General Taos chicken

Yesterday I took the kids to Great Big Adventure for Liam's inaugural visit. He had a blast; climbing, running, giving people their bottles of water as I chased behind him. We had a great time.  

Before we knew it Aubrey was starving and asking for mashed potatoes and corn. Where do I get this at 6pm?! After giving it a little thought I knew the perfect place. This would be Aubrey's inaugural visit to KFC! Woah Big day!

Chicken, mashed potatoes and corn with gravy on the side; just what she wanted. I only felt like a little bit of a failure; but then with her tummy satisfied I realized I was actually a genius!

So given that back history I knew I wanted to make a dinner at home tonight but I was also craving yummy Chinese food...what to do?  My wonderul neighbour gave us fresh beans from their garden and I had rice on hand so I knew a few pieces of the dinner puzzle; I put rice in the rice cooker, beans ready to cook in water and headed to the store (this was at 4:30PM).

I bought a $11 pack of boneless, skinless chicken thighs and chopped them into chunks. I coated them in cornstarch, and dry onion soup mix. I spread this out evenly on an olive oiled parchment paper lined baking sheet  and put it in a 415F oven on convection.

After about 15 minutes they looked pretty much cooked but very blond. I tossed the chicken chunks in some General Tao VH sauce that I had thinned with a bit of soya sauce and added some seasoned peanuts for texture. I put this back in the oven to get crispy, sticky and a little char in colour (about 10 minutes...you'd have to work really hard to make chicken thighs dry)....all I can say is yum!

At 5:30PM dinner was served and what a great dinner it was. Liam had two bowls and couldn't shovel it in fast enough. It's so nice when a vision comes through to fruition.

 

I was so thrilled my sister Cher had stayed for dinner; she loved it and said it was reminiscent  of Pfchangs. Well thank you very much!

Cupcake tribute.

My love language is definitly shaped in food form; especially cupcakes. I make my family and friends cupcakes for birthdays, weddings... any occasion really. I find myself making a very special cupcake today; in honour of our extended family member Lynne. She was a special lady; kind, generous, and a certified spitfire! She fought a courageous  battle and battled she did right til the end. As I baked these cupcakes I found it to be a very therapeutic process. Reminiscing in my mind about the special  and unique relationship we had; which often revolved around our love for nail polish, bake goods and jam. 

Lynne had a super sweet tooth! So I am making my cheesecake filled cupcakes; she would love these. Lynne not being a huge eater near the end, she still would of found room to have a second cupcake!

For these; First you make the cheesecake batter and set aside.

Then you make your favourite batter.

You can fill the muffin cup 3/4 Full with any cake batter: I make mine from scratch but the original recipe calls for a box cake.

My four year old was the photographer!

I then used a small icecream scoop to drop in the chocolate chip cheesecake batter.

And that's it...These baked for 23 minutes on 350F.

The batter rises and the cheesecake is tucked secretly inside.

Aubrey had a gelato cone while we waited!

Now for the creamcheese icing! If I could of just done whipped cream in honour of Lynne I would have; but having to make these a day ahead it wouldn't of kept well. I don't think there are too many people who knew Lynne that can look at a can of "redi-whip" and not think of her!

This is my pipeable cream cheese icing that I use all the time.

I YouTubed how to pipe a carnation flower since that was her favourite flower; and this is what I came up with. I used pink gel food colouring to make the icing a soft pink.

Aubrey helped by decorating the cupcakes with some edible pearls for a bit of class; that was very Lynne. She was always put together. 

Lynne's inclusive nature towards Jeff, me and our family was very kind. Our kids; especially Aubrey will miss  Grandma Lynne.

Here's the finished product; this is what it looks like cut in half.  We had to have a taste test and make sure they were up to standard!

I love that if we are willing and available God can use us in the strangest of places; no talent is too small or insignificant.  All we are responsible for is using what we have to help others: in some cases it may be our time, money, assistance, a hot meal, a listening ear; or in this instance cupcakes. My God isn't too big to use "just a cupcake" to bring healing to a broken heart. 

