Caribbean Ginger Salmon

We revisited an old favorite this week, a simple meal we all love. Very healthy and fresh. Instead of using quinoa today I made a middle eastern flavored rice pilaf and it was delicious! It looks a bit involved at first glance but it's not. You make a simple marinade for the salmon, another simple one for the cucumbers and the rice is basically just stir frying rice with a couple veggie and spices. The whole combination is fantastic.















Caribbean Ginger Salmon
* 1 tablespoon tamari or shoyu
* 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 1 tablespoon grated gingerroot
* 3 tablespoons lime juice
* 1 teaspoon agave nectar (or sugar)
* 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 pound salmon fillet

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Put tamari, 2 tablespoons of oil, gingerroot, lime juice, agave, and garlic in a small mixing bowl; whisk together. Place fish in a shallow pan and pour marinade over the top. Marinate 1/2-1 hour in the refrigerator.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet. Place fish in pan skin side up, saute one minute, then turn and saute second side one minute. Leave fish in the skillet and place in oven. Bake until fish is almost cooked through (7-10 minutes). Remove skillet from oven and place on stove. Add remaining marinade and deglaze the pan, letting the liquid reduce some before serving.

Cucumber Relish

* 1/2 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced
* 1 serrano or jalapeno chile, minced
* 1 scallion, minced
* 1/4 white onion, diced
* 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
* 1 tablespoon lime juice
* 1 tablespoon brown rice vinegar
* 1 teaspoon sea salt
* 2 tablespoons sugar

Place all ingredients in a bowl. Gently stir until salt and sugar have dissolved. Allow mixture to marinate at least 20 minutes. Can be made in advance and stored in a sealed container in the refrigerator. (I didn't have a jalapeno today so I just put a few drops of the green Tabasco sauce I had.)

Rice Pilaf
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, finely diced (about 3/4 cup)
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
Pinch ground cinnamon
1/4 cup dried currants
3 cups basmati rice, cooked
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice; more to taste

Saute onion in olive oil and butter. Add spices and saute a bit more. Add cooked rice (I keep my rice on the very moist side for this dish), and currants. Mix. Finish by adding the mint (optional), almonds, and lemon juice.

In Sela's words....

A Dog Trainer to the Rescue!
I used to wish I had a dog. All the time. But soon we got one. It was called a kangel dog. He jumped on everyone. He jumped on Hanna, Mali, Treela, and ME. One day he made Treela scream so loud. Now when anybody comes up he will jump on them. He even jumped on the mail man. Then nobody could take it. I couldn't take it. My friends couldn't take it. My sister, brother and my mom couldn't take it. But my Dad could take it! Soon everybody was mad. Then we got a dog trainer. I was so happy. My dog could sit. No jumping. He could fetch and whatever you threw. He could do a whole bunch of things. My outside dog now feels like my best friend and also feels like a new dog.

THE END















Christmas
Christmas comes along
After November shares its song.
Everybody puts up a tree,
Everybody who celebrates Christmas, I mean.
I put up my stocking and leave some treats
Because St. Nicholas I just might meet.
With toys in his arms he might blink at me.
But the only thing I hope is that he eats the treats from me!

Bookclub, Reflections, and "The Mitten."

It's been a busy week and looking ahead I'm relieved to see a pretty open calendar next week. I'll try to keep this brief as one of my blogging goals this year is to be more concise!

I had fun preparing for book club this week. I tried a couple new recipes. My favorite was the citrus lavender scones, although they were best straight from the oven. I also made ginger cookies, turkey tea sandwiches, curried egg salad sandwiches, dark chocolate coconut clusters, raspberry tea cookies, and lemon ginger tea. The book I chose was "The Elegance of the Hedgehog." It's not a long book, but one that you have to read slowly to grasp the language and meaning. The book was beautifully written and really caused me to think (and look for a dictionary) as I read.



















Zig took the kids to see Marley and Me during book club and when they got home Rollin ran into the living room and announced, "the dog died and Daddy cried." It was pretty cute. They all loved the movie even though the ending is obviously very sad. Sela and Nina were excited to see that there were lots of leftovers and enjoyed a breakfast of scones and fruit the next morning before heading off to school.

Sela entered Reflections again this year. Her entries were in the visual arts category (2) and also Literature (1). She spent hours and hours working on her story. Her literature entry and one of the visual arts entry were chosen to move on to the district competition. Last night we went to see her entries on display as well as all the other district entries and we found out that her literature entry was chosen to go on to the State competition! Sela was absolutely thrilled. She got a big gold medal and she has been holding onto it ever since. It was great to see her recognized for her writing again this year. She spends so much time writing and illustrating stories so to be recognized in this way really made her happy.
























Nina's preschool class put on a little play of at Jan Brett's "The Mitten." We love the Jan Brett stories and have read "The Mitten" many times at home. Nina was the little hedgehog and said her parts loud and clear. All the children are so cute and though lately Nina has started to really look forward to Kindergarten, she loves her preschool days and especially Mrs. Judy.

Meal Plan

Monday: Tortilla Soup, Avocado Salsa, Pineapple
Tuesday: Sushi Bowls
Wednesday: Mushroom Ricotta Toast, Salad
Thursday: Book Club (Kids eat out with Zig)
Friday: Homemade Pizza, Salad
Saturday: Coconut Curry, Rice
Sunday: Caribbean Ginger Salmon, Quinoa, Cucumber Salad

The Breakfast Plan

In an effort to make the mornings go smoothly, I decided to pick five favorite breakfasts to rotate. I chose meals I know the kids love and will eat without complaint or delay (important in the morning). I did this last year for a month or so before the summer and it worked well. I can't in good conscience send the kids off, especially Sela, with cold cereal, but I do want to simplify the morning routine a bit. I will keep the schedule for a month and then see if the kids want to make changes for the following month. On the weekends I will have more time to be creative and a bit more elaborate.

Monday: Creamy Wheat, Greek yogurt, berries
Tuesday: Spelt English Muffins, scrambled eggs
Wednesday: Whole Grain French Toast, smokies
Thursday: Oatmeal (the rye, barley, oat blend), greek yogurt, fruit
Friday: Omelets, fruit

Time for tea....

Today Nina and I had a little mother-daughter date with our new neighbors, Margie and Sydney. We went to a wonderful little tea house in Redmond. It was very fancy and frilly. The owner waited on us and she was absolutely adorable and very attentive to the girls. Nina and Sydney enjoyed all their scones and cookies and it was fun to get to know Margie better. She works at Microsoft so it takes some planning to get together but it's always enjoyable and they are a great family.

A truck to match my dining chairs!

We saw this truck in Kerrville while John, Erin, Zig and I were driving to Travis' open house. It was so cool! Zig and John inspected it for awhile and we even called to get some more information. I think Zig really wanted it. I told him I would drive it (if he fixed it to where it wasn't so low to the ground) Anyway, it turned out it wasn't 4-wheel drive and was quite overpriced so we had to pass it up. It was fun while it lasted!