Spring has Sprung!

There's a smell that hangs in the air once Spring has finally sprung. It's the smell that confirms that winter's grasp has finally slipped into the frigid past. It's the smell of freshly cut lawn, campfire smoke, an immense, sweet, freshness after the rain has fallen. It's all of these individually and mixed together. It reminds me of campouts, laughing with friends, sitting around the fire making smores, and bug spray…lots and lots of bug spray. For those that don't live in Alberta, let me tell you, if you don't put on that bug spray, you're getting eaten ALIVE! We have mosquitoes big enough to carry you off! Ok, that's a slight exaggeration, but I'm not far off the truth. The bugs in Alberta are all on steroids and not wearing bug spray here and like not wearing sunscreen in the Sahara Desert. You're tempting fate. Already I've captured an oversized wasp in my house. It was at least an inch long if not more. I was not impressed to find such a insect inhabiting my home. The next day a giant bumblebee found it's way into our house. It was the size of a cotton ball! And not the little ones either!

But of course, along with the bugs come all the pleasantries of Summer. The warmth, lazy days at the lake, running outside, picnics, ice cream and roadtrips. Here's hoping to a warm and lovely Summer this year, unlike last year. As I look ahead, I realize that I don't have much time left at the school where I work. I'm quite saddened at the prospect of saying good-bye to my kids. I love them all. Working at the school has been a most amazing experience, and one I am truly grateful for. We've hit the middle of May and are fast approaching the release of worries to care-free ways. Summer is the key to unlock the bonds of Winter…and here it comes! Adventure and change await and I look forward to seeing how that all turns out.

So, along with the beauty of the outside world, I've jumped on the Spring bandwagon in the food department as well. I always feel more inspired in the Spring, in my art and in life. So what better time then now to play around with some meals! A couple of lovely Spring meals I've created are as follows….

ALMOND CRUSTED CHICKEN STIR FRY 


Chicken breasts - thawed and cubed
mayan squash
eggplant
bell peppers
broccoli
almonds
agave nectar
sea salt

First, I cooked the chicken chunks and as it was cooking I drizzled the chicken with agave nectar and some sea salt.
I copped up the almonds really fine and when the chicken was cooked through I coated the chicken with the almond bits.

Then I chopped up the squash and eggplant

I put the broccoli in first to steam a bit, then added the peppers to let them cook 

I added the squash and eggplant last as they take less time to cook. 

I then mixed it all together and served it over rice.

Yummy!!!

The next dish is one of my favourites. I grew up absolutely LOVING sloppy joes. yum yum yum! I also changed the recipe to make it my own and I'm not going to say it's healthier, as it's probably not, but boy it sure tastes amazing! My only healthy switch was what I put the sloppy joe mix onto. Normally one uses buns or bread of sorts. Well, I wanted to keep the carbs down a bit for myself, so instead, I used eggplant as it has a bread sort of texture. 

SLOPPY JOES

extra lean ground beef

1 can of beans in molasses sauce (depends on how much ground beef you use. May need more)

1 can of Alphagetti (depends on how much ground beef you use. May need more)

Sloppy Joe seasoning

I sliced the eggplant a put it in the oven at 350 degrees for a few minutes to brown it up

My eggplant bread replacement 

With the Sloppy Joe mix on top. It was very yummy.

This is an extremely easy meal for those families on the go and it goes great with the Spring feeling :)

Well, I hope you're enjoying this Spring as much as I am. It's always a time of joy and love and everything and everyone are twitterpated! It's lovely. :) Get outside, savour the sun, breathe the warm, fresh air, and stay healthy!

till next time!

Baking: From Glitches to Glory

There are times in life when I'm so very glad to have the opportunity for do-overs. As much as one may like to think they can master anything the first time, it rarely happens. Thus was my experience this past weekend and also today. But thankfully, in both circumstances, my 2nd round went above and beyond and so redeemed the disaster of the first attempt.

We shall start with this past weekend.

