Wednesday 8 January 2014

Portuguese Caldo Verde Soup

The cold weather just brings out the soup in me, this is one of my all time favourite soups and growing up a bowl before any meal was just what the doctor ordered. The family household was always a buzz awaiting the final moments of this fine soup. This soup was always made for any special occasion or holidays and you could be sure that a many western european wedding would kick off all that wonderful soup with the Portuguese Caldo Verde or Collard / Kale soup as it goes by in English.

You can make this soup with either collard or kale, I prefer collard for the soup but which ever you can find at your local grocery store is fine. The smoked sausage that you can pick up at your local butcher adds just the right taste to the soup depending on your palette you can choose the spicy or mild version to add. You will need an immersion blender to puree the soup at one point in the cooking, make sure you have a hand held one it makes it that much more easier.

Inspired by Family

MORE SOUP RECIPES
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MACARONI VEGETABLE SOUP
PORTUGUESE CALDO VERDE SOUP
EUROPEAN EGG DROP SOUP
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Portuguese Caldo Verde Soup Recipe
Servings: 8  Prep Time: 15 minutes  Cook Time: 40 minutes

Caldo Verde Soup

Ingredients

Sunday 5 January 2014

Delicious Beef Stew

As the cold continues to increase this winter, nothing hits the spot better then something warm and rich like a stew. I remember growing up and getting home from school on a cold winter day and was always excited when my family had a stew cooking on the stove top. The wonderful smell had my mouth watering waiting for it to be complete and in my stomach. A good beef stew is not only filling but rich in vegetables and sauce that you need to make sure to have some bread to dip into it, don't let any of it go to waste.

Stewing beef is required for this type of stew and it is relatively inexpensive compared to other cuts of meat, you can choose to use any vegetables you like, add the ones that you enjoy to the beef stew and take out the ones that you don't like. A beef stew seasoning mix will cut some work out and speed up the meal somewhat from its long cooking time. Make sure you are using a large pot, a 5qt pot works best to make the stew as their are quite a bit of servings and the great part is that the stew tastes better and better as you reheat and eat.

Inspired by Clubhouse

MORE BEEF RECIPES
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EASY STEAK SANDWICH
SLOPPY BACHELOR BURGER
YUMMY HOMEMADE MEATBALLS
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Delicious Beef Stew Recipe
Servings: 8  Prep Time: 15 minutes  Cook Time: 120 minutes

Beef Stew Recipe

Ingredients

Wednesday 1 January 2014

Classic Bacon and Egg Sandwich

Waking up has its perks even though some of us would like to stay in bed, but the smell of a good breakfast always seems to perk me up in the morning. We always seem to not have the time to make ourselves a tasty breakfast but this quick classic sandwich, not only has your taste buds watering but it hits the spot and gets your day off to a great start. Growing up I always enjoyed my bacon and eggs when I wasn't woofing down a peanut butter sandwich on the run and why not combine the two of them together in a sandwich.

The cool part about this recipe is that you can use any type of bacon that you may like and make the eggs any way you like. I've chosen to go with scrambled eggs but sunny side up, over easy and even poached works well here. I have used natural select bacon because I like to know what the ingredients are in my bacon. What I would recommend is that you choose a kaiser bun over any other choice of bread, its bigger and will fit all these delicious ingredients, make it whole grain if you can and the cheese should be provolone, havarti or swiss.

Inspired by Eggs.ca

MORE BREAKFAST RECIPES
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MINI BLUEBERRY AND GRAPE PANCAKES
NORTHERN OMELETTE WITH SPINACH AND CHEESE
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Classic Bacon and Egg Sandwich Recipe
Servings: 1  Prep Time 5 minutes  Cook Time: 10 minutes

Bacon and Egg Sandwich

Ingredients

Friday 27 December 2013

Macaroni Vegetable Soup

As the winter enters our lives, I typically go into soup mode. I love my soups and a variety of them, nothing goes better on a cold winter day then a hearty soup to warm you up. Growing up my family always made sure to have a pot of soup on the stove during this time of year, I would normally go with a big bowl of soup and that would be my meal throughout the day but for others you may want to try a small soup and a sandwich.

Vegetables are a part of any soup and you can add as many as you like but to get the soup to be more hearty you have to add a pasta to the mix, macaroni goes well with this dish but you can use small tube pasta or bow tie pasta in place of the macaroni for those that may not like it. A broth is always part of any soup and my choice of broth here was chicken but vegetable can go just as good.

Inspired by Family

MORE SOUP RECIPES
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PORTUGUESE CALDO VERDE SOUP
EUROPEAN EGG DROP SOUP
SWEET POTATO, CARROT AND CORIANDER SOUP
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Macaroni Vegetable Soup Recipe
Servings: 6  Prep Time: 10 minutes  Cook Time: 25 minutes

Macaroni Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

Tuesday 10 December 2013

Quinoa Thai Tuna

I can't say enough about how I enjoy trying new foods especially when the food is a healthy choice like Quinoa, now quinoa is a grain like crop which is closely related to spinach, this would explain it's high protein and best of all it lacks gluten. The quinoa seeds are generally cooked like rice and it has been labeled by some as a super food not only high in protein but also fiber, magnesium, iron and calcium.

I looked around to find some foods that I would enjoy with the quinoa and with my taste leaning towards fish, tuna seemed like the best choice after some research but not just any kind of tuna, canned tuna with spicy thai chili flavouring. The quinoa will stick to the tuna and some fruit and vegetables added will give you an added boost of flavour and have your taste buds quite content.

Inspired by Cloverleaf Recipes 

MORE FISH RECIPES
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BROILED SALMON WITH MARMALADE GLAZE
SAVOURY SHRIMP FRIED RICE
BAKED TILAPIA WITH GARLIC BUTTER MIX
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Quinoa Thai Tuna Recipe
Servings: 2  Prep Time: 5 minutes  Cook Time: 10 minutes


Ingredients

Sunday 1 December 2013

Steam to Skillet Vegetables

I like to keep experimenting with a healthy side, growing up I didn't enjoy my vegetables as much as I should have or do now, besides carrots, onions, lettuce and cucumbers. Those where as far as my vegetables got at a young age. I slowly started to incorporate vegetables more and more as my teen years progressed and my young adult years. The health benefits of vegetables are great and none are better the broccoli.

This green plant is high in Vitamin C and dietary fiber, it is rich in lutein and is great for the human immune response system which boosts DNA repair. What you need to remember is that broccoli is best steamed or stir fried, boiling broccoli will reduce all the health benefits you would get from this great vegetable. I like to add a variety of vegetables to go along with broccoli, carrots are normally my companion choice but you can add any vegetable that you enjoy.

Inspired by Family

MORE SIDE DISH RECIPES
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SPICY HOMEMADE FRIES
MUSHROOMS SAUTEED WITH GARLIC
HOMEMADE MASH POTATOES
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Steam to Skillet Vegetables Recipe
Servings: 2  Prep Time: 2 minutes  Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Steamed Vegetables

Ingredients