Some Time to Ourselves + Ethiopian Sweet Potato Stew

Friday

Arthur woke up at 7:20 or so on Friday, and had a big breakfast. First up was susu, followed by a leftover poké bowl, some cashew yogurt, and water from his shot glass. He played a bit with Tante Kaila and G-Dawg, before his extended family was off to the mainland - the Dawgs and Tante Kaila were flying back home the next day, and Oma was dropping them off.

Salmonberries with Papa

It was nice to have a day to ourselves. Arthur started off enjoying the quiet by taking a nice nap on me during his second morning nursing session. Then his pops took him for a walk while I did some laundry and grocery shopping. Apparently, Arthur enjoyed some salmonberries with his dad as they hiked through the woods, and, towards the end of the walk, a second nap, though he didn’t have long in the backpack before they got home and he was rudely awoken.

Still, he was a pretty happy camper back at home, and after a susu meal, happily played with blocks on the carpet, before devouring a solid lunch of egg scrambled with half and half and shredded carrot, cooked in olive oil. You can’t go wrong with egg and Arthur!

After that, he was off for another fire trail walk and nap, though it wasn’t a terribly long one this time either - only about half an hour. He was in a pretty good mood for most of the afternoon, though, until around 6 or so - Miklós and I were able to keep him on the carpet with a couple of toys while we worked on a puzzle, and he was perfectly content there for almost an hour. He loves sticking cylindrical blocks in his mouth and sucking on them; I guess it’s not a far cry from the trunk jobs he gives Sonja.

For Arthur’s dinner, it was another allergen delight: Malt-o-meal made with soy milk and mixed with tahini, mixed nut butter, peanut butter, shredded carrots, cinnamon, and allspice. He was pretty into it, and devoured the entire serving with no problem!

So, Arthur’s Friday solid extravaganza consisted of:

• avocado

• poké bowl (rice, mango, yellow bell pepper)

• cashew yogurt

• salmonberries

• egg

• half and half

• olive oil

• carrot

• Malt-o-meal (wheat, barley)

• spices: cinnamon, nutmeg

• mixed nut butter (almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds)

• tahini

• peanut butter

• soy milk

Saturday

Happily occupied while his parents scramble to finish their puzzle before leaving

Arthur slept in on Saturday - he didn’t wake up until I went into the room at around 8:15! After his usual breakfast on the boob, Arthur had his usual solid breakfast with Miklós. It’s really funny; as soon as he saw Miklós take out the avocado and start cutting it, Arthur got really excited, grunting and flapping his arms in the high chair. Clearly he recognizes the food, and has developed a preference for it.

We took Arthur out on the fire trail after breakfast, where he got in a nap and some rain. Arthur didn’t seem bothered by the rain at all; he actually seemed to be trying to catch rain drops on his tongue, which was cute. Back home, he had a big appetite for susu, which he followed up with a solid lunch of scrambled egg with spinach.

Apparently, Arthur was still hungry after both those lunches, because he kept trying to eat the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle his parents were working on. I tried to keep the pieces out of his reach, but I did have to fish a couple out of his mouth. It’s funny (and slightly scary) - I couldn’t even tell they were in there until I stuck my fingers in his mouth and realized he had managed to get a whole piece inside. He’s not the most helpful puzzle companion.

Arthur eyed his parents judgmentally when they tried to have some special time, and then started full-on screaming out of nowhere, so that was a bust. But he luckily got another 45-50 minutes of napping (in two installments) during his afternoon walk with Miklós, and was a bit more cheerful after that.

Arthur enjoyed more carpet time while his parents worked on their puzzle, although at one point he ate a big splinter from a block that Mudge had chewed up. We hadn’t seen him eat it - only when it came out as a big spit-up, which was a bit scary. He really is eating everything these days, so I need to be better about keeping an eye on him. He’s also getting more mobile; numerous times, I looked away for a few minutes and turned back to find him in another spot on the carpet. He’s not crawling, I don’t think, but definitely managing to move around!

He had a pre-dinner snack of soy yogurt mixed with peanut butter, followed by a dinner of leftover Ethiopian sweet potato stew from Thursday. Arthur seemed much more into the former than the latter; I think the stew was a bit spicy for him. Still, he happily finished his serving!

So, on Saturday, Arthur ate:

• avocado

• egg

• spinach

• soy yogurt

• peanut butter

• sweet potato stew (sweet potato, green beans, tomatoes, red bell pepper, red lentils, cinnamon, allspice, ginger, garlic, onion, olive oil)

As for the adults? Friday night I made breakfast stuffed sweet potatoes - these were really tasty and I'll post the recipe soon. On Saturday, we had leftover Ethiopian sweet potato stew, a dish I had made Thursday night. I based it off of this recipe, though I kind of eyeballed quantities, and it was pretty nice! It was especially good served with some baked crumbled tofu on top, which I tossed in soy sauce, pepper, olive oil, and nutritional yeast. Here's how I made the stew:

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Ethiopian Sweet Potato Stew (serves 4)

Ingredients

• olive oil, for cooking

• 1 large sweet onion, diced

• 4-5 large garlic cloves, chopped

• 2" piece ginger, minced

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced (around 3-4 cups)

• 1 red bell pepper, diced

• 1 tbsp paprika

• ½ tsp allspice

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 1 tsp coriander

• ½ tsp ground fenugreek (I didn’t have, so I omitted)

• 1 ½ cups water (more as needed)

• 1 large tomato, small dice

• ½ cup dry red lentils

• 2 tbsp tomato paste (more as needed - I probably used closer to ¼ cup)

• 2 cups chopped green beans (fresh or frozen - I used about 1 cup of frozen)

• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

• salt and pepper to taste

• accompaniments of choice, to serve:

  • bread or similar of choice (I used English muffins)

  • protein of choice (I crumbled up some extra firm tofu and tossed it with nutritional yeast, soy sauce, pepper, and olive oil, and it worked perfectly as a crumbly topping!)

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for about 5 minutes, then add ginger and garlic, cooking another 5 minutes or so, until the onions are translucent.

2. Add in the bell pepper and sweet potato and sauté for another minute or two.

3. Add in the spices and fry for a minute (don't worry about things sticking to the bottom of the pot).

4. Add the water, lentils, tomato, tomato paste, and green beans. Mix well.

5. Bring to bubbling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for at least 30 mins, until lentils and potatoes are soft. Stir occasionally. It is even better of you can let it cook on a low heat for an hour or two. Add more water if stew gets too thick.

6. Stir in parsley and season to taste. Adjust thickness of stew with more water or tomato paste - you want this to be a thick, scoopable stew.

7. Serve with crumbled tofu or other protein on top or on the side, and some bread!