Mission: Pancakes

Now, let me first tell you that those who have tasted my pancakes know that I make absolutely delicious pancakes. They are fluffy, delicate, melt in your mouth amazing. On Saturday, Hayden and I woke up early to take both our vehicles in to Fountain Tire for the summer tire exchange. My car was finished first, so I decided to treat my lovely husband to some Saturday morning pancakes. I raced home to get a head start so to be almost finished by the time he walked through the door. I was out of white flour (which I don't like using anymore anyway) and hadn't replaced it with any new baking flour, thus I went to my container of coconut flour, intending to mix some of it with a little bit of whole wheat flour, thinking it would do the trick. I started whisking my ingredients together with glee, as I too was craving some yummy pancakes. That is when disaster hit. May I just say right now, NEVER ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever (I think that's a good amount of "ever's") use coconut flour to make pancakes! Horrible disastrous mistake. The flour sucked up the liquids so fast, and that was only using half the amount the recipe called for! I attempted to try and fry them anyway, determined as I was, but the result was the bottoms cooking, but not cooking right through the pancake. When I tried to flip them, they fell apart into a heap of crumbly goo. Many things don't mix well together in my DNA, and today the recipe for disaster was…early mornings, mixed with emotional time of the month, mixed with crushed hopes of presenting a delicious breaky for my hubby, mixed with not getting that which I craved….all equals TEARS! Yes, that's right, I had a mini melt-down right there at the stove and there was nothing stopping it. Looking back it all seems quite silly really, but in the moment, those feelings are real. Those pancakes were a nuclear bomb on my heart in that moment. The world was ending.

Well, I knew I had to redeem  myself. I needed to find another alternative so that I wasn't forced to go back to using white flour. When one is trying to remain healthy, good choices are harder to find. Hayden has been in Calgary for a couple days with work, so I thought, perfect opportunity to try out something new! If it's a flop, only I will know. If you recall from a couple posts ago, I mentioned that little diner I ate at which inspired my maple squash butter. Well, that squash butter came served upon some buckwheat pancakes! So, that's what I looked for. I headed over to my rapidly rising favourite store, Bulk Barn. I found buckwheat and read that it was ideal for…you guessed it! Pancakes! Done and done. I left the store with my new flour and a light bounce in my step.

Tonight was the night. I decided to try, not just changing up the flour, but being inspired by that little diner, making my pancakes a filling and healthy dish. I want people to be full after eating only 2 small pancakes. Thus I gathered some extra ingredients and gave it a go!

On top of my normal ingredients (I don't use pancake mixes, I make it from scratch :)) I used the buckwheat flour and added some organic granola, hulled sunflower seeds and some blueberry flavoured craisins. Even the batter looked healthy. I also substituted normal white, refined sugar for organic palm sugar. It's a much healthier choice.

The consistency of the batter was much gooier then normal, stringy even, but it cooked faster then normal pancake batter and the best part, it cooked all the way through! I was delighted when I discovered I could flip with ease. They tasted amazing and were the very thing I hoped they would be….filling.

they smelled absolutely heavenly! 

Taking my first bite! 

Success! Yummy!!!

I have redeemed this one…phew! Now I just need to make them for my hunny upon his arrival.

The second do-over I had to worry about was this evening.

Mission:Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Cups

I follow a wonderful blog called Cotter Crunch and she has some of the most lovely recipes! I'm always trying out new recipes from her blog, and tonight was no different. I tried the Chocolate Caramel Peanut Butter Cups. Not only did they promise to taste good, but are healthier and a good after-run recovery snack. Done and done!

What you need….

1 cup sugar (I use the organic palm sugar. All natural, better for you)

1 cup organic peanut butter (I used natural chunky, but smooth would work too)

1 egg

1/4 cup caramel chips (couldn't find any, so I used butterscotch chips)

dark chocolate peanut butter (anyone living in Canada will have to forego this item as it's not available here. I opted for some Nutella)

preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease muffin cups. You can make regular sized ones or mini ones. I made the mini's.

In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, peanut butter, butterscotch chips and egg.

Roll the  mixture into balls. Press and flatten the balls into each muffin cup.

Then take the Nutella (or if you can find it, the dark chocolate peanut butter. And if you find it, please let me know where!) and place it in a ziplock bag, cut the corner and use as a decorating tube.

Bake for approx 15 minutes or until the edges are set and the bottoms and edges are lightly brown.

