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Does your child hate veggies?

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 22 February, 2014 No comment

Are you having trouble getting your kids eat their veggies? I know I do. Cooper refuses to eat vegetables unless it’s corn. Now and again he will eat cooked vegetables mixed into his dinner, but I have found the older he gets he judges the ‘look’ of his food before he tastes it. That is a sore subject for me. :)

I have mentioned my spinach shake previously and will go back to that again. The last couple days my husband has been talking about doing a juice detox. He and I have been watching a lot of food documentaries and he really has had stomach issues for quite sometime. He wants to detox and see if he begins to feel better. Due to this, I made a spinach shake last night for all of us pre dinner. This helps you eat less for dinner but also is packed full of the nutrients our body is lacking.

Note to ALL of you who say spinach in a shake sounds absolutely terrible: It isn’t bad, if you make it right, you honestly can’t taste the spinach. You could leave the spinach out but why if you can’t taste it? It has so many vitamins we need!

Cooper drinking the green monster! :)

Please try it before you judge it! I wont steer you wrong.

Ingredients:

2 cups packed spinach
2 bananas
1 orange
¾ cup blueberries (frozen fruit works great)
1 pear
1 large apple or 2 small apples
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup orange juice

If you get brave once you decide you like the shake add in more vegetables such as:

Snap peas
Carrots
Celery
Kale
peanut butter/almond butter
ginger

Yes, I have add all of these vegetables and I do this on a regular basis. Ginger helps with the stomach and very helpful for digestion. If you use protein powder add one scoop to the entire shake.

This serving size serves my husband, me and cooper.

Opps!!!

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 22 February, 2014 No comment

A total mom moment. Unfortunately this shows how my day went yesterday. A bit crazy!

Bath time

Mommy please take my socks off.

Please mommy!

Yay! Socks off and lots of playing to do!

Veggie Burgers

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 21 February, 2014 No comment

What’s for dinner tonight? “woot woot” Homemade, decadent veggie burgers. These suckers are so easy and so full of flavor. I’ve made many different types of veggie burgers and some of them are time consuming and lacking flavor. These however, or quite tasty, super easy and you can make ahead of time AND even freeze them for later use. They make 12 large burgers, great for making a double batch to freeze for quick last minute meals.

As you know I enjoy a bit of a spice to my food. Easily omit the spice if you are one who prefers otherwise. :)

Ingredients:

2 cups spinach
2 large carrots
1 red pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt & pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper (omit if you prefer no spice)
2 oz (½ can chopped chilies)
½ cup fresh parsley
½ cup fresh cilantro
3 green onions, chopped
1 can hominy, drained
1 can diced Italian tomatoes
2 cups Oats
1/3 cup flour
Whole wheat buns
Toppings/condiments for burger

In a food processor toss spinach, carrots, red pepper, minced garlic, onion powder, garlic salt, cayenne pepper and chilies.

Puree until pretty chunky. (Depending on the size of your food processor you may be able to fit everything in at once. Mine it 8 cups and I still have to puree a bit to add the remainder of ingredients)

Add in parsley, cilantro, onions, hominy, and diced tomatoes. Puree until well blended.

In a large bowl, fold in rolled oats and flour. Mix well.

In a greased 9×13 pan form your patties and place 6 large burgers in the pan.

Bake at 450 for 25 minutes.

Broil for an additional 2-3 minutes to crisp them up a bit.

I made a chipotle mayo sauce:

¼ cup mayo
2 tbsp blue cheese dressing
½ tsp sriacha

*If freezing, allow to cool 100% before placing them into a Ziploc, airtight bag.

Served with onions, pickles, spinach, pepper jack cheese and chipotle mayo sauce (ingredients above)

Serve on homemade hamburger buns.

Houseboat Livin’

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 20 February, 2014 No comment

Did any of you know that we live on a houseboat? My husband for years has said how he would love to live on a houseboat and live a simple life. Well when we met he did not live on a houseboat, he was living in a nice house in the suburbs of Portland. Recently we moved and yet again, it was not to a houseboat. His desire still remains and he would love to fulfill this dream and to be honest, I’m not sure we ever will. Although, the closest we may come to that is probably right now. With all the rain the last week or so on top of the mass amount of snow we received, I think my husbands dream has finally come true.

