Last Weekend with Papa + Eggplant "Unadon"

Saturday

Arthur slept through Friday night and Saturday morning, thank goodness. Or maybe his parents were just too conked out to hear any midnight wakings. Either way, Miklós didn’t hear him stir before he himself rolled out of bed around 7:30. The whole family had finally gotten a good night’s sleep!

Arthur was in a very sweet mood throughout the morning, through his first walk with his dad and his second one with his mom. And, today, he actually napped when I nursed him at 10:30! The day was starting off much better than the last one had.

Arthur’s good mood continued for most of the day. We practiced rolling the tennis ball back and forth to each other, went on neighborhood patrol, vacuumed together, chatted, and played the sniffing disgusted face game, which Arthur has been really into again the past couple of days.

For his afternoon snack, Arthur got to try two new foods: French toast (made with carrot purée and sourdough) and beef meatballs! He was fine with the toast, but I wouldn’t say it was a major hit or anything. He was definitely more into the meatball, the little carnivore. At one point, he decided to place pieces of food on the bottom of his sippy cup and transfer them to his mouth that way; it was pretty funny. Later, he actually managed to find and remove pieces of food that had fallen into the little pocket on his bib - the first time he’s done that! My little boy is growing up so fast.

Working hard learning about brachiosauruses

Arthur was super babbly upstairs with me, making noises I’ve never heard him make before! He got really excited about a little mini book from Tante Mika, and talked animatedly to himself as he held it and turned the pages upside down and hit it against various objects (we still have to work on how he treats books).

Arthur didn’t nap during his 4:00 walk with his pops, nor during his 5:00 nursing session, as we were video-chatting with his grandparents. So by the time dinner rolled around, he was starting to fade, and started drifting off as soon as he latched onto my boob afterwards. He screamed for about two minutes after Miklós put him down to sleep, but pretty much as soon as his dad dashed out of the room, Arthur went down. So, overall, we’re getting better.

Sunday

Arthur woke up at around 7:10 on Sunday morning, with no midnight wakings beforehand! Hopefully he's done with those, or at least for the next 12 days while Miklós is in Austria. He was quite a sweetie throughout the morning.

Cheerful morning mood

After a windy walk with his pops, and a bath, Arthur settled down for a nice little nap when I nursed him a little after 10:00 - he didn't sleep long, but was in a very good mood when he woke up! He even let his parents have some special time together with no shrieking or complaints at all; just more babbling and trying out all sorts of sounds!

Afterwards, we went on our usual Sunday vlaai run, and Arthur and Miklós extended their walk. After returning home and getting a bite, we all headed out to the grass by the river for a "picnic!" Basically, this meant the parents boozed up while Arthur crawled around on the picnic blanket trying to eat whatever he could get his hands on. He started getting a bit tired and fussy towards the end of our "picnic," and remained in that mood throughout his solid lunch; I think he really hadn't gotten a long enough nap in the morning.

A fond farewell to Papa

Luckily, Arthur crashed when Miklós took him out for one last father-son stroller walk at 4:00, though it was again a short nap - maybe a solid half hour or so. Still, it was something, and he was a brighter, happier toddler when he awoke! He was a bit grunty at dinner, but he barely cried when Miklós put him to bed, so maybe there's hope for me yet while his pops is out of town. Maybe.

For his last Sunday here Miklós cooked his traditional sweet potato quiche. On Saturday, however, I tried something new: eggplant unagi rice bowls! Eggplant was on sale, and it's quickly inching its way towards the top of my favorite vegetable tier. I'm especially partial to it in Asian dishes. So when I came across this recipe, I was excited: it looked awesome, and pretty easy! And honestly, it was both. I'm not sure if Miklós was as excited about it (he's less of an eggplant fiend than I am), but I was very happy with the result. And other than pre-steaming the eggplant, it was super duper quick and easy. I served it over rice as suggested, but also added some cooked egg on the side for a bit of protein. And it was great! Here's how I made it:

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Eggplant Unagi/Vegan Unadon (serves 2)

Ingredients

• 2 eggplants (the original recipe calls for Chinese, but I used regular)

• 2 tbsp olive oil (I felt like this ended up being a bit much - there was a lot of oil left in the pan. Maybe I'd just do 1 tbsp next time)

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp rice vinegar

• 1.5 tbsp sugar equivalent (I used ½ tbsp granulated sucralose)

• 1 tsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp water

• steamed rice to serve (I cooked up 1 cup of mixed white/brown/black/red rice with 2 cups water and some salt)

• 2 tsp hemp hearts (the original recipe calls for sesame seeds, but we didn't have any)

• 1 spring onion, thinly sliced (we were out, so I omitted this)

• other optional garnishes (not in original recipe but could be nice): chili slices, roasted peanuts

• cooked egg/tofu/edamame/other protein or veggie (optional, to serve)

Instructions

1. Wash the eggplant and steam it (you can do this ahead of time if you want) over medium-high heat for about 15 minutes, or until a knife slices through with no resistance. Alternatively, you can microwave it for 5-10 minutes or roast them until collapsed.

2. Cook the rice however you usually cook it.

3. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.

4. Slice the eggplant and then use a knife to score the side without skin in a criss-cross pattern, to better absorb the sauce.

5. Place the eggplant skin-side down on the hot oil and sear for 5 minutes or so.

6. While the eggplant is cooking, make the sauce by whisking together the cornstarch slurry, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sweetener.

7. Flip the eggplant onto the skinless side, and cook for another 5 minutes or so, until golden-brown.

8. Pour the sauce over the eggplant and turn heat down to medium.

9. Let the sauce thicken over the eggplant, occasionally flipping the eggplant so it gets thoroughly coated.

10. Plate the rice, then serve the eggplant over the rice, drizzling any remaining sauce on top.

11. Sprinkle with hemp hearts/sesame seeds/any other garnishes and any sides of choice.

12. Enjoy warm!