A Fall Nature Walk

With all the beautiful sunny warm days we've been having lately, I decided to take advantage of the warm fall days with a little nature walk with my little man. We went to this beautiful park with lots of greenery, we even saw some deer! Noah was fascinated as we walked along collecting leaves. Here's some pictures of us soaking up the sun!!!

 

What have you been doing to get into the fall spirit?

 

POST BY MOMMY OLIVIA

 

Turkey Gumbo

This is a soup that will warm your soul!!! My own recipe, and it sure was delicious! Combining all my favourite veggies and some healthy turkey sausage gives it a skinny twist. Hope you all enjoy!

What you will need:
- 4-5 Italian Turkey Sausages
- 4 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 medium onion (minced)
- 1 large carrot (chopped)
- 1 1/2 cups of shredded cabbage
- 1 potato (peeled and cubed)
- 3 cloves garlic (minced)
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- 3 cups of chicken stalk
- 1 can of diced tomato & herbs

In a large pot add about 2 tbsp. of olive oil and cook sausages on medium heat until cooked through. Take them out of the pot and set aside. In the same pot add another 2 tbsp. of olive oil and add in your onions and carrots- cook for about 6 minutes or until almost tender. Then add in cabbage, potato, garlic, salt, pepper and cayenne cook and additional 3 minutes. Add in your chicken stalk and diced tomatoes bring to a boil, then simmer for about 20 minutes. Slice your sausage into thin coins and add to soup, cook for another 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

A Mexican Twist on Quinoa

This is a light low-fat full of fibre recipe with just a hint of cumin and spice! All the Mexican flavours we love brought into one dish, great as a meal or a side! The original recipe came from HERE.

What you will need:
•1 tablespoon olive oil
•1 medium sweet onion, diced
•2 cloves garlic, minced
•3/4 cup quinoa (uncooked), rinsed (red or white will work)
•1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
•1 teaspoon chili powder
•1 teaspoon cumin
•1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (more or less to taste)
•1/2 teaspoon black pepper
•Kosher or sea salt to taste
•1 (4.5 ounce) can diced green chilis
•1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes
•1/2 cup freshly chopped cilantro
•1 3/4 cup vegetable broth, low sodium

In a medium saucepan over medium heat add in your olive oil and sauté the onion for about 4 minutes, then add in garlic and sauté for an additional minute. Add in the rest of the ingredients in order, bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. (May need an additional 5 minutes depending if the liquid is absorbed). Once done fluff Quinoa with spoon, and let stand for 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

Guest Post by Andrea: Cauliflower Calzones

This post comes from my sister Andrea. The other day she made a delicious dish that she said she found on Pinterest....I hear a Pinterest Challenge!!!! So she put the recipe to the test and they indeed came out delicious!! This recipe came from The Iron You blog.

The recipe below came from HERE

What you will need:

For the Crust:
1 small head cauliflower, cut into small florets (should yield about 3 cups once processed)
½ cup / 1.7 oz / 50 gr mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 free range egg, lightly beaten
½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
½ teaspoon oregano
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

For the Filling:
6 tablespoons thick tomato sauce
½ cup / 1.7 oz / 50 gr mozzarella cheese
pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 450°F (220°C) and place a rack in the middle. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and grease liberally with olive oil.

In a food processor rice the cauliflower florets in batches (process until evenly chopped but not pulverized). Transfer cauliflower rice to a microwave dish and microwave on high for 8 minutes, until cooked.

Place the cauliflower rice in a tea towel and twist it to squeeze out as much moisture as you can (I squeezed out more than 1 cup of liquid). This is very important. The cauliflower rice needs to be dry. Otherwise you’ll end up with a mushy dough, not a crusty one. Transfer the cauliflower rice to a mixing bowl and add egg, mozzarella, oregano, sea salt and pepper. Mix well. Using your hands, press the mixture onto the baking sheet and shape into three discs (diameter should be about 5 inches).

Place in the oven and bake for 10 (no more no less, 10 minutes). Remove from the oven and, working quickly, top the half of each disc with tomato sauce and mozzarella. Using a large spatula carefully lift the half of the disc without filling and fold it over the other part (that’s ok if the disc brakes a bit).
Use your fingers to push the edges of each calzone together and seal in the filling.

Bake in the oven for an additional 12 minutes.

Serve hot!

Thank you Andrea for this recipe!

Learning the Colours of the Rainbow - Guest Post by Annabelle

This post is by my niece Annabelle. She wrote it out for me and now I will share it with you.

