Quinoa Burgers!

I tried a new recipe today.  I would just like to say I LOVE Quinoa.  I have quite a few recipes, but I don't often make them.  I usually make the same few over and over and I was getting bored.  I came across this one over Pesach but didn't get a chance to make it.  So we tried it tonight. It was REALLY YUMMY! So I wanted to share with the world.  Too big a recipe to post on Facebook.  And I realized that I haven't BLOGged in a bit so I thought I'd post the recipe here.  YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY!  Gluten Free, Vegetarian, Protein filled and good for Pesach, well, next Pesach anyway.  But I'll make it all year no problem.  It's one of the few things you can say truly is "Kosher for Passover and all year round!"  The Tasmanian Toddler gobbled it up saying "YUM!" the whole time.  (That was really cute)  Rob gobbled it up saying "YUMMY!" the whole time too. (That was also kind of cute)  It was easy to make.  I'm happy!  YAY!!!!


Ok, so here's the recipe already!


Quinoa Burgers 

Yield: 6 large patties
1-1/2 cups vegetable broth (I used water with the powdered broth stuff because that's what I had on hand)
1 cup quinoa, **rinsed well** (ALWAYS rinse your Quinoa- even if it says pre-rinsed- lest it taste bitter and soapy)
1 large egg, beaten (my note to the recipe- I will add 2 eggs next time to hold it all together a little better)
4 to 5 tbsp. olive oil, divided
1/4 cup onions, chopped
1/4 cup red and green peppers, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt
Pepper
Herbs- (whichever, it's a versatile recipe)(today I used dried parsley, basil and oregano and pepper) to taste

1. Bring broth to a boil. Add quinoa and stir. Simmer, covered until all liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Cool. 

2. Add egg(s).

3. Sauté onions, peppers, and garlic in 2 tbsp. olive oil until softened and lightly browned. Add to quinoa mixture along with salt, pepper, and your favorite herbs, fresh or dried.
4. Form mixture into patties and sauté in remaining oil until browned on both sides.

They were YUMMY but they didn't hold together very well as a burger.  My theory to this is I used more veggies than called for adding some extra moisture, plus I think an extra egg would be better.    But all in all it was a successful supper.  WHOO HOO!

I'm having a happy evening.  Sometimes it's the little things that make one happy.  Now it's time to do the dishes....

Have a good night all and happy Quinoa-ing!

Passover is coming....

And I HATE cleaning....  so I'm procrastinating with something I don't do very often anymore.  BLOGging!

I have vacation now through Wednesday, but since the first Seder isn't until Monday....  Well let's just say that the pre-Pesach scramble is in full swing and it won't be a restful vacation until Tuesday.  I still have to finish cleaning, cover my kitchen, close away cabinets, clean out and re-stock other cabinets, bring up all my Pesach dishes and supplies, get my hair cut, and cook and cook and cook, and cook.

In my procrastination I found this list from the UJA Federation of New York.  I will share because what is better than a reason to procrastinate Pesach cleaning????

The story of Passover hasn’t changed in the last 3,000 years. But that doesn’t mean you won’t have anything new to discuss! Here are some little-known Passover facts to spice up your seder.

• During Passover, some vegetarians use a broiled beet instead of a lamb bone on their seder plate. The beet, bloodred in color, serves as a reminder of the Paschal sacrifice. Others use an avocado pit instead of a lamb bone on their seder plate.
• According to tradition, Miriam gave water from her well to sustain the Israelites in the desert. Some people honor Miriam by placing a cup for her at the seder table and pouring water from their glasses into her cup.
• In the mid 1930s, Maxwell House started giving out Haggadot to clarify that coffee beans are kosher for Passover, and thus prevent a dip in coffee sales. Distributed nearly every year since, there are now more than 50 million copies in print.
• During the Civil War, despite the divide, Union and Confederate Jews bonded together during Passover, even inviting their adversaries to family seders.
• Jewish Civil War soldiers without ingredients for charoset put a real brick on their seder plate. In 18th-century Salonika, Greece, people added chopped stone to their charoset, and some Moroccans included grated rock.
• Many Jews were in synagogue for Passover when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The American Jewish Historical Society notes that synagogue bimahs "were quickly draped in black and, instead of Passover melodies, the congregations chanted Yom Kippur hymns."
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the world’s largest matzah ball was unveiled in Tucson, Arizona, in 2010. Weighing in at 488 pounds, this giant matzah ball was made from more than 1,000 eggs and 125 pounds of matzah meal.

