Seafood Linguine with bay scallops, manilla clams, and Oregon bay shrimp

was our Saturday night dinner. This was a first for me as I have never made clams before...well, I am happy to report that the experiment worked out...

It actually was very delicious and I so glad that the clams turned out...Oh, and just in case you are wondering the girls preferred their pasta - as usual - plain but they both tried the seafood and liked it a lot; clams were their favorite.

Seafood Linguine

Splash of olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic finely chopped
3-4 TB of fresh thyme
1/2 C  White Wine

1 lb.    Manilla Clams
1/4 lb  Bay Scallops
1/4 lb. Bay Shrimp
1/4 lb. Snap Peas, cleaned and cut in thirds

1 lemon juiced
Salt, Pepper
Parmesiano Reggiano - optional
Linguine cooked al dente

1. Bring water to a boil, and add pasta
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in two different pans. When hot add garlic and thyme to one
    pot {the one for the clams) and sautee, when fragrant add the white wine, followed by the clams
    and cover.
3. While clams are in cooking in the pot - carefully sauté the bay scallops in the pan.  It only takes a
    couple of minutes, then add the snap peas and cover
4. Drain pasta
5. Take the clams off the heat and discard any clams that did not open.  Pour clams with liquid to
    the pan with the bay scallops.  Add lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste.
6. Mix bay shrimp with the rest of the seafood
7. Place pasta in a serving bowl, pour seafood with juice and all over the pasta. Toss it all up and top
    - if using - with Paremsiano Regiano.

City Hike at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge to Oaks Park Amusement Park...

You may know by now that this family likes to be outdoors.  We very much - well, okay three of us - love to hike; so a hike to the amusement park was perfect to keep everyone happy.  Mia Rose had been asking all week to go to Oaks Park so finally yesterday was the day.

We parked the car at the trail head to the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge in SE Portland - Oaks Bottom another amazing gem in the middle of the city.  Walk down the trail and there is only nature around - it is one of our favorites.

Ron and I have come here since we first moved to Portland ten years ago.  I actually remember our first hike talking about what a great incentive it will be for our future children to hike Oaks Bottom with the incentive of a carrousel ride :)  Well, time flies and yes we have hiked with the girls before but this is the first time I actively remembered our very first hike...


The hike there was so much fun - Ron and the girls were looking for snakes while I happily walked ahead...

Look at those trails. It is so hard believe that this is in the middle of a large city, is it not?

Once we got there - there was all kids of fun to be had.

The girls hydrated with a Sprite for the hike along the Springwater Corridor via Oaks Bottom back to the car

And there was also a treat of ice "cream" at Staccatto Gelato in Sellwood with five different "safe" sorbet's to choose from :)

Ice "cream" Birthday cake for Ron

This is the second ice "cream" cake I have ever made, and the second one made this year.  My first try at an ice cream cake was for Mia Rosie's 6th Birthday in February with a Vanilla-Raspberry Ice "Cream" cake.  It was a the family's favorite all time favorite so I promised Ron that I would make one for his Birthday. Come to think of it - I really should not admit to it - this is the very first Birthday cake I have made for my darling husband in nearly fifteen years of marriage...And how he deserves this cake.  No worries, I will not get into any smoochy, kind of talk now that is just not me... But yes, he deserves this cake for his special day today :)

In any case,  I started making it late in the afternoon yesterday.  This one is a little different from the Vanilla-Rasperry Ice "Cream" cake.  For one, it is Vanilla-Peach, only three layer - the Vanilla-Rasperry was four layers of ice "cream" - of ice "cream, and it it is made with Tempt Vanilla Bean Hemp Milk Ice "Cream" which I think is the best out of all the alternative ice "creams" available.  It has a very creamy texture, the flavor is just plain vanilla without a hint of coconut, or soy.  Oh, and I just realized that I also used a little more ice "cream" for this cake but it worked out great.

Vanilla-Peach Ice "Cream" Cake

 - yellow cake mix, or biscuit from scratch
- 2 half pints of Peach Sorbet (app. 500 ml each)
- 3 half pints of Vanilla Bean Hemp Milk ice "cream"
- 2 fresh peaches sliced, and 1/2 cup of fresh blueberries

1. Put ice "cream" in the fridge before you start with #2
2. Bake the cake in a round springform cake pan. Let it cool throughly
3. Smooth 1-1/2 half pints over the cooled cake, and cover with foil
4. When the first layer is frozen and firm, smooth the sorbet over the vanilla ice "cream".  Cover with 

    foil and put back in the freezer
5. When ice "cream" is firm repeat step 3 and decorate the cake with the peach slices, blueberries and 

    freeze.

