Waffle Eggs

Not particularly mind blowing in originality, but a cute little last minute dinner fix!

My kids LOVE breakfast for dinner and I tried to find a fun, quick way to do it.

Enter the waffle maker. I softened some peppers, wilted spinach and added left over ham to warm up. 

Cooked 4 eggs in the waffle maker and let cook. Topped with the pepper/spinach/ham mixture and a little cheese (and tomato for b). Cut into strips and it was finger food fun!

Spicy roasted Broccoli

So T and I went out for supper this past weekend, with some work people to a high end steak house. It was so flipping good. The steak was good, the wine was good, but the broccoli, oh the broccoli was incredible. Before you call boloney on me and tell me I am making things up, you have to try this recipe. It is really, really easy and worth every second. T and I will eat a head each in a sitting. It isn't AS good for you as plain old steamed or raw broccoli, but it's not exactly a french fry!

 

 2 table spoons light tasting olive oil
1/2-3/4 tsp chili peppers
1/2 tbsp chopped garlic
1-2 large head of broccoli chopped into smaller pieces
a small handful of sliced almonds

Directions:

Heat the oven to 450 degrees.
Wash and chop the broccoli into pieces.
Mix together olive oil, garlic and chili peppers and let sit 30 minutes.
Put broccoli into a large bowl, pour oil mixture over the vegetables and toss until coated.
Spray a cookie sheet with a little olive oil.
Spread the broccoli even across the baking sheet so none are layered on top of one another. If any look a little dry, give them a quick olive oil spritz.
Put in the oven for about 10 minutes (watch them carefully)
Turn over pieces and mix them around so they begin to roast evenly.
Put back into the oven for 7 minutes. Pull back out, move the pieces around and add the almonds.
Bake another 2-3 minutes or until almonds are toasted. (Don't burn them, they get bitter and gross)

 I served this tonight with a piece of grilled chicken and a dollop of goat cheese and a salad.
 I really did eat all the broccoli first.

The best banana bread

I love me some fresh, homemade banana bread.
The recipe I grew up with is a mennonite recipe, from Waterloo county, but over the years I have tweaked it and changed it to be more of what my family likes.

It really is one of the ultimate comfort foods and the best thing for almost done bananas.




3 or 4 ripe bananas
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup low fat sour cream or low fat greek yogurt
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar (I like organic cane sugar, but white sugar works too)
2 eggs
1 tsp salt

Directions:

Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Cream together shortening and sugar.
Add in eggs and mix well.
Add in mashed bananas, almond and vanilla extract and mix well.
Alternate mixing in the flour mixture and the milk/sour cream until all is incorporated.
Spray a loaf pan (or mini loaf pans)
Bake at 350degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.
(I bake less time with the mini pans)

**We also will throw a handful of chocolate chips in from time to time, a little semi sweet and a little milk chocolate makes for ever more goodness**

Black bean soup

Every November brings "the hunt". T grew up in Northern Ontario with lots of uncles and cousins and they all get together on the family property on Manitoulin Island for a week during deer season.
All these men bring a meal (and desserts) to share and T is no exception.
This years contribution was spicy black bean soup. It was tasty and there was a lot of it!
I made a double batch and it made for two meals, which was perfect for them from what I am told.

I only remembered to take a picture of the mirepoix mixture, not of the soup itself. Silly me. But this smelled so, so good!




Ingredients:

