A few of my favorite things - my kids pt 1

Since it's 12:40am already I'm going to make this a quick one. Of course, my absolute favorite things in the world are my 2 kids. They are amazing and so adorable and.....well ok it's late and I'll stop gushing.....for now. As you can see on the left, they are super sweet and love each other very much. Well, my posting today consists of something my Boston (far left) has learned how to do. He is just my little pride and joy and he is becoming such a big, smart boy. My husband and I are always so proud of him!
Lately he is in this identifying stage. He wants to put an identity to every single object he sees and wants to do it over and over. His favorite thing right now is to hold 2 objects and produce one at a time to me as I say what it is. Over, and over, and over, and over....and over. For example, he holds his cup in one hand, and Austin (a backyardigan) in the other. He will hold Austin out, while I say "AUSTIN!" then pull Austin back, produce the cup forward and wait for me to yell "CUP!". This continues until one of us gets bored. Usually me first. Or, he will get 2 more objects to identify them. Over, and over, and over...... To get to the moral of the story I'll continue. This morning I sat down in "the chair" to nurse Callahan (yes, the baby in the picture) and Boston picks up a wooden horse. He produces it forward and says "orse". I almost cried, I was so proud of him! He then picks up his best friend, Mr. Cow, and says "cow". Ok, tear. Next item, cookie. And then the next, his plane. Usually it doesn't go past "wawer" when he brings me his cup. We are always so happy to see our little boy taking in things that we are teaching him and even though he knows every single object that I ask him to get for me, the fact that he's learning to say the items himself is just another thing to make us prouder and prouder every day.

A few of my favorite things - Intro

It's been a while since I've yapped away on my blog. I use the phrase yapped away because I tend to be rather long-winded. I get that from my Dad. I enjoy people that tell long stories, however not that many people appreciate them as much as I do. See, I'm yapping away already :) I tend to go off topic frequently and then forget where I was going in the first place. Anyways.......
I've decided to start a mini-series about things that I love. Products, my family, why, where and what. If I'm out in public I get asked about my stroller all the time, and if I end up talking to people in the lineups about random things, usually I'm touting a product that I'm purchasing. I really should be a good salesperson, however I'm not into being pushy. I'm just very personable. My greatest accomplishment (sarcasm) was when I worked at 7-Eleven and we had a deal going on where if you bought 10 packs of smokes, it was a better deal than to purchase a few packs. Cheaper in the long run, really. Well, a customer came in and purchased 1 pack so I asked him if he would purchase 10 because it's a better deal. He did. Yep, I upsold cigarettes. I was a smoker at the time too so don't judge me!!
Okay okay I started yapping again. Well anyways, the whole point of this posting is to inform you of my upcoming mini-series about my favorite things. Just so you can keep an eye out for it if you're interested. I seem to have a good influence on the people at wal-mart and Costco when I tout the goods in my hands, so, maybe my information will be of help to yourselves as well!

