Garlic Baked Butternut Squash

Monday was thanksgiving here in Canada.

We celebrated on sunday, but made sure to eat some delish foods on monday, of course! Had this with broccoli, sausages, and potatoes.

 So all you Americans out there can make this for American thanksgiving...or tonight for dinner!!
 



Guys, this is better than candy.

INGREDIENTS
Printable recipe

Source: Oh She Glows

• a handful of fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 3 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/4-1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine the parsley, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add squash and toss to coat.
3. Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 45 to 55 minutes or until squash is just tender.

Bon Appétit!

Cathy

Orange Date Muffins (with choco chips)

I went on a road-trip with some ladies from church, and Linda had made these as a snack to share. I kept going back and sneaking an extra one, and then another, and then one more. These are so so so delicious and one of my favourite muffins of all times. In my opinion, orange and chocolate are one of the best combinations, but if you want to keep these as a breakfast muffin, you can omit the chocolate...but I would never do such a thing.

POST EDIT: I just found out that this recipe comes from a popular recipe book from the 80s called "Muffin Mania." I just acquired a copy, and I am SO excited to try new muffins recipes. I think I love muffins.









INGREDIENTS:__________________________________________________________________
Printable version
Makes 12 large muffins or 24 mini muffins plus 4 large

• 1 whole orange
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup dates (about 10-12), pitted
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• A couple handfuls of chocolate chips (mini's if you're making mini muffins, optional)

DIRECTIONS:____________________________________________________________________

1. Spray/line muffin pan. Preheat oven at 375 degrees,
2. Leave the skin on the orange and cut it into pieces to remove the seeds. Drop the pieces into a blender with the orange juice and blend until the peel is finely chopped. Add the egg, dates, and margarine. Pulse the blender to mix and chop the dates, and blend until it's all incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, stir the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the chocolate chips.
4. Create a funnel in the middle of the dry ingredients, and poor in the thick orange mixture and stir only until just moistened. No not over mix!!
5. Add spoonfuls into the muffin pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins (or you can do 12 smaller sized muffins and a few extra mini loaves).

POST EDIT: Make mini muffins and add mini chocolate chips (so cute). It makes 24 mini's plus 4 large muffins. Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutes (the mini muffins).

Mix and Match Pesto

Food network magazine is awesome. Christy subscribed me for my birthday last year....and they keep coming (you may want to make sure they're not still charging you there sista!).

This is awesome because you can use what you have on hand without worrying about having 3 cups of basil and pine nuts (which are so freakin' expensive!)


1. Pick a nut or seed, and toast 1/3 cup. Then pulse until finely ground in a food processor or hand blender.

• pine nuts
• almonds
• walnuts
• cashews
• pecans
• sesame seeds
• sunflower seeds

2. Choose your base,  3 cups total, add it to the nuts/seeds (you can choose up to 3 of these):

• basil
• parsley
• kale, chopped
• arugula
• spinach, chopped
• cilantro
• mint
• collard greens
• romaine, chopper

3.Choose your seasoning, and add 1/2 - 1 tsp to the processor (choose up to 3): PLUS add 1/4 tsp salt

• garlic, chopped
• lemon zest, grated
• orange zest, grated
• red pepper flakes
• fresh thyme
• fresh oregano, chopped
• fresh tarragon, chopped
• fresh rosemary, chopped

4. Choose your cheese, add 1/2 cup to the processor. Once this is added, pulse it to combine

• parmesan
• asiago
• gruyere
• aged or smoked gouda
• aged cheddar

Once all of this is pulsed together, slowly add 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil. You can add chicken, sun dried tomatoes, olives, roasted red pepper, or tomatoes to finish it off!

This makes about 1 cup of pesto, use 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup for 1 pound of pasta.

FYI, this what I made tonight and it was DELISH!!!

1/3 cup toasted slivered almond, 
1 cup basil, 
1 cup kale, 
1 cup spinach, 
4 cloves garlic, 
1/2 cup parmesan, 
1/2 cup oil, 
with fresh garden tomatoes on top!

bon appétit!!

