Slow Cooker Cacciatore-Style Chicken

My sister picked this recipe out for us to make when she was down visiting last weekend.  I've already posted a recipe for chicken cacciatore in the past.  And though I love my old recipe and find it a bit more flavourful than this one, the one I am posting today fits much more with my hectic lifestyle these days. 

You basically just chop up the vegetables, throw them into the crockpot with the chicken and other ingredients and plug it in.  And if you happen to buy your mushrooms pre-sliced like I did, this really only takes minutes to put together.  You also get a good portion of yummy cooked veggies out of it.  This is so quick to put together than I've already made it a second time in the past week.

2 C sliced fresh mushrooms
1 C sliced celery
1 C chopped carrot
2 medium onions, cut into wedges
1 green, yellow, or red sweet pepper, cut into strips
4 cloves garlic, minced
12 chicken drumsticks, skinned (about 3 1/2 lbs)
1/2 C chicken broth
1/4 C dry white wine
2 tbsp. quick cooking tapioca
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. dried oregano, crushed
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 14-1/2 oz. can diced tomatoes
1/3 C tomato paste

1.  In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker combine mushrooms, celery, carrots, onions, sweet pepper and garlic.  Cover vegetables with the chicken.  Add broth, wine, tapioca, bay leaves, oregano, sugar, salt and black pepper.  

2.  Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 to 7 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

3.  Remove chicken and keep warm (place in 200 degree Farenheit oven).  Remove bay leaves and discard.  If using low-heat setting, turn to high-heat setting.  Cover and cook 15 minutes longer on high-heat setting.  

4.  Serve with hot cooked pasta or rice.  To serve, spoon vegetable mixture over chicken and pasta.

Makes 6 servings.   

Difficulty level: easy 

Taken from: Better Homes and Gardens Biggest Book of Slow Cooker Recipes.

Vegetarian Korma

My brother-in-law made this for us for dinner while we were staying with them over the holidays.  More on that shortly.  

This recipe is absolutely delicious.  A new absolute favourite of mine.  One of the best recipes I've made in a long time.  But let's face it... hot dogs and canned corn don't really count as a recipe.  Well, they do in my new world.  Which is why I haven't blogged many recipes lately...

I served this to company this weekend, along with Brandi's delicious avocado and cranberry salad, and got rave reviews.  Even though I kind of messed it up while making it.  

Ya see... I have this issue with reading recipes.  Or more with NOT reading recipes, I should say.  You'd think I'd learn from past mishaps.  But nope.  I still dive right into recipes without fully reading them until it's too late.

My brother-in-law suggested I parboil the potatoes before adding them in.  Oops.  Should have done that.  Slipped my mind.  I ended up needing to leave this to simmer forever.  You might also want to throw the carrots in with the onions, as I find that they took a long time to cook as well. 

Also, my brother-in-law mentioned that the potatoes mush down and tend to blend into the sauce.  That didn't happen at all with mine.  I used red potatoes.  I am clearly not a potato connoisseur as that waas not the right choice.  But they were on sale.  What's a girl to do?  I guess next time I'll try plain old white potatoes and see how that goes.

The recipe also says to grind the sunflower seeds.  Which I had thought I'd read.  But when I went to make it, I couldn't find the word "ground" anywhere in the recipe.  I read it twice.  I swear.  As it turns out, that little word "ground" was sitting right in front of the words sunflower seeds.  Go figure.  It was only once I had thrown in the whole sunflower seeds that the word "ground" jumped right out at me.  Oops.  I prayed for the best and it turned out just fine.  Mine obviously had less smooth of a texture than my brother-in-law's, but it was still good. 

My next attempt to make this will be in the slow cooker.  With some meat.  Maybe chicken or lamb???  But this is absolutely fantastic just as it is.

