A well stocked pantry (and fridge and freezer) is a beautiful thing

With a new baby arriving any day now my thoughts are turning to those first few weeks of complete and utter chaos as the fam adjusts to the new regime. With both our girls I prepared for the exhaustion by cooking like a woman possessed during those blessed weeks of nesting. I seriously went crazy. I would cook from 9am until 1am and then cry about the dishes. I've been so busy this go around though that I haven't had a chance. Instead I'm stocking my pantry with all the staples so that making dinner will be easy and fast without needing to run to the grocery store cause I'm missing 1 or 2 things for a recipe, annoying!

I try to keep a well stocked pantry year round regardless of the state of my womb. Inspiration hits me often and I don't like to wait to try out a new recipe or invent something on the fly. I buy a lot of items on sale and really stock up, like when the grocery store has pasta on for 99¢ a bag or cases of soup for 1/2 price (Canada doesn't have the amazing coupon deals the US has, I be jealous), this saves a ton of money in the long run.

With school about to start up again this is also a great way to prepare for that big readjustment. School and activities can leave a lot of parents struggling with what to make for dinner in the 15 minutes before they have to race out the door again, having everything at your fingertips can ease the strain a bit!

I've compiled a list of items I always keep on hand for anyone who would like to keep their kitchen well stocked:

Pantry
Extra virgin olive oil
Canola/Vegetable oil
Cooking spray
Chicken, Beef and Veggie broth in tetra packs
Canned Tomatoes
Canned Tomato Sauce
Canned beans
Canned soups (Cream of Mushroom, Tomato & Cream of Celery)
Dried pasta (in many shapes)
Rice
Oats
Worcestershire sauce
Mustard
Ketchup
Pickles
Olives
Nuts
BBQ Sauce

Dried Herbs and Spices
Bay leaves
Cayenne pepper
Cinnamon
Garlic powder
Onion Powder
Whole Nutmeg
Oregano
Thyme
Sea Salt
Kosher salt
Smoked Paprika
Italian Seasoning
Steak Seasoning
Vanilla Beans

Baking
Baking powder
Baking soda
Brown sugar
Granulated sugar
Powdered Sugar
Cornstarch
White flour
Whole wheat flour
Chocolate (Chips, Squares, Chunks)
Unsweetened cocoa powder
Honey
Pure Vanilla Extract
Fat Free Pudding Mix

In the Fridge
Low fat milk
Homogenized Milk
Whipped Cream
Half & Half
Yogurt
Eggs
Cheeses
Ranch Dressing
Italian Dressing
Unsalted Butter

In the Freezer
Frozen veggies (peas, corn, broccoli, etc.)
Frozen fruits (berries, pineapple, mango, etc.)
Frozen Pizza Dough Balls
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (I get mine at M&M Meatshops, cheap!)

Fresh
Garlic
Onions
Lemons
Potatoes
Peppers (of every colour)
Green Onions
Mushrooms
Pita Bread
Naan Bread

Breakfast Drawer*
Bread
Peanut Butter
Nutella
Honey
Cinnamon Sugar Mix
English Muffins
Cereal
Oatmeal


*The Breakfast Drawer

I mentioned my Breakfast Drawer on Twitter a while back and got a lot of response on it. Everyone wanted to know WHAT it was. The Breakfast Drawer is a pot drawer in my kitchen island that has everything related to breakfast in it. I keep the bread, toaster, peanut butter, Nutella, honey, cereal, oatmeal, etc... in there. Why? Well, I have this great wish that when my kids are old enough to wake up on Saturday mornings and come down without waking us up, they can easily get themselves a bowl of cereal or some toast cause everything is all together and completely accessible to them (I keep their plastic plates and cutlery in the drawer right above the Breakfast Drawer). I like having the toaster in there cause it keeps it off the counter freeing up space and keeping the kitchen less cluttered looking. It sits on a cookie sheet to catch crumbs making it easier to keep the drawer neat and clean.

Chocolate Cavity Maker Cake

I have no idea know what to write here. I seriously contemplated just letting the name of this cake speak for itself. Chocolate. Cavity. Maker. Cake. 'Nuff said? No? Okay.

I was puttering around online looking for a dessert to make to take my mind off my husband painting the nursery. I'm the painter in the family but my husband has banned me from paint fumes and any sort of physical activity greater than making dinner (thinks with his stomach!) so as not to go into premature labour. I hate not being in charge of this project, especially considering he's never really painted anything and I keep hearing things like "I suck at this." and "Oh crap!" coming from upstairs. I was going insane. So I thought baking was the way to distract myself. I was considering a recipe when I started reading the reviews and the name of another recipe jumped off the screen like it was on fire. Chocolate Cavity Maker Cake. I couldn't Google fast enough. I swear, the 2.3 seconds it took to do the search felt like 35 years. And there it was, in all it's perfectly simple, fudgey, delicious glory. I got excited and hit the print button about 7 times and ran to the store (okay, I drove, it's far) and was making this cake about 17 minutes later.

I have never had such a moist and fudgey cake. It is rich without being TOO sweet and has just the right amount of chocolate to make you weep. It doesn't need icing, a light dusting of powdered sugar, some whipped cream or some ice cream compliment this cake wonderfully.

Give it a try. You'll thank me later when you come out of your chocolate coma!

Look at how moist that is!

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Chocolate Cavity Maker Cake from allrecipes.com

1 (18.25 ounce) package dark chocolate cake mix
1 (3.9 ounce) package instant chocolate pudding mix
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
3 eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup coffee flavored liqueur
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F . Grease and flour a 10" Bundt pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, pudding mix, sour cream, eggs, oil and coffee liqueur. Beat until ingredients are well blended.
3. Fold in chocolate chips. Batter will be thick. Spoon into prepared pan.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour, or until cake springs back when lightly tapped.
5. Cool 10 minutes in pan, then turn out and cool completely on wire rack.

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enjoy!

Meal Plan for August 16-22

I've been slacking off in the meal plan posting. It's been a crazy, hectic summer. Trips to my parent's, the zoo, visitors at our house, preparing for baby and the heat... omg the heat! But I realized I need to get back in the habit for two reasons, 1. Juniour is going to through us off course for a while so until we get our family routine re-established I need to be organized wherever I can be; and 2. my oldest starts school in the fall and I want to plan some great lunch and dinner (leftovers for lunch!) ideas ahead of time and try them out to see what she'll eat!

Here is this week's plan. It's pretty basic, my husband has the next 10 days off and in that time we need to paint the nursery, paint the furniture we bought for my youngest daughter's room, move furniture into the nursery, and get ready with little things like packing the hospital bag and whatnot. I needed a week where dinner was a no-brainer.

download the PDF

Meals

Mac & Cheese - done on stove top: macaroni, velveeta, diced tomatoes from the garden... c'est tout!
Steak & Potatoes
Tacos & Mexican Rice - cheating on this one and buying a kit. Thank you Old El Paso!
Chicken Parmigiana
Meatballs & Mashed - frozen italian meatballs simmered in BBQ sauce with mashed potatoes
Pork Tenderloin & Rice
Roast Beef with Roasted Potatoes & Carrots - crockpot cooking at it's best!

enjoy!

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

I love home cooked "Sunday" meals. Especially when they don't just have to be made on Sundays. There are a lot of ways to speed up and simplify recipes to make them accessible during the week without resorting to buying frozen lasagnas (shudder) from the grocery store.

This recipe is one of my faves. My husband's too... he's a cream sauce fiend! However, heavy cream is no longer his friend. So I make my cream sauce with acan of good ol' reduced fat cream of mushroom soup. Yes, I said soup! From a can! Get over it! It's yummy. Simply by adding a few ingredients and spices to that can you can make a yummy sauce that would be great on beef, chicken or pork. Easy right? I'm all about easy. (That didn't come out the way it sounded in my head...)

Pair this pork tenderloing and sauce with your favourite rice *cough*Uncle Ben's*cough* and you can have Sunday Taste on Tuesday Time.

Rub the tenderloin with seasoned salt and garlic powder. Give it a good massage. Then heat 2 tsp oil in a frying pan and add the meat. Brown on all sides.

Place on a baking sheet. I like to use a digital thermometer when cooking this cause nothing ruins a tenderloin faster than 5 minutes of over-cooking. You want to pull it out of the over when it reaches 165˚F. I know it says done is 170˚F but trust me, 165 is what you're looking for.

