A few years ago my dad reluctantly gave me the family bread maker.
It has such good memories.
When I was younger I remember my dad taking the bread maker with us on family vacations. The one I remember the most is going skiing. We would spend the day on the slopes and then Dad would make bread. It was so nice coming home to the fantastic smell! It was amazing.
We now have our family bread maker.
Our family has now been using it for a while now. Almost 2 loaves a week. It's very very rare we don't make bread during the week.
This past holiday we got a few loaves of bread from my parents. We just finished the bread this morning and now are in need of a few more loaves :)
I guess it's time to start our family tradition again... and get that maker going!
Thankfully... it's a whole family thing. The boys help make the bread and they love every step of it!
So tomorrow morning... we will have to start a new loaf so we have something for lunches this week :)
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Monday, October 20, 2014
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Feeling Inspired!
In the past few weeks a friend of mine, Jana, posted about her and her hubby making some freezer crock pot meals for when she returns to work. I'm so impressed! They made 43 freezer meals in 6 hours! Talk about incredible! If you wanna check out her blog here's the link: Jana's CP Meals
While I had planned a weekend at the beginning of Jan I just never got around to it!
So I bit the bullet so to speak. I found, using my trusty Pinterest pages, about 39 recipes that would work for our family. While we aren't the best for trying new things these looked like my kids would actually eat them! I tweaked a few of the recipes and we were good to go. I had copied each of them into a word document and then saved it. I then copied it all and pasted it into a new document. I took out all the titles and cooking instructions and got 4 pages of 2 columns of things we would need.
Arnold printed them off around 2:30pm on Saturday. I spent the next half hour to 45 minutes getting ready to go to a party and pairing down the list. While I was setting up for the party at church Arnold did as much shopping as he could.
Then we partied :)
Sunday morning I had found a store with chicken on sale and we went there. I picked up 36 breasts of chicken. We were short for what I needed but I made it all work!
While I didn't get everything for the 39 recipes I started small and went with 12 instead.
I actually did 17. I made 5 of them into doubles. You see, our old neighbours had twins about a month ago and I've been wanting to help them out. It actually worked out well. Around 1 month or so people stop dropping off food and they were in need so I brought over 5 meals and a fresh loaf of bread. I loved getting my baby snuggles too!
With buying everything we needed including a weeks worth of groceries for our family we were around $235.00! I love good deals on chicken!!
This time around I made:
Tortilla Chicken Stew;
Chicken Taco Chili;
BBQ Chicken and Veggies (x2);
Southwestern 2 Bean Chicken;
Minestrone Soup (x2);
Turkey Chili (x2);
Teriyaki Chicken;
Sweet BBQ Chicken;
Cilantro Lime Chicken (x2);
Hawaiian Chicken;
Honey Rosemary Chicken;
and Apple, Pear & Pork Deliciousness (x2).
I found that while I didn't get a lot of time to check out the recipes I liked doing each prep alone instead of big containers of things. I did all my work on the kitchen table. I can honestly say that my hubby came up with a great idea! I used the actual crockpot container and our big colander to hold the bags. And I had bought the EXTRA large freezer bags and they were the perfect size for some things.
I didn't get a lot of pictures but it was a lot of fun!
(My only picture)
Since it's nice and cold outside I was able to store them outside while I was making it all. I have a set of plastic drawers we are throwing away so I could store them flat and have them sort of dry.
I made the first 5 that were doubles then texted the mama to see if I could stop over.
I'd have to say I had worked on it from about 2pm until about 5:30pm. Then I went to get my baby fix and drop off some food! I came home and had supper and watched a TV and went back to it around 6:45pm. Things took off and I was done and cleaned up by 7:30pm. Even had things washed, and put in the freezer.
I'm kinda proud of it!! Now I'm not worrying about our Wednesday meals for this month and one meal on the weekends! This makes it nice now!
Arnold and I figured if I can do this about once a month we should be good to go! So hands up, who wants in on my meals next time?
While I had planned a weekend at the beginning of Jan I just never got around to it!
So I bit the bullet so to speak. I found, using my trusty Pinterest pages, about 39 recipes that would work for our family. While we aren't the best for trying new things these looked like my kids would actually eat them! I tweaked a few of the recipes and we were good to go. I had copied each of them into a word document and then saved it. I then copied it all and pasted it into a new document. I took out all the titles and cooking instructions and got 4 pages of 2 columns of things we would need.
Arnold printed them off around 2:30pm on Saturday. I spent the next half hour to 45 minutes getting ready to go to a party and pairing down the list. While I was setting up for the party at church Arnold did as much shopping as he could.
