Beantown Saturday

Hello – I am here….

I’ve been a little busy writing my final paper for my grad school course. 20 pages of health and safety later, I *think* I am done. Well, done meaning I sent my last draft to my group members and said, “I done, you finish!”

Today, we went with some friends to Beantown Ranch for a little Sugar Bush eatin’ fun. Beantown is an event venue about 40 minutes east of downtown Ottawa. My friends were married there in 2011, and a whole bunch of us went back for some assorted treats. Beantown puts on a ‘sugar shack’ brunch featuring pancakes, sausages, sugar pie, potatoes and all your usual fixings. Rather than stand up and get your food in a line, they bring it too you! You have to book weeks in advance. You also get a horse carriage ride and a maple sugar taffy on the snow. We didn’t go on the horsey ride or partake in taffy because someone was being a grumpy gus (he skipped his nap).

The price was $25 for an ‘all you can’ breakfast. Honestly, it was ok. I am a picky eater when it comes to breakfast, so many of the foods I chose not to eat (eggs, crispy pork rind, sausage). Everyone else had full plates and seemed to be enjoying the food. To me, what I did have was ok food for the price. The potatoes were under-cooked, the pea soup was not seasoned (what am I, on Top Chef?!) there was very few ‘lighter’/healthy items and both P and I did have that greasy breakfast feeling afterwards. The coleslaw was delicious (I may have eaten the entire bowl) and you cannot go wrong with real maple syrup! Max enjoyed his food so much that he ate 6 pancakes, two pieces of ham, coleslaw and bread! I do think the price of $25 was a bit steep for what was on offer (especially compared to Strathmere’s events), especially the styrofoam cups for drinks – why?!. But it was a fun experience. It was also nice to get out as a family!

Mama, do you want to eat your camera lens cap?

What did you do today?

Do you like pancakes?

Have you ever had real maple syrup?

Note: I was not compensated in any way for writing this post (hahaha – I wish!). All opinions are my own – except Max’s comment on his lunch – he made that comment himself.

By Rebecca|Food, Random|10 Comments

Week 10: Make a dessert with Bacon (Bacon Cookies)

So this is the delayed week 10 post of 52 New Things:

Week 10: Make a Dessert with Bacon (Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies)

I have never heard of bacon cookies until late last year (I believe Meghann from Meals and Miles posted something about a cookie party once). Never thought to put bacon in a dessert ever. It seems something out of Iron Chef or Chopped, not my home kitchen! So I figured that I would put a bacon dessert on the things to do! Turns out there is quite a few desserts out there – but since I am ok at making cookies (and enjoy cookies very much so) I decided to go for a bacon-cookie recipe.

I did not really like one cookie recipe exclusively, so I adapted my standard chocolate chip cookie recipe and incorporated bacon into it. Total time was about 45 minutes

Ingredients:

Bacon – 5-6 strips

Maple Syrup – 3 Tablespoons

Brown Sugar – 1 cup and a bit

Flour – 1.5 cups

Butter (softened) – 1/2 cup

Baking Powder – 1 teaspoon

Salt – 1/4 teaspoon

Egg – 1

Dark Chocolate chips – as much as desired.

—–

Method:

Candied Bacon:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2) Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and put your 5-6 strips of bacon on top

3) Sprinkle brown sugar and a drizzle of maple syrup on top

4) Bake for about 15 minutes (or until crispy) – allow to cool – NOT on a paper towel!

Cookie Batter

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees

2) Using a mixer – mix the butter and sugar until smooth

3) In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt and whisk. Set aside

4) Once the butter and sugar are well mixed, put in the egg and maple syrup. I put a couple of dashes in mine, but I could have put in more. I’m guesstimating it was 2 tablespoons or so.

5) Keep mixing. Slowly add the flour, a few scoops at a time. Once mixed, stop the mixer.

6) Break up the bacon into bits and put into batter. Put as many chocolate chips as you want.

7) Grab a scoop of dough and roll it with your hands. Place on a baking sheet.

