I'm back! With a pressure cooker!

Whoa! I haven't blogged since 2013! 

I'm back! I want to blog more easy recipes for our family! Hopefully you will want to try these recipes too! 

With a new baby around it's pretty hard to stand in front of the stove cooking! So we bought a pressure cooker at christmas, and I must say we are really loving it!

Here's one of our favorites!!

A total of 10mins for chicken, veggies and rice! 

We've used brown rice at times or white rice, any rice you prefer! You can really dress this recipe any way you like! 

What you need: 

1cup of rice 

Frozen veggies 

1 3/4 cup of chicken broth

Cilantro

1 onion

1 garlic 

Oil (I use coconut oil) 

1-2 chicken breast cubed and seasoned with whatever u like! 

I have the power pressure cooker XL and love it! 

I first turn it on to sauté and add coconut oil with garlic and diced onion

Then I add the chicken and sauté both sides for a couple minutes. 

Add rice 

Veggies 

Broth 

Close the lid and press risotto for 6mins

And in 6 mins! 

A delicious chicken rice! 

I served over salad with sides of beans and avocado! 

Next on the blog 

Bbq ribs in 30mins!! 

Cupcake cones!

I saw this idea on Pinterest but I attempted it without looking up a recipe! 

I didn't think they were going to turn out so well, but I saved them and they were perfect for little K's birthday party! 

What's needed:

Foil pans (I used small ones but you can use 1 big one) 

Cake mix

Flat bottom ice cream cones

Icing 

Sprinkles 

Follow instructions on cake mix. Mixing and bake time for cupcakes.

Pour batter into cones. Be sure to leave room for expansion. Ha! I didn't and they over flowed! But I saved them so don't worry! 

Place in oven and bake.

Once done, allow to cool.

If they overflowed, you can cut off the cake on the side of the cone. The icing will cover the damage ;) 

Lots of icing all over the top and side of come and add the sprinkles. 

Tada!!! Easy!! 

Vanilla Chia Seed Pudding!

I love sprinkling chia seeds in my juice or over salads and in sandwiches, so I looked for a recipe that maybe baby k would enjoy too. A chia seed pudding!

1 cup milk
2tbsp honey (remember no honey for the kiddos under 1year old)
1tsp  vanilla extract
1/4 cup chia seeds

Stir all the ingredients together and place in the fridge for about 4 hours. Stir it up once at about 2 hours in. 

Little k ate a little bit this morning. It's different ha! Tastes good but the texture takes a little getting use to ;) 

Just a few benefits of Chia Seeds...
Excellent source of fibre.
Rich in omega-3 fatty acids
Rich in antioxidants
The list goes on, just look it up!
 

 

Black bean soup with pork ribs!

This soup is one of my husbands favorite soups! I don't know why we took so long to attempt the soup but it was a success on our first try! It's delicious! 

Let me warn you. My recipe was given to us by my mother inlaw over the phone and without any measurements ha! As we perfect the soup I may come back and change things up. You can go ahead and change it too, add or add less of whatever you want. 

Ingredients: 

Dry black beans (soak overnight) 

Pork ribs cut into 2-3 inch chunks

 ( we used back)

1 small Onion chopped

1 Garlic clove chopped

1 Green pepper chopped 

hand full of Cilantro chopped 

Black pepper

Salt 

(You can had hot pepper too, and next time I may add more onion and garlic)  

Boil and simmer black beans in a pot of water about an hour (no exact measurements, we used half a bag of the beans and filled our large pot a little more than half way) I will take better measurements for next time. 

In a separate pot, boil the ribs for 20mins. (Do this once the black beans seem almost ready, soft) 

Add the ribs and garlic and boil for 15 mins. Then add the rest... onion, cilantro, pepper and salt to black bean soup.

Bring down heat and allow it to cook for another 15 mins. Add more or less of ingredients to perfect your taste. We added more cilantro. 

Serve with rice and Romano cheese! 

It's so yummy!

