Weekly Meal Plan

This week I did not do a big shopping trip.  We are well stocked so it was mostly 2 small trips to get milk and fruits and veggies.  So I don't have much of a meal plan I'm following either but I didn't make everything on the plan last week either so will carry those over and just wing it the other nights.  We always have stuff in the freezer such as chicken nuggets and tortellini that can be made in a pinch if we have been too busy.

For this week I'm thinking:

1.  Pasta and sauce - just macaroni with ground beef, jarred sauce and some veggies thrown in.  I'm trying to lose weight so I have mine with zoodles which are zucchini julienned and omg these are so good!

2.  Tuna casserole - cream soup, noodles, veggies - whatever I have on hand

3.  Butter chicken - not the real thing but we like it - with fresh corn on the cob and green beans

4.  Chicken tortilla soup - haven't made this yet but it sounds delicious

5.  Creamy cauliflower sauce with pasta - another OMG so good!  An awesome healthy alfredo substitute.

Not sure about you but I'm looking forward to fall and comfort foods, Soups, stews, chilis, casseroles and Thanksgiving!!  Anything with pumpkin is good too!

Get Clean Laundry Without Breaking the Bank - #PurexplusOxi and a contest!

My kids are 2 and 3 years old which means LOTS of laundry with lots of stains including blood, dirt, food and potty stains.  There's definitely lots of potty stains at this point!  It's important to find a good laundry detergent that'll work hard at getting these stains out.

I was recently provided with a bottle of Purex plus Oxi detergent for my family to try.  Right off the bat I love that it's a liquid detergent with Oxi and Zout stain removal power and it can also be used as a pretreater for those really tough stains.

My daughter tends to have the dirtiest laundry so I went to work on her clothes first.  The first set of pictures are the before pictures followed by the after pictures.

The skirt had blood stains, the zebra shirt was really dirty from dirt and the pink onesie had strawberry juices all over it.  As you can see from the pictures the Purex plus Oxi did a pretty good job of removing all the stains.  I don't think it's any better than my current detergent but I can't argue with the affordability of Purex and I actually already did have some in my laundry room but not this specific variety.  Purex often goes on sale for $2.99 a bottle making it a great option.  Visit www.purexlaundry.ca for more information.  

Three of my wonderful readers (Canada only) will receive a coupon to try Purex plus Oxi for themselves and see how your laundry will be Bright, White and Clean for less than the other brands.  Enter below on rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

"Purex provided me with a sample of Purex plus Oxi detergent in exchange for a product review.  However all of the opinions expressed here are my own."

Weekly Meal Plan

I really suck lately about keeping this current.  Something must be done about that.  I've just found this summer to be so busy keeping the kids busy and enjoying the beautiful weather.  We've definitely had a wonderful summer.

So here goes:

1.  Chicken Express - I can find this recipe anywhere but it's basically a chicken stirfry with a soy sauce/vinegar/brown sugar and spices sauce served on rice (or in my case quinoa)

2,  Pasta in Creamy Cauliflower Sauce - I saw this recipe the other day and wanted to try it out but I still have to pickup some cauliflower that isn't half rotten in the store!

3.  Breakfast for dinner - a tradition since I have no time for big breakfasts in the morning so it'll be anything from french toast to pancakes, sausages or waffles.

4.  Chicken nuggets - these are saved for days I'm time crunched for dinner and it has to be in a hurry.  Served with veggies and a pasta side

5.  Quinoa and Black Bean Casserole - I found this when I saw the cauliflower sauce and it looks so good so we'll give it a try too!

Weekly Meal Plan

When I go grocery shopping in order to save money I tend to buy stuff that's on sale on top of my shopping list stuff as it will save me money in the future as when I go to use the item I won't need to buy it at the time and I haven't paid full price for it.  Well eventually this leads to a freezer full of stuff and half the time I don't even know what's in there.  So last week I didn't even go grocery shopping and just threw together meals with what we had.  Then I made a list of what we have in both freezers and based this weeks shopping list off of what is in the freezer and didn't buy anything extra as we need to use this stuff up.  So this weeks meals are:

1. Burgers - we had leftovers from my daughters birthday party
2. Chicken nuggets - for the day I won't have time to cook a full meal
3. Tortellini - I saved these for after spending the day at the waterslides and don't want to cook as this can be made in 10 minutes
4. Zucchini Pizza Casserole - for all the ground beef I have in the freezer
5. Cashew Chicken and Pasta - I can't find the recipe online and I realized that I bought almonds instead of cashews so it'll be almond chicken and pasta

I never tend to do a full week of dinners as there's always lots of leftovers which we'll eat for another night or 2.

