Back to school and some yummy grub!

Farewell, Summer 2011. You've been good to us (if not a tad bit too warm .. hehe), and we appreciate all you did for us.

The kids headed back to school this morning a ball of nerves and excitement. Avery started grade 7, and when I remember how I was in grade seven, I start to panic a little. Ha! He has the same teacher he had last year and is super pumped about it. Last year he was in a split class, so all of the kids in his sixth grade class are in the same class again this year. Pretty cool for him. This evening he came out to run a couple of errands with me, and it was just the two of us. I caught myself just standing there watching him at times. His maturity level is astounding to me. He offers me help without being asked, he has conversations with me that make me realize he sees things from a more grown up view point. He's spent a lot of time lately talking about his plans for the future - where he wants to go to University, what he wants to study, what kind of life he wants to lead. My Cheeky Charlie is growing up! Sniff, sniff.

Tiernan started grade five today. Five! Even Avery is having a hard time wrapping his head around his little brother being in grade five. Tiernan has a supply teacher right now because his teacher was held up in Africa where she's been building schools over the summer. He enjoyed his supply teacher, loves that most of his closest friends are in his class this year, and can't wait to hear the stories his teacher is sure to bring back with her. He's in a grade 5/6 split which I think will be really good for him because he's a smart cookie, that one. :) I was a bit worried he wouldn't enjoy this year because he had a fantastic teacher last year and really wished he could stay in her class forever, but so far so good. I have my fingers crossed that it will continue being a good year.

Rhianna, like Avery, has the same teacher she had last year. This is a good thing! A very good thing! She has the absolute best teacher my kids have ever had (and they've had some pretty darn good teachers!). At the end of grade 2 (she's in grade 3 now!), he pulled me aside to ask if it was okay for her to be in his class for a second year in a row because he doesn't normally do that and I practically yelled "YES"! He helps her feel excited and happy with school. He's taught her so much - above and beyond the typical school things. I have no doubt in my mind that this will be as great for her as last year was.

Our back to school dinner was deeee-licious! I actually didn't expect it to be because it was sort of an easy meal, but ohhhh my. YUM. I even saved some leftovers for myself. I never do that. Ever! (Okay, only potato dishes... which this is... and lasagna.) I made a potato casserole with cheese and mushrooms (which doesn't look like much, but is so good!), a two cheese salad with homemade croutons, some tofu marinated in Kobe Tamari Garlic sauce and some leftover lemon poppy seed bread that we made in the bread maker yesterday. Mmm mm mmmmm!

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Potato Casserole with Cheese and Mushrooms

3 large baking potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

2 cups sliced mushrooms

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 onion, thinly sliced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 cups shredded mozzarella (or more)

Preheat the oven to 350.

Toss the sliced potatoes with half of the olive oil and half of the salt.

In a separate bowl, toss the mushrooms with the parmesan cheese, onion, garlic, thyme and black pepper and remaining salt.

Grease a casserole dish and layer 1/3 of the potatoes over the bottom of the dish. Top with half of the mushroom mixture and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat with potatoes, mushroom mixture and mozzarella. Top with the last of the potatoes, the last of the mozzarella cheese and the remaining parmesan cheese. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil.

Bake for 40-45 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

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Two Cheese Salad with Croutons

3 thick slices of Texas bread

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp olive oil

1 large romaine lettuce, ripped into bite sized pieces

1 ripe avacado, cut into small pieces

2 tbsp juice from a lemon

freshly ground black pepper, to taste

lots of feta cheese

lots of parmesan cheese

balsamic vinegar

olive oil

Preheat oven to 400.

Cut the bread into cubes, and put them on a baking sheet. Drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle them with paprika and garlic powder. Bake 7-8 minutes until crisp.

Toss the avocado with the lemon juice and black pepper. Toss it together with the romaine lettuce, feta cheese, parmesan cheese, and croutons.

Make some basic balsamic vinegar dressing using the ratio of 3 parts olive oil to 1 part balsamic vinegar. Mix well and drizzle over the salad.

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And for a bit of cuteness... awww. These two are best buddies!

One of these days things will slow down.

