Pork, spinach, feta and pear sausage rolls.

As a mum of two, I can confidently say that some of the most rewarding and fulfilling moments that I have enjoyed are the one's that centre around feeding my family.
To me food is not just sustenance, it's also a declaration of my love for my tribe. And by tribe I also mean my friends and their families.
Food is love...good food, made with care for the one's you hold most dear.
Whether it's cooking with my children and passing on family recipes and techniques or simply cooking FOR them, there's not too many moments these days where we are all centred around the family table at the same time.
Life is busy, hectic and at times down right insane......you all know what I'm talking about.
I enjoyed a yummy meal tonight with my girls, hubby MIA,  probably on his way home from a long day at work. Not unlike every other night, we try our best to have at least one meal, each week day, all together.
Some days there is happy chatter and catching up on the events of the day; these moments usually occur when all of the stars align at just the right moment ( the food is well received!) and all parties have had an awesome day and are in good moods!!
Other days there are cranky kids, who don't want to eat what I have cooked, making for a cranky mum and dad who are left wondering why can't we all just GET ALONG?? REALLY???? It's the one time of the day we get to all be together, sitting, without distraction and the food becomes a battle of wits between the kids and the parents.
My kids are older now, and I'm proud to say there are not too many things that my kids won't eat...mushrooms for example.
But I find as the main food prep slave in the house, I do get stuck in a rut and struggle to keep things interesting at the dinner table. Sometimes I find myself on Pinterest scanning through all the beautiful food styling and recipes, I'm pinning like a woman possessed yet don't seem to get around to actually making anything I pin.
My compromise tonight was to take a recipe I found on Pinterest and tweak it to my liking.
SUCCESS!! Not only did my kids eat it without complaining, they actually went back for seconds and thirds. The recipe even made enough for the kids to take some for school tomorrow, as long as hubby doesn't go in for seconds.
UPDATE: Hubby only left two sausage rolls for the kids to fight over.

Pork, spinach, feta and pear sausage rolls.
Makes 16 rolls.


300g frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
500g ground pork sausage
1 cup of crumbled feta
1 cup of Panko breadcrumbs
5 green onions, chopped
1 red pear, finely diced
2 tablespoons of Italian seasoning
salt and pepper

1 pkg pre-made puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, beaten
Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 375f and line a large baking tray with parchment paper. 
I found that during baking the sausage roll released a lot of oil, so use either a tray with sides or place another tray underneath to catch the hot oil.

In a large bowl combine the sausage, spinach, feta, breadcrumbs, onions, pear, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.
Mix well.

I used plain old No-name frozen spinach, Maple leaf pork sausage, Skotidakis feta and Presidents choice frozen puff pastry.

Cut the pastry sheets in half. 

Divide the spinach mixture into 4 equal portions, place down the centre of each of the 4 pastry halves. 

Brush a little of the beaten egg along the longer edge and roll to cover the filling.

Cut each roll in half so that you have 16 rolls and place them, seam-side down, on the prepared baking tray.

I scored and x into the top of each roll, brushed each roll with beaten egg and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 25 -30 minutes, until golden.

I served these hot from the oven with a side salad full of veggies, mango and more feta and some homemade tomato chilli jam.

nom nom!!!!

Tooth fairy

Another milestone reached yesterday, Marley lost her second tooth. Now the second tooth is usually not as big of a deal as the first but in this instance it was a pretty big deal as Marley did not want to part with her first tooth.
She wrote the tooth fairy a nice little letter asking her to kindly leave her first tooth with her as she was not ready to give it up to the tooth goddess quite yet.
Who knows where that tooth is now, probably sucked into the vacuum cleaner or buried deep into the carpet in her bedroom.

But last night daddy helped the natural course of things along by wiggling Marley's tooth out. He has come to be known as the neighbourhood "assistant" to the tooth fairy, helping not only our kids but one or two others along the way. He has it down to a fine art now with a combination of distraction, gentle pressure and trickery!!!!

Now I don't know if it's just my upbringing, but the tradition in my childhood home was to put your tooth on the kitchen window sill in a glass of water and overnight the tooth fairy would visit,  inspect the tooth and reward accordingly.
No tooth under the pillowcase stuff at my house, I'm sure the tooth fairy remembers me from all those years ago and just knows that that's the way we roll!!!!

So before going to bed last night I checked to make sure the correct protocol had been followed and was surprised to see that the kids had implemented a new tradition of their own with the tooth fairy...........begging!!!!!

I think she may have had a little assistance from big sis on this one.

Marley awoke to $6 in the jar this morning, she sounded a little perturbed...I think she was hoping for a substantial amount more.

Better luck next time kiddo!!!!!

Spring break 2012

 

What to do, what to do with kids for spring break? My day yesterday went a little something like this.

•  Get up, feed kids.
•  Pull all the pictures off the wall and start moving things from wall to wall until it feels right.
• Change one thing, nothing else feels right.
• Put everything else back on the wall so that hubby doesn't notice when he comes home.
• Take pics of the one thing that you are happy with (see below).

• Feed kids lunch.
• Go outside and burn some energy (see below).