• For the beans:
• 1 lb dry black beans
• 1  bell red pepper
• 1 onion roughly chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 cloves of garlic, smashed
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• For the soup:
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 red pepper minced
• 1 large onion, minced
• 2 medium carrots, shredded
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup white wine (optional)
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1 1/2 chicken or vegetable bullion cubes
• salt to taste
• black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Rinse the beans and place in a large pot with about 8-10 cups of water. 
2. Cover and bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let the beans sit, covered for one hour. (Or you can let them soak overnight in cold water)
3. Drain the water, then add 8-10 cups of cold water when ready to cook. Add the bell pepper, 4 garlic cloves, onion and bay leaves to the beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about an hour or until tender, stirring occasionally. You might need to add a little more water, depending on the beans.
4. In a large, deep frying pan, add the olive oil and heat. Add in the chopped vegetables (onion, parsley, carrots, pepper, garlic).  Sauté for about 5 minutes or until soft.
5. Add the vegetables into the beans then add vinegar, wine, cumin, oregano, bullion, salt and pepper.
6. Cover and allow to simmer on low for about 20-25 minutes. 
7. Remove bay leaves, and use an immersion blender on pulse to partially blend the soup for about 10 seconds to allow to thickening. If you don't have an immersion blender you can put about 3 or 4 cups of the soup into a blender, pulse until some of the beans are broken down and then add this slurry back into the soup. Try to get  beans/veggies into the blender, not all  liquid, but also make sure to leave some beans intact for the soup!
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Serve and top with a little sour cream/greek yogurt, chopped green onions, chives or cilantro.

Banana berry oatmeal bake

Or eating crumble for breakfast!

My kids love oatmeal, my kids love fruit and we have had amazing weather and have a bunch of super sweet strawberries just asking to be used in something good.

Ingredients

• 1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup milk 
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 ripe bananas, peeled and sliced
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries or raspberries, fresh or frozen, divided

**Can add 1/4 cup chopped walnuts if desired **

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. Lightly grease a 2-quart baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix the oats, half of the walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine. In a liquid measuring cup, combine the syrup, milk, egg, butter, and vanilla.
3. Spread the sliced bananas in a single layer over the bottom of the baking dish. Top with half of the berries. Sprinkle the dry oat mixture over the fruit in an even layer. Pour the liquid ingredients evenly over the oats.
4. Sprinkle the remaining nuts and berries over the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes, until the top is browned and the oats have set. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
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The pierogi infatuation

So we all piled in the car a few weeks ago to go for a drive. It wasn't that nice outside, but the kids were getting over colds and we had all been stuck in the house and just wanted out. We ended up in a small town about 45 minutes away, that has a fantastic little mennonite restaurant. The make the best peanut butter chocolate pie ever. Ever. But we hadn't eaten lunch yet and although had the kidlets not been in the car I'm sure I would have just had pie for lunch, I needed to set a somewhat good example. So we had the pierogies. Not just pierogies, but probably the best pierogies ever. Ever.



We got home and a few days later both T and I were contemplating driving back to the restaurant for another helping of doughy goodness. I set out to find a recipe that would keep us from driving 45 minutes every couple of days.
After tweaking and fine tuning we came up with this little gem. Oh there is no doubt we will be making the trek again for pierogies and pie, but at least we have these that come pretty darned close.

Dough:
One 8 ounce tub of sour cream
3 cups all purpose flour
3 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp baking powder

Filling:
2 cups dry curd cottage cheese (you can get this at Safeway)
1 egg yolk
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

White Gravy
1/4 cup melted butter
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup thinly sliced onion
2 tbsp bacon bits


Dough:
Mix together sour cream and eggs until smooth. Mix together dry ingredients and then into the sour cream/egg mixture. Add more flour as need to form a slightly sticky dough. Roll out on roulepat or very lightly floured surface. You want it to stick slightly to the board to make it a little easier to get the dough nice and thin. Cut out with a drinking glass.

Mix together all ingredients for the filling and spoon a portion into the cut out dough circles.
Press together the edges to seal in the filling. I found that I would press together the edges with my fingers and then use a fork to make sure I had it sealed well.

To cook just drop them into salted boiling water for 5 minutes or so, or until dough is soft.

To make the gravy.
Add the sour cream to the melted butter in a sauce pan and whisk until smooth. Add sliced onion and bacon and allow to simmer for about 5 to 7 minutes.


Boil as many as you want and add the gravy on top. You don't need much gravy, it is rich, but man alive it is GOOD!

**Pierogies can be made, frozen and dropped into boiling water and cooked for about 10-12 minutes, which makes this a perfect recipe to do in advance**

Celeriac Soup

Who knew such goodness could come from such an ugly little root?


