Five on Friday

1)  We've been eating a lot of Greek yogurt lately.  We always top it with bee pollen, and chia seeds:

And then some cacao nibs:

And fruit:

2)  Greek yogurt makes a great addition to breakfast, with toasted homemade bread, coffee, and freshly juiced fruits and veggies.

3)  On Sundays we often make a big batch of a meal or two so that we have lunches for the week.  This week I made a big pot of beef stew with dumplings, and a pot of soup.  It has been a cold week, and these hearty foods were perfect.

4)  We very, very rarely eat fast food.  Last week we ate KFC for the first time in two years.  We got the 8 piece chicken with a medium fries, "salads" and gravy, and we ate this for dinner twice, and still couldn't finish all the fries!  Now that we got our fill for KFC, I'm guessing it will be about three years before we have it again. 

Yum!!

First night portion

Leftovers the next day ... still couldn't eat it all!

5)  We believe it's okay to eat fast food once in a blue moon ... especially when the majority of the time, we are loading up on fresh fruits and vegetables, and juicing regularly:

 

What are your Friday things?  What are you up to this weekend?

Thai Yum Yum Bowl

Recipe creation doesn't always come easy, but just like any creative venture, there are periods of great output, followed by less-inspired times.  

We often work together to create recipes, but sometimes one of us has an idea and we just go with it.  The other day Christopher created a recipe that was so fresh and "citrusy", it was reminiscent of spring.  The textures and flavours in this dish made my taste buds dance, and I look forward to the next time we eat this creation.

Thai Yum Yum Bowl

(Serves 2)

1 T olive oil

1 Thai red chili, minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1.5 tsp ginger, minced

1/2 stick lemon grass, minced

2 green onions, chopped

1.5 cups (approx) ground pork 

1 T Thai yellow curry paste

1 T soy sauce

1 tsp mirin

juice of 1 lime

1 T (packed) cilantro (or more to taste)

170 g bean sprouts (about half a bag)

1 carrot, shredded

Jasmine or sticky rice, cooked according to directions on package

Garnish with cilantro and crushed peanuts

Heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the chili, garlic, ginger and onions.  Cook 1-2 minutes, just to soften.  Add pork and cook until no longer pink.  Add the curry paste, soy sauce and mirin, and stir to coat.  Add juice of 1 lime, and the 1 T cilantro.  

Put cooked rice in bowls.  Top with meat mixture.  Top that with raw bean sprouts, shredded carrot, and garnishes (cilantro and crushed peanuts).

Enjoy!

Do you have a creative hobby?

Curried Root Vegetable Soup

This soup isn't pretty ...

But it's super easy, full of flavour, and great for a healthy weekday meal.  We make a batch of homemade soup at least once a week, and this one was created on a whim.  We were planning to make a stir fry, and somehow this happened:

Curried Root Vegetable Soup

2 large parsnips, finely diced
2 carrots, finely diced
1 small white onion, minced
2 T ginger, minced
chicken or veggie broth (just to cover veggies)
1 can coconut milk
2 tsp curry powder
salt to taste

Toss all the veggies into a dutch oven pot.  Pour broth over to cover.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for 25 minutes.  Put in a blender and puree.  Return to the pot.  Stir the coconut milk and curry powder, and season to taste.



We enjoyed the soup with a tossed salad and some homemade bread.

Are you a soup fan?
What is your favourite soup to make? (post link if you have one)

He was Promised Desserts

A couple of weeks ago I told Christopher that it had been a while since I had done any baking, and that I was going to make him some desserts.  He didn't let me forget that he "... was promised desserts."

In addition to the grapefruit cookies that I made last week, I also made some mint, double chocolate cookies, stuffed with double-stuffed Oreos (that's a mouthful), and pumpkin spice cupcakes with salted, caramel butter cream.

I made him share his cupcakes with his band mates.  This is the boy who didn't want to have birthday parties as a kid, because he didn't want people eating his cake!  Bahaha!

When he was at work the next day, I also sent some home with his sister!

Because I was on a baking roll, I made a couple loaves of bread.  I love to make bread, and much prefer it to the store-bought stuff.

Have you baked anything recently? 

Grapefuit Cookies

Grapefruit has always been one of my favourite fruits.  I love eating a grapefruit as a snack; I love to juice it with other fruits and veggies, and we buy 100 % grapefruit juice weekly to enjoy with breakfast.

People bake with lemons often, but I believe there is not enough grapefruit baking, so behold, grapefruit cookies!

They are very soft, with a mild grapefruit taste.

Grapefruit Cookies

Makes approx. 20 cookies

(Adapted from this recipe)

1/2 cup salted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 egg
zest of one grapefruit (2-3 T)
1 T fresh grapefruit juice
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp baking soda
1.5 cups flour
1/4 cup icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line or spray baking sheets.

Whip butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Whip in vanilla, egg, zest and juice.  Mix in dry ingredients (except icing sugar) until just combined.  Roll cookies approx. golf ball size, and then roll in icing sugar.  Bake 10 minutes.  Cool slightly before transferring to a cooling rack.

Do you like grapefruit?  Have you ever baked with it?

Thai Kitchen Lucky 7

In celebration of Chinese New Year, seven food bloggers from across Canada have been chosen to compete in a recipe challenge using Thai Kitchen products.  One of the food bloggers is fellow Saskatchewan blogger, Stacey Martin from This Lil Piglet.

