Twice Baked Potato Casserole

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Pictured behind the potatoes is a suuuuper good Cheesy Corn Pudding that I want to post the recipe for
but I can't find the recipe for.   That's the whole reason that I have this blog - to be able to archive recipes for later use!
Quelle frustration!  Let's focus on this not-in-focus picture of potatoes instead.

This is just a no-brainer!  Because: mashed potatoes with bacon, sour cream, cheese, green onions, and butter.  We ate this as our potato side dish for Christmas dinner last year, and not only would it make a great holiday dinner side dish again, but it would be a great non-holiday dinner side dish too.  Whoa.  As the name suggests, it's like twice baked double stuffed potatoes, but in a casserole.  If you ask the hubby really nicely, he will even fry up the leftovers for breakfast potatoes the next morning.  Drool.  Only rivalled by one other mashed potato recipe for the best mashed potatoes everrrrr.

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Plum Cake
Two Years Ago:  Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon
Three Years Ago:  Amy's Lentil Soup Copycat Recipe
Four Years Ago:  The Best Mashed Potatoes I've Ever Eaten
Five Years Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore

Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Serves: 16

Ingredients

• 1 pound bacon
• 16 russet potatoes, scrubbed clean (don't peel)
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound salted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 cups grated Cheddar cheese
• 2 cups whole milk
• 4 teaspoons seasoning salt
• 6 green onions, sliced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste.

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Cook the bacon in a pan until crispy; let cool and then crumble.

Rub potatoes with olive oil and place on baking sheets.  Bake until tender, 45 to 60 minutes.  Remove the potatoes from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.

Slice the butter and transfer to a large mixing bowl.  Add the bacon and the sour cream.  Cut each potato in half and scrape out the insides into the mixing bowl.  Tear up the skins from 3 of the potatoes and add to the bowl.  Mash the potatoes with a potato masher, then add the cheese, milk, seasoning salt, green onions, and salt and pepper to taste.  Mix together well.

Grease a baking dish, and scoop the potato mixture into the dish, then top with more grated cheese.  Bake until warmed through, about 25 to 30 minutes.

Enjoy!


Recipe Source:  Food Network - Twice Baked Potato Casserole

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas

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I am loving the stream of recipes that deliciously appear in my Facebook news feed.  My Facebook friends share the best recipes!  All of the food looks so gorgeous there on my screen, but so far I haven't made anything.  Similarly, I have 3200+ food-related pins on my Pinterest page with the best intentions of making every single one, I swear, but so far have only made about three of them.  So, a few days ago I saw this recipe, went to the store to buy the ingredients, made, and ate it all in the same day.  And it was great.  All of that effort and then I wait to blog about it two weeks later - ha!

We don't eat a lot of vegetarian dishes in our house, but with this one we didn't even miss the meat.  Although, we did agree that shredded chicken would have been a great addition if we wanted to add some extra protein next time.  These enchiladas are butternut squash, black beans, and cheese in a spicy creamy-tomato chipotle sauce, all topped with sour cream and sliced avocado.  Cilantro would have been a great addition (if the Hubby didn't despise it so).  Leftovers were even better than the first time around.

Here's your ingredient line-up!

I used these medium-sized package of 8 flour tortillas

I've always wondered the easiest way to cube a butternut squash, and this time I actually Googled it and found this helpful video.  This is so much easier than the way I was doing it before, so it's worth a quick watch!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Parsnip and Carrot Puree
Two Years Ago:  Easy Refried Bean Soup
Three Years Ago:  Healthy Southwest Chicken and Rice Bake
Four Years Ago:  Thanksgiving 2012
Five Years Ago:  Chicken Cacciatore

Chipotle Butternut Squash and Black Bean Enchiladas

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups tomato sauce
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (I used about 1 teaspoon of sauce and the 2 peppers)
• 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 4 cloves minced garlic, divided (2 for the sauce and 2 for the filling)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 4 cups cubed butternut squash (about 1/2 a medium-sized butternut squash, or a little over a pound)
• 1 - 18oz. can black beans, drained, rinsed, then drained again
• 3/4 cup corn (frozen or fresh)
• salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 cups shredded Tex Mex cheese blend, divided
• 8 medium-sized flour tortillas
• For topping: sour cream, sliced avocado, sliced green onions, and cilantro

Directions
In a food processor, combine tomato sauce, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, yogurt, 2 cloves minced garlic, and chili powder, and whir together until well blended.  Set enchilada sauce aside.

