Naief is learning to hop... I call it hop because it's such small little jumps, that it reminds me of a bunny rabbit. :) He's learning to pull his knees up, an ability to do so has never really entered my mind when watching other kids, and it's so dang adorable! You wouldn't think something so tiny would be so exciting, but it is and gosh darn it... he's learning to jump! He hops across the kitchen, he hops around on the bed, he hops while he's walking... hop hop hop :)
I've obviously taken for granted, all these years, learning to do such a thing... but excitingly enough, he'll soon be able to jump on those bouncy things that they have everywhere, which he longs to do...
He loves that he can do it. Calling to me and daddy whenever we aren't watching... and it's always a favorite thing to do when getting ready to change for bed. And, I'll tell ya, he's also a little daredevil. He loves to jump and then plunge himself face first into the bed, over mommy or into pillows. Nothing seems to stop him... gets me on pins and needles a lot of times, but I try to watch, clap, laugh w/ delight instead of keeping myself in a state of worry over him getting hurt. Little kids are so resilient.. I know I was when I was little, but I sure had bumps and bruises to prove it, plus, I remember LOTS of close calls... so... no wonder I worry.
He's also starting to repeat lots of words we say in English and Arabic.... jabbering constantly about this or that... Hashim says that once he starts w/ full sentences... he'll never stop. I'm just waiting for the 'why's'. I'm readying myself... should be full of wonder, excitement, laughing and probably some stress, but maybe not. I actually enjoy talking to him and answering questions... so am wondering how this will go.
Today was funny in that Hashim swept and mopped the kitchen floor, then after about 20 or 30 mins, he looked down and said, "I just mopped the floor..." I had to laugh, for now he, maybe, on a teeny, tiny level, understands what I've been saying. I feel like a little tornado follows me around, leaving a path of toys, plastics, wooden utensils, food, water... everywhere it turns... and I'm constantly on it's heels, picking everything up. phew. But at last... he sees! Or at least a little! :)
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Made some absolutely delicious Brussels (button) sprouts last night... they were so good. Fried some turkey bacon, saved the drippings.. altho there aren't any w/ turkey bacon, so i added addt'l oil during so that it'd make something.. then added vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper, dijon mustard, onions and the Brussels sprouts... cooked until sprouts were tender and liquid had thickened and cooked down... gosh.. it was good. Wasn't sure if Hashim or Naief would like it. Hashim loved it... Naief wasn't as sure... altho, he did eat some of it.
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Happy to say that the meditation has been working in that it puts me to sleep at night, every night so far. This is the first thing to ever work... other than pills or herbal tea (altho w/ pills, you often have the hangover the next morn... I hate that and w/ teas, they did nothing... even valerian didn't work)... so I'm very happy, to say the least. And it's good, sound sleep :)
I've started walking again. Took Naief to the park and while daddy kicked around the ball w/ him and played, I walked. The endorphins... these little babies are so wonderful. These alone make it all worth it! ;)
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
zucchini recipe
For anyone that might like it, this is the recipe for the zucchini I made last night.
4 or 5 medium-sized zucchini
1 med to large red onion
1 to 2 T. sunflower oil
3/4 c. (or more) balsamic vinegar
Thinly slice zucchini, set aside. Cut red onion in half and thinly slice each half. Heat oil in skillet (may need more oil if skillet is not non-stick or if skillet gets too hot). Toss in onion and zucchini and let both slightly brown. Add balsamic vinegar, making sure there's enough to get all coated and to saute for a good 10 mins, allowing all liquid to absorb into zucchini and onion.
Once liquid has absorbed completely, it's finished. Sometimes, after the fact, there may be a small amt. of liquid left... which is also ok.
I've made the mistake of adding too much balsamic vinegar in the past. You don't want it to swim in the vinegar... just juicy for a bit.
Hope you like it. I love it. It's a recipe from my younger sister, Jahooni. It's quite good and different. Let me know whatcha think. :)
4 or 5 medium-sized zucchini
1 med to large red onion
1 to 2 T. sunflower oil
3/4 c. (or more) balsamic vinegar
Thinly slice zucchini, set aside. Cut red onion in half and thinly slice each half. Heat oil in skillet (may need more oil if skillet is not non-stick or if skillet gets too hot). Toss in onion and zucchini and let both slightly brown. Add balsamic vinegar, making sure there's enough to get all coated and to saute for a good 10 mins, allowing all liquid to absorb into zucchini and onion.