Lynne (far left)

We love you Lynne.

Banana muffins; best recipe ever!!!

My kids love muffins. They are great for breakfast, snack time or really any time. I am always looking for the best banana muffin recipe and I think I've found it. 5 stars on recipes.com.

This seemed too easy to be true!

I Mixed the banana, brown sugar and eggs together with the paddle attachment. I then added in the melted butter; yes this really does make a difference....butter is always better!

I turned off the mixer and added in the flour, baking soda, powder and salt. I then turned the mixer back on and beat it thoroughly but not long. I added in a 1/2 cup of chocolate chips as I had read in the comments of the recipe. It was the perfect amount.

I tripled this recipe and it made three muffins shy of three dozen; more than enough to share!

Me and the kids drove around delivering muffins. We love sharing!

This is seriously the moistest, fluffiest muffin I've ever had. The flavour was bananlicious!

Kale Chips and chicken enchiladas

My mother in law dropped off this beautiful kale from her garden along with a bunch of salad greens. So for dinner I made a huge salad and then decided to make kale chips. This was a more tender type of kale and the stems had been trimmed pretty short so all I did was tossed it with a generous amount of olive oil. I layed the kale in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and baked them about 5-6 minutes on 350F. I just caught them before they burnt! 

After they were done I sprinkled them with a little sea salt.

Miss Aubrey loves kale but she wasn't a huge fan of the chips. 

I let them cool and then put them in a pretty dish. 

My friend Bonnie introduced me to these and how easier they are to make. 

Now for the main course. I had a bunch of left over chicken so I found this recipe online. I would totally use this recipe again. I made a few variations to my personal preference and what I had on hand but the recipe is a great guideline.

I added some fresh corn off of the cob, diced yellow pepper and some caramelized onions that I had on hand.

I added a bit more cheese than the recipe called for; we love cheese!

We topped the enchiladas with fresh lime, cilantro and sourcream. The lime made it; it was so tasty!

These were a hit! What an easy, make ahead meal for having people over.  I have made my fair share of toquitos but never have I made enchiladas. They are way easier than I thought and can be made "light" if you wish. I will do these again and definitly add them to my freezer meal repertoire. 

Can't wait for lunch tomorrow!

Cherry Berry Jam

Tis the season; strawberry and cherry season that is. With which comes jam making. All types of delicious memories come flooding back to me; however all memories aren't super sweet but life goes on. Cooking is therapy; and my friends sure appreciate the jars and jars and jars of jam that contribute to helping my heart heal.

Usually I buy the huge bag of pitted cherries from Costco but since NoFrills had them $1.79/lbs I got to work with my handy cherry pitter. I would highly reccommend this kitchen tool, it can be used for olives as well. It was a great gift; thanks papa-too.

As berries were inseason and cheap I would buy and freeze them until I was ready for jam making; there's a helpful tip! Buy bulk when inseason!

I got all my ingredients out; flavourings of lime, orange, and vanilla.

I got everything ready and waited for Aubrey to arrive home from strawberry picking with her nana, auntie and cousins. 

This little man was too tired to go so we stayed home.

Once home we washed and hulled two baskets of freshly picked strawberries.

Added that to the already prepared fruit.

At this point I added the pectin and followed the cooking instructions on the package.

I don't crush my fruit as the box calls for I instead use my potato masher while it's boiling. I like my jam to be a chunkier looser jam.

I like to let the fruit shine so I use "no sugar needed" pectin. I do add some sugar but not enough to thicken the jam like with the regular pectin. I have tried to use the regular pectin in the past and failed!

Here's my tried tested and true recipe. 

I do this recipe by taste so given the years berries the amount of sugar could change.

Let the canning begin!

Cherry berry jam with vanilla and lime.

By the end of the day I had already given away 11 jars...way more fun to share!

Now I just need to make things to put the jam on. Freshly baked biscuits; yes please!