Down The Rabbit Hole & Tidying Up

It has been very busy around here lately. At the end of May, Daughter #1 returned home to get well. We added to the dumping ground in the living room when she first arrived. I am slowing getting my living room back as we sort, edit, and purge Sara's things.

Prior to Sara's return, I had to re-home many of my belongings that have oozed their way into the drawers and closet of her bedroom. In order to make space for her in her old room, I had to created space for my things elsewhere. Essentially, I had to make space out of thin air... no small feat! It was serendipitous that I discovered Marie Kondo. Her approach to tidying up has been instrumental in helping me to achieve order out chaos. Perhaps there is something to the notion that we must trust that the Universe gives you exactly what we need. Sometimes hardships from which to build character or skill; or as in this case, some answers and information to tackle an existing life situation.

I remember scrolling through my Facebook feed one morning and found a post about the folding technique of Marie Kondo. Since all things domestic and related to organization interest me, I just HAD to click the link. I was fascinated. I continued to search for YouTube videos and Googled all things Marie Kondo. Now, that I've been totally hooked on her tidying approach. I have to say, based only on what I've found from other bloggers and YouTubers, the technique called the Konmari Method has rocked my world and provided me with just enough information to comfortably squeeze Sara back into the household while providing me with a little order and tidiness!

For several years now, I have worked on paring down unwanted/unused items, upstairs and down. The old clothes that don't fit; the outgrown toys and kids clothes and the junky or broken items were the easiest to purge - sell, donate or throw out. My last tidy up was before Christmas which I shared with you. Now, although I was pleased with the results, I think there is a little more tweaking required since I have become acquainted with Marie Kondo! Of course this will have to wait because I needed to make space for Sara now so I focused my efforts on her bedroom, the master bedroom, bathroom vanity, and the hall closet. While creating space out of thin air, I found things my husband and I have been hanging on to but were not using or wearing. I bet you can think of several of those items lurking in your closet or drawers! 

"Does this <insert item name> bring me joy?" has helped me purge the last of many unused items that we were holding on to because I felt guilty about getting rid of them or because they were a gift.  You all know those kinds of items... everyone has them! After editing and purging our drawers, bedroom and linen closets, and bathroom vanity, I applied her folding and organisation techniques. This worked so well in my bedroom that I eliminated the "off season" clothing bins and found that I could store far more in the same amount of space AND still see everything we had! If we can see the items, then we would USE the items. A win/win I'd say. After tackling just two bedrooms, my hall closet and the bathroom vanity in the style of the Konmari Method, I had the ability to comfortably squeeze Sara back into her room while maintaining a base level of tidiness. A stellar outcome. This little exercise has shown me that I really want and need to do more.

Yes, I will have to learn all that I can about this path to minimalism, at least my version of it, AND the art of tidying up once and for all. In order to do this, I ordered the book "The Life Changing Magic Of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo. Now that I think of it, I will also have to pick up her second book called "Spark Joy" so that I can become an expert on how to tidy and put my home in order for the very last time!

I am, by nature, a tidy person. Order in my home brings me peace and serenity; but I know there is room for improvement. I am ready to dive in with the Marie Kondo approach so I can create a calm and clutter-free retreat; I want to truly adopt the old adage "a place for everything and everything in its place". I am looking forward to going through the entire process exactly as she instructs. I can't wait to feel lighter, more focused and see what other positive life transformations present themselves! Yes, I am Alice, and I have gone down that rabbit hole!

"The space in which we live should be for the person we are becoming now, not for the person we were in the past." - Marie Kondo

My Chaos and Chocolate Bark

 

It has been a very busy few weeks. My household is going to grow again by one. Daughter number 1 needs to come home for some much needed healing time. Without going into detail, suffice it to say that our "little girl" needs the support that only a family can give. Sara will be with us for now till at least the end of the summer, longer if necessary. That being said, I have been busy making space for her in her old room. We don't have a huge house so after she left, we have been slowly, "oozing" our things into her room and taking over the space. Her room has become my office space and her desk became my desk. Her dresser became my linens, table cloths and napkins storag place. Her closet became hanging space for Randy's suits and dress shirts and a place to store some of my "use once and a while items". I have had to find space elsewhere for these things, and let me tell you, it has been a test for my talents. We also had to move our old queen sized bed out of her room to make room for the bed Sara is bringing home. ACK! Our youngest is thrilled because that means she gets a "big" bed for a while since it will be easier to store her single, she inherits the queen bed for the short term. I told her not to get too used to it!

