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Award giving time!! And the award goes to...

Thank you to Alison @ Hospitality Haven for giving me the "Happy 101" blog award!

Here are the rules:

1. Copy the award image into a post.
2. List 10 things that make you happy.
3. Tag 10 bloggers who brighten your day.
4. Put in a link to their blogs.
5. Notify the award receivers.
6. Recipients should link back to the sender’s blog.

10 Things that make me happy! (No specific order):

1. Evan
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Babies
5. My sweet nephews 
6. Teaching
7. Chocolate
8. Succeeding at something
9. Renewed hope for something you thought couldn't happen
10. When people enjoy my cooking/baking and tell me!

 10 Bloggers who brighten my day (No specific order):

1. Alison - Alison blogs very unique and yummy looking recipes with a few very funny blog posts also!
2. Merissa - Merissa blogs about ways to save money and frugal ways to cook great food! She was my inspiration for blogging, thanks Merissa! :)
3. Kristin - Kristin blogs all about dinners that her and her husband cook coupled with fabulous pictures to show the results!
4. Brandy - Brandy has some very yummy recipes on her blog, be sure to check them out!
5. Carla - Great recipes for various baking on Carla's blog! I love looking at the pictures!
6. Beth - What can I say but WOW! I love looking at Beth's recipes!!
7. Name unknown - This mother-daughter duo has great creative ideas and recipes to enjoy!
8. Dani - Dani has some yummy looking desserts and other sweets on her blog!
9. Katie - Oh my goodness, Katie has delicious looking treats on her blog!  I love that Katie features various blogs on her blog.
10. Sally - This blogs features various savings, freebies and coupons for Canada! I check this blog several times a day! ;)

Pesto Pasta and Salmon

This is a recipe is a new one in our household! We wanted something different and my fiance found this recipe and decided to make it for us. I couldn't decide between wanting pasta or salmon so he combined the two! I turned my nose up when he said it was pesto because I knew that was green! However, I like most of the ingredients so it had to be good and it WAS! Here is the source. I'm not sure where he got the salmon recipe, he basically fried in in butter with pepper and white wine. It was then added to the pasta and was amazing! Also we halved this recipe for just enough for the two of us.

Ingredients

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups fresh basil leaves

3 tablespoons pine nuts (pignolia)

1 dash salt and pepper

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

Directions

The recipe calls for using a food processor but we used our blender. Add the basil leaves, pine nuts, and a dash of salt and pepper to the blender, crush the garlic using a garlic press and add to blender. Slowly drizzle in olive oil into the blender until all the ingredients are pureed.

Now add Parmesan cheese and mix it into the rest of the mixture. If the pesto is too thick, add a tablespoon of water.

Cover and refrigerate until you are ready to use it. This should keep for 2 - 3 days in the fridge but freezes well if you want to keep it longer. 

Here was our dessert, homemade apple pie!!

Homemade Playdough

I made this for the kids at Sunday school. I thought the kids would love this! I plan to make this for future gifts as it is super easy and not expensive.

4 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
2 heaping tbsps of Cream of Tarter
2 tbsp - 1/4 cup of oil
2-4 drops of food coloring
4 cups of boiling water

Add oil and food coloring to boiling water, then add to dry mix. Knead as soon as you can stand it, I used rubber gloves which helped! Keep kneading until it cools enough to solidify. Keep in an air tight container or plastic bag for up to 2 weeks, I think.

Ginger Beef Stir-Fry

My first time making this and it was a hit!! Yay! I enjoyed it too! Normally I pick my cooking apart and think it's awful! I did follow a recipe but I am still taking some credit! I didn't have some of their ingredients so I used some different things such as zucchini. Note to self, do not put in until the very end which I didn't do. Here is the source.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root, divided
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil, divided
• 1 small head broccoli, cut into florets
• 1/2 cup snow peas (didn't use)
• 3/4 cup julienned carrots
• 1/2 cup halved green beans
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 1/2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 tablespoon salt

Directions

1. In a large bowl, blend cornstarch, garlic, 1 teaspoon ginger, and 2 tablespoons vegetable oil until cornstarch is dissolved. Mix in broccoli, snow peas, carrots, and green beans, tossing to lightly coat.
2. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat. Cook vegetables in oil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Stir in soy sauce and water. Mix in onion, salt, and remaining 1 teaspoon ginger. Cook until vegetables are tender but still crisp.

Cheese, Bacon and Bread -What could go wrong?

This is a recipe I asked a friend's friend for after having it at her bachelorette party. It was AMAZING!! I do not like most of the ingredients separately but LOVE them together.

