Baked Orange Chicken

I bookmarked a recipe for Annie's Orange Chicken because the photo looked so delicious and I love orange and chicken together. I only glanced at the recipe briefly so didn't notice until I was about to try making it that you have to fry the chicken in oil. I didn't want to do that because a) it makes it less healthy, b) I'm lazy, and c) I'm a little scared of cooking with hot oil since Tony told me the story of how he burned down his kitchen that way. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that it tastes wonderful when fried in oil and I may try it someday, but this particular day I decided to bake the chicken. I also altered the recipe quite a bit as I went, but luckily I wrote down the changes I made so I could share it on here if it turned out well. It certainly did turn out well and got rave reviews from the whole family, so I'm sure glad I recorded what I did. Tony especially liked this chicken and actually said it was one of the best meals I've made. Wow! You gotta love that review.


Baked Orange Chicken

1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed if possible)
1 1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 400F. Combine broth, juice, orange zest, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a small bowl. Place chicken in a greased baking dish and pour orange mixture over top. Bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink inside.
Remove chicken and keep warm. Pour sauce into a small saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat. In a small bowl mix together cornstarch and water, then add to sauce. Cook until sauce is thick, then pour it over the chicken. Serve over rice.

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies

One recent Saturday afternoon it was pouring rain outside and we were looking for something to do. Cole suggested we make peanut butter cookies. So Cole and I were all set to make The Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies Ever until we opened the jar of peanut butter and found that it was almost empty. Now what? I thought of the almond butter in the fridge, and that might have worked, but then I remembered we had Nutella. The Nutella won out. So we used what was left of the peanut butter and combined it with Nutella so we'd have enough to make cookies. I cut down on the sugar because Nutella is much sweeter than peanut butter. This made the dough a little wetter and harder to roll, so I just dropped them in spoonfuls on the cookie sheet instead. I wasn't sure how they'd turn out but figured it was worth a try and there wasn't much else to do that day (well, nothing fun anyway).  Luckily they were a success. Cole said he liked them even better than the regular peanut butter cookies. They turned out a bit thinner and crispier that the ones with just peanut butter, but very tasty. Really, how could anything with peanut butter and nutella taste bad?

Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies
1/2 cup smooth light peanut butter
1/2 cup Nutella
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Preheat over to 325F. Mix together all ingredients in a medium bowl. Drop spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes.

Mexican Cornbread Strata

The thing about cornbread is it doesn't keep very well. It really tastes best when you eat it warm out of the oven, and then nobody in my house seems to want anything to do with it after that. So there it sat in my fridge, the once loved cornbread that was now sadly unwanted. I took pity on the poor cornbread and decided to create something new and delicious with it so it could be loved once more. I rummaged further into my fridge and discover other ingredients that needed some love too, and this is how my Mexican cornbread strata was born. And we did love it, so much so that I may bake cornbread just so I can make this again

Mexican Cornbread Strata
2 cups cornbread, cubed
1 can (19 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup salsa
1 cup ham or ham sausage, cubed
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 8" square baking dish. Place cornbread on bottom of dish, then layer black beans, salsa, ham and corn on top. Combine milk and eggs in a small bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Pour evenly over the dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbly.

Mom's Cornbread

When I left home, my mom gave me a recipe box filled with tried and true family recipes. Each recipe that she thoughtfully wrote out by hand tells a story for me. I remember the cold winter evenings when we were warmed by hearty minestrone soup and cheese biscuits, and after dinner when we'd spread butter and homemade strawberry jam on the extra biscuits, still warm from the oven. I remember how we'd always have a fancy dinner on Sundays, like roast beef and yorkshire pudding. It was the one day of the week when we'd sit at the dining room table instead of in the kitchen. Sunday dinners were always followed by dessert like fruit crisp, brownie pudding, or grandma's pumpkin pie.  I remember how every Saturday morning my dad would make us pancakes with his homemade maple syrup (I still need to track down that syrup recipe from him!). These recipes hold the memories of my childhood and preserve our family traditions. Many of the recipes have been passed down through several generations, so when I make them I feel strongly rooted to my family tree. I can picture my mother or my grandmother preparing the same food, maybe while their children watched or helped, or even whined about having to eat that again. Even though I may have whined back then, I can now say that I cherish those recipes that my mother passed on to me. I see this blog as my own modern-day recipe box, my own way to preserve the memories of my family. I hope one day when my children are grown they might make some of these recipes for their own families and be reminded of home (and to call their mother now and then).

