Sweet Thursday...take 3

Happy Thursday everyone!  Hope your week is going well.  Mine is going as well as it can...TGTIF {thank goodness tomorrow is Friday}.  That pretty much sums it up right?  This week is going to be a little different as my sweet recipe isn't desert!  It's some sweet BBQ pork.

I love this meal not only because it's so good, but also because I love using my slow cooker any chance I get.  There's nothing like coming home from work and having half if not all of our dinner ready!  Such a time saver.

We buy our meat from a butcher we've known and we buy it for the year.  I really like knowing that the meat we eat doesn't contain antibiotics or hormones.  So we get our veal and our pork and it's all packaged up for our family meals.  I have a second freezer in the garage just for our meats and I love having everything sealed and packaged in just the right quantities for us.

So I have these pork rolls that WE LOVE!  I simply throw it in the crockpot with a bunch of chopped up onions, some chicken broth, salt and pepper and cook all day.  I often times will add carrots to the mix too :)

Ingredients

1 Pork Roll (Pork butt would also work)

2 cups of chicken broth

3-4 Onions Chopped

Carrots (Optional)

Salt and pepper

BBQ Sauce 

Put all ingredients in slow cooker for 8 hours on low.

Once it's cooked, I pull the pork apart and leave about 1/2 to a cup of the liquids in the crockpot and add 1/2 bottle to a bottle of BBQ sauce{depending on how saucy you want it}.  I have to tell you, I love DIANA sauces. They are so delicious, you definitely have to try them once.  Mix it all up and let it sit on low for 30 minutes or so.  This is definitely one of our favorites!!!  Serve over rice with some corn and carotts and you've got yourself a pretty delicious meal!  My husband loves ribs, but he says this is better and well...not so messy :)

I usually use the rib & chicken, the original or the maple.  SO DELICIOUS!!! 

Happy cooking everyone!

This post is linked to :

Fun Summer...

Hi there! With this past weekend marking an end to our summer,  I thought I'd share a little of it with you.  We've been crazy busy with all kinds of fun stuff.  Our summers aren't usually this busy but we had some great quality family time...which I LOVE!    I'm not a big fan of posting personal photos online like this, but we'll say this is the one post where I'll forget about that for the sake of sharing with you and implode with said pictures :)

I don't think I've mentioned how much we love the zoo...but we do love a trip or two or three :)  We've also been to the beach a time or two and I always love the pictures I can get!  We've also been to Dave & Busters twice which the kids loved {had never been before!}.  We've also gone to the NE Aquarium, which is always a fun outing.  We spent a week in Quebec with family which was super fun!  Went into Old Quebec City which is still as beautiful, Village Vacances Valcartier {water park}, and spent a ton of time with the ones we love.  We've had relatives over our house two weeks in a row and...we've done so much my mind is going blank :)  We went to Disney last week which was the ultimate vacation for the kiddos!{when I say kiddos that includes us big kids} lol  Unfortunately we came back exhausted as we only had 3 1/2 days and crammed as much as humanly possible in each day :)

There's something about being away from home as a family.  I always love the time we get to spend together without having all the household duties, the projects and work to get in the way.  As much as I could lock myself in a padded room sometimes {so much my kids drain my energy}, as much as I am thankful for the blessing they are in our lives.  They are amazing!  It always makes me smile to see how they interact {well...not when they're screaming at each other :) }, when they 're cuddling or telling each other a story.  They are definitely the sunshine to my days.  They always find a way to show you they love you unconditionally.  We do too, but I'm not sure we're as tolerant as they are sometimes :)   Ok...off track here!  But all that to say that I am blessed to have 3 wonderful children and an amazing hard working husband.  I am so glad we spent a wonderful summer together!  Hope your summer was as good as mine!  I'm looking forward to fall and all the changes that come with it.  I can't wait for the leaves to start changing colors.  I love going up to the mountains to see all the wonderful colors nature has to show off!  Well I wish you all an awesome fall!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Sweet Thursdays....#2

Happy Thursday everyone!  Hope yours has started off well.  Over here, we're still getting used to the whole "back to school" routine.  We'll get there...I'm pretty sure:)  This week I thought I'd share one of my sweet yet healthy recipes.  I love the feeling of eating sweets, but knowing they're somewhat healthy for you {healthier...I should say}.  So this week I'll share my Zucchini/Apple bread recipe that I made with zuchinni that came straight from my own garden {even healthier...right???}.