Of course, changing out the beds meant that I would get a much closer view of the upheaval in our youngest's room. As with so many kids, her version of a "clean" and "organised" room is VERY different than mine. Sadly, I got to see all the bits and pieces, lost socks, and clutter stashed here, there, and everywhere.  This was oh so much more than I could bear! For those of you who know me, I don't function well with clutter in my life. Given the extent of my daughter's chaos, it was a much bigger deal than simply swapping the beds out. It was time, again, for some extreme editing and purging which is hard for Erika to do since she has acquired the pack rat gene. I figured that since the young miss will be done high school next year, now is as good as any to start the downsizing process. Right now, my living room has become the dumping zone for stuff that needs a home or needs to be yard saled or donated. If I don't get my act together before Saturday, I will be adding to the confusion with Sara's stuff... breathe; I must remember to breathe!

This picture gives me goosebumps just looking at it! I think I need some chocolate STAT!  Why chocolate? Because chocolate makes me feel better and as I found out with a little research, there apparently is some science behind why chocolate improves how we feel. Do keep in mind, the crap that Nestlé and the like churn out by the ton may have some of the benefits, but due to the mystery ingredients and high sugar content, I think I would stick to the highest quality dark chocolate (at least 70%) to treat myself. 

Chocolate makes you feel better. It contains phenylethylamine (PEA) which is the same chemical that your brain creates when you feel like you are falling in love. PEA encourages your brain to release feel good endorphins. These endorphins that are released into the brain are known to decrease levels of both stress and pain. Apparently chocolate also causes your neuro-transmitters to create serotonin and dopamine which helps calm, relax, and create feelings of well being. YES... Exactly what I need! That said, do remember that a little goes a long way and just because dark chocolate is said to have great health benefits, it's still a sometimes food and in small portions. So no, chocolate can't be a food group... sadness, but it can be a healthy treat!

Check out here, here, here, and here for some of my information search,

So now that I know dark chocolate has some health benefits, I thought I would marry up the chocolate health benefits with those of coconut oil. A WIN/WIN for sure! I got my base recipe from one of my favourite writers... Oh She Glows! She has a wonderful chocolate bark recipe on her blog and this is from where my inspiration came!

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large heavy bottomed pan, I used my cast iron, heat over a medium heat. Toast your nuts, stirring or shaking regularly to prevent burning. When they are fragrant, pour nuts onto a plate to cool. Repeat the process with the coconut. Watch it like a hawk as it will go from just a little golden to burnt in a flash. On my first attempt I used a combination of pistachios and pumpkin seeds On my second attempt I used a combination of almonds and pumpkin seeds.  I wanted to have the green contrast in my finished product.

Roughly chop the pumpkin seeds and almonds and set aside.

Chop the cranberries in to small bits, roughly each cranberry into thirds. Mix the nuts, dried cranberries and coconut together in a small bowl.

 

In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil, cashew butter, and maple syrup over low heat. It will look like it has separated, but not to worry.  Whisk or stir in the cocoa (or cacao) powder, until super smooth. Add a pinch of sea salt and stir well. Remove from the heat.

Stir in half of nut mixture. With a spatula, scrape the chocolate mixture onto the prepared parchment-lined and smooth out until it's about 1/4 inch thick.

 

 

Sprinkle on the remaining nuts, cranberry and coconut mixture over top of the chocolate. Place into freezer on a flat surface for about 30 minutes, until frozen solid. 

 

 

Once frozen, break apart into small pieces, about 20 or so. Store in the freezer until ready to eat. This chocolate melts quickly so don't keep it out long.

