A Day of My Eats

Hola!  How’s everyone doing?  I’m back to work this week after a marvellous 2 week vacation and I must admit that getting back into the work groove has been tough!  It’s kinda nice to have a routine back, though.  ;)  The kids are in (day) camp this week and next which they’re enjoying immensely.  I am, too because my house looks the same when I come home as it does when I leave, there’s been no whining about being bored and they’re so tired that getting them to bed at a decent hour is no longer a challenge.  Noah is doing hockey camp and soccer camp; Sarah rock climbing (she LOVES this) and Girls Inc which covers everything from dance, yoga, swimming, basketball, manicures, cup cake decorating, etc.  Fun stuff!
So in light of my test results I thought I’d do a post to show what foods I’ve eaten in the last 24hrs as a means to reduce gluten from my diet.  (I’ve decided, for now, that because gliadin/gluten tested the highest I’d focus on foods containing them first to see how I feel).  Quinoa has always made a regular appearance on my dinner plate and this has not changed.  Last night I made a quick salad with quinoa, cherry tomatoes, edamame, goat milk feta and Mmmm sauce.  We also grilled Thai chicken sausages (organic & hormone free) which we purchased at the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto last Thursday.  Unpictured was a piece of dark chocolate almond bark and one Newman’s Own cinnamon raisin hermit (not gluten free).  Breakfast this morning was 2 slices of Glutino corn bread with fibre…. ….with some whipped cream cheese (so easy to spread) and strawberry jam. **Side Note: why are the slices of gluten free bread so damn small???**  Mid morning I enjoyed one of my favourite bars… Lunch was a big bowl of the quinoa salad that was leftover.  I added more Mmmm sauce and some chickpeas to bulk it up:
I also finished off this lonely BBQ’d hotdog! Hotdogs are one of those food items that I’ve always lurved!  ;)Mid afternoon I noshed on some very ripe pineapple chunks. The fam had pasta for dinner while I warmed up a leftover jalapeno burger (also form the St. Lawrence Market) and paired it with some brown rice and yellow beets.  The rice is doused in chipotle Tobasco sauce). For dessert I finished off the last bit of heaven from this pint:
And consumed WAY too many of these dark chocolate kisses: And there you have it!    Now I’m off to help Sarah pack for a camping trip she’s going on tomorrow and then I need to get lunches ready and watch the tail end of SYTYCD.  What have you been up to today?
Bye for now!!

A Few Gems

I feel like I’ve been gone forever again!  LOL  My blogging “schedule” has certainly become anything but routine.  I just can’t seem to bring myself to sit down with my laptop when the weather’s been so nice!  To be honest, I use to prepare most of my posts from work, but extra responsibilities (which were obviously needed) have prevented me from doing that.  I do have a few things I wanted to update you all on, though.  Like some new (to me) eats!  Last Sunday we made the hour long trip to Whole Foods (and Lululemon) where I picked up a few gems. 
These 365 coconut frozen fruit bars are officially my favourite summer treat!  Not only are they pure coconutty goodness, but they’re chalk full of coconut pulp!  YUMMY!! I know some may dislike pulp, but I dig the texture of it….always have.
I L-O-V-E SOL burgers and these rice & mushrooms patties are no exception.  Jason actually found these and put them in the cart.  A year ago that NEVER would’ve happened!  LOL These Green Cuisine tempeh burgers were also a find at Whole Foods.  I love the texture that tempeh has!  I mostly enjoyed these done up on the BBQ then served on an Ezekiel English muffin with goat gouda, spicy mustard and lettuce. These Gardein Tucson breasts were a HIT with Jason and myself.   I’ve wanted to try Gardein for some time now, but just can’t justify the cost.  When I caught these on sale a few weeks ago, I snatched them up.  I served the “breasts” over a bed of WW couscous for a quick, delicious meal.   Even Jason, who is a total meat & potato kinda of guy, gave them a thumb up.  We’ve really been minding our plates lately.  Lots of fresh fruit (and veg), salmon, meat “alternatives” or poultry (the sausages in the following photos are all turkey sausages), quinoa and couscous perked up with various veggies and cheese.  We’re slowly moving to a “diet” (HATE that word) that is as local and fresh as possible which is SO much easier to do in the summer months.
The beans you see ^^^ there are fresh from my garden.  As in, pick’em, wash’em gently steamed’em, ate’em!
Here’s a look at how my other plants are getting on: Everything is later than usual due to cold, wet weather in May & June, but things are starting to pick up!
We have been enjoying some treats, too!  Noah was at a sleep over last weekend so Jason, Sarah and I tried out a local “hole in the wall” type   Italian restaurant.  I find restaurants that are very unassuming usually have the BEST food and Pauli’s was no exception!  We loved our meal!
Sarah’s Orangina brought me right back to Italy and my roasted onion, goat cheese, prosciutto pizza was to die for!  Jason ordered a chicken parm dish with a side of pasta which he inhaled.  All their sauces, dough’s, pasta, etc are homemade, on site.  The way it should be, right?  ;)
On to some non food goodies!  I wanted to show you a shirt and pair of shoes that I snagged at 50% off this past weekend! LURVE!!!  The shoes are super cute and very comfortable and the shirt is in my fave colour!  SCORE!  And last week Jason and I attended an awards assembly at the school to see Noah receive a HEART award for cross county: Sarah also got a Win It award which is given for having a good attitude.  I think they got the wrong kid.  ;)  LOL  So proud of them both!  
So I think I’ll stop here.  I have a few other fun posts planned and a review coming later this week, so you’ll be seeing me more frequently….I promise!!
Bye for now!!

A Visit To The Pumpkin Patch & Crock Pot Barley

The rain stopped earlier than what was forecasted on Sunday and it was quite warm so we decided a trip to the pumpkin patch was in order!
Along one of the pathways we came upon this sign:
My kids were all over that and turned picking a cob of corn into their jobs.
Little did I know that they thought their cobs would be popped on site!  That sure led to a bit of confusion and they were bummed when the popping instructions said they needed to wait 4 weeks before they could do anything with them.   LOL!!
My kidlets had spend some time on the net searching out the perfect pumpkin carving templates so when we arrived they knew the basic shape and size that they needed.  Long, but fat.  Right.  Here’s what they ended up with:
Apparently they’re perfect!  I’ll reveal the finished jack o lanterns in my next post!  I was more interested in taking picture after picture around the farm than I was picking pumpkins.  HA!  These are a few of my favourites:
There’s just something about the hues of fall that grab my eye.  Bright and subdued all at once.  There was also an area where the kids could measure their heights.   
I think DS cheated a little by standing on his toes!
Onto a completely different topic now; I’ve been craving barley like a mad person lately, but haven’t had the time to cook any.  I finally decided to give it a whirl in my crock pot.  I added 1 cup of pearl barley and 3 cups of water as per the package instructions, then set it on low for 3 hours.  The results were perfect!
Not mushy, not sticky, still chewy and firm.  I had a nice helping at dinner along with some pan seared basa fillets and edamame that I cooked with a small onion, garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper.
Awesome eats right there.  I just wish my family thought so!  DOH!  Other eats have looked like this: Pulled pork with leftover barley and edamame.
  Butternut Squash Soup with Mary’s crackers.
Before I sign off , please remember to check in with the Thanks & Giving food drive to see what the food item of the week is!!  Also, if you’re participating, let me know how you’re doing so far! 
It looks like we’re gonna be getting some BAD weather tonight.  They’ve dubbed it a “weather” bomb”.  It’s already started to rain and the satellite has gone out so I thought to post now in case I can’t later.  Hope you’re all having a great day!
Bye for now!!