Monday, May 30, 2011
Baked Orange Chicken
I bookmarked a recipe for Annie’s Orange Chicken because the photo looked so delicious and I love orange and chicken together. I only glanced at the recipe briefly so didn’t notice until I was about to try making it that you have to fry the chicken in oil. I didn’t want to do that because a) it makes it less healthy, b) I’m lazy, and c) I’m a little scared of cooking with hot oil since Tony told me the story of how he burned down his kitchen that way. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure that it tastes wonderful when fried in oil and I may try it someday, but this particular day I decided to bake the chicken. I also altered the recipe quite a bit as I went, but luckily I wrote down the changes I made so I could share it on here if it turned out well. It certainly did turn out well and got rave reviews from the whole family, so I’m sure glad I recorded what I did. Tony especially liked this chicken and actually said it was one of the best meals I’ve made. Wow! You gotta love that review.
Baked Orange Chicken
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup orange juice (freshly squeezed if possible)
1 1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tbsp soy sauce
4 tbsp brown sugar
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 tbsp corn starch
1 tbsp water
Preheat oven to 400F. Combine broth, juice, orange zest, vinegar, soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic and ginger in a small bowl. Place chicken in a greased baking dish and pour orange mixture over top. Bake for 40 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink inside.
Remove chicken and keep warm. Pour sauce into a small saucepan and bring to boil over medium-high heat. In a small bowl mix together cornstarch and water, then add to sauce. Cook until sauce is thick, then pour it over the chicken. Serve over rice.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies
One recent Saturday afternoon it was pouring rain outside and we were looking for something to do. Cole suggested we make peanut butter cookies. So Cole and I were all set to make The Easiest Peanut Butter Cookies Ever until we opened the jar of peanut butter and found that it was almost empty. Now what? I thought of the almond butter in the fridge, and that might have worked, but then I remembered we had Nutella. The Nutella won out. So we used what was left of the peanut butter and combined it with Nutella so we'd have enough to make cookies. I cut down on the sugar because Nutella is much sweeter than peanut butter. This made the dough a little wetter and harder to roll, so I just dropped them in spoonfuls on the cookie sheet instead. I wasn't sure how they'd turn out but figured it was worth a try and there wasn't much else to do that day (well, nothing fun anyway). Luckily they were a success. Cole said he liked them even better than the regular peanut butter cookies. They turned out a bit thinner and crispier that the ones with just peanut butter, but very tasty. Really, how could anything with peanut butter and nutella taste bad?
Peanut Butter Nutella Cookies
1/2 cup smooth light peanut butter
1/2 cup Nutella
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
Preheat over to 325F. Mix together all ingredients in a medium bowl. Drop spoonfuls onto an ungreased baking sheet. Bake 13-15 minutes.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Mexican Cornbread Strata
The thing about cornbread is it doesn't keep very well. It really tastes best when you eat it warm out of the oven, and then nobody in my house seems to want anything to do with it after that. So there it sat in my fridge, the once loved cornbread that was now sadly unwanted. I took pity on the poor cornbread and decided to create something new and delicious with it so it could be loved once more. I rummaged further into my fridge and discover other ingredients that needed some love too, and this is how my Mexican cornbread strata was born. And we did love it, so much so that I may bake cornbread just so I can make this again
Mexican Cornbread Strata
2 cups cornbread, cubed
1 can (19 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup salsa
1 cup ham or ham sausage, cubed
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup shredded cheese
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a 8" square baking dish. Place cornbread on bottom of dish, then layer black beans, salsa, ham and corn on top. Combine milk and eggs in a small bowl and beat lightly with a fork. Pour evenly over the dish. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbly.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Mom's Cornbread
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Hummus
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Waffled Falafel with Tzatziki and Lemon Rice
