Shamless Self Promotion

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
YUP
That's right
today
is my birthday


This is my
Shameless Self Promotion
I have found that
if I don't plan things
for this day
I will put unrealistic expectations
on my husband and others
and end up disappointed


I'm not happy with getting older
who really is
but I'm happy to celebrate
why not
and what better reason
than a birthday


So now that I sound
completely self involved
I need to say how blessed
I am with my amazing family
my two wonderful kids
who make me laugh
everyday


And my amazing husband
who has stood by me
thru the thick and thin
all the ugly in marriage
and all the beauty
a marriage produces

Today is my happy day
I'll be in line
at the service canada office
to get our passports
but still
it is my happy day

Menu Plan Monday

Well, last week
didn't go as planned
I had company 2 nights in a row
so I changed things up
combined with running around
for passport photos
it was a bit crazy

So this week
I'm going to
copy most of the
meals from last week
over to this week

MONDAY

Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Chicken
Rice
Salad

TUESDAY

Lentils and Spinach
Rice
Salad

WEDNESDAY

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Quinoa
Salad

THURSDAY

Simply Baked Salmon
Rice
Salad

FRIDAY

Hot and Sour Chicken Soup
crusty bread
cut veggies

SATURDAY

Dinner at my InLaws
to celebrate Birthdays
I'm making dessert
Best Chocolate Sheet Cake
into cupcakes
with The Best Frosting Ever

SUNDAY

SIMPLE
SIMPLE
SIMPLE

For a ton of menu ideas

head over to

The Organizing Junkie

every Monday

Layered Nachos

My sister in law, her husband
one of their daughters
came for dinner last week
we always do something low key
and I was craving nachos

I cooked up and seasoned
some ground beef
cut up a ton of fresh vegetables
shredded some cheese
and bought my favorite nacho chips

I use a deeper pan
start with the chips
sprinkle the veggies
the meat and the cheese


do a second layer
with more vegetables
meat and cheese


a third layer
to finish off the dish


I baked this until
the cheese was melted
on all layers
then topped it with cilantro


I made some pico de gallo
and some homemade guacamole
put out some extra chips
to catch the goodness
that falls off the baked chips


such a yummy meal
to have once in a blue moon

Indian Spiced Yogurt BBQ Chicken #2

I've BBQ'd an
Indian Spiced Yogurt Chicken
before and we enjoyed it
my in laws came for dinner
the meal I had planned
was a fair amount of work
so I wanted something easier
and I had some Greek Yogurt
that needed to be used

12 bone in, skin on chicken thighs
1 tub greek yogurt
3 tablespoons Garam Masala
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon tumeric
add it all into a ziplock bag
and mush it all around
to coat all the chicken


Warmed the BBQ on high
Turn off half the BBQ
put the Chicken Thighs
on the half that is off
this is called
indirect heat for cooking


close the lid
leave it to cook
for a minimum of 2 hours
checking about every half hour
you don't want to lose the heat
move around any pieces
that look to be cooking fast
with those that are cooking slow
but keep the moving to a minimum
cooking it for 2 hours or more
will make the skin nice and crisp
and the meat nice and moist


I served this with brown basmati rice
and roasted vegetables
including half an acorn squash


if you have not cooked
with an acorn squash
it's a bit of a tough squash
use a good knife
to cut the squash in half
scoop out the seeds


cut the squash into wedges
you could sprinkle some nutmeg
and roast it like this
the squash is very versatile


I peeled the skin off
and diced it small
and roasted it with
a ton of other
very colorful veggies


This was a very
very wonderful meal
my kidlets
they each ate three pieces of the chicken


my mother in law
is a fantastic baker
today she brought a homemade pie
rhubarb, apple and banana


she used apple and banana
because she cut the sugar
and used these to help sweeten the pie
so fantastic as always

Pesto Tortellini with Vegetables

I wasn't sure if
I should post this dinner
but I want to
keep it real
we have been
fighting colds for
a few weeks.
last week I was
feeling run down

