Chickpea & Coriander Cakes

We tried something new tonight and it turned out!

We tried something new last night & we all suffered through dinner (except Molly who didn't seem to notice how terribly bad her asparagus rigatoni really was). So tonight I was nervous after such an epic fail (it had been a while since I have had one) & decided to made side dishes that were tired, tested & true, you know, just in case.

Tonight Brian took the kids out to play hockey while I made dinner so I got to partake in a little food pornography, if you will. I love cooking with my camera. It's like, 2 awesome things. If I could cook with my camera while scrapbooking, I would OD on happiness and drop dead.

But it all went well & I am happy to post a recipe for Chickpea & Coriander Cakes (as adapted from 'Vegetarian' cookbook - I had to adapt, I was missing ingredients & wanted to use some stuff up)

Combine in a large bowl:

 1 can of chickpeas (I recipe calls for 7oz, I used 19!)

5oz freshly-cooked brown rice (I used a wild rice blend)

2 oz of oatmeal

Toast in a pan over medium heat:

1 t. coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

Toast until fragrant, put into mortar & pestle (best investment ever!) and have at 'er. My kitchen smelled so good I almost died. Almost.

In a frying pan cook:

1 small onion - chopped (mine may or may not have been a medium-large onion. What a rebel!)

1 stick celery - chopped (I used 2)

2 cloves or garlic - peels & minced (I used one, I have a hate-on for garlicky foods).

1 small red chilli - deseeded & chopped

Cook until soft Then stir in the ground coriander mixture. Take a big breath, your whole house now smells so fantastic you could die... but don't.

Transfer the mixture to the bowl with the chickpeas, rice & oatmeal.

Take that big sexy bowl & also stir in:

1 T. Sea Salt (Flaky if you have it. I did.)

Zest & Juice of one lemon. (This I did not have. And let me tell you how rare it is that I don't have fresh lemons in my house. Because A. They are super cute to have on my counter and B. I use them like mad.  Lucky for me I did have lemon juice & lemon peel (above). I'm telling you, this granulated lemon peel from Silk Road Spice Merchant has saved my behind a couple times. I was grateful for it today when I went to get a lemon and.....nothing!)

Also stir in:

1 t. Tumeric (mine got away on me, there's at least 2 t. here)

3T. Greek yogurt or sour cream

I also added a handful of chopped arugula because A. It was going to go bad & that would have broken my heart, B. I love arugula and C. I consider myself a bit of a badass when following (or not) a recipe. Hahaha!

Run it all through the food processor until (almost) smooth. I like an uneven texture so I left mine a little less 'whizzed'. Here it is (below). At this point I ate 3 spoonfuls. I was hungry. And it smelled so dang good!

Form into patties (I froze half of mine) & fry in a very very hot frying pan until brown.

The end result. 

Chickpea & Coriander Cakes

A Roasted Beet, Goat Cheese, Arugula & Kale salad (omg)

and Pecan Roasted Brussles Sprouts (hells yeah)

She still has these.

In the 70's, before I was born, my mom sold Tupperware. Everything she bought for herself came in four gorgeous (ha!) 70's colours with names like Harvest Gold & Avocado Green. She must have stocked up because to this day, that 70's colour scheme Tupperware can be found in several Hopaluk venues. I have some in my trailer (below), I some how inherited the mugs, stackable cups & plates. Those exact same pieces also live on in the toy box at the cabin in smaller versions for my kids to play with. They love to pour drinks with the tiny little orange pitcher. 

Its not that my mom is a hoarder, she isn't. But she did buy quality items that she took care of and it worries me that that way of thinking isn't very popular anymore. But it was this attitude that makes our cabin somewhat of an awesome time-warp. There are old green towels (so soft) and kitschy vintage bedsheets (soooooooo soft). Today everything is 'disposable' & so doesn't require the investment of taking care. I disagree. Which is why I have always been a sucker for Tupperware. And maybe because just seeing the word reminds me of my mom & her kitchen. Anyway, long-story short (as if) I decided it was time for me to invest in some Tupperware. And wouldn't you know, once i looked into it, I decided it would be cheaper for me to sign up to sell it.

You're shocked. Because I detest direct sales (for no good reason, I just do) and often say so. And I think I still do. I can't imagine ever throwing/hosting a 'party', heck I do my best to avoid getting invited to them. So this will be the last that you hear of it (on my blog anyway), but it would be weird if I didn't at least blog about the fact that I 'enlisted'. If you need Tupperware, I will hook you up because I love the stuff. My mom however won't be taking advantage of my Tupperware hook-up, she's still fully stocked from the 70's.

The only way to get rid of Tupperware is to loose it*.

*When we were little my mom would often say, as we grabbed our lunches and headed out the door, "Don't forget to bring your Tupperware home!".

It's Like Christmas....

The fabulous photographer from L's wedding just posted sneak-peeks! I am in love! And so excited for Lindsay! Like, so excited, in a weird way it kind of felt Christmas-y when I was looking at them. 

