Foodie Friday: Ginger Glazed Salmon with Sesame Celery and Radish Stir Fry

We love salmon, and we make sure to have frozen fillets in our freezer at all times.  We used to buy fresh, but then my Oma Betty (Grandmother) told me about the Costco frozen salmon and we haven't turned back since.  Here is something we tried once, and now we do all the time. 

Ginger Glazed Salmon with Sesame Celery and Radish Stir Fry

 2 salmon fillets

soy sauce

teriyaki

minced ginger

celery

watermelon radish

spring onion

sesame oil

sesame seeds

brown rice

To start, you need to marinate your salmon.  This isn't totally necessary, but will really notice a difference if you don't.  Place your salmon fillets in a shallow baking dish.  Mince some ginger (or use the jarred, pre-minced ginger like we did) and spread the paste over the top of both fillets.  Warning: ginger is potent! If you're not a huge fan of ginger, don't put a lot. We like it, so we make sure the paste covers the top of the filet.  I didn't put measurements on the ingredients for the marinade, because it really is up to individual taste. Marinate for about 6 hours, flipping the filets twice so that it gets totally covered.

Next, you will want to chop up your vegetables. We get produce delivered to us periodically from a company called Greenling and one week we received watermelon radish.  They are really pretty, but we didn't know what to do with them.  They work perfect in the this stir fry. 

 Chop your celery, radish, and spring onion into similarly sized pieces.  We like to get fancy and cut everything on the diagonal, but it's not necessary.  Once everything is cut, make sure the veggies are as dry as you can get them, and then pour some sesame oil over the veggies to coat.  A little bit of oil goes a long way, so don't put too much.  Toss the veggies around in the bowl with some kosher salt and get ready to cook.

Before you cook anything, toast some sesame seeds in a dry pan for 5-10 minutes until they are golden, then set them aside.  You can then use this pan to cook your salmon.  Melt 1 tablespoon of butter for each fillet (so add two people!), and wait until it just starts to bubble before you add your salmon.  Drop your salmon onto the skillet and DON'T MOVE IT!  Just like any piece of meat, you don't want to touch the salmon for at least 3-4 minutes.  The goal is to get a good sear on each side.  When the meat is done on one side, it will release itself from the pan.  If you gently nudge it with a spatula and it moves, then you can flip it to the other side, then (you guessed it) DON'T MOVE IT! Patience is a virtue, remember? 

While you are working your salmon, you can be stir frying your vegetables. In a screaming hot skillet or wok, dump in your veggies and keep them moving for the first few minutes.  You don't want to cover with a lid, because then you run the risk of steaming the veggies instead of stir frying them.  Move them around the pan every now and then, and keep going until they start to get good looking brown bits on them.  That's your goal.

When the salmon and veggies are done, you can dig in!  We eat them over brown rice, or just by themselves.  And you must pair it with a good Japanese beer. Kirin Ichiban is awesome, people!  Enjoy!

Unexpected Day Off

Most of you would say, "Woo hoo! An extra day off!" And then you would hear that I'm home with a sick kid.  Then you would say, "So sorry to hear that." Then you would hear that my kid never recognizes that she's sick, so she's a blast to stay home with. Then you would say, "Lucky dog!" 

I got a call from daycare at about 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon saying that she had a fever of 101.7 and that I needed to come get her.  The fun part was that I was literally on the furthest part of my running route from the office, so I booked it back.  Good news? I shaved 2  minutes off of my time.  Bad news? My lungs hurt.

I got home with Corgan and we had a blast.  She didn't eat a ton of dinner, which is usually the case when she's not feeling well, so she and I went up to the loft.  She went nuts!!! She played all over the loft, non-stop, for almost an hour.  She would run to all the doors in the hallway, shut them, say 'uh-oh' really loud, and shriek with giggles when I would bang on the door for her to let me in.  It was flippin' adorable!

