A New Vibe and Some Energy

Today I got crafty with my blog (it was feeling a little tired to me) revamping it and giving it a whole new vibe... I'd love to hear what do you think. I made the Header and Buttons myself on Picnik.com and found the background at Hot Bliggity Blog, I LOVED so many of their backgrounds, it was hard to choose. I will be editing and tweaking things over the next few days so keep coming back to see the end result.

I also made this week's baking: Energy Bars. They were a snap to make (no baking required), but I found that they were a little too gooey to be called a bar per-say, more like a gooey peanut butter honey fudge. I think they need more "stuff". I had added 1/2 Cup raisins already, so to that I would add another 1/2 Cup Oatmeal or some Toasted O Cereal. I have a bag of Heritage O's Ancients Grains Kamut, Spelt and Quinoa O's that would be awesome in this bar! I will definitely be trying this again with my additions. 

Go to Recipe!

Meal Plan Month 2 ~ 2011 - February

It's a new Chapter, new Format kind of day here... 

Lost are the days of the weekly meal plans. To cut back on time spent blogging I will be posting monthly plans. I will be including some old favourite meals (which I will not be re-reviewing) and a few new comers. The old standbys will have a link to my last review followed by a link to the recipe, new recipes will be reviewed in a timely manner. With going back to work full time, my husband has agreed to cook dinner every Wednesday to give me some time with our boys. 

As this is my first full month plan, please comment and let me know what you think, I'd love to hear from you! 

Welcome to "Link-a-palozza"... :)

Monday Jan 31 - Prosciutto Chicken served with Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

Tuesday Feb 1 - Parmesan Bow-Tie Skillet served with Tossed Salad - new

Wednesday Feb 2 - Crispy Fish Bake served with Tossed Salad

Thursday Feb 3 - Cheese Enchilada Verde served with Couscous and Veg

Friday Feb 4 - Speedy Peanut Chicken Stirfry

Saturday Feb 5 - 4 Cheese Penne (Dashing Dishes Meal)

Sunday Feb 6 - Mushroom Smothered Salisbury Steak served with Mashed Potatoes and Veg

Weekly Baking - Energy Bars - new

Monday Feb 7 - Oriental Chicken Salad

Tuesday Feb 8 - Totally Tubular Pasta served with Tossed Salad

Wednesday Feb 9 - Perogies and Sausage (no recipe)

Thursday Feb 10 - Creamy Stovetop Tuna Rotini 

Friday Feb 11 - Chickpea and Tomato Curry served with Rice

Saturday Feb 12 - Speedy Sausage and Bean Ragout served with Salad

Sunday Feb 13 - Pork and Peanut Skillet - new

Weekly Baking - Chocolate Chip Cookies with Chickpeas - new

Monday Feb 14 - Mandarin Chicken (Dashing Dishes Meal)

Tuesday Feb 15 - Hay and Straw Pasta served with Salad

Wednesday Feb 16 - Spanish Rice (my Husband's Specialty - no recipe)

Thursday Feb 17 - Grilled Cheese Sandwich and Tomato Bean Soup (no recipe)

Friday Feb 18 - Tuna Cakes Served with Rice and Corn

Saturday Feb 19 - Veggie Burgers, Cabbage and Carrot Stirfry and Sweet Potato Fries

Sunday Feb 20 - Broccoli Cheddar Chicken Bundles served with Mashed Potatoes and Veg

Weekly Baking - Chocolate Zucchini Bread -new

Monday Feb 21 - Lentil Sloppy "Jo's" (Dashing Dishes Meal)

Tuesday Feb 22 - Southwest Chicken Pizza

Wednesday Feb 23 - Kitchen Sink Stirfry

Thursday Feb 24 - Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar Glaze served with Quinoa and Lentils - new

Friday Feb 25 - Lemon Pepper Orange Roughy served with Baby Potatoes and Broccoli- new

Saturday Feb 26 - Korean Pork with Asian Slaw served with Rice

Sunday Feb 27 - Meatloaf (no recipe) served with Mashed Potatoes and Creamed Corn

Weekly Baking - Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

If you haven't subscribed to Meal Plan-it yet, this is a taste of what you missed last week. Be sure to click "Like" or "Subscribe" to follow me and get all my updates in real time. :)

Have a fabulous week!

for more meal plans and organization advice visit Organizing Junkie!