Photo credit: Stacey Martin (This Lil Piglet)

Photo credit: Stacey Martin (This Lil Piglet)

The winner will be crowned Thai Kitchen Canada's brand ambassador.  

You can vote for Stacey's Sweet Red Chili Meatballs by clicking here.

 

Just for voting, you'll have the chance to win fabulous prizes ($1500 Air Canada gift card, $1000 in Jamie Oliver cookware, $1000 Apple gift card).

I interviewed Stacey to hear her take on Thai cooking & Global Recipe Mash-ups:

Congratulations on being one of the TKLucky7! How did you end up being one of the lucky ones?

Thank you! :)  I was approached by the lovely brand representatives asking me to take part in this challenge as one of seven across Canada, quite an honour to me.

Do you eat a lot of Thai food? 

I eat my fair share of Thai food but I love trying different cuisines. Thai food is a favourite because it envelops fresh ingredients; I can look at a Thai dish and be confident I'm sharing a rainbow of nutrients with my family.

Do you cook Thai food at home? 

We cook many types of cuisines at home. Living rurally it's not always possible to experience authentic cuisine so my husband and I take it into our own hands to create recipes from different cuisines. Thai is usually a go to simply because it satisfies every taste preference in the family and with 5 kids, that's not easy to do.

What is your favourite ingredient in Thai cuisine?

Hands down, the Coconut Milk. It's versatile. I've made soups, casseroles and desserts with the coconut milk; I love that it's a healthier alternative to the usual creamy ingredients, especially for those who are watching calories.

What Thai Kitchen products are your favourites?

Truthfully, they are all good depending on the recipe.  But hands down, beyond the coconut milk, my second favourite would be the Sweet Red Chili Sauce.  I love the mixture of spicy and sweet; no matter the meat, this sauce makes a perfect combination.  Next would be the Red Curry Paste; it adds a little kick to any meal, and is perfect for a meat rub or just added right into your rice.  I've made a vinaigrette salad dressing with it and it is amazing.

This is the first I’ve ever heard of a global mash-up. What are your thoughts on global mash-ups? Have you ever participated in any others?

I think it's important to experiment outside the box. I don't think recipes have to be structured; trying new things isn't just fun, you can learn a lot about yourself in the process too. I love a lot of different cuisine flavours, many which actually accent each other with just a little creativity. I haven't participated in any other mash-ups formally but I mix cuisines often in my everyday cooking. 

Thank you to Stacey Martin for the interview - and best of lucky in the #TKLucky7 challenge.

Vote Now!!

(This is a sponsered post.  All opinions are my own.)

Breakfast

The only bad meal I ate in Denver, was at Pour La France in the airport.  The breakfast and service were both terrible.  The previously-frozen spinach in my omelet was gross, but Christopher liked his oatmeal.

I made some oatmeal of my own the next morning at home.

On the side, some new Bob Marley coffee.

Which tastes especially good in Beatles mug!

It's all music, all the time, around here.

Another good breakfast since being home was with Vicki at Wild Sage.  We tried the buffet:

 

What did you have for breakfast today?

Tag

On Sunday evening we went out for a nice dinner to Tag.  We hadn't dressed up yet in Denver, as it's a pretty laid-back city, much like Regina.  We decided to dress nicely anyway, and were happy to see that many other diners did the same. 

Tag is really nice.  It was a fun, energetic dining experience, and from the first bite of food, we were very impressed.

The chef sent out an amuse bouche:

Our appetizers included crispy brussel sprouts, and smoked duroc pork belly with sweet potato gnocci, which was among the best things I've ever eaten.

Both of these appetizers we'd order again ... and again ...

We ordered one larger entree, and a sushi roll to share.  The matador roll was made with yellowfin ahi, avocado, jalapeno, cilantro & aioli.

The main dish was lemongrass petaluma chicken, with vegetable fried rice, shitake mushrooms, napa cabbage, jicama slaw, and curry sauce.

I really want to eat this dish again.  The slaw paired so perfectly with the chicken.

We had to order the banana cream pie for dessert, because it was voted best dessert in Denver!

It did not disappoint.

I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone dining in Denver.

What city are your from?  

If we were visiting your city, what restaurant(s) would you recommend?

Blind Date

I've been blogging for about 4.5 years, and over that time have made many blogger friends.  One of my all-time favourite bloggers is Diana, originally from My Marble Rye (now at Diana Does Denver).  We became blogger friends right away, although never met because she lived in Texas, and I lived in Saskatchewan, Canada.  Through her blog, I saw her travel, get married, and also move a little closer to me, when she moved to Denver.  She made me laugh with every post, and I felt like we'd be BFFs, if only we lived in the same city. 

After years of online friendship, we got to meet in person on Sunday. 

Christopher and I met Diana and her husband Glen at Beatrice & Woodsley in Denver.

It was rated one of the top 10 brunch spots by Bon Appetit magazine.

We shared a couple of appetizers:

And then had some delicious entrees:

We had a lot of laughs at brunch.  I joked as we were saying goodbye, that our next visit would take place when Diana and Glen came to Saskatchewan!  Bahahaha!  Hey, you never know! 

Another wonderful Denver meal in the books!

Have you ever met an online friend in person?

(The only blind "dates" I've ever been on have been with female blogger friends - 4 times!)