Confession #37 - Weird Food

Sometimes... I like weird food.

For example,

Confession: 

I love BEETS

and...

KIDNEY BEANS

Mmm, delicious beets.

Now, you may be thinking - what is so odd about this? 

There are lots of things that beets are in, or even more that you could eat kidney beans in.

"That's not so strange!"

But see here? Even THESE beets are too fancy for me:

Would I eat them? Yes.

But I prefer to eat beets straight - heated, with a little salt and pepper.

Yep.

I drain the hot pink water though. 

That would be a little weird.

But delicious, sweet beets with a little salt and pepper...

YUM!

And same with kidney beans...

I mean, I love them all.

This is how I look at kidney beans: (and beets)

I don't know why!

But...

I would eat them in a tree,

Or in a box, or by the sea.

I'd even eat them in my house,

Not by a mouse, or by some grouse...

but I would eat them here or there.

Say - I would eat them anywhere.

Some parting advice, from me to you:

Because: 

And remember, no matter what your father told you, eating your vegetables will NOT put hair on your chest.

:o)

Someone made these glazed beet donuts. Don't they look delicious?
YES.
YES THEY DO.

A 'Grand' Lunchable

I was just wondering today, about how far I could make a lunchable stretch. I also have a problem where my 2-year-old constantly requests "lunchable! lunchable!" but she never actually eats the lunchable, she just picks off the cheese. (Hence why you don't really find them in our fridge anymore!)

So, I pulled a few ingredients out of my fridge and experimented.

It turned out great!

You'll need:

1. Refrigerator can biscuits

2. A lunchable

3. Chocolate sauce/whipped cream (optional)

Preheat your oven to 350°F.

I used Pillsbury 'Grands!' for my biscuits.

Place your biscuits out on a baking sheet.

I lined mine with parchment paper, just in case.

(Because nothing sticks to parchment paper!)

:oD

Open up your lunchable.

Assemble all the lunchables into sandwiches.

(You could even double up on these if you want them to be 'meatier', but I just used one this time around because everything in the lunchable - assembled - made 8 things to wrap in 8 biscuits)

Carefully separate the biscuit in half, and tuck in a lunchable.

(Or two, if you are going for "heartier")

Press closed around the edges with a fork.

Repeat with the rest, including the oreos!

:o)

Place in your oven for 12 minutes. 

They will come out golden brown:

Ta-da!

Stuffed biscuit lunchables.

WAY filling! My daughter ate one for lunch, and I had two and we were done.

Here is how the oreo one turned out:

I drizzled a little chocolate sauce on a plate,

(I used Hershey's)

And garnished with a little whipped cream,

(I used cool whip instead of the real thing...)

And a super easy dessert was born!

If you think about it, this could serve 4 people (or more, depending on how old they are) - all from one lunchable, and a can of biscuits.

SWEET!

Confession #36 - Canadian Food

Beautiful.

Do you know what those beauties are?
Something you are missing out on, is my guess.

These are some of my FAVORITE food items that I miss.

Confession: I miss my Canadian food.

(Or so I've been told it is Canadian ☺)

First up:

KETCHUP CHIPS.

Glorious!
Delicious!

Marvelous!

Last Christmas, my mother asked me what I would like for Christmas. 

She laughed a little when I told her, "Ketchup chips!"

Maybe I have not been public about my love of ketchup chips enough!

This is what it's like:

My sentiments exactly.

Christmas morning, I opened the package from my mom.

Inside? Two bags of Old Dutch ketchup chips.

My moment looked like this:

(Thank you Mom!!! ♥)

(*tear*)

Another thing I miss?
Tim Horton's.

Running an errand with my dad, on a chilly winter day, usually came with a nice hot cup of Timmy's hot chocolate.

♥

And OH how I loved to look at all their flavors on display.

Which one to choose....

And the feeling of bundling up a package of them, and bringing them home.

SO MANY DELICIOUS DONUTS!

And of course, Timbits.... 

YES!

Lastly, and some of you may think this is disgusting, but...

Poutine.

I just remember going to the mall stopping at NY Fries for some great poutine. 

For those of you who do not know, essentially poutine is fries, topped with cheese and gravy.

I am now, depressingly, hungry.

Maybe I have some toast around here somewhere......

....sigh.

☺

Speedy "Enchiladas"

I have to admit, I have never made actual enchiladas before.

However.

These were a huge success, so I had to share my recipe.

:o)

This is the filling:

SPEEDY ENCHILADAS

Ingredients:

1/2 pouch of taco (or 'burrito') seasoning

1/4 cup water

4 chicken breasts (even if they are frozen)

1 (15oz) can Hormel chili w/beans

3/4 cup salsa

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used cheddar)

tortillas

Directions:

PLACE chicken in a big pot. I believe they are called dutch ovens. Fill with enough water to cover the chicken.

BOIL the chicken until cooked thoroughly. (Trust me!) Takes about 20 minutes. It's ok to cut one in half to check. ☺

DRAIN chicken, and put chicken on a cutting board. Rinse out your big pot and put it to the side - you're going to use it again in a minute.

SHRED chicken, using two forks to rip it apart - hold the chicken still with one fork, and pull chicken away in short movements with the other fork. 

PLACE chicken back in your big pot. 

SPRINKLE taco seasoning and water over chicken.

