Pass the Pepper

Homemade Caesar Salad

2009-11-23T17:46:00.001-05:00

Have you ever been to one of those restaurants where they make the caesar salad right at your table. It always tastes so good and they make it look easy. I used to make caesar dressing from scratch when I worked in a kitchen in high school but have never tried it at home.

Obviously I had to leave anchovies out since Joey would be eating this and he hates seafood.

Pepper Added by Joey - he adds a ridiculous amount to every salad.

Ingredients
Homemade croutons
2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons mayo
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
romaine lettuce
bacon
3 mushrooms, sliced

1. Wash and dry the romaine lettuce. Rip into bite sized pieces.
2. In a large bowl add pressed/finely chopped garlic, lemon juice, dijon, worcestershire, salt and pepper. Whisk to combine.
3. Gradually whisk oil into mixture.
4. Whisk in mayo.
5. Add half the parmesan cheese and stir to combine.
6. Add lettuce, bacon, mushrooms, remaining cheese and crutons to the bowl. Toss to combine.

Cheesy Vegetable Pot Pie

2009-10-01T13:33:00.001-04:00

The recipe I had from Kraft Canada called for chicken but I was lazy and didn't want to defrost and cook it so I left it out and add in extra vegetables instead. I really enjoyed the taste of this pot pie and the topping made it so frickin good. Now reheating it was an issue because it makes the top a bit soggy but it still tasted good.

Pepper added by Joey - I don't think any. Holy moly.

Ingredients
1.5 cups broccoli
1 cup carrots, sliced
1/2 cup mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup corn
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup red peppers
1/2 cup green peppers
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 cup cauliflower
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can crescent dinner rolls

1. Cook broccoli, carrots, potatoes and cauliflower in microwave for a few minutes (I did 4 minutes for each).
2. In a bowl mix all vegetables.
3. Add shredded cheese and cream of chicken soup. Mix well.
4. Grease a baking dish and add in vegetable mix.
5. Unroll dough and place over top of vegetables (don't put over sides of dish).
6. Bake in a 375F oven for 25-30 minutes or until the top is browned and pie is bubbling.

Strawberry Lemonade

2009-07-23T09:30:00.001-04:00

Strawberries are finally in season. I love this time of year! It has been hot lately and nothing goes better with a hot day then a tall cold glass of lemonade. Add some strawberries to the mix and yum yum yum. When I make this again I will cut back on the amount of sugar. It was too sweet for my liking.

Pepper Added by Joey - None. Although word around the campfire is that strawberries and pepper go well together.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon lemon peel

2 cups sliced strawberries

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3 cups cold water

2/3 cup lemon juice

Ice cubes

1. Blend lemon peel and strawberries in a blender.

2. Add sugar and 1 cup cold water. Continue blending.

3. Strain through a sieve into a larger pitcher.

4. Stir in lemon juice, 2 cups cold water and ice cubes.

Oreo & Chocolate Pudding Pops

2009-07-22T23:11:00.001-04:00

I love fudgesicles. I do not love the cost of them. When making these pops I was supposed to use dixie cups but can you believe that I could not find any? So we improvised and used little plastic bowls.

Pepper Added By Joey - what makes you think he is even getting within 2cm of these??

Ingredients

1 package of chocolate instant pudding
2 cups cold milk

6 Oreo cookies

1/2 cup Cool Whip

1. Mix the pudding mix and milk for 2 minutes.

2. Place Oreo's in a sealed bag and crush with a rolling pin.

3. Add cookies and Cool Whip to pudding mix. Mix well.

4. Spoon into whatever container you are using. If you are using dixie cups then place a popsicle stick in the center after filling the cup.

5. Freeze for 5 hours.

Bocconcini Roasted Veggie Salad

2009-07-21T09:33:00.005-04:00

What I like about summertime is that anything you make can be changed up so easily by just adding in different ingredients. This is especially true with salads. If the price had been right this week I would have added red or yellow peppers and some asparagus.

I liked this salad both warm and once it had cooled.

Pepper Added by Joey - it is veggies so of course he added some

Ingredients
10 cherry tomatoes
1/2 large green pepper, cut into chunks
1/2 red onion, cut into chunks
5 bocconcini, halved
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
3 tablespoons minced basil
3 tablespoons parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper

1. In a bowl combine olive oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, salt and pepper.
2. Brush some of the mix onto the veggie pieces.
3. Grill the veggies (in a BBQ basket) until soft but still with a bit of a crunch.
4. Add parmesan and bocconcini to the dressing.
5. Add grilled veggies to the dressing. Stir to combine.

Turkish Chicken

2009-07-20T21:16:00.000-04:00

Does this picture make me look flat?????

It has been a long time since I cut and butterflied a whole chicken before. I am a bit rusty at it but managed to get the back bone and breast bone out okay. This style of cooking was a bit of work at first but once it was on the grill it was easy peasy. I loved how juicy the chicken was but at the same time the skin was crispy. I got this recipe for Chatelaine.

Pepper Added by Joey - I don't even remember seeing him reach for it

Ingredients
1 whole chicken
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon cumin
1.5 teaspoons paprika
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon turmeric

1. Locate the back bone on the chicken and using a sharp knife cut on either side of the bone to remove.
2. Open chicken up and expose the breast bone. With a small sharp knife run a line down either side of the breast bone. Then run your finger along this same line gently removing the breast bone from the meat. It may not be simple and easy to remove. We had some sections that were more difficult and required the scissors.
3. Trim away any additional skin or fat that may be around the neck area.
4. Rinse and pat dry.
5. In a bowl, mix oil and all the seasonings.
6. Rub the mix onto the inside and outside of the bird.
7. Place chicken skin side up onto a BBQ (we did medium heat on the side the bird was not on and medium low on the side it was on).
8. Wrap a brick in tinfoil and place on top of the chicken.
9. Allow to grill for 20 minutes. Turn chicken and put the brick back on top.
10. Allow to cook for an additional 25 minutes (or until the breast reaches 170F).
11. Remove from the BBQ to a cutting board and cover with tinfoil for 10 minutes.
12. Cut into 4 pieces.

Boston Cream Pie (cake???)

2009-07-17T23:59:00.005-04:00

I have been holding onto this recipe from Krafts What's Cooking Magazine for awhile. Joey had commented on it a few months ago so I decided it would be a good option for his birthday cake.

It tasted like a boston cream donut. Need I say any more?

Pepper Added by Joey - He would not live to see his next birthday if he added any

Ingredients
2 round yellow cake layers
1 cup cold milk
1 package of vanilla instant pudding
1.5 cups thawed cool whip
2 squares semi-sweet chocolate
2 tablespoons butter
1.5 cups cups icing sugar
4 tablespoons cold milk

1. Use your favourite yellow cake recipe to make the 2 round layers. Allow to cool completely.
2. Trim up the cake to ensure that the tops and bottoms are level.
3. Beat together the cold milk and pudding mix for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in cool whip and let stand for 5 minutes to thicken.
5. Place bottom cake layer onto cake plate. Spread the pudding mixture ontop. Place top cake layer ontop of the pudding mixture.
6. Microwave the chocolate and butter on medium heat for 2 minutes. Stir until chocolate is melted.
7. Add icing sugar and cold milk. Mix well.
8. Spread over the top of the cake.
9. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

Bocconcini Tomato Skewers

2009-07-17T23:53:00.001-04:00

I normally make this as more of a stacked salad but decided to change it up to make an appetizer while we waited for the rest of Joey's birthday dinner to cook.

Pepper Added by Joey - he didn't even look for the pepper

Ingredients
Wooden skewers
Cherry tomatoes
Bocconcini
Red onion - sliced
Balsamic dressing
Olive oil
Basil
Salt and pepper

1. Cut the bocconcini into 3rds and slice red onion.
2. Place bocconcini, tomato and red onion onto skewers (I did 2 of each on each skewer).
3. Once you have as many assembled as you are making place them in a dish.
4. In a small box mix olive oil, balsamic (equal parts), basil, salt and pepper.
5. Pour over skewers. Refrigerate.

Balsamic Rosemary Potatoes

2009-07-17T23:42:00.002-04:00

To compliment the Filet Mignon I made for Joey's birthday I wanted to make potatoes. We normally would do a baked potato or scalloped potatoes on the BBQ but I wanted something a bit different. So I tried this. Let me tell you...these smell heavenly when they are baking in your oven.

Pepper Added by Joey - Some - they are potatoes after all

Ingredients
5-6 potatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
5 garlic cloves, halved
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 rosemary sprigs
Salt and pepper

1. Wash and cut potatoes into bite sized pieces (I didn't bother peeling them).
2. Add potatoes to a large bowl and add remaining ingredients.
3. Mix to combine and then spread onto a baking sheet.
4. Bake at 375F for 50 minutes, turning once.

Peppered Filet Mignon with Dijon Mayonnaise

2009-07-17T23:32:00.000-04:00

Today is Joey's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!) and what goes better when celebrating then pepper on meat? Joe picked up some steak from a local butcher and dear lord were they ever good. So tender and juicy. The price was excellent too, less than what we would have spent at the grocery store.

Pepper Added by Joey - NONE! Yippppppeeeeeee

Ingredients
1/2 cup mayo
5 cloves of garlic, roasted
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 filet mignon steaks
2 tablespoons cracked black pepper
1 tablespoon salt

1. In a bowl stir together mayo and roasted garlic (I pressed mine after roasting it), olive oil, mustard and lemon juice. Set aside.
2. Sprinkle filets on both sides with black pepper and salt. Press the pepper so the sticks to the meat.
3. Grill beef over medium high heat until it is cooked to your desired taste.
4. Allow meat to rest after removing it from the grill.
5. Top each filet with the dijon mayonnaise.

When life gives you peaches.......

2009-07-05T20:03:00.004-04:00

....you get to make some yummy dishes. We picked up some fresh Ontario peaches at the farmers market last weekend and here is what I did with them.

I grilled them.

Fruit is so good grilled. I cut each peach in half and grilled them flesh side down over medium heat on the BBQ. I flipped them when they had nice grill marks and were a bit soft. Then I topped them with a pat of butter and some brown sugar. Then I let them continue to grill for about another 5-7 minutes. Just until they were nice and tender.

I served them with vanilla icecream ontop. Man alive was it good.

This morning for breakfast I had a few grilled peaches leftover so I chopped them up (without the skin) and add them into my waffle batter. Delish.

Maple Mustard BBQ Chicken

2009-07-04T22:29:00.002-04:00

Every once in awhile you come across a recipe that looks good on paper and makes you have a completely silent dinner. This was one of those meals. The chicken turned out so good, it was moist but yet crisp on the outside. The maple mustard BBQ sauce was tangy and finger licking good. We will be making this again. Infact I think we will be making some more of the BBQ sauce and keeping it on hand to use more often.

Pepper Added by Joey - NONE. Can you believe it???

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 large red onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon whisky
2 bone in chicken breasts
Salt and pepper

1. In a saucepan saute the onion in the oil until lightly browned.
2. Stir in ketchup, maple syrup, vinegar, mustard and whisky. Bring to a boil.
3. Lower heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Preheat your BBQ to medium heat.
5. Brush chicken with oil and season with salt and pepper.
6. Grill chicken until juices run clear. For the last 15 minutes of cooking baste the chicken with the BBQ sauce.

Bruschetta Grilled Cheese Sandwich

2009-07-03T20:39:00.000-04:00

These sandwiches were a draw in our house. I enjoyed them, Joey took one bite and spit it out. He was not a fan. Grilled cheese is not to be messed with in his world. I would make these again but I would use less basil as I found it to be overpowering at times.

Pepper Added By Joey - Obviously none

Ingredients
2 slices multigrain bread
Marble cheese, sliced thinly
2 tomato slices
2 basil leaves, sliced
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1. Butter one side of each piece of bread.
2. Top the bread with cheese, tomato and basil.
3. Drizzle with vinegar.
4. Cover with remaining piece of bread.
5. Grill until cheese melts.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Brownies

2009-05-31T23:13:00.003-04:00

Through time there have always been things that just go perfectly with one another. Hot days and a cold beer, Christmas Eve and Baileys, chocolate and mint, PB&J, Joey and pepper. But the best has got to be peanut butter and chocolate. I am drooling just thinking about it right now ::wipes mouth::

Joey on the other hand is 'meh' about peanut butter and chocolate. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM???? I decided to make these brownies anyways and if he didn't like them, well that just means more for me. Too bad he loved them and I had to share them with him.

