Switching to Bloglovin

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Moroccan Spiced Vegetables and Quinoa with Olives and Lime

Isabella had a sleepover with her friend Taylor last weekend. I made them go to bed at 11pm, after we let them watch a movie downstairs alone. I set these rules ahead of time since Isabella has made a habit of staying up all-freaking-night-long while sleeping over at other peoples houses. Ten/eleven year olds shouldn't be allowed do that. They are complete emotional hell the next day and choose to stay sleeping in the car after you've picked them up while you go grocery shopping. Just me?

I woke up that morning at 5am. I rolled out of bed at 5:24am. I was ready and downstairs by 5:45am. I was really excited for my morning quiet time. At 6am, the precise moment I settled into my comfy chair and cracked open my book, I heard talking and quickly discovered the girls were up. Not my normally rise-and-shine-up-and-at-em son, but my sleep loving tween. WTH? I seriously cannot get up early enough. It's now 6:40am and my son just strolled down too. The TV is on cartoons, and I'm blogging out my frustration instead of reading before my littlest rat gets up in an hour.

Rat is an affectionate name, I swear.

For the record, we watched my friends three kids, (ages six, four, and three) for two days and nights last weekend. This brings our grand tally up to three or four sleepovers hosted at the MacGray household in the history of ever, besides cousins. Sleepovers are hard when you have other little kids in the house, especially ones with special needs and sleep issues, plus limited space. It makes for interesting times...



Since I'm almost six months pregnant and whiskey is not an option, I made sure to reward our hard work last Sunday with a lunch of Moroccan spiced vegetables over quinoa with plenty of salty olives, parsley, lime and salt. We get wild up in here. This was actually very welcome after a kid focused couple days filled with cheese pizza and pancakes. Besides, I don't even drink whiskey...Unless you've made me one. If you've made me a cocktail and you hand it to me, I'll drink just about anything. Unless it's Parrot Bay Coconut Rum straight out of the bottle because I have a "young adult" backyard house party story about that stuff. And also, unless I'm six months pregnant. I digress.



I wouldn't have gone for roasted vegetables over quinoa if it wasn't for the bump in flavor from the warm spices like cinnamon, cumin, and coriander and the appeal of fresh tangy lime juice and olives to brighten the earthiness of the vegetables. Moroccan spices are awesome on sweet potatoes and carrots. The cinnamon helps to highlight their subtle sweetness, but the other spices ground it and keep it a savory vegetable which I like. I don't tend to like sweet on sweet vegetables. I'm thinking a crumble of feta might be a really great addition.

Moroccan Spiced Vegetables and Quinoa with Olives and Lime
adapted from Gourmand in the Kitchen

serves 4

• 2-3 Tablespoons olive oil or coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, plus for for serving
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon ground coriander
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• a pinch of red pepper for extra spice (optional)
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 pound carrots, sliced in half and into thick strips
• 1 pound of sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
• ¼ cup/ black Kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• 2 Tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• The juice of one lime or lemon, plus more for serving
• Cooked quinoa for serving

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Melt the coconut oil and whisk in the salt, spices and garlic.
3. Toss the carrots and sweet potatoes with oil and spices and roast in a shallow baking pan in lower third of oven for 30 minutes or until lightly browned and tender.
4. Squeeze the lemon over the warm vegetables and toss with the chopped olives.
5. Top with chopped parsley and serve warm over a mound of quinoa with more lime wedges and salt

Vanilla-Glaze Yeast Donuts

The best thing happened the other day. My sister moved back to Colorado! Patrick, her fiance, got a job 3 hours west of us and I couldn't be happier. This means I get to kiss my new nieces cheeks, like, 3-4 more times a year than I would have. And that's saying something. Look at those suckers. Girl is not messing around.



No really, get a good look...


My sister and that cheeky baby stayed with me for a few days while Pat drove the U-Haul down from Seattle and unpacked it. I thought it might be lovely to partake in some activity together, and making homemade donuts seemed like just the thing. Except for the fact that when it came time to actually make the donuts my sister didn't help at all.

She slept through the first part.

Then, she sat and watched with the baby for a bit


And then she would change it up and check her phone from time to time


Cameras come in very handy for photographic evidence.

