Hello? Is anybody out there?

Been a while, huh? There is a string of excuses as to why I didn't update this blog - the holiday season, two new jobs, trying to find a good balance in this new life... just instead of elaborating, I'll just say, "I'm back!".

Over the past few months I've been pretty bad at taking food photos. I did, however, manage to take a few. I'm going to add a couple of posts with a few new recipes on them, and then hopefully I can get back into the swing of things blog-wise.

This is a recipe I found in Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. I altered it only very slightly, and it was pretty good. The kids loved it, but they love anything with tofu in it.

Broccoli, Cashew Teriyaki Tofu Stir Fry

Tofu:

1 block extra firm tofu, cut into bite sized pieces

1 tbsp soy sauce

1.5 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Teriyaki Sauce:

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

3.5 tbsp agave nectar

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp blackstrap molasses

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 inch fresh ginger root, grated

1 tbsp arrowroot powder

Stir-Fry:

2 tbsp olive oil

4.5 cups broccoli pieces

sea salt, to taste

2 tsp water

1 large bell pepper (I used red pepper), chopped

1/2 cup raw cashews

In a shallow dish, add tofu. Pour soy sauce and vinegar over the tofu for at least 10 minutes. Stir it once.

In a large bowl whisk all the ingredients for for teriyaki sauce until the arrowroot powder has dissolved.

In a large wok on high, heat 1 tbsp oil. Add the tofu and cook for 4-5 minutes, then turn over and cook the other side another 3 minutes. Remove the tofu from the wok and set aside. Turn the heat to medium, add another tbsp of oil and add the broccoli, salt and water. Toss, cover, and cook for 4-5 minutes until broccoli is bright green. Add bell peppers and saute another 1-2 minutes. Add the teriyaki sauce and increase to high heat. Toss well, and let the sauce come to a slow boil. Once it's at a slow boil and has thickened, add the tofu and cashews. Toss to combine. Remove from heat and serve over some rice noodles.

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I know this isn't much to look at, but this recipe was fantastic! It was deeeeeelicious. YUM. I found it in a cookbook called 'Casseroles' while I was working at the book store (that is no longer.. so sad). I upped the garlic, omitted the cornstarch & water, but left the rest the same.

Harvest Vegetable and Lentil Casserole

1 tbsp olive oil

2 leeks, sliced

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, sliced

2 parsnips, sliced

1 sweet potato, diced

8oz rutabaga, diced

3/4 cup dried brown, lentils

1 lb tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tbsp fresh marjoram, chopped

3 3/4 cup vegetable stock

salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat the oil. Add leeks, garlic and celery. Cook 3 minutes. Add carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, lentils, tomatoes, thyme, marjoram and vegetable stock. Season with salt and pepper. Bring it to a boil and transfer to a casserole dish (we had to use two dishes). Bake for 50 minutes.

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I threw this dish together one afternoon when I was stumped about what to make for dinner. It turned out quite well!

Slow Cooked Spinach & Cheese Pasta

2 tbsp butter

1/3 cup all purpose flour

2 1/2 cups milk

1 tsp white pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 nutmeg, grated

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 cups whipping cream

5 cups baby spinach

1 red pepper, chopped

1 bag medium shell noodles (uncooked)

1 cup parmesan cheese

In a medium-large sized pot, melt the butter. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the milk and whisk until smooth. Add the pepper, salt, nutmeg, garlic, Dijon, ricotta cheese, spinach and whipping cream. Mix until smooth and the spinach has wilted. Place the noodles in a slow cooker, and add the mixture from the pot. Add the red pepper and stir to combine. Add the grated parmesan cheese to the top, cover and cook on high for about 3 hours. Test your pasta to see if it's cooked through since cooking times vary with different slow cookers.

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I've been making these cookies for about 4 years now. I found them in 'Vegan with a Vengeance'! These are Rhianna's favourite cookie!

