Blogging from my iPhone

I’m pretty excited that with our latest upgrade I’m able to know fully access my blog in a mobile-friendly environment.

Previously we could update via the browser but it was a little more cumbersome to access the dashboard from Safari on the iPhone.

Something I’m also finding handy when I’m out is capturing recipes I come across in magazines. One of my pet peeves when I’m in a waiting room is finding a magazine with a torn out recipe! The majority of magazine in waiting rooms around here are older issues and you can’t just go out easily and buy another copy.

This year the C-Man’s school has started a new initiative to promote literacy. In the school lobby they have set up a magazine rack for parents to read while they’re waiting to pick up the kids at lunch and after school. A couple of weeks ago I spotted some yummy looking recipes and knowing I wouldn’t have time to type them out I captured photos of them instead!

I actually had all of the ingredients for this dish minus the fresh basil and called my wonderful husband to pick some up at the City Market on his way home from lunch.

It turned out fabulous!

I served it with some fettuccine with cracked pepper and some grated Parmesan.

Chocolate Bran Zucchini & Banana Muffins

Well this is not what the recipe initially started out as but a mix up reading the amount of butter milk needed started this recipe experiment. I must say I’m getting much more adventurous in the kitchen. I substitute lots of main dish ingredients for dinners, but I always thought when it came to baking you must follow the recipe to a “T”. I’m happy to report that my simple mistake ended in a delicious outcome!

I ended up adding twice the amount of buttermilk and normally would have just doubled the recipe to fix this error, but I didn’t have any more zucchini so had to think quick. I did however have a ripe banana thinking it would be able to absorb up some of the extra liquid from the buttermilk but it wasn’t quite enough so I added about 2/3 cup of all-bran as I know it goes well with banana and well, who couldn’t use a little more bran in their diet? So here is the final recipe with my modifications:

1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup oil
3 eggs beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup buttermilk (or sour milk)
2/3 cup of all bran
2 1/2 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
4 big tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
3 cup grated zucchini
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Using large bowl cream together sugars, butter and oil. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and buttermilk. Add all bran and ripe banana, mix well. Sift in dry ingredients. Add zucchini and chocolate chips last and pour into greased muffin pan. Bake at 325 for 22-25 min

Summer Meal Planning…HELP!

Last night as I was slaving over a hot steamy stove and oven making spaghetti and garlic cheese bread, I got thinking that I need to plan my meals according to the weather. So how do you meal plan in summer? Do you sit with the weather forecast in one hand, the sales flyers in another while juggling your kids’ evening sports schedule? Or do you have a better system for the dog days of summer?

Another challenge is the location of my eat-in kitchen/dining room. Around dinner time, my kitchen is like a sauna as this is the time of day that this side of the house gets the most sunlight and this side of the house has the most windows- a large 3 pane bay window, a window in the backdoor and another window over the kitchen sink. So on a warm day combined with all of these factors it can make dinnertime a challenge.

I know using my slow cooker would solve a lot of my woes and I tend to try and fit in at least one or more slow cooker recipes into my plan, but sometimes by the time dinner rolls around no one ‘feels like’ having what was prepared due to the weather or the kitchen temperature or because we need to rush to get out the door to baseball.

So my question is to all of you great meal planning parents out there- How do you tweak your meal plan for busy summers?

Food Revolution Week 1

Our Food Revolution began last Sunday and I’m happy to say it’s been going better than expected! I knew L-man would be the challenging one in the house. He was a great eater as a baby and toddler then suddenly became extremely picky. He was even pickier than I was as a kid and that says a lot! Sunday night I made a homemade spaghetti bake. It was basically spaghetti with meat sauce, some added Parmesan cheese , 2 eggs, a layer of cottage cheese all added to a 9 x 13 baking dish topped with mozzarella and baked for about 20 minutes. L- man likes pasta and eats canned pasta like zoodles so I tried to get him to give this a try. He wouldn’t even try a bite!  The little two really enjoyed it, but he was not going to try it at all!  Dad put us foot down and said we weren’t going to make a separate meal for hm and we went on with our evening.  We watched episode 1 of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution and it was like a lightbulb went off after the show. I asked him if he’d like me to heat up his food and he actually ate it! Finally progress!

I think I may also have the boys off of chicken nuggets!  They were grossed out by how they were made and then next night I made some homemade popcorn chicken and corn on the cob and they loved it! I explained that the chicken I made was real breast meat and not the leftover bits and they were asking for more!

The next night we watched another episode and again the kids were eager to try things out! This time it was a stir fry with fresh veggies. The boys helped me chop up broccoli, yellow sweet pepper, Carrots, onions and garlic. We stir fried it all with chicken and some broth and served it over rice noodles! A huge hit, even L-man got into the action with wanting to stir the dish. We hit a little road bump on Wednesday, our littlest had surgery that morning and I was exhausted by supper so I knew we would have to do take out. Fast food would have been easy but with the progress we had been making I knew this would be one step back. I opted for pre-cooked rotisserie chicken instead.  I prefer to make mine in the slowcooker, Memphis Style but time was not on my side, so I ordered a few side dishes ( mixed veggies and baked potatoes) and  it wasn’t too a horrible meal! There was a little bit left over so I was able to make some lunch the next day with the chicken and made wholewheat chicken quesadillas and the boys requested some pizza, so instead I made pizza quesadillas and baked them in the oven.  They were a huge hit!

I hope week two goes as smoothly. I’m planning on making the meal plan together with the kids this week to see if can get them to try even more foods this week!

The Great CPO Recipe Exchange

Just before Christmas one of CPO’s Moderators Lilmissie suggested having a  recipe exchange amongst us. CPO has some fabulous recipes, but it would be nice to have a hard copy of the recipe instead of having to print it out to take to the kitchen.

The rules were simple, print out 5 of your family’s favourite recipes and send them out to participants.  In total we had 16 (15 plus myself) moderators participate so that meant we would get 75 new recipes to try! Everything from Meatballs to Marshmallowless Rice Crispy Squares and some family heirloom recipes, some even had funny little stories to go along with them.It’s been so fun getting mail over the past few weeks!

So if you’ve been less than creative in the kitchen as of late, why not put the idea out to some friends and do your own recipe exchange, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!

Gotta have a plan!

Meal plan that is!

Lately I’ve been procrastinating and one thing that’s been suffering is my lack of meal plan. Each week I try and sit down with the grocery store flyers in hand and make up the week’s meal plan taking advantage of items that are on sale. I try and make up a plan to cover 5 nights and tend to wing it on the weekends. Last week I didn’t make a meal plan and everyday at 4:45pm found myself staring aimlessly into the cupboards, fridge and freezer trying to figure out what to make. Two nights I resorted to take out -luckily it was very inexpensive as I took advantage of some coupons and deals that were on but it’s something I want to stop doing. Not only can it be pricey, but it’s unhealthy too!

My pantry, freezer and shelves are not bare, but I can’t seem to pull it together last minute. My friend and co-worker Helen and I were discussing this last week and she mentioned she was going to do up and emergency meal box- maybe some pasta and a jar of sauce with some frozen meatballs in the freezer, so on these chaotic days when the meal plan is not working out then you’ll have something you know is there.

Tomorrow I’m going to roast a turkey in the morning and try and plan some meals for the rest of the week around that. I know there’s some great leftover turkey recipes in the Main Dishes section of Canada Cooks that I’d like to try out.  Wish me luck as I foresee this as another busy week for me!

Remembrance Day- A Family Tradition

 

Remembrance Day has evolved into much more than wearing poppies and a moment of silence in my house, it’s become a day to remember family members who are no longer with us and cherish those who still are.
This family tradition started long before I met my husband Andrew and his family. Andrew’s maternal grandfather Charles, who served nine years as a trooper in WWII with the Princess Louise Dragoon Guard, had passed away on October 30th, 1988. Every year he had marched with the veterans in our local Remembrance Day ceremony. It was decided that since he was no longer able to be there physically, the family would all attend the ceremony and get together afterwards to visit his grave and have some soup. Twenty-one years later, this tradition still continues.

 

I first experienced the Annual McCormick Remembrance Day festivities in November 2003. (Although I had been in the family since 2002, our son Liam was born on November 9, 2002 and we weren’t released from the hospital in time to make it.) It has since become one of my favourite family traditions. A way to remember fallen heroes, lost loved ones and appreciate the extended family that you may not get to see as often as you’d like in these busy times.

Andrew’s uncle Ralph McCormick usually says a few words and then we all recite the poem, In Flanders Fields in English (and occasionally my daughter Mackenzie will say it in French). We then all attend the local Remembrance Day ceremony and meet up at a central spot to travel together by car (there’s normally six to seven car loads). Along the route we make stops for family members to pay respects to loved ones at different graveyards. Our last stop is at Andrew’s grandparents’ where we remove our poppies and place them on the memorial wreath.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow   
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 – 1918)

After being outdoors in the chill of November we all return to Andrew’s aunt and uncle’s home (Judy and Gary Lockhart) for hot soup compliments of all of the family matriarchs, although the past few years I have been bringing my Buttercup Squash Soup by request! It’s such an honour to be included in this family event, one that I hope will continue on for many years to come!

Be sure to visit The Memory Project- Stories of the Second World War  where you’ll find the incredible stories of service and sacrifice which are currently being collected and archived by The Memory Project.

