Uncle Frankie's Marinara Sauce

I come from an Irish/French Canadian/Welsh/English background. So on one side (Irish/French), I have a very big, loud, bilingual, traditional family. Well, traditional in that we celebrate EVERY occasion with a big party and food. Lots of food. And add to this wonderful mix, my Italian uncle, Frankie. He can cook. Like really cook some amazing Italian fare. And we can eat. So it's a perfect blend. Now this recipe doesn't really have exact measurements, it's an on the fly, what are you feeling like today kinda recipe. And I love it! I make a big batch and then use it for every recipe that calls for a sauce. I use it in the baked chicken paremsan recipe and if I want a sauce with some ground meat in it (beef, turkey, chicken), I just cook up the meat, drain the fat, add some italian seasoning and then add the sauce. It's perfect every time! So without further ado, here's the recipe.

Uncle Frankie's Marinara Sauce
source: my Uncle Frank C.

Ingredients
2 cans of Italian tomatoes (Pastene or Primo), pureed in a blender
1 can of tomato paste
garlic (I tend to use about 6 cloves - use however much or little you like)
finely chopped onion (I use 1 small-medium, whatever I have on hand really)
Basil (fresh or dried)
Oregano (fresh or dried)
1 cup chicken stock*
salt and pepper
chili flakes, if you like a kick

*For the chicken stock, I tried the Campbell's ready to use stock and I didn't like the taste. So I tried using the powder from Loney and adding the recommended hot water (as per their instructions) and it was dead on!! Much cheaper on the pocket book too!

Sauté the onions and garlic either in a little bit of oil or spray the pot with cooking spray before adding them. Add in the pureed tomatoes and herbs. Next add the chicken stock and tomato paste. Stir it as you add to it to ensure it is well mixed. Let it simmer for at least 30-45 minutes on low.
Taste as you go and add missing seasonings, if any. That's it!! Very quick and simple! Oh and definitely tasty!!


Happy cooking!

Homemade Greek Vinaigrette

This is a recipe that I have been using since about 2000. I found it in the recipe calendar "Recipes Plus 1997" and gave it a try. Along with the dressing recipe, was a recipe for a nice salad. It was before there were any pre-made Greek salad dressings (that I could find) and the salad was exactly what I was looking for! Now, the salad was nothing special. Some romaine lettuce, feta cheese, veggies (tomatoes,cucumbers,red and green peppers, kalamata olives, red onions) and the vinaigrette. You have to remember to let your dressing sit because the herbs need to release their flavors and blend with the dressing. And so worth the wait! The flavor is fantastic and I love eating it because there are no preservatives or additives. Take the time to make this dressing, you will love it too!

Greek Salad Lemon Vinaigrette

source: Recipes Plus 1997 calendar

Ingredients
1/2 cup olive oil (extra virgin or I prefer light)
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp each of dried oregano, dried thyme and salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Whisk together all ingredients. Allow vinaigrette to sit so herbs can blend. I would make it first thing in the morning for an afternoon salad.

Enjoy!
Happy cooking!

A Pennant Banner

I have seen these cute material banners in people's pictures and on Pinterest. And since I will be doing a small type of business venture soon, I thought it would be a great addition to our set up. So I set out to make it. I picked up some material, you don't need much of it. I actually picked up some fat quarters and then some material from the discount shelves. I'll be honest, I didn't want to invest too much into decor as I really want my food to speak for itself! But of course the perfectionist side of me wants everything to be perfect and I think that decorating the table may help draw positive attention.
I was thinking spring/summer when I went to the fabric store, so that led me to pick these 4 different patterns.

Aren't they great spring colours?! I love them so much! 

I tried a few different sizes of triangles for the pennants and cut out the size I wanted onto a cardstock. I used my rotary cutter and mat to cut them out from the material. I am not making a huge banner, so I only needed 2 pennants of each colour. You need 2 pieces (front and back) per pennant. Put them wrong sides together and sew down one side, pivot at the tip and then back up. That's it! No need to sew across the top as it will closed up by the bias tape.

Then I pinned them to an extra wide bias tape that I had on hand. You could also use a wide ribbon, use what you have on hand. If you want a longer banner, then you will need more pennants. I placed the pennants on the inside of the bias tape and pinned them, slightly overlapping. And then I sewed down the bias tape and done! It didn't take long at all.

Once I have a picture of it pinned up at our table, I will definitely update this post to include it!

Happy crafting!

Menu Plan for the week of March 12, 2012

With my hubby being home for 3 days this week, our meals are going to be a little different because I will actually be able to prepare a little more or use the BBQ a little more. And we may stray from the menu more often than usual. So here's a "plan" for this week

Monday - Hamburgers on the BBQ

Tuesday - Pork or Steak on the BBQ, potatoes and veggies

Wednesday - Quesadillas

Thursday - Salmon, rice and veggies

Friday - Bruschetta Chicken bake, veggies, rice

Saturday - leftovers

Sunday - lasagna

So this is the plan. I'm sure it will change but I have a guideline to go by.

Have a great week!

Carrot Cake Cheesecake Bars

Here is another wonderful recipe that I found while browsing Pinterest. It is simple and it tastes wonderful. The site where I found the recipe suggested it for an Easter dessert. I have to agree, this would make a wonderful addition to any Easter meal. We usually have a cabane à sucre (sugar shack) Easter meal. No real surprise having grown up on the south shore of Montreal and yearly school trips and family trips to local cabanes. When I was pregnant with my son and my daughter was too young to sit through a meal at the cabane, I decided to change our usual Easter ham family meal into a cabane à sucre. Only real maple syrup, pancakes, scrambled eggs, homefries, bacon, ham, homemade baked beans, sausage and I'm sure there are some other treats in there. If I had this recipe, it would have been right in there. The carrot cake base has a wonderful spice to it and of course the creaminess of the cheesecake blends so well. I think the only thing that I may change the next time I make this (and it has been strongly suggested by my husband that it be made very often), I would use a homemade version of the cream cheese frosting. Once I find one that I love, I will definitely share. So enjoy every bite!

Carrot Cake Cheesecake Bars
source: Sweet Treats & More

Ingredients
For the carrot cake base
1 box Betty Crocker carrot cake mix
1 egg
1/2 cup butter (1 stick), soft

For the cheesecake layer
16 oz cream cheese, soft
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

For frosting (optional but I highly recommend)
Pre-made cream cheese frosting (I used Betty Crocker's version)

Preheat the oven to 350F.
For the base: Beat the cake mix, egg and butter until it becomes a thick dough. Press into a greased 9 x 13 inch pan. Set aside while you work on the cheesecake layer.

For the cheesecake: In a medium sized bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla and continue beating until creamy and smooth.
Pour the cheesecake mixture over the base in the pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the edges start to pull away from the pan. Let them cool completely.
Cut into squares and top each square with a generous dollop of frosting.

Happy baking!

Chicken brochettes and rice pilaf (and lemon potatoes)

I grew up in Montreal where we have a very diverse mix of cultures, which I love. It allowed me to learn so much and to taste so many different foods. One of my favourites is Greek. I just LOVE it!! And when I moved to Eastern Ontario, we found a great restaurant that does great Greek fare, Philos. Now that we are out East, I haven't found a great place. We have tried 2 places so far; one was an "it's Ok" kinda place and the other was an "um never again". There is one other place that we have yet to try, but going out to eat is on the back burner for the moment. In the meantime, I managed to find some recipes for one of our favourite meals: chicken brochettes, rice pilaf, lemon potatoes and a little salad. We did pasta salad this time but usually it is a romaine salad with lots of colour: red peppers, black olives, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, red onions and feta cheese. I simply replaced the lettuce with some fusilli pasta. And of course, you have to have the best tzatziki (or close to it). I have a great recipe for that too...but a later post will come with the recipe. For this meal, we used the Skotidakis brand found at Costco, it was great. There is some preparation that goes with this meal, but so worth it in the end. Allow for 3-6 hours for your chicken to marinate. I started my recipe late but lucky enough, DH worked late so the chicken marinated for close to 4 hours. And as DH put it, this is restaurant chicken! LOL, so worth it.
Note: I unfortunately don't have any pictures for this meal yet. We ate so late the day it was made, that pictures weren't an option. But I will update with some pics once we have this meal again.

Chicken Brochettes
source: thebestmomontheblock.blogspot.com

Ingredients
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch chunks
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
skewers (we have metal skewers for the BBQ or you could use wooden ones soaked in water)

For the marinade, combine the oil, lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, oregano and thyme in a large resealable zippered bag or in a bowl and add your chicken. Marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours. I flipped my bag every so often while marinating. Heat the grill and skewer the chicken once marinated. Grill for about 3-4 mins each side (I did 3-4 sides - I wanted some BBQ flavour on all parts of my chicken LOL).

Rice Pilaf
source: thebestmomontheblock.blogspot.com

Ingredients
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 med carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
1 small zucchini, diced
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 cups long grain white rice
3 cups of chicken stock or water
kosher salt to taste

Heat the oil in a pot and add the onion, carrot, celery and zucchini and sauté for a few minutes. Add the oregano, thyme and salt. Now add the rice and stir to brown for about 2 minutes. Add the stock, stir and cover. Simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is light and fluffy (about 20 minutes). ** This makes a lot of rice!

Lemon Potatoes
source: Australian Women's Weekly cookbook

Ingredients
(recipe is easily halved)
12 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice (fresh is best)
1 1/2 tbsp grated lemon rind
2 tsp dried rosemary
2 tsp dried thyme
fresh ground black pepper and salt

Preheat oven to 400F. Place diced potatoes in a bowl. Combine remaining ingredients. Once combined, pour over potatoes and stir well to coat. Place potatoes on rimmed  baking sheet and cook for 50 mins. I checked for doneness at 40 mins as my oven seems to cook faster.

Serve this meal along side a nice greek salad (romaine salad, tomatoes, red onions, cucumbers, peppers, feta cheese and some Greek salad dressing) and some extra tzatziki of course!

Happy cooking!

Mini Kiss Pies

While browsing Pinterest, I came across this cute idea to use up some kiss chocolates that I had leftover from the holidays. You could actually use any kind of kiss chocolate, but we had the plain variety so I went with that. I can only imagine what the caramel ones would be like!! It also calls for pre-made pie dough which speeds the process up quite a bit. If I had pie dough in my freezer, I would have used it, but I didn't. So I picked up the refrigerated box variety and although it wasn't the same as the homemade stuff, it was good! The pies were gobbled up, nothing left!

Mini Kiss Pies
source: www.picky-palate.com

Ingredients
1 pie crust, thawed (a refrigerated package contains 2 crusts, so if you make both double the amounts)
16 - 18 kiss chocolates (your choice of flavor)
1 egg white whisked with 1 tbsp of water
granulated sugar
powdered sugar

Preheat your oven to 350F. Unroll your dough onto a lightly floured surface and roll it if necessary. I used a 3 inch circle cookie cutter to cut my circles., but you could simply use a knife. Fold so opposite sides meet at the tip of the kiss and pinch together. Then fold the other 2 opposite sides and pinch at the tip. Now press the edges together to form a criss-cross. Continue cutting dough and re-rolling until you have used up all your dough.
Brush the mini pies with the egg wash and then sprinkle with some granulated sugar. Place onto a baking sheet with a baking liner or parchment paper. Bake for 20-28 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Dust with some powdered sugar and serve.

Happy baking!

Quick and Easy Greek Pasta Salad

This salad is a big favorite in our house, whether it's summer or winter, it really makes no difference. To make this salad come together a little quicker, I have opted for a bottled salad dressing, but if you have the time, you can definitely use your own salad dressing mix. I do have a great Greek homemade salad dressing, I'll have to dig it out and share it! This salad is a hit wherever we go. It is my go to salad for picnics or BBQs in the summer, basically I offer to bring it wherever we go and it's always welcomed LOL. There are no exact amounts, it's basically however much you choose to make. So pick and choose what you like and add however much of it you like. And of course, enjoy!!

Greek Pasta Salad
source: Margaret, Randee and Sandra

Ingredients
cooked and cooled fusilli noodles or radiator noodles (I use about half a box for us which lasts quite a few days)
bottled Greek salad dressing (I use Kraft Greek Feta and Oregano light salad dressing)
chopped red and green peppers (I use about 3/4 of each colour)
chopped and peeled cucumber (I use about 1/2 a small cucumber)
sliced kalamata olives
chopped red onions
halved grape tomatoes
diced or crumbled feta cheese

Once you have allowed your noodles to cool for a bit, add some of the dressing and toss with the noodles. Add in the veggies you have chosen to use and some feta. Toss again. You may need to add more dressing, I always do. And you may need to add more dressing when you serve it. The noodles LOVE to soak up the salad dressing. And voila! A fantastic salad with a ton of veggies!! Both my 2 and 3 year old love this salad and  always ask for more!

Happy Cooking!

Menu Plan for the week of March 5th

I am making this an easy week on myself as I'm my 3yo is sick and my DH will be busy with work. So it is a very simple meal plan this week. Things that take next to no time to make, which is just perfect this week.

Monday - leftovers from the weekend

Tuesday - Salmon, rice pilaf, broccoli

Wednesday - chicken fajitas

Thursday - spaghetti with Uncle Frankie's marinara sauce

Friday - Leftovers

Saturday - Homemade pizza

Sunday - roast beef, veggies and mashed potatoes

Have a great week!

Ham, Egg and Cheese Cups

These days, I'm seeing so many recipes to make in muffin tins. And they all look wonderful! I can't wait to try them as the days go on. I started with a very simple and straight forward cup recipe. I love big breakfasts but hate that the person doing the cooking is usually the last to eat while everyone else is done. So, I have been trying to find different ways to beat this as I love sitting together as a family to eat our meals. Some tips that I've come to use to help with this: cook the bacon in the oven leaving stove top space, when cooking pancakes or French toast - I keep them warm in a low heat oven and serve all at the same time and have a great partner to help in the kitchen :)
And of course, cooking your eggs in a muffin tin is another. You can do almost anything with this recipe and change it however you like. I have frozen these (my Dad LOVED them) and I also keep them in the fridge for the week for a quick and hearty breakfast for my hubby. You can also put one of the egg cups between a toasted English muffin for one of those famous breakfast sandwiches. Very tasty!

Ham, Egg and Cheese Cups
source: not really one recipe as it is all over the internet!

Ingredients
6 eggs
6 slices deli ham
shredded cheese
(options include: chopped peppers, chopped mushrooms, all sorts of cheeses, salsa, hot sauce and the list goes on!)

   Preheat your oven to 350F. Spray your muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Line each cup with a slice of ham. Once that's done, crack an egg into each cup. Use a fork to break the yolk. You don't want to try and whisk it with the fork as it will make a nice mess. Trust me LOL. Sprinkle the top of each cup with some cheese. How much is really up to you. And that's it!! Pop the muffin tin into the pre-heated oven and set your timer for 20 minutes. Now you have time to make the toast or prepare an English muffin for a great breakfast sandwich.

Happy cooking!