8 Minute Deconstructed Taco Snack or Lunch

Who loves Mexican food, and who loves to eat dip?  My family does, and so do most kids! This snack or small lunch offers all the yummy of a taco, yet is simpler to make,is healthier, and gluten free. I saw the original recipe on a website called stayfitmom.com

When I bought my beef on the weekend, I broke it up into easy to use meatballs and froze them. (ground turkey will also work well). Today I simply grabbed two of the meatballs from the freezer,let them defrost for a few minutes, and then fried them up in a skillet with my taco spices.  My dippers instead of nacho chips are 1/2  a red pepper and 1/2 a yellow pepper, along with a few snow peas. I topped the meat mixture with some guacamole and a squirt of lime, and faster than you can say “ole” my snack was ready. If you like cheese, salsa and jalepenos, those make great toppings as well.  To make it vegan you can skip the beef, and skillet fry some chick peas in the taco seasoning.

Ingredients

• Sliced bell peppers
• 2 meatballs (turkey or beef) – if you want to make it for 3-4 people use a lb of meat
• taco seasonings (1/2 tsp of chilli powder, paprika, cumin, garlic powder and salt and pepper)

Toppings

• Chopped tomatoes
• Guacamole (avocado mashed with cumin, garlic, lime juice)
• Sliced jalepenos
•  Salsa
• Chopped green onions

Instructions

1. Cook meatballs and add taco seasoning.
2. Slice bell peppers into “chips” and arrange on plate.
3. Dip away!

 

Chai Spiced Overnight Oats With Chia

These oats & chia are so simple to make.  All you need is a bowl, spoon and a fridge. Did you know chia offers incredible benefits to your health? They are high in fiber, high in Omega 3’s which decrease inflammation, and are considered an antioxidant as well as a complete protein.  This recipe makes about 4 servings and can be served as breakfast or a snack. I didn’t have any cardamom and it didn’t affect the taste at all. This recipe is “my” kids approved. Enjoy

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 2 tablespoons chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons of maple syrup
• 2½ cups milk or milk substitute of choice
• optional toppings: dried fruit, bananas, sliced almonds

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the oats, chia seeds, spices, and maple syrup in a bowl, stir to combine. Add the milk and stir until incorporated. Cover and chill overnight.
2. Enjoy for breakfast with toppings or simply as-is

Sugar Cookies

It’s Grampy’s birthday today! What better way to celebrate his special day, then to have cookies that are sweet just like him 🙂 This is our favourite sugar cookie recipe.  If I make a batch at 5pm today, they will be gone before bedtime. We seem to have just as big a problem not eating the raw dough, as we do not eating the entire batch of cookies all in one go 🙂 

Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup butter (room temperature)
1 egg

Instructions

Cream sugar and butter together with mixer for 5 minutes

Add egg and mix again
Add vanilla, baking powder, salt mix again

In a separate bowl mix flour and icing sugar.

Add flour mixture to wet mixture slowly.

Roll out cookie dough onto floured surface. Cut into small circles or whatever shape you want. (I use the smallest pastry cutter I have for making scones and biscuits)

Sprinkle cut out cookies with sugar before baking.

Bake 325 degrees for 18 minutes until golden brown on the bottom

Enjoy! 🙂

Yorkshire Pudding

This recipe is compliments of Dave’s 94 year old Grandma Jo. It’s extra special because she took the time to hand write the recipe and mail it, and she also gave me the pans to cook the pop overs in!  What a sweet, sweet grandma.  So lucky to have her in our lives, love so much 🙂

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups milk

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 jumbo eggs

Oil for bottom of muffin tins

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Pour milk into a medium sized bowl. Add flour and salt. With a rotary beater or wire whisk, beat until well blended.  Do not over beat!

One at a time add egg, beating in each egg until completely blended.

Line tins with oil and pour batter into tins, filling 3/4 full. Do not scrape bowl.

Bake for 20 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 325 and continue baking 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve immediately.

Enjoy xo 🙂

Makes 6 popovers

Fish Tacos With Creamy Chipotle Cabbage Slaw

Last night it was just Dave and I for dinner.  Whenever I’m cooking for just the two of us in the summer time, its usually something that is really simple and quick, so that we can eat and then get out with the dogs for a walk, or swim in the river.  