The other news...we think she has crystals in her urine, so part of my day today will be going to the doctor.  On Sunday morning, Stuart was on baby duty and noticed the crystals when he changed her first diaper of the day.  The best way to describe them is clear versions of the salt you find on the rim of a margarita. We called our insurance's nurse line, and they told us to call the doctor on Monday, and to watch to see if she was painfully urinating.  We saw nothing, and she didn't produce any more crystals, but we went ahead and called the doctor on Monday.  They gave us the same information.  Keep an eye on her, make sure she isn't in pain, make sure her urine isn't smelling different, etc.  Well, they showed up again last night.  Little, itty, bitty margarita salt in her diaper. Keep in mind she's in cloth diapers, so we've been able to rule out the typical cause, which is leaking gel from the disposable diaper.  We'll hopefully find out today if we're facing a her first UTI. 

Still, even with a pending doctor's visit and a fever, who could be discouraged when you get to spend the day with this!!!

From My Better Half...

I Should Have Been on “Heroes”

So, I was watching Heroes the other day with Haley and she asked me the following question, “Excluding Peter Petrelli, which heroes’ power would you have?”  Little did she know that this is something that I have been pondering for many years.  Let’s look at some of the powers that people have and why I think they may be fun.

1. Claire Bennett – Healing Power:  This is a pretty cool power.  I would love the ability to get hurt and heal up pretty quickly.  I would also like the potential to become immortal.  As an avid Highlander fan, I really like this option.
2. Nathan Petrelli – Flying:  Seriously, who wouldn’t want to fly around town and do crazy stuff?  Traffic jam?  Forget it; I fly to work anyway.  Did something get stuck on the roof of the house?  I got it!  Do I want to go to Fredericksburg for a German beer today?  Sure, and I can be there in minutes.  The utility of this power would be outstanding.  I just wonder how this would work with my fear of heights…
3. Hiro Nakamura – Bend Time and Space:  As a prankster, this would be a great thing to have.  Imagine this…years from now, Corgan and I are playing hide’n’seek and she is about to find me.  I stop time, hide somewhere else, and unfreeze everything.  I will be the undisputed hide’n’seek champion for all time.
4. Matt Parkman – Mind Reading:  I don’t know if I would like this power.  I don’t really care what people think about me too often, but I don’t think I could hand the kinds of stuff that I feel the random person is thinking at any given time.  I’d probably need a therapist if I had this power.

If I had to choose one of those powers…I think it would be bending time and space.  I could teleport to places, which would be nice because my wife really likes to travel.  I mean, how cool would it be to take a family summer trip to Ancient Rome?  Corgan’s teacher would never believe that summer vacation story.

However, I think I already have a special power.  As my wife can attest, I have the ability to look at a situation and predict (most of the time) exactly what will happen next in the situation/story.  I have not yet learned how to harness this power which can cause conflict in my normal life.  That is the exact reason why my wife will not allow me to speak at all when we are watching TV shows or movies.  Apparently, ruining almost every show that we watch is frowned upon by your better half…

Meal Planning and So Much More...

In true Fits & Starts fashion, I'm trying something new.  Again. Stuart and I always try to build our grocery list off of a meal plan for the week so that we save money at the store. We've done it for years, and we love having a plan during our busy, busy weeks.  We even tried meal planning on a monthly basis like our good friend does, but we like talking about food too much.  It's so enjoyable to sit down and brainstorm about the different food combinations, pour over my collection of food magazines, and have a plan of action for our week ahead.  This week I went a step further. I loooove organizing, so I decided to organize my fridge based on the meals we planned, and to pre-prep the meals in true Greenling fashion.  Here's how it worked out...

Our meal plan for the week:

 Sunday: Seared Salmon with Sauteed Bok Choy over Ramen Noodles
Monday: Grilled Chicken with Piedfort Green Beans and Biscuits
Tuesday: Roasted Pork Loin with Sauteed Carrots over Italian Orzo
Wednesday: Crock Pot Chicken and Leeks over Baked Potatoes
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: Frozen 'Leftover' Pizza

Lunches: Blue Cheese and Cranberry Salads

Breakfasts: Hard Boiled Eggs, Yogurt, or Grapefruit
Saturday: plan for next week :)

Prep ahead:

Thaw salmon, chicken, pork, and bacon.