Okay, well she did help with one part - the frying - and If I'm being honest, it's the best part to help me with because I'm a huge wuss with such things.  She was afraid too, though, so I didn't feel so bad. However there was no need for fear because it just gently sizzled when the dough hit the hot oil. No splashing. No jumping back necessary. No disfiguring oil scars on our faces like I had initially imagined. I ended up using a spider to place my donuts gently in the oil and to turn and get them out. I highly recommend.

Gentle frying, see?


Even when the oil got hotter, it wasn't bad


My sister dropping in the first donut hole:


I couldn't remember the significance of the bottom tattoo on her wrists, so I asked. She simply said "free bird" like that was supposed to clear everything up. I still didn't know exactly what they were supposed to represent, so I pressed further. All she said was "you know the song Free Bird, right?" like that was supposed to clear everything up. Kaylee does that a lot.

No, Kaylee, as a matter of fact, sometimes you'll need to expound on things. Sometimes you'll need to explain further. I'm not telepathic.

She's always been like this. As the other person, you have two choices. You can either keep asking questions until you can piece together enough information and are satisfied with her answer, or you can shrug your shoulders, walk away and say "oh yeah" and decide it's not worth it.  I suggest the latter unless you really need to know because Kaylee dishes out the bare minimum. I can't explain this pheonomenoa, but I can explain donuts, and this is lucky since it's why you came.

There are three things you need to know about homemade yeast donuts:

1) They will take you a good half a day to make. Mine took five hours and this is a process that can't be rushed. I've made yeast donuts at home before and trust me, if the recipe says to let the dough rise and rest for 1 1/2 hours, then that's what it will take. Don't move on to the next step after 45 minutes just because the dough looks doubled in size already.

2) Don't expect homemade donuts to be or taste the same as your local donut shop. I was very satisfied with this recipe, namely because the donuts rose beautifully and puffed up nicely after frying. Also, they were not as heavy as other homemade donuts I've fried, however, they definitely will be much heavier than anything you can buy at a store. This is why they can charge money for such things, you see. I think donut people are magical gypsies for getting donuts so light and airy. Now let us talk about taste. Like I said, these don't exactly taste like your average twisted glaze. They do however taste an awful lot like Krispy Kreme's glaze donuts. I leave that to you to decide whether that is a good thing.

3) Only glaze these once! Meaning, coat them once with the glaze and let them dry on a rack. Do not be tempted, like I was, to keep applying glaze layer after layer. I did this. I admit it. It was not a good decision. One layer will cling and stick to the donut nicely and dry ever so slightly. Two, three, four coast later and the glaze won't set and will appear milky in color.



The kids were just a little excited when they got home. And we all gorged ourselves on donuts.
The end.


Vanilla-Glaze Yeast Donuts
adapted from Saveur Magazine, March 2013
makes 1 1/2 dozen donuts

2¼-oz. packages active dry yeast
½ cup sugar
1½ cups milk, scalded and cooled
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 eggs
6 tbsp. vegetable shortening, plus more for greasing
5 cups (1 lb. 6½ oz.) all-purpose flour, sifted, plus more for dusting
Canola oil, for frying
10 tbsp. unsalted butter
⅓ cup evaporated milk
2 ½ tsp. vanilla extract
2 ½ cups confectioners' sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine yeast, 1 tbsp. sugar, and 6 tbsp. water heated to 115° in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment; (should feel warm to the touch if you don't want to use  a thermometer) let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add remaining sugar, plus milk, salt, eggs, and shortening; mix until combined. With the motor running, slowly add flour; beat until dough is smooth. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl and cover loosely with plastic wrap; set in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1½ hours. I set my bowl in a 200 degree pre-heated oven (before I covered with plastic wrap) and let the bowl sit for one or two minutes with the door cracked open, just to make sure my dough got warm for a head start. Then, I placed it on the counter and covered loosely at room temperature for the remainder of the time.

2. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; roll dough into a 13" round about ½" thick. Using floured 3½" and 1½" ring cutters, cut out donuts and holes; gather and reuse scraps. Place on greased parchment paper—lined baking sheets, at least 3" apart, and cover loosely with plastic wrap; set in a warm place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes. Don't skip the parchment paper step. 

