Sweet Potato Brownies

I've been disheartened by my family's lack of interest in yams and sweet potatoes so I stopped using them for a while, but when I was in the grocery store the other day the sweet potatoes seemed to be calling to me and I couldn't help grabbing a few of them. I wasn't exactly sure what to use them for though because I rarely have success getting my kids to eat a dinner with even the slightest amount of sweet potatoes in it. Hiding them in something sweet and delicious seemed to be the logical solution. I've made brownies using dates and even black beans, and my kids liked both of those varieties. Now it was time to see if they'd eat sweet potato brownies. I'm happy to say that yes, they did eat the brownies and they liked them! Of course, I topped them with whipped cream so I'm sure that helped a bit. They were good plain too though, especially when reheated just slightly in the microwave so they're warm and soft. I also liked adding a little ice-cream to them for an extra yummy dessert that's really not unhealthy. There's lots of good wholesome stuff in these brownies, plus they're low in sugar and oil.

Sweet Potato Brownies

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 cup cooked mashed sweet potato (or yam)

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp oil

2 tbsp applesauce

1 egg, lightly beaten

Grease 8" square baking pan and preheat oven to 350F. In a bowl, combine flours, baking powder, cocoa and salt. In another bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the sweet potato mixture and stir until combined. Pour batter into baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. Let cool and cut into squares.

Cherry Clafoutis

It's a funny thing with cherries in my house; sometimes they get gobbled up so quickly I barely get to enjoy any of them, and other times they sit in the fridge untouched for days. On one of those occasions where a big bag of cherries was threatening to go bad due to lack of interest from my household, I decided I'd bake them into something. But what? I wanted something that was going to be easy to put together and made with ingredients I already had on hand. That's why I settled on making clafoutis. I'd done an apple version before but I'd heard that cherries were nice too, so I gave it a shot. It took a little time to pit all of the cherries, but the assembling the actual recipe took no time at all. I loved the not-too-sweet custard with the plump and flavourful cherries bursting out of it. My family liked it, but I think I enjoyed it the most. It made a great snack, dessert, and even breakfast. What a great way to use cherries!

Cherry Clafoutis
1 1/2 cups pitted cherries
1 1/4 cups milk
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Place cherries evenly on bottom of a greased 9" pie plate. Combine remaining ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour batter evenly over cherries. Bake at 375F for 40 minutes until batter has set and edges are golden brown.

The Hour That Matters Most

When I think back to my childhood, one of the things that stands out for me the most is that my family ate together at the dinner table every night. Whatever else might have been going on in my life, however chaotic my day may have been, I knew that at the end of the day my family would be gathering around the table for a home-cooked meal. I took comfort in that stability and I looked forward to that time we spent reconnecting with each other. My family was very close and we still are. I'm sure that our meals together helped foster those deep family bonds. Even now that I'm grown, I love having meals at my parents' house. Their kitchen is truly the heart of their home. When we have family gatherings, you'll always find the kitchen bustling with people talking and laughing (usually with a glass of wine in hand!) while preparing food and sharing recipes.

Now I have to admit that when Tony and I were first living together, we rarely ate at the dinner table unless it was a special occasion or we had company. Most of the time you'd find us sitting cross-legged on the floor with our plates on the coffee table while watching television. A lot of the time we didn't even eat together because of our busy schedules. I didn't have much confidence in my cooking abilities and I found cooking to be a chore, so I relied on convenience food, which generally meant sacrificing nutrition for the sake of speed and ease.

When we had our first child it prompted me to take a long hard look at our eating habits and I knew then that it was time to make a change. I didn't want my son sitting in front of the television while eating dinner, or eating the unhealthy processed foods that we'd grown accustomed to. We began eating at the dinner table every night, and I started to take an interest in cooking healthy homemade meals. By the time our second son came along, dinners at the table were a regular thing and I was learning more and more recipes to share with my family. Since starting this blog to share recipes with other families, my interest in food has become a passion and the topic of family dinners has grown very close to my heart.