8) Bake for exactly 14 minutes.

9) Once done, take out of oven and cool for a few minutes on the sheet. After, place on a plate to fully cool.

ENJOY

The Cookies tasted like a pancake breakfast. They were delicious. The candied bacon was not meaty at all and provided a nice sticky taste in the cookie. Of course, anything goes with dark chocolate – so the bacon paired nicely with it. I had two one behind the other

So that is my Bacon Cookie Task!

Have you ever made bacon chocolate chip cookies before?

Do you like bacon?

By Rebecca|52 Things, Food|4 Comments

Not a Food Blogger Part II

Evening everyone!

Today was a busy day as usual – but I wanted to go to Costco after work, so I hurried to daycare after work and we went shopping! Costco is a slightly dangerous place to shop at. I go when I run out of certain items that I only buy at Costco (dishwasher soap, garbage bags, paper towels) which isn’t that often. I would say that I only go to Costco 3-5x a year. I ran out of dishwasher soap and paper towels, so a trip was needed! Costco is dangerous because I always find other things to buy: namely yoga pants ($20 – and I love them), lunch snacks, Jack’s Special Salsa, and anything new I find. Today was no different and once again I had to put things back on the shelf. Today’s haul included: paper towels, dishwasher soap, Bounce, Brookside Dark Chocolate covered snacks (oh my sooooo good!), popcorn kernels (I pop my own popcorn), a workout sweater, a workout top, Jack’s Special Salsa, and an iPad keyboard (for way less than what I’ve seen).

Max is so impressed…..

Also – It is Tim Horton’s Roll up the Win time – pretty much the only time of the year when I actually go to Tim Horton’s on purpose. For those who do not know: Tim Horton’s is a large (some would say super-sized) coffee shop franchise in Canada. Tim Horton’s are everywhere and it is a bit of a Canadian stereotype Roll up the Rim is when you finish your coffee, roll up the rim at the top and see if you have won a prize. Prizes range from donuts and coffee to cars! So far I am 1 for 2. Today’s win was a donut – Sprinkles here I come! Speaking of Roll up the Rim, there is a funny story. So a few years back a bunch of colleagues and I were arguing that RUTR time happens only once a year, in the spring. My friend was saying that it happened twice a year. So we argued and argued, I said that perhaps they were getting mixed up with McDonald’s Monopoly, but we couldn’t agree. So – my friend dials up the local Tim Horton’s, asks for the manager and when the manager comes on the line says “Hello, I have an inquiry. Does Roll up the Rim happen once or twice a year?”. We all started laughing. The manager confirmed – once a year. HA. I’m pretty sure that if you are not Canadian you probably don’t find my story funny, but I’m laughing!

Ok – so Not a Food Blogger Part II

In my daily blog reads, I read Running with Spoons‘ post on food blogging pressure. Basically she was saying that there is pressure from readers/other bloggers to always post healthy foods that you eat that are not boring meals. Pressure can come from other bloggers, but also readers who comment on what a blogger eats. I commented on the post saying that I do not post everything that I eat in a day as sometimes I do eat McDonalds (gasp!!), and the only real pressure that I do face is making sure that I present nicely done photos as I’ve heard that nice pictures is important (well that and I should be using my expensive DSLR!). Running with Spoons commented back saying that perhaps I should blog about everything that I eat, including the McDonald’s as the blog world needs a bit of reality that not every one eats super healthy all the time.

So here is my “Not a Food Blogger” Part II Discussion.

