Hands-on Cultural Activities: Japan

As Jared studied the country of Japan and worked on his book, he also did a few hands-on activities representing the culture.

Zen Garden

Making Paper

Making Sushi.... Well, more like vegetarian rolls...

Nice work, Jared!

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Asian Influence in Our Kitchen

Lately, we have had a craving for Asian dinners. They have proven to be quite balanced and delicious. Even the kids approve.

This image is my son's bowl of Spicy Asian Stir-Fry with Whole-Wheat Linguine. Simple, yummy...

This was a thrown together red quinoa mock Asian dish from things I had left in the fridge. It was a hit! Flavorful and complete.

This is probably a poor representation of a delicious dish we made called Gaeng Khae (Spicy Thai Vegetable Soup). It was both therapuetic and savory.

This is our Citrus Salad, slightly modified from the recipe, but super refreshing and delectable.

This dish was based upon the Bamboo Shoot, Mushroom, and Long Bean Stir-Fry recipe in the December 2011 issue of Vegetarian Times Magazine. I can't find it on their website, though.

This Sticky Rice with Carrots, Shitake Mushrooms, and Peanuts dish was also in the same article, "Buddha's Delight" as the above recipe. Likewise, it also is not yet listed on their website. We always seem to change things here and there. Instead of sticky rice, we used wild rice and jasmine rice. Mmmmm....

We were feeling under the weather for a few days, so we decided to try some Ginger Tea. Both potent and soothing.

Try these if you like or get inspired to try some Asian cooking that is light, yet filling, balanced, and often medicinal. Enjoy.

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Christmas At Our Abode...Though a Bit Late In Posting It...

Wow, I have been more unplugged lately than I have been in a long time, which is wonderful. I am obviously with the kids more, enjoying this insanely sunny winter so far, and since Xmas, I have lost about 13 Lbs! So, I finally loaded a month-and-a-half of pictures onto my computer today because I have been super busy...even too busy to worry about quilting. So, here is a collection of photos from Christmas time.

The boys and I made ornaments with some friends out of little cloth dolls that my girlfriend found at the thrift store. Here is my silly little elf. He reminds me of a court jester.

On Christmas eve, the grandparents stopped by to give the boys their gifts. They were awesome!

 

Jared has since had fun making some of his Eco Crafts...

 All I can say is that this is one of the coolest things a 12-year-old can receive as a gift!

Dylan got a little tree home with three finger puppet forest pals, two of which him and Grandma are playing with. So dang cool!

Lukey is drawing a winter forest scene...maybe he was trying to summon the snow...

 For Christmas Eve dinner, I made a vegetarian meal, both because turkey and ham are expensive, and because we are eating meat and poultry less and less frequently. Above is an apple butternut squash torte before it was baked, so that you can see the yummy innards.

 The torte was baked with cheese on the top, and the meal was accompanied by green beans with shallots and sherry and a bowl full of garlic mashed potatoes.

 We also had veggie jambalaya to round out the whole meal. It was fantastic!!

 Christmas morning was mellow and super exciting for the boys.

 Santa really spoiled them this year. I think next year the "old jolly man", a.k.a. Mommy, should flex better skills of frugality. They made out like bandits. Also, Note to self: we need to get our tree later on than last year. Getting it the day after Thanksgiving is not conducive for a small home that constantly has the wood-stove running. It was pretty dry by Christmas. Oh well.

 Dylan showing off some of his stocking stuffers...

 Lukey was excited about his hats and his skinny jeans and his funny pajama bottoms and.....

Dylan sporting some serious fashion here.....Jared getting stoked off of his many Barefoot Books...

They all got some super cool games and puzzles.

Lukey checking out his Official Handy Game for Boys....

 The Littles playing with their new Connectagons....

 Mickey Mouse pancakes for Christmas morning. I totally forgot until recently that my mother used to treat me to these when I was little. :)

Jared helped make flax seed meal shortbread cookies.....

 Here are his finished cookies.... They were buttery and delicious!

 Dylan was so cute when playing with his dinosaurs on the grasslands with a river and mountain range.

And lastly, for Christmas we indulged in an enchilada recipe that I am consequently unable to find, and I am not wasting anymore time looking for it right now. It was in one of my Vegetarian Times magazines. And, of course, mine never looks as good as the photo in the magazine. This was accompanied by avocados, lime wedges, sour cream and we served sauteed kale on the side. It was superb!

We drove to Tahoe, but unfortunately there was no snow and almost everything was closed so it wasn't as fun as it could have been. That is okay. We already figured that before we went there. Other than that, we stayed home and enjoyed each others' company. Merry Very Belated Christmas!

