Saturdays are busy days.

Saturdays are pretty busy in our household. Between bowling, soccer drills, and a soccer game, there really isn't much time to come home afterwards and cook a wholesome dinner. Instead, I prepare a crock pot dinner at 8am and leave it to cook all day. That's why we call it Slow Cooker Saturdays! This morning I put on a casserole dish from '125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes', so it was ready to go when we came home from Avery's 4pm soccer game. I served it with a spinach salad & the remaining Maple Mustard Dressing from the other day.

Cheesy Rice and Mushroom Casserole with Spinach

1 tbsp cumin seeds

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion, finely chopped

4 stalks celery, thinly sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp gingerroot, minced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp crushed black peppercorns

2 cups long grain brown rice

1/4 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped

1 (28oz) can tomatoes, juice included, coarsely chopped

3 cups vegetable stock

2 large portobello mushrooms, stems removed, cut into cubes

8 oz fresh baby spinach

2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the cumin seeds until they release their aroma and just beginning to brown. Transfer to a mortal or spice grinder and grind coarsely. Set aside.

In a skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and celery and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, gingerroot, reserved cumin, salt, peppercorns and rice and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add sun-dried tomatoes, tomatoes with juice and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil.

Place mushrooms in the slow cooker stoneware. Pour rice mixture over mushrooms and stir to combine.

Place two clean tea towels, each folded in half across the top of slow cooker stoneware. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours or on high for 4 hours, until rice is tender and has absorbed the liquid. Remove the tea towels. Stir in spinach and sprinkle cheese over the top of the mixture. Cover and cook on high for 20-25 minutes, until spinach is cooked and cheese is melted.

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Saturday evening is also a Date Night in for Kyle and I. We play board games, catch up on shows from the week, watch movies, or just sit and chat. We also get to munch on a yummy appetizer or dessert. :) Tonight we had a small date night since Kyle's not feeling too hot right now having caught a cold. I'm watching a documentary called 'Mine' (heartbreaking, but so good!)and updating my blog while Kyle sleeps on my lap. Ha! We did still get to eat some goodies, though....

Hot Mushroom Turnovers

8oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tbsp butter

1/2 lb button mushrooms, minced

1 onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 tbsp flour

1/4 cup sour cream

Using an electric mixer, mix cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter and flour until a soft dough forms. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for an hour.

In a large skillet, melt 3 tbsp butter. Saute mushrooms, onion and garlic until tender. Add salt, pepper, thyme and flour. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and then chill.

Preheat oven to 400.

On a floured surface, roll out half of the dough very thinly in a large circle and cut out 20 2 3/4 circles with a glass. Add scraps to the other half of dough. Add a tsp of filling to the centre of each circle and fold the dough over. Press the edges together with a fork and prick the top to let out any steam.

Repeat with remaining dough and ingredients.

Bake turnovers for 12 minutes or until golden.