My baby rocks!

And they're off! Well, almost. That's my offspring #3 in green lining up for the 1500 meter race in the 2008 CYO Meet of Champions that took place today. Man, I get winded just thinking about running let alone actually getting out there ... in a race. Not in this lifetime, baby. Anyway, that's my peanut in green, getting ready to run her socks off. There were over 500 kids participating today. Yep, you read that right - 500! Luckily for her, she inherited her daddy's love of participating in athletics. This is her first year participating in CYO track, and she totally rocked today!!! This is a big deal folks. She's the youngest on the team, with some girls being 2 years older than her. In addition to her high velocity performance in the 1500, she also ran the 400 meter, and participated in the long jump. She had so much fun today. In fact, when she left the house this morning with hubby man to head out to the field, I told her that her only job today was to go and have fun. And, she did! My baby rocks!

Hoagie Beef

Do you ever feel like the universe is trying to tell you something? For the past couple of weeks, everywhere I turn ... newspaper, tv, blogs ... I'm greeted with sumptuous photos and recipes for hoagie style hot beef sandwiches. You know the kind ... yummy hoagie style bread layered with steamy, thinly shaved roast beef. Some are smothered in savory toppings like sauted golden onion slivers, or roasted peppers, or creamy cheese sauce. Are you salivating yet? These sandwiches are not for the faint hearted. It's the type of thing you envision lumberjacks requesting after wrestling with trees. It's a chewy sandwich and requires a supersize drink to wash it down. It can stand on it's own without the addition of lettuce or tomato, and a simple salad is a perfect accompaniment. A half portion is perfect for me for lunch, but nothing less than two will do for hubby man. My 12 year old son, who prefers his plain -- meat and bread -- would snarf down as many as I would allow -- but then he's a growing boy, quite lumberjack sized himself!

Today, as I was assembling the ingredients for this feast of a sandwich, my young man followed his nose into the kitchen and announced that he'd like to make one, too. Picture me, deer-in-headlights look followed by two rapid, hard blinks, responding, "Did you say you wanted to make one?" My son, my oldest, my "mom, please-do-this-for-me" child, was unphased by my dumbfounded expression and says, "Yeah, can I make one?" He then launches into his explanation of how he makes his grilled cheese sandwiches and that this wouldn't be that much different. All the while, I'm standing there blinking over and over until his next words shake me free of the trance. "Mom, just tell me what to do." I'm thinking to myself, "Well, son, first you can peel me off the floor and help me adjust to the fact that you asked to do something for yourself instead wanting me to do it for you." At that very moment, just like the scene in the movie When The Grinch Stole Christmas when the Grinch's heart grew, my inner-mama's heart got all warm and fuzzy as I realized that my little man is indeed growing up and will be able to take care of himself. This is what we mom's do ... prepare our kids to venture out into new self-reliant territory. It was a good moment, a little bittersweet, but still very good. In all fairness, my young man has been maturing by degrees this past year. Just this past week, he's made his own breakfasts, and now he's making steak sandwiches.

This sandwich is a cousin to a french dip and is so easy to assemble. All you need to do is make a simple white sauce and as soon as it's thickened, whisk in some good quality provolone cheese. You could substitute whatever cheese you like .. a combo of mozzerella and parmesean would be good. Remove from heat; sauce should be smooth and fairly thick. Season the sauce with several grinds of black pepper and a dash of sea salt. For the meat, slice steak as thin as you possibly can ... super thin ... thinner than paper thin. Quickly saute it in a non-stick pan, seasoning it as you prefer. Remove it from the pan, and place it on a plate, cover with plastic wrap or a paper plate to "steam" the meat. Add a teaspoon of olive oil to the pan you prepared the meat in, and saute sliced sweet onion just until the onion starts to soften. Now assemble your sandwich. Slice the hoagie roll open without cutting all the way through. Spoon some sauce on the bottom, layer a heaping portion of steak, and top with onions. My littlest offspring, who can't have wheat, eats her steak rolled in soft corn tortillas ... hold the sauce, pile on the onions.

My next venture will be to make a hoagie style sandwich using pulled pork. Yummm, maybe with some coleslaw to go with it. Southern Italian folk smile upon pork recipes, and I'm, you guessed it, of southern Italian heritage. Check out Marjie's version of a great pulled pork sandwich. My son just about crawled through the screen to get at her posted photo.

Science Kudos

Offspring #2 is a happy clam, or should I say 6th grade pseudo-scientist. Hard to believe just 6 months ago, said lab coat wearer wanna-be was not so keen on the subject. Then came ... drum roll please ... the Middle School Science Fair. And so began her quest to find the perfect project. Only a few criteria were enforced: No experimenting on any living creature (whew, her siblings were in the clear) and no toxic chemicals (whew, no need to call 911 and haz-mat). She decided upon testing phototropism, specifically if certain types of colored light affect phototropism. Learning the outcome of this could improve the plant's life cycle as well as help develop efficient ways to grow food resources. Yeh, yeh, we try to be a green family. Protect the earth and all that.