Then we partied :)
Sunday morning I had found a store with chicken on sale and we went there. I picked up 36 breasts of chicken. We were short for what I needed but I made it all work!
While I didn't get everything for the 39 recipes I started small and went with 12 instead.
I actually did 17. I made 5 of them into doubles. You see, our old neighbours had twins about a month ago and I've been wanting to help them out. It actually worked out well. Around 1 month or so people stop dropping off food and they were in need so I brought over 5 meals and a fresh loaf of bread. I loved getting my baby snuggles too!
With buying everything we needed including a weeks worth of groceries for our family we were around $235.00! I love good deals on chicken!!
This time around I made:
Tortilla Chicken Stew;
Chicken Taco Chili;
BBQ Chicken and Veggies (x2);
Southwestern 2 Bean Chicken;
Minestrone Soup (x2);
Turkey Chili (x2);
Teriyaki Chicken;
Sweet BBQ Chicken;
Cilantro Lime Chicken (x2);
Hawaiian Chicken;
Honey Rosemary Chicken;
and Apple, Pear & Pork Deliciousness (x2).
I found that while I didn't get a lot of time to check out the recipes I liked doing each prep alone instead of big containers of things. I did all my work on the kitchen table. I can honestly say that my hubby came up with a great idea! I used the actual crockpot container and our big colander to hold the bags. And I had bought the EXTRA large freezer bags and they were the perfect size for some things.
I didn't get a lot of pictures but it was a lot of fun!
(My only picture)
Since it's nice and cold outside I was able to store them outside while I was making it all. I have a set of plastic drawers we are throwing away so I could store them flat and have them sort of dry.
I made the first 5 that were doubles then texted the mama to see if I could stop over.
I'd have to say I had worked on it from about 2pm until about 5:30pm. Then I went to get my baby fix and drop off some food! I came home and had supper and watched a TV and went back to it around 6:45pm. Things took off and I was done and cleaned up by 7:30pm. Even had things washed, and put in the freezer.
I'm kinda proud of it!! Now I'm not worrying about our Wednesday meals for this month and one meal on the weekends! This makes it nice now!
Arnold and I figured if I can do this about once a month we should be good to go! So hands up, who wants in on my meals next time?
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
New Meal Fridays #75 ~ Chicken Dijon Shepherd's Pie
Made: October 27th 2011
From: Pillsbury Casseroles
1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup of coarsely chopped onions (2 mediums)
2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables
1 jar of chicken gravy
1/2 cup of milk
1 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Topping:
1.25 cups of water
3/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of sour cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups plain mashed potato mix (dry)
Paprika
1 - Heat oven to 350F. In 12 inch nonstick skillet, cook chicken and onions, stirring occasionally, until chicken is browned and no longer pink in center.
2 - Stir in remaining filled ingredients. Spoon into ungreased 8 inch square glass baking dish.
3 - In 2 quart saucepan, heat water to boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining topping ingredients except paprika. Spoon topping over chicken mixture; sprinkle with paprika
4 - Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Miranda's Mix Ups: I didn't have the massed potato mix so I made my own mashed potatoes and just didn't use the water but used everything else.
From: Pillsbury Casseroles
1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup of coarsely chopped onions (2 mediums)
2 cups of frozen mixed vegetables
1 jar of chicken gravy
1/2 cup of milk
1 Tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
Topping:
1.25 cups of water
3/4 cup of milk
1/4 cup of sour cream
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
2 cups plain mashed potato mix (dry)
Paprika
1 - Heat oven to 350F. In 12 inch nonstick skillet, cook chicken and onions, stirring occasionally, until chicken is browned and no longer pink in center.
2 - Stir in remaining filled ingredients. Spoon into ungreased 8 inch square glass baking dish.
3 - In 2 quart saucepan, heat water to boiling. Remove from heat. Stir in remaining topping ingredients except paprika. Spoon topping over chicken mixture; sprinkle with paprika
4 - Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes or until bubbly.
Miranda's Mix Ups: I didn't have the massed potato mix so I made my own mashed potatoes and just didn't use the water but used everything else.
New Meal Fridays #74 ~ Cheesy Fish Stick Taco Dogs
Made: October 27th 2011
From: Pillsbury Casseroles
8 frozen battered or breaded fish sticks
1 can of refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 Tablespoon of taco seasoning mix
4 slices of american cheese, each cut into 4 strips
3 Tablespoons of salsa
1 - Heat oven to 375F. Spray 15x10 - inch pan with sides with cooking spray. Place fish sticks in single layer in pan. Bake 10 minutes, turning once.
