Valentine's Day Cookies

Since I found out I can pretty much make any kind of cookie using a box of cake mix.....I've gone a bit crazy.  I have buyers remorse for the huge bag of flour in the pantry which was supposed to be used up by making sugar cookies.  Alas, there it sits abandoned amid an array of cake mixes galore.

These are Red Velvet Cream Cheese cookies.  Red Velvet is just a new type of thing in these parts.  Strange I know, because it seems to be plenty popular in every other part of the universe.  So far there is only one brand of cake mix that makes a red velvet version and that is Duncan Hines.

These are the Cherry Chip but give you the idea of the size.

Ingredients
1 box Duncan Hines Red Velvet Cake Mix
2 eggs
1/2 cup Canola Oil
1 tub Cream Cheese type frosting

In a bowl, combine cake mix, eggs and canola oil.  Mix well.  Using a melon baller.....yes, strange I know, but it makes the perfect size!....scoop out portions of mixture, roll into a ball shape and put onto greased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350*F for 8 minutes.  Let cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes then remove to plate to cool the rest of the way.

Once completely cooled, sandwich together using cream cheese frosting.

OHMYGAWD, THEY ARE DELISH!

*Variation*
Cherry Chip cake mix and add 1 cup chocolate chips.  Do not sandwich together.  They taste like chocolate covered cherries!

I've heard Cherry Chip isn't available everywhere :(

Grandma Larson's Casserole

I never had the pleasure of meeting Grandma Larson.  From what I know of her, she was a loving type of Grandma who liked to impart snippets of Scandinavian wisdom on her family.....and she did love her family deeply.  

I first tasted this casserole back in the early days of dating Hubby.  He'd made it with some left over curry rice,  I believe, and it tasted wonderful.  What's even better is that it is super easy to make and has ingredients that most of us have in our pantry.  Especially if you've stocked up at the 10 for $10 sale at the Co-Op like I have!

Ingredients
Ground beef 1 pound or a bit more
2 onions chopped
1 can of Chicken Noodle soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 can water
1/2 cup rice

The brand of soup doesn't really matter but I've come to believe Campbell's is best and brings the most flavour.  Also, you can try with different flavours of cream soup if mushroom isn't your favourite.

In a large frying pan, brown the beef and cook the onions.  When cooked, add the soups, water, and rice.  Mix it well.  Pour into a large casserole dish or loaf pan.  Cook in the oven uncovered at 350*F for 1 1/2 hours.

My Go To Meatloaf Recipe

I got this recipe off the back of a box of Uncle Ben's stuffing mix about 15 years ago.  I never looked at another meatloaf recipe again.

Ingredients
1 container ground beef approx 1lb (it's okay if it's more but not less)
1 box stuffing mix - the brand doesn't matter but I've found the varieties with separate spice packets are more flavourful.
Milk to soften the stuffing mix
1 egg
2 tsp (approx) Worcestershire Sauce
1 cup ketchup (anything tomato-y works...I've used salsa and BBQ sauce too)
Enough mustard to turn the ketchup orange.  Type of mustard doesn't matter...I've used regular, Dijon etc.
1/4 to 1/2 cup brown sugar

In a bowl combine the stuffing mix with enough milk to soften them.  Add the egg and Worcestershire Sauce.  Mix.  Either by hand or with a potato masher [sounds crazy I know, but it works] mix in the ground beef.

Press the mixture into a glass pie plate.

In a separate bowl, mix the ketchup, mustard and brown sugar.  Hubby likes it when I leave brown sugar lumps because it makes the sauce caramel-y.  Spread over the meatloaf.

Cook in a 350*F oven for 35 - 40 minutes. 

I'd post a picture, but there's never enough of it left to snap a picture of!!

In the Still of the Night

During the day there is noise from the tv, noise from Renter Person's tv, and Brandy's collar jingling along with outside sounds and all sorts of other things.  Around midnight a certain stillness comes over the house.

It's quiet.

Electronics are turned off.  People and pets are sleeping while some are snoring.  

Not me.

I sit in bed with a mug of hot chocolate, usually candy cane hot chocolate from the nearest Bulk Barn, and I read.  

Sometimes I just listen.

When it's really really cold like it was last night.....the wind chill was -45 degrees Celsius.....you can hear the crunch of the snow under the tires of an approaching vehicle so clearly you could swear they're coming right into the room.  The furnace pulses on and off.  The house gently creaks.  In the distance of the kitchen, the fridge hums.  It's a midnight symphony.

It's peaceful.

There are no worries after midnight.  The days stresses melt away like a marshmallow in the hot cocoa.  I sink into the story of the book I'm reading.  It isn't Claire and Jamie anymore, but Barnaby and Hooker.  It might be an adventure or romance or mystery and tomorrow it might be a different book entirely.

