Food and Whine

Homemade Pancake Mix

2012-02-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

For years I bought pancake mix and never really thought of making it myself. The store-bought mix seemed good enough and a lot faster. Then I ran out of mix one day and had to make pancakes from scratch. That's when I discovered that homemade pancakes are delicious, and really very simple to make, especially if you make a big batch of mix ahead of time. I just keep it in a jar and it's ready to use on Saturday mornings when we have our traditional pancake breakfast. The great thing about pancakes is that they're so versatile. Start with this mix as a base and then experiment with adding in other tasty ingredients. One of our favourite combinations is blueberry and banana. What kind to you like?

Homemade Pancake Mix
Adapted from All Recipes

4 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tbsp sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
1 tablespoon baking soda
1/4 cup ground flax seed
1/2 tsp salt

In a large bowl, mix ingredients well. Store in an airtight container or bag in a cool dry place.

Homemade Pancakes:
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup homemade pancake mix (recipe above)
In a medium bowl, whisk together milk and egg. Stir in pancake mix until just combined (do not over mix). Pour 1/4 cupfuls of batter on a hot and lightly greased griddle. Cook until bubbles begin to form in the batter, then flip and cook until golden.

Possible Add-ins:

Mashed bananas
Blueberries
Chopped strawberries
Shredded apple or pear
Applesauce
Pumpkin puree
Yogurt
Cottage cheese (this may sound odd to you but it's delicious in pancakes!)
Splash of vanilla extract
Dash of cinnamon
Chia seeds
Chocolate chips
Peanut butter
Nutella

Also consider using buttermilk in place of the milk. You may need to add more buttermilk because it's thicker than milk. I often like to use half buttermilk and half milk so the batter is not overly thick. I've tried using a little lemon juice or vinegar in the milk to simulate buttermilk when I don't have any on hand, but nothing compares to real fresh buttermilk in pancakes. Give it a try if you haven't before, you won't regret it.

Since Valentine's day is coming up, I made these heart-shaped Banana Nutella Pancakes with raspberry syrup.

If you have a metal heart cookie cutter,you can cook the pancakes right in the cutter, like so:

Make sure to grease the inside of the cutter so the pancake doesn't stick to it.

Another tip I have for pancakes, if you have kids that need their pancakes cut up, is to use a pizza wheel.

It makes perfect bite-sized pancake pieces every time.

My kids are very particular about how they eat their pancakes. Both of them like this method of cutting with the pizza cutter. Cole likes to dip his pancakes in syrup, so I always give him a little bowl of syrup for dipping. Bennett prefers it if I pour the syrup right on top of his pancakes. I usually use pure maple syrup or a fruit syrup, but sometimes I make a blueberry sauce for them instead (either blueberry banana sauce or a quick microwave blueberry sauce).

So good luck with your own pancake-making. I hope I've provided some helpful details to show you how easy and tasty pancakes can be when you make them from scratch. Of course, there's nothing wrong with using store-bought kinds now and then too. I particularly like Sunny Boy Spelt and Coyote Flax Seed.

Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew

2012-02-06T22:51:00.000-08:00

I wasn't expecting to win anyone over with this recipe. My boys hate sweet potatoes, Cole hates spinach, and Tony isn't all that fond of quinoa. I made it anyway because I love all of those things. Surprisingly, everyone ate this stew without complaint. I think it was the chickpeas that did it, or as Cole would call them, "Chickadees." Both kids seem to like chickpeas a lot, so in the process of eating the chickpeas they inadvertently ate some of the other ingredients they normally wouldn't eat and discovered it wasn't so bad. According to Cole, this was pretty good "Chickadee Stew." I certainly enjoyed it, and Tony did too. It has a nice blend of spices in it, and while the peanut butter may seem like an odd choice it actually worked really well in this dish. It's similar to African Thai Stew, which I like to make quite often. In fact, I had set out to cook that very meal when it turned into this instead. Sometimes my recipe-meddling turns out badly, but in this case I'd say it was a success.

Quinoa, Sweet Potato and Chickpea Stew
Adapted from The Dinner Fix: Cooking for the Rushed (African-Thai Stew)

2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp finely grated ginger
2 celery sticks, sliced
3 cups vegetable broth
2 cups sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 can (19 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup quinoa
2 cups fresh baby spinach
2 tbsp peanut butter
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, ginger, and celery. Cook for a few minutes until softened. Add broth, sweet potatoes, cumin, curry, chili powder, chickpeas and quinoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes, until quinoa and sweet potatoes are cooked through. Add spinach, peanut butter and stir well. Cover again and cook until spinach has wilted. Add salt and pepper if desired.

Crockpot Goulash

2012-02-01T18:11:00.000-08:00

Goulash is basically a stew seasoned with paprika, often served with pasta or potatoes. I like that this version is done in the crockpot, because I love using my crockpot whenever possible. It's nice to prepare a meal ahead of time and just forget about it until dinner-time rolls around. All you need to remember with this recipe is to add the flour and water to thicken the sauce and then add the sour cream right before serving to make it nice and creamy. You can skip the sour cream if you're not a fan of it. This stew will still taste wonderful without it. I've made this goulash several times now and it seems to be pretty popular with my family...for the most part. Cole thinks it's a little spicy, but he thinks everything with the least bit of spice is spicy so I wouldn't put too much weight on his opinion. No one else thought it was spicy. I used mild salsa too, but that was still apparently too much for him. You could substitute tomato sauce instead of the salsa and cut down on the paprika if you're sensitive to spice like Cole. I love smoked paprika though, so I won't be cutting that down. It gives this dish such a beautiful smoky flavour that goes so well with the pork. If you haven't tried smoked paprika before I urge you to give it a try. It's delicious!

Crockpot Goulash
Adapted from Canadian Living: The Slow Cooker Collection (Smoky Pork Stew)
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 lb boneless pork shoulder blade roast, trimmed and cut into 1" cubes
1/2 cup salsa
2 tbsp packed brown sugar
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp smoked or regular paprika (I prefer smoked)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sour cream

Place all ingredients except for flour and sour cream in the crockpot and stir together. Cover and cook on low heat for 6-7 hours, until meat is tender. Skim off any fat from the top. In a small bowl, combine flour and 1/4 cup of cold water. Move the meat out of the way and whisk the flour mixture into the sauce. Stir well and cook on high heat until the sauce thickens, about 10-15 minutes. Stir in sour cream. Serve over pasta or cooked potatoes.

Granola Brittle

2012-01-22T18:32:00.000-08:00

Every now and then I come up with a recipe that I just can't wait to share, so I impatiently bump it to the front of the line of recipes to post. This is one of those great recipes. I'm giddy just typing about it! It's sort of like a crunchy granola bar, but broken into uneven pieces like a brittle. I found the idea when I was browsing through one of my mom's new cookbooks, called The Sweet Life: Diabetes without Boundaries. No one in our family actually has diabetes, but I had gestational diabetes with both my pregnancies, so I've become interested in diabetic-friendly recipes. The recipe that caught my eye was Coconut Acai Crumble. It looked like a great healthy snack and I liked that it was a little different from regular granola bars or granola. I decided to make my own version with the ingredients I had on hand in my pantry. I didn't use any nuts, just seeds, because I wanted the kids to be able to take it to school with them. They turned out to be a perfect snack for their lunchboxes, as well as at home and for playdates. Cole turned his nose up at them at first, but then I started to notice him sneaking a piece here and there throughout the day from the container I kept on the counter. It's one snack that I don't mind him sneaking, because these are so nutritious and low in sugar. So I left them on the counter so the kids could continue to 'sneak' them whenever they wanted!

Granola Brittle

3 1/2 cups Rogers Porridge Oats*

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 unsweetened shredded coconut

1/4 cup chia seeds

1/4 cups pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup sunflower seeds

1/4 cup quinoa (uncooked)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp dried cranberries

2 tbsp raisins

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbsp canola oil

1/2 cup agave syrup

1 mashed banana

*Rogers porridge oats is a mixture of oats, wheat bran, oat bran and flax seed. If you can't find this stuff, use 2 1/2 cups of rolled oats, and 1/3 cup each of wheat bran, oat bran and whole flax seeds.

Preheat oven to 300F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients together well. Spread it evenly onto the parchment-lined baking sheet and pat it down with a spatula or your hands. Bake for about 40 minutes, until it begins to brown. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes, then break into pieces.

Nutritional information: 24 servings. Per serving (39g): 138 calories, 5.3 g fat, 7 mg sodium, 21 g carbohydrates, 3.6g fibre, 1.4g sugar, 3.7g protein.

Baked Tortellini

2012-01-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

Gojee.com invited me to a potluck, but it was in New York and I'm in Vancouver so unfortunately it was a little out of my way. Luckily, they're having a Virtual Potluck so that those of us who weren't able to attend the live one can still join in on the fun. Starting on Thursday, January 26, check out other potluck dishes fellow gojee contributors shared. Go to gojee.com and enter “gojeepotluck” into I Crave. You can also follow #gojeepotluck on Twitter.

I can't control myself when it comes to potlucks. I want to try everything until my plate is piled ridiculously high with as many foods as possible. It's so much fun tasting other people's cooking and finding out how they made it (if they're willing to share!). It's always great when you discover that something really yummy is also incredibly easy to make. This baked tortellini is one of those things. It's so simple that you don't even need to write it down to remember it. There's only 5 ingredients, and you layer them like a lasagna. It's a real crowd-pleaser and it's also meatless so it will please vegetarians as well. It didn't totally win over my family as we have a couple tortellini-haters (yes I'm talking to you Tony and Cole), but Bennett and I really liked this one.

Baked Tortellini
700 g whole wheat cheese tortellini
1 jar (700 ml) pasta sauce
1 cup 1% cottage cheese
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Cook pasta according to package directions. In a greased 9x12 baking dish, spread half of the pasta sauce in the bottom of the dish. Place half the cooked tortellini on top. Spread cottage cheese on top of tortellini, followed by spinach. Place remaining tortellini over the spinach. Top with remaining sauce, then sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350F for 40 minutes.

Banana Pudding

2012-01-13T19:32:00.000-08:00

There are so many ways to enjoy bananas. You can make banana pancakes, banana muffins, banana waffles , banana ice cream, banana loaf, banana cake...the list goes on and on. In fact, Dole has compiled 366 different ways to use bananas. As a way to encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables this year, Dole has developed a program called "366 Ways to Go Bananas in 2012." Each day, through social media such as Twitter, Facebook, or the Web, Dole shares a new way to enjoy bananas. It might be a banana-themed recipe, serving suggestion, a fun seasonal top or trivia involving bananas in some way. For example, did you know you can polish your shoes with banana peel? Or that bananas can actually help you quit smoking? These are just some of the great tips that you'll learn through this great program. To follow, go to Twitter (@ DOLEBananas; the 366-special hashtag is #Go366) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/dolebananas).
In honour of Dole's 366 Ways to Go Bananas, I've developed this banana pudding recipe. It's a healthy snack made with bananas, milk, and sweetened with maple syrup (you could also use agave syrup or honey). I've also included some tasty variations using chocolate chips, or peanut butter, or of course Nutella. Both my boys loved this pudding, especially the chocolate one. The licked their cups clean! It's a great way to get them to eat fruit and milk, and so much healthier than store-bought banana pudding mix which can contain a lot of sugar and artificial flavours and colours. Sure, the colour of this pudding might look a little less appealing (it's slightly beige), but it tastes great. If your kids won't eat the plain banana version they may still like one of the other varieties.
Another great thing about bananas is they freeze so well, so it's easy to have bananas on hand all the time. I tend to buy more bananas than I need so that the ones that go unused and become overripe can go in the freezer to be used later. You can freeze them peel and all, then microwave them and squeeze them out of their skins to use in baked goods. You can also freeze peeled bananas cut into chunks to be used for things like smoothies or ice cream. So go ahead and use bananas as many ways as you can!

Banana Pudding
2 medium overripe bananas
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup maple syrup
3 tbsp cornstarch
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups milk

Blend bananas and lemon juice in a blender or with an immersion until smooth.. In a saucepan, whisk together the pureed bananas, maple syrup, cornstarch, and eggs. Slowly whisk in the milk until combined. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until mixture thickens and begins to boil. Boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Then pour into cups or dishes and cover with plastic wrap. Chill in refrigerator until pudding sets.

Variations
Immediately after removing from heat, stir in any of the following:
Chocolate Banana Pudding- 1/3 cup chocolate chips
Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Pudding- 1/4 cup of peanut butter and 1/3 cup chocolate chips.
Peanut Butter Banana Pudding- 1/4 cup of peanut butter
Nutella Banana Pudding- 1/4 cup nutella

Disclosure: I was not paid to write this post.

