Recipe Micellany

Homemade.

2011-11-23T11:54:00.001-08:00

Food Joke of the moment:

Jane had a system for labeling homemade freezer meals. Shewould carefully note in large clear letters, "Meatloaf" or"Pot Roast" or "Steak and Vegetables" or "Chicken andDumplings" or "Beef Pot Pie."

Everyday when she asked her husband what he wanted fordinner, he never asked for any of those meals. She decidedto stock the freezer with his various requests. What hereally likes.

In Jane's freezer you'll see a whole new set of labels.You'll find dinners with neat little tags that say:"Whatever," "Anything," "I Don't Know," "I Don't Care,""Something Good," or "Food."

No more frustration for Jane because no matter what herhusband replies when she asks him what he wants for dinner,it's there waiting.

(found at : http://www.food-jokes.co.uk/misc-food-2.html)

Star-filled Egg in a Basket lunch

2011-11-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

My little dude loves stars. So one lunch I raced over and made him this lunch, and it didn't even take that long. I took my star cookie cutters out, then took the larger one and cut a hole in the bread.

The little guy ate the bread star while I cooked. Then I sprayed the pan with some cooking spray, preheated it, placed the bread on the pan, and cracked an egg in the middle. I sprinkled some roasted red pepper spice on it because my guy likes spiced up food, but it would look better plain.

Cook until star looks opaque and flip if desired (I did to make sure the egg was cooked through, no runny egg stains in my kid's clothes) or cook sunny side up, but keep an eye on the bread if you do so it doesn't burn.

Et voila! I cut another bread star for the plate, along with some small stars out of cheese slices, and placed the cheese on a dollop of marinara sauce I had left over from a pizza dipping sauce.

Spooky lunch... i.e what we ate for Halloween

2011-11-01T18:31:00.000-07:00

Macaroni and Ghosts

I made some of that Amy's white cheddar and shells pasta, then took a hard boiled egg that had been peeled and nicked the bottom off with a knife. Next I put the egg in the pasta cut side down, and used a toothpick to paint on a ghost face with some black food colouring gel (I used Wilton's) I have seen various colouring on food with toothpicks in the past, and this seemed like a good way to add something special to Halloween lunch. As a plus, the black gel started to leak a little green colour around the edges and looked extra cool.

In case you are wondering, the black flecks are pepper... I got enthused and almost ate my portion of lunch before taking the picture. As a side note, you may want to give the egg a minute to dry before handing it to a starving toddler who thinks it is also cute, as my son had 'eye' prints on his fingers, haha.

Kraft Dinner of the week: Mac and Cheese Pizza

2011-10-26T22:47:00.000-07:00

Macaroni & Cheese Pizza

Yes, you did read that right, now take a deep breath and release, then look at the picture from 1 Fine Cookie showing her take on this odd combination food.

Tell me you do not want to eat that. I feel my waist expand just looking at it. It is almost at 'deep-fried mars bar' level... which means it is probably delicious too. Obviously you should check out the link and see how she adds truffle oil to the pizza and is claiming to have one of the best pizza dough recipes. This pizza could be a creativity gold mine if you are willing to experiment with toppings.

Glowinthe*dark Drinks

2011-10-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

I couldn't resist the simplicity, yet over-all effect of this idea, so I hope you enjoy this too. This may make our Halloween zombies even more awesome than before. (Zombies the alcoholic drink, if you were wondering how drinking cups went with that...) Also great for the kids, with non-alcoholic beverages... I wonder how many people will be clicking this just wondering how it could be tagged as both boozed up and kiddie stuff...

Gummie Bear Ghosts

2011-10-26T21:05:00.000-07:00

Halloween is by far my favorite holiday of all, and that is why even though I have been too busy to update here as often as I would like to, I could not resist posting a link to this cute little recipe item for your enjoyment.

Not only are they chocolate covered gummie bears, but they can also be on a stick :) I love food on a stick. I actually have the cookbook entitled 'on a stick', ... well enough about me, if I can not manage to post something before Monday then I wish you a happy Halloween.

Organizing Measuring Cups and Spoons

2011-09-09T23:08:00.000-07:00

Organizing Measuring Cups and Spoons

I loved this idea over at infarrantlycreative.com to organize all your baking measuring devices in a space saving (and time saving) way. The better part of this project is that she does this with free paint sticks from Home Depot and cheap hardware, so it is very easy to accomplish with a bit of time and planning. Now, if only I had time to spare...

IMMD : Sky Parfaits

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

Sky Parfaits

This completely made my day... I mean night.... I mean really early in the morning when it is still dark outside and I am still up for some reason on the computer... but you understand what I mean. This recipe is really simple: blue jello plus whipped cream.
Here is the original post:
http://pinterest.com/pin/128251097/
You will find that the post says pretty much the same thing, but with an awesome idea like this, words are really over-rated. I can't wait to make this for my little man.

Halloween Ideas : Pumpkin Party Cooler

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

: Pumpkin Party Cooler :

Isn't that a great idea for storing your Halloween drinks? I love Halloween. It is my absolute favorite holiday. I think this could also be awesome if you paint the pumpkin black or lightly carve the pumpkin (not all the way through) Anyways, for the details of this project you will have to go here:

http://www.marthastewart.com/268772/pumpkin-party-cooler?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/pumpkins#slide_19

...yes... that does say Martha Stewart. Problem?? You have to give her credit, she does seem to have an idea for everything. Somewhere on that site I am sure I have seen something on making your own halloween labels for things like bottles that could go well here too... The sky is really the limit. Oh, and there is a tutorial on making a pumpkin into the candy bowl too.

2011-08-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

I know this is not a recipe, but hey, everyone can use a good idea to display the wonderful baked goods you bring into the world, so why not save money buying expensive cake and cupcake stands when display ideas are all around you. Here is a post at www.howdoesshe.com that gives great ideas on making your own easy to assemble and disassemble cupcake stand, which also looks impressive. Once you get the idea, you will see displays all around you, I know I did...

Tiered Cupcake Platter

Spice age chart

2011-08-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

I believe this image came from the McCormick website, it has been a while, but it seems like a good thing to remember. There are tips on using spices at the website too.

http://www.mccormick.com/

vodka-soaked gummie candies

2011-08-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

I think I just fell in love. I just found a website that has an article on making vodka-soaked gummie candies. I think this may be my next move to try instead of an other batch of jello shooters, although they will always have a place in my heart. Find out how to do this for yourself right here :

Vodka-Soaked Gummie Candies

The website is That's so Michelle so that you can check out all her other great stuff... including awesome jello shot recipes too!

Amazing jello shot tips

2011-08-09T23:21:00.000-07:00

I found the most amazing website ever for helping create amazing jello shots!

They have sections on everything from recipes to presentation, and even floating things like gummie bears in them... although that may be a choke hazard for already inebriated people... but it looks neat. If you have party plans in your future this seems like a good place to start.

Coca Cola Cupcakes

2011-08-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

I found this little gem of a recipe quite a while ago, but thought it seemed like a good time to post a link to it.

Coca-Cola Cupcakes. Yeah, I may not drink that much pop anymore, but my loyalty has always remained with coke. The recipe for these cupcakes is found here at 52 Cupcakes and Layla

Be sure to check out the rest of the site as well, there is nothing like a good cupcake after all.

Blueberry Syrup

2011-05-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

One of my first ever posts here was about my favorite homemade pancakes, and the theme of pancakes and waffles comes up occasionally in this blog... which made the fact that I ran out of maple syrup (practically a Canadian standard) even more sad.

The budget is tight lately and I have been heavily using web couponing, half-priced and reduced price items to fill the gap, and needless to say, with money low, maple syrup is one of the luxuries that went first.

However, all is not lost. I have a bounty of on sale frozen blueberries in my freezer, and since I don't want to give up my pancakes any time soon... I have patched a good blueberry syrup recipe out of two different ones I found in web searches. It's probably healthier for me and the little guy anyways...

Blueberry Syrup

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of frozen blueberries

3 tablespoons of organic cane sugar (or honey, maple syrup, xylitol or reg. sugar)

1/2 cup of orange juice

1 tablespoon of cornstarch (can be omitted if you prefer)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, mix 1 1/2 cups blueberries, sugar and 1/4 cup orange juice. Bring to a boil while stirring and mashing in the blueberries.
in a small bowl, mix the remaining orange juice and cornstarch, and stir that into the blueberry mixture.
Keep stirring until thickened, and serve warm. Store unused tightly wrapped in the fridge. Use your own judgement, but I wouldn't keep it more than a week just to be safe. This recipe could probably be canned to keep it longer or give as a gift to friends and family with some homemade pancake mix.

Original recipes:

Blueberry Syrup - Food Network
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/blueberry-syrup-recipe/index.html

Blueberry Waffles with Fast Blueberry Sauce - Allrecipes
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/blueberry-waffles-with-fast-blueberry-sauce/Detail.aspx

DIY Homemade Pedialyte Recipe

2011-05-26T19:46:00.000-07:00

With the summer heat approaching for many of us, and illness a constant possibility for us people with children, I thought it was a great idea to re post this information from the website CraftGossip :) Here you will find a recipe to Homemade pedialyte with simple ingredients you may have lying around the house.

Pineapple Sorbet

2011-05-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Pineapple Sorbet

Ingredients:

1 can of pineapple chunks

Directions: Pour the can of pineapple chunks, juice and all, into a shallow freezer safe container and freeze for a day or two. Alternatively, you could freeze it in ice cube trays, which would also make it easier to make small batches if you wished to. Let the frozen pineapple sit out for about 10 minutes. If you used a large shallow container to freeze it in, break the pineapple apart into chunks. Use a food processor, blender, or in my case a magic bullet to process the pineapple into a smooth consistency. This might take a bit of work and a few minutes, you will probably need to shake a magic bullet a few times to make sure you get it all, and in a blender or processor it may take a spoon and shorter bursts to finish it off, but the outcome is still a surprisingly easy dessert. You can try adding a splash of coconut milk for flavour, or use different fruits and experiment.

It's been a while...

2011-05-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

Well, let us not dwell on the fact I haven't had any time to post here in quite a while, and move right on to the food related stuffs... okay? Lately I have been hearing a lot of bad things about food colouring. I hear that red and yellow have toxins in them, that they are all chemicals that have health effects, and even of a study showing a link between ADHD (which I have by the way) and artificial food colourings... it leaves a person wanting to find an alternative.

I already know the basics of some of the natural food colourings, like spinach for green, beets for purple, turmeric for yellow... but the one that I knew I can't live without is the one that was harder to find. Blue. Fear not, because I found a link to a recipe for natural blue food colouring, and it turns out I had an idea what it was too. I once heard of dying yarns with red cabbage to get a beautiful shade of blue, but I thought it was only achieved by adding alum powder, which didn't sound tasty at all. This recipe doesn't contain anything nasty, so I hope to give it a try and maybe save my child from food colouring related illness... at least at home.

