Beef Satay Fooler Kababs with Peanut dipping sauce

Beef satay fooler kababs on the bbq – next time two skewers running through it

With all this hot weather we have been having, I have been wanting to get out of the kitchen and get my food on the BBQ.  The kids and us have been tired of the usual fare of burgers, hotdogs and steaks.  I thought I would make something along the same lines, but a little bit different.  Hence the “fooler” style beef satay kababs.  They are like little burgers with a peanut butter dipping sauce.  They tasted really yummy!

• 1 green onion chopped
• 1 package of ground beef
• salt and pepper
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp flax seeds
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 cup of cooked quinoa

To make the Kababs, mix the above ingredients in a bowl.  (I usually add a 1/2 cup of spent grain to the mixture as well, just because I have tons) Make round balls and add them to skewers.  *I should have used two skewers and flattened the balls a bit more so they were easier to turn on the bbq.  Let sit in the fridge for 1 hour so they firm up and are easier to handle on the bbq.

To make sauce add the following ingredients to a jar or bowl and mix well.

• 5 tbsp of peanut butter
• 1 cup of water
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp garlic chilli sauce
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil

Kook Kababs on bbq until browned on one side then flip carefully. and keep them on grill until they are cooked fully.  Serve with a nice side of Asparagus, or spinach salad.

I made these ones in the oven a while back. Its too hot to do that these days but i just broiled them for 15 minutes

Wordless Wednesday–Some friends in my garden

a little toad I uncovered while working my soil

a Red Admiral butterfly – there were probably hundreds of them flying everywhere- Sunshine was trying to get as close to them as she could

There were hundreds of these butterflies.  I had no clue why, but found out here a little more about them.

A Sunday hike in the woods

It was a beautiful sunny Sunday in March!

We put on our rubber boots and headed out for the trails.  We brought our bird seeds so we could feed the sparrows.  Last time we were out on the path we were not as prepared, little purple suede shoes and converse high tops are not appropriate for a Spring hike down a muddy trail.

we came prepared

We started off on one of the trails and there was still quite a bit of snow on the ground.  Some of the trail has been flooded and we had to dip into the forest and go around large puddles of water.  It was nice and warm out and I instantly regretted wearing my long-sleeved shirt.  I also regretted dressing the girls in longs sleeves and hoodies (which I ended up carrying).  We were having a fun time trying to find chickadee’s to feed.  We saw a grass snake and some cute little woodpeckers.  Everything was lovely.

As we kept going, the girls started to get tired.  Handsome and I took turns carrying each of the girls for a while.  We decided that if we were to turn around and head back to the car it would take a lot longer than if we just continued straight and come out at another path.  Handsome thought he would call someone to come and get us and bring us to our vehicle.  I was kind of “iffy” about the plan, but I went along with it.  Lucky for us there were maps along the way and we were not that tired (yet).

Unfortunately the trail we were on was not very clearly marked.  I was starting to seriously doubt this entire idea, and made myself more vocal about it.    We approached a clearing and headed over a hill.  I saw some large poop and started to get really worried.  My children would surely make a delicious meal for a hungry bear that has just emerged from his den.  The nervous scent that I was giving off was probably a pretty intoxicating perfume too!

“ummm, I don’t see any trail markers- and we seem to be heading away from the high way”

I wasn’t really wanting to argue about where the highway actually was.  The fact was that I could hear it, and the direction was behind us.

“its starting to get dark now – do you think that maybe we should put on google maps or something?”

I tried to toggle my phone while I was carrying Loveliness.  Sunshine had fallen asleep in Handsomes’ arms and she was trying to keep her head from bumping against his shoulder as he picked up the pace to head over another small hill.

I saw another large pile of poop.

I saw a giant paw print… tried to keep calm.

“ahhh my vote is we turn around”

Then we both heard something in the bush up ahead.  We made a quick sprint back to the sign post that clearly indicated that we had been heading in the wrong direction the entire time.  I was trying to convince myself that the poop was from a large dog.  The print however was harder to lie to myself about.  We were finally heading towards the highway.  I desperately wanted ice cream.