Cheesy Sourdough Bread Dip

1 pkg. light sour cream
1 pkg. light cream cheese
1/2 bunch of green onions
1/2 small pkg of bacon bits
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 sourdough loaf

Cut the top out of the bread and pull out all the insides without damaging the crust. After mixing all ingredients together, put inside the bread (like below) and place the top back on. Cover in two layers of tin foil and bake in the oven at 350 for about an hour. Break apart the pieces of bread from the inside and set aside covered.

Stuffed Zucchini and Parmesan Tomatoes

So this is a recipe that my fiance created! It's stuffed zucchini and I'll try my best to tell you what he did! There is no recipe exactly just putting a bunch of things in zucchini.

He cut a zucchini into four spears and scooped out the insides and cooked for about 10 minutes on 350. He chopped the filling up sauteed with minced garlic. Then add finely chopped tomatoes (he wanted red peppers but we had none so he tried tomatoes instead) He mixed all of this with a very small amount of cooked rice and stuffed the zucchini pieces. Garnish with pepper, oregano and mozzarella cheese. Bake on broil for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

We haven't eaten these yet so they may taste like garbage but I will update!

UPDATE: These were ok tasting, we'd make some adjustments next time.

Parmesan Tomatoes

Super easy and yummy!! Cut a tomato in half, my fiance made them fancy last night, bake for about 15 minutes at 350 or until nearly cooked. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and oregano and bake until cheese is melted! YUMMY!

 

Freebies!!

Everybody likes free stuff, right? Well I sure do! Since we moved here in January I have accumulated a lot of free things! Some things I received when I signed up for our wedding registry, some through promotions, and others were in store freebies! I decided to take a photo of all of my goodies to show everyone just how great it is getting free things! Some things like cereal have not been included because I already ate them! I am getting a free box of Chocolate Cheerios on June 21st though, it's a one day only coupon!

Strawberry Lemonade

I got the idea from my friend Alison @ Hospitality Haven to make a lemonade with berries! She uses blackberries but I really love strawberry lemonade! I had a struggle at the beginning to get the tart taste to go away but I eventually got it! :D

1 cup frozen strawberries, blended (ice crush)
1 cup lemon juice
1.5 L water (approximate)
1/2 cup sugar

Mix altogether and enjoy in the sun! I will have to tweak this recipe next time but this is close enough to what I did.

Recipe Exchange

Check out Merissa's recipe exchange at Little House Living

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

YUMMY!! This is great on a warm sunny day! My absolute favorite and they are so easy to make.

Chose strawberries that look healthy. Wash and dry well. Place on cookie sheet with paper towel to dry. After dried, melt some semi sweet chocolate and dip the strawberries. Place each strawberry on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. Chill for an hour or more, Enjoy!

Strawberry Smoothie

This is my very own recipe for a strawberry smoothie

14 frozen strawberries
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup peach yogurt
1/2 frozen banana
1/2 cup frozen pineapple (optional but tasty!)

Blend together and enjoy! Serve immediately!

Homemade Salsa

This is an edited version of my soon to be Mother-in-law's. Her recipe calls for vinegar but we didn't like the taste of it when we first made it. Now we use lemon juice instead. In order to peel the tomatoes, place in boiling water for a few seconds until the peel looks cracked. Let cool and then the peel will come off easily.

Ingredients

6 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

1.5 red pepper, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup + 1 tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp dried oregano

Pinch or two of crushed red chillies (I used one at first then added more after tasting)

Directions

Coarsely chop tomatoes and lightly drain. Combine all ingredients in a large pot. Boil over medium to low heat for 20 minutes (I left it much longer so there wasn't so much liquid). Put into hot mason jars. Seal jars. Put in hot water bath for 20 minutes, and then cool. (I just put it in a clean salsa jar and in the fridge. My version makes one large jar of salsa and we'll finish that soon!

Three Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

This is a Kraft recipe that I have altered. I decided not to add the canned tomatoes. This is a very yummy and simple meal to make up. We didn't have much time last night to make this but we had it made and eaten in about an hour. We paired it with a Caesar salad and garlic bread. Very yummy! It makes enough for about 6-8 people depending on if you have other sides with it.