It takes about 24 hrs - so you have to be prepared.  Be sure to take it out of the freezer at least 45 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, Ron!

Corn Chowder = summer dinner

The sweetness of summer all combined in a delicious ear of corn.  All four of us love corn. Grilled corn on the cob to me spells summer in big, capital letters...

A couple of days ago I got four ears of corn and originally wanted to grill them. Since that did not happen I decided on corn chowder.  We love soup, especially thick soup even in the summer and since it has been a little cooler today - high 70s - it was perfect. Everyone - including me - liked this creation a lot :).  I served it with Quick No Knead bread and - this will be a huge surprise - a salad of greens mixed with tomatoes....

Vegan Corn Chowder
Splash of Olive Oil
1 medium sweet onion diced
1-2 carrots cleaned, and thinly sliced
4 ears of corn - kernels cut off the ear; be sure to reserve kernels from one ear separately
1 small red pepper diced - 1/2 reserved
2 medium yellow potatoes, peeled and finely cubed
2 - 3 C of water
3/4   C of soy milk creamer
salt and pepper to taste
2-3 green onions finely chopped for garnish

1. Heat olive oil and when hot add onion, carrots and a pinch of salt.  When onions are translucent, add
2. Kernels from 3 ears of corn, 1/2 red pepper and sautee for a minute or so, add potatoes, water and
    stir. Bring to a slow boil, cover and reduce heat to slow simmer.
3. Simmer for about 15 - 20 minutes and when potatoes are soft,  carefully blend with an immersion 
    hand blender. [Be careful not to burn yourself as the soup will splash, and is quite hot]
4. Add remaining corn kernels, 1/2 red pepper, and soy creamer.  Let simmer for another 10 minutes or
    so.
5. Adjust salt, and add pepper to taste.
6  Serve in soup bowls topped with green onions

Enjoy!

Quinoa with peanuts, roasted beets, grilled chicken skewer, and...

summer salad with flowers

Yes, somewhat of a hodgepodge of flavors but it was good.  The girls and I spent the day swimming so cooking out was perfect on this summer day.  We got chicken skewers from New Seasons's Market to cook out; we also had beets left.  So perfect side, quiona with a twist and a summery salad.  For the salad I used not - honestly - mixed greens but 1/2 a head of red leaf lettuce, a tomato, and a lemon cucumber with my own dressing.  For a special twist, I added Nastrium flower pedals - remember the flower pots we planted for Mia Rosies' birthday ;) - which are not just beautiful, but also quite tasty.  I usually like to serve quinoa as a salad - but today it was the perfect "warm" side.

Quiona with roasted peanuts
1 C         quiona
1-1/2 C   water
1 pinch of salt
1-2 Tbls  chopped parsley
1/4 lime squezzed
1/4 - 1/2 C peanuts

1. put quiona, water, and pinch of salt into a pot and bring - without lid - to a boil.  When it is boiling
2. put on lid, and leave at a slow simmer.  It should be done within 15 minutes.
3. roast peanuts in a pan - careful not to burn them - while quiona is cooking
4. fluff quinoa.  Add parsley, roasted peanuts, lime juice. Adjust salt and add - if you like - pepper

Lost Lake {Oregon - Hood County} - Day Trip

It is finally getting hot in Portland; just in time for August and it is perfect to get out of town.  Our original plan was to go camping this weekend at Lost Lake - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Lake_(Hood_River_County,_Oregon).  The campground is first come first serve and word is that you need to be up there early on Thursday to get a spot http://lostlakeresort.org/default.php.

That was a no-go this week, plus it felt like too much work to get ready so instead we decided to drive up on Saturday.  It takes about two hours to drive up and there are plenty of day use spaces.  Okay - let's be honest there are plenty of day use spaces if you get there early enough in the day.  We like to take our time in the mornings so we did not get there until around 1 in the afternoon.  So - as you could expect - we did not get a spot by the water, but we did find an empty picnic bench - yay! Once we got settled it was off to the water.  Oh my, what an amazing lake for swimming.  Clear water, shallow at the edges, and did I mention the beautiful view of Mt. Hood?! It is the perfect place to cool off, and enjoy the day.

We brought our camping cooker to make Spaghetti with Sockaroni for a late lunch. And look who decided that she likes sauce....

