Summer BBQ Chicken!

BBQ chicken, corn on the cob and rice tonight!

I found an easy grilled chicken marinade recipe on Damn Delicious today so gave it a try... It was damn delicious! Very easy and tasty! I got home and realized I didn't have balsamic vinegar though so used our flavoured vinegars from Blue Sky that we got at The Forks Farmer's Market this summer instead! And as usual I'm not a mustard fan so just eliminated that all together! Everything else was the same though.

I spread a small bit of garlic butter from Mom's Pantry on our fresh corn, sprinkled with pepper and dill and BBQ'd for about 15 minutes! Served with rice on the side (as usual lol) and had a nice summer dinner!

http://damndelicious.net/2015/06/22/easy-grilled-chicken/

Honey Garlic Quinoa Chicken

Brent made up another recipe Sunday night! Well he took some inspiration from other recipes he found but really didn’t follow any of them, just combined some ideas!

-½ cup honey

-1 tsp garlic powder

-¼ cup uncooked quinoa (then cook according to directions – we put ¼ cup of vegetable broth in to cook)

-¼ cup fine bread crumbs

-1 tsp Mom’s Pantry Garlic and Pepper seasoning (you can use any seasoning/spices of course, we just thought this would go with our Honey Garlic idea)

-Chicken breasts (this made more than enough to coat my chicken breast and Brent’s Veggie chicken breast)

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Pour honey onto a small plate and sprinkle garlic powder on.

Combine all other ingredients (quinoa, bread crumbs, and seasoning) on a second plate.

Dip chicken in honey and coat both sides (we ALWAYS dip Brent’s first of course!) and then into the crumb mixture to coat both sides.

Put chicken in baking dishes and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Then we made rice to go alongside (so kind of doubled up our grains with quinoa and rice but whatever) and no vegetable… it was a Sunday, what can I say. The chicken was REALLY good and moist and had that nice honey taste!

But guess what... I took a picture and it has somehow mysteriously disappeared from my phone... even from my deleted items folder... I'm blaming our child LOL so sorry, no picture today but make it and you will see for yourself! :)

Spinach & Artichoke Baked Pasta

I was looking for an easy pasta dish to prepare on my lunch break and be able to throw in the oven at the end of the day and this is what I came across on Chatelaine!! Soooo good! I didn't change one thing except I didn't use gluten free pasta :) and I topped with some extra Parmesan cheese along with the bread crumbs the recipe called for - delish!

http://www.chatelaine.com/recipe/stovetop-cooking-method/creamy-spinach-and-artichoke-baked-pasta/

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

This is an awesome, filling, delicious salad from Kraft!!

I used a spring mix salad instead of romaine but all else was the same!  I made half of the recipe as well - this makes a lot!

I also just grilled a chicken breast for each of us to top the salad - rubbed with the below spices & olive oil and BBQ'd until cooked through!
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dill
1 tsp ground black pepper
1TBSP olive oil
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice


Mediterranean Quinoa Salad:
http://www.kraftcanada.com/recipes/mediterranean-quinoa-salad-115357

Vegetable Soup!

Well, we all have a stupid summer cold in our house right now, so vegetable soup for supper it is!  Just simple and easy ingredients - I put everything in the slow cooker at noon and was ready for us by suppertime! 

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker:

4 cups vegetable broth

5 carrots, chopped

2 potatoes, chopped (I used red)

5 celery stocks, chopped

1/4 cup quinoa 

1 TBSP minced garlic

1 tsp dill

1tsp rosemary

1tsp ground sage

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Pinches of salt and pepper to taste

Cook on low on for about 6 hours!

Sunday Dinner!

We had Brent’s parents for supper last night!  I made my Lemon BBQ Chicken with a slight twist and used 1 tsp of dill instead of cayenne pepper, just for something a little different.  Brent BBQ’d his veggie chicken breast with just some spices and a bit of sauce.  He made vegetables with quinoa in the slow cooker and we BBQ’d corn on the cob, just brushed with a bit of olive oil and sprinkled with seasoning salt.  And a little side salad with spinach, strawberries, goat cheese and Kraft Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing. For dessert, a new Apple Crumble recipe from the Oh She Glows Cookbook using apples from our neighbour’s tree  – recipes below!

Lemon BBQ Chicken:

Mix together the following and pour over chicken to marinate for at least 3 hours. Brush excess marinade as you barbeque for about 10 minutes on each side:

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup olive oil

2 garlic gloves minced

1 tsp dill (fresh or dry!)

