Cornbread

Last night we had hot dogs and grapes for dinner.
Hot dogs.
Grapes.
On a plate. 

I didn't think you'd want to see pictures of that.  Tonight - not as eclectic I suppose but I put a little more effort into it.

My mom makes a fabulous cornbread quite often with a recipe from Companys Coming.  She wrote it down for me and I made it for the first time tonight to go with some chili:

Cornbread
1 1/4cup flour
3/4cup cornmeal
2tbsp sugar
1tbsp baking powder
1tsp salt
1/4cup margerine
7/8cup milk (200mL)
Addition: My mom usually adds dried jalapeno flakes for a little spice and I added some foccacia spice mix from Epicure to mine. 

Measure all ingredients into bowl. Beat with spoon (or shiny red kitchenaid mixer) until blended. Turn into greased 8" round layer pan. Bake at 400F for about 20-25 minutes. Freezes well. Cut into 8 or 12 wedges.

MY REVIEW: This was pretty easy to put together! Turned out a little flatter than my moms but I'll work on it. I put half in the freezer to see just how well it freezes too. Great flavor though and it came out of the pan in lovely little perfect triangles.

JASON'S REVIEW: It was very tasty.

Tandoori Chicken, Cashew Green Beans & Stuffing

Tonight was chicken night so I made some very simple Tandoori Chicken using my Epicure spice.

 

On the jar, it suggests mixing some spice with plain yogurt so that's just what I did. I cooked it in the oven for about 1 hour at 350 and it was done to perfection.

To go with this, I made some Cashew Beans from my Jean Pare Rookie Cook Book:

 

I'm getting kind of lazy with the posting of recipes - it's so much easier to take a picture of the book! The only thing I did "different" was using red onions - it doesn't really specify but I assume it meant yellow or white.  Also, I mixed the cashews in at the same time as the beans so they were slightly toasted.

To round out the whole meal, I found this Stove Top Long Grain & Wild Rice package in the pantry:

I say "found" because I truly don't remember purchasing it. Regardless, they're fairly healthy and it took 4 minutes to make. It was a success.

On another note, look at these dishes I found at Safeway:

They were clearing them out for $1.99! If you're interested, they have lots at the north side location (118th ave & 82 street) and none at the Bonnie Doon location. As for all other locations, you're on your own. My picture isn't the greatest but it's a really beautiful blue and the birds are nice and bright - very cute in person.  

Chicken... Smash?

I don't know what to call this and I don't know where it came from. I do remember when I first made this though. It was right inbetween Christmas and New Years Eve last year because I remember being in Canmore, talking about this meal, and wishing we brought the leftovers. It was found on the internet somewhere but I just have it written out on a piece of paper. If I could give credit to the wonderful creator of this recipe, I would! It's a great way to use leftover chicken, or even cooked chicken in the freezer, which is what I did tonight. Here's the recipe:

2 chicken breasts cubes (I used some frozen chicken pieces in the freezer, approx. 2 cups?)
4 cups cooked rice
1/3cup white wine (plus a glass to drink)
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
black pepper
garlic salt (i used powder)
poultry seasoning (epicure!)

*see notes for variations

Brown chicken in large pan. Add in cooked rice and "fry" together. Season with black pepper, garlic salt and poultry seasoning. Add in wine, letting it cook off. Add soup and heat through. *Add in varations if desired and heat through. Serve warm.

*The creator of this recipe saud they used shredded cheese and mushrooms at this point but really any variety of vegetables would work. I chose to use some frozen brocoli, carrot and cauliflower mix I had plus a few bits of cheese.

JASON'S REVIEW: Jason is currently riding his bike but I know he will eat this and enjoy this. I will post again if for SOME REASON he doesn't.

MY REVIEW: This was very filling and tasty. It doesn't look pretty but it delivers in taste. Lots and lots of leftovers for lunch tomorrow too, which I love.

Black Bean Quesadilla

After a horrible visit to the dentist, which will be followed by 2 more increasingly horrible (and painful) visits, I was in no mood for cooking. I had a big fancy recipe I wanted to try tonight but I think I will save that for tomorrow. Instead, I mixed some diced tomatoes with my epicure salsa spice....

... then mixed some black beans in with that. I spooned the mixture onto a whole wheat tortilla, sprinkled with low fat cheddar, folded and then put in the oven at 400F. I left them in for about 5 minutes per side. We didn't have any sour cream, so we used some Jalapeno Cheddar vegetable dip (also from Epicure) instead.

And then we had popcorn for dessert!

JASON'S REVIEW: They were spicy and really hit the spot.

MY REVIEW: I will have to agree with Jason. Not much else to say about this weak dinner! Epicure saved the day.

Lemon Chiffon Pie

I tried to capture the disgusted look on Honey's face when she smells something citrus-y. You can't quite see the horror in this picture. Anyways, this is a pie I made tonight that can't be made without another epicure spice - lemon chiffon. It turned out very good and tart. Here's the recipe:

1 pre-made pie crust (mine was 8")
1 package light cream cheese
1cup fat free plain yogurt
2tbsp honey
3tbsp lemon chiffon spice
1/4tsp vanilla

Basically mix everything up, pour it into the pie crust and freeze it for at least 2 hours before serving. Delicious!

Tandoori Chicken OR Tofu with Saffron Orzo

For my dinner, I marinated some cut up tofu in yogurt, garlic and tandoori spices last night. I added that to a stirfry with broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini and chickpeas. To go with this - some orzo with saffron in it. Delicious!
For Jason's dinner, I marinated some chicken breast in the same marinade last night and cooked it up for him. It was happily devoured.

MY REVIEW: Delicious - I love my tandoori spice. Didn't even miss the chicken. My tofu was delicious.

JASON'S REVIEW: He really liked it - wants more tandoori spice next time!