I took this 15 minutes literally and my first batch (yes, I had to make two) came out way too dark….ok, they were burnt, and tasted not so nice. The centres were ok, but to get to those centres was not a lovely experience. The fragrance, however, which wafted throughout my home was mouth-watering. Like peanut butter cookies, only better.

the first batch looking quite sad.

Thus, thankfully, I had time to try again and hopefully improve on this treat. Tomorrow is run day, so I wanted to have a little snack upon my return. On the 2nd round, I skipped the little paper cups and just greased the pan itself. I then only baked the cups for 10 minutes. This batch was much MUCH better. I don't have a good "after" picture of those ones, but trust me, they were almost perfect. :) I was so zealous in wanting them out of the pan, however, that I crushed a couple of them. I then took a breath, told myself to chill, let it sit, and the last few popped out with little effort. I'm definitely looking forward to my recovery snack tomorrow!

Feel free to give it a try. Obviously if you have allergy's, this is not the snack for you. Unless you want to try the No Nutz peanut butter. That would work too! 

Well, I do hope that you've been given the chance for do-overs in baking glitches and mishaps in your home. Feel free to share those moments if you dare. I hope this post finds you well and enjoying the sun which is finally turning our world green.

Till next time!

looking forward and thinking back

Today is Mothers Day. A grand day when we remember the amazing woman who raised us, loved us, and helped shape us into the person we are today. I love my momma and am sure glad she's mine. Of course one always has their ups and downs, who doesn't? But our friendship outweighs it all. I love spending time with my mom and savour the moments we share.

As I think on today I realize how ready I am to become a mom and to raise my own little latte kiddies (my husband is mocha, so our children will, naturally, be latte). Every time I see a little munchkin, I'm completely overwhelmed with the maternity tug. Especially today in church. We had a team go to Haiti and a guy go to Malawi. Both presented on their trips today, showing pictures and video of the beautiful children in those places. I was moved to tears with a longing, not just to have my own family, but to go to those places, to hold those precious kids and love on them. My heart strings were definitely tugged with full force. Family is a powerful thing and it's always fun being together and having each other.

Looking back just last month, Hayden and I were blessed to go on a trip with my family, spend some quality time reconnecting, laughing, making memories, and of course, sleeping on the beach. For those who don't know, my parents and my youngest brother, Bryan, live just outside of Sylvan Lake. Hayden and I live in Medicine Hat, about 4 hours away and my other brother, CJ, and his wife, Heidi, live way up in Fort Nelson, B.C., so family times have become more rare over the past few years. so, this year we said goodbye to the cold Spring and flew to Hawaii for a blissful 12 days. There we encountered sea life, enjoyed the ocean, ate good food, went snorkelling, toured around, shopped till no end….and just had some good quality fun.

in the limo on our way to the hotel. Let the good times commence! 

the siblings + 1 (Dustin was adopted for the trip :)) 

the boys went deep sea fishing. CJ spent the time on one side of the boat (in the striped tank) and Bryan spent the time on the other side…..chumming the waters. Dustin, Dad and Hayden are finding this funny. 

Hayden, snorkelling at Hanama Bay

me snorkelling 

Mr. Sea Turtle that we swam with 

enjoying the day! 

mom and dad at dinner at Tanaka of Tokyo  

Hayden and I went on a tour with the Samoans. The backdrop here is home to several movies, including Jurassic Park, George of the Jungle, Tears of the Sun, Mighty Joe Young, 50 First Dates…among others.

The last night together 

view of the ocean from our hotel

One of the most amazing discoveries of the trip, however, were these delightful things called "BUBBIES!!!!" Mochi Ice Cream to be more specific. They are absolutely amazingly delicious! Heidi and I discovered them half way through our trip and were addicted instantly! I had them almost everyday thereafter. Good thing I didn't discover them the first day! They are balls of flavoured ice cream wrapped in a sweetened rice confection which is chewy. A lovely combination. For anyone heading to Oahu, check them out! They are made locally!

 You can't go wrong with the amazing flavours they offer. yum yum yum!!!! Chocolate-coconut was my favourite and Lychee was Hayden's fav.

