Falling leaves

So, what have I been up to lately?  Well, fall has finally arrived, and my son started full-day kindergarten, of which he is having a few difficulties adjusting to.  We're working on it though.

With fall come some of my favourite recipes.  Essentially anything pumpkin and anything apple!  I haven't done too much so far with pumpkin, I've made pumpkin pancakes, and pumpkin donut holes.  Once I get more pumpkins, I'll be making some pies, scones and who knows what else!  I've gone nuts with apples though!  I had the opportunity this year, for the first time, to accompany a friend at a family member's "orchard" to pick apples.  They were of Lobo variety, of which I've never actually heard of before, but they must be a Quebec apple because that is what was recently the apple of choice at the grocery store.  We had a great time with the kids, picking apples!  Well, it was more Nicola and I picking the apples while the kids ran around below us.  They were a great help, however, at tossing the rotten ones into the bush!  And of course the older boys wanted their turn at climbing the ladder too.  We picked about 3 bushels of apples that day, off two trees, so I came home with a bushel full and started pinning away!  So far I've made a couple of pies, apple puff pancakes, apple spice muffins and apple cinnamon scones.  I still have half a bushel left, and we've been eating them just as apples too!

Click on the pictures below for the recipes used to make these fantastic goodies!

Apple pie with whole wheat crust (filling from recipe)

Apple spice muffins with shredded apple, not chopped.

Apple cinnamon scones.

Recipe whip up

Wow, just realized it has been close to 2 months since I last made a post!  This summer has just flown by, and has been busy and lazy at times!  Both have made it hard to sit down at the computer and blog away.  And with the heat, who wanted to be in the kitchen cooking or baking?  Not me!  However, today is ridiculously hot for the end of August!  But since we were invited to friends' place for supper and since I volunteered to make a dessert, I decided to make an exception and whip up a unique (well, in my mind anyway) rhubarb and strawberry dessert! Not sure where the idea came from, but I decided to do a sugar cookie crust, strawberry and rhubarb filling with a crisp topping.  And man, did it smell good cooking in the oven!  And it tasted just as good!

Strawberry Rhubarb Sugar Cookie Pie

Cookie Crust

Ingredients:

    1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

    1/2 teaspoon baking powder

    1/4 teaspoon salt

    8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

    1/2 cup granulated sugar

    1/4 cup light brown sugar

    1 large egg

    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and spray a 10 inch pie plate with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. 

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars until smooth.

4. Add in the egg and vanilla and mix until incorporated. 

5. Slowly mix the flour mixture with the creamed butter and mix until blended. 

6. Press the dough into the prepared pie plate. Prick to ensure it doesn't puff up too much.

7. Bake until the edges just start to brown, about 10 to 12 minutes, then remove from the oven and let cool.

8. Keep the oven set at 350 degrees F.

Move onto the filling and the topping while the crust cools.

Strawberry Rhubarb Filling

Ingredients:

4 cups rhubarb (fresh or frozen.  If frozen, thaw and drain)

1 1/2 cups hulled and halved strawberries

1/4 cup icing sugar

Directions:

1.  Combine fruit and sugar in a mixing bowl. Set aside while the crust is cooling.

Proceed to the topping!

Crisp Topping

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

1/2 cup cold butter

Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the sugar, flour and butter.

2. Pulse until a crumb mixture is formed.

Proceed to final steps!

1. Once the crust has cooled slightly, pour the fruit mixture over the crust.

2. Sprinkle the crumb mixture over the fruit mixture.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for approximately 30 mins.

And tada!  Allow to cool slightly.  The cookie crust will firm up as it cools.  Enjoy topped with ice cream or whipped cream, or just by itself!

Right up to the Moon...

I know that I've already posted a rhubarb recipe.  But since I love it so much (in baked goods anyway!) I thought I'd post another one!  Every once in a while, as a kid, my mom would make "lunar cake".  A very yummy, and sweet, rhubarb cake whose crunchy topping leaves craters in the cake (hence the lunar name).  It was really a treat for us, and not made very often.  So after a friend gave me a whole bunch of rhubarb, I thought I'd attempt making the cake myself!  While it didn't turn out "lunar" for me, I think I spread the topping out too much, it was still amazing!  And both kids, who insist that they don't like rhubarb, ate it right up!  Who doesn't like cake right?  This is the recipe my mom gave to me.

