Welcome to the Weekend!

Is it just me, or are short weeks at work often seem like the longest?  This week was CRAZY, even though we were only there for four days.  I got home from work tonight and crawled into bed for a few minutes to regain some energy before picking up my son from daycare.  These are the days that having the meals for the week prepared in advance really come in handy! 

We've been working on the baby's room over the past week.  We took out the bed and desk, and my husband painted it a nice, soft green.  The crib arrives in just over a week, so we need to pick out an area rug to cover a nice chunk of the floor before it arrives.  Some new curtains and a new light fixture, and the room will actually look like a baby-friendly space! 

The photo below is what the room looked like when we first moved into the house a few years ago.  We left the girly light fixture up because the room was used as a spare room, and the wall colour remained similar.  I'll keep you updated as the room evolves into a nursery.

I kind of feel like this weekend is the weekend to tie up some loose ends- finish doing taxes, begin putting the winter boots and coats away, and get rid of the Easter decorations.  I've also been itching to try out a new gluten free place, maybe a bakery or a store were I can find a new product to add to the rotation.  Like any foods, it's easy to get stuck in a rut of buying the same products all the time.  A new season feels like a great time to try something new.

A couple of weeks ago my sister introduced me to V8 V-Fusion juice blends, and I discovered that they're gluten free!  People are always  asking me why I'm surprised that a particular juice is gluten and/or dairy free, and the answer is because now that I really labels ALL the time, I realize jut how many products that should be, aren't. 

 Have a great weekend, and don't forget to check back tomorrow and on Sunday for the weekly menu plan.

Wordless Wednesday: Easter Egg Hunt

Eggs filled with fruit treats. Gluten & Dairy Free!

St. Jacob's, Continued...

This year we spent the majority of Easter Weekend in St. Jacob's, Ontario.  If you missed the first post, click HERE to get caught up.  On Saturday, we visited the Farmer's Market.  The Market is open Thursdays and Saturdays year round, and Tuesdays as well during the summer months.  The market is billed as Canada's largest farmer's market, and has an indoor portion with two stories of vendors. 

In addition to the indoor shopping, there is a huge outdoor market where one can find anything from produce, to sausage, baked goods, clothes, housewares, etc.  My husband couldn't resist picking up some summer sausage to bring home, and I bought my niece the cutest handmade sweater for Easter.

In even found a vendor inside that sold Gluten Free Bread, although they were all sold out by the time I got there. 

Outside, one of the highlights were the various performers, including, clowns, jugglers and musicians.

If Farmer's Markets aren't your thing, right across the street is the outlet mall, with many brand name stores.  We didn't check it out, but I heard the deals were pretty good.  St. Jacob's is also well known for antiques.  Checking out the antique shops is something I would love to do sometime, but not really all that practical with a three year old in tow! 

What my three year old WAS interested in was the train!  Waterloo Central Railway is a heritage railway that offers train service between Waterloo, the St. Jacob's Market, and St. Jacob's.  The train is old and it runs pretty slowly, but it's perfect for kids.  My son was literally bouncing in his seat when we started to move, and was thrilled every time the horn blew.  for the rest of the weekend he kept saying "My favourite part was riding the train."

We capped off the day with dinner at a local restaurant, the Cedar Barn.  It's a cute little place, with a simple menu and great service.  I wish he had found it Friday.

For the outrageous sum of $2.80 we got my son the kids' all day breakfast menu, which included a drink, one egg and bacon, a slice of toast and either ice cream or jello for dessert.  we explained his dietary concerns and didn't get the toast.  They were out of jello, so the waitress substituted apple sauce instead.  We realized later that she had also taken 80 cents off the bill because we didn't take the toast. 

I opted for the not so gluten free fish and chips, and my husband had the schnitzel, with a bowl of soup to start.  We shared a sclice of homemade coconut cream pie.  And we paid $20 less for the meal than we did at Kelsey's.  Lesson learned. 

Our weekend was lots of fun, although the little guy was sick for some of it.  I feel like there's still so much I would like to check out, that I would definitely go back again. 

And we still made it to my mom's for Easter Dinner.  Some piccs of the Easter Egg hunt will go up tomorrow.  

Glute Free Weekly Menu Plan

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!  There's a post to come on our celebrations, as well as more on our weekend in St. Jacob's, but since I spent today cooking, I wanted to get the menu plan up for the week.

But first, just to make me feel inadequate, here are a few of the chocolate Easter egg creations that were on display in a bakery window in Italy when I was there in March.

Now on to the menu plan!

Monday: Minestrone Soup

Tuesday: Meatloaf & Green Beans

Wednesday: Ceviche, Tortillas & Beans

  

                                                                                                     

Thursday: Tofu & Vegetable Stir Fry with Vietnamese Style Spring Rolls

Friday: Pork Chops Smothered in Apples with Roast Vegetable & Quinoa Salad            

                                                                                                 

Easter Weekend in St. Jacob's

We decided to spent a couple of nights away this long weekend with our son, since we haven't really taken him anywhere since last summer, and because with the baby due to arrive in August, there won't be many more opportunities for just the three of us to spend some time away together.  We didn't want to spend a ton of money, but we wanted to go somewhere new. 

So we decided on St. Jacob's, Ontario.  Mennonite Country.  Where travel by horse and buggy is not uncommon.

The area is only about a two hour drive from where we live, and is literally 5 minutes outside of Waterloo.  I wanted to come to see the Farmer's Market and check out some local products.  We thought it would be a great destination for my son because there's the scenic train that runs between Waterloo, the Farmer's Market, and the Village of St. Jacob's. 

There are a number of cute little bed and breakfasts available in the Village itself, but we decided to stay at a hotel just outside of it for one reason: the indoor pool.  I personally would have preferred a bed and breakfast, but with a three year old in tow, an indoor pool trumps romantic charm any day of the week. 

The Destination Inn is located just a few minutes away from the Farmer's Market area, and also close to the Conestoga Mall and other stores.  The room we have is nice, with a little seating area and desk separate from the bedroom portion, so we don't feel cramped.  It doesn't have a restaurant, but there is a continental breakfast included.  There are a few items safe for those gluten free: fruit, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, coffee and tea.  For those not gluten averse, there are croissants, muffins, toast, bagels, and cereal in addition to the other items mentioned above.  A few more gluten free items would have been nice, but my son was able to eat a fairly good breakfast with what was available. 

Last night, we went out for dinner close to the hotel.  We tried East Side Mario's first, but the ONLY gluten free option on the menu was the rotisserie chicken, and the waitress informed us that they were out of chicken, so we had no choice but to look elsewhere.  We ended up at Kelsey's, since we weren't familiar with the area and we were all starving. 

Turns out there's not much on Kelsey's menu that suitable for someone who doesn't eat gluten.  Unlike East Side Mario's though, the waitress at Kelsey's was able to help us put together a meal suitable for our son.  A grilled chicken breast, steamed vegetables, corn tortilla chips and salsa, all the for the same price as a kid's meal.  Good enough for me.  And as it turns out, my son LOVES steamed brocolli.  Who knew?

He was happy, and I filled up on a wrap and a side salad with cranberries, feta cheese and pumpkin seeds.  YUM!

An hour or so of swimming followed by a hearty dinner, and our little guy was so tired he TOLD me he was ready to go to sleep.  That has never happened before! 

Good thing too, because today was another full day.  But that's a story for another post. 

I Need to Make Some Gluten Free Hot Cross Buns

Anyone have a recipe?  Hot cross buns are something I always ate around Easter as a kid, but now that my son is gluten free, the real things are off limits in this house.  I've looked for a gluten free product, and came across El Peto brand frozen buns. 

