Ever feel like you're working so hard at something, you're really focused, driven, and determined?

     I once felt like that about autism and being an advocate for my now 11 year old son, Caleb.

    But somewhere along the way I lost traction.....I lost sight of what I was doing with him. It happened by accident because he had a period of time in his life a few years ago where he was doing so well. He was excelling in so much, and I relaxed and took my eyes off the target. 

     In these last few months though, Caleb has suddenly become a different young man. I point to pre-puberty as the main cause, but whatever it is, I quickly saw that I had fallen asleep behind the wheel and was about to crash. Caleb was suddenly being difficult, he wasn't doing so great at school, he had hit a plateau. and I had unknowingly let him get there.

    When Caleb was young, I had him connected to therapists, social workers, & play groups. We had special toys and books for him, and decided to put him on a gluten-free and dairy-free diet. We fought for him everywhere he went--church, school, the mall, the grocery store! We were autism advocates on a mission! The mission was to create awareness, promote inclusion, and to set up a solid foundation for Caleb that would help him grow into a mature, responsible and contributing member of society.

     These days I feel lost. 

     These days I feel him slipping from my grasp. I see him getting lost inside his head, zoning out, then acting out.

    I find myself angry and frustrated with him daily. Daily! I know it sounds terrible to be upset with a special needs child, but gosh-darnit he's stubborn, and struggling, and challenging! 

    And I wish I could pinpoint the moment I let my focus go, because I would go back there, slap myself upside the head and say, "you CAN"T loose focus! He needs you! You are his advocate, his support, his Mother!"

    Last week we had a meeting at his school. It came about because everyone involved in his life there was concerned about the new (and troubling) behaviours he was exhibiting. 

    Sitting in that meeting though, and hearing all those people who care for Caleb, and genuinely want the best for him, talk about their concerns, as well as their hopes for Caleb's future made me realize something; all is not lost.

    Where I was feeling alone in my hopelessness of the direction Caleb was heading in, I realized there were many other people who saw this path he was taking, and wanted to stop him, and set him right. Where I was stuck, and had no clue what to do with him, his amazing team hashed out ideas, and came up with a list of a few new things we could try to help Caleb in this strange new place in his life.

    I left feeling so encouraged, but more importantly, more focused than I've been in a long time. Focused on Caleb and what he needs, & what will set him up for success.

    Caleb is changing, and that is a little scary! But he's here, he's mine to nurture, to lead and guide. It's hard. I cry a lot. I fret and worry. But Caleb is worth it! 

 
   April is autism awareness month.
 
    I want to share this month about my Caleb, about his autism, and about his struggles and successes. 

    I hope you'll join me, support me, and support the efforts of autism awareness this month. You can show support by changing your Facebook profile picture to an autism badge, ribbon, or even Caleb's face if you want (just save and use any of the photos above!)! You can purchase shirts, pins, hats, all sorts of things. You can donate your time or money to a local autism support branch (even the smallest towns often have them!), or you could show support by asking a family you may know who is dealing with autism if there is something, anything, you can do to help them. And if the family says there isn't anything, it's because they are probably feeling overwhelmed and don't even know where to start asking for help! So, in that case, bring them a gift card for a coffee shop!!!

    I want to use this month to really help get my focus back. To "talk" my problems and thoughts out loud, which more often than not lead me to revelation about my circumstance! 

   Please join me this month! I'll be writing at least every Thursday and would love to hear from you! 
​
 

    I feel like I've been doing a lot of recipe round-ups lately?! 

    No matter, I like doing round-ups! There are so many amazing bloggers, recipe developers and photographers out in the World Wide Web, and I want to share their work with you!

    Today I have a delicious collection of Easter treats, all are no-bake, and most can be, or are already, gluten-free--which can be so helpful now-a-days with so many people trying avoid gluten!  

     These treats are also beautiful, and super spring-y.....which is nice....especially since it's still snowing here today!!! It was sunny and warm last weekend, and then from that point until this point we've had a snow storm, freezing rain, yesterday the buses were cancelled due to "inclement weather"....happy spring!!! : (  Thumbs down.

