Recipe Recap #18

Hello friends! Happy Tuesday!  Phewf, we made it through Monday!  Last week was uber-busy for me - our charity golf tournament was last week...a few long days with long hours, but all for a very good cause!  This week's Recipe Recap is a short one - just one recipe to share this week from the week of May 26 - June 1:

Teriyaki Chicken Burgers

See you next week!

Blueberry Banana Bread

It was my turn for "Pit Stop" at work recently.  Pit Stop is a little bit of team building that we do each week.  Our team is so busy and always on the go here, there and everywhere else that we bond over food once a week.  On payday Fridays our Culinary Arts students provide a campus wide "Pit Stop" for any staff to attend (and our team always goes together) and on non-payday weeks, we take turns providing "Pit Stop" for our team.  The "rules" for "Pit Stop" are simple - there are none!  We can buy our treats, make our treats - and there are no rules on what the treats are to be (sometimes it is ice cream, we used to get amazing cupcake...KSL...) - anyways, it was recently my turn, and I had been craving banana bread, but of course, wanted to add a little twist.  I dud use my standard banana bread recipe, and amended it slightly.  Here is the recipe:

Blueberry Banana Bread (Adapted from Company's Coming, Muffins and More)

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup bananas, mashed (approx 3)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare loaf pan for baking.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar, beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Beat until smooth.  Mix in the bananas and vanilla.

In a second bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Add to the wet ingredients, stir just to combine.  Add in the blueberries, stirring slightly.

Pour the mixture into the loaf pan.  Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from oven, allow to cool for 10 minutes, then turn onto a rack to cool.

VERDICT:
Everyone at the office seemed to enjoy the bread :-)  That's good!  My family sure did too...just like most banana breads, it didn't last long in our house!

Recipe Recap #17

Hello again! Happy Tuesday to you! Welcome back to this week's Recipe Recap.  This week I am looking back at the recipes posted May 19 - 25.  I was in a strawberry mood that week!  Yum!!  Here are the recipes:

Strawberry Cream Crepes

Strawberry Fun da-middles "Shortcake"

See you next Tuesday!

Health on Your Plate - Shop & Cook with Yara (Book Review)

I was very lucky to receive a copy of Yara Shoemaker's book "Health on Your Plate - Shop & Cook with Yara" - what a great read the book has been.  Y'all know that I love to read cookbooks, and while there are some great looking recipes in Yara's book (like Good Girl Cocoa, Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms, and Crusted Snapper) it's all the other information that has me so intrigued.  This book truly is a journey to a better you, chock full of tips and tricks and things that encourage you to consider  - from how your kitchen is stocked to how you clean to how you select the foods you've been purchasing for yourself and your family.

Most of my circle knows that I'm not big on processed foods.  I don't "do" aspartame or any of those chemicals (or I do my best to avoid them), I do my best to try to prepare foods from scratch for my family as often as possible.  I don't follow any of the fad diets (and I pretty much do consider most of the diets, or "ways of eating" to be fads...I've been around long enough to know that in a few years it'll be something new that's "in").  I believe in making the best choices that you can, and I believe in providing the best variety of food that I can for my family.  I feel like Yara and I have a lot of the same beliefs. 

That's why I can easily say that I have been totally hooked on this book.  You know how I say that I always have cookbooks sitting on my nightstand?  Health on Your Plate has been a staple on my nightstand for the last while.  I love flipping through and finding a new chapter to read.  Do you know what I have come to accept after reading this book?  You really are what you eat...I know, we've heard it all before, but it really is true!  (was that an "a-ha moment"?!)

An added bonus with this book, is a supplemental book "Superfoods from Earth and Ocean" - it is a handy purse-sized booklet that I've been carrying around for a while now.  It's a great reference guide - the charts are awesome in helping to pick the best produce at the right time of year, and the detailed breakdown of the vitamins and minerals has been really helpful for me. 

You can purchase this great book now - you can find online at Amazon.  You should check it out, I bet you'll learn a few things that will enhance your life!


Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book to read and review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup

Ham is a rare meal in our house,  and when we have ham, we always end up with tonnes of leftovers.  We all know that I love making soup and have been on a real soup kick this year, but I didn't want to make Ham and Split Pea Soup (not that I don't like it, I just wasn't in the mood.  I wanted a creamy soup...and there is the recipe that I found:

Creamy Ham and Potato Soup (Source: The Girl Who Ate Everything)

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups chicken broth

3 1/2 cups potatoes, washed, peeled and diced
1 stalk of celery, washed and diced
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup carrot, diced
1 cup diced cooked ham
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk

Pour the chicken broth into a stockpot.

Add in the potatoes, celery, onion, carrot and ham. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and cook over medium until potatoes are tender.  This will take about 15 minutes (depending on how big your potato pieces are). Add in the salt and pepper.

