quick easy recipes

We're at the point now where Lewis can basically eat everything that we eat, which is such a relief. It was kind hard to get a meal ready and make sure the baby's food is done and ready on time as well. I've made it a point that he try all veggies, I'm always adding lots of interesting flavors , garlic, onions,  bay leaves, turmeric, basil, parsley... and so much more! I really hope he doesn't become a picky eater!! For now I'm doing my part by introducing as much diversity as I can, always with nutrition and health at the top of my list. I've included quinoa, amaranth, spelt, barley, most grains and cereals, and every legume as well.... future chef I tell you!!! Well till then I'm the chef, so easy, fast, simple recipes are just what i need and I usually manage pretty well. Here are a few to inspire you, and because I now cook for all of us together, I only add salt at the very end when I've removed his portion!!!

pasta with rappini (broccoli/cauliflower/swiss chard)

this is so simple,

~boil water in a large low casserole.

~ meantime cut up your veggies to match the size of the pasta (example if using penne make sure you cut up the veggies so they are not longer than the pasta, it makes for an easier time with forking it all up:) soak them in cool water. Then strain.

~when the water comes to a boil, throw pasta in and check cooking time. At the halfway mark add the veggies right in with the pasta. 

~while that's getting done, chop up some garlic .

~strain casserole contents when ready. AL DENTE PLEASE!!!

Then add garlic and some olive oil to casserole and toss it all up together, remove portion for baby puree or chop up nice and fine and it's ready to be fed to your baby.

~with the rest of the pasta veggie mix you can add salt and even a little spicy pepper!!! Grate a little parmigiano on top and voila: quick, easy, healthy, and delicious!!!

Here's another great one:

quick minestrone packed with goodness 

~one chopped up onion

~a few cloves of garlic, chopped

~a few carrots, sliced

~a green pepper, chopped

~sting beans chopped up in 1 inch pieces

~2-3 potatoes peeled and chopped

~1 can of crushed tomatoes 

~1 can of cannelli beans

~1 can of mixed beans

~some fesh basil and parsley

~a few bay leaves

~a little olive oil (use a good one) 

~ a pinch of thyme

~ a pinch of oregano

~ a dab of tumeric

Stir fry the onions, garlic, and oil, add potatoes and carrots let stir fry all together for a couple of minutes on med/high heat. Add spices (except basil and parsley). Then add green pepper and the tomato can and let that simmer a couple of minutes. 

Now add 1 can of water, rinsing out the tomato can. Add the mixed beens and another can of water as well and the cannelli beans and one last can of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and add the green beans (you want them to have texture so they`re last to go in) 

Last but not least, add your fresh basil and parsley. 

For baby: remove the contents with a laddle careful not to have too much liquid. Puree all the veggies and beans together and there you have it! A super healthy veggie packed lunch or supper filled with lots of flavour and plenty of goodness!

For yourself: chop up fresh spinach and add it in at the very end where it's barely cooked (keeping all the nutrients) and sprinkle some cheese preferably romano or if not parmigiano!

So here are 2 quick, easy, simple recipes that are packed with flavor, nutrients, goodness and love for both baby and you. Go ahead try them! Let me know!

Buon appetito!!!

L&L

nine months

Crazy how it really flys by!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone said it would.MY LITTLE MAN IS 9 months .....  Nine months ago on that sunny afternoon my gorgeous little bugger was born!!!! Seems like light years ago... I've been watching him for the last nine months , day to day, grow and discover new things... from his self discovery of hands, feet, to his first smile, that first giggle!!!! And now to the discovery of his penis!!!  yes can you believe it!! Crazy how quickly they learn!!!! I love his quirky ways... so bright , curious ready to learn... He`s fabulous!!! 
What a job being a mom, nothing can prepare you for this. It's life altering!
Lucky for me, I have a couple of new moms to relate with , exchange info and over all learn together... it's the tribe from long ago, we moms we stick together. THANK GOD FOR WOMEN!!! Really it's impossible to know everything and sometimes an opinion from a clear, rested mind is exactly what is needed.  I also have soon to be moms!!!! So excited for them ( girls you know who you are!!! I'm so excited for you!!!!) Spring babies are great!!! They come at the perfect time, weather wise. By the time you rest up,  get your emotions under control , get a grip on the whole mommy thing you can put the baby in the stroller and go for nice walks in the warm sun.  Amazing.
For now i'm wondering when these cozy days will turn into the smell of spring? We're March already and I've had my share of colds and the flu and really one more time I see Lewis's nose leak i'm gonna loose it!!! 
Then again with all that's going on in Japan and what Mother Nature is capable of, with all the devastation I feel ridiculous even writing this.  
but i wouldn't be a true montrealer if i didn't complain about the weather!!!LOL
All this to say that soon spring will be hear and with that comes summer close behind and before i know it i'll be writing how he just turned ONE!!!!
wow, it's going so fast... let me go stare at him sleep for awhile.