    So, I mean, making a delightful treat like any of the ones below should make at least your kitchen and tummy feel like spring is here!  

    I whipped up a double batch of the Layered Peeps Crispy Pops last night (and my husband tried a Peep for the first time!), so Spring may not have been outside, but it was inside!

​Enjoy!!!

    Erin at Suburban Simplicity created this beautiful Bunny Chow. This is a quick and simple recipe that is a serious crowd pleaser! 

   A few years ago I posted these Easter treats: Rice Krispie Mini Egg Squares and Mini Egg Macaroon Nests. Simple, yummy. The end! 

    Rice Krispie squares made from Peeps marshmallows? Genius!!! Kristin at Yellow Bliss Road created these Layered Peeps Crispy Pops by swapping out the usual marshmallows and using Peeps instead!

    Just look at that Creme Egg Rocky Road Bark from Sarah at Taming Twins!!! What the heck, right?!? Get in my belly!  : )  

   Jen at Cincy Shopper made these really cute, and oh-so-simple Krispie Treat Easter Carrots. She uses store bought Rice Krispie Treats, but making these yourself would be
​ a-okay too!

   Easter Egg Pretzel Chocolate Swirl Bark is a crazy long name for a really easy to make treat from Samantha at Five Heart Home! 

    
     We'll be heading down to Brantford and area to visit family for the Easter weekend. My Mom and Dad are away on a trip to Ireland though, so it'll be a very different kind of visit! They've left their house for us to still stay in (as it's usually our "home base" when we're in the area visiting family), but it'll be strange to not have them there!

    It'll also be potentially challenging to have Easter egg hunts in the snow! Ok, well, it is a  few hours south, so maybe the weather is nice there? I should check. 

   I loved Easter when I was a kid. My sisters and I (well, us younger girls) would get the cutest (well, cute for the '80's and early '90's!) dresses, often a cute hat to match to wear to church for Easter Sunday. On Easter Sunday morning our Mom would have at our place at the breakfast table new socks and underwear, bubbles, a jump rope, and a chocolate bunny. Sometimes other things too, but I remember those as a sure thing on Easter morning. We would always seem to have a lot of people over, and it was always a lot of fun. One year I vividly recall a basket full (FULL!!!) of solid chocolate bunnies, I remember small, medium and large ones, and I also remember eating my weight in these chocolate bunnies! The basket was right out in the open in the kitchen, and I don't remember anyone saying "please don't eat chocolate all day!"...so then I ate chocolate all day. Eek. My chocolate addiction goes way back......  

    Anyway, I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful weekend, whatever you're doing!

​xo

​    

    Well, I hate to gripe about the weather....again....but it started snowing again last night! It's official! Spring is NOT coming to Ontario this year! Sorry! With some luck we'll hopefully get summer, but I'm not holding out hope at this point! While doing the barn chores this morning, and getting the hay out for the horses from our last bale I thought, "well, crap! I guess I'm going to need to get more hay?!?!"  With the nice weather we had a few weeks ago I really thought we'd make it with the hay we had....but then the winter was like, "Psych! I'm cooooooming baaaaaack!". (insert weeping from this gal).

    Don't get me wrong, I like winter. But it's officially been spring now for 2 weeks, tomorrow is April, in 2 weeks it's Easter - so I want spring!!! I am saying that like a 3 year old having a temper tantrum!  

     Alright....move on Amy-Lyn....no amount of whining will change the weather.....

     Here at the Van Londersele house we like pizza. We like store bought, homemade, take-out (well, we rarely order take-out, but sometimes people come to visit for dinner, and they stop in town and grab a pizza or two). We'll eat sauce, cheese and pepperoni on baked potatoes, zucchini, and stuffed into chicken breasts. Because, let's be honest, tomato sauce, cheese and pepperoni together are soooo yummy, it hardly matters what they're hanging out with, it's ends up being delicious! 

