meatless supper #5--Zucchini Crusted Pizza!

Just a quick post tonight. I am almost past the deadline for Enviromom's meatless supper club! I was once again fairly uninspired for this week's meal and I let the deadline creep up on me. I decided to flip through a few cookbooks last night and settled upon this delicious zucchini-crusted pizza from The New Moosewood Cookbook. I actually have the old Moosewood cookbook too, and somewhat prefer it because the newer one has been too de-fat-ified in my opinion, but for this recipe the fat is basically the same in the newer book and it made a slightly smaller pie, so I went with this one. And the results? Yum! I loved this and it is way better than the other time I tried zucchini crusted pizza (I can't remember what recipe I used that time, but it was too low fat and fell apart).
Did the kids like it? No! Oh well. I still stand by my philosophy of serving healthy whole foods over a lifetime and they will learn to love eating healthy. Faith was observing just tonight on our walk that we eat way healthier than a lot of families (in her experience) and she's glad. Nonetheless, she is still picky about zucchini but I think she will come around. By the way, one advantage to living here is that we still have zucchini in the garden. There are tomato slices on there too (under the cheese) also from the garden. I thought this was delicious and could eat it every day. Ken liked it too, but maybe less than I did.
Served with a salad--I have a big bag of spinach from Trader Joe's to use up and we had strawberries from farmer's market so I made this.
In other news it is cold and blustery tonight and we are thrilled. I just looked up the temperature online and it is 52 degrees. Hooray! Faith and I took the boys for a walk in the moonlight and it was a big hit. Dieter especially loves the houses with Halloween decoration. Happy fall nights to you!

enjoying right now

::my new Lisa Leonard necklace. I love this heartfelt, handmade jewelry. Wearing it just feels "personal" somehow. It is extra special that the children's names are stamped on the back.

I have to be honest--I love Lisa's style and I want more of her work. Look at this beauty. These would make great gifts . . .

::flowers brought to me at work last week by Ken and Rainer. And then they took me out to lunch. How sweet is that?
::these little drawings that Rainer is bringing me constantly now. He churns them out!
::a finished knitting project! This is big news. I started this snake in March--I kid you not. I was so excited to learn how to do increases and I loved seeing the snake's tail form, so why did this take me so long to complete? The body was really boring to do after the increases were over and you have to knit 4 feet of it before you can do the head. I found myself rarely picking it up. Nonetheless, I still want to go forward with my knitting and still want to book a private lesson. Must get on that!
::very much enjoying this boy enjoying the snake.
::this lipstick, found in my drawer at work. This is a simple pleasure because I haven't had a Clinique lipstick in a very long time so it is a nice surprise. I brought it home because I always apply lipstick at home in the morning but rarely have a chance to at work. I'm sure that's why I lost track of it . . .
::and I love the look of the birthday garland that is still hanging in the window. It is so festive and it makes me happy.

happy birthday Rainer!

Rainer turned three over the weekend! We had a little family party for him on Sunday.

{at his birthday breakfast}

{one present was presented in the morning. He had no interest in it and didn't open it!}

{fall and number cookies were made. He was mostly interested in these}

{the birthday table}

{a simple meal of bread and cheese, zucchini soup, and sausages-- his favorites}

Wow, the years are going by so fast with this little guy, and he has certainly made them exciting. I can't believe he is three already. Pretty soon I'm going to have to stop referring to him as "the baby"! Things about Rainer--he is sweet and cuddly, his hair is so soft it feels like fur, he is really into kissing right now, he loves to build things and wants to figure out how things work, he's really into this book just at the moment, he loves to jump on the trampoline and play in the sandbox. He's a boyish boy. Happy birthday, little Rainer!

what I love: low-key outings

Saturday morning I thought it would be nice to take the boys to the park early--before the crowds and the crazy heat could make their appearances. I threw some things in a bag--no real planning--and we were off. It was very low key and fun.


