Another afternoon snack for the kids - APPLE SAUCE

Tis the season for .... Apple Sauce!!

Recently, my son went on a school trip to an apple farm here in Toronto.  As you can imagine, he came home with tons of apples and left me thinking 'what am I going to do with all of these apples'? So I decided to make apple sauce and thought it would make a great after school snack.  Boy was I right!!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

4 Apples - peeled, cored and chopped
3/4 - Water
1/2 - teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar

Directions:

Combine apples, water, sugar, and cinnamon in a small sauce pan. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes. Allow to cool, then mash potato masher.

 

Caldo Verde/Kale Soup

After a long pause due to unforeseeable reasons, I'm glad to be back and posting!  To kick off the fall season of recipes, I'm sharing with you my favorite soup recipe, caldo verde aka kale soup.  Surprisingly, my mother introduced me to this soup.  We were at a wedding and this soup was on the menu, its remained a fave of mine since then.  I always had the privilege of being able to enjoy the soup when I went to weddings or visited friends but I never learned how to make it until I married my husband and his mother taught me.  So here is the recipe.  I hope you enjoy it as much as my family and I do.

Ingredients

4-6 Potatoes -  quartered
2 quarts water
1 chorizo sausage - thinly sliced
1 bunch of kale-washed thick stems removed and thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions

In a soup pot, add the potatoes and water. Cover and boil gently over medium heat for 20 mins.

In a skillet, cook sausage (approx 2 mins on each side) drain and reserve.

When the potatoes are fork tender, mash them using a potato masher right in the pot.  Add t he sausage and kale to the soup.  Simmer for 5 mins and season with salt and pepper.

Pasta with tuna alla puttanesca

Ingredients

250g pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

Two cans tuna packed in olive oil

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons capers

1/2 cup of kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

One can diced Italian tomatoes

Preparation

 In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the tuna, flaking it with a wooden spoon.  Add the garlic and pepper flakes cook for 4 minutes.  Add the capers and olives cook for about 1 minute.  Add diced tomatoes lower heat to a medium low and cook for 5-10 minutes. Season lightly with salt.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water, add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Can you freeze that?

When my family and I moved into our home about 2 years ago, we bought a brand new upright freezer thinking we would have so much to freeze.  Truth be  told, it's been practically empty until I've researched things I can freeze that make it easy  to unfreeze and cook up a meal.  Here is a mini list I've made up of food items that I believe freeze and unfreeze well:

Diced Vegetables:  

Just wash, dry, dice and quickly bag them up.  Flatten the freezer bags to make space in your freezer.  When you flatten the freezer bags it makes it easier for foods  to unfreeze.

Soups and Broth:  

Cool leftover soup completely and transfer to freezer friendly food containers OR mason jars.  When your freezing liquids like broth, be sure to leave room for expansion (about 1 cup should do).  The night before you are ready to eat soup, you can thaw the soup or broth in the fridge, reheat and serve.

Pesto:  

Make or buy pesto sauce.  Put the sauce into freezer friendly containers or mason jars and directly into the freezer. Now you can have pesto whenever the mood strikes!!

Homemade or Store Bought Pizza Dough:  

You can freeze pizza dough as it is, so stock up when they are on sale!!

Marinated Meat:   

Place meat in a freezer bag pour in the marinade and freeze.

Homemade Lasagna:  

when you are preparing lasagna, be sure to prepare more than one lasagna tray.  You can freeze lasagna in the dish it is in.  Bake directly from frozen.  **I don't cook then freeze my lasagna, I prepare and freeze uncooked**

Herbs:  

You can easily freeze just about any herb.  Many freeze herbs using ice cube trays and water (I don't).  I wash, let dry chop and freeze in freezer bags.

What do you freeze?

Bacon Wrapped Green Beans

Very easy side dish to prepare.  You can prep the green bean bundles ahead of time and roast them later just before serving.

Ingredients:

737g green beans, ends trimmed
4 slices of bacon - cut in half
pinch of salt
olive oil spray

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line and spray a baking sheet with olive oil.

