Hot Taco Dip Recipe

 This oven baked taco dip is a great dish to bring to any get together, or just for a treat at home! The recipe is flexible, so you can adjust it to your own taste.

Recipe and Instructions

1 pkg. cream cheese
2 cups (500 ml)cottage cheese
Heat and mix well
Spread in  9 x 13 baking dish.

Top with:
1/2 pkg of taco seasoning
chopped green pepper
chopped green onion
chopped tomato
chopped black olives
chopped jalapeno peppers

Top with:

salsa (1-2 cups as desired)
grated marble cheese
remaining taco seasoning

Heat in oven for 20 minutes at 350 F.

Stir and serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Bean Soup Recipe

  Looking for a hearty and filling soup to warm you up on these cold winter days? I've heard that January is national soup month, so what better time to share this bean soup recipe? 

 You can use any beans you like...I wouldn't normally have this many varieties of beans in my pantry, but my son worked for a bean co op, where farmers brought in truck loads of beans to ship. One of the perks of his job was cheap beans, so he brought me home several bags!

  This is the recipe I used for bean soup gift jars, so I've made it simple, with a small spice pack included, and with ingredients most people will have on hand. Of course it can be adjusted to your own taste, by adding whatever spices you like, and fresh garlic could be used instead of garlic powder.

You can also prepare this soup with or without meat, but we prefer it with pork.

Soup Ingredients & Directions

1.Wash beans and soak overnight

2. Drain and rinse

3. Place beans in slow cooker
    Add
    6 cups water, 
    1 28 oz can diced tomatoes, 
    1/2 c chopped onions
    1/2 c chopped celery
    2 tbs onion soup mix
    1 tsp garlic powder
    *optional seasonings

    *Bacon/pork if desired

4. Cook 7-8 hrs on high

And enjoy!

Simple Stuffed Peppers

   I can't believe I've never tried making stuffed green peppers before. I'm sure you've heard the expression, "Necessity is the mother of invention." Well, this wasn't exactly a necessity, and I didn't exactly invent them....but I did have three green peppers in the fridge that I wanted to use, and I didn't have all of the ingredients in any of the recipes I looked at...so I had to come up with something on my own!

  Due to my limited ingredients, this is a very simple recipe. I started by precooking two cups of brown rice. I used brown rice, because that's what I had, but any rice would be fine. 
   I used three peppers, but had some left over rice, so depending on the size of the peppers, you could probably make four.

  

 While the rice was cooking, I cut the caps off the peppers, and hollowed out the seeds. I also cut a very thin slice off the bottom of each pepper, so they would stand up better. This slice can be chopped up and added to the other veggies.

  I chopped up the onions, celery and garlic, and sauteed them in butter until they were starting to get soft. I mixed the veggies in with the cooked rice, and added salt and pepper, then filled the green peppers with this mixture.

  I placed the stuffed peppers on a greased baking sheet, and popped them in the oven for 30 minutes at 350. 

  Served with lemon, these made a delicious addition to our meal! Fortunately, our kids didn't want any, because Brian and I had to share that third one!

So, if you're looking for a simple way to use up those green peppers sitting in your fridge, this recipe is for you!

Enjoy!

Beet & Cabbage Borscht

  If you're like me, you tend to improvise when it comes to cooking....especially soups. This may not be an authentic borscht recipe; it's one of my own making...but my husband likes it, so that's what counts, right? A while back I mentioned getting some small beets from my mom's garden. That day, I just cooked the greens, along with some swiss chard. The next day, I made the borscht you see here. 

  I don't really have a recipe, as far as amounts go. I try to not make a big pot, because it's mostly Brian and I that like it...the kids not so much....but I never seem to succeed, so I won't list the quantities.

Turnip is optional, but we like it, so it goes in!

Veggies all chopped and ready to go in the soup pot.
Dill weed, salt and pepper not shown.

Shredded/chopped cabbage cooks down, so I add a lot.

I bring all the other veggies to a boil (in water or broth),
 then add the cabbage.

Simmer until veggies are tender.

Perfect for a cool fall day!

Caboodle Juice

   My daughter, Danica, had been asking me for awhile if we could do some juicing. Since we had some fruit and veggies that needed to be used up, I decided this was the best way to use some of them. The great thing about juicing is you don't really need a recipe. I just throw in whatever I have....within reason of course!....and it usually turns out delicious.

Fruit and vegetables for juicing

  This time, we had apples, plums, a nectarine, carrots, and celery. I added a couple more apples besides what is shown in the photo, so there would be enough juice for both of us.

Fruit and vegetables cut up for juicing. 

