cold weather food week

was a bit of a busy week - am just home from a weekend of doing a fantastic course so am posting like mad to get my weekly menu up. this one was kind of a take on comfort food - a few items with a twist - an asian style fish stew and a shepherd's pie done a bit differently.

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast

omelette- pesto cheese
hard boiled eggs and toast
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
breakfast muffins/cakes

snacks/lunch

breakfast muffins/cakes

watermelon
rice cakes
apples
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads

suppers

thai/vietnamese - inspired fish stew
almost shepherd's pie with salad
bbq chicken and sweet potatoes
chili over rice
from the freezer - spaghetti sauce and rice pasta
takeout pizza - donair, bacon and tomato for the guys, salad and leftovers for me
leftovers and salad

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

breakfast muffins/cakes

i am not a huge fan of using tapioca flour as my main gluten free flour but that's what i had and bad me i didn't put it after beer on my grocery list...so a nice, tasty, fat-filled frosting made up for that (just a little goes a long way)

3 bananas mashed, 1 egg, 1c tapioca flour, 1/2c bobs gluten free mix, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4c water, 1/2tsp cinnamon, 1c turbinado sugar, 1tbsp butter - all mixed in a bowl and a 350 oven about 20min.

similar ingredients to above just used a chopped apple instead, added 4tbsp of my homemade caramel sauce and a bit more water.

homemade icing to cut the taste of tapioca flour (it's really starchy but the only gluten free flour i had other than a tiny bit of bob's mix) so - 1/4c shortening, 2tbsp homemade caramel sauce, 1.5c icing sugar, 1tsp vanilla, 3tbsp table cream all whipped up...yum!

almost shepherd's pie...

...i say almost because i didn't have all of the traditional ingredients on hand, so i made do. here we go...

ingredients
3 sweet potatoes mashed
1 can french yellow string beans
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 tbsp minced garlic (because i like garlic
1 onion coarsely chopped
1.25lb lean ground beef

- i browned the beef, added the onions in when the beef was browned until they softened, then drained the fat
- i mashed the sweet potatoes with 1/4 of the mushroom soup and 1/3 of the tbsp of minced garlic
- i mixed all of the other ingredients together

--- then in a greased casserole dish i pushed a thin layer of the sweet potato mix on the bottom, then all of the other ingredients mix, then topped with the rest of the sweet potato mix
350 oven for about 30 min

--- that easy. my 3yr old liked the meat/veg mix, the 1yr old liked the whole thing. this was made really as low in fat as possible but it tasted really hearty - i am making this creation again - definitely a cooler weather dish

thai/vietnamese inspired fish stew

oh i just wanted some soup today. i paid for having a bit of delicious pizza from our fave pizza place and was crampy and had hearburn for hours after (i know this when i indulge but it is really that good). so soup seemed like a perfect cure...and it was.

i think i have mentioned i live in chinatown and often end up trying lots of new ingredients. so i knew i had fish in the freezer and coconut milk in the cupboards and some vietnamese pho bouillon cubes kicking around - good start...here's what i decided to use (and had on hand)...

400g (just under a lb, a lb is 454g) mahi mahi from frozen
3 vietnamese pho bouillon cubes
1 can coconut milk
dash all spice
1tsp frozen chopped lemongrass
1c frozen corn kernels
1/2c chopped green onion
1/2c chopped cilantro
6-7c water
1/8 package thai rice vermicelli noodles

optional to add to individual bowls - chili garlic

bouillon cubes and water first and stir once in a while until dissolved
add everything except the noodles and cilantro
simmer until mahi mahi is cooked and break apart into small pieces in the pot
add noodles - simmer 5 minutes
add cilantro - simmer 2 more minutes
then serve

this is where i add the chili garlic sauce (it's super spicy but i love spicy asian soups) - i tried it without and was great less spicy.

hilarious - my 3.5yr old was given a piece of leftover takeout pizza and asked to have the soup instead. soup trumps pizza...pretty amazing.

a few family faves and kid-friendly recipes week

the past week just flew by
i've taken on the task of finally editing some of my family photos - from january onwards (yes, i did fall desperately behind on this one), so given the nostalgia of looking at photos from the newborn stage, i relied on some family favourites and wanted to post some of my go-to recipes/simple modifications for the boys
now...
my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- pesto cheese
hard boiled eggs and toast
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad

kid-friendly recipes - breakfast and snack ideas
snacks/lunch
a lot of cantaloupe and watermelon
apples
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
sorbet

kid - friendly meals

suppers
easy oven chicken and sweet potatoes
pad thai noodles
bbq chicken and sweet potatoes
from the freezer - slow cooker tostada lasagna 
from the freezer - chili over rice
from the freezer - spaghetti sauce and rice pasta

i'm in the unusual position of needing to use up some of the extra meals i have in the freezer - a freezer full of meals - never thought THAT would be an issue!
i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

kid-friendly recipes - part two - a few meal ideas

my boys are pretty good at eating what we do - so several of these have basic modifications for self-feeding (in particular for the 1yr old - we did baby led solids with him so he has been mostly feeding himself since 6.5mths)

so when we had spaghetti this week, it was easier to serve with rice for the 1yr old, those sorts of modifications. and when nothing works, often a bowl of oatmeal with agave or banana or pear or apple sauce will work.

this is slow cooker chili from this week

from tonight's meal - my 3yr old polished off a chicken breast cut into strips

sweet potatoes from this week - my 3yr old helped make the letters - the one year old ate the pieces

argh the uploader won't load this right - tried 3 times - grilled cheese - added sweet potato puree in there and garlic and havarti.

kid-friendly recipes - part one - a few breakfast/snack ideas

most of the time, i try to just make food that my boys - 3.5 and 1, will eat as well.
sometimes it doesn't work,
sometimes i have leftovers that won't work
sometimes i just want the food to be easier to manage
or prettier to look at...

i have a gluten free mix and added thawed frozen blueberries, served with a bit of agave on top for the 3yr old, as is for the 1 yr old.

omelette with pesto, garlic and parmesan cheese - the 3yr old helped make the shapes - the extra bits were gobbled up by the one yr old.

omelette version 2 - pesto, shredded cheddar, garlic and a dash of mexican chili spice - used rice shapers - pressed as much as possible in, and then was able to make slices for the 3yr old - 1 yr old ate the ends, pieces.

typical veggie/fruit tray for the boys - even the 1yr old likes dipping.

i like my eggs like this too ;)

simple oven chicken with mushroom sauce

the sauce is optional. i wanted mushroom flavour and had no mushrooms...but did have mushroom soup. this is an easy oven-baked chicken (but i bet it will work in the crockpot - i'll try it sometime)

ingredients
2lbs chicken breast
1/3c parmesan cheese
1/2c mayonnaise
1c bread crumbs (i used whole grain bread
1/2tsp minced garlic
- blend mayo with garlic on a plate (easier for dipping
- parm and bread together on a plate
- 2lb of chicken breast should be 5-6 large pieces.
- coat chicken in mayo/garlic mix
- then dip chicken in bread crumbs and parm mix (to do gluten free for me i didn't have gluten free bread on hand so i did a cornmeal/parm blend)

- into a greased baking dish in a 425 oven for 30 minutes.
for the sauce...
1 can cream of mushroom condensed soup
3tbsp parmesan cheese
1/4c water
1tsp minced garlic
1tbsp wine (i used the end of an old bottle of red
- in a saucepan until warmed and blended

...pour sauce over chicken when ready to serve.

sweet potatoes - simple

3 sweet potatoes sliced
a bit of olive oil (enough to toss slices in
1tsp each of garlic powder and mexican chili powder

this is simple - just toss the ingredients together and into an oven at 425 - 30min.
this is one of those infinite possibilities recipe - the above were the flavours i wanted to go with a chicken dish, but anything goes and these are always delicious.

if you prefer your sweet potatoes on the soft side as i do, i often put a pan of water on the bottom rack (i did this time - slightly, ever so slightly crispy on the outside, but mostly soft sweet potato that the 4 of us will eat.

a lot of beef week

the nachos with leftover brisket, pico de gallo and leftover chili listed below

it ended up being a beefy week - wasn't feeling super creative so i used up what i had. and i had a roast and lots of ground beef - so all but one supper had beef - that is a first. am definitely going with chicken and fish next week ;)

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- pesto and cheese
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
cantaloupe
pears
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
apple slices with caramel sauce
maltesers ice cream
kale chips
sushi lunch for my birthday

suppers

• burgers and salad
•  slow cooker chili
• baked brie with apple slices and salad
• slow cooked texas style brisket - i pretty much stuck to the recipe and made

1. brisket tacos with pico de gallo,
2. then had brisket in a salad,
3. and finally nachos with leftover chili, brisket and pico de gallo

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

cupboard raid burgers

i just made do for these burgers - managed to only spend a few $ on fresh fruit and veg - so the burgers had more of a meatball consistency, but good flavour if not the perfect burger texture.

ingredients
1.5lb lean ground beef
2/3 pack onion soup mix
1 tbsp chicken base
1 tsp mexican chili mix
1c rolled oats (i use organic, seems to be okay for my wheat-gluten hating ways
2 eggs
1.5c cornmeal

just all in a bowl, mixed with my hands and formed into 10 good sized patties for the bbq

baked brie and salad

lazy supper
just bought some brie and added a salad to the mix.
simple.