First off, I do not have the time to photograph everything I eat. I work a full-time job and I have a toddler. I do try and photograph any new meal ideas that I have in order to share recipes, but I’m not about to photograph something that I’ve already done (aka tonight’s fajitas). This is not a “what I ate” blog, nor will it ever will be. I like to share my recipes, that is it! I really do not think that you guys are interested in the fact that I had a wrap with roast chicken yesterday and a fajita today (essentially the same thing . I do commend the bloggers out there that do this full-time. I get many of my meal ideas from them (Sweet Potato and goat cheese is a go-to side now thanks to Fitnessista) and enjoy browsing through interesting meals. I also appreciate any restaurant reviews! BUT, I would say on average, I do just skim through the “what I ate” part on other people’s blogs. Many of the big bloggers, blog full-time as their jobs – and even they have commented that it takes quite a bit of time to accomplish the task of taking pictures of everything – and that there is pressure from everyone! If a blog is your main source of income, I would think that blogging would take up 6-8hrs (or more) of your time. Blogging is not a source of income for me. I’ve made $8 so far (LOL’s) and received a few products. This is a hobby for me, not a job. Again, this is not a ‘diss’ for anyone that does document all their good eats – it just isn’t for me.

So yes, I do love some “unhealthy” foods. I love burgers. I’m not talking about a beef patty with toppings on it and no bun. If I am going to have the burger, you can bet it is going to be the whole nine yards: burger, toppings, cheese and bun (suddenly I am hungry). I eat pudding almost every day for my lunch dessert. I love pudding and the caf lady keeps up her supply just for me and one other teacher who also orders pudding every day (and he is super athletic/a personal trainer). It is a bit of a running gag. A few weeks ago the caf was shut down for a week because of exams. My friend and I protested that we were going to go on pudding withdrawal (we survived). We have all seen my tweets/instagram pictures of Egg McMuffins, so you know those bad boys are my friends too. I also like sprinkled donuts from Tim Horton’s. Yes, I am aware that makes me look like I am 5, but just to be honest I also have my hair in pig tails right now. So maybe I am 5…..

To be clear – I do not eat bad every day, nor do I go to McDonalds every week. I don’t (I swear!). But – I am not afraid to eat a carb, nor am I going to take it easy at the Froyo bar. I would say that I eat healthy most of the time – as I have said before I rarely eat frozen processed food, I make many things from scratch and I am not afraid of veggies. I do have some food sensitivities, but nothing too severe. Sometimes the quiche is certainly worth the 2-hour tummy ache after.

I like my food and I’m not afraid to eat it!

If that makes sense…

———

Reminder: The Canada Army Run Registration opens tomorrow!! Sign up soon as this race WILL sell out. I will be running the half-marathon – come join me!!

Thoughts on today’s post? Leave a comment!

What are some of your guilty pleasure foods?

What do you think of the blogging pressure (since most of you blog)

By Rebecca|Food|4 Comments

Winterlude Fun

This weekend my friends came over for a visit as it was the long weekend, which allows for some extra wiggle room for driving. This was needed as traffic was nuts on the 401 and they didn’t get here on Friday until 11:30pm (normally it would be around 9pm). There is an accident that has closed the 401 just before Toronto, and it appears they will have an equally awful drive home. No luck with driving this weekend!

Anyhoo – so on Saturday, we went to Winterlude to have a little bit of winter fun. Because both Max and E are young and require naps, we went just before lunch with plans to only stay for a little bit. We got to downtown at around 11:30, bundled up and headed to the Rideau Canal at Laurier. For those who do not know, Winterlude is a huge winter festival that takes part in Ottawa and Gatineau. There are various locations to take part in, and it is a big tourist event. We had a very unhealthy lunch of poutine and hot dogs and walked around. Max was unimpressed as he was in his stroller and a bit tired as he skipped his morning nap. E liked walking around and playing with his snow. However, we called the day quits around 1pm as it was a bit chilly out/the boys were starting to melt down a bit.

The next day while E and his Mama and Dada visited some friends in Pembroke: Auntie I, Max and I decided to hit up some stores. We planned on hitting up the Frozen Yoghurt joint and when we got there we noticed that Five Guys burgers was right beside it. Since neither of us had tried it, we gave it a go. It was pretty good! The burgers were got were the “little burgers” and just the perfect size. The patty was ok (kind of greasy), but the toppings were fantastic. Nothing better than a garlic dill pickle that has the perfect amount of crunch on it! A friend suggested once that if I go to Five Guys, I share the fries with someone. Good advice! We figured that we had enough fries in our bag to literally fill up 3 of the regular sized fry cups! Madness! After we still went for some FroYo. It was good! I like the fact that you can choose the amount that you want. I picked up some fruit bits for Max to snack on – but all he wanted was the FroYo! He kept tapping his spoon near our bowls signaling ”more more!”.

POOPED

So that was our weekend! How was yours?

Did you have a long weekend too?

Have you tried Five Guys?

By Rebecca|Food, Random|10 Comments

Valentines Day Food

Quick post because I have a few too many things on the go tonight – and it is TV night, which is a priority on Thursdays (judge me if you want). So – I am trying to get many things done prior to 8pm. Yay fun!

Today is Valentines Day! I am pretty much undecided on the whole thing. I do not think P and I have ever really done the whole Valentines Day thing. P is working on the robot tonight and won’t be home til late. But this is the same thing every year as Valentines Day is usually really close to the robot build deadline (Tuesday).

At school today, many people were wearing red and pink (even P went to work in a pink shirt). The Shakespearean actors were in full swing being “rented out” to do performances for staff and students. There were lots of flowers and lots of candy floating around!

Because this week is “Buy Someone a Coffee” week, rather than do the pay it forward style at a drive-thru, I made 5 “coffee valentine grams” and put them in certain ladies mailboxes. It was an anonymous coffee gram, so they have no idea it was me. Only one has me as a friend on FB, so I doubt they are reading this, so the secret will not be blown! Muah haha! I did see one person asking who gave them the coffee gram. I snuck out of the office at that point.

One of my colleagues brought cupcakes for the resource room staff. They were delicious! I also had a few cookies courtesy of the foods class students and a visitor to the school. Needless to say – I ate way too much sugar!

Because Max and I were on our own, we ordered in Boston Pizza for dinner. Valentines Day is way too hectic and rushed for my liking. Good decision on my part, as when the BP person came, I asked him how the restaurant was doing and he said it was packed! He also said that many people were doing the same thing as me – finger cooking! Best part of Boston Pizza on Valentines Day – HEART SHAPED PIZZA!

Hope everyone had a great day!

Did you do anything for Valentines Day?

Have you been to Boston Pizza? If so, favorite pizza?

Cupcakes – vanilla or chocolate?

By Rebecca|Food|0 Comments

Bread Pudding

After Sunday’s bread baking experience, I realized there was no way that we were going to eat two entire loaves of bread. Because one of the loaves broke in the pan, I decided to set it aside to make bread pudding! I’ve never had bread pudding before, but since it is essentially french toast, I figured it must be good!

I used an adaption of Chef Michael Smith’s Bread Pudding recipe from Chef at Home.

Ingredients

- About 2 1/4 cups of milk

- 3 eggs

- a dash of Cinnamon

- a pinch of nutmeg

- a dash of vanilla extract

- stale bread cut up in cubes

- a handful of chocolate chips (you are supposed to use raisins, but I had zero on me and besides chocolate chips are better)

Method

1) Cut up the bread and put it in a bowl with the chocolate chips

2) Mix together the eggs, milk and spices.

3) Pour the mixture over the bread and sit for 15 mintues

4) Put in a 350 degree oven and bake for one hour

DONE!

By Rebecca|Food|0 Comments

Week 6: Bake Bread

Happy Sunday everyone! I think Max has finally gone to sleep for a bit, so I believe I have *just* enough time to write this post!

Week 6 of 52 New Things

Bake Bread

This week was another kitchen adventure: Baking Bread. We do not have a bread maker at home, nor am I that much of a baker, so I’ve never baked a loaf of bread before. Plus, if I really want some yummy fresh baked bread, I jump in the jeep drive to Orleans Bakery and purchase french bread there. Since I have a KitchenAid Stand Mixer, certain cooking and kitchen tasks are fairly easy now. So, when compiling my list, I stuck ‘bake bread” in there.

