Love, Friendship and the Pursuit of Happiness

Through thick and thin- upheavals in relationships, careers, homes and hair colour - my Guelph Girls and I have made it a point to continue onward and upward and stay true to our tradition of our yearly holiday reunion. This year's marvelous post holiday event was hosted by our marvelous hostess with the mostess and highest hair- Robin. A beautiful lunch, a warm home and welcoming long and enduring friendship!

Suzanne, me and Robin- posing for our traditional girlfriend picture... boy, how we've changed in the 20 odd years we've know each other... for the best of course!

This is how you do it... Patrick (Suzanne's husband) knows - some Stella, some nuts a big globe of water.

Suzanne really love her wine,- pictured here, so does that mean that I love wooden houses, my daughter loves Liberace Candelabras and her daughter firetrucks??

Fantastic Mom and son cooking preparation, he is so intrigued by it all and asks so many questions. It's just wonderful to see their awesome relationship.

Closeup of the Kung Pao Chicken Robin made. It was delicious! But just don't give her son any of the 'green things'!

Served over some shrimp fried rice...  delicious combination.

 

 Cheers to the hostess! Delicious lunch!

Now onto my little treats- some chocolate drizzled fruit skewers...

Some home baked and somewhat healthier versions of holiday baking- add dark chocolate, walnuts, ginger, cranberries, whole wheat flour... that's help boost the nutrition.

 Ok, with the meal out of the way...that's when the silliness starts... when asking the men to pose...

 ...the children to pose...

 ...and the Guelph Girls to pose... so much laughter, couldn't keep a straight face.

Then comes the traditional, let's only get presents for the kids- and we never do... always a little something for my Guelph Girls... So I wonder how the Monster Truck is fairing now, demolished any furniture, toes or cats yet Robin?

Suzanne's family really hit the nail on the head with this present for Melanie. A Sephora Mascara Gift -The Lash Stash- she couldn't believe it- another Sephora dream come true!

 

Fantastic day, fun memories, another one for the book and onto planning next year's expedition to the big white North or Angus as others know it!  Can't wait...

 

Love you beautiful, driven, passionate and ever-evolving Guelph Girls!

Amazing Chicken and Veggie Stirfry

When it's soooooo cold you just can't stand it anymore (like 18 days in a row of -30 C windshield factor), you need to turn to things in life that can give you warmth, like looking at old summer vacation photos, putting on your biggest sweater and socks and drinking lots of tea, sweating your head off doing a Zumba class.... or what I like to do- preparing a warm South Asian spicy Chicken and Veggie stirfry for you family!

So here's the colourful close-up. Don't you love the colours? Ya, you eat with your eyes!

I decided to combine some of the best flavours from other recipes that I have tried and loved. A mixture of chicken stock, soya sauce, hoisin sauce, sriracha, honey and a bit of sesame oil. Mostly chicken broth and then hits of all the others, to your taste. To make it a bit thicker, you can add a teaspoon of cornstarch to your mixture.

Because of the sesame oil, I thought I would amp up the taste and crunch factor by using some sesame seeds to top the dish. But you can't just put them on top, right out of the bag... oh no....

You need to lightly toast them in a pan. Turn it to medium-high and don't walk away.

Keep on stirring until they become this golden, nutty brown.

Next... put a bit of canola oil in your pan and cook your chicken then take it out of your pan to a plate.

Use tons and tons of veggies, stirfrying your thicker veggies first- my greens beans and carrots.

...then add your 'medium' hard veggies, like these colourful peppers.

...then your quick cooking softer veggies, cut up baby bokchoi. Then add the chicken and your prepared sauce and let the flavours all work together - about 3-5 minutes.

Ta-da! Here you have a warm and healthy stirfry (over basmati or whatever you like) sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds and ready to be devoured by your hungry family!

Banana Cranberry Whole-Grain Breakfast Muffins

On my quest for the perfect breakfast on the go (that' not a smoothie)- I present to you this really moist and super delicious - MY FAVOURITE- Morning Muffin!

I found the recipe on line, an episode of the Marilyn Dennis show. Funny though, I never took Kate Gosselin as a muffin maker!

Banana Cranberry Whole-Grain Breakfast Muffins
(adapted from http://www.marilyn.ca/Celebrities/segment/Daily/October2013/10_01_2013/KateGosselin2)


This recipe notes that it makes 10 – 12 muffins - but that's a lie, it makes 24 good size muffins!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups ripe mashed bananas
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup quick-cooking oats
• ¼ cup ground flaxseed meal
• ½ cup wheat germ
• 3 eggs
• ½ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• ½ cup canola oil
• ¾ cup dried cranberries
• 2 tablespoons crushed pecans

Instructions:

Preheat often to 350 degrees

Grease muffin tin with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, combine the bananas, flour, oats, flaxseed meal, wheat germ, eggs, maple syrup, baking powder, baking soda, salt, vanilla, cinnamon, and oil. Mix well using a hand mixer. Once mixed, stir the cranberries into the batter by hand.

Measure and pour about ½ cup batter for each muffin into prepared muffin pan. Top each muffin with about ½ teaspoon of crushed pecans.

Bake for 25 – 28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 1 to 2 minutes before removing.

 This muffin is loaded with good for you ingredients... including 10 smashed bananas!

The addition on chopped pecans on top makes for a nice added texture in your morning muffin.

Can you see the moistness??? Chunks of banana and cranberries... try them, you won't be disappointed.

Delicious Homemade Meaty Spaghetti Sauce

I have asked many friends and family for their homemade spaghetti sauce and tested quite a few. Some good, some.... not so good. 

Well, I am pleased to let you know that I believe I have found the one!

This delicious sauce is full delicious, easy to find ingredients and it freezes amazingly! I doubled it and froze half.

Spaghetti Sauce with Ground Beef

(adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spaghetti-Sauce-with-Ground-Beef/)
 

Ingredients:

·         1 pound ground beef
·         1 onion, chopped
·         4 cloves garlic, minced
·         1 small green bell pepper, diced
·         1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
·         1 (16 ounce) can tomato sauce
·         1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
·         2 teaspoons dried oregano
·         2 teaspoons dried basil
·         1 teaspoon salt
·         1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Combine ground beef, onion, garlic, and green pepper in a large saucepan. Cook and stir until meat is brown and vegetables are tender. Drain grease.

Stir diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste into the pan. Season with oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Simmer spaghetti sauce for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Amazing Adventure- How to enjoy this Winter Wonderland!

That's right, winter isn't all bad!

You just need to dress properly when you do venture out on your Amazing Adventures. Just look at my daughter... in her penguin hat and neon-green shades!

...and me, her mom with her matching scarf and hat ensemble!

 

...and lots of hugs... and an arm to grab onto so that you don't fall down the big hills.

being cute and careful on the snow-covered bridge...

 ...some trick photography- no that's not a drop of water- it's an icicle, frozen in time dripping into Melanie's mitten.

Gorgeous trees, covered in ice, but still shining with their bright red tips.

Some advanced photography skills here... look at the sharply frozen drips from this branch.

Gorgeous scene.

Flowing Credit River, wild with little rapids, we even saw ducks paddling through. Brave little birds!

Juicy Crockpot Chicken Thighs

I've shown you this picture because of the pomegranates, but perhaps you were wondering about that luscious looking chicken in the back.... well thanks to my foodie friend Iain, who shared this recipe with me, I will now divulge my secrets.

The best thing about this is that you can use thighs with skin and bones, which are 10 times cheaper then the boneless skinless type. All you do before is remove the skin, and remove the bones after cooking.

So here's the Crockpot recipe... perfect for lazy, cold, winter days!

Crockpot Honey Garlic Chicken Thighs

(adapted from http://crockpot365.blogspot.ca/2011/09)

Ingredients:

 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs 

 3 garlic cloves, smashed and chopped

 1 teaspoon dried basil

 1/2 cup  soy sauce

 1/2 cup ketchup

 1/3 cup honey

Directions:

Put the chicken into your cooker. In a small bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients, then pour evenly over the top.
Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3-4

Here's the gorgeous chicken for you.

Then, be careful to remove all bones and shred the chicken so it absorbs the juicy liquid. Even better the next day as leftovers.

 

Hearty Healthy Mac and Cheese

Trying to make old favourites healthier is a little goal of mine. So I wanted to share this recipe for a healthier version of Mac and Cheese.

