Shopping

I was at Winners yesterday checking out the cups and saucers.  I'm getting tired of our same old (amazing) Denby set and came across the funniest mug EVER!  I actually burst out laughing and the guy beside me quickly went down the next aisle.  It said "I'm worried there is no PMS and this is just my personality."  Funny because it's true.

Meal Plan for week of March 28th

Monday:   Beef barley soup with grilled cheese & salad

Tuesday:  Maple-glazed Salmon with quinoa and zucchini

Wednesday:  Red beans with coconut rice and cucumber salad

Thursday:  Tortellini with cream sauce and carrot salad

Friday:  Meatloaf with baked potatoes

Saturday:  undecided

Sunday: out

Food Creations

Chocolate chip muffins or how to keep a sick kid entertained

Yum

The joy of a chocolatey muffin

Sweet potato fries with Celtic Sea Salt

Salmon Burger with homemade tartar sauce

 I made homemade tartar sauce and homemade chipotle mayo for the fries.  I think Hubby was eating the chipotle mayo with a spoon!  It was that good.  Little D had two bites of the burger, but Mr. T down right refused.  He ate a lot of fries and had his bun with honey.  We made allowances because he is sick.

Potato-Leek soup

 I tried a new recipe for the soup from the Milk Calendar (http://www.dairygoodness.ca/milk/my-milk-calendar/recipes/classic-potato-leek-soup)  Both boys had three servings of this soup.  It tasted very rich but was quite light and I used more leeks than potatoes, so it tasted more silky.

Roasted beet salad

 Another first time recipe.  I picked up some beautiful golden and candy striped beets and thought this might be a nice way to showcase their lovely interior.  They were so tasty with the goat cheese and honey-mustard dressing!  The kids tried the beets separate from the salad and ate one whole piece each!  We are well on our way!  I have been encouraging them to try the salads and they have been taking little nibbles of the spinach, but they refuse to try the dressing, so far.  Hope springs eternal!

Spaghetti with meatballs

Buttermilk berry muffins

 I cannot tell you how great these turned out!  So moist and sweet.  It was a new recipe that I found online (http://www.joyofbaking.com/muffins/ButtermilkBerryMuffins.html).  I had a bit of buttermilk left from making waffles and wanted to use it up.  The boys had three muffins each!  I froze some to have for school snacks because the recipe made 18 instead of 12 muffins, which is great.  I think I make my muffins a bit smaller because the boys haven't been finishing the whole muffin in the past.  No need to worry about that with these!  I used frozen berries and they just rocked!

I had to keep Mr. T home most of the week because he had bronchitis.  He was very lonely without his big brother.  To entertain him, we baked and did crafts.  It's funny how the boys fight all the time, but miss each other when they are alone.  On the weekend we had Lego fun.  I noticed the boys collected all the Lego figurines and decapitated them.  Later, they explained to me that they were all "sleeping" and that's why their pants were lined up by the wall.  Kids!

Lego massacre (all the heads are lined up)

All the legs are lined up

Nudists R US

The boys, instead of getting dressed this morning, had a quiet reading session in our bed.  They are really enjoying their TAG readers.  Hey, anything to get them interested in reading. 

A quiet moment

Strawberries

Spinach and strawberry salad

Strawberry-banana smoothie

Strawberries are not in season here, and we are counting down the weeks...  Last year, we went to Andrews' Scenic Acres twice and picked and ate to our hearts' content.  We made jam, pie and crumble.  But for some reason, the strawberries have been crazy cheap these past few weeks.  So, we have been creative with them and enjoying them quite a lot.  Thought, in reality, they do not compare to the warm, sun-ripe ones here in Sunny Ontario, they'll do just fine.  We made salad and smoothies.  I'm a bit sneaky with smoothies lately.  I add flaxseed oil, wheat germ and almond butter.  The boys don't notice and it boosts the nutitional value quite a bit, plus the oil makes them taste smoother.  Yum.  We made some this morning.