How to Make Blue Food Coloring

here is also a link to wikipedia on the subject of natural dyes that may be helpful / interesting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_coloring#Natural_food_dyes

Microwave Chocolate Cake In a Mug

2011-02-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

I know, there are a million of these recipes floating around the internet at this very moment... but this is the one I actually use and find works for me. It has been tweaked so much, and is a jumble of so many posts I have seen I can not give credit to any one individual. I am sure someone out there has came to the same or similar conclusions for their recipe... but this is where I will present my 'findings' and I apologize if it is the same as anyone else's out there.

Chocolate Cake in a Mug

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of cocoa powder. "camino" is my favorite, but any kind will do.

2-3 tablespoons of sugar. *( I like to put in 2, then make the '3rd' tablespoon xylitol to lessen the sugar content just a little)

1 tablespoon of flour

3 tablespoons of milk

The white of one large egg (you could put the yolk in the fridge for french toast later, or freeze it for yolk including recipes in future use if you don't want to waste it... cats like 'em too)

1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla or almond extract... or any extract you like really, you could have a chocolate mint cake, but from my experience, alcohol does not substitute for extract in this recipe... just a warning.

3 tablespoons chocolate chips.

Directions:

Blend the dry stuff together with a spoon. Add the wet stuff. Stir for 2 minutes quite vigorously. Mix in half the chocolate chips, then sprinkle the rest on top. You could just garnish with chips and ommit the ones mixed in, but I think they are like little melted gems of chocolate, why leave them out? Microwave for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes depending on your microwave. It should be a little lava cake like, but not liquid-y. Enjoy while it is still hot. Goes really nicely with whipped cream or cool whip. Obviously serves 1

Coffee*Love : Playtime coffee for tots

2011-02-03T22:01:00.000-08:00

I found this amazingly cute post from Sew Homegrown for how to make a felt Starbucks play-set for your child's play kitchen! You could have your children play-barista-ing away in a nice corner of your house while you enjoy the real thing! However, I still think my son will continue to try and steal the real stuff... but this is still cute.

2011-01-24T12:23:00.000-08:00

Convienence food is always a good thing to have around. Having made it yourself is always better too, because then you know what is in the food you eat, and you can usually save a lot of money doing it yourself. Remember that you are paying for someone else to prepare and package your food when you buy something that is ready to go. Eliminating steps can eliminate dollar signs. Here are a few freezer articles I found when I was searching 'freeze ahead biscuits'

Basic Buttery Biscuits

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=10000001023773

*uses baking mix, like Bisquick or the likes, but sounds convenient... think I will add cheese though.

Make Ahead Cooking and Freezer Recipes

http://www.kitchenlink.com/rcpmenus.html
This is a site of numerous freezer recipes, the idea of 'spinach balls' intrigues me. There are recipes for all sorts of different foods, and tips on freezing and thawing foods, like food safety, preventing freezer burn and even thawing a beloved cheesecake that has been made ahead

Couponing thoughts

2011-01-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

Have you ever seen that show, Extreme Couponing? I have... and knowing I am here in Canada saddened me a little. I love Canada, but the thing is, we have limits to our coupons now that make it so you can't do the same things those people did, like get food for free or even get some money back. I can remember things like that happening when I was a child, but now every coupon is a 'one per use, can not be doubled, do not use with other offers' kind of coupon... making it hard to get the same kind of deals.

Sure, coupons are still worth it if you find ones for stuff you need already, so with that, I will post a link to an article telling how to best make use of Canadian coupons. There are plenty of great tips, and the whole site is great for finding freebies, great coupons and deals. Great food doesn't have to mean that you have to spend a mint to get it. Sometimes being frugal and ingenuous can get you just as much for less.

Extreme Canadian Couponing

IMMD * Cosmo Cupcakes

2011-01-04T18:30:00.000-08:00

This little 'apres new years' find was an 'it made my day' moment.

Check them out here at Bakingdom

Snow Flake Cocoa Recipe

2010-12-08T20:59:00.000-08:00

Snow Flake Cocoa Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups whipping cream
6 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (12 ounce) package white chocolate chips
Garnish:
Whipped cream
Candy canes, crushed candy canes or finely crushed candy cane bark

(Candy could be replaced by coloured sprinkles if you are not a mint fan, although candy canes come in many different flavours and colours now)

Directions:

Stir together the whipping cream, milk, vanilla, and white chocolate chips in a slow cooker.
Cover and cook on low for 2 to 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally, until mixture is hot and chocolate chips are melted. Stir again before serving. Garnish with whipped cream and candy canes, as desired. It says it yields 10 servings, but I bet that depends on how generous a cup you like to give out ;)

Original recipe was located here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Snow-Flake-Cocoa/Detail.aspx

Cookie*Love - angel wings for your coffee

2010-12-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

I just fell mildly in love. It happens all the time. I see something cool, wish to have it, then see something else shiny... but bask in this moment of 'Look at this cool thing' with me.

Angel Wings Cookie Cutter

Enjoy!

Links of note

2010-12-01T20:41:00.000-08:00

Looking for some interesting ideas for the holidays that are impending upon us? I spend a lot of time eying up other sites for my food pron fix... and here are a few of the sites I have found that have me craving time to make them... and also crave a reversal in food roles where junk food helps you loose weight... but now I am just wishing.

The Jelly Shot Test Kitchen has some amazing recipes for more 'classy' alcoholic jigglers. Ever thought of having a tray of beautiful jelly cosmos instead of wine glasses to serve to people? Maybe you should.

Over at Annie's Eats they have a good tutorial to show you how to decorate with royal icing if you are planning on making the infamous sugar cookies this Christmas.

More resources and amazing stuff can be found at University of Cookie too, on the cookie topic, while I am still on it.

Let us not forget to make life easier on our selves by getting free gift cards to Starbucks, like I do (Over 5 free $10 cards, I lost count :) or Amazon cards to buy some of the presents. You could gift the cards themselves, there are lots to pick from, or get some of the swag directly from them if you are in the states. Believe me, it isn't hard to look up my food obsessions in Swagbucks instead of other search engines, and when I feel like 'googling' I just look it up in swagbucks ;)

Anyways, there is tonnes more I could write, but I need sleep more right now, so for the moment, happy holidays!

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Festive confetti KD

2010-12-01T20:22:00.000-08:00

Festive Confetti KD

1 box of Kraft Dinner or like wise mac and cheese box, preferably white cheddar flavour

1/2 cup of drained pimentos, or substitute chopped roasted red peppers if you wish

1/2 cup of chopped spinach (or a few 'cubes' if you have the frozen pre-cubed variety)

1-2 tablespoons of plain cream cheese

Directions:

Prepare KD as package indicates, adding spinach during the last few minutes of cooking. Return to pot and to the burner it was just cooked on, and add the cream cheese, stirring until blended. Add in the pimentos and enjoy. The added creaminess from the cream cheese should trump the spinach for most finicky kids. Just tell them that the big guy in the red suit eats this for lunch too... cookies can't possibly be his only solid food...

Something is better than nothing...

2010-11-04T20:09:00.000-07:00

I hate to be that blogger that takes an unexpected break, but it seems like it happened already... it has been a while. I do plan to have lots more in the future, however at this time life seems too hectic to focus all my energy here for the time being, so I will write what I can, and in the mean time, here is an article I came upon that may interest some of you.

I look at it and think about how if I want to treat my husband to bacon... this may be the way to do it. This is all about how to perfectly cook bacon... and I was actually a little surprised that it involves baking. Go figure, but it sounds logical in the end. Click here: Perfectly cooked bacon

Kraft Dinner of the Week: R.I.P KD

2010-10-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of Halloween, I created my own little KD. It didn't photograph well, but it tasted good and got the basic look idea I was going for, so I am sharing it with you, so you can have one more idea to add to your Halloween lunches for your child, or you, if you are whimsical about this holiday (like me)

R.I.P KD

Ingredients:

Kraft Dinner, or similar macaroni, in white cheddar flavor

1 cup of chopped spinach (can be frozen spinach cubes too)

A few drops of green food coloring

1/2 cup of grated mozzarella, or white cheddar, or a few slices of processed mozzarella

3 hard boiled eggs (or as many as you see fit depending on your serving sizes, I do two generous ones, you might not want that!)

Directions:

Prepare KD, adding spinach to the last 3-4 minutes (no matter what your cooking method is, I boil) Mix as directed and add extra cheese and food coloring if desired. Put into the bowls. Peel your hard boiled eggs and cut in half long ways. Place three halves of eggs into the top of KD to make gleaming white tombstones. You could experiment with food pens, colorings or tinted mayo piped onto the eggs to make crosses and R.I.P's, which I did, but if you do that, make sure you cool the eggs first, which I did not, and the heat from the eggs melted off my mayo so it wasn't so pretty by the time I found my camera. If you have etable flowers or are handy with an apple peeler you could design or add some flowers for your graves. Eggs can be substituted by sliced hot dogs or maybe even cheese strings if you like, get creative ;)

KD of the week: 14K Mac 'n Cheese

2010-09-30T13:50:00.000-07:00

14K Mac 'n Cheese

1 package of Kraft Dinner or similar macaroni and cheese

1 jar or pureed carrot baby food, or puree your own carrots to taste

2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese

Directions: Prepare macaroni and cheese, stir in pureed carrots, top with Parmesan to serve. I opted for jarred carrot because it is quick and easy, always available and won't over-power your dish with a carrot-y taste. Good for children, if they hate veggies, they would barely notice, and you could make it with whole wheat KD or that Smart KD, for extra healthy stuff.

As always with KD, the more cheese the better, so feel free to add a slice, or some grated to it and mix over low heat till blended for a more cheesy experience.

Coffee*Love : Triumphs and Tragedy

2010-09-22T17:40:00.000-07:00

Triumphs and Tragedy

In my quests for good coffee I have tried many a thing. This last week I tried two. Let's just say I am starting out by discussing the second one first, as it was more successful than the latter attempt.

Starbucks at home, the quest for the White Chocolate Mocha recipe.
This began with me searching again for an easy version of this recipe. It would be much more authentic if I actually had an espresso machine anymore, or a milk frother to go with that, however, it would still be nice to have something that resembles the drink that has me addicted. I even redeem my Swagbucks and my Air miles for Starbucks gift cards to stretch my tight monetary status. (I can't say 'budget' because that would imply I have a plan for my low funds... and I don't) Here is what I came up with from my searches and trials.

Okay, so this recipe isn't exactly like the coveted drink, but it is pretty good, and if you had the proper espresso and found the perfect white chocolate instead of just going out and buying a bag of Chipits, I am sure this could be way closer to the actual recipe.