Lunar Rhubarb Cake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat, 1 cup all-purpose)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup buttermilk (or sour milk-directions to follow)

2 cups chopped rhubarb

1 tbsp flour

Topping

1/4 cup butter

2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup brown sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Cream butter and sugar together then beat in egg and vanilla.

3. Sift together the 2 cups of flour, baking sode and salt.

4. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture alternating with the buttermilk, ending with liquid. 

5. Toss the rhubarb with the 1 tbsp of flour and mix gently into the batter.

6. Spoon batter into greased 13x9 pan and smooth top.

Topping

7. Cut butter into cinnamon and brown sugar.  

8. Sprinkle evenly over batter in small piles.

9. Bake at 350F for 45 mins. or until skewer inserted in center comes out clean.

Serve warm.  Also tastes great topped with whipped cream or ice cream!

* Sour milk: Add 2 tbsp lemon juice to a measuring cup.  Top with enough milk to make 1 cup.  Allow to sit for 5 mins. or until curdled.

Hiatus

Okay, so taking a bit of hiatus from blogging! My parents were here for 2 weeks, and now the kids are in day camp for 3 weeks so I'm trying to get some things done around here. I will be back in the coming weeks, so watch for more great recipes coming up in the weeks to follow! Sorry y'all!

Back in the saddle

So, I've gotten a bit lazy with my blogging lately.  I've been making things, and taking pictures, but just not sitting down and taking the time to blog about it!  So I've got about 3 posts I could be putting up.  Baby-steps though!  For today's post, since it is hot outside, I'm going to post the ever tasty, frosty beverage I've frequently talked about on Facebook, the winerita!  So tasty!  Frozen wine bevy!  For those of you who enjoy a frozen margarita, and red wine, this one is for you!  While living in Oklahoma, there was a local winery (yes, they do have them in the dry climates like Oklahoma, where not much really grows!) who sold a "winerita" mix.  I never actually went to the winery myself, or purchased the mix, but friends of mine did, and frequently shared the drink at get togethers!  I fell in love!  No one really knew what was in the mix, but one fellow Canadian thought she figured it out, upon looking at the ingredients and comparing to another popular drink mix...Cherry Kool-Aid and fruit sugar!  So once back in Canada, and getting a craving for a frosty summer beverage, I went to the grocery store and bought me some cherry Kool-Aid!  Once home, I mixed it with the required 1 cup of white sugar (I don't have fruit sugar, and not even really sure what that is), stored it in a jar, and mixed it in the blender with crushed ice.  Tastes almost exactly the same!  Enjoy my red-wine loving friends!

Red Winerita

Ingredients: Winerita Mix

1 pkg cherry Kool-Aid

1 cup white sugar

Directions:

1.  Mix the packet with sugar and store in an air-tight container until ready to use.

Ingredients: Winerita Beverage

2 cups crushed ice

1/3 bottle (750 mL bottle) red wine (doesn't matter what kind)

1/4 cup Winerita mix

Directions:

1. Crush ice in blender until snow-like consistency.

2. Add wine and winerita mix and blend until smooth.

3. Pour into margarita or wine glass (or glass of your desire) and enjoy on a hot day by the pool, lake, or wherever you may be!

One Lovely Blog Award

I got an email the other day saying that my blog had been awarded the One Lovely Blog Award, thanks to my wonderful friend Sabrina Fish!  Thanks so much chica!  I'm glad you have enjoyed reading my blog and find me worthy of this award!

Sabrina is one of the most wonderful people I met while living in Oklahoma.  She was a great friend to me for 3 years while living there.  She is a writer and aspiring fantasy author, currently working on her first book.  Head on over to her blog, Sabrina's Writing Reflections and follower her journey!   

The rules when accepting this award include:

1. Name and thank the blogger.
2. List seven facts about yourself.
3. Award up to fifteen other bloggers this award.

So here are seven facts about myself, that not everyone may know:

1. I have a severe addiction to peanut butter.

2. I need at least one hour of each day to myself, to clear my head, and be alone.  Being a stay-at-home mommy to two very busy pre-schoolers is all consuming and challenging!

