Chicken Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry

I'm thinking that February is the new January.  Truthfully, I'm not entirely sure what happened to January.  I managed to get Christmas decorations put away.  I fed my family.  I washed dishes and did the laundry.  All the other things that I hoped to accomplish?  They're now on the February list.

I have a bunch of recipes I want to share with you, so we'll start with this one.  I've made this chicken broccoli mushroom stir fry twice in the past two weeks.  It's easy to make, and really tasty.   I originally saw it on Facebook - one of those videos that show you how to make a meal in 30 seconds.  Except it didn't really take 30 seconds.  More like 30 minutes, which is still pretty quick.

Cut up some chicken, dredge it in flour, and fry it up.



Mix up the sauce and stir fry the veggies.

Mix it all together... and done.

Serve over rice or noodles.  Prepare for everyone to tell you how good it is.

Chicken Broccoli and Mushroom Stir Fry

Ingredients

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into ¾" pieces
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup all purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth
¼ cup honey
¼ cup soy sauce
½ tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and grated, or ½ tsp ginger powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp sesame oil

1¼ lb (6 cups) broccoli florets
1 small onion, sliced
¾ lb (12 oz) sliced mushrooms

Sesame seeds for garnish

Directions

Toss chicken breast pieces in flour, salt, and pepper.

Heat 1 tbsp cooking oil in a large pan.  Add chicken to pan and brown on all sides.

While chicken is cooking, combine sauce ingredients - broth, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, sesame oil - in the same bowl that the leftover flour from the chicken is in.  Whisk it all together.  Set aside.

Remove cooked chicken from pan and set aside.  Add another tbsp of cooking oil to the pan and once it's hot, add the onion, broccoli and mushrooms.  Stir fry until the broccoli is crisp tender and the
mushrooms are soft, about 5 minutes.

Pour the sauce into the hot vegetables. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Simmer 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened then toss in chicken and cook another 30 seconds or until heated through.

Serve over rice or noodles, sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Enjoy!

Original recipe here

Tweet

Hello 2017, and Sticky Upside Down Apple Gingerbread Cake

It's January.

Which means I've been pinning all of the detoxifying salads and cleansing smoothies.  I've joined photography challenges and seven day juicing challenges, and even looked at fitness challenges.

I bought a new planner.

And I've been eating Ferrero Rochers and pizza, and crackers with Brie and fig jam, and Eggs Benedict and smoked salmon and burgers with fries.

I've had zero smoothies.  I made a salad with dinner one night, but reached for the fresh baguette and butter instead.  I've walked back and forth to my car.  My planner is still blank.  I did manage to go through a closet and put a few bags of clothes together to donate, so there's that.

The mind is willing.  It's so ready.

Yet today, the second day back to school, we're having another snow day.  I think that makes five so far, and winter has only just begun.  So I made myself coffee with Bailey's and egg nog, and contemplated taking down the Christmas tree.

And I looked at the apples in the fruit basket, almost past their prime, and thought about baking.  Not muffins this time.  Gingerbread.  I should have posted this recipe in December, because it's amazing, but gingerbread is something that goes well with winter, not just Christmas.  And there's always apples waiting to be baked into something good.

Sticky Upside Down Apple Gingerbread Cake

Ingredients:

Butter for greasing pan

4 tbsp butter

1/2 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

4 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges each

2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup molasses
1 cup buttermilk*

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Grease a high sided 9" cake pan.

Melt butter in a small saucepan.  Add brown sugar and simmer over medium heat for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.  Stir in salt, remove from heat, and pour into bottom of cake pan.
Overlap apple slices in a circular pattern on top of the caramel.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and spices.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs together with the brown sugar.  Add the molasses, then the melted butter and combine well.  Stir in buttermilk, then flour mixture.  Stir together and pour over apples in prepared cake pan.

Bake 45-50 minutes until centre of cake is set.  Mine cracked...that's OK :)  Let cool in pan on cooling rack for 15 minutes, then turn out onto plate large enough to catch any caramel spills or wayward apples.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.  Tastes just as good once it has cooled.

