Roasted Red Pepper and Ham Pinwheels

Since I have been on maternity leave, we do lots of play dates and picnics. When we can back from our trip I decided to plan a swimming/lunch date. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, it was still beautiful, but it was a little chilly for the pool. So we had a picnic at the park instead! We made it a pot luck, and man can my mom friends cook! The food was amazing!! The only problem with pot lucks...I eat WAYY too much. But it was worth it :)

I made roasted red pepper and ham pinwheels. They were so yummy!! I roasted the pepper myself, which was a little more time consuming than I anticipated, but well worth it!! Other than that they were super easy to make, and a perfect pot luck item!

Ingredients:
- 1 red pepper, whole
- Approximately 3 tbsp Vegetable oil
- Herb and Garlic cream cheese, room temperature
- 5 Slices of ham (I used Black Forest)
- 5 whole wheat tortillas (small ones, I think they are 6")

Directions:



1. Set oven to broil. Generously coat pepper with oil, ensuring you are getting it in all the grooves. Place pepper on a cookie sheet and broil until the skin starts to turn black. Turn the pepper and continue broiling until most of the pepper is black.
2. Place the pepper in a bowl and cover with saran wrap until the pepper is cooled. Once cooled, peel the skin off the pepper and slice.
3. Spread cream cheese over tortillas, add slices of pepper and top with a slice of ham. Roll tortillas and wrap in saran wrap. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. Remove Saran and slice.

Nacho Dip

This past weekend was my friend's daughter's 1st birthday (she blogs over at Just Another Mummy Blog, and is awesome so you should check her out!). Let me tell you I have some crafty friends! She made all of the decorations by hand!!! I (unfortunately) didn't take any pictures of the decor, but I did take pictures of the neat snacks they made! I wish I was this creative!



Sailboats



Rainbow Fruit Kabobs with Marshmallows Clouds



Individual veggies and dip (love this idea!)

I made a nacho dip. I am sure everyone knows how to make this amazing dish (it is my weakness...put this stuff in front of me and I will finish it), but I am going to tell you how *I* make it :) You can vary the amount of ingredients you use to make it to your liking.

Ingredients:

• 1 package of cream cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning
• 1 jar of medium chunky salsa
• Shredded cheese (I usually buy the Kraft Tex Mex)
• Green onions, thinly sliced
• Pepper (any colour), thinly chopped

Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese, sour cream and taco seasoning together until well blended. Spread in a dish.
2. Pour salsa on top and sprinkle with cheese.
3. Top with green onions and pepper.

Jalapeno Poppers

We had a bunch of jalapenos left from the garden, so my husband decided he wanted me to make jalapeno poppers. I am really happy with the way they turned out! The breading part is pretty time consuming, but it was worth it!!!

To remove the seeds from the peppers, I used my Pampered Chef Core & More. It worked really well! I would recommend wearing gloves when removing the seeds, because your fingers will burn afterwards!!

Core & More

Ingredients:

-          25-50 Jalapenos, sliced in half with seeds removed

-          250g cream cheese, room temperature

-          1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

-          1 egg

-          ½ cup milk

-          1 cup flour

-          2 packages of Kraft Shake N Bake Classic Herb And Parmesan  

-          Vegetable Oil

Directions:

1. Mix cream cheese and cheddar cheese
2. Spoon cheese mixture into jalapeno halves (I used my fingers…it was WAYY easier!)
3. In a bowl, beat egg and milk. Put flour in a separate bowl.
4. Dip jalapenos in egg mixture followed by the flour mixture, and allow them to dry (or put them in the fridge for 5 minutes)
5. Dip flour-coated jalapenos in egg mixture followed by Shake N Bake (I put 3 or 4 in a large bag and shook them.
6. Put coated jalapeno poppers in the fridge (or freezer) for 2 hours before cooking

Heat oil in a medium pot (to 365^oF), and fry poppers for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Greek Pasta Salad

Like I have said before, we love salads in the summer!! No A/C means lots of BBQ's with salads!! This is another super easy salad that goes over well. I made it for a pot luck dinner when my uncle came to visit from New Brunswick.