Pesto Tortellini with Vegetables

I used the pesto
we bought from Costco
I used a package of
chicken tortellini

I cut up a ton
of fresh vegetables
to make up for
the packaged foods
or my attempt to
make it better

cooked up some
onions and garlic


added yummy peppers
mushrooms
zucchini
carrots
grape tomatoes
and cooked until
crisp tender


drained the tortellini
added the pesto


toss in the
colorful vegetables
an easy dinner;
a flavourful dinner
is served


I served this up
with a salad
everyone enjoyed


I try to keep it real
and not overdue dinner
on the days
I'm feeling sick

Lime Chicken

I found an interesting
recipe for Lime Chicken
it looked easy
I made changes
to work for us

Lime Chicken Wraps

Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
zest of 2 limes
juice of 2 limes
1 cup of honey Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon soy sauce

I was making a very large amount
so I could also give this away
I baked the chicken
at 350 until done
about 30-45 minutes

I cut up a large onion
diced 4 cloves of garlic
cooked with coconut oil


added some very yummy
very colorful
vegetables


cook the vegetables
until tender crisp
slice up the chicken
add to the veggies

mix up the sauce

the lime zest
and lime juice
just before the
soy sauce and
honey Dijon mustard
are added


add the sauce
to the chicken
and vegetables
BUT
when I tasted this
it was VERY limey
I was worried
I took a minute
and decided I needed
to make these into wraps
to make them work
I mixed in the brown rice
then we had this on wraps
with sour cream and cheese
this saved the meal


I was nervous
I was sending this to a family
I hope they liked it
my family
actually
very much enjoyed the meal
as wraps, this was very good
my little man loves wraps
next time
I would do more vegetables
then chicken and rice
but that's because I want
more color in a meal

Harvest Mashed Potatoes

I named these
Harvest Mashed Potatoes
I figure people might
eat orange mashed potatoes
if they had a nice name

Harvest Mashed Potatoes

Yukon Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Garlic

Butter
Sour Cream
Fine Grated Parmesan Cheese

peel and cut the potatoes
I cut them into smaller pieces
so they will cook faster
smash the garlic
cover all of this
with water or stock
and boil until
the pieces are fork tender

once cooked - drain
add a generous amount
of butter
a generous amount
of sour cream
and a generous amount
of Parmesan cheese

mash it all together
until nice and smooth

top with some more butter
and some seasoning salt

I don't make a big heavy meal
to often
but my husband loves
a good roast beef
with mashed potatoes
and salad

the kids
love it to
after dinner
girly was still
eating potatoes
and my little man
was into the meat

Whole Wheat Zucchini and Carrot Muffins

I found the recipe
on the Tasty Kitchen Site
I changed it a bit
and we are enjoying the
yummy muffins

Whole Wheat Zucchini and Carrot Muffins

⅓ cup Rolled Oats
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
⅓ cups Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Baking Soda
½ teaspoons Salt
1-½ teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 1/2 cups Grated Zucchini
1 1/2 cups Grated Carrot
1 cup Buttermilk
2 whole Eggs
¼ cups Butter, Melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Stir together all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl


Fold in the grated zucchini and mix until it is well coated with the dry ingredients




In a small bowl whisk together the eggs, buttermilk and melted butter


Fold into dry ingredients stirring just until combined


Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups


Bake about 20 minutes

The original recipe
calls for a struesel topping
I didn't add this
but I would next time
these muffins are not sweet
I normally would cut
the amount of sugar
but I didn't this time
as it was such a small amount already
the struesel would add
a touch of sweetness
these were good
even without the sweetness


in other news
we added to our tribe
my sister gave us
a little fish tank
so the kids each
have a little gold fish
my little man
named his Dinosaur
my little girly
named hers fish
little Lily
she likes them


I also got a fish
Simon
he's in solitary
he should have been okay
with the gold fish
but he must have decided
their fins were too pretty
so he attacked them - a lot
here is little Lily
checking him out