Blanch the green beans for 3 minutes then strain and let them cool.

Once cooled, make 8 even bundles and wrap in one half slice of bacon.

Place the bundles seam side down on baking sheet, spray olive oil over the tops of the bundles and season with salt.  Bake for 14-16 minutes.

Mozzarella in Carrozza

Mozzarella in Carrozza refers to the classic grilled cheese, Italian style. 

Here is my version

Ingredients:

8 slices toast bread, crusts removed
1 mozzarella di buffalo
2-3 tbsp canola oil
3 large eggs
1 cup milk

Directions:

Combine the eggs and milk, whisk together.  In a medium sized frying pan add the 2-3 table spoons of canola oil.  While the oil is heating, place the mozzarella between the bread. Dip the sandwich into the egg and milk mixture make sure both sides of the bread are coated.  Place in frying pan and fry until bread is golden brown.

Tortellini and Spinach Soup

    

    Chicken broth is a common ingredient in many meals.  If you don't have homemade chicken broth you can substitute with chicken bouillon.

     Chicken bouillon has a long shelf life therefore its easy to keep on hand.  Generally, each bouillon cube, added to one cup of water makes one cup of broth depending on your taste preference. 

     Its been cold here in Vaughan Ontario so this weekend I made my family tortellini and spinach soup.  To speed the process, I used frozen tortellini and bouillon cubes.  The tortellini are a heavy pasta so the soup was a meal in itself, I just added a garden salad and dinner was done.

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen tortellini (cheese)
2 cups baby spinach leaves
4 cups chicken broth
3 bouillon cubes (chicken flavor)

Directions:

In a medium sauce pan bring water to a boil and add bouillon cubes to boiling water, reduce heat to medium.

Add spinach and tortellini to broth simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

Serve and add grated cheese if desired.

Enjoy!!

Grilled chicken with homemade honey mustard sauce

Here is a quick marinade I recently put together.  Takes about 15 min to prep.  My family can't get enough of this!  I hope you enjoy as much as we do.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup honey
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions:

In a bowl, mix the mustard, honey, mayonnaise and worcestershire sauce. (save some extra sauce for basting). Add the chicken to the sauce to coat let the chicken marinate for 30 mins before grilling.

Grill the chicken for 20-25 mins.  Turn the chicken occasionally basting the chicken with sauce.

Serve and enjoy.

Warm Chorizo Salad

This is a simple recipe that I came up with a few nights ago.  It does not require much time to prepare.  If you have homemade chorizo you can use that or you can use store bought chourico.  I used homemade chorizo.

Ingredients:

1 pound Portuguese chorizo
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 bunch parsley
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Heat the oil in a pan.  Fry chorizo until crispy.  Stir in chickpeas and cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in parsley and serve warm

Roasted Carrots

Carrots are available throughout the year and have several beneficial nutrients.  Carrots is high in antioxidants as well as vitamin A and fiber. 

Here is a quick recipe for roasted carrots which will make a great side dish for a great steak plate.

Ingredients:

Carrots
Olive oil
Sea salt
1 Tbsp brown sugar

Directions:

Preheat the over to 350 degrees.  Wash carrots and place them on a greased baking dish.  Drizzle olive oil on the carrots and bake uncovered for 15 minutes. 

Place the carrots in a bowl and toss with additional olive oil, tbsp brown sugar, pinch of salt and toss together.

Pasta with Broccoli and Chicken

 Here is a quick and easy dish I made this weekend.

Ingredients:

450g Pasta

2 TBSP unsalted butter

2 TBSP olive oil

1 clove chopped garlic

1 bunch of broccoli

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt heavily.  Cook pasta, drain and add butter.

Cook the chicken, if you slice the chicken small enough it is ready in a matter of minutes.  Approximately 4 minutes per side or until browned.  Add  the cooked chicken to pasta.

In a small pot, boil the broccoli until fork tender.  I used frozen broccoli it was ready in 4 minutes.

Combine pasta, chicken and broccoli. Drizzle with olive oil and serve.