Thanks to saveourhouseboats.com

We are living in a house that is floating on water, filled to the brim with water and yet I must say our house was not designed for this task.

Recently, before the snow hit the rain began. Portland is notorious for rain and to be honest, it’s never really bothered me. When the snow decided to flake down I thoroughly enjoyed the change as I grew up with a lot of snow and have missed it for quite a few years. The 2-3 day span of snow is just enough for me to enjoy it and wish it gone. When the snow vanished it literally vanished so quickly we didn’t have time to worry about driving in it. Unfortunately soon after the snow, the rain set in. We’ve been in a “storm” for the last few days and it will continue for another three days.

You maybe wondering why I am giving so many details on our weather forecast as I am not a weatherman. :) Well- as much as Californians are yearning for rain due to the drought they are in, I’m yearning for it to stop. I could probably ship enough water down to cover all California to help rid the drought from our house alone. Okay not really, but pretty close. Our house is a cold, murky swimming pool. Right below my feet lies a swamp that I would prefer to not know what all lays within this swamp. I know my toad is down there croaking happily, but apart from him- I’m not too sure. Our crawl space has turned into a large swimming pool.

My husband and I opened up the crawl space a couple of weeks ago to find about 6 inches of water below. After the snow hit and the rain began, we have roughly 8-10 inches of water now. It’s an eerie feeling to open up the closet floor in our bedroom to see this site. Sleeping above a flood is not necessarily a peaceful nights sleep for me.

When we purchased our house we purchased during peak season- SUMMER! No rain to be had, dry as a bone was our crawl space. Our first rainy season has proven to be beyond messy and expensive. We are in desperate need of a French drain. Desperate need my friends. Our yard is puddle after puddle looking entirely messy and ugly but that’s just the outside of the real problem.

Immediate action must take place. Our excitement to fix this problem has been beyond ecstatic that we have pushed it off for quite some time. ;) Well low-and-behold this wasn’t our only problem. The morning of my husbands birthday we woke up to our plumbing acting up. Every toilet, sink and bathtub decided they wanted to act up. They quit flushing, draining and doing their job. We spent some time buying harsh chemicals they say not to use because they ruin your pipes, well my friends we were desperate. We dumped anything and everything down these drains so that we could clean them out and use them to their full potential. Sadly, this didn’t work.

Yesterday I phoned our ‘on call’ drain guy and asked for immediate service. My husband had just showered in a muddy bath which I am unsure to this minute how he got cleaned; this defeated the purpose of showering. Anyway, they reached our house at 8:15 in the morning and didn’t leave until after 12pm. Was our problem fixed? NOPE!!! $3000 more dollars and it will be…!!! We decided we would try to take on the work ourselves and to try to figure out which task to tackle first; deciding seems to be impossible and expensive. Both jobs together would equal over $11k if we had the work done for us. Both are in desperate need of fixing and time is NOT on either of their sides, or shall I say OUR side.

So here we are a couple of days later and the rain still hasn’t stopped. I’ve worried our paint marker from the drain is going to wash away losing our $300 paint stain on the yard. Let me explain to you the importance of these two marks. The money we spend to have our plumber come out for 5 hours was simply to paint these two marks on our grass. By doing so it indicates the exact location of the pipe and the length of the problem which lays underground. These five hours spent to locate this section was quite expensive for shall we say, paint and it would be an utter shame if the paint washed away. It would probably be the death of me as of right now. ;)

Not sure if any of you know that before you dig anything in your yard, even though it’s YOUR yard, the state must be notified. This is state compliance and could be a massive fine if they found out after the fact. So thankfully our plumber advised me in this matter and this is the FIRST free thing we’ve encountered throughout our entire house problems the last 8 months. Needless to say, I was grateful! You can dial 811 and follow the prompts for your state, don’t miss dial and press 911. :) Basically this company notifies any and all utility companies forcing them to come to our property and survey the land. They mark with different color paints to help guide us where to avoid digging; gas, electrical, water, so on and so forth. We have 5 companies that need to come paint a canvas on top of our greenish grass. They are supposed to be here and finished by Friday at 8:30pm. Praying they abide by this so we can begin our family digging Saturday morning.

