30 November 2011

Onward to Christmas!!

Well, tomorrow will be the start of a new and final month of this year. I can't believe this year has flown by. It seems as though every year I get older, the years seem to fly by faster. There is not enough hours in the day to do everything on my daily to-do list. *sigh*

Christmas is coming up quick. I thought I was close to finished my Christmas shopping, but I always find myself totally stressed out a week before Christmas, frantically wondering if I have Christmas presents for everyone, are they all packed, wrapped and labeled. This year, there will be one more thing on my list: Baking. I have always admired my mother-in-law with all the baking she does every year. This year, I have decided to do some of my own baking. I haven't actually decided on what I am going to bake but I hope they all turn out. :)

Anyway, before Christmas I will be doing lots more cooking, but here are some of our lovely dinners. Hopefully, I'll have time to post recipes to these yummies soon. Yes, the little ones have been relentless. Everyday, Alyssa tells me it's Chirstmas. *sigh* I think she's excited or something! LOL! Needless to say, blogging has been put on the back burner.  :(

Beef Pho with well-done and rare beef, beef and squid balls,
mint, Thai basil, bean sprouts, green onions, and coriander
Deconstructed California Roll with Tamigo
Pork Consommé with Chayote, tofu and
King Soba Organic Pumpkin, Ginger, Brown Rice Noodles
King Soba Organic Buckwheat Ramen Noodles stir fry with
tofu, carrots and mushrooms
Congee with Kimchi


Happy Cooking!! :)

25 November 2011

On the Road to a Vegan Thanksgiving - Part 2

Happy (belated) Thanksgiving to all my US friends! I wish you the most food and drink you have ever had. I hope you didn't forget to save room of dessert. :)

Last night, I celebrated with a Vegan Thanksgiving of my own. I had every intention on making Chloe Coscarelli' Harvest-Stuffed Protobello Mushrooms, but got lazy. I was running out of time. It was already nearly 6 PM and I hadn't even started dinner yet. (Yeah, I'm  a procrastinator!) So I changed it up a bit, but this was dinner:

Portobello Mushrooms stuffed with Cranberry stuffing served 
with Sauteed Brussels Sprouts and "Bacon", 
Mashed Potatoes and vegan gravy

23 November 2011

On the Road to a Vegan Thanksgiving - Part 1

I have been working on recipes for a very Vegan Thanksgiving tomorrow. It's not really Thanksgiving, since I live in Canada. We celebrated in October with a Traditional Turkey and Baked Ham. Yes, it was yummy and I don't regret it. However, to redeem my holiday, I have decided to celebrate with my fellow American neighbours , with a vegan meal. :)

Today, I did some prep work. I decided to make one my desserts ahead of time, Four Ingredient Pumpkin Pie. Instead of an actual pie, I decided to make put them in little shot glasses and didn't bake them. Boy, were they good. Especially, topped with some coconut cream. 

21 November 2011

Slow Cooker Pasta Sauce

Over the weekend, I made two lasagnas for my husband. Since I had to make tons of pasta sauce, I thought it would be nice if I could just make it in the slow cooker. So I gave it a go...well, it turned out amazing!  I am so happy it did. Whenever I need to make a ton of pasta sauce, I will be throwing it all in the slow cooker and leaving. :)

My beloved Slow Cooker. It's huge - 7qt!! LOL! 

20 November 2011

Eggs Benedict

I have been craving a good Eggs Benedict for days now, but last time I made Eggs Benedict it was a disaster. I think I was trying to make breakfast for too many people (6) all at the same time. The eggs were cold, the Hollandaise sauce was lumpy and the toast go rock hard. Just thinking about it gives me the chills. :S

A couple of weeks ago, I found an easy Blender Hollandaise sauce. It's not traditional, but boy was it easy and  super yummy! With this sauce, I can make Hollandaise sauce everyday. Not that I would, very high in cholestrol, but I could. :)

16 November 2011

Vegan Thanksgiving....kinda!

Recently, I have been in a cooking funk. I haven't been inspired to cook anything. In fact, I haven't really been craving anything either. Which is really weird, so I thought I was getting sick. Well, I'm not sick. Just uninspired....until today. :)

Thank goodness, I have crawled out of my funk - it's a cold, dark and foodless place. SCARY!! I have decided to have a Vegan Thanksgiving. I know Thanksgiving was in October, we'll it was for us Canadians. I guess I can  have it both ways - turkey in October and vegan in November. I'm starting to like the sound of this new Tradition. I shouldn't call it a Tradition yet, let's see how they like it.

Stay tuned for pictures and recipes from my upcoming adventure...My Vegan Thanksgiving! LOL!

Happy Cooking!! :)

10 November 2011

What's the best family vacation destination in Canada?

Recently, I was asked what's the best family vacation destination in Canada. Well, we really haven't traveled anywhere since I had my youngest, Logan. We haven't really had the chance or the finances. :(

On the upside, we did  advantage of my in-laws cottage. For years, we have gone up to their cottage, just south of North Bay. It's beautiful up there. The air is cleaner, and the night sky is clearer. It's one of the few places were we ALL have to be disconnected, from TV (only 3 channels up there), Facebook, Twitter, and even cellphone service. There are a few "hotspots" where we can get cellphone reception, like beside the kitchen sink but only if you are standing on one foot with the phone close to the front door. Ok, it's not that bad, but still pretty bad. LOL!

Our "secret" beach

Giveaway: Tassimo Gevalia Kaffe - Closed

I received a full package for Tassimo's Gevalia Kaffe. Unfortunately, I don't have a Tassimo machine. So I'm giving this away to one lucky reader. Also, once you receive the coffee, I would love for you to do a review of this product and post it on my blog. :)


To win, please leave a comment or tweet: 

I love Tassimo and wanna win! #theexperimentalcupcake

That's it. I will pick the winner with a random number generator and announce the winner on Monday! :)

Good Luck!!  :)

09 November 2011

Christmas is coming...

Today, I went to the mall with Logan. When I walked past one of the shops, I stopped. They were already playing CHRISTMAS CAROLS!! Are you kidding me!! It's not even the middle of November yet.

I really shouldn't talk, I have been Christmas shopping since the snow melted earlier this year. Honestly, I only have a few more gifts to pick up. But I was still shocked to hear the carols. The mall doesn't even have their Santa's Wonderland set up yet. Oh well, can't really stop it from coming. Can we?

Actually, I really like Christmas and the holiday, but I am a firm believer that it's a CHILDREN's holiday. Children should be spoiled, but us adults shouldn't have to stress over it. My kids are pretty easy with the gift giving. The little ones still like anything they can unwrap, it doesn't really matter what it is. Kat on the other hand, is Miss Technology. She loves her electronics. I really can't blame her either, both my husband and I are big techies as well. It just means her gift is usually something pretty extravagant. Since, she doesn't ask for much and she's an awesome kid throughout the year, it's worth it for us to treat her to something awesome once a year.

Since, it's really kicked in that the holidays are fast approaching, I actually need to work on my Christmas dinner menu. *Sigh* What am I going to make? Are we going to get some more renovations done before the holidays? Who knows...time to go searching for more yummy recipe inspirations!

How do you celebrate the holidays? How do you keep calm during the most stressful time of year?

Happy Shopping, Cooking, and keeping calm!! :)

08 November 2011

Vegan Gluten-Free Eggplant Lasagna with Romanesco Broccoli topped with Herb and Chives Cheddar Cheese Sauce

Yesterday, my mom gave me a very odd looking vegetable. At least, I think it was a vegetable. Originally, I thought it was a cauliflower, but after much Google searching, I found it is actually a cauliflower called a broccoli, a Romanesco Broccoli. Make sense? Nah, at least not to me. LOL!


06 November 2011

Gluten Free Chocolate Crepe with Mascarpone Cheese Filling

Last night I was having a major craving for Crepes. Mmm...crepes! So I did a quick search on my favourite food porn site: Tastespotting. I can look at food pictures forever! Did you know I kindA like food? LOL! Just kinda! 

Anyway, this awesome picture came up. A RED crepe. Then I read the "Red Velvet Crepe". OMG YUM! I dreamed about these crepes last night. Of course, I had to make crepes today!  :)

Gluten-Free: Made with Corn and Quinoa Flour

03 November 2011

Happy National Sandwich Day!! :)

National Sandwich Day would have be my husband's second favourite unofficial holiday. Second, only to National Grilled Cheese Day. My husband loves his sandwiches so much, I decided to create two sandwiches for this wonderful occasion. :)

For my first sandwich, I combined two of his favourite meals, Grill Cheese Sandwich and Lasagna. Best part for him was that I used Udi's Gluten-Free bread. I would have used some Daiya Cheese and Yves Veggie Ground, but I didn't have either. (Note to self: stock up on some Daiya and Yves!! ) I just used some ground turkey and regular cheese. This recipe is definitely going to be added to my dinner rotation. So, GOOD!!

"Lasagna" Grilled Cheese with a side of salad

Vegan Mushroom Tacos

As a last minute dinner, I decided to make some simple tacos. At first I was going to use the ground turkey I have sitting in my fridge. Instead, I opted for Vegan tacos, mainly because my wonderful mushrooms were looking like they were on their way out very soon. So Vegan tacos it was! :)

I love tacos, especially because I get to top the tacos with whatever I want. I tell my daughter, it's a la carte. Sounds fancy: Vegan Mushroom Tacos a la carte. LOL!

Kat loves tacos too, but tonight was a fight. She didn't want Vegan tacos. I told her I was going to make it out of ground turkey, last minute I didn't use the meat. She loved the tacos and I didn't have the heart to tell her there was no meat. Oh well, she'll know soon enough, when she reads this blog post. LOL!


01 November 2011

Review: Udi's Gluten-Free Bread

Yesterday, I picked up some gluten-free bread, but not just any gluten-free bread, Udi's Gluten-Free Bread. I have seen some other Gluten-Free breads at Whole Foods and other grocery stores, but I found, just by touching the loaf, they seem really dense and dry. So I was holding out for Udi's. Especially because Jax from Gluten-Free Ontario suggested it as well.

Cinnamon Raisin
White Sandwich
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
 
;