Big Appehtite

One of my hobbies is cooking up new recipes to enter in cooking contests and sometimes I win big. Recently I entered quite a few recipes into contests put on by Maple Leaf through Appehtite and I am excited to share that I won with one of my favourite quick and easy sandwich recipes.

I have shared my winning recipe before, but it's too yummy not to share again, especially when it just made me $1000 richer! Check out my recipe for my Italian Steak Sandwiches on my blog or on Appehtite.

And be sure to check out one of Appehtite's current contests for a chance to win $1000 yourself!

Winner Winner, Veggie Dinner

As everyone who knows me knows, I love to win. I don't think of myself as a sore loser, in fact, I have often apologized to others when I win and they lose. But I think we can all agree that winning is an amazing feeling.

This month I won Chatelaine's Cooking Club and finding out that I won made me very excited. It's not just the prize, although that is nice, it's more the happiness I felt when I realized that Chatelaine thought that my photo and cooking was the best.

For the contest, I made Chatelaine's Grilled Halloumi and Vegetable Salad, but of course I made a few tweaks to the recipe to make it my own. I love chickpeas straight up, but I thought the salad needed a little more crunch, so I crisped mine up in my oven with one of my favourite recipes - my Sweet and Smokey Crispy Chickpeas. I also wanted a little more freshness so I made some zucchini ribbons to add to it too.

Ready for my adapted recipe? Read on for it!

Breakfast Memories and Pillsbury #Strudelgram Contest

Breakfast has played a starring role in some of my favourite childhood memories. This might be because I am a morning person or maybe because I love tea and toast, but whatever the reason, I know breakfast will always be important to me.

Whenever my grandfather visited and we had pie for dessert, I always knew I could catch him in the kitchen the next morning digging a fork into straight into the leftover pie. On nice days in the summer my mom would pack up a breakfast picnic for the whole family to eat at the "water's edge". And cinnamon buns drizzled with cream cheese frosting will always have an important place at my family's Christmas breakfast meal.

Today my mornings are a little more rushed and I don't get to enjoy quite as many leisurely morning meals. But, Pillbury's Strudelgram contest is making breakfast fun again. It's not time consuming and it's easy for the whole family to get involved. All you need is a box of Pillsbury Toaster Strudels, a camera, and a little imagination.

First, decorate your breakfast pastry with frosting. Next, take a photo of your delicious creation. Finally, post it to the Strudelgram contest website. The contest is live from now until March 28, 2014 and there are two great prizes to be won. Find out more details at www.strudelgram.ca.

My first entry is shown below. I've called it "Morning Pie". I think it's pretty clever, but I'm going to try to top it tomorrow!

“Disclosure: I am part of the Pillsbury Strudelgram Campaign with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.”

Second Place Is Pretty Darn Good

This summer I passionately and consistently entered Weston's Grill Up Summer contest. I didn't come up as a $10,000 winner but I did get chosen as a second place winner twice!

Before I start exciting you, let me tell you flat out that my prize had no monetary value. And that part is a little disappointing. But I am featured in a cookbook and I am pretty excited about that.

The first time was chosen as a second place winner, I turned down the prize. I was definitively honoured to be chosen as a winner, but I was told that a person could only win one prize and I wanted to go for gold. I wanted to win that $10,000 prize and that means that my Cherry Cola Pulled Pork sandwich isn't going to be featured in Weston's Grill Up Summer cookbook. But you can still read all about it on my blog.

Do you want to know what recipe of mine is being featured in the cookbook? Wait no longer, check it out online here or just read on for my yummy recipe!

Bake Off Winner!

I love entering cooking and baking competitions because they're fun, challenge me creatively, and because I love to win! Every month for the last few months I have been entering the Food Network's Bake Off challenge and I have finally been successful and won! 

Last month's challenge was to bake Roger Mooking's Pavlova with Mango, Lychee Nuts, and Raspberries but I took a few liberties and made the dessert my own. I think that, plus how delicious my outcome was, really helped me to win. 

Check out my winning entry online at the Food Network's blog and read on for my adapted recipe. Both are delicious but I really like my decoration of a flower made out of thinly sliced mango. Thanks to Roger Mooking for a yummy recipe to adapt from and thanks to the Food Network for a great Bake Off. 

Cream of the Crop

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me... Eight maids a milking and a prize from Werther's Original! 

Werther's recently had a great contest where everyone was asked to come up with an original recipe for Werther's Caramel Season. I love snacking on Werther's caramels but I haven't baked with them a lot, so I racked my brain for something delicious to enter. 

I finally decided to revamp one of my favourite cookie recipes to use Werther's Soft Caramels and I won! I thought that since these cookies involve whipping cream, it would only be fitting to share on the eighth day of Christmas :)

Cooking Club Challenge

You all must know that one of my hobbies is entering cooking and recipe contests. I love to cook and contests encourage me to get really creative in the kitchen by stretching my mind to come up with new ideas. Plus, there's the added bonus of getting a chance to win a prize!

Food Network Canada has a monthly contest where they ask everyone to cook a recipe of their choosing, take a photo, and send the photo in with a short paragraph about what you thought of the dish. 

This was my first time entering the contest and I won! I don't know what my prize is yet, but the day that it will come in the mail will be very exciting! 

You can check out a shot of my winning photo below or visit the Cooking Club Challenge webpage to see my photo and the recipe, Anthony Sedlak's Tangy Short Ribs with Coleslaw and Twice Baked Potatoes. 

I added some fresh apple cut into matchsticks, a touch of sesame oil to my coleslaw, and also folded a touch of blue cheese into my potatoes, but otherwise left everything as the recipe suggested. 

The only thing I don't agree with in the recipe is calling the potatoes Twice Baked Potatoes. At my house they're called Party Stuffed Potatoes, but that's a story for another day...

Lasagna Loving!

I didn't think I could love lasagna move than I already do, but it's happened! 

Today I was crowned the Grand Prize Winner of the Taste of Home Lasagna Recipe Contest for my favourite lasagna recipe, Tuscan Veggie and Pesto Chicken Lasagna! And I have to say that a lasagna crown is one of the best I've ever worn. 

If you haven't tried this dish yet and my being crowned the Grand Prize Winner doesn't make you want to try my recipe, I don't think anything will!

Who's in a Cookbook?

Me! That's right! I am published in a cookbook and I am thrilled about it!

It's called the The Real Women of Philadelphia - The Cookbook and I thought the cookbook was only going to be published online. So, you can imagine my surprise to receive a copy in the mail and learn that it's going to be sold too! 

If you want to download a copy of the cookbook, or buy a copy, visit this site and be on your merry way!

I'd be sure to autograph your copy of the cookbook! Actually you'd have to try and stop me from autographing it!

And if you want to learn a little more about what kind of recipes you'll find in it, keep reading!

Taco Thursday

I feel lucky to have grown up in a home where food was not only plentiful, but also in a home where meals were never the same. My mom didn't plan to make spaghetti on Monday, chicken on Tuesday, pork chops on Wednesday, or tacos on Thursdays. 

She did, however, make most Friday nights Picnic Night. She would lay out a picnic cloth on the floor of the living room and treat us to pizza, chicken wings, or another kind of treat food. Remembering that makes me want to relive those nights, but that's a story for another day...

When my mom cooked, all the meals were different, inventive, and rarely fell into a pattern. I think that's what me want to be creative in the kitchen. This dish reinvents the taco so that even if you want to have tacos every Thursday night, you can still make them different. :)

This was my final lasagna recipe entry into the Olivieri Taste of Home Lasagna Recipe Competition and although it did not place in the Top Ten entries, I was pleased with it. I especially liked how the black bean puree felt like ricotta cheese and the tortilla chips on top didn't hurt either!

I Dream of Tuscany

One day I will head off on a jet plane and spend a few weeks in Tuscany. I know that I will have to go on a diet beforehand and that will be one diet I won't mind at all.

Can you imagine all the glorious food that you could eat in Tuscany? Not to mention the wine! Yes, after eating cheese, bread, wine, pasta, olive oil roasted veggies, pizza, gelato, and everything else I could get my hands onto, I know I would gain weight.

But each pound would taste so good!

Thinking about the weight makes a little happier that jet setting to Italy isn't in the cards this year. And, for now, I am ok with just dreaming of Tuscany and experimenting with different foods I think sing of Italy.

Here is my last Top Ten Recipe in the Olivieri Taste of Home Lasagna Recipe Competition.

But don't worry lasagna lovers, I still have one more lasagna recipe to share with you that didn't make it into the Top Ten!

For the Love of Curry

I love curries, just don't make them too spicy and I will slurp up every bite. And even though I know that curry only means sauce, not a specific dish, I will always call my saucy, spicy dishes a curry. 

I will admit that learning that the word curry means sauce is recent discovery, but I don't care about this discovery. Everyone refers to saucy and spicy Indian and Thai dishes as curries and I'll only look like a food snob if I start doing any differently. 

But since I know that curry means sauce, I think that calling my Top Ten Recipe Chicken Curry Lasagna makes sense. I made a slightly spicy, curry paste based sauce for my lasagna and it turned out great. 

Did I win the Olivieri Taste of Home Lasagna Recipe Competition with this recipe? I don't know yet but I hope I find out soon!

Solid Soup

I mean solid as in tasting great, but also as literally solid because today's recipe isn't soup at all. Today's recipe is a lasagna that's based on a soup. 

Luke and I worked on this recipe together, but the idea for it was all his. 

We took all the essential parts of a French Onion Soup and made them into a lasagna. The beef broth from the soup became a gravy style sauce and also leftover beef pot roast. The onions from the soup stayed as onions, we just caramelized them and tossed them in. And the croutons from the soup became garlic bread that we served on the side. 

This is not your everyday lasagna and you don't want a huge serving of it either. It's very rich and very satisfying, but I really craved a healthy green salad on the side!

I've Got a Feeling!

Not too long ago I was sharing with you a few of the recipe contests I have recently entered where I was not chosen as a winner. I showed you a few of my top ten finishes and then shared some of my non-winning entries.

And now I've been at it again and instead of not placing at all, Luke and I are Top Ten Finalists in the Olivieri Taste of Home Recipe Competition! The winners haven't been announced yet, but I love eating lasagna so much that I have a good feeling about this one. 

Regardless of whether I win or not, I am happy with how my lasagnas have turned out. They tasted great and got my creative juices flowing. This week I will be sharing with you all the recipes I entered, and Luke's Top Ten entry too!

First off, one that didn't make the Top Ten, but is super tasty. I think it only didn't make it into the Top Ten because it's a cannelloni made from lasagna pasta. 

It's That Time of Year Again...

Do you remember when I first started posting here? Well if you don't remember, and apparently I forgot my own blog-aversary too, it was with a post for a contest with the Real Women of Philadelphia. 

The cookbook that I'll be in with the Real Women of Philadelphia is almost out and now there's another contest! This time the prize is for a dream vacation and entries must be inspired by the destination you wish to visit. 

My Dream Destination is French Polynesia. I'd love to visit Tahiti and see the beaches, the culture, and taste the food. The food is something I've only researched because it's not really something you can get in Canada, but by getting a little creative, I think I've managed to make a fun recipe that says French Polynesia. 

My French Polynesia Mushroom Caps incorporate a stuffing of bacon, spinach, and Philly as a Canadian take on Polynesian suckling pig, fafa (taro leaves), and coconut milk, are surrounded with crescent roll dough as a Canadian take on French croissants, and topped with a sprinkle of French parsley and Parmesan cheese. 

The crescent roll dough makes the appetizer easy to pick up so that the mushrooms don't slip from your fingers and everything about them is delicious. You have to try them!

The Best of Bread

I enter a lot of recipe contests. Sometimes I lose, sometimes I make it into the finals, and sometimes I win. Honestly, most of the time I lose...

Last month I entered quite a few recipes into contests about bread and not one of the recipes I entered made it into the finals. That's ok, though, because you while I didn't win anything, I created a lot of yummy recipes that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise!

This week (and probably next week too) I'll be sharing all of my newest recipes I created when racking my brain to come up with entries for this last round of contests. Who knows, maybe you'll think one of them is a winner!

Here's the first of the bunch, Bread and Butter Fish - the new crispy "skinned" fish!

The Best Leftovers Ever

Sometimes an idea just hits me and I wish I had come up with it years ago because it’s just that good. Usually those great ideas don’t have the word “leftover” in them, but this one not only has the word “leftover” in it, but it also may top the list of savoury treats I’ve come created.

This leftover ham recipe is a riff off something that you may have already seen on my blog. In fact, I actually won 4 litres of milk for a year from Island Farms with the original recipe!

So since I have already won a prize with a variation of this recipe, I know it’s off to a good start. And by adding ham and cheese into the mix, I had a good feeling that the recipe would be a winner.

I think I was right and this snack really is a winner, what do you think?

Taste the Feeling

I am so excited!

And this time it's not because it's less than 3 months until Christmas! Although, that is also pretty exciting...

This time it's because Kraft Peanut Butter has chosen my video for Spread the Feeling as one of the TOP TEN entries!

And that means that I have a one in ten chance of winning the ten $10,000 prize!

Can you believe it?

If not, check out my video and my recipe for my Peanut Butter Caramel Thumbprints.

Oh, and maybe while you're checking out my video, you could vote for me?

Thanks everyone!

(And thanks to you too, Kraft!)

Runs in the Family

That's right folks.

I won't be the only pretty face from my family in the Real Women of Philadelphia Cookbook.

And that's because my mom will be in it too! Can you believe we were both chosen as winners?

I sure can't. But even more amazingly, my mom entered once! I entered so many times that I've run out of fingers to count on.

Her recipe was pretty delicious though and it deserves it's page.

Is you mouth watering yet? Do you want to see it?

Here it is!

Eggplant Philly

'Twas the Night Before September

'Twas the night before September, when all through BC

People were full from eating, as far as the eye could see;

The dishes were done by Luke with care, 

In hopes that breakfast soon would be there...

Ok... So my rhymes are not as good as some people's are. I'll stop now before you get mad. 

Sometimes I play around and think I sound great with my rhymes for possible children's books, but my family always holds their ears in pain. And I don't want you to feel like that!

But back to the night before September, something exciting did happen to me on August 31. 

Drum roll please...