1 1/2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 small onion, diced
2 tsp. minced fresh ginger root
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 potatoes, cubed
4 carrots, cubed
1 fresh jalapeno pepper, seeded and sliced
3 tbsp. ground raw sunflower seeds (or cashews)
1 (4 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. garam masala
1 C frozen green peas
1/2 green bell papper, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 
1 can of coconut milk
1 bunch fresh cilantro for garnish 

1.  Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Stir in the onion and cook until tender.  

2.  Mix in ginger and garlic and continue cooking 1 minute.  Mix potatoes, carrots, jalapeno, sunflower seeds and tomato sauce.  Season with salt and curry powder.  Cook and stir 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

3.  Stir peas, bell peppers and coconut milk into the skillet.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 10 minutes.  Garnish with cilantro to serve.

Serve with rice or quinoa - quinoa is particularly idea for its protein content, given the lower protein content of this dish.

Difficulty level: moderate  

Serves 4 - 6 people 

This recipe is freezer friendly if you leave out the potatoes.       

Inspired by: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/vegetarian-korma/
 

Green Monster Halloween Banana Avocado Pudding

I was inspired to make this pudding after seeing avocado breakfast pudding on theKitchn awhile back.  This corresponded with our naturopath telling me I needed to get more good fats into my two little picky eaters.  I figured that, other than the chocolate avocado ice cream I've been making and have yet to post, this was probably my best bet.

After tasting the original recipe on theKitchn, I decided to throw a banana into ours.  Though I like avocado, the pudding just tasted a little too avocado-y for my likes.  So I figured that there weren't high hopes that the two kiddos would eat it.

I made it pre-Halloween and called it dinosaur pudding, in the hopes that that would make Logan eat it.  Yeah... he didn't fall for it.  Though he did at least try it.  But he was not a big fan.  Chloé, on the other hand, just gobbled it up.

This is super fast to whip up and is healthy enough that you can really serve it for breakfast.  Or for a nice, healthy dessert, as we did.  And it is perfect to serve as a healthy Halloween treat.  Nothing says Halloween more than monster green pudding :)

1 ripe avocado
1 ripe banana
1/2 C milk (I used coconut milk - from the carton, not the can)
1 tbsp. maple syrup

we go through mountains of bananas in our house these days

 

    
Throw everything in the blender and mix.

Chill for an hour before serving, if you prefer it cold.  

Difficulty level: easy

The Healthiest Ice Cream on Earth: Chocolate Banana Spinach Ice Cream

Now, I know that, having read the title of this post, you're all thinking this has got to be gross. 

Truth is, much like a green monster smoothie, you can't even taste the spinach.  

This isn't true ice cream.  Which is what makes it so healthy.  But it's incredibly delicious and a fantastic substitute for ice cream.  And it's so close to ice cream, your kids may not even notice the difference.  

Mine didn't.

We even did an experiment where we gave Logan a little bit of real chocolate ice cream, followed by this.  And he didn't even notice the difference. 

Maybe I shouldn't be so excited about that???  This may indicate there will be no Nobel-prize winning going on in this household...

Now, I have to share the history of this ice cream in our house.

It seems that in my excitement to use my ice cream maker (see my recent posts here and here), I may have inadvertently sent an unintended message to Logan.  A message that ice cream is a breakfast food.  Since we went through a phase where he was waking up every morning, screeeeeeeaming for ice cream.  

A message that ice cream can be eaten 3 times a day.  Since he was asking for it at every meal.  Every.single.meal.

Wait - I think it may have actually been a message that ice cream can be eaten 5 times a day, since he was also asking for it at each snack too.

The other night after dinner... scratch that... before he'd even eaten dinner, he started screaming "biiiiiiiiig ice cream".  When dinner was finally over and I got him out a little homemade popsicle, he kept loudly insisting "nooooo BIG ice cream". 

Now let's not get all crazy here.  He's not actually getting ice cream 5 times a day.  Nor is he getting the BIG ice cream he demands.  I've been saying an awful lot of no's to him lately.

