Christmas 2!

Good Evening Internet Friends!!

Quick post this evening as heading out to get doggie walked before bedtime.  Full work week ahead and back to school this week for kiddo.

Super busy the last few days, work, and all the other things that go along with running a household, doggie walks and throw in some Nordic skiing.

Today I prepped dinner so that it would assemble quickly after a trip this afternoon to Hawrelak Park for Nordic Skiing.

Earlier in the week I had not had time to do anything for Ukrainian Christmas.  Today I made a quasi Ukrainian Christmas Dinner.  Not the 12 dishes it should be, but.......

Freezer pyrohy, poached salmon with a sour cream dill sauce, green salad, sour cabbage cabbage rolls that I made when I got back from skiing, homemade dill pickles and an apple crisp!  

SOOOOOOOO full, but super yum!

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all a BEST Day EVER Monday.  Stay safe out there😷

Kathy

Boot Scootin' Christmas...

 Good Evening Internet Friends!!! 

Busy day at work today.  Made a quick dinner out of gnocchi, steamed broccoli, red onion, mushrooms and a cream sauce topped with Better Than Bacon Topper.  Turned out yummy and left overs for kiddo's lunch tomorrow. 

After dinner I decided that I should get going on the Christmas table runner I am making for my brother.  Bought this kit several years ago and decided to assemble this year.  The news at dinner also reminded me of the dates to mail things for Christmas delivery so maybe I should get going...

Super excited about this as I used what might be my new FAVOURITE product:  fusible batting.  Sooooo, much easier than quilt batting!!!  Picked this up with help from Pat and staff at Sew Divine.   Stitched around the borders and a few of the boots in the center this evening.  If I do a couple each night I just might be able to get the binding on it this weekend and post before the Christmas deadline for postal services.

Hope this inspires your own creativity.  Wishing y'all the BEST Day EVER Tuesday out there tomorrow and Stay Safe😷.

Kathy

Labour Day...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I hope that y'all had a restful Labour Day and are ready for whatever tomorrow brings.  I really tried hard not to do any kind of labour today at all!

I took doggie out for a really looooooooong walk this morning.  Quite chill out there and no doubt that Winter is on its way😰❄

I took several pictures of the Autumn Blaze Maple in my front yard.  It is SOOOOOO beautiful right now.  I was supposed to get a different type of red maple, but the supplier was all out so I got this type (this is the one I really wanted).  🍁

Late this afternoon I baked a Rhubarb Cake with the Rhubarb I got at the St Albert Farmers' Market on Saturday.  I froze 8 bags with 2 cups in each bag and kept the last 2 cups for use in cake today:

For dinner I made kiddo Spinach/Mushroom/Green Onion/Zucchini/Red Pepper/Boursin stuffed chicken.  Served with baby potatoes and fresh green beans it was a HIT with him.

This evening I spent a bit of time with my knitting and even watched a little tele (not something I do regularly).  

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Tuesday tomorrow.  Stay Safe out there.  😷

 Kathy

Summer Vacation

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Day Four of Summer Vacation.  Still have not made any plans as non essential out of province travel is still not recommended.  Enjoying my time at home though.

Today I did some knitting and also spent some time in my kitchen.  My friend Lynn at No Regrets Ranch posted that she was making Pesto.  I have a planter of basil on my deck so I decided that I would make some too!!!  Nuts make my throat itchy so rather than nuts I use a 50:50 ratio of chick peas and sunflower seeds as a subsititute:

I don't own a large food processor but my trusty blender never fails me☺

I used the pesto on top of the Spaghetti Squash Parmesan that I made for dinner along with a Greek Salad (no olives - that is a taste I have yet to acquire).

For dessert I used freezer blueberries and strawberries to make a crisp.  So YUM!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity.  Wishing y'all the BEST Day EVER Friday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there.

Kathy

Happy Mother's Day...

Happy Mother's Day Internet Friends!

I spent most of my day in the kitchen.  Before y'all sigh,,,, I LOVE spending time in my kitchen.

For breakfast I made buttermilk waffles with fresh strawberries, and raspberries.  Served with whipped cream and Maple Syrup from Quebec:

For lunch I made my son's favourite lunch of Macaroni and Cheese.  I topped with deep fried onions for a different flavour:

For Dinner I made a roasted cauliflower/lentil dal:

For dessert I made a coconut cheese cake square:

SOOO Yummy!

Plan to knit a bit before I take doggie for a walk.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday tomorrow.  Stay safe.

