My Simple Life

2011-11-09T11:55:00.000-05:00

i apologize for my absence here. it hasn't been intentional. i'll admit, we've been busy around here, adjusting to some new developments, dealing with some Asher stuff, and generally enjoying ourselves.

we got ourselves memberships for the Y, and we've been taking full advantage of that. blithe and bram are enrolled in classes (creative dance and tae kwon do, respectively) and swimming lessons, i've been enjoying yoga, and we've all been going swimming a couple times a week. it's actually been really nice. we feel great, we're getting along better, we have more energy, we cope with stress better... it's fantastic!!

the kids are all back at school, which is great. they're doing fairly well, too, so that's really nice.

i've begun pursuing a dream i've had for a long time: last month, i did the make-up for a production of Tuesdays With Morrie. truly, an amazing, life-changing experience. i learned a lot, grew in some friendships, and enjoyed myself thoroughly. in fact, i have actually joined another production, doing make-up and other backstage stuff, for next May. that's going to be a lot of fun, too. SQUEEE!!!! i can't wait!!!! :D

so that's our lives around here lately... but now that you're caught up, i want to post about something else, actually...

our local hydro company has recently made the switch to time of use billing. basically, that means that certain times of the day are cheaper than other times. the idea is to lower energy consumption by making peak-times (like, the middle of the day) less attractive from a financial stand-point.

it works.

blerg.

as soon as it kicked in on October 1, i became super strict about lights. and i've picked up a few extra tidbits along the way:

crockpots. instead of turning on the oven which sucks more energy than i care to think about, thank-you very much, i just throw the makings of stew into the slow cooker and walk away, knowing that in a few hours, i'll have yummy food and a lower hydro bill.
vacuum less. yup. i'm blaming TOU on my lack of vacuuming. you'll buy that, right? (wink)
wash dishes by - gulp! - hand. but you know what??? it uses way less water, plus doesn't require as much hydro to heat the water in the first place (electric water heater. ugh. but better than gas, i suppose) but it also... wait for it... gets my dishes cleaner than the dishwasher! and faster! i know! shockingly, this only occurred to me the other day. i was just running the dishwasher every night to save hydro. never occurred to me that i can wash the dishes during the day and save money. haha
minimizing time on the computer during the day. which is an ironic statement as i'm writing this at 11:30 in the morning. but i've found that, in addition to lowering my hydro usage, i'm also getting more done around the house, and i'm spending more time connecting with people in real life, which is actually more meaningful, anyway. (again, the irony of writing this on a blog is not lost on me.) another benefit to less screen time: my memory is coming back and my attention span is getting a bit longer (insert "ooh! something shiny!" joke here)
read more books. you know, those blocks of paper with stuff written all over them? yeah! those things! apparently they're called books!!! :P and i've actually been reading some!! HAHA!!!! ok, i read fairly often anyway. but now i have an actual reason: it's economical. (or maybe i'm just trying to justify my addiction. don't judge me!!!!!!!!!) (ahem. {composes self})

and it's funny, even by doing these small things... somehow... i lowered my hydro bill by almost $30!!!

and in case you're wondering...

i've been doing laundry during the day.

not every day. but given how tired i am in the evenings, i just can't stay up late at night to do laundry. so i've kept doing it during the day, but cut back on hydro usage in other areas, and yes, managed to lower my hydro bill. significantly. {happy dance}

muffin recipe!!!

2011-08-01T13:33:00.001-04:00

... which, granted, i haven't tried yet. haven't even tasted them, to be perfectly honest. but they just sound so good!! so i got the recipe from a friend, and i'm really just gonna cut and paste here, and then i'll review the muffins when i make them. k? good. here we go:

Zu-Key-Ni Dill Muffins TNT
Taken from TASTE OF HOME August 2001

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 T. Baking powder
1 T. Dill weed
2 t. salt
2 cups grated unpeeled zucchini
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients. Add zucchini and stir until coated. Combine the eggs, milk and oil; stir into zucchini mixture just until moistened. Filled greased or paper-lined muffins cups two-thirds full. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake at 400F for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks. Yield: about two dozen.

thanks, pam! i can't wait to make these!!

you mean you can MAKE granola bars?!

2011-06-22T08:57:00.001-04:00

well, that's odd, because i was under the impression that they just come from the store.

sadly, i'm not joking.

having been raised in a fairly large city, i was always taught that food comes from the store. no, seriously. i remember class trips when i was younger, and we were learning about where food comes from, and we went to the grocery store. a big chain store, too. yeah. so you can imagine my surprise when i learned that you grow peanuts and you grow garlic and you can make cottage cheese... and sadly, the list goes on.

and how pathetic is this... i've been baking just about everything from scratch lately - muffins, pie crust, tortillas, cookies, macaroons, you name it, i've made it - and yet this morning - just 15 scant minutes ago, in fact! - i had another one of those moments when i stood in shock for a moment and thought, "WHA-?! you can make those?!?!"

it's true.

and "those," gentle readers, are... wait for it...

granola bars.

ok, ok, i've been wanting to make them for a long time now. you can even find a few posts about them on this very blog. but, um... how can i put this... uh... {looks away}i've never made them before.

i know, i know. pathetic, right?

well, no more, gentle readers! because as of this very morning, i,

heather,

have made

{cue 2001: Space Odyssey music}

GRANOLA BARS!!

and yes, i'm going to give you the recipe. and yes, i actually have pictures this time!! :) (i was planning this post whilst i baked... usually i don't, hence the lack of pics on this site. haha)

so, here you go, my friends: i give you

CHEWY GRANOLA BARS

2 1/2 cups quick rolled oats

1/2 cup Rice Krispies (or nameless equivalent)

1/4 cup coconut

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup honey

1/2 tsp vanilla

simplest directions ever: preheat the oven to 350F.

mix all the ingredients together until combined. press the mixture into an 8x8 pan.

bake it for 18 to 20 minutes.

let it cool for 10 minutes, and score into bars. then let it set completely, and cut into bars.

seriously, it's that easy. i'm not even joking.

now, there was one glitch in the following of this recipe: somehow, i am out of chocolate chips. i didn't realize that until i got to that line in the recipe. (note to self: pull out ingredients before starting the recipe.) so instead of choco chips, i chopped up an apple and added a little bit (less than 1/2 tsp) of cinnamon. to be honest, i don't know how much i used. the 1/2 tsp spoon was the one i grabbed, and i didn't fill it because cinnamon can be pretty strong sometimes, and i didn't want to overpower the rest of the goodness.

and i as was typing that last sentence the timer beeped and so i pulled the pan out of the oven. and wow!! it looks and smells amazing!! kind of like apple crisp, actually, thanks to my handy-dandy last-minute, semi-panicked substitution. {wink}

ok, a couple tips before you make these:

score the bars after they've cooled for 10 minutes. seriously. use the timer on the oven if you have to, but make sure it cools for at least 10 minutes.
let the bars set completely before cutting and removing them from the pan. if they haven't set, they'll fall apart. so wait patiently.
once you remove them from the pan, wrap them in cling wrap. this will help them to keep their shape and stay fresh.
this is not a "make in the morning before the kids go to school" recipe. trust me on this one. make these the night before, so you can be sure they're completely ready for the lunch rush in the morning. (that being said, the bars had not completely set when i put them in the kids' lunches today. but i wrapped them up tight - the bars, not the kids - and gave strict instructions that they are to be eaten at second nutrition break. again, the bars, not the kids. here's hoping the bars will be ready by then. {crosses fingers})
another thing you could try: score the bars after 10 minutes. wait another 15 or so... then cut them up, wrap them individually in cling wrap, and put them in the freezer for a while. this helps.

they still smell divine. between the bars and my coffee, this house smells like heaven right now. {choir of angels} asher is already begging for a granola bar. it's actually getting a little frustrating. haha but that might be because he's asking in a 4-year-old voice what i'm asking in my head. {wink}

later...
k, i just had one of these bars, and WOW!!!! they're AMAZING!!!! they are chewy, not crunchy, so they're sticky on your fingers, but who cares?! also, next time i might use a little less brown sugar, like 1/3 cup instead of half. with the honey in there, it gets to be a bit too sweet... but then again, i prefer salty over sweet, so maybe it's just me.

in fact, i'm pretty sure it is just me, because asher had one, too, and he said it was really good. but he also said it was a little sticky. i have a recipe for crunchy granola bars, so i might try those next. but these are really good, and i highly recommend them... say... 4 out of 5 yummy sounds. :)

(ps - i'll post pics later... blogger's acting up this morning and won't let me post pics. boourns!!)

best. bread. ever.

2011-06-15T13:02:00.000-04:00

well, from a machine, anyway.

i have to share this recipe with you because it's just that awesome. it's beautiful. i could honestly eat the entire loaf by myself. with nothing on it. just straight bread. ok, maybe some honey, or cheese, or tons and tons of butter... or lots of ham or roast beef and cheese, or as a toasted tomato sandwich or... oh, wow, i'm actually drooling. excuse me for just a moment. {wipes chin} k, i'm back now.

anyhoo, i suppose you'd like the recipe for this wonder, wouldn't you? well, brace yourselves, gentle readers, because here it is:

Honey Oat Bread

1 cup water
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp oil
3 cups bread flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 tsp salt
2 tsp yeast

put the ingredients into the breadmaker. i set it on "grain" with regular crust (as opposed to dark), and it turned out perfectly.

with this recipe, there is a little room for creativity. instead of using oatmeal, you can use granola. i've done this in the past, and it was lovely. however, since granola (at least the stuff i have) contains almonds, it's not school -friendly. so today, i decided to try something a little different again, and used 12-grain cereal. WOW!!!! it's so good!

and yes, i wanted to post pics, but um... yeah... the bread's all gone now. {sheepish grin} so you'll just have to take my word on this... it was wonderful!

best. wreck. ever!!!!!!!

2011-03-17T18:39:00.000-04:00

it's my birthday in 5 days. my mom is here right now, but she won't be on tuesday (the 22nd... my birthday... hint hint), so she and the kids made me a b-day cake today.

and i have to say....

best. cake. ever!!!

after i blew out the candles, blithe said, "wow! it smells like smoke in here!!!" um... i'm not that old... i'm turning 33. not 133!!!

the proud wreckorators. note that the bottom of the cake is square, and the top is round. and note the crazy angles of some of the candles.

there it is, in all it's wrecky glory. including, "mome" instead of "mommy." {sniff} it's just... just... so beautiful! {wipes tears}

could i be more proud?? could i be any happier???

nope.

'cause the kidley-winks made me my very own wreck for my birthday. i have the best. kids. ever.

oh! it just occured to me that some readers might not know why i'd be so excited about a hideous, misspelled cake. check out this website, Cake Wrecks, and you'll understand. :)

DIY haircuts... unless they're "not" DIY

2011-03-11T21:41:00.000-05:00

well, blithe and i were sitting on the couch this evening watching iCarly or something, and i looked over at her and thought, hey, her bangs look shorter in one spot. so i says to her, i says,

"hey, your bangs look shorter in one spot."

"wha-?!" she asks, "incredulously." (by the way, you're going to see a lot of quotation marks in this post. you'll understand as we go on.)

"did you cut your bangs or something?" now, to be clear, i'm not upset. i used to do the same thing. heck, i still cut my own hair! so i understand, i really do. i just think it's amusing because while she is following in my shoes with the DIY haircut... she hasn't picked up the importance of a mirror. haha

"um... no..." she replies, avoiding my gaze and messing up her bangs. awful suspicious, don't you think? {wink}

we keep this up for a moment, and i change my FB status to "so, girlie got A- in drama, but can't lie to save her life. don't tell me you didn't cut your bangs... i'm looking right at you!!! ROFL"

and then it was bedtime. so, upstairs we go. the kidley-winks get themselves into their jammies and i go into her room. we sing along with justin bieber (apparently, it should be him. who knew?!) and then she says, "i didn't cut my bangs, mom."

hmm... interesting... i wasn't saying anything about it... funny she should bring it up, don't you think??? {wink}

"oh, i know," i "reassured" her, "'mom, remember this afternoon when it was staticky so i wet it? yeah, well, i think... i mean, i know that, um, yeah. as my hair dried, it shrank. but just in that one spot. yeah. that's what happened. yup. it shrank. that sounds good.'" and we laughed.

"i don't know," she exclaims, laughing. "maybe it was invisible aliens who sneaked in here and cut my bangs!"

invisible aliens?!?!?!?!

i'm so proud. because that is a story i can get behind. and i did. {wink} here's how it went down, according to me, with some laughing input from girlie:

so, i was sitting in my room, on my bed, you know, right here, and i was singing along with justin bieber, 'cause he's, like, soooo awesome and i love him but who doesn't really i mean come on look at those eyes squeeee!!!! ahem... anyhoo... so i'm sitting here, just minding my own business, and then this alien spaceship, this, like, flying saucer thing, swoops down into my room, with all the lights and stuff, and these little green alien martian people came out and pinned me down on my bed and cut off some of my bangs because they were doing some DNA experiments or something i don't know because i couldn't really talk for some reason i think they drugged me or something and that's why you didn't hear anything even though you were right across the hall. so yeah, then the alien guys climbed back up into their ship and there were the lights and the smoke and then they were gone... with my bangs!!!!! i mean, really, can you believe that?!?!?!?!

that, gentle readers, is the story your children need to memorize. if they pull that out when they think they're in trouble, you're just gonna have to laugh and let it go, because really, if they're going to pull that story off, and they're going to be the kid who had aliens invading their bedroom and cut their hair or whatever... yeah. just stand back, smile, and say, "kid, that was fan. freaking. tastic."

and so, blithe, on this night when, for the first time in your entire life you came up with a most ridiculous explanation for something i wasn't even upset about in the first place, i applaud you. i am so proud. but next time, you need to believe it, then it might be somewhat plausible. at least to someone on tv or something. {wink}

SNOW CREAM!!!!!!!

2011-03-11T18:22:00.000-05:00

well, it is yet another snow day around here. that's right, the last day of school before march break, and we get a snow storm. i'm not joking.

and so... what do you do when school is cancelled and you're exhausted and low on funds and low on groceries and therefore also low on snackables? you find an easy recipe online and open the back door. {wink}

i looked up a recipe online, and since there were four ingredients, and there's four of us, we each had to remember one ingredient:
blithe: 1 cup sugar
bram: 1 tbsp vanilla
asher: 2 cups milk (although when i asked him what he was supposed to remember, he said, "2." "two what?" i asked. "too much!" so helpful. thanks. haha)
me: 3L (1 gallon) snow

basically, mix it all together in a bowl. dish it out. enjoy. :)

the verdict? from the mouths of babes....

this makes my mouff freezing!

this tastes good!

this tastes like outside!

this makes my taste buds freeze!

dat's why it is snow!

diss makes me shiver why it's so good!

and i would add, it tastes like christmas. you know... if christmas was, um... edible?? is that right? somehow i don't think so... please tell me you know what i mean, though. haha

that all means it's good. :)

gotta love snow days!!!!

i asked God for a ministry. i told Him i want to make a difference in people's lives...

2011-03-07T10:36:00.000-05:00

and He answered me.

because that's what He does.

so i listened?!?! and said, "ok"?!?!?!

{shakes head}

here's what happened:

so, i woke up this morning, totally not feeling it. i don't quite know how to explain "it," but i wasn't feeling it. gosh, mornings like that are just swell, aren't they? {rolls eyes}

but i got girlie off to the bus (the boys had spent the night with their dad) and i sat down on the couch with my handy-dandy notebook. (the power chord for my laptop is dead - at least i hope it's just the power chord :S )and i turned on the tv. i decided to watch a christian show that i never watch, but for some reason, i watched today. the guest was a man who rescues children from the sex trade in cambodia. and then i started thinking/praying, God, i want a ministry. doesn't have to be something like that, but i want something. just give me something to do. and the man made a really good point that we often think we need all kinds of education and training and what-not to do something for God, but we really don't. He'll put us where He wants us.

so i turned off the tv, and i actually found a great verse for this morning. i took it as my theme verse o' the day:

i cry out to God Most High,
to God who will fulfill His purpose for me.
Psalm 57:2

and then i pulled out my journal and prayed (yes, i write out my prayers. otherwise, i get too distracted and ooh! look! something shiny!!!..... k, i'm back, what was i talking about? ah, yes. i get distracted easily. why was i telling you that?? right. i was praying).

so, i ask, God Most High, give me a purpose. give me a ministry. give me something to do that will make a difference in people's lives.

He answers... wait for it..., clean the house.

i'm not even joking.

when i ~~complained~~ ~~rolled my eyes~~ ~~argued~~ asked piously for some clarification, i said, no, i wanted something that would make a difference. who would this possibly minister to?

He replied, the kids.

sigh. totally not what i was hoping for. i'll be honest, i wanted something glamourous like a call to india or working with street kids in a big city or something...

nope.

clean the house.

nice.

well, i ~~bargained~~ replied graciously and with the piety of mother theresa, because i know it's what You want me to do, i'll do it. just... give me joy while i do it. thanks.

sigh.

so right now, there's a load of bedding in the washer, and another waiting to go. i'm about to fold some laundry i did yesterday, load up the dishwasher, collect the garbage, and then try to find the play room floor. and maybe the end of the couch. and maybe, while i'm making a pot of coffee, i'll find at least some of the kitchen counter.

and you know... i'm actually feeling pretty good about this. like God actually has given me joy to do this job. cool! :)

Philippians 2: 5-11

getting myself un-dis-organized

2011-02-09T12:15:00.000-05:00

so, over the last few months, like, since i started working in november, i've gotten a little disorganized.

ok, a lot disorganized.

well! that all stops today.

i'm working on a filing system for bills. a binder with two sections:

paid
awaiting $$

because i can't pay a bill if i don't have money... see how that works?

the other thing i'm working on is re-instating the weekly menu. and when i plan the menu, i don't just plan suppers. nope. i plan everything we eat for the week.

breakfast
lunch (including school lunches)
snack
supper

this way, if i need to make, say, muffins for breakfast or bread for sandwiches, i know ahead of time and i can make it the night before.

the other thing this allows is for budgeting and variety in our meals. i always find that spend at least half again as much on groceries when i don't plan the menu, and we end up eating the same things over and over. which isn't always a bad thing, since i am a pretty good cook, but i am capable of making a lot of different things, and most of those... never get made. :( so this way, i can make more of the foods we enjoy for a lot less money.

and let's not forget the calendar!!

for christmas i got the Cake Wrecks calendar (SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!), and it's got plenty of room for writing down, well, everything!!!!

my work schedule
school project due dates
library book return dates
appointments
pay day
bills due
play dates

you get the idea, i'm sure. basically, if we're doing it, or we should be doing it, it goes on the calendar.

i may also include specific tasks to be done around the house. things like, "wash bedding and towels" or "baking day" or "organize so-and-so's bedroom."

and yes, i'm going to have a baking/cooking day. i figure, if i do it on saturdays, then we'll have good snacks for the week and the kidley-winks can help me! muffins for breakfasts, cookies or granola bars for snacks, and any suppers i can make ahead of time for thursdays or other busy days.

anyway, that's the plan for now. the way i see it, if i work on one disorganized part of my life at a time, i should be completely organized by the time i'm 80 or so. that's my goal, at least. {wink}

i'm making up another soup "recipe" :)

2011-02-05T13:53:00.001-05:00

last night for supper, we had perogies with bacon. i would have fried up some onions, too, but i thought i was all out. {tears}

i only used about 2/3 of the package of bacon last night. the rest i threw into the freezer, to be used later for some as-yet-unspecified culinary concoction.

well, gentle readers, that "unspecified culinary concoction" is now specified.

huzzah!!!

it's cold, it's snowy, it's a day at home. and i wanted to cook. but i find that i run out of ideas for supper by late afternoon, and i end up staring into the fridge, freezer, pantry, and contemplating take-out. (last night i dreamed little caesar's closed and we were unable to get cheap pizza!! the horror...) so i have decided to go back to weekly menu planning and slow cooking (er...cooking slowly? blerg!). so this afternoon, when i started working on lunch...

i came up with supper.

i ran over to the freezer and pulled out the leftover bacon from last night. after a little cheer, i tossed it into the pan with... you guessed it... bacon fat!!! what was food like before some genius mind realized that bacon fat is amazing?!?!? couldn't have been very good, i don't think. but that's just me. and i love bacon. a lot. it's just so... so... bacony... {drools all over keyboard}

{puts out drool-induced electrical fire on keyboard}

and... we're back.

where were we? ah, yes. bacon.

so, i began frying up the remaining bacon, which i had actually cut into smaller pieces last night. so that's going on the stove, and i decided to go potato hunting in my kitchen. and in the process, i found...

onions!!!!

again, i heart onions. they just fill a dish with flavour, and yet they're so simple and easy and versatile and yum-tastic.

especially when they're fried in bacon fat. {wink}

i was going to use them for a soup creation, but as i was looking at the bacon and onions there in the pan, i started thinking... stew? pasta? a different soup?

in the end, i went with my original idea. and here's what i threw together:

Mexican Lentil and Bacon Soup

so, like i said, i used 1/3 lb of bacon, cut into smaller pieces, and fried in bacon fat with 1 diced onion. while cooking, i added a little bit of mexican flavour. el yum!

i poured the bacon and onion into the slow cooker, being (somewhat) careful to not dump in copious amounts of liquid ~~beauty~~ fat. i then added some diced tomatoes, and mixed it all together.

pour in some lentils. the amount? um... i don't know... a cup... ish??? till it looked right. let's go with that.

mix it all together.

at this point, i threw in some mexican seasoning and a touch of cumin.

throw in some frozen spinach, and some chicken broth, and a little bit of water, and...

voila!!

i'll post later with the results... but it smells pretty good already!

