Salad with walnuts

This is a quicker and easier recipe with walnuts. I'm eating for lunch again tomorrow. It's so filling; it'll definately getting me through the afternoon, without the need to snack.



Ingredients:
(for 2 persons or 1 big meal/lunch)
200 grams (4 cups) of shredded endive
1/2 cup of baked bacon pieces
2 eggs, hard boiled and finely diced
1 cup of walnuts/pecans
HoneyMustard dressing

Toss it all together and add as much dressing as you like.
(when I make this in advance for lunch I keep all the ingredients separated and toss it all together at work. To prevent things to get soggy or soft...)

Enjoy!

October Walnut Month

I democratically decided to make October “Walnut Month”. Thanks to a neighbor I have access to a large amount of walnuts. I love large amounts of any kind of food or ingredients. I love searching for recipes to process the ingredients to be enjoyed later. So this months is all about walnuts. I’ll be sharing some recipes. Last week I made Pumpkin Walnut Muffins.
I’ve already shared the recipe before in a different setting, so I’ll just show you the recipe card I’m frequently using for making muffins or breads involving carrots, pumpkin or banana (thanks again Jennifer!). Just substitute the banana’s for a cup of shredded pumpkin and add some pumpkin spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice) and raisins if you like. (when making muffins shorten the baking time to 30 min).

Victim of his parents

Poor Mika! Ever since we had this hot weather in june/juli Mika got used to getting drinks during the night. Multiple times. We thought he needed it and was thirsty, but it ended up becoming a habit. So every night around 1.30 am and around 5.30 am he woke up and got his drink. He also had a drink right before he goes to bed. Often he didn't fell asleep again and even got a re-fill. That's not good, parents should know better!
What happened; often he got so much to drink that his diaper couldn't hold it and we had to change him during the night. And don't get me started about the interrupted sleeppattern!

Last Thursdaynight we were done with it; Mika has to go in rehab... Actually quite sad; he's a victim of his parents...

So last Friday was the first night without drinks. Around 1.30 he woke up, we offered him just a sip from his cup and made clear that it was all he could get. He protested loudly for a whole hour!
Around 5.30 he woke up again and... deja vu! Except for the fact that he protested for 2 hours!

Miraculously he did very well in the past two nights; only woke up around 1.30 am and after a few moments of murmeling and a few cries he fell asleep again by himself! Then he slept till the morning. My compliments!

We hope he'll soon be used to getting asleep again by himself when he wakes up at night!

Have you ever pulled something like this, so your child had to suffer from changing the bad habit? (Please, tell me your story, so I feel less guilty! ;-) )

The many faces of Mika

This kid keeps amazing me with his many different expressions(btw, I love them all!):

You are in my thoughs, mommy!

Many different mommies have been on my mind lately. When you are a mother yourself you always feel a certain connection with another mama. At least I do. These people have been on my mind:

The Mom-of-a-just-received-adoption-child: a mother from our church who has just received her kindergarten-aged daughter in SriLanka. They will be home soon, after court trials and lots of paperwork. How will the girl do here? Will she be able to handle the love and care she’ll get or will she have problems with adjusting to this new situation? I truly hope she’ll be fine, able to enjoy her new home and family. I pray it will bless her and let her grow into the person God envisioned her to be. I hope this mom can be the perfect mom for this little girl.

The Mom-of-a-newborn: another mother from our church who has just delivered her second daughter. Her eldest has the same age as Lara (they’re in the same group at school). News from newborns always brings memories of my own two deliveries and the first days with a newborn. Sweet memories. And thoughts about how these days with my second born were so different from the first days with my first born. I was so much more relaxed and could enjoy this time much better. I wish this mom has the same experience as I had, making sweet memories of the first days with a newborn.

The Mom-who-wants-to-become-a-mom: a few women I know are longing for a(nother) baby, but so far haven’t conceived. There’s a lot of pain, disappointment and sadness. I feel for those “wannabe-moms”; I pray fervently for God to grant them a child. In their hearts they are already a mommy; only the child isn’t there yet. I know God answers those prayers sometimes; the proof is living in my own street and is of the same age as Mika. It’s a little miracle-boy! There is hope…

The Mom-of-a-lively-teenage-boy: I came across an old picture lately. Taken in 2000 in the Atlanta Zoo. It’s of a boy I met there during a stay with friends; he was about 4 years old. He stole my heart, even though everyone called him “Bad Baxter”, because of his naughtiness. I loved him! This week I shared this picture with his mom, who I found through Facebook. I told this mommy how I loved her child back then, how I thought he was the funniest and liveliest boy around. I asked her how he was doing right now and wished them all the best. She referred to this surprise as a “great treat”. This mom loved to hear from someone else how great her kid is. And being a mom I know how nice that is! Of course this mom is proud of her son, but something like this makes you extra proud! She is fortunate to be Baxter’s mom!

