Parties, Dinners and Waffles

Hello!  How was everyone’s week?  Mine turned out to be pretty busy; both at work and home.  It’s all good, though.  I prefer a busy work week because busy = FAST and who doesn’t appreciate a quick work week?  The weekend has been really fun!  Friday we partied the night away at Noah’s hockey team’s fundraiser dinner/dance.  What a GREAT night!  Dinner, dancing, drinks socializing, ticket selling; the evening was a HUGE success.  The early numbers are in and it’s looking like we raised almost $12,000 for the team’s budget.  This money is used for tournament fees, extra (specialized) training for the boys and team building events off the ice.   Noah took a picture of us before we left;
 
Saturday the boys had their first win of the season!  They’re doing pretty good this year compared to others….1 win, 3 ties and 2 losses.  Today Noah was back on the (indoor) soccer field for practice.  This will be a weekly thing now.  It was nice to catch up with the soccer parents!  I miss them after spending so much time together this summer. 
I once again stuck to my menu plan for the week.  The only night I didn’t was pasta night (Thursday) because the kids wanted hotdogs instead so Jason and I ate turkey sausage.   Here’s a recap of the weeks eats;

Monday night we did a chicken on the BBQ rotisserie.  I also sliced 3 potatoes and a red onion and placed them in foil with some butter, S&P.  The package joined the chicken on the BBQ.  Veggies brought up the side.  Tuesday night the fam had pizza.  I went with a sandwich filled with brie, avocado, tomato and lettuce on GF bread: Wednesday was pork chop night.  I just did up a pan of fast fry chops, made a pot of quinoa that I jazzed up with freshly grated parm and salsa and sautéed spinach and mushrooms for some greens: Enter turkey sausage night!  The sides were kept super simple; corn and basmati rice. Friday was party night so the kidlets enjoyed Subway.  There was lots of food at the party….carved pork & beef, 2 pasta dishes, salads, bread cheese & fruits trays…I had a bit of beef, salad and cheese, but wasn't too hungry.  Usually, when I’m in a situation where there are lots of people and activity around me, I tend to forget about the food and focus on the excitement.  Anyone else like this?
Monday was Thanksgiving in Canada, but we celebrated on Sunday at my parents place.  The weather was SO gorgeous that we ate outside!  We’ve NEVER been able to eat Thanksgiving dinner outside!  Mom made a turkey with all the fixings.  My plate looked like this; Everything was SO delicious!  
This morning I made two batches of waffles; sweet & savoury.  They’re a gluten free recipe that I found at this site.  The original recipe was done first, as is:
I topped 2 with raspberry syrup and agave for a delicious breakfast!
To the second batch I added salt, pepper and chilli flakes and omitted the cinnamon.  Once the batter came together I stirred in 2 cups of grated sharp cheddar cheese: These will be used in tomorrow night’s dinner.  Speaking of tomorrow, you can check out next week’s menu plan on my facebook page. 
What was your favourite meal last week??
Bye for now!

Taking Care of Myself (Or Not)