Meal Plan for March 21st

Monday:  Beef Stew with buns and a spinach salad

Tuesday:  Sweet potato fries with salmon burgers

Wednesday: Potato-leek soup with grilled cheese

Thursday:  Pasta with tomato sauce and salad

Friday:  Nachos with cheese and chili

Saturday:  open

Sunday:  open

I haven't decided what to have for dinner next weeked because our plans are still up in the air.  Also, Hubby offered to take care of the Saturday meal, so I await with bated breath.  We're going to try to eat a little lighter this week and focus a bit more of fish and veggies.  I hope we can manage.  Spring is in the air!  I hope to post some nice pictures.  My cooking is tasty, but I know that I have to work on presentation and how to capture it on camera.  Live and learn.

March Break 2011

March Break came and went.  The boys had a half-day multi-sport camp in Oakville.  They enjoyed it and it was a bit of a change for me too, because it was in the mornings.  The house felt very lonely without them.  It was a bit of a preview of how different it will be next year when Little D will be in school for a full day. 

We spent a lot of time riding bikes around the street.  They had a lot of fun.  It would have been a great March Break, if Mr. T had not come down with bronchitis.  So instead of having our cousins over for dinner, we spend the weekend at home sick...  He has to stay home from school for a few days.  Poor little guy has a high fever and is feeling lethargic, watching TV and napping.  Here is hoping that Spring will bring us some more sunny and healthy days!

Going around the block

Food Creations

St. Patty's Day Beef Stew and a Kilkenny

Pot of Stew

Tuna Cassarole

Change of plans

One thing I have learned since having kids is that no plans are written in stone.  Sometimes you have to go with the flow, especially when someone tries to make your life easier.  Case in point, my mom shows up at my doorstep with some fresh, homemade cabbage rolls.  No need to cook that night ! My mom's golabki are the best! All I had to do was make some tomato sauce and dinner was served!  The boys ate the inside and left the cabbage, but that is a good start anyways.  They didn't spit any cabbage out when they got some on their fork.  Baby steps...

After a quick visit to the local dollar store we did crafts all afternoon.  We picked up some bird feeders for a song!  The boys  painted and decorated them.  As soon as they dried, we filled them with seeds and now, the local birds (and squirrels) are enjoying them.  It was fun to see how focused the boys were able to get to complete their craft.  We've already spotted cardinals, a wood pecker and chickadees (and a red squirrel).

Focused

Ready for those birdies

The next day, the boys decided to decorate a scrap piece of kraft paper from a picture we had delivered.  It kept them busy for a few hours and now it is a race track for their Hot Wheels in the basement!  It is true what they say about kids enjoying the box or wrapping more than the actual gift!

Monday

Garlic-butter shrimp

Mushroom Risotto

A tasty meal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meal Plan for week of March 14th

Mon.:  Garlic-butter Shrimp with mushroom risotto and peas with apple pie (Pie day!)

Tues.:  Tuna casserole with salad

Wed.:  Turkey Pot pie with veggies

Thurs.:  Beef Stew with salad (St Patrick's Day & swimming!)

Fri.:  Maple-glazed salmon with quinoa and corn

Sat.:  Penne ala vodka with a salad and bagette (company is coming!)

Sun:  Steak and baked potato with roasted beets

Looks like it's going to be a tasty week!  I've also had to plan out this week's lunches because the kids are in camp in the morning and are starving when we get home.  The house felt very empty this morning...

March Break Ready!

Wii Mario Kart

This weekend marks the beginning of March Break!  To ease them in, Hubby is having a game of Wii Mario Kart.  Little D is winning most of the races, but is a very sore loser.  We have to keep reminding him that it's not about winning but about having fun.  Mr. T tends to play just one game and wants to move on to something else.  He has the attention span of a four year old!