Finally it has happened to me

Another random thoughts article, from my random thought-y mind. Last night I got to go out for dinner with my husband for the first time in almost a year. Maybe longer I don't remember. It's really been that long! It was our 4 year wedding anniversary on Thursday September 16 and every year since we started dating almost 10 years ago *yikes* we've been going to The Keg for our anniversary. This all started February 3 2002, as that was our first anniversary ever. Say it with me, awwwwwww. And since I love to ramble I'll share this little ditty. We started going to The Keg, as stated, in 2002. When we got married in 2006, we went to The Keg for our February anniversary but then had to wait ALLLLLL the way until September 16 2007 again. It was brutal.
Usually I order the BBQ chicken and ribs. It's so amazing and moist and....I'm getting hungry! We received some cash from my husband's mother for our anniversary and decided to put that towards dinner, and my husband said that if I liked I could get a lobster tail or crab legs. I was so excited as I'm never allowed to eat these foods because of the price. Plus I was excited to just go out for dinner in the first place.
WARNING: another ramble. My husband was constantly going to Alberta for work within his company starting August 2009, for only a week at a time, and we didn't get much time together. I wanted to go out for dinner but we just couldn't afford it. I was already pregnant, starting end of June 2009, literally immediately after I returned home from an almost 3 week trip to Ontario to visit family with my 9 month old son (now 2). My pregnancy continued, our dinners out drought continued. My husband went away to Alberta for an undecided amount of time while I was 9 months pregnant with our 2nd son and I told him, when you get back we are going on a date before this baby comes. Finally, after 1 whole month of him being gone, his flight was scheduled for March 20 2010. He left February 21 2010. My c-section was scheduled for March 26 2010. We planned on going out for dinner and possibly a movie, having 1 whole week together to mentally prepare for our arrival and just get a few little things done around the house. March 20, 2010, 7:30am, my water broke. My husband was still in Alberta. We didn't get our dinner.
Since my youngest, 6 months old tomorrow, is breast-fed, we haven't been able to leave him for substantial amounts of time. Now that he is getting a little older he is easier to leave for about 4 hours at a time. And since it was our anniversary, we planned this dinner for a very very VERY long time. My husband was perfectly okay with going on Thursday evening, however his work schedule is so up in the air I didn't want the added stress of him not being home in time for us to go and just enjoy our meal. I changed our dinner to September 18, Saturday. In a way I felt bad going for dinner that night as it was my sister's 30th birthday as well because I felt like my dinner was overshadowing her birthday in my mind. I tried to reassure myself that I was the only person that wouldn't think that was silly.
Anyways, my Mom came over around 6pm and we went to The Keg for dinner as my mother shooed us out of the house so she could have some alone time with the boys. We waited for a long time to get our table, almost an hour, which in a way irks me because we only go once a year so I think we should be allowed some VIP status. However, maybe that's the reason we don't get VIP......we're not regulars. Not in any way, shape or form. We got a seat at the bar first, where we mulled over what to get. I was looking at the martinis, the margaritas, then IT caught my eye. "MOJITO" I almost yelled at the bartender. Sprite though, no club soda. Yuck. It was soooo amazing. I drank it on an empty stomach, not smart, but did pretty well. I explained to the bartender that I became addicted to virgin mojito's during my first pregnancy so he asked me a few times how I liked it. Perfect, was my response. And I wasn't lying.
We were seated after some time at the bar in a great little corner seat. I used to not be such an introvert but I think my husband has rubbed off on me as I've become quite claustrophobic over the years. We loved our seat, it was perfect. For us, for our evening. I ordered a glass of white zinfandel and we waited with great excitement over our warm quartered bread and butter. Yes, we do need to get out more. After mulling over the menu a little, which we had already done at home, Ken ordered the chicken with roasted red pepper sauce and I ordered the creole chicken. The creole chicken had scallops and shrimp on it, satisfying my appetite for some seafood. I just couldn't order the lobster. It was $30+!!! I can't justify paying that much. We decided to order some alcohol instead of seafood and I'm quite happy with the substitution. After dinner we phoned my mother who said everything was fine and then we headed to the casino. We dropped $5 each on roulette, poker, and random slots. We lost it all but that's okay. We did win a few times but then just kept playing. It was fun and that was the point.
So, I can finally say I had my dinner out and it was a success. No more babies until I get at least one more dinner out.

Mmmmmm wine.......my first foray into change

Before I had my first son I liked to have a glass of wine before bed every night. My favorite is the one to the right - Sawmill Creek Shiraz. I have this super large green-tinted wine glass that I would fill to restaurant size, as in barely even half full, and take an hour to drink it while I read a book or magazine in bed. Well, I don't think it's actually a wine glass, more of a goblet. But it's my wine glass and I love it. It's different and it was sold individually so it's one of a kind. Just like me! I tend to magnet towards different and odd things. But enough about the glass.
Once I first thought I was pregnant I told my husband I think I should stop drinking my nightly glass of wine. He, like usual, said "Do what you want!" But of course, said if I think I'm pregnant, that I should probably follow my feelings. I missed my nightly glass of wine so badly. This shiraz, to me, is the best wine in the entire world. I can never actually remember what it's called and always refer to it as the one with the "black label." Black as in the label that says shiraz is black. However, I went to the liquor store tonight and double checked the brand, which turned out well because I felt like writing this post tonight and my memory for the name of my favorite wine didn't dissapoint me this time. I've tried a few different wines like painted turtle, naked grape, peller estates and an Australian one that I can't remember the name of right now, just as samples or at people's houses. I ended up not being pregnant for another month.
After I had my son it was the end of summer and I love to drink wine in the fall. Especially since the wine I love is heavy. I bought a new bottle and it took me a very long time to drink. I think between my first and second sons I went through just over 1 large bottle (1.5 litres). Since my second son was born I rarely drink at all anymore since I'm nursing and I can't handle my alcohol. But, it is fall, so I'm looking forward to enjoying a glass of wine here and there and I want to try out different brands of wine.
The description for Sawmill Creek Shiraz is as follows: "This Shiraz is a full-bodied wine. The flavours of black cherry and dark plums combine with a hint of pepper and light oak on the finish to deliver a powerful wine." The words that catch me the most is black cherry, pepper and oak. However, my husband and I went to the liquor store tonight as he wanted some beer for the weekend. On Saturday nights we like to sit outside on the patio after the boys are in bed and enjoy a drink and some conversation together. I still had 2 coolers left in my fridge from a month ago so I decided I wanted to purchase a bottle of wine but I wanted to go to a different label and try something different.
I went Chilean. I know I've had a Chilean wine before and liked it. The one I bought is called Cono Sur and it's a Cabernet Sauvignon/Shiraz. The description on the back is: "This vigorous, deep ruby red blend is a compelling, fruit-forward wine. Notes of blackcurrant plum and cherry combine with slighter traces of leather, vanilla and a delicious earthy, toasted finish." I had a small sample of it and I have to say....I'm moving on. It's a good wine, I will enjoy it, but it's not as rich and oaky as the shiraz. I think it's the cab sauv part that makes it fruitier. Keep an eye on future postings and let me know if you have any wines to recommend!