3. I really suck at push-ups.  I may workout most days of the week, but I hate push-ups, so I avoid them as much as possible, even to the point of sitting back and watching as a video instructor does them! LOL

4. I like carpet.  With two dogs who shed like crazy, carpet is really good at hiding that instead of leaving dust bunnies of hair flying all over the place!

5. My first career choice was to be a physiotherapist, but I didn't get accepted into any of the programs in Ontario (which was devastating) after I completed my undergrad, even though I had tons of practical volunteer experience.  Apparently my GPA wasn't good enough.

6. I have a very high pain tolerance.  I tend to go into a trance-like state when faced with painful situations, which is probably why I was able to deliver both my children naturally, without pain medication.

7. I am a perfectionist and a neat-freak and it stresses me out when things don't go as planned or when things are a mess, which makes meal-time with young children stressful for me. LOL

Now, since I don't know 15 other bloggers, I'm not really going to be able to award this to them!  I can, however, award it to the lovely Brittany Guindon of The Joy{full} Kitchen!  Like me, she is a food blogger, an anglophone living in Northern Quebec (we were in the same French class on the base) and has some great recipes on her blog! Go and check her out! This One Lovely Blog Award gets passed on to you Brittany!

 

Cheese anyone?

Well friends, it's been a while!  This is a much over-due blog post!  Blogging has been the lowest on my list of priorities these days.  Between getting work done on the outside of the house and the kids having gastro, it's been a bit crazy around here!  So it's actually been a while since I made these mozzarella-stuffed turkey burgers, but I told some of you that I would post it, so here it goes!  They are really very, very tasty so I hope you enjoy!

Mozzarella-Stuffed Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground turkey

1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (or rolled oats)

2 tsp minced garlic

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

2 thickly sliced slices of mozzarella cheese block (cut each in half)

4 hamburger buns (of your choice)

Directions:

1. Combine gently the turkey, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, pepper and salt.

2.  Form into 8 thin burgers.

3.  Place a thick slice of cheese in the middle of 4 of the burgers then cover with the other 4 burgers and press down the edges to seal tightly.

4.  Grill the burgers over a medium-high preheated grill (or in a fry pan), flipping once, until thoroughly cooked and no longer pink inside (approximately 8-10 mins.)

5.  Serve inside slightly warmed burger buns and top as desired!

For a slightly spicier burger, feel free to add salsa or jalapeno peppers to your turkey mixture.  Top with a slice of pepper jack cheese, more salsa, and some avocado!  Mmmm...my mouth is watering already!

Rhubarb Infatuation

I'm not sure why I've developed such an infatuation with rhubarb this summer, but I've just got to have it!  By have it, I mean grow it myself to be able to use throughout the summer.  When I was growing up my mom had a few plants in her garden (she still does) and I used to love helping her cut it and cut it up to either stew or make into pies.  I've been trying to track down a plant for a good price, and man are they expensive!  So thankfully a friend of mine was gracious enough to dig me up a couple of roots from her garden.  Not sure if they transplanted well, as they are slightly slumped over, but we'll see.  If not, I may just suck it up and buy a plant at one of the local garden centers.  I had a bag of already cut up rhubarb in the freezer from last summer, cut from my father-in-law's garden, so I pulled it out this past weekend to make up a dessert for our long weekend barbecue with friends.  I decided to make rhubarb crisp, and the way it turned out was fantastic!  Not too sweet on the inside, and crispy granola-like on top!  Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients:

3/4 cup sugar *

3 tbsp corn starch *

5 cups sliced rhubarb (fresh or frozen and thawed)

1 cup quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine sugar, cornstarch (or powdered sugar, see note below) and rhubarb and toss to coat. 

2. Pour into an 8-in. square baking dish.

3. In a small bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, butter, and flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. 

4. Sprinkle over fruit. 

5. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until bubbly and fruit is tender.

Enjoy!

* I ran out of sugar, so I used 1 cup powdered/icing sugar which is a ready mixed combination of sugar and cornstarch.

