Breakfast and Dinner perfection

It felt so nice to sleep in this morning and to wake up to the sun shining and the snow all melted away.  Trevor is away this week, on a work trip and also visiting family out East, so I have the weekend to myself.  And since I finished up my report cards last night, I planned on having a fairly mellow weekend, especially after a crazy busy week. 

When I woke up this morning, I decided to try my hand at making the popular Breakfast Pizzert I keep hearing and reading about in the blogosphere.  Christin over at Purple Bird Blog made one a while back that looked really tempting.  SoI thought I’d try one out myself this morning..with no kids around and no commitments, let the cooking experiment begin

TADAHHH …….

Looks like one ginormous cookie or pancake….and it tasted oh so good. I ate it around 10:30am and my stomach didn’t even make a peep until about 4pm.  Definitely very filling.

GF Apple Pumpkin Breakfast Pizzert

Mix together all of the following ingredients

• 1/2 cup  Gluten-Free flour mix
• 1 tsp  Aluminum free Baking powder
• 2 tsp  agave syrup
• 2 Tbsp  100% pure pumpkin pure
• 1/2 grated apple
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 Tbsp  Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter
• 1 tsp  Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp  Vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup  Chocolate Chips

Spray a glass pie dish and pour mixture into the prepared dish.  Stick in a 420F oven that was NOT preheated for about 15 minutes.  Allow to cool in the pie dish for a few minutes before trying to remove it. 

I found mine was a little tough to get out in one piece without breaking it, so if you eat it right out of the dish, why not?  I also drizzled mine with some maple syrup, but you can top yours with whatever your little heart desires. 

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I’m sure glad I managed to get my pizzert out of the oven in time this morning.  About 10 minutes after sitting down for breakfast, the power went out.  I had already noticed when I got up that all of the clocks were flashing, so this was obviously not the first time the power went out today.  But with the power out, it was perfect timing to get out of the house and run a bunch of errands.

I planned out my meals for the next few days, made myself a grocery list and headed over to Trevor’s house to take care of something for him.  I also made my way to the school to print off my report cards, prepare some stuff for Monday and work a bit on my class banner (pictures to come soon… you will NOT want to miss those). 

Now on to tonight’s meal… it’s DA BOMB……..

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Roasted Leg of Lamb with Smashed Potatoes and Squash

It didn’t take long at all to make the Lamb and the flavour was unbelievable….juicy, tender and very very tasty. 

Here’s what I did…….

ROASTED LEG OF LAMB

• 1 Kg  Butterflied Boneless Leg of Lamb
• 3 Tbsp  Pesto
• 2 Tbsp  Balsamic Vinegar
• 3 tsp  olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper to taste

To prepare the marinade, mix all of the ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside while you prepare the lamb.

Trim any excess fat off of the lamb, including that large gland that is often found on a leg of lamb.  (not every piece has one, but most do… it kind of looks like a really big chunk of fat, but it’s more round and bubbly). 

Place the lamb in a dish and pour the marinade over the lamb.  Cover and place in refrigerator for a couple of hours. 

Preheat your oven to 450F.  Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and go get your meat thermometer.  Find the thickest part of your meat and insert thermometer.  Place the meat on the cookie sheet and into your oven.  Mine took about 20 minutes or so, but you want an internal temperature of 145F for Medium Rare. 

After you take it out of the oven, tent it with aluminum foil and let rest for about 10 minutes.  By doing so, the juices in the leg of lamb will have a chance to settle.  Then place on a cutting board and cut with the grain into desired thickness. 

Serve lamb with potatoes and vegetables and all of the good juices that came from the lamb. 

Smashed Potatoes and Squash

I used 3 medium red potatoes and a medium sized butternut squash.  Place the potatoes into a large pot.  Peel and slice your squash into large pieces and place into pot with the potatoes.  Add enough cold water to cover your vegetables.  Then boil until tender…about 25 to 30 minutes.

Drain the water and then peel the potatoes.  Add some fresh grated nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste, 2 Tbsp of Earth Balance Butter and about 1/2 cup of milk.  Smash everything together until you get the consistency for mashed potatoes.  I also added about 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmesan Cheese.

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For dessert I had a bowl of fresh fruit and some non-fat vanilla yogurt. 

So the night comes to an end with an anticipated good game of hockey.  We play tonight at 10:45pm (gross times, but it’s for the love of the game…).  I’m going to try my dandiest to not fall asleep on the couch before I have to leave..only about 1.5 hours to go.  But then again, I do get to sleep in tomorrow morning.  There will be no school visits on my agenda either.. simply a day to relax, play with the dog, enjoy some fresh air and do a little bit of cooking.  Oh…and plan out a few lessons on nutrition for my class. 

What are your plans for Sunday?  What do you do when you have a day to relax?

Hope you’re all having a great weekend.

Bea

xoxo

Curried Pork Shepherd’s Pie

Hey guys,

So once again I surprised myself with another great creation in the kitchen.  But first, how did you like my GF DF and Vegan Chocolate Cake?  I’ve got some leftover cake in the fridge and a couple of Vanilla pods, so I think I’m going to try to make a Vanilla sauce to go with it..will see how much time I have tonight as I have some work to complete for tomorrow’s school day. 

So as I was saying, tonight’s creation was inspired by my leftover pork shoulder from Sunday night’s dinner.  I wanted to make some Chilli with it, but realised that I had no canned tomatoes in my pantry.  Well then came about Plan B…. Shepherd’s Pie.  But not just any pie… see for yourself. 

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Directions

First I boiled 3 medium sized Russet potatoes.  Instead of using water to boil, I used the left over broth from the Braised Pork Shoulder.  But water works too. 

While the potatoes were boiling, I cut up the left over pork meat and a couple of carrots. 

I also made a gravy to go with the pork meat.  First I melted 2 Tbsp of Earth Balance butter in a medium saucepan.  Then I whisked in 1 Tbsp of Sorghum Flour to make a Roux.  Make sure you get all of the lumps out.  I cooked this for a couple of minutes, then slowly added 2 cups of my broth from Sunday’s pork roast.  Then I added the pork and carrots to the gravy mixture. 

I also added a spring of thyme, 2 cloves of fresh pressed garlic, some salt and pepper to taste, a pinch of grated nutmeg, a dash of worstershire sauce, 1 Tbsp of Fish sauce and 1 Tbsp of Yellow Thai curry paste.  I set the meat mixture aside and prepared the mashed potatoes.

To make the mashed potatoes, I peeled them and then added 2 Tbsp of Earth Balance, a splash of milk, salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.  Then I mashed the potatoes until they were nice and creamy.

Turn on your oven to 350F.  To assemble the Shepherd’s Pie, I layered a casserole dish with the pork mixture, then added the mashed potatoes on top.  Finally I covered the potatoes with about a cup of grated Dill Havarti cheese.  In to the oven everything went for about 10 minutes, covered.  Then I removed the lid and turned on the broiler  until the cheese became golden and bubbly. 

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That’s it for tonight.  It’s going to be a crazy rest of the week… in a nutshell it includes…doctor’s appointment, Bank appointment for RRSP crunch time and it’s report card writing time.  Plus all day this Saturday is my Lifeguarding recertification course at the local pool…I’m very nervous about it as it’s been 4 years since I worked as a lifeguard.  What will be will be I guess !

Any big plans this week? 

Beaglebea

xoxo

Herbed Potato Gratin

I usually make scalloped potatoes in the oven, but this one can be done on the stovetop, on low heat.  Then just finish it off under the broiler to get a nice golden topping. 

Ingredients:

• 1 kg  large russet potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup  chicken stock
• 1/2 cup  dry white wine
• sprig fresh thyme, chopped
• sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 garlic clove
• pinch of salt
• fresh ground pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup  whipping cream
• 1/2 cup  Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup  Dill Havarti

To assemble:

Prepare your potatoes.  Peel and slice the taters thinly and layer evenly in a non-stick frying pan.  Make sure you spray your pan with some Pam first.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and nutmeg. 

Layer with half the amount of Havarti and parmesan cheese.

In a medium saucepan, heat chicken stock, white wine, garlic, thyme and rosemary to a gentle boil and allow to simmer for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat and whisk in the cream.

Pour evenly over the potatoes and cheese.  Place frying pan on low heat and cover with lid.  Cook for about 1 hour or until potatoes are tender.  Just before serving, sprinkle with remaining cheese and place under broiler for a few minutes until cheese brown and bubbling. 

Wine, Potatoes and Pork

Did everyone have a good weekend?  Mine was pretty good.  I finally made it to the wine store to bottle my batch of wine that’s been sitting since January.  I would have gone sooner but its been a busy few weeks.  Now I have 30 bottles of Chardonnay that are ready to be devoured. 

Trevor and I also watched a movie Saturday night. 

Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can't turn his back on Harry's son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.

I thought it was a good movie.  Lots of action and the story line keeps you interested. 

On on to good eats…..

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Every so often I have a craving for a good pot roast.  So on the menu for Sunday night was pork shoulder, yummy scalloped potatoes and veggies for dinner. 

The pork was very juicy, tender and flavourful.  It was a 2 Kg hunk of meat… I have a ton of leftovers, so I’m thinking I’ll get creative with pork for tomorrow’s meal.  I also found a way to make scalloped potatoes on stovetop since my oven was in use for the roast. 