This is a fun way to let your kids learn and remember the colours of the rainbow. All you need to do is buy a 6 pack of glow sticks from Dollarama. They have all 6 colours of the rainbow, just not indigo.
Now, ask your kids if they know what colours are in the rainbow. Then teach them the word to remember them is ROY-G-BIV. Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet.
Then put them on your wrist in the right order.
Its really colourful and I love how they glow together. I personally loved it because I learnt the colours by heart.

By Annabelle (10 years old)

Quinoa Pudding

Quinoa Pudding. 
Almost like rice pudding but with the benefits of quinoa!

Ingredients

1.5 cups of water
3/4 cup of quinoa
2 cups milk
2 ripe bananas
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions

Rinse and drain the quinoa. Bring water and quinoa to a boil in a saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Blend together the milk, bananas, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a blender or food processor until smooth. Pour the milk mixture into the saucepan with the quinoa.
Place the pan over medium heat. Cook and stir until the mixture becomes thick and creamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla and serve warm.

By Mommy Melissa

Sushi at Home - By Mommy Melissa

Ive been meaning to do this post for so long but I knew its going to be long, so its been on the back burner. Well tonight its happening. I am doing the sushi night post! Sushi has to be one of my favourite meals but it can be so pricey. Making it at home is easier than you think. It also saves you a lot of money. Plus you can be creative and make your own unique flavour combinations. My favourite combo is smoked salmon, cream cheese, cucumber and avocado. Add some wasabe and soy sauce, magnificent!
With some trial and error, my sister and I have become master sushi makers. Well, in our eyes anyways! We even have some little tricks that make life easier when rolling them up.
Lets get started with the rice. Be sure to make this in advance because it needs to be cool to be able to use. The rice is very important in sushi, obviously! It holds it all together. This here is the sushi rice recipe we always use. It has served us well. We always end up doubling the amount to serve many people plus have left overs for lunch the next day!

Next you will need to prepare all your fillings. Here is a list of some of ours that we use.
Veggies
cucumber, carrots, green onions, avocado, lettuce
Protein
smoked salmon, fresh sushi grade salmon, *spicy tuna, shrimp, tempura shrimp, crab
Others
cream cheese, masago, picked ginger, sesame seeds
Sauces
mayonnaise, wasabe, sriracha sauce
*To make spicy tuna, drain a can of tuna, and mix with a small amount of mayo and sriracha hot sauce.

Now before we get to the rolling, here are a few things that will make your life easier.
First, this trick has to be by far the best. Get your bamboo rolling mat and put it inside a large zipper seal bag. Lay it flat and take all the air out. This allows you to simply wipe away spills and stray rice. Keeps your bamboo sheet clean so you can use it over and over again.

Next is to be sure to have all your fillings prepared and at arms reach. Including your rice and nori sheets.

Have your cutting station with a large jug of room temperature water. Before each cut, rinse your sharp knife, the water helps to get a clean cut.

A small bowl of water set beside you rolling station will be your best friend when it comes to the rice. Having wet hands will make the rice not stick to your skin.

Now, lets get to it!

Place a nori sheet on your bamboo mat, rougher side up. Make sure your bamboo is running horizontal as well as your toppings. Moisten hands with water from your water bowl. Scoop a handful of rice onto the sheet. Cover nori with the rice, leaving about 1cm at the top with no rice.
Now add your fillings about 3cm from the bottom. Do not go over board, but use your imagination!

Now here is how I roll them up. I doubt its the authentic way but it works for me!
Moisten that empty 1cm at the top with water. Now grab the bottom of the mat, and kinda roll it over the filling, hold your hand over the little mountain of filling then continue to roll until it fully rolled. Rub your hand along it to be sure its all stuck in place. Remove from rolling mat and take to your cutting station.

With a wet sharp knife, cut into about 6-8 pieces. Our end pieces look all crappy, so we keep them on a separate plate and refer to them as the 'asses'! They end up getting snacked on by everyone. Testers, if you will!

The Asses, aren't they pretty!

To do a roll with the rice on the outside is a little trickier. You will need two rolling mats. Do the same as before. Then place the second rolling mat on top, flip, then remove the mat on top. Fill, roll, cut. I don't like making them as it is a pain in the butt!

Now serve it up with some soy sauce, wasabe, pickled ginger. Now all that is needed are some friends and family, music and good red wine. There is a wonderful evening if you ask me!

We had some left over soy sauce from takeout, worked well here!

By Mommy Melissa