Pumpkin & Zucchini Muffin's

Pumpkin & Zucchini Muffin's

Oh you will love these muffin's! They are really easy to make and somewhat healthy ;)

Your home is going to smell fabulous and your family will love these!

You will need:

1 cup of freshly puree pumpkin *

1/2 cup of homemade applesauce** 

1/2 cup of shortening

1 teaspoon of maple extract or syrup

3 eggs

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

3 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of all spice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup of raisins

1/3-1/2 of cup of pumpkin seeds

1 cup shredded zucchini (You could replace the zucchini by shredded carrots)

*( During the fall buy a couple pumpkins to turn them into purée and freeze them a head of time. If you don't have any pumpkin puree you can always buy some in a can at your local supermarket.)

**(If you don't have any homemade apple sauce, use a non-sweetened apple sauce from your supermarket)

How to:

Mix in sugar and shortening together and cream, add one egg at a time.  Incorperate pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple extract and mix well. In another bowl mix all dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, baking soda cinnamon, nutmeg and all spices). Incorperate mixture into wet ingredients and mix. When batter is homogeneous, add raisins, pumpkin seeds and zucchinni and mix. Pour mixture into 12 cup muffin tin. All depending on the size you like your muffins, this recipe can make inbetween 18 to 24 muffins. I love big muffins, so I can make about 15-18 with this recipe. Cook at 350F for 25-30 minutes. 

Enjoy these sprumptuous muffins!  

Homemade Rosemary Artisan Bread

Homemade Rosemary Artisan Bread

Hey you guys!

Looking for something good to eat? You have to try this simple bread recipe. It's soooo GOOD! The best recipe ever :D

Here is what you need

3 cups of flour
1/2 tsp of active yeast
1 tsp of salt
11/2 tsp of rosemary
11/2 of warm water (around 95F)

How to:

Part 1

-Put all dry ingredients together and stir gently.
-Add water and stir all ingredients.
-Cover with saran wrap
- Let rest for 12 to 24 hours and let the magic happen
(I usually do mine in the afternoon or at supper time. I forget about it and come back to it in the morning).

Part 2

- Flour your board and let the mixture slowly fall onto your board. You can help it along gently.
-Pull the outter sides of your bread into the middle to make a ball. (No squishing the dough! There is no kneading needed ;) )
-Place back into your your bowl, cover and let rise a good 40-45 minutes.

-Heat oven at 450F
-Place a high edge casserole dish into the oven for a good 20-30 minutes.
-Once your casserole dish is hot, take out and brush olive oil onto your dish.
-Gently transfer your bread to the pot and cover with alluminum foil.
-Cook for 30 minutes covered
-Remove alluminum foil and cook for 15 minutes.

It's ready!! YUMMY!
Best wait 10-15 minutes before cutting into it

Enjoy! ;)

P.s. Can you see someone is peeping into the picture hihi
Jasper was hang out with me!

Honey Dijon Chicken Wrap

 

Honey Dijon Chicken Wrap

 

 I love wraps in the summer they are fun and easy way to eat healthy!

 You can add whatever is in season to them and they always taste great.

 

So here is my simple summer weekday meal.

Right now radishes are in as well as baby spinage are in.

Here is how to make to make tonight's dish...

 

 

You'll need to...

Marinated Honey Dijon Chicken
(prepare the night before with... 

- 2 heaping tbsp of Yellow mustard
- 1tbsp of Dijon
- 1 tbsp or so of Honey
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/2 a small onion finely diced
- 1/4 tsp or so of dry savory
- 1/4 tsp or so mustard seeds
- Pepper to taste

Radishes
Cucumber
Baby Spinage
Old Cheddar Cheese

Homemade Tzatziki (Make the night before)
- 500ml Sour Cream
- 3 Garlic cloves (grated)
- 1 tablespoon of fresh Dill
- 1/2 of a English cucumber (seedless and finely diced)
- Salt & Pepper to taste

If your not into chicken you can always marinate firm tofu and cook it on the BBQ for extra flavor.