This cornbread recipe is one from that beloved recipe box. It's on a very well-used index card in my mom's handwriting. I'm not sure where it came from (maybe it was from an old magazine and not part of family history at all!), but I imagine my mom included it because she knew that everyone needs a good cornbread recipe in their repertoire. I used this one quite a bit as an accompaniment for chili. It's also delicious after dinner or for a snack when served with jam or honey.

Mom's Cornbread

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk or soured milk

1 egg

1 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp melted butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease an 8" square pan. Combine dry ingredients in medium sized bowl. Combine wet ingredients separately. Stir wet mixture to the dry, mixing just enough to thoroughly combine. Spread into the pan and bake for 20 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

Hummus

Simple, delicious hummus.

As the weather begins to get warmer, I love sitting out on the patio in the sunshine while watching the kids run and play in our backyard. This hummus with veggies and pita is the perfect summer snack to set out on the patio table so we can all graze on it while enjoying the beautiful outdoors. Unfortunately this year we haven't had many opportunities to do this yet, but I can dream. Luckily there's no reason we can't still enjoy hummus even in the rain.

I was inspired by Oh She Glows' recipe for The Hummus That Changed Everything. I didn't use tahini because I'm never able to use up the whole bottle before it goes bad, and I find that you can still have a great-tasting hummus without it. I added a touch of cumin to give it a little more flavour. I loved the idea of sprinkling a little paprika and a drizzle of olive oil over the hummus before serving; it makes all the difference.

I made a batch of this hummus last week and it lasted for less than a day. The kids enjoy any food that involves dipping, so they were all over this. I had to give Bennett his own special bowl, because we all know he double-dips. That's okay, we love him anyway.

Hummus

1 can (19 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed 

2 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp cumin

Freshly squeezed juice from one lemon

1 tbsp olive oil

3-6 tbsp water

salt, to taste

more olive oil, for drizzling

dash of paprika

Place chickpeas, garlic, cumin, lemon juice, olive oil and 3 tbsp of water into a food processor and process until pureed. If necessary, add more water a tablespoon at a time until hummus reaches a smooth consistency. Now mix in salt to taste. Serve hummus in a bowl; drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with paprika.

Waffled Falafel with Tzatziki and Lemon Rice

If you want to use your waffle iron to its full potentional, check out this fun blog called Waffleizer that explores the many unexpected ways you can cook food in a waffle iron. This is where I got the idea for waffled falafel. I mean, it's just so fun to say that how can you not try it? It's also a lot healthier than the regular way of frying the falafel in oil. It was one of those ideas that I had been waiting to try for a while, but never seemed to get around to actually doing it. Then one day I was having my brother over for dinner and the waffled falafel idea emerged. It seemed like something he would appreciate, being adept with a waffle iron and a lover of Middle Eastern cuisine. I was going to just use a mix, like the site says, but I couldn't find it at the grocery store. That store is notorious for not carrying anything that is remotely out of the ordinary. I can't find items like bean sprouts or rice stick noodles there, so I'm not surprised that there was no falafel mix either. I turned to allrecipes.com as I so often do, and found this amazing recipe for falafels, called Sean's Falafel and Cucumber Sauce. I made my own version of cucumber sauce (or tzatziki), but followed the falafel part of the recipe pretty closely. The result was the most delicious falafel I've ever tasted. My brother declared it to be much better than any mix. The waffling part was a lot of fun too. It was nice to chat with my little bro while standing around the waffle iron waiting for falafels to brown. Soon the boys and Tony gathered around to see what was going on, but I think they were a little disappointed when they realized we weren't having waffles for dinner. Sorry guys!

Waffled Falafel

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained

1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs

Mash chickpeas in a large bowl until they form a thick paste; set aside. In a food processor or blender, combine onion, parsley and garlic and process until smooth. Add to mashed chickpeas. In another bowl, mix together egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice, baking powder, and olive oil. Add to chickpea mixture and stir until combined. Slowly add breadcrumbs until the mixture is no longer sticky but still holds together. Form heaping tablespoons into balls and place the the fridge until you're ready to cook. Heat up waffle iron, spray with a little cooking spray if your iron tends to stick, and cook falafels for a few minutes until lightly browned. Serve in fresh pita bread with tzatziki, greek salad and lemon rice.

