merry merry

 

book club 50 - ankle snatcher by grady hendrix (ebook) (short story)

 2023-50

 

2 trips to Costco - what am I, made of money???

 november 27

coffee, chicken, frozen mango, granola bars x 2, lettuce, chips x2, beef jerky x 2, hazelnut latte, raspberries, tomatos, sausage, kitchen towels, 2 books for christmas gifts, hot chocolate, crab meat, mayo, socks, stew meat, tuxedo cake for a birthday, pears, batteries

$388

 december 2

a toy, oatmeal, peanut butter and hot chocolate for a christmas hamper donation, raisin buns, plums, cheese x 2, pita bread, tortilla chips, eggs, breakfast burritos, pickles, naan, a book for ME, some clothes for gifts

$298

book club 49 - the final girl support group by grady hendrix

 2023-49

 Dying isn't the important thing.  It's nothing more than the punctuation mark at the end of your life.  It's everything that came before that matters.  Punctuation marks, most people skip right over them.  They don't even have a sound. 

menu planning

 i cooked all of last weeks meals in one form or other.  the meatballs were excellent, if a little sour cream heavy.  i forgot to make the meatloaf and put it in the crock pot, so the mister just made a turkey meatloaf and cooked it in the oven.  i had no panko, so the shrimp were breaded in crushed cornflakes with the sauce on the side.  the pork tenderloin i went with a combo sort of recipe from both recipes.

everything was good.

here's what i found for this week - 

Creamy Tuscan Chicken

Mongolian Ground Beef Noodles

Vietnamese Meatball Lettuce Wraps

Ham and Cheese Crescent Roll Squares

book club 48 - the wall of winnipeg and me by mariana zapata (ebook)

 2023-48

 

book club 47 - the manor house by Gilly MacMillan

 2023-47

 

a quick note

 That this coffee from Costco is really really good.  Like really really.

menu planning - this week and last weeks honey garlic chicken

 lets menu plan!  i'm doing this from my cozy chair in the living room this morning.  everyone is still asleep.  it's dark and quiet in here.  laundry and cleaning and cooking looms ahead of me for the day but we'll ignore it right now and just relax for a bit.  and since my phone is on the charger and i can't scroll tik tok, and i have no lights on so i can't read, that means menu planning.

last week we had a birthday celebration one night (Red Robin burgers) and a quick dinner of ham and eggs before we went to see the Shrek musical (amazing!!!), and made a crock pot pulled pork that will do double duty as sandwiches that night AND feature in tonights Sunday dinner, and a very very good honey garlic chicken that i added grated sweet potato and spinach to which was truly excellent.

So here's what i'm thinking for this week - 

Swedish meatballs - god I miss Ikea

Slow cooker meatloaf 

Bang Bang Shrimp - or sub out chicken, but I think we have some shrimp in the freezer

Pork tenderloin - probably either this one or this one, depending what I have in the pantry.

Happy Sunday.  Don't forget to drink your water.

 

30 day challenge - challenge 1 - drink more water

 because i am just as good at charging headfirst into a new idea as i am at abandoning it quickly, i have decided to incorporate 30 day challenges into my life.

i am truly hoping that this is something that sticks, this life could definitely use a turnaround about now.

so our first challenge is a super basic one, but one that has become more difficult for me over the past while, drinking water.  i used to be pretty good at it, but a switch has flipped and i struggle to drink fluids of any kind, including water.  i know i am dehydrated and i know this is not good, so lets change it.

so the challenge is, drink a minimum of 8 glasses of WATER a day, not any old fluid (hello iced coffee and ice tea) but water.  

coincidentally i am going to try to start using a planner today, and it happens to have a daily water tracker, and i already have a water app on my phone (that i ignore).

so who's with me???  let's do this thing.

book club 46 - Hunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton (ebook)

 2023-46

 

favorites lately

 

book club 45 - Yoga and the Pursuit of Happiness by Sam Chase

 2023-45

 

peppermints from the green binder

 This is a family friendly recipe that yields some pretty darn tasty homemade mints.  The first time we made these last year, my kids couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that you could make mints at home.  But you can and it's easy.  These made me remember the peppermint patties that my mom would make at Christmas - hers were green, to be festive, and the size of a small 2 bite cookie.  I haven't been able to locate her recipe, but I wonder if it was just a larger batch of this sort of recipe.