Kathy

Making Do...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I decided today that I needed to do something productive.  At present we are still eating from the house with the exception of milk, and fresh fruit and veggies every week.

For dinner this evening as I did not go out nor feel like going out I made a Salmon Wellington with freezer and refrigerator ingredients:

Turned out delicious!!!  Plus there are left overs for tomorrow.

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Thursday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there.

Kathy

What a Day...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today I guess is the first day of a new version of life for me.

Yesterday afternoon I received the call that my 94 year old Granny had "slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God".

We all knew that one day this would happen, but she always seemed to bounce back.

Still have not processed this fully.

Not a lot of creativity today.  I did make pancakes (not Awful Waffle Sunday) as they were quick, easy, nutrition and delicious:

Comfort food.

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday.  Stay safe...

And Then....

Good Evening Internet Friends.

Another day has passed and cannot really proclaim that I did any thing too exciting.  Did walk the dog a bit this morning.  Wearing a respirator mask that makes me look all to well like a character from a well known movie line up.  Sound a lot like the character when I talk right now as well.

Started the day with Strawberry/Banana Cinnamon French Toast:

Whipped cream and Quebec Maple Syrup topped these off delightfully.  

Did some house work this afternoon. 

This evening after dinner and before doggie walk I added on Row 3 of my Laundry Basket Mystery Quilt:

TAH DAH!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Friday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there🙏

Kathy

Earth Day!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Happy Earth Day!  

Today we had a low key kind of day.  Doggie walked, did lots of house cleaning and laundry.  Still moving slower than usual as my asthma has been acting up.  Stupid spring.....🌳.

To minimize our outings and maintain social distancing I am really trying to use what I have in my pantry, freezer and fridge.  Also a nod to Earth Day too as no waste 😼:

For lunch today we had poutine: 

Dinner was left over Lentil Moussaka from yesterday.

After dinner I spent a bit of time in my craft room before taking doggie out for his walk.  I have now started to assemble the rows on my Laundry Basket Mystery Quilt:

"Sew" far "sew" good!  I am not particularly good with mystery quilts.  If I cannot see what the end product looks like I really struggle with color selection.  The other thing that may hinder my production on Mystery Quilts is that I choose to use scrap fabric for these!  Seriously!!!!  Not gonna waste good fabric in case I don't like the quilt.  I have now seen the quilt layout for this one (bonus for not finishing on time) so will now await to see how this all comes together.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity.  Stay safe out there and WASH your hands. 🙏

Kathy

Stay Home on Tuesday??

Good Evening Internet Friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful Tuesday and were able to find a little bit of fun, good, or even both today.

Fresh milk, fruit and veggies arrived today.  There were 2 eggplant and 2 zucchini in the box so I decided that kiddo and I would make Lentil Moussaka for dinner.  It was DELICIOUS:

After dinner I went up to my craft room.  Breathing still tight with my asthma so I make minimal trips to the second floor of the house.  Assembled the last 4 blocks of the Laundry Basket Mystery Quilt:

This will eventually be centre block for the quilt☺

Hope this inspires your own creativity.  Stay safe out there and please WASH your Hands!!🙏  Wishing you all a BEST Day EVER Wednesday.  

Kathy

It's Getting Warmer...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

It's Getting Warmer out there and I feel like a kid playing the seek and find game saying this.  But it really is getting warmer.  I was beginning to think that since Mother Earth is taking a Time Out that maybe she cancelled spring!!

Quiet day at home today.  My breathing is still difficult....getting better but marginally.  Of course it does not help that my triggers are outside and are trying to spring forth!!  

For lunch today we had spaghetti with sauteed broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, yellow pepper, onion, and garlic.  Topped with feta and pesto that I made last summer and kept in the freezer until recently:

For dinner I must have had spaghetti on my brain as well because I made spaghetti squash Parmesan and garlic bread from the freezer:

For dessert we had Strawberry/Blueberry/Cherry Crisp with fruit from the freezer:

After dinner and before doggie walk I put together three sets of blocks for my Laundry Basket Mystery Quilt.  I had all the pieces cut so able to sew together quickly:

"Sew"  that's all from around here.  

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the BEST Day EVER Monday tomorrow.  Stay safe out there🙏

Kathy

Here We Go Again...

Good Evening Internet Friends!!!

Another work week is about to start and so here we go again....  There just does not seem to be enough time in the weekend to get everything done that I would like to.