Tzatziki
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup shredded English cucumber
1/2 tbsp fresh mint, diced
1 tsp garlic, crushed
salt and pepper, to taste

Place shredded cucumber in the centre of a cloth or paper towel and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Combine with yogurt, mint, garlic, salt and pepper. Chill for at least one hour.

Lemon Rice
1 cup white rice
1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano

Add ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered until rice is cooked and liquid absorbed.

Broccoli Salad

Sometimes it's hard not to get carried away at Costco. You can find some very irresistible deals there, as long as you're okay with very large quantities. Tony found a big bag of broccoli florets for almost nothing, so we bought it. It wasn't until I got home that I thought, what the heck am I going to do with this gigantic bag of broccoli?? First, I made a large batch of Classy Chicken, and it was amazing as usual. Then I decided to try making a salad with it. I can't say I've ever made a broccoli salad before, but I really enjoyed it so I'm sure we'll be making it again. Anything made with broccoli is a sound choice in our home, because we all love the stuff. It's the one vegetable I can count on my boys to eat. The only thing they didn't like about this salad was the radish. I thought it would be fun to try radish because it's something we rarely eat, but I guess that's because no one in my family really likes it. I thought it gave the salad a nice bite, but I'm not overly crazy about it either so I won't mind leaving it out next time. I'm just happy to have found a new way to prepare broccoli so my family won't get bored of it. If that ever happens, it'll be a sad day for broccoli.


Broccoli Salad
4 cups fresh broccoli florets
3 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp pecans, chopped
1 celery stalk, sliced
1/4 cup apple, diced
1/4 cup sliced radish
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and put the broccoli in for 1 minute to blanch it. Dump broccoli into a colander and rinse with cold water. Dry the broccoli as much as possible with paper towel, clean dish-cloth, or salad spinner. Add to a large bowl with raisins, pecans, celery, apple and radish. In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, orange juice, mayonnaise, honey, vinegar, salt and onion powder. Pour onto broccoli mixture and toss to coat.

Dutch Baby (Oven Pancake)

Saturday morning is my favourite part of the week. I wake up to the sound of the boys pitter-pattering around the house, trying to be sneaky and not wake Mommy up while they search for something mischievous to do. Luckily for me, I'm a light sleeper. Once I'm up, we make something yummy for breakfast together. It's nice not to be as rushed as we are during the week when there's not much time for anything besides cereal for breakfast. On Saturdays we can take our time creating something a little more exciting. Usually it's pancakes, waffles, or french toast. Sometimes I go outside of the box and try something different, like this dutch baby. It's still sort of a pancake but reminds me of one big Yorkshire pudding. The kids love how puffy it gets when it's in the oven; we'll just sit there together in front of the oven door and watch it grow precariously over the edge of the dish. When it comes out it will sink down, making a nice concave space that's perfect for filling with fruit.

You can use pretty much whatever fruit strikes your fancy. Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, or even mangoes are a delicious addition to this pancake.

Drizzle with a little maple syrup, and you have a seriously tasty breakfast for a lazy weekend morning.

Dutch Baby
1 tbsp butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar

Heat oven to 400F. For a puffier pancake, use milk and eggs that are room-temperature (optional). Beat eggs in a medium bowl with a whisk or hand blender. Whisk in milk, vanilla, flour, salt and sugar. Melt butter in a 9" pie plate or baking dish in the oven, then brush over bottom and sides of the plate. While plate is still very hot, pour in batter and return to oven for 25-30 minutes until puffy and deep golden brown. Serve immediately, topped with fruit and maple syrup.

Migas

I'm not a big fan of eggs. I find them a little too bland and rubbery on their own, and yet when mixed with the right ingredients they can be a delicious meal, like scrambled eggs with avocado and salsa. Now I've found another scrambled egg dish with flare: Migas! In this dish, eggs are mixed with tortilla chips, vegetables, and plenty of cheese. There are so many other flavours and textures going on that the eggs are barely recognizable as eggs. Tony actually mistook them for couscous at first. Unfortunately he doesn't like couscous, so anything that remotely resembles it will turn him off. Still, this aversion didn't stop him from eating three helpings of migas! Cole was very reluctant to try any of it, but he finally did and really seemed to dislike it so I didn't make him eat any more. Bennett wasn't overjoyed with this meal either and mostly just picked at his plate. So this wasn't a totally successful meal, but I thought it was a nice change from plain old scrambled eggs.

