When Things Go Right!

So im not goin to go on and on about my whole experience i had with the online bag company but i will share the fact that they finally did something right! My first bag i ordered threw them.... lets just say it looked like someone used it then sent it bag from the ware n tare of the handles! It took me wks to finally find something i liked so i could use my $25 giftcard i had threw them..... After the first bag was sent back and many emails back and forth with their customer service department they finally offered me a sweet deal! I was to choose the bag i liked i could have my $25 gifcard back plus 25% off plus i could take advantage of any sales they were having on any of the laptop bags as well as free 2 day air shipping! So i found this lovely bag

Its an over sized bag seein my boys got me a pain in the butt sized laptop... that doesnt fit in any normal bags..... Anyway so it was on sale for like 90$ but full price it was 179.95 i got $25 off it plus the 25% off the sale price and i got a lovely suprise when i was goin threw check out that i had been given a gift code which after processing baught my bag to $49! What a bargin! Even if they caused me stress! It worked out awesome!

But my bag comes in a "case" to keep the bag safe when im not using it i guess? weird....

"2009 A Year of BYOB! (Bake Your Own Bread)

So ive been extremely busy today with tidyin the house balancing the check book...UGH... planning my veggie garden, playing with Loche, giving all our pets some attention... Doing dishes...and more dishes seeing Hubby and Kev decided these last couple of days dishes could wait till the wkend.... even tho they both work saturdays! Anyway im having some time to myself now if u can call it that :P im sitting up in bed listening to

And i am surrounded by the cats!

So technically im not alone :P oh and the dog is squished under the bed sleeping as well! Loche is down stairs enjoying his curious george dvds and having a snack :) ahhh peace and quiet!

Now onto the title of this blog! while sitting here looking threw my blogs i follow i came across a blog that was title ""2009 A Year of BYOB! (Bake Your Own Bread)" and i just thought oh cool! this is so how i wanna be! here is the link http://bakersbench.blogspot.com/2009/01/2009-year-of-byob-bake-your-own-bread.html i am so doing this! My book arrives soon and 2morro maybe even 2nite when the guys get home we might head to the store so i can look at what i need to purchase to begin this journey! I cant wait to start making beautiful loaves of bread filled with yummyness and healthyness!

KidzWatch

OH MY GOSH i love this place! u know what this means???? Hubby and i have our date nights bac YEEEWWWWWWW! i am so happy that we finally took the time to drop in and have a tour and the fact that they take drop offs is even better! Loche loved it! he was in his prime! he did not want to leave when we went back to pick him up after he had been there for 2 and a hlf hrs! Which only cost us $20 something dollars! Which included the non refundable $15 registration fee, we did get 20% because Loche has paramount healthcare. Anyway the fact that they have awesome hours is thrilling! and exciting for us! And this way Loche gets some socialising with other kids his age!

Thursday What a Day!

So my thursday started out with a doctors visit to the dermatoligist which went well nothing to much to report there... but afterwards Hubby and i headed to LevisCommons to the BooksAMillion out there cuz i was hunting a book.. Which online they said it was in stock and i later found out after much searching that the only copy they had.. had been sold and no one entered it into the computer :P boo i say! But anyway this is the book that i was hunting for which i later purchsed!