Moment of truth: Life simply hasn’t figured out that the ‘problems’ it’s dealt us, has been anything BUT cheap. Or maybe it’s something I’m supposed to acknowledge that never goes away. Either way, pray for sunshine this weekend as my husband and I decide to dig ditches together.

Spaghetti Pie

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 19 February, 2014 No comment

Oh the greatest combination of lasagna and spaghetti all in one yummy dish. My sisters birthday is a week prior to my husbands. We did a joint dinner combing their favorite meals. My sister is a huge lasagna fan but my husbands lasagna recipe is by no means cheap; roughly $50. So, because we did dinner smack dab in the middle of valentines day and Michael’s birthday we decided to go for the more reasonable meal, spaghetti pie. :)

This recipe is quite easy and always a dinner favorite with company.

Ingredients:

6 oz spaghetti
2 tbsp butter
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 well beaten eggs
1-16oz cottage cheese (2 cups)
1 lb ground beef or pork sausage
½ cup onions, chopped
1-8oz can diced tomatoes
1-6oz can tomato paste
1 tsp sugar
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of garlic
Pinch of parsley
1-2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Stir butter into hot, drained spaghetti. Beat the eggs well and add to pasta with parmesan cheese.

Form spaghetti mixture into 2 pie plates or 1-9×13 greased pans.

Spread cottage cheese on top of pasta.

Meanwhile, cook meat and onions until browned. (I added 1 tbsp of Montreal seasoning as I believe it gives great flavor to meat)

Stir in tomatoes, paste, sugar, oregano, garlic salt and parsley; heat through.

Pour on top of noodles and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

*Make ahead, bake later

**Make ahead and freeze for future use

A Toad or a Prince

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 18 February, 2014 No comment

How long does it take for a toad to actually turn into a prince? I’ve been waiting and waiting and being extremely patient as I long for this toad to turn into a handsome prince sooner than later.

You may think I am being a little harsh and not giving my husband any credit, but this actually has nothing to do with my husband. :) We have an actual real live toad living in our house. That’s right- I said it. There is a toad living in my sons room. He only croaks when Cooper is sleeping during the evening or during his precious naps. For some odd reason he enjoys being quiet all day long when the noise is thrashing through our house and begin croaking more loudly when Cooper decides to calm down for the day.

Thanks to abovetopsecret.com

I must say I believe he hibernates a bit; croaking more softly and doing less leaping when we had our big snow storm or when the weather decides to be extreme as it has lately. He follows the typical patterns of a toad but will not change his scenery, he plops himself down directly below my sons room allowing for an intense, loud, obnoxious croak. I believe he is in the crawl space but I must say he is extremely loud, I have questioned MANY times if he resides in his room itself. Every time I sneak around tiptoeing very quietly he immediately stops croaking when I open the door wide enough to walk in…so bazaar. It’s almost as if he sees me or the light begin to enter the room that he decides to shut up.

I had to take a video because I was almost 100% positive my husband may think I’ve lost my marbles and gone crazy. Check it out: (video will post soon)

When oh when will he turn into a prince? I long for this day but how can it be so when he sits in one lonely spot all by himself day in and day out; he’ll never find his princess. :(

Maybe I should embrace his loud lonesome croaking as he seems to think we must enjoy it. I’m not quite there yet, but maybe one day, as time passes by, he and I will be friends.

Stay tuned…..

Beef Yakisoba

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 18 February, 2014 No comment

This is my first attempt to make yakisoba. I attempted rice noodles awhile ago and absolutely hated them. I’ve avoided making yakisoba for that exact reason. Tonight I decided to be brave and make this meal but using Top Roman noodles. No seasoning packet as they are entirely unhealthy and have nothing to do with this dish so to speak, but I figured I would try this route and ease my anxiety about cooking with rice noodles again.

As the night progressed we decided this recipe would be great without noodles and as a simple stir fry. We had a yakisoba noodle free night and the following day for leftovers I added the noodles. Both were delicious. Although I am obsessed with carbs that I preferred the noodles. My husband on the other hand is a carb hater for the most part and preferred his leftovers as is.