Quinoa Patties

2012-01-09T20:47:00.000-08:00

Sadly, I'm the only one in my house who likes quinoa. It's too bad, because quinoa is so good for you. It's full of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. It also helps balance blood sugar, along with many other health benefits. I happen to think it tastes pretty good too, although apparently my family would disagree. Needless to say, these quinoa patties did not win them over, but I was expecting that and I really didn't care. I wanted to try them for myself and I wasn't disappointed. You could eat them in a burger if you want, but I enjoy them without a bun and spread with garlic mayo. Since I couldn't eat all of the patties myself at once, I froze them and have been eating them for lunch. They reheat pretty well in a toaster oven or under the broiler.

Quinoa Patties
Adapted from Eating Well, Living Thin

1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
3/4 cup grated light cheddar cheese
1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese
1 carrot, finely grated
3 eggs, lightly beaten
3 tbsp flour
2 tbsp quick cooking oats
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp mustard powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
cooking spray

In a medium saucepan, combine quinoa and broth. Heat over medium heat until boiling, then reduce to medium-low heat and cover. Let simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn heat off and leave the saucepan on the burner, still covered, for 6 more minutes. Fluff with a fork, then set aside and let cool.

In a large bowl, combine cooked quinoa, cheddar, cottage cheese, carrot, eggs, flour, onion powder, garlic powder, mustard powder, salt and pepper. In an electric frying pan on medium heat, spray oil generously and drop 1/4 cup of mixture for each pattie onto the pan. Press down with a spatula to form a patty. Cook about 4-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Serve with garlic mayo sauce (1/3 cup light mayonnaise, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika).

Vegetable Chili

2012-01-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

I don't know about you but after all the delicious and fattening food I had over the holidays, I've been craving veggies in a big way. This chili, being packed full of vegetables, really hit the spot. Tony and the boys loved it too. It was easy to tell, because all three of them polished off their plates and had more! I said to Tony that I better write it down before I forget how I made it. Then he tells me, "Well I wouldn't go that far." Gee, thanks! Anyway, I did write it down because I think it's blog-worthy, if simply to document a meal that my whole family ate.

Vegetable Chili
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 small head of broccoli crowns, cut up
1 can (19oz) kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup water
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large non-stick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and celery and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer covered for about 20 minutes. Serve over rice.

Top 10 Recipes of 2011

2011-12-28T21:40:00.000-08:00

Well, it's almost the end of another year and Food and Whine will be 2 years old. 2011 has been a good year for this little blog. I was selected as one of the top 100 food mom bloggers by babble.com. It was an honour to be recognized among so many very talented bloggers. We were given the opportunity to create a custom recipe for babble and participate in food blogger bites, where we shared cooking tips and recipes every month. I also became a contributor for Gojee. This is a great site for browsing recipes from a variety of food bloggers based on what ingredients you have on hand. I've found so many unqiue and creative recipes along with some incredible food blogs. Another great site this year has been pinterest. Many of you have found your way to Food and Whine through this site, and I've discovered so many great blogs and recipes through it as well.
I'm looking forward to what 2012 has in store for this blog and for food blogging in general. Now I'd like to share with you the most popular posts from Food and Whine for this year. I hope you all have a wonderful New Year!

1. Baked Oatmeal

2. Really Good Mac and Cheese

3. Banana Nutella Pancakes

4. Oatmeal Smoothies

5. Chicken and Vegetable Penne

6. Chicken Mole

7. Chocolate Avocado Pudding

8. Sweet Potato and Coconut Quinoa Soup

9. Zucchini and Yam Fritters

10. Moroccan Chicken and Rice

Turkey Vegetable Soup

2011-12-27T21:19:00.000-08:00

After indulging in far too many unhealthy treats during Christmas, I've been starting to crave wholesome and nutritious foods that have been sadly lacking in my diet lately. I happen to have a lot of leftover turkey in my fridge, as I'm sure many of you do, so this soup was a perfect way to use some of it up while satisfying my need for a healthy meal. This recipe is very similar to the soup from Whole Chicken in a Crockpot. By simmering the bones overnight in the slow cooker, you get a rich and nutrient-packed stock for your soup. If you don't have any turkey bones to do this or you just don't have the time, store-bought turkey or chicken stock is fine for this too. The whole family loved this soup, and suprisingly it was my usually picky Cole who seemed to enjoy it the most. He asked me if it was good for him and I told him it was, then he asked "so how come it tastes so good?" Apparently a meal can't be good for you and taste good, according to Cole's logic. This soup just blew his mind.

Turkey Stock
1 turkey carcass, meat and skin removed
1 onion, cut in half
1 tsp vinegar

Break up the turkey carcass as much as you can and place the pieces in a slow cooker with the onion. Add enough water to cover the bones, then add vinegar and cook on low heat overnight.
In the morning, pour the contents of the slow cooker through a strainer to remove the bones and onion. Either use the stock right away for your soup or place it in airtight containers in the fridge or freezer to use later. The benefit of chilling the stock first is it allows you to scoop the fat easily off the top. Don't be alarmed if the stock congeals when chilled; this is caused by the natural gelatin from the bones and is a sign of a great stock.

Turkey Vegetable Soup
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 small head of broccoli, chopped
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
2 tbsp fresh basil, diced
1/3 cup fresh parsley, diced
6 cups (approx) turkey stock
1/2 cup of your favourite pasta
1 cup (more or less) of cooked chopped turkey
salt and pepper, to taste

Heat oil on medium heat in a dutch oven or soup pot. Add onion, garlic, celery and carrots. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add broccoli, poultry seasoning, basil and parsley. Stir and cook for another minute. Pour in your turkey stock and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook for about 10 minutes, until pasta is soft. Add turkey and reduce heat. Simmer covered for 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

On a side note, I love this photo because you can see my cat in the spoon's reflection. He was hovering pretty close to the soup the whole time. He promptly jumped onto the table to try to lick our bowls after we were done. Naughty kitty!

Cherry Bread

2011-12-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

I love a nice fruit bread during the holidays. It's a sweet bread made with candied cherries, citrus peel and sometimes currents or raisins. My favourite part is the cherries, and I had quite a bit of cherries left over from making Cherry Chocolate Kiss Cookies, so I left out the other stuff and just made cherry bread. I also added about a teaspoon of cinnamon into the sweet dough to give it more flavour. The bread smelled so good when I pulled it out of the oven that I couldn't wait for it to cool down before cutting into it (this is why the loaf looks a little ragged in the photo). There's nothing like hot bread fresh out of the oven, especially when it's sweet cherry bread. It's also great when toasted and smeared with butter. Sometimes I like to add a little honey or jam on it too for a treat. It freezes well too, so I froze one loaf for later and have been enjoying the other loaf pretty much entirely on my own because the rest of my family doesn't seem to share my affinity for bread and yeasty carbs in general. They're more interested in the Christmas cookies and chocolates. The good thing about this bread is that it's relatively low in fat and sugar (as long as you don't add a ton of butter and jam or honey), so it's not a bad choice as far as holiday treats go.

Cherry Bread

Adapted from Canadian Living's Christmas Fruit Bread

Sweet yeast dough recipe

2/3 cup chopped candied cherries

Punch down the prepared dough and turn out onto lightly floured surface. Knead cherries into the dough, adding more flour if dough becomes sticky. Divide into two equal portions, roll them into balls and cover with plastic wrap to rest for about 15 mintues.

Pat each ball into 11- x 8" rectangle. Starting at narrow end, roll up into cylinder; pinch along bottom to smooth and seal. Place seam side down in small greased loaf pans or on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Heat oven to 375°F and bake for 25 minutes or until loaves are golden and sound hollow when tapped. Let cool on racks before slicing.

Christmas Goodies Round-Up

2011-12-14T22:07:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas time! My kids have been anxiously waiting for Christmas ever since Halloween ended. Needless to say it's been a long wait, but the day is drawing near. Since the holiday season is upon us, so I'd like to share some of the Christmas goodies we've been enjoying.

Banana Chocolate-Chip Biscotti
This was my first attempt at making biscotti...ever! It was fun to make and it's great to give as a gift because it keeps well. This recipe is also nut-free so that's good if you're looking for a gift for someone with a nut allergy. Tony and I have been enjoying it with coffee and Bailey's- yum! I couldn't really taste the bananas in it, but the chocolate chips were very tasty.

Peppermint Patties
These are my new favourites! I had a blast making them, and I couldn't believe how easy and fast they were to make. I love peppermint patties but never thought about making my own until I saw this recipe on Pinterest. I think these will become a Christmas tradition in our house. I'm contemplating making a second batch since we've almost gone through all of them already.

Christmas-Tree Fruit Platter
I made this for Bennett's preschool Christmas party and I'm making it again tomorrow for Cole's kindergarten party. It's a fun design for kids to enjoy and it's healthy because of the fruit. Ok, the cookies aren't healthy, but I needed something to hold the fruit in place so they wouldn't roll around. The cookies you see here are Deep Dark Chocolate Cookies and White Chocolate Cherry Shortbread.

And here are some holiday recipes I posted last year that you may enjoy:

Rolo Cookies

Chocolate-Dipped Shortbread Meltaways

Spicy Cranberry Raisin Scones

Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough Truffles

Happy Holidays!

Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs

2011-12-10T20:51:00.001-08:00

It's funny that out of the huge variety of meals that I've cooked, it's still good old spaghetti that the kids will most often request. It's a request that I'm more than happy to fulfill, since I'm a big lover of spaghetti myself. If we're in a rush, I just pour plain pasta sauce over the noodles, but if I have more time and I'm in a creative mood, I like to add things like vegetables and meat into the sauce. Meatballs are a fun option, especially when stuffed with cheese. I learned that if you freeze the cheese first, it prevents it from oozing and seeping out of the meatballs as they cook. I skipped this step to save time and as a result, they weren't as cheesy as I would have liked, so next time I won't be skipping that part. You can change the meat and cheese to suit your preference. For instance, ground turkey would be a nice leaner choice of meat, and mozzarella cheese instead of provolone would be great too. These meatballs freeze really well, so you can make them ahead of time and throw them in a freezer bag to be used whenever you make spaghetti and want meatballs in a hurry. The kids loved the cheese centres, and they didn't even notice that I had put grated vegetables in them. This recipe is a wonderful way to make a simple meal like spaghetti a little more special.

Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs
4 oz provolone cheese
500 g ground beef
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup finely shredded carrot or zucchini
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 egg

Cut cheese into 3/4" cubes (about 18 of them) and place in freezer for at least an hour. Preheat oven at 350F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil and spray with cooking spray. In a large bowl, mix together remaining ingredients. Take cheese cubes out of the freezer. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture and flatten it in the palm of your hand. Place one of the cheese cubes in the center, then gather the meat around it and form a ball. Place on baking sheet. Repeat until you've used up all the meat mixture. Bake for about 30-35 minutes, until meat is no longer pink inside. Serve with pasta sauce and spaghetti.

Low Fat Multigrain Pancakes

2011-12-04T10:14:00.001-08:00

Growing up, my favourite time of the week was Saturday morning. My brother and I would race to be the first one downstairs to watch Saturday morning cartoons. Soon the smell of pancakes would waft into the room, and we'd be racing once again to get to the table for breakfast where a plate of delicious homemade pancakes would be waiting for us. I've carried on the tradition of pancakes on Saturday mornings in my household, and my parents still make pancakes at their house on Saturdays too. This is a recipe that they often use. I like it because it has very little oil but they're still moist because of the applesauce, and they really stick with you all morning because of the grains. You can easily adjust them to your taste or what you have on hand. I sometimes use mashed banana in place of the applesauce. I also love to use real buttermilk to replace about half of the plain milk to make them really moist and delicious. Sometimes I like to put blueberries in them too. Give them a try and experiment with your own variations.

Low Fat Multigrain Pancakes

1/2 cup WW flour

1/3 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup oats

1 tbsp. sugar

1 tbsp ground flax

1/2 tbsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

1/3 cup of applesauce

1 tbsp. oil

Combine flour, conrmeal, oats, sugar, flax, baking powder and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix remaining wet ingredients, then add to dry ingredients. Stir until combined. Pour onto a hot greased griddle and brown on both sides. Serve with syrup or blueberry sauce.

Roast Chicken, Potatoes and Beets

2011-11-29T18:10:00.001-08:00

If you're looking for a classy dinner that's easy and cheap, then this meal is the perfect solution. I normally cook with boneless and skinless chicken, but it seems to be really expensive lately, so I decided to try bone-in and skin-on chicken legs with thighs. They were much cheaper, and I was very impressed at how moist and flavourful they were when roasted. The skin keeps the moisture in and the bones provide flavour. You do have to work around the skin and bones while eating it, but I really didn't mind doing that because the meat was so yummy! This is so easy to throw this together too. It makes a perfect Sunday night dinner when you want something a little special with limited effort. I put the oven on 450F to begin with so the skin gets nice and crispy to hold in the moisture, then reduce the temp so the chicken doesn't get overcooked. Keep a close eye on it and use a meat thermometer because the cooking times will vary depending on the size of your chicken pieces. Miraculously, everyone ate all the food on their plates, even Cole. I have proof! You can see him here in the background digging into his plate.

