Cooking - for a new lifestyle (Our Test Kitchen)

I found a HUGE zucchini at  the Talbotville Berry Farm yesterday  and knew I had to stuff it! 1) Trim off the top of my zucchini,  so it looks like a boat. Then hollow out the seeds,  reserving any of the meatier parts. 2) In a food processor blend: reserved zucchini tomatoes celery onion  garlic green peppers ***but you could any vegetables like: mushrooms carrots etc. to make a vegetable chutney. 3) In a bowl mix:  any ground meat (beef and venison here this time) bread crumbs 1 egg salt and pepper italian seasoning 4) Stuff the meat into the zucchini 5) Pour the chutney over the length of the zucchini 6) Bake at 300 (I had to use my turkey roaster) for about an hour. 7) Sprinkle with grated cheese or parmesan 8) Broil for a short time to melt the cheese Serve with rice or egg noodles, by slicing off "steaks". The family liked it "plain" this way, but I would have liked a...

MY  Mexican rice Mix all ingredients in an oversize bowl, set aside until serving. If using a green tomato this will be a semi dry mixture. Refrigerate if necessary for preparation way ahead of dinner. Ingredients: 4 or 5 cups of cooked, rinsed and cooled rice 1 can of salad bean mix or black turtle beans 1 can of drained corn (or equal in frozen corn) 2 stalks of celery diced 1-2 onions diced 1 red pepper diced 1 green tomato diced (you can use red if you prefer) Mix the following ingredients together in a sealable bowl or cup and refrigerate. Dressing: 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar 2/3 cup canola oil 4 pickled jalepeno pepper rounds (due to spice problems here we used just dill pickle juice) 2 teaspoons chili powder 1 teaspoon cumin A nice alternative to potato or macaronni salad this summer. "Bon Appetit!"

So easy! Make ahead and sit in the fridge until needed! 5 cups of stock (homemade, canned or powder) 1 tsp pepper NO SALT Bring liquid to boil. Add curry to taste. ****Depending on your curry and where you have purchased it from your stock can become very salty! Add a raw potato to absorb the salt if necessary! When you are happy with it, add these items. 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken (diced will work if necessary) 1 cup chopped celery 1 cup chopped onion 1/2 cup chopped green pepper 1/2 cup shredded carrot (optional) Bring to a boil. Refrigerate until planning to eat. A day in the fridge will enhance the flavour! Bring curry to a boil again. When vegetables are to desired texture, add: 1/2 cup water mixed with 2 tbsp of cornstarch. Add small amounts at a time! STOP when sauce is desired thickness! It will have a green or dark mustard colour. Serve over rice or egg noodles. "Bon Appetit!"

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups (625 mL) reduced-sodium chicken broth 2/3 cup (150 mL) reduced-fat (lite) coconut milk (not cream of coconut) 1 tbsp (15 mL) grated ginger-root 1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt 1 1/3 cup (325 mL) uncooked regular long-grain rice 1 tsp (5 mL) grated lime peel 3 medium green onions, chopped (about 3 tbsp/45 mL) 3 tbsp (45 mL) flaked coconut, toasted Lime slice Method: Heat broth, coconut milk, ginger-root and salt to boiling in 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in rice. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover and simmer about 15 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed; remove from heat. Add lime peel and onions. Fluff rice, lime peel and onions lightly with fork to mix. Garnish with coconut and lime slices.

So what happens when a recipe is a flop? I made curry chicken (a staple in our house) 2 nights ago and the curry was cheap. NO flavor. John said old, but I know its not that old.....so I am going back to finding my Watkins curry.  It was NEVER going to get eaten so what to do....... Or maybe the kid/husband mis-measured and you have enough rice to feed an army! 3 cups cooked rice (ours had celery and onions) 1 tbsp Sunset Gourmet Garlic 3/4 cup red/green pepper diced Put into large mixing bowl. Add: 1 package of beef vegetable soup mix 1/2 cup water (if boullion in package is a lump in soup mix add to water and mix first) Press into a greased bundt pan. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes.  While baking: 2 cups frozen corn 1/2 onion diced 1/8 cup olive oil pepper to taste Sautee in a frying pan, until onions are tender.  Corn goes intothe center of the rice when it comes out of the bundt pan. We served this dish with ribs and coleslaw. "BON APET...

What a deal! On the almost new/never used reduced area of the meat section, I found bbq thick pork chops for 1/2 price. Pork Chops are John's go to meal. He loves them. I love stuffed pork. Judy hates stuffing. Tonight I decided to try something a bit different! 3 - 1" or thicker pork chops (1/2 frozen if possible as they are easier to work with) Take a very sharp knife and slit a hole into the meat making a pocket in each. Set aside to continue thawing while you make the stuffing etc. I use a rice cooker. Thanks to Pam, I asked for one, and thanks to Mom I have one. Use whatever method makes you happy. 2 cups rice 4 cups water 1 package of Knorr beef vegetable soup mix Italian seasoning 1/2 cup bread crumbs Cook the rice, and set aside approx  1 1/2 cups in a mixing bowl. Set the rest aside as a side dish for either this meal or tomorrow nights! Into the bowl I added the Italian spice and bread crumbs (which I make from the last bits of cracker...

