Thursday, March 20, 2014

Soupy Sunday- Roasted Butternut Squash Soup and Spicy Crunchy Chickpea Croutons

Happy Spring! On this first day of Spring, I thought I would give you one last taste of a warm and spicy Winter Soup.

Let's start with the fun part of this soup... have a look at these, the Spicy Crunchy Chickpea Croutons. Brent just loved them!

Here's the recipe:



Gold Rush Butternut Soup with Smoky Chickpea Croutons
(Adapted from http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2014/01/gold-rush-soup-chickpea-croutons

Ingredients:
1 large butternut squash
2 large yellow onions
8 cloves garlic
2 tsp. ghee or coconut oil, plus olive oil for garnish ( I used butter)
1 tsp. both sea salt and cracked black pepper (to taste)
3-4 cups vegetable broth
1 Tbsp. grated fresh turmeric or 2 tsp. ground turmeric powder
2 tsp. each fresh / 1 tsp dried rosemary and thyme (optional)

1 batch Smoky Chickpea Croutons (recipe below)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Peel and cube the butternut squash and place on a baking sheet. Peel and cut onions into quarters, add to baking sheet. Peel whole cloves of garlic and add to baking sheet. Drizzle with melted ghee or coconut oil and toss well to coat. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place in oven and roast for approximately 30 minutes until the squash is tender and the garlic is golden.
3. In a large blender pour 3 cups hot vegetable broth, turmeric (fresh or dried) and add the finely chopped rosemary and thyme. Carefully add the roasted vegetables and blend on high until completely smooth (let blender run for a minute or so). If the soup is too thick, add more broth to thin to desired consistency. Season to taste.
4. Pour soup into bowls and serve with a sprinkling of chickpea croutons and a drizzle of olive oil. If necessary, pour into a large pot to reheat if necessary. Keeps for 3 days in the fridge. Freezes well.

Smoky Chickpea Croutons

Ingredients:
3 cups or 2 cans cooked chickpeas – drained and well-rinsed
3 Tbsp. coconut oil
1 tsp. coarse sea salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. smoked paprika or ground chipotle pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400°F/200°C.
2. Spread chickpeas out on a clean tea towel and rub them dry, discarding any loose skins. Place the chickpeas in a medium bowl and toss with coconut oil, seasoning and spices until coated.
3. Spread the chickpeas on a large rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper and roast, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp. This takes about 25-35 minutes. Please note that the chickpeas will crisp up outside of the oven quite a bit, so if they are still a little soft when you take them out of the oven, that is okay.
4. Remove from the oven. Let cool, and serve at room temperature. Store in an airtight glass container for up to one week.



Let's start at the beginning. First I roasted the veggies.

Then I rinsed and drained the chickpeas.

I didn't read the instructions properly, I thought it said to remove the skins on 'ALL' the chickpeas... that took a lot of time and I had to recruit my darling daughter to help.... but looking back at the recipe, it mentions to remove the 'lose' skins, oh, well, you live and learn!



There are the crunchy beauties, a real nice difference from the ordinary bread or cracker as the usual garnish!
 
Oh, and here is a closeup of the gorgeous golden soup. Nice, eh?



Monday, March 17, 2014

Awesome Support

I just wanted to share with you a picture of what SUPPORT looks like!

That's my awesome husband Brent taking care of our family last week cooking a healthy dinner for us. The great part of this photo is that last week was rather hectic. I going through a great- bit-learning curve in my new job, a 2 day business trip with long hours... oh and don't forget a giant snow storm that I had to shovel my family out of .... so when I came home on Thursday night after another long day... I came home to this gorgeous image...

My darling husband cooking lean turkey sausage and roasting peppers in a grill pan... Well, I just about cried with love and gratitude! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU MY LOVE!

Living healthy has been a challenge for me for the past few months....it's been more about changing careers, making adjustments, traveling, working long hours... don't get me wrong- this is GREAT NEW STUFF... but unfortunately, my helathy lifestyle has taken a back seat.
I am still trying to make smart choices when eating, making 'snow shovelling' my 'gym' and packing my lunch and snacks for work... but my weekends are busy and therefore, no big 'cooking for the week' was happening...

