Chicken Noodle Soup

Hello!

After brunch with some of my best friends, I felt a bit bad that Derek was at home all alone with no food in his belly... So I went and bought 2 chickens and decided to make some chicken noodle soup from scratch for the poor boy.

It was my first time making chicken soup and it actually turned out great! Derek loved the soup and said that it was the best chicken noodle soup he has ever had!

Here is what you will need:

1 chicken, about 3 lbs, deconstructed
2 cup of carrots, diced and divided
2 cup of celery, diced and divided
1 cup of mushrooms, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 apple, diced
3 slices of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp thyme
1tsp parsley flake
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
A few sprigs of cilantro

1. Place mushrooms, onion, ginger, garlic, apple, 1 cup of carrots and 1 cup of celery into a large, bottom heavy pot.
   
2. Place deconstructed chicken pieces into pot and fill the pot with water until everything is covered
3. On high heat, bring the mixture to a boil. Lower heat, and skim the top if necessary. Add in thyme, parsley and cilantro
   
4. Cover and simmer for 2-3 hours
5. Remove chicken pieces from the soup, and let it cool. Remove meat from bones and set aside
6. Strain the soup to remove and discard all solids
7. At this point, I packed up most of the chicken stock in separate containers, and put them in the freezer, leaving only about 4 cups of stock in the pot
8. Pour in 4 cups of water to lighten up the stock
   
9. Slowly bring the broth up to a boil, add in the rest of the carrots and celery, as well as 2 cups of whole wheat pasta (we used bowties)
10. After pasta is almost cooked cooked and the veggies have softened, stir in some chicken pieces and season soup with salt and pepper
11. Once the pasta is completely cooked, remove soup from heat and serve!
    

Slow cooked beef stew with red wine

Hi all!

So for my birthday, my amazing friend Jared got me a fabulous slow cooker. This was the first dish that I cooked with this fantastic machine, it was super easy! Just put it in and turn it on. Beautiful!

Here is what you will need:

2 lbs stewing beef cubes,
OR, if you are stingy like me, I bought a cheap roast and cut it into cubes myself
1 tbsp olive oil
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
1 tbsp flour
3/4 cup red wine
1.5 cup chicken broth
1 cup of tomatoes, diced
few sprigs of fresh thyme
salt and pepper

1. Place the potatoes, celery and carrots in the slow cooker. Set aside.
2. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the meat in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Place in the slow cooker. Leave oil in pan.
3. In the same skillet over medium heat, brown the onions and garlic. Dust with flour and cook for 1 more minute. Add the wine and bring to a boil while stirring. Transfer the mixture to the slow cooker.
4. Add the broth, tomatoes. Cover and cook until the meat is easily cut with a fork, about 6 hours with the cooker set to high or 8 hours with the cooker set to low.
5. With about 2 hours left of cooking time, add thyme into stew.
6. Remove the thyme when serving. Adjust the seasoning and enjoy!!

Happy cooking!
Annie

Lime-licious Chicken Nuggets

Hi everyone!

Happy New year! My apologies for not blogging for so long! It's been a hectic (but wonderful) 2 month for Derek and I. I have now 4 more posts that will go up in the next week, so I hope that will make up for the lack of postings last month.

First up, chicken nuggets with a twist! This dish was simple but delicious, and pretty quick to whip up. Enjoy!

What you will need:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs
1 cup cornflake crumbs
1.5 tbsp grated lime zest
1 tsp sugar
1.5 tsp salt
0.5 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/3 cup lime juice
Cooking spray

1. Preheat over to 425F. Cut chicken into nugget sizes
2. Combine cornflake crumbs, lime zest, sugar, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl or plate
3. Measure lime juice into another shallow bowl
4. Dip chicken pieces into lime juice, then roll in crumb mixture, place on a greased baking sheet
5. spray rolled chicken with small amounts of cooking spray
   
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until chicken is fully cooked and no longer pink inside
7. Cool nuggets on paper towel and enjoy!
   

White Wine Clam Fettuccini

Hi all,

A family friend of mine owns a very popular Italian restaurant in Calgary and he used to make this dish all the time for me. It was one of the first dishes that I have ever tried to make, and it is still one of my "go to dishes" when VERY important guests arrive for a visit.

Last week, Derek's dad came for a lovely visit, and this was the dish that I whipped up for dinner.

awful picture....this was the day after I made it

What you will need:

4 servings of Fettuccini
plenty of water
1.5 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

3 bacon Slices, diced
1/2 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 can of whole baby clams, with juice (142g)
1/2 cup Dry white wine, or alcohol free white wine
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
Grated Parmesan cheese

1. Bring a large pot of water to boil, add salt and pasta. Once Pasta is cooked, drain and toss pasta with olive oil
2. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large frying pan on medium heat until crisp.
3. Add gaelic and onions. Cook until onions appear translucent and soft, about 2 minutes.
4. Add in the can of clams, white wine and peper. Stir and bring the mixture to a boil on medium heat.
   
