Bubbles, Bailey and the Boy

Mother's Day 2010 is in the books

In the first few minutes of Mother's Day, Niels gave me my cards from him and Daniel. Daniel's card had trains and bears: two of his favorite things! (For the record, I also had beautiful tulips delivered to me on Thursday!) Turned out that the early card-giving was a good plan since the rest of the day didn't go quite according to plan.

After a restful night's sleep, Niels left early to run lights at church. Daniel and I followed a bit later, for the first service at 8:30. I wasn't feeling very good, but figured it was just the rush of getting Daniel up and out. I joined Niels at the lighting console and we chatted a little about his plans for us for the day. Last year, we went to Stan Hywet, and I had a great time taking pictures of my favorite boys. I wanted to do something as a family, so Niels suggested the Cleveland's Children's Museum. I quickly looked up the site on my Blackberry and approved.

After the first couple of songs, I noticed that I was feeling nauseous and light-headed, so I put my head against Niels and closed my eyes. The nausea got worse, so I rushed to the bathroom. When I was done, I started wandering around trying to find something to settle my stomach. I was getting more dizzy and cold! A friend from the nursery (where I just started volunteering) saw me and sat me down in one of the chairs and covered me with several blankets. Someone else got me some 7-Up and something to eat. Niels was told that I was ill, but couldn't do anything until after the service.

The next thing I remember, I was at home in the China room and Niels was home. Apparently, one of our friends drove me home and stayed with Daniel (who was also sleeping) and I until Niels got home around one. I had another brain injury "crash."

So, we made plans to watch TV in bed. I still wasn't very hungry, though I wanted cake, which Niels' got for me to celebrate the day (yummy almond, always reminds me of our wedding!). I also had some crackers and grapes. When I was finally feeling a little better, we called my mom to wish her a happy mother's day.

She talked to Niels, and after listening to his tale of the morning, she suggested we call my OB (No, I'm not pregnant! But I have had some other as-of-yet unexplained things going on!). After he talked to Niels, he told us to go the ER and he would meet us there. So we found some friends to watch Daniel (thank you, Swains!) and headed to the ER.

I had another episode at the ER and aphasia (loss of the ability to talk) kicked in. Fortunately, the doctor had already let them know what was going on so we got back to my room pretty quickly. I had a lot of blood taken and an exam and then we waited.

The good news is that I didn't have the serious infection or anemia that the doctor feared and we were able to go home. The bad news is that we still don't know what is causing the underlying problems. I have another thing with my OB on Thursday and then we'll wait for the results, and hopefully some answers.

We picked up Daniel and his sweet smile made me feel much better. He fell asleep on the way home. Niels and I camped out in the China room again, and he made grilled cheese sandwiches and soup for us both. We watched Because I Said So, which is one of my favorite movies.

We called it an early night, and I call myself very blessed to have two wonderful guys in my life.

Bath Boys

One of the daddy's duties since Daniel was just a wee little guy is bath time. We don't have a regular bath tub in our house, so Daniel's been taking his baths in our jacuzzi tub since he was a couple of months old! We use the buddy system for bath time, and since I get to be home with Daniel all day, Daddy and Daniel get to splash around in the tub together. Our growing boy is now too big for his baby robe, and too little for his big boy robe (thanks, Gramma Kennedy!), so for now, he shares Daddy's robe and it's just right!

Dutch dinner, part 3: Chicken Sate

I really was super woman yesterday, even though multi-tasking is not my forte. In my defense, our three Dutch dishes were not supposed to all be made at the same time! The original plan was for Niels and I to do all the prep work on Tuesday night. That didn't happen though, because Niels had an meeting at church and I was not feeling well. (I've been pretty exhausted and lightheaded the last few weeks and am waiting for some test results to hopefully clear things up). So Wednesday afternoon, the house was a mess and Niels had to work a little later because he was on Daniel duty that morning while I was at the doctor having said tests done to me. Nothing like a little stress! That said, Niels got home about an hour before our ten dinner guests, in time to help clean up, vacuum, run to the store to get the frying oil I forget, entertain Daniel and help me finish up the meal. (He's super man!).

So, meal #3, Chicken Sate, is a little less documented. We had to improvise a little bit, because I also forgot to get skewer sticks. Sate is marinated chicken served with peanut sauce, which of course, I made from scratch, because I'm a little nuts sometimes. :-)

Indonesian Chicken Sate

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast halves, skinned, boned & cut into 1/2" cubes
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 tsp. lemon juice

Instructions:

Combine above ingredients and let marinate 2 hours. Thread on skewers and grill approximately 5 minutes on each side or until done, or broil in oven. Do not overcook or it will be dry. Serve with peanut sauce.

