Ultimate Recipe Swap - Favourite Fall Dish

My favourite fall dish to make would be homemade mac & cheese.

My son is sick of sandwiches for lunches and has requested I make enough of this on the weekend so that he has lunches all week (and a few dinners).

I don't really have a set recipe - I improvise.

Melt a couple tbsps of butter

Add couple tbsps of flour to melted butter

Wisk together and allow to cook for a few mins

Add some milk

Add some more milk - prob 2 cups total

Add garlic powder, seasoning salt & pepper

Mozza, cheddar & Velveeta cheese

Mix in grated cheeses

Stir till melted and combined

Stir some more

Add mustard powder & onion powder (I forgot before)

Add Velveeta

Wisk until smooth

Once water has boiled...

throw in some pasta

Decided at this point to make taco mac & cheese and added some cumin & chili powder

Remix

Add sauce to cooked pasta

Plate and enjoy

Can you see the spices? Yummy!

Ultimate Recipe Swap - Homemade Pita Chips

Today's Ultimate Recipe Swap is snacks.

One of my favourite snacks are chips. I discovered that pita chips aren't nearly as bad for you as regular chips and they are even better if you make them yourselves.

So what you need:

Pita bread - I buy the large ones (make sure you get the ones that separate)
oil spray or olive oil
your choice of seasonings and herbs

1. I cut the pita in half with a pair of scissors, then each half in half again until I get wedges the size I want. Then I split the 2 layers of the pita apart.
2. I lay all the wedges rough side up on a baking pan and spray them lightly with oil spray, such as Pam or you could brush them with olive oil.
3. Then sprinkle with seasoning salt, garlic powder, chili powder & basil.
4. I bake mine at 350 for about 12 mins - you have to watch them carefully and I also turn the pan - make sure they don't get too brown - they go from golden to burnt VERY quickly - ask me how I know.

These are very addictive so make sure you have lots of pita bread on hand :)

For more great snack ideas pop over to Life As Mom.

Ultimate Recipe Swap - Cooking for a crowd

Whenever we attend a potluck or host a BBQ, there are a couple recipes I always turn to, both for ease of preparation and for the amount they make.

Unfortunetly, I don't write down my recipes and just kind of wing it each time - so if you decide to make these, be adventurous, change them up a bit and make them your own!

Sweet & Sour BBQ Meatballs


Meatballs
couple lbs lean ground beef
finely diced onion
1-2 eggs
bread crumbs
garlic powder
seasoning salt
pepper
any other spices you may like
milk to moisten if needed

Mix the meatball mixture and then form small ping pong ball sized meatballs.
Cook in oven on broiler pan to allow grease to drain off.

Sauce
bottle of favourite BBQ sauce
same amount of ketchup
chopped garlic
thinnly sliced onions
couple tbsps of mustard
chili powder
onion powder
seasoning salt
couple tbsp brown sugar
hot sauce

Mix all together.  Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

Put cooked meatballs into large roasting pan, pour sauce over top and cook in oven at 350 for 45 mins.



Greek Pasta Salad

Cooked & chilled pasta  - I usually use spiral or penne pasta
sliced green olives
diced green onion
chopped tomato - I use cherry tomatoes cut into 1/4s

crumbled feta cheese
diced english cucumber
chili powder
seasoning salt
pepper
creamy greek salad dressing


I hardly ever have leftovers of either - but if I do, they are both great the next day (and the next :))

For more great recipes, pop over to Life as Mom.



This post is also part of the Tasty Traditions blog carnival at Coupon Cookin' 

Ultimate Recipe Swap - Veggie Week

This week's theme is veggies.

Here are a few of my go-to veggie recipes.

Roasted veggies - I usually make this in the winter or fall but it is great anytime.


Your choice of veggies - I usually use cauliflower, onions, mushrooms, asparagus & zuchinni.
Cut them all up to relatively the same size.
Toss them in either extra virgin olive oil or a favourite oil based salad dressing (e.g., italian)
Sprinkle on some seasonings - I use seasoning salt, pepper, garlic powder & chili (non-hot) powder. I sometimes add curry powder. Even brussel sprouts (shudder!) taste better (you didn't really think I would say they tasted good did you?) this way

Mix to coat all veggies, pour into a roasting pan and pop into a preheated 350 degree oven.
The cook time varies depending on what veggies you used. Mine usually takes about 45 mins.



