Favourite Things Friday Vol. 6

This week’s Favourite Thing is Greek yogurt. I love this stuff! I use it all the time.

I always have a container of the plain stuff in the fridge to use in sauces or baking, you can even use it as a substitute for mayo or sour cream.

I recently found this,

Flavoured Greek yogurt! It is so creamy and rich. It has a nice tang with just a hint of flavour. I bought the strawberry this time, but I noticed they had honey flavour. I can’t wait to get that one.

It would be so great for breakfast, with a little granola and some fruit.

If you have never tried it, go buy some.

You could make this Tzatziki Sauce or these to die for Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, or this ridiculously amazing sauce for Fish Tacos.

Once you try it, there is no going back!

Happy Friday everyone!

Jen

Broccoli Chicken

This is one of my all time favourite suppers. My mom used to make it when I was growing up. I don’t even know where it came from, maybe a Best of Bridge cookbook??

I like it because it is easy and quick and super flavourful!!

What you need,

2-4 skinless boneless chicken breasts

2 tbsp oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 cups of broccoli florets
1 can cream of chicken soup
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tsp curry powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup grated cheddar cheese

Heat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large skillet heat the oil over medium high heat. Cut the chicken breasts into a couple of pieces each and pound them out to an even thinness. Season with salt and pepper.

Sauté the chicken for a few minutes on each side until browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Wash and chop your broccoli and place in an even layer on the bottom of a 9x13inch baking dish.

In a medium sized bowl stir together the can of cream of chicken soup, the mayo, curry powder and lemon juice.

Place the browned chicken on top of the broccoli florets. Pour the sauce evenly over all the chicken pieces. Top with the grated cheddar cheese.

Bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the broccoli is tender.

For the last 3 or 4 minutes you can put the dish under the broiler to brown up the cheese.

I like to serve mine with rice.

Even my in house taste tester loves this and he isn’t a big fan of curry. This sauce is so awesome. I often make double of it because I like it so much! Sauce is a good thing!

I hope you like it as much as I do! It is one of the all time greats.

Jen

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

I was perusing the web the other day looking for a new muffin recipe, as usual! 

These looked lovely! They taste like a giant peanut butter cookie, which works for me!

What you need,

2 ¼ cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
½ cup peanut butter
2 large eggs
1 cup milk
½ tsp vanilla
½ heaping cup milk chocolate chips
½ heaping cup peanut butter chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin tip with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, peanut butter, eggs, milk and vanilla until smooth. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined. Fold in the chocolate and peanut butter chips. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 way full. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

These muffins are super tasty. A little swipe of raspberry jam and that would sure be a treat!

Make these today! You won’t regret it.

Jen

Recipe source the The Galley Gourmet

Apfelkuchen

The fall brings so many delicious kinds of apples. I bought these Gala and Spartan apples at the farmer’s market the other day. They are so crisp and juicy, just perfect.

I decided to make one of my favourite apple desserts, Apfelkuchen. It is German, I think… I am not sure where this recipe came from, my mom used to make it.

I love this dessert. It is so easy and it tastes like heaven.

A light moist cake with fresh apples on top, baked to perfection, with a crispy sugar crust on top.

It has very few ingredients but man it tastes like it has a million.

What you need,

 

1 cup of butter, softened

1 cup of sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup milk
6-7 apples, peeled and sliced
¼ cup of sugar for sprinkling

First heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Line a small sheet pan with parchment paper. Spray with non stick spray.

In a large bowl cream the butter and sugar together. Blend in the eggs and stir well. Add the flour and baking powder. Mix until a stiff dough forms, add the milk slowly and stir until a heavy creamy batter forms. Spread the batter on the prepared sheet pan.

Top the batter with the sliced apples. Place them tightly together, try not to leave any gaps. More apples are always better.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

During the last 10 minutes of baking sprinkle the top of the cake with the ¼ cup of sugar and finish baking.

It is so good on its own, but I always like it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream!

Too bad I didn’t have any…

Oh well,l guess I will just have to make it again!!

Enjoy!

Jen

Favourite Things Friday Vol. 5

I am a list maker, a maker of many many lists. I make grocery lists, things to do lists, what to cook lists, list of goals, lists of, well you name it and I have made of list of it.

I am a pretty organized person and I find that making lists helps.

Plus, there is something very satisfying about crossing things off lists. It gives me a sense of accomplishment.

My favourite thing this week is a list accessory.

I am always trying to figure out what to eat for dinner and this lovely pad sure helps. I can sit down on Sunday and make the plan for the whole week.

It is organized by day with lots of room for notes and stuff.

I got it at Chapter's book store.

Get one, it makes life easier!!

I love lists and list accessories. I am geek, I know it! I think I will go make a list of all the things that make me a geek now!

Jen

Sautéed Rainbow Swiss Chard

When I was at the Farmer’s Market the other day I saw this beautiful looking rainbow swiss chard.

I have never eaten swiss chard, and I have never cooked it before,but it just looked so pretty I had to give it a try!

I wanted to just do a basic recipe to see how I like it. It is very good. It is kind of like spinach with more texture and a slightly stronger and lightly bitter taste. It was really good, and very good for you! I will be eating it again for sure.

What you need,

1 bunch or lovely swiss chard

2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp butter
1 clove of garlic, minced
Salt and pepper
Pinch of red pepper flake, optional

To prepare the chard, wash well under cool water and pat dry. Cut the stems out in a v shape along the leaves and chop the stems into a ½ inch dice. Then slice the leaves into strips.

Heat the oil and butter in a large sauté pan over medium high heat.

Once it is hot toss in the minced garlic and cook for 30 seconds or so until fragrant.

Add in the chard stems and sauté for 5 minutes or so until they start to soften.

Add in the leaves and cover the pan with a lid and cook for 2-3 minutes. Then remove the lid and stir once and cover again for 2-3 minutes until leaves are wilted.

Season with salt and pepper and red pepper flakes if using them.

It was lovely! I am so glad I tried it. I can’t wait for the farmer’s market next week so I can buy more. I have found a few recipes I am dying to try!

Jen

Parmesan Baked Tilapia

Now that it is September and the lazy days of summer are coming to an end, I figured I better get back into making some quick and easy weeknights dinners!
I have been trying to add more fish into my diet lately. I bought some Tilapia at Costco the other day. It is individually frozen in vacuum sealed packages. It is great! You can take out just what you need thaw it in the fridge overnight and it is ready to go.

This is another one of Jessica’s recipes.

It took no time at all and it was very tasty! My in house taste tester loved it!

What you need,

2 to 4 tilapia fillets
Salt and Pepper
3 tbsp of butter, at room temperature
1 clove of garlic, minced
¼ tsp dried thyme
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
Lemon wedges for serving

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Spray a baking dish with non stick spray. Pat your fish fillets dry with paper towel and season both sides with salt and pepper. Place in the prepared baking dish.

Bake the fish for 10-12 minutes.

Meanwhile mix the butter, garlic, and thyme and Parmesan cheese together.

Take the fish out of the oven and flip the fillets over. Turn your oven to the broiler setting.
Spread about ½ tbsp of the butter mixture on each fish fillet. Put the fish back into the oven under the broiler for 3 or 4 minutes or until the cheese gets golden and bubbly.

Serve with the lemon wedges.

Tilapia is fantastic, mild and flaky but I think any firm white fish would work great.

Enjoy!

Jen

Recipe from How Sweet Eats

Citrus Rosemary Pork Tenderloin

I felt like something different for dinner. When I saw this lovely pork tenderloin in the grocery store and thought, hey, I can cook that! I have been growing some fresh herbs on my balcony and had some beautiful looking rosemary.

I threw together a quick marinade and then bbq’d the tenderloin it was perfect! Tender and moist with so much flavour.

What you need,

1 or 2 pork tenderloins, trimmed
1 large sprig of fresh rosemary
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
1/3 cup olive oil
1 whole lemon, juiced
2 tbsp honey
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper

Put all the ingredients into a large zip top bag. Seal it up and mix it up by shaking it together.

Add the pork tenderloin into the bag and massage the marinade into it.
Stash it in the fridge for at least 6 hours, and up to 12.

When it is time to cook it, heat the BBQ to medium heat, about 400 degrees.

Remove the tenderloin from the marinade and pat it off with a paper towel.

Cook for 3-4 minutes on each of the 4 sides until cooked through. They say in internal temperature of 145 degrees is cooked.  Remove from the heat and let it rest under some foil for 5 minutes.

Cut into slices and serve!

It was so tender. I could have cooked it a little less even but I just wasn’t sure and wanted it to be cooked, next time I would go a couple minutes less.

I served mine with new baby potatoes with butter and dill and a side green salad.

I will defiantly be using pork tenderloin again!

Yum!

Jen

Favourite Things Friday Vol. 4

My favourite thing this week is my chef's knife.

It is a J.A. Henckels 9 inch.
I got it for my birthday a few years back.
This knife rocks my world; I use it for everything from cutting veggies and meat to cake
and pie!

The handle is comfortable and balances nicely in my hand.

The blade is super sharp, and it is a long enough to cut almost anything without being unwieldy.

I wish all my knives were this nice!

I really think if you can only afford 1 good kitchen tool, a chef's knife is the thing to get!

It will last you a long long time and you always need a good knife!

Have a great weekend,
Jen

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie Dough Balls

I love cookie dough! I have been known to, on occasion, make a batch of cookies just so I can eat a few big spoonfuls of the dough.

I have never been too worried about the raw egg in it but I know people are so when I saw this recipe on Keep It Sweet I wanted to give it a go.

Here is what you need,

¾ cup all purpose flour

1 cup rolled oats

½ cup creamy peanut butter

1/3 cup maple syrup

¼ cup applesauce

1 tsp vanilla

¼ cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour and oats. Use an electric mixer to beat all of the wet ingredients together until well combined. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Fold in the chocolate chips. Use a cookie scoop to spoon 1 or 2 tablespoons of dough, roll into balls and place on prepared baking sheet.

Freeze until balls are firm. You can keep them in the fridge or freezer, and eat as needed!

They are really good! 

So if you are looking for a cookie dough fix and you don’t want to make cookies, try this out. It is a good substitute.

Jen

Recipe adapted from Keep It Sweet

Tiny Tomato Gratin

I had a pint of tiny tomatoes on my counter that I should have used up a few days ago.

They were getting a little wrinkled and soft, so not so great for a salad but I decided I could cook them up somehow.

I thought a little gratin would be nice, and it was. I want to eat this everyday of my life! It was so good!

What you need,

1 pint of tiny tomatoes

1 small clove of garlic, minced
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper
8 small basil leaves
¼ cup panko
3 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the tomatoes with the olive oil, garlic and salt & pepper.
Put the tomatoes in a small baking dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are soft and just breaking open.

Take them out of the oven and turn it to the broiler setting.

Stir in the small basil leaves and then top the tomatoes with the panko and Parmesan cheese topping.

Put the baking dish under the broiler for 5 minutes or so until brown and crispy.

Wait for a few minutes or the hot little tomatoes will burn your tongue!

This would be a lovely side dish with a grilled steak or chicken. I just sat at the table and ate it all. 

It made a lovely brunch!

Jen