 1 cup icing sugar

2 tb soft butter

1/4 tsp peppermint extract

Combine the 3 ingredients in a mixer or food processor until mixed and crumbly.  Remove and knead with your hand until combined into a soft smooth dough, just a minute or 2.  Roll out into a long thin rope, and cut into small mints.  Spread out on a baking sheet to harden, then store.

book club 44- Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton (ebook)

 2023-44

 

another energy bite recipe

 Oatmeal Peanut Butter Energy Bites

grocery shop - Eastuff Grocery November 18

 

Chinese sausage, kimchi ramen, indomie noodles, strawberry cookies, yopokki cup onion butter, hoisin sauce, white pepper, salt, Korean spaghetti, Japanese ramen, grilled pork flavored chips, dried mushrooms, watermelon freezes, yakisoba cup noodles, cheese ramyun, wire skimmer (my favorite kitchen tool), chopsticks

$114

stew photo

 my recent post omitted my lovely stew photo and because it's a lovely stew photo, here it is.

the best cookie - the Ted Lasso shortbread cookie

 I got this recipe a while back from People magazine, and it was in an email and I was going to delete it and then I thought, no, let's try it, it's an easy recipe and it made THE BEST shortbread cookies I've ever made or eaten.

 

Ted Lasso's "Biscuits with the Boss" Shortbread

1 cup unsalted butter, softened, cut into pieces, plus more for greasing

2 cups all-purpose flour

½ cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

½ tsp. fine sea salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan with butter. Line bottom and sides with parchment paper, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides. Set aside.

2. Beat butter, flour, sugar, vanilla and salt with a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment on low speed until mixture is well-combined and just beginning to come together, 45 seconds to 1 minute.

3. Using your hands, press dough evenly into prepared pan. (If mixture is too sticky, place a sheet of parchment paper on top of dough, and press into pan. Remove parchment before baking.)

4. Bake until edges are golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool completely in pan, about 1 hour. Using parchment paper as handles, lift biscuits from pan. Cut into 18 rectangles.

book club 43 - Various Miracles by Carol Shields

 2023-43

 

grocery shop november 15 - freshco

 

tortilla chips, clamato, fish, cheerios, shrimp, margerine, garlic dip, apples, zero sugar pepsi

$57

Sunday and Monday and Thursday dinners

 

We were reminiscing with The Grandpa one night about the Millarville farmers market just outside Calgary, that we went to regularly when we lived there, and I (of course) remembered the food concession that was run by the locals - coffee, pancakes and sausages, and back bacon on a bun sandwiches with fried onions.  It was so good.

We've made the sandwiches ourselves a number of times since we moved away, but the ones this Sunday were probably the best we've ever had.  The Mister made the onions and bacon and I'm pretty sure his secret was way more butter than I would ever use, but they were so dang good.

The next night to combat all that butter I made a healthy(ish) spinach and pasta dish - Creamy Spinach Orzo.  Easy and delicious - even the kids ate it without complaint!

Cooking every day is bloody exhausting, so we went simple for Thursday - beef stew in the crockpot.  This recipe is a winner every time.

cookbook cleanup 57 - The Book of Burger by Racheal Ray

 Next up is The Book of Burger.  We do love a burger around here.

 Lasagna burgers.  Grilled cheese burgers. Lamb burgers with walnuts. Hog dog fries (???).   It's all here.  I've had this book for ages and I'm pretty sure I've never cooked out of it before.  A lot of these were too far out for my family to consider, but I made myself a short list from the over 200 recipes.

