Comedy « Kell's Kitchen

Salvation in the Pantry

June 11th, 2012 by Kelly Serjeantson

We had a wonderful weekend – lots of swimming, playtime and SUN. A little too much sun as it turns out. Sunscreen application is required here in our house, but re-application after horsing around in the pool for a bit sometimes slips our collective minds.

So two out of three had pinkish shoulders this morning – not as bad as I feared, but definitely not something that I’d like to make into a habit. I am chalking this up to not quite being in summer-mode, what with school still in session and all. You must forgive yourself a little sometimes…

As a mom, I have experienced all sorts of health-related issues with my three – upset tummies, headaches, grumbly bums. I keep a supply of drops, pills, creams and BandAids on hand for pretty much anytthing. Well, anything except a sunburn it turns out. I had nothing in my cupboard for relief from the stinging tightness on their backs. I applied cool cloths and some moisturizing cream last night, but the kids were complaining after school and apparently were so sore, they couldn’t possibly carry their backpacks home! Insert exaggerated eye-roll here.

According to my good friend, if I don’t have an aloe vera plant (which I don’t because I KILL everything) I am supposed to apply vinegar. Yes, vinegar. Now, you more experienced moms may be shaking your heads at me, thinking, well of course you apply vinegar to a sunburn. I, on the other hand, could only envision my son emitting loud screams of pain as I rubbed it on his poor, raw, pink skin.

Alas, I was wrong. A quick search and voila – it’s true. Some believe vinegar has antiseptic properties, some think it takes away heat from the skin, others think this is an old wive’s tale.

The verdict?

One slightly relieved boy (whose smell is now making me crave french fries), and one relieved mom, who now has a secret weapon in her arsenal against yet another childhood woe.

So, now I’m thinking about other products I have in my pantry that could help me out in a pinch – not to mention keep chemical concoctions away from my kids….Suggestions, anyone??

Posted in Comedy, General, Health, Kids, Uncategorized | No Responses »

Saving the World – One Chick Pea at a Time

March 27th, 2012 by Kelly Serjeantson

So yesterday was Meatless Monday – a little experiment for our family. We don’t consume a lot of meat and have experimented with vegetarianism too. To be truthful, after an extremely busy hockey-soccer-birthday party-hockey-soccer weekend, I was too pooped to shop and wanted to use up some stuff in my fridge.

As such, dinner became a curried chickpea over rice concoction. I have made this many times so I know my kids will eat it. They ate it so quick yesterday, I didn’t even have time to snap a picture I have chosen to stop buying canned goods recently due to concerns about BPA and the environment and cost, so a quick boil and simmer of dried beans was in order. Being inexperienced with this – I actually didn’t think about the quantity I would need for dinner – I poured a bunch in the pot and had about 2 cups left over.

Now, I have to pause here, and confess that I have ~~little~~ ok, big potato chip addiction. Not just the once-a-month, need some salt kind. The where-did-I-put-the-chips-it’s-quiet time-and-I-want-my-snack kind of craving that hits me usually as soon as the kids go to bed! I really don’t need to eat chips (who does really?) but I enjoy the crunch and the saltiness ALOT. I recalled seeing a tweet from one of the local bloggers I follow (see her juggle over here ) about roasted chickpeas and thought – PERFECT! Score one for me for using up the extras instead of tossing them, AND I get a healthy snack to boot. Unfortunately, I didn’t think of checking her site for the recipe and found another at a fave site of mine.

So, here’s the recipe I used.

You need:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 pinch sea salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 dash crushed red pepper
2 cups chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Whisk together spices and oil, then coat the chickpeas thoroughly. Spread on a foil-lined baking sheet and roast at 375F for about 45 minutes. I shook them around a few times, just to make sure they cooked evenly.

I used less cumin and maybe slightly more than a pinch of salt. THEY ARE YUMMY! Next time, I am trying the Mexican Roasted ones I first heard about for when I have the salt & vinegar craving…

Posted in Comedy, Health, Recipes, Tested & Tasted, Uncategorized, Vegetarian Recipes | 4 Responses »

Take it or Leave it; This Ain’t No Restaurant

September 13th, 2011 by Kelly Serjeantson

I was possibly influenced by the fleeting full moon, or hadn’t had enough sleep last night, or WHATEVER, but I was not in the mood for the whining and complaining about dinner today. It started on the walk home from school – “What’s for dinner, Mom?” This was my answer:

“Geez, 950 million people NEVER have to ask that question because they HAVE NO FOOD.”

Sign of things to come in my house, I tell ya.

So fast forward to 5pm. I have helped with homework, stood over kids unloading the dishwasher (don’t get me started on the complaints there), done 2 loads of laundry, made my oldest walk the dog and suddenly, it’s time to get some food on the table.

Yesterday, I made some yummy grilled, spice-rubbed chicken breast. I served them over rice for the menfolk in the house while my daughter & I went out to eat. I had four left over and figured I could do something interesting with them. The day was gloomy here, threatening skies, a little cool – a comfort-food kind of day.

My mom once made a wonderful Chicken Divan, and since I had all the right ingredients, I figured, why not? We aren’t generally casserole people, but with three kids in hockey this winter, I think we might have to convert. Then came my dilemma:

NOBODY WAS GOING TO EAT THIS.

