Weekend was wonderful

We had a great weekend this past weekend and finally got out of our slump! G has been so busy at work the past while that the last thing he feels like doing at home is more construction! Friday night we went out for dinner and to the Leafs game (which they lost...but anyway...) It felt so nice to be out on a date and recharge our batteries I guess you could say. See us in our matchy jerseys (also note this is the only time g has allowed us out in public looking remotely similar)




Then Sat and Sunday we did some cleaning as we were having all the neighbors in for a back yard BBQ on Sunday.( we decided we need to have guests every week it really makes us power tidy) So the back yard is just about ready for Fall and we had a blast getting to know our neighbours better.



This is Wendy our next door neighbour's dog. We LOVE her and hope to get one of her sisters or brothers some day. She was the guest of honor at the BBQ and loved snuggling. After everyone left and we had tidied up we thought we should start to tackle something we had been talking about forever---the chalkboard wall. We had taped it off probably a month ago so what was holding us back!? So I'm attaching some photos of the progression:










We are really happy with how it looks but we need to do another coat with the roller to smooth things out. Maybe this time G will let me paint.....?

Soup for Annie

My colleague Annie was curious about the recipe for the soup I made the other week...here she goes:

Sweet Potato and Coconut Quinoa Soup

2 Large Sweet Potatoes

2 Tbsp water

1/2 cup onion

1/2 cup Quinoa

3 cups Vegetable stock

1 cup coconut milk

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp Chili powder

1/4 cup plain yogurt (optional)

 Wash and peel potatoes. Cut into  2-3" pieces.  Boil until just soft but not mushy (roughly 6 mins I found)

Place water and onion in large saucepan over medium heat and cook until the onions soften.  Stir in quinoa and vegetable stock and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 mins until quinoa is cooked.

 Add sweet potato to the saucepan. Puree the mixture with a hand blender. Return to low heat and stir in coconut milk. Add cayenne and chili powder.  (yogurt can be added on top when serving)

This was delicious and I am a crazy big fan of Quinoa!!! I would have added a bit more spice next time and I think if you want to reduce calories you could probably add less coconut milk.  However it was super delicious and lasted me for quite a few lunches.

yum!

 

Rango

G and I watched Rango last night and had an important discussion.  I have written it up in list form:

Creatures G vetoed me bringing home EVER as pets:

• 
  
  Hedgehogs


• 
  
  Toads, Frogs or Newts


• Bunnies


• 
  
  Turtles


• 
  
  Lizards including chameleons


• 
  
  Mice


• 
  
  Rats


• 
  
  Rodents of any kind (yes including moles)


• 
  
  Snakes (didnt really want one so its ok)


• 
  
  Fish

He is NO FUN AT ALL.  I am however allowed to have a dog (yay) and one day soon we are going to get a Wiener dog named Gus and our family will be complete...for a while at least.  I am pretty sure he only said yes to a dog in the hopes that it will make me want to wait 3 more years for a baby. (psssst just a secret between us?  It won't work!)

 ***Just saw your comment Mum--no GusGus yet...but one day soon I hope!!!!

Lunchie munchies

Does anyone have any healthy, yummy, make ahead type of lunch ideas? I've been making my mother in law to be's tuna pasta salad a fair bit lately but I wana change things up. (I love the tuna but don't want to get sick of it so I need some more ideas) I am allergic to eggs so that option is out! Am accepting any and all recipe ideas!!

Saturday morning necessity:

Coffee and Baileys! This will kick start our weekend of homebodyness! Hopefully I will have more pics to share later today/tomorrow.

Brrrr

Fall is definitely on it's way! We have been so chilly the last few nights I decided to make some soup. Behold! The beginnings of sweet potato, quinoa and coconut soup:


We also went and filled our freezer with a years supply of meat--it's obscene but will help with meal planning. "what shall we make tonight? Perhaps a metric ton of meat? Sounds amazing!"

Official To do

We are really looking forward to the satisfaction of being able to say “one down” followed by a happy dance in our one finished room. I haven’t run this past G yet, but I just decided that that room will be our kitchen (merely as it requires the least amount of work) Our one wall is prepped and ready for paint–and depending on how much fun we have at the wedding Sunday, might get tackled on Monday. Last week we swapped out the socket covers from dirty white, to a brushed nickel to match the handles/drawer pulls. So all that will be left would be:
*paint chalkboard wall
*remove the old door hardware that has been painted over in the door way
*fill in the holes this will leave
*clean and repaint the white trim
*do a backsplash
*paint and get countertop for our butcher block
*new light fixture (this is a want more than a need)
*cap the top of the cupboards so that the 8″ headspace is no longer a dust depository

Then happy dance….shortly followed by starting a new room to do list!