Wednesday, September 4, 2013

What I Ate Wednesday: with a back to school sushi party


I'm a worrier. I am. I come from a whole family of worriers. So, when it's back-to-school time, I worry about whether the kids will have friends in their classes, whether they will have nice teachers and whether they will manage to overcome their dislike of French class.

I think that I'm more worried than the kids are - but, just in case, we try to make things a little more fun around here at this pivotal time of year. For our family of four, the quest for more fun tends to lead to a sushi party. Any reason to have a sushi party is a good reason.



While the boys went to pick up the vegetarian sushi, my little gal and I decorated the table with candles and fake rose petals. She also created a platter of appetizers all on her own - with carrots, grapes, cucumber and apple slices.



Before we dug into the sushi, we toasted to a happy and successful new school year. (The kids had ginger ale while Mom and Dad enjoyed rum and cokes.)


I made a banana chocolate pie from "The China Study Cookbook" for dessert. My husband and I enjoyed it - the kids not so much.


With school starting up again, we'll once again be enjoying after-school fruit platters, like this one my son and I shared for a snack the other day.


Also enjoyed recently: quesadillas with my husband's easy guacamole and pasta sauteed in olive oil, Bragg's and minced garlic.


On Labour Day Monday, we had another celebration of sorts - any time you have pizza and pasta I consider it a celebration! That's my broccoli pizza in the foreground. The boys had panzerotti while my daughter had cheese pizza. We all shared penne with Yves' fake meatballs.


And now for my impromptu Tuesday menu. Usually my kids take the school bus, but it was the first day of school so I went with them to find their new teachers. I didn't feel like eating so early in the morning so I took one of these delicious Envirokidz Peanut Choco Crispy Rice bars with me and ate it after I left the school.


After a brief shopping trip, I came home and ate some watermelon. When I cut the watermelon up for school lunches the night before, I decided to cut some for me too. Otherwise I probably wouldn't bother doing it the next day.


My husband called to tell me he had accidentally taken my leftover broccoli pizza to work. I was not happy. But I fried up mixed frozen veggies and Gardein faux chick'n in olive oil, minced garlic and Bragg's and then stirred in leftover penne. I also had grapefruit Italian soda.


We took the kids out to Tim Hortons after school to hear stories about their first day. By the time we got home I didn't feel like cooking so I defrosted lentils and rice (yes, you can freeze it!) and sauteed Gardein chick'n strips. They come with a tasty teriyaki sauce. As you can see, I was too lazy to even prepare veggies!

I may have also consumed half a bag of dark chocolate covered almonds while watching The Vampire Diaries later in the evening too. The Archer Farms dark chocolate covered almonds (from Target) are addictively delicious, and they don't have milk in them. I almost wish I had not discovered them...almost.

Some fun contests


While you are here visiting, please enter to win cool prizes. I'm giving away some awesome, eco-friendly school supplies and lunch containers, as well as a mom's organizing prize pack.


Make a photo book for family (at 15% off) this Thanksgiving!


Use Blurb to make a small book for relatives and friends you want to say thank you to this Thanksgiving. Create your books now and give yourself more time to plan your Thanksgiving dinner! Blurb makes book making simple. I like to use one of their easy templates myself. From now through 9/9, get 15% off with the code: TAKE15. 


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14 comments:

  1. Is all the sushi gone?! What a great way to get the kids back into school routines ... good, good food. I took my daughter grocery shopping yesterday to get her started for the first few weeks. That's my big worry ... that she won't feed herself properly. After picking up all her food, I think she's going to be okay and at least eat veggies for snacks ;)

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    1. Oh, yes, the sushi is gone! Once the photos are taken it lasts about 10 minutes.

      The key to getting kids to eat well is definitely in the shopping isn't it? You have to have lots of fruit and veggies around! And make sure they are cut up. ;) Same goes for me. If I'm lazy, I reach for the packaged snacks.

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  2. That is lovely that you made sushi with your kids. My mum always got me involved in cooking and baking and I really think that has helped me to cook and eat healthier.

    p.s. I'm a worrier too!

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    1. We do make sushi regularly, but for our party we ordered in! Too busy cleaning the house for back to school to cook. ;)

      I am hoping that having the kids help out with the cooking will help them make good choices later, like you. :)

      Thanks Nikki. And try not to worry. ;)

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  3. I WANT SUSHI!! You always eat what I wanna eat...sigh. And so many yays for the photo book discount-- a perfect Xmas present for relatives in California!! Getting Thing 3 on that immediately lol!!

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    1. I want sushi every single day.

      Good idea on the photo book - getting someone else to do it. It can be a lot of work, can't it? :) I love the end result though.

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  4. WOW! I LOVE your sushi serving dishes - you have some great style! :)

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    1. Thanks, but I can't take the credit. The sushi comes in those beautiful trays. I wash them and reuse them for homemade sushi or to bring cookies to people's houses. They are so pretty and useful. :)

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  5. Argh, I lost my comment! I said it's always a little strange to me that you guys over there start a new school year in September, down here we start in late January and our summer holidays start the week before Christmas usually. Same with the American family calendar I use, it starts in August (but goes for 17 months) which always feels a bit weird :)

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    1. Summer holidays at Christmas would be very strange to me! I guess we get so accustomed to our schedules, don't we? :)

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  6. Yum! I always love your sushi parties, those giant platters look delicious. Worry? Yes, I'm in that camp too :)

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    1. Yes, when you have a baby there are so many other things to worry about! I remember it well!

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  7. What a nice Mommy you are! How wonderful to have a sushi party to celebrate the new school year. Everything looks yummy! I hope your worries don't come true, but even if they do, your children are lucky to have such a hands on Mom. xoxo

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    1. Thanks Karen! I'm glad the kids enjoyed our sushi party, but I get a lot out of it too - namely sushi. ;)

      So far, so good with the schooling. One week down! :)

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