Cauliflower Tabouli

I am a big fan of tabouli (tabouleh?) of all sorts, so when I saw this recipe I thought it had potential.  Greg, not normally a fan of cauliflower cooked or raw, grudgingly indicated he would give it a try.  I have to admit that, as I was preparing it, I had my doubts it would turn out to be Greg-edible, let alone delicious. But delicious it was! You would be hard-pressed to know that it was cauliflower instead of a grain and the taste was fantastic. Even better, it is really healthy. Thanks to the food network site on facebook for suggesting it. Enjoy!

Fish Tacos

I am always looking for new, easy and quick fish recipes.  I would really like our family to eat more fish, but I basically hate cooking it and usually don't really enjoy the fish after I have cooked it myself.  So I went looking for a fish taco recipe - I had heard that fish tacos are supposed to be great, but I haven't ever tried them in a restaurant.  This is the one I found and we loved it!  I think I have made these tacos about once a week for the last month.  My notes are:
- I don't use taco seasoning. Instead I use some ground cumin, ground coriander, salt and pepper to taste. I used to add cayenne as well, but no matter how little I used it always seemed too spicy for Avery so I just stopped. I find that I don't even measure the cumin and coriander, I just guess and keep tasting.  I think it would be hard to go overboard on either of those, especially the coriander.
- I've been using Basa (Vietnamese catfish) fillets lately and have really liked the taste and texture.
- For the cabbage, I usually just buy a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix. It works pretty well.
- The sour cream mix is also excellent as a dip with tortilla chips.  I add a little lime to the dip to give it more zing.

If anyone has any great fish recipes to recommend, please send them my way!

Growing up...

Some days, I can't quite believe how fast Avery is growing up.  It's the little things, such as recently she has started calling me "Mommy" instead of Mama.  I find it really odd when she says it, because it almost seems like she thinks it is a more grown-up thing to say, rather than something she really wants to say.  But on the other hand, I almost always refer to myself as Mommy, so it makes sense that she would catch on sooner or later.  The other grown-up thing she did this week was help me bake a cake - Julie's rhubarb cake to be precise.  The experience was great (and very messy), and kind of went like this: "Ok Avery, put the flour in the bowl. NO, DON'T TOUCH THAT! Alright sweetheart, next is the sugar. AVERY, DON'T SPILL IT! Very good job sweetie, keep mixing. BE CAREFUL - DON'T FALL OFF THE STOOL!..." and you get the gist of it.  It was really cool the way she remembered that I told her the topping would go on after we put the cake in the pan, and then she used a small measuring cup to start putting the topping on before I asked her too.  Then she dumped a cupful on the floor and Trus enjoyed a sugary treat.  And so it went... :)

The picture is of how she was dressed one day when she went to daycare.  She really wanted to wear the fancy dress Dana gave her, hence the pink skirt (and the dress was apparently only $3 on the clearance rack - best $3 Dana ever spent!), it was a cold day so we made her wear pants under the dress, the sweater was the first one I could put my hands on, and the hat just pulled the whole outfit together!  

Catching up again...

Funny how I can't even blog regularly while on mat leave...what am I going to do when I go back to work?  Oh well, I'll deal with that when I have to.

In Herage news, Micaela is now 4.5 months old and Avery is a solid 2 years - with all that entails.  Mikes is growing up quickly, smiling and laughing mostly at her big sister, on the verge of rolling over for about 3 weeks now, and is still a mama's girl.  She is getting better though - she is much more willing to go to other people, at least for a few minutes before she starts crying. :)  Her sleeping at night isn't improving much, but as I said to Bonnie, this time around I am not going to worry about it.  I will work on all of that as it gets closer to me going back to work, and when she starts daycare, Linda (our daycare provider) will fix her, just like she did with Avery!

Avery is a very active little kid, with all the bumps and bruises to show for it. She is doing great, enjoying being a big "sistha" and is talking more and more every day.  We've even managed to kick her soother habit, as all of the soothers somehow were lost in Toronto.  I just keep reminding her that it wasn't Grossmueti who lost them.

We did a big trip to Toronto in May - the girls and I drove there with my dad to start.  Due to a car fire on the 401, the trip took about 6.5 hours.  It was probably the longest drive to TO ever for me, made even more painful by Micaela screaming for the last 2 hours or so. We hung out at my mom's house for a week, visiting as many people as possible, and Greg joined us for the long weekend.  It was a pretty tiring week, but overall went very well. 

Since then we've made a few day trips to the cottage and we're planning to have people over for as many pool parties as possible - as long as the weather cooperates.  We are going to a cottage with Ted and Jamie in July, and I am hoping to go to Calgary with the girls in August to see Dan and Andrea...it will all depend on the price of flights whether it is Micaela and I, or both girls and I.  I wish there was a kid price, but no such luck. With all of that activity, summer is probably going to fly by!