Ingredients

1-1/2 cups multigrain penne pasta, uncooked

1 pkg. (283 g) fresh baby spinach leaves (I only used about 1/4 of the pkg)

1 lb. (450 g) boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp. dried basil leaves (Next time I will use fresh basil leaves)

1-1/2 cups (1/2 of 700-mL jar) pasta sauce( I used organic tomato basil)

1-2/3 cups (1/2 of 796-mL can) diced tomatoes, drained (I didn't use)

1/4 cup Light Cream Cheese Spread

1 cup Part Skim Mozzarella Shredded Cheese, divided

2 Tbsp. Parmesan Light Grated Cheese

 

Directions 

 

Heat oven to 375ºF. Cook pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water for the last 1 min.
Meanwhile, heat large nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat. Add chicken and basil; cook 3 min. or until chicken is no longer pink, stirring frequently. Add pasta sauce; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer 3 min. or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in cream cheese spread until melted.
Drain pasta and spinach; return to same saucepan. Add chicken mixture; mix lightly. Stir in 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese. Spoon into 2-L or 8-inch square baking dish.
Bake 20 min. or until heated through. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Bake 3 min. or until cheese is melted. 

 

 

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my future Mother-in-law's recipe! These are fantastic and they make A LOT!!! Every one that has ever had one, loves them!!!

Ingredients

3 cups of flour 

1 1/2 tsp baking soda 

1 1/2 tsp salt 

1 1/2 cups sugar 

3/4 cups brown sugar 

1 cup butter 

3 eggs 

3 tsp vanilla 

1 pack of chocolate chip cookies

Directions

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix together dry ingredients and add to cream mixture. Blend in chocolate chips. Bake at 375 ̊ for 8 to 10 minutes.

Homemade Pizza and Garlic Fingers

This is as from stratch as I can get!! I love this pizza and what is pizza without garlic fingers? Just pizza, boring!! I wish I made more of this last night as the three of us ate it up so fast!!

Here's the recipes I used:

Pizza Dough
Pizza Sauce
Garlic Fingers

And here is the end result!!! YUMMY!!!

Yummy Granola Bars

These are a big hit!! They taste fantastic and are super easy to make! Keep in mind when making them to add a little bit more honey each time you add more dry ingredients. The honey will help keep the granola together.


Granola Bars - (Rogers Package)

• 2 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup nuts (I used peanuts)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup mini cho. chips (after it's cooled!)
• 1 cup dried fruit (I didn't bother)

* I added ground flax seed and crushed graham crackers (2)

Melt butter, sugar and honey in big pot. Add dry ingredients and press into greased pan and chill. If you would like, you can drizzle chocolate on the top! I did and it looks great!

Homemade Pizza Sauce

Pizza Sauce - Source

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 small bay leaf

1 teaspoon fennel seed

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/ultimate-pizza-sauce-114392#ixzz1FCvM8Z9N

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 small bay leaf

1 teaspoon fennel seed

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/ultimate-pizza-sauce-114392#ixzz1FCvM8Z9N

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup celery, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste

2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1 small bay leaf

1 teaspoon fennel seed

Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/ultimate-pizza-sauce-114392#ixzz1FCvM8Z9N

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter 
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped 
• 1 garlic clove, minced 
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce 
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste (I only add about 2/3 of a can)
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried basil 
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon salt (I only add a small little bit)
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 small bay leaf

1. In a large skillet, melt butter with the oil. Add the onion, garlic and saute until soft and transparent.
2. Add tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir until smooth.
3. Add remaining ingredients and bring to slow simmer.
4. Simmer for 30-60 minutes (or not at all depending on your taste and time frame).
5. Remove the bay leaf and spread the sauce on your prepared pizza dough.

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough - Source

• 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 package quick-rising yeast, (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2-2/3 cup hot water, (120-130°F)
• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1. In a large bowl place water and add sugar. Sprinkle with yeast and leave until foamy or for about 15 minutes.
2. Once yeast has grown and become foamy, add in oil and mix. Then add the salt and flour. If the dough seems sticky add more flour, if it seems dry add a little water. Knead the dough until you get a nice even dough.
3. Place dough in a floured bowl and cover. Let rise for an hour or until it doubles in size.
4. Roll out dough with a rolling pin, not necessary but it makes it even. Place on a greased pizza pan or cookie sheet. 
5. Add sauce, toppings and cheese and bake at 425 for about 10-20 minutes or until it looks done! Enjoy!

Maple Glazed Salmon

Here's a new recipe that I received in my email yesterday for salmon! I have only just started to really enjoy salmon and I enjoy having variety. Here's the recipe and the source.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 pound salmon

Directions

1. In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper.
2. Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
4. Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Updated photo below! They turned out WAY better when I used smaller oats and didn't mix too well! Enjoy!

These cookies taste good but I made a few mistakes so they look funny! First of all, I used large oats which is a big mistake! Also from reading the reviews online, others have agreed that a little more flour is needed. So next time I will be tweaking the recipe. Either way I made these today and most of them are eaten already, so they can't be too bad!