     I recently have been trying to get my kids (aka-trick my kids) into eating more veggies. They are actually all pretty good about eating the veggies they like, which isn't a bad variety of veggies, but I want to be able to make less and less variations of dinner to suit us all. I'm not a make-8-different-kinds-of-dinner-to-suit-everyone kind of Mom by any means, but I do tend to make the family something to eat (it's always gluten-free), but because I eat mostly paleo, I'm the one with the adjusted meal. Yes, I am the picky child in our family scenario. Ok, I'm not picky at all, just specific. So, for instance, if we're having a pasta night, the kids will have gluten free pasta, and Adam and I will have spaghetti squash noodles, or some other veggie noodle (because I own a Inspiralizer and can make noodles out of anything!).

    Caleb, my eldest child who has autism is getting really, really good at trying new foods, but there are still a few he is very wary about. Spaghetti squash is one of those foods. But recently I'd made a casserole using spaghetti squash, and he ate it (he picked the broccoli out though). The casserole had a "cheese sauce", bacon and chicken though, so it was easy to get him to eat it. I'm not sure he even noticed it was spaghetti squash with how much he enjoyed the meats and "cheese".

    So, taking advantage of his enormous pre-teen appetite, and his love of meat and cheese, and the fact that he'd successfully eaten spaghetti squash without gagging, I thought this could be a good time to try something new and delicious. Pizza stuffed spaghetti squash! Yes indeed! 

      I will openly admit that he was reeeeeeealy skeptical, and wasn't into eating his "pizza" out of the squash shell (or the "squashes stinky coat" as he called it!), so I dumped it into a bowl, added another generous pinch of mozzarella, and a sprinkle of parmesan....and he ate it! I may have also bribed him with a treat if he finished it. I mean, sometimes, no amount of meat, cheese, or treat bribery will work to convince him to eat something new, so the fact that it did speaks to the tasty value of these pizzas! He did say when he was done, "Caleb will not like spaghetti squash" (it sounds like a question, but he was making a statement), and I said, "but you ate it all?", and he said nothing. In my Mom brain though I heard him say "drat".  : )  

     So, I'm not going to say "everyone will love this recipe!", but if your family already likes spaghetti squash then it's a no-brainer that you'll want to try this, but if your kids are on the fence, this may be the ticket to getting them on the spaghetti squash train! 

Pizza Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Ingredients:

• 1 Large Spaghetti Squash (or more, depending on how many you're feeding! You'll need one half per adult, and approx. one half per 2 children)
• 1 Cup pasta sauce (1/2  cup per each half-squash, so adjust if making more). I like to use President's Choice Tomatoes First with Basil sauce. Make sure you've chosen a suitable kind for whatever diet you're adapting to! 
• 1 Cup shredded mozzarella cheese (1/2 Cup per half squash, adjust if making more)
• 10 Pepperoni slices (5 per half, add or take away as you'd like!) Make sure you check the ingredients of the pepperoni if you are gluten free or Primal

Method: 

1. First, you'll need to bake the squash! Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Carefully cut the squash in half, length-wise. If you have a micro-wave, giving the squash a quick (5 minute) zap can help with the cutting in half. Place cut squash onto the prepared baking sheet and place into the oven
2. Roast the squash for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the skin is soft when you poke it
3. Remove the squash from the oven and carefully flip over.
4. Turn the oven to broil, and use a fork to gently scrap the squash into magical spaghetti-noodle-type strands! 
5. Fill each half squash with your sauce, then add half the cheese, your pepperoni, then the rest of your cheese. I like to do it this way because I don't like the pepperoni to get too crunchy!
6. Place the squash pizzas back into the oven to melt the cheese and get a nice toasty top! This'll take about 5 minutes, but keep your eye on the pizzas to get the tops just as you like them and to make sure they don't get torched! 
7. Once cheese is melty and delicious, remove squash from the oven and allow to cool for a minute before devouring! 

​

      For a bunch more spaghetti squash ideas, check out this post from Buzzfeed!

      I blabbed too much at the beginning of this post, so all I will say now is have a great weekend! Bye!
​      

       Hello!

