Stuffed Zucchini; So So Good!

I have an Aunt who is a fabulous cook (not that the rest of my aunts are not fabulous cooks). We all know she is a great cook and everyone knows it. If I call my mom and she can't remember a recipe or how to do something in the kitchen she will tell me she will ask my Aunt and call me back. 

One day I got a package in the mail from my mom for my birthday. It was a really great package. Wondering what was in it? A book. A cookbook. My Aunts recipes all put into a cookbook. I immediately sat down and started thumbing through it. I already knew that the recipes would be delicious; well I suspected they would be and I was right. In over 2 years I have yet to use a recipe from my aunts book that we haven't all loved. 

Not to long ago we had some friends for dinner (sort of...we actually had the better end of the deal, they brought dinner to us). So the main dish was provided but I needed some sort of salad and a vegetable. I decided to see what my aunt had for ideas and I found a really yummy one on page 100 (for those of you who are lucky enough to have a copy of the book); Stuffed Zucchini. So So Good!

Stuffed Zucchini

4 Small to Medium Zucchini (Have I mentioned before that Zucchini is one of my all time favorite vegetables?)

2 Small Onions, chopped

1/2cup of Chopped Mushrooms

2 Tbsp Butter

1 Clove of Garlic (or 1 tsp if you are using pre-chopped garlic)

3/4 -1cup of bread crumbs

2 Tbsp of Parmesan Cheese

Salt and Pepper

1/2 tsp of Italian Herbs or 1 Tbsp of fresh Dill (I used the Italian Herbs)

1/2 - 1/2 cup of Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Saute onions and mushrooms int butter until limp. Cut off ends of zucchini. Cut in half. Scoop out pulp, leaving 1/4" thick shell. Dice pulp and save (should have 1 cup). Place shells in a 8" square baking dish. Cook shells for 1 minute in the microwave (I skipped this step and the end result was still great). Add pulp, garlic, crumbs, parmesea and seasonings to onion mixture. Stir. Fill shells. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minuted or until borwned. Sprinkle shredded cheese and bake until melted. Serve.

Use this one with guests, They will love it and it looks pretty impressive (or I thought it did). Just make sure to share, even if you don't want to!

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Sweet and Spicy! Black Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos

Okay guys, when you look at the ingredients for this one you may wonder what I'm getting you into... 

I was wondering the same thing. A friend emailed me this recipe a little while back and I was immediately intrigued. I had never come across a burrito recipe with sweet potato. We eat a lot of sweet potatoes (you know, for the twins) and so I was excited to see a new sweet potato recipe. I didn't really look at the list of ingredients though until I was preparing this last night and I questioned myself and the recipe the entire time. What was I making???

But, something must have been right because as you can all see this made it into our *favorite* category. Good sign for all of you. 

 This is wonderful mix of sweet and spicy, hot flavors. Follow the recipe just as it says. Don't skimp on your spices, I did because I was worried about the meal being to spicy for my kids tastes, but when we were all sitting down eating it I regretted it. The Sweet Potato is sweet and had I added the correct amount of spices the hit of flavors would have been even better than it was muted. 

Give this one a try. It may seem odd but was really yummy. Hazel actually ate twice as much as Aaron and I. Literally. 

Bean and Sweet Potato Burritos 

Bean Mixture

½ tablespoon vegetable oil 

½ large sweet onion, chopped 

1 cloves garlic, minced 

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed 

1 cup water 

1 tablespoon chili powder (remember, add the spices as the recipe calls)

1 teaspoons ground cumin 

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard 

2 tablespoons soy sauce 

Sweet Potato Mixture 

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into large chunks

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, seeds removed and chopped finely, or ½ tsp chipotle powder (powder is far less spicy) (I used the powder)

½ tsp dried coriander 

8 (6 inch) corn tortillas (I used just regular wheat wraps)

½ cup shredded Cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (I had cheddar so that is what I used)

To make sweet potato mixture: 

Place the chunks of sweet potato in a pot and cover with water; boil until potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes. Drain well; add the chili and coriander, and mash with a potato masher until well-combined. Set aside. 

To make bean mixture:

Heat oil in a large deep frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté until softened, about five minutes. Add the beans and all remaining seasonings, stir well, bring to a boil and them simmer for about 20 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Mash some of the beans with a potato masher halfway through the cooking time to give a thick texture. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. 

