Stir Fried Tofu served with Spinach

I made this pretty yum tofu stir fry. Honestly it was super yum - then again I love tofu :)

Stir Fried Tofu with Cherry Tomatoes 

Lightly Fried Spinach

Easy Tarragon Spaghetti with Carrots

I woke up craving a carrot sandwich the other day (yes, carrot sandwich) and rather than venture on a mission to create a recipe for that I decided on this instead.

EASY TARRAGON SPAGHETTI WITH CARROTS

Ingredients

• Spaghetti 
• Grated Carrots
• Tarragon Herb
• Chopped Garlic
• Salt 
• Olive Oil
• Grilled Chicken (optional)

Directions

• Break spaghetti sticks into three even pieces. Cook and drain spaghetti as usual (instructions on the spaghetti box)
• Place a wok or deep pan on a medium heat plate and put olive oil
• When oil is hot, add chopped garlic and fry until lightly brown.
• Add grated carrots, and fry until a bit tender.
• Add the drained spaghetti and tarragon then mix until everything is well covered.
• Optional: Add cooked grilled chicken pieces

Ready to eat!

Garlic, Pepper & Mushroon Stuffed Chicken

I made some easy stuffed chicken breasts that turned were quite tasty. I decided to share the recipe with you all to try out.

GARLIC, PEPPER & MUSHROOM STUFFED CHICKEN 

Ingredients

• Boneless chicken breasts
• Peppers (I used red and yellow)
• Mushroom
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Your favorite herbs & spices (I used oregano & Italian seasoning)
• Salt 
• Cooking String or Toothpicks (I used colored toothpicks because I was out and they dyed some parts of the chicken blue and red lol- thankfully, food coloring isn't harmful.)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
2. Wash your and sprinkle salt on the chicken breasts
3. Marinate with your favorite spices and olive oil then let it sit in the fridge.
4. Dice peppers and chop you cloves of garlic.
5. Slice up your mushroom
6. Stuff the chicken breasts and you can hold them with toothpicks or string.
7. Place in an oven dish and cover with foil. Bake for about 30 minutes.
8. Remove foil paper and remove excess broth (Tip: you can use this broth for a sauce or another recipe for a delicious light soup.) 
9. Return chicken into the oven and grill on low for an additional 15 minutes or until lightly golden.
10. Voila!

Kiwi + Mandarin Salad

Kiwi + Mandarin Salad

Kiwi + Mandarin Salad 

What you'll need:

• Kiwis
• Mandarins [fresh or canned]

How it's made:

1. Peel and slice up the kiwi[s]
2. Peel the mandarins 
3. Mix the two and if you're feeling adventurous, spray some whipped cream.

Chicken Pilau with Grape Tomato Salad

I used Kenyan Yankee Doodle Pilau Masala Whole to prepare this delicious meal. What's pretty cool about this raw spice mix is that you get to crash it by yourself and it smells sooo good!

Pilau served with a grape tomato salad

It was so delish!

Chicken Linguine with a Cheesey Whitish Sauce

Delicious!

I served it with fresh multi-grain bread

Delicious Vegetarian Chilli

Vegetarian Chilli served with Parathas

What you'll need:

• Olive oil
• A chopped jalapeno
• A chopped onion
• A Vegetable stock cube
• A can of mixed beans [I used Sobeys Compliments brand]
• Spices [A sprinkle of Paprika,  cayenne pepper, cumin]
• Tomato sauce [I actually used leftover tomato basil sauce from the other day] 
• Ground meat substitute [I like President's Choice Blue Menu Seasoned Ground Soy]
• Salt + Pepper

How to prepare it:

1. Heat the oil and then add the onion then jalapenos. Toss until the onions are soft.
2. Add the spices, vegetable stock cube, and ground meat substitute then 
3. Add the beans. Stir.
4. Add the tomato sauce and stir over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
5. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
6. Voila!

Cheese Ravioli with a Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce

Tonight on the menu: Cheese Ravioli with a Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce. The best part was it only took me under 20 minutes and only one pot :).

I used packaged Sobeys Compliments three cheese ravioli brand. You can use your preferred brand of packaged ravioli which can be purchased from virtually any supermarket or some specialty stores. [For you meat eaters, I hear you can even get beef stuffed ravioli].

Making this ravioli is really easy - just like boiling spaghetti. [Or if you're nervous - simply follow instructions on the back of the packaging.]

Easy Tomato Basil Sauce

What you'll need:

• Olive oil
• Chopped Onion
• Minced Garlic
• Can of  crashed tomatoes
• Tomato paste [not more than a teaspoon]
• Salt + Pepper
• Pinch of sugar [optional]
• Basil [I prefer to use fresh]
• Grated Mozzarella cheese [optional]

How to prepare:

1. Over medium heat, olive oil in a pan and fry the onion until soft and add garlic.
2. Add the crushed tomatoes, sugar, salt and pepper to taste stir.
3. Add tomato paste to thicken the sauce and simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes and stir occasionally.
4. Add the cheese, a bit of olive oil, basil, stir and voila!

[Don't worry if you make too much sauce, you can always use it tomorrow or freeze it for another pasta day!]

Pina-Crima Smoothie

This morning it was the Pina-Crima Smoothie.

Did I mention just how delicious it was?

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the Berry Sparklie Smoothie

I woke up needing a little sparkle today so I came up with a tasty drink I like to call the "Berry Sparklie Smoothie". It tastes so refreshing with a light fizz. You should try it too sometime!

Easy Noodles + Tofu with Teriyaki Stir-Fried Veggies

After what felt like such a long long week, tonight just felt like a noodles + tofu served with teriyaki veggies kinda night. It was pretty tasty and a light meal. I really enjoyed the taste of the teriyaki in the veggies. Yummy!

Steamed Brown Rice with Pollock + Mushroom

What’s for supper?

Steamed Brown Rice with Pollock + Mushroom

[as always, recipe available if you just ask :]

Lobster Salad served with Curry Flavored Noodles

This is what supper looked like for me.

[recipe available upon request :]

Feast on Politics

I went for an evening walk with a friend on the Danforth. We talked and walked and talked and walked in that order. After all that, we came to my place and I made a huge supper. We enjoyed the meal and digested over the Leadership Debate. If you didn't watch, you should. Iggy was quite disappointing. Didn't seem prepared and in some ways seemed quite distracted and Palin-ish. The most impressive chap of the night was hands down Jack Layton.

On the menu:

• Raisin Rice
• Fried Romane Lettuce with mushroom
• Lemon Roasted Chicken
• Romano beans
• Freshly baked flaky buns

Black Bottom Cupcakes!

On Sunday I decided to make my favorite cupcakes for my lovelies.

Baking is definitely one of my favorite things to do. It's just so inspiring and relaxing at the same time.

[I'll share the recipes to those who ask ;)]

Simply delicious.

Seasoned basmati rice served with lightly buttered carrots. Simply delicious.

Easy Super Lasagna

So apparently Super Bowl calls for big appetites. I made my easy lasagna to feed the masses and this is basically how it happens;

How to make easy Super Lasagna

What you need:

• Olive oil
• Salt and other desired dry spices
• Ground turkey (you can substitute with ground chicken or beef)
• Chopped onion
• Pasta sauce
• Cottage cheese
• Chopped spinach (or other available veggies)
• Mozzarella cheese  (as much as you'd like!)
• Oven ready lasagna sheets

How to prepare:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Fry meat in some olive oil until cooked add salt and spices to taste, add chopped onion
3. Add pasta sauce and simmer for 5 minutes and let stand
4. In a separate bowl, mix cottage cheese with spinach let stand
5. Begin to layer your baking casserole starting with lasagna sheets, then meat sauce, then grated cheese, then lasagna sheets, then cottage cheese mix, then grated cheese, etc. The top later should be ample meat sauce to spread on top of the final sheets
6. Put enough cheese to cover the top of the casserole. Cover in foil and bake for 40 minutes
7. Remove foil and bake till cheese is slightly brown
8. Let stand for at least 15minutes and serve!

Shrimp Stirfry in 15 minutes

Like most, I enjoy quick and simple meals. The fact of the matter is I suck with writing recipes because I tend to just make them up as I go along lol.

Enjoy!

How to make a 15 minute Shrimp Stirfry & Tomato Salad

What you need:

• Olive Oil
• Shrimp (You can substitute with Chicken, Beef)
• Any Noodles
• Mushroom (Or any veggies in your fridge)
• Teriyaki Sauce

How to prepare:

1. In a wok/ pan, fry the shrimp in olive oil until cooked and lightly brown
2. Add onions and fry till tender
3. Add noodles and a bit of water (don't put too much water- the noodles will primarily be cooked by the steam!)
4. When noodles are separating add your mushroom then mix it up for a minute
5. Add teriyaki sauce, mix for about 2 minutes. Ready to eat!

Other tasties on the plate:

Grape tomatoes, diced cheese, olives dressed in a Balsamic vinaigrette.

Le Yummy Curried Chicken in 20 Minutes

I was really hungry (and feeling lazy) when I got home this evening. I knew I wanted to eat something hearty but also knew I didn't have much time to cook.

How to make Le Yummy Curried Chicken in 20 Minutes

What you need:

• Chicken legs or drumsticks (duh!)
• Chopped onion
• Diced tomato
• Curry powder
• Olive Oil (it's the healthier option guys!)

How to prepare:

1. Heat oil in pot and add chicken -fry until slightly brown
2. Add chopped onion and curry powder then fry until onion is covered in powder and tender
3. Add diced tomatoes and fry until the tomatoes are tender
4. Simmer over low/medium heat for about 15 minutes and voila!

Other tasties on the plate:

Veggies - frozen broccoli pieces

Chapati - frozen paratha or chapati can be purchased from many supermarkets. I got mine from Food Basics

Rice - i used Uncle Ben's Cheddar Broccoli rice