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This Seafood post was Sponsored by Orca Bay Seafoods, though you can count on my opinions being my own.  Dungeness Crab, called Dungie among hard core seafood fans, is a delicious must try. It is excellent served stand alone, or in a simple dish like my Crab Cakes. These crab cakes are special because they are both Gluten Free and Dairy Free. I did promise my Facebook Friends and Family that I would be having some dishes that were rich and creamy and on the Naughty List and some healthy dishes on the Nice List! Bonus, they are ultra child friendly(I could not only not get photos of them eating the crab cakes due to hyper speed eating, but also the whole batch lasted maybe 5 minutes) The ingredient list is super short:
 I love how easy Orca Bay makes everything for me! They deliver to me with Seafood Direct, and the Dungeness Crab comes already cooked! All I have to do is thaw, and take out my kitchen sheers to cut open my Crab. How pretty is this Dungie?!?  Here is how this delicious Crab meat looked after I freed it from the shells, and it was ready to get turned into Crab Cakes.  Once you have your Crab ready, Pre Heat your oven to 400 degrees, get your baking sheet out and pre grease it. Take your Just Mayo and Whisk it in a bowl with your Egg and your Mustard.  Once this is well mixed, gently fold in your Crab. Next, take a large spoon and spoon your mixture onto your baking sheet in heaps. Because we are not using the traditional breadcrumbs to bind our Crab Cakes, the texture will be a little different, both in the batter and the final product. This ends up being in your favor, flavor wise, as you end up with way more Crab in your Crab Cakes and way less filler. WIN! Place in the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until crispy and golden brown on the outside! I suggest putting on some good music and having a 15 minute dance party while you wait! Plate however you like! You can add lemon wedges, you can accompany with your favorite vegetable, or do stand alone with a dipping sauce. If you like it saucy, I suggest mixing your Mayo with a little Red Curry, or a dash of Truffle Oil. We plated ours with peeled Carrots, Avocado, and Radishes.  Both Bunny and Fox did come running out while the Crab Cakes were still baking to tell me how good they smelled! I had just enough time to take both of these photos of Bunny before the Crab Cakes were demolished and I had to fight to save my own!  xo, R   This post was sponsored by Orca Bay, but as always, you can count on my promise that all opinions stated are my own My two pajama'd cuties are not feeling well today, but they still wanted to say Hi to the Darling Readers and be in a shot with the Mahi Mahi! (and they insisted on wearing their new Christmas hats that they were sent from our favorite New Yorker, Laure) Today as a part of the Feast of the Seven Fishes series, I created Fig Balsamic Mahi over a bed of Spring Greens. This is a very easy, quite quick to cook (I love alliteration) recipe. The usage of balsamic may not be favored among those in your family with a much younger palate, but for the more mature palates this is a sassy and special dish. Why Fish? Besides how much my Family and I Love Seafood, it is a great choice for something Healthy! Orca Bay Seafood is chemical additive free, has no artificial colors, and is trans fat free! Also, I enjoy my free time and do not have a ton of patience, so I love that Orca Bay does all of the prep work on the fish for me. I can simply defrost and go. Order your own Orca Bay Mahi through Seafood Direct and get it delivered to your door(giving you more time for other fun things!) Here is all that you need:
 You can find Fig Balsamic Vinegar anywhere, I get mine from Home Goods because I will use any excuse to head into that store. ;)  A word on Figs. Whenever possible, use Figs when they are in Season, Summer to Early fall. There is nothing as heavenly as Fine Fresh Figs. When you want to use Figs in a recipe and it is not season, go ahead and get the whole dried Figs. You see in the photograph, I used a diced(right) Fig this time. They are tasty little bits, though the whole dried Figs are better. Next time, because I will be making this again! Pre Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Place your Mahi in your oven safe baking dish of choice, and drizzle the Fig Balsamic over it, then sprinkle with your Cherries and Figs.  Set your timer for 9 minutes, and place your Balsamic Fig Mahi into your oven to bake! That is it! You can tell your Mahi is done when it flakes apart easily with a gentle touch of a fork. Arrange your Spring Greens into a nice bed onto your plate or platter, then arrange your beautifully baked Mahi onto the bed of Greens! That is it! Enjoy your sophisticated looking dinner!   