Old School Stir-Fry

Okay, so I don't actually know what "Old School Stir-Fry" would refer to exactly--but I do know that I am attending a very old school, and that that is where I made my stir-fry!

Students, I understand the challenges that arise from living at school, around school, and near school. It is far to easy to to run to the closest subway and grab dinner as opposed to making something which could take half an hour. I hear you. I came this close to not making food tonight as well. But I had vegetables in the fridge that would go bad if I didn't use them, and that's just money that I don't have down the drain. Or in the garbage.

So. Reality is that we want easy to cook food. This recipe is composed of veggies, pasta, and a 6 ingredient sauce. Ready for it?

Note: If you are up for a sauce which takes more time, but would probably taste even better, I will add that option to the directions.

P.S. Here is what the food actually looks like amidst my school life:

Not as glamorous. Just as delicious!

Ingredients:

1 serving linguine noodles

1 cup chopped veggies (I used yellow and green peppers, bok choi, broccoli, and zucchini)

1 Tbsp canola oil (for the pan)

Sauce Version 1 (I have nooo time, version)

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. honey

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp oyster sauce

1 tsp. hot sauce (add to your liking)

sprinkling of chili flakes

Sauce Version 2 (I have some time to cook, version)

1/2 c chicken stock

3 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 Tbsp sherry or Chinese cooking wine

1 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tbsp water

1 tsp distilled white vinegar

1/2 tsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp peanut oil

3 Tbsp minced peeled fresh ginger

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

(ingredients are mixed into a sauce before being poured onto the noodles and veggies)

Directions:

1. Boil pasta according to package directions, about 8 minutes.

2. Mix sauce in a separate bowl and set aside

2. Meanwhile, heat canola oil in a pan/wok on medium-high. When pan is hot, add veggies (starting with the peppers and broccoli--bok choi goes with a minute left to go) and cook until desired tenderness. Add sauce and lower heat.

3. Place noodles in pan and toss everything together until the sauce is dispersed.

4. Taste, and adjust seasoning accordingly.

5. Eat with chop sticks! (I think it tastes better this way.)

Cantaloupe Melon Milk

This might be one of the prettiest drinks I've made. I love the soft orange colour of the cantaloupe melon, and during the summer they are at their peak--great taste and not too expensive. This morning I purchased a baby cantaloupe from an organic farmers market, for $1!

The sweet cantalope melon is surprisingly healthy and so refreshing it makes for a great beverage addition to shake up your normal drink routines.

My family gave it rave reviews, but for my sisters taste, she preferred the drink strained of any melon pulp. Its great either way in my opinion.

Ingredients:

1/2 cantaloupe melon*

1 1/2 c milk

1 Tbsp honey

*Note that the size of the melon will dictate the size of the drink.

Directions:

1. Remove seeds of the melon with a spoon. Scoop the melon out of the skin into a bowl and freeze for 1 hour until solid. Cover with plastic wrap if freezing longer.

2. Put the milk and honey into the blender and add the frozen melon. Process until smooth.

Makes approx. 1L

Wholesome Honey-Baked Granola

This recipe comes from a deeeelectable cookbook which my mom and I have been enjoying lately. It's called Bite Me, by Julie Albert & Lisa Gnat.

Every single recipe we pull from it has been easy to prepare and very tasty, not to mention that the recipes are comprised of lots of awesome (sometimes quirky!) ingredients. Sometimes I find recipes that only have simple items can be missing a certain je ne sais quoi, but these recipes make up for it! (Coco powder in chili!? Awesome.)

The book's brunch chapter features this delicious homemade granola, which is not only good on your digestive tract, but also good on your pocket book. Prepared granola in the grocery stores can run for $10 or more, depending on the brand. And for HALF of the portion you get here.

That's a no brainer if you ask me.

