Vegetable Lamb Roast

This is another one of my favorite recipes to prepare during winter time. This dish is inexpensive & easy to prepare. The lamb & vegetables can be served with brown rice (our favorite), pasta, or alongside sweet/white roasted potatoes.

3 lbs lamb roast, de-boned & fat trimmed
1 onion, sliced
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large turnip or parsnip, sliced
4-5 large garlic cloves, minced
1-2 stalks celery, sliced
1 large fennel, chopped
3-4 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp dry Italian herbs
1-2 bay leaves
1 cup tomato sauce

Place all of the ingredients in the slow cooker & cook on High for 1 hour, then turn to Low for 6-7 hours. You may also cook the lamb on High for 3-4 hours if time is an issue. Regularly turn the lamb & pour the natural juices over it to keep it moist & tender.



This recipe may also be prepared using raw chicken sausages instead of the lamb. Just decrease the cooking time by half.

17 Bean & Barley Mix Kale Soup

I am always on a look out for inexpensive, nutrition-packed & quick meals. Between working almost full time & taking care of 2 little ones I don't have time for elaborate recipes. This recipe was inspired by the 17 Bean & Barley Soup Mix I picked up at Trader Joe's. This wonderful dry mix contains lima beans, blackeye beans, dark red kidney beans, garbanzo beans, green lentils, green split peas & pearl barley among the others. Just 1/4 cup of the mix contains 20% of iron RDA & whooping 13 grams of protein!

1-lb package of Trader Joe's 17 Bean & Barley Soup mix
Two 32 oz. containers of TJ's vegetable or chicken broth
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 cup carrot, chopped
1 cup bell pepper, chopped
1 tsp dried basil
3-4 cloves of crushed garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil or coconut oil
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 can of TJ's canned tomatoes (I used Di Napoli Classico Traditional Favorites Tomato & Basil tomato sauce from Costco)
Salt & pepper, to taste
One 10 oz. package of frozen fully cooked Shelton's Turkey Meat Balls
2-3 cups of fresh kale, torn into bite-size pieces

Follow the directions on the soup mix package. Add Shelton's turkey meat balls about 15 minutes & kale about 5 minutes prior to completion of soup's cooking. Yum!

Apricot Thumbprint Cookies

It was another Sunday & I was in the mood for cooking. Usually when it happens, I make several dishes at once. Sophia & Daddy were visiting grandma, so Gerritt & I had all evening to ourselves to bond over making one of his favorite cookie recipes. This is another recipe I borrowed & adapted to fit our family's needs from wonderful whole foods cookbook Feeding the Whole Family by Cynthia Lair. I am sensitive to almonds, so ground almonds were replaced with ground hazelnuts. Also, the cold pressed vegetable oil was replaced by melted coconut oil. In addition, I've added the omega-3-rich ground flax seeds (I put them into everything, it seems, including yogurt & meatloaf). This is an egg- & dairy-free recipe. Enjoy!

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cups ground hazelnuts (I use Bob's Red Mill Finely Ground Hazelnut Meal/Flour)
3-4 tablespoons of ground flax seeds (I use already ground Premium Gold Organic Golden Omega Flaxseed carried by Costco)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup melted coconut oil (I use Fresh Shores organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil)
1/3 cup apricot or apple juice
1/3 cup maple syrup or concentrated fruit sweetener
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Apricot preserves (fruit-sweetened) (I used Mediterranean Organic Peach Apricot Organic Preserves)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, hazelnuts, baking powder, ground flax seeds, & salt in a mixing bowl; set aside. In a separate bowl, mix coconut oil, juice, maple syrup, & extracts together. Add wet ingredients to dry & mix well, kneading a little. Form dough into balls & flatten to make circles. Place on lightly oiled cookie sheet. Indent each cookie with your thumb or your child's thumb & put 1/2 teaspoon preserves in the imprint. Bake 15-20," until edges turn golden.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Makes 15-20 cookies depending on cookie size

