Frosted Pumpkin Spice Loaf

Well, here I am, back on the scene!

   We have been in California the last 12 days so that's why my posts have been lacking. I'm sure you all were on the edge of your seats! I was tempted to talk about going on the trip, but broadcasting that your house is empty is frowned upon!

   We had a blast. My mom and dad go to Palm Springs every winter and we like to follow them there, invite ourselves in and eat all their food. And they love it! This was Kort's first time but Grey has been 5 times! Spending so much time in a hotel can be challenging with younger kids. We stay in a house with my parents, but then we drove to San Diego, from there to L.A. and Anaheim.

  Grey was so obsessed with going to Disney, we never heard the end of it! Because the kids are so small we would of never planned a trip just to there. But since we were right there we decided to go for it! After paying roughly 5 million dollars to get in, we hit the ground running! If you've been before, did you find it a bit overwhelming? It was hotter than hell and if you know me, you'll know my kids and I are "powder's". Complexion of a snowman. I took both the kids on the carousel by myself, thinking it was a short line. Wrong. As I discovered there is no such thing. Once we turned the millionth corner and got out of the shade it was almost game over for the powder's and I. I swear we almost perished in that line. A lady was pushing her way to the front to "get with her husband" and then let herself through a closed-off rope to get to the front. I almost took her hostage. We made it to the god damn horses and Grey picked his fav. While helping him on I almost lost Kort's horse to an adult couple on there with no kids. What the....I made them go away and be creepy on the other side. After standing in the sun for an hour we enjoyed all 25 seconds of that ride!! :)

   Being that Kort is only 19 months, saying that he was a terrorist there is an understatement. Things went downhill after the carousel incident. All Grey wanted was to see the superhero thing. It was over at 5 and we were cutting it close. Back in line we go. This one was short for real, and it started in 10 minutes. How bad could that be? Don't ever ask yourself that. Kort went through a fantastic series of back arches, head bunts, running away and glass shattering screaming. I was livin' the dream. I couldn't bare to break Grey's heart by leaving, so we stuck it out and tolerated the death stares from everyone! It was worth it because he got chosen by Thor to be in the show and it was awesome!

 There is only one way to make toddler stop screaming in public and buy yourself some time. They need not one, but two GIANT suckers. Write that down. That will come in handy for you one day, I promise.
Happiness restored, back arches gone.

   Don't even try to think you'll just whip out your neatly packed container of carrots and celery. That's not cuttin' it, girlfriend. Pull out the big guns for success.  :) We hit a second wind after we dropped a good $100 on assorted deep fried items and drinks for supper, and the sun went down!
It's very hard to stick to a healthy diet in a place like that. And after a long day like that one, I frankly don't care. You'll burn it off on the 10k you're about to jog,  looking for Buzz Lightyear.
 
 We got in at around 3 am on Saturday night, and man was that hard! Flight arrived at 11:30 in Calgary then we still had to drive 2 hours home. In the snow and fog while we still smelled like sun screen and were wearing flippy floppies. Painful as it comes. I may of shed a tear or 50. I just managed to drag myself to get groceries today so I'll be back on the cooking tomorrow. Tonight we just had some chicken burgers on the bbq and the cauliflower potato salad I posted last time. Because I've developed a brief crack habit with that! Just like my apparent new addiction to Starbucks Java Chip coffee. For real. I may require an intervention. The fact that they are double the price here as they are in Cali may help me beat it, however! :)

   I'm posting a picture of the finished product of this spice loaf and a link to the recipe. That's all I can pull together tonight. Look forward this week to turkey meatloaf with horseradish glaze, almond flour cookies 3 ways, jalapeno glazed chicken thighs and a tomato cream sauce for spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles!

Pumpkin Spice Loaf

www.sexfoodandkettlebells.com , then look under desserts and there you'll see this fab and easy recipe!

I forgot to take a pic of the frosting, but it was fab. I didn't frost the whole loaf because I wanted to send it to school for Grey. I just whipped it and kept in the fridge until I wanted it then let it sit on the counter for a few minutes and just roughed it up with a fork if needed! 

The loaf was awesome and so moist. And as always, makes your house smell amazing! Enjoy!

Parmesan Chicken and Spiral Zucchini Noodles

Happy Hummmmmmmmmmmmp day!!

   It's another balmy day here in Alberta, with the added bonus of our 2345th heavy snowfall warning of the year. Nothing but good news this winter, hey?!?!?! So, may as well do some cookin'....

   A few weeks ago I pressured Shane until he caved, into buying me a veggie spiraler. I looked all over here and in Calgary. He finally ordered it from Amazon and I love it more than life. When it came it was similar to the birth of a newborn baby. A new car. A soft puppy. Ok, it's not thaaaaaaat big of a deal but I am so excited!! You can do all kinds of veggies with it, potatoes and fruits! So far zucchini has been my only victim.

   When we were at the market this past weekend, I scored 4 huge zuch's for a dollar each. I used 2 of those tonight and it was enough for all 4 of us. Grey has been on a sweet roll with eating this week, trying new things. Usually it ends up in some sort of Mexican standoff with him gagging and probably barfing a little. But he's been on fire and I almost dropped dead when he tried and actually swallowed some of the zucchini noodles! Don't get me wrong, I don't foresee him begging for them again tomorrow....but he ate it and didn't complain. Major success if you ask me!! 

Please enjoy this sequence of photos for your viewing pleasure. :)

Like I said, he clearly loved it. :)

Then there's this one....

Sigh. Never mind. He'll get it eventually....

   Ok, let's make this shall we?!!? It will be pretty hard to make these noodles without the spiraler. You could cut the zuch into very thin, uniform strips. That could work. Or use a mandolin to get them even. But you won't achieve the spiral effect without it. I have the "World Class Paderno Veggie Spiralizer" give that a Google and see what you think!

Pan Fried Parm Chicken:

You Need:

4 chicken breasts

1 cup almond flour (wheat flour would work as well)

1-2 tbsp Italian seasoning

2 eggs OR 1 egg and 1/2 cup milk

 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Your favorite pasta marinara sauce for serving on top (optional)

sea salt/ fresh pepper

Zucchini Garlic Butter Noodles:

You Need:

2 large zucchini

2 cloves garlic, minced

butter for sauteing 

sea salt

Spiral or cut your noodles. Place them in a big bowl and season with sea salt. Swish it around so it's all covered. Dump into a colander and leave for at least 20 minutes. The salt will draw out the excess water, giving you best results. Set aside.

If you have a zip loc bag you can put the chicken in there, or cover with saran wrap like I did. No one likes raw chicken splatter all over! Pound your chicken flat and thin with a meat mallet or a rolling pin if you don't have a mallet. Don't go all crazy on that poor chicken, just nice and flat! Season with sea salt and pepper.

Set up an assembly line with eggs in one bowl, beaten frothy. Flour with Italian seasoning mixed in, in another bowl, and then large frying pans, heated over medium heat with either butter or olive oil.

Chicken- dip in egg- coat in flour (both sides) and into the pan....got it? No need to cake the flour mix on, just to cover is good.

Fry, without fiddling with it (no moving) for 5 minutes. Once you have a nice brown crust on there, flip and fry until chicken is cooked through. If you pounded it thin enough, should be another 5 minutes or so. No pink!!! Don't let the pan get dry, or you'll end up burnt! Add butter or oil as needed and swish around the pan.

Once cooked through, transfer to greased cooking racks on baking trays. Sprinkle with parm cheese and put under the broiler until nicely browned. (only a minute or 2 ) You can skip this and just simply sprinkle with the cheese if you like. 

The way to serve the noodles is to 'cook to serve'. They only take a few minutes so don't make them until you're ready to plate.

Dump them from the colander onto paper towels. Pat dry. Get the moisture off, it'll only make watery noodles.

Heat up a large frying pan with 1 tbsp oil and a few pats of butter. Add the garlic and saute a minute or so. Add your noodles and swish around to cover in the garlic butter. Depending on the thickness of the noodle, they should cook between 2-5 minutes at the most. Just stir continuously and watch for your desired texture. I had them just like noodles, wrapping around my fork and soft. Not soggy. No one wants a soggy noodle!!

Season with sea salt and fresh pepper and you are a woman on fire!! If you're lucky your kids will make the loving faces mine did while they enjoy the dinner you lovingly prepared for them!! Ha ha, eat it or starve...suckers!!!

Top the chicken with some marinara sauce if you like, and BOOM! Delicious.

Original chicken recipe pingback to "deliciouslyorganic.net" 

Cauliflower "Potato" Salad

   

  Monday, Monday, Monday.....it's a pain every week, isn't it? This cold weather is hardly new, but man does it seem to be dragging on!

