Stuffed Potatoes - as a meal!

Here is a seriously overlooked meal idea. The stuffed potato. It's low fat, nutritious,inexpensive and quick! I poke some holes in mine with a fork and then toss them in the microwave for 3 minutes per potato. I cook one potato per person. You can prep the stuffing mix while you wait for the potatoes. The stuffing mix is only limited by your imagination. I used broccoli, cheese, a little bacon, garlic and onion powder, sour cream and buttermilk. I also had some fresh chives so I chopped them up and added them in. I scooped out the inside of the potato and mixed it with everything else, scooped it back into the potato then cooked it in the oven for 20 minutes until the top was starting to brown at 375.

Add a salad and this is a great meal. Or use the potato as a side and bake a boneless chicken breast in the same oven as the potatoes!

Greek Pasta and Ground Meat

This meal takes about 30 minutes to prepare and another 25 in the oven but the great thing is that you can double the recipe and freeze half of it for another meal! It's originally a weight watchers recipe and is worth 6 points for anyone counting. It's a one dish meal. Everything you need for a balanced meal is in the one dish!

1/2 lb (approximately 230 grams) of pasta. The recipe calls for orzo but I used orzo and tubetti and I have a friend who uses rotini. So it's up to you, whatever you have on hand will do.
6 ounces of ground meat. This is why I doubled the recipe, it's hard to bring home just 6 ounces of meat...Usually its around a pound which is 16 ounces. The recipe calls for lamb which I had so I used it. My friend makes it with beef but you could use chicken or turkey or even pork. Any of them would work here.
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I keep the bottled stuff on hand, it's a real time saver)
1/4 cup chopped fennel. Not everyone likes fennel or even knows what it is but this is a great recipe to get to know it but if you would rather use another veggie then I would recommend either 1/2 a package of frozen spinach or 2 cups of fresh spinach. Broccoli would also work well here. But those are just the ones I like, you'll have to come up with your own favorite substitutions.
1 tsp dried mint
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 (14 oz) can of crushed tomatoes
3 tbsp of tomato paste. (I used 3/4 of a small can of tomato paste for a double recipe. You can freeze the rest of the can if you can't find tomato paste in the tube. The tube is so convenient, you can squirt out just the amount you need!)
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3 ounces light feta cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Spray an 8 inch square baking dish with nonstick spray and preheat the oven to 350.

Cook Pasta as per directions on box. Drain and put in a large bowl.

Heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Brown and break up the ground meat. Add it to the bowl.

Add the onion, fennel, garlic, mint and oregano to the skillet and cook until the onion is soft, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato, tomato paste and cinnamon and cook until thickened, about 6 minutes.

Add the skillet mixture to the bowl. Toss in the feta and mix it all well. Pour it into the baking dish and sprinkle with the parmesan.

Bake for 25 minutes. Low fat, low sodium and delicious!

Want to take it to another level? Think about changing the herb/cheese/veggie combo to create other flavours. For example, Basil, oregano and thyme with fontina and provolone with zucchini and mushrooms would make a great Italian dish! It's only limited by your imagination.

Clam Chowder (or Fish or Seafood...)

Here is a great recipe for a cold fall evening. It's super simple, can be modified and totally delicious. I serve it with a salad and the meal is complete. Serves 4

2 slices of bacon (optional)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 large potatoes, finely diced
1 can of clams OR 200g of fish fillets OR 200 g (around 1/2 lb) of seafood - shrimp, scallops, mussels
1/4 tsp liquid smoke (in your regular grocery aisle)
1/2 tsp oil, salt free marg or salt free butter
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 can of fat free evaporated milk or 1 1/2 cups of skim milk with 2 tbsp of corn starch added.

Heat the 1/4 tsp of the oil, margarine or butter in a saucepan over med heat. Add the bacon if using and cook until crisp. Remove the bacon and let it sit on a paper towel while you prepare the rest.