The Ideal Earrings

My ideal pair of earrings I dream about buying some day

Lately I've been dreaming about buying beautiful jewelry, pink topaz or tourmaline gold earrings, to be exact (pink is my favorite color). With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I've had this unbearable craving for something pink & sparkly. Apparently, I am not the only one lusting for jewelry. My husband & I have decided long ago that the best presents are the ones you choose yourself, so I was on a shopping mission for the past 3 days. My budget began with the earrings for under $200, but after conducting a thorough research including comparing prices at such popular jewelry sellers as ice.com, bluenile.com, tiffany.com, overstock.com, costco.com & maxandchloe.com, I learned with great sadness that $200 is too small of an amount for the quality, size & design of my ideal earrings. I wanted earrings that were high quality, classic & that I would enjoy wearing year after year.
It always takes me a long time to decide on anything, so I finally zeroed on 14K rose gold lever back pink topaz & diamond earrings from maxandchloe.com. Too bad they were way out of my budget at $800 price tag. My husband cheerfully said that I should get them anyways & that I deserve a beautiful piece of jewelry since it has been a while (He bought me a Tiffany & Co. heart tag charm Toggle necklace after Gerritt's birth in 2007). I agreed - I DO deserve them. I work very hard, just like every mother I know. So what's the hold-up?
If we didn't have kids, I would have probably spent $800 without batting an eye. Just a few years ago we, while dating, bought concert tickets, took out-of-town trips & dined at expensive restaurants all the time. Now we are the parents of 2 beautiful children, have a mortgage & must think about more practical things like buying the right type of a life insurance & saving for kids' college. The earrings would make me happy, for a few weeks, & maybe even longer, but, just like any gratification derived from material things, this happiness would be short-lived. Until I find something else I REALLY want, & then off to the next pursuit. So I will be setting up a college savings plan for Sophia instead & save jewelry shopping for our 10-year wedding anniversary perhaps. Suzi Orman would be very proud of me! However, I am saving the photo of the earrings to dream about & as a testament of my strength & maturity. :-)

Amber Teething Necklace

Sophia enjoys her bath!

Recently we've had a few rough weeks with Sophia teething. First her upper molars were coming through, then followed by the incisors. Some nights she would wake up every 2-3 hours. She was also more irritable during the day (throwing toys around if pieces of puzzle didn't fit together right away or she couldn't figure out how to open a certain box). Little things would upset her easily, & I would observe her circling around the room looking for a good spot to fall - on purpose! Then she would dramatically fall while hitting her head on the floor & cry looking for some sympathy. It was almost impossible to give her any solid food except liquid formula & every attempt at feeding would result in her waving her arms & shaking her head "no." It would literally take 45" to feed her a meal while spending an extraordinary amount of energy to run after her around the room for each single bite.

Reading letters at the Mall

Then I stumbled upon an article about the pain relieving qualities of an amber teething necklace by one of my favorite blogging attachment parenting Moms. Even though I grew up in Russia, I've never heard of using amber for pain relief.
I quickly learned that amber is a traditional European baby teething remedy. Formed over 45 million years ago, Baltic amber is an organic substance, a "fossil resin" produced by pine trees which grew in Northern Europe. Baltic amber has some of the highest concentrations (3-8%) of succinic acid found in nature, & wearing amber is like wearing an aspirin skin patch. Baltic amber has immune boosting properties & reduces teething pain through its anti-inflammatory properties. It also decreases irritability & restlessness often associated with teething.

I finally snapped a photo of Sophia's pot belly :-) (funny photos aside, for maximum effectiveness, the necklace should rest against the skin, under the child's clothes)

Amber teething necklaces are worn by infants & toddlers around their necks or as a bracelet when they are teething & can't be chewed on. To reach its maximum effectiveness, the necklace should rest against the child's skin. For safety purposes, the necklace should always be worn under adult supervision. It's important to buy an amber teething necklace especially made for infants. Such necklaces are between 12-15" long & knotted by hand in between each bead, so should the necklace break, the rest of the beads will not scatter. From a therapeutic perspective, there is no difference between the light & dark amber.
To preserve the amber teething necklace, remove it for swimming or bathing (the chlorine & other chemicals used in pools & the detergents in bath soaps & shampoos will damage the necklace's silk threading). Once the necklace is wet, it's essential to dry it completely before wearing it again. The necklace should be cleaned regularly using a soft cloth & spring water (gently wipe each individual amber bead) & then left to dry in the sunlight.

My 7-month-old son Jacob wearing his amber teething necklace

I ordered Sophia's necklace from the Always in Fashion online store for $23 (including shipping). Interestingly enough, the necklaces are made in Kaliningrad, Russia. A couple of other reputable places to buy an amber teething necklace are the Amber Artisans & the Nova Natural Toys & Crafts.
I am excited to see whether the necklace will live up to its expectations in a few weeks... Maybe it would be the magic bullet to help Sophia sleep through the night?

