We've had the winter illness around here..

So I've been a little absent from the blog...please know that it was all due to one thing - GERMS.  The amount of germs that two little ones can bring home from school is truly unbelievable.  The last few days have probably been the first time in weeks that we have been illness free in this house.  And hence why I am now able to blog!

Since we were "down and out" the last couple of weeks it worked out well in clearing out room in my freezer.  That's the amazing part of double batching meals.  You make enough to put a duplicate meal in your freezer, and it all adds up quickly.  As if today, I only have 4 cooked meals remaining in there!  So I better get to work over the next few weeks at replenishing in case another "outbreak" happens around here!

Started out the morning by throwing some barbacoa beef shredded taco ingredients into the crock pot.  This is a great recipe that takes a little more prep than other crock pot meals, but it is worth it.  This recipe is a copy cat version of the barbacoa tacos from the restaurant chain called Chipotle.  It's definitely worth giving this recipe a try!

Chipotle Barbacoa Beef Tacos

I pretty much follow this recipe to an exact tee, except for the chipotle chilis in adobo sauce.  This recipe calls for 3-4 of those, I generally go with only two.  Remember, my gut isn't fond of a ton of spice :)

This week I also wanted to make those yummy beef enchiladas I made a couple weeks back.  They were really easy and super tasty, and a big hit at my dinner table.

You can find the recipe for them here:

Beef Enchiladas

And as I did before, I made the enchilada sauce from scratch :)  You can find that recipe here:

Homemade Enchilada Sauce

Unfortunately while making the sauce I realized I only had about a teaspoon and a half of chili powder left.  The result is a sauce that is a little less red in colour, but I added some paprika as well and it still tasted great.

The recipe made a total of 16 enchiladas this time!  Enough for dinner for the four of us, and lunches for me and the Mr.

I came across a recipe on Pinterest that looked simple and called for chicken.  Since I had some chicken in the freezer, as well as all of the other ingredients for this recipe on hand at home already, I went for it!

Quick Lime Cilantro Chicken

You should definitely give this recipe a try if you're pressed for time.  Total time from prep to completion was 40 minutes.  I think I will serve this over rice and with a salad on the side.

Last recipe I made was the infamous garlic soup!  I've never actually provided the recipe on this blog.  I'll tell you why.  The recipe is actually a chef's creation from a restaurant that our good friends own in Guelph, Ontario.  Check them out if you're ever in the area - Atmosphere Cafe.

Here is a link to their website:

Atmosphere Cafe - Guelph

So I can't just GIVE the recipe away of course...BUT, check out the pic below and maybe you can guess the ingredients and sizing :)  If you think you know what measurements, comment your thoughts in this post :)  Better yet, go in person to Atmosphere Cafe and tell them Miriam sent you!

This coming weekend is going to be busy...I plan on throwing some Christmas baking into the mix as well!  I have to make about 50 cookies for a work cookie exchange, and I have to bake some Christmas treats for this house as well :)

Happy Monday!

All about BEEF!

So the husband has been complaining that we eat too much chicken.  Who doesn't love chicken?  It's pretty much my favourite meat, but he's more of a red meat fan.  This week I decided to be a kind wife and do ALL red meat.  Good thing ground beef was on sale last week when I went grocery shopping!

Last week I spent some time going through my cookbooks (yep, I took out the good OLD cookbooks!) and Pinterest, and looking through some pics that friends had recently posted on Facebook and Instagram.

With all of my research in my backpocket I decided on the meals I was going to make:

Ground Beef Wellington
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Beef Enchiladas

I only made three meals this weekend as I still had some yummy goodness in my chest freezer.  So I went ahead and pulled out a dish my mother-in-law made me a few weeks back - chicken thighs and drumsticks with a grape tomato coulis served over brown rice.  I absolutely LOVE pulling ready made meals out of the freezer.  But, even though they're already made they always require some sort of warming in the oven, or on the stove-top, so after a long day of work it still takes some time to get it on the table before the children are freaking out :)