I have one who won’t touch broccoli, one who gags at creamy things, another who is pretty well only eating when the wind is right and the last who is (ahem) watching his cholesterol. Since I believe that a happy mom makes for a happy house, I thought, What the heck? I’m making this anyway because it’s what I want.

I did turn to my trusty friend, the Internet, for a quick recipe. I had a general idea, but rightly guessed that a little guidance was in order.

So, thank you, Paula Deen for the recipe. This beautiful Southern woman knows her casseroles. However, I nearly choked when I saw amount of sour cream, mayo and cheese she uses. I quickly thought about my husband (and his cholesterol count) and decided that I needed to shape this up a bit if it was going to suit my family.

So, here’s what I did:

Used 1 fresh head of broccoli instead of frozen. (Nothing wrong with frozen, I just didn’t have it! Sauteed it with onion, garlic & chicken before adding sauce)
Halved the amount of chicken, and cut into cubes instead of shredding.
Used a quarter of the sour cream (no fat) and mayo (Olive oil based).
I only used 1 can of soup (because I didn’t read the list thoroughly!) I didn’t have it on hand, but next time I would used reduced-fat cream of mushroom soup.
I did not add any extra salt, figuring that the soup would have plenty. Also, the chicken was nicely spiced, so no extra flavour was required.
Oh, and because I drank it all the night before, I left out the wine!
Last, I used crushed whole wheat crackers instead of buttered bread crumbs for the topping.
Served it over rice (used all my leftovers! Yay me!)

So how did it all turn out? Well… IT WAS AWESOME!

The kids, despite their initial resistance, ate, and one asked for more. The broccoli-hater pushed her evil green bits to the side without complaint. My reflux-boy had no problems and the fair-weather eater? Well, a little more prodding was required (i.e. raw broccoli traded for cooked) but he ate too.

Verdict? This won’t be in regular rotation due to the higher calorie/fat count, but it was delicious. I will consider it whenever I have some leftover chicken lying around, and a hankering to torture my children…

Posted in Comedy, Health, Kids, Recipes, Review | No Responses »

Pie in the Sky – Father and Daughter Bond Over Pastry

May 29th, 2011 by Kelly Serjeantson

The sun had returned and the rain clouds were gone. Television was turned off and the kids shooed outside. A trip to the market was in order and after a little cajoling and prodding – husband and daughter were off.

I had hopes of some yummy strawberries and maybe some garlic, but what I received upon their return was an unexpected surprise. Apparently, somewhere between here and the market, a plan was hatched to bake a pie. My daughter has experimented in the kitchen; she’s made muffins and cookies, does a mean grilled cheese and a fine scrambled egg too. Husband? Well, he’s not too shabby either. (Minus the mess he leaves in his wake!) A pie though? Really? He doesn’t even EAT pie. But I soon realized that this was about more than a pie – it was a connection being made, some fun and light in the house, a project they would do together that didn’t involve Lego.

I refrained from helping too much – save for some advice on buying a piecrust and how she should dice the rhubarb and slice the strawberries. This is the recipe they followed, adding a secret ingredient they wouldn’t tell me about.

I could hear giggles and patient instructions coming from the kitchen. Sometimes from her, mostly from him. I did dash out to grab some vanilla ice cream because who DOESN’T have ice cream with their pie??

The end result? Absolutely delicious. Perfectly tart and sweet together (kind of like them), and the store-bought crust? Even my mom would be proud!

Posted in Comedy, General, Kids, Recipes | One Response »

Whoops, there it is!

May 4th, 2011 by Kelly Serjeantson

I was too tired to cook in my own kitchen the other night, so off we went to one of our favourite neighbourhood haunts. My husband and I enjoyed a nice cold beer, and chatted about our day as the kids were occupied colouring and playing tic-tac-toe on the paper placemat provided by the restaurant.

We were eagerly awaiting our meal when my 11 year old word search fiend happened upon a naughty word on his placemat…Can you find it too??

We all had a good chuckle and the server, who overheard, apologized profusely. We let her know that it was no big deal and that it kept them busy looking for more words until their mouth-watering chicken and ribs arrived

P.S. I have NO idea where he learned that word!

Posted in Comedy, General, Kids | No Responses »

Little Gordon – Part 2

December 9th, 2009 by Kelly Serjeantson

I previously featured the first Little Gordon Ramsay video on my blog. Well, as I had mentioned before, there is three videos in the series. My favourite is still the first video, but the second one is still pretty funny. Anyways, you be the judge.

BTW: I love the kid who plays Little Ramsay. I wouldn’t be surprised if you see the kid in TV or movies.

Posted in Comedy | No Responses »

Little Gordon – The Funniest Foodie Spoof Ever!

November 12th, 2009 by Kelly Serjeantson

Little Gordon Ramsay is the best foodie celebrity spoof I’ve ever seen. There are three episodes and one video with outtakes. The videos were done by Caterer.com and are featured both on Youtube and littlegordon.com.

The young actor who plays Gordon Ramsay is amazing. Check it out for yourself.

Posted in Comedy | No Responses »

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