Nutella Truffles

Awesome, easy, impressive recipe.  I will be making these every Christmas.  Roll them in whatever you want; I used toasted, chopped hazelnuts, toasted coconut and cocoa.

Source: http://www.roxanashomebaking.com/nutella-truffles-recipe/

Ingredients:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, in chunks
3/4 cup chocolate chips (I used semi sweet)
1/3 cup chopped, toasted hazelnuts
1/3 cup nutella
things to roll them in

Directions:

Heat the heavy cream over medium heat in a pot until almost boiling.  Pour over chocolate chips and butter in a bowl (I actually had to add the chocolate chips and butter to the pot of cream to get it to melt because my kitchen was too cold, the cream didn't stay hot enough to melt the chocolate in the cold bowl.  Turn the heat and just keep the pot on the element if you do it this way- whisk continuously till smooth).  Once chocolate is melted and incorporated, add nutella and nuts.  Mix well.  Cover bowl and put in fridge for at least 2 hours.  Once hardened, take tsp pieces of ganache (chocolate mixture) and roll into balls and toss in toppings (I used coconut, nuts and cocoa).  Place in air tight container.  If you find they get too soft, put in fridge for a while.  Serve at room temperature.

Puff Pastry Appetizers

Everyone loves a puff pastry bite- they are the hit of every party.  Now it's really easy to go buy premade puff pastry appetizers but it's also really easy to make them yourself and then you get to customize them.  The two recipes I'm providing are for spinach feta puffs and jalapeno popper bites but you stuff just about anything into these guys.  You find puff pastry in the freezer section of the grocery store.  You let it thaw out- but keep it cold.  Then with some flour you roll it out and cut squares, fill them and fold them over.  They often bake at 400 degrees for 12-20 minutes (depending on size)- until golden brown.

Spinach Feta Puffs

1 box of frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
2 eggs
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
juice of 1/2 a lemon
sprinkle of salt


Jalapeno Popper Bites

1 package (8oz) light cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup finely shredded Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese blend
1 bulb roasted garlic
1 c bacon, cooked and diced/crumbled
6 medium jalapeno peppers, diced and sauted (this is for mild/medium heat, adjust for your desired spiciness)
sprinkle of salt

For both kinds, use an egg wash to help you stick the edges together to close up the puffs in whatever shapes you want, and brush the tops as well.  Parchment lined baking sheet.  400 degrees. 12-20 minutes- start watching after 12 minutes and take them out with they are nice and puffy and golden brown.

Homemade Turtles (done in half an hour)

Source: http://www.piarecipes.com/2012/12/pecan-salted-caramel-candies.html

This is a great fake out recipe.  It's technically homemade but it uses all the short cuts so there's minimal effort but your friends and family have no idea.

Note: You can use chopped pecans like I did or you can line up whole pecan bunches instead. I would use 3 pecans per bunch.

Note: Recipe can easily be scaled up or down.  Just do as many as you want. It's a formula more than a recipe.

Ingredients (for 25 pecans):

75 pecans chopped or whole
25 wrapped caramels (or a block of caramel that you've cut into 25 pieces)
25-50 dark chocolate wafers (those little disks great for melting- mine were so thin so I used 2 per turtle)
coarse sea salt (optional) for garnish

Directions:

Unwrap caramels.  Chop pecans and bunch them into piles (or make piles of 3 whole pecans side by side).   I used my silicone baking mats on a baking sheet for these.  They popped off really easily.  If you don't have silicone, use parchment paper or gently grease your sheet.

Squish the caramels into flatter disks (I just pushed down with my hand on the caramel on a cutting board.) Put a squished caramel on each pile of pecans.  Pop in 325 oven for a few minutes.  Pull out and place 1-2 chocolate disks on each caramel.  Sprinkle with salt if desired.  Wait till cooled, then remove and enjoy. 

Butternut Squash Mac 'N' Cheese

I love the idea of being able to have macaroni and cheese without so much cheese and without it sucking.  This is a great recipe for anyone trying to cut back on calories or anyone with kids (or a husband) who need more veggies in their life- because the butternut squash just looks like cheese.  My 2 year old ate this up and just thought it was cheese.  Heaps of dairy doesn't sit well with me so it was a great recipe for our family.  A traditional favourite meal without all the cheese, still tons of flavour, more veggies for everyone and nobody whined about the mac and cheese not having a ton a cheese.  Even my 6 month old was able to partake in this meal because I took out some of the squash before incorporating it into the sauce.

Source: http://www.blueapron.com/recipes/butternut-squash-mac-and-cheese-with-crispy-sage

Serves 4-6 depending on portion size (we had enough for 1 serving for me, 2 servings for my husband, a small serving for my kid, and two lunches left over)

Ingredients:

1 bunch sage
1 small butternut squash
4 rounded cups of dry penne (whole wheat fine)
3 tbsp butter
1 garlic clove, minced
pinch of red pepper flakes
3 tbsp flour (whole wheat fine)
1 1/2 c 1% milk (or whatever you use)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 c grated parmesan
3/4 c starchy pasta water (reserved after cooking the pasta)
1/2 c whole wheat bread crumbs (2 pieces of bread)
1-2 tbsp melted butter
salt and pepper

Directions:

Peel and chop butternut squash.  Prep sage leaves and garlic.  Grate parmesan.  Make breadcrumbs (season with salt and pepper).

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. 

