We have been “away” (as we Islanders say) for 9 years, minus the summers. Last week I drove a 20 foot U-Haul truck from Connecticut to beautiful Prince Edward Island . We are so happy to be home! Forgive me for the delay in posts as I am still surrounded by boxes and just today found the computer and plugged myself into the very slow Dial-up connection:)

Please enjoy this short interview with Lucy while we unpack and get settled:)

We are having this amazing tropical weather the last couple of days.. In the mid 30′s! It really makes packing a chore, a bore and I really  don’t feel like doing it anymore.

But with one of my handy dandy homemade Popsicles you can accomplish any task!

-1-Popsicle mold

-Your favorite juice, apple sauce, pear sauce or fruit puree.

- Thick juices like apricot or pear make for a creamy Popsicle!

-Adding some berries into the mold and filling with a vanilla soy or rice milk also makes a tasty treat.

- Try chocolate rice milk too…

-Freeze overnight and enjoy!

The kids came home singing that annoying McDonald’s commercial ,and after the 100th time I said “That’s it let’s make it” !

-Sourdough buns

-1 lb Halibut

-1 lb  extra firm tofu

-Earths best soy butter (optional)

-Soy cheese slices

-Tarter sauce

-Olive oil

-Bread crumbs

Halibut/Tofu

Coat both sides of the halibut/tofu in bread crumbs and set aside. Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil in a cast iron frying pan.When the oil is hot place the fish/tofu in the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until there is a nice golden crust. Flip over the fish/tofu and sprinkle with a little salt/pepper or ume vinegar. cook for another 2-3 min. Place a lid on top of the pan and cook for another 1-2 min then place on bun.

Tarter sauce

Mix together a little soy mayonnaise and a diced dill pickle.Or  blanch a 1/4 lb of tofu and blend till smooth add a couple of drops of lemon juice or ume vinegar and a diced dill pickle.

I just got back from Paradise! I went on a wonderful trip to Tobago with my
amazing friend Lori. There was plenty of swimming and sunbathing and a really
great boat trip with dolphins and fishing (I caught two fish) . We met great
people, had yummy home cooked meals and even went out dancing. Not being needed
for a few days is bliss and the pace there was soothing and slow.

Local food in Tobago was actually surprisingly familiar, with the exception of
cassava, plantain, foot weed and various sauces. Curry , tomato and thyme were
used in many dishes as the main seasoning. While I did bring some Umeboshi
plums, sea salt, miso, quinoa and red lentils, we mostly ate local fare that we
cooked in our little apartment kitchen.

For example:

Rice with sauteed onions, carrots, celery and garlic

Lightly curried/ginger lentils

Steamed pumpkin with onions

Fresh caught fish (Grouper, King fish, tuna, jacks) with green sauce (thyme,
garlic salt and oil) cooked outdoors over smoky sweet grass

Cucumber and tomato salad (no dressing, no lettuce)

Dessert was fresh mangoes, oranges. Once we bought homemade coconut tarts cooked
in a clay oven on the beach.

My friend Lori even showed locals how to make Polish perogies!

Ingrid’s 8th Birthday

I got back just in time for Ingrid’s birthday. We had a royal party. All guests
were requested to dress up in their king/queen, Prince/Princess outfits.

It was such a beautiful sunny day the party was held in the yard. We had crafts
at the picnic table: crowns, paper bag puppets, etc.. I was amazed at how calm
and peaceful all the 8-year old guests were.

After crafts we played games and blew up screaming balloons that we all tried to
let go into the air at the same time.

Party snacks

Watermelon

tangerines

Juice

hummus with carrots, pita and cucumber and olives

chips

We had a yummy chocolate cake with strawberries and tofu cream.

Lots of fun was had by all. One of my favorite moments was running around town
doing errands before the party, dressed as Snow White.

We had a great Easter weekend! The kids had yoga, went to the park, watched a bike race, walked downtown, baked egg shaped cookies and best of all had their  Lala (grandmother) here from Canada for a visit!

Easter weekend yummyness..

leek and corn soup and Pesto pasta!, Udon and Sushi galore!, Polenta and roasted veggies!, walnut cake! and Easter cookies!

Easter Cookies

11/2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup arrowroot flour

1/4 tsp sea salt

1tsp baking powder

1 tsp grated organic orange rind

2 tbsp sunflower oil

1/3 cup rice syrup

1/2 tsp almond extract

Preheat oven to 350′

With a whisk, mix dry ingredients in a big bowl. Add wet ingredients and mix together  until smooth.

Form into a ball and roll dough flat and thin on a floured surface or between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Cut out oval shapes with a cookie cutter (or squeeze a small round plastic container and press out oval shapes). Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 8 min or until golden.

makes about 2 dozen.

Topping

Heat 1/2 cup rice syrup in a pan on low heat until bubbling,turn off heat and spoon 1/2 tsp onto each cookie, smoothing over surface. Press decorations into hot rice syrup. let cool and enjoy.

