Celebrating

It's no secret that we love to celebrate.  We got married on Friday the 13th for a couple of reasons; we both love the date, and we also thought it would be fun to celebrate not only our yearly anniversary, but also every Friday the 13th!  Yesterday was Friday the 13th, so we busted out some bubbly, and planned a delicious meal. 

We started with smoked salmon on fresh-made crostini.  We topped the crostini with herb cream cheese before adding the smoked salmon.

The main course was roasted veggies with lobster tails.

For dessert, we had the best chocolates ever, Bernard Callebaut.

There were a few more in that bag, but someone ate them.

It was such a wonderful Friday evening, spent with my favourite person in the world.  There is one more Friday the 13th this year, in November, and you better believe we'll be celebrating!  

What are you up to this weekend?

Spaghetti with Arugula Meatballs - Power up with Greens!

Sobeys has launched a wonderful program called Power up with Greens, as part of it's Better Food for All Mission with Jamie Oliver.  The Power up with Greens program is aimed at encouraging Canadians to incorporate more greens into their everyday meals.

I see the value in this program, and along with Sobeys, I want to show you how fun and easy it can be to add some unexpected green-goodness to favourite recipes.  We all love decadent, flavourful, heartwarming comfort food, and this program is a chance to explore the greener side of eating, by incorporating (or sneaking) some healthy greens into your favourite meals.

I've partnered with Sobeys for this program, and will be making a recipe each week for four weeks, showcasing how easy it can be to add greens into everyday meals.  This week I chose to make an all-time favourite meal of mine, spaghetti and meatballs.  Who doesn't love a big ol' bowl of spaghetti and meatballs?  It's so savoury, satisfying, rich and comforting.  Hearty meatballs in a rich tomato sauce, over pasta - it really doesn't get any better than that!

The green that I chose to incorporate into this meal was arugula.

I love the peppery taste of arugula, and thought it would be a great addition to the meatballs.  Arugula is so good for you:

• It is a great source of vitamin A, C, Folic Acid, and other cancer preventing vitamins
• It is great for bone and brain health, as it's one of the best vegetable sources of vitamin K
• It is a vegetable source of iron and copper
• Arugula is classified as a cruciferous vegetable, like broccoli, kale and cabbage, and is high in fibre and antioxidants
• It is high in chlorophyll which can help in the prevention of DNA and liver damage from toxins

Arugula is great raw, in salads, sandwiches, or wraps.  It's mild peppery flavour gives a little pizazz to whatever you add it to.  It's also great cooked, and mild enough that you can sneak it into a cooked dish without picky eaters being able to distinguish it's taste.

I added 1 cup of arugula to my meatball recipe, with a bunch of fresh herbs as well, for an added boost of green.

 

Spaghetti with Arugula Meatballs

1 pgk lean ground beef (I used a .6 kg package)
1 cup arugula (loosely packed), chopped finely
1 tsp fresh oregano, minced
1 tsp fresh parsley, minced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 egg
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
salt and pepper
250 g spaghetti noodles
1 jar good quality marinara sauce (I used Sensations brand Sweet Basil Marinara)
Parmesan cheese and fresh parsley for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Combine beef, arugula, oregano, parsley, garlic, egg, and breadcrumbs in a bowl.  Season liberally with salt and pepper.  Form into golf ball sized balls, and place on lined pans.  Bake for 15 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 160 F.  Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to package instructions, and heat the marinara sauce in a separate saucepan.  When the meatballs are done, add them gently to the sauce.  You can add more fresh parsley and oregano into the sauce if desired.  Serve the warmed sauce over the cooked spaghetti, and garnish with parsley and Parmesan cheese.

This meal was so good, and it felt even better knowing that we had added a bit of a nutritional boost with the arugula.

How would you infuse some greens into one of your favourite, decadent dishes?

Sobeys is asking Canadians how better food choices have inspired them to live a better life.  By using the hashtag #BetterFoodForAll on Instagram or Twitter along with a photo or video and a brief description of how better food choices have inspired you to eat better, feel better, and do better, you can be entered to win a cooking lesson with Jamie Oliver in London, England.  You have until March 26th to enter!

Full Disclosure: The author has received consideration from Sobeys or Sobeys' media partners in exchange for this content.  Sobeys has not reviewed these claims, and is not responsible for the content.  

Saskatoon Saturday

Yesterday we grabbed a quick breakfast before going to see my mom.

We had a late lunch at Las Palapas.  We started with coconut shrimp, and then I had quesadillas, and Christopher had tacos.

My portion was pretty big.  I ate most of two quesadilla pieces, and passed the rest of the plate across the table.

Later on in the evening we shared a charcuterie board at Aroma:

And then Christopher had a dessert - peanut butter pretzel cheesecake.

We'll grab breakfast this morning before going to get groceries for my mom and having another visit.  Then we'll be on the road home.

How are you spending your Sunday?

Restaurants

On Thursday evening we went to the food court in the Golden Mile mall.  We ate at the Korean place Lohas, before heading to see Mockingjay Part 1 in the theatre.

The food was good, as was the movie.

Yesterday's lunch was at Siam.  They have the best buffet I've ever had in my life - it is absolutely fantastic. 

Seriously, go there.  You're welcome.

Later in the afternoon we headed to Saskatoon for the weekend.  We checked into our hotel, and then headed down to the hotel restaurant, Aroma, for dinner.