Luckily it didn’t take very long for someone to come and rescue us.  I stayed by the roadside with Sunshine, she was still asleep in my arms.  Handsome and Loveliness got a drive and retrieved our vehicle.  I was so tired after the long walk, I just wanted to lie on the couch and relax.  We had ice cream for dinner that night.   I may or may not have said that I wouldn’t talk about how we got lost, but I didn’t say I wouldn’t blog about it.

Wordless Wednesday–Simon Le Bon in a Tiara

I think he would look awesome in a blue velour track suit— but i am not allowed.. lol

I find I get the most “search results” for Simon Le Bon.  So, here he is, in all his gorgeousness!

a little more of him.. here   and here of course here.

Cakes, Cupcakes, Oh No!

 Every year when it is my daughters birthdays I always want to decorate the cake for them.  I try to make it special and I do my best. I do it because I think its fun, and a special gift that is just for them from me.  Sometimes it doesn’t always look so great.  Most of the time the idea in my head doesn’t end up being exactly how it looks once I am finished.  For Loveliness’s first birthday I had made cupcakes and had a little cupcake party in the park with all her friends.  I made a small cake and we had a little party for her in the evening.  The cake was very simple but delicious.  

For Loveliness’s second birthday I got a little more creative.  I wanted to go with a princess theme.  Once again I made cupcakes, and I put them  on a pyramid.  The cupcakes looked pretty good.  Some were frosted white, with rainbow sprinkles, and some were frosted chocolate with rainbow sprinkles.  Not hard to mess that up.  Then came the little cute swirls. Not bad for my first attempt I must admit.  The cake was another story.  THAT was a sad-looking cake.  I had wanted to make a white icing cake with a free hand drawing of a princess.  Have I mentioned before that I have never taking any art classes or have talent drawing.  For some reason I thought I could pull this off.  I thought I could decorate a cake with a tube of cookie icing.  I saw it on food network, I could do it no problem right!>?

Lets just say that what happened was so horrific that the image of the cake will forever be burned in my mind.

White icing, with a pink melted frosting princess that kind of resembled …. there are no word… it was just terrible.  The cookie icing (ya I wasn’t thinking there..) started sliding down the cake and ooozing into everything.  The princess was melting and no amount of candy sprinkles could save her.  I ultimately had to smooth over the entire cake and re-ice it.  I just did a little “happy birthday” with the tube of cookie icing and prayed that it looked somewhat descent.  My little girl loved it!

When she turned three, I decided to go with a Yo Gabba Gabba theme.  I was reminded of my lack of skills  decorating talent  original designer cake from last year and decided to not be as artistic.  I bought some figurines and made a chocolate cake with vegan frosting and plopped the characters on top of the cake.  Viola! My little girl thought it was awesome!

That year for Christmas I got a cupcake book-  ”Hello Cupcake” by Karen Tack and things started looking a lot better…. Here is a look at some of the cakes of Celebrations past…

bunny bums cupcakes for Easter

Sunflowers for Sunshine’s first birthday

but things weren’t “perfect”…..A closer look at the “frosting failure”…

it was really warm and the frosting was starting to drip

The garden party cake I made for Loveliness’s 4th birthday was really cute.  There were little radishes, carrots, peas and lettuce all made out of candy.  The “soil” was crushed oreo cookie tops. Note my “free hand” skills have not improved.  I promised myself to never write with icing again.

Garden Party Cake – this was for Loveliness’s Birthday- and it turned out pretty descent

Peas made with starburst, runts, and shoe lace licorice

carrots were made with starburst and shoe string licorice

Lettuce made with cornflakes, and runts. “shovels” digging up the soil, and seeds all yummy little treats on top of the cake

Happy Birthday Sesame Street Party

As I was drawing the Cookie Monster picture out on a large sheet of overturned Christmas Wrapping, the only thing I could think of is how much I hoped my little girl would love the picture.  I have never taken an art class or sketched anything, and seeing the picture drawn in pencil on my wall, it was quite apparent.  I thought of the past birthday parties that I had done for Loveliness.  I though of how even though I had tried my best to make fancy cupcakes, cute decorations  and carefully designed cheese and cracker platters the imperfections didn’t matter to her.  She did not care that the frosting had started to melt, or that the colour of the flowers were not just right.  She didn’t care that I had stayed up till 3 am fussing over cupcakes and trying to arrange without getting icing on the silver rim of the platter.  My daughter appreciated that it was all for her.

