smallstrongstubbyhands

little boy, big day

2011-09-09T13:15:00.001-04:00

and so a new day begins

just a simple, beautiful september afternoon

with me and my boys

out for a walk

change is here

apparently i wasn't ready for it

my eyes stinging from the flood of tears

that raged out

left my eyes a bright aqua colour

highlighted by once-white, now red surroundings

damn betrayal of tears

and callum

strong and brave and 4

anxiously clutching his hands

on a warm and sunny almost-fall afternoon

---are you cold?

"i'm okay, mommy"

and he sat

and assessed the situation

and every so often would smile back a nervous smile

my way

at the fence that separated the parents from the kindergarteners

i fought off the emotion

i didn't know it would all bubble up

strong

yes

take pictures

keep it together

sing a song with everett

and that worked until they filed neatly in a line

sang the song with mme robin

and left us at the other side of the fence

as he walked into something new

but older

and then i was done

30 day photography challenge

2011-06-17T11:27:00.000-04:00

i like a good challenge, and one that makes me think of reframing ordinary, every day moments...even better

so, a group of mamas that i discuss every possible aspect of life with, well one of them posted a 30 day photography challenge - and i have joined in. so posting the pics in a few installments as 30 posts might be a little overwhelming - but a week's worth is all good.

this is the challenge - http://whitepeachphoto.com/2011/05/25/photography_challenge/

days 1 - 7

-- first the pics, then my awkward attempts to explain the why behind the pics...

self portrait

what you wore today

clouds

something green

from a low angle

from a high angle

fruit

why...
self portrait

- i work with my hands - so part of my self portrait
a bit cheesy as i hate being in photos

what i wore today

- was at the spa - the hydrotherapy pools so not much

day 3 - clouds

- got it at 815am before the clouds starting burning off - it's very sunny now, but had to decrease the contrast on this, but no other editing really needed

day 4
something green

- maybe not exactly what was intended, but early morning in the yard...

day 5 - from a high angle

(callum's legs dangling off our 2nd floor deck

day 6 - from a low angle

day 7 - fruit

- i bought mangoes and asian pears at one of the grocery stores about 30m away from our house here in chinatown. used my cheap p+s as i don't find fruit exciting enough to shoot manually

i thank, and am thankful for, my friends

2011-06-09T22:41:00.000-04:00

i had been feeling a bit like a solo act
on the outside
fringes of friendships

and then you all came here
and brought life and love into the spaces of my life here that can't be filled by husbands and children
unoccupied spaces
i've felt so far away
and that has changed

i am grateful for growing older
for knowing the value of these long friendships
not wrinkled by time
but fresh and alive and joyful
and each stage in this life and the moments i've shared with all of you
are so rich
and i thank you friends

i walk by these places we've now shared
and these places that were distant and far and hours away
and you've filled them up
i walk by ben ben
and i smile
the rejected fortune
a second more fitting one
the lone egg roll
and now you are all on my walk home from work

i can sit down on my beaten, child-worn couch and stretch out with a glass of wine
and remember how our talks brought the sunrise
a night of chat, wine and bringing in a new day together
i can't remember the last time i chose to stay up all night and greet the dawn with a red-wine-stained smile

all these simple, valuable moments - too many to put into words but tucked gently into memory
i thank you
i am thankful
and you have given me more home
by being here to share it :)

i love my 40yr old friends.
and this is my love letter to cherishing long friendships that continue to evolve and grow with truly amazing, strong, and fantastically beautiful women

i thank these hands

2011-05-29T23:51:00.000-04:00

i used to curse them...
the stubby fingers, deeply lined palms, thick knuckles
i thought they were ugly
these hands
silly with rings adorning the fat fingers
unfeminine, boyish, child-like, tiny

and then
i fell in love with my hands
small but strong
forceful and gentle
feeling

i can hover over skin and fascia and muscles and feel them
even before i move deeper
my little investigator hands that feel heat and energy and break adhesions and provide relief and facilitate healing
i realized - realize every day - with gratitude
how blessed i am to have these small, strong, stubby hands
where energy and strength travel over a short distance in the briefest amount of time
and feel
feel it all
and i am amazed, blessed, thankful
these hands i thought ugly
are unexpected gifts

useful
communicate, clean, move

loving
touch, embrace

healing

strong
and i thank my hands
after every treatment i draw them together and feel their sympathetic and wise energy
and i am grateful that they provide
they know
have purpose
i thank them for guiding me
for making good intentions real
facilitating health
restoring
blessed

and now
my chubby little hands are beautiful
their range humbles me
i am thankful
and i remember to thank them
for providing me with my life's work
two small strong stubby hands at a time

leftovers casserole - chicken

2011-05-25T09:02:00.000-04:00

it was a bit of a bbq kind of week and as often occurs, we bbq more than we can physically eat.
ah leftovers
once bbq-ed chicken just isn't the same re-heated which means time for a re-invent (a lot of hyphens going on around here)

my kitchen is often not supplied with all the ideal ingredients to make a gourmet remake of leftovers. so this is another make-do-with-what's-in-stock...

2 leftover cooked chicken breasts pulled into small pieces
2 sweet potatoes sliced
1 can tomato soup (condensed)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp mexican chili spice
1 medium sized cooking onion chopped
1/2 packet taco mix
cheese if you please on top (i just added a bit at the end, after cooking)

- i spray with cooking spray then layer

- mixed the soup, garlic, mex spice, and taco mix together then added on top of the sweet potato, onion, chicken

- have a nice 350 oven for a slow bake around 40min

the boys both ate this. so did dh and me. pretty simple flavours but good simple flavours - and moister than a reheated chicken breast would have been

from instant to pho

2011-05-24T11:12:00.000-04:00

i took an unexpected break from the blog
back with one less job (i quit), and no additional free time (upped the hours in the work i LOVE)

so...on those days when i have no time to conjure up a feast for myself, i try to improve something in an instant.

in the case of instant soups, i buy them in chinatown. i buy rice noodle versions, and a bit of chili paste, and whatever leftover meat to make it into a pho-style soup (i try to have bean sprouts on hand, but didn't this time.

so for this version, i had a chicken/rice noodle instant soup, added 1/2tsp of red chili paste and 1/2 leftover chicken breast from the bbq, sliced thinly. prepped the soup (boiled water...tough, eh?!), added chicken slices and done

tasty, easy and pho-like

it's turning into a ground chicken kind of week

2011-03-22T23:28:00.000-04:00

...shopping the specials and eating the specials.

so - extra lean ground chicken was on special last week and i stocked up...over 10lbs worth. i don't have a deep freezer, the packages with their ground contents needed to meet other ingredients.

so far this week i have made:

my chili, but replaced ground beef with ground chicken
my pad thai and replaced SHRIMP with ground chicken - this turned out...really well - am still kind of surprised. i did add 2 extra tbsp of fish sauce and i had run out of peanut pieces so smashed up some unsalted cashews instead (delish!)
my pseudo-shepherds pie

3 for 3 - a good week and a heckuva lot of protein to usher in spring.

irish person of the year - write up

2011-03-09T16:25:00.000-05:00

this is the short, abbreviated version of the many things that led to my mom being awarded the irish person of the year (click on the pages below to make them bigger)

and a link to the photos http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=637817&id=766555721&saved#!/album.php?aid=637817&id=766555721&fbid=10150433140185722

mom's letters for irish person of the year

2011-03-09T16:13:00.001-05:00

am veering away from the typical use of this space and am using the blog to post some of the letters my mom received as irish person of the year. clicking on the letter individually will make it slightly larger...

mexican week - version 2

2011-02-28T08:38:00.001-05:00

last days in pvr

we recently returned from a fabulous 2 weeks in puerto vallarta - so this week was mexican-inspired. with snow falling outside, couldn't seem farther away...
breakfast
yoghurt
fruit
banana muffins

snacks
rice cake nachos - just rice cakes topped with salsa, and a bit of cheese
pico de gallo
black bean dip

meals
- red peppers stuffed with chili and rice - pre cooked the peppers at 350 for 15 min to soften them up then stuffed with chili and rice and topped with a bit of cheese
- fish and salad - simple - pan fried haddock in garlic and chicken broth
- arepas with shrimp and beans - used masa harina to make the arepas
- rice and bean casserole - there was enough of the leftover shrimp and bean mix to make into a casserole with 2 cups of cooked rice
- mexican rice with fish (subbed fish for shrimp/chorizo)

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

arepas with shrimp and beans

2011-02-28T08:25:00.000-05:00

i made arepas with masa harina and pressed them until they were like a pancake's thickness.

then for the topping
1 can white kidney beans drained, rinsed and pureed
1 c salad shrimp (just a bit over - 280g - 9oz
1 can tomato sauce
1 tbsp each of minced garlic, cumin and mexican chili spice
2tbsp taco seasoning mix
.5c water
.5c cilantro loose leaf

- just put all of the ingredients in the wok and blended and heated over medium heat until ready.

this was tasty and easy. we liked it enough to use the leftovers in a quick casserole ( basically just added rice and a bit of cheese, and a few quesadillas for the boys.

banana muffins - gluten free

2011-02-23T16:16:00.001-05:00

should have taken another picture - lol

gluten free and more on the muffin side...
1c fat free sour cream
3 mashed bananas
2 eggs
3/4c demerara sugar
dash of cinnamon
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1.5tsp baking soda
1/4c butter melted
4c flour (sorghum/rice flour mix

bake at 325 - 20 to 30min depending on your oven

these are decent but not overly sweet - another 1/4c sugar and banana would have made these much sweeter, but i like them a little less sweet especially since i have an almost 4yr old and 17mth old munching on these as well

black bean dip

2011-02-23T01:55:00.000-05:00

ok
so i am trying to be better with my snacking
ban the doritos
make some lighter, healthier and more nutrition-rich dips
i've been feeling sluggish, and still have the demands of nursing a toddler wearing on my poor ol' body

so in an effort to clean it up...black bean dip (snacking on it with cucumber slices and rice cakes right now

1 can drained/rinsed black beans (mine said 19oz - 598ml
1/2c salsa (only had mild on hand so had to add some spice
1/2c fat free sour cream
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp cumin
1 - 1.5 tsp mexican chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup loose cilantro
1 spring onion chopped
- took the hand blender and blended it down

yum - yes, very descriptive. i love love love cilantro, so i love having it fill up the flavour of this. could use a bit less
love black beans too - so versatile (have "hid" them in brownies and other treats to make them more nutritious

tasty enough to be ok with my ban on doritos and ketchup chips...but addictive in its own way too.

today on the deck

2011-02-18T17:56:00.000-05:00

was supposed to be hard at work online today for my travel writing job

but then...i got distracted...mid february and snow melting
the incessant dripping sounds of snow melting
the beaming sun firmly reminding me of this one day only this month sensation
so
i surrendered
blended up some frozen strawberries, bananas, agave nectar, lime juice, water...and cheap mexican rum (whose only place is in a girly drink)
and this was the state of my work affairs...

...and just taking in the view of the snow-covered river and hills from my little part of the world...

gluten free muffin base

2011-01-20T19:27:00.000-05:00

so i think i have my muffin mix down pat at this point. you can change up the ingredients but i've had a half dozen perfect batches in a row so seems like that makes for a solid recipe

remember, i am no baker, i never professed to be, so what may be simple to other cooks is a triumph for me.

my gluten free muffin base

3.5c of flour - i use equal amounts of sorghum and rice flour
1.5tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
1tsp vanilla extract
dash of cinnamon
1/3c butter or margarine (both work - have tried) melted
1 egg
2/3c demerara sugar - more if no other sweet ingredients (i use bananas and berries a lot so 2/3 has become the standard)
3tbsp coconut milk, a bit more if not using fruit

i use a mixer for all - i don't have a specific order all the time but i do usually do wet ingredients, then sugar, then add the rest.