Once liquid has absorbed completely, it's finished. Sometimes, after the fact, there may be a small amt. of liquid left... which is also ok.
I've made the mistake of adding too much balsamic vinegar in the past. You don't want it to swim in the vinegar... just juicy for a bit.
Hope you like it. I love it. It's a recipe from my younger sister, Jahooni. It's quite good and different. Let me know whatcha think. :)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
tofu recipe and a few other things
ok... for anyone that wants it, here's the tofu lasagna recipe.
2 pkgs organic tofu
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or another, if you like)
approx 10 ripe tomatoes (maybe more or less.. depending on how much sauce you want to make)
6 or 7 large button top mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper (or more, if you want), finely chopped
tomato paste
1/2 pkg bolognese spice packet
5 garlic cubes (or more.. depending on your taste) - minced
salt & pepper
the tofu i got was about 3x5 in size and it was medium firm. i was making a large casserole dish of it, or i would have gotten only one pkg. so, if you're making for just two, i'd buy only one pkg of tofu and scale down on all the other ingredients.
cut all your tomatoes in half and grate them into a sauce pan. i discard the skin. add the tomato paste... but i'll tell ya, the last time i made sauce, i instead used tomato sauce (a small can of it) and liked it better. didn't irritate my stomach as much. add 1/2 your spice packet, the garlic, cut bell pepper and mushrooms. bring to a boil and then simmer for a good 30 mins or more.
while the sauce is cooking, brown your tofu on both sides until golden brown. the chef on tv didn't have a problem browning her tofu, but mine didn't want to brown, and the 2nd time i made it, i tried regular tofu, which fell apart while i was browning... so i do recommend organic.
after the sauce has cooked, add a nice layer to the bottom of your casserole dish, then put the tofu on top of that. cover w/ the remaining cooked sauce, then top w/ the cheddar cheese - a good amount of it. i also tried adding another cheese and it was good... it was white, but can't remember which.
cook on 180 celcius for about 50 mins. i cooked mine until the cheese was browning and all the ingredients had mixed and it was all bubbly. let cool and eat :)
i hope you guys like it. it's a simple recipe and rather tasty.
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hashim took some great pics of naief today and i'll add a few later. he's changing so fast. more like a little boy now than a toddler. he doesn't kiss me any more on the lips, no matter how much i ask. sometimes i'll sneak one in, but to ask, he'll turn his cheek for me to kiss him there. i guess w/ all the arab style greetings here (on each cheek), that's why... not sure though.
last night he actually let me hold him like a baby and give him a bottle before he went to sleep, and he decided to climb onto my stomach and fall asleep there. he did the same today at his nap time... and, you know, i loved it. pretty soon he'll be a big boy... :( he runs now, and the little booger is fast! if he gets ahold of something that i don't want, it takes forever for me to catch him. he has also started to say, "no" to me, but only sometimes, thank goodness. he mainly will shake his head no or do his index finger back and forth, like i do to him. he usually figures how to unlock my mobile, can and has called ppl (even once calling his daddy when i didn't even know it and was saying, "da da" into the telephone, and tonight started playing music on it and i'm not even sure how he did it. pretty sad that my son knows how to work my phone better than i do!!
the one thing that bothers me is that when i go to change his diaper, he cries, closing his legs tightly together and refuses to let me take his diaper off. once i get it off, then he does the same when i try to put a new one on. for all of you w/ boys... is this par for the course? this doesn't happen every time, but more than i'd like. i wondered if he was having pain or such, or even going to the bathroom at that time, but now that it's happened several times, i've ruled that out. any ideas?? suggestions?? comments??
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one other quicky.... the weather is changing!!!! it's finally cooled off and there's a nice cool breeze blowing tonight... even last night, for that matter. i can hear the windchimes outside and .... it's nice. i'm so happy that the cool weather is coming. you'd think that since i was born in the hot summer, i'd love that weather... but you know, i don't. i hate freezing weather as well... but so love the nice fall type weather we're about to get.
now.. if the skies would clear.. that would be another story! ;)
2 pkgs organic tofu
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or another, if you like)
approx 10 ripe tomatoes (maybe more or less.. depending on how much sauce you want to make)
6 or 7 large button top mushrooms, finely chopped
1/2 green bell pepper (or more, if you want), finely chopped
tomato paste
1/2 pkg bolognese spice packet
5 garlic cubes (or more.. depending on your taste) - minced
salt & pepper
the tofu i got was about 3x5 in size and it was medium firm. i was making a large casserole dish of it, or i would have gotten only one pkg. so, if you're making for just two, i'd buy only one pkg of tofu and scale down on all the other ingredients.
