Recipes

11 Great Salads to Take to a Potluck or Feed a Big Group

April 1, 2019 by danawyyc 2 Comments

1. Southwestern Bean Salad

Bean salads can often be quite bland but this one is definitely not. Using canned beans makes it easy to prepare and helps the salad stretch a long way.

2. Rice Salad with Roasted Red Pepper and Herbs

Using brown basmati rice will keep the nutrient content of this salad but keep the soft texture that you get from white rice. You can easily feed a big crowd with this fresh salad without a lot of work.

3. Fresh and Easy Pasta Salad

This is not your typical pasta salad but it is just as easy to make. This salad uses salsa as a dressing, pumping up the flavor and reducing the calories too.

4. Orzo Salad

Another fresh take on pasta salad, this salad uses tiny orzo pasta and mint to make a nice light side dish.

5. Mexican Street Corn Inspired Quinoa and Corn Salad

Looking for something a little different? This salad has just the right amount of heat.

6. Kale, Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

Want a salad just bursting with nutrition? It’s hard to beat this one. It makes a ton so you can easily feed a large group.

7. Retro Cauliflower Salad with Easy Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

Cauliflower has never tasted so good as in this creamy salad with cheese and tortilla chips.

8. Rainbow Fruit Salad

This fruit salad is easy to put together and makes a large bowl full without a lot of work. Substitute the fruit for what’s in season and you can’t go wrong.

9. Asian Lentil and Mango Salad

A little bit sweet and a little bit crunchy, this salad is a definite break from your everyday salad. It keeps really well so you can make it ahead of time or enjoy the leftovers the next day.

10. Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

Quinoa makes a perfect base for a little bit of a twist on the traditional Tabbouleh salad.

11. Salad on a Stick

Want a salad that you can eat without utensils? Try one of these options for a salad on a stick.

Frank’s Buffalo Chicken Dip – no blue cheese

September 2, 2018 by danawyyc 1 Comment

My friend Merry, makes a Buffalo Chicken dip that I really love. But I’m not really in love with blue cheese. I’ve tried different things to replace it but nothing was working like I wanted. One day I came across a post by Julie from Dinner with Julie about making a dip for hot wings out of Bousin cheese and I had the answer. It worked perfectly and is now my new favorite thing to make for a potluck.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Frank's Buffalo Chicken Dip - no blue cheese

Ingredients

8 oz brick cream cheese
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded or chopped (I like using leftover rotisserie chicken)
½ cup Frank's Red Hot Sauce (I used Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce (not hot sauce))
2-4 Tbsp butter, melted (more butter will tone down the heat)
1 package boursin cheese
¼ to ½ cup mozzarella cheese shredded

Instructions

Preheat oven to 300°F.
Mix melted butter and hot sauce. Combine with chicken.
Layer in a shallow oven proof dish - first cream cheese, then chicken mixture, then boursin and top with a light layer of mozzerella.
Bake for until mozzerella is melted - about 20 minutes.
Great served with tortilla chips, or you can use it as a veggie dip for carrots or celery. It's also super good on a bed of lettuce.

Haystacks – Cornflake and Toffee No Bake Cookies

August 15, 2018 by danawyyc 1 Comment

One of my favorite treats growing up was my Auntie Betty’s haystacks. I got the recipe from her a few years ago, but I only made them this year after seeing my friend Merry’s similar recipe for No Bake Peanut Butter Crunchies. Not only were they as good as I remembered they were actually super easy to make too. After eating a few, okay a lot. I made another 2 batches to share with our neighbors.

Haystacks - Cornflake and Toffee No Bake Cookie

Ingredients

225g of toffee bars (McIntosh) or caramels (approximately 1 bag or 4 bars)
1 cup coconut
3 cups cornflakes
2-4 Tbsp milk

Instructions

) Melt toffee and milk over low heat stirring often
) When melted add coconut and corn flakes
) Mix well and drop spoonfuls onto wax paper
Don't worry if the haystacks look a little loose, when they cool they will set into one piece.

