With both boys out the door smiling: school agendas signed, spelling words practiced and a red beard conjured up out of thin air for Johan's play, I head into the kitchen to make dinner, with a sigh of relief.
It's crazy how much of a difference a smooth morning makes to everyone's outlook on the rest of the day. In our house, that means getting up no later than 6:30, and consuming a cup a coffee, sans kids (well with babe in arms), around 6:45. The morning drill typically looks like this: baby is up at 5:45, Lindsay takes the first shift. Mom and boys are up at 6:30. Lindsay and Jenelle consume coffee and get breakfast going, time for small talk. Boys enter the scene, dressed for the day, breakfast is consumed by all. Lindsay rescues kitchen from last nights meal, Mom feeds baby and incessantly reminds kids to EAT while they recite their entire life's story up to this point in time. At 8:00 Lindsay and baby exit the scene, returning to bed for an extra one-two hours of sleep. Mom hits the homework checklist with boys, see above. Finally, at 8:45 boys are fed, dressed, teeth cleaned (did they remember?), home-worked, signed off on, and out the door smiling with out anyone having had raised their voices, yelled, bitten, scratched, punched or cried. Tick, day started well. One down, one thousand-five hundred and ninety-six to go before the boys are done Grade 8 and frankly on their own re: homework and morning routine!
Anyhow, that was Yoga In the Morning. Next is Yoga In the Kitchen.
So, last night we had a quick fix meal of lentils, quinoa and salad. Quick, satisfying and still relatively healthy (if you are afraid of fat, you'd be safer to dine elsewhere. Can you say butter, lard, butter and more butter...then topped with olive oil to finish...and pumpkin seeds). As a friend has just had a baby, I made double of this recipe to feed their family and ours on this I-Think-It's-Spring-But-I-Can't-decide sort of day.
Here it is:
Lentil and Green Bean Pie with Quinoa Crust (evolved from a Jane Green recipe)
Crust:
-2 cups cooked quinoa
-4 tbsp. both of ground flax and gluten free flour mix (I use Gluten Free Girl's 70/30 mix that you can find online; which, by the way, is the best gluten free recipes I have found yet)
-1/4 cup butter
-salt and pepper to taste
-a few dashes dried thyme and dried oregano
press into a 9/12 inch pan and bake at 350F for 10mins, roughly
Filling:
-fork-whisk 8 eggs with a reasonable splash of cream, salt and pepper to taste, a squeeze of yellow mustard and two shakes turmeric powder, set aside
-sautee one onion in butter, set aside
-use same pan, add 2 cups roughly of water, and steam two handfuls of green beans, set aside (both left over water and green beans)
-2 cups of cooked lentils (left over from last night which I cooked with 1 diced onion, 4 carrots, 3 celery stalks, 2 small zucchinis, and butter)
-2 cups of grated cheddar cheese
Once your quinoa crust is baked, top with a layer of sautéed onions, then green beans. Pour over whisked egg mix, and sprinkle with cheese. Lower oven temp to 310F and cook quiche for 30mins, or until cheese browns a little and knife comes out clean.
I actually don't know yet how this will taste, as we will be eating it for dinner, but it smells good! I'll maybe post back later with a quick review.
So, that's it for Yoga In the Kitchen. Now it's time for me to get off this computer and go and practice in the Tree House.
Connection holds the key. Wisdom opens the door. Compassion lights the way.