Hello!  Long time no “see”, eh?  My life got a little out of control there for a week or two, which I admit is totally my fault.  I let myself get stressed out about something I have no control over and as a result haven’t been paying enough attention to “ME”.   April is an extremely hectic month because Noah’s (yes, I’ll be using their “real” names now) soccer and hockey overlap.  We are in the midst of hockey tryouts for next season and his soccer team is ramping up for their season which starts May 1.  I’ve either been here: He’s the one with the orange cleats.  Or I’ve been here: He’s on the right.  While I LOVE watching him play, both sports are rather cold at this point which doesn’t help matters!  HA!  There hasn’t been near enough of this: RELAXATION!!  Although, Noah has no interest in chilling out.  He’s quite the energetic kid which is why we put him into sports.  The extra activity has done wonders for him.  I, on the other hand, need a sense of “balance” in my life and running from rink to soccer field 6 days a week, having zero time to clean my house, sacrificing my gym time over my lunch hour to run home and get something done at the house, meals on the go, not getting enough water into me and not getting enough sleep due to worrying about everything that’s NOT getting done has (had) me feeling anything but.  Thankfully, hockey will be done until September by this time next week.  That and I gave myself a real kick in the ass Wednesday night for not dealing better.  So even though we had a soccer game last night I committed myself to drinking lots of lemon water, preparing a decent meal for everyone and turning a blind eye to the house.  And you know what?  I slept GREAT last night!  And it’s great to be home today for Good Friday with everything closed because it forced me to just sit for a few hours.  Between my hubby and I, the laundry has been done, bedding is changed, the dishwasher has been run.  Vacuuming will wait until tomorrow.  This afternoon we left the kids at home and walked down to our favourite “hotspot”, The Red Brick Cafe: It’s a 3 mile walk, round trip with loads of hills….AKA, just what the doctor ordered!    My hubby got his standard; a vanilla latte and I rolled with a soy chai tea latte: We stopped atop a bridge to take a few pictures of ourselves…..so vain, I know!  :) Even though I look exhausted, the fresh air felt so. damn. good!  And I know it did me good, too!  I took a few more pics along the way to test out my point and shoot camera, a Canon Power Shot SD980 IS Elph.  We may have bought a new little surprise that I hope to share with you all very soon!  PURDY!!!  :)
And now for some eats.  These are pretty much all a week old b/c as I said, I haven’t been eating well the past 5 days or so…. That pancake was GOOD!  It was from last Friday morning.  The kids had asked for pancakes for breakfast so I decided to get decadent with mine.  It’s topped with whipped cream cheese, dark chocolate chunks and agave ample syrup.  Looking at this makes me really want another!
The above stir fry was today’s lunch.  I tossed together cooked wild rice, broccoli, avocado and tofu then mixed in some mango chipotle dressing and this Tabasco that I’m addicted to these days:
As the commercial goes; “I put that sh*t on EVERYTHING”!!!!!  Has anyone tried this??    
I haven’t really been eating a lot of oats for breakfast lately.  Instead, I’ve been inhaling this cereal like it’s my job: LURVE!!!  One lunch I did enjoy last week was one with my hubby.  We met at another Red Brick location closer to our jobs one day and I ordered a roasted red pepper and goat cheese panini with a side salad: And my hubby had a salami/provolone/apple panini with a pasta salad: We both enjoyed French vanilla coffees on the side: AND, we blew through a pack of this gum in no time at all! Well, I think that’s all I’ve got for now.  Thanks for letting me vent!!  I’m positive things are on an upward swing so I expect life to settle down somewhat sooner rather than later.  In the meantime, what are your top 3 stress busting “do’s”??  I’ll sign off with a photo that never fails to make me smile.  Pepper LOVES chasing leaves out on the deck and insists on trying to bring them in the house once he catches them. BABY!!!
Bye for now!!

A Life Update

Hello!  I hope the weather has taken a turn for the better where you are because here it’s still quite chilly.  The sun has been shining, but the temps don’t seem to want to move in the right direction!  Sheesh!  April 9 will see DS’s first outdoor soccer game of the season so I hope it warms up by then. That’s him and a teammate before one of their (indoor) soccer games a few weeks ago.  :) 
This past week has been more low key than what we’re used to and I’m loving it!  I’ve been able to take a little extra time preparing meals which I feel I’ve really been lacking in this winter.  I’ve still be enjoying oats for breakfast for the most part, but there has been some French toast and toast & eggs in the mix, as well: Lunches have been all over the place.  There’ve been salads: sandwiches… and random items; I’m starting to get salad cravings more often now which is a good indicator to me that summer has got to be around the bend!  This new mango chipotle dressing from Kraft has been going down real smooth, too! My hubby and I grabbed our first DQ Blizzards of the year yesterday as an after lunch treat.  Yum!  I went with my fave; a mini caramel pecan cluster: We’ve been working at some home improvements, too.  Today  our new dining room set arrived so I’ll start with those pictures.  BEFORE:   Pretty bare, eh???  AFTER:        
I also bought (and my hubby installed) new curtains for the sliding glass doors in our dining room.  The before shot I’m going to show you is actually my front window, but it looks very similar to the back one; very traditional: And here is the new, updated look.
 
I tired to get the whole window, but the sun was too bright behind it so I did each panel separate.  I still have to take them down and iron them.  Not something I’m looking forward to!!  LOL   We also bought (and hubby installed) shelving for our very disorganized kitchen pantry.  BEFORE:

WHAT A MESS!  There was a huge improvement in the space once the shelves were up and everything was put back it.
***sigh***  So, so much better!  Now I can see (and find) what I’m looking for instead of rooting through piles of stuff.  The last bit of “work” we did was to paint an old dresser that use to be in DS’s room when he was a baby.  It’s now in our computer room and holds items such as blankets, extra pillows, clothes the kids have out grown, etc.  I decided to paint it chocolate brown and add some simple silver hardware to finish it off.  Not professional by any means, but it looks so much better and is no longer a big, white eye sore! 
And that’s pretty much what I’ve been up to lately! :)  Well, I think that’s all for now.  I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!!
Bye for now!!