Dinner for the week. Again.

$102.40 later this is what I have to show for my efforts yesterday. Not much. I did splurge and get beer, Camembert cheese and coffee creamer (I had a coupon). All good deals I think and they make me just a little happier. The one thing that didn't was those darn South Beach Diet wraps. At $4.59 a package I was hoping they would make my life easier but low and behold they're crap! Don't waste your money. The kids wondered why I didn't just make my own since these ones tasted, and acted, like cardboard. Touche kids. The vitamins also set me back but alas, my husband and I have decided it's time to take care of ourselves. Ick.

The torture list for this week is as follows:

Sunday (last night): Fish tacos. Yep, we used those wraps and some walleye I had in the fridge. Yum. Yum. Yum. I'd still rather have a Wahoos. Oh, how I miss you Wahoo....(cries a little at the thought of it). I tried to recreate the spanish rice and black beans and the salsa (yes R., your recipe) and I think I did a pretty good job. Still wish I had been at Wahoos...

Monday: Black Bean soup. Little S. is going to hate this.

Tuesday: Eggplant Parmesan. Nothing fancy, I'm just pulling it out of the freezer and serving it over egg noodles. Though easy this might be my least favourite of the week.

Wednesday: Spaghetti with chopped bacon, broccoli, and mozza cheese with a side salad - mmmmm... Surprisingly easy and yet everyone loves, loves, loves this!

Thursday: Toss up here. Perhaps we should take it to a vote. I've got a Cheese Souffle with hash browns or Beef with veggies and potatoes. This will be a time thing and whichever loses this day will be served on Saturday. That's just how I roll. Friday's a date night here and though it's not in the budget I'm taking Mr. S. out! A little bonding time between the two of us. It's amazing the difference in his personality after he gets a little one on one time. Go figure.

Well, that's it. Not a very exciting week I'm afraid. I did make home-made vanilla extract yesterday (sooo tired of paying coffee money for something I use so little of). The website seems to be easy enough to follow. I had a couple of beans hanging around and an empty bottle. I used the vodka (80 proof) instead of any other type and I didn't add a sweetener. I'm thinking I see a vanilla martini in my future!

I'm in love with:

This skirt from The Loft. In fact, I'm probably in love with everything in this store.

These boots though I wouldn't actually wear them. I just like to have them in my closet for those days when you feel like you want to kick someone in the a*$. Or when you just want to feel like Wonder Woman. I guess I need a gold lasso now too... hmmm....

Buddy. My sons each have one of these monsters and they love them too. How cute?!

Lip happiness. I have a Mentha lip shine in every purse. And they taste great too. If you're lucky like me you have a C.O. Bigelow store nearby. If not, you can order it on-line or go to a Bath & Body Works store. The men's products are great too - you know, for the man in your life (Valentines day is coming up).

These dishes and the matching glasses. I've got a set of 10 (they were on sale) and it's just waiting for the sun to come out, the snow to melt and the grass to grow! Meet me out by the patio in April. It would be great if it happened sooner but I've a feeling those dishes are going to be living in my basement for a few more months. *sigh* Cute though right? Thanks Ms. S. for your 'help' in buying them ('help' here means she stood behind me saying I'd regret it if they weren't mine. In hindsight, she was right. She also grabbed me a few missing pieces - gotta love that -smooch- ).

This running shirt. I just know I'd run like the wind if I was wearing this. Superfast! Okay, actually these days I'm more bound to start walking/crawling after a mile so it would mainly be me thinking I was as fast as The Green Lantern and singing a little bit of Chariots of Fire in my head. You get the picture I'm sure. It's sad but if I had the shirt at least I'd look good.

Seems to be a theme here. I think I've been hanging with the boys too much today. Happy Superhero dreams to all of you out there. May Batman visit you while you sleep (now which one will you choose? George Clooney? Val Kilmer?)

Feelings of Pride.

You've heard me talk about Canada - a lot. I miss it. I miss everyone saying, "eh?". I miss grey buildings, siding and everything looking just a little bit old (like 1970's not 1870's). I miss Hockey Night in Canada. I miss my friends there. And as much as I dislike facebook (though you wouldn't know it 'cause I'm on there all the time) I love the fact that I can see what all my old friends are doing up North. So, imagine how delighted I was (okay, I cried a little when I watched it - shaking my head at myself) when I came upon this little treasure.

It's a rap video by a kid in Thunder Bay. And as the name suggests, it's my home town. Believe it or not, this is where I'm from. I've walked those exact streets. I've eaten pancakes at the Hoito (and if you ever get there I highly recommend you do too). I was a bartender at the Moose Lodge (oh, yes, yes, I was). I've seen the spot where Terry Fox ended his run. This evening I'm pouring myself a Canadian Club and watching this with my hubby. He's from there too!

Happy Friday everyone. Hope you get to know a little bit about me after this - and please, don't hold it against me!

It's cloudy and grey.

Special shout out to Ms. M. She headed back to the North today. Thanks for the good times lady. See you on your next visit!

And so I stayed inside and made cookies with Mr. E. It was great! We made two kinds: Mom's Chocolate Chip Meringues (thank you, thank you Smitten Kitchen) and The Best-Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies (soo bad for you but oh so good). What a great way to start the day. And we tested them (a few times) and low and behold, they weren't poison. Phew.

By the way, one of my favourite things lately is Trader Joe's Harvest Grains Blend. Big, big fan. I'm sorry if you're not lucky enough to have a Trader Joe's in your neck of the woods (in CO. you've got Sunflower Market and so you shouldn't complain). They have so many wonderful items - for example Charles Shaw wine - great sauces, good dried food section and they carry Pirate Booty (mmm... I love pirate booty).

