meanwhile back at the blog

So I didn't take an intentional hiatus just been busy with life but I'm back. Wow, October flew by and we're progressing through November, hard to believe.

October in a nutshell:
Thanksgiving was nice, we were invited to eat with our friends and their family which was so great since we aren't able to visit our family for a while. I even got to try sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top, so delicious and to think I've always called yams sweet potatoes...it's sad really the sheltered life I've led.

Next up was my birthday, we decided to be practical and have fun so we took the hour drive to the "big city" haha and went to Costco for dog food and appetizers before we enjoyed dinner at Eastside Mario's and a movie. Appetizers at Costco?! come on if you've ever been to a Costco you know to check out the food section where there are usually samplers = fun and cost effective. Just to be clear we brought the dog food home to the dogs..okay then. There really wasn't any movie playing that I had a burning desire to see so we settled on Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist..it was kinda funny but soo not my favourite movie. Still it was nice to go out to a movie and enjoy my birthday. Oh AND while at Costco we saw these movie deals for sale, they include two tickets, two pops and a popcorn for $21. Now when we do go out to movies we don't buy movie treats but we splurged and since the movie alone was $10 each it was perfect. Check them out if you are going out for a movie night!

We finished re-painting the living room and hall in a colour called muddy river, it's a nice colour and looks great with the blue kitchen, I loved the sunny yellow but the open concept style of our house just didn't really allow for the two colours to live harmoniously. It is soooo nice to have it all done, furniture back in place and pictures on the walls. My mood has improved drastically since we got everything put back together.
On Halloween night I stayed home with the pups to hand out goodies and decided to dress up because well I just love getting dressed up. I also love carving pumpkins. This year I did an owl but it was too soon and she shrivelled, soooo the backside of that pumpkin ended up as stars and I did another one as a pirate as per hubby's request. We had quite a few kidlets stop by and one in particular cracked me up, not because of his costume but by what he said, it went something like this...

Kid glances into living room while receiving his treats...
kid: "you use one of those??? said in utter disbelief
Hubby following kid's gaze... "use what?"
"one of THOSE" (gesturing wildly with arms in shape of the letter V) "on top of the tv"
at this point my hubby realizes he is talking about our antenna...no we don't have cable, a sad thing for hubby.
Thanks kid for bringing it up...it was too cute, I bet he has only seen tv antennas on old tv shows or something. Wait til you see our ringer washing machine...just kidding.

Well it's now November and it is also late so I am off to bed to give my body the rest it needs to combat cold season. More posts to come including Menu Plan Monday..tomorrow. I know *gasp* on Tuesday...

I can't believe another week has flown by, and it's almost thanksgiving! I'm planning on making a Thanksgiving meal for just the two of us, it will be a mini version so I might just get some turkey drumsticks or something instead of cooking a whole bird.
I made lasagna last night, modified the recipe according to what I had and wow it was good! Hubby raved and is excited that I made two 8x8 pans so we have one in the freezer all ready to go.
I'm going to get some pictures and recipes up here but for now I'm going to scoot to the grocery store...have a great week!

Tuesday:
Lentil Tacos

Wednesday:
Potatoes, Veggies and Chicken

Thursday:
Barley Veggie Soup with grilled sandwiches

Friday:
Spaghetti with Salad

Saturday:
Homemade pizza try this with half whole wheat flour, delish!

Sunday:
Thanksgiving meal

Monday:
Leftovers

for more great meal ideas check out Menu Plan Monday

So we were able to stretch our meal plan last week to last another couple of days by eating leftovers on the second night so I'm a bit late getting this put together. We're still working on eating as much as we can from the pantry, fridge and freezer but I'll have to pick up a few things tomorrow.

As the autumn weather is upon us here I have been craving some good hearty soups, if anyone has any good recipes they would like to share please do!

Tuesday: potatoes, vegetables and salmon-missed it last week

Wednesday: creamy burrito casserole

Thursday: grilled ham sandwiches and curried carrot soup

Friday: lasagna and salad

Saturday: pizza- I love this recipe, quick, easy and with half whole wheat flour it turned out perfect! Makes a whole cookie sheet too.