Thoughts on what could have been

Today I've spent most of my day off organizing kids' clothes. I was long overdue for this activity as Sophia could hardly fit into anything on her clothes shelf. Who knew it would be such a time-consuming task? I started the sorting process in the morning, but couldn't get much done with the kids running around & while meeting their multiple daily needs ("Mommy, can you feed me?", "Mommy, watch this!", "Mommy, I went poo poo!," "Sophia hit me!," "Mommy, I want to go to the Mall," etc.). So the clothes organizing went late into the evening as I am usually most productive after the kids go to bed. My husband bought me a few extra plastic storage bins at Walmart a few weeks ago, especially for this task.
The clothes were sorted either into the "keeping" pile or the Goodwill pile. Then, every item was carefully examined for size & stains. The stained clothes were put into color-safe diluted bleach solution for an overnight soak, while the unstained clothes were sorted into the clothes bins marked by age: 0-6 months, 6-12 months, 12-18 months, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years & 5+ years. With 6 clothes bins neatly stacked up & a large plastic Goodwill bag ready to be dropped off, I was finally at peace.
I take pride in my organizational skills & like my home to be clean & comfortable. Even though, fortunately, I was never a mail order bride, I always laugh thinking I could make an ideal one with the way I structure my life. I love all things related to home: cooking, cleaning, gardening, & taking care of the kids. I was raised by a single mother who was very independent & a feminist. I have the utmost respect for the brave women who quit their jobs to take care of their families, but the idea of being dependent on someone & not having my own income still frightens me (although I must admit I think of cutting back on my outside work load several times a week). So every time I get an innocent question from a curious stranger whether I was a mail order bride, I proudly answer "no," but silently chuckle to myself, "But I would have made a perfect one!" :-)

Our Trip to the Pacific Science Center

The dinosaur exhibit


Sophia enjoys driving the bus


Gerritt's turn to be the driver


Sophia's laughing at her reflection in the mirror


Sophia tries to be a part of the giant chess game


Gerritt plays the water game


More water time with Daddy


Mommy & Gerritt inside a giant guitar

Our first weekend as a family was a big success! Just to remind you, I've worked nearly every weekend (at the hospital or in the clinic) since we got married more than 5 years ago. As the weekend was nearing closer, I was afraid that I would get sick of the constant togetherness & even of my husband & I getting on each other's nerves. Thankfully, my worries were unfounded. I even felt a twinge of regret for not rearranging my work schedule sooner. The weekend was a total blast!
On Friday we all went to the Crossroads Mall to visit the Starbucks & to listen to the concert nearby.


Gerritt & I at the Red Mango

On Saturday my husband & Sophia went to Tacoma to run a few errands for his Mom while Gerritt & I explored the Redmond Town Center. We've discovered our favorite Red Mango frozen yogurt store & later had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. The Red Mango is a healthier alternative to a traditional ice cream outing. It serves frozen yogurt full of live probiotic cultures with all natural & yummy toppings (such as fresh berries, coconut shavings, dark chocolate chips, mangoes, etc.). The Red Mango's frozen yogurt doesn't contain any high fructose corn syrup, & is non-fat & glutein-free - my new favorite find of the 2011! Since Daddy & Sophia didn't get back from grandma's house until almost 4:30 pm, in the afternoon Gerritt & I took a 3-hour nap together. :-)
On Sunday, we spent most of the morning pondering about our next outing & finally settled on a trip to the Pacific Science Center. I've been wanting to visit it for a while, however, was not brave enough to weather the crowds by myself with 2 kids. Having my husband by my side this weekend provided a perfect opportunity to experience something new. As usual, we didn't get to see everything in our 4 hours there, but managed to visit the dinosaur exhibit, the butterfly house, a large exploratory play area for kids & saw numerous small displays. Unfortunately, I didn't get to attend the Harry Potter exhibit since the only available tickets were for 4 pm & later, but spending time with my family was priceless. I also got to enjoy one of my favorite activities - photographing the kids! Gerritt missed his afternoon nap & Sophia took only a short nap in a stroller, so both kids went to bed at 7 pm, providing my husband & I ample time to enjoy a movie. I even managed to do 2 loads of laundry, sort out Sophia's clothes from which she has outgrown, & put away all of the clothes with stains for soaking in color-safe bleach solution.
We definitely overdid it with social activities this weekend, but perhaps we felt like making up for the lost time a bit. What a beautiful start & looking forward to more fun-filled & bonding family weekends!


One of the beautiful butterflies in the butterfly exhibit


An amazingly fragrant gardenia




Gerritt riding the giant caterpillar

Happy 2011!

The new year of 2011 is here & I wanted to take the time to acknowledge my kids' special traits & achievements in the past year. No detail is too insignificant for me, & perhaps I am trying to "bottle" some of their childhood. It's like I have a dozens of post-it notes in my head & if I don't write them down, my head will burst! :-) It's far too easy to take the gradual progression of a child from a little peanut to a thinking & independent being for granted. Sometimes it seems they will stay a certain way forever, but I only have to look back at my blog entries in 2007-2009 to realize that's not the case. So here are the "highlights" from the past year.


Sophia climbing the wooden benches at the Mall


Sophia's new love - Legos!


