Long weekends are so good for the soul, but sometimes I feel like we need to take a day off after a long weekend. We were all pretty exhausted by the end of the weekend because we jammed so much into it, but it was well worth it! Twelve years ago on October 9th, Kyle and I got married on the property of the home I grew up in north of Winnipeg. We had a small wedding with most of our closest family and friends. I wore a beautiful blue dress that contrasted so nicely with the mostly naked trees of Autumn in Manitoba. We feasted on Chinese food, and we danced all night long, me with a baby Avery in my tummy. Before the night ended I stood in my new husband's arms looking up at the gorgeous clear sky at 3am that was so completely filled with Northern Lights it left me breathless. It was the perfect day. I felt like the luckiest woman in the world! Now I know I'm the luckiest woman in the world because I have a man who I can lean on to be my rock, we created three beautiful, intelligent, kind children out of our love, and we have made a really fulfilling life together. Life is good.
The Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team came out to practice in a town 15 minutes away from us for three days, and let people come watch. Avery is a pretty big Leafs fan (but now the Winnipeg Jets are his #1!), so I made sure to set some time aside to go and see if we could get in. We went on Thanksgiving Monday and the line up was pretty overwhelming when we arrived. I decided to give it a try anyway, and I am so glad we did! We waited for a fair bit in the very hot sun, but by the time we got ushered in (they were letting a group in for 15 minutes, and then letting them out to bring in another group) we were the last group. Do you know what this means? We got to sit and watch the rest of the practice! We were there for about an hour and I got some really good shots. The best part was the look on Ave's face when he was watching. Pure happiness and adoration. Very cool!
I won't bore you with all the million and one pictures that I did take, but I enjoy this one of Kadri and Kessel. The smile on Kadri's face is contagious!
For Thanksgiving we made a Gratitude Tree. We took a walk through the woods at the end of our street gathering up some changing leaves to attach to our "tree". On the back of the leaves we wrote things we were thankful for. The kids put the typical things on there - our home, our family, our furbabies, our friends, health, clean water, cozy beds etc. And then there were the ones that made me smile inside and out... bees, Magic the Gathering, the Blueberry Bus (aka our van), perogies, Family Night, Paganism and British chocolates (okay, okay.. that last one was mine!), as well as many others. It's nice to see it sitting on our table every time I pass it. As Avery puts it, "It really makes the room feel warm.". Thanksgiving dinner was spent at my parents place with my folks and two of their neighbours/friends from church. We played some Life Adventures, prepared lots of yummy grub and sat down to eat. And eat. When my family hosts dinners, there is always too much food. I'm not sure if it's the *right* thing to do, but at least we share the goodies? Ha. At this dinner my little family feasted on Tofurky, mushroom gravy, sweet and sour veggie meatballs, perogies, green bean casserole, carrots, dinner rolls and salad. For the rest of the people there was also turkey, ham, stuffing, and regular meatballs. For dessert we had three different pies. Yes, three! One pumpkin, one cherry crisp and one banana dulce de leche cream (that's the one I made). We were all stuffed, to say the least.
Tiernan got his first job and is now officially employed! Ever since his brother got the job delivering the local paper he's been wanting one of his own. We received a notice in our mailbox saying that carriers were needed for the EMC (a once a week paper) and decided to give them a call. Instead of giving him a route, they gave him two that intertwine. Technically Tiernan AND Rhianna are employed since they're splitting the routes. Thursdays are now just as insane as Wednesdays between Avery's flyers, Tiernan and Rhianna's flyers, Avery's 1.5 hour long soccer practice and Kyle's Magic drafts. And poor Ave gets no help with his route anymore.. it's all his! Oh well, more money for him to save since he doesn't need to pay his siblings. 