Decorations..

sesame seeds

poppies seeds

coconut

pumpkin seeds

raisins, currants, dried cranberries

walnuts, almonds, peanuts

grain sweetened chocolate chips

Lucy’s Cauliflower Soup

1 lg onion, diced

2 potatoes, diced or 1/2 cup cooked rice

2-3 cloves garlic, diced (optional)

1 whole cauliflower

4-5 cups water

1 cup vegetable stock

1 Cup plain unsweetened soy milk

1 tbsp basil, chopped

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

1 tsp sea salt

pepper(optional)

Add Onion, potatoes, garlic,cauliflower 2 cups of water and vegetable stock to a large pot and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and let simmer for 20 minutes. Then add soy milk, 2-3 cups water, herbs and sea salt. Cook for another 10-15 min. Blend until smooth and serve with roasted nuts/seeds, green onions and bread.

Ingrid’s Vegetable soup

1 Tbsp Sesame or Olive oil

1 onion, diced

1tsp ginger, minced

3 carrots, sliced into thin rounds

3 celery stalks, diced

1 cup diakon,sliced into thin half moons

2 bay leaves

1 tsp turmeric

2 cups broccoli, chopped

2 cups cauliflower, chopped

2 cups collard greens, shredded

11/2 tbsp Umeboshi vinegar

8 cups water

sea salt

Heat oil in a large pan and saute, onion, ginger,carrots and celery with a pinch of sea salt for about 4-5 minutes , add all the rest of the ingredients except Ume vinegar and cook on medium heat for 30 minutes . Add ume vinegar and cook for 2 more min and serve…

…”You wouldn’t try and drive an empty car to work would you? So why drive an empty body?”

Breakfast -  (Literally breaking a fast ). It is the meal eaten after a long period of sleep. Eaten mostly in the morning, it is the most important meal of the day. Without breakfast you simply will not run as smoothly. Lack of energy, poor concentration, overeating later in the day, weight gain, irritability etc.. are associated with not eating breakfast. What you eat for breakfast sets the tone for the rest
of your day.

Felix’s granola

6 Cups oatmeal

1/3 Cup brown sesame seeds

1/2 Cup almonds

1/3 cup pumpkin seeds

1 cup of puffed organic grain cereal

a pinch of sea salt

1/4 cup of good quality vegetable oil

1/3 cup rice syrup or maple syrup

1/2 cup of raisins

6 dried unsulfured apricots sliced thin

Heat oven to 350′

Stir together the oats,sesame seeds, almonds, pumpkin seeds and the sea salt. Mix in the wet ingredients and pour onto a cookie sheet(may take two sheets)  Bake in the oven until browned , stirring every five minutes. Pour into an large airtight container and mix in the raisins and apricots. Enjoy !

Poached Tofu

I like to jazz this breakfast up with lots of fun ingredients. For instance adding a shitake mushroom, slice of ginger ,daikon or a small piece of kombu to the cooking water adds a nice flavor.  When serving it can be really yummy to add a little dijon mustard to the bread, a miso-tahini spread, pesto etc.. Also some fresh greens, or onions. Below is the basic recipe.

2 Cups water

2 Tsp shoyu

1/2 lb tofu, cut into 4 slices

Bring water to a boil, add shoyu and tofu. Cook for 2-3 min. Drain tofu and serve as is or on toast.

Apricot rice cereal

1Cup cooked brown rice

1cup soy/rice milk ( we like Eden rice and soy)

2 cups water

5 dried unsulfured apricots, diced

Place all ingredients into a pot, place over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover pot with a lid and place and turn heat to low. Simmer for 25-30 min or until the rice is soft and creamy.

Miso soup

There are many versions of this amazing soup. this one is a favorite with my kids.

4 Cups water

1 small onion cut into quarter moons

2 cups green peas

1/4 cup thinly sliced daikon

1-2 inch piece of wakame , soaked and diced

1 1/2 tbsp of barley miso

1/2 lb tofu , cut into tiny cubes (optional)

Bring water , wakame and onions to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 20 min. Dilute miso in a small amount of hot broth and add to soup along with the peas(and tofu) and simmer until peas turn bright green. Serve

Other breakfast suggestions

-Steamed veggies

-Whole grain pancakes/waffles

-Mochi

-perogies

-Cornmeal

-Oatmeal

-Scrambled tofu

-Muffins

Whew! I wasn’t sure how that was going to go.  I was thinking…eight 10-year old girls… CHAOS! But they were amazing! They were polite, they shared, they took turns. We adults were not even needed! My friend and neighbor Annie and I decided our girls could collaborate and have one party (Khadija and Lucy have been best friends since the day they met 6 years ago and their birthdays are only weeks apart.)

The party started at six o’clock. The girls were all here by six thirty. They had made plans at school to do some kind of secret play. Each girl came with a bag of props. Annie and I were NOT invited, …but we overheard the plot. There was a marriage, a priest, a rock star. We got that much.

 Sounded great! Later we all gathered around the table for a “make your own wrap” supper.

Wraps

-whole wheat tortillas

-peanut butter and jam

-hummus

-pickles/olives

-lettuce

-fish sticks

-mustard , ketchup,nayonaise

-tofu hot dogs

-black beans with lemon and green onions

-carrot sticks

-pan fried zucchini/summer squash

After supper and a yummy cake, we spread out over the living room and made nightshirts. Oversize cotton t-shirts and some fabric markers went a long way!

Then Annie came up with a brilliant game.. we don’t really have a name for it but it starts out with a large cereal box. The kids line up and take turns picking up the box and handing it to Annie, only using their mouths (and also, no hands or knees or elbows allowed to touch the floor – you have to stay on your feet) . After everyone has a turn Annie cuts off an inch of the box. It goes on and on till the box is only centimeters high. The hilarious and amazing contortions these kids made in order to reach the box with their teeth left us awestruck and clapping. We had five winners in the end! …and basically no box left.

At this point it was after eight and we made two huge beds in our basement and settled the kids down for a movie.  After the movie there was some whispering and some giggles but by eleven they were all settled down and sleeping.

In the morning bright and early I heard them at it again with the giggles.  We got them to get up and get dressed and gather their things and to head over to Annie’s apartment where she was hosting the pancake breakfast and a morning Twister game!

What a great party!

It can be really easy to get stressed out over birthday parties! Whether it’s for you, your husband, sibling, friends or children! The easiest is to do something outside if possible. Less mess, less clean up and less hectic energy if you invited lots of people!  My daughter is turning 10 on Feb 23rd. This year she wants to have a sleepover….I’m undecided still on that one! In years past we have had her party in the community room where we live. With themes such as Flowers or Purple ( I even made a purple cake with grapes all over it!) We have done crafts, played musical chairs and hot potato. I provided snacks and a birthday cake and we invited a bunch of kids and they ran around for 2 hours! I like to invite the same amount of children as how old my child is turning.  It seems to work out best.

last year for Lucy’s Birthday we had a quiet dinner with just family. Then on the following weekend she invited 3 friends over for pizza

and we all went out to a movie! that was also fun. For Ingrid who has a spring birthday it’s always outside! She likes to go on birthday walks/hikes

and have balloon games in our yard and play dress up! One year she had a Royal party, only royalty invited! I dressed up as snow white and we had a lot of kings and queens and princesses around! Fun thing about outside parties is that the kids usually play on the grass or jungle gym and watermelon is a great snack! and you can invite twice as many people!

Felix’s birthday is in the summertime . We tend to be back up in Canada, so there is lots of family! Sometimes he gets 2 parties! one at our house and one at a grandparents house. The theme over the last many years is usually cars/trucks/dirt! At the beach or at our farm. We had a truck party last year. Invited kids who liked to play in the dirt and race dinky cars. He even had dinky cars driving across his cake!!

My brother in law likes to make up outdoor games like follow the trail he cuts in the grass with the lawnmower all around our large property. He also does an amazing scavenger hunt with handmade cards with clues that take you all over the yard, garden and woods in search of hidden treasures!

Some fun snacks for  birthdays  :

Veggie wraps- Saute tofu, greens and Hommous wrapped in a whole wheat tortilla!

Dips and spreads

fresh fruit like watermelon or fruit kabobs

a homemade cake is always fun and of course if the kids get involved in the snack making they always end up eating more!

Pan’s Birthday cake With help from Christina Pirello’s Cooking the Whole foods way on this one!!!

4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup shredded coconut– unsweetened
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 pinch sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2/3 cup olive oil
1 cup brown rice syrup
2 teaspoons brown rice vinegar
2 cups vanilla soy milk
frosting
1 cup vanilla soy milk
1 cup amasake
2 tablespoons brown rice syrup
1 pinch sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons kuzu
2 cups non-dairy chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut — unsweetened
1 cup pecan pieces — toasted

Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and lightly oil and flour two,
9 in. round cake pans. Use cocoa powder and place of flour to
avoid white deposits on your cakes. Whisk together dry ingredients.
Stir in oil, rice syrup and brown rice vinegar. Slowly add soymilk
to create a smooth spoonable cake batter.

Divide the batter evenly between pans and bake until the center of
the cake springs back to attach or a toothpick comes out clean,
35 to 40 minutes. Cool ten minutes before removing from pan, transfer
to a wire rack and cool completely.

Prepare the frosting by combining even bland, amasake, rice syrup,
salt and vanilla in a saucepan and place over medium heat. When the
liquid is warmed through, stirring the dissolved kuzu, stirring until the
mixture thickens about three minutes. Stir in chocolate chips, stirring
until the mixture thickens and turns smooth. Fold in coconut.

Transfer to he resisted bowl and cover. Set aside until firm, about 15
minutes. To assemble the cake, using a serrated knife, slice off the top
of what it takes to create a flat surface and place on a platter. Spoon a
generous layer frosting over cake. Press the cake into the frosting.
Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. Press over tops and sides
if you have any left over.