Heat the tortillas for 30 seconds in the microwave to soften. 

Spread 2-3 tablespoons of sweet potato in a line onto the center of a tortilla, then top with a similar amount of bean mixture. 

Roll up but do not seal ends. Place, seam-side down in a 9”x13” baking pan sprayed lightly with oil.(Parchment paper for me) 

 Repeat with remaining tortillas, lining them all up tightly side by side in the pan. 

Sprinkle burritos with cheese. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly crisped. 

Serve with sour cream and salsa to taste. Serves 4 generously. (we only ate half of the pan, the potato was so filling)

such runny salsa, weird

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A Call for your Favorite Veggie Cookbook

Hey! I have had a lot of great feedback from "the Blog". THANK YOU!!! 

I really appreciate you guys taking the time to read and try the recipes I have posted. 

I have a favor though...I've has a few people ask for a vegetarian recipe book recommendation. I have a couple I like but have'n't found a favorite yet. Do you have one? Please post it in "comments" at the bottom if you do so we can all see which ones you like best. Thanks!

A New Favorite Around Here: The Handmade Samosa

I have discovered something about my self in the a last few weeks. I actually like cooking.

I married a man who loves to cook. for the first 4 years of our marriage that is what he did. I occasionally whipped up some sidekicks but mostly he was the chef. And then Grad school started. And Hazel was born. And Aaron was done making dinner. It is true that he will occasionally make something, or come and flavor some bland meal that I have attempted to prepare but other than that he doesn't spend as much time in the kitchen as he might like. Which was hard because up until this past year I really hated cooking. 

I hated waiting for the "look" that said we were all going to have to choke down a meal, or waiting for the leftovers to be taken for lunch the next day. I just hated it. 

Then I started (after 5 years) getting better, then pretty good, and now I have to say that some days I am just fabulous. I still have to follow a recipe (but even following a recipe before could end in disaster); but I am much better at picking ones our family would like, and I can put food together and pull off some delicious food. Which makes me happy. 

Last night as I was preparing our meal I was actually feeling relaxed. I was enjoying it, the whole thing.

 The prep:

and of course the end results:

I think all of you should try this recipe, it was a little more "hands on" than some but the bragging rights were great (I talked all night about how good my meal had been). And the actual making of the samosa was fun; though it helped that a friend had stopped by and so I had some great company while I worked. This would be a really fun recipe to make with your kids (teenager kids, definitely not preschool kids) so go ahead. 

Do it.

Mildly Spiced Vegetable Samosas

(I got this recipe from my favorite kids/baby cookbook: "First Meals" by Annabel Karmel)

1/2 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 Onion, peeled and very finely chopped

1/2 Garlic Clove, peeled and chopped (I stopped buying fresh garlic about a year ago. I didn't even use it fast enough so it would loose its punch. I now always have a jar of Chopped Garlic. 1 tsp is a clove and it is always so flavorful which means my meals will aways be garlicy. yum)  

1/4 tsp of each Curry Powder, Ground Ginger, and Ground Cumin
1 cup of Button Mushrooms, finely chopped
1 cup of Cauliflower, finely chopped
1 Carrot, finely chopped (How did I finely chop all these veggies? With my Manual Blender. I bought this for $2 at Salvation Army and I use it for EVERYTHING. I dont use a knife on onions, and look at the great job it did on the cauliflower) 

2 tsp of Superfine Sugar

3 tsp of Mild Natural Yogurt 

1 package of Phyllo Pastry Sheets

4 Tbsp of Melted Butter

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Add the Onion and Garlic. Saute for 2-3 Minutes. Stir in the spices and Saute for 1 minute. Add the vegetables and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the sugar and yogurt. Cook for 3-5 minutes (or until vegetables are soft).

Lay the Phyllo Pastry out flat and cover with a clean damp cloth (I skipped the cloth part and just got to work so the pastry wouldn't dry out). Brush first piece of pastry with melted butter. Fold in half length wise and brush again with butter. 

Place 1 Tbsp of vegetable filling on one end of the strip, leaving a 2 cm border around it. Fold over the corner to make a triangle, then keep folding the parcel over on itself along the length of the pastry (think of the triangle folded notes you would send in grade 8 to your friends in class). Repeat with the remaining pastry and filling. 