2 - Meanwhile, separate dough into 8 tringles. In a shallow bowl, place taco seasoning mix. Lightly dip one side of each triangle into seasoning mix, coating evenly. Place triangles on work surface, seasoning side down.
3 - Place 1 baked fishe stick on shortest side of triangle. Top each fish stick with 2 strips of cheese and about 1 teaspoon of salsa. Starting with shortest side of each triangle, roll up dough around fish stick; place cheese-side up in same pan.
4 - Return to oven; bake 12 to 15 minutes longer or until golden brown.
Miranda's Mix Ups: I actually did everything the way they said :P
From: Pillsbury Casseroles
8 frozen battered or breaded fish sticks
1 can of refrigerated crescent dinner rolls
1 Tablespoon of taco seasoning mix
4 slices of american cheese, each cut into 4 strips
3 Tablespoons of salsa
1 - Heat oven to 375F. Spray 15x10 - inch pan with sides with cooking spray. Place fish sticks in single layer in pan. Bake 10 minutes, turning once.
2 - Meanwhile, separate dough into 8 tringles. In a shallow bowl, place taco seasoning mix. Lightly dip one side of each triangle into seasoning mix, coating evenly. Place triangles on work surface, seasoning side down.
3 - Place 1 baked fishe stick on shortest side of triangle. Top each fish stick with 2 strips of cheese and about 1 teaspoon of salsa. Starting with shortest side of each triangle, roll up dough around fish stick; place cheese-side up in same pan.
4 - Return to oven; bake 12 to 15 minutes longer or until golden brown.
Miranda's Mix Ups: I actually did everything the way they said :P
New Meal Fridays #73 ~ Turkey Joe Calzones
Made:October 24th 2011
From: Pillsbury Casseroles
1 pound of lean ground turkey
1 package sloppy joe seasoning mix
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of refrigerated pizza crust
1/4 cup of dill pickles
1 egg beaten
1 - Heat oven to 400F. Grease large cookie sheet with shortening or spray with cooking spray. In 12 inch skillet, cook ground turkey over medium heat, stirring frequently, until turkey is no longer pink; drain. Stir in seasoning mix and otmato sauce. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat; cool for 10 minutes
2 - Meanwhile, unroll the dough; cut in half lengthwise and into thirds crosswise to make 6 pieces. Press each piece into 5.5 inch round. Place dough rounds on cookie sheet. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons pickles over each round.
3 - Spoon about 1/2 cup of turkey mixture onto center of each. Fold each dough round in half over filling; press edges with fork to seal. Lightly brush tops with beaten egg.
4 - Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.
Miranda's Mix Ups: I couldn't find refrigerated pizza crust so I got some from metro. They have their own pizza dough for about 2.50 or so. I could have used the bread maker if I wanted. One thing I would have been a bit more careful about would be poking it to make sure there were no air bubbles. Also no ground turkey, I had slice turkey left over from thanksgiving in the freezer so I cut it up and used that.
From: Pillsbury Casseroles
1 pound of lean ground turkey
1 package sloppy joe seasoning mix
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of refrigerated pizza crust
1/4 cup of dill pickles
1 egg beaten
1 - Heat oven to 400F. Grease large cookie sheet with shortening or spray with cooking spray. In 12 inch skillet, cook ground turkey over medium heat, stirring frequently, until turkey is no longer pink; drain. Stir in seasoning mix and otmato sauce. Cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat; cool for 10 minutes
2 - Meanwhile, unroll the dough; cut in half lengthwise and into thirds crosswise to make 6 pieces. Press each piece into 5.5 inch round. Place dough rounds on cookie sheet. Sprinkle about 2 teaspoons pickles over each round.
3 - Spoon about 1/2 cup of turkey mixture onto center of each. Fold each dough round in half over filling; press edges with fork to seal. Lightly brush tops with beaten egg.
4 - Bake 14 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.
Miranda's Mix Ups: I couldn't find refrigerated pizza crust so I got some from metro. They have their own pizza dough for about 2.50 or so. I could have used the bread maker if I wanted. One thing I would have been a bit more careful about would be poking it to make sure there were no air bubbles. Also no ground turkey, I had slice turkey left over from thanksgiving in the freezer so I cut it up and used that.
Monday, December 5, 2011
December Photo Challenge
This month I am trying, again, to do a Photo Challenge. I'm hoping I can do it! This is a fun month!
This month is all about Christmas/Winter and things that remind me of that time of the year. I started on Dec 1st, but here's a "hint" of my post today!