to its full potentional, check out this fun blog called Waffleizer that explores the many unexpected ways you can cook food in a waffle iron. This is where I got the idea for waffled falafel. I mean, it's just so fun to say that how can you not try it? It's also a lot healthier than the regular way of frying the falafel in oil. It was one of those ideas that I had been waiting to try for a while, but never seemed to get around to actually doing it. Then one day I was having my brother over for dinner and the waffled falafel idea emerged. It seemed like something he would appreciate, being adept with a waffle iron and a lover of Middle Eastern cuisine. I was going to just use a mix, like the site says, but I couldn't find it at the grocery store. That store is notorious for not carrying anything that is remotely out of the ordinary. I can't find items like bean sprouts or rice stick noodles there, so I'm not surprised that there was no falafel mix either. I turned to allrecipes.com as I so often do, and found this amazing recipe for falafels, called Sean's Falafel and Cucumber Sauce. I made my own version of cucumber sauce (or tzatziki), but followed the falafel part of the recipe pretty closely. The result was the most delicious falafel I've ever tasted. My brother declared it to be much better than any mix. The waffling part was a lot of fun too. It was nice to chat with my little bro while standing around the waffle iron waiting for falafels to brown. Soon the boys and Tony gathered around to see what was going on, but I think they were a little disappointed when they realized we weren't having waffles for dinner. Sorry guys! 1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 egg
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 dash pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup dry bread crumbs
Mash chickpeas in a large bowl until they form a thick paste; set aside. In a food processor or blender, combine onion, parsley and garlic and process until smooth. Add to mashed chickpeas. In another bowl, mix together egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice, baking powder, and olive oil. Add to chickpea mixture and stir until combined. Slowly add breadcrumbs until the mixture is no longer sticky but still holds together. Form heaping tablespoons into balls and place the the fridge until you're ready to cook. Heat up waffle iron, spray with a little cooking spray if your iron tends to stick, and cook falafels for a few minutes until lightly browned. Serve in fresh pita bread with tzatziki, greek salad and lemon rice.
Tzatziki
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 cup shredded English cucumber
1/2 tbsp fresh mint, diced
1 tsp garlic, crushed
salt and pepper, to taste
Place shredded cucumber in the centre of a cloth or paper towel and squeeze out as much moisture as you can. Combine with yogurt, mint, garlic, salt and pepper. Chill for at least one hour.
Lemon Rice
1 cup white rice
1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp dried oregano
Add ingredients to a medium saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer covered until rice is cooked and liquid absorbed.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Broccoli Salad
Sometimes it's hard not to get carried away at Costco. You can find some very irresistible deals there, as long as you're okay with very large quantities. Tony found a big bag of broccoli florets for almost nothing, so we bought it. It wasn't until I got home that I thought, what the heck am I going to do with this gigantic bag of broccoli?? First, I made a large batch of Classy Chicken, and it was amazing as usual. Then I decided to try making a salad with it. I can't say I've ever made a broccoli salad before, but I really enjoyed it so I'm sure we'll be making it again. Anything made with broccoli is a sound choice in our home, because we all love the stuff. It's the one vegetable I can count on my boys to eat. The only thing they didn't like about this salad was the radish. I thought it would be fun to try radish because it's something we rarely eat, but I guess that's because no one in my family really likes it. I thought it gave the salad a nice bite, but I'm not overly crazy about it either so I won't mind leaving it out next time. I'm just happy to have found a new way to prepare broccoli so my family won't get bored of it. If that ever happens, it'll be a sad day for broccoli.
Broccoli Salad
4 cups fresh broccoli florets
3 tbsp raisins
2 tbsp pecans, chopped
1 celery stalk, sliced
1/4 cup apple, diced
1/4 cup sliced radish
1/4 cup plain yogurt
2 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp light mayonnaise
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and put the broccoli in for 1 minute to blanch it. Dump broccoli into a colander and rinse with cold water. Dry the broccoli as much as possible with paper towel, clean dish-cloth, or salad spinner. Add to a large bowl with raisins, pecans, celery, apple and radish. In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, orange juice, mayonnaise, honey, vinegar, salt and onion powder. Pour onto broccoli mixture and toss to coat.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Dutch Baby (Oven Pancake)
Drizzle with a little maple syrup, and you have a seriously tasty breakfast for a lazy weekend morning.
