Holy parsnip!  That was good!

My kids LOVE mashed potatoes (and they should; they are yummy)! 

Mashed spuds play the role of perfect comfort side dish pretty well… 

And showcase alongside just about anything pretty effortlessly.

Sure- adding yummy ingredients such as roasted garlic, bacon or truffle oil

to ordinary mashed potatoes are obvious taste boosters-

However, the mashed potatoes around here have been getting a kick of bonus flavor

from a not so obvious source:

Vegetables!

Today I had a bunch of fresh parsnips (rich in minerals, folate, Vitamin C and fiber)

that needed to be used…

I ended up with this:

Mashed Red Skin Potatoes and Parsnips

(6 servings)

6-8 Medium size Red Skin Potatoes (peeled & chopped)

4-6 Parsnips (peeled & chopped)

5 Tbsp Butter 

1/3 C Creme Fraiche 

Salt and Pepper to taste

·Place potato and parsnip pieces into a large stock pot and cover with cold water.  Place over high heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and cook until tender (about 25-30 minutes).  Drain the water and reserve the potatoes and parsnips in a glass or porcelain boil.  Return the stock pot to the heat, add the butter and melt.  Add the Creme Fraiche and stir together until softened and smooth.  Pour over the potatoes and parsnips, season with salt and pepper and whip together with hand mixer on medium-high speed for 3-4 minutes or until smooth.

 Serve immediately or keep warm until ready to serve. 

*Dairy Free Modification:  Replace butter with 5 Tbsp Earth Balance and use 1/3 C of Almond, Rice or Hemp Milk instead of Creme Fraiche

The parsnips added a rich, spicy and sweet flavor that was remarkable!  

There was a melody of yumm after every single bite.  

NOT your ordinary mashed potatoes!

Tonight the host was steak (with homemade worcestershire  sauce) and parmesan broccolini.

Deliciousness!

Yesterday morning, I did the usual clean up after the kids were off to school and decided to go through and get rid of some stuff.  I am the queen of cleaning out… I can’t stand clutter.  It’s almost a problem.  Think extreme hoarding… but the extreme opposite. It’s almost sad… I’m not very attached to things.  My mother calls it waste, but it’s not.  If something is no longer serving a purpose in this home- be it toys, clothes, a little (broken) wooden sign that says CafeAuLait that I have no idea how it got here in the first place, then it will better serve someone else!  Mom came over last week and literally started going through a bag of stuff for Goodwill, all:

 ”Oh no… you’re not giving this away”

and “We can glue this back together”-

(the CafeAuLait plaque)

 and so on.

If we haven’t used something in over a year… it’s getting tossed.

So yesterday I tossed the SCALES!

Off to Goodwill they went.

They have no purpose here.

 I will never again be a slave to the scales.

A year ago, I made the mistake of weighing myself before and shortly after I started a rather high intense workout routine.  (Well at least what I considered being intense after several months of Winter-just-getting-by-in Switzerland-with-the-odd-workout-or-run) and I had gained 8 pounds after two weeks of high intensity cardio and low-weight, high-rep resistance training.  I really let it bother me and I became obsessed with it.  I weighed myself 3 times a day every day and was literally becoming physically stressed over it and spent most of my summer stressed over it.  In fact, the stress of being stressed over my weight could actually have made me gain weight because of the relationship between stress, emotions, cortisol, adrenal glands, weight gain and adrenal fatigue.

I am healthy

 I eat a mostly organic, whole foods, low carb diet

 I eat no sugar or gluten

 I exercise

I am a mom to three children.

I am no Spring chicken and I am ok with that.  I have come to terms with that fact that I am probably never going to look like I did when I was 20 and eating Wendy’s Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers because they were 99 cents and I was a poor college kid.

Things change as we age

(I recently saw an ex-boyfriend who used to be absolutely shredded… Yep!  He blew up!)

but I will take the wisdom any day over being 20 again!

If you gain fat, your clothes will probably let you know.

The scales weigh fat, bones, muscle, tissue and water.  

Weight can be influenced by not drinking enough water the day before, eating salty foods or where you are at in your menstrual cycle.  

I am learning to embrace my body for the here and now…

and I don’t need a set of scales to stress me out!