325 oven for about 20min

makes 12-15 muffins when adding other ingredients like apples (or applesauce but then cut out coconut milk), strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or my fave 2.5-3 really ripe bananas all mashed up.

if you can tolerate oats, i found i can also sub out .5c flour for oats instead.

mmm - made some muffins tonight with 2.5 ripe mashed bananas and 1/4 c blueberries that i mashed up too

chinatown finds - treats and treat wannabe-s

2011-01-17T11:42:00.000-05:00

it's always a bit of a culinary adventure, just a few steps out my front door...
living in chinatown, with little italy just a few city blocks away, i am spoiled for choice.
...but living as gluten-free as possible the gift is chinatown
each discovery is like a little gift of heartburn free, bloat free, tastes.

i go to little italy for proscuitto and olives
divine coffee
decadent gelato
and to stare into the semolina-laced temptations - pasta...abundant
the wheat-dreamy breads
the pizza - luring as the aromas are set loose as the pie is scooped out of a dry, hot pizza oven
sigh

but then there is chinatown
with the foreign script
and the rice dreams
and i can shop and venture out of my comfort zone
and test myself and learn and create every week

and in terms of a few treats...
recent discoveries...

cookies from the top of the post

a name is just a bunch of letters...

2011-01-16T23:12:00.000-05:00

so my 3.5yr old, my blond-haired, grey-blue eyed boy surprised me the other day.

normally, he knows how to spell his name...starts with a c, is a half dozen letters long.

one morning he says... mommy look...i spelled my name...

hmmm
maybe this would explain his penchant for pho - or any soup with asian noodles
his love of things just that extra bit spicy
his fascination with chopsticks
the way he can scarf down shrimp in black bean sauce
or noodles done in cilantro and a fish sauce base.

or maybe (and likely, i suppose)
it's just an incredibly odd coincidence
or the influence of living in chinatown.

another tour of asia week (well... mostly)

2011-01-10T01:41:00.000-05:00

gluten free banana bread muffins

i love travelling through asia. there are many places i love. rich experiences. but if i had to choose my top 3 places in asia...well, that's easy for me...

1. chiang mai - northern thailand - i studied here, i travelled here, i learned enough basics to buy things and count and order off a menu and say please and thank you. kop kuhn ka, chiang mai - far in distance, but near in thoughts.
2. hong kong - love hong kong. love the dirt and the smells and the chaos and the tai chi and the ferry rides and kowloon and lantau island and the gold coast. so much love can only be expressed in a run-on sentence, and there is so much substance to the place...more than i can write in that same long sentence.
3. yangshuo, china. so relaxed, such an expected rest stop in a country that is challenging to travel - from west peace (xi'an) to a 30hr train ride to yangshuo, surrounded by karst hills - my peace.

and now food, photos and recipes...

featured snack - banana bread muffins - gluten free (but could be made with regular flour
1.5c demerara sugar (or brown sugar
6tbsp butter
--- cream these
1 egg
3 mashed bananas
dash of cinnamon
1c sour cream (i used fat free
1 tsp vanilla extract
dash of salt
1.5tsp baking soda
1c rice flour
1.25c sorghum flour
3/4c oats (optional
---all of these mixed until fairly smooth
---300 oven for about 45min
makes about 18 muffins
(i added a few dark chocolate chips on top of each to make it look more treat like for the boys
---seriously yum and lots of great flavour and texture especially considering it is gluten free.

breakfast
omelette- cheese
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
cantaloupe
blackberries
blueberries
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads

suppers

coconut/tomato curry chicken with rice - i did this in the slow cooker this time, and didn't change a thing and it turned out great.

chicken nuggets with peanut sauce in lettuce (for the boys
non asian - butternut squash soup and gluten free bread from the market

some asian herbs - grass like blade on right is culantro

squid, green peppers, and baby bok choy with rice noodles in black bean sauce
1/4c water / black bean sauce / squeeze of hoisin sauce / 2 tbsp rice vinegar / 2/3 lb squid / 3c baby bok choy / 1 green pepper chopped / 2 spring onions chopped / 1tsp minced garlic / 2 tbsp turbinado sugar / 1c bean sprouts / 3tbsp chopped culantro (vietnamese looks like a thick blade of grass - can use a bit more cilantro instead
- quickly whip up in the wok or a pan
- quick, easy and tasty - reheats pretty well for squid
chili and rice

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

this does get easier...supposedly

2011-01-04T15:23:00.000-05:00

...but am not entirely convinced.

i am sitting here a bit numb, and teary-eyed. my baby boy is at the dayhome for the first time. and i feel numb. the 3.5yr old is an old pro at it, there were even times (when i was on strict bedrest and after recovering from the birth of my 2nd) where he went full time.

i started my family in my mid-30s - i had gotten to a point in my career and travel (50 or so countries) where if it was all taken away, i would adjust. so it seemed the right time. i know the drawbacks of being an older parent, but the great thing was sculpting a satisfying work life that seemed compatible with having a family.

seemed
seems

i seem to be wavering on this - back and forth. it is only part time care (and paying through the nose for it so the boys can be together with someone who shares similar parenting perspectives) - 15hrs a week...and still i am feeling numb, guilty, sad, relieved, tired, stressed, anxious. ugh

2 of my jobs are very flexible and i can sacrifice a bit of sleep for them to work at home when my husband is home from his regularly-scheduled job.

it's the 3rd one that is complicated. it's not just the job it's the benefits - unlimited travel, discounts on other airlines, travel...and the history (although i am part time now there, it was my first job out of university - it sustained me financially when i went back to school for the years that it took to become a registered massage therapist...the work i am truly passionate about...it gave me freedom to travel, to not just dream about seeing places, but going...experiencing.

as of march, it will be 16yrs there. so leaving is harder than just quitting. i keep hoping that the company will ask for volunteers to go - offer a few passes for time served, shuffle us away.

strangely - i want that! that now seems like freedom. freedom to travel AND have more time to do the work i love AND maybe even fewer hours of childcare.

i don't want this to be like a bad break-up. where you walk away with nothing but what ifs. the work is okay, i like the people more than the job, and my history with the work makes it harder to separate. but i think today showed me it is harder to separate from my boys

i will try and wait
the contract is supposed to end in early spring
hopefully i will get the handshake i am looking for and we can still be friends

i just don't know

as i walked home (15min)
stroller-less in a bundling-up kind of winter day
i let the tears flow
the uncertainty of how i felt about this decision
going through the moments
handing over my snowsuited sleeping baby
into capable arms
but paid ones

i stopped and bought some ketchup chips
and a pack of stickers
one to get me to numb
the other to alleviate the sadness of walking home without them

so i am eating the chips
all 150g of them (5oz for you imperial-ists - doesn't seem so bad)
and will let the fried potatoes, the msg, the fake flavouring take me to numb
as i prep to go to my now inflexible job that will compete with the others for my time
that will compete with my children for my time.

i may need to buy another bag of chips...

2010/2011 week

2011-01-03T03:19:00.001-05:00

i did take christmas week off from meal planning - well sort of.
it was a short week at home
a long drive to my parents
and quick visits - too quick
so little time for some of the most important people in my life...sigh

also, the week got a bit complicated
the tummy bug turned the home part into an all soup kind of week
little down, much up
good times

so this past week was clearly an improvement. used up the last of the freezer stash from 2010, and threw together a few recipes to round out the week.

happy new year! a photo reflection of 1/1/11 to come.

now onto pics and recipes...

new year's eve snacks
champagne and snacks including potatoes done 2 ways

breakfast
cereal with soy/rice milk
yoghurt and fruit
eggs with pesto, salsa and cheese

snacks/lunch
cherries
canteloupe
rice cakes with hummus
apples
bananas
pears
gluten free crackers with hummus
veggies and dip
sour cream and onion chips
frozen yoghurt with kit kat pieces

suppers
- chili over rice - mashed down a bit for the boys - i think we are finally done with the freezer stash on this one
- leftover tomato coconut curry
- fish in phyllo with pico de gallo topping (i went without the phyllo for me gluten free - made a rub out of mexican chili spice, garlic powder, cumin and turmeric)
- potatoes in spaghetti sauce
- pizza quesadillas - i had spaghetti sauce and rice pasta
- butternut squash soup with gluten free biscuits

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

potatoes done 2 ways

2011-01-03T02:41:00.000-05:00

i had a few potatoes and a hankering for some snack-y food for the midnight hour. this is how 2 recipes were born...

4 mid sized white potatoes (baked, cut in half and scooped out)
1 tbsp chopped jalapenos (i like spicy - could omit)
1/4 c sour cream
1tsp taco mix
a few tbsp of shredded nacho mix cheese

- i sprayed the potato skins with a bit of oil and baked them again for about 15min in a 350 toaster oven
- mashed the potatoes with the sour cream and taco mix - actually ended up using a mixer

- used about 2/3 of the mix for recipe one
- added cheese and jalapenos to bottom of potato shells, then mashed mix, then cheese and jalapeno on top
- 350 again for about 15min
...these were tasty and easy to eat

for the second recipe no jalapenos and 1 tbsp of parmesan cheese instead of shredded
- i used the rest of the mix, blended with parmesan and fried them like little pancakes

- yum!

...and the midnight snacks...

easy supper for the boys - pizza quesadillas

2011-01-03T02:01:00.000-05:00

just using up some spaghetti sauce - the homemade sauce but without any meat in it.

a few whole wheat tortillas
a few dashes of parmesan cheese
and some grated cheddar

oil in the pan and fried up crispy brown.

i had the spaghetti sauce over rice pasta - the boys weren't interested.

new year's resolutions i intend to keep

2011-01-01T22:40:00.000-05:00

i suppose i should preface this post by stating that i found my ideas for my new year's resolutions in a newspaper article. but the ideas struck a chord that resonated strongly for me. so here they are (with the hopes of them evolving into new years' resolutions for years to come...

1. do 5 random acts of kindness in a day - choose 1 day of the week and intentionally do 5 nice things for people i know/strangers. the rationale is that when this is done with the clear intention of doing so - whether it be holding a door open for someone, buying a coffee for one of the homeless people i may pass on the street...thinking and acting on it has positive and lasting effects for me as well.

2. write a letter of compassion to myself at least once every few weeks. i tend toward being self critical and unforgiving of myself, and the idea of this is to show the compassion i would for a friend - to be a friend to myself as those who tend to be self critical also tend to be more vulnerable to depression.

and these are promises i intend to keep.

may 2011 be filled with promise and blessings for all.

twas the week before christmas (week)...

2010-12-20T03:25:00.000-05:00

...and all through my kitchen, a mama who didn't feel like blogging all week was scouring through the freezer, looking at leftovers with hopes of reinventing them into totally new meals to use up before heading out of town for christmas.

i just like the idea of using up those freezer leftovers, and the produce before we bundle up, pack up, and head down to my parents' place for a quick few days over christmas.

so mostly leftovers, and items from the last big grocery shop 2wks ago...

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...and some on here - adding pics as they differ from the links...(yeah that didn't make much sense, but here is the food...

breakfast
omelette- cheese and pesto
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
breakfast muffins/cakes

snacks/lunch
watermelon
canteloupe
rice cakes with hummus
apples
bananas
pears
gluten free crackers with hummus
veggies and dip
doritos - cheeseburger flavour
salads

suppers
- for the bubs - another rice variation - a few tbsp pasta sauce, tsp curry powder, tsp of cumin (started with one cup of uncooked basmati rice)
- chili over rice - another week with chili from the freezer (mashed down a bit for the boys
- acorn squash and potato soup (this lasted for several meals for all 4 of us - except i subbed with a butternut squash and added 3 sweet potatoes - so adjusted some of the spices for the additions
- supper at our friends - soup and salad

- slow cooker beef leftovers and leftover peanut sauce and added rice noodles and cilantro and a bit of soy sauce

- same slow cooker beef leftovers and made a quick fried rice with 3c cooked basmati rice, 3tbsp each of soy sauce, fish sauce, chopped green onions, cilantro and a tablespoon of sugar.
- leftover tomato coconut curry

- yellow bell peppers stuffed with chili over rice - and added layers of shredded cheese and jalapeno slices quick and easy chili rellenos in a 375 oven for about 20mins.