Pot Roast simplified

Ok I finally have a little time to sit down and do a few posting. Oh who am I kidding - I've had a lot of time to write a few postings but I've recently become addicted to.......farmville *sob*. Yes, sad little farmville on facebook. So when I'm on my computer, working usually, my spare time in between phone calls is spent plowing seeding and harvesting on farmville. Yep. Anyways.....I think I posted on my facebook status that I would post about this roast that I made the other day so here goes. It was unbelievable easy. One thing you'll learn about me is I rarely use measurements when it comes to seasonings. The only time I do is if I'm baking because you can really ruin something bready or pastry like if you use the wrong measurement. When it comes to dinner, however, I find it easier just to tailor everything to your own taste. I'm obsessed with garlic and NEVER repeat NEVER use the amount of garlic that recipes say to use. I always use more. I should do a posting on just garlic. I already know its benefits just from personal knowledge but maybe a research posting should be done....hmmmm.....

Ingredients:

1 top sirloin roast
1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
baby carrots
onion, chopped
garlic cloves
celery salt
pepper

Directions:

Place beef in the slow cooker.
Drop baby carrots, onion and garlic on top, as much or as little as you like. It's just for flavour anyways.
Sprinkle pepper and celery salt on top of the roast and veggies, again as much or as little as you like. I used a lot of celery salt.
Mix the worcestershire and BBQ sauces together and pour over all.
Turn slow cooker on low for 8 hours.
Serve roast and enjoy!

SOOOOO excited!!!!!

I just wanted to share my excitement! I went to a bridal shower yesterday for my soon to be sister-in-law...sort of.... (my husband's brother's fiance) and I won a prize! It's the greatest prize EVER!! First I'll share how I won it. Well, my mother-in-law and sister-in-law won with me, but me and one of my SIL got the 2 prizes available for this game. For those of you who know me, should know I'm a shoe-in for this game. It was called famous couples through the ages. For someone like me who is obsessed with Hollywood I figured I'd get pretty good on this one. I'm 27 (not for long) my SIL is 45 and my MIL is 65. With our ages combined we cover 3 whole generations and got 100% on the game. We were the only ones who got 100% it was awesome!! One of the hostesses brought 4 gift bags out and told us to pick 2. I was looking at one pink bag, but, being me, picked the neon yellow one. Inside was a......drumroll........COOKBOOK!! This cook book is called As Fresh As It Gets Everyday Recipes from the Tomato Fresh Food Cafe. I'm super super excited to check out the recipes from this book and I'll be certain to post them on my blog. I read a bit of the beginning of the book so far and it says that it uses fresh local food to create the recipes. Upon reading some of the recipes I can see that this holds true. The first section, breakfast, has so many great looking recipes and there isn't anything in there that I wouldn't make. Again, sooooo excited!