*If you don't keep buttermilk on hand, make your own buttermilk with one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar for each cup of milk. Put the tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in your measuring cup, then add the milk to measure one cup of buttermilk. Allow to sit for a few minutes before combining with the other ingredients.

Happy New Year!

Thanks for featuring me!

Tweet

Ginger Cookies and Snow Days

Today was the second snow day we had this week.  After two years of green Christmases, we are buried in the white stuff with ten days to go.

Monday's snow day was a good day for a Chocolate Upside Down Cake.  This afternoon we ended up snacking on fresh Pizza Buns.

There was hot chocolate, with egg nog and peppermint.  Our 14 year old's specialty.

But what a day like this really calls for is these perfectly soft and spiced ginger cookies.  Like gingersnaps without the snap.  They are my daughter-in-law's specialty, and they were made for snow days.

Soft Ginger Cookies

original recipe here

Ingredients

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup molasses

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons ground ginger

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

Extra sugar to roll cookies in

Directions

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and molasses. Combine the flour, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt.  Gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well.

Roll into 1-1/2-in. balls, then roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake at 350°F until puffy and lightly browned, 10-12 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool. 

Makes 2-1/2 dozen.

Enjoy!

Thank you for featuring me!

Tweet

Red Velvet Pancakes with Buttermilk Caramel Syrup

Red Velvet Pancakes for Valentine's Day breakfast.

This is as close as you can get to having chocolate cake for breakfast, while still being able to call it breakfast instead of dessert.

I made both Buttermilk Pancakes, and red velvet pancakes.  The red velvet pancakes have a slightly cakier texture.  They're not as fluffy as the buttermilk pancakes, and they have satisfying not-too-sweet chocolate flavour.

The chocolate pancakes paired well with the flavour of the buttermilk caramel syrup that I made.

This syrup is a pancake game changer.  I caught them licking their plates.  And I would have probably done the same if I hadn't just given them the 'where are your manners' speech.  We love our maple syrup in this house, but I'll be making this buttermilk caramel syrup again.

I hope you had a happy Valentine's Day!

Red Velvet Pancakes

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 cups buttermilk*

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp red gel food colouring

Directions

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.   I  found cocoa to be lumpy so I sieved the ingredients together.

Whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, melted butter, food colouring, and eggs in a separate bowl until well combined.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients. Allow batter to sit for a few minutes.

Lightly butter a large frying pan and set over medium heat. Use a 1/3 cup of batter for each 6” pancake. Flip each pancake when bubbles form on the surface and the edges begin to brown, 2-3 minutes. If your pancakes brown too quickly, turn heat down to medium-low. Cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes or until browned.

Serve right away or keep warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining pancakes.

Buttermilk Caramel Syrup

Adapted from this recipe at Kreations by Kara

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups buttermilk*

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup salted butter

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

In a large saucepan, bring buttermilk, sugars, and butter to a boil over medium heat. Remove from heat and whisk in baking soda, then vanilla. It will foam up, so be sure to use a large enough saucepan.  As it cools, most of the foam will disappear.

*If you don't keep buttermilk on hand, make your own buttermilk with one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar for each cup of milk. Put the tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in your measuring cup, then add the milk to measure one cup of buttermilk. Allow to sit for a few minutes before combining with the other ingredients.

  

Tweet

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie

Here we go again.  Another smoothie recipe.  I can't help myself, they're just so good.

And quick, and easy, and healthy.

There's been a lot of smoothie goodness coming out of my blender lately, and this chocolate peanut butter banana combo is a keeper.  One of the boys said it tastes like Reese's Puffs cereal.

Which amazes me, because I swear I've only bought that stuff like, twice.  Clearly it made an impression.

I wonder if I'll ever hear anyone say "Mmmm, this tastes just like that healthy whole grain sugar free cereal you always buy."

Doubt it.

But if they ask for more smoothies like this one, because it tastes more like a treat than a healthy meal replacement, I'm good with that.

Chocolate Banana Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie

2 small or 3 medium bananas (I use over-ripe, frozen bananas, they're super sweet!)

1 scoop (1/3 cup) chocolate protein powder*

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup plain or vanilla yogurt

1 tbsp hemp seeds

1 1/2 - 2 cups milk of choice

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth.