Chocolate Bark with Nuts & Dried Fruit

1/4 cup shelled pistachios*
1/4 cup raw almonds

1/4 cup dried cranberries*

1/3 cup dried  unsweetened coconut, without sulphites if you can

1/2 cup virgin coconut oil

1/2 cup natural cocoa or cacao powder, sifted 

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1 tablespoon smooth cashew butter (it's what I had on hand)

Pinch of pink Himalayan salt or fine sea salt

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. 

 

In a large heavy bottomed pan, I used my cast iron, heat over a medium heat. Toast your nuts and/or seeds, stirring or shaking regularly to prevent burning. When they are fragrant, pour nuts onto a plate to cool. Repeat the process with the coconut. Watch it like a hawk as it will go from just a little golden to burnt in a flash.

 

When the coconut is a golden brown colour, immediately pour it onto a plate to cool.

 

Roughly chop the nuts and seeds and set aside.

 

Chop the cranberries in to small bits, roughly each cranberry into thirds. Mix the nuts, dried cranberries and coconut together in a small bowl.

 

In a medium saucepan, melt the coconut oil, cashew butter, and maple syrup over low heat. Whisk in the cocoa (or cacao) powder, until super smooth. Add a pinch of sea salt and stir well. Remove from the heat. 

 

Stir in half of nut mixture. 

 

With a spatula, scrape the chocolate mixture onto the prepared parchment-lined and smooth out (if necessary) until it's about 1/4 inch thick.

 

Sprinkle on the remaining nuts, cranberry and coconut mixture over top of the chocolate. Place into freezer on a flat surface for about 30 minutes, until frozen solid. 

 

Once frozen, break apart into small pieces, about 20 or so. Store in the freezer until ready to eat. This chocolate melts quickly so don't keep it out long.

 

Because I love chocolate and I wanted to give a special friend a healthier treat for her birthday, I made another batch. For this, I doubled my recipe so I could gift part of the recipe and have a little for me and my man! Sadly, I didn't have enough of the ingredients in my original recipe so I made the following substitutions with great success.

*Note On Substitutions

Instead of cranberries, I used dried cherries, and I used all pumpkin seeds instead of a pistachios/pumpkin seed mix and the bark was just as tasty. Bottom line is, I think you could use any combination of your favourite nuts, seeds and dried fruit. The possibilities are almost endless.

 

I hope you try this out and let me know how you enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

 

Test Driving Some DIY Green Beauty

Today's post is not about food, but is in keeping with a post I did earlier about greening up self care and my favourite eco-friendly soaps. As of late, I have been using myself as a guinea pig for a few natural self care products. I have tried to minimize my use of the Dirty Dozen in my self care products and have been slowly finding natural replacements, mostly homemade with the exception of my soaps - Ground Soap, The SoapWorks, and my Green Beaver Castile Soap which doubles as body wash and shampoo. From poking around the internet, I have found that many of the made for me beauty products can be a little pricey, but many are no more expensive than some of the high end conventional brands found in the department stores. Now, whether they work or not or are actually as green as they say, that's another story.

 

Some of my home made experiments have included coconut oil, apple cider vinegar, and a variety of home made body and facial scrubs made from some pantry ingredients. I have to say, that overall, most of my DIY experiments have been pretty successful.

 

For the past 2 years, I have been using coconut oil as a face and overall body moisturizer and I would like to report that it has become my go-too moisturizer. I am lucky that it doesn't seem to clog my pores on my face as it is one of oils that has a high Comedogenic Ratings - 0 to 5, with 0 meaning no clogging and 5 being the worst.  My beloved coconut oil is a 4. Oils like argan oil, hemp seed oil and shea butter will not clog pores (a zero rating) while oils like avocado oil, grape seed oil, almond oil, jojoba oil and olive oil are low on the scale (2). I would first do a patch test to make sure that coconut oil doesn't clog your pores and cause breakout. If you decide to try a natural oil to moisturize, and you find that coconut oil is not the right choice for your skin type, you may have more luck using the less comedogenic (clogging) oils like olive oil or almond oil.

