Muffins Are The Easiest To Make – Orange Oatmeal Muffins

Orange rind and walnuts make these orange oatmeal muffins yummy!

When participants make muffins in our cooking classes, it’s like they have learned a new language, they are amazed at their ability and their results. A puzzled look will often spread over their face when they sample their baked muffins that reads….oh! I did do this? 

Of the 20 some odd recipes we cook over many weeks it’s always the muffin recipe that people will try at home. Why? Because muffins are easy to make, they take little time, and there is relatively little clean-up.

Learn to Cook with Tomato Sauce!

Simple Tomato Sauce

You ask, 'how do you eat right?'

It's simple, 'Cook your own food!'

Just get in the kitchen, grab an apron (if you are a sloppy cook) and start cooking! All there is to lose is a small amount of time. You and your family are worth it.

Here's what I suggest you do. Pick a simple recipe and practice it. Let’s choose, tomato sauce.Try one tomato sauce recipe, then try another tomato sauce recipe, try three different tomato sauce recipes (not on the same day).

You will officially have mastered tomato sauce…..learning to cook is that simple. It's like piano lessons, you would not learn to play the piano after just one lesson. To learn to cook takes getting into the kitchen and…..just cook it!

Here are two recipes to get you started.

Simple Tomato Sauce 

Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 can plum tomatoes 28 fl.oz
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium high heat in a heavy saucepan. Add onions and cook 4 minutes, add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, water, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Tomato Sauce With Sausage 

I love cooking with Italian sausage.  If you don't like spicy Italian, than by all means purchase mild sausages.  

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound spicy Italian sausage (squeeze meat out of casings)
1 cup chopped onions
1 large clove garlic, minced
2 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 14 ½ oz can diced tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil over medium high heat in a heavy saucepan. Add onions and sauté 2 minutes. Add sausage meat and garlic, and sauté until cooked through about 10 minutes. Add oregano, crushed red peppers, and both tins of tomatoes. Bring to a boil, lower and simmer 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste.

You Can Have A Gas While Eating Beans!

How To Avoid Gas From Eating Beans

Did you know that the average person will produce 1 litre of gas in a day?

Gas is often cited as the reason not to eat beans, yet beans are a great source of fibre, loaded with nutrients, and are low in fat and calories.

A solution is to always rinse your canned beans before using. This will eliminate the starch which is a contributor to the gas.

Another trick is to introduce beans slowly into your diet and in small quantities. Slowly increase your portions until they become a regular staple in your diet.

Here is a great Hummus recipe which is a great snack and a simple, tasty way of adding fibre to your diet.

Watch Video on how to make hummus

 

Hummus

1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 large clove of garlic
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon tahini
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¾ teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. If too thick add a little water. Serve with cut up vegetables or whole wheat pita bread.

Cranberry Cookies

I love Cranberries. They are tart, sassy and need a whole lot of sweetening. 

I always buy bags of them around Christmas time because, well…I don’t know, maybe because it's cranberry season. 

Now what does one do with bags of Cranberries? Well, bake with them of course!

Salmon Chowder

Fresh Salmon

Easy, fast dinner to take advantage of all the fresh fish available in B.C. Serve with a green salad and fresh bread.

Curried Rice Salad

Curried Rice Salad

What Do You Do With Black Bananas?

Asian Carrot Slaw

This asian carrot slaw recipe has mayonnaise peanut butter dressing and is a nice change from your typical cabbage slaw. If you like a little heat I suggest you add the hot chili paste.

Asian Carrot Slaw

Asian Carrot Slaw 

Serves 6

½ cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger, peeled
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons peanut butter
1/4 teaspoon chili paste (such as sambal oelek) optional
6 cups shredded green cabbage
2 large carrots, peeled and grated
4 green onions, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together the first 7 ingredients in a small bowl. Combine cabbage, carrots and green onions in a large bowl. Add enough dressing to coat, then toss and season with salt and pepper.

Cabbage Slaw

Looking for another Asian Slaw Recipe without the mayonnaise?


Try Cabbage Slaw with an Asian Twist

Bran Muffins

A Bran Muffin Recipe Worth Sharing

I can see him now, grinning with a twinkle in his eye. He was like a friendly phantom. He had lived alone in the small grey house to the left of us for over thirty years.

His small, bald head, sporting gold rimmed glasses would often poke over our fence.

“Oh, hi Barb,” he’d say. He always seemed surprised to see me.

It was a mystery how he knew I was in the garden. Our garden faced his windowless garage.

“Hi, Don. How are you?” I would reply and this would begin our monthly half-hour visit.

We were neighbours for ten years. He was like a pen pal. Our conversations were comfortable. The fence separated our lives.

He was seventy-two when he passed away. However, from our engaging conversations, he seemed twenty years younger. Slim, shy and single, he had retired at an early age. He committed himself to a wide range of interesting fields: sailing, ham radio, telecommunications and the weather.

“What’s the weather forecast Don?” was a regular question of mine.

“Just a second, I’ll get the satellite map.”

He’d slink away like a cat and quietly return with a computer-generated map, highlighted with fluorescent markings to outline weather patterns. I learned a lot about the weather.

Just prior to his passing, he told me he was cutting back on his blood pressure medications.

“They make me feel funny,” he had said.

He died suddenly, two weeks later.

I was invited to help myself to his personal belongings. I naturally gravitated to the kitchen. I found an assortment of “healthy heart” cookbooks. Tucked among these pristine books were three different copies of the same bran muffin recipe. One looked over thirty years old. The recipe card was yellow with age and covered with grease spots. Another was hand printed on an odd-lined piece of paper. The third was in a woman’s auxiliary cookbook from the local yacht club.

This recipe has become a staple in our house. When I make the bran muffins, I can see Don. It’s a recipe worth sharing.

Life Span of Pasta Sauce

“I keep my pasta sauce in the refrigerator until it grows mould on it. Is this okay? How long should I keep pasta sauce?” asks my niece Meryl.

Great question, I’m always surprised when I learn the shelf life of food products. To find the answer go to the manufacturers website and look under their FAQ section. Sometimes they share this information, sometimes they don’t. If the answer is not posted, then I either phone them up on their toll-free number or I email them the question. I always get an answer.

I checked out three different pasta sauces and got three different answers:

1. Prego Pasta Sauce (a division of Campbell’s) – I phoned and was told that once opened, the sauce should not be kept for more than 14 days (2 weeks) in the refrigerator. If you purchase more than you need, they suggest you freeze the extra in plastic freezer bags. It will keep frozen for up to 6 months.

2. Ragu – on their website it says their rich and meaty sauce will last for up to 7 days in the refrigerator and 3 months in plastic bags in the freezer. However, if it’s a cheese creation sauce, than only a few days in the refrigerator and do not freeze.

3. Classico – Maximum 3 – 5 days in the refrigerator and 2-3 months in plastic storage bags in the freezer.

Remember, once you open a jar of pasta sauce, write the date somewhere on the outside of the jar. This way, you don’t have to wait until the mould grows!

Looking for an easy and yummy tomato sauce?  Try our Tomato Sauce with Olives and Capers recipe