Chips! The healthy way (Shhh don't tell anyone)

Got a weekend away at the cottage which was during a heat spell. Lucky us! It made for great weather and great times with family and friends. Being by the lake during the heat wave is the only place I want to be. Basking in the sun, enjoying good food, drinks and great conversation, the time away flew by. Back to reality came too soon and I needed to get back in the garden. Weeds were growing like weeds but the zucchini didn't seem to notice. I've got an entire bushel full of zucchini.

Chips...all for me!

Sorry folks another zucchini post. I don't want to see an ounce of it go to waste so I'm making lasagnas, baked gratins and even loaves to keep using them. Pinterest has tons of pins with chips created from assorted vegetables, zucchini and kale. I've tried the kale chips and wasn't happy with the turn out finding them oily. Zucchini chips seemed only natural and if the chips turn out as good as they look as the pictures; I'm sold! 

Mandoline!

I used the recipe from the Naked Kitchen, a fellow blogger that focuses on food simplified. Enjoying the simple pleasures of food is what I'm all about. The recipe called for slicing the zucchini thinly thankfully I had my mandoline to help with this making the chips crispier.

The breading process.

 This recipe was easy to do, its just time consuming having bread the chips. I would definitely do it again because the first batch came out and was gone within an hour. Yep! Guilty as charged. I ate every single one of them. I loaded the next batch up in the oven and became preoccupied which burnt! (insert sad face here) I would highly recommend this recipe to anyone looking for a healthy snack.

Find the local farmers market, support farmers and eat well! 

Presto pesto.

Few ingredients make summer fresh pesto.

The rain seems to have subsided for a couple days at least and was able to get in the garden and harvest buckets of basil.


In the past I have attempted at growing herbs from seeds but have had no luck starting them indoors as they get attacked by all kinds of ailments. To make my gardening life a little easier I cheat and buy my basil plants early in the spring and plop them in the ground next to my seeds. Luckily this year the plants were growing like weeds. Who wants to weed when the sun is shining and the pool looks so tempting?!

Blended in a food processor.

I don't want my basil plants to go to seed for two reasons: they slow down growing and tend to make the leaves taste more bitter. I made my first batch of pesto to keep up with the amount of basil this year. Since my tomatoes won't be ready until August caprese salads will have to wait. (insert sad face here) 

Pesto is a great to have on hand once winter comes when we need to be reminded of all of the goodness that summer provides. I use it in pasta, pesto aioli, dressings and to even make fish less fishy.  

I've used Jamie Oliver's recipe without the lemon juice and pour the pesto into ice cube trays or little muffin tins and freeze overnight. I pop them out and store in ziploc bags in the freezer when I need a little summer love in my food. 

Welcome landlubber! (An ode to Mila, my little Newfie niece)

Baby Mila 

Baby Mila has arrived and since she is half-Newfie I figured a fish dinner was a fun way to welcome her into this world. 

Mila's grandfather has been a fisherman for his entire life and he has  been fortunate enough to see whales, sea turtles and fish of all kinds, including tuna. 

Local goodness.

Frozen tuna steaks found buried in our freezer and needing to be used became a quick, filling and tasty meal. My mom and I love seafood, we're convinced that we should've been born out East because we love it so much. So thankfully with Mila and Meagan in our lives we will be travelling to the rock frequently.

Using the first of Niagara's asparagus mixed with my baby lettuce leaves from the garden this salad was a warm welcome with all of the rain we've been having this spring. I made a green goddess dressing that I found on Pinterest.....again. It is refreshing, yummy and healthy. Find the recipe here from the Lemon Bowls blog. She has delicious and healthy recipes for all kinds of stuff. Definitely worth a look at if your looking to clean up your eating. 

With BBQ season just around the corner, these steaks would be fantastic done on the grill with a cold one and some good tunes playing by!

Tom Yummy

Mommy wow! I vlogged for the first time now. This weeks dinner was Asian inspired again and it was soup because it was a cold, damp, rainy day. This sweet and spicy soup is great this time of year because its has all of the ingredients that ward off colds, spice from chiles, garlic, onion and broth. 

