Turkey & Egg Breakfast Cups

I was looking through our blog posts this past weekend and realized I am long overdue for a recipe post. I really enjoy blogging but for the past year life has just been a little hectic. I have even contemplated forgetting about the blog for good. But then I have a day when I get a chance to sit, sip on a coffee and scroll through our posts and I really enjoy reading and reminiscing about all the memories each photo brings back. Then I realize I am not ready to give it up. If I only get a chance to blog once a month, at least that's something to look back on.

 

Ever since the Lil Man became a picky eater I have found it really difficult to get inspired to try new recipes. Which really sucks because I really enjoyed it ... and still enjoy it.  I miss the days Hubby and I would make something together in the kitchen for dinner while sipping away on a glass of wine. 

With Easter coming up this weekend I thought this would be a good recipe to share. I have been experimenting with these turkey cups for well over a year and I think I finally found a way we really enjoy them.

 

 

 

I've made these a couple different ways.  The first time I made them with bacon, but we found they are really greasy and unhealthy.  As a treat every so often they are ok with bacon,  but I would not want to have the bacon version all the time.

 

We like them best when we made them with sliced turkey.

 

 

 

If you want to give these a try, here's our version.
 

Turkey Cups

 Makes 6 cups

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

 

Grease six muffin cups.
Line each cup with 1 slice of turkey meat.

Add some grated cheese (about 1 tbsp.) to each cup.

Dice approximately 1/4 pepper into small pieces and divide equally among each cup.
Add real bacon bits to each cup (not a lot just a few pieces).

 

In a bowl

Add1/3 cup milk to 4 eggs,  add salt and pepper to taste and beat mixture.

Chop 1 green onion & set aside a bit for the top at the end. Add the rest to the egg mixture and stir well.

Divide & pour the egg mixture into each cup equally.

Add some chopped chives on top (that you previously set aside).
 

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until eggs are no longer runny.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

January 2014 Update & Chicken & Brocolli Casserol

Well here we are at the end of January and this is my second post this year. Boy was I wrong when I thought things would slow down this month. Its been the exact opposite and It's made me realize that I don't know how much blogging time I will have over the next couple months. I am aiming to have a post every other week but we will see how that goes.

Not sure what the winter weather has been like where you live, in our small town this January has had some really frosty winter cold days.

We have not had a winter like this for a couple years now. The first week back from the Christmas Holidays schools were closed one day because it was so cold. I think that was the second time this has happened in the last 8 years.

We have also received a fair amount of snow.

 

 

The snow was almost higher than the cars but luckily we had a bit of a January thaw and the snow banks went down a bit. But it has been really cold again for the past two weeks. The wind just keeps howling and blowing the snow all around as I sit here typing this post. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the Groundhog predicts a short winter this year... we shall see.

We have been staying warm drinking lots of these and will continue to do so until it warms up ...

Different Teas (Apple Pie Tea)

 

Hot Chocolate (this was a special one Hubby made with 

Real Whip Cream we had in the fridge)

There has been some big changes going on at our place over the past couple weeks. Over the Christmas holidays we changed the Lil Man over to his new big boy day bed. It hasn't been the greatest transition as he can now get in and out of bed as he pleases and that is just what he does. He has decided his new bed time is a lot later (some nights 10 p.m.) and he is waking up early. This has resulted in less time for mom to work on things such as blog posts (as I use to do this when he went to bed or before he woke up).

The Lil Man has started preschool a couple days a week and lets just say ...

... it has been a difficult time and a really big adjustment for all of us.

 

It's been a while since I have shared a recipe on here and I thought it was time. Before I share the recipe I just wanted to share a little background on why I tried this particular recipe.

 

One of the most  frustrating  things currently as a parent for myself is dinner time. Our Lil Man has become so picky with meal time. One day he just loves spaghetti and can not seem to get enough of it and then when I make it the following week, he refuses to eat it or even try it. Some days I just feel like pulling my hair out. The other week I thought I would try a new recipe that I thought the Lil Man would like since it had pasta and broccoli two things he seemed to like.