White Chocolate Mocha (ish)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup whole milk (use half and half if you like it richer, use 2% or skim if you like it lighter)

6 tablespoons white chocolate chips (or shave/chop 2 ounces of white chocolate)

Coffee, any kind. Obviously espresso would be best, but any coffee will due if that isn't an option.

Whipped cream (optional)

Directions:

Add milk and chocolate chips to saucepan. Heat and stir until chips are melted. Meanwhile brew coffee or make espresso. Pour half of milk mixture in coffee mug and fill rest of mug with coffee, saving enough room for whipped cream if you are using it. Drink with a spoon handy if you are doing something like, oh, writing a blog post, because the white chocolate will 'skin' a bit if you leave it unattended for a while. I will attend to mine now for a moment, then move on to the failed coffee moments.

Okay, now many years ago my mother-in-law got a gift set of coffee and offered us the coconut flavored grinds when we came for a visit. It was the best non-mocha coffee I have ever had. My husband couldn't even believe I remembered that coffee after all these years, but it just kind of stuck with me. This lead me on a journey to try and find the best coconut coffee flavoring I could. I, for some reason, choose the 'coffeemate-ish' route. I guess it is because I had been using tonnes of hazelnut C-mate for a month or so.

I do a few searches, but no one has anything on making your own coconut coffee anywhere. The closest thing I could find was that there is such a thing as "Coconut Creme C-mate" (guess it's only in the States...) but alas, no recipe. It would be nice to completely eliminate the C-mate all together anyways, it is hydrogenated and full of fake stuff, and a bit costly.

I come up with the idea to make my own, so I go out and get a big container of half and half, and find some coconut oil. Let's just say, the concoction I came up with did not even taste like coconut. My first mistake with that was after heating two cups of half and half with the tablespoon of coconut oil (it says coconut oil in the C-mate ingredients, go figure this goes soo wrong) I decide to put this into a bar shaker, and since the shaker is stainless steel I forget that it will be a good idea to let it cool first. One tiny shake later, I am cleaning half of it off the floor. In my defense, my baby was having a nap and I wanted to finish and have coffee before he woke up.

With what was left I made the second mistake; using it in my coffee. It was like a mouth full of oily wax and it had the look of a coffee lava lamp with all the oily bubbles in it. Time to clean it all out and try something else.

I figured I didn't have much time left before the baby awoke, so I took the remaining 2 cups of half and half and dumped it in the shaker, (freshly cleaned and de-greased of course) and grabbed a can of coconut milk out of the cupboard, adding it to the mix. I added a teaspoon of real vanilla extract, shook it and added it to the coffee. Not bad, not the best, but next time I will take the time to heat it and add about a cup of sugar, that would make it pretty good. Not the coffee I had years ago but alright. I might try to find some coconut extract and add a measure to the pot before I brew some coffee, that might be even closer to what I am trying to achieve.

So, if you are trying to attempt this, use extract or milk of coconut, not oil. Trust me though, coconut coffee is worth a try if you can get a hold of it. I can't find the bloody stuff anywhere though.

Inspirational recipe for the white chocolate mocha was found here:
http://starbucks-secretrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/05/starbucks-white-chocolate-mocha-recipe.html

KD of the week: Macaroni Bake

2010-09-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

KD of the Week: Macaroni Bake

Ingredients:

1 lb. Ground beef (or for me I would substitute either veggie meat, TVP or ground chicken)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce

1/3 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

1/4 tsp. Ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. Ground nutmeg

1 pkg. (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner

2 Tbsp. Butter or margarine

2 Tbsp. Flour

1-1/2 cups Milk

2 Eggs, lightly beaten

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Brown meat or heat veggie substitution for meat; drain. Add onion; cook and stir until tender. Stir in tomato sauce, half of the Parmesan cheese and spices; simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Prepare Kraft Dinner as directed on package. Spread mixture onto bottom of 9-inch square baking dish; top with prepared KD.

Melt butter in medium saucepan on low heat. Blend in flour. Gradually add milk; cook on low heat until thickened, stirring constantly. Stir small amount of hot mixture into eggs. Return to remaining hot mixture in saucepan; mix well. Pour over KD; sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.

Bake 45 to 50 minutes or until golden brown.

Original recipe found here:

elbow macaroni

For the love of coffee...

2010-09-15T18:32:00.000-07:00

Having children teaches you things you never even thought about before having them. I learned something new all the time now. Like just a while ago I discovered that fruit flies do not just enjoy fruit. They also enjoy that carefully prepared cup of coffee you got yourself for when the baby naps.

In fact, they love it so much they swim in it. Fruit flies are poor swimmers too.

They also love that glass of wine you and your husband sneak in after the baby falls asleep and you want a little quality time together while you can get the chance.

I have also discovered that I hate fruit flies.

KD of the week: Fiesta KD

2010-09-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are waiting for me to do something other than the KD of the week, never fear, I am working on a few things, but this time I want to try them first instead of putting more stuff on my 'wish list' in this scrapbook-type page I have here. There is nothing wrong with my wish list, its just that sometimes you can tell when something will taste good, and other times when its better for me to be the guinea pig... and then if it is horrible I will still tell you all about it!

For the time being though, here is this week's Kraft Dinner recipe.

Fiesta KD

This recipe is very similar to Mexican KD, but has it's own merit to stand alone as a recipe.

1 pkg. (14 oz.) KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner (or any kind of KD like substance)

1 lb. lean ground beef (or substitute with TVP, veggie meat, ground chicken, or even omit entirely)

1 large Green pepper, chopped

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed

1 cup Thick and Chunky style Salsa

(optional) 1/2 cup of chopped sun-dried tomatoes

(optional) a shot or two of hot sauce or a can of chopped jalapenos for spicy lovers

Directions:

Prepare in large saucepan as directed on package, cooking Macaroni for just 8 min.

Meanwhile, brown meat(or prepare substitute) with green pepper in skillet; drain

Combine meat(or substitute) mixture, corn and salsa to prepared KD; mix well. Cook until heated through, stirring occasionally.

Add chopped fresh cilantro to this dish just before serving.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: KD Taco Bake

2010-08-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

KD Taco Bake

Ingredients:

1 pkg. KRAFT Deluxe Macaroni & Cheese Dinner (or any KD or KD substitute)

1 lb. Ground beef or beef substitute (like veggie ground round or TVP)

1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) Taco Seasoning Mix

3/4 cup Sour Cream

1-1/2 cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided

1 cup Thick 'N Chunky Salsa

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400°F. Prepare Dinner as directed on package. While Macaroni is cooking, cook meat (or meat substitute.) with taco seasoning as directed on package.

Stir sour cream into prepared Dinner; spoon 1/2 into 8-inch square baking dish. Top with layers of meat mixture, 1 cup cheese and remaining Dinner mixture; cover with foil.

Bake it for 15 min.; top with salsa and remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, 5 min. or until cheese is melted.

Original recipe found here:

Orange Chocolate-swirl Cheesecake

2010-08-22T20:15:00.000-07:00

I am finally going to post about the second birthday cake that made an appearance August 15th, my aunt's birthday cake, as she shared the same birthday as my son. I was holding out to see if I could find anyone who had taken a picture of my creation, but it turns out that in the haste of that week, I forgot to take a picture, and no one else snapped a shot during the party. Oh well.

A note on my decorating of this cheesecake: My aunt loves the Tigger, you know, Winnie the Pooh's Tigger, and so that was the theme of this cake. I added extra orange (red and yellow actually, in my case) food colouring to the batter to make it more 'Tigger coloured', then used a similar method to make Tigger stripes as I did to make the 1 up mushroom for my son's cake. I used dark chocolate piped onto parchment paper, and this time I coated the chocolate stripes with chocolate cookie crumbs to make them more black.

Orange Chocolate-swirl Cheesecake

Ingredients:

4 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate, chopped

3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar (I used organic cane sugar, I buy it at Bulk Barn ;)

5 eggs

2 tablespoons orange juice (or you can sub. orange liqueur if you like)

zest of 1-2 oranges ( a teaspoon or more for the crust, and a tablespoon or so, maybe more for the batter)

1 package of chocolate cookie crumbs, and any ingredients (like butter) the package says it needs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Prepare a chocolate crust as directed on the package of chocolate cookie crumbs, with the addition of about a teaspoon of orange zest from your collection of zest for the cheesecake. Press into the bottom and 1 1/2 inches up the side of a 9 inch springform pan.

In a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water, melt chocolate, stirring occasionally until smooth. Set aside to cool, but do not allow to harden.

In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and 1 cup sugar until smooth. I buzzed a cup of organic cane sugar in the magic bullet to make it a bit finer, but that is only optional. Mix in the eggs, one at a time on a low speed, or by hand. Gradually stir in the orange juice, and orange zest. Reserve 1 cup of the batter.

Pour the remaining batter over the baked crust. Stir the melted chocolate into the reserved batter. Drop the chocolate batter by large spoonfuls onto the white batter. Use a knife to cut through the batter, and leave a swirling design.

Bake for 60 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the center is almost set. Run a spatula or thin knife around the edge of the pan while it is still warm, so the cake will not crack. Allow cake to cool completely before removing the sides of the pan. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours before serving.

To help prevent cracking, use a water bath or steam method, as this cake doesn't have a starch to it.

To water bath, put a large piece of foil over the bottom of the spring form pan before closing the ring around it, and fold the sides up, then put 2 more layers of foil around the outside, to try and seal out water. Put the spring form into a pan with sides and put about an inch of boiling water in the pan, around the spring form but don't get water on the cheesecake.

To steam bath, you can either wrap your spring form as mentioned above and set on a muffin tin filled with boiling water, or you can set a pan of water in the bottom rack of the oven when preheating and add some ice to the water when putting the cheesecake in, to make it a bit more steamy.

Either way, you need to cool the cheesecake gradually, and it needs to be cool before sticking it in the fridge or freezer, to prevent cracking.

Original recipe was found here:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Orange-Chocolate-Swirl-Cheesecake/Detail.aspx
but, was of course tweaked by me to suit my personal desires... mmmm cheesecake.

KD of the week: Mac and Cheese Lasagna

2010-08-20T18:20:00.000-07:00

Mac and Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (7-1/4 oz.) Kraft Dinner

1-1/2 cups Spaghetti sauce

1/2 lb. lean ground beef (or substitute 1 cup chopped leftover cooked chicken or 1/2 pkg. of veggie ground round)

1 cup Shredded Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese

2 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350°F.
PREPARE Dinner, using the Light Prep directions on package. Meanwhile, brown meat in skillet; drain.
SPOON half the Dinner into lightly greased 8-inch square baking dish; top with layers of half each sauce, meat and shredded cheese. Repeat layers. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
BAKE 20 min. or until heated through.

