Keep Calm and Cook On - August Features

Hello everyone! I hope you are enjoying a great Labour Day long weekend! It's a busy but quiet one here at our house.  Our oldest is gone camping, so it's just my hubby, me and our toddler.  We're getting lots of odd projects done, and getting some one-on-one time with our little guy.  It's been nice, especially since the crazy times of school start again on Tuesday.

Thank you for sharing your BBQ and or Ice Cream recipes for the August edition of Keep Calm and Cook On!  Here are the top three recipes, as picked by you!

Skinny Frozen S'Mores from Skinny Kitchen

Asian BBQ Chicken from Rate the Plate Utah

Butterfingers Ice Cream Sandwich Cake from Baking in a Tornado

Come back tomorrow to see what the September ingredient will be for Keep Calm and Cook On!

Recipe Recap #30

Hello friends! Happy Tuesday to you!  My regular day for sharing my weekly Recipe Recap here at Addicted to Recipes.  Today I am looking back at the recipes I posted the week of August 25 - 31, 2012.  Here we go...

Italian Cream Soda

Banana Blueberry Muffins

Recipe Recap #29

Hello friends, welcome back to Recipe Recap at Addicted to Recipes!  Today I am featuring the recipes that I shared the week of August 18 - 24, 2012.  It was a slow recipe week as I was hosting a week long party with giveaways.  But the recipe I shared is a big favourite of ours!

Coconut Shrimp

Playdough Volcanoes

It's summer vacation!  I've been really lucky to have a bunch of vacation and overtime to use, so I have had a lot of time off so far this summer.  On the days that I have been working, my kids have been at daycare and day camps.  Our oldest came home one day all excited about the Playdough Volcanoes that he made at camp one day, so of course, we had to give it a try.  I know, I am straying from my usual recipes, but this was so fun, and our kids were just amazed by this.  And it's so easy!

Have your kids create a volcano out of playdough.  Let them have creative

reign, their little minds and what they create is always so awesome.  Be sure that they create the crater in the centre of the volcano, and if they want to "dress up" their volcanoes with trees and other fun, encourage it! (I am all about encouraging kids to be creative).  Also, make sure you use a spill proof base for the volcano, such as a paper plate or a cookie sheet.

Once the volcanoes are built, it's time for the adult to help out.  You'll need:

Baking Soda
1/2 to 1 cup of white vinegar
Food colouring

Pour the vinegar into a measuring cup, add in your selected colour of food colouring.  Mix well.

In the volcano, pour in some baking soda.  A couple teaspoons should do you.

When the kids are ready, pour the coloured vinegar into the volcano crater. 

HAVE FUN!!

PS, did you know that you can make you own playdough?

Recipe Recap #28

Almost there, almost caught up with the Recipe Recaps here at Addicted to Recipes!  Today I am remembering my posts from August 11 - 17, 2012!

Polka Dot Cake

Devil's Food Butterscotch Chip Cookies

(I'm having a bit of a sweet craving...)

Recipe Recap #27

Oh how I love Recipe Recaps here at Addicted to Recipes.  Always brings back memories for me, and hopefully inspires you to try some new recipes!  I'm in the middle of my blitz of catching up - here is the recap for August 4 - 10, 2012:

Creamy Cherry Popsicles 

(yes, we LOVE frozen treats in our house...you should see all the homemade ice cream recipes that I have coming soon!)

Foodsaver - Liquid Block Bags

Recently the Addicted to Recipes kitchen had the opportunity to try the new

Foodsaver Liquid Block Bags.  You may recall that we have a Foodsaver - I wrote about it in my post "How Do You Preserve Your Food?" - and given that it is fresh fruit season and we are stocked with such amazing produce, it is the perfect time to be freezing for the winter, using a system that will preserve our fruit well!

My husband particularly likes the Foodsaver system - he says it is so easy to use (dividing and freezing meat, the most common use for our Foodsaver - is his job).  He was pretty excited to try the new bags out with the fruit.

Our first fruit to freeze via Liquid Block bags were blueberries.  We froze tonnes of blueberries (I like to use them in my muffins) - and it was a super easy job.  The new bags were awesome...such a quick process!

I'm already thinking of new fruit that we can try freezing with the Foodsaver... love it!

