Comfort Soup Italian-style for the sick house + quick potty update

sicky girl

Since Sunday, Paul and Lily have had the sniffles and coughs. No serious fevers, they have just both been feeling all-around blah. Lily was actually well enough to go to school on Monday, but after I tried bringing her in on Tuesday, they called me and suggested I bring her home early. I rushed right over and scooped her up- stopping for princess stickers on the way, of course. Yesterday everyone was home and having a sick day, so I made this cozy and easy to make ravioli chicken soup from the "Nanny Rose Recipe Vault".

Ravioli Chicken Soup
(serves 8+)

Ingredients:

4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 12 oz package of frozen, small-shaped raviolis
2 cups packed baby spinach
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp basil
1 tsp parsley
1 large egg
Salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Cook ravioli in separate pot and set aside. Meanwhile, saute garlic in olive oil in large pot over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes. Next, add broth and water and bring to a boil. Add basil, parsley, salt and pepper to taste, then remove broth from heat. Crack egg over the broth and quickly mix in with beater so it breaks up into small bits and turns white. Add the spinach and stir in until wilted, then the raviolis last. Serve up in large, shallow soup bowls and stir in some grated or shredded Parmesan cheese if desired. If you have the sniffles, adding cheese is not the best idea, although some people just can't say no to extra cheese!

Ravioli in one pot, broth and seasoning in the other

And there you have it- the perfect comfort soup, I guarantee it! We ate it up so quickly I almost forgot to take a picture of it! It will fill your belly and warm your spirit.

Good to the last bite...

  
On a side note, I have backed off quite a bit on potty training Lily lately. After one too many fits and kicks and screams from her, I continue to offer it any chance I get, but the only person who she will willing sit on the pot for is her daddy right now! Unfortunately, he's at work most of the time, but when he's home, he can usually get her to sit on it at least a couple of times a day. She still hasn't made anything in it since those first few times, but here's hoping we'll have a breakthrough soon!

How are you doing with potty-training if you're in the process as well?

That reminds me- a few weeks ago, they had back-to-school night at Lily's daycare, and it made me feel better about the potty training thing when, a) the only thing any parent there had to ask the teacher about was potty training help, and b) the "potty hall of fame" wall was completely...

BARE!

Not really sure what to think about that...it really can be hard, huh? I know they have the kids sit on the pot at her school (there is not even a changing table in her classroom), but you'd think they'd learn faster in a group...I had actually been hoping they'd teach her so I didn't have to!

Another thing I wanted to mention in this post is that I am moving towards changing up the layout here. I'm kind of "over it", and my blog is about more than just eating healthy and recipes now, so I think the general look should reflect that. The name will be the same, of course, but I don't know how the rest will look. So stay tuned and don't be surprised if next time you visit, things look different!

Meatless Monday: Hearty Lentils

Yet another busy, fun-filled weekend has passed, and I still have a lot to do to "recuperate" from it, so this will be a quick post. 


Today's Meatless Monday recipe derived from me just using what I had readily available. I had lentils, olive oil and garlic in the pantry, and onion, carrot, and spinach in the fridge, plus some long grain rice. Here's what I came up with:

Hearty Lentils
(serves 6-8)


Ingredients:


1 cup lentils
4 carrots, chopped
1 onion, diced,
4 cloves garlic, diced
1 cup baby spinach, rinsed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp dried parsley (you can use fresh)
2 cups rice


Cook the rice according to package and set aside. While it's cooking, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil over medium-low heat in pot for about 3 minutes or until fragrant. Add salt, pepper and parsley and stir together with the onion and garlic, then add the lentils. Cover the lentils with water that is about 1 inch over them, then bring to a boil. Add more water as needed. Once the lentils are about halfway cooked (10-15 minutes), add the carrot. Bring to a boil again, then cover and cook over a high simmer until water is absorbed; add more water as needed. 

Once carrot and lentils are soft yet firm, remove from heat and stir in spinach until wilted. Alternatively, you can add the spinach when the lentils are served so it's still very fresh. Add more seasoning if desired, then serve over rice, or other grain such as quinoa. Quinoa is what I had really wanted to eat with this, but I was fresh out and too lazy to go the store! If you have fresh cilantro, sprinkle that on top. Celery and/or zucchini would make nice additions to this dish as well.


This is an easy, semi-quick meal to make that even meat-eaters will enjoy. Every ingredient is healthy and packed with vitamins and nutrients for your growing child. Most kids like lentils, but if you have a kid who doesn't, make this using only veggies or a different bean they do like. Babies 9 months and up can start eating lentils as long as it is ok by your pediatrician. 


Now, just for fun, I made this little cartoon strip of Lily discovering an ant crawling up her leg. Who says I don't have time for anything fun these days? 

What I made for dinner tonight: a healthy vegetarian meal for 2

June was a jam-packed month for my family and I, and July ain’t looking much different. The move to a bigger place was successful, most of the cleaning and organizing has been done, and we are starting to really like our new home. My sister had her baby, a healthy baby girl :) Summer is just getting started, and I know it will be gone in a blink of an eye so I am trying to take as much advantage of the time I have.

For today’s Meatless Monday recipe, I once again featured my favorite root vegetable in the starring role: the beet. Paul went to the store and selected a nice looking bunch so I popped 2 in the oven and threw what else we had together to make quite a tasty and low fat meal. This would be a great way to recover from a 4^th of July weekend filled with hotdogs and hamburgers.

Oven-roasted Beets with Green Beans and Rice

Ingredients:

2 Large beets, peeled and trimmed

2 handfuls of green beans, trimmed

1 cup white rice

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tbsp butter (I used regular, but you can use margarine)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp dry parsley or 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

Preheat your oven to 450. Wrap the beets in aluminum foil completely, then put on tray into oven for 45 minutes or until tender enough for a knife to slide right in. Meanwhile, cook the rice for 10 minutes and steam the green beans for 5-7 minutes, depending on how tender you like them. When the beets are done, set them aside to cool and fry the garlic in the olive oil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until brown and fragrant. Mix the butter, parsley, salt and pepper into the rice. Set each item onto 2 plates and top the green beans and beets with the garlic and oil and sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and parsley. Serve with a nice white wine if available.

You can, of course, substitute the white rice for brown and slice up the beet any way you choose. I went with the "sliced orange" style, which is appealing to the eye and looks a little like a rose. You can also skip the butter to lower the fat even more and just mix any excess garlic and olive oil into the rice instead to give it a little extra flavor.

 

We gave some of the beet to Lily to try. I think she ate about 2 small pieces, then threw the rest on the floor. These were very sweet and soft beets, so we were surprised she didn’t like it. Oh, well. Its normal for a tot to be a picky eater as we all know, but do feel free to offer it up to your little one all the same. She liked the rice of course, and she also had:

2 tbsp shredded cheddar cheese

2 tbsp steamed mixed peas and chopped carrot

For baby:

1-2 tbsp pureed peas or carrot (4 months+)

or

1-2 tbsp pureed beet (8-10 months)

Parsley is typically the underrated herb that you normally find as a garnish on your plate in some restaurants. Yet, parsley is packed with vitamins A and C and especially K. Parsley has been shown to benefit the heart and contains antioxidant flavonoids such as luteolin.

A lesser known benefit of parsley is it’s “chemoprotective” properties; it contains oils that can neutralize cancerous carcinogens. Add it to meats when you’re grilling to utilize this effect.

One of the best things about parsley is it’s cheap! You can get a nice bunch from just about any supermarket for $.50-$1.00. Smells great too!

And, it being the 4^th and all, I couldn’t get away without posting some kind of healthy grill recipe. We’re all familiar (I believe) with grilling vegetables, but here is a simple and tasty less-traditional way to grill corn on the cob.

Ingredients:

6 ears of corn

6 tbsp queso fresco, divided

6 tsp chili powder, divided

2 limes cut into 6 wedges

Extra lime wedges for garnishing

Rub each ear of corn with a lime wedge and sprinkle with a tsp of chili powder. Wrap each ear in tin foil and cook on grill until brown but not burnt, turning every 5 minutes for 20 minutes. When ready to serve, sprinkle each with about a tbsp of the queso fresco and an extra lime wedge if desired. SO GOOD! Enjoyed best with an ice cold Corona Light.

I first had grilled corn this way at a small, but very popular Mexican diner in the Chelsea area of NYC. I wish I could remember the name of the place; I only recall that it was on a corner near the 23^rd Street Path Train station. You can use this seasoning for other vegetables as well. I’ve tried it on asparagus and tomatoes and it was awesome both times.

Note: Queso fresco is a light, crumbly, slightly acidic Mexican cheese. If you can’t find it or queso blanco, you can sub with feta, Monteray jack or cheddar.

Enjoy your holiday weekend!!!