Here are the ingredients needed to concoct this amazing snack:

3 eggs (beaten)

2 cups sugar ( I usually use a little less)

2 tsp vanilla extract  (I'm using homemade!)

1 cup of vegetable oil (I use 1/2 cup and 1/2 cup applesauce)

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

2 cups of shredded zucchini

2 apples dices up

Optional

1 cup nuts

1 cup raisins

Pre-heat the oven at 400 degrees.  In a bowl mix the eggs, the sugar, the vanilla and the oil until all combined and yields a creamy texture.  Set aside.  In another bowl, mix the flour, salt, cinnamon, baking soda and baking powder.  Add the wet mixture and stir.  Add the zucchini, apples, nuts and raisins.  Pour mixture into a greased bread pans and cook about 45 minutes or until top is golden brown.  

***You could also chose to make muffins which I opted to do.  Only change to recipe would be to cook for 20-25 minutes.***

.

Fresh Zucchini from our garden :)

So moist and yummy.  They make an awesome snack for work or to send the kiddos in their lunch boxes.  I always feel good about sending them as much homemade food as possible.

Happy cooking to you!

Linked to:

30 Days to finding your blogging voice...

Here I am at the beginning of my blogging "career" :)  {career...makes it sound so professional} haha Not so much of a writer and probably not that interesting...but I'll get there!!! :)  Nonetheless, I've enjoyed this short lived endeavour and hope to get better as time passes.  

I found this awesome blog Hip2thrift where Iuliana has started a 30 days to finding your blogging voice post.  Sounds so cool and well...I'm looking to refine my skills {or lack of...} so I thought I'd hop on the wagon and join in!  So I'm a little behind since she's already on day 4 of this great challenge.  I'll start with day 1 and work my way up....

Day 1: Childhood bedroom

I remember my room having these two wallpapers; stripes and hearts...cheesy I know but it was the 80's  and it was in style;). I must admit I was pretty licky...I had my own bathroom in my room{ which I came to enjoy during my teenage years}.  I also had the room with the balcony which I was so petrified of.  The paranoid thoughts that weent through this kids mind were pretty surreal!  "What if someone climbed on the balcony from the deck below and broke into my room through the locked slider ???". I'm telling you I was one paranoid kid!  Actually...come to think of it, I'm a prett paranoid adult ;).  A little off track here...  Back to my bedroom, I had this wooden bedroom set with the oh so awful gold hardware which again was stylish back then.  

I wasn't the barbie/doll type kid.  Me and my cousins mostly drew or just talked...we're girls we had a lot to discuss! haha

My room was definitely my haven from about 12 to 16.  I came home, went to my room to watch TV and talk on the phone hours on end, went downstairs, grabbed dinner and ate in my room.  What were my parents thinking???  I can definitely say that my children will never have a television in their room {if I ever want to see them}.  So those are all the great memories I have of my childhood bedroom.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to show you the "pretty" {can you hear the sarcasm???} wallpaper!

Day 2: Describe your most annoying facebook friend.

This is a harder one...I don't go on facebook all that much but I do have to admit that I HATE all the stupid {my opinion here} games; farmville and all the others I didn't bother to read!  You know when you get 100 alerts a day about something ridiculous that really has no interest whatsoever!!!  I can't really delete them from my friend list because they're family and I feel badly.  I just want the game requests and the calendar requests and all the " you were red bull girl today" alerts to STOP!!!  Ok, so I think you all got the picture right?  I don't want to hear about the games, the questionnaire you supposedly answered about me {because you really don't know me that well!}, and all the other annoying requests you may have!   Now that that's off my chest, I feel much better. haha


Day 3: Write about what you're wearing on your feet, if anything.