My husband cooked the beef as I think he believes this makes him more “manly.” :) Ha, he’d die if he knew I just said that to ya’ll.

Instructions are below. If you have time to let the meat marinade do so overnight. Otherwise allow for a couple hours to sit in the juices before cooking.

Stir Fry:

1 tbsp sesame oil
½ head of Red Cabbage
Brussels Sprouts
1 yellow onion
1 Red pepper
1 yellow pepper
1 orange pepper
1 lb fresh green beans
2 Carrots

Chop all vegetables except green beans and place in the Wok with sesame oil, set aside. Meanwhile prepare your sauce.

Sauce:

¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp sriacha sauce
1 tbsp sugar
Garlic salt
Salt and pepper

In a small bowl combine all ingredients and set aside.

Beef Marinade:

2 Garlic clove, minced
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp sriacha (optional, if you want a little spice)
¼ tsp Red Pepper flakes

In a ziplock bag add beef (tenderloin, sirloin, rib-eye cut into stir fry strips), garlic, soy and Worcestershire sauce, sriacha, and red pepper flakes. Close tightly and let sit over night or if you are making for tonight’s dinner let marinade for 2-3 hours; overnight is best.

Cooking the Delicious Meal:

Heat Wok on medium heat and begin to cook to desired tenderness; I prefer a bit of a crunch to sautéed vegetables.

While the vegetables are cooking, place meat and partial marinade into a fry pan and cook to desired color or lack thereof if you prefer well-done.

2-3 minutes before your vegetables are finished cooking, add sauce and the cooked meat. Let simmer for 2-3 minutes to soak up the flavors.

*If serving over rice noodles follow directions on package. If using Roman noodles, bring water to a boil and boil roman noodles for 2-3 minutes making sure not to overcook. Toss in the Wok and mix well.

My husband took the liberty to chop some mixed nuts to top our yakisoba with. It actually was very delightful.

Eggs Benedict

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 17 February, 2014 No comment

Eggs Benedict coming up! Yesterday was my husbands 35th birthday. I decided to start the morning off by cooking him eggs benedict since he absolutely loves breakfast and a good eggs beni.

Cooper was sleeping, Michael was working out and I stood in my stomping grounds whisking up a delicious breakfast right here in the kitchen. Eggs benedict, fresh fruit and asparagus with hollandaise sauce.

This breakfast was absolutely delicious. I was very happy with this meal and so was my husband. Happy Birthday Honey!

Ingredients:

2 English Muffins
4 slices of cheese (I used habanero pepperjack as we love spice)
1 avocado
1 tomato
1 package Canadian Bacon
4 eggs

Open the English Muffins and lightly butter them. Top each half with a slice of your favorite cheese. Place on a broil pan and set aside.

Slice avocado and tomatoes, set aside.

To crisp up the Canadian bacon, fry for a couple minutes each side.

Broil the muffins until crispy and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with Canadian bacon, avocado and tomato.

Begin the sauce now.

Meanwhile in light boiling water add one egg at a time. This will help poach the eggs. Make sure the egg whites are thoroughly cooked and the yolk becomes slightly done. I prefer a runny yolk. Remove eggs with a fork and place atop the English muffins. Drizzle with hollandaise sauce.

Sauce:

You can simply buy a packet of hollandaise sauce to alleviate the tension of making it yourself.

4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon lemon juice, fresh tastes best
½ cup butter, melted
½ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp salt

Whisk egg yolks and lemon juice together in a stainless steel bowl or kitchen aid mixer until the mixture has doubled in size. Place the bowl over a small saucepan containing 1/2 inch simmering water, making sure the water does not touch the bowl. Continue to whisk rapidly making sure the eggs don’t get too hot resulting in scrambled eggs. Slowly add in the melted butter and continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened and doubled in volume once again. Remove from heat, whisk in cayenne and salt.

Serve with asparagus and fresh fruit; mango, pear, oranges and grapes.

