Beer Mac and Cheese

I have been loving fruit and toast for breakfast lately, especially if the toast is made with homemade bread (as in the second picture).

I had leftover healing chicken soup for lunch today, and beer mac and cheese for dinner!

The mac and cheese was made with rice pasta, and I couldn't tell the difference - gluten free is just as good!

I love cooking (and baking) with beer.

Time to grab a grapefruit or some snap peas for an easy evening snack.

Tomorrow's FRIDAY!!! 

What do you have planned with the weekend?

Do you ever cook with beer?

Healing Chicken Soup & A New Stew

Healing Chicken Soup

Chicken stock:

1 small organic chicken (rinse)

enough water to cover chicken in a stock pot

3-4 carrots, roughly chopped

2 onions, roughly chopped

3-4 stalks celery, roughly chopped

4-5 cloves

5-6 peppercorns

Bring to a boil and then simmer for a looooooong time.  I simmered mine for about 8 hours.  The chicken will fall off of the bones and be extremely juicy and flavourful.  Pick off the meat to use in the soup.  Strain the broth and discard bones, skin, etc..

Chicken soup:

1 T olive oil

2 onions, chopped

Half of the chicken stock (I froze the other half for a later use)

3 carrots, chopped small

1 head kale, rinsed and roughly torn (no ribs)

Chicken pieces left from making stock

1 cup of fresh parsley

1.5 tsp dried basil

Pinch of nutmeg

Pinch of salt

Pepper to taste

In a dutch oven, heat the oil.  Add onions and cook until they start to brown.  Add the stock and bring it to a boil.  Add the carrots.  Once the carrots are soft, add the kale and let wilt.  Add the chicken herbs and spices last, just to warm.  

This was a perfect dinner for tonight as it is starting to get quite cold and windy on the Saskatchewan prairies. 

Last night I made a chicken, butternut squash and quinoa stew.  Mmmmmmm!   

The recipe was found here.

Do you make your own soup stocks?

I have a ham bone in the freezer that I must tackle next!

Dream Home Day Dreams

We got up pretty early (for us) this morning and I started prepping dinner for tomorrow night while the hubby made vegan pancakes for breakfast.

For lunch I made whole wheat pizza crust which I topped with caramelized onions, bacon, fontina, romano and a balsamic glaze.  This was my first time making pizza crust, and I think it turned out rather well.  

 

 

I basically followed this recipe, although I didn't use the red peppers.

While the pizza was baking I threw a small organic chicken and some veggies in a pot to make a stock for soup that I will finish tomorrow.

The hubby and I spent the afternoon looking at show homes, and fantasizing about our dream home.  Basically, I would want a BIG kitchen with a ridiculous island and a lot of counter space.  I am not a fan of islands with sinks in them, and that seems to be all that builders are doing these days.  I am convinced that we will have to design our next house ourselves, as none of the new houses in our city are practical.  Who needs 3 living rooms!?  Not us! 

We love the house we are in now, but it is just a starter home.  Sometime in the next 5 years I would expect we will move into our next home.  Other things on my house wish list: laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms, a lot of storage/closets/built in shelving, walk in closet (NOT off of the master bathroom), no wasted space, floor plan perfect for entertaining.

How about you - Are you in your "forever" home, or your "for now" home? What would you want in your dream home?

How was your weekend?  Did you do any cooking this weekend?

Sunny Days

t has been unseasonably warm on the Saskatchewan prairies.  Winters for as far back as I can remember have been freeeeeezing cold, but this year we have lucked out and are actually experiencing some melting.  It is glorious, and makes me cheery.  

Sunny days call for sunny drinks, like this pink juice.

 

Pink Juice

1 small beet
small chunk of ginger (1 tsp size)
2 apples
1/4 of a small pineapple

This juice gave me some energy after a very long sleep.  All day at work yesterday I had a headache.  I came home, ate dinner and could not stay awake.  I fell asleep around 6:30 p.m. and slept until 8:30 this morning!  Crazy, but I think my body needed it.  

Is it unseasonably warm where you are?

Have you ever fell asleep at 6:30 for the night?

Favourites

My dad took my sister and I out for supper tonight ... a tradition we have for birthdays.  My sister turned 25 on New Years Eve, but we didn't get a chance to go out until tonight.  We ate at one of my favourite restaurants in the city - The Creek in Cathedral Bistro.  I had the tenderloin with potatoes, veggies and a red wine sauce.

A couple of other things that are my "favourite" these days include:

These crackers.  They are like crack.  Crack crackers.  Crackalakajaka.

A little something special that I got this December ...

Maple glazed, pepper crusted salmon ...

Recipe: Marinade in 1 part soy sauce, 3 parts maple syrup.  Cover with fresh cracked black pepper.  Bake for 15 minutes at 350, or until done.

This brand of face cleansing products ...

Tell me something that is your favourite ...

When you find something that is your favourite, do you stick with it?

Red Wine Chicken and a Gingersnap Milkshake

Being on holidays is glorious!  This morning I slept until 9:30.  I then took my time juicing peppers and grapefruit to enjoy with a cozy bowl of oats.

