Archive by Author | Life With The Mcgavins

Waiting!

I guess an update about my weekend was overlooked because of my extra day off! Oh well better late then never right?!?? So I have a few more hours at work and I’m done for the week. I have a few things on the Ol’ To do list, most importantly coffee with Patricia and Sandra’s Birthday party! I still haven’t decided what kind of cupcakes I’m going to make for the party but I guess I should figure it out soon!

I have a feeling this weekend will be much busier then last! Last weekend was pretty low key but relaxing. We got a few things done, had a lunch date and enjoyed a long walk and some time at the dog park with Muffin!

The dog park and pup friendly beach area/trails at Crescent beach are great! Muffin was definitely happy for some park time! Pretty sure she enjoyed it more then her trip to the groomer! but seriously look how cute she is!

The only down side to the weekend was my lingering headache and some hip pain. It took a lot for me to take a day off work but I know it was the right choice. I suppose I should make another doctors appointment soon but I don’t really have any interest. I see my Lupus specialist in the Spring and have an MRI coming up.

The upside of my weekend other then the previously mentioned was Emma’s 8th birthday! Time flies!

We had a great lunch at the Townhall pub thanks to a Gift Card they gave me! I had the grilled chicken pesto quesadilla and side salad. It was perfection. Granted I’ve never had bad food at the Townhall! Being free was also a nice touch!

After lunch we ventured to the mall so I could get my new phone. I had my heart set on a new white iPhone and Telus provided! I am very impressed with the level of customer service I was provided.

They say a photo is worth a thousand words so here are a few from my weekend!

I hope everyone has enjoyed my recent recipe posts! There will for sure be many more to come! As for me I think Muff and I are going to go for a walk to Starbucks to pass some time and get some fresh air!!

Does anyone have any recipe idea or requests?!?!

Luscious Lasagna

Mar5

When I think of home cooked hearty, comfort food meals lasagna always makes the list! Yes it is a fairly labour intensive meal but I find I can have the veggies chopped, sauce made, assembled and in the oven in about 45 minutes. Not an every night type of meal but delicious and healthy! Plus the added bonus of leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch or dinner!

I use ground turkey to make my lasagna but I’ve used ground beef, veggie ground round, as well as a beef Italian sausage mix in the past. All turn out wonderful but ground turkey is the leanest and healthiest choice. I mean other then the veggie option of course!

I also like to use the no boil noodles but again in the past have used the traditional type. I just find it adds to the prep time and I’m not a fan of burning my fingers on slippery hot noodles! Quit snickering ladies 😉 I am a big fan of the Trader joes no boil noodles because they have a nice texture once cooked. I am also a jan of the Trader Joes basil marinara sauce. Ummm yum! However if you’re anything like me you will use whatever you have on hand!

So here we go!
Ingredients

1 pound ground turkey (or beef/meat of your choice)
2 cups cottage cheese or ricotta
2 cups mozzarella (I use low fat)
1 bunch of basil (1/2 cup chopped)
1 bunch cilantro (1/4 cup chopped)
4 cloves fresh garlic
1 jar marinara sauce or pasta sauce of choice
1 box of lasagna noodles
1 onion
1 pepper
2 tablespoons finely chopped. jalapeño (optional)
1 can mushrooms (optional)
2 cups baby spinach
1 egg
Olive oil for sautéing
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
Seasoning salt & pepper to taste
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon (optional but delightful)

Sauce prep
Chop onion, pepper, chopped jalapeño, 2 garlic cloves and sauté with a tiny but of olive oil for about three minutes. Add in meat, garlic, seasonings of choice and sauté
until cooked. Once the meat is cooked to a safe temperature add in the marinara sauce and 1.5 cups of water. At this point if you are using the cinnamon add it now! Trust me it makes the flavours really pop. Turn heat down to lowest setting and allow to simmer for a few minutes.

While the meat sauce mix is cooking prep the cottage or ricotta cheese by simply adding the egg, chopped basil, cilantro, garlic seasonings if choice and mixing well!

