Turkey Chili Mac

I love to cook... and I love to eat... Most of the time, I cook healthy meals.  This is one of those times!!  I was looking for a good chili mac and I found this great recipe on mommahenskitchen - it is DELICIOUS!!  I was surprised  because often I find dishes with ground turkey to be a bit dry - not in this case!

 I did add some veggies I had to use up - a bit of onion and some bell peppers!

  

 and of course, some low-fat mozzarella cheese!! :)

  

Skillet Chili Mac with Corn - adapted from My Kitchen Cafe (my changes in red)

1 lb ground turkey
1 onion
1 red bell pepper
3/4 tbs chili powder (added about 1 1/2 tbs)
1 tsp Cajun seasoning
1 tbs olive oil
3 tbs minced garlic
1 tbs brown sugar (didn't add)
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
8 oz. pasta, cooked (added a bit more)
1 cup frozen corn (used a can)
2 tbs fresh cilantro, chopped (didn't add)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (used low-fat mozzarella cheese)

Cook ground turkey over medium heat until no longer pink (I added some onion and bell peppers here). Drain fat. Add chili powder and Cajun seasoning; mix well. Add 1 tbs olive oil to pan. Cook garlic and brown sugar for 1 - 2 minutes.

Add tomato sauce and cooked pasta. Simmer on medium low for 5 - 10 minutes. Add frozen corn, cilantro, and cheese. Cook for 5 minutes longer, or until cheese is melted and corn is heated.

Slow Day...

So tired today - feel like this little guy... good thing tomorrow is Canada Day and I have a day off!! :)

Love Yellow

I just love YELLOW!! Especially YELLOW wild flowers on an old railroad track!! :)

Blueberry Banana Muffins

Blueberries are everywhere - and I LOVE blueberries!! 

Had some blueberries and some ripe bananas I needed to use up so went to look for a recipe with these two ingredients... found this blueberry-banana-muffins recipe - so off to the kitchen I went!!

Can you see all these nice juicy blueberries??!!

Here's the recipe!

Blueberry Banana Muffins (my changes in red)

2 ½ cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 ¼ cups sugar (1 cup sugar)
1 egg, beaten
½ cup orange juice
2 Tbsp. butter, room temp. (2 tbsp Canola oil)
1 ½ cups (or more) chopped fresh blueberries (used around 1 1/2 cups)
½ cup chopped walnuts (optional) (didn't use)
3 ripe bananas, mashed

Sift the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt) together. Then add the sugar, egg, orange juice, and butter. Whisk together. Fold in the bananas and blueberries.

Pour into a lined muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from pan when done and cool on rack. These are amazing warm with some butter : )



Only problem I had with these muffins is that they were a bit stuck in the baking cups. :) Next time I wouldn't use any liners and just use Pam instead!

Green Path

One of my favorite paths - a couple of minutes away from home - right beside Lachine Canal.  So pretty!

Baking Sunday - Funfetti Cupcakes

Was in the mood for something colourful and festive for the beginning of the Summer.  So when I saw these homemade-funfetti-recipe-from-iheartcupp on cakespy, I just had to try them!!  They are so cute and very sweet!!

I did struggle a bit with the frosting - it was so hot and humid in my kitchen, the frosting didn't come out as I wished for!  But still was delicious!!

I love the little sprinkles!!

and when you take a bite.... awwwww!

Here's the recipe (my changes in red)
Funfetti Cupcakes

Recipe adapted from Cupcakes by Shelly Kaldunski
Makes about 12 cupcakes
For the cupcakes

1 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 large egg + 1 egg white, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk (I used low-fat)
2 tbsp rainbow sprinkles (I used about 3 tbsp)

For vanilla buttercream (I halved the recipe and it was more than enough frosting for me!)

2 sticks butter (1 stick)
7 cups powdered sugar, sifted (3 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup milk (1/8 cup low-fat milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla

To make cupcakes:


Preheat oven to 350F.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners.
In a large bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In a stand mixer, fitted with flat beater, beat the sugar and butter until well combined, about 2-3 minutes. Add egg and egg white, one at a time, beating on low.

Then add vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk in 2 additions, ending with the flour mixture. Fold in rainbow sprinkles.

Fill cupcake liners about 1/2-2/3 full. Bake for about 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from pan and cool completely on a wire cooling rack before frosting.

To make buttercream:

In a stand mixer, fitted with flat beater, beat butter until creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Add 5 cups of sifted powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla, beat until combined. Add more powdered sugar until you get to the consistency you want. (I worked one cup at a time until I got the right consistency)
Frost with vanilla buttercream and garnish with more rainbow sprinkles
Enjoy!

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs Oh My!!

When I saw these pepperoni-pizza-puffs/ - I knew I had to try them!!! Perfect for a quick snack when you have people over!!  I made them for lunch - served them straight out of the oven with some hot pizza sauce.  We had to stop ourselves from eating too many!!  And they are so cute too!! 

Had some leftover tomato sauce that I had made - it was perfect to serve with these little gems!!

Look at these up close - full of cheese and pepperoni.  Can't wait to make these again!!

Here's the recipe (my changes in red)

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs Recipe


(Adapted from Gimme Some Oven)

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup) (I used Monterey Jack)
4 oz. pepperoni, diced (about 1 cup) (I used turkey pepperoni)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (homemade or store-bought)
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, finely diced. (didn't use any but will next time!)

Method:
Preheat oven to 375o. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and oregano; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

Warm the pizza sauce, then stir in 1 tablespoon basil. Sprinkle the puffs with the remaining 1 tablespoon basil. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

Montreal Chinatown

One of the best thing about working downtown, is that I am so close to everything!! From my office, it's about a 15 minutes walk to get to Chinatown!! So decided to go out during lunch and have some fun!!

A very colourful store

 with some bright balloons!

 

 One of the many lions in Chinatown!

a beautiful colourful kite

 

and lots and lots of interesting food!!

Francofolies

Montreal has lots and lots of Festivals.  Last week was the Francofolies - to celebrate French music.  There were a lot of shows outdoors (for free) - didn't get to go at night, but took a walk during my lunch hour!

Downtown Montreal in Black & White

Some architectural details I shot the last few days during my lunch hour!

SunLife Building

Some benches

Marie-Reine du Monde Church

The birds have no respect...

for this statue near work.  Every time I walk buy, there is a bird on this poor guy's head!!

Baking Sunday

Today was hot and humid - so baked these muffins at 7 a.m. before the sun was too hot!

Was in the mood for a peanut butter-chocolate mix - so decided to try peanut-butter-and-chocolate-chip-muffins-430373 - they are so big and look soooo good - hopefully my coworkers will enjoy them tomorrow!! ;)

More Daisies

What can I say - I love Daisies!! :)

With some Indie Jane action