Rainbow rice is nice

We have an on-going glut of zucchini from the garden, which my boys refuse to eat in visible form... a few weeks ago I started making this, which is healthyish, reasonably quick and tasty (and not bad reheated for lunch next day either). Every time I cook it, J says delightedly "This is so yum" and actually eats a large portion... so I think it is probably a useful vegetable input tool, and I think it's yum too.

Nice Rainbow Rice

Cook 1 cup of rice however you usually would, leaving it slightly on the dry side (basmati or long grain or a mixture with brown rice)... I put 1 c basmati rice with 2 and 1/8 c cold water in a big jug and nuke it for about 20 minutes until the water is absorbed.

Cut 200-300g raw animal protein thing (I've used beef schnitzel or chicken breasts or thighs) into strips and mix with 2 Tbsp soy sauce, 1 Tbsp prepared garlic (or a 3 cloves of real stuff), 1-2 tsp turmeric, 1 tsp Indian-style curry paste (I am using a mild madras at the moment)... allow to marinade in fridge if you have time (which you probably don't)...
OR shred 1 cup or so of smoked chicken or leftover cooked chicken... in this case I mix the marinade and add it when I am cooking it...
OR use a tin of drained, rinsed kidney beans.

Chop 1 small onion finely.

Assemble 2-3 cups of grated/very finely chopped colousful veges... whatever you have... at the moment I start with 1 grated carrot, 1 grated zucchini... then add a selection of: red cabbage, ordinary cabbage, broccolli, spinach, silverbeet, capsicum, runner/green beans, frozen corn and/or peas... use whatever YOU have now.

Heat a heavy frypan (large enough to contain your food heap) with enough oil to cover the bottom... Seal raw meat, then add onion and cook until meat is cooked and onion is translucent, stirring as required to make sure it doesn't stick in your pan... or cook onion 1st and add cooked meat or beans and soy + spices. Add veges, cover pan and allow them to steam until cooked, stirring occasionally (about 5 minutes). Stir in rice, mushing up all the clumps so the flavour will spread through. Allow to stand for 5 minutes or so to allow the rice to absorb the yummy liquid.

Serve garnished with chopped fresh tomatoes and cucumber, maybe some avocado... fresh peas, coriander or parsley are nice on top too... so is chopped gherkin.

This does us two meals... so I'm guessing that in recipe book terms it serves about 3-4 people.

This is a Karen recipe... so if it used excess from the garden or stuff you had in the fridge already, and you enjoyed eating it, you did good :-)

Whether 'tis nobler?

Here's the scenario... you have friends coming over and you know coffee is their beverage of choice. Is it okay to buy the Fair Trade version of the mostly-non-fair-trade-brand coffee from the supermarket or try to get to Trade Aid to buy genuine Fair Trade coffee, knowing you certainly won't make it before someone melts down? Given that I chose the expedient option, did I just line the pockets of an evil exploitative coffee empire or can my consumer dollar make them change their scurrilous ways? (And since I also bought disposible nappies in the same shop, have I any right to pretend I am making moral choices?)

Oh yeah, as it turned out they brought their own, more morally righteous coffee, 'cos they knew I was out! :-)

A lot of balls

Tonight I am printing 30 copies of this...

J makes breakfast

This morning J snuck into the kitchen while I was changing T, took two bowls out of the cupboard and put two weetbix in each. When I arrived, nervously, to check out the clatter, he said "Put the milk on please, Mummy" (I'm glad I got there before he decided to do that himself, as although I want to foster his independence, I find it impossible to be positive about the mess). Then "Do you want brown sugar on yours?", as he spooned a surprisingly restrained amount into his own bowl.

At morning tea, two of my workmates were complaining about how their teenagers did nothing to help around the house. I felt smug!

Not so beanful

A mode of 5 wakings per night for the last week. Thoughts fragmented and discontented. I want... something... else...

Sometimes life really is a bowl of cherries

Cherries, a cup of tea, dark caramel chocolate and both boys in bed at 9:10 pm. It's like one of those reality shows where they make all your fantasies come true!

I want to write about Kapcon and some cool science I read about today, but I also want to sleep. Sleep wins...

Don't try this at home.

Yesterday I (accidently) cooked my breast-pump which was sitting in an empty pot on the stove, tried to save the pot and dripped molten plastic on the back of my hand. It is the 1st time I have ever run a burn under cold water for the whole 10 minutes without coersion! I pulled off the bigger chunks of plastic myself as they cooled, but the nurse had to scrape the rest off with forceps. I now have this really cool dressing which is fortuitously washable as I probably wash my hands about 50 times a day (no, I'm not obsessive compulsive just a lab-worker and a parent). She also put a crepe bandage on to remind me not to use it, but it was too annoying, so I took it off this morning:-) It's surprisingly unsore, so I'm hoping the nasty black spready bit I can see through the dressing is something to do with the cream and not me (maybe it changes from black to white on contact with flesh, that would be pretty amazing). Have to soak the dressing off with olive oil tomorrow and go see the doctor to get it checked and get a new one. I expect that bit will hurt...

Last night at 10:30 when James came to say his leg was hurting and it wasn't getting better ( a regular occurence) I offered him a sticking plaster and he said "No Mummy, that won't help... I need one like that". Desperate for sleep, and concerned for future nights, I lied and said I didn't think we had one handy. I am a bad Mummy who tells the truth about Santa but not crepe bandages!

I don't yike being grizzled at...

Recently J's grizzling, whinging and constant demands have reached a point where I have started to grizzle and whinge and demand back. I know this is not good parenting. The situation has been escalating. It sucks!

At 5:30AM I used a line that I think came almost verbatim from a Diane Levy book... very calmly and seriously... "Okay, because you've got a nasty cough, I'll get you some milk now even though we don't usually have milk in the night (well, not that bit), but from the morning I will not respond to any requests unless you ask nicely in a reasonable tone of voice." After I delivered the milk I also added, "and even if you ask properly I might still say no," (just to cover my butt, like). I have tried this approach before. It didn't work.

This morning, unstead of howling "Mummy mummy, I want you, Mummy I want you now" on high volume repeat from the bedroom, a rather bemused looking J staggered out to the kitchen and even attempted a smile. I said "Would you like me to put the milk on your ricies now?" J said "Yes please" and wandered off to my room where he likes to eat breakfast. We didn't have an "I want" or "I don't want" until I was buckling him into the car seat (20 minutes late as usual).

"I want something to eat" he whined.

"Remember, today I'm only responding if you ask me nicely" I replied (smile slipping off into a parallel universe).

"Could I please have a snack."

"Okay" I raced back into the house and hurriedly washed a small handful of blueberries (J's absolute favourite food) and dumped them into a bowl.

Back at the car... "I didn't want that, I don't yike those."

"Okay," taking the bowl away and starting the car.

"Noooooooo", howled J, then paused... "Could I please have my blueberries?"

How come it worked today? Can I keep it up? Tune in for the next thrilling episode of stressed suburban single Mums on caffeine.

And for the record, T, who is a happy baby, whooped and hooted all the way to Turitea...