I love the nights that require chop sticks.

After all the heavy food that we ate over the weekend, I was happy that my menu called for a simple stir fry with marinated tofu for tonight's dinner. I served it over a bed of long grain brown rice, so I made some extra sauce to go with it. I don't know about you, but I like sauce on my rice. If you like your rice drier OR if you aren't going to be making enough to feed 5 people and have some for leftover lunches (like I do), then cut back the measurements.

To give you an idea of how many vegetables I fry up, here is the list of veggies I used tonight (but I change it up every time):

1 onion, chopped

15 mushrooms, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

1 red pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper, sliced

1 head bok choy, sliced

1 head broccoli, cut up

2 carrots, sliced

1 zucchini, sliced

a cup of sugar snap peas

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Stir Fry Sauce

4 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 1/2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

3 tbsp Braggs (or soy sauce)

1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar

3 tbsp cane sugar

1/2 tsp red chilies

1 1/3 cup vegetable broth

5 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced

2 tbsp corn starch

Mix all of the ingredients in a saucepan, and cook for 10 minutes until sauce has thickened. Add to the vegetables once they have been cooked.

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Tofu Marinade

I sort of just threw the marinade together, but this is roughly what I added to it.

1 block extra firm tofu, cut into cubes, dry fried in a cast iron pan on each side

3 tbsp hoisin sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp ground ginger

Long time, no write..

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Slowcooker Chili

1 tbsp olive oil

2 extra large cans tomato sauce

1 large can tomato paste

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

5 carrots, sliced

10-15 cremini mushrooms, sliced

4 tbsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

2 tbsp white vinegar

1 small can chopped chilies

1 cup frozen corn kernels

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

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

Tomato Bruschetta

6 plum tomatoes, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 red onion, chopped very finely

1/8 cup fresh parsley, minced

10 basil leaves, chopped

1 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/8 cup olive oil

4 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp Asiago cheese

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

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Mushroom Bruschetta

(altered slightly from Jamie Oliver's recipe)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 dozen cremini mushrooms

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

a few sprigs of thyme leaves, chopped

a few sprigs of parsley leaves, chopped

1 sprig savory leaves, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

sprinkle of red chilies

1 1/2 tbsp butter

juice of 1/2 lemon

2-3 tbsp water

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

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

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

This is what an afternoon spent in the kitchen looks like..

I thought my oven died on me this morning! This would not be good for me. At all. As you may or may not have noticed, I enjoy my oven. I enjoy being in the kitchen. I enjoy creating things to feed to my loved ones. My husband came home during his lunch break and after some fiddling around, he was able to figure out the issue. He fixed my oven! Oh, great relief. I celebrated by spending the majority of my afternoon in the kitchen baking and cooking with the windows and back door open and the sun shining in. I baked a banana chocolate chip loaf (different from my normal one... I had no eggs), snickerdoodles and peanut butter cookies. These were all new recipes for me, but the peanut butter cookies were my favourite. So soft and chewy and perfect. Mmmm. Then I made dinner - spinach risotto and baked beans with pineapple which I just served with some raw carrots and sugar snap peas.

I guess I made up for last night when we went out for dinner (Again! We didn't go out for months and now it feels like we're always going out.) to East Side Marios where I had the best dish I've ever had there - mushroom spaghettini. I am typically not a fan of that restaurant (Kyle and the kids love it), but the kids meals were only $2 yesterday, and I'm cheap. :P I'm sold on it now, though.. that meal was delicious. With the salad and bread? Mmm, I'd totally go again sometime.

Now onto the recipes! I'll also put up the recipe for the grasshopper pie that Tiernan and I made together the other night. Funny story: When I was a little kid my Mum would make Grasshopper Pie and I loved it. I once asked my parents why they called it Grasshopper Pie and my Dad told me it was because you used grasshoppers to make it. Being the terribly gullible child (okay, person) I was (am), I believed him. I felt so shameful that I was eating this pie made of grasshoppers and enjoying it. I felt awful for all the poor bugs who had to die so I could eat their minty bodies. Ha! Oh, yes. This is definitely a true story. I was very relieved when I learned the real truth!

The banana bread, peanut butter cookies and snickerdoodles are from the cookbook, The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes.

Grasshopper Pie

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 bag Oreo cookies, crushed

7oz jar marshmallow cream

1/4 cup milk

some green food colouring

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

2 cups whipping cream, whipped

After the cookies have been crushed, mix them in a small bowl with 1/4 cup of melted butter. Reserve half a cup of this for the top of the pie and spread the rest of it in the bottom of a 9x9 dish.

Mix milk, food colouring and peppermint extract. Add in the marshmallow cream, blend it well and set aside.

Whip cream until stiff. Fold into marshmallow mixture gently.

Spread the marshmallow mixture on top of the cookie crust, and then sprinkle the 1/2 cup of crumbles on top of that.

Put it in the fridge and chill overnight so the cream will set.

Banana Chocolate Chip Loaf

(which is tasty, but fell in the middle)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

2 mashed bananas

1/3 cup milk

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch pan.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. In a large bowl, combine the oil and brown sugar and blend well. Add the bananas and milk and combine. Add the dry ingredients slowly, and mix until just combined.

Spread batter in the loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes until it's golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool in the pan for 30 minutes.

Snickerdoodles

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 cup sugar, divided

1/2 cup margarine

1/4 cup applesauce

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, cream the margarine with 1 1/2 cups sugar. Add applesauce and vanilla and mix well. Add dry ingredients and mix until well combined.

Mix the remaining sugar with the cinnamon in a small bowl. Form the batter into tablespoon sized balls, and roll them in the cinnamon sugar. Place on a baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake for 8-10 minutes until they have cracked and the edges are set.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup margarine

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup natural peanut butter

Preheat oven to 350. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl cream the margarine with the sugar and brown sugar. Add the applesauce and vanilla. Mix well. Add the peanut butter and mix on low with an electric mixer until well combined. Add the dry ingredients and mix well.

