Cooking - for a new lifestyle (Our Test Kitchen)

Sooooo delicious. Not too soft and not too crunchy. Just right. Makes 30 1 cup butter, softened scant 3/4 cup superfine sugar (or substitute with regular sugar) finely grated rind of 1 lime 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten 2tsp orange liqueur or 1tsp orange extract 2 1/2 cups all purpose- flour pinch of salt To Decorate 1 1/4 cups icing sugar 3Tbsp white or gold tequila 3/4tsp water Mixing Time Preheat the oven to 375F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. (If no paper, lightly grease the pan with butter.) Put the butter, superfine sugar and the lime rind into a bowl and mix well with a wooden spoon, then beat in the egg yolk and orange liqueur or orange extract. Sift together the flour and a pinch of salt into the mixture and stir until thoroughly combined. Scoop up tablespoons of the dough and put them on the prepared baking sheets, spaced well apart, then flatten gently. Bake in the preheated oven for 10-12mins until light golden brown. Let cool on the baki...

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.

I found this recipe at  http://www.sparkrecipes.com and it sounded so good I just had to try it. 1 medium onion, diced 6 oz fresh baby spinach 2 large eggs 1/2 cup egg beaters (I didn't have any so added 3 more eggs.  Why 3?  Because there were 5 in the carton . . . LOL) 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1/2 tsp baking powder pinch cayenne pepper 1-1/3 cups non fat milk 1/2 cup feta cheese Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly great a 10 inch quiche/tart pan  or pie plate. In a medium frying pan, cook diced onion with a bit of vegetable oil or cooking spray over medium-high heat until translucent and tender.  Add in fresh spinach and cook until just wilted.  Set aside to cool for a few minutes. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, flour and baking powder.  Whisk in milk, then stir in spinach-onion mixture. Pour quiche base into prepared pan.  Top with feta cheese. Bake for 25 minutes, or until centre is set and outside edge is golden ...

3 tbsp olive oil 3 large garlic cloves, minced 1 small onion, minced 1/4 tsp crushed hot red pepper 1 14-1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes, juices reserved 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar 1 tsp dried rosemary 2 cups cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans) or 1 16-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 4 cups chicken stock or reduced-sodium canned broth 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup croutons In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat.  Add the garlic, onion and hot pepper.  Cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened but not browned, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices, the vinegar and rosemary.  Increase the heat to high and boil until juice from the tomatoes thickens, about 5 minutes. Add the chickpeas, chicken stock and salt.  Cover and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and smashing some of the beans with the back of a spoon.  To serve, sprinkle with the cheese and the crou...

You'll need: 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts or about 12 boneless skinless thighs (we used thighs, but I would prefer the white meat next time) 3/4 cup peanut sauce 1/2 cup salsa (I used mild because I wasn't sure how spicy it would be for our little taster, but next time I'd use medium or even hot.  This recipe is great because you can tailor it to your spice preferences) 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil Here's what you do: Preheat oven to 400F. Meanwhile, mix together peanut sauce, salsa and basil; stir to combine.  Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray (or grease with olive oil like I did).  Place chicken into pan and cover with all of the sauce.   Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes.  We served it with mashed potatoes and a salad.  The extra sauce was really good on the potatoes!! **Hubby and I both liked this dish a lot.  He went back for seconds, which is definitely a sign that it is good!

2 tsp oil 6 sausages (your favourite-Judy likes plain if she has to eat them at all) Cut the sausages in 1/2 length ways and then cut into small cubes. ***HINT: use scissors the job goes faster and smoother! Drop into hot frying pan of oil and cook covered, stirring occasionally until thoroughly cooked! Heat should be about a medium. THIS COULD BE DONE WITH CHICKEN..... Add: 1 cups chopped onion Drain off excess greas from sausages ***HINT: the bulk sausages from Fresh Co come 3 packs of 6 for $10 and they have very little grease after being cooked! Stir in apples and onions, cover agian and sweat them for 2-3 minutes. Stir and add: 2 tsp garlic (jar) or 2 cloves of fresh garlic 2 tsp curry 2 tsp pepper ***HINT: curry is not the same from the dollar store vs the bulk barn vs real curry Our family loves curry, the dollar store curry has too much salt and very little flavour. Real curry is very strong and will NOT need as much! Turn off heat and pour into crock pot. ...

I have noticed my tastes changing in the last year. I appreciate home cooking more now than before the illness last year. I guess not being able to eat for months on end, makes you appreciate the taste of food more. I took: 6-8 large potatoes 4-6 carrots 1 small turnip Dice all veggies into large pieces and place in layers into a roaster, drizzle with oil and sprinkle (I was heavy handed) with italian seasoning. I served this with fried pork chops and apple sauce. Everyone loved it. Including a fussy little eater named Chloe. Now knowing it is better to cook once and enjoy twice, I puposely made too much! So tonight, I took those leftover potatoes and threw them in the crock pot. I added: 1 can of corn (or frozen) 1 box of beef broth 2 stalks of diced celery 1/2 onion chopped and 4 diced fast fry steaks diced and lightly browned in some of the beef broth. Add to the crock pot and heat for 2-3 hours...... Judy came back for more. "Bon appetit!"