Delicious Oatmeal: Take I

Oatmeal

Brown Sugar

Milk

Poppyseeds

Crasins

Banana Slices

Shredded Cocoanut

Slivered Almonds

Kelly Moore Bag: A Photographer's Dream

Something that a food blogger cannot live without is her camera. And something a camera cannot live without...is a Kelly Moore Camera Bag. I can't wait until I can get my paws on one!

Its a slow process, getting into the world of photography. It's so expensive that I have to save for this, and then save for that. Slowly but surely I have acquired a few lenses and (most recently) a new D90. Soon enough this little baby:

will house all of my equipment.

Now if I could only decide which colour I like best. Which do you like?

www.kellymoorebag.com

Homemade Quiznos Sub

I have this thing for Quiznos. (If you do too, you're gonna love this).

For a really long time I was a Subway girl, but then I found Quiznos and I've never been able to go back to my old stomping ground. There is just something about the toasty bread, yummy sauces, and delectable flavor varieties which is somehow, so much better at Quiznos. (Sorry Subway...)

Anyway, this isn't an endorsement for Quiznos (you can send me my cheque later), because I don't do that sort of thing. I'm more into revealing the secrets to my favourite foods so that we all can save money by making these things at home! Muah ha ha!

This one is brilliant, if I do say so myself. And super simple. Start by finding a delicious loaf like the one you see pictured. It is an oat/seed/raisin variety that I found at Wall Mart. (Again, you can send me my cheque later). Cut it open just the way you like it; all the way through, like a pocket, whichever. Top it with mayo, a sliced deli meat like ham or turkey, a slice of swiss or provolone cheese AND (drum roll please)...a few shakes of italian spices. This makes it. I have a blend which has oregano and basil and it tastes just like the one from Quiznos. It's kind of weird that they thought to throw this onto a sandwich, but they knew what they we're doing!

Pop the sandwich under the broiler for a minute or two, and then top with your favourite toppings: lettuce, tomato, etc. One final tip, also add some cranberry sauce or sweet jam to your sandwich, and the sweetness will go really well with the salty meats.

And there you have it, a homemade Quiznos sub! I hope you find it as satisfying to make as home as I do.

Thai Chicken Lemongrass Soup

It's a shame that it took me so long to make my own Thai food. I have this new found fascination with all things Thai, but I had this idea that it was going to hard, (It wasn't), and that the ingredients were going to be impossible to find, (They weren't).

For me, what decides if I will make a recipe is if I have the ingredients or not. Duh. And if they don't seem too far out of reach. The problem was that Thai food has some ingredients that I was not about to stock in my pantry. (Read: fish sauce and oyster sauce).

Bleh. Am I right? The sound of it....

But had I ever actually tried the stuff? Well, no.

And do I not eat Thai food on a regular basis and quite enjoy its flavor? Um. Yes.

So my challenge to you, is to buy the bottles of stuff which seem scary, and I guarantee once you have them you will find the motivation to cook Thai food. And you will like it. When ingredients like these are in your pantry, you open the doors to so many dishes. And the rest of the ingredient list, albeit long, will be fresh and easy to find. (Please don't hunt me down and quote me if your recipe calls for turtle shell or something ridiculous). Every culture has its quirks.

(Have you seen what is in Western food?)

We have beef fat in Hostess products, crushed red bugs as food colouring, and beetle juice in sprinkles.

But I digress.

This soup is wonderful because it highlights what asian cooks have mastered: balance. Hot, sweet, spicy, sour--all at once. Try it once and I guarantee you will be so inspired you'll be throwin' oyster sauce into stuff left, right, and centre. I am. (See here.)

And not only is it delicious, it is also very chic. (Once you've cleaned up).

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

12-16 oz. fresh egg noodles (or enough dry for 2-3 portions) or rice noodles

6 c good quality chicken stock

1-2 stocks fresh lemongrass, minced (Use this link if you don't know how to prepare it)

1/4 - 1/2 lb cooked chicken breast or thigh chopped into small pieces (or use leftover roasted chicken)

1/2 c good quality cocoanut milk

3-4 kaffir lime leaves (available fresh or frozen at asian grocery stores)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 thumb size piece of ginger, shredded

1 red chili, sliced (take the seeds out if you don't like it spicy--it will be spicy!)

1 lg carrot sliced

1 Tbsp oyster sauce (I used Golden Dragon brand)

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2 Tbsp fish sauce

2-3 c bok choy, chopped

generous handful of fresh cilantro (if you like it)

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice, optional

Directions:

1. Prepare the noodles according to the instructions on the package. Drain and rinse with cold water to keep from sticking. Set aside

2. Bring stock to a boil in a large soup pot. Add the prepared lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, and the chicken. Boil over medium-high heat 3-4 minutes.

3. Reduce to medium heat and add the garlic, ginger, chili, and carrot. Simmer 2-3 more minutes.

4. While soup is simmering, add the oyster sauce and fish sauce, as well as the brown sugar.

5. If your bok choy is the large variety, add only the thick white stalk pieces now (the green leaves take only seconds to cook so reserve those for later). Continue simmering 2-3 minutes.

6. Lastly, add the leafy greens of the bok choy. Stir and simmer 30 seconds.

7. Reduce heat to low. Add the cocoanut milk, stirring well to incorporate.

8. Taste-test for salt, adding more fish sauce if it is not salty enough. If too salty or sweet for your taste, 1 Tbsp lime juice. If too spicy, add more cocoanut milk.

9. To put the soup together, mound a generous amount of the cooked noodles in each bowl. Ladle over the hot soup and top with fresh cilantro.

Enjoy!

Lunch for about $1.50

Because I often struggle to think of easy, easy lunches which are cost effective (WHICH ARE NOT SANDWICHES), I thought I would note one lunch option which I quite enjoyed recently. Cost effective, delicious, on the go, and yummy! I'll break it down for you:

Step 1: Bake a potato--sweet or regular, the night before you need it for lunch. (Or cook one extra at dinner, or the morning of if you're daring).

Step 2: Put a slit through the potato now so that you don't need a knife at lunch time. Pack baked potato in cute, handy-dandy dish.

Step 3: At lunch time, stop at local Wendy's and buy a small chili. Ask for sour cream on the side if you wish.

Step 4: Smother baked potato with chili and sour cream.

Step 5: Eat and smile. Eat and smile.

You can always make the chili at home if you want, but sometimes you just can't. You know?

Image Courtesy of http://www.jennyslunchline.com/rcadmin/cartpics/377-1.jpg

Ginger Cookies

My house currently smells like the pioneer village I went to on a field trip as a kid. We toured an old-style living quarters and school house, learned how on earth the pioneers did it all, and munched on ginger cookies followed by hot apple cider. You really get the false impression that living as a pioneer was easy.

(I mean they didn't have these!)

And also that they ate a lot of ginger cookies.

It's probably not true, but for the sake of this post we can pretend that they did! I did/am currently doing the same.

Nomm, nom nom.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 egg

3/4 c oil (something of a light variety like canola walnut or sunflower)

1/4 c molasses

1/4 c real maple syrup

1/2 c sucanant or maple sugar

1 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cardamon

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients and set aside.

2. In a mixer or by hand, combine wet ingredients until well combined. Slowly stir in dry ingredients and you will have a moist cookie dough.

3. Let dough sit in the fridge for 20-30 minutes to firm up.

4. Roll the dough into teaspoon size balls, roll in maple sugar if you wish, and slightly flatten. Place on a cookie tray.

5. Bake @ 350 for 8-10 minutes. Enjoy with a tall glass of milk!

Source: mycharmingkids.net