I remember watching Jamie Oliver when he was the Naked Chef. To me he looked too young to be an accomplished Chef but I was still intrigued and little did I know how good he was. Over the years I have followed him and all his new endeavours. I love his style of cooking and honestly can not get enough of him.
He has created a Christmas 2011 website full of all kinds of fun stuff and lots of recipes!
Be sure to check it out for some great ideas!
If you are like me you have a million things on your list when it comes to hosting a gathering. With all my recipes, and cookbooks I still struggle with what to make or bring to an event. So many things to consider. Do I make a tried and true recipe..do I try something new hoping it turns out, what kind of event is it, what are others bringing? How much is too much? With all that being said I love trying or creating new recipes and honestly I love hosting a party.
I stumbled across these tarts a couple years ago while preparing my menu for a Christmas gathering. We went a little crazy for a couple years putting on 4-5 pre-Christmas gatherings for family all in the two weeks leading up to Christmas. It was under appreciated, and ended up exhausting us by the time Christmas came around. Plus it was never reciprocated so we stopped and put energy and time into Christmas dinners and gatherings with friends, traditions that continue to this day. You learn as you go right?
With a few tweaks this recipe is one of our all time favourite bites. The combination of sweet and savory from the mango chutney, cheese and garlic make these tarts irresistible. In fact doubling the recipe is something we now do and keep extras in the freezer to pull out and reheat when people are coming over. Or when a light snack is needed!
You will need mini muffin pans to make these tarts.
Baked carrots, with a cheddar cheese sauce, and topped with crispy cornflakes becomes the perfect side to your holiday meal. Back in the day we celebrated meals with some form of cauliflower and broccoli baked with a cheddar cheese sauce. So this is a spin on one of those retro dishes. I keep the cheese sauce simple, and the carrots crunchy which makes it simply delicious.
These mini cinnamon muffins are the cats meow. Simple and not to sweet they are the perfect snack for those on the go or for the kids lunches.They freeze nicely so wrap in freezer bags and pop extras in the freezer for those days we need ready made snacks. I like to make them mini size as that is what the kids request but you can also make them regular muffin size if that’s what you prefer.
Turn it up a notch and once they’ve come out of the oven and cooled slightly, top them with a powdered sugar glaze and sprinkle with raisins. Or add raisins into the batter for a little surprise in each bite.
After finding some of the produce in my fridge dying a slow death, I pulled out some recipe books looking for some inspiration. A large head of Napa Cabbage was crying to be used as were some lemons so I decided to make Lemony Coleslaw…and Lemony it was. I couldn’t figure out how this dressing was going to come together, taste good and fool my husband (who loathes sour cream). But it did and he had seconds without knowing the star ingredient – mission accomplished!
A hearty and delicious Slow Cooker Beef Minestrone Soup full of flavour from the fresh thyme, seared beef cubes, tomatoes, cannellini beans and cabbage. Come home to the fragrant aroma of beef soup filling the air and sit down to a hot mug of soup!
Cold weather always means comfort food and any time I can use my slow cooker to do the job for me, I am one happy girl.
You won’t believe how quickly this Slow Cooker Beef Minestrone Soup comes together. Sear the meat in advance, toss chopped onions into the pan to soak up the beef drippings, glaze with beef stock, pour it all into the slow cooker and turn it on.
If you have big eaters in your family you may want to serve this soup with fresh bread or buns to mop up any extra broth. I love adding parmesan to my soups as it adds a great salty umami flavour you don’t expect.
If you are more of a soup and salad person, a simple green salad on the side is lovely.
If you made this recipe tag Wanda Baker on Instagram and hashtag it #bakersbeans or #wandabaker
The breadmaker is one of those great inventions that never grows old. One day while in a book store I stumbled across a bread machine book called “Canada’s Best Bread Machine Baking Recipes” and was amazed at all the things you could make in a bread maker. Since the price was right ($3) I decided it was a want.
We tried this pizza dough recipe, were hooked and have been making it for several years. You should allow for about 2.5 hours from when the ingredients go into the bread maker until you are ready to assemble pizzas. Once the dough comes out of the bread machine it needs a little time to sit. Then we roll out the dough into a pizza and prebake it (pizza stone) for 8-10 minutes. While the pizza is prebaking let the kids help cut up the fixins. Give them a cutting board, kid safe knife (we use choppers), bowls, the fixins and away they go. You can even let them roll their own dough if they are older and willing.