cut all your tomatoes in half and grate them into a sauce pan. i discard the skin. add the tomato paste... but i'll tell ya, the last time i made sauce, i instead used tomato sauce (a small can of it) and liked it better. didn't irritate my stomach as much. add 1/2 your spice packet, the garlic, cut bell pepper and mushrooms. bring to a boil and then simmer for a good 30 mins or more.
while the sauce is cooking, brown your tofu on both sides until golden brown. the chef on tv didn't have a problem browning her tofu, but mine didn't want to brown, and the 2nd time i made it, i tried regular tofu, which fell apart while i was browning... so i do recommend organic.
after the sauce has cooked, add a nice layer to the bottom of your casserole dish, then put the tofu on top of that. cover w/ the remaining cooked sauce, then top w/ the cheddar cheese - a good amount of it. i also tried adding another cheese and it was good... it was white, but can't remember which.
cook on 180 celcius for about 50 mins. i cooked mine until the cheese was browning and all the ingredients had mixed and it was all bubbly. let cool and eat :)
i hope you guys like it. it's a simple recipe and rather tasty.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
hashim took some great pics of naief today and i'll add a few later. he's changing so fast. more like a little boy now than a toddler. he doesn't kiss me any more on the lips, no matter how much i ask. sometimes i'll sneak one in, but to ask, he'll turn his cheek for me to kiss him there. i guess w/ all the arab style greetings here (on each cheek), that's why... not sure though.
last night he actually let me hold him like a baby and give him a bottle before he went to sleep, and he decided to climb onto my stomach and fall asleep there. he did the same today at his nap time... and, you know, i loved it. pretty soon he'll be a big boy... :( he runs now, and the little booger is fast! if he gets ahold of something that i don't want, it takes forever for me to catch him. he has also started to say, "no" to me, but only sometimes, thank goodness. he mainly will shake his head no or do his index finger back and forth, like i do to him. he usually figures how to unlock my mobile, can and has called ppl (even once calling his daddy when i didn't even know it and was saying, "da da" into the telephone, and tonight started playing music on it and i'm not even sure how he did it. pretty sad that my son knows how to work my phone better than i do!!
the one thing that bothers me is that when i go to change his diaper, he cries, closing his legs tightly together and refuses to let me take his diaper off. once i get it off, then he does the same when i try to put a new one on. for all of you w/ boys... is this par for the course? this doesn't happen every time, but more than i'd like. i wondered if he was having pain or such, or even going to the bathroom at that time, but now that it's happened several times, i've ruled that out. any ideas?? suggestions?? comments??
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
one other quicky.... the weather is changing!!!! it's finally cooled off and there's a nice cool breeze blowing tonight... even last night, for that matter. i can hear the windchimes outside and .... it's nice. i'm so happy that the cool weather is coming. you'd think that since i was born in the hot summer, i'd love that weather... but you know, i don't. i hate freezing weather as well... but so love the nice fall type weather we're about to get.
now.. if the skies would clear.. that would be another story! ;)
Sunday, September 07, 2008
tonight's dinner
Tonight I made three dishes for dinner. Two recipes I've never made before and a vegetable dish that I love. The first was tofu lasagna. I saw an Asian woman prepare it on a cooking show the other night and since it looked yummy, I decided to make it... even though all of my in-laws are big meat eaters, including my husband (and I am not), I thought, "what the hell". I made my pasta sauce from scratch... something I've been doing just for a couple of weeks now, and tonight's sauce was especially good... I thought. Only a couple of ppl tried it. One SIL gagged when she tried it, but both Naief and I had a nice helping. Has anyone ever tried it? I'd be happy to pass the recipe if anyone's interested.
I also made fettuccini alfredo for the first time. Boy, that takes time, and it's so fattening! 1/2 cup butter, one pint of heavy whipping cream.... 2/3 c. parmesan cheese.... and then olive oil on the pasta. My only gripe about fettuccini noodles is that they always stick together and it drives me crazy. I put a heavy dose of olive oil on the noodles tonight, after cooking, in hopes that it would work, but still... Does anyone have a good trick to keep this from happening??? And it seems like no matter how often I stir the pasta while cooking, it sticks together - even while cooking. I didn't add oil to the water tonight... maybe that's the problem.