But all this is changing now. I have my sites set on getting back on my ''my healthy horse" I have a Wharton Clinic appointment next weekend, I am going to the gym with Melanie at least 3 times this week and I already have 4 out of 7 meals planned for next week. I still crave that awesome feeling of taking seeing that sexy new body, those loose pants and seeing that sexy new body fit into smaller, and smaller clothes... looking in the mirror and saying, who is that sexy beast ,... is that really me? That is what is fueling my fire...the absolute focus I had in my first year me this journey. I will find it again and kick some ass!
Life is an ever-changing wave of opportunities and challenges, and I know that I must always, always, always know that it is 'ok' to put things I need to put in the forefront... jumping into a new job, living through this brutal winter... and that when it's time to make health my number one focus, I take on the challenge gladly... I have many more milestones to reach and I will NOT give up!
Thanks for the therapy, your support means the world to me!



Thursday, March 13, 2014

Chicken Lollipops, no, really?

Yes, really!!!! If your family is like mine... nuts about chicken.... then is something that is sure to impress the bunch!

I first saw this recipe on favourite little French-Canadian Chef- Ricardo's show. It was part of a whole Asian themed meal... I decided to start small and just go ahead and try this neat Chef trick.

You take some lovely chicken legs and cut the skin/tendons/meat around the bone and then they magically shrink up into little chicken lollipops.

Asian-Style Chicken Lollipops

Ingredients:

16 chicken drumsticks with or without skin

125 millilitres (1/2 cup) ketchup

60 millilitres (1/4 cup) hoisin sauce

60 millilitres (1/4 cup) soy sauce

60 millilitres (1/4 cup) brown sugar

4 cloves garlic, chopped

Sambal oeleck to taste (optional)

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. With the rack in the middle position, preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

2. Using a knife, cut around the bone at the less meaty end of the drumsticks, freeing the meat and tendons. Grasp the bottom of each drumstick with one hand, and with the other push the meat to the top; the meat will remain attached to the bone and form a ball. Clean the exposed bone with a dry cloth, removing any fat and cartilage.

3. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Place the drumsticks on a 38 x 25-cm (15 x 10-inch) baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn the drumsticks and bake until the meat pulls easily from the bone and the cooking juices are syrupy, about 30 minutes.

4. Serve the chicken lollipops with Stir-Fried Vegetables and jasmine rice.

 Here's what Ricardo's looked like after (oops, I forgot to take a picture of mine, we gobbled them up too fast)


Asian-Style Chicken Lollipops

Image courtesy of www.foodnetwork.ca, http://www.foodnetwork.ca/ontv/hosts/ricardo-larriv%C3%A9e/host.html?hostid=41070

Monday, March 10, 2014

Nigella's Scones

Oh my goodness, the power of persuasion really works. Here's the proof!

I was watching one of my favourite TV shows- Nigella's Kitchen and she was making and then devouring these scones... I could taste them through the TV... I was hypnotized and had to make them myself right away.... except, unlike Nigella suggests in her recipe, I did not eat them with clotted cream or treacle... but jam!




So, I got started,  took out my little pastry molds, yes, from Dollarama, chose the perfect little blue one and got started... check it all out below.

 
Buttermilk Scones 
(courtesy of Nigella Lawson, http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/nigella-lawson/buttermilk-scones-recipe.html)

Ingredients

3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons superfine sugar
4 tablespoons (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons soft vegetable shortening (I just used butter)
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg, beaten, for an egg wash (optional)
1 large lipped baking sheet or half sheet pan
1 (2-inch) biscuit cutter, preferably fluted

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a large lipped baking sheet with parchment paper.

Put the flour into a bowl with the baking soda, cream of tartar, and sugar. Chop the butter and the vegetable shortening into pieces and drop them into the flour. Rub the fats into the flour - or just mix any old how - and then pour in the buttermilk, working everything together to form a dough.



Lightly flour your work surface. Pat the dough into a round-edged oblong about 1 3/4 inches thick and cut out 2-inch scones with a biscuit cutter. (Mine are never a uniform height, as I only pat the dough into its shape without worrying whether it's irregular or not.)

