Baking Edition: Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

Last week's baking edition was Double Chocolate Chip Cookies, inspired by Beantown Baker. I often use her recipes as they feel very "home-y" and quite simple. I pretty much used her recipe, found here, with just minor changes based on my personal liking.

 Yummy...

This recipe is supposed to make big cookies but I personally like smaller cookies. You don't feel as guilty eating them lol. Also, they're good for portion control, and just light snacking when you're between meals.

What treats do you like eating?

♥B

May the Fourth be with you...

Happy Friday everyone! This has been yet another busy week, swamped with work, family stuff and just the "little things" like errands and chores. It's unbelievable how much time doing dishes, laundry and just general cleaning actually takes! Among the haste, Hubs always manages to make food that looks like it belongs in a food magazine. I'll talk between the pictures ;)

Lamb in a red wine reduction sauce

Roasted garlic and herb potatoes

Sauteed vegetables on the side

Over here in my part of the world, the weather has increasingly become warmer and nothing gets me more excited than summer. Why? Because that means it's camping season! Hubs and I loooove going camping and barbecuing when it's warm. We find excitement in preparing all the food and bringing our trust portable grill out with our daughter to enjoy the weather. I predict this summer will be no different!!

I think it's amazing that Hubs has the skills to make food of such variety, both in textures and tastes. I'm totally opposite when it comes to cooking since I feel like such a novice in the kitchen/cooking department. BAKING HOWEVER... That's more my neck of the woods. We sure can make a great feast pairing our cooking and baking skills together :)

Chicken Hash Open Face Sandwich

This open face sandwich is something I totally love for brunch (and of course Hubs knows that hehee). It's sauteed chicken, potato, onion and carrot dredged in this delicious mushroom gravy over a crispy piece of toast. Doesn't that sound delicious? Well, it tastes better than it looks!

If you would like recipes for any of these, please feel free to email me at belleplusmel@gmail.com. I tend not to write out the recipes as often anymore on the blog post because it comes out very long. If you have questions about substituting any ingredients, feel free to ask as well! I often find that when you're recipe researching, you are almost always guaranteed to be missing one or two ingredients... At least I do. I like to look for recipes based on what I've already bought on my weekly grocery trip so I do end up substituting ingredients in most recipes.

Anyway, I hope within your busy schedules, you're able to find some time to cook yourself a good and hearty meal at least once a week (or have someone do it!).

 

♥B

Food!!

Hubs had an extra day off this week so he decided to spoil me with a nice dinner. I only take credit for slicing the potatoes though. He literally made everything else. So what was for dinner, you ask? Here it comes... *drum rolls*

Bacon Wrapped Stuffed Chicken with Scalloped Potatoes!  

The Preparation

diced veggies, scalloped potatoes, stuffing, and bacon wrapping

The Finished Product

And of course, a peek inside :)

 

♥B

Baking Edition: Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf

I've been having quite a rough time recently, and have pushed my weekly baking aside. Today sort of pushed me over the edge so I just set time aside for myself for some baking therapy hehe. I won't go into detail or even a smidgen of what's been happening because then I feel like I'd just be spreading the negativity. Instead... why don't I just show you my baked goods? =D

Today, I delved into a classic...

Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf!

Hubs loves this bread and he bought the necessary ingredients for me on our last grocery trip. How sweet! This turned out soooooo good. The loaf itself is buttery, but with the glaze on top, it just made it sweeter and even more lemony lol. I figured I wouldn't post the recipe in this post since I got it directly here off of JoyofBaking. I seriously love this woman for trying baked goods. She has a bible of recipes on her website showcasing over 100 different things that you can try. I tend to modify recipes to my liking but this Lemon Poppy Seed Loaf did not need any modification.

 Top of the loaf, with lemon sugar glaze :)

Look at the beautiful flecks of black and yellow from the poppy seed and lemon zest

YUMMMM.

As always, I hope you guys will try this recipe one day. The baking process may not cheer you up a much as it did for me, but eating it sure will. Have a great weekend!

Just one more picture... hehe.

