Vegetarian Christmas Stuffing?!

Yes, it can be done. Just don't put the stuffing in the turkey.

I recently made another of my FAVOURITE Christmas classics: stuffing. This dish is simple to pull together and can easily be made with leftover rice, quinoa, corn (or other grainy) bread, and a few aromatic vegetables.

Roasted Chickpea Snacks

Today's lunch was simple to pull together, delicious, and fun to eat. The beauty is, these chickpeas can be combined with veggies and a starch for a simple lunch or can be a tasty snack on their own.

Vegetable Soup

There are times when I discover two or more types of leftover roasted, steamed, or otherwise pre-cooked vegetables hiding in the fridge. Just enough to keep, but not enough for anyone's dinner or lunch. The solution? Soup!!

Garlic Vegetable Omelette

I will be the first to tell you that I do not like eggs. In fact, I really do not like eggs. All by themselves, the texture, flavour, and aroma - I cannot handle it.

I clearly remember it - a night when I was about 7 or 8, I slept over at a friend's house. The mom and dad of the home kick-started Saturday morning with a nice big breakfast of bacon, toast, and sunny side up soft eggs. I ate all I could of that breakfast - even some of the egg whites - until my stomach threatened to embarrass me, at which point I stated I was full.

The other day, I knew I needed an egg for breakfast, protein and veggies, but what could I make? The best answer: eggs.

Breakfast Like A Mennonite

It was a slow start to the day and I soon realized that breakfast was turning into brunch... and then brunch was turning into lunch. So the breakfast-brunch-lunch became heartier as I made it, and here is where we ended up.

It started out as eggs and sliced tomato. Then I saw the leftover perogies, red onion, red cabbage, and sliced scallions in soft goat cheese and I knew I had all I needed to make a really great meal.

Philly Cheese Steak

Sometimes I think that any cookbook I make might have a full chapter devoted to "things that go on a bun". This sandwich would be in that chapter.

Neither I nor my husband have ever been to the east coast, but this is our best guess at what this legendary sandwich might taste like...

Lazy Pizza

The other day, I decided on pizza for dinner. It was already nearly 5:00 pm and I was low on ideas.

The kids decided on ham, pineapple, and bell pepper pizza. For Chris and I, vegetarian. We picked up two pizza crusts (gasp) at the store and got to making it. I really did not want a tomato pizza sauce, so I made a "white" pizza sauce that worked quite well.

Butter Chicken, Re-Invented

The other night, I was feeling lazy about dinner, so I made the Butter Chicken sauce found here (about halfway down the page) and then I defrosted, rinsed, and pulled the tails off a handful of frozen pre-cooked shrimp and added them to the sauce to warm through. I also made rice and some simple steamed veggies.

We ate most of the supper that night and I ended up with just one portion of Butter Chicken Shrimp leftover in the fridge, no veggies or rice.

The next day for lunch, I realized that I had a few fresh veggies, frozen peas, and the leftover curry. Once the curry was heated up, the veggies chopped, and the peas warmed in hot water, lunch was ready!

Winter Soup

Tuesdays and Thursdays I am always running. After I pick the boys up from school, we have a small amount of time at home before we need to jump into the car and run to the city for a class. By the time we get back, it's 7:00 and bedtime is looming. If dinner is not ready when we get home, the boys are up way too late.

Yesterday, my solution was soup. While the boys are at school, I had time to pull it all together and pop it into the crock pot or a ceramic pot in the oven, covered, on low and it was waiting for us when we got home. It was orange, happy, warm, and totally satisfying.

Comfort Food

The other night on our way home, I asked the boys what they would rather have for dinner: 1) leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, peas, gravy, and salad... OR 2) soup with coconut milk, peanut, curry, and rice noodles. My 7-year-old asked for the soup and my 5-year-old asked for the curry noodles.

Amazing how comfort food for me when I was little would have been option 1, but now I find the more comforting food to be option 2, as do the boys.

Bunwich Kind of Day...

There are times when all I want to eat for the weekend is food on buns: that was this weekend. 

Friday night, we had tuna buns and Saturday morning we had breakfast on a bun. Here is how it breaks down:

Pizza... Home Made Pizza

There is something so warm and comforting about the smell of baking bread when it is cold and dark outside. On those days, I find myself scouring cookbooks and food blogs looking for the recipe I will bake. Last night, it was home made pizza from a cookbook my mother-in-law made for Chris when he left home.

Making your own pizza dough is actually quite simple. It involves paying attention for small periods of time, lots of ignoring, a few minutes of baking, then - VOILA! - pizza!!

Yes, it is that simple. Okay, it might take a little longer the first time or two, but after that, it is simple AND quick.

Chicken Soup for the Soul and Stomach

I love the smell of a pot of chicken broth bubbling away on the stove.  There is something so homey, warm, comforting about it.  It is a great way to use up the left-over meat, bones, and skin from a roasted chicken. Also, it is surprisingly little work.

CHICKEN SOUP

Ingredients:

Chicken bones, joints, skin, etc.

3-6 bay leaves 

10 pepper corns (or 1/2 tsp ground pepper)

1 onion, cut in half

garlic (1 or more cloves)

water to cover the contents of the pot

Method:

Cover and simmer over medium-low until it comes to a gentle boil. Allow to simmer for one to five hours before serving. Alternately, you can use pre-made chicken broth and simmer with the bay leaves, pepper, onion, and garlic for 20 minutes.

To Serve:

Pre-boil noodles until they are "al-dente" or still a bit firm. While the noodles are cooking, chop up a few fresh vegetables. Arrange the chopped veggies, cooked noodles, and leftover meat in each bowl.  Ladle strained broth over the contents of each bowl and serve.

Note: 

Store extra noodles and broth in separate containers in the fridge. If stored together, the noodles will continue to absorb broth and will become mushy.

Do you make chicken soup? What do you do to "personalize" it?