Favourite Recipes

I was just dusting off our collection of holiday recipe books and magazines and had a looksy through my recipe book which was started by my mom, that I now add to.

Here are some of my top favouite go-to recipes that I've made a million times. They aren't necessarily healthy!

Freezer Cookies - Calvin's Favourite

I always have a minimum of 12 of these in the freezer at any given time.

Boil: 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, 2 cups raw sugar, 1/2 cup milk & 4 T cocoa powder, for one minute. Add 1/2 cup peanut butter, 3 cups oats and 2 tsp vanilla. Drop on a cookie sheet and freeze. Once frozen you can keep them in a container.

Small batch of Lemon Curd

I use this on ice cream, in yogurt parfaits, on pancakes, and in tarts.

In a double boiler, whisk 1 egg, 4 T sugar and 2 T lemon juice until thick, then add 1 T butter and a pinch of salt.

Orange-glazed Tempeh

We figured this one out at a health food store I worked at and now I'm obsessed.

Fry 2 packages of tempeh, cubed. Mix together 1 c orange juice,  1 T grated ginger, 2 tsp soy sauce, 1 1/2 tsp mirin, 2 tsp maple syrup, 1/2 tsp ground coriander and 2 cloves minced garlic. Pour the sauce in the warm pan and let thicken. Add fresh cilantro and lime juice.

Polenta Pie

Another health food store winner.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix 1 1/2 cups water, 1 1/2 cups milk and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil and add 1 c cornmeal. Simmer for 8 minutes. Mix in 1/4 c parmesean and 1 T butter. Press half into a greased 8 x 8 pan. Mix the other half with 1 c ricotta or feta, 1/2 c chopped spinach, 1/4 c chopped bell pepper, 1 juiced and zested lemon, 1 T dill and 1 egg. Press on top. Bake 12 minutes.

Jody's Secret Apple Crisp

A family recipe. The secret is no oats and a long cooking time.

Preheat oven to 350. Peel and dice a 5 lb bag of apples (Macs). Fill a deep dish with the apples - make sure it has a lid. Top the apples with a mix of 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 cup flour and 1 cup sugar. Press on top. Sprinkle heavily with allspice. Lid it and bake for an hour. Then bake uncovered for another 15 minutes.

Best, best, best Salad Dressing

4 T tahini
2 T oil
1 T soy sauce
1 T lemon juice
1/4 tsp garlic salt
Fresh chopped cilantro

31 Days: Day 10 and 11

Left to right: Mom, Angela, Dad, Sarah with Oliver, Calvin, me

Monday we had a Thanksgiving meal with my side of the family - 100% gluten free. After that the boys (Dad, Calvin, Oliver) wanted to nap but us girls were excited to go on a fall walk, so we suited up and hit the forest. A much longer walk than expected (mainly because the kids of this generation have not kept the good forest paths clear so we had to trail blaze the whole time) found us on Pond Mills Rd at a community garden. The plots were entirely abandoned (understandably as it's October). Nothing had been watered in weeks, there were knee-high weeds and just scattered junk everywhere. We were 100% no one had been there in a while. So we gleaned it. I managed to harvest 3 different varieties of squash, eggplant, peppers (including hot chilis) and some dried out beans for planting next year. It made me want to look up all of London's community gardens and see which ones need gleaning.

For dinner we used leftover turkey to make curried turkey and apple sandwiches (on Udi's gluten-free bread) and spicy turkey and butternut squash soup. Then we dove head first into a Chopped marathon on Food Network.

Yesterday I got to hang out with Calvin all morning and some of the afternoon because he worked the late shift. Once he left I packed Oliver up for a walk and we didn't get back home until dinner time. I made stuffed squash and garlic noodles and I had a huge helping of apple crisp for dessert. Then Cal's friend came over so I ran a hot bath and let the boys hang out by themselves.