August 2011 is officially nearing it's end. It has felt like a lifetime, and yet, a quick moment at the same time. It never ceases to amaze me how that can happen. Throughout the month, in my complete exhaustion, I felt it would never end. Closing Night for Oz felt like months or years away. Rhianna's dance camp that lasted every night of the first two weeks of August felt like it happened 3 months ago. But, when Closing Night was finally upon us, I was sad. Why did it have to come and go so quickly? Why did the journey have to be over so soon? I felt like I hadn't had the chance to truly enjoy it yet. The last show was incredible. Tiernan really grew into his characters as the weeks passed, and we were blown away. The whole cast was even more amazing than Opening Night and I found myself getting more than a little weepy on multiple occasions. At the end, when the entire room stood up at the very start of the final bow, I had to choke back real tears. As we waited around the back of the theatre for all the munchkins, we parents agreed that it felt like a minute, and a year. We all agreed that we were looking forward to the week of down time before school starts up again, but that it was sad to say farewell to Oz, and all the people who helped make it such a magical experience.

I waited a bit anxiously for my boy to come out for the last time. Would he feel sad and disappointed that it was over? But the minute I saw him trip up the stairs (literally!) from the dressing room and I saw the sparkle in his eyes, my heart was at ease again. He was so completely happy. He came out of there hooting and hollering, saying that this experience he had just lived through was incredible! He ran into the green room to say goodbye to the professional actors and the wonderful behind the scenes crew. He danced up and down the streets with such a lightness about him. He felt on top of the world! I am so proud of this Tiernan-guy of mine. ♥

My poor blog has been quite ignored this summer. I feel so neglectful. I'm sure things will become much more regular once our September routine rolls around. I worked Friday straight through to Tuesday, so Kyle was left to make dinner for us on Saturday and Sunday. My folks took it upon themselves to make a delicious veggie lasagna and a crazy fresh garden salad with apple crisp for dessert for Monday. Saturday was closing night, so it was an easy dinner of caesar salad and grilled cheese with smoked maple tempeh bacon. Sunday my husband made a very yummy Fiorentina Baked Pasta from 101 Vegetarian Dishes that I had been dying to try. He had it ready for when I got home (talk about role reversal!) and I appreciated it so much! That night we had our Date Night In with some sinful Mushroom Canapes (which started out from Simply Appetizers, but I changed a fair bit) and more episodes of LOST. We are so predictable! :) Tonight I made a Pesto Pasta Bake from Half Baked Gourmet Pasta that was unbelievably good! So good I ate two helpings.

Fiorentina Baked Pasta

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb mushrooms, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

salt and pepper, to taste

10 oz spinach and cheese dip (we used a simple recipe - to follow)

1 cup milk

3 oz parmesan cheese, grated

10 oz orzo pasta

Heat oven to 350.

Heat oil in a wok and add the mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Season with salt and pepper, and place in a shallow ovenproof dish sprayed with cooking spray.

Mix spinach dip, milk, half the parmesan cheese and the pasta in a bowl. Stir and season with pepper. Pour over the mushrooms in the container. Top with the remaining parmesan cheese.

Bake 45 minutes until pasta is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.

Spinach Dip

(leaves lots left over for snacking)

10 oz package of chopped frozen spinach, thawed

16 oz sour cream

1 cup mayonnaise

1 package of Knorr vegetable soup mix

Mix it all together, and chill for a few hours.

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Mushroom Canapes

30 cremini mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

2-3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup mayonnaise

3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

white pepper, to taste

1/2 cup asiago cheese, grated

butter crackers (we used Ritz)

Saute the mushrooms in oil until tender and liquid has cooked off. Put them in a bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well and serve warm.

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Pesto Pasta Bake

1 large bag of rigatoni (900 g)

1 batch of Jill's super fabulous yummy pesto sauce

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1 ball of fresh mozzarella, diced in small cubes (important to use the good stuff!)

2 cups parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350.

First make a batch of pesto.

Cook rigatoni according to package directions, until al dente. Drain well and place pasta in a large lasagna pan.

In a separate bowl, mix together the pesto, whipping cream, salt, and pepper until well combine. Pour over the pasta and stir well. Top with the fresh mozza and parmesan cheeses.