And you don’t either!

Live a healthy lifestyle.

 Keep your body moving.

 And ditch the scales if you are a slave!

It feels awesome!

So simple.  So delicious.  

And an Organic Roaster will only cost you about 7 or 8 bucks.

My kids love to come home to a herb roast chicken and share it as an afternoon snack.

There is always enough left for at least my lunch the following day…

and we make nutritious, mineral rich bone broth from the chicken bones.

If roasting for dinner, I usually roast two chickens together, 

unless I am using it in a pasta as an accent, in which one chicken would suffice.

An herb paste rub is a wonderful way to add incredible flavor

without adding additional fat, calories and ingredients.

A delicate mix of several (3 or more) fresh herbs is the best way to achieve complex flavor.

Herb Roast Chicken

1 Whole Organic Roaster

Handful of fresh Thyme

3-4 sprigs Sage

4-5 sprigs Rosemary

4-5 Chives

4 Garlic Cloves 

2 tablespoon EVOO

Salt and Pepper

Strip the herb springs and add herbs, garlic cloves, EVOO, salt and pepper into a small food processor and process on high speed until a rather smooth spread has formed.

 Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels.  Use your fingers to gently loosen the skin from covering the breast, thighs and drumsticks.  Generously apply the paste to the meat under the skin… rubbing and massaging the herb paste  into the meat.  Rub the outside of the skin with any remaining herb paste.  Use kitchen twine to grab the wings from underneath the chicken, bringing it around- securing the legs together.

 Set aside at room temperature while oven preheats to 450 F

 Place the roaster into a roasting pan or uncovered dutch oven- breast side down- and roast for 35-40 minutes.  Remove from oven, reduce the heat to 325 F, turn the chicken over so that breast side is up, return to pan and continue to roast for another 45- 50 minutes.

Let rest for 10-15 minutes before carving

(or until kids come home and devour this carb alternative after school snack)

Hope that all of you fabulous moms had a special Mother’s Day!

I sure did!

Metros on Mother’s Day 2012

TIME magazine definitely made a statement!

When I first saw this cover, I was shocked.

It’s shocking!

My first thought was actually a hope.

A hope that the photo doesn’t shed a bad light on breastfeeding and attachment parenting.

For a moment, I feared it would and it probably does.

 The mother on the cover is Jamie Lynne Grumet, 26, of Los Angeles,

who says she’s been confronted by strangers

who see her son nursing and threaten

“to call social services on me or that it’s child molestation.”

She is an attachment parenting advocate who was photographed for

TIME breastfeeding her 3 year old son,

who has not yet self weaned, according to Grumet.

As an attachment parent, who breastfed three children as long as I could

(two whom weaned themselves just before one year of age and the other at 8 months),

I get the importance of breastfeeding but hope that the cover isn’t too repelling. 

Grumet has received a harsh reaction!

The twitter trend of comments hints of “lasting damage to her child”.

The cover is definitely bold!

It definitely makes a statement and garnishes plenty of attention…

but when was the last time you saw a mom get this much heat

for feeding a three year old crap??

While I do feel that there is probably never a need to breastfeed a toddler in public,

I do feel that if you choose to breastfeed into toddlerhood and your child has not

Self-weaned… then Rock On!

I really do not think she is “damaging” her child.

What do you remember from being 3 years old?

Pretty sure nothing.

Also pretty sure that the parents who are feeding their toddlers snacks that are loaded with

artificial flavors, preservatives, dyesand other chemicals

 have a much higher risk of damaging their children, unfortunately.  

Just my two cents!

I am having an affair.  With yellow.  I have had a crush on yellow for a while but things haven’t progressed to the next level.  Perhaps because it has been winter and she hasn’t been there for me.  We have had our moments but it has been off and on. It actually sort of fizzled. I did spend one night with my mustard yellow, velvet mini skirt this winter.  Brought her out for a girl’s night in Zurich… but other than that, we haven’t spent much time together.  With warmer weather approaching (or so I thought it was approaching since it was 66 degrees in Switzerland on Saturday but SNOWED today) I feel that the relationship is back on.  The more I see her the more I want.  She is truly breathtaking… no matter the environment she is in.  