The Mom-of-a-passed-away-child: the girl would have celebrated her 1st birthday around this time, but passed away when she was about 5 months old. A premature, born in Thailand where her parents worked. Little Olive has been flown all over the world to get better treatment in the USA, her parents homeland. Her parents just returned to Thailand, facing all those familiar places where her mother carried her in her womb and where she’s spent the first months of her life in several hospitals. It’s tough for this mommy; being a mommy, but your child is not there. I cry for her.

The Mom-who-is-about-to-give-birth: this week I found out that an old college friend is about to give birth (didn’t know she was pregnant…). So she is about to become a mommy. How exciting! She’s in my thoughts; hope the delivery will go well and she’ll be able to fully enjoy the first days of her newborn.

The Mom-who-is-facing-a-second-delivery-after-a-traumatic-experience-with-the-first-one: this mommy is counting down to her second baby to be born. She’s special to me, even though I never met her in person. We met through an internet forum and had the same due date, back in 2008. Her daughter was born 4 days after Mika was born. The delivery of her daughter was tremendously heavy and traumatic. She’s been in therapy for it and now she’s carrying her second baby. I hope her second delivery experience will be better; I totally hope she’ll have the same kind of “easy” delivery like I’ve had two times. I wish we’d live a bit closer to each other; I’d totally make her pre-delivery-cake (her pregnancy-craving #1). This mommy deserves it!

Now I’ll go back to being a mommy myself. You have to understand that my kids “need” a lemonade-refill NOW!

lack of blogging

It’s been quite a while since I blogged. Kinda fell out of the rhythm. Didn’t feel the need to write. But something is starting to bubble, sizzle, itch, sparkle… Who knows, I might be back on the blogging wagon soon.

Things flying through my mind: God, C.S. Lewis, Mika’s 2nd birthdaycake, deserts, online shopping, church, fresh food, autumn, old pictures.

Supporting Holland at the Fifa World Cup

I'm not really a soccer-minded person, but my hubby is. That's why my house is pretty orange/red/white/blue decorated at this moment. I don't know if I really like it, but I know it's just for a few weeks... Someday soon it will all go away again... :-)



























Outside it's mostly flags, but inside my house there's all kinds of creatures taking over the place:







































But these are my own choice:

So, men do read manuals!

This morning I had to wait for a stop sign, just beside a construction area where they're building a bridge. Loads of construction workers have been busy there for months now. So I've seen this bridge coming together, seen all kinds of stages. And I started wondering who among them knows how to put together a bridge like that. How do they know which piece of metal needs to be attached to that other piece of metal, just to keep the concrete together. Is there a leader who's learned about these constructions in school?
And then I saw one of the construction workers with papers... He studied the papers, looked at the construction and studied the papers again... And then it became all clear to me: MEN DO READ MANUALS! They just don't do it at home (when putting together that nice piece of furniture for their wife), but only secretely at work! And they probably have this pact together of not telling the women...

Alphabet

Recently we bought a few buckets of these foam alphabets for the bathroom. It's really fun! And so educating for the kids... It's amazing how fast they learn to use it for spelling real words. I didn't know my kids were that smart! I left them alone for just a minute and when I checked back into the bathroom I found this:






They made many other words, but I don't want to brag... (wahahahaha! As if...)

Real Dutch

Yesterday we bought Mika his first wooden shoes; the blue ones. Lara's red ones were a bit on the small side, so we bought her the classic yellow ones. I like being Dutch!

My Easter Egg Funny Boy

First he does this to himself:


















The next moment I find him in the dryer...

Books

Two weeks ago I finished this one:


Still a beautiful story, all 1000 pages long. What a masterbrain it is that made this story up and jotted it down. Amazing!

And then, these were waiting for me:



Oh, how I love it to have a choice of "new" books to pick. Do I pick a thriller (Dominion - Randy Alcorn), will I re-read one of my childhood favourite series (The Little House series - Laure Ingalls Wilder) or am I in the mood for a regular fiction novel?
I picked the Little House series, so the coming weeks I'll jump into the world of American Pioneers. Lovely!

