Potato, cauliflower, and garbanzo curry on a bed of cauliflower leaves. This tastes really really good.

Potato, cauliflower, and garbanzo curry on a bed of cauliflower leaves. This tastes really really good., originally uploaded by chloe & mark nightingale.

A really easy curry:

Cook (in separate pans): garbanzo beans, potatoes, cauliflower. Reserve some cauliflower liquid.

Fry onions in oil. When they start to turn clear, add black mustard seeds and cumin seeds. Stir in some madras curry powder.

Stir in chopped boiled potatoes, garbanzo beans, and chopped cauliflower. Salt to taste. Add lemon juice and some reserved cauliflower liquid. Stir. The potatoes will crumble a bit and make the liquid a bit saucy!

Now it is time to eat!

Serve on a bed of boiled or steamed cauliflower leaves (I know some grocery stores chop them off and that is a shame because they are SO tasty). I don't serve with rice because I figure it's starchy enough with just the potato, but if you want to serve it with rice, go ahead!

Now I have to roll around on the floor clutching my stomach because I ate too much (and because I am 8 months pregnant and there isn't a lot of room in my guts to begin with). But it was so good! And my lovely son, Bompkins, is running around full of energy after eating a TON!!

Potato-Kale Soup

Potato-Kale Soup, originally uploaded by chloe & mark nightingale.


Get a pot.

Fry chopped onions (and garlic, if you wish) in oil in the pot. Stir in chopped carrots (and celery, if you wish). Stir until onions start to turn clear.

Add some diced potatoes (keep the skins on, just scrub 'em first), a sprig of rosemary, some thyme, and some sage. Salt to taste. Chop up a chubby red chili pepper and add that, too.... See more

Fill pot with water, boil for 10 minutes, simmer for 30 minutes. Potatoes and carrots should start getting crumbly when you stir it. Broth will start to look creamy from the potatoes breaking up.

Add chopped kale (I don't de-stem them). Boil for a further 15 minutes. You want the kale to not be so tough and you want the broth to darken as the kale cooks. 

Baby Bee!

Baby Bee!, originally uploaded by chloe & mark nightingale.

Coming in May. Also, the reason why I haven't posted in a while. The first trimester was rough -- morning sickness and soooo tired.

Morning sickness was so rough, I couldn't do VeganMoFo ( http://veganmofo.wordpress.com/about/ ) because food seemed like a terrible thing.

I was so tired, I needed to sleep more than Bert -- it was like being drugged! Hopefully, this will lessen during the second trimester (and probably return during the third).
I have already started cooking and crocheting and knitting up a storm. I will try to post some of my creations here!

Hara Bhara Kebabs:

Sorry, no photos this time, whoops!

MASH: boiled potatoes (I used about 3), boiled peas (I used about the same amount as the potatoes), 1 tbsp curry powder or paste (I used Patak's Rogan Josh paste, but a garam masala or chaat masala would be nice, too), 2 tbsp corn starch. If you are not using a curry paste, add a dash or two of salt.

Stir in 1 chopped jalapeño pepper, 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro, 1 tbsp chopped or grated fresh ginger (please do not substitute powdered ginger, it will not work), and a few handfuls of freshly chopped raw spinach. Stir some more.

Make into patties and fry on both sides. Enjoy alone or in a pitta or wrap.

succulent

succulent, originally uploaded by chloe & mark nightingale.

Remind me to post the recipe for this delicious wheat and dairy-free eggplant lasagna.

Crochet Your Own Berry Hat

Just a quick head's-up! The pattern for my Berry Hat and Booties (as well as many other loverly patterns) is available in the book Crocheted Gifts, by Interweave Press. The hat is available in all sizes -- from Preemie through giant-headed adult! The booties are newborn and 0-3 month sizes.

You can get it at a number of places, but here are two linkies (BTW, I don't get paid for referrals, I'm just linking):

http://www.powells.com/biblio/9781596681071

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1596681071

Chlo-Momma's Cow Peas (Black-Eyed Peas)

Soak cow peas (aka black-eyed peas) overnight. Drain.

Boil a pot of water with:
cow peas
any greens or any green or white cabbage or kale
jalapeño
bay leaf
(stewed tomatoes or coconut milk)

Oil up a pan and fry:
finely diced onion
shredded carrot
(celery)
equal parts garlic and ginger

Put a ladle of liquid from the pot into the pan to deglase and add contents of pan to pot.

Add Chloe's Cajun Blend (recipe follows) to pot. Salt to taste.

Roast in oven: halved and deseeded (green) bell peppers (cut side down) with a smidge of olive oil.
Remove from oven when pepper skins are starting to brown, slice into strips, and stir into pot.

At this point, your cow peas will probably have been cooking for about 40 minutes or so. You want to boil them for at least an hour and you want the liquid in the pot to be nice and thick and opaque.

Serve with rice or millet.

Chloe's Cajun Blend:
Paprika
Cumin
Chili Powder
Thyme
Oregano
dash Turmeric
(and garlic, ginger, and a bay leaf, but you already added those!)

(As far as portions go, quantities are up to you, but I like at least a cup of soaked cow peas, half a carrot, a quarter of an onion, half a cup of shredded cabbage, and one bell pepper per person.)

Bye-bye Alma. We will miss you!

Kinnard Family Reunion many many years ago., originally uploaded by chloe & mark nightingale.