Ginger Molasses Cookies

4 tbsp raw sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

2 1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup soy milk

1 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Place the raw sugar in a bowl.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda, salt and spices. In a large bowl mix together the canola oil, molasses, soy milk, sugar and vanilla. Pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well.

Roll into 1 inch balls, flatten and roll in the sugar.

Bake for about 10 minutes.

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Peanut Butter Blossoms - definitely a favourite holiday cookie in this house!

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These cookies are my Mum's specialty. My siblings and I all love Mum's whipped shortbread, and quite frankly, it isn't the holiday season until you take your first bite of these melt-in-your-mouth cookies.

Whipped Shortbread

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/2 cup icing sugar

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350.

In a large bowl add the butter, cornstarch, icing sugar and salt. Using an electric mixer, mix until the dry ingredients have been absorbed into the butter. Add the flour and continue to mix until the dough's texture is like whipped cream.

Drop by small teaspoons onto a cookie tray. Top with some sprinkles or half of a maraschino cherry and bake until very light brown at the edges, 8-10 minutes.

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Our New Year's Eve was delightful. We had a quiet night at home and let the kids stay up to ring in the new year for the first time. I made these special virgin drinks for midnight and they were enjoyed by all.

Sunset Sippers

3 cups orange juice

1 1/2 cups apple juice

3/4 cup lemonade

12 oz ginger ale

grenadine syrup

In a large pitcher, combine the orange juice, apple juice, lemonade and ginger ale. Pour 1-2 tbsp of grenadine in each glass and top with the mixed juice.

Long weekends call for long blog entries.

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.

Simple & Tasty

We got to meet Avery's indoor soccer team tonight. It looks like it's going to be a promising season. Avery already knew about half the team, the kids all seemed to be in good spirits, and I like the coach already. I'm really looking forward to another indoor season! There's nothing quite like freezing your butt off on the hard metal benches at the dome. ;)

Dinner was another simple one (seems to be my theme lately!). I got the vegetable recipe from The Earthbound Cook and the hash brown recipe is from One Bite Won't Kill You. I just served them with some basic browned beans. Easy, but tasty.

Hashbrown Surprise

32 oz bag frozen hashbrowns

can cream of mushroom soup

8 tbsp butter, melted

4 green onions, chopped

1 cup sour cream

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

4 cups corn flakes, crushed

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together the mushroom soup, melted butter, green onions, sour cream, and grated cheddar cheese in a large bowl. Add the hashbrowns and stir well.

Pour into a 9x13 pan. Sprinkle the crushed corn flakes over the top. Cook for about 25 minutes.

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Skillet Roasted Parsnips and Carrots

3 tbsp olive oil

1 lb parsnips, peeled and cut on a diagonal into 3/4 inch pieces

1 lb carrots cut the same way

1/4 cup orange juice

1/2 cup hot water

2 tsp honey

2 tsp sugar

fresh or dried parsley

salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a skillet or wok. Add the veggies and cook 12-15 minutes.

Mix hot water, juice and honey together until the honey dissolves. Add the juice to the skillet, bring to a boil, lower heat and cover. Cook another 10 minutes.

Remove the cover, raise the heat and cook about 5 minutes until the liquid evaporates.

Sprinkle with sugar and cook another 3-5 minutes until the carrots and parsnips are caramelized. Stir in parsley, salt and pepper, to taste.

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!

Lazy Perogy Casserole and Avery gets a job!

What a big day for Avery today! There was no sleeping in for us this morning since we had to get him to his Challenger British soccer camp. It's full days of soccer from 9-4 all week. The fact that it's outside all day with no indoor breaks, or even much shade aside from lunch hour under the trees or the couple of umbrella tents they have set up. It's well into the 30s (celsius) with the humidex this week, so I was a bit worried about him and the amount of water he had (can't help it, I'm a mama!). I stopped by part way through the morning to bring him a third large stainless steel water bottle. When I got there I watched him for a while from the van and he looked so happy and comfortable. Once I saw them head over for a water break I brought the water to him and he was chatting nonstop about how awesome the camp is. I think this is going to great for his soccer confidence! Well worth the $42/day price tag. :)

Guess what else happened for Avery today? He started his very first job! :D My boy is now delivering the local paper. I went with him today just to make sure he didn't run into any problems (there's that mama thing again!), but he totally didn't need me there. He was finished in no time, and pretty much collapsed on the couch after he had his shower. That was a long day for him! I am so proud of that kid. He's growing up so quickly.. sniff, sniff. It's so bittersweet. I still think of him as that chubby, big-cheeked, curly topped, blond haired, blue eyed Cheeky Charlie. ♥

Dinner tonight was another huge hit! Everyone in the house gobbled theirs up, and the boys even begged for huge second helpings. Tiernan's opinion? "I could eat this for every meal of every day for a YEAR!" Haha. The Lazy Perogy Casserole (I think "lazy" is my theme for the week - yesterday's lasagna was considered lazy, too.) I made used to be in regular rotation wayyyy back when the kids were teeny.. before I was even pregnant with Rhianna - back when we still ate meat. I sort of forgot about it until I found my old food blog (it's terrible.. don't look too hard!) and saw it on there. I think it'll be going back into rotation again or I'll have some very disappointed children on my hands. I served it with some tin foil oven roasted veggies - asparagus (won't do that one roasted again!), parsnips, carrots, Spanish onion and zucchini seasoned with garlic and thyme in margarine, and some veggie sausages. A very satisfying meal. :) The picture pretty much sucks, though - we watched 'Whispers of the Heart' while we ate, so the lighting is terrible.

Lazy Perogy Casserole

15 whole wheat lasagna noodles

3 lbs of red potatoes, peeled and halved or quartered

4 tbsp butter

splash or two of milk

2 cups cheddar cheese, grated

1 1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup butter

2 yellow onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook the noodles according to package directions. Once they're cooked, drain well.

Meanwhile, put the potatoes into a pot of water and bring to a boil. Cook until tender. Drain and remove from heat. Add the butter, milk, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cheddar cheese. Mash well and set aside.

In a small saucepan, melt the 1/2 cup butter. Add the onions, and cook on medium until the onions have caramelized.

Prepare the casserole as follows:

Spray a lasagna pan with some cooking spray. Layer 5 lasagna noodles on the bottom of the pan to cover it. Spread half of the mashed potato mixture over top (I find a fork works best). Add another layer of 5 lasagna noodles, and top it with the second half of the mashed potato mixture. Top the potatoes with the last 5 lasagna noodles. Pour the butter and onions evenly overtop, making sure the spread the butter around.

Cover the dish with foil and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes before cutting it into slices. Serve with sour cream.

I turned the oven on!

Who doesn't love a veggie filled, cheese topped, Mexican bean pie? I know, right? I definitely do! I actually turned my oven on today despite the high humidity (unlike yesterday!). I'm not sure I will ever be used to the humidity of Southern Ontario.. it's pretty intense. I could not be more thankful for my air conditioning. Last night we had some crazy thunder storms, including some funnel clouds nearby. It went from bright and sunny to black and gloomy in a nanosecond. The winds were really high, and there are trees are down all over the city. It makes me worry about all those little creatures who have made these trees their home. I can't think about it because it rips my heart out.

I got tonight's recipe from my lovely friend Mary Jo a long while ago. It's delicious!

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Black Bean Enchilada Pie

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, diced

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 medium zucchini, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup frozen corn

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup salsa + extra for the bottom

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tbsp cumin

4 cups cheddar cheese, grated

1 package corn tortillas

Preheat oven to 350.

Saute the onions, peppers, zucchini and garlic in olive oil until soft and fully cooked. Once it's cooked, remove from heat and add the corn, black beans, 1 cup salsa, chili powder and cumin. Stir well to combine.

