Mexican Winter Food

I find that one of the best ways to deal with Christmas being over is to eat spicy food. Bright and spicy Mexican dishes with toppings galore always make me happy on a dreary evening in Janaury.

Today's recipe is one from Chatealine, but I've topped their Mexican Lentil Soup with a delicious medley of treats that I think would make even the darkest night fun. Toppings make this soup interactive and can also make eating the soup into a game of who-can-make-the-best-topped-soup? 

That's not just a game at my house, is it? If that's not the game for you, try your chance at my current giveaway for Team Canada 2014 Olympic Gear! 

New Year's Resolutions

For this month's Canadian Food Experience Project, we were asked to share a post on our resolutions. Every year I make resolutions, but I don't usually finish the year having kept them.

After spending a bit of time thinking about it, I think I know what my problem is. I think it's that my resolutions are usually too big and too difficult to keep. Or are something I just don't enjoying doing...

But I know this year will be different because I am only resolving to try one new food each month. That's just 12 new things and I can surely do that! I'll be posting about my new foodie finds each month and I hope that you'll be interested in trying a few of them along with me.

This month I am starting off by trying chia. I bet you once had a chia pet, one of those little terra cotta animals that you would scoop a little pile of seeds onto, water it, and then get to watch the plants grow? Well I had heard that chia seeds were really good for you and tasty too. Now I know that whoever said that was right!

Read on for my recipe for Chia Puddings, inspired by one from Giada's new cookbook, Giada's Feel Good Food.  I used fruit fitting for a Canadian winter and made a few other changes as well.

Delish Fish

If I was told I could choose one food to live on for the rest of my life, I think it might be potatoes. Potatoes are not my favourite food - that might be chocolate, cheese, or fresh berries - but potatoes are versatile, delicious, and healthy. I could never get bored of potatoes or feel sick from eating them.

One of my favourite ways to cook potatoes is to mash them and because I love them, I usually make way too much. If you're anything like me, you need new ways to use up leftover mashed potatoes and I have a perfect idea of what to create - my Potato Fish Cakes!

And, besides using up leftover mashed potatoes, one of the best parts of this dish is how easy it is to change up the ingredients and make something new. Just change the fish or the herb and you've got a whole new dish!

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? 

New Year's Eve Appy Night

It's New Year's Eve and at my house that means a night filled with sparkling drinks and appys. I like to think that I eat less when I'm eating finger food, but I know that I'm kidding myself. I know I fill my little plate up with way more food than I would with just a main course. But it's the holidays right?

Today I'm sharing my New Year's Eve menu with you instead of some new dishes. I love making new  recipes, but I love some of my tried and true favourites a little but more.

First up, I'm going to make my Curried Peanut Butter Sauce. It's great with meatballs like I first showed you, but this time I'm going to serve it with some Grilled Bay Scallop Skewers and also with some Summer Rolls. Tonight's Summer Rolls will be a little different than last time, so look for them in a new post coming up next month!

I'm also going to make one of my favourite dishes, Stuffed Mushrooms! I'll be skipping the bacon in my original recipe, so I might need a little extra cheese to make them sing. But the crescent roll wrapper will stay. I'll never say no to them!

Finally I have one new recipe to try, something I'm going to call Fingerling Potato Jackets. My sweetie wants some guacamole and I know that it would be perfect to serve with baby potato skins stuffed with cheese and salsa. Come back for this recipe too!

Have fun tonight and stay safe! And don't forget to enter my giveaway for some great Team Canada Olympic gear!

An Olympic Sized Giveaway

I love Christmas but now that it's over I'm ready to start thinking about the 2014 Olympic Games. I cannot wait to wear our Canadian colours proudly, watch the opening ceremony, and start cheering on our amazingly talented athletes.

Every year I like to celebrate the Olympics with themed snacks. I just love making things that will make my friends and family smile and get into the Olympic mood. The food must taste good, be easy to make (so that I don't miss a minute of the excitement), and of course resemble an Olympic sport. 

This year I decided to make a fun layered dip topped with a curling end zone. I like to think that it might help the Canadian teams become victorious, but if not, I know it made my family smile. And since Yoplait is a proud supporter of Team Canada at this year's Olympics, I incorporated Yoplait into my recipe. 

Read on for my recipe and also for a great giveaway to help you get decked out in style for this year's Olympic Games!

Merry Christmas from Delish in a Dish

My family is opening up stockings, enjoying freshly baked breakfast pastries, and drinks mimosas right now. It is a fabulous day and thank you for spending a moment of your time to join us. 

Today I am sharing a cookie recipe from a cookie exchange I went to this year, because if you're anything like me - you always have room for another cookie, especially on Christmas! 

I love these cookies because they're easy to make and delicious, perfect for a Christmas afternoon treat. I used preserves I received as a gift from the Preservation Society, a small Montreal preservation company that makes wonderful little jars of goodness, to fill my Sacher Torte Cookies. 

I used a mix of the traditional apricot jam (Preservation Society's Apricot Jam with honey and chamomile) and some of their special batch wild strawberries soaked in elderflower liquor. I think I need another taste to figure out which one I liked best!