♥B

Spring-ing

Wow it's been a while since we both updated! As you can imagine, we're busy enjoying the spring weather outdoors. I went out with the family today and it seriously felt like summer already. Anyway, Saturdays mean prepping food for the week - things like baking, or pre-cooking and freezing food. Today it means CHICKEN STOCK/BROTH! If I'm lazy, I tend to resort to chicken cubes which are in fact high in sodium and probably a bunch of other things that aren't necessary to one's body. Instead, I make my own! It's a nutritious alternative to store-bought stock or broth because you control what goes into the stock.

Ingredients: fresh parsley, celery, carrots, onion, tomato, garlic and raw (bone-in) chicken

That's all. You literally put all that in one pot and cover it with cold water. Let it boil and simmer for at least 4 hours so that all the ingredients can really flavour the water.

No, seriously... Just throw it all in one pot. It's so easy you could probably do this blindfolded.

So hopefully, it'll inspire you guys to make your own chicken stock as it really is healthier. If you're a vegetarian, you can just omit the chicken and you get vegetable stock!

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What else to do while you wait for chicken stock to boil for a few hours?

Finger paint!

 Essie - Chinchilly (3 coats)

Happy Saturday everyone!

♥B

Happy St. Patty's!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! A great excuse to get trashed for most people, but since hubs is working and we've got no one to watch the little ones, it's a stay-at-home day for me. I'm sure most people did their nails green so I jumped on the bandwagon.

Nails: Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear - Green with Envy

I hate how hard it is to capture the real colour of nails in photographs. From the left, I shot that at night. Second picture from the left, that was during the daytime. Both look like two completely different shades. But the best way to describe the true colour of this would be "celery". Yup, I was chopping celery earlier today and realized that it was an identical match. This was about 3 coats with top and base coat.

As for dinner...

Chinese Ginger Beef on Rice

Hope everyone's getting completely wasted tonight!

♥B

Another Long Day

I had to go downtown for a training workshop early in the morning. Grabbed myself a little pick-me-up.

SURPRISE MEL!

I ordered one of Mel's fave by the way. Caramel Macchiato. YUMMMMMM.

It definitely hit the spot when I needed that morning boost.

Got home this evening to make one of my comfort foods. I wasn't going to post the recipe since I hardly think this is authentic to the real thing but I guess this is just my adaptation of it. Mel wanted to know how I made it so I decided to post it. Plus, the recipe is easy peasy.

Minced Pork on Rice
1 lb ground pork
1 cup of julienned carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 small white onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp of chinese five spice
1/4 cup light soy sauce
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp chinese cooking wine
2 tbsp cornstarch
1 tbsp cold water
2 stalks of green onion, sliced
2 eggs

Cook some rice however you would usually make it. I use a rice cooker.
In a small pot, bring water to a boil and gently submerge two eggs in for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take out of water and run it under very cold water for a few seconds. This helps the shell come off a lot easier, trust me. Set these gorgeously peeled hard boiled eggs at the side.

Brown your ground pork on medium-high heat and season with salt and pepper.
Add carrots, white onions and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes with the meat.
Add chinese five spice, soy sauce and chinese cooking wine and cook for another 10 minutes. Now, add the 1/2 cup of water and put the hard boiled eggs to soak in the sauce. Bring to a simmer and cover with lid for about 15 minutes.
Remove the lid, add the green onions and let the water boil out some more.
Mix the cornstarch and 1 tbsp of cold water to make a cornstarch slurry. This is used in many asian dishes to increase their viscosity and thicken the sauce.

Then, serve with rice and you're done! Notice how I didn't have to use any salt besides on the meat? Quite healthy!

Hope you enjoyed it. Time for me to catch up on my hockey and basketball games. Goodnight :)

♥B

Catching Up

Finally got the chance to blog. I'm typically busier on Mondays and Tuesdays than I am any other day of the week. The biggest reason being that hubs has these two days off, and work is always hectic on these days as well. Wednesday is almost one of those relief days for me since I get to just sit back and relax after a long day of work and errands. Errands being... cook, clean, tend to the daughter and whatever else that needs to be done.

Anyway, for the past couple of days, I've been eating such yummy food I had to take pictures and share them! Most of them were actually made by hubs (he's the chef in the family) but no recipes though. If you want them, feel free to email us at belleplusmel@gmail.com and I'd be happy to let you in on some secrets hehe.

A) Roasted Lamb with homemade fries, green beans and grape tomatoes - Okay, I can't take credit for this at all. Hubs totally made this for dinner on Monday night and mymouth had several orgasms.

B) Shredded Chicken open-face sandwich - Made with crisped up potatoes, some carrots and drenched in delicious gravy over whole wheat toast

C) Mapo Tofu with vegetables and spam - This is one of my daughter's favourite meals. It's literally just rice, tofu, green beans and little bits of spam. She already knows what comfort food is!

D) Chicken in mushroom gravy with asparagus and garlic whipped potatoes - This was just my dinner tonight :) Nothing special but still good.

Hopefully that made your stomach ache a little because it definitely makes me hungry all over again...

On another note, I have a clinical addiction to oranges lately. I seriously eat 2-3 a day almost everyday. I have one a day at least. I guess it's better than being hooked on someting unhealthy. So in celebration of having such a nutritious addiction, I painted my nails just that colour! Yay!

This polish is from Joe Fresh, most commonly found in Canada's Real Canadian Superstore (formerly known as Loblaws). I bought these for a ridiculously great price at $10 for 3 bottles or $4 per bottle. And these weren't even on sale... Surprisingly the formula was great. It's heavily pigmented which only required two full coats. The colour is Pineapple but as you can see, it's almost identical to my oranges! I would've thought pineapples were a bit more yellow but oh well. It's a really cute colour especially for spring. Definitely check out Joe Fresh if you can find their products.

Goodnight. 

♥B

Healthy vs. Unhealthy

Doesn't it suck to have the urge to smother your face with all types of goodness yet at the same time have that guilty conscience start to kick in.. Don't lie - because it happens to all of us! One of the ways I cope with this is to substitute a known "not-as-healthy" ingredient with one that is better and maybe even beneficial! Don't get me wrong, you can still feast on some of the junk you can't live without but I'd like to see this solution as adding more of a balance to your diet.. and sorry, I'm no health expert but I am simply health conscience and aware of what does my body good!

Can you spot the difference?

This was lunch for my brother and I who I treat like my son. Ironically, he IS the older sibling.. but his little sis knows how to take care of him!! Instant noodles w/ spam and egg (left) and Egg noodles w/ spam and egg (right). If you didn't catch on, the difference is the type of noodles and the broth used. Instant noodles haven't earned the greatest rep in terms of providing much nutrition. Most of its calories are derived from fat, the MSG is extremely high in sodium, preservatives, and simply that they are just a bunch of empty calories! The only upside I'd give for these culprits is that they are super convenient and a great meal to have when you're drunk or hungover ;). My substitutes for the instant noodles were: egg noodles and chicken broth (you can tell by the lightness in the broth)... now that's a healthy way to go! 

Better Days

Saturday mornings are the best - the ability to sleep in and actually have time to make a hearty breakfast. Today my throat felt a little sore so I reverted to my regular comfort breakfast food - macaroni and spam in soup. It sounds like peasant food but it's one me and Mel's top breakfast favourites :) This is a great meal to make especially when you're on a low budget. Mel made this last week which made me crave it this morning. The only addition to her recipe I made was adding ginger, green onions and garlic to the chicken broth to steep. Other than that, I stuck close to our original!

I absolutely LOVE this meal.

Hope you guys try this one day!

♥B

Friday Night In

TGIF! I've honestly learned to appreciate my weekends a ton more now that I'm working full time again. Usually I bring work home to do, but I opted to take it out of my bag to refrain from going into workaholic mode on a Friday night. Instead, I made a nice meal while waiting for hubs to get off work.

Chicken Stirfry with Steamed Egg on Rice

I decided not to do a specific recipe because this is totally easy to recreate. In fact, you could add whichever vegetables and meat that you want. It's one of those "clear your fridge" meals! All I used were carrots, red bell peppers, green beans, onions, garlic and shredded (already cooked) chicken. In terms of the sauce and seasoning, I added a bit of hoisin sauce, soy sauce, chinese five spice, sugar, salt and pepper. For the steamed egg, believe it or not, just mix eggs with a bit of water, salt and green onions and pop it in the microwave for 3-4 minutes. I topped the stirfry with chopped salted peanuts. The peanuts gave some crunch and flavour since I only used a pinch of salt for the entire plate!

This yummy and healthy stirfry was just THAT simple. I love to make meals that are colourful since they always say: You always eat with your eyes first. Mel and I enjoy plating most of our meals prior to eating, picture or no picture. There's nothing like sitting down, visually enjoying your culinary creation, and then emptying your plate. Hopefully some of our recipe-less posts will inspire you to reach into your inner chef (we all have one!) and create food on the spot that is delicious yet nutritious. Happy Friday everyone!

 

♥B

Health Nut

I've been into a super healthy eating phase as of the past few weeks, mostly thanks to Mel :) She's been a great motivator in helping me eat well since she's a health nut too! It feels really good to munch on things that are beneficial for my body, and lately I've been discovering a lot of nutritious and yummy food! Not only that, but eating healthy is surprisingly cost efficient. I went grocery shopping today, and was happy to come back with mostly vegetables and fruits rather than my usual chips and chocolate. Here's a portion of what I bought today!

Yes, it's just a bunch of fruits, yogurt, bread and what looks like dog food (as hubs says). But it's more than that. For each of these products, there are endless nutritional benefits stuffed in every surface. They are known to reduce heart problems, increase your body's immune system, as well as rid your body of unnecessary gunk.

Now, I know that pink bag sort of looks like a bag of dog food but it's actually cereal - Whole Grain Wheat Biscuit Cereal. It comes in a bag because the company strongly believes in reducing its environmental footprint by entirely eliminating the oh-so-traditional cereal box. Instead, it comes in a nicely packaged and resealable bag! How nice!

Anyway, when it comes to eating healthy, there is nothing more important than making sure that you're not eliminating any food groups from your diet. You should still be having a balanced portion of each of the 4 food groups (click here to see food guide) and ensure that you are having the correct portions. Enjoy your food!

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Nothing like having breakfast with a view like this...

view from my kitchen/dining area 

♥B

Currently Eating..

Warning: This post just might make you hungry!

It should be obvious that we absolutely lovelovelove food. We love to eat it, cook it, look at it, take pictures of it, you name it! FOOD = LOVE. Here's a little peak at what was on today's menu. Enjoy!

Brunch

Avocado, Garlic Mushroom, Seasoned Chicken Breast, Swiss Cheese Melt opened face sandwich w/ a refreshing Avocado Salad on the side

Dinner

Lemon & Pepper Salmon, Garlic Zucchini, and Butternut Squash

♥M

Monday Mornings

Avocado Garlic Mushroom Grilled Cheeeeeese + Tomato Soup

Today I thought I'd have a jazzed up grilled cheese sandwich with some of my favourites - avocado and mushrooms sauteed in garlic and butter. Also, what compliments a grilled cheese more than tomato soup? Of course, I had to jazz up the soup as well simply by adding a pinch of cayenne and basil. BAM! Absolutely delish! Look for the recipe below:

You'll need:

Avocado
Mushroom
Garlic
Cheese (your choice of cheese, I used Chedder)

Bread

Butter - the magic ingredient to any food!

Chop or mince the garlic to a size of your liking (depending on whether or not you want to remove it from the mushroom after). Sautee the garlic, sliced mushrooms, tsp of butter in a pan till the mushrooms are half way cooked. Butter the outsides of your bread. Assemble your sandwich with a slice of cheese, thinly sliced avocado, and pre-cooked mushrooms! Place in pan and grill away~ This is a fun and easy meal to make. Dress your sandwich up or dress it down just the way you like it! ;)

Ps. Good Morning Belle! I hope you are feeling better. :)

♥M

Chicken Caesar Salad

Ingredients:

bacon bits

cucumbers

grape tomatoes

red onion

spinach

romaine lettuce

mozzarella cheese

grilled chicken

homemade caesar dressing

Instructions: Add each ingredient to your liking. Enjoy!

 

♥B