Bake 10-15 minutes until brown and bubbling. I broiled mine for a couple of minutes to brown.

It can't really be August 20th, can it?

Any times in the past that I've said I was busy... yeah.. ignore those. August is very, very, very busy this year! Between dance and Oz and soccer and work and visits .. I don't know if I'm coming or going anymore. In fact, I'm attempting to get this blog finished within 15 minutes so I can go pick Tiernan up from his second play today. Due to this crazy tornado of a month, we've been eating a lot of dinners that I've already blogged about. Like portobello mushroom pasta, veggie lasagna, taco dip, creamy asparagus pasta, caesar salad, (curried) chickpea salad sandwhiches, paninis and simple things like poutine and veggies and dip. You know - all the things I can make with my eyes closed. I do have a couple of super simple recipes to share, as well as one idea rather than recipe.

First though! Photos of some of our latest adventures.

Opening night of The Wizard of Oz at the Empire Theatre has come and passed! The show (which we attended) was fan-freaking-tastic! The cast - both professional and young company played their hearts out. The costumes, the singing, the story - all of it was amazing. The girl who plays Dorothy (Emma) is a friend of ours, and she is one talented young lady! She could knock your socks off with her triple threat talent - singing, dancing and acting. If you're in the area, please go to the show. There are still shows Sunday the 21st until Saturday the 27th with the exclusion of Monday the 22nd. Some days there are both the matinee and evening show, so check the website out and buy your tickets! It's so worth it.

On opening night we picked up some sunflowers (we have always called him our Sunshine) and a Wizard of Oz book to give to our little thespian. He also got a lollipop from one of the wonderful women who looks after all these munchkins. It was so thoughtful - a lollipop for the boys in the Lollipop Guild! I love it. Tiernan was adorable up on that stage as a munchkin, creepy as can be as a flying monkey and so graceful as snow. He did so well! We are incredibly proud of him - more than ever!

On the second day of Oz my sister Carole and her kids came into town to watch the play and then came over for dinner. What better place for the kids to eat than on the floor, picnic style? :)

The next day we held our tradition of a Pizza Pool Party at the hotel. The best part? They stayed at our hotel, the Best Western. We lived in that hotel for a month when we first moved here and it still feels like home to us. The smells from the cleaner. The perfect swimming pool - warm, not too deep, big floor to ceiling windows to let the light in. The breakfast/dining room that had the microwave we needed to use daily. I still remember warming my tea up there after getting the kids to school and then curling up in the big comfy bed in our suite watching MTV shows while I got over H1N1. I loved that hotel! If it hadn't cost that much to stay I might never have left. ;) I just wish our favourite girl had been working at the desk that day! I saw her leaving just as we were pulling in. She was awesome!

Hot tub!

All the cousins - best friends, always! These kids are so very close. It's an amazing thing to witness! (Their faces look a bit sad, but that's because it was time to say farewell.)

And now for the few food items I wanted to blog about. One is the Thai Chick-Un Pizza from Eat Drink & Be Vegan (very scrumptious!), one is some herbed buttermilk biscuits (very comforting!) and the other is english muffin pizzas (easy and great for snacks or school lunches!). Sometime I will blog the two different beer-y pizza crusts Kyle made in our bread maker (that we got from my Dad - thank you!). Right now is not the time, though! It's time for Lost.

Thai Chick-Un Pizza

Thai Sauce:

2/3 cup natural peanut butter

1/3 cup ketchup

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 cloves garlic, quartered

1 1/2 tbsp fresh chopped ginger

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup light coconut milk

1-2 tbsp water

1 1/2 - 2 tsp agave nectar

toppings:

1 cup cooked chickpeas

1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

3/4 cup pineapple chunks

1/2 cup bean sprouts

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. Spread the sauce over your pizza shell. In a bowl, lightly flatten the chickpeas. Sprinkle them over the crust. Add the bell pepper and pineapple over the crust as well. Bake 17-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and add the bean sprouts.

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Buttermilk Herbed Biscuits

2 cups flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 salt

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp dill

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all of the dry ingredients in one bowl. Cut in the butter and mix until crumbly. Add the buttermilk and mix well. Knead for a few minutes on a floured surface. Roll dough into round golf sized balls (or slightly bigger) and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes.

