Dish of the Week: Gnocchi Nicoise

This weeks dish is Gnocchi Nicoise, a dish that I found in my Food Network Magazine.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
4 ounces bacon, diced
4 cloves garlic, smashed
1/2 pound coarsely ground beef (look for "chili grind")
2 tablespoons brandy or red wine
3 shallots, chopped
1 cup diced carrots
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 15-ounce can plum tomatoes
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 bay leaf
2 1-inch strips orange peel
2/3 cup nicoise olives, pitted and chopped
1 package (about 1 pound) vacuum-packed gnocchi

Directions
Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the bacon and garlic; cook until the bacon starts to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the ground beef; cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Add the brandy, shallots, carrots, celery and tomato paste; cook until the vegetables soften, about 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Crush the tomatoes into the pan with your hands and add any juices from the can. Stir in the broth, bay leaf, orange peel and olives. Bring to a simmer and lower the heat; cover and cook 20 minutes. Uncover, increase the heat and bring to a boil to thicken the sauce.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil the gnocchi until one floats to the top, about 1 minute. Drain immediately to prevent the gnocchi from becoming mushy. Remove the orange peel and bay leaf from the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Toss the gnocchi with the sauce.

The Verdict:
The Doc gave this dish a solid 4 stars even though he is not a huge fan of olives. I personally love them, though they could be omitted and it would still taste great! It just wouldn't be nicoise then! I couldn't find the nicoise olives so I used kalamata olives instead (gaeta olives would work as well). I also used frozen gnocchi because that is what I found at my local supermarket. Just keep in mind it takes more than a minute to cook! This makes the perfect dinner for a cold winter night!

Shaun's New Shoes

Now that Shaun is trying to move himself around, I decided it was time to retire his Robeez and get him some pre-walkers from Stride Rite. He isn't crawling yet but he has three new ways to get from point A to point B. The first is a butt scoot, made easier with the hardwood floors. The second is rolling from belly to back until he's reached his destination. And lastly is what I call the backwards belly slide, where he pushes himself backwards when he's on his belly. In any case, I think it's time we started looking into gates!

Handsome in his new shoes!


Showing off the traction:


Just because I haven't posted a picture of the boys together in a while!

The Dish of the Week:

I always liked to cook and try new dishes. I cooked in college, when the Doc was in medical school (the first time we really lived on our own), and even when we moved to Philly before David was born. However, it wasn't until after David was born that I decided to broaden my horizons. I became slightly addicted to cooking shows on the food network, like 30 Minute Meals, and now we try at least one new dish a week!

Those of you who know the Doc, know that he's not one for gushing. This sometimes makes it hard for me to tell how he really feels about the recipe. If he doesn't like something I have made, it's in his best interest to tell me so that I don't make it again! I appreciate the honesty, and even when he tells me he doesn't like something he always makes sure to compliment the effort (he's a smart guy!). That was when we came up with our star system (like in movies) - after each new dish he'll give it anywhere from 1 to 5 stars.

Last week we ended up trying four new dishes. Here is the winner (according to the Doc):

Crock Pot Mongolian Style Beef

Ingredients:
1 lb beef flank steak, sliced thinly across the grain
1 medium white onion or yellow onion, sliced thinly (about 1 cup)
½ cup light soy sauce
½ cup dry sherry
½ cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
¼ cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground ginger
½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
¼ cup cornstarch
1 cup cut scallion, in 1 ½ inch pieces (green onions)
1/3 cup fruity white wine

Directions:
1. Slice the flank steak thinly across the grain - the strips should be 2 to 3 inches long each; set aside.

2. Combine the onion, soy sauce, sherry, broth, garlic, hoisin, brown sugar, ginger, and pepper flakes, then put the mixture into the crock pot.

3. Put the cornstarch in a large Ziploc bag; add the sliced beef and toss well to coat.

4. Add the coated beef into the crock pot, gently pushing it into the liquid to cover; pour the white wine over - do NOT stir.

5. Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours; an hour before you're going to serve, turn the crock pot to high, add the cut scallions, stir, and cook for an additional hour.

Stir, and serve over rice or noodles.

The Verdict:
The Doc gave this dinner a solid 4 stars. It was lacking in the veggie department so next time I will be adding some sugar snap peas, broccoli and maybe some water chestnuts. We served ours over basmati rice. This is a great no fuss dinner for those days you just don't feel like doing much in the kitchen!

Happy Valentine's Day

Today is Valentine's Day, the *holiday* invented by 1-800 Flowers, Hallmark & Russell Stover, but this year I was actually looking forward to this day of love. Today was David's first Valentine's party at the Rec Center, where we have playgroup three times a week. I was able to buy David's first box of Valentine cards and this morning, before his party, we filled them out for all his friends.