• In the British territory of Gibraltar, Jews actually mix the dust of bricks into their charoset, a symbol of the mortar used to hold together the brick walls the Jews built in Egypt.
• Coca-Cola makes a special batch of kosher-for-Passover Coke with real sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup, because corn products are forbidden during the holiday. Look for the bottles with yellow caps.
• In Vilna, Poland, during World War I, it was very difficult to find kosher wine. Rabbinical authorities made a special announcement to allow sweet tea to be substituted for the traditional four cups of wine during the seder.
• Centuries ago during Passover, Jewish people living in the Sahara abandoned their fortified villages and marched into the desert, in memory of the first Passover.
• Manischewitz alone sells more than 1.5 million jars of gefilte fish nationally and internationally — that’s almost one jar for every 10 Jews in the world.
• Persian Jews distribute green onions during the song Dayenu and hit each other with the stalks when the ninth stanza begins. 

  Chag Pesach Sameach!

I have a strange child...

I think she is the only kid in the world who when it is time to take her amoxicillin (she had a BAD cold and cough this week, caught from her Abba)  (and guess who has it now......)  Anyway, when it's time for her medicine she says "YUMMY!"  And then after she finishes it she asks for "MORE!"

Go figure!

I'm Still Here

Just been busy and tired.  I't s hard to work full time and chase a kid around in the evenings.  And while my day off was very nice, it's hard to then schedule 5 days worth of patients into 4 days.  And then it snowed....  And then it was Shabbat.  And now it's Sunday again.  And I'm hanging with the Scrunchkin while Rob works.  And the Scrunchkin wants "UP!"  So I have to go.

I'll try to write more this week.  Okey Lady I Love You BYE BYE!

Day Off

Today I had the day off.  New Years Day fell out on a weekend this year so my company gave us a weekday off to make up for it.  MOST companies gave out New Years Eve, but we got today.  Which was ok.  Day Care was open and Rob was also off so Rob and I got to spend the day together alone!  A definite rare treat.

We ran some errands which wasn't restful but useful and needed to get done, and got some laundry done, and today was cleaning woman day so the house is clean.  YAY!  BEST $$ we spend!  I LOVE cleaning woman day!  I don't know how we survived without cleaning woman day!  Granted our Tasmanian Toddler will create a mess the second she walks in the door, but YAY for a little bit of cleanliness!

We were doing some errands in Stamford and had lunch.  We've been wanting to try this relatively new Vegetarian Indian place Navaratna - which now has Kosher supervision, another YAY!  I've known about this place for awhile from friends, but haven't gone- mostly because it's smack in downtown Stamford, and parking in downtown Stamford is horrible!  But we were there so we went.  The food was REALLY GOOD!   And the menu was huge.  And full of traditional things I've never heard of.  I'm so used to going into a restaurant and only having a few options to choose from; having the entire menu available to me was absolutely amazing. I was boring and got something I usually get, but Rob was a little more adventurous and tried some new stuff.  And bonus!  It's Kosher so we were able to take the leftover food home!

So we finished our errands after lunch and then came home, took a nap, and I got my schedule set for tomorrow and made supper, picked up the Scrunchkin and now I'm BLOGging when I should be folding laundry.

So that was my day off.  I love days off.  Productiveness, naptime....  Do I have to go to work tomorrow??????

Funny Offspring Story

I still haven't decided whether to name and picture or not name and picture my daughter. So until I make a decision, I will continue to use random nicknames.

I am still breastfeeding.  She is almost 19 months and down pretty much to one feeding a day.  No longer the complete Milk Monster she once was nursing every 2 hours....  I love breastfeeding, and she loves breastfeeding, so while it is much reduced, we still haven't given it totally up.  (Maybe another post for another day- the joys of nursing.  My absolute favorite time of day.  Anyway I digress...