Clean and bag bok choy.

Prep green beans and slice red onion.

Peel and cut carrots into rounds.

Clean leeks and cut all veggies to go in crock pot.

Prep lunch salads.

Prep breakfast items.

It took us about 30 minutes to plan our week, then during Corgan's nap, it took about an hour and a half to do all the prep work for the week.  One of the things we really battle with each week is doing a home-cooked meal when we are so tired and busy.  We cook with a TON of fresh veggies so all the chopping and cleaning takes too long on a weeknight.  This time, I hope that getting it done before the week starts will make it easier.

For lunches, I prefer cold food as opposed to heating up leftovers.  Stuart will eat leftovers any ol' time.  I portioned out 7 tupperwares of mixed lettuce and 7 snack-sized bags of salad fixings.  Each bag has dried cranberries, blue cheese crumbles, pecan pieces, and I will add some grilled chicken after dinner on Monday. Stuart is going to grill some extra for me to add.  I also have some blue cheese dressing in small tupperware containers.  All of this is grab-and-go for my weekday lunches.

Next, I prepped all the veggies for the week.  My family has a great recipe for green beans, so we'll make a double batch on Monday.  I'll freeze one batch worth for a later meal, and we'll enjoy the rest at dinner and for leftovers during the week.  I also washed the leeks, bok choy, carrots, and celery for our other recipes.  Everything is prepped and cut.

The container on the left has tons of carrots sliced into circles for our sauteed carrots.  It will make plenty for leftovers for lunches.  On the right is the container of sliced leeks, carrots, celery, onion, and garlic for the crock pot meal on Wednesday.  Stuart is in class on Wednesday and Thursday nights, so coming home to an already cooked meal is awesome!  I will also bake some potatoes the night before so I can do a quick microwave heat-up on those and have dinner.  This is also something that Corgan should love!

I also took all the meat out to thaw so I don't have to worry about remembering the night before.  We put our more delicate meat early in the week (salmon), and everything will be used within the first four days.

Both Stuart and I eat breakfast either in the car or at our desks.  We're not morning people, so it works well for us.  Baby girl eats a home cooked breakfast that we take to daycare.  She's a sleeper, too, so we don't want to get her up earlier than we have to. I hard boiled a weeks worth of eggs, there's yogurt to grab, or I have some pre-halfed grapefruit.  No, the wine is not for breakfast.  It just happens to fit well there in the fridge.

We also  have a Corgan section of the fridge. We really try to have her eat what we eat so that we can continue to develop her pallet, but since we don't eat a lot of carbs, we keep a lot of cooked noodles in her area.  I also have different steamed vegetables in containers, and home made zucchini carrot muffins. Tucked in the back is some whole milk yogurt as well.  It's just a lot easier to find something for her to eat if its all in one place.  There are some nights that we don't get home until her dinner time, so grab and go is essential!

I know that seems like a lot, but with only 2 hours of effort on a weekend, most of which is during her nap time, I hope to be able to shave off a lot of effort during the week.

Spring Break and Yard Work

What doesn't say spring break like doing a bunch of house and yard work? A blog in pictures.

Day One:

To quote Stuart: "This is what tampons should really be called."

End of Day One:

End of Day Two:

Reward:

WARNING: Do NOT do a Google image search for 'dirty martini'.

Darwin the Wonder-Dawg

I know Wednesday is supposed to be From My Better Half... but I'm giving him a vacation. He's content playing WoW right now, and I don't want to bother him.  He's been on vacation all week and I've been making him do house chores, so this is my little gift to him.

As I've already shared with you, we have three dachshunds.  Darwin, while the middle in age, was the first dog we got. We've had him since just before we got married, so he's just over 5 years old (we'll have been married 5 years this summer), and he is notorious for having medical issues.  First off, he's a vaccine reactor.  When he got his first puppy shots at 6 weeks, his face swelled up and we had to pump him full of benadryl to make it go away. Now every time he gets vaccines, we have to drop him off, give him an IV catheter and administer antihistamine injections. Fun.  He also has a crazy weak stomach.  He eats grass all the time, pukes on every car ride, and pretty much can't eat anything other than dog food.  We love him to death, but he's a handful.

