Classic Red Skinned Potato Salad

Well its been a busy couple of weeks around here. We had little guy #3 break his arm monkeying around outside. That was the first broken bone ever. Considering we have 4 boys, I think that's pretty good. Hopefully we don't have any more of those….ever!

We also placed 2nd in guy #1's hockey tournament in Duluth, MN……Always a bridesmaid. Hopefully we can take home first in our upcoming tournament. Fingers crossed.

I love potatoes…..and I love dill. I made this summer classic red skinned potato salad a few days ago. It was so good I thought I'd share it with you all.

The bonus part is that I used baby potatoes that were prewashed. So this was easy peasy. No peeling!

Here's the recipe….

2 lbs of red baby potatoes 
2 sticks of celery
2 green onions
5 hard boiled eggs
1 3/4 cups mayonaise
1/4 cup sour cream
fresh dill to taste
salt and pepper

Cut prewashed potatoes in half 

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Boil potatos until tender. Drain and cool potatoes in the refrigerator.

Chop celery, onions, cooled eggs, and dill.

Combine all ingredients into a large bowl and mix.

Cill for an hour before serving. Enjoy!

Nutella Multigrain Cheerios Treats

A sweet treat with a healthy twist. Just a few simple ingredients.

Say what?

Healthy multi grain cheerios marries nutella and marshmallow???

Yes! I made these little treats yesterday when the kids were looking for a snack. I didn't want to give them total garbage (we've been trying to eat healthy you know?).

I spotted the cereal in the cupboard and thought, "Why not?…I can make these into a nice little snack."

All you need for these babies is Cheeries (multi grain or honey will do fine), butter, marshmallow, and nutella. That's it! Easy Peasy.

Just melt your butter, add your marshmallows and Nutella

Toss in your Cheerios

Enjoy! These taste like a treat, but are packed with the goodness of multi grains from the Cheerios.


Nutella Multigrain Cheerios

Ingredients:

2 tbs butter
1/3 cup Nutella (more if you love it)
1 10 oz pkg mini marshmallows
6 cups of multigrain Cheerios

Directions:

Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the marshmallows and melt on low stirring frequently. Then add your Nutella and stir until incorporated. Stir in the Cheerios and mix until combined.

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray and pour in the mixture. Gently pat it down and let it cool.

That's It!

So easy right?

I'm going to need to pick up some more marshmallows so I can make these suckers again.

Blueberry Pie Oatmeal…with Chia Seeds

Who wants blueberry pie for breakfast???……..I do!

This Blueberry Pie Oatmeal is so healthy and delicious! What a fabulous healthy twist on a yummy dessert. 

I don't know about you guys but when my kids have oatmeal they keep trying to load on the brown sugar. So today I thought, there's got to be a way to get them to eat oatmeal without complaining for more sugar.

The solution was giving them "Blueberry pie". As soon as I told them I had made them blueberry pie oatmeal they gobbled it right up. They were asking for more "filling" of course, but at least it was healthy stuff.

So here's how I made it….

Cook up some oatmeal

You'll need these…

These frozen blueberries look so beautiful...

Put it all in a saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes…..

 Looks so yummy!…..

Blueberry Pie Oatmeal with Chia

Oats (cook as much as you need as per package)
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 tsp chia seeds
a pinch of cinnamon
1 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp corn starch

1. Cook your oatmeal
2. While oatmeal is cooking, combine blueberries, chia, cinnamon, water, and maple syrup. Sprinkle the corn starch on top. Mix all together and simmer for about five minutes.
3. Spoon oatmeal into a bowl and top with blueberry "pie filling"

Artisan Bread On The Grill ~ Baking Bread Outdoors....

I have wanted an outdoor oven ever since I can remember. Well ever since I first got married anyways. I told my husband "I want one for our 10th anniversary" That was just about 10 years ago. lol. I decided I didn't want to wait any longer and wondered if I could bake it on the grill at least. So last night that's just what I did. And it worked!! Such a fun option especially for those hot months when you don't want to heat up your house. Here's how I did it...

Pull out your ingredients 

Proof your yeast

Add the rest of the ingredients (Emmett insisted on partaking in this)

Mix it up by hand or a mixer with a dough hook

Let it rise

Cut the dough in half

Shape it into a loaf and let it rise at least 2 hrs

After 2 hrs looking nice and puffy 

Slash into the dough and dust with flour

Set it out on the grill (I placed an extra pan under the loaf pan for insulation as well a pan of water for moisture)

After 35 minutes (temp on the grill was 400 degrees F)

Looks so yummy!

A little bit of butter and honey on top. The kids are on this bread with honey kick lately. I gotta say I don't blame them.

And there she is....my dream oven!!

Artisan Bread 

Ingredients

3 cups lukewarm water

1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast

1 1/2 tbsp kosher salt

6 1/2 cups unsifted unbleached all-purpose flour

Instructions

Add yeast to the warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes.

Mix in the flour and salt. Kneading is unnecessary so you can add all of the flour and mix it up. Once I had it lightly mixed up I threw it in the mixer with the dough hook just until it had a uniform consistency and the ingredients were incorporated.

Allow to rise for 2 hrs, make sure to cover it so it doesn't dry out.

Split dough in half to make 2 loaves. I baked one and saved one in the fridge.

Shape dough into a loaf, stretch the surface of the dough all around into the bottom. Cover and allow to rise on a dusted pan for 40 minutes. (don't over dust your pan with flour or you'll end up with a bunch of really dark brown excess flour on the edges of the pan, I did that..lol)

Dust and slash the dough. Slash a quarter inch into the dough in two diagonal lines with a serrated knife)

Preheat grill for 20 minutes. If you have a thermometer on your grill it should read 400 degrees F. Also prepare a pan with water (not necessary but adds moisture) to place on top rack of grill. Place your cookie sheet on grill to create a barrier between the loaf pan and the flames from the grill to help prevent burning.

You can also bake this bread in an oven at 450 degrees F is you choose to

Bake for about 30-35 minutes. If you are baking on the grill you will want to check up on it to make sure it doesn't burn. Mine turned out perfectly at 35 minutes.

This is the basic Boule bread mix recipe from the book "Artisan Bread in five minutes a day" I adapted it to use on the grill.

Amazing Peanut Butter Cookie Recipe

Ok, So I just made these peanut butter cookies from Just a Pinch. They are so good. I usually make the flourless recipe on the back of the peanut butter jar, but I thought I'd try these. I am so glad I decided to try these out. They are not chewy like the flourless ones. But they are lightly crispy on the outside and soft and yummy on the inside.

I threw in some peanut butter chips and mini chipits. The chipits really brighten them up and the kids gobbled them right up. Sorry for the poor quality Iphone pic, but it's late, it's dark, and guaranteed these won't last until daylight. Follow the link above for the recipe. 

Have a great Saturday night :)

Amanda <3

What to eat???...March 15 - March 21

How many of you out there hate meal times? Not because you don't like to eat (hehe) but because figuring out what to eat has become such a chore. Or, when you do figure out what to eat, you're missing ingredients. I hate that. So I thought, You know what? I'm going to start posting my meal plan and the links to the recipes. I'm always wondering what everyone is doing for dinner. Because I need ideas. Not that Pinterest has a shortage of ideas by any means. But too many options can be overwhelming too. I'll post for the following week so you have a chance to do weekend groceries if you see something you like.
So here it is. What we are eating next week….

Sunday March 15

Breakfast- Dutch baby pancakes with berries from Betty Crocker
Lunch- Grilled cheese sandwiches and veggie sticks
Dinner- Spaghetti & Meatball with Caersar salad (here's a homemade dressing recipe, so much better than bottled). Make extra spaghetti for lunch tomorrow.
Dessert- Angel food cake with strawberries & Whipped cream


Monday March 16

Breakfast- Fried egg sandwich with cheese
Lunch- Leftover spaghetti
Dinner- Creamy chicken enchilada's from Kevin and Amanda, & Mexican salad with lime dressing from Natasha's Kitchen


Tuesday March 17

Breakfast- yogurt with berries and a muffin
Lunch- Egg salad sandwiches and carrot sticks
Dinner- Creamy roasted red pepper and cauliflower soup with garlic bread from Closet Cooking


Wednesday March 18

Breakfast- Steel cut oats with peaches and brown sugar
Lunch- Tomato avocado melt from Taste's Better from Scratch
Dinner- Tuscan Garlic Chicken from The Recipe Critic (this looks so good!)