Pinch of salt and pepper to taste

Coconut Quinoa Curry

http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Slow-Cooker-Coconut-Quinoa-Curry-1516734

Mother Nature’s Apple Crumble – “Oh She Glows” Cookbook

Apple filling:

6 to 7 heaping cups peeled and chopped baking apples

1 Tablespoon arrowroot or cornstarch powder

1/3 cup Sucanat or other granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds

1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Topping:

1 cup gluten free rolled oats

1 cup thinly sliced almonds

1/3 cup almond flour

¼ cup pure maple syrup

¼ cup coconut oil, melted

2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut (optional)

1 Teaspoon cinnamon

¼ Teaspoon fine grain sea salt

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease an 11 by 9 inch baking dish.
• Make the apple filling: place the apples in a large bowl and sprinkle the arrowroot powder on top. Toss until combined. Stir in the sugar, chia seeds, and cinnamon. Add the lemon juice and stir to combine. Pour the apple mixture into the prepared dish and smooth it out evenly.
• Make the Topping: in a large bowl (you can use the same one you used for the apples), stir together the oats, almonds, almond flour, maple syrup, melted coconut oil, shredded coconut, (if using), cinnamon, and salt until thoroughly mixed.
• Sprinkle the oat mixture all over the apple mixture in an even layer.
• Cover the dish with foil and poke a couple of air holes in the foil. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, until the apples are just fork tender. Uncover the dish and bake for 10 to 15 minutes more, until the topping is golden and fragrance.
• The leftovers are fantastic cold, straight from the fridge, or you can reheat it in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes. It’s healthy enough for breakfast the next day too!

Bruschetta Flatbread

Brent bought some Naan bread so I figured I'd do something with it and had been thinking about Bruschetta since I spotted the seasoning mix in the pantry I got from his mom's store (The Cinnamon Tree - 658 10th Street in Brandon Manitoba in case you didn't know... hehe) - so Bruschetta Flatbread it is!

Here's what I did -

I cut up a small package of Cherry Tomatoes (each cut into quarters) and tossed with 1 TBSP of the Gourmet Village Bruschetta Mix, 1 tsp minced garlic, my last few leaves of fresh basil, about 1 tsp of freshly squeezed lemon juice, and a sprinkle of pepper, then set in the fridge for about half an hour.
Preheated oven to 300F.
Pan fried cubed chicken breast for me and Tofurkey chicken strips for Brent, seasoning with a little bit of salt and pepper as it cooked.
I spread about 1 TBSP of pre-made pesto on each naan bread and then spread the cherry tomatoes, chicken and a few spots of goat cheese on each and baked for about 15 minutes until the bottom of the bread was getting crispy. Then I also broiled for a few minutes to brown the goat cheese just a little!!
Served with a small side salad, -just spinach, cucumbers, croutons and we each had different dressings that we liked (Brent had Creamy Poppyseed and I had Greek Feta & Oregano)

Lemon Parmesan Pasta with Pine Nuts

Recipe from Canadian Living from their nice Vegetarian cookbook but I found the recipe online too so I could be lazy and not type it all out :)

Also, I made with pasta shells (whatever their official name is, I’m not sure), not linguine! I didn’t totally follow the recipe so I’m sure it could have been even better I’m sure.

Along with the pasta I also BBQ'd us each a chicken breast that I brushed with about 4 TBSP of olive oil that I had mixed with a few pinches of salt, pepper and dill and topped with fresh jalapeño!

Here’s the Pasta recipe!

 http://www.canadianliving.com/food/recipe/tagliatelle-with-parmesan-pine-nuts-and-lemon-2

Roasted Vegetable Lasagne

Vegetarian night for everyone! I don’t generally eat “traditional lasagne” since I’m not a ground beef fan, so I’m quite happy to make it vegetarian!

Roasted Vegetable Lasagne

12 lasagne noodles

1 cup fresh baby spinach

4 cups assorted chopped raw vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, eggplant, zucchini, onion, mushrooms, etc)

1 ½ cups tomato/pasta sauce

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1 cup cream cheese, ricotta or goat cheese (softened)

1 TBSP olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

1 TBSP oregano

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Spread chopped vegetables (excluding spinach) on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper, oregano and red pepper flakes.  Toss, then put in oven for about 15 minutes.

While vegetables are roasting, cook lasagne noodles according to package.

Start layering lasagne noodles in 9x13 pan with sauce, cooked vegetables, spinach and both types of cheese.  Top final layer with sauce and mozza cheese only.

Bake for 45 minutes (or freeze for a ready-made meal another day and bake at 350F for 2 hours)  

Parmesan Chicken Sandwich

I sort of took my inspiration on this from Moxie’s Parmesan Chicken Sandwich that I always get!!! Yummmmm… parmesan crusted chicken breast with arugula, crispy prosciutto and their soft house made cheese (reminds me of goat cheese) served on a nice ciabatta bun. So here’s my less fancy version…

Pre-heat oven to 250F.