Well, right around the time that we were dealing with Corgan's diaper rash issues, Darwin hurt his back.  Talk about good timing.  I told you about it back in February, and now we've lived through it.  Three week of isolation for a hyperactive dachshund is NOT fun.  We actually had to have the vet prescribe a tranquilizer so that he would stay calm in the kennel.  Not only was he annoying as all get out, but he kept jumping around in the teeny tiny kennel to get our attention.  Not good for his back.

For three weeks, we had to have him kenneled away from his brother and sister, carry him outside, prevent him from running around, feed him in his kennel, and hear him whine.  He was not a happy camper.  On March 3 we let him out a day early, and our lives returned to somewhat normal.  Then, last week he started whimpering again.  Not a good sign.  This time, though, there was another symptom. Vomit. Lots of it.  And shaking. Lots of it.  Oh, did I mention we had just sprayed the yard with weed killer?

While Stuart was calming Darwin down, I was calling poison control at 9 o'clock at night, because we all now that emergencies never happen at a sane hour.  They looked up the lot number from the product we used and told us that the product was considered one of the lower toxin ones and it shouldn't be causing his problem.  The yard had had about 6 hours in the sun to dry and it had rained the next night (it wasn't even killing the weeds) so he should be in the clear.  They recommended taking him to the vet the following day if the vomiting was still going on. Morning came, and the vomiting was still going on.

Stuart took in Little Man that afternoon, and the vet agreed with poison control.  Apparently with the ground warming up, there is often bacterial growth of all kinds that can get dogs sick, especially ones like Darwin who have sensitive systems.  They administered sub-q fluids, gave Darwin some anti-nausea injections, and sent him home.  Have you ever given a pet sub-q fluids? It's rather Hunchback-of-Notre-Dame until the sack of fluid right under the skin slides down the side of your animal.  You can see the small hump that was still there the next day. You can also tell that Darwin did not want his picture taken.

We put him back in the isolation kennel (you do not want to clean three dogs who are covered in vomit, believe me) and went about cooking his dinner.  Yes.  Cooking his dinner.  Darwin was ordered to a bland diet of boiled chicken and rice while his illness was working its way out of his system.  After a few days, he completely recuperated and is a happy camper again.  For now.  It won't be long until the next illness.  Believe you me.

Adventures in Cloth Diapering

Before Corgan was born we had looked very closely into cloth diapering.  We have some friends who used cloth diapers with their kiddos and they loved it!  We research different brand (Bum Genius, Thirsties, FuzzieBunz, etc.) and looked into the cost of cloth vs. the cost of disposable.  We also took into account the environmental impact of both, and the cleaning of cloth vs. the dumping of disposable.  In the end we went with disposable because they are a known evil.  It takes a few hundred dollars to get started with cloth, and only a couple dozen to start with disposable.  We also didn't think that daily laundry with a newborn would be particularly convenient, and for the first 13 months we lived into our decision.  Then Corgan forced us to change our tactic.

Right after her first birthday, Corgan got a really gnarly case of diaper rash.  She had had spaghetti for three nights in a row (she loves that stuff!) so I figured it was the acidic tomatoes, put a bunch of diaper cream on her, and it cleared up after a few days.  Then it came back, and we couldn't figure out why. We used more diaper cream.  Nothing changed.  We changed to a different brand of diapers and it cleared up.  So we were now Huggies buyers instead of Pampers even though Pampers hadn't steered us wrong yet.  A few days later, the rash was back.  Not good.  We tried a different brand of diaper cream this time, and again the rash cleared up.  Then it came back. At this point we had been going for almost three weeks of an off-and-on rash.

