Meal Planning Week 2

Here is the week 2 meal plan. We didn't stick to it completely, but close enough. I have learned that the more tasty homemade food we eat, the less we like pre-made meals. Sometimes convenience wins, but it is happening less and less. I am also hoping to start making soup and freezing Jack size portions. I think he could eat chicken noodle soup everyday. I tries using dried black beans this month and I probably wont use them again. The texture and overall taste was not as good as the canned. Perhaps I am just not doing it right?

Saturday June 8

Rustic Bread Salad with Basil Vinaigrette 

from the Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook

Sunday June 9

Black Bean Burgers with sweet potato fries. I copied this recipe out of Gwenyth Paltrow cookbook but you can follow the link to the recipe.

Morning Glory Muffins. - I've started to make muffins on the weekend and freeze them for Andrew. He is training for a triathlon and has been getting up super early to do his training. So he takes one out of the freezer the night before and eats the muffin, fruit and oatmeal for breakfast at school.

Monday June 10
Chicken Tikka Masala with rice and Trader Joe's Naan bread. This makes huge portions and we have been eating left overs all week.

Tuesday June 11 (we didn't eat this, we just had left over tikka masala)
Yam & Pepita Quesidillas from  Rebar: Modern Food Cookbook
I have started making a couple of batches of the honey chipotle sauce and freezing it. So this comes together really fast. We eat this on a regular basis

Wednesday June 12.
Veggie Quiche and salad with our garden veggies. With this crust recipe  from the Pioneer Woman.
It makes three pie crusts and freezes amazingly well.

Thursday June 13
Trader Joes Veggie Lasagna (We didn't like the veggie lasagna it was kind of gross)
Andrew has a conference this week so he wont be home so I am taking a cooking break.

Friday June 14
Thai Chicken Pizza & Margherita Pizza  I use the rebar pizza dough recipe and usually split it into 2 medium size pizzas and make a mini cheese pizza for Jack. 

Meal Planning Week 1

We have been trying to eat out less and eat better in general, we are also trying to save money. This means that I have started to meal plan. I did the monthly meal plan because it allows me to do a giant shop at the beginning of the month. Then four smaller shops to stock up on dairy and fresh veggies and fruit. We are trying to cut down our meat consumption from every day to about 3 times a week. I would say we are doing alright at this. I am trying a whole bunch of new Vegetarian recipes and it's going really well. Jack is the only one who doesn't appreciate the influx of beans and vegetables in our life. He is currently adhering the beige diet, mostly cheese quesadillas and cereal and other carb rich foods.

I will post the weekly meal plan and any recipes I can. Most of the recipes are on my Pinterest board so I can easily access them on my iPhone while cooking.

Saturday June 1
Taco Salad with Lime Cilantro Vinaigrette
*note: I would use some oil or cooking spray on your bowl to mould tortillas so they don't stick while baking. Otherwise they fuse to the bowl and are impossible to get off.

Sunday June 2
Salmon with parmesan gremolata smashed potatoes and green beans

Monday June 3
Herb Roasted Chicken with Mashed Potatoes and Steamed Carrots.
I used the chicken carcass to make some tasty chicken stock

Tuesday June 4
Black Bean Enchiladas

Wednesday June 5
Almond Vegetable Stir-Fry
Jack is a huge fan of broccoli and the almonds were so good. I added way more than the recipe calls for.

Thursday June 6
Bangers & Mash
This is a request from Andrew. I love chicken and apple sausage and just some regular mashed potatoes   and some steamed veggies. This is a meal I make when we don't need any left overs for lunch.

Friday June 7
Cheat Day- We went to the Cheese Board for Pizza and I made a Trader Joe's frozen meal for dinner. Sometimes I take the day off cooking.

So far we are off to a good start. Some of the recipes seem like they are pretty big for our little family, we use all the left overs for our lunches or freeze them for another meal.

One Year...

It has been a whole year since my last post. So much as happened. Everything was up in the air and kind of hectic. We spent a lot of time apart which was really hard. Andrew was travelling around from job interview to conferences all over the world. While he was travelling we spent a lot of time on Vancouver Island with my family. So even thought we were apart it was nice to be home with our families. We finally found a job (Andrews dream job) and are settled nicely into the San Francisco Bay area.

Sadly, two weeks after we arrived we got a call from my mom who had been diagnosed with Ovarian cancer. Jack and I flew home right away and went to help with my sister and be with my family. Her diagnoses and surgeries and complications have been a long road for our family. However, I am very happy to belong to such an amazing community of friends and family and sometimes  strangers who have been so amazing and supportive to our family.

Needless to say my creative endeavours have been put on hold for the last year. I have worked on a few projects but not nearly as much as I would like. I hope settling into our new home and being together as a family again will allow me to find that balance and some time to pursue the ever growing list of projects.

Spring is finally here, kind of...

I have been super busy with all sorts of projects and playing outside with Jack. We are going away for a couple of months and I feel like I have a million things to do and instead of crossing things off my ever growing list, I have been reading Nicholas Spark books and making felt doughnuts for Jack. 

We finally bought the replacement attachment from MEC so we can use our bike trailer again. Jack loves it. They have been taking advantage of some of the nice spring weather we have been having.

Jackson loves whip cream and I love my Kitchen Aid

These quilt shots are horrible! It was so sunny out and the pictures are so washed out. But this quilt is  for Jack. 

This is a quilt I made for myself. It's from a line called long live vintage. Flowery red's and grey's I loved it. I thought it would go with our red couch. I used a green polka dot backing. I wish now that I had used a grey polka dots, but it's a bit late to change it. 

I tried to recreate the Jugo Juice PB & Chocolate smoothy, it was gross. They use frozen yogurt and Almond chocolate milk and natural peanut butter. I only had vanilla yogurt and coconut chocolate milk.    I think I will try again when I have all the proper ingredients  

I also need an actual blender. Our old blender's chord was left on the stoves element and burned through. Andrew claims to be able to fix it, but I would never use it for fear of dying from an electric shock or accidentally burning down the house. For now I will use this old hand blender and plastic container.

Jack is really into pirates these day's. And sneaking whole carrots from the fridge and leaving half eaten stubs all over the house. 

My good friend/neighbour is  off to Ghana to do research for a year and I am trying to be upbeat about it but I am a bit heart broken about the whole thing. Her daughter is one of Jack's best little buds.
We will definitely miss them.

So i'm off to procrastinate and not pack and clean. Perhaps I will add another ridiculous craft to my list to further put off getting ready.

Go Anywhere Bag

I made this bag with the Go Anywhere Bag pattern from Noodlehead. I had been wanting to use this bee fabric and this seemed like a perfect bag to use it on. The pattern was super easy to follow and came together quickly. I love how big it is and all of the pockets it has. I used the magnetic snaps for the first time and they were so easy. 

I am wishing now that I had used all black fabric for the exterior and used the bee fabric for the lining. It's a bit to busy I think. Jack has been using it a lot to carry his toys around.

I definitely would recommend the pattern.

Weekender Travel Bag

I started the Weekender Travel Bag by Amy Butler in November 2011 and finally completed it March 2012.

I cut all the Fabric and interfacing and made the cording and then it just sat there. I would occasionally put it on my Ironing board  with every intention to start sewing it. I think I psyched myself out. There were so many pieces and everyone on the blogs said it was a frustrating bag to make.

The frustrating part for me was definitely finding the materials. It is an American pattern and trying to figure out what Peltex and Timtex and all the equivalents were at my local fabric store was a bit annoying.

I rushed through the cording and it wasn't even. I broke so many denim needles in the end I used a leather needle to put it all together and that was much better. I found the zipper method a bit strange but I followed the instructions and it turned out really nice. I realized halfway through that white was probably not the best colour choice for a carryall bag, but what can you do? I would also add some inner pockets if I could do it again.

The handles are a bit to short for my liking, I am 5'11 though so I always need to add a little length which I forgot to do. If you are of average height they should be fine. There was much cursing and some blood shed but I am definitely happy with the finished product. I can't tell yet if I will use this pattern again. It's a bit like child birth I think. Right now my emotions are still way to raw, give it a month and maybe I will feel differently.

Jack taking his modelling duties very seriously 

It was originally going to make this for a Birthday gift but I don't think I can part with this now after all we went though together.

 Now if I could only go on a weekend trip to test this baby out!

Spring in Victoria

We went back to the Island for a week in March. So we made the long drive and made it one piece. The drive home was definitely the sketchiest winter driving so far, I was a total wreck. Andrew was a superstar driver and  Jack was a trooper. We always prepare for the worst but he was amazing. I wanted to take a picture of what the roads were like but my camera was in the backseat and I wasn't about to take my seatbelt off to get it.  I just want to forget that drive completely and never think of it again.

As per usual I forget to take my camera out and all the pictures from this trip were taken by my sisters.

Jack and Caressa on some sort of mission. I love how she dresses herself. 

Little Hen and his Dad

Lil K being camera shy

Jack's go to dance move. 

Silly sisters never let anyone take a picture

I love the petting zoo. The tiny goats are so adorable

This is one of the only normal pics we could get of Raven without her making a silly face. Only because she didn't know we were taking a picture.

So much fun playing with his Aunties 

It was a great trip. Jackson loves being around family. I love all the adult company and seeing friends I haven't seen in a long time. We also got to go on a nice John's place date while we were home. If you haven't tried there waffles with cream cheese syrup or egg's benedict I urge you to go right now and get some.

I really must make an effort to take more pictures. I am homesick already, luckily we have a few weddings to go home for this summer so it won't be long until we are back again.