This Crewcuts swimsuit is just divine

(the kids are SO excited to be at the beach soon… only a few more weeks)

Crewcuts always gets it right

Yellow flowers

Tory Burch summer tote

Alexander Wang does Yellow 

(thought she was mine)

Isabel Marant does Yellow

(and a good job she did)

Yellow even when the weather can’t make up it’s mind

J Crew shorts

Alice & Olivia: ShopBop

More yellow pants

OP in Yellow dress: TopShop 

(Are you in favor of the gold shoe choice here?)

J Crew masters yellow

Yellow Birks

Yellow wall

Neon Yellow J Brand Skinnies (why not)

Yellow LBs

What should I make with this?

I have this set in blue… now I want YELLOW!!

Yellow beanie

Uber cute yellow semi-gladiator

Yellow Polka Dots

Bohemian Yellow Dress

I suppose I need a Yellow fedora as well…

Please tell me what your crushes are!!

 What is your favorite color for Spring?

Summer?

In Switzerland, children leave school at lunch time and walk home where they enjoy their “hot” meal of the day since the Swiss generally eat cold in the evening.  My children attend the International School, so this is not something that I get to embrace and enjoy.  (Though I wonder what happens to the kids who have working mothers… I’ll have to dig into that and get back to ya’!)

 I do send lunches with my children each morning or drop off a hot lunch, so at least I know what they are eating… and this is a GOOD thing no matter where you live, but particularly if you live in America.  If you have watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution or read the news, you likely know what I mean.  

If not… consider this: US Government purchases 7 million pounds of pink slime for use in school lunches

Unreal, right?  

So on the weekends, I do try to have a nice, hot, sit-down lunch together if the schedule allows.

 And the longer the better…

(No kids are allowed outside in the German region of

Switzerland between 12:00 and 1:30 as this is “lunch hour”).  

I’m not joking!!!  

My kids went out 10 minutes early yesterday and got scolded.  

You should have seen the walk of shame.  

I guess it was actually my fault because I said it was okay.  I was on a tight schedule and frankly, cleaning the floors is easier with 30 less toes in the house.  I told them to be very quiet… and so off the went and back they came…

Early play time SHUT DOWN!!!  

It wasn’t the first time it has happened either.  I’m pretty sure that other than our good friends, the rest of the neighbours hate us.  There are the awkward moments when I smile and they stare.  Focused.  Either thinking or saying something about us being American or the family with the kids that try to sneak out a few minutes early during lunch hour on Saturdays.

 It could be my imagination… but I don’t think so.  

I mean, there was the episode in the parking garage where I used the remote to enter (three kids in tow) and realized I had grabbed the extra set of car keys when I had left the house that DID NOT have a building key on it.  It was freezing and Glen wasn’t expected home for another 30 minutes or so… so when another car pulled in and parked close to us, my oldest daughter got out of the car and kindly asked if they spoke English.  The 60 something year old lady said yes and so Alivia proceeded to tell her our situation.  She asked her if they, by chance, lived in our building (there are entrances to 3 buildings from our parking garage) and that is when it happened.  

The lady charged her.

 My nine year old.  My well dressed, put together, polite child.

I got out of the car and said, “Excuse me?”

And then she charged me and started screaming, “Get OUTSIDE”!  

Startled, I came back with: “Excuse me?  We live here.”

She was basically hissing and screaming at me “You criminal… if you lived here you would have a key… give me your papers!!!”  All while the husband didn’t speak a word of English but was on his cell phone calling the Police.  When the three kids heard Polizei… they all began howling.  Not crying.  Howling.  A desperate, terrified howl.  The sight of scared-to-death children didn’t distract.  She kept screaming and trying to push us out of the garage.  It probably lasted about 10 minutes but seemed like forever.  I kept my cool, pulled out our residency cards, told them to please call the police, showed her my car, pressed the lock button so she could see the lights go off and on, told her where my husband worked, flashed a little bling and stated that we were certainly not criminals.  She finally walked away, spit at me and gave one last scream: “Go Home!”  I am not a confrontational person but I do grow balls if you ever hurt or scare my children, which is why I was a little shocked I didn’t say more.  I knew I needed to remain completely calm for the kids because they were hysterical… but I would like to see her again sans kiddos (which I have not… to this point).  

