book club 33 - Option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant

 2023-33

 

book club 32 - Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

 2023-32

 

bites

 Because spooky season is almost over, here are my little yarn pumpkins that I started making early this month

I saw - the the ole ticky toks of course - a recipe to scoop out the inside of your bagel and fill it with egg and ham and cheese and air fry it.  We didn't have any bagels but we did have buns and gave it a go and was so good.  I still haven't tried it with bagels.

We had a ton of cherry tomatos all ripen at once and we tried a marinated baked recipe that was pretty meh, so we squished them and covered them in feta and baked them and ate it on bread. 

Speaking of feta, I also tried the feta egg recipe, where you sprinkle feta in your pan, let it start to melt and then crack in an egg.  I don't like fried eggs, so I tried a scrambled, and it worked pretty well.  Cherry tomatos on top of course.

These pancake-sausage bites were GOOD - add cooked crumbled sausage and shredded cheddar cheese to your prepared pancake batter and bake as muffins or mini muffins.

I had a bunch of apples that were suddenly not looking their best, so I searched for a fast applesauce recipe and found a super super great one  here - not only does it not have any added sugar, but you don't even had to peel the apples!  The authors pureed the skins into their sauce - i pulled them out after it had cooled for a bit and left the sauce chunky.  So good.

very good lentils

 I can no longer find the recipe that inspired these amazing lentils, but here is a rough recipe for what I did.  We served it with rice and a big handful of cherry tomatos from the garden.

Tomato Coconut Lentils

Chop up a good 5-6 garlic cloves and grate a thumb size knob of fresh ginger.  Add them to a pot over medium heat with some oil and sizzle for a couple of minutes.  Add in about a teaspoon each of ground cumin, coriander and turmeric and cook for another minute or so. Add in  a cup of rinsed red lentils, 2 cups veg broth, a tin of diced tomatos and a tin of coconut milk.  Stir it all up, cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the lentils are soft.  Season with salt and pepper.

book club 31 - The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

2023-31

 

book club 30 - Unf*ck Yourself by Gary John Bishop

 2023-30

 

book club 29 - Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan

 2023-29

 

book club 28 - Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid -Menon

 2023-28

 

book club 27 - The Guilt Trip by Sandie Jones

 2023-27

 

grocery shop - fresh co september 14

 

tostadas, rice vinegar, coconut milk, cannelloni beans, black beans, greek yogurt, cheese, rice, sausages, leeks, cheetos, milk, chips, peanut butter, coconut oil, salsa, soup, chamoy chile, blue cheese dressing, rice crispies, rice cakes, drinks for the kids, shredded coconut, masa harina, tortillas, noodle soup, pistachios, cashews

$123

gumbo

 We were cleaning out the freezer a while back and unearthed some ground chicken and turkey bones.  I was anxious to use them up as I wasn't sure how long they'd been in there and puzzled over what to do with them.  Chicken chili?  Meatball soup?  But then the best idea came - GUMBO. 

 I used Lucy Buffett's recipe as the starting point for the roux and veggies and broth quantities - using my turkey stock I made in the instant pot from the bones - and then added in chicken meatballs from the ground chicken and some leftover sausage from the fridge.  

I served rice and steamed spinach on the side, and once we had dinner, I stirred the spinach into the leftovers for me and The Mister, since the kids are anti-spinach and anti-leftovers.

It was probably the best gumbo I've made, and it DEFINITELY tasted better the next day.

The Mister suggested gumbo for Christmas Day but was shouted down by The Boy and The Grandpa, so we'll be having it New Years Day instead.  Maybe a new tradition?

Harrison BC

 This summer we went back to Harrison and had a really, really great time.  The kids loved the pools and the grocery store for snacks, and we loved how quiet and green and beautiful it was.  There wasn't enough time to do all the things we wanted, as usual, and The Mister started planning the next trip as soon as we got home.

 Our first night there we had dinner at Pho Ho, which we had eaten at on our last trip as well.  The Mister and I love Vietnamese food; we were spoiled living in Calgary for so long where it's everywhere, so we try to eat it whenever we come across a restaurant.  It was even better than last time, partially due to the fact that the kids actually wanted to try some of the food.  :)

We had breakfast every morning at Basecamp, it was SO delicious and the staff were the best.  Our last morning we got the breakfast sandwiches to go and ate them on our hotel patio, sadly saying goodbye to the water and trees (and pools).

Last trip to Harrison, we weren't able to eat at the Black Forest Restaurant as they were booked all the nights we were there.  We made a reservation this time, to make sure we got in.  The food was delicious, the service was not, but I would go back again and again.  

The absolute best meal of the trip was at Royal King Indian Restaurant.  The food was out of this world and the owners were so nice.  We ate until we were beyond full, it was all so delicious.  The Boy still talks about our dinner there almost weekly.