Baked Baby Potatoes

I recently had a dinner party with some friends and made these.  They were a huge success!  You could easily use less potatoes and adjust the olive oil accordingly for smaller portions.  Serve with a dallop of plain greek yogurt, and a sprinkle of bacon and chopped green onion for a true baked potato feel. 

Ingredients
- 1 (2 lb) bag red baby potatoes
- 1 (2 lb) bag white baby potatoes
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Wash and dry baby potatoes and place on cookie sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Toss ingredients with hands.

Bake for 60-90 minutes (depending on size of potatoes and desired firmness).

Enjoy!

Note: Freeze any extra's for a quick side dish with dinner on days you are pressed for time. 

Creamy Potato Soup

Ingredients
- 4 medium potatoes
- 1 medium carrot
- 1/2 small onion
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 3 cups milk
- 1/2 cup frozen corn

Garnish (optional)
- sprinkle of cheddar cheese
- dollop of sour cream or greek yogurt
- green onion, chopped

Directions

Wash vegetables and peel (if desired).  Chop potatoes and carrot into bite size pieces and dice onion. 

Pre-heat a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add butter and olive oil.  Once butter has melted, add chopped vegetables.  Cook until potatoes and carrots are cooked about half through, approx. 15 minutes.

Add broth and bring to a boil.  Cook over medium until potatoes and carrots are tender, about 20 minutes. 

Add milk and bring back to a boil.  Add corn and simmer until soup thickens, about 15 minutes.

Add garnish (optional).

Enjoy!

Shrimp Cocktail w/ Homemade Seafood Sauce

Ingredients
- 6-12 prawns, peeled and de-veined
- 2-3 iceberg lettuce leafs
- green onion for garnish (optional)

Seafood Sauce
- 6 tbsp ketchup
- 2 tbsp horseradish sauce
- 2-3 drops worcester sauce
- squeeze of lemon

Directions

Seafood Sauce

Combine ingredients (ketchup, horseradish sauce, worcester sauce, and lemon) in a small bowl.  Set aside.

Chop lettuce and line the bottom of a martini glass (about half full).  Top with seafood sauce.  Arrange cold shrimp on top with tails hanging off the side of the glass.  Garnish with chopped green onion.

Enjoy!

- Nutritional Info (per shrimp w/2 tsp sauce) -

Calories - 18  Fat - 0     Carbs - 1     Protein - 1    Fibre - 0

Chicken Vegetable Soup

There have been plenty of colds going around our house lately so this soup has been a staple.  It takes a bit of time to make, but is well worth the effort!  This is another original recipe from my wonderful husband.  :) 

Side note: If you're not a hater of celery like myself,  I hear that a stalk or two, chopped and mixed in with the other vegetables, is quite a tasty addition to this recipe. ;) 

Ingredients

- Whole chicken

- 4 L of organic chicken broth
- 3-4 bay leafs
- 1 tbsp basil, + 1 pinch

- pepper, to taste

- 2 large onions

- 2-3 medium carrots 

- 4 medium potatoes

- 1 medium sweet potato

- 1 medium turnip

- 3-5 cloves garlic
- 2 cups fresh or frozen corn

Directions

Broth 

Clean and rinse chicken.  Poke holes in chicken with a small utility knife (this helps cook it faster, and allows for the juices to flow through). 

Put chicken in big stock pot, fill it with water, about 2-3 inches above the chicken.

Throw 2-3 bay leafs in the water with a pinch of basil, boil on high. 

Boil the water until water level reduces to the top of the chicken.  When it reaches that level, lower the heat to medium high and cover. Baste the chicken as the water level goes down. 

Prep

Peel, cut, and dice your vegetables (potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, onions, carrots), set aside in a big bowl).

Crush garlic, and add into the bowl of prepped vegetables. 

When the water has boiled down to less than half of the height of the chicken, remove the chicken from pot and place in a strainer within a bowl and let the chicken drain and cool enough to handle. 

Add chicken broth to the boiling base, get back to boiling temperature, and add chopped vegetables, corn, and 1 TBSP of Basil and pepper to taste. 

Now here's the fun part. Gently separate skin from chicken and discard.  Peel as much meat from the chicken as you can, removing bones, etc.  Put meat only back into the pot with the vegetables.  

Once the soup is back to a good boil, reduce the heat to medium/high until the vegetables are tender, soup has thickened, and the flavours have blended (up to an hour). 

Once the soup is ready it can be served immediately or it can be simmered on low. The longer it is simmered the more the flavours come alive.

Enjoy!

Coconut Chicken with Apricot Dipping Sauce

I have always been a huge fan of coconut.  I love every aspect of the coconut.  Fresh, dried, raw, cooked, in juice, in an oil.  It was only natural that I would end up trying coconut in a savoury dish.  I was quite pleased with the results. 

Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 pkg unsweetened coconut

Apricot Dipping Sauce
- 6 tbsp apricot jam
- 3 tbsp honey
- 1 green onion

Directions

Cut chicken breasts into strips (about 5 per breast).

Place flour, eggs, and coconut into separate medium bowls.

Dip chicken strips in flour.  After all chicken is coated, dip strips into eggs, and then coconut.

Bake in 420 degree oven for about 20 minutes, or until coconut is golden brown.

Apricot Dipping Sauce

Mix apricot jam and honey, heat in microwave for 20 seconds.  Top with chopped green onion.

Enjoy!

Spaghetti Squash Parmesan

With fall comes an abundance of squash, either in your local supermarket or if you grow your own.  Squash is nice because it has a great shelf life (it can be stored for months).  Spaghetti squash is a great substitute for noodles, and with their long, stringy appearance, they certainly look like their namesake. This recipe usually fills both me and my husband up for dinner, with hearty leftovers for lunch the next day. 

Ingredients

- 1 medium spaghetti squash
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1 cup of your favourite marinara
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Slice spaghetti squash in half and scoop out seeds/insides with spoon until clean.  Rinse out the halves. 

Place face down (shell side up) in a baking dish filled with a few inches of water.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for approximately 45 minutes (until lightly golden brown, when flesh is soft when pierced).  

Place squash face side up on plate and drizzle with olive oil.  Add warm marinara sauce and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

And salt & pepper if desired.

Enjoy!

- Nutritional Info (1/4 recipe) -

Calories - 204   Fat - 10     Carbs - 27     Protein - 9    Fibre - 6

Breakfast Potatoes

My husband made these for breakfast the other day and they were delicious!  They are easily the best breakfast potatoes I have had. 

Ingredients
- 4-5 medium potatoes, diced
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 green onion, sliced
- 6 pieces of Lilydale Turkey Bacon (or regular bacon), chopped
- 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

Boil potatoes in a medium saucepan until they are al dente (cooked, but firm), approximately 8-10 minutes.  Strain.

Preheat a frying pan over medium-high heat.  Melt butter and add onions and bacon to frying pan.  Add potatoes, and fry until golden brown, about 5-10 minutes.  Add cheese and fry for additional minute.

Enjoy!