It was a Chicken Broccoli Bacon casserole. I must admit hubby and myself ARE NOT casserole fans but we figured if the Lil Man eats it we can deal with it. Well ... the Lil Man would not even try it {inset an extremely disappointed face}. To be quite honest I have lost all motivation to try any new recipes lately. Heck I am even starting to dread making dinner.

Here's the casserole recipe if you feel like giving it a try - Chicken Broccoli casserole. I added some bacon bits and made it with pasta instead of serving it on a bed of rice. It wasn't bad ... not one of our favourite dishes but we are not casserole dish fans.

That's it for today. Hope everyone had a good January. Happy Friday!

 

 

Sending everyone some happy smiles for the weekend!

 



 

A Canadian Tradition {Butter Tarts}

I finally attempted making butter tarts for the first time from scratch. I may have not picked the best time for baking as it was a relatively hot day in the middle of July. Plus I was kind of mean to the hubby because he was away and was not able to taste them until he returned home the following day from his biking weekend with the guys. I may have tortured him a bit by posting this yummy picture on Facebook when I was done photography these delicious tarts ...

All I have to say is it would not be fair if only he had fun that weekend. I figured I was allowed to have a bit of fun myself. Which for me meant baking something yummy. Don't you think that is only fair?

 

I was really happy with how my first attempt turned out with a couple exceptions. My filling had too many raisins and my tarts turned out a wee bit too small because I did not have a larger circle circumference to cut out my pastry. My pastry however, turned out AMAZING. I always have issues with pastry but NOT this time.

 

You are probably asking yourself why the heck did she want to make butter tarts in the middle of the summer? The desire to make these tarts all resulted from two things - first my father-in-law kept mentioning butter tarts when he came over (I can't remember why they kept coming up in conversation but for some reason for three weeks in a row, butter tarts were always mentioned when my in-laws came over to visit) and thus I had butter tarts on the mind. Then in the June issue of Canadian Living they had a mouth watering photo of Maple Butter Tarts on the cover and the recipe was included in the issue. The picture looked so good and from the second I received it in the mail I wanted to make them. A couple days after I received the issue my mother-in-law  borrowed it to give them a try and shared some with us. I found the Maple Butter Tarts were a wee bit to sweet with the Maple syrup, so I used a different recipe for the filling. The recipe I used however, called for too many raisins and made too much filling so I was not very happy with it. I will have to work on finding something else.
 

 

 

Before I forget I must mention that I had my own personal photographer photographing me as I made these delicious butter tarts.  This is not a common occurrence but it sure did speed things up and she did a fantastic job -- it was my awesome sister (aka Tia)!

 

If you are interested in making the Maple Butter Tarts that were included in the June 2013 issue of the Canadian Living magazine it can be found HERE.

To prepare the pastry, whisk flour with salt in a bowl. Cut in butter and lard until in fine crumbs with a few larger pieces. Drizzle water and sour cream mixture over flour mixture, add more water if necessary to form ragged dough. Press into disc; wrap and refrigerate until chilled (about 30 minutes).

On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry. Using 10 cm round cutter, cut out 12 circles. Fit into 12 muffin cups.

The shells ready for the filling.

Ingredients for the filling.

Whisk together brown sugar, maple syrup, butter, eggs, vinegar and salt. Add raisins to pastry shells. Pour filling into each shell.

Shells filled and ready to go into the oven.

Bake in 350 ⁰C oven until filling is set and pastry is golden, 20 to 25 minutes.  Let cool in pan for 20 minutes. Transfer to rack; let cool.

 

The butter tarts looking oh so yummy. At this point I could not stop snapping photos ...

 

I received a wonderful comment from my Hubby when he finally was able to have one. He informed me that my pastry was perfect -- the thickness, texture and taste!

Do you have a go to butter tart recipe? If so, leave a comment I'd love to hear what it is!