Heaven in a bowl

While perusing the internet the other day, of which I can't remember if it was on Pinterest or just various food blogs, I came across a recipe for chocolate peanut butter oatmeal. I couldn't think of anything that would taste better! It looked so awesome! So when I was trying to think of what to eat for breakfast yesterday morning, I thought I'd give it a try. Of course I couldn't remember where I'd seen the recipe, and had not pinned it or saved it to my favourites, so I just came up with something on my own. It turned out fantastic! And of course the kids loved it too, seeing as they come by their chocoholic-ism and peanut butter honestly.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups water

2/3 cup quick oats

2 tbsp cocoa powder

2-3 tbsp smooth peanut butter

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

sweetener to taste (optional)

Directions:

1. Combine water, oats, cocoa powder, cinnamon and sweetener (if using) in a microwavable bowl and cook for one minute.  Stir then cook for another minute until thickened.

2. Stir in peanut butter, and enjoy!

Serves 2

3rd Time's a Charm!

Well, attempt #3 at granola bars, and finally success!  I decided to give it one more valiant effort, and my hard work paid off!  Well, not really hard work, as I opted for the no-bake bars this time around.  And I'm glad I did!  After my two first attempts went south, I went back to Pinterest and found a recipe for no-bake bars, of the Clif bar variety.  As per usual, I made some slight modifications for what I had in the pantry.  They got me a high-5 from Mark when they were done.  I'm sure they won't last long in this house!

Homemade No-Bake Clif Bars

 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups Rice Krispies Brown Rice cereal (new and gluten-free)

1 cup quick oats

2 tbsp ground flaxseed meal

1/4 cup Craisins (dried cranberries)

1/8 cup chopped slivered almonds

1/8 cup shredded sweetened coconut

1/3 cup honey

1/2 cup almond butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Directions:

1.  Combine cereal, oats, flaxseed meal, Craisins, almonds and coconut in a large bowl.

2.  Combine the honey and almond butter in a microwaveable bowl and heat for 30-60 seconds until melted, then stir in the vanilla.

3.  Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and stir until coated, with a wooden spoon.  Feel free to use your hands for this step too to ensure everything is well blended.

4.  Using a piece of wax paper, firmly press the mixture into a bar pan or 8x8 square pan (I used the Pampered Chef medium bar pan, pushing it to one end).  

5.  Cool in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes then cut into 12 squares.

6.  Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and store in the fridge, if they last that long!

Now feel free to substitute your favourite dried fruit for the Craisins, and peanut butter for the almond butter.  The Enlightened Cooking blog, from which this recipe originates, lists some other varieties of ingredients you can use for these bars.  Next time I may try the peanut butter ones!  Use whatever your taste-buds desire!

Per Serving
Calories: 154
Carbs: 20
Fat: 7
Protein: 4
Sodium: 19
Sugar: 10
(www.myfitnesspal.com)

Fiesta time!

After spending 4 years in Oklahoma City, Tex-Mex became a regular part of our diets. Not that we didn't like it before, but when it's one of the regional dishes, you tend to eat it more than before. Fresh salsa, or pico de gallo, is my favourite. I would honestly eat it every day. I enjoy mixing it with avocado and serving it over eggs (huevos rancheros). Finding a perfect salsa has been a challenge for me. I was able to get a great one at Sam's Club in Oklahoma, but haven't found one I really enjoy up here in Saguenay yet. So while I was shopping the other day I picked up some roma tomatoes, onion, and hot peppers and set to work today to make my own. Now I'm not a huge onion fan, and crunchy peppers in salsa weird me out. So I sauteed my onions and peppers first before putting them through the food processor with the tomatoes. I didn't follow a recipe at all for this, but it turned out fantastic! Very, very HOT, but that's the way we like it. Modify for your desired heat by cutting back on the peppers.  So here is what I threw together.

Fresh Salsa

Ingredients:

6 Roma tomatoes

1 pint sweet grape tomatoes

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded

1 cayenne pepper, seeded

1 cherry pepper, seeded

3 Serrano peppers, seeded

1/2 onion

1 1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp coriander

Directions:

1.  Chop peppers and onion in food processor (for ease, or by hand if you don't have a processor) and then saute in 1 tbsp EVOO until soft.

