Category Archives: Food

Halloween weekend

The weather was lovely on Friday night, so we kicked off the weekend with a family bike ride to check out the neighborhood Halloween decorations.  The forecast for Saturday night looked less than ideal for trick-or-treating, so I wanted to make the most of it, and we did.  All was well, despite the fact that I didn’t realized my rear bike lights weren’t on until four blocks into the ride — oops!

Saturday dawned drizzly and gray, as promised.  We made the most of it by baking bread (Matthew) and making chickpea dumpling soup (me).  My food lab instructor mentioned chickpea flour dumplings last week in class (I was probably the only one in the room who had every actually consumed them), and I realized I’d completely forgotten about that recipe, which is quite tasty.  Fun to bring it back!

After some post-lunch quiet time, Matthew and Gabriel got into full tiger costume.

HalloweenTigers

I’ve got the two cutest tigers in town, and that’s no lion!

After a quick visit to Nana and Papa’s, we returned home for dinner (something nice and healthy before all that candy!).  Despite my fears, the weather mostly cooperated for trick-or-treating.  It was damp when we headed out, but no active precipitation.  We walked a few blocks to a street that is very active in trick-or-treating.  There were some great decorations, including this kid dressed up as a creepy jester who looked like a statue until he jumped at you.  The house with what had been G’s favorite decorations added an animated werewolf for Halloween night, and it was too creepy for my little tiger.  About halfway through, it started spitting, and there was a very light drizzle just as we finished.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend shared Ellyn Satter’s recommendation for handling Halloween candy, basically putting the child in charge (at least to some degree) to help him/her learn self-regulation.  I really like a lot of Satter’s work (mentioned in my “Avoiding Pitfalls in Raising a Healthy Eater” post), so, despite some qualms about these particular recommendations, I decided to give it a try that first night.

I told G he could pick out what he wanted, and also that if he was hungry for something else (we don’t usually do a snack before bed, because bedtime is so close to dinner, but we were up late and he had done a lot of walking), he could have a piece of the [fresh-baked] bread.  In the end, G picked 4-5 pieces of candy and then asked for a piece of bread.

I’ll admit that after each piece of candy, I was wondering, “Will this piece be the last one?” and I wouldn’t have minded if he’d chosen even less candy (yes, I might have some control issues), but as a “sometimes” thing, this was not at all unreasonable.

We’re now doing a bit more direction with the candy, and I’m not going for the “as much as he wants at snack time” thing.  Mostly I feel like there’s SO MUCH candy for a 4-year-old, and I’m wishing we’d visited fewer houses, as neither Matthew nor I are particularly interested in helping consume the candy stash (we’d prefer our sugar and fat calories from our homemade treats!).  Looking ahead to next year, I think it might be more fun (and lead to less candy) if we host a Halloween party, which would include some trick-or-treating for the kids, but would also include games and Halloween-themed food items.

Saturday’s rain delayed gardening until Sunday (yes, the garden is still alive and kicking!), and my tigers worked in the garden while I stayed home and did homework.  They returned as I was finishing dinner preparations, and G happily munched on some extra kohlrabi before showing me the big ol’ kohlrabi that Matthew had just harvested.

G with kohl rabi
“Make it quick, Mom. This is heavy!”

And that’s a wrap on our weekend!  I have a number of other posts in the works, including one on my no-longer-so-new bike commute, but I also have lots of school-related writing due in the next few weeks, so no promises!

 

Midterm report

It seems like just yesterday that I wrote about going back to school, but here we are, already at midterm week!

School is cool
My classes are going well, and the subject matter is most definitely something that holds my interest, which is a good sign.

So far, my decision to not buy a parking pass seems sound, as I have yet to use the car to get to school (while I’m highly motivated to bike for its own sake, my decision is also reinforced by hearing my classmates complain about how hard it is to find a spot in the parking lot).

On the bike
Speaking of biking, I broke my streak after thirty-two days.  It’s rather a shame, because other than the weekend of September 19-20, I have been on my bike almost every day.

