The Joy of Nature

It's been lovely outside the past several days, and we've been making the most of it. I am fairly newly (8.5 weeks) pregnant with our second blessing, and the good weather has allowed me to sit outside and rest, camera in hand, as my almost three-year-old runs around discovering anew all the wonders God provides him in his own front yard every spring.

We've been planting flowers, and he's happy to dig into the dirt with a shovel and help me gently pat the earth down over the tender roots of the plants. My neighbor even let him help with her large garden, and he did a great job!






Our neighborhood, like many in our area, has been completely invaded by caterpillars this year. I've never seen so many! The kids are all having a blast, picking them up, letting them wiggle all over their hands and arms, and trying to keep them as "pets" in plastic containers with a few leaves and some holes for air. We adults had been talking fondly about the possiblity of so many butterflies later in the season, but a friend who is more educated about nature than I am informed me today that the fantastic, furry, yellow-and-black caterpillars that have suddenly appeared in every nook and cranny of our town will soon become plain old moths, and they'll destroy our trees if we're not careful. I love our beautiful Thundercloud plum tree, so I won't be as enthusiastic about the caterpillars hanging around here anymore. But I did get some great pictures of my son "discovering" a caterpillar:






It is so thrilling to watch his eyes widen with each new experience and to see the smile on his face when he digs into something new -- quite literally, in the case of gardening! Though parenting at this sometimes difficult age (he'll be three in June) presents many challenges, the rewards of watching one's child explore the world with such eagerness and innocence are more than worth the trouble.

Meatless Meals Week 3

Week 2 got buried in the mess that is daily life -- namely, my neighbor had to take her 4 month old to the emergency room and left her three year old with us. My son and her son had fish sticks, my husband and I had tortellini out of a bag that I would not make again and took no pictures of because it was not good and I wouldn't want to share that with others.

But last night, we ate well.



LEMON PEPPER GRILLED TROUT

Ingredients:
2 fish fillets (I used trout, you could use almost any white fish or even salmon)
1 lemon
Olive oil
Lemon Pepper
Parsley (fresh or dried)

Directions:
Preheat broiler at 500 degrees. Place fish on non-stick broiler pan or heat-resistant baking sheet flesh side up. Rub fillets with olive oil until just coated but not dripping. Slice one lemon crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Place 4 slices on the pan alongside the fish. Squeeze the rest of the slices over the fish, letting the juice run, and discard. Sprinkle lemon pepper and parsley over the fish and lemon slices -- how much to put on varies with how much flavor you want.

Broil fish and lemon slices with oven door slightly ajar for 5-10 minutes or until fish is opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Place roasted lemon slices on top of fish and serve with couscous and green veggie of your choice.

Meatless Fridays, Week One

Here is what we had for dinner tonight:



And here is the recipe (the usual rules apply about this being a meal for a couple with one small child, adjust as necessary for larger families):

Garlic Herb Pasta with Summer Squash

Ingredients:

1 box Garlic Herb Fettucine
1 large or two smaller yellow summer squash and/or zucchini (both work equally well and taste great together), cut in half lengthwise and then into 1/2 inch slices crosswise
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt (to taste)
Black pepper (to taste)
About 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (I eyeball this every single time, you just need enough to thorougly coat the pasta after it is cooked and drained.)
1/3 cup grated parmesan or parmigiano reggiano cheese (whichever you have on hand, I like the latter the best for taste, though)
More salt (to taste)
More pepper (to taste)

Directions:

Boil pasta as directed on the package. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick pan heat the 2 tbsp olive oil over medium heat until hot but not smoking. Season the squash with salt and pepper and add to pan. Saute the squash, stirring frequently and adding salt and pepper to taste, until done to your liking (I like it to be very soft and have brown "grill marks" on it, but you may like it less cooked).

When pasta is done, drain in colander. Toss cooked, drained pasta in a large bowl with the squash, olive oil, salt, pepper, and grated cheese until everything is nicely mixed. Serve with a little extra grated cheese for garnish, and a side salad or breadsticks.


Enjoy!

Carnival of Meatless Recipes

Ruth at Just Another Day In Paradise is hosting a Carnival of Meatless Recipes for Lent. Catholics over age 14 are required to abstain from meat on Fridays during Lent, though many devout Catholics choose to abstain for the entire 40-day season or on additional days of penance. "Meat" includes all warm-blooded animals -- fish doesn't count. That's why you see the traditional "Friday Fish Fry" so many places -- back when EVERY Friday was a day of abstinence from meat, Catholics would get together for their weekly fish dinner. I bet it was fun!

Anyway, in the spirit of the Lenten season, I have a few meatless recipes I'd love to share. All recipes, unless noted, are portioned for 2 adults with leftovers or a single small child's meal, but can be multiplied as necessary for larger families.

Here is the first of what will be a weekly topic during Lent -- tonight's meatless meal, in honor of Ash Wednesday:

"Got Ashes?"

Black Bean and Guacamole Burritos with Spanish Rice

Ingredients:

For the Beans:
1 Can Black Beans (preferably organic), drained of water
About 1/2 tsp Chipotle Tabasco sauce (optional)
Chili powder (to taste)

For the Guacamole:
1 large ripe avocado
2 tbsp prepared salsa (mild or medium)
Salt (to taste)
Juice of 1/4 lime

1/2 cup shredded Mexican or Colby Jack cheese (to garnish)
2 flour tortillas (whole wheat are best)

For the Spanish Rice:
1 cup rice, prepared according to instructions
1 tbsp chili powder (adjust as necessary for taste)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 can of diced tomatoes, drained of juice
Salt or seasoned salt (to taste)

Instructions:

Prepare 1 cup of dried rice according to package instructions. This should take about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, mix the drained beans with about 1/2 tsp tabasco and a couple of shakes of chili powder (depending on how much kick you'd like the beans to have -- you can add more if you need to. Heat the beans over medium heat, stirring frequently, until hot but not boiling, then turn down the heat to low or med-low, stirring occasionally.

For the guacamole, scoop the flesh of the avocado into a bowl and add salsa, lime juice, and some salt to taste. Using a fork or potato masher, mix the contents of the bowl until blended but still lumpy.

By the time you finish these two tasks, the rice should be done. Over very low heat, stir in the canned tomatoes, chili powder, onion powder and salt and/or seasoned salt. Stir until well blended and remove from heat.

Place tortillas between two paper towels, folding the corners of the towels underneath the tortillas. Warm in microwave for 15-20 seconds. Assemble burritos by scooping beans into each tortilla followed by guacamole and shredded cheese. Serve alongside spanish rice.

Yummy!



This meal is a big favorite of our 2.5 year old. The portions listed above are just enough to feed my husband and me with a small portion left over for the kiddo, who is a light eater. We serve him just beans, rice, guacamole and cheese in a bowl with a spoon and a tortilla on the side, ripped up in little pieces for dipping. It's less messy that way, and what toddler doesn't enjoy dipping?

Large families will want to at least double this recipe.

Anatomy of a Playroom

Some of us at 4real are discussing how best to finish a basement, and the conversation has turned to organization and storage. Having just finished creating a playroom for my son out of half of our basement family room, I thought I would share the ways in which I chose to showcase and organize his multitude of toys and educational "thingies."

Here is an overall view of the play area:


In the lower right corner, you can see the sofa that divides the "bowling alley" (as I call the family room because it runs the entire width of our townhouse yet is probably less than 10 feet deep) in half with the white bookshelf backed up to it -- that's serving as the 4th "wall" of the play space. I took the picture standing in the TV watching area, which contains the couch, a coffee table and the TV unit (among other clutter I'm choosing not to show you at the moment).

Here is a closer look at the toy/book storage and reading area:


I found this great organizational shelving unit at Michael's Arts and Crafts for $49.99. A lot of my friends and acquaintances have similar shelves to organize kids' toys, but I like this one because it has book storage in the top, and we love books around this house!

The fish was a gift from my best friend's husband, an avid (and I mean AVID) fisherman. The painting is a rendering of the Ark by my 2 1/2 year old son. Tucked into the space beside the bookshelf is a collapsible play tunnel and two huge art and construction paper pads.

Here is the kitchen and art table area:


Here is a closer look at the art table area, which also contains a small home altar shelf with kid-friendly (read: wooden) rosaries and some favorite images of Our Lord and Our Lady:


And here is the shelf backed up to the sofa where we keep toys that are too big for the toy shelf, along with a small drawer unit for art supplies (excuse the mess on top of the bookshelf, the other half of this room is very much a work in progress and the mess is spilling over):


Hopefully this will help someone.