28 - My fave foods & recipes

This was probably the easiest/fastest list to write.

 1.  Fresh pineapple
 2.  Lemon or Coconut Gelato
 3.  Fresh crab legs
 4.  Homemade Perogies
 5.  Ice Cream Cake
 6.  Steak & Goat Cheese Salad
 7.  My grandma's spaghetti sauce
 8.  Cheesecake.  Enough said.
 9.  Chicken Pot Pie
10. Waffles
11. Eggs Benedict
12. Lemon Anything - Here's my Lemon Pinterest Board
13. If cake is made from a box, it's gotta be rainbow sprinkles
14. Grilled cheese with tomato soup
15. Summertime fresh strawberries
16. Portobello mushroom Pizzas
17. Sushi
18. Homemade Caramel Popcorn
19. Fettuccine Alfredo with Shrimp
20. Artichoke dip
21. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

22. Red Curry with Pineapple & Chicken
23. Fajitas
24. French Onion Soup
25. Pancakes
26. French Macarons
27. Coconut Macaroons
28. Cereal - seriously, we really love it around here.

Can you tell I have a bit of a sweet tooth?  I'm almost surprised it's not a list of only desserts ;)

2 Dinners & 1 Breakfast & 2 Desserts

From time to time I make a dish and want to blog it but don't. 
These are recipes that I made and loved, but didn't get around to making a full blog post, whether it be because I forgot, didn't take enough pictures or just wanted to eat because I was hungry.   ;)
Paella.  This is the first time I've ever made it and it was delicious! I kept it less expensive by just using shrimp and some spicy turkey sausage, leaving out the rest of the usual chicken and seafood.

Red Lentil Chili.  I saw Mario Batali make this recipe on The Chew.  I added mushrooms instead of corn and preferred this to meat chili.  (not a big fan of ground meat here)


Amazing breakfast - strawberry stuffed pancakes. Basically just pancakes stacked with strawberries and a filling of marscapone cheese and whipped cream.

Easiest dessert to make ever.   Kiwi Strawberry Yogurt Pie
One container of Cool Whip, 2 individual servings of flavoured yogurt.  Mix together, pour into a graham pie crust, top with fruit, chill until set and serve.  It's light and can even be good for diabetic diets.

Coconut Banana Bread.  Adding one little thing can make a traditional recipe kick ass.

Cheat death with vegetables. Thoughts on food.

For the past couple of months food has been on my mind a lot.
Maybe it's because I'm now the one in our house that does all the cooking, meal planning and grocery shopping.  Maybe it's because I've seen a lot of news stories about food and health lately. 
Maybe it's because I'm trying to eat better.  
Bottom line: I don't mind that food is a focal point.

This week I watched Jamie Oliver's Ted talk and it really drove the point home. 
What we eat is crucially important.

"We, the adults of the last four generations, have blessed our children with the destiny of a shorter lifespan than their own parents. Your child will live a life ten years younger than you because of the landscape of food that we've built around them.  Two-thirds of this room, today, in America, are statistically overweight or obese." Jamie Oliver

I know I still have a long way to go before kicking my bad habits.  And I'm not going to do anything drastic like going Level 5 Vegan, eating only things that don't cast a shadow.   ;)

I'm trying to start eating like my great grandparents did.
My grandma's generation was thrilled by the post-war conveniences of canned food and Jello.  
My mom's generation was in the workforce and Kraft dinner, hot dogs and pizza were favourite childhood meals of mine. 
I don't have kids yet, but someday I will.   
I want to feed them more vegetables than not, more fresh fruit than sugary treats, as few long words on food labels as possible.  I want to teach them to cook at least 10 meals that are affordable, healthy and delicious before they move out.   Yes that's a long way off, but I've had my eating habits for 29 years, and I need to change them for the better first. 

Have you been thinking about food lately?

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

When I first saw this recipe online I thought "That could be good."
Then I made these for dinner and was amazed at how delicious it was.   Mind-blowingly tasty.
And from start to finish this dinner is on the table in 20 minutes. Bonus.

Adapted from CJ at Myp90xNutritionplan.

1.  Preheat oven to 400F.  Clean your mushrooms and remove the stems. 
*These mushrooms are like sponges so try to use as little water as you can in cleaning them, or let them dry before you make the recipe

 2.  Bake the mushrooms upside down on a baking sheet for 7 minutes. 

3.  Use 1 cup of pizza sauce for about 10 large mushrooms. 
*I make my own, using plain tomato sauce mixed with minced garlic, some oregano and fresh basil.

4.  Top your mushrooms/pizzas however you'd like.  I used pepperoni, spinach, cheddar and Gouda this time.
*We usually love toppings like fresh tomatoes, but the pizzas can get too wet - use sun-dried ones instead to avoid a sloppy meal.  

5.  Once you've rocked the toppings, put them back in the oven under broil for 3-4 minutes, until the cheese is melted and they're golden perfect.

6.  Serve with a fresh salad and chow down!

Notes:
CJ's original recipe was also for mini mushroom pizzas as an appetizer.  Party cuteness!
As a dinner, make 2-3 large mushrooms per person.  I eat 2 and am full, but Steve and his friend were here and both ate 3 each.
This could easily be made vegetarian by swapping out the toppings to your preference.
I always use parchment paper on my baking sheets to make clean up easier.  You may have noticed I'm not so precise in my cheese distribution.





This has definitely become one of my favourite meals lately, especially since trying to have our plates be filled 2/3 with vegetables.   This one is 9/10ths ;)
Let me know if you try it!

Trying to eat healthier

A few weeks ago, Steve and I changed up our dinner schedule. 
It used to be that we would alternate who cooked dinner, but it was kind of all over the place.  So now, I am cooking all dinners and Steve's doing all the dishes.   Fine by me, I hate dishes.

At the same time, I decided I wanted to change some things. 
It's not that we ate terribly before at all - but I want to try to eat better.
The goals:
To waste less food.   Now that I'm doing all the cooking, I can meal plan and know what's coming up that will use the same ingredients.  I don't want to think about the amount of $ spent on foods that expired before we used them.

To eat less processed foods.  I am trying to make as much as possible from scratch.  I will still use up what foods I do have in the freezer and pantry, but after that, no more frozen premade meatballs, box mixes, etc. 

To eat more vegetables.  So far we've been successful with having half the plate full of veggies. 

To make meals more efficient.  At the beginning it will be more work, but I want to create a stockpile of extra homemade food in the freezer.  Making double the recipe at first and then stashing it - for after a long day in the future.

To eat more variety.  We were sort of in a rut with about ten meals.  I'll be happy if I don't see pasta with tomato sauce for a very long time ;)

So far, the plan is going well.  It doesn't take all that long to make things from scratch.  I even made bread for the first time!  (A delicious foccacia that I served with homemade minestrone soup.)
And after work I still have the energy and motivation to cook because I know ahead what I'll be cooking.

This week my plan received extra motivation when I read this article about heart disease.  

Now only if I didn't have such a sweet tooth!  That will be worked on, but after this first step becomes routine. 

Would anyone be interested in seeing a meal plan or recipes that I liked?
Are you trying to make changes to your eating habits as well? Any tips and tricks?

Pinned it. Made it. Ate it.

One of my favourite things to pin on Pinterest is recipes.  I love the endless supply of tasty food photos and easy ideas to be found there.  The key is to try them.  And lately I've been on a roll.  

Just snapshots of what was made - I have a hard time staging a photo when I'm hungry. 

Lasagna Cupcakes from The Girl Who Ate Everything

These were great! We had friends over and the general consensus was that regular lasagna would never be made again.  The best part is that everyone gets crunchy corner bits. 
The only snag I ran into was trying to make them in my silicone muffin pans at first.  They didn't work at all.  The pans weren't stable enough to hold anything and the lasagna didn't crisp.   Those pans have since been replaced with metal ones. 

Coconut Pancakes from Ktan Tumbler

These were good, but I don't know that I'd make them again.   After reading the nutritional info on the coconut ingredients, I don't think the extra saturated fat, etc.  is worth the coconut taste.  They're not nearly as good as blueberry or apple cinnamon pancakes, in my opinion.  If you love coconut they're good, as treat, but not for every Sunday morning. 

