Tales From a “GREEN” Minivan

Remembrance Day has evolved into much more than wearing poppies and a moment of silence in my house, it’s become a day to remember family members who are no longer with us and cherish those who still are.
This family tradition started long before I met my husband Andrew and his family. Andrew’s maternal grandfather Charles, who served nine years as a trooper in WWII with the Princess Louise Dragoon Guard, had passed away on October 30th, 1988. Every year he had marched with the veterans in our local Remembrance Day ceremony. It was decided that since he was no longer able to be there physically, the family would all attend the ceremony and get together afterwards to visit his grave and have some soup. Twenty-one years later, this tradition still continues.

I first experienced the Annual McCormick Remembrance Day festivities in November 2003. (Although I had been in the family since 2002, our son Liam was born on November 9, 2002 and we weren’t released from the hospital in time to make it.) It has since become one of my favourite family traditions. A way to remember fallen heroes, lost loved ones and appreciate the extended family that you may not get to see as often as you’d like in these busy times.

Andrew’s uncle Ralph McCormick usually says a few words and then we all recite the poem, In Flanders Fields in English (and occasionally my daughter Mackenzie will say it in French). We then all attend the local Remembrance Day ceremony and meet up at a central spot to travel together by car (there’s normally six to seven car loads). Along the route we make stops for family members to pay respects to loved ones at different graveyards. Our last stop is at Andrew’s grandparents’ where we remove our poppies and place them on the memorial wreath.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow   
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

After being outdoors in the chill of November we all return to Andrew’s aunt and uncle’s home (Judy and Gary Lockhart) for hot soup compliments of all of the family matriarchs, although the past few years I have been bringing my Buttercup Squash Soup by request! It’s such an honour to be included in this family event, one that I hope will continue on for many years to come!

Be sure to visit The Memory Project- Stories of the Second World War  where you’ll find the incredible stories of service and sacrifice which are currently being collected and archived by The Memory Project.

I’m looking forward to getting everyone back into a scheduled routine this week including my night owl husband!  We’ve had a pretty laid back summer and did fairly well getting out the door on time but there was a few days of sleeping in that can’t happen once school starts.

My plan this week is to make a few meals in the slow cooker and also have a Friday Family Fun Night with a themed meal. . Ironically on my way home from Toronto one of my husbands friends who works for Jarden in Florida (the maker of Crockpots) asked me to check out their new Crockpot iPhone App, it’s still in the soft-launch process, but I’ll be sure to report back on my findings after playing with it for a few weeks.

This weeks menu:

Slow Cooker Lasagna- this was a big hit with the Slow Cooker Club and I actually didn’t end up testing this one out yet. I made a couple of substitutions as I was too cheap to by ricotta, so I went for Cottage Cheese instead.  Can’t wait to try it!

Slow Cooked Prime Rib Soup- This is a specialty of mine.  I don’t really have a recipe, I just whip it together and it’s always delicious.  I use the leftover meat and bones from a Prime Rib Roast as the base, but first I sauté the veggies (potatoes, turnip carrots, onions and celery if I have it) in some butter and salt and pepper then I add the Prime Rib and bones and let it slow cook all day with a little thyme for seasoning.

Home Made Pizzas- I’ve posted my Pizza Dough Recipe before a couple of years ago, it’s super easy to make and is so tasty. I think I’ll also make some mini pizzas for the boys lunches as well, now that they’ll be coming home for lunch (this should be interesting)! Mackenzie really likes Donair Pizza, so I’ll do one of those, mini-pepperoni for the boys and BBQ Chicken for Andrew and I.

Seafood Chowder- This is my Christmas Eve staple, but I generally make it every couple of months.  I noticed Fresh Haddock was on sale this week, and I have some frozen lobster already to add to it.  I really like the Sobeys Chowder Mix as they don’t add Salmon to it, I’m not a big fan of Salmon.  Perhaps I’ll make some fresh bread to go with it, Helen has been experimenting with some breads on her blog so I should go check it out!

I’m going to do a separate entry for my Friday Family Fun Night, can’t wait!

During our testing  for CPO’s Slow Cooker Club I decided to make the Mother Hubbard’s Favourite Shepherds Pie recipe.  We really enjoyed it, although I kept thinking that I could modify the recipe a bit to create a similar dish with a Thai flare.

