I know that I've said it here before but I think that parsnips are weird.


I think that 'Family Day' is awesome.  the only problem that I have with it is that it's in the middle of winter.  However, if we were in California or something it would be totally awesome.  I know that the point of family day is to do something with your family.  To take them somewhere, to go skating, to go to one of the many events scheduled around the city, toboggan, whatever... i'm just not that motivated when it comes to kids and winter right now.  I hate to be the winter downer here.  I'm just tired of it.
What we did for 'Family Day' today went something like this:
a.  Getting up way too early to make breakfast for a very awake kid #2.
b.  Yoga for an hour with kid #1
c.  Make Angel Food cake
d.  Roast squash
e.  Make Squash soup (post soon to come)
f.  Make black bean and squash chili (post coming soon)
g.  Shower
h.  Wrangle kid #1 to get into the shower
i.  Lunch for Kids #1 and #2
j.  Do kid #1's hair (that takes me a while)
k.  Watch 'The Matrix' with kid #1 (her request)....

And so on.... I still haven't eaten lunch and it's 6pm.  Not gonna happen.
I want an away day.  A day when kids go to school and everyone else gets to stay home... what could that day be called though?  Some ideas:
Adult Fun Day (that could get misinterpreted though)
Quiet Day
Free Babysitting Day

Let me know what your ideas are...

In the meantime, at least I know that lunches are covered this week.  I spied this recipe in the latest BBC mag and I loved the idea.  Always, good to try something new with a veg like parsnip (even the name is funny).  The flaves work and if you can serve it with some curried chick peas as the recipe suggested then even better.  Me, I'm servin' it for school lunches this week... ok I gotta go and finish up some laundry.


Parsnip Pancakes  adapted from BBC Good Food Magazine
(makes about 8 or 9 smallish pancakes)

6 oz (2 cups) grated parsnip
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp fennel seed (I didn't have any though)
1 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 1/2 tsp ginger (grated)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour (ideally swap this for chickpea flour)
1 egg
200 ml water

Combine all the ingredients except the egg and the water together in a large bowl.  Stir together until all the ingredients are well mixed.


Add in the egg and half the water.  Mix well.  Add enough more water to get the pancake batter to a consistency that you are happy with.
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.
Add about 2 tbsp of oil to the pan.  Place as many pancakes in as you can and cook each side for 4 - 5 minutes or until nicely browned on each side.


Remove from the pan and place on a paper bag to allow any extra grease to absorb.
Serve while nice and crisp.  Or let them cool and serve them for lunches at room temperature.