Chorizo-stuffed poblano peppers

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Katherine

After ogling many versions of chorizo stuffed poblano peppers and finally seeing them at my favourite grocery store, I picked up a few peppers, pulled some chorizo out of the freezer and got to work. These are a tasty, healthy, and fast weeknight dinner. They reheat well for lunches the next day.

Chorizo stuffed poblano peppers – makes three servings

3 poblano peppers
1lb of chorizo
1/2 a small red onion
1 egg
1T of almond or coconut flour
cheese (optional)

Preheat your oven to 400.

Cut your peppers in half and cut out the seeds and white membrane

Get out your favourite chorizo or make it yourself with pork and chorizo spice blend. My chorizo is from my favourite sausage place! Delicious!

Combine onion, egg, flour, and meat in a bowl

Gently press into the pepper halves. Top with cheese (NOT if you’re on a Whole30 or 21DSD!)

Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the meat is cooked through.

I really enjoyed these. Mr. Foodie did not. He doesn’t like peppers. He is strange.

Good riddance 2012! Welcome 2013!

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Katherine

Happy New Year! I am very glad to see 2012 go. It has been the most challenging, difficult and trying year of my life for many reasons. But hey, we won’t get into that. Onward and upward dear blog readers! 2013 is going to be much better. I’m sure of it!

Like a good little sheep, I’m going to make a few New Year’s Resolutions!

EAT BETTER!

January will see a 21 Day Sugar Detox AND a Whole30! Nutso. I need this kick in the ass to become reacquainted with my kitchen and good habits and say goodbye to this little affair with takeout and purchased lunched. This challenge sounds difficult, but hey, combining the two has been done before! Let’s do this!

MOVE MORE! Yeah yeah, I’ve been lazier than I’d care to admit. I did somehow stumble across the finish line of a 5k in September, but I need to pick up my socks. I’m registered for another 5k in May and I did something kind of silly and registered Mr. Foodie and I in a duathlon in October! 3k run, 15k cycle and 3k run. We can do it. I bought a Groupon for a CrossFit box nearby so I’ll check that out too.

SPEND LESS!

I have an online shopping addiction. And instant-gratification-itis. Not only do I eat when I’m stressed, but I spend. Oopsie. January will be No Spend Month! Now I’m not going to go nutter and live only from pantry scraps, but spending will be limited to essentials like fresh veggies, eggs, and gas. Not nail polish, bike accessories, clothes, boots, makeup… Perhaps January should be more aptly termed a “mindful spending month” for me.

RELAX! I need to do a better job at keeping calm. And not like the annoying memes say. I’m going to try to slow things down a bit. Maybe check out a yoga class. I’m on the home stretch of my graduate degree so it if takes an extra semester to finish it up and maintain some type of balance in my life, so be it!

BLOG REGULARLY! Yes, I should do it. This follows from the previous point… slow down. Relax. Enjoy life. I do enjoy blogging! Santa (okay… Amazon and I) brought me From Plate to Pixel and I look forward to improving my food photography as well!

Welcome, 2013! You couldn’t come fast enough!

Brussels Sprouts Hash with Poached Eggs

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Katherine

I love poached eggs. I am constantly on the look out for a new bed for these lovelies to be served with. The latest one is brussels sprouts. I used to hate this veggie. Mostly, because it was served frozen, then boiled… and yuck! Fresh ones have much potential. They are like baby cabbages!

This recipe is fast for a weeknight dinner. It is also good for a Whole 30 or 21 Day Sugar Detox, if you use compliant bacon without added sugar.

Brussels Sprouts Hash with Poached Eggs – Makes two very large servings

1 lb of brussels sprouts
8 slices of bacon, sliced horizontally into thin strips
salt and pepper to taste
1T of apple cider vinegar
4 poached eggs

Gather your brussels sprouts

Put them through a food processor to slice thinly.

Chop your bacon and put into a pan. I used molasses and black pepper bacon. You could use whatever type you want. Add pepper if you are using plain bacon.

Cook the bacon until it is nearly cooked through and you have a nice bit of bacon fat to cook the greens in.

Add the brussels sprouts to the bacon and cook for 5-10 minutes until they are wilted. I err on the shorter side for cooking times because I like my veggies crunchy. Add in a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper.

Top with a poached egg. Are there many savoury dishes that don’t taste better with the addition of a poached egg? Didn’t think so.

I’m not dead! August Update

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Katherine

It’s been almost three weeks since my last post! I’m not dead, I promise. So just a small update!

I’ve been swamped with personal stuff, work stuff, and finishing up my semester for my Master’s degree. The good news is that I am 60% done my course work and well on track to be finished this time next year!

Mr. Foodie and I have also been preoccupied with our new hobby: road cycling. We made the investment in two beautiful Trek road bikes and it is SO much fun! Here’s my beauty!

