Fish Cakes

Canned fish is not high on my list of things that I like, but these fish cakes sure are.  They are versatile, you can use tuna or salmon.  I love this recipe because it is fast and easy and likely uses items you already have in your pantry.  This makes a great hot summer day supper with a salad or veggies and dip on the side.

Fish Cakes

• 2 cans salmon or tuna, drained, skin and bones (for salmon) discarded
• 1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing Mix
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 1/4 mayonnaise or Miracle Whip
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice

Mix everything together.  Shape into 8-10 patties (approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup each).  Cook now or refridgerate for up to 24 hours.  Fry in a non-stick pan coated in oil on medium heat until each side is golden brown and crispy.  ENJOY!!

I've also eaten this as a tuna salad sandwich and on a salad without cooking it.  Also delicious!

Carla :)

Golden Chowder

Across most of the country it is spring, but here it is rainy and dreary.  The perfect day for a bowl of hot, steamy soup to take the chill out.  This soup is another recipe of my Mom's.  It is perfectly creamy and delicious.

I'm not sure why my picture is loading sideways.

Golden Chowder

• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup celery, chopped
• 2 cups carrots, chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 lb fresh or frozen broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 cups milk
• salt to taste
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 2-4 cups shredded cheddar
• 2 cups ham, cubed

*In a large saucepan combine broth, celery, carrots and onion.  Boil, reduce heat.  Simmer covered for about 5 minutes.
*Add broccoli. Cook until broccoli is tender crisp.  (Leave lid slightly open to keep bright green color.)
*Remove from heat.  Do not drain.
*Melt butter in a large pan.  Blend in flour, salt and pepper.  Cook for 1 minute.
*Stir in milk.  Cook until mixture thickens, stirring frequently.
*Stir in cheese and cook until melted.
*Add the ham cubes and the vegetable/broth mixture.  Stir to blend.
*Garnish with paprika.

I hope you enjoy this as much as our family does!  Feel free to omit the ham ( I usually leave it out) and add whatever vegetables you have on hand.  The recipe adapts well.

Enjoy!
- Carla :)

Puppy Chow (for humans)

A few weeks ago we were having a potluck at work.  It was 12pm on a Sunday and I needed to have something ready to go by 3pm and I wanted to have a nap...  Quick and easy was the order of the day.  Thankfully I remembered a box of Chex that I had sitting in my pantry - 10 minutes later I was off to dreamland!

This is a super simple recipe that is open to many adaptations.  Have fun!

Puppy Chow

9 cups Chex cereal (any kind)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted (6oz.)

1/2 cup smooth peanut butter, melted

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 -2 teaspoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

*Measure the cereal into a large bowl.

*In a microwave safe bowl combine chocolate chips, butter, and peanut butter.  Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until melted.

*Stir in vanilla.

*Pour over bowl of cereal and mix until coated.

*Place 1/3 of the coated cereal in a large ziptop bag.  Pour in 1/3 of the icing sugar and shake to coat.

*Spread on waxed paper to cool (can be put in the fridge to speed the process).

*Repeat the icing sugar step until all the cereal is used up.

Enjoy!

-C :)

Parmesan Orzo

Generally speaking I am not one to create recipes.  I like to find a recipe and adapt it to suit my taste and my family.  On Saturday I was planning to serve pork tenderloin (marinated in the Korean Chicken marinade), some sort of rice and veggies as a side dish.  Suddenly the day was gone and supper needed to be served.  With no time to cook rice (we are brown ricers around here) I pulled some orzo out and boiled it while scanning my head to see what I could add to it to make it taste good...  A few minutes later Parmesan Orzo was born.

I was very impressed with the taste of this dish.  I was even more impressed with Sam and Gabriel's reaction...  They GOBBLED it up!  Score!