I also made a vegetable medley sort of thing w/ corn, red bell pepper, celery, cauliflower, shredded carrots, lime juice, garlic salt and a few cloves of garlic... you stir fry it all in a small amount of butter and oil. Not too much, but just enough to let it brown. It's really good... light and healthy.
My SIL made a salad, and my MIL made several other dishes.... tomorrow night I'll take a pic of the whole thing so you guys can see what it's like. Reminds me of Thanksgiving but w/ more food!
I don't know how many of you guys know it, but during Ramadan we eat on the floor. Actually, whenever the whole family gets together, meals are always eaten while sitting on the floor. They put out a long, rectangular shaped plastic covering on the floor, then all the food it sat in the middle of this w/ plates, glasses and such along the edges. At first I didn't really care for it, but I actually like it now. It's very informal and cozy. Everyone talks while eating and usually wait until my FIL has finished and gotten up before getting up to leave the area. The kids run around, sometimes sitting down to eat a few bites, or wind up eating later. We take Naief's highchair because he tends not to eat otherwise.
Another thing I've really started to enjoy is eating w/ my fingers. I've always been a finger licker... yeah, I know that many find it disgusting... but I enjoy licking my fingers. I don't slurp them or anything and I don't always do it... it's only if there's something really good stuck to one of them. ;) But, even w/ that said, I'm not one to go w/out the use of a napkin, and no one uses one at my in-laws. Everything is washed at the end of the meal, including mouth - both inside and out. Many ppl eat rice w/ their hands. Making balls inside the palm of one hand and picking it up and putting in the mouth w/ the other fingers. I've never been able to master it and I'm not comfortable doing it, so I eat rice w/ a fork or tablespoon. Many use bread - usually Bahraini or Lebanese - to scoop up food. I like to do this w/ foul, yogurt dishes and sometimes meat.
I think I'll make banana bread tomorrow. I've been waiting for some bananas to overly ripen and by tomorrow they'll be good and ready... I just hope it's as good as I remember.
I also made fettuccini alfredo for the first time. Boy, that takes time, and it's so fattening! 1/2 cup butter, one pint of heavy whipping cream.... 2/3 c. parmesan cheese.... and then olive oil on the pasta. My only gripe about fettuccini noodles is that they always stick together and it drives me crazy. I put a heavy dose of olive oil on the noodles tonight, after cooking, in hopes that it would work, but still... Does anyone have a good trick to keep this from happening??? And it seems like no matter how often I stir the pasta while cooking, it sticks together - even while cooking. I didn't add oil to the water tonight... maybe that's the problem.
I also made a vegetable medley sort of thing w/ corn, red bell pepper, celery, cauliflower, shredded carrots, lime juice, garlic salt and a few cloves of garlic... you stir fry it all in a small amount of butter and oil. Not too much, but just enough to let it brown. It's really good... light and healthy.
My SIL made a salad, and my MIL made several other dishes.... tomorrow night I'll take a pic of the whole thing so you guys can see what it's like. Reminds me of Thanksgiving but w/ more food!
I don't know how many of you guys know it, but during Ramadan we eat on the floor. Actually, whenever the whole family gets together, meals are always eaten while sitting on the floor. They put out a long, rectangular shaped plastic covering on the floor, then all the food it sat in the middle of this w/ plates, glasses and such along the edges. At first I didn't really care for it, but I actually like it now. It's very informal and cozy. Everyone talks while eating and usually wait until my FIL has finished and gotten up before getting up to leave the area. The kids run around, sometimes sitting down to eat a few bites, or wind up eating later. We take Naief's highchair because he tends not to eat otherwise.
Another thing I've really started to enjoy is eating w/ my fingers. I've always been a finger licker... yeah, I know that many find it disgusting... but I enjoy licking my fingers. I don't slurp them or anything and I don't always do it... it's only if there's something really good stuck to one of them. ;) But, even w/ that said, I'm not one to go w/out the use of a napkin, and no one uses one at my in-laws. Everything is washed at the end of the meal, including mouth - both inside and out. Many ppl eat rice w/ their hands. Making balls inside the palm of one hand and picking it up and putting in the mouth w/ the other fingers. I've never been able to master it and I'm not comfortable doing it, so I eat rice w/ a fork or tablespoon. Many use bread - usually Bahraini or Lebanese - to scoop up food. I like to do this w/ foul, yogurt dishes and sometimes meat.
I think I'll make banana bread tomorrow. I've been waiting for some bananas to overly ripen and by tomorrow they'll be good and ready... I just hope it's as good as I remember.
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