Arrange the scones fairly close together on your lined baking sheet,...

...and brush with beaten egg (to give golden tops) or not as you wish.


Bake for 12 minutes, by which time the scones will be dry on the bottom and have a relatively light feel.

Remove them to a wire rack to cool, and serve with clotted cream and your favourite jam.

Do you see the size of those scones, they puffed up so much are absolutely delicious served warm, right out of the oven.

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Cause for Celebration- February Birthdays

This post was prematurely posted this week. So I thought I would send it out again... this time with a few captions!

Let me share with you some great photos... some funny, some capturing the true essence of a party with my sister's family... well her kids... controlled chaos, I call it! 

Here's what we do now... because we are so busy and coordinating 3 families is tough, we group our birthday celebrations a few people at a time. So in February we celebrated my mother and brother-in-laws birthday. I decided to make it on the healthy side... of course!  I made some homemade bruschetta, some veggies and dip, some almonds and trail mix and some of those yummy Pop Chips.

We celebrated Valentine's day at the same time... so that's 3 celebrations for the price of one! Here's little Stephanie and Cooper with their Mommy enjoying some Valentine's presents.... on my stairs, where else????

Party table! We have pretty decorations, pretty flowers, funny looking birthday boy and there you have it! A birthday dinner made for a King and Queen. I served some homemade Chicken Parmesan with a homemade Marinara sauce, some salads (thanks Julie for bringing them!)

So, at my Mother's request, the birthday desert was to be Apple Crisp. So I decided to make everyone an individual ramekin and as you can see by the puzzled Family... yes, that was your birthday cake!!!

Perfect caption.... 'Huh, ma tante Chantal, where are the birthday cupcakes????' And Grand-Maman Madeleine in the background saying... 'Hahaha, I just messed you guys all up with my birthday Apple Crisp idea!'  Whatever the reasons, whatever the seasons, I love you all and I love cooking, baking and pampering you all forever and ever!

Monday, March 3, 2014

Little Pate Chinois Parties

You have probably seen my recipe for Pate Chinois. Our French Canadian version of Shepherd's Pie.
But this week, I decided to share with you a great way to prepare a recipe and have tons of leftovers for the week.

You will need a small bag of mini potatoes. Perfect portion for this recipe. Just boil them up-skin on and all (good nutrients), mash them up with a bit of milk, butter, salt and pepper.

Get yourself some ramekins- 5 or 6 would do. I got mine at my favourite store... Dollarama!

Then brown some ground beef, divide the ground beef into your ramekins, top with a can of cream corn (or 2 if you like it corny), divided into your 6 ramekins. Then place the mashed potatoes on top.
Bake in a 350 oven for about 20 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

You can eat them right away... because I am not sure you will be able to resist the French Canadian suburban smells of my childhood.... or let them cool and wrap them up with some foil, place in a Ziploc bag and freeze them for your next need for a moment of nostalgia.

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Butter Spice Cookies

So here is what was in the Valentine's Day tin. Butter and Spice and Everything Nice!


I found this recipe on the web and since I didn't have heart shaped cookie cutters that were small enough, I used this small undulated shaped. I didn't follow the details about the cookies being in the fridge ... but them in the freezer instead.... but for too long. So they were very hard to handle, but they turned out absolutely delicious!


Heart-Shaped Spice Cookies

(adapted from http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/heart-shaped-spice-cookies-10000001892164/)

Ingredients:

·         2 1/2 cups  all-purpose flour 

·         1 teaspoon  ground ginger 

·         1 teaspoon  cinnamon 

·         1/2 teaspoon  ground nutmeg 

·         1 teaspoon  baking powder 

·         1/8 teaspoon  salt 

·         16 tablespoons  unsalted butter, at room temperature

·         1 cup  packed light brown sugar 

 

Preparation:

In a large bowl, combine flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt.

In a separate large bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, and beat until mixture forms a stiff yet pliable dough. Turn out onto a floured work surface and knead into a ball. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until completely chilled, at least 2 hours.