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Harvest-i-ness

Wow, I am long overdue! We are well into the Christmas season, but I have been slacking a bit...for the legitimate reason of spending undivided time with the boys, I suppose. I made several Harvesty edible things, but, like with our bacon and harvest apple omelet on Thanksgiving morning, the pictures did not turn out so well. So, I will show you a glimpse of what turned out okay. :)

This was our breakfast pumpkin spice oatmeal morning dish on the morning of Thanksgiving. It was accompanied by, of course, our bacon and harvest apple omelet. Super Yummy!

And here is a quick peek at our pumpkin streusel.......

Hard at work making turkey art with dried beans, bark, and leaves......

Dylan is scoping out which beans to utilize for his unique turkey. 

Nice turkey face....with help from Mommy a bit.....

 

 The boys' finished, yet undried work...Dylan's is far left, Jared's cycloptic turkey is in the center, and Lukey's is the big, orange-backed, methodical one. I LOVE these!!!

Pre-Thanksgiving dinner.... Garlic mashed potatoes, awesome kale dish from Epicurious.com, orange-cranberry sauce, and the Butternut Squash-Bartlett Pear Soup recipe from Yoga Journal. Never fails!

Happy super-belated Thanksgiving!!

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Fall Pumpkin Recipes

One of my favorite elements of fall and winter is the continuous opportunity to bake and create new things and old in the kitchen. The togetherness of making food with one another, the warmth of the oven or stovetop, the warmth of food freshly baked, the coziness therein, the natural ingredients, the appreciation of the process and the divine results, the nourishment of tummy and soul, etc....... It is a wonderful thing, especially when there are family and friends to share with. So, I decided to come up with a few pumpkin-esque recipes this last week to celebrate the continuing harvest season.

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Iced Pumpkin Cookies

 These lightly-spiced cookies were super moist and sweet. Every bite was like a taste of Autumn, cozy at home by the fire. Enjoy!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda                

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves                

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 cup canned pumpkin puree

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract                

2 cups confectioners' sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon melted butter                

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
4. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.                

This recipe should easily make 36 cookies, about 3 batches in the oven.

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 Spiced Pumpkin Bread

This bread was very simple and delicious. I will definitely make this Fall comfort food again next year... in fact, I am making at least another loaf before year's end! The boys loved it and it certainly didn't last a day in our house. You can find the recipe here at Plain and Joyful Living.

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 Peanut Butter Pumpkins

These cute little treats were a blast for the boys to help with, but they are certainly a bit on the sweet side. These are along the lines of a healthier version of candy, being that they are made mostly of peanut butter, but they still have a ton of butter and sugar. A titillating pleasure for those with a fierce sweet tooth, these pumpkins are a cute, simple treat that little ones can enjoy.

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter 

1 1/2 cups peanut butter

1 (16 ounce) package confectioners' sugar, sifted   

red food coloring  

yellow food coloring  

green decorators icing   

Directions

Melt butter in a large bowl and add a few drops of yellow and red food coloring, until mixture has a nice orange color.

1. Add the peanut butter and confectioners sugar and mix together until a dough-like consistency is reached. (This means that when the dough is nice and stiff and it gets hard to add any more sugar, to let it go at that).
2. Shape dough into small balls shaped like pumpkins; make ridges on the pumpkins with a toothpick or butter knife.
3. Add a small amount of green decorators icing to the top of each pumpkin for a stem.
4. Refrigerate, if you like, to allow pumpkins to firm.
5. Serve on a plate lined with toasted coconut and Halloween decorated cookies, if desired; these also look good on top of cupcakes.

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Pumpkin Spice Latte

This was fantastic! My old beat up mug that was only half full happened to be the only photo I caught between all of our lattes. The 3 boys dove in right away before I could capture a pretty picture. Can't blame them. The only modification I made to their's from that of mine was that they didn't have any coffee in their's. Lovely recipe for those who want to kick up their coffee or hot chocolate craving a notch or two. This recipe can be found here...with a much nicer photo, too. ;)

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Pumpkin Hummus

This delicious hummus is great for parties, snacking, or even a pretty solid lunch. We were certainly full once 3 of us finished this platter for a mid-day meal last week. There was a fantastic balance between the pumpkin, garbanzo beans, and spices. We just couldn't get enough, me and the little ones. I will certainly make this one again! The pumpkin hummus recipe can be found at the same website as the latte above.

......And there were even leftovers after filling up.....

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So, there you have it. A cozy little collection of pumpkin recipes, aside from the obvious traditional pumpkin pie. Try them and enjoy! Let me know if you have any more fantastic ideas for pumpkin recipes. In the case that we try a few more, perhaps I will share a pumpkin recipes post #2.

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