Office Update

You know how sometimes you live with a room for a while and then you get tired of it?  That's what happened in our office.  It seemed like such a sad addendum to the rest of the living space, mostly because of it's lack of color.  Problem solved!  

 (Before)

I revealed The Office last May, and not that there's a huge amount different, but enough to make it a little more lively.  So almost a year later, here we are again.  And lest you think I've gotten it down this time: sometimes I wonder if the blue has too much green or if the other walls should be a different shade of gray.  But then I stand back and think I like it so much more than before and don't dislike it enough to redo it yet again.  :)  Yet.  Everything in the house is subject to scrutiny.  

So here you have our very used and functional office.  

Matching Office Chairs

I love my new craigslist find!  I've been wanting new chairs in the office that actually matched.  I've had similar painted/upholstered chairs, but they just weren't speaking to me anymore.

They weren't in very good condition when I brought them home, but for $46, I'll take them.  They had gross red vinyl seats.  The extra surprise was the old jeans that were stapled to the chairs under the vinyl.

A Blog Announcement

I've been so excited to tell you (drum roll please) that I have a new blog!!

I've been thinking about doing this for a while and after slaving away learning a new system, I now have a place to invite you to in wordpress.  

Carrot bowl is the new home for all food, Pretty Dubs will remain the home for home and crafty projects.  I get to have double the fun now!  I have some good things coming up for both places and I hope you have fun exploring.  

Talk to you soon!

House Rules

You're likely to get some creative answers if you ask small children what they think are your house rules.  I know because this is exactly what we did.

I Hate Being Late + Roasted Brussel Sprouts

If there's one thing that drives me crazy about myself, it's my judgement of timeliness.  I hate being late and I feel like I try so hard to be on time.  But then I'm not.

So I think I've come to a couple conclusions about this.  I have three children.  Getting them ready consistently takes twice as long as I think it will.  I need to adjust my start time (even if it seems SO early to start the process...which I do think).

Apple Crisp on the Healthy Side

Can you really think of anything better than apple crisp?  Warm, cuddled in front of the tv, spooning in soft apples with crumbly topping...mmmmmm.  I want some right now.  In my desire, I had to come up with something I could make to fill the need.  Welcome to the healthy side of apple crisp.

Remember my Homemade Granola?  Stroke of genius, well, I think so.  Apples get soft and delicious with heat, add some cinnamon to kick it up, and top with granola!  Is it sugary and buttery like the original?  No, and that's why it's better.  It still tastes warm and sweet, but the right sweet.

Apple Crisp
makes and 8x8 pan

7-8 apples, sliced with skins on
cinnamon
2 cups homemade granola (or other healthy alternative) - you can use less or more as you want

Preheat oven to 375.  In a bowl, mix your sliced apples and add some good shakes of cinnamon and stir to coat apples.  In a 8x8 pan, spread your apples evenly on the bottom.  Top apples with your granola.  Cover with foil and bake in oven for 10 minutes.  Check apples to see how soft they are.  I didn't let mine get soggy, I still wanted them to keep some shape.  If they are close, then take off your tinfoil and let back for another 3-5 minutes.  If it's not close, cook for another 3 minutes and check again.  When you do take the foil off, keep an eye on your crisp so you don't burn your granola.  Remove from oven and spoon in.

Veggie Seed Burger

I want to take several weeks and make veggie burgers every night.  There are so many different recipes out there!  So I guess you can look forward to continuing reviews.  Yea!

Okay, this one comes from Oh She Glows.  They had several specific wants for their perfect veggie burger, and this is what they came up with. 

I really liked it, my husband didn't.  I think it had great flavor, but the texture is seedy.  That's fine with me, and as long as you're prepared for that, then you'll be good.  I did have the advantage that I knew what I was making and so expected it to be seedy.  It was amazing broken up on a salad the next day and would encourage you to make them just for that!

Oh She Glows' Perfect Veggie Burger

(This is their recipe and you can go to their blog to get the instruction list)

1/2 cup onion, diced

1 garlic clove, minced

Flax eggs: 2 1/2 Tbsp ground flax + 1/2 cup warm water, mixed in bowl

1 cup oats, processed into flour (use your food processor)

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

1 cup grated carrots

1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed and roughly pureed or mashed

Heaping 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped (or fresh herb of choice)

1/3 cup almonds, chopped (toasted if preferred)

1/2 cup sunflower seeds (toasted if preferred)

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 Tbsp soy sauce (tamari)

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

salt and pepper to taste

Cashew Peanut Kale

It's a green day!  Appropriately, I wanted to give you something very green you could make for your St. Patrick's Day dinner.  I had this recipe on my list for a while and had quite the cooking day this past week where I busted out 4 different recipes.  Hello kale!

