Mind your peas and chickens

It is a balmy 33 degrees in the shade.  There’s a weather advisory not to go out unless you have to.  If you absolutely have to cook today consider the barbecue.  A few years back my parents renovated their kitchen, so for the entire summer every meal, breakfast, lunch and supper was cooked out doors.  Lucky for me.  When I called to ask how to roast a whole chicken Mom knew exactly what to do.

1. Find a roasting pan that fits your barbecue (with the lid closed).  Preheat barbecue to medium.

2. Line the pan with foil.

3. Split a whole chicken in half.  If you need directions, go here

4. Place chicken in foil lined pan.  Sprinkle with spices of your choice.

5. Cover with foil.

6. Place in barbecue, close lid.  Bake approximately 45 minutes.

Serve with freshly picked sugar snap peas.        Ah, the taste of summer.

Bean and rice salad

Here a perfect recipe for that Canada Day potluck barbecue!

1 cup cooked rice
1 14 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14 oz can corn, drained (or a cup or two of frozen corn)
1 red pepper, diced
6 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried basil (fresh would be better if you have it!)
salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients together, chill until ready to serve. This is great for potlucks and buffets as it can sit out at room temperature.

Pineapple pudding

When I was a child, dessert was a thing of Sunday dinner.   My grandmother made the best apple pie in the world, second only to my Mom’s lemon meringue pie.   Chocolate cake with boiled icing or Washington pie were also common finishes to a big meal.  But my favourite dessert was pudding, especially chocolate, with real whipped  cream.

As my butt can detest, I still like to finish a meal with something sweet and in most cases it is pudding.  Having a can of pineapple on hand I went searching the Internet for a recipe.   When I stumbled across this pie recipe, I simply served it without the crust as a pudding.  As I can never leave a recipe well enough alone, rather than bake the meringue on top, I folded it into the cooled pudding to make it lighter.  This made a nice light dessert.

• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup sugar, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pie crust (10 inch), baked
• 2 cans crushed pineapple, (20 oz each)
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Preparation:

Combine cornstarch, 1/2 cup sugar, salt and undrained pineapple in saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until clear and thick. Beat egg yolks; add a little of the hot mixture to yolks, return to saucepan with lemon juice. Cook 1 minute. Pour into pie shell.

Prepare meringue. Beat egg whites until frothy. Slowly add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over the hot filling, spreading to crust. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes, or until nicely browned.

Happy Earth Day

To honour Earth Day i made herb cheese bread.  

Did this make my butt look big?

Some things I just don’t understand.  Like how did I gain 1.5  pounds this week.   Look at this dessert, which I prepared for the Easter potluck.How could it make me gain weight?  It was basically eggs, sugar, fresh strawberries and pudding. Now really, I cut back on the calories by omitting the chocolate powder and coffee granuales  called for in the recipe.    I didn’t even consider using the whipping cream.  Instead I replaced it with pistachio pudding mixed with yogurt spread.

I bet you it was that extra scoop of mashed sweet potatoes I had at Michelle’s on Easter Sunday.  Along with the glazed ham, pineapple rings, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, rolls, butter, Lady Ashburnham pickles and lemon chiffon pie.   Damn those sweet potatoes.

Or maybe it was the layered shrimp dip or the Chinese take out.  Or the chips and gourmet jelly beans.   Nah, it was the extra scoop of sweet potatoes.

Ummmmm, I love chicken

Even though  I haven`t been posting recipes lately, doesn`t mean we haven`t been eating well.  Chicken is on the menu most nights as we do not eat red meat. I am always looking for new and differnt ways to serve it. I find the internet a great source for recipes.

When using boneless chicken breast, I find one breast makes two servings, especially if you are adding cheese to the dish.

Here`s a few of the chicken meals I have prepared lately.

Braised chicken thighs, which is a variation of this recipe.  I used grated carrots in place of the mushrooms, frozen spinach in place of fresh.  Mighty tasty, wonderfully cheap dish.

Chicken pork lettuce. The only variation I made on this recipe, was to serve it over a bed of chopped lettuce, rather than making lettuce rolls.  Definitely a make again recipe.  No need to order take out with meals like this. Take a few minutes to check out Yes, we cook!

