Chili Dogs

This is something different and yummy for your left over chili! Oven baked chili dogs (or sausages). This is so yummy and easy, there aren't even any measurements to worry about!
Ingredients:

• Hot Dogs or Pre-cooked Sausages
• Hot Dog Buns
• Mayonnaise
• Relish (I used sweet)
• Yellow Mustard
• Chili (I used homemade leftover chili but you could use a good canned chili)
• Grated Cheese
• Diced yellow onion

The How-To:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Line your pan with tinfoil, it will make the clean up much easier.
3. Spread mayonnaise on both sides of the hot dog bun, then spread relish and mustard on the buns.
4. Add your hot dog to the bun (I used sausages so I halved each sausage and used one half per bun since they were pretty big!).
5. Top each bun with diced raw yellow onion.
6. Top each bun with chili.
7. Top each bun with grated cheese.
8. Cover your whole pan with tinfoil.
9. Bake for 40 minutes at 350, and then another 2-3 on broil. You will need to eat these babies with a fork and knife!

Enjoy!

Crunchy Chicken Stir-fry

This is a fantastic and easy stir-fry recipe; best of all, the sauce has a little kick!
Ingredients:
2 whole Egg Whites
⅓ cups Cornstarch Or Flour
3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Broccoli Florets
Red Pepper, Thinly Sliced
Sugar Snap Peas
Onion Slices/Chunks
Carrot Slices
1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
2 ClovesGarlic, Minced
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
¼ cups Honey
Chilli Flakes
Salt And Pepper

Directions:
In 2 separate bowls, add the egg whites (lightly beaten) and in the other, the cornstarch. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Dip your chicken pieces into the egg white, then the cornstarch - fry in the oil until cooked.
Remove the chicken from the pan and add the veggies, salt and pepper, soy sauce and garlic - cook for 4 mins.
Combine the chicken with the veggies; add the honey and chili flakes; and thoroughly mix to combine. Taste and season with salt, pepper, additional honey or soy sauce if needed and Serve with rice.
So good!

Seafood Chowder

You know that Winter has arrived when temperatures dip to -25! With that comes the desire for wholesome warm meals. This chowder recipe is excellent - absolutely delish!

Ingredients:

1/2 pound sliced bacon
2 medium onions chopped
6 cups diced and peeled potatoes
4 cups of water
1 pound of each seafood you want to use cut into 1 inch pieces - we used lobster and halibut
1/2 cup of butter
4 teaspoons of salt
4 teaspoons of oregano
1/2 teaspoon of curry powder
4 cups of milk
1 can of evaporated milk

Directions:

In a large stockpot, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Remove and place on paper towel; reserve the drippings. Sauté the onions in the drippings until tender- add the potatoes and water; bring to a boil for 10 mins.

Add your seafood and cook for another 10 mins. Add the butter, salt, oregano, and curry powder. Stir in the milk and evaporated milk and heat through. You can garnish with the bacon or mix in and serve!

Perfect for a cold day - Enjoy!

LLW

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! :)

Grape Jelly Meatballs

This is a Carleton County recipe that has been passed down through the ages I am sure! When I first began cooking; a few years back now. ;) It was one of the first recipes I ever tried on my own; and I still make my meatballs with this sauce, even after being introduced to many other sauce recipes; it is a favourite.

Ingredients:

Meatballs
12oz Heinz Chili Sauce
16oz Grape Jelly

You can use this recipe with frozen meatballs if you enjoy those, I’m not a fan of processed meat – and like ‘real’ meatballs.

Cook your meatballs on top of the stove.
In a pot mix the jelly and chili sauce with a whisk and bring it to a boil – cook until it is mixed well. Add the meatballs to a baking dish and top with the sauce - bake it for 15-20 minutes at 350.


The sauce is even better the next day! :)

Satay Chicken Pasta

This recipe is from Pampered Chef and is actually supposed to be a pasta salad; but I prefer it warm. However, I'm sure it would be great either way; it is very delicious - and that is all thanks to the sauce!