Happy Father's Day!

I'm so happy my kids have such a wonderful, caring, loving person in their lives they call "Daddy!"  

Menu Plan Monday

1.  Waffles, sausages and eggs - I am up and out the door most of the time while the kids sleep so there's never time to cook a big breakfast which is why I decided to make it for dinner once every week or two.
2.  Creamy Pesto Chicken and Bowtie Pasta - yummy!
3.  Cottage Meatloaf - I don't care for meatloaf but love this one!
4.  Beef and Bean Taco Casserole - I LOVE this!
5.  Saucy Pork Medallions with some sort of potato side

Taylor's First Two Years!

There's a lot of milestones and changes the first two years as baby goes from helpless newborn to rambunctious toddler!  I love that I've been able to capture most if not all in pictures and on video to show her when she's older.  The following are some of my favourite moments and milestones:

Here she is a few minutes old after a fairly quick and easy delivery.

Pushing her upper body up on her elbows at 5 months old.  She had some gross motor delays due to hypotonia (muscle weakness) that a cause was never found for.

First foods at just after 6 months old.  She wouldn't eat baby cereals so we went right into avocado and it still took her another month or so before she took to eating solids.  I also discovered that she liked to feed herself so we did some baby led weaning.

7 months old and sitting on her own!  She toppled a lot though in the beginning so we kept her surrounded in pillows.  She couldn't get to this position on her own though.

Taylor crawling at 10.5 months!  She'd been getting physio every month or 2 at this point and they would give us exercises to help her get stronger.  Her weakness was mostly in the legs so this was definitely a big milestone! 

The biggest milestone of all though was Taylor walking at just shy of 16 months old!  Not only did this mean more fun for her but no more pesty appointments with doctors and physiotherapists!  

Last but not least this is the smart, pretty, stubborn almost 2 year old she is today!

Looking back I can't believe how much she's changed in these last 2 years but I've enjoyed every minute of it and being able to capture and share these moments!  

"Disclosure - I am part of the Natrel Baboo Blogger Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own."

Spring Is Here! - #LMDConnector

Spring is finally here and after months of cold weather and figuring out what to do inside it was nice to be able to set up the picnic table and enjoy an afternoon snack outside with the kids.  For such an occasion we decided to make Chocolate Banana Coffee Cake.  I saw the recipe in a magazine and we had several frozen bananas I needed to use up.

In one bowl combine 3 cups of flour, 2 tsp baking powder and 2tsp baking soda.  In a separate bowl (mine was too small!) combine 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar.  To the same bowl blend in 2 eggs then add 2 1/2 cups bananas (about 5) and 1 tsp vanilla and mix well.  Then the flour mixture is slowly added to the moist mixture alternately with 1 cup of sour cream.  

Don't worry about over mixing this one.  It's why I don't like making muffins; I tend to over mix stuff.  

Add half the batter to a sprayed 9 x 13 pan.  Mix 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 1 tsp cinnamon then sprinkle half of this mixture on top of the batter.  Top with 1/2 of a 300 gram package of chocolate chips.  Repeat the layers.  I didn't get a clear picture of the cake before it went into the oven.  

The finished product was as delicious as it looks and the kids gobbled up every bite.  They preferred this over any banana bread or banana muffins I've made in the past.  We're looking forward to many more backyard picnics and trying out other new and delicious recipes.  Check out the Life Made Delicious website  for inspiration to make spring more yummy!  

"Dislosure - I am part of the Life Made Delicious Ambassador program and receive special perks as part of my affiliation.  All opinions on this blog are my own."

General Mills Partners with Dairy Queen and Orange Julius Offering Canadians Some Sweet Treats! - #LMDConnector

Growing up I have fond memories of Dairy Queen.  My grandfather lived only a couple blocks from one and we'd go visit him then after dinner or as a treat we'd make the short walk to Dairy Queen and he would buy us whatever we liked.  At the time I used to love banana splits!  My grandpa has since passed but I still remember little things like this.  General Mills has partnered with Dairy Queen and Orange Julius to help families make memories of their own.

Starting April 1 on specially marked boxes of General Mills cereal you will have the opportunity to get two coupons.  The first coupon is for an Orange Julius small beverage and the second is for a small Blizzard treat.  

Between April 1 and July 31st the Orange Julius coupon can be redeemed at any Dairy Queen location in Canada so while you're out and about make sure to pick up this small treat for yourself.

Between May 1 and May 31st the small Blizzard treat coupon can be redeemed at any Dairy Queen in Canada.  I'm sure any kid would enjoy this tasty little treat!

My kids are still young and haven't experienced Dairy Queen yet so I'll for sure make a point to use my coupons to take them there this spring and see what they think!  I hope when they're older they'll have great memories of Dairy Queen too!

