Ohhhhhhh YUM.  I love pizza, my husband loves BBQ sauce – this recipe was made for us.

About 8 years ago I won a pizza stone in a golf tournament (not for being good at golf, trust me…), this is probably one of the best prizes I have ever gotten!  I’ve used the stone probably about 1,304,564 times, no jokes, because a baking stone is not only for cooking pizza but for baking anything else from cookies to chicken fingers.  Baking stones are kick ass because nothing sticks to them, you don’t have to grease them, food doesn’t burn on them & they only have to be rinsed with water (never submerged!) because the more you use them the better they get!  ….want a baking stone yet??? (mine happens to be a Pampered Chef, a little more pricey but totally worth it!)

….ok so back to the pizza….this pizza is different from all the other pizzas that I regularly default to because the tomato sauce is replaced with BBQ sauce = awesome!  This recipe is a keeper for me because it’s not only delicious but pretty cost effective to whip up.  I always have all of the ingredients on hand for the dough (this dough is a winner by the way AND the recipe makes 2 full pizzas, so pop one in the freezer!) and the other “stuff” is pretty basic and healthy but keeps away from buying a whole bunch of expensive produce, especially in the winter months.  Most expensive part is the cheese, but I got a block on sale last week so this entire meal, which was dinner and lunch for the next day and could easily feed a small family, cost less than $10 – woot!  ya can’t go wrong with a cheap meal!

Southwestern BBQ pizza –

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup BBQ sauce
• 1 cup black beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 cup corn kernels
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro (optional but super delicious!)

For the pizza dough:

• 1 1/4 cups warm (almost hot) water
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1 packet active dry yeast
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. For the pizza dough: Whisk together water, yeast, and honey in a small bowl then set aside for 5 minutes. Meanwhile fit a large food processor with a non-sharp S blade then pulse together flour and salt. Pour in oil and yeast mixture then process for 10 seconds, or until dough comes together in a ball (may need to scrape sides down once.)

2. Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface and knead for 3 minutes. Separate dough into two balls then place next to each other on a well-floured baking sheet. Cover tops with flour then cover baking sheet with saran wrap and place in a warm spot to rise for 40 minutes, or until dough has doubled in size. (I put mine on top of a heating pad set to medium.)

3. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Spray a pizza pan well with nonstick spray then spread 1 ball of dough out into a large circle. Spread BBQ sauce evenly on top, then add black beans, corn, tomatoes, and cheese. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Let cool five minutes then slice. Sprinkle chopped cilantro on top before serving. Repeat with remaining dough ball, or place in a non-stick sprayed ziplock bag then into the refrigerator to be used within 2 days. Let come to room temperature for 20 minutes before using.

…thank you…http://iowagirleats.com/2012/08/01/santa-fe-summer-bbq-pizza/

I’m sure there are a bunch of recipes out there using these little guys but I only had to find one – scones, mmmmmmmm…scones…

Buttery, warm, flaky, delicious….scones….

Not gonna lie, plucking the grapes off of their teeny tiny stems was a never ending task, despite only needing a cup of them, but it was totally worth it.  This recipe is a winner, and made my breakfast ROCK for almost a week.  I love breakfast anyways, I actually can’t function without having a meal within about an hour of waking up, but eating these scones first thing in the morning was a special treat.  The grapes do shrink a little bit when they’re cooked and sort of half taste like raisins and grapes at the same time (yes I realize raisins are made from grapes…) but aside from that they have a really great unique flavour! Give ‘em a try!