       Happy first day of autumn! :)  

       Truthfully, it's not been terribly "autumn-y' around here! We've had hotter days than we had all summer, and we've had them more continuously than we had all summer! But, the earth temperature aside, our apple and pear trees are still making fruit (although not as happily as usual), and making muffins from some of that fruit needed to happen! 

​       I saw this recipe for Caramel-Apple Streusel Muffins from Tracey's Culinary Adventures! They looked so good, and I had apples to spare, so I gave them a shot! Of course, because I had a ton of apples, I made this recipe x 3 and stored most of them away in the freezer to use in school lunches, breakfasts, or after school snacks. They are delicious & full of fall flavour! 

​      Enjoy!!! 
      

     Let's shift gears a little here....and look at my kids from the last 4 years of the first day of school! I mean, they go from babies to beautiful, grown-up kids! *tear*
​

     Let's shift gears again....to a little company that is starting up that I'd love to briefly share about! It's called Little Red Canoe Book Co., and they are a Canadian book subscription business!

    I was asked to review a book box with Abby and Keziah, but that only involved getting the boxes, and doing an online survey for the woman who got in touch with me from the company - me talking about it here is all me!!!

     The girls (and I) loved the boxes! They were beautiful, filled with wonderful things, awesome books, and so much fun (which then makes reading even more fun!). So, check them out! 

      That's all for now! 

       Sorry I've been so absent! I've been super duper busy!!! 


xoxoxox

​

    Happy Thanksgiving American friends! 

    It is not Thanksgiving here in Canada, we celebrate back in October! Anywhooo, I hope wherever you are reading this, and whenever it is, that you can stop and find something to be thankful for! 

    So, I have a few recipes I've been fussing with, and I still love creating my own recipes, but the truth is, I'm often just surfing the web, looking for recipes that'll suit something I have in my mind, but spare me the grief of trial and error! 

    This is one of those recipes! I had nice, fresh blueberries in the summer, and wanted a simple and strait forward recipe that yielded deee-licious muffins! I also wanted a streusel top because I find that muffins that are just so crazy-delicious moist tend to get sticky on top. It's better than them getting dry on top, but still, I don't like sticky top muffins! And because I'm the kind of person who likes to freeze baked goods for later, if the tops are too moist, they get all icicle-y. Ya know? 

   Well, anyway, when these came out the first time looking like a million bucks, and then having all the teen staff at the summer camp I was cooking at DEVOUR them, I figured they were a good recipe! And the batches I made at home that friends and neighbours gobbled up confirmed that this recipe was a good one.    

    So, here it is, adapted oh so slightly from Chef Savvy and her Blueberry Streusel Muffin recipe! The muffins in my photos are (stupidly) shy on streusel! I made a double batch of the muffins when I was going to take the pictures, and didn't make enough topping, but when I realized it, I had already packed ingredients up, and done dishes, and I'm a little anal about cleaning and tidying as I go which can backfire in situations like these! Phew, what a run-on sentence!!! Also, the muffins I made at camp were a lot of "bakery style" with the domed top because the oven there isn't a weeny like my oven at home..... (sigh...)

​     Anyway, with a lot or a little toping, with the tops perfectly domed or not, these muffins are so good. For realz.

   Well, I wanted to have this posted earlier today. I also had a post ready for yesterday that I never got to actually finish and post. Last week the kids missed school on Friday because we drove to Toronto to see Matilda The Musical (which we had so much fun seeing!), then this week Monday was a snow-day, and Thursday was too - but we drove the kids to school (because we're mean) and because we had a meeting to be at, and also because we wanted to go into the school to be involved in the training for Caleb's new iPad. Again, with the run-on sentences! Then today was a P.A. day!!! So, I mean, this week was all wonky, and I didn't really get all the things done that I wanted to, but, oh well! I'm trying this new thing where I don't beat myself up about every failure, whether real or perceived. It's a hard task, but I think it's important to not be my #1 critic 24/7!!! 

    I will share next Thursday about my Caleb, my amazing Caleb and something that happened this past week that left me weeping like a sappy, happy Mother numerous times! 

     For now, just have a wonderful weekend, and I'll see ya next week! 


​xoxo

   

    Hey there!

    I know I used to post a motivational Monday and Health & Fitness post on Monday's, but I'm breaking the rules! I just want to share some recipes I have, and that's all there is to it! 

    This recipe is so simple, it's basically oatmeal chocolate chips cookies, minus all the scooping it takes to make cookies! :)  And, this makes a great dessert to throw together when guests are coming over last-minute. It's got some pretty simple ingredients (ingredients most people have on hand), and comes together quickly! The hardest part is letting them cool before cutting them into squares. 

     These little gems are also a nice treat to add to kids lunches, fyi. They freeze well, so, cut them into squares, put them into an airtight container, stick 'em in the freezer, and pull them out to add to lunches as needed! 

     This recipe is from Jamie Cooks it Up. She has photos of the process, so hop on over there to see them if you want to! 

    So, today was a snow day! Busses cancelled! Snow everywhere! It's suddenly winter! And I do mean suddenly! On Friday I was working out in the yard wearing only joggy bottoms and a t-shirt. Today? Winter boots, warm coat, scarf, mittens and hat. 

    Oh Canada....  :)  

    I hope you get a chance to make these bars sometime soon! Let me know if you do, alrighty? 


xoxo

     So, my sincerest apologies for bailing on this blog.....whomp whomp! 

     I feel like I've been moving around at a mile a minute, and sitting at the computer has not factored into life right now! In fact, this post has been weeks in the making! WEEKS!!! I manage to sit and write for maybe 15 minutes, then I'm off again! Not to mention sorting through photos and editing/making collages, etc. That takes time ladies and gents, and it's been time I haven't been able to find lately! 

     So, let me catch you up and take you on a journey.....a journey of the last few months.....(insert dream-sequence music here....)     

     In July we packed up and moved into a teeny-tiny cottage at Pleasant Bay Camp, located in Consecon, Ontario, about an hour away from our home in Tweed. We were going to be there for 5 weeks while I was the camp cook. 
 
       I was SO NERVOUS about doing this job!!!!! I for real couldn't sleep for weeks leading up to going, and once I got there, I spent the first week hardly sleeping and waking up every hour through the night for being so worried about being a complete and utter failure!!!  

      For as long as I can remember, I've had a pretty serious case of F.O.F. (fear of failure!). So, stepping out and doing this job was a big deal to me. Also, the fact that my preference is to stay home, and not go anywhere was really being challenged!

     A song that felt like my "theme song" for the summer was "Sparrows" by Jason Gray.  I've included the song here in case anyone wants a little listen and a serious pick-me-up! :)        

    Well, I not only made it through my cooking weeks at camp, I actually enjoyed it!!! I had many failures, but also many successes, and I had such a fantastic collection of whacko staff working with me. It was awesome. We'd blast music and sing at the top of our lungs during prep time and clean-up. Then we'd act moderately normal and quite during meal service so people trusted us and the food we gave them : ) 

    I had such a wonderful time working hard, getting to know the amazing teens I had as staff, knowing my kids were having the best time ever (they got to participate in camp all the weeks we were there!!) and spending the summer in such a beautiful location.

    After we'd left Pleasant Bay Camp, we were home for a few days (and those few days at home included a visit from my husband Mother and step-Dad), then we packed up and headed to South-West Ontario to a camp I spent 10 years of my life working and living at - Circle Square Ranch.

     My only original plan for the entire summer was to work at the Ranch for a week while my kids attended day camp. So, even though we were "rushed" finishing up at one camp and getting ready to go another, I wouldn't trade my week at the Ranch for anything! My first campfire on the Sunday night (the first night) of camp I started crying because it felt so much like home. I lived and worked there as a teen, and after getting married and having Caleb I was still there teaching riding lessons, and helping out for weekend retreats. 

     I was worried about this week too though as I hadn't taught horseback riding for a few years...but when my first class started I knew I would be fine! It took me all week to learn all the horses names though, so that was challenging! : )  

    Another thing we did this summer was to meet up with some of our relatives from Belgium! We had stayed with them for a week in the summer of 2015 when we were in Europe, and this summer they came to Canada for a visit! 

     We met with them and my in-laws in Toronto for Caribana (a Caribbean festival in Toronto). It was a loud, fairly nude event (haha!), but we had fun seeing our Belgian family again! 
​

      In the week we had "leftover" from working at camps all summer, we managed to get to the Peterborough Zoo, the Emily Trudeau Splash Pad in Tweed, and get our back to school shopping done. 

     We also attended a cousins wedding this summer, and it was such an amazing time of fun, food, drink and dancing! I love seeing my family, they are a strange, noisy, fun bunch of people!

     In early August we had a birthday party for Caleb too. Caleb's parties are usually big events with lots of people, but because we were at camp, organizing a big event at a house we weren't even at all summer seemed like a bigger job than we could handle. So, we decided to call all the kids in Caleb's class and invite them to the Emily Trudeau Splash Pad and Erin Palmateer Swimming Pool where there is a gazebo with picnic tables. We had a super low-key, no decorations party for him that involved swimming, opening presents, and eating snacks and birthday cake (a very UN-fancy, camp style sheet cake! I had baked it the day before the party while at the camp!)

    It wasn't the kind of birthday party I'd normally throw, but Caleb was pleased, and that's all that matters! 

​     My kooky kitchen staff had come for the party too, and also spent the night at our place in Tweed before we all headed back to camp the next day! It was a hilarious and fun night!!! (I love my kitchen staff!!!)
​
​

    The first day back to school went great! We were prepared, and ready for "normal life" to start again!!! My kids grew like weeds this summer, and I couldn't believe they were heading off to grades, 6, 3 and 1!!! (**tear**) 

   In September my husband surprised me with a birthday party! I was actually really surprised! It was so nice to have some of my friends and family around to celebrate me turning the un-even age of 33! Geepers, that seems so old when I type it out! 3 times this summer people thought I was 18 years old though, so I'm just going to hold onto the feeling I had when people mistook me for a older teenager. : )  

    Well, I think that's (basically) everything you've missed! 

     I'm sure I"m missing some other things, but you won't know the difference! Haha, well, it's true!!! : )  

      I think we should just move on to a recipe that is easy peasy to make! 

     Um, also, if you're not Paleo, just eat this with cooked gluten-free or regular noodles - it's delicious no matter what because bacon, rosemary and parmesan go together so nicely! 

Bacon, Rosemary & Parmesan Sweet Potato Noodles
(makes 2 servings)

Ingredients: 

• 6 Pieces bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 medium onion (I use Spanish), cut into thin strips
• 2 medium-large sweet potatoes, washed & spiralized or julienned 
• 1 Tbsp fresh, finely diced rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
• Parmesan cheese, as much as you wish! 

Method:

1. Warm a large skillet (or a large pot) over medium heat. Once warmed, add bacon pieces, and cook until it's slightly browned
2. Now, add the prepped onion into the pan, allowing the onion to cook, get soft, and get a nice brown colour to it
3. Now add in your sweet potato, and allow to soften, turning/tossing very gently until nearly done-about 4 minutes
4. Once the sweet potato has warmed and is getting cooked, add in your rosemary, and gently toss again, allowing the sweet potato noodles to cook fully - this will take 5-7 minutes MAXIMUM! You don't want to overcook the noodles or they'll get too soft and break apart
5. Once cooked, remove pan from heat, and divide noodles between 2 bowls, and top with parmesan cheese
6. Serve hot, and enjoy! : )   

      And there you have it! A recap of the last few months of my life while I've been absent from Bushel & A Peck, and a new, simple, yummy, healthy recipe to add to your quick weeknight meals list! 

     Happy November!!! I've missed writing here, and I hope you've missed me a little too! 


​xoxoxo

     

    Hey!