 

The eco-warrior in me found the perfect use for an old Clinique moisturizer container, not to mention, an ironic choice! I scoop out the coconut oil from my pantry oil and put it in this container. An excellent way to repurpose!

Coconut oil has been helpful to keeping my face, lips and body moisturized, especially through our cold winters. Downside is that it feels a tich greasy at first so it is important to remember a little goes a long way. I use it as an intensive moisturizer at nighttime by using larger amounts on my hands and feet and then wear cotton blend sport socks on my feet and cotton mitts on my hands to bed. Oh, and if you don't have soft terry towel like mitts or gloves, white sport socks work well too. It looks funny, but it does the trick. If you are having trouble sleeping, you can amuse yourself by doing a sock puppet show until you nod off!

 

Coconut oil is also a fabulous make up remover too. Apply to your face all over and tissue off. You may need to repeat for those dramatic look makeup applications, but it works well. I wash afterwards with either my Ground Soap or The SoapWorks Camomile soap. Gently towel dry and then apply a light application of the coconut oil.

 

I have curly hair and have found coconut keeps my curls curly and tames my frizzies. I take a little dab of coconut oil and melt it by rubbing it between my hands and then evenly distributed through my hair like you would any styling gel. This keeps my curls in check without that crunchy feeling too. Bonus, it acts like a stay in conditioner! The catch for this is to not use too much, otherwise your hair gets weighed down and looks greasy!

 

Pretty curls, tamed by a little dab of coconut oil!

During the winter months, I deliberately use too much coconut oil in my hair and scalp. It is an excellent deep conditioner when left on for a few hours. It is also a great way to soothe and calm mild psoriasis on your head. Apply a fair bit of the oil, massage your scalp with it and comb through your hair. Wrap in a towel or a shower cap and hang out with a cup of tea and a good book for several hours. I love home remedies... They take time to work so you have a great excuse to relax... BONUS! You will have to wash your hair a few times to fully remove the oil but as long as your shampoo is gentle, and preferably eco friendly and toxin free, this will remove the coconut oil well.

 

Sometimes my scalp is itchy and I get a build up of icky bits (sorry if that's too much information LOL!), resulting in the dreaded white flakes upon my favourite black clothes. Sadness... For years, I've used the Head and Shoulders shampoo which has a moderate toxic rating on the EWG SkinDeep Web Site. It's worked ok, but I have wanted a more natural approach and I think I have found it. A month ago I came across some information about apple cider vinegar, particularly the unpasteurized kind, being a good fix for dandruff and dry scalp. It is also supposed to a good hair conditioner, but I fear that if it is left in, one might smell like a salad, so for now, I am just using it as a treatment and then washing it out.

For the past month I have been using a 1:1 ratio of water to ACV (apple cider vinegar) and gently massaging it on my scalp.  Drip dry a bit and mop up the excess with a towel. Then I hang out for a few hours, grab a good book or do some writing while letting the vinegar do it's thing. Then, I rinse and wash out with a gentle shampoo or my castile soap. So far, I have found that it has reduced the dry itchy feeling I get and I think the white flakes have been minimized too. More to follow as I keep this treatment up on a bi-weekly treatment.

 

A new to me brand of unpasteurized apple cider vinegar I found at Bulk Barn!

Last but not least are my DIY products; a collection of homemade body and facial scrubs that I have been using for the last several months. I scoured the net for various kinds, including information from dermatologists and regular "peeps" on the effectiveness of said scrubs. I chose the ones that I felt would work the best and had the blessings of dermatologists. I found a great article for this >HERE<. Two words of caution: FIRST, not everything on Pinterest is a good thing (check out this post here) so do some research and SECOND, do patch tests for any DIY self care products just to make sure you don't have any reactions.