Thursday March 19

Breakfast- Cheerios with strawberries
Lunch- Chickpea salad sandwiches from Lauren Conrad
Dinner- Melt in your mouth pot roast from Joyously Domestic


Friday March 20

Breakfast- Cream of wheat with brown sugar and raspberries 
Lunch- Turkey sandwich and grapes
Dinner- BBQ chicken pizza from My Baking Addiction


Saturday March 21

Breakfast- Finish Pancakes (Hoito recipe) from the Food Network. The Hoito restautant is a hometown favourite and is famous for their pancakes. I'm not sure why it's only got 3 stars. I think these are great.
Lunch- Roasted vegetable paninis from The Garden Grazer
Dinner- Pulled pork sandwiches from 100 Days of Real Food

So, that's it.  Hopefully my meny for this next week has given you some meal ideas.  Now I'm off to dig through the kitchen to see what ingredients I need to pick up today. 

Happy Saturday :)

Amanda <3

Strawberry Lemonade Poppyseed Muffins

Holy Smokes it's been a while. A long, long while. 

I had every intention of keeping up with my blog. But the baby didn't like that plan too much. Between the baby, the housework, the other kids, the business bookwork and hockey, I'm not sure how i'm still standing...lol. But I absolutely love to cook and bake among many other things. Not that I haven't been cooking in the past couple of years. I've got so many great recipes to share and organize and hopefully I can keep up and organize them all on here. 

So, while the baby naps and the other kids do their english, here we go..... Strawberry Lemon Poppyseed Muffins. 

 Wow. 

 My oldest boy is a huge fan of Starbucks Lemon Poppyseed Loaf. So I decided to make a lemon loaf at home. As I started mixing it I thought how fun would it be to make these into muffins and add a strawberry twist to it. 

Boy oh boy was that a good idea....

can you say Delish!...

um ya, half of the batch was gone in 5 minutes. 

So here it is. So fluffy and light, I'm going to have to make these again tomorrow. Four boys & 12 muffins, just doesn't cut it. 

You've got to try them out. 

 Strawberry Lemonade Poppyseed Muffins 
1/4 cup sugar
Juice of 1 Lemon 
3 tbsp strawberry juice (squeeze from berries)
1/2 cup butter 
1 cup sugar 
2 eggs 
2 tsp lemon rind 
1 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour 
1 tsp baking powder 
1/2 tsp salt 
1/2 cup milk 
1/2 tsp pure lemon extract
2 tbsp poppy seeds (more or less depending how much you like)
icing sugar for dusting

Start with preheating your oven to 350 degrees F. Line your 12 muffin tins with muffin cups.
Combine your 1/4 of sugar with lemon juice and strawberry juice. You might want to zap it in the microwave for a few seconds so there are no sugar grains It should be thin enough to so you can spoon it on the muffins after and have it absorb. Set the bowl aside.

Cream butter, add 1 cup of sugar and beat until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each egg.

Sift flower, baking powder and salt together.

Add to creamed mixture alternately with milk and lemon extract, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. (make sure you do this, it makes the batter texture just right).

Stir in lemon rind and poppy seeds

Spoon into muffin cups and bake for 15-18 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean.

Cool muffins for 5 minutes and then spoon syrup mixture over top each muffin slowly so that it absorbs a little into each muffin. 

Then while they're still war, dust icing sugar over top and then let cool.

These are actually best tasting once they've had a chance to cool and mellow.

Enjoy!

Torrone

The holidays are here in full swing and it has been mad around my home. Having 3 little boys sure can make Christmas special. But, it sure has been far more challenging getting my baking done with a little one yanking on my legs…lol. These gorgeous little gems are called Torrone, a traditional Italian candy.  They have totally become my favourite holiday treat. Not only are they so pretty and festive looking but they are amazingly delicious and EASY to make.  

Torrone


Ingredients


500 g marshmallows
500g vanilla wafers
500g bakeable jujubes
a few sheets of rice paper

Pour the marshmallows in a large bowl and place in the microwave. Heat for 20 seconds at a time and stir. Do not over cook. Just heat it enough to melt, and stir frequently.

Then in another bowl melt the vanilla wafers in the microwave, also stiring in 20 second intervals to ensure it does not burn. When melted add to marshmallow fluff, mix well. You can place the mixture in the microwave for a few seconds if you find it too cool to stir well. Again, be careful not to overheat.

Then add your candy and mix it together.

 Line a cookie sheet (10 x 15 in) with raised edges with rice paper (shiny side of the paper down). If you have to cut the paper to fit that's ok, but make sure to overlap it or your marshmallow mix will seep through the cracks and stick to the pan. I used zig zag scissors and it looked cute :) You can find these ingredients at your local bulk food store.

Once you have the rice paper down, pour the marshmallow mixture on the paper. This can be a touch trickay as it is sticky. Grease your hands so they don't stick as you press the marshmallow down. A spatula can also be really useful for spreading the mixture out. Keep working it until you fill in the pan from edge to edge. Once most of it is spread out place the rice paper on top as well (shiny side up now). 

Here's the fun part that kids will love. Place another pan inside (9 x 13 in) and step all over it. Stomping and pressing down to flatten the candy.

Put the candy in the fridge for a little while just to harden so it's easier to cut up. Using a pizza cutter is a great way to cut this treat into pieces. I don't bother making sure each and every piece gets cut into the same size. It gets eaten right away anyways, plus I like the homemade chunky cuts and displaying it on a pretty plate or festive jar.

The finished product looks so pretty and makes a great gift idea. I guarantee if you make this once, you'll make it many times over year after year.

Happy Baking…Happy Holidays….enjoy!

Amanda

From our house to yours….Merry Christmas

Pumpkin Corn Chowder

It's been so busy lately, but today I decided to clear my schedule so I could get some cooking and blogging done. I've got a few recipes up my sleeve that I want to share in the next few weeks. I know we're getting right into the busy holiday season now, but it's the best time to share new recipes with family and friends. This past weekend we were busy Christmas shopping and pulling out the decorations, which meant we ate out alot. I was so glad to make this homecooked meal today, I hate feeling all garbage-y from eating out too much. This dish really made my tummy feel cozy. I came up with the recipe last fall and it was an instant hit. I hope you like it too.

Pumpkin Corn Chowder

Ingredients

1 medium onion diced

6 slices of bacon chopped

10 fresh sage leaves (thinly sliced)

4 tbsp butter

4 tbsp flour

2 cups whole milk

1300 ml chicken stock

1 can cream-style corn

1 can pure pumpkin

1 tsp salt

4 small-medium potatos diced

cracked pepper to taste

The fresh sage smells wonderful!

Dice your onion and bacon

 Saute the onion and bacon in 1 tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of oil

I like my bacon crispy, so I saute my onions so they are carmelized and the bacon is a bit crispy. At this point you can add your thinly sliced sage. It will crisp up with the onion and bacon. 

In a seperate saucepan melt your butter on medium heat. Once it is melted add the flour and whisk for 1 minute. Then, slowly add the milk while continuously whisking.

Keep whisking until it starts gently bubbling. Then slowly add the broth while whisking. The key to a nice smooth chowder is to keep whisking! We don't want any clumps!

Add the 1 tsp salt, onion and bacon, pumpkin, and corn to the broth mixture. Mix it up well. This is where the flavors start coming together. 

Toss in the potatos. I like to dice my potatos a bit smaller, so they are bit sized. Everything else in the chowder is quite small, so a big chunky potato would throw it off, but you can make it to your personal preference.

Simmer the chowder on low heat for 1 hour. Make sure to stir it occasionally. Garnish with fresh sage and serve with fresh bread or a cheesy grilled cheese sandwich. We had it with cheese toast….what can I say, I ran out of time. Off to hockey practice we went. 

Thanks to my adorable little man Emmett for cooperating while mommy made dinner and blogged about it!

p.s with your scrap sage twigs and wilted leaves you can make a wonderful all natural air freshener. In a small saucepan add 1/2 cup water, throw in sage pieces, a couple slices of lemon, a squeeze or two of lemon juice. Simmer on lowest setting for a fresh and clean scent.


Once again, please bear with me while I try and get the camera to do what I want it to. (Doesn't always happen :D )


Happy cooking….enjoy!