5. Add in 2 tsp of the chopped parsley, Cook for another 2 minutes for the flavors to blend, then remove from heat.
   
6. Add in pasta and toss.
7. Sprinkle with the rest of the parsley, basil and Parmesan cheese.
8. Serve with some dark greens or Greek salad. Delicious!

Banana Bread

Again, I am not a particularly good baker, but I decided to bake a small loaf of banana bread one night as comfort food for the two of us. To be honest, I actually had to make the bread twice, the first trial resulted in a banana bread that had a crusty black outside and a soggy inside....I turned the heat down for the 2nd trial, and I conquered those bananas like nobody's business.

I got this recipe from Elise at Simply Recipes. The recipe did not require an electric mixer, so it worked for me as I do not have any fancy gadgets in my kitchen.

This is what you will need:

3 or 4 medium ripe bananas, smashed
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

• Preheat the oven to 325 F.
• Mix butter into the smashed bananas
• Slowly add in sugar, eggs and vanilla, then sprinkle in baking soda and salt, mix well.
• Finally, fold in the flour.
• Grease a 4 X 8 loaf pan, pour in the mixture and bake for 50 - 60 minutes
• Enjoy with butter and a glass of milk....yummm
  

Chicken Cacciatore

Hi friends!

One of my favorite websites to look for recipes is called Simply Recipes, their dishes are, as the name suggests... simple, and therefore perfect for me. I got this recipe from Elise, who (I think) is the main writer for the site. Since Derek is sort of Italian, I thought maybe I should try to make something sort of Italian...with a few tiny modifications, this dish was the perfect candidate. Classic, simple, and finger-licking good!

What you will need:

6 Large chicken thighs with skin
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced onions
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup white wine
2 cups peeled and chopped, firm ripe tomatoes

1. Rinse/clean chicken and pat dry.
   
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat, add the onions and garlic, cook until onions are soft and translucent, stirring occasionally.
   
3. Push the onions to the side. Add chicken pieces, skin-side down. Cook until the chicken skin is golden brown, then turn pieces over and brown on the other side, takes about 8 minutes per side.
4. Season chicken with salt and pepper, on both sides.
   
5. Add wine and simmer until reduced by half. I don't really know when exactly that is, so I usually just wait about 3-5 minutes.
   
6. Add the tomatoes, lower the heat and cover the skillet with the lid slightly ajar.
7. Simmer the chicken for about 40-50 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally so that all parts of the chicken is in contact with the liquid.
   
8. Add some water if the liquid dries up, adjust the taste with salt
9. I usually remove the skin just to be a bit more healthy
   
10. Serve with pasta, rice or veggies! DELICIOUS!
11. The left-overs for this dish are also very very good, as the liquid soaks into the chicken and the chicken becomes more tasty the next day.

HUGS!
Annie

Chocolate Chip Apricot Cookies

A twist on a classic favorite!

A very good friend of mine's mom made this for me ages ago, and it's been one of my favorite cookies ever since! My friend and his family lives in Calgary so unfortunately, I rarely get the opportunity to enjoy their amazing baked goods these days... Decker family - I miss you guys!!! (not only for your cookies)

I am not a particularly good baker, but today was a rainy day outside, and I felt that the only way to make it sunny inside our tiny apartment was to bake some warm, chocolaty cookies. I found this recipe to be a tad bit more greasy than usual, so I cut down on the Margarine. I also cut down on the sugar because I don't want cavities...however, if you like sweets, add in 1/2 -1 cup more sugar.

Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/2 Tsp Baking powder
1 Tsp salt
5 Tbsp Margarine
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups brown sugar, not packed down
1 large egg
2 Tsp Vanilla extract
1/2 - 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup apricot chunks, very small chucks

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper (I learned this + a big chunk of this recipe from my favorite Bakergirl of life, it's brilliant!!)
   
2. Mix flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl
3. Melt Margarine, and once it has cooled, slowly add in the sugars (both granulated and brown).
4. Whisk egg and vanilla into the margarine/sugar mixture, keep whisking until everything is well mixed
5. Combine the margarine mixture with the flour mixture
6. Fold in apricots and chocolate chips
   
7. Eat some dough (I mean...taste some for quality control)
8. Roll the dough into little balls, place them onto parchment paper, and press the balls into a semi-flat, round shape
9. Bake for 10 minutes
10. Leave cookies on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes, then move them onto paper towels or a wire rack to cool
11. Enjoy!! Makes about 24 cookies.