Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine’s Day, Recipes and a Cat Video

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!  Did anyone do anything special over the weekend to celebrate?  My hubby, parents and I go to a dance each year that is put on by the kid’s school as a fundraiser.  It’s always a fun night with a dinner, dancing a silent auction as well as a live one.  This year I bid on a custom made blanket box and won it!  I did take a picture, but it’s too dark out so it didn’t do it justice.  For now it will go into our computer room, but once we get our new furniture in the living room it will move there.  Here are some  photos from the night:   IMG_5103 IMG_5106 IMG_5112 IMG_5115 IMG_5117 IMG_5131IMG_5130
Other than that the week seemed really low key.  I was still out of the house each evening, but didn’t feel nearly as rushed as I usually do.  Hey!  I’m not gonna question it!  This week coming DS is on the ice 3 times, I’m at Pilate’s Tuesday, DD has dance tonight and Friday I’m going to visit friends of mine who just had their second baby.  Looking forward to baby snuggles!!  Yesterday was blissfully free so I made a few meals to carry us through the week.  Whenever I make bone in chicken I save the bones in a bag in the freezer.  Once it’s full, like yesterday, I put them in the crock pot, cover them with water and set it to low for the day.  This gives us a few meals worth of homemade chicken soup to work with.  Next I made 2 batches of muffins; Blueberry Corn Muffins and Banana Dark Chocolate Walnut.   Recipes!!  Recipes!!
Blueberry Corn Muffins
IMG_5147
  • 1.5 cups WW flour
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal
  • 5 Tbsp sugar
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup butter milk*
  • 3 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 egg or 1/4 cup Egg Beaters or 1 flax egg*
  • 1/5 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
  1. Preheat oven to 400*C, lightly grease a 12 cup muffin pan
  2. Whisk first 6 ingredients in a large bowl
  3. Whisk buttermilk, oil and egg until combined well
  4. Add wet to dry just until mixture is moist
  5. Gently stir in blueberries
  6. Fill muffin tin and bake 20 minutes
  7. Let cool completely before storing
*I never buy buttermilk.  The easiest thing to do is add 1 tbsp of vinegar or lemon juice to your milk of choice and letting it sit for a few minutes.  Voila….buttermilk.  I always use Almond Breeze in my baking.  To make a flax egg combine 1 tbsp ground flax and 3 tbsp of water.  Stir then let sit for a few minutes.
Banana Dark Chocolate Walnut Muffins
IMG_5088
  • 1 cup WW flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup Quaker oats
  • 1 egg, beaten or 1/4 cup Egg Beaters or 1 flax egg
  • 3 tbsp melted butter
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 cup well mashed bananas (about 2 medium)
  • 1/2 cup walnut pieces
  • 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
  1. Preheat oven to 400*C and grease a 12 cup muffin tin
  2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl
  3. Stir in oats
  4. Add the next 4 ingredients and combine
  5. Stir in walnuts and dark chocolate chips
  6. Bake for 20 minutes
I also made Averie’s Sweet and Sour Honey Lemon Tofu and Chipotle Salsa Lentils with Mixed Vegetables.  That’s what my hubby and I ate for dinner last night:IMG_5143 IMG_5142
And today’s lunch was more lentils with some chicken from the broth I made!IMG_5148
My hubby made breakfast for me this weekend; oats with blueberries and dark chocolate chips:IMG_5133
And waffles which I choose the same oats toppings for.  LOLIMG_5145
I enjoyed some fabulous sandwiches over the weekend, too.  It’s nice to have the time to devote to my meals!IMG_5136 IMG_5097
One night I made “pizza rolls”.  IMG_5072
I simply divided the dough in half, rolled it out and filled it with tomato sauce, ham, roasted red peppers, goat cheese and marble cheese.  Then I baked it for 20 minutes at 475*C.IMG_5073
I let the rolls cooled for a few minutes then sliced and served!IMG_5074 The kids thought this meal was especially cool.  Hehe!IMG_5077 IMG_5075 IMG_5076 Another night I made Mu Shu Chicken, but subbed sliced pork chops in for the chicken.  It turned out really good!IMG_5081 IMG_5080
I think I’ll leave the food at that for today, but I will leave you with a quick video of Pepper.  He begs to go out on the deck and usually wants back in within a few minutes.  This is what he does when we “ignore” him!
Bye for now!!

15 comments:

  1. You look positively GORGEOUS (as always)! Love the muffin recipe and Pepper video too :)

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  2. Happy Valentine's Day!

    The Valentine's dance sounds like lots of fun! I remember you writing about it last year... :) I love your dress; prefect for Valentine's Day! You look amazing!

    Glad your weekend wasn't too rushed. It's nice to slow down a bit once in a while... :)

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  3. Love your dress! It and you look stunning in the photos and you and the hubby look so happy :)

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  4. Hahaha oh Pepper. How cute is that.
    I seriously want one of those pizza rolls. It's like a savoury cinnamon bun! Sort of... haha. Either way it looks darn delicious.
    And nice red dress there lady! Happy Valentine's Day! :)

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  5. I love the idea of those pizza rolls! I might just have to find a time to give them a go :)

    Hope all is well Krista!

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  6. hahahhahahahhaha- that video of your cat is HILARIOUS. Love it. Um you look jammin in that dress! Way to rock it - whoop whoop! Such a pretty pattern. The Blueberry Corn Muffins sound fantastic. I want to whip up a blackberry version for me & the man (Josh doesn't like blueberries- craziness!). And pizza roll ups are always so good. Hope you have a nice week :)

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  7. Beautiful dress--glad you had a good time!

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  8. Oh my gosh! You need to send that video in somewhere to win a contest--I am dying of laughter! Cats are sure unique!!
    Sounds like you had a great Valentine's with your hubby--very nice dress btw. Enjoy your week!!
    p.s. I saw your name in the Woman's World Magazine!! whooohooo

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  9. Looks like you had a fun Valentine date night! And those dark chocolate muffins sound incredible. I've been on a huge chocolate kick lately. :P

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  10. Thank you for making the recipes and blogging about them. Glad you liked them!

    You look beautiful in your Valentine's Day attire..you're looking so gorgeous!

    Have a wonderful week, Krista!
    xoxo

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  11. oh my gosh your cat is hilarious!!!

    that video seriously just made my night.

    You look GORGEOUS in your red dress. :) So glad you had a nice night! And those muffins = genius.

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  12. you look absolutely amazing lady!!!! i love the colors on that dress!!!

    and your kitty is too funny!!! she kinda reminds me of a fish!

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  13. Such cute pics, Krista! Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day!

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  14. You look amazing as ever! I love your dress! Your hubby better know how lucky he is to have such a hottie wife : )

    I am loving the muffins!! I think I would love the blueberry ones best, I used to eat those so much when I was little and slather them with butter! Oh I am reliving those days right now, when I could eat 4 muffins slathered in butter and not worry about it going to my hips, lol!!

    Love you girl and thanks for the comment on my wedding bouquets and my wedding! xoxo

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  15. OH MY GOSH PEPPER!!!! Krista, let's make this video viral! I am losing it here at work over this! Gosh! Seriously, we need to send it to Tosh.0 and get it on the web :) That reminds me of something Henry does! I'll try and record it one of these days :)

    You look amazing - always do. What an awesome cause. Hope we get a picture of your blanket box soon!

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