                  Enjoy with a warm cup of tea.

Berry Smoothy

Good Morning Folks,

So this morning I woke up and I honestly didn't feel like eating cereal or toast. I glaced into the fridge to find some fruit and some yogourt. Why not start off the day with a great healthy smoothy?

I know that there are several different ways to make smoothies, but here is mine;

All you need is 1 1/2 cups of fruit (I used berries and cherries)
1 Banana
1/2 a cup of yogurt
1/3 of a cup of healthy juice.

Wash fruit thoroughly, then place in blender with the yogurt. Give it a quick blend and add juice slowly. When the mixture is smooth pour into a glass and add fruit to the side.

So simple yet delicious :D

Sunday Morning French Toast

Sunday Morning  French Toaste

When I was little Sunday mornings were devoted to many things, but French toast was always the best part of the day.

My dad was the early bird in our home. I can remember hearing him around the kitchen whipping us up his delicious French toast. The whole house would smell like caramelized butter and cinnamon. He would roast each side of the bread  until it turned to a crispy and tender golden colour. Then my dad would serve me two generous helpings of french toast and I would pour Canada's famous maple sirup.

I have this image of myself; I am 8 or 10 years old, in my pyjamas, eating French toast on a stool at the counter. My parents are chattering away about the same old story,  how they were fortunate enough to own the recipe today. The story goes that they would have received the recipe from great chef  ;) Well until this day my dad has only given me the ingredients he has omitted the measurements. So here are the ingredients and well you will just have to eyeball the ingredients ... just kidding.

What you will need

3-4 Eggs

3/4 cups of Milk

1/2 teaspoon of Cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon of Nutmeg

12 grain bread (local is best)

Mix in the eggs, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg and whisk together untill homogeny. Then dip each side of bread into the mixture and place into warm pan. (Don't forget to add butter in your pan before you place the French toast onto the pan)

For toppings:

• One cup of Fresh blueberries  (I also added kiwis since I had some on hand. You can use any other fruit you have on hand).

• Maple sirup 

* The original recipe topping called for apricot Jelly with powder sugar. It different and pretty good too. I encourage you to try it !!!



Enjoy!

Homemade Guacamole

On a hot summer's day like this one, all you really want is something easy to prepare. Right? No big meals! Therefore, it's definitely BBQ for supper tonight, but in the meantime how about a cold beer and some homemade guacamole with crispy tortilla chips. Yum!

I'm back!

Hello Dear Readers,
 

Better late than never as they say!

So it's been a while, I realize; I thought of starting the New Year fresh! Last year was quite the year with all our infertility treatments; what a roll a coaster ride that was! To make that life experience sort and sweet, let’s just say that were not doing that again! We officially turned to a new chapter in our lives; we won't have any biological children of our own but...adoption is an option. We are simply not quite there yet. I feel as though I was trying to do too much all at once and that is why blogging was pushed aside. On the other hand I never stopped cooking! It seems to me that cooking is some form of therapy, lol. When I cook my mind shuts off and I simply enjoy what I am creating!
 

So enjoy the posts to come! I may give a new twist on things. ;)

Have a great day everyone!!

 

Julie

A Warm & Beefy Soup

Hello everyone!

For this week’s recipe I wasn't sure what to cook for all of you, however with the help of my followers on facebook I received great ideas for this week’s recipe.
I want to take the time to thank all of those who participated and gave suggestions, they were much appreciated!


I decide that on this cold and frisky winter day, Emily's suggestion appealed to me...a chucky homemade soup! YUMMO! One of our all time favourite soups in our home is a filling cup of tender beef & barely soup!

I was convinced at the market that I had barley at home and therefore didn't buy any; well I wasn't persuaded enough for unfortunately there was none left. :(  I decided to use basmati rice instead of the barely, which works as great, it is delicious and filling. I had quite a bit of fun in the kitchen today; I hope you all had a great weekend as well.

Enjoy creating this simple recipe in your home!

Have a great week you guys!
Julie 

Beef & Barely (Basmati Rice) Soup

1 pound of Beef (cubes ¼ inch & pepper & Salt to taste)

½ cup of Red wine (Use your favourite wines to deglaze your pan after you seared the meat)

½ a White onion (Diced all of the 3 ingredients)

1 Shallot

2-3 Garlic cloves

1 Package of Knnor onion soup

1 Cube of Knnor concentrated beef stock

2 Diced carrots

1 Whole pepper (For the peppers: use your favourite colours. I used yellow and orange! Have fun in your kitchen!!! )

1 ½ cups of freshly cut green beans

One bag of Baby spinach (optional)

Fresh Thyme

Fresh Rosemary

Fresh Parsley

1 to 1 ½ cups of Barely or Basmati rice

6-8 cups of Water (add more if need be)

Old cheddar cheese for topping

One warm loaf of fresh French bread sliced & smeared with hummus or pesto. Delicious!

 

Chocolate Guinness Cake

Chocolate Guinness Cake

This recipe is DELICOUS!!! All my thanks goes off to Ricardo for creating this recipe. Here is his recipe below and here is his web page http://www.ricardocuisine.com/recipes/3034-chocolate-guinness----cake

However here are my pictures that I took during the process of cooking this cake.

Preparation time: 30 min
Cooking time: 55 min
Waiting: 1 h
Servings: 12

Ingredients

• 750 ml (3 cups) all-purpose flour 
•  10 ml (2 teaspoons) baking soda
•  310 ml (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter 
• 310 ml (1 1/4 cups) Guinness beer or 
• 310 ml (1 1/4 cups) dark local beer (Boreale Noire, St-Ambroise, Chambord, etc.)

•  250 ml (1 cup) cocoa 
powder
•  375 ml (1 1/2 cups) brown sugar 

•  125 ml (1/2 cup) sugar 

•  2.5 ml (1/2 teaspoon) salt
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 180 ml (3/4 cup) sour cream
Ganache
• 450 g (16 oz) semisweet chocolate, chopped 

• 125 ml (1/2 cup) dark beer 

•  150 ml (2/3 cup) 35%
 cream
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) light corn syrup
• 125 ml (1/2 cup) cold unsalted butter, diced 




Cake Preparation 

1. With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 180 °C (350 °F). Line two 20-cm (8-inch) springform pans with parchment paper. Butter and flour the sides.

 

2. In a bowl, combine the flour and baking soda. Set aside.

 

3. In a saucepan, melt the butter with the beer and cocoa powder, stirring with a whisk. Let cool.

4. In a large bowl, combine the brown sugar, sugar and salt. With a whisk, add the lukewarm butter mixture alternately with the dry ingredients and eggs.

5. Add the sour cream and beat until the mixture is smooth.

6. Divide the batter among the pans and bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Unmould and

let cool. 


Ganache

1.  Place the chocolate in a bowl. Set aside.

 

2.  In a saucepan, bring the beer, cream and syrup to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 1 minute.

 

3. With a whisk, gently emulsify the mixture until the chocolate has completely melted. Add the butter and stir to blend. Refrigerate for about 1 hour or until the ganache is spreadable but not too thick.

 

4. If necessary, melt slightly in the microwave oven and stir to blend.

 

5. Remove the cake tops to level them. Spread a 1/4 of the ganache on one cake.

 

6. Cover with the other cake and frost with the remaining ganache.

 

 

 

Et voila mes amis bon appétit!!

 

 

Remorse Fruit Salad after the Super Bowl

Remorse Fruit Salad after the Super Bowl

Serves for two

1 Granny smith apple

8 Strawberries

1 Mango

1 tsp of Orange blossom water

½ cup of Fruit of the orchard juice

Interesting info: You’ll be surprise by how such a small splash of orange blossom water can go a long way.

Simple and delicious you can certainly do this recipe in a flash!

Slice your apples, strawberries and mango and place into a large bowl.  Mix your orange blossom water with your juice, then incorporate into your fruit salad, mix together and serve!

That is it “mes amis”…

Bon appétit, until next time!

Hockey & Super Bowl Meal

HOCKEY GAMES & SUPER BOWL WEEKEND!

 

Here is what for supper tonight...it ain't veggie and it ain't fat free, but it will be YUMMY!

Home Made BBQ RIBS, Coleslaw with a twist & Home Made P.E.I Potato Chips!

BBQ RIBS-



The SAUCE- Good for at least four to six large Ribs

 

Mix liquids together.



 Liquids

Chilli Sauce

Ketchup

Molasses

Mustard

Worcestershire sauce  

BBQ Sauce

White wine vinegar

Balsamic vinegar

Hot Sauce

Fresh lime juice

Spices and herbs (add to taste)



 

Garlic powder  Onion powder

Savoury           Oregano

Marjory           Crushed Bay leaves

Basil                Crushed chilli

Black pepper   Smoked paprika

Piment d’Espelette 





If you have a mortar dish, crush your spices together and then add to Liquids. If you don't have a mortar, rub the spices into the palm of your hand.  

Once your sauce is ready, lather your sauce onto the ribs; cover the ribs with aluminum foil and refrigerate for at least an hour. This will help all the ingredients penetrate into the meat.

Keep the ribs covered with aluminum foil and cook in the oven at 250F for 1-2 hours. Tip: If you cook the Ribs, slowly they will be much more tendered. Once fully cooked, broil the ribs until slightly browned and serve. I bet they would taste terrific on the BBQ, I can’t wait for summer!

COLESLAW with a Twist!

Half a head of purple coleslaw

2 carrots

¼ of a purple onion

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

2-3 tbsp white vinegar

1-2 tbsp white sugar

Lime zest

1 fresh lime juice





Mix together the extra virgin olive oil, white vinegar, white sugar, lime juice and zest. Pour into the coleslaw and let sit for 15-30 minutes and serve.

Homemade P.E.I Potato CHIPS

Potatoes

Canola oil

Salt

Pepper

Lime zest

1. Wash and cut potatoes into wedges

2. Fry your potatoes to taste or until slightly brown.

3. Shake the potatoes into a brown paper page with salt, pepper and to give it a twist lime zest!

Enjoy the SUPER BOWL…Bon Appétit mes amis!

CHEERS!

Chocolate & Vanilla Marble Cookies

On Saturday evening I had my family over for supper! We ate “la raclette” with a wonderful bottle of red wine. Afterwards we all had the opportunity to enjoy chocolate and vanilla marble cookies.

I borrowed the recipe from my cookie book “Irrésistibles Biscuits” by Josée Robiatille.

Here is my modify version of their recipe,

 

Chocolate & Vanilla Marble cookies

¼ cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 ½ cups of flour

A sprinkle of salt

½ tsp of baking powder

½ cup of butter at room temperature

½ of sugar

1 egg

1 ½ tsp of vanilla

1. Melt the chocolate in a “bain-marie” and let cool
2. Cream the butter, add the vanilla and the egg
3. Gently sift your dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well

4. Separate your dough into two equal parts.
5. Take half your dough and add your chocolate and blend well
6. Roll out each dough onto a wax paper and chill at least 1 hour
7. Remove the wax paper and twist the chocolate and vanilla dough together
8. Cut the cookie dough into ½ an inch slices and place onto a cookies sheet
9. Cook for 10-15 minutes or until slightly brown.

      Enjoy them! 

                                  

Simple and yummy!

See you guys next week…Cheers

"Terre et Mer"

If you love sea food and beef, this meal is for you!

I must say that I experimented in the kitchen once more, and like the French would say "Ça porté fruit"!

For appetiser I made a “Sweet Chilli & Orange Sea Food” dish as for the main course I made “Un filet Mignon avec sa sauce au vin a l’ail”.

I must say that my husband and I ate very well last night! I hope will enjoy creating this in your own kitchen and adding your own colour to my recipe.

“Sweet Chilli & Orange Sea Food”

2 oranges

1 small onion

3 garlic cloves

1 tsp of fresh chopped ginger

¼ cup of sweet and sour chilli sauce

¼ to ½ cup of orange juice
1 tsp of soya sauce

¼ tps of crushed chilli flakes

10 scampi (uncooked)

1 fresh piece of “Pangasius” or your favourite white fish

½ cup of old cheddar cheese

In a jar mix in; 1 orange zest, thinly chopped garlic and onion, fresh chopped ginger, sweet and sour chilli sauce, orange juice, soya sauce and the crushed chilli flakes. Place the lid on top and give it a shake!

Take your uncooked scampi and remove the shells, clean your scampi and place into a medium sized bowl. You can now chop your fish into one inch cubes, combine with the scampi and add the sweet chilli and orange sauce in the bowl. Once incorporated gently mix together and let it marinate in the refrigerator for 30 to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, begin grating your cheddar cheese and rest aside. Cut your oranges into ¾ inch slices, placing them into the bottom of your ramekin bowls. Cover your oranges with the sea food and cover the whole with cheese. Place into the oven at 375F and cook for approximately 10 minutes or until cooked. Then turn on the broiler simply to turn the cheese into a golden brown and serve.

Now, how about that? YuM, YummY YUMMO!

I would like to share with you a really great red wine! Some of you might already have had the opportunity to enjoy it, as for those who haven't it’s a must!

I present you all, the "Brouilly"

 

 “Un filet Mignon avec sa sauce au vin a l’ail”.

 

 For this recipe you will need the following...

2 filet mignon
4 garlic cloves
1 small onion
pepper & salt
1/4 tsp of steak spices
1/2 tsp of Tyme
Brouilly or your favorite red wine






  

In a hot pan melt in some butter and sear the meat (one to two minutes each side).

Just like in the picture...

Once your meat is seared, unglazed your pan with the “Brouilly”, you will need approximately ½ cup.

Simmer gently 30 seconds or so, simply to absorb all those flavors.

Remove the meat from the pan and place onto a tray into the oven at 400F for 5 to 10 minutes all depending how you enjoy your meat.

Meanwhile, remove the liquid from your pan; add butter and let it melt. Incorporate the onions as well as the garlic into the butter until lightly brown, return the liquids into the pan and whisk gently.

There you have it! A scrumptious “Sauce au vin à l’ail”.  Remove the meat from the over, cover with aluminum foil and let sit for 10 minutes. (This allows the juices to retract themselves into the meat.) Once your 10 minutes is up, plate and serve with a generous spoonful of sauce. Yum!

Here is what I suggest to accompany this meal.

Julie’s homemade Orange Couscous & Caramelized Baked Veggies

For the couscous you will need

-          Half an orange zest

-          A fresh squeezed orange

-          1/3 cup of Raisins

-          One grated carrot

-          Pepper to taste

-          1 Garlic clove

-          1 tsp of grated Ginger

-          Fresh coriander (opt)

-          Of course you will need couscous

Procedure: It is simple! Mix in all these ingredients together and serve and there you have my homemade couscous!

Now for my Caramelized Baked Veggies you will need

2 red pepper

1 yellow pepper

½ of a Brocoli Rapini head

¼ of a Cauliflower head

½ of a white onion

4 tbsp of the Sweet Chilli & Orange sauce

Kalamata olives (to taste)

Parmesan reggiano

Wash and cut vegetables into bite size pieces. Place vegetables on to a cookie sheet that has covered been covered with a wax paper bottom. Drizzle sauce onto vegatbles and cook in the oven for 15 minutes or until lightly brown. Then spread the kalamata olives and parmesan reggiano cheese to the veggies and bake till the cheese is lightly brown.   

Well thats it folks, see you all next week!

Cheers et Bonne Appétit mes amis!