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! ;)

Chili Burgers, Tex Mex Spuds and Thunderstorms.

My cat, Solange, turned twelve years old today! Solange is a our "middle cat". She is super loving, very snuggly, completely feline-like (sounds strange since she's, well... a cat, but she's the most typical of our cats), and she's a bit of a brat. We sung Happy Birthday to her numerous times, and she enjoyed a lovely salmon "cake". Yes, really. We're crazy animal folks around here! ;)

In other news, we had a beautiful thunderstorm this evening. Our family has a deep love for these storms, and within an instant we're all out on the covered porch to listen to the rain and thunder, as well as feel the crisp wind on our faces. The forecast calls for another thunderstorm tonight, and another tomorrow as well. We can only hope. I love the rain more than most, but lately it's been too much... even for me! However, give me a powerful thunderstorm and I'm back to happy again.

I had dinner put together by noon today. I love when that happens. I made the Creamy Feta salad dressing before taking Rhianna and Avery to the bus stop this morning. I didn't much like the dressing, though, so no sharing that recipe! After I got back I made the Tex Mex Stuffed Potatoes (a recipe I got originally from my friend Cara), and the Chili Burgers (from Moosewood's Low Fat cookbook). I'm a huge kidney bean fan, so these were high up there on my favourites. I admit that I still like the Black Bean Burger recipe more, though.

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Chili Burgers

2 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup grated carrot

1 1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

2 tbsp ketchup

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Saute the onions and garlic in oil on med-low for about 5 minutes until soft. Add carrots, chili powder and cumin, and cook on low for 5 minutes.

Mash the kidney beans in a large bowl. Add the sauteed vegetables, mustard, ketchup, soy sauce, oats, salt & pepper. Combine well.

With moist hands, form into burger patties. Add a bit of oil to a heavy skillet. Cook the patties on each side for 6-8 minutes, until browned.

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Tex Mex Spuds

6 russet potatoes

1/4 cup Ranch dressing

5 green onions, chopped

1 1/2 cups Tex Mex cheese

1 red pepper, chopped

extra Tex Mex cheese for the tops

Pierce potatoes with a fork and microwave on high for 4 minutes per potato.

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut each potatoes lengthwise, scoop out centres and leave the shells 1/4 inch thick. Mash potatoes with dressing, green onions and Tex Mex cheese. Fill shells with mixture. Top with some chopped red peppers and some more cheese.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until heated through.

I love extra long weekends.

I just love that the Ontario school system honours Easter Monday as a holiday. That made all of us off since Kyle didn't have to go in to work either. This four day long weekend was much needed for all of us. We all slept in pretty late, and basically did the hermit thing for the rest of the day. We played a big game of Catan as a family, and had some time to listen to the rain fall down through the open windows. Tiernan seems to be feeling a bit better, but his energy levels are still on the low side and he's still coughing a lot in the morning and evening. At least he didn't throw up today. Look on the bright side, yes? Haha.

I made dinner, we ate dinner, and Kyle and the kids cleaned up after dinner... all by 5:30pm. So nice to sit under some blankets with Tibbs and Solange on the couch while two kids play Lego, one kid plays Guitar Hero and my husband works on some contract work. My plans for the rest of the evening include menu planning (I've fallen really behind!), grocery list writing, chatting online and watching Dr Who with Kyle. And maybe? Maybe I'll even have a Sarsparilla cooler. Oh yes, I think I just may do that.

So, back to dinner! Seeing as it's Soup Monday, I made an Asian Noodle soup that I found in the Moosewood Low Fat cookbook. I'd never made it before, but had been craving a simple soup and this one seemed perfect. It was very easy to make, and it was a big hit! My daughter isn't the biggest soup fan, and even she liked it. Both of the boys gobbled it up faster than I imagined they would.

Asian Noodle Soup

1 large head garlic

1/4 cup miso

3 cups water

3 cups vegetable broth

1 medium carrot, thinly sliced

1 block tofu, extra firm, cut into small cubes

4 cups shredded bok choy

1/4 lb soba/buckwheat noodles

Preheat oven to 400.

Peel each clove from the garlic head, and place into an un-oiled pie plate. Roast in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Place the garlic, miso and water into a blender and whir until well mixed.

Add the miso mix and vegetable broth into a large pot. Heat until it's a low boil. Add the carrots and cook for 3 minutes. Add the tofu and bok choy. Bring it back to a simmer. Add the noodles and cook for another 6-8 minutes until the noodles are al dente.

My daughter, the artist.

I need to take a moment to show off the artwork Rhianna sketched today. This girl (at age 7!) is a better artist than I've ever been! My Uncle Don is a very talented artist (if you're in Winnipeg and you're ever at The Spotted Cow... the cartoons on the wall? My Uncle!), and I've always looked up to him for that. I remember when I was a little girl (and even a 20 year old girl), I would ask him to teach me and he would tell me that "everyone is capable of being a great artist, you just have to keep drawing". Unfortunately, this was never the case with me. I loved to draw. I doodled all the time, often on my school work (shhhh, don't tell my kids). But it was never very good. As much as I appreciated his confidence in me, I just didn't have that kind of talent. I'm okay with it now. Especially since I can see that the artistic gene that my Uncle has skipped my generation, but is firmly planted in my children. I love seeing how much joy Rhianna gets from creating art. She's artistic in so many ways. Drawing, painting, writing poems, writing books, singing, dancing. You name it, and she's probably good at it.

This afternoon she started sketching and the next thing I knew, there were 10 different drawings for me to admire.

Stroll in the Garden

The Cold Pirate

The Married Couple

Go To Bed!

Troublemaker

The Stomach Ache

Nightmare

Cowboy School

Not Granny's Best

Biggest Carved Pumpkin

And the artist herself. :)

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.

A breakfast-like dinner!

I had Tiernan home with me today with an illness that just doesn't seem to want to go away. He's had a fever off and on, a cough that he can't seem to shake, strange nighttime anxiety attacks, a mild, lacey type of rash and itchy hands and feet. I'm hoping that having this four day weekend will be full of rest, and he'll be ready to go by Tuesday. May is going to be a wickedly busy month, so I guess it's better that he has it now instead of then.

Dinner was super simple tonight. I threw together a fruit salad, cooked up some veggie sausages and made some scallion potato pancakes from Isa Chandra Moskowitz's 'Appetite for Reduction'. It was sort of like eating champ in patty form! Delicious.

Scallion Potato Pancakes

2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes

1 cup thinly sliced scallions

1 1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup panko bread crumbs

Breading:

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

cooking spray

First, boil the potatoes until tender. Drain and cool for about 15 minutes until they're able to be handled.

Preheat oven to 425.

Place the cooked potatoes in a bowl with the scallions, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Mash well, until there are no longer any chunks. Add the bread crumbs, and stir to combine.

Place the cup of panko bread crumbs, salt and pepper onto a dinner plate and stir to combine.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper. Spray with cooking spray.

Form 1/4 cup of the potato mixture into a patty. Press into bread crumb mixture, flip over, and press into crumb mixture on the other side. Place on the baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Repeat with remaining potato mixture until there are six patties per baking sheet.

Cook for 12 minutes on one side. Flip with a thin spatula, spray the other side with cooking spray and cook for another 8 minutes.

Repeat with any remaining potato mixture.