In Mother Hubbards pie it’s got a ground Chicken base with a few spices, tomato paste, corn then topped with a Squash Puree.  I kept thinking that it would taste good with a yellow Thai curry paste instead of the tomato paste.

My first step was to start getting the squash and sweet potato topping prepared .  I took one med buttercup squash,  sliced it down the centre, removed the seeds and placed it face down in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes.  I then steamed 2 medium size sweet potatoes.

Last week while out shopping at Sobey’s I noticed a small jar of Yellow Thai curry paste made by Thai Kitchen in the international foods aisle.

I took about 2 tablespoons of the curry paste and mixed it with half of a can of coconut milk.  Once the ground chicken had been sauted I added the paste mixture to it. Next a added a couple of pinches of ginger over the top then added 1.5 cups of corn niblets.

Next I combined the squash and sweet potatoes and used my stand mixer to mash them into a puree.

I then added the puree on top of the ground chicken in the Slow Cooker insert.  I then refrigerated it over night.

I cooked this on low for 7 hours, (it was finished much sooner though) and I really enjoyed it!  I think I may not have drained the ground chicken quite enough, as there was a lot of liquid, but it may also have been from the squash, as it was a really WET squash (I prefer dry ones as they are sweeter).

I think I’ll definitely make it again, and next time add some more veggies, perhaps some broccoli and carrots along with the corn.

Here’s the end result!

If you have any questions let me know!  Sorry about the quality of the photos, my iPhone was not liking the lighting in the kitchen!

Well kind of! Since Many of you read on my Facebook Status that I was making this and I got a ton of feedback here’s the details!

Ground Chicken and Turkey was on sale this week, so I decided to make a dish I blogged about once before Click for the recipe—->”Turkey Stuffin’ Meatloaf“. Tonight I decided to try a new take on this and instead of making meatloaves, I decided to make this more kid approved dish and cooked the mixture in muffin and mini-muffin pans.

Here’s a picture precooked:

I normally serve this with mashed potatoes so I though to myself, what are my cupcakes missing? Frosting, so of course They needed a topping of “Mashed Potato Frosting”. I cheated this evening and made a package of instant potatoes with an attached gravy mix. I love gravy, it’s a big weakness of mine!

Here’s the finished product! I overcooked it a smidge, I’ll have to perfect it next time!

This week’s must have iPhone app is called Little Chef!

I can’t say just how much I love this free App!

Math, fractions and measurements have always been one of my strong points, but growing up in the 70’s & 80’s had me learning both metric and the old imperial measurements. Often I can’t remember the conversions between the two and I find a lot of my recipes tend to have a combination.

What Mini-Chef will do is convert your kitchen measurements for you! So if you’re doubling a recipe and don’t want to have to measure out 8 tablespoons of something, you can just measure out 1/2 cup instead! Or maybe your recipe says 32 ounces of something you’ll know that is 4 cups! Very handy for both moms and dads!  It is lacking grams and milligrams, maybe I’ll email the developer and see if they’ll add them!

After getting over a late summer stomach bug, I’ve come to the realization that we’ve been eating out a little too much lately.  This bug came on very quickly and very similarly to when I had food poisoning back in May and was after we ate out at a popular New Brunswick Fish & Chip chain.  Mackenzie too, was ill and ate the same food I did, so I assumed right away it was food poisoning again. That’s when I decided that eating out is just not worth it.  I just don’t think proper food handling is happening anymore, or many are just careless with the food.

The next day Andrew woke up with the same bug, so that’s when I realized that it was most likely the Flu and not food bourne illness.  It given me a new perspective especially with all of the Maple Leaf stuff happening, that I want to know how things are being prepared and handle personally.  This is a difficult thing for me, as I love to eat out!  I love to eat, love trying new dishes and  like the convenience.

That’s when I had the great idea of having restaurant meals at home and preparing them myself!  I completly forgot about this book that Andrew had bought me a few years ago called  “A Treasury of Top Secret Recipes”

By Todd Wilbur

It features recipes and easy directions to some favorites dishes in some popular Restaurant Chains including Olive Garden, Planet Hollywood and TGI Fridays.

Here’s his site as well: http://www.topsecretrecipes.com/

Well my first one I tried was a HUGE success!