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

soup and rice week

2010-12-13T03:58:00.000-05:00

easy and delicious - one pre-made sheet of butter puff pastry, 2 ripe pears and one apple peeled and sliced fairly thin, 1 tsp sugar, .5tsp cinnamon, 1tbsp lemon juice --- preheat oven to 375 --- in a bowl, toss pear, apple, lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon --- place mixture in centre of puff pastry, leaving about an inch free all around so that you can now pull up the sides and make it kind of like a packet with a slight opening --- a little bit of cooking spray on the cookie sheet and a bit on top then into the oven for about 20min and done!

it ended out being a very soup and rice filled week. hmmm, stick to your gut and hearty, wholesome, slurp-worthy food - yep christmas is coming...
- not an exclusively gluten-free week (for me...mostly yes, but i did have a few bites of a pear apple galette i made - and had the heartburn and bloating to prove it).
my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- cheese and more cheese
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
breakfast muffins/cakes

snacks/lunch
breakfast muffins/cakes
canteloupe
rice cakes with hummus
apples
bananas
pears
gluten free crackers with hummus
veggies and dip
leftovers - one of the scores from the freezer was finding some sancocho (fish stew) that i forgot i had frozen
salads
apple-pear galette (see the top of the post)
suppers
phyllo nights - leftovers from last week - phyllo for everyone...but me
for the bubs - rice with carrots-peas
for the bubs - another rice variation - a few tbsp pasta sauce, tsp curry powder, tsp of cumin (started with one cup of uncooked basmati rice)
chili over rice
acorn squash and potato soup \(this lasted for several meals for all 4 of us)
christmas party for dh's work - kids included - we brought a big salad for the buffet of food going on

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

potato squash soup - with an asian spin

2010-12-13T03:42:00.000-05:00

will have to add a photo later for this simple - simply delicious really - soup

ingredients
6 white potatoes - boiled, peeled and broken into pieces
1 small-ish acorn squash - first baked whole in the oven at 350 for about 50min then seeds scooped out and just scoop out every bit of squash goodness.
1/2c green onions
8-10c water
2tbsp chicken base
2 pho bo bouillon cubes
1tbsp garlic powder
1tsp onion powder
1.5tbsp cumin
.5tsp mexican chili
.5tsp paprika

i used a pot that holds 6L - about 1.5 gallons)
10-12c water (lost count...bad recipe writing...bad)
then all the spices and base and bouillon cubes in the boiling water until nicely dissolved
add the other ingredients
keep on medium for 10min or so
then break out the hand blender to blend it all (i left a few chunks unblended for that home-ier feel - at least it is to me, perhaps chunks annoy others - don't know - but going with home-ier feel)
another 5 minutes

done!

oh, i love homemade soup and this was a cheap and easy soup that lasted for 3 full meals for all 4 of us (i just added 1.5-2c water each time i reheated) - the pho bo cubes added that lovely asian flair but am sure subbing a bit of garlic powder, cumin, lemongrass powder and some pepper would have done the trick too. it could also be easily adapted to have more of a mexican spin, or none at all - the heartiness of the potato and squash make spices belt out in song! ugh, a bit over the top as i write this at 341am - not able to fall back to sleep after the 1yr old's late night waking.

the boys loved this soup - but they love a bit of asian flavours to begin with. the 3.5yr old had a full adult serving bowl of it...success!

crafty mama...

2010-12-10T01:40:00.000-05:00

...apparently not me.
but we did have fun with a few cardboard boxes - courtesy of some online shopping
broke out the sidewalk chalk and "made" a train
the 3.5yr old couldn't wait to get in the box and eat his pizza
didn't even finish our oeuvre d'art
so i took a bungee cord to attach 2 cardboard boxes
used a funnel for steering
and a bike pump as the whistle

yeah, i know, stick to cooking
but this train has actually gotten a lot of use.

really isn't hard to please a 3.5 and 1 yr old.

Phyllo and Rice Week

2010-12-06T03:28:00.000-05:00

sugar cookies made with the boys

i know i speak a lot about using what i already have. it is true though as i often buy things in bulk, or i will think i have time to try out some decadent recipe...and then it does not happen.
this is how phyllo and puff pastry ended up in my freezer. so i built a few meals around that...not gluten free so i had a lot of leftovers this week...but the boys all seemed to enjoy the phyllo surprises.
plus - made lots of cookies with the boys this week...my 3.5yr old proudly rolled dough and cut out shapes and letters.

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- cheese and more cheese
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
breakfast muffins/cakes

snacks/lunch
cookies with frosting (recipe at the bottom
breakfast muffins/cakes
canteloupe
rice cakes
apples
bananas
pears
gluten free crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers
salads

suppers
phyllo nights - phyllo for everyone...but me
lemon chicken over rice
for the bubs - rice with carrots-peas
chili over rice
from the freezer - spaghetti sauce and rice pasta
leftovers and salad

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

phyllo phyllo and more phyllo

2010-12-06T03:27:00.000-05:00

for all of the different takes i used
2 sheets of phyllo
...lazy me i just sprayed them with cooking spray
and in a 350 oven for 10-15min

version 1
spaghetti sauce
2tbsp parmesan
.25c sliced marble cheddar

version 2
baby food jar as pictured
.25c sliced marble cheddar

version 3
premade buffalo chicken tenders
.25c french onion dip
some just-expired fun-cheez (2 small packets)

all were eaten - the baby food one was a hit with the 3.5yr old - go figure - looked disgusting in the jar - not sure why my husband bought it...and now it is used up.

hmmm have no idea where the golden after photos are...on the to find list.

sugar cookies with frosting

2010-12-06T02:55:00.000-05:00

i used this recipe from allrecipes (only modification was using turbinado instead of white sugar so i had to melt that with the butter). it is a great recipe for those like me who are not really into baking much, and need a forgiving recipe.

the frosting recipe is in this blog post

i am leaving it to the pictures to speak for themselves on this one since it is not my recipe so no ingredients to write out...

lemon chicken

2010-12-04T03:00:00.000-05:00

i have a recipe for katie couric's lemon chicken cut out of an old issue of good housekeeping.
on it's own, it's an okay recipe but i find it a bit bland. i use it as a base, but change the recipe a lot. i forgot too that it calls for wayyyyy too much liquid so less is more - or do like i did and wait for it to reduce.
the results are good though

the recipe as i alter it...
2lbs of chicken breast cut into strips about 1 inch thick
3tbsp butter and about the same of olive oil
1/4c potato starch (or other heavier gluten free flour
3c chicken broth (should cut this down in half next time
1/2c lemon juice
4tbsp corn starch
3tbsp turbinado (sugar)
1tbsp garlic powder
sriracha sauce to taste

dredge chicken in flour and in wok with the butter and olive oil until cooked (i do it in two batches)
remove chicken
add all the other ingredients in wok, including leftover flour from dredging and whisk that and the cornstarch
put chicken back in with all of the liquid and simmer on low until sauce reduces and thickens

serve over rice.

this is pretty good and a bit more of an asian twist. it's not sugary sweet like takeout, more mellow, but in the past i have made it more takeout-ish by jacking up the sugar, more cornstarch and adding soy sauce and a bit of rice vinegar. decent. not stellar but good, especially over a fragrant rice like jasmine.

for the boys - latest rice hit combo

2010-12-04T02:29:00.000-05:00

not the most clearly written title for a simple rice recipe. but sometimes simple recipes are best!

and the photo was a bit sad so thought it could do with being dressed up...

this was a huge success with the 3.5yr old and the 1yr old.
i know i have written in the past of hiding veggies in food and rice is proving to be an easy way to do it.

so for the recipe
i prepped 1c worth of jasmine rice in beef broth
with 1 jar of pureed carrots/peas as in the pic
1/2 tsp minced garlic

and the boys both had a huge bowlful - the 3.5yr old's constant comment - "delicious' between shovelling in mouthfuls of rice.

the thing is, this is the only way we use jarred baby food - the 1yr old has always eaten some form of the food we do, so i buy jars solely for the purpose of adding veggies to recipes for the boys.
easy easy easy
loving simplicity

cold weather food week

2010-11-29T02:02:00.000-05:00

was a bit of a busy week - am just home from a weekend of doing a fantastic course so am posting like mad to get my weekly menu up. this one was kind of a take on comfort food - a few items with a twist - an asian style fish stew and a shepherd's pie done a bit differently.

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast

omelette- pesto cheese
hard boiled eggs and toast
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
breakfast muffins/cakes

snacks/lunch

breakfast muffins/cakes

watermelon
rice cakes
apples
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads

suppers

thai/vietnamese - inspired fish stew
almost shepherd's pie with salad
bbq chicken and sweet potatoes
chili over rice
from the freezer - spaghetti sauce and rice pasta
takeout pizza - donair, bacon and tomato for the guys, salad and leftovers for me
leftovers and salad

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

breakfast muffins/cakes

2010-11-29T01:21:00.000-05:00

i am not a huge fan of using tapioca flour as my main gluten free flour but that's what i had and bad me i didn't put it after beer on my grocery list...so a nice, tasty, fat-filled frosting made up for that (just a little goes a long way)

3 bananas mashed, 1 egg, 1c tapioca flour, 1/2c bobs gluten free mix, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4c water, 1/2tsp cinnamon, 1c turbinado sugar, 1tbsp butter - all mixed in a bowl and a 350 oven about 20min.

similar ingredients to above just used a chopped apple instead, added 4tbsp of my homemade caramel sauce and a bit more water.

homemade icing to cut the taste of tapioca flour (it's really starchy but the only gluten free flour i had other than a tiny bit of bob's mix) so - 1/4c shortening, 2tbsp homemade caramel sauce, 1.5c icing sugar, 1tsp vanilla, 3tbsp table cream all whipped up...yum!

almost shepherd's pie...

2010-11-29T01:13:00.000-05:00

...i say almost because i didn't have all of the traditional ingredients on hand, so i made do. here we go...

ingredients
3 sweet potatoes mashed
1 can french yellow string beans
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 tbsp minced garlic (because i like garlic
1 onion coarsely chopped
1.25lb lean ground beef

- i browned the beef, added the onions in when the beef was browned until they softened, then drained the fat
- i mashed the sweet potatoes with 1/4 of the mushroom soup and 1/3 of the tbsp of minced garlic
- i mixed all of the other ingredients together

--- then in a greased casserole dish i pushed a thin layer of the sweet potato mix on the bottom, then all of the other ingredients mix, then topped with the rest of the sweet potato mix
350 oven for about 30 min

--- that easy. my 3yr old liked the meat/veg mix, the 1yr old liked the whole thing. this was made really as low in fat as possible but it tasted really hearty - i am making this creation again - definitely a cooler weather dish

thai/vietnamese inspired fish stew

2010-11-24T12:09:00.001-05:00

oh i just wanted some soup today. i paid for having a bit of delicious pizza from our fave pizza place and was crampy and had hearburn for hours after (i know this when i indulge but it is really that good). so soup seemed like a perfect cure...and it was.

i think i have mentioned i live in chinatown and often end up trying lots of new ingredients. so i knew i had fish in the freezer and coconut milk in the cupboards and some vietnamese pho bouillon cubes kicking around - good start...here's what i decided to use (and had on hand)...

