What the SPORK is for Lunch?

Reunited, and it feels so good... I saw an old friend recently, and hilarity ensued. We've been working with Landon on eating with utensils and while she can get the food onto her little spoon, she is having a problem keeping it level on the way to her mouth. Enter the SPORK...

Once upon a time, a spoon and  a fork fell in love. Resulting in the Spork.

 Sporks make me think of Ruprecht.. If you have never seen Dirty Rotten Scoundrels then you should. No need to talk about how non PC it is, the point of Ruprecht and the movie is that the men are scoundrels, aka wicked or evil people. 

Ruprecht didn't really have a spork, he had a trident and a corked fork.

 Back to the SPORK... It gives L the ability to stab her food, and stabbed food is much less likely to fall off of the utensil when it is not being kept level. See how this is working for me? Less falling food = less food that has to be retrieved from the floor at a later time.

So exactly what the spork did L have for lunch? Let's start with some updates... L is not shunning any food entirely, which is somewhat more frustrating than if I could tell you "She no longer eats spinach" or "She now hates fish." She has just gotten very particular about what she wants when. It's driving me bananas, but I'm taking it all in stride, remembering that when she is hungry, she will eat and I'm not going to run all over my kitchen wasting 3-4 servings of food trying to find out what she is hungry for that day. Don't get angry with me, I'm not starving her. She has standby food that she still always loves and I make sure to include at least one of those in every meal, so she always has something I know that she will eat. These foods include: tomatoes, sweet potatoes, beans, avocado, sharp cheddar cheese, and pasta. 

We still let her try pretty much any food because the chances she will eat it are the same regardless. Today she had some leftover Chicken Tikka Masala with Jasmine rice and Naan Bread from our favorite Pakistani/Indian restaurant. It was my original starter Indian food and her Aunt R is loving it right now too, while taking Indian Food baby steps. They can do it together. Best Friends Club. Here's how it went:

Naan Good

Chicken Tikka Masala with Jasmine Rice

SPORKING SUPERSTAR!

All hail the SPORK

She has been extra picky about chicken so this was a huge success. She loved the naan (what's not to love?) and ate most of the chicken. My standby foods that I knew she would eat: broccoli and rice. Then after she told me she was finished she asked for a few bites of banana and a few cheerios. Indecision thy name is toddler. 

Let's get real: the spork is a gimmick. A great one, but still, something I use to make L interested in eating her food. I've been trying all kinds of things lately. Here's a Monday night confession for you: When in doubt, food sound effects work. You know the dumb airplane noise? Well we prefer the "drop the bomb" sound effect. You can just imagine the sounds, I'm not going to take you there. At least not right now. I often stop mid meal and give thanks that no one is witnessing Landy and I at work. Kids make you look like a giant idiot, but that's ok. If you don't feel like an idiot most of the time, you are probably not having any fun. 

SO give it to me parents... what are the gimmicks you use to get your kids to eat? Or maybe you have been caught in public when you looked like a big idiot with your kids.. I need to know these things so I feel more normal. Thank you in advance. 

Peace the Spork Out,

-RT

PS - Boardwalk Empire Premier = INSANE. Loved it.

Pretending to be an Indian Olympian 101

It's Sunday y'all. I am pooped. BUT THE OLYMPICS ARE HERE!!!!!!!!! THAT is amazeballs. I am psyched and at random times in the day I swear people are chanting "USA USA USA"... The Olympics make you crazy. So, in honor of them we are going to do a recipe based on my favorite event from the games so far. It happened before the flame was even lit, when some "mystery woman" or rather, a volunteer from the Opening Ceremonies, decided she would just walk next to the flag bearer of the Indian delegation. Just cause. You know. Whatevs.

One of these things is not like the other.

At first I was like, how did NO ONE notice her?? Apparently India didn't make for a big appearance on the tv coverage of the parade of nations. Or maybe it was because Meredith Viera and Matt Lauer were SO TERRIBLE commentating the ceremonies that I zoned out of everything else. But this is really AMAZING. To be fair, this woman is an Indian woman who is currently living in London. She was cleared for security as a volunteer who danced during the ceremonies. She was probably backstage and was like "hey buddies, I'm Indian" and the officials were like "everyone from India, walk through this door" so she just went with it. Too bad she didn't have a yellow sari. Indian volunteer Madhura Nagendra sure has some GIANT lady balls.

So maybe you want to make it to the Parade of Nations and walk with the Indian delegation. Oh, you do? Fantastic. We are making easy Indian at home, and that has to be at least one step on your way there. Another step, surely, involves watching Englishmen Sir Ben Kingsley play Indian lawyer turned leader Gandhi in the 1982 movie. I'm sure this will get you half way there. Let's hurry.

Tan in a can, Sir Ben... Tan in a can.

I picked up some pork loin chops last week and wasn't really sure exactly what I was going to do with them. I got home from work and took them out of the fridge and looked around. We had kale, so I considered grilling the pork with some sauteed kale and garlic... then I saw this deliciousness hiding in the back.

Hello, friend.

Usually when I need an Indian/Pakistani food fix we head over to Himalaya. Chef Kaiser, a wonderful Pakistani man and his wife run the show. It is always amazing and deliciously spicy in all the right ways. BUT we can't always get away and sometimes it's nice to have something easy at home. Maya Kaimal makes all natural preservative free Indian Simmer Sauces that do not disappoint. I prefer them in medium because I think the flavor of the spices comes through much better than the mild. They also stay good for a really long time so you can stock them in your fridge for cooking emergencies. Go to the website above to find it in a store near you. 

I cut the pork into one inch cubes and let it come to room temp. Sprinkled a little salt and pepper over them and coated them in olive oil. 

I set the pan on the stove over medium to let it warm up and coated it with olive oil. Then I tossed the pork in with some shaved garlic.

Next I got out the kale and washed and rinsed it. Here is a photo of kale just for fun. You know, because kale is fun. 

Party.

I cooked the pork over medium heat and made sure the sides had started to cook evenly. It started to look like this:

Next I tore off the kale and added it into the same pan as the pork. 

I tossed everything in together and let it cook until the kale started to wilt and shrink. Then I added in the simmer sauce a little at a time. 

Once everything was coated I let it sit and cook and absorb the sauce. While it was cooking I came to a sad realization, I had NO rice. I had never cooked anything like this before, and again, I had no rice. That's pretty much a staple, especially for what I was craving. Soooo I took another risk. I found some Soba noodles in the pantry. 

So then I cooked the noodles while my pork and kale simmered in the butter sauce. Time to assemble the bowl.

Step one: Noodles.

Step Two: The Rest

And it was FREAKING DELICIOUS! Like AMAZING. I am making it again. The kale stood up really well to the simmering and the added sauce and held the flavor. The noodles were also a really great extra. Not as overly starchy as rice and a nice little addition. I kind of wish I had some more right now.

After you have your Indian meal and watch Gandhi a few times, run out to the store and pick up some blue plants and a red zip up hoodie. You are basically there. Or you could always take up a sport and spend the next few years of your life training. That might be more admirable. Maybe. 

Many wishes for a week filled with 100m relays and gymnastic floor shows!

- RT