A couple of weeks ago, after a few shorter outings on Apple Jack, we (with G’s input) decided that he/his leg was ready to make the switch from passenger on Big Blue to pedaler on Apple Jack for the school commute.  On Tuesday, I biked with Gabriel to school for the first time (Matthew has been super-bicycle dad for the past month).

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G’s leg
This week also brought another check-in with the orthopedic surgeon.  (It’s always a good sign when you’re well enough to bike to a doctor appointment!)

Since starting back to school the second week of September, G has made huge progress, from more confident walking to running (but not jogging — he is very clear that he doesn’t like to jog) and jumping.  He still walks with a slight limp, but that is expected.  The doctor was pleased with the progress, and everything looked good on the x-ray.  We are tentatively scheduled to have the nails removed in early December.

Speaking of school, time to run!  Last day of classes before a little fall break 🙂

 

The Pudla! post

What in the world is pudla? In four words: Savory chickpea flour pancake.  Pudla hails from India.

I stumbled across pudla in one of those internet rabbit holes.  It started as a search for recipes for mixed-nut nut butters, which led me to the Bonzai Aphrodite website/blog.  It felt like the author was a kindred spirit (complete with some postpartum mental health issues), so I clicked around the site, which led me to her recently opened wine bar where they serve pudla.

One look at the recipe, and I knew I had to try it — a simple recipe that comes together in a few minutes, featuring high protein chickpea flour plus fresh veggies — what’s not to love?

We have chickpea flour on hand for making farinata, which shares some characteristics with pudla.  One of the advantages of pudla is that you make it on the stove top, versus needing to use the oven for farinata (more of a factor in the summer heat than in the fall (yay, fall!) and winter).

I used Kittee’s recipe (linked above).

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My pudla notes/variations:

  • While the recipe says, “one large filling pancake,” 1/2 cup of chickpea flour is two servings (see nutrition table below).  For my first attempt, I cut the recipe in half and used 1/4 cup (one serving) of chickpea flour.
  • How much water?  The recipe says, “whisk in just enough water to make a thick, pourable batter.”  In my experience, you want a little less water than chickpea flour, so for a half-cup of chickpea flour, start with a little less than 1/2 cup water.
  • Vegetables: I used the full amount of veggies (1 cup) for my half-recipe.  My initial pudla featured red peppers, onion, and cabbage, all from our garden.  In a subsequent version, I swapped Hakuri turnips (a mild, sweet turnip that is tasty eaten raw) for the cabbage.  I’m looking forward to trying a mushroom version (I will probably sauté them first).
  • Salt: I used a scant 1/8 tsp for my half recipe.
  • Oil: I used a mix of peanut and [refined] coconut oils in place of olive oil, which isn’t the best for higher heat cooking.
  • Pan: The recipe doesn’t specify a type of pan.  I was a little bit nervous about the stick risk of using cast iron, but I went for it (using Cat’s tips for making scrambled eggs in cast iron, which I need to share), and it worked fine.
  • To serve: I enjoyed my pudla with some sriracha on top.  I didn’t have avocado, but topping something with avocado never hurts!

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Child-approved

After making pudla for myself on Friday, I was eager to share the discovery, so I whipped up another batch for our lunch on Sunday.  G was a huge fan; he polished his off and asked for seconds, but then admitted he was full.  I offered to make more for his afternoon snack, and he happily agreed.  I do so love having a child who is willing to try new foods!

Chickpea flour facts and nutrition

I buy my chickpea flour (also known as besan) at a global food store.  Bob’s Red Mill also makes it, and that may be more generally available (though also more expensive) at regular grocery stores.

Chickpea flour is ground simply finely ground chickpeas, though the nutrient content is a bit different than whole chickpeas.

ChickpeaFlourTable

The big difference is in the fiber.  I don’t know if some of the more fibrous portions are sifted out and removed when making the flour, or what, but we somehow lose a hefty 4g of fiber going from the beans to the flour (though the nutrition facts label on the Bob’s Red Mill chickpea flour reports 5g of fiber in 1/4 cup of flour, which is more consistent with the whole bean).  The whole bean also contains a bit more iron compared to the flour.