Today, we headed out to the movies to see Rango.  I was a bit apprehensive because the running time for the movie was 1 hour 45 and that is a long time for little kids to sit quietly.  They had a bit of a hard time using their indoor voices, but they behaved very well and it was a real joy to go out as a family.  After, we decided to go out to dinner at Jack Astor's and their good behaviour continued after we coxed them to sit at the table with some lillipops.  It is not below me to bribe them.

Tomorrow,  the boys start a half-day camp at Dash Sports and we are all exited about it.  I will post my meal plan on Monday but I know that tomorrow's dinner will be shrimp with risotto!  Joy!

Spring Cleaning

The theory is that if I start spring cleaning, spring will come!  Yesterday, the spirit moved me and I did a super thorough cleaning of the kids rooms.  I even cleaned their teddies and wiped down all the books and most of the walls.  The biggest and grossest task was cleaning out the heating vents!  Holy cow!  No wonder we all have running noses- they were filthy!  There is still snow outside but we are gearing up to start some seeds indoors during March break!  It will be a fun week ahead.

Wednesday!

Beef burger with caramelized onions and blue cheese

This was a big hit with the hubby.  I used the Jamie Oliver recipe from the Food Revolution cookbook.  He makes four big burgers out of the mix but I make eight smaller ones so that the kids are more likely to eat them.  I freeze half for later and  they taste just as good.  The recipe is available on line here:    
http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/a-cracking-burger?clicked_from_search_results=true&query=burger

Fat Tuesday!

Buttermilk Pancakes

Old-fashioned bacon

Little D, my older son, took these pictures when I was getting the fruit salad ready!  Anything with maple syrup is a hit with our family!

Busy week!

Macaroni and Cheese with Honey-Glazed Carrots

It's been a busy week here in rainy and snowy Mississauga.  I've managed to stay on track with the meal plan all week.  On Friday we decided to treat ourselves and headed out to our favourite pub for wings.  Monday was Mac n Cheese with honey glazed carrots!

Meal Plan for week of March 7th

Monday:  Baked Macaroni & Cheese with honey-glazed carrots
(Skating & Beavers)

Tuesday:  Pancakes with fruit salad
(Library & Shrove Tuesday)

Wednesday: Burgers on a bun with veggies and dip

Thursday:  Slow-cooker Pork Loin with maple baked beans.
(Swimming)

Friday:  Garlic-butter shrimp with risotto and salad

Saturday:  Steak and Potatoes with peas

Sunday: Turkey pot pie with salad

Extras:  Chocolate chip cookies & Buttermilk Banana bread

This is the goal for this week.  It's going to be a busy week, but we're really going to try to stay on track.  Fingers crossed.

Weekend

The weekend is here and we are all sick, again.  I spent most of the day cleaning up because I've been sick all week and let all the housework slide.  And we were expecting company, but it fell through at the last minute.  Oh well, at least the house is clean...  The boys acutally cleaned up the basement and were very helpful.  It takes a lot of nagging and pleading, but once the right reward is dangled in front of them, they are cooperative.  Thank goodness for the Wii!

Granola!

Mr. T doesn't like oatmeal, but the other day I saw him eat it raw, before I stirred in the milk.  So I decided to try making granola.  So easy and fun to make with the kids.  They enjoyed stirring it together.  And it came out so great!  A keeper for sure!

Swimming Thursday!

This past weekend my kids decided they liked swimming!  Finally!
In light of their enthusiasm, I took them to fun swim for the first time.  Thinking that they wouldn't last too long, I hadn't planned dinner and figured we would be home in time to cook and eat dinner before Dad came home.  But would you believe it!  We stayed the entire hour and a half!  And when we got home we decided to go to Five Guys Burgers and Fries!  Big mistake!  They fry their potatoes in peanut oil and Mr. T has a peanut allergy...  We figured this out before we ordered, thankfully.  But it meant a mad rush to get something to eat and we caved in and had McDonald's.  The first time in six months!  I'm very disappointed with myself because we did something so healthy followed by the unhealthiest food available!  Better luck tomorrow!