Sophia enjoying her juice & Gerritt's shoes in Spike's doggie bed

Sophia:

- Always happy, easygoing & laughing. She can entertain herself quite easily. It could be something like falling backwards on a mattress over & over or covering her head with a blanket & then taking if off swiftly. She also loves to run away from me, especially in public places.
- Loves to climb on anything high (chair, table, tricycle). One time I found her standing on a tricycle & watching TV contently.
- Loves the Caillou cartoon & requests it often by bringing & putting a TV remote control into my hand.
- Likes to point to objects in a book & can find almost everything easily (truck, apple, banana, cat, ladybug, etc. as well as geometrical shapes like triangle, rectangle, octagon, square, circle, etc.), "Mommy, ook!"
- Knows all of her alphabet letters & points to letters wherever she sees them (in books & on letters, maps, t-shirts, etc.).
- Loves to brush her teeth & chew on her toothbrush. She often gets the toothbrush & toothpaste out & brings them to me, so I could get them ready for brushing.
- Doesn't like to sleep by herself in the dark anymore, so at bedtime we usually put her in her crib, but leave the bedroom door open so she can see the light & hear us. She will often call out, "Mommy! Daddy!" so my husband often works on his computer next to her crib. His favorite way to put Sophia to sleep is doing the ABCs ("Sophia, A!" Sophia says, "A." My husband says, "B!" Sophia responds, "B" & so on. This technique calms her down quite well).
- Started to cry recently when watching me leave, especially if I am taking Gerritt with me. She loves nothing more than to come along, & whenever she is the car, she squeals, "Wheee!"
- Prefers playing with books & puzzles (especially Legos) to dolls.
- Enjoys making a mess (like throwing little cars or puzzle pieces everywhere), but helps to clean up.
- Loves to give out kisses! My husband & I make sure to get several throughout the day.
- Is very polite. Thank you is probably her favorite word. She always remembers to thank us for everything we give to her even if it involves something ordinary or routine like a milk bottle in the middle of the night. It is the funniest thing to hear her say, "Thank you!" in the darkness when I am half asleep & can't even see where I am going. :-)
- She is obsessed with shoes & spends much time every day rearranging & trying on multiple pairs of shoes by the front door. Her favorite ones are Gerritt's brown leather shoes, rain boots & my Dansco work clogs.


In the naughty chair


Gerritt wearing his favorite outfit

Gerritt:

- Is more serious than Sophia, but loves to giggle, laugh & be goofy as often as he can.
- Is completely devoted to me & wants to spend as much time together as possible. He often checks on me in the shower & even attempts to block the front door so I won't go to work. He usually says, "We have enough money, Mommy. Mrs. Irina (our nanny) go to work, you stay home!"
- Loves to read books, especially the ones about superheroes & cars (the Transformers are his favorite toys right now).
- Has recently started to need the naughty chair (where he sits for about 3 minutes) since he loves to "help" me with disciplining Spike & Sophia by punching or kicking them. I often hear him say, "Mommy, I want you to spank Sophia!" when he sees her doing something inappropriate. I've reminded him multiple times that it's my job to discipline his sister & dog, but he somehow feels responsible for supervising everyone.
- Can understand all of our nanny's instructions in Russian, but doesn't want to speak it.
- Is a big drama queen when I am around & behaves perfectly as soon as I am out of the house. I've been known to call our nanny right after arriving to work to check on Gerritt since I was so distressed by his outpouring of emotion upon my leave.
- Loves to talk & talks contstanly, anytime & anywhere. Even though we read several books at bedtime, as soon as I turn off the lights, I always hear, "I want to talk, Mommy!" Even my Mom noticed how much he talks when visiting from Russia last time. She just couldn't understand why I would reason & explain everything to a 2-year-old child instead of just making him do what is asked (our parenting styles are a little different :-)).
- Loves to help, then get praised. He's been known to crack the eggs for my cooking, vacuum, pick up toys, fold dry laundry, unload groceries from the car, help with grocery shopping & turn on the washing machine & dryer. Sophia loves to run away from me, especially in public places like the Mall or grocery store, so Gerritt often "helps" by grabbing her hand & dragging her back to me, even if she's kicking & screaming. :-)
- Has gotten a lot better at cooperative play & sharing with Sophia. He went from ignoring her most of the time to including her in his activites. Right now, their favorite game together is building a "cake" made out of blankets, pillows & Spike's doggie bed in the middle of a living room & then jumping on top of the pile laughing hysterically.
- Still finds great comfort in his stuffed "doggie." He sleeps & snuggles with it & always takes it with him when traveling somewhere far (like grandma's house).
- Gives the biggest hugs. We have this routine of running into each other's arms when I get home from work. I yell, "Gerritt!!!" while he yells, "Mommy!!!"


I couldn't resist posting another photo of a hummingbird


Spike saying hello to our new neighbors' dog