Summer Salad with Corn Salsa and Spicy Lime Chicken

Lately I am all about the quick and healthy meals.  What I seem to be making most often are fresh salads that are full of variety and then topping them with some sort of marinated grilled meat.  Easy and tasty!

This is a prime example of what has been happening at our house.  Mixed greens topped with some grape tomatoes, avocado, black beans, corn salsa, homemade croutons and then finished off with some grilled spicy lime chicken. Oh man, this was a good one.

Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins

Some of our favourite meals these days are ones that we can throw in the crock pot and forget about until dinner time.  Lilly has amazing timing when it comes to dinner prep or time to eat, that is when she decides to eat as well! I guess she just wants to eat when everyone else does :)

At our house we love anything related to 'buffalo chicken' and these Buffalo Chicken Potato Skins from skinnytaste.com looked way to good to pass up!

Cheesy Pesto Chicken with Roasted Red Peppers

Hi friends! Do you remember me? I promise I didn't forget you!

Time has FLOWN by! I didn't realize that it had been so long since my last post, until my husband looked at me the other day and say "Uh, you know your last post was December 21st, right?" and then kind of walked away.  Haha, oops! If he has noticed, then you know it has been awhile!

Life with a little one has been absolutely amazing! And so interesting: who know you could get so little done in a day and yet feel like it was so busy?  I am loving it though, our little Lillian has made us happier than we could ever imagine.

Ham and Egg Cups

A few months ago my sister sent me a picture of these breakfast cups that she had found online and let me know that we had to make them ASAP.  

How could I disagree? I love breakfast and they looked super easy, win-win!

Chicken and Mushroom Lettuce Wraps

After that 12" monster of a cake, how about something on the savoury side? Just thinking about how much sugar I used for that cake and the buttercream has me craving these tasty lettuce wraps for some much-needed balance.

Cheesy Baked Chicken, Bacon, and Mushroom Pasta

You know how in my last post I mentioned how I may be slightly incredibly busy lately? 


I think it caught up with me.


I have spent the last few days at home. Sure a couple days off of work sound nice, except that I have the worst cold EVER (I may be exaggerating, when I had the good ol' H1N1 it maaayyy have been worse than this. maybe.). Between the stuffed sinuses, runny nose, headaches, aches and pains in places I didn't know could ache and pain, and the inability to sleep at night due to coughing, I am a real treat to be around.


Apparently every once in a while your body forces you to slow down!  So I am going to take this chance and try to catch on my my blog a bit :) Sound good? Then I'll nap, I promise!

Spicy Peanut Noodles with Chicken

Happy New Years Everyone!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas full of love and laughter, and have a wonderful 2012 ahead of you.


Right now the internets are bursting with New Years resolutions, dieting plans, exercise plans, motivational pictures and phrases, etc, etc, etc. It is enough to make one feel a little on the chubby side! 

Baked Taquitos

OK, let's be real.  We can be real with each other right? I mean, we talk about sugar, butter, and share a mutual love of bacon, so that has to make us friends. 

Well, we all know how much I love Mexican food.  But what you may not know is my secret love for those grocery store taquitos that you find in the freezer aisle.  Yes, the ones found in that section of the grocery store where those frozen 'dinners' reside and I tend to avoid like the plague.  And while I may be hanging my head in shame over this confession, now I can't get them out of my head. So. Good. AND, I know you love them too. How can you not? They are a guilty pleasure for sure!

Well, one day I came across these on the Pink Parsley blog and I practically heard angels rejoicing. YOU CAN MAKE THESE AT HOME?!?! I was a little bit excited, just a little.

Oh my, these are good. Make these, please? I don't usually like telling you what to do, but please humour me and make these. I know you'll thank me!

This makes 8 - 12 taquitos, depending on how fat you make them. We have tried using corn tortillas twice, and had epic failures each time so we tend to stick to the 6" flour tortillas.

Baked Taquitos

• 3 oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/3 cup salsa
• Juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
• 1/2 cup shredded extra shard cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded pepperjack cheese 
• 8 - 12 flour tortillas (6")
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooking spray 

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or spray it with cooking spray)
2. In a large bowl, mix together the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, onion powder, garlic, green onions, and a dash of salt
3. Add the shredded chicken and the cheese and mix well
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste
5. Add 2 - 3 tablespoons of the filling to each tortilla and roll them up tight. (If your tortillas start to break, microwave them between damp paper towels for 20 to 30 seconds before filling and rolling)
6. Place the rolled taquitos seam-side down on the prepared baking sheet
7. When all are filled and rolled, lightly spray them with the cooking spray
8. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy
9. Serve with salsa, sour cream, guacamole, or all by itself
10. Enjoy!!!!