*If you don't have chocolate protein powder, use vanilla flavoured protein powder and add 1 tbsp of cocoa powder.

Need more smoothie inspiration?

   

Tweet

Banana Mango Pineapple Protein Smoothie

Holy moly, fresh produce is expensive right now.

I'm grateful for all of the frozen fruit in my freezer.  It's been handy for all the smoothie making that's been going on around here.

I usually just toss things into the blender on the fly, and most of the time the end result is great, although I have to admit to a few disasters that I ended up choking back because no one else would drink them.

This banana mango pineapple smoothie was gone in seconds.  It was that good.

Banana Mango Pineapple Protein Smoothie

2 medium size bananas (I use over-ripe, frozen bananas)

1 cup pineapple chunks, fresh or frozen

1 cup frozen mango chunks

1 scoop (1/3 cup) vanilla protein powder 

1 cup vanilla Greek yogurt

2 prunes (dried plums)

1 tbsp flax seeds

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 1/2 - 2 cups unsweetened almond milk (or any milk of choice)

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. I use a Blentec blender and it mixes things up beautifully. If your blender is less powerful, you may want to process your flax seeds in a spice mill or coffee grinder first.

Looking for more smoothie recipes?  Try these!

      

Tweet

Egg Nog Pancakes

Breakfast this morning provided the perfect opportunity to use the egg nog lurking in the fridge since Christmas.  

Egg Nog Pancakes!  I used my Classic Buttermilk Pancake Recipe, and substituted egg nog for a cup of the buttermilk in the batter.  An easy switch that resulted in a great batch of pancakes.

I'm thinking I can use the rest in a batch of banana bread, since we've got some perfectly browned bananas waiting to be baked into something.

How do you use up leftover egg nog?

Egg Nog Buttermilk Pancakes

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup buttermilk*

1 cup egg nog

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Whisk together the buttermilk, egg nog, vanilla, melted butter and eggs in a separate bowl until well combined.

*If you don't keep buttermilk on hand, make your own buttermilk with one tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar for each cup of milk. Put the tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar in your measuring cup, then add the milk to measure one cup of buttermilk. Allow to sit for a few minutes before combining with the other ingredients.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients. Allow batter to sit for a few minutes.

Lightly butter a large frying pan and set over medium heat. Use a 1/3 cup of batter for each 6” pancake. Flip each pancake when bubbles form on the surface and the edges begin to brown, 2-3 minutes. If your pancakes brown too quickly, turn heat down to medium-low. Cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes or until browned.

Serve right away or keep warm in a low oven while you cook the remaining pancakes.

Maple syrup is required :)

Tweet

Italian Meatloaf

I think I've made meatloaf half a dozen times in all my years as a grown-up that cooks.  Four of those times have been in the past six months, because this recipe has turned a meat loaf hater into a meat loaf lover.

Half ground beef, half ground turkey, and a handful of spinach.  Meatloaf healthified.

Seasoned croutons instead of bread, soaking in milk and spices.

Add an amazing tomato topping....

... and you've got the best meatloaf ever.

Italian Meatloaf Florentine

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1 pound ground turkey

2 cups Caesar seasoned croutons

1 cup milk

1 cup grated Parmesan

4 large eggs

large handful fresh baby spinach

2 tbsp dried parsley

1 tbsp minced garlic

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp basil

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 cans diced tomatoes, drained

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp dry mustard

5 dashes Worcestershire sauce

pinch cayenne pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine meat, eggs, Parmesan, and spinach in a large bowl and roughly mix together.  In a separate bowl, soak croutons in milk until slightly softened.  Mash together with spices and add to meat mixture.  Mix together by hand until well combined.

In a separate bowl, mix together drained tomatoes, brown sugar, mustard, cayenne, and Worcestershire.

Form the meat mixture into a loaf and place on a drip pan (an oven pan with a slotted tray on top), then spoon the tomato mixture over the top.

Tent the pan with foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue baking for 30-40 minutes more, until the internal temperature is 160° and the meatloaf is no longer pink in the middle.  Cut into thick slices to serve 8-10.

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman's Italian Meatloaf recipe.

Thank you for featuring me!

   

Tweet