Today has been a beautiful day. After working a half day and picking up my kids from school, which was a rare treat, the girls and I had lunch together and picked up a few things for a new recipe I wanted to try for dinner tonight. After we got home, the girls played in the backyard for hours, entertaining themselves with our big tree in our miniature backyard and of course, their vivid imaginations. If I could bottle Madeline's imagination, I am pretty sure it could fuel a rocket to the moon and back. Yesterday, she helped me to create in my mind my very own made up animal, complete with a zebra striped dragon's head and a flower tail. I did very little of the creating, because every time I would suggest something, she would ask me if I got the idea from somewhere else or if I made it up on my own. Of course, all my ideas were from something I had seen before, so she suggested some original ideas to help me create my animal. I wanted to name it Cosmo, but clearly that was not a creative name. I can't even remember what we ended up naming it now, but it was definitely non-sensical and something Madeline totally approved of. She said our first "imagination lesson" was a success, despite my obvious lack of skill. Madeline inspires the kid in me and helps me see the beautiful in the small things in life. She is perpetually positive and happy, and I have so much to learn from her!
Clara helped me cook dinner tonight, which she often does. We made pasta with homemade Vegan vodka sauce (recipe below), and it was truly delightful. Sometimes when I cook, it is just about getting dinner on the table, but today it was about togetherness, quality time, and enjoying good food. I love that! For the first few months after our family decided to try out a (mostly) Vegan lifestyle, cooking became very difficult and it was something I dreaded. I didn't know what to cook or how to prepare it or how to enjoy it. My kids really struggled with the decision we were making for them, and meal time was not my favorite time of the day. But Clara's love for cooking really helped her learn to try new things and appreciate the healthy ingredients we were using to make our food. Now after a year of our new lifestyle, I love cooking Vegan, and my family loves eating the food I prepare. I hope to use this blog to share new recipes I discover! They are great for the vegetarian and non-vegetarian alike (at least I think so). :)
Today, I sat in the branches of a tree with my daughters, I took a nap in the middle of the afternoon, I hung tissue pom poms from my daughter's ceiling, I "watched" baseball with my husband (while blogging, of course), I took joy in the small things; today I lived in the moment.
Penne Vodka
2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
¼ tsp crushed red pepper
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
¼ cup Vodka
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ tsp oregano
1 tsp sat
A few dashes of black pepper
½ cup sliced almonds
¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
16 ounces penne pasta
Bring a pot of water to boil for the pasta . Preheat the sauce pan over medium/low heat. Add the oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper to the pan and sauté for about a minute, until fragrant, being careful not to burn. Add tomatoes, vodka, thyme, oregano, basil, salt and black pepper. Cover, and turn the heat a bit to bring to a simmer for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, add pasta to water and cook.
Once the sauce has simmered for 20 minutes, add almonds. Use an immersion blender to blend the almond into the sauce until creamy and only slightly grainy. (I do not have an immersion blender, so I just poured the sauce into a regular blender and pureed until smooth.) Serve over penne pasta. Enjoy!
This recipe is fantastic when it is served with oven roasted asparagus. Just trim fresh asparagus, place in a baking dish, drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, add a few dashes of salt and pepper, and roast in a 400 degree oven for about 8 minutes. Delish!
the fact that you are blogging makes me very very happy! that recipe looks amazing!
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