Mini Manor's Vegetarian Chili

This was one of those dishes that you make because it's "healthy" but then it turns out so yummy that you crave it like it was bacon.
I started making vegetarian chili because chili has always been a favorite of ours, but with ground beef it wasn't a super healthy thing to be eating frequently. We tried Turkey chili, but it wasn't fabulous. So I took one more crack at "Healthy Chili" this time Vegetarian . . . and it was AH-MAZING! We both enjoyed so much, way more then regular beef chili!
I know your scoffing at that last sentence, but honestly I've been making vegetarian chili once a week for the last 3 or 4 months! We NEVER made beef chili that often!  I Hope you'll give it a try it's truly delicious!!!!

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 rib Celery, diced
1/2 large red bell pepper, seeds and ribs removed, diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 jalapeno sliced into large rounds (seeds and all). 
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili flakes (we like spicy chili so feel free to omit this if you don't)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 – 28-ounce can diced tomatoes with their juice
1 can of Corn
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 – 14-ounce can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 – 14-ounce can Red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Big pinch coarse salt

 1)   Heat the olive oil in a medium soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and black pepper. Cook, stirring, for 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are softened. Stir to combine. 

2)    Turn the heat up to high, add the tomatoes and their juice, crushing them a bit with your wooden spoon, add beans, corn and salt, bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 40 minutes.

3)    Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 10 more minutes.

Top with a bit of sour cream, some shredded cheddar cheese and some sliced scallions!! YUMM!

So Yummy!!! Anyone else have an amazing vegetarian recipe?? We're always searching around for great veggy recipes!!

Bacon on Friday??

I've swapped out today's Flowers on Friday post, for Bacon 'on Friday'. I know a two recipe week might be a bit overkill but there are flowers in the picture so if you don't like bacon you can look at the flowers, but seriously . . . who doesn't like bacon???

Have you ever wondered "is there anyway to make bacon worse for your health?" Yes, Yes you can, and it tastes AWESOME.

10 Slices of Bacon (we use a thicker cut bacon but it works just as well with regular cut bacon)
1/2  cup Brown Sugar
2 tsp Dried Chili Flakes (we use 1 Tbsp, because we like it a big spicier, if you like it milder use 1 tsp)

Oven at 400 F. Baking the bacon in the oven is the best way to make bacon, no splattering grease. For this recipe it's the only way to cook the bacon, if you fry it in a pan all of the coating will come off.

Place bacon on a baking sheet, we use a wire rack on a baking sheet lined with foil, it makes clean up so much easier. If you don't have a wire rack just bake it on the sheet.

Lay out your slices of bacon, crumble your brown sugar on top of them, and sprinkle the dried chili flakes.
Bake for around 25 minutes.

Eat, then plan an entire afternoon of high intensity exercise, to work off the fact that you just ate 10 slices of bacon with sugar crumbled on top!
But really Give it a try! It's Amazing!

 Free Printable found Here.

Open Faced Tuna Melts

Personally I'm not a BIG Tuna fan, I'll eat tuna when we go for sushi, but when it comes out of a can . . . I'll usually pass.
That was until The Open Faced Tuna Melt of 2012!!

Here's how it went down, Lee loves Tuna sandwiches, so I made him one. We also had some provolone cheese in the fridge that needed using so I searched around trying to find a Tuna Melt recipe that matched our tastes. I couldn't find the perfect one so I took somethings from some recipes and other ingredients from other recipes and came up with, what can only be referred to as perfection.

 3 cans of Tuna packed in water
A 1/4 cup of mayo, Don't add more or your sandwich will go wet and soggy.
2 Tablespoons Capers
1/8 cup of very finely diced onion (red or yellow or scallions)
a squirt of fresh lemon juice (1 tbsp approx)
A big grind of pepper and a good sprinkle of salt.

1 Tomato
Some Yummy Bread (we used Dark Rye)
and provolone cheese

 We use dark rye bread because it's really dense bread so it can handle all the tuna on top of it. Also because it's so dense, you can slice it really thin.
Mix the first 7 ingredients together in a bowl. Apply onto bread in big Heaping Mounds! Top with sliced Tomatoes and Finish with Cheese.
Put your Oven on Broil, slide in your sandwich and WATCH IT. I mean watch it as closely as you would watch your toddler playing by a cliff edge! Because it will go from nothings happening to Oh "Bleep" I burnt it, in 2 seconds.