I have to admit this is probably the strangest thing I will have written about in my entire life.  I've written some weird stuff, but this beats it all :)  I have my laptop on my lap and I'm writing this post with nothing on my feet but my worn off black nail polish.  This is the first time that I've worn black nail polish.  I usually go for the french manicure or a flashy shade of pink.  I am in desperate need of a pedicure.  My heals are cracked and not so pretty to look at right at this moment.  Between work, the kiddos and house duties, a pedicure is pretty much the last thing I have time for.  I am not a big fan of feet to be honest with you.  I don't really like my own!   There's something about toes that just doesn't do it for me.  I've rarely seen feet and say " wow, nice feet".  I'm more the type that'll notice the crooked toes and the ugly nails.   I usually have my slippers on around the house, but love to kick them off while typing away at the computer :)

Strange writing exercise...can't believe I'm actually going to post this.  I hope this really does help better my writing skills!!!

I'm almost caught up with Iuliana...YAY!  So I'll add day 4 to this post tomorrow and then I'll just write a post per day once I'm back on track with everyone else.

Well, I'm off to sleep as 4:30am is going to come pretty quickly!!!  Good night everyone.   

Hip2thrift

Ok...I'm catching up slowly but I'll get there :) 

Day 4: What do you wish grew on trees?

I guess the first thing that comes to mind when you read this sentence is "money"!!!  Who wouldn't want that??? But in all honesty this would probably create more problems than anything else.   So once I stopped to truly think of what I'd like to grow on trees, my answer would without a doubt be health or a derivative, cures for deadly or even lifelong diseases...when I hear the horror stories of children {and adults}finding out they have either a commonly known disease or something rarely seen, my heart goes out to them.  I can't imagine what these people and their families go through.  I am thankful each and every day for the health that we have.  Alright, I do complain when my kiddos get sick, but then I see something far worse and am grateful that my children are otherwise healthy.  There can't be anything worse that being helpless to the ones you love, nothing that you can do or say to make their pain go away.  If health/cures grew on trees in the form of remedies in a pretty little instruction manual, wouldn't that be awesome???  I know, I know....this kind of thing won't happen, but for the sake of this writing exercise I'll put my thoughts on paper...or web I should say :)  Well enough with all this sad stuff, I think you get the picture.  What would you like to have grow on trees?

Day 5: Write about nature.  Use the words; hard drive, stapler, car, phone, billboard.

Nature to me, is the one place you can go to relax and recuperate .  Don't get me wrong I'm in no way, shape or form suggesting that we go camping in a tent or anything.  I like nature but not that much :)  There's something about the serenity that one can find out in the middle of the woods! {In a cabin of course}.  I think we all need a little time away from the hustle and bustle of our everyday life.  No technology; turning the phone off, leaving your computer at home {or just smash the hard drive}, parking the car and leaving it aside to just soak it all in.  I think nature and all it has to offer is definitely soothing.  Taking a stroll through the wooded path where you won't find any billboards or bright lights to distract you from your thoughts, breathing in the fresh air that's not polluted. 

With all the stress we deal with each and every day, I think there is no better place to just refuel the body.  All you need is the necessities and off you go!  The only thing you may want to bring is some paper, a sharpie and a stapler, in case someone gets lost :)  

Well, that was my expose on nature!  

Day 6: 

Spaghetti Sauce

Happy Monday!!!  With school starting today and my garden having a ton of vegetables ready...I thought yesterday was a good time to make a batch of spaghetti sauce while picking up around the house today.  What a good idea I had! I usually always have a stash of spaghetti sauce jarred for those nights where I need a quick,  go to meal.  I've been out for some time now {shame on me}!  So onto cleaning up I went, as I had to stir my simmering sauce...pretty much all afternoon :)

So for those of you interested, here's my recipe!  It's a mix between my our grandmothers recipes that I played with to make my own.   Inspired from our Quebec roots, it might be a little different from the typical American sauces.  So here are needed ingredients;

2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
4 1/2 lbs ground pork 

1 big bottle V8 vegetable juice

1 (12oz) can of tomato purée

3-4 small cans of tomato paste

4 tbs ketchup

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 carrots diced

6 celery stalks diced

6-8 onions

2 large shallots minced

6-8 cloves of garlic minced

2 cps of mushrooms

1 tsp oregano

2-3 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp sariette spice

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp mint flakes

1-2 tsp garlic salt

4-6 bay leaves

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ( more if you want more of a kick)
1/2 brick of firm tofu cut in small cubes

Salt and pepper to taste

So for the meat I sometimes do a combination of veal and pork or beef and pork or even deer meat. and pork.  Whatever I have on hand.  I love adding the tofu {we're not big on tofu...} because you don't really taste it, but you get all the nutrients it has to offer.

I start off with 2 tbs of butter and 2 tbs of olive oil in the bottom of my pot.  I then sweat all my veggies for about 10 minutes or until onions become translucent.  I then add all my liquid ingdients with the exception of tomato paste.  Add all spices and bring to a boil.  I then add my raw meat making sure to press the meat against the sides of the pot to avoid any lumps of meat.  I simmer my sauce for about 3 hours stirring pretty often to avoid any sticking or burning at the bottom of my pot.  1/2 hour to an hour before the sauce is ready, I add the tomato paste, mix it in well and continue simmering.

Butter and Olive oil :)

 Diced up veggies

Sweating veggies

Voila!

Once done, I store in mason jars which I then boil in my pressure cooker/ canner.  It is soooo good ;). I love my spaghetti sauce.  It doesn't have too many spices but it tastes just right to us.  I hope you'll try it and let me know what you think ;). Happy cooking to you!  Hope you all have a fun "back to school" week, I know it's going to be a little hectic around here...just the way we like it!!!  

Memories

Hi everyone!  Hope you've all had a good week, mine was a little krazy { 3 1/2 days at Disney with the kiddos and hubby}.  Trying to see as much as humanly possible in Florida's summer heat {what were we thinking????}.  We were able to make it to Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and Sea World.  Managed to make it to fireworks every night...and exhaust ourselves! :)

  We like to try and do as much as we can with our munchkins and I like to take a ton of pictures.  I'm all about making memories and cherishing them!  I've been trying to find the best way to keep track of our lives on a daily basis, some type of journaling.  I've tried to litterally keep a daily journal, but find that I'm not so good at writing in it on a daily basis {sigh}.  I had seen this idea on Pinterest where you have an index card for each day of the year and you write down the year and then what happened...well that hasn't worked out so well for me either as I find myself skipping quite a few days!{sigh...again}

So...as the school year begins, I thought I'd start tracking our daily lives {yet again} in another way.  I'm pretty good with our family binder and keeping track of a lot, so I figured I'd use a Daily Log sheet that I'd add to said binder.  So here is what I came up with and I'm hoping that this will do the trick!

I thought if I keep it short and sweet, then maybe...just maybe I'll get it done.  I always think that it'll be nice as the kiddos get older to remember these moments {or it could simply be used as bribe materials}!  So here is the contents of my new family binder section.

Not much here tonight, but I should make it back tomorrow {if my endless to do list actually comes to an end}.

Hope you all have a good night.  I'm going to try and catch some much needed zzzz.

Sweet Thursdays!

I thought I'd start a sweet Thursdays post...to add a little sweetness to your week :)  So I'll be posting a new recipe for deserts evey Thursday!  I hope you enjoy!   Here we go..

"Pudding Chomeur"


Sauce

1 c. pure maple syrup
1c. brown sugar
1c. boiling water
1/4 c. butter

Cake batter

1 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 c. butter
1c. sugar
1c. milk

Pre-heat over at 325 degrees.  Sift the flour and the baking powder in a bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl beat the butter until creamy texture and add sugar while still beating.  Beat again until you get a creamy texture.  Alternate adding 1/4 of the flour and 1/4  of milk while mixing until all ingredients are combines.  Grease a 13 X 9 dish and pour batter.

Pour all sauce ingredients into pot and bring to a boil.  Stir well and simmer for 10 minutes or so.  Pour the hot sauce over the raw batter and cook for 45 minutes.  Here is the delicious "not so diet friendly" result you'll get!  Enjoy :)

 

Anything made from pure maple syrup is just delicious!  I'm lucky enough that my brother and father own a commercial size maple farm up in Quebec so I usually have a pretty unlimited supply of this great stuff year round!!!

Sweet Thursday to you all !

Delightful Order