Spooky Party!

 Happy belated Halloween everyone!! Hope it was spooky, scary and full of chocolate!!! Did you dress up? I did- I was a cute clown! I went to two parties this past weekend and the one on Sunday night had some really spooky, original and delicious recipes. I just had to share! See links for recipes!

Benita and I on Saturday night!

Halloween Brain Dip

Cheddar Eyeballs 

Peanut Butter Cup Brownie Cupcakes (Yeah I know... DELICIOUS!)

 Pumpkin Honey Bread 
I really liked this bread, the honey made it different than standard pumpkin bread.
Also, real fresh pumpkin was used instead of the canned stuff! Hardcore!!

Halloween Quesadilla  
Loved this: Sweet potato and black beans in a quesadilla? Yes please!!

Snack spread!

Other recipes sans photo:

Cookie Bones

Root Beer Pulled Pork Sandwiches

While these recipes may be Halloween themed, I would eat most of them year round!
Thanks to Adele for the great food and links!!

Oh my gosh! How time flies!

First, my apologies for my latest hiatus with my blog. I was on a roll there for awhile, updating Chomp! every couple days. And then, well.... life happened I guess? Perhaps most importantly, I started a brand new job as a Guide Coordinator at the Legislative Assembly Office. But I've had trouble making a nightly routine of any kind. On top of that, my food hasn't been very exciting... or I should say, its diffferent from when I was a student. Often I come home from work and just throw things together when I have energy. i'm getting better now that I'm more used to the 9-5 thing!  I think I'll have a blog post soon about a week's worth of lunches- forcing me to be a little bit more creative!
Another thing that is keeping me more busy is that I joined the downtown YMCA and have been working out most nights of the week. I really love it there and am really happy to be back into an exercise routine. This blog`s main focus is food, but I will keep you updated on my workouts as well, since in my mind, they go hand in hand. Right now I`m back doing Rachel Cosgrove`s workout!

So, onto the food! This post is just to update everyone on some of my new favorite foods and products! Hopefully you will get some ideas of your own! I promise I'll have some recipes and restaurant reviews up soon though!

Liberte Greek Yogurt

Costco now has Greek yogurt! HOORAH!!! If you live here you know that this wait has been too long. haha. I've seen greek yogurt from time to time in grocery stores, but this particular brand is fantastic. Its 110 cals with 20 grams of protein (POW!) for 175g. That is some powerhouse nutrition baby. And with Costco offering it, you know you are getting a good deal! I really love it mixed with fruit and cereal and some honey to sweeten.



Hemp Milk

Ryan and I went to Bulk Barn last night and I discovered Hemp Milk! I've been using almond milk in my oatmeal and cereal for months now, but decided to try out hemp milk. I'm really excited and will let you know what I think. I feel like I'm going to enjoy it, since I already use hemp seeds in my yogurt and oatmeal from time to time. If you want to know more about the nutritional benefits of hemp, check out this link. (The quick 411 is that it is a vegetarian source of food high in protein, antioxidants, vitamins and this particular brand is organic, which makes it a great alternative to soy.)

Kamut Oatmeal
Also discovered this at Bulk Barn. Kamut is an ancient grain full of nutrients. I am most familiar with it in bread I often by from Breadland Organic Bakery in Oliver Square, so when I saw it in oatmeal form I GOT REALLY EXCITED! I had it for breakfast today in my typical oatmeal form (mixed in with fruit/pumpkin, cottage cheese and nut butter!) I love the large flakes and its sweet, nutty taste. I've never seen it in normal grocery stores, but keep your eyes peeled. Its a great alternative to the usual oatmeal! (Nutritional info here)

Eat Local First
My sister and I tried out this really cool service two weeks ago! Eat Local First is an online local food and product ordering service, which will then drop off your food in a cooler to your door. I have so many good things to say about it-- most importantly how many different local foods and products they have to offer. We got: extra lean ground beef, kale, mushrooms, tomatoes, bread and pears. Came to around $26. I think if you live in a house and are willing to spend just slightly more on your food in order to get the local fare, this is a fantastic option! (Especially in the winter!!) That being said, for me and my sister, it isn`t ideal. We live in a condo downtown, and had to go all the way to the north side to pick up our food, and only between noon and 7pm on Thursday. It was too much out of the way for us. I think from time to time I will use it though and hopefully the program will grow and offer more services, availability and products. Please check it out and support this awesome Edmonton business and local farmers and producers!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post. Once again I am sorry for not updating in such a long time. I was so surprised when people started to ask me where I had gone and what was going on. I realize I have readers and a responsibility to post on a regular basis- and I will try my very best to do this from now on, for both you guys and myself!
For now, keep fit and eat well! hehe. Chomp!

