Beef Quesadilla with Tomato Salsa

I sort of cobbled this one together from the Turkey Quesadilla in the new Holiday Favourites. Seriously yummy.

Start with one batch of the new Nacho Dip:

3 Tbsp Nacho Dip Mix
1/2 c light cream cheese
1/2 c light sour cream (I used light mayo)
1/2 c shredded cheddar
Put it in the dip baker (or casserole dish) and bake at 350 till bubbly. In the meantime:

Taco Meat
1 lb lean ground beef
1 cup water
3 Tbsp VE Taco Seasoning
Browned the meat and then add the water and seasoning. Once the dip comes out of the oven, spread the dip across a soft tortilla until it's a thin layer. Spread a couple of spoons of the meat across the dip. Sprinkle some of the VE Red Bell Pepper over the meat then sprinkle a little more shredded cheddar on top of that. Top it with another tortilla shell and put it in a 350 oven on a baking sheet for 8 minutes. At the 8 minute mark, flip it over (you have to use a dinner plate for this maneuver as I learned on the first one when I attempted to just use a big spatula) and put it back in for another 8 minutes.

Cut it into 6 pieces and serve with the usual taco things like salsa, sour cream, and guacamole.

Again, seriously yummy. A dinner guest (Will) was heard to say "I guess I DO like Mexican food."

K,J

Beefy French Onion Soup

Just to remind everyone that we're still here, I guess.

In the new year, we're switching to a new blogging application so you'll each be invited to the new one with new login info, but in the meantime... we're still here.

7 small onions, cut in 1/2" slices
1 Tbsp butter, melted (I used way more)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 dried bay leaves
1 1/2 lb beef stew meat
31 1/2 oz condensed beef consommé (otherwise known as 3 cans)
1/4 c dry sherry or apple juice (I used juice)
1 c apple juice
1/4 tsp dried thyme
8 slices 1/2" thick bread (I toasted)
2 c shredded Swiss (mozzarella ws in crock pot. Top with bay leaf and beef (you don't have to brown it and it's better if you don't) and cook on low for 9-10 hours.

Stir in consommé, juice and thyme and cook on high for 10 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and ladle into oven proof bowls, top with toast and cheese. Broil at 6" for 3-5 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly brown (or you can take a blow torch to it like I did).

I know that it's not traditional to put the beef into this dish and the apple juice seemed really questionable but this soup is good enough to have made it into my recipe box on an index card (and you should see how dirty it is *wink, wink*).

K,J

Dandelion & Burdock!

In the continued tradition of my odd beverage reviews (No, sorry, I don't know where you can get Orbitz.), I decided to try Fentimans Botanically Brewed Dandelion & Burdock Drink (est. 1905). Well, the funky pizza place had forgot to put my pizza in and told me to grab a drink for free while I waited. This is what I chose.

Dandelion and Burdock is an odd little drink, sort of like Moxie, but a little sweeter. It's not bad. It tastes like a bitter, fizzy cough syrup, and yet with a delightful bubble gum after taste. I'm not sure if the bubble gum taste comes from the dandelion or the burdock, as I don't really know what either tastes like. (There's also ginger extract in it too.) It is, as they say, an acquired taste. As it "breathes," I noticed that it gets less fizzy and tastes less bitter, while the bubble gum taste is accentuated, delightfully so.

I think I sort of possibly liked it, but I'm not entirely sure yet. However, I definitely recommend it, if your funky pizza place forgets to put in your order and offers you a free beverage.

By the way, it's actually British, which explains why it's technically booze. Less than 0.5% alcohol per volume, so drink responsibly.

I Feel Bad For People Who Didn't Eat At My House Last Might

This started as a Peak of the Market recipe. I usually find their recipes to be hit or miss but I think this one was definitely a hit. It's supposed to serve 8 and I have no problem believing that as I made four of the individual pies and still have plenty of the filling left.

Sausage & Mushroom Pie
3 lbs Italian sausage, casings removed
1 lb sliced mushrooms
1 onion
1/4 c flour
1 1/4 c beef stock
2 c sour cream (I used light, 5%)
1 bunch fresh parsley (I substituted about 2-3 Tbsp VE Chives)
1/2 lb frozen puff pastry, thawed

Brown the sausage meat over medium in a large pan, breaking it apart in the pan. Drain. Add the chopped onion and mushroom and cook for 3 minutes or till starting to soften. Gradually add the stock and sour cream and simmer on low for 30 minutes (I think I left this for much closer to 45 minutes). At that point, stir in the green and pull it off the heat.

Now, the recipe says to pour the filling into a 3 L casserole dish and put the pastry on top but I split it into 4 medium sized ramekins and divided the puff pastry between them. (I love the individual serving). Nothing special about attaching the pastry, just center it on top and press lightly around the edges. You can see from the picture that I didn't even trim the crust but just left it square.

This tasted SO good and I used the Butcher's Choice garlic sausage from Superstore. I had some today for lunch reheated in the microwave and it was even better. I'd like to try it again with a traditional Italian sausage because I think the fennel seasoning would be a really good touch.

K,J

Brie In My Kitchen

This is one from the new VE Everyday Appetizers cookbook. I got the Brie Baker (because I'm a sucker for white stoneware) mostly because I wanted to test it out for size and because I thought it might be the perfect size for half batches of dip (it is).

1 Tbsp VE Pesto Mix
1 Tbsp VE Sundried Tomato Dip Mix
2 Tbsp diced and drained sun dried tomato
2 Tbsp hot water
1 small wheel Brie (yep, skin and all)

Preheat to 350F. Mix everything but the cheese in a bowl and let it sit for 5 minutes or so. Put the cheese in the baker, spread the schtuff all over the top, put the lid on and bake it till it's bubbly (about 20-30).

This was absolutely amazing spread over crackers and even someone who THINKS they don't like Brie (I'm looking at you, Erin) would totally be a convert.

I will definitely make this again and I can't wait to try the one with toasted pecans and Hot Buttered Rum mix.

And big thanks to Joe for making it safe for me to post. I totally twisted his arm.

Seafood Risotto Smackdown: Scallops vs. Oysters

This should really be two posts, as I've lately been playing with both Scallop Risotto and Oyster Risotto. Which works best? Find out below.