Cookie monster - reasonable facsimile

We tried to do most of the preparing before hand so we would not have a ton to do on the day of the birthday.  Our famous Chilli was made Friday night and was sitting in the fridge to let the flavours meld.  We were planning on having about 13 adults and 7 kids so a BBQ with burgers and hot dogs was the easiest thing to come to mind.  We got everything to make a veggie platter, chips for munching on some jello (what kind of 2-year-old party doesn’t have jello!?)  I was working on some cookie monster cookies and a rainbow cake with vegan frosting, and the kids were getting really excited about the party.

some jello oranges too bad I didn't make more since I only got 1

cookie monster cookies

The cookie monster cookies were so adorable.  I originally got the inspiration from the Canadian Family website.  I saw the idea and thought it might be possible to do something similar.  I made some cookies and made some icing and piped them with a zip lock bag.  This is the recipe I used to make the lemon cookies.  They were so great I even had some plain ones left over that I dip in the chocolate cake frosting.

Lemon Cookies

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder

In a bowl cream butter and sugar. Add egg, vanilla and lemon zest and juice. Slowly add flour and baking powder. and mix well. flour your board and roll out dough.  Cut the dough into little shapes, I used a glass.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees and place cookies on a well-greased pan.  Bake for 6-7 minutes, watch them carefully, edges start to turn brown when they are done.

Butter Cream Icing

I love the “almost homemade butter cream frosting”  from the cupcake book “hello Cupcakes” by Karen Tack,  but I find it makes too much sometimes.  I have augmented the recipe so it makes enough for about 12 of the cookies above

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/8 tsp vanilla
• 8 tsp sugar
• 1/2 cup marshmallow fluff
• blue icing tint gel

Put marshmallow and butter in a bowl and cream together.  add sugar, vanilla and mix.  Add a small amount of blue icing tint and mix thoroughly.  Add  the mixture to a zip lock bag.  Put about 6 pieces of tape around the bottom corner of the bag to create a firm piping cone.  cut out an M shape in the corner of the bag and pipe the monster fur on with quick little jabs.  It was pretty easy, but I have done a few designs from the cupcake book before.

For the eyes, I used little white chocolate disks that I “glued” an m&m on to with milk chocolate chips in a zip lock piping bag.    I put a little mini cookie in the monsters mouth and he was done.

Chocolate Rainbow Cake with Chocolate Vegan frosting

I have to say that I did a little “cheater” on the cake.  It was from a box… Shhhhh.. BUT!!!! I made it extra special by making it all rainbow like rainbowish, rainbowee?. I used a box of regular white cake mix and got some of these fantastic Gel colours from bulk barn.  They say that they are icing tints, but I thought it would work great for cake too and I saw something similar on the net somewhere or on pinterest, so I tried it for myself.

• 1 box of White instant cake mix
• colour gels for icing tints

using the patented "plop" method - arrange the batter in the pan so it doesn't mix and create the colour brown

Make the cake mix according to the directions on the box.  Separate the batter into different bowls.  Put a small amount of tint into each bowl and mix well.  It’s amazing how little you need to get a great colour!  once it is all mixed, add it to a greased cake pan using the “plop” method.  We did a little orange, then plopped some purple, then some yellow, blue and pink.  Make sure that the colours don’t mix too much or you will end up with brown.

Bake it in the oven according to the directions on the box and when it comes out it is ready to frost with your home-made frosting .  or you can use mine!

My Chocolate frosting  originally posted here.  The reason why I love this icing, frosting, whatever? is because it doesn’t taste as sweet as some of the other sugary stuff you get in the can.  It also has tofu and semi sweet chocolate in it.  When I made it the other night, I was tempted to just sit on the couch with a bowl of it and eat it like pudding.  yummo

chocolate vegan frosting- so yummy and chocolaty

the cake was devoured !