 Serve with a green salad on the side and you have Tuna Melt 2012!!!

Variations:
 1)Chopping up a dill pickle and adding it to the tuna mixture was also really good.
 2) 1/8 of a Teaspoon Dijon Mustard added to the tuna mixture was good.
 3) 1/4 diced olives to the tuna mix was a suggestion.
 4) For a crunchier sandwich 1/4 cup of finely diced celery, and a 1/4 cup finely diced red pepper.
 5) Instead of Provolone cheese, use Havarti, Swiss, or Cheddar Cheese.

Notes:
~ If you're not using a dense bread like rye, consider toasting it before you top it and broil it.
~Make sure you don't use too much mayo, it will definitely go wet and soggy.

Hope you like it as much as we do, but really, who doesn't like melted cheese??? 

1 Chicken = 1 Week of Lunches

Roasting Two chickens is just as easy as roasting One. So on Sunday Night why not throw two chickens in the oven . . . eat one for dinner and use the other one for 5+ days worth of lunches. Actually from Two Chickens I can squeeze out, Sunday Night dinner, A chicken pot pie on Monday and 5+ lunches for the week!
I would much rather roast an extra chicken then buy chicken from the deli counter at the grocery store, there's not extra preservatives and you know exactly how fresh it is!!! Plus it tastes WAY better!

Day 1:
Two Roasted Chicken Sandwiches with Pesto Mayo.
I was recently as a birthday party with sandwiches, each sandwich had a bit of Pesto Mayo on them. It was something I thought I wouldn't like . . . but they were delicious!  You can make your own pesto or you can use jarred pesto it's up to you!
We take 1 heaping Tablespoon of Pesto to every 1/2 cup of mayo (Add a little bit at a time because it can get overpowering fast!)
It takes 1 chicken breast, on crusty bread, topped with tomatoes, and garden greens.

Day 2:
Three Chicken Salad Sandwiches (5 if you use smaller Artisan Bread like we did).
You'll need about 1 cup of chopped chicken, 1 stalk of celery, 1/4 to 1/2 cup of mayo (depending how mayo-y you like your chicken salad, fresh cracked pepper and some coarse salt.

Day 3:
Field Greens Salad with 1 Chicken Breast sliced, Mandarin orange slices, red pepper and poppy seed dressing.

Day 4:
Greek Chicken Wraps (3 BIG ones). You'll need some Whole Wheat wraps, tzatziki, some white Chicken, field greens, feta cheese and *Greek Salad.
* Greek Salad Recipe
1 Red pepper (because I like red peppers more then green, 1/2 a cucumber, 1/2 a carton of cherry tomatoes, 1/4 of a red onion, a pinch of dried oregano, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 3 tbsp balsamic vinegar.

Day 5:
It's up to you, I say that because we had enough chicken leftover to make another Salad with chicken (I took field greens topped them with chicken, and leftover Greek salad, finished with Greek dressing!
We also had a little more pesto mayo and just enough chicken for 1 last sandwich!

I hope you can find this useful! All of the lunches were Delicious, Healthy and easy to make! Give'em a try, especially the pesto mayo!

How I Roast a Chicken: 
Take both chickens and rinse them off under cold water, dry well!
Chop two large onions, and slice 1 lemon, stuff the chopped onion and lemon slices up the chicken (the onion and lemon don't give a ton of flavor but they give a ton of moisture so that your chicken doesn't dry out!).
Cover the outside of the chicken, with a little butter, get it under the skin too!
A generous sprinkling of Salt and Pepper (be very generous)
If I have a little fresh rosemary around I'll chop that up and sprinkle that on too (I don't love dried rosemary on chicken).
Crank up the oven . . . 400 degrees or so. Cook for 10 minutes at 400, then turn the oven down to 350, and roast until the meat thermometer reads almost done, take out chickens, tent with tin foil and leave to cook the rest of the way through on the counter (chickens will keep cooking for a bit after they are taken out of the oven so take them out a little premature, or you'll have dry chicken! 15 minutes should do it). By cooking the chicken at 400 for 10 minutes you'll crisp up the skin and it will seal in all of the juices, making for a juicier chicken (have I mentioned I hate dry chicken??).
Cooking times are going to vary depending on what type of oven you have, ours is gas it takes about an hour and a half give or take! Your meat thermometer is your best friend when roasting a chicken!
And that's how I roast a chicken! No basting, and instead of trussing the chicken I just break off the wing tips that would otherwise burn! I hope that helps!!!

