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!!

What’s For Dinner?

I finally spent some time downloading all my pictures and realized I had quite a few dinner photos on there so I thought I’d do a post focusing on what’s been on my dinners plate lately.  Here we go!
I tired my hand at a quick Kung Pao Chicken recipe that I found in a magazine (I think it was Chatelaine).   From what I remember, this dish came together super fast!  I opted to sub out the chicken for tofu seeing as I had a block in the fridge.  And I served it over pasta for greater kid appeal.  :) The next day I mixed peas and corn into the leftovers and took them to work.  One night DD was away for dinner so the boys and I has cheese waffles (I just used a basic Bisquick mix and added 1 cup of grated marble cheese), eggs and broccoli: And from my Clean Eating Magazine, I made cornmeal crusted sole fillets,  paired with corn and roasted sweet potatoes! The day after I did groceries last week I made a massive stir fry.  As well as chicken, there was broccoli, red onion, green onions, snow peas, bell peppers and mushrooms.  I made a simple sauce with soy sauce, hoisin, dry sherry, OJ, ginger and garlic: And there was also Mu Shu Pork with a side of basmati rice: We had pasta for dinner the other night with one of my favourite, quick sauces; tuna.  Simply sauté onion and garlic in olive oil, add 2 cans of tuna, a can of diced tomatoes, a small can of tomato sauce, capers and parsley.  Bring to a simmer and you’re good to go.  This time I also added 2 small, diced zucchini: And the last 2 meals?  Curried chickpeas with rice and roasted chicken breast, mixed veggies and rice:
And there you have a photo album of my meals!  What’s been on your dinner plate these days??
I’ll leave you with a GREAT photo I took of Pepper last week.  He was sitting pretty on the deck so I thought to take a pic.  As soon as I hit the “button”, he yawned.  But just look how fierce he looks!!!
LMAO!!!!!!!
Bye for now!!

Enjoy Life Foods-Cookies and Chocolate Bars

A while back Enjoy Life Foods sent us some soft baked cookies and Chocó Boom Bars to try out.  Seeing as there are a few children in the school my kids attend with severe food allergies, I’m always very careful about what I pack in their lunch bags.  I know that I am good to go sending them with any product made by this wonderful company. 
Here is some great information about Enjoy Life Foods products;
-All products are gluten free and allergy friendly
-All products are free of the top 8 allergens; wheat, dairy, peanuts, tree nuts, egg, soy, fish and shellfish
-Most Enjoy Life Food products are also free of potatoes, sesame, sulphites and casein
-All products are tested down to 10 parts per million to ensure that they are gluten free
-Products contain no artificial ingredients, trans fats or GMO’s (genetically modified ingredients)
-Enjoy Life Food suppliers are required to complete non-contamination certificates
-The facility where the food is made is a dedicated nut and gluten free facility
Enjoy Life Foods carries such food items as soft baked cookies, chewy granola bars, chocolate bars/baking chips, cereal, granola, trail mixes and bagels.  To see my review of the trail mixes, click here.
As a family of 4 who are blessed to be (food) allergy free, I myself do not have to worry about what we eat, but if one of my children did have allergies or sensitivities, the Enjoy Life Products would sure make me feel at peace about what I was feeding them.  On to our thoughts and opinions!
The Cookies
Snickerdoodle

DD-soft and fluffy
Me-nice ginger flavour, liked the sugar dusting, least grainy in consistency of the 3
DS-wasn’t sure about the “bite” (I think he meant the ginger)
DH-not bad, but not my favourite
Oatmeal Raisin

DD-didn’t try these because she doesn’t like raisins
DS-found the raisins too “hard”
DH-good, chewy, nice for a quick snack, best of the 3 flavours
Me-Liked the dense texture, but agree with DS in that the raisins were hard
Brownie

DD-Soft, chocolaty, LOVED them
Me-full chocolate flavour, but a very grainy, almost sand-like texture
DH-not a huge brownie fan, but pretty good for a cookie
DS-liked these best, Mom, can you buy more of these!
The Chocolate Bars

I have to be honest here in that I pretty much hoarded these bars.  The only reason DD had any at all was because she happened to be with me when I opened the box.  LOL  My favourite of the 3 was hands down the dairy-free rice milk with crispy rice. 
I adore crispy rice in my chocolate!  Next up was the dairy-free rice milk bar.   This was my least fave.  I felt like I was almost straining to get the chocolate taste out of this bar.  This is the one I split with DD and she really liked it.  Said she couldn’t tell the difference between it and “real” chocolate.  The dark chocolate bar was very tasty, IMO and didn’t last very long at all.
I would most definitely buy the crispy rice bar and dark bar again.  I would not, however, purchase the plain one.  These bars are a nice size; not too big, but a decent portion.  Again, perfect for kids lunch boxes! 
So tell me, have you tried any of the above products?  Is your family allergy sensitive where you would need to purchase gluten free goods?  Hope you enjoyed this review!!
Bye for now!!

Krista-Fest 2011

Hi!  How has everyone been holding up the past week?  I’ve been great!  I’ve been sitting here wondering where to start with this post, so I thought I’d go with my birthday!  Yes, March 16 saw me one year older.  And I love it!  I truly wouldn’t want to be any other age than 37 right now.  I look back to 17 and I was in a crap relationship and had zero self esteem, I look back to 27 and was Mom to a 3yr old and 2mth old, which was wonderful, but I love their ages now.  Yes, 37 is GOOD!  :)  And I was SPOLIED!!  My hubby bought me this beautiful necklace:  And the fam took me out for dinner to Milestone’s and a movie; Mars Needs Moms (my choice) the weekend before.  For dinner we started with balsamic bruschetta; then I had a chicken masala dish over jasmine rice: and my hubby had a seafood meal, also served over rice: .  The food was just OK, but it was great to be out all together.  Here’s me and my girl!   The movie was really cute and projected an amazing message to kids.  Lord knows I got an extra tight hug before the kids went to bed that night!  On the actual day of my birthday DS had a soccer tournament, but I’ll get to that in another post.  Between the 2 morning games a group of us went out for breakfast to a popular breakfast joint here in town.  I was feeling a Belgian waffle so I went that route.  This baby came with custard, whip cream and fruit (which I had on the side)
I got through a good three quarters of that beast before I waved my white flag!  T’was delicious!  My hubby’s plate was pretty impressive. Check it out…    That evening my hubby made us a great Buffalo Chicken Salad from a recipe he found in my Clean Eating magazine:
I think he did a fabulous job!  This is what our plates looked like:   And of course there was cake!  Last night was a b-day dinner at my parents house. Chuckle chuckle!!  Mom made lasagna which I always pass on…too heavy…but I did enjoy the rest of the meal; asparagus, sweet potatoes, steak, pork tenderloin and lentil salad! And my sista made me a gigantic chocolate cake!!! Krista-fest ended at lunch today.  My boss always takes us gals out for a birthday lunch and today was the day.  We went to my newest favourite joint, a little cafe called The Red Brick Cafe.  My hubby and I discovered this place a few weeks back and haven’t been able to get enough of the place since.  We’ve only been there for coffee and dessert so I was excited to try lunch.  I went with a 1/2 portabello/goat cheese panini and veggies’ with hummus: 
Doesn’t that look like a picture from a magazine???  I’m so proud.  HAHA  It was a great lunch and I’m very lucky to have so many people to celebrate with.  I’m such a spoiled brat!  LOL
So thank you for reading all about my week long birthday celebration!  :)  I’m hoping to get a food recap posted tomorrow or Wednesday.  Now that hockey is done I have some free time on my hands.  Yipee!!!!
Bye for now!!