• Pack the kids back up in the car to get those icy cold toes into a nice warm shower.
• Put kids to bed to rest for another fun day tomorrow.

I'm going nude!

Ha!!! Gotcha, you perverts. You thought there was actually going to be naked people on your screen....go on ...admit it! You know I track my traffic to this blog..........ahhhhh! PANIC!
Just kidding. But seriously, if you`re here for naked people you`re barking up the wrong tree today.
I just wanted to share with my fully clothed readers a new product that I stumbled across in Australia on my last visit.

Don`t you just love the censored fruit parts. Now before you Canadians get all excited, I'm trying to find a supplier here so that I can tell you all where to get this product, no luck yet.So for now you can all read on and be envious of my impulse purchase.

We all know how easy it is to get suckered into the ease and convenience of Ziploc bags and plastic wrap, in the words of one of my dear friends...it makes me feel like an "environmental terrorist" (thanks Nat).

I've used a few products in the war of packed school lunches, such as these handy lunchskins. They work well but are easily lost and still require a lunch kit. Also the fact that they are made in Canada makes them an appealing purchase. I lucked out and was able to trade a couple for some of my jam at a market.

So here's what I purchased in a Safeway supermarket in Australia, on clearance mind you for A$6.99. Ingeniously named...the nude food mover is an all in one lunch kit system. I picked up one for each of my girls and they have used them every day this week with no complains, no spills, no dry bread and no breakage....so far.

 

Here's the bio:

Nude Food Movers = a healthy body + a healthy planet!



Hailed as the best thing since sliced bread – and the ultimate way to keep that bread fresh, the Nude Food Movers range consists of lunch, sandwich and snack boxes, stackable snack tubes, banana and muffin movers and neoprene covers.


The Nude Food Movers range by Smash, is designed with a space for everything to eliminate the need for portion packing and wrapping. All products are also BPA free making them the perfect choice for families!


In 2010, Nude Food Movers in conjunction with Nutrition Australia, developed the first annual Nude Food Day to encourage Australians to pack nutritious, environmentally friendly lunches for work and school while raising money for healthy schools programs.


The event was hugely successful, and 2011 we made it international spreading the word to New Zealand. In the years to come, we want the whole world to participate in Nude Food Day and become healthier and more environmentally aware together!


If you haven’t already, it’s time to join the Nude Food Movement!

The product line has an assortment of different configurations and snack containers, the only complaint I have is that my luggage space was just not big enough for me to buy more components. I did have to reserve space for my other Aussie treats.
So not only has this nifty little product replaced the plastic wrap, it has also replaced the lunch kit. No more mould checks in the little corners and stitching of synthetic fabric lunch kits for this momma and no more squished lunch for my little monkeys.

On another Aussie topic...Australia day is coming up soon, don't forget January 26th. Our hot lunch lady extraordinaire Stacy is my hero of the week for sourcing out REAL Aussie meat pies for the occasion. I will be in the hot lunch room showing my Aussie pride....can't wait.

Glimpse into Motherhood.

I was so excited today to find that my post on Marley's birthday was featured on one of my favourite blogs Simply Modern Mom, what a nice surprise.

Tiffany's blog has helped me through some parenting nightmarish moments, especially her Project 52, glimpse into motherhood.

It provides an opportunity for parents to share moments, both good and bad, giving readers a "glimpse" into others documented parental experiences that otherwise may have been quickly forgotten.

It's a pleasant reminder that we are all on the same team, working through this thing we call motherhood, cherishing the good times and boosting each other up during the bad.

I had one of those mummy moments a couple of nights ago, a good one. Here....see for yourself, I'm sure Marley will love me for this when she is a few years older.

After almost peeing my pants from giggling so hard, I managed to catch my breath, find the camera and take a couple of snaps of sleeping beauty. I'm not sure what possessed my child to go to sleep with her helmet on, I may never know but I do have the photographic evidence to prove it.

 I don't know what the dealio is with Marley, she seems to have this ability to sleep in the most bizarre positions and locations. I know I have more photos of her sleeping in weird scenarios, I think I will prepare a montage for her wedding day...I'm sure there will be more late night photo shoots between now and then.

If you have a moment of two go check out SMM.

How 'bout them apples!

A friend posted this little pearl of wisdom on facebook today (thanks Corinne), the timing could not have been more perfect.

My beautiful, smart and funny daughter Zoe just celebrated her 11th birthday this past weekend and after a very fun and loud party (with boys invited), a late night girly (no boys) sleepover, too much junk food and sugar...came the crash! In the aftermath of the following day there quickly ensued a rush of emotion and questions regarding this very topic.

I wish I had this little piece of advice in my back pocket when it happened.

Now, when these questions come flying at me again.....and we all know they will, she is only 11 after all...I will be prepared. 

 Actually I probably won't, nothing can prepare you for the sight of your daughter with a broken heart, no self help parenting book can give you all the answers, just tools to help ease the worry of being a parent to a teenager in these crazy times.

Not that being a teenager was easy in my time either but boy, is it me or are our kids putting way to much pressure on themselves to grow up way too fast?

We all feel the need to stay home with our children when they are infants and toddlers to teach and nourish them, watching them grow into little people before sending them off to kindergarten.

It has struck me recently how much more I feel the need to be here for my 11 year old, after school, right before bed, driving to karate. These are the moments when the conversation flows and the guards are down. I wish I could be there for her every moment of everyday, but we all know how absurd that would be....stalker mom!!!!!

Watching my daughter go through the trials and tribulation of adolescence has shot me back in time like a rocket to my youth. Stirring up emotions and memories long buried, both good and bad. Now more than ever I see the importance for me to harness those emotions and use them as tools to try to steer my daughter in the right direction, to show her the value of self and to never, ever, ever undervalue the importance of being a good apple!

N.S. images

It was a busy couple of weeks but we made it back to B.C intact and believe it or not we are still talking to each other.

The girls spent two weeks sharing an old twin sized bed, spending every waking minute with the family, meeting LOTS of "new to them" family and countless hours driving the coast of Nova Scotia exploring and enjoying the amazing weather.

I just wanted to do a quick post and share a couple of my favourite snap shots from our time out east.

I broke my camera half way through the trip so ended up having to use my camera phone for the remainder of the time. Hint hint to the hubby for a christmas present!!!!

Hello September

Just wanted to take a minute to share an image my friend Dana snapped on her visit to Canada. She really captured a precious moment with my girls, in my favourite place..our garden.

Summer is whizzing by at an alarming rate and today was the girls first day back at school, I feel like I didn't take enough pictures or cherish enough moments these last few months.

Zoe is all little lady like, heading into grade 6 *eek* and my baby Marley is now in grade 1 with her new teacher Mrs Pol, it seems like just yesterday that same lady was teaching my Zoe to ride her little heart out for the big bike rodeo at the May Day celebrations.

I'm so excited for them both, it's going to be a great year full of new adventures and challenges. I can't wait to hold their hands when they are scared, wipe away their anxiety with some cookies and milk and tuck them into bed at the end of the night after every little milestone.

I wandered across this piccie today and a big smile spread across my face, so thank you Dana for taking the time to freeze frame this moment for me.

I'm feeling like a bad little blogger lately..please excuse my tardiness. I'll try to be better next week......or maybe the week after that.

Sewing bee anyone?

I made some time for myself today to venture back into the blogging world and found what looks like a super cute and easy shorts pattern for my girls by Meg from Elsie Marley.  Take a peek, she has a free tutorial on the grosgrain blog.

Here is another blogger's take on her pattern.

This one is by Jessica at craftiness is not optional..another fantastic sewing site that I highly recommend if you have little girls.

The girls have both grown like weeds over the winter and are desperately in need of some summer clothing.

Now this is highly theoretical but..... is anyone out there wanting to get together and have a sewing bee, share fabrics and do a day of sewing? All that you would need is to bring your machine, your fabric scraps (obviously big enough for a pair of shorts) and a "can do " attitiude.

Once we have masteres the knot shorts then we can tackle some of this fantastic stuff over at Heidi and Finn.

Wow, it's been a whole week since I last posted any juicy stuff, time flies when you're on spring break.
I forgot how busy the kids can keep me when they are home, I'm hearing a lot of "I'm Bored" and "There's NOTHING to do". Anyone one else out there have children that are impossibly bored with nothing to do?

Here's my week in pictures, because thinking back I'm almost positive we didn't do NOTHING!!!

I saw this fantastic idea on MADE and decided it was a fabulous boredom fighter. After picking a space and giving the walls a quick wipe, I let the girls decorate the space with a little SPRING flower fever. Any time I heard..." But there's nothing to do" my response would be..." Go make some flower's".

They have a long way to go, but then again Spring break is only halfway over. There's not much color outside but there sure will be inside when the girls are done!!

Zoe is my little chef in the making so we have had a few stuffed ravioli dinners this week with the use of my new toy. I am yet to freeze any of it as so far it's all been so darn good and it ends up in our tummies.
Roasted butternut squash was our last filling of choice, a little rich, maybe next time we can mix it with some ricotta cheese.

I meant to take a picture before they were all gobbled up, please excuse the poor food styling!!!!

Zoe's speciality is crepes, that girl has the recipe memorised and can whip out a patch of yummies at the drop of a hat.
I made a pavlova on the weekend for a surprise birthday party and was left with lots of egg yolks. What do you do with 6 large farm fresh egg yolks?
LEMON CURD!!!! To go with the crepes of course.

 

 A little spring clean and organising. Look how organised my cutlery is.....(cough...freak...Cough).

And last but not least....spring is just itching to put on a show, but we're not quite there yet.

I think I can, I think I can...I think I can!!!

Go little tulips GROW dammit.

Can you see the excitement on Zoe's face!!! NOT!

Made more of these.........yum.

And this needs to be raked and snipped and pruned and weeded. Feels good to be outside in the fresh air and getting my hands very, very dirty again. Although my rule this year is to wear garndening gloves whenever I'm in that dirt, I'm starting to get old lady hands and that's just not cool.