Spoon the batter by heaping tablespoon onto the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes until they are slightly browned and have spread.

Spinach & Feta Risotto

1 1/2 cups arborio rice

1 litre of vegetable broth

2 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup white wine

1 tbsp dried dill

salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

3 cups baby spinach

1 1/4 cups feta cheese, crumbled

In a medium saucepan, bring vegetable stock to a boil and then simmer.

In a large pot, cook the garlic in the olive oil for about 30 seconds. Add the rice and stir it to coat the rice in oil. Add the wine and dried dill and cook, stirring, until it's absorbed. Add the warmed vegetable stock a cup or so at a time, stirring until it's absorbed. Keep adding the broth until it's done. When the last bit of broth is almost absorbed, add the spinach a little at a time until it's wilted. Add the feta and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine well.

Baked Beans and Pineapple

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can baked beans in tomato sauce

1 can crushed pineapple

1/3 cup ketchup

1 tsp mustard

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat the oil and cook the onions until soft. Add to a casserole dish along with the rest of the ingredients. Combine well. Cook for 1 hour, stirring halfway through.

Oh, lasagna, I love you so.

I made quite possibly my favourite dish in the world tonight. If not THE favourite, it definitely ranks up there in the top five. It's an incredibly comforting meal, it's cheesy, it's versatile, it's filling and it's flavourful. Yup, I'm talking about lasagna. Deliciously satisfying lasagna. It's also Mr Tomato Lover, Avery's favourite. When he came in the door from school today he walked into the kitchen drooling and saying, "lasagnnnnaaa??? Ohhhhh yesssss."

I don't know that there's really a "recipe" when it comes to making lasagna. Every time I make it, I do something different. I'll add different veggies to the sauce or use different cheeses. I like to vary it. This is what I did tonight...

Vegetable Lasagna

16 whole wheat lasagna noodles

1 batch of tomato based pasta sauce (but feel free to add more veggies!)

3 cups mozzarella cheese, grated

2 cups ricotta cheese

2 cups baby spinach

Make the pasta sauce, and let it simmer for an hour.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook the lasagna noodles as per directions on the box.

Once the noodles are cooked and drained, layer the bottom of a 9x13 pan (mine is actually bigger than that) with a small bit of sauce. Layer 5 noodles on top of that, making sure to cover the entire surface. Add some more sauce (to cover) and 1 cup of shredded mozzarella. Layer 5 more noodles over top of the cheese. Mix the 2 cups of ricotta in with about half of your sauce. Spread evenly over the noodles. Add the 2 cups of baby spinach. Layer another layer of lasagna noodles and the remaining sauce. Top with the leftover cheese.

Cover with foil and cook for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook another 15 minutes. If the top isn't browning, I often set it to broil for a few minutes.

Remove from oven and let it stand 10 minutes before serving.

Drive by post!

In honour of our 20C weather today, I made a very sweet soup. Definitely not what you expect when you take your first bite, but good all the same. With it I made the yummiest grilled aged white cheddar and apple sandwiches. No recipe for that one, but definitely something that goes well together. Apple + cheddar = match made in heaven.

Now onto the recipe! I have a boy to get to Tap dance. :)

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Maple Apple Sweet Potato Cream Soup

(Rachael Ray)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 cup whipping cream

1 cinnamon stick

2 large sweet potatoes, cut into large chunks

2 carrots, peeled and cut into big chunks

1 onion, halved

4 celery stalks, halved

1 bay leaf

1 tsp salt

4 cups vegetable stock

1 cup apple cider

1/4 of a nutmeg, grated

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves, chopped

a few pinches cayenne pepper

freshly ground black pepper

Place the vegetable and bay leaf into a soup pot and cover with cold water. Add the salt. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 15-18 minutes until the potatoes and carrots are tender.

Meanwhile put the maple syrup and cream in a small pot with the cinnamon stick. Heat it until it starts to bubble, and then simmer for about 15 minutes until it's thickened. Remove the cinnamon stick.

Drain the vegetables and get rid of the onion, celery and bay leaf. Put the sweet potatoes and carrots back into the soup pot. Add the stock, apple cider and spices, and puree with an immersion blender until smooth. Cook for 5 minutes until heated through. Add the syrupy cream and stir to combine.

Night night, sleep tight.

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

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

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

Jamaican Veggie Burgers

2 tbsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, chopped

1 1/2 tbsp grated ginger root

1 tsp salt

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tsp allspice

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

2 cups cooked long grain brown rice

2 1/2 cups bread crumbs

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

Wet hands and form into patties.

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

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Wild Rice Casserole

2 onions, chopped

3 stalks celery, thinly sliced

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

2 1/2 cups water

1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup

1/2 cup butter

1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

1/2 lb sliced mushrooms

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

From spicy to sweet.

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

Highlights from today:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jamaican Red Bean Stew

1 tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups baby carrots, sliced

3 green onions, sliced

1 sweet potato, diced into small cubes

15oz can diced tomatoes, drained

3 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

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

2 cups vegetable broth

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

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

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

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Honey Ginger Dressing

45g ginger root, minced

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

2 tbsp honey

5 tbsp rice vinegar

1/8 tsp ground white pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup vegetable oil

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

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Ginger Apple Crisp

Fruit Layer:

6 cups apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin

cane sugar (a few tbsps)

juice from one lemon

Topping:

1/2 cup butter, melted

1/3 cup honey

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 ground ginger

2 cups rolled oats

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

Preheat oven to 350.

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

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

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

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

Serve warm with some vanilla ice cream.