Quinoa with Butternut Squash, Mushrooms and Kale

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Deborah

I think last night was one of the best creative nights in the kitchen that I have had in a very long while. I turned out a fabulous vegetarian dish packed full of vitamins and protein that can be used as a stand alone meal or be a great accompaniment to grilled chicken or salmon. Sometimes I amaze myself with my ingenuity. Believe me though, I have had major flops too, so I take this win as a small victory.

Looking in the fridge I knew I had a container of leftover roasted squash, not enough for soup, but enough … Read more...

Cheddar Chive Cornbread

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Deborah

Today I was waffling. Waffling about whether to make cheddar chive biscuits, or cheddar chive muffins.

So I made cheddar chive cornbread instead. I know, sometimes what I think I want, I don’t want at all. The mind of a woman was clearly at work here.

Since I had just given my rapidly sprouting chive plant a trim last weekend, it was a good time to rummage through my recipe files for an appropriate dish to use some of them up.

No big fanfare here, just a simple, delicious cornbread to enjoy with a Tex-Mex dinner menu (or anytime!).

Cheddar … Read more...

Spring has Sprung!

Posted on April 21, 2017 by Deborah

Thank goodness the cold and snow is now behind us and we can look forward to (in my opinion) the shortest and BEST season we have ~ SUMMER!

I have been so busy this past 6-8 weeks, not just with work (my busiest time of year) but also ramping up my gardening chores. The raised beds have had their plastic rolled down to thaw the frozen earth and 2 weeks ago I was lucky enough to get some radishes, chard, beets and lettuce seeds sown. These are cool weather veggies and have a much better appreciation of early Spring cold … Read more...

Chipotle Fish Tacos ala Deb!

Posted on March 2, 2017 by Deborah

Yay! I am finally getting my world-famous Fish Taco recipe on the interweb-thingie! You know, that thing that a certain Billionaire said wouldn’t catch on? I wonder what he thinks about that statement now?

Anyway, back to fish tacos….yum..yum..yum! Ramona ~ This is for you, so go ahead and share away!

This recipe is great when you need to whip up a dinner fairly fast, the only part that needs time to percolate (love that old fashioned term) is the salsa, it’s basically being pickled to develop the favours. It is also fairly waist friendly when the chipotle sauce * … Read more...

Bok Choy and Mushroom Stir Fry In A Wrap

Posted on February 23, 2017 by Deborah

I know, I know, I have been remiss of late, life gets in the way you know? I have many ideas and unfortunately not enough hours in the day. BUT, today I managed to pull this together in less than 15 minutes, combined with the time it took to make lunch AND type this out, it gives me hope I can throw together some more gems to this blog in the future.

So here it is!

I love wraps. The food kind that is, although I do like the knitted kind as well, but you can’t eat those. I love … Read more...

Bodacious Banana Bread ~ Take II

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Deborah

I am taking the time to update my Banana Bread recipe from its current form to a low-sugar form. Hubby and I have embarked on our get healthy, get fit movement for a year now and collectively, we have lost about 65lbs! WooHoo for us! There is still some weight loss to go, but in order to achieve (and maintain) a healthy weight, you need to change your eating habits and since we both love our banana bread, I wanted to be able to continue eating/enjoying this yummy stuff so the sugar and a lot of the AP flour had … Read more...

Washing Up In Style ~ Take II

Posted on November 15, 2016 by Deborah

This is a blog update for my original post back in January of 2013 to which I have modified the pattern slightly to give a symmetrical border to the washcloths as well as to account for the weight (thickness of yarn) difference from Bernat’s Handi-Crafter cotton to KnitPick’s Dishie. With KP Dishie being slightly thinner, I have added extra stitches and pattern rows to get the same size washcloth as when knitted with Bernat’s yarn.

I have actually become a cotton yarn snob, KnitPick’s Dishie has won me over and aside from the Christmas speckled washcloths I am making for … Read more...

Not So Rainy Day Blues

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Deborah

As the skies opened to overdue and highly welcomed rains on Friday morning (we have been in a drought of late) and the rain forecast for well into Saturday, the outdoor gardening tasks were wiped off the whiteboard for the weekend to be replaced by indoor ones.

Hubs had a passle of work planned for us in the crawlspace, but the deluge of rain meant the inevitable rise in water down under and within a couple hours, there was an inch of standing water in the front portion of the crawlspace. He still managed quite a bit of work down … Read more...

Strawberries and Spring Water

Posted on June 30, 2016 by Deborah

Here in Canada, June is a special month. It is when our strawberries come into season. The short, and I mean a very short season lasting barely 3 weeks, weather depending. So when the berries are ripe, people come en masse to pick their own or buy ready picked baskets and gorge themselves until there are no more. IMG_20160630_084240

The local berry farm is about a 10 minute drive away, down a dusty dirt road made dustier by road reconstruction along the way. Arriving at the farm, I pull into the gravel lane and head over the front lawn which serves … Read more...

Meet Fert and Palladin

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Deborah

Fert & Palladin are Alpacas living on a farm just outside Niagara Falls, ON. In October 2014, my daughter and her hubby went to go visit the farm on one of their very few days of the year that they allow visitors. Unfortunately I couldn’t go with them that day (boo), but they did bring me back a piece of the farm. In the form of 2 alpaca fleeces. Not just a part of the fleece, but the-whole-fleece of 2 animals, which weighed about 3.5 lbs each.

Fert is a lovely brown fleece with highlights of red on the tips … Read more...