Last night I had a large piece of cod that I’d picked up from the fish market, but I hadn’t quite decided how I was going to cook it.  As luck would have it, dinner was staring me right in the face.  On my desk was my relish cookbook by Daphne Oz.  Inside was this great photo (as you can see above) of a simple fish taco.  (Sorry to use someone else’s photo, but the tacos turned out so great, I forgot to take a photos of ours).  Good news though, my photo will be up in a week or so, as Dave and I LOVED these fish tacos and they will be my go to recipe. I did adapt the recipe slightly from the cookbook, as I was missing a couple of the ingredients.

Here are the changes I made – I used thinly sliced red onions instead of yellow onions.  I diced the red pepper finely. For spices I used chilli powder, cayenne pepper, as well as a couple of dashes of Trader Joe chilli sauce. I used flour tortillas instead of corn. For cooking the fish, I seared it first in the pan in less oil, and then added 3/4 cup water and a lid to steam cook the fish and create a gravy. The gravy was terrific for adding another texture to the taco.

For the slaw here are the few changes I made – 3 cups of green cabbage instead of 4, diced pickled jalapeños, and instead of chipotle powder I used, chili powder, cayenne pepper powder and Trader Joe chilli sauce.

Other substitutes that could be made for the cod would be – salmon, prawns, and chicken.

Enjoy xo 🙂

Daphne Oz’s Fish Tacos
4 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 medium Yellow Onion (sliced thin)
1 Red Bell Pepper (cored; seeded; sliced thin)
Sea Salt and fresh-cracked Black Pepper
1/3 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Chipotle Powder
1 pound Cod (cut into 4 fillets)
8 small Corn Tortillas
4 cups Creamy Chipotle Cabbage Slaw
Cilantro for garnish (optional)

In a skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the onion and bell pepper and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is translucent and the bell pepper is softened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside.

 In a shallow bowl, combine the flour, chipotle powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. Pat each fish fillet dry and lightly dredge in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess flour. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in the skillet over medium heat and place 2 fillets at a time in the pan.

Gently pan fry for 3 to 6 minutes, until the underside of the fish turns opaque. Use a rubber spatula to flip the fillets and finish cooking to your desired doneness. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate, remove the remaining oil from the pan, and repeat with 1 tablespoon oil and the remaining 2 fillets.

To serve, for each fish fillet, heat 2 tortillas in a clean pan with the 1 remaining tablespoon of oil, then set them on a plate. Cut each fillet in half and divide the fish evenly among the 8 tortillas. Top with a helping of the sautéed veggies and a good amount of cabbage slaw and serve with cilantro, if desired. 

Salt and Pepper

Creamy Chipotle Slaw

 

 4 cups shredded Green Cabbage
1 cup shredded Purple Cabbage
2 medium Carrots (peeled and shredded)
1 small Red Onion (sliced very thin)
3 large Scallions (white and light green parts; sliced thin)
1 Jalapeno (minced; discard the seeds and ribs if you want less heat)
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup fresh Lime juice
2 tablespoons Honey
1 teaspoon ground Cumin
1 teaspoon Chipotle Powder

Combine the cabbages, carrots, onion, scallions, and jalapeno in a large bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk the mayonnaise, yogurt, lime juice, honey, cumin, and chipotle powder together until smooth and creamy.

Sea Salt and fresh-cracked Black Pepper Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Allow to marinate at least 20 minutes before using.

To store leftovers, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days. 

Smooooth Traditional Hummus

The word hummus, takes me away to thoughts of Cari and I being at the pool of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, in Dubai. Cari and I lounged by their pool for 5 glorious days, eating their Chicken Shwarma Platter, and drinking bubbly water with limes.  While we could have been adventurous with meals, our theory was… when you are at breakfast, and you’re already looking forward to the platter for lunch, why mess with a good thing?  We decided we would branch out for breakfast and dinner, but lunch had to be our platter – pickles, rice, pita, chicken and… at least a 1/2 cup of the most garlicy smooth hummus ever!   With lunches like this it was no wonder we came home weighing an extra ten pounds. (to be fair, it was probably the chocolate martinis, molten lava cake and gnocchi with truffle sauce from the Four Seasons Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh that also helped tip the scales :P)

This humus recipe is not from the Jumeirah, but it is tasty, and very similar to the one that came with our platter.  To make it extra smooth, I remove all the skins from the garbanzo beans. (Yes it does take more time, but the results are well worth it).  

Enjoy xoxo 🙂

Ingredients

2 cups canned garbanzo beans, drained
1/3 cup tahini
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
3 cloves garlic, halved
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch paprika
1 teaspoon minced fresh parsley
Directions

Place the peeled garbanzo beans, tahini, lemon juice, salt and garlic in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl.
Drizzle olive oil over the garbanzo bean mixture. Sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

Cilantro and Dill Potato Salad

This weekend the crazy hot weather continued in Vancouver!  While I don’t want to complain about the heat…I must give a little whine. Wholly toledo, day after day of full sun, 31 degrees, and no pool is just tooooo hot!!! I know in just three to four short months we will start into vast amounts of liquid sunshine – aka the rain season, and I’ll be sad that we will go days without seeing the sun, but for now if we could turn the dial down to a “balmy” 28 degrees, it would be greatly appreciated 🙂

This weekend with all the heat, I made a few salads to go with our BBQ’s.  One of our favourite potato salad recipes comes from a fellow Vancouverite – Emily, of Thisrawesomeveganlife.com.  The first time I made this potato salad I was doubtful that it was going to be a hit with the family.  I couldn’t imagine a potato salad made without traditional mayo going over to well, but the photo had me hooked, and I was determined to give it a try.  I figured worst case scenario, if the family didn’t like it, I would be eating potato salad for a few days.  

Guess what? Everyone loved it! Potato salads don’t need Hellmans mayo to be fabulous.  The cilantro, tomatoes, garlic and dill makes this salad so tasty, combine that with the creaminess of blended cashews – who knew what we were missing all these years?  

Enjoy xo 🙂

Salad:
1 pound new potatoes
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
1 cup cherry tomatoes, each cut in half

Raw vegan mayo:
1/2 cup cashews
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
2 garlic cloves
Juice from 2 lemons
Water, as needed

Prepare the salad: put the potatoes in a pot with water to boil. Once the water is boiling, turn down the heat to medium-high. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Cut each in half and throw in a bowl with the other salad ingredients. Set aside.

Make the mayo: blend all the ingredients until smooth, adding water or other liquid as needed and adjusting to your taste. Toss the mayo with the salad until evenly coated and sprinkle with salt and pepper if desired.

Baked Croissant Cinnamon French Toast Casserole

This is the recipe that took me from – french toast “no thank you” – to “please pass the serving spoon, I’d like seconds”.  French Toast just wasn’t my thing for breakfast until now.  I’d have eggs, pancakes, waffles, anything but french toast.  You could throw berries, bananas, syrup on top, it was always “meh it’s just ok”. Somehow it always kind of fell flat, never offering a texture or taste that I like.  That is until I found this recipe (and picture) on PinchofYum.com.  This french toast smells so wonderful while it is baking in the oven. If your family likes cinnamon rolls, it will have everyone asking “how much longer do we have to wait until its ready”?  The croissant mixture makes a light, creamy moist but not soggy base, while the crispy cinnamon topping offers the crunch -woo hoo I’m in love!  This recipe isn’t eggy, mushy, or dry like other french toast or breakfast casseroles. Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge for 24 hours.

Note: I did make a couple of changes to the recipe. I didn’t soak the croissants overnight,  an hour was more then sufficient.  I didn’t use stale croissants, they were fresh, and I didn’t cook it in a loaf pan, I used a glass 9×13 casserole dish, so that the egg mixture was kept shallow (so it wouldn’t be mushy) and it would offer more crumble on each serving – which is what everyone likes!   If making the portion below (not doubling it) I would still use a glass casserole dish or pie plate so it isn’t “loafy”.  I also make this recipe as individual french toast in ramekin dishes, and simply bake on a cookie sheet. I will share a photo of mine later this weekend after I make it again!

Enjoy! xo 🙂

Just an added note: This is a very sweet dish – additional syrup can be used, but isn’t required.

