*
Phew. I just managed to shuttle the boys out of the house for an hour, and it's quiet here for a moment. There were leftover breakfast taco fixins from our traditional Labor Day beach breakfast, and I'm going to pour myself another cup of coffee. Do you see me getting all caught up?
On Tuesdays I have three kids now. The oldest is four. It's a challenge. The biggest of which is finding something that those three kids and two mamas will eat for dinner. One night I made spaghetti, I think I'm still cleaning it out of the grout. Another night the four year old and I made
tortillas. I served them with refried beans, and oranges and strawberries on the side. For the grownups the oranges and strawberries joined company with baby spinach, toasted pecans, and that
orange-serrano vinaigrette. I was feeling quite ingenious, until the four year old announced that she did not eat beans.
Last night we had crunchy baked tofu sticks, sweet potato fries, and watermelon. I figured that if I didn't use the word tofu, this would be a sure fire kid hit. The watermelon was. The mama told me that she really liked the salad I had made last week. What am I going to feed these kids? Fruit, I guess.
And how do you get somebody else's kid to be a more adventurous eater? Not possible, huh? I best suck it up and plan on cleaning up a lot of pasta.
I was thinking that miniature orange chipotle pulled seitan sandwiches on tiny homemade buns would be adorable, but I think I'll save them for me, this sauce is pretty pungent.
Orange Chipotle Barbecue Sauce
3/4 cups orange juice (or 2 valencia oranges worth)
1 chipotle chile, minced
zest of one orange
2 T. tomato paste
1/4 c. minced onion (1/2 small onion)
1 large clove minced garlic
2 T. tamari
1 T. molasses
3 T. sugar
1 T. lime juice
1 T. apple cider vinegar
1 T. canola oil
1 1/2 t. smoked salt
Simmer all ingredients in a small sauce pan until reduced, about 15 minutes. Puree. Taste for seasoning.
*(That picture of oranges is from last January and reminded me that I also love winter, and fall, and spring.)