Original recipe found at link below:

Banana Cake with Caramel Buttercream Frosting

2010-08-18T19:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am playing a bit of catch up since my son's 1st birthday (on August 15th) which was also my aunt's birthday as well. As such, I spent that whole week before baking two cakes, my son's cake, pictured above, is the one I will post now, and I will post about my aunt's cake later. By the way, this tasted amazing, and they all were amazed I baked and decorated it myself.

...And I will add if you do not know what the theme of this cake is... it's the '1 up' mushroom from Super Mario, complete with coins around the sides. I figured this fit, what with him being 1 up and all ;)

The Banana Cake:

I made three batches of this cake in a square silicone cake pan, I think it is about 8 x 8, but I am not going to go measure it, I am sure it would turn out in any pan. Each layer turned out only to be about an inch or two high, and the cake was more impressive with three layers, however if you do not want that much cake then just prepare the amount of cake you want.

This cake freezes well, and I froze each layer after removing the edges and skimming the bottoms off the cakes, to remove that harder, flour-y layer. I wrapped each (cooled) cake layer in plastic wrap, then put in large freezer bags and sucked the air out with a straw, like a vaccum seal, sort of (thanks to Kendra at New Life On A Homestead for the straw tip!) The cake is easier to ice and decorate when frozen too, as a bonus.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of unsalted butter

3/4 cup of brown sugar

2 lage eggs

3 tbsp yoghurt

3 large banana, mashed

1 cup self raising flour, sifted (after doing the recipe, I recommend the tip below instead of self raising flour)
If you are using plain flour, use 8 oz plain/cake flour with 1tsp baking powder and 1tsp baking soda

Directions:

1, Preheat oven to 160 degrees celcius (the original says 180, but you have to watch because my first layer got a bit dark, and the first baby cupcake was burnt crispy)
2. Cream butter & sugar till light and fluffy
3. Add eggs, one at a time and beat well
4. Add yoghurt and banana mix till well blend
5. Fold in flour to mixture and pour into a greased baking pan
6. Bake at 160C for 40 min - 1 hr or till golden brown and skewer comes out clean

Original of this recipe comes from here:
Quick and Easy Treats From Zu's Kitchen

Caramel Buttercream Frosting

For the three layers of cake I had, a double batch of this was just about perfect.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/3 cup caramel topping (look for ice cream sundae topping stuff)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 (16 oz.) package of powdered sugar (2 cups, and sifting is a good idea for the best frosting)

1 - 3 Tbsp. milk (2 was perfect for me)

Beat the first four ingredients together at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Gradually add powdered sugar alternately with 1 tbsp milk, beating at low speed until blended and smooth after each addition. Beat in extra milk if needed to achieve the right consistency.

Original recipe for frosting found here: My Recipes

*** If you are not freezing your layers of cake, or are afraid of that crumby crust, take a small amount of your finished frosting and 'water' it down a bit with milk, and use to do a crumb coat before frosting outer cake. Let your crumb coat set, or better yet, give it 10 - 15 min in the freezer before applying your outer layer of frosting.
Use a hot, but dry spatula or cake knife to smooth icing. Heat it by sticking it in a glass or pot of hot to boiling water, then wipe dry with a cloth or paper towel, being careful not to leave 'fuzzies'.
To make the mushroom or something similar for the top of your cake, draw or print a template picture and outline with heavy black marker. Lay out a piece of parchment paper on top of your template, then use slightly cooled chocolate melts in a piping bag, or a sandwich bag with a tiny hole cut in the bottom corner to trace and fill your design, allowing time for each colour to cool between. Be cautious using the fridge for the chocolate, as it is temperamental and can discolour. Chocolate melts help, not being real chocolate, but the darker colours may still change if cooled wrong. Be very careful in removing your image, and avoid picking delicate designs, or else you will want to switch to royal icing, and I am not an expert at that.

Sanity savers for people with lil peoples

2010-08-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

Someone commented to me a while back about the more clever of my baby solutions, and I thought since it is food related enough, I may as well share it here.

I am not the kind of person who really worries that much about a messy baby. They are meant to have fun with food, so they will enjoy it more as they get older, and maybe not be such a picky eater along the way. However, to keep that mind set, sometimes I use a few measures to help make the mess less.

My top tip is shelf liner. Yea, that vinyl crud we stick on the bottom of cupboards and forget about, it is cheap and usually hidden somewhere in your house, I got mine for free when my boss was cleaning out a storage area, and asked if I wanted it.

We just happen to have the kind of table that splits apart in the middle, and the booster seat sits at the middle point where the crack is... and food was getting crammed between. The little man likes to try and eat everything, so placemats are out of the question, and plates fly and smash when he gets hold of them, so the solution for me was to put a chunk of shelf liner right on the table, covering the crack and wrapped down to cover the edge.

I place all his food directly on it, and wipe it clean. No dishes to clean, not cracks to de-gunk, and if it gets stained or starts to pull up I replace it with a new sheet. Easy.

Next tip? Dollar store table cloths or old picnic table cloths, or vinyl shower curtains. Why? You use it like a painter's drop cloth under high chairs or booster seats to catch the mess. Afterwards, you just shake it off, and if messy the dollar store ones are easily replaced, and picnic table cloths wipe clean, and shower curtains can be wiped or even gently washed in the washing machine (hang dry of course)

Now, high chairs and booster seats can be taken outside in nice weather and hose sprayed, then sun dried for a nice, quick clean with the added bonus that the sun kills germs. In winter or bad weather, just lug them in the shower and let them drip dry, then set on the table cloth a fore mentioned to catch any hidden water as it finishes drying. This way you don't have to spend enormous amounts of time wiping down every nook and cranny, and get a better clean usually.

If you are worried about clothes, then feed baby naked. Diapers are changable and babies hose down pretty good too ;) Hope this helps.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: mac & cheese stuffed poblanos

2010-08-04T07:41:00.000-07:00

Mac and Cheese Stuffed Poblanos

Ingredients:

2 pkg. (7-1/4 oz. each) KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese Dinner

3 OSCAR MAYER Wieners, chopped

1-1/2 cups KRAFT Mexican Style Finely Shredded Four Cheese, divided

8 Poblano chiles, roasted, peeled and seeded

1/2 tsp. Paprika

Directions:

HEAT oven to 350º F.

PREPARE Dinners as directed on package. Stir in wieners and 1 cup cheese.

FILL chiles with Dinner mixture; place, filled-sides up, in single layer in shallow baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Top with remaining cheese and paprika.

BAKE 15 min. or until cheese is melted and peppers are heated through.

How to Roast, Peel and Seed Poblano Peppers

Heat broiler. Place peppers on rack of broiler pan. Broil until skins are charred or covered with black blisters, turning occasionally. Place hot peppers in resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Let stand 10 min. Remove peppers from bag. Place peppers under cold running water and remove peels, being careful not to break the skins. To remove the seeds, make vertical cut in each pepper. Remove small cluster of seeds attached to the base.

This recipe was found at the link below without any alterations, this time.

Orange Creamsicles... drinkables

2010-07-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been thinking about foods and drinks that use flavors from other foods and drinks, and somehow this led to a small creamsicle smoothie obsession. Here are my smooth results.

Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 cup of orange juice

4 scoops of vanilla frozen yogurt or vanilla ice cream

(may I suggest natural vanilla bean ice cream)

Instructions:

Combine the orange juice and frozen yogurt or ice cream in a blender, magic bullet or food processor.

Blend until creamy.

Breakfast-worthy Orange Creamsicle Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 11 oz. can mandarin oranges in juice

1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

1 Tbsp. honey

1 cup vanilla soy milk

1/2 cup ice

Instructions:

Open can of oranges and drain. Place in a zip-top plastic bag and freeze the night before. Place the frozen oranges and pineapple chunks in the bottom of a blender, magic bullet, or food processor. Puree until the mixture reaches the texture of a milkshake. Add more ice, if desired.

Easy Boozed-up Creamsicle

Ingredients:

2 oz Smirnoff® Vanilla Twist vodka

8 oz orange crush

Instructions:

Pour the vanilla vodka into a collins glass with ice. Add orange crush til it tastes good. Serve.

'The Best' Creamsicle Recipe (boozed-up)

Ingredients:

tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange liqueur

tablespoons Galliano liqueur

1/2 cups partially frozen diced oranges

1/2 cup vanilla ice cream

Instructions:

Place all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until the ingredients are mostly blended. Continue mixing until the mixture is smooth.

Recipes and ideas for recipes came from these links:
http://kidscooking.about.com/od/beverages/r/orangedreamsmo.htm
http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink12155.html
http://www.dvo.com/recipe_pages/smoothies/Creamsicle.html

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Apple-Glazed Chicken KD

2010-07-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Apple-Glazed Chicken KD

I know. Apple? Hey, give anything a try once, you never know what is good out there in the big, wide world. I once made chicken burgers for my baby and covered them in carrot baby food while I baked it (I felt he needed more veggies that day, and that is what I had on hand) and that actually turned out amazing, so now my world view on 'what goes with what' is askew. Anyways, back to the Mac and Cheese stuffs.

Ingredients

2 boxes of kraft dinner
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2-4 cloves garlic (depending on how much you love garlic, and you could chop some onion too, my husband hates onion though, so to each their own...)
1/4 cup apple juice
2 -3 cups broccoli florets and/or cauliflower, cooked
1/2 tsp. dill weed
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare Kraft Dinner and set aside. Chop chicken in bite size pieces and cook in some olive oil or oil of choice until fully cooked. Remove chicken from the pan and add more butter or oil if needed in pan and keep the pan hot. Chop the garlic into chunks and coat with your salt, pepper and dill, then saute in the hot oil for a few minutes. Pour apple juice in the garlic-oil concoction and return the chicken to pan. Cover and simmer for a few minutes, then mix in the prepared Kraft Dinner. Lastly add the cooked broccoli and/or cauliflower, and mix a bit together.

This recipe was adapted from the 'Super Kraft Dinner Recipe' I found here.

Chow for the Chubster: using up infant cereal

2010-07-23T17:15:00.000-07:00

Although I have not had any infant cereal in the house for quite a while, I thought I would look into recipes that use it up, as it tends to get wasted and well, babies don't really like it. There are many ways to get iron into your baby, but infant cereal is an easy way, so why not have some fun with it if you have it.

Always supervise children when eating any finger foods

BABY OATMEAL CEREAL COOKIES
2 c. flour
1 tsp. soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2-3 c. baby oatmeal cereal
2 eggs
1 c. white sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. oil
1 tsp. vanilla
Mix eggs, sugars, oil and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Bake at 350 degrees about 15 minutes.