" Disclosure - I am participating in the Life Made Delicious Ambassador Program for Mom Central Canada on behalf of General Mills.  I received compensation as thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion.  The opinions on this blog are my own." 

Weekly Meal Plan

 

 

This week my 3 yr old is out of town for half of the week so I just planned for some easy meals for those days he's away then ones that require more prep for the rest of the week.  I also wanted to use up some of my freezer stock.

1.  Fish and vegetables with bread for my daughter - Highliner
2.  Tortellini - frozen ones with jarred sauce
3.  Beef and bean taco casserole - this is really yummy and to make it a little healthier for myself I serve some on a huge bed of lettuce so it's more like a taco salad with a dollap of sour cream!
4.  Pancit Bahon - never made this before but have eaten it so many times so hoping it turns out just as good and the ones I've eaten!
5.  Turkey dinner for easter - I will be cheating and using a roasted chicken from the store as a whole turkey is just too much for the family but we'll still be having all the fixings as if it were a turkey dinner!

Valentines Day with my Little Loves - #LMDConnector

As with most of the holidays now that we have children it has mostly become all about them.  Hubby and I didn't get each other anything for Valentine's Day and we're ok with that as we decided to have a "date night" on an evening in the near future.  Since he worked on Valentine's Day I decided to make it a special day with the kids.  I started out by making french toast with hearts in the middle.

I gathered the eggs, bread, food coloring and milk though the milk isn't pictured.

I mixed 4 eggs with about 1/4 cup of milk into a bowl then poured a little less than half into a smaller bowl and added 2 drops of red food coloring.

Using my heart shaped cookie cutter I cut the middles out of about 6 pieces of bread.  Then I dipped the outside into the regular eggs and the heart piece into the colored eggs.

 
After that I assembled into the frying pan and cooked it the same and one would make regular french toast.

This is the final results.  Very yummy and a huge hit with the kids!  I did find the later pieces didn't look as presentable as the first few pieces though.

Later on after dinner using confetti cake mix with homemade icing and rainbow sprinkles we made these cupcakes.  I taught the kids how much fun it is to lick the bowls and they loved that part!  I also made some heart shaped peanut butter and jam sandwiches for the preschool Valentine's party the next day.  All in all we had a fun day together with yummy food!  How did you spend Valentine's Day with your loved ones?

"Disclosure - I am part of the Life Made Delicious Blogger program and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group.  The opinions on this blog are my own."

New Peanut Butter Cheerios and a Giveaway! #LMDConnector

I love peanut butter!  I have no problem just eating it off a spoon straight from the jar but I think my favorite way of enjoying peanut butter is on toast with honey.  Now imagine tasty peanut butter mixed with the wholesome goodness of Cheerios.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Well new Peanut Butter Cheerios will be hitting store shelves across Canada on March 4th for a limited time only.  On Feb 4th on the Life Made Delicious Facebook page a coupon will be released to try these new Cheerios for free with another Cheerios purchase (Banana, Apple Cinnamon or Chocolate).  Coupons are expected to be scooped up quickly and can then be redeemed only on March 16th and 17th.  

I can't wait to try these for myself and in celebration of the release I'm pleased to offer my readers a chance to win a $50 Peanut Butter Cheerios kit!  Contest is open to Canada only and ends Feb 28th.  For the main entry please comment as to how you like to enjoy peanut butter.  For additional entries (leave a comment for each):

1.  Subscribe to my blog by email (or just comment if you already do)

2.  Like my blog on facebook 

3.  Like the Life Made Delicious facebook page

"Disclosure - I am participating in the Life Made Delicious Ambassador Program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of General Mills.  I received compensation as a thank you for participating and for sharing my honest opinion.  The opinions on this blog are my own." 

Meal Plan for the Week

I'm always looking for new and easy recipes for my family as well as healthy ones for myself that the kids might not eat such as salads.  My new favorite thing is using cilantro!  I love it and it pretty much makes any salad taste so much better as well as mexican type foods.  I think cilantro is one of those herbs that people either love or hate.  So the plan this week is:

1.  Beef and bean taco casserole
2.  Black bean, quinoa and citrus salad - this is an interesting combination for food but SO good and always looking for other things to make with quinoa
3.  Slow cooker salsa chicken - quick and easy and would be delish topped with cilantro!
4.  Tortellinis already made and frozen
5.  Pasta with bean sauce - my kids LOVE this and basically just macaroni, sauce, cheese and kidney beans instead of meat
6.  Tuna casserole - I think from a cookbook and differs from regular tuna casserole by using lots of veggies