And wait until you get a load of dessert.  It’s the world’s easiest, richest, chocolaty Chocolate cake ever. I guarantee you’ll be on Cloud 9 (or the Chocolate Cloud…either way… it’s pure bliss )

And will you believe me when I tell you the cake is …..

GLUTEN-FREE + DAIRY-FREE + VEGAN

And I only used 4 ingredients…really…that’s it

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So this is what happens when Trevor helps me out in the kitchen…. some pictures I find on my camera when I’m uploading them… thanks babe

Although I have no idea where the Shepherd picture came from.  Can you figure out what the 5th picture is? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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So that’s it for now…I will post the recipes for the roast, potatoes and chocolate cake in the next few days.  I’m actually just heading out the door in the next few minutes for a social. 

But I’m really excited to see our extended forecast too… they are forecasting 5 days of sunshine. 

Anything new in your neck of the woods?  See any good movies as of late?

 

Take care

Bea

xoxo

Hockey High

So Saturday night I played my first hockey game after being off for 10 days due to tonsillitis and a cold.  And I came back with a fire lit under my butt.  I had my best game of the season and since starting to play 3 years ago.  I scored two goals and had an assist.  I came close to getting my very first hat trick and the ladies tried so hard to help me reach it, but oh well.  I’ll try again next week. 

And now for some sad news…  I got a phone call last night from my dad.  They had to put down my family dog.    Xena was my little warrior princess.  She was a black miniature Schnauzer.  I still remember the day we brought her home.  She was such a tiny little bundle of never-ending energy and joy.  RIP Xena… I will miss you.  She was 14 yrs old.

 

 

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Good Old Steak and Potatoes

Sunday Night’s meal was some good old meat and potatoes.  It wasn’t raining and Trevor requested a tasty steak for dinner.  Lucky for him, I have an abundant supply of meat in my freezer.  So it was time to take out a package of Bison Rib Steaks.

I marinated these babies in some olive oil and jerk rub and set them aside until they would meet their fate on the BBQ. 

In the meantime, I prepared a big pot full of red cabbage.

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Braised Red Cabbage

To prepare the red cabbage, cut into quarters and trim the stems.  Slice thinly and set in bowl.

Prepare the other ingredients: 

• 2 medium onions, sliced thinly
• 2 apples, cored and sliced thinly

 

 

 

 

 

In a large pot, heat oil over medium-high heat and add onions and cook for 7 to 10 minutes or until somewhat translucent.  Next add the apples and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. 

Now add your red cabbage and these ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp red wine vinegar or Champagne vinegar
• 2 – 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 cup red wine

Stir everything together and boil over medium-high heat.  Now cover and cook on medium-low heat for about 35 – 40 minutes or until cabbage is tender.  You may have to add some more red wine if you cabbage needs to cook a bit longer.  Never let the pot go dry.  

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Swiss Potato Pancake “Roesti”

My mom used to make this all the time growing up and it’s a perfect way to use up day-old baked or boiled potatoes.  “Roesti” is generally eaten as a side dish, but can be varied by adding ingredients and seasonings of your choice.  And it’s a great alternative to the all-American or Canadian Hash browns.

To make this, start off by grating about a pound of cooked potatoes like this and set aside.

Chop up one medium onion.  In a non-stick frying pan, heat about 3 Tbsp. of butter or olive oil over medium-high heat.  Then add your onions to the pan and cook until they turn translucent. 

Add some salt and pepper to taste and add your potatoes to the pan as well.  Mix the potatoes and the onions together and flatten with a spatula into the shape of a pancake…it should fit the entire width of your frying pan. 

Make sure element is medium-low heat and allow to fry until brown from bottom.  Now you will need to get yourself a plate a little bigger than your pancake.  Place the plate on top of your potatoes and FLIP!  Slide the potatoes back into your frying pan and continue to cook until brown on this side too.  (sorry for not taking pictures of this process..I only have two hands).  Regardless, it should look like this.

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And of course we couldn’t leave out the dessert either.  When I was at the grocery store this afternoon, I came across this product.  I’ve heard lots about it, so I splurged.

It was creamy, delicious, flavourful, chocolaty goodness. And since Trevor is lactose intolerent, it was a perfect finishing touch to our Sunday night meal. 

I even drizzled the last of my Chocolate Merlot Sauce for a special touch. 

Has anyone else tried this Ice Cream?  What is your favourite flavour?

Hope everyone had a great weekend.  With a fully belly and my lunch made for the morning, I”m ready to relax on the couch. 

Happy Monday everyone.

Much love,

Bea

xoxox