Roast Chicken, Potatoes and Beets
5 chicken legs with thighs attached
2-3 beets, sliced
3 medium potatoes, cut into chunks
1 onion, cut in large slices
olive oil
Spices: rosemary, paprika, garlic powder, seasoning salt, pepper

Preheat oven to 450F. Place potatoes and beets in the bottom of a roasting pan. Drizzle with olive oil, then sprinkle with spices. Place chicken on top, and tuck onion slices in between the skin and meat. Sprinkle with spices. Bake for 5 minutes at 450F, then reduce heat to 400F and bake for another 35-40 minutes, or until juices in chicken run clear and vegetables are tender.

Pumpkin Enchiladas

2011-11-21T12:16:00.001-08:00

Pumpkins are so versatile. They taste great in sweet baked goods, but they're also wonderful in savoury meals such as this enchilada recipe. I've seen many versions of pumpkin echiladas floating around Pinterest, and they inspired me to make my own. They take a bit of work, but they are so worth it! I think they make a great Saturday night meal when you have a little extra time to prepare dinner. I've tried to make my version lighter by using evaporated milk instead of cream, and light mozzarella cheese. The pumpkin is low in calories and it's a great source of vitamin A, so it makes these enchiladas a pretty healthy meal.

I couldn't get Cole to eat very much of them because he said they were too spicy. Fair enough, there is a little heat to them, but I like that. No one else seemed to complain except for Cole. Tony said he really liked them. If you have a family member who is opposed to spice like my Cole is, you can always leave out the green chilies and reduce the chili powder.

Pumpkin Enchiladas

Enchilada Filling
500 g lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
1 can (19 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
salt and pepper, to taste

Pumpkin Sauce

1 can (15 oz) pure pumpkin

1 can (370 ml) party skimmed evaporated milk

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

10-12 large whole wheat tortillas
1 cup grated light mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet, cook ground beef over medium heat until browned. Drain off any excess fat and set aside.

In the skillet add onion, red pepper and garlic and cook until tender, for about 5 minutes. Then add beef back into the skillet, along with green chilies, black beans, chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper. Heat through, then set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, spices and salt and pepper. Pour about a cup of the pumpkin mixture to cover the bottom of a greased 9x12 baking dish.

Spoon beef and black bean mixture into centers of tortillas and roll them up. Place them seam-down in baking dish. Pour remaining pumpkin sauce on top. Sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 350F for 35-40 minutes, until cheese begins to brown. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Spiced Apple Cookies

2011-11-19T17:09:00.001-08:00

I love the fall. I love watching the leaves changing colours, smelling the crisp morning air, wearing cozy sweaters, cuddling up with a warm cup of tea, and best of all I love baking in the fall. These spiced apple cookies are the perfect fall treat, with sweet and juicy apples and a comforting blend of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. I made these one Sunday afternoon when we had Cole's new friend from school over for a playdate. The kids devoured them and kept asking for more. Tony was teasing me because I just had to put flax seeds and chia seeds in them. I can't help myself! I'll take any way that I can to get added nutrition into the foods they eat. These do have a fair bit of sugar in them, so I still consider them a treat, but there are a lot of healthy components to them as well, like oats, whole wheat, flax, chia, and of course apples. I like that you can leave the skins on the apples for more fibre, and frankly it's just a lot easier than having to peel them. I can see these cookies becoming a fall tradition in our house.

Spiced Apple Cookies
Adapted from The Naptime Chef

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oats
2 tbsp flax seeds (optional)
2 tbsp chia seeds (optional)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups unpeeled apple, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F. In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Beat in egg and milk.
In another bowl, combine flours, oats, seeds, baking soda, spices and salt. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl and mix on low until fully combined. Fold apples into the batter.
Drop heaping spoonfuls of batter onto a greased cookie sheet, spacing them about 2" apart. Flatten the tops a little with your fingers or a fork.
Bake for 12-14 minutes until lightly browned around the edges.

Gnocchi and Chickpea Skillet Dinner

2011-11-12T11:34:00.001-08:00

Homemade gnocchi can be a lot of fun to make but it's also time-consuming, so sometimes I like to just buy the prepackaged kind. It makes a quick and tasty addition to so many meals, like this skillet dinner that I like to make. You can pretty much throw in whatever veggies and meat that you have on hand, and it's ready in no time, so it's perfect for those busy weekday dinners. Of course, you can use homemade gnocchi for this as well if you have the time. I often freeze a portion of my homemade gnocchi, then I can just pull them out and boil them as you would with fresh or packaged gnocchi. Unfortunately, Cole is not a big fan of gnocchi (he doesn't like perogies either so I guess it's something to do with potatoes), but he just picks those out and eats everything else. Both my boys love chickpeas, which is great because they're so good for you. They add protein and fibre to this dish. You can leave out the bacon if you want to make it meatless.

Gnocchi and Chickpea Skillet Dinner
1 16-18 oz package of gnocchi
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 strips turkey bacon, diced
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 small head of broccoli crowns, chopped
1 can (19 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Cook gnocchi in boiling water until they float to the top, then drain and set aside. In a large non-stick skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic for 1 minute. Add gnocchi and bacon, and cook for 5 minutes until they begin to brown slightly. Add remaining ingredients, cover the skillet, and cook for another 15 minutes on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.

Cranberry Sauce

2011-11-06T12:49:00.000-08:00

Canadian Thanksgiving has already come and gone, but I'm posting this great recipe for homemade cranberry sauce in time for American Thanksgiving, and of course it's perfect for Christmas too. I always bought canned cranberry sauce for the holidays because I thought making my own sauce would be too much work. Then this year when I was grocery shopping for our Thanksgiving dinner, I picked up a bag of fresh cranberries. On the back of the bag was a recipe for cranberry sauce. It seemed to simple and easy to be true. So I gave it a try, adding my own little touches to it, and it really was as easy as it seemed. I can't believe I haven't been making it myself all along. Everyone at dinner seemed to be impressed with it, and had no idea what little effort it took on my part. I used the leftover sauce to make cranberry sauce muffins the next day, which were really yummy too. I could see them being a great breakfast on Boxing Day.

Cranberry Sauce
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 12 oz pkg fresh cranberries
1 tbsp orange zest
1/4 tsp cinnamon

In a medium saucepan, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil, then add cranberries. Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat to a gentle boil for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until mixture thickens. Stir in zest and cinnamon. Allow to cool, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Chocolate Chia Pudding

2011-11-03T23:09:00.000-07:00

Remember Chia Pets? "Ch-ch-ch-chia!" Well it turns out those little seeds that grow 'hair' on silly clay figures are actually really good for you. Who knew? They can help balance blood sugar, promote weight loss by helping you feel full longer, and are the richest plant source of omega-3 fatty acids. My family doesn't like fish that much, so I'm always looking for other ways to add omega-3 to our diet. I've been sneaking ground flax seed into a lot of things, and I give the kids omega-3 gummies with fish oil in them. On the bottle it notes that 2 gummies have 30 mg of omega-3. When I looked at the bag of chia seeds I found that they have 2900 mg of omega-3 per tablespoon. What a difference!! Now I just have to find a way to get my kids to eat them. I tried this chocolate pudding on Bennett, but unfortunately he didn't like it. I even tried topping it with whipped cream, but he meticulously skimmed the whipped cream off the top of the pudding in order to avoid eating any of the seeds. I haven't tried it on Cole yet, but I'm hoping I may have more success because I think he'll at least enjoy making it. This is a fun recipe to make with kids, because the chia seeds form a gel around them almost magically to create a pudding. It reminds me a little of tapioca. I'd have to say I like tapioca better, but chia pudding is something I could get used to, especially considering the health benefits. I plan to experiment more with chia seeds until I make something the kids both really enjoy. If you have a great chia seed recipe, please share!

Chia Chocolate Pudding
1/4 cup Chia Seeds
3/4 cup milk
1 heaping tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Mix ingredients together in a bowl and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir it up, then place in the refrigerator for about an hour to allow it to thicken up. Then enjoy!

La Compote de Pommes (Apple Sauce)

2011-10-27T13:39:00.000-07:00

I've been pretty impressed with how many fun fall activities both Cole and Bennett have been doing at school lately. Bennett has had a field trip to the library, hosted a tea party for the parents, and roasted pumpkin seeds. Cole has gone to the pumpkin patch, learned how to curl, and made pumpkin pie. One thing they've both made at school is apple sauce. It's a great recipe to do with kids because it's so easy, and what kid doesn't love apple sauce? Cole brought home a sample of their apple sauce and a copy of the recipe. He's in french immersion, so he calls it 'La Compote de Pommes.' I like the sound of that much better than apple sauce! So I'm going to share with you my adapted version of Cole's school recipe for la compote de pommes. I added the cinnamon stick for more flavour. I did find it a little sweet, so feel free to reduce the sugar to your taste.

La Compote de Pommes (Apple Sauce)
10 apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
1 cup of water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick

Place all ingredients in a large pot over high heat until boiling, then reduce heat to simmer and cook until apples are tender (about 20 minutes). Remove cinnamon stick, then mash and enjoy!

Pizza Pockets (and other school lunch ideas)

2011-10-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

Since Cole started kindergarten last month, I've been struggling daily with what to make for his lunch. In daycare it was easier; they could heat food up in the microwave or toast things like bagels and waffles in the toaster, and nuts were okay. I bought a thermos and some nut-free Peabutter thinking that they would help me to expand on my options for his lunches. Unfortunately Cole hardly eats anything from his thermos because apparently it takes too long for him to eat, and he tried the peabutter and informed me it was 'gross' (I tried Wowbutter too and got a similar reaction). Back to square one. I wanted to be creative with the foods I sent him so that he'd actually eat his lunches. First I tried wraps with veggie cream-cheese, shredded carrot, and ham. I was sure those would win him over, but neither of the boys ate them. This surprised me because I really enjoyed them and have been eating them for lunch a lot myself. I still had a bunch of tortillas left though, so I tried pizza quesadillas. Basically these are just tortillas stuffed with pizza toppings and grilled on an indoor grill. (I cut my quesadillas with kitchen scissors to get a nice clean edge on them.)

Cole didn't like these either. Bennett ate them though and seemed to like them. He's a big fan of anything to do with pizza. That's why I tried making homemade pizza pockets, using flax seed pizza dough with ham, pineapple, peppers, tomato sauce and cheese stuffed inside. Finally, success! Cole's lunch container came back empty, and he said they were good and I could pack them in his lunch again. They also freeze wonderfully. I have a batch in my freezer and I just pull them out as needed when I pack lunches the night before.
Despite all my best efforts to make lunches more interesting, Cole told me the other day that he's happy to have ham sandwiches every day. "Really?" I asked, "Every day? Won't you get bored?" He said to me, "No Mommy, don't be silly. I could never get bored of ham sandwiches." Good to know. I guess I don't have have to worry about being creative with school lunches anymore!

Pizza Pockets
1 batch of flaxseed pizza dough
Pizza fillings of your choice (ie: ham, pineapple, peppers, tomato sauce and cheese)
Cornmeal

Roll out the dough and cut into circles (you can use a large round cookie cutter, large cup or small bowl, or I used one of these: Progressive International 4-piece Dough Press Set). Place filling in the center of each circle, then fold the dough over and pinch it shut. Poke the top of the dough with a fork. Place on a greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Bake at 425F for about 15 minutes, or until tops are golden.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

2011-10-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

When I eat a pumpkin cream cheese muffin, it always reminds me of when Cole was first born. It was September and the leaves were just starting to change, the mornings were becoming colder, but the last remnants of summer heat lingered in the afternoons. I used to take walks with my mom to Starbucks on those sunny afternoons, pushing the stroller with my new babe cozily tucked inside. He'd usually drift off for a nap on our way there, so we enjoyed our coffee and muffins while he slept beside us. That was the first time I remember eating pumpkin cream cheese muffins. I looked forward to those walks just so I could have one.
I know the blogosphere is not short on pumpkin cream cheese muffin recipes, but I happen to think this one is too good not to post. The filling is a little different than other recipes I've seen in that it has marshmallow creme instead of icing sugar. I think it makes a fluffier filling that tastes incredible, and it's so easy to make wih only two ingredients. You'll probably have some filling left over, and you'll be glad you do because it makes the best fruit dip ever. I actually first made it as fruit dip for a party and had some left so I put it in a muffin. That's how these muffins were born. Usually my family doesn't really care for muffins; I'll make a batch and no one ever finishes them all. I end up freezing the rest for later but the only person who seems to eat them is me. This time they had no problem polishing them all off. Tony likes them better than the Starbucks ones because he finds those more crumbly and have way too much cream cheese in them sometimes. When you make them yourself you can adjust the amount of filling to you preference. I used about half a tablespoon in each muffin, but if you really like the filling feel free to put more than that. There should be plenty of filling to do play around with the amounts if you want. I love the pepitas sprinkled on top (an idea I stole from the Starbucks version). It just makes them a little more interesting and lends a nice nutty flavour and crunch to them. They're a great fall treat to enjoy with coffee or tea, and they're also great for packing in lunches.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
1 (8oz) block of cream cheese
1 container (7 oz) of marshmallow creme
1 cup sugar
1 (15 oz) can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp flax seed meal
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds, unsalted)

Bring cream cheese to room temperature to soften. Beat together cream cheese and marshmallow cream until smooth. Place the refrigerator for 30 minutes or freezer for 10 minutes, just to firm it up a little.
In a large bowl, mix sugar, pumpkin, oil, vanilla and eggs. Stir in remaining ingredients.
In greased muffin tins, fill half-full with batter. Add spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture in the center of each muffin. Then top with remaining batter to completely cover the filling. Spinkle with pepitas.
Bake at 375F for 20 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins.

Homemade Alphagetti

2011-10-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

Cole came home from daycare one day asking for alphabet soup. When I probed further, he explained it had to be red soup with alphabet noodles, just like he saw one of the other kids eating for lunch. "Oh!" I said as it dawned on me. "Do you mean Alphagetti?' His eyes lit up. "Yes, that's it!" he exclaimed. "Can you make it for dinner?" His big brown puppy-dog eyes stared up at me, pleading with me. How could I say no? The problem was that we didn't have any cans of Alphagetti in our cupboard. We did, however, happen to have alphabet noodles and tomato sauce on hand, so I made my own Alphagetti. I added a few healthy additions, like onions and grated carrot, to give it more substance and nutrition. I can confidently say that this is Cole's favourite meal. He often asks for it for dinner now, and will even ask for seconds...and even thirds! After dinner, he normally has a bath and then a bed-time snack, which is usually something like fruit or yogurt, but when I made this he actually asked for more alphagetti as his snack! It's such a shock, because Cole is notoriously fussy when it comes to dinner. I wouldn't say it's an exact clone of Alphagetti, but luckily Cole doesn't have much experience with the real thing so he accepted this recipe without a problem. I personally like this homemade version better, and I love that it's good for you with much less sodium than the canned variety and has some fresh vegetables snuck in there too.

Homemade Alphagetti
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 carrot, finely grated
1 can (680 ml) tomato sauce
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1 cup uncooked alphabet noodles*
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pot or dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic and carrot for about 3-5 minutes, until soft. Add tomato sauce, broth, sugar, worcestershire sauce, basil and oregano. Turn heat to high and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer covered for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cook alphabet noodles in boiling water, according to package direction. Drain and set aside.
Remove tomato sauce from heat. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until fairly smooth (you can skip this part if you'd rather have it chunky). Stir in the cooked alphabet noodles, cheese, and salt and pepper. Stir until cheese has melted through.

*If you can't find alphabet noodles at your local grocery store, try online at Amazon:
Eden Organic Vegetable Alphabets, 16-Ounce Packages (Pack of 6) (See all Noodles and Pasta)

Sweet Potato Brownies

2011-09-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-21T21:20:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-12T21:11:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2011-09-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

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

2011-09-01T23:10:00.000-07:00

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.

Tofu and Vegetable Stir Fry

2011-08-29T21:10:00.000-07:00

Whenever I make stir fry I wonder why I don't make it more often. It comes together quickly, it's good for you, and best of all, my kids will generally eat it. I find if I throw noodles into the stir fry they're more apt to enjoy it, so that's why you'll find most of my stir fry recipes contain noodles. If you prefer rice, you can skip the noodles and serve the vegetables and tofu over a bed of rice. Another great thing about stir fry is that you can easily be adapt it to suit your taste. I like this particular recipe because it's pretty fast. Once you're done chopping, it cooks up in no time. Using tofu instead of meat cuts down on your cooking time. I also just used a simple oyster sauce instead of making up a mix of sauce ingredients, so that saves you time too. I don't think I've sacrificed the taste with these shortcuts either; this was still one mighty tasty stir fry. Both boys had second helpings, and Cole said I should make this again. I think I might just do that!

Tofu and Vegetable Stir Fry
100g (1/2 a package) brown rice vermicelli noodles
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup red onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
150g (1/2 a package) extra firm tofu, cubed
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 large celery stalk, sliced
2 cups guy lon or bok choy, chopped
1 cup snow peas, chopped
1/4 cup oyster sauce

Soak noodles in hot water until softened. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and cook for 1 minute. Add tofu, carrot, celery, and guy lon (or bok choy) stalks, cooking for 2 minutes. Add guy lon (or bok choy) leaves, snow peas, and oyster sauce. Cook for another 2 minutes. Drain the noodles and add to stir fry. Toss together until fully combined.

Egg Nests

2011-08-25T21:12:00.000-07:00

First of all I must apologize for my lack of blog posts this month. I've been enjoying the summer as much as I can before it's gone. We've gone on a couple wonderful trips to Harrison Hot Springs and Shuswap Lake, enjoyed many BBQs with friends, and spent a lot of lazy days hanging out in our backyard in te sunshine. It's been hard to fit in any blogging, but hopefully once the fall comes I'll be posting more again. September might be a little crazy though because Cole is starting kindergarten, Bennett is starting preschool, and they both have birthdays that month too. It's a busy time but I'm also looking forward to it. It's exciting watching the boys reach important milestones; they're growing up so fast!
Now for a recipe. I was browsing Pinterest, as I so often like to do, and I came across these Egg Nests from Simply Recipes. I knew right away that I wanted to make these with my kids, because they looked so fun and easy to create. There aren't very many ingredients (just egg, cheese and a pinch of salt), and they're ready in no time. Cole and Bennett both loved helping me put these together and we all enjoyed eating them. I'm not much of an egg person but even I thought these were pretty good.

Egg Nests
From Simply Recipes

For each egg nest you want to make, you'll need:
1 Egg
2 tbsp shredded cheese of your choice (I used Swiss)
1/8 tsp salt

Preheat over to 450F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Place each yolk in a separate bowl to prevent them from breaking when you add them later (I missed this step and broke one of the yolks. I really need to learn to read directions more carefully!). Place egg whites and salt in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Fold in cheese very gently. Spoon onto the parchment lined baking sheet to form mounds and use the back of the spoon to push down the center to make a 'nest' for the yolk.

Bake for 3 minutes. Remove from oven and pour a yolk into each nest. Return to oven for another 3 minutes. Enjoy them right away while they're still hot.

Popcorn Cake

2011-08-16T22:46:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love most about being a parent is seeing my children enjoying the things that I did when I was a kid. I get so excited when I introduce them to something from my own childhood, like my favourite books, toys, or movies that I used to watch over and over again (when we watched Aladdin together I was surprised to discover that I still knew the entire movie by heart even after almost 20 years.) This popcorn cake is another beloved memory from my childhood. My brother and I requested it for several of our birthday parties and it was always a big hit with all the kids. I was telling Cole about this amazing cake after he said he wanted to make Daddy a gummy cake for his birthday. When I said we could make a popcorn and gummy cake he was thrilled. I asked my mom for the recipe and she told me it's the same as Rice Krispies Treats, only with popcorn and gummies. You can put it in a cake pan, or you can shape it into whatever you'd like (the number of your child's birthday for instance) using greased hands to mold it. You can decorate it with sprinkles, or more gummies and marshmallows, like Cole did.

He had a lot of fun making this cake with me, and even more fun eating it! My brother also sampled some of the cake, and I'm sure it brought back sweet memories for him too.

Popcorn Cake

3 tbsp butter or margarine

1 10 oz pkg (about 40) marshmallows (or 4 cups mini marshmallows)
1 tsp vanilla

6 cups plain popped popcorn

1 cup gummy bears

In a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir continuously until the marshmallows have completely melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.

Quickly pour into a large bowl of popcorn and stir together. Mix in gummy bears last so they don't melt. Using a buttered spatula, scoop the popcorn mixture into a greased angel food or bundt pan and press down evenly into the pan. Chill for a few hours until set.

Linked up to This Chick Cooks Link Party

Thai Chicken Salad

2011-08-10T22:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I let Cole pick the meals for our weekly menu plan by giving him cookbooks with pictures to flip through. One of these cookbooks is The Family Dinner Fix: Cooking for the Rushed, which Cole loves because it has photos of every meal so it's easier for him to choose something. I love it because it has great menu planning tips and grocery lists already done for you in the back. One of the recipes he chose was the Thai Chicken Wraps. They looked pretty tasty to me too, so I was glad when he picked that recipe. When it came time to eat the wraps, my boys had trouble keeping them together so I ended up taking the filling out of the tortillas and cutting it all up on their plates so they could eat it with a fork. It really tasted good though and was definitely worth making again, but the next time I did away with the tortillas altogether and turned it into this salad. It makes a great summer meal, especially if you use pre-cooked chicken because then there's no cooking involved at all! The sauce has an amazing tangy and nutty flavour that I absolutely adore, and it's so easy to make. The kids didn't like it as much as the adults did. Cole scoffed at it, saying that salad is not a dinner, but I thought it was pretty satisfying with all the chicken and noodles in it. And so much better than eating nothing, which is what he ended up having instead. If you're like Cole and salad for dinner just isn't for you, then try it for lunch or a side with another main dish.

Thai Chicken Salad
Adapted from The Family Dinner Fix (Thai Chicken Wraps)

100g brown rice vermicelli noodles
1/4 cup light peanut butter
1/2 cup catalina dressing
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp lime juice
2 tsp soy sauce, reduced sodium
1 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1/2 English cucumber
1 yellow or red pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and sliced
1 pkg mixed greens

Let noodles sit in hot water until soft, then drain and place in a large salad bowl. Cut them up so they're easier to mix with the sauce later. Set aside.
To make the sauce, take a small bowl or measuring cup and combine peanut butter, Catalina dressing, garlic powder, lime juice, soy sauce and sweet chili sauce. Stir until smooth.
Cut cucumber lengthwise into quarters, then slice. Seed and chop the red pepper.
Add sauce (you don't have to use it all, you can adjust based on your taste), cucumber, red pepper and chicken to the salad bowl of noodles and toss until fully combined.
Serve over a bed of mixed greens.

Italian Sausage Pasta Bake

2011-08-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

It used to be that when I made a meat sauce for pasta, I'd turn to good old ground beef as the meat. There's nothing wrong with ground beef, but then one day I tried Italian sausage instead, and mmmm boy, it really kicks it up a notch! So lately I've been hooked on Italian sausage in my pasta, which is how this recipe was born. It's a pretty straightforward pasta bake but very yummy. The only ingredient that's a little different is the artichoke hearts that I used just because I happened to have half a can of artichoke hearts left over from another recipe and I didn't know what else to do with them. Luckily they turned out to be a tasty addition to this dish, but I'm sure you could leave them out if you wanted to. The majority of the family loved this meal, except Cole who picked out all the 'meatballs' because they were 'too spicy.' I used mild sausage and no one else thought it was spicy, but Cole pretty much finds everything spicy unless it's completely bland. He did, however, eat almost all of the noodles and sauce, so it was a partial success.

Italian Sausage Pasta Bake
1 package (375g) whole wheat rotini
1 lb Italian sausage
1 onion, diced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2/3 cup (about half a can) artichoke hearts, chopped
dash of salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, grated

Cook pasta according to package directions. Preheat oven to 350F. Remove sausage from casings and crumble into a large non-stick skillet. Cook at medium-high heat until browned. Drain off fat and set sausage aside. In the same skillet, saute onions, peppers and garlic until soft. Return sausage to skillet and add crushed tomatoes, basil, oregano, sugar, vinegar, parmesan, artichoke hearts, salt and pepper. Mix in cooked pasta. Pour into a greased baking dish and top with mozzarella. Bake for 30 minutes.

Spinach, Leek and Mushroom Quiche with Sundried Tomatoes

2011-07-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

My mom makes a mean pie crust. She says it's easy to do but unfortunately I haven't mastered it yet. The last time we went to visit, she made a gorgeous pie for dessert and she gave me the leftover pastry dough to take home with me. First I made a pie (of course) with fresh rhubarb and strawberries that we bought at the Strawberry Festival on Westham Island. I still had enough pastry left for one more pie shell without a top, so I thought I'd make quiche. Whenever I make quiche (which is rarely), I wonder why I don't make it more often. It's so yummy and lovely with a simple salad of mixed greens. Tony seemed to like it, but I think the boys we under the impression that we were having pie for dinner, so they were disappointed to find spinach in it. I'd still make this again though. The boys might grow to like it if they realize it's quiche and not actually pie. Ok, probably not, but I can dream.

Spinach, Leek and Mushroom Quiche with Sundried Tomatoes
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup leeks, sliced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp basil, diced
1 cup fresh baby spinach
dash of salt and pepper
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
5 eggs, lightly beaten
1 9" unbaked pie shell

Preheat oven to 400F. In a non-stick skillet, heat oil on medium heat. Add garlic, leeks and mushrooms and cook until tender. Add basil, spinach, salt and pepper and cook for another minute until spinach begins to wilt slightly. Place leek and mushroom mixture into pie shell. Sprinkle sundried tomato and cheese on top. In a large bowl, whisk together milk, mayonnaise and eggs. Pour egg mixture evenly over the other ingredients in the pie shell. Place pie on a baking sheet lined with foil. Cover quiche with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake another 10-15 minutes until top is set and golden brown.