Pepper Added by Joey - None. Perhaps I have persuaded him to join the dark sweet side?

Ingredients
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup margarine
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup chocolate chips

1. Cream together peanut butter and margarine.
2. Add sugar, brown sugar, vanilla and eggs. Blend together.
3. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Combine dry ingredients into wet ingredients.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Pour into a greased 9x9 pan and bake for 35 minutes at 350F.

Teriyaki Pork Stirfry

2009-05-19T20:37:00.000-04:00

I don't think I have ever had pork in a stirfry. Does that sound crazy? Do you know what else I have never had in a stirfry???? Lettuce. When I original saw this recipe (Chatelaine July 2008) I'll admit that I gave it the side-eye. I mean who puts lettuce into a stirfry? Well apparently I do. It was awesome.

I didn't have any hot chili garlic sauce so I just added red chili flakes and some garlic to the teriyaki mixture.

Pepper Added by Joey - I am such an enabler. I added it for him. 4 turns of the pepper grinder.

Ingredients
1 pork tenderloin
6 large romaine lettuce leafs
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
1 tablespoon hot chili garlic sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons dark seasame oil
1 cup snow peas, trimmed
1 small red pepper, chopped
1 tablespooon vegetable oil

1. Slice the pork tenderloin into strips (I cut them into round slices and then in half from there).
2. Slice romaine lettuce into strips.
3. In a small bowl mix teriyaki sauce, chili garlic sauce, cornstarch, honey and sesame oil.
4. Heat oil in a large wok. Add pork and stirfry until it is no longer pink (about 3-4 minutes).
5. Stir in teriyaki mixture.
6. Add snow peas, pepper and romaine.
7. Continue stirfrying until porked is cooked through and snow peas are tender but still crisp (about another 3-4 minutes).

I served it over rice. It would also be good over egg noodles.

I am still here!!

2008-11-23T23:28:00.003-05:00

I have not fallen off the face of the earth! I was away on business for a week and then on vacation for 3 weeks. I am just now getting used to having to plan our meals and actually make them.

We had some fantastic food on our trip. The most notable was the OMGIhavenevertastedanythingsogoodinmylife pizza in Venice and some lovely fish in Maderia Portugal.

I also decided to start something new in this blog called Pepper Shakers. When I see a recipe that looks good that incorporates pepper I will feature it here. I swear I am not the only person out there who is cooking pepper and peppercorns!

To all my US readers, I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday this week!

Biggest Pancake EVER

2008-10-23T09:30:00.002-04:00

Okay maybe not ever, but the biggest one in our house. It's no fancy recipe or anything. Joey just used pancake mix. But as you can see he really really enjoyed it. I think it is because it was big. Kind of like putting a big steak infront of a guy or a small steak in front of him. You know he is going to go for the big one and you know he is going to like it better.

My Dad's Stuffing

2008-10-13T11:53:00.001-04:00

No matter how many times I make this it will never ever be as good as my Dad's. I've had other people's stuffing and nothing compares to his. I think its the simplicity that I love. He knows we all love it and recently I have seen him "hide" some of it so he can have leftovers.

I am on to you Dad ::points to own eyes then to Dad's eyes then back at my own::

This year for Thanksgiving I was away (actually I think I have been away for the last 3 years...what is up with that?). Joey and I decided to make a turkey dinner for the 2 of us the Thursday before instead. Who doesn't love a turkey dinner? Shortly after putting the turkey in the oven we could smell it. Dinner time could not come soon enough!

Pepper added by Joey - far far far too much - why Joey why???

Ingredients
1 loaf of brown bread (or whole wheat, rye, 7 grain - basically any dark bread)
1/2 load of white bread

1 cup of finely diced celery (if you have a food processor use it - the smaller the better)
1 cup of finely diced onion
Sage
Salt and pepper
Margarine
Chicken stock

This made enough for a 9lb turkey.

1. Rip the bread into small pieces and place into a food processor to make fine bread crumbs.
2. Either dice celery very very finely or put it into a food processor.
3. Dice the onion and then add it and the celery to a pan with margarine in it. Cook for 10 minutes until vegetables are soft.
4. Add more margarine if the vegetables get dry.
5. Season with salt, pepper and sage (all to taste).
6. Add sage to the bread mixture (to taste).
7. Add vegetable to the bread mixture and blend.
8. If it seems dry then add some chicken stock until it is slightly moist.
9. Stuff into your turkey!

You can make this ahead of time and keep in your fridge for up to 2 days (in a sealed container/bag)

Vegetable Pancakes

2008-10-11T00:00:00.007-04:00

I decided to try and clean out the fridge. I had a lot of vegetables to use up and I was in the mood for a new way to eat them. I had this recipe in my googlereader for awhile now and thought I would give it a try.

I changed the veggies up a bit but got a bit impatient waiting for the cucumber to "dry" and I think that affected the way that these cooked. I had to bake them in the oven for 20 minutes to get them to be cooked all the way through. I should have known when I could see the liquid collecting at the bottom of the glass bowl.

I really enjoyed them though. They are even really good cold the next day! Next time I think I may even add some corn to them.

Pepper added by Joey - The response to "hey you want to try one of these veggie pancakes" was "ewwwww"

Ingredients
2 cups grated carrots
2 cups grated cucumber
1/2 cup chopped green onion
1 Egg
Salt and Pepper
1 cup grated cabbage
1/4 cup bread crumbs
Vegetable oil

1. Take grated cucumber and squeeze out liquid with hands. Put between 2 paper towels and press down. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and allow to sit on a dry piece of paper towel for 15 minutes. Blot again to remove any remaining liquid.
2. Combine carrots, cabbage, cucumber and green onion in a bowl.
3. Add egg, salt, pepper and bread crumbs. Mix to combine.
4. Heat vegetable oil in a pan and spoon 1/4 cup of the shredded vegetable mixture to the pan.
5. Press down with the back of a spoon until round and flat.
6. Allow to cook until brown on one side and then flip and cook the other side.

FAIL!!!!

2008-09-28T20:59:00.004-04:00

What started out as the beginnings of a fantastic dinner ended up being a big time fail. Big big big fail. The first problem was not having anything to pipe the stuffing into the porkloin. The second problem was that I did not have any twine or string to tie the meat up with (so I used floss...seriously). The third and final problem was that I was working out while it was on the BBQ. When I went to check on it, it was on fire. Please see Exhibit A.

Inside this charred mess is a moist piece of pork, but to get to it you have to take a hacksaw to it. Not really but it was hard to cut through the outside of the roast. Joe at some and said that it was good. As long as you cut the outside off and made sure that there wasn't any floss in the bite you were about to eat. Geez that will be my last time trying to do him any favours. Doesn't he know that he is supposed to floss daily??

I will make this recipe again but I would obviously do a few things differently. I will wait to post the recipe because I want to work on it and actually be able to taste it before saying if it was good or bad.

Oh and I 100% blame this on Dance Dance Revolution.

Meatballs

2008-09-27T20:45:00.000-04:00

Joey loves meatballs but I rarely ever make them because I am not a huge fan of them. I decided to make a batch and freeze the leftovers so he can have them whenever he wants them. Well actually Joey made them this time. He takes 3 times longer to make things then it would take me so it is hard to sit and watch him slowly chop things. He did a fantastic job on these and they turned out delicous (yes, I even tried one).

Pepper added by Joey - added to the meatballs and to the spaghetti they went on.

Ingredients
Ground Beef
1 egg
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon basil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup onion, diced
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce

1. Mix all ingredients together and roll into large balls.
2. Heat oil in a pan and place meatballs in. Brown on all sides, turning often.
3. Grease a baking dish and then add meatballs in once they are browned.
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes (depending on size).
5. Remove and serve over spaghetti or on a sandwich.

Jerk Chicken Sandwich

2008-09-26T23:21:00.000-04:00

I was browsing through my google reader looking for something spicy when I came across Angie's Jerk Chicken recipe. I decided to try the recipe as it is but to put it on a bun as a sandwich. We don't have a food processor (I know, I know) so I had to make this a bit differently and overall I was pleased with the way it turned out. It was not as spicy as we were looking for so next time we would add more hot peppers to it.

Pepper Added by Joey - he doesn't add any to sandwiches

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 jalepeno pepper, de-seeded, de-veined and diced
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 garlic clove, minced

1. In a bowl mix all ingredients (but the chicken) until all incorporated.
2. Place chicken into the crockpot and pour the mixture overtop.
3. Set on high and cook for 3-4 hours.
4. Shred the chicken using 2 forks and place onto the buns (makes 3 sandwiches).
5. Add a dab of BBQ sauce to eat sandwich.

Martha Stewart

2008-09-26T21:13:00.004-04:00

I read in Lauren's blog that Martha Stewart is asking for bloggers to post links to their blogs on her site. She will feature the one's that she likes.

Click here to go to her site.

While you are over there you might as well look up a recipe or two.

Tomato and Cucumber Salad

2008-09-23T21:13:00.008-04:00

I make this often during the summer when we are looking for a quick and easy side dish. I change it up every once in awhile and sometimes add feta, red onions or peppers. Tonight I just added the tomatoes, green onions and cucumber. It is also a great way to use up extra vegetables before they go bad.

Pepper added by Joey - None (again)

Ingredients
2 tomatoes, cubed
1/2 cucumber, cubed
3 green onions, sliced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper

1. Mix the tomatoes, cucumber and green onions in a bowl.
2. Add salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar and oil.
3. Chill and serve.

Chicken Burgers 2 Ways

2008-09-23T20:48:00.005-04:00

I was looking for something light tonight and came across this recipe from Closet Cooking. The only problem is that Joey does not like pineapple but I love it. I made one version with pineapple for myself and another with roasted red peppers for him.

I am in love with the taste of pineapple and chicken. Grilling the pineapple made it very sweet and it added something extra to the burger. Joey enjoyed the roasted red peppers and suggested that they would even be good on a beef burger.

Pepper added by Joey - None

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 multigrain buns
1 tomato sliced
2 leafs of lettuce
Teriyaki sauce
1 round of pineapple
1 red pepper
Mayo

1. Marinate chicken breasts in teriyaki sauce for at least 2 hours.
2. Cut red pepper into large slices.
3. Cut pineapple into 1 large round. Remove core and rind.
4. BBQ the chicken, red pepper and pineapple. Turning once.
5. Prepare the buns with mayo, lettuce and tomatoes.
6. Add the chicken and pineapple to one bun, chicken and red pepper to the other.

Vegetable Quiche

2008-09-22T20:14:00.002-04:00

I have seen alot of quiche recipes lately like these three:

Closet Cooking
Whole Foods
Noodle Nights Muffin Mornings

Since I had some fabulous tomatoes from Rita I decided to add them into the quiche. I am not sure that I would do that again. They were just too juicy and left the quiche slightly wet and barely held together.

I decided to do it without a crust to make it a little lighter. I liked the result and the taste. It was definitely light and fluffy.

Pepper added by Joey - 1st piece none, 2nd piece some

Ingredients
5 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup cream
Salt and pepper
5 mushrooms, sliced
2 small tomatoes, sliced
3 green onions, sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup shredded marble cheese

1. Sautee the mushrooms and green onions until they are both soft.
2. Prepare a pie plate with cooking spray. Place tomatoes, mushrooms and green onions in the plate.
3. Beat the eggs and the milk in a bowl. Add in the mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper.
4. Pour the egg mixture over the vegetables.
5. Sprinkle the marble cheese on top.
6. Place in a 375 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until the center is cooked.
7. Turn on the broiler if you want the cheese to brown.

Tomatoes Tomatoes

2008-09-22T20:01:00.000-04:00

I figure there is a hierarchy of tomatoes. The lowest level is from the grocery store. They never really get that deep red colour do they? The second level is the farmers market. Yummy and juicy. And the third and best level is home grown. Say hello to Rita's tomatoes. OMG nom nom nom were they good.

