A New Recipe & An Old One

I love weekend mornings because there’s no alarm to wake me up! Well, my alarm never really wakes me up (I’m usually awake 10 minutes before it goes of), so I guess it’s the knowledge that there is NO alarm set that appeals to me. Does that even make sense? Oh, dear me! I guess the point of that whole sentence is that on weekends I’m usually up early on my own and it’s nice to know that I don’t have to rush right into the shower.

I was especially psyched to get up this morning because I had a new breakfast to try out. I got the idea from this Tosca Reno cookbook that my co-worker lent me. I was a little skeptical at first, but with my extras it turned out marvelous!



Pumpkin Quinoa & Oats

-1/4 cup quinoa (soaked overnight)
-1/4 McCann’s Irish oats (quick cooking)
-1 cup water
-cinnamon
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 Tbsp pumpkin butter
-2 Tbsp Craisins

*Bring first 4 ingredients to a boil. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes checking to make sure it doesn’t dry out
*Add last 3 items to the pot, stir well and let simmer for 1-2 minutes.
*Put into you favorite bowl and enjoy immensely!



This is the brand of oats that I used...



After dinner last night I went with my hubby while he went on the hunt for new hockey gloves. One of the stores was (conveniently) located beside a William's Pub and I seized the opportunity to run in a buy a Chai Tea Latte!



Still the best! I decided to go for that Lara Bar last night by about 9:15pm. I tried the apple pie and is was delicious! I really enjoyed the cinnamon-y flavor of it.



I spent the rest of the morning doing chores around the house. Not my favorite past time, but I am glad when the house is clean. My hubby went golfing this afternoon so I let both the kids have a friend over for a few hours to keep them occupied. Before they arrived, I made a batch of Pillsbury peanut butter brownies for snacks. Dangerous thing for me to have around the house but I didn’t need to worry about it because the kids polished off 10 of them! The girls were fine, but the boys were bouncing off the walls! I know, my own fault. I kept mints & gum in my mouth all afternoon and managed to stay away from the two survivors.! The kids sure enjoyed them, though!

For lunch I made a salad with tomato, kalamata olives, mushrooms, a little feta cheese and the rest of my baked tofu. I used a couple sprays of Caesar salad dressing, too.




This was a really good, filling salad! Later in the afternoon I quartered a honey crisp apple and spread some almond butter on it for a snack.



By 5pm the kids friends were gone and I could finally rest easy. Everybody was good and well behaved, but there’s certainly added pressure when you have other people's kids in your care.

I made my Apple & Pepper Porkchops for supper tonight.



This is such an easy, tasty recipe! More importantly, it's one that everyone likes!


So, my house is a two storey with the third (bottom) level being a finished walk out basement. We live on top of a hill and the view from the back of our place on the top floor is magnificent! I'll end this post tonight with a shot that I took this morning from my bathroom window. It over looks the city to the west...



Bye for now!