Pre-stuffed Blackened Chicken

Cost: $11

Prep: ???

Tonight I am not feeling well. I have had a migraine coming on all day. It started with the dryer making an awful sound and progressed all day.

I managed to get the chicken, a pre-stuffed $9 bird, in the oven at 3:30, but when I checked on it at 4:30, it turned out I hadn't turned on the oven. I turned it on a bit higher then, but by 4:45 when Matt got home, I needed to shut my eyes with the lights off.

I checked with him and made for the bed. I let him know the chicken was on, and that he probably wouldn't see me until he came to bed.

So, imagine my surprise when I came to check on the boys near 6PM, and they are sitting on the couch watching cartoons. Matt, it seems, expected me to finish making them dinner. This wasn't likely.

I took the chicken out of the oven, and it was VERY crispy with blackened stuffing on the outside. Matt steamed up some broccoli. I whipped up some gravy, which I have been told was gross.

There are lots of leftovers of all components.

The boys ate. Matt said the chicken was good, and Charlie ate a lot, but I lay on the couch.

Now, at 9PM, I made myself a meal: cup of soup, an orange, and some crackers with margarine. Note: this is also a good hangover meal--salt, sugar, fat, carb. I am having this with a side of ginger ale.

Helpin' Out Some Hamburger

Cost: $6.50

Prep: 20 minutes

Another night where Charlie and I were on our own....It is the most difficult time of day when I am trying to make dinner and Charlie is being a butt. And boy has he ever been a butt lately! He's still adorable, but he is hitting, biting, chucking, etc, and we are giving timeouts like compliments.

Tina has gone :( and I had a really long day at work (including an after school staff meeting). Matt didn't get home until 5:50, and I was already done eating by this point. I sometimes just feel like I have way too much on my plate. I guess this is the plight of the modern "superwoman"--a million responsibilities.

Anyway, I made an easy dinner tonight because of the circumstances. I tried to make it as healthy as possible, but I honestly didn't try very hard.

I cooked up some Kraft Dinner. I noticed that it was expired, but I didn't notice that hard, so I made it anyways. It was fine.

I fried up some ground beef, added taco seasoning, red pepper, and onion. I think the veggies mask the fact that this is ground beef with salt and KD. It makes it ground beef with salt and KD and veggies.

I also made a Caesar salad kit. This seems to be the only kind of salad I can handle. I don't know what is different about this salad kit. Charlie ate quite a bit, and he especially loves the croutons.

Anyway, because I was passively-aggressive with Matt, I didn't put a drink for him on the table. I guess that wasn't really necessary because by the time he got home it was cold :(

Matt's Pizza Dinner

Cost: $10 (for 5)

Prep: none  (for me)

Tonight, I got to sit with two of my girlfriends and chat while Matt made us a pizza dinner. It was fairly simple, but very tasty. We bought multigrain crust kits from Thrifty's (on sale for $5 for the two). For toppings, we had onion, peppers, olives, and pepperoni topped with mozzarella and parmesan.

For dessert, we had a blueberry coffee cake that was clearanced from Thrify's for $3. There is still one piece left, but we made pretty good work of it!

Easter Dinner

My grandma did Easter dinner this year. Let me rephrase. My grandma did Easter dinner for 18 people this year.

Youch!

Again, I forgot to take pictures in the big group setting, but it had all the fixings. We usually do these big holiday meals as a potluck style--my thing to bring is the candied yams and sometimes pickle trays. This year, Gram wanted to do it all herself though.

My favorite part was the stuffing. The crumbled sausage and bacon really takes it up a notch! I avoided the brussel sprouts, but my grandma cooked them in chicken stock, and everyone said they were good. Other dishes included mashed potatoes, carrots, green beans, turnip, dinner rolls, cannied yams, pickle and olive plates, tons of gravy, and the meats: turkey and ham. I don't think there are enough opportunities to eat turkey. I wish there was more.