Oh and I halved the recipe! Here's the source.

Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups quick-cooking oats
• 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional, I didn't use)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; stir into the creamed mixture until just blended. Mix in the quick oats, walnuts, and chocolate chips. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets.
3. Bake for 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Who says you can't eat well while camping?

We went camping this weekend with friends for the long weekend and we had a great time plus we ate great food! My fiance loves to cook, even in the woods or in this case car camping! We took advantage of the fact that we did not have to backpack into the site and went a little over board!! Normally, we backpack for a few hours before we get to our spot and we DO NOT want much weight in our backpacks but this weekend we didn't mind! Hence, we bought a waffle maker for camping that's right we had waffles while camping! It was great! Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Please ignore some of the bad quality, I'm still learning and I had some settings messed up.

Just realized I didn't take any pictures of our waffles but let me just tell you they were fantastic and covered in strawberries and maple syrup!

Here's our supper Saturday night. It was bacon wrapped salmon with onions and BBQ sauce cooked in the fire!! YUM!

Here's our supper Sunday evening. We had pasta with spaghetti sauce that had bacon in it!!

Banana Chip Muffins

This is a recipe that I got from my soon to be mother-in-law. These are so yummy when paired with a glass of milk!!

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 egg

1/4 cup oil

1/3 cup milk

1 cup mashed bananas (about 3-4 small)

Directions

Mix together first five ingredients. Beat egg until frothy. Mix in oil, milk and bananas. Pour into well. Stir only to moisten. Batter will be lumpy. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Rosemary Monkey Bread

I made this bread to go with a roast dinner. The bread tasted fine but I didn't like the texture. I think the cornmeal made it dry up and feel kind of stale. I would tweak this recipe if I make it again.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup warm water

1 tbsp sugar

1 pkg. dry yeast

3 cups all-purpose flour (more if necessary)

3/4 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 tbsp olive oil, divided

2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp dried

1 tsp coarse black pepper

1 clove garlic, minced

Directions

1. Place warm water in small bowl and stir in sugar. Sprinkle yeast over top and allow to rest for 10 minutes, or until bubbly.
2. In large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal and salt.
3. Stir yeast mixture down and add 1 tbsp oil. Stir into flour. Add extra flour if necessary to form smooth dough. Knead for 10 minutes. Place dough in oiled bowl and cover. Allow to rise in warm spot for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
4. Divide dough into about 12 balls. Combine 3 tbsp oil with rosemary, pepper and garlic. Roll balls in herb mixture.
5. Line large loaf pan with parchment paper and place balls in pan. Cover and allow to rise in warm spot for about 1 hour, or until doubled in bulk. Bake in preheated 375 oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until puffed and golden.

Beacon Hill Park

We went to Beacon Hill Park yesterday and I got some ok photos. I'm still learning how to use my camera! We had a great day together. We went to Beacon Hill Park for a while then found a yummy ice cream shop. Well actually it was gelato, which I learned is only slightly different than ice cream - it's better for you too! On our way home we stopped into our favorite pizza place, Panago, and took two pizzas home for supper! Great day all around!

I LOVE this kind of flower!! They are my favorite kind of flower! They are called Narcissus, I believe. They remind me of daffodils which are also my favorite!

These little guys were so cute!! There were 6 of them with their mother.

So cute!!!

This Great Blue Heron was hilarious! He was staying SO still on this fountain top, people thought he was a statue!

BBQ Lemon Herb Pork Chops

YUMMY!! I didn't do this exactly right but they were still very yummy! And it was my first time BBQ pork chops! It recommends marinating them overnight or for at least 2 hours but I only did it for 45 minutes and they were very delicious and tender, next time I will try to leave them longer!

Here is the source.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 6 (4 ounce) boneless pork loin chops

Directions

1. In a large resealable bag, combine lemon juice, oil, garlic, salt, oregano, and pepper. Place chops in bag, seal, and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight. Turn bag frequently to distribute marinade.
2. Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat. Remove chops from bag, and transfer remaining marinade to a saucepan. Bring marinade to a boil, remove from heat, and set aside.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill pork chops for 5 to 7 minutes per side, basting frequently with boiled marinade, until done.

Creamy Tomato Pasta

Here is the meal we had tonight. It was made with homemade whole wheat pasta using a friend's pasta machine, thanks Kristin! The pasta dish was ok but only as a side not so great as a full meal. We paired it with lemon basil salmon, Caesar salad and had brushetta as an appetizer.

