Top 5 Posts of 2013

Happy New Year!  Wow! Welcome to 2014.  

I have so many plans for 2014 - some personal, some business, some random ( I really know how to overload my plate!)  But as we start a new year I wanted to share my 5 top posts from 2013.

We have a tie for 5th place....

Check out this quick and easy hostess gift (100 views)

And this DIY Photo Board also hit 100 views

My first crochet pattern was a hit in 2013 (150 views)

 

This simple iPhone update hit 205 views

Runner up to most viewed blog post is my Turban Earwarmer (509 views)

And the most viewed blog post from 2013...

Microwave Potato chips with a whopping 702 views!

Thanks so much.  

I can't wait to continue sharing a little bit of everything with you this year!

Schnitzel

When Ty & I were in Vienna we had some amazing food!  Including true weinerschnitzel, made from veal.  Now I know, everyone has their opinion on veal, and so do I.  I think it's awesome.  Especially when it's prepared traditionally in Vienna.  

 After having this amazing weinerschnitzel, I swore I'd never make my version with pork tenderloin.  Well that was until I was running low on dinner ideas and decided to make schnitzel.  But I make a few small changes to make it more authentic.  So here's how to make relatively authentic weinerschnitzel, with pork.

Take your pork tenderloin and cut into medallions.  Then take a plastic sandwich bag and place over the medallion.  With a meat tenderizer, hit the medallion until it flat.  REALLY FLAT! 

As I learned, the thinner the better.

Mix some garlic salt, pepper, parmesan cheese and bread crumbs together and put on a plate.  Dunk your meat in an egg wash and then coat in the breadcrumb mixture.

Then heat some vegetable oil in a large, flat skillet.  Once the oil is hot, place the breaded meat into the oil.  The thinner you pounded your meat, the better - the tenderloin will cook faster and more evenly.  (The schnitzel we had in Vienna was probably deep fried)

I served this delicious schnitzel with noodles (you're singing aren't you? ha ha ha! Me too), and broccoli!  In Vienna they served the schnitzel with a slice of lemon, which I had never tried before.  Now I'm hooked, as you can see, I had lemon with my pork schnitzel and it was super tasty!

Salad Sunday...from Europe

Ok so technically I'm in Amsterdam today, but I wanted to share these delicious cold rolls as part of my regularly scheduled blogging.  

What You'll Need

Veggies

    julienned carrots, cucumbers, red peppers

    snap peas

Cilantro

Rice noodles

Shrimp

Rice paper wrappers

Firstly you should make this peanut dipping sauce.  Why?  Because who wants to eat veggies wrapped up in a rice paper?  Well, maybe a few of you, but not this girl.  I literally make the cold rolls so I can enjoy this delicious peanut sauce!  Do it!  Then, boil your noodles.  It should take all of 5 minutes.

Then chop up the veggies.  

Then you're ready to put them all together.  

Get a pie plate and fill with hot tap water.  Quickly soak the rice paper wrapper for 5-10 seconds and lay it out on a large plate.  Fill with the delicious fillings and wrap like a burrito.

To do this, fold one end toward the middle. 

Then starting on the left side of the folded bottom, pull the left edge over the fillings and tuck underneath.  

Then roll to close.  

This will keep the bottom closed and everything in tight!

So when it's too hot to cook, I highly recommend giving these a try!

Salad Sunday

Well it's been hotter than stink here, making me crave salad.  It's a rare thing...craving lettuce.  Ew - I sound like an adult!  But I want to take salads to a whole new level...hence 30 Days of Salad!

Did you know I even have a 30 Days of Salad Pin Board?  It's got some great ideas for new and innovative salads.  Of you feel stuck in a rut, go check it out.  Seriously there are some awesome salads on there, even if I do say so myself!

So get pinning.  Or searching the pins.  Whatever floats your salad boat!  Oh and stay cool, it's hot out there!

Yogurt Pops

It's been SO super hot here the past 48 hours, I'm so glad I have these sitting in my freezer!  This is my first experiment with yogurt pops.  They seemed like such a great idea so I thought I'd give them a try.  

I mixed organic vanilla yogurt with a bit of greek yogurt and then picked the fruit.  I had a fruit cup of peaches and a little peach yogurt so I threw that into a batch.  Depending on how many popsicles you're making and how big your popsicle moulds are will determine how much yogurt you need.  

The second batch was organic vanilla, greek, with fresh blueberries.  

While I do love blueberries, next time I think I will puree them into the yogurt, like a smoothie, and then pour it into the moulds.  Giant frozen blueberries weren't awful, but...

It's official, I'm hooked.  I can't wait to make more, and create more flavour combos....come to think of it, I have frozen pineapple and mango....tropical yogurt pops anyone?

Salad Sunday- Not Your Average Chicken Salad

I finally got around to shopping for groceries this past week and was so excited to eat real food.  It's been a busy spring for me with dance competitions, preparing for recital, and then a whole recital weekend, but I'm done teaching...well until July 8th.  So I have time to prepare real food!