Spicy Dill Pickles

2008-09-13T21:35:00.001-04:00

We decided to try a second type of dill pickles in our canning adventures. A big shout out to Nest Colleen for sharing this recipe with me. They smelled so garlic and good when we were canning them that I can not wait to try them.

Look at all the yummy ingredients in there.

Ingredients
Dill pickles - medium sized
2 cups white vinegar
1/2 cup water
4 teaspoons pickling salt
2 teaspoons dill seed
2 teaspoons celery seed
4 cloves garlic, sliced
2 teaspoons mustard seed
2 jalapeno peppers

1. Wash pickles and pat them dry.
2. Place jars in a sink with boiling water and allow to soak for 5-10 minutes.
3. Place lids in a pot of boiling water and allow to soak for 5-10 minutes.
4. Add vinegar, water, pickling salt, dill seed, celery seed and mustard seed in a pot and bring to a boil.
5. Place pickles into the jars. Make sure they are packed in there.
6. Add 2 cloves of garlic to each jar.
7. Slice the jalapeno in half and de-seed. Add 1 to each jar.
8. Ladle the hot vinegar over the pickles.
9. Afix the hot lid onto the jar to seal.

*** note - if the lid doesn't "pop" within several hours then you did not get a proper seal and the pickles will spoil. You can tell if the jars have "popped" because you can see and feel that the lid has been pulled down tight.

Bruschetta Bread

2008-09-12T21:14:00.001-04:00

I think this could be the recipe that made Joey fall in love with me. I remember the first time I made it for him....he thought I was some sort of cooking genius. Which is weird because it seems like the easiest thing to make. This recipe is a standard feature any time we have appetizers. I change it up every now and then and add a cream cheese or goat cheese "base". Delish.

Pepper added by Joey - None.....see that is how much he loves me/this dish

Ingredients
2 large tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Few dashes worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
Margarine
Bread (french or italian)
Parmesan cheese

1. Mix together all ingredients in a bowl and then place into the fridge for at least an hour.
2. Cut an italian or french loaf of bread into medium thickness slices.
3. Spread the top with margarine and place onto a baking sheet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
5. Remove from the oven and top each slice with the tomato mix.
6. Place back into the oven for 10 minutes.
7. Top with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and serve.

Hot Corn Dip

2008-09-07T17:16:00.005-04:00

Today is Appetizer Sunday at our place. So nothing but appetizers for dinner. I saw this recipe in Kevin's blog (Closet Cooking) and thought it sounded very interesting. We had some corn on the cob to use up and decided to give this dip a try. I have to tell you it is absolutely amazing. This will be in our regular rotation now. The recipe makes enough for 2 people so if you are having people over I would recommend doubling it.

Pepper Added by Joey - None, come to think of it I have never seen him add any to dip.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups corn kernels (used 3 cobs - not cooked)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup white onion, diced
1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup green onion, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a baking dish.
2. Remove the corn kernels from the cob using a knife. If you don't have corn on the cob just use frozen corn.
3. Melt the butter in a pan.
4. Add the corn to the pan and season with salt and pepper.
5. Cook until the corn is fully cooked and starts to brown (5-10 minutes). Set aside in a bowl.
6. Melt the butter in a pan.
7. Add the onion and pepper and cook for 2 minutes.
8. Add the green onions, jalapeno and garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
9. Add the contents of the pan to the corn and mix in mayonnaise, 1 cup of cheese and cayenne.
10. Pour the mixture into an baking dish and top with the remaining cheddar cheese.
11. Bake for 20 minutes until bubbling and golden brown on top.

My Mom's Salsa

2008-09-06T17:41:00.002-04:00

Joe eats alot of salsa. ALOT of salsa. So part 2 of our canning day was making my mom's salsa. We bought all of our ingredients at the farmers market and got some fantastic deals because we went closer to the end of the day. We got about 100 tomatoes for $5!!

My biggest recommendation with this recipe is to make it in smaller batches. We didn't do this and well it appears that the tomatoes "ate" all the peppers that we added in. Seriously, we could not find any of them. Also the recipe turned out runnier than we would like because we were trying to cook such a massive batch. When I retry this recipe next year I will follow the below quantities and make more batches rather than one big one.

Okay and now a warning. This recipe calls for jalapeno peppers. I seeded and chopped 10 of these and while I felt fine afterwards several hours later I was in the worst pain I have ever experienced. This continued for 24 hours. The only way I could sleep was with my hands in buckets of ice water. So wear gloves when you are de-seeding the jalapeno's. There are lots of "remedies" (buttermilk, sourcream, aloe, nail polish remover, lime juice, baking soda) out there but none of them worked for me.

Ingredients
8 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes
1 cup red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons pickling salt
2 cups diced white onion
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup tomato paste
1 cup diced pepper (red is best but you could use any colour you want)
4 tablespoons orange juice
5 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
2 teaspoons sugar

1. Fill the sink with boiling hot water and place the tomatoes into it. Allow them to sit for 10 minutes. Remove and begin to peel off the skin with a knife.
2. Cut in half and remove the seeds.
3. Dice the tomatoes and add to a large pot.
4. Fill the sink with boiling hot water and fill each jar with hot water and place into the sink. Allow jars to sit in the sink for at least 5 minutes.
5. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in the jar lids.
6. Dice the pepper, jalapeno's and onion and add to the tomatoes.
7. Chop the cilantro and add to the tomatoes.
8. Add in the vinegar, pickling salt, orange juice and sugar. Bring to a boil for 1/2 hour.
9. Add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes.
10. Remove a jar from the sink and ladle the hot salsa into it, filling it to the top.
11. Remove a lid from the boiling water and secure the jar shut.
12. Store in a cool place (I put ours in the basement).

My Mom's Dill Pickles

2008-09-06T16:17:00.001-04:00

My mom came over to teach me how to can. I thought it would be simple enough but it is really a fine art. I am glad she came over as it was awesome to learn not only how to can but how to make some of her recipes that I grew up on. I look forward to canning some more and having my mom show me how to "sugar can".

Ingredients
Cucumbers - the medium size are the best
Dill weed
Mason jars with lids
Garlic, sliced (2 cloves per jar)
2 cups white vinegar
6 cups water
4 tablespoons pickling salt
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Wash the cucumbers well and pat dry.
2. Fill sink with boiling hot water and fill each jar with hot water and place into the sink.
3. Allow jars to sit in the sink for at least 5 minutes.
4. Bring a pot of water to a boil and add in the jar lids.
5. Add vinegar, water, pickling salt and brown sugar to a pot and bring to a boil.
6. Remove a jar from the sink and put some dill and garlic into the bottom of it.
7. Add the pickles into the jar, making sure to pack them in tightly.
8. Add more dill to the top of the jar.
9. Ladle the hot vinegar mixture into the jar until it is completely full.
10. Remove a lid from the hot water and secure the jar closed.

This recipe made 4 jars of pickles for me but I had some medium pickles and some smaller one's so we got alot per jar. You can always make more of the vinegar mixture if you run out of it.

Store the jars in a cool place (we put ours in the basement). Pickles will be ready in about 4 weeks.

Cheese & Tomato Strata Muffins

2008-09-06T10:01:00.000-04:00

Since my mom was coming over to help me can I thought I would make her breakfast. The recipe (source - homebasics summer 08) I had found called for ham but I don't like ham so I replaced it with tomatoes. Other things that I think would be good add-ins are bacon or broccoli.

Pepper added by Joey - I made special one's for him with extra pepper in them.

Ingredients
8 slices of whole-wheat sandwich bread
Cheddar cheese (enough for 4 sandwiches)
6 slices of tomato
1/4 cup margarine
6 eggs
1 cup of milk
Salt and pepper
1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 green onion, finely chopped (I omitted this sine my mom doesn't like onions)

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a muffin tin.
2. Lay out bread slices and place cheese on top of 4 of the bread pieces.
3. Add a slice and a half of tomato ontop of the cheese.
4. Place a piece of bread on top of each of the bottom pieces.
5. Spread margarine on the outside of the bread.
6. Using a serrated knife cut each sandwich into 12 cubes.
7. Lightly pack 4 cubes into each of the 12 muffin cups.
8. In a bowl mix together the eggs, milk, salt and pepper, mustard, onion and worcestershire sauce.
9. Spoon the egg mixture over the cubes and let stand for 10 minutes.
10. Bake for 30 minutes and then let stand for 15 minutes.

Fish Taco's

2008-09-05T21:44:00.003-04:00

I remember when I first heard people raving about fish taco's and I can tell you it did not sound good to me. But I was thinking of some sort of ground up fish in a taco shell which is not at all what they are. I was on business in Dallas late last year and had the pleasure of trying fish taco's with mahi mahi. Oh.my.god they were so good I actually went back and had them again for dinner.

Now here is the problem. Joe doesn't like fish...like at all. I could coat the entire thing in pepper and then stuff it with pepper and top it with a pepper sauce and he wouldn't go near it. So I had to make a separate kind of taco's for him so I could enjoy my yummy tilapia.

Ingredients
4 pieces of tilapia (makes 2 large taco's)
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper
Tortilla wraps
3 tablespoons sourcream
2 tablespoons mayo
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
Juice of 1 lime
2 peaches, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons diced red onion
2 shakes of hot pepper sauce
Lettuce, shredded

Peach Salsa
1. Combine the diced peaches, red onion, jalapeno pepper and hot sauce.
2. Mix well and add juice of half a lime.

Cilantro Spread (adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles)
1. Combine sourcream, mayo and cilanto in a bowl.
2. Mix well and add juice of half a lime.

Taco's
1. Sprinkle tilapia with cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.
2. Bake in a 350F oven for 15 minutes or until flakey.
3. Spread cilantro spread onto a flour tortilla.
4. Shread tilapia with a fork and place ontop of tortilla.
5. Top with lettuce and peach salsa.

Chile Corn Bread

2008-09-05T20:26:00.000-04:00

I have never made cornbread, only had it at restaurants and Joey has never had it before. After making this recipe I think there are a few things I would do differently: I would double it made a "low" bread and not as tall as I expected. I would also make it with chili because I think it would be awesome to use as a "dipper".

Pepper Added by Joey - None on the bread

Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 1/3 cup cornmeal
1 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, beaten
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup corn
2 fresh red chilies, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro

1. Grease a loaf pan and pre-heat the oven to 400F.
2. Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl and then stir in cornmeal and salt.
3. Mix the eggs, buttermilk and oil in a second bowl.
4. Add to the dry ingredients and mix to make a smooth batter.
5. Stir in the corn, chiles and cilantro.
6. Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake in the oven for 40 minutes.
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to cool further.

Skillet Chicken

2008-09-03T21:12:00.006-04:00

Joey went to the dentist today to try and get his root canal finished so I needed to make something for dinner that would be easier for him to eat. I was surprised when I first saw this recipe as it did not call for any pepper. NO PEPPER? Joey must be getting to me for me to find that odd. I bet he sits up at night while I sleep and talks about nothing but pepper to me in hopes that I will start to add more and more to my cooking.

Pepper Added by Joey - Enough to kill 3 Zombies

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts - no bone or skin
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 pouch of onion soup mix
1 can diced tomatoes
2 sliced mushrooms
1 minced glove of garlic
Salt
Pepper
Chicken or veggie stock

1. Add oil to skillet and heat over medium high heat
2. Add chicken to skillet and brown on both sides
3. Remove excess oil/fat is any once the chicken has browned
4. In a bowl mix together the soup mix, tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper and mushrooms
5. Add mix to the skillet and bring to a boil
6. Reduce head and place lid on skillet. Allow to cook for 40 minutes.
7. Check on it a few times and if it seems like there is not alot of liquid add a bit of chicken or veggie stock (I ended up adding probably 1/2 cup).
8. Serve over rice or egg noodles.

Egg Salad Sammies

2008-08-31T15:54:00.001-04:00

Joe was working hard in the backyard so I thought I would be a good wifey and make him some lunch (this is code for it was to damn hot outside and nice and cold inside). He loves egg salad and it turns out it is about the only thing in our fridge!

Pepper Added by Joey - you know I have never noticed if he adds it to a sandwich that he does not make himself.