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A really great fun food dinner is english muffin pizzas. I think these will be a regular lunch food for the kids this year. Make some sauce at the beginning of the week and keep it in the fridge so I can easily whip some up in the morning before school. The kids will love it!

To make them just toast your english muffin, and put them on a baking sheet. Add your sauce, toppings of choice, cheese and then cook it in a 350 oven until the cheese starts to turn brown in places.

For the sauce this is what I do:

1 large can tomato paste

1/8 cup olive oil

3 tbsp pizza spice

pinch of red chilies

dash of sugar

Mix it up, store it in the fridge for up to a week. If you like your sauce thinner, add water. We like ours thick!

**Edited to add - I did not get this done in 15 minutes as I'd hoped. I started this 2 hours ago. Ha!**

We're alive and well!

I have been such a terrible blogger! June is typically a whirlwind, and this year is no different. It's been all wonderful though, so I'm not complaining.

So what exactly have we been up to? Well...

There has been canoeing on the Bay of Quinte!

There have been cousins visiting from Northern Ireland!

There was Dance Recital day for my two youngest kiddos.

There have been long walks along the trails and on the docks at the marina to drool over the boats.

There was Summer Solstice and all of the traditions it brings us!

And there was lots of crazy family antics!

This was only to name some of the fun. There was also a few different birthday parties, Father's Day, some soccer games for the biggest boy, watching of So You Think You Can Dance & SYTYCDCanada and more stops at playgrounds. This makes me even more excited for the adventures that await us this summer! Only three more days of school left. It's hard to believe.

Yes, we have also been eating delicious food. I admit to quite a few repeat dinners - ones that are pretty easy to throw together, along with some BBQs at my parents' house. I have made a few blog worthy items and I plan on writing a new entry tonight to include those. For now, I'm going to do some dishes and then maybe head out for a bike ride since it's not raining (yet!). They've been promising rain all week, but so far we haven't had much at all.

Enjoy the last few drops of your weekend, friends!

Tiernan is 10, and the world's best cinnamon buns!

Today, my baby boy turned ten. This kid is incredible. He could win over anyone's heart. He has the kindest heart - for everyone he meets. He's so wise beyond his years and had been from day one. Tiernan was always a very serious child; you could tell he was always thinking deep thoughts. Ironically enough, he also has an awesome sense of humour - one much like my own. ;) He and I share so many inside jokes that have us laughing so hard we're crying. We really get each other, and I just love that about him. It's a pretty special relationship and I am thankful each and every day for my Sunshine.

As per tradition, the kids got to eat cupcakes for breakfast this morning. Sounds like a great way to start your day, hey?

Avery is still very sick, and we're thinking it's mono since it's going around their school. We're beginning to think that's what Tiernan had when he was sick in April. Apparently you can get pneumonia after having mono. The rest of the symptoms are spot on. Avery has been so tired all week, barely being able to make it out of bed or off the couch. He has wicked headaches, and no appetite. I took him out with me, briefly, on Friday and halfway through our very short trip he was throwing up. Of course this is a long weekend here in Canada, but I'll call our doctor in the morning to see if the office is open. If not, I'll take him in on Tuesday.

The point to that little story (besides updating on the state of my guy) was to explain that we had our little family party outside on the back porch instead of inside where there are likely higher concentrations of germs hanging around. I don't want to infect my parents with mono (or whatever else it is), and the day was perfect for sitting out there. We had our garden party over lunch hour, feasting on the meal Tiernan chose. He requested pepper jack soup, VBSTCs and corn on the cob. Everyone gobbled it up, and still had room for some rainbow cupcakes (well, except for Avery who ate a few bites of his sandwich and almost all of his corn on the cob.).

I was planning on making some more werewolf cupcakes for Tiernan's family birthday, but the last week has been painfully busy. I've been far from inspired in the kitchen, and too exhausted to make anything too exciting. Instead of the werewolves, I decided to make rainbow cupcakes, and Tiernan asked if we could add a layer of Smarties inside the batter.... what a great idea! They were delicious! The best was when they first came out of the oven and the Smarties' chocolate was all melty and warm - oh my!