Granola is such a light yet hearty, crunchy yet soft, food. Yummy served over yogurt, ice cream, with milk and bananas (as seen above), as a muffin/crisp topping, or just on it's own. It's a huge money saver for lunches: Pack 1/2 cup in a re-sealable dish and pour it over fruit and yogurt when you are ready to eat.

Fun to prepare, and oh-so satisfying, I know you will love it.

Ingredients:

4 c old-fashioned large flake oats (not quick cooking)

1 c slivered almonds

small handful of ground flax seed (this was my addition--just because I try to add flax seed to everything possible)

1 tsp kosher salt (I found this to be slightly salty for my taste)

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 c melted butter (I used canola oil instead)

1/2 c packed brown sugar

1/4 c honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c dried cranberries

1/2 c raisins

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 F--Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, flaxseed, salt, and cinnamon.

3. In a small bowl, combine melted butter (or oil), brown sugar, honey, and vanilla. Whisk well and pour over oat mixture. Toss to combine and spread granola over prepared baking sheet.

4. Bake 20 minutes, stir carefully and then continue to bake for another 15 minutes. Remove from oven, transfer to large bowl. Add dried cranberries and raisins, mixing to combine. Cool completely and store at room temp. in an air tight container for up to 1 week.

Yield: 7 cups

Cookbook photo courtesy of http://www.torontolife.com/daily/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/BiteMeCookbook.jpg

Apple Gingerbread Sweet Potatoes

This recipe brings warmth to any meal. I bring it forth as a nomination for the category of "yummy creative side dish made in under 30 minutes", in the food Oscars. Do they have those? They should.

The combination of smooth and creamy sweet potatoes, gingerbread tea which can be cooked directly into the potato, honey, tart and crunchy apples, topped with nuts, dried fruit, and sugar, makes for a satisfying side dish.

I might add that I made these potatoes right after class and in-between homework sessions, so they are pretty easy if you have the right ingredients in your pantry. I literally kept throwing matching flavors into this dish because sweet potatoes are a very versatile vegetable. Sweet, but not too much, so you can add a seasonal flare to them like I did here. Crumbled up gingerbread cookies on top would be a nice addition as well.

You can use any type of gingerbread or cinnamon tea to infuse the potatoes that you can find. I bought mine at the grocery store and have had it sitting around for 2 years, and thought, It's about time to put this tea to some use! So I did. When the water with the potatoes in it comes to a boil, I let one of these seasonal tea bags and 3 black peppercorns steep for about 2 minutes, and the potatoes took on a great flavor!

You can use this same trick when making potato salad. Put a few garlic cloves in the water while the potatoes cook, and they will taste like garlic!

Combine some fresh apples into the cooked and mashed potatoes, cinnamon, and honey or brown sugar.

I didn't cook mine for too long because I didn't want the nuts to potentially burn, but you could leave yours in longer if you left the nuts off until a bit later into the cooking process. Maybe your sugar will caramelize more than mine did.

Ingredients:

(For one portion)

1 medium size sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1'' pieces

1 gingerbread tea bag (or chai/cinnamon/etc.)

3 black peppercorns

1/2 medium size apple, chopped (I used an Empire apple)

1 tsp. butter (optional)

1 tsp. honey or brown sugar

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

a few pinches of large crystal sugar (like turbanado)

a handful of mixed nuts/dried fruit

Directions:

1. Cook peeled and cut potatoes into a pot full of cold water on high. When water comes to a boil, place tea bag and peppercorns into the pot (steep for 2 minutes) and allow the potatoes to cook another 8 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender enough to be be cut with a fork. Drain.

2. Mash potatoes, cinnamon, honey, and butter in a bowl with a fork until smooth. Stir chopped apples in gently.

3. Spoon mixture into a oven safe dish, and top with mixed nuts/fruit and sugar of choice.

4. Cook on broil for approx. 5 minutes. (You can cook it longer if you want the sugar to melt further, but watch so that it doesn't burn.)

Toast with Peanut Butter and Strawberry...Jam??