Adapted ever so slightly from PinchofYum.com

 I doubled the recipe below to feed 8 of us

 INGREDIENTS

3 large croissants, a few days stale
3 eggs
¾ cup milk
3 tablespoons Greek yogurt
¼ cup sugar
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons flour
¼ cup brown sugar
cinnamon to taste (I used almost a full teaspoon)
pinch of salt
3 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

INSTRUCTIONS
Grease a 9×13 glass casserole dish with butter. Tear the croissants into small pieces and place in the dish.
Whisk the eggs, milk, yogurt, sugar, and vanilla. Pour evenly over bread. Cover and refrigerate for an hour.
For the topping, mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Cut the cold butter in with a food processor or just using your fingers until your mixture looks like small crumbs.
When you’re ready to eat, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle crumb mixture over the top of the croissant/egg mixture in the pan. Bake for 30-45 minutes depending on how soft/crispy you want it to be. Make sure the french toast is fully cooked before you remove it from the oven – usually the top looks done before the inside is really done.
Top with butter and drizzle with maple syrup.

Apple Crumble

Here is the apple crumble recipe we devoured last weekend at Kati’s birthday dinner. I know your thinking – umm mom, there isn’t any picture? How will we know what apple dessert recipe this is? I promise I will update with a picture soon, but until then, I thought I would share this picture with you so you have an idea of what recipe it is.

These are the two flan pans I made the crumble in.  This is what the pans looked like… after I was called out by Dave for picking at all the yummy little leftover crumbs, and pieces of caramel that were baked on the side of the flan dish.

For next time, my note to self is – take pictures first, inhale delicious dessert second.  An empty dish photo just don’t showcase the dessert as well as a photo of the apple crisp with a big dollop of ice cream on top 🙂

Enjoy xo 🙂

This recipe came from allrecipes.com

They suggested a 9×13-inch pan, but we all enjoy extra crispy crumble and thin layers of fruit so I made it in two flan pans.

Ingredients
10 cups all-purpose apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup quick-cooking oats
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup butter, melted

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degree C).

Place the sliced apples in pan.

Mix the white sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and ground cinnamon together, and sprinkle over apples.

Combine the oats, 1 cup flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and melted butter together.
Crumble evenly over the apple mixture.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes.

Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or whip cream.

 

 

S’more Cookies

This is another long weekend here in BC – woo hoo!  Nothing says family fun at night during a long weekend in the summer, like a campfire and s’mores. There is something truly special about being a master chef and creating your own s’more around a fire.  Slowly melting a layer of warm chocolate onto a graham cracker, while toasting to perfection a monster size puffy marshmallow. Ahhh, heavenly!  S’mores become a work of art for the young and old alike.  Have you observed how much pride people beam with, as they create their masterpieces 😀

So, how will we make our s’mores and observe the province wide ban on campfires this weekend (sadly we have numerous forest fires burning in BC right now) By making cookies of course! While they may not offer the bonding experience of cooking  over a campfire, they will satisfy the craving for a s’more.   With crunchy edges, sweet chocolatey goodness, and the stickiness of melted marshmallow, I’m fairly certain you won’t have any leftovers. Have a happy and safe long weekend!

Enjoy! xo 🙂

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (7 full-size graham crackers, finely crushed)
pinch of cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk chocolate chips
1 cup mini marshmallows

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two large cookie sheets with parchment paper (the marshmallows will melt and stick to the pan, so lining the pans with parchment is very important).
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter, sugar, and brown sugar. Incorporate the egg followed by the vanilla. In a bowl, stir together the flour, graham cracker crumbs, pinch of cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Turn the stand mixer on low and gradually add the dry ingredients, mixing just until it is all combined and forms a dough. Mix in the chocolate chips and marshmallows.
Using a medium cookie scoop (about 1 ½ tablespoon-sized balls), scoop the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, 12 per sheet. Flatten the dough slightly with the palm of your hand.
Bake the cookies in the preheated oven for 10-12 minutes, being careful not to over bake.

Notes

* I used my Silpat mat to cook these on without any problems, should you not have parchment paper*

**To make graham cracker crumbs, pulse the graham crackers in a food processor. If no food processor is available, put them in a plastic zipper bag and give them a good whack with a rolling pin until finely crushed.

** Original recipe from http://www.alaskafromscratch.com