So that’s pudla!  It will definitely go on our “make regularly” list!

Paleo fail

For my Application of Nutrition Concepts course, we were divided into groups and told to pick a weight-loss book to review.  I’ve been curious about Paleo diets, and my group agreed on this topic.  I conducted a good, old-fashioned Google search for Paleo diet books, and one of the first things that came up was Eat to Live by Joel Furhman.

Knowing nothing about the book, but seeing that copies were readily available at both the city and county libraries, I suggested the book to my group.  Everyone agreed, and we submitted the title to the instructor.  And then I started reading the book.

Dr. Fuhrman’s weight loss plan is definitely NOT Paleo.  Oops!  Eat to Live advocates a plant-based diet, which on the surface seems the exact opposite of Paleo.  However, some of the components for sound, safe weight loss are shared.  Dr. Fuhrman’s plan focuses on increasing nutrient density in the diet.  Adherents should avoid processed foods and cut out refined carbohydrates (pp. 36-39); this is an aspect that the diet shares with Paleo.

Instead of learning more about Paleo, I ended up with a book that tracks rather closely with how I already eat, except that my diet is much higher in fat than what Dr. Fuhrman advocates, which makes sense given that I am trying to maintain weight (in a body that, unlike most people’s, doesn’t hoard pounds).

Eventually, I’ll get around to reading more about Paleo diets.  I’m also fascinated by ketogenic diets, since they claim many of the same health and weight-loss benefits as a very low-fat, plant-based diet (as seen in Furhman’s book), but are at the extreme opposite end of the fat-consumption spectrum.

 

Curried coleslaw

I was planning to make coleslaw a few weeks ago, but my usual recipes all sounded a bit blah.  I love a good slaw with peanut or sesame dressing (good recipe here), and my MIL makes a lovely Greek slaw, but I was in the mood for something a bit different, so I turned to the interwebs, where I came across some interesting slaw variations, including a recipe for Curry Bacon Slaw.

I decided to give it a try, minus the bacon.  I had a bit of leftover masaman curry paste in the fridge (masaman curry paste is one of the few store-bought canned goods that we regularly have on hand; I usually don’t use the entire can when I make a batch of curry, which leaves some extra to mix into things (it’s great in sweet potato or winter squash soup)), and I decided to use that in place of the curry powder and cayenne (the masaman has plenty of heat for us).

While I’ve entertained some fantasies about BLTs recently, finding a replacement for the bacon in the recipe was easy enough.  I often top my slaw with toasted sunflower seeds (or peanuts for the peanut/sesame slaw).  I started with my go-to sunflower seeds here.  They work fine, but toasted cashews work even better.

DSC02487_CUrryColeslaw

Note: In the above picture, the coleslaw is accompanied by my first attempt at a barbecue jackfruit sandwich, which will be the subject of another post.  Now, on to the recipe!

CURRIED COLE SLAW

Recipe by Melissa, adapted from Curry Bacon Slaw recipe at thesavory.com
Serves 6-8

Ingredients
Dressing
1/4 c. mayonaise
1/4 c. plain [unsweetened] yogurt (regular or Greek)
2 T. white vinegar
1/2 t. salt
1-2 t. masaman curry paste (this is the kind I buy from our local global foods store)
1/2 t. sugar
2/3 c. toasted cashews
———–
Veggies
5 c green and/or red cabbage, shredded or cut very finely (can also sub in some kohlrabi and/or turnips here)
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks (okay, to omit, but adds nice color)
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

Directions
Whisk together all dressing ingredients to make a rich, thick dressing.  Taste, and add more salt and/or curry paste if desired (at this point it should taste fairly salty, since the veggies haven’t diluted the dressing as all).

Prep your veggies.  I cut the cabbage by hand and use a box grater for the kohlrabi and turnips.

Pour dressing over prepared vegetables and refrigerate at least one hour (2-4 hours would be even better) before serving.  To serve, garnish with toasted cashews.  Enjoy!