This and that

Saturday, April 20, 2013

April #SurpriseRecipeSwap - Seared Lemon Pepper Salmon

Looking outside and seeing all the snow and the blizzard that we are having, I can't believe that April is here and just about over. With that it is time for our Surprise Recipe Swap. This is my second month doing this and it is so much fun. Surprise Recipe Swap was started by Jutta from Hungry Little Girl. At the beginning of the month we are give a blog to go and research and find a recipe that we would like to make. Then on the 20th we reveal the recipe.
This month the blog that I received was Jessica's over at Simple, Clean and Homemade. I was familiar with her blog as she has linked up some of her recipes to our Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party. After reading her blog I found out that we started blogging around the same time. She has so many wonderful recipes that I want to try. One in particular is her Spice Lamb Flatbread and I would have used this one in the Recipe Swap but right now I am off eating grains and the flatbread is party of the recipe that I don't want to change. So I have filed that away for another time.
The recipe that I did pick was her Seared Lemon Pepper Salmon. I picked this one as we eat a lot of fish and also salmon, although the salmon that we eat is usually smoked. I have tried to bake and bbq salmon but it always seems to come out dry. This recipe looked so good and I have to tell you it was.

Seared Lemon Pepper Salmon

slightly adapted from Simple Clean and Homemade

1 lb salmon, cut into four pieces

lemon pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

3 cloves of garlic minced

2 tbsp fresh thyme

juice of one lemon

Liberally add lemon pepper to the top of each salmon piece. Heat your skillet on a medium-high heat. Drizzle a small amount of oil on the pan. Place the salmon flesh down onto the skillet and cook without moving for a few minutes until a crust forms. Flip and add remaining ingredients. I mixed the oil, butter, garlic, thyme and lemon and poured over salmon. Turn heat down and cook until you reach desired temperature. Spoon sauce over salmon while cooking.

We ate ours with roasted vegetables and grilled pineapple wedges. This salmon was the best salmon I have ever tasted. It was moist and the flavour was wonderful... buttery and lemon. I used thyme instead of cilantro as I am not a very big cilantro fan and also because I had some fresh thyme that needed to be used up.

I did make a pound of salmon so that we would have some left overs but it was so good that every little morsel was gone when we left the dinner table. We had this for our Anniversary Dinner and it was lip smacking good.

Thanks Jessica ~ Simple, Clean and Homemade for a wonderful recipe.

I am no longer nervous to make salmon anymore.

✻ღϠ₡ღ✻ Marlys

(¯`✻´¯)
`*.¸.*✻✿*.¸.*✻ Enjoy your day....`*.¸.*✻✿*.¸.*✻

Links: 4 You with Love, Blogger Showcase April 2013

Thursday, April 18, 2013

#FoodieFriendsFriday and a Garlic Party!

I use garlic in just about everything I make...

Well, not everything I don't use it when I making sweets,

But I think I put it into everything savory that I make.

So a garlic party is perfect for me...

Bring all your garlic dishes and have fun at our

Foodie Friends Friday Garlic Party

We also have a great giveaway from Beth of Honey Locust Hill, one of our FFF hosts.

But first let's see who's recipes were Host Favorite.

Each week, each host will pick their favorite recipe that is their favorite from the recipe that are linked up. These recipes are then featured in the Foodie Friends Friday Daily Dish Magazine on the Monday following the party. I also my feature my host favorite on the next week's party and I like to try to make the recipe if I have time. To be featured you must have a link back to either Foodie Friends Friday or the host blog that you link up with. This link can either be on the recipe or be on a separate page. Next week your recipe might be here.

Welcome to Foodie Friends Friday!

Please take a moment to read through the rules before getting started, Thank You!

*By linking up you agree that you read these rules and all photos/recipes are original and belong to you. You agree to allow Foodie Friends Friday and any of it's affiliated websites or publications (Social Girls Media, LLC) to use photos, links, and recipes for reprint and/or republishing and distribution without monetary compensation to you. If photos & recipes are used, proper link backs to you will be included.

Adding Links back to Foodie Friends Friday and our Button is our only form of advertising to bring in more people to see YOUR recipes.

Please remember to do this. It benefits you! To thank you, we will continue to feature those with links throughout the year on various outlets.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.foodiefriendsfridaydailydish.com/" title="Foodie Friends Friday" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/busyvegetarianmom/FFFDDButtonNEW150Darker_zpse238f637.jpg" alt="Foodie Friends Friday" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Meet our Co-Hosts at Foodie Friends Friday:

Now Let's meet our sponsor this week!

*Giveaway Disclaimer: Facebook is in no way associated with this website or giveaway and holds no liability for this giveaway. "Liking" facebook pages is optional, not mandatory for entry. Sponsors will be responsible for shipping- if there is a delay or problem with prize, you must

Great prizes from Honey Locust Hills
Etsy shop

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Last Week's Winners

Thank you for all that picked my recipes and also clicked to check them out.

I appreciate the support.

Most Voted

Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies ~ This and That
The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies ~ Young Adventures Kitchen
Peanut Butter Cookies ~ This and That

Most Clicks

Peanut Butter Cookies, Triple chocolate Biscoff Cookies, Meyer Lemon Shortbread Cookies ~ This and That

Host Favorite

This week I picked Salted Sugar Cookies from Mature Spring Chick. I love trying different flavours in the my sugar cookies and never would have in a million years thought of salt. But I am sure they will taste marvelous and she has decorated them so nicely and they look so springy... That makes them even so much better. If you haven't been over to Mature Spring Chicks blog, now is a great time. She has a wonderful blog and wonderful exciting recipes.

photo 0fd6d22a-b4e6-46a9-8a76-0189fee2a3ec_zpse7fb6138.jpg

Photo Credit : Mature Spring Chick

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

A Birthday and Origami Owl

It was my sister-in-law's 50th birthday last weekend and before the event I was thinking of what I could send her that would be unique. I had decided that it would probably be jewelry as that is fairly cheap to mail. I emailed my sisters to see if we should all go together and buy her something. They had thought this was a good idea. I had already seen the Origami Owl Jewelry and that is what I thought I would get. It is unique and very personal.

Origami Owl ~ A living locket

The hardest part of the whole process was figuring out what to put in the locket. There were so many things to pick from..Which locket? What plate do I use? What charms would like nice? But this process was made so much easier for me by Stacy Davis who is an Origami Owl Independent Designer. I had emailed her with some of the items that I thought I would like and she emailed me back pictures of them put together. These pictures had the locket I wanted with different colour of face plates ~ Silver, Gold and Rose plated and a couple of different charms arrangements. So much easier this way then if I just ordered them and not knowing what they looked like together.

I had found Stacy through her facebook page and she had sponsored one of Foodie Friends Friday giveaways and I also had won a couple of charms through her page. So I knew what this company was about.

So you may ask what is Origami Owl? It is jewelry that you are able to customize yourself. They are called living lockets as they tell a story about the person that is wearing it. As this was for my sister-in-law, we decided that we would go with the family plate, the letters 5-0, her initial R, birthstone and the flower. The flower was because in Finland where she is from and lives, flowers are used with most celebrations , so it seemed perfect. I hope that she likes it as she hasn't received it yet. I loved it and think this is a perfect gift for anyone and for any occasion.

If you want more information about this jewelry, check out Stacy's Facebook and Website. She is most willing to help you with anything you need.

✻ღϠ₡ღ✻ Marlys

(¯`✻´¯)
`*.¸.*✻✿*.¸.*✻ Enjoy your day....`*.¸.*✻✿*.¸.*✻

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Whole 30 ~ Second Week

Whole 30 Program ~ Second Week

Tomorrow I will have done two weeks of the Whole 30 program. I am not going to lie to you and tell you that I didn't slip, because I did. But I didn't fall face first into a plate of doughnuts. So for that I am proud. The first couple of days for me were the hardest... Everything that I craved were on the no-no list and that list is large or at least it seemed to me. So what have I ate? Lots of fruits and vegetables and nuts.. Nuts are my life-saver.

During the day when I am at work, I don't have as much cravings. I pack my food, usually something with meat for lunch and then an egg to eat as snack and fruit and vegetables to eat when I feeling a little hungry and I always have some nuts. Nuts are easy to carry around and eat.

EGGS... I should let my husband become a chicken farmer as I eat eggs every day now. AND I don't even like eggs. I have eaten poached eggs between avocado halves, pretending that I have a sandwich. Eggs with sauteed vegetables, eggs with salsa... EGGS, EGGS, EGGs. I am even eating them boiled.

Poached egg and salmon in an avocado "bun"

So, the big question is do I feel better? I do think I have lost some weight.. but this program says not to step on the scale during the 30 days. My jeans are fitting better and I think my face has thinned down a bit. So that is good... But do I have more energy? I don't think so. This I am wondering if it could be because I am working days instead of nights. My routine isn't the same. I am also working more hours then normal too, but I SHOULD NOT BE THIS TIRED. Have my aches and pains decreases or are they completely gone? NO, NO, NO. Even as I type this my hands are so sore that it is painful to type. I think my pain is worse now then when I started this program.

The million dollar question is... Am I going to stay on this. Yes, I will give it a full 30 days. Although there are a few things that I won't give up like french vanilla creamer in my chai. At home I do use coconut milk and sugar free french vanilla syrup but at work I still use the creamer. I am sure that if a true "whole 30" person reads this they will tell me that I am not feeling better because of the few thing I slip up on. I ate 1 cookie in 2 weeks... I think I am doing good, before it would be a half a dozen per day.

I do still crave bread and pizza and cheese and I am not sure that I will ever give those things up. The only grain I have eaten in 2 weeks is 1 cookie and I have had no cheese.. I lived on cheese before. But I think I am eating healthier and that is the only thing I wanted to do with this program... And oh yeah! Lose WEIGHT.

Fried Egg with sauteed veggies and tomatoes

Cucumber, pepper and red onion salad.

To a healthier me...