Brandy stirs on the bed and looks up to see if I'm still there.

I check the clock and yawn.  Time to sleep.  I set the book on the nightstand and turn off the light. 

I sink into the blankets and fall asleep to the still of the night.

Resolve to Evolve in the New Year

I set my alarm on my iPod to scroll "New Year New You....Get Up & Get After It."  I don't make resolutions anymore.  They just aren't realistic.  Over that past few years I've tried to evolve instead.  My list of improvements have included anything from live a more active life to read more books.  These are things that enrich my life and don't make me dread the changes in my life.

Since I gained this enormous amount of weight from the hypothyroidism discovery and all the other issues that seemingly went along with it I've battled food.  I don't smoke and I rarely drink so food is my only vice.  Food is not something you can quit.  I've continually tried to make changes to evolve the way I think about food and the choices I make.  Last fall, I downloaded the app MyFitnessPal which is also a webpage MyFitnessPal.com.  After a short time of logging my meals I was enlightened to some of the choices I was making.  I stopped using coffee creamer.  Oh how I miss the flavoured creamy coffee but at the same time I cut my coffee consumption dramatically.  I probably drank less than most people to start with but now I only have 1 cup of coffee in the morning and it includes Splenda instead of creamer.  Instead of drinking 2 cups of coffee at work....with the cream and sugar, I switched to a travel mug of hot cocoa.  I switched the bread I buy and started to create better dinner choices.

Then I got sick before Christmas and it all went out the window while the boxes of Christmas chocolates floated through the door.

Oh well.

A long time ago, back in July, I talked to my doctor about seeing a dietitian.  The appointment was supposed to be in November, I think.  The appointment was postponed because the dietitian had to stay home with a sick child.  That was all fine and good because all the time I was questioning my choice to do this in the first place.  Then my appointment was made for January 2nd 2013.  There is no better time!  Out with the Christmas me and in with the new me.

This lady was awesome!  We went meal by meal with me describing a typical breakfast/lunch/dinner etc.  I described my teaching lifestyle.  I told her the things I was already doing and the changes I was trying.  She praised me!  Dietitian told me to take small steps when it comes to exercise.  She gave me an "Action Plan" which suspitiously looks like the "Practice Commitment" I gave my piano students.  Dietitian said to make a commitment to do exercise for X number of days in 1 week for X number of time and see how it goes.  Then the next week make a new commitment.  Oh how I loved that!  We discussed how going to the community centre for classes didn't work because of my teaching schedule and how I'd much rather do things at home.  She said even a commitment to turn on the stereo and dance for 15 minutes was better than anything.  I'm pretty sure I can take that advice!

I felt like I could to talk to Dietitian for hours!  We discussed the pros and cons of processed things and simple little things like fat content in mayo.  She said that most people consume more calories from condiments than actual food because we think we're only using a tablespoon of something when it's actually a tablespoon or more!  Dietitian liked many of the choices I'm already making.  She liked my hot cocoa choice at work and suggested a light brand.  We talked about lentils.  Yes.  Lentils.  I came home with a Pulses cook book.

Unfortunately, we ran out of time.  Dietitian said I am on the right track.  She said to keep tracking my food and making the small changes I have been.  She gave me her card and told me that I could contact her in the future if I needed any additional help or advice.

I wish she was my best friend.

I am feeling very encouraged.  In 2013, I hope to continually evolve to, as someone said to me, so my outsides match my insides.

Ten Thought Tuesday ~ Christmas Present ~

Yes, I am well aware it is late late Wednesday.  Give me a break.  I've been busy fa-la-la-ing and eggnogging and rumming it up.

Hubby and I have had a very exciting 2012!  In April, we took the trip of our lifetime [so far] to New York City.  We were there for 10 incredible days over Easter.  Our hotel was in Queens, we rode the subway every day and saw the sights from bus tours, river cruises and a helicopter ride!  There are too many highlights to list but as you can see from the above picture seeing the Statue of Liberty was amazing.  We also made it to Rockefeller Plaza, The Guggenheim, The Museum of Natural History, Central Park and Yankee Stadium.  The food was incredible.  There is nothing like a New York pizza and we will never forget the Italian pastries.  Mmmm….Cannoli!

Brandy~puppy celebrated her 13^th birthday in November.  She’s had an interesting year.  Last Christmas she underwent throat surgery for laryngeal paralysis.  It was very scary for us all.  But she recovered very well although her voice has changed.  Now her bark sounds a little more like a gangster!  I know that we are on bonus time but   Brandy continues to bring happiness into our lives with her spunky personality.  

Hubby continues to work at the Fedorated Co-Op.  I’ve got another full teaching schedule at the Saskatoon Academy of Music.  On weekends you can find us cheering on the Riders, going for car rides and running errands.  