    In this installment of Motivational Monday I bring to you a funny little song from WhatsUpMoms. I'm not sure how I found them, but they have some funny parody videos and some awesome life hacks for Moms. 
 
    This parody song "Make It All" is about us Pinterest happy people out there. I'll admit I'm more of a recipe hoarder on Pinterest, and I don't own any glitter at all, but I still found this really funny.  : )

   Enjoy!

     My Health & Fitness post today is about some of my favourite healthy foods, so go check that out if you are looking for some ideas!  

   K, bye now.   

​

     I'm still here, fear not! 

     I missed the boat on Motivational Monday and my Health & Fitness post....but, it is what it is! I'm moving on!

     The dish I'm sharing today is one I often make because it's so simple, and everyone in my house loves it! And any random kids that may be over also seem to like it! Seriously, on 3 different occasions, 3 different girls (6 & 7 year olds) have been over when I've served this for dinner, and each one looked at it like, "eewwwwww".....and then I said, "it's just potatoes, chicken, bacon and cheese", and they were like, "....oh...?" and proceeded to eat everything I gave them. Usually with added ketchup (bleh)-but to each his own!

    The recipe can be easily doubled and made in a larger pan (accommodating extra mouths to feed), and makes great leftovers eaten cold, strait-up reheated, or re-fried in a pan to serve with eggs, or or or, tossed into a few cups of broth/stock and made into soup!        
   

Potato, Chicken & Bacon Casserole


Ingredients:

• 1 Chicken breast, about 1/2 lb (more or less is fine)
• 4 Potatoes, medium sized (I like to use russets or red skins), cut in 1 inch pieces
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 Cup broth/stock (any kind you prefer-I use chicken as it's what I always have!)
• 1/2 Tbsp paprika
• 1 Tbsp garlic powder
• 5 slices bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 Tsp each salt & pepper
• 1 Cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 green onions, sliced thin (optional, for garnish)

​Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425° F and grease an 8x8 inch baking dish with non-stick spray or by rubbing butter around it
2. Place the diced chicken and potatoes into the baking dish, then add the olive oil, broth, paprika, garlic powder, salt & pepper and toss/stir to coat
3. Lay out the bacon pieces on top of the chicken & potatoe mixture
4. Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes, until the bacon is crispy and the potatoes are tender
5. Remove from oven, and sprinkle evenly with the cheddar cheese
6. Bake another 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is melted (adding 3-4 extra minutes under the broiler if desired to get the cheese nice and toasty)
7. Let stand for a few minutes before garnishing with green onion and serving

    And there you have it! Simple, tasty, served with a side salad or even just raw, cut up veggies, and you've got a great meal!

    So......how was March Break? 

    We did well over here; kept busy, had friends over to play and visit, did some crafts, made a lot of cookies and treats, slept in, stayed up late--it's been pretty good! The weather was mostly rainy (thumbs down), but kids quite like mud and puddles, so when it would stop raining they would make the most of the squishy yard and huge puddles! My girls have been turning our chicken coop (which has been vacant all winter) into a "clubhouse", which they would play in even while it was raining too, so that was great! 

    Well, ok. I guess I'm done talking for now! I hope everyone had a great week, a good St. Patrick's Day yesterday, and that you have a good weekend while perhaps going to some St. Patty's Day parties? 

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    So, up until a few years ago I wouldn't have considered butternut squash to be something I would choose to eat on purpose. I would eat it at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter family meals when it would be a side dish, but that was about it for me.

    Back in the fall of 2014 I decided to make a roasted butternut squash soup because our neighbour had given me some squash from his garden. I roasted the ingredients, squashed them with a potato masher, and added it all to a chicken broth. It was a good soup, even my husband (a true squash hater!) liked it. But it still wasn't a regular dish around our place.

    Then, just a few months ago, I bought a veggie spiralizer (the Inspiralizer, to be exact) and suddenly I wanted to turn every vegetable I possibly could into noodles!!!