Champagne Grape Scones

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus extra for rolling out dough
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup—1 cube—plus 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1 cup Champagne grapes (or other berries)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon light cream or half and half

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Using 1 tablespoon butter, generously grease a cookie sheet.
3. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, 1/2 cup sugar and salt. Mix well with a whisk.
4. Cut in butter, blending with the whisk, pastry cutter or your fingers until butter is completely blended and mixture is mealy. Spoon out a crater in center of flour mixture.
5. In a small bowl, beat egg and cream. Set aside two tablespoons of egg/cream mixture.
6. Pour remaining egg/cream mixture and grapes into hollowed crater in flour mixture.
7. With a few swift strokes, blend wet and dry ingredients and grapes. If the dough is too sloppy to handle, lightly blend in extra flour a tablespoon at a time. Keep in mind, however, the dough should be wet and a little sticky to handle.
8. Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour on a cutting board and pat dough into a rectangle 3/4″ thick.
9. Dip 2 1/2″ biscuit cutters in flour and cut out scones—or use a knife to cut 2 1/2″ square scones.
10. Dip a spatula in flour and gently transfer the scones to the cookie sheet.
11. Brush tops of scones with reserved egg/cream mixture. Sprinkle tops of scones with two tablespoons of sugar (oops…I forgot this part…but everything turned out fine!).
12. Slide scones into oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean.
13. Remove scones from oven, let cool on pan for a minute or two, then transfer to cooling racks.

Serve with butter, jam and, or clotted cream….mmmmm clotted cream!

We’ve been on a bit of an avocado kick this summer.  To be honest, before about a year ago I had never even tasted an avocado!  The thing is, I grew up in a very “meat and potatoes” kinda house.  My Dad is a pretty picky eater…which meant we ate canned corn wayyyyyy more than anyone should have to.  When I left home to go to school I basically eliminated canned corn from my diet (we clearly needed a break from each other!) and only recently am incorporating corn into meals that I’m making.  I really do prefer corn on the cob, but who doesn’t, so when I can use the “real thing” over the canned I take advantage of it!

I can’t find my original source for this recipe and realized that last week when we made it again and I had to wing it from the single photo that I had taken.  It’s super simple, light and healthy and made a wonderful addition to our weeknight meal repertoire!  My husband really enjoys steak and since I don’t share his love of red meat quite as much this recipe is a good compromise because the steak is thin and flavourful.  I did however kick things up a bit by marinating the steak in President’s Choice Lime & Chili Marinade (part of the black label line, find it where the bbq sauce is in the grocery store) in addition to the lime juice that is called for in the recipe.  Enjoy – yum!

Grilled Steak & Black Bean Salad

• Thin flank grilling steak
• 1 lime, juiced
• PC Lime & Chili Marinade, I used approx.. ¼ of a jar
• Pinch of salt & pepper
• 1 Avocado, cubed
• 1 Red pepper, sliced
• 2 cobs of fresh corn kernels
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, diced

1. Marinate steak in a shallow glass dish with the juice of 1 lime, PC lime sauce & salt and pepper for approximately 30 minutes
2. Soak corn in water, with the husk on for about 30 minutes and then place on bbq grill to cook.  Remove from heat and slice off all the kernels.
3. Remove steak from marinade and grill on bbq however you like it done (we did ours well done)
4. In a large bowl combine diced avocado, red pepper, cooked corn kernels, black beans (drained and rinsed) and cilantro.
5. Serve steak on veggie mixture & enjoy!

…source unknown….

This is one of those recipes that I’ve had stashed away for a while waiting to try – that, and I kept forgetting to pick up yeast at the grocery store, oops.  Warm, soft, buttery pretzels are the best!  I love those little stands where they sell them and you can get different flavours – cinnamon sugar, chocolate, pizza, garlic…..mmmmmm.  Ok, so I sort of have a weakness for basically all things bread, but who doesn’t???  We live down the street from a bread factory and when the wind blows from that direction our street smells amazing, yum.

There were only 2 things I didn’t like about this recipe.  One, the pretzels aren’t very good the next day at all.  This is one of those recipes that you need to eat completely within about an hour of baking.  It only yields 8 pretzels, so with a few people (or one very snacky person…) to eat the bunch it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just don’t count on eating them over a few days.  Second thing, which is actually more my fault, is that I put too much coarse sea salt on them, which resulted in having to scrape most of the salt off as I ate.  My husband wanted a sweet pretzel rather than a salty one so I left the salt off a few of them and he coated his in cinnamon and sugar, which would have also been great with an icing glaze!