I’m gonna go with NOT MY IMAGINATION!!!

ps: I am trying to change my look!  

So if you have stuck with me and handled yet another tail of Swiss Bliss, then let me share what we had for lunch this Saturday: 

Cream of Celery & Quinoa Soup

·Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan, Vegetarian, low carb

1 Bunch Organic Celery (about 8 ribs- Chopped)

1 Large Yellow Onion (chopped)

3 Garlic Cloves (minced, pressed or fine chopped)

1 Cup Dry Quinoa (rinsed)

3 T Clarified Butter

1/2 Cup Filtered Water

1/2 Cup Dry White Wine

6 Cups Vegetable Broth

1 C Almond Milk (or milk of your choice)

1t salt (I used pink himalayan sea salt)

1/2 t white pepper

1/2 t dried herbs de provence

·Heat the vegetable broth in a large pot.  Melt the butter in another large pot or dutch oven on medium-high heat.  Add the onions, celery and garlic and cook for 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add 1/2 Water and cook another 6 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Most of the moisture should be absorbed.  Add the 1/2 White Wine and cook for another 6 minute, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, white pepper and herbs.  Add the quinoa and cook together (stirring constantly) for two minutes.  Begin adding the heated broth, ladle by ladle, until all the broth is mixed into the vegetables.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cook for about 16 minutes on medium heat- stirring occasionally.  Transfer mix to a blender or food processor and puree for 2-3 minutes (make sure you have a tight hold on the lid if using a blender when blending hot items) until the mix looks totally smooth.  Return to the pot and add 1 Cup Almond Milk (or a little more or less until you reach your desired consistency).  

It was criminal (you have to laugh).

 Delicious and satisfying.  

A good way to be!

BTW- Switzerland’s obsession with time

]]> http://becomingunglued.com/food-and-recipes/cream-of-celery-quinoa-soup/feed/ 14 http://becomingunglued.com/food-and-recipes/gorgonzola-potato-cakes-from-leftover-mashed-potatoes/ http://becomingunglued.com/food-and-recipes/gorgonzola-potato-cakes-from-leftover-mashed-potatoes/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:45:57 +0000 Michlyn http://becomingunglued.com/?p=1840

Gluten Free Gorgonzola Potato Cakes

(from leftover mashed potatoes)

2 Cups Chilled Mashed Potatoes (preferably chilled overnight)

 1/2 package Gorgonzola cheese (about 2.5 oz or 1/3 C crumbled)

3/4 C Gluten Free Breadcrumbs (purchased or homemade)

(Schar GF breadcrumbs can be found in the shop under kitchen essentials…

Great to have on hand when you have kids… crispy makes everything better)

4 T EVOO

Salt and Pepper

·Combine potatoes, gorgonzola and 1/4 Cup of the breadcrumbs in a large bowl.  Work the cheese into the potatoes with your hands for several minutes, making sure the cheese is well distributed and knot clumpy.  Form into balls as if you were making meatballs and then press flat so that the cake is about 1/2 inch thick.  Reinforce the sides of the cake by patting gently around the cake.  Place the remaining 1/2 Cup breadcrumbs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper.   Place the formed potato cake into the breadcrumbs, gently coating eat side.  Heat 2 T EVOO to medium high heat in a large skillet or saute pan.  Add the cakes and cook until golden brown and crispy crusted (about 6 minutes per side).  Add additional 2 T EVOO and cook the next few cakes.  Should yield about 6 cakes, depending on the size of each.  

 Leandra Medine

I’m in love with this chic!

She is the belle behind the blog Man Repeller.