I tried out 3 DIY products. The first contained used coffee grounds, coconut oil, and honey. The second contained coconut oil or olive oil and ground oats. The third contained coconut oil and baking soda. All of these ingredients are supposed to have wonderful properties ranging from anti-microbial, anti-fungal, age-reversing plus a whole lot more, and while I really want to believe these promises, these aren't the reasons I have decided to try out DIY personal care products. As an aside, I even question the promises that the expensive store bought concoctions make. Bottom line, I wanted to make some things in my kitchen that would gently exfoliate, brighten up, soothe, and moisturize my skin, without having to purchase the made-for-me products with toxic ingredients. 

I know we can purchase green beauty products, but alas, my budget and my unwillingness to spend the money for higher end products prevents me from purchasing them. So for now, safe DIY is on tap and after the past few months of experimentation, I have come to the following conclusions...

 

I found that the coffee grounds, coconut oil, and raw honey scrub is best used on my hands, legs and rough spots like feet, elbows and knees. It is a little to harsh for faces, though I did try it once. I must say, that it certainly freshens up rough skin elsewhere on your body, while moisturizing with the coconut oil. It is a little messy for clean up and given that I don't want the grounds going down the drain on a regular basis, it requires a special screen on the shower or sink drain. I think you could use this body scrub a once per week or just when you find rough spots!

Coffee Ground Scrub

1/2 cup very finely ground coffee, already used for coffee

3 tbsp. raw honey

2 tbsp. olive oil or coconut oil

 

Combine the ingredients thoroughly. Store in a wide mouth mason jar for up to 1 month in the refrigerator

 

To use, wet down your skin and scoop a small amount out of the container. Apply in a circular motion to wet skin. Don't rub too hard.  Rinse thoroughly. I used a mesh drain cover to catch the grounds in the tub and ran super hot water down the drain to make sure the oil was flushed out thoroughly. I prefer this as a body and hand scrub because I find it a little too abrasive.
 

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I've also tried a mix of ground oats and coconut oil (or olive oil) on my face. It is not as harsh a scrub as the coffee one and I believe that as long as you don't scrub too hard, it seems gentle enough on my face.  I thought it does a lovely job on brightening my complexion. I found it especially nice around my nose and chin area to slough off the dead skin. I only use this once per week and do it on a days that I don't plan on wearing make up or before bed.  The no make up rule after a facial makes sense. Thank you to the Cosmo Girl lawyer named Elle Woods in the movie Legally Blonde 2 for that tid bit of facial after-care! I am so not a glam gal. I've used this once every 2 weeks and I find that my complexion seems smoother and more polished.

Ground Oats Scrub

This is the right amount for one facial scrub application.

1 tsp. coconut oil or olive oil
1 tbsp. ground oats (regular oat ground finely into a flour in a coffee grinder)

Mix well in a small bowl and gently apply to a wet face. Gently rub onto your skin using round circular motions for a few minutes, being careful to avoid the under eye area. Don't rub too hard. Rinse with warm water, tissue the excess off and wash your face with a mild eco-friendly soap.

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Last, but not least, I also tried coconut oil mixed with some baking soda. I have only used it on my hands so far. It also does a lovely job of exfoliating. It doesn't seem too harsh and doesn't make a huge mess in the sink. It's not quite as grainy as the ground oats and is definitely not as abrasive as the ground coffee scrub. I'm a little hesitant about using it on my face because of the alkalinity of the baking soda. Since the skin on my hands is a little tougher, I thought it would work out well, and it did! Again, I do this once per week or 2 weeks because, as with all things, you can do too much of a good thing. In my research, I did read that if you were to use any DIY with baking soda on your face, it would be best to use it as a mask

Baking Soda Scrub

1 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 Tbsp. baking soda

Mix the ingredients thoroughly in a small bowl.  Wet your hands and lower arms if desired. "Wash" your hands with the mixture and gently rub your lower arms with the scrub for several minutes.  Tissue off the excess and wash with a mild soap.