Mum cooked this up the other night and it was quite delicious. Tastes really good heated up too. Ingredients: 1 1/2 cups instant white rice, uncooked 19oz can black beans, rinsed. (We used only 14oz) 1 yellow pepper, chopped 10 fl oz can condensed cream of chicken soup 1 soup can water (or milk if you want it creamier) 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro 4 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (1lb) 1/2 cup of salsa 1 cup Tex Mex Shredded Cheese Taco Seasoning Italian Seasoning Oregano Make It: Heat oven to 400F Combine rice, beans and peppers in a 9x13" baking dish. Mix soup, water(or milk), salsa, and cilantro; pour over rice mixture. Cut up chicken into small pieces and mix it with everything. Add oregano, Italian and taco seasoning in a sprinkling. Bake 35mins or until chicken is done. Top with cheese; bake until cheese is melted.

2 servings 1 stalk celery, finely chopped 1/2 onion, finely chopped 3/4 cup strawberries 1 cup chicken broth 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter 1 tbsp olive oil 3/4 cup arborio rice 1/3 cup white wine salt and ground pepper Finely chop the onion and celery.  Clean the strawberries, then put them in a blender, setting a few strawberries aside as a garnish.  Mix 1-2 minutes, until a red puree is obtained. Heat the broth in a small saucepan on the stove or in a microwave oven.  Keep it warm while cooking the risotto (about 20 minutes). Melt  the butter and olive oil in a large skillet or saucepan.  Saute the onion and celery 2-3 minutes, until the onion becomes translucent.  Add the rice, then cook 1-2 minutes, with constant stirring, until the rice grains are well toasted and translucent.  Stir in the strawberry puree.  Pour in the white wine. Cook the risotto, using the warmed broth until the rice is creamy but still al dente.  Remove ...

1 lb. ground beef 3/4 c. uncooked long-grain rice 1 large onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 1 (28 oz) can tomato cause 1/4 c. cider vinegar 2 tbsp. brown sugar, packed 1 tbsp. dry mustard 8 cups cabbage, coarsely chopped (1/2 head) In large bowl, mix together beef,rice, onion, garlic, salt and pepper.  In small bowl, stir together tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar and mustard.  Layer 1/3 of the cabbage in bottom of 3-quart deep casserole.  Arrange half of the beef mixture on top.  Cover with another 1/3 of the cabbage and then add the remaining beef mixture.  Cover with remaining cabbage.  Pour tomato sauce mixture over top, but do not stir.  Casserole will be quite full.  Cover; let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.  Bake at 325 F for 2 hours, without stirring. Mom wasn't crazy about it.  I liked it quite a bit but I think next time I wouldn't use quite so much cabbage.

When a friend asked me what recipe was good using shrimp, I had no clue. So what did I do? Searched online and found this recipe for her. I decided to try it out myself though when creating it, Mum and I both had to try and figure out how much of certain things. Here it is though. 2 cups instant rice 1/2 green pepper, chopped 1/2 cup onion, chopped 40-60 Count cooked shrimp 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped Butter (we decided on 4 Tbsp. Best bet is to use 3) Shredded cheese of your choice (Recommending Monzerlla or marble) Soya sauce Directions: Remove tails from shrimp. Cook rice as directed on package; set aside. Chop onion and pepper, sauteing together and set aside. Melt garlic & butter in a frying pan and fry the shrimp until hot (or until butter disappears). Mix rice with Soya sauce of your preference. Add in onion and pepper. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Using a deep oven-safe dish, put a layer of rice in, then a layer of shrimp, then a layer of shredded cheese. Repeat unt...

The idea of this is you can prep everything ahead of time and clean the kitchen. You will only have a few bowls to wash in the end. In a pot boil enough rice for your diners. When rice is done to your taste, rinse quickly in cold water **This will stop further cooking (and cut down on stach and stickiness). Set aside until dinner time. In same pot you cooked rice, on med heat 2 tsp vegetable oil about 1/2 cup of thin soup noodles 1"ish (or broken spaghetti) about 1/2 cup chopped almonds, cashews, pecans or pistachios Essentially you are going to fry these noodles creating vermicelli! Watch carefully and when you start to see colour, remove from heat or you will have VERY well done noodles....) and cool/drain on a paper towel. Set aside until it is dinner time. On a large plate dice up a cheap steak into small cubes **You can use chicken, pork or sausage as well Set aside until it is dinner time In bowl #1 diced carrots, corn, water chestnuts **Any hard core veggies that need extra...

I spent some time selecting recipes that I felt would be simple enough for a cooking lesson for the grandsons.  They wanted to cook dinner.  Now, like usual with kids, things didn't always go as planned but here goes . . .  Baked Chicken Superb 1/2 cup instant potato flakes 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/4 cup melter butter 1 frying chicken (3-1/2 lb), cut up On a piece of waxed paper, combine potato flakes and grated cheese.  Melt butter in large shallow baking pan.  Roll each piece of chicken in butter and then in potato flake-cheese mixture.  Place chicken pieces in pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake in 350F oven for about 1 hour.  Serves 4 So I didn't want to buy instant potato flakes, mostly because I don't like them; we used breadcrumbs.  And chickens were expensive, but chicken thighs were on sale at a good price.  Needless to say we bought the chicken thighs.  I skinned the chicken thighs when we got hom...

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED these recipes and I was sure Hal would too.  Wrong again.  The man likes tomatoes, fruit, rice, curry and he has unwittingly eaten tofu many, many times in Thai food.  But apparently I'm wrong.  He liked the rice and the strawberries . . . sigh . . . well I won't give up!! Tomato Salad with Oregano 2 tomatoes cut into quarters 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Salt & pepper to taste ¾ tsp dried oregano Put all ingredients into a bowl and toss well. Makes 2 servings. Tofu Curry with Fruit ½ onion, finely chopped 1 clove garlic, minced ½ apple, peeled and cut into quarters 2 slices canned pineapple, cut into bit-size pieces 1 banana, cut into bite-size pieces 150 g watermelon, cut into bit-size pieces 1 tbsp butter 1 tbsp curry powder ½ cup vegetable broth 220 g firm tofu, cut into 1.5 cm cubes ½ tbsp canola oil ¼ cup cream 15% Salt and pepper to taste Heat half of the butter in a pan over medium heat.   Add the onion and garlic, t...

Mix Together: 1 10oz bag of frozen peas 1 1/2 cups cooked rice (brown or white) 2 4oz cans of shrimp 1 1/2 cups chopped celery 1/4 cup green onions Mix together for Dressing: 1/4 cup oil 1 Tbsp soya sauce 1 tsp celery seed 1 tsp salt 2 tsp curry 1/2 accent 3 Tbsp vinegar 1/2 Tbsp sugar Toss together and serve. "Bon Appetit!"

This is from The Good-to-Go-Cookbook , by Kathleen Cannata Hanna. It can be found on page 289. This was super easy to make and you probably have everything in the house already to make it, which is a real bonus in my opinion. Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 15 mins Yield: 6 servings 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp salt 2 1/2 cups milk 2 cups cooked rice (instant is fine) 2 eggs 1/2 cup golden raisins, optional (I did not include) 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract Directions: Stir together the sugar, flour and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in the milk until smooth. Add the rice. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a boil, about 10 mins. Boil for 2 minutes longer and remove from heat. Beat the eggs in a small bowl. Slowly add 1 ladle of the hot pudding mixture into the eggs, briskly stirring the the egg/pudding mixture. Still off the heat, pour beaten egg and pudding mixture back into the rest of th...

6 servings 6 pork chops 1 package brown and wild rice mushroom mix 2 cups water 1 large tomato, sliced 1 large onion, sliced 1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped Spray large nonstick skillet with nonstick cooking spray. Heat over high heat; place chops in skillet; cook 2 minutes, turning halfway through. Remove from heat. Remove pork chops from skillet; set aside. In a casserole dish, stir together drippings from browning pork chops, the wild rice mix and 2 cups water. Arrange slices of tomato and onion in a single layer over rice mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup parsley. Arrange pork chops over top. Cover. Bake in 350 F oven for 40-50 minutes, or until pork is no longer pink in centre and rice is cooked. In my opinion: We put the parsley on top of the pork chops because it was prettier. This recipe is quite simple, and looks and smells wonderful. Recipe is from "Frozen Assets Lite & Easy" by Deborah Taylor Hough. Le dîner est servi . . .

I made this salad for Paula's baby shower a couple of weeks ago because I thought it would go nicely with the spare ribs that Deb was bringing. I was right. Ingredients: 1 can (15 ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed 2 cups cooked long-grain rice, chilled 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped 1 tomato, seeded and chopped 2 to 3 green onions, finely chopped 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 tablespoons lime juice 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1/2 teaspoon sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper fresh chopped parsley or cilantro for garnish, if desired Preparation: Combine beans with rice, green and red bell pepper, tomato, and green onion. In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice, mustard, sugar, cumin, and pepper. Add dressing to beans and rice and stir gently to blend ingredients. Garnish with parsley or cilantro and serve chilled. Serves 6. http://southernfood.about.com/od/beansalads/r/bl91029c.htm Le dîner est servi . ...