We've had the winter illness around here..

So I've been a little absent from the blog...please know that it was all due to one thing - GERMS.  The amount of germs that two little ones can bring home from school is truly unbelievable.  The last few days have probably been the first time in weeks that we have been illness free in this house.  And hence why I am now able to blog!

Since we were "down and out" the last couple of weeks it worked out well in clearing out room in my freezer.  That's the amazing part of double batching meals.  You make enough to put a duplicate meal in your freezer, and it all adds up quickly.  As if today, I only have 4 cooked meals remaining in there!  So I better get to work over the next few weeks at replenishing in case another "outbreak" happens around here!

Started out the morning by throwing some barbacoa beef shredded taco ingredients into the crock pot.  This is a great recipe that takes a little more prep than other crock pot meals, but it is worth it.  This recipe is a copy cat version of the barbacoa tacos from the restaurant chain called Chipotle.  It's definitely worth giving this recipe a try!

Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Tacos

I pretty much follow this recipe to an exact tee, except for the chipotle chilis in adobo sauce.  This recipe calls for 3-4 of those, I generally go with only two.  Remember, my gut isn't fond of a ton of spice :)

This week I also wanted to make those yummy beef enchiladas I made a couple weeks back.  They were really easy and super tasty, and a big hit at my dinner table.

You can find the recipe for them here:

Beef Enchiladas

And as I did before, I made the enchilada sauce from scratch :)  You can find that recipe here:

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Unfortunately while making the sauce I realized I only had about a teaspoon and a half of chili powder left.  The result is a sauce that is a little less red in colour, but I added some paprika as well and it still tasted great.

The recipe made a total of 16 enchiladas this time!  Enough for dinner for the four of us, and lunches for me and the Mr.

I came across a recipe on Pinterest that looked simple and called for chicken.  Since I had some chicken in the freezer, as well as all of the other ingredients for this recipe on hand at home already, I went for it!

Quick Lime Cilantro Chicken

You should definitely give this recipe a try if you're pressed for time.  Total time from prep to completion was 40 minutes.  I think I will serve this over rice and with a salad on the side.

Last recipe I made was the infamous garlic soup!  I've never actually provided the recipe on this blog.  I'll tell you why.  The recipe is actually a chef's creation from a restaurant that our good friends own in Guelph, Ontario.  Check them out if you're ever in the area - Atmosphere Cafe.

Here is a link to their website:

Atmosphere Cafe - Guelph

So I can't just GIVE the recipe away of course...BUT, check out the pic below and maybe you can guess the ingredients and sizing :)  If you think you know what measurements, comment your thoughts in this post :)  Better yet, go in person to Atmosphere Cafe and tell them Miriam sent you!

This coming weekend is going to be busy...I plan on throwing some Christmas baking into the mix as well!  I have to make about 50 cookies for a work cookie exchange, and I have to bake some Christmas treats for this house as well :)

Happy Monday!

Sunday soup kitchen hiatus for this week...

We got home midday today from a fun family night away so I didn't have time for any cooking. Thank goodness the freezer was stocked with meals from last weeks double batch!  Took out some goodies so this week we are having:

Garlic soup and sandwiches/wraps

Chili 

Chicken drumsticks/thighs with a grape tomatoe and red pepper coulis served over brown rice

Then leftover madness

And some spicy lentil soup for lunches for the adults :)

Took out some banana bread chocolate chip muffins for the kids snacks too. 

When I went grocery shopping today I found an awesome addition to my bento box tools. Edible ink! Now I can get even more creative with the kids lunches. Check it out below. Pic on the left is my bento tools so far, and on the right is the kiddies lunch tomorrow! They saw it and were mega pleased :)

Tonight for dinner I went with simple and ultimately lazy.  But, it was delicious!  Made a Caesar salad and bought a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Had chicken Caesar salad. And since the chicken is huge I froze the rest of it and will use it for some awesome homemade chicken noodle soup to make on Sunday! 

