Tuscan Pasta

One of my favourite kitchen appliances is my crock pot. I love the option of throwing together a pot of chilli in the morning and having it ready when I get home in the evening. Another one of my favourite meals to make in the crock pot (or slow cooker if you prefer) is Tuscan Pasta.
This weekend my mom and sisters made it, and I snapped a picture to show you how delicious it looks!

Ingredients
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans Italian-style stewed tomatoes
1 jar sliced mushrooms, drained
1 medium green pepper, chopped
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup water
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
6 ounces thin spaghetti, broken into half

Method
Place all ingredients except spaghetti in crock pot. cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until vegetables are tender.
After 4 hours, turn crock pot to high, stir in spaghetti and cover. Stir again after 10 minutes. Cover and cook for 45 minutes or until pasta is tender. Garnish with parmesan cheese.

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Coke + Pork Chops

For Father's Day I gave my dad a cookbook filled with recipes that used Coca-Cola. So since I am home this week I got to try out one of the recipes from the cookbook, Fruited Pork Chops.

Ingredients
4 pork chops, 1/2 3/4 inch thick
1 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
1 medium apple
1 medium lemon or orange
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/2 cup Coca-Cola
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Method
Brown pork chops on each side in an un-greased skillet. Lay cops in a shallow baking pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper and ginger.
Core the apple and cut into four thick slices. Cut lemon or orange into four slices and remove seeds. Layer apple and lemon on top of chops.
Sprinkle piles with brown sugar and pour coke around the cops.
Cover tightly and bake in oven at 350 for 45 minutes.
Blend together cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Take pork chops out of the oven and blend cornstarch into the juice. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Before serving spoon sauce over fruit and pork chops to glaze.

As you can see from the pictures I didn't end up using a lemon or an orange, we only had a grapefruit in the house, so that's what I used. It probably wasn't the best idea, it didn't taste as well as I'm guessing a lemon would have, but it wasn't too-too bad. We served the pork chops with baked potatoes and a veggie casserole and overall it was a good meal.

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Baked Zucchini Sticks

When I run out of dinner ideas I like to turn to my stack of Kraft What's Cooking magazines and find something to make (last time I made these Mini BBQ Meatloaves). Today I'm going to share a recipe from the fall 2011 issue, Bake Zucchini Sticks.

Ingredients
1 pouch extra crispy Shake'N Bake
(I suggest two)
1 tbsp. minced parsley

1 egg
1 tbsp. water
4 zucchinis
ranch or caesar dressing

Method
Heat oven to 400 F.
Wash and cut zucchinis crosswise in half, then quartered lengthwise.
Mix coating mix and parsley on plate. Beat egg and water together in shallow bowl with fork.
Dip zucchini sticks in eggs, then in coating mixture, covering all sides evenlying. Place on cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Serve with your choice of dressing.

They turned out great, and were very delicious. You probably will need to use both Shake'N Bake pouches that come in the box though, I did, and could possibly need an extra egg as well. It is a great appetizer, and even though it was in the fall issue, I think it is perfect for a summer day when you don't want to eat a lot of hot and heavy foods.

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

5 Tips for No-Hassle Meals

Mr Firefly and I are always in a rush. By the time we get home from work we are tired and it's already getting late. Just knowing that I have to spend the evening doing laundry, cleaning, and trying to get some errands done does not make me want to spend extra time making dinner. Here are 5 tips for having a great meal, but not spending a lot of time making it.

1. Have a plan. Before you start you week, have a menu ready. Do all the groceries for the week ahead of time so that you don't have to spend more time going out to pick up a few things from the store.

2. Take out the meat in the morning. I know it's easy to forget, but having the meat defrosted for your meal helps cut time when it comes time to make dinner.

3. Make extra and freeze it. This is very handy for when you know you don't have a lot of time. Make a meal on a day you have a little extra time or energy and then freeze the leftovers. I like to do this with lasagne or meat loaf.

4. Keep it simple. It's fun to try new meals or it may seem more appetizing to make something complicated, but some times a simple meal can be best. I know when I first got married I tried to make all these amazing meals for my hubby. I soon found out that it is expensive to cook big meals and not necessary. It can be a great meal with just a meat, potato, and a veggie. I love to cook a chicken breast on my George Forman and top it with some BBQ sauce. Adding a potato, rice, or pasta is simple and easy.