Breakfast this morning was fresh fruit, whipped cream and maple syrup waffles:

YUMMMM!!!  As a bonus I made a double batch so that we would have waffles for breakfast this week as well.

For the lunch box I made fresh tomato soup with some home grown tomatoes that I was given:

I was also given a garden pumpkin that I cooked and mashed.  Most of the mashed pumpkin went to the freezer but I did make two loaves of banana, pumpkin, walnut bread.  This will also be in the lunch box tomorrow ☺

For dinner I made a chicken breast sheet pan dinner.  Garden potatoes, onions, zucchini and cauliflower that I was given along with red, green, yellow and orange peppers, and mushrooms.  I drizzled a fresh dill and mustard sauce over all and baked.  Dinner for this evening and a couple days of left overs as well. 

Super YUM!!!

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the 

BEST Day EVER Monday tomorrow.  🥳

Kathy

Friday Finish!!!

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Today I finished a project I started two days ago!!!  Amazing what a little bit of a time crunch can do to motivate a person.

A very loooooooooooooooooooooooong time ago I had agreed to participate in a Christmas Block exchange using the Peppermint Lane Quilt Pattern.

The idea is that I make 12 blocks and send 11 on to other participants and in return I will get 11 different blocks with which to make this quilt.  These are due to be mailed out on or before July 15.  So......in typical Kathy fashion I start to sew these on July 02, 2019.  

I will be posting these out tomorrow morning once I figure out who exactly I am to post these to. 😕  

Earlier this week I purchased the BIGGEST size of cauliflower I have ever seen.  Now of course I would not want to waste this and I am currently not planning any party snacks.  I decided to make Cauliflower Dal for dinner and of course one should have naan bread with that too, so I made a batch of garlic naan bread as well (I added the garlic cause I found a whole bunch of it in the fridge too):

The Cauliflower Dal turned out AMAZING, I did substitute sour cream for the yogurt because I don't keep plain yogurt in the house.  Personally I don't trust the stuff.....what is it trying to hide and or what is it trying to become...it has no identity...

There are lots of left overs from this so the good news is we can get a couple of dinners from it and a few freezer lunches which means I can get a bit more quilting in tomorrow.

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the 

BEST Day EVER Saturday.🥳

Kathy

You Bought What????

Good Evening Internet Friends!

If you follow my blog (which of course who wouldn't), you will likely know that I have a philosophy that if you cannot buy something at Costco you should question if you really need the item!

While there last week I came across an entire bag of Eggplant!!!  Seriously.  Well.....I could NOT leave that behind.  So this evening when I got home from work I set about making Eggplant Parmesan for Dinner.  Yes, ALL the ingredients in this dish and for all of dinner are from Costco:

Eggplant Parmesan, Brioche Bun, Fresh Green Beans Steamed, and Pan Seared Steak with Butter Balsamic Vinaigrette Sauce!!!  So YUMMY!

Then it was off to a prayer Vigil for a long time family friend's Father in Law.

When we returned home I sewed all of the red and white blocks I currently have together and made another row!

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the 

BEST Thursday EVER 🎉

Over? Already???

Good Evening Internet Friends!

WOW!!!  I cannot believe that weekend is OVER already!  I had "SEW" many BIG plans for this weekend.  Alas.....minimal accomplishments on that front.

This morning in addition to laundry, dog walk, and house cleaning I did meal prep - dinner and lunches for the week.  As part of this preparation I made Poppy Seed Cake with cream cheese frosting; one of my favourite comfort foods:

Not gonna fib.....but between kiddo and I this is almost GONE!

After lunch we headed out to The Bay as kiddo needed some new jeans.  All looked like supreme flood pants.  I also picked up a new pair of every day boots for myself as my current work shoes need to retire.

Arriving home I finished up dinner.  Roast beef with fresh mushrooms, onions, mustard and sour cream spent the day in the slow cooker.  I have found that the No Frills not too far away from here has an amazing selection of fresh veggies.  I still do most of my grocery shopping at Costco but this place has a unique medley or things I cannot get at Costco or simply do not need the size of.  In the refrigerator I had red onions, garlic, broccoli, green beans, carrots, parsley and zucchini that I chopped up and roasted along with a small bag of baby potatoes.  Dinner was DELICIOUS!!  Plus......we have left overs now:

Served with a head lettuce salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, radish, green pepper, green onion, and celery dinner was complete.  

After more laundry, kitchen tidy and dog walk I did spend a bit of time in my craft room.