Sorry for the not so great recipe but I'm sure if you try it and even change a bit up it will still turn out amazing! ;)

1/2 The sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp salted butter, softened
2 tsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. table salt
1 egg white
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix together butter, oil and sugar,  add the salt, vanilla and egg white. Mix well to combine. In another bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda  Add chocolate chips to the batter.

Drop cookie dough onto non stick baking sheets (I put parchment paper as a liner)

Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes depending on the size, Mine took about 8 minutes. Cool on a wire rack! 

Delicious!!!!!

Healthy snacks for my toddler

My little guy loves his fruits and veggies, actually so much so that it's what he will only eat all day if he had the choice.

My little guy rarely drinks milk or eats yogurt so a fruit like Avocado which he loves is a great source of vitamins and fat for him. I usually cut it up into small squares and serve as a appetizer.

Weekly I peel, slice and bake sweet potatoes or squash drizzled with olive oil for healthy fries.

I also have sweet peppers sliced for a quick snack to pull out. Blueberries and apple are also on his favorites list. Especially blueberries.

A daily meal for my toddler looks something like this:

Breakfast:
Water, 1 cereal bar, 1/2 a banana and 1/2 toast with butter

Snack: Blueberries

Lunch: Water, Avocado, Scrambled eggs, toast

Snack: Apple

Dinner: Water, Sweet potato fries, chicken strips, peas

Snack: Chex cereal with milk

Slowcooker chicken thighs and salsa

One of my new favorite dishes is slowcooked chicken thighs with chunky salsa!

Easy!

All you need is a slow cooker,
chicken thighs (I used boneless) 8 pieces. You can fit more.
1 large jar of chunky salsa. Enough to smother those thighs. I sometimes add a cup of frozen peas and corn.

Add all ingredients in the slowcooker and set the timer. Low 5 hours or high 2 hours. Depending on your slow cooker.

We had enough for 2 nights of dinner. One night we ate it with hard tacos and melted cheese. Tonight we had it with rice and beans. Or just have it alone minus any carbs!

Yum!

Chocolate chip cookies

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2-1/4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 pkg Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Heat oven to 375°F.

Beat butter, eggs, both sugars and vanilla in large bowl until fluffy. Stir in the flour as you blend and baking soda. Blend well. Add chocolate chips; mix well. (My husband loves coconut so I added shredded coconut to some too)

Spoon onto ungreased baking sheet or on parchment paper.

Bake 10 to 12 min until lightly browned. Cool on wire racks.

I made them too big, oops. Next time I will spoon them smaller and not as close together on the baking sheet ;)

Toddler Quesadilla, Chicken and Veggie Meatballs and Spaghetti Squash

I have been looking for and trying out new recipes for my 15 month old :) So I decided to start using my recipe blog once again and blog the recipes I try out!

Today we tried Quesadilla's for lunch and chicken meatballs for dinner!

Quesadilla

2 Flour tortillas
Shredded cheese
chopped veggies (I used peas, tomato)
Chicken

Tortilla on the top Tortilla on the bottom and heat up in a pan only for a minute or so, or longer for more crispy.

Baby K loved it!


Chicken Meatballs. (From a book I have called Sprout Right)
A little different than the book since I used some different ingredients.
1 1/12 of ground chicken
2 1/2 cups of veggies diced ( I used zucchini and yellow pepper)
1 cup of bread crumbs
1 egg
1 onion diced
1 garlic minced
pinch of salt and pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Roll into balls (I made mine pretty big ha!)   Place on a parchment lined baking tray and cook at 350F for 20-30 minutes depending the size and make sure internal temp is 165F to be ready.



Spaghetti Squash! I just started making this and LOVE IT !

1 Spaghetti Squash
Cut in half
scoop out seeds
drizzle with olive oil and a little salt
Put it on a baking sheet scooped sides up and at 375F for 40-50mins
When you take it out of the oven, use your fork to scrape the strands out.



Top with meatballs and sauce! or whatever you like! :)

Yummy!

Oven baked red curry chicken

The other night I had chicken breasts in the refrigerator but not a clue of how I wanted to make them. So I went through my cupboards and decided on this new recipe for myself.

