A Week of Dinners

Ola!  How was everyone’s week?  I was sidelined with a head cold, but tis the season, right?  I blame it on the office.  Something is wrong with the heating system and the temp didn’t go above 68* all week.  One day when we got in it was 63*!!!  My hands and feet were pretty much ice cubes all week long.  Not fun.  Have you caught “the dreaded” fall cold/flu yet?  At least I found some pumpkin spice coffee to keep me warm!  
The Redbrick Cafe is a family favourite around here.  I went in one day last week looking to buy this coffee and they were sold out!  They did tell me that I could purchase it at a store just around the corner so I hightailed it over there for a bag.  Earlier in the week I made a delicious GF pumpkin muffin recipe.
I find life much easier if I am sure to keep GF “treats’ around the house that I can just grab and run with.  It’s easy to get cranky if I need a little something something and there’s nothing that I’m able to grab a handful of.  These muffins fit the bill perfectly.  Unfortunately (or fortunately) the fam loved them, too so the batch didn’t last very long!  I should note that the only 2 changes I made was to use pumpkin puree, not pumpkin PIE puree and I used almond breeze instead of water. 
My weekly menu plan was successful yet again.  Wednesday was they only night that things were switched up.     Let’s take a look, shall we?  Monday night was Pork tenderloin chilli served over cheesy buckwheat waffles: Waffles can be such a fun base to savoury meals.  Bonus if you have kids because waffles just make dinner that much better!  We topped our waffles off with some avocado hummus:   Tuesday was chicken night.  I didn’t want to BBQ the breasts because we ate our chicken that way all summer.  I garnered my creative juices and decided to stuff’em!  I cut a pocket into the thickest part of the breast and filled it with basil pesto, roasted red pepper strips and cassata cheese, which is an Italian cheese comparable to mozzarella with a bit sharper of a flavour.  I made steamed green beans and red quinoa as sides: This was my favourite meal of the week by far!  Wednesday was suppose to be pasta with sausage Bolognese sauce night, but nobody was feeling like pasta so I made breakfast for dinner.  I toasted the last of the cheesy waffles, scrambled 8 eggs and used the sausage meat to make patties.  These were pretty easy; I just added some spices to the meat and formed small burger shaped patties.  I baked them in a 350* oven for a 1/2 hour.  The kids loved them!  My plate consisted of eggs, GF bread and leftover chicken and green beans: Thursday saw a beef roast in the crock pot.  I added about 1 cup of water and seasoned the roast with garlic and seasoning salt and let it alone for 10 hours on low.  I should mention that the meat was still a bit frozen when I put in or I would’ve only let it go 8  hours.  I steamed some broccoli and made a pot of mac n’ cheese for the fam.  I finished off Tuesday’s quinoa: Noah had an out of town hockey game Friday night so dinner had to be QUICK and on the road.  I baked off 2 Ristorante pizza’s for the fam: And made myself an egg sandwich on rice bread with avocado hummus and cassata cheese: Meal of champions, right there!  Haha!  Another perk to meal planning is that there are leftovers for lunch everyday of the week.  And sometimes for breakfast, too!  I had 2 lonely (sweet) waffles left in the freezer from last Sunday so I toasted them this morning and topped them with some peach preserves and slivered almonds: YUM!  Here’s a shot of the peach preserves, which I bought yesterday on a whim.
 
Summer in my mouth, right there folks!  I’ll leave you with a photo I took of Pepper yesterday.  I seem to be a pro a getting him mid yawn which makes him look SO mean!
I die!  Remember, you can see what’s on the menu this coming week over at my facebook page!
Bye for now!

What I Did Yesterday (In The Sunshine)

We finally had some GORGEOUS weather yesterday!  Sunny and warm.  It’s funny how 15*C feels warm in the spring, but downright chilly in the fall!  LOL  Seriously, though….it was pretty awesome to be outside in just a t-shirt and light jacket.  DS had his first outdoor soccer game yesterday and the temps were perfect for it!  They lost 3-0, but played like warriors so it was all good.  Plus, they’re still in exhibition games.  The season actually starts May 1.  I took numerous photos, but this one is my favourite of the bunch!
 
