Tag Archives: recipes

Preparations for Halloween

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Over the weekend we prepared for halloween. I finished Sean’s Ghost costume, made halloween cupcakes and we carved a pumpkin.

Sean’s Ghost Costume (minus the face paint)Thought it turned out well considering I had no pattern to use.

Halloween Cupcakes 

These are vanilla cupcakes from a previous blog, with a great vanilla butter cream frosting I found on food.com.

Carved Pumpkin

Tasty Bean Salad

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I am at home again today, sick – could have strep throat….and feeling pretty miserable. I wanted to share what I am doing to try to improve my health, since I have been sick off and on since February and now on my 6th course of antibiotics.

So as my health has been pretty awful this year, I have decided to try “Eat to Live” plan by Dr. Fuhrman.  The idea is to concentrate on eating 90% nutrient-dense foods – like veggies, fruits, seeds and nuts, beans and whole grains. For the remaining 10%, you can have healthy oils, meat and dairy. My goal is to build my body’s own immune system and provide the right food and nutrients to my body, it’s not about weight for me.

I have been pleasantly surprised, it has not been that difficult to follow the plan including a breakfast, lunch and dinner. I am one and half weeks.

Here’s one of the recipes I use for lunch.

Ingredients

1 can cannelloni beans (washed)
1 can black beans (washed)
1 can corn (washed)
1 small onion
1 small red pepper
1 small green pepper
1 garlic clove
1/2 tsp cumin
1 Tbsp fresh basil
1 Tbsp fresh parsley
1 Tbsp fresh chives
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp whole grain mustard
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar

Wash the beans and corn and place in a large bowl. Add diced peppers, diced onion and crushed garlic to the bowl. In a salad dressing container mix the remaining ingredients – shake to mix. Pour over the beans mixture, and stir to cover.

Serve as a side salad or I used a 1/2 whole wheat pita and made a sandwich. This salad stores well in the fridge. also think about adding fresh dices tomatoes or diced celery to add more flavors/tastes.

Here’s my lunch – the final product 🙂

A few of my favorite things: Savory Pies

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Pies! Pies! Pies! oh I miss Georgie Pie – a fast food chain that was around when I was a kid in New Zealand.

  

(Photo credits: kiwianarama.co.nz; georgiepienewzealand.blogspot.com)

When I go home to New Zealand, one of my must haves are meat pies. Meat pies and ketchup are part of our culture, hence on my list of one of my favorite things.

I have three savory pies that I love…smoked fish pie, the classic bacon and egg pie and lastly the potato top pie (filling is typically mince with vegetables – mince=ground beef with gravy for the US folks 😉 ). Here are the recipes for the bacon and egg pie and the potato top pie – I hope you enjoy them 🙂

Bacon and Egg Pie (makes 4 individual pies)

Ingredients 

1 sheet Pillsbury Pie Crust
5 eggs (lightly beaten)
1/2 onion (diced)
4 slices Canadian bacon (diced)
salt and pepper
1/4 cup frozen peas (optional)
1/2 cup grated cheese

  1. Preheat oven at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C)
  2. Unroll the sheet of pie crust, cut out the 4 circles – you may need to re-roll edges to get the 4th one. Place each into the pie dish.
  3. Place the chopped onion,  bacon and frozen pies on the bottom of each pie crust.
  4. Add the egg mixture, salt and pepper over the top to cover the filling (~3/4 fill). I stir the ingredients slightly.
  5. Sprinkle the cheese on the top
  6. Place in the oven for 30 mins or until the egg is cooked through
  7. Take them out of the oven and let stand and cool for 5 -10 mins
  8. Serve with either ketchup or a tasty tomato relish (my preference ;-))

NOTE: The egg will rise to look like a mountain – don’t worry as when it cools it will deflate slightly.

Potato Top Pie (makes 4 individual pies)

Ingredients

Mashed Potatoes:
2 russet potatoes (peeled and diced)
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
salt

  1. Cook potatoes in salted boiling water for ~15 minutes.
  2. Drain the water when cooked, add butter and milk and mash. Allow to cool.

Mince:
1 tsp oil
1/2 pound ground beef (250 g mince)
1/2 onion (diced)
2 tsp flour
1/4 cup beef stock
2 Tbsp Ketchup
salt and pepper
1/4 cup frozen peas

  1. Heat fry pan, add oil.
  2. Add the onions and cook until clear.
  3. Add ground beef and brown.
  4. In a cup add the flour and slowly stir in the stock, you are making a gravy – you don’t want lumps :-). Add it to the ground beef.
  5. Add Ketchup, seasoning and 1/4 cup of frozen peas.
  6. Take mixture once heated through off the heat and put aside to cool.

Pie
1 sheet Pillsbury Pie Crust
1/2 cup grated cheese

  1. Preheat oven at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C)
  2. Unroll the sheet of pie crust, cut out the 4 circles – you may need to re-roll edges to get the 4th one. Place each into the pie dish.
  3. Put a 1/4 cup of the mince in each of the pie crusts, fill 3/4 of the pie.
  4. In a piping bag, add mash potatoes. Pipe the potatoes in to rosettes on the top of the mince mixture. Cover the top completely with rosettes.
  5. Sprinkle with Cheese (you could add a sprinkle of paprika for color on the cheese).
  6. Cook for 15-20 mins or until the top becomes golden.
  7. Take it out, allow to cool for 5 mins. and server with ketchup ;-).