lady killer

Henry's favorite song these days is The Righteous Brother's "You've Lost that Loving Feeling." He has the lyrics down better than I do and finishes it off properly with the "ba dum, ba dum, ba dum dum..." Adorable. I never thought I'd be able to capture it on video, but I did....

He also likes spinning in circles with his hands up in the air like a princess (like Ariel from The Little Mermaid). My goal is to get this on video too. He'll hate me when he's 20.

banana ice "cream"

Nausea hit. Again. Some women can't eat when their nauseaus. I, on the other hand, stuff my face.

Tonight's stomach-settling-food-of-choice: banana ice "cream". I've read this "recipe" on a million blogs and finally tried it for the first time. Ingredients? Frozen bananas and peanut butter. Choose your own proportions. Throw it in the blender. Wait until it's frothy, creamy, whatever. Delish. New freezer staple: frozen bananas.

[I did try this with just bananas at first and it was really good! I had a hankering for the Elvis combo though, so went all in with the PB. Thank you. Thank you very much.]

meatless monday: thorkelson take on vegan lasagna

It was one of those days where (a) the store two miles away seemed so, so far, (b) following a recipe would require too much attention, and (c) I felt like mashed potatoes. If you know me, you know I l.o.v.e. mashed potatoes. I was often found doing my own rendition of the "mommy's little piggy"scene from "A Christmas Story" as a child (with my sister's encouragement, of course).

We had a Costco size bag of red potatoes in our pantry, so I knew I was covered there. But then I was stuck. Mashed potatoes go well with your standard meat protein, which would then quickly disqualify this meal as meatless now wouldn't it? I also didn't have the goods in the house for some sort of meat[less]loaf. After an assessment of the fridge and other pantry goodies, I came up with a lasagna of sorts, which was of course inspired by moussaka with the potatoes.

Ingredients:

• No boil lasagna noodles
• 10 baby red potatoes, plus olive oil
• 1 stick of butter (I used the soy-free Earth Balance)
• Marinara sauce
• Baby portabello mushrooms (about two cups), sliced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cups of spinach
• 2 tbsp garlic
• Salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

2. Toss baby red potatoes in some olive oil; put them in preheated oven to roast (I left mine in for about 35 minutes). 

3. While the potatoes are roasting, sauté the mushrooms, onion, and garlic; when the onions and mushrooms are nice and golden, add the spinach and sauté for another few minutes until the spinach is wilted down. 

4. When the potatoes are done roasting, mash them with the stick of butter until they are a creamy texture. Lower the temp of the oven to 350 degrees.

5. Get an 8x8 pan and get ready to assemble! Layer in this order: marinara sauce, noodles, mashed potatoes, spinach mixture. You should get at least three layers with the above amounts. Add one more layer of noodles and top with marinara sauce.

6. Put in oven uncovered for about 30 minutes (until sauce is bubbling). Let it cool for 10 minutes until slicing. 

Serve with a side of green veggies.

I was really pleased with how tasty this turned out! I'm definitely looking forward to left-overs. 

my next unnecessary purchase

When I started working last fall we knew there would be some lifestyle changes. And I use the word "some" loosely. The most challenging piece for us has been mealtime when both Eric and I are working up until it's time for chow. Hungry parents is one thing, but a hungry child is a whole 'nother ball of wax.

When I tell people of this mealtime woe the usual response is, "Oh just throw some stuff in the crock pot before you leave for work." Yes, yes, that's all good and fun. But think for a second about what you put in the crock pot that isn't meat...right. We do have some vegan crock pot recipes (chili anyone?) that have worked for us, but frankly, they leave a bit to be desired and still require monitoring. There's not much of the "set it and forget it!" variety. Anyway, why this ramble? Our "go to" on the challenging evenings has been sushi. Well, vegetable sushi...but still sushi. It's fresh, healthy, ready to eat, and oh so good.

Henry has really taken to eating the sushi with chopsticks because that's how mom and dad eat it. Usually this just means stabbing the squishy rice parts with one chopstick and inserting the piece into his mouth. This is typically in between the times when the chopsticks act as a stir stick for mom's water, drumsticks on the table, and Walter poking devices. But hey. He's into it. I'm thinking that I'll get him these chimpstick chopsticks to help him experiment with the utensil. Plus, it's super cute. At $6.99 maybe I'll get one in a different color for me.

the thorkelson trio is expanding

officially due november 2, 2012

meatless monday: california grilled veggie sandwich

eric grillin' up some
veggies indoors

Meatless mondays are back, jack!

