Spinach Salad With Warm Bacon Dressing!

Mar25

So I survived my first shift back at work. I feel mostly better but still have a bit of a cough. I am however extremely cranky! Never a good thing!

Anyways tonight I made spinach salads for dinner at work, complete with homemade warm bacon rosemary dressing. I am not going to lie to any of you and say this salad is healthy! It isn’t! The main ingredient is bacon (fat)! Proceed with cation! While it may be high on the fat scale it is even higher on the delicious scale! It is a super quick meal to throw together and yet impressive enough to serve at a dinner party. It can be served with chicken breast as a meal or as a simple side salad.

Ingredients
-For two good size dinner salads-
4 to 6 cups baby spinach
2 hard boiled eggs (cooled)
4 strips of bacon (reserve grease)
4-6 mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
Sprig of thyme
Sprig of rosemary

Method
Pan fry bacon to desired crispness. Meanwhile assemble spinach, dliced mushrooms, onion on plate or bowl. Remove bacon from pan and chop, add half to each salad. Add one sliced egg to each salad.

To make dressing leave about 1/8 of a cup of the bacon grease in the frying pan and add in chopped rosemary, thyme, brown sugar and vinegar. Whisk all ingredients together over medium heat. Cook long enough to allow mixture to come together and heat through.

That’s it! It’s as simple as that! Drizzle warm dressing over salad and serve.

Sometimes if I’m feeing adventurous i’ll add some smoked Gouda or mozzarella cheese into the mix. If I’m feeling especially ambitious I will lightly sauté the mushrooms and onions before adding them to the salad.

Homemade Strawberry Jam

Mar23

Every Summer when the strawberries are ready I go out to the farm and pick a few buckets full. Okay fine, I eat my weight in strawberries while picking a few buckets full, don’t judge me!!! The farm berries are fresh, juicy, sweet, and a perfect red color.

Upon bring my bounty home I always make sure to freeze a few bags for making out of season Strawberry jam! Well that out of season jam making adventure occurred yesterday because I had finally run out of the jars I made in the late Summer. The thing about homemade jam is the jars seem to disappear quickly once your friends and family learn of their presence in your pantry!

Making jam isn’t difficult as long as you do your prep work and work quickly once you start the process. There are many jam recipes out there but I always stick to the tried and true recipe that my Mom used growing up.

Ingredients
7 cups of White sugar
3 1/4 cups crushed Strawberries
1 package liquid Pectin
1/4 fresh Lemon juice
1/2 tsp butter

As you can see I like to prep everything before I start and that includes sanitizing my jam jars. This is as simple as boiling a large pot of water and letting the jars “cook” for three to five minutes. I leave them in the hot water bath until I’m ready to use them.

I repeat the hot water bath with the lids and rings, much later after the jam has a chance to set up and I’ve sealed the jars with wax.

On to the fun part!

Method
Combine strawberries, sugar, lemon juice and butter in a large pot and continue to stir over high heat until mixture reaches a hard boil. Once the mixture is boiling hard add your pectin while stirring and continue to let mixture boil hard for 60 to 90 seconds. Be sure to stir the entire time to avoid scorching the jam. Remove from heat

At this point you hopefully don’t have too much foam formed but if you do just skim it off. Once you’re done you can fill your jars. I use a funnel to fill my jars to avoid contaminating the rims of my jars. Fill your jars being sure to leave space for a wax seal.

Allow your jam a few hours to set up and then seal with melted food grade wax and apply lids!
Number of jars will depend On the size you decide to use. I get four medium size jars out of a batch.

I Lived

Mar20

Hi everyone! Sorry about the lack of updates this week, I’ve been insanely sick. Bronchitis is not fun. In fact it is painful and depressing. I pretty much haven’t left the couch since Friday except for two hours on Saturday and yesterday for doctors and Starbucks.

On Saturday against my better judgement I went to High Tea with a group of girlfriends and the little ladies. I thought about not going but couldn’t disappoint Emma. I slapped on a smile and did enjoy myself but felt awful afterwards.

The food was delicious and the company was wonderful. It is fair to say it was the highlight of my week!