Dutch Baby
1 tbsp butter
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
Heat oven to 400F. For a puffier pancake, use milk and eggs that are room-temperature (optional). Beat eggs in a medium bowl with a whisk or hand blender. Whisk in milk, vanilla, flour, salt and sugar. Melt butter in a 9" pie plate or baking dish in the oven, then brush over bottom and sides of the plate. While plate is still very hot, pour in batter and return to oven for 25-30 minutes until puffy and deep golden brown. Serve immediately, topped with fruit and maple syrup.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Migas
8 egg whites
1/4 cup milk
Whisk together eggs, milk, salt, chili powder, cumin and pepper. Add to vegetable mixture. Fold mixture gently as eggs cook. When eggs reach desired consistency, remove from heat and serve immediately, garnish with shredded cheese as desired.
Recipe adapted from Eighty Twenty
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Chocolate Cake in a Mug
I'm sitting here sipping my morning coffee in a mug with rainbow-coloured circles that remind me of jawbreaker candies.
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| Mug Shot |
This psychedelic mug is my favourite thing right now, because it was a Mother's Day gift from Cole. He had been excited all week to take me to his preschool for a Mother's Day tea but was careful not to tell me too much because it was supposed to be a surprise. Every now and then I would catch him practicing the song they were going to sing, and he also let it slip that there were cookies involved, but other than that he kept the secrets pretty well. As I was sitting on the classroom floor watching my son and his classmates sing 'I'm a Little Teapot', I was suddenlly amazed that that was my son up there and I was his mother. His mother. Even though I've been a mother for almost 5 years, since the day this boy was born and we touched noses for the first time, I am still struck with awe now and then when I think of myself as a mom. Wasn't I just a kid myself not too long ago? How can I have kids of my own already? Yet here I was, watching my eldest son sing me songs and serve me iced-tea and cookies he helped baked. At the end of our lovely tea, he gave me my gift: my colourful mug with a bag of cake mix and a note attached on how to make chocolate cake in a mug. I'm familiar with the sinful joy of cake in a mug, so I was thrilled with my gift. I've seen this recipe floating around the internet for a while now but I don't know where it originally comes from. I first saw it on my favourite messageboard and was hooked. My friends still curse the day I emailed them this recipe years ago, because it meant having dangerously easy access to chocolate cake in only 5 minutes. Now prepare to curse this day as well, because I'm going to share it with you now.
Chocolate Cake in a Mug
1 Coffee Mug
4 Tbsp all-purpose flour or cake flour
4 Tbsp Sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa
1 egg
3 Tbsp milk
3 Tbsp oil
splash of vanilla
3 Tbsp chocolate chips, optional
Mix flour, sugar and cocoa in mug. Add egg, mix well. Pour in milk and oil and vanilla, mix well again. Add chips, if using. Put mug in microwave with a plate underneath it (in case of spills), and cook for three minutes on high. Cake will rise over top of mug- don't worry! Allow to cool a little; tip over onto a plate if desired.
I often use applesauce in place of about half the oil, and cut down the sugar to 3 tbsp. You can omit the chocolate chips, but I just can't bring myself to do that because they make this cake so good. I also like to use peanut butter chips sometimes. I try to make this cake when there are other people around to share it with, or I'm sure I'd eat the whole mug myself. We made Cole's mix last night and all 4 of us had some with ice cream. Hot cake with melting ice cream is too good for words.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Yogurt Pancakes
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Cheesy Potato Leek Soup
. Add in evaporated milk and cheese and stir until the cheese has melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with a little more cheese before serving if desired.
My kids like to whine, especially when it comes to the food they eat, but that doesn’t stop me from trying to make tasty and healthy meals for them. Follow along as I share family-friendly recipes and reviews from my picky family members, who I lovingly call “The Whine Critics.” 