Migas

1 tsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

4 oz mushrooms, chopped

1 red pepper, diced

1/2 cup salsa

3 cups baby spinach, or chopped spinach

4 large eggs

8 egg whites
1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp ground pepper

2 cups crushed tortilla chips

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions, mushrooms, and peppers and saute until softened. Stir in spinach and salsa. Cook until spinach leaves soften. Stir in crushed tortilla chips. Reduce heat to low.

Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, chili powder, cumin and pepper. Add to vegetable mixture. Fold mixture gently as eggs cook. When eggs reach desired consistency, remove from heat and serve immediately, garnish with shredded cheese as desired.

Recipe adapted from Eighty Twenty

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

Chicken...on a stick.

It seems I'm on a perpetual mission to make food more appealing to my kids. I'm always on the hunt for new and creative ways to present normally mundane meals. Chicken is one of those foods that isn't all that interesting to my kids unless I spice it up somehow. Chicken fingers with dip is one sure way to get them to enjoy it, but I wanted to try something new. That's when chicken satay popped into my head. Satay is basically meat that is marinated, skewered, and grilled. As I was making this I began to realize it probably wasn't the safest thing to serve small children. Sharp and pointy sticks in the tiny hands of a toddler just seems like a recipe for disaster. (You know you're a mother when you constantly worry about somebody poking their eye out.) So I ended up taking the chicken off the sticks when I served it to the kids. I know that negates my whole point of presenting chicken in a fun new way, but at least they still had fun dipping it into the peanut sauce. When they're a little older I'm sure they'll love eating chicken on a stick. Until then, they'll just have to make do. As for the adults, we loved this meal! The meat was tender and flavourful, and the peanut sauce was perfect with it. Sticks or no sticks, this was a great meal.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce

3 chicken breasts, cut into strips

Marinade

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp curry powder

Mix the marinade ingredients and place them into a large ziploc bag with the strips of chicken. Marinade for at least 2 hours, but overnight is best if possible.

Discard the marinade and pierce the strips onto skewers. Grill the skewers until chicken is not longer pink.

Peanut Sauce

1/4 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup water

2 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp lime juice

Combine sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and heat on medium until smooth and thick.

Chocolate Cake in a Mug

I'm sitting here sipping my morning coffee in a mug with rainbow-coloured circles that remind me of jawbreaker candies.


Mug Shot


This psychedelic mug is my favourite thing right now, because it was a Mother's Day gift from Cole. He had been excited all week to take me to his preschool for a Mother's Day tea but was careful not to tell me too much because it was supposed to be a surprise. Every now and then I would catch him practicing the song they were going to sing, and he also let it slip that there were cookies involved, but other than that he kept the secrets pretty well. As I was sitting on the classroom floor watching my son and his classmates sing 'I'm a Little Teapot', I was suddenlly amazed that that was my son up there and I was his mother. His mother. Even though I've been a mother for almost 5 years, since the day this boy was born and we touched noses for the first time, I am still struck with awe now and then when I think of myself as a mom. Wasn't I just a kid myself not too long ago? How can I have kids of my own already? Yet here I was, watching my eldest son sing me songs and serve me iced-tea and cookies he helped baked. At the end of our lovely tea, he gave me my gift: my colourful mug with a bag of cake mix and a note attached on how to make chocolate cake in a mug. I'm familiar with the sinful joy of cake in a mug, so I was thrilled with my gift. I've seen this recipe floating around the internet for a while now but I don't know where it originally comes from. I first saw it on my favourite messageboard and was hooked. My friends still curse the day I emailed them this recipe years ago, because it meant having dangerously easy access to chocolate cake in only 5 minutes. Now prepare to curse this day as well, because I'm going to share it with you now.