Not Your Average Chicken Salad

1 boneless, skinless, chicken breast

salt and pepper

2 stalk of celery, halved length wise and then shopped

1 tbls sun-dried tomatoes, in oil

Miracle Whip (or mayonnaise) to personal preference

So you can grill or fry your chicken breast.  I cut mine in half so that is was thinner and could faster and more evenly.  Season with salt and pepper as you cook and flip the chicken.

While that's cooking, dice up your celery and toss it in a bowl.  Once the chicken is cooked and cool enough to handle, chop it up and throw it in with the celery.  Add in your sun-dried tomatoes and toss with Miracle Whip.  That's the secret ingredient-sundries tomatoes!  So great.  Mix until thoroughly combined.

Serve on a flour tortilla with fresh romaine lettuce and salt and pepper!  YUM!

Make sure to check out our previous 30 Days of Salad posts by yours truly and some other fabulous bloggers

Salad Sunday #1- Caprese Salad

Salad Sunday #2 - Jill from Envirocraftiness

Salad Sunday #3 - Christina from Everyday Tastes

Salad Sunday #4 - Halsey from Spunky Junky

Gettin' Fancy on a Week Night

I usually try to make "easy" dinners during the week.  Things I can make during the day and that Ty can heat up when he gets home.  But on occasion I will get a big idea that gets me to make a "saturday dinner" on a week day.  This was one of those times.  I had bought some yellow squash and zucchini at the grocery store and thought it was high time to make it.  

1/2 red onion, sliced
2 medium yellow squash
2 medium zuchinni
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tsp thyme

Wash and slice your squash.  There will be a lot!  Woo! 

Slice your onion.  I used only half and I should have used the whole onion.  But it depends on how big your onion is right?!?!

Saute the onion in a fry pan and transfer to a large casserole dish. 

Then layer your squash as fancy, or not as fancy, as you like, over the onions.

Then you want to combine the garlic, broth, wine, salt and pepper and thyme and pour over the squash.

Cover with foil and bake at 350* for about 45 minutes.  I didn't cover these with foil and the top layer is a little worse for wear.

And if this is too much for you, just fry it up in a fry pan with some salt, pepper, oil and chilli flakes.  You can top with parmesan cheese too!

Old Skool Cooking

This past Christmas my Mum got me one of THE BEST gifts she ever could get me!  The 1979 edition of the Betty Crocker cookbook!  This is the same cookbook as the one my family used when I was growing up! 

My stroganoff recipe, my hamburger soup.....so many of my favourite meals are from this cookbook. Tyler and I had been craving sweet & sour meatballs so I pulled out this classic. And this recipe from Betty Crocker is pretty great.  

I hope you like it as much as I do!

Meatballs                                                     Sauce

1 pound lean ground beef                             1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup breadcrumbs                                     1 tbls flour 

1 egg                                                                1 can pineapple tidbits 

2 tbls minced onions                                     1 tbls soy sauce 

1 tsp worchestershire sauce                          1 green pepper

salt and pepper

Mix the ground beef, breadcrumbs, egg, onion, worchestshire sauce and salt and pepper together in a large bowl - with your hands!  Roll the mixture into balls...I think I made about 18 ish?  

You can choose to pan fry them or bake them.  

I chose to bake them, since I had to make rice, peas and the sauce.  Pop those meatballs on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake them for 25 minutes at 400* F.  Flip them half way through for even browning.

While the meatballs are baking, start your rice.  I made Jasmine, because that's all I had in the house.  Once the rice gets going, start on the sauce.  

Dump 1/2 cup brown sugar and a tablespoon of flour or cornstarch.  Whisk that together and then add in your pineapple (fruit and juice) and the soy sauce.  Cook that until it thickens to your liking, maybe 10 minutes.  Then toss the cooked meatballs in and the chopped green pepper and simmer on low for another 10 minutes.

Serve with hot rice and a veggie if you like.  

As you can see, I made peas.

Do you have a treasured family recipe?  Or cookbook?

The Orange Julius Smoothie

Like many of you, I'm trying to eat healthier.  I'm great at eating my veggies, but I am finicky when it comes to fruit.  Plus I'm not a big apple or banana fan, so eating fruits regularly is not my forte.  BUT I discovered totally by accident a great smoothie recipe that'll get you going in the morning!

The Orange Julius Smoothie!!!

It's super simple.

I used about 1 cup of frozen mango chunks.  They happened to be organic, no big whoop.  You could also use 1 whole ripe mango and cut it up.  I also used 1 cup of organic vanilla yoghurt and 1 peeled navel orange. I cut away some of the white fibre on the orange so I wouldn't have the chunkiest smoothie.  

Then blend it all up with you hand blender and enjoy.  Seriously!  This is maybe my new favourite smoothie and it doesn't event have any pineapple in it!  Give it a try some morning-it's unreal!