The dirt on DIRT

As promised, I am finally reading magazines again. I finished reading my Canadian Living June 2010 issue and started on my Today's Parent June 2010 issue. Within a few pages I found an article that confirms everything I've been saying for years - using excessive anti-bacterial soaps sprays and sanitizer just makes you sick. I'm a big advocate of playing in the dirt, not worrying about a little cat hair around the house, some dust.....basically not making your house and life sterile. My house has 3 cats 2 children and one husband and no lysol sprays.
Here's the article:

Playing in the muck like little piggies just might make kids healthier. Researchers studied piglets raised out doors, indoors and in solation, where they were given daily doses of antibiotics. Turns out the dirtier the pigs, the more healthy bacteria they had: 90 percent of the gut bacteria in the outdoor group were of the type that, among other things, is thought to help fend off food-borne infections like E. coli. The indoor and antibiotic-fed pigs had "good bacteria" levels of roughly 70 percent and 50 percent, respectively. Plus, the pristine pigs, were thought to be more allergy prone. Hey kids, time to make mud pies!

Wendy Haaf, June 2010 Today's Parent

All Fall

Today I've just decided to write a quick little blurby. I'm up way past my bedtime, but I'm not working at 6am tomorrow so I've decided to just hang out a little bit. It's only 11:25pm so far so I still have time. Plus I had an amazing 2h nap today. As the summer season draws to a close and the fall season starts, I'm excited to get into all things fall. Fall is my absolute favorite season in the entire world!! To me, fall means sweater season, hot ankle booties or shooties as I like to call them, crock pot food, blankets, and....wait for it.....snuggling snuggling and more snuggling! Now that I have 2 extremely handsome sons I have so many choices of people to snuggle with! Or just a bigger group. My just-turned-2 year old is getting snugglier now and I think it may have a lot to do with the new baby and the fact that he wants in on the action when he sees us snuggling with the baby but I don't mind. The more time I get to spend with my boys intimately the better. Fall also means lots of blankets on the bed and hot showers. I just finished reading the last book in the twilight series and I have to say I'm quite dissapointed. Although the series was rather far-fetched enough with vampires and werewolves and the like, the reading was interesting and addicting. The last book, Breaking Dawn, took me forever to read. It just didn't hold my attention. However, the end of my book also means the return of articles! Yes, I am actually going to start posting articles finally! I am backed up to my June issue of Canadian Living and I just received my October issue in the mail. Yep, June. And I also have the June issues of Today's Parent and Parenting to read too. I'm quite OCD when it comes to the way I do things. I eat my food so that I always save the best for last and I read my magazines in a certain order. If my order gets messed up I won't read the magazines until I have the next one in line all ready to read. For example, if the next one in order goes missing I WILL NOT read the next one in line until I find the one that's supposed to be in line. Of course I have to use OCD loosely as it is a very serious disease for some. Anyways I feel like I'm just rambling as I've already emailed 2 friends that I was overdue to email and usually I'm sleeping by now but instead I'm writing and watching TV. And now that my youngest is almost 6 months old I'm getting a little more free time to myself and have time to write in my blogs. Tomorrow's fall dinner is a big dissapointment, just Costco lasagna and the best garlic bread in the whole world, also from Costco. Maybe I can figure out how to recreate the garlic bread and post it........keep in touch!

Summer Series - Ranch Macaroni Salad

I am soooooo excited to announce that this one is an Abby Baer original! It was, however, inspired by my husband, but the recipe was concocted all on my own and I am allowed to take all the credit. Ken's only input was "ranch dressing" when I said I wanted to create a macaroni salad. You will see his inspiration in my ingredients, however it wasn't what he had in mind and is a little more complex than just "ranch dressing."

I encourage you to try out this recipe and tell me what you think. Look for the Abby's notes after the recipe for different variations and ways to inspire your own personal touches!

Ingredients:

2 cups dry macaroni

1 pouch Club House Salads 'n' Dips Ranch Style

3/4 cup plain yogurt

1 cup sour cream

6 garlic dill pickles

6 slices bacon

1 red pepper

1 bunch green onions

Directions:

In large pot, boil macaroni until soft.

Fry bacon until crispy.

Finely chop green onions and chives, red pepper and dill pickles.

Combine yogurt and sour cream, then add the entire package of Club House Ranch Style.

Once the macaroni is finished cooking, place it in a colander and rinse with cold water until cool.

Place macaroni back into large pot.

In large pot add the dill pickles, bacon, red pepper and green onions and chives. Stir.

Add the ranch dressing to the pot and stir until everything is coated in the dressing.

Chill and serve.

