If you knew sushi, like I knew sushi....

Dylan, my 4 yr old has very mature tastes.

He likes Indian curries, Thai food, Sushi...and of course eating with chop sticks. I used to buy sushi for D every now and again but it really is kinda expensive when your kid asks for sushi every time you go in the grocery store!!! (I wish my kids just made a spectical at the checkout begging for chocolate like the other kids)

There was only one thing to do, make it ourselves.

I had made sushi a few years ago in my chef's class, but that was before I had kids, and I knew Nath would never eat it so I didn't pay much attention but I seemed to recall, it was easy and didn't require much effort or equiptment.

The good news is, it still is easy. Dylan helped out and we made three rolls. AND he loved it. A pack of chop sticks and a rolling mat, sushi rice, ricewine vinegar, Nori (dried seaweed sheets) and what ever you want for fillings. Inexpensive and fun!

Goin' off the rails in a crazy train....

Kids will make you do the most crazy things...the latest my crazy train. Oh and kids are not very patient. I was very lucky to get any decorations on this crazy train.

Next time I will know what to expect when decorating this and will plan it out much better before hand, like sorting out all the candies into colour coordinated piles, and having a larger platter. Pehaps making a flaky coconut landscape and a gingerbread train station.

Or maybe I will just make plain old cupcakes. The kids like those just as much and they are way easier to make!!

I feel like pizza tonight...actually, no I don't but the kids do.

I wasn't very hungry but the kids were clambering for food. I hadn't taken anything out from the freezer so I knew it would be something quick and easy!

Pillsbury pizza dough in hand I had to figure out what I had on hand for pizza toppings. Then I remembered seeing a meatball pizza in a Panago commercial, and I always have frozen meatballs in the freezer. I popped a few meatballs in a frying pan and added some water to heat them up and defrost them.

I quickly rolled out the dough baked it till golden, added sauce, meatballs and cheese. I put it back in the oven for about 10 minutes then broil for about 5 to get the cheese bubbly.

And that was supper!

Manic Monday

For excitement *sarcastic roll of the eyes* I made meatloaf for supper Monday. We don't often have meatloaf in fact my husband of 11 years looked at me quizzically, and asked me if he had ever had meat loaf. I didn't know what to tell him except..."uhhh I dunno" and I shot him a quizzical look back.

I did a basic ground beef, minced onion, bread crumb, egg, milk type deal and seasoned it with steak spice. To add a little pizazz I then covered the meatloaf with strips of bacon and baked it at 375F for about 50 mins.

It was O.K., not bad, not great.

I think some cheeze would have really helped things along in the flavour department, but I found the bacon in combination with the ground beef was already quite greasy, so I think the cheese might have made it worse. Maybe a variation of this meat loaf could be made by adding cooked and cooled bacon bits and cheddar cheese mixed in with the ground beef and cooking it as a loaf that way, or even making bacon cheeseburger meat balls that you could cook in a Pillsbury crescent roll wrap thing, to make little finger food appitizers.

We had fries and gravy and some corn to round out the meal. Let's just say Monday is a day better off forgotten.

Organic batter blaster

On the weekend I was wandering through the Wal-mart grocery isles when I spied something called "organic batter blaster".

Now I am not on the organic wagon, in fact I think shopping locally is far more important than buying organic, but what caught my attention is that this is a pre-made pancake batter in what appears to be a whipped cream aerosol can. It was $4.97 which would buy a lot of dry pancake mix, but my inner child got the best of me, and I bought it.

Sunday morning arrived with a shout out to the kids "Who wants pancakes???" Immediately my eldest ran to the freezer, because that where pancakes come from in our house, but I said "no, today we are going to make these..." proudly holding my aerosol batter. Both kids looked at me as if I were off my rocker (for not the first or last time I'm sure) and I proceeded to heat the pan and squeeze dollops of soon to be pancakes in the pan.

It was easy to control the flow and was pleasantly mess free, which is not the case when I make pancake batter myself and attempt pouring it. They tasted good...like pancakes even, but I wondered how many it would make.

I ended up making pancakes for myself and the kids on two occasions and I think that is reasonable.

Overall it was fun, it tasted good, and it saved time and mess, but the price might put some people off.

Check it out for yourself here BATTER BLASTER.

Sunday Dinners

It seems in most British households that a Sunday roast is a must and although I was born and raised in Canada this is a tradition I have certainly kept. Sundays in our house are what as known as Family Day. My mom, my husband's parents, and the four of us can be found at my place at around 4pm, often times our good friends Val and Donnie can be found here as well, and sometimes their family too!

This Sunday I made roast leg of Lamb. I don't make lamb often, I do enjoy it, but its not something I would like to eat day in and day out. We had mint sauce with our lamb, its a must! And I have to admit I do go crazy on the veg, baby new potatoes, baby carrots, cabbage, broccoli and peas. I like to think it makes up for the rest of the week when I know I won't get as much vegetables as I should.

If you have never had lamb, don't go to the expense of buying it if it really isn't in your budget. Its an acquired taste, and a bit costly if you don't end up liking it.

I roast my boneless leg of lamb in a 400F oven, lightly coated with olive oil, garlic, and rosemary. 20 minutes per pound and about 15 minutes to settle. Lamb is usually served to a medium doneness, but if you like it more or less cooked I guess its up to you. I make gravy from the drippings by adding a splash of wine to the roasting pan to loosen all the yummy bits, and then thickening it with either cornstarch or flour.

We had a bit of lamb left over so I think I will search for a Moroccan lamb dish to make later on in the week. I will let you know how it goes!

Feastie Beastie

My youngest son Dylan also loves to cook, and eat, because of this I find he challenges me to try cooking new things. My husband Nathan and my eldest son Rhys do not quite share the adventuresome side that Dylan and I have, so I do have to make concessions some of the time.

I'd like to think I come up with some pretty tasty meals, and I thought you might enjoy them too. I don't usually buy "exotic" ingredients and I do try to keep costs pretty low so this blog should be a hit with real life families, college students, and anyone who wants a guiding hand while easing into a larger food repertoire.