With the exception of the 4 corner blocks my 52 Week Star Block Challenge from 2016 hosted by A Needle Pulling Thread Quilt Shop is complete:

TAH DAH!!!!  

Will stop at Sew Divine tomorrow on my way home and hopefully get some border and binding fabric for this "sew" I can get if off to be long armed.

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the 

BEST Day EVER Monday.

Kathy

In the Kitchen...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

A very long and busy but very productive day at work.  Arriving home I was tired but needed to get dinner ready and not just dinner for this evening but something that will last a for left overs for tomorrow's dinner.

Last week I purchased the MOST amazing eggplant.  This evening I decided that I would make a Ratatouille for dinner using vegetables from the fridge and my home made tomato sauce:

SO YUM!!!!

I paired this side dish along with a ground beef, onions, garlic, red pepper, green pepper, celery, mushroom, and sweet potatoe skillet simmered with the remaining home made tomato sauce:

So good that kiddo ate extra helpings.  

Now that I had left overs taken care of for tomorrow evening I set about getting organized for lunches for two more days of school and work.  Banana bread was my solution to round out the lunch boxes: 

There just might be extra chocolate chips in it too!

While the banana bread was making I made Block 6 of the Jewel Box Block Challenge that A Needle Pulling Thread Quilt Shop is hosting.  "Sew" far this year I am still on track.  Meet Block 6:

 And here are all 6 together:

Now to see what else I can get in to before heading to bed.

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wishing you all the 

BEST Day EVER Thursday tomorrow.

Kathy

It's Back to Work I Go...

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Crazy busy day here in Kathyland again as tomorrow is back to work and school.  Kiddo will get a few breaks with semester break, PD days and non instructional days but for the next three months.....I work.

Did lots of cooking/baking/food prep today:

First up....this awesome salad that I used fresh veggies from the refrigerator to make.  Salad dressing is a recipe that I found in the latest edition of Costco Connection.  All veggies except for the green onion are from Costco.  My friends and family all know my mantra..."If you can't buy it at Costco - do you really need it?"

Then it was on to a batch of Rotten Banana Bread as my brother refers to it.  I will only eat bananas just as the green starts to turn yellow.  Any yellow or brown on the banana means it is "rotten" to me and needs to be made into muffins or bread:

For dinner I made a Shepherd's pie with more veggies from the freezer and a package of lean farm ground beef.  Used sweet potatoes for the topping:

For dessert I made an apple crisp using the frozen apple pie filling that I stashed away in the freezer last fall 🍎:

SOOOOOO Yummy.

In addition to housework, laundry, clearing snow off the deck and walking the doggie I did manage a bit of SEW time:

Blocks 17 & 18 of the Red and White 2017 52 Week Block Challenge hosted by a A Needle Pulling Thread Quilt Shop. 

Hope this inspires your own creativity and wish you all
the Best Day EVER Monday.

Kathy

Snow Much Fun...

Good Evening Internet friends.

Busy day at work which was great, but also a wee bit tiring.  Traffic on the way home was sloooooooooooow, but I made it home safely.

For dinner this evening I made a Kathy version of Chicken Parmesan Spaghetti Squash.  Yet another 100% Costco meal ☺

Spaghetti Squash (3 pack from Costco)

Frozen Chicken Parmesan (Costco)

Spaghetti Sauce (Costco)

Fresh Mozzarella (Costco)

Served with:

Garlic Bread (Costco) 

Garden Salad (all veggies from Costco)

Turned out delicious and of course there are left overs for tomorrow evening!!!  BONUS.

After loading the dishwasher and tidying up the kitchen I took a few minutes to knit on my latest pair of socks.  These are being knit for a very dear friend of mine who has help me IMMENSELY with our move and getting everything in order.  She has a really awesome desk job but for a couple of weeks of the winter she will have to be outside, so I decided that she deserved and needed a pair of my hand knit wool socks ☺.

The colour way is Be Awesome from Sea Turtle Fibre Arts.  I picked this skein up at the Prairie Fibre Festival the day after my house sold.  My friend was a very integral part of helping get the house ready for sale and sold quickly.  

After a bit of knitting I decided to brave the cold.  The temperature right now with a bit of snow fall is - 16 C (3.2 Fahrenheit).  I was dreading going out, but once I got out with dog it was enjoyable.  A 128 lb Labrador/German Shepherd toddler is a lot of fun in the snow.  Plus, the scenery was amazing.  I was able to get this pic that I love as the falling snow is caught in it and the sparkle of the snow under foot.  ❄

 Keep Warm everyone and,

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy