Nanaimo Bars

I read about these bars on another food blog, and since they are a traditional Canadian treat, we thought we'd celebrate our obsession with the Vancouver Olympics by eating these for our Family Home Evening treat last night. The story is that a lady in the city of Nanaimo submitted the recipe for her no-bake bars to a city cookbook contest and won. No wonder, they are seriously awesome! The bars were eventually named after the city (which is on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada).

Nanaimo Bars

Bottom Layer:

½ cup unsalted butter

¼ cup sugar

5 tbsp. cocoa

1 egg, beaten

1 ¼ cups graham wafer crumbs

½ c. finely chopped almonds

1 cup coconut
Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer:

½ cup unsalted butter

2 Tbsp. and 2 Tsp. cream (I used milk successfully)

2 Tbsp. vanilla custard powder (or vanilla pudding mix)

2 cups powdered sugar
Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer:

4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter
Melt chocolate and butter over low heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

Glazed Italian Meatloaf

My mom taught me how to make meatloaf, and I have changed some things over the years to suit my tastes, but the glaze is still all hers. It is SO good! I serve it with either baked or mashed potatoes and green beans.

Glazed Italian Meatloaf

2 lbs. ground turkey (or beef if you prefer)

1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes

1 large egg

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp parsley

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 c. Italian breadcrumbs, oats or almond meal

Mix all ingredients together. Pat into a large loaf pan. Bake in a pre-heated 400 degree oven for about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes (depending on your oven). Mix glaze ingredients in a bowl: 1/2 c. ketchup and 1/3 c. brown sugar. Pour grease out of pan, pour glaze over meatloaf and bake an additional 15-20 minutes. Slice and enjoy!

Menu-Plan Monday: Week 1

For about the past 5 years I have been making a menu plan every Sunday night. I then do all my grocery shopping on Monday and have everything I need for the week. Of course there are times I forget something, run out of milk, or have to get stuff for an unexpected event, but for the most part I get it all done once a week. This has helped me save a lot of time, money, and stress wondering what to make for dinner. I sit down Sunday night, check the grocery store ads to see if anyone is having great sales on things I buy, and then make my list. I have a list I made up that I print with sections for groceries: dairy, meat, other grocery (canned goods, baking products, etc), produce, deli, bakery, frozen foods, and non-food items. I keep one on my fridge so I can write items down as I run out throughout the week. Then on Sunday I figure out my menu, adding items that I need for each meal (I write the menu on the back of my list). This helps me get through the store faster, and also helps if I need to change something at the store because they are out of one of my ingredients. I always list my side dishes on my menu, and add any lunch or breakfast items I need to the list as well. If you want to give it a try and would like my list, shoot me an e-mail and I'll send it to you. I thought I'd start posting my menu plan each Monday, so if you get bored with the same old things like me you can get some ideas. Here is this week's menu (I'll add links to the recipes I post later):

Monday: Glazed Italian meatloaf, baked potatoes, and green beans
Tuesday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup and crackers
Wednesday: Denver omelettes and fruit salad
Thursday: Southwestern Crock-pot Chicken
Friday: Pizza/movie night (BBQ Chicken pizza and salad)
Saturday: Roasted Veggie & Black Bean Burritos
Sunday: Cafe Rio pork salad w/ cilantro-lime dressing

Cinnamon-Raisin French Toast & Maple Syrup

I added 2 tb. cinnamon-sugar and 1/2 c. raisins to my extra bread dough from making pizza crust, baked it up, and made this yummy french toast the next morning for breakfast. Of course you could also use store-bought cinnamon raisin bread. It was great!

Cinnamon-Raisin French Toast

1 loaf cinnamon-raisin bread

8 eggs

1/2 c. milk

2 tb. sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. vanilla

butter

powdered sugar, for dusting

Beat eggs, milk, sugar, cinnamon and vanilla. Heat griddle and brush with butter. Dip each slice of bread in egg mixture and cook until lightly browned on both sides. Dust with powdered sugar and serve with warm maple syrup.

Want to make your own syrup? Here's a quick, easy, and delicious recipe:

Maple Syrup

4 c. white sugar

1/2 c. brown sugar

2 c. water

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp maple extract

Mix sugars and water in small saucepan. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat, add vanilla and maple extracts. Cool. Store in refrigerator to prevent sugar crystals from forming.

Gourmet Veggie Pizza

Gourmet Veggie Pizza
1 15-inch pizza crust (I make my own using my whole-wheat bread recipe- one recipe makes about 3 crusts)
3/4 c. ranch dressing
2 tb. fresh minced garlic
2 c. (8 oz.) mozzerella cheese, grated
1 c. baby spinach leaves

4-5 large mushrooms, sliced
1 large tomato, chopped (I didn't use this time since they aren't in season)
1/2 onion, chopped

1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained
2 tb. parmesan cheese
1 tsp. basil, oregano, or Italian seasoning

Roll out crust and place on pizza stone or greased baking tray. Mix dressing and garlic, spread on crust. Place spinch leaves over sauce, then cover with cheese. Evenly spread on mushrooms, tomato, onion, and artichokes. Mix parmesan and herb of choice together, sprinkle over top of pizza. Bake in a pre-heated 425 oven for 12-15 inutes, until crust is browned and cheese is bubbly.

Chicken & Dumplings

Easy. Fast. Warm. Delicious. Enough said.

Chicken & Dumplings

3 frozen chicken breasts

2 tb. chicken bouillon granules (or 6 cubes)

8 c. water

1/2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. dried parsley

2 c. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tb. baking powder
1/2 c. cold butter
1/2 c. milk

Place chicken in 6 quart saucepan with water and bouillon granules or cubes. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20-25 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink inside. While chicken is cooking, make dumpling dough: mix flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in butter until it resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in milk. Roll out on floured surface to about 1/4" thick. Cut with cookie cutters, using all dough. Remove chicken from broth to cool. Season broth with pepper and parsley, bring back to boil. Gently place dumplings in broth, submerging each one. Cover and cook about 10 minutes. Chop chicken and add back to broth, warm and serve.

Rustic Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Did you know the peel is the healthiest part of the potato? It is for this reason, and not laziness, that I rarely peel potatoes. No, really! If I am making a large batch of mashed potatoes I do peel them halfway (because that many peels get a little overwhelming). Try it!

Rustic Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes, scrubbed and diced

Butter

Milk or cream

Garlic salt

Black pepper

Parsley flakes

Place diced potatoes in a large pan with enough water to cover. Bring to boil and reduce heat. Simmer potatoes about 15-20 minutes, until fork-tender. Drain water out. Add butter (about a tablespoon per 2 large potatoes) and milk and mash with a potato masher, adding milk to reach desired consistency. Season to taste with garlic salt, pepper and parsley.