a hippie with a minivan

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…

Photos for a friend…

I just wanted to share some pregnancy photos that I took for a friend last weekend…

We did a simple setup with a sheet and whatever lighting we had and just had fun while the kids ran around and made noise…

Jody is 36 weeks here and glowing 🙂

it was just really fun and I really enjoyed taking them….

There are really times that I wish that I could get into photography a bit more seriously…

(click on any to see larger or to see more of this set on Flickr)

my little lost boy…

Yesterday for Colin’s birthday we headed to TRU for him to get a gift for himself. We have been letting the boys pick out their own birthday girts for 2 years now and we love it. They get what they want and we end up spending less..

Anyway, we were walking around and decided to head to the Star wars toys, Khéna was following us around with a little pink stroller that he had been pushing around the store…Colin and Simon headed to the section while Xavier and I were looking at something… then we headed there also… Both of us thought that Khéna was with the other..

When we were looking at the toys I realized that Khéna wasn’t there… he was pushing the stroller around and often goes around an isle but always comes back within a second or two or when we call him … so I called out for him but he didn’t answer like he usually does…

I asked Simon if he saw him and he said that he thought that he was with me… Our hearts sank.

I knew that he wouldn’t leave the store, but scenarios start playing in your mind in situations like that…

We both called out and Simon went looking one way while I went the other… we were starting to panic as every time we called out, there was no answer…

Then I heard the loud speaker come on and I just knew what was coming. The voice called for the parents of Khéna to come to the courtesy desk…

Relief.

Simon arrived with Khéna a minute later…

I asked what happened and Simon didn’t know… he hadn’t thought of asking but just comforted Khéna who was scared and crying when he went to get him. Khéna explained it to me a few minutes later… he couldn’t find us so he went to see a lady that was shopping and asked her if she knew where his mommy and daddy was. She didn’t know, but brought him to the front desk where he said his name and they called us.

I am so proud of him… he did the perfect thing and found someone to help him.

He decided that the cart was a good place for the rest of the shopping trip… he wasn’t going to lose us again..

It was a scary experience, we felt embarrassed for being called but so proud that he did the right thing, and it also opened up some very important conversations…