2.  Core Roma tomatoes and combine with grape tomatoes and sauteed onions and peppers in food processor bowl.

3.  Add salt, lime juice, cumin and coriander and pulse until desired chunkiness achieved.

4.  Serve with chips or crackers, or how ever you please!

* Be careful when cutting the peppers and onions!  You will start to cry, and if not wearing gloves, you will burn your skin!  Take it from me.  I speak from experience.  Next time I will wear gloves for the peppers.  The tearing up from the onions, well that's unavoidable I think!

A little taste of the orient.

I know that usually my blog posts are sweet treats or breads, but today I thought I'd go for something savoury.  Tonight's dinner menu called for teriyaki salmon with grilled pineapple rings.  When I was making up the meal plan and preparing my grocery list, I apparently forgot to check to make sure I had teriyaki sauce.  Which I didn't.  So when I went to start marinating the salmon, and realized that I had no sauce, the quick fix solution was to head over to Pinterest in search of one!  I had to make some slight modifications as I do not buy organic ginger or garlic, and neither do I have raw honey, liquid whey (optional), or unpasteurized, naturally fermented soy sauce (?).  So the resultant sauce, and further more, dinner, looked a little something like this!

Homemade Teriyaki Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tsp ground ginger

2 tsp crushed garlic (2 cloves)

2 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp rice vinegar

3 tbsp honey 

1 cup lite soya sauce

2 tsp cornstarch (to thicken)

Directions:

1.  Combine first 6 ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a slow boil.

2.  Simmer for 2 minutes then add cornstarch and allow to thicken slightly.

3.  Cool and then proceed to marinate salmon filets!

Teriyaki Salmon with Grilled Pineapple

Ingredients:

4-4oz salmon filets (skin removed)

teriyaki sauce marinade

4 pineapple rings

Directions:

1.  Pour homemade teriyaki sauce over salmon filets and allow to marinate at least 1 hour, even better over night (I did mine for about 2 hours).

2.  Preheat barbeque grill on high, then reduce to medium.

3.  Grill salmon for 5 minutes on each side, basting with extra sauce.

4.  Add pineapple rings to grill and sear for 2 minutes on each side.

5.  Serve salmon with pineapple rings on top.

I can honestly say this was one of the best salmon dishes I have ever made!  Grilling the pineapple really brings out the sweetness, not that it isn't sweet enough to begin with that's for sure!  And my salmon was cooked to perfection!  Both kids gobbled it right up!  Wish I could have said the same for Mark (he's not a seafood fan at all).  Eric ate his piece!

Happy, happy birthday!

My kids' birthdays are one day apart (2 years difference) so I had decided a few months ago to theme their joint birthday party with the Candy Land theme.  I figured it was a good unisex theme, and would be easy enough to center around candy.  What kid does not like candy right?  So I searched all over the internet to come up with a cake idea, and games and activities to partake in.  The cake I modeled after the one from "Taste of Home" magazine.  I decided to make the inside as a rainbow cake, which was interesting, and turned out pretty good!  So here is the directions on how I made the rainbow Candy Land cake!  This cake was an 11"x15" sheet cake, which is why the cake ingredients are so huge!  You can easily do it as a 9" round cake also, or 9"x11" rectangle cake, scaling down the cake batter.

Rainbow Candy Land Cake

 

Ingredients:

3 boxes of store-bought white cake mix

Food colourings (liquid or gel) or your choice, colour and number.

Vanilla frosting (2 batches of butter-cream is what I used)

Icing scribblers/gels

Candies: Starburst for the squares, candy canes (or in my case, candy cane Hershey kisses), peppermint candies, jujubes, lollipops, Reese's peanut butter cups (mini and large), licorice, ice cream cones (filled with marshmallow), etc.

Directions for Rainbow Cake:

1. Spray 11x15 sheet pan and dust with flour.

2. Prepare cake batter as per box directions and divide equally among 4-6 bowls. 

3. Using food colourings, tint each bowl with your desired colours.

 

4. Starting with the colour of your choice, pour batter into various areas of the sheet pan.  Repeat with remaining colours, layering all over the pan until all batter is gone.

5. Bake according to package directions, and in the end you should end up with something that looks like the picture below.

  

6. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then remove (carefully!) to a wire rack to cool completely.

7. Once cooled, ice with vanilla frosting and then decorate as desired following the Candy Land game board as a guide.

Here is a view of the inside, once cut.  Looks pretty neat!

The kids loved their cake!  Happy birthday to my little monsters!