Ingredients
4 eggs
1 pin
Mayo
Mustard
1/8 cup onion
1/8 cup celery
1/8 cup green pepper
Salt
Pepper

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.
2. Prick the fat end of the egg with a small pin. Add eggs to the pot.
3. Cook on high for 12 minutes.
4. Remove eggs from water and run under cold water.
5. Allow to cool completely (* I put them in the freezer to speed up the process).
6. Chop all the veggies while the eggs cool
7. Remove the shell from the eggs and chop into chunks. Add veggies, salt, pepper, mayo and mustard.
8. Stir together and then put back into the fridge to cool.
9. Assemble onto your favourite bread with mayo and spinach.

Peachsicle

2008-08-30T16:42:00.002-04:00

It was hot. It was a long weekend. I was thirsty. But all I had on hand was a mish mash of ingredients. We didn't even have and pop (soda for you US folk) in the house. Somehow I managed to pull these few ingredients together to make a pretty kick ass drink.

Pepper Added by Joey - No sharesies

Ingredients
2 peaches
1/4 cup blueberries
1-2 shots vanilla vodka
Splash orange juice
2 tablespoons whipcream

1. Peel peaches and cut into small pieces.
2. Add peaches to a bowl with the blueberries. Mash them together with a fork.
3. Pour peaches/bluberries and all their juices into a glass.
4. Add vodka and orange juice.
5. Stir.
6. Top with whipcream (or stir in).
*** add icecubes if you want to as well.

Summer Salad

2008-08-10T22:05:00.002-04:00

I needed to take a salad to my Grandma's 95th birthday party. I wanted something that was not just the regular garden salad. So I threw in some grilled veggies and it got some rave reviews. Nom nom nom.

Pepper added by Joey - I think my mom hides the pepper shaker when he is around.

Ingredients
Green leaf lettuce
Red leaf lettuce
Romaine lettuce
Asparagus
Green beans
Cherry tomatos
Red pepper
Salt and pepper
Balasmic vinegar
Vegetable oil

1. Trim asparagus, drizzle with olive oil and then salt and pepper.
2. Cut red pepper into bite sized pieces. Drizzle with oil and balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Place both asparagus and red pepper in a pan on the BBQ (I have one of those veggie cooker pans).
4. BBQ over medium heat until done.
5. Steam green beans in a pan with a small dab of butter. Cook until slightly tender.
6. Wash lettuce. Rip bite sized piece - use mostly red and green leaf lettuce but add in some romaine to "bulk" it up.
7. Cut cherry tomatos in half and add to lettuce in the salad bowl. I used probably 1/2 cup of tomatos.
8. Cut green beans in half and place in salad bowl.
9. Add red pepper into salad bowl.
10. Cut asparagus into 2 or 3 pieces and add to salad bowl.
11. Top with whatever dressing you want (I did a herb vinagrette).

Campfire Tinfoil Dinners

2008-08-02T21:16:00.000-04:00

We were camping this past weekend and I decided to bust out the old Girl Guide recipe for tinfoil dinners. Now everyone was unsure of how these would turn out but once they were done everyone was very impressed. We used the leftovers for burgers the next day.

You could do this with any meat really, chicken would be really good. There are a few key things that you have to do to prevent it from burning and sticking. Also you have to make sure the fire is perfect with the nice red coals.

Pepper added by Joey - Since I did bring the pepper mill he added a few dashes

Ingredients

Lean ground beef (as much as you will need based on the number of dinners you are making)

Potatoes - peeled and sliced

Broccoli - cut into pieces

Carrots - peeled and cut into sticks

Mushrooms - diced

Onion - diced

BBQ sauce

Salt and pepper

Tinfoil

Paper towel

*note we ran out of eggs but if we hadn't we would have added a few eggs to this to hold it together. Regardless ours stayed together really well.

1. Prepare the fire so that you have nothing but hot red coals. This took us about an hour but during this time we got all the ingredients ready.

2. Mix together the ground beef, mushrooms, onions, BBQ sauce, salt and pepper (and egg).

3. Make burger patty's in whatever size you want.

4. Take one piece of tinfoil (needs to be big enough to wrap around all the food to make a packet).

5. Take a piece of paper towel and wet it. Place it ontop of the tinfoil.

6. Place another piece of tinfoil on top of the wet paper towel.

7. Spread butter on the tinfoil to prevent sticking.

8. Put burger patty in the middle of the tinfoil. Cover with potatoes, carrots and broccoli.

9. Season veggies with butter, salt and pepper.

10. Wrap packet tightly and mark on the top so you can identify who owns each packet (we did initials).

11. Place on top of the red coals. If you have any large logs that have not broken up yet you can place those on top of the packets.

12. Allow to cook for about 15-20 minutes on each side (depending on size of burgers you made). Check occassionally to see if they are done.

13. When done open up packets and place food onto your plate.

Beer Can Chicken

2008-07-27T19:45:00.004-04:00

Mmmm beer. Whole chickens were on sale this week (buy 1 get one free...hello good deal) so I thought why not shove a can of beer up its butt and throw it on the grill.

We don't have any canned beer so I just used a pop can and poured half a bottle of beer into it (and drank the rest....ahh the perks of being the chef in the family). Also if you have a top rack on your BBQ you may have to remove it so the chicken will fit in with the lid closed.

Pepper added by Joey - None...what the what? How is that possible. Miracles do happen.

Ingredients
1 chicken - about 4 lbs (1.5-2 kg)
1 bottle/can of beer *note Canadian beer will make this recipe better
1/8 cup paprika
1/8 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon salt
Vegetable oil

1. Take all the giblets and other stuff out of the cavity of the chicken
2. Rinse out the inside and the outside of the chicken
3. Pat dry with paper towel and then rub with oil
4. Turn on your BBQ to medium/high (only one burner/side)
5. Mix paprika, brown sugar, pepper and salt in a bowl. Rub all over the chicken - inside and out
6. Crack open a beer (gah cooking is hard), add half of it to a can (or if you already have a can, chug half of it)
7. At your BBQ slide the can of beer up the chickens butt (it will hurt you more than it will hurt him)
8. Place the chicken on the grill (opposite side to the burner that is on) and pull his legs out so it makes a tripod
9. Cook for about an hour and 15 minutes (or until the breast is 165F) over medium high heat
*** if you notice the skin starting to burn throw some tinfoil over it
10. Remove from the BBQ and allow to sit for 5 minutes before cutting

Cupcake Dessert

2008-07-26T20:02:00.000-04:00

I made these cupcakes awhile ago and had to use them up (they were in the freezer because a certain someone ate all the icing sugar so I couldn't make any frosting). So tonight for dessert I decided to bust them out and use them up.

Pepper added by Joey - None

Ingredients
Cupcakes from this recipe or any recipe
Whipcream
Fresh raspberries

1. Remove the liner from the cupcakes
2. Top each one with a dollop of whipcream
3. Top with your favourite fresh fruit (mmm raspberries)

Layered Summer Salad

2008-07-24T21:40:00.002-04:00

I think what makes this salad interesting is its presentation. It is basically a spinach salad but it is presented in a different way than just everything tossed all together. Overall I enjoyed this salad but I would use more spinach and less dressing.

Pepper added by Joey - a few dashes

Ingredients
4 cups of spinach
1 1/2 cups marble shredded cheese, divided
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small red onion, sliced,
2 tomatos, chopped
1 1/2 cups green peas
1/2 cup mayo
1/2 cup light sour cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1. In a fancy glass bowl lay down the spinach. Place ontop 1 cup of cheese, mushrooms, onions, tomatos and peas.
2. Mix together mayo, sour cream and basil. Pour over the top of the salad in an even layer.
3. Top with remaining cheese.
4. Place in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

2008-07-22T20:11:00.000-04:00

On a whim I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies. But it was taking f.o.r.e.v.e.r because I made them so large. They were totally worth the wait. They are very soft but don't have the over powering butter taste that soft cookies can sometimes have. I found the recipe on allrecipes and will be keeping it as our standby recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Cream together butter and sugars and then add in the eggs and vanilla.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve the baking soda in hot water and then add to the batter.
4. Add the flour in small amounts, continually mixing the batter. Add salt.
5. Add chocolate chips and finish mixing by hand.
6. Drop batter onto a greased cookie sheet in whatever size you want.
7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes if you do them larger like I did. If you do them small then bake for about 10 minutes.

Joey's Birthday Cake

2008-07-17T21:06:00.003-04:00

I decided to make Joey's birthday cake again this year. I don't know why because as soon as I decide to the temperature spikes and the humidity gets so bad I instantly get an afro. Last year was a disaster. I couldn't keep the cake or the icing cool enough to ice the frickin cake. This year I had a plan though. The AC was on full blast and I had the cold basement just in case.

I asked Joey what kind of cake he wanted. I wanted to do a chocolate peanut butter cake but he didn't want that - what the what? He is car-azy. He asked for banana cake - b.o.r.i.n.g to the max.

So I found a recipe for a jazzed up version that both he and I would like. I made a few changes but still had the same flavours in it.

Happy birthday Joey! I am glad you liked your cake (I only got 1 piece...he ate the rest...piggy piggy 2 by 4).

Pepper added by Joey - the pepper shaker took a break for the day

Ingredients

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1-1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ cup margarine

1/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs

3 mashed bananas

1. Cream together the sugar, margarine and sour cream.

2. Add eggs one at a time, continuing to mix the batter.

3. Add vanilla extract and banana's.

4. Mix together all dry ingredients, then with the rest of the batter.

5. Grease a "meatloaf" pan and heat the oven to 350 degrees.

6. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until a fork comes out "clean".

7. Allow the cake to cook completely (I left mine over night).

8. Remove the cake from the pan and slice it in half (left to right, not top to bottom).

9. Spread the goodness that is peanut butter on the top of the bottom half. Place the top back on.

10. Make your favourite kind of icing (I made a vanilla buttercream) and spread all over the cake.

11. Drizzle the top of the cake with caramel sauce.

12. Cut and serve!!!!!!

Asian Pork Tenderloin

2008-07-17T20:29:00.001-04:00

I wanted something quick and easy but delicious for Joey's birthday dinner. So I grabbed some pork tenderloin from the freezer and threw together a marinade. This was excellent on the BBQ then served on rice with a side salad with an Asian Sesame dressing.

Pepper added by Joey - none to the pork, some to the salad

Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon hoisin sauce

2 tablespoon sugar
1 minced clove garlic
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

1 teaspoon five spice powder

1. Mix all the ingredients together and place in a dish.

2. Trim the "silver skin" from the pork tenderloin and place in the dish.

3. Roll the pork tenderloin in the marinade ensuring it is entirely covered.

4. Place in the fridge for 4 hours to allow it to soak up the yumminess.

5. Fire up the BBQ.

6. Grill the pork until it is no longer pink (took mine about 15 minutes).

7. Slice and serve.

Tex Mex Chicken Salad

2008-07-16T22:17:00.001-04:00

Had some leftover chicken and decided to make a salad. I thought that I would still be hungry after this. I was wrong. It was very filling.

Pepper added by Joey - he didn't want any because of the big bad scary black beans in it.

Ingredients

Romaine lettuce

Leftover chicken from the crockpot chicken salsa

Ranch dressing

Shredded marble cheese

Broken up nacho chips

1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

1. Wash and cut/tear lettuce. Add to the bottom of your bowl.

2. Shred the leftover chicken with 2 forks and the add on top of the lettuce.

3. Top with the leftover salsa/corn mixture that was with the chicken.

4. Add the black beans and the cheese.

5. Put as much ranch dressing as you want.

6. Break up some nacho chips on top of the salad.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken

2008-07-15T22:10:00.001-04:00

The girls on the Nest were raving about this recipe so I had to try it out. So easy and so delish.

Pepper added by Joey - I---I about that much

Ingredients
4 chicken breasts
1 cup of corn
1 jar of salsa
1 package of taco seasoning mix

1. Add all ingredients to the crockpot and set it on low for 6-7 hours or high for 4 hours.
2. Serve
3. Really that is it? Wow...kick ass.

Potato Salad

2008-07-05T20:14:00.000-04:00

Seriously who doesn't love potato salad? Not this girl that is for sure. I like my potato salad cold so I always make sure I make it far enough in advance so it can sit in the fridge for a few hours to get nice and cold.