HEAT, while stirring, until the taco seasoning is fully distributed through the chicken.

ADD chili, salsa, sour cream, and cheese. (Everything else)

STIR ingredients together until heated to desired temperature and the cheese has melted.

SERVE as a burrito filling,

or

STUFF tortillas with filling, and place in 9x13" pan.

SPRINKLE tortillas with shredded cheese.

BROIL for approximately 5 minutes. (Until cheese is melted)

SERVE and enjjjjooooy!

♦♦♦

When I made this it took me less than ... 40 minutes? 

From boiling the chicken all the way to getting it on the table.

Fast, delicious, flexible... add what you want!

Let me know if you make this, please.

My family is biased.

(°‿°)

Monster Cookies ∙-(σ益σ)-∙

MONSTER COOKIES!

I saw a cookie similar to this online, but I had to alter it.

(Hey - how can I stray from the most perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe? - Thanks Keeley, for ruining every other chocolate chip cookie on Earth. 

They don't know what they're missing.)

Especially with Halloween right around the corner...

Here's how to make these frightfully delish monster cookies:

∙-(σ益σ)-∙ MONSTER COOKIES ∙-(σ益σ)-∙ 

Prep time - approx 25 mins | Cooking time - 10 min | Cooling time - 15-20 min

Ingredients:

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs

2 cups (12oz pkg) chocolate chips

green food coloring (or purple)

1 package Halloween Oreos

Directions:

PREHEAT your oven to 375ºF.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

CREAM butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, vanilla extract and food coloring (use to your own judgment) in a large mixing bowl.

BEAT in eggs, one at a time, until well blended.

GRADUALLY beat in flour mixture. (I use my Kitchenaid mixer for everything up to this point, when I am at about 3/4 of the flour, and then take over and do the rest by hand.)

STIR in chocolate chips. (It is perfect if you are unsure if the dough will hold on to all of those chocolate chips.)

SMUSH cookie dough on either side of your oreo - just enough to cover - pinching it around the sides to make sure it is totally covered.

PLACE on an ungreased cookie sheet.

REPEAT until you have used all your cookie dough to cover the oreos.

BAKE for 10-11 minutes until they are golden brown. Er.... golden green. Once removed from the oven, wait  5-10 minutes before removing them from the cookie sheets so they hold their shape. 

COOL completely on wire racks.

♦♦♦

I find these bad boys are the best the day after you make them. 

Not that I expect you to wait that long, of course. 

(^‿^)

I just loved the idea of a fun treat to pass around for Halloween that wasn't... 

well... candy corn. 

:o)

Confession #35 - Swimming

Ok, this is an easy one.

:o)

CONFESSION:

Tell me you saw it coming...

Just... I just love everything about it. 

There is something really wonderful about climbing into the pool...

And being in that super magical ripple water.

Now don't get me wrong - I still fear water just like the next shmoe!

I mean seriously, drowning... not a daydream of mine.

But I do love to be underwater.

It's a whole other world in there.

It just makes me want to explore.

What's around that corner?

It gets me thinking... what if there was a whole city under here?

(Like in the little mermaid)

:o)

As a kid/teenager/me, I am always very little fun at the pool - all I ever wanted to do was see how much I could sit on the bottom. I so wished there had been handles so I could have stayed there. It was so fun for me. So peaceful under there.

And something is just plain silly about sitting with your legs crossed,

underwater.

Maybe it's just me. :o)

In high school, the year I graduated, I was lucky enough to be on the swim team. It was hard sometimes (I lost 60lbs from it), and I wasn't even close to the hardest working swimmer out there!

One thing I do remember was the swim meets.

This picture gives me butterflies:

*goosebumps*

It was so fun. I wanted to swim well, so badly.

One day when I have a few thousand dollars to throw away, I will get one of those endless pools - the little pools that go in your home, in a patio or some such - where you can do non stop laps in a small amount of space. 

Amaaaazing!

I think my love of water is what draws me to Tahiti so badly.

I just love the idea of staying in a little hut, in the water - or having this waist-deep water all over the place - crystal clear, wonderful, beautiful water...

It just seems the most peaceful thing to me.

One day!

...one day.

Um, so as a footnote here, you'll notice my topic is mainly:

"I love swimming - in clear water, mostly found in pools."

*ahem*

Let me clarify why this is so.

(Quickly, I promise.)

I do NOT like swimming in lakes, or oceans.

Why?

Because they have living things in them, that I can't see?

For reals. What is that thing??

*shudder*

UUuuuuuhhhhhhhghhh.... what just touched my leg?!

*deep breath*

When I was a kid, I loved to swim in the lake by my grandparents' cottage.

I would probably swim in it again, just because it is the lake.

BUT

It is a man-made lake, which means it was flooded... which means it was full of trees.

Are you starting to get where my fears are coming from?!

Ok maybe I am over-reacting.

One year, they drained the lake - and Grampy went down into the lake and chainsawed down all the trees/stumps into tiny stumps.

(Look at this newfangled doohicky they have to do that now!)

But even when there were tiny stumps everywhere, it still weirded me out. 

Not only were they always slimy, but they still just...

Trees underwater = creepy in my book.

That lake was great for watching pollywogs and exploring though. 

:o)

Mmm I can almost smell it!

For now though, I think I will work out my swimming love in clearer waters.

:o)

Swim on!

2004 

☼