I wanted everything to be fun for her on her special day, and I think it was.  Since moving here and since she is only 2 she doesn’t have a ton of little friends her age.  We invited all the people she see’s on a daily basis.  Our family and close neighbours.  I made sure there were lots of balloons, though the kids popped most of them before the guests arrived.  Luckily we wrangled a few of the leftover balloons and tied them to a chair.

I still have the cookie monster picture up in my living room.  She still sees it and laughs and says “cookie monster momma”.  She thinks it is hilarious.  I would guess that she must really like it. When it is all said and done, that is the most important part.  It wasn’t how the flowers looked droopy it was how my daughter looked at it and thought it looked perfect.  ♥

Catching the Quilting Bug Part 2

I am so proud of myself, I have actually finished a craft.  Normally all the things I make I give away, this time I actually have something to show for all my hard work.

The first part of my project can be found here.

I have taken all the strips and sewn them together.  It was quite easy once I started going.  I then proceeded to make a strip that goes around the outside.  I mitered all the corners of the quilt, and I am quite proud of how that turned out.

all trimmed and pinned in a nice straight line

top of frames quilt

all sewn up and i just need to trim the edges on the top and the bottom

each corner is mitered. I trimmed off the excess fabric from the back - then i trimmed along the top and sides to make a nice neat finished look

After the top layer was complete and all trimmed I placed wrong side down and measured out my backing material against it to get a good size.  I used a fleecy cotton fabric that matched my tie dyed colours on the front.  Since the fabric was not the entire length of the front I had to use two pieces.  I made sure that the seam ran along the middle of the piece that I put on the back.  I pinned it together and sewed around 3 sides and left one side open so I can flip it “pillow” style later.  Looking back in hindsight i think I will leave about a foot of space on the fourth side.  A crease formed when I was trying to sew it and I had a rough time with the fabric.  I eventually creased it and tucked the extra fabric and made it disappear into the seam that ran along the middle of the back piece.  Hard to explain without a picture - sorry

I lay the entire piece down and put my quilt batting on top.  There are a few pieces of batting that were previously cut by my MIL.  I put them down and stitched the seams of the batting together so it would not move.  I hope it lasts?  I whip stitched the batting in place so it would stay as i flip it inside out.

I then proceeded to stitch all around the pattern and along a little + pattern that some of the squares formed.  I think it looks rather nice and it keeps the batting in place.  This is the end results.  My first quilt, and I can’t wait to make another one.  I think for the next one I will work on a super Mario / Luigi quilt.

Review- The Story of Chester

The Story of Chester
The Monarch Caterpillar / Larvae
By Susie Vanderlip

The Story of Chester By Susie Vanderlip

The other day I got the privilege to be asked if I would do a review of “The Story of Chester” by Susie Vanderlip.  This is a beautiful story book for children ages 2-10 that is accompanied by a live action DVD (30min)

Of course I jumped at the opportunity! Both my girls love books and movies and are the ages of nearly 2 and nearly 5.

The book is filled with beautiful real images of a caterpillar/larvae that is going through the changes in his life to find his life’s plan: to become a butterfly.  The children were engaged right away as I started reading the story to them.  The book is very informative and explains how a tiny little caterpillar larvae starts out his life, eats from a milk weed plant and gets larger and larger.  Finally Chester creates a chrysalis and transforms into a butterfly!  The pages were bright and colourful and the story was well written and easy for the children to understand

The next day we watched the video and the kids were really excited! They danced along to the music and followed along with the cute story.  Overall I would say that I really liked this book/dvd-  I found it to be fun, motivational and at the same time educational. I would definitely recommend it.

If you would like to learn more about Chester and how you can buy a copy of your own book or dvd please click here

Alternatively!!!  Ottawa Mommy Club is hosting a contest where you can win a copy of your very own… click here and visit Ottawa Mommy clubs page for all the contest details and lots of other interesting stuff!

*I would also like to say that as always all opinions expressed are always my own, and I have never been paid, bribed or coerced to say anything.

Spent Grain Recipes

Whenever we brew our all grain beer batches, there is easily over 15 lbs of grain or more.  This year I plan on using some of it in our garden as compost.  I have been sending it with the city’s green bin program to be turned into compost (you’re welcome) and some of it I have been saving and making delicious recipes with (see my banana bread).  Here are a few of the other recipes I like to make and I incorporate the spent grain into.  You can also omit the grain if you wish, but you may have to adjust the recipe a bit.