-Jill

Thai-Style Coconut Chicken

I love ethnic cuisine! I mean ALL different kinds. Not only does the meal usually taste fabulous, the aromas that circulate my house while I am cooking are amazing. Tonight was coconut, lime and cilantro which made me think of the song "Lime in the Coconut" which I still cannot get out of my head. This was a super speedy, VERY tasty and refreshing dish. I used boneless, skinless chicken thighs in place of the breast and I found the meat was quite moist.

Go to Recipe!

Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese

I'm so clever!!! ha ha ha! This was a fabulous alternative to the box of florescent orange noodles and cheese sauce that my son has come to cherish. I knew that he would pick out the peas, but he had no idea that he ate sweet potatoes with every bite! It was quite tasty, but I think I may add a few spices to it next time as the flavour was a little flat for my liking. Mustard powder and paprika might brighten it up a bit. 

If you have a child who LOVES cheesy noodles, this is a perfect recipe for you to try. (P.S. I used my pre-frozen puree) All I did was roast the potatoes with skin on for about 50 minutes (until soft) let them cool to the touch and then the skin just peeled right off and there was no waste. Pureed them and put 1/2 cup portions in zip top bags and froze. When it came to making supper tonight I just thawed 2 bags and, viola, supper was done in 20 minutes. :)

Go to Recipe!

Easy Ham Pot Pie and Banana Bread (with Cauliflower)

Tonight's meal came about because I had a tube of refrigerated biscuits and some ham steaks. Those coupled with broccoli and Cheez Whiz was all this "recipe" needed. And it tasted exactly like you would imagine. I highly doubt this meal will ever make another appearance. 

Go to Recipe!

On a side note I was able to FINALLY make that Banana Bread from Jessica Seinfeld's Book - Deceptively Delicious that has cauliflower puree in it from Week 4 Meal Plan. It turned out great; Really moist and yummy! You can get a tiny hint of the veggie in the after taste but if you don't know it's in there you could never tell. The only issue is that it didn't rise really high for me, so it is quite dense, but tasty none the less.

Go to Recipe!

Meal Assembly Journey - Part 2 ~ The Doing

Couple weeks ago I decided that rather than spending 2 full days in my kitchen cooking/prepping to fill my freezer with meals prior to my return to work that I would sign up for a Meal Assembly Company. Last you heard of this I had researched the local companies and chose Dashing Dishes for the reasons that their meals sound delicious and that I got to be hands on with the prep of my meals. So I signed up (which was a breeze). 

Then I waited...

Last night I packed up my cooler and went to my session. The location was easy to find and once inside the building I felt like "Toucan Sam" and followed my nose to the spacious room. The fragrance was awesome; garlic, ginger, spices...mmmm...

The staff were incredibly nice, helpful and attentive. They got me in my apron and bandana and standing at my first station in no time. The format of the meal assembly is you go to a station and fill Ziptop bags with the ingredients needed for a full meal, put on an instruction label and put it in your cooler. Then on to the next... SUPER easy! I had chosen 8 meals and opted for for the "split in half" option (which was no charge). I am glad I did because the portions are HUGE - so at the end of an hour I had 16 meals for my freezer all prepped and ready to go.  FABULOUS!!!! 

Oh, did I forget to mention that they carried my cooler out to my car when I was all done?... :)

Here are the meals that I made last night:

~ Black Bean Linguine

~ Four Cheese Penne with Tomatoes

~ Korean Beef with Noodles

~ Lentil Sloppy "Jo's" with Tortillas

~ Mandarin Chicken

~ Pork Chops with Feta and Olive

~ Red Currant Slow Braised Pork with Thyme

~ Roasted Red Pepper Pasta with Sausage

Don't they sound scrumptious???? I can't wait to try one/all of my meals!

So, if you are a Mom without a lot of time to cook, or a single person who loathes cooking for one. Really anyone who who like to go spend an hour having some fun, go home and sigh a breath of relief because you have a freezer full of nutritious meals - the idea of meal assembly is PERFECT for you to try. And if doing the work isn't up your alley, they'll do it for you, you just pick it up. Seriously couldn't be easier!!! 