She picked this dress out just for her big brother's birthday. :)

And my poor Avery. He was in tears this morning because he really wanted to be healthy for his little brother's birthday.

Birthday boy with his proud grandparents!

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As I mentioned earlier, I've been feeling uninspired in the kitchen this week. I haven't been cooking anything new, and instead going for quick and easy. Last night was Date Night In, though, and that calls for some inspiration. I whipped up some cinnamon buns for us to eat while we played Settlers of Catan, and I must say - they were the best cinnamon buns, ever! Hot from the oven... oh yes. Would you like that recipe? Oh, I bet you do.

Best Cinnamon Buns, Ever!

dough:

1 tsp cane sugar

2 1/4 tsp dry active yeast

1/2 cup warm water

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup cane sugar

1/4 cup butter

1 tsp salt

2 eggs, beaten

4 cups flour

topping:

3/4 cup butter

3/4 cup cane sugar

1 cup pecans, chopped

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup melted butter

Dissolve 1 tsp sugar and yeast in the warm water, whisk, and set aside for about 10 minutes until frothy.

Warm the milk in a small saucepan until it bubbles. Remove from the heat and mix in 1/4 cup cane sugar, 1/4 cup butter and salt. Stir until melted, and then cool to lukewarm.

In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture, the milk mixture, the eggs and 1 1/2 cups flour. Use an electric mixer to combine. Slowly add the rest of the flour, 1/2 cup at a time. Continue mixing with dough hooks on an electric mixer. If it isn't smooth and elastic, turn onto a lightly floured surface and knead the dough.

Oil a bowl, and coat the dough with the oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let it double in size, about an hour.

While the dough is rising, melt 3/4 cup butter in a saucepan. Stir in the brown sugar and mix until smooth. Pour it into a greased 9x13 pan and then sprinkle with half of the chopped pecans.

Melt the remaining butter and set aside. Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and second half of the chopped pecans in a small bowl. Set aside.

Roll the dough into an 18x 14 rectangle. Brush the dough with half of the melted butter, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture over the butter. Roll the dough up from the longer side. Pinch the seam to seal. Cut the roll into 15 pieces, and place them into the prepared 9x13 pan. Brush the tops with the remaining half of the butter.

Cover the pan with the damp towel, and let it rise for one more hour.

Preheat oven to 350.

Bake the cinnamon buns (uncovered) for 25-30 minutes until they begin to go golden. When you remove them from the oven, immediately invert the pan onto a serving platter. Make sure to scrape out all the butter/sugar mixture from the bottom of the pan and spread it over top.

Enjoy!

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The best part about making those cinnamon buns? It felt so good to be back in the kitchen! I'm ready for the week ahead... I'm going to make some serious messes in there. Watch out, husband of mine. ;)

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!

Quesadillas + Holiday = Love

Earth Day has been so deliciously relaxing. We slept in (until 9am!!), we cuddled in bed, we caught up on Amazing Race and Survivor (these, along with So You Think You Can Dance/Canada, are the only shows we allow the kids to watch with us), and we took an evening bike ride. We stopped at the park, and TBone was happy to see a friend of his from class there. It's always more fun at the playground when there are friends! Especially since this particular playground has very little equipment. Unfortunately, Tiernan's coughing hasn't gotten any better. The air was a bit crisp, and when we got home he was having a hacking fit - complete with gagging. He ended up feverish and cold, but seemed to go to sleep soundly tonight. We'll have to make sure to take it pretty easy for the rest of the weekend. We are supposed to be joining my folks for dinner on Sunday, but I'm thinking we may skip out if Tiernan doesn't feel better by then.


Avery's getting to be so mature these days. Hard to wrap my head around the fact that he'll be in junior high next year. I so do not have a kid that age, do I? I really enjoy the young man he's growing into. The funniest thing is that he is a clone of his father. He and Kyle and so very much alike, personality wise. The only things he got from me was his humanitarianism, sensitivity and perfectionism. He's mostly Kyle, though. :) He's a really good kid. Avery was the easiest baby, everrrr. He was a laid back toddler. He has been an easy going child. I can only hold out hope that this fantastic personality of his stays like this right through the teenage years. Please?