Cheesy Chicken and Spinach Lasagna

Here is another winner that was sent to me by my mom!  She found this recipe on cooks.com and said that the family loved it.  With a dish that is made up of chicken, cheese, and pasta, how could one go wrong? Plus, who can argue with the approval of the fam?

Since there are only two of us in our house I decided to half this recipe and make it in a 8" x 8" pan.  I found that having everything ready to go before making the cheese sauce made the whole process very easy.  For the cooked chicken I poached a couple of small chicken breasts, but a rotisserie chicken would be perfect as well!


The recipe fills a 8" x 8" or a 9" x 9" pan, but the original recipe makes enough to fill up a 9" x 13" pan.

Serve this with some warm bread and veggies and you have yourself an awesome weeknight meal! The leftovers are definitely something to look forward to as well :)


Cheesy Chicken and Spinach Lasagna

• 6 oz no-boil lasagna noodles (about 6 noodles)
• 1 cup cooked chicken, shredded
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1 package of chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano

1. In a medium bowl mix together the onion, basil, oregano, pepper, 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, mozzarella and cheese, set aside
2. In a large saucepan melt the butter
3. Add the flour and whisk over medium heat until bubbly
4. Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk and chicken broth
5. Return the sauce pan to the heat and whisk it while bringing it to a boil
6. Let boil for about a minute, and then add the cheese/onion/spice mixture
7. Continue stirring over medium heat until the cheese is melted and the sauce begins to thicken
8. When ready to assemble, preheat the oven to 350 F
9. In a 8" x 8" (or 9" x 9") square pan, add 1/4 of the cheese sauce (a generous 1/2 cup)
10. Cover the cheese sauce with some of the lasagna noodles
11. Add 1/2 cup cottage cheese on top of the noodles, spreading evenly
12. Top the cottage cheese with another generous 1/2 cup of cheese sauce, and then another layer of noodles
13. Cover the noodles with the remaining 1/2 cup cottage cheese, the chopped spinach, the chopped chicken, and another generous 1/2 cup of cheese sauce
14. Add the remaining noodles, cover them with the rest of the cheese sauce, and then top the dish with the remaining 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
15. Bake for about 40 minutes until the top is lightly browned and the edges are bubbly
16. Let sit for about 10 minutes before serving
17. Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Pot Pie with Chive Biscuits

So in spite of my last post, the weather has decided to become cold, dreary, and wet these last few days. Definitely not prime BBQ weather!


But, I'm not complaining.  Everything is becoming so green and the flowers are starting to bloom!  I think it's finally time to plant my garden and flower beds and get some colour popping up around my house.  You have no idea how jealous I am of the people who have started their gardens a few weeks, or even months, ago! We usually wait until after May Long here because every time we plant before the May long weekend we get at least one night of freezing temperatures.  And yet, many of my friends insist on camping during the May long weekend every year! I guess we are a hardy bunch, us Canadians :)

With the momentary return of layers and light scarves, we were in need of some serious comfort food.  This particular recipe had been stuck in my head ever since I had seen it on joythebaker.com, and this weather was calling it's name!


To be perfectly honest with you, this dish is insanely delicious! I halved the recipe because there are only two of us and the leftovers did not last nearly long enough.

I substituted the vegetables for what I had in the refrigerator so I ended up using carrots, asparagus, onion, and red bell peppers. The flavours of these vegetables went perfectly with the rest of this dish! Also, for the milk and cream cheese I had 1% milk and light cream cheese on hand and they ended up working great.  It was thick and creamy and warm and comforting...

And the biscuits? Oh man, the biscuits are wonderful.  Her addition of chives and black pepper to these biscuits is pure genius.


For the chicken I discovered that at my grocery store you can buy half of a rotisserie chicken! How perfect is that?


But enough talk (type?), let's get to this recipe! This makes about 6 biscuits, so about 3 - 4 delicious servings.