Ok, we need a second drum roll here .... #2 dd took 1st place in her division at the school fair, thus qualifying to compete at the regional level. The regional level is a seriously big deal around here. The competition is much stiffer, and they had qualified professional individuals judging the materials. The interesting part was that parents, teachers, and anyone other than the exhibiting students and the judges were not allowed into the judging area, which was cavernous. So, my little Einstein put on her dog and pony show without anyone around to lend support ... she knew no one there ... not the kids and certainly not the judges. The exhibits, by the way, were incredible. I've seen the future ... and I think society will be okey-dokey. These kids are smart!

Anyway, offspring #2 gave her presentation, remained poised while she answered tough questions, and walked off with 2nd place and a ji-normous (yes, that word applies here!) trophy! She was outstanding! We are very happy for her!!! The gal who won 1st place did an outstanding job, too. Offspring #2's school wrote up a nice little by-line in their school newsletter.

My budding scientist was homeschooled for about a year and a 1/2 before returning to our old private school. I'm so tempted to pull her out and homeschool her right along with her twin offspring #1; however, she's coming out of her shell and is happy where she's at, so I'll just bide my time. This coming out of the shell is coinciding with her major growth spurts. She's almost as tall as me. Hmm .... I can only hope that my authority will not decrease as her height increases.

Congrats Offspring #2! I'm so proud of your accomplishments!

PS: By the way, said offspring was also appalled that she's referred to as offspring. Can you hear her cry of disbelief? "Offspring? Offspring? You are calling us Offspring on your blog? Mother (with heavy emphasis on the "ther" sound ... kind of drag it out like this: Muh THURRR), I am a human being with a name." My reaction will have to wait for another post!

Dreamy Beanies Please

My littlest offspring #3 was really sad yesterday. This is newsworthy because #3 is usually the happiest living being in the entire universe. Really. She's definitely a "cup 1/2 full" kind of child, so her quiet, glum little expression caused warning bells to rouse me to full mommy mode. After a quick check to insure that she wasn't feverish, and pulling her onto my lap, I asked "why the sad face, little peanut?". The proverbial dam burst open and the little lass poured out her dismay that she can't eat anything anymore. Ah, I fully understand. You see, in the past couple of weeks, I've removed, as best as humanly possible, wheat from #3's diet. Despite doctor's reassurances that stomach aches are common in children and that I should simply ply her with antacids, I've decided to trust my gut, as I should have long ago, and retort that no it's not ok for a child to have this many stomach aches, particularly a well adjusted, well loved, well liked sprite of a girl. Soooo, I removed wheat and what do you know ... no more tummy aches. Plus, both #3 and offspring #2 don't drink milk and can only have limited dairy (it's a milk protein thing, not a lactose thing). Now, while that may seem daunting, I'm pleased to report that there are actually zillions of choices of what to eat. Mostly meat, seafood, fruit, legumes, rice and veggies ... all of which are good for you. I'll admit that I miss being able to whip up a big batch of pasta (it's an Italian thing), and sandwiches and pizza are out, yet I also have to admit that it's actually working out quite well. An adjustment, for sure, but not that bad. Anyway, back to youngest offspring ... after a nice heart to heart chat, I got out my cookbooks and had her flag any recipes that she would like me to make. Said cookbooks now sport about 10 zillion post it notes flagging her stomach's desire. Her first request was "dreamy beanies, please" A variation of that wonderful concoction known as white bean spread; it's easy, fast, and full of protein. Simply blend white beans cooked with garlic, olive oil, rosemary sprig, a couple grinds of sea salt, and sage. (remove the rosemary before blending) A finishing drizzle of olive oil and a couple grinds of pepper make it a great appetizer or light lunch. I mash it by hand, but it's also delightful whipped up in the food processor. This photo shows it pared with Rice Chips. It's great spread on crostini, too. Next is our full flavor Santa Fe Stew. This made the entire house smell heavenly. I made it with ground turkey, but the meat can be completed omitted or feel free to substitute whatever type of meat you like. This comes together quickly, so prep everything in advance.

2 T olive oil
1 lb ground meat (I used turkey)
Salt to taste
1 large onion diced
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon (yep, cinnamon)
2 large garlic cloves minced
1 cup minced peppers (I used a combo of Anaheim, Poblano, and regular green)
2 T chili powder
1 cups chix broth or water
1 medium (2 lbs) butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and chopped
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 can red beans, rinsed and drained

Heat the oil in a dutch oven, and add the meat, onion, salt, cumin and cinnamon. Cook over low heat until the onion is soft, about 10 min, stirring frequently. Stir in the garlic, peppers, and chili powder. Cover and cook about 5 more minutes. Add the broth or water, stir and cook another 5 minutes. Add the squash and lemon juice. Stir, cover and cook for about 15-20 minutes until the squash is cooked, but not mushy. Gently stir in the beans, cover, and cook for about 5 more minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings, adding more salt if you desire it. Serve hot as is or with warmed soft corn tortillas, a sprinkling of toasted pumpkin seeds, a little bit of cilantro, and sr. cream.

