Meals - Week Five, Pasta e Fagioli and Spinach/Artichoke Dip recipes

I think we're settling into the groove of menu planning - it seems easier as we go.
Here's what we had for Week Five:

Sunday: Pasta e Fagioli soup - I love Fine Cooking and have a lot of their special focus publications. So, when Mr. E and I were looking for a bit of a treat, where else would I look?

It was fantastic - and we had leftovers for Wednedsay dinner, and Thursday lunch. What a bonus!

Monday: Mediterranean Chicken Casserole - this was made on Sunday night and just needed to be baked for half an hour. Which is exactly what we need on an activity night - something fast.

Tuesday: Spiced Pork Tenderloin - with pear and cranberry relish. This was tasty

Wednesday: We had enough soup from Sunday left over that we had it again for dinner tonight.

Thursday: Homemade Egg McMuffins - Mr. E made these as I laid low wits the flu. Good times - but the boys love these so it all worked out.

Friday: Mr. E and I went out for lunch today, and we had leftovers. So, the kids had take-out pizza and we had leftover lunch. It was quick and easy after a long week of work.

Saturday: With no kids, it was a relaxed evening. We decided to have appetizers and French Onion soup. Except we had enough appies that we didn't need the soup.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

and

home-made Guacamole (avacdo, red onion and lemon juice - a healthy, but rich and yummy dip)

This was another successful week of meals - here's hoping that the winning streak continues!
Cheers! Kim

Cleaning my studio - a creative result

So, when I finished cleaning my craft room / studio (you can see that here), I figured I'd use the space to finish the projects I've got planned, instead of using my kitchen table. I had no idea that there would be other benefits.

My creativity came back!

As I mentioned in my post about cleaning my studio, most of the time I would walk right back out again. Which meant very little impromptu creativity, and zero scrapbooking at home.

Not any more.

In the past week, I've completed three layouts - three!

That may not be many for some scrapbookers, but I haven't completed a single scrapbook page at home in more than three years. This is a huge deal for me! Woohoo!

As I was cleaning up, I found a few pictures I had printed a while back - ones that I wanted to scrapbook. I saw them after everything was put away, and *BAM* I had an idea of what I wanted to say about the photos. I pulled stuff out - because I had a clean table to use - and I did it. I scrapbooked.

It felt great - it was fast (which is unusual for me) and I love the layouts.

Wanna see?

I hope that everyone else who completed their 'impossibilties challenge' feels as good as I do.


Cheers! Kim

52 Projects – Week Two - My Mission Impossible

Blog-land is definitely the place to go for inspiration – and a whole lotta challenges to get things done!

In early January, a group of blogs challenged those who read them to ‘Imagine the Impossibilities’ and do something that you thought was impossible. (the blog where I found about the challenge is here)

I admit, I read the challenge and thought nothing about it – I mean, how could I find the time in my schedule to finish something that I didn’t have time for? But, the thought kept coming back to me and I started to think about how I ‘could’, not how I ‘couldn’t’.

And, the impossible happened J

My ‘impossibility’ was my office/studio/craft room. It’s at the front of the house, so its the first room that people see when they walk in the door. And it sure didn’t make a good first impression – it was terrible. There was nothing on the walls and piles of stuff were everywhere – on the floor, covering the table, on the bookshelves. It was an awful mess – no wonder I had no creativity when I walked in – I usually turned around and walked right back out.

Here is a collage of my workspace – can you imagine trying to find or do anything in there? Working on the table meant moving everything over to the other side of the table, or piling stuff onto the floor. I couldn’t find anything either, so I’d have to search everywhere to find simple things.

Not any more – it’s a great space now.

(Details going clockwise from top left)

1. I hung my bulletin board and some pictures from the kids – I have two plastic frames that I use to display my latest scrapbook pages. The shelf above holds a scrapbook album that a group of my dear friends made for me as a wedding shower gift J
2. My paints are now in a metal basket so I can see them – and remember to use them.
3. Small photo frames are in a basket on the bookshelf, and larger ones are tucked in beside the other bookshelf (you can see the side of it). Now when I’m looking for a frame, I know exactly where to look.
4. Lots of scrapbook supplies are hung up in my ‘clip-it-up’ which sits on top of a storage unit for my chipboard and flowers.
5. My scrapbook paper is now, mostly in one place. I keep finding more, so I’ll have to purge and get rid of the paper I won’t use. The boys’ school will gladly take it, so it won’t go to waste.
6. My spray paint has its own basket too, so I know where to go when I need some. And I won’t buy the same colour more than once anymore.