Ingredients:

• 12.5 oz all purpose flour (2.5 cups)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2.25 tsp instant yeast
• 7/8 to 1 cup lukewarm water (the amount used depends on the humidity in your kitchen)

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 tbsp baking soda
• vegetable oil for greasing the sheet pan
• coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

1. Combine all the dough ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, and mix with the paddle attachment until somewhat combined (or just mix by hand with a wooden spoon). Change to the dough hook and knead on medium low for 5 minutes. The dough should feel soft and smooth, not sticky to the touch.
2. Lightly dust the dough with flour, then place in a ziploc bag and let the dough rise for 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Yes, really 500. Lightly grease a baking sheet with vegetable oil.
4. Remove the dough from the bag and place onto a lightly oiled countertop (I put down waxed paper because I don’t like cleaning up an oily mess). Cut the dough into 8 pieces, and let rest for 5 minutes.
5. In the meantime, whisk to combine the warm water and baking soda and cook in the microwave for 1 minute (fyi it probably won’t dissolve completely).
6. Roll each piece into a long rope, and shape into a pretzel
7. Dip each pretzel into the soda wash and place onto the greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt (or leave the salt off if you’re going to make them “sweet”), then let them rest for 10 minutes.
8. Bake for 9 to 10 minutes until the pretzels are golden brown. Brush the pretzels with the melted butter while they are hot out of the oven, so the bread can soak up all the buttery goodness, roll in cinnamon and sugar mixture if you want to at this point. Mmm.
9. Enjoy while they are hot!

…thank you…http://fifteenspatulas.com/2011/12/12/hot-buttered-fluffy-pretzels/

This summer has been a scorcher!  When I was a little kid I remember the weather warming up right around the time school was finishing for the year – everyone would wear their shorts to class and it was the best!  This year, summer started pretty much in and around March (crazy global warming…).  Luckily this worked out well for our May wedding, however, now that August is in full bloom the heat and humidity is getting a little ridiculous, especially in our old un-airconditioned house.  To try to cope with the heat around the house we’ve been bbq’ing a lot and making some more simple meals to avoid turning on the oven basically!  On the plus side this has forced me to be extra creative and to dig up some healthy & summery recipes – yum.

Troy picked up some chicken from Rowe Farms (mmmmm…) on his way home two nights ago so I thought I’d whip up something delicious to go with that and I had the perfect thing in mind! This salsa may seem like a super unusual random mix of ingredients but it’s SO tasty – trust me.  The watermelon sort of takes over but the overall flavour is very unique and definitely refreshing.  We ate it with lime flavoured nacho chips, a great combo.

Happy super-hot-humid summer nights!!!! …I’ll be wishing it was like this in January!

Ingredients:

Directions:

My parents are lucky enough to stay for 30 some odd days, so I make the trek north as many weekends as possible to join them with Troy and Moose in tow.  This weekend Mindy (my brother’s girlfriend) joined us (shiny new spider free tent and all) – despite Trevor being in Europe – impressive!  As usual we lounged on the beach, walked to sunset rock after dinner, had campfires, group breakfasts, laughed at other “inexperienced campers’” set-ups & use of holiday lighting…ugh….overall a GREAT weekend!

I thought I’d take the opportunity to try out a recipe along the way – just because I’m out of the City doesn’t mean my blog is forgotten.  This tasty little snack is camping inspired but was made possible by the oven in my parents’ camper – I’m sure I could figure out a way to adapt it, but that’s a post for another time.  Obviously our little buddy Moose took the opportunity to have a huge nap while all of this was happening, waiting for snacks is so tiring! zzzzzzzzz

S’mores – what better camping snack??? Except I thought I’d put a twist on it and turn crescent rolls into s’mores – YUM!!!  Pretty simple, but like I said, requires an oven – none the less a great way to bring the feeling of being camping into everyday life.  Deliciously, way too sweet, ooey-gooey s’mores crescent rolls….mmmm…give them a try but be sure to make time to get out this summer and try out the “real thing” – this could never compare!