    I decided to try making noodles out of butternut squash (just the strait "neck" part of it), and they were just about the yummiest noodles I had ever had! But the only problem was it left me with the bulbous bottoms with nothing to do! I would usually cut the bottom open, scrape out the seeds to roast for snacking, and roast the squash. Then when it was cooked, I would scrape the nice cooked squash out into a Ziploc bag and throw it into the fridge for some other use later. 

    But one day, after scraping out the seeds for roasting, I ran out of time, and just tossed the uncooked seeds into a container, and the uncooked bulbous bottom of the squash into a bag, and put it all in the fridge.  

    Well, fast-forward a few days, and I still had the squash in my fridge, and I was making chicken and veggie stock in my slow cooker. After I had finished making the stock and pouring it out of the slow cooker to cool, I wondered about making a squash soup in the slow cooker. With a quick Google search I found Pillsbury had a recipe that looked super-duper delish, and could be made by just putting everything into the crock-pot and letting it do it's thing!
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    Well, this soup was so good, so very, very good! And, it freezes really well, making it a great soup for my husband to take to work! 

    The Pillsbury recipe has you blending the soup in a blender or food processor, but I simply used my immersion (hand) blender (that I purchased for $4 from a local second hand store!) and that made the job super easy. Another option (though I haven't tried it with this soup), would be to let it cook sufficiently, and then just mash it up a bit in the crock-pot with a potato masher and not use a blender of any sort. In fact (as you can see) I like my soup a little lumpier, so if you're a fan of lumpy soup you can happily use a potato masher to blend this up!

    Anywho, this warm, fill-up-your-tummy soup is fantastic, & full of flavour. It may seem a little un-seasonal now, but I think it'll be a perfect soup to help warm ya up on a drizzly spring day!
     

Curried Butternut Squash Crock-Pot Soup
Adapted From Pillsbury

​Ingredients

• 10 Cups peeled, seeded and cut int 1 inch cubes of butternut squash (about 1, 4lb squash)
• 1 Large apple, cut into 1 inch cubes (I used a royal gala, but basically any kind will do)
• 1 Large Onion, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 Tbsp curry powder (you can use more or less depending on your love of curry)
• Salt & pepper (1/4-1/2 tsp each)
• 3 1/2Ccups veggie, chicken, or beef stock (broth)
• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1-2 Tbsp maple syrup (optional)

Method:

1. In a 4-5 quart crock-pot (slow cooker) place in all the ingredients, except the coconut milk and maple syrup
2. Cover & cook on Low heat setting 8 to 10 hours
3. Once cooking time is done and everything in the crock pot is super soft you can do one of the following:

• Use a hand blender and blend up the contents of the crock pot, then add the coconut milk and maple syrup (if using), and whirrrr around with the hand blender some more until well combined. Allow the soup to completely warm up again by turning the slow-cooker to high for 10-15 minutes (the coconut milk may have cooled it slightly). Serve and enjoy!
• Pour about 3 cups of the soup mixture into blender; add coconut milk maple syrup (if using). Cover and blend until smooth; return to cooker. Blend remaining soup mixture, in 2 more batches of about 3 cups each, until smooth and return soup to slow-cooker. Turn it onto high, and allow the soup to warm back up for 10-15 minutes to fully heat again. Serve and enjoy! 
• Or, grab a potato masher and some elbow grease and mash away at the soup until it's as lumpy or not lumpy as you prefer. Add the coconut milk and maple syrup and continue to mash and blend everything together. If the soup has cooled significantly, turn the slow-cooker to high and allow the soup to warm back up for 10-15 minutes

  ***Serve topped with diced apple, green onion, or roasted squash seeds!***

     Here's a video link to Martha Stewart for a how-to on butternut squash cutting (it's also where I got that image of the squash prep)!

     Well, my husband just texted me to remind me that this weekend the clocks "spring forward" an hour for Daylight Savings for some of Canada (for a complete and home-schoolery list of Daylight Savings all over the world, click here!) : )

​    Alright, well....I can't think of anything else to tell you! Have a good weekend, make some soup, put some of it the freezer, ya know.  

    xo

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