Assembly
At this point you are ready to assemble start by placing 1/3 of the sauce mix in the bottom of a large casserole pan and topping with a layer of noodles and another 1/3 of sauce. Add another layer of noodles and top them with the cottage cheese mixture. Spread mixture out evenly and top with baby spinach and another layer of noodle! Top those noodles with the remainder of the sauce spread mozzarella cheese on top! Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes! I like to spray my foil with Pam to keep the cheese from sticking. I also like to broil the lasagna uncovered for a couple of minutes before removing from the oven.

I bake my lasagna on a cookie sheet because if you ever have to clean bubbled over lasagna out of your oven you will quickly decide you never wish to do it again!!!

Be sure to let your lasagna sit for 10 – 15 minutes before cutting. Enjoy!

Lovely Lemon Bars

Mar5

So I’m at work after an extra day off on the weekend. I caved on Sunday and called into work and took the night off after realizing I just didn’t feel up to going into work. I guess it is all part of the process and I just have to get use to it.

Onto happier, sweeter topics! On Saturday I had some free time and decided to whip up a batch of lemon squares. These little delights require a bit off effort and a lot of eggs but are indeed worth it!

Ingredients
Crust
2 cups of flour
1/2 Powdered sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Pinch of salt
3/4 cup butter

Filling
6 eggs
2 1/4 cups sugar
5 tablespoons flour
Zest from one lemon
1 1/4 lemon juice
1/4 cup milk or cream

Method
Crust
In a large bowl combine dry ingredients (I sift the powdered sugar in) and cut in butter. Mix with hands until mixture resembles crumbs. Press mixture into a greased pan. Bake at 350 degrees until edges turn golden about 15-20 minutes. Prep filling while base is baking!

Filling
Mix sugar and flour together in medium bowl. Lightly beat eggs in a bowl and add in sugar, lemon juice,zest and milk. Once mixed add liquid ingredient mix to the sugar/flour mix. Stir everything together until we’ll mixed.

Pour filling mixture over base and return to oven for 15 -20 minutes until filling mixture sets.

Cool on a rack and store left overs in the fridge or freeze.

I like to use a tart pan to make bars so I can remove the sides to make cutting easier but a lasagna pan lined in foil with extra foil over the edges to lift out works as well.

I like to dust these with powdered sugar before serving, or eat them over the kitchen sink… Which ever 😉

Rainy Day Baking – Cheese Biscuits

Mar2

It is raining sideways! It has been raining for over a week straight!!!! I’m so over it! I woke up this morning and decided to make a country breakfast! I whipped up a batch of cheesy biscuits to make egg and bacon breakfast muffins with organic fingerling home fries!

These biscuits can be made with or without the cheese and cut to any size you desire. They are wonderful fresh out of the oven still warm with a pat of butter, jam, or whatever you love… Lemon curd! They are super easy to make and beat the pants off those can biscuits! Give them a try!

Ingredients
3 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
Pinch of salt
3/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup shortening
1 cup buttermilk (if you don’t have buttermilk mix 1 tablespoon of lemon juice in your cup of milk and let stand five minutes)
1 cup grated cheese (optional)
I’ve added herbs, garlic, bacon bits, chives, etc in the past with great results. These biscuits are very versatile.

Method
Mix together dry ingredients and cut in butter and shortening. Mix with hands until mixture forms crumb texture. Pour in buttermilk and work together with hands. Once dough begins to form add in cheese or other yummy bits of your choosing!

Turn mixture out onto floured counter and roll out to about 3/4 to 1 inch thickness.

Use a drinking glass or biscuit cutter to cut dough into rounds. Place on ungreased baking sheet and bake in preheated oven (425 degrees) for 13 – 15 minutes…less time if you make smaller sized biscuits.

Place biscuits on cooling rack as soon as they come out of the oven!

Serve warm with butter, jam, etc. or top them with an egg and bacon for a delicious breakfast muffin!

This morning I only made a half a batch and they still turn out perfect!

Let me know if you try them and what you think!

Feels More Like October

Feb28

Good morning blog friends, real life friends….and yes you too!

So it’s my first day off and I let myself sleep in until I woke up naturally! Woot 9:15 am….I really thought I would have slept longer! Oh well, I was up and decided to make myself breakfast. I remembered I had a box of Trader Joes pumpkin pancake/waffle mix in the pantry and figured why not. It feels enough like mid fall around these parts may as well enjoy the flavours.