She is a rebellious fashionista with a discerning eye for everything gorgeous and she has an enviable knack for pulling together (man) repelling looks that rock.  A Jewish New Yorker of Turkish descent, she has sort of an awkwardness about her that makes her even more stunning (her goofiness makes her gorgeous).  Is there anything more attractive than being funny and able to make fun of yourself?  Man Repeller is followed by tens of thousands of forever-wishful-equivalents who can’t get enough of her funny faces, ridiculous smiles and self-depricating humor.  She recently found herself on the runway during New York Fashion Week. This girl is in her early 20s and already has it figured out:

“My blog is not about repelling men, it’s about good fashion,” Medine said. “Being a man repeller becomes a process of elimination. If a guy is only really into your outfit and won’t date you because of what you’re wearing, they are too driven by the female exterior and don’t care about your intellect.”

 man-re-pell-er (mahn-ree-peller)

-noun

Outfitting oneself in a sartorially offensive way that will result in repelling members of the opposite sex.  Such garments include but are not limited to harem pants, boyfriend jeans, overalls (see: human repelling), shoulder pads, full length jumpsuits, jewelry that resembles violent weaponry and clogs

-verb (pell-ing, pell-ed)

To commit the act of repelling men:

Girl 1: What are you wearing to the party

Girl 2: My sweet lime green drop crotch utility pants

Girl1: Oh, so we are repelling tonight

AWESOME, Right?

I happen to have a few pairs of drop crotch utility pants that are my go to for an effortless chic, almost what-is-she-wearing look.  I suppose I have always been somewhat of a repeller.  I think it stems from being blonde.  I SO don’t have the personality to be a blonde but every time I have gone a decent brown… Stalker Nation.  No joke.  It just doesn’t look natural (think Single White Female- disturbing).  And blondes can’t get away with bombshell looks (unless you are just a bombshell).  You have to play it safe especially if you want to attract the right people and come off as interesting and put-together… driving people to want to get to know you for the right reasons. Smart blondes have to stay under the radar with fashion, makeup, behavior, attitude.  If I were a dude  (the kind of dude that I would be attracted to in real life) and my buddy wanted to set me up with a chic who was blonde… a disturbing vision of  Courtney Stodden would likely flash before my eyes instead of Kate Hudson or Sienna Miller. 

 It’s just an image that you can’t get rid of…. it’s like a mini movie that just starts playing as soon as you think blonde (Gross!!!!!).  I spent the first 21 years of my life in Florida, so fashion hits and misses weren’t really something on the front burner as I was generally outfitted in beach gear with a straw fedora and flip flops.  When I moved to the Northeast at age 22, I had ZERO sense of style and I found myself making purchases that I never wore… trying to follow the trends but feeling a little too blonde-sex-pot-gross-ness.  Then one day, I stepped into a gorgeous Vintage clothing store and that was it.  I bought 3 coats that day:  an orange, Vintage Halston suede number, a tweed Chanel blazer and a long, burgandy, no-name leather beauty that I just retired a few years ago.  It was time.  Once I figured out my style, I figured out my look:  under the radar, a little funky-cool… always allowing a little something special to make a statement.

Hence my love affair with the style of Repeller chic.

 She goes for goofy and edgy over sexy and obvious… and she has nailed it!!

Loving the socks with sandals

Almost seems ridiculous to post this because anyone can make these yummy treats in a few minutes but thought I would because the kids love them so much and it is an easy, delicious non dairy, Gluten Free Dessert that you shouldn’t have guilt about feeding to your kids when they want a dessert and you want HEALTHY!  When we make these treats in North America, I use a mold which helps to keep the treats nice and thin like a true Nestle Crunch Bar.  Here in Switzerland I have not been able to find a “candy bar mold” so I used a small pyrex lined with parchment paper for the goodies.  

This is something you can whip up with ingredients you generally have in your pantry. 

Not Nestle Crunch Bars

About14 ounces Dark Chocolate or about 1 1/2 C Dark Chocolate Chips

(I used 3 Swiss Candy Bars- 64%)

1 T Coconut Oil

1 C Gluten Free Rice Krispie Cereal 

·Add the coconut oil to a double boiler on low- medium heat and melt.  Add the chocolate and stir constantly until completely melted.  Remove from heat and mix with 1 C Rice Krispies.  Pour mix into mold or parchment lined pyrex

*using a pyrex instead of a mold will lend a thicker bar

(BEWARE and cut them into much smaller pieces)

·Place pyrex dish or mold into refrigerator and let sit for 2 hours

·Cut into pieces and enjoy!!!

