Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Within the Past Week

Rewind to Friday evening ...

Beet risotto for dinner:


On Saturday morning we grabbed a quick breakfast and coffee, before hitting the road to Saskatoon to spend some time with my mom.


When we arrived in Saskatoon we picked up breakfast for my mom, and made our way to her place.  We spent the day with her, taking a little break to go out and grab her some groceries and dinner.

Because we hadn't eaten since breakfast, we were quite hungry by the time we went for dinner, but also pretty wiped.  We wanted something delicious but fast, so we went to a new-to-us place, October.

 

They bring tea out right away, which we really enjoyed.


I ordered one of the ramen dishes, and Christopher had sashimi.


The food was really good, and it came out quickly.

The next day was spent with my mom again, before heading home in time for dinner.  Once home we made stuffed pasta shells, with enough for the next day's lunch too.


On Monday evening we made a recipe from Ricardo Magazine, shawarma-style chicken:


We served it with hummus, raw veggies, and pita:


Breakfast for dinner on Tuesday:


Since we had a lot of buttermilk to use up, we made and froze a pile of waffles.  I had one for breakfast this morning with whipped cream, pomegranate arils, and cacao.


Christopher's band was jamming tonight, so I worked on a grocery list for this weekend/ next week, and made supper for when he got home.  We had giant salads with raw kale, and roasted veggies on top.


And just like that, it's already Thursday tomorrow.

How is your week going so far?
Have you tried any new recipes lately?

Thursday, November 23, 2017

Looking Forward

This week started out extremely cold, and we made comforting meals to warm us up.


Chicken and dumplings:


And chicken noodle soup, with a stock we had made the day before:


Both of these meals had leftovers, so we didn't have to do any other cooking this week.  We plan on making beet risotto tomorrow evening.

It warmed up a lot today, and the snow is starting to melt, so that is putting a spring in my step as the weekend approaches.

Looking Forward ...

This weekend I am looking forward to spending time with my mom.  It's her 61st birthday today! 

Next week I am looking forward to getting some more of our Christmas shopping done.  I think we have plans to head out and about each evening next week.  Once we're done making supper, there isn't too much time left for running errands before bedtime, so we have to space out our shopping.

Next weekend I am looking forward to decorating.  I am so excited to pull out the tree and all the other Christmas decorations.  I love how our house looks around the holidays - so colourful, pretty, and warm.  Although, immediately after Christmas I think the decorations need to come down right away.  We never make it to New Years Eve with decorations still up.

This month I am looking forward to a trip to Mexico!  We are heading back to this incredible resort, and are so, so pumped!

Next year I am looking forward to working more with bread baking, trying my hand at rye bread, and white sandwich loaves.

What are you looking forward to?  Have you decorated yet?
Did you make any comforting meals this week?

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Sunday Stuff

Last week was a short work week, but it felt quite long.  On the holiday Monday we had egg sandwiches on English muffins.

  
Throughout the week we cooked up some of our favourite dishes, including bee bim bop, and creamy parmesan fusilli.  We also tried a new recipe, honey mustard sheet pan pork chops:


On Friday evening after getting groceries, we had a big salad for dinner, and then got ready to go to O'Hanlon's where Christopher's band was playing.  They were opening, but still weren't on until 11:00 p.m.


It was a late night, but we slept in a bit on Saturday, and then had a French toast breakfast.


We got a bit of Christmas shopping done on Saturday afternoon.  We are done shopping for all the nieces and nephews, which is the bulk of what we need to get done.  With my family we drew names, and we still have to buy those gifts.  With Christopher's family we are buying two gifts worth about $25 each that anyone might like/use, and then we'll be playing a stealing game on Christmas day.  Last year was our first time doing this, and it was really fun!  We have one of the gifts purchased for that, and are still working on the other.

Once we were home from Christmas shopping, we did a bit of baking, and then made herb souffles, with salmon and greens.


After dinner we headed out (with the baking) to our friends' new home for a housewarming party.  We had a fun time with our pals and some of their little ones, and it was another late night.

Most of today was spent lounging around.  We started the day with this breakfast:


And then got a turkey stock going on the stove, and beef and noodles going in the slow cooker for dinner.


How was your weekend?  What did you do?
Have you started Christmas shopping?  Are you done?  Do you have a lot of people to buy for?

Tuesday, November 14, 2017

A Relaxing Weekend

We were so excited for this past long-weekend, because it was the first one in a long time that we would have two consecutive days with nothing going on - time to just relax and enjoy each other's company.

Out of the six weekends previous to this one, two were spent out of town, and the other four were all really busy with a wedding, Christopher's band playing twice, and various social engagements.  All of these things were fun, but we were starting to feel drained, and in much need of some quiet, alone time to visit, zone out, catch up on sleep, and just hang around together.  Sunday and Monday were designated for that, and if anyone would have asked if we were free on those days, we would have said, "no, we have plans," which wouldn't have been a lie.

It's important, at least for us, to schedule in days at home with no obligations, responsibilities, or commitments.  If we don't write these in the calendar and plan for them, the days will fill up with activities.  These commitment free days are important to us, not only for our sanity, and to bond in our marriage, but also because our hobbies both require extended time at home to develop and enjoy - Christopher with writing, creating, and practicing music, and me with cooking new things, baking, creating recipes, and blogging. 

All that being said, one of our other hobbies is entertaining, and we spent the first day of the weekend doing just that!

On Saturday morning, after a nice breakfast, we got prepped for dinner guests we'd be having later that evening.


I made a pot of soup, baked buns, and got the slow cooker going:


Then I prepped dessert, and got some sides and the meat started.

The appetizers were grapes and cheese, which I forgot to photograph, along with brie-stuffed mushrooms.


Next up we enjoyed cauliflower soup:


The main course was smoked pork shoulder, with a homemade mustard dip on the side, potatoes gratin, salad, cabbage rolls and dinner buns:


My plate:


Dinner turned out well, and it was a really nice evening.


For dessert we had Saskatoon berry crisp with ice cream:


How was your weekend?  What did you do?  Do you schedule days to do nothing?  Do you feel that you're taking care of yourself when it comes to how scheduled and busy you are? (I used to be absolutely terrible at this, to the point of burnout.  It took me many years of practice, but I finally have gotten better at taking on less).

Saturday, November 11, 2017

Hectic Week

We had an early cold snap this year.  We have a lot of snow, and one day this week we broke a record for how cold it got.  Last year at this time people were in shorts and it was +22 C (which, to be fair, was also abnormal).  The freezing cold and snow added to what was a long week.

On Monday evening we threw a roast in the oven with some potatoes, carrots and onion, and then headed out to run errands.  We got home just in time to pull the roast out, and make Yorkshire pudding and gravy.


We had the leftovers for dinner on Tuesday.

On Wednesday evening I made a pot of chili and let it simmer for a while, while Christopher had band practice, and I was busy taking care of other things.  We finally ate around 8:45 p.m.


We had cornbread in the freezer that I made a while back, so we enjoyed that with the chili, and had some leftovers for our work lunches the next day.


On Thursday we both weren't home from work until close to 6:00 p.m., and then the second we walked in the door, we grabbed our grocery list, and headed out to the store.  After the groceries were put away, we started cleaning the house, as we have company coming over today, and knew we wouldn't have time to clean on Friday.

It was another evening of dinner right before bed, but Christopher whipped up some delicious ginger noodles with chicken and broccoli.


Even when life gets busy, as it often does, we never really turn to ordering in or picking up food.  We think we need the healthier, home-cooked food the most when we are more run-down, and it also helps to relax us to take the time to prepare a meal.

All of my breakfasts this week were yogurt bowls with pomegranate, peanut butter, and gingerbread granola.


After work yesterday we met at Canadian Tire to drop off my car for a winter tire change over, and then we headed straight to a concert venue to meet up with some friends.  Fanta and Keith treated us to a night out to see The Glorious Sons in concert.  We weren't too familiar with their music beforehand, but we had a fun time!  We ate a bit at The Turvey Centre before the show.

It was a late night, but luckily we were able to sleep in a bit this morning.

Today we are remembering our troops who fought for this amazing country that we call home.  We are also spending some time with family.

How was your week?  What are you up to this weekend?