PS: Offspring #3 is once again a jubilant little sprite.

Food of the gods

Soup ... aaahhhh .... steamy bowls of yummy comfort that can bolster a body to perform great feats. How did Napoleon conquer other nations? Why he ate soup first, of course. And the Trojan War? Sorry Helen, your face didn't launch a thousand ships after all. It was soup those Spartan warriors coveted. What enabled Washington to conduct his famous feat of Crossing the Delaware? Yep, soup again.

Uh, ok, perhaps I'm bending history a bit. But I adore soup. Heaps. I'm Soup Girl. I mean, come on, who doesn't love soup? Well, *sigh* actually 2/3rds of my offspring turn up their noses at any foods that touch, plus Hubby Man isn't a big fan. He's more of a meat/potatoes guy. What cruel twist of fate is that? He's married to Soup Girl! However, less servings of soup for them, means more bowls of goodness for moi and offspring #3. Every week, I lovingly assemble the bounty required to prepare several servings of the wonderful stuff. Is it fancy or hard to make? Nah. Is it good? You bet.

This recipe started off as many good recipes do. I had guests coming over and needed to prepare something wholesome ... just some chicken soup and bread. "Ok", I say. "No problemo." So, off to the fridge I go, pull open the door, and start the up and down cartoon motions of taking stock of the shelf contents. Hmm, carrots? Check. Celery? Nope. Let's see, plenty of cabbage and zucchini. A quick side glance at the counter reveals lots of onions and garlic waiting to be used (I am Italian, afterall). Alrighty then, now I just need some chicken. Could have sworn I just bought some. Where is it? Come on, fridge, just give up one plain old cut up chicken. No dice. However, there is a package of ground chicken. Right bird, wrong format. Dare I make soup with ground chix? Could I doctor it with *wince* canned broth? New territory for Soup Girl, but yeh, I think it can be done.

Not only can it be done, it's awesome. One of those recipes where you don't measure anything, just chop, drop, and stir on instinct. Like Grandma would do. The kind of good where you sit down and don't talk with anyone because it would prevent you from eating. Where you want to pick the bowl up and let the last drop drip into your mouth. I like using the ground chix so much, that whole chickens are relegated to the inside of my roasting pan instead of the stock pot. Here's the loose recipe. Don't be put off by the list ... it comes together in a flash. Really. Use whatever you've got. It's a Chix Veggie soup, but would answer to the name Use Whatever You've Got.

2 T Olive oil
1 medium onion diced
2 cloves garlic, minced with sea salt (old wives trick)
1 clove garlic sliced paper thin
5 carrots sliced or diced in smallish pieces (think: what will fit on a spoon)
1 baby zucchini sliced or diced like the carrot
1 cup finely shredded cabbage (can omit or substitute napa or even bok choy)
1 lb ground chix (or turkey)
2 cans Low Sodium chicken broth (I like Swanson)
1 can of water (add more if you like lots of broth)
4 oz white wine (chardonnay is good)
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup chopped Italian flat leaf parsley (or 1T dried)
scant teaspoon dried thyme
Season salt to taste (Spike is good)
scant teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried dill (yep, dill)
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 cup leftover rice or noodles (I like to use "wild" rice)
Dash Hot Sauce - optional (I like it; Offspring #3 eats it plain)

Have all ingredients ready to go. Set a large stock pot on medium high heat. As soon as pan is heated (not smoking), add the oil and immediately dump in the onion, minced salted garlic, and carrots. Stir. Let the vegetables soften a bit, stirring frequently, no more than 3-4 minutes. Dump in the cabbage if using as well as the zucchini and sliced garlic. Let wilt for maybe another 3 minutes, stirring frequently. The goal is to soften, not brown or carmelize. Adjust your heat if necessary to keep veggies from browning. Now comes the fun part. Add the ground chix, stir into the veggies and break it up with a spoon or spatula. Do NOT brown the meat. Immediately add all the broth, water, wine, herbs and seasonings. Bring to a vigorous rolling boil and stir so that the meat is evening dispersed throughout the liquid (like chili). Plop a lid on the pot, turn down the heat, and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the left over rice, heat through for about 5 minutes, and viola, serve your chix veggie soup with crusty bread. (I usually add a dash or two of hot sauce to my bowl.)

This gels up just as if I had made it with homemade stock; especially when prepared with ground turkey. It's high in fiber and low in salt. Plus, the meat stays on the spoon (an added plus as I'm also Laundry Girl). I get requests from friends for this soup. This concoction is a Soup Girl favorite and is pretty to look at, too. Although, in this case, the best part of the photo is my late grandma's soup bowl. Growing up, every summer I ate many a bowl of pastina or wedding soup out of those bowls. Miss you, Grandma!