UPDATE #1: i just sampled the broth. if it tastes this good when it's done cooking, i would take a bullet for this soup. it's just. that. good. will update with final results later. :)

perfect imperfection

2011-01-31T14:46:00.000-05:00

what an incredible morning!

this morning, i got up at 7:00. i only hit snooze twice (i've set it for 6:42 to allow me to do just that... yes, i know, i'm a genius). i came downstairs and made myself a small pot of coffee and got dressed. then blithe got up, then the boys got up. ok, granted, blithe woke bram up because she wanted to play with his charlie stuffie, and i suspect asher woke up from the ensuing shrieking, but they quickly decided to get along and play nicely. blithe reminded bram about the "no tv in the morning" rule, and miraculously, he didn't complain.

my coffee was ready, so i poured some into my favourite (read: biggest) mug, which i then placed on the (ahem) clear and clean kitchen counter.

and i asked the kids to bring me their lunchbags.

blithe? check. bram? check. (and quickly, which is shocking, when you consider they have the combined attention span of a doorknob. haha ah, ADHD, how you make our lives interesting!) asher?... asher??... asher, sweetie, where's your lunchbag?? ok, blithe and bram, can you please help asher find his backpack? thank-you.

they divided up the house, each kid getting a zone to search. blithe took the upstairs (i'm choosing to ignore the fact that his backpack is never upstairs... but all her justin bieber stuff is... and again, attention span? what's that???). long story short, i found asher's backpack... on the couch. in the open. right there. but, when i gave it to him, he thanked me so sweetly, and he insisted on getting out his lunchbag himself.

and i stood there, watching him, as he unzipped the bag and pulled out his lunchbag and took it to the kitchen and put it on the chair.

and i was amazed.

he's growing up so fast. he's getting to be so independent. he's more mature every day. he's so quickly becoming his own little person.

it's so beautiful.

then i made the kids' lunches as litter-less-ly as possible (they have a competition at school this week: the class that has the most litterless lunches gets a pizza party. hey, whatever works, right?), using some of the containers i picked up at the superstore for $2 a pack ($2 for a pack of 6, and i got 3 different sized sets). i gave the kids their choice of fruit; blithe and bram each wanted an apple, asher chose a banana.

but while we were discussing the fruit, they all stood together in the kitchen, in their little cluster of three... and i looked and them, and i just thought,

wow. they really are amazing people. they're so beautiful and sweet and perfectly imperfect.

it's amazing what you find in your kitchen in seven minutes...

2011-01-12T12:05:00.000-05:00

it's no secret that i hate housework. and i mean,

i.

hate.

housework.

well, it's not so much doing it that bothers me. it's the unendingness of it all. i can clean off the counters right now, but by tonight, they'll be covered with stuff again. and laundry. seriously, when is someone going to invent perma-clean clothes????????

ugh.

a few years ago, i gave FlyLady a whirl (the link is on the sidebar). and found it to be just as overwhelming as the mess in my house. so that was a no-go.

but, a friend suggested it again a few weeks ago, so i decided to sign up again. and yes, it took me a while to figure out how to wade through all those emails (and WOW! there are a lot!), which ones to read and which ones to delete unread. but now that i've figured that out, i'm actually not so overwhelmed by it all.

(and please ignore the irony that i can tackle the clutter in my inbox but want to cry when i look at my coffee table.)

anyhoo...

the other day, she issued a challenge: clean up. do it all, toss stuff, put stuff away, wipe stuff down. everything.

for seven minutes.

that's right.

seven minutes.

"bah!" i thought, trapped in some semi-dickensian (time-)warped frame of mind, "seven minutes! i can't clean the house in seven minutes!! humbug!!"

but then i thought... you know... it's only seven minutes... maybe i'll try it...

and prove FlyLady wrong...

because we all know you can't get anything accomplished in seven minutes.

and so, i set off to the ~~black hole~~ ~~pile of clutter~~ kitchen to do some tidying and cleaning. again, thinking, "seriously, seven minutes?? bah! humbug!!" and i set the timer on the stove.

and do you want to know what i did in that seven minutes??

i put away the remaining pantry stuff from christmas that had not previously fit in the pantry. but it fits now... other than the case of KD, so, admittedly, that's still on the floor.

i put all kinds of stuff into recycling.

i almost threw up a bit when i looked in my mini compostainer.

i found several forks.

i found a couple spoons.

i found parts of the floor i'd forgotten were there.

i found out what colour my counter is.

i found my breadmaker.

ok, the breadmaker wasn't lost. i knew where it was. but i couldn't get to it. but now i can!!!

turns out, you can accomplish quite a bit in seven minutes! who knew!!!

ok, probably a lot of you. i'm sure this is some centuries-old strategy and i'm just ridiculously slow in learning it.

and now i have a new housework mantra:

it doesn't need to be perfect; it just needs to be done.

so my plan for today is:

seven minutes cleaning the kitchen.
seven minutes tidying the living room.
seven minutes looking for the dining room table.
seven minutes in the bathroom.

and i may, perhaps, if i have time (i have to work at 3:30), do the challenge from one day last week: the 27-item fling. basically, you get a garbage bag (or item from your declutter kit, haha), and get rid of 27 things. could be 27 flyers. could be 27 pieces of clothing that are too small. could be 27 toys the kids don't play with anymore. could be 27 mini chocolate bar wrappers. could be 27 miscellaneous items of various shapes and sizes and degrees of decomposition. just get rid of 27 things from the house. if they're donate-able, then toss them in your vehicle and take them straight to the nearest Goodwill or BFM or whatever. if they're garbage, take them outside. if they're recyclable, recycle them. but just get rid of them.

who knows?? by the end of this week, i just might find my floor... at least, i hope so.

well, i don't know about yours, but our christmas was... wow.

2010-12-27T19:09:00.001-05:00

back in early november, i received an email from a dear, dear friend:

Dear Heather

The Christmas season is fast approaching and while the season is one of love, joy, peace and hope, it can also be a season of stress when you have children and want to give them that magical Christmas morning experience.

It was going to be more of a surprise (initially) but after a few conversations with your mom, we decided that perhaps we should share our plans with you in order to alleviate some of the holiday stresses you are feeling. So here it is: This year Christmas is on us. My family, including my parents, would like to give you guys Christmas. The plan right now is new pajamas for each child, a new outfit for each child, warm hats and mittens for each, and some new toys for each child. Plus a bin of dry goods for your cupboards, a gift card for the grocery store (and a few things for you but those can be kept secret!). Your mom has given me some great ideas for each kiddo (she was my spy on the weekend lol), but if you know something special they are "asking Santa for" or a specific request please let me know. We were planning to drop the gifts off at your moms (either wrapped or unwrapped depending on if you wanted to see them first or not) and then you can give them to the kids from you. My children know they are helping shop for some fabulous kids to help them have a great Christmas, but they don't know it's your kids (because they do play once in a while and I didn't want my kids to mention something, albeit innocently and make yours uncomfortable).

Let me know if I'm on the right track. I'm sorry to blow the secret, and I was planning to just be "santa's elf" but after talking to your mom I didn't want you to be stressed out leading up to Christmas. I hope that this helps! I can't think of a family who deserves a little love more than you guys. You are an amazing mom and you've raised three wonderful, loving, happy children. And I couldn't be more proud to be your friend.

Merry Christmas! xo

can you believe that?!?! when i read that email, i bawled. an amazing gift from a wonderful friend for my incredible children.

i didn't have to worry about a single gift for the kids. (mind you, i went along thinking for over a month that i didn't have to buy anything, la dee dah, i have no shopping to do so yes, i'm ready for christmas, are you?, and then it occurred to me a couple weeks ago that i needed to buy stuff for my parents, brother, his girlfriend, my grandmother... yeah. insert mad dash to the mall in london and voila! most of that shopping done under budget and in a couple hours. yes, i'm just. that. good. HAHA!!)

christmas morning was, well, unbelievable. the kids got everything on their wishlists. blithe got all things justin bieber, bram got all things lego, and asher got all things elmo. blithe also got an easy bake oven and a lalaloopsy doll, and the boys got some transformers, too.

and the thing is... they were so grateful!! that afternoon, bram was playing with his lego while i wrote a note to my aunt, and he looked up at me and said,

"mommy, i'm really thankful for everything i have."

have you ever heard something so wonderful???

well, i have. that night, as blithe was saying her prayers, she thanked God for all the gifts we got, "because I know they came from you. how did you know i wanted a singing justin bieber doll and an easy bake oven?? well, i suppose you know everything, so of course you would know that, right?"

yesterday, we were driving home from church, and blithe said to me,

"mommy, i'm really thankful for everything you and nana and bampa bought us."

i said, "sweetie, i only gave you a couple things. nana and bampa only gave you a few things. most of those gifts you received yesterday weren't from me or nana and bampa."

and her jaw dropped.

she's been a bit unsure about santa this year, not sure if she still believes or not. but yeah. i'm pretty sure she believes now.

(in case you haven't realized, the kids don't know about this gift to us. i had told blithe that santa is the spirit of giving at christmas, and that's what i'm sticking with. all this stuff... yeah. it's from santa.)

surprise, surprise, i've taken up a new hobby

2010-12-11T11:49:00.000-05:00

so, yesterday, asher and i went a-shopping. we were in search of a scarf for him, because, well, it's cold out now, and well, he doesn't have a scarf.

seems logical enough.

did you know that wal-mart doesn't have scarves for wee lads???

or at least none that i could find.

but what i did find...

was yarn!!

and knitting needles!!!

now, i used to knit a little bit, way back when blithe was a baby. and i've been wanting to get back to it lately, because, you know... i don't have enough on my plate lately. haha

anyway, asher loved the idea of a handmade scarf, so he helped me to pick out some yarn for himself and for bram (blithe already has a scarf), and i grabbed some needles, and off we went.

when i came home, i looked up knitting instructions on youtube. so now i've learned to tie a slip know (haha, yes, i needed to start there, apparently), cast on, and do the basic knit stitch. awesome!!!

so far, i am 5 or 6 rows into the scarf, and i'm loving every second of it!! it's very soothing and calming, since it's so repetitive and quiet. i'd forgotten how much i love knitting!!

when i'm done the scarf, i'll post a picture of it so you can marvel at my knitty genius. :)

snow day = kitchen day!!

2010-12-06T15:00:00.001-05:00

the menu for today:

breakfast: oatmeal chocolate chip muffins. yes, from a mix, but they were yummy!

lunch: split pea soup. (see recipe below)

snack: peanut butter nuggets. (see recipe below)

supper: probably potato pancakes. le yum!

i made the muffins myself, and added a bit of cinnamon, as i mentioned in my previous post. they were good!! i also made the soup on my own, but it would have been very easy for blithe to help with it. probably not the boys, but definitely blithe. the PB nuggets will be made by the kids and me, though mostly them. the potato pancakes, i will likely make those myself. here are the recipes:

Split Pea Soup with veggies
split peas. i don't know how much. just throw them into the pot.
chicken broth. i just poured until it covered the peas.
water. added just a little bit, not much. enough to make it about an inch higher than the peas
some chopped carrots.
half a small onion, chopped.
garlic, salt

seriously, toss it all into a pot, turn on the stove, and walk away. easy peasy. once it's done cooking, use a hand blender to... um... blend it. and then enjoy. it will be nice and thick (but not too thick). it's good with crackers, though i suspect croutons would be even better.

Peanut Butter Nuggets (from allrecipes.com)
2/3 cup crushed cornflakes (or rice krispies... because that's what i have on hand)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons honey

1. mix 1/2 cup corn flakes, coconut, peanut butter and honey together.
2. shape into small balls and roll them in remaining cornflakes.

*these cookies can be put in the fridge to firm up.
**these cookies freeze well.
***yield: 2 dozen

UPDATE: the kids loved making these, and we all loved eating them!! we rolled them in icing sugar instead of rice krispies, and they were wonderful!!

Old-Fashioned Potato Pancakes (from allrecipes.com)
3 cups shredded peeled potatoes
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cups grated onion
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tbsp minced fresh parsley. (obviously, you would need more if you're using dried... which is what i have)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Rinse potatoes in cold water; drain thoroughly. in a bowl, mix potatoes, eggs, onion, flour, parsley, salt and pepper. pour batter by 1/3 cupfuls onto a greased hot griddle. fry 5-6 minutes on each side or until potatoes are tender and pancakes are golden brown.
*yield 2 servings
**i usually shred 3 to 4 potatoes and then just eyeball the quantities from there. always turns out deliciously! :)
***mmm... potato pancakes with syrup... le drool!!!

SNOW DAY!!!!!!

2010-12-06T09:12:00.002-05:00

that's right, folks, winter has officially arrived in our area. we have gotten so much snow that school is cancelled today!!! so here's the plan for the day:

the kids and i are going to do some papercrafting, and we'll read a bit. i'm about to make some muffins. the kids will probably go outside to play for a little while, and when they come in, we'll have hot chocolate. and i might make some soup today. i'm thinking... carrot? or maybe skip the soup and make stew? dunno yet. i'll let you know what i decide.

i'm going to keep updating this post as the day goes on, to keep you abreast of the minutiae of the day here. because, if you're honest with yourself, you know you're dying to know. haha

UPDATE #1: the muffins were yummy. oatmeal chocolate chip. sure, i used a mix and didn't make them from scratch, but they're still yummy. and i added cinnamon, which adds a little something extra. delightful! :) as for the soup... blithe has specifically requested split pea soup, which she is going to help make. can't wait!

UPDATE #2: the soup is cooking, and it smells wonderful. {blissed out smile} but you know i'm all about handy household hints, so here's one for you: if you decide to make split pea soup, and you decide to turn the container with the peas upside down, make sure the container is shut tight first... or just don't turn it over. that would work, too... i guess. but anyhoozle... the kids have played outside. bram is the proud creator of not one, not two, but three snow angels. they all came in, bright-eyed and rosy cheeked. oh! and runny-nosed. can't forget that one! haha

at some point this afternoon, i plan to brave the out-of-doors and shovel the driveway. but i have discovered the advantage to living across from a field: blowing snow. which, contrary to what you might be thinking, is actually rather handy on days like today. you see, even though the snow is whipping around and getting dumped on us today... it just blows right past my driveway!!! so i will only need to shovel a few inches, instead of a couple ashers-worth of snow (snow piled as high as two ashers). so that's pretty handy, if you ask me. {wink}

on a side note, i must remember to either find or purchase a snow brush for the truck. because i can't find it. the truck, i mean. asher looked out the window this morning and said, "we have a white car now!" and bram changed her name to "whiter." yup. lots of snow today.

ok, maybe winter isn't so bad. (wait! who wrote that???)

2010-12-05T16:31:00.001-05:00

before i continue on to this post, i want you to check out our weather forecast for the next couple days. (click on "our weather forecast." it takes you to the weather channel's page for our town.) notice all the snow. it started last night, just lightly. but today... yup. lots of snow. the roads aren't pretty (and coincidentally, my truck's front end isn't pretty anymore, either. stupid guardrails). they're very slippery and messy and all-around nasty. if you live in this area and don't absolutely need to go out, don't.

which leads to the point of this post:

those things about winter that are wonderful and remind me of the little blessings in my life:

warm coffee in my favourite christmas mug. it's a giant mug covered with candy canes, etc. it is also ideal for hot chocolate.
hot chocolate with the kidley-winks. a rare treat, but a fun one.
de-icing windshield washer fluid. which reminds me: i need to put de-icing windshield washer fluid in the truck.
staying inside, snuggled on the couch, and enjoying the sounds of the kidley-winks playing.
the smells of soups, chilis, casseroles and breads emanating from the kitchen
the look of the snow in the backyard
the sights and sounds of the kidley-winks playing in the snow
christmas parties. 'nuff said.
hot apple cider. preferable mulled with all those lovely things like cinnamon, cloves, orange slices... mmm....
comfy cozy slippers. espcially leopard-print comfy cozy slippers.
yoga pants and my pink, over-sized coconut joe sweatshirt. (quite a picture i paint, no?)

and one other thing. this afternoon, i went out to the shed to get the shovels. as it happens, they were buried under 50 lbs or so of carpet and underpad. and it was wedged between all of that and a pile of boxes. nice. anyhoo, as i was ~~swearing~~ grunting and pulling and trying desperately to not pull all that carpeting on top of myself, my neighbour came outside and asked if i'd like him to shovel the driveway for me. he's out there right now, not so much "shoveling" as "blowing" the snow.

so, ok. i'll admit. there are some wonderful things about winter.

and cherish this post. come february, i won't be so keen on finding blessings. by then, i'll be cursing the snow and the cold and the ice and the lack of sunshine and being stuck inside all day... ugh. but for now, i'm choosing the focus on the good things.

now, please pass the vitamin D supplements.

best. product. ever.

2010-11-28T20:07:00.000-05:00

ok, so we all know that i love to cook. love it. and i'm learning to {mumble, mumble, mumble}.

what's that? you didn't understand me there?

sigh.

ok, fine. i'm learning to enjoy baking, too.

there, i said it. sigh.

and so, in that vein, i am learning to appreciate certain products that i never fully appreciated before. and one of those products is

Europe's Best frozen berries. honestly. i lurv these things.

now, usually, i prefer the raspberries. because raspberries rock. but, the kids prefer the mix, so that is what i end up buying, nine times out of ten.

why do i love these so much, you ask? well, gentle reader, let me tell you!!

1. not overly expensive. even on my "budget." and sometimes you'll find them on sale. and yes, they sell them at Shoppers Drug Mart, so i get a 30% discount, which in my books, makes them pretty darn reasonable.

2. frozen means "not packed in sugar and preservatives." that's right, folks, nothing added. just berries and cold. sure, they're not fresh. i understand that. but they're fresh when they get freezed (as opposed to "when they are frozen," which is the state in which i buy them... see the difference? and yes, i invented a word. but i'm a writer, so i'm allowed some creative license with the language, i think. {wink}) so that's good enough for me (except when they're in season, but it's almost december here, so pretty much nothing is in season at the moment).

3. yumminess. again, raspberries FTW ("for the win," for you non-cyber-types). the blackberries are also nice. and the kids love the strawberries and blueberries (pa-tooie!), so it's all good.

4. healthiness. is that a word? who knows. who cares. you know what i mean. and really, do i need to elaborate on this one??

ok, ok, i'll grant that some people will have complaints about frozen berries. specifically, that they get soggy. and yes, ok, i'll admit, that if you're just pulling some berries out of the bag, thawing them and eating them straight up like that, yes. they're going to be soggy and gross. but! to those people, i say...

dude, seriously! diversify!!!

here's a list, totally off the top of my head as i'm writing here, of things you can make with these berries:

smoothies
milkshakes (which in this house, are the same thing as smoothies. but bram doesn't like smoothies, but he loves milkshakes. just don't tell him they're the same thing. {wink})
parfait, a la Europe's Best website.
parfait, a la heather. which is, in this order from bottom to top: yogurt (vanilla or berry), frozen berries, granola. le yum!
pies. and really, who doesn't love pie?
jams
muffins
banana bread

need i go on? or are you getting the idea? i sure hope you are.

i also hope you're grabbing your purse and heading out to the grocery store and picking up a bag of these little drops of baking heaven.

and yes, in case you're wondering, they have a bunch of varieties of fruit, not just berries. they also have cranberries, mangoes, peaches, blueberries, etc. and they have veggies, too. asparagus (which is lovely), spinach (a post is forthcoming about that little gem, too), potatoes, and many others.

and also, in case you're wondering, if you click on the links in this post, you will be taken to the Europe's Best website. there you'll find the complete list of products, as well as a whole lot of recipes. and who doesn't love recipes, eh???

birthdays!!!!

2010-11-26T16:19:00.001-05:00

yup, i'm in a birthday frame of mind lately.

both the boys have birthdays in early december. and so... we're having a party.

yes. party. singular. as in, only one.

they both wanted to have their party at the bowling alley. bram's best friend has his b-day party there last month, and bram loved it. so, of course, we just have to do that, too.

but... it's kind of expensive. so......

i presented them the option of "plan B"... and thank God, they loved it and are very excited about. here's the new plan:

we're still bowling, but we're doing it at home. we're going to clear out the playroom (as much as possible) and set up two "bowling alleys" using those plastic bowling sets. you know... like this:

so that's part of what we'll be doing. we'll also play some more "classic" games:

and maybe a couple others... musical chairs (sorry, no cutesy picture, since it's just chairs and music), that sort of thing.

and the piece de resistance??

before everyone arrives, the boys are going to help me make cupcakes. i picked up a couple "cupcake mix in a tubes" yesterday.

so that's what we're going to use to make the cupcakes beforehand. they'll bake while the kids are arriving, and then, once they've cooled,

THEY'RE ALL GOING TO DECORATE THEIR OWN CUPCAKES!!!!

i've got chocolate and white cupcakes, chocolate and white icing, and some sprinkles etc. i'll be picking up some more decorating supplies this week, so they'll have quite the selection. i'm really excited about this part of the party. :)

and so are the boys. which is the best part, if you ask me.

i also managed to pick up a couple cases of pop (7Up and A&W root beer), because they were on sale. and i might pick up a couple cheap pizzas on party day, or i'll make some popcorn with fun flavouring, and some chips or something fun like that.

bram is especially excited about the goody bags. he's been nagging me to go to the dollar store to get stuff. "and make sure you get something for the grown-ups, because grown-ups need treats every now and then, too, right, mommy?"

and perhaps you're wondering about decorations. admit it, you were. {wink} well, my friend, i'm waaaay ahead of you. this week, we will be heading to the dollar store for some contruction paper. the boys (and blithe) will be making paper chains to hang up around the house. we'll also get some balloons and hang those around the house, as well. sure, it's nothing fancy, but it's fun, and the boys can help, so they'll love that.

so, there you have it. a double b-day partay for the boys.

can you believe, my little men are going to be 6 and 4???? i'm having a little trouble believing it, but i'm sooooo excited!!!

my very long to-do list for tomorrow

2010-11-10T01:33:00.000-05:00

which, technically, would be today, since it's 1:30 in the morning.

ah, sweet simplicity, why dost thou elude me so?

here we go:

put away laundry
wash bedding? (a mom can dream)
go to bank
go to another bank
hand out resumes
work out (for some sanity. and 'cause i want nice abs again. a girl can dream.)
try to find the living room and playroom floors
make phone calls for church
fill out some forms
find a letter that has gone missing
work on a drama
work on a novel (for NaNoWriMo)

somewhere in there, i suppose it would be nice to eat, but again, a girl can dream.

sad but true, this is my day tomorrow. good thing there's coffee.

by popular request...