My awesome grammie died. She had 7 kids and was a domestic and crafting goddess. Rumour has it, she made EVERY SINGLE RECIPE in the Joy of Cooking cookbook.

towards the end of a long day

Bompkins woke up in the middle of the night last night, so I let him sleep with me and this morning, I could tell he was awake, but I was tired and was pretending to still be asleep in case he decided to have mercy on me and fall back asleep, too. He didn't, but he crawled on top of me and gave me a big wet open-mouthed kiss. It was so sweet, I could have cried. It absolutely made my morning. I really love that kid.

Bompkins's food diary...

I've typed up some of Bompkins's food diary. Basically, I let him eat as much or as little as he wants and don't force him to eat anything he doesn't like. He is not a picky eater at all and he usually eats a ton. On top of this, I give him diluted apple juice and breastfeed him 2-3 times a day. I like to try to give him a protein, a grain, and fruit or veg at every meal. Certain grains like millet, buckwheat, and quinoa, are actually seeds, so they have a lot of protein & amino acids in them already.
Have a butcher's:

9 May
parsley-hummous
2 wild garlic pancakes, blackberry pancake
tofu
broccoli-buckwheat
banana
tropical porridge
1-1/2 rich tea biscuits (my husband Mark likes to share biscuits with him -- it is probably the only "naughty" food I let him have)

10 May
avocado, shallot, and nutritional yeast flakes sandwich on w/w bread
broccoli-buckwheat
1/2 digestive biscuit
1/2 small potato
banana
rye bread
a few spoonfuls of my organic puffed brown rice (cereal) and soymilk

11 May
tropical porridge
banana
beetroot-potato-tofu-shallot salad (w/ flaxseed oil)
1/2 digestive biscuit
rice

12 May
banana
miso soup w/ rice
rice w/ tomato sauce
toasted rye w/ margarine (I use Sunflower Pure -- it's not hydrogenated) and treacle
nibble of malt loaf
spicy garbanzos (chick peas) w/ onion, wild garlic greens, carrot, & w/w couscous
1-1/2 digestive biscuits
rye bread

13 May
1-1/2 bananas
wild garlic & walnut pesto w/ nutritional yeast flakes on rye
cucumber with a dab of olive oil
broccoli hot pot
toasted rye w/ marg and treacle
a wee bit more broccoli hot pot w/ tomato sauce
a few spoonfuls of my organic puffed brown rice (cereal) and soymilk
1/2 digestive biscuit
oatmeal & raisins

14 May
kiwi fruit
banana
w/w (whole wheat) couscous & tomato sauce
broccoli hot pot
soy yoghurt
w/w pasta w/ spinach, shallot, garlic, olive oil, and wild garlic & walnut pesto

16 May
1-1/2 bananas
(a TON of) tropical porridge and flaxseed oil
(a TON of) spicy rice, curried dahl (red lentils) with tomatoes, onion, and olive oil
digestive biscuit

24 May
banana
rice & tomato dahl cury
sweet potato
potato-pea-pesto mash

26 May
pea-potato mash
tofu (Bert is wild about tofu, so I give cubes of it to him as a snack)
rye bread w/ marg and treacle
broccoli-tomato rice
apricot-peach-apple sauce
soya yoghurt

27 May
rye bread w/ marg
broccoli-tomato rice
tofu and brussel sprouts
baked beans
pear

28 May
oatmeal-w/w bread
banana
tofu
curried potatoes
miso soup w/ rice and wakame seaweed
spicy okra in tomato sauce
pear
oatcake

29 May
banana
mini whole wheat date scone (I made healthy scones for his birthday)
tofu
oatmeal-w/w bread
spice soup (chili, tomato, onion, carrot, celery, courgette -- more of a thick stew, really)
rice

30 May (his first birthday)
pear
banana
blueberries & soya yoghurt
2 mini w/w scones
spice soup and rice
tofu
gazpacho soup (thick -- like the way they do it in Seville) with w/w bread

31 May
mini w/w scone
2 bananas
blueberries
gazpacho soup with w/w bread
w/w toast & all-fruit raspberry jam (unsweetened/no sugar or sweeteners)
tofu

1 June
mini w/w scone
tofu
banana
avocado hummous (mmm!)
gazpacho soup & w/w bread
cucumber
smoothie (banana-blueberry-tofu-soya yoghurt)
pear
small potato

2 June
avocado hummous on w/w bread
2 wee potatoes
1-1/2 bananas
more avocado hummous
stewed okra & tomatoes
apricot-peach-apple sauce
organic brown puffed rice & a dab of soya milk

3 June
avocado hummous & nutritional yeast flakes on w/w bread
banana
borscht veggies (beet carrot, celery, onion) w/ olive oil, dill, and black pepper
organic brown puffed rice & soya milk
rice & tomato sauce
pear

5 June
avocado hummous on w/w bread
banana
beet & potato salad (w/ cider vinegar, olive oil, and ground coriander) <--this is a northern African recipe I recently discovered broccoli-rice with a smidge of tomato sauce tofu 7 June quinoa with tomatoes, carrot, mushroom, celery, cabbage, and onion w/w toast with all-fruit jam w/w toast with marg and marmite sweet potato banana garlic-ginger-chili millet with shallots and cilantro (fresh coriander) roasted beets with olive oil, lemon, shallot, rosemary, garlic, and black pepper tofu digestive biscuit 10 June w/w toast with all-fruit jam w/w toast with marg and marmite banana tofu broccoli-rice with a dab of tomato sauce smoothie (banana, soya yoghurt, kiwi, mixed frozen berries) digestive biscuit 11 June w/w toast with all-fruit jam w/w toast with marg and marmite banana tofu broccoli-rice with a dab of curried dahl Aloo Bhajia (curried fried potatoes) smoothie (banana, soya yoghurt, kiwi, mixed frozen berries)