Alright, back to policy writing/researching by day tomorrow.  Oh blessed Monday ;)

Happy work week to all!

Double batch cooking today?!

So today was a little tricky for Sunday Soup Kitchen.  My husband was out golfing for the day, and I set out to do double, that's right DOUBLE, batch cooking!  I'm not going to be able to do any cooking next Sunday, so I had to do two weeks worth of cooking today.

It's brave, very brave, and I was praying that the kids would have a good day and be okay with being cooped up in the house so this mama could cook like a mad woman today!  Thankfully the kids were amazing!  Quietly playing, eating, and I took some time to go out with them to the toy store too!  When their dad got home they got almost 2 hours of outside time too.  They were pretty great today :)

So today I accomplished the following :)

• 4 loads of laundry
• Chicken a la King
• Chili (double batch)
• Slow Cooker Cilantro Lime Chicken (double batch)
• Garlic Soup
• Pizza Pinwheels (double batch)
• Funfetti Gooey Bars

First thing I did when I got up this morning was throw this great mixture in the crockpot.  Cilantro Lime Chicken.  I kind of modified this recipe from one's I've found on Pinterest so here goes:

About 5 chicken breasts
One can black beans
2 cups of frozen corn
1/2 of a red onion chopped up
2 garlic cloves minced
1 cup of chopped cilantro
The juice of 2 limes
About 1/2 cup of chicken broth

Seriously, just throw all of that in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours and don't look back!  It turned out delicious and we're going to have it for dinner tomorrow night served on tortilla wraps with shredded lettuce, cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Chicken a la King is a fan favourite around this house.  It's such an easy recipe I found years ago in a Presidents Choice Insider's Report that came in the local paper.  I modify this and use lactose milk (for the lactose intolerant in me) and I usually serve it over Tenderflake Puff Pastry Patty Shells.  You can find these in the frozen section of your supermarket near the pie crust and frozen berries.  The kids LOVE them!

Here's the recipe link for this great dish:

Chicken a la King

It was cold outside today and I had ground beef in the freezer.  Easiest recipe (also a cheap one in terms of ingredient cost) is chili!  My youngest isn't always a fan, but he eats it even though sometimes he's pretty angry about it!  I modify chili all the time, there's so many recipes out there!  Today I used chickpeas and white kidney beans, celery, carrots, garlic and onions.  If I had not just used up all the mushrooms in the previous recipe I would have thrown those in there too.

Here's a great chili recipe:

Easy Chili

I volunteered at work to bring some goodies in for a colleagues baby shower this week so I wanted to get that out of the way today instead of during the week.  Found this gem of a recipe on Pinterest and they turned out amazing!

Here's the link:

Funfetti Gooey Bars

I've been making pizza pinwheels for the last couple weeks for my daughter who loves them in her lunches!  My son, not so much a fan.  In fact I can't even get him to sniff it!  They're super easy, but somehow today they got all screwed up.  I think because I sprayed the pan with cooking spray.  NOTE:  Don't do that!

Here's the recipe:

2 sheets thawed puff pastry
6 tablespoons of pizza sauce
Grated cheddar cheese
Ham, or other meat of choice

Roll out the pastry, spread the pizza sauce over it, top with shredded cheese and the meat of your choice.  Roll it up and cut it into even rolls/slices.  Place it in the oven at 350 and bake for about 10-15 minutes.  Follow my advice so you don't have the mess I had today.  Don't spray the pan with cooking oil!

Oh, and wanna know an awesome surprise that I got today too?!  My mother in law knows the way to my heart - she showed up with two Shepherds Pies, and two HUGE batches of delicious chicken with bell peppers, onions and grape tomatoes served over brown rice!  Into the freezer it all went.  My freezer makes me smile right now :)

Alright, this mama's bagged so I gotta head to bed to catch some zzzz's before the work week starts again tomorrow!

Happy Cooking!