Happy Birthday

Today is Monday but it's also my birthday!  This Monday has been quite enjoyable!   The boys at work had some lovely color delivered to my desk and tonight I'm going to mom and dad's for spaghetti dinner then we're all headed to the movie. 

Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole

There's nothing nicer to warm up to this time of the year than this hot, quick and easy home made meal.  My Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole will surely become be a favorite as soon as you try it!

I like this recipe because it uses ingredients I always have in the house.  Anything I can make without having to hit the grocery store first is good for me.

1 1/2 c. uncooked Wild Rice - this Lunberg CountryWild rice is delicious!  It smells amazing when cooking and has great colors that will make any dish you're cooking look even tastier.

1 Yellow Onion, chopped
3 Celery stalks, diced
1 Tbsp Butter
1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1/3 c Sour Cream or cream cheese, whichever you have on hand
1/2 c Chicken Broth + more to cook your rice
3 Chicken Breast, cut into small, bite sized pieces
Parmesan Cheese to sprinkle on top.
Salt & Pepper
Thyme or Rosemary, whichever you prefer


Cook the rice according to the package but replace the water with chicken broth, it will give your casserole a richer flavor.
With about 15 minutes of cooking time left on your rice you can begin cooking the chicken and the other ingredients.
I use 2 frying pans and get everything done at once.  Chicken cooking in one pan and the rest cooking in the other pan.

Sauté the onions and celery in the pan with the butter until soft, about 12 minutes.

In your second frying pan cook the chicken with a little splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil. ( if you only have one pan to use, cook the chicken first)

Add the chicken to the celery mixture.  Mix in the soup, sour cream, chicken broth, salt and pepper, and seasoning.  Stir together well.

Once it's all combined, add to your casserole dish.  This lovely orange le creuset dish is our yard sale find from a few years back!  It gets used a lot in the winter.

Preheat the oven to 400

Before it goes in the oven sprinkle the dish with Parmesan cheese.  These cheese petals from Costco are a treat if you can find them.

You can never have too much cheese.





30 minutes later...

Quick, easy, delicious.
Enjoy!

Scrumptious Sausage Rolls

It's Christmas time!  Time to make my world famous sausage rolls (world = my household) 

I could make these any time of the year but the build up to getting these only at Christmastime adds to the incredible deliciousness of them.

These are so easy to make and the recipe doubles and triples very well.

Start by preheating the oven to 425 and line your baking sheets with parchment paper. 
Beat an egg until frothy and add it to the bowl your pork is in.  To the bowl also add your breadcrumbs, onion powder, garlic powder, dry mustard powder and fresh parsley.

 Mix with your hands until thoroughly combined. 

Roll out your puff pastry until it's around 12" x 14".  I just roll it until it looks like I can get three rows of pastry out of it.  

 Place your sausage filling down the center of the pastry.

Brush one side of the pastry with a bit of water to seal the edges and roll the pastry over to make a tube, pressing the edges together to seal well. 

Cut each strip into 1" pieces.

Brush with an egg wash (1 egg beaten well with 1 Tbsp water) and poke two vent holes in the top.  Sprinkle the top with sea salt.
Bake 15 - 20 minutes or until they are golden brown.

This was 20 minutes in (ignore the dirty oven :o) I left them in for a few minutes longer to get nice and golden brown.

They're best served warm.  I put mine in the fridge in a well sealed container and before serving I'll put them in a preheated oven for 5 minutes.  

I've made two double batches already and I have 4 more pounds of pork thawing in my fridge right now to make more!  

This year boyfriend got a local pig and the taste of sausage rolls make from pork that is only 2 weeks old is INCREDIBLE! Buy local whenever you can.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Scrumptious Sausage Rolls

1 egg
1 lb ground pork
1/4 c bread crumbs
1 tsp each of garlic powder, onion powder and dry mustard powder
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped into small pieces
1 box Tenderflake Puff Pastry
1 more egg for the egg wash + 1 Tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 425 and line your baking sheets with parchment paper.  

In a large bowl add the pork, bread crumbs, garlic powder, onion powder, dry mustard powder and parsley.  Mix well.  