All in all, in a was a fantastic trip that was restful indeed. Much needed and honestly, it was just fun to be with the family for that time. Life becomes so busy and crazy these days, that to have these moments, these memories, is a breath of fresh air. So, take time with your family. Don't take them for granted or wish them away. Love every moment you have with them and savour those moments.

And especially today, give your mom a hug and let her know just how much she means to you.

till next time!

Decadent Squashes

I cannot believe how fast time flies. Here I am, writing my heart out so often, then next thing I know, 2 months fly by without a single word from me! It's not because nothing exciting happened, the opposite in fact. This is the reason for my blog tardiness….I just had no time. I've come to realize that I don't like having no time, but such is the reality of this life. What happened over the past 2 months, well, my birthday, a family holiday, and the beginning of a new adventure. That's all I'm going to say about it right now, as those are not the reasons for today's homecoming. I will be sure to write more in the near future.

Today's topic, however, is SQUASH! Growing up I never really cared much for squash of any kind. I don't know if it was the texture or lack of natural taste, or maybe the fact that I only was introduced to spaghetti squash and it was always baked with a sprinkling of salt and pepper, which growing up was not to my liking on any food. Whatever the reason, I never really went for squash…until recently. My taste buds have found a new friend. The first new squash I discovered this past week are Mayan heirloom squash. They are green and roughly the size of a tennis ball. (sorry for the bad pic)

The pkg said it was the best tasting squash in the world, so I dared to test this theory. I purchased a pkg of them at Costco (always a good deal for fruits and veggies) and took them home. I washed them, thickly sliced them, then fried them in a bit of coconut oil with a slight sprinkling of, you guessed it, salt and pepper and a dash of garlic powder. The outcome…utter deliciousness! I will be looking for these little lovely squash again.

My second run-in with amazing squash this week happened whilst in Calgary for a couple days. I spent the day with my friend, Stephanie, and she took me to her favourite little restaurant for breakfast. It's called Diner Deluxe and has a fun, retro, 50's feel about it. For anyone living in the Calgary area, I definitely recommend it. Not only is it a fun place to sit and visit, but the menu items are amazing healthy, organic and most importantly, delicious! I decided to have some buckwheat pancakes and it came with some maple squash butter. Not knowing what to expect, I awaited the arrival of my plate. Was I in for a pleasant surprise. With my beautiful looking pancakes was this mound of orange paste, which, when tasted, caused a smile to spread across my face. It was a lightly maple flavoured squash puree that I spread thickly across my pancakes. It was remarkable how good it tasted. I was determined to make this creation on my own, knowing it probably wouldn't be half as good as this.

On my Costco day, when I purchased those delightful little mayan squashes, I also bought some pre-cut, pre-pkged butternut squash and thought I would give it a whirl. I then went to my friend, the google search engine, to see what I could find. I came across this recipe for maple squash butter from Kitchen Opera. I gave it a try and the outcome was pretty good for a first go.

First I boiled the squash till it was soft. I then used my magic bullet to puree the squash and poured it into a large pot.

I then added…

1/4 cup 100% pure maple syrup
pinch sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
I couldn't find whole cloves as the recipe called for 2, so I put in about 1tsp and a bit of ground cloves. I think this was bit much, but did give the butter a bit of a spicy edge to it that's not bad
1/4 tsp nutmeg
juice from 1/2 lemon

I added all this to the pot and stirred it all together heating everything up (although my puree was still piping hot, so it didn't take long).

I then turned it down to low for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When my husband came over to try it he said, with a smile, it smelt like his favourite cigars which have cloves in them. So I guess that means I created a cigar smelling squash butter haha.

Needless to say, it tastes amazing and I've put some in the fridge to have on toast or pancakes and froze the rest in small containers. As it's been in the fridge it's thickened up nicely.

I can see using a variation of this recipe for my kids' food when they first start on solids. That is, down the road when I have kids :)

Well, this concludes my squash excitement for the day. Try this out if you like. It's all natural and the only sugar is what is contained naturally in the maple syrup, which for the amount of squash butter this made is not very much. If you still don't want to use that sugar, you could opt for no sugar added maple syrup or I'm sure you could add a bit of sweetening using some liquid stevia and use maple flavoured cappella drops. That would probably work too!

Enjoy and I'll try not be too long before I write again!
Till next time