In the frying pan you seared the tenderloin in, add a wee bit more oil and brown some diced onion and mushrooms. If you prefer sliced mushrooms go for it, I like the look of the diced.

Add 2 minced garlic cloves. Mmmm garlic. Throw in a bit more garlic powder and seasoned salt too, just a smidge.

Next add your can of soup. Add 1/2 can of water as well. You want to think it out a bit but not too much, you want it thick & creamy. Turn it down to low and let it simmer while the tenderloin is doing it's thing.

When the temperature reads 165˚F take the tenderloin out of the oven and loosely wrap it in tin foil. This is where the trust comes in. It will continue to cook those last 5˚s, and by allowing the meat to rest for 10-15 minutes it will re-distribute all the juices back into the tenderloin so you have a super tender, juicy roast without losing all the juices all over the cutting board when you slice this bad boy.

Slice the tenderloin and plate topped with the mushroom sauce and your favourite rice, or potatoes, or whatever else strikes your fancy!

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Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Creamy Mushroom Sauce

1 pork tenderloin (there is enough sauce for 2 tenderloins , I only do 1 cause hubs is a sauce hog)

2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp seasoned salt
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 1/2 c mushrooms, diced or sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 can cream of mushroom soup, I use reduced fat
1/2 can of water

Instructions:

1. Rub the tenderloin with the seasoned salt and garlic powder.
2. Heat 2 tsp oil in a frying pan and add the meat. Brown on all sides.
3. Place on a baking sheet. Roast at 350˚F until internal temperature reaches 165˚F.
4. In the frying pan you seared the tenderloin in, add a wee bit more oil and brown the onion and mushrooms.
5. Add the minced garlic and a bit more garlic powder and seasoned salt to taste.
6. Add the can of soup and 1/2 can of water. Stir to combine. Turn the sauce down to low and let it simmer.
7. When the internal temperature of the tenderloin reads 165˚F take it out of the oven and loosely wrap it in tin foil allowing the meat to rest for 10-15 minutes.
8. Slice the tenderloin and plate topped with the mushroom sauce and your favourite rice, or potatoes.

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enjoy!

Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cheesecake Frosting

This has been one crazy summer. We've traveled, done some home renos, had visitors and are trying to get ready for our little man's arrival. The heat has been killer too. Figures I'd be pregnant during the hottest summer we've had in a few years. All this has led me to be neglectful of my beloved blog! (and my sweet tooth) But being pregnant has it's advantages, like cravings stronger than the 30+˚C weather. Last night my hormones said "Heat wave be damned, we want cupcakes!" So cupcakes were made. I had a strong desire for chocolate and peanut butter so I went looking for a peanut butter frosting.

I found a cream cheese frosting recipe at allrecipes.com and threw some peanut butter and extra icing sugar in and it was yummy. The reason I call it cheesecake frosting is because of the strong cream cheese taste to the frosting, it's more like cheesecake than cream cheese icing. The heat made it a bit soft, but it was silky and smooth and made my boxed mix cupcakes taste like the I-spent-30-minutes-baking-from-scratch-even-though-I'm-sweating-like-a-pig-cause-I-love-my-family kind. Pair these up with some ICE cold milk and you've got one tasty little chocolate peanut butter treat!
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Double Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cheesecake Frosting adapted from allrecipes.com

cupcake:

1 box Devil's Food cake mix (I used Betty Crocker, I love Betty)
eggs, oil and water as per your brand's instructions
1/2 c. chocolate chips

frosting:

1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. icing sugar

Instructions:

1. Prepare your cake mix as per your brand's instructions adding chocolate chips into the batter and bake cupcakes until cooked through.
2. Remove from oven and cool completely.
3. Beat cream cheese, butter, vanilla and peanut butter until smooth.
4. Slowly mix is icing sugar until thoroughly combined.
5. Pipe or spread onto cupcakes and enjoy!

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enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Coffee Muffins with Cinnamon Toffee Crunch Streusel

I think I've become a guinea pig. My friend Michelle has been emailing me recipes for the past few months. I assume she wants me to try them out before she gives them a whirl. Luckily, she has good taste and most of what she sends me has me wiping drool of my iMac screen.

I've been meaning to whip up these muffins for a while now but with the heat wave we've been having turning to oven on hasn't been a good idea. The heat broke yesterday and today I finally got a chance to make them!

They incorporate a lot of my very favourite ingredients, coffee, chocolate, brown sugar, cinnamon and now, toffee. The original recipe didn't have toffee in the streusel but as I was mixing it I couldn't help myself and threw some in!

These are going to go perfectly with my Iced Coffee tomorrow morning for breakfast... and as a mid-afternoon snack... and as dessert... oi, there goes the scale again!

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Chocolate Chip Coffee Muffins with Cinnamon Toffee Crunch Steusel *Adapted from www.robinhood.ca

Topping
1/3 c brown sugar, packed
1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
¼ tsp cinnamon
1/4 c toffee bits

Batter
2 ½ c all purpose flour
2 tbsp instant coffee powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
1 c buttermilk
3/4 c brown sugar, packed
1/3 c vegetable or canola Oil
1 egg
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF (190ºC). Grease a 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper liners.
2. Topping: combine brown sugar, cocoa, cinnamon and toffee bits in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Muffins: combine flour, instant coffee powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, brown sugar, oil and egg.
5. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients and add in chocolate chips.
6. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pan.
7. Sprinkle muffins with reserved topping.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.

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enjoy!

Baked Gnocchi

We're in the middle of one heck of a heat wave. 38-40˚C (that's 100.4-104˚F for my American readers) everyday now for a week. The humidity is wilting, the heat, oppressive. Thankfully my darling husband, foreseeing me being super uncomfortable this summer should the temperature skyrocket (I'm in my 3rd trimester now), bought me central air 3 weeks ago. He really does love me. So I've been coping with the heat fairly well. But the temperature certainly changes how we eat. As it gets hotter you tend to want to eat lighter. Simple salads and cold dishes tend to be what we all crave when the mercury rises... unless you're a pregnant gal and you have A/C. Then you want crazy things like baked pastas.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I've been trying to cook better for my hubby, really watching every single ingredient I cook with for cholesterol, sodium and fat. I love Gnocchi, as does he, so when I found myself craving pasta this week I headed to the refrigerated section of the grocery store (it's too hot to make gnocchi from scratch!) and picked up a package of gnocchi to read the label. 0 mg cholesterol, low in sodium, low in fat, low in calories... I was thrilled!

In 40˚ weather I made my Baked Gnocchi. I'm crazy, I know. But really it's quite a light dish (as gnocchi goes) and served with a generous side salad we felt satisfied and not like we had eaten a big heavy meal. You could certainly just make this stove top and not turn on your oven, or "bake" it on your BBQ, any way you choose to make it I hope you give it a try cause it's incredibly tasty!

Look at all those Bocconcini pearls. Little balls of cheesy goodness.

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Baked Gnocchi

2 pkgs of premade Gnocchi (I use Maestro but any will do)
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 14oz can of diced tomatoes
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
5 fresh basil leaves, jullienned
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
1 500ml container Bocconcini Pearls*
2 c baby spinach
1/4 c shaved parmesan cheese

Instructions:

1. In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil and add the onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent.
2. Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning and salt & pepper. Continue to simmer over med-low heat while you cook the gnocchi.
3. Bring a pot of salted water to boil and add the gnocchi. Cook just until the gnocchi rise to the surface of the water and drain immediately.
4. Add the gnocchi, bocconcini and spinach to the tomato sauce and stir to incorporate. (you can continue on the stove top here if you wish heating over low until the bocconcini pearls melt.)
5. Pour pasta into a greased (Pam) casserole dish and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.
6. Bake at 350˚F for 20 minutes or until the bocconcini melts.
7. Serve alongside a salad for a light and healthy meal!

* If you're unfamiliar with Bocconcini it's just small balls of fresh mozzarella. I've tried using shredded mozzarella and the larger Baby Bocconcini but I find the pearls to be best because they don't overpower the gnocchi or make it too chewy. Bocconcini Pearls can be found in the deli section with the other specialty cheeses.

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enjoy!

Big Changes at the Best Mom House

If you follow my blog you know I love food. I love chocolate, butter, cheese, peanut butter... you get the picture. My family eats well. I offer a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, meats and pastas. I try to keep it as healthy as I can but when a recipe calls for a cup of butter I don't shy away.

My wonderful husband had a physical for the first time in years (since I met him I think!) and his blood work came back with bad news. He has really high cholesterol. High enough that our doctor wanted him on Crestor® immediately. I felt terrible. Did I do this to my husband? Did I force him onto a medication that he has to take for the rest of his life so that his arteries don't block, so that he doesn't develop heart disease, so that he doesn't die of a massive heart attack or stroke? Turns out high cholesterol is hereditary and his mom had it, but what I was doing in the kitchen certainly didn't help.

This is why I've been MIA from posting for the past few weeks. As soon as we got the call I was online researching what he couldn't have anymore and what foods would help his medication reverse the damage we'd done to his arteries. All his favourites had to go: chips, peanuts, bologna, butter, hot dogs; others we had to cut way back on: red meat, cheese; and some we were able to find substitutions for that he found to be just as good: switching from 2% milk to 1%, almonds instead of peanuts. I've become a pro at reading labels, scouring the contents for the amounts of cholesterol, calories, fat and the biggie, sodium. I've incorporated cranberry, flax seed and pomegranate into his everyday diet. His daily veggie/fruit intake has quadrupled. And the best part: our whole family is eating better.

I know what you're thinking... "oh no! This blog is going all health nut!". Not quite. My dear husband is not a dessert guy, opting to have seconds instead of cake since he was a kid. So desserts were never an issue (except for cookie dough, the guy can eat a whole bowl of it!) so desserts are staying! Also, I plan to work a monthly "treat" food into our dinner rotation once we get the okay that his numbers have come down. Something that might be a bit decadent, like something made with real butter perhaps. But for the most part I'll be making meals that are good for you AND extremely tasty!

I hope you take this opportunity to follow along and make some changes in your family as well so that one day you don't get a call like we got, or worse. Happy healthy eating!

Coconut Rum Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I have been a busy, busy girl lately! On top of being a wife, mother and domestic goddess (and oh yeah, pregnant!) I'm also a graphic designer. This summer has found me loaded with jobs. Baking has been pushed aside for more pressing chores like wedding invitations for excited brides. But the hormones haven't stopped making me crave baked goods so I've had to become stealthy in the kitchen. It's all about fast and easy these days... but also tasty!

I bought a pineapple on sale with the idea that my girls would gobble up it's juicy goodness, but I was sadly mistaken. They did eat some, but at the rate they were going it would have been mush before they finished it. So I needed to use it and FAST. I would have eaten it as is but the heartburn would have killed me! So I thought back to my childhood (ahhhh nostalgia) and remembered fondly my grandma's pineapple upside down cake. It was sweet and moist and so delish.

I'm still craving coconut, and pineapple and coconut go so perfectly together. Just thinking about it made my mind wander to tropical drinks by the pool... wait, tropical drinks... coconut rum! Yes! A little rum in the cake, even when pregnant (because the little bit of alcohol would be negligible after baking and spread throughout an entire cake), would be awesome thought I. And I made it so.

This cake is super easy and tastes like a vacation in your mouth! Using a boxed cake mix cuts wayyyy down on prep time so this cake is perfect for last minute BBQs or satisfying pregnant lady cravings!

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Coconut Rum Pineapple Upside Down Cake

1 vanilla cake mix
eggs
oil
water
1/4 c. coconut rum
2 tbsp butter
1/4 c. brown sugar
2 c. pineapple, diced (if using canned, drain & discard the juice)
1/2 c. coconut, toasted

Instructions:

1. Prepare your cake mix as per your brand's instructions substituting 1/4 c. of rum for 1/4 c. of the water.
2. Dot the butter around the bottom of a 8" x 8" pan and sprinkle with the brown sugar.
3. Spread the pineapple over the brown sugar & butter in an even layer.
4. Cover with the cake batter and bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
5. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then place a plate or platter over top the cake pan and invert to release the cake.
6. Sprinkle with the toasted coconut and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

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enjoy!

The Gourmet Pregnancy - Giveaway Winner!

And the winner is.... *drumroll*....



Congratulations Michelle! Your cookbook is on it's way!