T.G.I. Friday’s Spicy Cajun Chicken Pasta

• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped (1 cup)
• 1/2 white onion, sliced and quartered (1 cup)
• 1 clove garlic, pressed
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 4 to 6 mushrooms, sliced (1 1/4 cup)
• 1 cup chicken stock or 1 chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 1 cup boiling water
• Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 4 to 6 quarts water
• 1 12-ounce box fettuccine
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley

1. Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium/ high heat.
2. Saute the bell peppers, onions, arid garlic in the butter for 8 to 10 minutes or until the vegetables begin to soften slightly.
3. As the vegetables are cooking, cut the chicken breasts into bite- size pieces.
4. Prepare a medium-size pan over high heat with the olive oil. When the pan is hot, add the chicken and cook, stirring, for 5 to 7 minutes or until the chicken shows no pink.
5. When the vegetables are soft (about 10 minutes) add the chicken to the pan.
6. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, chicken stock, 1/4 teaspoon salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, white pepper, and thyme and continue to simmer for 10 to 12 minutes until it thickens.
7. In the meantime bring the water to a boil in a large pot. If you like, add a half tablespoon of salt to the water. Cook the fettuccine in the boiling water until done. This will take 10 to 12 minutes.
8. When the noodles are done, drain them and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. The butter should melt quickly on the hot noodles. Toss the noodles to mix in the butter.
9. Serve the dish by dividing the noodles in half onto two plates. Divide the chicken and vegetable sauce evenly and spread it over the top of the noodles on each plate. Divide the parsley and sprinkle it over each serving.
10. Enjoy!

Here’s a pic of the Final result!  There was a little left over, I can’t wait to have it tomorrow for lunch!

I have been feeling so energized lately! On a whim 2 weeks ago, I moved Finn’s crib into Liam’s room. I was really overtired and rundown, don’t get me wrong I’m a huge advocate for co-sleeping it really worked well for us, but when you’re sick you get desperate! The first evening was not too bad, I had a lot of trouble getting him into the crib without waking him, as the railing was too high for me. When I lowered it everytime I’d raise it back into a locking position it would wake the little guy! He woke up about 3
times between 8pm and 12am, and Andrew went in to settled him down, he’d pick him right up and cuddle him and once he was back asleep he put him back down. From midnight until 8am….he slept right through! The next night, he only woke up once around 10pm and since he has slept through each night for 13 hours! He has dropped one daytime nap but I’m OK with that! Here’s a well rested Finn:

Since I’ve been so well rested I’ve been trying some new recipes, and my pal Sarah recommended this one! It was so good, I decided to take photos and show the steps! She’s a big fan of Rachael Ray and tries a lot of her recipes. The original recipe can be found here: Turkey Stuffin’ Meatloaf

I made a few modifications to it, as a few of the ingredients were American and I made due with what I had in the house. Here’s my version:

4 T butter
1 large Carrot diced (not in original recipe, but I added for colour)
4 stalks of Celery
1 large onion (I use a sweet vidalia, I love these)
5-7 cups of stale breadcrumbs (I seasoned mine with Bell’s season..a combo of marjoram, thyme, sage etc and baked them in the oven I also added salt and pepper)
1.5 lbs of ground Turkey
3 cups of chicken broth (may not need all of this)
2 eggs
EVOO- extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

I started by preparing the stuffing to set aside to cool before adding it to the ground turkey. Melt butter over med-high heat, once the butter is melted add carrots, celery and onion and cook until tender. Add breadcrumbs and broth and combine with veggies, you may not need all of the broth as you don’t want the stuffing to be too gooey.

Here’s a pic of the completed stuffing:

Once stuffing is complete set aside and let cool. For the next step I used my Kitchenaid mixer, but I’m sure you can do it by hand just as easy, I just love to put my mixer to use! Once the stuffing has cooled down a bit mix the ground turkey , 2 eggs and stuffing mixture together until combined. Make 2 long loaves, I set down plastic wrap to form the loaves and lined my pan with non-stick foil (I love the Reynolds Release Wrap!) then drizzle the olive oil over the loaves.

Bake at 375F fr approx 1 hour until the internal temp reaches 165F, I find a meat thermometre is one of the most useful kitchen gadgets I have!

Here’s a shot of the finished product. I made smashed potatoes as a side dish, they were really easy.

1 Bag of Mini Red skins potatoes
3/4 cup sour cream
1 onion sauted with 1/4 lb bacon (you can substitute bacon bits)
3/4 cup of grated marble cheese

Boil Potatoes with skins on. Once cooked add the remainder of ingredients and mix well. I found a mixer with combine them the best. Once they are smashed together put in oven safe casserole and bake for another 20 minutes! Enjoy!