What are you reading right now? (women can come up with multiple titles, because we do that; read different books at the same time...)

We're playing outside again!!!

This needed cleaning up; our old bedroomfloor; we just threw it out of the window; wahahaha!














Our schoolboard painted door


















Summer toys


























My raised bed packed with tullips
























These are gonna be lovely! (yellow daffodils)

















seashells and crayons













peek-a-booh

Weekend?!?!

When I look at this....:



It's the glorious pile of laundry waiting for me.



I already sorted it though: from the top, clockwise: whites, colors, darks, bedding, jeans.

I am so happy that I don't have to iron anything. But I do want to take a moment for everyone who does have or feels the need to iron their laundry after washing; r-e-s-p-e-c-t! ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Good luck with your laundry!

Views from my livingroom

It's kinda rainy weather. This is what's going on in my livingroom:

(our red cat sleeping on the couch; disturbed by me...)













(We have a circus in tha house! Not really, but I did set up this tent for the kids to play with)



















(And a glimpse of spring in the windowsill. Love it!)

Comfort Food

Last night I was making mash potatoes with cheese, peas on the side and meatballs. And I thought about how those mash potatoes with cheese are just perfect comfort food. Never looked at it that way, but it is. Warm, soft, no chewing necessary, rich with a cheese-flavour. Makes me happy!
And it made me thinking about other dishes that are comfort food for me. In no particular order:

* Mash Potatoes with cheese
* Chocolate
* Lasagna/ Canneloni (or actually every pasta dish with tomato sauce and a nice amount of parmesan and mozerella cheese)
* Chocolate mousse
* Tomato Soup
* Banana bread
* Muffins
* Home made hamburgers
* Devils Food Chocolate Cake
* Goulash
* Chili Con Carne
* Had I mentioned "chocolate" yet?

What’s your comfort food?

Fair trade and organic

I'm not extremely passionate about this kind of product, but when the price is round and about the same as the normal stuff I do choose Fair Trade, Bio, Eco or Organic products.
I found some Organic Forest Fruit Jam and some Fair Trade chocolate in my grocerystore on sale. With 35% off it became affordable for me. So this cake is filled with a layer of Forest Fruit Jam and with a layer of Fair Trade Chocolate Mousse. Mmmm...

By the way, the chocolate didn't taste different from normal chocolate, but the jam was gooooood!

By the way II: I just read that the Jam can't be names "jam" because it's without sugar. It's called "Fruit Spread"... Even better!

We don't feed our children...

... that's why they attack us, when we're eating a sandwich:

Sharing the recipe: Ham 'n Leeks-pie

To make this easy peasy yummy pie, do this:

Get the following ingredients:
- 2 to 3 leeks (depending on how big they are), rinsed and cut in small rings
- 6 eggs
- 2 cups of grated cheese
- 3/4 cup of ham stripes/cubes
- 1 cup of milk
- puff pastry (don't know the amount; take enough to cover the bottom and sides of your pie-dish)
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 teaspoon of pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 356 degrees (Fahrenheit, 180 degrees Celcius.
Heat a skillet with a little butter or oil. Toss in the leeks and ham stripes and toss them around untill the leeks are a bit softened.
In the meanwhile mix together the eggs, milk, salt, pepper and 1 cup of grated cheese.
Cover the bottom and sides of your pie-dish with the puff pastry (which isn't non-fat; if you want to make it a bit more healthy you'd better use a short crust pastry recipe. Jamie Olivers is quite good: www.jamieoliver.com ).

When the leeks/ham are softened, then spread it over the puff pastry covered bottom of the pie dish. Then poor in the egg-mixture and make sure the leeks/ham are all bathing in the egg-mixture. It doesn't have to cover the leeks/ham, but has to be all over the dish.
Now sprinkle the other cup of grated cheese over the leeks/ham/egg-mix. And then it's all ready to pop into the oven for about 30 minutes or untill well risen and golden brown.
Get the pie out of the oven and let it sit for some minutes. It won't stay as high as it is when it comes out of the oven, but that's ok. It will still be fluffy and lovely!

Enjoy!

(If you want to experiment with the taste of this pie, think about adding fresh or dry herbs to the egg-mixture.)

Spring in the pan...

When I was preparing this simple ham-and-leeks pie this afternoon I noticed that the colors of the ingredients had such a springy look! Lovely...

(Here's a shot of the pan, one from the pie before baking and one after baking. You don't want to see a shot of the pie at this moment...)