Pepper added by Joey - a nice even layer

Ingredients
10 large potatos, peeled and cubed
3 eggs, hard boiled, peeled and cubed
1/4 cup green onions, chopped
1/4 cup relish
1 1/4 cup mayo
2 teaspoons mustard
2 teaspoons celery salt
2 teaspoons sugar
Salt and pepper

1. Place potatos in a pot of boiling water and cook until tender.
2. Drain and place in the fridge to cool.
3. Mix the relish, mayo, mustard, celery salt, sugar and salt/pepper in a bowl.
4. When potatos are cool add the egg and onion. Pour the dressing overtop and mix.
5. Place back in the fridge and allow to cool for a few hours.

Balsamic Chicken Sandwich

2008-07-05T19:58:00.001-04:00

I had some leftover balsamic chicken and decided to make it into a sandwich. I had come across this recipe and thought that it looked interesting. Although I wasn't sure if Joey would like it because of the goats cheese. I had him taste a bit of the cheese first and to my surprise he didn't mind it at all.

Pepper added by Joey - I don't know if I have ever seen him add it to a sandwich...weird

Ingredients
Chicken breast from this recipe
Bread - I used a loaf of italian bread
Goats cheese
Basil
Red pepper
Vegetable oil
Salt and pepper

1. Cut a red pepper in half and talk all the seeds/membrane out.
2. Brush with vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Place on the BBQ and grill until soft and brown (turning once).
4. Remove from BBQ and set aside to cool slightly.
5. Cut bread into the size of sandwich that you want.
6. Spread goats cheese on the top of the bun.
7. Add a layer of fresh basil and then the roasted red pepper.
8. Pour some of the leftover sauce onto the bottom piece of the bread. If you are using leftover balsamic chicken then quickly mix up a small amount of the sauce following the directions in the balsamic chicken recipe.
9. Add the chicken to the bottom of the bread. Add the mushrooms on top of that.
10. Put the sandwich together and enjoy!

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

2008-07-02T19:37:00.000-04:00

We had some peppers to use up and since we were already BBQ some pork I thought we could throw some stuffed peppers on the grill. The only problem is that they kept falling over so I had to wrap them in some tinfoil. This kept them upright and the contents intact but it meant we didn't get that charbroiled look.

Pepper added by Joey - After he cut it open he added a tiny bit

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1/8 cup pine nuts
3 cups long grain rice
2 garlic cloves, minced
Vegetable stock
1 bunch spring onions sliced thinly
1 cup cherry tomatoes , halved
1/4 cup mozzarella , chopped
Handful each of parsley and basil , chopped

1. Heat the oil in a medium pan with a lid and fry the pine nuts until lightly toasted, then add the rice and fry until the grains are glossy.
2. Stir in the garlic, then add the stock (in place of the amount of water required in the directions for the rice)and bring to the boil.
3. Cover and cook according to the rice's directions.
4. Remove from the heat, cool slightly and stir in the spring onions, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, and fresh herbs. Season well and leave to cool.
5. Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds/membrane.
6. Spoon some filling into the pepper cavity, taking care not to overfill. Place the top back on the pepper.
7. Put onto the BBQ and cook until pepper skin is a soft and a nice brown (unless using the tinfoil method then cook until soft).

Spicy Pork Tenderloin

2008-07-02T19:24:00.000-04:00

I find pork tenderloin to be an easy last minute meal that can be prepared in so many different ways with a variety of flavours. Today we decided to spice it up a notch and use a rud on the pork then throw it on the BBQ.

Pepper added by Joey - None, it was spicy enough

Ingredients
2 teaspoons granulated sugar
2 teaspoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons onion salt
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1. Place pork tenderloin on a large cutting board and brush oil over all sides. Set aside.
2. Mix together dry rub seasoning. Place on a piece of saran wrap and roll the pork over the mix to pick up the seasonings.
3. Place on the BBQ and cook until no longer pink.

Summer Pasta Salad

2008-07-01T23:13:00.004-04:00

I was looking for a new pasta salad to take a Canada Day BBQ at my parents place. Liz was kind enough to share her fabulous recipe. The salad was a hit even with the picky eaters.

Pepper added by Joey - none the first day, some the second

Ingredients
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons pine nuts
3/4 package of bowtie pasta
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1/2 cup basil leaves
2 teaspoons coarsely chopped oregano
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Ssalt and freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 cups arugula
1 1/4 cups grape tomatoes, halved

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. In a pie plate, toast 3 tablespoons of the pine nuts until light golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
2. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain the pasta and rinse it under cold water, then drain again; transfer to a large bowl.
3. Meanwhile, in a food processor, combine the cilantro, basil, oregano and garlic and pulse until coarsely chopped.
4. Add the mayonnaise, olive oil, lemon juice and the remaining 1/4 cup of pine nuts and process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Toss the pasta with the toasted pine nuts, arugula, tomatoes, and the herb mixture.

Tag - You're It!

2008-06-24T23:36:00.002-04:00

I have been tagged by Jess at New Year New Name New Me Her blog is fantastic and inspiring. I am loving her Do 101 things in 1001 days and think that this may be exactly what I need to kick my butt into gear. I find my productivity goes in spurts and lately it has been on the down swing.

Okay the Rules of being tagged:

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share seven random and/or weird things about yourself.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post and include links to their blog.
4. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

And what are the 7 random/weird things about me????

1. I burp/belch ridiculously loud after drinking pop out of a can. Seriously it's a problem. Mostly it only happens at home during dinner but lately it has happened everywhere - including work.

2. I make random piles of stuff all the time. To do pile, To file pile, To wash pile, To buy pile. I constantly re-organize the piles, move them from room to room but I never really fix the issue that leads me to have to create piles.

3. I am not a morning person AT ALL.

4. When I am sick it is the worst in the AM, I always start to feel better around 2PM and then it kicks back in around 4PM. I used to always get sick for my birthday and Christmas...every.single.year. As soon as I started working it shifted to the early spring for some reason.

5. I am terrified of growing old alone.

6. I can bite my toe nails.

7. I want to see all 7 wonders of the world but they keep frigging adding them so there were 21 of them now there are 28.

So....who am I tagging:
1. Iced CoCo - since I am watching Family Fued right now and CoCo is large and in charge it reminded me of this blog.
2. Susan from Food Blogga - her recipes are amazing.
3. Amy from Simple but Delicious - Two words: Parmesan Tilapia
4. Funny people from Fail Blog - Is this against the rules? Meh, dare I say that this is funnier than icanhascheezburger?
5. Leslie from Definitely not Martha - Hello fellow Canadian! Lots of great recipe ideas and a great sense of humour!
6. Jill from Baby Rabies - She is very open and honest about her pregnany experience and what it is like to now be a mother and an auntie.
7. Another Canadian blogger from More Than Burnt Toast - fantastic food, fantastic pictures.

Red Onion, Honey Mustard Chicken Salad

2008-06-21T20:01:00.002-04:00

What to do with leftover chicken? Well since we had Isabelle all weekend we decided that we should have something easy as my hands were full chasing her around all day long. So we used the chicken from last night to make chicken salad sandwiches. The flavour from the chicken really changed the overall taste of the chicken salad...and in a good way. You could taste a hint of the curry, so if you like this taste you could consider adding more to the mix.

Pepper Added by Joey - A few dashes

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts from this recipe, cubed
Lettuce
Bread
Mayo
Margarine
1/3 cup of grapes, halved
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup green pepper, diced
1/4 cup green onion, diced

1. Combine chicken, green pepper, green onion and grapes.
2. Add mayo (as much as you like) and stir to combine.
3. Add salt and pepper.
4. Place into fridge and chill (I usually do for at least on hour).
5. Place on bread with mayo and lettuce.

Red Onion Honey Mustard Chicken

2008-06-20T23:51:00.000-04:00

I have had my eye on this recipe for awhile and finally decided to make it. I saw it on Rachel Ray and thought it was a simple way to spice up BBQ chicken. Her recipe doesn't call for the chicken to marinated at all but I decided to let it soak up the flavour for 3 hours. It really made the chicken moist and full of flavour.

Pepper Added by Joey - None

Ingredients
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup honey mustard
1/2 teaspoon allspice,
1/2 teaspoon curry powder,
1/2 teaspoon chinese 5 spice
5 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and pepper

1. Pour 2 tablespoons vegetable oil into a small saucepan over moderate heat.
2. Add red onions and saute 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Add vinegar and reduce by half, 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Add brown sugar and cook 1 minute to incorporate.
5. Whisk in broth and honey mustard, and spices. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to lowest setting.
6. Allow to cool slightly and pour over chicken. Allow to sit for 2-3 hours.
7. Heat grill and add chicken. Allow to cook until no longer pink, basting each time you turn the chicken.

Cherry Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella Pasta

2008-06-18T19:32:00.001-04:00

I had this when I was in Vegas a few weeks ago. It was so good my colleague had to both times we went to the Italian restaurant in her hotel. I decided I had to remake it and I have to say it turned out really good. Joe said (with his mouth full of the yummy goodness) it is the best pasta dish I have ever made.

Pepper Added by Joey - A nice even layer over the top

Ingredients

20 cherry tomatoes, halved

Handful of basil, torn into smaller pieces

3/4 cup of small bite sized bits of real mozzarella

Pasta of your choice - I used spirals

3/4 cup 35% cream

Tablespoon margarine

1/2 jar pasta sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and add the pasta.

2. In a non stick pan combine the cream, cherry tomatoes and margarine and start to bring to a boil.

3. Add the pasta sauce and stir until the sauce boils.

4. About 3-4 minutes before pasta is ready add the basil to the sauce.

5. Drain pasta and add to the sauce pan. Stir to combine.

6. Add the bits of mozzarella to the pasta, stir and serve.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip & Cranberry Cookies

2008-06-15T22:08:00.004-04:00

Mmmm cookies. Joe hates dried cranberries so I had to make this recipe into two batches. One with the yumminess that is cranberries and one that is boring and just has chocolate chips. It turns out I am not a fan of chocolate chips in oatmeal cookies. So next time I will have to make 2 completely separate batches.

This recipe is from the Quaker website.

Pepper Added by Joey - Pepper is banned on all baked goods

Ingredients
1 cup margarine
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups uncooked oats
3/4 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In large bowl, combine margarine, brown sugar and white sugar until creamy.
3. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
4. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl.
5. Add combined dry ingredients to the large bowl and mix well.
6. Add oats, cranberries and chocolate chips and mix until fully combined
7. Drop dough onto baking sheet.
8. Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until light golden brown. I made larger cookies so I had to bake mine for about 20 minutes.
9. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets, then move to a wire cooling rack. Cool completely.

Peppery Pork Tenderloin

2008-06-14T19:04:00.000-04:00

Pass the Pepper goes all out on the pepper for dinner. While I am not a huge pepper person I found this to be really yummy and there is the flexibilty to change the amount of pepper based on your tastes.

Pepper added by Joey - None needed for this one!

Ingredients

1 pork tenderloin

1/4 cup ground peppercorns

Cooking spray

1/8 cup flour

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon margarine

1 tablespoon ground peppercorns

2 packages of beef stock (oxo)

1. Spray pork with cooking spray.

2. Crack/ground peppercorns onto a piece of tinfoil. Roll pork on the tinfoil to pick up the pepper.

3. Press down to ensure the peppercorns will stick. Spray with cooking spray again.

4. BBQ until no longer pink.

5. On the stove mix the flour, milk, margarine, peppercorns and beef stock. Bring to a boil.

6. Continue to wisk frequently until it thickens. Lower temperature and allow to simmer.

7. Pour over sliced pork and serve.

Jerk Chicken

2008-06-06T21:51:00.001-04:00

The longer you let this sit the more kick it will have. I only had 2 hours to let it sit and it still had loads of jerkiness to it but next time I will let it sit for at least 4 or 5 hours.

Pepper added by Joey - None

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon Italian dressing
1 tablespoon Jamaican Jerk seasoning
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cloves of garlic, minced

1. Mix all the ingredients together and pour over chicken.
2. Allow to sit for at least 4 hours.
3. BBQ the chicken until no longer pink.

Fancy Poached Eggs

2008-06-01T13:59:00.003-04:00

We had a day of patio furniture shopping planned so I decided to make us a nice breakfast before we headed out. Whew knew that that one decision would make the difference between us getting what we wanted and us having to go to 2 other stores to get it. I saw this recipe on The Way The Cookie Crumbles and through it looked interesting.

Pepper added by Joey - they are eggs, so alot.

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large button mushrooms, sliced thin
½ small red onion, sliced
3-4 cups of spinach, chopped very coarse
Salt and pepper to taste
6 potatoes, peeled and shredded
4 eggs, poached

1. Add olive oil to a non stick pan. Add in onions and mushrooms. Cook until onions are clear.

2. While onions and mushrooms are cooking shredded the potatoes and then wash and pat dry.

2. Add spinach to the mushroom/onion mixture and cook until slightly wilted.

3. Place mixture in an oven safe dish and into an oven on a low heat setting.

4. Add olive oil to the same non stick pan. Add the dry shredded potatoes.

5. Season with salt and pepper and allow to cook, turning occasionally to ensure golden brown.

6. While potatoes are cooking poach the eggs (I use an egg poacher).

7. Once eggs are cooked to your liking and potatoes are done remove the spinach from the oven.

8. Put a layer of the potatoes on a plate, then the spinach mixture, then an egg.

Olive Garden Minestrone Soup

2008-05-25T20:16:00.003-04:00

We don't have Olive Garden's up here and I love their soup. I found this recipe that claims to be the exact one that they use. I have to say that it is pretty darn close. Now to learn how to make the breadsticks!!!

Pepper added by Joey - 3 shakes

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup minced white onion
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/4 cup minced celery
4 teaspoons minced garlic
4 cups vegetable broth
1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
1 (15 ounce) can small white beans, drained
1 (14 ounce) can diced tomato (not drained)
1/2 cup carrot, julienne
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups hot water
4 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup small shell pasta

1. Heat three tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large soup pot.
2. Saute onion, celery, garlic, green beans, and zucchini in the oil for 5 minutes or until onions begin to turn translucent.
3. Add vegetable broth to pot, plus tomatoes, beans, carrot, hot water, and spices.
4. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook the pasta for 3 minutes.
5. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
6. Add spinach leaves and pasta and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until desired consistency.

Dr. Pepper Cherry Chocolate Cupcakes

2008-05-25T20:05:00.003-04:00

What do you do when your husband buys the wrong type of Dr. Pepper? And it is really frickin gross to drink it? You make cupcakes ofcourse. Only 23 more cans to use up! These came out incredibly moist and the pop was not overpowering.

Pepper added by Joey - drrr drrrr none

Ingredients
1 box of chocolate cake mix
1 can of Dr. Pepper Cherry Chocolate pop
1 tablepoon of margarine
Milk
Icing sugar
Cocoa powder
3 drops of cherry extract

1. Pour the box of cake mix into a bowl. Add the can of pop. DO NOT add the eggs, oil etc. as indicated on the cake mix box.
2. Bake as per the directions on the box.
3. Allow to cool.
4. Combine margarine, icing sugar, milk, cocoa powder and cherry extract to make the icing (all amount are estimates, just use a splash of milk and margarine and continue to add icing sugar and cocoa until you ge the right consistency).

Kung Pao Chicken

2008-05-24T21:46:00.000-04:00

Joe likes the spicy Kung Pao Chicken. I didn't have any chili's on hand so I used chili flakes. It was still spicy but I think it would have a huge kick to it if I had used "real" chili's. Next time for sure.

Pepper Added by Joey - Minimal

Ingredients

Marinade
1 tablespoon rice wine
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Sauce
3 tablespoons light soy sauce
5 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

Chicken breast cut into strips
2 tablespoons peanut oil
4 dried red chiles remove stems and cut in halves (or like I used about a tablespoon of flakes)
1/2-inch piece ginger grated
1 garlic, smashed
1 green onion, cut the white part into 1/2 -inch pieces, julienne the green parts
1/8 cup peanuts
2 tablespoons chicken stock plus 1 tablespoon cornstarch, mixed together to make slurry

1. In a dish prepare the marinade by combining the rice wine, peanut oil, soy sauce, salt and cornstarch. Stir in the chicken pieces and refrigerate for an hour.
2. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.
3. Over high heat, in a wok, bring the peanut oil to almost smoking temperature.
4. Stir-fry the chilies, ginger, garlic and white part of the green onions for 30 to 40 seconds, or until the chilies turn dark.
5. Add the chicken and stir-fry for 1 to 2 minutes, until golden in color.
6. Add the sauce and bring to a boil. Add the peanuts.
7. Thicken with the slurry and continue to cook until glossy.
8. Transfer to a serving plate and garnish with julienne green onions.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

2008-05-13T20:12:00.004-04:00

Mmmmm sooo good. After a case of a "missing" chocolate mint bar I had to come up with something else to do with this dough and what goes better than peanut butter and chocolate. Not much!

Pepper added by Joey - this is a dumb question

Ingredients
3/4 cup margarine
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, cook the sugar, butter and water, stirring occasionally until melted.
2. Remove from heat, stir in the chocolate chips until melted and set aside to cool for 10 minutes. 3. Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time.
4. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt, stir into the chocolate mixture.
5. Cover and refrigerate dough for at least 1 hour.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
7. Grease cookie sheets. Roll cookie dough into walnut sized balls and place 2 inches apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, be careful not to overbake.
9. When cookies come out of the oven, allow to sit for 1 minute and then spoon a dab of peanut butter on top. Allow to melt slightly and swirl with the knife to coat the top of the cookie.
10. Place cookies in the fridge to allow the peanut butter to harden slightly.
11. Remove from fridge and enjoy!

Chicken Scaloppine Limone

2008-05-12T20:01:00.002-04:00

I came across this recipe and thought it sounded interesting. I am not usually a fan of lemon but chicken and lemon always seem to go well together so I decided to try it out. I was not disappointed. It was not overally lemony at all.

Pepper added by Joey - Dude thought he was being sneaky but I saw him add some

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 large mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons water
3/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup chopped parsley
Flour
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 tablespoon oil

1. Place chicken between two pieces of wax paper and pound with meat mallet or rolling pin until thin.
2. Place flour on a plate and dip chicken in flour, coating on both sides.
3. Lightly coat a large non-stick skillet with cooking spray and add oil over medium-high heat.
4. Add lemon juice and chicken and sauté, turning frequently, for 5 minutes.
5. Add chicken stock if you notice that the pan is getting dry.
6. Add mushrooms and parsley and cook for 4 to 5 minutes - until chicken is fully cooked and mushrooms are soft.

Eggs and Toast

2008-04-28T18:47:00.001-04:00

I have no clue what these are called but we used to always make them as kids. Joe had no idea what I was talking about when I mentioned it to him so I made some to show him how awesome they are. I don't think he believes me. Umm hello toast and egg all in one, what is not to like.

Pepper added by Joey - None, he didn't try any

Ingredients
2 eggs
2 pieces of toast
Small bit of margarine

1. Butter bread on both sides.
2. Find something round that you can use to cut a whole out of the bread. Make the cuts.
3. Place bread in a greased pan and crack an egg into each hole.
4. Allow to cook over medium heat until the bread is browned on the one side. Flip bread.
5. Cook until eggs are you like them.

***If you want the bread cut outs cooked as well then just have them in the pan at the same time.

Chicken Spaghetti

2008-04-26T19:25:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking of making this from awhile. Pioneer Woman makes it looks/sound so yummy but something also didn't sit right with me about it. I decided to give it a while anyways and I was not disappointed at all. Delish.

It takes forever to make so I would recommend making it when you have leftover chicken or turkey that you are looking to use up. I made a few changes to the original recipe because it seemed like a lot of onion compared to the other ingredients, plus Joey hate pimentos so I subed in red peppers instead.

Pepper added by Joey - about this I-----I much

Ingredients
2 cups cooked chicken
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cups grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup finely diced green pepper
1/4 cup finely diced onion
1/4 cup finely diced red pepper
3 cups dry spaghetti, broken into half
2 cups reserved chicken broth from pot
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Add chicken to a pot of water. Allow to cook for 35-45 minutes (check to see that chicken is fully cooked).
2. Pull chicken out of the water and allow to cool slightly.
3. Place spaghetti in the water the chicken was cooked in and allow to cook until al dente. Drain.
4. Pull apart the chicken into small pieces.
5. In a large bowl combine chicken, all vegetables, spaghetti and soup.
6. Stir to combine all ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Add in 2 cups of cheese and continue to combine.
8. Add small bits of the chicken stock at a time to help with the stirring. In the end you should have added between 1 and 2 cups (I added just over 1 cup).
9. Add ingredients into a greased casserole dish and cover with remaining cheese.
10. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 45 minutes.

Sweet n Spicy Stirfry

2008-04-23T22:13:00.003-04:00

We were over at my co-workers tonight checking out his patio stones so by the time we got home we were both marvin' and looking for something quick to eat. This dish added a refreshing taste to what would otherwise be a boring stirfry. Oh and I loved the addition of pineapple. YUM!

Pepper added by Joey - None

Ingredients
1 small onion, sliced
1/2 green pepper, sliced
1/2 red pepper, sliced
Handful of snow peas
1/2 cup fresh pineapple, cut into chunks
1/4 cup mushrooms, quartered
2 tablespoon canola oil
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons red chili paste
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1/4 cup vegetable stock

1. Toss vegetables in a pan (I use a wok) over medium heat with a drizzle of oil. Cook until onions are slightly transparent.
2. Combine all other ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
3. Toss with vegetables and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Serve over rice or egg noodles (our favourite)

Macaroni Salad

2008-04-20T19:37:00.003-04:00

Nothing says summer like macaroni salad. And nothing compliments a burger like salad. This is my mom's recipe and I love the way the french dressing makes it taste. It's always best to let it sit for awhile - before you put the mayo on and after the mayo has been put on. I don't know why, but it just tastes better.

Pepper added by Joey - he was too busy with his burger to add any

Ingredients
1/2 bag macaroni
1/4 red pepper, diced
1/4 green pepper, diced
4 green onions, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
3/4 cup french dressing
3/4 cup mayo
Salt and pepper

1. Cook macaroni and when done run under cold water.
2. Put in a large bowl and add peppers, celery and onion.
3. Season with salt and pepper and add french dressing. Mix well.
4. Chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours.
5. Add mayo and mix.
6. Place back in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

You don't have to wait these times if you don't want to, I just think it makes it taste better.

Bacon Cheddar Burgers

2008-04-20T19:22:00.005-04:00

Mmmm homemade burgers. I used to hate all ground beef but I love these burgers and keep them on hand to grill at any time.

Pepper added by Joey - None

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 onion, diced
2 mushrooms, diced
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
2 eggs
3/4 cup bread crumbs
6 shakes of worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper
Cheddar cheese
Hamburger buns
Bacon slices

1. Mix ground beef with onion, mushrooms, garlic, BBQ sauce, eggs, breadcrumbs, worcestershire sauce and salt/pepper.
2. Make into large round balls, then flatten, ensuring the edges are rounded. Wrap in saran wrap and place into the fridge to chill for an hour.
3. Cook bacon in a pan.
4. BBQ burgers until cooked. Adding cheese at the very end.
5. Add burger to a bun with your favourite toppings. Add bacon on top of burger.

Toad in the Hole

2008-04-20T09:13:00.001-04:00

I remember my mom making this as a kid and Joe had never heard of it so I got the recipe from her and gave it a whirl. Joe loved it, I think it is because I used spicy italian sausage.

Pepper added by Joey - Nadda

Ingredients
6 sausages
1 onion, sliced
1 mushroom, diced
1 tomato, diced
1 cup flour
1 egg
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons butter

1. Cook sausage either in a 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or on the BBQ.
2. Heat butter in a pan and add onions. Cook until soft.
3. Add mushrooms and tomatos and cook for 3 minutes.
4. Mix flour, eggs and milk in a bowl until smooth.
5. Add sausage to a pan and spread vegetables over the top.
6. Pour batter on top of vegetables.
7. Place in a 400 degree oven and cook for 30 minutes.

Beef Fajitas

2008-04-18T20:00:00.002-04:00

We had leftover flank steak to use up and since it was so nice out today we decided to BBQ the beef and make fajitas.

Pepper added by Joey - none as the salsa is spicy enough

Ingredients
Flank steak
1/2 tomato, diced
2 cups shredded lettuce
1 cup shredded cheese
Salsa
Sour cream
1 green pepper, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
1 onion, sliced
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
Fajita wraps
Taco seasoning

1. BBQ flank steak, marinating in BBQ sauce.
2. Season peppers and onions with taco mix.
3. Cook peppers and onions (we did it on the BBQ but on the stove works too) until soft.
4. When steak is cooked slice against the grain into small thin pieces.
5. Assemble tomato, sour cream, salsa, beef, veggies, lettuce and cheese on a fajita wrap.

Beef and Snap Peas

2008-04-17T18:48:00.001-04:00

Beef and snap peas are a great combo. This dish was delish, just make sure you cut the beef the correct way or else it will end up tough.

Pepper added by Joey - 3 shakes

Ingredients
1 (12-ounce) flank steak, trimmed
2 tablespoons soy sauce,
3/4 cup chicken broth object
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1 cup sliced onion
1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger
3 cups frozen sugar snap peas
1 cup shredded carrot

1. Cut steak diagonally across grain into thin slices. Combine steak and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Toss to coat.
2. Combine the remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, broth, hoisin, and cornstarch; stir well with a whisk.
3. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
4. Add steak mixture; sauté 1 1/2 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove steak from pan.
5. Add onion and ginger to pan; sauté 2 minutes.
6. Add peas and carrot; sauté 2 minutes.
7. Stir in steak mixture; sauté for 30 seconds.
8. Add broth mixture; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring constantly.
9. Serve immediately over rice.

Baked Ziti

2008-04-15T19:50:00.001-04:00

I enjoyed this recipe but would have made it in a smaller, deeper dish. I just found that the cheese was all over everything vs being in a cheesy goodness layer with lots of noodles underneath.

Pepper added by Joey - Just a tad

Ingredients

1/2 bag of rigatoni

1 container of ricotta

1 egg

3/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 jar pasta sauce (or homemade)

1. Cook the rigatoni, strain and pour into a baking dish.

2. Cover with pasta sauce and toss.

3. Mix egg, parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese with the ricotta. Put on top of the rigatoni.

4. Add remaining sauce on top of ricotta.

5. Add remaining mozzarella cheese to the top of the dish.

6. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes.

* Note I did not have enough mozzarella so I topped the dish with cheddar cheese.

French Onion Soup

2008-04-04T22:01:00.001-04:00

Joey always has this when we travel. Our our cruise last year he had it every single day. So I looked for a simple and easy recipe to make at home. The hardest part is chopping the onions without crying.

The soup turned out awesome, but keep in mind how long it takes to brown the onions (an hour).

Pepper added by Joey - a tiny bit

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons oil
5 large onions, peeled and sliced thinly
Splash of water
1/2 cup brandy
3 sprigs fresh thyme
6 cups chicken broth

Salt and pepper
4 slices slices bread, cut into rounds to fit bowls, toasted
2 cups swiss cheese, grated

1. Toss the butter, oil, onions and water into a large soup pot with a few pinches of salt.

* make sure you are using a large pot so that the onions can caramelize.
2. Cover with a tight fitting lid and let the onions soften over a medium high heat, about 10 minutes.
3. When the water has evaporated, remove the lid, turn heat to low and begin to slowly caramelize onions, stirring frequently. This will take about one hour.

4. When the onions are a deep golden colour and have shrunk dramatically, add the brandy, thyme and broth.
5. Season with salt and pepper and let simmer for 15 minutes.
6. Preheat your oven's broiler. Ladle the soup into 4 onion soup or ovenproof bowls and fit a slice of toast over each bowl.
7. Sprinkle each evenly with the cheese and place bowls onto a baking sheet.
8. Place under the broiler and broil until the soup is bubbling and the tops are golden brown.

Roast Beef Pita

2008-04-04T21:44:00.000-04:00

Leftover roast beef meets pita and homemade tzatziki sauce. Mmmmm so frickin good. I think could possibly be the best sandwich that I have ever had in my entire life.

Pepper added by Joey - There was no time to add pepper

Ingredients

Roast beef cut into thin strips

Homemade tzatziki sauce (see recipe below)

Lettuce

Tomato slices

Pita pockets

1. Open pita pockets, and put tzatziki on both sides.

2. Add lettuce, tomato and roast beef slice.

Tztaziki Sauce

2008-04-04T19:50:00.000-04:00

Dare I say this is even better than a greek restaurant. I can't wait to use up all the leftovers of this recipe.

Pepper added by Joey - none

Ingredients
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup cucumber , peeled, seeded, and diced fine
Dash table salt
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 small garlic cloves , smashed

1. Place yogurt in a fine mesh strainer or in 3 coffee filters. Allow to sit for 30 minutes to allow all liquid to drain out of the yogurt.
2. Dice cucumber and place in a strainer covered with lemon juice and salt. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
3. Mix drained yogurt and drained cucumber with garlic.

Mustard Herb Roast Beef

2008-04-02T19:30:00.000-04:00

I had a roast in the freezer and wanted to try a new way to cook it. I am all about the slowcooker so I pulled it out and found a recipe that sounded yummy. The only thing I would do differently next time is put the rub on the roast first and then brown it in the pan. The roast was good as is, but I didn't like that it didn't "crispen" up on the top, the rub just sat up there.

Pepper added by Joey - few shakes

Ingredients

Roast beef (whatever kind/cut you have/want)

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons cracked black peppercorns

1/2 cup chopped herbs (rosemary, thyme and tarragon)

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1/2 cup Cabernet Sauvignon

1 cup beef stock

Carrots, peeled

Potatos, peeled

1. Season beef with salt and pepper.

2. Mix mustard, peppercorns, herbs and garlic in a bowl and rub all over the roast.

3. Pan sear all sides of the roast over medium high heat.

4. Place in the crockpot. Pour wine and beef stock over top.

5. Add as many carrots and potatos as you want to the crockpot.

6. Turn onto low for 7-8 hours.

Parmesan Tilapia

2008-04-01T19:21:00.001-04:00

Got this recipe from Expee on our group recipe site. It was excellent and very quick and easy to make.

Pepper added by Joey - None he hates fish

Ingredients

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1/8 cup butter, softened
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Dash of onion powder
Dash of teaspoon celery salt

3-4 tilapia filets

1. Preheat your oven's broiler. Grease a broiling pan or line pan with aluminum foil.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the Parmesan cheese, butter, mayonnaise and lemon juice.
3. Season with dried basil, pepper, onion powder and celery salt. Mix well and set aside.
4. Arrange fillets in a single layer on the prepared pan. Broil a few inches from the heat for 2 to 3 minutes.
5. Flip the fillets over and broil for a couple more minutes.
6. Remove the fillets from the oven and cover them with the Parmesan cheese mixture on the top side.
7. Broil for 2 more minutes or until the topping is browned and fish flakes easily with a fork.

Cheese Manicotti

2008-03-30T22:46:00.008-04:00

For me, not Joey. I was meh about this recipe. Maybe the leftovers will be better. I think I will stick with my mushroom manicotti (need to blog about that one cause its awesome).

Pepper added by Joey - none - he didn't eat any

Ingredients
1 container of cottage cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
4 mushrooms, diced
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 egg
1 cup spinach thinly sliced
1 teaspoon oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
Pasta sauce
Manicotti noodles

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and add manicotti noodles. Cook until slightly tender.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
3. Add mushrooms and garlic to a pan and sautee until cooked. Add salt and pepper and oregano. 4. Mix cottage cheese, mushroom mixture, egg, spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese in a bowl.
5. Place a small amount of pasta sauce in the bottom of a dish.
6. Stuff each shell with cheese mixture and place in the bottom of the dish.
7. Top shells with pasta sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.
8. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook for 10 minutes (on broil if you like).
9. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before eating.

Beef Manicotti

2008-03-30T22:37:00.004-04:00

Made just for Joey because I am not a fan of ground beef. Weird yes because I can eat meat loaf and burgers. Its a beef in sauce/small chunks thing that makes it icky for me.

Pepper added by Joey - Minimal

Ingredients

Ground beef (as much as you think you will need based on the number of shells you have)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1 teaspoon oregano

Salt and pepper to taste

1 garlic clove, smashed

Manicotti shells

1 cup mozzarella cheese

1/8 cup parmesan cheese

Pasta sauce

1. Bring a pot of water to boil and add noodles cooking until just tender.

2. Place onions and beef in a pan and cook over medium high heat. Add salt, pepper, oregano and garlic.

3. When cooked add 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/8 cup parmesan cheese.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

5. Add a small amount of sauce in the bottom of the dish.

6. Fill each noodle with the meat filling and place into the dish.

7. Once all noodles are filled, top them with remaining sauce and cover with remaining mozzarella cheese.

8. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue baking for 10 minutes (use broil if you like).

9. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and then serve.

Baileys Dip

2008-03-29T18:32:00.002-04:00

My good friend Hilleree makes this dip using Kahlua but we had Baileys on hand so I decided to use it instead. I was looking for something yummy for Earth Hour (http://www.earthhour.org/) and since strawberries were on sale this week I thought this dip would be perfect. It made alot for just the two of us but I was able to use the leftovers to make a triffle.

Ingredients
1 tub of coolwhip (regular sized)
1 package of instant vanilla pudding
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup Baileys (plus more if you want)

1. Make sure the coolwhip is not frozen.
2. In the coolwhip container add the package of instant pudding, milk and mix to combine.
3. Add the Baileys and taste to see if it is strong enough. If not add a bit more (I probably added a few tablespoons more).
4. Mix to combine.
5. Chill until ready to serve and then put in a fancy smancy bowl.
6. Awesome when served with strawberries. Mmmmm

Chocolate Banana Bread

2008-03-29T10:26:00.002-04:00

I always end up with 1 or 2 banana's that brown before I get to use them so I started putting them in the freezer so I could use them later for smoothies or baking or something. We never have banana bread because I don't have a pan for it but Joey brought one home this week so now I can use up those banana's.

Pepper added by Joey - Come on

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 ripe bananas mashed well
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly grease or flour a loaf pan.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a medium-sized bowl combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, and vanilla. Lightly fold the wet ingredients (banana mixture) into the dry ingredients until just combined and batter is thick and chunky.
5. Fold in the chocolate chips.
6. Scrape batter into prepared pan and sprinkle the top of the bread with rown sugar.
7. Bake until bread has risen and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50 minutes.
8. Remove bread from pan when it has cooled.

Szechuan Chicken Salad

2008-03-27T19:12:00.002-04:00

While it is still winter up here we shoveled off the BBQ and made some yummy chicken to put onto a salad.

Pepper added by Joey - Nadda

Ingredients
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon of honey
1/2 teaspoon of fresh, grated ginger
Cracked black pepper
4 tablespoons of vegetable oil
2 skinless, boneless breasts of chicken
Romaine lettuce
1 carrot, shredded
Light caesar dressing
Parmesan cheese
Red pepper, thinly sliced
Red onion, thinly sliced

1. Place soy sauce, honey, ginger, pepper and oil in a container and whisk together. Add chicken and marinade for at least an hour.
2. BBQ chicken (or you could cook it on a grill or in the oven)
3. Cut romaine into bite sized pieces.
4. Shredded one carrot (I used a grater).
5. Thinly slice a red pepper and a red onion.
6. Add romaine, carrot, red pepper and red onion to a bowl and mix with caesar dressing and parmesan cheese.
7. Slice chicken into pieces and place over salad.

Lasanga Rolls

2008-03-16T21:56:00.002-04:00

I didn't feel like making a full lasanga so I tried this instead. I was able to make Joey's with meat sauce and mine without - which was a treat for him (I hate meat sauce).

Pepper added by Joey - 1 long shake

Ingredients
8 lasagna noodles
Spaghetti sauce (one meat sauce, one veggie sauce - both homemade)
1 cup fat-free cottage cheese
1/2 cup baby spinach (finely chopped)
1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1/8 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook lasanga noodles until slightly tender. When cooked lay flat on greased saran wrap.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Mix cottage cheese, spinach, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, garlic, oregano and salt and pepper.
4. Pour a small amount of sauce into the bottom of your dish.
5. Spoon the cottage cheese mixture onto a lasanga noodle. Roll the noodle up tightly but not so tight that the mixture comes out.
6. Place seam side down in the dish.
7. Repeat with a second noodle and place in dish beside first one. (My dish fit two rolls, put as many in your dish as it will fit).
8. Pour sauce over top of rolls and top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
9. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Blueberry Muffins

2008-03-16T15:32:00.008-04:00

Blueberries were on sale and the only way Joey will eat "heated" fruit is in muffins (I don't get it either).

Pepper added by Joey - None but I was thisclose to adding some into half of them to see if he could taste the difference and if he would like it or not.

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup half and half

1 pint fresh blueberries - rinsed, drained and patted dry
2 tablespoons white sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray the top of a muffin pan with non-stick coating, and line with paper liners.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, cups sugar and salt until light and fluffy.

3. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

4. Mix together 1 3/4 cup of the flour and baking powder.

5. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the half and half, mixing just until incorporated.

6. Crush 1/4 of the blueberries, and stir into the batter.

7. Mix the 1/2 the blueberries with the remaining 1/4 cup of the flour, and fold into the batter.

8. Add the remaining 1/4 of the blueberries into the mixture.

9. Scoop into muffin cups. Sprinkle tops lightly with sugar.

Lemon Berry Smoothie

2008-03-16T10:52:00.001-04:00

Another smoothie day.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups milk
1 1/2 teaspoons crystal light lemonade drink mix
1 cup fat free mixed berry yogurt
1 cup frozen (or fresh) raspberries
1 cup icecubes
1 tablespoon sugar

1. Add all ingredients into the blender and mix.

The sugar is added because the lemonade drink mix makes it really tart. Taste it first and if you like it without the sugar then don't add it.

Potato and Cheese Frittata

2008-03-16T10:43:00.003-04:00

Brunch. What is better than brunch on a cold Sunday morning.

Pepper added by Joey - 2 shakes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large potatoes, peeled and shredded
1 medium onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
6 eggs, beaten
Splash of milk

1. Preheat the oven to 400F.
2. Add oil to a skillet and heat over medium high heat. Add shredded potatoes and cook for about 15 minutes until brown.
3. Add onion and lower heat to medium. Continue to cook until onions are soft.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. If your skillet can go in the oven then add the egg right on top, if it can not then move the potato/onion mixture to a oven proof dish and cover with the eggs.
6. Cook for 15 minutes, or until egg has cooked.
7. Add shredded cheese to the top of the egg and continue to cook for 5 more minutes.

Fancy Field Greens

2008-03-15T12:36:00.001-04:00

I needed a recipe for a salad for a family event. Bethie suggested this one and it was delish. I am not only going to make it again but add it to our regular salad list!

Pepper added by Joey - Joey hates craisins (or any dried fruit) so he didn't have any.

Ingredients
Mixed field greens
Fresh spinach
Can(s) of mandarine oranges
Craisins
Goats cheese
Raspberry vinaigrette

1. Wash greens and spinach and add as much as you need to fill your salad bowl.
2. Add mandarine oranges (I needed to cans), craisins and crumbled goats cheese.
3. Toss with raspberry vinaigrette.

Pulled Pork Sandwich

2008-03-11T19:07:00.001-04:00

I made this last year and it did not turn out as I would have hoped it would. I used a boston butt cut of meat that time. This time I used porkloin and found a new receipe for cooking it.

Pepper added by Joey - None of the sandwich, some to his baked beans

Ingredients
2 pork tenderloins (one pack the comes with 2 in it)
1 bottle of rootbeer
1 bottle of bbq sauce
1/2 medium onion, sliced
Hamburger buns

1. Season pork loin with salt and pepper and brown on all sides in a skillet.
2. Add pork loin to the crockpot. Cover with enough rootbeer to fully cover the pork loin.
3. Slice onion and add to the crockpot.
4. Cook on low for 6-7 hours (I left mine in for 8 and it was fine)
5. Remove pork from crockpot and pull apart with forks.
6. Heat BBQ sauce adding a bit of the rootbeer from the crockpot.
7. Place pulled pork and onions in a large bowl. Pour bbq sauce over top. Mix well.
8. Place on a bun and serve.

Mixed Berry Smoothie

2008-03-09T21:55:00.003-04:00

I used to make smoothie's all the time and for some reason I haven't had one if a long time. Tonight I was craving something sweet so I decided to pull out the blender and mix up something yummy.

I eyeball it when I add the ingredients in so the amounts listed below are a guestimate.

Ingredients
1 cup mixed berry fat free yogurt
1 banana
1 cup frozen (or you could use fresh) mixed berries
1 cup of ice (add more if needed to thicken)

1. Add all ingredients together and mix in the blender until smooth.

Sometimes I make a double batch and but the leftovers in the freezer for the next morning.

Shepherds Pie

2008-03-05T21:04:00.001-05:00

I did not try any of this because it's not my bag baby but Joey really enjoyed it and asked that it be added to our regular rotation.

Pepper added by Joey - Nadda

Ingredients

4 large potatoes, peeled
1 tablespoon butter

Milk
Salt and pepper to taste
1 carrot, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ketchup
3/4 cup beef broth
1/2 cup peas

1/4 cup worstershire sauce

1. Bring a pot of water to boil, add potatoes.

2. Add worstershire sauce to ground beef.

3. Brown ground beef with onions and carrot.

4. Drain fat and add in flour and cook for 1 minute.

5. Add in beef broth, peas and ketchup and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

6. Remove potatoes from water when cooked and mash with margarine and milk.

7. Spread the ground beef on the bottom of a greased pie plate or casserole dish.

8. Spread mashed potatoes over top of the beef.

9. Bake in a 375F oven for 20-30 minutes.

Peanut Butter Cookies

2008-03-04T22:55:00.003-05:00

I was craving something sweet but didn't have the correct ingredients to make brownies, chocolate chip cookies etc. etc. So I decided to make some peanut butter cookies.

TIP - If you want them to be a bit more chewy only cook them for about 12 minutes. They will be really soft when you take them out of the oven but they will harden up a bit as they cool.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
1 cup margarine
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda

1. Preheat oven to 375F
2. In a large bowl, cream together the peanut butter, margarine, brown sugar and white sugar.
3. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.
4. Combine the flour, baking powder and baking soda; stir into the peanut butter mixture.
5. Form dough into walnut sized balls and place them 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
6. Dip a fork into flour and criss cross each cookie to flatten slightly.
7. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until just lightly browned.
8. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Potato and Broccoli Soup

2008-03-04T21:17:00.002-05:00

Nothing beats hot soup on a cold snowy night.

Pepper added by Joey - 4 loooong shakes

Ingredients
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cans low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
3 cups peeled, cubed potato
2 cups broccoli florets, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/4 cups milk
1 cup sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
4 tablespoons fully cooked bacon pieces
4 teaspoons chopped green onions

1. Add chicken broth (reserve 1/3 cup for later), potatoes, broccoli and onion to a large pot.
2. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes.
3. Whisk together flour and the reserved 1/3 cup chicken broth. Add to pot.
4. Cook, stirring often for 5 minutes.
5. Stir in milk and cheese allowing to cook over medium heat until cheese melts.
6. Top each serving with bacon and green onion.

Chicken Marsala

2008-03-02T20:08:00.001-05:00

I decided to give this a try after having wanted to for awhile. It was very tasty and full of flavour. The chicken turned out amazing.

Pepper added by Joey - None

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 slices of bacon, chopped
2 cups white mushrooms
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon minced shallot
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 1/2 cups Marsala wine
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into pieces

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.
2. Pat chicken dry with a paper towel. Dredge in a flour/salt/pepper mixture.
3. Add to a large skillet with heated oil.
4. Cook until brown on both sides (3-4 minutes each side)
5. Remove chicken and place on an oven proof dish and put into the oven.
6. Reduce the heat to medium and cook bacon. Remove when crisp.
7. Add mushrooms and cook until brown.
8. Add shallots and garlic and sautee for 1 minute.
9. Add tomato paste and bacon. Stir for 1 minute.
10. Take skillet off of the heat and add the marsala wine.
11. Return to the heat and allow to cook until thickened.
12. Add lemon juice and chicken stock.
13. Scrape all brown bits off the bottom of the pan while stirring.
14. Add tablespoons of butter one at a time, stirring in between.
15. When chicken is fully cooked remove from oven, cut into slices and pour sauce overtop.

Pudding Poke Cake

2008-03-02T01:21:00.002-05:00

We wanted cake but we didn't have any icing sugar so I rummaged through the pantry and found a pack of chocolate pudding mix. The cake turned out amazing with the pudding all throughout it and then also acting as an icing on top.

Pepper added by Joey - None (I think he is not using any lately on anything on purpose to mess with me).

Ingredients
1 package yellow cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix
1/2 cup icing sugar
2 cups milk

1. Make the cake as per the directions on the box (or make your own from scratch)
2. When done remove from oven and poke holes in it using the back of a wooden spoon.
3. Make a pack of chocolate pudding. Add the icing sugar to the mixture.
4. Before it has a chance to set pour half of it over the top of the cake allowing it to fall into the holes.
5. Allow the cake to cool slightly and allow the pudding to set.
6. When cake is cool spread the remaining pudding over the top.
7. Place in fridge for 1 hour.
8. Cut and serve.

Marinated Pork Loin Chops

2008-03-01T21:17:00.000-05:00

Not much to say, it's pork - it's good.

Pepper added by Joey - 1 shake

Ingredients
2 pork loin chops
1/8 cup soy sauce
1/8 cup worcestershire sauce
1/8 cup vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon sage
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1. Mix all ingredients together and add pork chops.
2. Allow to marinate for at least 2 hours.
3. Cook in a 400F oven for 15 minutes or cook on the BBQ.

Twiced Baked Potato

2008-03-01T20:53:00.000-05:00

O.M.G

These potatoes were unreal. So creamy and good. It is completely worth the amount of time it takes to make them (total of 75 minutes in the oven and about 15 minutes of prep).

It can be annoying trying to get the potato "meat" out of the skins without ruining them so I used a small spoon and took out small chunks instead of trying to scoop it all out at once.

Pepper added by Joey - None! (which is a small miracle considering he always puts pepper on potatoes)

Ingredients
2 large baking potatoes
4 slices bacon
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup shredded marble cheese, divided
2 green onions, sliced, divided

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and bake the potatoes for 1 hour.
2. Meanwhile cook the bacon in a pan until crisy. Allow to cool and then break into small pieces.
3. When potatoes are done allow to cool for 10 minutes.
4. In a small bowl mix sour cream, milk, butter, salt, peper, half of the cheese and half of the onions.
5. Cut the potatoes down the center lengthwise. Scoop out the "meat" and add to the bowl with the other ingredients.
6. Mix well then mash up.
7. Add the mixture back into the potato skins. Top with the remaining cheese, onions and the bacon.
8. Place back in the over for another 15 minutes.

***Note - simply omit the bacon if you want a vegetarian version.

Buttermilk Pancakes

2008-03-01T13:04:00.000-05:00

I bought buttermilk for a recipe and I can't remember what it was for. Perhaps for something I was going to make and then decided not to. Who knows. So now I have some to use up. I asked the girls what to make with buttermilk and the consensus was pancakes. Joe was apprehensive because he had no clue what buttermilk would taste like. I enjoyed them, Joe preferred the "regular" version of them.

Pepper added by Joey - ummmm gross

Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup buttermilk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. In a large bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
2. In a separate bowl whisk together the egg, buttermilk, and melted butter.
3. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, all at once, and whisk just until combined. Make sure you do not over mix the batter or the pancakes will be tough.
4. Heat a frying pan or griddle over medium high heat.
5. Pour about 1/4 cup of pancake batter onto the pan, unless you want them bigger - which we did :)

Note: Ours made 5 pancakes about this big ::makes circle with hands::