Sand Tarts

After my interesting quinoa cookies I decided to stick to a home recipe that I know is good. Although sand tarts aren't necessarily a Christmas cookie, my family always has them at Christmas and rarely at any other time of year. As I said this is a recipe we've had in the recipe book forever so I don't know where it came from originally.

Ingredients:
1lb softened butter
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tsps. almond extract
2 eggs
4 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
1. Mix ingredients well and spoon into mini muffin pans
2. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 325F

Filling:
Mix together:
1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 tbsp. instant coffee with water


They turned out great and tasted awesome. The filling recipe mentioned is the one I used, but really any flavour of icing can be used, sometimes we do mint and use food colouring to make it green which is a little bit more Christmas-y,  but personally I like the coffee flavouring. You can also add sprinkles, I added a sliver ball to each.

Quinoa Peanut Butter Cookies

For my Cup of Quinoa I decided to make something interesting, cookies! I wouldn't have looked for a recipe like that because who would have guessed that quinoa cookies were a thing?But anything's possible right?  I found them while browsing for ides on food.com.Turns out that they are possible, but that doesn't mean they're yummy!!

Ingredients: 
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup cooked quinoa
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Directions:
1. Make sure Quinoa is cooked and cooled before mixing.(If you mix it while it's hot then it will melt the peanut butter, It's ok but then it will be runny when you are dropping into cookie sheet.).
2. Preheat oven to 350°F.
3. Mix all of the ingredients together.
4. Spray a little Pam at bottom of cookie pan. or use non stick cookie sheet. I even used a Pyrex dish.
5. Drop spoonfuls of the cookie mix into cookie pan/sheet.
6. Bake for about 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown.
7. Chill and serve. makes about 12-16 cookies depending on spoon size.

I had never cooked quinoa before and thinking back to the taste of the cookies I think that it was a little bit under cooked. However, even if it had been cooked I think the cookies would not have tasted good. My dad told me they looked like poop, Mr. Hunse said to never feed him something like that again, and although Ms. Marcus used nicer terms it was clear she didn't enjoy them either. Personally I didn't hate them, but they didn't look nice, had a weird consistency and strange taste. Needless to say they were thrown out, interesting expiriement though! 

Strawberry Smoothie

Ingredients: 

• 2 cups of strawberry's 
• 1 banana
• 1 cup of ice 
• 1 1/2 cup of peaches 

Directions:  
1. Mix all the fruit together in the blender
2. Turn on the blender and add the ice in
3. Mix until you have a smooth mixture 

Stampot (Dutch)

This is a recipe that I got from my Oma. It is pretty good if you add gravy or sausages to it.  It is also very time consuming.

INGREDIENTS:

1 bundle of kale

1 pan full of potatoes

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 onion

DIRECTIONS:

1.) After you cut the potatoes, boil them until they are soft enough to eat.

2.) As you are doing this, boil a pan of water and then add the kale and onion until they are soft or until you can start to smell the kale and onion

3.) When kale and onion are softened, blend them together with some of the juices from the kale.

4.) When potatoes are fully cooked then add blended kale and salt and pepper to potatoes and mash.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

This recipe was given to me by a friend of mine who makes them all the time for our dance studio. I loved them but they would have been better served just cooked (rather than warmed up) or but in a toaster oven.

Ingredients:
1 lb pork (ground)
1 package (about 4 ounce) rice vermicelli (soaked in water for 15 minutes and then drained and chopped)
1 egg
1 green onion (minced)
1 small onion (minced)
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup carrot (grated)
1/2 bean sprouts
3 tbs cilantro (chopped)
1 tbs salt
pinch of white pepper
20 spring roll wrappers (the frozen ones are easier to work with rather than dry rice wraps)
oil

Directions:
Combine all ingredients (but wraps and oil) in bowl. On a damp tea towel place wrap and fill with a spoonful of the mixture on one end of the wrap. Fold sides in and roll (on the side of the mixture). Seal roll by moistening edge with water. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Fry rolls, turning often until golden (around 5-7 minutes). Drain on paper towels.

Quinoa Stuffed Pepers

1 cup tomatoe sauce

1tbls ketchup

1/8 cup cucumber 

2 tbls cooked onions 

1 cup cooked quinoa 

Mix together and stuff pepper 

Peach yogurt with Quinoa

This recipe was very interesting and tasted kinda funny but was really easy to make. Here is the recipe Recipe

Berry Peach Smoothie

I did not follow a recipe but this is what I used.

• One cup of frozen berries. 
• 1-1/2  cups of orange juice.
• 1/2 cup of peaches. 

Strawberry Cheese Cake

Everything went well while making this. It took a lot longer than I expected but it was worth it in the end. Here is the recipe. cheese cake recipe

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This was my favourite recipe so far. I found it here and I thought that it turned out very well. It makes 8 servings but it isn't that hard to double the recipe if you are having company over. I served it with fried rice and found that that was a good combination. A suggestion of mine would be to cook only an hour or so before meal so you can still serve piping hot.

