Skipping Breakfast

Yesterday I woke up and did the cardinal sin of all healthy living bloggers…I skipped breakfast. I know! I just wasn’t hungry and even though I know breakfast is the most important meal of the day I skipped it and headed out to run my errands.

So if you remember from my last blog post I mentioned I was going to make a Rachael Ray meal for dinner on Wednesday night. Well I did and it turned out pretty great. It was a spinach and egg noodle casserole.

 

I was even able to accommodate both the husband and I. I followed the recipe exactly for myself and for the husbands I added chicken to his.

I’m not going to post the recipe here but if your interested you should definitely pick up her November issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray.

This issue has lots of Thanksgiving recipes but it also has some great veggie side dishes that can also double as a main dish. Some of the recipes that I’m really looking forward to trying are:

• Zucchini Caponata
• Roast Mushrooms and Kale over Mashed Sweet Potatoes
• Root Vegetable Mac ‘n’ Cheese
• Brussels Sprouts Salad with Apple and Pecans
• Cauliflower-Leek Puree
• Green Alien Ravioli (made with edamame)
• Mushroom Stuffing

I’d definitely recommend picking up the magazine if you get a chance.

Last night I also made a great recipe. Emily’s recipe that she made for her fall feast. Butternut Squash and Black Bean Chili served in a Pumpkin Bowl.

I also served it with a whole wheat roll.

I followed her recipe exactly except I halved it since I was just making it for the husband and I. We both loved it  The pumpkin bowls were definitely a great idea. I loved getting pumpkin with every scoop. It made tons and and we had two servings of leftovers.

The rest of the weekend isn’t going to be too exciting. It’s going to include:

• Spending the afternoon curled up on the couch watching a movie
• A little grocery shopping
• Pizza on naan for dinner tonight
• Getting the car fixed tomorrow afternoon
• Having a Halloween night tomorrow with the husband which includes: Rocky Horror, Scared Shrekless, Charlie Brown’s Pumpkin and more
• Going to visit the the niece and nephew on Halloween to see them all dressed up

Well I’m off to make some lunch and then curl up on the couch.

~ Katie :)

Big News

So I have some new to share with everyone. Maybe the title of the post is a little misleading but for me it’s big news!

I found out I made it on the sub list!

I’m sure some of you out there are scratching your head going, ‘big new? I don’t understand’. Well the school board that I got on (there’s a few different board around here) they only hire 150 subs for all the schools so that means I’m more likely to get work.

This is definitely good news! Now I just need to sub and work but butt off and hopefully I can get a full-time job in the near future. It’s still going to be a few weeks before I can start working (paperwork and such) but I’m really looking forward to getting back to work.

In other news it’s starting to get very chilly here in Calgary. It was –4 this morning. With all the cold weather around here I bet you can guess what I was craving for breakfast when I woke up: Oatmeal.

In today’s pot: 1/3 cup of steel cut oats, 2/3 cup of skim milk, 1 tsp of chia seeds, 1 tsp vanilla extract (unfortunately I had no banana to add to it).

Toppings included: pumpkin butter, peanut butter, pumpkin seeds, chocolate chips and a splash of milk.

I love hot oatmeal on a cool fall morning.

After breakfast I headed to the grocery store. I had no idea what was for supper. After yesterday’s post I’m still having some difficulty pleasing both the husband and myself. While at the grocery store I picked up the new Rachael Ray magazine and came up with a perfect idea for dinner. I can’t wait to share it with you all tomorrow.

I spent some time this morning doing some blog reading and lunch became inspired by Jaime’s post and made some grilled cheese.

Cheddar and seven grain bread. Nom!

I actually followed Jaime exactly and had the grilled cheese with a side of carrots.

Don’t we all just love comfort food?

Well I’ll be back tomorrow and I’ll let you know how tonight’s dinner turned out.

~ Katie :)

Men Vs. Women – Food Choices

So this is not the blog post I was planning on writing but after a conversation with the husband last night I decided that this topic is what needs to be discussed.

First, I won’t forget to tell you all about my first teacher experience here in Calgary. I subbed at a private school today and it was great.

When I woke up this morning I wasn’t feeling the teaching vibe. Maybe it was the fact that I’ve been able to sleep in for the past 4 months or maybe it was that I’m use to doing things on my own schedule but I just didn’t want to get out of bed.

But after an hour or so in the classroom I got my groove back and was loving it. It was so nice to be back out there interacting with children, other teachers and staff. Anyways, I only had that one day booked but I can’t wait to get another teacher call soon.

Ok, back to the topic of discussion today: Men Vs. Women – Food Choices.

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This probably isn’t completely fair because I know this isn’t really an men/women issue but unfortunately in my household it is.

Although I haven’t come out to say it on the blog yet I’ve been eating a lot of vegetarian meals lately. I haven’t completely gone veg but I’d say 90% of my meals have been and it has been a conscious decision on my part. Unfortunately it is causing some disagreements with the husband.

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These are the two main issues we’ve been discussing:

1. The husband doesn’t necessarily feel that vegetarians are healthier then meat-eaters. I agree (being a vegetarian doesn’t necessarily mean you are healthier then a meat-eater – one is not better then the other – I feel that since I started eating more veg meals I’ve been eating better and feel just feel better overall) with him on this point I think that he feels that I am not getting enough protein and other vitamins that meat provides. I know he is just worried about me but I’m just not sure how to convince him that I’m watching what I eat and definitely getting enough of all the vitamins and protein that I need.
2. We are having issues with two different meals. They are actually not two different meals but I usually will add chicken to his meal (although sometimes he will eat some of the vegetarian meals that I cook but he likes to eat meat at least 4-5 times a week for dinner). I guess the problem is that it’s getting more and more difficult to find meals that will please both of us. In his words yesterday, “you can’t just add chicken to meal and make it ok. It doesn’t necessarily taste good”. 

So here is where I’m asking for your help. How do you and your significant other deal with different eating habits? Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated.

~ Katie :)

First Snowfall

I woke up this morning to this…

And this…

Although the road wasn’t covered the ground, cars and rooftops were. Our first snowfall of the year. Even though I love the look of snow I was not impressed – it’s only October.

I had to get up this morning and drive my dad to the airport so after a long expedition (I won’t go into details but a 45 min trip ended up being about 2 hours) so on the way home I stopped at starbucks and splurged on this…

 

Grande Non-Fat, No Whip Pumpkin Spice Latte and this…

Pumpkin Scone.

And now I’m sitting on the couch doing this…

Icing my poor knee. I’m not sure what I did to it but I’ve been having throbbing pain in it for a little over 12 hours now. I’ve been putting the ice on for about 30 mins then giving myself a break from the freezing cold. I’m going to continue to do this for the next for hours and hopefully it will start to feel better.

So the reason I’ve been absent from the blog world for almost a week or so is the arrival of family. My dad and step-mom came into town on Wednesday evening and we’ve been busy ever since. Here’s a quick rundown of my weekend.

Thursday:

• Spend most of the morning cleaning and grocery shopping for the arrival of my dad and stepmom. They came to the our apartment for dinner that night. I made a macaroni casserole for dinner and it turned out great. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and it was really great to see family from home.

Friday:

• Friday was a little more chilled. Matt took the day off work and we hung out with the niece and nephew for most of the afternoon. That night the boys (my dad, Matt, and my two stepbrothers) went to a football game that evening so the girls (myself, my stepmom and my stepsister-in-law) hung out with the little kids, ordered chinese and had a girls night.

Saturday:

• Matt and I spend the morning/early afternoon in Banff with my dad and stepmom and then in the late afternoon it was the niece and nephew’s birthday party. The party was super fun and the kids were awesome.

Sunday:

• We celebrated a late Thanksgiving. It included lots of family and some great food. A wonderful way to spend the end of the weekend.

Well that’s it for me today. I should be back to regular scheduled blogging tomorrow. I’m subbing tomorrow (yay my first subbing day of the year) at a private school so my blog post might be a little later then usual but I’ll definitely be blogging.

I’ll leave you with a pic of my lunch. I decided to do breakfast for lunch since I enjoyed my pumpkin scone for breakfast.

Lunch was a two egg scramble with spinach and feta and a blueberry waffle. I topped the waffle with a little maple syrup.

Overall, delicious!

~ Katie :)

Pumpkins Galore

I’ve been sucked into the world of pumpkin by the blog world. Pumpkin is everywhere, pumpkin bread, pumpkin oats, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin scones, etc. My place has pumpkins everywhere…

And the hubby doesn’t even like them.

I actually have two reasons for all this pumpkin. For the baby pumpkins I was planning on making Emily’s recipe for chili served in pumpkins that she did for her foodbuzz challenge for my dad and stepmom who are coming over for dinner on Thursday night.

After I emailed them the menu to make sure they liked everything on it I got one two emails from my dad telling me NO CHILI. He does not like it. I’ve had to scrap that idea and figure out something new.

Now I have 4 baby pumpkins and no idea what to do with them. I actually think I’ll make the chili for the husband and I next week (since it looks amazing) but I’m going to have to come up with an idea for the other two. If you have any suggestions I’d love to know.

 

As for all the canned pumpkin I’m in the process of making Pumpkin Butter from Angela.

We are celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend with my dad, stepmom and her kids so I’m making a jar for each family (4 in total).

I thought this would be a great hostess gift since our place is too small to have everyone over. The only problem is that I ended up picking up huge mason jar (I was intending to get smaller ones) so now I’m making more of it then intended and have to go back to the store for more brown sugar.

 

I’m already made one batch (I split it into two because of the amount I have to make) and it smells and tastes amazing and now I’m just waiting for it to cool to put into jars and add ribbon.