Heat 1 TBSP olive oil in 2 pans on stove top on medium heat, then add a chicken breast (“real” and/or “fake”) and begin cooking. After abut 5 minutes, flip and sprinkle parmesan cheese to coat as well and pinches of salt and pepper. Fry for another 5 minutes or so and flip again, repeating parm cheese and S&P on the other side. The parmesan will start to get crispy!!! Flip again to make the other side crispy and be sure is cooked through.

Open ciabatta buns on a baking sheet and spread goat cheese (I used Boursin Goat Cheese with Rosemary) and bake for about 5 minutes or until bun is starting to get a bit crispy and goat cheese is soft.

Tonight, I topped our buns with leaf lettuce, fresh jalapenos, and Brent’s had tomato and onion on as well, along with each of our chicken breasts

Then I served with a salad on the side topped with cucumbers, radishes and freshly grated parmesan.

Folklorama & Rainbow Stage

I'm a travel agent (and a real estate agent!) and sometimes host short tours for work - this Thursday to Saturday I took a little group to Winnipeg for Folklorama and Rainbow Stage. For those who don't know, here's a little info!

Folklorama is a cultural festival in Winnipeg Manitoba featuring pavilions around the city focusing on different countries and areas around the world! The festival runs for 2 weeks in the summer and each week features different pavilions. Each has set up a cultural display with art work and information from their country as well as performing amazing shows and home cooked meals (and drinks of course!). We take our group on a VIP tour to 3 pavilions in the evening (no lines, prime seating, show and food and drink at each pavilion!). All performers, cooks, servers, hosts, guides are volunteers - over 20,000 of them over the 2 weeks to put on this amazing festival!!

Caribbean pavilion - we had an appetizer of jerk chicken and Jamaican beef patties with a choice of piña colada or rum punch then an upbeat show featuring steel drums, limbo dancers, a braided may pole performance and lots more!!
Indian pavilion - dinner featuring butter chicken, rice, naan bread, chickpeas, a few other things with cultural beer then an amazingly colourful show with belly dancers, Bollywood and lots of beautiful costumes full of sequins!
Serbian pavilion - dessert was some sort of jam filled shortbread!! And performances with folk dancing, violins and singing!
(Apparently Brent and Devlan made "carrot hot dogs" this night while I was away! No joke... I'll post the recipe later!)

Friday night we went to Rainbow Stage for their production of Shrek the Musical which was awesome! Rainbow Stage is a beautiful partially outdoor theatre that I've been going to since I was born basically, and never disappoints! Great singing, dancing and acting with perfect sets and costumes!! You must check it out in the summer when you're in Winnipeg :) Shrek runs until August 31 and next summer they we be performing Little Shop of Horrors and Mama Mia!!
But since this is a food blog... Let's back up a bit haha before the show our group went to the Old Spaghetti Factory at The Forks! They give us an awesome group menu to choose from - lasagna, spaghetti, ribs, chicken, and so on! All served with bread, salad, ice cream for dessert and drinks!!

https://www.folklorama.ca

http://www.rainbowstage.ca

Mandarin Orange Chicken

Brent has experimented with a few different Mandarin Orange Chicken recipes on his own but on Wednesday night followed this attached recipe! It's an awesome combo of sweet and spicey and keeps the chicken really moist! He also added a few fresh chopped jalapeños to give a little "extra" spice :)

http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chicken-and-mandarin-oranges?pmcode=ZNLSTFA&ehid=3cb8ce66e01607e49dd8e7769a07f24c81a6ba8a&_cmp=EmailAFriendHorizontalOffers&_ebid=EmailAFriendHorizontalOffers8/10/2016&_mid=63932&ehid=3cb8ce66e01607e49dd8e7769a07f24c81a6ba8a

BBQ Cauliflower Tacos

Ok I'm a bit behind on my blogging this week!  Here's Tuesday! BBQ Cauliflower and Chicken Tacos with Creamy Lime Slaw. The recipe I found was cauliflower and chickpeas... But I made it chicken instead haha so just cut up a real chicken breast into strips and used some of Brent's veggie chicken strips and covered them in the BBQ rub before pan frying! I did everything else in the recipe how I was supposed to and they were super yummy!!

http://www.shelikesfood.com/1/post/2014/08/bbq-cauliflower-chickpea-tacos-creamy-lime-slaw-gfv.html

Buffalo Cauliflower Soup

Another slow cooker day! Buffalo cauliflower soup!