My seafood risotto recipe is very similar to the Sausage and Mushroom risottos I've done before with a few key differences, namely the complete lack of sausage and mushrooms. Also, I use seafood.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
32 ounces seafood stock
1 cup Arborio rice
Bay scallops or shucked oysters (usually a half pound)
1 T shredded parmesan cheese
1 T butter (if you're using the scallops)

If using scallops, pan fry scallops in butter for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Then set aside.

If using oysters, broil until edges start to curl. Most online recipes say for one minute, but my toaster oven broiler needed 5-10 minutes. Set aside, while saving the extra liquid.

Cook the onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about five minutes. Add the rice to the pan and cook for about a minute. Gradually start adding seafood stock and stir over high heat for 20 minutes. Once the rice is cooked add in the seafood for the final minute or two. (Here, if you’re using oysters, also add in the liquid from the oysters. Mmmn, oyster juice!) Finally, add in the Parmesan cheese to bind it all together.

2 servings

As for the battle between the oysters and scallops, in a bit of an upset, the scallops win handily. In general, I've always preferred oysters to scallops, but I think scallops just work better for risotto. Tonight was the first time I used oysters, while I've had the scallop risotto two or three times before. The oyster risotto was very good, but the scallop risotto was amazing.

Sometime, if the planets align correctly, I also hope to try this recipe with lobster. I'm thinking that will be pretty good too.

Good Good Food

I had so much fun today that it really saddens me to say that this will be my last post... until someone else posts something. Come on, people, it's turning into the Me Show again and, while I sometimes love being the center of attention, this isn't the venue. I know it's the summer and we're all a little further away from our computers (as it should be) but, really, I don't even have a barbecue! So it you've grilled something interesting, hell, if you've made a good cucumber sandwich, post it! 'Nuff said.

So I spent the afternoon in the kitchen at Young United Church/Crossways with a large group of strange women (I don't mean it like that and you know it) and one strange man (and I totally mean it like that (just kidding Tom)). This was part of a workshop with the Good Food Club. I became a member through the Veggie Van Market where I sell my jam on Thursdays. I'm not going to go into all of the details about their mission statement (seriously, check out the website. They're awesome.) but they're looking to heal the world through food and that's something that I can get behind (since that's pretty much what I believe too).

This started out as a workshop about using the fresh vegetables that are coming out of the garden right now. What it turned into was a free-for-all dinner where we all pitched in on each others dishes and we all had a turn at sticking our hands in dishwater. While we were all standing around at the beginning watching Kalynn start the sponge for bread, I dug around and put together some stuffed mushroom caps that we could munch on while we watched. It was good but I'd rather work on it a little more before I post about that one.

We had fresh whole wheat buns; a vegan lasagna made with lentils, tofu and spinach; baked nachos with fresh yellow tomato salsa; chocolate zucchini cake; and, mine, Kale in Peanut Sauce. I'd never tried the recipe before (Kalynn emailed me the basics just this morning) but Holy Smokes it was seriously tasty.

Greens in Peanut Sauce because this would work with collard or chard as well)
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T oil
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 pound (~2 big heads) curly kale, prepped and chopped (go to 2:10 in the video to see the coolest thing about prepping kale)
1/2-3/4 c water (broth would be nice too for steaming)
2 Tbsp chunky peanut butter
1 tsp hot water

Saute the onion and garlic in oil in LARGE saucepan over medium-high until they're soft. Add the tomato and cook for 2 minutes until soft. Add the kale in one big bunch and then the water. Steam it maybe 8-10 minutes until soft but not mushy. Stir it around frequently so the leaves on the bottom don't overcook. It turns the richest deep green and the leaves are so sturdy that they keep some of the ruffley look. GORGEOUS!

Mix the peanut butter and hot water together and add to the greens for the final minutes of cooking. It's not a creamy sauce that coats the kale though, it's more a light coat of peanut. Seriously tasty.

Breaded Pork Cutlet, um... Marinara

I hesitate because the decision to do it up like a veal cutlet was sort of a last minute one. I had originally thought to do more of a mushroom gravy sort of thing. However, I wanted to make some marinara sauce and you know how it goes.

Preheat the oven to 425F

1 large can diced tomatoes
1 large can chopped tomatoes
3 T Epicure Marinara Sauce Mix

Bring these to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high and simmer for 20. Meanwhile, set up two separate bowls for the following:

2 large eggs, beaten
1 c bread crumbs
1/4 c grated parmesan
1 tsp Epicure Pizza Seasoning (could have used a little more garlic, but then, I always say that)

Dredge 3-4 pork cutlets that have been pounded (excuse me, tenderized) to within an inch of their lives. Actually, about 3/4" would be okay. Brown both sides in a hot pan with olive oil. Meanwhile, spread a few spoonfuls of the sauce over the bottom of a baking dish. Place the cutlets in a single layer and top with a few spoonfuls of sauce.

1 c mozzarella, grated

Sprinkle the cheese over the sauce and put it in the hot oven until the cheese is brown and bubbly.

I put a pot of water on to boil as soon as I pulled the cutlets off of the heat. By the time the spaghetti was finished, the dish was ready to come out of the oven.

Verdict? Would totally do this one again, it was a wicked cheap meal because unbreaded cutlets are less than $2.00 for a giant one. I bought three and Colin had to eat his in stages, it was so big. If you're wondering why there's no picture, well, this dish is a little like me. Gorgeous, warm and wonderful to know in person but not exactly what you would call photogenic. So I've decided to treat it like an old cookbook and leave the presentation of the dish up to your imagination. Bbut i can tell you that it was delicious.

This One Fought Back

Basket after basket of peaches and this was the last day that I could really do them and still call them fresh (in fact, one of them didn't make the cut).

I started this way too late in the evening but, even though it was a long boil recipe, it should only have taken 15 minutes to gel (after the 10 minutes of cooking just the peaches and spices).

I started too late and also didn't realize until after I had started mashing all of the peaches that I didn't have anymore pectin hence the long boil recipe. Plus I'm a sucker for recipes involving cheesecloth.

Spiced Peach Jam
8 cups peeled, pitted, crushed peaches
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup water
6 cups granulated sugar

Tie 1 tsp whole cloves, 1 stick cinnamon an 1/2 tsp whole allspice into a piece of cheesecloth (YIPPEE!) and add it to the fruit, lemon juice and water in a large stainless steel pot. Cook gently for 10 minutes then add the sugar.

Bring mixture to a boil slowly, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil vigorously and did it ever! I have a tiny burn right between my eyes because this jam spit it at me. Every time I stirred it, it would rage up and start spitting again. Let it boil like that for 15 minutes or until it gels. (This is where things started to get a little hinky for me. It was nowhere near gelling after 15 minutes so I had to let it continue. I still don't know if it gelled but I had to take it off because everything was starting to caramelize. You should see how dark this jam is, with the spices and the darker undertones, I think it's going to be something special).

Ladle into hot jars leaving 1/4" headspace and heat process for 10 minutes.

I'll have to let you know about the flavour... and the gel of course.

What Have I Done...

...to the cherries? Isn't that picture positively gruesome? In reality, my hands looked much purpler. I spent the better part of my morning pitting cherries and, unless you want to see that on a regular albeit annual basis, Joe, I'm thinking that this little guy might like to join the crew here... maybe somewhere around Christmas time... am I being too subtle?

It was a good way to spend the morning and once you get used to that horrid sticky tacky feeling on your fingers and just start plowing through, it's not so bad. This is a recipe from a Bernardin leaflet that came in one of the boxes of jars. I can't wait to try it.

Sweet Cherry Preserves (says 6x250 mL but I ended up with 6 properly canned and then 500 mL just shut in a jar that I'll have to refrigerate)
4 c pitted sweet red cherries, cut in half
5 c granulated sugar
1/2 c dry red wine
3" stick cinnamon
1/4 c lemon juice
1 pkg BERNARDIN Original Fruit Pectin
1 1/3 c unsweetened pomegranate, cherry, grape or other "red" juice (their quotes, not mine)

In a large deep stainless steel saucepan, combine cherries, sugar, red wine and cinnamon stick. Let stand at room temp for 3-6 hours.

Add lemon juice and 1/2 tsp butter or margarine (to reduce foaming) to cherries and bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring frequently. Simultaneously, in a separate small saucepan, whisk pectin into unsweetened juice. Stirring constantly bring pectin mixture to a boil and then add to the cherry mixture. Bring the combined mixture to a boil that can't be stirred down over high heat. Boil hard for 2 minutes. Remove from heat, discard cinnamon stick and skim foam.

Ladle hot preserves into hot 250 mL jars leaving 1/4" headspace and then heat process in boiling water for 10 minutes. Cool and check seals. Store in cool, dark place up to 1 year.

Recipe Request - Erin's Beet Top Thingees

You know the ones that I mean. With the bread dough?

...And Then I Ate It

The picture's a little foggy because I was sort of juggling the cell phone but it was perfect that berry. It hung underneath a few leaves probably thinking that it was safe, it had escaped us on Sunday night when it was ready. There was no need to be concerned really, there was only one person picking this time and she doesn't always look under leaves as well as she could.

That berry was wrong. I looked, I found it...

Um, You'll Know That You've Eaten Some Bread

I'm not sure what possessed me because I got up and felt like baking some bread. Part of it was that I just couldn't shake the feeling that it was Friday and that I had nowhere that I had to be *shrug*. I was going to try making Pizza Fondue (I'll hyperlink that once I post about it) and through it would be good for dipping since I didn't have a baguette or anything.

Because of that whole Friday thing *shrug*, I started just a little too late for the amount of time that I really had (the really stupid thing is that, even though I had the Friday feeling, I had been reminding myself all day that it was indeed Saturday and that I had to leave at 2:00 to teach. What can I say, I'm an idiot.) so I had to ask Meag to hang around and pull the bread out at the right time. She did me one better and put a thin coat of butter on it when she pulled it out. The other ridiculous thing to do when under a time crunch is to try a new recipe from Jamie Oliver that requires, I think, a certain level of familiarity with bread dough.

Jamie Oliver' Basic Bread Recipe (from The Naked Chef)

3/4 oz active dried yeast (couldn't find neither a scale calibrated that lightly nor consensus on the internet as to what the Tablespoon equivalent would be. I averaged it all out to 2 Tbsp)
2 Tbsp honey (or sugar) (I went with sugar)
just over 2 cups tepid water (I went with 500 mL on the nose)
just over 1 lb bread flour
just over 1 lb semolina flour (if you can't get hold of any semolina flour then bread flour will do) (I figured out that he probably meant a kilo of flour as 2 lb is 908 g and 92 g would definitely qualify as "just over")
2 Tbsp salt

Dissolve yeast and sweet in half of the water. He does his bread dough on a flat surface and, while I would love to dry that someday, I just don't have the counter space so I used my giant bread bowl while the oven was warming. Measure the flour and salt into the bowl, make a well and add the yeast mixture to it. Gradually add the flour with your fingers (you know, that swirly thing they do when they make pasta). Add the rest of the water and once it's mixed, start kneading for about 5 minutes. He say that it will be a wet dough but I have to confess that I didn't read that line and added a little more flour as I mixed it, that would account for the heft.

Proof it in a warm spot for about 40-90 minutes (yes, that's the range he gave. With my time crunch, I'm sure you'll understand that I proofed for 40 minutes... just) or until double in size. Punch it down for about a minute and then shape it. I did one monster loaf that ended up taking up my entire pizza pan and a bunch of what he called snap bread. Mine are more like the breadsticks from Domino's on the snap-to-chewy scale.

Even with the flub, I would probably make this again. Taste? Pretty darned good actually. The snapbread is a little yeasty but it doesn't proof for as long as the big loaf. Density? Wow. You will know that you've eaten some bread.

Can't Talk... Canning

Isn't that just gorgeous. I've changed my canning configuration a little bit since that picture, I set everything on the stand next to my stove rather than lug around a 50 pound pot but the berries... mmmm.

Next Canning Adventure - Long Boil Gingered Rhubarb Jam

Okay, I'm getting some serious recall on all of those university chemistry classes and I would love to teach a class in this someday because it's really cool and everyone should try it at least once (but I always say that.

Again, straight out of the Bernardin book but I think I might can wee jars of this too, I see some serious potential.

8 cups rhubarb cut into 1/2" pieces into a deep saucepan. Wash and grate the peel on two oranges and one lime then juice them to measure 3/4 c (add a little water to bring the level up if you have to and don't forget to bruise the fruit a little to get every last drop of the juice out (just roll it firmly against the countertop)). Add the juice and rind to the rhubarb with 2 tsp grated fresh ginger.

Bring it to a boil slowly and then jack the heat a little until it's boiling vigourously (remember, it's got a lot of sugar so it'll get there fast, don't walk away!) Boil it for 30-35 minutes with as much stirring as you can do, especially toward the end. It gets this deep, brown-y colour as the sugar caramelizes and the ginger and citrus smell SO GOOD!!!!

Then I got to do a gel test for the first time. I didn't really get the spoon version so I had chilled a couple of saucers in the freezer and did it that way. Very cool. The best part was that I got to keep licking my finger and this is some serious jam. After that it's just regular hot water canning and I won't go into that again but will instead refer you again to tigress in a jam.

I also did some plain rhubarb and strawberry rhubarb jam as well (I think I prefer the plain rhubarb one).

First Canning Adventure - Rhubarb Pie!!!

Okay, I've been away for awhile, for those not in the know, my father passed away and I hope you have no idea the details and issues that you have to wade through when that happens. Having said that, life has a way of carrying on.

They're planning on selling the farm though so this was the last chance to get in and clean out the rhubarb before people start looking at the place so that's what we did (I say we because while Erin slaved in the sun with a paring knife and actually tackled the three plants (and defeated them!) I did my part by sitting in the shade under one of the trees and cutting stalks into 1" pieces). We have approximately 75 pounds of rhubarb and I'm learning that rhubarb is one of those plants that polarizes people. I love it in almost any way, shape or form. Stewed, baked, even (when I was younger) dipped in sugar and chewed. My father believed that mixing it with strawberries was an abomination and an insult to both fruits but he was a little hinky about stuff like that (aren't we all?).

So, straight from the Bernardin book and with very few changes (because this is like applied chemistry to me and I haven't done it enough to start tinkering yet). As a note, I filled in the newbie details from tigress in a jam (I LOVE her! She has a recipe for rhubarb lavendar jam and RHUBARB ROSEMARY JAM!!!) . This is how I canned something using only one big burner on my stove.

7 cups prepared rhubarb (I think I would actually add that extra cup because the last jar had more headspace than it should have, I don't know if it will work but I'll keep it in the fridge... or I'll make a pie today)
3 large cooking apples (I used organic Braeburns)
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup orange juice (I actually juiced a big orange and took it straight)
1 Tbsp grated orange peel (hint: grate the peel before you juice the orange, I know, it should have been obvious...)
4 cups washed, hulled and halved strawberries

Gently boil everything but the strawberries for 10-15 or until the rhubarb is soft and then set aside. While this is going on, I prepared the jars and water bath in my spanky new canner (spanky new jars too. I have memories of my mom and grandmother canning mustard bean pickles in everything from old Cheez Whiz jars to this one glass mug that we had that was shaped like a boot and originally came with aftershave from Avon... I kid you not. What can I say? It was a Father's Day Present from a 5 year old. Apparently, canning has come a long way since then in terms of food safety so I played it pretty straight this time and bought proper sealing jars.)

When the rhubarb was done, I put the water on to reach 82C, I even pulled down the candy thermometer. While this was on, I prepped the strawberries and added them to the rhubarb (oooohhhhhhh, pretty).

I did the main part of the bottling at the kitchen counter with the canner on the cutting board extension and the mixture on the counter (I know, I know, you have to have seen my kitchen to get that). I think next time I'll try to reverse it.

Filled the jars, placed the lids, did the fingertip tight thing and put the canner back on the burner on high to bring it to a full hard boil.

When the water was right, I moved the canner to the counter and put the rhubarb on to bring to a boil. While that was happening I went and played a computer game because it took a little while to get there. Fifteen hard boiled minutes later and I was pulling the prettiest jars out and placing them to cool. Minutes later I got to reconnect with my prairie girl heritage listening to the happy pings coming from the kitchen as the seals formed on the jars. They have to sit undisturbed for 24 hours so I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm off to... make rhubarb jam! How'd you guess?

Crack Dip Good

Somehow, the crack dip mix made it past the drug sniffing dogs at the U.S. border and into my kitchen. (Thanks, Jody!) Therefore, I too can attest to the addictive quality of the extraordinary crack dip. I made a half serving and had mine with Vienna Crusty rolls, although I find it also works well when eaten off one's fingers or off the back of the knife. You know, for those times when you're not willing to wait until it's spread on the bread.

This was the appetizer in my Two-Course-Meal! The main dish was Swordfish with the Tyee fish rub and some peas. This was excellent. I'm really enjoying the Tyee fish rub. It's such a distinctive flavor.

coconut sweet-slice

Originally this was intended to be Caramel Slice from my Kitchen Classics Picnic Hamper cookbook, but due to impatience and decidedly not enough coconut, I created my own desert. Hah.

125g / 1 c. self-raising flour
90g / 1 c. dessicated coconut
115g / 1/2 c. superfine sugar I used standard sugar
125g unsalted butter, melted

Filling
2 tins of sweetened condensed milk
20g. unsalted butter
4 T. honey
40g. dessicated coconut

Topping
approx. 1 c. toasted coconut

Preheat oven to 350F and lightly grease a shallow tin of your choice and line with baking paper, leaving thepaper hanging over the two long sides.

Sift the flour into a bowl, then mix in the coconut and sugar. Add the melted butter to the bowl and stir thoroughly. Press firmly into the tin and bake for 12 - 15 minutes, or until lightly coloured. Allow to cool.

To make the filling, put all the ingredients into a saucepan over low heat. Slowly bring to boil, stirring constantly, and let slightly caramelize. Quickly poor over the cooled base, spreadin evenly. Bake for 10 - 13 minutes. Meanwhile, toast the coconut in a frying pan over low heat, stirring constantly. Set aside. Remove tin from oven, top with coconut and place in fridge to set for at least 30 minutes.

When ready to serve, lift the slice form the tin and cut into pieces.


***this is so rich that a domino sized-slice is MORE than enough. VERY coconutty, sweet and goopy...delicious.

Faux Pot pies - both chicken and ground beef

So this evening I made a "pot pie" with chicken - it was some tasty!! Did it in my clay deep dish pie plate at 400 until the top was brown. It was really good!

1 chicken breast diced fine - small bite sized pieces
1 rib diced celery
1 small onion chopped
olive oil and butter
1 c VE Chicken Stock prepared
1 can Campbell's cream of celery soup (could use mushroom or chicken or whatever cream soup you have on hand)
1/2 tsp VE Pot Herbs
VE Herb & Garlic Sea Salt & black pepper
3+ c mixed veg, or so - I just use the stupid store's nn mix of carrots, beans, corn, peas and lima beans
1 egg
1/2 c milk
1 c baking mix / bisquick

1) mix soup and stock with pot herbs ans S & P, set aside
2) melt 1 - 2 tbsp of oil and a pat of butter in a skillet and saute the chicken, and onions and celery, cook until onions are soft. add veg and saute for a bit more. turn off heat
3) add soup mixture to hot skillet and stir in gravy with veg and chicken.
4) pour the chicken/veg mix into the bottom of a pie pan (grease at your own discretion)
5) in a medium mixing bowl beat egg, add baking mix and milk. mix with a fork and pour over meat in pie plate.
6) bake at 400 until the biscuit top is brown ~ 30 minutes

A few weeks ago I did the same thing with ground beef. I used beef stock and Campbell's cream of mushroom soup (half fat) and instead of pot herbs, I used VE Herb and Garlic Dip mix and 3 onion dip mix instead of a real onion.

Lemon Chiffon Blueberry Squares

Yields 1 8 " square pan = 12 squares

2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp VE Lemon Chiffon Fruit Dip Mix
2 Tbsp softened butter
1 c all purpose flour
3 Tbps milk
3 eggs
1/4 c + 2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp VE Lemon Chiffon Fruit Dip Mix
1/3 C flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 C fresh or frozen blueberries

1) preheat oven to 350 F
2) prep crust by beating 2 Tbsp sugar and2 Tbsp lemon chiffon with butter until light and creamy. Continue to beat, gradually adding flour and milk until mixture resembles fine crumbles. - I did this in my stand mixer
3) press crust mixture into bottom of an ungreased baking pan or pyrex dish. Bake 15 minutes and cool on wire rack.
4) beat eggs with 1/4c + 2Tbsp sugar and 2 Tbsp lemon chiffon until foamy. Quickly mix in flour and baking powder. pour over cooled crust.
5) evenly sprinkle blueberries over top, allowing some to sink into batter
6) bake in a preheated oven for 35 minutes or until set. cool and cut into squares

Was good, but I've had better lemon bars

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

Have made this one for the kids a few times - very scrummy indeed! From dining alfresco

Serves 2

1 c milk
1/2 c fresh/frozen strawberries
1/2 banana - I have just pitched the whole thing in
1/4 c low-fat plain yogurt
1 Tbsp VE Summer Berry Fruit Dip Mix

blend and serve!

Peach Smothie

This one is tasty and would be even better frozen as a popsicle treat - yummy!!

2 c fresh or frozen peaches - I used canned
1 Tbsp VE Maple Spice Fruit Dip Mix
3/4 c orange juice
1 c low-fat plain yogurt
1/2 vanilla

put it in the blender and push the button fool!

Savoury Tomato Crumble

This is the other recipe we tried yesterday eve. This one is from the VE home comforts cookbook, and was tasty, but next time I would scoop out the tomatoes, chop up the pulp and mix it with about 80 % of the breadcrumb crumble and then put it back into the hollowed out tomato halv, then top with the remainder of the breadcrumb topping and bake it. I would make it again, but scooped!

4 large tomatoes, halved - we used 3
1/4 c olive oil, divided
1 Tbsp VE Bruschetta Herbs
VE S & P to taste
2 c fresh, soft breadcrumbs - Jody used a whole wheat bun
2 tsp VE Pesto Herb mix
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

1) Preheat oven to 400 F
2) gently toss the tomato halves with 2 Tbsp olive oil and the bruschetta herbs
3) arrange tomatoes cut side up in a shallow, oven-proof dish. Season with VE S & P, to taste
4) combine breadcrumbs, VE pesto herb mix and parmesan with remaining oil in a small mixing bowl
5) sprinkle tomatoes with breadcrumb mix. Bake for 20 mins, or until topping is golden.

Serving Tip - Serve with grilled fish or chicken breasts

Southwest Turkey Burgers

So Jody was over for dinner, and we tried out a few new recipes - this one and the tomato crumble. The burgers were tasty with a bit of zip - I thought so more than others, but Liam ate his whole burger, so ...

1 egg, beaten
2 Tbps (30ml) water
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp (15 ml) Ve 3 onion Dip mix
1 Tbsp VE Louisiana Hot & Spicy dip mix
1 lb lean ground turkey
1/4 c breadcrumbs - I used dry
1/2 tsp each S & P

1) whisk 1st 5 ingredients together in a large mixing bowl - I used my stand mixer
2) mix in turkey, bread crumbs and S & P to taste
3) form patties - the book says 4 @ 1/2" Jody made 5 with 2 smaller for the little guys
4) Cook for 10 minutes on greased grill over med-high heat with lid closed, flip once and cook until thermometer is at 176 - I BBQed them to 185
5) Serve on crusty or whole wheat buns with lettuce, tomatoes, etc

Classic Potato Salad a la Erin

This one is from the dining alfresco VE cookbook. It was tasty with a bit of salt, and has the potential to be tarted up a bit from there. I made a few modifications noted in purple. I added way more potatoes but left the mayo unchanged and it was plenty gooey as it was and I also used less egg - personal preference.

1 c (250 ml) low-fat mayo
1 tsp (5 ml) Dijion-style mustard - optional - I used it
2 tsp (10 ml) VE Lemon Dilly Dip Mix
VE Sea Salt & VE pepper to taste - I used the VE Herb & Garlic Sea Salt
4 C (1 L) cooked diced potatoes - I used a hearty 1 L
4 green onions, sliced - I used 3 onion dip mix - a scant tsp
6 hard boiled eggs, sliced - I used 2 and diced them not too small

1) Whisk together mayo, mustard, lemon dilly, (3 onion if you're using it), S & P in a large bowl
2) add remaining ingredients, toss and serve. I think I dressed it with a bit of VE Chives - next time I will add some Lousianna Hot & Spicy in the dressing and sprinkled for colour.

What's with no pictures?

Have been trying in vain for a bit now to post the picture that I took of the greek meal. Can't do it even in edit html mode. it's weird - what gives?

My Amazing Greek Meal !!!!!

So for dinner, I let myself go, and the result was an amazing greek meal that I really enjoyed (as did the guys) So we had greek salad, chicken souvlaki with taziki sauce, rice, veg, hummus and pita. yyyyyuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!

Greek Salad

VE Greek salad dressing (recipe from the side of the dressing mix bottle)
2 Tbsp Greek salad dressing mix
1/2 c olive oil
1/3 c red wine vinegar
Romaine lettuce clean and preped for salad
cucumber chopped rough
tomato sliced largish
red/yellow/orange/green pepper chopped
red onion
feta
black olives

or whatever you have in your fridge for salad

Toss lettuce and veg, olives and feta with dressing

Chicken Souvlaki (from the VE Greek with Gusto recipe selection cookbook)

1/4 c VE Chicken stock
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp VE Greek Seasoning
1 Tbsp VE Souvlaki Seasoning
4-6 skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into strips or cubes
baboo skewers, pre-soaked to prevent scorching

1. wisk the first 5 ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.
2. add chicken and toss to coat. Can be marinated in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 12 hrs.
3. Thread chicken on skewer (with red/yellow/orange/green peppers) Grill over medium heat - we BBQ'ed them.

Tzaziki Sauce (on the side of the Tzaziki seasoning mix jar)

1 C plain (thick) yogurt
1 1/2 Tbsp VE Tzaziki Seasoning
1/2 c grated cucumbers - drained
VE sea salt to taste

mix all together in bowl and let stand 1/2 hour before serving.

Hummus (from the side of the dip mix jar)

1 can (19 oz) chickpeas
2 - 3 Tbsp VE Hummus dip mix
3 Tbsp each hot water, lemon juice and olive oil
1/4 c tahini optional - I usually add this but was out tonight - I missed it.

Mix it all up in a food processor and let stand for 1/2 hour before serving with pita.


I also served rice and steamed mixed veg (green and yellow beans and carrots with some peas thrown in for good measure)

All easy and super tasty!!!

Tri-Colour Italian Pasta Salad

I wish I could claim this one but, to be honest, even though I made it, it came from an Epicure cookbook. Dining Alfresco (which I've made a surprising number of things out of now that I've paged through it again).

4 c bite-sized pasta (I used rotini as it is my pasta salad pasta of choice)
2 c broccoli florets
1 recipe prepared VE Verde Vinaigrette
1 red bell pepper, coarsely diced
1 green bell pepper, coarsely diced
2 c halved cherry tomatoes
1 c cubed mozzarella cheese
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Cook the pasta al dente.
Steam the broccoli until tender crisp and refresh under cold water. Drain and set aside.
Whisk Verde Vinaigrette into large bowl and toss with the rest of the ingredients to coat. Season as you wish.

I'm going to make this tomorrow for my lunches over the next couple of days.
K,J

Recipe request : Jody's pasta salad

Red alert! Jody, I am in need of one of your recipes, and after fruitless scouring the BBA in hopes you had posted it, I am left empty handed for my impending BBQ party.

As best I can recall, it was rotini, and had cherry tomatoes, raw brocoli and cubes of mozzarella cheese in some kind of yummy dressing. If it rings any bells, I would love to recreate this splendid dish!

Delicious Cake Futures

NPR: Sweet Memories Of A Snack Food Financial Scheme

I've been meaning to post this little parable about cake and the world economy. This sounds a little too good to be true, but, hey, it's a good story. Jody, you should look into this. I would totally buy cake futures!

Craig's Macaroni and Cheese

Well, I'm not sure who this Craig guy is, but his name is on the recipe, and it's a pretty good recipe. I love cheese, but I've always thought Macaroni and Cheese could be a bit bland at times. This one, though, is pretty good. It's got enough onions in it, so that it almost tastes like French Onion Soup.

8 ounces macaroni (or in this case cavatappi)
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/4 cup flour
1 1/3 cup milk
6 ounces mature cheddar, shredded (I mixed Dubliner and cheddar, since I only had 3 ounces of cheddar)
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 shredder (not really an ingredient, but I didn't actually own one.)

Cook pasta in boiling water.
Heat butter in pan and gently cook onion and garlic for 5 minutes.
Stir flour and milk into pan, and blend into onion and garlic.
Whisk to make into smooth sauce and bring to a boil.
Add 4 ounces of cheese and the mustard.
Heat gently for a couple of minutes.
Drain pasta, add to pan, and mix well.
Transfer to casserole dish.
Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
Broil in onion for about five minutes until golden and bubbling.

Like I said, it was very tasty, and I have a whole lot left over for tomorrow night. Kudos, Craig!

Oven EpiCrisped Drumsticks

As you have seen, I've spent most of the day doing all things Epicure and this was the ultimate ending to it. The original recipe was in the Epicure Dining Alfresco cookbook (which unfortunately isn't around anymore).

12-16 chicken drumsticks
1 recipe prepared VE Caesar Dressing
3 cups crushed up Rice Krispies (the original recipe called for cornflakes and... you know)

Preheat the oven to 375F.
Coat drumsticks in dressing by shaking in a large plastic bag. Discard the leftover dressing. Dip chicken in crumbs to coat and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes or until thermometer reads 170F.
Chill thoroughly (I ate mine hot though and it was still absolutely scrumptious. Meag ate hers cold later in the evening and said that it was really good then).

I also made the Potato Salad that I made before. The cut veggies went into Dion Tarragon dip (is it obvious that the Epicure order came in today and I finally had spices again?)

Epicure Caesar Dressing

This is just the workhorse dressing from the side of the bottle. Very rarely do I actually add the extra garlic to this recipe, although sometimes I do.

2 Tbsp VE Caesar Dressing Mix
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 crushed garlic cloves
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c milk
1/4 c parmesan cheese

Whisk it all together and serve. If you're doing it in advance, just don't add the parmesan until the last minute because it soaks up a lot of the liquid and you won't be able to pour it without adding more milk.

Apple Tuna Sandwich

No picture of this one but you'll have to take my word that it was really pretty. I've just started flipping through the Epicure A Healthier You kit and I've really wanted to try some of the recipes out of the cookbook included. This makes 4 sandwiches, I took two to Meag, I had one and there's enough for another sandwich in the fridge.

2 x 120g cans of tuna
1 apple, cored and diced
1/3 c low-fat plain yoghurt
1 Tbsp VE Guacamole Dip Mix
8 slices of whole-grain bread (I used rye)
lettuce

Fluff tuna with a fork in a medium mixing bowl. Add the apple, yoghurt and Guacamole Mix and stir it together. Divide it among the bread, add some lettuce and you're done.

I thought it could have used a little more yoghurt but the flavour was really good.

Peanut Butter Shake

I always get really excited about the possibilities of this recipe (I've tried different versions of it over the years) and, unfortunately, I'm always disappointed (sorry, Epicure). What I want is a creamy chocolate shake consistency with that banana base and the hint of peanut butter behind it all; what I get is banana milk with a strong peanut butter aftertaste and a faint chocolate smell. I still think it's got possibilities though so I'll keep you posted on the progress.

1 banana
2 c low-fat milk
1 c low-fat plain or vanilla yoghurt
2/3 c orange juice
2/3 c natural peanut butter
1 Tbsp VE Cocoa

lend it all until "smooth and frothy". Pour into glasses and serve immediately. This recipe is supposed to be for 6 servings but I think that splitting one banana between 6 people is ridiculous so I just called it 2 servings and took my lumps.

Blueberry Soured Cream Cake

Blueberries bake very well into cakes, as their purple skins keep in their juicy centres!

175g butter, softened
175g sugar
3 large eggs
225g self-raising flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. vanilla essence, 1 t. almond essence
4 T. soured cream (preferably 14% m.f.)
1 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen.

preheat the oven to 300F. Butter the base of, depending on what you would like, two standard cake tins for a 2 layer with shallower cakes, or 1 standard cake tin for a full, one layer cake.

Put the butter, sugar, ggs, flour, baking powder and essences in a bowl. Beat for a few minutes untill pale and well mixed. Beat in the soured cream and blueberries.
Tip the mixture into tin(s) and level. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes until firm to the touch and a fork inserted in the centre comes out clean.

For the frosting
1 packet of cream cheese
1 lemon, zested and juiced
icing sugar, to taste.

soften the packet of cream cheese and place in bowl. Beat with lemon zest and juice until smooth and add icing sugar to taste until desired sweetness is reached. Frost.

Citrus Macaroons

The extra-egg whites problem has been around for a long time, and its not surprise that macaroons have a long history. The Penguin Companion to Food tells us that they're found in cookbooks from the late 1600's! Incidentally, the word "Macaroon" is also the name of teh finest grade of grated coconut.
For those who enjoy lime or lemon and coconut, these pretty cookies are as good as it gets. Fresh with a hint of citrus, sweet but not cloyingly so.

2 egg whites
1/2 c. sugar
1 1/4 dessicated coconut, unsweetened.
2 T. pastry or cake flour
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. vanilla essence
1/4 t. lemon essence, 1/4 t. almond essence
grated zest of 1 or 2 lemons, or limes.

Preheat the oven to 300F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium saucepan, combine the egg whites, sugar, coconut and flour. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture balls up and pulls away from the sides of the pot while mixing. (about 6 - 10 minutes).
Remove from heat and stir in the salt, essences and zest.
Immediately begin shaping the cookies. Using two teaspoons, scoop up a spoonful and drop onto the prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until the coconut shreds have turned opaque and the cookies are very lightly browned on the bottom.
Lift the cookies, still on the parchment, onto a rack to let cool and firm. Peel them off the paper when they are cool. Store, once cooled, in an airtight container.
These cookies keep beautifully!



(as you can see, I let them cook for a wee bit too long...but I like them to have a little more crunch.)
(I used lemon.)

Ginger Salmon

I've had a couple of false starts with this recipe. I started to make it the first time and realized that I had thrown out my marmalade (I had vague memories of it crystalizing). The next time that I purchased salmon, I put the Tyee Fish Rub on it and then found the marmalade. This time I managed to get everything in alignment and I went ahead. I'll put the original recipe down and then tell you what Epicure-y substitutions that I made.

2 lb salmon fillet, skin removed
3/4 c orange marmalade
1/4 c sliced green onion (I substituted a few T of 3 Onion)
2 t dry white wine
1 t grated fresh ginger
1 t dijon mustard
1/2 t minced garlic (I substituted 1 t of Malay Seasoning for the garlic & cayenne)
1/4 t cayenne
1/8 t Epicure 5 Spice
3 T sliced, toasted almonds

Thaw the fish if frozen and rinse. Pat dry with paper towel and measure the thickest part. Sprinkle it with salt and pepper and place in a shallow pan. Mix all of the other ingredients (except for the almonds) and spoon it over the fish. Bake at 450F for 4-6 minutes per 1/2" thickness or till it flakes easily with a fork. Transfer the fish and sauce to a serving dish with a rim. Sprinkle the fish with the almonds.

It was really tasty and the marmalade softened out with a little bit of heat from the spices. I will definitely make this again but I think I'll spoon a little less sauce on each piece, I only had about a pound of fish this time around and I used the full recipe's worth of sauce. Still pretty good with rice and steamed veg.

Iced Moka

Okay, Meag asked for this for her birthday breakfast and it required a couple of days preparation. Her birthday was on Thursday so on Tuesday I started with phase 1: Chocolate sauce.

1 1/4 c water
1 1/4 c sugar
3/4 c VE cocoa
Mix it all together in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 3 minutes. Let it cool and keep it in the refrigerator until you want to use it. It's a little on the bittersweet side as the VE cocoa is pulling pretty strong in that direction.

Phase 2 went quickly on Wednesday night when I made some espresso and filled my ice cube tray. Coffee ice cubes were recommended and, when you think about it, it makes sense for a chilled coffee drink because meltwater makes iced coffee taste like suck. Coffee ice cubes help to maintain the flavour for the remainder of the drink. Having said that, coffee ice cubes are a complete pain in the butt. I also brewed another batch of coffee and put it the fridge overnight to chill.

The final phase had to wait until Meag woke up on Thursday.

2 c chilled coffee (I used espresso)
2 c milk
6 T chocolate sauce
12 coffee ice cubes
2 T sugar (this was my addition)
Throw it all in a blender and let'er rip.

Problem #1 (I am all about the numbered lists here): 12 ice cubes do not make nearly enough chopped ice for 4 cups of liquid so I ended up having to add a bunch of plain ice cubes to get the texture that I was looking for anyway (think Ice Capp)

Problem #2: My volume estimation abilities continue to falter when I learned that 4 cups of liquid and (even) 12 ice cubes will test the capacity of my food processor (my blender having bravely given its life during the Smoothie Frenzy of '07). It took about 10 seconds to start having major leakage issues all over the tops of my slippers.

Really tasty though and there's no reason that I couldn't cut the recipe in half and knock it out in the morning. I've still got a lot of that chocolate sauce left over too, mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Who Knew That Cute Animals Were So Tasty?

It just sounds so rustic (and I sound so snotty when I say it that way). I mean it in the best possible sense though.

I've had lamb chops and lamb sausage and ground lamb but I've never actually eaten a shank. It looks exactly like it sounds, like the wee leg of an animal and that was a little weird. I'm not normally squeamish about this sort of thing, I know where my food comes from and this wouldn't be the first time that I've eaten something vaguely recognizable (wouldn't be the first time this week for that matter. Ribs, anyone?) but this was almost too much.

I bought two packages of three spring lamb shanks and decided to just divide the recipe since I'd never tried it before. I was a little spoiled for choice for recipes but I decided to start at the source and I went to the New Zealand Lamb website as they're the ones that packaged it up in the first place. These are the changes that I made though (unless otherwise noted, the amounts were just halved from the original recipe).

BRAISED LAMB SHANKS

3 New Zealand Spring Lamb shanks
1/3 c cooking oil (that was the original amount)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c chopped celery
1 carrot, sliced
1 T VE Focaccia Seasoning (this was originally 1/4 t garlic powder and 1/2 t rosemary)
1 t rosemary (okay, this wasn't in the original at all)
1 bay leaf (that was the original amount, I picked a small one this time)
1 beef bouillon cube (that was the original amount because what fool is going to split a bouillon cube)
1/2 c boiling water
100 ml tomato sauce
2 T flour
2 T flour (originally 1/3 c)

I kept the oil the same because lamb shanks are incredibly lean on most of their surface and they stuck to the pan like nothing. Saute the shanks in oil till browned. Set aside. Saute vegetables in the oil in the pan for about 5 minutes or until they get all aromatic and lovely. Add the seasoning. (The original recipe called for dissolving the bouillon cube in the boiling water but mine were still fairly fresh and crumbly so I just crumbled it straight into the pot and added the water with the tomato sauce.) I deglazed with about a quarter cup of red wine and that wasn't called for but I like the flavor that wine adds to a slow cook like this. Stir in the tomato sauce and nestle the shanks into the boiling mixture. Cover tightly and simmer for 2 hours or until tender - stir occasionally (I went and turned the shanks over at about the halfway point). Stir together the flour and water until smooth. Remove the bay leaf and add the flour to the sauce. Cook until thickened.

I served it over couscous because it was the fastest thing to make. It was gobsmackingly delicious. Meag ate an entire bowlful of couscous to catch all of the amazing sauce. If lambs are this tasty, next I'm hunting wabbits.

Luscious Lemon Loaf

Joe noted last night that I was waxing rhapsodic about summer foods (I think it was the wish for a big bowl of potato salad that clinched the deal).

Lemon sort of goes hand in hand with summer for me and I was wanting to give this a try so...

1/2 c softened butter
3/4 c white sugar
2 T VE Lemon Chiffon Fruit Dip Mix
2 eggs
1 1/2 c flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 c milk

Preheat to 349F (or round up if you insist). Prepare your loaf pan with your removal facilitator of choice and set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar till fluffy and then beat in the eggs one at a time. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk and then spoon into the pan and bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden. Cool before icing with Lemon Chiffon Icing (1/2 c of "spreadable light cream cheese" with 1 T of VE Lemon Chiffon).

Okay, warning: this is not a recipe for a wee loaf pan, this is a big loaf. The yield said 5 oz which sounds positively scant (oh, barely over a half cup!) but when it's given in metric, the truth is revealed... 1.5 L. Think about that for a second, think about how big a 2L milk carton is! If I seem especially fervent about it this time, it's because I'm cleaning burnt cake batter off of the bottom of my oven this afternoon. In my defense, this gets a lot of loft for something that, in batter form, closely resembles a pound cake. It made for the edges of the pan like a champ and was spilling over in no time.

The other thing to note is that the icing is probably only meant to cover the top of the loaf. I really like the looks of loaves that have been turned over on the plate though, I think they look like big chocolates so I tried. One half cup is a ridiculous amount of icing to try to spread over a cake and I really shouldn't have tried (I'm a professional, I should know better) but... anyway. The icing is scary it's so good (especially after I whipped it) and you really wouldn't want much more than that on the cake.

I left the Lemon Chiffon Blueberry Squares recipe for Erin to try. Over to you!

Spaghetti with Mushrooms and Onion

This is another one of my simple meals. I had never tried this before, but it came out really tasty. Just cook 4-6 ounces of mushrooms (I had 4 ounces leftover from the other day, but I would probably go with more than that next time) and a small chopped onion in olive oil over low heat until caramelized.

Meanwhile, cook one serving of spaghetti. When done, drain the pasta and pour it into the pan with the mushrooms and onion. Cook all together for another minute, and you're done. Serve with Italian bread, and all is well in the world.

The meal ended up costing me just 22 cents (for the onion) since I already had all the other items, so that's good too.

And for dessert, try some oatmeal!