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!

Sunday Breakfast = Pumpkin Pancakes

Good morning!  It’s been a beautiful weekend so far which is such a treat because the forecast originally called for rain.  Has it been lovely in your area? 
This morning was the first in a long time that we didn’t have to set the alarm to get up and be somewhere so I relaxed in bed for a bit deciding on what I wanted to make for breakfast.  I was feeling pancakes, but wanted more than just the plain ole, plain ole.  Looking for inspiration I flipped open Quinoa 365 and found the perfect recipe! 
 
Seeing as this is the first weekend of fall, what could be more perfect than pumpkin pancakes??  I set to work on the batter and proceeded to pump out 18 beautifully golden, fluffy ‘cakes! 

I gotta admit; I was getting a little anxious to eat about halfway through the batter!  HAHA!  Patience is not a strong virtue of mine.  But finally I was down to the last 2 that were destined for my plate.  I knew right off that my toppings of choice would not only include the pecans as suggested in the recipe, but a good glug of this raspberry syrup I picked up last night;
Raspberries, sugar and lemon juice make up the list of ingredients and I just knew that the combo of pumpkin and raspberry would be delicious.  My plating skills are seriously lacking, but here’s what my breakie looked like:
GET IN MY BELLY!!!  These pancakes were just awesome.  AND (!!) I have 16 left to go in the freezer for quick weekday breakfasts.  Cook once, eat twice…..or 8 times, right?!
What is your favourite pancake flavour?  And what do you like to top your flap Jack’s with?
Bye for now!!