Add remaining oil. margarine or butter, reduce the heat to medium-low and saute the onions, careful not to brown them, just soften them.
Add the potatoes and enough water just to cover them. You can use chicken, veggie or seafood broth if you want but water will work just fine. Simmer the potatoes for 15 minutes.
Add the clams, fish or seafood. Heat until just cooked through, the clams are already cooked so just heat them through, about 2 minutes. The fish or seafood will take about 5 minutes.
Add the milk and cook until thickened if using the cornstarch, otherwise just heat through.

The liquid smoke is a great thing. It adds a great bacon flavour to many dishes without the fat or salt. I've had the same bottle for years, it keeps well in the cupboard.

You can leave the potatoes unpeeled if you like. We sometimes do. I make chowder all the time. It's a real maritime tradition!

Curry Chili - Super Easy!

Looking for something quick, inexpensive and healthy? I gotcha covered. I used to call this dish bean burger stew but then I realized it really is a quick curry chili. Here is the ingredient list:

1 pound of extra lean ground beef
1 14 oz (398 ml) can of no salt added pinto beans (if you are watching your sodium level)
1 14 oz (398 ml) can of no salt added tomato sauce
1 green pepper chopped
1 onion chopped or 2 tsp of onion powder
2 cloves of minced garlic or 2 tsp of garlic powder
3 tsp curry powder.
3-5 cups of veggies (I used Cauliflower but spinach or peas or a combination would work well)

Spray frying pan with non-stick spray
Heat to medium-high
Saute onions and peppers until soft
add garlic and cook for another minute
add and break up beef, saute for 5 minutes
add in beans, tomato sauce, curry and veggies
simmer until veggies are tender and serve (2 - 10 minutes depending on the veggie you added)
but this can sit on your stove for up to an hour on low if you aren't ready to eat right away.

I did this in less than 30 minutes with nothing prepared before hand, I even had to wash my veggies and I had to cut up fresh cauliflower. Frozen veggies would work really well here.

You could certainly get more creative. If you have authentic Indian spices like cumin, coriander, turmeric, cardamon, etc., you could make your own spice blend, just toast up any whole spices before grinding. And if that were the case, I would use ground lamb. It would stand up well to the intensity of the fresh spice mixture.

Okay, this is just too funny! Are you ready for Halloween?!

Fall Pics

These were suppose to go with the last post.

Fall at Last.

Today is one of those first real days of Fall. It’s my favorite season. Some think of the new year as a time of new beginnings but for me it’s Fall. Even though I haven’t been in school in, oh, let’s just say, a long time, it’s still the beginning of a new year for me. Fall means no longer sweating after you shower. Fall means getting to stop shaving everything all the time! Fall means no longer having to water and deadhead those damn flowers. Fall means boots; long sexy ones that make you feel like Tina Sinatra knew what she was talking about. And Fall means that Winter is just around the corner. And I really love winter! Winter is an excuse to snuggle down under the covers a little longer. Hats and scarves…. Oh boy! But let’s get through Fall first.


The colours of the leaves always amaze me, year after year. How can anything be so beautiful? For someone who is a “cool” colour tone herself, you wouldn’t think I would love the shades of Fall so much. The burnt umber, the yellow mums, orange pumpkins, the burgundy, red and flame orange of the leaves. Somehow the colours of the summer flowers pale in comparison. It’s warmth everywhere even as you start to see your breath.

And the smells of Fall. Pumpkin spice, vanilla, apple pies… and now that the windows are closed you can light all those scented candles and capture the scent indoors. And speaking of candles, how about those shorter days and longer night? Fall is the time to pull out all those sparkling candleholders and lighting them up. Those red wines that didn’t really go with summer’s warm evenings now sound like a great idea. Soups and stews make a reappearance after summer hibernation. Mmm, beef stew, chili, pea soup, chowders! Wow, I think I just planned the perfect evening. Light the pumpkin spice candles, put some plain tealights in all the holders (they tend to be safest), Get a pot of soup on the stove, open a bottle of good red wine and snuggle in for a romantic evening at home!

Maybe that’s why I like Fall so much… I associate the long dark evenings with romance. Curling up with the one you love (or even just lust after a little) with the twinkle of the candlelight in the background. Slap on some Jazz and it’s perfect. See it’s hard to do that in the heat of summer. Snuggling is less than sexy as you sweat like a rutting pig. And it’s too easy for me to get really drunk on white wine to stay sensible, let alone sexy for long. And all that flesh…it’s all out there. All having to be maintained…. In Fall you don’t have to worry nearly so much because candlelight does wonderful things to cellulite. It glistens in the glow of the flames. And the red wine makes you seem that much sexier without becoming completely stupid, well hopefully. Depends on your drink of choice but you get my drift. And Fall means being cool enough to enjoy Bailey’s Irish Cream again! Now that’s perfect. Life doesn’t get any better than that.

Happy Turkey Day!!

Let's talk turkey. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love it so much, I do it twice each year, once for the Canadian Thanksgiving and then again for the American Thanksgiving. How's that for commitment?!

This year it was just myself, Tim and his son so I only cooked a turkey breast half. Now if you've been paying attention you'll remember that I cook low sodium. It's hard to leave salt out of a good turkey dinner. Especially when I find the best way to ensure a turkey is moist is to brine it. This is a crucial technique. You can baste until the cows come home but nothing will give you the moisture that brining does. There are 2 different ways to brine. One is to soak the bird in a water and salt solution for at least 24 hours. I find this difficult because I'm usually wrangling a pretty big bird. So I go for brining method number 2. I rub it in salt and let it sit over night. Then I rinse it off, pat it dry and we're good to go. This year I didn't do it... and the turkey was way too dry.

My nephew told me about an interesting cooking method he heard of, steaming. I've never steamed meat, let alone a whole turkey but it may be the low sodium solution I'm looking for. Like I mentioned, today I only did a half of a turkey breast (it really was enough meat for the three of us and I still have leftovers) and I was tempted to try it but I didn't. I do have some turkey thighs that I might try it with soon. Anyone ever steamed their turkey? I'd love to hear of some real life experiences with it.

The highlight of today's meal was the cornbread stuffing. I love cornbread stuffing so much that we never have bread stuffing anymore. I had some maple corn muffins I had made the week before last in the freezer. But often I just make one or two cornbread mixes up a couple of days before Thanksgiving to allow it to start to dry out. Then I just add some finely chopped onions, summer savory or sage and some melted butter. If I don't put it in the bird, I use some of the turkey drippings and mix it in during the cooking process to get a nicer flavor. It's a nice change from the ordinary.


Is it my imagination or do all my food pics lately look the same?!?!

Quiche me you fool!

Picture of this mornings quick quiche!

Ah the joy of weekend brunch...

I love a late breakfast on the weekend. I like to come up with something yummy that brings the whole family to the table, something that may even require a nap afterwards. And it doesn't require big grocery list, a lot of planning or a lot of prep work. I've been known to take the leftovers from dinner the night before, add some eggs and call it breakfast. Leftover roast chicken, broccoli and potatoes? Perfect. Chop them up, put them in a casserole dish, pour some eggs over and bake it for 20- 30 minutes at 350 degrees and you've got a great brunch. Toss in some cheese with the mixture before you bake it and you have a delectable delight!

Even if you just have some leftover steak and onions, great that'll work! Add some cheddar, even throw in some frozen veggies to make it a complete meal and you'll be impressed with the results. Even leftover seafood works (if you aren't too hungover from the night before). Shrimp, scallops or salmon make a fantastic breakfast bake! Spinach works well here or just go with some herbs. I tend to stay away from too much cheese with seafood. It just doesn't need it. But some cream cheese or a flavored soft spreadable cheese mixed in with the eggs adds a nice punch.

You can make these concoctions as either a quiche or scrambled eggs. And you don't have to add everything from the night before. Roasted beets with your steak and eggs may not be for everyone.

This morning I made a Ham and Spinach quiche. Oh, when I say "quiche" I mean an egg pie, there is no shell involved. It saves on fat and calories but if you want to use a frozen one or want to make one, go right ahead. I won't tell you not to!

For this mornings dish I used a slice of diced ham (this is an example of how to incorporate a high sodium food into your diet without having a huge portion but still getting the taste), some frozen spinach (you can get the chopped kind frozen in nuggets from Sobey's, it's really useful when you don't need a whole package), some Jarlsberg and some swiss cheese, a little herb and garlic seasoning and some onion powder mixed in with the eggs. It took me exactly 5 minutes to make this dish. 30 minutes in the oven at 350 and breakfast is ready! And here's the real kicker.... we'll have leftovers for quick breakfasts during the week. How awesome is that?!

Calactus Review (Vegetarian can be awesome!)

So I haven't really spoken much about restaurants here in my blog. One of the reasons is that I believe if you don't have anything nice to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all. I find a lot of places make heavy, flavorless, overly salty food and I often leave disappointed that I wasted my entertainment dollar on a meal I didn't enjoy... Although I must say, there are a few chain restaurants around that, while having heavy meals, have been flavourful and a decent experience for my entertaining dollar, which is a surprise for me because I'm a big fan of local ingredients made fresh. But I want to talk about my most pleasant surprise as of late.... Calactus! If you haven't been, you need to go. Bring along your 'Earth Muffin' side and an open mind. This place respects the earth and your body, even if you don't. They do things with vegetarian cuisine that make me seriously contemplate a vegetarian lifestyle. Meat?! Who needs it?! This is the stuff of a foodie's dreams.

I've been there twice so far and both times were divine. They have a full menu of coffee and teas to make your lunchtime experience complete. And they have a nice little wine list to make your dinner a truly grown-up experience, all organic of course. The first time I had the daily special, the Mustafa Melt. It was amazing. Flavors that you would never think of putting together... This chef needs to put out a cookbook! The second time I had a wrap type dish off the menu. Again I was impressed. I took Tim there for dinner for my second visit. He too was quite impressed. And he didn't have to feel guilty about blowing his healthy eating regime. What a treat!

We even had a vegetarian parfait with tofu cream. It was good! And I'm not a big tofu fan. I'm still developing my taste for it. But this dessert was fabulous.

So go to Calactus and have a delicious dinner or lunch. And you won't even have to feel guilty about a great meal out!

Stir Fry...anything!

First I'd like to say that I've turned off the "comment moderation". I was having a problem with an automatically generated comment maker! After a few rejected comments, it seemed to have stopped. So I apologize for any inconvenience. Comment away! I enjoy the feedback.

Let's talk about stir fry. Everyone assumes you have to do it Chinese or Asian style but I'm here to tell you that's just not true. I use my wok style pan for all sorts of things. You can use a lot of the same base ingredients but just by changing the seasonings, you can change the flavor. And it doesn't take much.

A good stir fry consists of meat, chicken, fish or tofu, sauteed over medium high heat (if you have a non-stick pan). Add in some onions and garlic, maybe some ginger. Remove and throw in your veggie combo. Add some sauce and/or seasonings, return the meat, chicken, fish or tofu to the pan to combine and you're done!

Okay so think about it, the right combo of meat, chicken, fish or tofu with veggies and the right seasoning and you can go with a totally different flavor! I did a nice Greek version the other night. I used chicken, onions, garlic and some of my homemade Greek salt free seasoning for the first saute. (You can use store bought seasoning but if you are watching your sodium, use it sparingly) I used green and yellow zucchini, tomatoes, broccoli, green pepper and mushrooms. I was going to use spinach and tomatoes and that would have been it but I had some veggies to use up. For the sauce I used yogurt with a squirt of lemon juice, some dried oregano and a good bit of crumbled feta. Voila! We had Greek stir fry and it was awesome. I served it over brown rice because that is what I had on hand but we could have used a pita bread or even potatoes.

So think your favorite flavors and stir fry them. It's a quick method of cooking that is pretty darn healthy!

I've been slack...

Okay, I've been really slack about sharing recipes lately. Mostly because I've been creating quick throw togethers and I haven't been photographing them. And let's face it, this site is way more interesting with pictures...

I did make some beautiful Halibut steaks on the weekend. I marinated them just for a couple of hours in olive oil, lemon juice and lemon pepper seasoning and a bit of minced garlic and chopped shallots. I BBQed them about 7 minutes per side over medium heat and they were perfect. What a taste! I forget how much I love Halibut. I served them on grilled zucchini which was tossed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and italian seasoning. Yum!

I also did a Curry Beef Stew. It was a nice alternative to traditional stew even though it had most of the same ingredients.

1 plb of stew meat
1 large onion, cut into chunks
1 turnip, cut into cubes
2 large carrots, diced
low sodium beef broth
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp tumeric
2 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece of ginger minced or 1/2 tbsp of the bottled stuff.
and 2 squeezes of tomato paste (I get it in the tube but you could add a whole small can if you want)

I sauted the meat, onions, garlic and ginger. And then tossed everything in the crock pot and let it simmer all day. Right before serving I stir in 2 cups of yogurt. Make sure it doesn't boil! And I serve the stew on top of mashed sweet potatoes. Easy! And it was good enough for company (which we had)

This week I'm going to start my official recipe review. I've got recipes I've developed over the years and I'm going to start putting them to the test of time. Will they make the grade? Stay tuned! And if you are a meat lover be sure to come back often. I'm working on a quick and simple meat lovers healthy recipe collection!

How sad is this?

I have no new recipes to share. Not because we haven't been eating. We ate all week out of the freezer. Here's to doubling recipes and freezing leftovers! Wahoo! Next week I plan to start a recipe review to determine what recipes can go in my sister-in-laws cookbook. It should be a fun challenge. English isn't her first language so the cookbook needs to be very clear, clean and concise. They are a meat and potato type family. But that doesn't mean they can't eat healthy!

I was hoping to share an amazing brisket recipe for you but the brisket turned out tough even after I marinated it for 48 hours, rubbed it and mopped it over a slow smoke! So I'm taking the leftovers, throwing them in the crockpot and making a chili. Slow cooking lean cuts of meat tends to make them very tender. I have a nice cornbread recipe that tastes nice but wasn't very light and fluffy when I made it the week before. So I'm going to re-make it with fresh ingredients (like baking powder, etc.). If it turns out well, I'll pass it along. If not, then the search for a good cornbread recipe continues.... Tim loves cornbread so I must find one that is healthy and tasty!

I did make a fabulous beer can chicken on the weekend. I said it was the last beer can chicken of the season (I froze my keester off while bbqing it!). However, it was so tender, falling off the bones good that I see myself freezing my way through a few more in the fall. I used a Belgium beer, some lemons and no salt added herb and garlic seasoning and no salt added grilled chicken seasoning (I think both were Ms. Dash). The skin was to die for! And the meat was so tender and juicy! It was raves all around. I'm finding that lemon brightens the flavors of chicken the same way salt does. I'm not sure that the lemon usage will work the same way with beef, lamb or pork but we'll have to see. You certainly couldn't miss the salt on the chicken. The middle meat of the bird needed salt but tim's son eats a lot of processed and pre-made food so his salt intake level is fairly high (he likes the stuff with no lemon or added flavors). I just ask that you taste first before you salt. We had steamed New Brunswick grown broccoli and cauliflower with it. Wow, the local fresh ingredients are amazing! I highly recommend buying whatever is fresh and local when you can. What a difference!

So stay tuned as I review my recipe collection. I will remake some of my oldies but goodies. Hopefully there will be something yummy and nutritious and easy for you to try at home!

A great little Salsa, and other easy snacks

First a quick report on the buffalo burgers. They were awesome. We had friends over and one of them had developed a dislike for buffalo because they always found it dry. These burgers were really moist and I had overcooked them a smidge (there was wine involved). The other burgers I made earlier in the summer with part extra lean ground beef and chicken were also really moist. I'm convinced it is the fresh bread crumbs! I freeze the ends of bread and then put them through the food processor when I need bread crumbs. This way I never have a box of bread crumbs going stale in my cupboard. Don't have a food processor? Your coffee grinder will work too, even a blender will do. You can even just crumble it with your fingers!

Now on to snacks. You know I like a low fat, low sodium snack. And when your going to be enjoying a cocktail or two, it's good to get some food in your belly. Here is the quickest salsa I know. And I don't even like pineapple but this stuff is delicious!

• 1/2 - 3/4 of a pineapple, I get the already cleaned stuff in the produce section.
• 1 red pepper
• 4 green onions (scallions)
• a bunch of cilantro (can you really have too much?!)
• 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar
• pinch of brown sugar
• squirt of lime juice (about 2 tbsp or 1 fresh squeezed)
• 1 tsp chipotle powder or 1 chipotle pepper from a can

Chop the pineapple and red pepper into small pieces, about 1/4 inch chunks. Chop up the cilantro. Add in the rest, mix and let sit for a couple of hours before serving. Yum!

Now how about some other quick snacks. We all know how much I like to stuff things. Sometimes this is too time consuming for a crowd. But I had some "red hots" peppers so I made a filling with light herb and garlic cream cheese and grated cheddar. With a hot pepper, it is important to not only get all the seeds out but to also get out the white pithe.
















Like I said, this can be time consuming. But since there was only 4 of us, I did 8 red hots, some tomatoes and some mushrooms. Now the mushrooms can be a quick stuffer. Just wash, gently rock the stem back and forth to remove them. Then you can spoon in stuffing mix of any sort. Or if you want a really quick and tasty snack, add blue cheese. Broil, bake or grill those puppies up and you have a great snack!

Buffalo!

I'm attempting buffalo burgers for the first time. I've eaten them before, just never made them. I love the rich taste so I'm keeping it simple. I have 2 1/2 lbs of ground buffalo so I added 3 eggs, 2+ cups of fresh bread crumbs made from multi-grain and flax seed breads (but you can use any type of bread), 2 tbsp of minced garlic, 3 tbsp of Worshestershire sauce, 1 cup of finely chopped red onion and about a tbsp of my homemade no-salt added steak seasoning. I made the patties large, between 5 to 6 1/2 oz. each. Usually I make my burger patties only 1/4 lb (or 4 oz). But buffalo is lower in calories and fat than beef! Plus tomorrow will be relaxing on the deck all day, drinking the last of the summer cocktails. It's suppose to be 25 (that's 77 for you non-metric types) and sunny! So we'll want a good size burger to prevent us from getting too tipsy...

I'm going to top the burgers with a good aged cheddar cheese and my homemade BBQ sauce on a whole wheat bun. I'm drooling just thinking about it. I'll let you know how they turn out and snap a pic or two!

The art of freezing

Let's talk about freezing. No, I'm not implying that it has gotten that cold here... I'm talking about filling your freezer with ready made meals. This is a huge help for busy people. What can you freeze? Just about anything. Except potatoes. They go mealy. Uck!! You can, however, freeze mashed potatoes.

Look, it's not that complicated. When you do have the time and energy to cook, make double. Freeze the difference! Pasta will continue to absorb the water in a soup so you may want to freezer a bag of cooked pasta separate from a soup and then add them together before serving. I'm personally not that fussy, I can handle thick soup. But for my clients, I freeze them separately. Barley too will do this. For stew, instead of adding chunks of potato, I make mashed and serve the stew over it. Then I can freeze then separately.

Now you may only think of the obvious things to freeze like soups, stews, chili, casseroles but think about separate courses too. I freeze meatloaf, sauted veggies, taco filling, quesadillas, calzones (yes, we made our own), pasta sauce and even stir-fries. I keep a list outside the freezer so I know what's inside and I cross things off as I take them out. This is not that time consuming, trust me. But the little extra effort goes a looooong way! Doing extra veggie side dishes is great because then you can just bake or grill a piece of fish, chicken or a steak to go with it and dinner is done.

Cooked meals shouldn't be kept in your freezer for longer than 6 months. And for goodness sake, LABEL things. Masking tape works perfectly. And then you aren't taking off lids wondering what in the heck is in the container! I label with content and date. And there is still more evidence that we shouldn't be microwaving in those leftover margarine type containers. Use real tupperware or rubbermaid if you heat in the container. I just store it in those leftover margarine containers and then take it out and put it in a microwave safe container. It only takes a minute under hot running water to loosen up the contents so they pop right out of the freezer container! No problem!

