Noodles and soup for the tummy beast

     Tonight we had the pasta with carrot walnut sauce (see last post for recipe) and it was very good even without using the freshly roasted garlic. I had roasted garlic on hand which made prep much quicker. I added chopped fresh parsley and a bit of freshly grated parmesan cheese to mine. My foodie friend Barb was visiting and she liked it. It is an excellent meal for vegetarian children because the healthy components are not very visible. It looks like a big bowl of noodles. The tastes are subtle, nothing to overpower little taste buds. Really worth a try.
     Other than that I have been working so hard this week I haven't been doing a lot of cooking from scratch. A few nights ago my 13 year old daughter and I did have another go at making miso soup. We are still perfecting our recipe and wont post it til we get it just right (there are plenty of versions on the web) but we got quite a bit closer with this second version. The first time we used dark instead of white miso and neither of us liked the result. You can see the color difference in the following photos, and there is a taste difference also. The dark is much stronger in flavor. Here are some photos of her efforts so far. You'll remember, because this is one of her favorite vegetarian dishes, that I want to teach her to whip it up for herself whenever she wants it.

     Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? Something else that I believe adults should share with the children in their lives. Here is a poem that children will enjoy, for you to share with your little loved ones. They might also enjoy drawing the tummy beast and what he wants to eat after you have read it together.

The Tummy Beast by Roald Dahl
One afternoon I said to mummy,
“Who is this person in my tummy?
“Who must be small and very thin
“Or how could he have gotten in?”
My mother said from where she sat,
“It isn’t nice to talk like that.”
“It’s true!” I cried. “I swear it, mummy!
“There is a person in my tummy!
“He talks to me at night in bed,
“He’s always asking to be fed,
“Throughout the day, he screams at me,
“Demanding sugar buns for tea.
“He tells me it is not a sin
“To go and raid the biscuit tin.
“I know quite well it’s awfully wrong
“To guzzle food the whole day long,
“But really I can’t help it, mummy,
“Not with this person in my tummy.”
“You horrid child!” my mother cried.
“Admit it right away, you’ve lied!”
“You’re simply trying to produce
“A silly asinine excuse!
“You are the greedy guzzling brat!
“And that is why you’re always fat!”
I tried once more, “Believe me, mummy,
“There is a person in my tummy.”
“I’ve had enough!” my mother said,
“You’d better go at once to bed!”
Just then, a nicely timed event
Delivered me from punishment.
Deep in my tummy something stirred,
And then an awful noise was heard,
A snorting grumbling grunting sound
That made my tummy jump around.
My darling mother nearly died,
“My goodness, what was that?” she cried.
At once the tummy voice came through,
It shouted, “Hey there! Listen you!
“I’m getting hungry! I want eats!
“I want lots of chocs and sweets!
“Get me half a pound of nuts!
“Look snappy or I’ll twist your guts!”
“That’s him!” I cried. “He’s in my tummy!
“So now do you believe me, mummy?”
But mummy answered nothing more,
For she had fainted on the floor.

Source: Dirty Beasts (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2001)