Place Samosas on a Parchment Paper covered cookie sheet and brush the tops with more butter. Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

These were served with Sticky Rice and Salad. I was worried we would be hungry but we were all stuffed. 

SO GOOD!

Here are a couple of shots with the kiddies eating/playing with their sticky rice. This was such a fun meal!

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Enough sticky rice for everyone!

How do your kids feel about rice? Mine can take it or leave it. It mostly ends up ion my floor where I wait until the next day to sweep it up when its good and dry and crunchy. Much less work.

My sister is, or can be at times, a sticky rice girl. She has the fancy bamboo steamer and will make a batch just to eat. I must admit this is great fun.  

Have you ever had sticky rice? And by this I mean actual sticky rice and not just rice that is sticky? What's the difference? Sticky rice is a whole variety of rice altogether. It isn't just rice that was cooked in too much water and became a clump of rice glob which is of course very sticky. It sticks to itself but isn't messy. You can ball it up, dip it in sauce and have a nice little snack. It is so so good. And you don't have to wash your hands afterward. 

I've been wanting to get a bamboo sticky rice bowl for a few years now but never really think about it enough that I have gone to get one. Until today. I'm not sure what prompted it but I decided that today was our Sticky Rice Day. I went to a little Asian Grocery store and came out with a brand new bamboo steamer. 

It was SO fun to use and so easy. I steamed some Broccoli (which turned out perfect) and sticky rice at the same time. Lovely. The kids LOVED it. I let them eat it with their fingers and clump it into balls then pop it in their mouths. Hazel asked if she could have some in her lunch at school and Nigel ate every bite. 

This is a new favorite kitchen toy for me. And as for sticky rice? I think we will be eating a lot of it!

Steamed Sticky Rice

1 cup of Sticky Rice (aka Sweet Rice or Glutinous Rice)

Soak rice for at least 2 hours. Fill a wok or deep frying pan with water and boil on high. When water reaches a rolling boil turn down to low-med. low. Place bamboo steamer in the water for 15-20 minutes or until rice is  translucent. Remove steamer from water. Serve.

(You can also make this without a bamboo steamer; I'm just a sucker for cool kitchen gadgets. If you have a steamer stock pot that will be fine. Place a layer of cheese cloth, lettuce, wax paper or something on the bottom. This is to keep the rice from falling through. Place soaked rice in the pot. Place pot on the base of boiling water. Steam until translucent. Easy.)

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Christina, feel free to cook for me anytime!

I have this lovely vegan friend; you have all heard of her on here before. Well yesterday I was sort of tricked into attending a vegan play date (which was great because I got to eat this amazing salad...keep reading). Christina and another good friend of ours have this vegan play date weekly where they do a vegan potluck lunch. I got a pity invite yesterday (maybe not a pity invite because they really just love hanging out with me, and who doesn't?) which turned out to be a great way to spend my morning. The kids played pretty well; only a few altercations between toddlers, and there was good conversation and something I was prepared for; awesome food. 

Bean, rice and veggie wraps, so yummy (thanks Maggie), my complicated contribution of 1 ripe cantaloupe and 2 blood oranges. (I realized I was intruding on the vegan play date as I was leaving and this is what I threwtogether) and a salad. Really, Salad. Who brings salad? I am NOT much of a salad eater. I will eat it but rarely prepare it for myself. I mostly NEVER order it when we go out to eat ("soup of the day please"). But this salad looked different. 

I filled my wrap, grabbed some fruit and a spoonful?/scoopful?/handful? of salad. It was AMAZING.

Turns out this salad was not really salad at all. Well it was, but not a lettuce salad. It was Kale. And apples. And Cashews. And delicious. I had 3 helpings and could have had more but thought that may have been a little much. 

I have already added all the ingredients for this salad to my grocery list (yes, my meal plan is already underway for next week) and I will be making this to share with my family. But until I officially make this dish, here is a link to the recipe if you just can't wait. 

And I wouldn't if I were you.

There's a hippie in my kitchen: What the Kale?

Bon Appetit 

Love Black Bean Quesadillas

I know that I have gushed about how great the Canadian Living 'tested till perfect' recipes are but I must do it once again. I LOVE the Canadian Living Tested Till Perfect Recipes. Love them. 