Celeriac, or Celery Root. I hate celery, but love this soup.
It is the perfect cold winters day food. Curl up all day in front of the fire with a good book while this sits on the stove waiting for you.


Ingredients:

1 tbsp butter
4 small or 3 medium celeriac roots
4 leeks
1 small potato (red, white or yellow)
4 cups of stock (I prefer homemade if possible, but the organic low sodium one from Campbells is pretty decent)
Pepper to taste

5 year old Balderson Cheddar, shredded.


Hack the celeriac apart. Okay, no it looks like it needs to be hacked at, but just slice off the outer shell and get all the nubby bit off. There will likely be dirt all over the place, just rinse the celeriac off and chop into 1cm cubes. Cut the leaks into into thin slices.
Melt butter in a pot and add leeks in, sauté them until they're soft. Add in the celeriac and cook slowly.
Peel and cube potato and add to leek/celeriac mix
Add salt and pepper (I add a lot of pepper)
Add the stock.
Turn down the temp to allow a simmer until potato and celeriac are soft.
Can add more salt & pepper to taste. I usually add a little more pepper to mine.
Put into blender (in batches if need be) and blend on high until smooth.
Rinse out pot you used to cook in and return blended portions to it and mix together.

Just before you serve, add a small handful of the super sharp cheese and let it melt a little into the soup.

Oh so tasty.

Homemade Bread

Is there anything better than homemade bread? Fresh, warm out of the oven and covered in butter, or slathered in peanut butter and honey a la T and t styles. We've been trying to eat healthier and I've been trying to have our family eat things that don't contain preservatives, fillers and things I can't pronounce. There are some things that have been tough to move away from, not only money wise but ease as well. But some things have been easy to replace, like warm, soft homey bread.
I went looking for a bread recipe that I could make myself and bake in the oven, opposed to a bread machine recipe. Again, this is a mix of a bunch of recipes I found, tinkered with to make my own.
The bread is a little yeastier than I normally like, and higher in calories than some on the grocery shelves, but it goes fast and it has a super short list of ingredients. Perfect.



Whole wheat flax sunflower seed bread

1 1/2 cup warm water
3/4 tbsp sugar
3/4 tbsp bread machine yeast (this is what I have in my house, but I guess any dry, active yeast will work)
3-3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (works with white flour too, if you go to make it and find your almost out of whole wheat)
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup sunflower seeds (these can be omitted easily if you're not a seed person)
1 tbsp oil plus some to grease the pan and bowl(vegetable or canola)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Mix 1/2 cup warm water with sugar and yeast and let sit about 5 minutes until foamy.
Add to the yeast the rest of the water, 2 cups of flour, flax, sunflower seeds, oil and salt.
Mix in a Kitchen Aid mixer with the bread hook (or by hand, if you are so inclined) keep adding 1/4 cup of flour to the mix until the dough becomes a little stiff.
Turn up the mixer to high (or knead by hand) and let mix until dough becomes elastic. (about 7-10 minutes)
Put into a greased bowl and allow to rise until doubled (about an hour or so)
Knock down and let rise again.
Knock down and roll out into a rectangle as wide as the pan you plan on baking the loaf in and about 10 inches long.
Roll into tight log and place into a greased loaf pan.
Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for another 25 minutes.
You might need more or less time depending on your oven.

Voila tasty, homemade bread.
I just keep mine either under a tea towel, or in an old bread bag. Keeps for about 3 days.

Bison Burgers

Yes, I said bison, like buffalo, like those large woolie things you see in pictographs and the flintstones.
I am NOT a game person, hunting creeps me out, but bison is not gamey at all and is a leaner, tastier version of beef.
It really is good. It isn't all that much more expensive than lean ground beef here in the prairie provinces.
This isn't so much a recipe as a suggestion to BBQ something a little different.
My favourite way these days is seasoned just with a little garlic, salt and pepper. Grilled and then topped with Chèvre cheese and some Sharwoods mango chutney. (please don't tell my mom I love chutney, she will never let me hear the end of it, we used to torment her mercilessly when we were growing up about how gross chutney was)

Happy grilling!