Anyway, here is my favourite one (because I am in it?) by Julie Williams. 

J + L

My sister-in-law got married this weekend to a man she met at my wedding. Pretty cool right?

The picture of the rocks (above) is one she took & gave out as a favour at her wedding. I love it. This morning I woke up to some wedding pictures that were shared of Facebook, it was exciting to look at them. But I am especially excited to see the pictures from Julie Williams the photographer that Lindsay hired. She carried herself with such a peaceful & patient air, I think I might need someone like her as a life coach. Speaking of life....

The greatest thing about life is that, if you are open to it, you will never stop learning. I learned a lot this weekend. About the kinda' girl I am.

Little Lessons

Mostly meatless is for me - After a weekend of hamburgers & hotdogs (besides the reception dinner which was lovely) I am looking forward to a veggie-filled week. Because I only ever eat meat on weekends or when eating out, the diet from the past 4 days put me into some sort of a slugish meat-coma. I look forward to coming out of it.

I love my sisters - Ok, this should probably be under big lessons... But their actions this weekend were a little reminder to me of how lucky I am. Thank you so much to all four of them; Kendra, Carmelle, Missy & Maggie for making it so I didn't have to worry about my kids on Saturday. I love you all so much I could die.

Never share lipgloss - I have never ever in my entire life had a cold-sore. This weekend I shared lipgloss & had my makeup done. And this morning I woke up with my first cold sore. I am 31. I should know better.

Big Lessons.

Miles & Molly are my only children - So I need to stop trying to 'mother' everyone else around me. This weekend I decided (early on) to enjoy myself. That meant having to let go when people didn't clean up their sites at night (in bear country!), shutting my mouth when things weren't running on time & standing back when people were doing things that weren't safe. It is hard. I have never been a head-out-into-the-bushes-and-be-reckless kinda' girl. I am a planning-safetyfirst-kinda' girl who cleans up after herself, values her possessions & is all too realistic about this fleeting life. It was hard. Harder that I though it would be.

Family is everything - This weekend I watched someone's heart break. And it can't be undone. The statement that is made when you let someone down on a day that is so important to them is everlasting. It doesn't matter what the status of the relationship is, because with family, it's not just about one relationship, it's about a web of relationships. And the chain reaction that your actions can create. A careless, thoughtless, heartless action will disrupt the whole family 'web'. It sends a message to the entire web about how you view or value your family relationships. I am & will always be the kinda' girl who will show up & support my family. Just try & stop me.

Live Happily Ever After - Maybe it's because I have a husband who dances with me, cuts up the kids food when I am not around & tells me I look beautiful? No. It's because in return I remember to pack him Baileys for his coffee (which I don't drink), let him go home and get a good sleep & don't yell at him for chopping wood in his sandals (oh wait, I did that). Either way, watching J+L get married this way was the perfect was to celebrate our 6 year anniversary. It honestly just gets better every year, not easier, but somehow better. I am insanely happy to be married to Brian. It was good to remember that. 

Congratulations Justin & Lindsay. Live Happily Ever After...



*** I just found out that it is highly unlikely that I got the cold sore from lipstick & already have a breakout. It is more likely that I have hd it in my glands for a very long time with no breakout. Huh. I obviously don't know anything about cold sores & sooo didn't think that other people who used the same lipgloss were a dirty bunch. Apparently they are stress induced. That makes muuuuch more sense.

Summer 2012...Brought to you by Instagram

It's been almost a month since I last blogged. When you are Canadian & you know just how fleeting summer is, blogging is the last thing on your mind. Here is what is on my mind...

Tan lines. My sister-in-law is getting married on Saturday. So I spent two weeks working on removing the tank-top tan lines I have. I've also been 'crafting' all the little wedding details like a mad woman. Here is a pic of the cuuuute signs I made for her yesterday.

This weekend Brian & I will celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary (whaaaat? Holy shit!). I dont feel old enough to be married or have kids. But I am. And I do. So we celebrate. We are busy this weekend with the wedding so last week we went without our children...to see a childrens movie. YYC Mobile Movie played Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on the wall of the old Simmons building in the East Village on Thursday (I stole this picture from their twitter feed). We ate Alley Burger for dinner & Jelly Modern doughnuts for dessert & poured champagne into little plastic cups under our blanket (but you didn't hear that from me). 

My MIL turned 60 on Saturday so I had everyone over for dinner. We had root beer floats & I made pizzas (three different kinds). In my next life I might be a party planner. In this life, I just like any reason to cook & find myself offering to host all sorts of events...

Pizza #2 - Spolumbos sausage, goats cheese & veggies.

Pizza #3 - Apples & proscuitto with caramelized onions (my fav.) 

I also made a cake with chocolate-peanut butter buttercream icing & malt balls. So delicious.... so filling.  Everyone loved it. Even Molly who woke up on Sunday morning & pulled a stool up to the counter to polish off what was left of the cake. I have my hands full with that little girl!