Crock pot comes out again

It's been awhile (in fact since before the twins were born) so I'm breaking out the crock pot! I've got some new inspiration and new tricks to try to make the dish taste fantastic so we shall see. James had to go into work early this morning to cover a shift we shall see how long he's going to have to help cover that little shift although he reckons not too long...yeah right I'll see it when I believe it.

I've already gotten my menus planned for next week, including a slow cook roast and I'm hoping the shopping bill won't be too bad...I have tried to not include a lot of meat so we shall so. I am also going to use jicama for the first time which I'm looking forward to, that's my mystery ingredient for myself. I'm almost tempted to ask Mat to get the boys to pick one vegetable and make a meal around it my two are just a bit to young still to get involved.

Survival...

Ok so I survived Tuesday's painful experience at the dentist (hated the oral surgeon but then again he did his job). My wisdom tooth is finally gone :) Yay! Now just time to heal, so that being said I stocked up on some soups just in case and decided at the end of the day I wanted to make my own. Yep I'm crazy totally nuts! But it kind of took my mind off of my tooth. So I found a recipe online for a carrot, ginger, coconut soup. Having read the recipe and the comment I thought I would modify it a tad. My own flourishes included adding a red pepper and another hot pepper to the mix, extra carrots and at the end some sweet curry powder. I have to say the overall soup was fantastic! We loved every bit of it, I have now left overs for lunch or dinner yum!

We also did another trip around the world this time to Cape Verde. I made something called cachupinha while Debbie outdid me with a quinoa, squash salad and fried bananas, all I can say is wow. Now it might seem crazy to some people that we are doing this but it's a really educational effort and you get to learn about local foods and tastes. Anyway the girls loved the cachupinha and instead of adding beans for one set I added hominy for the men and their digestive systems. I have to say this is some place I would have no problem visiting again!

So our next random country is going to be...Bermuda! So we have gone from Northern Europe to the East Coast of Africa to the Caribbean. Bermuda will be interesting as it's main staple is seafood and well with such a mix bag of people I'm kinda thinking of avoiding that so I have to find vegetable and meat dishes instead, it's going to be an interesting challenge.

I have also been thinking about when the girls are older allowing them to pick one ingredient from the produce section (they get to alternate weeks) and I have to cook with it, but it can't be something I already have it has to be something different. They can get involved as well but it will force me to try new things which I'm excited by, we shall see if it works but my aim is to get them interested in trying new things.

The food network channel is a little dangerous but also inspiring...I was watching a Bobby Flay episode about peruvian food and I'm so going there! It will take some planning but oh it looks worth it including the sangria they made yum oh!

A love of food

It's funny how our lives have changed since the ladies have entered our lives. eating out being one of the biggest casualties of owning a home, having one income and then rediscovering my love for cooking. As the girls have transitioned onto solid foods i have been experimenting on what they will eat. They surprise me constantly in what they will try. For example last night we had chicken tikka masala, which they LOVED! Score I love Indian food...so I will continue to experiment with those dishes and it's a heck of a lot cheaper to do it at home than eat out. We have also had spare ribs this week and chicken with dried cherries all of which went down without too much fuss.

I really hope as they get older they will help me choose some of the meals that we have. I have this vision that I will continue my new tradition of picking a random country and having a dinner based on their cuisine, I kind of envision printing out things for the table like the national flag maybe for place mats or something with a placard in the middle with the country's name and a picture of where it is in the world. Hehe I could also put some random facts too including the language spoken and other types of food they eat.

Been way too long

OK I have been meaning to post something of late just never seem to get around to it. So the girls are growing up rapidly...they can manage most foods that we throw at them no which is nice, and I'm introducing them to as much of what we eat as possible. Right now they are enjoying their first raw apple...

We continue doing our Monday nights with Debbie and Matt which I just love. I get to show off my cooking skills to people other than my family. I just simply enjoy seeing the faces and nods of approval. Last night was a roaring success with a barbecue chili recipe from Rachael Ray accompanied by corn muffins and onion rings, dessert was an apple dumpling made from crescent rolls and mountain dew. I'm also trying every few weeks to go to a different country around the world, I did start in Sweden at the suggestion of some friends out there, and I guess technically I go to Russia next week with a beef stroganoff, then I'm going to go to Cape Verde. It's actually fun to look up these countries and see what it is they typically eat and the spices they use. Now obviously I'm not going to go too exotic and do things that I know people won't eat, but I can tailor the food and find things that people will like. It's fun and interesting and I get to learn about places I'd never heard of. And of course I make sure the girls sample the food. I'm making a real effort to get them to at least try the foods that I cook. Last night for example I dipped some of the corn muffin into the chili, I didn't think the large chunks of meat would have been easy for them to eat and honestly there wasn't enough really for all of us hehe.

I really hope that as the girls get older they can get into the swing of this and even learn from me, it would be nice if they can actually maybe choose the country and do a bit of the research for me. Would be a nice geography lesson for them and they can learn a bit about the cultures too and the people, it's exciting and I hope I can teach them well.

Oh and lets see Xmas happened, I did a video for the RR show it was never shown on the episode they wanted it for but! I did get a signed copy of her magazine. It's something I will treasure. I have favourites over the last year and there are the oh I must have that go to ones. I have been cooking with kale with collard greens and even fennel I just never imagined I would go there. And more of then than not my little ones are enjoying it. That is so gratifying. And I'm finally figuring out how to get my fish fixes in around my husband, he gets chicken instead, but I'm determined that my girls will not pick up his dislike of fish and want to expose them to as much as I can. There are things they are picky about but it's not all that bad.