Grilled asparagus - this is almost in season here. We eat so much of it while in season we actually get sick of it :)



Wash asparagus and snap off woody ends.
Toss with oil based salad dressing ( I use a sweet onion one or a sun-dried tomato one), add salt & pepper.
I usually stick a skewer through the fattest part of the middle and thread about 5 spears per skewer - this makes them much easier to turn on the grill.
Grill until cooked to your liking but not charred.



Simple salad


One of my favourite salads of late has been a simple green salad with red wine vinegar & extra virgin olive oil.
I wash and tear up romaine and red leaf lettuce.
I mix equal parts red wine vinegar and EVOO
I sprinkle all with salt and toss.

If I have any handy, I will also add diced avocado to this. It is simple and delicious.
I'm not an onion fan, but my DH loves his with thinly sliced red onion too.

For more great vegetable recipes, check out The Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life As Mom

Ultimate Recipe Swap - Vegetable Edition

This is my 2nd time participating in the Ultimate Recipe Swap at Life as Mom. This week's theme is Vegetables for a Healthier You.

Honestly, I'm not a huge vegetable fan. However, there are the few that I do like.

One way that I enjoy broccoli is in Frog soup (or non-cream creamy broccoli soup).

• Frozen broccoli - lrg bag - chopped small (I use my food processor)
• Chicken stock - 4 cups
• 1 onion - diced small
• cream cheese - 3 tbsps
• potato flakes for thickening - 3-4 tbsps
  
• seasoning - salt & pepper or seasoning salt.

1. Put broccoli, onion, seasoning and stock in pot.
2. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer - simmer for about an hour.
3. Take off the heat.
4. Using a hand blender - blend the soup until completely pureed (use a reg blender 2 cups at a time if you don't have a hand blender)
5. Return to low heat.
6. Add the cream cheese & potato flakes and stir until melted and thickened.
7. Serve and enjoy.

Another veggie recipe we use quite a bit in the winter is Roasted veggies.

1. I take an assortment of veggies, usually cauliflower, potatoes, quartered onions, sliced zucchinis, brussel sprouts and mushrooms, but you can use any you like.
   
2. I toss them all in a bowl with olive oil (couple tbsps, just enough to coat) and seasonings (again whatever you like, garlic powder, seasoning salt, chili powder)- sometimes I use curry powder too.
3. Put them all into an open roasting pan or pyrex dish and roast at 350 degrees for about an hour - stirring every 20 minutes. Check for doneness with a fork - they don't have to be mushy, just as done as your family likes them.
   

Even though I don't eat the brussel sprouts (DH loves them), and kiddo won't touch much of it, there is something in there for all of us.

For more healthy recipes, pop over to Life as Mom.

Ultimate Recipe Swap - Romantic Meals

This is a repost from last summer, but I think it would make a nice romantic meal.


My tip today is two great recipes - one I found online,and one I created/modified myself.


I found this great Meat Stuffed Pasta Shell recipe and just had to give it a try - it was fabulous!

I modified the recipe slightly, I added fresh chopped baby spinach to the top of the meat stuffed shells, sprinkled Parmesan cheese on each, spooned sauce on each and then a bit of grated mozzarella cheese last. I also skipped the parsley and red wine because I didn't have any.

Note: I bought the jumbo shells. The recipe made about 23 filled shells. Enough for 3 adults and 1 child for dinner, plus two adult lunches. 4 shells is all I could eat - and I CAN eat :)


With it I made my version of bruschetta - recipe follows.


Bruschetta (I don't have measurements - I wing it - sorry)

• Diced roma tomatoes
• finely chopped garlic
• chopped cilantro (basil is traditional)
• small glug olive oil
• small glug balsamic vinegar
• finely diced red onion (I leave this out because I don't like them and just sprinkle them on DH's pcs at the end)
• salt & pepper

1. Mix it all together and put in fridge at least an hour before needed - longer is better.
2. I cut thick slices of Italian bread, brushed them with chopped garlic and olive oil and then had DH grill them lightly.
3. Top with bruschetta mix (drain the juices before putting on the toast) and then crumble feta over.

I added a salad to round out the meal - it was a winner!

Even my picky "I hate pasta" father in-law loved it.