As soon as I rose out of my slumber on Sunday morning I started prepping the ingredients for the slow cooker beef stew.  I've made this recipe over a dozen times and it always tastes amazing.  I used to own a Crock Pot brand slow cooker and this was a recipe from Crock Pot themselves.  I currently own a Hamilton Beach slow cooker which is just as good :)

Here is the recipe:

http://www.crock-pot.com/stories?cgid=recipes&storyId=160992

I usually modify this and add maybe two more potatoes, a total of three celery stalks, and two carrots.  In the past I have also thrown some mushrooms in the mix as well.  Cook it on low for 10 hours and it's perfect!  I did once follow the directions to cook it on high, and it definitely overcooked the meat a little too crisp for my liking.

After I had the crock pot up and running, I started out on the next recipe that called for ground beef!

This recipe I haven't made since I was on maternity leave with my son.  That year I made it more than a few times and it turns out great each time, and is really simple to make.  It's from one of my Jamie Oliver cookbooks.  Jamie Oliver has some great recipes if you haven't checked him out before.  They're all relatively easy, and always turn out tasting great.

Here's the recipe from another food bloggers' web site:

http://www.chroniclesofacuriouscook.com/2010/04/ground-beef-wellington-from-jamie-oliver/

The only modification I make to this recipe is that I do not put the frozen peas in.  I just really dislike peas.  They're mushy, and don't have a great taste (in my honest opinion) so I leave them out.  The recipe calls for fresh rosemary but I have always used the dried version just because I always forget to buy the fresh sprigs when I'm at the store.

Because I had only ever made this while on maternity leave I was always baking the recipe and serving it that same night.  When I realized that it takes an hour to bake I went ahead and baked it on Sunday, and let it cool completely and wrapped it in tin foil.  This dish we will have on Tuesday.  What I plan on doing is keeping it wrapped in the tin foil and placing it back in the oven to warm (probably at 350 for about 25 minutes).  I will then remove the foil and let it continue to bake for another few minutes before taking it out.

The last ground beef recipe I tackled has been an ongoing request from the husband over the last few months - beef enchiladas!  When I saw a friend of mine making them on Facebook a few weeks back I immediately contacted her for the goods!

She provided me with the following recipe:

http://www.recipegirl.com/2011/05/02/easy-beef-enchiladas/

I made a slight modification based on a tip from my friend...as well as the zucchini and onion that is in the ground beef mixture, I added some mushrooms too.  About 1/4 cup of sliced mushrooms.  I chopped up all of the vegetables extra small so that they would remain hidden from the kids.  My kiddies do not like zucchini or mushrooms so whenever I cook with those veggies I make them very well hidden :)  And NEITHER of them even knew they were in there tonight when we ate them! HA!

And as I set out making this recipe I realized I forgot to buy enchilada sauce!  Since I was already deep into Sunday Soup Kitchen at that point I decided to search my Pinterest board as I remembered pinning an enchilada sauce recipe a few weeks back.  Good thing it was there and pretty easy to make!

Here is the recipe for homemade red enchilada sauce:

http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/red-enchilada-sauce/

Since it was pretty simple to make, I don't think I will ever buy pre-made enchilada sauce now!

For this recipe I cooked the ground beef/veggie mixture, made the enchilada sauce, assembled all of the enchiladas and then placed them in a dish and wrapped them in tin foil.  In the fridge they went as we were having them tonight (Monday).

So tonight I placed them in the oven covered in tin foil for 30 minutes at 350...then took them out and sprinkled cheese on them...then back in until the cheese melted.  They were delicious and everyone chowed down!

I ended up with a total of 15 enchiladas.  Enough for dinner for the four of us, and lunches for me and the husband!

And if you've been reading my blog, you should know by now that on Sunday I also made (of course!) banana chocolate chip muffins and pizza pinwheels.

And before I sign off, in other good news I am now a member of the Food Bloggers of Canada!  They have a great website that provides links to a bunch of amazing food bloggers across Canada so if you're looking for inspiration and ideas check them out!

www.foodbloggersofcanada.com

Nitey nite!