And I discovered/rediscovered a love for thermoses. Faith and I bought this thermos on our Ikea trip last summer, but neither of us had used it yet. It has been a forgotten pleasure. I made a pot of tea, added milk and sugar (which is how we drink it), and bottled it up. How delightful it was to be able to sip hot tea while the boys played. Ken joined me and we were actually able to talk and sip quite a bit while the boys played together. And think of the environmental impact if everyone made their tea or coffee at home and stopped buying Starbucks as much. Of course that is what everyone did back in the 70's when I was growing up.



I think this is a turning point in our parenting. Rainer just turned 3 (more on that tomorrow) and we seem to be heading toward an easier and fun phase of parenting--when the children are just a bit more independent but still really like us and want to play with us(!). We're not quite there yet, but I can see it coming.

pumpkin butter and some pretty pictures

Pumpkin butter on banana bread with chocolate chips. Yum. Love all those strong flavors together. I know I've mentioned making pumpkin butter before. Here's the recipe: (from Glamour magazine, circa 1997!)

Pumpkin Butter

1 15-ounce can of pumpkin
1/2 c. apple juice or cider
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. nutmeg
1/4 t. cloves
pinch of salt

Place ingredients in a saucepan and stir together. Bring to a boil; lower heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring, 15 minutes or until pumpkin butter has become dark and thick. Makes about 1 and 1/3 c. pumpkin butter.

It's delish. You will love it. Usually I use this recipe as kind of a "guide" for using up the rest of a can of pumpkin leftover from another recipe, in which case it's sort of a half-batch.
I also wanted to share with you some images from this book.



Pretty, aren't they?

finally!

I finally put up a little art wire to display Dieter's artwork. I'd been meaning to for ages. Such a simple thing, but I was way overthinking it. So now it's up and Dieter loves having his artwork displayed. I can rotate these out frequently because he's generating so much art both at preschool and at home. I figure I'll take pictures of each new display and, sadly, toss most of these as they are rotated out. I just can't bear to save all of it. That is just way too much paper clutter for me--no matter how it is stored. I'm a tosser. I have a few framed pieces of Jacob and Faith's youthful artwork and I'm fine with that. At most, I would say I wish a had just a few more nicely framed like that (it's expensive!, but even so) and don't regret tossing most of the rest. I have a strong feeling it's the process of creation that is important, not the finished work so much. I feel the same about their lego or block creations. That is why I dis-assemble everything at night when picking up--then they are inspired to create afresh the next day. How about you? Save or toss?

meatless supper #4

I'm participating in Enviromom's Meatless Supper Club and already we are at the halfway point! Last week I mentioned that I wanted to branch out and try new recipes this week, but it just didn't work out. Do you ever try to find a new recipe at the last minute, only to be frustrated by long lists of unfamiliar looking ingredients and the liklihood of having to stop at more than one store just to find everything? That happens to me sometimes, and it is so not what I am wanting in my life right now. I just want simple ingredients and not to buy anything that I'll use a teaspoon of and then have sit in the fridge indefinitely. So, I bring you this: pesto pasta. Not terribly original, but so good and healthy and very simple. I follow this recipe and it is delicious and a hit with the little boys. (By the way, if you haven't checked out Bread and Honey, you are in for a treat. I love Alicia and her cool recipes). I added zucchini and tomato from the garden, since the garden is still producing.
Yummy. What meatless meals are you loving right now?

I have been waiting for this

Representational drawings from little Dieter! For some reason I had set my mind to worrying about him being so reluctant to draw. As it turns out, he just needed more time. Now he has filled up an entire art notebook and is drawing on every random sheet of paper he can find!

{sea creatures are a favorite subject}

{as are volcanoes--lots and lots of volcanoes}

Why is it so important to me that he loves to draw? I think that if he can feel free and confident in his artistic expression right now, it will lead to greater creativity and problem solving later in life--and so much comes down to creativity, doesn't it? All those Nobel prize winners we have been hearing about lately who have made so many important discoveries, and who are so very impressive to me, are all very creative people. And now Dieter is on his way . . .