3. Heat 2" oil in a 6-qt. saucepan until a deep-fry thermometer reads 325°. Using scissors, cut the donuts out of the parchment paper, leaving about 1" of paper around the sides of each donut (the paper makes it easier to transfer them to frying oil - this is why we don't skip this step. The donuts deflate the more you handle them). 

Parchment paper step:


Working in batches, place donuts in oil, paper side up, using tongs to peel off and discard paper. Cook, flipping once until puffed and golden, about 3–4 minutes. Test your donut holes first. They will also cook much faster than your donuts. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a baking sheet with a wire rack; let cool completely. Do not glaze warm donuts. It will make them soggy.

4. Melt butter in a 1-qt. saucepan over medium-low heat. Using a small ladle, skim and discard white film from surface. Slowly pour liquid from pan into a bowl, leaving sediment behind; let cool 1 minute. Add evaporated milk, vanilla, ¼ cup water, and sugar; whisk until smooth. Dip donuts in glaze, coating completely; return to wire rack until glaze is set.

*To avoid oily donuts, remember: Fat attracts fat. The less you use in your dough, the lighter the donut will be after frying. Also go light on flour when rolling out dough, and use a brush to remove any excess; loose flour particles attract and absorb oil

Tostada Skillet Dinner and Jeopardy (vegetarian)

The other night the family was watching Jeopardy. Usually if we watch, Jeremy and I will get a handful of the questions right if we're lucky, and the kids root us on. But the other night was totally different. Jeremiah was sitting in the crook of my arm when I correctly fired out the answers to NINE questions in a row. Jeremiah was squealing and declaring that he was was "on my team" and I was stunned and thrilled. Then, Jeremy came to sit by us. He started telling me a story (unaware at this point of my superstar winning streak) when I couldn't help but read the next question out the the corner of my eye. I blurted the correct answer out totally cutting him off mid sentence. He was like are you even listening to me? and I was like yes, but Jeremy, I have just answered TEN questions right! TEN!!!!

I started yelling about double digits.

Then, you guys, I swear, over the two minutes I got four more right! Fourteen correct answers in like 5 minutes! I felt...alive.

I started to sing This Girl Is On Fire!

Jeremy was laughing but I didn't care. I was clearly awesomesauce. And brilliant.

Then...then, Jeremy said:

 Sweetie, I know you are all excited, but have you noticed how old these contestants are? 

Um, no, not really until now. I guess they are pretty young...

Krysta, they are like 15-16 yeas old. I hate to tell you, but this is some kind of Junior Jeopardy.

What? It is not!

Krysta, all the questions you have been answering fall under the categories of "Disney Movies", "TV Shows", and "Famous Authors", no wonder you know them all.

(I have a silent 'oh crap' moment). But, but, there were health and nutrition questions before you came over. One of the questions was: 

"Not to be confused with chloroform, this "C" word gives plants their color" and I knew it was "What is Chlorophyll!". 



He just shook his head in pity. Okay, so I know about nutrition and how plants work. That was just lucky. I am as brilliant as a brilliant 16 year old. Except for the stint of question falling under the "small rivers in Europe" category. I totally bombed those. At least I knew what the Danube was. That's all I have to say.

veggie crumble "meat"


No wait, that's not all I have to say. I also have to say that what I lack in foreign river knowledge, I make up for in the kitchen. So there. You know how this dinner came about? I was making my usual tostadas, but subbing the beans for veggie crumble meat (you can use ground beef or turkey). Then, I got really lazy and didn't want to fry tortillas for the tostadas. And also, I didn't want to make guacamole. So, in a moment of apparent sheer 16 year old brilliance, I popped open a bag of tortilla chips, put the tortillas away and just cut avocados and scattered them haphazardly over the meat. Then I placed a hefty portion of salsa and Greek yogurt smack dab in the middle, and scattered shredded romaine and cilantro over everything. You'd have thought I was presenting Duck a la orange when I walked this skillet to the table. Chips and dip for dinner? You can't go wrong. It was the best dinner ever. So much cooler than tostadas.

Tostada Skillet Dinner
serves 4

For the Tostada Meat:
1lb. Boca Brand Veggie Crumbles or Lean Ground Turkey
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Kosher salt

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add veggies crumbles or ground turkey and cook until cooked through (follow package directions). Add the Dijon, Worcestershire, spices and salt and stir to combine. Remove skillet from heat and top with desired toppings. Serve with tortilla chips for scooping.