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And so, this ends round 1 of Michelle the green beauty guinea pig and my first attempts at some DIY beauty and self care products. If you too decide to try out some DIY, please know that there are some pretty crazy homemade products out there on the internet highway. I would research carefully, and check out what the dermatologists say too as well as check out the comments from folks who have tried them. Some food based products may better eaten as opposed to slathered on your skin. Just because it's not chemical or full of mystery ingredients, homemade DIY beauty and self care products can be just as harmful to you. On the flip side, DIY green beauty and self care products can be fun to make and fun to use. The safe ones would be great to use on a girls' spa night with a few glasses of wine!
 

Hidden Healthy & Deconstructed Cottage (Shepherd's) Pie

I watched the Marilyn Denis show the other day which was about opening ourselves up to new things. I found it quite inspirational for both food and in life. One of her guests was Julie Daniluk RHN and is a leading nutritionist. I love her enthusiasm and her health conscious approach! Today she was talking about how to bump up the nutrition for those folks eat too much of one thing... those who gravitate primarily to fast food, or who eat mostly veggies (no proteins), or those folks who primarily eat meat (no veggies). The idea was to open up your taste buds to new things and balance out your nutrition at the same time. Her strategy of choice was to hide the goodness in things that people tend to gravitate to, or as she called it... use "stealth" to get the good things in.

Whether you call it "stealth" or hidden healthy, the idea is the same. On the show, Julie had some excellent ideas and you can see them here so that you can open up your taste buds to new tastes and flavours! Hidden healthy is a great way to bump up your plant based protein, improve your fiber, and sneak in some extra nutrition, especially for those uncooperative family members!

Some of my successful hidden healthy include chili, spaghetti sauce, sloppy Joes, tourtière, and even meatloaf. In these items, I have simply used cooked lentils with the ground meat. Sometimes I reduce the meat by as much as half and slip in 1 to 2 cups of green or brown cooked lentils. In other cases, I just "bulk" up the dish by adding a little amount, up to about half a cup. It all depends on how well the lentils can be hidden. Spaghetti sauce or chili are dishes that are quite forgiving and as long as there is a lot going on, like lots of chopped up veggies, then I can safely add a larger amount of these nutritious pulses. In dishes like sloppy Joes, tourtière and meatloaf, lentils are added, but with a lighter hand to preserve the integrity of the original dish but also because there is not as much ability to hide much in them! Red lentils are great in dishes that get puréed and so you can hide a lot in your marinara sauce, lasagna meat sauce, and even in your broccoli soup.

So now, without further adieu, I give you one of my tried and true, family approved, hidden healthy meals. It is tasty, satisfying and really bumps up our veggie intake. Cottage Pie is one of my fall and winter go-to meals. It is economical, satisfying, and pretty darn tasty. Sometimes when I am in a hurry, I don't bake my cottage pie in a casserole. I call this my Deconstructed Cottage Pie. If you have a favourite Cottage Pie recipe (on this side of the pond we also call it Shepherd's Pie), you can certainly deconstruct your recipe too. 

This would also be a great recipe to make ahead. You could prepare the meat filling and do the potatoes up fresh on the day. The other thing I discovered was that this was a perfect recipe in which to hide lentils. I discovered that I could make this recipe more economical and incorporate some plant based protein with ZERO family uprising! Wooooot! 

There is a lot going on in the filling providing the perfect camouflage for green or brown lentils, so now I cut my ground meat in half and save the other half for another recipe and add in a cup and a bit of cooked lentils. To further hide the lentils, I found that mashing half the lentils into a chunky puree works like a dream too. Out of sight, out of mind really works.

Cook up your lentils; 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 cups water.

Sauté your veggies. 

Mix in your flavourings. Remember my budget tip for extra tomato paste? The tomato paste balls are from my stash in the freezer!

Add your broth and simmer for 30 minutes 

While your meat and lentil sauce is simmering, prepare and cook your regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. I like slicing in 1/4 inch slices for quick even cooking. 

Thicken the meat and lentil sauce with a flour and water slurry. Whisk until smooth!

Mix in your frozen mixed veggies. 

Ladle a few spoonfuls onto a plate and add a dollop or two of both kinds of potatoes. 