* If you're going to make a whole week of chicken lunches, you might want to consider freezing the roasted chicken you'll be using later in the week! Anything staying longer then 3 days in your fridge! 

Strawberry Cream Pie!

This recipe was adapted from Crumbly Cookies Recipe found here.
I changed a few things but not much, I'm not a huge fan of almond extract so I cut it out, and graham cracker crust was from here. It's was SO delicious and so easy to make I had to share it!!!!
Strawberry Cream Pie:

 Crust:
1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (it's about 10 smashed up graham crackers) I buy graham cracker crumbs in a bag from Walmart!! :)
5 TBSP butter, room temp.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix butter and crumbs together and press into a tart shell or pie plate.
Bake for 10 min.
Filling:
- 1 8oz block of cream cheese, room temperature
- 1 cups whipping cream
- 1/3 sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 carton strawberries, sliced into thirds or halves
Whip up the cream until it forms peaks. Meanwhile mix the sugar, cream cheese and vanilla extract. Fold in all of the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture.
Fill in cooled pie crust with filling. Top with strawberries!
Chill in the fridge for about an hour!
EAT!!!

It took 10 min to make and was So worth the effort.

 (If you'd like a larger, thicker filling feel free to double the recipe, I've made it both ways and either way is good, although half the amount = half the calories ;)
I Hope you'll try it! It was Amazing!

St. Patrick's {Cupcakes} Day

I'm a closet cupcake maker. I haven't really mentioned it before but I've made 1000's of cupcakes over the last few years. I make them for every holiday, friends weddings, family weddings, every birthday party, bridal showers, I've even made them for a bachelor party! It's something I LOVE to do!
So with it being St.Patrick's Day, I did the 'oh so predictable thing' and made cupcakes!
A simple Rainbow Sprinkle Cupcake, with a butter cream icing, and a little sugar 4 leaf clovers!

I iced them 2 different ways:
1) a simple spiral

2) a random spiky pattern (it kinds of looks like hydrangea leaves to me).

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

p.s I'm working on a cupcake decorating how to:, keep an eye out for it in the next few weeks!! :)

The Best BROCCOLI you've ever had!

I have wrote so many weird things I never thought I'd ever write and today is no exception, today I'm sharing The BEST BROCCOLI recipe I've every had!!! Seriously Delicious!!!
Other things I never thought would happen, Lee might have been working late and I might have eaten 4 cups of this Broccoli to myself . . . :S
I call it Lemon, Pine Nut, Parmesan Broccoli! (A little more descriptive then needed but it really gets the point accross).

You'll need:
Some Pine nuts for 4 cups of broccoli I used 1/8 of a cup toasted in a pan quickly!
4+ cups of Broccoli (I use about 3 or 4 broccoli Crowns)
1/8 of a cup shredded Parmesan Cheese (don't use the cheap kind in the shaky jar at the back of the fridge splurge for fresh grated)
Juice of half a lemon (Use a fresh Lemon) you can add more lemon if you like, I usually add more to mine after Lee's taken his.
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut up Broccoli, place on baking sheet. Toss with a drizzle of Olive Oil and a generous sprinkling of Salt and Pepper.
Roast broccoli in oven for approx 10- 15 min . . . seriously keep an eye on it, it goes from done to burnt in like 2 seconds!
Toast pine nuts in pan.
Add Broccoli, Toasted Pine Nuts, Lemon Juice and Parmesan in a bowl together!

Get a Fork, eat Broccoli! HANDS DOWN BEST BROCCOLI EVER!!!!
*disclaimer* 
if you don't like lemon you probably won't like this broccoli . . . I'm talking to you Dad!

A little Broccoli info:
Broccoli is rich in cholesterol-reducing fiber and has antiviral and antiulcer activity. It is a super source of chromium that helps regulate insulin and bloodsugar. Broccoli is also a good source of calcium, thus help fight osteoporosis. Broccoli has large amounts of both soluble and insoluble fiber!

*Check back later today for our Family Love giveaway winner!!! Yup it's a two post kinda day!*

White Bean Soup

This is one of our FAVORITE winter soups! White Bean soup with carrots, corn, celery and Bacon!

4 slices of bacon
2 14oz cans of White Kidney Beans
3 or 4 spring carrots
1 or 2 stalks of Celery
1 or 2 cloves of Garlic
1 Onion
1 Can of Corn
1 or 2 tbsp Tomato Paste
Small Pinch of Dried Thyme
1 Box (1 liter) Chicken Stock

Dice up bacon and fry large stock pot or dutch oven.
When the bacon is browned add the onions, celery and garlic . . . saute for 5 minutes.
Add Carrots and thyme to the pan and saute for another 2 minutes.

Add Beans, Corn, and chicken stock, whisk in Tomato Paste and salt and pepper to taste!
Cook on low for 45 minutes! 

It's truly delicious! and super easy to make!
I really hope you try this on the next rainy day!!!

Yam and Balsamic Salad

Happy Chinese New Year!!!! We are Exhausted from yesterday's festivities, 10 dishes in 4 hours!

In Chinese New Year tradition you feast on New Years Eve and go vegetarian on New Years Day, a small attempt to counteract all the heavy food from NYE.

So for Dinner tonight we are having Garden Salad, topped with Yams, and a balsamic dressing.
This is our GO TO quick weekday meal! I would eat it every night if I could, even Lee likes it!
I find that by adding the yams it fills you up, WAY more than a regular salad.

2 or 3 small yams (or One HUGE yam)
a drizzle of olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste.

Toss Diced yams with olive oil, salt and pepper, roast in a 400 degree oven for anywhere from 30 minutes to 45 minutes depending on how large your dice is!

For the salad we add:
1 head Romaine Lettuce
1/4 of a red onion, thinly sliced
1 Red Pepper, thinly sliced
1/2 a Cucumber
a couple radishes

Just your basic run of the mill garden salad.

Balsamic Dressing: (make lots!! You won't regret it)
3 parts olive oil to 1 part Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste!!

Pull your yams out of the oven and let cool slightly, meanwhile compile your salad. Top Salad with warm Yams, drizzle everything with your Balsamic Dressing!

It's seriously the BEST salad!!!

Potato and Leek Soup

This is our favorite soup recipe . . . it's Soup-er easy to make (Get it . . . soup-er).
I make this soup almost every week in the fall and winter . . . I've even made it for my in-laws and my MIL had seconds (that's very exciting around here!).

1 small yellow onion
1 large Leek or 2 small ones
1 box chicken stock or Vegetable stock (we use low sodium organic chicken stock from Trader Joe's)
1 small brown potato
1/8 tsp Dried Thyme
salt and pepper

Sooooo easy Sooooo good!

First dice the onion. Slice up the white part of the Leek and wash well.
Put a tbsp of oil in a pot and fry up the onions and Leeks, about 5 min. You just want them to get a bit of brown on them!
Add Thyme. Stir.
Add box of Stock.
Dice Potato. Add to pot.
Boil soup until potatoes are done . . . make sure they're really done!!!! This soup is ruined by under cooking the potatoes (I've done it, I know . . . p.s. Lee was really hungry that night and still ate it :)
Salt and Pepper to taste . . . I think it's best with a little extra salt (yes I know we used low sodium stock only to add extra salt . . . don't judge me ;)
Throw it all into a food processor and pulse until desired consistency!

Eat, Lick Pot Clean!!! DONE!

Halloween Baking!

A Halloween classic around our house would be Witch Finger Cookies, they're super easy to make and a holiday favorite of Lee's.

Here's the Recipe:

1 cup butter, softened
1 cup icing sugar
1 egg
1 tsp almond extract
1 tsp vanilla cubububdkdjfgoe
2 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup whole blanched almonds
1 1tube (19 g) tube (19 g)red decorator gel, (blood for fingers)

In bowl, beat together butter, sugar, egg, almond extract and vanilla; beat in flour, baking powder and salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. (I'm not going to lie I totally didn't refrigerate the dough :)

Press almond firmly into end for nail. Squeeze in centre to create knuckle shape; using paring knife, make slashes in several places to form knuckle.

Place on lightly greased baking sheets; bake in 325°F (160°C) oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until pale golden. Let cool for 3 minutes. Apply nail blood with  red decorator gel. Remove from baking sheets; let cool on racks. Repeat with remaining dough.

And it wouldn't be a holiday around here without cupcakes!
Devils food cupcakes with vanilla icing, and chocolate sprinkles!!

Have a great weekend!!!! We'll be working on the Barn Door, around here, hopefully it will get completed and we can move on to the hardware part of the project, with any luck . . . and no more illness . . . we could have a new door this November!!!

