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