Poor Tiernan has been dealing with the toughest life lesson when it comes to having and loving pets. His rattie, Ratatta, has mycoplasma. This is a respiratory disease that is passed down from mother rat to her babies, but also between cage mates. Some types of rats are more susceptible than others, and Ratatta is one of those. Because she and Rhi (Rhianna's rattie) are cagemates, Rhi also has the disease. Hers is not showing any signs or symptoms, luckily. Just Tatta. She is constantly sneezing and coughing, and I really mean it when I say constantly. I feel terrible for her. It breaks my heart to see her trying to breath properly. So far she doesn't have pneumonia, and she still looks pretty healthy - pink ears and paws, and not losing weight. We've given her two different medications in the past, but although it helped a little at first, the mycoplasma came back as soon as she was finished her prescription. I know the end is probably very near for sweet little Tatta, and this is going to break Tiernan's heart into a million little pieces. He's shed quite a few tears over her already. We've had some great talks over how lucky Ratatta is to have him, and how lucky he is for having her. We talk about how I am thankful that he got her and Rhianna got Rhi because it taught me an important life lesson. Those who knew me pre-pet rat know that I would have been the last one to get a rodent for a pet - I had a major phobia! Instead, I decided to face my fears head on. I will be the first to admit I was petrified and it wasn't easy at first! I started by petting them with one finger, eventually moving to whole hand, and then to holding them covered in a blanket. Now I don't even hesitate to pick them up. In fact, I love them and love holding them. They are so sweet, so cuddly, so clean, and they both have their own amazing little personalities that match their human parents. I will never judge a book by it's cover again. Those ratties have made me a better person.Okay, now onto some food fun. For our anniversary dinner I made some baked fettucine, green bean casserole and some buns. It was heavy, but sinful and we got to eat it while watching the Jets first hockey game (this time around!). :)
Baked Fettucine
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 lb fettucine
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
plus 2 tbsp parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups swiss cheese, grated
1 cup mozzarella, grated
4 tbsp bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup whipping cream
some jarred pasta sauce for topping
Preheat oven to 400. Grease a 2-3 quart casserole dish.
Cook the fettucine according to package directions. Drain, and put it back into the pot. Toss with the melted butter and set aside.
Mix the cup of parmesan cheese, the swiss and the mozzarella together and toss with the fettucine. Pour the fettucine into the casserole dish.
In a bowl combine the milk and whipping cream. In another bowl, mix together the 2 tbsp parmesan and the bread crumbs.
Pour the milk mixture over the fettucine. Top with the bread crumb mixture.
Bake for 20-30 minutes. Cover with foil during the last 10 minutes.
Serve it topped with the heated pasta sauce.
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Green Bean Casserole
(I got this from a Grandma's Kitchen card years ago)
1 1/2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
4 tsp dry ranch dressing
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 1/4 lbs fresh green beans, cooked crisp tender
1 cup bread crumbs
To make white sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir in the flour and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Using a wire whisk, stir in the milk. Bring it to a boil and cook, whisking constantly for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the dressing mix and white pepper and set it aside.
Preheat oven to 350. Spray a medium skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Cook onion and garlic over medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove half of the onion mixture and set it aside in a bowl. Add the mushrooms to the onion mixture remaining in the skillet and cook about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are tender. Combine mushroom mixture with the green beans and white sauce in a 1 1/2 quart casserole. Combine bread crumbs with the reserved onion mixture and sprinkle over casserole.
Bake, uncovered, until heated through - about 20-30 minutes.
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I tried a new recipe out for Slow Cooker Tuesday and it was soooo good! I made a baked bean soup from this site and served it with a caesar salad and some baguette. Tiernan, Rhianna and I ate it at dance and I wish I could have had seconds. It was thick and filling and so comforting! We will definitely be visiting this recipe again.
Baked Bean Soup
15 oz can pinto beans
1 onion, finely diced
1 cup carrots, diced
3 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp chili powder
1 can fire roasted tomatoes, with juice
2 cups water
Add all the ingredients to the slow cooker and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or on low for 7-8. Before serving, blend with an immersion blender.
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For tonight's dinner I decided on another recipe from One Bite Won't Kill You. It was called Tortilla Towers and was a pretty big hit in our house. It has some spice to it, so the boys just loved it! Rhianna ate a quarter of it, and then said she was full. I think it had more to do with the spice. I think the next time I make it I won't add the chilies to her portion and leave it for the rest of us. The only thing I changed about the recipe was upping the ingredients a bit. Definitely another one we'll come back to.
Tortilla Towers
15 small flour tortillas
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 large red pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
16 oz refried beans (or you can make your own)
1 1/2-2 cups pepper jack cheese, grated
4 oz can chopped chilies
2 cups picante sauce
1 1/2-2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1/4 cup sour cream, for serving
Preheat oven to 350.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat with a bit of the vegetable oil. Fry each tortilla gently on each side to crisp them up a bit. Dry on some paper towel and set aside. Add the rest of the oil and fry together the red pepper and onion until tender.
Spread 5 tortillas with some refried beans. Place them on a baking sheet. Cover with the second tortilla.
Combine the pepper jack cheese, chopped chilies and red pepper/onion mixture in a bowl. Stir to combine. Now top each of the tortilla towers with 1/5th of the cheese/chilies/pepper mixture. Cover that with another tortilla. Spread some picante sauce over the top of the flour tortilla and cover it with some grated cheddar cheese.
Bake for 15-20 minutes. Top with sour cream.
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