These are a few of my favorite things...

This is the entertainment unit we had growing up. Now it's the one my kids will have as they grow up.




















And this is the wardrobe I used to have in my room, tuned basement storage unit, turned pantry. Painted and personalized to fit into our coffee inspired kitchen.
































One of two couches and a massive TV the for the girls from my aunt and uncle S & R







































This is my garage sale re purposed computer desk turned bar. It houses all of our wine glasses, alcohol, shot glasses and extra vases and tablecloths.






















A mirror from K's mom. It used to hang in their bathroom. Repainted and hung in our hallway accented by the pussy willows from Nanna.

















One of two storage shelves from aunt J and uncle J. The second one will go in Jordyn's room when the crib comes out. This one fits perfectly in the basement to hide K's wires from his studio and house the kids' toys.

And these are just a few of my favorite things.

So instead of cursing as I clean and dust, I'm thankful for these saved things. These pieces that will get a new life in our home. These things with scars, these old things turned new. Just like all of us these things deserve a second chance.

Even though I'm sure I've said it before. Thank you to everybody who has ever shared with us. We truly appreciate it.

Really me,
Repurposer.
Nik

Curry Chicken Chicken

I'll just say it, I was chicken to make curry chicken. I'm also chicken to make ox tail. Why? Because those are two of K's favorite meals. Any time we're out with an excuse to get food he will aim for the curry... or a roti. Last night I went for it, with the help of several friends, I felt like I could do it.

Here is the Ultimate Curry Chicken

You’ll Need…

3 Lbs Dark Chicken on the bone
3/4 tablespoon salt
dash black pepper
1/4 hot pepper (scotch bonnet, habanero or any hot pepper you like) *Optional.
heaping tablespoon curry powder (madras) I used the regular old yellow curry powder from Basics and added about 1/2tsp of Garam Masala (you can get that at Bulk Barn)
1/4 teaspoon roasted Geera (powder) aka Cumin powder
1 medium tomato diced (I used canned)
1 medium onion sliced
2 cloves garlic sliced
1 teaspoon green seasoning mix (This is what you do with the leftover cilantro from the fish tacos)
2 + 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Juice of 1 lime or lemon
1 1/2 cups water
6 tablespoons water (to cook curry)
1 scallion
Shado beni (see note below) substitute cilantro or culantro

My house smelled really good last night, the curry chicken, and then my sister made some red velvet cupcakes. It's a wonder I didn't ruin dinner 'sampling' everything.

I served it with rice and peas (peas and rice for you JR), and a bottle of hot sauce on the side for K.

We all ate it up, even Demi, who, upon looking at it proclaimed "I don't like that".

K said it could have used some more salt, seeing as how I forgot to put the salt in in the first place, that makes sense. lol We give this recipe 8 stars!

Tonight we were supposed to have fajitas and 'fries supreme' but a last minute audition call for Demi will mean take out tonight. Sometimes plans change, and that's fine. We'll push it back to Saturday.

Really me,
Not so chicken
Nik

Quick Fry Steak and Fish Tacos

There wasn't much to report on Tuesday. Quick fry steak is kind of a family thing. My grandmother used to make it every Monday. Unlike me, she likes the same thing every week. Week after week.

The premise is simple. First you need a think steak... pound it out some more. Heat a frying pan, toss in a bunch of butter to brown. When the butter is on the verge of burning, throw in the steaks and cook for a few minutes on each side. Serve with mashed potatoes and corn (or veggie of choice) and pour the brown butter over the potatoes. Really not the healthiest meal out there. lol

We give it a 5. It's quick, easy, you got your protein, stahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifrch and veg (or starch again. lol) And it's tasty.


Fish Tacos with Mango Corn salsa.

Now here's a dish that you can feel good serving to your family. The recipe is based on the two recipes above. I have edited them to our taste.

For one, I cut my basa into strips, dipped in milk and dredged in bread crumbs, then cook them in a pan with a bit of butter. I felt it was a bit healthier of a choice. Because we have two little ones, I omitted the jalapeno peppers in the white sauce. I used 1 part mayo, 1 part greek yogurt (yum!) lime juice, cumin and oregano. Let it mingle for at least an hour, overnight if you can.

As for the salsa... we live in Canada, there is no fresh corn. I used 1/2 can of corn, 1 mango, a hand full of cilantro, squeeze of lime and lemon, and canned diced tomatoes (again because we live in Canada, and I refuse to buy 'fresh' tomatoes from Mexico.), salt and pepper.

The recipe calls for corn tortillas. I tried to use the corn, I really tried to like the corn. I even tried extra hard to like it because it has half the calories as the regular tortillas, so I could have twice as many! But I just do not like corn tortillas. Maybe the ones I bought were old and stale? Or maybe corn tortillas just normally taste old and stale? Whatever the case, I will forever more serve them on flour tortillas. Oh, and K says it's even better with some hot sauce added.

This dish gets a 9 star. It really is a fantastic dinner, and it's kid and baby approved in my house. I barely heard Demi utter a peep, which is rare. She just munched down her little taco.
















Enjoy!

Really me,
rate my dish
Nik

The winnner

I got caught up in Alcatraz. I'm not sure I understand what is going on, but I'll give it a chance.

More to the point....

The total spent on all of that food was $106.27. If my math is right (please somebody double check!), that makes Ashley the winner!

All of the meat aside from the ground beef was 30% off. The total savings on my bill was just about $30. The cheese and orange juice was purchased at Walmart. $4.44 for the cheese, and $7.49 for the juice.

Thanks to everybody for participating!

Jammin' Jambalaya!!