Ingredients:
- Package of egg noodles
- 1 red onion, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 cucumber, peeled, sliced and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 cup of cherry tomatoes
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 small bottle of Kraft Greek Feta & Oregano salad dressing

Directions:
1. Cook noodles as directed on package, drain and cool
2. Mix in remaining ingredients (except dressing) and store in fridge
3. When you are ready to serve salad, mix in dressing

Stuffed Mushrooms

Tonight was a mushroom night! Not only did we have the previous posted Mushroom Pork Tenderloin, but we also had these stuffed mushrooms. Obviously I love mushrooms! Raw, fried, baked, in a sauce….you name it, and I will probably love it!! I also found these mushrooms from allrecipe.com and they were delicious!! Very garlicy but just as yummy!

Ingredients:

- 12 large whole fresh mushrooms

- 1 tbsp vegetable oil

- 3 cloves garlic

- 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened

- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

- ¼ tsp ground black pepper

- ¼ tsp onion powder

- ¼ tsp ground cayenne pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350^oF. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

2. Clean mushrooms with a damp paper towel. Carefully break off stems and reserve

3. Process mushroom stems and garlic cloves in a food processor

4. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and mushrooms, fry until any moisture has disappeared, taking care not to burn garlic. Set aside to cool.

5. When garlic and mushroom mixture is cool, stir in cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, black pepper, onion powder and cayenne pepper.

6. Using a little spoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of stuffing. Arrange the mushroom caps on prepared cookie sheet.

7. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until liquid starts to form under caps.

Bruschetta Bread

I don't like uncooked tomatoes (but I love salsa, tomato sauce, etc...weird I know), so I would NEVER order bruschetta! But I went out for dinner with a co-worker and she ordered bruschetta from Jack Astor's, she offered me a slice, and of course I tried it. I must admit it was really yummy!

With that said, my husband LOVES tomatoes! So when I told him about my bruschetta experience he suggested we have it with our leftover soup. Well I started looking a recipes and mixed a few together to come up with my own variation. I used a french loaf, but I think it would be better with a baguette. I would also top with mozzarella and feta cheese!! I also used my food processor to make this (since the tomatoes are not completely cooked, I wanted them in small pieces), however you can easily chop everything and mix together.

Ingredients:
- 4 medium sized tomatoes, cut in quarters
- 1 small onion, cut in quarters
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup fresh Basil
- Salt and pepper
- 1 French baguette (or loaf)
- Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- Crumbled feta

Directions:
1. Preheat oven on broiler setting
2. Add tomatoes, onion and garlic to a food processor, and pulse until smooth
3. In a large bowl, combine tomato mixture, oil, vinegar, basil, salt and pepper. Allow mixture to sit for 10 minutes
4. Cut baguette into 3/4-inch slices, arrange on a baking sheet and broil for 1 to 2 minutes until slightly brown
5. Top bread with tomato mixture and cheese
6. Broil for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted

Macaroni Salad

This is another great salad during the summer. Since we don’t have AC in our house, we love to cook outside…therefore we love to BBQ! This is a *very* easy traditional summer salad. I usually make one up when we go camping, that way we have it all weekend.

ENJOY!

Note: I did not put red pepper in mine!



Ingredients:

-          1 package egg noodles, cooked as directed on package

-          6 green onions, chopped

-          1 red pepper, chopped

-          1 can tuna, drained

-          1 cup mayo

-          Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Once noodles are cooked, cool under cold water
2. Mix cold noodles, onion, pepper and tuna in a large bowl
3. Add mayo, salt and pepper and mix well

Broccoli Salad – One of my favourites!!

I love this salad. When the weather gets warm, it is amazing with BBQ! It is really easy to mix up and a crowd pleaser!

If you prefer sweeter salads, you can add 1 tsp of sugar to the dressing and top with raisins. Personally I prefer the “non-sweet” one!

ENJOY :)

Ingredients:

-          2 broccoli heads, cut into small pieces

-          6 slices of bacon, cut into pieces and cooked

-          1 red onion, chopped

-          ½ cup mayo

-          Approximately 2 tbsp vinegar

-          2 tbsp parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Mix broccoli, bacon and onion in a large bowl
2. In a separate bowl mix mayo and vinegar until dressing has a smooth consistency
3. Pour dressing over salad and mix
4. Top with parmesan cheese

Cabbage Rolls

I have made cabbage rolls before, but like I have said in previous posts my mom always finds the best recipes (and is the best cook)! She made these cabbage rolls for our rehearsal dinner and they were a hit!! I decided to give them a try tonight! There is a decent amount of “prep” work but they weren’t overly exhausting! This recipe is from Canadian Living. I forgot to take a picture of them all in the roasting pan, but I did get a shot of our lunch for tomorrow!!

This recipe says it makes 24 rolls, but I only made 8. I was very generous on the filling! You could put less filling and make more; it is entirely up to you!!

Ingredients:

-          1 head of green cabbage

-          2 tbsp butter

-          2 large onions, sliced

-          ¼ tsp caraway seeds

-          ¼ tsp each salt and pepper

-          3 tbsp brown sugar

-          2 cans crushed tomatoes

Filling:

-          2 tbsp butter

-          1 onion, chopped

-          4 garlic cloves, minced

-          ½ tsp thyme

-          Pinch cayenne pepper

-          ½ cup long grain rice

-          1¼ cup chicken stock

-          1½ lb ground beef

-          ½ cup chopped parsley

-          2 tbsp chopped dill

-          1 egg, lightly beaten

-          ¾ tsp each salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, blanch cored cabbage for 5 to 8 minutes or until leaves are softened. Remove and chill under cold water.
2. Carefully pull off leaves from cabbage (as many as you want to make, plus a couple extra). Cut out coarse veins and pat dry. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Sauté onions, caraway seeds, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes.
4. Add sugar and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Filling: In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, thyme and cayenne pepper for about 10 minutes.
6. Add rice and stir for 1 minute. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
7. Put rice in a large bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes. Stir in ground beef, parsley, dill, egg, salt and pepper.
8. Spread 1 cup of tomato mixture in roasting pan.
9. Spoon filling onto centre of all leaves; fold ends and one side over filling and roll up. Arrange in a single layer and top with remaining tomato mixture. (Note: If you can make more than one layer, top bottom layer with half of tomato mixture and place other layer on top). Top with extra cabbage leaves to prevent scorching.
10. Cover and bake in 350^oF oven for about 2 hours, or until tender.
11. Optional: We added cheese before serving :)

Deep Fried Pickles

Anyone that knows me knows I LOVE pickles. When I go to restaurants and order a burger, I ALWAYS ask for extra pickles (x10)! Speaking of restaurants, last week I went out for dinner with a friend and we decided to go to the Pickle Barrel. But guess what...they do NOT have pickles on the menu!! WTH is up with that!!!! I did order a burger and they do have pickles to go with it, but I thought the Pickle Barrel would have different kinds of prepared pickles on their menu...but I was wrong!!

But back to my post :) Last night my husband wanted a "finger food dinner" so we had deep fried pickles, ribs and cheesy garlic bread while we watched the Grammy's!! I got the recipe for the pickles from another blog I read Tyler's Taste Tests. I did change it slightly, but I pretty much followed it exactly. They will be a repeat for sure!! I did good :)

Ingredients:

-          1 jar of dill pickles, undrained

-          1 large egg, beated

-          1 tbsp, plus 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour

-          1 tsp garlic powder

-          1/4 tsp salt

-          1 tsp paprika

-          Vegetable oil

Directions:
1. Slice pickles into spears and press between paper towels to dry
2. Combine 2/3 cup of pickle juice, egg and 1 tbsp flour. Set aside
3. Combine remaining flour with garlic powder, salt and paprika. Blend well
4. Dip pickles in egg mixture followed by flour mixture
5. Put coated pickles in refrigerator for 30 minutes.
6. Meanwhile heat oil to 375^o
7. Fry pickles until golden brown and drain on paper towel

I found the coating was a little thin, so maybe next time I will re-dip in the egg and flour mixture, but other than that they were fabulous! I served them with ceaser dressing for dipping!