Chicken in marinade

PEANUT SAUCE:

3 tbsp. creamy peanut butter
4 tbsp. water
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. dark soy sauce
1 tsp. dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. hot pepper flakes (or hot chili paste)
1/4 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. ground coriander

Niels says that the peanut sauce should look creamier. It's possible that the all natural peanut butter, which also has a drier texture is the culprit. It could also be that my brain was pretty fried at this point, and I made a mistake! At any rate, it was delicious and there wasn't any left!

Bitterballen

At last night's small group, we had a Dutch theme in honor of Liberation Day. In addition to Hutspot and Sate, I made bitterballen, a sort of deep fried meatball with diced veggies and seasonings. It's using dipped in mustard or Dijon sauce. Of course, in Holland, you can find these in the freezer section of the local store. Since we live in America, woefully far away from a Dutch store, I made them from scratch. Now that I know how time-intensive they are, Niels knows how much I love him!

Bitterballen

Ingredients:
4 tbl. butter or margarine
1/2 lb ground beef or veal
1/4 cup carrot, finely diced
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
A grating of fresh nutmeg
1 tbl. fresh lemon juice
2 tbl. parsley, finely chopped
5 tbl. flour
1 cup beef broth or milk
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten with 1 tsp. water
Oil for deep frying

Instructions:

• Heat one tablespoon of the butter in a large skillet over moderate heat and cook the meat, carrots, and onions until the meat is browned and the carrots are tender.

• Drain the meat in a colander, then place in a mixing bowl. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, lemon juice, and parsley and stir to combine. Set the meat mixture aside.

• Heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over moderate heat and stir in the flour to make a roux. I had no idea what a roux was!

• Cook this for 2 to 3 minutes, then add the beef broth or milk. Continue heating, stirring constantly, until the sauce boils and becomes quite thick.

• Combine the sauce with the meat mixture, stirring to combine them thoroughly, and chill this mixture for at least two hours in the refrigerator, until it has become solid.




• When the mixture has solidified, roll it into balls about 1 inches in diameter, using your hands. Roll the balls in the bread crumbs, then in the egg and water mixture, then in the bread crumbs again.

• Fry a few at a time in a deep fryer with at least 2 inches of oil at 375 degrees until golden (about 2 to 3 minutes). Drain on paper towels and serve immediately.

Family Fitness and Homemade Hutspot

Here in the de Jong household, every year has had a theme. 2006 was "Fall in Love." 2007 was "Adjust to Marriage." 2008 was "Pregnancy." 2009 was "Adjust to Parenthood."

2010 is "Family Fitness." In addition to making an effort to be more active, both Niels and I are trying to get to a healthy weight. This makes meals interesting, because Niels is trying to gain weight, while I am focused on losing it! And, now that Daniel eats what we eat, we've been much more mindful of what we serve. Last year we started a habit of trying three new recipes a week. We didn't always make our goal, but we did greatly expand our menu options. We've continued this tradition this year, and as my confidence has grown, so has the variety of our meals.

One of Niels' favorite Dutch meals is hutspot, which is basically potatoes and carrots mashed together:

Hutspot

(follow the link for nutritional information)

1¼ hours | 20 min prep

SERVES 8 -10

Ingredients:

6 onions
6 carrots
8 potatoes
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/4 cup butter
salt
pepper

Directions:

• Dice & boil onions and carrots 20 minutes. I actually found some rainbow carrots. They come in shades of red, orange and yellow. I thought they'd add a festive look! Aren't they pretty?!

• Drain.
• Boil peeled and quartered potatoes 20-25 minutes, til tender. We use red potatoes because they taste great even with the skins on them, and I'm all about saving the time of peeling them!

• Drain and dry thoroughly.
• Add onions and carrots mash well.
  
• Add salt, pepper, butter and milk.
• Mix.
• Warm all together and serve hot.

Dutch Deliverance Day

I'm still feeling worn out, but wanted to get Daniel out for the pictures I wanted to take on Koninginneday (Queens Day). Unfortunately, he was more interested in his flash cards than his Dutch heritage (Sorry Oma and Opa!)

To see more pictures, click here.