Darlings! I have a new product alert for you! This is something that I like so much that it is not only getting a spot on my Rose Tinted Holiday Gift Guide (get it for the Ladies in your Squad!) but will also be on my January Rose Tinted Healthy You Guide. Peach Life is a fantastic Woman owned company! I have been speaking with the owner and she told me that Female Empowerment is one of the driving forces behind her company! How much do you love that!?!? The Peach Body Probiotic Vaginal Vitamins are the main product offered, though you can also find some other goodies, Reusable Menstrual Cups among them. (SO much better for your body than tampons!) This cute video has an excellent break down about the Peach Body Vaginal Vitamins! This innovative probiotic comes in bottles that can serve you in one of two ways. You can use it as part of your monthly regime(each bottle is a one month supply that you use every 4-5 days) or, if you have a yeast infection or feel a slight imbalance, you can use your supply 6 days in a row to restore your balance. Easy, Fun, Toxin Free, and Vegan! You can find yours on the Peach Life website, or on Amazon! If you are an Instagram lover like I am, you can follow the Peach Life Inc on Instagram, and you can follow the Instagram page of the utterly fabulous owner, Luisa! xo, R  Happy Monday, my Darlings! It is my favorite day of the week! A fresh start, new to do lists, new perspectives. Today I have something for you that is more of a method of sharing kindness than a mantra, but hey :) it works.  Who is She, this Her that I suggest you talk to? She could be the Mama sitting next to you on the bus while you ride to your University. She could be the Facebook friend who you admire but do not actually know (yet?) in person. She could be the long time best friend, or the new neighbor. She may have gone back to school, or started a new writing adventure with a Blog ;). Maybe you are married to Her, maybe she is your Sister, your Aunt, your Mom, or your 4 year old Daughter. Tell her that you are proud of her, tell her she is doing a good job, tell her that you See her. She probably does not hear that nearly enough, if she even hears it at all. It will put a smile in her heart, and I believe that giving other people a reason to smile is always a fantastic Monday, or any day. xo, R  This post was sponsored by Orca Bay, however you can count on all opinions being my own Darlings, I have a creamy, dreamy, sweet and savory dish for you today as dish 2 of 7 of my Feast of the Seven Fishes series! Honeyed Pasta with Orca Bay King Crab legs! This creamy pasta sauce recipe is a longstanding favorite of mine to cook for friends. I developed this recipe in 2000 and used to love to cook it for my lovely and kind friend Michele, a recipe she still loves today. Come on over, Michele and I will cook for you! I gave this recipe a super boost by deciding to add King Crab to make it ultra rich and decadent. Crab is absolutely what this recipe has been missing!  This King Crab is, of course, Wild Caught using sustainable practices. I love how easy to prepare it is-you can thaw and heat your preferred method! You can order this from Orca Bay and have it delivered directly to your door! I thawed in the fridge overnight so that my King Crab was ready to go, and I got my ingredients ready for cooking!
 I think there are a few different 'best' methods to opening crab, I will share mine with you. I simply use my kitchen shears, and starting at the bottom of each crab leg, going along the smooth white underside, I cut right down the middle. I slide the meat out, using a fork when needed. Here is what I ended up with:  You will be making the sauce first; your sauce needs extra time to sit and thicken. Toss your Butter and your Shallot into a pan, and sautee over medium heat, stirring often. When your Shallots have softened and turned translucent, add in your White Wine and sprig of Rosemary.  Let simmer for several minutes so that your White Wine cooks out and gives you all of the beautiful flavor and none of the intoxicating properties. ;) Stir in your honey and continue to simmer while gently stirring for about 7 minutes. Yes, it is a large amount of honey. You will love it! I use honey a lot in my daily life, it is delicious but also healing. I cook with it, I have a cough syrup that I make with it, I use it in beauty recipes. I do recommend that you buy only local honey-you are supporting your local bee farmers and bee colonies, and also helping to keep yourself healthy and guard against allergies. Add in your cream and stir well to incorporate. I had to snap a photo at this step because the pretty look reminded me of the stone agate.  Continue to simmer and stir for the next 20 minutes. Like most fabulous sauces, this one takes time and care. Turn off heat, and let sit for several more minutes to thicken. Put water in a large pot on your stove and bring to a boil for your chosen pasta at this point, cooking to a nice al dente texture. Strain, and stir some butter or olive oil to keep your pasta beautifully slippery as it waits to be served. Fold your King Crab into your Honeyed Cream Sauce.  It is now time to plate this beautiful Crab dish! Plate your pasta, and spoon your King Crab and Honeyed Cream over, and serve!  This was another sensation at the table! We do love good meals, Especially good SEAFOOD meals, but one of the best parts of getting your family to sit down together at the table is the conversations. I hope that you are able to have some fun conversations with your Family this holiday season and always. Please let me know your thoughts if you try this recipe!  