It was a big hit with Andrew Mackenzie, Finn and myself! Liam on the other hand told us, “His brain wouldn’t let his hand feed it to him!” , and Ciaran filled up on the “tatoes” his favorite. I think the only reason he would try the meatloaf was because Liam wouldn’t. ARRRRGH!

I am REALLY getting into this meal planning! This method has really made it enjoyable! I love that I’m finally getting to try some recipes in some of the great cookbooks I have. I love to cook and try new things, but in the past whenever I wanted to try a new recipe, I found there was always an item or two that I didn’t have. Planning these meals out before grocery shopping has insured that I don’t miss something, plus it’s saving me money! I now don’t have to make that trip to the grocery store for an item I was missing and walking out spending more than I needed to.

So onto this evening’s dinner, I did a baked rigatoni. It took a little under 30 minutes to prepare and 20 minutes to bake, not bad! I did have to add a little something for the boys that the recipe did not call for, but was a great addition. The boys love pepperoni, so I bought a stick of it and sliced some coin sized portions to add. I also added some Italian sausage to it as Andrew and I like it and it was on sale this week. I bought a really large tray of them, so what I did was boiled them then let them cool, removed the casings and sliced them into coins, then froze them. This makes it really easy to throw them into a pasta dish for a little extra flavor. Here’s the recipe for anyone that’s interested!

BAKED RIGATONI
1 T olive oil

½ lb of lean ground beef

2 mild Italian precooked sausage sliced into coins (optional)

1 diced onion

1 diced red pepper

1 can of tomato sauce

1 cup of cottage cheese

3 cups of rigatoni, cooked

1 cup of shredded cheese

¼ cup of romano cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350F

In a Skillet heat olive oil and sauté onions and peppers until translucent. Add ground beef and cooked until browned and crumbled, add sausage and continue to stir often. Next add tomato sauce and cottage cheese and rigatoni to the sauce and mix well. In a 11x 13 casserole add the rigatoni mixture and top with the two cheeses. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until hot and cheese is melted.

After such a successful week of meal planning and no last minute scrambling at Dinnertime last week, I decided to take Saturday morning and review the grocery store flyers for sales and plan around any deals. For me this really works well, and I find saves a lot of money. I figured out that we were actually spending less than $100 a week on groceries. I’m curious to see if this number will go up over the next little while as our family “Fixes Dinner” and eats out less often. At our Family Meal Planning Meeting I gave everyone an opportunity to choose a meal (well 5 of us anyway ;)…Finn doesn’t get a say yet!) After the meals were chosen, I used Sandi’s Cooking for the Rushed-Custom Grocery List I made my list of 5 meals, then added any ingredients that I did not have on hand to the list. One thing I did do and made a small star on any items if they were on sale and what store (I normally always go to both major chains as they are very close together.) What I like about this list is that the items were grouped together and it was easier to make sure you didn’t miss anything. I almost always forget something and have to make a trip mid-week to get something I’ve missed.

Off I went Sunday afternoon (all alone believe it or not) armed with my list, and I’m am so glad I had a plan this week! Sunday night the stomach flu hit, first Finn, then two days later Ciaran. Let’s just say, a LOT of laundry has been done this week. In the past something like this would have totally thrown me off and I would have been scrambling at Dinnertime or asking Andrew to pick something up, but since I had everything I needed on the list and my meals set for the week, it was one less thing I needed to worry about! So here’s how the week played out!

Monday- Memphis Rubbed Chicken (recipe below) Roasted with Root Veggies

This was my choice for the week and is super easy. Small whole chickens were on sale, and my plan was originally to make two using our “double beer can stand” (see pic below) but I completely forgot that I was decluttering the kitchen this summer and gave away the only roasting pan that it fit into. So I decided to freeze one of the chickens and roast the other using a dry rub, and throw in some cubed, red skin potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and turnip into the roaster with the chicken. I added some chicken broth to the roaster as well, then baked until my chicken had reached 180°F ( a meat thermometer is a necessity if you cook a lot of whole chickens and turkeys like I do) by then the veggies were nice and tender.

Memphis Dry Rub Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup paprika

1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon white sugar

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon celery salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste

1 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

DIRECTIONS

In a small airtight container, mix paprika, dark brown sugar, white sugar, salt, celery salt, ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, garlic powder and onion powder. Seal and store in a cool dark place until ready for use.

