Lemony Paneer Curry

I saw this recipe at CURRY AND SPICE a few days ago and I put it in the back of my mind for something to try. Our grocery store doesn't sell paneer and although I have made it before I enjoy the convenience of it already being made for me. So I waited until we were able to get into the "big city" and picked some up.


Head over to CURRY AND SPICE to see a more detailed recipe.

I have had mixed results with recipes where the tomatoes are supposed to "melt" but this one seemed to work out very well. I tried to follow the recipe she posted exactly but I don't have lemon or lime leaves so I just used a peeled the rind off a lemon and let that cook in the sauce for a bit.




Turned out really well. I made it exactly as she wrote it (other than the lemon and lime leaves) and there are a couple of tweaks I would make to suit us. Next time I would probably make it with chicken as well. Paneer is hard to find and the store bought stuff isn't that good. I also think it could have used just a little bit of spice. Just a kiss of heat at the end.

Will definitely make this recipe again. Took probably 20 minutes total to make, which is perfect for those night it takes 2 hours for your daughter to go to sleep and it's all of a sudden 9:45pm and your like "guess we should eat something."

I love these summer days...

These summer days are the best.

We had a leisurely breakfast follow by colouring pretty much everything I would allow her to colour. Then we read every single book we own....twice.

A quick snack of apples and she was on the go again. Outside this time to get some play in before the UV got too high. Sliding, running through the sprinkler, investigating the garden. It was a lovely day. Really hot and sunny but the humidex wasn't as bad as it had been.

After at least an hour Daphne started to slow down and eventually crawled over to mom for a snuggle. So we came inside for some Paw Patrol and a snack. She chugged a big glass of lemonade and was ready for her nap.

The afternoon consisted of laps around the kitchen, endless Itsy Bitsy Spider/Wheels on the Bus/If Your Happy and You Know It renditions, and of course more colouring.

Excitement for when dad arrives home...and he even bought me a book I had been looking for. What a swell guy.

Grilled cheese for the lady and artichoke linguine for the larger humans. Daphne always heads to bed around 7pm and I always feel like I could follow right behind. I managed to stay up and watch some Olympics with the hubz before passing out.

These days go by too quickly...the summer will be gone before we know it :(

Nature Baby

There is a trail I used to go to with my parents called Mill of Kintail. It has a few real hiking trails and a nice easy loop for those less coordinated. We took D there for a little run around and she had a BLAST!

It was almost impossible to get a picture of her face. She was an actual blur of activity the whole time. It was great though. Took about 40 minutes to get those tiny legs around the smaller-easy loop but I think it's safe to say we will be going back

Vegan Cucumber Mint Smoothie

I seem to be on quite the kick these days of drinking and especially trying out new smoothies. I have one every single morning for breakfast. Daphne loves it and it's the only tried and true method I have found to get spinach inside her body.

One afternoon, after I put D down for a nap, I was snacking on some cucumber and cruising around the internet. I am obsessed with looking up the health benefits of foods, so of course I looked up cucumber. Not too much information I wasn't already aware of: lots of fiber, helps with inflammation etc...but that's how I stumbled across the idea to make a smoothie with cucumber in it. How could I have been so blind...so ignorant..so blissfully unaware!?

So for my first attempt I used: cucumber, mint, apple, spinach, honey, chia seeds, ice cubes and enough water to get it to a smoothie consistency. This time I tried it with all the skins on, they do hold a majority of the goodness of fruits/veggies, so although all the recipes I found online had the cucumber peeled I wanted to try it my way first.

And here is the result:

Really good. Daphne liked it. Needed more mint, though. I really like that there is a faint taste of cucumber throughout it. Very refreshing. Put some vodka in there and I'm ready for summer! It's definitely a hardier texture than a fruit smoothie but that's how you know it's good for you, right?

I will be making this again, for sure!

Don't drink the water...

My hubz and little lady have flown the coop. Off to spend the next 2 days with Mimi and Opa (hubz parents.)

So I'm sitting here with a muffin (or two...I'm real hungry) and a big cup of coffee. A big cup of coffee made with bottle water. I don't know where you're reading from but if your in Ontario you've probably heard about that small town outside of Ottawa who isn't allowed to touch the water. Ya...that's where I live. No drinking, watering, bathing, laundry...the ONLY thing we are allowed to do is flush it down the toilet. I have to admit I felt pretty posh brushing my teeth and washing my spoon with bottled water. 

We had some excellent luck and had just filled the 6 liter Brita the night before so we have only had to pick up a 24 pack of water bottles so far. I hate water bottles. So much waste. But we don't have much of a choice right now.

Coincidentally we already planned for D to be with her grandparents so at least she will be able to play in the sprinkler and have a bath. 

Water is supposed to be cleared by Friday at 5pm...but that's tentative. We really have no idea how long this could go on for. And they refuse to tell us what is in the water. Just that there was a loss of pressure that compromised the water. 

They also did a piss poor job of telling people. Apparently the water has been compromised since 8:30am yesterday and I didn't hear about it util almost 1pm...when my husband heard it on the radio. Took the town until 5pm to confirm the water my daughter and I had been drinking all day (the Brita water from the night before) was safe. And if I didn't hear about it until 1pm I'm betting there were may elderly people who had no idea at all. Very scary.

But for now I'm drinking my posh coffee and watching the Olympics. Our town in completely sold out of water but thankfully hubz works in Ottawa and can pick some up there...may have to pop into the parents house to have a shower though...

Culinary Tour of Arnprior - Krave Bistro

I was very interested to try Krave Bistro. It looked super cool through the windows and the menu was intriguing. Coincidentally my mother-in-law decided she wanted to try it out for her birthday dinner. I was pretty excited. It's only a 15 minute walk from our house...although it was 32 degrees the day we went so we drove....too hot for Daphne....and mommy.

The restaurant is very trendy. Brick walls, old Coca Cola and wanted posters on the walls. The ceiling fans are even unique. So, you could say I was very into the decor.

Red pepper and feta dip

The service was very friendly and attentive. It was shockingly busy for a Tuesday night and with only one server working the service was understandably a little slow. But we weren't in any rush.

Baked Ravioli

We ordered two starters. Baked ravioli and a red pepper and feta dip. Both were incredible. Agreed by all. The ravioli was crunchy on the outside and full of molten cheese. It came with a little bowl of marinara to dip them in. The red pepper and feta dip was creamy and sweet. Served with tortilla chips and triangles of naan bread. I probably could have eaten just that for dinner and been happy. The portions were significant.

For dinner I had a skillet mac'n'cheese. Half because I wanted pasta and half because I wasn't sure Daphne was going to eat her dinner so I wanted to have a back up. She ended up LOVING the waffle fries they serve so I had a load of leftovers to bring home. Like I said, the servings were huge but the quality didn't suffer...although I do think they could have put more cheese on the mac'n'cheese.

Skillet mac'n'cheese

Montreal burger

My husband, Will, had a Montreal burger and a poppyseed salad. I didn't try his burger but it was a massive patty topped with smoked meat, swiss cheese, and Dijon. He didn't have problem putting it all away so I think he liked it.

I didn't get any pictures of my in-laws food...not sure if they wanted to be included in the blog...but there were rave reviews from across the table for the fish taco and the brie burger.

They also serve breakfast....and I am really into breakfast...so we will HAVE to go back. I'll be honest we didn't pay for the meal so I can't speak too much to the total cost of 5 people eating, but the pries on the menu were incredibly reasonable.

No complaints at all. It's nice to see a trendy delicious restaurant in Arnprior. There are so many dark watering holes and fast greasy garbage restaurants here...we deserve some quality.

And BONUS: I love how they serve pop in glass bottles....

Unexpected Renovation

We had a tiny water leak in our spare room. A storm knocked a couple of shingles off our roof and water just came flooding in. Of course since it happened at night and in the spare bedroom we didn't notice until the next afternoon.

So my house is a banging, pounding, power tool centre for the next month while they fix the water damage.

All I can say is thank goodness for home insurance, and for our awesome claims adjuster who helped us knock our deductible down to $0.

This also gives a great excuse to repaint this room...I never liked the colour anyway!

Daphne's Birthday Party!!!

Ugh, it's been so busy around here this summer it took forever to get these pictures off my camera...but here they are! Daphne's 2nd birthday.

We had a couple of my friends up from Toronto and all the grandparents. There was lots of food, ridiculous amounts of time in the sprinkler and two tired toddlers by the end of it all. It was such a fun day, and perfect weather to be outside....except for one small thunder storm...

My mom has a post up on her blog as well with some different pictures. Check it out if you'd like. 

Frozen Yogurt Berries

I saw this idea on Pinterest and I couldn't resist trying it. Aside from how tasty this is, it's also adorable and very easy.

You need: fresh berries and yogurt....that's it.

Wash whatever berries you're using; I use blueberries and blackberries. Roll each berry in the yogurt so they are fully coated. Place on a lined baking sheet and put it in the freezer.

I bought a tub of honey flavoured Greek yogurt because I figured the yogurt I make would be too thin to really coat the berries properly.

Freeze for about an hour and then enjoy!

Guilt free snacking and so summery!