Since I am supposed to write about my experiences truthfully and all: It took me two tries to get it right. I also had to run to the store to get more flour! I tried the traditional Kitchenaid bread recipe that is in my stand mixer book. The traditional method is to dissolve the yeast in warm liquid before mixing it with dry ingredients When working with yeast: temperature is key, and I do not have a kitchen thermometer So, I am pretty sure I was a bit too hot and killed the yeast. What happens when you kill the yeast? Your dough does not rise. So, I tried the Rapid Mix Cool Rise bread recipe from the KitchenAid recipe book and this one worked much better.

Essentially all you do is mix the dry ingredients together with some softened butter. Then you slowly add very warm water to “wake up” the yeast. Following that, you have to gradually add more flour until the swirling dough makes the mixing bowl’s sides clean. The process with a stand mixer is really really easy.

After the mixer has done all the dough magic – you have to let the dough rise. A trick mentioned in the book (and by Chef Michael Smith from one of his shows) is to put the dough in the oven. After about 20 minutes, the dough has risen and you have to make it into loafs. This part was pretty easy. I was kind of tempted to make a giant crescent roll and see what happens. Then I put the dough into bread pans and placed them in the fridge for at least two hours. Once the two hours is up: oven for 35 minutes and BOOM, you have bread!

I only have one metal bread pan, so I used my stoneware one too. I did not grease the stoneware one enough, so the bread stuck to the bottom. But, never fear – bread pudding is where that loaf is headed (there is no way I would have eaten two loaves anyways).

Although the process is fairly easy I’m not sure this will be a regular thing (thank you Wonder Bread!). Not only does it take a few hours from start to finish – but the mess was big. Flour everywhere!

Have you baked bread before?

Do you like white or whole wheat bread?

What would you make with a loaf of bread?

p.s. Max woke up as soon as I finished writing this post. SEE I told you!

By Rebecca|52 Things, Food|4 Comments

Evening!

Some Army Run News:

Information from today’s email news release

Some interesting and good news for the 6th Army Run in Ottawa. The race will be run on Sunday, September 22nd and feature the 5K and Half Marathon races. This year the race organizers have increased the number of runners as last year the race sold out very quickly. The 5K will now have 12,000 runners (up from 9,500) and the Half will have 10,000 (up from 8,500). This doesn’t mean that the race will not sell out just as fast though! Registration opens on February 21st at 9am. There is an early bird draw for people who sign up within the first two weeks. The prize is some nice clothing from Solider On.

With an increase in runners – Wave Starts will happen. I have never actually been involved in a race with wave starts, except the obvious splitting of distances. BUT it isn’t like I’ve done many 10K and more races. Personally, I did not find the race super crowded last year, but my friends and I stayed well back of the pack.

Whoa – new shirts?!?! The shirts are being redesigned (still tech shirts though) and the 5K is now going to be RED rather than the white (which is very very see-through). That is some exciting news and I cannot wait to see the design. The Army Run shirts are my favorite!

So – if you wish to join me in running the Half-Marathon on September 22nd – Sign up on February 21st!

——

Tonight’s dinner was Creamy Leek Pasta – which was a mix of two recipes: Jamie Oliver’s Chicken Leek Stroganoff (From the Food Revolution Cookbook) and a recipe in this month’s Real Simple. It was great!

Max helped of course…..

Did you watch Mr. D tonight?

Do you like leeks?

Cream sauce or tomato sauce?

By Rebecca|Food, running|8 Comments

Good evening!

I seem to have developed a bit of a head cold thanks to Mr. Max and his germs. My throat is on fire too. SO….to try and stop it from getting worse (and losing my voice like last time), I stayed home from work today. I still managed to get some work done via email, but not too much. In terms of working out, not much happened today. I did do some planks, but Max was around while I was “planking” and he thought it was absolutely hilarious so he decided to body slam me and collapse in giggles OR laid down and tried to make eye contact with me….and then collapse into giggle. Great fun! So if you can imagine, the whole planking exercise thing did not really last long. HOW MANY DAYS TIL SPRING?!?!

