MaryIsobel

Not breakfast today, but for next weekend when we'll have out of province guests for the weekend. Loosely based on Ina's granola. Less oil and lower oven temp (300 as opposed to 350.) Baked rolled oats, sliced almonds and coconut. Toasted pepitas and cranberries, raisins and dried apricots will join the party once the granola is cooled.

Right foot as well. A year and a half ago I broke my 3 & 4th metatarsal bones in the same foot! Not a freezer mishap that time though, but it has made me very protective of my toes!

I shall never again decide to pull out a pork tenderloin from middle of the stack in the upright freezer while in bare feet. Yup - major bruise and a mightily complaining little toe.

I had never had creamed mushrooms on toast until I was in Ireland in 2018. It was a revelation to me and has become one of my "I don't really feel like cooking" go-tos. I usually make it on sourdough toast. Now I'm suddenly craving it.

I have, and it was one of the best things that I have recently learned. Just put chopped or sliced or diced raw mushrooms in a dry skillet (I use non-stick) until they are golden, THEN add butter or olive oil + seasonings. Results in perfectly browned mushrooms that haven't soaked up an excess of oil or butter.

So nice to see you (another fellow Canadian) posting again. Even though you have limited eyesight, your breakfast was leaps and bounds above mine. (1 hardboiled egg, followed by a banana an hour later.) What can I say? I've never been a breakfast person - my Mom used to have to force me to eat something before school, so that may have something to do with it! Regardless, I would be happy to have your breakfast if someone made it and served it to me!

Thank you, that sounds good. I could probably even add some shredded pork or beef for her husband and mine

Wow - You are like the energizer bunny Shelby. I have been whining for two days after spending only 2 hours pulling weeds from our (flower) garden. It has been unseasonably cold here this year, but bought tomato starts and some bedding plants yesterday for my deck containers and baskets. We grow tomatoes and green beans in our green house in self watering containers. Have given up on our vegetable garden due to the fact that we are gone off and on camping for most of the summer and don't have the (well) water or water pressure for a sprinkler system and all the neighbourhood kids that we used to hire to water have grown up and gone on to bigger and better things!

Your stuffed peppers (poblanos?) look like a good thing I could make for my gluten free, pescatarian friend that will be visiting for a couple of days at the end of this month. Recipe or method?

Just watched an episode of Bon Apetit Test Kitchen where they say that real Alfredo is just butter, pasta water and cheese. I have always added cream.

Was wonderful to tag along with you!

And here is the finished product: I added some spinach that needed using at the very end. Foil pan to the rescue when I realized that my large roasting pan was too big and my small roasting pan was too small. It was great and very easy.

You have an amazing amount of energy! Everything looks fabulous and makes me wish I could partake!

Prep for Hairy Biker's Spanish Chicken. https://www.hairybikers.com/recipes/view/spanish-style-chicken-bake Prep takes all of 15 minutes and elements are added to a roasting pan at intervals. Only ingredient not shown is chicken thighs which are still defrosting, but they are just slashed a few times and seasoned. I added an extra pepper as we have a plethora. I also peeled the garlic cloves. Used hot Italian sausage because chorizo is unheard of in the one horse town in which I reside, and I didn't feel like doing the 25 minute drive to where I know I can get it. Hopefully I will remember to post a picture of the end product.

My daughter took me out for an early Mother's Day celebration as she will be working on Sunday. She bought me this gorgeous preserves cookbook. It is written by the owner of a local winery/cidery/orchard/farm. Lots of unusual recipes for preserves. I'm very much looking forward to having a good look through it and marking some recipes to try.

Just got back from visiting my husband's brother and wife in Manitoba. Mid April and there was snow on the ground and more in the forecast. The temp hovered around zero. When my husband said "I don't think I could live here, his brother replied "K..., I think you may have forgotten that we have great summers here. They last from the first of August until the 15th."

I have heard of Gooey Butter bars but they are not something common here - what is the flavour profile? They certainly look good!

I love pasta for breakfast! Just another form of carbs (like toast, cereal, waffles...) but more exciting to my palate.

Thank you. We have a plethora of pork tenderloin. Long story but my husband is now facing a moratorium from buying meat without consulting with me first. I love figs and their flavour in anything, so will be treating our next pork tenderloin to fig sauce. I was happy to see that it was dried figs because fresh figs are few and far between here in the PNW, even when they are in season. A chain here, Earl's, does a fig, brie, thinly sliced apple sandwich on a baguette. It is my go to order when eating there.

Perfection! Going to need a little more info on the fig sauce though.

As far as family night movies go - hopefully you have been spared from watching the "Beethoven" movies. We usually had home made pizza too but then were subjected to many cheap, quickly produced movies about a Saint Bernard and ensuing adventures and there are 8 movies! Our kids adored them and were always stoked when a "new" (same movie with one or two different characters and a slight plot change) one came out. It was time spent together and Dad and I just drank booze from coffee mugs to get through them!

Definitely not aimed at people like Martin, but there are so many that are two or three generations in of not being taught anything about budget cooking or nutrition. I do understand that buying crap is easier and cheaper than buying fresh food. Add to that suboptimal housing and equipped kitchens and therein lies the problem. That's why I love the idea of cooking a wholesome meal in a single electric frying pan/skillet. Even in a single occupancy room there is always an electrical oultet.

This is such a multi-faceted problem everywhere. Our township had (pre-Covid,) a cool little program sponsored by Canadian Tire and staffed by volunteers. It was 1.5 hours once a week for 6 weeks and participants were taught to make one dish meals using budet ingredients and only an electric frying pan. There was a short shopping/nutrition talk, then the recipe was made and walked through and served to participants and their children (childcare was provided onsite by volunteers.) If one completed all 6 classes, they got an electric frying pan to keep. It was quite popular and I was looking forward to volunteering once I retired. Hopefully it can get up and running soon. I think this type of program along with financial aid (whatever it's called where you live) and food banks would be helpful to at least some of the people in need.

Your sandwich looks great. It also brings up a discussion my husband and I have been having for nigh on 35 years. He also says "tuna fish" sandwich and I've always wondered why. He doesn't say "salmon fish" sandwich or ahi tuna fish sashimi... I know lots of people do say tuna fish - it is just a curiosity to me.

I suppose, although I don't think either of them are actually words. I just called it slunch because we went back and forth between lunch and brunch and supper. Then turned out that one of my daughters could only manage it between day shifts and night shifts so she will need to sleep and get ready for work at 7 that night, so a 3:00 meal worked.