✻ღϠ₡ღ✻ Marlys

(¯`✻´¯)
`*.¸.*✻✿*.¸.*✻ Enjoy your day....`*.¸.*✻✿*.¸.*✻

Thursday, April 11, 2013

#FoodieFriendsFriday Linky Party and a Cookie Party

It is Thursday and that means...

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party

This week we are having a Cookie Party!

So excited to see what you will bring to the party this week..

Last week's Host Favorites:

The Recipes That Caught our Attention

The recipes are featured at the Daily Dish Magazine
on Monday after the party.

Each week all of the Foodie Friends Friday hosts pick and the recipes are featured over at the Daily Dish Magazine. To have your recipe featured you must have a link back to Foodie Friends Friday or the host blog that you link up with it.

Maybe next week your recipe will be here.

Welcome to Foodie Friends Friday!

Please take a moment to read through the rules before getting started, Thank You!

Adding Links back to Foodie Friends Friday and our Button is our only form of advertising to bring in more people to see YOUR recipes.

Please remember to do this. It benefits you! To thank you, we will continue to feature those with links throughout the year on various outlets.

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.foodiefriendsfridaydailydish.com/" title="Foodie Friends Friday" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj628/busyvegetarianmom/FFFDDButtonNEW150Darker_zpse238f637.jpg" alt="Foodie Friends Friday" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Meet our Co-Hosts at Foodie Friends Friday:

Last Week's Party Winners:

Sponsor Giveaway

Voted Top Three

Toddler Friendly Meal ~ Naptime Review
Spinach Wraps ~ From Calculus to Cupcakes
Cafe Du Monde Beignets ~ Your Home Based Mom

Most Clicks

Toddler Friendly Meal ~ Naptime Review
Bilby's Baubles ~ What's on the List
Garlic Balls ~ Rediscovering Lost Art from Our Mothers

Host Favorite

This week my host favorite goes to Your HomeBased Mom for her Cafe Du Monde Beignets. I love Beignets and have had them at Cafe Du Monde. My husband was in New Orleans about a month ago and the only thing I wanted from there was their Cafe Du Monde Beignets. I knew he wouldn't be able to buy them and bring them to me fresh when it is a 24 hour drive so I told him to bring me a package of the mix so that I can make them myself. He went there on the first day they were there and thought he would be returning but didn't, so I didn't get any.. But now I have the recipe, so I can make them any time I want. So excited. Thanks Leigh Anne for sharing these, you made my day.

Picture credit: Your Homebased Mom

If you need more great cookie recipes head over to

the Daily Dish Magazine

#Cookies, Cookies and more... Triple Chocolate Chip Biscoff Cookies

We are having a Cookie Party on Foodie Friends Friday starting tonight at 9pm EST.

I hope you will all join us with your favorite cookie recipes.

I can't wait to see what you will bring.

So in honour of this party I decided to make my own cookies.

I was looking for a recipe to make for a bake sale that my hubby had to bring baking for this week and found this wonderful recipe from Isabelle at Home. I love Isabelle, not only because she is Canadian but she has a wonderful blog and wonderful recipes. You have to head over there and check them out, her post will make you want to come back for more.

This recipe had biscoff and as we always have biscoff in the house, I knew we would have the ingredients. My husband goes through a jar a week. Biscoff and chocolate chips, were could a person go wrong.

I had sent the couple leftover cookies that I didn't pack for bake sale with my hubby and he sent me and email yesterday saying "So can u make some of the cookies made yesterday again? They taste very goooooood!!!". I made a second batch just for him... But remember to check the temperature of the oven. I thought I had turned it to 375 but it was closer to 400 so a few got burnt. But the cookies must be gooooood as he is even eating the burnt ones :).

Yesterday afternoon I got another email from hubby that he received from one of the guys at the bakesale ~~" Your cookies were a huge hit- we had a few people come back to buy more after getting one."

These are one good cookie. Thanks Isabelle for the recipe!

Triple Chocolate Chip Biscoff Cookies

adapted from Biscoff Chocolate Cookies

3/4 cup biscoff spread
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 tbsp cream
1 egg
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cup white flour (King Arthur Flour)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla (I used Mimi's Magic Apron Vanilla Extract)**
2 cups chocolate chip or broken baking chocolate ***

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Cream biscoff spread, butter, brown sugar, cream,egg and vanilla together. Add flour, baking soda and salt until just mixed. Stir in chocolate. I used my pampered chef cookie scoop and dropped them on the cookie sheet. Bake for 12-14 minutes. Mine didn't flatten out like Isabelle's did.
*** for the first batch of cookies I use 1 cup milk chocolate Ghirardelli, 1/2 cup semisweet Ghiradelli baking chocolate, broken in pieces and 1/2 cup Ghiradelli white chocolate broken in pieces. For the second batch I use 3/4 cup milk chocolate chips, 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup white chocolate pieces.
** I won Mimi's Magic Apron Vanilla Extract and love the flavour. It also makes me believe that my mom is baking right beside me as my mom's name was Mimmie.

I even broke down and had a cookie, although I am not supposed to have one as I am on a no sugar, no grain, no legume program right now. But they smelt so good I just had to try them.