Odds and Ends

I haven't posted much lately because I haven't thought the meals I've been making at home were recipes I could share. I have a tendency to shake the cupboards and fridge and whatever falls out (or is getting old) I make into a meal. Now I realize not everyone can do this. It's a talent for sure, but on the other hand, I can't bake. All that following of instructions makes me crazy!

So what did I pull together the last couple of nights? Well one night we had a Tex-Mex inspired soup with a leftover steak, some roasted corn on the cob (removed from the cob of course), a can of no-salt added kidney beans, red pepper, red onion, a can of no-salt added tomatoes and some chili powder, chipotle powder, garlic and cayenne pepper for seasoning. I served it with a sprinkle of cheddar on top and a dollop of sour cream. Tim preferred his without the sour cream. It turned out great. I'm having some leftovers for lunch today and I can't wait.

Last night I once again stuffed a zucchini. The mutant size ones are still available. This time I did a greek inspired filling with couscous, spinach, red onion, red pepper, garlic, my homemade greek seasoning (dried oregano, garlic, mint) and feta. I also have a jar of marinated mixed italian vegetables that consists of artichokes, sundried tomatoes, roasted peppers, eggplant and portabello mushrooms. I threw in about 3/4 cup of that mixture too. It was yummy too!

Tomorrow I'm making salmon cakes so stay tuned for that recipe. It will be one worth sharing!

To keep you entertained, here is a pic from our drive to the cottage this weekend. It was the balloon festival in Sussex this weekend so Friday as we were driving through we got to see the balloons up and running!

The finished product - Risotto

Here is the end result.

Let's talk Risotto

I love risotto. How can you not?! The creamy texture, the bite of the rice bits. Add some parmesan and it's heaven in a bowl. But a lot of people are intimidated by risotto. All that stirring and continual adding of liquid. How do you know what to do?! It's not that hard although you may mess up the first batch but don't dispare. Once you get the knack, you'll be whipping up this quick and delicious dinner on a regular basis.

First saute some Onion and a little garlic in Olive Oil over medium heat. We don't want any brown bits on the onions.
Add the arborio rice and let it saute for a minute. Then add some broth. Have broth ready. The boxed broth is very convenient and you can get the low sodium broth. Just have the box ready. Add about 1/2 cup at a time. Simmer over medium low heat, stirring regularily but not constantly.

Once the liquid absorbs into the rice, when you stir the rice out of the way and there is no water at the bottom of the pan, add more broth. You want to add the broth before the pan gets too dry. This is the part you have to get the hang of. But once you do, it's easy. Don't get discouraged if you don't get the first batch right. Once it comes to you that's it, you'll be making risotto for life!

Now you can just have risotto but I like to add veggies. This becomes a fantastic veggie dish. You can add meat. I like chicken. Have the veggies ready to go before you start cooking. The meat should be sauted first before adding to the risotto just so you don't have to worry about it being undercooked.

I added zucchini, asparagus and red pepper to my last risotto. I add it before the rice is done but is about halfway there. I wanted the veggies to remain their vibrant colours. If you are new to risotto, you may want to steam or saute your veggies seperately just to ensure you don't overcook them. Once you get comfortable with cooking arborio rice, you will find it easy to add veggies to allow them to cook with the rice without overcooking them.

We had a large "steak" in the matter!

Last night we had steak. Something we both really appreciate. This was from a box of frozen steaks. The price was good... the steak was not. It was a decent thickness and reasonably marbled, enough to be juicy but not enough to be too fatty. I sprinkled it with some of the salt free steak seasoning that I had made and cooked it to just past rare. Now you will often hear chefs say that you must salt and pepper steaks well. But why? If the meat is of a good quality, shouldn't it have a great taste without salt to bring it alive? Tim figures that the steaks we had last night were exactly the reason that sauces like A1 were invented. He may be on to something... From now on I will only spend our hard earned red meat money at a proper butcher. And I think we will also run a comparison on organic steaks to see what the taste difference is. Can I really get away without covering it in salt? Stay tuned!