You can use the infant cereal to thicken your smoothies, for you or the baby. Added vitamins never hurt a smoothie.

The plainer varieties can be used in meatloaf and meatballs instead of bread crumbs. It's best to buy plain anyways, because a few spoons of baby food or applesauce tastes much better for baby anyways, and adds real fruit in the mix, instead of fake powdered fruit. On the same note, you could use it to top macaroni and cheese casseroles, and you could use the fruity ones with a bit of butter and brown sugar to top your muffin recipes.

Dip chicken strips in plain yogurt and then roll or shake in plain cereal and bake them. Makes a good chicken finger for toddlers.

Teething Biscuit Recipes - Egg-less Baby Cereal Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 cup dry infant rice cereal with bananas (or other flavored or
unflavored infant cereal)
3 tablespoons cooking oil
ice water

Directions:
Preheat oven 425F
Mix flour and cereal.
Gradually stir in oil. Mix a little ice water at a time (start with 1/4 cup) until dough begins to form a ball and pull away from the bowl.
Roll out to the thickness of a cracker on a floured surface and cut into desired shapes.
Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet 10-12 min. or until lightly brown. Cool completely.

Store in an airtight container. (you may want to try 1/2 plain and 1/2 flavored baby cereal as the taste when using full flavored baby cereal is very strong.)

Orange and date muffins

250 ml pure orange juice
1/2 cup of finely chopped dates
1 egg(you can us 2 egg yolk only if there are egg allergies in family)
3tbs canola oil
3tbs honey(you can use sugar instead)
1 cup flour
2 cups fortified baby cereal(I found rice made the dough tougher, so I prefered oatmeal)
2tsp baking powder
2ml of salt

-mix wet ingredients together
-mix all dry in a seperate bowl, then pour wet mixture with dry until just blended.
-in greased muffin tins, add then bake at 200C(400F) for about 15 mins.
should make about 24 muffins. They can be kept for 4 days in the fridge or up to 3months in the freezer.

If you find the mixture to dry, you can add a bit more liquid.

Cereal Pancakes

1 egg
1 cup milk
2 Tbsp oil
3/4 cup dry infant cereal
1/4 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda.

In a med bowl, beat egg; add rest of ingredients and mix. Pour 1/2 cup batter onto hot, greased skillet for each pancake. Turn pancakes as soon as they are puffed and full of bubbles. Cook other side until golden brown. Makes 6-9 pancakes.

Baby Cereal Cookies

1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups infant cereal
3 TBsp whole milk.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or spray with nonstick spray. Lightly cream molasses and butter. Mix in egg and vanilla. In a seperate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and cereal. Add to the butter mixture. Blend. Add milk. Drop on the cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Bake 10-12 minutes.

There. No more waste. The recipes I found mostly on the internet in various forums, and there are plenty more if you 'Google' or 'Swagbucks' them.

Food Ideas Of Interest...

2010-07-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hmm.. I thought I would post a few links about things you can do with food.

New tricks for your coffee:
http://www.browniepointsblog.com/2009/05/10/new-tricks-for-your-coffee/

Utilizing Leftovers:
http://frugalliving.about.com/od/utilizingleftovers/Utilizing_Leftovers.htm

List of foods that are better to buy generic:
http://www.momsbudget.com/groceries/genericgrocerylist.html

(This one isn't really that much about food but has a lot of frugal tips that are great!)
Tips for the Truly Frugal:
http://www.frugaltimes.com/frugaltips.html

Hopefully someone can find some use out of these links :)

Crock pot chicken

2010-07-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

This is the easiest dinner I can even think of. You may think you need a recipe to successfully crock-pot, but it really is a simple process requiring little thought depending on what you are cooking. Today we look at chicken.

When I do chicken in the crock-pot, I take whatever chicken or turkey was the cheapest, be it bone-in chicken breast or turkey wings (surprisingly good) or what have you, then spray the crock-pot of choice with spray or put 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil or oil of choice in the bottom. Place in the chicken pieces, any chopped vegetables you may want, then you can use a can of soup and a touch of water to add in for flavour and moisture.

Mushroom soup works well, and you can add a tablespoon or so of Mrs.dash, parsley or your spice of choice to the soup before covering the chicken. If you have the pot mostly full, you may want a second can of soup, but do not add a lot of water, it doesn't escape the pot and you will end up with soup instead.

If you want the chicken to have a bit of crispness on top, don't fill with soup over the chicken level, and put the veggies on the bottom. For moister chicken, veggies on top and coat with soup. All you have to do now is turn on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. This will depend on your unit, but if you are worried go to the max on low, if you are not, just pick a time that best suites your dinner time. I find it depends when I can get my kid down for a nap and can get to actually throwing things in the pot.

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Souped up KD

2010-07-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Souped up Kraft Dinner

Sorry for the delay in KD recipes, with the husband getting over illness, baby with pinkeye and myself catching said illness the husband is getting over, I am afraid that my thoughts have been towards soup instead of KD. This, however, makes this KD recipe more appropriate than ever being about soup and all.

PREPARE 1 package Kraft Dinner as usual, replacing the milk with 1 can (10oz/284mL) tomato soup, and 1 soup can of water.
HEAT.

That wasn't so painful. Found that 'recipe' at Kraft Canada.

Hot Toddy for a cold

2010-07-10T18:07:00.000-07:00

Contrary to popular belief, a hot toddy does not cure a cold, however, many people do swear by it as a non-drug alternative to cough medicine. I even read about some people who have had their doctors recommend the recipe to their adult patients instead of cold and flu medications.

The hot toddy originates in Scotland, and originally calls for whiskey, hot water and sugar. Most modern recipes have adapted the sugar to be honey. This is a recipe I kludged together from a bunch I read while looking it up, as I am still avoiding most medications until my son is completely weaned. The odd alcoholic drink when given enough time between feeds (baby is asleep right now) is fine.

If you can't (or don't want to) have alcohol, don't worry, because the alcohol is more of a relaxant, maybe a little bit antiseptic, but not that important. It's the hot water and honey that soothe the throat, with the honey's vitamins and immune boosters helping, and the vitamin C from the lemon that help alleviate the cold. It isn't mandatory, but some recommend having a hot shower or bath to ease the congestion right after this drink.

Ingredients:

2 oz. of Whiskey, any kind (if you don't have whiskey... or had bad quality whiskey like I did, it is fine to sub in brandy for whiskey.)
1 tablespoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice (I used the stuff in the squeeze bottle, when using fresh you may want to up it to half a cup as the squeeze juice is more concentrated and bitter)
250 ml of hot water, almost boiling.
1 green tea bag (adds antioxidants that help fight the cold.)
1 fresh slice of lemon.

Directions:

In a mug, mix the whiskey, honey and lemon juice, leaving the spoon in the mug. Put the tea bag in the measuring cup and pour hot water over it. Let steep for 3-5 minutes. Stir with honey spoon and remove bag, then pour tea into the mug and stir mixture together. Add the slice of lemon and drink. It tasted different to me, but not too bad, and this is coming from someone who is not a big fan of whiskey or brandy. (the exception with brandy is in eggnog, but that is a different story)

Chow for the Chubster: baked fruit

2010-07-06T18:30:00.000-07:00

Baked fruit

I found this post here and thought it sounded like a great way to get extra fruit into my little man. It can be hard to find good kiddie chow sometimes, and these recipes are great because you can chop the fruit up for finger food, puree it if you are into that whole 'mushed baby food' thing or serve it with a variety of things for adults and older kids too. The site suggests serving it with frozen yogurt, oat meal or even cake, but they are all good on their own too.

BAKED PEACHES, NECTARINES and PLUMS

Turn on the oven to 400(F),
Halve the fruit if using peaches, pears, or nectarines and plums
Do not peel
Add 1-2 inches of water to a baking pan,
Place fruits "face down" and bake at 400F for approx. 40 minutes or until skin puckers.
If you use this method for pears, bake for 20 minutes or until skin puckers
Once baked, slip off the skins if you desire and enjoy warm

BAKED APPLES

Core a few apples (leave peel on),
Wipe center inside with butter if desired or add a wee bit of water to the inside
Sprinkle some cinnamon if desired
Add raisins and a wee dash of brown sugar if desired too.
Place apples upright in a baking pan filled with 2-3 inches of water (more water than with peaches as peaches are more shallow) -
Bake at 400 for approx. 40 minutes or until skin puckers and/or fruit begins to bubble.

BAKED BANANAS and PEARS

peel and cut bananas or pears in half length-wise
then place on baking sheet lightly spread with olive oil -
You choose the temp and keep a watch. We use 400 for approx 10 minutes.
Pears are generally more soft so keep a watch as they may bake up faster than you realize.
Sprinkle bananas and/or pears with some cinnamon, ginger or nutmeg if desired

Bananas are also yummy when fried in a dash of butter on the stove top - sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with honey if age appropriate. Pears are very yummy when lightly fried with a touch of vanilla.

KD of the week: Lentil Mac and Cheese Bake

2010-07-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

Lentil Mac and Cheese Bake

Ingredients

2 pkg. Kraft macaroni and cheese
1 can of lentils
1 (16 oz.) pkg. frozen mixed vegetables, any variety, as red bell pepper, broccoli, mushrooms or any vegetables you enjoy
2 tbsp. butter
3/4 c. milk
Shredded cheese
1/4 cup of bread crumbs or coating mix (like shake and bake or something, you could also use panko)

Preparation

Bring water to boil, add macaroni. With 5 minutes left on the clock add frozen vegetables. (3 minutes for any fresh or canned veggies) Cook until tender, drain. Add lentils, butter, cheese mix, milk and additional shredded cheese. Mix well. Place in casserole dish and top with more shredded cheese and bread crumbs. Bake 30 minutes in 350 degree oven or until browned and bubbly, depending on your oven.

Free food

2010-07-04T13:53:00.000-07:00

Since tomorrow is my birthday I feel that it is appropriate to speak of all the good freebies and discounts I took advantage of this year just for being born. You should always check for free sign ups at your favorite food and drink locations, because it makes the week of your birthday full of free treats.

*Starbucks. I registered one of my many free gift cards I have received from redeeming my Swagbucks and as a reward I got a free any size and type of drink voucher, in the mail (snail mail, but I prefer tangible coupons anyways). I chose a Venti White Chocolate Mocha. IMMD.

*Baskin Robins. Joined their fan club and received an e-mail coupon for a free scoop of ice cream. While I enjoyed my free ice cream, I got the tiny spoons of sampling for free for my little man to try. Free ice cream for me and my baby. Sweet. I had Chocolate Mousse Royale.

*Boston Pizza. I am going there tonight for birthday dinner. I got a free e-mail voucher for free gourmet pasta or dessert. Not sure yet which I will choose. :)

*Red Lobster. Probably won't end up using it in the end, but it is $5 off any dinner menu item.