Creamy Chicken Pot Pie with Chive Biscuits

• Biscuits
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 3 tbsp chopped chives
• 2 tbsp cold butter
• 2 ounces cold cream cheese (1/4 of a block of cream cheese)
• 6 tbsp cold buttermilk
• Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 ounces cream cheese
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
• dash ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups shredded chicken
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 large carrot, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 6 spears asparagus, diced

1. To make the biscuits whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, sugar, pepper, and chives
2. Cut up the butter and cream cheese into cubes and then work it into the flour mixture with your hands until it resembles coarse crumbs
3. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour in the cold buttermilk. Mix until the batter just comes together and then knead on a flat surface until the dough is about 1" to 1 1/2" thick
4. Cut out biscuits and place them on a plate and stick them in the refrigerator until needed
5. Preheat the oven to 400 F and make sure all of the vegetables are diced and the chicken is shredded
6. Melt the butter over medium heat and then whisk in the flour for about a minute
7. Turn the burner to low and then pour in the chicken broth, whisking until all of the flour is mixed in
8. Add the milk and the cream cheese, turn the burner back up to medium, and whisk until smooth
9. Continue whisking until the mixture is nice and thick
10. Add the shredded chicken, lemon juice, and dash of nutmeg. 
11. Season with salt and pepper
12. Set aside while you cook your vegetables
13. In a small frying pan or skillet heat the olive oil and then add the onions.
14. Saute the onions for a few minutes and then add the garlic powder and the remaining vegetables
15. Cook all of the vegetables for a few more minutes and then dump them in with the creamy chicken mixture
16. Stir and pour into a 9" x 9" pan
17. Place the biscuits on top of the chicken pot pie and place in the oven
18. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until the biscuits are a nice and golden colour
19. Enjoy!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo!

Our May hostess, Denise, of There’s a Newf in My Soup!, challenged The Daring Cooks to make Gumbo! She provided us with all the recipes we’d need, from creole spices, homemade stock, and Louisiana white rice, to Drew’s Chicken & Smoked Sausage Gumbo and Seafood Gumbo from My New Orleans: The Cookbook, by John Besh.

Here it is, my very first Daring Cooks challenge: Gumbo!!

Even though they give us an entire month to cook up the new challenge, I procrastinated.  I procrastinated hard. 

So why did I put it off until the very last free night before ‘posting day’?

It wasn’t because it seemed like a lot of work, I enjoy that part.

It wasn’t because it was a brand new dish, because that is why I joined in the first place.

But it was rather because I was afraid that I just wouldn’t like it.

Weird, right?  I mean, I love veggies, chicken, sausage, and soup, so why wouldn’t I be all over this? I think it was because of a couple factors that struck me right at the beginning.

1. It said to chop up an entire chicken into 10 pieces. I have never attacked the whole chicken before, and the thought of little bone shards in my gumbo terrified me
2. They kept the skin on their chicken in the original recipe. Ugh, I could not come to terms with adding that much… well, that much grease to my dish
3. The chicken was placed in the gumbo with the bones attached to the meat. Bones in my soup? Weird, right? And kinda grody too

But I decided to suck it up. With the amazing reviews this recipe was getting from other participants, I knew I had to get over it and get cookin’!

Instead of attacking an entire chicken and making enough gumbo to feed the whole neighborhood, I decided to halve the recipe and just bought a few chicken legs, thighs, and breasts to throw into the gumbo. I cut all of the skin off of the thighs and legs (I just couldn’t add it with the skin!) and cut the chicken breasts in half to get more uniform pieces.  I then seasoned the chicken with my home-made Creole spice (side note: This stuff is fabulous! I plan on using it to BBQ throughout the summer) and threw any extra chicken in with some seasoning and froze it for later.

I added the legs and thighs as-is (well, skinless, but with the bones) as per the original instructions.  It actually worked out really well! The chicken becomes so tender that it falls right off of the bones!  Whew.

I made this on Monday night, but didn’t whip up any rice until Tuesday night.  As a result, my first bowl was rice-less and I can definitely see the need for rice in the dish.  Don’t get me wrong as it is wonderfully delicious by itself, but the addition of rice makes it a full and fantastic meal!

