My Saturday... squirrels and food - shocker!

I typically love Saturdays, especially now that we have more down time to have our own adventures. Yesterday we had the kids' bowling wind up - ten pin bowling, plaques and pizza. It was fun for all who came. I'm going to miss everyone from the alley - they became such a regular part of our Saturdays! It was also date night last night. Kyle and I watched an episode of Glee, rented 'Unstoppable' (loved it, and found myself screaming at the television on multiple occasions) and ate the yummiest homemade potato chips (from The Vegetarian Meat and Potatoes Cookbook) and onion dip. Not boring old onion dip from a container.. or made with the chemical laden boxed onion soup mix. This was real caramelized onions... and it tasted better than any onion dip I've ever had before. It's not exactly a light dip with the cream cheese, mayo and sour cream, but how many dips can claim they are truly light? I found the recipe on Eat Me, Delicious, and almost kept it same. I decided I didn't need to oil, though... it has enough fat in it! It worked wonderfully. Yummy!

Unfortunately, yesterday had a terrible feeling lingering above it all day long. In the morning, as I was eating my breakfast, I heard a sound that made me leap from my chair and exclaim, "The babies!". I ran out the back door to see the two baby squirrels I was just visiting with were still there... but there were three crows circling overhead crying out a horrible sound. The babies seemed pretty safe for the time being. I ran to tell Kyle about the crows, and he came up while I ran upstairs to get dressed. My plan was to run out and scare the crows off. I had just gotten into my bedroom when I heard him curse and say "The crows got two of them!" I admit that I did not handle this in the most mature manner. I flipped out. I cried. I screamed. I got mad at Kyle (and feel awful about it!). I cried some more. I couldn't breathe. The two babies the crows got were in my neighbour's driveway. They weren't the ones who were in our backyard feasting on seeds, they were the other two in the litter. I assume they were trying to get up to, or down from, their nest since it's in the tree in front of my neighbour's yard. One of the babies was still twitching, and Avery wanted to run out and save it. How heartbreaking! Kyle gathered the bodies in a box, and took them out to the woods at the end of our street. I cried some more. I stood in the backyard in the pouring rain, prepared to chase any crows away. I, with the help of my mother and husband, came up with a plan for saving the remaining two squirrels. In the Fall I got a big cage from the local Humane Society. Kyle pulled it out of our shed and we tried to coax them into the cage with food, but that didn't work. Then I pulled out the kids' nets and tried to catch them that way. I was successful at trapping them, but they both managed to get away. I could barely sleep last night knowing they were on their own. I am determined today to get them to a safe place. I will then call a wildlife rehabilitator and see if they can help me deal with this in the right way. I feel so much for these babies - they're defenseless, having not been taught the squirrel rules yet. I really don't want to fail them; they deserve a fighting chance. Wish me luck today!

Edited to add! Guess what we just did? We caught Stonewall!!! Well, my hero husband caught him! I could not be happier that we finally have him in a safe place. He has some of the rat food, and we plan on buying more food later. We also have water and a bed in there (complete with towels) as well as a bunch of sticks he can chew up. I've been reading that a lot of items from nature should be left in the cage, so we have plans to gather some. Happy, happy, happy! One down, one more to go!

For dinner last night I made a slow cooker Dal from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker. I served it with basmati rice, naan bread and some samosas I made from Vegan with a Vengeance. I wasn't the biggest fan of the Dal - it was pretty bland for me, but everyone else seemed to really enjoy it. Kyle and Avery both added Rooster Sauce to add some heat. I love, love, loved the samosas. They were just little things, but so very satisfying.

Dal

2 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion, cut into pieces

2 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tsp peeled and minced fresh ginger

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp ground cardamom

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1 1/2 cups dried lentils, washed and picked over

1-15oz can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups water

salt and freshly ground pepper

Pour the oil into the slow cooker, and turn the heat the high.

Puree the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor until smooth. Place them in the slow cooker and put the lid on.

Stir in the spices (but not salt and pepper) and cook, stirring for 30 seconds.

