Dinner tonight!

Tonight we had one of my all time favorites! Kincaid's Cajun Chicken and Pasta. I love it because I love pasta but Im not always in the mood for Italian... but its rare for me to not be in the mood for Cajun... its in my blood! Another plus about this recipe is you can change out the chicken for shrimp and its still great... or do a combo of both chicken and shrimp. And Another plus to this recipe is it makes a ton. Which means its great for dinner parties or you can do like I do and make a full batch and then freeze it in smaller batches and then its all set for you to have another time. It freezes great!

Sauce;

3 Tbsp butter

1 large onion diced

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp Thyme

1 1/2 tsp pepper

2 tsp cayenne

1/2 tsp Basil

3 1/2 cups Chicken stock

1 1/2 tsp Worcestshire Sauce

2 Tbsp Tabasco sauce

5 Cups Tomato sauce

1 1/2 tsp Sugar

1 cup green onion thinly sliced

Melt butter in a sauce pan. Add onions adn garlic and saute for 5 minutes. add herbs and spices and mix well. Add stock, worcestshire sauce, Tabasco and tomato sauce and simmer for 20 minutes. Add sugar and green onions and simmer for 15 minutes.

Meat Seasoning;

1 1/2 tsp cayenne

2 tsp basil

3 tsp pepper

1 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder

3 tsp cumin

Mix together and sprinkle over meat (chicken or shrimp) I use 2 or 3 chicken breast if Im doing just chicken. Fry chicken in a pan and add to sauce once both are cooked.

Cook your favorite pasta (the orginal recipe calls for Fetticinne... but I like using scoobi doo) The amount of pasta you use will really depend on how much of the sauce you are planning on using.

Pour sauce over pasta and serve.

This can be a spicy recipe to some people. I love it!

Also... sorry for the lack of pictures. My excuse today is that I still haven't unpacked from my Weekend in Edmonton and I cant find my camera cord.

Cherry Strusel Muffins

The other week I made what I hear are super delicious muffins. ( I dont like cherries so I didnt eat any... but they were a hit with my boys)
They are equally good with out the cherries... thats how I make them normally!

7 Tbsp Margarine
2/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg (powdered would do if you want...)
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped FRESH cherries

topping;
2 Tbsp flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground Cinnamon
1 Tbsp margarine

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with liners.
2) In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine butter and sugar and beat until smooth. Add egg and beat until pale and smooth
3) in another bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and nutmeg. Add to the butter mixture in 2 additions alternating with the milk. The batter will have a few lumps. Stir in Cherries.
4) Spoon the batter into the muffin tins
5) Combine the topping ingredients in a bowl until it looks like crumbs.
6) Put some of the topping on to the muffins. Bake for 20- 25 minutes.

Food for the Week!

Happy start to another week! How is the long weekend shaping up for all of you?? So I have been told that I need to post most recipes (in all honesty I didnt think anyone was reading this blog... but Im thrilled to hear otherwise) so here is the deal for my friend Nancy! I will post a new recipe every day this week... HOORAY!
So here is the food Im eating this week and hence the recipes Im posting this week.
Monday - is our travel day... so Ill find a super fun recipe to post, since we will probably be doing McDonalds
Tuesday -  Kincards Cajun Fettuccine
Wed - Beef Bulgogi
Thursday - Egg sammies... Tim is out all night so Im not cooking anything big... but Ill post another yummy recipe
Friday - veitnamese Steak Sammies
Saturday - Pasta bake
Sunday - Leftovers as per usual

Bucket List

In case you have never seen the movie "Bucket List" starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, allow me to recap; there are two older men who are dying. They make a list of things to do before they "kick the bucket" hence the name Bucket List.
  When I was about 16 yrs old I made my first bucket list. Its actually really fun! Of course goals change over the years but I was surprised at how little most of mine have actually changed. I call my list 100 things to do before I die... but Ive thought of 100 things yet! Here are 10 of the things on my list;
1)Take part in a Cranberry Harvest
2) Attend the Candy Expo
3)Have my DNA profiled
4)Get married in the Temple (DONE)
5)Shoot a gun
6)Celebrate Canada Day on Parliment Hill (DONE)
7)Eat Alligator (DONE.. super yummy)
8)See the Mysteries of Egypt
9) Float in the Dead Sea
10) have a book published

   Whats on your list???

The Wonders of Toothpaste

Today has been a low key day. Both my little ones are pretty sick and nose colds, plus we drove to Edmonton last night and didnt get in until 1am so we are all pretty tired. So nothing too exciting happened. I did hit up Micheals and got some felt so I could make some jelly beans for my felt food collection. I tried them today and they are SUPER cute! It will take me forever to make them but Ill post them as soon as Im done!
  But here is my tip for the day... Toothpaste is wonderful. Did you know it cleans sterling silver. The last time I was here my mom was complaining about a really cute bracelet she has that is all tarnished and how she never remembers to get jewelery polish.. I told her not to worry about it and just use a toothbrush (one that isnt claimed already) and toothpaste. I have no idea where I learned that. That is another thing about me you should know. In high school I was given the superhero name "Random Facts Girl!" I just have all these random, generally useless tidbits floating in my brain. But anyways... Im rambling... the toothpaste works great!

I hate reruns

Ok.. maybe hate is a strong word. I do love to watch my favorite shows on dvd once the seasons come out... but all and all I prefer the excitement of the new shows. Now thats is September I thought the new shows should be starting soon. They only problem is that I never watch commercials since I am normally watching treehouse or nick jr with the boys or I PVR everything and fast forward the commercials. So I spent some time yesterday and found the Season Premier dates of all my favorite shows (and some for my mom too!) Just in case you are a mom in my postion I didnt want you to miss the start of the great shows. So here is that is on my schedule for the fall!
Criminal Minds (my fav!) - Sept 22
CSI - Sept 23
CSI: NY - Sept 24 (weird that its a friday but thats what it says!)
House - Sept 20
Bones - Sept 23 (after the crappy finale last season this one is less then exciting for me but Ill tune in none the less)
Survivor - Sept 15
The Apprentice - Sept 16
Greys Anatomy - Sept 23
The Mentalist (here ya go mommy!) - Sept 23
Amazing Race - Sept 26
Chuck - Sept 20
Top chef as already started... this past monday! I am super excited for it!
  Happy Return to TV!

More Felt Food!

Who out there thought I had given up on my felt food obession?!?!? Well... I didnt! I have just had to put myself on a crafting schedule because I was focussing only on the felt food and all my other ideas and projects werent getting done. So its sad I know but I have a daily schedule of what I canwork on on a given day.
So here is the latest felt food I have made... Potato Chips! I think theyare awesome! They are super easy too but take alot of time.
 
First I made the bags.. super easy... I cut two rectangles out of red and blanket stitched around three sides of them. Then I added self sticking velcro to the unsewn edge so the bag could close. then I hot glue gunned on a dark blue strip and a light blue circle.
Then onto the chips... all I did was cut two imprefect circles/ovals... something chip shaped... and then blanket stitched them together. This was the time consuming part. My bags held about 15 chips and I made 5 bags total... so thats alot of chips!
I think they are adorable and well worth the time it takes. Most of that time I was playing scrabble or watching TV anyways... why not multitask!?