So my child, being my child, is quite stubborn and is the type of kid to know exactly what she wants.  And how she wants it and when she wants it etc.  And she isn't afraid to say it.  So often, for one reason or another while breastfeeding, she decide that the side she is on isn't good enough and she wants the other side.  But if there is still milk left I don't want to switch yet so I use various ways to distract her from trying to get the other breast.  Lately I've been using her Snuggly.  (It's one of those little blanket squares with a head)  She LOVES her Snuggly.  It's her absolute favorite thing in the world.  Her love, her security blanket, her everything.  She doesn't give it up easily and may even go to college with it.  Anyway, sometimes when she stops nursing I take Snuggly and pretend breastfeed him to the side she won't take.  "Oh, ok, you're done?  Well Snuggly wants some so he'll have the rest of the milk."  She usually looks up at me and laughs like "Duh Ima, Snuggly is only a blanket with a head, he can't nurse!" and she pulls Snuggly away and then goes back to nursing on the side I want her to nurse on.

Well this morning when she was being a pain in the neck, I nursed Snuggly for a little while.  :)  But then later during breakfast, she was trying to feed Snuggly.  She put the spoon up to Snuggly's mouth (with Cheerios and milk on the spoon) and tried to get him to open up and eat it by saying "AHHHHHH"  And when he wouldn't open up for Cheerios, she tried again.  "AHHHHHHHH"  And the look on her face was like "Hey!  You drink breastmilk but you don't want Cheerios?!?!?"  It was rather cute and funny.  I know all Toddlers feed their dolls eventually, but this was the first time she initiated it and it was rather a cute sight to see her trying to feed her Snuggly some Cheerios and then not understanding why he wasn't eating them.

Oh children are so cute and funny sometimes!  I guess this is why we put up with all the tantrums.  The cute moments are totally priceless!

And that is my Offspring Story for the day.  Happy Jan 2, 2011!

New Year

Another relative quickie- I am quite tired and still need to catch up on my lack of rest over the past 2 weeks of overwork and too many patients.  We spent New Years/Shabbat doing Shabbatty type things.  Went to a friend house for dinner last night.  (Rob loved the meat and I ate the veggies and we both enjoyed spending the time with friends)  We came home at about 10 and put the Schrunchkin to bed and then conked out ourselves by 10:30.  We slept in (7:30!!!!) went to shul this morning and went to another friends house this afternoon.  It was very nice to spend Shabbat afternoon with some adult conversation!  We came home, had a light supper and watched a TiVoed Sesame Street with the Schrunchkin and now are putting her to sleep so we can conk out early again ourselves.

I know I haven't made any interesting or long posts the last few days, but working the last 2 weeks in a row with many patients and little break has been tiring and I am falling asleep early lest I get sick.  Listening to a tired body now is way better than the consequences later on.  But it doesn't leave much room for thinking and writing and editing a BLOG post.  But I do enjoy this again and I am trying to find some extra time.  So even though I am very tired I am writing a short-ish post.  (Because nothing I write is ever short)

So for now a light New Years post.

2010 was pretty good.  We survived our first year (and a half) of parenting and Samantha learned to get used to and even love the kiddo also.  We saw lots of friends we hadn't seen in awhile, took a couple of short trips, went to a friends wedding, I learned a lot with my new job, Rob had his ups and downs with his job, and the Tireless Tasmanian Toddler enjoyed Day Care. (Except for that transition week from baby room to toddler room- all I can say is OY!!!!)  All in all it was a pretty good and yet busy year.  Time flies when you are having fun.  Or running after a fast moving and mischievous baby/toddler.

So what does 2011 hold?  Well, we have 4 weddings to go to so far (Od Yishama.....), we have already welcomed a new cousin into our family this morning (YAY!  and Mazel Tov!)  and we are awaiting another cousin soon! (another YAY!)   I look forward to watching my toddler grow and figure out her world and hopefully soon learn enough words to tell me why she is screaming her head off.  We are trying to maybe do some renovations to the house and hey, I have my BLOG again!  Hopefully the new year will bring more time, more family, great friends and love and all that sentimental stuff.   Oh yeah, and world peace.  That's always a good thing to hope for.  :)

So Happy 2011 all.  And on that note, I am going schluff.  Nite Nite!