Pizza dough

We originally bought some pizza screens from Russell Foods, so we could make some false bottoms for our mash tuns.  They didn’t fit in our buckets very well, and since we had these things, we thought to use them for their intended purpose.  Here is the link to the original recipe we used to make this pizza- I have changed it up slightly to make

as seen below…

• 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast or 1 tbsp of dry yeast from jar
• 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 2 cups bread flour
• 1/2 cup of spent grain
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• optional sesame seeds to sprinkle on crust

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, spent grain, olive oil, salt, white sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
3. Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape. Sprinkle sesame seeds at the edges of the pizza. Place dough on oiled pizza screens. Cover dough with your favorite sauce and toppings and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes

Pizza with spent grain crust

Home made Rustic Bread

rustic bread with spent grain

This is a great site the shows you how to make bread using spent grain.  It is so simple and delicious!  I have made it a few times and each time I make it, I make it a little bit differently.  The last time I made it I cooked the bread into a long baguette shape.  We put fresh  tomatoes and bacon on the bread with a little bit of mayo.  It wasn’t overly complicated, and was amazing!

Here is what I did…

• 3.5 cups of flour
• 1/2 cup spent grain
• 2 tbsp flax seed
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp bread yeast
• 1 1/4 cups of warm water (heated from kettle and almost cool)

Mix it all together, and let it sit in a warm place. depending on how much liquid you have in your spent grain, you may have to add a bit more water in order to make a sticky lump of dough.   I cover it and put it in the microwave until it doubles in size (about an hour)

Pre heat your oven to 425, flour your bread board and form your bread into a nice shape.  This is where you can make it a large lump, or as in this case, a baguette style loaf.

Score along the bread so the heat escapes-  Bake in the oven for 20 – 30 minutes depending on the shape that you have made (thickness of bread)

Pretzels

I thought I would also include the recipe that I use for Pretzels - my neighbour loves these.   I pretty much follow this recipe verbatum except for the addition of spent grain.  (I will add it here mostly for my benifeit of finding it easier – lol ) I have only made them a few times, and I had better make them next time I get another batch of spent grain, or I have a feeling I am in trouble!

• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 4 teaspoons active dry yeast
•  1 1/4 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
•  5 cups all-purpose flour
•  1/2 cup white sugar
•  1 1/2 teaspoons salt
•  1 tablespoon vegetable oil
•  1/2 cup of spent grain
•  1/2 cup baking soda
•  4 cups hot water
•  1/4 cup kosher salt, for topping

1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt. and spent grain. Make a well in the center; add the oil and yeast mixture.  Mix and form into a dough. If the mixture is dry, add one or two tablespoons of water. Knead the dough until smooth, about 7 to 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
3. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). In a large bowl, dissolve baking soda in hot water.
4. When risen, turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 equal pieces.  Roll each piece into a rope and twist into a pretzel shape.    Once all of the dough is all shaped, dip each pretzel into the baking soda solution and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with kosher salt.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 8 minutes, until browned.

Our Little Brew Helper

I have mentioned before that whenever we brew beer it is not only an all day event, but we get the entire family involved.   Brewing is not only  a hobby passion that my husband and I share, but his brother is also the third piece of our triforce.   We get friends and neighbours involved too.  Sometimes the neighbours come over to help mill the grain, or sample the wares and give honest critique.  Even our little girls help out by adding the hops.

The last few times we have done a brew we had begun in the early evening.  We had told our oldest daughter that she could put the hops into the pot (with flame turned down and adult supervision of course!).  She has done this before and is always pretty excited to be a part of the process.  I think she just loves being involved in something that we are all doing.  These last few times, though, the boil and the hop additions have happened way past her bed time.  It was getting late and I had to tell Loveliness that she couldn’t add the hops (yet again).

Weighing the hops so they can be added to the boil

Instead we got her to help mom weigh the hops and get them ready for later on in the evening.  She got to measure out all the hops, and to mark the names on each of the bowls so they would be easy to spot when it was time to add them.

Amarillo, Citra and Columbus