Abby's notes: Club house has a range of dressings including dill. You can mix around the dressings and try a few variations if you please. Dill dressing may be a nice fresh addition to the dill pickle flavoring. If you like a fresher flavor I would suggest adding cucumbers and removing the bacon. Another suggestion, to make this into a full meal, would be to add chopped boiled eggs to the salad.

Homemade Peanut Butter

I have a confession to make. The only reason I made this peanut butter is because we have no food in the house. With the exception of peanuts of course. My son, Boston, always has a peanut butter sandwich every day for lunch. We ran out of peanut butter on Saturday after I scraped as much as I possibly could from the jar. Never knowing what my schedule will be like, as well as hating grocery shopping alone unless I absolutely need to or get the urge to, I decided just to concoct some. So here's my adventures in peanut butter making! Feel free to make more. I only made a small amount because I only needed

Ingredients:

1/2cup shelled peanuts

1 tsp canola oil

pinch of icing sugar (optional)

Instructions:

Shell peanuts, place in small food processor.

Blend on high until peanuts start to liquify

Add oil and blend until peanuts are at desired consistency.

Add pinch of icing sugar if desired.

Summer Series - Tomato and Avocado Salad

I am so proud to announce that this weeks recipes will be all mine!! They will be inspired, of course, by other recipes, and very simple, but they will be all mine! I'm so excited and would love to hear feedback on my recipes.

This recipe is about as simple as it gets. With no food in the house and a hungry stomach, I concocted this one from my vegetable and dressing drawers.

Ingredients:

1/2 chopped avocado

1 chopped tomato

1 tsp Kraft Olive oil and Balsamic Viniagrette Dressing

Toss all 3 ingredients together in a bowl and enjoy!

Summer Series - Grilled Pizza Mexicana

This pizza was super easy to make and I thought it was delicious. My husband wasn't a huge fan but he said it was a make-again every 4 months or so. That's my question to him any time I make something new - is it a make-again? That tells me if he likes it or not. We've had the Grilled Chicken and Summer Vegetable Skillet twice already. He requests it actually! It is quite fresh and easy to make and since men love BBQ sauce so much the flavor suits his pallet. I think since this pizza was so simple and didn't have the tomato or BBQ sauce he prefers (or requires) on pizza it may have just been too complicated for his pallet. It was a little on the spicy side as well, suited though as it's a mexican pizza. This one is a two-parter as well since I made my own pizza crust. It's 100x cheaper than buying and so easy. I grilled and blended the veggies and prepared the pizza crust in the morning and put it in the fridge until I was off work just after 5pm. Once I was off work I ran downstairs, started the grill, pressed the dough into a semi-rectangle, cooked the pizza crust, placed the veggies on the pizza, put the cheese on, put the top down on the BBQ and waited for the cheese to melt. I ate the pizza with my husband and was all done by 5:35pm.

Basic Pizza Crust (from Company's Coming Pizza!)

2 cups all purpose flour
1-1/4 tsp instant yeast
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup warm water
2 tbsp cooking oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)

Put first 2 ingredients into medium bowl. Stir together well.
Add warm water and cooking oil. Mix well unjtil dough leaves sides of bowl. Knead on lightly floured surface for 5-8 mins until smooth and elastic.

It's up to you what you do with the crust at this point in time. You can roll it onto a pizza pan and use it immediately, or roll it onto a pizza pan or leave in a large greased bowl and let sit covered by a tea towel to rise in the oven with the light on and the door closed. I put the dough in the fridge as I work for 4h and cannot watch the dough while I'm working.
Variations:
Taco Pizza Crust: Mix 1/2 envelope of taco seasoning mix into dry ingredients before adding wet ingredients

Grilled Pizza Mexicana (from Canadian Living magazine, August 2010)

1lb pizza dough
2 tsp olive oil
8oz fresh mozzarella cheese, drained and sliced (I used shredded cheese from Cash n Carry in Bellingham)

Grilled Tomato Salsa:
6 ripe plum tomatoes
2 jalapeno peppers (I used hot yellow peppers as the grocery store was out of jalapenos)
half white onion (I used green onions)
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled (I'm huge on garlic and always overuse it. Feel free to add to your liking)
2 soaked dried or canned chipotle peppers seeded (or chipotle hot sauce to taste)
1 clove garlic, smashed
1/4tsp salt
1/3cup fresh coriander chopped