But when I read recently on Oh She Glows about this banana soft serve ice cream (made only with bananas and milk), I knew I had to start making this for Logan instead.  However, I didn't get around to making it until Angela posted her recipe for her peanut butter, jam and banana popsicles made with banana soft serve. 

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I pretty much dropped everything, ran to the kitchen and whipped up a batch.  And then ate almost half of it.

What???  I'm breastfeeding ;)

So since I already had everything out to make Angela's version of this ice cream (which was delicious beyond words!!), I figured I'd also whip up a batch of something similar, that my sister recommended to me way back when.  This also combines Angela's banana soft serve with her green monster smoothies. 

And this invention is this chocolate banana spinach soft serve ice cream right here.  

Perfect for my little Logan who screams his head off all day long that he wants ice cream.  Here ya go little guy.  Eat your heart out :)  He can now enjoy ice cream whenever he wants.  Even for breakfast.

Best part?

He loves putting tons of "sprinkles" on his.  Which are really chia seeds.  He's so gonna hate me when he gets older! 

Check out this video here to see his excitement over his chia sprinkles. 

And yes - he does insist on eating his ice cream with the ice cream scoop.

As for the recipe, it's super simple.  All you need is:

2 cubes of frozen spinach, defrosted (mine didn't blend well when I didn't defrost them first)

 4-5 frozen bananas

 

1-2 tbsp. cocoa powder

a couple of tablespoons of milk (I used coconut milk, since we're now dairy-free) 

And then you just blend all of it in your food processor until smooth, adding more milk as necessary.  

This makes a delicious soft-serve "ice cream" that you can serve immediately.  Or pop it in the freezer for a harder consistency.  You'll just need to take it out a few minutes before serving to let it soften enough to scoop out.

 

Or you can just eat it out of the mixing bowl.

Just don't forget to add your chia sprinkles for all of these health benefits.

Difficulty level: easy

Felfel: Algerian Roasted Pepper and Tomato Salad

This roasted pepper and tomato salad, known as felfel, is an Algerian classic.  That is, according to our Algerian hostess, Assia, who we stayed with while recently in Paris.  

Both Jérôme and I love this dish.  Assia served it as an appetizer to the meal, which I suspect is probably how it is usually served in Algeria.  Back home, we've been eating it as part of our meal.  This will be a wonderful side-dish to different barbecued dishes come summer.  It can be served either hot or cold and is delicious both ways, though I prefer it hot.

Roasting the peppers is not super complicated, but takes a little bit of time.  You can always double the recipe to have it last a bit longer to make the work of roasting the peppers worth it.

In fact, I think I'm going to start making this in huge batches and freezing it so that it can be my "go to" vegetable staple this summer, in place of my (no) cream of vegetable soup, which I stashed away all winter.

Assia mentioned to me that she prefers the longer green peppers, such as the ones you see in the pictures below, as she finds them more flavourful.  I've never seen this shape of green peppers here, but it could just be because I haven't ever looked for them.  I recently made this recipe with a mix of red and yellow peppers, as that's what I happened to have in my fridge, and that was yummy as well.  Enjoy :)

5 green peppers
1 red pepper
2 tomatoes
good quality olive oil
fresh garlic, crushed
salt and pepper

1.  Roast washed whole peppers at 425 degrees Farenheit for 40 minutes.

2.  In the meantime, dice two tomatoes and crush about 3 cloves of fresh garlic.  Cook in a pan in a bit of olive oil for a few minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked.

 3.  Take peppers out of the oven and let cool.  Once cooled, gently peel off skins, take off stems and scrape out seeds.  Dice peppers.

 
4.  Drain some of the juices from the tomatoes and peppers.  Mix together and add olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.  Serve hot or cold.

Difficulty level: moderate

Healthy, Veggie Packed Morning Glory Muffins

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there!!!  I hope that everyone was spoiled and enjoyed a day of relaxation in the sun.

