Goodbye August

Tomorrow is September.  One more week until back to school.  I can look back on the past two months and say that we enjoyed our summer, and for that I'm grateful, but I'm not ready for it to be over.  I've always secretly dreaded back to school while everyone else seemed to be jumping for joy.  Partly because I'm SO not a morning person, partly because I hate homework and schedules and assignment deadlines, and partly because packing lunches while it's still dark out sucks.

We ended our summer with a one week cottage rental up north.  The weather wasn't great, we had rain five out of the seven days, but it was a good week of relaxing, kayaking, board games, puzzles, fishing, fire building, movie watching, and reading.

Yesterday was laundry, all day.  Today was back to work.  One more long weekend to look forward to before we put summer away.

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Friday, it's Friday!

Instagram this week.

Wasaga Beach.  My feet are really white.

Dusk and storm clouds at the lake.

Dessert at our new Coffee Culture.

Puppies.

Quinoa salad from Freshii...another new spot in town.

On our way to the beach we stopped at Walmart, hoping to pick up some shovels and buckets.  Our beach stash is in sad shape, thanks to most of it being tossed at the end of last summer.

Buckets and shovels were nowhere to be found.  It was August 3rd.  Instead we were greeted with shelf after shelf of books, paper, pencils and backpacks.  Seriously, the kids don't go back to school until September 8th, and summer technically doesn't end until September 23rd.

What the ....?  I love (I mean really love) back to school supplies.  I'm a sucker for new notebooks and fresh pens, and I'll get excited about back-to-school shopping in due time, but we're still in the middle of summer here.

Ugh.  Why does the world conspire to move ahead so fast?  We still have four weeks before school starts, and I'm not ready to give up enjoying this summer season.  Not by a long shot.

Because winter is coming.

Ali Edwards is doing A Week in the Life this month.  Have you ever done this?  I tried it last fall, and I tried A Day in the Life in the spring.  I love the idea of the whole project - I just haven't been very good at it.  

But that won't stop me from giving it another go.

Also, I want these Peanut Butter Cookie Bars.

And these Zucchini Blondies.

My to-read list is ridiculous, but that didn't stop me from checking out this collection of 53 Books You Won't Be Able To Put Down.

And what is up with everyone picking up and traipsing over to Italy?  Now I want to go to Florence and Positano.  Sigh.

Happy Friday, happy weekend!

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Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Hemp Seed Muffins

I was up at 5am today.  Early enough that I finished two cups of coffee before the sun even came up.  Usually, I'm hitting the snooze button at 6am, sometimes even at 6:30am... playing the can-I-still-get-ready-and-get-lunches-packed-in-less-than-an-hour game with myself every time I whack the alarm clock.

I am not a morning person.

But this morning I was on a mission.  Evenings have been busy since school and hockey have started back up.  We spent most of the weekend at a hockey tournament, and even though I was patting myself on the pack for getting the laundry done, the much needed trip to the grocery store didn't happen.  Instead we were picking up milk, bread, bananas, juice, hot dogs, and pizza on our way back and forth to the tournament.

Last night, after spending the evening back at the rink, I realized there wasn't a bagel or slice of bread left in the house.  No cold cuts, no cream cheese.  The staples required to feed my sandwich and bagel loving crew were gone, and I was too tired to do anything about it.  So I did what I've done many times before.  I set my bread maker on time delay, and got busy making pizza buns bright and early this morning.

Of course, there weren't any granola bars left either...just three empty boxes sitting in the cupboard masquerading as granola bars.  So while the pizza buns were rising, a quick batch of muffins took shape.

Over-ripe bananas, oatmeal, chocolate.... and hemp seeds.  I sort of  felt like I was cheating on my beloved chia seeds when I threw them in, but these are some healthy little seeds, and they made me feel a whole lot better about the pizza and hot dogs.

 

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Hemp Seed Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup rolled oats
• ½ cup plain yogurt
• ½ cup milk
• 1 ½ cups flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• ¼ cup cocoa powder
• ¼ cup hemp seeds
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 3 ripe bananas - mashed
• ⅓ cup oil
• 1 egg
• ½ cup chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 375°F and line a muffin tin with 12 baking cups.
2. In a large bowl, mix together oats, hemp seeds, yogurt and milk. Set aside to soak for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, whisk together remaining dry ingredients in a small bowl: flour through nutmeg.
4. In a medium bowl, whisk together mashed bananas with oil and egg. Add to the soaking oat mixture and stir to combine.
5. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until just barely combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Do not overmix or you’ll end up with tough, dry muffins.
6. Scoop batter evenly into 12 lined muffin tins, filling each to about 3/4 full. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

This made 18 small muffins.  I should have doubled the recipe!

Click here to go to my Pizza Buns recipe:

And if you're looking for another chocolatey oatmeal muffin, try this one.  It has pumpkin, flax, and chia seeds:

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Back to School, and Overnight Crock Pot Oatmeal

Yesterday was the first day school.  So far so good.  For two days in a row I've been unusually well organised, in part thanks to breakfast that cooked itself overnight in the Crock Pot.  

And because I'm still mourning the end of summer, I have more summer photos to share.

Wiarton.  Home of Wiarton Willy, the groundhog that declared six more weeks of winter after we'd already endured the longest winter ever.