Place tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, onion and unpeeled garlic on greased grill over medium-high heat; close lid and grill until tender and charred, 15 to 20mins. Let cool enough to handle.
Peel and core tomateos, discarding juice; place in blender. Peel and seed jalapeno peppers; add to blender. Remove charred layer of onion; chop onion and add to blender. Squeeze garlic from skin into blender.
Add chipotle peppers, smashed garlic and salt; blend until minced. Add coriander; blend until almost pureed. Scrape into bowl.
On lightly floured surface, stretch dough to 16"x12" rectangle; brush with oil. Place, oiled side down on grill over medium heat, close lid and grill just until grill-marked on bottom and bubbles form on top, 3-6min. Turn and grill, covered, just until surface is cooked but not browned, about 1 minute. Remove from grill.
Spread 3/4 cup of the salsa over crust; cover with cheese. Grill, covered, until cheese is melted and bubbly and underside is browned, 3-8mins. Serve with remaining salsa to spoon over top.
(Abby's note: I left the crust on the BBQ while I spooned the salsa on the crust and used all of it. Then I covered with cheese and waited for the cheese to melt with the BBQ lid down.)

Summer Series - Lime-Grilled Chicken Breasts with Avocado Salsa

How many times can I say MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE RECIPE EVER!!!!!!!! until you get sick of it? Well this one is absolutely amazing. So fresh and summery, easy to make and definitely my absolute favorite recipe ever. Ok, I had to fit it in once more. Keep watching for more appearances of that phrase. (I'll try to restrain myself). I added lemony-dill nugget potatoes on the side just for a complete meal. This recipe is from Canadian Living magazine, August 2010 issue. Ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 large chicken breasts from Costco)
1/2 cup lime juice (I only bought one lime so I used half lime and half lemon juice)
1/4 cup fresh coriander (I used 1/8th cup balled coriander and grinded it in my coffee grinder)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tomatoes, chopped
half red onion, finely chopped (I used a few green onions)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and finely chopped (the grocery store was out of jalapenos so I used hot yellow peppers - not as spicy)
1 tbsp red wine vinegar (I combined 1/2 tbsp of cider vinegar and sherry as I didn't have red wine vinegar - turned out nice)
1 avocado
lime wedges

Instructions:
Cut chicken breats in half to create 8 pieces. Pound each to even thickness.
In glass bowl, combine 1/4 cup of the lime juice, 3 tbsp of the coriander, 2 tbsp of the olive oil, garlic, and half each of the salt and pepper. Add chicken, tossing to coat. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes. (Abby's note: I think meat needs to marinde much longer than 30 minutes so I let it marinade for 5 hours)
Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, onion, jalapeno peppers, vinegar and remaining lime juice, coriander, oil, salt and pepper. Peel and cut avocado into large dice; gently toss with salsa without breaking up. Set aside.
Place chicken on greased grill over medium-high heat; close lid and grill until no longer pink inside, about 3 minutes per side. (Abby's note: I never go by instructions on cooking chicken - always cook chicken until it is no longer pink no matter how long it takes). Serve topped with salsa and lime wedges.

MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE RECIPE EVER!!! (ok, I'm done)

Summer Series - Grilled Chicken & Summer Vegetable Skillet

Ok I have a confession with this one - I cooked waaaay too much rice for me and Ken. I used basic white rice, not instant rice as it asks for, and just added extra water and bbq sauce. However, it turned into really nice vegetarian leftovers for myself by just adding more tomatoes and green onions to the top with a sprinkle of cheese. If the veggies are cut beforehand and the chicken is bbq'd earlier in the day this one doesn't take much time. If you use instant rice that is. These recipes can also be found on the Kraft Canada website.

This recipe is a 2-parter, however. First you have a recipe for easy grilled chicken breasts, and there are a few recipes to make with the chicken. I hope to complete the other recipes as they look like something we would eat.


Easy Grilled Chicken Breasts
Ingredients:
1/2 cup Kraft Original BBQ sauce, divided (I used no name bbq sauce)
8 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used 2 large lilydale chicken breasts from Costco)

Instructions:
Pour 1/4 cup bbq sauce over chicken in shallow dish; turn chicken over to coat both sides of each breast. Refrigerate 1h to marinate.
Heat bbq to medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade
Grill Chicken 5-7min on each side or until done (170 degrees F), brushing occasionally with remaining bbq sauce for the last few minutes.
Note: set aside 4 breasts for the following meal, use the other 4 breasts for a side dish or one of the future recipes that include the Easy Grilled Chicken Breasts

Grilled Chicken and Summer Vegetable Skillet
Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
1 yellow pepper, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1/2 cups instant white rice, uncooked
1-1/4 cups water
1/4 cup Kraft Original BBQ Sauce (or no name bbq sauce)
4 cooked Easy Grilled Chicken Breasts (see above), chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1 cup Kraft 4 Cheese Italiano Shredded Cheese (I use Cheddar/Jack from the US)
2 green onions, sliced

Instructions:
Heat oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add peppers; cook 7 min, stirring occasionally. Stir in garlic, cook 1 min.
Add rice, water and bbq sauce; stir. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Top with chicken, tomatoes and cheese; cover. Simmer on medium low heat 10min or until rice is tender and cheese is melted.
Top with onions.

Summer Series - Bistro Salad

This is the first recipe I tried full of local veggies. It asks for red onion but I substituted with green onion as anything but green onion is bad for my breast milk. Babies just don't do well with onions I guess! I purchased the most beautiful green onions from Ralph's Farm Market and cut up the chives part as well. I also purchased my green beans from Ralph's and they were so full and flavorful! This recipe is from the Kraft Canada what's cooking magazine but I'm sure you could find it online as well. Enjoy!



(Abby's note: I made this into smaller portions and plated the salad separately)



Ingredients:



6 cups torn Boston lettuce (I used a regular head of lettuce)

1/2 cup Oscar Mayer real bacon bits (I used 6 pieces of real bacon and crumbled)

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onions (or any onion of your choice, green for me or other breastfeeding mothers as a suggestion)

4 hard-boiled eggs, chopped

1/2lb green beans trimmed and blanched (see below for blanching instructions)

1 cup croutons (I used President's Choice ranch flavored croutons - amazing with this salad!)

1/3 cup Kraft extra virgin olive oil aged balsamic vinaigrette dressing (I used this one - fantastic!)



Instructions:



Cover platter with lettuce

Arrange bacon bits, onions, eggs, beans and croutons in rows over lettuce

Drizzle with dressing



How to: Blanch green beans



Add beans to large pot of boiling water; cook, uncovered, for 3 minutes. Drain. Immediately plunge beans into bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Cool completely. Drain beans, then pat dry before using as directed.

Summer Series - Strawberries on Toast

Welcome to my summer series! Yes I'm attempting to blog again. I had a dramatic later winter/early spring in regards to my husband being away for work and having a baby a week earlier than expected, but I'd like to get back to the whole blogging game!

I've decided to run a small summer series since I'm taking advantage of my magazine subscriptions to Canadian Living and Kraft Canada. Although I do need to renew my Kraft Canada subscription.....better get to it!

I'm starting my summer series off with the most summery of all meals - strawberry on toast. Yep, there's sugar on that too. This recipe is super simple and super tasty.

Ingredients:
2 pieces of bread, toasted (I use dempsters smart white bread)
fresh local strawberries (mine are from Krause Berry Farms
sprinkle of white sugar

Instructions:
Toast bread to your liking
Slice strawberries into semi-thin slices and place on toast in any pattern that you like
Sprinkle with sugar
Eat

Tzatziki Dip!

I was preparing some dips for a little Olympics party that includes my husband, sister, brother in law, mother and her husband. So I decided some tzatziki dip and hummus and pitas would be a great idea! I found a few tzatziki dips online and none of them really suited what I thought a tzatziki dip should look like. So I used one as a mini guideline and decided to keep it super simple and make it my own. Here's what I came up with:

Abby's Tzatziki Dip!

1 kg plain yogurt
2 field cucumbers, shredded
2 tbsp Sunset Gourmet lemony dill
5 cloves of garlic, pressed

1) empty the plain yogurt into a bowl
2) press the cucumber into a kitchen towel or a lot of paper towels to squeeze out as much moisture as possible
3) place the cucumber into a bowl, followed by the 2 tbsp of lemony dill
4) press the garlic right into the bowl with the other ingredients
5) mix thoroughly, and VOILA!

*note* If you do not have Sunset Gourmet lemony dill, you may substitute with 2 tbsp fresh or dried dill and 1 tbsp lemon juice

Sit-ups possibly banned?