brie on greased baking dish

ingredients - brie, garlic, pear on top, butter, apple slices for dipping

spread butter and 1tsp minced garlic and then added pear slices

salad - i added brown rice cracker crumbs for crunch

in a 325 oven for about 20minutes

easy and tasty for me and dh. the boys had leftover rice and spaghetti sauce

vanilla and maltesers ice cream

3c half and half
2/3c sugar (used turbinado)
1tsp vanilla extract
2c chopped maltesers
- melt sugar in a saucepan with the half and half on low - about 15min - refrigerate until cool, mix in vanilla
- into the ice cream maker for 25min - at that point, slowly pour chopped maltesers in.
- scoop into a freezer-safe container - should be ready in about 3hrs

...omg - this is the most flavourful ice cream i've made yet. slowly melting the natura sugar turbinado gives it something of a caramel taste. love love maltesers. this reminds me of the vanilla malteser ice cream i used to buy at greg's on bloor street in toronto...over a decade ago (loved the taste of it that much)

kale chips

i've read raves about using kale to make some healthy chips...so i took the plunge - bought, cleaned, took excess stems off a bunch of kale...the rest led to a disappointment, so be warned...it set off my cranky.

ingredients
1 bunch kale - washed/trimmed
1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
olive oil

toss in a bowl with enough olive oil to lightly coat. on a baking sheet in a single layer and in a 275 oven for 15-20min until kale crisps.

...okay, my cranky revisited - why, why, why do people love these? the recipes i saw called for salt, or salt and oregano, and yes they had crunch but yuck - not a good chip replacement.
these are now sitting in the fridge while i decide what to do with them. i think i will use them in a soup and save a few to crumble on top. they taste ok, but i love REAL potato chips and i will take a bowl of the real, get my butt off the couch and work them off later rather than eat this healthy version.

a rare, and unexpected NEVER AGAIN

my 5yr blog-aversary

i started this little blog 5yrs ago today. even in my first post i was interested in sharing a recipe (for a steam inhalation).guess i should be buying something wooden to celebrate (instead i bought some alexander keith's white beer to try)

...and about 400 posts later, 2 kids later, a new-old house later, many travels later, many changes in treatment techniques later...here it is. wonder what amazing things the next 5 yrs will bring (i sense i will have 100s more recipes blogged ;)

a little tour of asia week

pad thai from this week

i love travelling through asia. i've studied in northern thailand (nuad bo rarn - chiang mai thai yoga massage, and reflexology),
i've gotten sick in india (the formidable delhi belly beat my pants off...quite literally),
i've marvelled at the karst hills in southern china
visited sacred sites - as in yogyakarta - places i didn't know about
and several other asian countries.
oh the food - to be able to make food that was so simple in execution and rich in flavour.
am constantly striving to get there...

cooking a few meals at once

my list of dishes with recipes and pics in the links...

breakfast
omelette- pesto and cheese
yoghurt and fruit
fruit salad
rotate

snacks/lunch
cantaloupe
pears
bananas
coconut rice crackers
veggies and dip
leftovers - lots and lots of leftovers
salads
sorbet
apple slices with caramel sauce

suppers

• pad thai
• peanut/cashew beef lemongrass noodles - from leftover pulled bbq beef
• coconut/tomato curry chicken with rice
• chicken nuggets with peanut sauce in lettuce (for the boys
• lettuce wraps with lemongrass meatballs and peanut sauce
• non thai recipe - homemade hamburger helper style beef - 1lb lean ground beef (browned), 1.5 cans of condensed tomato soup, 1 onion chopped, 1/2 packet of taco mix - add these to ground beef and serve over pasta of your choice (i use rice pasta mini shells) serve with shredded cheese

i share my weekly meal plans at orgjunkie.com - you can find hundreds of meal plans on menu planning mondays there...helped me get back into meal planning.

coconut/tomato curry with rice

as it is a bit of a tour of asia this week - i covered more ground by blending flavours of 2 countries - india and indonesia. i love curries, and coconut milk and tomatoes and i always think of tomato/curry blend as indian and tomato/coconut milk as more indonesian.

so after lemongrass...bring on the curry!
most surprising about this recipe was how much my 3.5yr old and 1 yr old loved this! seriously shocked and delighted  by my little foodies.

ingredients

2-2.5lbs chicken breast in small cubes
2.5tbsp curry powder
1 small onion chopped
2 tbsp garlic powder
...these first ingredients get tossed in the skillet first...mixed around until all is well cooked
then add all of this in (you'll need a big skillet! i use my big iron-cast one)

1 can coconut milk
1 can diced tomatoes (i used hunts garlic and olive
1.25c tomato sauce (i used hunts herb and garlic
4 tbsp sugar (i used turbinado
2 tsp salt
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp cumin
---simmer on low for about 30-40min

rice
i use beef stock instead of water as that is what i had on hand
add last of tomato sauce (about 2 tbsp worth

this was all so good - sigh - if i had naan bread i would have weathered the heartburn i get from wheat gluten to sop up the sauce...so instead i ate too much rice but - mmmm - i think i may even try this in the slow cooker.

the boys enjoying curry and rice!