Sunday Night Supper

We’ve had a trying week here at Casa Bite Sized.  On Thursday morning the wee Sprout woke up with a rash on her tummy. By the time we got to the doctor two hours later it had spread to most of her body, by the afternoon it had covered her face and by that night when I put her down to bed her face, hands and feet had swollen up.  She’s on the mend now. Some, so far unidentified, allergy has caused it.  She’s happy as a clam, but I’ve been feeling stressed and guilty every time I look at her spotty, swollen little face.

Sunday Supper

We’ve also started the process of looking for a new flat for our move at the end of November. Our current flat has a lovely kitchen, but the rest is much too small/cold/damp for our family of four. We tried to see a cute little house on Friday, but the tenants left without leaving a key for the estate agents. So we got to see the front garden and not much else. Sigh. We like the location and price though. So hopefully we’ll be able to see it soon. It would alleviate some stress if we found a new place to live soon.

Thursday (the day of the full-body rash) was also the Mr. and my 5 year wedding anniversary. I made chickpea cutlets with mustard sauce, roasted asparagus and roasted fennel and hazelnut salad. All recipes thanks to Veganomicon.  I was so stressed I forgot to take a picture. But I can assure you, it was delicious. And lovely with a nice glass of white wine,

Sprout plays with my Veganomican while Mr. does the crossword.

While I was planning out the above meal, and flipping through my cookbooks. I rediscovered the wonder that is Veganomicon. I haven’t used it for a few months, favouring my Robin Robertson cookbooks and the post-punk kitchen website instead. But looking through I was reminded just how awesome and creative the recipes are. Which leads us to tonights supper.  I made Saffron Garlic Rice (minus the saffron) with Chickpea Romanesco and steamed lemon-y kale.

Steamy Kale, with Chickpea Romanesco bubbling beside.

What a hit it was! My onion and garlic hating 3 year old child devoured the rice (which had visible onions in it) and asked for more. Even after being told just what she had eaten! And the still spotty Sprout ate hers with gusto, carefully balancing the chickpeas on her fork before shovelling them in. The Mr. went back for seconds, and there was still enough left for him to take as lunch tomorrow for work.

I really love when I make a meal that I don’t really expect the kids to like and they surprise me. It really is part of my parenting plan to make sure they taste a variety of flavours, both complex and simple before they reach adulthood.  I know I’m lucky to have un-picky kids (knock on wood). But I also have high expectations of the girls as well. I refuse to make more than one meal a night. So we will all eat the same thing as a family, even if it means a battle or two on occasion.  So for every night that we have the every popular mac and cheeze with hot dogs, we have something with a more adult flavour, like chickpeas romanesco, with it’s roasted red peppers, almonds, and serreno peppers.  Hopefully the kids will appreciate this all when their older.