nighty night
L&L

NEVER AGAIN!!!!

A fellow mommy friend was talking to me about the products she finds on-line... Interesting I thought about it for a minute, do I trust it, what exactly do I look for,  how do you know what your buying and from who?? Well she seemed really at ease with it and does it often, so hey, I'll try a it!  I  begin my search for this adorable and very practice floor mat ( which I had seen at her house) LOL and before i know it I come to find that this  product  is discontinued..., which now makes me want it even more... I kept searching and still nothing... finally I find some,  the large mat going for 118$ on most sites, and the smaller one...well who cares because I don't want the smaller one. So the quest is on, best price and really any one I could get my hands on... so I get onto a site I'd rather not mention. ( for obvious reasons) They have 2 left and they are selling them at 110$ cool!

I'm so excited I order and poof - I send my visa number and full info. into cyber space. Scary I tell you, but people do this all the time and the sites payments are secure, so great I'm happy... the company calls me to tell me more or less what colors they have left and yes they are being shipped out Tuesday!!! Come Wednesday I track the package, left warehouse, cool. Later that day arrival in Montreal, double cool , and then I check and it's out for delivery YEAH!!! Well a couple of hours later I'm wondering , where the heck is Canada Post? So I track it again and this time it reads

-RETURN TO SENDER INCOMPLETE ADDRESS.... WHAT!!!

Okay human error, the girl forgot to put my apt. number on it, so now what? It has to go back, Canada Post cannot add the address on by hand thats  tampering with the mail,  and it's illegal.

well back to T.O it goes!

I speak to one of the girls there and she explains that shipping it back there could take longer than it coming here, YES twice as long, dammit. Okay what can you do? So I wait, and wait and after a couple of days I call, and leave a message for some one to call me back. When no one does a couple of days later I call again, and speak to some one who had no clue what was going on with the order she tells me someone will call me back , and I wait, ( I could have drove down and bought the mats myself it would have been easier and much less of a hassle but whatever!) Finally when another 2 days go by, i decide to write a nasty e-mail telling them that I will definitely be writing a blog about this and mentioning them and bla bla bla.. and that same night I get a reply back... how nice you gotta be a ---- to get things done, forget sweet and polite and step all over me kindness ( from a famous quote I love, "Don't mistake my kindness for weakness") 

We FINALLY get to the bottom of it all and she's going to  try to get them to me the next day. Just like she promised the package finally arrives... I open it up , unroll the mat only to discover it was the small one!

AT 110$ YOUR RIPP'N PEOPLE OFF... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

but nowhere was there a mention of size, I just assumed(big mistake)

that because all other sites had the large ones at 115$-120$ that these at 110$ were large. Well was I surprised! ( just a note the small ones go for 70-80$max on most sites ) 

I call and while I should have ripped their heads off, I politely asked how they can sell the small ones for that price and their answer was

"we're able to sell those in our store at 110$ here in Ottawa " 

ok honey so you do that, I'm sending them back (she offered to take them back and credit me) oh you bet you will and actually I sent the whole order back, I don't want anything else from that business: bad karma, bad publicity and really, really bad service! I even had to figure out how to get it to a post office to return it to sender!!!! ahhhh!!! the nerve...

Goes to show some folks just shouldn't be in business at least not dealing with the public... 

Some words of advice when on-line shopping: make sure you know exactly what your buying and always, always make sure you can get a full refund and return the products if your not pleased. 

My lesson.... 

I'm sticking to shopping at amazing boutiques in person!

Happy surfing, 

L&L