Haystacks No Bake Cookie - talkinginallcaps.com

Pesto Potato Salad

April 2, 2018 by danawyyc 7 Comments

My father-in-law is from PEI so potatoes are basically considered their own food group in their house. Baked, mashed, fried, you name it. My son seems to be taking after him, he will often grab cold leftover potatoes out of the fridge for a snack and eat them straight up.

My favorite potatoes have always been little potatoes. I like that they require so little work – they don’t need to be peeled and they can be used whole or cut into bite sized pieces with just a slice or two. The other thing I like about little potatoes is because you don’t peel them, you keep all the good nutrients that are found in the peel.

When I was thinking about what else I should make with them today, I remembered a dish that I’ve made before that contained pesto, gnocchi and vegetables. I figured that a variation on that would make a fantastic warm potato salad and I was right.

5.0 from 1 reviews

Little Potato Company

Ingredients

1.5 lbs of little potatoes
½ cup of peas
½ cup of asparagus or green beans chopped
½ cup of grape tomatoes cut in half
1-2 Tbsp of pesto
4 slices of monterey jack cheese cubed or shredded

Instructions

Boil little potatoes for approximately 15 minutes.
Drain the potatoes toss with pesto.
Add peas, asparagus (or green beans), grape tomatoes and cheese.
Mix together and serve warm.

Pesto Potato Salad - Little Potato Company - talkiginallcaps.com

Did They Eat It?

Gordie (5 years old): Are there any plain potatoes? I’ll just eat those.

Nicky (2 years old): I want ham.

Stephen: Good.

Dana: I liked this a lot. I would definitely make it again. I might not even try sharing next time!

Butter Tarts

January 11, 2018 by danawyyc Leave a Comment

We love butter tarts and like to try different versions to try to find the best one. One day we decided to make our own and to date they are still our favourites.

Ingredients

2 eggs

1.5 cups brown sugar

0.5 cup maple syrup

3 TBSP melted butter

1 cup raisins

2 tsp vinegar

pinch of salt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

24 tart shells (3″)

Directions

Before cooking, soak raisins in boiling water for hours or overnight. Add a tablespoon or two or rum, rye or vinegar for added flavour. (This step is optional if you are short on time but it’s worth it).
Preheat oven 350F
Beat eggs well in a large bowl.
Add sugar, syrup and melted butter to the eggs. Mix well.
Add vinegar, salt and vanilla.
Drain the liquid from the raisins. Fill the bottom of the tart shells with raisins.
Fill the tart shells 3/4 full with the sugar mixture. I find a small liquid measuring cup works well.
Bake for 22-25 minutes or until set. The tart shells should be lightly browned and the filling should stay put if tipped.

Variations:
Skip the raisins and full the tarts just with the sugar mixture.
Add toasted, chopped pecans to the top of the tarts before cooking.
Add sea salt to the top of the tarts before or after cooking.

Chinese Egg Drop Soup – #52Soups

February 13, 2016 by danawyyc Leave a Comment

I am always trying to gently get my kids to try new and different foods. I tell them that we are going to be food adventurers. This idea often works pretty well with my kids. They don’t always like what they try, but sometimes they do. And they are more willing to try when it is an adventure than something mommy is making them do.

A friend of mine has just come out with a new book called “No More Beige Food” a humorous picture book about a little girl named Wilma Lee Wu who is tired of the boring food her family makes and goes on a search for more interesting foods to try. I think this will fit in perfectly with our food adventures and I can’t wait to read it to my kids. This recipe for Chinese Egg Drop Soup will soon be appearing in a bonus downloadable e-book that will include recipes for the foods that Wilma Lee Wu tries in “No More Beige Food” as well as some additional recipes like this one. I’ll put up the link as soon as it’s available.

This soup is quick and easy to make and is really delicious too. The broth is flavourful without being too spicy making it great for kids. I made this soup with my daughter and she loved pouring in the eggs. If your kids are reluctant to eat green onions or mushrooms you can leave them out completely or you could leave them in big pieces so they are easy to pick out. You can also add other things to the soup like tofu, bean sprouts or corn.

