Peanut Butterscotch Chocolate Crispies

One of the ladies in my Bible study group handed out this recipe. I have to admit I have no idea who it was, but I had to share this recipe because it's so easy and the kids love it! It's a special occasion treat as it is so NOT healthy, but I know not everyone cares about sugar, GMO foods, and other less than whole foods. Just give yourself some decent time to let it cool before cutting and enjoying.
 

1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup butter or margarine
3 cups Rice Krispies
1 cup marshmallows

Melt first four ingredients together in heavy saucepan. Add Rice Krispies, then wait until the mixture cools a bit and add the marshmallows. Pour into greased 9x13 pan and refrigerate until hardened. Cut into squares. Store in refrigerator.

 Makes: about 2 dozen

Cheddar and Onion Galette

Ohhhh wow, but this is amazing! Peach made with her sous chef Beans ;o). Poor Beans got roped into helping cut up the 18 cups onions needed for this delicious galette. I think in the end she decided it was worth the tears. Actually she has an ingenious method of wearing her swimming goggles while chopping. I've tried it too and it works great!

makes 3 pies

Perfect Pastry
4 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup cold butter, cubed
3/4 cup shortening, cubed
1 egg and 1 egg yolk
3 tsp vinegar
ice water

In large bowl whisk flour with salt. using pastry blender, cut in butter and shortening until in coarse crumbs with a few larger pieces.

In liquid measuring cup, beat egg with vinegar; add enough ice water to make 1 cup. drizzle over flour mixture, tossing with fork until ragged dough forms.

Shape into ball, wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Cheddar and Onion Galette
Perfect Pastry
1 egg yolk
3 Tbsp butter
3 Tbsp vegatable oil
18 cups onions, chopped
3 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
3 egg yolks
3 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 1/2 tsp dried sage or herbs de provence

In large pot, heat butter and oil over medium-low heat; fry onions,sugar, salt, and pepper, stiring occasionally, until very soft and light golden, about 30 minutes. Scrape into bowl; let cool

Add egg yolks, 2 1/4 cups of the cheese, sour cream, and sage to onions; stir to combine. set aside.

Sprinkle flour on 20x15 inch piece of parchment paper; on paper and using floured rolling pin, roll out 1/3 of the pastry into 15 inch circle, leaving edges ragged. Slide paper and pastry onto pizza pan; trim paper to leave 1 inch border. Repeat twice more with remaining pastry to make three circles. Spoon 1/3 of filling onto each pastry, leaving 4 inch border uncovered. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Fold up pastryborder over filling, making evenly spaced pleats.

Whisk egg yolk with 1 Tbsp water; brush over pastry. Bake in 425F oven for 10 minutes. reduce heat to 375F; bake until crust is golden, about 30 minutes. Let cool on on rack for 10 minutes.

From The Complete Canadian Living Baking Book by Elizabeth Baird; The Canadian Living Test Kitchen. Page 192.

Pecan Crusted Trout

We were gifted with some trout fillets from a friend. Truthfully, I've only ever had trout in a restaurant. It was good. I liked it, but I'm a little intimidated by these two large fish fillets laying in freezer. So today I finally got brave enough to do something with one of them and they were delicious!!

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
1/3 cup pecan halves, ground
1/3 cup panko 4 (6-ounce) trout fillets, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon butter, divided
1 tablespoon olive oil, divided 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
4 lemon wedges

Place flour in a shallow dish. Place buttermilk in a dish. Combine pecans and panko in a dish. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Dredge flesh side of 2 fillets in flour; dip in buttermilk. Dredge in panko mixture.

 Melt 1 1/2 teaspoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil. Add dredged fillets, crust-side down; cook 3 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining flour, buttermilk, panko mixture, fillets, butter, and oil. Top with parsley. Serve with lemon.

Credit goes to: Phoebe Wu, Cooking Light
April 2012
From the website My Recipes 

Brown Rice Tabbouleh

A little bit of a twist on the tabbouleh we've eaten before, but this is definitely a summery make again! (I doubled this recipe to feed my crew.)

1/2 cup uncooked long grain brown rice (or you can use whatever rice you have on hand like I did)
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 English cucumber, finely diced
4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives
3 Tbsp fresh mint
1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Rinse the rice and drain well. Combine the rice and broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to a low simmer. (Or if you have a rice cooker, make according to its instructions.) Cook until the liquid is absorbed, 40 to 45 min. Fluff with a fork and transfer to a large bowl to cool to room temperature.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together th olive oil, lemon juice, and garlic. Stir in the diced cucumber, tomatoes, cooled rice, parsley, chives, and mint until blended. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

190 calories, 4 g protein, 8 g total fat per 1 cup serving.

Spicy Enchiladas Verde with Sour Cream and Cilantro

This is a treat!! It's a little (okay, a lot) on the fattening side, but it's a taste sensation. Spicy salsa verde, rich sour cream, and fresh vibrant cilantro, it was surprising that there was even leftovers! We used to eat it with the chicken, but now we substitute the chicken for pinto beans.

8 cups shredded cooked chicken, or pinto beans (or beans of your choice)
8 cups (64) salsa Verde, divided
6 cups grated Monterrey jack (16 ounces) divided
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided
salt and freshly ground pepper
32 corn tortillas or small flour tortillas (We can't always find corn tortillas.)
1 medium white onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 container (16 ounces) sour cream

Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix chicken with 1 1/2 cups salsa Verde, 3 cup cheese, 1/2 cup cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste. Spread 1 cup salsa and in each of two 9x13" baking pan.

Wrap tortillas in two damp paper towels and microwave on high power until warm and pliable, about 45 seconds. Spoon about 1/4 a cup chicken filling into a tortilla. Roll into a cylinder and place seam down in baking dish. Repeat with remaining filling and tortillas.