I've had a nice, quiet day.  I woke up this morning to a brand new KitchenAid mixing bowl.  Does my husband know me or does my husband know me?  Or was it just an attempt to get me to make more goodies??  So, I of course had to test run it as soon as I got home from my zumba class. 

So I made some muffins, as it's been quite awhile since I've made any and Logan has been asking for them lately.  Remember here when I said that I had found a delicious, new, healthy recipe for muffins?  I think I love these ones here even more.  I got this recipe from Katie when we were in Vancouver.  These muffins are packed with vegetables, which as any mom of a toddler knows, are almost impossible to get into most kids.  Logan has no idea that he's eating anything good for him here.

I would usually leave the cranberries and pumpkin seeds out, as Logan doesn't like to mix textures of food together.  But he has recently fallen in love with dried cranberries and cherries - I've convinced him to eat them by telling him they are candy.  I have no idea how he even knows what candy is, as I've certainly never given him any (daycare???), but it was enough to make him try (and love!) these.  We also tried to sell him on some soup by calling it ketchup, but he was a bit too smart for that one ;)

I left the dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds in and it seems to be a success, as he ate one and a half of these huge muffins within a few minutes of them coming out of the oven.

Before I get on with the recipe, I wanted to share a few of my favourite moments from this week:

- Logan turning to wave to our family doctor as we were leaving his office and saying "bye Soucie".

- how Chloé has started pulling at her hair and her ear when she is falling asleep.

- watching how Chloé watches Logan's every move, wherever he goes.  She cranes her neck at insane angles to not lose sight of him and he eats it up.  It's so special to get to watch such a bond develop between the two of them.  I think of how close I am with my siblings and realize that it likely started way back in the beginning.

- seeing how excited Logan was when Jérôme took him for his first ride of the season in the bike trailer.   He kept begging "vélo, vélo" (bike) even after returning from an hour long ride.  And refused to take off his helmet for at least an hour afterwards. In true Logan style ;)

- the sound of Chloé starting to babble (what S-LP wouldn't love that??). 

- how when I kissed Logan good night tonight to go put Chloé to bed (unsuccessfully), Logan smiled and said "dance".  I usually only kiss him goodnight before he's in pyjamas on the night I go to zumba.  So much better than the tears we used to get at my departure.

Enjoy your muffins.  And your Mother's Day.  I hope you have something special planned for dinner.

Beat together with a fork:

1 egg
1/2 C brown sugar
1/3 C plain yogurt
3 tbsp. canola oil

I used plain Greek yogurt, as this is all that I had in my fridge.

Whisk together in another bowl:

1 1/2 C flour (I used whole-wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Mix wet and dry mixtures until just combined and then add:

1/2 C grated carrot (Katie mentioned she usually puts in a fair amount more, so so did I) 
1/2 C shredded zucchini
3-4 lumps of frozen spinach, defrosted and well drained (pat with a paper towel to dry well)
1/2 C grated apple (I left the skin on for extra nutrients and fiber)
1/4 C cranberries (I used dried cranberries)
1/4 C pumpkin seeds or walnuts
1/4 C shredded unsweetened coconut

I doubled the recipe, and it took me almost an entire bag of mini carrots to get 1 C grated (didn't have any regular carrots in the fridge), about 1 and a half tiny zucchinis and about an apple and a half.  Just to give you an idea on how much to buy.  And it was maybe total 1/4 C of spinach that I put in.

Next time, I'll also throw in some combination of the following: wheat germ, ground flax seed, hemp seed, and/or chia seed.

defrosted spinach

Mix until just combined.  Do not overmix (lumps are fine).

Pour into well-greased muffin tins and bake for 16-20 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit.

The recipe says that it makes 6 large muffins, but I got 18 large muffins after doubling the recipe.  Katie always doubles it and makes them in a mini-muffin pan, yielding close to 2 dozen mini muffins. 

Difficulty level: easy to moderate