Check out the blog here:
All The Seasons - A Photo Blog
This month is all about Christmas/Winter and things that remind me of that time of the year. I started on Dec 1st, but here's a "hint" of my post today!
Check out the blog here:
All The Seasons - A Photo Blog
Monday, September 19, 2011
Pssst.... I got a new book!
Today my new daycare boy and I went for a walk. We got a few more things needed to get us ready to "live" in our house and be ready for this year.
My most exciting purchase today (Aside from my new calendars, bingo dabbers and hand sanitizer) was "Great Easy Meals ~ 250 Fun and Fast Recipes" by Food network magazine. I'm so excited to see how it goes with this book! I may have to ring this book first! I've already lost pages from my 4F book!
Here's to more recipes and MAYBE getting to my 100 new goal!
My most exciting purchase today (Aside from my new calendars, bingo dabbers and hand sanitizer) was "Great Easy Meals ~ 250 Fun and Fast Recipes" by Food network magazine. I'm so excited to see how it goes with this book! I may have to ring this book first! I've already lost pages from my 4F book!
Here's to more recipes and MAYBE getting to my 100 new goal!
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Strawberry Jam!
This year I made 3 crystal boxes and 1 normal box (with 2 liquid packets in there). It took 18.25 jars, 4 bags of sugar, 3 boxes of strawberries, 1 blender (thank you to our neighbours across the road), 2 boxes of new caps and screw on lids and 1 new jar holder!
First batch of berries:
Best way to follow is to have it right in front of your face:
Boiling the jars - after this one I had to switch pots, next year, small older pot for the jars and bigger pot for the berries:
BEST THING EVER!
First batch - with SO much foam:
Pretty berries:
The secret... put one of these in while heating the berries and it cuts down the foam to like 2% instead of 100% foam. It's WONDERFUL! thank you Aunt Sandra for that tip!
18.25 jars full:
So pretty:
Yummy!
I've already given away about 7 jars... We may have to make another batch!!
Best way to follow is to have it right in front of your face:
Boiling the jars - after this one I had to switch pots, next year, small older pot for the jars and bigger pot for the berries:
BEST THING EVER!
First batch - with SO much foam:
Pretty berries:
The secret... put one of these in while heating the berries and it cuts down the foam to like 2% instead of 100% foam. It's WONDERFUL! thank you Aunt Sandra for that tip!
18.25 jars full:
So pretty:
Yummy!
I've already given away about 7 jars... We may have to make another batch!!
Monday, February 14, 2011
Happy Valentines Day!
I'm not in much of a mood to post right now but I thought I would give you a glimpse into my day so far:
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Makin' Muffins with my Muffin!
Quinton and I decided that it was time to do some cleaning in our house. I figured out what food I didn't want to keep around for another week (you know hoping it wouldn't rot any more on me) and I got out the bananas. Q and I thought banana muffins would be GREAT for us to make... so off we went!
I found a great recipe that my mom used to make and I got everything we needed together. Q and I set off on our adventure!
Turning Turning Turning! Q was so proud for being allowed to turn it on and turn the bowl!
Waiting for our first batch:
Finished Product:
Mine are the "plain" ones Q's are the sprinkle ones:
Here's how (a bonus food one!)
3 Large Bananas
3/4 cup White Sugar
1 egg
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Backing powder
1/2t Salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cups melted butter
Mash Bananas and sugar and slightly beat egg
Add melted butter
Add dry ingredients
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes
makes 12 muffins!
Try it, no really, TRY IT! It's so good! Feel free to add 1 cup of chocolate chips or just sprinkle with "rainbow sprinkles" if you want!
I found a great recipe that my mom used to make and I got everything we needed together. Q and I set off on our adventure!
Turning Turning Turning! Q was so proud for being allowed to turn it on and turn the bowl!
Waiting for our first batch:
Finished Product:
Mine are the "plain" ones Q's are the sprinkle ones:
Here's how (a bonus food one!)
3 Large Bananas
3/4 cup White Sugar
1 egg
1 t Baking Soda
1 t Backing powder
1/2t Salt
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/3 cups melted butter
Mash Bananas and sugar and slightly beat egg
Add melted butter
Add dry ingredients
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes
makes 12 muffins!
Try it, no really, TRY IT! It's so good! Feel free to add 1 cup of chocolate chips or just sprinkle with "rainbow sprinkles" if you want!
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Yummy Food!
For Christmas I wanted a bread maker, in fact for a while now I've wanted one. When we moved into this house we figured it wasn't going to fit. Which is ok I guess but I still wanted one!
A few weeks ago my parents dug out their bread maker and brought it here to Toronto for me to borrow. I was so excited! I love trying out new "toys".
