To My Valentines// 2013

I love you two more than words can say...Happy Valentines day.

Beef and Lentil Curry

INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 Tbs ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 teaspoon peppercorns
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
2-3 bay leaves
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs. freshly grated ginger
1 1/2 pound top sirloin, trimmed of excess fat and cut into bite-sized chunks
1 medium tomatoes, chopped
2-4 cups water
1 cup dry lentils
kosher salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste
2 cups cooked jasmine rice

1. Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high. Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds and peppercorn and bloom for 20 seconds. 
2. Toss in the onions and bay leaves to saute until soft, 4 minutes 
3. Crush the garlic with the grated ginger, along with a pinch of salt, to form a paste 
4. Add beef and brown, 4 minutes each side 
5. Add garlic-ginger mixture , turmeric and cinnamon stick to skillet 
6. Add chopped tomatoes and a good pinch of salt. Cook 8 minutes, until spices start to become fragrant. 
7. Add the water to cover beef and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until beef is tender, about 30 minutes. 
8. Add lentils and simmer until they are cooked through about 20 minutes. 
9. Serve with cooked rice.

Evalie discovers// Light..

I love that I still have a chance to be witness to the little discoveries my children make. Its these moments that make being a mother worth every minute. That she is able to see, smell hear, touch and feel. She senses that this magnificent light must be something worth looking into, how does it feel? We  surround these little people with distractions but they are able to remind us that the world is enough of a discovery box for them and theres still a lot to learn from it. 

6 Months Old

At six months, a whole half of a year old, my sweet little Evalie seems to become so much more of a perfect addition to our family, she got a sense of humor, a little stubbornness, a lot of sweetness. She has made such great strides this month, from actually TAKING THE BOTTLE...yep I said it..she finally can be away from me and not starve..its great! She also has been exploring the world of fruit and vegetable purees made by moi..she's had acorn squash, butternut squash, carrots, peas, apples and maybe we'll try pears tonight. She had tofu last night which she couldn't quite maneuver in her mouth so I'll hold off on that for a while and stick to the things that get silky smooth when pureed. She is also eager to walk, she has  anew trick of standing up and holding onto anything that will hold her up..she skipped rolling over and went right in sitting up so I won't be surprised if she's skips crawling in exchange for walking. She's also become a bit leaner and really slowed down on the weight gain. She weighs 17.1lbs now which is still good for a six month old but I expected her to weigh a lot more if she had kept up with her growth patterns from birth. I attribute it to both me being gone and the nanny being with her all day and her refusal to the bottle. But  she does eat cereal, veggies and fruit while I'm gone. Her and her sister actually do quite well together , Arielle even likes some of Evie's things like the mum-mum rice rusks..and her discovery box so they bond over theses things! 

 Over the holidays, everyone was sick and Evie did get a bit sick but did ok, unfortunately, even though she had no fever, she ended up with a infection in one ear and now the other, so she's been on antibiotics for weeks already, which worries me  and it has also made her really insecure. She wakes up at night for comfort and needs me to cuddle her in order to nap but I suppose it could be worse...