Deconstructed Cottage Pie 

 

1 large onion, medium dice

1 tbsp grape seed oil, or cooking oil of choice

2 stalks celery, chopped in a fine dice (nice but optional)

2 parsnips, chopped in a 1/4" dice 

4 oz cremini or button mushrooms medium dice (nice but optional)

1 lb lean ground beef or pork, pasture raised if possible 

OR 1/2 lb plus 1/2 cup  green or brown lentils + 1 1/2 cups water 

1 tsp dried thyme

2 garlic cloves, finely minced or 2 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp heaped Dijon mustard

2 cups beef broth, or chicken broth, organic if you can

1-2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, depending on personal tastes

1 tbsp Tamari

1/4 tsp ground pepper, or to taste

3 tbsp flour

3 tbsp stock or water water

3 cups fresh frozen mixed veggies (carrots, peas, corn and beans)

3 large potatoes, I like Yukon Golds or Russets

1/4 cup milk of choice

a drizzle of olive oil or melted butter

A generous pinch of Himalayan pink salt or sea salt

3 large sweet potatoes

1/8-1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

a pinch of nutmeg (I like to use a whole nutmeg and use my rasp to freshly grate it)

A generous pinch of Himalayan pink salt or sea salt

 

In a medium, heavy bottomed pot, heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the celery and parsnips and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the chopped mushrooms and cook until the water has evaporated and the celery is tender, about 5 minutes more. Transfer to a bowl.

In the same pot, add a little bit more oil and then scramble fry the ground beef or pork and break the meat up with a wooden spoon. Add in the garlic, thyme, salt and pepper. Cook until the meat is browned, stirring regularly. Add the tomato paste, Dijon mustard, broth, Worcestershire sauce, tamari. If you are using the lentils, add them now with the cooked onion mixture. Add the stock and bring everything to a boil, stirring regularly. Lower heat to about medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes. 

 

In a small bowl whisk together the flour and water. Make sure the slurry is lump free. Add this mixture to the meat mixture and stir until the sauce has thickened. If the meat mixture is not "saucy", add a little water or more stock so that the meat mixture is not dry and the sauce has a gravy like feel to it.

 

Stir in the frozen mixed vegetables and stir to combine. Bring back to the bubble, and simmer gently until the veggies have heated through, about 10 minutes.

 

While the meat mixture is simmering, get the potatoes going.  Peel the regular potatoes and slice into 1/4 inch slices. Place in a medium sized pot, cover with water and add about 1 teaspoon of salt.

Prepare the sweet potatoes in the same fashion except fill the pot about 1/4 full of water so the potatoes steam more than they are boiled. I skip the salt though. You can also cook them in a steamer if you prefer.

 

Cook the potatoes over medium heat until they are tender. 

 

Drain the white potatoes, mash and add about 1/4 cup of warm milk and a little olive oil or butter, salt and pepper to taste, and mash till light and creamy. Cover and set aside. Drain the sweet potatoes, mash and add cinnamon, salt and pepper to taste and a pinch of nutmeg. Cover and set aside.

 

When the meat  mixture is all ready and both kinds of potatoes are done, you are ready to plate!

 

I like to put a few spoonfuls of the meat mixture in the centre of a plate and a spoonful or two of sweet potatoes and then the white potatoes as shown! Tada, deconstructed Cottage Pie.

 

 

Old Fashioned Apple & Raisin Bread Pudding

Today is a glorious day. Although it's still a little chilly out there, the sun is shining brightly and my internal batteries are getting charged as I sit in this window absorbing those lovely sunbeams. Add a hot cup of my guilty pleasure and some time to work on another blog post, I couldn't ask for a better start to the day!

After sorting and organizing my freezer last week, my mission was to use up my freezer finds and older pantry items. I'm happy to report that my mission is going well. I've tested my creativity and ingenuity for a second week with great success as demonstrated with my family's happy and satisfied tummies. My bank account is happy too!

I turned a little leftover spaghetti sauce into nifty pita pizzas using the meat sauce instead of the traditional pizza sauce. Then I topped them with some chopped zucchini, red peppers, a little grated cheddar and baked till the cheese was bubbly, a yummy invention! 

