Entries Tagged as 'Food'

Honey Garlic Crock Pot Chicken Recipe

28

12.7.13

Honey Garlic Chicken

This had to be shared. It’s just that good. It’s like pulled pork and ribs all rolled into one… only it’s chicken. And it only take a few minutes to throw together. You’re welcome.

Honey Garlic Crock Pot Chicken Ingredients

  • 2 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
  • salt and pepper
  • 3/4 cup honey
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce (I used Bragg’s to make it gluten free)
  • 2 diced onions, chopped into large chunks
  • 1/4 cup ketchup
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp tapioca flour or cornstarch mixed into 4 tbsp of water
  • sesame seeds

Instructions

  1. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper, and place in crock pot.
  2. Combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, and garlic. Pour mixture over chicken. Cook on low for 4-6 hours.
  3. Remove chicken from crock pot, but reserve sauce in the pot. Dissolve tapioca flour or cornstarch in 4 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Cook sauce on high for until it thickens slightly.
  4. Add the chicken back into sauce and mix to coat.
  5. Serve chicken over quinoa or cooked rice and spoon on top. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Photo by Rosa Pearson. Recipe adapted from Kitchen Meets Girl.

How to Make Spider Dogs

12

05.7.13

Spiderdogs

There is a whole lot of celebrating going on in North America lately! We just celebrated Canada Day with a sunny three day long weekend here in Canada. And I know many of you are celebrating the Fourth of July today! So, with summer in full swing and another weekend upon us, I thought this would be a good time to share a fun idea for roasting up Spider Dogs. Have you heard of these before?! They are SO much fun to make. And here I thought kids couldn’t get any more excited about eating hot dogs! I was wrong!

Spider Dog

These are really so simple. Just cut the ends of your hotdog lengthwise, creating four sections, which will become the “spider legs”. Be sure to leave at least a 1/2″ to 1″ section in the middle uncut so that you can stick in your roasting tool of choice. You’ll want to use All Beef wieners for this I’ve been told, in order to get the good curling action, but I haven’t actually tested out other types to see if they work. I do know that these hot dogs fit a lot better in hamburger buns than hot dog buns.

Fireplace

I hope you’re enjoying your summers so far! The sunshine and hot temperatures in Vancouver have been amazing lately! The local pools and beaches will be crowded this weekend! Happy Friday everyone!

Carrot Spice Muffins

19

03.11.12

I first tasted these muffins years ago at a play date with a bunch of moms and kids. I loved them, and asked for the recipe so I could make them myself! Now that life is gluten free, I have recreated them using gluten free flour, but you can easily switch them back just by replacing with wheat flour and omitting the xanthun gum. So yummy, and healthy too! Enjoy!

Also, if you have pumpkins kicking around still, you should try this muffin recipe that I posted last winter!

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 1/4 cups all purpose gluten free flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
  • 1/2 tsp xanthun gum
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp ground flax seeds
  • 2 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 3/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup applesauce
  • 1/4 cup oil
  • 3 cups carrots, grated
  • 1 cup raisins
  • Brown sugar (topping)

DIRECTIONS:

  1. COMBINE flour, xanthun gum, sugar, flax, spices, baking soda & powder, salt in a mixing bowl.
  2. BEAT eggs and oil until light. Mix in applesauce.
  3. STIR in carrots.
  4. ADD liquid ingredients to dry ingredients. Stir just until moistened.
  5. FILL greased muffin cups 3/4 full.
  6. SPRINKLE the tops with brown sugar.
  7. BAKE at 375 degrees for 20 minutes, or until top springs back when lightly touched.

Have a great weekend everyone!

California Dreamin’

13

20.4.12

After a great time in Palm Desert with the in laws, we headed to Carlsbad to visit Legoland. We knew the boys were going to have a great time, but what surprised me was how much I enjoyed the trip! We decided to stay near the beach, not near Legoland. It was the right decision!

Downtown Carlsbad is charming. From our condo we were able to walk to shops & restaurants, and the beach was right across the street! The Naked Cafe is a must for breakfast or lunch. And you can eat in their beautiful courtyard! Also, Paradise Pizza is a hidden gem, with amazing pizza. Both of these places have gluten free options, which is part of why we loved them so!

I researched accommodations in Carlsbad for quite a while, and decided on Carlbad Inn Beach Resort Condominiums. If you’re going to head down to Legoland and still want some beach time, pool time and a kitchen so you can make some meals… this is the place!

I’m reminiscing about our holiday because it’s mostly rain in Vancouver lately. It makes me want to jump on a plane again! How about you? Have you been anywhere warm this year? Maybe we’ll all get some sun this weekend! Regardless, have a good one!

Pumpkin & Apple Spice Muffins

9

11.3.12

Sorry for the silence around here last week! Between the teachers strike and sick children I found myself very busy… and then I ended up in the ER, and well, there was not much energy left after that. All is well now, and Spring Break is here… so, there will be some pajama days in the future!

PUMPKIN & APPLE SPICE MUFFINS [GLUTEN FREE]

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 2/3 cups gluten free all purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon xanthun gum
  • 2 tablespoon ground flax seeds
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice**
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 apple, peeled and finely chopped

Topping:

  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice**
  • 3 tablespoons sugar

DIRECTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Combine pumpkin, butter, and eggs in another bowl and add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Fold in chopped apple and spoon into greased muffin pans, filling two-thirds full.
  3. Combine 3 tablespoons of sugar and 1 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice; sprinkle evenly over muffins.
  4. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pans immediately, and cool on wire racks.

**Tip: No pumpkin pie spice? Substitute the following: 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ginger, 1/8 tsp nutmeg & 1/8 tsp cloves. Mix together for the equivalent of 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice.

Adapted from: Mel’s Kitchen (via Delightful Bitefuls)

Halloween Wrap Up

6

02.11.11

I hope that you enjoyed a fun Halloween this year! We sure did! Gotta love great neighbors, makeshift fireworks, and the faces of two very excited kids! I also love the beautiful little pops of orange throughout the house at this time of year!

Halloween at our house started with spooky pancakes. Jason used a turkey baster to free-form outlines of cat heads, witches hats, moons, and pumpkins, of course! He then carefully filled them in, and voila! I was pretty impressed by the pancakes, but my favourite was the costume he donned to welcome the kids that evening. Priceless.

The Big 4-0!

7

21.8.11

If you’ve wondered why I’ve been blogging less, other than the fact that it’s summer, this is the answer! I have spent all child-free moments planning for the parties that happened here last weekend. On Saturday the family party started early so that the kids could help celebrate Jason’s 40th birthday! And, keeping with tradition, my mom brought one of her delicious homemade birthday cakes.

Saturday evening was a backyard BBQ with good food, friends, and a fire in the firepit! Yes, you can see the finished patio in all it’s glory to the left of Jason, where he sits eagerly awaiting cupcakes by the fire. We still need to landscape, but it’s done!! It was great to have the parties in our backyard to break in the patio!

With Style & Grace, my go-to food blog, was the inspiration behind these Caprese Skewers that I served up as an appy that night. I took the pic before I drizzled on the balsamic, but you get the idea… very yummy, and so pretty!

Today we are celebrating another big 40th! It is my mom & dad’s 40th wedding anniversary!! I made up this card in honor of the big day! Congratulations to you both!!

Waiting

1

12.4.11

The boys and I spent this afternoon dancing and singing to Bedouin Soundclash while making cookie dough. It was a rare moment of perfection. I savored every laugh, jump, hug, and squeal. Before we started I typed in “Best Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies” into Google, and these cookies by Gluten-Free Girl and the Chef were the ones that called my name. The recipe was featured on Oprah.com a couple of years back, and is the gluten free version of David Leite’s famous cookies. How can I go wrong? Well, I now have a large batch of chocolate chip cookie dough in the fridge. Waiting. You see, it seems I missed the part where the cookie dough needs to be chilled for 36 HOURS!!! Oops. Talk about delayed gratification….  but then again… maybe not.

UPDATE: Those were some really good cookies, and one of my favorite recent memories.

Photo Credit: Rosa Pearson Design

 

Weekend Wrap Up: Valentine’s Day

4

13.2.11

There are certain things that make Saturday mornings complete around here. Pancakes (gluten free, of course), PJ’s, coffee for him, a latte for me, my fuzzy socks, and family adventures. Saturday is our day to just be together, with nothing scheduled other than an adventure of some sort. This weekend the pancakes were heart-shaped, using the Norpro heart egg/pancake ring. Since the handle swivels, I can use it as a decoration after the pancakes are made, lol. Okay, maybe not. But they did remind me of these cute photo clips I saw here.

Today’s adventure involved swimming and making Valentine’s. And, of course, what romantic Valentine’s weekend would be complete without a group date night of go karting! (that was sarcasm, in case that’s not your language : ) But seriously, it was great! So fast it was freaky, but so much fun! Hope you’re enjoying your weekend too!

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