Tostada toppings:
Avocado chunks (we use about one per person)
Shredded romaine lettuce
Tomatoes
Salsa
Greek Yogurt or sour cream
Cilantro
Shredded cheddar or Jack cheese (optional)
Pinto or black beans
Pickled jalapenos
Black olives

Southwest Loaded Sweet Potatoes

She's just a girl but she's on fire...Looks like a girl but she's a flame. So bright she can burn your eyes, better look the other way. You can try but you'll never forget her name. She's on top of the world. Hottest of the hottest girls. We've got our feet on the ground and we're burning it down. Got our head in the clouds, and we're not coming down. This girl is on fire!

Guess what? The other day when Isabella came home from school with girl problems, I actually had the emotional and physical energy, time, and calm to listen to her. I actually sat and listened. I was careful to hear her. I was careful to discern whether she just needed to talk or was asking for my advice. I sat with her for 30 minutes and I actually had valuable wisdom to share with her and I empowered her with the idea that she could do something about it. She could fix it. And I would be rooting for her.

I know, this what good mothers are "supposed to do". But you guys, I couldn't have done this before; not consistently anyway. I probably would have listened a bit and cut the conversation short with a "Oh, it'll be okay, sweetie. I'm sure you'll figure it out". When I am busy, hurrying about, and have lots of plans, even if it's "fun" stuff, it wears me out. I don't have the capacity for listening to my own daughter when I'm worn out, and I can get really annoyed with 10-year old girl drama. 

She's living in a world and it's on fire. Feeling the catastrophe, but she knows she can fly away...

Alicia Keys sings Girl on Fire and exactly how I feel in recent days. She also sings Brand New Me. Heard it? It's my current anthem.



I haven't changed. Quite the contrary. I read a book over a year ago that pretty much changed my perspective on a lot of things. It wasn't a self help book, but rather, incredibly startling in the truth it conveyed. Perhaps you've heard of Ann Voskamp?  The tagline of the book is:

"A dare to live fully, right where you are"

It sounds nice. I got it intellectually right off the bat. But, it's the kind of concept you don't really grasp until you just do. I have found the freedom to let myself be the person I already am but was not really living. The person who loves people and parties, but needs plenty of unscheduled quiet time. Someone who feels most alive while creating something alone, whether it be writing, reading, cooking, or folding laundry with intention. Quiet allows me that peace. Then, and only then and I more capable of being more fully alive when I am with other people. I need space. I need to not feel pressured to make plan after plan. This is me. And I finally love it. And I am proud to say it, because it's been a long time in accepting and adapting my lifestyle around it. Setting boundaries can do wonders for the soul. Spring has sprung.

She's got both feet on the ground and she's burning it down. She's got her head in the clouds and she's not backing down...

It may seem like cooking and recipes are not much related to this topic, but it seems everything that is woven through my life relates to this topic. This perspective shift has changed my cooking. I find more relish in cooking the simple things. This recipe for southwest loaded sweet potatoes might not have been something I blogged about before. Not because it's not really, really yummy, but because it's a no brainer food. It would normally be something I whipped up quickly, rushing through, opening a couple cans of salsa, browning some turkey or veggie crumbles, roasting a sweet potato. We're not creating anything particularly beautiful with this kind of food. Ah, but beauty and joy are found everywhere if you can see it. I didn't rush through. I noticed how perfectly orange the insides of the sweet potato were. I took time to breathe in the seasonings in the meat as I added each new spice. I didn't even have to try. It was a natural by-product of not hurrying and of not being overwhelmed of mind. This was the most intentionally crafted, made with love, loaded sweet potato that you will ever find. And, it was seriously delicious. More so than it should have been. I feel like this will be a staple in our household. I don't love stuffed sweet potatoes any other way I've made them. But that sweet flesh teemed with the subtle sweet-spiceness of the chipotle salsa, and salty green salsa, mixed with taco spiced meat (or veggie crumbles in our case) and finished with a cool dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream? Home run baby. In the simplest and most fulfilling of ways. It was a happy night.

This girl is on fire!