After lunch we packed our picnic site up, and hiked around the lake.  It is a beautiful hike, magical hike with lots of boardwalks and spots to jump in the water to cool of.  One can just imagine the fairies living in the forest....Alena is such a good walker and she loved the entire hike.  Our youngest on the other hand was complaining for - what seemed - at least half of the hike while the path was leading through fairly dense woods.

 Everyone was happy when they jumped in the water and watched a couple of newts....Here is the link for the hike -> http://www.portlandhikersfieldguide.org/wiki/Lost_Lake_Loop_Hike

It would have been fantastic to stay for the night, but oh well still close enough for a day trip.  On our drive back we stopped at a brewery in Hood River for dinner. There was not only homemade regular beer, but also homemade root beer....Yum!

Two pea cashew tofu stirfry {instead of three pea} = Friday night dinner

This is the second time I made this dish.  It really should be three pea - snap peas, snow peas, and sweet peas - dish; but if you cannot get all three kids well, then it becomes a two pea stirfry.  This dish is so delicious. Here is the link to my original post {the recipe is towards the end of this post as well :)} http://galactopdx.blogspot.com/2012/06/playful-sunday-and-three-pea-cashew-and.html Today I made a couple of adjustments as I marinated - after pressing it - the tofu with soy , hoison and chili garlic sauce, as well as with a clove of garlic and 1/4" of minced fresh ginger for about 20 minutes before tossing it into the pan...

Everyone loved it - even Ron who generally is not the tofu lover in our family :) - Oh, and it was delicious with a glass of portugese wine....

Here is the link to the recipe :)  httpp://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/pea_cashew_tofu_stirfry.html

Read a blog post about us...

on what it is like to live with Classic Galactosemia.  - I was interviewed for this post a while back and am so excited about this article.  We would not have our healthy girls would it not be for newborn screening.  Please tell all your pregnant friends and family about the test and how it saves the lives of children. - Click on the link to read our story, and find out more about the test
http://www.babysfirsttest.org/newborn-screening/blog/classic-galactosemia-a-day-in-the-life

You can also find out more about newborn screening on the Save Babies Foundation Website which is www.savebabies.org

Fun day at the Oregon Coast

One of the many great things about living in Portland the closeness to the Pacific Ocean.  All of us love the beach - and which kid does not like the beach, right.  Yes,  the water is cold - we do not go in the water past our ankles :) - days can be overcast, and a little chilly  b u t the Oregon coast is so amazing.  Beaches are accessible to all - it is a beautiful, mystical coastline that is inspiring and rejuvenating.

Ron was off from work today so yesterday we made the plan to make a day trip to the beach.  We usually take quite a while to get going so by the time we left it was already well past noon...so we decided to go the closest beach which is in Canon Beach.  It is cute little beach town with a fantastic beach, a water inlet where the kids can play, tide-pools by Haystack Rock.  Look it up on Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannon_Beach,_Oregon

I am glad we went.  The girls played in the water, built a sandcastle, slid down the dunes - yes plenty of sand everywhere :).....

We also stopped at the Candy store for salt water taffy - all flavors but butter and butterscotch are dairy free but remember to double check - each girl was allowed to get ten pieces, and of course we got to watch them make it too :)  http://www.brucescandy.com/

Before heading back to Portland we stopped at the city playground and picked up some smoked salmon for dinner at the fish market http://ecolaseafoods.com/

And all of that fun was had in less than twelve hours :)

Asian inspired noodle salad with...

side of beef and chicken.  What?!  Did I get you confused?  Okay - I found a package of rice noodles in my cupboard {Trader Joe's} and feeling uninspired I read a recipe on the back of the package for Bun a.k.a. Vietnamese Noodle Salad.  Sounded like and was a fantastic idea.  Romaine lettuce, julienned peeled cucumber, rice noodles, basil, cilantro, mint,  rice noodles, and peanuts.  What is not to like about that! Quick, cool, and refreshing.  Perfect for an August day.  I had a small steak left, and also gotten half a chicken breast which I served on the side.  Steak for Mia Rosie and Ron; chicken for Alena, Mia Rosie, and myself.

For the dressing - for lack of better terms - I played around.  I used

2         cloves of garlic minced
1/3 C  of toasted sesame oil
1/2      fresh ginger grated
1-2      splashes of soy sauce - to taste
1   tsp  Hoison sauce {or more to taste}
4-6 TB rice vinegar - {to taste}
1/2 tsp  Sriacha Chili Sauce {or more to taste}

Mixed it all up - adjusted spices and poured it over the noodle salad.  It really was delicious - crunchy romaine, with rice noodles, peanuts and the occasional burst of mint!