I found this article on the sympatico home page this morning. It discusses the rising concern about sit-ups with the medical crowd and alternatives to performing the sit-up in a safer way. The article discusses how a regular sit-up, which is usually done on a flat surface, can cause strain on your spine and cause more damage than it produces good results. This article was found at: http://www.besthealthmag.ca/blog/post/watch-your-back-say-no-to-sit-ups

The 2010 baby plague

This beautiful little guy is my son, Boston, for anyone wondering :)
Ok, so maybe plague isn't the right word to use, but it sure feels like an infestation! I'm writing today to conduct an experiment of sorts, for my own interest and curiosity. I've noticed there are an enormous amount of women either already pregnant or planning their babies this year. I already know of 5 people who are due at the end of March/beginning of April, one woman who just had her baby mid-January and 3 women who just announced their pregnancies, all due in 2010. I also know of a few women who are attempting to get pregnant this year which, if they hurry, their babies will still be 2010 babies.

So here's the reason for this little post. I am wondering why so many babies in 2010? Is it a total fluke? Did some or all of these women plan to have children during the Olympic year for a reason? Is it a second child or a first child? If it's a first, why 2010? Why not 2009 or earlier, or even wait one more year until 2011? Is it superstition? Do you hate odd numbers? (I do, it's not that far fetched!!) And if it's your second (or third, fourth.....) child, did you plan your first to coincide with having your second in 2010? Is this baby a "surprise"? For anyone - did you want your baby's birthday to be the same year as the Olympics for a reason? Or is the 2010 thing just a coincidence?

I know it seems like I'm being overly inquisitive - however I'm just curious since I'm seeing a huge surge in babies this year and January's not even over. For those who are reading this, maybe you aren't expecting a baby but know someone who is and can shed some light on why your friend chose or didn't choose 2010 as an appropriate birth year for their baby. Maybe it is you that's pregnant and don't want to tell anyone yet, you can just say that it's a friend. And I don't want names of your friends either; please allow them to remain anonymous. Some of them may not be sharing the news with the world and I don't want that ruined for them. "My friend" is a totally viable term to use in my little experiment. Come one come all and give me your opinions, thoughts, and/or knowledge on this subject!! Can't wait to see results!

Planning a baby? Or already pregnant? This could be fun!

This is something I've always wanted to share with the world. It's of course just superstition to me but some people may take it very seriously. To the right you'll see I've posted the Ancient Chinese Birth Gender Chart. If you click on it the picture will enlarge for easier viewing. My friend and I like to look at it when we find out someone is pregnant or if we know the sex of someone's baby and we want to compare. I even read about this chart in my Everything Pregnancy book some time ago and it says that this chart has proven to be more than 90% accurate in predicting a baby's sex. We know of quite a few women that are due in March/April and have had fun looking at their charts. For the ones that we know the sex of, this chart is 100% accurate. For the ones we don't know, well, that's just fun to guess - and find out in a few months. All you do is compare the month of conception with the woman's age at conception and voila! It was accurate with my son's birth and I'm almost thinking of trying to plan future pregnancies based on this chart!! Of course I believe that that is up to God (and my husband's swimmers) but I think that if the chart IS accurate then it's a coincidence but a cool coincidence. One woman I know that just had a baby had a boy and the chart says that she would have a boy. Spooky!! Anyways I think this is a really fun chart and those that I have shared it with already think it's kind of cool. Whether you decide to totally believe in it or not is up to you. The link for this chart is at: http://mypage.direct.ca/j/jfeng/gender.htm

Introduction to my blog

Hi! I just thought I'd let you in on my dirty little secret - I am a HUGE reader. I am constantly reading whether it be on the internet, in gossip magazines (which I have scaled down to People magazine if the cover catches my eye in the grocery store), magazines which I subscribe to including Today's Parent, Parenting, and Canadian Living, and I do like to throw in a book here and there when I find time between raising my son and getting regular household chores done. (And sleeping!!)

During my constant reading I always find an article in which I think the world needs to know about. My articles really consist of random subjects including parenting tips, random helpful people, a good recipe that I used on my guinea pig husband, world news...... so on and so forth. This can be daunting since there is no set subject but also appeal to many different tastes as I cover everything but sports.

Included in my blog I may post some random thoughts for the day as well, since when I am not reading my mind is racing at the highest possible speed a mind could race. This is why I need the sleep previously mentioned.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy reading my blog about reading! And feel free to comment on any posts that catch your eye!