Cathy

Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry

Well hello!! Thought I'd post this recipe that I tried this week, one that I will be making on a regular basis!! Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
Slightly adapted from: Food Network

Marinade for 15 minutes:

• 1 pound chicken breast (about 2 breasts), cubed
• 3 scallions, whites only, thinly sliced on an angle
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-inch piece peeled fresh ginger, minced
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil

Remainder:

• 2 Tbs cornstarch
• About 1/2 cup water
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 5 to 6 cups broccoli, trimmed sliced stalks and medium florets (keep the 2 cuts separate)
• 3/4 to 1 teaspoon red chili flakes, optional
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

Garnish: toasted sesame seeds, optional
Rice Serving suggestion: Jasmine rice


DIRECTIONS:

1. Start your rice
2. In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with the marinade ingredients: scallion whites, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, salt, water, and the sesame oil. Marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes minimum.
3. While that is marinating, mix the 1 Tbs of cornstarch with 1/2 cup water.
4. Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and heat. Add the broccoli stems, and stir-fry for 30 seconds. Add the florets, 2 tablespoons of water, and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Stir-fry until the broccoli is bright green but still crisp, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
5. Get the skillet good and hot again, and then heat 2 more tablespoons oil. Add the chicken and chili flakes, if using. Stir-fry until the chicken loses its raw color and gets a little brown, about 3 minutes. Add the hoisin sauce, return the broccoli to the pan and toss to heat through. 
6. Stir in the reserved cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil to thicken. Add more water if need to thin the sauce, if necessary. Taste and season with salt and pepper, if you like. Mound the stir-fry on a serving platter or divide among 4 plates and garnish with sesame seeds; serve on rice.

Printable Recipe Here!

Bon Appetit!
Cathy

S'MORE Cake

My dad and hubby had it made on fathers day.

I mean, you can't beat a s'more cake, you just can't. The graham cracker batter was moist and light and delicious, and the chocolate sauce it TO DIE FOR!!!! I could eat it all with a spoon. I would have, but I had the "fathers" in mind so I continued on and finished this masterpiece. Easy and so flippin' rock-my-world awesome.

So here you have it. a piece of heaven.

INGREDIENTS:

source: The-girl-who-ate-everything

Graham Cracker Cake:

• 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, yolks and whites divided
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (20-22 graham crackers if you make them yourself)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

Marshmallow Filling:

• 1 (7 ounce) jar marshmallow fluff

Milk Chocolate Frosting:

• 8 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
• 1/4 cup cream
• 2 Tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 Tablespoons corn syrup

Garnish:

• mini marshmallows
• chocolate chips
• graham cracker crumbs

INSTRUCTIONS:

Graham Cracker Cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 375°. Line the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans with parchment or wax paper. Spray each pan with cooking spray. This is magic, the cakes will come out perfectly clean! In a medium bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, baking powder and salt; stir together and set aside.
2. Whisk the egg whites on medium-high speed until soft peaks form. Transfer to a separate bowl and set aside. In another bowl or in your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar and beat on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in the egg yolks until well combined. Stir in the vanilla extract.
3. Add in the dry ingredients alternately with the milk on low speed, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing just until incorporated. Fold in about a third of the egg whites to lighten the batter. Gently fold in the remaining egg whites until completely incorporated. 
4. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans. Bake the cakes for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 5-10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack, remove the parchment paper, and cool.
5. Once the cake has cooled completely, transfer one of the cake layers to the serving platter. Carefully spread a layer of marshmallow fluff over the cake. This is the only spot that you need the fluff, so use it all if you life your fluff! Top with the remaining cake layer and refrigerate for about 1 hour or until firm.

Milk Chocolate Frosting:

1. Combine the chocolate, cream, butter and corn syrup in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in 30 second intervals or until the chocolate has melted. Whisk the ingredients together until completely smooth. Pour frosting over the top of the chilled cake.
2. Let frosting set slightly so that your decorations don't just run down the side. Once it has set slightly, garnish with mini marshmallows, chocolate chips, and graham cracker crumbs. Return to the refrigerator to chill until set.
3. Cake will set up quickly, and should be stored in the refrigerator if not being served shortly after being assembled.

Bon Appétit!

Cathy

Oatmeal-Apple Chocolate Chip Muffins

I've made these 3 times already, and I keep hoping I can find the recipe online...so I thought I better get on this one and blog it already!

Delicious!

We will always make these. I usually double batch this one and freeze some for individual use whenever we want a muffin. It's worth it.


Ingredients: adapted slightly from taste of home

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven at 350. Line a muffins pan with 12 liners, or spray generously.
2. Beat together the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the egg.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add half the apple sauce to the cream mixture (in step #2), mix lightly, then half the dry mixture, mix lightly, and alternate. Mix until just combined (apparently muffins should not be over-mixed).
5. Mix in the rolled oats and the chocolate chips.
6. Fill the muffin tins until 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes.

Bon Appétit!

