leftover magic

as our activity schedule ramps up with the holiday season my meal planning becomes more important. a favourite around here is anything you can eat with your hands. handpies / pasties are always a hit.

monday i made a new (one pot!) favorite spiced yellow rice with chicken and vegetables and tonight i wrapped the leftovers up in puff pastry. presto. (and tomorrow these will hit the lunchboxes! i love stretching a meal.)

yum.

a hill of beans

we had fresh garbanzo beans in our csa box last week. it was first. and a surprise.

somewhere between a pea, and edamame. we ate them raw. they tasted like spring.

they'd be great in a salad. and i imagine good steamed in their pods too.

any favourite recipes using fresh garbanzos?

friday night lights

we went out last night to see small city calling. they were great. nevermind that our friend's son is in the band. (typing that feels old... c - i had a couple of flashbacks to going here. and seeing our friends' bands. yikes.)

we also hit pink's for a hotdog, fries and a root beer and did some walking around.

picked up the kids by 11:00 and were home in bed by midnight.

pretty perfect date night.

****

off to disneyland today! both girls are playing their violins there this year. (that means d and i have an hour or two on our own in the park! how often does that happen?)

happy weekend!

Auntie Marilyn's Butter Brickle

2 cups flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
scant 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1 cup pecans
1/2 jar caramel sauce
1 pint vanilla ice-cream

Melt butter - add flour, oats, sugar & pecans. Pat thinly on a large cookie sheet and bake at 400 for 15 minutes. Crumble while hot. Drizzle 1/2 the caramel sauce over crumbs. Spread ice-cream over top. Put remaining crumbs over ice-cream and drizzle remaining caramel. Freeze.

Mmmmmmm

xo

in our cookie jar #4

you have likely seen them before.

but if you haven't tried them - don't hesitate. they really are that good! (especially with a cold glass of milk.) we baked them saturday, and this is the last one.


flourless peanut butter cookies

from joy the baker via heather.

in our cookie jar #3

based on ina garten's homemade granola bars from barefoot contessa back to basics

K: "These are the best cookies ever. They are crunchy. They are chewy. They are really that good."

2 cups oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup flax seed meal
3 T unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chocolate chips

place oats, almonds, coconut and pecan pieces on a cookie sheet and toast in 350 oven (about 10 minutes)

place toasted mixture in a large bowl and add flax seed meal

reduce oven temp to 300

heat butter, honey, sugar, vanilla and salt on the stove. bring to a boil and cook for one minute. pour over toasted oats mixture and stir really well.

scoop mixture into a 8 x 12 " baking dish buttered and lined with parchment paper. wet your fingers and press the mix evenly into the pan.

bake for 25 - 30 minutes. let cool at least 2 hours before cutting.

K: "Wwwwwoila"

These are wheat free - but not necessarily gluten-free as the oats I used may have been processed on the same machinery as wheat. (Certified Gluten-free oats are available - but the one's in our cupboard are from the bulk bins at WF.)