While my oats were one the stove (1 minute to cook, 2 minutes covered off heat), I whipped up 2 loaves of bread.  Trust me, this bread is really that easy.  

Dough

I leisurely enjoyed my breakfast and read blogs, and before I knew it the bread was done.

It would make a perfect toast to have with a couple of organic eggs at lunch time.

I did some work on my thesis this afternoon, and pondered what to do with the wine I had in my freezer.  We have started freezing leftover wine to use for cooking (yes, there is occasionally leftover wine in my house ;-)).  We freeze it in a container and it scoops out really easily whenever we need it.  I tossed around a few ideas and then came up with a delicious red wine chicken recipe for dinner this evening.

Red Wine Chicken

(Serving size: 2)

2 skinless boneless chicken breasts (I used cook from frozen ones from Costco)
1/2 cup red wine (mine was from the freezer, and therefore slushy)
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 minced cloves garlic
1/4 finely chopped onion
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

Line a 9x13 pan with tin foil or parchment to aid in cleanup.  Put everything into the pan and bake at 400 for approximately 30 minutes, or until chicken is done according to a meat thermometer.  Baste occasionally while it cooks.

This chicken was extremely easy, moist, and full of delicious flavour.  I drizzled the saucy leftovers in the pan over the chicken before eating it.

I was feeling inspired so I made the hubby a yummy dessert - a gingersnap milkshake.

Gingersnap Milkshake

(Makes 1 BIG milkshake or 2 small)

2 cups vanilla frozen yogurt (or ice cream)
3/4 cup vanilla almond milk (or milk)
3/4 T molasses
1/2 tsp ginger
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Blend all together and serve!

Optional: 2 T almond milk, 2 T gingersnap crumbs to do a cookie rim.  Put almond milk on a plate, and gingersnap crumbs on another.  Dip the glass into the milk first, followed by the crumbs so they stick.

Do you ever freeze leftover wine?  If so, what do you do with it?

Happy New Year!

We have started this first day of 2012 out well.  We woke up at 9:30 feeling great, and made some of the best tea in the world that we got as a favour at our friends' summer wedding.  Our buddy Matt knows his tea, and this stuff was great.  We are on our 6th or 7th infusion at the moment.  

Breakfast was a bowl of chocolate, banana, coconut macadamia oats, featuring 1/2 a packet of macadamia nut butter sent to me by the kind people at Artisana.

Yesterday, on New Years Eve, we had a fabulous day with friends.  It was also my sister's 25th birthday!  Happy Birthday Leah!  We had breakfast at our friends' house, and enjoyed some of the best coffee in the world, Jamaican Blue Mountain.

 

After breakfast we came home and finished preparing for dinner.  We had 2 couples over for a vegetarian New Years Eve dinner; some friends in town from California, and our friends Emma and Dalton who own the best vegetarian restaurant restaurant in the city (which happens to be vegetarian).

 

We started with a homemade hummus and things to dip in it, and brie stuffed mushrooms.

I made savoury cream puffs which I stuffed with a beet, goat cheese and balsamic mixture.

We also enjoyed cauliflower soup and homemade Irish oatmeal bread.

The main course was lentil, mushroom mousakka, kale salad, tomato salad, and a delicious quinoa.

 

 

Dessert included coconut red velvet donuts, and chocolate fondue (un-pictured):

 

After dinner I sipped on sparkling water and we visited until just after midnight before calling it a night.  

It was a wonderful new years eve.

11 Goals for 2011 - How did I do?

1) Finish 4 more grad classes - I did 5, finishing all course work for my degree - PASS
2) Decide on the thesis topic and begin thesis research - Done and done, and I have been writing too - PASS
3) Make one new recipe per week (most weeks) - I made 78 new recipes this year - PASS
4) Read books for me (not just for school) - I didn't have time to do a lot of this - FAIL
5) Take a class just for me (not school related) - Nope, couldn't find anything in my city - FAIL
6) Host some new types of parties/meals - Hosted a shower & Stagette, but not a luncheon or tea party like I had wanted to - 50%
7) Give running one last fair shot - Epic Fail
8) Be productive this summer - I took a July class and worked on my sister's wedding - PASS
9) Go on two out of country trips - NY and Las Vegas - PASS
10) Do some home renovations - New front door, basement windows in, touched up paint, but didn't replace carpet in rooms like I had wanted to - 75%
11) Make sure that the hubby's 30th, Dad's 70th and sister's wedding are memorable - PASS!!

6 Goals for 2012 

For the last couple of years I have made a number of goals based on the year (i.e. 10 in 2010, 11 in 2011).  2011 was an insanely busy year, and I had a lot on the go.  I had to learn to say "no", which I am not very good at, and also had to stop trying to "do it all."  It felt good.  I plan on putting less pressure on myself this year.  No lofty plans... I am just going to hang out and see where life takes me.  I have come up with 6 fun and achievable goals that I look forward to achieving :-)

1) Finish my thesis and convocate with my 3rd degree before I turn 30
2) Read a bunch of books just for pleasure
3) Host a luncheon and tea party
4) Travel out of North America
5) Drink more water
6) Have an epic 30th birthday party!

What is something fun that you want to do in 2012?