Recipe Recap #26

Hello friends! Welcome back to another "catching-up" installment of Recipe Recap here at Addicted to Recipes!  Today I am featuring the recipes that I shared July 28-August 3, 2012:

Creamsicles

Morning Glory Muffins

Loved both of these recipes...and just might make a batch of the muffins later!

Cajun Coconut Shrimp

Hubs and I have been on a Cajun kick this summer.  I hope all my Addicted to Recipes friends have been on the kick too!  Ever since I discovered making my own Cajun Spice, and we've been indulging in Cajun Halibut Burgers, we've been spicing up our meals. 

Flash back to last summer, and one of our favourite treats was Coconut Shrimp. 

Yes, you see where this is going.

Coconut Shrimp

Cajun.

Cajun Coconut Shrimp.

So very good!

And it is so simple.  Just make the Coconut Shrimp recipe from before.  Sprinkle with the Cajun Spice.

Let's just say...these shrimp didn't last long :-)

Recipe Recap #25

Hello friends!  What a crazy summer, hey?  Pleased to say that I have been enjoying the time with my family - a lot of outside time, and away from my office and Addicted to Recipes.  But I've been trying new recipes and prepping the posts to share with you...and I do have my recaps to share too!  I got a little behind on the recaps with summer holidays, so this week I will be catching you up and reminding both of us of some of the great recipes I've previously shared!  Without further delay...here are the recipes from July 21-27, 2012!

Strawberry Poke Cake

Banana Oatmeal Muffins

Hope you enjoy!

OMGuac - tastic! 1 Lunch, 2 Ways & Photo Contest!

Are you a Wholly Fan?

I love guacamole, but I often find that when I go to make my own, my avocados are either not ripe or too ripe (well, until I found this chart, which has totally helped!).  And when I buy guacamole at the store, I find I just don't like the store-bought versions.

And then I tried Wholly Guacamole®.  And I liked it.  A LOT.  It's become a bit of a staple in our fridge this summer.

And now I see that Wholly Guacamole® now has minis, which will mean that guacamole will be in our lunches more often (and won't turn brown and icky looking)!

Be sure to head over to eatwholly.com/omg to find:

• Great lunch ideas
• Printable shopping lists
• A $1.00 printable coupon
• And a chance to WIN a $100 gift card with a cooler of free Wholly Guacamole® products!  Be sure to head on over to eatwholly.com/omg for full rules.  THREE winners will be selected each week until September 27, 2013!

Disclosure - I am participating in the 1 Lunch, 2 Ways promotion on behalf of Wholly Guacamole.  I received product as a thank you for participating in the promotion.

Lemon Pepper Seasoning

We love Lemon Pepper Chicken.  I would say it's our favourite seasoning for our grilled chicken.  We went to grill some chicken the other night, and discovered that we were all out of our favourite seasoning (Oops! How did that miss making the grocery list?!) So, I needed to create my own Lemon Pepper seasoning.  Fortunately, it is lemonade season, so I am well-stocked with lemons.  Here is what I did:

4 lemons, grated
1/4 cup pepper (I used fresh ground pepper)
Dash red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon salt

Grate the lemons, take the grated rind and add into your bullet.  Add in the pepper, and blend.  Lay out on a cookie sheet on parchment paper, and "bake" in the oven for approximately 45 minutes at 175F.  Once the lemon rind is dried, remove from the oven.  Put back into the bullet, add in the salt, and blend away.  Store in an air tight container.

VERDICT:
This was a huge hit.  The pepper gave it more of a kick than we are used to, but it was addictively good.  Even served it for company (eeks, they were "guinea pigs" on a new recipes...yet they loved it!) - yay!  Can't wait to try it again :-)

Maple Glazed Ribs

Y'all know that I have a bunch of rib lovers in our house.  When we splurge for ribs we have a go-to recipe, Sweet & Spicy Double Cooked ribs.  The other day, we were having company for dinner and ribs were on the menu.  Our kids have been on a "no-spicy" kick, and just in case our guests weren't keen on spicy, I needed to find an alternative for them.  Enter this recipe for Maple Glazed ribs.  Here is what I did:

3/4 cup (real) maple syrup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard powder

3 pounds baby back ribs (boiled for 1 hour)

In a saucepan and over low-medium heat, combine the maple syrup, brown sugar, ketchup, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, salt and dry mustard powder.  Stir well.  Increase heat to medium and bring the sauce to a sow boil.  Allow sauce to boil for about 5 minutes, stirring often.  Remove from heat and have the sauce cool for about 10 minutes. 