And that's it for today I'm afraid. I'm busy making the lamb burgers (more like meatballs), the grains (instead of the rice I said I was going to make), and the wraps. Mmm... supper is going to be so delicious (can you tell I'm hungry). Have a good evening everyone!

Dinner List for the week.

Coffee Cake with Butternut Squash from Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld but made by me.

Beef and Bean soup. Mmm... with a side of sunflower baguette. Sounds lovely.

First off, did you catch the second part of Emma on Sunday? If not, and I'm appalled that you didn't, you can catch it again on PBS Masterpiece classics. Gotta love that free television. And here's a nifty piece of trivia for you - you're all going to be googling this I just KNOW it!!! - the guy who plays Mr. Knightley, Jonny Lee Miller, was once married to Angelina Jolie. No joking. Oh, yes, my mind is filled with tons of useful trivia. Sadly, I have no where but here to use it.

Now, before I get too far off course... it's been known to happen... I told my good friend R. that I'd list some of my meal plans for this week. Yes, you can now go to anyone of the other blogs you read... This may not be exciting...

Sunday: Seared Beef, Garlic mashed potatoes, and steamed broccoli. For dessert I made a coffee cake with a pkg of frozen squash in the middle. This works amazingly well if you put cinnamon on it for flavouring and use a bit of brown sugar in your cake (oh, so very sneaky). That's all I did to the squash besides defrosting it.

Monday: The leftover beef and mashed potatoes were thrown in the Crock-Pot with a can of tomatoes, onions, garlic, white beans and some stock. E. and I got that yummy sunflower baguette and that was used for a side filler! For dessert, yes we usually have something for dessert, a chickpea cookie (the recipe is from Seinfelds' cookbook).

Tuesday: Lettuce Wraps: Boston leaf, hummus, grated carrots, chopped peanuts. Steamed broccoli and brown rice.

Wednesday: Dough wrapped hot dogs (homemade bread dough cut into strips and then wrapped around a hot dog), cauliflower (I bought a pkg of frozen cauliflower) and homemade sweet potato fries. This means we're going to have fresh bread for the rest of the week. Anything leftover (I chuckle, there's never leftovers of homemade bread) gets put in the freezer and used as a stuffing for Easter dinner!

Thursday: Lamb burgers (sorry vegetarians) with tzatiki sauce and rice (homemade tortillas will be the wrap for these (thanks R. for the recipe).

Friday: Tofu and Spinach in a peanut coconut sauce served over rice. If I'm feeling adventurous I might make Naan bread or I suppose I could save some of those wraps from Thursday... hmmm...

Saturday: I suspect Pasta; probably spaghetti with a can of tomatoes and feta cheese. This is also market day here so you just never know!

Just an FYI that I might veer off course and get a little lazy. If I do, and I might, my back ups are always pancakes, pizza or soup from the freezer. The pancakes will include some sort of vegetable (ewwww you say? no, no, it might be pureed squash or cauliflower) or a banana or apple... you know, something to make me feel like I'm feeding my kids something nutritious.

Mondays sometimes suck.

The harsh reality of Christmas and a trip to Disney have officially hit my home. Oh, and the rise in electricity this month (what the f*(* is that?). And you've guessed it we're back on a budget! Hurray for us. Not that we haven't been on a budget, really we've been on a budget... It's just now it's going to seem a lot more like we're on a budget. It's not all that bad and there are some that have it worse but at some point in your life you just think that eventually you wouldn't be swimming quite so hard to keep your head above water. Crud.

Really, really, it's not all that bad (I'm moaning a bit). In fact, I've probably said this before, it's a bit of a challenge. For instance, I went to the local grocery store today and got all the food I need for the week. It was a grand total of $54.82. Not bad if I don't say so myself. I used coupons and only bought things if I ABSOLUTELY needed them. There's not a lot of organics (please don't freak out) which makes a difference. I did try to buy the best I could for the least amount of money (like the all natural tomatoes - yes, that's a lot of tomatoes. They were 10 for $10). Now, I do have quite a staple pantry and that helps too. We'll see if I have to make a trip anywhere this week. Hopefully not...

Also, I plan on listing my supper list for the week tomorrow but for now, here's what was on my receipt:

Soy milk
Giant Eagle Skim Milk (gallon - no Hormones added)
2 - I can't believe it's not butter (then what the heck is it?)
Dannon yogurt (4 pack)
10 Redpack tomato (the big cans)
5 bags of frozen veggies (onions, cauliflower, corns and mixed)
2 - Nestle chocolate chips (mmm... I smell cookies)
1 - Giant Eagle brand cheerios
100 pack natural coffee filters (I'm looking for an alternative - got one?)
1 fresh celery
bulk carrots (4)
1 pkg. coleslaw
1 cucumber
1 yam
2 - 5lb bags of potatoes
G.E. large eggs 18 count
1 sunflower baguette

Friday Recommendations.

If you're having pasta wouldn't this be lovely too?
This is our staple red. It's great on it's own or with a simple meat dish. You choose.

And for dessert?! Why, how about Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervois? Santa put this in my stocking and I haven't tried it yet; however, it just sounds divine: "...rich golden yellow with an immediate and powerful nose, distinguished by a complex aroma suggesting apricots, quince, mandarin orange and honey. On the palate, the wine is simply luscious." Oh, be still my beating heart.

And in case you need something to go with your wine besides food (I know, that's just craziness) perhaps you'd like to check out the Masterpiece movies. Might I recommend Sense and Sensibility or Emma just started and you can catch the first part of that online. Be forewarned it's a continuing series - the next part is on Sunday (darn Cup of Joe beat me to posting this - who knew we liked the same movies).