Mediterranean Pasta

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 15 February, 2014 No comment

Okay, let me start by saying I am not the biggest pasta fan but certain recipes I can’t live without. Although, if you served me pasta I would probably eat it as in my book, you can’t go wrong with carbs. But for some reason it’s not a high priority for me to cook pasta as I would prefer other things first.

With that said I was craving pasta the other night and had no idea what I wanted to make. I normally love Chicken Alfredo but was definitely not in the mood for that dish. I wanted something that was full of rich delicious flavors. Let me say “OH WOW!!!” For some reason this was so satisfying to my soul last night I had two servings!

Mediterranean Pasta

1 lb macaroni pasta
2 chicken thighs (breasts work great too)
¾ cup cherry tomatoes
1 small onion, chopped
3 tbsp mushrooms, this helps create the “sauce”
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
½ cup red pepper, chopped
1 can olives, chopped
Sundried tomatoes (Casa Di Oliva is fabulous)
¾ cup artichoke hearts, chopped
Salt and pepper
1-2 cups fresh parmesan cheese
Avocado, diced for topping
Mozzarella cheese for topping

Cook chicken until no longer pink. Chop into small pieces and set aside.

In a large fry pan, add EVOO cherry tomatoes and onions. Cook over medium heat until tomatoes begin to burst.

Once almost all have burst, add butter, mushrooms and peppers.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions.

Drain pasta. While pasta is still hot place in a large glass serving bowl and add olives, sundried tomatoes, and artichoke hearts. I used Casa Di Oliva it’s more a bruschetta mix which is helpful for the sauce.

Add sautéed veggie mix to pasta, sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix well.

Sprinkle 1-2 cup fresh parmesan cheese on hot pasta and give it a good stir.

When serving sprinkle with freshly grated mozzarella cheese and diced avocados.

Serve with garlic bread an enjoy!

Little Cooper Man

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 14 February, 2014 No comment

Oh the sweet sounds of a toddler filling the backseat while we drive through town. The precious coos and tiny giggles that have officially transitioned a great deal into small words and loud laughter filling the air with his precious voice. My loves only grows deeper as each day passes. Just when I thought I couldn’t love any deeper, any harder, or anymore, I am utterly surprised as each day approaches and the depth of my love that continues to take place.

My reality of losing my baby has been very tough for me; the snuggle time, gazing at my precious sleeper, the little smiles and tiny fingers has officially passed. My little baby is only growing and becoming a delightful little toddler. I am beyond surprised how much he has grown over night; literally over night. His vocabulary has flourished since yesterday. His interactions with me has become so much more “conversational” I use this word lightly, but the depth of this little personality and humor has just begun. We are barely scratching the surface of this amazing, gorgeous, precious, sweet, humorous, silly, goofy, lovable, huggable and kissable little one.

The little things are the greatest things to me. I realize how much he has learned and the growth is immeasurable. He continues to surprise me.

This morning while driving to church I hear little words coming from the backseat. I kept hearing “ah, ah, ah, ah” and as I look back in the mirror he is signing “more” as I have taught him sign language beginning when he was 5-6 months old. He has mastered the basics. Trying to figure out what he wanted more of I was quite unsure as he hadn’t eaten anything since being in the car. I ask if he wanted his milk and he quietly says “yup…moooo.” (moo is the best he can do for milk) A few miles down the road I hear “mama, mama, mama” and as I glance back I see him reaching out his hand trying to hand me his milk. He had finished drinking and instead of tossing it on the seat next to him, as he used to, he has learned to hand me things when he’s done with them. I was beyond shocked as I realize how much he is advancing and how quickly it all falls into place. This moment gave me joy that I absolutely love and couldn’t fill without him.

Yesterday he loudly shouts “UP!” and uses it all the time. It was so precious last night how he signs “please” and shouts “up!”

Last night at dinner daddy and him were playing games and he was shouting “UP!” as daddy tossed him into the air. The giggles that came from this overly joyous baby simply melted my heart. “This is all I need in life” I think to myself.

I love these two men more than words can describe. I am beyond grateful to watch my little boy grow and develop and continue to snuggle with me praying that never goes away. He’s a little lover and loves to give love and kisses.

I love you Cooper John!