 

 

Wiskey Ribs

I can not believe it is the end of August {insert sad face}. Where did this month honestly go. I can not believe the school year is already starting next week. It sure is true when they say time flies when you are having fun.  An item on my to do list for this summer was to make ribs from scratch. I was starting to think I was not going to get around to crossing this item off my list, but the other week we finally made ribs from scratch. We are usually short on time and just make the store bought ones that you just pop in the oven or throw on the BBQ - they are quick, easy and taste ok. We find ribs are quite time consuming to make from scratch.  I must admit I am glad I gave them a try.

The recipe I decided to try was from the Canadian Living magazine - June 2013 issue - Whiskey Glazed Ribs. Overall these ribs turned out nice. The sauce was a bit to sweet for our personal liking, but they were enjoyable!

 

Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try. Would love to know your thoughts on this recipe.

Whiskey Glazed Ribs

Ingredients

4lb(1.8 kg) pork side ribs

1-1/3 cups (325 mL) sodium-reduced beef broth
1 sweet onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper

 

Whisky Glaze:

2 cups (500 mL) rye whisky or bourbon
1/2 cup (125 mL) maple syrup
1/4 cup (60 mL) packed brown sugar
2 tbsp. (30 mL) sodium-reduced soy sauce
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
1 pinch salt

In a large pot, stir together ribs, broth, onion, garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until meat is tender, about 1 hour; drain.

Meanwhile, in saucepan, stir together whisky, maple syrup, sugar, soy sauce, pepper and salt over medium heat; boil gently, stirring occasionally, until reduced and thickened enough to coat back of spoon, 10 to 12 minutes.

Place ribs on greased grill over medium heat; close lid and grill, turning and brushing with glaze, until coated and sticky, about 5 minutes.

Enjoy!

 

Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

Before I begin I must say that this is one of Byron's ideas. It is however, a completely new recipe at our house that we decided to try -- Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin.

Byron seasoned the pork with oregano, basil, chives, parsley, garlic powder, little salt and pepper  then wrapped the tenderloin with bacon. He put it on the BBQ for about an hour.  The time however depends on the size of your tenderloin. Ours was small so it did not take very long.

We also did some herbed potatoe cubes wrapped in tin foil on the BBQ and grilled some peppers. It was an entire dinner prepared on the BBQ {my favorite}.

The end result was delicious. The pork was very flavourful and super moist the way we like it!!

Everything seems to taste so much better when it has bacon don't you think?

 

BBQ Beef Roast

In the summer time we try to cook on the BBQ as much as possible, especially on really hot days. I hate to say this but the weather is starting to feel like fall around here this week {insert sad face}. It is just to early for it to be felling like fall.  This week Byron was in charge of finding a new recipe for us to try. He decided to try this recipe from allrecipes for roast beef on the BBQ spit.

The roast turned out nice and tasted great. We have decided this is definitely a recipe that we will make again in the future!
 

 

We had this BBQ sauce in the pantry and decided to give it a try in this recipe. This was our first time trying it and it was really good. I will be buying some more during my next grocery store trip.

 

In a large bowl, mix barbeque sauce, teriyaki sauce, beer, garlic, ginger, onion, black pepper, and salt. Place the roast into the marinade, cover and refrigerate for six hours, turning often.

 

 

Our roast before putting it on the BBQ spit.

 

When the roast was ready to be removed from the marinade, we boiled the marinade and cooked it for about 5 minutes. Once done we set it aside and used it as a basting sauce as per recipe directions.

 

The finished product.



 

Here's the recipe if you want to give it a try.

Ingredients
 

1 (5 pound) chuck roast

1 cup barbeque sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray's)

1 cup teriyaki sauce (we used the Diane brand)

1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer

3 teaspoons minced garlic

3 teaspoons thinly sliced fresh ginger root

1 onion, finely chopped

3 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

2 teaspoons salt
 

Directions
 

In a large bowl, mix barbeque sauce, teriyaki sauce, beer, garlic, ginger, onion, black pepper, and salt. Place the roast into the marinade, cover and refrigerate for six hours, turning often.

