New Years Resolution

I know what some of you might be thinking, "Blogging on New Years Eve?"... lol, yes. Lame? Well if I was not 7 months pregnant with a toddler who went to bed an hour ago, than definitely lame.  Even though I am not ringing in the New Year with great excitement, I decided I better still make a New Years resolution. But I am not planning on making a resolution to wake up at 7 am every morning with a hot cup of coffee to spend time with myself while doing Pilate's before Liam and Clayton get out of bed. As nice as I thought that sounded I know I wont do it. Especially because the one morning during the holidays when I couldn't sleep I got up at 6 am to make cinnamon buns, had coffee and listened to music quietly in the kitchen before anyone was up and I paid for it by lunch time when I was dying for a nap. So being pregnant with a toddler, I am going to covet sleep instead.
This New Year of 2012 I am going to focus on being positive. When I lived in Vancouver I tried really hard to embrace positive thinking. It plays into so many situations and really pays off. For me, being a positive thinker means moving forward. Living a life of love, forgiveness and letting go of the negative things that we tend to hold onto that make us say and do things we end up regretting. Negativity spoils life.
So bring it on 2012! I have a lot to look forward to. I am turning 27 in 8 days, I have a baby boy turning 2 in February and a new little baby coming into this world the beginning of March.  We are settled in in Glendon and I don't have to worry about travelling back and forth from here to there like Clayton and I used to do. As fun as our transient life was, I am so glad to be settled and not living out of a suitcase and truck. Clayton and I are happy and blessed with great friends and family, a loving church and good health.
So I will raise my cup of tea to this last year and hope I can make it till midnight without falling asleep, but I am not counting on it!

Fish Tacos

FISH TACO'S WITH FRESH SALSA

Fish Tacos:

Hard Tacos or soft corn tortillas
2 Pieces of white fish
1/4 cup flour seasoned (salt & pepper)
1/2 fresh lemon or lime

Put fish in flour mixture. Heat butter in pan on medium heat and cook about 5 min. per side or until it flakes apart easy. Squeeze lemon or lime on top. Break up fish into pieces and set aside.

Fresh Salsa:

3 large Roma Tomatoes chopped
Handful of fresh cilantro
1/4 of a red onion chopped
1 tbsp lime juice or half a fresh lime squeezed
1 avocado diced
Salt & pepper

mix all ingredients together and refridgerate while preparing the fish.

Assemble fish, hot sauce, fresh salsa on the tacos and enjoy! I like to use Franks Hot Sauce. These tacos are simple and so good.

Fettuccine with Squash, Mushrooms, and Spinach

Fettuccine with Squash, Mushrooms, and Spinach
(recipe found on Epicurious.com)

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• 12 ounces fettuccine pasta

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, divided
• 3 cups 1/2-inch cubes butternut squash (from 1-pound squash)
• 8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps sliced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
• 1 5- to 6-ounce package baby spinach
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.

Meanwhile, melt 1/4 cup butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add squash and cook until almost tender, stirring often, about 6 minutes. Add mushrooms, sage, and remaining 1/4 cup butter; sauté until mushrooms are soft and squash is tender, about 8 minutes. Add spinach; stir until wilted, about 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Add pasta to sauce in skillet. Toss to coat, adding pasta cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls if dry. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup cheese.

•               1/2 cup clarified butter

•               1/2 cup slivered almonds

•               1/2 lemon

•               handful of parsley leaves

•               1/2 cup all-purpose flour

•               kosher salt (to taste)

•               freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

•               1/2 cup milk

•               2 skinned, but not deboned, sole (about 7 ounces/200 grams each)

            Place the flour into a shallow bowl and season it generously with salt and pepper. Don’t be afraid of adding a fair amount of seasoning, as most of it will be left behind. Place the milk into a separate shallow bowl and gather the fish.

            To cook the fish, heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until it is hot and foaming.

            Dip the sole first in the milk and then dredge it in the flour mixture. Shake off the excess and lay it in the skillet. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook for about 2-3 minutes per side. Gently flip the fish over and cook until done.

            Transfer the fish to a serving plate and squeeze with lemon juice to taste.

            To finish the dish, toss the almonds in the hot butter to warm them through. Then add the parsley, but be careful as it may splatter. Pour the almond, parsley and butter mixture over the fish and serve immediately.

*This is not really a weight-watchers fish recipe. You can use less butter, but let me tell you... the butter makes its so good. Serve over rice with steamed vegetables.

Almond Sole

by Laura C in Rouxbe Recipes

Fresh sole is pan-fried in clarified butter until golden and finished with slivered almonds, parsley and fresh lemon juice.

• Serves: 2 
• Active Time: 15 mins 
• Total Time: 15 mins

Tortellini Soup

Mushroom

Leek, Chicken Sausage and Tortellini Soup

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 5 large mushrooms, chopped
• 2 large leeks, cleaned, and cut into 1/4 inch thick rounds
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 4 chicken sausages, sliced in 1/3-inch rounds
• 1 (9 ounce) package cheese tortellini
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons hot pepper sauce (e.g. Tabasco™), or to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• 5 sprigs chopped fresh cilantro, for garnish

Directions

1. Place the olive oil in a skillet, and heat over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms and leeks; cook and stir until they soften, about 5 minutes. Set aside until needed.
2. Meanwhile, pour the chicken broth into a large pan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, tortellini, garlic, and hot sauce. Reduce heat to medium, and stir in the mushrooms and leeks. Cover, and simmer soup mixture for 30 minutes. Serve garnished with cilantro

*I made this for supper tonight and  I didn't use chicken sausage, I just used ukrainian sausage. Clayton raved about this soup that I found on allrecipes.com. It might sound different but it is so so good. 

A Love For Cooking

I think my love for cooking happened when I found my favorite book of all time, Best-Ever Soups. I found this big recipe book in Montana when Clayton and I were on our way home from a family ski trip at Whitefish a few years ago. We stopped in this book store and I found it this book that changed my culinary life. Lucky for me my husband LOVES soup.

I love to search for new recipes and seldom use my cook books, with the exception of my big book of Best-Ever Soups. I spend alot of time on the web searching for new recipes to try and when it is worthy of making again I write it down and keep the recipe on record in my bright pink album.

Not very long ago Clayton and I watched the movie Julie & Julia, which sparked a whole new obsession of spending even more time reading recipes and reading about how to be a better 'chef'. One website that is a must-have bookmark is  www.http://rouxbe.com a cooking school full of online recipes and tips. Super addictive if you love cooking. There is inspiration from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (Julia Childs book).

Anyways, I have been asked several times what kind of food I cook at home and it is really hard to pinpoint. Clayton and I are not meat and potatoes every night kinda people... well Clayton will eat whatever is on the table and if it was up to him to have super ready I would walk in the house to be greeted by delissio pizza. But lucky for me he thinks that two weeks ago he got food poisoning from a delissio pizza so I have a feeling that is off the menu plan for a while. I have nothing against store bought pizza, but I would much rather make one from scratch. Why have 3 Meat delissio when you can have a homemade Tomato and Bocconcini Pizza with Balsamic glaze drizzled on top and a drop of pesto sauce? Right?!

Ok, I am a food nerd. I love meal time. I am so nerdy that sometimes when I cant sleep at night because the baby inside me wont stop kicking, I have leg cramps and I have to pee, I think about what kind of eggs I should make for breakfast in the morning.  But I can admit that weirdness because I know Clayton appreciates it. So, since I have had people tell me I should share some recipes I like, I am going to start posting some of my favorites. Enjoy!