Outcome: Delicious!!…lots left for lunch the next day, and the left over chicken will be used for Tuesday’s Dinner! Liam, once again wouldn’t try anything. What am I going to do with this boy?

Photo of Beer Can Chicken with Memphis Dry Rub

Tuesday- Chicken Fajitas

This was Andrew’s pick for the week, and was super easy as all I had to do was wash, slice and sauté the peppers. Once they were getting tender I added in some Epicure Fajita Seasoning (for those of you not familiar with Epicure Selections they are a Canadian Company that have fantastic seasonings and spices and offer home parties, I had a party last fall and fell in love with their stuff). After the seasoning was added I threw in the leftover chicken, and that was it! I must add, that I have never been more happy to chop lately. I got a new knife at a Pampered Chef Party, and I love this little green knife called the Color Coated Santoku Knife, I will warn it’s super sharp, but cuts so nicely through everything! I was planning on spending big money on a really good quality knife, but I think I’d rather buy a few of these for $23 each, I’ll let you all know how it holds up.

I served the fajitas with whole wheat flat breads, grated marble cheese, salsa, sour cream, and since there was some leftover jasmine rice, I added some fajita seasoning to it and microwaved it to add into the fajitas.

Outcome: The boys would not touch a bite, by now Ciaran’s flu had set in and anything put in front of him was turned down. Liam, just keep helping himself to the grated cheese!

Wednesday- Rachael Ray’s Spaghetti and Meatball “Stoup”

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Carrot peeled and diced

1 medium onion diced

2 celery stalks

3 cloves of garlic chopped

1 large can of tomato sauce

1 box of chicken broth

Optional Ingredients if making own meatballs:

1 lb of ground beef

1/2 cup grated parmigiano or romano cheese

½ cup Italian season breadcrumbs

1 large egg

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

½ lb of spaghetti broken (or whatever pasta you prefer)

1 cup of fresh basil leaves (I did not add this)

1. Preheat a medium soup pot over medium heat; add olive oil, carrots, onions, celery, garlic and saute 5 minutes.
2. Add tomato sauce, chicken stock and cover pot; turn up heat and bring to a fast boil; while soup comes cooks make meat balls.
3. Mix ground meat with cheese, bread crumbs, egg and parsley; roll into 1 1/2 to 2 inch-balls. ***I used frozen Italian style meatballs)
4. Remove lid from soup and SLIDE balls into soup; bring back to a boil then stir in spaghetti; reduce heat and simmer soup 10 minutes more, until pasta is tender and balls have cooked through; Stir in basil and remove’Stoup” from heat, serve soup with bread and cheese.

This soup was fantastic and Mackenzie’s chosen meal for the week. It’s called “Stoup” as it’s thicker that soup, but thinner than stew. I decided to make it a little more Liam friendly and added tricolor fusili and some organic alphabet pasta. I also threw in a couple of mild Italian sausages to make it a little more heartier.

Outcome- Success finally! Even Liam was asking for more “Stoup”! This will go into the rotation!

Thursday- Breakfast for Dinner

This was Liam’s choice for the week. He wanted Bacon and Eggs! Dinner consisted of a pound of maple bacon, 6 eggs and homemade hashbrowns fried with Vidalia onions.

The bacon, and eggs I did in the oven. My dad showed me this trick as long as you have a pan that is deep, to spread the slices of bacon on your sheet and bake in the oven at 375F the bacon cooks perfectly and rarely burns, and it’s much less messier than frying it on the stove. The eggs I found a recipe in CPO’s- Canada Cooks called Baked Eggs Toasty Cups and baked in the oven along with the bacon. My dad stopped by for a moment and was impressed with the smells coming from the kitchen. I get my love for food from him, thanks Dad! I must show one more gadget that is really useful, also by Pampered Chef. I used this to chop my potatoes to make the hashbrowns, it took just a couple of minutes to dice 8 potatoes and an onion! It’s called the Food Chopper and is amazingly easy to use and can be thrown into the dishwasher. I love doing carrots, celery, and onions with it for soups, it’s so quick!

Tomorrow Friday- Shepherds Pie

This is Ciaran’s pick, well his pick was “Mashed Tatos” but will eat this since the potatoes hide the extras in it! This reminds me I need to go take out my ground beef to thaw!

