Cat Can Cook

This is just as good as the real Dairy Queen treat, and very easy to whip together in minutes. It’s a great treat to take to a family picnic, barbeque, or make it for your family, and re-freeze leftovers, until you’ve gobbled it up!  Trust me, it won’t take long )

Peanut Buster Parfait

1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Wafers (crushed)

1/2 Cup Melted Butter or Margarine

Mix together and press into a 9×13 pan.  Spread 2 Litres of Vanilla Ice Cream (softened) evenly over crust, then spread 1 1/2 cups Spanish Peanuts over ice cream.  Press in and freeze.

Then, melt 1 Cup chocolate chips, 1/2 Cup Butter, 2/3 Cup Icing Sugar and 1 1/2 Cups Evaporated Milk. Bring to a low boil, and simmer for 8 minutes (careful it doesn’t burn) Cool, and spread on the top of dessert.  Freeze! Enjoy!

Got milk? Chocolate milk that is…well, add a banana, and ice, and you have the makings of a great-tasting shake/smoothie! Kids LOVE this sweet and nutritious drink too!

Simple 3 Ingredient Chocolate Monkey Recipe

1 1/2 Cups Chocolate Milk (or Chocolate Soy, Almond…etc.) If you prefer

1 Banana

1 Cup Ice Cubes

In blender, combine all ingredients, and blend well until completely smooth.  Pour into a fancy glass, put your feet up, and enjoy a healthy dose of potassium and calcium If you like, you can also add in some protien or vitamin powder, to make your own “booster” shake! Enjoy!

This is yet another yummy, and fast recipe from my kitchen. They are really good also with some salad (or shredded lettuce) either inside the wrap, or on the side! Either way, this recipe has a lot of garlic – so best not to serve on date night

Beef Burritos

1 Pound of either Ground Beef or Chicken

1 Medium Onion, Chopped fine

4 Cloves garlic, Minced

1 Cup Tomato/Spaghetti Sauce

4-6 Large Wraps (depending on if you want one or two)

Toppings (optional – just use the ones you like best:)

Guacamole: 1 Ripe Avacado, mashed, 1 TBSP Mayonnaise, 1 tsp Lime Juice and 3 Cloves garlic (all mixed together)

Grated Cheese

Sour Cream

Shredded Lettuce

Brown meat over medium heat along with chopped onion and garlic.  Once fully cooked, add in tomato sauce, and heat through. Divide meat mixture between wraps, and then add desired toppings. Fold wraps and serve!

I am profusely apologetic for my lengthy lag in blogging – my bad.  I have no real excuse, except that I have been busy making and selling beads! Anyhow, sorry, I’ll try to be more regular from now on…and speaking of “regular”

Smoothies are YUM!  Not to mention good for you, and they have the added benefit of keeping things “moving” if you know what I mean…

Uh, anyhow, here’s a simple and tasty smoothy recipe, so good it tastes like a milkshake, is completely guilt-free and 100% good for you

Simple Fruit Smoothie

1 1/2 Cups fruit juice (apple, pineapple, orange..etc.)

1 Cup Frozen Fruit (any frozen fruit, I like mangoes, peaches, berries..etc.)

1 Banana

Put all ingredients in blender, and pulverize!!!  Serve in a tall glass with a fancy straw and a little umbrella – YUM!

I invented this today for lunch, after we had left-over chicken breast left over from Pad Thai yesterday. It was very tasty, so I wanted to share it here:

Zesty Chicken Salad with Cilantro

3 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, Chopped fine

1 Small Onion, Chopped fine

3 Cloves garlic, Minced

1 Cup Cilantro Leaves, Chopped

3/4 Cup Light Mayonnaise

Dash of Salt and Pepper

1/2 tsp Lemon Zest

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Mix thoroughly. Serve on Wraps with greens.

Bubble Tea!  Ah, my favorite drink!  If you’ve never tried it before, I suggest you drop everything right now, and go get yourself a tall glass of this creamy, and fruity drink – there is bound to be somewhere in your neck of the woods that serves this delightful beverage…or is there? I am lucky enough to live in a city that has an Asian grocery store, but not every town does.

