Killer BBQ Brushes!

Have you heard that wire BBQ brushes are dangerous? I had no idea! Last year, I started hearing about the dangers of using the wire BBQ scrapers. I remember thinking, where did this come from? In my experience, there has always been a wire brush sitting next to all of the barbeques in my memories.  If it was really that bad, why hadn't I heard of this before? Well, apparently, it has been an issue -- to the point that Health Canada is looking into whether they should be pulled from store shelves. (See an article from yesterday, from CBC: Saint John BBQer Swallowed Brush Wire w/ Burger ) The idea of swallowing that gives me the heeby jeebies, so I chucked ours in the trash. 

Of course, then I had to figure out what to use. I was at Costco one day and saw this scraper:

It was a bit pricey, but we decided to give it a try. Luckily it works, and I don't think it will injure me or my family!

I still wondered what other people use, so I had done a little research and found a few ideas online:

1.  Half of an onion - This surprised me, but I could see how it would work!

2.  Wooden Scraper, like the one above - The "Great Scrape" works awesome, but I feel like you could probably make your own, by just using a piece of wood or maybe even a cedar shingle. 

3.  Aluminum Foil - crumple it up, and rub it against the grills using a pair of tongs. Easy peasy! 

4.  Other scrapers - I've seen ones that look like scrubbers you would use when doing dishes

5.  Burn it off! Leave the BBQ on for a bit and burn off any food remnants. Of course, this doesn't always do the trick and can leave burnt bits, so a scraper would still need to be used. No one wants burnt bits on their food! 

Basically, do what you need to, but throw out those metal wire scrapers! No one wants to serve metal at their summer BBQ!

Finally, Fall!

It's officially fall! My absolute favourite season. Cozy clothes, warm drinks, colourful leaves, crisp air. I love it all.

I've been working WAY too hard lately. In addition to the craziness of a new school year, with a new position, I have been doing some busy volunteer work and also decided to take on a little side project. Needless to say, it's been a bit crazy.  There hasn't been nearly enough fun in my life, so I thought I'd make a little list of things I would like to do this fall. Hopefully, I can figure out a way to make them all happen!

1.  Go apple picking
2.  Decorate our yard for fall
3.  Carve pumpkins
4.  Enjoy a walk in the park, to enjoy the fall colours
5.  Take a drive up to Fredericton, stopping at all the farm stands
6.  Make pickles
7.  Visit Kings Landing
8.  When September is over, make pumpkin cookies
9.  Find a Halloween costume for C.
10.  Plan something special for C's 3rd birthday!
11.  Jump in puddles
12.  Get some fall candles from Bath & Body Works
13.  Make some Halloween Crafts
14.  Take fun fall photos
15.  Host Thanksgiving Day dinner!
16.  Go to the Moncton Zoo
17.  Thanksgiving crafts!
18.  Fall Nature Hunt / I Spy Walk
19.  Make Applesauce
20.  Sit back, relax, and breathe.

10 of My Favourite Pinterest Recipes

I have a love-hate relationship with Pinterest. It can be a major time suck, but it can also be so helpful! I pin ideas for school, home renos, and organization, but most often it's recipes. Pinterest is like a modern day recipe box. Of course, I've pinned many recipes that I haven't tried (and  probably never will,) but I have managed to find some favourites.  I thought I'd share some of them here. I've tried all of these recipes, often more than once, and recommend them. I can't say that I followed the recipes exactly the way they are written

1.  Loaded Philly Cheesesteak Baked Potato - from Skinnytaste.com
Try it. Seriously. It was delicious. It's on the menu plan for this week, but I think we'll just serve it on some crusty rolls instead of potatoes.

2.  My Favorite Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies - from The Spiffy Cookie
These cookies take a long time to make, but the time is so worth it! They were crowned the chocolate chip cookie winner by my husband.

3.  Homemade Pizza Dough - from Favorite Family Recipes
This is my go-to pizza dough recipe. It freezes well and makes a good pizza!

4.  Oreo Ultimate Turtles Cheesecake - from Allrecipes.com
You definitely want to make this when people are coming over or if you need dessert to bring to a potluck. You don't want to be forced to eat it all. Trust me. It's really sweet. I have a pretty rich sweet tooth, and this cheesecake puts it to the test. This is definitely are "share with lots of people" recipe.

5.  The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe - from Add A Pinch
This is my favourite chocolate cake recipe. I've talked about it before (here and here). The espresso powder in the recipe makes it something special! Don't skip it. Just trust me. Now I want chocolate cake!

6.  Best Meatloaf. Ever. from South Your Mouth
Okay, I'm not exactly a meatloaf girl. I had visions of dried out ketchup covered ground beef. I'm telling you, this recipe is actually good. Give it a try.

7.  Rice Krispie Cookies from C and C Dish
These cookies remind me of the ones my grandmother used to make. Everyong called my grandmother Cookie Nan, and with a name like that, you know that she was known for her cookies!  I sadly don't have any of her cookie recipes, but these are close. Every time I make these delicious treats, I think of her. 

8.  Olive Garden Pasta e Fagioli Soup from Farm Girl in the Suburbs
I have been to Olive Garden three times in my life.  The first time I went, I had this soup. This recipe isn't quite what I remember from the restaurant, but it is really good. I find it's a bit think, so don't expect it to be very soupy; it's more like a chili consistency. It freezes well, and that's always a bonus for work lunch planning.  

9.  Pepperoni Pizza Quesadillas - from Snixy Kitchen
I love pizza. I also like quesadillas. I never would have thought to put them together. It's a quick lunchtime meal.

10.  Turkey, Veggie Tray, & Barley Soup {Thanksgiving Leftover Recipe} from The Chic Life
I have only made this once, and had completely forgotten about this recipe, but I do remember that it was delicious. I love a good soup recipe and this one is awesome! It's also easy to change up depending on what you have in your fridge.


I've got some new Pinterest recipes to try this week in our weekly meal plan, and I'm excited to see if I can find any keepers for quick and easy weeknight meals. Have you found any go-to everyday recipes? Comment below and let me know!

Quick and Easy Chili

I love chili and often make it in my slow cooker. Sadly, a slow cooker is slow. Last week, I really wanted some homemade chili. It was a rainy, foggy day, and chili just seemed like a good choice. The problem? It was 4pm. I couldn't really break out the slow cooker and expect it to be ready for 5:30. I had hamburger thawed in the fridge, some beans and tomatoes in the pantry, so I decided to freehand it for some stovetop chili! This is what I came up with:

Quick & Easy Chili:

• 2t oil
• 1lb of ground beef (a 1/2 lb would work if you want to cut down on the meat... Or use a mix of different ground meats-Turkey, sausage, beef... The options are endless!)
• 2 packages of mushrooms - sliced, diced, or chopped - use more or less, to your own preference 
• 1 onion, diced
• garlic - a clove or two, diced
• bell pepper, chopped - any kind and as much as you want. (I used half an orange pepper)
• 1 can of diced tomatoes
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes (you could use two cans of diced, if you prefer)
• 1 can of kidney beans, drained and rinsed to get rid of the bean "sauce"
• 2T chili powder (or more or less, your choice)
• 1t cumin
• 1/2C or so of your favourite salsa - optional, but I find it adds some quick flavour!
• salt & pepper, to taste

Directions: 

1. Add a little oil to a good sized pot and heat, then add ground beef, breaking it up as it cooks. (While it is cooking, cut up mushrooms, onion, garlic, and pepper.)

2. Once no longer pink, drain fat from ground beef, and add onion, garlic, and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms have released liquid and it has evaporated a bit. (I love mushrooms, but hate it when mushroom juice waters down my food!) Add peppers and cook for a couple more minutes. If you want them crunchy, don't good for too long.

3. Add tomatoes (diced and crushed), beans, spices. Heat until it's simmering and reduce heat. 

4. After about 10 minutes, taste and make adjustments to spices, if needed.

5. Simmer for another 10 minutes, and you're good to go!

Serve it solo, in a bowl as it is, or with chips, sour cream, and/or cheese! Yummy comfort food!

- - -

It turned out pretty well, and I figured that it would be even better the next day, but sadly, my fuzzy mom-brain prevented that from happening, because I forgot to put it in the fridge overnight! I was one sad mama as I poured it into the compost bag. Next time, I need to remember to portion it out in containers and put it in the freezer right away!

What I love about a simple recipe is that it's easily changed up. Have some leftover corn from last night's corn boil? Throw it in! Tomatoes that didn't get used for your salad? Dice 'em up and toss them in! 

Any suggestions on how to make this quick recipe better?  I'd love to hear them, especially if you have any ideas on other vegetables to add in!

Grilled Cows Cheese Sandwich with Mushrooms

We're heading to PEI next month, and today, I had a treat for lunch straight from the Island. A delicious grilled cheese sandwich made with Cow's cheese! It was so yummy.

Cow's cheese has a pretty high milk fat content, and can be a bit pricey, so I don't buy it often, but it's SOOOO good! Luckily, I don't have to be in PEI to get it, as Sobeys and Costco often carry it. Every so often, I pick up a chunk and use it in grilled cheeses (is cheeses a real word??), diced up in salads, grated on pasta, or just as a snack on its own.

A couple years ago, I had been at Sobeys and a booth was offering samples of grilled cheese with mushrooms. I had never added anything to my grilled cheese before, and realized that I had been missing out! Since then, I've made grilled cheese sandwiches with sautéed mushrooms and Cows cheese as a special lunch time treat.

Grilled Cows Cheese with Mushrooms Sandwich

 
Ingredients:
2 slices of multigrain bread
Sliced cows cheese (enough to cover a piece of bread) - not too thick, it's rich
Mushrooms sliced thinly - probably about 2-3 mushrooms, any type
1t or so of butter or margarine

Directions:
1. Preheat frying pan and sauté mushrooms until water is released. You don't want that moisture in your sandwich!
2. Build your sandwich - butter/margarine one side of each piece of bread, place enough sliced cheese to cover a non-buttered side of the bread, add saluted onions on top of cheese, topped with the second piece of bread (buttered side facing out, of course).
3. Carefully flop into a preheated frying pan, and watch carefully, making sure it doesn't burn,  flipping after the first side gets golden brown.
4. Slice in two and enjoy! Serve with some veggie sticks.

Kitchen Adventures: Seafood Chowder

In my house, we love a good maritime treat.. Any seafood will do, but chowder is a favourite. It's so rich that we usually only make it once a year. Usually, it's at Christmas time, with leftover lobster from our Christmas Eve lobster. This year, my husband requested it for his birthday.

I like to share recipes, but often make things up as I go along. This is especially true with seafood chowder, and that's what makes it fun. This time, I thought I would write down what I do, so I can duplicate it or make more calculated improvements over time. 

I should warn you that this recipe is for a crowd. It would probably feed about 20. We needed to feed 10. Many had seconds, and we have lots of leftovers. I have issues with size control when cooking. If you are looking for a smaller recipe, scroll to the bottom of the recipe, as I've cut it in half, for a smaller crowd.  

Maritime Seafood Chowder

(Serves a crowd!)

Ingredients:
1/2 C Butter
3-4 small-medium onions, diced
6 celery stalks, diced
3-4 carrots, diced
4 baking potatoes, diced
2 baking potatoes, grated
5 bay leaves
3t thyme
3t dill
1/2t cayenne pepper
1/2t paprika
2L (8C) Cream - I use coffee cream, which is 18%, but you could go as rich as you want.
2-3L (8-10C) Milk - whole
4 Cans of clams and juice
5-6 lbs of seafood the following (or any other mix of seafood)
-Scallops (if large, cut in half of thirds) 
-Shrimp (raw, peeled, and deveined )
-Lobster (cut into chunks)
-Salmon (chunked)
-Haddock (chunked)
Salt & Pepper, to taste

Salmon, Haddock, Lobster,
Scallops and Shrimp, waiting
to be added to the pot.

Directions:
1.  In a stock pot, melt butter over medium-high heat, and add onions, celery, and carrots. Cook, until veggies are starting to cook. It will smell heavenly. 

2.  Add potatoes (diced and grated), spices (alter to suit your tastes), clams and juices, and 1L of cream and 1L of milk. Heat over medium until it starts to bubble a bit, but DON'T BOIL! There is dairy in that pot, and you don't want it to turn and curdle. 

3.  Turn down the heat and let it simmer for about 45 minutes, or until the grated potatoes have broken down and the diced potatoes are getting tender. Make sure you stir a lot. 

4.  Add the rest of the seafood, including any juice - especially the lobster juice! - and then enough cream and milk to ensure there is a good amount of broth. I added about 1.5L of milk and 1L of cream. 

5.  Turn up the heat a bit and let it warm through. Stir, stir, stir. That's key.  If you want a really rich treat, add some more butter, cubed, and start stirring. I don't think it's necessary, but I know people that swear by it! Once everything is in the pot and heated, it's time to taste and adjust. Taste the broth and adjust the spices. I added a little extra dill, some pepper and a little salt.  

I encourage you to make the recipe your own - try different spices, seafood, veggies, etc. Try a different ratio of cream to milk, or cut out the cream altogether, to save some calories and fat. Whatever you do, let me know! Then, I can try it for myself. Leave a comment, and share your chowder tips!

Note:

Since you won't always have a crowd, here is an ingredients list for a half recipe. It's still heavy on the seafood.  You could easily cut this in half again. 

1/4 C Butter
2 small-medium onions, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 baking potatoes, diced
1 baking potatoes, grated
3 bay leaves
1.5t thyme
1.5t dill
1/4t cayenne pepper
1/4t paprika
1L (4C) Cream - 35%, or a mix (1/2 L for step 2, and the rest for step 4)
1-2L (4-8C) Milk - whole (1/2 L for step 2, and the rest for step 4)
2 Cans of clams and juice
3 lbs of seafood like the following (or any other mix of seafood) 
- Scallops, Shrimp, Lobster, Salmon, Haddock
Salt & Pepper

Kitchen Adventures: Clam Chowder

What do you do on a Sunday night when you really want some clam chowder? Be happy that Sobeys is now open 24/7 and that you have a good stash of cookbooks to search for the perfect quick recipe!

I love Chef Michael Smith's cookbooks! The recipes are fantastic, and always teach me a little something about food, flavours and freestyle cooking. He always gives suggestions for altering recipes and ways to change it up the next time you try it. I always love making changes to recipes, and a little guidance is always welcome. 

Yesterday was a rainy, miserable day, so a little bowl of maritime comfort was just what we needed. I have my own recipe for seafood chowder, but it takes too much time and money, so I thought clam chowder would be yummy. Chowder isn't as difficult as it seems - a good balance of veggies (potatoes, carrots, celery, onion), seafood, cream, and spices (thyme, salt, pepper, cayenne, dill are my favourites.) 

I found the perfect quick recipe, "Maritime Clam Chowder," in Chef Smith's "The Best of Chef at Home." I'm not going to share the recipe (I'm not into stealing other people's work), but I promise to share my recipe next week.  The problem is that I've never really written it down. I'm making my chowder this weekend for a birthday, so I'll make sure I actually write down what I do.

Here are the two new things I learned from making this recipe:

Grated Potato:  This recipe includes grated potato. It's brilliant! You grate the potato and simmer it with the cream and milk, until it breaks down. It helps to thicken the broth without having to add a thickener, like flour, which I don't like.

Bacon: Everything is better with bacon, right? Apparently it's true! I had tried adding bacon before, but didn't crisp it up enough. It ended up just being a bunch of chewy bacon in my chowder. Gross. Chef Smith gives the tip of adding a splash of water when cooking the bacon, so it browns (and crisps) evenly.

In the end, it was a yummy Sunday treat! (With leftovers for Monday.) 

"Blend & Extend" Taco Salad

A couple weeks ago, I found this website, http://www.blendandextend.ca/. It was created by the Beef Farmers of Ontario and Mushroom Canada. The idea behind it is adding mushrooms to your ground beef to stretch out the beef while adding veggies at the same time.

After meeting with a dietician, I realized how out of control the meat servings I've been eating have gotten.  Did you know that one serving of meat is about 100g, raw. I guess a hunk of meat, like a steak or chop wouldn't be too bad at 100g, but ground beef is pretty small when you're looking at 100g.  I thought that this was a great resource, so I tried it out this week. 

One of our favourite meals is tacos.  I often make my tacos into a taco salad. It's easy to over do it on taco shells or wraps and meat, so when I saw the recipe for a taco salad, I knew I should try it.

You can find the recipe here: http://www.blendandextend.ca/portfolio/taco-salad/

I had to make some changes to the recipe, because I didn't prepare nearly enough before getting groceries. Luckily, all worked out, but it could have been a complete kitchen disaster.

• I used Mini-Bella mushrooms, they worked great
• I didn't have a red pepper, so I omitted, but next time I'll make sure I have one (or a mix of green, red and orange)
• I didn't have Tex-Mex seasoning, but I did have a packet of taco seasoning, so I used that.  I ended up needing a lot, so I think I'll try the actual seasoning next time.
• The recipe calls for one can of diced tomatoes. In my mind, a can is a 28oz can. Not right. This recipe requires a 14oz can.  Sadly, I only realized it after I poured the entire can into the pan, so I had to carefully pick out half a can worth of tomatoes.  I didn't quite get enough out, and hopefully I won't make that mistake again. Thank goodness I realized, because it would have been gross.
• I also didn't have an avocado. I usually do, but they weren't ripe at all this week, so I didn't buy any this week. I did, however have some all natural guacamole, so I used a little dollop of that.
• Also, no sour cream. (Seriously, what DID I buy for groceries???) Luckily, I use greek yogurt in exchange for sour cream all the time, so that's what I did.
• I also added spinach to the lettuce. 

I also didn't have all the required kitchen tools.  Without a food processor, I had to use the old knife and cutting board and cut the onion and mushrooms up fine.

There was a lot of food on that plate. It doesn't look like it, but it was a big plate with a sky-high salad. Lots of green veggies. It was delicious and even got the husband stamp of approval. That's a tough one when lots of vegetables are involved.

This is definitely a make again meal. Hmmm, what other recipes can I blend and extend?

Double Chocolate Skor Cake

I successfully made my husband's birthday cake this weekend.

Double Chocolate Skor cake and cupcakes

It's not the first time I've made his cake, but I think this is the first 100% made from scratch birthday cake, so I was pretty proud of it.  It's also one of those skills that mums (or parents, in general) need, right? Homemade birthday cakes are so much more memorable!

To give you an idea of what I've done before, here are a couple of cakes from the past:




You've got the dark side vs. the good side
(good side? light side? what is it Star Wars folks?)
Yoda floated on his own cake.

This was a "Star Wars" cake - made with chocolate cake (from a box) and boiled icing. As you can tell, it was a treat for the taste buds AND the eyes! (Can you tell I have zero experience decorating cakes? I do have a sense of humour though!)





Another year, I just decided to make a simple chocolate cake with lots of boiled icing. (Also made from a boxed cake mix.)

Can you tell I like chocolate cake with boiled icing? I do. A lot. I especially like it when there is leftover icing... It's so good. (Let me know if you want the recipe for that icing - it's easy and soooo yummy!)



A few years ago, we bought his birthday cake from a local cupcake business, Saint John Cupcake Salon. Sadly, that business has since closed. The cake I got him was based on his favourite cupcake - "Toffee Time." It was a vanilla cupcake, topped with delicious chocolate buttercream and toffee bits. Since we miss that business so much, I thought I'd try to make my own version of the cake.

The Cake: The original cake was a three level vanilla cake, but I decided to do a one layer chocolate cake and a dozen cupcakes. I used my reliable cake recipe, found here. It makes a really chocolate-y moist cake, so I wasn't going to mess with perfection!

The Frosting: For the frosting, I used my own recipe.  The recipe that goes with the cake on the above website never really worked for me.  It was really good, but didn't spread the way I like, so I decided to make up my own recipe, based on what I usually use for vanilla buttercream. It turned out great, so I thought I'd share below:

The Topping: I frosted the cake and cupcakes, and then poured toffee bits into a bowl. (I use Skor baking bits, but in the U.S., I think I've seen heath bits. Just look for some sort of toffee bits in the baking section, where the chocolate chips are.) It took about a package and a half for the cake and cupcakes. I sprinkled Skor bits on top of the cake and gently pressed them to make sure they would stick. On the sides, I put the toffee in my hand and pressed them into the sides. The cupcakes were much easier - just roll them in the bowl of Skor bits. If you eat the cake the same day, the bits are still crunchy. The next day, they get kind of "melty." Both are really yummy.

Chocolate Buttercream:
Note: I was able to frost a single layer cake, 12 cupcakes and still have about 1.5 cups leftover, so this would do a double (or maybe even a triple) layer cake.

Ingredients:
1 Cup butter (softened to room temperature, not melted)
1C + 2T cocoa (sift to remove lumps)
6 C icing sugar (sift to remove lumps)
1/2 C milk
2 t vanilla
(you could also add a little espresso powder or instant coffee to give it a hint of a mocha flavour like the cake)

Instructions:
1) Beat softened butter and cocoa together, with paddle attachment. (I assume a regular beater would work, too.)
2) Add 4 C icing sugar, one cup at a time, beating well in between
3) Add 1/4 C milk and vanilla and beat well
4) Add remaining sugar one cup at a time, beating well
6) Add remaining milk until frosting is desired consistency
7) Frost your cake and enjoy the sugar rush!

Less Meat, More Veggies

Now that I know that I need to increase my fruit and vegetable intake and decrease my meat consumption,  I’m looking for new recipes to get more fruit and vegetables in and find ways to stretch out the little bit of meat I should have in my diet.  This is what I'm doing:

1) Blend & Extend: It’s funny how sometimes information finds you at just the right moment.  Last night, I happened upon a twitter party hosted by the Ontario Beef Farmers and Mushroom Canada. (Did you even know there was a Canadian mushroom group?? Neither did I!) They were bringing attention to something they call “Blend and Extend,” which is basically stretching out your ground beef recipes by adding chopped mushrooms, because they can have a similar texture and mix in well. As a bonus mushrooms add more than I thought they would. (See http://www.blendandextend.ca/fresh-mushrooms-and-your-health/ for more information.) I’ve done this before with spaghetti sauce, but hadn't taken it any further. Since mushrooms are added to a lot of meals in my house, it's a perfect strategy.  They also created a website for Blend and Extend, which includes some recipes.   I’m going to try this one: http://www.blendandextend.ca/portfolio/taco-salad/ and I may try to alter my own chilli recipe so that it uses the blend and extend idea. 

2) Meatless Monday: I’m going to try to work a meatless day into my week, to try some alternative ways of getting protein and mix it up a bit.  I found this website http://www.meatlessmonday.com/ to help. It includes lots of recipes and little recipe e-books free to download.  The whole vegetarian thing is a bit scary for me.  The recipes always call for things I’ve never used before, so this could be an adventure.  I’m going to try though!

3) Soups: I love soup.  I think I would eat homemade soup everyday if I could. In an attempt to pack more veggies into my meals, I’m going to try to look for some vegetable soup recipes that will allow me to add vegetables without having to eat a salad or a side of cooked veggies all the time.  That gets boring to me, so I need to mix it up. So, I’ve been pinning lots of soup recipes, especially tomato and blended vegetable soup recipes, and hope to try one or two this weekend. 

So, now I've got my to do list. See, this blogging thing really does help me focus a little more!  I’ll let you know how it goes.  I'll try to have some yummy recipes to share next week.

 

Do you have any tips on how I can cut down on the amount of meat I eat while upping the servings of veggies I eat?  Or maybe you have a really yummy soup (or exciting salad) recipe you’d like to share.  Let me know! I need all the help I can get!

Baking Adventures

Since my post on healthy eating, all I can think about is baking. Funny how that is, eh? Luckily, I don’t have time to do any baking.  Well, at least I don’t have time before 10pm, which is never a good time to bake. Since no baking means no eating the entire batch of what I’ve baked before it goes stale, it’s a good thing.  I guess I can stick with my attempts at healthier eating, if I don’t have time to bake.

Baking is something I’ve always enjoyed, and have done it for as long as I can remember.  I know that this is a direct result of my grandmothers.  One grandmother baked with me every Saturday night.  It started with Easy Bake oven creations, but grew bigger and bigger over the years.  My other grandmother was affectionately known as “Cookie Nan.” How could I NOT like baking?   On top of that, my dad was always baking – bread, pinwheels, fudge, all kinds of tasty treats.  I’ve never had to wonder why I have a sweet tooth.

Over the past year, with my quest to sharpen up my “mom skills,” I had some goals that I wanted to accomplish in the baking department: 1) homemade chocolate cake, 2) bread, and 3) cheesecake.  I am happy to say that I was able to accomplish (with mixed success) all three!

1) 100% from Scratch Chocolate Cake:

I have always made my own frosting, but my cakes have always been from a box. Actually, I always thought that homemade cake was dry and dense.  Then I realized that most cake I’ve eaten didn’t come from a box, so I began searching for a really good homemade cake recipe.  My search started on Pinterest. Pinterest is both wonderful and horrible for scatterbrains like me – so many ideas! I read lots of recipes and reviews of the recipes until I found this one: http://addapinch.com/cooking/2013/01/25/the-best-chocolate-cake-recipe-ever/ With a name like “The Best Chocolate Cake Recipe Ever,” how could I go wrong? As a bonus, this blogger taught me about using espresso powder with chocolate. It is DELICIOUS! I love how it gives the cake a hint of a mocha flavour, without really tasting like coffee. What else can I add a little coffee to? Hmmm.

 
I should note that this picture was taken after the first time I made the cake.  The frosting tasted a lot better than it looked.  It was really light and fluffy, but wasn't as spreadable as I like. The next time I made it, I added a little extra milk to the recipe and it was a lot easier to frost the cake. 

 

 

2)  Bread:

I’d never baked bread before. My grandmother made the most delicious bread, as does my father, and many other relatives.  I felt like it was something I needed to know. Breadmaking should be in my genes, but to me, it seemed scary.  All that mixing, kneading, and waiting. Then there was the yeast. I always seem to kill the yeast.  I'd make the water was too hot, or too cold, or I waited too long, or didn’t wait long enough.  This is where the science comes into play.  Then there was the kneeding. Yikes. Luckily, I have a Kitchenaid Mixer with the dough attachment, so that took some of the pressure off.  I then took some time (an hour? two hours? three days? a week? Pinterest sucks you in!) and found a recipe to try. It was great, because it walked me through the whole process. That recipe can be found here: http://offthegridat-30.blogspot.ca/2011/12/how-to-make-my-husband-happy.html I ended up dividing the recipe into four loaves the next time I made it, because as you can see below, when I made three loaves, they were a little oversized: 

 As a side note, this is from a blog about a woman who lives “off the grid.” It’s interesting and worth a read. Sadly, I just read that they are selling their unique home, due to illness.  Maybe you know someone who wants to live in Saskatchewan and are looking for a change of pace - it may be worth checking out!

3)  "Real" Cheesecake:

Baked cheesecake always seemed like it would be really tricky. All the fear of overbaking, underbaking, or cracking.  I felt like it would be a real accomplishment to successfully make one.  I also figured that if I was going to spend the time making one, it had better be a good one – full of sugar. I found an Oreo crust cheesecake. (Found here: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/OREO-Ultimate-Turtle-Cheesecake/) It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I expected, although I did stress every second of the baking process, watching for signs of over baking or cracks forming. Sadly, it did get some small cracks when cooling, but it WAS fully cooked, and had the potential for putting me in a sugar coma. Also, the caramel pecan chocolate topping covered up all the little cracks, so if I ever make one again, it will be one with some sort of topping.  It’s funny though. Once I accomplished it, I had no desire to make another.  Probably because the sugar has never fully left my system.   

(I really need to get some serving plates.  Although you can hardly see it here, my Nightmare Before Christmas platter doesn't always go with what needs to be served!)

 

So, what’s next? I thought about it, and I've have three new baking goals:

1)  scones - something maple-y and walnut-y

2) carrot cake - I've recently discovered that I actually like carrot cake.  I'm wondering if I can find a "healthy" carrot cake.  That's the goal!

3)  My husband’s birthday coming up, and I'm probably going to try to make a cake.

 

I’ll keep you posted!

Homemade Baby Food

Originally, I thought of making baby food as a mom skill, but I guess providing food is really an essential skill for any parent! Premade food from the grocery store is great and very easy, I’m sure. I keep a few jars in the diaper bag in case of an emergency.  Plus it comes in cute little jars that could be reused. (Canning? Crafting?) Since I am on maternity leave, and should have extra time (yeah, right!) I decided to make my son’s food.  I started for various reasons – to know where my son’s food was coming from, to reduce the amount of “extras” in his food, and to be budget friendly. What I didn’t know is how easy it is.  Other than the time element, it is SO easy!

All you do is buy fruits and veggies, and then cook ‘em, blend ‘em, and freeze ‘em.

Really, it’s that easy, and you get nutritious food for your baby – fresh and no “extras”. It just takes a little time.

This is how I do it:

1) Peel and roughly cut up fruit or vegetables. I started with orange veggies (squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots,) because I read that they were good vegetables to start with.  For fruit, I made apples and pears.

2) Steam or boil – I cook them all separate, so I have the flexibility to create different “combos” at meal time. I think this is also important when you’re first starting out, so you can control exactly what they’re getting and watch for allergies and intolerances. 

3) Drain liquid, but keep it in a bowl.  

4) Using a blender (I used a Magic Bullet) puree in small batches. (I think small batches are key. I tried to stuff the Magic Bullet full, and it exploded on me when I opened it up, and it hurt!) If it needs to be thinned down, add some of the cooking water, until it is blendable and a good consistency for your child. You can also thin it out with breastmilk or formula. Each week, I was able to let it get thicker, and as he got better at chewing and more teeth came in, I moved away from the blender and just started mashing. From what I’ve read, you want to expose babies to as many textures as possible, and as a bonus, getting rid of the blending step made the whole process much faster.

5) Measure small amounts into ice cube trays.  I usually put one or two tablespoons in each section.  I used a tablespoon size cookie dough scoop to measure the food into ice cube trays.

6) Freeze food cubes. Once they are frozen solid, empty into Ziploc bags or a container that is labelled with the date, name, and the amount in each cube.  Labels are important, because some vegetables look a lot alike once pureed. Sometimes the cubes get really frozen in the trays, but running the backside of the trays under hot water for a few seconds is enough to loosen them enough to pop out.

That's it! At meal time, I just take out the number of cubes I need, pop them in the microwave, and I’m ready to go!

 

How much time will it take? The first time I made baby food, it took me the afternoon.  I was able to prepare more than a two week supply that day. Now I try to do a few different items each week or two. Today, I did a lot.  I had bought two bags of pears, a bag of carrots, and three small turnips. It took me about half an hour to peel and chop, half an hour or so to cook, and then another half hour to mash and divide into cubes.  They’ll freeze over night and I will pop them into the bags tomorrow.

I think it more affordable than purchased baby food, and easy to store. Tonight’s batch made about 125 food cubes.  These alone would last about two weeks, and it cost less than $15.  As an added bonus, there was virtually no waste. The food scraps went into the composter, and everything else could be reused.

Once my son was introduced to single foods, we could start playing with different mixes – a squash, sweet potato, and spinach combo seems to be a favourite.  Pears are his favourite dessert, but apples cooked with cinnamon would be a close second.

Here are some suggestions on what to prepare for the freezer:

• Squash (I like butternut, because squash is tricky to cut and this type has the most “meat,” in my opinion.)
• Sweet potatoes
• Spinach (I still blend this, because it can get stringy)
• Carrots
• Peas
• Green Beans
• Carrots
• Pears
• Prunes (I used dried pitted prunes, poured boiling water over them, and then simmered on low for quite a while to soften and let the water plump up the prunes. I thought it looked pretty gross and had a funny smell, but my son loves them!)
• Apples (I prefer using Royal Gala, because they are naturally sweet. I’ve also been adding cinnamon.)

These are foods that I also use, but don’t cook.  I simply mash or cut up small:

• Bananas
• Avocado
• Pears
• Strawberries
• Watermelon
• Honeydew Melon
• Blueberries
• Meat – I have tried to blend meats, but my son didn’t like it, so now I cut/tear it up REALLY small. He’s still not a big fan of the texture or consistency, so I just try little bits.
• Eggs – scrambled and fully cooked

Making your own baby food is a way to control what your baby is eating while saving money.  I highly recommend, even if you just try for some of the foods your baby eats the most and mix with store bought food.