My Favorite Cookbooks

"Hi my name is Ashli and I'm a Cookbook - a - holic"

I received an email from a very sweet reader asking me to do a post on COOKBOOKS, specifically the cookbooks I have in the kitchen . . . and I've got a lot of cookbooks in the kitchen. Here's some of my favorites:

First is Sandi Richard's Dinner survival . . . try the ginger lime chicken (amazing!). We've been using her cookbooks for years . . . she has super simple, easy, full of flavor recipes, as well as meal plans and shopping lists :)

Next would be Farm Chicks in the Kitchen. Always a favorite of mine! It has great down home recipes, organized by meal (love that). I'm also loving the little extras that come with the book, like the cute apron stencil and some very easy crafts.

Ratio is a neat little book . . . no pictures though. It's based on simple baking and cooking principals that can be applied to any recipe. It gives the ratios for sausage, vinaigrette, pie crust and tons more. I thought it was super interesting, I didn't know that all recipes had a basic equation behind them :) And I would buy the book just for the Chicken Sausage recipe alone!!!!

Everyday Food . . . my go to cookbook!! Easy, simple recipes that taste great and don't take long to prepare. Also, all the ingredients are either pantry staples or easily found at the grocery store! And I LOVE it when cookbooks are organized by season :)

Recently I've been on a bit of a freezer cooking kick and I can thank this book . . . CAN I FREEZE THIS? I loved this book, some great freezer cooking recipes, and some great tips and tricks for freezing food!! And I LOVE the photos of organized freezers :) (I'm so shallow)

Another simple cookbook . . . Best Recipes Ever . . . this is also a great T.V. show here in Canada!!
Great recipes for weeknight and weekend cooking.

And last if your in an ethnic mood there's Vij's. Vij's is the locally famous Indian restaurant here in Vancouver, every Friday and Saturday night there is a line up out the door. Try the Family Chicken Curry recipe it's Ah-Mazing!!!

So there are my picks!!! If you have a second let me know what your favorite cookbooks are . . . I'm always looking for more cookbooks ;)

Meal Plan Monday: Sticky Pork

THIS IS YUMMY!!
Lee asked me what I was going to post today, and I said STICKY PORK recipe, and he said "OOOOooooo . . . . Can we have that for dinner tonight, that was really good"

It's delicious over Broccolini, but it's also great as a Lettuce wrap :) We've done both their equally good!

1 tbsp Oil (peanut or vegetable)
300gr Ground Pork
3-5 cloves garlic (depending on your tastes)
1/2 cup fried shallots, sliced
1-4 thai red chilies, sliced (depending on your taste)
1 tbsp Lime Juice
1/2 tsp brown sugar
2-4 tbsp hoisin sauce (we call it asian ketchup here, you can find it in any Asian food store, or the asian isle at the grocery store)
2 tsp soy sauce

1) Pour Oil in pan, fry shallots, hot peppers and garlic until crispy. Remove from pan.
2) Add  a bit more oil to the pan, fry up ground pork, when almost cooked add the remaining ingredients (brown sugar, lime juice, soy sauce and hoisin sauce, fried shallots, garlic and hot peppers from step 1).
3) Serve over steamed broccolini, or rinse some iceberg lettuce, and put some of the pork mixture inside and serve like a lettuce taco! YUM!!!


We found our winner from our Nashville Wraps Giveaway . . . Kim Dongall. Please contact us to claim your Prize!! Thank you to everyone who entered and THANK YOU to Nashville Wraps for sponsoring the Giveaway.

Recipe Box!

The Library is my favorite place in the whole wide world. Out here in the suburbs we have a small little library, but I can still remember taking long lunches at the Vancouver Library, the third largest library in Canada. While my reading material has changed slightly since my single days living downtown (less fashion, more home), I still check out armfuls of Cookbooks from the library every month!

I like to try at least one new recipe every week. Not every recipe is a winner, but when I find one that is I needed somewhere to keep it. The obvious choice was a recipe box. I found one at Michaels for $5 with a 40% off coupon it only cost me $3. It was exactly what I was looking for, but when I got it home . . . it looked a little . . .  old fashioned.

So first I removed the little gold clasp, then I removed the top, filled the holes in with wood filler and painted it. I used some left over paint from the Townhouse Mudroom, Martha Stewart's Bay Leaf Green.
And after adding a little name plate it was exactly what I was looking for!