Southwest Loaded Sweet Potatoes
adapted from Biggest Loser (no, seriously)
serves 4

4 roasted sweet potatoes (one per person)
1 lb ground turkey (or 1 package Boca brand veggie crumbles)
1 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon chile powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
Kosher salt
1 container chipotle flavored red salsa
1 container salsa verde (green salsa)
Greek yogurt or sour cream

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add turkey and brown, or cook veggie crumbles according to package directions. Add Worcestershire sauce, dijon, chile powder, cumin, garlic salt, onion powder and a pinch or two of Kosher salt to the meat and stir to combine. 

When sweet potatoes are roasted, split each in half and fill with a layer of the red salsa, followed by a heaping spoonful of meat or veggie crumbles, top with green salsa and Greek yogurt.

Crockpot Beans- How to cook, store, and freeze beans for later

Secret? I do this without the crockpot most of the time on my good ole fashioned stove top. Either way works very well. We cook with a lot of beans in this house. Just this week alone we are having white chili (white beans), Minestrone soup (kidney beans), and balsamic lime stew with beans and veggies (kidney, black and white beans). I actually have to watch the amount of bean dishes I make in a single week and purposely try and not go overboard. And, while I don't pretend to be an expert on the matter, canned beans freak me out a little in their tin cans. You hear about BPA and metal and the word toxic gets thrown around. I still use canned products but I try and use dried beans whenever possible. Since learning how to cook up a big batch then freezing the cooked beans for later use, it's become a lot easier. Dried beans that you cook yourself are creamier. They are also slightly starchier I've noticed, which I love because it helps to thicken up my chili dishes ever so slightly. If you use them in a dish without broth, you'd never notice this so don't worry.

Crockpot Method for Cooking Dried Beans:

Step 1: IF you live at high altitude, you must soak your beans in a bowl of water overnight. If you don't live at high altitude, you can skip this step. Just cover your beans with about two inches of water and leave it on the counter.



Step 2: Place your beans (straight from the bag and dried if you live at lower elevations) in a crockpot

Step 3: Fill your crockpot with water about two inches above the beans



Step 4: Set crockpot to high and cook beans for 4 hours for lower altitudes and 6.5 hours for high altitude. Check to make sure your beans are tender. If not, set your timer for another 30 minutes and walk away.

(To make on a stove top, pour your soaked beans in a large stock pot and cover with 2-3 inches of fresh water. Simmer with a lid partially covering the pot for 6 hours, checking every now and again to make sure there is enough water in the pot and adding more if needed. At lower latitude you could probably get away with cooking for only 4 hours.)

Freezing and Storing Cooked Beans for Future use:

Step 1: Drain cooked beans



Step 2: Place beans in a Freezer safe ziplock bag and store in the freezer. (I measure out 1.5 cups for each bag since it equals what would be in 1 can of canned beans. See "additional tips" for more info) The beans don't need any additional liquid in order to freeze properly.



Step 3: When you need your beans, you can take them straight out of the freezer and add them to your dishes. They will thaw and break up easily.

Additional Tips:

1 15-ounce can of beans equals:
- 1/2 cup dry beans, before cooking
-1 1/2 cups beans, after cooking

1 pound dry beans equals:
-2 cups dry beans, before cooking
-6 cups beans, after cooking
-4 15-ounce cans of beans

I buy two pound bags of beans from my health food store for a couple bucks and make what would be equal to 8 cans of beans! It's simple, easy and affordable.

How Handicapped Children Make Us More Fully Human

A beautiful article was written and posted today by my friend, Jonalyn, who writes the blog Ruby Slippers, and is the co-founder, along with her husband Dale, of Soulation where she publishes her writtings.

She asked us a while back if she could interview Jeremy and I about Olivia and how she has changed our perspective on life, God, the handicapped, and how she makes us more Fully Human. I'd like to share with you in case you'd like a peek behind the curtain of "real" in our lives.

Fully Disabled: Fully Human -click here for the article-


The Velveteen Rabbit. A beautiful reminder of what it means to be Real:

"Real isn't a bout how you are made", said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real, you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"it doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. that's why it doesn't often happen to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."


Getting her EEG to test for seizures. That was fun -not-



In real life I talk about more than just food and myself. ;)