The real work is in preparing all the fixins. We place them in bowls, put them on the table and since we all have unique tastes, everyone gets to make their own pizza.
We always double the recipe for 4 (2 bigger for adults, 2 smaller for kids) but you could easily stretch this into 5 medium sized pizzas.
Adapted from Canada’s Best Bread Machine Baking Recipes
Herb Pizza Crust
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 3/4 cups all purpose flour or bread flour
1 1/2 tsp dried basil
1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp bread machine yeast
Measure ingredients into baking pan of bread machine in the order listed above. Insert pan into bread maker and select Dough Cycle.
Preheat Oven to 400F (200C). If using a pizza stone have it in oven warming up.
When cycle complete remove dough to lightly floured surface; cover with a large bowl and let rest 15 minutes. Seperate into 4 (for 4 pizzas although this is enough dough for 5 pizzas) and roll out dough or press into pizza pan. Place pizza pan into oven or dough onto pizza stone to prebake.
Note the dough does tend to bubble, sometimes. To stop air pressure build up poke a few times all over with a fork (like a pie crust).
Partially bake pizza crust in oven for about 10 minutes. Take out of oven, let cool slightly for little hands and start makin your pizzas to your liking.
Once ready we bake them again just until cheese starts to melt and bottom is nicely browned approx. 10 minutes. Spread with your choice of toppings.
Kids pizza below (with a thicker crust).
As I evolve the recipe blog it may become something more than just recipes. As is this post. A Live Polar Bear Cam in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada. It’s just lovely watching these majestic beauties who are on the endangered species list. Enjoy.
Cabbage rolls can vary depending on culture, traditions passed down and many other factors like so many of our dishes. I’ve put a spin on my family recipe to make these Slow Cooker Cabbage Rolls that taste exactly like my mom used to make.
I remember helping roll the cabbage rolls back in the 1970s when my mom would make them for dinner. She always used tomato juice in her dish and baked them in the oven. I like to use tomato juice occasionally for the nostalgia, but really prefer the thickness of a tomato sauce.
My family heritage consists of Ukrainian, German, Romanian and possibly some French as I learned when my mom died she was born in France. This is a recipe that comes from her family in Saskatchewan, where they landed in Canada, and where she grew up.
When work days are busy because parents work full time, plugging in the slow cooker in the morning and coming home to a delicious smelling meal has always been appealing.
It’s easy to make this recipe in the oven if you don’t have a slow cooker. All you need to do is follow the steps adding everything to a casserole dish instead of your crockpot, cook at 350 F for 1 – 1.5 hours checking to ensure the liquid does not all evaporate.
Find a small head of green cabbage or napa cabbage that has a lot of green on it. Always inspect the cabbage when buying it especially napa cabbage as they can be mostly core with very little green. The idea is to use cabbage with little core and mostly green!
Do not fear making cabbage rolls. This is really a very simple tasting dish. Cooked cabbage is something many of us grew up eating although kids these days are not so it might be a new texture and flavour to them. My mom even made sauerkraut so cabbage has always been a favourite of mine.
If you are ready to give this recipe a try, check out some of our tried and true tips and tricks first.
If you made this recipe tag Wanda Baker on Instagram and hashtag it #bakersbeans or #wandabaker
I get asked about this a lot by my mom friends…not many people have heard about the Halloween Fairy and were wishing they had. Bottom line is all the moms are up to their eye balls in candy and want a way to get rid of it. Do my kids need more toys, no…but we’d rather them have another toy then sickly amounts of candy that eventually gets thrown out.
And so the story goes…..
The Halloween Fairy
We started the Halloween Fairy about 3 years ago as a means to control the excessive amount of candy that comes our way after a week of Halloween parties and trick or treating. I am waiting for my daughter to come back with “is the Halloween Fairy (HF) really real?” For now she still buys into it and so we tell them the HF takes the candy (and the pumpkin) to the kids that do not get any candy. Her response this time was “you mean charity?”. She got it! We were so proud of her…she put more than half her candy into the HF pumpkin. Brought tears to our eyes! Even wanted to leave HF a note thanking her for taking the candy to the kids!! They both still have enough candy to last them awhile and they received a little gift from HF (book and a car). We hope one day when they realize there is no HF they will still want to continue to donate some of their candy to kids/families less fortunate.
Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy…what’s one more?!!
If you want to find a way to get rid of excess or leftover candy…contact your local Food Bank or affiliate!
I’ve been following Chef Michael Smith for several years – way back when he had very long hair. I met him once in 2002 at a Home Show. He was signing cookbooks and signed one that I had purchased (for an ex boyfriend). He is very friendly, charismatic and tall. This Brown Rice with Apples & Feta recipe is adapted from one of his.
I typically sprinkle feta on my brown rice and so I decided to try it with this recipe. The feta brings a saltiness to the dish that I enjoyed against the sweetness from the raisins & nutty flavour of the rice. If you do not like Feta you can leave it out.
Hubs mentioned as it cooks the smell reminds him of his Grandma’s Rice Pudding (and I think this is a good thing)!
Popcorn Balls on Sticks are an old-fashioned treat and a fun way to celebrate the season. Or change up the edible candies and make them for any season!
I conjure up great memories of eating popcorn balls as a teen. Would make them with friends and devour them without sharing too many! It was typically during Halloween and Christmas we’d make the most obnoxious, candy filled creations.
These easy to make marshmallow Popcorn Balls on Sticks are formed into balls with sticks added making them easier to hold with less clean up after.
We do family movie nights every weekend and I like to make these for a fun change up to a bowl of popcorn. Any colour or kind of sprinkles will do with only a few ingredients involved. Or turn them into Easter egg balls or Christmas balls during the holiday season.
Popcorn balls are like a rice krispie bar offering crunch, sweet and a whole lot of sticky!
Simple, quality ingredients are best!
If you made this recipe tag Wanda Baker on Instagram and hashtag it #bakersbeans or #wandabaker
Chicken Pesto Pasta is a quick pasta dish suitable any night of the week. Enjoy it hot for dinner and pack up leftovers for a cool chicken pasta salad lunch the next day!
We do our best to get quick, nutritious meals on the table especially when the kids are busy with activities. Cut up, seasoned chicken is wonderful in an assortment of meals and can even be prepared and refrigerated in advance.
Toss warmed chicken with sundried tomatoes, pasta, pesto, cheese, topping with fresh basil creates a flavourful any time meal!
Definitely do not skimp on the sun-dried tomatoes! Full disclosure I eat them right out of the jar like candy and have been obsessed with them since the early 1990’s!
The kids still don’t love them so they pick them out and I end up with them. To me that’s winning!
We like to use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil and drizzle a little of the flavoured oil into this pasta dish while mixing it all up. Flavoured oil is great to keep on hand for cooking, salad dressings or even adding to or drizzling over pasta.
Pesto is a much loved Italian sauce originating in Genoa, Italy. It’s traditionally made using pine nuts, salt, olive oil, garlic, cheese and basil.
These days there are tons of pesto variations available to purchase or to make and we recommend using your favourite recipe or brand. I tend to buy fresh made from our local Italian Store that is made without nuts as it saves me time when cooking.
If you made this recipe tag Wanda Baker on Instagram and hashtag it #bakersbeans or #wandabaker
Juicy and flavourful Maple Mustard-Glazed Pork Tenderloin is basted while on the grill creating an irresistible sweet and savoury crust. This quick, easy meal is served with grilled vegetables or a bright green salad for the perfect weeknight dinner!
Pork is one of our top three favourite meats to cook because it absorbs flavour well, is relatively easy to prepare, is rich in thiamine, contains niacin, riboflavin, vitamins, zinc and potassium. These days it’s more affordable than beef and essentially better for you. On occasion we buy our Canadian pork from a local butcher and other times we look for sales to buy extra to freeze.
Our maple mustard-glazed pork tenderloin recipe was created as another quick meal for a busy activity night!
Pork tenderloin is a lean, tender and boneless cut of pork that comes from the muscle that runs along the backbone of the pig. It’s a good choice for marinating or serving with a sauce, easy to cook, and a quick week night meal. Since it’s so lean it can dry out quickly so having a good meat thermometer is key to ensuring you end up with a juicy piece of meat.