I sprinkled a little coconut on top and a touch of maple syrup. They were wonderful! I really wish Trader Joes stocked their pumpkin line all year because I have a serious craving for their pumpkin Greek yogurt.

Well I don’t have much else to post about as honestly I haven’t hot that far into my day. However the birds outside my window are doing a fine job informing me that it is time to fill the feeders!

Hope everyone enjoys their Thursday!

Make Sure You Aren’t Asleep At The Wheel

Feb27

Don’t let anyone tell you how to feel. Don’t let anyone make up your mind for you. Don’t let anyone put your back against a wall. Don’t live your life in a fog or a daze, tear down the walls and find yourself! Ask yourself if the wars you rage are worth it? Where will you wind up if you win? Will you be happy?

Live your life for you but tread carefully as to do as little harm to others as possible. Live with purpose, do your best to understand circumstance. Don’t try to further yourself by doing harm to others but understand in life you will hurt people and you will be hurt. It is all part of the process.

We all have our secrets, we all have our dreams. We all have those memories that will never go away. You know the ones… The sweetness of that first kiss, the sting of the moment of failure. We all live with the would of, could of, should of feelings. Instead of letting these things overwhelm you, try to let the goodness of life, of your choices, of who you are, and your successes overjoy you.

Know that your wings may be broken but there is more then one way to fly. Start crawling, walking and soon enough you will be ready. Ready to run, ready fly. Don’t believe you have to be who you are in this moment. Be who you want to be. Live the life of your dreams and sooner or later you will realize you never stop aspiring to be better. Live with dignity and learn from your indignities.

No road in this life is straight. Enjoy the curves, the bends and every now and then use the U-turn routes. Never drive in circles because it won’t get you anywhere except frustrated and out of gas!!!

If you only do one thing, be better then you use to be!

Good Evening….Good Morning! It’s 1:32am Your Call!

Feb27

I just got finished deleting half of the people off of my Facebook friends list and putting a good portion of the remainder on limited profile. I know in a few cases this will not go over well but honestly I don’t care. I did it for me and my own well being. There are a few reasons I did this and the most major one is I don’t want to share my life with some people I don’t feel comfortable or close with. Now you may be asking yourself why I have a blog in that case. This blog was never posted on my Facebook account and while it by no means is hidden if certain friends, famy or acquaintances wished to located it that would be at their own discretion. The Facebook machine is an interesting beast. In many cases Facebook seems like nothing more then a glorified pissing contest. A who’s who of making their life sound like complete perfection. While I enjoy many aspects of Facebook and enjoy sharing my life in this manner, I think the deletes were a very healthy choice for me.

Now on to the real interesting bits and bites of my day! Okay I lie…today was pretty uneventful!!! Typical Tuesday at work.

Just ask Muffin how eventful our day was!!!! Actually don’t she is sound asleep …. AGAIN!

I tried some new gluten bread at lunch time and it was stellar. I will snap a picture of the package tomorrow. As for now check out my yummy sandwich ! Ham, cheese,micro-greens, and tomato on the tiny gluten free bread! I

I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I guess trying new things really is worth the risk.

The only other food I took a picture of was my snack.

I couldn’t help myself because I thought it was pretty!

Well friends I should try and get some sleep incase I need to fight off angry deleted Facebook peeps in the morning 😉

I Remember It All Too Well

Feb25

Monday evening is upon me once again meaning my first 24 hours of work has come and gone without incident. Today was very different then a normal Monday though. It was an adventure of a work day. I actually spent the day in Bellingham.

Incase you ever wondered that is my “I’m waiting look”

Those two photos pretty much sum up my morning! Although it turned out to be a good day and a successful trip. I even managed to pick up a couple cases of the Starbucks refreshers.

I also got coconut covered cashews which tasted amazing on my dinner salad of mixed greens,micro greens, cilantro,dill, avocado, feta and spicy chicken breast!

While on the topic of food, check out the homemade cupcake I was given at work last night!

Serious yum! I have a weakness for lemon curd! It was delightful and I’m sure fattening as heck!!

My food choices the last few days haven’t been stellar. True story!

Saturday night beer!

Saturday night wine! Oh and 200 bucks worth of lotto scratch tickets! Never fear they were only 1/4 mine!

Sunday morning Starbucks oat fudge nom noms!

And lastly my newly filled planter!