♥

Today was Fun Food Friday! This means simple, quick, yummy favourites! I threw together some quesadillas and served them with leftover fruit salad. I eat mine with sour cream and salsa, mixed up together. Perfect dinner for today.

Mushroom, Spinach and Feta Quesadillas

1 1/2 tbsp olive oil

6 portobello mushroom caps, sliced thinly

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

3 cups baby spinach

1 1/2 cup feta cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

7 whole wheat tortilla wraps

Heat the olive oil in a cast iron pan and add the mushrooms. Cook the mushrooms until they are golden brown in colour. Add the garlic, and cook for another minute. Add the spinach, and stir until it's wilted, but still green.

Divide the feta and mozzarella cheese evenly between all of the tortilla wraps, putting it only on one half of the wrap. Add the mushroom mixture to the same side of each of the wraps. Fold the wraps over so they become a half circle, and cook on a crepe pan for a few minutes each side until they are golden.

Taco Overdose?

Last night at Kung Fu all of our kids got a new belt. Well, technically, only Tiernan got his yellow belt since Sensei didn't yet have the yellow tipped belts that Rhianna and Avery were supposed to get. They should be in next week, and then I'll make sure to take a picture of the other two proudly showing off their yellow tips. No more Kung Fu until September, so the kids will have to practice a lot over the Spring/Summer to keep up with what they've learned so far. Tiernan is super pumped to have his full on yellow belt now... as you can see in this picture... :)

Friday has been really good to me this week. We had a very easy dinner for Fun Food Friday - tacos in a bag! We recently discovered this treasure, and it quickly became an absolute favourite in our house. There really isn't a recipe per se, but I'll write out the steps I use for mine.



First I whip up a quick batch of veggie taco filling. I heat a tbsp of olive oil in a wok/skillet and add one onion (chopped) and whatever bell pepper I have in the house (today I had a yellow bell pepper, chopped). I cook it until it's soft and then add a can of lentils (drained and rinsed), a can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed), and a can of black beans (drained and rinsed). I stir it up until the legumes are heated through and then I add two packages of Old El Paso Taco seasoning and a splash of water (enough to make a bit of a sauce). Heat until thickened and warmed through and then it's ready!



Take a small bag of tortilla chips (Kyle and Avery use plain, but Tiernan, Rhianna and I like some flavouring to ours), cut the top of the bag off and crunch the chips up in the bottom of the bag. Add a few scoops of the taco filling, some lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsa (or Thousand Island!) and it's ready to be eaten.

Oh, yes... the perfect bite!

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Tiernan headed over to a friend's house after school today so he wasn't around for tacos in a bag.. he gets it for lunch tomorrow! Instead, he ate four helpings of their spaghetti dinner. Maybe I should have warned them that he's going through a growth spurt?? Eeep. While he was at his friend's place Avery suggested we play a game of Catan (Kyle won) while we waited for TBone. I hadn't played that game in soooooo long and I missed it so much (even if I sucked today). I feel whole again. ;)

Tonight was also Rhianna's Date Night with Kyle and I. We try to take some time with each of our kids on their own doing whatever they ask to do. Rhianna's choice was to watch Ramona and Beezus and eat her favourite snack - taco dip! The movie was really cute and it made me want to reread the books. Luckily, Rhianna has them so I just might do that! Maybe she and I can read them together. Yes, I think we will. The taco dip was delicious as usual. It's such an easy thing to make, too. Unfortunately, it's hard to stop eating it once you've made it, so I try not to make it more than once or twice a year. So yummy. Too yummy.

Taco Dip

1 brick light cream cheese, softened to room temperature

1 cup light sour cream

1 package Old El Paso Taco seasoning

lettuce, shredded

tomatoes, diced (I didn't use any tonight because Rhianna doesn't like tomatoes on their own)

cheddar cheese, shredded

Mix together the cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning with an electric mixer until smooth and no lumps of cream cheese are left. Chill for several hours. Top with lettuce, tomatoes and cheddar cheese. Serve with tortilla chips.