Cindy`s Cajun chicken – this idea is from a co-worker.  Cut one large boneless skinless chicken breast into chunks.  Sprinkle with cajun spice.  Cook in a bit of olive oil.  Remove from pan, keep warm.  In the pan toss onions, red peppers, celery, green peppers and mushrooms.  Saute.  Add chicken back into pan, sprinkle with more spice if desired.   Brush a pita lightly with mayonnaise,  sprinkle lightly with grated cheese, and chopped lettuce.   Add chicken vegetable mixture.  Eat with a fork, as you don`t want to miss a bit.

Snow Day

According to my DH,  shoveling out from this storm is as bad as  shoveling sh*t.   He was  raised on a farm, so he knows his sh*t.  The snow is wet, heavy and difficult to move.  For the past hour he has been out in the yard shoveling as the snow is too heavy for the snow blower.  He punctuates his labour  with short breaks to bring me the status of the storm.   Everything is covered with a thin layer of ice, topped with a thick layer of snow, and we are not out of the woods yet.   Parts of the province are without power, and might be so until 6:00 o`clock tonight.  The storm will combine with a another storm front tomorrow, so we will have nasty weather until Tuesday.

While my DH is out in the cold, wet, snow I am indoor fondling fabric.  I intend to spend the rest of the day sewing, with brief intervals of cooking.  Sounds fair to me.

Today`s menu will be made from recipes I found on the web. Chili and southwestern drop biscuits from Yes, we cook!  for lunch.    Saturday nights` dinner and a movie will be baked egg rolls from Under a Blue and Moon and our all time favourite carrot and pork dumplings from Retorte, and chicken and pork lettuce wraps, thanks again to Yes, we cook!

So if you`re hungry come on over, my DH should have the driveway shoveled by then.

I love a bargain

During the summer months, I spend Saturday mornings going to yard sales.  Best selling books from 2 years ago I buy at the Great Canadian Dollars store for $3.00.  When I finish reading these, I trade them at Reads in Fredericton towards other books.   Most of my clothing comes from Value Village or other type of reassigned clothing stores.  I shop for the best price and rarely buy anything that has not been discounted.  Groceries shopping is no exception.    Today was an exceptionally  good discount day at the local Sobeys, including 10x the Air mile points on orders over $50.00.

I am a big fan of the Europe`s Best Frozen Fruit and vegetables line, especially the frozen raspberries.   This past summer I found coupons for $2.00 off a bag of frozen fruit.   This morning I came across a coupon for a free bag of vegetables with every purchase of two bags of frozen fruit.   Not only did I get a bag of vegetables free, I also received $2.00 off each bag of fruit I purchased.  For a total of $12.00, I purchased $27.00 in frozen fruits and vegetables.   I prefer fresh fruit and vegetables, but during the cold months of winter frozen taste better than  produce trucked in from California.  Besides deep dish berry pie or Pavlova will help warm these dark winter days.

Easy Sunday Dinner – Orzo with chicken

As I spent most of Sunday sewing, this recipe was the perfect dinner to make on a busy day. What I enjoy about this recipe, besides the taste  is the versatility.   Instead of fresh,  I used Europe`s Best Chef`s Spinach.

In place of canned tomatoes, I added whole tomatoes from the freezer which I froze this fall.  After a quick blanching in hot water, the tomato skin slipped off easily.   All I had to do was roughly chop the tomatoes.    I omitted the chicken altogether.

Marinated pork tenderloin, along with a pepper mushroom stir fry completed the meal.  It took me longer to cut the veggies for the stir fry, then it took for the main dish to cook.

If you want a vegan dish, omit the chicken.  Shrimp would be a good substitute.  This would also be a great pot luck dish.   Enjoy!

Quite the night

Snow, rain, freezing rain, hurricane force wind and one hell of a fire.  Last night we stayed up until 2:00 a.m. due to the storm.  At once point a large shingle flew off our roof and later we were without power for 45 minute.  Over 48,000 homes in the province lost power last night.

Luckily we have a propane fireplace which does not depend on electricity plus we have a generator.   A local landmark however was not as fortunate.   The Opera House burned to the ground last evening in the midst of the storm.

Today the forecast is for 20 to 60 cm of more snow.  I plan to spend the day cooking, baking Leftover Christmas muffins (the recipe is on our family blog Never Trust a Skinny Cook)  reading and quilting.  Ironically enough, the fabric I am sewing with is titled,  It Spring Yet?  In the middle of this two day noreaster,  spring seems a long ways away.