TIMELESS RECIPES: VEGETARIAN WEEK PART 1

Once before I decided to do a vegetarian week (5 days) and it was asurprisingly really easy to stick to considering I did absolutely no preparation for it. So after this past week I felt it was time to do it again. Someone consumed way too much food last week so this was much needed.

I prepared by looking up 5 different vegetarian recipes before I went grocery shopping, so that I would have all the ingredients ready and available to me. Not only were these meals vegetarian buy they were also completely new recipes that I had not tried before so you can also look at this as a recipe review as well!

Monday:

Mushroom Parmesan Penne

 

Original Recipe

The recipe is simple. You cannot mess this one up. For such a simple recipe this worked great. The longest part was when i was waiting for the penne to cook. I followed the recipe closely only during the last 30 second of cooking the mushrooms I added fresh diced tomatoes and the parsley. I like my tomato slightly cooked...more warmed rather than cooked.


Tueday:

Korma

Original Recipe

 



I LOVE Indian food but have always been intimidated to try it because of the many components. I will not lie, this recipe took a while to prep for. Im not sure how others do it, but I like to prep all my ingredients before I start anything to avoid feeling frazzled when I get into the heat of things. The only thing i would change about this recipe is to parboil the potatoes and carrots prior to preparing the meal as it took about 30 minutes for them to tendurize rather than the 10 minutes the recipe called for. Also I would add slightly less cream as it again took longer for it to reduce. This was to die for!!!

I will share the other wonderfull recipes that I've tried this week. One think that this Veggie week has taught me is that you do not need meat in order to have a wonderful meal!

mother struggles

The boys and I made some play dough this morning. After the disaster that was yesterday (not getting into it. I have two boys...you get the picture!) I decided that I needed to keep them occupied.

Motherhood has me ragged these days. I shake with fear over having to spend hours with them when Aaron is not with me. Joshua is at that age where suddenly I make absolutely no sense to him! I could have sworn that I at least had another 5 years before I had to deal with that.

Lucas pretty much does what Joshua does and its frustrating.

Who's up for a third kid :D ?????.....*Ashley gives blank stare*

My saving grace has been the fact that Aaron put a fence around the patio giving us private outdoor space. Before lunch I released the children and watched from the living room as they played for a good two hours while I drank a beer and watched reality television.

I am looking forward to my day off tomorrow and since its an American holiday the boys still have school/daycare!!! I really need tomorrow to recover and hopefully come Tuesday I'll start to feel a bit more positive.

KINGSTON

A few years ago I had a dream. One of those long, drawn out vivid dreams that seem almost like a movie but felt more like a memory.  I was in an old city, stone buildings, a center square, water nearby. Just off the coast was a ship half sunk in the water, it was brownish red from the rust and standing on a large rock at the edge of the water was a young girl looking out in at the horizon. The feeling I got from her was loss, sadness, waiting, separation, love.

A few months or so after that dream Aaron, Joshua and I (back when it was the three of us) took a trip up to Kingston because Aaron said it would be fun. I had never been. When I got there my dream hit me and everything I saw I kept thinking to myself  I’ve seen this! I am convinced that I’ve lived in this place before as anyone who truly knows me knows that im a big believer in past lives. It felt and still feels like home.  The only other time I’ve felt like this was when I gave birth to my first son Joshua. There have been people who I’ve met where I have an instant connection and no doubt felt like we had been together before, but not even that has happened to me more than twice.

A few weekend ago, I went back home.

 

 

 

 

It was a great day trip! The boys were at grandma and grandpas for the weekend so Aaron and I used out time wisely! We really had nothing planned other than to do a haunted walk at Fort Henry (I'd post pictures but iPhone pics at night in a dark fort are of poor quality!). Before the tour was went on boat cruise around the thousand Islands and explored the old city before grabbing dinner. We had an amazing time!