They brought out some bread and olives:

I ordered the Italiano pizza:

And Christopher had Adam's Ribs:

He also had dessert:

We're now off to visit my mom. 

What are you up to this weekend?  

Have you eaten at any restaurants lately?

Easy Tortellini Soup with Spinach

I'm sure you've all heard, numerous times, about the health benefits of leafy greens.  They truly are some of the best foods you can eat, and in our home, we love them.  When Sobeys approached me about partnering up this month for their Let's Eat Better Together campaign, I jumped at the opportunity.  Their Power up with Greens program, that is part of this campaign, is aimed at encouraging Canadians to incorporate more greens into their favourite meals.

The tortellini soup we made tonight is so easy - easy enough for a quick weeknight meal.  It uses an entire bag of baby spinach, and you wouldn't know it!  Spinach shrinks down a lot when cooked, so it's a great addition to soup; you can add a lot, but it doesn't take up a lot of room.

Easy Tortellini Soup with Spinach

2 T butter
8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 litre regular chicken broth
170 g fresh cheese tortellini (use the Compliments brand with herbs in it for a little extra green!)
14 oz can diced tomatoes
10 oz bag baby spinach (rough chop if desired, but not necessary)
Salt & Pepper (to taste)
Parmesan cheese
Fresh basil, chopped

Heat the butter on low in a pot.  Add the garlic, and cook about 1 minute.  Add the broth, cover, and bring to a boil.  Add the tortellini, cover, and cook about 4-5 minutes.  Add the diced tomatoes (including the liquid), and simmer about a minute.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Add the spinach, and stir well.  Let wilt.  Once wilted, serve the soup with grated Parmesan cheese and basil.

What kind of greens did you eat today?  Are you incorporating greens into any of your meals this weekend?

Full Disclosure: The author has received consideration from Sobeys or Sobeys' media partners in exchange for this content.  Sobeys has not reviewed these claims, and is not responsible for the content.  

Turkey Pho Soup

We are totally hooked on pho.  We don't have many great places in town to get it, so we've been wanting to create our own recipe.  After making a turkey the other day, we used the bones to make turkey stock.  We then turned that into an incredibly addictive, turkey pho soup.

Turkey Pho Soup 

(using homemade turkey stock) 

- Stripped bones from one turkey
- Enough water to cover the bones in a stock pot
- 2 stalks celery, halved
- 2 T brown sugar
- 2 T fish sauce
- 10 star anise
- 6 cloves
- 5 whole allspice
- 1 cinnamon stick

- 3 T very finely minced ginger
- 1 jalapeno, seeded, and chopped into rings or medium sized pieces
- 5 or so bok choy leaves, chopped
- shredded or chopped leftover turkey
- 200 g flat, larger rice noodles
- Fresh limes, bean sprouts, Thai basil (for garnish)


Bring the bones, water, celery, brown sugar, fish sauce, star anise, cloves, allspice, and cinnamon stick to a boil, and then simmer (covered) for hours.  The longer you simmer it, the better it will be.  We had ours on the stove for about five hours.

Strain the broth to remove the bones, spices etc., then return to heat.  Add the ginger, jalapeno, bok choy, turkey, and noodles.  Cook a few minutes until noodles are done.  Serve with Thai basil, bean sprouts, and fresh squeezes of lime for garnish.  The Thai basil is a must!

Next we're going to work on a beef pho soup - I'm already drooling.

Do you like pho?  

(Properly written phở and pronounced fuh)

Ten on Tuesday

1)  We made a calzone the other day with moose that my brother and his lovely lady hunted - it was delicious.

2)  On Friday night we went out with pals to Industrial Park Cafe, a hidden gem restaurant in town.  We had the all-you-can-eat tacos ($10).  You can dish out your own toppings into hard or soft taco shells, or into small bags of Doritos!  I've heard that this place has incredible fries, gravy, and wings, so we'll definitely be back to try those.

3)  My typical breakfast for the past week or so has been cottage cheese with fruit.  Christopher has the same breakfast nearly every workday morning - tea, coconut water, and 1/2 a pomegranate.

4)  Exactly one month from today we'll be on Honeymoon Part 2 in NY!  We're going to see Book of Mormon on Broadway, and cannot wait!

5)  We had a strange breakfast on the weekend.  We shared a giant bowl of potatoes, some oranges, and yogurt.

6)  When we wrote our own vows, I promised to make Christopher desserts.  He's requesting this one.

7)  The kind people at Popcorn, Indiana sent me some popcorn to try free-of-charge. 

So far we've tried the FIT popcorn, and were very impressed.  For a couple who orders our salty movie theatre popcorn with extra topping, I didn't think this healthier popcorn would be satisfying, but it was really good!

8)  The pico de gallo addiction in our home has become out-of-control; we are absolutely hooked.  It is so fresh, and full of healthy raw onion, cilantro, jalapenos and tomato ... add some fresh lime juice and salt, and it's a bowl of perfection.  The trick to great pico is equal parts onion/tomato/cilantro.

9)  We cooked up a turkey dinner last night.  I had picked up a really cheap pre-stuffed turkey after Christmas, and I was surprised by how good the stuffing was, and how much of it was in the bird!  We threw some quartered potatoes around the turkey, and cooked those in there too.  We served that all with steamed broccoli and a homemade mushroom gravy.

10)  We made turkey stock after for a new recipe that we created last night - coming soon!

How has your week started out?

Do you have any trips coming up?