Parmesan Orzo

• 1 cup orzo pasta (uncooked)
• 2-3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
• milk or cream or half and half

1.  Boil the pasta as usual.
2.  While draining the pasta melt the butter in the cooking pot.
3.  Add pasta back in and stir to coat with butter.
4.  Sprinkle with parmesan (add more if needed).
5.  Pour in some milk (start with 1/4 cup) and stir.  Keep adding milk until a creamy sauce is made.  Leave on warm burner to heat.
6.  Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

The recipe is open for play.  I didn't measure as I was cooking, so definitely taste as you are going along.  You could add some parsley for color or go crazy and saute some onions and garlic.  I needed something quick so I just stuck to the basics.

The boys ate this too fast to take a picture of!  I'll re-post with a picture once I make it again.

Enjoy!
-C :)

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins (Cupcakes)

These are likely my all time favorite muffin recipe.  They are super moist, super chocolatey and super good.  Lately I have been taking one to work, popping it in the microwave to make it all warm and gooey and enjoying it during my coffee break at work.  That means that in the last 9 days I have eaten 9 muffins, no wonder my scrub pants are getting tight!  (That also means in the last 9 days I have worked 9 shifts in a row.  I kind of think I deserved the muffins!)

This recipe comes from a cookbook created by the church I grew up in.  I love cookbooks like that.  You know everyone who put the recipes in and can pretty much guarantee that the recipes will be good (as long as you make the ones put in by the good cooks)!

Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

• 2 1/2 cups flour (I use 1 1/2 cups white, 1 cup whole wheat)
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped nuts
• 3/4 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups grated zucchini (fresh or frozen)

1.  Combine all the dry ingredients including the chocolate chips and nuts.
2.  Mix wet ingredients together.  Combine with dry ingredients.
3.  Stir in zucchini.
4.  Place in 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.

I hope that you enjoy these as much as I do.  If there is one recipe that I have made over and over, it would be this one!  Mom always gives me big overgrown zucchini so that I can grate it up and freeze it for the winter.

Enjoy!
- Carla :)

Pumpkin Pancakes

Earlier in the week I made a batch of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins to take to work and giveaway to friends and neighbours.  I only had a big can of pumpkin and didn't use it all in the muffins.  So, what does one do with a cup of pumpkin??  This morning I did a search and found a good looking recipe for pumpkin pancakes.  A few tweaks later, we had a delicious breakfast!

Until this winter, I had only experienced pumpkin in the form of pumpkin pie.  Now I have a recipe for pumpkin soup that I love, a recipe for pumpkin muffins and pancakes.  I can see a pumpkin patch in our yard this summer!

Pumpkin Pancakes
(adapted from LoveBakedIn at food.com)

2 cups flour ( used 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)

2 tablespoons brown sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup canned pumpkin

4 eggs, slightly beaten

1/4 cup margarine or butter, melted

*Mix dry ingredients in one bowl.

*Mix wet ingredients in another.

*Pour wet into dry.  Stir to combine.

*Scoop by the 1/3 cupful into a hot pan.  (I had to turn mine down quite a bit so they didn't burn).

Gabriel and I ate these with maple syrup, Sam and Josie-Grace ate them plain.  Both ways were good!

Enjoy!

-C :)

Mushroom Soup

In the winter we usually eat soup on Saturday and Sunday for lunch.  If you calculate that, it means that I make approximately 40 batches of soup each winter.  One of my favorite recipes is my Mom's mushroom soup.  She also makes many pots of soup each year, so if she has a good recipe, it is sure to join my roster.

Mushroom Soup

• 3 cups fresh mushrooms (1 cup finely chopped, 2 cups sliced)
• 1/2 onion, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup butter
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1/4 to 1/3 tsp. poultry seasoning
• 3 cups milk
• 3 cups chicken broth
• paprika

1.  Saute onions and mushrooms in butter until mushrooms have lost their liquid and it has reabsorbed.
2.  Add flour, salt and poultry seasoning.
3.  Gradually add in chicken broth, and then milk.
4.  Stir until thickened and bubbling.
5.  Garnish with paprika (or cheddar penguins whatever you prefer!).

Enjoy!

- C :)

Also seen on: Ultimate Recipe Swap @ Life As a Mom