Ingredients:
-1 can pineapple chunks (juice drained and reserved)
-1/4 cup cornstarch
-3/4 cup sugar
-1/2 cup distilled vinegar
-2 drops orange food colouring (if desired)
-8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into small cubes
-2 1/4 cups self-rising flour
-2 tbs vegetable oil
-2 tbs cornstarch
-1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp ground white pepper
-1 egg
-1 1/2 cups water
-4 cups vegetable oil (to fry)
-2 green peppers, cut into small pieces

Directions:
In saucepan, combine 1 1/2 cups of water, vinegar, sugar, pineapple juice, and food colouring. When boiling, turn off heat. Combine 1/4 cup of cornstarch with1/4 cup of water, slowly stirring into saucepan. Stir until mixture thickens. Combine flour, 2 tbs vegetable oil, 2 tbs cornstarch, salt, pepper, and egg. Add 1 1/2 cups of water gradually to make batter smooth. Blend thoroughly. Add chicken pieces and stir until chicken is coated well. Heat oil in skillet to 360 degrees F. Fry chicken pieces in oil for 10 minutes or until golden. Rmove chicken and drain on paper towels. when ready to serve, layer green peppers, pineapple chunks, and chicken pieces on a platter. Pour sweet and sour sauce, still hot, over top. Enjoy.

Quinoa Stir Fry

I cooked this a week or so ago with a friend of mine who gave me this recipe. I thought it worked well although the quinoa was a little softer than expected. We both loved it and thought that the vegetables went well together.
This recipe is in 3 parts: the quinoa, sauce, and the stir fry itself. Also, since it is stir fry, it isn't hard to substitute one vegetable for another if desired. This recipe is very fast moving so make sure everything is ready to go before you start cooking.

Ingredients
Quinoa:
-1 cup uncooked quinoa
-2 cups soup base (I used this)

Sauce:
-1/4 cup sup base (again, I suggest this)
-1/8 cup tamarin or soy sauce (I used soy sauce)
-1 tsp toasted sesame seed oil

Stir Fry:
-2 tbs peanut oil
-2 tbs garlic, minced
-1 small yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
-1 red pepper, chopped
-1-2 small heads of broccoli florets (about 1-2 cups)
-1 cup cashews
-1/2 cup snap peas

Directions
Quinoa:
Combine quinoa and soup base into a large saucepan and set on medium heat. bring mixture to boil and let boil gently for 5 minutes. Remove quinoa, cover, and let cool for 15 minutes.

Sauce:
Whisk soup base, sauce, and oil until combined. Set aside.

Stir Fry:
In saute pan, heat peanut oil over medium high-heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook for about 10-15 seconds. Add the rest of the vegetables, a small portion at a time, stirring constantly. Cook until  broccoli and snap peas are bright green, about 2-4 minutes. Slowly pour sauce mixture over vegetables and stir well. Let the stir fry cook for 1-2 more minutes. Serve over quinoa.

Creamy Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 12 uncooked lasagna noodles 
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• 1/3 cup milk
• 2 cans condensed cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 1 container of small-curd cottage cheese
• 3 cups diced cooked chicken
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese 
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

• Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. Cook and drain noodles as directed on package.
• Meanwhile, in 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Stir in milk, soup, basil.
• Place 4 noodles in baking dish. Top with about 1 cup of the soup mixture, half of the cottage cheese, 1 1/2 cups of the chicken, 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/3 cup Cheddar cheese. Repeat layers once, starting with noodles. Place remaining 4 noodles over top. Top with remaining soup mixture, mozzarella cheese and Cheddar cheese. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over top.
• Bake uncovered 50 to 55 minutes or until bubbly and hot in center. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.

Quinoa Pudding

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups water  


• 3/4 cup quinoa


• 2 cups whole milk


• 2 ripe bananas


• 2 tablespoons white sugar


• Salt to taste


• 1/2 tablespoon butter


• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions:

1. Rinse and drain the quinoa. Bring water and quinoa to a boil in a saucepan over high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.
2. Blend together the milk, bananas, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a blender or food processor until smooth. Pour the milk mixture into the saucepan with the quinoa.
3. Place the pan over medium heat. Cook and stir until the mixture becomes thick and creamy, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the butter and vanilla and serve warm.

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Penne Pasta with Bacon

This is a super easy recipe that doesn't take too much of your time. It's also really good but not the healthiest.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1 pound bacon, coarsely chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound dry penne pasta

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Place the chopped bacon and onion in a skillet over medium heat, and cook and stir until the bacon is crisp and the onion is beginning to brown, about 10 minutes.
2. While the bacon and onion are cooking, fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the penne, and return to a boil. Cook the pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain pasta, transfer to a large serving bowl, and stir in the olive oil to coat the pasta.
3. Drain the bacon grease from the skillet, leaving a couple of tablespoons or to taste. Stir the cooked bacon mixture into the pasta, and sprinkle the Parmesan cheese over the pasta. Stir to mix in the cheese, and serve.

Main meal!

Sloppy Joe Pie

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef (90% lean)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/2 cup chili sauce
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 sheet refrigerated pie pastry
• 1 Egg

Directions

1. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium     heat until meat is no longer pink; drain. In a small bowl, combine the flour, salsa and chili sauce until blended; stir into skillet. Add the corn, chilies and brown sugar.
2. Transfer to a deep-dish 9-in. pie plate. Unroll pastry; place over filling. With a sharp knife, cut out a face to resemble a jack-o'-lantern; flute edges. Beat egg; brush over pastry.
3. Bake at 450° for 9-11 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.