Edamame Hummus

2011-07-27T21:32:00.000-07:00

My boys were first introduced to edamame beans at daycare. Cole came home asking for 'Mommy Beans' and it took me a little while to figure out what he was talking about. So I bought edamame beans and we all enjoyed sitting around the table together, popping the shiny green beans out of their tough shells and into our mouths. Cole is now an expert at shelling edamame beans and likes to help out his little brother who hasn't quite figured out how to do it on his own yet. I recently bought a bag of edamame beans that were already shelled, so that it would be less work to eat them, but my kids wouldn't touch them that way. I guess the big part of the draw of edamame beans is the fun of popping them out of their shells. That left me wondering what to do with the rest of the bag of beans. Enter edamame hummus. I've been loving regular chickpea hummus lately, so I figured why not give edamame hummus a whirl. It turned out pretty good (although I think I still like regular hummus better) and everyone ate it, so I was able to use up the rest of the bag of beans pretty quickly. I liked how adding a little yogurt to the hummus gave it a nice creamy texture. I might try that with the regular kind next time.

Edamame Hummus
1 1/2 cups shelled and cooked edamame beans
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup water
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp olive oil

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Butter Chicken Pizza

2011-07-22T22:21:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about making pizza is that it can be a creative way to use up leftovers. I happened to have Crockpot Butter Chicken in my freezer, but not enough to feed the whole family for dinner, so I decided to make pizza with it. Tony and I had recently visited a new Indian restaurant in town and we were excited to try the Butter Chicken Pizza on the menu, only to find that they weren't serving pizza there anymore. We were a little disappointed because it sounded really interesting. Luckily that's what gave me the idea to make it at home. This is so easy to make, and you don't necessarily need to use leftovers like I did. You could simply use a jar of butter chicken sauce and combine it with cooked chicken from the deli. Spread it on a pizza crust, top with fresh baby spinach and cheese, and bake it. You're in for a treat! Tony and I loved it, but I think the boys prefer their usual ham and pineapple pizza. Next time maybe I'll add pineapple just so they'll eat it.

As usual for my pizza recipes, the below recipe is just a rough guideline to be tailored to your own personal preferences. Pizza is a very flexible and forgiving thing, which is another reason why I love it. In fact, I wish people were more like pizza, don't you?

Butter Chicken Pizza

Premade pizza crust

Butter chicken sauce

Cooked chicken

Fresh baby spinach
Mozarella cheese, grated

Spread sauce and chicken onto the crust. Top with spinach and cheese. Bake according to pizza crust directions.

Ricotta and Spinach Gnocchi Revisted

2011-07-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

One of my early posts, Ricotta and Spinach Gnocchi, documents my first attempt at making gnocchi. I had so much fun making it and the whole family liked it, so several more gnocchi attempts followed, like Yam Gnocchi and Leftover Mashed Potato Gnocchi (thankfully my photos have improved a little since then!). Not long ago, I decided it was time to make Ricotta and Spinach gnocchi again, since it had received a great reaction from my family before. I served it with a creamy garlic sauce and sprinkled it with parmesan cheese. I thought it was pretty fantastic but the boys wouldn't touch it. I had plenty of leftover gnocchi, so I covered it with tomato sauce, topped it with cheese and baked it. As you can see from the above photo, it looked pretty good and I thought for sure they would eat it this time, but no such luck. They still wouldn't eat it, but thankfully Tony was with us for that meal and he ate quite a bit of it. Between us two adults we did eventually eat up all the gnocchi for lunches over the following few days. It's always surprising to me how inconsistent the kids are with their tastes in food. They can love something one day and hate it the next. It baffles me! My children's tastes may change, but at least I'm fairly certain that I will always love gnocchi.

Baked Gnocchi with Chunky Tomato Sauce
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 red pepper, chopped
1 can (16 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can (16 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 lb gnocchi (homemade or packaged)
3/4 cup grated mozarella or cheddar cheese (or combination)

In a non-stick pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and red pepper; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, basil, oregano, salt and cheese. Simmer covered for 10 minutes. Cook gnocchi in boiling water as directed. Drain and place gnocchi in a greased baking dish. Pour tomato sauce over top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes, until bubbly and cheese begins to brown.

Creamy Garlic Sauce
2 tbsp butter
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp cream cheese

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt butter and saute garlic for 1 minute. Sprinkle flour onto the butter and garlic and whisk until smooth. Slowly add milk while whisking. Turn heat to high and whisk continuously until milk begins to boil and thicken. Turn heat down to medium-low. Add salt and cream cheese. Whisk until cheese has melted and fully blended with the sauce. Serve over cooked gnocchi (or pasta) with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins

2011-07-08T18:40:00.000-07:00

Sometimes for lunch I like to make muffins and serve them warm out of the oven with butter, sliced cheese and fruit. This is one of my favourite lunches, so I didn't even think twice when I packed Cole a couple muffins for his daycare lunch, along with fruit and cheese. Well, did I ever get an earful from him after I picked him up from daycare that day. "Mommy. You gave me muffins for lunch. That is NOT lunch, that's a SNACK." What a silly mommy I am, what was I thinking packing a snack for lunch? Even if muffins don't qualify as lunch to Cole, I still love them that way. These raspberry cream cheese muffins are delicious any time of day or night. Cole may not have liked them as lunch but he ate several of them for a snack and so did Bennett. They certainly disappeared very quickly in our house.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Muffins
1/2 cup light cream cheese, softened
3 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1 egg white
1/4 cup milk or buttermilk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Preheat oven to 375F. In a large bowl, beat together cream cheese and butter. Add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add vanilla, egg whites, egg and milk then beat until well combined.
In another bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add to wet batter and stir just until combined. Gently fold in raspberries. Spoon batter into 12 greased or lined muffin cups. Bake for 20-22 minutes.

Holy Crap

2011-07-05T21:56:00.000-07:00

I'd like to introduce you all to Holy Crap cereal. Yes, that's right, it's actually called Holy Crap. I just couldn't resist trying a cereal with that name, could you?

This delicious stuff is gluten free, lactose free, sugar free and nut free. It's made up of chia, hemp hearts, buckwheat, dried fruit and cinnamon. You don't need very much of it to feel full, just a couple tablespoons will do. You can have it with milk, but my favourite way to eat it is sprinkled over honey-sweetened greek yogurt. Sorry folks who were hoping for a recipe post, I realize that cereal and yogurt is not exactly much of a recipe, but trust me it's yummy! Plus I'm tired from studying and exam-writing today, so go easy on me.

Back to the cereal. I especially like the fact that this is made locally (well, for me anyway) on the Sunshine Coast of BC Canada. They have a website at holycrap.ca if you'd like to check it out. Has anyone else experienced Holy Crap? What did you think?

Mexican Chicken Crockpot Soup

2011-06-28T18:25:00.000-07:00

I can't get enough of Mexican food. I could probably eat Mexican meals every night of the week and not get bored. Probably the only thing I love as much as Mexican food is slow cooked food, so a recipe that combines these two things is sure to be an instant favourite with me. We've been eating a lot of meals from the crokpot lately, at least once a week, because I've been taking Bennett to weekly speech therapy sessions that are right before dinner. It's so convenient to have supper simmering away in the crockpot when we come home, waiting to be dished out and enjoyed. This soup is one of those great crockpot recipes that also happens to be Mexican. I'm in love! The rest of my family was quite smitten with this meal as well. Everyone had fun garnishing their soup with plenty of crushed tortilla chips, avocados, and lime wedges.

Mexican Chicken Crockpot Soup
500g boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
1 box (900 ml) reduced sodium chicken broth
1 cup water
1 cup salsa
1 tsp oregano
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup almond butter

Garnish:
crushed tortilla chips
lime wedges
chopped avocado

Place all ingredients except for the almond butter into a crockpot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. With two forks, break up the chicken into smaller pieces (it should fall apart easily). Stir in the almond butter and remove bay leaf. Serve with suggested garnish ingredients.

Oatmeal Smoothies

2011-06-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal in a smoothie? It may sound strange, but it's actually delicious! I first came across this concept on Gina's Skinny Recipes. You must check out her site if you haven't already, it's one of my favourite places to find recipes for low fat food that tastes great. She wrote a post about a healthy oatmeal shake known as Avena, which is apparently quite popular in many Latin countries. I can see now why it's so popular. The oatmeal not only adds nutrition but also provides a wonderful creamy texture. I especially love the hint of cinnamon, it's surprisingly yummy. Inspired by this oatmeal shake, I decided to try oatmeal in a banana-berry smoothie one day. It was so smooth and refreshing, and the kids loved it too. I'm sold on oatmeal shakes and smoothies. They make the perfect summer breakfast when it's too hot for oatmeal.

Banana Berry Oatmeal Smoothies

1/3 cup quick oats

2/3 cup water

1 frozen banana

1/2 cup strawberries

1/2 cup blueberries

1 tbsp sugar

1 cup milk

Combine oats and water in a small bowl. Microwave on high for 1-2 minutes until oatmeal is cooked. Place in the fridge until cooled. In a blender, add cooled oatmeal, banana, strawberries, blueberries, sugar and milk. Blend until smooth.

Serves 4.

Black Bean Burgers

2011-06-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

Nothing screams summer like burgers, but sometimes the same old beef burgers get a little boring, or are off-limits to many people because of dietary restrictions. Black bean burgers are the perfect alternative. I like them because they taste great, and they happen to be good for you. They're low in fat, packed with protein, and these ones are really easy to make. I'll admit, my family prefers the meat kind, but they sure didn't mind eating these burgers. I topped them with guacamole, which is always a big hit in our house, so I think that helped. You can eat them without the bun and just guacamole if you want (that's what I had for lunch the next day), or serve them in a bun with the usual burger toppings such as cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, mustard, ketchup, etc. You can even crumble them into a salad if you'd like. They're very versatile, so even if you don't eat all of the patties for dinner, you'll easily find a way to use up the extra ones.

Black Bean Burger Patties
2 cans (19 oz) black beans
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
2 tbsp flour

In a large bowl, mash up black beans. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. PLace 1/2 cup mounds of mixture onto a greased baking sheet and form into patties. Bake at 375F for 30 minutes, flipping patties halfway through baking time. Makes about 7 patties.
If desired, top with sliced cheese and return to warm oven until melted.

Creamy Broccoli and Seafood Pasta

2011-06-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

I'm writing this as my husband prepares to watch the Stanley Cup finals, game 7 between the Canucks and the Bruins. This is a very special day for him, a day he's been waiting for since he was a boy. Oh yeah, it also happens to be our 9th wedding anniversary. Needless to say, we'll be spending our anniversary at home in front of the television watching the game and drinking beer. I honestly have no problem with that. We're very low-key when it comes to anniversaries or any other special occasion. Sometimes we go out for dinner, but often we just like to stay home. After the kids go to bed, we'll have a nice romantic dinner with wine, candlelight, and soft music in the background. Then we'll curl up on the couch together and watch a movie. We're both homebodies, so this kind of date suits us just fine. Plus, we don't have to pay for a babysitter. Bonus!
This dish is perfect for one of these home date-nights. It's fast and easy, but still classy enough for wine and candlelight. You can change the vegetable or seafood to whatever you like. I happened to use imitation crab this particular time, which I know isn't that healthy but it is cheap and fast so don't judge me. Shrimp, scallops, canned baby clams, or even tuna would be great as well.

Creamy Broccoli and Seafood Pasta
12 oz uncooked fettucine (or other pasta of your choice)
1 cup broccoli florets
2 tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tbsp flour
1 1/2 cups milk
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/4 cup light sour cream
1 cup cooked crab meat (or imitation crab)
1/2 tsp basil
salt and pepper, to taste

Cook pasta in boiling water according to package directions. In the last 5 minutes of cooking time, add the broccoli florets.
While pasta cooks, start your sauce. Melt butter in a medium saucepan on medium-high heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Sprinkle flour onto butter until smooth paste forms. Add milk and whisk well. Continue whisking until milk comes to a boil and thickens. Remove from heat. Add parmesan cheese, sour cream, basil, crab, and salt and pepper.
Drain pasta and broccoli in a colander once it has finished cooking. Serve with sauce.

Mexican Pizza

2011-06-09T20:20:00.000-07:00

I love pizza, because it gives me a chance to be creative and imprecise. You don't need to measure everything perfectly, and it's okay if you don't have all the right ingredients. Basically you just need the dough, and something tasty to put on top of it. For pizza toppings, I often use whatever I have in my fridge. This time I had some roast chicken that was left over from dinner the night before, so I thought that would be perfect for this pizza. I decided that Mexican flavours would be fun, and added salsa, pizza sauce, black beans, frozen corn, green onions and cheese. Oh, and I put a little pineapple on it too, because Cole won't eat pizza unless it has pineapple on it.

For crust, I love it thick and soft, and I find that this whole wheat pizza dough recipe in the bread machine suits my taste perfectly. You can of course use whatever dough you want, or a pre-made pizza crust is great too, especially if you're short on time. I know Tony prefers a thin crust, but I'll be honest, I make pizza for my own enjoyment, not his, so thick crust it is! Maybe that's mean, but hey, if he wants to make his own thin-crust pizza one day I'll happily eat it. Until then, we do it my way. He still eats it and doesn't complain, although I notice he never eats the crust. He complimented this Mexican pizza and ate several slices of it (minus the crust), so I think it was a hit with him. Cole didn't like the beans that much, but he managed to eat one piece of it. I even let him make his own pizza so he could put on the toppings that he liked, and he chose to put beans on it, but I guess he didn't realize that he didn't like beans on pizza. At least he knows now.

Cole's Pizza

Bennett was happy with the pizza, beans and all, and ate a couple good slices of it. I liked it too, and will definitely make this again.

Here's my very imprecise recipe:

Mexican Pizza

1 large pizza crust

pizza sauce

salsa

cooked shredded chicken

corn

black beans

pineapple tidbits (optional)

green onions

grated cheese

Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the crust, then the salsa. Next place the chicken, black beans, pineapple, corn and green onions evenly over top of the sauce and salsa. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake according to pizza dough/crust directions.

'Baked' Oatmeal in a Mug

2011-06-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

I recently posted about Chocolate Cake in a Mug, where I showed you how to bake a single-serving chocolate cake in only a few minutes. That got me to thinking, would this work for baked oatmeal too? I adore baked oatmeal, but most mornings I don't have the time to bake it. So I tried applying the principles of chocolate cake in a mug to baked oatmeal, and it actually worked pretty well! I still think oven baked oatmeal is the best, but when you're in a hurry, this microwave version hits the spot. Like any oatmeal, you can add or change the flavours to suit your taste. I decided on banana and apple for this particular recipe. You could probably use a bowl instead of a mug, but I happen to think the mug is just more fun. It also fools you into thinking you're eating more than you actually are. Not only is it great for breakfast, but also great for a snack or even dessert. After sharing the recipe for that dangerously addictive chocolate cake in a mug, I'm hoping I can redeem myself with this healthier alternative.

Apple Banana 'Baked' Oatmeal in a Mug
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1 egg
1/3 of a banana, mashed
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 of an apple, chopped
2 tsp honey

Add oats, flax and egg in a mug. Stir well with a fork. Add banana, cinnamon, apple and honey. Stir again until fully combined. Cook in microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Stir in a little milk or yogurt or nut-butter if desired.

Linked to:

Black Bean and Yam Enchiladas

2011-06-04T21:37:00.000-07:00

Black beans. Yams. Whenever I see these two ingredients together in a recipe I swoon. I love them both on their own, but when they're together it's a beautiful thing. I usually put black beans in my enchiladas, that's nothing new (see Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas and Black Bean and Sausage Enchilada Casserole), but I had yet to try putting yams in them. I figured it was about time I gave it a shot. Tony and I were in love with these enchiladas. Seriously, Tony had three helpings for dinner and then more for lunch the next day. I showed slightly more restraint than Tony, but I'll admit I ate quite a few of them too. The boys weren't as crazy about them as we were. Bennett ate them, but didn't seem that enthusiastic about it. Cole said he didn't like them. Tony replied with something like, "What? Are you crazy? These are the best enchiladas ever!" But Cole wasn't convinced. He ate a few bites, but did so begrudgingly. I just can't seem to get these boys to share my love of yams no matter how hard I try. It was probaby for the best, because Tony and I really didn't want to share the enchiladas anyway.

Black Bean and Yam Enchiladas
3 medium yams, cooked and peeled
1 can (19 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
dash of salt and pepper
1 cup cottage cheese
Red Sauce (recipe below)
12 large tortillas (I used spinach and whole wheat)
1 ½ cups grated cheddar cheese

In a large bowl, mash the yams and beans. Add tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and cottage cheese. Stir until combined.
In two 9x12" baking dishes, spread just enough red sauce to cover the bottom of the dishes.
Assemble the enchiladas by spreading the yam mixture down the centre of the tortillas and rolling them up. Place them seam-down in the baking dishes. Top with remaining red sauce and sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving (if you can wait that long).

Red Sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dried oregano
2 ½ teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried parsley
¼ cup salsa
1 6 oz can tomato sauce
1 ½ cups water

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the onion powder, chili powder, oregano, basil, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, parsley, tomato sauce and salsa. Mix well and then stir in the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Spring Into Shape Event- Beet and Avocado Salad

2011-06-03T22:42:00.000-07:00

The Knit Wit by Shair is hosting the Spring Into Shape Event this week, and I've contributed a guest post with a healthy recipe for Beet and Avocado Salad, as well as tips on how to make a great salad of your own. Please stop by her site and take a look.

Homemade Graham Crackers

2011-06-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

Sometimes there's nothing more satisfying than making something at home that you would normally buy in a package, especially when it tastes just as good, if not better. The great thing about making food from scratch is that you can make it so much healthier. These graham crackers have no refined sugar, very little oil, and they're made with whole wheat flour and flax seeds. They're a great healthy snack and so much fun to make too.

Graham Crackers
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup milk
1 tbsp molasses
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp ground flax seed

In a small bowl, mix together oil, honey, milk, molasses and vanilla. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of the flour, baking powder and flax. Add wet ingredients and mix together. Slowly add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough is no longer sticky.

Roll out the dough as evenly as possible directly onto a greased baking sheet. Non-rimmed is best, but if you have rimmed sheets like mine, just flip it over.

Use a pizza cutter to divide the dough into squares and trim the edges. Save those scraps of dough for later!

Poke holes into the dough with a fork. Cole took charge of this part. Should I be concerned he took so much joy in stabbing something repeatedly with a fork? Ok, I admit it, it was kind of fun.

Bake at 350F for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned. I found the pieces on the edges were done at 10 minutes, and the middle pieces took a few minutes longer.

While you're waiting for them to bake, have some fun with the leftover scraps of dough. It makes perfect edible playdough for the kids, because there's no raw egg in it so it's safe to eat it. We made dough balls and they were quite tasty.

And here is the finished product...freshly baked graham crackers.

This is the point when Cole told me he didn't like graham crackers.

I tried to make them a little more enticing....

...by adding nutella and mini-marshmallows, then warming it all up in the microwave so it was nice a gooey. Mmm, microwaved smores. One of these days the weather will warm up here and then we'll have real smores. I'm still waiting.

The nutella smores were great, but you can only eat so many of them, so I had to think of another creative way to get the kids to eat graham crackers. I found a recipe on allrecipes called Apple Graham Dessert, made with graham crackers and applesauce. I thought it was a little mushy but the kids loved it.

And that concludes our graham cracker experience. I hope you'll have a great time with this recipe too, just in time for smore season.

Baked Orange Chicken

2011-05-30T19:21:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-26T20:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-24T21:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-23T22:16:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-21T09:22:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

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)

2011-05-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-13T14:44:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-10T17:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-07T08:59:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-04T22:23:00.000-07:00

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

2011-05-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

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?

Ham and Pineapple Asian Noodles (Redux)

2011-04-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

Revisiting one of my favourite recipes, Ham and Pineapple Asian Noodles. This version is healthier but still delicious and so easy to make.

6 oz whole wheat spaghetti (about 1/3 of a box of spaghetti)
2 cups broccoli crowns
1 cup diced ham
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 can pineapple tidbits (juice reserved)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup calorie-reduced catalina dressing
1/2 bag of bean sprouts, rinsed

Boil water and cook spaghetti according to package directions. In last 5 minutes of cooking time, add broccoli. In the meantime, combine ham, garlic, pineapple, soy sauce, catalina dressing and bean sprouts in a large non-stick skillet. Cook over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Once spaghetti and broccoli is done cooking, drain and add to skillet. Add about 1/4 cup of the reserved pineapple juice and stir until fully combined.

My original Ham and Pineapple Asian noodles recipe is good, but I knew it could be better and a little healthier. In this version I've replaced the fried noodles with whole wheat spaghetti noodles. I've also changed some of the ingredients to suit my taste. I love broccoli with ham, so I decided to use that instead of green peppers. I also happened to have some bean sprouts on hand that I needed to use up, so I threw those in too. I left out the ginger because I'm not a big fan of ginger, and used garlic instead. My family liked this meal just as much as the original, if not more. Pineapple, ham, broccoli and spaghetti are some of Cole's favourite foods, so it was a big hit with him especially. Cole doesn't love a meal very often, so when I find one like this that he love it's one that I'll keep coming back to.

Impossible Coconut Pie

2011-04-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

Coconut custard pie that is impossibly easy to make. Just throw all the ingredients in the blender and you're good to go.

2 cups milk

1 cup flaked coconut
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons margarine
3/4 cup white sugar

Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a greased and floured 10" pie pan and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

I don't know why it's taken me so long to post this recipe; it's one of my favourites. It's a very kid-friendly recipe because children can help pour all the ingredients into the blender and watch it blend. I used to like to help my mom make this when I was a kid, and I remember it seemed almost magical the way it forms a crust, then creamy custard, then a layer of coconut on top. The crust isn't a pie crust in the traditional sense, but there is a thin golden outer layer that lifts out of the pie plate easily. We usually have some kind of dessert on Sundays, and I like to make this recipe on those Sundays when I'm short on time and energy. It's also great that the ingredients are all typically found in my kitchen in case I haven't planned a dessert ahead of time. The kids and Tony all seem to enjoy this pie a lot and so do I. They'd probably like a real pie even better, but I am sadly deficient in that area. I just can't seem to make a decent pie crust! If you like this pie, be sure to check out this pumpkin version we made a while ago; it's quite yummy too.

SmartSeat Giveaway Winner

2011-04-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

First of all, thanks to everyone who participated in this giveaway. The SmartSeat Chair protector is such a great product for young families and I'm happy I was able to share it with all of you. If you'd like to purchase your own SmartSeat Chair protectors, please visit their website at http://www.smartseatdiningchaircovers.com/.
Now finally, the winner is...

#15- sea2bluesky.Congratulations!!

Tips for Feeding Picky Eaters

2011-04-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I shared a guest post by Anne Simpson from Quick and Easy, Cheap and Healthy where she reveals a number of great methods to make the most of your citrus fruit. I never knew you could use limes in so many different ways. Lime coffee, here I come! Today, she is sharing a post written by yours truly called Tips for Feeding Picky Eaters. Please stop by her site and take a look.

Guest Post by Anne Simpson: Making the Most of It

2011-04-21T17:09:00.000-07:00

“Waste not, want not.” Wise words from a bygone era that prove useful in these times of soaring fuel and grocery prices! “Extreme frugality” has made a comeback it hasn’t seen since the thirties, when it was a habit borne of necessity.
If your own grocery budget is being stretched to the limit (and crowded out by the gas budget), you may be tempted to try a little extreme frugality of your own. Take a few lessons from previous generations and ask yourself, “Can I use this for something?” before you throw it away.
Citrus, for example. Most of the time, we eat the fruit (or juice it) and throw away the wrapper without a second thought. But consider the cost of citrus in most areas of the country, you may want to reconsider. There’s an awful lot you can do with the peel of a citrus fruit, not to mention the rest of it!
I happened to have a whole bunch of limes I bought on sale the other day, and I challenged myself to make the most of them by using every last bit of each one. Next time you have your own stash of citrus, try some of these ideas... and save some money in the process!
(I used limes, but most of these ideas are applicable to all citrus fruits.)

1. To start with, remove the peel first, before eating or juicing the lime. You can do this by using a microplane grater, or simply peeling it into strips with a vegetable peeler (try to get as little of the pith as possible). If your recipe doesn’t require the zest, pop it in the freezer and save it to use another day in one of the following ways:

Grind up some lime peel (a couple small strips) with your coffee beans. Or if you have zest (1/2 - 1 tsp), add it to already-ground coffee. If you’re skeptical, just give it a try: it’s amazingly delicious! I also added a little dried ginger to my coffee grounds, and experienced some gourmet coffee for practically pennies.

Make some simple syrup. Lime simple syrup is delicious in iced tea or coffee, sparkling water, punch, cocktails, etc. The possibilities are practically endless! All you have to do is combine equal parts sugar and water (although I have used half as much sugar with good success, and some people use 2 parts sugar to water) with some citrus peel (I used 2 small limes in 1 cup of water and ½ cup of sugar.); bring it to a boil, then reduce the heat and allow it to simmer for about 15 minutes or so. Strain and store in the refrigerator. Use about a tablespoon of the syrup for each serving.

Make lime sugar. Use the peel from one lime (either zested or in strips, doesn’t matter), and mix it well with 1 or 2 cups sugar. If the lime peel is in strips, press on them with the back of a spoon a bit as you are stirring it into the sugar, to release the oils. Allow to dry for an hour or so, then store in an airtight container or jar at room temperature. Sweeten hot beverages with it; bake cookies, cakes, and even pancakes with it; sprinkle desserts with it; or top your fruit salad with it. Once again, the possibilities are endless!

