How to Make Chocolate-Dipped Bacon Roses

That’s right. These happened in our house today. There are just some times that you need to tell that special someone in your life that you love them more than bacon.

The first thing you need to do is to preheat your oven to 375. Line a baking sheet with foil, and put a rack on top of that. Next, begin to roll your bacon. I rolled them so the fatty side was on the bottom. The tighter it is, the better it will look. Stick toothpicks though the bottom of the roses to hold them together, and also to keep them from falling over.

Bake them for about 20-25 minutes. Take them out, and blot them on paper towel to remove any extra grease.

Prepare your roses by popping the flower petals off of them stem. Keep the green flower base, because that will hold your bacon rose.

Next, melt some chocolate. I used to light chocolate melting wafers. For these ten roses, it only took about a quarter cup of wafers.  Dip the ends of your roses in the chocolate. I then placed them on a sheet of parchment paper to let the chocolate set slightly, for about two minutes. Then I pushed them onto the ends of the stems. Delicious!

Squash and Apple Soup

Here’s another soup recipe!

2 cups of squash (I cooked it in the oven until it was about 90% cooked)
2 cups of apple sauce
1 cup of pumpkin (I had leftover pumpkin, you could add more squash if you don’t have any)
2 cups of water
1 cup of apple cider
2 tbsp fresh ginger
Pepper to taste

Simmer over a low heat until the squash is soft, then purée until it reaches a desired consistency. You may need to add more water to thin it out. We also used very fresh and ripe apples, so I didn’t put as much cider in, because it was sweet enough, but you may decide to add more.

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

We love cheese in this house, and pasta, too. It’s really easy to make your own mac and cheese, and it doesn’t take a whole lot longer than making the stuff that comes in the box.

First, put a pot of salted water on to boil. When it comes to a boil, add a small box of macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package. Once it’s cooked, drain the pasta and set aside.

Meanwhile, you can start the sauce. On medium heat, melt two tbsp of butter, and add two tbsp of flour and whisk until smooth. Add one tbsp of Dijon mustard, and two cloves of crushed garlic. Slowly whisk in about 2 cups of milk. Add some black pepper. Continue to stir, making sure the milk doesn’t scald. When the milk has heated, add 3 cups of grated cheese. We used some cheddar, mozzarella and havarti. Once the cheese has melted, add a pinch of crushed pepper flakes. Add to the macaroni, and eat immediately.

The beauty of this recipe is that you can use whatever pasta and cheese that you wish. It can be different every time you make it!

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie

Making some pies for Thanksgiving? Have some pumpkin left over? Here’s a delicious smoothie that you can make using left over pumpkin!

1/2 cup of pumpkin
1 cup of vanilla almond milk (you could also use regular milk, and add a teaspoon of vanilla)
1 tsp of pumpkin pie spice OR 1/4 tsp of each ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice
I also added 1 scoop of vanilla protein powder

Blend and drink immediately. Yum, yum!

Why do I love pumpkin so much? Well, it’s so good for you! Pumpkin is full of vitamins A and C, potassium, manganese, copper, and riboflavin (a B vitamin). There is also a considerable amount of magnesium, phosphorus, iron, folate, vitamins E and B6, niacin, thiamin and pantothetic acid! So feel free to indulge in that piece of pumpkin pie this Thanksgiving weekend!

How to Prepare Pumpkin

I realize that I’ve put up a lot of recipes using pumpkin, but have never made a tutorial on how to get pumpkin out of that delicious vegetable. It’s really easy to do!

These little babies are called pie pumpkins, or sugar pumpkins. They’re what I prefer to use. You get about 3-4 cups of pumpkin purée from each one. The first thing you do is cut them in half. Then you scoop out the seeds and stringy bits (definitely keep the seeds, you can roast them in olive oil and salt and they’re soooooo yummy! Or oil and garlic, or chilli powder… The possibilities are endless!) and place them flesh-side down on a cookie sheet. Add water to the cookie sheet, and then rub a little olive oil on the skins of the pumpkins. Road them in the oven at 350 for about 25 minutes. Once you’re able to pierce the skin with a fork, you’re all set!

Finally, take them out of the oven and let them cool. When you can handle them, scoop out the flesh with a spoon, and voila! Pumpkin!

Now you may ask, what can one do with pumpkin? Well, I’ve got a new cheesecake in the oven right now (recipe to come soon!), but I’ve also made plenty of other things with pumpkin purée. Check them out!

Pumpkin Dog Treats

Mini Pumpkin Cheesecakes

Pumpkin Rosee Pasta Sauce

Two Pumpkin Pasta Recipes

Baked Tacos

My little guy made salsa at playgroup yesterday, and that had me hankering for some Mexican food.  There was a recipe floating around on facebook for baked tacos that had me drooling, and I knew it was meant to be.  I changed it a little from the original, but it was still very tasty.  AND the two-year-old who has been very defiant and not wanting to eat anything at supper time at half of a taco.  SUCCESS!

Brown the meat

Fill tacos

Baked Tacos!

