Fondue

As I was rushing off to work yesterday morning Aubrey looked at me and asked, "can we do fondue later?"....and my response, "of course!".  So I texted out a shout out and fondue turned into an impromptu family dinner.

I got a big pot of pasta sauce on; I think I made enough!

Now for the fondue; Aubrey requested chocolate with all the yummy dippers. By the time I got home from taking the kids for a walk to the park I did not feel like baking pound cake so I whipped up rice Krispies squares and cut them Into small squares.  I also toasted up some coconut; perfect for dipping as well.

Someone was just a little excited!

My sisters brought strawberries, bananas, pears, pineapple and grapes.

Let the dipping begin!

I opened a can of Devonshire cream; that was a great additional dipping option especially for the 3 and 4 year olds to not have an abundance of the melted chocolate an hour before bed!

Each person got their own ramekin with chocolate it in; much better than a communal bowl. This way we all could double dip as much as we liked!

 I love that our family doesn't require a special occasion to plan a party. It was Such a fun evening filled with family, great food, and laughter plus Chocolate makes everything even better!

Orange chocolate chip muffins

As my children were both "enjoying" their dinner while watching a video I decided to whip us some muffins.

I made some changes to the original recipe and they turned out great so I wanted to make note of the revised version. 

I combined 1&1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp baking soda, 1tsp baking powder, 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup chocolate chips. I set this aside.

In a separate bowl I whisked together the juice and zest of one orange, 1 egg, 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup of Greek yogurt.

I added this mixture into the dry just until combined. I put the batter in lined muffin ups and baked them at 350F for 22 minutes.

They turned out better than the original; good enough to share.

So nice when that works out!

Happy birthday Liam!

I cannot believe a year has past since we welcome Liam to the world. We are extremely thankful and feel blessed. Life is busy and full! As I try to balance life and work I find myself having less time to stop and take pictures to make a blog but I'm choosing to live in the moment and savour them.

Here are a few highlights from the past few weeks;

Aubrey was incharge of decorating Liam's birthday cupcakes; she did a fantastic job!

Aubrey went on a makeover day with a family friend that treated her to a spa day.

She enjoyed every minute of it!

The reveal!

Liam discovered his love for the swings!

Liam turned 1!

Liam discovered his love for cake!

I did snap a picture to remember this time. Right before bed each night this is my view. As I whisper a prayer in his ear for continued good health and sweet dreams I thank The Lord for this stage of life called motherhood.

The stir fry

One of my earliest food memories with my dad is the stirfry. We had this electric wok that produced the most wonderful stirfrys. Our authentic tastes for ethnic flavours have evolved from the days of China Lily Soya sauce but I do love the huge part nostalgia plays in cooking.

My inspiration for dinner last night was a bag of baby bok choy. I love getting fresh veggies and meat into one yummy dish.  Stir fry does take a little prep work but hopefully this will help simplify the process.

I had Jeff portion a whole pork loin from Costco into chops but he left me stirfry meat from the ends of the loin. This is a great deal! 

I put the pork in a bowl and simultaneously marinated the pork and separatly created the sauce for the stirfry.

Kikimon soya sauce, oyster sauce, ginger, sesame oil, orange juice, and orange zest. At this point I just put plastic wrap over the marinated meat and put it in the fridge. As for the sauce; to the first ingredients I filled the container with water and added 1 heaping tablespoon of cornstarch and the same amount of peanut butter.  I had this in a container that could be shook. Boy did Aubrey have fun with this! I wish I had gotten a picture!

I got my rice cooker on; I always find that I forget about getting the rice cooked in time and it keeps great on warm

In the rice cooker so I just set this and forget it. Sometimes our rice is ready hours in advance; it almost tastes better as it sits.

  Now for the veggies! This can be soley chosen by preferences but whatever you do choose; chop and put it with veggies that cook for the same time. I put carrots, onions, celery and mushrooms in one bowl since that is what I will start with. In a separate bowl I put bok chop and peppers. I cut the stem of the bok choy thin and kept the leaf in larger chunks.

All of this prep can be done way ahead of time. Cooking Time is about 30 minutes from start to finish.

Anytime I make stirfry I cook the meat 75 % of the way through and then remove it from the wok.

Next I cook the veggies that take the longest; once they get some char on them I add a little bit of water and put the lid on to steam them.

Once those veggies are tender but still have a bite to them I add in my other veggies and give it a big stir.

Then I add the sauce that I made.

Once the sauce is the consistency I want I then add the meat back in.

And at this point I was working one handed; someone wanted to see what was smelling so good!

I turn the temperature down to a simmer and put the lid for about two minutes.

At this point it is ready to serve over the rice; I served this with peanuts!

I highly reccommend buying some really good base sauces and making your own stir fry sauces. It's a huge savings and you can continue to create different flavour profiles by adding a little of this and a lot of that! 

It's the same thing we do with our salad dressings. We almost always make our own dressings so we can tailor make them to our liking.

Aubrey helped me make a salad with our homemade poppy seed dressing! Roasted chicken, strawberries, and thinly sliced red onions on a bed of kale brocolli slaw.

I sat down to eat my lunch and Aubrey got her own fork out of the drawer, sat up beside me and reminded me that sharing is fun!!! 

I love sharing my lunch with this girl!

Pinterest chocolate chip cookies!

So my year of fun has come to a close. Instead of being down about it I am choosing to be extremely thankful for the year of adjusting to being a family of four and the quality time we've had.  As I wait at the bus stop I make it my mission for my day to spread kindness and smile wherever I go. Life gets pretty exciting when you're on a mission!

My four hour work day goes very fast and I come home to my sweet little ones. 

He loves lunch time!

One way I spread kindness at work is taking in bakes goods. This recipe for chocolate chip cookies that I got off of Pinterest are my new "go to" recipe.  My friend had mentioned that hers don't turn out quite like mine so I thought I'd do a play by play.

Using the paddle attachment Beat butter with sugars, vanilla and eggs. Using room temperature ingredients will make a smoother mixture. Scrape the bowl a few times and let this beat for a minute or two.

See how light in colour this gets! 

I lower the bowl and add in all the dry ingredients. When it's not quite incorporated I add in the chocolate chips. 1 cup per recipe makes a perfect chocolate chip to batter ratio.

I mix this just until the chocolate chips are incorporated evenly.

I scoop these using an icecream scoop to make identically sized cookies and I don't flatten them. The oven does its job.

I bake these at 350F until lightly brown. 13 minutes in my oven. I bring them out on the stove top to cool.

They don't look quite done; but this is key to a perfectly chewy cookie. Once cool enough to transfer without breaking I lay them evenly on the cooling rack until they are completely cooled and can be stacked.

She is waiting patiently for a taste test!!! And Mr. Liam will have to wait a few more months!

And now for the key in making cookies in bulk; eat a few, stock the freezer for when company stops by and give the rest away! This is key to not gaining weight while simultaneously spreading kindness!!!