Cathy

Best Chicken Marinade Ever

I kid you not when I say that this is the best chicken marinade ever. At the beginning of each week I marinade a bunch of chicken and then grill it. I make 5 lunches for my husband for the week and sometimes we free the rest for later meals. This marinade is awesome- have I mentioned that yet?

INGREDIENTS

Slightly adapted from All Recipes

• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon dry mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper 
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

DIRECTIONS

In a medium bowl, mix together oil, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, wine vinegar, and lemon juice. Stir in mustard powder, salt, pepper, and parsley. Use to marinate chicken before cooking as desired. The longer you marinate, the more flavor it will have.

Grilling the chicken tastes the best. Once it is done I steam some vegetable and cook some rice and make individual lunches for the week! It tastes great!

Enjoy !!

-Christy

Zupas' Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup

I have been meaning to post this and I completely forgot. I went to Zupas the other day and was reminded of this wonderful soup! Every time I go there I MUST get this soup. It is delicious :)

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 (14.5 oz) can chicken broth
• 2.5 lbs cauliflower
• 1 tsp. Dijon Mustard
• 1 1/2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded

directions

1. Melt butter and chopped onion together in a large sauce pan and sauté for approximately 10 minutes over medium heat until onion gets golden in color.
2. Add flour and stir to make a roux. Heat while stirring for a couple of minutes.
3. Slowly add half and half along with the milk. Gradually add and stir the entire time. Following the milk, gradually add water and chicken broth and stir constantly.
4. Add chopped cauliflower and heat until boil.
5. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until cauliflower is tender. This will take approximately 15 minutes.
6. Place contents of sauce pan into blender and blend until smooth. Remove center part of blender cover to allow steam to escape.
7. Return cauliflower mixture to saucepan; heat over medium heat until hot, stirring occasionally. Remove saucepan from heat; stir in mustard and cheese until melted and smooth.
8. Serve soup topped with a little cheese for garnish.

Beef and Bean Burritos

Happy Spring Friday!!

Joking. It's snowing here in Ottawa, I mean hailing, and raining....aka a royal mess on this supposedly spring day. What can make it better? Comfort food that is also moderately healthy and kid friendly! Seriously, this was quick, easy, and delicious and I will be making this one quite often from now on!

Adapted from Shirl's Awesome Easy Burritos
Ingredients:

• 1 lbs lean ground beef
• 1-15 ounce can fat free refried beans
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 small zucchini, shredded (optional)
• 3/4 to 1 cup of salsa
• 1/2 to 1 cup of shredded cheese
• 6 large whole wheat flour tortillas (or 10 small ones)
• Topping ideas: cheese, avocados, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream etc...

Directions:

1. Cook the ground beef, onions, and zucchini, drain the excess fat.
2. Stir in the refried beans, then the salsa. Add salt and pepper as needed. Heat through.
3. Stir in the cheese, and heat until cheese is melted.
4. In a warm tortilla, spoon in some beef filling, and desired toppings.

This was so good and the kids loved it!!

Enjoy,

Cathy

Coconut Curry Chicken

Ingredients:

source:  Sweet Treats and More

• 2 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 5 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 (5 oz ) can tomato paste
• 1 (14 oz) can coconut milk
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch

Directions:

Grease your slow cooker with Pam.  Place the chicken and carrots on the bottom of slow cooker. 

Place the rest of the ingredients (except water and corn starch) in a food processor and process together until mixture is mostly smooth. ***If your food processor is too small to hold everything, process everything but the coconut milk. Transfer mixture to a medium bowl then mix in the coconut milk.

Pour the sauce over the chicken and carrots, mix well, then cover and cook on low for about 6 hours. 

An hour or so before serving, mix cornstarch and water together in a small bowl until cornstarch is dissolved.  Pour mixture into the slow cooker, stir to combine, and continue cooking for another hour.

**This will thicken up the sauce.  When the sauce is to your desired thickness, turn slow cooker to warm setting until ready to serve.  

Serve over rice, with Naan, and garnish with cilantro.   

**if you want you can chop the bell pepper into larger pieces and place in with the chicken and carrots rather than processing into the sauce.  This is what I did and we loved the different textures of the carrots, chicken, and pepper in the sauce. 

Google Nose Launch!

We are so excited to announce that we have adopted the google nose technology into our blog!! You will now be able to have the aroma of our recipes from our kitchen to yours!! The application will be available as a button at the bottom of our recipes from now on. You can click on the link above to test it out, enjoy!!


Happy April!

Decadent Chocolate Mini Cookies

Happy friday!

Another one of those keeper recipes. This is right up the amazing alley, along with the chocolate lava cakes and the rolo cookies!! My husband is quite in love with me these days, and the kids are crying because they want more and I won't let them...win-loose.

Adapted from key ingredient
Ingredients: (I halved the recipe the first time I made them, yes, I did 1-1/2 eggs)

• 10 ounces (1-1/4 cup) semi sweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) unsweetened chocolate, chopped 
• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. In a microwave safe bowl, put the chocolate and butter in the microwave for 30 seconds. Mix, then repeat until the chocolate is just melted (it took me 3 - 30 second intervals)
2. Let it cool a little (couple minutes), then whisk in the eggs and sugar. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cover and place in the fridge to cool for about an hour (or overnight).
3. Set your over to 350 degrees. Let the dough sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a 'silpat' mat. Roll small tablespoon balls and place 20 per baking sheet (4x5) about 1 inch apart.
4. Bake for 8 minutes (check them tho), then let them cool on the cookie sheet for about 5 minutes before picking one up or they may melt in your hands.

Mmmm, enjoy with a nice glass of milk (or three).

Cathy

Kid Friendly Sweet Potato Quesadillas

We've been having a hard time with dinner lately with our 6 year old boy. Nothing tastes good apparently, who knew.

My solution, to try and find healthy meals that my husband and I will enjoy, and that the kids will eat and want seconds.  This recipe was mission accomplished!

Here it goes:

Ingredients:

• 1 small sweet potato, peeled, cubed, and boiled (10 minutes)
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1-15 ounce can of black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• handfull of cilantro, washed and chopped
• 1/4 cup sour cream, plus extra for topping
• 10 - 6 inch wheat (recommended) flour tortillas
• 1.5 cups shredded chicken (I used leftover chicken)
• 1-2 cups monterey jack cheese (recommended, but you can use any other cheese)
• Toppings of your choice: sour cream, salsa, fresh tomatoes, cilantro, etc..

Directions:

1. In a heated skilled, heat olive oil. Add onions, garlic, cilantro. Cook for 3-5 minutes, then add black beans and cook a few more minutes to heat them through.
2. Add the cubed/boiled sweet potato to the skilled, as well as the sour cream. Use a hand blender to blend mixture into a puree (this is the trick to getting kids to eating veggies--next time I will add spinach in this mixture, mwuahaha!)
3. Heat another pan. Add a couple spoon-fulls of the mixture onto a tortilla and spread to cover, add some shredded chicken and then some cheese, and top with another tortilla. Place in the heated pan and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip and repeat.

Enjoy friends!
Cathy

Seven Layer Bars

Since I have been little I have loved these bars! They are delicious. I also love that you can always switch up some of the nuts in the recipe as well. They are quick and easy to make and people always want to come back for more!

Ingredients

• 3 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk
• 1 cup butterscotch chips 
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped walnuts 
• 1 1/3 cups coconut flakes

Source

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (325 degrees F for glass baking pan). In small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and melted butter; mix well. Press crumb mixture firmly on bottom of 13x9-inch baking pan.
2. Pour sweetened condensed milk evenly over crumb mixture. Layer evenly with remaining ingredients; press down firmly with fork.
3. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool. Chill if desired. Cut into bars. Store covered at room temperature.

Stuffed Mushrooms

I made these for a party we went to and they went in minutes! This is one of those things that looks and sounds fancy but it is so simple and yummy!

Stuffed Mushrooms

Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything

source

Ingredients:

• 24 ounces, White Button Mushrooms
• ⅓ pounds Hot Pork Sausage
• ½ whole Medium Onion, Finely Diced
• 4 cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
• 8 ounces, Cream Cheese
• 1 whole Egg Yolk
• ¾ cups Parmesan Cheese, Grated
• ⅓ cups Chicken Stock
• Salt And Pepper (to Taste)

Directions:
-Brown and crumble sausage. Set aside on a plate to cool.

-Add onions and garlic to the same skillet; cook for 2 minutes over medium low heat. Pour in chicken stock to           deglaze pan, allow liquid to evaporate.
-Add in chopped mushroom stems, stir to cook for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set mixture aside on a plate to cool.

-In a bowl, combine cream cheese and egg yolk. Stir together with Parmesan cheese.
-Add cooled sausage and cooled mushroom stems. Stir mixture together and refrigerate for a short time to firm up.

-Smear mixture into the cavity of each mushroom, creating a sizable mound over the top.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown.
-Allow to cool at least ten minutes before serving; the stuffed mushrooms taste better when not piping hot.
-Garnish with minced parsley if you’re feeling fancy.