Ingredients:
8 oz uncooked bow tie pasta
1 cup lite Asian vinaigrette salad dressing
2 tbsp Asian Seasoning Mix (or see substitute at the bottom)
2 tbsp peanut butter
2 medium carrots, peeled
1 medium red bell pepper
1/2 cup dry-roasted peanuts (we just used chopped peanuts from the cooking aisle and garnished at the end - I did enjoy the peanuts; MS didn't)
1 cup lightly packed fresh basil (again, we garnished at the end; and chopped maybe 1/4 cup)
3 cups diced cooked chicken (about 1 lb)
Additional chopped peanuts (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and wait till everything else is cooked before transferring to a mixing bowl to mix with all other ingredients.


2. For the dressing, combine vinaigrette, seasoning mix and peanut butter in a small bowl; mix well using a whisk and set aside.



3. Cut carrots into julienne strips; cut bell pepper lengthwise. I bought a pre-package of chopped veggies at the supermarket for $3.99 and it was perfect. It had red, yellow and green peppers; carrots already julienned; mushrooms; onions; broccoli; cauliflower and we added a handful of sweet peas - cause at that point, why not! We both love stir frys - and it was so great to have everything pre-chopped - it really helped to cut a corner and we both enjoyed all the veggies in this dish even though it would be fine without them as well - just use what you like!



4. Cook the chicken and then add the veggies to the mix until they are cooked - I like mine a little crunchy in a dish like this; but MS prefers them cooked well. Again, do this step however you like. I added a little salt and pepper as I was cooking the chicken and EVOO.



5. Next you are going to add the noodles to a mixing bowl then add the chicken/vegetables and dressing to mix well. As your mixing it is easy to judge how much dressing you should add; we didn't end up using it all but it was close. Then we garnished the tops of our serving with chopped peanuts and chopped basil.



Yield: 6 servings (8 cups)

Nutrients per serving: (about 1 1/2 cups): Calories 450, Total Fat 16 g, Saturated Fat 2 g, Cholesterol 60 mg, Carbohydrate 45 g, Protein 31 g, Sodium 750 mg, Fiber 3 g

Cook's Tip: If desired, 2 garlic cloves, pressed (we finely chopped) and 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper can be substituted for the Asian Seasoning Mix.

Maple Chicken Curry

This recipe is a popular item in my City at a local restaurant. It is very rich in flavour, so I find you can't eat too much of it. But I love it! I love maple syrup and I love all things sugar - so the sweet maple with the curry flavour is delicious. Although MS (Mainsqueeze) didn't enjoy it as much as I did, he doesn't enjoy curry, but he did eat it anyhow, although he is not looking forward to me making it again, and suggested I wait until he is away. ;)

It mirrors the restaurant's recipe very well, although slightly different, and not as sweet I found, it is deliciously close!!

It isn't overly 'healthy' in the sense if you are on a diet and trying to watch calories. But there are ways to go around the butter and cream. I've heard of people using flour and milk. I used half milk and half cream and a tablespoon of butter and found it to be very flavourful. I think this is a recipe where you can tweek here and there and still remain with some great flavour so long as you have the maple syrup and curry. For instance, all those peppers are not necessary either, all we had were green - and that's what we used, it's more for look than anything. I also used curry powder (Epicure spice) because this is what I had on hand, but I would like to try the curry paste next time - for the spicyness, I like a good spice!

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast meat
3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup heavy cream
2 1/2 tablespoons hot curry paste

DIRECTIONS
Heat butter and oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and peppers, and cook until onions are soft and translucent. Stir in cooked chicken and garlic, and sprinkle with sugar. Cook, stirring for about 3 minutes, then stir in maple syrup, and cook for about 5 more minutes, until caramelized.
Stir in curry paste and heavy cream, and reduce heat to low. Simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the sauce reaches your desired thickness.