Sunday: Leftovers

for more meal plan ideas and recipes head over to Menu Plan Monday

food for thought...God's pharmacy

Thought this was neat...

A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye… and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All of the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today sh ow s grape s are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food. (For more heart-healthy remedies, visit www.BloodPressureNormalized.com and www.CholesterolSecrets.com)

A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums.
Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.

Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys. (For a natural kidney stone remedy, visit www.KidneyStoneNaturalTreatment.com)

Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (mo dern science has only studied and named about 141 of them)

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility. (For more info about male sexual health, visit www.NaturallyStiff.com)

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic
index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like the body's cells. Today's research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

about those muffins...

Here is the recipe as promised for the muffins I made a few weeks ago. They are great on their own but if you like some added sweetness I have included the recipe that my Nanny-in-law sent me for caramel icing.

Yogurt Blueberry Bran Muffins from Muffins: A Cookbook

2 cups plain yogurt (if you use flavoured reduce sugar accordingly)
2 tsp baking soda
1 cup brown sugar or less to taste
2 eggs
1 cup oil
2 cups natural bran
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup blueberries

1. Measure yogurt into medium bowl. Mix in soda and set aside. (Don't leave too long.)
2. In large bowl beat together eggs, sugar and oil.
3. Stir in Bran and vanilla.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and add mixture alternately with yogurt.
5. Fold in berries.
6. Bake at 350 for 35 mins or until poke in centre comes out clean.

Caramel Icing or Hard Sauce from The Kitchens of Saint John

1/4 cup butter (or margarine)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Melt butter in saucepan, add brown sugar, Stir over low heat for 2 minutes. Add milk and continue stirring until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Add icing sugar and beat until creamy. Add vanilla.

You might want to change it a little to thin it somewhat. However, it tastes just right with blueberry muffins.

I'm back to meal planning after a crazy 2 weeks! This week I really based the meals off of food that we already had on hand to minimize the grocery bill since we just purchased a 1975 Boler, our very first travel trailer. I've included a couple of other family's favourites that I found while meal planning this morning and one of our own, happy meal planning!

Monday:
Mexican Mesagne

Tuesday:
Salmon, roasted potatoes and veggies

Wednesday:
Spaghetti and salad

Thursday:
Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Friday:
Baked Taco Salad, a family favourite!

Saturday:
Quick and Easy Homemade Pizza switched up the recipe to include wholewheat flour

Sunday:
Leftovers

For more great meal ideas head over to Organizing Junkie

mmm mmm meal plan

Mexican is my husband's and my favourite kind of food and I had a hankering but how's a girl to make Mexican food without taco seasoning?? I dug in my spice cupboard and found a good basic recipe then tweaked it. So if you have the spicy hankering and no spice mix here is how you make your own:

Homemade Taco Seasoning
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
Mix all together in a container or baggie and keep in your cupboard for your next fiesta. I tripled this and have it stored for future hankerings. *You can add 1/4 tsp onion powder if you have it I just didn't have it on hand.

Monday:
baked taco salad (recipe below)

Tuesday:
Baked Ziti

Wednesday:
Baked beans

Thursday:
Curried Carrot Soup with whole grain grilled ham sandwiches

Friday:
homemade pizza

Saturday:
Chicken Tetrazzini recipe from the happy housewife

Sunday:
Leftover buffet

Baked Taco Salad
1 lb ground beef
1 1/2 cups refried beans
1 cup corn
1 cup shredded cheese
2 Tbsp homemade taco seasoning

Brown ground beef, drain and mix in taco seasoning. Mix beef and beans together to make for easier spreading and spread in bottom of 9x9 pan, layer corn on top then sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 325 for 20-25 mins until cheese is melted.

Layer nacho chips, scoop of above mixture, and toppings of your choice like lettuce, peppers, sour cream, ranch dressing, salsa etc.

My husband loves this and wants me to please please make it again.

For more great meal plan idea visit Organizing Junkie