Spiced Sweet Rice

Night time at my house is not pretty...I've was never one of those mom's who could just set their baby down and let them cry themselves to sleep. Even though everyone warned me, I didn't listen.
Since the day I brought my babies home, I had rocked them until they fall fast asleep and then ever so quietly tuck them into their little beds and then crawl into mine...the problem with this is that they don't stay asleep! Oh no siree! And when they wake...they want mom to hold them again. My little peanut is usually the first to wake up, normally because she fell out of bed or rolled into the wall so I crawl into her bed and snuggle up and fall fast asleep before she does probably. Then in about 20 minutes Mr. Man comes and finds me and pulls me back into our bed. No more then 45 minutes later, my big Walnut wakes up and drags me into the bathroom with him so he can go pee. In the process of crawling into bed with him to get him back to sleep we usually wake Peanut back up and the process repeats all night until finally at 5:00 a.m. I can just wake up and get ready for the day.
So after a long night of playing musical beds, I need something significant and good I can fill my tummy with to help get me through the day. The answer to that search is Spiced Sweet Rice...and the cooking times fit into my schedule perfectly! I'm in the shower while the rice is boiling in water and drying and curling my hair while it absorbs the milk. The scent of this delicious dish fills your house so quick it will definitely pull everyone out of bed to find out whats for breakfast!

Spiced Sweet Rice

1/2 cup Regular Rice
1 cup Water
1 cup Milk
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Tbls Butter
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Nutmeg

Add Rice and Water into sauce pan and bring to boil. When it starts to boil, turn heat down and simmer about 15 minutes or until rice has absorbed all the water. Stir in 1 cup milk, cover, and return to simmer for an additional 15 minutes or until rice has absorbed all the milk. You are looking for a similar consistency to oatmeal. If you are using brown rice, you may need to extend cooking time. It is very important you use real rice, not minute rice or it will not be able to absorb all the liquid.

Once all liquid is absorbed, remove from heat and stir in sugar, butter, cinnamon and nutmeg. Serve warm and ENJOY!

A Birthday and Baklava

We have a multi-cultural family. My husband and his family are from Uzbekistan, an Asian country north of Afghanistan and west of China. We married just shortly after the September 11th attacks that were so devastating to so many, and I have seen first hand the stigma attached now to any country that ends in "istan" even when most of Americans have never heard of Uzbekistan and they automatically judge. Did you know "istan" stands for "land of?" So my husband and his loving, warm, caring family are from the Land of Uzbeks. What a colorful, happy culture they have brought into my home. There is so much history in every building and road and house in this wonderful country. The music and art has filled my house for the last 8 years that my husband and I have lived together, and even more so now that his mom has been staying with us for the past 10 months. The music specifically has filled my little peanut's heart and come out of her with, at times, some hilarious dance moves!
Yesterday was my mother-in-laws birthday. To celebrate, we dusted off the grill for the first time this spring and made some bbq chicken and potatoes. Wow...was that delicious! And, to share some art of my own for her to bring home to her country...I cross stitched some beautiful kitchen towels, hot pads, an apron and a table cloth for her. She has shared so much of herself with my family I thought the this would be the perfect time to share something that I worked on so hard with her.


We ended the celebration with a special request from the birthday girl herself...Baklava! Baklava is a rich honey and nut pastry that is best served with a nice cup of hot tea if you ask me! Many cultures have a version of Baklava and it is not exactly know where its orgins come from, but it is found in Greek, Turkish, Arab, Uzbek and Chinese cultures to name a few. It has been found to be a special treat served during Ramadan (a special religious time in the Islamic religion) in some countries. This is a favorite dessert of my mother-in-law, but it is very expensive to make in Uzbekistan, so the first time I pulled it out of the oven while she was here she was very excited! And I was excited that I made a dessert that she recognized without even knowing it!

Baklava

1 lb Walnuts, finely chopped

1 c butter, melted

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp Cloves

1 lb phyllo pastry (I use Athens brand)

a little lemon juice

2 c sugar

1 c honey

2 tsp vanilla

1 ½ c water

Make sure to follow directions on the phyllo package to properly thaw out your dough...or it will break when you unroll it and you will become easily frustrated!

If you buy the whole walnuts (its a lot cheaper), throw them in the food processor and pulse a few times until you get a fine chop. Mix the Walnuts, cinnamon and cloves and set aside.

Melt butter.

Butter a 9" x 13" pan and place 4 sheets of phyllo, using a pastry brush to brush melted butter on each individual sheet.

Add about 2/3 cups of walnut mixture on top and add 2 more sheets of phyllo, buttering each sheet.

Repeat until you either have only 4 sheets left (which you use for the top layer) or are out of walnut mix. I usually come pretty close to using one pack of phyllo (the Athens brand comes with 2 sealed bags).

Cut the baklava in a diamond pattern, making sure to get all the way to the bottom of the pan.

Top with the remaining butter and bake at 350 for 40 minutes (or until top is nicely golden brown.)

During the last 10 minutes of baking time, mix the sugar, honey, vanilla, lemon juice and 1 ½ cups of water in a pot and boil for 5 minutes.

Remove any froth off the top and pour over the baklava. I don't end up using all the honey mixture...usually about 2/3 of it.

Serve cold.

Why I Run...