My daughter was excited to try the eggs in broth but only if I picked out the green onions and mushrooms. My son didn’t want to try it but I think he might if he’s the one who gets to pour in the eggs.

Chinese Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 tetra pack of chicken broth (about 4 cups)
tablespoon of corn starch (you can use 2 TBSP of flour if you don't have corn starch or skip it completely for a thinner soup)
¼-1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
3 green onions chopped (optional)
¼ teaspoon of white pepper (use black if you don't have white)
¾ cup of sliced mushrooms of your choice (optional)

Instructions

In a large pot, add chicken broth, ginger, soy sauce, green onions, mushrooms and pepper and bring to a boil.
While you wait for it to boil put the corn starch or flour in a small container with a lid. Add some water, put the lid on and shake quickly until dissolved.
Break the eggs into a bowl (or a liquid measuring cup works great) and beat them a little bit with a fork.
When the pot is boiling add the cornstarch or flour mixture and stir.
Turn the heat down to a simmer.
While stirring add the eggs slowly to the pot. (Adding in the eggs is a great job for kids to do while you do the stirring)
Serve with some green onion on top.

Notes

Adapted from Simply Recipes Chinese Egg Drop Soup

link

Curry Sweet Potato Lentil Coconut Soup – #52soups

February 10, 2016 by danawyyc Leave a Comment

One of the things I love about this soup is that it is easy to have the ingredients on hand to throw together. It’s not too spicy – it’s actually kind of sweet with a lovely coconut smell. So it’s pretty kid friendly. My 1 year old thought it was pretty good but my bigger kids were both a little suspicious. They did try a little though. This is definitely a soup I will be making again and again. It feels like comfort food but one you can feel really good about eating.

Curry Sweet Potato Lentil Coconut Soup - #52soups

Ingredients

canola oil, for cooking
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 tsp. curry powder
⅓-1/2 cup dry red lentils
1 medium or large sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken stock
salt
1 can coconut milk
fresh cilantro, for garnish (optional)
Hot sauce of your choice (optional)

Instructions

In a large pot heat about a TBSP of oil on medium high heat. Add the onions and saute until soft. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a couple more minutes. Add the curry powder and cook for another minute. Add the broth, lentils, sweet potatos and carrots and simmer for about 30 minutes - until the vegetables are very soft.
Add the coconut milk and use an immersion blender to purree (or you can do small batches in a blender but it is a bit trickier)
Top with cilantro, parsley, hot sauce or hot peppers diced small.

Notes

Adapted from Dinner with Julie's Curried Sweet Potato Carrot Red Lentil Ginger Soup. She is awesome and so is her blog - you should check it out.

Curry Sweet Potato Lentil Coconut Soup - #52soups

Simple Meatball Soup – #52soups

February 7, 2016 by danawyyc 1 Comment

If there is one thing that will get my kids to try a soup, it’s meatballs. I like using the frozen meatballs from IKEA but you can use any frozen meatballs you like or even make your own (if you are way more enthusiastic than me). You don’t have to pre-cook them – they can go right on the broth. My kids all liked this soup. In their own way. My 1 year old loved everything although I didn’t give him a lot of the broth for obvious reasons. My 3 year old loved the carrots, meatballs, noodles and broth and my oldest liked the meatballs, noodles and tomatoes but no broth thank you very much.

Even though it felt a little silly at times, it was really nice to have a meal that everyone liked.

Simple Meatball Soup

Ingredients

4 medium carrots diced
4 stalks celery
1 small onion diced
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 can (28oz) diced tomatoes
4 cups of broth beef (1 tetra pack)
1 pound of your favourite meatballs (uncooked)
1-2 cups of cooked pasta

Instructions

Heat oil in a large pot.
Saute onions and carrots. Add celery if desired. If you add the celery later it will be more crunchy. It just depends on your tastes.
When the onions have softened add the broth, tomatoes seasoning and meatballs (and the celery if you haven't already).
Bring to a boil.
Turn the temperature down to a simmer and continue to cook for around 20 minutes. The meatballs should be fully cooked.
Add some pasta to each bowl and serve the soup over top.

