Life with my 16 months old toddler & a lovely Lentil Stew

A few days ago, our little sunshine turned 16 months. 16 incredible months full of surprises, laughs, first times, clueless moments, love bursts, – sometimes exhausted and tired but always happy and grateful ❤

By now our mouse call us Mama, Papa, says Brumm Brumm, toddles around the living room (still holding on cupboards, sofas and chairs, she’s a careful one!), leaves a trail of mess where ever she goes, gives kisses, loves her softies with a passion and loves reading one of her many books on her blue sofa. She’s super chilled, sometimes a bit clingy, but always smiley and happy and she sleeps like a pro (there’s no day where I’m not grateful that I went through that sleep training with Daniela Sleep Coach last September).

Desiderata has been hanging in our bathroom door for many years.. it’s still my inspiration, especially when I feel things are getting too much..

Life has changed tremendously by becoming a mum and so have I…  I’ve never been so content and grateful but sometimes also exhausted and overwhelmed. Being a mum put my life upside down and living in another country away from our families doesn’t make it easier.  But I love it and wouldn’t change it for a thing, even if it sometimes means putting my own plans, ambitions and goals on a lower priority. Simply because I am not able to do everything at the same time anymore. My multi tasking skills seem to have disappeared when I gave birth and I slowly surrender to the fact that they might not come back anymore 😉 My first priority is Zoe and our family, then comes nothing for a while and only then comes my course to become a Holistic Health Coach which I still enjoy doing very much (just finished my second exam last weekend – whoowhoo!). It’s a fine line though sometimes to juggle everything and I often wonder how working mums are coping, or, even more challenging, single mums handle their daily life with a 16 month old toddler who becomes more lively and demanding every day! I honestly have no clue but my deepest respect goes out to all these women as well as the stay at home mums (and dads) like me, cause being with a child all day is often more exhausting than a work day might ever be LOL.

One of my 2017 resolutions: Time for more self care & self love this year. Carve out some time in the morning for some yoga home practice.

However, priorities shift and so finally do my expectations towards myself. I try to find peace and to let go more often… More surrender and self love, less pressure and comparison are my big resolutions this year. How often did I feel under pressure the last few months when I felt I’m running out of time, I could never keep up, when I didn’t manage to do everything I wanted, didn’t cook all the lovely meals which I’d love to cook, write all the blog posts which I have in my head and start with all the new projects which I have in my head.. but at the end of the day, we only have 24hours a day and when I spend time Zoe I want to be present and enjoy the moment. So, this is the time in my life for her. And there will be a time for other things again, probably sooner than I can now imagine she’ll be in school and I’ll remember these days with nostalgia ❤ So please accept my apologies for not blogging that regularly anymore! But I promise I will still share the occasional recipe and keep you posted with (hopefully) inspiring healthy meals and articles on wellness and health via my Facebook and Instagram 🙂 In the end this, my passion for healthy food, is what inspired me to start my Health Coaching course!

But enough for now, here comes another, of course toddler approved favorite recipe for a Lentil Stew. Zoe has been eating it since she was about 9 months and love it just as much as her daddy and I do. Lentils are a great source of plant protein, great for digestion and especially in winter a real comfort food. I usually cook the same dish for all of us and only add salt for us adults in the end. As usually this is a very versatile recipe, instead of red lentils you can also use brown lentils or a nice mix of beans and lentils. Just note that you should soak all other lentils (brown, green) and beans over night as they might cause bloating and gas otherwise. The longer you soak them, the better. It’s also beneficial to add some bay leaf for the same reasons. Also, please note that cooking time is the shortest with red lentils so if you are tight on time, just go for red lentils. You can add all different kinds of veg, but I usually like the potatoes to add some carbs and substance to the stew. Leafy greens like spinach, kale or chard can be added towards the end of the cooking time and if you want to give it even more substance serve it with a batch of nicely roasted potatoes as a topping like I did on the photo.

Lentil Stew with Roast Potatoes & fresh lime

Lentil Stew is a real crowd pleaser and great for batch cooking

What you need
(serves 4)

• 3 cups of red lentils (washed) or other lentils and beans (soaked over night)
• 1 onion
• Some garlic
• 1 TBS of Coconut Oil
• 2 potatoes
• 2 carrots
• Ground cumin & coriander (about 1 tsp each)
• Vegetable stock (invest in a good, low sodium one, without preservatives and other nasties)
• Water (roughly the double amount of legumes and maybe later some more depending on how thick you want your stew)
• 1 lemon or lime
• Optional: 1-2 handfuls of leafy greens (spinach, chard, kale)
• Highest quality salt (if you cook for children add it separately later)

Optional toppings: roast potatoes, fresh cilantro

What to do…

Peel and chop the onions, garlic, potatoes and carrots (or other veg you use). Fry onions and garlic on medium heat in coconut oil and add the chopped vegetables when they get nicely golden. Stir for a bit and then add the lentils (or other pre-soaked legumes) and spices. Pour in the water and some vegetable stock and let it simmer until the lentils get nice and soft. Red lentils take about 30min, other lentils and legumes more. Just let it simmer until it’s all nice and soft, you never want to eat legumes when they are not fully cooked. If you add leafy greens, add them for about 5-10min in the end.

Serve with a slice of lime/ lemon and enjoy your meal together:)

With lots of love, peace & good health for 2017 ❤
Nadine xxx

Advertisement

Summer buckwheat salad 2.0

Riding on my buckwheat wave I made my second batch within a week! This time I must say I liked it even better than the first one… if you try them both, let me know which one you prefer… but this time the sweet of the dried currents and the bite of the almond flakes make eating this light salad even more fun! The greatest thing is not only that all ingredients boast of health and flavour, but also that if you have the buckwheat ready prepared this meal is made upso fast, you don’t even need 10min, promised!

What you need:
(serves 2)

• 1 cup of buckwheat (I like to do this in the morning when I get my morning wheat grass to start the day)
• Water for soaking
• Half of a pepper (I think in this one the orange is perfect in the color mix)
• A chunk of red cabbage
• A small bowl of green peas
• Half of a feta cheese (I like sheep or goat as I try to reduce cow milk as much as I can)
• 1 spring onion
• A handful of dried currants
• A handful of almond flakes
• Olive oil
• Apple cider vinegar
• Sea salt & pepper (freshly ground)

What to do:

Put the buchkwheat in a bowl and cover it with water, let it soak for 2hours or a bit more. Drain the rest of the water. Chop the vegetables and feta cheese. Mix with the buckwheat, add currents and almond flakes. Dress with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, season to taste with sea salt and fresh pepper.

Enjoooooooooooooy!!!