So here's the recipe.

Hearty and Healthy Mac and Cheese
 ( adapted from http://www.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/pasta/hearty-healthy-mac-and-cheese.html?p=9)

8 oz low fat cottage cheese
2 c  low fat sharp cheddar cheese
1 small  onion
3 clove  garlic
1 c  low fat milk
1 pkg  whole grain macaroni
1 Tbsp  garlic salt
3 Tbsp  paprika
1 Tbsp  spicy brown mustard

Directions

Prepare macaroni until "al dente." I boiled mine for about 5 minutes and it was good to go. Drain and set aside.

Process milk, onion, garlic, cottage cheese, cheddar cheese, mustard, paprika, and garlic salt in blender until smooth. Stir macaroni and cheese mixture until well combined.

Here's what it looked like...

But I blanched some broccoli and I was going to add it the pasta to kick up the nutrition value.

 

They say to pour macaroni mixture into greased baking pan and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes until top is golden brown and insides are bubbly, but I decided to do little individual portions, some with and without broccoli.

.... and ta da! Here you have pretty little portions in the cutest little pots and a large one for leftovers.  Enjoy!

 

Dr. Oz Whey Protein Powder Muffins

I wanted to get a lot more protein in my morning muffins... so I did some web searching and found this recipe.
I am a big fan of Dr. Oz, so I decided to try these... they taste a lot like their Whey Protein ingredient, so you need to like the taste to enjoy them. To 'mask' the taste for my daughter and even more protein for both of us, we just added some peanut butter and warmed them up in the morning and they were delicious served that way.

Super Protein Muffins from Doctor Oz

Ingredients
3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 tbsp ground flaxseed
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp Stevia
1/2 cup low-fat plain yogurt

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease 12-cup muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, mix together the oats, flour, flax seeds, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In another bowl, blend together the rest of the ingredients. Quickly incorporate the dry and wet mixtures and distribute into the prepared muffin tin.

Bake for 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.(mine burned a little bit, so watch the time)

Muffins are about 200 calories and contain 15 grams of protein. Pretty good, I'd say!

Family Love

Sharing my love for my family and crafts. A Pinterest inspired installation. Just love how it turned out! Thanks to Brent and Melanie for their help and inspiration!

 

 

 

 

A Little Grain Storage Solution

This, my friends, is another organized living solution that I wanted to share with you. With the new year comes new beginnings. So keeping things organized is what I love to do!

Here's what you need to do. Head to your favourite Dollarama- they have really great deals on storage solutions. These large class cylinders are only $2 each. Then grab your grains, fill your containers.... but wait.....

If you don't have the bags, how long do you cook stuff for, right??? So what you do then is write the directions on a little piece of paper that you tape inside the lid... oh, my Dad would be so proud.... he loves this stuff.

Here's a close up on some of these great grains- thanks Brent for finding neat stuff at Costco. This nice product called Sprouted Rice and Quinoa is amazing for you!

Red is the new Black!

That's right, I am back in love with Red... Red food that is. (and my new red hot air popper). Red foods are just so good for you- red peppers, berries, tomatoes... and yes... I am back to the delightfully amazingly nutritious pomegranate!

I thought I would share with you a healthy alternative to some of the 'too sweet and fat laden' apple crisps out there... Yes, I am talking to you Jamie Oliver- your Apple Cranberry crisp at Sobey's was really delicious but everyone in my family thought it was way too sweet. OMG, what a proud moment for a mom/wife when her family recognizes that something is 'unhealthy'.

 Here are my seeded and drained pomegranates.

Next, peel, core and chop 4 apples, toss them with the juice of half a lemon, a tsp of cinnamon and a tsp of brown sugar. Scoop the apples into 3-4 individual ramekins.  Sprinkles with about 1 Tbsp of pomegranates.

For the topping, I use the 1/3 cup rule. So 1/3 cup of flour, brown sugar and melted butter. Mix that to about 3/4 cup of oatmeal. Add a tsp of cinnamon and a dash of salt.  Mix it all together and sprinkle on top of your ramekins with some chopped pecans and more pomegranates.

Pop them in a 375 degree oven for about 20-30 minutes, depending on how soft you like your baked apples! Amazing desert to share with the ones you love- Happy New Year!