I found this recipe on kitchentreaty.com and just altered it a bit. The original recipe is made on the stovetop, but I just combined the cauliflower, potatoes, celery, carrots, onion (red instead of yellow onion), garlic, salt and pepper, paprika and broth and cooked on low in the slow cooker for about 6 hours. Then added the buffalo sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot buffalo sauce) and milk before blending and serving! I also added a bit of dill for one more flavour. And just made some garlic toast instead of the crostini! And I topped with mozzarella and another little bit of Buffalo sauce.

It was awesome!!!

http://www.kitchentreaty.com/vegan-buffalo-cauliflower-chowder-with-herbed-crostini/

Asian Steak Lettuce Wraps

I love making lettuce wraps and here's an awesome recipe I found! And again I just split the marinade in half to use half for my beef strips and half for Brent's veggie beef! I didn't go to the trouble of making the pickled carrots because we already had some in the fridge my mom made - Brent doesn't like "pickled" anything so just used normal carrots for him! I didn't have any kimchi so just omitted that and I used leaf lettuce instead of Boston lettuce! I also cooked some quinoa and added it for a little bit of grain in the dish. Otherwise was the same and is delish! Check it out

http://sharedappetite.com/recipes/asian-steak-lettuce-wraps/

Quesadillas

Brent barbecued some quesadillas Friday night - kind of the same ingredients as our BBQ pizza the other day! Just a little BBQ sauce, shredded cheese, black beans, corn, red peppers and onions. Grilled on lowest temp for just about 7 mins - flipping (carefully) once!

Honey Balsamic Chicken & Goat Cheese Salad

Here's a recipe from Canadian Living - I can never say no to goat cheese!
I see now I totally didn't follow the recipe ... I cooked the chicken as a whole breast instead of cubed like I was supposed to! Anyway I cooked it a little longer as a whole and it was still really good!!  As usual, my regular chicken breast and Brent's veggie chicken!
Also for the dressing... I'm not a mustard fan haha so I did my own thing and mixed olive oil, raspberry vinegar, a little honey, lemon juice and salt and pepper!
A nice slice of French bread on the side!

http://www.canadianliving.com/food/recipe/honey-balsamic-chicken-and-goat-cheese-salad

Eggplant Burgers & Sweet Potato Fries!

Brent is BBQing tonight... And I helped a little. After a big storm and tornado warning... We weren't sure if we'd get to try this idea tonight or not but here we go!

I cut a medium sweet potato into small wedges, and tossed with olive oil, seasoning salt, fresh ground Pepper, cayenne pepper, and put in our BBQ basket to cook for about 30 mins on low.

Brent cut an eggplant into round sections about an inch thick, brushed with olive oil and spices and BBQ'd for about 10 minutes.

He cut Halloumi cheese into round sections and put on the BBQ for just a few minutes - this cheese is crazy - is does NOT MELT when it's grilled and tastes sooooo good!

Then we toasted some ciabatta buns and assembled the burgers with the eggplant,  Halloumi, lettuce and jalapeños! Brent mixed some mayo and sriracha to dip his sweet potato fries in!

Blueberry Muffins!!

We made muffins this mornings before work/daycare! Some big and some mini for Devlan! Here's the easy recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/6865/to-die-for-blueberry-muffins/

Leftovers +

A simple night after the long weekend! Leftover pasta salad, Brent's veggie chicken breast and my steak just cooked with BBQ sauce! I'm a little embarrassed by the size of my steak... But blame my dad, he's the butcher haha. Something more "exciting" coming tomorrow!!

Dinner @ Brian and Gwen's!

Dinner at the inlaw's tonight!

BBQ chicken for the meat eaters and Tofurkey chicken & vegetable stir fry for Brent with tons of amazing sides!!! Baby potatoes baked with Parmesan and spices, mini Mac and cheese (recipe below!), pasta salad, broccoli salad, corn on the cob and bread. Yum yum yum

Mini Mac'n'cheese - Gwen & Brian
http://pin.it/RZeNPHu

Broccoli Salad - Chris
Do your thing with these ingredients from my bro in law - he was inspired by a few recipes but ended up sort of making it all up! Broccoli, cucumbers, grapes, celery, crispy onions, dried cranberries, sunflower seeds, salt, pepper, tzatziki, cumin and turmeric

Pasta Salad - Brent
Home made dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
2 TBSP flavoured vinegars (we bought some yummy ones from Blue Sky Manitoba at The Forks farmers market yesterday!! Picture below)
1 TBSP tzatziki
1/4 cup goat cheese
2 TBSP Old Bay Seasoning
2 tsp fresh chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix this all together and top cooked pasta and vegetables!!!! Brent used cucumbers, celery and avocado.


Kyleigh and I did absolutely nothing to contribute to this meal ... So we did the dishes.

Blue Sky Manitoba Savory Vinegars - Basil and Dill!