Three is better than none, right?

I haven't had many chances to get this entry done now that my computer cord has seized, but I am completely monopolizing my husband's computer while he's out. Hopefully I can get this done and caught up so it's not so overwhelming.

Let's get right to it. Here are a couple of my favourites from the last couple of weeks. Unfortunately, I didn't take photos of much so I'll be sure to make everything again so I can share.

For date night on Saturday I decided I needed a warm spinach and artichoke dip. Needed! Didn't take much to throw it together and it was divine served with some pumpernickel bread. I could totally eat some of that again now.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

4 cups baby spinach

1/2 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup parmesan cheese + 1 cup

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook the spinach leaves in a wok until wilted, being careful they don't stick.

Warm the cream cheese up in the microwave for about a minute until it's softened.

Mix all of the ingredients (aside from the extra cup of parmesan cheese) together in a shallow casserole dish, mixing well. Top with the remaining parmesan and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.

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On one of our crazy dance days I made a slow cooker lentil soup with some cheese buns. It doesn't look like much, but it was quite tasty and filling so worth recording.

Lentil Soup

1 lb dried lentils, rinsed and picked over

1 qt of vegetable broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

a few handfuls of baby carrots, sliced

1 medium onion, diced

2 stalks celery, sliced

3 cups water

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Throw it all in a slow cooker and let it cook on low all day long.

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I made this creamy slow cooked rigatoni today because it was the dreaded Flyer Day. This allowed everyone to have a quick bite to eat before leaving the house to deliver flyers, and the intention was to have the salad and bread when they got back from flyers. The pasta turned out really well for something so simple, I must say. Much better than the photo looks. ;)

Creamy Slow Cooked Rigatoni

4 cups rigatoni, cooked for about 7 minutes until just tender

28 oz crushed tomatoes

10 oz can cream of mushroom soup

2 tbsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups grated cheddar cheese

Mix together the crushed tomatoes, mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and cheddar cheese into the slow cooker and stir well to combine. Throw in the already cooked and drained pasta and mix together.

Cook for about 4-5 hours on low.

52 Meals, 52 Countries, 52 Weeks - Japan

I'm a bit behind when it comes to blogging right now since my laptop cord decided to die on me. Finding time on my husband's computer when he's not using it and I actually have time is not an easy task. Despite the fact that I haven't been updating, I have been recording our kitchen adventures. Which brings me to...

Japan! This was Tiernan's first country of choice, and I have to say there were no complaints from me. I love everything about Japan - the people, the scenery, the way of life. Just take away the dolphin slaughtering and you have a perfect place. ;)

For our meal we could have made sushi, but that's a regular occurrence around here, so we went with some Udon Noodle Soup, a Wakame Salad and some Pockys for dessert. Originally I wanted to make an adzuki bean dessert, but my local ethnic food store was completely out of them. Soooo, we opted for one of the kids' favourites - Pockys! Unfortunately you can't get any of the fun flavours here in Belleville, but a Pocky is a Pocky. Dinner was definitely a success with all three kids devouring every bit of it. Tiernan loved it all the same, Rhianna loved the salad best and Avery loved the soup best. Those three are always so different from each other. :) I find the flavouring in Japanese food makes me feel awake and alive!

In Japan you typically sit on the floor with your feet tucked under you, in front of a low table. We don't have any such table, so we sat around a games table with the legs down. Haha, not exactly authentic, but it still did the trick. We were very careful when it came to the Japanese dinner rules - like never leaving your chops sticks sitting inside your bowl, and never using them to point at anyone or anything. To eat the soup we read that we were to eat the noodles and mushrooms (etc) with the chopsticks (slurping welcomed!) and then drink the broth. Feet are to be resting under you, and never pointing out at anyone else. With our dinner we served loose leaf green tea and I think this might have been the kids' favourite part. We made sure to follow the Japanese tea customs as well. For instance, you should never ask for a drink. If you would like some tea and no one has served you any, you can fill up everyone else's cups before topping up your own. It is polite to top up anyone's cup if they have room for more tea. If you don't want any more to drink, you simply leave your cup full. It took some getting used to, but by the end of dinner the kids were all serving the whole table. Fun! The only Japanese words we learned for this was "itadakimasu" which they say before eating which means "I receive" and "gochisousamadeshita" at the end of dinner meaning "It was a feast".

Wakame Salad

10 oz dried wakame

4 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp sesame oil

4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp ginger, grated

1 tsp sugar

2 large cloves garlic, minced

3 green onions, slived

1 tbsp white sesame seeds

1/2 tbsp black sesame seeds

Place the seaweed in a large bowl and cover with water. Soak for 5-6 minutes until it's tender and tripled in size. Drain.

Meanwhile, combine the vinegar, sesame oil, ginger, sugar, garlic and green onions. Stir until the sugar dissolves.

Toss the seaweed with the dressing and let it sit at least 10 minutes allowing the tastes to mingle.

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Udon Noodle Soup

1 package of dried mixed mushrooms

4 slices of ginger

3 cloves garlic, minced

1400 ml of water

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

4 tbsp soy sauce

4 tbsp sherry

4 single serve packs of udon noodles

2 chopped green onions

Mix the mushrooms, ginger, garlic and water in a pot. Bring it to a boil and simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the mushrooms are rehydrated. Add the sugar, soy sauce and sherry and simmer another minute or two.

In the meantime, cook the udon noodles in a separate pot of boiling for 5 minutes. Drain well.

Divide the noodles among the individual bowls. Ladle some of broth into the bowls to cover the noodles. Top with some green onion and serve.

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Pocky! :)

We now have two countries coloured in on our Asian map! Such fun!

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.

French Onion Soup FTW!

Dinner last night was a complete write off. Southern Ontario was warm. Actually, warm is an understatement! It was hot, humid, sticky and gross. I'm not a fan of the heat and humidity and honestly never have been (unless I'm at the beach!). The humidity around here is painful, but I knew what I was getting into when we moved out here. I refused to turn on the oven or even make anything to eat, so we quickly got ready when the kids got home from school, and Kyle got home from work and headed out for a bite to eat. Everyone except for me chowed down on BK veggie burgers, and I opted for a Quiznos sub. Dinner done, and no guilt. ;)

Avery had his first soccer game (#13!) of the season in the 35C heat. Kyle's the assistant coach so that left me tending to the other two rather whiney children. Have I mentioned that none of us enjoy the heat? Tiernan is the worst out of everybody, but that doesn't surprise me in the least considering how fair he is. My little blondie. Rhianna handles it better than her siblings... she just doesn't like being in the company of bugs! It's always something with kids, isn't it? After a few moments, they got over the heat and bugs and had some fun kicking around Avery's soccer ball and making new friends. :)

Oh, don't let this adorable face fool you.. this was right in the midst of our moments. ;)

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Today wasn't quite as warm, and the high winds helped cool the air down a bit. Tiernan had been asking me for a while if I could make some French Onion Soup (his favourite soup that I make), so today was the day. The best part is, it doesn't put a whole lot of heat off into the house. And it smells so amazingly yummy while the onions are being caramelized! I got the recipe a long time ago from Jamie Oliver (love him!). I was going to make mango smoothies to go with it, but we ran out of time - I don't think anyone missed them too much.

French Onion Soup

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp olive oil

a handful of sage leaves

6 cloves garlic, minced

5 onions, sliced (different varieties... I used vidalia, yellow, sweet, white, and baby)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

2 litres veggie broth (I added a bit more.. depends on the size of the onions)

2cm thick slices of good quality stale bread

aged white cheddar, grated

worcestershire sauce (vegetarian friendly)

Put the butter, oil, garlic and sage into a cast iron pan. Stir everything around and add the onions. Season with salt and pepper. Place a lid on the pan, leaving it slightly ajar. Cook the onions slowly on low for at least 50 minutes, removing the lid for the last 20 minutes. The onions should be soft and golden.

Add the stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for 10-15 minutes. Toast the bread on max in the oven. Place soup in the ramekins, add the bread and cover with grated cheese. Broil until golden. Drizzle with worcestershire.

Not BLT! VBSTC is better!

Today I was very gentle with myself. I spent the day relaxing, drinking tea, and healing myself from my cold. And you know what? I feel ten times better! I even took it easy for dinner. I scratched what I had on the menu and instead, I opened a can (okay three cans - we're a family of five!) of Amy's Lentil Vegetable Soup and made some VBSTC. That would be my version of a BLT. Veggie bacon, spinach, tomatoes and cheese. It was pure awesomeness! Easy, yet satisfying.

Tonight was spent at the dance studio with my lovely ladies. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. I love those ladies. I don't know too many other people who will put on zebra striped booty shorts and do cartwheels and bridges. Haha. Never a dull moment at the studios. I'm so glad we are part of it.