Okay, Okay so the jam part of this little breakfast/night-time snack isn't really jam at all.

I took the most important part of the jam and made that the focus. I do really like jam, don't get me wrong. But sometimes, if I have the option of eating something in its natural state, then I will.

I know! It's crazy that sometimes people like to eat things that haven't seen an oven/microwave/stove top or packaging factory.

So for instance, instead of apple martinis, try an apple. Or instead of corn flavored popcorn, try corn. The distance we are going from the food that we grow is amazing. (If your interested in learning more about eating things that are local and perhaps in their natural state, check out the 100 mile diet here).

I got some gorgeous local strawberries today, so before topping my typical bed-time snack of PB on toast with banana, I went for the strawberries instead! I then drizzled it with honey and MMMmmmm....It was so yummy. The fresh strawberries added such a light note to the snack. In fact I didn't even need a glass of milk to wash it down. That never happens with peanut butter!

Ingredients:

1 piece rye bread, toasted
2 Tbsp. peanut butter
4 local strawberries, sliced thinly
1 Tbsp. honey

Directions:

1. Toast rye bread, and spread with peanut butter. Layer the strawberry slices over the bread and drizzle with honey.

Enjoy!

Hippie Pancakes

If I were to dream of hippie food, this is what it would look like. In fact, if mother nature could cook, Leah and I believe she would cook something just like this: whole wheat Swedish pancakes, coloured with golden sauteed bananas, and textured with soft cream cheese contrasted with crunchy granola.

Oh hay! What a coincidence, that is exactly what we did!

After stumbling out of bed at 11am this morning, Leah and I (complete with bed head, pj's, bare feet, and no makeup...hippie style if you ask me!) were not content with making a simple breakfast of toast and jam. No sir. We were in a fancy-dancy breakfast mood this morning!

Our food smarts directed us to my brand new "Martha Stewart Cookbook!" (Purchased yesterday in fact, at the local library book store for only 8 dollars!) We found her recipe for Swedish pancakes and went from there. Cream cheese, honey, sauteed bananas, and granola play a starring role in this sensational breakfast.

Click on this picture ^
and get a really good look at the colours and textures.

If you sautee the bananas in butter and brown sugar they turn a really pretty gold colour. However I would recommend using firm, fresh bananas with no brown spots on them. This way the bananas will hold up in the sautee pan, and they won't become too sweet after being cooked.


I should note that I believe this recipe to be healthy. (It's got whole wheat, fruit, yogurt, non-fat cream cheese, and natural sweeteners! Come on now.) So eat up hungry wolverines!

Ingredients:

6 Swedish Pancakes:
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c milk
3/4 c whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp. melted butter
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. sugar

Sauteed Bananas:
2 bananas, sliced
1/2 Tbsp. butter
1 tsp. brown sugar

Plain yogurt
Granola (I used a mango, cranberry variety)
Honey
Low fat cream cheese

Directions:

1. Prepare swedish pancakes by combining eggs, milk, flour, melted butter, and salt in a mixing bowl. Blend well. (Note: Don't over mix because you don't want bubbles in your batter. Aswell, melt your butter innitally in the frying pan so that it coats the surface, and then pour the melted butter into the batter. This way, you don't have to dirty another dish!)

2. Scoop batter onto your hot, greased frying pan. (Note: To ensure the pan is hot enough, sprinkle some water onto it, and if it sizzles, it's ready.)

3. Be patient as you cook your pancakes, and only flip when you see bubbles forming close to the centre. When you flip them, they only need about 30 sec. more.

4. For your sauteed bananas, melt butter in a small frying pan. Add sliced bananas brown sugar. Cook until the bananas are thoroughly covered in sugar, and you have a nice brown colour.

5. Assemble your hippie pancakes by spreading creamcheese on your pancake, bananas, a drizzle of honey, and some granola. We had to use a fork an knife to eat it, but if your brave you could use your hands.

6. Serve along side some plain yogurt to dip your pancakes in.