I’ve spent a stupid amount of time on the couch playing Angry Birds. Yes I know! I’m not proud of this! But I was sooo bored! I also had a lot of cuddle time with Muffin.

I really have nothing else exciting to report thanks to my lack of doing anything. Oh we got a new front loading laundry pair and it was delivered today. So pretty!

You know you’re an adult when you get excited about a new washer dryer pair and pretty kitchen towels!

As you may have guessed I haven’t spent much time in the kitchen. Kevin however has done a fine job of feeding me!

I know right! Spoiled!

Well my friends I am going to have a hot shower and call it a night. Hopefully I will have a banana bread recipe for you soon!

Homemade Perogies!!!

Mar18

Hello Blog world! I’m most definitely still taking up residence on my couch. No work for me again today! Also no adventures in the kitchen either. Bronchitis sucks!

However I do have a recipe to share with you! Last week I made Perogies from scratch and Kevin said they were the best Perogies he’s ever eaten!!! Making perogies isn’t extremely difficult, just time consuming with the folding and the pinching. Don’t let the time investment deter you. These yummy bites of potato deliciousness are worth it!

Filling Ingredients
4-5 Large potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/4 cup sour cream
6 strips of bacon cut into pieces
3/4 cup chopped sweet onion
1 cup shredded cheese of your choice
Salt and pepper to taste

Dough Ingredients
3 cups of flour
Pinch of salt
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3/4 cup water
1 egg
2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Method
Start by peeling and chopping your potatoes and cooking them as though you were making mashed potatoes.

Next start pan frying your bacon pieces and then chop your onion. Once bacon begins to crisp add the onion to the pan and cook for another 3 minutes.

Once your potatoes are done cooking drain and return to large bowl to mash. Mash with butter, sour cream, garlic, and spices. Once mashed mix in cheese, bacon and onion. Set aside to cool.

Dough Prep
In bowl, mix together flour and salt,garlic,Italian and pepper.

In another small bowl beat together egg, water and oil. Stir into flour mixture, adding a touch more water if needed to make dough soft but not sticky.

Turn out onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth. Rip dough in half and cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and let rest for 20 minutes.

Now for the fun part! Take one ball of dough and rip it in half. On a lightly floured counter roll out dough very thin, about 1/4 inch thick. Using a round biscuit or cookie cutter cut dough into 10 rounds. Re-rolling as little as possible.

Fill each round with a small amount of filling. Fold perogie in half and gently pinch edges of dough together. If you’re having issues making the edges stick moisten edge with a tiny amount of water.

Place perogies on a flour dusted cookie sheet and cover with a dry, clean tea towel. Repeat process with each portion of dough. You should get 40 – 50 perogies out of this recipe.

You are now ready to cook your perogies or freeze them at this stage. To cook them bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and place some perogies into the water and allow to boil for a few minutes until they pop to the surface. Be sure to do this in batches as to not over crowd the pot.

Once they surface transfer them to a frying pan with some butter and cook until golden and crisp.

I served these with barbecued locally made farmers sausages, sour cream and fried onions. I really think the addition of spices to the dough really gives these perogies something extra.

Blueberry And White Chocolate Scones

Mar16

Good morning, I hope everyone is doing better then I am! I am currently holed up on my couch. I managed to get a late afternoon appointment with my family doctor yesterday who confirmed my suspicion that I do in fact have bronchitis! Yuck! Definitely not how I planned on spending my weekend.

Anyways enough about me! On to the good stuff! Here is the recipe for the Blueberry white chocolate scones I mentioned in my last post. These are amazing and actually very pretty. Not very sweet but again the white chocolate helps in that area. I think they are fabulous with a little lemon curd.

Ingredients
3 cups flour
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/2 cup cold butter cut into chunks
1 cup of buttermilk
1 egg
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Zest from a lemon
1 cup of blueberries fresh or frozen
1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks

Method
I did this in a food processor but feel free to do it by hand, or with a pastry cutter.