Preheat an outdoor grill for indirect heat.

Remove the roast from the marinade, and pour the marinade into a saucepan. Bring to a boil, and cook for 5 minutes. Set aside for use as a basting sauce.

Thread the roast onto a rotating barbecue spit above indirect heat. Cook the roast for two hours, or until the internal temperature of the roast is at least 145 degrees F (63 degrees C).

Baste often during the last hour with reserved marinade.

Enjoy!

 

Lime-Cilantro Pork with Salsa

Byron is not a big fan of pork, especially pork chops. I honestly do not mind a pork chop once in a blue moon since it is a change from the usual.  For the last couple years I have been searching for a pork chop recipe that we both enjoy but have been unsuccessful each time  I try a new recipe. I am not giving up yet, I know it's out there, I just have to stumble upon it. In the mean time I just have to keep searching and testing out new recipes. That is what I did this past week.

This week's recipe is another unsuccessful one but I still wanted to post it. Just because we did not enjoy it does not mean our readers will not enjoy it. The recipe is for Lime-Cilantro pork with salsa. I found it in the Spring 2013 Inspired Magazine from  Foodland that came with my flyers a couple months ago.  

I did make a couple revisions (i.e. I used our regular salsa instead of the chipotle one they suggest). Here's the recipe if you feel like giving it a try.

Lime-Cilantro Pork with Salsa
2 limes, 1 zested and juiced, 1 quartered
2 tbsp.  Compliments Canola & Sunflower Oil Blend, divided
2 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. each salt and pepper
4 bone-in pork chops (we used boneless)
1/2 cup Sensations by Compliments Roasted Tomato Chipotle Salsa (we used regular mild tomato salsa)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

First mix the oil and lime juice together and brush it onto the pork chops. Mix the dry ingredients with the lime zest and rub mixture into the pork until the pork chops are coated well. Since the weather was hot out, we grilled the pork chops on the BBQ. Once pork chops are cooked, place on a plate and top with salsa, sprinkle some cilantro and squeeze juice from remaining lime on top.

Our search for a good pork chop recipe shall continue. Hope you are enjoying your week!

A Perfect Soft Boiled Egg

Every now and then I feel like having a soft boiled egg for breakfast.  To be honest I do not eat eggs very often any more but the odd time I feel like having one. They remind me of my childhood for some unknown reason.

 

 

For the longest time whenever I would go to make a soft boiled egg though, more often than not I always ended up with a hard boiled egg instead {insert extremely disappointed face} because I would time it wrong. I kept forgetting the required amount of time it needed because I just don't make them often enough. I finally wrote it down instead of constantly bugging my mom. The other day I was looking for my little slip of paper I wrote it on and of course I misplaced it. I figured it was time I do a post for future reference and thus this post came to exist.

The key to a perfect soft boiled egg is timing ... you take it out too soon, you end up with a super runny egg ... you leave it in too long, you end up with a hard boiled egg. Once you get the timing down, it is extremely easy soft boiling an egg.

To prepare the perfect soft boiled egg you first fill a pan 1/3 of the way up with water and get it boiling. Secondly, carefully place the egg in the boiling water. Thirdly set your timer immediately on for 5 MINUTE once the egg has been placed in the water (THIS IS KEY).

 

 

When the timer is up remove the pan off the heat immediately and move it to the sink. Run cold water over the egg(s) until there is no more hot water in the pan. That is it!!

 

 

Place the egg in an egg cup if you have one and give it a couple taps on the top with a butter knife to crack the top third of the egg and peel it off. If you don't have an egg cup no big deal. Cut off the top section of the egg to reveal the yolk and your egg is ready to be eaten.

 

I like cutting a piece of toast into strips as it makes it easier for dipping into the egg.

Enjoy!

 

 

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Wow I can not believe it's the 1st of August already!! July sure did fly by. It's been a while since I have posted a recipe on here so I thought it was time. Lately, we have been going through a phase of wanting something new and different to try because we are very tired of eating the same old same old. Do you ever have days/ weeks like this? Both Byron and I went on a search for something new to try and Byron came up with a Chicken Salad Sandwich. He use to have them when he was younger but I can honestly say I had never had one before this. We found this new recipe and I thought I would share it with our readers. For the month of August I have set a goal for myself - I am going to try and post a new recipe each week starting with this one.

This recipe was adapted from Taste of Home and can be found here. We made some revisions and have included our version of the recipe at the end of this post.

The other night we grilled some extra chicken breast since we had the BBQ going anyways and then threw it into the fridge once it cooled down to use for this recipe. This made prep for this dinner super quick the next day.

Chop the celery, pepper, chicken, green onions and add the mayo and stir it all together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 

Cover it and put it in the fridge for a couple hours.

 

Just before serving I prepped some lettuce and sliced some tomato for the sandwiches. 

 

 

They were very enjoyable, especially on a really hot day. 

 

If you want to give this recipe a try, here is our version of it with the revisions we made.  If you give it a try we would love to know how it turned out for you.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Spider hot dogs + S'mores + Jiffy Pop = Camp Fire Snacks {Part 3 }

One of the things I like best about camping is sitting around the fire and enjoying all the tasty camping treats. Our top picks are ...

Roasting Marshmallows

And Spider Hot dogs (even the Lil Man enjoyed his first taste of Spider Hot dogs)...
 

 

Roxy was being her usual shelf begging for food ... 

 

...and she ended up with a splatter of ketchup on her ear {silly dog}. Shortly after this photo was taken, Roxy was really tired and insisted on her own chair to sleep on (next camping trip we must remember to pack an extra chair for her).

 

When I was out grabbing all the items for our camping trip I found some mini Rolo chocolates and decided to grab them to make some of these ...

Rolo S'mores. They were really good.

This camping trip I had Jiffy Pop for the first time! It's not bad but I rather stick to having popcorn at home. It was quite pricey for a package of Jiffy Pop (over $3.00), but it was interesting watching how it is prepared over the fire.

 

 

There was one other snack we did not get around to making this past camping trip, hopefully we will be able to make it during our next trip at the end of the month. 

 

Do you have a specially camping treat/ snack you always make on your camping adventures? If so, please share in the comments section!

 

 

Runner Up {Porcupine Meatballs}

We always look forward to the big turkey dinner each year at Thanksgiving and Christmas at my in-laws. Let me tell you my mother in-law always puts on such a tasty and delicious meal. Her turkey is always cooked perfectly and tastes wonderful. In the past we have also had a couple steak dinners that my father in-law was in charge of BBQing and he does an amazing job cooking the perfect steak! As I sit here typing this post my mouth is starting to water just thinking of the delicious food. 

Any who, this blog post is about a completely different kind of dinner that we've had at my in-laws --- Porcupines. I first had Porcupines when my mother in-law served it to us for dinner when Byron and I were dating and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Since she gave me the recipe which was quite a few years ago, we make Porcupines for dinner often, usually with scalloped potatoes (I already have the oven on) and a veggie side. When I make them now however, I do not make them as spicy so Hugo can enjoy them also.

These guys are a bit time consuming to make because you have to shape the meatballs and then they take about an hour to cook, but they are worth the extra time they require.

To make the porcupine meatballs you need a can of condensed tomato soup (we use Campbell's), a small pack of ground beef (we like using lean), French Onion Soup mix, rice, and if you like it a bit spicy you can add some crushed chillies to the sauce.

To make the sauce you just mix the condensed soup with 3/4 of the can of water and stir well. For the meatballs you mix the dry ingredients and then shape them into 1 inch meatballs. Add the meat balls to the sauce and cook in the oven for about an hour. Half way through cooking pull them out and give them a stir.

Here's our scallop potatoes.

When the porcupines are done they should look like these guys ...

 

If you want to give these guys a try here's the recipe. I find some times I do need to turn up the heat and leave them in the oven a bit longer for the rice to fully cook. It depends on your oven.

 

 

Have you made porcupines before?