Dill Pickle Fries

Our new favourite way to have roasted potatoes!  Adapted from this 

recipe

While pickle juice is hard to find, really salty water is a decent substitute. 

Taco Stuffed Shells

Adapted from here

Leftover Ground Beef Taco Meat
Large Pasta Shells
4 Oz Cream Cheese
1 C Salsa
1 C shredded cheese

Prepare shells as directed.  In a frying pan reheat taco beef and add cream cheese.  Stir until melted.  Spread half salsa on the bottom of baking dish. Fill shells with 2 tsps of beef and place in baking dish.  Top with remaining salsa and cheese.  Cover and bake 15-25 minutes, remove cover and bake another 15 minutes.

Easy Crescent Rolls

I borrowed the recipe from here.

Place all of the following in your bread maker.

2 C warm water
1 egg
1/2 C melted butter
1 1/2 C flour (give or take)
2/3 C dry milk
2 tsp salt
1/4 C sugar
2 tbsp yeast

Use dough setting.  When complete place onto floured surface and divide into two equal parts.  Roll 1/2 dough into a large circle.  Using a pizza cutter make 8 cuts going through the center of the circle.  Roll each cut piece from the long end forward.  Place onto a parchment lined cookie sheet to rise.  (Sometimes I cook them without rising, other times I leave them for hours).  Bake at 375F for about 12 minutes.

Brussel Sprouts with cranberries, pecans & blue cheese

Brussel sprouts are my new favourite veggies.  They are an awesome vehicle for great tastes.  I borrowed the recipe from here.

Brussel Sprouts (halved)
1/3 C cranberries (I used low bush, they were tiny and frozen)
1/3 C pecans (I would toast these next time)
1/3 C blue cheese
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp maple syrup

In a large skillet heat oil and pan fry the brussel sprouts.  After 4 minutes add the cranberries and cook until tender crisp.  Add the pecans.  Drizzle the whole mess with vinegar and syrup and stir to coat.  Remove from heat and top with blue cheese.

Chicken, Bacon, Peach Kabobs

I found this delicious recipe at  http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/barbecue-chicken-peach-kabobs-bacon-113927.aspx 

To feed my family of four, I used the following....

3 peaches, cut into 6 pieces each

8 bacon slices, cut in half along the length

3 chicken breasts, cut in cubes

Favourite BBQ sauce

Bamboo Skewers 

Soak skewers in water.  Sandwich a peach slice between two pieces of chicken and wrap bacon, position skewer. Fill skewer with 2 bundles each. 

Preheat BBQ grill, place skewers on grill and brush with sauce. Turn and grill until chicken is cooked through. 

Croutons

It's a lame recipe, but one of the few consistant things I make every week!

Bread (usually sour dough or focaccia), cut in pieces
Garlic Oil
Italian Seasoning
Salt
Garlic powder
Onion Powder

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and toss to coat.  Bake on a cookie sheet at 350F for about 20 minutes, stirring every 7 minutes.

Raspberry Yogurt Muffins

I found this delicious recipes on Pinterest http://dinnerwithjulie.com/2013/01/20/raspberry-yogurt-muffins/ and then tweaked it a wee little bit.

3/4 cup canola oil
1 cup dark brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 1/2 cups Vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup sour cream
3 cups flour
2 – 2 1/2 cups oats
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups frozen berries

Beat oil and brown sugar till combined. Add egg one at a time until blended smooth. Stir in powder, soda and salt. Alternate adding remaining wet ingredients (yogurt and sour cream) with the dry ingredients (flour and oats) until just combined. Fold in frozen berries.

Bake at 400F in lined muffin tins for 20-22 minutes!

Bruschetta

I grew tomatoes this year for the sole purpose of making bruschetta and salsa.  While I did not have piles and pile, it was more than enough to make the occasional appy!

And some little cheese toasts for the little people.

Tomatoes, chopped
Basil (I use the stuff from a tube because I killed TWO basil plants this year!)
Purple onion, chopped
Splash of garlic olive oil
Bigger Splash of balsamic vinegar
Grated Parmesan Cheese

Throw it all in a bowl and then into the fridge.  Slice a baguette, brush with garlic olive oil and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Broil for 2-3 minutes.  Top with bruschetta and some more parmesan cheese.  Broil another 2-3 minutes.

Pumpkin Spiced Oatmeal Pecan Cookies

Simply everything wonderful in one small little cookie!  I borrowed the recipe from here and pretty much much followed the recipe to the letter.  Enjoy, these are on my must bake again list!

Smashed Sweet Potatoes

Costco had sweet potatoes a couple of weeks ago.  I ended up making these one afternoon and eating them as a snack!

Use the recipe from here and made few changes based on what was in my pantry.