S’mores Crescent Rolls -

• Pillsbury (or equal) crescent rolls
• mini marshmallows
• chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Unroll crescent rolls onto ungreased baking sheet and place a small handfull of chocolate chips and mini marshmallows in the middle near the end of the larger end of the crescent roll.

The great thing about is you can use whatever fruit is your favourite, and technically you could make a different colour combo than a rainbow (even though rainbow is the best) but really it’s about being creative and thinking outside the box.  If I can make having fruit salad for dinner fun I’m pretty sure you can too.

I used the following fruit – be creative and use what you like best!  I feel like this would be a crowd pleaser at a pot luck…

• Red – Raspberries & Strawberries
• Orange – Orange slices
• Yellow – Pineapple
• Green – Grapes and Kiwi
• Blue – Blueberries
• Indigo / Violet – Plums

The sun crossed my countertop right when I took this photo – one of the few times of the day this happens!

Who ever said “you don’t win friends with salad!” clearly never had THIS salad!

With the temperature well over 30 degrees and a kitchen without air conditioning I dug deep into my Pinterest stash and dug this little treasure out – my only requirements being no oven usage (I did make a small exception for the stove burner to cook the quinoa) and something healthy and refreshing.  Another plus about this recipe is the longer you let the flavours soak together the better it gets!  Oh and it’s super zippy!

Next time I’ll cook the quinoa the evening before to speed up the process a little more I think – otherwise this one is a winner!!!

Happy summertime – hope you’re keeping cool.

Lemon Quinoa Cilantro Chickpea Salad

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C. dry quinoa
• 2 C. vegetable broth
• 1 can garbanzo beans (AKA chick peas – drained and rinsed)
• 1 c. cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 2 avocados diced (only had 1 ripe one so that’s all I used…)
• 2 C. spinach
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1/4 C. onion
• 2 small cloves garlic

For the dressing:

• Juice of 2 lemons
• zest of 1 lemon
• 2 tsp. dijon mustard
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• dash of salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Make your quinoa first. Soak the quinoa in a pot in the veggie broth for about 15 minutes. After that, turn on the heat to medium high and let the quinoa come to a boil. Once it boils, reduce heat to medium/low and let quinoa simmer. Stir every so often, and cook quinoa for about 20-25 minutes just until the liquid absorbs. You don’t want it completely dried out, so when there is just a TINY amount of liquid left in the pot, remove it from heat and put a lid on it. Set it aside, and make the rest of the salad.

2. In a food processor (again – just buy one already if you haven’t yet!), add your spinach and cilantro

3. Process the greens until they are finely diced. You can do this by hand as well if you don’t have a food processor….I suppose….

4. Add the greens to a bowl, and set aside. Next take your onion and garlic and finely dice those (I do this in the food processor to), and add to the greens mixture. Next add your chickpeas and stir until everything is combined and coated. If the quinoa is cooled, you can add it to the chickpea mixture next.

5. Make your dressing by whisking all the ingredients together. Pour over salad, and mix until combined. Add in tomatoes and avocado and mix. Set in fridge for about 10-15 minutes before serving so the flavors set.

…props goes out to…

http://thediva-dish.com/uncategorized/healthy-living-class-green-drinks-sweet-eats-and-salads/

Fast forward two weeks to now…I still have lots of buttermilk because I could only buy a big carton for the wedding cake.  Add to that I also happened to have the following on hand – carrots, pineapple, coconut & walnuts….CARROT CAKE!!! mmmmm carrot cake.