I’m planning a cross border shopping trip to ~~load up on essentials~~ buy stuff I really want but probably don’t need. i.e. a Vitamix blender. A haul of spices from Penzeys. And a load of cheese from Cabot. Some things are just so much cheaper to buy in the USA than here in Canada! We’ll also be heading to Vermont for another foodcation.

The keen eyed among you will notice that I’ve had a “I’m doing the Whole 30!” badge up for quite a while. I completed 29/30 days of the Whole 30 in June. I felt great. Then I went on vacation to the East coast. Then I ate my feelings while dealing with a lot of stress. Shameful.

For the month of August, I am doing the Whole 30 once again! This time, Mr. Foodie is also doing it with me (sorta… he’s already cheated!)

Another goal of mine is to redecorate this blog into something more visually appealing… I love the bacon, but it’s kind of boring around here! I’m going to look into more themes, so if anyone wants to volunteer to design me a custom Word Press template, let me know. Ha. I’ll probably end up just buying one!

I promise to post more this month, now that I’ve found some more time!

BBQ Turkey Legs

Posted on July 8, 2012 by Katherine

To continue my love affair with my new BBQ, I grilled up some turkey tonight.

A few months ago I deconstructed a turkey and this weekend I pulled out one of the leftover turkey legs to grill. I did a cheater brine using leftover olive juice from a giant Costco jar of olives. Stuffed with garlic. Amazing. I rubbed the meat with the spice rub from Well Fed’s Best Chicken You Will Ever Eat.

Deconstructed Grilled Turkey

one turkey leg and wing
3 T of spice rub
cheater brine

Brine it overnight, or for 6 hours in the fridge, like I did.

Tossed it on the BBQ

It started to get dark on the outside long before the inside so I wrapped it with foil and put it back on. It took about 30-40 minutes. I used a meat thermometer to test for doneness.

Let it rest a bit while you prep and plate your side dish.

I made a salad as it was CSA delivery week and I have a fridge overflowing with veg.

Turkey does not have to be limited to a being roasted whole in the oven! Mr. Foodie ate his weight in turkey. The Kiddo liked this too. He found it hilarious to peek through the wing bone and say “I see you Mommy!” The only bad part is that it was so delicious there are no leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

Wasabi Guacamole

Posted on June 24, 2012 by Katherine

One night, a friend of mine was raving about the best guacamole that someone had made for her. Wasabi guacamole. Why have I never heard of this? She didn’t have the exact recipe, but some Googling and recollection of the ingredients was enough to get this party started. Hot, fresh and flavourful, this was tasty and cleared up my sinuses (damned cold!)

Wasabi Guacamole – Makes about 1.25 cups

Ingredients:

two avocados (use large, I had small ones)
one small tomato, diced
one small onion, diced (I used red onion)
one green onion, chopped (I ran out, so I used chives from the garden)
two tablespoons of chopped cilantro
two tablespoons of lime juice
one tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
one teaspoon of red hot sauce, or any hot pepper sauce.
one teaspoon of kosher salt (or to taste)
one teaspoon of wasabi paste, powder, whatever you have (The flavouring on this can vary wildly from one brand/preparation to the next. Try a smaller amount first and add more to taste)

Peel and pit your avocados. Put them into a container and mash with a fork.

Add all of the other ingredients. Stir. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary (especially that wasabi!)

Let sit in the refrigerator for at least an hour for the flavours to mingle like an awkward office social. I always put plastic wrap right on top of the guac to prevent browning as much as I can.

Sprinkle with any leftover ingredients as garnish. So pretty. Eat it with a spoon. Or vegetable sticks, or whatever you want. My vote is for a spoon….

Bacon Mushroom Burgers

Posted on June 22, 2012 by Katherine

So I’ve never really been a burger fan. Until recently! Now I’m excited by all the burger possibilities. I like lots of toppings on my burgers, too! But all those pesky toppings sometimes fall off, especially when you are eating it sans-pain (that’s bread-free, fools!), like I do. To continue my love affair with the NomNomPaleo.com ipad app, this was inspired by a recipe there for “Big-O Bacon Burgers”

Chop up the ingredients and put them IN the burger!

Bacon mushroom burgers – makes 6

1 lb grass fed ground beef
6 slices of bacon
1/2 lb of mushrooms (maybe more, maybe less?)

This is simple. Chop all the ingredients and mix them with the beef. Don’t do as I do in the pictures. I want you to chop the ingredients fairly small. The recipe on the iPad app pulses the bacon in the food processor. I think I will do that next time. Mix it all together and form into patties. BBQ them!

I sauteed the mushrooms and bacon before I added them to the beef. I want my bacon nice and crispy.