CURRENTLY

looking forward to: our mini vacation to Great Wolf Lodge! In June we will we spending three days in the Niagara Falls resort. If you know me you will know that Niagara Falls is a place that is near and dear to my heart and oddly enough we have never taken the boys there for more than a day. The boys are most excited for the indoor water park and the fact that they will be spend 3 days and 2 nights in a hotel! 

drinking:  a tall glass of  chardonnay of course! Some would argue that Sunday is the beginning of the week, and yes it actually is however I consider it to be the end. The day that I get to wrap everything up, reflect on the week that past and prepare for what is ahead. I like to end my week with a little alcohol!

anticipating: Game of Thrones! I know that most die hard GoT fans will kill me for saying this, but last weeks episode was weak! None of the questions that we were left with at the end of season 2 were answered, there was none of that bad-ass action that I so desperately crave and my girl Arya was complete left out of the first episode. Don't even get me started on the fact that the White Walkers were completely ignored as well. We will see what is in store this week.

eating: pumpkin pie with whipped cream on top. Healthy, I know!

wearing:  a college t-shirt with a pair of pajama pants because, lets face it, its the weekend and I had no reason to leave my house, I wont even pretend that I care what I look like at this point!

TIMELESS RECIPES: ASHLEY'S HARLEM KOOL AID

If you had the day I did then you are in the mood for a good drink! At several moments during the day I questioned my desire to have that 3rd child while counting down the minutes until bedtime. Currently by boys are soaking in the bathtub, which is my Husband's duty, so that means I can cozy up on the couch with a cocktail and my remote control nearby.

So what is in my cup you ask? Well last week Aaron and I went to Harlem's and we had the privilage of tasting the Harlem Kool Aid. I immediately decided that I had to replicate this drink! My version doesn't taste the exact same but it is pretty darn good. So once it's time to unwind fix yourself a drink!

ASHLEY'S HARLEM KOOL AID

1 ounce of Melon Liquor

1/2 ounce of Triple Sec

Cranberry Juice

Pour ingredients over ice and enjoy!

THINGS I LOVE

As spring approached the days get longer and the sun warms us up a little more. I feel the warmth growing, inside and out and it's that growth of everything around me that creates this love inside my heart. In celebration of love on a day that is not Valentines Day, I bring you a few things that make me oh so cozy.

1. I love that particular spot on my desk. The spot that instantly brings me back home and reminds me of the love I have for New Jersey, and if you are from Jersey you will understand why New York is so special to me after all it is simply The City. And when people talk about your city you inwardly smile and say to yourself "Yeah, I know. I grew up there." I can't wait to be there again. I can't wait for summer in The City.

2. The snow has melted! What is not to love about that. I don't feel that there is anything that I can say that would be a true representation of what is in my heart. It's an excitement, and urgancy for seasonal progression and all the warmer weather brings for the smith family.

3. When I ate too much during the day, I keep it simple for dinner and enjoy a naturally sweet smoothie. If you are feeling even slightly flirt, spike it with a bit of triple sec or melon Liquor, yum!

4. A few weeks ago I stopped in at guess and purchased this purse.  I had been looking for something very thin, easy to carry yet large enough to hold my essentials. It comes in a few colours but I could not resist the powder blue, white and lime green. I wanted a punch of colour and this is perfect. I use it as my every day bag and on the days were it wouldn't make sense to carry it a frown a little on the inside.

Now I am off to enjoy another one of my beloved things, television in bed with my husband!

FROM THE WEEKEND

This weekend the kids went to grandma and grandpa's so that meant that Aaron and I got to be out an about not having to worry about bored/tired/rowdy little boys.

So for those that don't know, I was born in Canada but spent a good portion of my life (years 9 - 20) in New Jersey where my parents still live. Well Target JUST opened their first store in Ontario, 40 minutes from where I live! It's their pilot store so pretty soon there will be Targets just around the corner from me in only a matter of weeks. On Saturday Aaron and I drove to Milton, Ontario and visited. I would have taken pictures if I were so annoyed by the crowd and lack of merchandise thanks to it being the first satruday since it has opened. You can only imagine the chaos! The line to the checkout was...I am not lying...9 ISLES long! They had to curve the line down into the main isle and it stretch all the way downto number 9!

After Target we went somewhere a little calmer...ikea..and compared to Target, it was calm! Thing was that the Smith family was in desperate need of a new television stand and a coffee table. For both we went with the Hemnes line. We got the larger Hemnes TV Bench with the three drawers in Gray-Brown. I love them! We also got a few decor items from Home Sense to brighten up our the once very brown living room. New red pillows and a yellow picture frame.

We ate dinner, wonderfully delicious Chicken and Waffles from Harlems which is a soul food restaurant downtown. 

We spent the rest of Sunday relaxing until the boys got home. It's nice to be able to do this every once in a while, its also nice to see their little faces when the come back home!