Last night I finally got to make some bread. Arnold headed out and got some yeast for the bread and I got everything together. I made the "rapid-rise bread" and it takes about 2 hours. Arnold stayed up for about 1 hour then he had to get some sleep. I stayed up for all of it and WOW was it worth it.
My first bread:
Blessed: I am blessed with warm clothes. Lately our house has been 'chilly' and I am very blessed with warm clothes and the ability to put warmer clothes on when I'm cold.
December Game: I know I've done count down calendars before but I love this one. It keeps the kids going until Christmas. It's a Milk chocolate Count Down Calendar:
A few weeks ago my parents dug out their bread maker and brought it here to Toronto for me to borrow. I was so excited! I love trying out new "toys".
Last night I finally got to make some bread. Arnold headed out and got some yeast for the bread and I got everything together. I made the "rapid-rise bread" and it takes about 2 hours. Arnold stayed up for about 1 hour then he had to get some sleep. I stayed up for all of it and WOW was it worth it.
My first bread:
Blessed: I am blessed with warm clothes. Lately our house has been 'chilly' and I am very blessed with warm clothes and the ability to put warmer clothes on when I'm cold.
December Game: I know I've done count down calendars before but I love this one. It keeps the kids going until Christmas. It's a Milk chocolate Count Down Calendar:
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Auntie Jaime's Gingerbread House!!
Last week I was contacted by T's mom about making a Gingerbread house for Jaime's fundraiser. They would silent action off the gingerbread homes. It was great! I was actually getting the chance to make my own!
So I put them all together the other night and let them 'solidify' over night before the kids got ahold of theirs.
Kyler and Quinton did these:
I did this one:
Blessed: I am SO blessed by Arnold. Last night at the party I realized he is definitely a step above the rest. He would get my drinks, never leave my side - until I was comfortable, and was just so kind and caring. He was even better today by taking the kids out so I could do some wrapping and get things ready for Christmas. When he came home he spent about 2 hours cleaning out the dryer, getting it ready for me to use with the new lint filter. It now works better than ever. This even included a trip into the attic which meant washing his clothes and him after as I'm allergic to the insulation. He is such a wonderful incredible husband and father. I am sooo blessed!
December Game: A few years ago, before Quinton was born I think, I made this at moms' store. I love using it every year. The velcro is getting a little bad but it still works!
So I put them all together the other night and let them 'solidify' over night before the kids got ahold of theirs.
Kyler and Quinton did these:
I did this one:
Blessed: I am SO blessed by Arnold. Last night at the party I realized he is definitely a step above the rest. He would get my drinks, never leave my side - until I was comfortable, and was just so kind and caring. He was even better today by taking the kids out so I could do some wrapping and get things ready for Christmas. When he came home he spent about 2 hours cleaning out the dryer, getting it ready for me to use with the new lint filter. It now works better than ever. This even included a trip into the attic which meant washing his clothes and him after as I'm allergic to the insulation. He is such a wonderful incredible husband and father. I am sooo blessed!
December Game: A few years ago, before Quinton was born I think, I made this at moms' store. I love using it every year. The velcro is getting a little bad but it still works!
Sunday, December 12, 2010
We love our Teachers!!
Wow what a weekend! Things are crazy!
On Friday we went down and gave our teachers and office staff their gifts. We donated books to the school's library in honour of the kindergarten staff. We donated about 10 to 12 books. Lots of princess ones (since they are in high demand), ones about cars and trucks and one about dinos! I hope the school likes them!
We also gave them a little tin with cookies and treats inside and a jar of "snowballs in mud" mix!
Blessed: I have been noticing how many people my age can't/don't know how to make things on their own. I'm so blessed to have been given things to help me make gifts, for example stockings, tree skirts, and latest, pjs!
December Games: I love Christmas gifts. I made these ones for my nieces out west. We filled them up with some treats, and fun things and a nice handmade pj dresses!
On Friday we went down and gave our teachers and office staff their gifts. We donated books to the school's library in honour of the kindergarten staff. We donated about 10 to 12 books. Lots of princess ones (since they are in high demand), ones about cars and trucks and one about dinos! I hope the school likes them!
We also gave them a little tin with cookies and treats inside and a jar of "snowballs in mud" mix!
Blessed: I have been noticing how many people my age can't/don't know how to make things on their own. I'm so blessed to have been given things to help me make gifts, for example stockings, tree skirts, and latest, pjs!
December Games: I love Christmas gifts. I made these ones for my nieces out west. We filled them up with some treats, and fun things and a nice handmade pj dresses!
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