Spinach and Pickled Green Beans Dip

I’m starting to think that I need to go out for groceries more often because a lot of my recipes seem to be related to not having a lot of groceries. I had steak that I defrosted in the fridge but I couldn’t figure out what to serve with it. I was super low on groceries but I did have spinach so someone suggested making spinach dip and serving it on toast. I thought that was perfect and so this is what I came up with. I had spicy pickled green beans in the fridge (who doesn’t?) so that’s what I used but pickled asparagus or the more typical choice of marinated artichokes would also be great.
Spinach and Pickled Green Beans Dip Recipe
1 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp of butter or olive oil
1 cup hot and spicy pickled green beans chopped
1 box frozen chopped spinach defrosted
2 Tbsp mayo
2 Tbsp cream cheese
Juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper


Directions
1. Heat the butter or oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute the onion and garlic until softened.
2. Add the green beans, spinach, mayo, cream cheese and lemon juice.
3. cook for about 5 minutes, until hot stirring often. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve over toast, with bread or your favorite chips.
Per serving (1/4 of the dip): Calories – 116, Carbs – 6g, Fat – 9g, Protein 3, Fibre – 3.

Whole Grains: Brown Basmati Rice

Whenever I can I try to use whole grain products this has always been easy for me with bread and since I switched to whole grain pasta, I’ve never looked back. Rice on the other hand… It’s just not the same. The texture is so different, so much chewier. And, although he didn’t realize it, my husband complained every time we had it.

That was, until I discovered brown basmati rice.  The texture is so much softer. It’s slightly chewier than white rice, but not by much. It substitute for white rice in a way that regular brown rice just can’t.

I was having a little bit of trouble with it having excess liquid when I followed the instructions on the rice which is probably related to Calgary’s high altitude.

There’s three ways to go when this happens. You can either cook it longer, at a higher temperature or decrease the amount of liquid you put in. I thought that the rice seemed cooked enough so I decreased the 2 cups of water (for 1 cup of rice) to 1 and 2/3 cups and it was perfect.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Cheese Soufflé Recipe (Usborne First Cookbook)

For some reason that I do not really understand I decided to try making a cheese soufflé for my second recipe from The Usborne First Cookbook. I’m not sure what possessed me to try something that ambitious. Gordie and I were both not feeling well and loud noises make Gordie cry so I beat the egg whiles by hand instead of using a mixer. I do not recommend this. Especially not using a fork. At least use a whisk. In the end though, it actually turned out pretty well.

If you missed first recipe I tried - Baked Egg Tomato Cups make sure it check it out.

Cheese Soufflé Recipe

3 large eggs (room temperature not cold)
1 1/2 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup grated cheese
a pinch of nutmeg
salt and pepper

Directions

1. Put your oven rack into the middle of the oven and preheat to 375F.
2. Grease a 1 quart round ovenproof dish.
3. Separate the egg whites into one bowl and the yolks into a different medium bowl. Beat the yolks.
4. Make a white sauce: melt the butter into a saucepan over low heat. Stir in the flour a bit at a time. Cook for a minute and then stir in the milk a little at a time. Turn up the heat and stir constantly. When the mixture boils turn the heat down and continue to stir until thick and creamy.
5. Add the cheese, nutmeg, egg yolks and a pinch of salt and pepper to the white sauce.
6. Whisk the egg whites until they form soft peaks when you lift the beater. (or whisk. But use a beater, really your arms will thank you)
7. Use a metal spoon to stir in a spoonful of the white sauce and then fold in the rest slowly and gently.
8. Pour the mixture into your greased baking dish and put it in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes. It should be golden brown and puffy when it is ready. Don't peek!

Serve immediately as it starts to sink as soon as you take it out of the oven. I used a 1.5 quart dish so the presentation wasn’t quite as nice as it could have been.

So, Did They Eat It?

This was actually pretty good. The nutmeg added a really nice tone. Gordie and my SN brother loved it. My husband didn’t get any because we ate it all before he got home.

Per 1/4 Soufflé: Calories – 262, Carbs – 12g, Fat – 19g, Protein 15, Fibre – 0.

How becoming a mother made me less judgemental

It seems everywhere I turn I see things suggesting that motherhood turns women into ‘mompetitors’: women who are strongly critical of each other and their differing parenting decisions. For me, I think it has been the opposite. Becoming a mother has helped me become much less judgemental and more able to see that even if it is not a choice I’d make or a method I would use, it can still be a good choice. 

I have always tried to see things from other people’s perspectives but it’s not always easy. Before I was a mother, I didn’t understand why you wouldn’t want to breastfeed your baby. Now that I have had to deal with the frustration and the sleepless nights - I get it. I may not understand why you wouldn’t want to, but I certainly understand why you would choose not to or why you would stop. I was fortunate enough to have had a year of maternity leave and my son never had a drop of formula. But I couldn’t even imagine going back to work when my baby was 6 weeks old and continuing to breastfeed. Where do mothers find the energy? I applaud anyone who is able to manage that, but I really don’t think I could.

My son is now almost 2 and is now a pretty decent sleeper, but it has been a long and painful road. I didn’t want to use methods that involved crying it out when I felt he was too little to understand. Slowly, with a good night time routine and a healthy respect for the importance of naps, his sleep has vastly improved. This worked for us, but it was often difficult. At his worst my son was waking up every hour. Looking back, I’m not sure how we all made it through that alive. Despite deciding not to sleep train, I completely understand why other parents choose to do it and I respect that choice as well. Being sleep deprived is hard on your mental, physical and emotional state and for some people sleep training is definitely going to be the best option for them.

Being able to view these things with more empathy and understanding than I previously had has made me take a second look at things I have taken for granted in other areas of my life as well. It has helped me see that situations are often a lot more complex than they see at first blush.

I still have my own opinions and the way I want to do things, but I’m now much more accepting of people who make choices that are different from my own. Although something might be the right choice for me, it’s not necessarily the right choice for someone else.

Cola Marinated Steak

I made this steak for my husband for valentine’s day. I had heard of using cola to marinate steak but had never tried it before. It was good and I really enjoyed trying something different but I don’t think it’s going to become a staple.

Cola Marinate Recipe

4 marinating steaks (I used eye of round)
1 can coca-cola
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 tsp garlic cloves
salt and pepper

Directions

Put Steak and marinate ingredients in a large zip lock bag and refrigerate for about 6 hours. My steak probably could have used a longer marinating time, but if you are just flavouring a grilling steak you could go for a shorter period of time.

Wordless Wednesday