Turn the setting to low and add the lentils, kidney beans and water. Cook for 6-8 hours. Add salt and pepper before serving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Samosas

dough:

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

about 3 cups all purpose flour (I only used 2 1/2 cups!)

1/4 tsp turmeric

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

filling:

3 medium sized russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 tbsp vegetable oil plus more for brushing

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 tsp mustard seeds

1 yellow onion, very finely chopped

1 cup carrots, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp fresh ginger root, minced

1 tsp coriander

1/2 tsp turmeric

pinch of cayenne pepper

1 tsp salt

juice of 1 lemon

3/4 cup frozen peas, water run over them to remove any freezer ice

Boil the potatoes in water for about 20-25 minutes, until tender. Drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 375.

To make the dough:

Pour the wet ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add two cups of the flour, turmeric, baking powder and salt. Begin kneading the mixture, adding more flour gradually until a smooth not sticky dough is formed, about 10 minutes.

Set dough aside and cover with a wet cloth. Begin preparing the filling.

To prepare the filling:

In a large skillet (I used our wok) over medium heat, add the oil, cumin seeds and mustard seeds. The seeds with begin to pop. Allow them to pop for 1 minute, but be careful not to get hit by these popping seeds. Add the carrots and onions and saute for 7-10 minutes until the onions begin to brown. Add the garlic, ginger, coriander, turmeric, cayenne, salt, and lemon juice and saute a minute more. Add the potatoes and mash it all together. Heat it through, and then add the peas and mix well. Set aside.

Divide the dough in half and roll it out thinly. Using a cookie cutter, or a glass upside down, cut 3 to 4 inch circles out of the dough. Place about a 1 or 1 1/2 tsp of the potato mixture into each dough circle and fold it over so it becomes a half circle. The recipe says to wet the dough with water around the edges to make it stick, but mine didn't need it. Continue with the rest of the dough.

Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the samosas onto the tray, and lightly brush oil on both sides of them.

Cook about 12 minutes on one side, flip them, and cook another 8 minutes. Allow them to cool about 5 minutes before serving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oven Baked Potato Chips

3 Yukon Gold potatoes

salt

Preheat the oven to 375. Spray 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.

Wash the potatoes and then slice them paper thin (very important!). Put them into a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes to remove some of the starch. Lay them out on a towel, and dry the slices completely.

Place them onto the prepared baking trays, taking care not to overlap any of them.

Cook them for 10 minutes on one side, flip them all, and cook another 1o minutes on the other side. They should be starting to brown and be crisp. Serve them right away as they are best eaten this way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pan Fried Onion Dip

2 yellow onions, cut in half, and then sliced into 1/8 inch half rounds

4 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

4 oz cream cheese, left on the counter for 15 minutes to half an hour

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Heat the butter over medium heat, and cook the onions, cayenne, salt and freshly ground black pepper for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature and continue to cook for another 20 minutes until the onions are browned and caramelized. Allow the onion to cool.

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise with an electric mixer. Blend well until there are no lumps. Add the onion and mix well.

Two days in one, and a bout of pneumonia.

I spent a couple of hours in the emergency room today with Tiernan. Not how we wanted to spend Easter, but I'm very glad we went. He was showing some strange symptoms this morning - itchy, red, tingly hands and feet that ended up swelling up as well. Some of Tiernan's toes were twice the normal size. He was having a terrible time during the chocolate egg hunt this morning (although the picture tells a different story!... it was still early then), breaking down into tears, collapsing on his bed and having his heart beat right out of his chest. We knew something wasn't right, so I headed into Belleville General with him. Luckily, we had a fantastic doctor and after some Xrays, we were on our way out the door with an antibiotic prescription in hand. Turns out he has pneumonia which is something I've never had to deal with before. The poor kid is a trooper, though. I guess he'll be doing a whole lot of resting this week.

