2010 – Page 10 – a hippie with a minivan

Cha-cha-cha-Chia!

When I was in BC visiting Annie, her mom also came for a visit and had brought Chia Seeds with her. I had only even heard of chia in those informercials about Chia pets around the holidays when I was young… I still remember the jingle vividly..

Annie’s mom mentioned that Chia was a great super-food, high in Omega-3’s… So when I got home I and found some at my grocery store I decided to try them and look for more info. I was amazed at what I found. It seems that Chia has been a big craze in the last few years but I guess we are really behind in crazes because it was all new to me.

Chia seeds are in the Mint family and were once considered a staple food for the Aztec. Not only is Chia said to be higher in Omega 3 fatty acids, it also contains higher amounts of protein, dietary fibre and antioxidants. Unlike Flax seed, it doesn’t have to be ground and it does not go rancid either so it can be stored indefinitely.

Again like flax, when you add water to Chia seeds a gel is formed. Chia can absorb 10X its weight in water. What is different however with Chia is that the gel isn’t oily or sticky as the flax gel gets but instead each seed is enveloped. When you touch it you fingers are just slightly damp and it doesn’t stick at all and instead the seeds are like like pearls of tapioca.

You can either use Chia by sprinkling it on your food, or adding it to recipes, but my favourite way to use it is to make “Chia Fresca”…

This drink not only helps rehydrate, but also gives a healthy dose of Omega-3’s, protein, fibre and antioxidents. And because the Chia seeds hold so much water themselves by making the chia gel before hand, you are also getting more water in your water… 🙂

Make the Chia gel by mixing any amount of chia seeds with 10X the amount of water… stir a few tines so that is doesn’t clump and then let sit to form the gel for about 10 min…

You can make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge…

Squeeze some lemon into your water, add a few spoonfuls of Chia gel and that’s it! (some may add sugar but I like it as is)

(the true and natural energy drink)

Redpath…

On Monday we headed to the Redpath Museum in Montreal for a workshop on meteorites…

Last time we were at the Redpath Xavier started getting sick on the way there and we ended up spending a lot of time in the bathroom… This time we got there early and were able to spend some time looking around… what a great museum. If you are in Montreal, it is a great place to stop by and check out 🙂

We went and looked at the mummies again and then some other curious and interesting artifacts…

Skeletons… Samurai armour… shrunken head… so many questions…

then of course the the dinosaur skeletons were a big hit… The boys were amazed at the size of them…

This is Gorgosaurus libratus a genus of T-Rex that lived in Western Canada at one time…

I forgot the name of this guy… but I stood next to him fascinated for quite a while…

The Triceratops skull was massive… It is hard to imagine that they were Herbivores…

Then we met up with the other homeschoolers that were there and the workshop started…

The format of the Workshops given at the Redpath are great. The kids have a short information session… not more than 30 min in all and not all at the same place, so there are moving around bit… Then a craft session to finish things up…

Szechwan Eggplant and Cauliflower

I had no idea what I wanted to make for supper but knew that I wanted to use the eggplant that I had in my fridge. I also knew that I didn’t want to make my usual eggplant dishes so I went searching…

I was looking for something salty and sweet and tangy with a bit of heat. I found an obscure recipe that gave me an idea and decided to figure something out and this is what I came up with…

Szechwan Eggplant and Cauliflower on rice..

It was so delicious!! I liked eggplant, but I never knew how much I actually love eggplant!!

So it started… first I sauteed some cubed eggplant (1 whole large eggplant) in the wok with a bit of peanut oil… I didn’t stir too much, and didn’t crowd the pan as I wanted the eggplant to get a nice caramelized colour..

Then I saw that even a whole eggplant doesn’t make too much… so then entered the cauliflower…

I put the eggplant aside, chopped up a head of cauliflower and then did a few batches the same way in the wok as I did the eggplant… You don’t want to overcook the cauliflower though, a bit of crunch adds so much to the dish alongside the soft texture of the eggplant..

In the meantime I put together the sauce… I made it up a bit as I went along so the measurements are approximative and you might need to adjust as you see fit…

In a bowl mix together

1/2 cup stock
5 tbsp garlic
Black bean garlic sauce (or chili bean paste)
4 tbsp of tamari
2 tbs of rice vinegar
5 tsp sugar
6 cloves of garlic (minced)
2 tbsp of ginger

Put the cauliflower aside, add some chopped onion to the wok and stir-fry until translucent. Add the sauce, bring to a boil and then add a bit of a cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Adjust seasonings if needed…

Once thickened, add the cooked eggplant and cauliflower to the sauce and stir…

Serve over rice with some green onions on top… or even just on its own… it is just that good…

Cone cakes…

I made Cone cakes for both Xavier’s and Colin’s first birthdays and I don’t why, but I hadn’t made them since!

They are such a treat and are so much fun to eat and of course so easy to make!

Take your favourite cake recipe (for me it is Black Magic)

Put flat bottom Ice cream cones in a muffin pan… or any pan… and fill 2/3rd of the way with your cake batter and that is it!

Bake at 350 for about 20-25 min until a toothpick comes out clean…

Let cool and top with your favourite icing 🙂

(triple birthday with friends)

they are that easy!

Split crotch pants…

I had never really saw the need for split-crotch pants… I would rather just pull down normal pants or use babylegs with underwear, but when I gave an EC workshop last month I thought that it would be a good thing to show what was available for EC wear and decided to make a pair… (of course I decided this the night before)

It didn’t take much time at all, though it would have taken less if I hadn’t embellished them, and then I even made another pair in the morning before the workshop…

I you EC, especially diaper -free, you need to know that these are great 🙂

Split crotch pants are so easy to make and you can get away with little sewing depending on the material that you use… Though I didn’t exactly use this pattern, here is a great pattern with instructions for those who would like to make them… I don’t use fleece because of the plastic content but if you do, fleece would be very easy to use if you are a novice sewer. I used a baby wale cord for mine…

If you already have a pant pattern that you like, you can just use that (use the back pieces only). When you are cutting, extend the inside seam at the top a bit more so that you have a better overlap and then follow the instructions on the blog linked above if you need help putting them together 🙂

I am so happy with the pairs that I made and I plan to make more… I don’t like the “chaps” style pants at all, so I sewed a bit of the overlap to make sure that it doesn’t come apart much when I don’t want them to (sitting, crawling, standing, etc)… but when she is on the potty or I am holding her in the classic position they work perfectly…