Roll out the puff pastry until its approximately 12" x 14", enough to cut three strips.  Place your sausage mix down the middle of the puff pastry sheet.  Brush one edge of the pastry with a little water to seal the edges.  Roll the pastry over to make a tube and press well to seal the edges.

Cut into 1" pieces and poke two vent holes in the top with a toothpick.  Place on your baking sheets and brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sea salt granules (not ground salt)

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes until they are nicely golden brown.

Comment below and let me know how yours turn out :)  

Rainy Day Inspiration

Looking at some of my photos from Spring and Summer are helping to inspire warm, happy thoughts on this chilly, wet, rainy Tuesday.

I took this one at our viewpoint looking out over Vancouver Island.

I Knew I Was A Procrastinator But...WOW!

It's funny how I make plan to do something (stay up to date on my blog) and before I know it I see over a year has gone by!  Wow!  I'm quite impressed with myself, this is almost the the longest I've put something off, lol.

I am loving being able to walk into almost every room of the house and not be shocked with the amount of unpacked boxes and clutter around.  If you have organizing to do take it one box, closet, drawer or bag at a time.  The slower you go with it the easier it will go.  Don't try to do it all at once, you'll get overwhelmed and it won't get done.  One little bit at a time is how I made it through.

You can do it!

Clean Eating! Thai Curry Meatballs

I love trying new recipes and this one was so tasty I need to share it.  It's also egg and wheat free so it's good for our clean eating plan!

You can make these meatballs ahead and freeze them for up to 3 months in a well sealed container.  This was my first time trying this recipe so I didn't modify it much but next time I'm going to make smaller meatballs and serve them with some rice noodles rather than the brown rice I served them with this time.

Meatballs:

2 lbs ground turkey (I used a mix of bison with a little turkey to make 2 lbs)
1 c zucchini, shredded and liquid squeezed out
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1/4 c green onions, finely chopped
2 Tbsp basil, chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp red curry paste
2 Tbsp coconut milk
1/8 tsp hot pepper chilli flakes

Combine all the ingredient and mix with your hands thoroughly.  (make sure the meat is completely thawed or your hands will get VERY cold, lesson learned, lol) 

Make 28 meatballs, lay them on a cookie sheet and set them aside while you mix the sauce.

Sauce:

1 1/2 c coconut milk
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp red curry paste
1 tsp fish sauce
1/8 tsp hot pepper chilli flakes
5 - 6 kaffir lime leave (optional)

In a small bowl, whisk all the ingredients together and set aside.

Preheat a large skillet on medium-high.

Cook meatballs until browned on all side, don't worry about cooking them all the way through.  They finish cooking in the sauce.

Add the sauce, reduce heat and simmer uncovered.

Cook for about 20 minutes.  Your kitchen will smell AMAZING by this point and your family will come asking when dinner is ready.  Tell them the longer they wait the better they'll taste.

I had decided too late to make rice to serve with the meatballs so mine sat simmering for about 30 minutes while I cooked up some brown rice.

1 meatball with 2 tsp of sauce = 50 calories 1.3 g fat.

I loved learning that you can substitute the egg that is usually in meatballs to hold them together with grated zucchini.  I'm going to try that with meatloaf and hamburgers from now on.

Happy cooking!

Maple Springs Ranch 2013

I've decided after the sad crops from last year I need to work on my soil content.  I have 3 of the beds sitting as lasagna gardens since the fall and I will continue to add to those.  I need to do a bit more research into the good things to add to my soil so my vegetable will grow and yield a lot more than the measly handfuls I received last year.

But all my flowers are making an appearance to make me smile

The kiss of the sun for pardon,
The song of the birds for mirth,
One is nearer God's heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth
                                                Dorothy Frances Gurney

My favorite in the garden right now is this peony

A few years ago I discovered figs and how amazing they taste!  I also discovered how expensive they are from the local Farmers Market :o  I decided to plant a fig tree last year but research told me I would be waiting a few years to enjoy any of the delicious, juicy, fantastic fruit.  Look what I found on my little 2' tall tree this afternoon

yes...that is a tiny fig starting to grow!!  

Gardening is so rewarding sometimes :)