2 sweet potatoes
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp each of salt, cumin, chilli powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic
2 Tbsp melted butter
2 Tbsp olive oil (I used garlic infused)

Peel and slice the potatoes into rounds.  Boil until folk tender and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Flatten with folk or bottom of glass.  Mix brown sugar and spices together in a small bowl.  Mix butter and oil in a small bowl.  Drizzle 1/2 the melted butter onto the potatoes, sprinkle half the spices and flatten slightly with folk.  Flip over and repeat.  Bake at 375F for 10 minutes, flip, then bake for another 10 minutes.

Mac & Cheese

I can't remember where I got this recipe from, but I make it EVERY week for Corbyn's school lunch.

3 C milk
1/4 C flour
2 C grated cheese (I usually use old)
4 oz cream cheese
1/2 tsp each of dry mustard, thyme, sale and pepper
5 C cooked pasta


1/4 C melted butter
1/2 C bread crumbs
1/2 C parmesan cheese


Whisk 1/2 C milk with flour and set aside.  Heat remaining milk until bubbles appear.  Add flour mixture, stir over medium heat until thickens.  Add cheese and spices and stir until melted.  Add cooked pasta and toss until coated.  Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish.  Mix remaining ingredients sprinkle over pasta.  Bake for 10 minutes at 450F.

Easy Crusty Bread

I had to try this when I saw it on Pinterest

In a large bowl mix

3 C flour
1 3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/2 C water (I ended up using close to 2)

Cover with plastic wrap and place on the counter for 12-18 hours.  Preheat over to 450F, once preheat toss  your baking pot in with lid.  I used a kitchen aid round like this

Heat for 30 minutes.  While the pot is preheating turn the dough out onto a well floured surface.  Remove pot from oven and place dough inside, cover with lid and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes more.

Now the bread was a little dense and plain, but so super easy to make. I am going to experiment a bit with different cheses and seeds and see what I can come up with!

Pita's

Place the following in bread maker on dough cycle

3 C flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
1 pck yeast (2 1/4 tsp)
1 1/2 C warm water
2 Tbsp oil (I used canola, next time garlic olive oil)

Roll into a log and pinch off into about 30 small pieces.  Let rise 15-30 minutes.  Roll into circles and bake on pizza stone for 3-4 minutes at 475F.

Baked Garlic Parmesan Chicken

Original recipe can be found here.

2 Tbsp garlic oil (on a shallow plate)
1//2 C bread crumbs
1/3 C parmesan cheese (I used a mixture of real and fake)
2 tsp basil
ground pepper
3 chicken breasts

Mix crumbs, cheese, basil and pepper together. Drench the chicken in oil and then coat in bread crumb mixture. Place in greased baking sheet and top with extra crumb mixture.  Bake about 40 minutes or until the chicken juices run clear.

Orzo with Parmesan and Basil

Delicious and made with basil from our garden.  Even the kids tried it, which is awesome for my picky little boy.  I found the recipe here and did not change a thing!

Pumpkin Scones (Clone of Starbucks)

I took the advice in the blog comments and doubled the recipe.  It was a good thing too, these were gone in a flash.

I followed the recipes here but made the following changes...

• Used almond milk
• Added about 1/4 cup more pumpkin
• Used pumpkin spice instead of individual spices
• Each log made 12 smaller scones instead of 6.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes

This recipe was ok.  Alex didn't like how tart the cupcakes were but Corbyn loved them.  I repeat Corbyn loved the,!  Therefore we will be making them again.

I pinned these a couple of weeks ago and followed the recipe exactly!

Source: sweetcheeksinthekitchen.blogspot.com via Jennifer on Pinterest

Buffalo Meatballs

We recently purchased a 1/4 buffalo and I am on the lookout for some tasty recipes!

Even with the extra cheese there was very little fat after baking these in the oven.  I used this recipe to work from.

Buffalo
1 egg
Grated Cheese (Swiss was the best!)
Basil and/or Italian Seasoning
Pepper
Soya Sauce
Worcestershire
Onion and garlic powder

Mix, roll into balls and bake (line a baking sheet with tin foil and place a wire rack over top) and bake at 350F until cooked through.

We ate these plain with rice and in spaghetti sauce.

Cream Cheese Banana Nut Bread

I have started pinning more and more recipes on Pinterest here.

I followed this recipe exactly and then only thing I would do differently next time is add some chocolate chips!

Cake Pops

I got one of these just before Christmas

And the results have been less that stellar.  I am just no good and making the chocolate stick to the cakepop without globbing and looking horrible.  I will keep trying, but in the meantime, this is the perfect sized school snack.  So today I made these



On the top, Lemon Poppy Seed cake pops with lemon drizzled, and on the bottom, Pumpkin Spice cake pops with drizzled.  So simple and easy and the perfect sized snack.

Lemon Poppy Seed

1 pck Lemon cake mix (made according to directions)

1/4 c poppy seeds

zest from on lemon

Mix together and drizzle with a mixture of icing sugar and lemon juice.

Pumpkin Spice

1 pck Vanilla cake mix

1 can pumpkin

3-4 tbps oil

3-4 tbsp of pumpkin spice

Mix together and drizzle with a mixture of icing sugar and milk.