Take the ribs and put them into a Ziploc bag or a container with a lid.  Pour the sauce over the ribs, and allow the ribs to marinate in the sauce for at least 2 hours.

When it's time to eat, grill the ribs on your BBQ over indirect heat until desired doneness. Take the leftover sauce and put into a saucepan and bring to a boil again.  Use the sauce to glaze the ribs.

VERDICT:
Our kids loved these.  Their new favourite ribs!  I'm still a fan of the sweet & spicy ribs, but these are a great alternative or addition for the littles and non-spicy liking company :-)

Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

On a recent trip to Vancouver, my MIL, oldest son and visited several

restaurants for our meals.  For one dinner, the side on my meal was a beautiful spinach salad, with a delicious Honey Dijon Vinaigrette.  Of course, I needed to create this dressing from scratch.  Enter my cookbooks and google, and I came up with this recipe, which sounded just right, and EASY:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (white or regular) - or white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk the mustard and vinegar in a bowl.  Be sure to mix well.

Pour the mustard mixture into your blender or bullet, add in the olive oil, honey, salt and pepper.  Blend until mixed well.

Transfer to an airtight container, and allow the dressing to sit for at least 30 minutes before serving.  Be sure to shake or stir before serving.

VERDICT:
Easy AND tasty!  And you could use this as a marinade or basting sauce for your meats too.  Cool!

Watermelon Mojitos

Recently I shared my recipe for Watermelon Lemonade.  Oh so good.  Our kids

just love it.  "Watermelon juice" as our youngest calls it!  Well, being a grown-up, I decided I wanted to give a new twist to the lemonade, and "mojito-ize" it.  Yes, I made that word up, but it makes sense!  Here is what I did:

In our herb garden we happen to have "Margarita Mint" growing, so I picked a few of the mint leaves.  Washed, and was ready to make our beverages.

Take your glass (we made singles for our first try), take a few of the mint leaves, and crush them in your glass.  Add an ounce of white rum.  Add a few ice cubs, and top off the glass with the watermelon lemonade.  Garnish with another mint leaf.


VERDICT:
A tasty adult summer drink.  My hubby and I enjoyed this - so refreshing on a hot evening.  I can see myself making a pitcher of this.  Oh dear.  And I don't even like rum!

Watermelon Lemonade

I am SO IN LOVE with fresh, homemade lemonade this summer.  And I am loving trying new flavour combinations.  My food processor is getting a workout these days with all my experiments.  I've discovered that our 5 year old likes his lemonade on the tart side, while my hubby and I prefer things a little sweeter.   My latest kick is Watermelon Lemonade.  Here is a version that I made recently:

4 cups sliced/cubed watermelon (approximately 1/2 of a watermelon)
4 lemons
Water (3-4 cups, or depending on your taste)
Simple syrup (to taste) - Here is how to make simple syrup

In a food processor, puree the watermelon.  Squeeze the juice out of the 4 lemons, and combine with the watermelon puree.  STRAIN into your pitcher.  Add ice cold water and mix.  Add your simple syrup and mix.  Start by adding a 1/2 cup of the syrup and taste - then add more syrup as needed to satisfy your taste buds!

I've also made a version throwing a little pineapple juice into the mix.  Our son loved that one a LOT!

Enjoy!!

Keep Calm and Cook On - BBQ and Ice Cream

Hello friends!  Welcome to the second edition of Keep Calm and Cook On!

I had such a hard time deciding on one theme this month, that I picked two! (LOL).  It's the middle of summer...which means it is peak BBQ season, and it's also peak cold treat season :-)  I just bought an ice cream maker (hello, I am in LOVE!)...and so, I am picking two options for recipes to share this month. 

I invite you to share your recipes for BBQ and / or ICE CREAM!  Yum!  I am already drooling just thinking about your recipes for BBQ and / or homemade ice cream!

Not a lot of rules, other than please ensure your recipe fits with the theme and please visit other recipes.  You help pick the recipes that will be featured from this party!  Thanks so much!