Notes

Adapted from Mama's Slowcooker Meatball Soup - she has a great recipe for homemade meatballs if you are making your own

Super Easy Chicken and Barley Soup – #52soups

February 6, 2016 by danawyyc Leave a Comment

My kids have been a little resistant to soup. My oldest is sure that anything called soup must be terrible. He’s started to make a little progress and is now sometimes willing to try soup so I’ve been trying to make some that I think he might like. Nothing he can’t identify in it, not too spicy and definitely no onions! This soup is also ridiculously easy. You don’t even have to chop anything. And it’s pretty good too.

Super Easy Chicken and Barley Soup - #52soups

Ingredients

Tetra pack of Chicken Broth (about 4 cups)
2 cups water
½ cup pot barley
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 tsp garlic powder
½ tsp dry thyme
1-2 chicken breasts cooked (leftover rotisserie chicken is nice, or you can poach it in the broth)
salt and pepper

Instructions

In a large pot bring the broth, water, garlic and barley to a boil.
Turn the heat down to a simmer and cook until barley is cooked through (about 40 minutes depending on the kind of barley you use).
Add cooked chicken, frozen mixed vegetables and bring back to a boil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add hot sauce (I like Chili Lime Cholula) if desired.

Notes

Inspired by a Pretty Life in the Suburbs Chicken and Rice Soup. Her recipes are awesome. Go check out her blog.

Frank’s Buffalo Chicken Soup with Roasted Cauliflower – #52soups

January 26, 2016 by danawyyc Leave a Comment

I love Frank’s Buffalo Wing sauce so I was really interested to see how that would translate into a soup. I used roasted cauliflower to thicken the broth, but you could also leave it out and have a thinner broth, or thicken it with something else like white beans or potatoes. I left the celery and carrots fairly crunchy, if you want them to be softer than you can just saute them before adding them to the soup.

Frank's Buffalo Chicken Soup with Roasted Cauliflower - #52soups

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts cooked (cut up or shredded)
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 onion (diced)
4 stalks celery (chopped)
4 carrots (chopped)
1 tetra pack of chicken broth (900 ml)
1 head cauliflower (cut into florets)
½ cup (or more) Frank's Buffalo Wing Sauce or Frank's Red Hot
¼ cup of Ranch Dressing
blue cheese (optional)

Instructions

Toss the cauliflower with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Arrange in one layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 400F for 20-30 minutes. Cauliflower should be starting to brown. (this step can be done ahead - just refrigerate the roasted cauliflower.
Melt butter in a large pot and add a couple TBSP of butter to make a roux.
Stir for a couple of minutes and then add the diced onion. Cook for a couple more minutes.
Add in the chicken broth and cauliflower and heat to a boil.
Use an immersion blender to puree (or you can mix up the cauliflower with some broth in a magic bullet or blender).
Add the carrots, celery and chicken to the cauliflower mixture and bring back to a boil.
Add the hot sauce and dressing and mix well.
Top with blue cheese, or a drizzle of ranch dressing.

Notes

Adapted from The Cookie Rookie
3.2.2925
Toss the cauliflower florets in the oil along with the salt and pepper, arrange them in a single layer on a large baking sheet and roast in a preheated 400F/200C oven until lightly golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Recipes

1. Southwestern Bean Salad

2. Rice Salad with Roasted Red Pepper and Herbs

3. Fresh and Easy Pasta Salad

4. Orzo Salad

5. Mexican Street Corn Inspired Quinoa and Corn Salad

6. Kale, Quinoa and Black Bean Salad

7. Retro Cauliflower Salad with Easy Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

8. Rainbow Fruit Salad

9. Asian Lentil and Mango Salad

10. Quinoa Tabbouleh Salad

11. Salad on a Stick

Did They Eat It?

Ingredients

Directions

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