Aside from that little adventure, our day was nice and relaxing. The Easter Bunny hid the chocolates on different levels of the house for each of the kids, and he hid them well! It was fun to watch them search high and low and finish with a smile on their faces and a big sense of accomplishment. I'll telling you - the Easter Bunny made it a real challenge this year! :)

Originally we were going to head to my parents' house for dinner, but with the whole pneumonia thing, we cancelled out on them. I had no clue what we were going to eat for supper since all I had planned on doing was bringing a Tofurky to cook in my Mum's oven. Around 4:30pm things started to calm down a bit (aka - home from the hospital and pharmacy) so I figured we'd better whip something up to feed our hungry family. Seeing as there were no stores open today, I think our meal turned out pretty good! We had our Tofurky, some carrots cooked in a Braggs/orange juice sauce, some very garlicky mashed potatoes, this miso gravy, a salad with mixed greens, cucumbers, broccoli and sesame seeds, and these Red Lobster-esque buns that I've made a lot lately (but this time I used 3 year old white cheddar instead of sharp orange cheddar). Not too shabby for a last minute meal! (And we just won't even talk about the fact that I burned my stomach pretty badly on a baking tray.... yup.. I'm that good!)

Yesterday was Slow Cooker Saturday, but not nearly as busy as it has been lately. This time it was only bowling in the morning (but Tiernan stayed home with Kyle), dance practice and a birthday party for a friend of Rhianna's in the afternoon and then swimming at the YMCA with a friend of Rhianna's in the evening. I have a serious love affair with my crockpot. It's such an easy way to have a nice, warm, yummy meal ready for you when you're ready to eat it. I made slow cooker sloppy joes which is one of my family's favourites. I got the recipe from one of my vegan cookbooks years ago, and I have searched for it again to no avail. If I do figure out where I got it I will definitely leave credit where credit is due!

Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 small green pepper, chopped

1 tbsp chili powder

1 1/2 cups dried brown or green lentils, washed

14 1/2 oz crushed tomatoes

3 cups water

2 tbsp Braggs

1 tbsp mustard

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the onion and green pepper, cover and cook until softened (about 5 minutes). Add the chili powder, and stir to coat.

Transfer to the crock pot. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.

I toast the hamburger buns in the toaster before adding the sloppy joe mixture. I then top them with dill pickles (for everyone except for Kyle) and sliced cheese and broil them for a few minutes until the cheese is nicely melted.

Saturday is also Date Night. If we didn't schedule a date night in, I'm not sure Kyle and I would really, truly see each other. We're both so busy with so many other things, and life just sort of gets away from us. It's been really good to have this scheduled date once a week to make sure we have time to connect. Last night we played some Catan (surprise!), drank chocolate peanut butter milkshakes (something I used to make for Kyle alllll the time, but hadn't made in years!) and ate some chips & pretzels with a curried garlic dip. No recipe for the dip since I used the seasonings from here instead.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Milkshakes

(for 2 very full glasses!)

6 scoops chocolate ice cream

1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup milk

2 tbsp chocolate syrup

Stick it all in a blender and blend until mixed, but still thick. Add more milk as needed to thin it out.

To leave you on a good note, here is my beautiful Mirri cat. ♥

Happy Easter Weekend!

Long time, no write..

No need to put out an APB on me! I'm alive and very well. The reason for my absence? We had some really good friends come stay with us for a four night visit. The weather was 100% awful, but we managed to enjoy ourselves anyway. There was a drive into Prince Edward County for Fifth Town Artisan cheese, scenery and homemade ice cream at Slickers. There was a visit to Kingston for some window shopping and the most delicious lunch at the Kingston Brewing Company. There was an entire day spent running around to kids activities and meetings. And there was more than a little bit of beer, coolers and rye. Best of all... there was comfort, laughter, and the making of many new memories. Here are a few pictures that I took during our adventures.

Our lovely friends, at the Kingston Brewing Company for lunch.

The food at the Brewing Company was delicious! Kyle and I shared our meals - he had a veggie burger with fries, and I had the dish shown. It was noodles with a spicy peanut sauce and the most scrumptious and fresh salad, ever. That salad had pretty much every vegetable you could think of in it. So good!

Everything about the pub was great - food, atmosphere, prices, service and even the old truck outside!

I am like a moth to a flame when it comes to water. Every time we drive down to Wellington I dip my feet in the lake. Every single time. Did I mention it was cold while our friends were out? Very cold. And windy. But putting my feet in that water makes me feel alive! Sometimes we need to do things that help us remember what a gift life is.

My daughter is a nut. I'm really not sure where she gets that from ... coughcoughcough.... ;)

I guess now I should talk about food since I tend to do that a lot. ;) We ate an abundance of food while they were here. There were little to no hunger pangs, lemme tell you! One night was my chili (having mastered it over many years) & the Red Lobster-esque cheese buns, one night was black bean burgers, alfredo fries and greek salad, and one night there was sushi from our favourite sushi restaurant here in town - Toro Sushi. There was also a whole lot of snacks like chocolate covered potato chips and two different types of bruschetta, and a very filling breakfast out at the Quinte Cafe. It was all around delicious.

Slowcooker Chili

1 tbsp olive oil

2 extra large cans tomato sauce

1 large can tomato paste

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

5 carrots, sliced

10-15 cremini mushrooms, sliced

4 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 small can chopped chilies

1 cup frozen corn kernels

Cook the onion and mushroom in a skillet until soft. Add to the slow cooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir and cook on low for 8 hours, or on high for 4-5 hours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I serve these over a freshly baked French baguette warmed in the oven and spread with some melted garlic with garlic powder.

Tomato Bruschetta

6 plum tomatoes, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 red onion, chopped very finely

1/8 cup fresh parsley, minced

10 basil leaves, chopped

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/8 cup olive oil

4 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp Asiago cheese

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl or container and chill. This is served over the bread cold.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mushroom Bruschetta

(altered slightly from Jamie Oliver's recipe)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 dozen cremini mushrooms

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

a few sprigs of thyme leaves, chopped

a few sprigs of parsley leaves, chopped

1 sprig savory leaves, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

sprinkle of red chilies

1 1/2 tbsp butter

juice of 1/2 lemon

2-3 tbsp water

Cook the mushrooms in oil. Cook until soft. Add the garlic, herbs, salt, pepper and chilies and cook for a few minutes longer.

Add the butter and lemon juice. Once the butter is melted, toss.

Add 2-3 tbsp of water in the pan. Simmer until a thick sauce is formed.

Night night, sleep tight.

Wow, am I ever exhausted. Weekends can be so tiring sometimes, and this is one of those times. I'm thinking a book, my bed and ... sometime super soon (alliteration.. squeal!) would be perfect. Hopefully my weakness/lightheadedness/headache/tummy ache is only from being spent rather than anything else. Crossing my fingers.

My friend Tanya took the boys for a playdate today so they wouldn't have to tag along to Campbellford with us for the Family Two Step tournament that Rhianna and my Mum were in. It was nice not to have to worry about them while we cheered the bowlers on, and I know the boys loved every minute of it. Thanks again, Tanya! Mum and Rhianna had a really fun time, and bowled really well, but didn't leave with a medal this time. They had some pretty serious competition out there since all these kids were bowling with parents/grandparents/uncles/aunts etc, and in some cases these people were good. I would not want to face off against them, that's for sure! These two really held their own, though, and I'm proud of them. What a great memory for Rhianna to have. :)

For dinner tonight I made a rice dish that I used to make all the time a few years back. It's great because you can just stick it in the slow cooker, so there wasn't much preparing for me to do after we got home. I was going to make lentil burgers with it, but changed my mind last minute since we got home later than I expected and I didn't have time to soak the lentils for 2 hours. So, I went with another burger recipe I had on my menu for another day - Jamaican veggie burgers. This was my first time making them, and for me they were very ehhhh. Edible. Decent. But not my favourite. Kyle and the kids raved about them, though. Maybe I felt there was too much rice at dinner? I'm not sure. I just wasn't as much a fan as everyone else. These burgers were also pretty crumbly which drives me bananas. I did enjoy the bite the jalapeno gave, though. I also served the same salad as yesterday with the same leftover honey ginger dressing. Dessert was leftover apple crisp, also from yesterday.

Jamaican Veggie Burgers

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, chopped

1 1/2 tbsp grated ginger root

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp allspice

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups cooked long grain brown rice

2 1/2 cups bread crumbs

Heat oil in skillet. Cook onion and garlic for a few minutes. Add the jalapeno, and cook until tender. Add to a large bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, and stir to combine.

