Tomato soup

My two-year old has been on a bit of a vegetable strike (though he sometimes eats steamed carrots, AND willingly eats meatloaves, mini quiche and salmon cakes with greens incorporated). He loves soups, particularly those puréed. So I made a tomato soup this evening, specifically because I can't find a dairy-free version without added sugar.

Ingredients
2 cans tomato paste
1/2 roasted sweet potato, puréed
1 C canned coconut milk
2 1/2 C water
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt

Instructions
1. Place small pot over medium heat
2. Add all ingredients and stir thoroughly and consistently until blended (10 minutes or so)
3. Serve (or store in fridge, or portion it out for freezing)

My son enjoys drinking his soup via straw - that's how he rolls! I guess it makes things more fun and that's fine by me! The soup is a nutritious addition to any meal (he even has soup with breakfast some days).

Turkey roll-ups and sandwiches

We have decided to go grain free in our household, my two-year old included. I expected a heck of a battle from the tiny guy who practically lives off of toast with butter or jam and peanut butter sandwiches. Much to my surprise, however, he has taken it quite well! He sometimes asks for bread and I reply, "we don't eat bread anymore." Then he'll ask for a sandwich, and I whip out turkey (deli slices) and make sandwiches for him.

Today I made two turkey roll-ups to take along to our lunch date at Panera (where I enjoyed the Power Mediterranean turkey salad from their secret menu). This may not be appetizing to the average individual, but my little guy loves these:

Ingredients
2 thick slices of turkey deli meat
2 tbsp Sunbutter (sunflower seed butter) - any nut butter will do
1/2 leaf of Swiss chard, minced (I use a Tupperware Smooth Chopper)

Instructions
1. Lay turkey slices out flat
2. Spread one tablespoon of Sunbutter on each slice
3. Sprinkle the minced chard on top of the Sunbutter
4. Starting at one end if a slice, roll up tightly. Repeat with the other slice.

These puppies travel well, and are fast and easy to make. Adding more veggies could make a perfectly balanced meal. 

Today I took along a container of tomato soup to balance the meal. He ate everything and drank all of the soup as well.

Variation: some days I use a cookie cutter to cut shapes from. The deli meat (I eat the remnants). Then I slather nut butter on one shape and add another shape to make a "sandwich."

A little bit of progress

The boys and I spent part of the morning outside - what a gorgeous day!  I managed to clear weeds from a good portion of the garden in between keeping the baby out of the son and watching my toddler as he moseyed back and forth between his sandbox and my garden, often bringing dump trucks loaded with sand. He also kept demanding that I find more worms, as if that was going to be a problem!

Nearly half of the raised bed is now weed-free and prepped for planting. 

A view from the southeast side of the garden.

Simple breakfasts

Photos and descriptions of a few recent simple breakfasts:

This one was fast and simple. I fried some bacon, used the fat to cook swiss chard, cut up a bell pepper and threw on a slice of cantaloupe.  Perfect. Delicious. Healthy!

This morning's breakfasts for my son and I included a combination of my pork sausage, veggies, eggs, nuts and soup.

My plate: 1/2 of a red bell pepper, 1/4 C raw cashews, 4-6 ounces of my pork sausage, and a delicious sliced tomato with a bit of salt.

Breakfast for my two-year old: 1 egg scrambled in a bit of clarified butter, 1 piece of pork sausage, vegetable soup in a cup with straw (he had actual water for drinking, but enjoys consuming soup via straw), and about 1/2 an avocado.

Chard or Kale cooked in bacon fat

Ingredients 

1 bunch chard (or kale), cleaned, de-stemmed
2-4 tbsp bacon fat*

*either fat that you saved after cooking bacon previously, or fresh from a new batch of cooked bacon. you could use any fat of choice - coconut oil, clarified butter, etc.

Instructions

1. Place bacon fat in a frying pan over medium-high heat (a bit more toward medium than high).
2. Break/cut kale into pieces (2x2 inches or so) and place in pan
3. Stir periodically until kale wilts (usually about 8 minutes)
4. Serve and enjoy!

Pork sausage

Ingredients

1 pound bulk pork sausage
2 tbsp chopped carrots (i used steamed carrots for softer texture)
1 tsp sage
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
salt & pepper

for cooking
2-3 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 C water

Instructions

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix sausage, carrots and spices together. Use hands or a wooden utensil to combine all ingredients well
2. Pick up 1/4 C sized portions of the mixture and form into sausage shaped pieces
3. In a large frying pan, melt coconut oil over medium-high heat
4. Place all sausages in pan
5. Brown on all sides
6. Add 1/2 C water to the pan, continue to cook/turn sausages until water evaporates

These sausages are truly delicious. My 2-year-old son LOVES them!

They store well in the fridge for at least a few days. While I haven't frozen them yet, I'm sure they would freeze just fine.

Prepping the garden

2013 will be my third growing season. I don't know all that much about gardening, but there are two things I'm pretty sure are true:

weeds = bad
earthworms = good

I keep attempting to prep the soil for this year's planting, but doing so with a two-year old and four-month old yields minimal productivity. I snuck out to my garden during the boys' synchronized naps this afternoon - thought I was pretty slick bringing the baby monitor to listen in on the little guy. But after 10-15 minutes of pulling weeds and turning soil, the monitor crapped out. It's a good thing I went back inside, because baby guy was crying (he rarely cries, and I would never leave him alone to cry - we were both pretty sad over the whole thing).

Weeds removed. Soil broken up and turned. Feels awesome!

Tool of choice. No idea what it's called, but it's awesome!

I started at the top edge of the bed and pulled the tool toward me, ripping up weeds and organic matter. I sifted through the softened soil to pull up weeds, but left behind anything that appeared to be decaying or dried out (that stuff counts as fodder for compost, right?), and then continued on to the next section.

A lot of work, a little pile of weeds.

The garden is four railroad ties long, or thirty-two feet. I think I got through about 5 feet of it. Planning to plant chili peppers, bell peppers, chard, kale, spinach, and carrots.

The husband trenched water AND electricity (though it didn't seem to be working today, hence the crying baby incident) out to my garden (SWEET!), and he extended the fence enough to accommodate three eight-by-eight raised beds (to be integrated next year).  As for this growing season, I will use the open space to plant melons, cukes, and potted tomatoes. I'll plant beans and luffas along the perimeter, allowing them to climb the fence.