Drizzle enchiladas with 3 cups salsa, and remaining 3 cups cheese. Spray 2 large sheets of heavy duty foil with vegetable oil cooking spray. Cover baking dish with foil, oiled sides down, and bake until heated thorough, about 30 minutes.

Remove foil, sprinkle with onion slices and remaining 1/2 cup cilantro, let stand for a few minutes, and serve with sour cream and remaining salsa Verde.

*Recipe adapted from Perfect One-Dish Diners All You Need for Easy Get-Togethers by Pam Anderson

Mexican Green Rice

Two words for this recipe: Simple and delicious!

1 1/2 cups Basmati rice
3 cups water
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cumin
2 cups green onions, finely chopped ( I used chives instead)
2 Tbsp seeded and finely chopped jalapeno pepper ( I just used red pepper flakes)
2 cups fresh cilantro

Rinse rice in a fine-mesh strainer under cold running water until the water runs clear. Drain. In a saucepan, mix the water, rice, garlic, olive oil, salt, and cumin. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium- low and cook uncovered until almost all the water is absorbed, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir with a fork, cover, reduce the heat to low and cook another 6 to 8 minutes until rice is tender. OR put same ingredients in rice cooker, push button and walk away until cooker signals done.

Remove rice from the heat and fluff with a fork. Toss with remaining ingredients. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Lime and Mixed Bean Fajitas

We enjoyed this recipe a lot as it was hardy and quite flavourful. To feed our family, the recipe was easily tripled. (As it is below, it serves 4.) Typically I do our beans from scratch, but to save time as we were eating quite late, we used canned beans. (I do always keep canned beans on hand for rushed evenings.)

4 tsp olive oil
1 small red onion, thinly slice
1 red pepper, cored and thinly sliced
1 (450 mL) can six bean blend
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
3/4 tsp chili powder and ground cumin
1/4 cup water
1 lime, juice and zest
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
8 tortillas

Topping

1/4 cup shredded cheese
1 ripe avocado
1/2 cup shredded lettuce
1/4 cup lower fat sour cream or homemade yogurt cheese
1/3 cup salsa

Preheat oven to 350 F. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and red pepper and cook, stirring, until vegetables soften, approx. 5 min. Add beans, salt, pepper, spices, and water. Simmer for 5 min. more, stirring until beans soften slightly. Add lime zest, juice and cilantro.

Meanwhile, wrap tortillas in foil and heat in the oven for 5 to 10 min. Divide filling, cheese, avocado, and lettuce evenly among the warm tortillas; top with sour cream and salsa, and serve.

Enjoy!

Salmon with Chickpea Mash

Salmon
4 skinless centre-cut salmon fillets
Pinch each salt and pepper
2 Tbsp grainy mustard
2 tsp maple syrup

Chickpea Mash
1 cup dried chickpeas
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, grated or pressed
1/2 tsp salt
pinch cayenne pepper

Rinse chickpeas; soak overnight in 3 times their volume of water. (Or, for quick-soak method, bring chickpeas and water to boil  in medium saucepan; boil over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Remove from heat; cover and let stand for one hour.) Drain.

In saucepan, cover chickpeas with six cups water. Add bay leaf  and clove; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until chickpeas are tender, 25-45 minutes. Drain reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid. Discard bay leaf and clove.

In a large bowl, mash together reserved liquid, lemon juice, garlic, salt and cayenne pepper to preferred consistency.

Salmon

Preheat oven to 350 F. Place salmon in oven safe baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. In a small bowl combine grainy mustard and maple syrup. Spread over individual salmon pieces and bake until salmon is tender and flaky, about 30 minutes.

Serve over bed of chick pea mash with steamed spinach or other in season vegetable. (We used Swiss chard).

The salmon was delicious and the kids agreed that if I mash the chickpeas more and add a little more seasoning, I can make them again too :o).

Cabbage

Cabbage is one of those vegetables that does not conjure up oodles delicious meals for me. We eat it approximately two ways and neither one is any less time consuming than the other. We either have cabbage rolls or coleslaw. Today's head of cabbage was made into a giant coleslaw which will likely take us days to eat and give many of us cramps, gas, or both. Gross, but true.

I've resorted to using yogurt, mayonnaise, sugar or agave nectar, and lemon juice to make my dressing. I combine and adjust them to my taste. To the chopped cabbage, I add onions, carrots for colour, and raisins for a little flavour kick.

Cranberries or pineapple are other tasty options/additions. To say that I love this dish would be a lie, but I don't mind it. It's far more palatable than some of the cabbage salads that I've made/eaten over the years.

That being said, I think it's time to hunt up some new cabbage recipes. I do want to make saurkraut. Time for some research :o).

Some Organizing

I sorted through our freezers this morning. I wanted to see what was in them yet. As I did so, I took notes and planned next week's menu.

Here's some of the strange things I found in there that I plan on using in the next week or so:

• two batches of leftover cooked chicken
• one large container of chicken broth
• one large container of cooked pumpkin
• one big container of some sort of beans or lentils (scary that I don't know for sure?)
• one container of frozen milk. (I think it was beginning to sour. Gross!)
• several small bags of frozen zucchini
• lots of assorted bags of frozen berries, including blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and gooseberries
• at least three big bags of sliced jalapenos

So, on Sunday we will have spicy chicken soup. On Wednesday, we'll have chicken pot pie. On Thursday we'll have soup with the mystery legumes. Sometime soon I will make some pumpkin pies and berry pies. A few zucchini loaves are on the list too, as well as canning the jalapenos to make pickled hot peppers. Always a hit in this house.

It feels good to know what's in my freezers and to start using up stuff that would otherwise eventually end up in the composters by the garden.