xo, R This post was Sponsored by Orca Bay Seafoods. As always, you can count on my promise that all opinions are my own. Hello, my darlings! I have some decadent treats for you during the next 7 days to help you with your Holiday menu planning. Every Christmas Eve, I love to cook my version of the Feast of the Seven Fishes. You may be familiar with the Feast of the Seven Fishes if you are Italian, Catholic, or a fabulous Jet Setter. There is a lot of debate as to the origin of the Feast and the reasoning behind the number Seven. Sometimes, like a lot of other people, I cook more dishes than Seven. All I know for certain is, Seafood is DELICIOUS. To help you out, I am presenting some of my favorite new and old recipes over the next Seven Days so you have plenty of time to order directly from Orca Bay, and shop for your other ingredients. (Yes, yes it is to help myself out by testing and getting to enjoy extra deliciousness too. Guilty!) You can order Seafood Direct from Orca Bay and save yourself time (and lines!) it gets delivered right to your front door! Today's recipe is for Salmon en Croûte. En Croûte is just the fancy, french way to say in a pastry crust. Wellington is also appropriate. ;)  For this recipe, I used Orca Bay's Pink Salmon Fillets. These, like all of their products, are Wild Caught. They are an incredibly philanthropic company(oh lordy, if you know me, you know my passion for causes.) and they have a little piece of my heart. Ingredient List:
I wrote this recipe calling for one pretty glass of wine, but if you are feeling sassy, make it two-one for the sautee pan and one for yourself! I had mine while the Salmon en Croûte baked!  Put on your prettiest apron, and if you do not own one yet,order yourself one right now! Thank me later, Darling! Pre Heat your oven to 375 degrees. In your favorite sautee pan, toss in your Chopped Red Onion with a few pats of your butter, and sautee over medium high heat until your onions are translucent. This step is important and you need to babysit your onions. I use a rubber spatula or rubber spoon for this type of thing, wooden is also nice, the important part is to keep your eye on it and give a nice stir often. You do not want over cooked, brown onions, or onions that still have the crispy crunch to them. (Mama Tip-Children do not seem to mind onions when they are cooked to a beautiful softness. It's the crunch that gets to them) Once your gorgeous Onions are nice and translucent, add in your cup of Wine! Doesn't that smell nice?!? Cook the Wine down for a couple of minutes, and then you may add in your Spinach, and if desired, more Butter. Stir Spinach, Sage and Onions, and when the Spinach has cooked (you will note it has shrunk and there is a color change) turn off the heat, and fold in your Goat Cheese and Himalayan Salt to taste.  Next, roll out your Puff Pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface. I rolled mine out and cut both sheets in half so that my 4 pieces were ready.  There are two beautiful fillets in the package of Pink Salmon Fillets, I cut both of mine in half with a good fillet knife to have four beautiful pieces.  Are you getting excited yet? Here comes some fun! You can now take each Pink Salmon Fillet, and place it in the middle of each of the Puff Pastry pieces. Spoon your Spinach and Goat Cheese mixture onto the top of each piece of Pink Salmon, you can do a modest amount or a generous heap.  Crack open your egg, place it in a small bowl, add a teaspoon of water, and whisk. Brush this mixture onto the edges of your pastry piece. Ideally you want to use a fantastic silicone brush that is designed for this purpose. In a pinch, go ahead and use a small, wide, soft bristled (BRAND NEW) paint brush. It works quite well, I promise! Fold first two edges of your pastry over themselves and the salmon, and then the other two.  Brush the extra portions of pastry that are on the sides with your egg wash as well, and fold them over as well. Flip your Salmon en Croûte over, you are now ready to gently cut a beautiful criss cross pattern onto your top. Take a sharp tipped knife, and gently cut first in one diagonal direction and then another.  Brush the tops with your egg wash, place all of your beautiful babies on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and place in your oven to bake for about 25 minutes. Keep an eye out, you will know that they are ready because your pastry will be puffed up and a beautiful golden brown color. Remove from your oven, plate, and Enjoy!  Darlings...oh my goodness this was terrific. I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did!  Fox was over the moon when he learned that there were two of his favorites inside of this pasty-Salmon AND Goat Cheese!  Bunny says that Seafood makes people pretty, maybe that's her secret ;) We had a lot of fun sitting at the table eating the Salmon en Croûte. I had a neat conversation with the children about the times they went fishing in Alaska with their Grandparents, catching Rainbow Trout on one adventure, and King Salmon on another. What a life! xo R
Okay, so there is no such thing as the perfect child (the perfect adult does not even exist) and anyway, the concept of perfection varies greatly depending on ones perspective. What you can have is well mannered children. Really. With no pressure or stress on you or them. I am a proud Mama of two incredibly well mannered children, and yes, you can be a proud Mama as well. Would it shock you to know that I have never prompted my children? As in the famous phrase "What do you say" or "What do we say?" You know the one. Always said in a borderline sing song and faux chipper voice that actually leans more towards sharp. I understand this may apply to you, please know I am not judging you or mocking. Prompts are not for me, and maybe after you read this you will decide they are not for you. I am also not Mom Shaming here. I do not believe in that. We are all doing our best, we are doing what fits with us. If you read this post and decide to stop prompts, I will be tickled, and if you don't, I am still loving you and supporting you! #TeamRoseTinted No one likes to be put on the spot, including our little ones. If the person that you are prompting them to remember to dictate some magic phrase to gets impatient and judgy because a child, in their happiness or distraction forgot a please, thank you, or you are welcome, that's on them. Yes, I said it. Those are their bad manners, not Johnny or Suzy's. We do kind things to be kind, not to receive acknowledgement. If someone's whole world or perception of someone is shattered because they did not get their instantaneous verbal gratitude, they need to go back to the library and read some books on the following:
Let's all go read books on those subjects, I think it will help add some loveliness to our lives. Can we also please remember to be patient with other people's children? Some children are non verbal. Some children use ASL to communicate. Some are autistic. Okay, so if I do not prompt, how did my Bunny and Fox learn their manners? How do they know what to say when? How on Earth did we get to the level that servers, librarians and strangers in the store consistently come up to us to compliment us as parents? Kindness, and manners. That is it. My children see me, in our daily life, using manners and being kind. I enthusiastically use these phrases:  Just as I deserve kindness and respect, so do my children, and yours, and anyone else's children. I give that kindness and respect, I use my (best) manners. Every single day. They see me being patient, loving and kind with them and with others, and that has organically become their go to behavior. They know that if someone does something for me or gives me something, that person has my sincere gratitude, and that when possible, they get verbal thanks from me. What's more is my children will hear about it after the fact. As in "Wasn't that so nice what so and so did? It really made me feel good! They did not have to do something for us!" We have been known to sing someone's praises for days or even months later. They know that one never forgets how a person makes them feel, be it a higher level of love, or a lower level fear based emotion. My children are my version of perfect, from when they are model children to when they forget a thank you, to when they have a hangry meltdown. Your children are, too. I think that's important, that we embrace all of someone, child or adult. We love them. That, to me, is good etiquette. Tolerance and Love. xo R  Bonus Bestie Points if you can tell me what movie my post title came from ;) Embrace your Wild & Weird. I truly mean this, Darlings. We all have a bit of the Wild and a bit of the Weird in us. Maybe at some point you buried yours, or lost it, worried about critics. Listen, people who criticize personality points or passions of others will always find something to criticize about, so don't even worry for a moment. Let's be our wildest and weirdest selves, together, and hope that the critics can start feeling some self love enough to join us! I hope that you take this Monday by the Unicorn Horn and have a better than fabulous week-have a Wild & Weird week! Share a couple of Wild and Weird things about yourself below in the comments and then I will share some of mine! xo While this blog is primarily about joyously living a beautiful life, I want, no NEED to call a timeout and call attention to something else. Something bigger, something braver, so that we can all go forth in in beauty, together, after embracing ugliness together in order to heal, and stopping it for the future of us, the future of others. I believe that being bold, being brave, being strong when you can, standing up for others and for yourself, whether you are male or female, a child or an adult, IS Beautiful. We are all seeing #METOO. Bravo. Bravo to everyone who is being as brave as they can be by posting it, and you know what? Bravo to everyone who can not find it in themselves to post it, or does not wish to-but they FEEL it. None of you are alone, and I commend all of you. Every single one of you. This post is for ALL OF US. It is for the women and girls, and the men and boys who have been violated in any way, shape or form at any point in their lives. Whether you stood strong, or collapsed internally or externally. Whether you found your voice then, or felt too shattered to. It is ALL OF US. I stand by you. I am here for you. I have read posts from friends who stated that they did not want to speak up because they felt that their experience was too trivial or not big enough. Darlings, if it made you feel any type of way that was not a positive one, you do not need to feel marginalized, you do not need to make excuses or try to rationalize or explain anything away. I have heard stories from family members and friends over the years about any number of men saying things that made them feel fearful and shudder, implying things, giving looks, giving touches, to the more extreme ends.(You will note that in this post I am not going into specifics-this is to be as gentle as possible about a rough subject and to not further trigger those who have been incredibly traumatized)One of the things that stands out to me is not just the twisted, misguided, damaged individuals who saw innocence in any form and went after it, but these two things: Nasty Monsters have no limits of age or gender in those they want to victimize, and so SO MANY of ALL OF US end up feeling alone, guilty, or crazy. So many young ladies were/are taught to be nice, be polite, be a GOOD GIRL, be nice to Johnny next door, do what your elders tell you to do.....so many young men are belittled and told to man up, BE A GOOD BOY, men don't get harassed or molested and told other terrible things....I CALL BULL. Please, my Darlings, know THIS to be absolute truth: IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT! You did not ask for it, you did nothing wrong. I love you, you are worthy, and I am here for you. If you know me, call me, text me, come by, and if you don't, email me, message me, reach out. SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT, for yourself, for ALL OF US. If someone makes a comment, call them out. Say hey that's not okay to say. No, I don't think you need to inquire whether or not they would want someone to speak to their daughter, sister, mother like that.....because maybe they are a Nasty Monster and they would. Say NO. Be as loud as you feel you need to be. If you see something, DO something. If you suspect something, say something, ask further, DO something. NO ONE has any autonomy over what happens to your body or anyone else's. ALL OF US are to be respected and loved. ALL OF US DESERVE love, patience, respect, and to be listened to. TEACH your sons, daughters, nephews, nieces, neighbor children, students-teach all of them, that they deserve nothing less. Teach them that they are STRONG and they can speak up and speak out against anything. Teach them that manners, kindness and class are lovely, but that NO-they do not have to hug people against their will, no-they do not have to sit quietly while a stranger, person on the internet, odd(or beloved)family member or Mom's new boyfriend steps out of line(even with a look). Teach them that they can come to you, that you will believe them, stand by them, and be a force to be reckoned with for them. Teach them to find their Voice. This is ALL OF US. Life is long, life is beautiful, and I want us all to be able to enjoy it. I love you. Rachel Rose  Ladies, I am so so excited about this new product I discovered! Hand clapping in delight style excited! You know I love to make my fancy fun lifestyle as healthy as possible, so anything designed to help enhance our healthy lifestyle is great in my eyes. Add tech into the factor and my attention and heart is really captured! WINIX Air Purifiers have two amazing Air Purifiers that not only are incredibly beneficial (as in, how did we live and breathe easy without these before?!?!) when placed in your home-think living room/common room, children's bedrooms, and sweet precious baby's nursery, BUT, they have the added extra cool futuristic bonus of being Wi-Fi enabled with the Winix Smart App! I adore Smart products! Everything is made easier with an app! The Purifiers are the WINIX HR1000 and the WINIX NK105:
I downloaded the free app, WINIX SMART onto my smart phone. The app is quite easy to use, and attractive (in case that matters to you!) You simply connect your unit(s) and there are settings for what city you are in, timers, fan speed, sleep mode, and on or off, that you can control from anywhere! Neat! You can access the data on your air quality history, and get real time air quality data, which for a lot of us who like to be in control of our environments and health & have the facts, is a blessing.
 What is it that the Winix Air Purifiers are specifically helping with? The low down, icky things in our air that we breathe in every day, especially at this house with our collection of old books and our cute dog-Pet Dander, Dust, Bacteria, Mold Spores, Microbes, Pollen, and Smoke, aaaand will help to banish cooking odors. Common rooms and children's bedrooms that have cleaner, safer, easier to breathe air sound perfect to me. As someone who has both allergies and suffers from chronic migraines, I can use all of the help that I can get! I know a few of my Mama friends have little ones that also have allergies and a few with migraines, our air quality plays such an important role in our comfort and the comfort of our babies. The True HEPA captures 99.97% of these things. Wow! Thanks to the WINIX PLASMAWAVE Technology, VOCs, Odors, Gases, and Bacteria are instantly neutralized, while ZERO harmful ozones are emitted! Winix Air Purifiers are Energy Star Efficient to boot! See!? Hand clappingly excited!   |
AuthorRachel Rose, Joyful Mama Archives
July 2018
 
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