When I was approached to review this new book called 'The Hour That Matters Most: The Surprising Power of the Family Meal' I was immediately intrigued. I wasn't sure what to expect; was it a cookbook or a psychology book or a parenting book? It turned out to be all of these things combined into one, which makes it quite unique. There are great recipes with photos, tips on cooking and freezing meals, and ideas on how to spark conversations with your kids at the dinner table. The authors also share their own experiences and tell entertaining yet thought-provoking stories about their families. I liked that the makers of this book understand how busy modern families actually are. They aren't expecting us to make delicious meals from scratch enjoyed by happy and talkative kids every night. It's just about doing the best you can with what time and energy you have. As long as you're doing what you can to bring your family together at least one meal a day, you'll make a difference in your children's lives in the longrun. The book has some good advice on how to accomplish this goal on a busy schedule. For example, I really like the idea of starting a freezer meal club! Even the book itself is laid out in a way that makes it easy to read when you're busy. You don't have to read it from start to finish; you can read whatever section you like in whatever order you like.

I've tried a couple of the recipes and so far I've been pretty impressed. I like that most are freezable and easy to make. I did notice that some of the recipes had more salt and/or sugar than I'd normally use, but I'm sure you could adjust that, and there was a good balance of healthy ingredients as well.

Hearty Garden Patch Soup

1 1/2  to 2 lbs hamburger or Italian sausage

4-5 stalks celery, diced

1/2 medium onion, diced

Brown these 3 ingredients in a large skillet.

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes

2 cans (14 oz each) beef broth

2 cans (16 oz each) dark red kidney beans (including liquid)

2 cans (15 oz each) tomato sauce

1/2 medium head of cabbage cut into bite-size pieces

1/4 tsp chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients, including browned hamburger or sausage, in a large kettle. Simmer for 1 to 2 hours. If you are going to freeze the recipe, cool completely, then pour into a container, seal it, and place in freezer. Warm on stove top when ready to serve.

Helpful hints: If you're in a hurry, you may boil the soup for 20 minutes and serve. For largers quantities, add another can each of beef broth and tomato sauce. Good served with corn bread.

Taken from Hour that Matters Most by Les and Leslie Parrott with Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna. Copyright © 2011 by Les and Leslie Parrott and Dream Dinners. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

I really enjoyed Hearty Garden Patch Soup. I served it with cornbread as suggested and it was a very satisfying meal. It reminded me of my mom's Minestrone soup, but with Italian sausage and cabbage (I actually replaced the cabbage with spinach). It says you can make it with hamburger but I recommend going with the sausage, it gives it such a great flavour.

Chicken Fajitas

12 chicken breast tenders

1 large sliced yellow onion

1 sliced red bell pepper

1 sliced green bell pepper

1/4 cup diced mild green chilies

1/4 cup lime juice

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

12 six-inch flour or wheat tortillas

1/4 cup oil

Add chicken, vegetables, and seasonings to an airtight container, and toss with lime juice to coat. Seal and marinate for 24 to 48 hours in refrigerator or in freezer.

Before cooking, thaw if frozen. Wrap tortillas in foil and place in a warm overn. Heat oil in a heavy, large saute pan on stove top over medium-high heat. Add contents of chicken and vegetable container to pan, and stir-fry 10-12 mintues or until chicken is done. Serve with warm tortillas.

Taken from Hour that Matters Most by Les and Leslie Parrott with Stephanie Allen and Tina Kuna. Copyright © 2011 by Les and Leslie Parrott and Dream Dinners. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Chicken Fajitas are so simple and still tasty. I thought the green chilies gave them a nice kick. You're supposed to marinate the chicken with the veggies and seasonings for 24-48 hours but I was impatient and short on time so only marinated them for 6 hours. They still tasted great so I'd imagine they'd be even better if you marinate them as directed.

I can't wait to try more recipes! I've already got the Tomato Bacon Egg Strata sitting in my fridge and it's looking yummy.

The Hour That Matters Most launched September 6, 2011. For more information visit, http://www.thehourthatmattersmost.com/. Available for purchase on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Pirate Party

My first-born son Cole just turned 5 a few days ago, and today he went to school for his first day in kindergarten. It's a special time for him, to reach half a decade and to make the transition from preschooler to school-aged kid. So to celebrate these milestones we decided to throw him his own party, instead of a joint party with his younger brother as we've done in the past (their birthdays are 9 days apart). We invited his friends and their families to our place for a pirate party. Luckily for me there is a plethora of pirate-themed birthday party ideas on the internet. I'm in awe of the creativity of some people. I generally don't consider myself to be very crafty, but I did have a lot of fun making crafts and coming up with some of my own ideas for this party. I was also amazingly impressed with my husband Tony for his creativity in building this giant pirate ship in our backyard. That's right, he actually built a ship.

I know, it's a bit over the top, but he seemed to really enjoy building it and it didn't take him long at all. He did it all one weekend, using scraps of wood he got from his work. He made it about a month ago so the boys and their friends have been enjoying it in the backyard over the summer and not just for this party. We'll probably take it down after Bennett's birthday, but it's definitely been well-used.

The first thing we did at the party was to lead the kids on treasure hunt using this map I made of our backyard.

I rolled it up and stuck it in an old wine bottle and the kids pulled it out and followed it, with Tony's help.

 
At each X there was something hidden, including pirate hooks made out of plastic cups and tin foil. You can get instructions for making these at Make and Takes.
 
At another X there were pirate hats, made out of black poster board that I cut into strips and decorated, then secured with staples on either side. Here's Bennett wearing his hat:
 

 

At the next X was a key, hidden up in a tree, which opened the door where the final treasure was. Tony had decorated an old chest we found at a garage sale and we hid all the loot bags in it. I don't have a photo of the chest, but here's one of the loot bags:
 
 

 
You can print these fun loot bag labels at B. Nute Productions. I love how they say 'Thanks for Being Me Matey.'
 
Next we had pirate ship cake and gold coin cupcakes. I found the idea for the cake at Piece of Cake Parties. She has a template and great instructions to help you along. Unfortunately I had to toss one of the front triangle pieces because it crumbled so badly when I tried to frost it, but it still looked okay without it. My frosting skills leave much to be desired, but the kids didn't seem to mind. The blue gummies around the ship were particularly popular.

For snacks I had veggies and dip, crackers with cheese and garlic sausage, fruit, snack mix, and super cute orange boats in blue jello. The kids loved them and a few even asked if they could take one home with them.

I saw these at Make and Takes, the same place I found the pirate hooks. It's actually a post for a pirate summer camp, but the ideas work really well for a party too.

So that was our pirate party. It was more work than I'd normally put into a party, but Tony and I both had a lot of fun doing it, even if it was exhausting. It was nice to watch the kids enjoy themselves so much. I hope you liked the photos and tips!

Barbecue Favourites

Well, here we are at the beginning of September already, can you believe it? As summer starts to wind down, I'd like to reflect on all the great food we've enjoyed on our barbecue during the past few months. Up until this summer, I had left all of the barbecuing to my husband Tony. I liked that it got him involved in the cooking, so that our dinners were a team effort. I'd do the salads and sides, and he'd take care of the meat. It sounds like a great plan... in theory. The problem is that Tony tends to get preoccupied with other things and I end up having to wait for him to start the grill. I'm just far too impatient for that; I want to get cooking, and I want to eat! I was also curious to experiment with cooking food on the grill, so I finally broke down and asked Tony to show me how to use the barbecue. Between the two of us, we've grilled up some pretty tasty food, so I wanted to share some of it with you. Maybe you might find something you'd like to try this long-weekend. Unfortunately I don't think there will be any barbecuing this weekend for us; our barbecue appears to have bitten the dust. I suppose I'll just have to enjoy these photos instead.


Sausage Kabobs
Italian sausage cut into chunks and skewered with red onion and red pepper.

'Bird on a Wire' from Eat, Shrink, and Be Merry
Recipe can be found online here: Bird on a Wire

Grilled Haloumi Cheese

I had no idea you could put cheese on the grill, until I came across it at Dinner, A Love Story.

Tony was scared to put it directly on the grill, despite my assurances that it would be fine. He put in on foil instead, and it was a little hard to take off of the foil afterwards, but it did taste really yummy.

I used the grilled haloumi in this Greek salad. YUM!

Teriyaki Burgers with Grilled Pineapple

I saw this at Babble's Family Kitchen and loved the idea. My kids adore pineapple so these burgers made them happy. I skipped the wasabi mayo though, because they don't enjoy spicy food, and I also just used regular patties with bottled teriyaki sauce for basting.

Kofte with Tzatziki sauce

I found this at Another Marvelous Meal, it's so delicious! Turkish meatballs on pita with tzatziki sauce and greek salad.

Grilled Corn on the Cob
I tried grilling corn on the cob all three of the ways described at this site, and I liked the corn cooked with just the inner shuck the best. It gave the corn a nice smoky flavour while still protecting the corn from burning.



Barbecued Salmon
This was so easy to make. I placed slices of onion and lemon in the centre of the fish and wrapped it up in foil, then cooked it on the barbecue for about a half-hour.



Now I'd love to hear what you've been barbecuing this summer.