5. Set the table. This may sound obvious, but setting the table nicely can change the mood of the whole dinner. Instead of grabbing dinner and sitting in front of the TV, take the time to set the table and light some candles. Your meal will look better and the conversation at the table will allow you time to sit down and enjoy the company of your family.

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Canada Day Party

Happy Canada Day!
Welcome to our party. Come right on back and enjoy yourself.

Please help yourself to some yummy food. We have beautiful cupcakes made by my sister at Cake Du Jour. Some yummy salsa I made here and of course a nice fruit tray with fresh fruit and a fruit punch to keep you cool today (and yes, the food is all covered to keep out bugs).

Have a nice swim and it will be dinner soon! On the menu: hamburgers and hotdogs, herbed pizza bread, roast beef salad, spinach salad, sunshine salad, and macaroni salad. 

What a fun day! Don't forget to sign up for the Ladder Ball Tournament. 

. . . 

We had a great Canada Day. The weather was perfect and the food was great. Mr. Firefly and I even got to see fireworks on our drive home, trying to beat the traffic into the big city. I hope you enjoyed your day too.

Happy Partying,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Canada Day Salsa

Canada Day is coming up fast and the preparations for our party are well underway. We're trying to stick to a red and white theme, but also adding in our traditional Canada Day picnic food. I'm very excited to share this recipe for Canada Day Salsa.

Makes 8 cups.

2 Large  tomatoes, chopped

2, 398mL cans of Fire Roasted diced tomatoes

2 Jalapeños seeded and chopped

2 TBSP Fresh lime juice 

4 Garlic cloves, minced

1 Large white or brown onion, chopped

11/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Cayenne pepper

1/3 cup Fresh cilantro, chopped 

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl and let chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before serving. 

We like our salsa very fine (not chunky) and so we always put ours in the blender. This way it comes out nice and smooth and is easy to scoop with our chips. 

Have fun with this salsa and serve with white and red corn chips. 

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Some French Lasagna...Oooh La La!

Here's one of our family's favourite meals, French Lasagna! I don't know who named it French Lasagna, or why, but all I can say is that it is delicious!

Ingredients
2 packages of Pillsbury Crescent dinner rolls
1 carton of cottage cheese
shredded Mozzarella cheese (I used a pre-shredded bag of mixed cheeses)
hamburger

1 jar of spaghetti sauce

Method
Cook the hamburger, and then mix together with the spaghetti sauce. Grease a 9x13. Place one package on crescent rolls on the bottom.
Next spread hamburger/spaghetti sauce mixture on top. Then spread cottage cheese over that. And then sprinkle the shredded cheese on top. Finally top with second package of rolls. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

I hope you try out this recipe, it is super easy and super good!

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Hawaiian Sausage

This recipe is one that I think is perfect for the summer. I don't know if combining sausages and pineapple is a normal occurrence, but I just love how they taste together. The recipe says to serve over rice or fluffy mashed potatoes, but I suggest rice.

Ingredients
1lb. Pork sausage
14 oz. Pineapple rings (save the juice!)
1 1/2 cup Pineapple juice and water
1 1/2 tbsp. Cornstarch
3/4 tsp. Curry Powder.

Method
Fry sausages in an frying pan. Arrange in an 8-inch casserole dish.
In the same pan brown the pineapple rings on both sides. Transfer the rings into the casserole dish over the sausages.
Mix together conrstarch, curry powser and pineapple juice. Poor over pineapple and sausages in caserole dish. Bake at 350 F for 30-40 minutes until hot. Serve over rice (or potatoes).

I served mine over whole grain 5-minute rice, which may not look as pretty as fluffy white rice, is a little bit healthier, and because it is 5-minute rice means I can quickly make some fresh rice for myself every time I have a serving of Hawaiian Pineapple leftovers!

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Dinner and a Movie: Ratatouille

The idea for this post came to me kind of out of the blue a while ago. Co-workers were listing their favourite cartoon movies, and Ratatouille popped into my head. It is by no means my favourite, and I only watched it once a couple years ago, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.

And of course, thinking about the movie Ratatouille, led me to think about the dish. Since I had never even tried it, let alone tried to make it, I thought I may as well try both, and watch the movie at the same time!

I found the recipe below in my cookbook, Better Homes & Gardens' New Cookbook, that I had picked up a while ago just so that I could have a cookbook with a lot of popular recipes. Who knew it would have ratatouille?

Ingredients:
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups cubed, peeled eggplant
1 zucchini halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
3/4 cup chopped green sweet pepper
3 tablespoons chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon snipped fresh basil or oregano
Method:
In a large skillet cook the onion and garlic in oil until the onion is tender. Stir in the rest of the ingredients (except for the basil/oregano) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Uncover and cook for 5 more minutes, or until most of the liquid had evaporated. Stir in the basil/oregano just before serving.

*I made mine a little differently, it was a little heavier on the tomatoes and green peppers and low on the eggplant, but tasted good to me. 

Overall it turned out be a success! I found out that I actually like Ratatouille, the dish and the film! And making a sort of "event" out of the meal made it a little extra special. I'm already thinking about my next dinner and movie evening.... perhaps Julie & Julia paired with beef bourguignon? Or maybe I'll cook up some fried chicken and biscuits and watch The Help?

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Spinach Pasta

It's Monday again, and we're a little tired here in the big city. Mr Firefly spent the weekend at his parents house and participated in an "Amazing Race" put on by his extended family. I spent one night with his family and the other nice in Detroit with some wonderful college friends. Needless to say we didn't have time to relax. Here's a quick recipe I love to make when I'm tired and don't have much time.

Here's what you need:

• 1 lb spaghetti
• 1 lb Italian smoked sausage
• 2 (14 1/2 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 (7 -10 ounce) bag of fresh baby spinach
• 1 large white onion
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. 1. Cook Pasta according to package
   2. Brown bite sized sausage links in oil on medium heat in a large skillet.
   3. Add onion garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Cook until onion is tender.
   4. Add tomatoes and spinach.
   5. Stir well until heated through.
   6. Serve over spaghetti or mix it all up.

Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Alfredo Chicken Pizza

I've always loved homemade pizza, there's just something about it that makes it taste as good, if not better, than pizza from restaurants. Last night I decided to make some pizza myself, but a little twist than my usual. I swapped out the tomato-based spaghetti sauce and used alfredo sauce instead. The result - delicious, and just what I thought it would be!

Ingredients
1 frozen batch of pizza dough (let defrost in the fridge overnight)
1 jar of alfredo sauce (I only ended up using 1/2 the jar)
1 tomato
1-2 chicken breasts (pre-cooked and sliced)
1/2 green pepper
mushrooms (a couple of handfuls of sliced mushrooms)
*any ingredients you want to add

Method
Kneed/roll out dough on greased pizza tray or cookie sheet. Spread out alfredo sauce over dough and then  sprinkle toppings on top (tomato, chicken, green pepper and mushrooms). Follow directions on dough package for cooking in the oven.

For me I didn't have a rolling pin so I used my own two hands to kneed out the dough over my aluminium foil covered cookie sheet. Then, after I added the sauce and toppings, I cooked the pizza in the over  at 425 F for 20 minutes, and then 10 minutes under the broiler.

Enjoy!


Happy Cooking,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Comfort Casserole

One of my favourite meals that my mom cooks is her Hamburger Rice Casserole. Now that I'm off and living on my own I like to make it for myself when I'm feeling a little homesick and need some comfort food. Which is why I may as well just call it my Comfort Casserole from now on.
This is one of these dishes that is so amazing delicious, especially considering how few ingredients go into it!

Ingredients1 lb. cooked hamburger
1 pkg. onion soup mix
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can (empty chicken soup can) of water
1 can (empty chicken soup can) of rice



Method
Mix all of the ingredients together in a greased casserole dish and bake at 350 F for an hour. 

Enjoy!


Happy Cooking,
Courtney


PS: Look here to see where we link up.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

While normally my go-to baking recipe is this Chocolate Chip Cookie one, sometimes I feel like muffins. So here is a recipe for some tasty chocolate chip muffins. My favourite part is eating one fresh out of the oven, smothered with butter!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

3 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup milk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 egg

Method

Preheat oven at 375 F.

Mix dry ingredients together, including the chocolate chips. Then combine wet ingredients in a separate bowl, before adding them to the dry mixture. Mix only until dry ingredients are wet, don't over-mix. Pour into muffin tin, either greased, or filled with paper liners. Bake in oven for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Happy Baking!

Courtney

I linked this post here: