Ravioli

You know those busy nights when you've been running around all day and really don't have time to make supper? OR you just came off a set of nights or maybe you're in the middle of a set and just don't have the energy to think about what to cook. Well I am all for convenience food. If it's fast, tasty, and nutritious, why not?? I have never made my own pasta, and I don't feel inclined to.. ever. I feel that there are great fresh pasta options out there on the market who can do it better than I can! I found this Gourmet Ravioli or Ravioli Gourmet at Costco for about $10.95. They had it as one of their samples and I was hooked! It's super quick and easy and stuffed with yummy spinach and mozzarella. You can add different pasta sauces or whatever you want, but usually I just add a couple twirls of olive oil and the herb and parm mix that comes with it in the bag and voila, in ten minutes you got a gourmet pasta dish.

Tourtiere

Being from French-Canadian descent, I've grown up with tourtiere, also known as meat pie. It always reminds me of Christmas and I love it. Why am I posting it mid-March? Because it's super easy, delicious, and you will thank me, that's why. This can be served with gravy or ketchup, but I like it plain. This moves away from the more traditional recipe that I'm used to with a variation in the spices and in the meats used, but I found it delicious, full of flavor and quite moist. I can't quite remember where exactly I got this recipe from but it was floating around in cyber-space sometime last November. And of course, I use pre-made pie dough, I mean who has that kind of time?

Tourtiere

1 onion chopped

1 TBSP margarine

1 lb ground pork

1 stalk celery chopped

1 tsp garlic, minced

3/4 cup chicken stock

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground allspice

1/2 tsp thyme

1 bay leaf

2 TBSP dry bread crumbs

Cook onions, celery and garlic in the margarine until onions are clear. Add the ground pork, break it up in the pan and cook until changes color. Add the chicken stock and spices and simmer for half an hour. Cool, take out the bay leaf, and stir in the bread crumbs.

Add pork mixture to pie shell, cover with pie top. Press edges together with a little bit of warm water to help them seal together. Brush dough with egg glaze (1 egg, beaten, with 2 tbsp cream).

This makes any crust look and taste great!

Bake at 425 deg F for 10 min, then reduce heat to 375 and bake for an additional 25 minutes or until crust is golden. YUMM!

Dips!

Okay, so I was thinking of what else makes me feel good. Appetizers! Well, more specifically, anything that's ooey gooey cheesey goodness, that you can reach a cracker or chip in and come out with heaven smothered all over it. So, I'm going to blog about my hot spinach dip, yummy Cheese Almond, and Nat-cho Chili. They are all delicious, some quicker than others, but generally all of these are always a hit 100% of the time. I remember one day after going to Janine's convocation party and sampling the Cheese Almond, Reagan and I were absolutely in love with it. A couple days later, after class we headed over to Reagan's for lunch. We stopped by the grocery store to see what we needed, and decided to scrap all other plans and just make Cheese Almond. So we pigged out on it and had it as an entire meal. I'd encourage you to do the same!

Hot Spinach Dip

3/4 cup fat free sour cream

3/4 cup light mayo

1/2 cup feta cheese

1/2 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 tsp crushed garlic

1/2 onion diced

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp hot pepper sauce (or more if you like it spicy)

1 pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and wrung out.

Fry garlic and onions in margarine, until clear and fragrant. Mix together the rest of the ingredients in a medium bowl while this is frying. Then add the onions and garlic to the spinach mixture. Pour into your favorite casserole dish or mini crockpot. Bake at 350 deg for about 30 minutes, or if in mini-dipper, heat for atleast 1 hour. (Or you could pop it in a sourdough bread bowl.)

Serve with bread, crackers, or tortilla chips.

P.S. Can you believe I didn't put cream cheese in this??

Cheese Almond

1 cup shredded swiss cheese

250g (one spreadable tub) of 95% fat free cream cheese

1/3 cup light mayo

1/2 cup browned slivered almonds.

Mix first 3 ingredients together. Brown almonds in a pan on the stove or in the oven, and sprinkle on top. Bake at 400 deg for 20-30 min or until bubbly and slightly browned.

Serve with crackers.

Nat-Cho Chili Dip

Your favorite chili recipe or your favorite canned chili

2 cups grated old cheddar

1 250g tub 95% fat free cream cheese

Spread cream cheese in a thin layer in the bottom of a square pan. Cover with chili and top with grated cheese. Bake in oven at 350 deg for about 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese melted.

Serve with tortilla chips.

*I will post pics of these the next time I make them!

Hamby Cabbage Soup

So I have been feeling like crud lately... well it seems like forever, but I assure you it's been just a week and a day (so far)... so I haven't been blogging. I attempted work yesterday, and before I got sent home, one of my coworkers encouraged me to blog more as that might make me feel a bit better and pass by some of the boredom. Well Tam, I heeded your advice and here I am. So generally I would have blogged the chicken rice soup in this blog, since that's sicky comfort food at its finest. However, since that's already done, I'll go to my next favorite soup- Hamby Cabbage Soup. This soup is so fragrant and delicious that my mouth is watering for it right now. PLUS, it is chalk full of vitamins! However, I can think of three good reasons not to make this... I don't have any cabbage, it might interfere with my nap time, and Mike's out of town with work, so I'd have to eat the whole thing.

Hamby Cabbage Soup

1 1/2 lbs ground beef

1 med onion, diced (I always use my Pampered Chef Food Chopper)

1/2 cabbage chopped

1 cup sliced carrots

1 cup sliced celery and leafs

1 small tin tomato paste with herb and spice

1 large can diced tomatoes

3 TBSP beef broth bath mixed with boiling water in large tomato can

1 TBSP Garlic Powder

3-4 tsp sugar

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp seasoning salt

Bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp dill

Fry up ground beef and onion in large soup pot. Strain and rinse once cooked. Add all ingredients to pot. Add 2-3 more cans of water using the large tomato can. Simmer for atleast 2 hours. Remove bay leaf and serve with Family Bakery Dinner Buns!

Maniac I mean Celiac Approved Potato Spinach Lasagna

So first off, let me tell you a little story about my friend Tine. She does quite a bit of travelling and we have enjoyed countless adventures in several destinations across the continent and one thing that we really enjoy is sampling the local cuisine. Well last summer she went to Italy. I was beyond jealous at the delectable Italian food that she would be able to sample as she travelled through cities, towns, and villages alike. However, less than a month before she was to leave, she found out that she has Celiac's. So no pasta, no pastry, no pizza, no bread, no nothing that she (and I) would crave and hit up in Italy! So she went on her trip and I waited nervously to hear how her trip would go with such a restriction. She made out fine enough but travelled endlessly around to find gluten free pasta places, taking trains, buses, taxi's and the like across entire cities to reach one little restaurant or another only to find out they were closed.

So about a month later when I had plans with Tine, I invited her over for supper. She clarified for me that it's tough to cook for her and she'd eat before she came. I said no way, hoser, you're coming for supper. So what did I make? Maniac oops I mean Celiac Approved Potato Spinach Lasagna. I found the recipe from an ICU cookbook at work and made a few alterations to come up with this delicious recipe! (She was thrilled that she finally got to eat lasagna.)

*The pic above is of me and Tine doing a swamp tour in Louisiana.

*This takes a long time to cook, so plan ahead.

Maniac I mean Celiac Approved Potato Spinach Lasagna

a few twirls around the pan of olive oil

4 onions, chopped (I use my Pampered Chef Food Chopper - it's a fancy sturdier Slap Chop)

1 TBSP paprika

3/4 tsp salt

pepper to taste

2 pgk frozen spinach, thawed

3 lbs potatoes, peeled and sliced thinly (I use my Pampered Chef Ultimate Mandolin and these are sliced in 3 minutes flat)

2 cups grated light old cheddar

Cheese Filling:

1 lb cottage cheese

1 1/2 cups feta, crumbled

3/4 cup milk

pinch nutmeg, salt, and pepper

1 egg beaten

In large pan, heat oil or margarine and fry onions until golden, add paprika, salt, and half the pepper. In separate bowl, mix spinach with generous pinch of salt. In bowl mix together cottage and feta cheeses, milk, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add egg and mix well.

Slice potatoes thinly. In well oiled 9x13 baking dish, arrange 1/3 of potatoes, top with 1/2 the onions, 1/2 the spinach, and 1/2 the cheese mixture. (You can mix the spinach and cheese mixtures together if you want). Repeat potato, onion, spinach, cheese. Top with remaining potatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with grated cheese on top.

