating your head- this engages the deepest and only muscles necessary to hold our heads up. I have been working simply on this since my first class three weeks ago- checking in throughout the day - especially when doing activities such as nursing the baby or holding the baby or burping the baby (detect a pattern here) , particularly when she is really fussing (the guru called activities such as these "charged" activities). It is amazing how many times I could literally sing "head, shoulders to my ears to my ears"- my shoulders and neck are so tense. Many times I can feel a release down my whole back.  What a relief it is to work with those two steps in the hopes that they will become second nature someday!

Finicky baby freeze

Is this worth it? Will she sleep? All of us in 1 room for 7 days? When you have a finicky baby it can feel scary to go anywhere. Even when they are going through an "easier phase" you feel like you'd be nuts to jinx it or to mess with the routine that has worked (even just for one night). Superstition and baby sleep is for real, but I say.... jinx away. In fact, you may be surprised and find that the finicky baby is a bored baby sometimes and the freedom from schedule that even a mini vacation provides does you and your baby good.


I have been working on having fewer expectations from myself, family, friends, (strangers even- especially when driving in LA traffic) and my baby. When tied to a schedule you have the expectation they are going to say go to sleep at noon and for at least an hour (seriously - until recently my now 6 month old was a 20 minute napper on most days).  When you expect that nap time you naturally start mentally or even physically creating your to-do list. So, when, inevitably, finicky baby takes a 20 minute- I- can't-even-call-this-a-nap, you feel disappointed, frustrated and upset.  I have found that on a trip I have fewer expectations and, since we are on the go, I am less concerned when the baby will fall asleep and many times she sleeps better and longer from all the stimulation and noise (and this is a baby who is a super light sleeper at home).  Also I find there is less before naptime crankiness.  It really is easy to be stuck in the finicky baby freeze, but I encourage you to let go of your schedule, at least a few times a year, and go to dinner (what's the worst that happens - you ask for the food to go) and even better- take a trip with your baby!  It is really nice to get away from the ever reproducing laundry pile and bottles to be washed!

Oatmeal, Cranberry Chocolate-like chip cookies

Here is one of my favorite adapted recipes for the non dairy, non nut, low to no soy eating peeps.  They are nice and sturdy great for a snack (I made them as a post ice skating for my family).  My four year old who is a chocolate snob couldn't believe it wasn't real chocolate:

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• Adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' recipe:
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1 stick Earth Balance shortening at room temperature
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 4-ounces of Enjoy Life dairy, nut and soy free chips (recommend the chunks)
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Directions

Put an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until smooth. With the machine running, gradually add the flour mixture. Add the oats, cranberries and chocolate chunks. Mix until just incorporated (dough will be stiff). Using a 4-ounce cookie scoop, scoop slightly rounded mounds of the dough into 12 (2-inch-diameter) balls. Arrange 6 balls of dough, spaced evenly apart, on each baking sheet. Using the back of a spoon, flatten the tops slightly and bake until the cookies are slightly golden on the edges, about 13 to 15 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 20 minutes before serving.