Seven on Sunday

1)  I can't believe it's the last day of September already!  I am happy we're heading into October, and am looking forward to what this month will bring.  Yesterday we caught our nephew's last football game for the year, and then went out with friends to Bushwakker for dinner.  I had the spinach salad with chicken, and it was excellent, actually probably the best thing I've had off of the menu.

After dinner we went to our friend Tyler's to hang out for the evening, and had a really fun time. 

2)  Check out this lip balm that Christopher bought:

It smells like fresh-cut cilantro, so I really can't get enough.  For some people I am sure this would be kiss repellent, but not in this house 🤣

3)  We've gotten back into juicing lately.  The other night we had sautèed veggies with fish, and a potent green juice (celery, cucumber, pineapple, apple, spinach, lemon and ginger).

4)  We usually go to the grocery store near our house, but sometimes we make a trip to Dad's Organic Market to see what new and interesting products they have.  We bought some organic tortilla shells, salsa, and ground beef to make tacos:

We also bought these chips:

And some penne and sauce:

The noodles are made with only two ingredients, organic sorghum flour, and organic purple carrot.  They are slightly grittier than regular pasta, but I thought they were pretty good.  Sorghum is quite high in protein and fibre, and is unrelated to wheat, so it's safe for gluten-free diets.

We had the pasta and sauce with chicken meatballs for an easy dinner last week:

The noodles hold their purple colour, which was nice.

5)  Today I met up with my friend Bonnie (who moved to BC a few years ago) for lunch.  We went to Table10, which was delicious.  It was so nice to catch up with her.

6)  Christopher and I were thinking earlier this year that it would be fun to take a class together, so we registered for Spanish.  We started our class last week, and it should be a fun learning experience together.

I took a couple of Spanish classes in University, but could definitely use the refresher.

7)  This winter we're spending a week in Havana, so the Spanish will come in handy.  We're not staying at a resort, and are really looking forward to exploring the beautiful city.

How was your weekend?  Do you have any trips coming up?

Cooking Slump

I've been in one of those moods where I don't really know what I want to eat, and am not itching to cook (or really even eat) as much as usual.  I tend to get like this for a short time, at least a couple times a year.  Christopher is feeling the same way, so we've been eating quite simply, and nothing too exciting.  We haven't been tempted to go out to eat at all, or order in, so I guess that's good!

A fruit-loaded smoothie for breakfast on Sunday

Toast with Cheese Whiz (I love it, and am not ashamed to admit it), a banana, and apple sauce today:

Dinners have been things I remember having growing up, such as Shake and Bake chicken:

On the side - rice with creamed corn.

Sweet and sour meatballs with rice:

Breaded pork cutlets with mashed potatoes and creamed corn (apple sauce to dip the cutlet in):

It was really good; we need to eat this more often!

And fish with brown rice and veggies:

We've also been eating a lot of salads for meals:

And this plate of roasted sweet potato, roasted broccoli, and a veggie-burger patty with cheese:

Our fridge is starting to look pretty bare; maybe we'll get some inspiration or motivation to cook something interesting before we head to the grocery store next.  But, maybe we won't. 

Our weekend was super low-key; we stayed in our jammies and watched movies.  It was the perfect remedy for a dreary weekend. 

How was your weekend?  What did you do?  Have you been inspired to cook lately, or are you feeling the cooking slump too?  What do you cook when you just don't know what you want to eat? (We seem to just pick a meat/starch/veg when we're stuck).

Fall

It seems like Fall came early this year.  There is a crispness in the air, and leaves all over the ground already.  It seems too early for this, and I remember much, much nicer Septembers in the past.

We have yet to harvest the scotch bonnet peppers we planted, as they are still not fully grown.  I am hoping that they don't freeze before they're ready to pick; jerk chicken just isn't the same without scotch bonnets. 

I've started waking up about half an hour earlier in the morning than I was used to, and it's still quite dark when I am getting into the shower.  Once I am making breakfast it is starting to lighten up a bit, but I sure do miss the super sunny, summer mornings. 

The beginning of Fall feels more like the start of a new year to me than January does, and with it comes excited feelings for a fresh start. 

Also with Fall comes our nephew Giovanni's football games!

Last night we watched his team play a really exciting, and close game, which they ended up winning.  We love going to his games, and look forward to when our other nieces and nephew have activities that we can go to too 💚 It is wonderful having so many little ones in our lives, with all our family members, and friends' kids.

