Foodie Pen Pals - May

I received a wonderful package this month from first time participant Hailey! It was filled with great snacks, treats and meal possibilities. It included hot chocolate - with all the miserable weather here in Vancouver hot chocolate is always good to have on hand. The bag of matcha pocky sticks were devoured right away as was the cookies (claimed by my kids!). My son was also super happy to see the Chapagetti - he LOVES noodles. The M bar was great as a post run snack! And the curry will make a great part of a dinner. Thanks Hailey!

She was so sweet that she also added a hand written recipe for a lemon sugar scrub - the kids can't wait to make it and try it out (me too!).

And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

• On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
• You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
• The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
• You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
• Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
• Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for June, please CLICK HERE (www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. 

You must submit your information by June 4th as pairings will be emailed on June 5th! 

*If you're from Europe, please CLICK HERE (www.thisisrocksalt.com/foodie-penpals/) to signup. 

Strawberry Muesli Smoothie

Ever since I bought a Nutriblender, the entire family is on a smoothie kick. The kids want them every morning. We usually keep it to just fruit and milk but when it's more of a meal on the run vs a snack we've been adding muesli and yogourt to "beef" them up. Our muesli brand of choice is Dorset Cereals. In this smoothie we used "simply nutty" but this morning we opened their "super cranberry, cherry and almond" muesli - yet another delicious box! We made some no bake chocolate muesli "cookies" (they are more like a confection) with it - a future blog post!

This is the smoothie we had today.

Ingredients

1/2 cup greek yogourt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup muesli (I used Dorset Cereal's Simply Nutty)
6 fresh strawberries
1/2 cup frozen peaches
1 small orange (peeled of course)

Instructions

Blend until desired consistency is reached.
Makes two smoothies.

Muesli Fruit Crisp with Strawberries and Apples

Add a little frozen strawberry Greek yogourt and this muesli crisp is fit for a Queen!

Do you like muesli?  I have to admit that the muesli I have tried is usually too bland, dry, raw and dusty for my tastes. But I'm always looking for healthy new foods for my young kids. My 7 year old son loves oats so I thought I'd let him try muesli to see if he likes it. He did! So when I had an opportunity to try some samples of muesli and granola from Dorset Cereals I took it. I wasn't expecting to like it myself but I was pleasantly surprised. I was sent 6 boxes of muesli and one box of granola which represents their entire line offered in Canada. That's a lot of cereal!*

Dorset Cereals - love the muesli, granola and the boxes!

I have to say they have converted me to a muesli lover! Today we are eating "Simply Nutty" muesli which is loaded with ...well...nuts...brazil nuts, cashews, almonds and hazelnuts. There's also dates, raisins and oats. There are no added sugars or fats. For breakfast, we mix it with yogourt or make parfaits - layers of muesli, yogourt, fruit and sometimes a little honey.

I couldn't convert my 8 year old daughter to a muesli lover but she does love their "Honey Granola". I asked why she liked it. Her response was "It tastes really good. I like the honey." I agree. I also like the sunflower seeds as it lends a flavour that isn't in the other granolas we've tried.

I wanted to find a few other uses for muesli besides just as a breakfast. I'll be sharing a few recipes over the next week or so. The first one is this muesli fruit crisp. For this recipe, I used Dorset's "Simply Delicious" variety. If you don't have muesli you could substitute oats and perhaps throw in a few raisins or nuts if desired. I used strawberries and apples but most fruits/berries will work. I also divided the fruit amongst five creme brulee bowls but you could put it all in a 8 or 9 inch square pan.

Ingredients

Topping

2 cups muesli
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (can use all purpose if desired)
1 cup unsalted butter, cold
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 freshly grated nutmeg or tsp ground
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Base

4-5 medium sized apples, peeled cored and thinly sliced
1 lb strawberries, sliced
1/2 tsp cardamom
zest of one lemon
1 tbsp cornstarch
juice of one lemon

Instructions

1. In small bowl, combine lemon juice and cornstarch. 
2. Place all of the fruit, lemon zest and cardamom in a large bowl and gently combine. 
3. Add the lemon juice/cornstarch. Combine again.

To make the topping:

1. Whisk together all the topping ingredients except the butter.
2. Cut the cold butter into 1/2 inch bits and add to the topping.
3. Using your hands, rub the butter pieces into the flour mixture until the butter is about the size of peas.

To finish dessert:

1. Evenly divide the fruit amongst 5 shallow dishes.
2. Add a handful of topping onto each dish (should work out to using half the topping).
3. Place dishes on a cookie sheet to catch any overflowing juices.
4. Bake for 12 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and evenly divide the remaining topping over each dish. 
6. Place back in oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until topping is golden and juices are bubbling.
7. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Check out Dorset Cereals website for more details on there different varieties and where to buy it. In Canada, it is currently available in Ontario and British Columbia.

*Dorset Cereals provided their cereal to me without charge but all opinions are my own.

Review of Outpost Mini Donut Co in Steveston

mmmm mini donuts!

Just a few a of many choices.

On Victoria Day weekend, we went out to Steveston. It's a quaint little historical fishing village in Richmond, BC where you can buy fresh fish right off the fishing boats, eat some amazing fish 'n chips, and find great knick knacks at some great little stores. I normally don't review restaurants but found a little shop I just had to share!

Steveston, BC

Lots to do!

The kids wanted ice cream so after a little window shopping we found two ice cream shops. They sandwiched another little shop I had never noticed before. It's called the Outpost Mini Donut Co. and serves coffee and a variety of mini donuts. I'll take donuts over ice cream any day. The shop is super cute and comfortable and they were about a six flavours on display. I ordered a dozen mini donuts in a mix of flavours for $6.50. They are served in a cute paper cone. There was blueberry, coconut, lemon curd, maple, cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar. They were all delicious. My daughter and I loved the lemon, my son loved the maple and hubby liked coconut (and he doesn't like coconut).

Oh ya! Delicious!

Cinnamon sugar lips - proof of deliciousness!

Window drooling allowed.

If you live in Vancouver or plan on visiting Steveston this summer I highly recommend making a stop there! Check out their website here.

Location: 110 - 12240 2nd Ave, Steveston, BC V7E 6k3

Hours:   

Mon - Thu: 11:30 am - 6:00 pm

Fri - Sat: 11:00 am - 7:00 pm

Sun: 11:30 am - 6:00 pm

Can't remember the name of this fish but there was lots of them!

Salmon being sold from the fishing boats.

A little Canadian moose, anyone?

Plants vs Zombies Birthday Party

I love making my kids' birthday cakes. Princess, castle, edible butterflies, jungle animals, cars have all been past birthday cakes.This year my "baby" turned 7! Seems like just yesterday he was a toddler trying to keep up with his big sister.Today, he is truly his own person with a huge personality. He's very sweet with a sensitive side that he sometimes tries to hide and has a streak of devilishness. Lucky for him,  his amazing smile, charming personality and twinkle in his eye lets him get away with a lot (except from his sister who doesn't let him get away with anything!)

This year he chose a "Plants vs Zombie"(PvZ) party theme. I thought finding PvZ party items would be easy given the computer game is sooooo popular - boy was I wrong! Nothing, nada, rien. No party games, no party plates, no banners, no loot bags with PvZ on them. They do have their own shop. I ordered some Plants vs Zombies trading cards for the loot bags, a plastic disco figurine and t-shirt for my son's presents.

Games

I printed off some PvZ colouring sheets (see end for link) that the kids enjoyed as a way to keep them occupied as everyone arrived. For a party games I made my own "Pin the Eye on the Zombie" game. To make it I used a Zombie head from the internet and then used photoshop to cut out the eye on the Zombie. Finally I printed the "eye" so the kids could pin them on the Zombie. It was a hit - the kids loved it.

We also played musical Zombie chairs. This is the same as the classic musical game but the kids had to walk around like Zombies.

The final game was "What time is it, Mr. Zombie?" - just like "What time is it, Mr Fox?" The kids each had a turn being the lead Zombie. Mr. Zombie starts out at one end of the room with his back to the kids. One of the kids at the other end then yells out “What time is it, Mr. Zombie?” Mr. Zombie then calls out a time that is on the even hour (1 o'clock - 12 o'clock). The kids take that many steps. When the group gets to where the Zombie is, but not past him, and asks the time, the Zombie can yell "Midnight!" He then turns and chases the kids back. Then a new Zombie is picked.

Drinks

We had subway to eat but I had big pitchers of kool-aid in green and blue that we labelled "plant" and "zombie" juice.

Also, in the loot bags I included, in addition to the trading cards, a packet of sunflower seeds for them to plant, a little solar powered sunflower toy that moves its leaves, and some mini m&ms. All of the items were put in a medium sized terracotta pot so that the kids could plant the sunflowers at home - I forgot to take a picture of them!

Decorations

For decorations I searched for some high res Zombie images to print as 3 ft images. I used Picasa so I could print them as "posters" on my computer and save the cost of printing at a professional printing store. The poster function lets you print one image over many sheets of paper depending on how big you want it. Once printed you just piece them together like a puzzle.

I printed out some "plants" that we also posted on foam board. My daughter labelled them so anyone without PvZ knowledge would know who they were.

The Cake 

The cake took me a month. Well, not the cake but the figurines which are crafted out of fondant. I started them early so they could dry out and be easily placed on the cake. I'm not a professional cake decorator, I am not an artist and I'm not fast. I checked out many PvZ cakes on the internet - there are amazingly talented cake makers out there! See end of post for links.

My son, however, had the final say on whether each figurine was "cake worthy". Many did not make the grade! Trust me, it was stressful! The house does not have a back wall. I had planned making it but I ran out of time and space on the cake board! In the end no one seemed to notice or care.

The cake was vanilla with chocolate chips and little colored candies inside. The icing was just my go to vanilla buttercreamwhich I dyed in two colors of green. The cake was a serious hit. Kids and adults thought it was pretty amazing. Most importantly my son thought it was great!

Now I have a little break before my daughter starts planning her birthday party in the summer!

The Photos

Please forgive me for posting so many pictures - but a month of work deserves a bit of self indulgence :)

Cone head Zombie meets his end.

The harder to kill Bucket Head Zombie.

Lawn mowers are the last line of defense before the Zombies eat your brainz.

Chomper, sunflower, cactus, potato mine, jalapeno, pea shooter, snow pea, cabbage-pult,
wall-nut, Tall nut,  and Torchwood are ready to stand their ground!

Maybe they should run!

Add caption

Love this little guy!

The house

Other helpful  Plants vs Zombie birthday links:

PvZ Store

PvZ Cupcakes

Lots of cakes

Cake tutorial

pinterest board

Colouring sheets

Solar sunflowers (please note: I found these for $1.25 at the Dollar Store)

Blurry photo of Pin the Eye on the Zombie!

Foodie Penpals - April

Yet another great month with Foodie Penpals!

This month Lisa from Beyond the Fringes sent me a lovely package filled with amazing and thoughtful treats. A variety of teas, lovely chocolate (didn't even last long enough to take a picture of it...again!), organic garlic from Ontario, morel mushrooms, and a spicy kung pao sauce all made for a lovely foodie pen pal package. To add even more to it Lisa included a lovely hand written note and a thoughtful printed package of recipes and ideas she thought I would enjoy - so sweet!

And now it's time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 

-Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian & European residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. Same with Europeans. We've determined things might get too slow and backed up if we're trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re from the US or Canada and are in participating for November, please CLICK HERE (www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/) to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions. 

You must submit your information by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th!

*If you're from Europe, please CLICK HERE (www.thisisrocksalt.com/foodie-penpals/) to signup.