*Dairy Queen. Have an e-mail coupon for a free Blizzard sitting in my virtual mailbox.

*Orange Julius. Free print out coupon for a 16 oz. Julius fruit drink.

The best part of free stuff for your birthday is that they also don't expect that you will actually go on your birthday, so you can sign up for them all, and most have a week or two to redeem them, so enjoy the free ride where you can, and of course, let me know if you find anymore sweet freebies for birthdays, I have a son and a husband who have birthdays too.

Cinnamon coffee scones

2010-07-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

Baking with coffee.

At Folgers.ca they are offering free recipes that include their coffee, but I am sure any strong-brewed coffee would work for the recipes they offer. ... also offering free recipes is not exactly a 'new' thing, but I did like the idea of this recipe... with the exception of raisins, I don't like raisins in my food. To each their own I suppose.

Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 30 minutes Makes: Two dozen scones (depending on their size) 2 cups self-rising flour 2 teaspoons cinnamon 6 tablespoons sugar 1-1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter 2 eggs 1/4 cup strong brewed Folgers coffee 1/4 cup milk 1/2 cup golden raisins (or chopped dried apricots) 1/2 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts) Extra milk and sugar for toppings

Stir together the flour, cinnamon, and sugar. Cut the butter into tablespoon pieces and blend with the pastry blender or two knives into the dry mixture. (Butter pieces should be the size of small peas.) Mix together the eggs, coffee, and milk. Stir into the dry mixture to form a soft dough. Stir in the fruit and nuts. Turn out onto a floured board and gently pat into a circle of dough about 1/2" thick. Cut out rounds with floured biscuit cutter and place them on a greased baking sheet. Gently brush tops with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in a preheated 400° F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden-brown.

Chicken Meatballs

2010-06-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Chicken Meatballs

Yes, chicken meatballs. I do not eat beef, and choose not to feed my baby boy soy meatballs (my favorite Oh! Naturel frozen ones) due to soy not being so great for growing boys and their hormone balance... and this recipe turned out better than I could have hoped for. I only think I will change the size of the meatballs, because I want to be bombarded with tonnes of tiny balls instead of a few honkin' sized chews.

Ingredients

1 lb ground chicken
1 egg
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I used southern fried chicken coating aka fake shake & bake)
2 cloves garlic, minced or a teaspoon of garlic powder
2 teaspoons fresh oregano (or the equivalent dried)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt (I omit salt... its up to you)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

Place ground chicken,egg,1/2 cup Parmesan,bread crumbs, garlic,oregano and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl.
Knead mixture together with hand till evenly combined.
Form mixture into 1-inch balls. (I think I will make mini meatballs next time though, they are one big chunk of ball)
In large non-stick skillet, warm olive oil over high heat.
Place meatballs in pan,up to 8 at a time,and cook until all sides are browned,approximately 8 minutes for each meatball.
Remove with slotted spoon,and add to your favorite spaghetti sauce.
Secondary cooking method: I chose to bake the meatballs on a cookie sheet, at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes, then added them to my spaghetti sauce. If you cook them 5 - 10 more minutes they would probably be easily frozen to pop into recipes as needed.

KD of the week: Cheesy Chicken Cacciatore

2010-06-29T19:46:00.000-07:00

Cheesy Chicken Cacciatore

1 tsp. oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts - chopped
1 small onion - chopped
1 Tbsp. Oregano
1 can (19 fl oz) Aylmer Chili Style Tomatoes
1 can of water (empty can from tomatoes)
1 box of KD (any variety)
1 cup shredded cheese or a couple slices of cheese from the fridge.

-Heat oil in large skillet. Add chicken and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes or until no longer pink.

-Add oregano, tomatoes, water and pasta from KD. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and do so until pasta is tender.

-Stir in cheese sauce and extra cheese and remain cooking until heated through.

(note: I love to add extra cheese to almost all of my KD... my husband is not always fond of that though, so to each their own)

*adapted from a recipe found here (I found it through a web search... not from being a member lol)
http://forums.plentyoffish.com/3547572datingPostpage2.aspx

Pass the lols : My Food Looks Funny

2010-06-22T18:58:00.000-07:00

Oh the cheezburger network, how your funnies fill my dull days. Poor little red shirt bear, he didn't know what he was getting into. Anyways, this food related site offers amusing images of food gone funny.

My Food Looks Funny

Just in case you were in need of seeing rainbow coloured bacon or the famous Cheezhenge... it is worth checking out. Oh what the heck, here is Cheezhenge as a second preview:

OAMC Vegetarian Cabbage Roll Casserole

2010-06-22T18:52:00.000-07:00

In my quest for frugal recipes while I was pregnant, I did a lot of searching for OAMC recipes (once a month cooking) and recently I flipped back through my other blog and discovered this recipe in a post, which I will now copy over to this site for good measure. By the way, I still have not had the chance to make this one, but it still excites me so it is good to have in the collection.

I found a recipe for a cabbage roll casserole, and that one truly makes me excited, because my aunt used to make cabbage rolls when I was young and I loved them, but I haven't had anything close to that experience in years due to the fact that you just don't see vegetarian cabbage rolls, its just not done. I hope this one works out well :)

A lot of the best freezer planning and meal planning advice and recipes I have found came from this site: http://www.momsbudget.com/ which also covers money management and decor too, so it is one of my more visited pages.

Also, in case you were curious, this is the cabbage roll casserole recipe ;)

OAMC Vegetarian Cabbage Roll Casserole(serves 10)

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked brown rice

1/2 cup olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 cups mushrooms, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 cups sunflower seeds

1 head cabbage, shredded

4 cups tomato juice or tomato puree

Optional sweet-sour tang:1/3 cup brown sugar (add to sauce)3 tablespoons cider or rice wine vinegar (add to sauce)1 cup raisins (add to rice with mushrooms)

Directions:

In deep, heavy pot saute onion, pepper and mushrooms in oil until tender. Add garlic and seeds. Add rice.

In large pan layer 1 cups juice or puree,then 1/3 of cabbage (approx.) then 2 cups rice and vegetable mixture.

Repeat twice. Pour remaining juice or puree over top. Cover and freeze.

To serve, place directly into 350 degrees oven from freezer. Bake 1 1/2 - 2 hours or more until cooked through.

KD of the week: Shipwrecked KD

2010-06-22T18:37:00.000-07:00

Shipwrecked KD

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. (340 g) extra lean ground beef (or if you don't eat beef like me, use a package of Yves ground round)
1 pkg. (225 g) KRAFT DINNER Macaroni and Cheese
1 can (19 fl oz/540mL) stewed tomatoes, undrained
1 cup frozen green peas
1 cup skim milk (that is what they call for... I say 2% is in the fridge already...)
1/2 cup KRAFT Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese (... and I don't like to 'skinny' my cheese either...)

Directions:

BROWN meat in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat; drain. reserving meat in skillet.
STIR in Macaroni, Cheese Sauce, tomatoes, peas and milk. Bring to boil; cover. Simmer on medium-low 12 min. or until macaroni is tender, stirring occasionally.
TOP with mozzarella. Let stand, covered, 5 min. or until melted.

Original recipe... found in many places, but this link has a person who is very passionate about their KD, I find that commendable.
Say Radio - Gourmet Kraft Dinner Recipes

Pistachio pudding cupcakes

2010-06-20T22:31:00.000-07:00

The night before father's day I made these wonderful little guys to have with all the father's day indulgence. After successfully making candied bacon for my husband, and ending up making my famous pancakes (due to not finding an economical waffle iron in time for father's day) at the end of the day these were a great sweet treat to end with.

So what I did was look up different recipes for cupcakes containing my husband's beloved pistachio pudding, which I actually don't like but this is his day after all. After finding them all too complicated I decided to wing it, and it turned out to be moist, tasty cupcakes that even a pistachio hater like myself could thoroughly enjoy.

Pistachio Pudding Cupcakes

(or cake if you want...)

Ingredients:

1 white cake mix, I used the package of Added Touch white cake

1 package of Jello instant pistachio pudding (would probably work with lemon, banana or any pudding)

1/4 teaspoon of almond extract (pure is best)

green food colouring. ( i used the directions for neon green on my neon food colour box)

eggs, water and oil as the recipe for the cake calls for.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees or the temperature specified by the cake mix. Mix the cake mix in a bowl with the pistachio pudding powder. Add your almond extract and food colouring to the oil and mix all your ingredients together with a hand mixer (or whatever mixing tool you may use) *Note: it will be thicker to beat then normal cake mix because of the pudding, just ignore that part. Pour into lined cupcake pans, or pans that have been greased and dusted with flour and bake as directed to a golden brown colour.

Cool completely, on wire racks if you can. Remember the rack in your toaster oven? It doubles perfectly as a free substitute for a wire cooling rack. Don't sweat it if you don't have a rack, it just takes a little longer and your bottoms may be a little ... softer, but no harm done.

I frosted with that amazing buttercream frosting recipe I found, and just coloured it green instead.

I will say that they were some of the most moist cupcakes I have ever had. I would make them again, and they were easy, I like easy.

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

2010-06-18T19:19:00.000-07:00

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake

I tried this as my last Christmas cheesecake (the year before that was eggnog cheesecake, yum) and I fell in love with the pumpkin cheesecake. I already could eat pumpkin pie every month of the year, and now if I wasn't so lazy I know I would be gorging on this beauty more often.

Ingredients:

For filling:

3 (250 g) packages PHILADELPHIA Brick Cream Cheese, softened
3/4 cup sugar, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 dash ground cloves

For crust:

1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
about 1 teaspoon or so of pumpkin pie spice
a dash or two of cinnamon and nutmeg if you fancy

Directions

Combine cookie crumbs,spice and butter. Press onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before filling, or bake at 375 degrees F for 8-10 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack before filling.
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup of the sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until blended.
Remove 1 cup plain batter; place in small bowl.
Stir remaining 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin and spices into remaining batter. Spoon pumpkin batter into crust; top with spoonfuls of reserved plain batter. Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect.
Bake 45 minutes or until centre is almost set. Cool completely. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight. Cut into 12 slices. Store leftover cheesecake in refrigerator.

Original recipe found at: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/philadelphia-pumpkin-swirl-cheesecake/Detail.aspx

Cheesecake tips can be found at this link (there are a lot and it does help to read them)
http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/Perfect-Cheesecakes/Detail.aspx
water baths and pre-whipping already room temperature cheese can save your cheesecake :)

Coffee*Love : changing up the same old brew

2010-06-15T20:54:00.000-07:00

Coffee. Many of us love it. I will take some time to rant and rave about my new grind and brew coffee maker in some other post, after I have got the hang of the programming thing... I don't care to elaborate in this post. However, I do care to share some wonderful ideas I have found in my online recipe collecting fashion, as I have now just lost every link I had when my hard drive decided to bite the dust a week ago. I guess I have an excuse now to search more recipes and earn more swagbucks towards my next free Starbucks cards. Life goes on.

