Spinach and Feta Potaoes

The Grocery List:

6 potatoes (about 5 lbs.)
1 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup light sour cream or regular sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 (10 ounce) package spinach, thawed and drained (or I buy the frozen spinach in the bag and use 4 or 5 pieces)
1 cups crumbled reduced-fat feta cheese or regular feta cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Cooking It All Up:

Peel and cook potatoes. Mash with a potato masher. Stir in butter, sour cream, salt and pepper.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish.

Combine the spinach, garlic and feta cheese. Make sure the spinach is thawed and as dry as possible.

Stir spinach mixture into potatoes.

Spoon into buttered dish swirling top slightly. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake, uncovered until golden and a knife inserted in center feels warm, 35-40 minutes.

Makes 4 Servings.

Maritime Hodge Podge

Love this time of year; and not only for the usual hot summertime weather (which we have not been experiencing this year) but also for the garden fresh vegetables that are available from our local vendors! Mmmm….mmm – I swear I’ve eaten $20.00 worth of fresh peas in the last two weeks by myself! So sweet and delicious! And I could consume a plate full of Swiss Chard every night topped with vinegar! Yum!

Hodge Podge may be known to some by a different name; but one thing is certain, it is a Maritime tradition in many homes.

(The key to this dish is the ‘garden fresh’ vegetables!)


Ingredients:

Potatoes
Carrots
String beans – yellow and green
Peas
Handful of flour
½ cup of cream and ½ cup of milk (can use milk only)
2 big (overflow a bit) spoonfuls (tablespoon size) of butter
Lots of pepper and some salt

Directions:

In a pot, place your cubed potatoes with just enough water to cover them; once they are getting soft; place your carrots in; then once these are almost cooked and soft add the beans, peas, milk and cream, lots of pepper and some salt, your butter and flour. (flour would be approx. ¼ cup…you can tell as your consistency should thicken a bit). Turn it on low and cook for 10-15 minutes more and then serve.

Leftovers are even better the following day! :)

Sticky and Sweet BBQ Shish Kabobs

We tested out a new BBQ sauce, Bulls Eye – Sticky and Sweet; and it was soooo good!

MS learned about a new trick via the net; to place the slice of onion next to the steak; then as it marinates and cooks the flavor cooks into the steak – no idea whether or not it did work that way; but when you take the bite of steak with the onion..mouth watering! I also loved that we used orange and yellow peppers – they are really sweet and almost tasted like pineapple when you ate it with the chicken.


Ingredients:

Chicken and steak (can work with your meat of choice; or vegetarian style as well – add some zucchini and mushrooms)
Red, green, orange and yellow peppers cut into square chunks
Red onion - cut into square chunks


Directions:

Alternate the veggies with the meat choices on the skewers; place in a ziplock or Tupperware container to sit while marinating – 4 hours minimum;
To marinate we used the BBQ sauce noted above; some pepper and Montreal Steak Spice.



BBQ – approx 30 minutes and enjoy!

Canadian Flag Cake

Happy (very belated) Canada Day! :)


I have been 'mia' from this blog for awhile now, and really have no good excuses; what can I say other than it's summertime and things are busy busy.

This Canada Day I made this cake to help celebrate the great day. It was delicious...but then again, what isn't with whip cream, strawberries and cake! Mmm...

A co-worker of mine found this recipe on the kraft website.

Ingredients:
1 pkg of pound cake, cut into 12 strips
2 cups of boiling water
2 pkgs of strawberry jello powder
3 cups of ice cubes
3 cups of sliced fresh strawberries
2 cups of thawed cool whip topping

Directions:
Cover the bottom of a 13x9 inch dish with the cake slices; set aside;
Add the boiling water to the jello powders in a large bowl; stir for 2 minutes until it is completely dissolved. Add ice cubes; stir 3 to 5 minutes or until jelly is thickened. Remove any unmelted ice. Stir in 1 cup of strawberries; pour over cake slices; Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Cover it with cool whip.

Refrigerate for 4 hours or until jelly is firm. Arrange remaining strawberries over the dessert to resemble the Canadian flag.
(to do this step, take toothpicks and place in an outlined shape of a maple leaf and place the strawberries within the toothpicked shape.)

Next time, I may even skip the jello portion of this recipe to speed the process up - because it would be JUST as delicious with or without it! :)