My mouth was watering hours before dinner since I decided to get started on my Jambalaya around noon. The recipe is super simple. You could easily use leftovers cooked earlier in the week and make this a simple 20 min meal. Or an easy slow cooker meal.

Here's what you need.

6 slices of bacon cut into 1 inch pieces
1 celery stock chopped
1/2 green/bell pepper chopped
1/2 onion chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
1 chicken breast cooked and cubed
2 sausages cooked and cubed (andouille which I couldn't find here, but hot italian would be awesome, or mild italian for a kid friendly version, kielbasa is also a great alternative I came across)
1/2 pound fresh or frozen shrimp
1 can crushed tomatoes (I used whole tomatoes and an immersion blender)
2 cups beef broth
2 tsp cajun seasoning (I used creole seasoning, but they are very similar)
1c Instant Rice
Franks Hot sauce to taste (optional)

Since the chicken and sausage need to be cooked, you can do this the night before, or earlier in the week.

1. In a frying pan, crisp the bacon. Remove it with a slotted spoon. Add celery, pepper and onion. Cook until tender, add garlic.

2. Add chicken, sausage, tomatoes, beef broth, hot sauce, corn and cajun seasoning. (If you are using frozen shrimp add them now). Bring to a boil.

3. Turn heat down to a simmer, add rice and fresh shrimp. Cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until the rice is tender.

4. Add bacon just before serving. Enjoy!

K didn't even notice that I had done my hair when he got home. The waft of jambalaya was so strong in the air that he was pulled out of his boot and into the kitchen to look in the pot on the stove. Never mind that I had newly dyed my hair, he wanted to know what bowls to use. He wasn't disappointed.



We give this meal an 8.5 out of 10. It's easy, quick and tasty. It could have used a bit more heat, in K's opinion. This will be a keeper for sure!

Really me,
The Chef
Nik

How do you do that?

That's something I hear fairly often when I talk about my shopping budget. I usually spend about $80-100 every two weeks on a big shop. Then we will likely spend another $20 on extras during the two weeks for things like milk, or buns or a forgotten item for dinner. Lately we've been in a little rut. Working a few hours every week, two kids at home, pre-school, crawling, ballet and all the other things we do during the week make for a tight schedule.

Food and money and taste and time are all things that drive me crazy on a daily basis. Making healthy meals that don't take forever, taste good, and not break the bank. So when a dear friend said that she was going to try to have a different meal every day for a month. That sounded like an awesome challenge!

I'd love you give you the opportunity to follow along. I'll post recipes, and shopping tips.

We have our meal plan set for the next two weeks, I'll post the recipes with a rating as we go.

Today: Traditional rump roast ($8.59) Scalloped potatoes ($1.49) and Broccoli ($1.50)


Monday: Jambalaya
Tuesday: Quick Fry steak with mashed potatoes and corn
Wednesday: Fish Tacos with mango corn salsa
Thursday: Curry chicken with rice and peas
Friday: Chicken Fajitas with Fries Supreme

Since this is my first blog in a while, I feel like starting it off with a little fun.

Here's a picture of my Sunday shop for 2 weeks.
The person who comes the closest to the price I paid for all the items will win a little something.
Here's a little tip: I spent more on this shop than I usually do.















Eggs (18)
Quick Fry steak (2)
Medium Ground Beef (2)
Bon in skin on Chicken breast (pack of 5)
Chicken thighs (pack of 11)
Pork Shoulder
Bananas (4)
Oranges (4)
Green Pepper
Broccoli
Yogurt Tubes
Alphabits Cereal
Pasta Sauce (4)
Margarine
Butter
Diced Tomatoes (2)
Large Fajitas
Small Fajitas
French Fries
Coleslaw mix
Sour Cream
Whipped topping
Mac & Cheese (2)
Cheesestrings (pack of 16)
Whipping cream
Canned corn (2)
Tropicana Juice (1.63)
1% milk
Old cheddar Cheese (500g)
Mozzarella Cheese (500g)
Black Beans
Kidney Beans
Nibs (2)

ETA: I shop at Food Basics.


Really me,
Glad to be back
Nik

New Favorite Sweet Treat

I went over to Nanna's this week. She presented me with a plate of... well, they were brown, and shiny, and odd looking kind of bars. They really leave something to be desired in the looks department.

I judged this book by it's cover and proclaimed "Eww those look nasty!"

Then I put one in my mouth.

Oh

My

God!

They were sweet, but not too sweet, chocolaty, crunchy, creamy, mouth full of goodness.

I'll admit, these probably aren't for everybody, but they're my new favorite leave them on the counter, they'll be gone by the end of day, snack as you walk by kind of treat. And with the Christmas season soon approaching, I will be adding these ugly little treats to my repertoire.

These things are so ugly, I'm not going to post a picture. You'll know they turned out right when you look at them and go Ewww. But I encourage you to close your eyes and open wide!!

No Bake Chocolate Peanut Butter Mallow Bars

1 1/2c rolled oats
1c bran flakes (or special K, or Rice Crispies, or Corn Flakes, whatever you have will likely do)
1c peanuts
1c raisins (I only used a handful cause I'm not a fan of raisins.)
1c small marshmallows (no, the big ones will not work)
1/2c honey
1/2c brown sugar
1/4c butter
1/2c cocoa powder
1c peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl combine oats, cereal, raisins and marshmallows. In a pot combine honey and sugar, cook over medium high heat until mixture comes to a boil. Add peanuts, butter and peanut butter. Stir until smooth. Remove from heat, add cocoa powder and vanilla. Mix well. Pour mixture over cereal and oats. Mix thoroughly until marshmallows are melted and everything is covered. Press into a 9" pan. Cool for an hour. Cut into squares.

Really me,
Yes, I eat ugly things (no jokes please!)
Nik