The space underneath my table now has two bins – one for stuff I’m still not sure what to do with, and a box with pending project supplies. Having items close together makes it easier to start a project – and that’s the whole goal of this challenge!

Is it perfect? Not at all. Am I happy with how it turned out? Definitely.

And the best part? This makeover was free – yup, it didn’t cost me a penny. I had the baskets and frames – all I needed was the time. And really, that wasn’t that bad either. It only took me about a week of working for half an hour or so in the evening, and two afternoons on the weekend.

I love my ‘new’ space. I feel more creative just walking in there.

So, thanks for the challenge, ladies!

Cheers! Kim

Meals - Week Four, and a few great recipes

It's hard to believe it's been four weeks of prepping and planning our meals in advance. I've tried this before and I’ve given up long before this.

I would try to plan for dinner, but typically I would end up with me making the same meals over and over, or having rushed meals because I'd stand in front of the pantry, waiting for the meal fairy to show up (she never did - if she's at your house, can you please send her my way for a while?)

In the absence of a meal fairy, planning meals seems to be working pretty well. Every Sunday, I go through my torn out recipes or my cookbooks and pick our meals. I try to make sure we use different protein, so there's variety in our menu. This makes grocery shopping easier too - we have a plan of what to pick up for the week, not just random items.

So, here's our menu for week four:

Sunday: Portabello Mushroom Stroganoff - the boys won't eat mushrooms, so this was a perfect meal for a night they weren't home. And it was absolutely delicious. No leftovers delicious. We ate the entire thing - and I added extra mushrooms just for fun.

Monday: Steak and Farfalle Pasta – I’ve had this on my list for a few weeks but it seemed to get pushed out of the way. It was really good with a nice creamy sauce.

Tuesday: Teriyaki-Mango Pork – this one is far out of our normal comfort zone. Mango, bok choy and water chestnuts aren’t in our regular menu. I used soba noodles which looked strange but were delicious - as was the rest of dinner.

Wednesday: Orange Salmon - this was quick and easy. Orange juice and soya sauce over the salmon, which was baked in parchment paper and served with a side of quinoa. It was quick, easy and good.


Thursday: Slow cooker ‘Chicken in a Pot’ – I don't think it gets much easier than this. Carrots, celery and chicken in the crock pot with a bit of chicken stock. Next time I'll add potatoes to the crock pot - I made those as a side dish, and thickened up the sauce for gravy. Yum - gravy on a weeknight.


Friday: Shepherd’s Pie, clean eating style –

We ended up eating this on Saturday instead, but it was totally worth the wait. This was one of the first Clean Eating recipes I tried, and it definitely set the standard. There were no leftovers - two kids had thirds!

A great week for recipes overall - stay tuned for week five!

Cheers!
Kim

52 Projects - Week One - Basement Bedroom Artwork

As I mentioned in my 2012 goals, if I can do one project a week, I’ll have 52 updates / completed projects in my house which is a huge accomplishment.

Here’s week one’s result.

We spent time last summer updating our basement bedroom so it was brighter and nicer for guests. There was no artwork on the walls though, so it still looked unfinished.

Not any more. Not on one side of the room anyway J

Using basic Ribba square frames from Ikea and fabric I’ve used for the curtains in the room, I made artwork to hang on either side of the window. Using spray adhesive worked the best to attach the fabric to the frame back.

The wall looks finished and tied together – exactly what I was hoping for!

(forgive the bad exposure – it’s the basement)

And, as I look around the room, there are a few other projects I’ll share with you too, and the before pictures of the room. I still can’t believe the transformation. I still need to finish the walls on the other side of the room, but it’s getting there – slowly.

One project complete – 51 to go.

Cheers!

Kim

Meals - Week Three

Here’s a recap of our meals last week, and a great recipe J This one is online so I can link to it instead of typing it out – score!

• Sunday: Chicken Salad – This was a duplicate of what we had last Monday, so my goal of a new meal every night is done. Over. It lasted for two weeks. But, Zach requested it – so how could I say no? J If your son asks for salad for dinner, don't ask why – just make it and be happy.
• Monday: Cheese Stuffed Shells (as roll-ups) – I prepped this the night before, so all I had to do was put it in the oven for 30 minutes. But I didn't have 30 minutes. Seriously. Traffic was horrible and it took 1 ½ hours to get home (usually its 45 min). So, the boys had subs. These will be Wednesday’s dinner instead. J
• Tuesday: Baked Barley Casserole – This was delish. Fantastic. Everyone loved it and said it was a definite make again.  