Fall= Pumpkin Bread

Hi everyone!
I just wanted to do a really quick post tonight, since I have work to do on the job hunt front!
A few days ago I purchased a giant can of pumpkin from the grocery store (as i usually do, this isn't outside of the normal, since i usually put pumpkin in my oatmeal. nom nom...)
Anyway, later that day, I was reading The Kitchen Magpie and she had a recipe for pumpkin bread...
I had all the ingredients, so I did just that, made pumpkin bread!
You can find the whole recipe here!

Here is a slice with some almond butter on top...

Turns out I didn't have a bread pan... so I used a big cake pan. 

It worked just fine!

Lots and lots of pumpkin loaf!

I made a few minor changes: I used slightly less oil and more applesauce. It was an easy recipe and possibly one of the best pumpkin loaf recipes I've made!

Enjoy and happy fall!

Project Food Blog Challenge #2- Vote today!

Hi everyone!

Just to let you know voting is now open for the second challenge. If you are involved in project food blog or voted last time, you know what to do already!
If  you have never voted, here is what you do:
go to www.foodbuzz.com
sign up to be part of foodbuzz (no big deal, just come up with a quick username and all that stuff!)
go to the Project Food Blog section- on the left hand side you will see Challenges--> The Classics (open)
Go there and scroll in alphabetical order until you find Chomp!
Click on the heart.

You just need to do that once while voting is open (until September 30th at 6pm Pacific time) .

Voting is very important, because without votes I won't move onto the next challenge!

Thank you for reading, commenting, supporting me and voting! I appreciate it, no matter how far I go in this competition!

Leslie :)

Jambalaya Baby!

Wine with witty wine charms

Hi Everyone! I hope you all are having a great weekend. The sun is finally shining over here in Edmonton, something it hasn't done nearly enough of here over the last 4 months...
Anyway, its time for the second challenge of the Project Food Blog Challenge. First of all, a BIG THANK YOU to EVERYONE, near and far, old and new, that VOTED FOR ME. It was really exciting for me, you have no idea!!
After finding out I had advanced, I got right on trying to figure out what I would make for the second challenge:
How well can you tackle a classic dish from another culture? We're bypassing the French and Italian standards in favor of more challenging cuisines.


Step One: I need to pick a culture... or a dish... that isn't French or Italian. Lucky for me, my dear friend Angela gave me her cookbook "Sunday's At Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant" (I've never been and had never heard of it before now... haha!) when she moved to Vancouver. PERFECT! It took  me like 2 hours to decide on Jambalaya. There are so many interesting and yummy recipes in the book, so it was actually really hard to narrow it down.

Jambalaya!

Why Jambalaya? Well, I am sort of familiar with it, compared to a lot of the other recipes in the book, such as pumpkin soup (i was tempted since they are in season!) or Chilaquiles from Mexico. My mother has made Jambalaya for us before and I've had it at restaurants. However, this recipe was vegetarian (traditionally it has shrimp, sausage or chicken) and it also had some new challenges for me (which I will explain as I write about making the jambalaya!) 
I also love the heat and flavor (both in the food and Creole culture!) so it seemed like a fantastic choice.


Getting all the ingredients seemed easy enough- tomatoes, peppers, garlic, onion, carrots, celery and OKRA.
Yes, the okra challenge! I have never cooked with okra, but its a given when making southern food... but yes, I don't live in the south. I live in the north. But I have seen okra in stores before, so I assumed I would get it fresh or frozen no problem.... LIES!! I went to my local Save-on for all my groceries... no okra... I went to Planet Organic with Benita... no okra... I sent Ryan on a mission to his local Superstore and Sobeys.... no okra... and Benita went to her local Safeway. Still no okra. 

What is a girl to do when a recipe calls for okra and there isn't any in the city? She uses eggplant! I have no idea how this impacted the dish (probably less gooey), but it was still tasty. I'd love to make it again properly someday... but anyway, back to the food challenge!

Me and my apron- mixing roux!

Helping hands! Ryan showing us pictures of Roux.