If you’re having a tough time finding a place that serves it, why not buy the ingredients and make it yourself? It’s really *really* easy, fun and there’s a great reward when you’re done!

First things first, you’ll need to find the Bubble Tea mixes sold in Asian Grocery Stores, or eBay, or on-line in various other places.  Once you’ve got the mix, and the tapioca *bubbles* the real fun begins!

Your tapioca will need to be boiled to soften it up into nice little “bubbles” You wouldn’t want to eat this stuff uncooked – blah! Follow the directions on the package, and it normally takes about 1/2 hour to cook them.  They will change from a light brown colour to a dark brown, squishy consistency.  Once cooked, they need to be drained and rinsed. Then you can set those little beauties aside, and make up the drink part.

Again, just follow the instructions on the package of Bubble Tea powder mix.  I put all my ingredients into the blender (powder, milk, tea, ice) give it a couple good minutes in there and voila!

And here is my guinea pig (oops, I mean husband) about to indulge in a yummy Bubble Tea bevvy! MMMmmm!!

He likes it!

Colourful White Wine Curry Sauce : From Robin-Lee Pereda

This recipe is from Robin-Lee!  Another *must-try* contest submission!

“This one I traditionally do as a vegetarian dish, with egg rolls or something
on the side, but I have added pork or chicken into the sauce & it’s very nice as
well…”

Prep Time- 10 minutes
Cook Time- less then 10 minutes

Peel, Slice & Boil 4-6 carrots, depending on size. DO NOT over cook- they can
still be slightly crispy, as they will cook further in the sauce.  Set cooked
carrots aside.

In a seperate sauce pan, combine 1 cup of milk, 1/3 cup of ranch dressing & 1
tablespoon of cornstarch.  Heat over medium heat until the dressing & cornstarch
dissolve nicely in the milk.  Do NOT let it boil.  Slowly wisk in 2 cups of
white wine.  If you add it too quickly, the milk may curdle.

add:
6-8 Cloves of fresh garlic, diced (more or less to taste.)
1-2 teaspoons of curry powder (more or less to taste… or should I say
tolerance!
- Salt & Pepper to taste.
- The cooked carrots.  (other veggies may be nice too- I’ve always just used
carrots & it tastes great!)

Gentling bring to a boil in order to infuse the sauce with the garlic flavour &
then reduce heat & leave simmering until ready to serve.  If it is too thick
upon standing, add more milk to thin it out.

I like this one over just regular spegetti noodles, but again, any pasta would
likely work.

I’ve been meaning to post a few of the recipe Contest Submissions – so here is a neat one, that seems *very* Canadian. It comes from Jen!

Here’s a yummy recipe for Partridgeberry Muffins.  You can easily substitute blueberries, or a combination of blueberries/cranberries, or other berry combinations if partridgeberries are unavailable in your area.  Partridgeberries grow in Newfoundland, Canada. They look like blueberries, but are a burgundy-plum color and taste similar to cranberries although not as bitter.

Partridgeberry Muffins

Ingredients:
2 cups flour                            1/4 cup oil
3/4 cup Sugar                         1 cup orange juice
1 tsp. Salt                              1 egg
2 tsp. Baking powder                1 cup partridgeberries
½ tsp. Baking soda                   ½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
——————————————————————————–
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 12 muffin tins.
Mix together dry ingredients.
Combine oil, juice and egg. Mix. Add to dry ingredients. Add berries and nuts.
Bake 350 degrees for 15 – 20 min. till golden brown.

…and speaking of vegetables, this is another quick and good way to cook em’! Roasting veggies doesn’t remove as much of the good nutrients that boiling does, and they taste great done this way – such a nice flavour!

Roasted Asparagus

Wash and trim asparagus spears, and line up side by side on a shallow baking tray. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper, and place in oven pre-heated to 350 degrees.  Roast for 10 – 12 minutes turning once during baking time to coat evenly with oil. Once lightly browning at the tips, remove from oven and serve!