   I washed and cut up the fruit and veggies, removing the pits from the plums and nectarine, and the core from the apple. It isn't always necessary to remove the apple core, but I did this time, because I knew Danica wanted to use the pulp for baking another day. I use a  Breville juicer.  I've had it for a couple of years now, and I'm really happy with it. 

The juice came out a lovely shade of orange. Just gave it a quick stir and poured it into glasses.

I asked Danica what we should call it. I was just going to call it This and That Juice, but Danica said that was too boring! A google search of synonyms for 'this and that' turned up some interesting words. We quickly ruled out 'rubbish' and 'scraps'....

I thought Jumble Juice had a nice ring to it, and Danica wanted 'Clean Out the Fridge Juice....Somehow, we came across 'caboodle' and Danica decided that was the best name for our new juice.

 

  

Have you have ever made your own version of Caboodle Juice? 

Brian's Jalapeno Poppers

Although we've enjoyed Jalapeno Poppers before, we had never made them. So, Brian decided it was time to give them a try. I don't think there's a simpler  food to prepare! They require three items: 18 jalapeno peppers, 1 package cream cheese, and 1 package bacon. Some people add cheddar cheese too; they are delicious either way.

Slice the peppers lengthwise, and clean them out.

Fill the peppers with cream cheese.

Wrap a 1/2 slice of bacon around each pepper

I can't take credit for these. Brian did it all!

Place on a baking sheet covered in tin foil, for easy clean up

Bake at 350-400 for about 15 minutes...depending on how crispy you like the bacon.

Let them cool, and enjoy!

Even Danica liked them!

Swiss Chard & Beet Greens

  I went to visit Mom the other day, and came home with swiss chard and beets! I had just mentioned in another post that Brian likes borsht, so I was really happy to get some beets. They were small, but would be enough for one meal.

 It was already close to supper time, so I decided to just make the greens, and leave the borscht for another day. There are lots of recipes for how to prepare greens....you can add sauteed onions, garlic, even bacon.... but I keep it plain and simple.

 I washed both, then cut off the beets and the swiss chard stalks.

 I also removed the center of each swiss chard leaf.

 I cut the swiss chard in strips.

 The beet leaves were small, so I left them whole.

I filled two pots of water (salted), brought to a boil 

then put in the greens. Both take about 3 minutes.

Beets

Swiss Chard

Just add butter, and serve.

There's not a lot of difference in flavour; the swiss chard is slightly milder.

Both are as tasty as they are healthy!

Cucumber & Tomato Salad (Middle Eastern/Canadian Style)

 Although we no longer plant a big vegetable garden, most years we still grow potatoes, carrots, and sometimes beets (because my husband loves borscht), but ALWAYS cucumbers and tomatoes. As long as I have my cucumbers and tomatoes in the garden, I'm happy! And this year, that's all we got planted....well, except Daniel's pumpkin...I'll tell you about that another time.

 Our cucumbers are a little late this year, but we've been able to pick a couple of times. We have lots of green tomatoes, but it seems the gophers like them as much as I do....as soon as one ripens they are out there enjoying a feast! 

  
 I had been craving a particular meal that I'd learned to make years ago, from some Arabic friends who had moved to Canada from Israel....Rice and Lentils, with Cucumber and Tomato Salad. The way I made the salad is very similar to the ones I've seen online, except I don't add parsley, and most use English cucumbers....and I didn't plant any!

Don't these cucumbers and tomatoes look delicious just the way they are? 

The salad is best with the veggies finely chopped

Cucumber and Tomato Salad

                        3 small  cucumbers (or one english cucumber)

                        3 Tomatoes (several cherry tomatoes work fine!)

                        1 tbsp mint (I use dried mint from my garden)

                        1 lemon ( I add the zest of 1 lemon)

                         

                        Other veggies (onions, peppers, radishes) are optional

                         Dressing

                        2 tbsp lemon juice (I use fresh lemon)

                        3 tbsp olive oil  

                   

Cucumber and Tomato Salad with mint and lemon

This salad is served with rice and lentils, that are garnished with fried onions.

Onions fried until translucent 

Rice and Lentils

2 cups rice
1 cup lentils
4 cups water
salt
Optional:
garlic cloves (to taste)
onions (to taste)
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
(The spices I add are from another Arabic dish...my Canadian Style!)

Add lentils and spices to water and bring to boil, then simmer  until tender; about 30 minutes.
Add rice (and more water if required) and cover. Cook on low/med about 30 minutes.
Serve garnished with fried onions, and salad.

Cucumber and tomato salad, served with rice and lentils, garnished with fried onions. Delicious!

Have you tried this dish or something similar? Let me know. Thanks for stopping by!