They always turn out perfect, and that is exactly what I need. 

Monday evenings I go to school. Just one class a week. Its great, but it starts at 5pm. Really, the timing is perfect, I get to miss bedtime and its early enough that I have time to not only workout after but to sit in the sauna and still get out of the gym and home by 8:30pm. Great right? Yes, except for the rush of getting Hazel off the bus, my school books ready, gym bag packed and dinner on the table before I have to leave at 4:45. 

This really shouldn't be such a rush though. I'm a seasoned Meal Planner. I have long since found the value in knowing not only what we are eating every night but also exactly what groceries need to be bought each week. 

But for some reason this week I failed at sitting down and meal planning. I have no idea why but Monday came around and at 4pm I didn't know what I was going to make yet...So I visited Canadian Living, searched "Black Beans" (I knew I had some) and went from there. There were over 150 pages of black bean tested till perfect recipes. Awesome. 

Black Bean Quesadillas

2 tsp (10 mL) vegetable oil
1 chopped onion
1 diced sweet green pepper
1 tbsp (15 mL) chili powder (why do I never have any of this? I used a shake of Crushed Red Pepper instead)
1/2 tsp (2 mL) ground cumin (Ewww. Substituted for 1/4tsp of Sage)
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
1 can (19oz) black beans, drained and rinsed (I cooked a pile of these last week and froze them. It is an easy way to have fresh on hand)
1 cup (250 mL) salsa
1/2 cup (125 mL) corn kernels (I never have corn. I think that is because my mom ALWAYS has corn. Every Sunday. I just skipped adding this)
4 large flour tortillas
2 cups (500 mL) shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup (125 mL) sour cream, light (light? not around here)

In large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat; cook onion, green pepper, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper until softened, about 8 minutes. Add black beans, salsa and corn; cook, stirring often, until heated through, about 5 minutes.(Make-ahead: Let cool for 30 minutes; refrigerate until chilled. Cover and refrigerate for up to 1 day.)

Evenly spoon bean mixture over half of each tortilla; sprinkle with cheese. Fold uncovered half over top and press lightly. Place on large rimmed baking sheet; bake in 425°F (220°C) oven, turning once, until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve with sour cream.

These were easy, fast and yummy. I wasn't sure my kids would like them (I don't know why they wouldn't but I was worried). Aaron said they both "wolfed them down". 

Success

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Virginia's Delicious Cranberry Muffins

This is not my favorite day. Isn't it terrible to wake up to crying kids? Especially when they cry all day about everything? Ugh! But, I am going to post this recipe anyway because it is DELICIOUS and then I'm going to take a mental break and hope that when I'm done my kids will be wonderful, sweet and fun again. Think it will work?

My Cousin-in-law (is that who you are?) sent me this recipe, well, she sent me her modification of this recipe and I gave it a try the other day and they turned out so good. They are moist; just sweet enough; and actually, already almost all gone. They were a hit around here and I think they will be in anyones family.

Virginia's Delicious Cranberry Muffins

(the original recipe came from Company's Coming, this though is Virginia's version)

2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 cup of Brown Sugar

4 tsp of Baking Powder

1/2 tsp of Salt

Measure into a large bowl. Make a well in the center.

2 Large Eggs (beat until frothy)

1/4 cup of Cooking Oil

1/2 cup of Milk

1 can of Whole Cranberry Sauce (I'm not a cranberry sauce person but in this recipe YUM)

Mix above ingredients in a medium bowl. Add to dry ingredients. Stir just to moisten. Batter will be lumpy. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Topping 

(I didn't do this on all the muffins, and though it makes them sparkle and look pretty it really isn't necessary for flavor)

Brush hot muffin tops with margarine. Sprinkle with white sugar

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Who Really Needs Chicken? Honey Mustard Tofu Wraps

Well, I do.

I really, really like chicken...but this Honey Mustard Tofu Wrap recipe really makes me think I could do without chicken forever. This is a fabulous recipe for Meat Eaters. It was so good and delicious that I even got away with telling my 2 year old slightly picky son that he was eating chicken. I know. Low. But he ate his entire wrap and didn't ask about the "chicken" again. I probably could have gotten away with deceiving other males at the table but I had already written "Honey Mustard Tofu Wraps" on the menu board earlier in the week.  

So...if you are looking to eat more vegetarian but others aren't so sure, try this one out!

This recipe was actually for chicken but I decided to try and pan fry some tofu (thanks Christina!) and it worked out perfectly. 

 I didn't get a picture of these, so how about one of the picky 2 year old?

Honey Mustard Tofu Wraps

1 package of Extra Firm Tofu, cubed

1/2 cup of Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs or Shake 'n Bake (I used the bread crumbs)

2 Tbsp of Olive Oil

Heat your oil in a frying pan on medium high heat (If your oil is too hot or too cool the frying process wont work.)

Your Tofu needs to be coated in the bread crumbs. I pulled out one of my favorite kitchen tools for this job; The Large Ziploc Bag. Place cubed Tofu and Bread Crumbs into the bag. Seal and shake gently until everything is coated. Pan Fry your tofu until each side is browned. Set aside.

4 Tbsp of Light Mayonnaise (You guys all know that I didn't use light, but you can I guess) 

2 tsp of Mustard

2 tsp of Honey

2 tsp of Lemon Juice

2 cups of Shredded Lettuce

1 Tomato, diced

Combine the first 4 ingredients. (My honey was starting to crystallize so I mixed this in my Magic Bullet) 

You now have your sauce. 

Grab your wrap, throw on some diced Tomato, lettuce, tofu and drizzle it with your honey mustard sauce. Wrap and Eat!

Delicious!

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Polenta Pizza (Sing It!)

I have this fabulous vegan friend who can cook. And I mean cook. She is always throwing things together and they seem to always (well, when I've been there) to be delicious. She actually inspired me to start Veggies for Me and Veggies for You. She also makes me want to be able to do that too; just makes something delicious out of nothing.

So, I did something last night that I have never done before. I invented a recipe.  If that is what you call it.

Have you ever had Polenta? Let me tell you a little bit about it. According to Wikipedia:

 "Polenta is a dish made from boiled cornmeal. The word "polenta" is borrowed from Italian."

I know. Sounds Revolting. But actually it is SO fun and good. Sort of like Cornbread, and who doesn't like cornbread?  My sister sent me a recipe for Polenta this past fall. She wrote a little note on it that read: "Have you ever tried Polenta? I love the texture...It is just so yummy"

I've been wanting to try it ever since. The Recipe for Polenta is easy, and then I took some ideas from another recipe for the topping and turned it into "Polenta Pizza" (Aaron named this dish for me).

Aaron LOVED it. He told me it was "awesome", "perfect", "great". But was it a success? Aaron and I enjoyed it but the kids wouldn't touch it and instead of eating it (and they are not usually picky eaters) they each had 2-3 servings of salad. Maybe this is one I save for the adults. These little pizza's would be great finger food for a dinner party, or maybe even while watching the big game. 

Polenta Pizza

6 cups of Water

2 cups of Yellow Cornmeal

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup of butter

1/2 cup of grated Parmesan Cheese

Bring the water to a boil in a large pot. Pour the cornmeal in slowly, stirring constantly. Add Salt and Butter. Cook on low heat from 20-30 minutes, stirring often. The Polenta should be thick but smooth and soft. 

 Poured it into a Parchment Paper lined cookie sheet and set it outside to cool.

1 tsp of Garlic

1/2 a Zucchini,thinly sliced

1 cup of Sliced Mushrooms

1 can of Diced Tomatoes

1 Tbsp of Olive Oil

1/2 cup of Mozzarella Cheese

Saute the Garlic, Zucchini, and Mushrooms until soft (you can add any other veggies you want here). Add the diced Tomatoes. If you want to add some spices, do it now!

By now the Polenta should be cooled. Bring it in a slice it into pieces. (When it is cooled it "forms" the shape of the dish it was cooled in. You can pick it up with your fingers now) In a separate frying pan brown each side of the Polenta. Remove from pan and place back onto your cookie sheet. Top with your veggies and a little Mozzarella Cheese. Throw into the Oven and Broil until the cheese is melted. Serve and Enjoy!

I know it sounded like a lot of steps, but this is actually a very simple meal, just give yourself time to let the Polenta cook and cool. Happy Polenta Eating!

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