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.

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

This past weekend I decided to browse through the Bulk Barn - very dangerous! I felt in the mood to make something, but I wasn't sure what, so I looked through the Bulk Barn isles for some inspiration. Luckily I found it in the form of macadamia nuts. As soon as I saw them I knew I was going to use them to make White Chocolate Chip Macadamia Nut Cookies. I've always loved them, but had never tried to make them myself. So I grabbed the macadamia nuts and some white chocolate chips and headed back home. 

The recipe I used is my favourite regular chocolate chip recipe that I just tweaked.


Ingredients
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup softened butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups white chocolate chips
macadamia nuts (to taste, I just added as much as looked proportionate)

Method
Heat oven to 375. Mix sugars, butter, vanilla and egg in a large bowl. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and then add white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
Bake for 7 to 10 minutes or until light brown. After 1 to 2 minutes transfer to wire rack to cool.

My favourite part of baking is eating a warm cookies fresh out of the oven. I wasn't disappointed, they tasted just like I remembered they should.

Happy Crafting,

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.

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.

{Amazing} Chocolate Toffee Bars

Happy Friday Everyone! We've made it through another week. Here is a great recipe for you to make this weekend. It's easy and won't take up a lot of time so you can relax in the beautiful weather.

I first made this for my grandparent's 12.5 year anniversary. My sister made the cake. Remember the cakes she made for her daughter's first birthday and for our parents' anniversary? You can check out more of her amazing, edible creations here.

 It was a wonderful day with family and I was glad I could contribute something yummy.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup baking cocoa

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1 pkg. Skor bits

1. Combine flour, sugar, and cocoa. Cut in butter until it looks like course crumbs.

2. Stir in eggs and set aside 1 1/2 cups of mixture for topping.

3. Press remaining mixture into a greased 9 x 13' baking pan. 

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 6-8 minutes or until set.

5. In a saucepan, combine sweetened condensed milk and 1 cup chocolate chips. Stir on low heat until melted. Spread over crust.

6. Sprinkle Skor bits over, reserving 1/4 cup.

7. Combine reserved crumb mixture and remaining chocolate chips. Carefully sprinkle over the Skor bits. 

8. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. 

9. Sprinkle remaining Skor bits over baked bars. Cool before cutting. 

Don't forget to come back tomorrow, when we'll be trading blogs with Pumpkin Loves.

Happy Crafting,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Saturday Bonus: Peep Krispies

We don't normally post on Saturdays, but I had to share this with you. I had a lot of peeps left over from our peep anniversary party. I needed to find something to do with them because, honestly, I don't really like them. So they needed to take another form. In my mind I thought, they are basically just marshmallows right? So I took the chance and tried to make them into Rice Krispie Squares.

Ingredients:
40 Peeps
6 Cups Rice Krispies
2 tbsp Butter

Directions:
Melt your Peeps. This is the fun part. Put them in a microwave safe bowl and microwave the Peeps and butter 1 minute at a time until melted. Make sure you stir them every minute.

Add the Rice Krispies.

Combine until the Krispies are fully coated. Pat down in your greased pan. Refrigerate until hardened. 

These couldn't be easier or tastier. I thought the taste might change because I used Peeps, but the colour is the only thing different. 

Happy Crafting,

PS: Here's where we link up.

Sun-dried Tomato Bread

One of my favourite wedding presents that we received was a bread machine. For the past three years we have used it nonstop. We mostly make the same recipe of Challah bread because it goes with everything. But, it's been getting a bit boring and I wanted to spice it up. I found some sun-dried tomatoes at the grocery store and set to work.

For the next 3 hours the apartment smelt of tomatoes, onions, and fresh bread. I wasn't sure it was going to work because I only had pizza yeast. I used a bit less because it is faster acting than bread machine yeast. I was lucky, because it turned out to be the perfect loaf. I cut up a few slices, added some tuna, cheese, and tomatoes and grilled it up. Yummy grilled cheese!

I can't wait to make this bread again. It was tasty and added a bit of flavour to a boring sandwich. It would also be great as a hostess or house warming gift. I love this idea from You are My Fave.

Try out this recipe. It was very easy and you just put it in the bread machine and let it do the work for you.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
4 tsp olive oil or cooking oil
3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp water

2 tbsp snipped dried tomatoes (not oil packed)
3 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp dried oregano or 1 tbsp fresh oregano
3/4 tsp salt
1 tsp active dry yeast or bread machine yeast

1. Select the loaf size (1 1/2 lb). In a small saucepan, cook the onion in hot oil until tender, stirring occasionally Cool slightly.

2. Add the ingredients to the machine in order written. Select the basic white bread cycle.

Happy Crafting,

Kristin

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: