Tuesday 28 January 2014

Easy Steak Sandwich

We all have some tough work days and we get home and can't be bothered to spend an extensive amount of time cooking, we want something quick, tasty and in our stomachs. I have always enjoyed a good steak sandwich made to perfection that every bite taken has the meat just tear off without any struggle and it is not only easy to make but quick and painless, my family always made sure that even on those tough days we had something good to eat on the table, even at the time we had no clue how quickly it was made.

One of the least expensive types of meat is inside round steak, if it's certified Angus then even better. This cut of beef is not only cheap but easy to handle, season the steaks with your favourite spices, pick yourself up a couple of kaiser buns and make sure you have some cheese on hand, shredded would be best. You can add anything into the bun to go along as this becomes your sandwich. Lettuce, onions, hot peppers, mustard, it all goes based on your taste buds. I like to keep mine fairly simple as you will see below.

Inspired by Family

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CLASSIC BACON AND EGG SANDWICH
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Easy Steak Sandwich Recipe
Servings: 2  Prep Time: 2 minutes  Cook Time: 6 minutes

Steak Sandwich

Ingredients

Wednesday 22 January 2014

Penne with Smoked Sausage

Smoked sausage was always a great fall tradition in my family, I recall a tonne of pork meat at home being run through a mincer and coming out of a sausage funnel into a lamb intestine. Then my grandma would prick the sausage and take it out into the backyard and smoke them for hours in the backyard chimney for what felt like days. Smoked sausage is a memory I always cherish as it brought the family together and boy was it yummy when it was done.

I hope to one day carry on the family tradition but for now, the local butchers have all the smoked sausage you need in a variety of flavours from mild to spicy hot. I am not much of a pasta eater but when I do go with pasta its usually penne but you can use just about any type of pasta with this dish, so throw in your favourite.
A wok or large deep skillet is the choice of pan I would go with but you can also use a large pot to cook and mix the sausage with other ingredients.

Inspired by Family

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Penne with Smoked Sausage Recipe
Servings: 4  Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 20 minutes


Ingredients 

Sunday 12 January 2014

Savoury Shrimp Fried Rice

For as long as I can remember I have always been a big fan of shrimp fried rice, whenever I am out with friends for a late night meal at a Chinese restaurant nothing beats getting a shrimp fried rice to accompany any other dish you may chose to order. Adding the proper hot sauce on top is the perfect final touch to a savoury meal. I am a seafood lover and the quickness of this dish has my mouth watering the whole time.

There are a lot of different things you can add to the shrimp fried rice dish when it comes to vegetables, there are plenty to choose from, green beans, celery, snap peas, sweet peppers and mushrooms work well besides the ingredients that I went with, pick them according to your taste. It is best to use a large wok when preparing the dish go with the healthy choice of brown rice and don't forget to top your dish off with a tasty hot sauce.  

Inspired by EatingWell

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Savoury Shrimp Fried Rice Recipe 
Servings: 4  Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 20 minutes

Shrimp Fried Rice

Ingredients

Wednesday 8 January 2014

Portuguese Caldo Verde Soup

The cold weather just brings out the soup in me, this is one of my all time favourite soups and growing up a bowl before any meal was just what the doctor ordered. The family household was always a buzz awaiting the final moments of this fine soup. This soup was always made for any special occasion or holidays and you could be sure that a many western european wedding would kick off all that wonderful soup with the Portuguese Caldo Verde or Collard / Kale soup as it goes by in English.

You can make this soup with either collard or kale, I prefer collard for the soup but which ever you can find at your local grocery store is fine. The smoked sausage that you can pick up at your local butcher adds just the right taste to the soup depending on your palette you can choose the spicy or mild version to add. You will need an immersion blender to puree the soup at one point in the cooking, make sure you have a hand held one it makes it that much more easier.

Inspired by Family

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MACARONI VEGETABLE SOUP
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Portuguese Caldo Verde Soup Recipe
Servings: 8  Prep Time: 15 minutes  Cook Time: 40 minutes

Caldo Verde Soup

Ingredients

Sunday 5 January 2014

Delicious Beef Stew

As the cold continues to increase this winter, nothing hits the spot better then something warm and rich like a stew. I remember growing up and getting home from school on a cold winter day and was always excited when my family had a stew cooking on the stove top. The wonderful smell had my mouth watering waiting for it to be complete and in my stomach. A good beef stew is not only filling but rich in vegetables and sauce that you need to make sure to have some bread to dip into it, don't let any of it go to waste.

Stewing beef is required for this type of stew and it is relatively inexpensive compared to other cuts of meat, you can choose to use any vegetables you like, add the ones that you enjoy to the beef stew and take out the ones that you don't like. A beef stew seasoning mix will cut some work out and speed up the meal somewhat from its long cooking time. Make sure you are using a large pot, a 5qt pot works best to make the stew as their are quite a bit of servings and the great part is that the stew tastes better and better as you reheat and eat.

Inspired by Clubhouse

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Delicious Beef Stew Recipe
Servings: 8  Prep Time: 15 minutes  Cook Time: 120 minutes

Beef Stew Recipe

Ingredients

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Classic Bacon and Egg Sandwich

Waking up has its perks even though some of us would like to stay in bed, but the smell of a good breakfast always seems to perk me up in the morning. We always seem to not have the time to make ourselves a tasty breakfast but this quick classic sandwich, not only has your taste buds watering but it hits the spot and gets your day off to a great start. Growing up I always enjoyed my bacon and eggs when I wasn't woofing down a peanut butter sandwich on the run and why not combine the two of them together in a sandwich.

The cool part about this recipe is that you can use any type of bacon that you may like and make the eggs any way you like. I've chosen to go with scrambled eggs but sunny side up, over easy and even poached works well here. I have used natural select bacon because I like to know what the ingredients are in my bacon. What I would recommend is that you choose a kaiser bun over any other choice of bread, its bigger and will fit all these delicious ingredients, make it whole grain if you can and the cheese should be provolone, havarti or swiss.

Inspired by Eggs.ca

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Classic Bacon and Egg Sandwich Recipe
Servings: 1  Prep Time 5 minutes  Cook Time: 10 minutes

Bacon and Egg Sandwich

Ingredients

Friday 27 December 2013

Macaroni Vegetable Soup

As the winter enters our lives, I typically go into soup mode. I love my soups and a variety of them, nothing goes better on a cold winter day then a hearty soup to warm you up. Growing up my family always made sure to have a pot of soup on the stove during this time of year, I would normally go with a big bowl of soup and that would be my meal throughout the day but for others you may want to try a small soup and a sandwich.

Vegetables are a part of any soup and you can add as many as you like but to get the soup to be more hearty you have to add a pasta to the mix, macaroni goes well with this dish but you can use small tube pasta or bow tie pasta in place of the macaroni for those that may not like it. A broth is always part of any soup and my choice of broth here was chicken but vegetable can go just as good.

Inspired by Family

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Macaroni Vegetable Soup Recipe
Servings: 6  Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 25 minutes

Macaroni Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

Tuesday 10 December 2013

Quinoa Thai Tuna

I can't say enough about how I enjoy trying new foods especially when the food is a healthy choice like Quinoa, now quinoa is a grain like crop which is closely related to spinach, this would explain it's high protein and best of all it lacks gluten. The quinoa seeds are generally cooked like rice and it has been labeled by some as a super food not only high in protein but also fiber, magnesium, iron and calcium.

I looked around to find some foods that I would enjoy with the quinoa and with my taste leaning towards fish, tuna seemed like the best choice after some research but not just any kind of tuna, canned tuna with spicy thai chili flavouring. The quinoa will stick to the tuna and some fruit and vegetables added will give you an added boost of flavour and have your taste buds quite content.

Inspired by Cloverleaf Recipes 

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Quinoa Thai Tuna Recipe
Servings: 2  Prep Time: 5 minutes  Cook Time: 10 minutes


Ingredients

Sunday 1 December 2013

Steam to Skillet Vegetables

I like to keep experimenting with a healthy side, growing up I didn't enjoy my vegetables as much as I should have or do now, besides carrots, onions, lettuce and cucumbers. Those where as far as my vegetables got at a young age. I slowly started to incorporate vegetables more and more as my teen years progressed and my young adult years. The health benefits of vegetables are great and none are better the broccoli.

This green plant is high in Vitamin C and dietary fiber, it is rich in lutein and is great for the human immune response system which boosts DNA repair. What you need to remember is that broccoli is best steamed or stir fried, boiling broccoli will reduce all the health benefits you would get from this great vegetable. I like to add a variety of vegetables to go along with broccoli, carrots are normally my companion choice but you can add any vegetable that you enjoy.

Inspired by Family

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Steam to Skillet Vegetables Recipe
Servings: 2  Prep Time: 2 minutes  Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Steamed Vegetables

Ingredients