Ingredients;
Red curry paste
Mrs dash seasoning
Salt
Coconut oil
1/2 can of Tomato sauce
Chicken breasts

Now I didn't measure at all, sorry about that ;) just go by your taste.

Spread coconut oil on the bottom of the oven dish then spread red curry paste, salt and mrs dash seasoning all over the chicken and place in oven dish.

Cover with foil and Bake at 375 F for 30-35 mins or until cooked (depending on thickness)
Uncover and pour tomato sauce for the last 5mins re-cover. Use more or less of sauce depending how you like it.

Serve over rice. I used jasmine rice and it was delicious!!

Easy slowcooker chicken soup!

What I love about the slowcooker chicken soup recipe is that you can add whatever you like to it depending on what you have in your refrigerator.

Yesterday I made the soup with the following.

4 cups water
4 cups chicken broth
Teaspoon of salt
Dash of pepper
Chicken breasts ( I used boneless cutlets (6) but you can use bone in too)
Baby carrots or 2 chopped carrots
2 celery sticks chopped
5 round potatoes cut in half
1 small onion
Handful of cilantro
Handful of parsley


Put all in the slowcooker and cook low 6 hours or high 4 hours

Once done take out the chicken and cut it up to small bite size pieces. Then add it back.

I also added small soup noodles (about 5oz) so add these once soup is done. And set timer for an extra 1/2 hour on high to cook the noodles.

And you will have a delicious chicken soup!! Yum!

BBQ Salmon and corn

*Season Salmon with olive oil, fresh lime juice, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper.
* Place salmon flesh side down on BBQ on High heat. Close the lid and let cook for about 8 minutes.
* Turn salmon over on skin side and let cook another 5 minutes (lid closed)
* When salmon is cooked to your desire, use a spatula to go in between the flesh and skin to separate it... And Serve. :)

Corn on the BBQ

*melt butter and season with salt and garlic powder.
*brush seasoning on corn
*Place corn right on BBQ and cook for 10-15 rotating them a couple times. Keep lid closed most the time while they cook.

Easy Foil Baked Asparagus

PreHeat Oven 400F
First, snap the lower part of the stem off
Lay asparagus on a sheet of foil.
Drizzle with Olive oil and Season with Salt and Pepper or your favorite seasoning salt

Fold up the foil, folding edges upwards.
Bake for 30 mins

Delicious!

Baked Garlic Zucchini

What you need:

Zucchini

Olive Oil

Garlic

Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°C.

Rinse and dry Zucchini first. Then Slice them up, your choice which way. I usually do length wise but some times I do cubes as well. Place them in the baking dish - skin side down.

In a separate bowl, add two tablespoons of Olive oil (more or less depending on how many zucchini you have) Chop up 1 clove of garlic in the olive oil and press down the garlic with a fork to get the flavor into the oil.

Brush oil mixture on Zucchinis and sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

I cover the dish with foil and place it in the oven for about 30 mins.

Quick and easy and delicious!

Homemade Pancakes

Make them any size you like!

1 1/2 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon of Cinnamon

Mix the dry ingredients together. Add milk and eggs, oil and vanilla. Mix

Scoop mixture onto heated grill, or skillet on medium heat.

Serve with fresh fruit and maple syrup!

Oven Baked Pork Chops and Veggies

For Tonight's Dinner I made Oven Baked Pork chops with Beans, Zucchini and Potatoes!

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins at 400 degrees

Drizzle pan with olive oil.
Place 6 pork chops and season them with Mrs Dash no salt garlic seasoning and a drizzle of Diana's steak spice marinade (optional)

I chopped up onions and added kidney beans.

Cover with foil and cook for 35 mins at 400 degrees.

I also chopped up zucchini and some small round potatoes. Seasoned with mrs dash no salt garlic seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil. Toss them and cover with foil and cook for the same time as the pork chops. (add any seasoning you like!)

Yum!

Mom's Banana Cake

At the beginning of the week I bought a lot of bananas to bring to work as snacks but everyday I brought one, it ended up coming back home with me. Yesterday I noticed that I had many ripe bananas and would feel terrible if I had to throw them away. So I called my mom and asked her for her banana cake recipe ;) and mmm it turned out great!