Melt 3 tbsp butter on medium high heat in an oven safe pan big enough for the meal (add a drizzle of oil if you find your butter is browning too fast).  Fry the sage leaves till dark green then reserve on paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Turn down the heat and add garlic and red pepper to the butter- saute for just a minute.  Add flour and whisk for a minute.  Add milk and whisk till thickened (this is called a bechamel sauce).  Turn the heat off.

Cook butternut squash for about 7 minutes (or until fork tender) in boiling water.  Add squash to sauce.  With a potato masher, incorporate squash into sauce until smooth.  Cook penne in the water from which you just removed the squash. 

Add cinnamon and parmesan to sauce-at this point you can decide if you are happy with the cheese amount.  Also adjust your sauce for seasoning- salt, pepper, red pepper flakes. If you think it's not cheesy enough, add 1/4-1/2 c of grated sharp cheddar to bump it up.  When pasta is done, add 3/4 c of the pasta water to the sauce.  Stir.  Add pasta.  Stir.  Mix seasoned bread crumbs with melted butter and then sprinkle on top of pasta.  Put into a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.  When you pull it out, crumble the sage leaves over the bread crumbs.

Note: This is a great base recipe- next time I will wilt in some leafy greens to bump up the nutritional factor even more.  The sweetness of the squash would hold up really nicely to some bitter greens.  I love the little hint of heat of the red pepper flakes against the sweetness of the squash as well. 

Note: Easily made dairy free by swapping out milk for almond (or other dairy free) milk.  Sub out butter for non dairy fat and the little bit of cheese that is used can be replaced with a non dairy mock cheese since the base of this recipe is the butternut squash- I think you could get away with it without compromising the taste.  So this could easily be made vegan, too.

Gingerbread Muffins

My house smelled of Christmas yesterday as these baked in the oven.  Husband and I may have even been at the sink licking the batter off the spoon.  These were delicious- my two year old loved them, too.  The glaze is nice for a little treat but if you want to keep the extra sugar out, by all mean, they are super yummy on their own as well.

Source: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/12/11/gingerbread-muffins-with-sweet-lemon-glaze/

Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup plain or vanilla or honey yogurt
1/4 cup milk (I used almond)

Glaze:

1/2 cup icing sugar
1-2 lemons juiced (depending on the juiciness of your lemons and how lemony you like it)
splash of milk/cream if you need to thin it out
(the picture on the source site shows a dark almost icing glaze, mine was see through- less sugar I guess)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450.

Mix together dry ingredients.

Whisk together brown sugar, egg, yogurt and milk in a separate bowl.

In another bowl, microwave molasses and butter together for 1-2 minutes.  Whisk together well. Then add brown sugar/yogurt mixture to molasses mixture and mix well.

Add wet to dry and mix till just combined.  Pour in greased muffin tins and bake at 450 for 5 mins then turn oven down (keep muffins in) to 375 and bake for 15 mins.

Allow to cool before glazing (if you choose to glaze).

Vegetarian Quinoa Chili

I love my mom's chili.  It's the chili I always make.  I've never found a reason to try making another.  But I'm on this quinoa train and this seemed different enough from what I usually make to give a try.  It was a HUGE success.  Cole loved it.  He does not really like chili and he says this is the one he now always wants- the vegetarian one...nay, the VEGAN one (if you keep your garnishes vegan as well)!  Oh and it only simmers for 30 minutes! Try it.

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa (about 3/4 cups uncooked)
1 onion, diced
2 big cloves garlic, minced
2 small/medium or 1 large can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce (about 440mL- or whatever can is closest to that)
1 1/2-2 cups water (or chicken or veggie broth)
1/2-1 can diced green chilies (or else throw in a diced jalapeno with the onion- I used half a can)
2 1/2 tbsp chili powder (it's not too much)
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne
salt and pepper to taste
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups frozen corn or 1 can
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
juice of a lime

Directions:

Heat oil in big pot over medium high heat.  Add onion and saute for about 4 minutes.  Add garlic in, saute a minute.  Add spices, saute another minuted.  Add in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, cooked quinoa, water (start with 1 1/2 cups and add more later if needed), green chilies, and bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer, cover pot and allow to simmer 30 minutes.  Add in all beans and corn.  Top with lime juice, cilantro and salt and pepper to taste (plus any extra water you need). 

We garnished with cheese, sour cream, chips and avocado- do as you please.

Fried "Rice" (Quinoa)

A healthier version of fried rice.  Super yummy- I didn't particularly miss the rice.

Note: the kinds of veggies, the amount you use, the kind of protein (if any) and the length of cooking time is all a matter of preference.  This is just a guide.  The first time I made this I used a little bit of chicken in it.  I often have shrimp in the freezer, that would go well, too.  Pork, beef, whatever you want- or keep it veggie.

Ingredients:

2-3 cups cooled or leftover quinoa (cooked)
diced hard veggies (I used onion, carrot, broccoli)
2-3 eggs, lightly whisked
frozen peas
fresh green onions for garnish

Sauce:
1 1/2 tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp oil (sesame if you like it- I just used canola)
2 big garlic cloves, minced/grated
1/2-3/4 tsp minced fresh ginger

Directions:

In a little bit of oil, saute your hard veggies. Add a little bit more oil and your cooked quinoa.  Stir fry for a few minutes then add your sauce.  Stir fry a few more minutes then make a well and add a little bit of oil and your eggs.  Scramble and let cook in the well then incorporate throughout whole dish.  Add in peas till warmed through.  I topped with fresh green onions. 

Note: If you find anything sticking to the bottom of your wok during the process, you can add a splash of chicken broth to help things start moving and unsticking.