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!!

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!!

Baking Demon

Sunday morning I was like a Tasmanian devil in the kitchen!  I had a 28oz can of pumpkin puree that I wanted to use and found 3 recipes that used every last drop.  First up was Mama Peas pumpkin spice bars.
The only thing I switched up was subbing macadamia nut oil for the canola oil.  I also used a 1/3 cup of dark chocolate chips because I didn’t have some of the icing ingredients.
I had to bake the batch longer than what was called for, but they were worth the wait.  I mean, look at the goodness here!
Next was Faith’s pumpkin spice syrup!
My photos do not do it justice.  Again, I simmered it longer than suggested because I wanted a thicker syrup.
I promptly made myself a cup of coffee with the syrup and milk.  To. Die. For.   The last cup of pumpkin went into another one of Faith’s recipes; pumpkin donuts!
Well, mine were “timbits” or “donut holes” because I don’t own a donut tin.  I used my mini muffin pan instead and ended up with 40 yummy bites!
I also subbed macadamia nut oil in this recipe (more on that to come!).
And in place of vanilla bean paste for the glaze I used 1 tsp of the pumpkin spice syrup.  
DS was shoving these in his mouth faster than I could get the glaze on them!  Too bad my hands were sticky or I would’ve taken a picture of him in action!   To say these were a big hit would be an understatement.  By the time I went to bed Sunday night there were 4 of the 40 left.  LOL  And here I was thinking to share with the girls at work!  Yeah, right.  :)   Have you baked up any amazing blogger recipes lately?  Do share!
FOOD!  See the pumpkin spice syrup on the oats?  Mmmmm…. **Now that the time has changed I can take breakfast photos in the sun.  Unfortunately, by the time we eat dinner its dark so now those pictures are blah.  I can’t win!** NEWSFLASH!!  I just saw a commercial over the weekend that Tim Horton’s is now selling oatmeal!!!  BONUS, especially because I really don’t like much of the “food” that they serve there.  But I’m thrilled about the oats.  And that there’s a Timmy’s within walking distance of my house and the office!  YAY!
Don’t forget to enter my CSN Stores giveaway!!  You have until Wednesday at 5pm to enter!!  That’s all I’ve got for today!
Bye for now!!