What will be in store for us for 2013?  We’re hoping to go on another epic vacation and spend more time camping and fishing.  Saskatchewan is a beautiful place in the summer and we are so fortunate to work and play here.

We hope our newsletter finds you happy, healthy and full of holiday spirit!  We wish the very best to you and yours for the next year and always!

Garden Kermie, Hubby, our fleurs, Rider Legend George Reed & Kory Sheets with myself.

10 Thought Tuesday ~ Christmas Past ~

Dad with his Stocking - Xmas 2010

1.  One of my most favourite Christmas memories is from when I was a little girl.  I would go stay at Grandma & Grandpa Dean's house while Mom and Dad "kicked up their heals."  One time I sat with Grandpa and we looked at the Sears Wish Book and the Consumers Distributing book and he had me write a letter to Santa Claus and I had to list the page numbers and item numbers of the things I wanted.  That Christmas they gave me a Sandy doll and all the furniture for a house.  It was pretty awesome.

2.  My Dad's work, the Prince Albert Daily Herald, held an annual Christmas party.  It was on a Sunday afternoon and we'd gather in the Bridge Room of the newspaper.  Santa would come!!!  Dad would say "I think I hear something."  Then Santa would come down the hallway all Ho-ho-ho-ing and all us kids would get exciting.  He'd sit in a big chair and hand out gifts and treat bags and sometimes he'd come around and talk to everyone.  After we'd have cheese burgers, pop and ice cream in those little dixie cups with the wooden spoons which to this day remind me of the reed on my clarinet.

3.  I was pretty lucky.  All Christmases at my parents house were warm and special and full of magic.  One year it was full of an upset stomach too.  My sister in law makes these peanut butter corn flake bar things....they are delish.  She made me my own personal bag of them and brought them over Christmas morning.  I ate the whole bag.  *hugs stomach in remembrance*

4.  I'd always know when Dad was done his Christmas shopping.  When he'd arrive home from work he'd come into the house and directly into the basement where he'd stash his presents.  I don't know where the hiding place was but he'd stash them well.  If they were for my mom he'd usually ask me to wrap them.

5.  One year when I was older my Dad wanted to get my Mom a "Luda" coat.  They were a fashionable item....very light weight and extremely warm and came with a hefty price tag.  So to find out if she really wanted one he had the store phone and pretend that Dad wanted one.  Well come Christmas morning there were two identical boxes under the tree.  They had given each other new coats! It was funny because I was the only one who knew what each other was getting and that all this speculation and secret shopping was going on!

6.  Christmas morning was the only time Santa would put candy canes on the Christmas tree.  Mom and Dad would usually be up early to "stuff the bird" and get the turkey in the oven.  Santa always filled my stocking and many times it was over flowing.  One time Santa forgot to put something in it.....and Dad found it later and gave it to me.  It was a CD....back when CD's were really expensive.

7.  My first Christmas as a married woman was exactly one week after our wedding.  We went to my In Laws for what I'd call an old fashioned Christmas.  We gathered at Uncle Rod's house for Christmas Eve which was wonderful in itself.  But during the time we were there a massive amount of snow fell blocking the roads.  Grandpa Johnson road the tractor down the road while the cars created a caravan back to the house we were staying in for the holidays.  I remember Hubby's aunt being very excited and recalling how it reminded her of being a little girl and riding in the sleigh with the horses ringing their bells leaping through the snow.

8.  In the fall of 1999 Uncle Rod had a stroke.  He was very very lucky to have survived.  He made what I'd call a miraculous recovery but wasn't expected for Christmas Eve dinner.  This was a year that the whole entire family was home.  The table had 22 place settings that year.  Then a car pulled up and down the walk in the snow flurries came Auntie Wendy and Uncle Rod.  It was such a blessing to have them come that year.  It still brings tears to my eyes.

9.  A Christmas Eve ritual at my parents was to go visit my Grandma Mathers.....my Dad's mom, early in the evening.  Grandma 'Mokey, as us kids called her because of her dog Smokey, but none of us could say it, was a fun place to visit.  There seemed to be an unlimited supply of bottled pop in the basement.  There'd be an unfinished puzzle on the table along with a half read romance novel.  Going to Grandma's house was something my Dad and I always did together.

10.  Two Christmasas ago, I surprised my parents, or rather, Mr. Claus surprised them.  He left two stockings addressed to Henry and Darlene.  When I met my Dad in the kitchen that morning he had tears in his eyes as he said, "You shouldn't have done that."  To which I replied, "I didn't do anything, Santa did."  Then he said, "No one has ever done that for us before."  It was such a happy Christmas and it was so much fun to watch them go through their stockings.

A Man & His Dog - Christmas in Norquay 2011