So im VERY happy! And i cant wait to start learning how to make bread for my family... Its definately something ive wanted to try.... and one of my best friends does it all the time but as much as i love cooking... baking bread has always intimidated the heck out of me! And after many reviews on this book i figured ya know what the heck im gunna do this! Ive found myself with so much more energy and what seems to be spare time on my hands i wanna start tackling things ive always "wondered" about... bringin me on to my next rant so to speak... My hubby and i last night arrived at one of our fav italian resturants about 20 mins b4 they closed... but they welcomed us in as they do :) the resturant of our choice last night was Carrabbas we ordered 2 antipasta's for our meal which worked out perfectly! which were :
"CALAMARI ricardo, Our Calamari served with a spicy Italian pepper and lemon butter sauce" and "COZZE IN BIANCO, Mussels steamed in white wine,basil, lemon butter and Pernod" both very delish! With me having had my WLS i dont eat all that much so this worked out perfectly! Anyway while we were sitting there in our candle lit booth we discussed my "itch" i guess and im so glad to have a hubby who supports me no matter how crazy i can get :P so i told him that my plan for spring was to get the rest of my veggie planter boxs done bcuz i dont want to purchase any veggies come time from a store i wanna grow it all myself! and btw our garden and our bestfriends across the road this should work out! i did a garden last yr was my first one and i did pretty good considering it was the first time id done it... My mum and dad have always done veggies gardens and done well at it.. me however im pretty good at killing plants and believe u me its a full time job being as good as i am at killing plants :P well Angies good at it to! hehe one of the many reasons we get along so well! hehe <3>

But this thing is amazing! ive had my nose in it ever since she left it here last wk! And when we finally got home late last night i finally had the chance to write down everything i wanted to order! almost $50 later and only hlf way threw the book... ive decided to finish up ordering 2nite while over at Joe and Angie's where i can see exactly what she is plannin on growin so we dont end up grownin a bunch of the same stuff! So the other thing i talked to my hubby about is my want to start infussing olive oil for cooking and dipping! He wants me to go ahead and do these things rather then getting a job cuz this way ill still b home with our son whom ill talk about him in another blog some other time his a one in a million child i tell ya... some of the things he says and comes up with will crack u up! anyway thats it for this blog :P until next time!

Banana Nut Muffies (yes thats Cookies and Muffins merged!)

This is a recipe i once again didnt follow.. and turned out great! AND guilt free!

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 c. unsalted butter

2 Tbsp of liquid calorie free sweetener

3 Tbsp of brown sugar splenda

4 egg whites

3 c. of oats

3 Tbsp of flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Tbsp vanilla

and a handful of chopped Walnuts

Mix first 3 ingredients together in a bowl.
Add egg whites and mix.

Add remaining ingredients except nuts.

After dough is mixed add nuts.

Batter maybe a little runny ut drop on cookie sheet anyway.

Bake at 350'F for 12-15mins.

Pasta Bake.

Ok so I made this a couple of days after I was home from surgery! Its a very simple recipe and u can throw anything into it! Plus its a great way to get ur kids to eat veggies!

Pick what kind of meat u wish to work with
Here I used 90% lean Hamburger about 2 pounds
1 Tbsp of olive oil
3 Tbsp garlic
2 small sprigs of sage
2 Tbsp of Dried Basil (fresh when u have it is better!)
1 Tbsp of Oregano
1 can of diced tomatoes (rinse)
2 C. Of V8 low sodium juice
1 large onion diced small
1 small zucchini (shredded)
2 large carrots (grated)
1 small head of cauliflower (diced small)
1/2 C. Of grated low fat mozzarella Cheese
1/4 C. Of parmesan Cheese
2 boxes of ur fav pasta noodles
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Heat olive oil in electric skillet
Toss the garlic in
Then the onion then them cook down for a couple mins
Hen throw the lean meat in and let brown and get happy with the onions and garlic!
Add the herbs (sage, basil, oregano)
Put the lid on the skillet for about 10 mins.
Take lid off carefully adding in the tomatoes and V8 juice
Let simmer for about 5 mins.
Add the grated carrots stirring them threw

then add the other veggies (cali, zucchini)
Lid goes back on for about hlf an hour checking on it occasionally and stirring when needed
while everything is cooking down boil ur water for ur pasta
when pasta is cooked ladel out a couple of spoonfuls of the pasta water and add to the veggies and meat.
Drain rest of the water rom the pasta.
Turn skillet off
Preheat oven to about 350'F
while oven is preheating get ur fav cassarole dishes out spray with Olive Oil
Take ur pasta and add to the meat and veggies tossin them throughtly so everything migles nicely!
Start dishing up ur pasta and meat into ur sprayed dishes, when all divided up sprinkle ur cheeses over the top!
Add them to the already preheated oven.
Let bake for about 20 mins OR until the cheeses have all melted!
And serve and enjoy with a nice salad!