Super Spicy Superbowl Chili

Sunday we went to our annual Superbowl party at our friend’s place. Usually I take some kind of nacho dip, and the host usually makes chili (or his mom made it…). Well this year our friend has his own place, which means no mom!! No mom means no chili! Our other friends were complaining so I decided to make chili.

My husband LOVES chili, but I HATE beans…But I love him, so I make it! I just take some sauce out before the beans are added and make pasta to go with it. He tells me I make awesome chili! However this time I spiced it up, and when I say “spice it up” I mean it!! It was pretty spicy, but not unbearable. I thought (the sauce before beans) was very yummy!

Remember you can spice it up or down, just alter the amount of spices and hot peppers. Here you go:

Ingredients:

-          1.5lbs ground beef

-          1 onion, chopped

-          1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced

-          2 peppers (I used yellow and green)

-          2 Jalapeño peppers

-          5 Serrano hot peppers (I think – they looked like skinny green beans!)

-          Spices to taste: Montreal Steak Spice, Seasoning Salt, Cumin, Cayenne Pepper, Chili Pepper Flakes

-          2 cans diced tomatoes

-          1 can crushed tomatoes

-          1 can tomato paste

-          2 cans of beans (I usually use Red Kidney Beans and a brown bean)

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, brown ground beef with spices (amount depends on how spicy you like your chili)
2. When ground beef is almost done, add onion, mushrooms and peppers and simmer for approximately 10 minutes on medium heat (until beef is fully cooked and vegetables are soft)
3. Add beef mixture to crockpot with diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes and tomato paste
4. Cook on low for 5-7 hours
5. 1 hour before serving, add drained and washed beans

This is my fancy crockpot to go :) I got it has a shower gift,
and it is amazing for taking food to parties!

Stuffed Peppers

I had a couple peppers in the fridge and I was wondering what to do with them.
I decided I would try stuffed peppers…using my homemade salsa of course!!! I found a few recipes online, and I combined them to make my own version.

OMG they were absolutely amazing!!! I will defiantly make these again!

Here you go:

Ingredients:

- 4 medium bell peppers (any colour)

- 1 lb ground beef

- 1 onion, chopped

- 3 cloves of garlic, minced

- ½ cup water

- ½ instant rice

- 1 cup salsa

- 1 cup pasta sauce

- ½ cup cheese

Directions:

1. Fry ground beef in a large skillet. Drain grease and add onion and garlic. Cook until tender.

2. Add water, rice and salsa. Allow mix to simmer for approximately 5 minutes until rice is cooked and most of the liquid has evaporated.

3. Meanwhile, prepare peppers by cutting the tops off and removing seeds.

4. Preheat oven to 350^o

5. Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with the pasta sauce. Set peppers in sauce so they are standing up straight.

6. Stuff peppers with mix, and top with cheese.

7. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes

Just before going in the oven

Stuffing simmering in skillet

Final Product

You could easily stuff mini peppers and make this a party appetizer :)

Pulled Pork

This week I am on late days, so it is *really* hard for me to prepare time consuming meals. Usually I stick to quick dinners, or crock pot meals. (I love my crock pot - they are perfect, you throw everything in, go to work, come home and....Dinner is ready!!) I asked my friend for some ideas, and she suggested pulled pork. Honestly I have never done pulled pork before and it was amazing!!

Ingredients:
- 6 - 10 lb pork shoulder
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic
- Freshly ground Sea Salt and Pepper
- Montreal Steak Spice and Seasoning (as you can tell I love these spices!)
- 2 bottles of beer
- 1 - 2 cups of barbeque sauce (I used PC Smokin' Stampede BBQ Sauce)

Directions:
1. Lay onions and garlic on the bottom of Crockpot
2. Set pork on top and season
3. Pour beer around pork
4. Cook on low for 8-10 hours
5. Remove pork and shred
6. Discard bones, fat and remaining liquids from Crockpot
7. Put shredded pork back in Crockpot and top with BBQ sauce
8. Cook for an additional 1/2 - 1 hour on low

This would be good served on buns, with rice, or with my previously posted Mac & Cheese :)
I also think this would be perfect for a pot luck get together!!