Preheat oven to 400°F and line 2 large baking sheets with parchment. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out cookies with a 2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter. Place cookies about 1 inch apart on baking sheets. ( I added my sprinkles here). Bake until cookies are firm in center, about 10 minutes. Let cool on wire racks. Repeat with remaining dough.

Monday, February 24, 2014

Sharing all kinds of LOVE with you

This email has been a long time coming... Sorry, but I have been very busy starting up my new career! But I sooooo wanted to share with you my weekend filled with all kinds of REAL LOVE - and all the special people that were part of it.


It started with Valentine's Day- my last day at Bridges, filled with a bag of mixed emotions... A lovely picture with some of my great friends and colleagues- Nancy, Kelly, Judy, Gilles and Karen... On my last day I brought a home made tin of Valentine's specialties, want to know the delicious recipe? Stay tuned later this week for the next blog post and you will find out!

I was then greeted at home with a lovely Valentine's Day dinner of my favourite... Thai Food, with my gorgeous daughter and husband...wearing the LOVE colour RED! Hearts pouring out of their months with love!


Next day, lunch at Pat's with Marla. Two 'old school' friends! Pat - a health inspiration who has lost over 100 lbs herself- prepared salad and SPICY jerk chicken... delicious!

 
Tired yet.... not me! Next day, a coffee date with my 'oldest' friend in the world. Wow that makes her sound so old eh? Janice and I have been friends since 1980 (34 years ago), when I came to Oakville. We get together, maybe only twice a year, but when we do we say.... why don't we do this more often!

Love this girl! It was her birthday, so you know, a girl's gotta celebrate! We literally just sit in a café and talk for hours, our butts soar from sitting so long and our faces aching from laughing so much! Love this girl like crazy. She is a phenomenal entrepreneur and fearless woman!
 
Okay, now FAMILY DAY... gotta spend it with your family right???? So Brent, Melanie and I went for a wintery walk at our favourite park in Oakville- Lakeside Park. That's right, in the snow, in the cold... WE ARE CANADIANS!  Just put on your tuque and our winter parka and boots, and if it's sunny, don't forget your shades- the glare from the snow is blinding and beautiful! Love this guy!

Getting tired yet? Well, save the 'old Bridges' reunion dinner for last then, lots of talking, eating, laughing and dreamin'. These are my colleagues, past, and real past... our friend Gaetane was in town, so we got together for some good ole' fashion girl talk. Awesome being all together again and sharing the love!
All these special people in my life (and many more not pictured here) are the loves of my life... they make me who I have become and make me strive to become better. LOVE YOU ALL!
 

Friday, February 14, 2014

Sharing Amazing Love on Valentine's Day

Yes, this not a typical Valentine's Day post with hearts and gushing red velvet cupcakes... it is my heartfelt thanks and total appreciation to some very special women who recently displayed their love in the most unusual, special and EPIC way. I thought there would be no better time to share this amazing story on this Day which signifies LOVE!

Let me first present to you below: A Token of Love and Appreciation - A fabulous necklace made of corks, candies and candles.... read below to see just how special this token is.


Some of you may know that I recently accepted a new position in an industry giant and after almost 9 years at Bridges, it was a hard personal move to make, but the right professional move to make. It was hard personally because I have had the privilege of meeting and working with some amazing people. Some of these great people have been the Bridges Instructors that I have had the pleasure of working with for many, many years. I have been scheduling their lives, their drives, their students, their schools and doing it with a smile and being available for them for any question/problem/comment/issue.... Big or Small- it's my job... and I always cared.
Last week at the Bridges Annual dinner, they 'sneakily' crafted the above pictured necklace made of the usual things you would find in an Italian restaurant- cork, candies, candle- with crushed candies inside set in the melted wax (WOW) - and two brave souls- Christy and Leanne- stood up at the end of the dinner, presented me with this totally awesome necklace and this wonderful, heartfelt Top 10 list that I share with you below:


Top 10 reasons we will miss Chantal...


10.   The way she smiles with her whole being

9. Bling by Chantal- shopping on breaks

8. Her ability to recall obscure lyrics of songs.from the 90s.

7. The fact that you are our work mom.

6. Who is going to keep our shit together?

5. We are concerned about the quality of the swag once she is gone.

4. Nails - lovely , luscious lacquered digits delight us daily

3. Her calm reassuring voice on the phone, that let's us know everything is going to be alright, even though we are stuck on the 401, 400, 407.

2. The inspiration she has given us all as she has worked so hard to transform her lifestyle and we have watched her become more beautiful, if that is even possible.
1. Although employee of the decade is up for grabs, we are all wondering how we will replace the person that, we all agree, we instantly loved from the moment we met.

WOW, floored right??? To see on paper and presented to you amongst your peers these words of love, appreciation and their sadness at your leaving... Not a dry eye!!!!

It was an incredible presentation crafted by Table 3- Jolene, Leanne, Christy, Eva, Sarah, Brenna, Kayla, Alex and Wendy (sorry if I missed anyone).  The hugs, the thanks, the 'we'll miss you, but we are happy for you' from all the Bridges Instructors and Staff have been overwhelming and wonderful. Bridges has helped me grow into the person I am today and all the experiences and challenges have shaped who I have become... so thank you to all who have have been a part of a great chapter in my life...

... and when the going gets tough, and we must move along our way to new challenges.... what does a girl do?


Light up her life with some new hair, bright as the Caribbean sun hitting the sand! Much Love to All!
It's not goodbye, it's see you later- you can always catch my adventures on my blog and of course the instantly gratifying Facebook. 

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Orange Cranberry Scones


I don't know about you, but when you are entering your third month of cold winter snow, there is nothing better than making a warm baked good filled with delicious wintery smells.

Here's a nice recipe for you to try... I just used a few extra 'healthier' options, like whole wheat flour and low fat milk to 'up' the nutrition a bit. 

ORANGE CRANBERRY SCONES

(adapted from COOKS.COM)

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour ( I used whole wheat flour)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar

grated zest of an orange

1/2 cup Craisins or golden raisins

1 stick (8 tbsp.) cold unsalted butter

2/3 cup buttermilk (plus extra for brushing)

coarse sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400°F.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar for 30 seconds.

 
Cut the cold butter into small cubes 1/4-1/2 inch. On low speed mix until butter is just coated with flour, leaving large chunks. Stir in the Craisins or Raisins and the zest. 
 
 
Stir in 2/3 cup buttermilk and mix for about 30 seconds, or just until the liquid is absorbed. (The batter will begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl). Using a spatula, scrape the dough down and form it into a ball.

Pat the dough together into a flattened circle 3/4-inch thick. Place the circle on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, a silicone baking sheet or a buttered sheet of wax paper. Divide the circle into eight wedges and separate the wedges out leaving a 1/2-inch space between them.

Brush the tops with remaining buttermilk or an egg wash. Sprinkle with coarse sugar (sanding sugar or turbinado is best for a crisp crust).
 

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm with butter, jam or honey. Delicious!
 

Thursday, February 6, 2014

These are a few of my favourite Kitchen Things

Hello to my kitchen gadget fans!

Thanks to my Mom and number one kitchen inspiration, I wanted to introduce you to some new kitchen items that will make your life baking and recipe reading awesome!
Sing with me now..."These are a few of my favourite things, when your printed recipe stands up, when your glove is oven proof... then I'm feeling glad!

Ok, enough singing, now for the show and tell portion. This strange looking contraption is a little red base with a magnet and a silver ball magnet. What the heck right?

TA DA! It's actually a recipe holder. You put your printed recipe- like so many of mine are- you lean it against the base and place the magnet over it and then your flimsy piece of paper stands up by itself. Amazing science I say!
 
Now, here's the other new favourite thing... this really was a big request from my husband and we both love it! 'As seen on TV'- the 'Ove Glove'. It's a simple little glove, made of I don't know what, that is totally oven proof. You slip on this thin looking little glove and it completely protects you from the heat. It's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than those cumbersome and clumsy big oven mitts. If you use your oven, you this is all you need!
 
Now, that's enough of my product plugs, but I really wanted to share with you some of the things that make my life easier and make times in the kitchen more blissful, and after all... isn't that what life is all about... finding your bliss???
 
 
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