We had a hockey practice last night, and I picked up my first spiced pumpkin latte of the season to sip at the rink.  Truth be told, I didn't really enjoy it.  The kids might be back to school, and the nights might be getting cooler, but I'm not ready to embrace all things pumpkin yet.

These three headed back to class yesterday.  

College classes started today.  University next week.  So cliche, but they really do grow up way too fast.

Overnight Carrot Coconut Crock Pot Oatmeal

2 cups rolled oats (NOT quick cooking oats)

1 cup shredded carrots

1 tbsp butter*

1 tbsp coconut oil*

1 cup golden raisins

1 cup shredded coconut

4 cups water

2 cups milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp salt

Combine all the ingredients in a crock pot.  Set on 'warm' and cook for 8 hours.  Stir before serving.  Top with milk, brown sugar, coconut and/or chopped nuts.

* I've discovered that sauteeing the shredded carrots in butter and oil (or ghee if you have it) brings out the natural sweetness of the carrots and minimizes the 'raw' carrot taste.  I saute them until they become pale in colour, but not long enough for them to brown.  You'll notice they no longer smell raw, at this point they're ready to add to the crock pot with the rest of the ingredients.  This step is optional, so only use the butter/oil/ghee if you choose to saute the carrots first.  The oatmeal tastes great whether you choose to add the carrots raw or sauteed to your crock pot.  

Need another overnight breakfast recipe?  Try Overnight Oven Baked French Toast.

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Back to School, Busy Night Casseroles, and a Basic White Sauce

It’s September.  The kids are back to school and hockey is back on the calendar.  The weekend before school started I made the mistake of asking the kids to clean their rooms.  I ended up with eleven loads of laundry.  

Someone needs to kick my photo-a-day-arse because I've been missing plenty of photo opportunities despite the charming capture of Laundrygate.  I managed the obligatory back to school photos, four out of six anyway... although I find as the kids get older they get decidedly more scowly.  

I'm getting up earlier to pack lunches, and discovering that it's still dark... which strikes me as the most depressing thing about fall.

I know there's plenty to love about fall, but right now I'm in an end of summer funk.  

As hard as it is to let summer go, it’s time to welcome some structure and routine back into our lives.  A big part of that is dinnertime.  Something nourishing, and on the table shortly after everyone gets home from work and school, yet quick and easy enough for the nights when we’re heading right back out the door.  I’ll often throw together some kind of a casserole, combining meat, veggies, and grain or pasta… making it up as I go along.  Unfortunately, many casserole recipes call for some version of a creamed soup in a can.  I’ve used them in the past, and I’d be lying if I said I’d never use them again (our favourite tuna casserole depends on cream of mushroom soup), but I've come up with a slightly less convenient, healthier option which I have been using more and more often.

I'm sharing it with you, because I know I'm not the only casserole lover out there that wants to kick the canned soup addiction.  It's not exactly a recipe... more a basic framework that's easily modified based on what's in the fridge or cupboard.

It's a super simple, basic white sauce.  I started making this as a pasta topping when the cost of the fresh Alfredo sauce at the grocery store crept past the $10 mark for the two containers needed to feed eight of us.  A simple roux of butter and flour, some milk, seasonings and cheese will give you an amazing multi-purpose sauce.  

Use cream and Parmesan with a dash of nutmeg for a cheesy, creamy Alfredo.  Or Cheddar for homemade macaroni and cheese.   I recently discovered the shaved Parmesan at Costco and I am loving it... I could eat it right out of the container (okay, I DID eat some straight up), it’s that good.

Add generous amounts of basil and garlic, some cooked chicken, steamed broccoli, and cooked rice or quinoa for the casserole that comes in at a close second to our beloved tuna casserole.

This one’s also really good. Lean ground beef and onions scramble fried with Montreal Steak Spice, mix in the white sauce with some steamed green beans, and add a scalloped potato topping.  Or skip the potatoes and combine with pasta.  Delicious either way.

We do a seafood version too.  Sauteed scallops and shrimp are added to the sauce along with a bag of steamed mixed veggies and served over pasta.

The ingredient combinations are limitless, and easy to adapt to personal preferences.  Here's how I whip up an easy, multi-purpose white sauce:

Using your favourite whisk, mix up a basic roux with equal parts melted butter and flour until well combined.  This it not my favourite whisk, it's my second favourite.  My favourite whisk was nowhere to be seen and I later found it in the backyard.  I don't want to know why.  I'm glad my dishwasher has a sanitize setting.

Once the rue is bubbling and golden, slowing pour in milk, whisking constantly while it thickens.  Once you've achieved a nice smooth consistency, add some seasoning.  This is the batch that went into the quinoa, chicken, broccoli concoction so it's heavy on basil, with a dash of Worchestire sauce, some minced garlic and a dash of nutmeg.

And here's my beloved Parmesan.  Once you've seasoned your sauce you can add the cheese.  Your sauce will thicken as the cheese melts, so keep whisking and add milk as needed.  I find myself adding milk frequently throughout the entire process as it has a tendency to keep thickening even as it sits.

Basic White Sauce

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp flour

1 cup milk

dash salt

In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter.  Whisk in flour until smooth and well combined.  Gradually pour in milk, whisking constantly.  Season, add more milk as needed until desired consistency is reached.  That's it!

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