Tips on brewing the best coffee:

I worked at a Timmies for just over five and a half years, did all the training in every position except for management (I was a supervisor though, yay me :) so I feel I have sufficient knowledge in the coffee department. I also have much drinking experience from the many coffee facilities in and around my fine city.
For the best coffee you need :

1. the best water you can get. If you drink only filtered water because of the taste, then use tap water for coffee hoping a magic cure for that taste exists in the coffee, I am afraid you are wrong. Coffee is 98% water, so if you don't like the taste of the water, your coffee will not be the best either.

2. fresh coffee. At Timmies they use the opened grinds immediately and throw the coffee every 20 minutes (in theory... there are always a few bad apples) I am not saying you need to do that, but having the freshest ground coffee, kept in air-tight conditions, away from moisture, NOT in the freezer, (though if you absolutely must, you should divide it into coffee pot sized portions so that it doesn't go back and forth from freezer to counter, it causes the coffee to coagulate the oils that make it so pretty.) and coffee starts to fade from its best after about two weeks, so try and buy what you need and not the costco bulk bag (unless you go through it, I do love costco... just costco efficiently)

3. Preheat your cups and carafe. To save you a google if you don't know what a carafe is, its the coffee pot. just fill them with hot water before brewing and discard the water, and if your coffee maker has a cup warmer, all the better, but if not, the cups can get a hot water bath too, or steam from a steam nozzle. This keeps the coffee hot longer, and helps the aroma develop.

Now here is a link to some 'new tricks for your coffee'. It's the little things like adding a cinnamon stick to your grounds or re-thinking your sweetening.

http://www.browniepointsblog.com/2009/05/10/new-tricks-for-your-coffee/

As always, I could go on about coffee forever, but it is getting late, so this will be all for now.

KD of the week: Mac and Cheese Pizza

2010-06-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

Mac and Cheese Pizza

Ingredients

1 (7 ounce) box macaroni and cheese mix, prepared according to package directions
2 eggs, beaten
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1 (4 ounce) can mushrooms
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
any other favorite toppings you have, my man likes pineapple and chicken on his pizza

Directions

Mix prepared macaroni and cheese with eggs and put into a greased 9-inch x 13-inch pan.
Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees.
Top with the tomato sauce, basil and oregano.
Then add the rest of the ingredients.
This recipe would probably go well into packed lunches and seems pretty kid-friendly too. Pizza is a fairly universal food and even in mac form should please most people.
I had seen the basic idea for this recipe in many places long ago, but this recipe has been adapted from the one I found here:
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Pizza-with-Macaroni-Crust-64329

GM foods... where science and stupid meet

2010-06-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

I found this article a while ago which explains about genetically modified foods, and how although it sounds like smart people weilding powerful knowledge to make things better, you find out that making these crops is more of a frankenstein experiment in trial and error.

I found the topic to be thought-provoking to be sure, and if you are curious about knowing more concerning your food and what GM actually means for your food, then click the link bellow and read this.

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/04/03/jeffrey-smith-interview.aspx

This is more in the states then up here in Canada, where we don't have hormone ladden cow's milk and such, but since we get a lot of our products from the states, we should still be informed.

As I read it, I thought about how it could even be too late now to turn back from this badly broken road we are on with GM food, and how it could just be a little problem, or the end of all things? I guess time will tell, but I will say, I have lost a lot of respect for the scientists that think kludging together pesticides with food was a good idea in the first place.

You can also read more about this here:

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/09/the-great-genet.html#more

they have funny pictures and are very intelligent about the subject.

KD of the week: Chili Chicken mac & cheese

2010-06-07T18:22:00.000-07:00

Chili Chicken Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

1 pkg. (200 g) Kraft Dinner Whole Wheat Macaroni and Cheese

3/4 lb. (340 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp. chili powder

1/4 cup shredded Cracker Barrel Old Cheddar Cheese Light

1/4 cup salsa

PREPARE Dinner as directed on package, using the Sensible Solution directions. Meanwhile, toss chicken with chili powder in large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray; cook and stir on medium heat 5 min. or until chicken is cooked through.
ADD prepared Dinner to chicken; mix lightly.
SERVE topped with remaining ingredients.

recipe found at: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/chili-chicken-mac-cheese-112602.aspx

Vegetarian Barley and Mushroom Stew

2010-06-02T08:38:00.000-07:00

^ Barley and Mushroom Stew ^

This is a hearty vegetarian stew that looks amazing, and I want to make it. I had to post something meatless to take the thought of the last post out of my mind, lol.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dried porcini mushrooms
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
3 red potatoes, peeled and cut into eighths (about 2 cups)
8 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 cups mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup pearled barley *Tip: Make sure you buy pearled barley, with the husk removed.
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
3 cups vegetable stock
Chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Add hot water to cover porcini; set aside.
Heat oil on medium-high heat in large pot; add onion, carrot, celery, potatoes and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables brown, about 12 minutes. Drain porcini, reserving liquid, and chop. Add fresh and reconstituted dry mushrooms; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add barley and cook, stirring, until shiny and coated. Stir in thyme, salt and pepper. Add vegetable broth to porcini soaking liquid to make three cups; add to stew. Bring to boil over medium-high heat; turn heat down so stew barely bubbles. Cover and cook 30 minutes, stirring once or twice
Serve with chopped parsley if desired.
Makes four servings.

Found recipe at:http://www.thestar.com/living/article/543177 From Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.

Candied Bacon (Father's day idea)

2010-06-02T08:31:00.000-07:00

Would probably go great on top of the Ultimate pumpkin waffles .

I spied this recipe in Canadian Family magazine and thought about the meat-ivore in my life, my loving husband. I don't eat bacon, but I can already hear the drool forming in the corners of the mouths of most meat-loving men, and probably the women too, over this interesting treat for a special breakfast.

Ingredients:

12 slices of bacon
1/4 cup of brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place bacon on a foil-lined baking sheet with edges (like a jelly roll pan) Sprinkle a spoonful of sugar over each strip of bacon and press it so that it adheres to the entire slice. Bake for 13 - 15 minutes or until bacon is crisp and mahogany-coloured. Watch carefully in the last few minutes because bacon can go from underdone to overdone very quickly.

There you go. Bacon lovers rejoice. Non-bacon lovers like myself be happy for the happiness of the bacon recievers, shake it off and go look up a tasty falafel recipe... mmmm, falafel... maybe later...

Drool Fodder: Ultimate Pumpkin Waffles

2010-06-02T08:01:00.000-07:00

I will start by saying I need a waffle iron. I want this recipe, want it badly. I am thinking about getting the waffle iron just for this recipe alone, plus for all you people looking for a good father's day breakfast idea, I think this recipe will do, and maybe put candied bacon on top. I have that recipe in a magazine, I will post it soon. I don't eat bacon, but my mega-carnivore husband will probably love it to death.

Anyways, back to the drool worthy recipe at hand... found at this webpage: http://pumpkinwaffles.wordpress.com/ultimate-pumpkin-waffle-recipe/
(they actually have pumpkin waffles in the webpage name lol, this person is really really serious about these waffles)

This website is so devoted I am not even going to attempt to write the recipe on my page. You will have to see for yourself, especially because the directions are fairly detailed and the pictures are very food-pretty. I recommend at least drooling over this recipe for a few minutes before moving on to your bland frozen waffle substitutes.

Freeze ahead breakfast burritos

2010-06-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

I really want to start eating a proper breakfast, but I have trouble getting up in the morning as is, then I have to feed the baby and 3 days a week we go straight to the chiropractors in the morning, so time is not on my side as they would say.

I plan to try out this recipe, it looks good and may be the solution to my breakfast problems. They do say that eggs provide energy and can keep you satisfied until the next meal, and eating two eggs a day for breakfast is supposed to help with weight loss. I am not on a 'diet' but after having a baby it would be nice to loose a few pounds so I am fairly interested in food that helps my weight but still tastes good.

By the way... who are 'they' and why are they always telling us what to eat?? Oh well, this looks good anyways. I put my own spin on the recipe of course, so make your own changes too if you are brave.

You can vary the additions to this recipe for breakfast burritos. Add onions or frozen hash brown potatoes, omit the salsa, try using different types of cheese or flavored tortillas. The possibilities are endless!

Ingredients:

12 eggs

2 Tbsp. butter

1/2 cup chunky salsa

1 can or 1-2 cups chopped mushrooms

A cup or two of 'loose' veggies if you have them on hand, like onions, peppers, etc... the more veggies the healthier and better, sauteed or cooked and chopped.

1 tablespoon roasted red pepper dried spice (or your favorite spices, montreal chicken spice is good in everything too, even pasta sauce)

2 cups Cheddar or Pepper Jack cheese

24 flour tortillas

Preparation:

In large skillet, melt butter. Beat eggs and spice in large bowl and add to skillet. Cook eggs in butter, stirring frequently, until scrambled and set. Add cooked veggies and salsa to egg mixture and mix gently.

Warm tortillas as directed on package. Place about 1/2 cup egg and veggie mixture onto each tortilla and sprinkle with some cheese. Roll up each tortilla to make burritos, folding in the ends and rolling up. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets and freeze until solid. Then wrap individually and package in zip-lock freezer bags.

When you're ready to eat, unwrap the burritos, wrap loosely in microwave safe paper towel and heat in the microwave on high power for 1-3 minutes until hot and cheese is melted.

You can also thaw burritos in the refrigerator overnight, then wrap each in foil and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until hot. The thawed burritos can also be deep fried for 3-5 minutes until golden brown and crisp.

makes 24 burritos roughly.

original recipe found here: http://busycooks.about.com/od/breakfastmaindishes/r/freezerburrito.htm

Kraft Dinner of the week

2010-06-02T07:36:00.000-07:00

Tuna Casserole

For me, I usually just kludge my tuna casserole together in a pinch, either adding a can of tuna and some peas to the last minutes of the boiling water, or the last 3 minutes of the microwave method, but if you want to try something a little more formal, here is a kraft dinner tuna casserole recipe.

Ingredients:

1 pkg (227 g) Kraft Dinner Macaroni and Cheese

1 (10 oz/284 mL) can cream of mushroom soup

1 can drained tuna

1 cup frozen peas

1 Tbsp. Miracle Whip Dressing

Directions:
PREPARE pasta as directed on package.

STIR in soup, tuna, peas and salad dressing. Spoon into a baking dish.