Sweet and Spicy Red Skin Potatoes and Red Peppers!

Awesome dish very easy and extremely tasty!

5 medium red skinned potatoes (leave skin on cut into chunks)

1 large red pepper (called Capsicum in austalia, sliced to a size ur fam will eat!)

handful of fresh chopped parsely

1 Tbsp of unsalted butter

1 Tbsp of Olive Oil

3 Tbsp of Kecap Manis (picture below, its sweet thick soysauce)

2 tbsp of minced garlic

Chili powder to taste

Steam ur potatoe chuncks
(i use the Glad steam bags they r my best friends in the kitchen!)

While taters r steaming heat oil and butter in ur skillet/wok

add the garlic when oil and butter have melted and become happy :D

add chilli powder and stir threw with the butter and oil

add sweet soy by now the taters should b done toss them into the sauce and stir

add the peppers toss threw with the taters sand sauce let simmer for about 10 mins
then add ur parsely!

Its up to u how long u cook ur peppers down our family likes them crunchy still!

Also we ate this with Panko Chicken Recipe coming soon!

Miso Stir-Fryed Noodles!

This is a VERY simple but tasty dish! Light and perfect to accompany beef, chicken or any kind of seafood!

1 pack of your fav asain noodles (follow boiling instructions on pack)

2 Tbsp of minced/crushed garlic

3 Tbsp of Miso Paste (or more if u feel the need for extra taste!)

2 Tbsp of Olive Oil

4 Green Scalions Chopped on an angle coarsely (stem and all)

a pinch of chilli powder OPTIONAL

Drain noodles, rince with cold water to stop from cooking more

Take your Olive Oil heat in wok

Throw your garlic in and let sizzle for a min or 2

toss the scalions in, stir

add the misto paste continuing to stir

if the paste doesnt cook down to a running sauce add a couple of Tbsp of water

turn heat off, toss the noodles in and mix up well.

Healthy Snack for the Big kids and Small kids in your house!

And by "Big" kids i ment the men in our household!

Nothing to special here just take any kind of sliced grain/wheat bread snack size is best for this :) spread peanut butter on the bread, sprinkle raisans over the peanut butter then take sliced sweet banana's and place over the top! Easy Tasty and some what Healthy!

PS!

I figure i should mention this before i start putting up some recipes... i find it VERY hard to follow a recipe.... i start with good intensions... and by the end the only part of the recipe that is the same is generally the kind of meat to use... heh.. also i dont measure ANYTHING im one of those kind of ppl that looks at something and eye balls it... and if it is missing something when i taste it then ill add a pinch of this and pinch of that! I will try my best to figure out the measurements to my recipe but most the time its according to u and ur famlies taste....!

Panko Crispy Chicken

This is a great recipe for crunchy crispy tasty chicken! My mum taught me this recipe and i have changed it a lil nothing mayjor :P And made this recipe for friends and family whom all LOVE it!

So im not going to do measurements this is purely done by eyeing it :)

You will need chicken breasts , plain flour, sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, chilli powder, garlic powder, onion powder, eggs, milk, canola oil, panko bread crumbs.

Combine your flour, garlic, pepper, salt, onion powder and chilli place into a dish and put to the side.

Crack a couple of eggs in a dish and beat till fluffy.

Get another dish place ur panko crumbs in it.

Take ur chicken breasts butterfly them into thin strips, and leave the chicken strips in milk!
So take the milk soaked chicken and coat it in the flour mixture then dip it in the egg wash then place in the panko crumbs and evenly coat! Repeat till all the chicken strips are done! Heat the oil enough to place atleast 4 strips to fry! Repeat till done it doesnt take very long to cook these strips at all. Make sure that the oil is hot enough so the chicken doesnt soak up alot of oil and make the chicken soggy and oily!