Total Cost:
Recipe Box $3
Name Plate $1
Green Paint Free (leftover from Mudroom)
Wood Filler Free (leftover from our old Dining Table)
____________________________________________
Final Cost: $4 :)
I still need section dividers but I plan on using some old scrapbook paper for those!

So we now have a recipe box, and our cork tiles to store our recipes, where do you store yours? I'm hoping to find some online reasources for storing recipes, but first I'll need a kitchen computer system ;) wink wink Lee :)

Meal Plan Monday: Lunch Special

On Mondays I usually elaborate on our Dinners but this week it's all about Lunch!
Lee's Lunch to be exact, me, I just eat what ever is in the cupboard or fridge (one of the luxuries of being a housewife) but for Lee his lunches are planned and packed!

Half of the time he has a microwave at work to re-heat his lunches, but when he's "on site" he has no available appliances, so a cold lunch is what on order.

My general take on Lunch is "Cook a lot for dinner, send leftovers to work with Lee" but that's not always possible, especially when there's no way to warm it up or when your husband is particularly hungry, eats all his dinner and essentially all his lunch too!
But thanks so the technological marvel known as Pinterest I've had A LOT more lunch inspiration.

• There's always the Sandwich Standby! But I like to make it a little "fancier" than a plain old ham sandwich with mayo (although that's pretty Yummy too). One of Lee's favorites is  SHRIMP and AVOCADO. It's super easy, I mash up an avocado in a bowl . . . add a little lemon juice so it doesn't brown, spread it on some whole wheat bread, top it with a layer of little shrimp and a handful of sprouts. Sounds fancy, super easy and if you can "catch" the shrimp on sale no more expensive than a deli meat sandwich! I LOVE these re-usable sandwich bags from WasteNotSaks.

• Lee loves salad for lunch, but only if you put some sort of protein in it. So a simple salad with hard boiled eggs or tuna or some shredded chicken, even a little chopped up smoked turkey from the deli counter.  Then I top it with THIS copy cat Olive Garden Italian Dressing recipe! If you're going to be taking salad to work for lunch it's a good investment to buy a salad container that keeps the dressing separate, ours has an ice pack to keep it all cool, here's the LINK.
• Whenever I cook chili, I always make a triple batch, it's no more work then making a single batch and because your buying ingredients in bulk it makes it even cheaper. I freeze it in Glass Tupperware Containers (glass is better then plastic when heating something up in the microwave). I pull one out of the freezer the night before and by the time Lee's ready to eat it, it's thawed and ready to go!
• Making any regular sandwich in a wrap is always a hit, try a tortilla wrapper with herb and garlic cream cheese, smoked turkey breast and some sliced cucumber!
• A market near us sells rotisserie chickens for $6 (free range but not organic) I buy a couple and make chicken pot pie out of one and chicken salad out of the other! That's two dinners and two lunches for around $15 (after we buy the other ingredients).
• Quiche is always a favorite of ours, easy to make and delicious . . . Lee's response to his work friends when they told him real men don't eat quiche was "Real Men eat Anything" haha LOVE IT! I take any basic Quiche Lorraine recipe and add my own touches, chopped mushrooms, bacon, a little ham.
• I saw these little guys on Pinterest and an DYING to make them. Pizza Muffins!

• This creamy chicken avocado salad was super yummy and Lee requested it again!

• During the fall and winter I'll make a double batch of soup and send Lee to work with a thermos full and some Cheddar Bay Biscuits, always a big hit with the boys at work!

• Lee just reminded me to include, Pizza Subs! A couple of submarine buns, some pepperoni from the deli counter, some mozzarella cheese, and a few tablespoonfuls of pizza sauce (canned).

So that's how lunch time works around here! I know it makes a huge difference in Lee's day when he has lunch ready for him, it also saves us a ton of money! But like everything it takes a little extra planning, but at the end of the day all I need is 5 minutes to pull it all together and pop it in the fridge!

*** We found our Winner from our UPrinting Giveaway, it's Lucky Number #27***

The WISE FAMILY won a poster print from Uprinting. There going to print a poster sized picture of their most recent trip to the beach with their little girl! Congrats!!!

Thank you to everyone who entered and THANK YOU to Uprinting.com for sponsoring

 our giveaway!

Boeuf Bourguignon

Okay . . . it's getting serious now! On Saturday Night I made what is now known as Lee's favorite Dish! All night I heard "oh my, that was the best recipe ever!", "Seriously, you can make that all week", "I wish there was more".
The I wish there was more comment made me laugh because the recipe should feed 6 and there was only the two of us.
Boeuf Bourguignon, I've made it a few times (different recipes) but it's never tasted as good as this recipe and I've never received such acclaim before. I also served new potatos pan fried in butter, and by the way . . . new potatos are AWESOME when they're pan fried in Butter! and to top it all off we ended the night with a french apple tart!

You'll need:

3 lb (1.5 kg) boneless beef cross rib pot roast
4 oz (125 g) thickly sliced bacon, chopped
3 tbsp (45 mL) vegetable oil
1 each onion and large carrot, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp (2 mL) each salt and pepper

1/3cup flour
1-1/2 cups (375 mL) red wine (such as Pinot Noir or Merlot)
1/2 cups (125 mL) beef broth
3 sprigs fresh parsley
2 sprigs fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
1 pkg (10 oz/284 g) pearl onions
1 tbsp (15 mL) butter
3 cups (750 mL) button mushrooms

Trim fat from beef; cut meat into 1-1/2-inch (4 cm) cubes and set aside.

In Dutch oven or I use a oven safe pot with a lid. sauté bacon over medium-high heat until crisp; transfer to paper towel-lined plate.

Add 1 tbsp (15 mL) of the oil to pan (if the bacon didn't provide enough); brown beef, in 3 batches and adding remaining oil as necessary. Transfer to bowl. Drain fat from pan.

*remember Julia Child's tip, make sure your meat is dry . . . it brown better!

Add chopped onion, carrot, garlic, salt and pepper to pan; cook over medium heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Sprinkle with flour; cook, stirring, for 1 minute.

Add to pan wine and broth. Bring to boil, scraping up any brown bits.

Tie parsley, thyme  together with string, throw in 2 bay leaves. Add to pan  bacon, beef and any juices. Cover and braise in 325°F (160°C) oven until meat is fork-tender, 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Peel and trim pearl onion. In skillet, melt butter over medium heat; brown pearl onions, about 5 minutes. Remove and place on plate.

Add mushrooms to skillet; fry until browned, about 5 minutes. Remove and place on plate

Pull pot out of oven:

With slotted spoon, remove beef to separate bowl. Add pearl onions, mushrooms to liquid in Dutch oven (or pot); bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, until thickened and onions are tender, about 25 minutes.

Discard herbs. Return beef to pan and heat through.

This really is the BEST Boeuf Bourguignon, I've ever had, and according to Lee the best meal he's every had. I hope you'll try it out. It's probably more suited to a cool fall evening, but our summer has resembled fall more than it's resembled summer, that's right while everyone is baking in the heat back east and down south . . . I've worn shorts a total of 4 days this summer and it's already 1 week into August :( but on the up side it's great weather for the trees we planted this Spring and cozy winter stews :)

Meal Plan Monday: Paperwork

On Thursday we "Turned the page on Organization" and I received a few questions about where to find the calendar and meal planning printouts . . . It's from THE PROJECT GIRL *   If you pop over there you'll see some of the BEST printouts (ssshhhh . . . and they're free) That's right I said THEY'RE FREE!
Here's the link to the Meal Planning printout I use . . .everyweek! Over the years I've tried a few different sheets to plan meals THIS ONE is by far the best one!! I love that it has a spot to write down your grocery list, right under your meal plan. That way if the store is out of something, or you spot a great deal it's easy to make a quick change out.

Here's how our week looks:

I base our meals on what's in the sale flyers each week, and this month it's even more important because proporty tax was due, and forking over that kind of cash (especially to the government) hurt me . . . deeply :)
Cream cheese is on sale at Walmart so cream cheese and bagels for breakfast it is :)

Monday's is a busy day for me, so a simple dinner of Sandwiches. Lee LOVES Montreal Smoked Meat sandwiches with saurkraut and grainy mustard, on RYE.
And Friday is a sunny fun day so we're having some Natural Smokies and the World's best potato salad!! (the next time I make my "Famous" Potato Salad I'll take some photo's and share the recipe . . . promise!)

So that's our week!
Today's a 2 post day, I'm sharing "THE BEST RECIPE IN THE WORLD" **according to Lee! Stay Tuned!

A Peck of Pickled Peppers

Peter Piper isn't the only one who can pick a peck of pickled peppers!
This isn't one of our quick recipes but it is one of our BEST recipes. We make it in huge batches and they never last longer then a week or two in the fridge.
We eat them straight out of the jar, or with a little cheese on a cracker. But our favorite way is topping a burger!

Ingredients:
2 red peppers
1 green pepper
2 yellow peppers
2 orange peppers
3 jalapeno peppers
1 very large onion
1/4 cup kosher salt
12 ice cubes
2 cups sugar
1 cup vinegar
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp celery seeds (optional)

1) thinly slice peppers and onions using a food processor, it's the fastest and most effective way to slice that many peppers.

2) In a large bowl combine peppers, onions and salt. Toss. Top with ice cubes. Let sit on the counter for 2 hours.

3) After 2 hours, rinse in water. Use a salad spinner to dry the peppers off or blot with a clean kitchen towel.

4) in a saucepan combine sugar, vinegar, and mustard seeds. Heat on stove while stirring until the sugar dissolves into the vinegar. Once it comes to a boil, remove it from heat,

5) Fill jars with the sliced peppers and onions.

6) Pour the warm vinegar into the jars over the pepper mixture.

7) Leave the lids off while the filled jars cool on the counter (about 30 min). Screw lids on and store in the fridge for up to 3 months.

I don't bother canning them as they rarely last an entire month in the fridge, they're Lee's favorite so making sure they get eaten before they go bad has never been a problem!

I hope you'll try them! In the words of Tony the Tiger "They're . . . . . . .GREAT!"

Key Lime Pie aka. HEAVEN

Key Lime Pie is hands down my favorite desert! I could eat it until I died, at which point you could chop me up and I'd taste just like Key Lime Pie! (wasn't that an appetizing thought?)
anyway,
I've tinkered with recipes over the years, always trying to find a yummier, easier recipe. I've found it! It's delicious, and I'm about to gain a ton of weight!

Crust:
1 cup finely ground graham cracker crumbs
2 1/2 tablespoons finely ground graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Filling:
3 large egg yolks
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice , (about 23 Key limes total)
1 cup sweetened condensed milk, (14 ounces)
2 Key limes, thinly sliced into half-moons

Make crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and butter in a small bowl. Press evenly onto bottom of an tart dish. Bake until dry and golden brown, about 10 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.(Leave oven on.)

Make filling: Put egg yolks and lime zest in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Mix on high speed until very thick, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed to medium. Add condensed milk in a slow, steady stream, mixing constantly. Raise speed to high; mix until thick, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low. Add lime juice; mix until just combined.
Spread filling evenly over crust using a spatula. Bake, rotating dish halfway through, until filling is just set, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, or just dive in with a fork, I have tried all three ways, it's always good haha~

We serve it with a dollop of whipped cream, and a little key lime garnish! It's soooo good! And relatively inexpensive, just a $2 bag of key limes, a Graham cracker crust, (homemade or store bought with way is good) I recently saw them on sale for $1.50 at walmart, a can of sweetened condensed milk $3 and some eggs . . .  Not to bad at all!!

Try it, in my opinion it's the best summer dessert  . . .or breakfast . . . whatever!

Two Words: "Irish Nachos"

These are a Lee favorite! We make them for "The Game" all the time, you know when your husband says nope can't go out . . . "The game is on". Usually it's hockey, and they were lucky until Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final, then they lost their lucky magic! Still, they are delicious, they're easy to make and they're super filling, which is super important when you have a bunch of hungry men hanging around!

Irish Nachos are basically regular Nachos, but with potatoes instead! You can cut up your own potatoes in to wedges, we have done it that way and they were pretty good. But, using packaged potato wedges (like McCain) work best! We us an organic version from Cascadian Farm!!

Then you add whatever Nacho toppings you like, here's how we make ours!

One bag of potato wedges
Shredded Cheddar Cheese (about a cup or so)
Shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese (about a 1/4 cup or so)
Diced Red Onion
Diced Tomatoes
Green Onions
Jalapenos

First we bake the fries until they are done, then you add the cheese and melt under the broiler, then take them out add the toppings.

Alongside we serve Salsa, sour cream and Guacamole (recipe to follow).

Homemade guacamole:
One Avocado
Juice of one lime
One Diced Jalapeno (two if you like it hot)
a couple TBSP of Red onion finely diced
and stir in a teaspoon of the salsa your using (it sounds weird but it really works)