BAKE at 350°F (180°C) for 15 minutes.

recipe found at: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/kraft-dinner-tuna-casserole-85472.aspx

The dark secret of sucralose

2010-06-01T20:12:00.000-07:00

I may want to loose a few pounds, but I think real sugars, like cane sugar, maple syrup and honey are the 'good in moderation sweeteners' we should be using. I take real junk food over fake health food anyday now.

I have been worrying more and more about the effects of 'fake foods' on my health, and have already been avoiding aspartame like the devil, then I came across this very thorough and thoughtful article that told me more than I needed to know about an increasing in popularity and use artificial sweetener we all know by the brand name of Splenda.

Now I will be keeping an eye out for sucralose on the labels too, I mean, even if you don't take the time to read that article, you need to remember that Splenda was discovered by a person trying to create a new pesticide.

It may look like sugar and taste like sugar as they claim, but if it's a chlorocarbon (comprised of sucrose (sugar) — except that three of the hydroxyl groups in the molecule have been replaced by three chlorine atoms to be technical) it might have just left the food categorie.

Here is the article I found, but you could also just look up splenda on the internet.

http://www.womentowomen.com/healthyweight/splenda.aspx

*picture, and more info on the dangers of aspartame found at this site:

http://www.aspartame.co.za/

Coffee Love: Starbucks white chocolate mocha

2010-06-01T19:39:00.000-07:00

I have an addiction. Okay, so I might have more than one, like chocolate and cheesecake.. I could go on, but one of my top addictions is coffee. Fancy coffee, regular joe, lattes, mochas, pretty much the whole coffee food group (don't you wish it was a food group?) I love it all. I occasionally like to pay tribute to my favorites though, and today is one of those days. I guess it is because I am almost at my swagbucks total to get my 3rd free starbucks card to feed my addiction. Free coffee is always the best coffee ;)

Starbucks White Chocolate Mocha. My absolute favorite above favorite drinks. When I was young and visiting Toronto, I happened into a coffee place where my friend and I ordered white hot chocolate, a novel idea at the time to me. I loved that way back then. Later on in life I ended up in a Starbucks, and was trying to remember what I ordered that was so great as a child, at one of these 'fru-fru hippie' coffee places. It wasn't normal for me to be near a place like that. Not at that time.

I ended up ordering a white chocolate mocha, which fueled an addiction to last the ages, being the best thing I had ever had. It is even responsible for me drinking regular coffee again, and trying different coffees and places, because before that fateful moment I had not really liked coffee, I was only a tea drinker. (I drink both now.)

I am only have the coffee budget to go their every once and a while, but I think it is worth a try if you ever end up in a 'fru-fru hippie' place like Starbucks. You might just like it. It may just change your life.

Also, if you are interested in getting free starbucks cards (or other free stuff for you non-coffee people) just for internet searching like you normally would, feel free to click my referral link and check out Swagbucks.

Amazing buttercream frosting

2010-06-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

My first attempt ever at making buttercream frosting. For many years I had avoided making icing, as it always ended up being that weird sloppy thin stuff made of pretty much just icing sugar and milk. I had recently had a cupcake from my beloved Starbucks with buttercream frosting on it, and decided that would be worth a try myself. Warily I attempted this recipe, but one taste told me this may be one of the best things I have ever made, and I make a mean cheesecake, so that is saying a lot.

I don't have a piping set yet, so I just used a freezer bag with a hole cut in the corner to pipe the icing thickly onto some cupcakes... I would recomend doubling the recipe though, for a generous and sensual cupcake. I sacrificed a two or three cupcakes for the sake of this, which is okay, because although my husband loved the cupcakes too (and perhaps a little bit sneaked into my infants mouth as well...) he enjoyed having a few that were not as super-sweet to snack on.

I topped each cupcake with yellow white chocolate swirls I made by placing out parchment paper on the table, melting some yellow bakers chip-thingys in a bowl and scooping the contents into a sandwich bag. I cut a tiny hole in the corner (no piping set yet as I said) and created rough swirls, kind of like how a child draws the sun. I made many because they don't all turn out beautiful from a hot-to-hold plastic bag, but when cooled they are nice decorations to top your cupcakes.

Here is the recipe for those who are curious:

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened (I used organic, because I had it on hand for the baby)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract (real if you can)
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk
food coloring as needed (optional)

Directions:

Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract.

Pour in milk and beat for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add food coloring, if using, and beat for thirty seconds until smooth or until desired color is reached.

I got the recipe here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quick-and-Almost-Professional-Buttercream-Icing/Detail.aspx

Tip of the moment

2010-05-31T21:32:00.000-07:00

Let us always remember, cooking is an art and baking is a science. Sure, I prefer baking to cooking personally, but when playing with recipes it is always good to keep in mind that if you are cooking, as long as you have a basic idea of how tastes go together and what you like, you can substitute and change pretty much everything. When it comes to baking, however, changing a recipe takes knowledge of what the substitutions will do to your recipe. Baking is all about chemical reactions with things like baking soda ... okay I may have watched too much Magic school bus and Bill Nye the science guy as a child... but it is true. Let me just say that cooking is a free-for-all and when it comes to baking you really do need to measure those ingredients. I still remember my first muffins I baked, with the lumps of baking soda dryly exploding in my mouth every so often... I was pretty young then... but lesson learned I suppose

Crock pot chicken stew

2010-05-31T21:25:00.000-07:00

Creamy and random, it worked out well. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

2 cans mushroom soup
1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
1 tablespoon mixture of parsley, garlic powder and some red pepper spice I had in the cupboard
2 cups chopped celery
1-2 cups chopped carrots (I used what was left in the carrot bag, no measuring to be sure)
1 cup pearl onions (so my husband could pick them out easily later, you can just chop one med. onion)
1 can of mushrooms or about 10 fresh white mushrooms cut in half
1 sweet potato or 2 med regular potatoes (I made the recipe twice, using each in different batches, next time I plan to use both kinds together)
2-3 skinless chicken breasts cut into chunks (or with my knives, more like hacked and pulled into chunks)

Put soup and spice into a bowl and mix. Spray your crock pot with a bit of cooking spray, any kind, but I used olive oil cooking spray by Pam. Chop and place veggies into the crock pot. Chop the chicken and place into the soup mix. Mix well, let sit for a bit while you clean up half-heartedly, then add mixture to crock pot and mix with vegetables. Set for 7-8 hours on low, or 4-5 hours on high, or adjust based on how your crock pot works best. If using a smaller crock pot you should adjust your ingredients so that it only goes about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way filling the unit, for best cooking. Now you can goof off for that time, come back and have dinner ready to go. Easy is always my kind of meal.

My Favorite Pancakes

2010-05-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

This is the recipe I adapted years ago to my tastes in pancake fair. My husband loves them because they taste more like a waffle than a pancake. He normally hates pancakes, so I take it as a compliment. Enjoy.

My favorite Pancakes
_________________
Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups flour
3 teaspoons (tsp) baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. sugar (preferably cane sugar)
2 tbsp. ground flax seed
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
3 tbsp. melted butter or veg. oil (I use extra virgin olive oil)
1/4 tsp. vanilla ( I add a bit more, about a cap full)
Margarine or butter for frying
Directions:
Mix dry ingredients. In separate bowl, beat egg, add milk. Make well in centre of dry ingredients; slowly add egg-milk mixture. Add melted butter or oil. Stir quickly till just mixed and batter is still lumpy in appearance. Drop batter onto hot pan or griddle (on my electric stove the best tempurature is about 6 or med. high) to desired size of pancake. Cook until bubbles form on top and golden brown on bottom, then flip and brown on other side.
You can add a couple of handfuls of chocolate chips to this, or fruit and or nuts if you want a variation. My husband says it tastes more like waffles than pancakes, but that is what we like about them. This is a variation of the five roses cook book pancake recipe, over time I have just adjusted it to my tastes ;)

Recipe Micellany

Homemade.

Star-filled Egg in a Basket lunch

Spooky lunch... i.e what we ate for Halloween

Kraft Dinner of the week: Mac and Cheese Pizza

Glow*in*the*dark Drinks

Gummie Bear Ghosts

Organizing Measuring Cups and Spoons

IMMD : Sky Parfaits

Halloween Ideas : Pumpkin Party Cooler

Tiered Cupcake Platter

Spice age chart

vodka-soaked gummie candies

Amazing jello shot tips

Coca Cola Cupcakes

Blueberry Syrup

DIY Homemade Pedialyte Recipe

Pineapple Sorbet

It's been a while...

How to Make Blue Food Coloring

Microwave Chocolate Cake In a Mug

Coffee*Love : Playtime coffee for tots

Basic Buttery Biscuits

Couponing thoughts

IMMD * Cosmo Cupcakes

Snow Flake Cocoa Recipe

Ingredients:

Directions:

Cookie*Love - angel wings for your coffee

Links of note

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Festive confetti KD

Something is better than nothing...

Kraft Dinner of the Week: R.I.P KD

KD of the week: 14K Mac 'n Cheese

Coffee*Love : Triumphs and Tragedy

KD of the week: Macaroni Bake

For the love of coffee...

KD of the week: Fiesta KD

Kraft Dinner of the Week: KD Taco Bake

Orange Chocolate-swirl Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Directions:

KD of the week: Mac and Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients:

Directions:

Banana Cake with Caramel Buttercream Frosting

Sanity savers for people with lil peoples

Kraft Dinner of the Week: mac & cheese stuffed poblanos

Orange Creamsicles... drinkables

Ingredients:

1 11 oz. can mandarin oranges in juice

1/2 cup frozen pineapple chunks

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Apple-Glazed Chicken KD

Ingredients

Chow for the Chubster: using up infant cereal

Food Ideas Of Interest...

Crock pot chicken

Kraft Dinner of the Week: Souped up KD

Hot Toddy for a cold

Chow for the Chubster: baked fruit

KD of the week: Lentil Mac and Cheese Bake

Free food

Cinnamon coffee scones

Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients

Directions

Place ground chicken,egg,1/2 cup Parmesan,bread crumbs, garlic,oregano and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl.

Knead mixture together with hand till evenly combined.

Form mixture into 1-inch balls. (I think I will make mini meatballs next time though, they are one big chunk of ball)

In large non-stick skillet, warm olive oil over high heat.

Remove with slotted spoon,and add to your favorite spaghetti sauce.

Secondary cooking method: I chose to bake the meatballs on a cookie sheet, at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes, then added them to my spaghetti sauce. If you cook them 5 - 10 more minutes they would probably be easily frozen to pop into recipes as needed.

KD of the week: Cheesy Chicken Cacciatore

Pass the lols : My Food Looks Funny

OAMC Vegetarian Cabbage Roll Casserole

KD of the week: Shipwrecked KD

Shipwrecked KD

Directions:

Pistachio pudding cupcakes

Glowinthe*dark Drinks