Mini Apple Cheddar Handpies  inspired by Dinner with Julie's Pie Party

The above link doesn't really have a recipe, but go to check out the pie party anyway.  Amazing.
So for the mini pies I made pie crust and added about 1.5 cups of finely grated aged white cheddar.  For the filling, I chopped a few apples really small and tossed them in cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar and a little maple syrup.  I cut the pie crust into little circles, filled the inside, topped with another circle and pinched the edges together with a fork.  DELICIOUS deserves to be in caps.  

I've made them a second time and used puff pastry to make a quick turnover crust/put the cheese in with the apples.  Tasty and much quicker.

Monkey Bread

My grandma used to make this when I was a kid, and I forgot all about it.  I don't know why or how that could have been.  I made it from scratch, using this recipe, which took a lot of time.   Next time I think I'll try it with the premade biscuit dough, just to see if there's a big difference in taste.  I served this at our Superbowl party and it was a huge hit. 

I also made this Carmelized Onion Tart for Superbowl, but it smelled so good that it was eaten right away and no photographic evidence exists. 

Have you cooked anything from your Pinterest boards?  I'd love to know what was successful!

There are loads more I want to try.

The Perfect Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie

I am so excited to have found the absolute perfect chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe!
Steve's birthday was last week and instead of a cake he wanted chocolate chip cookies.  But chewy ones.
I searched the internet for recipes, and came across the few I had already tried.   I had never tried Martha's recipe and decided to do it, but make a few adjustments. 

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies by Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

For one, I don't use an electric mixer.   I might as well burn a few calories stirring, if I'm about to eat a bunch of cookie dough to taste if it's ok.   Also, I hate washing all the extra pieces.   A fork works fine for crushing the butter into the sugar.

Second, add the chocolate chips to the gooey stuff before the flour.   If you overmix flour things get tougher.   If you add the chocolate chips last, you would have stirred the flour twice as much as needed.

Third, I think Martha (or one of her hundreds of employees) missed a step here.   Chill the dough.   It's gotten warm and gooey and sticky while you mixed it, and would melt too fast when placed on the baking pan and into the oven.    Chill it for 15 mins even, and the cookies will be thicker and chewier in the end. 

By the time I had the chance to take pictures of the cookies there were only 3 left!

Do you have any perfected recipes for classic foods? I'd love to know. 
Happy baking!

Featured in Ruche's Handmade Holiday

I just found out that my perogy recipe was chosen to be part of Ruche's Handmade Holiday magazine!

The issue looks absolutely beautiful, full of all kinds of crafts, recipes and decorations for the holidays.

My favourite page may or may not be #73 ;)

Lemon cookies are the best thing in the world.

I love lemon.  Lemon cookies are the best thing in the world.  

Oh yes, best enough to mention that twice.

I found this recipe a few months ago on the Whisk Kid blog, and made these on a rainy afternoon. 

Over on her blog she made them thinner and crispier, but I like nothing more than chewy cookies.  

So I made them thicker, and they were lovely. 

Especially when served with tea, fresh roses and a good book. 

Lemon Cookies

1/2 c (118 g) unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 c (149 g)sugar
1 egg, room temp
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice (I just used the juice of half a lemon)
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon zest (I used the zest from the whole lemon)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 c (156 g) flour

Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
Cream together the butter and sugar, then add the egg, juice, zest and vanilla. Sift in the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Drop by 1 1/2 tsps onto lined baking sheets and bake 10-12 min until lightly golden around edges. Let cool on sheets one minute before placing on racks to cool completely.   Makes about 2 dozen.

Lemon Icing
1 c (150 g) icing sugar
4-6 Tbsp lemon juice

Beat together and drizzle over cooled cookies. 

 Enjoy the deliciousness!

What's your favourite cookie?

How to Make Perogies

I hope I don't get in trouble from my family for sharing this recipe ;)
This is a staple crucial item at holiday dinners.  I just made them for our (Canadian) Thanksgiving, and decided to document the process. 

The dough recipe is really simple. 

4 cups of flour

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon salt

about 1 cup of water

1/2 cup softened butter or margarine

For the filling you can get creative.  The classic is mashed potatoes with a few cups of shredded cheese (to taste) mixed in while the potatoes are hot.  I've also had potato and cottage cheese, jalapeno ones, ricotta and spinach and I haven't tried, but I know blueberry dessert ones exist. 

Back to the classic.  While your cheesey mashed potatoes are cooling, mix your dough.  If the dough is too dry, add more water.  Too wet? Add some flour.
Knead the dough about a hundred times to get the softest dough you've ever seen. 

Roll out the dough onto some parchment paper.  

Don't roll too thin, you don't want holes in the dough, but too thick will make tough perogies.  If you have a round cookie cutter, congrats.  If not, use a drinking glass to cut the dough into circles.  

Plunk a spoonful of the cheesey potatoes onto the dough circles.  

Fold the dough circle around the filling and pinch the edge closed.  

Don't let the potato get in the way of the pinch, it won't stick properly. 

Repeat until you've run out of dough! This made 5 dozen perogies for me. 

(I used about 8 large potatoes and a half brick of old cheddar for the filling.)

Be careful to never stack the little pouches of deliciousness - they are very sticky. 

You're almost done! Fry some onions in butter.  Cook the perogies by boiling in water for 3-4 minutes, or until they float to the top.  Toss in melted onions and butter and serve!

If you'd like to freeze them you can.  Before cooking, place perogies in single layer on parchment paper on a cookie sheet in the freezer.  When frozen, toss into a container and store.  

Leftovers can be microwaved or fried in a pan to be extra unhealthy/crispy on the outside :)

Serve with sour cream, plain yogurt, or even salsa - sooo tasty!

Enjoy! And let me know if you make them!
Does your family have any must-have recipes?

Catch All Catch Up

This week was busy,  editing wedding photos of K+A.

Here's another sneak, I'll do a full post of the wedding after they've seen all the pictures :)

 On Wednesday night my lovely friend Esther came over for dinner and we made Strawberry Rhubarb pies in mini mason jars.  They were as delicious as they were cute, and baking the pies in the jars was no problem.  Snap on the lid and take them on a picnic.

Friday was Canada Day, which meant hanging out with friends on the balcony of their penthouse apartment.
(We live in the same building, but have a less impressive view from floor 6.)
I'm sure the fireworks above Lake Ontario were more fabulous closer up, but we could see about 20 firing locations all around the city.  It was sweet.

Speaking of sweet - I got a little festive with the fruit platter in honour of Pride Week here in Toronto.  I'm heading to the parade in a couple hours and will post my photo of the week later.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

waffle iron cookies. oh yeah.

waffle3508wm, originally uploaded by melaniegodecki.

i made these yesterday and they were great.
i got the original recipe from fine cooking,
but if i made them again i would change a few things.
-less or no chocolate chips - they would burn on the waffle iron and made a bit of a mess
-adding peanut butter - mmm hmm
-making them with sugar cookie dough, perhaps
-eating them with a scoop of ice cream!
no matter what, a side serving of milk is definitely necessary.

~hard to resist~

i made cupcakes the other day, and couldn't resist doing a little photoshoot. 

may as well share :)

 the best part is they were as tasty as they look!

i'm back :)

wow - it feels like it's been ages since i've posted.  it's been a busy couple of weeks, with lots of travels and visiting with my family. 

and we've been sucked into the world of LOST.  steve started last week, then filled me in and now we are already 1/2 through season 3.  lol.  i didn't ever have any real interest in the series but

being on holiday + trying to save money + being burnt out from family travels + rainy weather...

it's a perfect storm.  

do you watch it? i feel sorry for those who are left with cliffhangers over the summers! at least starting to watch it now means we'll never have to deal with that. 

i am still sorting through all of the photos from my family visit, but in the meantime, here are some shots of the lovely valentine surprise steve gave me.  i hope you had a nice day with your valentine!

the lemon ones are my favourite.  

mmmmmmmmm.

mmmmm....blueberry pancakes

i woke up this morning and went to the market.  wild blueberries. mmm hmm.

this calls for pancakes.

i also picked up the flowers...

hope you're having a wonderful weekend :)