Here is the recipe, it is so easy. (not fat free tho lol so beware of hidden cals in this delicious cake!)

4 bananas (3 mashed up and 1 banana sliced)
1 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1/3 milk
3/4 oil (I used canola)
1tsp vanilla extract

2 bowls.

In one bowl mix flour/baking powder/baking soda

In bowl 2 blend mashed banana's/eggs/oil, and sugar.

Stir in flour mixture to wet mixture and add milk and vanilla, blend.

You can make 1 large cake or 2 smaller ones (sorry I am not sure of the sizes but 1 of the pans I used was 8x8 square and the other was a small rectangular one)

Pour mixture into pans and add the slices of banana pushing them into the mixture (optional; mom doesn't do this, this was my added touch ;)

cook 45 mins at 350F

Quick and Easy Chicken Breast and Veggies

I wrote about my small meal on my Main Blog today.

I'm all about fast meals, I like to cook but dread standing around in the kitchen.

Yesterday I made Chicken with Veggies and a side of rice.

Chicken:
In a casserole dish I put a little bit of olive oil to coat the bottom.
Sprinkled the oil with garlic salt.
Add the chicken.
Season Chicken with garlic salt and a drizzle of soy sauce.
Cover with foil and cook for 35-40 min on 375C depending on the thickness of the meat.

Veggies:
In a separate casserole dish- chop up veggies!
I used colored peppers and zucchini.
Sprinkled olive oil and garlic salt. Tossed
Covered with foil and baked for 30 mins (a little less if you want them more crunchy)

This took me 10 mins to prepare and in the oven in went while I checked my emails! :)

Next week when I start work I will be using my Slow cooker more often. Coming home to the main dish cooked is heaven for me! :)

Shrimp and Green Peppers

Don't have much time... But have frozen shrimp?

I always buy frozen precooked shrimp and have them in the freezer, they always come in handy when I need to make a quick and easy dinner.

• Saute chopped Onions and Green peppers (add as many veggies as you want!)
  
• Then add thawed shrimp last
• season with garlic salt and soy sauce
• simmer for about 5 mins and DONE!

I ate them with no carbs only a little 50 cal samosa that I buy frozen as well and pop in the oven for 15mins just the same amount of time for me to prepare my meal and be ready exactly at serving time. Husband had a toasted Tortilla with his meal. Either way, this meal was quick and easy just the way I like it! (Also a perfect dish to serve over rice, yum!)

Thai Coconut Shrimp Dinner! 20 mins is all you need!

20 mins is all you need!

What you need:
* a little oil for the wok
*Chopped Onions
*Chopped garlic
* Chopped Cilantro
*Red curry paste
*1 can of coconut milk
*Frozen Veggies (or fresh)
*Frozen cooked Shrimp (thawed)


*Saute onions, garlic and cilantro in a little bit of oil
*add half of the coconut milk and red curry paste, bring to boil
* add frozen veggies as much as you like (I use 2 cups)
*add remaining coconut milk, as well 1/2 cup of water
*Bring to a boil
*Add cooked thawed shrimp last, simmer for 5mins
* add any other seasonings you like, salt,garlic salt.

Serve with rice :)

Slow Cooker Chicken and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries!

Easy dinner, no sweat!!

Most grocery stores sell pre-seasoned whole chickens, perfect for slow cooker meals!

All you need to do is take it out of the packaging and drop it in the slow cooker!

Cook Low for 8 hours or High for 4 hours.



Add any side dish you like. I used peas and Caesar salad yesterday.

Peas: In a pan add a little olive oil and onions, add peas - cook for a couple minutes until onions are soft or however you like them :)

YUM

Dessert was quick and easy tooo!
I bought semi-sweet choc chips and poured about 1/2 cup into a bowl.
Heated them in the microwave for 2 minutes.
Stir the chocolate and dip the strawberries in the bowl.
Once all dipped place on plate and in the fridge to harden.
They harden quick so you can make them before you sit to eat dinner and they will be ready for dessert!