Pork should be cooked to an internal temperature of 155-160F.
I always seem to have a large variety of mustard’s in my pantry or refrigerator which is surprisingly really as I am mostly the only one in the family who loves mustard. Must be my German roots showing!
Canadian farmers (the prairies) has a staggering 308,000 acres of mustard and is the world’s leading mustard seed exporter. Canada produces yellow, brown and oriental seeds and sends 80 percent of its seeds to France to make Dijon mustard. Read more about Canadian Mustard.
For this recipe we have used whole grain mustard, Dijon and a spicy brown variation! Here’s a couple local mustard companies you can find some crazy good mustard: Brassica Mustard and Cian’s Mustard.
If you made this recipe tag Wanda Baker on Instagram and hashtag it #bakersbeans or #wandabaker
I’m not sure why I haven’t posted this roasted chicken with sausages recipe before. Made it for dinner guests in the past..making it for dinner guests this weekend. It’s so simple and rustic everyone ends up thinking you slaved for hours making it. Finishing this dish with a Balsamic Drizzle gives it a pleasing appearance when you bring it to the table.
At the time of this post, balsamic drizzle was not something many have heard of. I first heard about it from a cookbook by Robert Rainford (2006). Rachael Ray uses it in this dish and it pairs nicely with the flavours. It is also easy to burn. Yup speaking from experience. Make sure you keep an eye on your drizzle while it is cooking to avoid the allusive burnt balsamic drizzle!
I admittedly have tried my hand at making pie crusts while in my 20’s…I’m er 30 now ;)…..and I had no luck. I was single back then…now I’m married and a Baker. Seems I should perhaps try my luck at pie crusts again! This recipe was submitted by Nicole and it has a twist – 7up! I have never heard of a pie crust recipe with 7up in it and I am very intrigued. I will be trying this recipe out in the near future and look forward to pie crust success! It seems so simple and we like simple. Thank you Nicole!
Submitted by Nicole
Basic Pie Dough Recipe
5 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 lb Tenderflake lard
1 can cold 7-up (not diet)
Here we go….
Mix flour and salt, cut in lard, stir in 7-up, divide into 5 equal portions. Wrap each of the 5 portions in plastic wrap and chill 30 minutes. Then roll out into 5 pie crusts. At this point follow the instructions of the pie you are making (ie: prebake or not). Have fun!
I’m making these for dinner tonight. They were put into rotation a while back since the flavour was delightful. The flavour will improve the longer you marinate them.
If you do not enjoy spicy food it’s easy to omit the hot sauce although a few drops doesn’t really add much heat. My kids eat them and they do not like spicy food! But then again my kids love pork chops in all it’s variations. As always do not use cilantro if you are not a fan of it.
Since we are “All Weather” Grillers these chops are fantastic any time of the year.
Here’s another awesome way to use the last of the leftover roast turkey or chicken. Thai Turkey Wraps come together quickly, are easy to assemble and offer a world of flavour!
I love it when I find new ways to use up leftover turkey. Or chicken, but mostly turkey since we always end up roasting a big bird for holidays and having tons of leftovers!
For us we can only eat so many turkey sandwiches and since I’ve been making wraps for the kids since they were toddlers, this Thai turkey wrap seemed like an easy progression from sandwiches to wraps!
Different elements bring help to bring this wrap together, but it’s really the sauce that puts it over the edge.
I’d call it a lightened up version of a peanut sauce. A little mayo, soy sauce and lime juice pull it all together. This is also one of those sauces that will improve it’s flavour overnight if made the day before.
Another option to shake up the lunch routine is use rice paper wraps and make this into a Thai Turkey Salad Roll.
If you made this recipe tag Wanda Baker on Instagram and hashtag it #bakersbeans or #wandabaker
We love appetizers. In fact entire meals – even New Year’s Eve Meals have been entirely appetizers. Appetizers can be anything you want them to be such as a cheese board with grapes or cheese, sausage and crackers or dips.
Remember the good ole Spinach Dip? I could seriously jump in and eat my way out of a spinach dip. But as the saying goes from the lips to the hips. So it remains an occasional treat. In the meantime here is a new and improved version of a Spinach Dip with feta cheese added in for a little bit of salty goodness. Use goat feta or cow feta – both are delish. If you have kids get them to help make this dip as kids tend to be more eager to try food if they have been involved in the process.
To make this even spectacular serve it in a bread bowl. It makes about 2 cups.
Kefta, or koftas are essentially Middle Eastern Meatballs infused with fragrant spices and herbs, then shaped into an oval on a skewer, and gently grilled until cooked through. Beef Keftas offer a new and delicious way to enjoy ground beef!
My research dictates either name works. A group of meatball dishes common in Middle Eastern countries is called a Kofta. Depending on where you are in the world they can go by different names, utilize different proteins and different cooking methods although the common ingredient is ground or minced meat.
We also have a family favourite recipe in this website called Pork Koftas, linked below, served with a fresh, bright dill salsa.
If you don’t have skewers or want to take the time to form the keftas on the skewers, shape the ground meat into equal length logs or sausages and grill as you normally would a burger. Form them into whatever size works for you, large, medium or bite sized appetizers.
This is a fun street food so enjoy them right on the skewer or remove and add to a pita, wrap or sandwich. This is how we like to eat our keftas:
I love a good sauce so here’s a few you might want to make to enjoy with the keftas!
If you made this recipe tag Wanda Baker on Instagram and hashtag it #bakersbeans or #wandabaker
This Cheesy Hamburger Casserole combines simple flavours including a cheese sauce,
Crockpot or Slowcooker? I can not decide which word to use in this Cheesy Hamburger Casserole recipe. Crockpot is the trade name and slow cooker is another way of saying crockpot?
Slow Cooker recipes are all the rage again. Everywhere you look there are slow cooker recipes showing up left, right and centre. Even Rachael Ray, a confessed non crockpot fan has been presenting crockpot recipes on her show the past 2 years (perhaps ratings were low?).
In August 2011 many people became aware of the Crockin Girls, (formally Crockpot Girls) a couple of Southern ladies who decided to team up, create a page on Facebook and share some of their crockpot recipes. What they didn’t plan on was getting over 1 million followers in a matter of weeks! Who knew there was such a void for crockpot recipes.
As for me – I am happy to see the explosion of slow cooker recipes since I’ve been using mine since the late 80s and love the variety of recipes to try, not to mention love having dinner ready at the end of a long day.
Here is one that 3/4 in our family enjoy. Think of this as a healthy (no additives) slow cooker hamburger helper. You can use any ground meat you want…I’ve tried both ground beef and chicken….it tastes equally delicious. If you find the dish getting a little dry (because your slow cooker gets to hot like mine) pour a little beef broth in.
Pick up a rotisserie chicken or roast your own, some tortillas and make these Chicken Tostadas for dinner tonight.
Have you ever wondered what exactly a Tostada is? Growing up in a small town, I definitely had no clue until I moved to Vancouver and started going to Mexican restaurants. According to our student, in Spanish it means “toasted” – either a toasted tortilla as the base or something toasted on the Tostada.
Authentic tostadas come with re-fried beans. We do not add the beans but typically a whack of healthy toppings with our chicken. Well I add a whack of healthy toppings. My husband adds more chicken than anything. To each their own.
Tostadas are a delicious way to use up leftover roast chicken, turkey, beef, even pulled pork. Simply add all your favourite taco toppings.
When making Tostadas use either flour tortillas or corn tortillas. Both are equally delicious. I always bake them with a little cumin and salt sprinkled on top or taco seasoning. They come out perfectly crispy so no cooking in oil is needed.
I love this meal because it’s quick, and healthy for an activity evening.
As the rain commeth down, and Fall under our toes, I am feeling more like soup these days. I did not grow up eating home made soups, or a lot of soup in general, but I want my kids to have home made soups in their lives, and so I continue to try out different soups to tempt their little palates. It’s a comfort thing.
This is a tried and true one that is quick, easy, tasty and the kids can help roll the meat balls. I like to make the meatballs very small as small (little bites) seems to be more appealing at times for my kids. You change change up the meat to chicken if you don’t have turkey, same with the stock. It’s all good.