While a reoccurring rash was a concern, what really had me worried was the type of rash.  It wasn't just red, it was raised red bumps.  Corgan's Godmother had once mentioned to me that we needed to keep an eye out for bumps, because that could mean a yeast infection.  Well, this little jewel of wisdom didn't occur to me until after work on a Friday, so I planned on taking baby-girl in to her doctor on the following Monday. In the meantime, I went to HEB and bought a different kind of diaper.  This time a got Seventh Generation Free-and-Clear.  There are no dies, no bleaching, and no perfumes.  This had to work, right? Heck, NO!  Corgan got a contact rash all over her butt, 'girl parts,' and inner thighs all the way down to her knees!

I took her into her pediatrician on Monday morning (after lots of naked-baby time on Sunday), we were prescribed hydro-cortisone creme, lots of naked time, and cloth diapers! I was floored.  A parent will do anything for her child, so I knew we would do it, but I had no idea where to start.  I remember all the confusing parts to cloth diapers, the complex washing instructions, and we that had purposefully avoided cloth diapers.

I called out from work for the rest of the day, took Baby Girl home (after picking up the meds), plopped her naked butt in the playroom, and began researching cloth diapers again.  I quickly found out that in the seventh-largest city in the United States there are no diaper services!!! Can you believe that!  There used to be one that everyone swore by, and now its closed.  It could be that it was names Debbie Does Diapers (I'm sooo not kidding), or it could be the type of town that San Antonio is.  What did that mean for us? Washing poo diapers at home.  Okay. I can do that.  But what brand?  Further research showed me that there were two 'natural' baby stores in town, but they were in the farthest areas of town from where I live. Did I mention that we are the seventh-largest city?  That's a long way.  I ended up taking Baby Girl to Babies-R-Us, which is still not close to us, and we ended up with the gDiaper brand.  It's the only brand that Babies-R-Us carries, but it seemed like it would work.

This brand has a removable inner 'plastic' lining that is really fabric, and either disposable (but chemical free and compostable) inserts or cloth inserts.  By doctor's orders, Baby Girl needed to stay naked for the next few days, so Stuart took off work on Tuesday, and my awesome mother-in-law came on Wednesday afternoon so that neither of us had to miss too much more work.  God bless her for chasing after a naked toddler.  Keep in mind that naked does not mean she stops peeing or pooping.

On Tuesday afternoon (yes, while I was at work), I called Corgan's daycare to fill them in on everything, and to let them know that we would be back in on Thursday, and then they dropped the bomb.  They don't allow cloth diapers.  What!!!  I couldn't believe it.  The lady I was speaking with was incredibly nice about it, but just said they had a corporate policy that didn't allow cloth diapers for sanitation purposes.  Here I was, crazy busy at work, weeks away from show time for the musical, a sick baby at home, and now I might have to find a new daycare on top of it?  What the **bleep**?  I calmly said to the daycare lady, "Are you telling me that because my daughter has an allergic reaction do disposable, and has a doctor's order to use cloth that I now have to relocate her to a completely different day care?"  There was an ever-so-small pause on the other end, and then, "I'll call an executive and see what I can do."  Ah.  A glimmer of hope.  She assured me that she would call me back by the next day to let me know.  Great.  If she came back with a 'no,' then I would have less than 24 hours to find another daycare that would take a baby who uses cloth diapers.

I was relieved the next day when I got the call that as long as I had the doctor fax in a note about the diapers, then they would let Corgan stay 'with executive approval.'  I know that sounds snarky, but the daycare was never rude about any of this, and they really did come through.  If you ever want a recommendation for a daycare, go to Country Home.  I love them!

We've been using cloth diapers now for a little over a month, and the diaper rash is all but gone.  Corgan has a rather nasty flare up of the rash after each poo, but diaper cream soothes it.  Other than that she's a happy camper.  However, we're still looking into the reoccurring rash.  I'm calling her doctor on Monday to take her in to see if she should be reacting to her poo this way.  Any parents out there have any ideas?  We're still doing a lot of naked-baby time, and it's only after the poo.  I hope this saga will end soon, but I love my little gDiaper butt!

The end. ;)

Re-Starting Fits & Starts...Again!