So, job well done, Grandma. Thank you for the fabulous Easter dinner!

Mom's Potluck

Any night I don't need to cook is a good night!

My mom had another potluck on Saturday night. This time, there were just under twenty people including many children.

The purpose was for the children to decorate Easter eggs. Surprisingly, all the 13-15 year olds were into it! My 15 year old brother helped his little nephew colour his first egg. It was adorable. Then, he drew a happy face on Charlie's naked belly and Charlie spent the rest of time colouring on himself.

Tina brought sausage and crackers, which my mom paired with cheese as the appie. Matt and I brought two garlic breads. We realize these are the lazy persons contributions, but we stopped at the store to buy our things when we were already 45 minutes late.

Other dishes included meatballs, Caesar salad, green salad, tortellini salad (my fav--tomatoes, artichoke hearts, feta and black olives), curried shrimp with rice, prawns, and black bean hummus. I was too hungry and overwhelmed to remember to take pictures, so even with my companion here trying to help me remember, there very well may have been more.

There were many dessert as well. Remember the delicious soda bread at St. Pat's Day? Well, Sophie made desserts this time. She did lemon bars, cupcakes, and helped with chocolate dipped strawberries. For a 13 year old, she is a really great cook! My mom also made a cake, sprinkle variety, that was a hit!

Azuma Sushi

It has literally been years since I went out shopping with a bunch of girlfriends. This Saturday, four of us ladies ventured out into downtown Victoria for some thrift stores and sushi.

More important than the shopping was the eating. I don't think any of us bought anything except lunch.

We went to Azuma sushi, a place I am fairly certain I have reviewed before. I like it for a variety of reasons. Everything, in my opinion, is consistent and of good quality. They bring lots of refills on the tea. The food is relatively quick. And, most of all, it is large and we never have had trouble getting a table even at peak times. This time, we even got one of those fancy booths.

Tina and I had mirrored orders: Tempura Bento Box and a BC Roll. I do not usually order Bento, but the special one of the day is on sale for two for $15.50. Heather solely had the Bento Box, and Bec had salad and a couple sushi rolls.

Heather, Tina and I started our Bentos with Miso Soup. The box contained 7 pieces of tempura (2 prawns, egg plant, onion, pepper, carrot, yam), 2 orange slices, a salad and a bowl of rice. I love the salad. I generally order a large one, but I had more than enough (with everything else) this time. I also enjoy the sesame sauce on the rice. It is not as rich or heavy as steak sauce. My only complaint was that I could have used more.

I enjoyed the BC Roll as well. I was too distracted to ask Becca how the Dynamite Roll was, but it is usually my favorite, but I was trying to have a reasonable bill.

And, we did have reasonable bills. Tina and I each spent under $15 (plus tip). We could have sufficed with just the Bento as well, and kept our bill well under $10, but I am glad I got the sushi (although Tina had to leave a good portion of her box).

I will continue to go to Azuma Sushi. As a side note, they have been great when we have taken Charlie in there, and there are always lots of children with more adventurous palates dining there.

Beacon Drive-In

The weather in Victoria has turned GLORIOUS!

So what do Victorians, specifically ones with out of town guests, go do? Why they go have a day at Beacon Hill Park and finish with trip to the Drive-In for ice cream.

I have been going to the Drive-In my entire life, as I am sure Charlie will as well. One of my usual outings with my Grandpa Vern was to go walk the Break Water and then grab a cone.

But one thing is for certain: my hands are not getting bigger, so the cones are surely getting smaller. I remember as few as five years ago the large was still a tower of ice cream. We stuck with regular today, but I noticed no difference better that and the small. At least they haven't raised the prices while doing this.

I love the ice cream. It is so creamy and thick. I can really tell the difference between this and the "ice milk" stuff because the Beacon's doesn't melt nearly as fast.

Anyway, we will be back, but I really wish they would go back to the large portions that made them famous.