He insisted on picking the brightest cleats in the store!  It worked out well yesterday because the other team showed up in the same colour jerseys’ as our boys, hence the green pinney’s.  After the game we made our way over to the rink for an hour of ice hockey practice.  One of the families has a 6 month old chocolate Lab named Douglas that always comes with them because the rink is at a large park.  It didn’t take much begging on my part to have them let me take him for a walk!  He’s pretty good on the leash until a scent distracts him. LOL 
Seeing as DS had 2 hours of sport “stuff” practically in a row, we decided to take him for ice cream and a walk along the river later in the afternoon.  He choose some neon blue bubblegum ice cream which he wasted no time diving into!
I went with a peach/blueberry frozen yogurt….my favourite fruit combo!
SO delicious!  Here’s a close up… We won’t discuss how it ruined my appetite for dinner!  ;)  Next was a quick trip to the mall.  I stopped in David’s Tea for a refill of my favourite blend, Read My Lips:
I drink a cup of this at morning break everyday at work.  Love.  While there I found a blend that seriously perked my interest.  Check it out: I’m too much of a chicken to dish out the cash on a bottle of the real stuff because I’m afraid I’ll HATE it, but figured I couldn’t go wrong with the tea.  Plus it smelled amazing!  I’ll be test driving it later on today for sure.
A few other tasty, new to me food items I’ve been enjoying are this trail mix; It’s chock full of nuts and dried fruit…..a real winning combination!   I’ve been enjoying it out of hand and mixed into my oats.  I’ve also been digging this cereal: We have the blueberry pomegranate one, too.  Both are delicious!  Now that it’s warming up some out there, I’ve been craving cereal a lot more.  I’ve been using these sprinkles on just about anything deemed “sweet” lately, too! Here are some other eats I’ve been enjoying the past week:  This pancake kicked ass, BTW!  I made a batch Friday morning using Bisquick, then topped mine with whipped cream cheese, PB chips, pecans and maple syrup.  Divine, I tell ya! 
  Lastly, the 4 of us in the payroll department at work were treated by this beautiful arrangement as a thank you from a teacher: After admiring it for a bit we dove in!  Those strawberries were amazingly sweet!! Well, I’m gonna sign off now and go enjoy a lazy Sunday!  Hope everyone has had a fantastic weekend so far.  We’ll catch up again soon….
Bye for now!!

Enjoying a Meal or Three

So here we are at Monday again, huh?  The weeks seem to be flying by so fast; I can hardly believe we’re into the second week of February!  My day to day schedule has pretty much remained the same….hockey, dance, Pilates, hockey, soccer, hockey….you know the drill, right?  But this past week I have made, eaten and enjoyed many a delicious meal.  I’ll be focusing on these goodies in today’s post.
Tuesday night I tried a recipe for Mu Shu Chicken that I found in Prevention magazine.     This meal came together WAY faster than I expected so dinner ended up being a little earlier than usual, but I’ve definitely filed that information away for a day when we need something fast, nutritious and tasty!  
I had no coleslaw mix or scallions so I used Swiss chard and an orange bell pepper instead.  We enjoyed the mixture nestled in WW wraps:  Even my picky-as-sin son gobbled this meal up!  LOL  The next day I mixed the bit of leftovers with a quarter cup cooked WW couscous.  Yummy!
We had some pretty blustery, winter weather Wednesday which resulted in my office and the schools being shut down for the day (YAY!!) so I got to stay home with my kiddie’s.  Unfortunately my hubby’s workplace never closes so he had to go in for the day.  Boo!  I did not get out of my PJ’s, but did make a fabulous pot of chilli for dinner. 
I found 4 bison burger patties in the freezer so I broke them up and  combined them with some diced onion and garlic, then added a can of black beans, chickpeas, diced Italian style tomatoes, tomato sauce, corn and loads of spices.  
As you can see in the photo we topped our bowls off with grated havarti cheese and fresh cilantro.  The perfect cold day meal!  Friday night was kept simple because we had to head out of town after dinner.  I grilled a chicken breast then topped it with mango chutney and havarti cheese.  I used roasted asparagus as a side: And tonight was good ole pasta! Lunches have also been grand affairs lately.  I scored this gem of a bagel at lunch last Thursday: 
It was SO GOOD!!!  I was inspired to make a similar version at home on Saturday.  On a crusty ciabatta bun I layered whipped cream cheese, grilled chicken breast, tomato, roasted red pepper and avocado.  Then I pressed the sandwich in my George Foreman grill (I had to hold the lid down) for about 5 minutes.  I was rewarded with this amazing creation!
Breakfast around here for me rarely stray’s from some form of oats, but seeing as I had time on Wednesday I made us some waffles with dark chocolate chips and homemade strawberry sauce, I’ve had a few tasty snacks along the way, too…
Tell me what foods/meals you’ve been enjoying lately!!  I’ll sign off with a few pictures of the kids enjoying all the snow we’ve gotten!
Bye for now!!