• Wednesday: Steak and Farfalle Pasta – this was replaced by Cheese Stuffed Shells (that we were going to have on Monday). So, I’ve moved this to next week instead.
• Thursday: Sweet and Sour Pork – I picked up a new slow cooker magazine from BHG last weekend, and hopefully it will help with some of the dinner madness. The recipes look good and having dinner ready when we walk in the door should help with the stress.
• Friday: Turkey Pasta Casserole – again, this was replaced. This time with pizza. I’ll keep trying to make dinner on Friday night, but I don’t seem to be doing very well.

Having kids activities three nights a week makes meal planning a real challenge. We need 30 minute meals – and I want them to be healthy too. I'm re-thinking my plan – having to spend time the night before to prep meals makes for a long night. And it takes time away from my family – and I get precious little time with them.

Mr. E and I have the upcoming meals planned – and the ingredients prepped. So let’s see how week four goes!

Cheers!

Kim

Meals, Week Two - and Sauteed Fish Sticks recipe

Happy Thursday! The weather here is frightful – we have had absolutely frigid weather this week. The number on the thermometer was the same if you were using °C or °F. All week. Winter finally decided to show up and I guess it made up for all the warm weather we've had until now. We're all bundled up in our parkas, staying inside as much as possible.

Anyway . . . as I mentioned here, I'm trying to prepare healthy meals for our family and make a new dinner every night for three months!

Here's a recap of our meals from last week. I've decided that I'll only add in the amazing recipes - nobody wants to make a recipe that's 'okay.' And maybe one of these days, some of the recipes I pick will be online somewhere so I can link to them instead of re-typing them!

Last week:

• Sunday: Steak and Baked Potato with stir-fried veggies – This is a standing favourite in our house and, as usual, was delicious. Mr. E has this BBQ thing down J
• Monday: Salad with Chicken – We cooked the chicken the day before so this was a quick and easy dinner before a night of activities. Salt and pepper chicken is a staple in our house – quick and easy. We make a few breasts on Sundays, so we have a quick and easy dinner or lunch. (Roast the chicken breasts on a foil lined baking sheet for about 20 – 25 minutes at 350°). We made a quick balsamic vinaigrette and called it dinner.
• Tuesday: Pork Tenderloin with Succotash – Mr. E to the BBQ rescue again J And who can resist a dinner that has succotash in it? Doesn't it remind you of Sylvester in Looney Tunes (please tell me that someone else remembers that he used to say "sufferin' succotash")?

•  Wednesday: Cheese Stuffed Shells – This didn't happen due to timing. I had plans to prep this on Tuesday night and pop it in the oven when we got home, but that didn't happen. So, the boys had tortellini (their all-time favourite pasta) and I had leftovers.
• Thursday: Turkey Pasta Casserole – I originally thought this would work, but we decided to switch this meal to Friday (it took a while to cook). And then I was too tired to cook on Friday, so we ordered pizza. This is real life for us – very little goes according to plan.
• Friday: Sauteed Fish Sticks – So we made these on Thursday night instead. After pulverizing the fish in the food processor, they turned out pretty well. They didn't stick together as well as the picture in the magazine, but everyone said they were a keeper!
• Saturday: Spaghetti and Meatballs – a family favourite J You can't go wrong with spaghetti and meatballs around here. And with home-made sauce and whole wheat pasta, it's really healthy.

Here's the recipe I'm going to share this week:

Sauteed Fish Sticks
*recipe originally published in Clean Eating magazine, April/May 2011.

A few slices of whole-grain bread (to make into bread crumbs)

1 egg

¾ lb boneless, skinless tilapia fillet

Crack egg into a medium bowl. Chop tilapia as finely as possible (I discovered the food processor worked best) and add to egg. Add ¼ cup bread crumbs to tilapia mixture, then use hands to thoroughly combine.

Divide fish mixture into 8 equal portions, 2 ½ inches long. Pour another ¼ cup bread crumbs into a large or flat-bottomed bowl. Dredge each stick in bread crumbs, pressing lightly to coat both sides.

Heat 1 ½ tsp oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat. Add fish sticks to pan and cook, covered for 4 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Use heatproof tongs to gently flip sticks over and cook for another 3 minutes or until both sides are golden brown.

I also made oven french fries to go with these - fish and chips!J

So far, so good on this goal of mine - let's see how long I can keep it going.

Cheers,
Kim