Lockdown Lesson II

Do not trust a recipe that asks you to to make meatballs with quinoa. NEVER EVER AGAIN!!

Sunday Reads

• How to get kids to read more.
• Miscarriages are never easy to talk about.
• Traveling with kids and toddlers 
• Imagine being married for 64 years and then getting sweet anniversary shots.
• This TEDTalk made me realise I need to let go of a certain friendship

 

Recipes

• How to make Ice cream, yum
• Some more ice cream recipes
• Lemony Artichoke and Quinoa Salad
• Blueberry Ginger Sorbet

Sunday Reads

• “The story I’m telling myself…”
• It breaks my heart that kids go home sans any clothes
• Making ice cream with your toddlers.
• I thought this video announcing their pregnancy reflected my own journey

Recipes

• Soy Glazed Eggplant
• I want to bake this cake

Sunday Reads

Source

• Traveling with baby …. we have a little trip planned later next month so. …
• I LOVED this book, please read it!!
• What Every Grandparent Needs to Tell Their Grandchildren
• I love these breastfeeding tips for new mothers.
• Making time for all the things that you need to as a parent.
• Truly the Victor dictates history

Recipes

• Dessert Recipes Starring Greek Yogurt
• Yum for these potatoes, schlurpppp!

 

Sunday Reads

• The lies parents tell to keep peace and sanity around the house.
• May the Church of God continue to stand strong always.
• Just read a bit of the Word, regardless.
• This little baby made my day.
• These lessons can easily apply to any new job.
• Oh New York how much I love thee

Recipes

• Cilantro Lime Dressing
• More pasta recipes
• Must try this: Blueberry Ginger Sorbet
• Chicken breast recipes
• Chickpeas stew

Some Recipes to Try

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

• Nine great lentil soups
• Garlic Rosemary Masala Fries
• Curried Red Lentil Hummus
• Delicious Vegan Pasta Recipes for Weeknights
• Cooking with butternut
• … and more butternut recipes here

Sunday Reads

• What does prophecy look like today?
• How the Spirit draws a child.
• I generally like this blog but this post was tone and culturally deaf.
• This story of police neglect was heartbreaking.
• Loved the explanation behind Mummy Brain.
• I love bananas, here’s how to cook with them.

Sunday Reads

• Grandparents are the bomb.com
• Teaching your kids the bible.
• Trusting God through suffering.
• Marriage advise for young women.
• Bringing your full self to work, even your weekend / after-hours self.
• Humans are versatile and multi-dimensional.
• I enjoyed Africa’s a Country posts during the World Cup on racism in France
• … and the fear of a black France.
• Planting food in your home garden.
• Would you live in a house without a kitchen or re purpose the room if you never cook?
• Memoirs from North Korea

Recipes

• Cooking with tuna.
• Cauliflower stir-fry with quinoa.
• … and another one pot quinoa pilaf recipe.
• Egg-free ice cream.
• Chickpea And Coconut Korma Curry With Pumpkin.
• Cooking with cream 

 

Sunday Reads

• On being young, overeducated and struggling to find employment.
• How do you pick yourself up after failure?
• Faith in the workplace.
• For those looking to get married, here is an ebook you can enjoy as you prepare yourself.
• Lost and found in Tokyo.
• How you can help refugees in your town.
• A Tour of Johannesburg Food Trucks

• This DIY Bath tray seems so easy to make, sigh!
• Podcast recommendations.

Recipes

• Raspberry, white chocolate ice cream pops
• Tamarind and Ginger Glaze Chicken Wings.
• Stuffed tomatoes.
• Cooking with breadcrumbs.
• Toasted Oats ‘n’ Spice Make Oatmeal Cookie Ice Cream

Happy Fathers Day

• When God Withholds Something Good
• The case for going to Church while on vacation.
• Very important to critically review the lyrics of popular Worship songs.
• Anyone looking for book recommendations from TED Speakers.
• A book on xenophobia in South Africa.
• How hard are we pushing ourselves and how do we regulate that?
• Staying the distance when you have a lot to get through.
• Great to see Uganda topping a positive list.
• A Dad’s survival guide to his wife’s pregnancy.
• Some songs to play for your dad today 🙂

Recipes

• Another vegetarian pasta recipe
•  …. ssshhhh! and more pasta recipes here.

Sunday Reads

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Rachel in white Patricia in black Mira in yellow Rochelle in Red are playing …Hapiness . Good Peoples good loving music in life feel makes me happy ( by the Foreign Exchange group ) #nichollekobi

A post shared by Nicholle Kobi (@nichollekobi) on Apr 14, 2018 at 2:31pm PDT

• This advise for young college graduates still resonates.
• … this too.
• Some questions to ask as you interview.
• God calls us to be faithful not successful.
• I have thought of starting a podcast with a pal *sigh*
• Things to do around my new hood.

Recipes

• This is so odd of me but I really want to have a party with a cheese plate 🙂
• Artichoke & Quinoa Vegetarian Enchiladas
• Quick Vegan Enchiladas with Sweet Potato Sauce
• A fail proof way to make sorbet.
• Love this chocolate cake recipe.
• A pasta salad with roasted carrots and sunflower seed dressing
• This coffee recipe sounds yum 🙂
• Vegan Panna Cotta recipes

How I want to make Adult Friends

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I have a friend who is a maverick at making friends. One on one, she seems incredibly shy but I love her attitude to making friends and how deliberate she is about it all. So when I think to myself that I would like to make friends, I always think of some kind of organised activity that brings people together on the regular.

When I think of this though I always wonder how I would go about starting one because it involves putting myself out there in some way or another which is not exactly my thing. But, if / when I get over this hurdle, these are some things I would like to do:

• Listen to a key podcast each month and then meet and discuss
• Start an article club – pick a Longread article and then chat about it
• Pick a cuisine and then assign various parts of the meal (starter, protein, desserts, salad) to different people and thus have a supper club or a cookbook club if you are fancier.
• Good old Book club
• Board games with a group of friends, I really have mine eye on this one.
• A cheese/ wine tasting club.

Do you live in Joburg, would you be keen to do any of this with me and meet some new people?

Sunday Reads

• Food is a way of travelling for instance to Laos.
• I love this cute love story of how they met ❤
• I am doing a Whole 30 in June with a pal. Looking forward. Some meal inspirations here and here.
• Some ways to teach your kids about money.
• We are all guilty of e-bailing at some point or another.
• Maybe a bad feminist call but this article about female priests in the Catholic church pissed me off some.
•  I rather enjoyed this article about whether you are your moms favourite kid.
• Clean daily to help you stay on top of your household needs.

Recipes

• I am making this dhal for next week’s dinner, yum, with some chapati.
• Stuffed peppers.
• 15 taco recipes.
• Yummy froyo recipees

Happy Mothers Day / Sunday Reads

Source

• What is the motherhood penalty?
• Kid-centric podcasts.
• I like the idea of going through life with a pre-mortem analysis.
• Praying in the Holy Spirit.

Recipes

• Yummy chocolate cake.
• Cauliflower rice
• More chickpea recipes.
• Suggestions for a picnic.

Three Random Facts

1. I am convinced someone might one day want to write my biography so I am cataloguing my life in this blog, journals and keeping significant letters and cards.
2. I sometimes cook like I am presenting a cooking show online. This involves preparing all the ingredients in advance and sometimes explaining what it is I am doing.
3. I play back all voice notes I send to try and determine whether I do have a good voice for radio. I am not sure I do.

2017 in Posts

*this list is based on views

1. Having a baby, what would you like to do before baby arrives?
2. The status of rape in South Africa
3. Thoughts on Upile Chisala’s book.
4. Poems for my daughter(s)
5. Happy Anniversary love 🙂
6. A conversation with my oldest nephew
7. Expectations and Marriage
8. Lessons from the book of John
9. Wh!at do you cook for guests?
10. How I love thee!!

Sunday Reads

• Uber’s performance on the African continent.
• Nairobi at dusk.
• Tiny hacks that elevate your room just so.
• Great book recommendations available here, here and here.
• ” … Yet there is no word for “single mothers” in Dari and Pashto, the languages spoken in Afghanistan. “Single moms are described only by the status of their husbands … so they’re either widowed or divorced. But their motherhood is not recognized.”
• Some of us recognise this kind of man.
• What a timely reminder that often our ministry will be unrecognised.
• Toast for dinner is always welcome.

 

Recipe-related Sunday Reads

• 10 ways with sweet potatoes. YUM!
• Because I love Earl Grey
• Yep, I am curious about the Michelin Review process.
• Egg recipes to start your day.
• Some more Indian recipes for your repertoire.
• Ashamed, but here I go suggesting other pasta recipes.
• …. oh well, in fact two pasta recipes.
• Which will obviously require some accompanying sauces.
• A one-pan chicken dish.

A Cooking Challenge for Self

I love to cook, however,I find that there are certain things that I just never cook or make from scratch. Or if I do, then I just never stray past the initial recipe.

So what are some things that I would love to cook that I don’t currently?

• Baking:
  • A tart/ pie (or these ones) from homemade pastry.
  • Bake and ice a cake beyond the typical pound loaf something like
  • Bread like this  or this or this.
• Roast a whole chicken.
• Make eggs Benedict including the sauce – I can poach an egg but a hollandaise and any other sauce? Nah. So this would be a cool start.
• Diversify the types of salad dressing I currently make for salads like this
• Oxtail stew.
• Make home made pasta and then cook it.

Are there things in the kitchen that you often shy away from attempting?

 

Dinner is Served

While I was on the plant based diet, I totally could not justify eating pasta so this week I have such a craving for pasta and want to cook some later in the week.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH WALNUT & SAGE PASTA

Serves  2

Ingredients

• 2 cups cubed butternut squash
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter (or vegan butter or more olive oil)
• 1 small shallot, sliced
• ¼ cup chopped sage leaves
• ¼ cup chopped walnuts
• ½ cup cooked chickpeas
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• big squeeze of lemon
• splash of balsamic vinegar
• 4-6 oz. spaghetti or linguine (& save some pasta water)
• a few handfuls of chopped spinach (or kale or chard)
• ½ cup chopped parsley
• grated pecorino cheese, optional, to taste
• salt & pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roast butternut squash cubes with a little olive oil, salt and pepper for about 20 minutes or until they’re soft and mostly cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside.
2. Cook pasta in salty water until al dente and reserve at least 1 cup of the starchy pasta water.
3. Meanwhile, heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the olive oil and butter, then add the shallot and cook until translucent. Add the chopped sage and cook for another 30 seconds, then add the walnuts, chickpeas, butternut squash cubes, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook until the chickpeas and squash brown a bit (but before the garlic burns).
4. Add a big squeeze of lemon and a good splash of balsamic and stir.
5. Add the cooked pasta and spinach. Use tongs to gently toss the pasta with everything in the pan allowing the greens to wilt. Add pasta water to help loosen it (I used about ¼ cup).
6. Add some grated pecorino at this step if you wish.
7. Remove from heat, then stir in the chopped parsley.
8. Taste and adjust seasonings and serve with extra grated cheese.

Notes

Make this vegan by skipping the butter (or use vegan butter) and omit cheese. Make this gluten free by using gluten free pasta.