Some New Yummy Recipes

Not that i really want to share...but these are two of my new fav's!!!

Delicious Chicken Pot Pie
1 cup potato, diced
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup celery, diced
1 cup chopped carrot
1/3 cup melted margarine
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 pie crusts (either store bought or your own recipe)
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Saute onion, celery, carrots and potatoes in butter for 10 minutes.
3. Add flour to sauteed mixture, stirring well Cook one minute stirring constantly.
4. Combine broth and half and half
5. Gradually stir into vegetable mixture
6. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly until thickened and bubbly
7. Stir in salt and pepper; add chicken and stir well
8. Pour into shallow 2 quart casserole dish and top with pie shells
9. Cut slits to allow steam to escape.
10. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly and cooked through.



Mongolian Beef
Ingredients
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
vegetable oil, for frying (about 1 cup)
1 lb flank steak
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 large green onions
Directions
1. Make the sauce by heating 2 tsp of vegetable oil in a medium saucepan over med/low heat.
2. Don't get the oil too hot.
3. Add ginger and garlic to the pan and quickly add the soy sauce and water before the garlic scorches.
4. Dissolve the brown sugar in the sauce, then raise the heat to about medium and boil the sauce for 2-3 minutes or until the sauce thickens.
5. Remove it from the heat.
6. Slice the flank steak against the grain into 1/4" thick bite-size slices.
7. Tilt the blade of your knife at about a forty five degree angle to the top of the steak so that you get wider cuts.
8. Dip the steak pieces into the cornstarch to apply a very thin dusting to both sides of each piece of beef.
9. Let the beef sit for about 10 minutes so that the cornstarch sticks.
10. As the beef sits, heat up one cup of oil in a wok (you may also use a skillet for this step as long as the beef will be mostly covered with oil).
11. Heat the oil over medium heat until it's nice and hot, but not smoking.
12. Add the beef to the oil and sauté for just two minutes, or until the beef just begins to darken on the edges.
13. You don't need a thorough cooking here since the beef is going to go back on the heat later.
14. Stir the meat around a little so that it cooks evenly.
15. After a couple minutes, use a large slotted spoon to take the meat out and onto paper towels, then pour the oil out of the wok or skillet.
16. Put the pan back over the heat, dump the meat back into it and simmer for one minute.
17. Add the sauce, cook for one minute while stirring, then add all the green onions.
18. Cook for one more minute, then remove the beef and onions with tongs or a slotted spoon to a serving plate.
19. Leave the excess sauce behind in the pan.

Lately...

Lately i like to check out these sites:

www.citruslist.blogspot.com
www.carriehartmanphotography.blogspot.com
www.megapixelphotography.blogspot.com
www.kijiji.ca
www.smartcanucks.ca
www.recipezaar.com

Just thought I would share!

It's Been Awhile

Wow, it has been awhile since I have last posted here. I guess I have not felt very inspired and I guess I have been a little busy. Since last, I endured 9 months of pregnancy. This ended in a very beautiful baby boy who was born in November! I never feel well when I am pregnant, so usually only the essentials get done around here. So now I am getting a little more organized and I am once again feeling inspired.
I was also not sure what I wanted to blog about. Now I have decided to write about whatever I feel like. This may include recipes, stories, links on the web, etc...
So let's see how this goes!

Fruit Salsa Snack

Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Crisps
2 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
1/4 cup orange juice
1 kiwi fruit, peeled and chopped
1 cup sliced strawberries (I thawed ones I had in the freezer, and it was fine)
2 Tbsp orange marmalade
4 flour tortillas
1 Tbsp cinnamon and sugar
In the bowl of a food processor with the steel blade attached, combine the apples and orange juice; pulse until the apples are chopped. Add the kiwifruit,strawberries, and marmalade, and pulse until combined. Transfer to a bowl.
Meanwhile, heat the oven to 375 oF. Cut each tortilla into 8 wedges andarrange on a baking sheet (I cut them much smaller, like 3 cuts across thetortilla one way, and 3 cuts up and down the other way.) Lightly sprinkle thetortillas with water (I used a spray bottle), then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.Bake for 5 minutes or until light brown and crisp. Let cool before serving.I used the leftovers to put on our yogurt. Yum

Digital Scrapbooking

Alright, so I have to admit it. I am addicted to learning about digital scrapbooking and everything about it. I have made a few pages, and I constantly want to make some more. I have always had Adobe Photoshop CS on my computer and now I really want to learn how to use it. Let me tell you...it is really difficult! There are many tips and videos online, but they are usually not about scrapbooking or they are confusing. But I will not get discouraged!!! I just haven't spent much time thinking about this blog in the midst of everything else going on around here. Anyways, I thought I would share some cool sites that I found in case anyone who reads this is interested!

This is my favourite so far:

www.shabbyprincess.com

Here are some other cool sites:

www.scrapgirls.com
www.digitalscrapbookplace.com
www.digitaldesignessentials.com

If you think this is something you will also enjoy, you may not want to start because it is just too cool! I love that I don't have to drag out all my supplies and make a mess. Also, everything I have found so far has been free, so I don't have to go out and buy more supplies! This is just a great bonus. I guess the only minus is that it will be hard to get together and scrapbook with friends...I'm sure I will find other fun things to do with friends!!

Chocolate Banana Muffins

Okay, so I hesitated about sharing this recipe. I kind of wanted to keep it to myself. It is so easy and one of my favourites! Try them and you'll see why!

Chocolate Banana Muffins

1 devils food cake mix
1 pkg banana pudding mix
3 eggs
1 ½ cups mashed bananas
¼ cup oil
1 1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 24 muffin tins.

In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, bananas and oil. Stir till just blended. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon into tins. Bake 15-20 minutes or until set and golden. Cool on rack.

Winter Storming

Well, we are into another storm here in Ontario. Not a big deal really, but it is suppposed to get worse. I feel a bit cooped up though, considering women's society was cancelled this morning. I felt it might be wise to stay in with the kids. So I promptly made some freshly baked buns and a lasagne. I also managed a load of laundry and organised the kitchen and living room. Now I am bored... I have been feeling crafty lately, but I am not sure where to start. Everything I can think of either costs money or takes a lot of time or a lot of mess to get started. Hmmm...I think I may have to think about this a little more. I should probably clean the bathroom or something but that is not much fun. Maybe I'll post a few more recipes on here and move on to the cleaning of my house part...