400g (just under a lb, a lb is 454g) mahi mahi from frozen
3 vietnamese pho bouillon cubes
1 can coconut milk
dash all spice
1tsp frozen chopped lemongrass
1c frozen corn kernels
1/2c chopped green onion
1/2c chopped cilantro
6-7c water
1/8 package thai rice vermicelli noodles

optional to add to individual bowls - chili garlic

bouillon cubes and water first and stir once in a while until dissolved
add everything except the noodles and cilantro
simmer until mahi mahi is cooked and break apart into small pieces in the pot
add noodles - simmer 5 minutes
add cilantro - simmer 2 more minutes
then serve

this is where i add the chili garlic sauce (it's super spicy but i love spicy asian soups) - i tried it without and was great less spicy.

hilarious - my 3.5yr old was given a piece of leftover takeout pizza and asked to have the soup instead. soup trumps pizza...pretty amazing.

a few family faves and kid-friendly recipes week

2010-11-22T06:22:00.002-05:00

the past week just flew by
i've taken on the task of finally editing some of my family photos - from january onwards (yes, i did fall desperately behind on this one), so given the nostalgia of looking at photos from the newborn stage, i relied on some family favourites and wanted to post some of my go-to recipes/simple modifications for the boys
now...
my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- pesto cheese
hard boiled eggs and toast
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad

kid-friendly recipes - breakfast and snack ideas
snacks/lunch
a lot of cantaloupe and watermelon
apples
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
sorbet

kid - friendly meals

suppers
easy oven chicken and sweet potatoes
pad thai noodles
bbq chicken and sweet potatoes
from the freezer - slow cooker tostada lasagna
from the freezer - chili over rice
from the freezer - spaghetti sauce and rice pasta

i'm in the unusual position of needing to use up some of the extra meals i have in the freezer - a freezer full of meals - never thought THAT would be an issue!
i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

kid-friendly recipes - part two - a few meal ideas

2010-11-22T00:19:00.000-05:00

my boys are pretty good at eating what we do - so several of these have basic modifications for self-feeding (in particular for the 1yr old - we did baby led solids with him so he has been mostly feeding himself since 6.5mths)

so when we had spaghetti this week, it was easier to serve with rice for the 1yr old, those sorts of modifications. and when nothing works, often a bowl of oatmeal with agave or banana or pear or apple sauce will work.

this is slow cooker chili from this week

from tonight's meal - my 3yr old polished off a chicken breast cut into strips

sweet potatoes from this week - my 3yr old helped make the letters - the one year old ate the pieces

argh the uploader won't load this right - tried 3 times - grilled cheese - added sweet potato puree in there and garlic and havarti.

kid-friendly recipes - part one - a few breakfast/snack ideas

2010-11-22T00:09:00.000-05:00

most of the time, i try to just make food that my boys - 3.5 and 1, will eat as well.
sometimes it doesn't work,
sometimes i have leftovers that won't work
sometimes i just want the food to be easier to manage
or prettier to look at...

i have a gluten free mix and added thawed frozen blueberries, served with a bit of agave on top for the 3yr old, as is for the 1 yr old.

omelette with pesto, garlic and parmesan cheese - the 3yr old helped make the shapes - the extra bits were gobbled up by the one yr old.

omelette version 2 - pesto, shredded cheddar, garlic and a dash of mexican chili spice - used rice shapers - pressed as much as possible in, and then was able to make slices for the 3yr old - 1 yr old ate the ends, pieces.

typical veggie/fruit tray for the boys - even the 1yr old likes dipping.

i like my eggs like this too ;)

simple oven chicken with mushroom sauce

2010-11-16T01:38:00.000-05:00

the sauce is optional. i wanted mushroom flavour and had no mushrooms...but did have mushroom soup. this is an easy oven-baked chicken (but i bet it will work in the crockpot - i'll try it sometime)

ingredients
2lbs chicken breast
1/3c parmesan cheese
1/2c mayonnaise
1c bread crumbs (i used whole grain bread
1/2tsp minced garlic
- blend mayo with garlic on a plate (easier for dipping
- parm and bread together on a plate
- 2lb of chicken breast should be 5-6 large pieces.
- coat chicken in mayo/garlic mix
- then dip chicken in bread crumbs and parm mix (to do gluten free for me i didn't have gluten free bread on hand so i did a cornmeal/parm blend)

- into a greased baking dish in a 425 oven for 30 minutes.
for the sauce...
1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup
3tbsp parmesan cheese
1/4c water
1tsp minced garlic
1tbsp wine (i used the end of an old bottle of red
- in a saucepan until warmed and blended

...pour sauce over chicken when ready to serve.

sweet potatoes - simple

2010-11-16T01:26:00.000-05:00

3 sweet potatoes sliced
a bit of olive oil (enough to toss slices in
1tsp each of garlic powder and mexican chili powder

this is simple - just toss the ingredients together and into an oven at 425 - 30min.
this is one of those infinite possibilities recipe - the above were the flavours i wanted to go with a chicken dish, but anything goes and these are always delicious.

if you prefer your sweet potatoes on the soft side as i do, i often put a pan of water on the bottom rack (i did this time - slightly, ever so slightly crispy on the outside, but mostly soft sweet potato that the 4 of us will eat.

a lot of beef week

2010-11-15T03:12:00.000-05:00

the nachos with leftover brisket, pico de gallo and leftover chili listed below

it ended up being a beefy week - wasn't feeling super creative so i used up what i had. and i had a roast and lots of ground beef - so all but one supper had beef - that is a first. am definitely going with chicken and fish next week ;)

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- pesto and cheese
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
cantaloupe
pears
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
apple slices with caramel sauce
maltesers ice cream
kale chips
sushi lunch for my birthday

suppers

burgers and salad
slow cooker chili
baked brie with apple slices and salad
slow cooked texas style brisket - i pretty much stuck to the recipe and made

brisket tacos with pico de gallo,
then had brisket in a salad,
and finally nachos with leftover chili, brisket and pico de gallo

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

cupboard raid burgers

2010-11-15T03:11:00.000-05:00

i just made do for these burgers - managed to only spend a few $ on fresh fruit and veg - so the burgers had more of a meatball consistency, but good flavour if not the perfect burger texture.

ingredients
1.5lb lean ground beef
2/3 pack onion soup mix
1 tbsp chicken base
1 tsp mexican chili mix
1c rolled oats (i use organic, seems to be okay for my wheat-gluten hating ways
2 eggs
1.5c cornmeal

just all in a bowl, mixed with my hands and formed into 10 good sized patties for the bbq

baked brie and salad

2010-11-15T02:57:00.000-05:00

lazy supper
just bought some brie and added a salad to the mix.
simple.

brie on greased baking dish

ingredients - brie, garlic, pear on top, butter, apple slices for dipping

spread butter and 1tsp minced garlic and then added pear slices

salad - i added brown rice cracker crumbs for crunch

in a 325 oven for about 20minutes

easy and tasty for me and dh. the boys had leftover rice and spaghetti sauce

vanilla and maltesers ice cream

2010-11-12T16:10:00.000-05:00

3c half and half
2/3c sugar (used turbinado)
1tsp vanilla extract
2c chopped maltesers
- melt sugar in a saucepan with the half and half on low - about 15min - refrigerate until cool, mix in vanilla
- into the ice cream maker for 25min - at that point, slowly pour chopped maltesers in.
- scoop into a freezer-safe container - should be ready in about 3hrs

...omg - this is the most flavourful ice cream i've made yet. slowly melting the natura sugar turbinado gives it something of a caramel taste. love love maltesers. this reminds me of the vanilla malteser ice cream i used to buy at greg's on bloor street in toronto...over a decade ago (loved the taste of it that much)

kale chips

2010-11-09T22:44:00.000-05:00

i've read raves about using kale to make some healthy chips...so i took the plunge - bought, cleaned, took excess stems off a bunch of kale...the rest led to a disappointment, so be warned...it set off my cranky.

ingredients
1 bunch kale - washed/trimmed
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
olive oil

toss in a bowl with enough olive oil to lightly coat. on a baking sheet in a single layer and in a 275 oven for 15-20min until kale crisps.

...okay, my cranky revisited - why, why, why do people love these? the recipes i saw called for salt, or salt and oregano, and yes they had crunch but yuck - not a good chip replacement.
these are now sitting in the fridge while i decide what to do with them. i think i will use them in a soup and save a few to crumble on top. they taste ok, but i love REAL potato chips and i will take a bowl of the real, get my butt off the couch and work them off later rather than eat this healthy version.

a rare, and unexpected NEVER AGAIN

my 5yr blog-aversary

2010-11-09T17:04:00.000-05:00

i started this little blog 5yrs ago today. even in my first post i was interested in sharing a recipe (for a steam inhalation).guess i should be buying something wooden to celebrate (instead i bought some alexander keith's white beer to try)

...and about 400 posts later, 2 kids later, a new-old house later, many travels later, many changes in treatment techniques later...here it is. wonder what amazing things the next 5 yrs will bring (i sense i will have 100s more recipes blogged ;)

a little tour of asia week

2010-11-07T13:42:00.001-05:00

pad thai from this week

i love travelling through asia. i've studied in northern thailand (nuad bo rarn - chiang mai thai yoga massage, and reflexology),
i've gotten sick in india (the formidable delhi belly beat my pants off...quite literally),
i've marvelled at the karst hills in southern china
visited sacred sites - as in yogyakarta - places i didn't know about
and several other asian countries.
oh the food - to be able to make food that was so simple in execution and rich in flavour.
am constantly striving to get there...

cooking a few meals at once

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- pesto and cheese
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
cantaloupe
pears
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
sorbet
apple slices with caramel sauce

suppers

pad thai
peanut/cashew beef lemongrass noodles - from leftover pulled bbq beef
coconut/tomato curry chicken with rice
chicken nuggets with peanut sauce in lettuce (for the boys
lettuce wraps with lemongrass meatballs and peanut sauce
non thai recipe - homemade hamburger helper style beef - 1lb lean ground beef (browned), 1.5 cans of condensed tomato soup, 1 onion chopped, 1/2 packet of taco mix - add these to ground beef and serve over pasta of your choice (i use rice pasta mini shells) serve with shredded cheese

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

coconut/tomato curry with rice

2010-11-07T03:02:00.000-05:00

as it is a bit of a tour of asia this week - i covered more ground by blending flavours of 2 countries - india and indonesia. i love curries, and coconut milk and tomatoes and i always think of tomato/curry blend as indian and tomato/coconut milk as more indonesian.

so after lemongrass...bring on the curry!
most surprising about this recipe was how much my 3.5yr old and 1 yr old loved this! seriously shocked and delighted by my little foodies.

ingredients

2-2.5lbs chicken breast in small cubes
2.5tbsp curry powder
1 small onion chopped
2 tbsp garlic powder
...these first ingredients get tossed in the skillet first...mixed around until all is well cooked
then add all of this in (you'll need a big skillet! i use my big iron-cast one)

1 can coconut milk
1 can diced tomatoes (i used hunts garlic and olive
1.25c tomato sauce (i used hunts herb and garlic
4 tbsp sugar (i used turbinado
2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
---simmer on low for about 30-40min

rice
i use beef stock instead of water as that is what i had on hand
add last of tomato sauce (about 2 tbsp worth

this was all so good - sigh - if i had naan bread i would have weathered the heartburn i get from wheat gluten to sop up the sauce...so instead i ate too much rice but - mmmm - i think i may even try this in the slow cooker.

the boys enjoying curry and rice!

lemongrass meatballs and peanut sauce - thai inspired

2010-11-04T23:16:00.000-04:00

top left is the peanut sauce (made a few meals at once)

it's all about asian-inspired dishes this week. as i write this, i have several newly labelled containers in the freezer with a good 6 new meals stowed away for when i don't feel like cooking.

i have been in a lemongrass kind of mood of late, and a lot of ground beef in the freezer from a sale 2 weeks ago. hmmm...could the two work together?

apparently - yes!
i packed half of the meatballs away in the freezer along with a small container of the peanut sauce for dipping.

ingredients

lemongrass meatballs
1.25lbs lean ground beef
1 small onion very finely chopped
2 tbsp cornstarch
1.5 tbsp each of minced garlic, oyster sauce and frozen chopped lemongrass
1tsp each of salt and sugar (i used turbinado)
- all together in a bowl. i mix with my hands
- 350 oven for about 20 minutes
- makes 24 - 30 meatballs
...this works for those who love lemongrass. my 3.5yr old ate several of these plain. that is success to me. these went really well with the peanut butter dipping sauce i made.