Anyway, here’s what you do:

Brown the meat.  I used lean ground beef.  The package I had was just shy of a pound, about 400g.  While I was browning it, I seasoned it with my own personal concoction, but feel free to use a package of taco seasoning if you wish.  I used chili powder, onion powder, dehydrated onions, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic, and fresh oregano.  You’ll want to taste to make sure you’ve got the flavours right.  I put in a lot of chili and cumin because I’m slightly congested, and I wanted something spicy.

Next, I preheated the oven to 375.  I lined up 8 whole grain tortillas in a pan, and filled them with the meat.  I then added some refried beans (I used about half a can), spooned some salsa over top and then finished them off with a sprinkle of cheese.  I popped them in the over for about 10 minutes, and then we ate them with plain yogurt (we had the Balkan style) and some lettuce.

Delicious!

Beef Stew

When fall arrives, there’s nothing like a hearty stew to keep you toasty on the inside. This recipe is very versatile, but yummy!

Beef Stew
In my slow cooker I put in a package of stewing beef. It was approximately 1lb of meat. I added 1/2 cup of red wine, 2 cups of water, Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 package of onion soup mix and black pepper. Next, add vegetables. I put in carrots and potatoes. When it is almost done, put 1/2 cup of flour in a mug and mix with warm water. Add to your soup. If it isn’t thick enough, you can add more flour. Mixing it with water first keeps the clumping down. Finally, add some herbs for flavour. I added rosemary, thyme, and sage. Serve with warm rolls, and you’ll have a great fall meal!

Roasted Cauliflower and Cheddar Soup

My husband and I were talking about cauliflower the other day (I promise you, not all of our conversations are that dull!) and we decided that cauliflower is the pasta equivalent in the vegetable world. Meaning, it’s kind of boring on it’s own, but add cheese or butter and it’s great. That’s kind of what this soup is.

First, I chopped up a head of cauliflower , then I roasted it in the oven for about 25 minutes at 425 with some olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning. We had some leftover vegetables from the night before, carrots, broccoli, and potatoes, and I added those to the pan at this point, because they were already cooked. It probably amounted to almost 2 cups of potatoes, and another cup of the mixed vegetables.

Once the vegetables were cooked all the way through, I put them in a pot with a carton of soup stock, and then puréed them. I added 2 cups of old cheddar cheese, ground black pepper, and chives, and heated until warm.

It was definitely tasty! And made at least 6 servings.

We did leave the skins on the potatoes. They added a great flavour.

Sweet Potato and Apple Soup

This soup recipe came in my mailbox the other day, and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to make it. However, things never quite work out exactly as planned, so I had to change it. Mostly because I started it at around 4, not realizing that it was a slow cooker recipe. Anyway, here’s what I did:

First, I took 3 sweet potatoes and pierced them with a fork. I put them in the oven to bake for about 45 minutes at 450. I did them this way because I really, really dislike chopping and peeling them. Then I cut them in half, and scooped the potato out with a spoon into a pot. I added approximately 1 cup of soup stock and 1 cup of apple cider, and put it on to simmer to finish cooking the potatoes.

While the potatoes were simmering, I chopped up 2 apples (I used gala, they were on sale last week). I put them in a frying pan with 1 tbsp of margarine. I added 1 tbsp of ginger, 2 tsp of curry, and 2 tsp of onion powder. I cooked the apples for about 5 minutes on a medium heat, then I added them to the pot. The mixture simmered for about another hour, and then I mixed it all together with my immersible blender. At this point, I added a little more cider, just because I like it creamy.

I also toasted some bread to go along with the soup. I sliced a ciabatta loaf in half, and added someolive oil and parsley, and then cooked it under the broiler in the oven until it toasted.

This one got the seal of the approval from my two year old, as well. He especially liked to dip the bread into the soup.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin With Blueberry Sauce

I picked up a pork tenderloin this week when they were on sale. It’s one of our favourites. I thought tat I’d share my recipe for a stuffed tenderloin.

All the herbs I used were fresh, out of our garden, but dried will work as well.

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
Slice the meat lengthwise, 3/4 of the way through. Fill with goat cheese. (My husband thought that I should have mixed it with spinach, but that’s up to you.)
Crush fresh rosemary, sage, and thyme in your hands, and then add to 2tbsp of olive oil. Add some black pepper. Rub the oil mixture onto the tenderloin. Place the meat in a roasting pan, making sure there is some oil underneath to prevent sticking. You can add more oil, if you wish.
Cook for 45 minutes at 350. Serve with blueberry sauce.

Blueberry Sauce
Bring the following to a boil:
1/4 cup vinegar
1/2 cup water
2T sugar
1/4t nutmeg
1/4t ginger

Let simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together 1/4c corn starch and 1/4c sugar. Add to the liquid and boil again until it becomes thick. Remove from heat, add 1T lemon juice, 2T margarine, and at least 1c of blueberries (We like a lot of berries. Feel free to add more.) mash the berries to release the juices. Serve warm over the pork.

We had some green beans from our garden (blanched, and then a bit of sea salt added) and garlic mashed potatoes. We whip them with the skins on with garlic, parsley, margarine, and milk. A pretty tasty supper, and our two year old loved the pork and sauce.