So Twitter, being the good source of all-important news, informed me that today was National Pancake Day. It seems that every day is a day for something (there is a national condom day for crying out loud) – but Pancake day seemed like lots of fun. So for dinner tonight (since it was just Max and I), we made pancakes!

I have not made pancakes for Max yet, but he has had them at daycare. Because I had to make enough pancakes for 1.5 people, I used my special pancake griddle:

My recipe for pancake mix is on the fridge. If you want to follow this recipe (there are TONS out there) – this is good for approximately 6-8 medium sized pancakes, which was perfect for Max and I. If you require more, just double the recipe OR find another one online. I made regular plain pancakes and two chocolate chip pancakes for dessert.

Most of the time when you are baking – you should combine and mix your dry ingredients prior to adding your wet ingredients. In this bowl I had the flour, sugar, salt and baking soda.

I kept Max out of the kitchen while cooking – as he enjoys emptying our drawers and making a mess. We have not baby proofed the kitchen yet – so it is not a “Max can roam free” zone. He was not impressed:

I am certain that most of you know how to make pancakes. But here are some pretty pictures anyways. For those that may not know – the best time to flip a pancake is when it is all bubbly.

Pancakes are done! So trying to be the good food blogger and all, I place my plate on the dining room table where there is enough light. Not one second after placing my plate, a wee little hand appears trying to nab a pancake! Oh well – ~~food blogger fail~~

Max enjoyed his pancakes! He kept shoving them in his mouth and asking for more. He did not just eat pancakes – he had some veggies and a yoghurt too! Next Tuesday is Fat Tuesday/Pancake Tuesday, so it appears we will be eating pancakes then as well!

Do you like pancakes?

Pancakes or French Toast?

Are you a fan of breakfast for dinner?

Did you do anything more exciting than me today?

By Rebecca|Food|4 Comments

Stir Fry Monday

Good evening!

Today was a typical workday – busy busy and it was time to go like *that*. Of course now my throat is on fire and I feel like I am coming down with whatever Max had. Great! Dear David’s Tea – please do your magic!

I did make it to the gym today. Since I once again forgot my towel, I opted to do just upper and lower body weights rather than a run or cycle. I am using a few of Fitnessista’s “winter shape-up” workout ideas to get some different exercises in. I missed doing some cardio though. Next time I really need to remember to pack my towel! I have this huge new gym back – I best start using it properly! After the gym, it was time to pick up Max and start dinner.

Tonight’s dinner was a “30 minutes or less” meal – stir fry! Tonight’s stir fry of choice was:

- Shrimp

- Mango

- Celery

- Cauliflower

- Green Beans

- Red bell peppers

Topped with a sauce including:

- Sesame Oil

- Hoison sauce

- Lemon juice

- Chicken broth

- Ginger

- Garlic powder

All in all it took 30 minutes prep to cook to table. It was mighty pleasing too! I gave Max the vegetable and he ate all of them (for once!). He also had some green juice filled with veggies and fruit. He liked the green juice very much. He also had a candy cane oreo cookie…….

Some good news re: St. Albert’s Cheese Factory Fire: Looks like the have another factory (that they are not currently using)in Quebec. Hopefully cheese curds are not too far away!

Anyways – time to do some work from my “online course from hell”. It is not a hard course – just really really annoying. I would drop it like a hot potato if I could – but I need to keep at it and it is the only online course this semester.

What did you have for dinner?

Did you go to the gym today?

Do you like green juice?

By Rebecca|Food|10 Comments

12 3 Next

Food

Beantown Saturday

Week 10: Make a dessert with Bacon (Bacon Cookies)

Week 10: Make a Dessert with Bacon (Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies)

ENJOY

Not a Food Blogger Part II

Winterlude Fun

Valentines Day Food

Bread Pudding

Week 6: Bake Bread

Week 6 of 52 New Things

Bake Bread

Army Run News and Creamy Leek Pasta

Evening!

Some Army Run News:

National Pancake Day

Good evening!

Stir Fry Monday

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