peanut butter sauce (adjust and add more water if for noodles, less if for dipping)
1.5c peanut butter (i use unsweetened organic
2/3c coconut milk
2/3c water
1/4c lime juice
3tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2tbsp fish sauce
2tbsp sriracha sauce
1tbsp minced garlic
1/2c chopped cilantro
- everything in a saucepan except the cilantro on low, stir and reduce to desired consistency - add cilantro and continue on low for about 2min
...this is an easy, tasty sauce that freezes well

for a meal...just washed a few leaves of lettuce - peanut sauce, meatballs and topped with a bit of chopped green onion (the stems) and cilantro - DELICIOUS!

the bubs ate the meatballs plain, and dipped chicken breast strips in a bit of the peanut sauce.

the final result

slow cooker beef x 4 meals, and freezer leftovers week

2010-11-01T01:54:00.002-04:00

just didn't want to go shopping this week so used what we had in the freezer - both leftovers and the ingredients for the slow cooker beef meals

now...
my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- salsa cheese
fried eggs and beans
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
a lot of cantaloupe
pears
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
sorbet
pulled beef open faced sandwiches
suppers
from the freezer - slow cooker tostada lasagna
from the freezer slow cooker tamale pie
from the freezer - dumplings and more dumplings and rice asian rolls (like spring rolls but rice-wrapped)
takeout night - cheap pizza (and as leftover lunches)
pulled beef - slowcooker as 3 suppers...

topping a caesar salad
on nachos (fried up with black beans and with cheese and salsa on nachos
asian style lemongrass beef in a peanut sauce topped with toasted cashews on vermicelli

and the non-food related recipe - deodorant recipe
i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

leftover pulled bbq beef - reinvented as asian - lemongrass, peanuts, cashews and rice noodles

2010-11-01T01:31:00.000-04:00

oh i love when leftovers are completely used in a new way. this was easy, involved the use of one of my fave asian ingredients - lemongrass - and all enjoyed it (3.5 and 1yr old included)

ingredients
about 1lb of pulled bbq beef
2tbsp soy sauce
1/4c fish sauce
1.5tbsp (or to taste) chopped lemongrass from frozen
1tbsp garlic powder
1c unsalted cashews (i chopped them up in small pieces and toasted them in the toaster oven
2tbsp sriracha sauce
1 package of rice vermicelli (any width noodle, but i like them sort of medium range)
3tbsp peanut butter
2.5-3tbsp demerara sugar or brown sugar

i boiled up and drained the vermicelli (al dente)

in a skillet i added all but the cashews and beef - so the sauce essentially - then added the beef and a few cashews

transferred to wok - slowly added portions of the rice vermicelli to blend the sauce.

topped with toasted cashews.
lemongrass - enhances leftovers amazingly well

easy slowcooker pulled beef

2010-11-01T01:11:00.000-04:00

so easy i didn't bother to take a pic - sort of a slow cooking 101 type of meal. i remember when i first started really using a slowcooker about 4 years ago, it was a constant feast of pulled chicken, pork and beef.

so the standard recipe i use (and i usually just start from frozen
3-3.5lb beef roast - any cheap cut will do
1c water
1/4c soy sauce
a few drops of liquid smoke
1tbsp minced garlic
1 c bbq sauce (any will do but I like ones with a smokey sort of flavour)
all into the slow cooker - on high for 2hrs gets the roast defrosted, 5hrs on low, take two forks and pull roast apart - mix in the slow cooker and another 30min - 1hr on low.

this time i also added one large onion chopped for the last hour.

we used this for several meals.

the first night was topping a caesar salad
the second night was on nachos (fried up with black beans and with cheese and salsa on nachos
the third meal was open faced sandwiches with lots of toppings like olives, cheese, etc
the 4th meal is worth writing a separate post - asian style lemongrass beef in a peanut sauce topped with toasted cashews on vermicelli.

on halloween...costumes

2010-10-31T00:44:00.001-04:00

i was blogging for work and stumbled upon this lovely costume. it's classic, and all, but certainly not one suited for the cooler clime i inhabit...

Foxtongue / Flickr

this one is for the birds (the eyeball is a nice touch)...

...and this one is for the dogs...

tapping the thymus - immune system/energy boost

2010-10-28T23:09:00.000-04:00

the thymus - named by the greeks - definition: heart, soul, desire.

some of my life offline is dedicated to natural remedies, and to my work as a registered massage therapist. in the past several years i've been learning more about energy work, and simple applications in daily life.

this post on tapping the thymus is an expression of that simplicity - i do more than this, but it is a solid starting point especially as flu season creeps in.

the thymus is basically located in front of the heart, behind the sternum. on me, a heavy-chested mama, i take my four fingers (whichever hand you prefer), slightly curl them, and tap gently but firmly over the location of the thymus as in the picture below.

i do this for 30 seconds to a minute - sometimes several times a day - similar tapping to a slow heart beat.

so why tap the thymus?

in chinese/energy medicine it is seen as a way to give a boost to the immune system, provide a burst of energy...waking it up.
it's believed to work by causing vibrations across the sternum and into the thymus
the thymus is in many ways the heart of the immune system, seen as more important in childhood, fatty and atrophied by the time you are an adult. it is essential in the development of killer t cells...those amazing little internal infection fighters...our inner champions of wellness.
i figure that anything that can support the immune system and help me bring focus into myself is worth 30 seconds to a minute.

the beauty of tapping...simplicity

fudge - from disaster to delish (brownies)!

2010-10-27T04:53:00.000-04:00

the final result - from fudge failure to moist, tasty brownies

i thought i could do it.
i thought i could make fudge and it would be thick and creamy and cut into beautiful squares...
for some reason i can't make fudge
the flavour is there but it doesn't set
so really, it's always been tasty-ish slime
and i suppose i thought with some of my recent baking successes that i could conquer my consistent fudge failures...

i started off hopeful, i found an easy recipe i had the ingredients for at home
with an impressive name like million dollar fudge - seriously - how could i lose?
ok, so i didn't have sweet german chocolate or marshmallow creme...but i did have hershey's milk chocolate chips (1c) and mini marshmallows - used 2c worth of these (mmm, midnight snack possibilities)
it started off well
but then, the usual...it didn't set
the slimey chocolatey mess had returned.
finally though, an idea for the fix.
i thought i was just a bit of flour, eggs, milk and baking powder away from delicious brownies
the fix
so i spooned the mess back into a bowl and added
1c bob's gluten free biscuit mix and 1/4c rice flour
1 egg
1/4c almond milk (i think any milk would have worked
1/2tsp baking powder
back into 2 pans and about 1/3 inch thick in each
in a 350 oven for 12-15min as the fudge had already been boiled and hot
i am sure i heard clapping in the background, or maybe it was lip smacking when these came out and were tasted, wolfed down with morning coffee
finally redemption after another failed fudge
...it will be a while before i try to succeed again

didn't feel like cooking week

2010-10-25T07:46:00.004-04:00

the week felt long
the endurance gone
just didn't feel like cooking
grateful for takeout / pre-made meals / leftovers in the freezer
i suppose starting the week with dh away for work for a few days and the boys on my own just left me tired
tired of cooking and organizing
so this is how the meal planning unfolded...
(note this meal plan is not completely gluten free this week)
breakfast
yoghurt and fruit
leftover zucchini breakfast slices
leftover jam pie
cereal with soy milk
snacks/lunch
watermelon
pears
apples
bananas
veggies and dip
leftovers...
spaghetti sauce over rice pasta
chicken breast pieces
salads
raspberry sorbet - made in the ice cream maker
suppers
leftover slow cooker chili from the freezer, with rice
leftover slow cooker tostada lasagna with rice
meatballs and dipping sauces with caesar salad
chicken burgers and roast potatoes
leftover mac and ch-easy bake
pizza - takeout
dumplings - leek dumplings, chicken and vegetable dumplings - i boiled then fried them and served with sriracha sauce and soy sauce - pre-made meal

*** for hundreds of meal plan ideas visit orgjunkie.com

reiki affirmation and new experiences

2010-10-24T22:27:00.000-04:00

the reiki affirmation

just for today,
     i will not worry
i will not be angry
     i will do my work honestly
i will give thanks for my many blessings
     i will be kind to my neighbour and all living things

i had to write it out. i think it's beautiful. i will try to be mindful.

i took a course in reiki this weekend. i filled myself up with new experiences and blessings and empowerments and i brought it home.

my eldest has had this terrible, incessant cough dogging him
breaking sleep
cheek-reddening
body shaking
and he has been a brave little man
smiles and chat

so tonight i used my new tool
i gave him a treatment - tapotement, reflexology and general massage
and then i did my first reiki treatment
slow and thoughtful
love-filled
and now he sleeps
an hour free from coughing so far

thanksgiving week meal plan with lots of leftover re-interpretations

2010-10-18T01:17:00.001-04:00

one of the views from our 2nd floor deck - we live downtown and this is the trees in the backyard, the river and the hills, and it was a beautiful day for thanksgiving

the desserts i made - and the one i bought (pumpkin pie)

last week was thanksgiving. beautiful, colourful thanksgiving. it wasn't blazing hot, but the autumn wind held off and we were able to feast outdoors. our 2nd floor deck is covered and we love sitting out - we have table and chairs and the all essential slide, water table and cars and trucks present so dh and i could enjoy meal and wine.

...sigh...i really do love thanksgiving, am just not thrilled with the end of a perfect summer.
(note this meal plan is not completely gluten free this week)
breakfast
omelette - cheese and pico de gallo
yoghurt and fruit
zucchini breakfast slices
leftover jam pie
leftover apple cinnamon caramel muffins
cereal
snacks/lunch
watermelon
pears
apples
bananas
veggies and dip
leftovers...
spaghetti sauce over rice pasta shells
leftover slow cooker chili from the freezer, with rice
chicken breast pieces
salads
raspberry sorbet - made in the ice cream maker

suppers
thanksgiving dinner
-meatballs and dipping sauces
-salad - caesar salad
-sides/main - turkey and stuffing (the only time of year i must have turkey)
- roast potatoes
- mac and ch-easy bake
-dessert - raspberry sorbet, chocolate chocolate chip and mini marshmallow ice cream (both in the ice cream maker), jam pie, apple cinnamon apple muffins

and...a week's worth of leftovers (all in this post)
- mac and ch-easy bake with spaghetti sauce in a skillet
- mexican flavours for turkey with chicken bacon and mayo with habernero on pico de gallo and lettuce
- turkey quesadillas
- turkey nachos (chopped turkey - in a skillet with black beans and green bell pepper cooked in mexican chili spice and the juice of 2 large hothouse tomatoes) then put that on tortilla chips, covered with cheese and served with sour cream and pico de gallo
- butter chicken (turkey) on rice

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

enjoyed by all!

thanksgiving leftover meals

2010-10-18T01:17:00.000-04:00

butter chicken (turkey) on rice

turkey quesadillas

mexican flavours for turkey with chicken bacon and mayo with habernero on pico de gallo and lettuce

turkey nachos (chopped turkey - in a skillet with black beans and green bell pepper cooked in mexican chili spice and the juice of 2 large hothouse tomatoes) then put that on tortilla chips, covered with cheese and served with sour cream and pico de gallo

mixed mac and ch-easy bake with spaghetti sauce in a skillet

as the weather turns...

2010-10-16T03:29:00.000-04:00

...i couldn't help but think of warmer spaces. one of my favourite places in recent years is lanzerote (canary islands), and going on a camel trek day trip through the desert.

lanzerote has to be one of the most physically varied places i've ever been to - and am a bit wistful looking at the photos. this was the last trip we did before i got pregnant with my eldest son (the 3.5yr old). one day we will go back and show them this amazing, diverse space.

mac and ch-easy bake

2010-10-16T03:17:00.000-04:00

wanted an easy side for thanksgiving, and knew this could also work for leftovers - with rice pasta (especially white rice pasta) i find you have to add a lot more liquid to soften it.

ingredients
1 can each of cheddar soup and cream of mushroom
1c light cream
2c water (would be a lot less if a wheat-based pasta
1tsp garlic powder
1 pack of rice pasta shells (400g - almost a pound)
1.5c shredded cheese (i used marble cheddar)

i mix all the ingredients except the pasta and cheese so i can pour evenly

precook pasta to just under al dente in a pot of boiling water, then into a lightly greased glass baking dish (i think mine is about 10x14, and pour mixed ingredients on top

add cheese and jiggle it around so it's nice and even and into a 350 oven for 30 min

done!

i like this a lot, but you do need to stir it after it is baking for a bit if using rice pasta to make sure it gets nice and soft. great for leftovers. no time to make it and you can alter the flavours and contents a lot.

turkey and stuffing

2010-10-16T03:07:00.000-04:00

stuffing
3 old everything bagels torn apart
2c chicken stock
3 green onions chopped
2 tbsp chopped parsley
1tbsp garlic
dash of salt
let it all soak then stuff the bird and some under the skin

even the 1yr old couldn't stop eating stuffing

turkey stuffed, basted and cooked!

gravy from the drippings
2tbsp beer (it was left open so wanted to use it up)
1tbsp garlic,
dash of salt and pepper,
1tbsp cornstarch, and about 1c water

apple cinnamon and caramel muffins - gluten free

2010-10-16T02:50:00.000-04:00

i altered a recipe posted by laura at orgjunkie.com from taste of home
for the topping - oats are called for (i can handle them in small doses, but many with issues to wheat gluten may find it an irritant...in this case the oats are not necessary at all - plenty of flavour without them

for sugar/brown sugar i used one of my fave natural sugars - demerara.
for flour i used a combo of rice flour, tapioca starch and about a cup's worth of bob's gluten free biscuit mix
for the apple - i doubled what was called for in the recipe and used an organic gala apple
for the caramels - i sprayed both the knife and caramels with pam to cut more easily
for the caramels - i didn't fold them in - i stuck them in individually

the muffin mix and the topping mix

yeah - see - topping not necessary - i think a bit of sugar, cinnamon and a tiny bit of butter would have been more than sufficient...

all cleaned up and sampled - delicious - we all loved these

jam pie - gluten free

2010-10-15T11:05:00.000-04:00

thanksgiving - perfect excuse to try and make some new desserts. i liked this one because it looked easy to make, and easy to make gluten free.
so i used a recipe from one of my cookbooks (one of the company's coming), and altered it to make it gluten free.

ingredients
50-60mL whiskey (about 2oz to a little more) - i used 50mL of crown royal
1.5c jam (i used strawberry
1 egg
1c butter softened
1/2c sugar (i used demerara)
3c flour (i used 2c rice flour and 1c bob's gluten free biscuit mix flour)

cream butter and sugar in bowl, add whiskey and egg (beat in), and add flour

take 2/3 of dough and press in a 9x13 pan

spread jam on top

use the rest of the dough on top (the original called for a criss cross pattern but i was going butterfly themed as we had recently gone to a butterfly show

in a 350 oven for about 30min until lovely and golden like this

i am not a huge baker but as you can see by the few ingredients, this one is hard to screw up. the flavour does rely on the jam and the booze so i went for a triple fruit jam and good quality whiskey and it was really lovely. total keeper - you'd never know this was gluten free, as the booze and butter seemed to elevate the finicky nature of gluten free flour and make it a lot like the glutinous, wheat-y version.

meatballs!

2010-10-14T03:13:00.000-04:00

i don't know why i don't make these more often. this is a recipe based on one my mom showed me before i went away to university when i was 18. stunningly, this means it's decades old

i like how easy these are to make, and i sometimes make dipping sauces, sometimes just break out a jar of bbq sauce or whatever else i may feel like having.

ingredients (i had to write down the amounts, years later i still do these from memory)
makes between 40 and 50 meatballs - 46 this time around
1lb lean ground beef
1lb ground pork
1 pack onion soup mix
3 tbsp chicken soup base
1 tbsp garlic powder
dash of pepper
2 or 3 eggs (i used 3 as they weren't huge brown eggs)
1c bread crumbs (any kind, gluten free works here too, multigrain, any)

you basically just mix everything together in a bowl. i use my hands for this recipe - it's therapeutic - squishing the ingredients, rolling them into balls (have included a pic with my hand and the meatballs to give an idea of the size.
please bear in mind i have very small hands (my niece had bigger hands at age 12) - looking at the pic you will see why the blog name makes sense.

into a 350 oven for 20-25 minutes. i love these. i ate a few right off the baking sheet. these served as apps for thanksgiving and snacks/lunch after.

3 meals = a week + of suppers/lunches

2010-10-11T04:21:00.002-04:00

peach sorbet

this past week did not begin with the intention of making something new out of recipes, but this is exactly how it evolved. 3 recipes - 2 of them altered a bit made 6 unique meals, plus a hearty pasta sauce and breakfast squares and peach sorbet...made for a surprisingly easy week of meals. next week's will feature thanksgiving pics and fixings.

happy thanksgiving to all my friends and family in canada. was a beautiful weekend/day for it...and now the meal plan...

breakfast
omelette - cheese and chicken bacon
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
zucchini breakfast slices

snacks/lunch
cantaloupe
pears
apples
bananas
sour cream and onion popcorn
veggies and dip
leftovers
salads
peach sorbet - made in the ice cream maker

suppers
spaghetti sauce (my dad made it and sent it up with my mom when she visited) over rice pasta shells
easy baked cod with salad
fish chowder (made from above)
lemongrass pulled beef in rice wrappers with peanut sauce
pulled beef pho
beef pho with rice noodles
salad with pulled beef and peanut sauce

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

easy baked cod

2010-10-11T04:14:00.000-04:00

so easy
tasty too
and it made this dish
and a fish chowder

recipe 1 - baked cod
8 cod fillets (about 800g - a little under 2lbs)
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1tbsp minced garlic
5 chopped green onions
salt and pepper to taste
1 zucchini grated
1/4c light cream
3/4c water

- fish into a greased baking dish and season with salt and pepper
-mix the other ingredients in a bowl and pour over fish
-in the oven for about 30min in a 350 oven
...the taste of this was great, but i put in too much liquid (didn't need the cream or water as the zucchini seemed to release a lot of liquid...so with the extra liquid i used that as the base for a fish chowder.

recipe 2 - fish chowder
ingredients - there were about 2c of leftover liquid
- into a pot
5 medium potatoes boiled, peeled and mashed in about a tbsp of butter then add into pot with liquid
2 cod fillets (we ate the fillets and used the liquid from the 1st recipe but you could just use 2 fillets worth of leftover cod if you have it - flake into small pieces when cooked)
a bit more garlic and a dash of cumin and fresh chopped parsley from the garden to taste

add more water to achieve desired thickness, stir it all together
...oh this unexpected surprise dish was a hit! the one year old probably ate more of this than anyone else.

dad's spaghetti sauce

2010-10-11T03:51:00.000-04:00

my dad is great at making sauces. jams. curries...anything in a big pot.
he finally shared his recipe with me.
had this for a supper and a few lunches with rice pasta (shells and spaghetti). this is popular with both bubs too.
this makes a HUGE amount of sauce. enough to package individual bags for about 10 meals worth.

ingredients (slightly altered
2lbs lean ground beef (brown it)
2 jars pasta sauce
2 cans tomato paste
1c beef stock
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 large onions chopped
2tbsp minced garlic
2 red peppers chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
1tsp rosemary dried
1tbsp each of basil and oregano
1c wine (i used red, he wrote white)
1/2tsp each of salt and pepper
1tbsp sugar or to taste
after the beef is browned i tossed everything into a large pot and simmered on low for about 3hrs.
serve over pasta
the one year old considers the pasta part optional...

slow cooker pulled beef and peanut sauce - asian flavours - many meals

2010-10-11T03:40:00.000-04:00

mmm - lemongrass
this week, i decided to simply go with herbs and spices i love and see what happened.
it helped as well that cheap beef roasts were ready to go in my freezer.
this recipe ended up becoming 3 meals

lemongrass pulled beef in rice wrappers with peanut sauce

ingredients
2.5-3lb beef roast (mine was 1.99lb so a cheap cut)
1 pho bo bouillon cube
2.5c water
2tbsp soy sauce
2tbsp chopped lemongrass
1tbsp each of turmeric, cumin, minced garlic and lime juice
sugar to taste
...all in the slow cooker on low for 8hrs (pull at about 7hrs in)

wrap in rice paper wrappers with a bit of iceberg lettuce and shredded carrot

now...peanut sauce
1-1.5c water (for desired thickness)
1c peanut butter
1tbsp lime juice, fish sauce
2tbsp soy sauce
1/4c chopped onion
sugar to taste
...cook on low on the stovetop
...use as dipping sauce
i like to add sriracha sauce after it's plated (that way the peanut sauce isn't spicy so the bubs can eat it)

DAY 2 of this recipe
pulled beef pho
omit the peanut sauce
there was enough left over liquid to use as a soup base
add one more pho bo bouillon cube
4-6c water
1c pulled beef
soy sauce to taste
1/2 pack of asian rice vermicelli noodles
...all together in a pot until the noodles are soft

DAY 3 of this recipebeef pho with rice noodles
ingredients
1.5c pulled beef
1c water
1/2 pack of asian rice vermicelli noodles
peanut sauce (reheat)
sriracha sauce to taste (optional)
...cook noodles in a pot of water until soft - drain
add water and noodles to walk and pulled beef until well blended
...top with peanut sauce

DAY 4 of this recipe (lunch)
salad with pulled beef and peanut sauce
can be served hot or cold
just add the beef and sauce over lettuce (with or without carrots, cucumber)

can you tell this recipe was a success?! there are still leftovers in the freezer.

thanksgiving menu - pre-recipes

2010-10-08T02:51:00.000-04:00

my favourite holiday is coming up.
i love thanksgiving
here in canada there is no black friday shopping, it's not close to christmas, it kind of stands alone
and sometimes it's warm enough to sit outside and eat out on the deck (without an outdoor heater)

growing up, my duty for thanksgiving was to decorate and set the table. my parents have a beautiful garden, and gourds galore at the grocery store, so i would gather pine cones and brilliant coloured leaves and gourds and twigs and get creative. and the beautiful spread of food (my mom is a chef), and family.

so now, it is both a happy and bittersweet holiday. having 2 young boys and a long drive for a 3 day weekend is a bit too much. my one year old HATES being in a car (as in cease-less screams). but i still love the holiday and we've made some of our own traditions - we go for a hike along one of the trails in the nearby provincial park (the one in my autumnal gratitude post) - we feast al fresco when possible - we reflect on the things we are thankful for - and i still gather "decorations" from the outdoors to set the table.

this is a rough sketch of my thanksgiving menu (will post it when i've made it all...
app - meatballs and dipping sauces
salad - caesar salad
sides/main - turkey (the only time of year i must have turkey)
- roast potatoes
- mac and ch-easy bake (i am going to make it all gluten free so rice pasta shells, and am going to hide pureed veggies in it to make it healthier)
dessert - raspberry/apple sorbet - hopefully these will work together
jam bake
and skor squares

i'll post the

zucchini breakfast slices

2010-10-07T02:38:00.000-04:00

i just wanted something new for breakfast so i did some experimenting in the kitchen last night and came up with these slices. i love inventing new recipes - i love the creative process, and this week so far i am having a pretty stellar week on the coming-up-with-new-recipes front. i'm sharing because well, they are gluten free and hold well together kind of like quiche.

ingredients
4 large eggs
1/3c oil (veggie, evoo, whatever, nothing too strong
2c grated zucchini - include skin
1c grated cheese (i used marble cheddar
1.5c chopped onion (i used spanish
4 slices of chicken bacon (crisped and crumbled
1tsp minced garlic
dash of salt
...mix all of these in a bowl
then add
1c gluten free flour - i used 1/2c sorghum and 1/2c potato flour
1.5tsp baking powder
and mix

grease a baking pan - mine is about 8x12

put it into a 350 oven for 35-40 min and allow to cool before cutting into slices

these are making me look forward to my quick weekday breakfast, sleep-deprived, messy and unwashed self with this slice and a coffee to revive me! i am making these again, and may try other flavours.

autumnal gratitude

2010-10-04T01:50:00.000-04:00

i can be driven to frustration
driven away from it
back to the nature that sits on my doorstep
patiently
gently
reminding me
of love and acceptance
and letting go
this place

this beautiful space
this gentle soul of nature
my neighbour

simple

the stunning views

the changing leaves
the dance of sunbeams

those sunbeams that follow

beams of light that remind me of the spirit of this space
this is a place i can return to

this is where i can feel home
this is where i can find lost joy
this is all in its wordless expression

and fractured pieces of myself draw whole
and i am grateful
i am grateful

all easy week - meal plan

2010-10-03T12:51:00.001-04:00

oh my i had a lazy week in terms of planning meals

maybe it was researching a new car (which we bought - first in 12yrs - a fuel-efficient hatchback - ends our 10mths of car-free living)
maybe it was an evening play date while dh went test-driving the cars i researched
maybe it was the mid-week play date for my eldest
i don't know, but it meant for a simple meal plan this week.

breakfast
omelette - cheese and pico de gallo
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
cantaloupe
pears
apples
bananas
coconut rice crackers
three lentil and cranberry salad (store bought)
veggies and dip
leftovers
salads
chocolate peanut butter ice cream with a bit of caramel - made in the ice cream maker

suppers
steak (for the marinade i used) and potatoes on the grill
leftover acorn squash soup
chicken strips and sweet potato fries (these came out of a box/bag = no recipe)
easy pesto cream sauce over rice pasta shells
spaghetti sauce (my dad made it and sent it up with my mom when she visited) over rice pasta shells
leftover slow cooker chili from the freezer, with rice

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

wordless post - spaghetti sauce and rice pasta shells

2010-10-03T12:43:00.002-04:00

easy pesto cream sauce

2010-10-03T12:09:00.001-04:00

i had leftover salmon from a bbq the day before
didn't feel like doing anything complicated
so i made a pesto cream sauce
added salmon
served over rice pasta

ingredients
1c light cream
2tbsp butter
1/2c pesto
2tbsp parmesan cheese
heat over low heat until well blended then add
2 cooked salmon fillets broken up into pieces
add to sauce until heated

easy
easy
easy
...and the best part - delicious

the beauty of baking soda

2010-10-03T04:24:00.000-04:00

hmmm...when i love a product, i'll admit it can become an inexplicably committed passion.
i'll be honest, baking soda is borderline for me in this way.

i know i have extolled the virtues of baking soda before
and it is a staple in both cleaning supplies and cooking and body products in our home (my recent posting of my deodorant recipe is a notable example)

why does this odd obsession with b.s. continue?
well, the stuff is amazingly useful
as is white vinegar
they are sort of each other's yin and yang - cooking and cleaning, powder and liquid

and now
even MORE uses for baking soda
(a link with 61 uses, some of which i have discovered on my own, and some learned here)

http://www.bellybytes.com/articles/bakingsoda.shtml

cold and comfort week

2010-09-27T00:14:00.001-04:00

re-used this meal plan. after the usual winter illnesses, and a few weeks of vacation, was hardly feeling inspired to create a new meal plan. so i returned to this one. lots of soup...good for the soul!


my youngest turned one this past week - in the sleepy wrap at a few weeks old - children are such a strong representation of the quick passage of time...

it was a sniffly start to fall - ugh already my first cold of the season. i was all scratchy-throat and puffy-eyed and fuzzy-feeling and it just wasn't a way to feel inspired in the kitchen. so more soup and food comforts for the week. am feeling clear and sniffle-free, but reflecting back on the week, really not bad for an under-the-weather kind of week.

breakfast
omelette - easy - cheese and pico de gallo
fried eggs and pico de gallo on homemade corn tortillas
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
a lot of cantaloupe
pears
nectarines
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers
salads
sorbet - i made a pear sorbet caramel vanilla ice cream - made in the ice cream maker
chocolate peanut butter ice cream with a bit of caramel - made in the ice cream maker

suppers
butternut squash soup (a bit of curry flavour)
steak (for the marinade i used - were t-bone steaks this time) and potatoes on the grill
acorn squash soup (same as butternut but with a different type of squash, vietnamese fish bouillon, and 1 tbsp of lemongrass - i keep frozen shredded lemongrass in the freezer...tasty!)
slow cooker beef with tomatoes and green pepper
chinese takeout - was bub's 1st birthday so we went to one of our local faves - was 2 nights worth
leftover slow cooker chili from the freezer, with rice

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

potatoes for the bbq

2010-09-27T00:01:00.001-04:00

mmmm
love finishing off potatoes on the bbq
so easy and delicious and really allows for dozens of variations

ingredients
8 small yellow potatoes
1tbsp fresh chopped parsley from the garden (flat kind)
1tbsp minced garlic
dash of salt
2 tbsp butter

i boiled 8 small yellow potatoes until soft with a fork
cut into cube-like pieces and into a bowl
tossed with a bit of salt
melted butter with garlic in microwave for 20 seconds
poured over potatoes and toss to cover evenly

spray some aluminum foil and put potatoes on foil and loosely close
5-10 min on the bbq

SOOOOOOO divine. i swear b(bq)+b(utter) = taste joy. so good i made them twice this week

acorn squash soup

2010-09-26T23:54:00.000-04:00

not too different from my butternut squash soup so just posting the modifications

.5 chopped sweet onion instead of green onions
2 cubes of vietnamese fish bouillon/stock instead of chicken stock
1 large acorn squash

added
1 tbsp shredded lemongrass (i have it in the freezer)

slow cooker beef (pulled) with tomato and green pepper

2010-09-26T02:20:00.000-04:00

so the need for comforting food with being under the weather continued.
hmmm, that was an awkward sentence.
let's just say there was a great sale on blade roasts at the local grocer so pulled beef is about as easy as it gets.
i had half a can (about a cup and 3/4 worth) of diced tomatoes, and a big green bell pepper that i didn't use last week.
so that was the inspiration for easy comfort food.

ingredients
3lb roast (beef blade - i think this is flank steak in the u.s. but not sure, it's not an expensive cut - was 1.99lb on sale)
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 green bell pepper sliced in thin strips
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 small chili pepper (from china town so not sure what type
4 tbsp chopped cilantro
2 spring green onions chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp white vinegar
dash of salt
--- all in the crockpot on low for 7hrs

i served them up on chipotle tostadas topped with a bit of nacho mix shredded cheese

easy and delicious. perfect for the sniffly soul.

butternut squash soup

2010-09-25T03:23:00.000-04:00

1 butternut squash - mine was about 3lbs
3 green onions chopped
1 stalk celery chopped
4.5c of stock (i used chicken stock - was out of vegetable stock - either work)
2-3c water
1tbsp cumin
1tbsp turmeric
1tsp curry powder
1tbsp minced garlic

dash of sea salt

water and stock and celery and onion in the pot on medium
bake the squash at 350 for 45min-hr - that way the skin is easy to pull off
then it is easy to chop off the narrower part of the squash and chop into pieces
the bottom half - crack open and de-seed then chop (or smoosh - mine was in the oven a bit long so i smooshed - may not be a culinary term but it is descriptive!)

add to the pot
10min in i take the hand blender and blend what i can, then add the spices and garlic

simmer for at least another 10min on medium for flavours to blend and for liquid to reduce to your preferred thickness.

what i love about butternut squash is you don't need any oil, any butter, any cream (unless you want to) because it has such a rich flavour.

i have a scratchy throat so this goes down like a dream. my boys love soup and this one is great, cheap, and easy ;)

mexican-inspired week

2010-09-20T02:49:00.002-04:00

i love mexico.
it's a quick flight.
dh and i have been several times.
i love speaking in spanish in a real way (at home it is english and french and not many people speak spanish) i love the food and the weather and the taxistas.
the taxistas who tell it like it is - who groan about the economy and the traffic and wonder how the gringos in his cab can speak spanish
the gringos from the far north where it always is cold ;)
and i love all of that (especially la zona romantica in puerto vallarta - crowded, colonial and long walks along the malecon)

now...
my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- leftover fajita meat/veg and cheese
fried eggs and salsa on homemade corn tortillas
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
a lot of cantaloupe
pears
nectarines
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
sorbet
caramel vanilla ice cream - made in the ice cream maker
chocolate peanut butter ice cream - made in the ice cream maker

suppers
slow cooker tostada lasagna
slow cooker tamale pie
mexican rice with chorizo and shrimp
pico de gallo with mexican rice
slow cooker fajita mix made into mini mexican pizzas (yeah, not a very succinct title but this is what it was)
lot of leftovers! some of the fajita mix went into omelettes and quick nachos and as opened face sandwiches

and the non-food related recipe - deodorant recipe

shopping list (i had the staples - spices, rice)
this is what i had to buy for the week...
salmon
shrimp
chorizo
stir fry beef
tomato sauce
5.5 cups chicken broth
fajita seasoning mix
1 can peeled and diced tomatoes
1 can fire roasted tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
1 can sliced olives - 1/2c
2 cans black beans
corn tortillas
tomatoes
spanish onion
cooking onions
3 bell peppers
cilantro
cup milk
shredded cheese
sour cream

see orgjunkie.com for hundreds of meal plans every week!

slow cooker fajita mix made into mini mexican pizzas

2010-09-20T02:46:00.000-04:00

mmm fajitas
i wanted to of course keep it gluten free so i ended up taking 2c of masa harina (corn based)
and making little circle shapes like little corn pizzas

so the ingredients

1/2c chopped spanish onion
1/4c chopped cilantro
2 sliced green bell peppers
1 little hot pepper
1.25lb of sliced beef (this was ribeye bought in chinatown - what you'd use in a chinese fondue or stir fry
1 pack fajita mix
2c beef stock
...the above in the crockpot on low for 7hrs
below make the "pizzas"
1/3c pizza sauce
1c shredded cheese
2c masa harina prepped and made into 2 inch circles
...first pan fry the little corn pizzas until golden then top with sauce and cheese
...in a 350 oven until the cheese melts

yeah...these were good...really good and i topped with sour cream and pico de gallo.

buen provecho!

slow cooker tamale pie

2010-09-20T02:30:00.000-04:00

i have lots and lots of cornmeal to use so this recipe for slow cooker tamale pie seemed appealing.
main thing i did a bit differently was add lots of garlic and using rice flour to blend with the corn meal
and i couldn't find fire roasted tomatoes so i used sweet onion tomatoes
and cayenne pepper instead of chili powder
and spanish onion instead of cooking onion
whew... a few pics

all the ingredients in before i add the cornmeal/flour top

this was good. not great but good - i ended up serving it with sour cream and pico de gallo which made it better than the initial good assessment.

slow cooker tostada lasagna

2010-09-20T02:23:00.000-04:00

apparently i forgot to rotate before i loaded this pic - yikes!

i made a slightly different version of my tostada lasagna for the crockpot.

i omitted the beans (wasn't in the mood) - upped the tomato content - about 3.5c of crushed tomatoes, added 1.5c of stock
and a cup of leftover mexican rice
other than that it was very similar
it worked
but am glad i had some tostadas that hadn't been put in the crockpot as it came out very, very soft. tasty, but soft
i definitely didn't need that much stock, but also would do what i did which is keep a few nice, crispy tostadas on the side to dip with.

pico de gallo - fresh tomato/onion/cilantro

2010-09-20T02:10:00.000-04:00

mmmm
this makes me think of puerto vallarta - lots of pico de gallo on everything
especially on bbq
and a corona or a more girly margarita
love mexico
and pico de gallo - simple and delicious

ingredients
2 tomatoes, diced
1/4c chopped spanish onion
1/2c chopped cilantro (more if you love cilantro like i do
1/2tsp chopped hot chili pepper (mine was from chinatown so am not sure but looked like an orange version of a scotch bonnet - not quite as spicy as one)
1/2 tsp agave nectar (optional)
1/2 lime squeezed juice

all together in a bowl (i like it to set for at least 30min before i eat it all up by myself

mexican rice morphed into something else

2010-09-19T16:09:00.000-04:00

i used this recipe for mexican rice (except that i used long grain brown rice which i don't like plain so i try and make it into something else)
and even though it turned out well, i thought it would make an even BETTER meal if i mixed in chorizo and shrimp.
turns out, that turned out 100x better (hmmm exaggeration, but true) than the original.

so ADDED ingredients

1 tbsp minced garlic

1lb shrimp

1/2c (approx) chorizo
a few tbsp of chipotle bbq sauce (completely optional)

the original recipe - oil and plumping up the rice...

plumping rice

adding onion

lotsa liquid

original recipe - mexican rice

love watching the shrimp go from grey...

to plump and orange-y - pink

the boys all loved this - this will make it in a meal plan again! it reminded me a lot of rice dishes in mexico, and this is a good thing.

deodorant recipe

2010-09-18T13:30:00.000-04:00

i like to make as many of my home and body products as possible - this extends to deodorant.
part of my frustration with natural products is never finding a deodorant that really worked well for me.
so i had to come up with my own.
i stopped using commercial deodorants/anti persipirants years ago as i didn't like the idea of the chemicals being that close to a cluster of lymph nodes, let alone being absorbed by my skin and into my body.
so i started doing my research
i started detoxing (i apologized to my dh in advance for what my body would do as it released what it was going to when i stopped using those products in stick form
i started spraying my underarms in the shower with apple cider vinegar (to help restore ph balance)
and baking soda after to help cover the odour
and two weeks later
came back into balance
i found several recipes for natural deodorants (in earlier blog posts i did post a few)
but i took all of those and came up with my own
and it is pit perfection!

ingredients
(makes enough for about 3mths worth)
3tbsp corn starch
3tbsp baking soda
2tbsp each of shea butter and coconut oil (the type that is hard at room temperature)
essential oil (i used about 12 drops of tea tree oil for this batch)

put all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and mix with a fork until smooth
then put in a resealable jar

YES - it's that easy!
apply a tiny bit to your armpits with your fingers
i find i can often even skip a day with this

i call it my b-o-balm

wood air bathing

2010-09-14T06:40:00.002-04:00

i've lost the word in japanese for it
i was told it over a year ago - but although i lost the word in translation
i didn't lose the meaning

wood air bathing

listening to the voice of your heart
by taking the time to go for a walk in the woods
to pay attention to the senses
taking in the essence and the messages

i don't know what it is that makes wood air bathing sound so magical
and so pure
but my intention this week is to take some time
quietly
and on my own
for wood air bathing

slow cooker and prepare ahead week

2010-09-13T00:27:00.001-04:00

it was a mostly overcast and rainy labour day last week. it's the first rain we had seen in a long time and it kind of made me want to prep what i could for the week. i work online, but being labour day, was unwilling to even check my work email. prepping ahead means my time with the boys during the day is just easier
slowing down
taking time to listen
do work during nap time
fill the rest with time together
...i've crossed the line - it's sounding sappy...time for the make ahead meal plan (well mostly).

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette with leftover salmon, and green onion
fried eggs with leftover chili (blended)
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
a lot of cantaloupe and watermelon
pears
nectarines
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
sorbet
roasted banana ice cream - made in the ice cream maker
chocolate ice cream with minstrels and rolo - made in the ice cream maker

suppers

steak and potatoes - we did steak and potatoes with sweet potato fries and garlic aioli (basically mayo blended with a bit of minced garlic, salt and lemon juice).
SLOW COOKER chili
hot steak salad
SLOW COOKER moroccan inspired lentil stew - vegetarian
thai-inspired fried rice - vegetarian
baked salmon with salad
leftover chili

(put slow cooker meals in caps because these produce at least 6-10 adult portions

...for hundreds of weekly meal plans visit orgjunkie.com

thai-inspired fried rice

2010-09-12T22:26:00.000-04:00

i know i have done this in the past as a rice noodle dish
but originally it was this - a rice dish
i love thai flavours
and when i was studying thai yoga massage and reflexology i often had very light, simple meals
so that my mind and body felt light and ready to soak all the new learning in.
this dish came out of those memories
i've tinkered with it
and now throw it together on a moment's notice
i made enough for 5-6 adult servings (i ate this as a main dish, not as a side one)

ingredients
2c uncooked jasmine rice or rice of your choice - prep as per package instructions
3tbsp of fish sauce and soy sauce
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp oil (i just use olive oil - could use sesame if you want more of a chinese twist)
2 green onions chopped
1 hot pepper chopped (i bought this in chinatown and there was no translation)
1 tbsp sugar (i used demerara)
4 tbsp chopped cilantro - mine came from the garden

after the rice is cooked i heat up the oil in the wok and put everything in except the onion and cilantro. stir until blended for about 5min over medium heat and then add cilantro and onion for 2-3minutes, again stirring until blended.

oh, how i love this simple rice dish. so does everyone else in my family. and this rice is GREAT for leftovers. it holds up and tastes really good, even several days later.

slow cooker lentil stew

2010-09-12T22:14:00.000-04:00

i've had green lentils sitting in my cupboard for ages so thought that the way to use some up would be in the crockpot. then spotted some chickpeas and wanted to go in a north african/middle eastern direction.

so here it is...

4 cups of crushed tomatoes
2 c green lentils
4 c sugar peas - trimmed top and bottoms

8 small/medium potatoes - cubed

2 small onions
1 can chick peas washed and drained
2c vegetable stock
2tbsp of minced garlic, and cumin
1tsp of salt, and pepper

...all in the crockpot on high for 4hrs. this was okay. it wasn't spectacular, it wasn't bad. i blended some down for the 11mth old and he loved it. the 3yr old loves chick peas so that was good. both dh and i ate this on its own and it was solid enough to do so. but this recipe (experiment) needs a bit of tweaking before i can give it a ringing endorsement. the sugar peas were a good call as they added a nice sweetness to the meal.
it was good enough that we ate it as leftover lunch twice.

leftover chili

2010-09-12T22:04:00.000-04:00

the slow cooker chili led to a lot of leftovers
one of the nights i reheated some with bbq chipotle sauce and poured over toasted bread (gluten free for me so i made a corn tortilla)
and topped with shredded cheese

salad with salmon

2010-09-12T22:01:00.000-04:00

simple supper
salad topped with 1 and .5 fillets of salmon - just cooked in the oven at 400 for 15minutes (from frozen) with some sweet onion dressing added about .5 way through cooking

easy and delicious
both the 3yr old and 11mth old like salmon so i cooked extra for them

roasted banana ice cream

2010-09-09T14:31:00.001-04:00

do not look at pretty pictures of homemade ice cream unless you are prepared to make it...
note to self made

my ice cream maker is getting a lot of use this week

ingredients
4 very ripe medium bananas
1c heavy cream
2c 5% cream
1/2c sucanat (natural sugar)

bananas were sliced and tossed in sucanat and baked at 325 for about 15min

at the 10min mark i tossed them around for more even baking
all in a bowl with the other ingredients
i used a hand blender to blend until smooth
cooled in the fridge for about 2hrs
and then into the ice cream maker for 30min
ice cream was a soft serve consistency at that point so into a container in the freezer for about 2hrs

this was really tasty, but i would have liked more of the cream taste shine. so next time i'll halve the amount of bananas and see what happens.

huge hit with the boys - huge, smeared all over their faces, hit

slow cooker chili

2010-09-09T14:06:00.001-04:00

it was a rainy labour day...
there is something about a rainy day in september that had me itching to use the crockpot
so i prepped many of the meals for the week
and gathered the ingredients for my simple, bub and hub tested, crockpot chili

this is good for at least 10 adult servings and 4 cups worth blended down so both boys will eat it.

ingredients
1lb ground beef - lean or ground chicken (i brown this in the slow cooker on high for 45min before adding the rest of the ingredients

then add...

1c chicken broth or water
2 chopped onions - medium
2c corn - frozen or can (if can drain and rinse well
1 can diced or crushed tomatoes with juice in
3cans of beans drained and rinsed well (i used 2 can white 1 can red kidney beans
2/3 jar of pasta sauce (my cheater secret ingredient - i used catelli garden select harvest mushroom but usually use classico or pc
2tbsp cumin
2tbsp minced garlic
4 tbsp chopped cilantro toward the end (optional - if you don't like, it doesn't need it

1/2c chopped jalapeno (optional - i didn't add as the bubs were both eating it to so added heat after
3hrs on high
serve over rice

...and i blended a few cups worth for the boys and served over rice for them too

easy!

bbq and asian week - meal planning

2010-09-06T00:41:00.001-04:00

inspiration this week is in a few parts.
it was incredibly hot, and there was not going to be a lot of oven use. bbq was a natural choice, and asian came out of necessity. i actually think i got a bit of heat exhaustion after i did nearly 4.5hrs of walking while wearing the bub and acting as tour guide to a dear cousin on a quick visit from ireland.

bbq - my fondest memories of food on the bbq isn't from home, but rather my childhood best friend's home. her dad could seemingly do anything on the bbq and it tasted great.
that smoky corn on the cob, the perfect steak, even pork chops on the bbq (and i am not a huge fan of pork so this is an accomplishment ;)
her dad had a talent with the bbq that in my childhood mind is unrivaled in any of my adult experiences in terms of home cooking.

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette with cheese, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes
fried eggs with leftover potatoes
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
a lot of cantaloupe and watermelon
blue, seedless grapes
coconut rice crackers
rice crackers and hummus
veggies and dip
leftovers
salads
sorbet

suppers

takeout vietnamese for 2 suppers (when i wasn't feeling so great it was all about soup) so i had pho, and both the 3yr old and the bub enjoy pho and vermicelli. i did post my simple recipe for strawberry sinh to and avocado sinh to - sinh to being that fancy, vietnamese version of a shake...yum
steak and potatoes - we did steak and potatoes twice. once with top sirloin, white potatoes and salad, the other time with t-bone, white and sweet potatoes, corn and salad.
indian night - this was a last minute inspiration/addition - brown rice with tomato dal, tofu curry, and a refreshing drink...mango lassi.
freezer meal night was tostada lasagna, and veggie burgers
hot steak salad

i share my meal plans at orgjunkie.com

hot steak salad

2010-09-05T12:22:00.000-04:00

great way to use up leftover steak, and since we ate it twice in one week (yikes, we don't usually eat red meat more than once every 10 days to 2 wks)

in any case - easy steak salad

sliced, leftover steak
the dressing is to taste so what i put in the skillet
balsamic vinegar and a bit of water in the skillet first
then add the steak

and add
a bit of sweet onion salad dressing
minced garlic to taste
honey dijon mustard to taste
add more water as needed to have desired thickness for the dressing
about 5min total
put in a salad with your favourite ingredients

vietnamese nights - and sinh to (vietnamese shake) recipes

2010-09-05T02:54:00.000-04:00

as i mentioned in a previous blog post
was feeling unwell for 2 days so i didn't do a whole lot of cooking
there were meals in the freezer
and then there was
pho bo ga king which is about 12 houses down from where we live (the convenience of downtown living is especially great when the formidable tummy bug makes an appearance!)

so i had two doses of pho this week
two sinh to drinks
and the boy and the bub shared a vermicelli plate
nothing made

but in the past i've made my share of pho, of vietnamese style noodles, of sinh to

so sinh to (vietnamese shake)
sinh to avocado
1 avocado
1 c water
1/2c coconut milk (optional) or soy milk
1/3c sweetened condensed milk
all in a blender
chill in the freezer for a few minutes

sinh to strawberry
1c strawberries (i usually use frozen)
1c water
1/2c coconut milk or soy milk
1/3c sweetened condensed milk
all in a blender

if i don't have sweetened condensed milk handy i up the coconut milk and add a tbsp of a natural sugar like agave nectar. mmmmm the best shakes ever - you can use almost any fruit imaginable. when we do take out we often do coconut as well