Wet hands and form into patties.

Cook on a large indoor grill until browned (the original recipe called for frying in oil... maybe that would have turned out better).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wild Rice Casserole

2 onions, chopped

3 stalks celery, thinly sliced

2-6oz packages of dry instant long grain and wild rice mix

2 1/2 cups water

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup butter

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 lb sliced mushrooms

Add everything to a slowcooker. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or high for 2-4 hours.

From spicy to sweet.

What a day, but I am happy to report, I made it through. Our busy Saturdays will soon be over.. what are we going to do with ourselves then? Oh, that's right! Relax, work on the house, work on the yard and go exploring. Oh yes, indeed!

Highlights from today:

-It was absolutely glorious weather. The sun was so bright and warm and everyone was smiling from ear to ear. Gorgeous!

-Rhianna got bowler of the year for the Peewees at our bowling alley.

-We had time for bike rides and playing in the yard.

-Some of my plants are sprouting and all my bushes and trees have buds. I even have one tiny little pink flower open.

-Avery played an INCREDIBLE game of soccer with the rest of his team (Go, Red!) and made it to the final match! That's from being in fifth place out of six. Yahoooo!

-A delicious slow cooker dinner of Jamaican Red Bean Stew (Kyle's favourite) ready for us to eat after our long day.

-A trip to Zwicks Park to play and walk down by the water in the last light of the day. It was breathtaking out there, and we discovered the perfect place to have a picnic. And loons! There were loons!

-DATE NIGHT IN! We're going to eat some Apple Ginger Crisp and finally watch 'Black Swan'. Saturdays evenings are the best.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now for the scrumptious recipes of the day. I originally got the Jamaican Red Bean Stew from Savvy and changed it to our liking. I served it with a big chunk of organic sourdough bread (store bought) and a spinach/carrot/sugar snap peas/broccoli sprout salad with a Honey Ginger dressing that I got from the Rebar cookbook. This was our first time trying this dressing and it was so good. Very fresh and light. It complimented the sweet and spicy stew perfectly. Yummy. And for our Date Night snack - Ginger Apple Crisp from Moosewood's Book of Desserts. I changed the recipe up a bit, so I'll put my version on here. Kyle got my apple peeler/corer/slicer up and running for the first time and let me tell you - it is pure awesomeness! Love it.

Jamaican Red Bean Stew

1 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups baby carrots, sliced

3 green onions, sliced

1 sweet potato, diced into small cubes

15oz can diced tomatoes, drained

3 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can unsweetened coconut milk, well mixed (shake it!)

2 cups vegetable broth

Pour the oil into the slow cooker and set it on high. Add the garlic and put the lid on to cook.

Add the carrots, scallions, sweet potato and tomatoes. Stir in the curry powder, thyme, red pepper flakes, allspice, salt and pepper. Add the beans, coconut milk and broth. Mix well.

Cook on LOW for 6-8 hours. (Don't forget to change it to low after having it on high with the garlic.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Honey Ginger Dressing

45g ginger root, minced

2 tbsp fresh ginger juice (I used a juicer, but if you don't have one, use a garlic press)

2 tbsp honey

5 tbsp rice vinegar

1/8 tsp ground white pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil

Add all of the ingredients except for the oil to a food processor and process until smooth. Add the oil and slowly mix.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ginger Apple Crisp

Fruit Layer:

6 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin

cane sugar (a few tbsps)

juice from one lemon

Topping:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 ground ginger

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup ginger snap cookie crumbs (take the cookies, put them in a ziplock and crush them with a rolling pin until they become crumbs)

Preheat oven to 350.

Layer the apples in a non-oiled 9x13 pan. Mix with the lemon juice and sprinkle with cane sugar.

Melt the butter and place it in a large bowl. Add the honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Stir well to combine.

Add the rolled oats and ginger snap cookie crumbs to the large bowl. Stir well.

Add the crumb/oat mixture to the top of the apples. Tap it down. Cook for 35-45 minutes until golden brown.

Serve warm with some vanilla ice cream.

Cookies and soups and buns, oh my!

This morning my daughter told me her stomach was hurting. She barely ate any of her breakfast (not typical for her... breakfast is the only meal she consistently devours!) and continued complaining of feeling ill. I wasn't going to take a chance by sending her to school since I've heard about a wicked stomach bug that's been making its rounds. In the end, I think she could have gone to school. After some cuddling and mummy time, she was just fine. Better than fine! I asked her about it this afternoon and she told me she just misses me (and Daddy) while she's at school sometimes. Rhianna is one of those kids who is a bit of an over-achiever. She wants to do everything and ends up doing it all so well. She's a straight 'A' kind of kid, a great little dancer, a determined competitor (hello, provincial bowling champ), a wonderful friend and an extremely gentle and giving soul. Right now she's on a mission to raise money for Japan (more on that another time). I think she over extends herself sometimes, and I've been trying to keep her 'roped in' a bit. It's not easy because she has such strong desires to participate in everything under the sun. My point is, I think she wanted today to regroup. She wanted some one on one time with me to bake cookies and cuddle and talk. We had some great bonding time, and I think it did her a world of good. Of course, she couldn't stay away from school related things, so she made projects, drew pictures about dance and made herself some math sheets to do. Haha! Now she's ready to head back into school tomorrow with a re-energized mind and soul.

This morning before school, I asked the boys what kind of cookies they wanted and they responded with 'CHOCOLATE'! Rhianna, on the other hand, wanted Skor bit cookies. When it came time to bake the cookies, Rhirhi suggested adding mini chocolate chips to the Skor bit cookies, so that's what we did. We tried one when they were warm, and they turned out wonderfully! The best of both worlds.

Skor Bit Cookies (with chocolate chips!)

2 1/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup margarine

3/4 cup cane sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Skor bits and chocolate chips, to taste (I eyeball it)

Heat oven to 350.

Stir together the flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl.

Cream margarine with sugars in a large bowl. Add the vanilla and eggs and mix well. Slowly add the dry ingredients and combine well. Add the Skor bits and chocolate chips and blend.

Bake by spoonfuls for 9-11 minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner today was supposed to be yesterday's dinner. Originally I was going to follow Savvy's recipe for a slow cooker vegetable soup, but I ended up changing a few things and it morphed into a different recipe. It turned out pretty good... I certainly enjoyed my bowl full! I served it with a side of baby spinach & seeds and Red Lobster-esque buns. Yesterday I visited an old food blog I had back in 2002 and 2003. Looking through it made me laugh because honestly.. I wasn't much of a cook. I still ate meat back then, and apparently leaned towards a lot of processed foods. Browsing through this blog reminded me how delicious these cheese buns are, so I added them to dinner tonight. They were just as Red Lobster-y as I remember, and also, just as easy and processed. Oh well... my tongue didn't care tonight! ;)

Crockpot Cream of Vegetable Soup

2 tbsp butter

3 large cloves garlic, minced

2 small onions, chopped

1 inch chunk ginger root

3 yellow potatoes, skin left on, cubed

3 celery stalks, sliced thinly

1 cup frozen peaches and cream corn

4 cups vegetable stock

3 cups water

1 tsp sage

1 tsp thyme

salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 1/2 cups cream

In a skillet, melt the butter and cook the onion and garlic until soft. Add the sage and thyme, and stir to coat. Add to the slowcooker. Add the rest of the ingredients, minus the salt, pepper and cream.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Add the cream and season with salt and pepper, and cook another 20 minutes (careful not to boil it). Serve and top with some grated cheddar cheese.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red Lobster-esque Cheese Buns

4 cups Bisquick

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 1/3 cups milk

1/4 cup butter

2 tsp garlic powder

a couple of pinches of salt

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, add the Bisquick and shredded cheddar cheese. Stir until well combined. Add the milk and beat for 30 seconds until a dough forms.

Wet hands, form into balls and place them on a baking tray. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Melt the butter and mix in the garlic powder and salt. Brush over hot buns when they are removed from the oven. Serve immediately.

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.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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.