Easy Holiday Dinners

Christmas is still over a month away, but I am already that holiday rush. Every time I sit down I remember something I forgot to do and immediately have to get up again. So something had to give and that something was making busy dinners.

But giving up busy dinners doesn't mean that I'm eating fast food or frozen pizzas every night. I've just started cooking smarter. 

Instead of making a big dinner ever night, I might roast up a pan of squash on the weekend and turn that into easy dinners for the next week. Maybe a squash soup for Monday, a pan fried fish and squash salad for Tuesday, and some totally amazing Cheesy Roasted Squash and Mushroom Wraps for Wednesday.

I think I pumped you up for wraps, so that's what I'm sharing today. Read on for the recipe, perfect for the busy holiday season.

Mexi-Style

I have been on a wrap kick for the last few weeks and really enjoying that kind of dinner. There aren't a lot of dishes, it's not messy, no cutlery is required, and it's not a lot of work.

I know if that's all I was looking for, I could just head to the nearest McDonalds. But I also like a few vitamins in my meals. And home-cooked wraps provide all the vitamins I could ever want. I'm making them, so I can put just about anything I'd like into them.

Today's recipe is more than just a wrap. It's a whole Mexican dinner stuffed into a wrap. And, if you're into wraps, it's great served as a casserole and just topped with avocados and cheese. I've happily eaten it that way more than once!

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!

20 Minute Dinners

I am love with quesadillas. I love them done in a pan, on the BBQ, or in the oven. I love them filled with anything, but gooey cheese should always be involved. Basically I don't think anything is wrong with them.

But this recipe is one of the best. Smokey black beans mashed up with garlic powder and cumin. Lots of gooey cheese. Avocados smeared over everything. And they're quick to whip up. Perfect? I like to think so.

My Canadian Voice

Over the past year I have participated in writing monthly posts with Valerie Lugonja from A Canadian Foodie in the Canadian Food Experience Project. I've really enjoyed each post because they made me think about what it is to be a Canadian food blogger.

Canadian food bloggers are more than just foodies. We reflect on what we've eaten and created, we spend time taking photographs of our work, and we share it with the world. Our posts are full of a wide range of delicious creations - farm fresh produce, local food heroes, gardening, preserves, and food from all cultures of the world. We are a pretty great bunch and I am proud to be one of us.

The recipe I am sharing today is a really quick recipe for a week night meal or even a lunch. And I think it sums up me as a Canadian food blogger. It's a Fresh Salmon Wrap and features locally caught salmon, a homemade corn relish from last year's BC corn, cucumbers from a local farm, spinach from my garden, and a whole lot of happiness.

The Spice is Right

I love eating Indian food, but I seem to shy away from making it often because the flavours are so big and I just don't give my dishes as much punch as the restaurants do. Today, all that changes. Today, I vow to add "the punch".

To me "the punch" is spice. I don't mean hot peppers and that mouth burning feeling. I mean cumin, turmeric, and coriander. Indian food just isn't complete with enough spicy flavour to knock your socks off and today's dish has that spicy flavour. I adapted a great recipe from Vegan Richa and pumped up the flavours a bit to get exactly what I was looking for.

I think the spice is right in these Aloo Gobi Wraps, do you?

Grilled Cheese Goodness

A good grilled cheese sandwich is crisp on the outside and gooey and melty on the inside. The bread and the cheese can be switched around, but never do I want to bite into a limp breaded sandwich filled with hard cheese.

But crisp bread and melted cheese is not where a good grilled sandwich ends. No, good grilled cheese sandwiches need more than that. They need something special added in them. Maybe it's spoonful of fig jam smeared into the bread before Brie is sandwiches in. Or maybe it's a little pesto or apple added for a burst of flavour. Whatever it is, just make sure you put enough in the sandwich so you can taste it.

I think the grilled cheese sandwich I'm sharing today is pretty spectacular. It's full of healthy spinach and tart little artichokes. And it's high time a spinach artichoke dip met a grilled cheese sandwich, don't you think?

Not Just a Soup and a Sandwich

I bet you read the words "soup and sandwich" and wondered if this post would be worth reading. A soup and a sandwich is something you can get at a deli, or even some grocery stores, so why would you want to read a recipe for it?

Well, I am so glad you decided to keep reading because this is one of the easiest and tastiest soups I've ever made. And, just to make it a little more special, the sandwich I've paired it with is actually more of a crouton. It's a grilled cheese sandwich cut into tiny cubes that are floated on top of the soup. So, you see, I meant what I said when I told you that it wasn't just a soup and a sandwich; it's a little more special than that!

Read on for my recipe, inspired by a fennel soup recipe in Jamie Oliver's newest cookbook.

Vegetarian Game Day Food

Whether you're a Broncos or a Seahawks fan, I know you're interested in Super Bowl food for this weekend. Sliders, wings, nachos, and beer probably come to mind when you think about game day food, but what about vegetarian options? And before you mention that celery and carrots come with the wings, that wasn't quite what I had in mind.

I want to make something that would make a carnivore happy today because most Super Bowl fans seem to like their meat. But, of course, my dish is going to meat free and I bet I could fool quite a few people into thinking their chowing down on something meaty.

Ready to trick people into thinking these Sloppy Joes aren't for a vegetarian? Read on for the recipe.

Falafel Fun

January is always a month where I take a trip down the memory lane of all the delicious cookies, desserts, cheese plates, and other holiday food I ate last month. Every year I swear that Christmas will be different the next year and I won't need to pull out my "fat pants" in Janaury, but every year the same old delicious goodies find their way into my mouth.

But this year I'm not making the same false promises. This year I am just trying my best to eat healthy in January and hoping that eating this way will carry me through the year so I can justify eating whatever I want during the holidays.

The dish I am sharing today is a baked falafel. It's truly easy to make, delicious, and goes perfectly with an abundance of salads like Life Made Delicious'  Fresh Tomato and Cucumber Salad or Spicy Jicama and Orange Salad. In fact, the next time I make these falafel, I might serve them on top of one of these salads instead of in a wrap!

Italian Steak Sandwich

The name of this post might sound deceiving because I don't eat steak, but my sandwich is not made from an ordinary steak. It's made from a seitan steak! Seitan is a vegetarian protein alternative and it might be something fun to try if you've recently made a New Year's resolution to eat meat free more often.

Of course this recipe would also be great made with a regular steak. But they don't call seitan Wheat Meat for nothing, it really is the closest you'll get to vegetarian meat. So maybe giving it a try could be next year's resolution, if you're not ready to give it a go this year? 

The Ultimate Grilled Cheese

Sometimes I get a craving for a grilled cheese sandwich made on white bread with a Kraft singles or two. I don't know what it is about those sandwiches, but they remind me of being a kid! 

However, the majority of times I want a grilled cheese sandwich, I want the ultimate grilled cheese sandwich. This means no skinny pieces of white bread, I want something crusty and full of flavour. And instead of Kraft singles, I want a cheese that I'm not embarrassed to love. And rather just serving my meal with bottled ketchup, I want something a little more special. 

Reading this, I think I probably sound like a food snob. But if a girl can't dream big about a sandwich,  what can she dream big about? 

Read on for my Ultimate Grilled Cheese Sandwich, the one I wish all grilled cheeses were made of. 

Christmas Sliders

'Tis the season to be jolly and also to look for time saving ideas! December seems to fly by in my house every year and while I wish for an extra hour every day in December, Santa never gets me the gift I really need so I have to find the extra time I wish for another way.

One of the ways I save time is by visiting the Pillsbury area of my grocery store. I like to say I'll be serving homemade cinnamon buns in Christmas morning, but it hasn't happened yet so I always buy a big roll of Grands Cinnamon buns. And I like to think I'll be making my own buns to serve with Christmas dinner, but I always buy a package or two of Pillsbury Crescent Rolls, "just incase".

This year I am little more organized than other years because I'm not pretending that I'm going to be making everything from scratch. I know what's going to end up happening. This year I'm stocking up on Pillsbury goodies, but planning on making them a little extra special by adding a few little twists. 

On Christmas morning, I am planning on making Life Made Delicious' Easy Crescent Danish Rolls and I think I might make Life Made Delicious' crescent rolled covered Raspberry Baked Brie at least once between now and the big day - because when I have I ever turned down Brie?

But first I made some incredibly yummy and surprising simple Shrimp Sliders on Pillsbury Crescents for a happy appy at a potluck I recently went to. I know you're going to want to make a batch up yourself. Read on for the recipe!

Mediterranean Veggie Sandwiches

After a big Thanksgiving meal, the last thing I'm interested in is figuring out what to cook next. I prefer to use up leftovers and make a sandwich. If you made a turkey, I know you'll be making a turkey sandwich. But the question is if you'll be adding cranberry sauce and dressing like I use to do. 

If you didn't make a turkey, or have already run out of leftovers, that's where things might get a little trickier. Never fear because my yummy Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich is here! It's full of awesome veggies, flavour, and my favourite mushroom pâté. It's perfect for a no thinking, yummy meal. And if you made the pâté to serve as an appetizer yesterday, it's even more perfect! 

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!

Peameal Pileups

Tomorrow is my mom's birthday and since she is vacationing overseas, I only get to send her well wishes over the Internet today. And this year, instead of coming coming up with a dish that I think my mom would love, I decided to share one of her dishes with you.

My mom loves peameal bacon and she loves to BBQ, so it only makes sense that this sandwich is one of her favourites. It has grilled peameal or turkey bacon, fried zucchini, melty cheese, sweet peppers, and a really flavourful tomato marmalade. I have a feeling that you're going to want to eat one of these sandwiches as soon as you see the photo.

Happy Birthday, Mom! Thanks for sharing such a yummy recipe!

Caprese Portobello Burgers

I love a good Caprese salad - mozzarella, tomato, and basil are a great combination. However, I also love to get creative in the kitchen and making a Caprese salad night after night is not very creative. So when I learned a new recipe for a homemade basil mayonnaise, I couldn't resist making a play on one of my favourite salads by turning it into a sandwich. 

The basil mayonnaise turned out so delicious and the mushrooms were a perfect vessel for a warm tomato and cheese mixture that I know I'll be making this dish again and again. 

Fanny Bay Makes Good Oysters

About two hours away from me is Fanny Bay, BC and when anyone around here hears the words "Fanny Bay", there's only one thing I know of that comes to mind - oysters! 

I remember the first time I tried an oyster and it was not a pretty sight. I was working in tourism and was on a working trip to PEI. We visited the lovely Avonlea Village and they had brought in a fiddling group and an oyster shucker for us. I loved the fiddling group and was wiggling away in my own special version of dancing, but was definitely shying away from the oyster shucker. 

The oyster shucker was interesting and talented, he barely touched the oysters and they were shucked, but I did not want one of those slimy things in my mouth. Unfortunately it looked like everyone else felt the same as I did and no one was heading over to eat one of his freshly shucked oysters.

I couldn't let the oyster shucker shuck away without anyone eating the oysters, so I went over and tried one. My colleagues lovingly took a few photos of me "enjoying" my slurp, but they will never see the light of day because I very obviously did not enjoy them. 

So why am I sharing this with you? Because I now love oysters, that's why! I still am not interesting in a slimy raw oyster, but I've learned how to not only easily grill oysters and how to make them taste amazing too. 

So from my part of the world to yours, I bring you my West Beach Oyster Roll - starring Fanny Bay oysters! 

                                     

Pocket of Happiness

Lately a lot of my dishes have been made with speed in mind. I still want everything to taste yummy, but I also want everything to be ready quickly. Today is the first day of summer and it's time to be enjoying the weather, not slaving away in the kitchen! 

Today's dish is a sandwich that's based on a salad I showed you last month, my Greek Chick Pea Salad. The salad was so quick and yummy that I used it for the base of an equally yummy pita pocket sandwich. My only problem now is that I don't know which dish I'll serve more often! 

Dinner's a Wrap

I used to think that tacos should never have fish in them and should always have lots of cheese. That's all in the past now because today's post is a taco that has no cheese and lots of fish! 

I was inspired by a recipe in Canadian Living magazine to make dish, but my recipe is slightly simplified and I didn't think my fish needed breading to be a success.

I was so in love with this easy dish that I made it twice in two weeks! It was that yummy!