Spread some salsa in the bottom of an 8x11 inch baking dish. Cover the bottom with corn tortillas. Add half of the bean mixture and spread it over the tortillas. Top with 2 cups of cheddar cheese. Add another layer of tortillas, the other half of the bean mixture, and the last two cups of cheddar cheese.

Cook for 15-25 minutes until it heats through and the cheese melts.

One of those days. Again.

My family is lucky that they got anything for dinner today. Ha! I had a wicked headache from the humidity (30C... after weeks of rain and cool weather!), I was tired, and a tad bit grumpy. I was half tempted to just lay on the couch under a blanket and tell Kyle there was no dinner today. Somehow I managed to make half of what I had planned on the menu, just leaving out the minestrone soup. It may not have been the most well rounded meal, but everyone gobbled it up. I consider that a success when trying a new recipe. And after a day like today, that's good enough for me.

Now onto the actual meal... I made a Vegetable Upside-Down Casserole from The Vegetarian Family Cookbook I got from my sister-in-law, Tannis, years ago. I'll definitely be making it again.

Vegetable Upside-Down Casserole

4 cups of chopped veggies (today I used broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, red pepper and green pepper)

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup wheat germ

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup plain yogurt

3/4 cup milk

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese (I probably used more than that - I covered it with cheese, maybe 1 cup)

Saute the veggies for a few minutes until tender; set aside.

Preheat oven to 375.

The recipe says to lightly oil a round 2 qt dish, or a 9x13 baking pan, but I forgot to oil it and it was fine. :)

Combine the flour, wheat germ, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre and add the yogurt, milk, and vegetable oil. Stir together until well mixed.

Add the veggies to the dish and sprinkle with cheese. Pour the batter over the cheese and veggies, and spread it evenly.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is golden and firm. Let stand for 10 minutes and then cut and serve.

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And now I'm off to watch the Montreal-Boston hockey game... number 7! Tied up and into overtime.... Go Habs! Once we (hopefully) win the game, it's to bed with my kids. It's so loud in here! ;)

So much blue.

Another weekend has come and passed all too quickly. Our Saturday was busier than usual, but the timing was perfect so it left us enough time between activities that we weren't too rushed. At the kids' bowling league they had a competition for the Family Two Step. Each of the kids gets to bring a parent/grandparent/uncle/aunt etc to bowl with them as a team. One pairing goes on to a zone tournament for each level. Kyle and Tiernan bowled together and did a wonderful job, even bowling a 198 game! Avery bowled with my Dad, his Pa, and they also had great games. Neither of them won their age groups, but Rhianna and her Nana (my Mum) won at their level by 1 pin! There are only two Peewees at our bowling alley so it was either them or Rhianna & Nana. They both seem pretty excited to be going on to the zone levels next weekend. Way to go, Rhianna and Mum! What a cool tournament to have won.

The rest of Saturday was a whirlwind of lunch, soccer drills, dance practice for the hospice Rhianna is in, a soccer game, home for dinner (nothing special - we went with easy since I didn't have time to start the slow cooker after bowling as planned), and then... DATE NIGHT IN! Kyle and I watched half of The Tourist before I told him I was falling asleep. How pathetic am I? Haha. We didn't even make and eat the dip I was going to make for date night since we were so full from our filling dinner. It's okay, though.. I made it today instead. Yum!

This morning we woke to the brightest sun shining, so we took the kids and Tibbs down to the waterfront trails for a walk. We love these trails, and go as often as we can. With our busy schedule these days it hasn't been nearly enough. I love looking out onto Quinte Bay (part of Lake Ontario), watching the birds swim around and looking for fish near the shores. There were lots of people there today. There were people on roller blades, running, riding bicycles, walking their dogs, or just casually strolling. The water was so blue, as was the sky... and the best part... I wore my birk sandals for the first time this year! How liberating! I hope this weather is here to stay. I know everyone is dreading our rainy upcoming week, but I'm totally and completely okay with that. Rain makes this mama very happy. Bring it on! Rain or shine, I don't care as long as it isn't snow.