 We started with the Cubano burger which had you chop some ham up and add to your ground turkey along with some garlic and other seasonings, cook and top with cheese, pickles and mustard.  I was confident that this would be a hit - but it was not.  The kids HATED this burger.  With a fiery passion.  The adults ate them, but after a couple of bites, it was not with much enthusiasm.  These were not a winner.

This book sat idle on my side table for quite a few months after that, but I was determined to decide if it goes or stays so we moved on to the Shepherds Pie burger.  Basically you make little meatloaf patties, cook them, place on garlic bread, top with mashed potatos and gravy and try not to cry while you eat them because they are so dang good.

 

Then we tried the Satay sliders, except made regular burger size and with pork instead of chicken.  This was another amazing burger - the cucumber onion relish was to die for.  Even The Girl ate it!

Even with two hits and one miss, this one is leaving the shelf.  While there are a few more - just a few - that I'd like to try, I know the kids won't eat most of them so what's the point.

Back on the bookshelf - 20 Donated -37

and now for something competely different.....

 Stuffing pancakes!

I mixed the last of the stuffing and chicken together, added an egg, and fried my little pancakes until crispy and golden.  Actually could have been better than the waffles!

grocery shop november 12

 

crackers, rice cakes x2, KD x2, chips x2, stove topx2, gravy mix, salmon pate, coffee creamer, bell peppers, green onions, celery, red onions, cucumbers x2, mushrooms, baguette

$71

stuffing waffles

 Tik Tok convinced me to try making stuffing waffles (although now I see I have done this before) and it seemed like the perfect way to use up the leftover rotisserie chicken we had.  I made up a box, hosed down the waffle maker with spray and added the stuffing.  A few minutes later we had waffled stuffing deliciousness.

 Unfortunately, they did NOT want to come out of the waffle maker and ended up in pieces on our plates.  But look how gooooooood.

2 recent wins inspired by Tik Tok

 It must be good when The Boy is grabbing from the table before we've sat down, right?

These were roasted carrots with a spicy sauce - cut the carrots into sticks, toss with olive oil, paprika, salt, onion and garlic powders, then toss again with parmesan cheese.  Lay them out on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.  I have a bottle of Franks Hot Honey Garlic sauce I've been waiting to open so I stirred that into some mayo and it was SO good on not only the carrots but also the broccoli and chicken we had that night.

Another night I made these chicken tenders

Season your chicken with salt, pepper, paprika, onion and garlic powders, then dip in beaten egg and then into crushed cornflakes.  I baked them in the air fryer for about 8 minutes and drizzled them with a sweet-garlicky-soy sauce I mixed up.

Very delicious.

book club 42 - you do you by sarah knight

 2023-42

 

book club 41 - The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

 2023-41

 

the corner of my kitchen

 There is a corner of my kitchen that has been the bane of my existence for years now.  YEARS.

It is where the fruit bowl and bread products are kept.  Above the counter is the cupboard full of glass jars, measuring cups and water bottles.  Below is the plastic container drawer.  

We used to use multiple bowls to hold the fruit, but that didn't work well, because then there were multiple bowls on the counter.  So I bought a multi level fruit bowl, but it was too tall, and blocked the cabinet door.  I was mad, and couldn't return the fruit bowl, so we kept it.  But I was only ever the only one that would MOVE the fruit bowl so jars and cups and stuff could be put in the cupboard.  Everyone else (The Mister) would leave them on the counter.  Same with the plastic containers, even though there was nothing blocking THAT drawer.  

The bread products were a similar disaster, usually tossed in a pile, until The Mister bought a giant humongous bowl that took up a bunch of room and then no one could see - or would look  to see - if anything was going moldy beneath the surface.  

Kitchen towels would get tossed there, the kids would leave chip and cracker bags there, and I hated it.  

Then a couple of weeks ago I realized - I don't have to live like this!  And bought 2 baskets from Amazon.  I took everything out of the corner, cleaned it all up and then it looked like this - 

I would be embarrassed it anyone knew how often I just stood in the kitchen that weekend and admired the corner.  It was a lot of time.

Does it still look this good now?  God no.  But does it look better than before?  A thousand yeses.

11/11