Red beans and rice

Ever had a moment that you suddenly wanted to eat better? Add different foods to your diet and expand away from the usual menu? Well T and I decided to try and add more thigns like beans to our diet. The boy seems to really like beans and it is easy for him to pick up and eat, so here I sit with the interweb at my fingertips and foodtv, allrecipes and many more calling to me again.

I am improvising the recipe to suit our family and our tastes. Though T and I would love to have a super spicy rich andouille sausage filled recipe, the boy might have issues with too much spice.

We will see how this works out.




YUM!
This is what I went with and it was awesome! Both T and the boy loved it!

1 can drained and rinsed kidney beans
1 can drained and rinsed black beans
5 cups chicken stock
1 coil of farmers sausage
2 mild italian sausages
1/2 spanish onion chopped
1 handful of chopped green peppers (the frozen ones I had in my freezer, probably about 1/2 a pepper)
1/2 cube of garlic (I get the big bag of peeled garlic from the grocery store, throw it in the food processor to mince it, and freeze it with a little olive oil into icecube trays and pull them out when needed)
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cumin

I chopped the sausage into chunks and browned the outside in a little olive oil. I left the oil in the pan and put the sausage into a crockpot with the beans. I put the onion and peppers into the pan and cooked them for about 4 minutes. I put the cube of garlic in and mixed it around until melted. I put the whole mess into the crockpot and added the stock and the spices.
I turned the pot on high and left it for about 3 hours. It didn't thicken up as much as I wanted it to, so I put the beans into a pot on the stove. I mashed some of the beans up to release the starch and cooked on medium high for about 20 minutes and it thickened up nicely. Either I can try to leave the beans in the crockpot longer or just make this a stovetop recipe, but slowcookers are just so wonderful!
I made a pot of rice, maybe 2 servings.
Put the rice on the bottom and the beans on top. It was good. It filled me up but I didn't feel sick full. It is something I will add to my list of crappy winter day recipes. With the tomato free zone, winter recipes are a pain, but this is good stuff!

Beef Stroganoff

I love easy and brainless recipes. They make me happy!
Most people will use mushroom in this recipe, but I'm allergic to mushrooms, so I had to figure it out without them!


Beef Stroganoff (mushroomless)
2 cups beef stock
1 medium Spanish onion chopped
2 pounds of beef cut into strips
4 cloves garlic minced
1 cup flour

Brown the beef in a pan.
Coat browned beef in flour.
Add onions, garlic and stock into slow cooker
put beef on top and cook on low for about 5 hours
Serve over hot noodles


THE VERDICT:
T: Took it for lunch the nest day, always a good sign.
t: liked the meat and onion and sauce, a little weirded out by the noodles
S: Hey anything that is a normal thing that I can eat without being sick is a okay in my books!

Not too shabby

Black & white chili

Black & White Chili
As you know mine is a (shell)fish, tomato and mushroom free zone, so good crockpot recipes are few and far between. I found this one and made a few changes. It was actually really tasty! Hell even T & t liked it!


1 can chickpeas drained & rinsed
1 can black beans drained and rinsed
2 pounds chicken thighs (deboned and I trim fat) roughly chopped
1 can good crisp corn
1 spanish onion chopped
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 jalapeno pepper chopped
1 tsp chili flakes
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp corn starch

Saute onions & chicken thighs until onions are soft.
Add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes.
Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup of stock until dissolved.
Add everything to slowcooker and cook on low for 7 hours.



THE VERDICT:
T: came in swinging after taking a look at it and screwing up his nose. He ended up eating a huge bowl, came back for seconds sometime around 8pm and then took the rest for lunch.
t: ate the whole bowl no problem. The chickpeas and beans were super easy for him to pick up, so it allowed us to eat together. We helped a little, but it was a kid pleaser!
Me: It was hot, easy, comfort food, but with homemade stock and all the beans and chick peas, I felt like it was a healthy option. Will make this again for sure. The jalapenos added a subtle heat.