No-Book Recipes: Tzimmes

I'm not a great cook, but i really hate following a recipe. So, I'm always on the look-out for recipes that I can do from memory, and that will come out right even with variation in the ingredients. This is one of my favourites.

Tzimmes is a traditional Jewish dish of root vegetables and dried fruit in a sweet sauce. There are many variations. Google it for lots of pics.

Slow-cooker Tzimmes

(Note: I use a vintage 4 quart slow-cooker. Adjust accordingly for smaller or larger ones. )

1. Fill slow-cooker nearly to the top with cubed root vegetables.

(I usually use carrots and sweet potatoes, sometimes parsnip as well if I have some. Carrots and parsnip take a lot longer than sweet potato - cut them in smaller chunks.)

2. Add a few handfuls of chopped dried fruit.

(I usually use apricots and prunes, but I have also heard you can use cherries - that would be yummy!)

3. Add 1/2-1 cup of orange juice, 2-3 spoonfuls of honey, and a few shakes of cinnamon.

(Remember - I said I do this from memory. It is not exact each time. For the juice I use one of Kate's drinking boxes, since I don't usually have a whole jug of orange juice on hand!)

4. Cook until vegetables are soft (on low or high depending on how much time you have).

Mine is fine if I leave it on all day while I'm at work, but I have also done it in a couple of hours on high.

Serve as a side dish or with a grain base, like couscous, to make it more of a main.

This is my favourite dish to bring to potlucks, since it suits all diets (dairy-free, gluten-free, vegetarian, etc.)

Enjoy!

The people you meet

I'd seen them before. Four real, live monks, complete with black robes and rosaries. Youngish guys. Riding the bus downtown at rush hour. You can't blame me for being curious.

Last week I found myself sitting next to one of them, so I decided to move from curiosity to inquisitiveness. I somewhat bluntly opened with something along the lines of "so what's your story?"

Turns out they are from a Franciscan order in Halifax and are here studying for a year. They are living in the rectory of a church near us and had to decide whether to opt for a long-term car rental or monthly bus passes to get around. I guess you get to meet more people on the bus!

We had a nice chat about Ottawa, the Pope, the work of their order, and the price of bus passes. Apparently, few people make it past the curiosity stage, and if they do they blurt out some quick question just as they're getting of the bus. Their loss. I haven't been on the same bus with the brothers again since, but next time I see them I'll be able to just say hi instead of trying not to look curious.

Coming out the other side

I wore my spring coat today.  It was -8 standing out at the bus stop this morning, but I didn't care.  It's lime green and it makes me feel happy!

The sun is getting stronger, the days are getting longer.  It's already light out when I leave for work, and it's still light out when I leave.  The long-range forecast no longer has any minus double digits - in fact, there's more than a few numbers on the plus side.  There's still mountains of snow, but you can feel things starting to turn.  It's something in the air.  When you have a mild spell in January, it's not the same.  Now you can smell the spring, smell the earth, smell the green-ness. 

We're comin' out the other side, folks. 

Fun with long hair

Now that my hair's getting longer, I'm enjoying experimenting with different styles.

This is a bun with a scarf wrapped around it, and then a coil bracelet wrapped around that. Aside from the shape of the bun being a little wonky, I think I like it!

What do you think?

Budding correspondent

Kate "wrote" this letter to one of her friends the other day, while we were waiting in a restaurant for our food to arrive. I was considering adding some kind of comment about how much she's learning lately, or some kind of joke about the age of technology not affecting this kid, but I can't come up with quite the right words. I think I'll just let you enjoy it on its own...

Muffin tin dinners

Since we're on the topic of food for kids, I just thought I'd share this idea I saw on another blog (sorry, can't remember where) - muffin tin dinners.

They are really handy for enjoying impromptu backyard picnics :o) and they are also great for those nights where you just don't feel like cooking.

The one pictured here features strawberries, cereal, slivers of peanut butter toast, broccoli, raisins, and carrot sticks. You can also use one of the spots for a dip, like salsa or hummus.

Happy summer!

How to get kids to eat spinach

OK, so I guess it wasn't just the photo issue that was causing my blog-posting procrastination :o)

Today I just wanted to share one little tip that has been working for us lately.

I have been really trying to "up" my vegetable intake over the past several months. Particularly greens, since science is showing just how important these are for keeping us healthy and preventing major diseases.  This effort has included venturing in to the world of green smoothies.

I noticed lots of references to kids enjoying them too, so I thought I would give it a try. Well, Kate was not universally impressed. She would drink them sometimes, but not reliably and certainly not a whole glass. BUT - what she will eat any day of the week is a green popsicle (a green smoothie poured into popsicle molds). Seriously, she eats one of these almost every day. She feels like she is getting a treat and I know she is getting her greens. And I don't have to restrict them in any way like I do for other treats - I would let her eat them multiple times a day if she asked.

There are a TON of green smoothies recipes out there if you care to search, but my go-to formula is simply one whole piece of fruit - usually an apple or pear - blended with two handfuls of spinach and enough water to get the consistency you want. (For freezing it doesn't really matter if it is a bit thick, but if I'm making it for myself to drink I prefer it on the thin side - more like juice.) Sometimes I add other things, if I'm feeling creative, but usually I just keep it simple.

In terms of blenders, I'm no expert, but I'm very happy with my new Magic Bullet. Mostly because it's SO MUCH EASIER TO CLEAN than a regular blender. That was one of the main reasons I rarely used my old one - I couldn't face the thought of hauling it out and then having to clean it. The Magic Bullet has just two pieces that you can quickly rinse under the tap. It also takes up much less counter space than a standard blender. I don't miss the larger size of the standard blender either because if I'm blending a large batch of, say, soup, I have a stick blender to do that right in the pot.

So that's my pearl of mommy wisdom for today - I'd love to hear if green popsicles work in your house!

Sent from my iPod