Green Chicken and Eggplant Curry

I love Thai food, if I could eat only one food for the rest of my life it would be Thai... that is if there were no more sweets left on earth.  

Here is a super simple, pretty quick, fabulously yummy chicken curry.

You will need:
6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 can (400ml) coconut milk
2 crushed garlic cloves
2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
12 baby egg plants, or one large egg plant
3 green chilies, finely chopped
3 fresh kaffir lime leaves (optional, but they add to the recipe)
salt & pepper
4 tbsp chopped cilantro

First you need to cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Pour the coconut milk into a preheated wok over high heat and bring to a boil.

Add the chicken, garlic, and fish sauce to the wok and return to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer gently for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is just tender.

Remove the chicken from the wok with a slotted spoon, keep warm.

Stir in the curry paste, add eggplants, chilies and lime leaves and simmer for 5 minutes.

Return chicken to the wok and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper, then stir in cilantro. transfer to serving plates and garnish with extra lime leaves.

Serve with rice!

Enjoy!

This ain't yo mama's Hummus.

I actually know this isn't my mom's hummus. I don't think had hummus until I was about 18. Pretty sad. Not that my childhood wasn't filled with great food. It was all just pretty standard what I now refer to as "white" food. You know, Roast beef, Mashed Potatoes, Casseroles, Shepard's Pie, and of course Yorkshire pudding.. oh that is my favourite.  That being said I clearly remember going to a Chinese buffet with my family and getting an order of French fries with Cherry sauce... wow how adventurous ;). Truth be told I have come a very long way from my European ancestors in terms of food.

The other day I went to visit with a friend, she also happens to be my mid wife for my latest baby. Anyway she made us lunch, and part of this was this fantastic Edamame hummus type dip. I had to take the recipe, and now I have to share it with you. Now when I think of Edamame, I think of those supper salty pea pods you get at the local Sushi restaurant (I can eat these by the bucket), not some yummy goodness that can be spread or scooped.

Now as usual I will let you know, my kids did NOT eat this. But they are pains in my &*% so who cares, me and my husband loved it, served it with a fresh baguette, some cut up fruit and veggies, and some blue cheese. Yummy lunch!

You will need:

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed ( I used Presidents choice)
1 cup frozen petite green peas, thawed
1/3 cup warm water
1/4 cup tahini
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp miso paste ( I omitted this)
1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, finely minced
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Start by heating oil and saute-ing the onion and garlic until soft, add the thawed edamame and gentle saute for a couple of minutes.

Transfer mixture to a food processor with thawed peas, warm water, tahini, 3 tbsp olive oil, miso paste, zest of 1/2 lemon, lemon juice, cumin, coriander, and fresh coriander. Puree until smooth.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Another healthy cookie?

A friend of mine put me on a mission. I love it, a challenge. She tells me "my sister has a great quinoa cookie recipe, made without eggs, and with bananas, but she won't share it"... Consider it done! The rules; no eggs, no peanuts, no funky ingredients that wouldn't already be in the pantry. I thought no problem, then I quickly realized that most recipes not only had eggs, but quinoa flour. Not in the rules. So after taking bits and pieces from several different recipes I think I came up with something pretty good. Please note, these are not "I had a bad day I need something sweet" kind of cookie. These are premeditate cookies.

Without further ado,  Here to you Brenda (and anyone else who might want to try!)

Cook 1/2 cup of quinoa in water and a pinch of cinnamon. (don't over cook it will be too mushy, don't under cook you'll end up with little crunchy things in your cookies). Let cool

In a food processor I combined 2 bananas, 1/2 cup of butter, 3/4 cup of brown sugar and a splash of vanilla. Puree, it will be smooth and velvety.

Place it in a bowl and add 1 1/2cups of flour (whole wheat if you are feeling extra healthy), 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of baking powder, and 1/2 tsp of baking soda.

Stir to combine, try not to over mix or the cookies will be tough.

Add in 1 cup of cooked quinoa, 1 cup of oats, 1 cup of add ins (like chocolate chips, cranberries etc..)

Bake at 375 for about 11-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Imitation is the best form of flattery

Isn't that what they say? Imitation is the best form of flattery. That's what I have for you today.

This is pretty much a copy cat of something I saw on Cookies and Cups, called Chocolate Chip Magic Bars. Which essentially is just a variation of the old favourite Eagle Brand Magic Chocolate Bar.

The only difference is that I made my cookie base from scratch instead of from Pilsbury. Not that there is anything wrong with that. I had several reasons for this. 1- my grandma is still not doing great and I needed some baking therapy. 2- I am sick and my hubby packed up the 3 oldest kids and brought them to my in-laws (2 hrs away) for them and my sister & brother -in law to take care of. 3- My Sister in law is allergic to eggs, so I had to make it from scratch. It wouldn't be a token of gratitude if she just had to watch my brother in law eat it in front of her... trust me he would.

Ok so really you are getting a 2 for 1 with this post. A favourite Egg free chocolate chip cookie recipe (which can easily be made vegan) and a yummy Chocolate Chip Magic Bars recipe.

Without further blabbing here goes:

In your food processor combine 2/3cups of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of butter (or vegan magarine like Earth Balance), a splash of vanilla, and one apple peeled and chopped.

Blend until well combined.

Remove it from the food processor and place it in a bowl.
Stir in 1/2cups of flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/4 tsp of salt.

Once combined stir in your chocolate chips (or carob chips for all you vegans)

I spread this in an 8X11 tray that was lined with parchment paper. Bake it for about 10 minutes at 350.
(If you are making cookies drop tablespoons about 1 inch apart and bake for about 14 minutes at 350)

After 10 minutes I pulled it out and topped it with what ever open bags of goodness I had in my baking pantry, chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, skor bits, and coconut. Topped that with some sweetened condensed milk, and back in the oven for about another 15-20 minutes.

Let cool completely before trying to slice.

ENJOY!

I love my veggies.

Seeing as I have been under the weather for a few days, my weekly meal plan has kinda gone out the window. Pretty much everything can just be shuffled down a couple of days to accommodate for an extra day of left overs and Pizza my hubby brought home. All that is except the veggies. You know you do your groceries with the thought that you will be super healthy, have at least 2 different veggies at every meal, you will even cut them up as a snack. In reality you snack on the box of cookies your mother-in-law brought over for the kids on the weekend... Not me, you .. hmmm.

So yesterday I raided the fridge for the veggies that wouldn't make it. The only casualties were my eggplants. Oh well, Eggplant Parmesan next week.

I found some red peppers, zucchinis, and asparagus. Everything else could make it another day.

Then I raid the cheese drawer, a bit of Mozzerella (I wish I had goat cheese), and some parmesan.

Since my bread machine died of over use, Pizza isn't an option.

Next step was to raid the freezer, I'm looking for Phyllo pastry... I'm out, but I find one square of puff pastry left. Success!

So I start by slicing my peppers, with an onion. Toss with some olive oil salt & pepper and a bit of thyme.
Pop it in the over for about 10 minutes at 400.


I cut up my asparagus into 1" pieces and quarter and slice my zucchinis. I wish I had mushrooms. I add this to the peppers and onions, and pop it bake in the oven, with a bit more salt, pepper, and thyme for another 15 minutes.

Once this is done the veggies should be pretty soft but not mushy (I hate mushy vegetables).

Then I roll out my puff pastry into a nice big rectangle, I do this on a lightly floured cutting board. There is a reason for this.

Then comes the cheese, topped with the roasted veg.

Fold it up like a little package.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the line tray upside down on the prepared package, then flip over the cutting board so the veggie package is seam side down and you didn't break it in two. Good trick uh?

Brush with an egg white wash to make it nice and golden brown.

Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Teacher Appreciation

I'm sick... over the past 2 weeks 3 of the kids and my hubby have been fighting some kind of germy nasty-ness, yesterday it manifested it's self in me and my poor little Layth. We feel like crap. Asides from that I am feeling awful. One of my grandmothers is not doing so great. She's old, I know, but it's hard when you see the rock of your family start to crumble. In any other circumstance I would pack myself and Layth up and we would hop in the car and take that 2 hr drive to see her in a heart beat. But with the germs we can't. Makes me feel even worse. All that being said I will apologize now if this post is less than spectacular, or dare I say incoherent.

Anyone who knows me knows that when I am upset, down or stressed I head to the kitchen. So that is exactly what I did. Lucky for me it is also Teacher Appreciation week at my daughter's school and they asked us to donate some baked goods. Great I can bake and we don't have to eat it. Perfect.

Since it's for the school it has to be nut free. I'll take it one step further and do egg free too. This could easily be a completely vegan cupcake, but I can't bring myself to make the vegan icing. So while the cupcakes themselves are vegan. The icing is not.

Since they are for the teachers I am faced with a tough decision. Which type of cute cupcake wrapper should I use? If I was closer to my good friend over at Just Me Prints I would have just got her to make me some super cute tags. But I'm not, so this is what I decided. Cute purple flower cupcake holders.

Now for my favourite Chocolate Cupcake recipe. Yes it happens to be vegan, but it is my go to, and I promise you won't even know that it's vegan. It is super easy, light, fluffy, and ouber cheap to make. Win on all levels.

I decided to make them mint chocolate. Here goes:
Start with the wet ingredients:

5 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
1tsp mint extract (or vanilla if you prefer)
1 1/4 cups water
Wisk well together

Then add:
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Mix really well until there are no lumps.

Here is my trick. Not really to complicated. Since this batter is a bit on the wetter side, and since these are cute liners I don't want them to get all dirty. So I use one of my piping bags, drape it over a tall cup and fill with the batter. Then snip the end off and it is much easier to fill the liners mess free.

(Also yes I normally use reusable piping bags so I don't have to waste. But I'm sick and the thought of washing them is not doing it for me today. Thus disposable is the way to go.)

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
Let them cool on a wire rack.

Ice with your favourite icing. Mine happens to be a simple:
3/4cup butter
3 cups icing sugar
splash of heavy cream
mini splash of mint (or vanilla) extract
Beat until creamy.

So I tinted my icing a light yellow for the middle of the flower. Creative no?

I also busted out some different decorating techniques for all of them I used my #18 Wilton tip.

Hope you enjoy!

A Healthy - er cookie

Cutting out sweets for me is not an option. Sure I would like to loose the rest of this baby weight, yes I will work out, but under no circumstances can I give up my sweets.  What I will be doing is trying to put a healthy - er spin on some of the things I do eat. Now don't get me wrong, there is no healthy option for Nanaimo bars, but I did modify a great oatmeal cookie recipe to be pretty guilt free. 

So here is what you'll need:

1 cup white flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup ground flax seed

1 cup quick cooking oats

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

3/4 cup room temperature butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp almond extract ( I prefer to use almond, but by all means use vanilla)

1/2 cup chocolate chips (I like to use the mini ones so the same amount seems to spread further)

1/2 cup dried cranberries

OK so being the lazy baker I am this is how I roll:

Start my combining the butter, sugars, eggs, and extract in a large bowl. 

Add the flours, flax seed, baking soda, salt, cinnamon on top. Mix it all together well. 

Then add the oats, chocolate chips and cranberries and mix it all together. 

Drop a tbsp of batter on a parchment lined baking sheet (easy clean up) leaving enough space for them to spread. 

And bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. 

Let them Cool on a wire wrack. 

The smaller you make them the more you can eat without feeling guilty!