I have returned! And so has sanity! I last left you 5 weeks ago with the following post:

"Sorry all.  I am going to be suspending my blog for the next three weeks or so.  Life hit, and I want to focus my energies where I need to. I'm having an absolute blast working on the school musical, but it's quite the time-suck. In the meantime, words of encouragement go a long way.  Once the school musical is over, I will be back here blogging away.  Love you all!"

Well, I'm nearing the end of spring break (Stuart and I took the week off together), and I'm finally feeling relaxed.  I frequently forget what that feels like.  For those of you who know me personally, I tend to wear the weight of the world on my shoulders, and I don't slow down for anything.  So when particularly busy times come, I handle them well, but I don't stop. At all. Ever.

What you don't know is that while the musical was going on (which was fabulous!) Stuart and I had some issues on the home front.  Our baby girl and our baby boy (Darwin the dachshund) were going through some medical issues at the same time that Stuart's grad school picked up and I was in the month leading up to the show. I don't usually share the more personal side of my life with people, but over the next few days, I'm going to use this blog as an outlet.  I want to share with you some of the emotion that was going on, and some of the reflections and realizations that have come out of it. In the course of this week, I hope to catch up on a month of news and life in the Bankey household. 

I'm beginning on a lighter note: the show!!!  I had the honor of being one of the three directors for our school's musical this year, and it's literally bringing tears to my eyes to think about the great experience it was. I'm trying to come up with the right words, and I'm completely failing.  I got to work daily with the greatest team of directors (Keith and Elizabeth), parent volunteers, and amazingly talented students.  A true blessing, no matter how crazy it was!

I was practically raised on stage between all the dance shows, school productions, and plays that I've been a part of, but I haven't been active in theater since my freshman year in college.  That means 10 years away from one of the things that brings me the greatest joy.  The fun part this time was being behind the scenes.  As a director you get to share your passion and creativity with the next generation; you get inspired by your cast's talent and dedication; you get to reflect on all the great theater memories from your past; you get joy.

Our fantastical Cat in the Hat! (used with permission)

My lovely Whos in Whoville.  They are behind their umbrella 'clover'.  Faces are blocked to protect the innocent :)

I also got a perfect reminder of how loved I am and how much I love my family.  The busier I got with the show, the more my husband, mom, and mother-in-law showed me their support.  I don't tend to ask for help, so more often than not help is imposed upon me, and during February my family lovingly asked me to accept their help with baby-duty.  Stuart took on extra duties at the house, including more pick-ups and drop-offs of baby girl at day care.  This is way of out his way to work, but was a huge help to me on the late nights.  My mom took on extra shifts as babysitter on top of her crazy schedule.  She even came into the city numerous times to swap out our cars so that she could pick up Corgan from day care and take her home when Stuart was in class and I had a late practice.  My mother-in-law also chipped in to the babysitting, not to mention the cooking!  We had a few days when Corgan couldn't go to day care (more on that tomorrow), so Janet came over to the house to watch the child so Stuart and I could go to work, and she cooked for us! There is nothing like coming home after a long day to a homemade King Ranch Chicken casserole or from-scratch chicken cacciatore!

Philip, Stuart's brother and Corgan's Godfather, even stepped up!  He and his girlfriend babysat for us on the second night of the show so that mom, Janet, and Stuart could attend together.  This was his first time ever babysitting, and he came through with flying colors.  He is such a blessing in my daughter's life whether he knows it or not.  She is so lucky to have someone who loves her so unconditionally.  I also got a kick out of him learning how to change her diaper and apply diaper cream :)  I died when I heard Philip's reactions: "Wait! I have to touch her girly parts?," and "Time to frost her cupcake!"  Ah, now that's love!

Keith, Elizabeth, and I are already talking about what show we are going to do next year, and our wheels are already turning!  We're so excited to see what our talented students will be able to do next year, and I'm ready to welcome the madness.


P.S. I'm working on getting photo permission from some of the parents to share on the blog. Since I work for a school, we have a strict media and photo policy which is in part my job to enforce. If I get some 'yes' answers, I'll share some of the photos of our talented cast in a later post!