I’ll post some after pictures tomorrow. I’m also making a little extra to keep for myself.

Well I’d better go. I have to go back to the store and the dry cleaners before coming back making another batch of pumpkin butter, make some stuffed peppers for dinner and making a batch of chocolate chip blondies. I’ve got a busy evening of cooking and baking ahead.

~ Katie :)

And I Chose…

First I want to thank everyone for their awesome cookbook suggestions. After I wrote yesterdays post and made a call out to twitter I got some great suggestions for vegetarian cookbooks.

Here are some of the books recommended:

• Supernatural Cooking
• Any of the Moosewood Cookbooks
• Vegan on the Cheap
• Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
• Rebar Cookbook
• Garden of Vegan

After hitting up two chapters stores, one 25% off coupon later and browsing tons of cookbooks I left with…

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Thanks so much to Robyn for this suggestion. I will admit that this book was expensive (about $50) but with the 25% off coupon and my irewards card of another 10% off I decided to splurge and get it. What I love about this book is that it doesn’t just list recipes but each section (eg. beans, vegetables, soups, casseroles, stir fries) goes into an explanation about the section.

For example: Winter Squash and Pumpkin – This has sections on

• Types of Squash
• What to Look For
• How to Store
• How to Use
• Special Handling
• Quality

Then it is followed by recipes using Squash and Pumpkins. In total the book is over 700 pages in length and has hundreds and hundreds of recipes. I will definitely have lots of yummy recipes to keep me busy for a while.

Thanks again to everyone for their lovely suggestions. I can’t wait to pick up a Moosewood Cookbook as well. I was debating between both but ended up with my choice because of the extra 25% coupon. It could only be used on a purchase of $35 dollars or more so I decided to take advantage and pick up the more expensive book.

Tonight we are celebrating Matt’s birthday so I’m making a simple pasta recipe (which is what he asked for) but I’m sure I’ll have some exciting new dishes to share with you soon.

~ Katie :)

Cookbook Help

This will be a short and sweet post.

Sorry for the lack of food blogging lately. I think the best meal I had this week was super simple. It was roasted veggies (sweet potatoes, butternut squash and broccoli) served on a 1/2 cup of quinoa topped with some roasted cranberries (I promise if you stick cranberries in the oven with your roasted veggies for the last five mins or so they turn out delicious) and a little feta. Absolutely wonderful dinner. Unfortunately I was so excited about eating it I forgot to take a picture.

Yesterday I also got creative with lunch. I was craving parsnip fries but I had no idea what to have with them. After thinking and thinking I came up with a simple and easy idea.

Two pieces of whole wheat Italian bread topped with a thin layer of pizza sauce, tons of spinach and a little mozza and feta (another obsession of mine right now).

Served with parsnip fries of course.

And I even remembered to take pictures this time :)

These were the only three pictures on my camera when I plugged it in :(

Help Needed:

Ok so here’s what I need help with right now. I’m heading to the store later to pick up a vegetarian cookbook and I need your ideas on your favourite one. If I don’t get any suggestions I’ll have to grab whichever one I feel looks the best but I’d love some input if you have a favourite.

My other plans for today include:

• Yoga in a hour
• Lunch at Wok Box
• Picking up the Hubby’s Birthday Present (his birthday is on Monday)
• Spending some Quality Time on the Couch with a Book

Happy Friday Everyone and Enjoy Your Weekend!

And don’t forget to leave a comment with your favourite vegetarian recipe book.

~ Katie :)

Giving Thanks

This past weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada. Unfortunately we didn’t celebrate this weekend. My dad and step-mom are coming to visit in a week and we decided to save Thanksgiving until them. We did do quite a few fun activities including taking the niece and nephew to an amusement park, having a board game evening with the family and another trip to Banff but I decided to go camera free and just enjoy the weekend. It was actually kinda nice to just enjoy myself but because of this I have nothing to show you.

Since this past weekend was Thanksgiving I decided that a post on what I’m thankful for would be appropriate today.

I’m Thankful For: My Husband

He can be silly or serious, happy or sad but he is my best friend and I love him. He would do anything for me and I have no idea what I would do without him.

I’m Thankful For: My Kitty

He is the best fur kitty anyone could ever have.

He loves to play…

 

He love to sleep…

 

And everything in between.

I’m Thankful For: My Friends and Family (back home and all over the world).

 

 

I’m Thankful For: My Family (here in Alberta)

I’m Thankful For: All the Awesome Food I Get to Eat Everyday

 

I’m Thankful For: My Two Job Interviews I have Coming Up

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Finally, I’m Thankful For: My New Blog Friends

Over the past year I have met some wonderful people. Whether in person…

Through twitter…

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Or through other blogs. You all have changed my life for the better and I thank you.

For all those things and many others…I give thanks.

~ Katie :)