Because Why Not Me?

I posted today on Facebook. After several days in a row with very little of either sleep or food (you know, in other words, life as a mom), I had had enough of navigating the complexities of my special diet, my toddler's schedule, and my messy kitchen. Wearing the kid out everyday is enough to wear me out - so how am I supposed to make sure Mama gets fed?

Mama's Little Bundle (of energy and willfulness)
A.K.A. "The Nug"

I knew exactly what I needed. So I posted:

Okay, who wants to write a cookbook entitled "Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and Mostly Meat-Free One-Bowl Recipes for Busy Stay-At-Home Moms Who Also Intend To Feed This To Their Toddlers" for me?

Several of the comments were all, "Why don't you write one?" And I was all, "Because I don't have time." Duh.

And then one guy was like, "If you cut out wheat, dairy and meat, what else is left?" And before I knew it I had described exactly the kind of meal that would show up in this magical, mystical "cookbook" of which I dream.


Maybe I don't have time to write a cookbook. But if I make a dish that fits the bill, post a picture on Facebook and end up detailing the exact process, I can at least copy and paste the sucker onto a blog for safekeeping, right?

So without further ado, I submit my first offering. I refuse to name my food, to list times and measurements that aren't important, and I reject perfectionism in general. So there!

Meal The First - once The Nug was done with it

One-Bowl Meal The First 

Today (for instance), I sautéed pre-chopped onions in my cast iron skillet. 

On the other burner, I boiled water in a saucepan under my bamboo steamer, which housed organic baby carrots and pre-washed broccoli florets. 

When the onions were soft and brown, I added a couple handfuls of garbanzo beans, which had been sitting in the oven since I'd baked them a couple days before (I made sure they were still good), and turned the heat down from sauté to simmer. I stirred often and added a drizzle of olive oil and some crumbled perilla leaves from my garden.   

Near the end, I added a dusting of spices: Korean red pepper, granulated garlic, nutritional yeast flakes. Once the garbanzo beans were heated through, I stopped stirring, cracked a couple of organic eggs on top, covered with a stockpot lid and turned my attention to the steamed veggies.  

These, I stirred with good coconut oil and separated. Some for Mama's plate, and some for the food mill, to be ground into a mush for baby. Some of them were not steamed thoroughly enough to pass through the mill, so they went on the plate next to the mush to test which he liked better and to provide visual interest.  

By this time the eggs were done. One scoop of beans/egg per plate, a serving of green onion kimchi on top (it's probiotic, and the baby loves it!) and a grinding of Himalayan pink salt (for the minerals) for each of us, and we were good to go.