Marcello's Pizzeria in Vaughan

Now that I am a wife and mother of two, its not often that I find a moment to treat myself to dinner at some of the wonderful pizzeria's located in Vaughan.

My husband is currently away on business, my mom and I treated ourselves to dinner at Marcello's Pizzeria in Vaughan and we loved it!

The decor is modern and simple with limestone accents on the wall.  Tables and chairs were of dark cherry wood.  The place in general was well kept, neat and clean.

The hostess was friendly and seated us promptly as a table became available.  Our server was knowledgeable and polite, which was much appreciated.

We started with the Frittura di Mare (fried calamari) which we shared. My mom and I both ordered the pizza al pollo.

Calamari (14.15)
Pizza al pollo (13.50)


The Frittura di Mare was served hot, it was perfectly seasoned and lightly battered.  It was an excellent start to our meal, it was also very addicting. 















Pizza al Pollo Toppings:  Goat cheese, grilled chicken, sundried tomatoes  and spinach.

The ingredients blended well together making this a great tasting pizza.  The crust was crisp and flavorful.  The pizza in general was light and filling but not so filling that I felt like a ton of bricks  after eating it.
Clearly we were impressed with Marcello's and will definitely be returning customers. 

Left Over's

My husband works with is father and brothers at their family business.  They are subcontractors and quite often, given their line of work, they work late nights.  Since my husband travels with his father and brothers using the company vehicle, my mother in law's house is the common meeting place.  That being said, on those late nights, she sends home left over's and most of the time its chicken.  So what do I  do with her left over's when I've already made chicken for dinner?  I refrigerate the chicken for the next day and make my husband chicken salad sandwiches for his lunch!

 Here's my recipe:

 Ingredients:

1/2 cup mayo
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 cups chopped, cooked chicken meat
1 stalk celery, chopped

Directions:

In a medium bowl, toss the chicken with mayonnaise. celery and pepper.

Place the chicken on your fave bread (we use onion buns) and then top with items like tomato, red onions, lettuce etc

Bite Sized Chicken Meatballs

This is the perfect appetizer and simple to make.

Ingredients:

1 lb of chicken
1/2 cup of finely chopped carrots
1/2 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup of finely chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup of plain breadcrumbs
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Blend all of the above ingredients. Roll a Toonie sized amount of chicken meat in to a ball and place on a greased oven tray. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes.

I served these with some leftover tomato sauce or you can even serve with ketchup.

Tip:  When your using your hands to roll the chicken meat into a ball, coat your hands with a thin layer of oil so the meat doesn't stick to your hands.

Sangria Time!!

What you will need:

1 Bottle of red wine
The juice of 1 Lemon 

1 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup of brandy
2 Cups 7up or club soda

Fruit Ideas:

Strawberry slices, orange wedges, raspberries, blue berries, lemon slices

 Directions

Pour wine in the pitcher and squeeze the juice from the lemon and add the orange juice into the wine. Toss in the fruit wedges (leaving out seeds if possible) as well as other fruits you desire
and add sugar and brandy. Chill overnight. Add ginger ale or club soda just before serving.

Or serve right away using chilled wine and lots of ice.

An Italian Comfort Food Classic

Italian Sausage and Potato Hash

Ingredients:

1/4 cup Olive Oil
4 Large Italian Sausage cut into 2 inch pieces
4 Large Potatoes, peeled and cut to your liking
1 Green Bell Pepper, thickly chopped
1 Red Bell Pepper, thickly chopped
3 sweet onions
pinch of black pepper

Directions:

Heat olive oil in a skillet and cook sausage until brown.  Move sausage to a plate and set aside.  Add potatoes to skillet, stirr occasionally until browned, while potatoes are cooking , add red, green pepper and onions together with potatoes.  Cook the vegetables together until the vegetables are cooked to your liking.

Combine, sausage, potatoes and  vegetables add salt and pepper to your liking and serve.

**Add some hot chili  flakes to this dish if you enjoy it spicy**

The perfect after school snack

These Quick and Easy Prosciutto Wrapped Bread sticks are a great example of something you can make in less than 10 minutes, that really requires no stress.  What’s even better is that both adults and kids love them.   You can also make these with different types of cold cuts like ham or salami, you don't have to use prosciutto.

I bought a box of grissini and   +Prosciutto di Parma sliced fresh from the deli and just wrapped  half of one slice per bread stick. 

Happy last day of school to everyone!!

Frittata cupcakes

I just put frittata cupcakes in the oven.  I can't wait to add to this post later on when they are done!

Stay tuned...

And the end result is :

The idea came from watching Giada De Laurentiis. She was making "Mini Frittata's."  Giada's recipe calls for eggs and milk which is completely different from the recipe that I was taught.  My grandmother taught me to make frittata using ricotta, in fact when I called her to tell her  I was making frittata using milk she scolded me and said I would make "na brutta figura" (disgrace).  I must say, Nonna, you were wrong!!  The frittata cupcakes were light and delicious and in a nutshell, the perfect snack.

Giada made her Mini Frittata's as follows:  

Ingredients

Nonstick vegetable oil cooking spray
8 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 ounces thinly sliced ham, chopped
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Spray 2 mini muffin tins (each with 24 cups) with nonstick spray. Whisk the eggs, milk, pepper, and salt in a large bowl to blend well. Stir in the ham, cheese, and parsley. Fill prepared muffin cups almost to the top with the egg mixture. Bake until the egg mixture puffs and is just set in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes. Using a rubber spatula, loosen the frittatas from the muffin cups and slide the frittatas onto a platter. Serve immediately.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/mini-frittatas-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

 

I made mine like this: 

Ingredients

8 large eggs
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
thinly sliced sopressata, chopped
chopped asparagus

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Line 2 mini muffin tins (each with 24 cups) with cupcake liners. Whisk the eggs, milk, and salt in a large bowl to blend well. Stir in the sopressata and asparagus. Fill prepared muffin cups almost to the top with the egg mixture. Bake until the egg mixture puffs and is just set in the center, about 8 to 10 minutes.

I hope you all enjoy making this recipe as much as my family and I did.

P.S. don't forget to follow me on twitter.

xoxo

BBQ/Pool Party ideas

I was recently speaking with my aunt who lives in New York with her husband.  She told me that she will be hosting a BBQ Pool party for the 4th this year.  She said that she would BBQ the traditional burgers and dogs, and chicken.  She then asked me for ideas for things she could make for her guests to pick on while the main meal was being prepared.

Here's what I came up with.  I tested it tonight with my family and it was a hit!!

Caprese Salad on a Skewer

What you will need:

Skewers
Cherry tomatoes
Basil leaves
Mini Bocconcini
Balsamic Vinegar


Add the ingredients to the skewer in the order you desire. Be sure to alternate the basil leaves. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the skewer and serve.

Enjoy!


PS as you can tell im new to blogging and new to twitter too.  If you have any suggestions on how I can make my blog better, I'd love to hear from you.  You can also follow me on Twitter, click on the follow button above.

Thanks for visiting.

Grilled Nutella Sandwich

+Nutella  +Nutella Luv ~(*_*)~


My husband came home with a French Baguette from our bakery. While I had the BBQ going I decided that it was a perfect moment to grill the bread and make grilled Nutella Sandwiches.  I sliced the entire baguette, added Nutella to each slice stuck them together to make a sandwich and then grilled them for 30 seconds on each side. (you can use an indoor grill as well, but grilling time may vary)

This treat goes well with a tall glass of milk.  It's a great treat kids will enjoy!!

Here is the recipe:

French Baguette
Nutella
**if your using an indoor grill I suggest a small amount of butter on the bread to prevent it from sticking to your grill**

Slice French baguette.  Spread Nutella on to bread slices and apply sandwich to grill.

Grilling should not take long you just want to see grill marks and to slightly heat the Nutella.

Enjoy

My Take on Veggies...