Chocolate Cake in a Mug
1 Coffee Mug
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour or cake flour
4 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbsp milk
3 Tbsp oil
splash of vanilla
3 Tbsp chocolate chips, optional

Mix flour, sugar and cocoa in mug. Add egg, mix well. Pour in milk and oil and vanilla, mix well again. Add chips, if using.  Put mug in microwave with a plate underneath it (in case of spills), and cook for three minutes on high. Cake will rise over top of mug- don't worry! Allow to cool a little; tip over onto a plate if desired.

I often use applesauce in place of about half the oil, and cut down the sugar to 3 tbsp. You can omit the chocolate chips, but I just can't bring myself to do that because they make this cake so good. I also like to use peanut butter chips sometimes. I try to make this cake when there are other people around to share it with, or I'm sure I'd eat the whole mug myself. We made Cole's mix last night and all 4 of us had some with ice cream. Hot cake with melting ice cream is too good for words.

Yogurt Pancakes

Beautiful thick pancakes with yogurt and flaxseed to stick with you all morning (or evening if you have them for dinner like we do!).

Most of my weekday evenings go something like this: I walk over to the daycare to pick up the boys after I finish work. When they spot me, they shout 'Mommy!' and rush to greet me with hugs and kisses filled with an unbridled enthusiasm that melts my heart every time. Then comes the inevitable question that makes me cringe..."So what's for dinner?" I cringe because I know that almost anything I say will be met with disappointment, and of course, plenty of whining. I'm used to it; this blog wouldn't be called Food and Whine otherwise. Still, sometimes I do like to have a simple answer to this question that evokes something besides dread and disgust. What I've come up with is to occasionally leave it up to Cole to answer his own question. "It's your choice today," I'll tell him. Once he stops jumping up and down and shouting with glee, he'll usually decide on pancakes. He might mix it up and say spaghetti, but most often it's pancakes he wants. His answer is so predictable that I actually plan for it on my weekly menu. I make sure I always have ingredients on hand for either pancakes or spaghetti. If he ever decides on something different I'm screwed, but until then I'm happy to prepare him the meal of his choice. Pancakes happen to be one of my favourite foods too, so I really don't mind. It gives me a chance to experiment with new varieties, like these yogurt pancakes. I used Yoplait strawberry yogurt the first time we made them and I was very impressed. I like a nice thick pancake with substance and these definitely fit that description. Look how lovely and puffy they are on the griddle:

If you like a thinner, lighter pancake, feel free to add more milk. The boys loved them too, so I've made them a few times since then with some variations. One time Cole suggested crumbling up one of my Maple Pecan Granola Bars into the batter. He comes up with crazy ideas like this sometimes and I think it's wonderful how creative he's become in the kitchen at such a young age. Anyway, we tried the granola bar idea and it was amazing! It gave the pancakes great texture and flavour. The next time I tried pecans, mashed banana, and plain yogurt with a little honey. That was good too, but Cole wasn't too thrilled about the pecans. I guess according to him they only taste good with they're inside a granola bar.

I hope you enjoy these pancakes and please have fun experimenting with your own crazy ideas.

Yogurt Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp ground flaxseed

1/2 cup yogurt, any kind

1 cup (or more) milk

1  egg



In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder and flax. In a 2-cup measuring cup, scoop in 1/2 cup of yogurt. Pour milk into measuring cup until it reaches the 1 1/2 cup mark (or 1 3/4 mark for a less dense pancake). Add egg and whisk into the milk and yogurt with a fork. Pour it into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Batter will be thick. Cook on a hot non-stick or greased griddle until batter begins to bubble, then flip and cook until the bottom is golden. Serve with syrup or fruit sauce.

Cheesy Potato Leek Soup

This simple creamy soup is so incredibly satisfying that it can easily be enjoyed as a meal in itself.

1/2 tbsp olive oil

2 leeks, sliced

4 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 2/3 cup chicken broth

1 (14.5 oz) can evaporated milk

1 cup shredded cheese

salt and pepper

Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Saute leeks for about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, until potatoes are soft. Puree with an immersion blender. Add in evaporated milk and cheese and stir until the cheese has melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with a little more cheese before serving if desired.

This soup was delicious! I loved how easy it was to throw together too. The cheese was a nice touch and the kids loved sprinkling it on top of theirs for extra cheesiness. I used cheddar but I think this would be really good with a swiss cheese because it melts a lot smoother than cheddar does. I was also thinking it could benefit from a little bacon. That almost goes without saying though, because really, wouldn't most meals benefit from a little bacon?