2010-11-08T17:58:00.001-05:00

my recipe for hash brown casserole. (and be warned: this is one of my recipes. so expect my unique measurements.)

some hash browns. judge the amount based on the size of the dish-thingy
one onion, chopped
cheese. grated. i like a lot of cheese. because i like cheese a lot.
a can of cream of broccoli soup (or cream of broccoli and cheese soup. that's awesome.)
some milk. again, i don't measure, so just eyeball it.

sometimes i throw in some veggies. usually more broccoli, if i have it. because i also like broccoli. i have also been known to throw in some sausage. again, because i like sausage.

so i throw it into the oven, at say... 350-ish. and i let it cook... until it's done.

and then we devour it. because it's just. that. good.

ok, i just re-read this post, and wow. why do i even bother sharing recipes??? unless this is how you cook, this makes no sense!!! i'm really sorry, gentle readers. maybe in the future, i'll be more diligent when cooking and actually - gasp! - measure something.

but probably not.

mmm... mini chocolate bars...

2010-11-08T14:25:00.000-05:00

hallowe'en. it's awesome. dressing up is fun. candy is awesome.

but chocolate...

sorry, had a mini stroke there, i'm sure.

in case you don't realize this, i love chocolate. dark, white, milk... love it, love it, love it.

this hallowe'en, the kids went trick-or-treating. and WOW!!! the loot!!!!!!!!!

sorry, had another stroke there.

the kids can keep the candy and kool-aid jammers and cheesies. they can even keep the tootsie rolls and smarties, even though i am aware that they are (technically) chocolate. but they're gross. i want the other ones. you know... the good ones.

mars.

reese peanut butter cups.

coffee crisp.

kit kat.

caramilk.

oh henry!

it's just. so. beautiful.

and there's just. so. much of it.

well, there was. by now, not so much. but um... don't tell the kids. they don't know how much i've mooched. it's just our little secret. {wink}

"simple"? maybe not. but definitely healthier.

2010-11-04T14:41:00.001-04:00

wow, i can hear you thinking, three posts in two days! what has happened that i am being graced and gifted with so many beauteous thoughts from heather???

awww, stop, i'm blushing.

well, what has happened is this: the house is a mess, and i'm procrastinating. no, seriously, that's what it is. i'm not actually joking. it's kind of a disaster right now. {hangs head in shame} but it's going to get cleaned up as soon as i finish this post. promise. anyhoo...

i have decided that November is officially Getting Healthy Month in my little neck of the woods. i've decided to stop eating so much junk food and fast food. no more $5 pizzas because i'm too lazy/tired/short on time to cook. hence the slow cooker this morning. i'm also going to be better at housework (she types, not looking around the house). but also...

i've decided to actively work on getting healthier in other ways, too. in the last post, i mentioned that i was going to the gym. well, i just got back. i've decided that i'm going to go every weekday to do some cardio stuff, and 2 to 3 times a week, do some strength stuff, as well. i'm also going to take a couple classes a week. for example, tomorrow morning, i'm going to yoga. i can't wait!

so far, it's going nicely. i've been twice now. (don't laugh too hard, please.) i'm really enjoying it. my mood is better, and my energy level is better. sure, i'm not in as great shape as i'd like to be, but again, that's why i'm going every day. i have three very active young kids, and i'd like to be able to keep up with them.

the other reason i'm working out is this: i don't want to gain weight. or rather, more weight.

in march 2008, when i turned 30, i wore a size 18 (but i fit a 20. can you say, "denial"??) and weighed in at a whopping 270 lbs. and i didn't look good. now, about 2.5 years later, i'm wearing a size 14. and in fact, i have some pants and skirts that are a 12! 12! can you believe it?!?! i've worked hard for this, and i'm enjoying it.

in the last couple months, however, i've put on about 5 lbs. that makes me sad. and who knows, maybe no one else can tell by looking at me. but i know. i see it. and it bothers me. especially since i'd like to lose another 20 to 25 lbs.

as it stands right now, i can walk into a store, grab a large or 14, and buy it, without even trying it on (i seem to always have the kidley-winks with me when i shop), and know that when i get it home, it will fit. i hadn't been able to do that for a loooooooooooooong time. so it's nice.

so, yeah, maybe this is just adding something to my life, when i really should be trying to simplify, but to me, simplicity also means health, wellness and wholeness. and sitting on my arse for x number of hours a day just isn't cutting it anymore. so this is now my plan. i'm making a lot of changes around here lately, and it's good. i'm working out, i'm looking for work, i'm drinking more water, i'm trying to drive less, i'm trying to eat healthier, i'm trying to do yoga or mediation every day...

and yes, i know that i wrote "i'm trying." that's because i'm aware that changes like this take time, and there will be days that i don't manage to reach one or more of these goals. some days just get away from me. and i'm ok with that. as long as i do my best every day to make healthier choices for myself and the kids, it's ok.

but i gotta say... this working out thing better be worth it, because wow! my abs are tired!! and my arms a little bit (an old canoeing injury... yes, i'm just. that. canadian. haha) i'll be ok. i'm going to drink some water, put on the radio or an andrea bocelli CD or something, and get to work cleaning the house.

sigh... i really hate housework. what they need is a house that cleans itself. that would be awesome. oh! and make it in my price range, too. hey, a mom can dream, right? k, off a-cleaning i go.

mmm... slow cooker...

2010-11-04T12:33:00.000-04:00

i think a slow cooker is the greatest invention ever. ever.

ever.

this morning, while making the boys' lunches for school (blithe stayed with her dad one extra night), i had asher help me with supper tonight. bram was confused by this, and kept saying, "not supper. breakfast. don't you mean breakfast, mommy?" "why, no, my young son. i mean supper."

i had already washed off some beans and dumped them into the slow cooker. so asher hopped up onto a chair and poured in the water. and then i turned it on.

and walked away.

and all day so far, i've been enjoying the smell of the beans as they cook. oooooh, supper's gonna be gooooood!!!!

beans
brown rice
fried onion
bacon (if i have any... which i think i do... but i'm not sure... i'll check later)
fresh, homemade bread

hold on a sec. my laptop is shooting sparks at me. i think i was drooling a little too much.

ok, it's under control now.

just ignore the smell of smoke.

and focus on the smell of beans and bread.

oh, wait. you can't. because you're not here. awwww, shucks, that's too bad. don't worry, i'll eat your share. i'll sacrifice my waistline for you like that. i don't mind.

speaking of my waistline... maybe i should go workout this afternoon, before the kidley-winks come home. yup, that's what i'm gonna do. and so, toodles! i'm off to the gym! {grabs bag and flies out the door}

jealous? you should be.

2010-11-03T16:53:00.001-04:00

because i make

hands down

the best

grilled cheese

EVER!!!!

ever.

i won't divulge all my secrets (like the bread recipe - that's right. homemade bread. sucka.). but here are a few:

homemade bread. awwwww yeah...
shredded cheese. melts better. gets nice and oozy. mmm... oozy cheese.
i sing and dance while making it. (but i won't tell you the song. that's the secret. {wink})
ham. shaved black forest ham. beautiful.

now, i'd take a picture of it, but to be honest, well, i ate the sammy before i even thought about photographing it. besides, i wouldn't want you to be blinded by the awesomeness. because, trust me, you would be.

admit it. you're jealous now. and yes. you should be.

cool websites for home decor, pretty much custom and DIY designs

2010-10-28T14:35:00.000-04:00

ok, so we all know by now that i hate housework. and oh! do i have tons to do today!! :S so, obviously, i watched Steven & Chris instead. and they had the coolest segment about DIY/custom home decor... websites. that's right, you can get custom-designed pillows, fabric, wallpaper... while sitting on the couch in your underwear. (fyi, right now i'm clothed. but i could still order some of these things. clothes are ok, too. they don't discriminate.) so here we go, some really awesome websites:

rollout.ca
custom wallpaper. nuff said. apparently, great quality. you can make your own designs or choose from pre-made stuff. can't decide between skulls or victorian? get them both on one paper! want a poem on your wall? don't give the kids a sharpie... nope. order it on wallpaper. :) awesome.

inmod.com
in addition to having cool everything!!!, you can design your own pillow. designs are not printed on the fabric, they're embroidered.

scotties.ca
yes, the kleenex people... or, um... i guess scotties wouldn't like being called "kleenex"... since they're... you know... the competition... but you know what i mean. anyhoo... here, you can design your own photo sleeve, which slips right over the.... oh, what do they call them now?!?!... "facial tissue" box. so cute!! and not that expensive, either. about $6, and you can use the photo sleeve over and over again. (ugh. you know what? i don't care what scotties says. they're kleenex.)

spoonflower.com
custom fabric. that's right, you can design your own fabric. and they have all the information you need when ordering fabric, to make it easier. and since it's kind of like etsy, you can contact the designers and discuss your needs.

jonathanadler.com
"customize your rugs, pillows & totes." seriously. how awesome is that!!!!

kittens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-09-27T20:25:00.000-04:00

smokey brought james downstairs the other day, so we let her (yes, james is a girl) roam for a while. she's so tiny!!!!

smokey, cuddling with her babies on the couch. the one peeking there is james.

mouse and james, cuddling with elmo and me. and the kitten trapped between my leg and elmo's foot... that's mouse. mouse is my favourite of the two.

the only thing better than chocolate treats... is homemade chocolate treats.

2010-09-22T21:28:00.001-04:00

blithe and i spent the evening together tonight, and i have to say, it was such a special time. we don't often get time together without the boys, so this was truly wonderful.

i will post in a little while about the why's and what's about the evening on blithe's blog, but here is what i want to post about here:

WE MADE CHOCOLATES!!!!!

we decided that chocolate would be a perfect treat for two ladies, so off we trekked to Bulk Barn and picked up some melting chocolate (milk and dark - i might be indecisive... i'll let you know when i figure it out) and some skor bits. mmm... skor bits...

so we came home and melted said chocolate. blithe threw some of the pieces into the pot and stirred it up, and then she tossed in the skor bits. together, we poured the melted goodness into these little cups and left them to set.

i'm about to try one now... unwrapping it...putting it into my mouth... savouring it as it melts in my mouth (well, the chocolate is melting. skor bits don't melt)... stroking out from the goodness...

oh, i don't think i should share these with blithe. i'm going to have to save her from them. they're just no good. [wink]

alright, alright. i'll let her have some. after all, i promised that she could take some (1 or 2 pieces) in her lunch tomorrow. and we're going to give the boys each a piece, too, because they will love it.

we have never made chocolates. usually i just buy a twix or kitkat or something... occasionally, i indulge in dark chocolate with red chili (which is beautiful, by the way). but the chocolate blithe and i made tonight... these are wonderful, and beyond easy, and we are sooooooooooooooooo making this again!!!!

i still have the dark chocolate pieces. i just need to find the right je ne sais quoi to put in it. so tomorrow, i will be adventuring in a couple shops i know. what fun!

well, the kidley-winks are back at school...

2010-09-16T22:46:00.001-04:00

... yes, yes, old news, i know. but! once again, it means...

lunches.

and so, i give you... tomorrow's lunches!

home-made chicken soup (sans peanut butter - see the next post for details on that beauty)
celery sticks (which i think are gross, i admit. but the kids love them, and i insist on at least one healthy snack)
apple juice
chocolate chip cookies. which i am going to make this evening.

now, i prefer to send all healthy snacks in lunches. but we're getting low on snack-y stuff in the house tonight, but i have all the ingredients for the cookies. and if i make cookies tonight, i can send some to school with blithe and bram, and asher will have a cookie when he gets home at lunchtime.

so i headed over to my fave site of all time, allrecipes.com and voila! here's the recipe i'm going to use tonight:

Chewy Jumbo Chocolate Chip Cookies
3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 cups butter, softened
1-1/4 cups white sugar
1-1/4 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. preheat oven to 375F. sift together flours, baking power and baking soda; set aside.
2. in a large bowl, cream together butter, white sugar and brown sugar until smooth. beat in the eggs and vanilla, until well blended. gradually stir in flour mixture. stir in chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. drop cookies by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheets.
3. bake for 10 to 14 minutes in the preheated oven, until the edges are light brown. let cookies cool on the baking sheet before removing to wire racks to cool completely.

i can't wait to see how these turn out. and i'm going to try hard not to eat the dough. we'll see how it all turns out.

no... words... it's just... so... beautiful!! {drools all over keyboard}

2010-09-13T13:33:00.000-04:00

so, um, yeah. i'm addicted to cake wrecks. i really am. i'm not too proud to admit it.

the problem here is that... well... i'm also highly suggestible. which means that,

inevitably,

every time i check out cake wrecks...

um...

i want cake.

so, since i live my life online (ok, i'm not that bad, but my laptop is often within reach), i updated my FB status:
Heather really wants some cake now. cake wrecks + highly suggestible heather = craving for a really ugly, really yummy cake!!

true story.

well, imagine my delight when my friend recommended i check out the 5 minute cake recipe page on FB. and let me just say... it was the best sidetrip through FB i've ever taken. (see "highly suggestible heather" comment above.)

well, gentle reader, here is the recipe:

5-Minute Chocolate Mug Cake

4 tbsp flour
4 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 tbsp milk
3 tbsp oil
3 tbsp chocolate chips (optional)
a small splash of vanilla extract
1 large coffee mug

add dry ingredients to mug, and mix thoroughly. add the egg, and mix thoroughly.

pour in the milk and oil, and mix well.

add the chocolate chips (if using) and vanilla extract, and mix again.

put your mug in the microwave and cook for 3 mins on high. the cake will rise over the top of the mug; don't worry. allow to cool a little, and tip onto a plate if desired.

doesn't this just sound like the most beauteous thing you have read all day?!?! as soon as kids leave, i'm making this for myself. i'll post the review when i finish it. :)

ps - clicking on the title of the recipe will take you straight to the FB page, so as to give credit where credit is due.

wha-?! asher on My Simple Life?! yes. and it's all just so very normal.

2010-09-08T16:25:00.004-04:00

ah, normalcy. boring balm, sweet elixir of mundaneness (mundaniosity? mundanity?), when the only thing to do is watch tv and blog and stare at the walls for a few hours.

and laundry and tidying up and running the dishwasher and making beds and making meals.

and then staring at the walls a little bit longer.

because i can.

because the kids are all in school!!!!!!

that's right, folks! the kids have now officially started school!!!!!

yup, you read that right! all the kids have officially started school!!!

including... drum roll, please... [does drum roll on laptop]... the littlest man!!!!!

look how proud he is of himself, waiting for the bus on his first day of school!!! he's been waiting for this for so long; he's been practicing sitting "criss cross applesauce hands in your lap" for weeks! he's learned how to sit like that for a whopping 3 seconds!!! i'm so proud!!! (i'd be prouder if he could sit like that for 3 minutes, mind you, but beggars can't be choosers, a mom can dream, insert wishful-thinking/i'll-take-what-i-can-get comment here.)

yup. they're all at school. all of them. all of them.

all of them.

chocolate salami?? WHA-?!?!

2010-09-04T11:41:00.000-04:00

once again, i'm watching Taste Budz with the kids. and today they are making... get this!!... chocolate salami!! as a lover of chocolate AND salami, i'm intrigued!! here's the recipe:

3.5 oz dark chocolate
3.5 oz milk chocolate
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp honey
pinch of cinnamon
pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
4 lady finger cookies
1/2 cup almonds, chopped, skin on, toasted
1 cup Rice Krispies
1/2 cup dried cherries, cranberries or apricots, finely chopped
fruit, for serving with salami (try strawberries, kiwis, pomegranate or raspberries).

Directions
Melt dark chocolate, milk chocolate and butter over a double boiler.

when chocolate is melted, stir in honey, cinnamon, salt and vanilla.

crush lady fingers in ziploc bag. you need about 1 cup of rough, coarse crumbs.

add lady finger crumbs, almonds, Rice Krispies, and dried cherries to the chocolate mix. stir to combine. let cool 10 to 15 minutes. this will make it easier to roll the mixture.

roll in parchment paper to form a log. then wrap tightly in saran wrap, tapering ends so they are rounded like a salami. refrigerate until set, about 2 to 3 hours.

cut chocolate salami into 1/2" to 1/3" slices. serve with small dollop of yogurt cream. store in refrigerator. makes about 20 slices.

i wish i could show you a picture, but i can't find one. you'll just have to believe me when i say that it looks amazing!!!! if you want to find the recipe for yourself, check out Taste Buds.

KITTENS!!!!!!!!

2010-08-31T22:23:00.000-04:00

our kitteh smokey had kittens yesterday. two of them. blithe and i discovered her firstborn once it was a cleaned off and fluffy and cute. then we left smokey with her wee one for a while, and when we came back, there was a second wee one, who was still wet and yucky. apparently, we just missed the birth. (but of course i took pics.

they're so cute! their names are Mouse (after the cat in the Judy Moody series of books) and James (as in, the big red engine). Mouse is a dark tabby, and James is a darker version of smokey. the white around their necks is exactly the same.

i keep checking on them periodically, and i will be updating you as they grow.

MasterChef. what can i say? i love Gordon Ramsay. part deux

2010-08-25T20:58:00.002-04:00

i've picked up a couple tips tonight that i want to share with you. ok, to be honest, i just don't want to forget these tips, and i don't have a pen and paper handy, so i'm putting them here. and you, gentle reader, get to reap the benefits.

(and if any of these tips are obvious to you, please don't tell me. i'd hate to think i'm the only one who didn't know how to bake a cake and cook fish, all in one night!)

(oh, and the "i don't know how to cook fish" comment... not true, obvi, given the abundance - 3! count 'em! - of fish recipes here lately. but i'm not a pro with fish yet, and i want to be. hence the fish-cooking tips.)

right. shall we begin? good.

when cooking halibut on the stove, do it in olive oil. make sure the pan is nice and hot. the fish should sizzle the instant it hits the pan. this caramelizes the outside of the fish, gives it a nice corn-flake colour, and is crucial (quothe cat cora) for flavour.
to test the pan, to see if it is, indeed, hot enough, touch a corner of the fish to the oiled pan. if it sizzles, there you have it. it's hot enough.
fish continues to cook even after it has been removed from the heat. which is why fish can be tricky to cook properly. it's very easy to overcook.
never serve half-cooked fish to world-class chefs. poor mike. :(

ok, i'll admit, i will likely never have to worry about serving half-cooked fish to a world-class chef. and good thing. my friend, that's a halibut big mistake. (eh? get it? "halibut"... like the fish. only funny. sort of. oh, never mind.)

MasterChef. what can i say? i love Gordon Ramsay

2010-08-25T20:41:00.005-04:00

... except right at this very moment. because, you see, he and his co-conspirators are... umm... conspiring against me... which is, i suppose, exactly what conspirators do, so... um... right, moving on.

so, tonight's "mystery box challenge" is...

wait for it...

CUPCAKES!!!!!

ok, we all know how i feel about baking. specifically, i don't enjoy it. don't get me wrong, i greatly enjoy the end product. and even the mid-way product (ie., cookie dough). but the process!!!!

and that about sums up how i feel about baking.

and so, would it surprise you to know that, well... [oh, please, annie, don't read the rest of this sentence!! pretty please with icing sugar on top, please skip ahead!]... how can i put this...

i don't know, um, well... i mean... what i'm trying to say is that... [clears throat]...

i don't know how to bake a cake from scratch. [hangs head in shame]

i know, ok! I KNOW!!! this is something every mother of a child with a birthday should know, right?? anyone who spends any time in a kitchen knows the basic ingredients of a cake!!!! any and every self-respecting oven-using, wooden-spoon-wielding, kid-feeding, beater-licking cake-eater knows how to make a cake, right?

except... um... me, it would seem.

and so, tonight, inspired by the cupcake challenge on MasterChef, and my love of Gordon Ramsay, i googled "basic cake recipe."

and here, gentle reader, is what i found:

Basic 1-2-3-4 Cake Recipe
1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla

cream butter and sugar. add eggs, one at a time. add flour and milk alternately, ending with flour. last add vanilla. bake at 350F for 25 minutes or until done. use caramel icing.

mom, please don't feel bad about this lack of cake-making knowledge. there's no need for "i'm a terrible mother" or finding yourself a good therapist or anything. i've managed this far in life without this knowledge. and just think! now i can make cake whenever i want. and in my own defence, it's not like i've never made cake before. not to toot my own horn or anything, but you know... i am kind of a pro with a cake mix. ;)

oh. and the conspiracy against me? yeah. now i want a cupcake. one, perhaps, like this (click on "this" to see some amazing cupcakes). between MasterChef and CakeWrecks, i'm dying here, man! i'm dying!!!!!

who knew saturday morning shows could be so educational??

2010-08-21T12:39:00.000-04:00

the kids and i {hangs head in shame} were watching TVO kids. specifically, TasteBuds. it's a cooking show for kids. they learn about food, different types of cuisine, and the kids on the show actually make the food... like i said, it's a cooking show for kids.

and, it would seem, for moms.

today's episode was all about raw foods. it was pretty interesting, actually. sure, i knew about the whole raw food thing, and i've wanted to give it a whirl for a while now, but honestly, i've been too chicken to try it.

but i might be inspired today. they made a really cool (and tasty-looking) raw veggie lasagna, and two types of gazpacho. and you know... i just might try one of these. if i don't end up using one of their recipes, i've also looked up gazpacho on allrecipes.com and i'm perusing. hopefully i'll find something good.

and if not, i'll just make some cream of cauliflower or broccoli soup today. that will also be delish! :) rest assured, gentle reader, that whatever i end up making today, i will post the recipe. no worries. :)

upswing + a few extra bucks + bulk barn = FALAFELS!!!!

2010-07-17T22:20:00.000-04:00

in case you haven't noticed, i've been expanding my culinary repertoire lately. i have discovered the pure and simple joy of fish, made the yummiest french toast the world has ever known (chocolate. 'nuff said.), and improvised pasta sauce with cream cheese.

yesterday was no exception.

i took the kidley-winks to bulk barn yesterday for some grocery shopping. i anticipated getting some flour, cereal and maybe some bird seed. we got bird seed... and several things, none of which were flour or cereal. but that's how i roll. especially lately, in the middle of an up-swing and after three weeks of insomnia. and now you know why i usually go shopping with a list, written out in the order in which i find it in the store: because i tend to shop impulsively.

i was meandering through the store, and i spotted something i hadn't seen there before: falafel mix!! so of course i just had to get some. (see up-swing/insomnia comment above.)

now, i just want to make this clear: i avoid "mixes" like the plague. i just don't like them. i'd much rather make something from scratch, thank-you very much! much tastier and more satisfying. besides, mixes are usually filled with ingredients i can't pronounce, and in my world, that's just not right. ingredients should be REAL FOODS and not something concocted in a laboratory. but when i looked at the ingredients, it was all actual ingredients!!! chick peas, garlic, spices, and something else i can't remember, but it was REAL!!!!

i was tempted to just go home and make it myself, having all those ingredients in my kitchen right now. but then i thought, "you know what? the kids have never had this before. do i really want to put all that work into something they may not even like?" so i got a scoopful, and decided that if it went over well enough, i'd make it for real on my own one of these days.

well!!! this was one of the coolest things i've done in a while! you take a cup of mix and 1 1/4 cup of water and mix them together. let it stand for at least 15 minutes. then you just form it into patties and fry in about an inch of vegetable oil until the patties are golden brown and crispy (aka, what you'd expect when deep-frying).

and just how did the little darlings react, you ask?

THEY LOVED IT!!!!!

they want these more often! which makes me very, very happy. so i plan to make them again, using the mix (i still have enough left for probably 2 more batches), and then i'll make them myself from scratch. i know how to do it (meaning: i read the ingredient list, and now i'll just wing it), so i can't wait!!!

and no, there was no pickled turnip (which sounds disgusting, but apparently i've loved it for years without realizing it!!). but, for the likes of hope and diane, i looked tonight at the superstore for some, but alas, couldn't find any. i'll keep looking. :)

yes, i'm a pescavore. (which is my way of saying "i like fish" but all smart-sounding.)

2010-07-17T21:32:00.003-04:00

that's right. i like fish. a lot. and i'm ok with that. because

i think it's delicious.

and quite possibly, the most versatile food on the planet. (yes, yes, eggs, blah blah blah. but fish!!!)

what inspired this confession? well... [looks sheepishly at feet]

we had fish for supper. yes, again. but it's good!!!!!!

this afternoon, we headed to the grocery store for catfood, because poor Smokey is almost out. we picked up:

a pair of shorts for bram and 2 tops for yours truly (blithe and asher have plenty of clothes already)
a watermelon
feta cheese
fresh mint
milk
plain yogurt
salmon. and no, not the kind in a can. ew.

and please don't notice that catfood is not on that list! neither is diapers, of which asher only has 3 left. don't notice that. [note to self: after church tomorrow, stop at loblaws for diapers and catfood. then maybe, meander michaels for a few minutes. because it's right there, and what's a trip to south london without going into michaels???]

so i picked up some salmon because i was craving fish today for some reason. it's just that i've begun to see how marvelously easy and tasty and cheap and wonderful fish actually is, and now, when i'm not craving lentils and sausage, i crave fish. ok, sometimes i crave chocolate, too, but that's just because i'm female. (as an aside, chocolate + bread + fried = heaven. just sayin'.) so, i found a nice big piece of salmon (for sligtly less than the price of two decent-sized chicken breasts, actually), and brought it home. ok, first i paid for it, then i brought it home. i might be hypomanic right now, but that does not mean i shoplift. nope. when i'm up like this, i impulse shop. hence the fish. anyhoo...

well, i'll admit, i have never cooked salmon before. but it's my favourite of all the fish. i've had it a number of times in a number of ways, and i've always loved it. (fyi, my favourite is raw. that's right, folks, i heart sushi. so does blithe. and asher. bram, not so much. probably because it's not deep-fried in batter. sigh.) so, once again, i went to one of my favourite websites, allrecipes.com, and searched "salmon." i considered a bunch of recipes, but in the end, found one that really caught my fancy. so, i posted it on my facebook... and didn't follow it.

you weren't really expecting me to follow a recipe, were you???

the recipe i found was for roast salmon with balsamic vinegar. sounds absolutely divine, n'est-ce pas? but alas, i lack balsamic vinegar. but when i looked in the fridge, i found PC Memories of Tuscany sauce. it says it's a marinade/grilling sauce for basically everything but fish, but it's balsamic vinegar and fig, so i gave it a whirl. and let me just say...

WOW!!!!!

so, i marinaded the salmon in the sauce for about 30 minutes in the fridge. meanwhile, i loaded the dishwasher and tidied the kitchen a bit. i preheated the oven to 450F, and then placed the fish on a baking sheet and thew it in the oven. let it bake for about 10 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily with a fork. [note to self: clean oven, so as not to run into the other room every 17 seconds to wave a t-shirt under the smoke detector. yeah.]

a note about the cooking time: i ended up leaving it in for about an extra minute, but no longer. the thing is, i'd read that salmon continues to cook once removed from the oven, and i didn't want it to dry out. turns out, 11 minutes was perfect.

REVIEW: the salmon turned out wonderfully! it was probably one of my favourite dishes from the last while... the last long while, actually. i'll admit, i was tempted to skip the cooking process altogether and cook up some rice and pull out the nori and feast on sushi tonight, but i thought, nah. i'm gonna cook it. try something new. and i have to say, i'm very, very glad i did! i inhaled my piece, asher inhaled his piece (i'm not exaggerating when i say that almost half his piece was gone before we even prayed!!), and blithe may have suffered a small stroke from sheer gastronomical pleasure. as for bram? sigh. i swear, i'll convert him one of these days. meanwhile... {tear} he said {sniff} it was {gasp!} disgusting!!! can you believe that?!?! disgusting!!! what is wrong with this kid????? he maintains that he only likes fish if it's battered and deep-fried. and while i can't fault him on that front (having claimed to prefer that, myself, back in the day), still!!! this was such a delicious meal, and he barely touched it!!!

and since i mentioned "meal" in that last sentence, i should probably add that for our veggie tonight, we had green beans purchased just this morning from a very nice amish man at the local farmer's market. delightful!! i sautéed the beans in butter with some lemon juice, and they were delightful! at least, those of us with taste loved it. bram didn't like it at all. i mean, really!! whose kid is this, anyway?!?! sigh.

but i will post in a few minutes about another new food we tried this week, which bram did, in fact, enjoy very much. meanwhile, go out, get yourself some salmon, and try it!!! a. ma. zing.

lentils. yes, again. but they're good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-11T23:07:00.001-04:00

so, for those of you who don't know yet, by which i mean, those of you who obviously live under a huge rock of some sort, by which i mean, those of you who have never read this blog before (teehee), i love lentils. i know, some of you may think that's weird, but they're delicious and healthy and (just as thrilling for a poor single mom of scottish descent) cheap cheap cheap. soooooo...

i whipped up a little something this evening for supper.

ok, i whipped up a big something this evening for supper.

i give you....

Lentil and Sausage Casserole
1 onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, cut into pieces... i don't know what you would call that... diced? does that sound right??
3 italian sausages, sliced into discs
lentils. i just dumped them in. i guess it would depend on the size of your dish, but since they're the main ingredient, be generous.
1 can diced tomatoes (i used the ones specifically for brushetta, since they've already got garlic, oil and herbs in them.)
feta cheese. i like it, so i used about 2/3 of a container, but i don't remember the size of the container.
salt, pepper, bay leaves, chili powder, parsley
water to cover, plus more if needed.

1. throw the ingredients into the casserole dish. except the can of tomatoes. open the can, then dump in the contents, and discard (recycle, please!) the can.
2. season as you see fit.
3. bake at 375F until potatoes are cooked. approx 1 hour (but then again, you're reading the woman who never looks at a clock, so just check on it periodically. oh my goodness, why do i bother posting my recipes here, with instructions like this?????)

REVIEW: wonderful! i really just made this up this afternoon because i was craving sausage and lentil, but didn't feel like making soup, and i had the feta and everything else, so i literally just tossed it into a big casserole dish and threw it into the oven. and it was so good, everyone, yes, everyone had seconds. including asher, and he doesn't like eating much anymore. but the kids inhaled theirs, and yes, i'll admit, i inhaled mine, too. i'm not too proud or girly to admit it. because it was just. that. good. i was really quite impressed with this, actually.

i made a huge batch, so even though we all had seconds, there's still a fair amount left. i plan on freezing the leftovers, just like i did with the leftover chili the other night (oh, yeah, i should post that "recipe"... but really, other than my not-so-secret ingredients, do i really have to? chili's gotta be one of the easiest things in the world to make, and it's never quite the same twice... but still, if you're lucky, i'll share.)

this is how i manage to feed us healthy food on very little money. i pick up good deals, shop in bulk, splurge on a couple things when i can... and make enormous amounts, and freeze the leftovers. that way, later in the week (or one some evening when i'm exhausted and/or broke), i can just toss it into the oven for a while to defrost and voila! another supper! or serve with fresh homemade bread and voila! lunch! so many ideas here, and they're all scrumptious!

anyway, that was dinner tonight, and we all loved it. you probably would, too. :)

fish. it's what's for dinner. again.

2010-07-10T20:13:00.004-04:00

ok, so i have gotten over my fear of fish... or at least of cooking it. i don't know why, but i have always been intimidated by fish, and honestly, until the other week, i had only done fish sticks. you know, the frozen ones you get in a box. yup, did those twice. not too shabby. oh, wait, while asher was on his fat-free diet, we had some white fish kabobs, and those were pretty good, too!

but my recent foray into the world of actually cooking fish for real, you know, following a recipe and not the instructions on the package, was quite serendipitous. you'll recall the tale of the fish that (didn't) get away from last week, that delicious talapia that was thiiiiiiiiiiiiis good! well, i have another tale fer ye, me hearties.

yar, on thursday last, i be wanderin' ye old marketplace (read: superstore), when ahoy! i spy some sole! and a fine fish it be, for it be marked down by 30% (a tidbit about that later on). so i grabbed what i might and tossed him into me bucket (read: shopping cart) and i make way to the blessed harbour that be mine (read: home). yar!

so here is the recipe i tried out tonight:

Crispy Fish Fillets
1 egg
2 tbsp prepared yellow mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups instant mashed potato flakes
1/4 cup oil (for frying)
4 (6 oz) sole fillets

1. in a shallow dish, whisk together egg, mustard and salt; set aside. place potato flakes in a separate shallow dish.
2. heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat.
3. dip fillets in egg mixture, then dredge fillets through potato flakes, being sure to entirely coat the fish. for extra crispy, dip in egg mixture and flakes again.
4. fry fish fillets in oil for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown.

ADAPTATIONS: first, being out of eggs, i used egg whites instead. (you'll note, this also reduces the fat content, which can be an important consideration when you're frying anything battered.) also, following a couple tips on the allrecipes.com page, i used flour instead of instant mashed potato flakes (which are ew, in my opinion), and i added parsley and garlic powder to the flour. another tip i got was to dip the fish in the flour first, then in the egg mixture, then the flour again. this allows the flour to stick to the fish better.

REVIEW: three words: a. ma. zing. it was absolutely delicious. blithe enjoyed it, and i actually had seconds. and since the boys were both asleep, i only made 3 pieces. and well, their loss is blithe's and my gain. mwahaha but i still have some fillets left, so i will most definitely make this again. and i was really surprised by one other thing with this recipe: i expected it to taste really strongly of mustard. apparently, i was wrong. the cooking process completely mellowed out the flavour, so that if you didn't know there was mustard in the batter, you'd never know. really, it was delicious and super easy to make and we really enjoyed it. in fact, it's going to become a regular.... especially since i've discovered just how cheap fish is!! which leads in nicely to my tidbit mentioned above...

early. morning. grocery shopping. seriously. i'll admit, i thought annie was insane. until i gave it a whirl last week before picking up the kids, and hokey doodle! i got a week's worth of groceries for $42!!!! i'm not even kidding! i got the 6 sole fillets for about $4.50, i got a huge club pack of honey garlic sausage (that's 12 sausages) for about $6, two fresh pizzas for $3 each, and all kinds of other little deals. just don't go to my store on thursdays, or i may be reduced to violence over a piece of fish or chicken or something. just saying.

fish. it's what's for dinner.

2010-07-04T19:34:00.001-04:00

Garlic Alfredo Talapia

some fish (the original recipe calls for 4 fillets, but i just used a big piece i bought at the store)
olive oil
(the recipe calls for creole seasoning, but lacking that, i just used italian salad dressing instead of the oil and seasoning.)

Alfredo Sauce
some butter
some parmesan cheese
some cream
some garlic, minced (1-2 cloves, if you're gonna use it)

1. pre-heat oven to 425F. place fish on baking sheet and brush with oil (or italian dressing, in my case). bake for about 10 mins, until flesh is no longer translucent (i used skinless. fish flesh = ew) and the fish flakes easily with a fork.
2. meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add garlic. cook about 2 mins until garlic has softened and the aroma has mellowed. add the cheese and cream. (you can use milk, but we're on a high-fat diet here, so cream it is. besides, cream makes it, well, creamier.) stir continously, and do not boil.
3. pour the sauce over the fish to serve and enjoy!

why do i even bother posting recipes here, with quantities this vague?? but alas, this is how i cook, and you must be used to that by now. haha

oh! but a word about the fish itself: i had picked it up a couple weeks ago at the grocery store, but we didn't end up using it at the time, so i threw it in the freezer. i wanted to use it today, but alas, it was frozen! but all was not lost (obviously, or i couldn't have posted this, now that i'm thinking about it). i remembered reading once that if you thaw fish in milk, it takes away the frozen taste. so that's what i did! i took the fish out a couple hours prior to cooking it, and put it in a container with milk, and covered it. and yup! you couldn't taste the frozen. just the fish. wonderful tip!!!

REVIEW: this was, in a word, straight from heaven. i loved it. it wasn't very fishy tasting, but it didn't taste like chicken, either. it was nicely fish-esque, and the alfredo sauce was a beautiful addition. blithe didn't have any, because she was sleeping off her heat exhaustion from yesterday, but the boys had it. and asher loved it. bram, on the other hand, well, let me tell you the tale.

you'll remember from two paragraphs earlier, that i purchased the fish a couple weeks ago. that was an interesting moment. i was looking at the fish, which was actually marked down (one of those "buy it and use it today" things - excellent way to snag a deal, by the way). bram started begging me - begging, i say! - to buy some fish because "i just love fish, mommy, and you never make it! please please please get fish!" then blithe and asher joined it. what could i do, i was outnumbered, and they're the ones i cook for, so give the masses what they want. so i bought the fish, brought it home, and ended up freezing it. today i finally cooked it. and bram, who loves fish and when he goes out for dinner insists on fish and chips because he "loves fish soooooooooo much"... didn't like it. turns out, this wannabe pescavore actually only likes fish if it's deep-fried and battered. you know, like fish and chips. not real fish, apparently. sigh. maybe i can convert him one of these days...

but asher (who can be somewhat picky) and i really loved this dish, and we will be having it again. because i don't encourage picky eating. i give the kids healthy food, grown-up food, real food, and we have never had a truly picky eater in the family. so that's the review i want you to take away from this post: yum.

oh. my. goodness. i'd forgotten just how much i love planning and list-making!!

2010-07-01T16:17:00.000-04:00

i used to be so organized. i had all my meals planned a week in advance, all the housework (evenutally) got done, we arrived for appointments on time. (lately, it would be an accomplishment to eat, find any clean clothes to wear, and arrive for appointments. period. LOL ok, that's a slight exaggeration, but not much.) spend a few months in the hospital and the whole system breaks down! sheesh!!

well, that changes now. i'm too overwhelmed anymore not to live without my precious lists. to-do lists. grocery lists. appointments. calendars. day planners. menu plans.

oh, yes, folks, this was my life once, and everything got done, on time, without (too much) stress and chaos. appointments were kept, work got done, things were accomplished, and i didn't feel like a complete and utter failure. so i've decided to go back to that. to get organized again. and you know what?? i'd forgotten how much fun it is!!!

here's the list of all the ways i'm a square:

i love lists. i'm even making a list to prove it. seriously.
day planners. {insert choir of angels}
crossing things off my to-do list thrills me in ways i don't care to admit on a family blog.
i have two ways of crossing things off a to-do list: a straight line through the item means that the item has been completed. a squiggly/wavy line through the item means that it's not on the list anymore, for a variety of reasons.
DW gave me a beautiful planner/organizer last week, and i got all teary-eyed. it's just so beautiful!!
i truly believe that a plain ol' papermate pen is one of the most wondrous things in the world.
i'm actually blogging about all this.
i re-copied my menu for the coming week, so that i can have one on the fridge, and one in my planner. plus i've written the days' meals on the appropriate page in my planner.
i have at least 4 pretty "My Week" pads on my fridge, each for a different purpose. the pale pink with polka-dots is for the menu.
when i do my weekly menu, i don't just figure out supper in advance. nope. breakfast, lunch, snack, supper, all planned out days in advance. which, i'll admit, makes me very, very happy.

and #9 and #10 segue so nicely into the next part of this post: the weekly menu. now, since the kids are with ed from tuesday morning to thursday morning, my week starts today. and because they came back in the afternoon today, i can skip breakfast and lunch for today and go straight to snack and supper. here's what we've got for the coming days:

Thursday

snack: apple slices

supper: smoothies (they had a huge lunch)

Friday

breakfast: Timbits (supplied by my mother)

lunch: grilled cheese with ham, using homemade bread

snack: n/a, since the kids will be with their dad

supper: pasta with tomato sauce

Saturday

breakfast: smoothies

lunch: perogies with fried onion

snack: roll kuchen (i don't know how to spell it. it's a mennonite deep-fried piece of dough. i'm just guessing at the spelling there.)

supper: lentil and spinach soup, with homemade bread

Sunday

breakfast: toast with peanut butter

lunch: spaghetti and meatballs. alas, not homemade. nope. chef boyardee. but we're going to be at both services at church on sunday (i'm doing the sunday school thing again), so by the time we get home, it will be late and we (read: I) will be tired and needing something simple and easy. and there's not much easier than opening a can and dumping the contents into a pot for a few minutes.

snack: apple slices

supper: fish, roasted potatoes, corn or other veggie. see? this meal makes up for the chef boyardee, don't you agree? ;)

Monday

breakfast: pancakes

lunch: leftover soup with homemade bread

snack: homemade chocolate chip cookies (which we're going to make on monday afternoon)

supper: rice, beans, fried onions

Tuesday

breakfast: maybe.... chocolate french toast

so there we go. the week in food. and don't doubt that i've written in my planner when i need to make bread, too. and allot time to make the cookies. and when i need to start soaking the beans and cooking the rice. and thawing the fish. oh, yes, i'm on the ball. and it feels fabulous!!! i'll let you know on tuesday how this all went, but i'm hoping that this will go well. cross your crossables for me!

apparently, i'm the "awesomest mommy EVER!"

2010-06-19T21:10:00.000-04:00

so! what started as a crappy kind of day turned into, apparently, the BEST day of blithe's life! and i know bram and asher had a great day, too. and ok, i had a pretty fun day, too.

yes, this morning i was in a funk. not cool. then we went grocery shopping. having learned my lesson last week, i was determined to have a better experience grocery shopping today. so we went in the morning, before the kidley-winks were tired and cranky and ~~out of control~~ ~~their usual selves~~ more active than i prefer. and i put asher in the cart. he wanted to walk, and he cried for the first minute or so, but he adjusted once he realized that i wasn't letting him out. no way was i going to chase him all over the store again. when you're the only adult with three young kids in a crowded grocery store on a saturday, the last thing you need is those three kids running in every imaginable direction at the same time. i refuse to leave my cart to wrangle wayward children. i just. plain. refuse. so, with asher in the cart, and having given blithe and bram very specific ~~warnings~~ instructions, we headed into the store.

apparently, they love fish. who knew! well, ok, i know bram loves fish. whenever we go out to eat (which, granted, is rare), if there is fish and chips on the menu, that's what he wants. he won't even hear of anything else. just fish and chips. and he eats the fish first. he'll leave fries uneaten, but you wouldn't even know there had been fish on his plate at one point. i swear he licks the plate clean when i'm not looking. LOL but the other two?? since when do they like fish?! but, they all wanted it, and there was some marked down, so i grabbed some. we also got our usual items, plus a couple extras.

pizza crust. this is in the bread section, and you get two crusts and packets of sauce. and it's only about $3 for the package, so it's great to have on hand. and really, who doesn't love homemade pizza??
toaster strudels. i'll admit, i'm not a morning person. i prefer to stay up at night when i have some quiet time to myself, and then i get up in time to do whatever it is we need to do for the day. lunches are made quickly, but they're also pretty basic, and blithe and bram dress themselves, and asher gets dressed when we're home from the bus stop, and that's our weekdays. weekends? with no obligations? please! you're lucky if i'm out of bed before 9! or maybe you're not so lucky. depends on where you are when i get up, and what you've been up to that necessitated my early rising. either way, this is the one meal per day that i want to be as easy as possible. so i like to have easy-peasy brekkies on hand for the kids. usually it's cereal, which they can pour and fix themselves. but once in a while, i splurge and get them a treat, and this week it's toaster strudels, on sale 2 for $4.
ice cream. alas, asher needs fat. and it's hot. and the PC ice cream was on sale. so we got Chocolate Crunch and Banana Split. and all i can say is: le drool! yum-tastic! seriously, try them. delicious!
ice cream cones. for those days when we ~~don't have clean bowls~~ just need a special little something. so today was the day, gentle readers. we each had 3 cones, i think. LOL
2 cans of whipped cream. nuff said.
strawberries were on sale this week, too, so i got some. however, i plan on picking some up from a local farmer later this week. possibly grabbing a flat and dividing them into pre-measured packages and freezing them. much nicer to have local produce than store-bought. but they were there and so was i, so i grabbed some.
a package of sponge cake. (see 2 previous listed items.)

and the shopping went well! the kids were even well behaved in the check-out, and that is usually their challenging time. but they survived! see? there is a God!

then we came home, and after an hour or so, the wanderlust in me kicked in and we piled back into the truck and headed out to the Quaker Meeting House near Sparta. i had checked it out earlier this week, and it's absolutely beautiful, and the kids had wanted to check it out ever since they first heard of it, so off we went. they had a blast! it's a beautiful building, about 150 years old, and it's so simple and quiet and peaceful. they asked a lot of questions, and managed to sit quietly in the pews... for about 3 seconds. maybe. but they tried. they also enjoyed exploring the grounds, which are absolutely picturesque. the meeting house is tucked back into a maple grove, so it's surrounded by trees. there's a swing off to one side, and all you can hear is the sound of birds chirping overhead. stunningly beautiful. the kids want to go there one week for service, and i think we just might do that once this summer, and see how it goes (there's a sunday school for the kids, so they don't need to sit through an hour or so of silence).

then back home for a while and they played nicely together. then it was time for supper, so i tried to summon the will to make supper. but alas, the mood didn't strike. haha so i told the kids that we were going to go grad a pizza and come home. we piled in the car, and as i'm driving down the road, a thought occured to me: "they would love a picnic. i'll take them to the park tonight." so that's what we did. i didn't even tell them we were going until i was pulling into the park. we found a table in some shade, the kids each had maybe one piece of pizza and then took off to play. blithe and bram had a blast on the splash pad, getting completely soaked in their clothes (remember, i decided after we'd left home, so they didn't have bathing suits or towels, but who cares!). asher was going to join them, and even took his shirt off and stood at the edge of the chaos pad, but in the end, put his shirt back on and ran over to the playground equipment. there he climbed, slid, ran, swung, rocked and laughed for about 45 minutes. 45 minutes of constant motion, amongst (i swear) every child in town under the age of 17. he only got bumped once, but he didn't get hurt, and it was on his back, so no worries there. he had a great time! needless to say, they didn't want to leave.

but we did. and on the way home, all i heard was what a great day this was, how they loved the park and the quaker church, and how this was the best day of blithe's life. bram dubbed me "the awesomest mommy EVER" and asher told me he had a lot of fun, too. why do i always forget about the park? it's free, it's fun, it's fabulous!! we'll be going there a lot more often this summer. :)

Chocolate French Toast. yes, it's just as awesome as it sounds.

2010-06-12T23:55:00.000-04:00

1 cup milk
4 eggs
2/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
8 slices of bread

beat together milk, eggs, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt.
heat a lightly buttered skillet or griddle over medium heat.
dip each slice of bread into egg mixture until well soaked. place in pan, and cook on both sides until they are no longer gooey or shiny in the middle when cut in half, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.

REVIEW
so, the kids have dubbed this "Mommy's Masterpiece" and were begging me to make this more often. i served it with strawberry sauce (homemade, of course; see "recipe" below), icing sugar and syrup. it was, in a word, fabulous! honestly, it's my new favourite comfort food, and i will definitely be making this again and again.

but a word about the cocoa, and some adjustments i made. first, the cocoa doesn't mix well with the milk. probably using chocolate milk would work better. but, since i was lacking choco milk, and because it doesn't have enough fat, i used the cocoa. i also added some vanilla (i just drizzled some into the mixture, so i have no idea how much), because sometimes straight cocoa can be a little strong, and vanilla heightens the flavour while also "mellowing" it somewhat. it turned out really well like that.

also, given that asher is currently on a high-fat diet, i didn't use milk for this recipe. i used table cream, with 18% fat. it worked just as well, though probably in the future i'll use regular milk, and just make his pieces last, adding polycose (fat/carb additive) to the mixture.

but honestly, it was amazing. seriously. you have to try this!!

Strawberry Sauce
4 cups frozen strawberries, cut up
some white sugar
some vanilla

toss it all into the slow cooker, and cook on high until it's done. there's no magic to it. just keep an eye on it, sampling every now and then to check temp and taste. if it needs more sugar, add more sugar. more vanilla? no prob; just add some more. you will have to stir it occasionally, anyway, since the strawberries have a tendency to stick to the side of the pot and burn a bit, so just make sure everyone is floating around the way they should be.

and in case you're wondering how i know it was 4 cups i used...

a while back (last summer?), i picked up a flat of jam strawberries, and my mom and i made freezer jam. it was fab. but i didn't have enough jars to use up the entire flat. so we cut up all the berries anyway, and since the recipe called for 4 cups, we measured out 4 cups and put that into freezer bags, so that when i did make the jam, i could just toss in the berries and not have to worry about cutting and measuring. brilliant, no? i'm hoping to do this again this summer, along with other freezables like zucchini, green peppers, various berries, and so forth. it's the same idea as what i did with stew at one point, which i plan on doing again. sure, it's more work up front, but when all you want in the entire world is stew or freezer jam or strawberry sauce or whatever, all you have to do is pull it out of the freezer and the hard part is already done! i've also done this with those big bags of frozen berries that you can get at the grocery store; i divided it into the amount of berries i need for smoothies, and froze that instead of having to just guess every time. honestly, this process really works!

so, that's that. a couple "recipes" and some time- and sanity-saving tips. have a great weekend! :)

because i clearly don't have enough going on... ;)

2010-06-06T00:13:00.001-04:00

so, tomorrow morning marks my return to teaching sunday school. i can't wait to get there and see all those young faces and get right in there with them and have some fun... i just love grade 5 kids!! ok, granted, they're not my all-time fave. that would be grade 6. then grades 7&8 are a very close second. then grade 5. and i'm hoping that after tomorrow, i can add grade 4 to that list, since it's a grade 4/5 class. LOL

and i know, i know, there are some of you out there reading this going, "is she insane??? the younger kids are where it's at!!" ah, gentle reader, how so very wrong you are. i think anyone who works with young kids is certifiable. yes, mom, that means you, who spent your entire career (and a fair chunk of your retirement) teaching kindergarten. i just think that's crazy. nope. put me in a room like that and, well, let's just say it wouldn't be pretty. BUT!! gimme a room full of grade 6's and i'm a happy woman!! :) anyhoo....

so the lesson plan inspired me, and i decided to make some play-doh, based on one of the activities. the kids are gonna test-drive it for me and let me know how it works out. but to do this,i looked up play-dough recipes on allrecipes.com and found a few there, but i wasn't entirely satisfied with them. so i googled it, and checked out another website called amazingmoms.com because they have a play-doh recipe. so!!! so here's the recipe:

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups salt
3 cups water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp cream of tartar
food colouring

Mix ALL of the ingredients in a large saucepan.
Cook over medium low heat, until the dough comes away from the edges of the pan and it becomes difficult to move the spoon. Remove from heat. Cool until it can be handled.
Place on counter or wax paper knead 3-4 times.
Store in an air tight container.

awesome!!! i am sooooooo excited about this!! i'll post later and let you know how it all turned out.

Lentil Soup

2010-05-15T15:09:00.003-04:00

3-1/2 medium potatoes, chopped
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 pound polish sausage, sliced
1/2 package lentils
salt & pepper to taste

Place the potatoes, tomatoes, onion, garlic, and sausage in a large pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook 15 minutes.
Stir lentils into the pot. Add more water if necessary to just cover all ingredients. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and continue cooking 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lentils are tender.

Serves 6
prep time: 15 mins
cook time: 35 mins
total time: 50 mins

this is what i'm making for supper today. i can't wait. although, i've read some of the reviews, and they said to cook it longer to let the flavours mix (personally, i think stews should be cooked a long time, anyway, for just that reason. but that's me.) and to let the lentils fully cook. we'll see how it goes. i'll post the review after supper.

(if you click on the title of this post, it will take you to allrecipes.com and you can see the nutritional information, for those of you who like to know that stuff. and there's links to related recipes... that site is so addictive sometimes. LOL)

UPDATE: ok, so, you should know my culinary stylings well enough by now to know that i rarely (if ever) follow a recipe exactly. this was no exception. i used 4 large potatoes, i didn't mesure the lentils so i have no idea how much i dumped in (yes, dumped. it was a lot), and i added a few herbs and spices to it. thyme and parsley, and since i'm too lazy to walk across the kitchen to grab some garlic and press it and put that into the pot and then wash the garlic residuals out of the press... i used garlic powder instead. beyond that, i pretty much stuck to the recipe. although i thought it needed a touch more salt, but that's ok, i just doused mine in salt, and left the kids salt-less.

REVIEW: wonderful!!! the kids and i all have seconds (although since i had asher's which he barely touched, i think i had thirds. LOL) whatever, we all loved it, there's TONS leftover, and i can't wait to have it again!! this will definitely become a regular in our house. i TOTALLY recommend it. enjoy! :)

We Heart Recipes

2010-05-12T18:12:00.000-04:00

another heart mom (wendy, chris' mom) and i have started a blog together (yes, i know, i have a lot of blogs. LOL). it is a recipe blog called We Heart Recipes, and we post heart-friendly recipes (most of the time; there will be the occasional comfort-food recipe, as well). we'll be posting fairly regularly, not only the recipes but also any conditions it may help (i just posted the fat-free creamy pasta sauce i made for asher's chylothorax). there are some great links to check out, and our boys' stories. check it out, and check back regularly.

and for the record, the cappuccino at the top is decaf. ;)

My Mother's Day gifts from Blithe and Bram

2010-05-07T17:48:00.001-04:00

ok, so apparently the kids have learned patience from me... so they gave me their gifts now instead of sunday... which i don't mind, actually. i don't like waiting. ;)

Blithe gave me her gift as soon as she got home from school. it's a beautiful butterfly purse-type thing made with fun foam. it's lovely and decorated with butterflies and hearts and glitter glue (is it really mother's day without glitter glue? i don't think so.) it was beautiful.

then she read me the poem she wrote for me:

My Mom
Mom always says that i am special.
She would tell you i'm so smart.
Mom helps me when i'm hurt.
She and i like to go to the park.
Mom can't stand it when i don't clean up.
She loves it when i help her.
And now that Mother's Day is here,
She deserves a great big cheer!

and fyi... it's all true. blithe is very special, so smart, and she doesn't clean up... and i would love it if she would help me. ;)

Bram gave me a beautiful picture he drew of our family, a bit picasso-esque (whom i love, btw, so i'm not complaining) since we have no arms, apparently, but he drew it himself and it's lovely. he made an adorable frame for it, covered in fun foam caterpillars. and on the back he wrote (by himself, no less!),

I love Mom. love from Bram

:)

and this was wrapped up in a painting he did, of the beach. the water was a purple mass of paint in the middle of the page, "because i wanted it to look like it was snowing in the summer." ok.

he also gave me a page that tells what mommies do, according to his class:

they help you get dressed
they help to feed you supper
they give us breakfast
they have a shower
they do the laundry
if you're too small to reach the light they lift you up
if you get sick, really really sick, they take you in the car and help you throw up in a bag.
they give you hugs before you fall asleep (that's bram's answer, by the way)
they give kisses when you go to bed
they help us blow up balloons
if you get hurt they put on a bandaid
they help their daughter or son write words
when bad dreams happen they carry you into their bed
they help you to read your book
they clip our toe nails and finger nails
they tuck you in when you go to sleep
they help you pack when you go on a trip
they read us bedtime stories
they help you make fish crafts

so there you have it. mother's day, a couple days early, but absolutely lovely.

ah, it's so lovely being home :)

2010-04-21T21:54:00.001-04:00

so, it was absolutely beautiful outside today, so we went... well, outside! i walked downtown to run some errands (and got most of my bills paid off entirely!!! hooray!!!!), and started on my job search. while i was out, my mom took the boys for a walk to the flower garden a few blocks away. after i picked blithe up from the bus stop, we walked home and decided to stay outdoors for a little while.

well! i decided to get to work in the garden. and much to my surprise, there's actually stuff growing in there!! i had forgotten that i planted garlic last year, so that's already coming up nicely. and the lavendar wintered very well, so it's coming back already, too.

asher, for those who are somehow unaware, is a boy. a normal boy. a very normal boy. which means...

where there's dirt, there's asher.

lucky for him, i was digging around in the soil, and found a nice long worm for him. he loved it!!! he named it Squirmy. it's in his hands in that picture. he didn't want to put little squirmy down. he wanted to bring him inside and have him as a pet. my mom heard that and said, "um.... no. squirmy stays outside " (my mom is not a fan of worms.)

and this all happened, you'll note...

at home.

i don't know if this is crazy... or the most brilliant thing i have ever heard!!!

2010-04-20T17:17:00.000-04:00

so, i'm a fan of etsy on facebook, and today they post this link about "How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money"... and i think i'm hooked. i just might have to buy this book... at some point. this woman and her father live a sustainable, self-sufficient life, and aren't hippies! they look like normal people!! how cool is that?!

Creamy Pasta Sauce (fat-free)

2010-03-29T19:10:00.000-04:00

ok, so of course, asher's surgery earlier this month couldn't go entirely smoothly. sure, the surgery itself was "uneventful," but because this is asher, there are lingering complications. the biggest one (not only due to severity but also because it affects all of us at home), is something called "chylothorax." during the surgery, a lymph node was nicked. lymph nodes take fat out of the bloodstream, and when they leak, the fatty substance (called "chyle") fills the space around the lungs. if left untreated, it can suffocate you. nice, eh? ugh. the treatment for this is a fat-free diet for 6 weeks.

so we have started a new diet at home. i refuse to make more than one meal at a time. everyone eats the same thing. no exceptions. now, i have always cooked somewhat low-fat (just ignore the labels "deep fried", "cheese" and "sausage"... i did say "somewhat" after all...). but now i have to eliminate ALL fat from our home. in some ways, this is proving more difficult than i anticipated. on the other hand... i now get to try all kinds of recipes i hadn't attempted yet. and (surprise, surprise) i've decided to share some of these fat-free recipes with you, gentle reader. bon appetit!

and be warned... this is a typical heather-ish recipe. you know what to expect.

Creamy Pasta Sauce (and yes, it's fat-free)

250 ml fat-free cream cheese (Philly makes a 95% fat-free one, which is allowed)
some spinach
some mushrooms
some sundried-tomatoes (that's right! they're fat-free!!)
skim milk (which i don't hate)

i've picked up a few tricks along the way, so i tried "sauteeing" the mushrooms with water instead of butter. they didn't turn out perfectly, but it helped. then i added the spinach. mixed them all together in the pan. then i added the cream cheese. the whole container (which, admittedly, is the only reason i know how much i used. teehee). the cream cheese actually becomes nice and creamy and delicious at this point. i blanched the sundried tomatoes before throwing them into the sauce (i just used the pasta water for this; it gave the noodles a nice hint o' flavour, too). i didn't plan on using the milk, but the sauce just like that was pretty thick, so i added some milk ("until it looked right") to thin it a bit.

and the review? de. lish. ous. and so simple, and so fat-free, and relatively cheap (because i had sundried tomatoes on hand already). the kids all loved it. in fact, they all had seconds! it was so easy and good and healthy... i'm totally making this again. maybe next time i'll grill some chicken breast and throw that in, too. but we'd already had quite a bit of protein today, so i left it out tonight. but definitely next time! :)

so glad i procrastinated this afternoon...

2010-02-28T14:33:00.000-05:00

because i got to chat with a friend, and i was complaining that i have to do dishes this afternoon before we leave. and she said

"set the timer for 15 mins, and when it goes, stop."

WHA-?!?!

i have to finish dishes, laundry/packing, and tidying. if we devote 15 mins at a time to each task, we could get it all done!!!! and not be overwhelmed!!!!!!

could this be true??????

i'm gonna give it a whirl, and see how it works out. i'll let you know.

SOS Cuisine

2010-02-26T08:14:00.000-05:00

ok, i just found this website (thanks, annie), and i have to say, it's awesome!!! there's menu plans, recipes, and find what's on sale where (you enter your region/province, so don't worry. you won't be teased with a great deal on grapes in nuvavut or beef in vancouver if you live in charlottetown. lol). no more flipping through a huge pile of flyers to find the best deals! this website has already done that for you.

but wait! there's more!!

let's say you only have a couple things in the fridge. you can enter those items, and it will bring up recipes for you! and there's a menu planner, too! and not just a one-size-fits-all menu. nope. you can specify that you're cooking for one, or cooking for kids, or vegetarian, or fish-less, or beginner, or on a budget, or gourmet, or pressed for time. incredible!!

i've gotta say, i lurv this site. i'm so happy i found it, and i can't wait to just dig in and use it! annie, you rock!!!

and here's the link to the site: SOS Cuisine

mmm... lentils...

2010-02-03T22:32:00.000-05:00

yes, i know it may seem a little odd to some of you, but i like lentils. love them, actually. and so do the kids. all of them. and so does charlie, it would seem. but that's a whole other story. anyway, i posted a recipe the other night for lentil and spinach soup, which i stole (and had to alter a little bit, admittedly) from Jamie Oliver. and oooooooh, is that soup good!!!

but!

would it surprise you to know that i have more lentil recipes up my sleeve? ok, granted, one isn't much of a recipe. it's a lentil casserole i learned from a friend in bible college, and always remembered it, even though i didn't make until about 10 years later. i'll admit, i was a little scared. scared that it wasn't really as good as i remembered. scared that the kids would hate it. scared that i would screw it up somehow (though how, i don't know, since it's the absolute simplest recipe ever!! and there's the lentil and sausage soup that the kids love. we just had some leftovers tonight and it was to die for. seriously. i would take a bullet for this soup. ok, maybe i'm exaggerating a little bit. but not much, gentle reader. it's just that good.

i'll start with the lentil casserole, since you can just click on "lentil and sausage soup" above, and it will take you to the recipe. so, here's the recipe for the casserole.

oh, wait! before i start, let me remind you that i "learned" this recipe by looking at what my friend had made. not watching while he made it, just looking at the finished product. so yeah, there really won't be much for quantities. i just add till it looks right.

Dave's Lentil-icious Casserole

some lentils. k, lots of them, since they make up the main part of the dish. but it's soooo worth it, so go nuts with them. i'd say, fill the casserole dish about 1/2 to 2/3 full with lentils, cooked.
1 can of diced tomatoes
feta cheese
garlic
olive oil

preheat oven to 300 to 350F. (why do i even bother posting my own recipes here? LOL)
add lentils, tomatoes and generous amounts of feta into casserole dish. throw in some crushed garlic. drizzle with olive oil. not too much, mind you. just some. (wow, even i want to cry reading that line. LOL) maybe 1-2 seconds of pouring. hope that helps. mix together.
toss into the oven and bake... till it looks done. not too long, though. say, 30 mins? keep an eye on it. you'll know when it's done.
enjoy.

ok, now to be honest, i cheat. it's just easier. instead of using a can of plain ol' diced tomatoes, i use a can of bruschetta tomatoes. it's awesome. it already has olive oil, garlic and herbs mixed in. so really, when i make this casserole, it only has three ingredients. super easy. and perfect for when you're rushed. i think the other short-cut you can take is to use a can of lentils. they're already cooked, so you don't have to worry about that. i don't use them, though, due to the high amounts of salt in canned beans. and really, lentils are probably one of the easiest, quickest beans to cook, so it doesn't really take much more work.

and really, this has to be one of the simplest and yummiest recipes i have. it's also pretty cheap. i figured it out once, and i can make this casserole for less than $5. the biggest expense is the feta, but i love feta, so i consider it worth it. and really, i use feta in a lot of other things (eg, spinach salad and my favourite pasta sauce... which i might also post, since it's just that good), so i get good value from this "decadence."

again, i thought of posting the lentil sausage soup recipe, but it's kind of long, and i already linked to it, twice now, so i'll just leave it for now. but seriously, check it out, because it's delicious! everyone here loves it. i've made it twice already and bram asked me tonight if i could make it every night.

mmmm... lentils...

trying out a new recipe

2010-02-01T19:32:00.001-05:00

ok, so this afternoon i took the kidley-winks to the bookstore. i know, i know, library library library. except that i was getting a math workbook for blithe, who is really struggling with that subject lately. and they frown on writing in library books. soooo....

i went to my new favourite section of any book emporium. the cookbooks. i must confess, i've fallen in love with jamie oliver. i think he's amazing. such great recipes. yeah, that's why i love him. his recipes. no, really, it actually is, believe it or not. anyhoo... i picked up my favourite of his books, Jamie's Food Revolution. man, if i had money, i'd buy me a copy of that book and NEVER put it down!

well! i began to peruse said tome, and my mouth was watering whilst i scanned the titles of each recipe. and then one little delight caught my eye. "Egads!" i cried out impulsively, "that sounds simply marvellous." ok, honestly, i don't think i actually said anything (especially anything that intelligent). i think my reaction was more one of speechless awe with a touch of flabberghastedness (is that even a word?!) and embarassment as i realized that my jaw was on the floor and i was standing in a puddle of drool. let me tell you, it wasn't as pretty as it sounds.