After I had my first baby, I was 25 pounds overweight. I carried it with me for many months. When my son's first birthday went by and I was still 25 pounds overweight I called up my friend who also had a child the same age as mine...(she only gained 20 pounds throughout her pregnancy compared to my 45 and was back into her regular jeans as soon as her c-section incision healed) and asked her if she would start jogging with me. So one day per week we met at the community center and for 30 dreadful minutes I would walk three laps and run one (it took 15 laps to equal 1 mile). She stuck by me and within a month I ran my first mile straight through in my entire life. Slowly but surely within 7 months of meeting on Wednesday nights...I ran my first 5k at the local summer festival. The painstaking 35 minutes and 36 seconds I endured to finish those 3.1 miles I will never forget. Being that I have never been a very athletic person and I was able to finish something of that enormity made me feel like I could do anything. That day running shifted from a weight loss technique to a way of life. Four years later I completed the 5k in 28 minutes and 29 seconds...7 minutes faster!
When I leave my front door with my head phones in pumping my favorite music into my head with my Nike's strapped on tight I am no longer a mom or a wife. There are no demands on me or my time. No one asks anything of me except for myself. Throughout the course of a day...I feel pulled in a million directions. Work has expectations of me, my kids have needs to be fulfilled, my husband even has daily demands that must be met. My laundry room is always calling me, along with the stove. When I run...all of that gets left behind. My mind can go blank. I am the only one that puts demands on myself...to run longer, run harder, run faster then the day before. I decide what I am going to do at that moment...whether I am going to run 3 miles or 6 miles...or try to complete an 8 minute mile or go for an easy lazy jog.

A lot of people don't understand why I would go for a 7 mile jog...in rainy 30 degree weather. I few years ago I wouldn't have either! But having those precious few minutes when no one can find me because I'm on some back county road by myself with no cell phone or baby attached to my hip is the only thing that gets me through the week. Taking time to look up at the sky or the trees and remembering that He created this life for me and everything around me puts me at peace. At those moments when I'm 5 miles into my run and I don't think I can make it back home He fills me with love and motivation to push just a bit further.

When I run I know God is with me and he helps put me at peace so that I can struggle through another day, and be able to go to sleep knowing everything is alright...

Hamburger Soup

Saturday was one of those awful early Spring days where the prior week had been gorgeous outside and the kids were running around all week outdoors and playing with all the toys that had been locked up in the garage all winter long...and then in the blink of an eye Saturday was cold and rainy and we were all locked up inside again. The kids sat at the window, asking to go out and ride their bikes and all I could think of was curling up in a blanket and hiding until the sun came out again. That's the thing about kids though, they are immune to the temperature outside. Whether it is 100 degrees or -10 degrees, they don't care! All they care about is being able to exert all that energy they build up in their sleep.
So at lunch time I pulled myself from the comfort of my blanket to make some comfort in a bowl! Hamburger soup I think is basically spaghetti in a bowl. With spaghetti being my favorite food...I sneak into our weekly menu any way I can.

Hamburger Soup

1 tbls olive oil
1 whole medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 stalks celery, finely chopped
2 whole carrots, thinly sliced
1 pound ground beef
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tbls dried basil
1 tbls dried parsley
1 tbls dried oregano
2 quarts canned tomatoes
1 tbls beef bouillon
2-4 cups water, depending on how thin you'd like it
2 cups small noodles

heat oil in large stock pot. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Sauté for a few minutes until veggies are tender-crisp and then add the ground beef. Begin to brown beef and then add salt, pepper, basil, parsley, and oregano. Cook until beef is brown and then add stewed tomatoes, beef broth and water.
Bring to boil and let cook for 5-10 minutes over medium heat. Skim grease from top and let cook another 5 minutes.
Add noodles.
Let cook until noodles are tender. Serve with warm bread.

Go-To Granola Bars

Some mornings I get up a full 3 hours before I even have to leave the house to go the work. It's crazy! I crawl out of bed at 5:00 am and hit the pavement for a 3 or 4 mile jog, then come in and shower and get ready for the day. At some point during my shower my 4 year old wakes up and comes into the bathroom and curls up on the rug until I'm done. It is quite a funny sight! By the time I'm done curling my hair my 1 year old is usually awake crying infront of the refrigerator because she wants a glass of milk.

After getting everyone dressed (including myself) and folding some laundry I didn't have time to finish the night before and brushing and flossing 3 sets of teeth, I move onto breakfast. It is normally something along the lines of eggs and toast, french toast or pancakes or waffles for the kids, my husband and mother-in-law. But as I run out of the house already late for work...I find that I have forgotten to eat breakfast myself! I don't understand how someone can cook breakfast for 4 people but forget to eat themselves, but I do it on a regular basis. So...that is why I keep a stash of these granola bars in my desk.

If you buy granola bars in the store, you have to search high and low for a good bar that does not contain high-frutose corn syrup or other unneccesary ingredients that are not friends with your body. The best part is that you can add anything you'd like to these bars to suit your cravings! Dried cherries, almonds...I've even been known to put chocolate chips in them to satisfy my sweet tooth!

Stove-Top Granola

2 cups quick-cooking oats
4 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
4 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup slivered almonds
2 tablespoons flaked coconut

In a large skillet, toast oats, cocnut and almonds until golden brown. Remove from heat and set aside. In same skillet, cook and stir brown sugar, honey and butter until bubbly, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in almonds, coconut and oats and press into a 9 x 9 pan. Cut into bars immediately (otherwise they break if you try to cut them after they've set) and allow to cool and set for 15 - 20 minutes. Enjoy!