I had high expectations for this recipe and boy did it deliver.  Despite the fact it’s way over 40 degrees I stuck through it in my unairconditioned kitchen and this is seriously one of the best recipes I’ve ever made.  So moist and ridiculously delicious.  YUM.  Warning: do not eat a piece of this before going to bed because you will not be able to fall asleep due to the sugar running through your veins – this happened to me, but it was soooo worth it.  Happy 4th of July to all my American friends and “half American” doggy Moose!

Carrot Cake with Buttermilk glaze and cinnamon cream cheese frosting:

Cake:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¼ + 2 Tbl. Sugar (I didn’t have white sugar left so I used brown sugar)
• 3 large eggs
• ¾ cup buttermilk
• ¾ cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups grated peeled carrots
• 1 ½ cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 1   8-oz can crushed pineapple in juice (I only had chunks so I put them in the food processor)
• 1 cups coarsely chopped pecans

Glaze:

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup buttermilk
• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 Tbl. Light corn syrup
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Frosting:

• 1 ½  8-oz pkgs of cream cheese, room temperature
• ½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 cups powdered sugar
• 2 TBL. Brown sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

- Spray a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with a non-stick spray OR grease and lightly flour.  Set aside.

- mix together all dry cake ingredients

- mix eggs, buttermilk, oil & sugar then add the dry ingredients

- add carrots, coconut, pineapple and nuts

- Pour batter into the prepared baking dish.  Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until a knife comes out clean

…while the cake is baking, make your glaze.  When the cake comes out of the oven, poke tons of tiny little holes using something like a wooden skewer, and then pour the glaze over the top and watch the cake soak it all up!  Then let your cake cool completely before icing it – I put it in the fridge for a bit seeing as it wouldn’t have cooled down otherwise ha ha.  Frost and Enjoy! mmmmm!

Glaze:  Meanwhile bring first 5 ingredients to boil in large saucepan.  Boil until glaze is a light amber color.  (Glaze will thin out when almost done).  Sidenote:  I didn’t know this when I read this recipe but adding baking soda to buttermilk creates a chemical reaction that causes everything to foam up – seriously stir fast and do not leave unattended!!!)  Remove from heat; mix in vanilla.  Spoon hot glaze evenly over warm cake.  Cool cake completely in pan.

Frosting:  Beat cream cheese and butter in a large bowl until fluffy.  Add powdered sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon; beat until blended.  Spread frosting over cooled cake in pan.

Unfortunately my blog suffered a bit over the past few months as crafts, emails, planning and errands began to take over so to all my loyal readers, thanks for being patient and hopefully we can all pick up where we left off!  On the plus side I was still documenting meals & food escapades along the way and keeping them filed away for when I was ready to get back at things again – so here I am!

There will be lots of posts to come for wedding crafts etc. in between the usual food entries but for now, something yummy…mmmmmm…

Back in December (yeah….I know…December, I told you I’m behind!!!) my husband (that still gives me goose bumps to call him that!) had a potluck at work and I came to the rescue – my treats were a huge hit.  The perfect thing about this recipe is that it’s a mix of two of the most perfect things on earth – cheesecake & cookies – drool.  Guaranteed to be a big hit – obviously best served warm and with a glob of french vanilla ice cream.

check it out —–>  http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20111216/111217_troy_recipe?hub=CP24Home

Happy to be back – thanks for being patient everyone! *hugs*…here we go…

Cookie Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup butter flavored vegetable shortening
• 1 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tablespoon of cider vinegar
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Cheesecake layer:

• 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, at room temp
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, sugars, vanilla, salt and vinegar. Beat in the egg, then the baking soda and flour. Stir in the chocolate chips. Divide the dough into two equal portions and set aside.

2. In a mixing bowl cream the cream cheese with the sugar until thoroughly combined. Beat in the egg and vanilla.

3. In a 9×13 pan, spread 1/2 of the cookie dough mixture evenly across the bottom. Spread the cream cheese mixture on the top of the cookie dough. With the remaining cookie dough, flatten chunks of dough between your hands into discs, and then place on top of the cream cheese mixture.

4. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes, or until the top is brown and cooked through. Cool completely and store in the refrigerator