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Cheers to this wonderful weekend, friends! Enjoy. :)

I'm flattered!

My son, Tiernan, and I were just sitting on the couch together chatting. He was eating an apple (loudly) so to point it out to him, I tried to copy the sounds. And you know what he says?

"No offense or anything, Mummy, but you seriously sound like a pig!"

Haha. Yup.

Cookies and biscuits and soup, oh my!

Today was a fun day in the kitchen, and when I was finished it was a complete and utter disaster. The good thing is that I have a husband and kids who are quite content to clean up the mess after their tummies are full from the yummy goodness. That's when I sit down, put my feet up and not go back in until it's spotless again. Cause I'm nice like that. Ha!

So what was I up to? Well, first up was my always popular Oatmeal Whatever cookies. Whenever I bring these anywhere, or give them to anyone, they get devoured in minutes. My children are always comparing other cookies to these ones (your cookies are WAY better Mummy! ... aww, thanks kiddos), and know the minute they walk in the door from school that I've baked some. Today was definitely no exception.

My eldest son called me from school today to tell me we won a Pampered Chef cookie tray at a draw they recently had. I zipped down to that school faster than you can say "kaboom", picked up some eggs at the store and came right back home to bake.

The tray worked better than I could have imagined. I am completely sold!

And now for the recipe:

Oatmeal Whatever Cookies

1 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 egg

2 tsp pure vanilla

2 1/2 cups quick cooking oats

1/4 cup coconut

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups of whatever you want (chocolate chips, mini M&Ms, raisins, seeds, nuts etc)

(add some cinnamon or nutmeg if using raisins!)

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter and sugar together in a large bowl. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Blend in remaining dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. (I often use my hands at this point) Add chocolate chips (etc).

Drop by rounded tsps onto an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 minutes, cool and enjoy!

Dinner tonight was inspired by two of my friends! I made a Baked Baked Potato Soup which was adapted from Christine's recipe, along with some cheddar biscuits from Jill's blog. I didn't change anything about the biscuits, so I won't repost the recipe, but I'll post the adapted version of the soup. It was delicious and my boys couldn't gobble it up fast enough!

Baked Baked Potato Soup

10 medium potatoes, washed, dried and pierced with a fork

2 tbsp olive oil (divided)

1 1/2 tsp coarse sea salt (divided)

3/4 tsp freshly ground pepper (divided)

1/4 cup butter

4 large cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

3 cups vegetable broth

2 cups water

1 tsp ground sage

2-3 cups grated cheddar cheese

sour cream (dallop for each bowl)

3 green onions, chopped

Preheat oven to 425.

Place the potatoes on a large baking sheet. Mix 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tsp coarse sea salt and 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl. Brush the olive oil mixture over the potatoes. Put the potatoes in the oven and bake for 45 minutes until they pierce easily with a fork.

Once potatoes are cooked and cooled a bit, heat the butter in a large pot. Once the butter is melted, add the garlic and cook for a minute making sure it doesn't brown. Add the 2 tbsp flour and whisk constantly for 1 minute making a roux. Slowly add 1/2 cup of broth until well blended. Add the remaining stock and water.

Chop 5 of the potatoes into bite sized chunks and add to the pot. Then scoop the white insides out of the other 5 potatoes and add that to the pot as well. Add the sage and stir. Simmer on low.

Coarsely chop the remaining potato peels and place them on the baking sheet you used to cook the potatoes. Drizzle with remaining olive oil, coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bake them for about 20-25 minutes until they become crispy little potato skin fries.

While the potato skins are crisping up, take an immersion blender and pulse it a few times to smooth the soup out a bit - leaving some chunks of potatoes in the process.

Once the potato skin chips are ready, place the soup into ramekins, top with grated cheddar and broil for a few minutes until the cheese has melted. Remove them from the oven, add some potato skin chips, a dallop of sour cream, some chopped green onions and salt and pepper, to taste.

Delicious!

In other news, I love taking Tiernan to Tap dance on Monday nights. We drive with the music on full blast while singing, dancing and laughing our heads off. We don't get a whole lot of time alone these days, and I really cherish those moments. Hard to believe he's almost 10. When did that even happen?