Saturday I did what many others also do every May long weekend, plant a garden.  I went plant shopping with my mom and daughters.
P.S. don't do that, leave the kids at home. At age 2 they must pick every flower they see in the greenhouse.
I bought tomatoes plants and green pepper plants, basil and pansies (to bribe my daughters to leave other flowers alone).  I bought lettuce seeds as well and a big pot to put herbs in.  This is all in preparation for my lovely produce for the summer.  I can't wait to eat toasted tomato sandwiches and salads with basil.  I love to do canning especially my salsa. My parents are planting potatoes, onions, squash and beets for us. My inlaws grow lots of cucumbers.  So my garden is in.  I learned a few things this year from my mom.  Pansies like cool shade.  Petunias and marigolds can take the heat. Geraniums are in between.  Last year my neighbour said if you pluck the dead heads off your marigolds and leave them inside over the winter (I used an open mason jar) you can plant them in the spring.  It worked and Ashley loves seeing the little green shoots that she planted come up.
I am looking forward to enjoying all the fruits of the season. I want to pass on a link to those of you who are new to gardening. This is a rough guide for those in Ontario for what is in season and when.  I encourage you to enjoy the fruits of the season as well. Feel free to raid your local farmers market or fruit/veggie stand and let someone else do the work.
http://www.foodland.gov.on.ca/english/availability.html

Great rhubarb cake recipe from the united church cookbook.  This is by far my favorite cookbook.  everything in the cookbook had turned out right and the ingredients are everyday items I have in my home.
Rhubarb cake
1 1/2 cups of brown sugar
1 tsp of salt
1 egg, beaten
vanilla
1/2 cup of margerine or butter
2 cups of flour
1 cup of sour milk (just add 1 tbsp of white vinegar to make it sour)
1 1/2 cup of fresh rhubarb
1 tsp soda
Mix together.  put in a 9x13 pan.  Top with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Bake 45-50 mins at 350.

Today I made this with my girls.  They just LOVED picking the rhubarb and adding all the ingedients and stirring.

Time sure flies...don't it!  I am way to tired to blog anymore.  I am afraid my entries will turn into venting so I have kept what I was always told true.  If you don't have anything nice to say - don't say anything.  I can tell you many wonderful things that are happening in my life.  My children are healthy and growing like weeds.  They are hilarious and beautiful beams of sunshine (with minor fits of rage).  My life is full of dairy farm life and fresh air. My house is not under construction anymore and though we have a few more boxes to unpack and furniture to move, my kitchen is REDONE and beautiful! 
My time in the kitchen has come to hault.  I run the same 12 meals through this house.  I rotate the order depending on what I have on that day but the grocery list is the same.  I can tell you I don't mind not having to think much about food right now.  I occasionally look for more crock pot recipes but the desire to cook is gone. For right now....
My 12 meals are:
BBQ hotdogs, hamburgers
Pizza (sometimes just a frozen one)
BBQ porkchops with rice and salad
Homemade battered sole fish with salad and oven fries
Roast in the crockpot with mashed potatoes, frozen peas and corn.  This is a weekend meal and often can be stretched into 2 nights.  I put a can of mushroom soup with the roast and add beef stock to make it's own gravy in the crockpot.
Speghetti ( I use the leftovers to make a lazagna and I freeze it for next week)
Taco's or meatloaf or chili or sheppards pie (no one else in my family likes these anymore because I used to cook these too often so I rotate them)
Stew or Beef Stroganoff. I make this after we have Roast beef and use up the leftovers. Also can be made and froze for a crock pot meal in the future.
Chicken fingers and fries with veggies and dip (for the kids)
Chicken legs in a roasting pan with  carrots and potatoes. Very easy  and cheap to make and surprisingly quick to cook. It is always a hit in my house.
Ham and scallop potatoes. (more of a once a month meal)
BBQ Steak and microwave potatoes finished in foil on the BBQ.

  I write my menu on the calendar for that week.  Things change daily but it keeps me from having to panic at the end of the day when I am too tired to think - What are we going to eat tonight.  I find most of these meals easy to make. Also everyone in the family will eat them.  I don't make substitute meals for those who want something else.  If Gary is looking for brownie points he will look on the menu and pull out the food from the freezer the night before.  I really appreciate him doing that.  The other nice thing about this plan is that we don't run to the store to buy groceries at the last moment. I buy what is on sale and most of all these items can be frozen til you want to cook it. If you need to pack a lunch for work, leftovers from the night before really help on the budgeting.  Over all a little planning goes along way.  You could almost make a whole months worth of meals out of this list.  What is you family's 12 favorite meals?  Make a list and make meal time easier for you.

January routine

I have been slacking off on trying new meal ideas.  This winter I am all about 'the old but good'  We have been eating lots of speghetti, chicken legs and roast beef.  The kids like those, I don't have to cook something different for them. We have had a few 'fish sticks/chicken fingers and fries' nights. Then when the kids go to bed Gary cooks him and I steaks on the BBQ.

This week I did the same old routine but I thought for the moms that are going to work each day and getting home looking for a hot meal, I would share my tips on working around the 'time' issue.  Sunday I pull my meat out of the freezer for the week.  This week I thawed 3 lbs of ground beef and 1 big cross cut rib roast.  Any cheap piece of roast would work since it is going in the crockpot.
I cooked all the ground beef and divided into in half.  One half I put in the fridge for the next day. 
Monday night I cooked a big pot of speghetti sauce
2 Cans of cheap spegghetti sauce (rinse out 1 can and add water to sauce)
1 cup of salsa
1 onion chopped
1 can of sliced mushrooms
1 stalk of celery chopped
The rest of the ground beef.
Simmer for 30 mins.
Cook noodles and eat.

Tuesday morning I put Roast beef in crock pot with 1 pkg of onion soup mix, 1 can of mushroom soup, and 1/4 cup of water.  I cooked on low for 8 hrs.
At supper time I boiled 5 lbs of peeled potatoes and made a big pot of mashed potatoes.  I boiled carrots, peas and corn for a veg.  The juice from the crockpot I boiled in a pot on the stove and added some beef stock and pepper with 2 tbsp of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of cold water.  This made a lot of gravy.  Half the amount I mixed with the ground beef in the fridge to make a sheppards pie.

That night after supper I layer ground beef in a 11x13" casserole dish with the leftover carrots, corn and peas.  Then I topped with leftover mashed potatoes. Ba Da Boom, Ba Da Bing - Sheppards pie.
I also made a very tasty Lazagna with oven ready noodles and mozzarella cheese with the leftovers from Monday night. If you didn't have cheese and lazgana noodles you could make the old stand by chili, with kidney beans and chili powder.   These casseroles could be put in the fridge to be eaten this week or frozen for a quick dinner during a busy week later on.

I plan on using the Roast beef leftover  in Beef Stroganoff for Friday night.  The recipe was given to me by my sister.  I will plan on following the recipe but add my roast bits and gravy leftovers in the stroganoff as well to make it stretch a little farther and extra meaty for my man.

Bargain Beef Stroganoff

1/4 cup                        all-purpose flour

1 tsp                salt
1/2 tsp             black pepper
2 lbs                 stewing beef, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes
1 tbsp              vegetable oil
8 oz                 small white button mushrooms, cleaned or large white mushrooms, quartered (about 2 cups)
2                      onions, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups        beef stock
3 tbsp              Worchestershire Sauce
3 tbsp              tomato paste
2 tbsp              paprika
1 1/2 tbsp        Dijon mustard
1 cup               sour cream
                        hot cooked egg noodles

1. In a bowl or plastic bag, combine flour, salt and pepper.  In batches, add beef to seasoned flour and toss to coat.  In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.  Add beef in batches and cook for 5 to 7 minutes or until browned on all sides.  With a slotted spoon, transfer beef to slow cooker; add mushrooms and onions.

2. In a 2-cup measure, combine beef stock, Worchestershire sauce, tomato paste, paprika and mustard, mixing well.  Pour into slow cooker.

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH for 4-6 hours, until bubling.  Stir in sour cream ans serve over hot noodles.

Porkloin

Often No Frills has porkloin on sale.  It is a big piece of meat for about 10 dollars.  Tonight I BBQed pork kabobs for supper.  It was so nice to have something a little out of the ordinary.  It tasted like summer when the weather is getting colder and colder.

I cut this meat into thirds when I bring it home from the store.  I cut the first chunk in a roast which I often will have for supper that night.  The second chunk is for pork chops.  I put them in a ziplock bag and freeze.  The last chunk I cut into one inch cubes and put in a large ziplock bag with 2 tbsp of oil and 3 tbsp of soya sauce and I like to add a spicy marinade.  I will use instead of marinade brown sugar and a couple drops of hot sauce in a pinch. Freeze
Last night I pulled out my pork kabob meat and tonight I was ready to make them for supper. I started my rice first then I soaked my wooden skewers ( from the dollar store) for about 20 mins in water while I prepped my veggies.  I peeled and cut and onion in half then quartered it. The fresh mushrooms I cut in half and the pepper I cut into 1  1\2 inch chunks.  You can use pineapple or anything really....  I layered pork then veg, pork then veg on my skewer til the end.  I BBQ for 10 to 15 mins.  They really cook fast and you have to watch them.
SO GOOD.  Even a little fancy.  I find this a great meal for company and best of all it is a cheap meal for a  family of four.

Smoothies

Last night after a supper of frozen pizza, I was feeling guilty about my kiddos maybe not getting enough fresh veggies that day.  So I remembered I had bought frozen fruit to make smoothies (an attempt to keep myself out of the chocolate caramel cup ice cream my husband had bought).  It was so easy and a huge hit with the kids.  You can put almost any fruit in it but you need a banana to thicken it a bit, and yogurt to make it creamy.

1/4 cup of frozen raspberries
1 cup of frozen strawberries
1 cup of apple juice
handful of fresh or frozen blueberries
1 banana
1 cup of yogurt
puree til smooth (ie)

Healthy and surprisingly filling too!

This a recipe for roasted garlic.  I do about 4 heads at one time and freeze them for later use.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/roasted_garlic/

Cream of roasted garlic and potato bacon soup
There are many variations of this recipe.  Feel free to try your own.

2 large cloves of roasted garlic
1 small onion
6 large potatoes
1/3 package of bacon
2 cups of chicken stock

Chop bacon thinly and fry in a non-stick fry pan
Add diced onion. Cook until onion is becoming translucent.
Peel and dice potatoes.  Add to fry pan and cook everything until it is all getting caramelized.  It takes at least 10 mins on medium heat.  Add heaping tbsp of flour and stir well so it mixes with fat from bacon.
At this point I put mine In a crockpot.
Add 2 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups of water. Add 2 roasted garlic cloves or more if you LOVE garlic.
cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours.
In a pot simmer for 1 hour.
I scoop out the chucks and puree in blender, making sure I got the roasted garlic chucks.  Then I put back in pot.  I like to do this to keep some of the soup chunky. If you want real creamy and you have a hand blender it works really well for this.
From here you can change the spices.  I use parsley and salt and pepper.  Also 1/2 tsp of italian seasoning.  Today for cream I will use a sour cream and milk mix but you can use evaporated milk or real cream, and even top with cheese!
This is the basic recipe.  You can try adding cayenne pepper for a kick, or hiding more veggies in it like celery, cauliflower or even carrot.  Since it is pureed no one will even know.  This soup is freezes well but i would try to freeze it with out the cream and added that part once it is thawed and reheated.