]]> http://becomingunglued.com/food-and-recipes/not-nestle-crunch-bars/feed/ 0 http://becomingunglued.com/food-and-recipes/a-great-snack-for-kids/ http://becomingunglued.com/food-and-recipes/a-great-snack-for-kids/#comments Sun, 26 Feb 2012 15:51:11 +0000 Michlyn http://becomingunglued.com/?p=1666




Better Batter Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins 

1 1/2 C Better Batter Gluten Free Flour

1 t Cinnamon

1/2 t Nutmeg

1 t Baking Powder

1/2 t Baking Soda

1/4 t Salt

3/4 C Organic Cane Sugar

1/4 C Brown Sugar

1 t Natural Vanilla Extract

2 Organic Eggs

1/3 C Spectrum Organics Shortening

2 T All Natural Apple Sauce

1 Medium Zucchini *grated or fine chopped

1 C Chopped Walnuts

1/2 C Dried Cranberries

·Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl.  Mix eggs, shortening, apple sauce & vanilla on medium speed for several minutes.  Gradually add the sugar into the mix.  Turn mixer to low and slowly mix in the dry ingredients.  Stir in the zucchini, walnuts and cranberries.  Spoon mix into greased muffin tins or paper liners (until almost full).  Bake at 350 (175 C) for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I usually make muffins using a delicate mix of GF and nut flours.

 Here, I just used the Better Batter Gluten Free Flour mix and they really came out beautifully.

SO SO easy!!

Kids love just about anything muffin… they don’t even ask what is in them.

They’re just GOOD!  These babies just got me this:

“Mommy… may I please please have a zucchini muffin for snack tomorrow at school?”

Absofreakinlutely!

Hope you all have had a wonderful weekend!

 I am ready for March.

 Why is it that February is the shortest month but always seems the longest?

 As for hockey, the last game of the regular season was last night.  EVZ of the Swiss National A League finished first in the league, so the guys have a tremendous sense of relief and accomplishment.  While the 2011-2012 hockey season has wrapped up here in Switzerland, the NHL trade deadline is knocking in North America.  You know… that fun day that we had the pleasure of experiencing more than once.

 Glen was traded 2 times at the trade deadline in our last four seasons in North America.  The first time- I had a 4 month old, 2 year old and 4 year old… had just moved to Atlanta four months prior (when the four month old was 4 days old) and had to pack a suitcase for Glen in about 15 minutes and rush him to the airport where he was off to meet his new team in St. Louis.

 The second time- we had just moved to Philadelphia five months prior to the call.  This time was a little trickier because the children were older and school was now in the picture.  It was also tricky because it was a Friday afternoon (1 PM)- a game day.  I had just picked up Max from preschool and Esther was napping.  Glen had 30 minutes to spare before lying down for his pregame nap, so we were chatting with Max about what a big game the Flyers had ahead of them, as they were playing the Montreal Canadiens later that night.  You know… the Yankees of hockey.

 It would be Hockey Night in Canada for all of dad’s family and friends to see.  Max said “Montreal stinks”  and then the phone rang.  Glen’s face went white and he said about 4 words.  He put down the phone and said he had been traded to the Habs. In that moment, you have to be a rock.  You have to keep it all together and focus… not allowing the children to see the panic, stress, nervousness and fear you are feeling.

 We packed a bag and said about 50,000 words (mostly planning and speculation) in the next hour.  I then drove him to his (now former) home arena where he would meet his new team and face off against his brothers hours later and then board a flight to Montreal.

 Though overwhelming at first, we got to experience so much as a hockey family in Montreal.  The next season was the Centennial year for the Habs and pretty darn special to be a part of.  Montreal is an amazing place to play hockey (or was… sorry Habs fans) and we made a few lifelong friends during our time there.  You truly have to trust that everything happens for a reason… with everything.  Because it usually does.   Two months before we decided to come to Switzerland, we had the opportunity to be a part of this:

Crazy Montreal after playoff series win

 I am thrilled that this day is not longer in RED on my calendar… and I am funnelling all of my energy to the brave mamas and papas who will soon have to reconfigure their everything due to D day.  Across the pond… the first playoff game is Thursday.  Since EVZ finished first, we will play the team that finished in 8th place.  Each series is the best four out of seven and you must win three series to win the championship.  

So here we go!  

Let’s play some playoff hockey!