Next time you hear about this I will be letting you know how the meals taste... oh I can't wait!! 

-Jill

This series will also be featured in the Kids in Cowtown Blog

Indian Lentils and Rice served with Chapati Bread

This was a super tasty and filling meal, but one that my son wanted nothing to do with. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed the surprising combination of yogurt, mint leaves, coconut and spice. The homemade Chapati Bread was a prefect fishing touch. If you are stuck and looking for something new and different I think you should give this meatless, ethnic meal a try. 

Go to Lentil Recipe! 

Go to Chapati Bread Recipe!

Meal Plan ~ Week 5 - 2011

Well some of you may recall that my family has started on a journey toward eating more ethically. As I had mentioned before it is not something to take lightly and it is not something to just jump into, it's a gradual process. So here are the steps we have taken so far... 

1 - All dairy is organic and eggs are to be free run  - looking into getting our eggs farm fresh

2 - I will be planning 2 meals a week that are meat free

3 - I am researching seasonally appropriate recipes and resources

4 - I am researching natural, organic and humanely treated protein sources and looking into getting our protein straight from local family producers. 

5 - Start purchasing organic produce

It's a lot of ground work right now, but I feel wonderful with the steps we have achieved in only 2 short weeks. Once we get the steps above into our routine, we will look at cutting processed food out of our diet as much as possible.

One major hurdle that I have come across (and it's a great one to have) is that is we have too many choices in family run protein producers. Living in Alberta means having access to world class beef and it is so hard to choose the right fit. I did find a wonderful resource that has a huge database of farms in our region, check it out here.

Well enough blabbing from me... let's get to what you're really here for! This week's meal plan! 

Monday ~ Indian Lentils and Rice served with Chapati Bread

Tuesday ~ Mom out (Meal Assembly Session!) Boys have Leftovers

Wednesday ~ Family out for Grandma's birthday dinner

Thursday ~ Easy Ham Pot Pie served with Salad

Friday ~ Sweet Potato Mac and Cheese served with Salad

Saturday ~ Homemade Burgers (no recipe) served with Crispy Parm Potatoes and Steamed Broccoli

Sunday ~ Thai-Style Coconut Chicken served with Rice

If you haven't subscribed to Meal Plan-it yet, this is a taste of what you missed last week. Be sure to click "Like" or "Subscribe" to follow me and get all my updates in real time. :)

Have a fabulous week!

for more meal plans and organization advice visit Organizing Junkie!

Barley Ricotta Cabbage Rolls

Honestly if you have the time, try this recipe it is a remarkable twist on an old favourite comfort food. This was the first time I have ever made honest-to-goodness cabbage rolls and I do have a new found respect for anyone who makes/made real cabbage rolls and now understand why there are so many "fast cabbage roll casserole" recipes. This recipe was majorly labour intensive, but worth every second. SO Fabulous!! The flavours were incredible and everyone thoroughly enjoyed them. I made a few "meat logs" without the cabbage for my sons and that was a hit. There are left overs for lunch today and I am pretty excited to see how they taste the next day. You can also make this as a freezer meal so I think next time that I have some time I will make a double batch and put them in the freezer. 

Go to Recipe!

Pan and Tuna Cakes

The other day I whipped up a batch of Homemade Pancake Mix and I will NEVER buy mix again. It took me a whole 5 minutes to do. I made it according to the following recipe, but added 1/4 Cup Wheat Germ then put it in a Ziptop Bag, wrote the cooking instructions on the outside and put it in my cupboard until today. This morning I mashed 1/2 banana in a bowl and made the pancakes according to the directions on the recipe and they tuned out PERFECT!! I did find them to be a little sweet, so next time I am going to half the sugar and see how it goes, but they fluffed up nice and big and light. A HUGE winner!!! 

For supper we had Tuna Cakes, a meal that we have had numerous times and I just LOVE them. They are easy, they have veggies hidden within AND my son loves them. We always have leftover so we individually wrap them and freeze them for future lunches. I think I may whip up a couple batches just for my freezer before I go back to work... easy and versatile, they have yet to fail me... 

It was a love, love day here! HOORAY!! 

Go to Pancake Mix Recipe! 

Go to Tuna Cake Recipe!