Preheat oven to 350F.  In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add onion and remaining 2 cloves of minced garlic, and cook until soft, about 5 minutes.  Add squash, cover skillet, and continue cooking (stirring occasionally) until fork-tender, about 8 minutes.  Reduce heat to low, then add beans, corn, salt and pepper, and 1 cup of enchilada sauce.  Stir until heated and combined, then remove from heat.

Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish, then smear the bottom of the dish with 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce.  Scoop 3/4 cup of squash mixture into one of the flour tortillas, then sprinkle 1 tablespoon of cheese on top, roll up, and place seam-side down into the baking dish.  Repeat with the remaining tortillas, using up all of the squash mixture.



Pour remaining enchilada sauce over top, and sprinkle with remaining cheese.  Bake for 25 - 30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbling.  Top with sour cream, sliced avocado, green onions, and cilantro.  Enjoy!  

Recipe Source:  Ambitious Kitchen

Tex Mex Pinwheels

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Yum!!!  This is an appetizer that I always get asked for the recipe for!  And now I can just point to this blog post like yep here's my blog and here's the recipe.  I love bite-sized food.  And food with cheese in it.  And food that is Mexican.  And come to think of it, food that is a pinwheel.  So this appy definitely fits the bill.  The recipe comes from the Best of Bridge, like approximately 95% of the food we eat in our house does.

I most recently made these pinwheels for my aunt's 65th birthday party, and they were gobbled up in no time.  You can use whatever flavour of flour tortilla that you like, and it will change the look of the pinwheels...maybe for Christmas you use sundried tomato flavoured (red), or maybe for Halloween you use cheese flavoured (orange), or maybe for Earth Day you use spinach flavoured (green)...I don't know, get crazy with it!  I used whole wheat ... boring!

Anyway, this is an easy to make, delicious appetizer.  Very bite-sized, very cheesy, very Tex Mexican, and very pinwheely...but not pinwheely in a 'boring cold ham and cheese pinwheel that comes on a sandwich platter' kind of way.  Pinwheely in a hot, tasty little morsel kind of way.  Why not try it out next time you need to bring an appetizer to a potluck...they will go fast!

Little Man Update!  He is growing up so quickly - he's now 8.5 months old and saying a few words:  Dada, Hiiiii, Baba, and...melt my heart...Mama.  He barrel rolls around the living room,  laughs hysterically if you kiss his tummy, and loves the outdoors.  He's developing more and more of a personality every day, and we are loving getting to know him.

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Plum Cake
Two Years Ago:  Easy Refried Bean Soup
Three Years Ago:  Healthy Southwest Chicken and Rice Bake
Four Years Ago:  Peas with Shallots and Pancetta


Tex Mex Pinwheels

Ingredients

• 8 oz. cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 4 oz. can green chilies, drained
• 1 large tomato, seeded and chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 - 6 flour tortillas

Directions
Blend together cream cheese and mayonnaise.  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.  Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper.  Spread cream cheese mixture over each tortilla and roll up tightly, trimming the ends (and eating them!).  Refrigerate until firm.  Slice and place pinwheels flat onto the baking sheet.  Broil until lightly golden.

Recipe Source:    Best of Bridge - Best of the Best and More (Pasadena Pinwheels)

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

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This is a recipe that I have been wanting to try for so long!  And it was actually really good - unusual, but good.  The Hubby is not a huge cauliflower fan, and even he really enjoyed it.  In terms of a carb-free pizza option, it's delicious, but you have to keep an open mind.  This is not going to taste like your standard pizza crust - it's cauliflower, so it's going to taste a little bit like, well, cauliflower.  But, the crust is loaded with cheese so it also tastes quite a lot like delicious cheese.  Also, the crust isn't going to get quite as crisp as your standard pizza crust, but it does get pretty close (if you follow my instructions well).  All in all, this is a great alternative to regular pizza, but it's not the real thing.  Have I sold you on it?  No, probably not!  But all that said, it was delicious and I would definitely make it again!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Plum Cake
Two Years Ago:  Refried Bean Soup
Three Years Ago:  Amy's Copycat Lentil Soup Recipe
Four Years Ago:  Butternut Squash Soup with Cumin

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower, leaves and hard core removed and discarded
• 1 egg
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
Preheat oven to 350F.  Cut cauliflower into florets and blitz in a food processor until very fine but not pureed.  You will likely need to do this in a few batches.  Place cauliflower into a medium bowl and microwave uncovered for 5 minutes.  Remove from microwave and transfer to cheesecloth to remove water by squeezing and draining.  This is a very important step so as to have a more crispy pizza crust.  When I drained my cauliflower I estimate that I was able to train about 2 cups of water, so when you think you have drained enough, keep squeezing out the water for a little longer.

Return the drained cauliflower to a bowl, where it will look something like this:



Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.  Add the egg, cheese, oregano, salt and pepper to the bowl of cauliflower and combine well, using your hands.  Separate 'dough' into two balls and place one ball on each of the two baking sheets.  Flatten the 'dough' with your hands until it is in the shape of a round pizza crust.  Pop into the oven and bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until crisp around the edges and no longer soft in the middle.  Remove from oven, add your choice of pizza toppings, then bake for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

Recipe Source:  Ditch The Carbs - Cauliflower Pizza

Cheesy Carrot Casserole

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It would be nice to have some fancy blog with an amazing editorial department where blog posts about a fabulous side dish for Thanksgiving get posted prior to Thanksgiving rather than a few weeks later, but, this isn't that kind of blog!  And, it's almost American Thanksgiving, so I'm way ahead of the game there!  And, Christmas is around the corner!  And then Easter right after that, after which it's Thanksgiving again anyways.  And, it doesn't really need to be a special occasion to serve a carrot casserole anyways.

As promised, this has quickly become the carrot blog (refer to the last three posts including this one to see what I mean!), and here is another blog post about carrots coming at ya!  The recipe comes from the Taste of Home website, and it's a keeper.

I brought this to the Thanksgiving dinner on my side of the family, and it was a huge hit.  The casserole dish was literally scraped clean by the end of the dinner, because people were taking seconds and even thirds (ok, I was the only person who took thirds).  Doesn't it just feel so great when that happens?  I pre-made the casserole earlier in the day, and then we just reheated in the oven prior to dinner being served.  Little Man spent the weekend at his Nana and Grandpa's house (The Hubby's parents) while we went over the line to stay at their trailer in Washington with some friends before coming back for Thanksgiving dinner with his side of the family.  It was a much needed weekend away, but it was awesome to come back to two back-to-back family dinners and our first Thanksgiving with the Little Man.  What a wonderful year with so much to be thankful for!  Cheese definitely being one of those things...

Hope you enjoy this Cheesy Carrot Casserole!

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Carrot and Parsnip Puree
Two Years Ago:  Easy Refried Bean Soup
Three Years Ago:  Healthy Everything Cookies
Four Years Ago:  Braised Red Cabbage with Goat Cheese




Cheesy Carrot Casserole

Serves: 10 -12 side dishes

Ingredients

• 8 cups sliced carrots
• 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 1 can condensed cream of celery soup (10.75 oz / 284 mL), undiluted
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese, divided
• 1 cup seasoned croutons (use the ones that are small in size)

Directions
Grease a 13 x 9-inch casserole dish and pre-heat oven to 350F.

Place carrots in a pot and cover with water, bring to a boil, then cook until tender-crisp.  Meanwhile, in a skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter and cook onions until tender.  Stir in the soup, salt, pepper, and 1 cup cheddar cheese, and stir to combine.  Drain the carrots and stir into the onion mixture.  Transfer to the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and croutons.  Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then drizzle over top.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbling.

Enjoy!

Recipe Adapted From:  Taste of Home - Carrot Casserole

Alex's Crispy & Crunchy Baked Chicken

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Here's another recipe from my brother's girlfriend Alex and her blog The Bookish Cook.  In the words of Gordon Ramsay, "This chicken is cooked perrrrfectly."  Also in the words of The Hubby quoting Gordon Ramsay, "This chicken is cooked perrrrfectly" (in loud angry British accent).

Alex nailed it again.  Some of her other hits that I have copied on this blog are the Flour-less Spicy Dark Chocolate Cake (The Hubby's favourite cake and also gluten free!) and the Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon, Avocado, and Lemony-Dijon Dressing (which is actually the salad that appears at the top left of the plate in these chicken pictures).

I'm happily hanging out in town this weekend after a super fun girls weekend on Vancouver Island last weekend.  The Hubby and I ordered way too much Chinese Food last night (partly because I hangrily made the statement, "Let's order, like, WAY too much Chinese Food tonight."), so we have quite the task ahead of us this weekend in polishing that off.  Other than that, I'm checking out a new kids park in my neighbourhood with my BFF Sheena and her daughter Natalie, running with my mom Sunday morning, and then The Hubby and I are checking out some local breweries with our pals Kendra and Kyle on Sunday afternoon.  Nice little weekend!

I hope you enjoy another recipe hit from Alex!  Have a great weekend everyone.

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Classic Spinach Dip in Bread Bowl
Two Years Ago:  White Wine Sangria Jello Jigglers
Three Years Ago:  8-Layered Greek Dip

Crispy & Crunchy Baked Chicken

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons dried Italian blend herbs
• 1/2 cup grated or ground parmesan cheese
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• Salt and pepper
• 4 chicken breasts (boneless, skinless)
• 1 heaping tablespoon mayonnaise
• Drizzle of olive oil

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Grease a non-stick cooking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

In a large plastic bag, combine bread crumbs, herbs, parmesan, garlic seasoning, paprika, onion power, and salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, toss chicken breasts with the mayonnaise, rubbing it with your hands until well coated.  One at a time, put the chicken breasts into the plastic bag with the bread crumb mixture, and shake to coat the chicken completely.  Repeat with all four chicken breasts, moving each to the greased baking sheet once coated.

Drizzle the chicken breasts with a small amount of olive oil, and place into the oven on the middle rack.  Bake for 30 minutes, then flip over and bake for 10 more minutes or until golden brown and no longer pink in the centre.

Enjoy!



Recipe Source: The Bookish Cook

Slow Cooker Creamy Santa Fe Chicken

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Oh, I looooooooove it when you don't have to pre-cook the ingredients going into the slow cooker before throwing them into the slow cooker!  This recipe does just that.  No browning, sautéing, or otherwise prepping of meat or vegetables...you just toss 'em into the Crockpot and you are on your merry way.  Which is the way that I feel it should be for slow cookers.

Oops, I did it again!  Another completely unappetizing picture of a total delicious meal. 

This was another winner from the Best of Bridge cookbook series.  The flavours of chicken, beans, and corn in a rich and creamy salsa and cream cheese sauce were oh so good overtop of white rice and served with a side salad.  My rice of choice is always jasmine (even though it's more frequently used in Asian cooking) because it has such great flavour.

This meal served The Hubby and me as the perfect weeknight dish on a cold rainy winter night.  This recipe is a definite keeper, and we will be making it again soon.

For a printer-friendly version of any recipe, simply click 'Print' below the title of any blog post. Voila - a clean recipe without my ramblings or any pictures!

One Year Ago:  Butternut Squash, Italian Sausage, and Spinach Pasta
Two Years Ago:  Creamy Roasted Garlic, Caramelized Onion, and Bacon Soup
Three Years Ago:  Tomato and Italian Sausage Risotto

Slow Cooker Creamy Sante Fa Chicken

Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 8 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized chunks
• 1 can black beans (14 to 19oz.), drained and rinsed
• 1 cup corn kernels (frozen, canned, or fresh)
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons cider vinegar
• 2 ounces cream cheese, cubed and softened
• 4 green onions, chopped

Directions
In a slow cooker, add chicken, beans, corn, salsa, tomato paste, and salt, and give everything a good stir.  Cook on low for 5 - 6 hours, or on high for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.  In a small bowl, stir together the chili powder and vinegar until smooth.  Add the mixture to the slow cooker, along with the cream cheese.  Continue to cook on high for another 15 minutes until the cheese is melted, then stir again.

Serve over rice and top with green onions.  Enjoy!




Recipe Source:  Best of Bridge Slow Cooker Cookbook - Creamy Chicken Santa Fe

'Mini' Greek Salad (Humour Me!)

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This salad is perfect for the heat wave (mid-30 C / high 90-F!) that we are currently simultaneously loving and complaining about at the same time.  It's fresh, refreshing, healthy, and cool.

It's also obviously not brain science or rocket surgery!  I'm not re-inventing the wheel here...essentially this salad is the exact same concept as a regular sized Greek Salad except with baby, pint-sized, itsy-bitsy, minikin vegetables (I know - tomatoes aren't vegetables, and Pluto isn't a planet, but I'm still going to pretend that they are!).  Also, it's hot and hard for me to care about cooking or picking up my camera to take a picture while cooking or using my insanely hot laptop (seriously, why is it so hot!?) to talk about my cooking.  I made a really, really, really delicious pasta the other night and The Hubby kept asking why I wasn't taking pictures.  Answer - I was too hot and too lazy, and all I cared about was watching Big Brother, and am now way full of regret because I don't remember all of the steps for that pasta to be able to recreate it!  Sigh, sigh, sigh!

Back to the salad.  In this version, I have traded in full-sized cucumbers, bell peppers, and tomatoes for their ridiculously cute baby versions.  The other ingredients aren't tiny...I was considering using shallot or pearl onions in place of the red onion, but chose not to because who knows what that might have been like.  The olives I had no teeny substitute for other than capers, and that seemed weird.  The feta is also not mini...in fact, the the less mini you get with cheese in any recipe the better/tastier/merrier, amiright?

Garlic Scape Pesto

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Garlic Scape Pesto

Warning:  For garlic lovers only...all others beware the deliciousness!!!

It's garlic scape season again!!!!!!  Run, don't walk, to your nearest farmer's market and pick up some of these green beauties while you can, because their season is very short, too short, only 2 - 3 weeks in duration short.  I get a bit freakishly excited when I see garlic scapes at the market.  For example, my friend texted me that she picked up some garlic scapes and my reaction was 'Jealous!'  I've been known to buy armloads at at time, then go back for another bunch, then talk about it to whoever will listen.

Garlic Scapes !

Garlic scapes are one of the best kept secrets in the world of produce, and I'm here to out them.  The garlic scape is the long, bright green, usually curly stem that grows out of the garlic at the plant's maturity.  The closest thing that they resemble visually is a green onion, but they are hard to the touch unlike the soft green onion, with the stiffness of the stem of a daisy.  Their season is very short, from late June to early July (where I live anyway), and they can typically only be found at your local farmer's market.  Garlic scapes range in price from $1 to $2.50 a bunch - cheap, cheap, cheap - so get out there and support your local farmers.  They taste is exactly like garlic to me, which since I'm like very into garlic, works for me.

Creamy Bacon and Leek Pasta

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My family likes to cook.  So recently when we went away for a nice relaxing three-day weekend in Birch Bay just over the US border from our place, we decided to have a pasta throwdown.  Because why wouldn't you have an intense pasta competition on your relaxing family vacation.

The competition gets underway.

My family is obviously also competitive.  So when I called my dad a few days before our trip to let him know what kind of pasta I would be making and what my ingredients were, I shouldn't have been surprised when he remarked that he couldn't believe I had willingly given up my recipe so close to the competition and that he could really use this to his advantage.

Mini Peppers Stuffed With Goat Cheese and Asparagus

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Hurry and make this, while asparagus is still cheap in the stores!

I needed a healthy appetizer for when my sister-in-laws came over for some wine the other night.  I had a bag of mini bell peppers, a bunch of asparagus, and some goat cheese in the fridge, and this appetizer came to life.  Besides those three ingredients, the only other things you need are some olive oil, red pepper flakes, and garlic.  Although simple in terms of the number of ingredients, these healthy bites pack some delicious flavour.  And those mini peppers are just so cute.

My sister-in-laws and I gobbled down an entire platter of these mini peppers...they are so worth the asparagus pee!  But actually, in addition to eating too much food and drinking too much wine, the whole point of getting together that evening was to have an occasion to put on our wedding dresses one last time.  We pre-planned to meet at my place and throw the old gowns on for the night, because why spend so much money to just get to wear them once, right?!  I had never dry-cleaned mine after the wedding, so it still had McDonalds ketchup on it from the drive-thru on the way home from my wedding.  My sister-in-law Caitlin had mustard on hers for a similar reason, so there was no judgement.  The dresses didn't stay on too long, on account of then being extremely uncomfortable, but we had fun!

Spring Equinox Salad with Roasted Beets, Goat Cheese, and Pecans

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Here's a little salad that's perfect for late winter / early spring, and / or for when you have only four days left before you (well, me actually) have to squeeze into a bikini.

I mentioned in my last post that Hubs and I had just been in New Orleans for 10 days, and now we are off to Mazatlan on Friday.  We are officially on a salad-only dinner regime until we leave. New Orleans is one of our favourite cities in the whole world, but low-cal it is not...from all of the deep fried food to the massive portions to the sweet alcoholic drinks, it's hard to come back without a few extra pounds to call your own.

For instance here's The Hubby looking unimpressed by the size of his dinner order, 'Catfish Dinner with a side of fries and onion rings.'

Weeknight No-Brainer BBQ Chicken Salad

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The Hubby and I were recently in New Orleans for ten days for a combination of work and pleasure, and so it's pretty much been deep-fried catfish, and deep-fried shrimp po'boys, and deep-fried french fries and deep-fried chicken, and deep-fried crawfish, and deep-fried bacon (didn't even know this was a thing!), and deep fried chicken wings, and deep fried boudin, and deep-friend beignets, and even deep-fried pickles, jalapeños, and mushrooms.

One time I tried to be healthy and ordered a salad, and the only vegetable on my plate was 11 sprigs of arugula topped with fried green tomatoes, huge croutons, bacon, and a creamy dressing.  Another time The Hubby ordered a 1/2 sandwich, and what arrived was the biggest sandwich I've ever seen in my life.  I told the waitress that there was an error because we only ordered the half-size, to which she laughed and told me that was the half-size.  Makes sense, since it was the size of a small baby.  We were doomed a delicious, delicious fate.  Which leaves my waist-line in a bit of a predicament because The Hubby and I are off to our friend April's wedding at an all-inclusive in Mazatlan in just a little over a week, and I'm pretty sure that appropriate sun-bathing attire isn't my most comfortable pair of extra-large pyjamas.

Kendra's Pickled Asparagus, Prosciutto, and Cream Cheese Appetizer

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What could be easier, but look so gourmet?

 

You may have thought that with her Italian Sausage Jalapeno Poppers she was a one-trick pony, but this is another great appetizer from my friend Kendra.

The recipe is simple too, with just three ingredients and no chopping, mixing, heating, baking, or cooking, making it the perfect last minute appetizer when you need to throw together something in a hurry.  Or, even when you have time to fuss, because basically for me, anything with cheese in it is always good.  I've used the Sunshine Farms brand of store-bought pickled asparagus for this recipe, which can be found near the pickles and olives in your supermarket.  I can't wait to try making this appy again once I have canned some homemade pickled asparagus this spring, hopefully without risk of botulism this time.  

White Chocolate and Cranberry Cheesecake

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Good news - The Hubby bought me a camera for Christmas, so hopefully you've seen the last of dark, blurry photos like this one.  Hopefully...but I wouldn't hold my breath.

As I mentioned in my last post, for Christmas dinner this year on my family's side my contribution was dessert, and I made two different desserts.  I was only going to make one, this White Chocolate Cranberry Cheesecake, but then my mom reminded me that my brother doesn't really like cheesecake ever since that 'bad cheesecake that he tried when he was a kid.'  I already had my heart set on the cheesecake, so instead of changing course I decided to add a second dessert, my mom's Mocha Chocolate Roll.  Because why not - two desserts are better than one dessert anyway.  

Healthy Southwest Chicken and Rice Bake

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What's in your freezer?

 

So, it's just The Hubby and me in our house, but in looking at our freezer you would think differently.  Here is what I saw when I reluctantly did a freezer clean recently:

• 8 chicken breasts, 1 beef tenderloin log, 1 whole chicken, 2 packs bacon, 2 steaks, 2 bags prawns, 6 salmon fillets
• 7 or more partially used bags of peas or corn or pea/corn combo
• 3 tubs partially-consumed vanilla ice cream with an inch of icy freezer crust on top
• 8 bags of sliced bread with only two pieces of crust remaining per bag (never to be eaten)
• 1,000,000 black bananas
• other, other, other x 100

My inventory of our pantry yielded similar (non-frozen) results.  8 cans of black beans, 7 boxes of pasta, 2,000,000 granola bars, too much uneaten food.  So I threw out the old ice cream, downsized my banana collection, and told The Hubby that we had to try to go a month without buying any new food except dairy products and fresh fruit and vegetables.  We're on about Day 14 now, our freezer is halfway emptied, and our pantry is slowly depleting in stock.  It takes a bit of planning and creativity, and so far almost every meal has included frozen peas or canned black beans, but it's been kind of a fun challenge at the same time.  For instance, I came home from work last night and The Hubby had prepared a chicken, pea, and pasta casserole...and after a long day at work it was exactly what I wanted to eat for dinner, and all that I could think was that I had married some kind of Top Chef or something. That is, until we flicked to Top Chef on tv while we ate dinner!

Traditional Italian Sausage Lasagna

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While I'm on the Italian Sausage bandwagon...

This blog's tagline is The Kitchen Confessional of Megan McLeod...well, here's one for you.  All of the mozzarella cheese that went into this lasagna fell off the counter and onto the floor before I assembled the lasagna.  All of this precariously placed cheese, onto the non-swept floor...

Five second rule!

...and then into a lasagna.  Don't tell The Hubby!!

Second kitchen confessional is that I wear these onion goggles every single time that I cut onions.  They totally prevent my eyes from stinging and crying.  Plus they are obviously super stylish!

Hi 

So, our garage was broken into a couple of weeks ago.

Kendra's Italian Sausage and Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers

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It's amazing how many times you can forget not to touch your eyes after handling jalapeños.  For me, like 12 times probably.

 

Which is enough to make me wonder for a moment whether I have short term memory loss or whether maybe I am just a really slow learner.  Kendra's public service announcement is that you may want to use disposable gloves for this recipe (especially if you wear contact lenses) to protect your eyes and skin from the spicy jalapeños.  Or like me, you can just...not...

Who is Kendra, creator of Jalapeno Poppers, you ask?  Well, Kendra and I have been friends for ten years now, she was one of my bridesmaids, and she's one of my besties.

Kenji and me.

We met while working together at Milestone's Restaurant back in the early 2000's, most likely while commiserating over waiting for 'campers' (restaurant guests who linger even after the restaurant is closed, for no apparent reason, and don't take a hint to leave even after the ugly lights have come on and two waitresses are staring them down awkwardly from the other side of the restaurant) to finally go home so that we could do the same (or - let's be honest since we were 20 years old and worked in a restaurant - go to the bar).

Heirloom Tomato Caesar Salad with Parmesan-Bacon Crisps

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Have you noticed that Heirloom Tomatoes are starting to 'crop up' everywhere these days?

Well, not everywhere as in at the gas station or library, but almost every produce store and supermarket seems to carry these beautiful fruits at a reasonable price, whereas in the past they seemed like something you would have to seek out at Whole Foods.  They come in all colours of the stoplight rainbow - bright yellow, striped red, lime green - and look absolutely mouth-wateringly beautiful in a salad.  The coolest thing about them is that all of the various types are so different from one another in terms of acidity, texture, sweetness, crunchiness, and of course, attractiveness, which makes a salad like this one so interesting.

Watermelon Salad with Feta and Fresh Mint

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I'm back baby! (said me, not the watermelon salad)

I know, I know -  I should have called, I should have written.  But it's rare that we get a summer this outstanding where I live, and so I let myself downward spiral away from this blog and cartwheel (imaginary cartwheel because I never learned how to do a real one) towards BBQs, beer, golf, friends, family, weekend trips, backyard parties, important celebrations, one very productive closet overhaul where I offloaded four garbage bags of old clothes, and one extremely shockingly productive weekend gardening-o-rama where The Hubby, my mom, and I did all of the sprucing up to my house's back and front yard that we have been meaning to do since we moved in four years ago.  Please excuse my run-on sentence, but that was a lot of stuff.