Weekend Fun Or Something

Feb23

My weekend so far has been pretty laid back but productive! Thursday Kevin and I headed down to Bellingham to do some grocery shopping. I spent a small fortune at Trader Joes but got lots of favourites plus lots of new things to try! We also wandered around Bellis Fair mall and Fred Mayer. I really hoped to find the Nike Free Run shoes I want but alas they didn’t have the pink and blue color combo I long for! Woah is me friends!!! I curtailed my shoe sadness by bringing home a bottle of wine I’ve been longing to try but can’t find in Canada.

On Friday Kevin and I had a pretty relaxing day, cleaned the house, and whipped up a big batch of meatballs to go with out spaghetti for dinner. We made enough pasta sauce and meatballs for three dinners. It is always nice to have stuff in the freezer pre cooked for those busy nights.

While on the topic of food I should share with you one of my yummy finds from Trader Joes, Greek Chicken with orzo and olives.

I found this meal very tasty although if you aren’t a fan of black olives you will not enjoy this at all. The chicken is tender and flavourful And the orzo is cooked just right and not soggy like many pre made pasta meals I’ve tasted. It works out to 8 weight watchers points for 1/3 the package. Makes a good size for lunch with a salad. It was a welcome meal after some house cleaning that’s for sure!

I followed up lunch with a cup of Tazo Passion tea! I adore this stuff but detest the price in Canada. I pay 11 dollars for a box of Passion tea bags at Starbucks here, on the rare occasion the grocery store has them they are 7 dollars! In Bellingham I got the same size box for $2.99

After dinner and a quick stroll around Homesense and Winners Kevin and I cuddled up on the couch and called it a night.

This morning I got up and watched my birds outside over a banana protein muffin covered in locally made honey roasted peanut butter. Ummm yum! Incase I’ve never shared this with you fine folks…. I have a peanut butter addiction!! Don’t judge me!!!!

After breakfast I hung out with my sister in law, Krista for a while and then headed out to do some errands. Mostly I hoped I could find the shoes at my local mall. Again no luck, so instead I ended up with some other goodies!! Mainly wine, mini cupcakes, a case of Corona and some treats for my Muffin.

After the errands were run Kevin and I decided to go for lunch. I’m not going to lie to any of you it was not a healthy meal!!!

It was infact a Vera’s bacon cheese burger covered in hot peppers and pickles!! Holy F it was amazing. I promptly came home and did an hour of yard work because I felt guilty! Turning over the garden is a better work out then the gym!!! Muffin and Maple decided to help Krista, Kevin and I with the yard work. Muffin even did a little digging of her own which then lead to her and I having a long shower once the yard work was done! Yes I shower with my dog!! Lets face it I’m gonna end up soaked either way and this saves my kitchen or bathroom from bring turned into a wet war co

Thankfully she didn’t get her new owl collar dirty!

Neither her nor Maple were super pleased to learn mud play time ending meant shower time!

As for now I’m considering going to Walmart or saying forget it and starting dinner. I know, I know my life is a constant struggle between amazing activities!! To be honest with all of you I am having a harder time them I let on lately. It’s been two weeks since I’ve made time (forced myself) to spend any time with any friends and even that was only an hour. I’ve bailed on so many plans it is shameful, as are the times I’ve just flat out said no when invited out. The only friend I’ve seen consistently is Krista and that’s because she lives upstairs with my brother!! Other then her I’ve only spent time with Kevin and Muffin. I know I should be making more of an effort to not let myself feel like this it’s hard. I don’t want to talk about how I feel and I’m starting to feel like I don’t want people I know to even be around me. I never want to come off as feeling sorry for myself or whiny so it just feels easier to avoid everyone.

Homemade Pizza Rolls!

Feb21

So despite these not being 100% healthy they are a yummy snack/treat!

These were so easy and so quick to make! I used one can of Pillsbury grands crescent rolls spread then out and sprinkled them with Parmesan cheese, garlic and pizza sauce. I then put a few slices of pizza pepperoni and garlic havarti cheese and then rolled them all up. Placed them in a Pyrex dish and sprinkled the top with more Parmesan and Italian seasoning. Baked for about 20 minutes at 375 and proof yummy snack to kill a pizza craving!!!

Life With The McGavins

100% Not Sugar Coated