Place sugar, butter, flour, salt, baking soda in the bowl of the food processor and pulse until mixture resembles crumbs. Dump into large mixing bowl. Add blueberries, chocolate and lemon zest and gently toss the berries to coat in flour mixture.

In a smaller bowl mix together the milk, egg, lemon juice. Once mixed add to dry ingredients.

Stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until mixture comes together nicely.

Turn out in lightly floured surface and kneed until dough forms. Do not overwork the dough. Form dough into round mound and then flatten out in a circle to about 3/4 to 1 inch thick.

Cut into triangle wedges and place on parchment lined baking

Brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar (I used vanilla sugar) if desired. Bake at 400 degrees for about 18-20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

I hope you enjoy these scones, my friends and family definitely did.

White Chocolate Raspberry Drop Scones

Mar14

So I spent some time researching scone recipes yesterday. The ingredients list is pretty basic while there are many ways to form the actual pastry shape. You can make them round, square, triangles, whatever you like! Everything I read pointed to the same advice, keep everything cold and work the dough as little as possible. So after doing some research And with the advice in mind I went to work and decided to come up with a simple drop scone recipe!

These scones come together quickly and form a rather sticky dough. Don’t panic that’s ok. There is no rolling out of the dough so the stick factor isn’t an issue.

These scones come out with a nice crisp outside and a soft melty inside. The white chocolate adds a wonderful sweetness as the scones aren’t overly sweet themselves.

Ingredients
2.5 cups flour
1.5 tablespoons baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cold butter cut into small chunks
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup raspberries fresh or frozen
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Juice from 1/2 lemon
Zest from 1 lemon

Method
Combine dry ingredients and add cold butter. Work with hands to form crumbs. Add chocolate chips and raspberries. Work dough to slightly smash the raspberries. Add buttermilk and mix until everything is just mixed.

Drop onto parchment lined cookie sheet. About 1/2 cup per scone.

Bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Cool on rack and enjoy. I got 9 out of this batch.

I love the color these come out having because of the smashed raspberries. I enjoy the simplicity of making them in this method. I actually made two batches of scones this morning. I made blueberry and white chocolate scones but in a more traditional way. Those ones I cut in triangles. I will post that recipe soon.

Let me know what you think if you try this recipe. I hope you enjoy the scones.

Challenge Accepted

Mar13

So as I mentioned I’m not feeling so hot! When the hubby came to visit me at work he brought be a White Chocolate Raspberry Scone from Cobs bakery

It was heavenly! Light and sweet, with just the right amount of contrast from the raspberries. Loved it!

Googled the calorie content. 310 calories. I have to admit, worth every one of them! However being me I’m pretty sure I can make something a little healthier or at least a little more pocket book friendly!

So it looks like we know what I will be doing tonight! I will post the outcome ASAP!

Weekend Wonders-I’m Aware It’s Wednesday

Mar13

So my weekend wasnt all cooking and baking! I did a few other things and had a bit of relaxing time! Of course I’m not as intense in the relaxation zone as Muffin is!

Of course she earned these naps! She had to venture out to Bosleys pet store to get food and treats! Riding shot gun I’m the sun is a lot of work!

I keep telling you life is hard! So hard in fact I was forced to have a mud bath.

It may look odd but the mud leaves my skin so soft and it is actually very calming. They sell it by the bottle at Spa Utopia! Try it!

I spent some time gardening and was excited to see some of my seeds have sprouted! Very giddy to see the Brussels sprouts sprouted!!

We got a delivery of lumber for the new stairs. Complete with crane truck!

See I to you I did other stuff!! However I did do more baking, I baked cupcakes for Sandra’s birthday party! Vanilla bean filled with Nutella and frosted with chocolate buttermilk. Very rich and delightful.

While they were baking Maple and I played fetch for almost an hour! She is still full of puppy energy! Love her! Thankfully she didn’t mind my cowgirl chic look of muddy boots and lulemons! I’m sexy!

Saturday night a group of us headed to Sandra’s 31st Birthday party

The party was laid back and full of laughs and good conversation. I guess it’s a sign of changing times and our age. I’m glad I went. I’m glad I got to catch up with friends and cuddle Lincoln, the puppy! I was exhausted by the end of the night and very glad to come home to Kevin for a Saturday night of couch cuddles.