Each kid had a mailbox with his/her name on it; David got to put a card in each box. It was a lot of fun, and David enjoyed frosting his own heart shaped cake. Sadly, the Doc is on call this weekend so he wasn't able to come to the party, but I made sure to have a nice dinner waiting for when he finally got home at 7:30.

Here are a couple pictures from the party!

David's cake


Shaun playing


David singing songs at morning meeting


The Valentine mailboxes

Hi, My Name is Pam and I LOVE to EAT!

So it's not real secret how much I love food - it's seriously amazing that I don't weigh like 300lbs. After having David my baby weight came off pretty quick, and I was almost back to my original weight before getting pregnant again with Shaun. After Shaun, I lost the first 20lbs very quickly (thank you breastfeeding) but the last 10 stuck around. I was having a hard time getting rid of it.
The first thing we did was change our eating habits drastically. It is amazing how much eating out can have an impact on your weight. Just by cooking every night I was able to drop another 5lbs. Then in October we bought the Wii Fit and I started to do a Wii workout during the boys naps. In 6 months I was back down to the weight I was before Shaun. I was so happy. My motivation was seeing the Doc drop 30lbs since summer because he started running again. I couldn't very well sit on my lazy butt while he was getting in shape and being healthy!

Now since we live in New England and it snows here in the winter (a lot), the Doc wasn't going to be able to run outside much. He had always talked about getting a treadmill, but it's expensive and, frankly, he's cheap! I mentioned this to his family and suggested that they get him Sears cards for Christmas. So after the new year we became the proud owners of a Nordic Trak treadmill! I started to use it as well. I have never been one for running, (I prefer the elliptical machine) so I thought I would just use it to sort of power walk.

Well the Doc challenged me and said that I should try to jog. I didn't think I could but I figured it couldn't hurt and I could always go back into a walk. Well I am now up to 20 minutes of straight jogging in my 30 minute workout. It's not a fast speed but I am working on it and happy that I have been able to push myself to get to this point. I won't lie, it sucks, and I HATE it, but afterwards I feel great!

It wasn't until I was looking at some pictures from this summer that I realized just how much our hard work has paid off. The Doc is at a nice healthy BMI and while I still have more work to do but I am happy to be seeing some results! You can see below - pictures from the summer and more recent ones!!

Me in August (Shaun's Baptism)


This is me a couple weeks ago:


The Doc in August (Shaun's Baptism)


The Doc today!

David Charles (the 2.5 Addition)

Hard to believe that David will officially be 2-1/2 years old on Monday. I have even started thinking about pre-schools!! YIKES! I am pretty sure I have decided on the pre-school we will send him (it was recommended by a Mom at our playgroup). Two girls from his playgroup will most likely be joining him there so he'll already have some friends in school!

I am also happy to be able to report a growth spurt! Wednesday was David's check up and he no longer falls into the "runt" catagory! He has jumped up to the 50th percentile in his height!! I actually didn't believe it and had the Doc remeasure him at home. Sure enough, he is just about 3 feet tall (35.5 inches to be exact)! His weight (29lbs) put him in about the 45th percentile. He's just an average Joe now!

There were no shots this appointment, but he did have to have blood drawn (checking for lead levels) and he was the bravest boy ever! I told him that the lady was going to pull up his sleeve, find the spot on the other side of his elbow, and then Mommy would kiss it better. He sat on my lap and watched as the lady took out the butterfly needle and stuck it in his arm. He seemed almost facinated. She told him how brave he was and then looked at me suprised that he never even flinched. When it was over she put a band-aid on his *boo-boo* and a sticker and not even two seconds after it was over he looked at me and said nonchalantly "Hey Mom, kiss it better now!"

He still loves to sing songs and his newest phase is the Imagination Movers. I actually don't mind this one, in my opinion it's WAY better than the Wiggles. They're more like a band that plays kids music as opposed to the human version of the Teletubbies. When he watches he gets his toy drum out and plays along with them while singing all the songs. It's pretty funny and I really should get it on video! He can recognize the entire alphabet and has finally figured out his colors. He is always asking to wear his *Geen* shirt. We started working on numbers and counting. He loves to do his workbooks with Daddy before bedtime. Hopefully in a couple months he'll be more interested in potty training but for now he couldn't care less if he sits in a wet or poopy diaper. Gross, I know, but I don't want to push it. He'll sit sometimes but I don't think he's quite ready for full speed ahead.

That is about all for David updates and of course, no blog post would be complete without pictures!

What?! It wasn't me...


Just hanging out


Taking a break from his workbook to smile for the Camera

And now being silly for the camera