Back to School = Back to Slow Cooking

I’m looking forward to getting everyone back into a scheduled routine this week including my night owl husband!  We’ve had a pretty laid back summer and did fairly well getting out the door on time but there was a few days of sleeping in that can’t happen once school starts.

My plan this week is to make a few meals in the slow cooker and also have a Friday Family Fun Night with a themed meal. . Ironically on my way home from Toronto one of my husbands friends who works for Jarden in Florida (the maker of Crockpots) asked me to check out their new Crockpot iPhone App, it’s still in the soft-launch process, but I’ll be sure to report back on my findings after playing with it for a few weeks.

This weeks menu:

Slow Cooker Lasagna- this was a big hit with the Slow Cooker Club and I actually didn’t end up testing this one out yet. I made a couple of substitutions as I was too cheap to by ricotta, so I went for Cottage Cheese instead.  Can’t wait to try it!

Slow Cooked Prime Rib Soup- This is a specialty of mine.  I don’t really have a recipe, I just whip it together and it’s always delicious.  I use the leftover meat and bones from a Prime Rib Roast as the base, but first I sauté the veggies (potatoes, turnip carrots, onions and celery if I have it) in some butter and salt and pepper then I add the Prime Rib and bones and let it slow cook all day with a little thyme for seasoning.

Home Made Pizzas- I’ve posted my Pizza Dough Recipe before a couple of years ago, it’s super easy to make and is so tasty. I think I’ll also make some mini pizzas for the boys lunches as well, now that they’ll be coming home for lunch (this should be interesting)! Mackenzie really likes Donair Pizza, so I’ll do one of those, mini-pepperoni for the boys and BBQ Chicken for Andrew and I.

Seafood Chowder- This is my Christmas Eve staple, but I generally make it every couple of months.  I noticed Fresh Haddock was on sale this week, and I have some frozen lobster already to add to it.  I really like the Sobeys Chowder Mix as they don’t add Salmon to it, I’m not a big fan of Salmon.  Perhaps I’ll make some fresh bread to go with it, Helen has been experimenting with some breads on her blog so I should go check it out!

I’m going to do a separate entry for my Friday Family Fun Night, can’t wait!

Thai Shepherd's Pie

During our testing  for CPO’s Slow Cooker Club I decided to make the Mother Hubbard’s Favourite Shepherds Pie recipe.  We really enjoyed it, although I kept thinking that I could modify the recipe a bit to create a similar dish with a Thai flare.

In Mother Hubbards pie it’s got a ground Chicken base with a few spices, tomato paste, corn then topped with a Squash Puree.  I kept thinking that it would taste good with a yellow Thai curry paste instead of the tomato paste.

My first step was to start getting the squash and sweet potato topping prepared .  I took one med buttercup squash,  sliced it down the centre, removed the seeds and placed it face down in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes.  I then steamed 2 medium size sweet potatoes.

Last week while out shopping at Sobey’s I noticed a small jar of Yellow Thai curry paste made by Thai Kitchen in the international foods aisle.

I took about 2 tablespoons of the curry paste and mixed it with half of a can of coconut milk.  Once the ground chicken had been sauted I added the paste mixture to it. Next a added a couple of pinches of ginger over the top then added 1.5 cups of corn niblets.

Next I combined the squash and sweet potatoes and used my stand mixer to mash them into a puree.

I then added the puree on top of the ground chicken in the Slow Cooker insert.  I then refrigerated it over night.

I cooked this on low for 7 hours, (it was finished much sooner though) and I really enjoyed it!  I think I may not have drained the ground chicken quite enough, as there was a lot of liquid, but it may also have been from the squash, as it was a really WET squash (I prefer dry ones as they are sweeter).

I think I’ll definitely make it again, and next time add some more veggies, perhaps some broccoli and carrots along with the corn.

Here’s the end result!

If you have any questions let me know!  Sorry about the quality of the photos, my iPhone was not liking the lighting in the kitchen!

Cupcakes for Dinner!

Well kind of! Since Many of you read on my Facebook Status that I was making this and I got a ton of feedback here’s the details!

Ground Chicken and Turkey was on sale this week, so I decided to make a dish I blogged about once before Click for the recipe—->”Turkey Stuffin’ Meatloaf“. Tonight I decided to try a new take on this and instead of making meatloaves, I decided to make this more kid approved dish and cooked the mixture in muffin and mini-muffin pans.

Here’s a picture precooked:

I normally serve this with mashed potatoes so I though to myself, what are my cupcakes missing? Frosting, so of course They needed a topping of “Mashed Potato Frosting”. I cheated this evening and made a package of instant potatoes with an attached gravy mix. I love gravy, it’s a big weakness of mine!

Here’s the finished product! I overcooked it a smidge, I’ll have to perfect it next time!