I woke up early Sunday morning and needed to get some fresh air, so Emma and I headed to the Sunday market and bought flowers. We got flowers for Krista and my mom as well as for me.

I just feel better about life when there is fresh flowers in the house. After we got the flowers situated, Krista and I took Emma and the dogs for another walk to our local dog boutique for some treats!

I am very excited that the two new pet-stores have opened in Cloverdale. It is nice to take Muffin for a walk and buy her a treat. No kids what can I say!

This week at work has been quiet and good minus the fact I have a horribly sore throat.

I’ve been alternating between cuddling Muffin, drinking tea, and whining about death being near!

Cilantro Lime Turkey Burgers

Mar11

Who says a burger can’t be healthy!!!! These little babies are healthy, filling, and down right delicious!

I invented a version of turkey burger a few years back that have become a staple in our house, as well as at my work! I will share that recipe with you sometime soon! Until then this is another of my own creations that I think you might enjoy! These burgers have a spicy kick thanks to the jalapeño but feel free to omit it if you don’t like jalapeño spice! The cilantro and lime pair well with the feta to liven up dull but healthy ground turkey breast meat!

Ingredients
1 pound ground turkey
1/4 bell pepper (chopped)
Handful fresh basil leaves (1/4 cup chopped)
4 green onions chopped
1 cup loosely packed cilantro chopped
Juice from 1 large lime (1/4 cup)
2 cloves garlic
1 small jalapeño diced (amont dependent upon your taste)
1 egg
1 cup feta
1/3 cup oats
1/3 cup crispy onions (optional)
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon salt free seasoning
Pinch of salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Method
Mix everything together in a large bowl and combine with your hands! Pretty simple!

Form patties, pressing ingredients together firmly. I usually get 6 good size patties out of this recipe.

I like to let the burgers sit so the flavors can meld. This can be as little as 15 minutes or as long as 8 hours covered in the fridge! The longer they sit the better they are in my opinion but let’s face it we don’t always have that kind of time!

Cooking
When I’m at home I like to let Kevin grill these babies on the BBQ. Always be sure to spray the grill well because there is very little fat in these burgers.

When I’m cooking at work I do them in a large skillet with a little olive oil.

I like to flip them frequently to ensure they brown evenly. Cooking this method usually takes about 13 – 15 minutes. Just ensure you cook to a safe temperature.

I’m a big cheese fan and have tried a number of combinations on these burgers. Tonight we went with havariti. Whatever kind of cheese you like! It’s up to you! My favorite is smoked Gouda.

I always like to serve these with guacamole! I posted my recipe for it Here. They also go well with tzatziki or on a bun with your favorite burger toppings!

I hope you give them a try and let me know what you think!

Stuffed Pizza Rolls

Mar9

A few weeks back I posted about making the stuffed pizza rolls using the Pillsbury crescent roll dough. I loved them but Kevin wanted to try the version my girlfriend made. I have to admit after seeing the photos of hers on Facebook I was eager to try her version! Of course being me I had to tweak it to my own liking! I added pizza sauce inside the rolls instead of just using it for dipping.

Ingredients
1 jar of pizza sauce
1 can of Pillsbury grands biscuits
16 slices of pizza pepperoni
1/3 cup chopped green pepper
1/2 cup diced red or sweet onion
1/4 cup diced hot peppers (optional)
1.5 cups shredded cheese
1 egg
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 tablespoons parmesan cheese

Method
Flatten the biscuits into rounds and spread with pizza sauce. Add peppers and onions. Top veggies and sauce with 2 slices of pepperoni and cover in cheese.

Carefully bring up edges and pinch together to seal and form a ball.

Place in greased cake pan and continue until all 8 balls are formed. Brush pizza rolls with egg wash and sprinkle with Italian seasoning, Parmesan, and garlic.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining shredded cheese and return to oven briefly to let it melt.
Serve with pizza sauce for dipping!

Enjoy!

Life With The McGavins

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