What else was challenging about this dish? the ROUX! I had never heard of roux before (thickening agent made of oil and flour)... but now I know why people tend to avoid it. Because you have to stir oil and flour on a hot pan for like 30 minutes to thicken it up. I think it worked... it thickened up, maybe not as much as it should have? I have no idea. I was lucky to have Benita stir for awhile too, which was nice after I had been stirring for like 25 mins! 

I invited Ryan, Benita, Jeremy and Lauren over for dinner. So happy to have them over! Lauren and Benita brought wine, Jeremy brought pita and humus (happy camel!!) and Ryan brought the especially important okra substitute of eggplant! We all really liked the Jambalaya. I served it over oh so delicous brown rice, and topped it with green onions and smoked cheddar (the cheese honestly made it so great. i was surprised.) yeah yeah jambalaya!


I am really happy to have completed the second challenge for a few reasons:

First: I am not one to follow recipes much and don't usually get out of my comfort zone (who does?) so this was great. Now I know how to make roux and know that okra isn't in season right now (according to Wikianswers its in season December-March, so I'll have to look for it in the winter!)

Benita helped stir the roux so I could focus on the rest of the recipe. Thanks B!

Second: I got to spend time with friends. It was lovely and something I really needed. I feel like because I made a recipe out of Angela's cookbook, she was there with us (and we all love and miss you! Thank you for bringing me this recipe!)

Group shot! (Sorry Ryan!)

Third: I wore my apron, used my table and place mats... I never use those things enough!


Fourth: Leftovers for me while I edit my thesis like a madwoman on my Sunday afternoon.

Served over brown rice and topped with smoked cheddar and green onions.
Shiraz to drink.

For dessert: homemade apple crisp! (that isn't part of the challenge, it is just yummy! haha.)

Thanks so much for reading. I hope this makes you want some delicious Creole Jambalaya in your life (vegetarian or not!) 
Voting starts Monday, so if you like what you read/saw/imagine you smelled, then please vote!
Regardless, this has been great fun!


Cheers!
Leslie :)

Playing Catch Up!

I have been pretty busy these past few days... finishing up my thesis (very minor edits left at this point that will be done over the next day or two), job searches and one interview (woo hoo!) and watching the food show Supersizers Go with Ryan... We are going to have a 70s food party FYI, prepare yourself, because it is going to be disgusting. haha

Anyway, I've also had some great food over the past few days! 

First off: Boyfriend Bruchetta Sandwiches!

Bruchetta! Make it however you like. Ryan and I are big fans of garlic, so there is a lot of that. We also enjoy some red onion for extra kick!

Sandwich: bake a chicken breast in oven at 375 with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic.

Split in half for two sandwiches.

Whole Wheat Roll toasted with a slice a mozza. Top Roll with chicken and lots of bruchetta. 

And ENJOY!

I also got a brand new Slow Cooker  Collection Cookbook from my mom the other day. Its made by Canadian Living and actually has a lot of great recipes. I made their Chickpea Ratatouille and was pleasantly surprised.

You probably noticed its not in a slow cooker. The recipe ended up being too big for my slow cooker, so i ended up cooking it on the stove. still turned out great!
In it:
Eggplant
onion
1 can tomatoes
tomato paste
2 peppers, one red and one yellow
2 zucchini
1 can chickpeas
salt
pepper
garlic
oregano
basil

Healthy and delicious!
Paired with a Barefoot Cabernet Sauvignon.

Like I said, it made A LOT, so I had this again the next day and froze the rest for when I have a busy day and no time to make dinner!

Finally, inspired by the black bean chili I made the other day:

This was simple and proof you can make dinner in under 10 minutes that isn't fast food or toast!

In a pan with some cooking oil:

Mushrooms, green beans, yellow pepper, black beans, corn (fresh), salsa (about 1/3 cup), salt and pepper, spinach.

Top with cheese and some chips!

IT WAS FANTASTIC!

Hope these meals inspire you to make dinner tonight!

Thanks for reading :)

Thank you!

Thanks to everyone that has voted for my blog to go onto the second challenge of Project Food Blog! I really appreciate it and promise to keep blogging away. More so because after today (?) or tomorrow (?) or SOON (haha oh my goodness) I will be done my thesis! And will have internet again! I'm in my neighbourhood Starbucks once again! woo hoo!
Anyway, if you haven't voted yet and want to, you still have time for this round! 1 more day to vote!
If you didn't get in on this round and I make it to the next, no worries! You will be able to vote then!

Thanks again!
Back to work for me!
Leslie :)