Would I make this again? Definitely!  It was extremely tasty, and very filling.  It reminded me of a stew or another fall/winter meal though, so I probably won’t try it again until the weather cools off.  We are finally breaking 20 degrees (Celsius) here, so BBQ and fresh salads just seem more appropriate :)

Here is the halved recipe, it made enough for about 6 - 8 full bowls!

Chicken and Sausage Gumbo

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 large onion, diced
• about 2 lbs chicken  (thighs, legs, breast)
• 1 tbsp Basic Creole Spices (recipe below if you want to make it yourself)
• 1 lb smoked sausage, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 orange bell pepper, diced
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• sprinkle of thyme (or 1 sprig), approx 1/4 tsp
• 6 cups chicken stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 3 ounces Mundare sausage, diced
• 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• salt and pepper, to taste
• hot sauce, to taste
• 3 cups of cooked rice (to serve it with)

1. Prepare the Basic Creole Spices (if you want to make it yourself)
2. Season the chicken with about 1 tbsp of the Creole spices and set aside
3. Slice and dice everything before beginning to make the roux. You will have to watch the roux very carefully so it makes the dish much easier to make if everything is ready at the start
4. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.
5. Add the flour, and whisk constantly until the roux is a nice deep brown (this took me about 15 minutes)
6. Add the diced onions, and stir with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes over medium-low. 
7. When the roux is a glossy dark brown, add the chicken and stir
8. Stir the chicken and turn the pieces until they are beginning to brown on all sides
9. Add the smoked sausage and stir for a couple of minutes
10. Add the celery, bell peppers, tomato, and garlic and stir for about 5 minutes
11. Sprinkle in the thyme, pour in the chicken stock, and add the bay leaf
12. Bring the gumbo to a low boil, and then turn down the heat until it simmers
13. Let the gumbo simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you left the skin on the chicken, you will want to skim the fat off every once in a while
14. Add the Mundare sausage and the Worcestershire sauce.
15. Add some salt, pepper, and tobasco to taste
16. Stir, and then let simmer for 45 minutes again while still stirring occasionally. The gumbo will start to thicken up beautifully!
17. Remove the bay leaf before serving, and serve over rice 
18. Enjoy!

Basic Creole Spices

• 2 tbsp celery salt
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp onion powder
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice

1. Whisk all of the spices together in a bowl
2. Store in a airtight container or spice jar
3. This will store well for about 6 months :)

Easy Chicken Stir-fry

This is one of those quick and easy weeknight dinners that you can quickly pull together with whatever extra vegetables you happen to have laying in your veggie drawer.


This recipe makes enough for 2 people, so it can be easily doubled or tripled if need be.  I had looked around online for a quick and easy recipe to use up my veggies, and this is what I ended up throwing together. :)

I served this with brown rice, but it would be delicious over chow mein noodles or steamed rice too!

Easy Chicken Stir-fry

• 1 cooked chicken breast
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 3 - 4 medium white mushrooms
• 1/2 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• fresh ginger (1" x 1" piece)
• 1/4 cup soya sauce
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1/4 cup & 2 tbsp chicken broth (separated)
• 1 tsp corn starch
• 1 tbsp sesame oil (or olive oil)
• 2 tsp rice vinegar (optional)
• 1 - 2 cups cooked rice (optional)

1. Chop up the cooked chicken into bite-size pieces and set aside
2. Dice the onion, roughly chop the bell pepper and mushrooms, and mince the garlic and ginger
3. Mix together the soya sauce and the sugar in a small bowl, set aside
4. Mix together the 1/4 cup of chicken broth with the tsp of corn starch in a second small bowl, and set aside
5. Heat up the sesame oil (or olive oil) in a wok or frying pan over medium-high heat
6. When the oil is hot, throw in the onion and cook for about 2 minutes
7. Add the bell pepper, ginger, and garlic. Saute for another 2 minutes
8. Add the mushrooms, stir, and then add the 2 tbsp of chicken broth and let simmer for a few minutes
9. Add the cooked chicken and stir everything together
10. Give the soya sauce/sugar mixture a good stir, and then add it to the pan and let it simmer again for a few minutes
11. Give the chicken broth/corn starch mixture a stir, and then pour it into the pan. Throw in the rice vinegar at this point if you have some
12. Mix everything together, and let simmer until the mixture starts to thicken
13. Serve over rice, noodles, or by itself
14. Enjoy!