It doesn't normally call for noodles but I added rice vermicelli noodles to make it a bit more filling.

Warm up your heart and feet and find the recipe here.

Dish 'o' Fish

Having recently returned from Mexico, I was in the mood for some homemade deliciousness. I wanted fish as most of the seafood I had down there was overcooked and unenjoyable. I really wanted to make my own fish that isn't overcooked, dried out and tasteless. Wanting to make something easy because lets be honest, who doesn't like easy?! Having to get back to reality after sitting on a beach all week I wasn't in the mood for spending all afternoon in the kitchen. I'm still in vacation mode and I still can't seem to get myself into gear. I decided to copy our fisherman friend Highlander and make some homemade fish sticks. 

Using halibut we had frozen, I cut the fillets into quarters making them easy finger foods for my family to enjoy later that evening. I was afraid that baking fish sticks might make them mushy but at a hot, hot heat and smothered in panko (Japanese style) breadcrumbs they were very tasty with homemade tartar sauce. Panko is the only style of breadcrumbs I use now because they seem to be courser than most breadcrumbs and everything I have made using them turn out crunchy and delicious. If you've never tried using them I would try it. I make eggplant parmesan from the eggplant in my garden all summer using panko and freezing it too. The panko keeps the eggplant crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside even after spending months in the freezer.

I made a big, green salad to go with it and we had a delightful dinner of fish sticks. Since it was the first time making these I was happy that they came out almost like chicken fingers but with the blandness of halibut, which is why the tartar sauce was a welcomed addition. Highlander couldn't have made them better himself!

This would also be a great way to cook fish for children because its finger foods that are fun and similar to chicken strips. Give them a tasty dipping sauce and they will be none the wiser.

Click here for recipe for fish sticks and tartar sauce.

Tastes like chicken!

Mexican Madness

Mexican right at home.

Ingredients for guacamole.

In spirit of my upcoming trip to Mexico I made fajitas. Most people have made tacos and fajitas including me, however I have never made homemade tortillas or my own Mexican seasoning.  Fajitas are quite easy, I chopped the chicken and fried it up with the peppers and onions and added my Mexican seasoning at the end. The Mexican seasoning recipe was found on Pintrest, I love that website. It could occupy me for hours.

Like a pancake, but better.

I pre-made guacamole as a garnish that we could accompany our fajitas with. I started making this particular recipe from The Healthy College Cookbook I bought myself in university knowing I wouldn't have a lot of time to cook.

Guacamole.

Much like the pasta dough the tortilla dough only had a few ingredients and was easy to make.  The only time consuming part is rolling out your dough and frying up each individual tortilla. But the little amount of work I had to do paid off and was well worth the final product. 

Cooking the onions, peppers and chicken.

If you feel a little SAD cause of the winter weather and lack of sunshine make some Mexican food, turn on the white noise app with some soothing beach waves crashing and pretend your on a sandy beach drinking a margarita. Andele! 

Caesar--its all in the name.

Just a quick post to share my vegan caesar salad dressing.  I got the recipe from my ex, the professional cook and memorized all of the ingredients. I have been making it for over 2 years now and don't/haven't ever used actual measurements.

Vegan Caesar Dressing

1/2 cup of cashews or any oily nut 

2 cups olive oil

1 cup lemon juice

1 clove of garlic

4 tbsp dijon mustard

2 tsp Frank's hot sauce

salt and pepper to taste

Put the cashews, 1 cup olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, hot sauce and mustard into a food processor and combine.

While the machine is on, slowly add the rest of your olive oil, emulsifying all of your ingredients so they are combined.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

All ingredients combined should form a creamy dressing that you can use on any type of greens.

NOTE: if you find your dressing tasting like garlic add more oil and lemon juice. Adjust the dressing to how you prefer it to taste. At my house we love garlic so much you'd think the vampire apocalypse is coming.