Homemade Pasta (WW)

 For each serving, use 1/2 flour and 1 egg. You also need Salmonella flour to coat. A pasta machine would definitely help but is not needed, you could use a rolling pin.

Yummy Brushetta

Mix diced tomato, chopped red onion, minced garlic, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil together. Sprinkle with oregano and basil. Place on sliced baguette and top with mozzarella cheese, bake at 375 for about 15 minutes then broil until cheese browns, do not burn!

Creamy Tomato Pasta - source

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 tablespoon dried basil leaves
• 3/4 teaspoon white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter

Directions

1. In a saucepan, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat. Make sure it doesn't burn. Add tomatoes, basil, sugar, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to boil and continue to boil 5 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates. Remove from heat; stir in whipping cream and butter. Reduce heat and simmer 5 more minutes.

BBQ ribs, roasted beets, ginger veggies and rice

All I can say is YUM!! We buy our ribs at Costco they have the back ribs that are 

AMAZING! There is no real recipe for this meal but I'll try to tell you what we did.

BBQ Ribs

1 rack of back ribs

Bull's eye BBQ sauce (smoked hickory)

1 Bay leaf

Boil ribs with a bay leaf until they are coming away from the bone, about 35-45 minutes. Once ribs are done, BBQ until BBQ sauce is sticky and yummy!

Roasted Beets

1 beet, peeled and chopped

Basalmic vinegar

Olive oil

Orange juice

Mix altogether and place beets in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes to an hour, check with a fork to make sure they are tender.

Ginger veggies

Basically fry veggies in sesame oil and ginger then garnish with sesame seeds.

Tomato Basil Soup

We have been making this soup for a while now and I can honestly say I'd give it 5 stars!!!! I used to love this soup at a local restaurant but recently ate there and did not enjoy it nearly as much! My fiance and I had this with a chicken Caesar salad with a multigrain baguette.

 

 

 

Rich and Creamy Tomato Basil Soup - Source

• 4 tomatoes - peeled, seeded and diced
• 4 cups tomato juice
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 14 leaves fresh basil
• 1/2 cup butter 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese (optional but very yummy)

1. Place tomatoes and juice in a stock pot over medium heat. Simmer for 30 minutes. Puree the tomato mixture along with the basil leaves, and return the puree to the stock pot.
2. Place the pot over medium heat, and stir in the heavy cream and butter. Season with salt and pepper. Heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Do not boil.     

Homemade Granola Cereal

My fiance loves having granola for breakfast with fresh fruit, yogurt and milk. When we finished up the store bought one this time, I said I would try to make him some from scratch. Here is my attempt at it, I hope he likes it! It smells really yummy!!

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats
1 cup wheat bran
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp brown sugar

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until oats are covered. Place on parchment paper covered cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes stirring every 5 minutes until browned. It makes about 6-8 servings (1/2 cup servings).

Stuffed Peppers and Sweet Potato Fries

If you asked me a couple of years ago if I would eat meat, spices and veggies stuffed inside a bell pepper, I would have laughed in your face! Now, I LOVE it!! I had to wait a long while before I made this because I had my fiance sick of them!! I love having these because it's a full meal and I get a lot of veggies at the same time. I have two variations of these one with spinach vs one with zucchini.

The sweet potato fries are also a favorite of mine! I enjoy them at restaurants more because I can't get them to taste as good and crispy but I'm sure mine are much better for us!

Stuffed Peppers (2-3 servings)

2-3 bell peppers, cut off tops and clean out (use yellow, red or orange)

2-3 sausages (could use ground beef also)

1/2 zucchini, peeled and diced

1-2 mushrooms (could use more but I don't like them)

3/4 cup Jasmine rice (could use any kind)

1/2 cup mozza cheese

1/4 cup cashews, finely chopped

1/4 onion, finely chopped

Cook sausage until done and add onion near the end. While the sausage is cooking, cook the rice also. Once rice is done add cheese and mix together. Add all the vegetables and cashews, mix well. Add the mixed vegetables to the sausage and onion, mix together. Stuff the peppers with filling, bake in oven at 350 degrees until peppers are cooked about 35 minutes.

Sweet Potato Fries 

1 large sweet potato, diced

Basil & Oregano, as desired

Extra Virgin Olive oil, just enough to coat the potatoes

To make them crispy, soak potatoes in water with 1 tsp of sugar and 1 tsp of salt. (It gets the moisture out). Leave soaking for about an hour, if possible. Drain, rinse, and pat dry. Drizzle with oil until well coated, put desired amount of spices on them. Place in oven for about 35-50 minutes on 375 degrees. Keep checking them and stirring them around.