A while ago I told the hubs that I was thinking of making dinner during the day so I could actually take pictures of it in natural light.  His response, "So we're going to have leftovers every night?"  But at the same time, he wasn't surprised that I would even think of that.  Lucky for him, it's lighter later and as we go even more into spring/summer time, I'll be cooking until 9pm!  Well, maybe.  We might be playing outside instead.  The point is that I could and will still have enough light for pictures!

Thanks to The Urban Baker for this one!  It was peanuty in flavor, but the cashews gave a good balance to not make it overwhelming.  The peeled carrots gave awesome color and an extra texture.  And the wilted kale was delicious.  I'm making it again for tonight!

Cashew Peanut Kale 
Adapted closely from The Urban Baker

Salad: 
5 Large bunches of kale
3/4 cup cashews, roasted salted
2 carrots, peeled into strips

Sauce: 
3 Tbsp creamy salted peanut butter
3/4 cup water
1-2 Tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp ginger powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp soy sauce (to taste)
2 Tbsp rice vinegar (to taste)
1 tsp sugar (optional)
1/4 tsp cayenne
1-3 Tbsp Bangkok Padang peanut sauce (found easily at Winco, etc) - this is spicy

Prep your kale by de-veining it, taking off all the leaves from the middle vein, wash and chop the leaves.  Have your cashews on hand.  Peel your two carrots.  Set all these aside.

Using a large (tall) saute pan, add all the sauce ingredients and whisk briskly over medium heat until the peanut butter melts and they blend together.  Reduce heat to simmer, continually whisking for about 2 minutes.  Don't let it burn.

Fold kale into the sauce, over low heat, and let wilt down to 1/3 the size.  Add cashews and carrots, stir to combine, and remove from heat.

I ate this warm, although I'm sure it would be good cold (as the Urban Baker claims).

Black Bean Soup

This soup is total comfort food for me.  It's warm, my favorite flavors, and good no matter what time of day you eat it!  It's weird, but I really think I'd be happy eating it for breakfast.  Actually, I think I'll make it again tonight.  Here in Portland we've been having such a happy winter/almost spring, but today is looking like you would guess it would: cloudy, windy, kinda cold, and about to rain.  July 4th is the beginning of the no rain season, so we have a while yet.

Another good part of this recipe is that there are SO many different ways to make it.  If you just have 5 minutes, add your drained and rinsed beans with some broth and salsa and you're ready to eat once it's heated.  I hope this becomes your new go-to recipe, you'll love it!

Black Bean Soup

1 onion

4 cloves of garlic

1 Tbsp ground cumin (or more to taste)

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

3-4 cans black beans (6-7 cups), rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups water + 2 tsp vegetable or chicken stock bullion OR 1 1/2 cups stock (add more or less to achieve your desired soup thickness)
2-3 cups chunky salsa
2 Tbsp lime juice

I've also added these extras:
(adapted from Simply Recipes)
2 chopped peppers - choose between bell peppers, anaheim, or jalepeño (depending on what you want for heat) - seed, stems, and ribs discarded
1 Tbsp oregano
3 Tbsp orange juice concentrate
salt to taste
chopped fresh cilantro for garnish

In a large pot, sauté onion until tender, add garlic, cumin, and crushed red pepper and stir for another minute.  Pureé 2 cans of beans with 1/2 cup of stock until smooth.  Add all beans to the pot.  Add stock, salsa, and lime juice.  Adjust the amount of stock/water until the soup is the consistency you like.

If you want to add the extras: Add the chopped peppers to the pot when you are sautéing the onion.  Add the rest when you add the beans to the pot.

Avocado Quinoa Salad

So remember how we had a dog at our house for a while?  We loved dog-sitting Angus and he was so fun with the kids.  But he did end up going home with his owners.  I think it was a great experience to learn what it's like to have a dog without the commitment.  

In case you were wondering, this is what I learned from having a dog:
1. Indoor pets have hair and it gets on things, you have to get over that.
2. When you have an almost 2-year-old in the house, adding a dog is like having 2 puppies.  I think maybe a dog when my kids are a little older would be better.
3. There are advantages to getting an older dog compared to a puppy.  They are trained to go to the bathroom outside, this dog was crate trained, and there was no chewing on furniture.

It was a lot of fun and the kids loved having him around.  

So about this salad; it was so good.  I think the key is to cook the quinoa in broth; it makes it so much tastier!  The other good part of this recipe is the celery.  I'm not one to go on about celery.  But it adds the perfect crunch.

Avocado Quinoa Salad

from Women's Day Eating Light magazine

1 1/2 cups quinoa

2 cups broth

1 large avocado

2 - 3 Tbsp lemon juice

1 large tomato, diced

1/2 cucumber, diced in quarters

1 stalk celery, diced

salt and pepper to taste

Cook quinoa in a medium saucepan as package directs using broth instead of water.  Let cool.  Meanwhile, halve avocados, remove pit, peel and cut into chunks. Place in a large bowl. Add lemon juice; toss. Add cooked quinoa and remaining ingredients; toss gently to mix. Chill until ready to serve.