  At the last minute on Saturday we decided to whip into Calgary and get the hell out of the house! I was ready to kill the kids and they are just as sick of me! Cold weather tends to bring out the worst in people once you're on day 342 million like we are here! We got a nice room at the Hyatt and took the kids to Cross Iron Mills mall. Now. Normally taking my kids to the mall would be be a close second to running into traffic for me, but I'll take anything over being in the house at this point! It actually worked out really well and we all had a lot of fun. Amazing how much time can be spent in the Bass Pro Shop! Kids got popcorn and almonds in that little snack shop and they were happy wandering around in there. Cute place to kill some time.

    After being in the mall a few hours, we headed back to the hotel. When we left that place, it was seriously the coldest I think I've ever been! Shane even went out ahead of us to warm up the car and bring it closer. My hands hurt from trying to do the car seats and I felt like they were going to snap off! The radio on the way to the hotel said -38 with -44 windchill. Ummmm, what? That's more than I can stand! The lady at the gas station told Shane he was literally the first person to smile at her all day. Everyone has had enough of their nostrils sticking together when they try to go outside! Mother Nature, suck it!!!

   On Sunday we went to the Farmer's Market in Calgary on suggestion of my good friend, Gail. I love these things, but my good luck with my kids had run out. They were tired form the long day before and wandering around quietly wasn't in their plans! Within 5 minutes Kort had head-slammed the stroller, shooting my brand new $6 coffee all over me and everything else, pulled the plug on a pile of apples- sending them into a sweet avalanche and wiped his sticky little hands allllllllllll  over a fancy glass display of pastry. Good times to be had, I tell ya! We grabbed food, which bought us a few minutes, got Grey a sweet angry birds airbrushed tattoo to make up for his brother's behavior and we were outta there! BUT! I totally recommend going there at a time less busy, when it's not minus a million degrees. They have great selection, a super fun vibe and cool finds. They have tons of bison products and great options that are really fresh. 

   So, let's talk food. Monday is soccer night for Grey so I have to be on the ball early.Since I had the fresh bison sausage from yesterday, I went with that. I saw a recipe a few days ago for cauliflower potato salad. I have been so curious as to what it would be like, and it's one of my best finds so far I think! We bought a camping trailer late last summer and this recipe will be a total keeper for camping! I purposely made extra so I could see how it fared as leftovers. I'll let you know next post.  

   

    Don't think of  it with a cauliflower taste. The cauli simply gives you the texture that potato does but with all the added nutritional benefits! The recipe called for a cup of mayo. I used a half a cup of vegan mayo because I happen to have that and a half cup Greek yogurt. You could also use all yogurt, or mayo or even sour creme maybe? Just don't use any of that fake, chemical ridden low-fat, fat free crap! Whole fat dairy is best. I loved the texture and even Kort ate it. You could add some cayenne for heat or your fav spice. This one is pretty open to interpretation. Enjoy!

That is the vegan mayo I had. Shane's mom saw it at Heritage Foods when she was here and the sales lady had her sold. She grabbed it to give it a try. I actually really like it, it's quite creamy and good.

Cauliflower "Potato" Salad (serves 2-4 with a bit leftover)

**note- this recipe requires a few hours before serving, cauli and eggs need to chill for 2-3 hours, then an hour or so before serving. Give yourself time. I prepared at lunch then chilled until supper.

You Need:

1 large head of cauliflower, trimmed into bite sized florets

1 cup mayo of choice or Greek yogurt or possibly sour creme (or combination like I did)

3-5 dill pickles, diced

3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1 tsp dried dill (or more to taste)

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

sea salt and pepper to taste

Paprika for sprinkling (optional)

Once your cauli is trimmed, steam it until just fork tender. A little less than you would usually steam it for eating. Hard boil the eggs while cauli is steaming.

Once steamed, leave to cool and drain a bit if needed. Transfer to a mixing bowl and put in the fridge for 2-3 hours. Also put eggs in the fridge.

After your eggs and cauli have been in the fridge for a few hours, peel eggs and chop. Dump into bowl with cauli. Add remaining ingredients, and stir to combine.

Once mixed, place back in the fridge until you're ready to serve. Giving it at least a half hour. We had it with the bison sausage on the bbq and just some fresh raw veggies. Success! I'll be doing this one lots this summer! Sprinkle with paprika to serve, if you like!

Original recipe pingback to "cupcakesomg.blogspot.com"