We always read about the importance of increasing the amount of veggies you consume.  With this, we learn that veggies are nutritious and an excellent factor to healthy eating.  So why don't people consume more veggies if there are so many health benefits? One argument remains clear: They take too long to prepare.

Let's examine alternatives and ways for us to prepare veggies quickly while keeping them tasty. You can steam them, bake them, boil them, and my personal favorite, you can grill them.  Veggies don't always have to be fresh.  Frozen veggies are just as nutritious as fresh veggies and they are much more convenient.  I find the preparation of fresh veggies a lot quicker since you can cook from frozen (most frozen veggie packages have already pre-washed the veggies much like the cut and washed salad sold in the produce department).  You can also purchase fresh veggies and freeze them yourself if you don't want to purchase the prepackaged veggies at your grocery store. 

Recently, my local grocery store expanded their selection of frozen veggies. You can now purchase asparagus spears!  and the best part about it is that you don't have to trim the tuff ends of the asparagus, its already done for you!

I recently made grilled asparagus wrapped with proscuito.  You can make this dish using frozen or fresh asparagus.

Grilled Asparagus with Prosciutto

Ingredients:

1 bunch of asparagus (fresh or frozen)
Prosciutto Di Parma
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Heat grill to medium high.  Trim tuff ends of asparagus. Toss the trimmed asparagus with olive oil salt and pepper.

Place asparagus on the grill turning occasionally until asparaus are charred approximately 5-7 minutes.

Remove from grill and let cool.  Once cooled, wrap each spear with Prosciutto Di Parma.

**If you enjoy the salty sweet combination, add some sweetness and drizzle some Crema Di Balsamico over the prosciutto wrapped asparagus**

Grilled Shrimp Skewers

This dish is ready to eat in 30 mins

Ingredients:

1 bag of deveined shrimp of medium size
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of parsley or cilantro
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon of black pepper
1 tablespoon of chopped garlic or garlic powder
1 tablespoon of pimento paste (hot or sweet)

Combine oil, parsley, paprika, black pepper, garlic and pimento paste add shrimp.  Toss mixture with shrimp making sure shrimp is coated.

Thread shrimp onto skewers.

Grill on BBQ 2 minutes on each side until shrimp become bright pink and a little charred.

I usually prepare steamed rice and salad to go along with the shrimp.

Enjoy!

Kale and Chickpea Salad

Kale is an excellent vegetable to add to your diet.  There are a number of great benefits to consuming more kale. Here are a few:

Kale is filled with powerful antioxidants which help to protect against cancers.  It is high in iron, vitamin K, A, C and Iron.  It helps to reduce cholesterol levels and its low in calories.  Kale is also high in fiber which is great for detoxing.

This salad is great for lunch or as a side.

Enjoy

**I make this salad with chilli flakes for added heat.  You can eliminate the chilli's**

1 red chilli, finely diced, optional - or a sprinkle of chilli flakes
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar
1 can chickpeas (400g / 14oz), drained
1/2 bunch  kale
2 handfuls finely grated parmesan
3 tablespoons of olive oil

1. Combine chilli, if using, with vinegar and olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper.
2. Toss chickpeas in the dressing.
3. Slice cavalo nero or kale super finely into shreds (as shown above), removing the stem if it is too coarse. Toss the shredded greens into the salad with the parmesan.

My First Blog Entry

            After reading numerous food blogs and experimenting with many recipes, I have finally decided to start a food blog of my own! I LOVE cooking, especially for the enjoyment of others, and thought that it would be great to share my hobby with everyone!

            I am 29 years old, a wife and a mother of 2 boys ages 5 and 1.  I currently reside in Toronto Canada in the City of Vaughan.  I have a European background. My parents and I were born in Canada however our roots are Southern Italian.  I am also a student at Seneca College studying to become a Law Clerk. 

            Between taking care of my boys, school, and soccer practice I had to find ways to make dinner quick and easy.  In this blog you will find recipes for healthy quick meal ideas.  I hope this blog will be useful to other individuals who enjoy the art of cooking as much as I do.

Enjoy
xoxox