"for crying out loud, heather," i can hear you exclaim right now, "are you ever going to tell me what this recipe was for?!?!" alright, fine, here you go:

lentil

and spinach

soup!!!

you must realize by now that i quite like lentils. ok, i lurv lentils. and spinach. and soup. and more importantly, as i read through the ingredients, i realized i had pretty much everything in this soup!!! i even have a piece of ginger, if you can believe that! (i rarely have ginger.) the only ingredient i lacked was chili peppers, but that's ok, because the kids don't like anything too spicy (who's kids are these? i mean really!)

well! i came home and got to work. it's simmering away right now, as a matter of fact, much to my delight.

oh! i was actually going to post the recipe (such as i remembered, having mournfully replaced the book on the shelf for i, being poor, have only my dreams... and yes, i just alluded to WB Yeats, for those who noticed... which is probably no one... wow, i'm a nerd!!). and believe it or not, i can actually put in some measurements! and you know, typing that, i can actually hear annie smiling proudly. so here goes, jamie oliver's lentil and spinach soup, or my version of it.

some olive oil
2 carrots, sliced roughly (whatever that means. i just chopped them)
2 stalks of celery (which is disgusting and should be banned, but it's my first time making this, so i'm trying to follow the recipe here)
2 medium onions, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
some ginger, sliced/chopped/whatever. just whatever you do, don't throw a whole chunk in. you only need a bit, and it should be in itty bitty pieces.
some water. i don't know. 4 cups-ish? (do you hear that? it's annie crying over this line.)
1 medium tomato, diced
some lentils (sorry, annie, i just threw in whatever i had left. maybe 1 1/2 cups? forgot to measure. my bad.)
some spinach (this isn't in the pot yet, and nope, i'm not gonna measure. just toss some in. 'cause that's how i roll)

alright, so you throw the olive oil, carrots, celery and onion into a pot, and put that on the stove. and once you've turned the stove on, you let that all cook up till the carrots are tender but still retain their shape and the onions are clear. somewhat later in this process, i also threw in the garlic and ginger. mostly because i couldn't remember when specifically they go in. i should probably actually copy the recipe next time, eh? anyhoo... then you dump in the water (you probably should use broth, which is what his version called for, but i lack that at the moment, so i just used water), tomato and lentils. i also added some salt and pepper and a touch of chili powder, just for kicks. and because like a good scottish girl, i can't live without salt. anyway... let that simmer apparently for a while, like till the lentils are done cooking. then for a little longer, i would think, just to let the flavours blend a bit. then after a while (you know, when it looks right), toss in the spinach. let that simmer for about 10-30 seconds, yes seconds, and then feel free to serve.

this is currently simmering away on the stove, so i'm afraid i can't post any feedback yet. but rest assured, gentle reader, that as soon as we're done eating, i will fill you in on how it went. cross your crossables that it works!

UPDATE: IT'S FANTASTIC!!!!!!! seriously, you HAVE to try this recipe!!!!! mmmm.... lentil and spinach soup.....

when you're poor, you gotta do watcha gotta do... sigh...

2010-01-27T17:40:00.001-05:00

i bake.

a lot.

sigh.

i hate baking.

a lot.

sigh.

but i'm discovering something about myself. i may not hate baking as much as i have in the past. note, i'm not saying i love it. but i'm discovering that i actually kind of enjoy it. or maybe someone has taken over this blog and is typing this post. annie, i'm looking at you... haha

anyway, i have recently taken up baking on a fairly regular basis. why, just this week, i've made apple crisp and cookies. and i plan to make tortillas, a couple more loaves of bread, some granola bars and/or muffins (having just re-discovered my recipe for banana muffins on this blog), and possibly some cookies.

i've also begun making soup more often. from scratch.

i have to make soups from scratch (including broth, since commercial broths are rather high in sodium, and that doesn't mesh with my littlest man's congestive heart failure). to do this, i've started shopping differently. now when i go to the store and buy chicken, i make sure to buy it with the bone in. then when i cook it, i take out all the bones and spend the evening using them to make broth. (if you're lucky, i'll post those details later.) the next day, i make soup.

i've decided that i love soup, and the more i make it, the better i'm getting at it, too. soup is awesome. that's all i'm gonna say about that. and in fact, when i'm done this, i'm going to post my current fave recipe, which is loved by everyone in this house... and the occasional babysitter. ;) it's quite scrumptious, actually: sausage and lentil soup. and believe me, it's just as easy to make as it is yummy. mmm... sausage and lentil soup...

the other thing i did yesterday, for the first time in my entire life, was to make hot cocoa. and holy marshmallows, batman, it was AWESOME!!!! infinitely better than hot chocolate!! i'm going to be making this more often, and don't be surprised if i have the recipe memorized in the next week or so. the kids loved it, i loved it, it's cheap, it's easy, it's slow (which is definitely the way to go when it comes to food, etc, if you ask me), and it's satisfying on more levels than i care to admit.

and one other thing i've done recently... i rediscovered my local library. did you know they let you take books home... for free?!?! it's a poor booklover's dream come true. why, just last week, the kids took out several books, and i grabbed a few for myself, including one about ADHD, a barbara coloroso book, a magazine, and three novels, including one Sophie Kinsella (and no, not The Undomestic Goddess; i already own that one. haha). and today i went again on my own, and borrowed another novel, which i'm digging so far (it involves Dracula!!) and... get ready for this... a cookbook. you may be able to guess my heretofore held opinion of cookbooks, given that they contain actual recipes, for which one must - gasp! - measure! but i've decided that cookbooks are perhaps the most glorious kind of books. because. that's why. just because. in fact, just thinking about them right now, i have a smile on my face. :) <---- that's me, right there, in case you were wondering.

anyway, i have to run at the moment. it's about time i start working on supper for tonight. in case you're wondering, perogies with bacon and fried onion, smothered in (gah! i'm gonna butcher the german here... forgive me, anni) schmauntfat... basically, it's milk, flour and bacon grease. and yes, it's a beautiful meal. comfort on a plate, if you ask me. and the kids all begged for it tonight, so there you have it. toodles!!!

ah, wendy, how i love thee...

2010-01-07T21:11:00.000-05:00

my friend wendy, wonderful wendy, posted a couple recipes on facebook tonight. and um, yeah. YUM!!!! (at least, i'm assuming so... they look good, though i haven't tried them... yet.) and they looked so delicious, i thought i would share them here. :)

Taco Bake
1lb lean ground beef
1 small onion
1 cup salsa
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 pkg hot taco seasoning mix OR 2 tsp chili powder
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups crushed tortilla chips
3 oz (approx) light cream cheese
tomato
avocado
lettuce
tortillas for scooping

brown the ground beef and onion, drain well, then on medium heat add in the salsa, cream cheese, mayo and spices.

in and ungreased baking dish (like a round deep one) layer meat mix, some crushed tortillas and half the cheese, and then repeat.

Bake uncovered at 350 for about 25 minutes.

I topped with fresh tomato, avocado and lettuce and a dab of sour cream but clearly there are many possible options.

Scoop and eat with tortilla chips or scoop into hard taco shells or on a bed of lettuce. Enjoy!

*** to make your own tortillas - cut up a stack of corn or flour tortillas into 8, lay flat on baking sheet. Spray with cooking oil and lightly salt. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes, watching carefully. They will crisp as they cool.

the granola bars that turned into muffins LOL

2009-11-16T22:16:00.002-05:00

ok, so i'm sure by now we all know how i feel about baking. you must have picked up that it's my absolute favourite thing to do. haha yeah, i really don't like it. i wouldn't say i hate it, per se, but yeah, i can think of about a dozen things i'd rather be doing.

but alas, i am broke. and alas, despite my broke-ness, the kiddies need snacks for school and such (ok, i need snacks, too). so my solution? baking. sigh

i was going to make granola bars. then realized i don't have any brown sugar in the house. so, i turned to my fave website, always handy to have bookmarked at a time of crisis such as this: allrecipes.com. i looked up "banana muffins" (because i do have bananas - trust me, i checked... twice... and i only bought them today! LOL), and found a yummy recipe. so i'll share it here (and yes, annie, the measurements are precise... ok, most of them are. LOL)

2 eggs, beaten
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 cups, all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking soda

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. lightly grease or line 10 muffin cups.
2. in a medium bowl, mix eggs and bananas. in a separate bowl, combine flour, salt, sugar and baking soda. stir banana mixture into flour mixture. fold in walnuts if desired. pour batter into prepared muffin cups.
3. bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into middle of muffins comes out clean.

ok, so i customized a bit. i read a couple reviews, which mentioned adding applesauce (they said 4 oz., but shockingly, i didn't have that much, so i just used... some. don't know the exact amount.) they also recommended cinnamon (again, i just poured a bit in), and 1 tsp vanilla (i actually measured this one!). i wanted the kids to be able to take these to school, so nuts were out of the question, but i had some craisins in the cupboard, so i added some of those.

the muffins are baking right now, and they look wonderful. oh, and they smell great, too. ooh, between the muffins and the bread i made earlier, my house smells divine!! you know you're jealous. ;)

Carrot Sweet Potato Soup

2009-11-15T20:44:00.003-05:00

another recipe tonight. i'd say i'm on a roll here, but there's a catch to this one. and if you know me and how i cook, you already know what that catch is. i don't measure. but! i do know some amounts here for this one, so i thought i'd share. but be warned. this recipe is for a MONSTER batch of soup. and when i say "monster," i mean i made 3 big mason jars, and still had plenty left for supper tonight. but seriously, it was abso-freaking-lutely delicious!! :) so here you go, recipe lovers, an actual recipe for my favourite soup:

8 carrots, peeled and chopped
1 really big yam (you see the precise measurements here LOL)
1 giant white potato (find the biggest one you can, then keep looking for a bigger one)
3 small onions (or one really big one... but all i had was small ones, so i used 3)
3 - 4 cloves garlic, pressed
some nutmeg
some cinnamon (oh, i can hear some of you crying right now over these "measurements")
salt and pepper, but not too much
enough water to cover the ingredients, then a bit more. i used about 3 1/2 quarts, i think

bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium. continue cooking, covered, until veggies are soft.

blend till smooth.

even bram, who only likes pea soup, loves this recipe. and blithe, who now claims to be a picky eater, wanted more. and asher ate some (which is high praise from him). this recipe is beyond easy, and beyond yummy. we love it. so, if you can stand my oh-so-precise measurements, give it a whirl, and feel free to leave a comment. :)

French Wheat Bread (for the breadmaker)

2009-11-15T20:29:00.002-05:00

if you're looking for a FANTASTIC bread recipe, without anything fancy, just plain ol' bread... look no further, gentle reader! here it is, my favourite bread EVER!! honestly, i make this bread several times a week (and those who've tried it agree... it's delicious!). so, by special request, here is the recipe:

1 1/8 c water
2 1/2 c bread flour
1/2 c whole wheat (or multigrain) flour
2 1/2 tsp white sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp butter (or margarine)
3 tsp yeast

throw it all into the breadmaker in that order, and turn on the breadmaker. walk away.

when it's done, take it out.

while still warm, slice a piece for yourself and SMOTHER it in butter, jam, honey... whatever your little heart desires, but seriously, you absolutely must try this bread when it's warm. and then, try it once it has cooled. truly delicious!! LURV IT!!!!!

holy jungle fever, batman! those herbs are HUGE!!!!!

2009-10-26T18:59:00.004-04:00

my FB status tonight reads: that very night in heather's kitchen, a forest grew... and grew... and grew until her table hung with vines and the kitchen became the jungle all around... (translation: heather brought her herbs in tonight, and didn't realize quite how big they were till they were sitting on her kitchen table. LOL)

well, it's late october in ontario, which means it's gonna be getting cold soon. :( which means, also, that my wonderful herbs needed to come indoors for the winter. because really, is there anything better than fresh herbs? i don't think so.

anyway, it was gorgeous out today, hitting 15 degrees this afternoon (or about 60 degrees F, for my non-celsius readers). so i thought today would be a good day to do some outdoor work. and wow! it was glorious! feeling the earth between my fingers one last magnificent time!!! so this evening, after supper (it was still pretty warm out), i went outside and got to work.

now, i'll be honest here. other than moving the original tiny plants from those itty-bitty container things you buy them in at the store, i've never transplanted anything. so, you can imagine, i'm a little freaked out right now. these are wonderful plants, my favourite herbs, and i really hope i didn't kill them. but you know, this sort of fly by the seat of my pants kind of approach to planting herbs obviously hasn't failed me before, so let's hope it works this time.

oh, i guess i should tell you what i have: the itty bitty one is rosemary, the giant tree-ish looking thing at the back is parsley, and the giant, viny monster plant on the left is oregano. mmm.... oregano...

know what i love?

2009-10-16T19:21:00.002-04:00

finding good stuff in my freezer.

this morning, while pondering supper for tonight, i went digging through my freezer. and oh, the treasures i found!!!!

treasure #1:
a casserole a friend had given me a while back (probably a couple months, by now), all frozen and with promises of deliciousness. so i took it out, threw it in the oven, and we enjoyed it for lunch.

oh, guess i should tell you what it was, eh? teehee it was a chicken and potato casserole, with veggies. it was soooo good. chunks of potato, lots of chicken, yummy veggies. it was comfort on a plate. so, thank-you, deb, you're wonderful! <3

treasure #2:
a bag of chicken thighs. actually i found two bags, though i only used one. i took it out, threw it into my big crock-pot, smothered it with bbq sauce, and it was ready in time for supper. i also chopped up a couple carrots this afternoon while making carrot soup (recipe to be posted in a few minutes), and it was absolutely delicious!!! the boys liked it, i loved it, and charlie seemed happy there were leftovers on asher's plate.

there are other things i love, too. like my freezer. and not just because of today. i just generally love my freezer.

my crock-pots. love them. i can't even describe how much!! they please me. i have a big one and a smaller one, and they're perfect. there used to be a blog called "A Year of Crockpotting" and every day there was another recipe for something in the crock-pot. it was awesome. i put the link on here at one point, but her year is up, so i doubt if there's anything new posted. but back in the day, i enjoyed that blog. especially her post about crockpot haggis. honestly, that had to be one of the funniest things i'd read in AGES - and the picture of the box the meat came in, marked "not for human consumption" made me laugh out loud!!

my breadmaker. i use it at least 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes more. it's wonderful. and so easy. and i don't think i need to tell you how nice it is to come home to the smell of freshly-baked bread. mmmm... carbs...

i think that's about it. oh, no, wait. there's one more thing i love.

my giant pot. i've been a soup-making fiend lately, and that's the pot i use. 'nuff said.

that's it now. well, probably not, but i'll stop here. i'll post more when i think of them. ;)

annie's fabulous homemade granola bars

2009-10-16T18:28:00.002-04:00

4 cups oats
4 cups rice crispies
1 cup raisins (or chocolate chips, which are infinitely better than raisins, but that's just me. LOL)
2 cups sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla

boil and melt the last 4 ingredients and add to the rest mixing well. Press mixture into 2 greased cookie sheets or pans and allow to cool completely before slicing. Once sliced wrap individually or stack in an airtight container. Just be sure to place a sheet of wax paper between each layer.

i've made these before, and they really are very good. yummmmmmmmmmmmmmy!!!!!!! the kids love them, so i think i'll be making them (possibly with kidlets helping) this weekend for lunches and snacks next week. can't wait, either! :)

and if you listen carefully, you'll hear annie weeping ;)

2009-08-31T08:28:00.005-04:00

oh, my grandmother would be proud of me right now. i have not one but TWO loads of laundry drying outside right now (the other one isn't pictured because it's underwear, and i'm not really in the mood to publish our gitch for all the cyber-world to see LOL).

and ok, granted, i'm only drying the clothes this way because the dryer isn't working, but you know, right now, i'm not really in a hurry to figure out what's wrong. (partly because i think it's a blown fuse, and that's in the yucky basement, so it can stay blown for now.)

but still, none of this negates the fact that i currently, as i type, at this very moment, have 2 - count 'em, 2!! - loads of laundry hanging to dry outside. ah, simplicity. :)

oh, and asher gets his GJ-tube changed to a G-tube today, which is exciting. has nothing to do with my simple life, but i'm excited, so there you go! ;)

UPDATE: why must it take so long to dry clothes outside?!?! i still have at least 2 or 3 more loads to do, and i have nowhere to hang them until this stuff is dry!!!! ARRRRRGGG!!!!!!!!!!!

look what i just found!

2009-08-25T23:17:00.003-04:00

i have a programme that lets me "stumble" randomly around the internet. i've found some really cool things in my travels. here's the latest:

http://www.fatfreevegan.com/

apparently, it's a website full of oil-free, fat-free vegan recipes... very healthy, and i'm thinking of giving some of these recipes a whirl at some point. so i thought i'd share it with you.

i think i can, i think i can, i think i can, i think i can

2009-08-24T17:12:00.002-04:00

ok, so, i don't know how many of you readers know this, but i journal. a lot. it helps me to sort through my life, my self, my feelings, my journey in general. so i like it. today, while writing about something else, i branched off into "how can i be better at housework?", and i thought i'd share it with you. now remember, this is from part-way through a journal entry, so the beginning is rather abrupt here. but here you go:

and i'm not quite as good as i'd like to be in some areas. i'd like to be a harder worker.... and i need to work harder at things like integrity, being a role model, self-control, discipline, but also having fun. basically, balance.

God, please make me the woman You want me to be.

yikes! what a prayer!! God, help me to mean that prayer, and don't let me be afraid of that prayer.

but i think it's do-able (strengthening my weaker areas), so long as i remember balance. that's the key. when i get all fired up and go at it in a manic, frenzied determination, it never lasts. i burn out, get discouraged and depressed, and nothing changes.

so what's the trick? what's the path to success? i'm thinking specifically about housework, for example. what are my obstacles?

doing it alone
lack of routine
uber long to do lists
emotional exhaustion
physical exhaustion
an "i hate housework" attitude.

alright, now that i've identified my obstacles, i need to identify some solutions.

the kids need chores, and those need to be displayed prominently to remind them (and me). i've already assigned the chores; now i just have to display - and enforce - them.
i need a routine. a daily routine, but also a weekly and - dare i say it? - monthly and - eep! - yearly routine. basically, i need to know what gets done when. i need to make regular time for housework, every day at the same time.
my uber long to do lists can be shortened, now that i'm thinking about it.

make a list of everything that needs to be done
assign as many tasks as is possible and reasonable (to kids, to friends - like helping to build stuff around the house, to hired people).
rank remaining items by importance and deadline
ask of each item: Do i have to do this, or can someone else? how long will this take me to accomplish? how urgent is this item? when MUST it be done by? do i need any supplies to accomplish this?

emotional exhaustion can be beaten by balancing work and play. going for walks, playing with the kids, creating, working in the garden, coffee with friends. routine will also help with this, since i'll know when work gets done, etc. also, a shortened, organized to do list will prevent me from feeling overwhelmed. cutting myself a bit of slack, remaining realistic in my goals, and not hating myself when i don't succeed right off the bat. i will never be annie brown (love ya, girlie, but we both know it's true! LOL) or martha stewart, but i can do better than what i do now. perfection isn't possible, but improvement is.
i need to rest. i need to accept help, and i need to ask for help. and i need to sleep. if, in the afternoon, i'm tired, i'll nap. better nutrition will also help. and i think that once i've started working on alleviating my emotional exhaustion, my physical exhaustion will also be taken care of.
my "i hate housework" attitude is crap, i'll admit. when i get down to doing the job, i generally enjoy it. i like doing laundry. i like doing dishes. what i hate is the seeming un-ending-ness of it all. you know what i mean. how you wash all the dishes, then kids want a drink of juice and bam! a dirty glass. same goes for laundry. and sweeping, now that i'm thinking about it. LOL but once i get a routine in place, and i know when things get done, and i can stay on top of things, it'll be better, and i'll actually start to enjoy housework again. because i used to, once upon a time. and i know i can again. i just have to not feel so overwhelmed, that's all.

i think i can do this. i really do. it's possible. it's totally do-able. and i can succeed at this. wish me luck!!! :)

ah, the green life... i love it... when it's not scary. and you weren't there, so don't judge me!!!!!

2009-08-17T15:59:00.006-04:00

ok, so, we all know my fondness for simple, cheap (read: free) green ideas for the home. for example, once i've finished this post, i'm going to go throw a load of towels in the washing machine, and then dry them outside.

but, in the last little while, i'll admit, gentle reader, i've slacked off. but it's not my fault!!! ok, it is. it's just - just - well, here's the story:

so, a few weeks ago, i had to empty out my itty bitty compostainer that i keep in the cupboard. and it had been a while. (can you see where i'm going with this yet?) so, i opened it up to put a couple things in there before going outside, and...