In a similar vein, make Lime Salt. I’ve personally never tried it, but I just came across this easy recipe at I Have a Lemon Tree, and I can’t wait to try it with my next batch of citrus!

2. Now that you’ve used every last bit of the peel, you’ll want to juice the limes, and you’ll get a lot more juice if you pop them in the microwave for about 20 seconds, then roll them around the countertop while applying pressure with your palm. Once you’ve got the juice all loosened up, you can slice it in half and either squeeze with your fingers or use a juicer.

3. So, you’ve used up the peel, and you’ve maximized the amount of juice, now what to do with that shell of pulp and pith? Unfortunately, it’s not really edible, but don’t worry; it hasn’t run its course yet! You can still use it for cleaning; in fact, it is so perfect for that task, it almost seems made for it!

Use one lime half like a sponge, and scrub your wooden cutting board with it. This is especially useful immediately after chopping garlic or onions on your cutting board. Wipe the board with a damp rag and then dry thoroughly.

Make a lime-scented cleaner (just as effective as homemade vinegar sprays, but a lot more pleasant to smell!): place whatever’s left of your lime (including any peel you might still have) in the bottom of an airtight container, preferably a jar. Pour vinegar until the fruit is all covered. Seal and store undisturbed for 2-4 weeks, or until the vinegar smell is replaced by a citrus smell. Strain and pour into a spray bottle. This is particularly useful for scrubbing stubborn stove-tops, but is a multi-purpose cleaner than can be used anywhere.

Clean your oven. Place the limes in a shallow pan and cover with water. Turn your oven to 350F, and “cook” your pan of citrus for 15-20 minutes. Allow the oven to cool until it is safe to touch, then use a damp rag to wipe all the surfaces. I was amazed at how quickly some built-up grease on the oven door just wiped right off!

4. There is still one more task your limes can do, even if there’s just a pile of pulp left. With their last gasping, final breath, run them through the garbage disposal, inhaling the fresh aroma as they descend to their watery grave.

Now, if only I can find a use for those banana peels...

When she’s not busy concocting something new in her kitchen, Anne Simpson can be found blogging about it at Quick and Easy Cheap and Healthy, where she shares how to make healthy food without wasting any time, money or energy. You can also find her at When Food is Dangerous, where she blogs about life-threatening food allergies.

Maple Pecan Granola Bars

2011-04-18T21:05:00.000-07:00

Sweet maple syrup and crunchy pecans are a lovely combination in these healthy granola bars.

3 cups rolled oats

1/4 cup ground flaxseed

1/2 cup raisins

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1 mashed banana

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp maple extract

Combine oats, flax, raisins and pecans in a large bowl. In another bowl mix the remaining ingredients and add them to oat mixture. Stir together until fully combined. Place in a greased 9x12" baking dish and bake at 350F for 20 minutes (longer if you like them crispy). Cut them into bars while they're still hot.

I threw these together to take to a friend who just had her third baby. I remember how hard it was to grab a healthy bite to eat when nursing a newborn, so I figured granola bars would be the perfect thing. I've made them a couple times since then, changing them slightly each time, and I'm very happy with the resulting recipe. The whole family was happy too; they didn't last very long at our house at all. Cole says these are 'sooooo yummy' and I agree!

SmartSeat Chair Protector Review and Giveaway

2011-04-16T11:43:00.000-07:00

Kids can be rather messy at the dinner table, in case you hadn't noticed. Clearly, I didn't realize this fact when I purchased diningroom chairs with white seat cushions shortly before we had children. We ended up re-upholstering our chairs with a vinyl faux-leather fabric which works pretty well, but if you don't want to go to that extreme with your own chairs, you should definitely consider these great SmartSeat chair covers. SmartSeat is a patent-pending product made by pb&j Discoveries LLC, a parent-owned company based in Massachusetts. The company sent me a cover to try out on my messy children (they ship to Canada, yay!). It was a cinch to attach to my chair when I followed the video demonstration on their website. Cole noticed it as soon as he got home from daycare and was very impressed by how soft it was. I captured this video of him:

Bennett immediately tried to rip it off the seat, but it wouldn't budge, thanks to the super sticky velcro straps holding it in place. He eventually gave up and sat on it. There was quite a lot of food spilled on it over the following week, not to mention cat hair since our cat decided the seat cover was his new favourite sleeping place.

By the end of the week, the cover looked like this:

Not too bad! Not much of the food that spilled actually stuck to the cover, so that was a big plus. I gave it a quick wipe with a damp cloth, and it was good as new:

I can see this product being very useful for a lot of families with young children (and cats!). It comes in a variety of stylish colours so your seats can still look great while being protected from stains.

SmartSeat Giveaway

If you'd like to win one of these covers, please leave a comment on this post telling us who is the messiest eater in your family?

Please make sure I have your email address so we can contact you if you win.

You can receive bonus entries by doing any of the following (just make sure to leave a separate comment to tell me each bonus entry you do):

Share this giveaway on Facebook, Twitter, or blog
Follow us on Google Friend Connect
Subscribe to us by Email
Follow us on Twitter
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Like SmartSeat on Facebook
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This contest will close Saturday April 23 2011 at midnight PST.

Contest is open to residents of US and Canada. Winner will be chosen by http://www.random.org/. The winner will be announced in another post and contacted by email.

Butternut Squash Pasta with Wonton Wrappers

2011-04-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

Homemade ravioli or tortellini made easy with wonton wrappers, and a cheesy butternut squash filling.

1 1/2 cups butternut squash, cooked and mashed

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1 package wonton wrappers

In a medium bowl combine squash, cheese, garlic powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper. This will be your filling.

If making ravioli, you can either take a whole wonton wrapper or divide it into 4 smaller squares to make them more 'kid-sized', as I did. Place a tablespoon (or a teaspoon for the smaller version) of filling in the center of each wonton.

Wet the edges with water and top with another wonton wrapper. Press around the edges to seal them closed.

To make tortellini (which I found to be easier), place a teaspoon of filling on the center of a full-size wonton wrapper. Wet the edges and fold diagonally so it forms a triangle.

Like my nails? I had a manicure (very rare for me). The polish only lasted two days before chipping off, so I'm glad I have these photos to remember the brief moment when my hands looked pretty.
Anyway, back to tortellini. Now bring the two far corners together and wrap them around the center. Wet the end so it sticks and holds together.

Place on a baking sheet lined with wax paper. You can freeze them at this point, and transfer them into a freezer bag once frozen, or just cook them fresh. To cook, place in boiling water for a few minutes until they float. Serve with your favourite pasta sauce, pesto, or butter and herb mixture.

Using wonton wrappers to make ravioli and tortellini is an idea that has been floating around the blogosphere for a while now and was something I had been wanting to try. I finally got around to trying it and it definitely is a lot of fun! The wonton wrappers are easier than making your own pasta, but they are much thinner and more delicate than regular pasta, so some of the filling leaked out when I boiled them. The best advice I can give for these is not to overstuff or overcook them or they will leak. They were still mighty tasty though. I thought butternut squash and cheese would be a good filling, because I love Butternut Squash Lasagna so much. This is a similar idea, and just as yummy, in my opinon. The boys weren't crazy over them, but that's fine because then I had enough for leftovers for lunch the next day. I also have some in the freezer too, so I can't wait to have them again. I served them with butter, garlic, oregano, and parmesan cheese. It was divine! The boys just don't appreciate this kind of thing like I do.

Now for Menu Plan Monday. I've been slacking off the last few weeks. It's not that I didn't have meal plans, it's just that I didn't get around to posting them. Plus, they haven't been all that interesting lately because Tony has been away a lot. We've been eating pancakes and pasta rather frequently lately. This week I put a little more effort into it. I hope you enjoy!

Tuesday: Bok Choy and Bacon Chow-Mein
Wednesday: Ukrainian Mac and Cheese
Thursday: Chicken Satay and Peanut Sauce
Friday: Lentil Sloppy Joes
Saturday: Tuna Casserole
Sunday: Migas
Monday: Cashew Chicken

Nutella-Filled Banana Muffins

2011-04-10T22:04:00.000-07:00

Moist banana muffins filled with the chocolately goodness of nutella.

3 ripe bananas

6 tbsp vegetable oil

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

6 tbsp nutella

Mash bananas in a medium bowl. Add oil, sugar and salt; beat until well mixed. Add egg and vanilla; beat again until mixture is smooth.

In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda and baking powder. Sift over banana mixture. Stir in by hand using a rubber spatula just until moist.

Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin and pour a spoonful of batter into each cup. Drop a 1/2 tablespoon of nutella into the centre of each cup. Top them with remaining batter to completely cover the nutella.

Bake at 350F for 18 minutes or until tops are golden brown.

I came across a recipe for Nutella-Stuffed Breakfast Muffins on Babble the other day and I knew that stuffing a muffin with nutella was something I had to try. You may already know that I love the combination of nutella and bananas if you happened to have read my post on Banana Nutella Pancakes, so I figured you can't go wrong making a muffin with this winning combination. I used a favourite banana muffin recipe of mine that I had adapted from a recipe that my children's godmother gave me. They're great muffins on their own, but the nutella center has taken them to a whole new level of deliciousness. Cole declared that these were very yummy and that we should bring them to his friend Hannah, whom we happened to be seeing today. We brought the muffins and shortly after I had some requests on my facebook wall for the recipe. So here it is, my brand new muffins just made today, here on my blog for your viewing pleasure.

And just look at that view! Mmm...

Strawberry Julius

2011-04-06T18:29:00.000-07:00

A refreshing blender drink made with strawberries, ice, and a hint of vanilla. It's a great way to get more fruit in your child's diet, or your own!

1 1/2 cups strawberries
1 cup ice cubes
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp powdered milk
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

This drink is one of those things that remind me of being a kid. My parents used to drop my brother and me off at the wave pool on the occasional weekend afternoon, and once we were done swimming we would go to the Orange Julius for a drink. The strawberry ones were my favourite. I wanted to share my favourite childhood drink with my kids by making it at home for them. It turns out that they love them just as much as I did (and still do!). To make them more authentic you can add more sugar and an egg white (this creates more foam), but for my kids' sake I only put in a tablespoon of sugar and no raw egg. You can also add in a banana to make it thicker and creamier if you feel like it. I hope we'll be enjoying many more of these cold drinks as the weather gets warmer.

Homemade Ketchup

2011-04-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

Why buy ketchup with so much sodium and sugar when you can make a healthier version at home in no time at all? Try this delicious ketchup recipe and see how great homemade can be.

1 can (5 oz) tomato paste

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

In a bowl combine all ingredients and mix well. Store in a clean jar or squeeze-bottle in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Makes about 1 cup.

My kids love to dip or top their food in ketchup. I think they would eat ketchup with every meal if I let them, but I usually don't like to give them too much because it's not the healthiest of condiments. I feel a bit better serving them this homemade version, because you can control what goes into it. I poured it into an empty ketchup bottle and the kids didn't seem to notice the difference at all. I did, but not in a bad way. I thought this had a fresher and more natural taste to it that was really quite nice.

Guest Post by Jay: Bok Choy and Bacon Chow Mein

2011-03-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

My 4 and a half year old daughter Ariel is fascinated with wacky vegetables. It all started after her class took a trip to the market during a unit on fruit and vegetables. One that she found very funny was 'bok choy' or 'butt choy' as she kept accidentally calling it. Of course us laughing made it a running joke and she insisted we have some for dinner.
This recipe is super easy, and one of my 'crazy night' meals that pleases everyone around the table. Everyone always wants seconds, including my 19 month old son Xander who holds out his bowl demanding more. In fact its hard to have leftovers with this dish, so be warned, haha.

4-5 slices of bacon (chopped into bite size pieces)
5 cups of chopped bok choy
chow mein noodles
1/4 cup oyster sauce
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 eggs

In a wok, cook the chopped up bacon until it softens. While doing this, cook the noodles in a separate pot and drain. Save them until later in the recipe. Add the chopped bok choy to the bacon in the wok and continue cooking until the stalks are translucent. Add the cooked noodles, oyster sauce and garlic. Cook and keep stirring until heated thoroughly and coated with oyster sauce. Add the eggs and stir in until cooked. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Written by my incredibly talented friend Jay, who is a photographer, cake decorator, graphic designer, and mother of two. You can find more from Jay at http://www.jaybirdcreations.com/, and her blog at http://thisisthegreatadventure.blogspot.com/

Baked Beans

2011-03-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

A recipe for comforting baked beans made in the crockpot, plus an easy tutorial on how to cook dried beans.

1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
6 cups cooked navy beans
4 oz salt pork, diced
2 cups chopped onions
1 can tomato paste
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup fancy molasses
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

In a crockpot, combine all ingredients together. Cover and cook on low for about 6 hours, until beans are thick and bubbly.

I love homemade baked beans; they're so much more flavourful and less mushy than the canned kind. My family thought these beans were alright, but I think they would have liked them more had I not used cooking molasses instead of fancy molasses (I bought the wrong kind). They tasted very strongly of molasses as Tony pointed out right away. I highly recommend using the fancy kind so the flavour won't overpower the beans. Maybe even use less than 1/2 cup if you want to be on the safe side. Other than that I thought this was a pretty good recipe. I love any recipe where you can just throw everything in a pot and leave it be all day. It makes an awful lot of beans but they freeze very well.

Now I'd like to teach you about cooking dried beans. I still use canned beans in a pinch, but they often have a lot of sodium and preservatives in them, and even BPA in some of the can linings, so I prefer to use dried beans whenever possible. It's also very cheap to cook your own beans, and let's face it, I'm cheap.
First of all you need to soak the beans. This involves placing the beans in a large pot with 3 times their volume of water and letting them soak overnight. A quicker way is to bring the water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for a couple minutes, then remove from heat and let the beans soak for an hour. After the beans have soaked, drain and rinse them. Now they're ready to be cooked.
To cook the beans, place them back in a large pot and cover them with 3 times their volume of water again. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered until the beans are tender. The cooking time will vary depending on the type of bean:

Black beans: 30 minutes
Black-eyed peas: 35 minutes
Chickpeas: 45 minutes
Kidney beans: 50 minutes
Large lima beans: 55 minutes
Navy beans: 40 minutes
Romano beans: 45 minutes

Once they are cooked, drain off the water and let them cool. After they've cooled I usually freeze them in 19oz containers (same size as a can of beans). Then I always have beans handy in my freezer when I need them for a recipe.
If you've used the quicker soaking method, expect to reduce the cooking time by 5-10 minutes. Always check on the beans well before the end of the suggested cooking time to make sure they're not overdone. They should be tender and easy to squash, but not mushy. You can also cook them in the crockpot instead of on the stovetop. Generally it takes about 10 hours for chickpeas and 12 hours for beans.

Reference: Canadian Living: The Slow Cooker Collection

Linked to Potuck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen

Guest Post by Teresa: Branana Loaf

2011-03-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't like a good banana loaf recipe? This is one I found at least fifteen years ago when I was still single and fancy free, but have tweaked over the years to make lighter and healthier for the family, making sure it's still full of that rich delicious flavour without the added fat or processed flour.

In this particular version, I use a 3 to 1 ratio of flour to wheat bran, but I have gone as high as 2 to 1, resulting in the pet name "Colon Blow 2000" for this loaf. So beware, it's good, but the bran definitely lives up to it's reputation!

Preheat the oven to 350
In one bowl combine the wet ingredients (plus sugar):
3 large bananas, mashed
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

In another, combine the dry:
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup wheat bran
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt (optional)

Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, being careful not to overstir. If I'm feeling decadant, I'll add 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips at this point. Some people like to add nuts, but because of allergy restrictions we don't do that. Feel free to add 1/2 cup of whatever nut floats your boat, if you so desire.

Fold into a pre-sprayed non-stick square pan (8 x 8") or a pre-sprayed loaf pan. The advantage of using the square pan is that it takes a lot less time to bake (about 40 minutes, but be sure to check pretty frequently after about 35), whereas the loaf pan will take up to or even an hour to bake thorougly. I am also really in love with the silicone pans you can find these days. You don't need to spray them and you can turn out the loaf as soon as it's done.
Beware, this loaf usually lasts less than 24 hours in our home. Hope you enjoy it as well!

Written by my friend Teresa. We met when our boys were babies, and now they go to school together. I made this loaf for my family and Teresa was right about it lasting less than 24 hours. It was gone in about 6 hours at my home. Even picky Cole devoured several pieces, and I think Tony ate about half of the loaf by himself! It's so moist and tender you won't believe it's low in fat and high in fibre.
-Megan

Lemon and Clam Vermicelli

2011-03-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

An easy yet elegant pasta dish with the bright flavour of lemons combined with baby clams and spinach.

1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 lemon
2 cups fresh chopped spinach or baby spinach
1 can baby clams, drained
pinch salt and pepper
150g brown rice vermicelli
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 minute. Add lemon juice and zest from the lemon, then add spinach and cook until wilted. Add clams, then salt and pepper. Heat through.
Place vermicelli noodles into a large bowl or baking dish and pour in enough boiling water to completely cover the noodles. Let stand for a few minutes until noodles are tender, then drain water and add noodles to the lemon mixture. Add parmesan and toss together, then return to stovetop until heated through.

Brown rice vermicelli is typically used in Asian cuisine, but it also works well in any pasta dish as a substitute for Italian vermicelli or angel hair pasta. I like that it has the nutritional benefits of brown rice while still maintaining a light and airy texture.
I'm so in love with this recipe. It's ridiculously simple so it makes a great weeknight meal, but also tastes sophisticated enough that you could serve it at a dinner party. Everyone enjoyed it, although Cole only liked the first bite and then changed his mind. I happily polished off the rest of his. We wouldn't want it to go to waste, right?

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Guest Post by basilmomma: Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

2011-03-22T17:33:00.000-07:00

I tend to overbuy pantry items when they go on sale. From pasta to beans I have quite a selection. I just never know what I will need to have on hand and I like to be prepared :)
Last December there was quite a shortage of canned pumpkin around here. It seemed like every lady I worked with was talking about it. Who had small cans, where did they get them. It's crazy what gets people worked up. It was like the world was coming to an end because they couldn't find Libby's 14.75 ounce cans of pumpkin puree.

So I , being the planner that I am, bought 20 cans one day. I came across a new shipment at our local grocery store and I thought I should grab a few cans for my Mom. Little did I know that she had the same idea. Long story short We have been eating a lot of pumpkin in the last few months.

I open a can, use a little and freeze what is leftover. I don't want to waste any, right? Cookies, pancakes, french toast and soups are a few of the lucky items to be made using this prized squash in a can.

One of my families favorite cookies is this one that I made last night. It is easy to adjust to your own tastes. You could add chopped walnuts if you like. I opt out of using nuts as my oldest son is allergic.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies

2 C all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp.
1 C packed brown sugar
1 C sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla
1 C pumpkin puree
1 1/2 C old fashioned oats
1 C white chocolate chips
1 C dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 and line pans with parchment paper.
Combine all of the dry ingredients (except the oats) in a medium bowl. In another bowl cream the butter and sugars. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat until fluffy, 3 minutes.
Beat in the pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients as well as the oats.
With a spatula, fold in the white chocolate and the cranberries.
Drop by small spoon fulls onto the baking sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned.

For more delicious recipes from basilmomma, check out her blog at http://basilmomma.blogspot.com/ and her facebook page.

Caramelized Onion and Bacon Pizza

2011-03-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

Sweet caramelized onions and smokey bacon in a bed of ricotta and pesto spread over a whole wheat pizza crust.

Double batch of flaxseed pizza dough

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp brown sugar

1 red onion, thinly sliced

8 pieces turkey bacon, diced

2 cups packed fresh chopped spinach or whole baby spinach

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/3 cup ricotta

3 tbsp pesto

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Over medium heat, melt butter in a skillet. Add brown sugar and onion and stir. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions have caramelized, about 10 minutes. Add turkey bacon and cook for another 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and spinach and cook until spianch has wilted, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Roll out pizza dough and place on a greased baking sheet (sprinkled with cornmeal if desired). In a small bowl mix ricotta and pesto. Spread ricotta mixture over the pizza dough. Top with onion and bacon mixture. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes.

I enjoyed this pizza a lot. The sweet and smokey flavours worked so nicely together. Tony thought it was good too and ate all of his, although he was talking on the phone through the whole meal so I didn't get a whole lot of feedback from him. Yes I did think that was a little rude, but in his defense he just got a new iphone and it's pretty cool. Cole said he didn't like it, but he did scoop off all the topping and ate that. I'm starting to get the sense that he doesn't like pizza crust! Bennett is a total carb fiend so he gobbled up his whole pizza with no complaints.

I can't believe it's Monday again already! That means it's menu planning time.

Tuesday: White Chili Casserole (leftovers from the freezer)

Wednesday: Cheeseburgers and Yam Fries

Thursday: Pizza Pancakes

Friday: Chicken Spring Rolls

Saturday: Butternut Squash Ravioli

Sunday: Sticky Chicken with broccoli and rice

Monday: Potato Leek Soup

Very Hungry Caterpillar Pizza Buns

2011-03-17T21:22:00.000-07:00

Introducing a new healthy eating campaign with a very hungry caterpillar made of fun pizza buns bursting at the seams with nutritious veggies and cheese.

1 batch of whole wheat pizza dough
2 tsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 red pepper, diced
4 white mushrooms, diced
1/2 cup ham or sausage, chopped
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
3/4 cup pizza sauce
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
1 tsp cornmeal
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. Saute onions, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, ham, basil, oregano, salt and pepper until vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Remove from heat and drain off any excess liquid. Stir in pizza sauce and ricotta cheese.
Preheat oven to 450F and grease a baking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Grab a handful of pizza dough and flatten it in your palm. Place a spoonful of vegetable filling into the centre of the dough and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Gather the ends of the dough together and pinch them closed, then mold it into a round shaped bun. Place on baking sheet and repeat with the remainder of the ingredients, forming a caterpillar shape with the buns. Place a piece of pepper for the eye and spinach for the mouth on the head of the caterpillar. Bake for 12 minutes.

The Alliance for a Healthier Generation and the American Academy of Pediatrics are featuring the best-selling children's book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle in their new campaign to promote healthy eating habits called Eating Healthy. Growing Strong.

My kids love this book, and it's a great way to start a dialogue with your children about healthy eating. Encourage your children to name the different fruits the caterpillar eats to help them become familiar with nutritious foods. It's also important not to overeat, as we learn from the caterpillar when he gets a stomach ache from eating too much. My poor pizza bun caterpillar had a similar problem; he was so full that he couldn't keep it all in. The filling burst out in some places, which was not a pretty sight. I think maybe I need to work on my dough-sealing skills. It may not have looked perfect but it still tasted good. Bennett couldn't stuff it in his mouth fast enough. Oh Bennett, have you learned nothing from the caterpillar? At least it was a healthy meal with a good variety of vegetables and a whole wheat crust. Cole didn't like it but he did try a few bites, then ran away crying into the bathroom. That's not quite the reaction I had hoped for. When he came back I asked him what was wrong and he said it was spicy, but there's nothing really spicy in this. The only thing I could think of was that he bit down on a piece of ground pepper. In any case he wouldn't eat any more of it after that. I found the cat eating up what Cole had left on his plate so at least it didn`t go to waste. That cat is terrible for sneaking food off the table. On the plus side he never complains about my cooking.

For more information about the Eating Healthy Growing Strong campaign, visit the Alliance for a Healthier Generation (www.healthiergeneration.org/veryhungrycaterpillar) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (www.healthychildren.org/veryhungrycaterpillar). These sites have resources including a printable growth chart, a reading guide, and tips for healthy eating.

Zucchini and Yam Fritters

2011-03-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

These veggie and cheese fritters make perfect toddler finger food, and you'll enjoy them too.

2 cups shredded zucchini
2 cups shredded yams (peeled first)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 eggs
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp Mrs Dash original blend

Squeeze zucchini in paper towel to remove any excess moisture. Stir all ingredients together in a large bowl. Scoop 1/4 cup mounds of mixture onto a pancake griddle or frying pan and flatten into patties. Flip when they begin to brown and cook the other side until browned. You can also bake on a well greased baking sheet at 425F for about 12-15 minutes on each side, or until browned.

Cole used to adore these patties when he was about a year old. I would make a batch and freeze them in between sheets of wax paper so I could easily defrost them as needed for a quick and healthy meal for my little guy. I hadn't made them for ages, so I thought I'd give them a try again. Well, Cole's tastes have clearly changed since he was a toddler, because now he hates these things! He decided he didn't want to eat them as soon as he looked at them, but I told him he had to at least try one bite to know if he liked it or not. He finally put some in his mouth and, well, let's just say it didn't stay in his mouth. I didn't make him eat any more of it. Bennett's reaction wasn't much better. He came to the table, took one very long and suspicious look at the fritters, then walked away. I just don't get it because I thought these were delicious, and I don't even like zucchini. I do love yams and cheese though, so that's what I enjoyed about these fritters. If you aren't as crazy about yams as I am, you can use carrots and/or potatoes instead. I often made them with a combination of carrots and potatoes when I didn't have any yams handy and they were just as good. I've also cooked these in a frying pan with a little oil, and they turn out great that way. It just requires watching them a little more closely than I have time for nowadays, so I often do the baked version now, even though I think the fried way yields better results.

And now here's my menu plan for this week.

Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Lazy Chicken Pot Pie
Thursday: Squaghetti and Meat Sauce
Friday: Perogies and Turkey Kielbasa
Saturday: eating out
Sunday: Fusili with Veggies and Turkey Kielbasa
Monday: Southwest Crockpot Chicken