In a separate saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Slowly stir in milk. Continue to constantly stir over medium-low heat until thick, approximately 5 minutes.

Slowly add the milk mixture into the ham mixture in the stockpot, and cook soup until heated through.  Serve immediately.

We topped our soup with cheddar and chives.

VERDICT:
Yum.  Just plain yum.  I loved this soup, and ate a lot of it.  This makes a big pot of soup so you will have leftovers.  I am almost looking forward to fall, when on a cool fall day, this soup will be just perfect!

Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #63

Hello friends, Happy Sunday to you!

It's a long weekend here...Happy May long to all my Canadian friends!  We are enjoying lots of family time - yesterday we went to a parade, we've got BBQ's planned, visiting with family and friends, and so on.  Love long weekends!

I've had a super-busy month which is why I have been a bit M-I-A. It's my busy time at work...(my hubby is referring to himself as "Mr. Mom" these days as I'm at the office more than I am home it seems)...but once I get through the month of May, life will get back to normal...and blogging will too!  Thanks for hanging in with me :-)

Anyways, Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #63 is up and running, sure hope you will come by and share your recipes!

Turkey Florentine Meatloaf

Meatloaf.  Not usually something that I'm all over making.  BUT my boys LOVE meatloaf.  I've never understood a big loaf of meat.  Mash it together and call it dinner.  But I get why my boys love it, thought still not my "cup of tea".  However, I happened to have some ground turkey in the freezer, and was stumped as to what to do with it.  The boys had been asking for meatloaf, and so, turkey meatloaf it was.  But, me being me, I needed to get more vegetables into that loaf of meat.  And this is what I came up with:

Turkey Florentine Meatloaf

1 1/4 pounds ground turkey
1 cup of spaghetti sauce (Florentine if you have it)
1/2 cup of Panko

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced

2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 teaspoon fennel seed, crushed (or use your bullet)

1 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and very well drained
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350F.

In a small bowl, combine the Panko and the Italian seasoning.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the ground turkey with 1/4 cup of the spaghetti sauce, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, eggs, Worcestershire Sauce, seasonings, Parmesan cheese and fennel. Mix well.  Divide the mixture in half in the bowl.

Press half the turkey in a prepared loaf pan.  With your knuckles or the back of a spoon, press a 1 inch deep indentation down the center of the loaf, leaving a 1” inch border on all sides.

In a third bowl, toss the spinach and 3/4 cup of the cheddar. Spoon the spinach mixture into the indentation.  Do not overfill.

Put the remaining turkey mixture over top of the spinach mixture, sealing the edges along the side of the pan.

Bake for 45 minutes.  Remove from oven and CAREFULLY dump out/remove any accumulated grease.

Spoon the remaining spaghetti sauce over the top of the loaf and sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the meat is cooked through and the sauce is bubbly. Check using your meat thermometer.

Once done, remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving. This loaf needs setting time before serving.

VERDICT:
We found the recipe suggestion size for the spinach to be just a little too much.  Next time I would reduce the spinach to approximately 2/3 of what the recipe calls for.  Otherwise, it was a tasty meal (even in my eyes!).

Cinnamon Raisin Raspberry French Toast Bake

French toast is a staple in our house.  It's a popular breakfast choice for my boys, along with pancakes and waffles.  I was wanting to change up our morning flavours, and a loaf of Sun-Maid Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread was my inspiration.

I have seen overnight French Toast baked breakfasts before, but have never made them.  I always attributed an overnight breakfast to a weekend thing, but I thought, why wouldn't I do this on a weekday morning?  Wouldn't this make our morning routine just a bit easier?  No standing over the stove cooking while trying to round up the kids for school and daycare.  So...I decided to give one a whirl and see what happened.  I also happened to have some beautiful raspberries and delicious cream cheese in the fridge, and in my mind, I thought these should all go together.

Here is what I did:

Cinnamon Raisin Raspberry French Toast Bake

8 slices of Sun-Maid Raisin Cinnamon Swirl Bread

5 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1/2 brick cream cheese, softened
cinnamon

Butter the bottom of an 8x8 or 9x9 baking pan (I used glass).

Break up the bread into bite sized pieces.  Place in the prepared baking pan.  Add the raspberries into the bread dish, mixing into the bread.

In a bowl, beat the eggs, add in the milk and mix well.  Pour the egg mixture over the bread.  Press down slightly.

Cut the cream cheese into small bits, sprinkle over top of the bread mixture.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 350F.  Uncover the baking pan, place in oven, and hake for 30-35 minutes. 

Remove from oven, serve with maple syrup, and enjoy!

VERDICT:
This dish was popular with my boys (and me too!).  It made for a nice change of pace to our breakfasts, and added in some extra fruit (the raisins and he raspberries).  The cream cheese was a nice addition to the mix!

Recipe Recap #16

Hello friends! Happy Tuesday to you!  Welcome back to this week's edition of "Recipe Recap"!  This week I am looking back at the recipes that I posted one year ago, the week of May 12 - 18, 2012.  Here are the recipes - they were all about Mother's Day....and the first is one of my most popular recipes from the blog!

German Apple Cake

Hint of Thai Sirloin and Mango Pepper Salad

THANK YOU for stopping by - Recipe Recap will be back next week!

Banana Coconut Bread

Usually we go through bananas like crazy, but in the last few weeks the banana consumption seems to have slowed in our house.  As a result, I was presented with 3 very ripe bananas the other day...which of course is the perfect number of ripe bananas to make banana bread!

I pulled out my trusty "Company's Coming Muffins and More" cookbook and went to my stand-by banana bread recipe.  But then I saw one for Banana Coconut Bread, and thought maybe I'd try that one.  Ran the idea by my hubby who agreed, and so, Banana Coconut Bread it was! Here is the recipe I used:

2 eggs

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 bananas, mashed

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup coconut, medium
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Note - The recipe also called for 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup maraschino cherries, cut up.  I had neither on hand at home, so I left them out of the recipe this time. 

Preheat oven to 350F.  Prepare a loaf pan (grease/butter)

Beat eggs until light and frothy.  Add in the sugar and the melted butter.  Mix well.  Add in the banana and mix well.

In a second bowl combine the flour, coconut, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Add to the wet ingredients, stir until mixed.  Pour/spoon into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean.  Remove from oven and let stand for 10 minutes.  Remove from pan, cool and wrap.

VERDICT:
This was a nice change to the everyday banana bread.  A hit with my boys :-)

Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #62

HELLO FRIENDS!

It feels so good to be back!  We had an internet crash in our city/at our house last week which really threw my blogging for a loop.  Not only was there a provider issue, but our modem decided to crash at the same time.  Good times, good times!

I am happy to say that Scrumptious Sunday Recipe Link Party #62 is up and running - I sure hope you will come by and link up your recipes!

And last but never least....HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Recipe Recap #15

Ahhh, it's Recipe Recap day!  Thanks for joining me in my little adventure looking back at the recipes I posted one year ago this week.  This week we are checking out the recipes from May 5-11, 2012...and here they are:

Smoked Salmon Gruyere Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Homemade Play Dough

See you next week!

Puffed Wheat Squares

Would you believe that until now, I have NEVER made Puffed Wheat Squares?  Seriously!  I don't really remember my Mom making them when I was a kid (though I am sure she did), but I do remember having puffed wheat squares, and that I loved them.

I was out grocery shopping the other night and happened to be in the cereal aisle (looking for some wheat bran for baking).  I came across some organic puffed wheat, immediately remembered puffed wheat squares, and figured it was time I make some and see if my family likes them.  Here is the recipe that I used:

Puffed Wheat Squares (Source: grouprecipes.com)

1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 teaspoons cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
8 cups organic puffed wheat

Butter a 9 x 13 pan.

In a large saucepan, combine the butter, brown sugar, corn syrup, cocoa powder and vanilla.  Bring to a slow, rolling boil.

Remove from heat and add in the puffed wheat.  Stir to combine.

Press into the prepared pan.  Cool and cut into squares.

VERDICT:
3 out of 4 in our family liked these.  They were just how I remember them from childhood.  Our oldest wasn't a big fan, but our toddler...look out.  He was screeching for more!  I think he has a bit of a sweet tooth, just like his Mama!

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwiches

I don't know about you, but I love egg salad sandwiches.  I grew up with my Mom's recipe with hard boiled eggs mashed with mayo, and in the last few years have grown to enjoy a version that a local lunchery offers (that slices the hard boiled eggs and adds in slices of tomatoes too).  Having said that, I never make egg salad sandwiches.  Until I came across this recipe...then I decided that I needed make some!  Here is the recipe:

Avocado Egg Salad Sandwiches (Source: Running to the Kitchen)

2 hard boiled eggs (shells off)

1/2 avocado
1 tablespoons plain Greek yogurt
1/4 red pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon red hot sauce (or more or less, depending on your preference)
salt and pepper to taste

Put the first four ingredients into a bowl and mash together until you reach your desired consistency.  Add in the hot sauce, salt and pepper.  Mix, taste and adjust if needed.

Spoon the avocado egg salad into a wrap or onto your sandwich bread, top with coleslaw greens or fresh lettuce, and enjoy!

VERDICT:
I really liked this version of egg salad sandwiches.  The addition of the avocado was good (and good for you!) and changing up the mayo for a little Greek yogurt was also tasty.  I had mine in a wrap and I added in  bagged coleslaw to add some crunch, and I am super happy that I did!  I had some leftover mix which I gave to our toddler, who just gobbled it up - yippee!