IT WAS FURRY!!!!!!

i can't even describe how gross it was! it was beyond furry! think cousin it. yeah. eww! i've got the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it now!!! (and laugh all you want, but you didn't see it. it was gross!!)

so i took the container outside, hoping to dump said grossness into the compostainer. well. apparently, not so much.

i turned the container over, so the compostables would tumble out. and yes, a few things fell out. a few small things. the rest of the stuff - and there was quite a bit! - STAYED IN THE CONTAINER!!! THE ENTITY (as i came to call it) WAS HOLDING IT ALL IN!!!! i banged the container on the edge of the receptacle, hoping that would free some food waste. nope. i cried a bit, hoping the compost gods would hear my plea and loosen the banana peels and such from their hairy prison. nope.

then i looked inside again.

and got grossed out again.

and tossed it across the yard.

and there it stayed.

until today, when i finally had the nerve to approach it.

you see, until now, i was afraid that the Entity would have been a tad ticked off at being launched across the backyard. so i was afraid. very afraid. but today, i figured, nothing can withstand the heat , especially inside a plastic container in the sun! certainly the solar flare that is the atmosphere today must have destroyed the Entity and all that dared to defend it. so i went to get the container.

cautiously, mind you.

and i picked it up.

cautiously, mind you.

and looked inside.

cautiously, mind you.

and it was no worse than it had been before. in fact, it seems the Entity suffers from hair loss (think Cousin It at age 75). maybe some brave (or stupid) little critter wandered in and feasted on old apple cores and such. who knows. who cares. not me. all i care is that E was not quite so scary today.

so i brought it inside (where my children are, which shows how much better things were in the little container) and was going to clean it. but no way am i sticking my hand in there just yet!!!! no way!!!!!!

so i bombed it.

that's right. dumped in some baking soda. then, because that's not enough, poured in the rest of the vinegar i had in the house. and it blew up.

and most importantly, it destroyed the Entity. well, killed it, anyway. i still had to clean the container out.

and i'll admit, i was tempted to reach for my lysol wipes (yes, i have some, and i think they're evil, but they're just so easy!!!!! bad green girl, bad BAD green girl!!!). but i thought, no, this is a compostainer. it's good for the earth. i should use something earth friendly to clean it. (and yes, you're detecting some resignation there. but lysol kills 99.9% of bacteria!!! does anyone know the stats on baking soda?? tell me if you do, because i don't!) so i dumped in more baking soda. and grabbed some paper towels.

again, you weren't there. so don't judge me. this Entity was gross. and scary. and by now, dead, granted. but, still. no way do i want the residual of that Thing on the cloths in my house, sitting with my towels until they're washed, and then who knows if it would spread and get on the other stuff i have in that load. yuck!!! i can throw out paper towels, and then they're gone. at least, that's what i did with my first couple paper towels. the last two, that weren't so gross, are now, you'll be pleased to note, sitting inside my wonderful little compostainer with a banana peel, remnants of a spinach salad, and bits of tomato, green pepper and cucumber.

and the compostainer? clean as a whistle, and gross-ness free, thanks to the wonder of baking soda!!! :)

welcome back, old friend. i've missed you. may your insides be filled with yucky veggie bits, apple cores and banana peels, and may your contents remain hairless from now on.

Canada Day (ok, i know, it's late, but i just found these pics)

2009-08-17T15:17:00.002-04:00

improv smores... on the BBQ! (and note the warm clothing... in july... yeah...)
the kids had sooooo much fun making (and eating) the smores.

oh, dear. why does he look this happy while he's burning something? LOL

chores, chores, chores

2009-08-16T15:13:00.003-04:00

so now, as always, housework must be dealt with. and as you know, i hate housework. i HATE housework. HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE IT!

but i have kids who are now old enough to help out around the house. seven, four and two are old enough for jobs (albeit very simple jobs for the 2-year-old). yes, folks, THIS is why i bred. in the hopes that, one day, however distant it seemed at the time, there would be someone here to mow the lawn, shovel the snow, take out the garbage, tidy the house, do the dishes... basically, everything. teehee

and so, on that note, i give you.... .... THE CHORE LIST!!!!

Blithe (age 7)
feed Smokey... twice daily. (it's her job b/c smokey's food and dishes have to be on top of the dryer, out of charlie's reach. but this also puts it out of bram's reach, so it falls to blithe.)

make her bed

put clothes in hamper

help with supper prep

drying the dishes

sweeping (her request, b/c "i LOVE sweeping!")

Bram (age 4)
feed Charlie (our new doggie - boxer/shar pei mix - he's awesome, though dumb as dirt! but i love him!). (once daily.)

make his bed

pick up cars, trains, tracks

help with lunch prep

wash the dishes (he specifically requested this one, and really, who am i to argue? [see why i bred comment above]). (and let me explain this task: he's mostly washing plastic stuff, and the cutlery, minus sharp knives. i may be lazy... er, i mean, ready and willing to instill in my kids a good work ethic... but i do have enough sense not to hand him a butcher knife or china tea cup to wash.)

Asher (age 2)
tidy cars, trains and tracks

put plastic dishes, etc away

help with laundry (now let me explain this task: i take the clothes out of the washing machine one by one, and hand them to him. he puts them in the dryer. and later... i take the clothes out of the dryer one by one, and hand them to him. he puts them in the laundry basket. and we spend the whole time talking about colours, shapes, animals, favourites, etc etc etc)

so far, so good. i've already had to shoo the kids away from the sink b/c they had other jobs they needed to do more urgently than dishes. and they've been feeding the animals very well over the last couple days already. except bram, who seems to think that it's too much work to put more than 4 or 5 bits of food in charlie's dish, but he'll learn. lol

and this isn't to say i've delegated all the work to the kids. as you can imagine, i have a TON of stuff to do around here, including re-arranging the house, organizing the chaos, grocery stuff, cooking, washing pots and pans, laundry, and wishing i could afford a housekeeper. lol

i'll let you know how it all goes in a week (provided i can still find my laptop by then).

best. stew. ever.

2009-08-08T19:12:00.003-04:00

i made stew for supper tonight. yes, in august. i'm aware. but today is dreary and grey and wet and all-around late fall-ish.

and i was craving stew.

so i made some.

and let me tell you how. (normally, i wouldn't post a "recipe" for stew, since it's so basic. but i'm rather proud of myself for this, so i thought i would share my domestic genius with you. lol)

so, back in the day, probably, march-ish, i picked up a giant thing of stewing beef at the grocery store. and some freezer bags. (figured out where this is going? yes, i'm just that good! haha)

i came home and got to work. i divided up the beef into 3 or 4 freezer bags, about 2/3 full.

then i cut up a couple onions, and tossed them in.

then i grabbed some baby carrots (because i hate chopping veggies, and if God gives you a short-cut, i say take it!!) and tossed them into the bags.

and tossed the bags into the freezer.

so this afternoon, with my INSANE craving for stew (of all things!), i got out a covered bowl thing (the name escapes me at the moment), and went to work.

but gah! a problem! no potatoes! and you simply can't have stew without potatoes!! what's a girl to do?!

i'll tell you what a girl is to do... grab a bag of hashbrowns out of the freezer, and pour some into the bowl-thing. then put in the frozen stew-in-a-bag.

next, add a can of diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil. (see "when God gives you a shortcut" comment above.)

add some parsley, thyme and bay leaves.

dump on generous amounts of Worcestershire sauce. (mmm... liquid salt...)

add a bit of water.

cover, and toss into the oven (ok, place it in the oven. otherwise, if you toss it, the lid will likely come off and you'll end up with stew all over your oven, and i don't know about you, but the LAST thing i want to be doing on a saturday night is cleaning my oven) which should be preheated to (what did i randomly turn the nob to? i'm guessing here, folks, but i think it was somewhere around) 375 degrees F.

bake for a couple hours.

remove from oven. remove bay leaves.

and enjoy! :)

seriously. best. stew. ever.

The epic to do list for the week. And i do mean EPIC!!!

2009-08-03T12:19:00.002-04:00

Yeah, it's long. If you want to read it, go grab yourself a coffee, take a deep breath, and settle in somewhere comfy... LOL

Dishes
Laundry
Fold laundry
Put away laundry
Compostainer put away
Garbage can put away
Finish mowing front/side lawn
Mow back lawn
Organize craft cart
Clean up wood chips (throughout house, thanks to a dog who loves to eat wood... esterday, he found the kids' blocks. Yeah. Nice, eh? Ugh)
Tidy playroom
Clean floors
Clean bathroom
Buy kitty litter
Clean kitty litter
Make supper (Monday. Enchiladas.)
Toddler bed to Edwin
White chair to my room
Boxes, etc out of boys' room
Dressers to boys' room
Remove change table extension from asher's dresser
Take pic of my bed
Disassemble my bed
Assemble my new bed
Post my bed on freecycle
Corner cabinet to its new home
Book counselling appointment
Container for charlie's toys
Play rugs to playroom
Move TV to living room
Move crate to playroom
Replace curtain rod
Change curtain rod in blithe's room
Pull weeds (driveway, side, garden)
Separate and move hostas
Mortgage payment
Plan this week's menu
Sort/purge shoes
Blog re: self-esteem and standing up for myself
Pack kids' suitcases
Make pesto
Fix mirror in bathroom

That's right. 42 items. Fortunately, a friend of mine has graciously offered to help me, and he and i have come with a reward system to inspire us. One little reward for each item we cross off the list, and when the whole list is complete, one big reward. J hence, my FB status right now: "heather is looking forward to a day of housework and crossing things off a VERY long to do list. ;)" so don't feel too sorry for me. I'm inspired this week, and it will all get done. J

getting you all caught up (aka miscellaneous pics from the last few weeks)

2009-06-03T13:41:00.003-04:00

my girlie and me :)

the boys, out for a walk together

the newest addition to our family... Smokey Ribbons (she looks unimpressed here b/c i interrupted her bath for the pic. lol)

asher head-butted blithe in the mouth, and her (already very loose) fell out. is there anything cuter than a kid's toothless grin? i don't think so! :) she just looks so much more mature now. :)

now that asher can sleep in a normal bed, all three kids love to sleep together. and even with asher's feeding tube, they all get a good rest (once they stop playing and actually fall asleep, that is!)

wow, it's been a while!

2009-04-27T12:18:00.002-04:00

i can't believe how long it's been since i've posted here! my bad. :( ah, well... i'm making up for it with a couple sweet, sweet pics of my boys, playing in the nearly-empty sandbox in the backyard (you'll note all the sand around the sandbox, though *rolls eyes and laughs*)

i guess the reason i haven't posted recently is because there hasn't been much in the way of simplicity around here lately. lots of appointments and trips to emerg for asher, which has taken up a lot of my time and energy. but... he's starting to improve thanks to some wonderful old-man meds (beta-blockers, gotta love 'em! lol)... so... there is something resembling simplicity in our world again.

and that pleases me.

know what else pleases me? sunshine. and temps in the 20s. awesome!!!!! we just had lunch at the picnic table, and the second they were done eating, the boys practically dove into the sandbox!! it's so wonderful to finally be able to spend time outside... in fact, i'm typing this post outside right now! :)

how much do i love spring, eh?!

Coke Pork Chops

2009-03-26T11:53:00.002-04:00

1 cup ketchup
1 cup coke (or miscellaneous cola-type beverage, but we all know coke is best!)
2 tbsp brown sugar
8 pork chops
salt and pepper, to taste

1. preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. mix together ketchup, coke and brown sugar.
3. place pork chops in a baking pan, and cover with coke mixture, coating well. sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. bake for about one hour, depending on the thickness of the pork chop.

prep time: 10 mins
bake time: 1 hr

**this is also a good recipe for chicken. for chicken breasts, cooking time is approx. 40 mins for thick breasts.

i am SOOOOO making this for supper tonight!!! i'll update later with the verdict!

Super Easy Donuts

2009-03-18T17:36:00.003-04:00

Ingredients
2 Tbsp white vinegar
3/8 cup milk
2 tbsp shortening
½ cup white sugar
1 egg
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 quart oil for deep-frying
½ cup confectioner's sugar for dusting

Directions

Stir the vinegar into the milk, and let stand for a few minutes until thick.
In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well blended. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the sugar mixture alternating with the vinegar and milk. Roll dough out on a floured surface to 1/3 inch thick. Cut into donuts using a donut cutter. Let stand for about 10 minutes.
Heat the oil in a large deep skillet to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fry donuts in the hot oil until golden, turning over once. Drain on paper towels. Dust with confectioner's sugar while still warm, and serve immediately.

Review

"Super Easy Donuts"?! more like "Super Yummy Donuts"!!!!

Now granted, i'm not a baker. In fact, i ran into a minor glitch when i realized i don't even own a sifter! but i have one now, likely only to be used when making these donuts!!! They're yummy! Be warned, they're not like timmie's donuts. These are old-school, homemade donuts. So crispy and good..... sorry, started drooling there. Yeah. Yum yum yum yum yum yum yum. (and yes, staci, that's 7! Le wink) so, yeah. These are lovely.

One minor complaint though. I don't think they were very realistic when they said "serve immediately." To be honest, you're going to want to eat these all yourself. Make a separate batch to serve, and sneak the rest of the batch into your mouth before anyone notices!

We’re gonna give this a whirl, and see how it goes

2009-03-09T10:52:00.001-04:00

OK, so if you know me, you know that if there is one thing on this earth i hate, it's housework. I mean, really, blech. Can't stand it. I think the lack of a housework fairy was a grave oversight in creation. So, needless to say, if i had to choose something to do with my time, it would not be housework. And oh, look how! Every day i end up falling further and further behind in this area.

And i hate it.

So it's gonna stop.

Now.

But really, i hate it enough that i can't simply say, "oh, yes, i know i hate it, but i'll be uber-diligent from now on." I know you'd think i could do it, but really, i can't. And i'm not going to say how i know this about myself, but trust me, it's true. So here's what i'm gonna try. A schedule. Break up the housework by day, and then set aside a certain time in the day for it.

So, here we go:

Daily Routine

Kids to school at 8:45

"homeblessing"

pick up Bram/lunch

work while boys are napping

pick up Blithe/snack

homework

supper

dishes and tidying

bedtime

"me" time

Oh, i suppose i should have mentioned something. "Homeblessing" is what my dear friend Annie calls housework and chores. I like it. So i'm stealing it. Maybe it will help change my attitude about it if i call it something else. That's the theory, anyway. We'll see if it works.

Now, for the "homeblessing" time block: every day, i'm going to do one major task, and then of course the little things like sweeping, etc. My grandmother had a weekly "homeblessing" schedule, and it worked for her, so i'm giving it a whirl. Besides, if i have a day for laundry, i'll know the kids will always have clean underwear, and NO ONE wants to run out of clean underwear! lol

Weekly Routine

Monday: menu planning, groceries

Tuesday: cooking, baking (it happens... sometimes!)

Wednesday: laundry

Thursday: clean bedrooms, wash bedding and towels

Friday: bathroom/kitchen, floors, dusting

So, yeah, i'm gonna give this a whirl. But haha, you'll note that this morning, i'm blogging instead of menu planning and groceries! So i'm already off to a rip-roaring start! LOL but now i'm going to get to work on the menu, and take the boys shopping this afternoon.

Mexican Stuffed Shells

2009-02-23T19:50:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:
12-18 large pasta shells, cooked
1 lb lean ground beef
3 tbsp taco seasoning
1/2 cup water
1 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cup salsa, divided
1 cup grated cheese, divided
750 ml tomato sauce
chili powder
green onion (garnish)

Directions:
1. brown ground beef. drain.
2. add seasoning, water, onion, 1/2 cup salsa, 1/4 cup cheese.
3. mix together remaining salsa, tomato sauce, cheese.
4. spread thin layer of sauce in bottom of 9x12 baking pan.
5. fill each shell with ground beef mixture and place in pan.
6. pour remaining sauce on top. sprinkle on the rest of the cheese on top and garnish with green onion.
7. bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 mins (or in my kitchen, "until it's done.")
8. if desired, sprinkle additional cheese on top after baking and return to oven for 5 mins longer or until cheese melts.

Verdict:
YUMMU!!! this was really, really good. my mom can't handle spice, so i didn't use much chili powder, and instead of tomato sauce, i used crushed tomatoes and 2 big garlic cloves. and it was lovely!

breathe deeply. smell that? it's simplicity.

2009-02-17T20:20:00.003-05:00

this afternoon was beautiful. the sun was shining, the air was cool and crisp, and the snow was all gone.

ok, so the snow wasn't all gone, but the sidewalks were clear.

and really, as much as i love my tek, the day was far too perfect to drive. no, today was the perfect day for walking.

after a short nap, the boys and i put on our coats and shoes (no boots today!), and i put asher in the stroller. and then.......

we walked to pick up blithe from school.

yup, you read that right. we walked.

and it was the perfect day for it.

and we all loved it. :)

Ok, seriously, someone i know needs to make this..... and then give it to staci and me! teehee

2009-02-14T15:01:00.002-05:00

Inside-Out Turkey Bacon Cheeseburgers with Oven O-Rings

Ingredients

6 slices turkey bacon, chopped

1 tbsp EVOO (extra-virgin olive oil)

1 cup cornmeal

1 tsp smoked chipotle powder or 2 tsp chilli powder

All-purpose flour, for dredging, about 1 cup

1 ½ cups buttermilk

1 large sweet onion, sliced ½ inch thick and divided into rings

2 lbs ground turkey breast

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup spicy brown mustard

¾ cup shredded or crumbled sharp Cheddar cheese

½ head of redleaf or other lettuce, chopped

1 beefsteak tomato, sliced

4 kosher dill pickles, chopped

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Arrange the bacon in a large non-stick skillet and heat over medium heat. Slowly crisp up the bacon, cooking for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove the bacon from the skillet and, when cool, chop. Add the EVOO to the remaining drippings and set aside.
While the bacon is crisping, combine he cornmeal and chipotle powder in a shallow bowl. Set up two more shallow bowls, filling one with the flour and the other with the buttermilk. Dip the onion rings in the buttermilk, then dredge the rings in the flour, tossing them lightly in your hands to remove the excess. Dip them once again in the buttermilk, and finally coat them fully with the cornmeal mixture. Place the dredged rings on a cookie sheet and bake until crispy, 15 to 18 minutes.
While the onion rings are baking, place the ground turkey in a large mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper, and mix in the mustard. Divide the meat into 4 equal portions. Shape each portion into a burger, making a well in the center. Fill the well of each with one quarter of the crisp bacon pieces and 2 tbsp of the cheese. Carefully form the burger around the cheese and bacon filling, making sure the filling is completely covered. Return the skillet you cooked the bacon in to medium-high heat. Add the burger patties to the hot skillet and cook for 2 minutes on each side, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the burgers for 5 to 6 minutes longer, turning occasionally. Do not press down on the burgers as they cook.
Serve each burger on a bed of lettuce topped with sliced tomato, chopped pickles, and a few oven o-rings.

Serves 4

2009-02-09T18:46:00.004-05:00

so, we're setting the table for dinner tonight, and as i'm wiping the table, Bram is playing with his plate, tapping it on the table and making a lot of noise of it. i say, "bram, please stop that. thank-you."

bram says, "but don't you like it, mommy? it's my song that i wrote. it's called the plate song."

what do you say to that?! lol i kissed him on the forehead, and blogged it. :)

Incredibly Cheesy Turkey Meatloaf

2009-02-08T18:14:00.002-05:00

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hr 15 mins

Makes 8 servings

2 lbs ground turkey

I cup milk

I cup rolled oats

2 eggs

1 pkg ranch dressing mix

¾ lb cheddar cheese, cut into ½ inch cubes

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
In a bowl, mix the turkey, milk, oats, eggs, and ranch mix by hand. Fold the cheese cubes into the mixture. Transfer to a loaf pan.
Bake 1 hour in the preheated oven, to an internal temperature of 180 degrees F (85 degrees C).

This is in the oven right now, and mm-mmmm, does it ever smell good! J i'll update after we try it. My mom made it the other week, minus the ranch dressing mix. That's my little improv. But it works in the turkey burgers, so hey, why not in meatloaf, i figure. We shall see. Like i said, i'll update later tonight. Bon appétit!

UPDATE: this was AWESOME!!!!!!!! highly recommend it, give it a whirl. love it love it love it love it love it

Grilled Raspberry-Glazed Chicken

2009-01-29T14:31:00.002-05:00

1/2 cup raspberry jam
1 tbsp dijon mustard
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) raspberries

1. brush grill rack with vegetable oil. heat gas or charcoal grill. in small bowl, mix jam and mustard.
2. place chicken on grill. cover grill; cook over medium heat 15 - 20 minutes, brushing occasionally with jam mixture and turning once, until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut (170 degrees F). discard any remaining jam mixture.
3. serve chicken topped with raspberries.

prep time: 25 minutes
makes 6 servings

this (according to the book) goes nicely coleslaw and garlic bread. give it a whirl! :)

can you say, "SUPERBOWL PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

2009-01-23T18:34:00.002-05:00

Chili-Cheese Dip

Prep Time: 10 min
Total Time: 13 min
Makes: 32

What You Need
1 pkg. (250 g) PHILADELPHIA Brick Cream Cheese, softened
1 can (425 g) chili
1 cup KRAFT Tex Mex Shredded Cheese
1-1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup sliced green onions

Make It
SPREAD cream cheese onto bottom and up side of 9-inch microwaveable pie plate or quiche dish; top with chili and shredded cheese.
MICROWAVE on HIGH 3 min. or until dip is heated through and cheese is melted.
TOP with tomatoes and onions Serve with tortilla chips or Christie Crackers.

Kraft Kitchens Tips
Use Your Oven
Heat oven to 350°F. Assemble dip in ovenproof baking dish. Bake 20 to 25 min. or until dip is heated through and shredded cheese is melted. Serve as directed.