Eric was the champion of this meal. I really give him five gold stars for this because, frankly, it was one heckuva cohesive trio of dishes. And it should be noted that I went back for thirds on the potato salad. Just sayin'.

california grilled veggie sandwich : we didn't use any cheese and put the grilled veggies on toasted sourdough bread. delish!

red potato salad with horseradish : love potato salad and this was a nice switch-up from the traditional recipe.

snappy crunchy coleslaw (no mayo) : another winner. it had me at raisins.

It's challenging to be vegetarian during grilling season, so I'm happy that we've decided this will be our "go to" Weberified sandwich this summer. I can't just imagine it now with some grilled corn on the cob. Yum!

mad men inspired

Eric and I are huge fans of Mad Men. We streamed all of the previous seasons within months, sometimes watching four episodes at a time. We typically would sit and stare at the screen for a couple of minutes after the episode was over and think about what just happened? really? what will happen next? what do you think about Don? And that would lead into, "Want to watch the next one?" To which we would unanimously answer "yes!"

I have always felt that my marketing background has allowed me to be aware of the ad-wizards ploys. But folks, I've been taken. Yesterday I was at Target trying to identify my next facial moisturizer purchase. I sized up the Oil of Olay, looked at the Yes to Carrots, and took a step back to take in all of my various options: anti-wrinkle! moisturize! serums! Then I saw it sitting there in its lone self. Pond's. If you watch/ed Mad Men, you'll probably remember that Pond's cold cream was one of Peggy's first campaigns she was assigned to at Sterling Cooper. Well, I picked up the cream and stared at it fully recognizing why I was even considering it:  Peggy's words about a woman doing something for herself rang through my head. Hmph. Meanwhile, a woman in her 60s or so swooped in front of me and picked her own Pond's. I examined her face. It looked youthful. Sold. I put the Pond's in the cart. Now, I don't mean to say that I've been "taken" because I purchased a poor product. I just feel fooled for falling to the ads that I always say I can avoid...even it was clearly product-pushed to me via a TV show.

On that note, I realized that this was not the first time. No, dear reader, it wasn't! *gasp* In a recent online glasses purchase, I ultimately chose a pair that touted they were Don Draper-esque. Sure, he's a man. But hell, I'll take 'em!

I know I'm not the only one to fall victim to such advertising. It's normal. It's pop culture. I just never thought I would be *that* person. I like to pride myself on buying things because I like them, not because present day activities say "it's cool".

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find a vintage cigarette case for my bubble gum smokes....

happy birthday, annabelle!

Henry's girlfriend turned two today. Don't worry. We've advised him regarding dating younger women. The birthday celebrations were marked with a luau. In March. In Minnesota.

Birthday girl digging her party.

Award for best caption here.

Henry hung back while the other tots streaked through the back yard. 

Double-fisting goldfish and cupcake. 

meatless monday: stuffed zucchini boats

This week's recipe is adapted from one of the recipe cards from the co-op. We had all of the ingredients in the house, except for the zucchini. Doesn't get any better than that, right? I have a confession though: dinnertime rolled around and I was like, "Veggies. Bleh. I want pizza. And I want it with meat. The unidentifiable kind." With a bit of encouragement from Eric, I marched into the kitchen, poured myself a glass of wine, and got to cooking. This turned out to be so delicious and completely hit the spot. It just goes to show that sometimes the brain knows better than the stomach. ;)

Ingredients

• 4 small/medium zucchini (or yellow squash)
• About 4 cups of fresh veggies that you have on hand, diced (I used eggplant, mushrooms, red pepper, onions, and tomatoes)
• Fresh herbs, such as sage, oregano, or basil (used just basil...and tons of it...just use what suits your palate)
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash the zucchini and trim the stem end off. Cut the squash in half, lengthwise. Put the zucchini on a baking sheet in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes (until tender). While the zucchini is still warm, scoop out the center flesh with a spoon. 

Meanwhile, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet and cook whatever vegetables you are using. Add the fresh herbs and cook for just a couple minutes longer.

Take cooked zucchini boats and fill with cooked vegetables. Top with parmesan cheese and serve.

Note: another option would be to get a good melting cheese. You would then heat the broiler and place the cheese on top of the filled zucchini boats and broil until the cheese melts into the vegetables.