They were underwhelming.  The flavour wasn't too far from what I remember, but the large chunks of dried fruit overwhelmed the other flavours.  And they were tiny.  I realized just how small they are when someone brought some hot cross buns in to work today for staff and they looked mammoth to me in comparison. 

So I'm left unsatisfied with the gluten free ones I have in my freezer, and craving some REAL ones that I can introduce my son to.  Without trying to recreate an extremely complicated recipe.  Do I ask for too much? 

Does anyone have a reliable, delicious, gluten free Hot Cross Bun recipe I can try?  Anyone????

Wordless Wednesday

Chicken Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa

An Easter Tradition

Every year when I was a kid, I used to dye Easter eggs with my mom and sister.  Sometimes we would paint them or draw on them with crayons, the wax coming through the paint to reveal our designs.  It was nothing fancy, some food colouring in water and vinegar, some crayons, a little inexpensive paint.  But to a kid, it meant at least an hour of excitement and fun.  I was never the best artist in the world, but I could place an egg in a bowlful of coloured water and create something beautiful with barely any skill needed.

Last year I started the tradition with my son.  Instead of dying his eggs, he painted them using an egg holder from the dollar store.  This year we went the more traditional route and coloured a dozen eggs a variety of hues.  Rather than drain the eggs, I hard boiled them so they would be more sturdy for his little hands to work with.  My son had fun watching the food colouring tablets dissolve in the vinegar and was great at spooning the water and vinegar mixture over the eggs until he was satisfied with the colour. 

Perhaps as he gets older we'll try something more complicated, like tie-dying the eggs, or painting them using stencils.  For now, I'm satisfied with the little bit of Spring cheer brightening up my kitchen table thanks to some simple, child-friendly, coloured eggs. 

Happy Birthday to my Niece!

This time of year seems to be filled with birthdays...my son, my self, my husband and my niece all have birthdays within a few weeks of each other.  That adds up to a lot of parties and a lot of cake!

My niece Mya turns four this week, and she had her birthday party at the bowling alley, where the kids got an hour of five pin bowling followed by about an hour in the party room.  The kids got their choice of meal, and the cake is supplied from outside.

The best part about the bowling is that the alley has bumpers so the balls don't all fall in the gutters, and they also have ramps so that the balls get some momentum to make it down the alley.  The kids can bowl pretty much independently, and actually knock down some pins!

Sorry for the blur, but it's an action shot!

That's the birthday girl, getting ready to bowl a strike!

That's my son's high score there on the bottom...he's a natural :)

An hour was the perfect amount of time for a group of three and four year old kids, and they were all starving by the time their ten frames were done.

Like most places that cater to kids, the food choices were all off limits for my son- hot dogs, hamburgers or grilled cheese, with fries.  They were accommodating though and offered to heat up the food that we brought from home for him, waiving their no outside food policy due to his food restrictions.  We brought along some of the pizza we had made the night before, and some oven baked alphabet fries.  He was happy, so I was happy.  He didn't even care about what the other kids were eating.

After lunch came the cake!  My sister ordered the cake from the same place that I always order for my son, Augusto 33 Bakery in Maple.  They make gluten and dairy free cakes from scratch, and that taste phenomenal.  Rather than picking the design from a book, we supply a few items that we want incorporated into the design, and then we leave the rest to him.  This time my sister wanted a mermaid theme, so she brought the top decoration and the sugar pieces attached to the sides, and this was the final result.

Everyone commented on how good the cake was, and couldn't believe it when we told them that there was no gluten or dairy.  The cake is just good, period. 

The cake was 4 layers.  The piece didn't even fit on the plates!

The kids seemed to agree too.

Gluten Free Weekly Menu Plan

Monday: Chicken Tacos with Mango Avocado Salsa (these will be put together right before eating, but here's what the salsa looks like) 

Tuesday: Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce 






Wednesday: Turkey Burgers with Cranberry Peach Chutney (these will also be assembled right before eating)

Thursday: Clean out the Fridge Vegetable Soup 

Friday: Fish and Chips