Cover with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes. Then, uncover and continue baking until top is bubbly, 45 - 50 minutes.

Chicken Lemon Rice Soup

This soup is to die for! I go through soup phases and throw anything and everything into a soup. I love lemony soups, and hearty soups, and light soups, and well.. any kind of soup really. I got the recipe for this soup from Andrea, a girl I went through nursing school with. In trade for my broccoli & cheese soup that is, which will come up in another post I'm sure. Oooh and baked potato soup is also yummy. Hey - I just got an idea. Spanikopita soup!! YUMMM Alright, I HAVE to try it. I'll keep you guys posted! Anyways, here's the recipe I'm supposed to be talking about!

Chicken Lemon Rice Soup

1 TBSP butter or marg

1 TBSP flour

8 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 eggs

Dash of tabasco sauce or other pepper sauce

1/2 cup rice

S&P

1 TBSP dill

** I call this Chicken Lemon Rice Soup because I usually throw in leftover chicken cut up into bite sized pieces when I add the rice**

Melt butter, stir in flour & cook for 2 min, not browning. Whisk in stock, bring to a boil & add rice & cook for 20 min (simmer), add lemon juice. In bowl, beat eggs. Whisk in about 1 cup of the hot soup, whisk back into saucepan & add hot pepper sauce, dill, salt & pepper.

Chicken Phyllo stuffed with Spinach & Feta, topped with herbed Sabayon

Alright, so I tallied up all the votes, including one being my own. So thank you to those three faithful readers for submitting your vote! I ended up going with the Chicken Phyllo and it was absolutely delicious! I ended up stuffing it with my all time favorite mixture, Spanikopita! Topped it with this 'Herbed Sabayon', which was absolutely delicious and served it with wild rice, some mixed veggies, and a yummy Mandarin Raspberry Salad. My mom wanted to make sure I included that "it was a hit." haha - thanks Mom! :) I altered a recipe that I found on the Canadian Living website to more suit our tastes! This was my first time working with phyllo pastry and admittedly, these took a long time to prepare. My phyllo wasn't 100% thawed when I tried to use it, which lead me to a lot of frustration! But eventually it all came together and it was well worth it!

Chicken Phyllo Stuffed with Spinach & Feta and topped with Herbed Sabayon

4 large chicken breasts, cut in 1/2 (or 8 small/med ones), butterflied so they open like a pamphlet or sliced in the middle so they open like a book.

16 sheets phyllo pastry

3/4 cup butter/marg melted

Stuffing Mixture:

3 cups fresh spinach, chopped or 1/2 pkg frozen

1/3 cup feta cheese

1/3 cup cream cheese

1/3 cup mayo

1/2 - 1 tsp garlic, crushed

1/3 cup cooked bacon, chopped (I use Oscar Mayer Real Bacon Bits)

Herbed Sabayon

4 egg yolks

3 TSBP Chicken Stock

2 TBSP dry vermouth

1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

2 TBSP chopped fresh basil

2 TBSP chopped fresh oregano or fresh thyme

1 TBSP lemon juice

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Defrost phyllo pastry overnight in fridge or for a few hours on the counter.

Mix together your stuffing mixture.

**While working with phyllo sheets, cover with a damp cloth so they don't dry out.** Place one sheet on the counter, brush with butter, top with second sheet, brush with butter again. Place chicken near one of the edges (left or right), add stuffing mixture and fold chicken over to cover stuffing. Fold sides over and roll up. Place seam side down on a greased rimmed pan. Brush top with butter. Repeat with remaining chicken. (You can put this in the fridge with saran wrap for up to 8 hours ahead).

Bake at 350 deg F for 45 minutes until phyllo is golden and chicken is cooked through and no longer pink.

Herbed Sabayon

In the top of a double boiler (or I just use a glass mixing bowl on top of a regular pot of boiling water), whisk the egg yolks until they are light in color, whisk in the stock and vermouth (you can use white wine or extra chicken stock if you don't have). Place on stove over simmering water and whisk until it's nice and thick. Whisk in the herbs (I only had fresh parsley so used dried spices for the others), lemon juice and S&P. If too thick to spread, add a little more chicken stock to thin it out. Serve over the chicken phyllo bundles.