Bear with me as I just have to talk about how much I love being a mom and grandmother 🙂
I always knew I wanted to have children from the time I was little. It was never something that I flip flopped about. I just always wanted to be a mom. I looked after my younger sister and brother from the time I was 10 years old. I started babysitting when I was 12 until I was finished high school. Looking back, I envisioned myself having 2 kids shortly after being married at 21. In reality I met my husband when I was 25 and we didn’t get married until I was 29 and then had my first child at 31. Ten years after what I thought was my ideal age 🙂 My kids are all approximately 2 years and 9 months apart. (just lucky) I wanted them to get along and not fight. I think I managed that pretty well. They all talk and get together on a fairly regular basis either at home or at their respective homes and they all have a terrific sense of humour. We regularly have running family chats on “Whats App”. In our family if you are thinking of joining it, you have to have a good sense of humour and be ready to give and take.
Now that my kids are starting to get into relationships and having children themselves it’s really wonderful to see how they’ve grown into such wonderful people. Even though they will always be my kids and I will always worry about them, my greatest joy is becoming a grandmother. Some people look at it as being seen as old, but I am absolutely thrilled to have that added to my list of names.
I am a daughter, sister, wife, mother, aunt, niece, and now grandmother. My greatest accomplishments!!!
I’m sitting my grandson for the next 5 days. I’ve done this before and we’ve had a couple of sleepovers. It really is so much fun. You get to re-live all of those milestones. He is almost 11 months old and such a little gem!!! His mom and dad (my son) are such good parents and “little man” is so loved and the happiest little fellow around.
I love having my kids and grandson over for a family dinner on Sunday or even during the week. We talk and laugh and laugh and talk some more and it really is the best having family around.
My kids love coming over especially for a home cooked meal ha ha. I try to make meals that I can prep before, cook quickly and not spend too much time away from the visiting. I always have offers to help with prep and serving and cleaning up and of course offering to take leftovers off my hands ha ha. The only stipulation is bring back the containers!!!
So here is one of our faves…
Barbequed chicken and roasted vegetables and usually a salad of some sort. Dessert will be for another post.
For the CHICKEN I will either use boneless skinless chicken breasts or chicken thighs. Thighs are very forgiving and stay tender and juicy (but not too juicy 😦 ) I make this type of chicken at least 2 times a week.
So the amounts are approximates. I’m not a measurer for this type of thing so adjust if required.
4 Tblsp of Extra virgin olive oil
Juice from half a small lemon
1 1/2 tsp of Dijon mustard
1 tsp of Cavenders Greek Seasoning (not sure if this is a Canadian thing) If you can’t find this you could just make a mixture of dried Oregano, salt and pepper, garlic salt, dried rosemary and anything else you feel like adding 🙂
Then depending on what herbs I have growing, I will add fresh parsley and fresh rosemary.
Mix it all together and coat the chicken with it. I use a Weber barbeque so I will put all 3 elements on medium and grill on one side for 5 – 10 min until it’s golden brown and carmelized and then flip it over and cook another 10 min until that side is golden as well. It turns over easily if you’ve let it cook long enough. The secret to juicy chicken is to not keep flipping it over and over and not poking it with a fork. If you push it with your finger it should still be a bit spongy. I never use a meat thermometer but you could do this as well.
ROASTED VEGETABLES
Potatoes cut into bite sized pieces. I like using the new potatoes that are available in the market gardens right now.
Carrots cut into the same sized pieces as the potatoes. This ensures they all cook at the same time.
Onions (I like Walla Walla when in season) I just use maybe 1/4 of one sliced thin.
Cauliflower, This is something new I’ve tried and it really gives a wonderful taste to the cauliflower.
Depending on what I have in the fridge or what’s in season I will sometimes add Parsnips, Mushrooms, Beets.
The amounts of each vegetable depend on how many you are serving and how many leftovers you want. I ad lib all the time.
Then put everything into a pan that can sit on the barbeque and drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and salt and pepper to taste and mix so all the vegetables are coated. I will sometimes start the vegetables ahead of time so that they have time to cook and will be finished at the same time as the meat. These you can turn frequently so that they carmelize and crisp up.
And there you have it. A tasty and easy meal. With this one I made a quick caprese salad made with this lovely bocconchini cheese from Beast and Brine, a local deli.
Enjoy your meal and your family!!
Live life fully ❤
LOVEMYFAMJAM 