There's a little area of rocks that you can climb across to get further out into the water, and we absolutely cannot ever walk past this spot without heading out there. The kids love to push the boundries (Mummy, can we go a little further? Mummy... that rock has a feather, can I go there? Just a few more rocks out, Mummy?), and the dog always stops for a drink. Typically there are lots of birds sitting on the end of the rocks, but today there was one lone gull.

♥

We had a full house this afternoon since all three kids invited a friend over. They mostly played outside - basketball, hockey, Beyblades, skipping, swinging and climbing trees. They polished off an entire watermelon, and spent some time fleeting from one toy to another in the house. During this time Kyle worked on taking the wallpaper off Tiernan's ceiling (UGGHHHHH) and I played around in the kitchen. I threw what I had planned for yesterday's dinner into the slow cooker for tonight, and then made the dip I was supposed to make for Date Night.

After dinner we headed out to Dairy Queen for some ice cream! My favourite ice cream store isn't open for the season, yet, so DQ just had to cut it. Big disappointment since they didn't even have any waffle cones OR bowls! Both Rhianna and I were pretty sad. I love Tiernan's BRAIN FREEZE look in this picture. He cracks me up, the ham.

One other picture I just have to share before getting into the whole dinner/recipe part of this entry...



Two more reasons I love my husband: 1) he will jump in to play a random game of Twister with our kids while I update my blog and 2) just after this photo was taken he said "Uh oh" and farted. Hahaha. I am such a child because I find this hilarious. :)

And now for dinner today...

I made a slow cooked enchilada casserole and served it simply with some spinach and pumpkin seeds. I had been searching for some recipes like this one online a while back and found a few (meat) recipes so I took my favourite parts of those to make the following recipe. The kids enjoy this recipe a lot - it's a "Mexican Lasagna" according to my kids. :) So, today was a Slow Cooker Sunday... and as Tiernan put it, that's not as strange as Soup Sundays! Ha... love that boy.

I'll also include the recipe for our Afternoon Date Dip. ;) I found this artichoke dip (and only altered it slightly) in a cookbook called Rose Reisman's Light Vegetarian Cooking. My sister got this cookbook for me for our Thrifty Crafty Christmas last year, and everything I've tried in it has been delicious! We had made this dip before, and decided it was a definite keeper.

Enchilada Casserole

12-14 flour tortillas, cut into thirds

1 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 tall jar salsa

1/2 of a 28oz can enchilada sauce

1 bag Tex Mex cheese (Kraft.. I use the bigger bag)

First put some olive oil in a skillet and fry the chopped onion until soft. Add the seasonings and stir to coat. Remove from heat.

Spray your crock pot down with some cooking spray and line the bottom with flour tortillas.

Next, spread 1/3 of the black beans, 1/3 of the kidney beans, 1/3 of the cooked onion, 1/3 of the salsa and enough enchilada sauce to cover the top. Then sprinkle the layer with 1/4 of the Tex Mex cheese. Repeat with two more layers done the same way. End with another layer of tortillas. Spread some enchilada sauce (cover the tortillas) and the remaining cheese.

Cook on low for about 4-6 hours.

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Three Cheese Artichoke Dill Dip

14 oz can artichoke hearts, drained and halved

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup shredded swiss cheese

1 tsp dried dill

1/4 cup light sour cream

3 tbsp light mayonnaise

1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

pinch cayenne pepper

grated parmesan, to cover the top

Preheat oven to 350.

In a food processor, combine all the ingredients except for the parmesan cheese. Process on and off until just combined, but still chunky. Place in a small casserole dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Bake uncovered for 10 minutes. Broil for 3-5 minutes until top is browned.

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.