I really hope that by tomorrow Ciaran is finally feeling a bit better, this has been 3 days now of not keeping anything solid down. It’s days like these when I’m happy he’s still nursing and getting nutrients that way.

I’m always looking for great family friendly recipes, so if you have some send them my way or submit them to Canada Cooks!

After a wonderful week in Grand Cayman, I really felt that I’ve recharged my batteries and ready to jump right into the Challenge! I thought I’d share some of our meals from this week and let you know how things went!

Monday: This was a Holiday, and our first day home, so luckily dinner was leftover Turkey at Andrew’s Moms house. YUMMY! Turkey is my favorite!

Tuesday: Spaghetti and Garlic Cheese Bread (chosen by Mackenzie)

This was actually a really easy meal, as I generally make a huge batch of spaghetti sauce, then freeze it flat in large zipper freezer bags. Another thing that would work well, (as I’m trying to cut down on plastic bag use,) is to freeze the sauce in a circular container like an icecream container and place it in your crockpot for the day to warm. I made whole wheat spaghetti and picked up a fresh loaf of French Bread for the Garlic Cheese Bread.

Outcome: Well accepted by everyone, but Liam, but he did actually have a few bites, this is a start!

Wednesday: Beef in a Bag

Another easy meal that I really enjoy! I have mentioned this before on one of our MomTalk Podcasts called “What’s for Dinner?”. It’s made with a product from Club House, called “Bag n Season” it’s found in the garvy and sauces secion of your grocery store.

I threw in an inside round cut of roast beef in the bag along with an onion, potatoes, carrots, turnip and sweet potato, I tried something a little different and put in a can of beef broth in with the season mix and set the oven to use the delayed start, so I wouldn’t get side tracked and forgot to put it in. About 2 hours later, it was all perfectly cooked and delicious. If you’d rather use your own seasonings for your roast, you can also buy oven bags made called Look! You can usually find these in the area where freezer bags, plastic wrap and tin foil are found in your grocery store.

Outcome: Mackenzie, Ciaran and I all went back for seconds, Liam, would not try anything. He ended up having a ham sandwich. I did tell him, that if he wasn’t eating what everyone else was, that he’d have to wait until we were all finished before he got his. We’ll keep trying!

Thursday: Old Fashioned Potato Scallop and Ham

This recipe is so easy and came from a cooking course I took many years ago at a family resource centre in Nova Scotia.

Old Fashioned Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

8 medium potatoes
1 onion thinly sliced
2 T flour
2 T margarine
2 cups of hot milk
1 cup of cheddar cheese (optional)
Salt and pepper

Slice potatoes into thin, coin shaped pieces. Slice onion into thin slices.
Layer 1/3 of potatoes in bottom of roasting pan (I use a 9×13 glass casserole). Cover with 1/3 of onion. Dot with margarine and sprinkle with 1/3 of flour. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and 1/3 of cheddar cheese. Repeat layers until all ingredients are layered. Pour hot milk over all ingredients, place into oven uncovered. Bake at 350 F for 1 hour, or until potatoes are baked through.

The ham was one I picked up on sale that I threw in the freezer, I took it out to thaw in the refrigerator Tuesday night. It was one that was already pre-cooked so all that had to be done was heat in up. I sliced it and placed it in a casserole dish and drizzled on some pure maple syrup and baked it in the over for about 15- 20 minutes.

Outcome: Liam would not touch the Potato Scallop, but gobbled up a really thick piece of ham.

Friday: Yellow Thai Chicken Curry with Jasmine Rice

This sounds like a really complicated dish, but I use a shortcut…canned vegetables! I know that they can be a little higher in salt content, so I make sure to rinse them first! I used to be able to find a really great curry paste at a local Asian market, but they don’t sell it anymore! I decided to try a can of PC’s Thai Yellow Curry Sauce (see photo below) and it’s really good! It’s extra hot so I add a can of coconut milk to it along with the vegetables (sweet potato, baby corn, potatoes, water chestnuts) and about 3 chicken breast that were already sliced and cooked.

Outcome: Everyone enjoyed and although Liam would not eat and of the vegetables in the curry, he did have a big bowl of Jasmine Rice with the curry sauce on it, it’s a start!

Now off to plan a family meeting on this week’s meal plan! I’m so proud of myself for sticking to the plan all week, this challenge is just what we needed!