Special Extra
Mix 1 seeded and chopped fresh jalapeno pepper with chili before spreading over cream cheese.
Variation
Prepare as directed, using Philadelphia Light Brick Cream Cheese Spread and/or 1 can (16 oz.) refried beans for the chili.

or, check out the link. there's a picture there.
http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/chili-cheese-dip-112413.aspx?e=email

2008-12-27T23:01:00.000-05:00

Your results:
You are Iron Man

Iron Man		90%
Spider-Man		70%
Wonder Woman		65%
Supergirl		55%
Robin		50%
The Flash		50%
Green Lantern		50%
Catwoman		45%
Superman		40%
Batman		40%
Hulk		35%

Inventor. Businessman. Genius.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Feta-Stuffed Hamburgers

2008-12-19T14:35:00.002-05:00

Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
1. preheat outdoor grill to med heat, lightly oil grate.
2. knead together ground beef, worcestershire sauce, parsley, salt and pepper in a bowl. form mixture into 8 equal-sized balls; flatten to make thin patties. place about 1/4 cup of feta cheese onto each of four patties. make "patty sandwiches" (patty+feta+patty); press edges together to seal.
3. cook on preheated grill, 7-8 minutes per side for well done.

ah, bram. still the king of non-sequiturs

2008-12-18T22:05:00.003-05:00

me: Bram, you have the quietest spirit, and i think that is so beautiful.

bram: yes, and sometimes i crunch cookies. because cookies are sometimes crunchy, right, mommy?

Bram’s bedtime prayer

2008-11-16T21:36:00.002-05:00

Dear Jesus,

Thank-you for Mommy, Nana, Blithe and Asher.

Thank-you for making the world so different.

And thank-you that we get to meet the real Santa.

Amen.

this is heartwarming

2008-10-29T20:52:00.002-04:00

blithe had a hard time at school today. once we got home, she broke down and cried on the kitchen floor. i scooped her up and held her. her heart was broken, and it hurt.
i held her as she cried. then something wonderful happened. just typing this, i have tears in my eyes. (get a tissue, then come back and finish reading... got one? ok.)
asher came up to blithe, put his hand on her arm, and leaned over to hug her. he held her for a moment, then stood up and signed "sorry." it was breaking his heart to see his big sister so upset. then, he pointed and said "tin" ("train"), and looked back at blithe and said "glithe" ("blithe"), then pointed back at the train and said "tin" and back at blithe, "glithe." then he took her hand in his and led her over to the train, where he played with her.
with everything he's been through, he has learned compassion and mercy. what a special gift for all of us, to see this beauty in my boy. and tonight, what a special gift for blithe.
i don't care what any doctors tell me, asher has the biggest heart of anyone i know.

For Staci... and anyone else who wants to read this, really

2008-10-28T21:21:00.002-04:00

Yesterday i wrote about trying new things. Well, today, I practiced something "new-ish"... cooking for one. I don't have money right now to eat out (because, you know, I've been so wealthy in the past! Lol), otherwise i'd have gotten myself some sushi or A&W or a nice salad (quite a variety, no?). so, i looked in the fridge. I was originally going to have some carrot soup, but decided against it for some reason, i still don't know why. But... i did find eggs and a bunch of other goodies, so i threw something together...

An omelette!

Staci asked what was in it, and i know how much she likes my recipes, so here it is:

Ingredients:

2 eggs

Some milk

A couple mushrooms

Some ham

Some cheddar cheese, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Crack the eggs into a bowl, add some milk (this makes the eggs fluffy!), and salt and pepper. Beat.

Put a small frying pan on the stove. Turn on the stove to, say, medium-ish heat, and put some butter in the pan. Watch the butter melt, or grate the cheese. Whatever. It's up to you, i guess, what you do with your time.

Pour the egg mixture into the frying pan. I guess you could chop the mushrooms now. Whatever.

Once the eggs are looking almost done, add the rest of the ingredients. Watching cheese melt can be fun, so i'd recommend you do this now. (oh, the things i do to occupy myself when the kids are gone... oh, yeah, i'm just that cool. Lol)

When it's all done cooking, put it on your plate and enjoy!

There you go, stac, my super-dee-duper omelette recipe. Hope you like it! lol

Garlic and Ranch Turkey Burgers

2008-10-27T21:06:00.002-04:00

I've decided that I need to really work on expanding my dinnertime repertoire. I'd like to add some variety, instead of making my usual "go-to's" for supper. Frankly, I'm getting tired of the same things week after week. Not that I don't like my usuals, but really, one can only have pasta with alfredo sauce or lentil casserole so many times, you know. So, I've been making good use of the internet lately.

The other day, I received a lovely newsletter from the lovely people over at AllRecipes.com, inviting me to check out their newest recipes. One of these recipes was for, yup, you guessed it, Garlic and Ranch Turkey Burgers. The recipe looked pretty good, and very easy, so I decided to give it a whirl. And because you know I'm all about sharing the minutiae of my life on my blogs, here is the first recipe i tried. (i will be posting more recipes as i try them.)

Ingredients

1lb ground turkey

1 (1 oz) pkg ranch dressing mix

1 egg

3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

Seasoned salt, pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat outdoor grill for medium-high heat, and lightly oil grate.
Knead together the turkey, ranch mix, egg, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper in a bowl until evenly combined; divide into 4 equal portions and form into patties.
Cook on preheated grill about 5 min per side for well done.

Review

This was AWESOME!!!

If you haven't worked with ground turkey before, a warning: this recipe will look wet. Very wet. Don't worry; it all works out in the end. Just go with it. Also, I cooked my burgers on the stove instead of the grill (I was afraid the patties would fall through the grate. If you try yours on the BBQ, let me know how it worked for you). This recipe was delicious, and stupidly easy to make. I will definitely be adding it to my menu on a more regular (but not necessarily frequent) basis. And the turkey is nice, and certainly healthier than beef all the time. I dig it, and you will, too, I think.

Sorry there's no picture. We gobbled them (no pun intended... ok, it was intended, cheesy, I know) before I could snap a pic. But they're yummy, so try them. And take a picture. And share it with the rest of us, if you feel so inclined. J

Carrot soup... by me! :)

2008-10-24T20:25:00.003-04:00

i tried something new today... i have never made soup before. i've always wanted to, but i was afraid. ok, well, i'll be honest. i made soup once before... but, well, it didn't work out so well. that was years ago now, and it's taken me until today to try again.

well, after seeing all the wonderful produce i got at the farm this week, especially all the carrots, i was inspired. i LOVE autumn veggie soups. so, i thought i would try one out. and the reviews are in....

AWESOME!!!!!!

here's my (big) recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

14 carrots, sliced, diced, whatever. make sure the pieces are small enough, so they won't take so long to cook.

4 potatoes, cubed

1 sweet potato, cubed

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic (but i really like garlic. i don't think you'd need to put that much in if you didn't want to)

water (enough to cover plus a bit more. sorry, i didn't measure. i just poured the water in straight from the tap)

nutmeg

butter. i don't know, a couple tablespoons worth? sorry again, i should have said earlier, i never measure. anything. it's why i don't bake. but i digress...

DIRECTIONS

cut up the veggies and toss them in the pot.

pour in the water.

bring to a boil, then simmer on medium until the veggies are tender.

add the butter. stir it all up.

blend until smooth.

enjoy!

i liked this soup. and the "recipe" made quite a bit. i filled 2 1L jars, a 500ml jar, and a couple smaller jam jars (for myself, on days when the kids are with ed). i also got about half of another 1L jar, which we'll enjoy likely on sunday for lunch.

so, there you go. my first attempt at soup, and it's good! and so, i thought i would leave you with a fitting quotation this evening, since we're in a soup-y frame of mind at the moment:

Only the pure in heart can make a good soup.
- Ludwig von Beethoven

Hamburger Stew/Soup a la Annie Brown

2008-10-24T16:31:00.003-04:00

ok, i'm totally stealing this recipe from annie. mostly i'm just posting this here, because i'm at her house now, and i don't have anywhere to copy it at the moment, so here we go:

INGREDIENTS
1 lb ground beef
1 pkg taco seasoning mix
1 (10.75 oz) can condensed tomato soup
3-3/4 cups water
1 cup chopped onion
4 carrots, chopped
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 stalk celery, chopped (optional, thank God! nothing more disgusting than cooked celery)
1 (15 oz) can corn or peas

DIRECTIONS
1. in a large pot over medium heat, saute the ground beef. add the taco seasoning, soup, water, onions, carrots, potatoes, celery and beans. reduce heat to low. cover and simmer about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
2. just before serving, thicken with corn starch to more of a stew consistency.

now, here's those extra little tips that are never in recipes, but that you always get when you talk to the cook herself. so, here we go:

use frozen veggies, not canned. easier, healthier, yummier.
really, just add whatever veggies you have on hand. peppers, green beans, whatever you've got, throw it in.
brown the beef ahead of time, like when you bring it home. toss it in the crockpot all day, turning it over every couple hours. just toss it in on high; it's an all day thing, but if it makes things easier in the long run, i'm all for it. once it's done, toss it in some ziploc bags and freeze it. then when you go to make the stew, you just toss in the meat already browned. makes the whole process go faster.

there you go. i'm going to give it a whirl in the next few days, and i'll let you know how it turned out. although annie says her family loves it, so i'm guessing mine will like it, too, since her kids are pickier eaters than mine. :)

Fairmeadow Farm CSA

2008-10-21T17:46:00.004-04:00

i joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) today. every two weeks, i go to a farm outside of Sparta, and pick up vegetables. the top picture shows you the amounts i get of each of the vegetables.

i should tell you that there is still room at the farm, so if you're interested in getting lots of good organic vegetables, grown locally, it's still possible. in fact, you would get a double share next time.

i'm so excited. i think tomorrow i'm going to make carrot soup for the first time ever! yay!!!!

"First" day of school

2008-10-17T15:59:00.004-04:00

blithe and bram, after their first day at school.
bram, tired and a little shell-shocked after his first day at JK. he had a wonderful time, though at this point he was still somewhat overwhelmed by the whole experience.
bram made a friend who helped him at school.

what a day. i don't know quite how i feel about the whole thing. i'm glad they're enjoying it so much. blithe has informed me that i did, in fact, make the right decision, so i guess that helps. they are both really happy to be at school. bram has decided to learn to put on his own shoes by himself, because "that will make Mrs B- so happy." oh, yeah, it's already starting.

so, there you have it. their first day of school.

Oh, yeah, today was fantastic. Ugh.

2008-10-10T20:32:00.003-04:00

I got no sleep last night. Asher wasn't sleeping very soundly, and kept tossing and turning. Which meant that his tube kept kinking. Which meant that his feed couldn't go through. Which meant that his alarm kept going off. Which meant that i had to get up.

A lot.

The longest chunk of sleep i got was an hour and a half.

Yeah. Not cool.

Needless to say, i'm tired today.

I went for my second workout at Curves today. It was good, lots of fun. But afterward i was tired. And sweaty. Yuck.

Then i came home.

To my messy house.

And my rambunctious children (including my 3.5-year-old who didn't go to sleep till 11 last night. Yeah).

And a sandbox still full of water and tank engines (but no immunodeficient, medically fragile toddler today).

And my front steps still needing to be repaired.

You can see where this is heading, i'm sure.

This evening, my Facebook status says, "Heather is drained, exhausted and feeling like the world's worst mother." Wanna know why? Ok, here's the list:

I'm tired. So i'm cranky. I can't think of a single person today i didn't yell and/or snap at. Oh, yeah, i was at my most delightful today.
I registered my kids at the public school nearby today. They start there next week. There are several points to this one:
1. I feel like a failure, because i just couldn't do homeschooling. I want to. But right now, i just can't. I feel like i'm giving up. And i hate that.
2. The kids are excited about starting school. Which should be a good thing, right? I mean, i should be happy that they're rolling with this change so well. Except that i feel terrible, because i feel like they think i'm a bad teacher and they're glad i won't be teaching them anymore.
3. There are all kinds of viruses and bugs at public schools. Which blithe and bram will likely bring home. To my toddler with half a heart and no t-cells. So it puts asher at risk.
4. Homeschooling has always been my dream. I'm letting go of my dream.
5. I'm looking forward to time away from my kids. So i can finally get stuff done around the house. Like purging, organizing, painting, repairing, dusting, dishes, tidying, vacuuming, sweeping, laundry... do i really need to go on? The point is i'm happy that they'll be out of the house for the day. What kind of a mother does that make me?
6. I need them out of the house so that i can deal with lawyers and bank/mortgage people, as i divorce their father.
Last night i ordered a refill of one of asher's reflux meds. Lansoprazole. Yeah, it's still at shoppers. And all the kids are in bed. And i'm the only adult. So i can't go get it.
The house is a mess, but all i want to do right now is curl up on the couch with a case bottle glass of wine and a book.
For lunch today we had pizza pockets and Doritos, and for supper we had A&W.
On our walk tonight, i actually told the kids to stop using their imagination and talking about tank engines. But seriously, when blithe started talking about somehow getting Pinchy off of Diesel 10 with some weird trick that involves throwing sticks and yelling "Yeah! We got Pinchy!" in the street, honestly, i thought i was going to cry.
I've lost blithe's birth certificate. And mine, for that matter. But i needed hers to register her at school today. So now i have to drive to London to get our family doctor to fill out a form that says that yes, in fact, blithe was born, and then we can send her to school. Blithe, that is, not our family doctor. I'm pretty sure Tracy's done school.
The stuff from supper (which was, you'll remember, A&W) is still on the table. But blithe still had some chocolate milk left, and i just finished it off.

Ok, i think that's about it. Oh, no, wait, it isn't. Today blithe told me that when i yell at them, she gets scared and nervous and doesn't love me as much. And another time, she said she doesn't want to live with me anymore.

I know these days happen sometimes when you're tired and therefore overwhelmed. Most of these things would never bother me on a normal day. Well, except blithe's comments at the end there. On the other hand, on a normal day, i wouldn't yell at them, so that wouldn't have even come up. But really, it was an all-around horrible day around here.

But at least they're all asleep now. Or at least, asher is asleep and blithe and bram are quiet. So maybe i should just curl up in the corner under the covers on the couch and dream of someone to rescue me and take me away from this life drink myself into a stupor read a book.

2008-10-09T11:40:00.000-04:00

hi everyone,

i'm writing to let you know that edwin and i have now separated permanently and will be getting a divorce. this has been a long, painful and sorrowful journey for each of us, but in the end, we are parting amicably and peacefully.

we still care for each other deeply, and will be supportive to each other for the rest of our lives. we continue to be best of friends. but we also now realize that we make better friends than spouses.

in all of this, the children are doing well.there is now, at long last, peace between us, and this will help the children.

i really appreciate your prayers and support during this difficult time, and would ask that you continue to pray for us, as the road ahead during the next while will be stressful for all of us.

thank-you so much for your understanding. if you wish to talk, please feel free to contact me.

heather

Bram, the King of Non-Sequiturs

2008-10-05T15:45:00.004-04:00

bram and i were cuddling a bit at the park this afternoon. we were chatting.

me: you sure love to cuddle, don't you?

bram: yes, and i have skin.

ok. whatever.

crockpot chicken wings

2008-09-29T09:32:00.003-04:00

ok, someone asked about this, so here are the uber-easy instructions for crockpot chicken wings.

buy plain ol' chicken wings at the grocery store. not in the freezer section. go where you would grab chicken breasts, pork chops, ground beef and sausage. the chicken wings should be with the chicken. makes sense. anyhoo...

pay for the wings. i don't want to be held responsible for oodles of people stealing chicken wings. that's just madness. so pay for the wings.

take them home. i'm sure they wouldn't appreciate you setting up a crockpot in the middle of the store.

if you want, spray a bit of cooking spray inside the pot, but you don't have to. i forgot to once, and the wings turned out fine.

dump in the wings.

dump in the sauce. again, i recommend the Diana chicken n' rib sauce, though i'm sure just about any BBQ sauce will do. it's a matter of taste. i prefer Diana, though.

cook the wings on high for about 6 hours. this gets them good and cooked. and when you go to eat them, the meat will be just falling off the bones and melting in your mouth.

there's my "secret" recipe for crockpot wings. i stole it off the "A Year of Crockpotting" blog (the link is on the sidebar). enjoy!

mmm... wings... this is why i can't go veg!

2008-09-28T19:28:00.005-04:00

i made chicken wings for supper tonight. i'd post a picture of them, but they're just a pile of bones now, having been devoured by a ravenous hoard of young and old. that's right, they were DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! mmmm... chicken.... {drooling like homer simpson}

i put some parchment paper in a pan (haha! makes clean-up so easy - just crumple up the paper and toss it out! God bless whoever invented parchment paper!). i dumped in some raw chicken wings that i picked up at No Frills. then i drizzled them generously (read: obscenely) with sauce. the stuff pictured above. then i tossed them in the oven to bake at 425F for the next hour or so (i don't do recipes, i don't do clocks. i cook it till it looks right. that's what i do, and it works for me. when i time stuff, it doesn't work for some reason. don't ask; i don't understand, either.)

i have tried doing wings in the crockpot, and they're lovely, too. when you cook them slowly all day, the meat just falls off the bone and they're a messy, meaty dream. but i've never used this sauce before. i think it's the sauce that makes all the difference. delish!

they turned out fantastically. and i mean that literally. if you could imagine your ideal chicken wings, this is them. yup, straight out of a beautiful, drool-y, carnivorous fantasy, they are! anyhoo, give them a whirl... you'll drool, too, i promise! :)

meet Sally

2008-09-27T13:50:00.006-04:00

this is Sally, the newest member of our household. isn't she lovely? blithe found "her" at Springbank Park the other day and she just had to bring her home.

i'll admit, for a while there i didn't think Sally was even "with us" anymore, but then it occured to me that we hadn't given her anything to eat, so the night before last, i dropped two spinach leaves in there. by morning, there was only part of one leaf left. so, spinach it is. and actually, one of the most fascinating parts of the day is sitting and watching her eat (which would leave me unable to actually eat, if i had several people just sitting and watching me eat. but i have issues. obviously, sally is a little more well-adjusted than i am. lol)

i'm using this as an on-going science lesson for the kids. they're absolutely loving this caterpillar! they're both enjoying watching her eat and move around and sleep and... well, actually, that's about all she does. so far, there's no coccoon or anything. just a lot less spinach in my house. ;) but if anything develops, you know i'll post.

My Simple Life

muffin recipe!!!

you mean you can MAKE granola bars?!

best. bread. ever.

best. wreck. ever!!!!!!!

DIY haircuts... unless they're "not" DIY

SNOW CREAM!!!!!!!

i asked God for a ministry. i told Him i want to make a difference in people's lives...

getting myself un-dis-organized

i'm making up another soup "recipe" :)

perfect imperfection

it's amazing what you find in your kitchen in seven minutes...

well, i don't know about yours, but our christmas was... wow.

surprise, surprise, i've taken up a new hobby

snow day = kitchen day!!

SNOW DAY!!!!!!

ok, maybe winter isn't so bad. (wait! who wrote that???)

best. product. ever.

birthdays!!!!

my very long to-do list for tomorrow

by popular request...

mmm... mini chocolate bars...

"simple"? maybe not. but definitely healthier.

mmm... slow cooker...

jealous? you should be.

cool websites for home decor, pretty much custom and DIY designs

kittens!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the only thing better than chocolate treats... is homemade chocolate treats.

well, the kidley-winks are back at school...

no... words... it's just... so... beautiful!! {drools all over keyboard}

wha-?! asher on My Simple Life?! yes. and it's all just so very normal.

chocolate salami?? WHA-?!?!

KITTENS!!!!!!!!

MasterChef. what can i say? i love Gordon Ramsay. part deux

MasterChef. what can i say? i love Gordon Ramsay

who knew saturday morning shows could be so educational??

upswing + a few extra bucks + bulk barn = FALAFELS!!!!

yes, i'm a pescavore. (which is my way of saying "i like fish" but all smart-sounding.)

lentils. yes, again. but they're good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

fish. it's what's for dinner. again.

fish. it's what's for dinner.

oh. my. goodness. i'd forgotten just how much i love planning and list-making!!

apparently, i'm the "awesomest mommy EVER!"

Chocolate French Toast. yes, it's just as awesome as it sounds.

because i *clearly* don't have enough going on... ;)

Lentil Soup

We Heart Recipes

My Mother's Day gifts from Blithe and Bram

ah, it's so lovely being home :)

i don't know if this is crazy... or the most brilliant thing i have ever heard!!!

Creamy Pasta Sauce (fat-free)

so glad i procrastinated this afternoon...

SOS Cuisine

mmm... lentils...

trying out a new recipe

when you're poor, you gotta do watcha gotta do... sigh...

ah, wendy, how i love thee...

the granola bars that turned into muffins LOL

Carrot Sweet Potato Soup

French Wheat Bread (for the breadmaker)

holy jungle fever, batman! those herbs are HUGE!!!!!

know what i love?

annie's fabulous homemade granola bars

and if you listen carefully, you'll hear annie weeping ;)

look what i just found!

i think i can, i think i can, i think i can, i think i can

ah, the green life... i love it... when it's not scary. and you weren't there, so don't judge me!!!!!

Canada Day (ok, i know, it's late, but i just found these pics)

chores, chores, chores

best. stew. ever.

The epic to do list for the week. And i do mean EPIC!!!

getting you all caught up (aka miscellaneous pics from the last few weeks)

wow, it's been a while!

Coke Pork Chops

Super Easy Donuts

We’re gonna give this a whirl, and see how it goes

Mexican Stuffed Shells

breathe deeply. smell that? it's simplicity.

Ok, seriously, someone i know needs to make this..... and then give it to staci and me! teehee

Incredibly Cheesy Turkey Meatloaf

because i clearly don't have enough going on... ;)