After the game last night we had some of the scalloped potato casserole that we had made the day before.  It's delicious, and was easy to make.  I think kids would love it.  You can find the recipe for it here.

This evening we made a tomato, corn, and burrata salad.

Burrata is my new favourite salad topping.  The only place I've been able to find it in town is Italian Star Deli, so we'll be making more frequent trips to that delightful little shop, specifically for this cheese.

Do you like burrata?  Does it feel like Fall where you are?  If you planted a garden or pots of herbs/ veggies, have you harvested all your goodies yet?

Leftovers

This past week both Christopher and I had a lot going on at work, and knew that our days would be a bit longer, so we wanted meal time to be quick and easy.  We planned ahead and made a turkey on Labour Day, so that we could eat that for the following few days. 

On Tuesday we made some sides and covered everything in gravy:

We used the last of the meat up on Thursday in a turkey, Alfredo, artichoke casserole.

On Friday night we made sweet and spicy pork and asparagus, served over rice.

This weekend was relaxing and fun.  Last night we met up with a bunch of friends at Beer Brothers to celebrate our friend Jocelyn's birthday.  We mingled in a private room, had dinner, and played trivia.  The trivia was organized by the birthday girl, and only included our group of friends.  We were out late, and had a great time!  For dinner Christopher and I shared lamb kofta skewers and a white pizza:

Breakfasts this weekend included waffles (with Saskatoon berries and banana), and skillets.

For dinner this evening we made a scalloped potato and ground sausage casserole, although we weren't too hungry, so we only had a couple bites just to taste it.  There is plenty left to warm up for dinner tomorrow, and some lunches this week too.

We also had a tiny bit of this apple crisp:

I'm wiped, and ready for bed - have a great week everyone!

How was your weekend?  What did you do?  Do you make meals with the intention of having leftovers for lunches or dinner the next day?

Labour Day Long Weekend

Other than Saturday, we had no plans this weekend, and we were very much looking forward to that.  Breakfast on Saturday morning was bacon, toast, and sunny-side-up eggs.

On Saturday afternoon we went to our friends' Chris and Cori's house for their son's first birthday.  Then we left that party to go to our niece Charlotte's fourth birthday party.

We visited with family and ate pizza:

Our two nieces had a great time playing together and were fun to watch.  It's amazing how much energy little ones have.

Later in the evening we went back to Chris and Cori's house as they were still hanging out there with some of our other friends, and a few of the kids were still up.  We played a bit until the kids went to bed, and then visited until past midnight.

Skillets for breakfast on Sunday morning:

Then a shared snacky lunch in the afternoon:

For dinner we made pulled pork sandwiches.  I made the buns and the BBQ sauce from scratch, as well as a garlic aioli to top the sandwiches.

On the side we had jerked eggplant skewers (looks like meat, but nope!):

We started this morning out with bacon, scrambled eggs, and truffled potatoes.  It has been quite cool in the mornings lately, but it was really nice out this afternoon, so we spent some time on the patio.

Dinner this evening was a bit of this turkey:

We weren't too hungry, so we just picked at it, and ate a couple pieces of roasted potato that were nuzzled in around it.

The turkey will be good in sandwiches for the next couple days of lunches (with the homemade buns), and tomorrow evening we'll make some sides for a hot turkey dinner.

How was your long weekend?  What did you do?

Weekday Dinners

I went back to work on Monday, which means the days of stopping at the grocery store after my walk, or going to the farmers' market Wednesday mornings are over until next summer.  This is the time of year when we get a bit more diligent about our meal planning, as we only want to stop at the grocery store once a week (and sometimes a specialty shop or two within the week for fish or nice cheese).

On Monday evening we had fish and salad:

On Tuesday evening we went to watch our nephew's football game, and then came home to whip up a shrimp stir fry:

Wednesday's dinner was a warm salad:

 
And on Thursday we enjoyed beef stroganoff over egg noodles:

After work on Friday we went to the grocery store and Costco, and then just snacked when we got home, since we had numerous things in the freezer to use up (jalapeno poppers, mini quiche, etc.).

We're having a really low-key long-weekend - more on that tomorrow!

What have you been cooking?  

What day do you usually do your grocery shopping?