I made some amazing white bean brownies from a can of white kidney beans I had in my pantry, and as you know from my last post, my husband really enjoyed them, even after he found out about the beans! These will be made again, for sure! 

I also made my Deconstructed Cottage Pie filling with a half pound of ground beef and the mixed veggies from some recently discovered freezer finds. I had all the ingredients for my meals this week pretty much in stock so I only had to pick up a few fresh veggies for the week. Yes, shopping my freezer, fridge and pantry saved me some more cash this week too. I am definitely a happy camper!

You might recall that I found a whole bunch of frozen bread in my freezer last week. I also had some apples and eggs that needed to be used up to as well. At the time of my post, I was thinking bread pudding, which of course, is exactly what our grandmothers and their mothers before them would have made too!

Today, I would like to share that bread pudding recipe with you. This recipe is not the rich, drenched in cream recipe that bread pudding has become in many modern chef repertoires, but a little more like what my great Grannie would have made. Although this recipe was a little more frugal, it was tasty, and even felt a little decadent. In the end, it still satisfied that call for a sweet ending after dinner and made use of on hand ingredients. 

Here is a pic of the odds and ends I had of frozen bread. I usually hang on to the bread to make bread crumbs, but apparently, I haven't been using a lot of bread crumbs lately!

Old Fashioned Apple Raisin Bread Pudding

Cube enough stale bread or your freezer finds. White, whole wheat, multigrain, sprouted or even buns all work well. There should be enough cubed bread to generously fill a 9 x 13 inch baking pan. It should be gently heaped. 

Originally, I thought I might have enough cubed bread to make a 9 x 13 and an 8 x 8 pan of bread pudding, but after completing the preparation, I only had enough for a 9 x 13 pan. Sometimes cooking is not an exact science!

In a large bowl, combine the eggs and milk whisking thoroughly. Add the cinnamon, grated nutmeg, both sugars and vanilla (extract or ground beans). 

Add all of the bread and stir to coat all cubes. Stir in melted butter, raisins, and diced apple. The bread will float for awhile but it will eventually soak up the custard and sink. This should take about 15 minutes. 

While the pudding is standing, preheat the oven to 350° F. 

Once the bread has soaked up most of the custard, gently stir the mixture to make sure the apples and raisins are distributed throughout the pudding. Then, scrape everything into a lightly greased 9 x 13 baking dish.

 

Bake for about an hour until the bread pudding is set, slightly puffed, and a golden brown colour. 

 

Remove from the oven and brush lightly with the maple syrup. 

Serve warm!

Old Fashioned Raisin and Apple Bread Pudding 

INGREDIENTS:

Stale bread; enough to generously fill a 9 x 13 inch baking pan when cubed. It should be gently heaped. If you are short stale bread, top up with lightly toasted bread. 

2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 - 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg

6 eggs

4 cups milk

1/4 cup melted butter

1 tbsp vanilla extract or 2 tsp ground vanilla bean

3/4 cup coconut palm sugar

1/4 cup organic cane sugar

1 cup raisins

4 apples, peeled, cored and chopped in a 1/2" dice

2 tbsp maple syrup

METHOD:

Cube your bread and generously fill a 9 x 13 inch baking pan so that the bread cubes are gently heaped. 

In a large bowl, combine the eggs and milk whisking thoroughly. Add the cinnamon, grated nutmeg, both sugars and vanilla (extract or ground beans). 

Add all of the bread and stir to coat all cubes. Stir in melted butter, raisins, and diced apple. The bread will float for awhile but it will eventually soak up the custard and sink. This should take about 15 minutes. 

While the pudding is standing, preheat the oven to 350° F. 

Once the bread has soaked up most of the custard, gently stir the mixture to make sure the apples and raisins are distributed throughout the pudding. Then, scrape everything into a lightly greased 9 x 13 inch baking dish. 

Bake for about an hour until the bread pudding is set, slightly puffed, and a golden brown colour. 

Remove from the oven and brush lightly with the maple syrup. 

Serve warm!