British Homemade Baked Beans

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British Homemade Baked Beans

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Baked beans, something a lot of Quebecers love. The traditional recipe has lots of molasses and brown sugar. I was looking for something that would have a little less sugar. After a some research I came across a few different recipes for British Baked Beans. This is a tomato based recipe. I had never had these so I thought, what the heck. Turns out this is quite good.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp of olive oil
  • 1/2 red onion finely chopped
  • 1 garlic clove finely chopped
  • 1/2 tsp of sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp of pepper
  • 2 tsp of sugar (preferably brown)
  • 1/2 tsp of smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp of dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp of worcestershire sauce
  • 800 gr of cannellini beans or navy beans canned (see below for raw beans)
  • 400 ml of Passata (or ground or crushed tomatoes in a can, more economical)
  • 1 tbsp of tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp of parsley (optional)

Directions

  1. Heat the oil in a large pan and cook the red onion and garlic over medium heat for 5 minutes.
  2. Add salt, pepper, sugar, smoked paprika, and oregano to the onion mixture.
  3. Pour in the passata, worcestershire sauce, and drained and rinsed beans.
  4. Simmer for 15 minutes or until you achieve your required sauce thickness.

Nutritional facts per serving

  • Calories 242
  • Fat 3 g
  • Sugar 5 g
  • Carbohydrates 42 g
  • Protein 14 g
  • Fibre 10 g

This was pretty easy. I personally don’t like canned beans so I used raw. I soaked them overnight. Then simmered them for about 1-1/2 hours or until they were tender but not quite mushy. To get 800 gr you need 650 gr of raw beans. I also used cannellini beans. If you are someone who likes beans but is watching your sugar and fat intake, this is the recipe to go with.

This goes great with breakfast for extra protein, with lunch as a side, or served with toast. Of course, if you want some spice you can always add some hot peppers. How you serve it, when you serve it, or with what you serve it, is all up to you. Just have fun and make it your own.

Slow Cooker Apple Butter

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Slow Cooker Apple Butter

  • Servings: Makes 1 litre or 4 cups
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Apple season is upon us. When a coworker brought me apples from her back yard, I was wondering what to do with them and then someone suggested apple butter. I’d never made apple butter, so a trusted aunt gave me her recipe.

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs of cored and diced apples
  • 3 tbsp of maple syrup
  • 1 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp of ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp of ground allspice
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • Tiny pinch of kosher salt

Directions

  1. Make sure to weigh your apples after they are cored.
  2. Place at bottom of large slow cooker (5 quart or larger)
  3. Top with maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice and stir to combine.
  4. Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 8-10 hours, stirring once halfway through, until apples are very tender and brown.
  5. Transfer the apples to a blender or food processor, blend until smooth. You will need to do this in batches. Then return to the slow cooker.
  6. Turn the slow cooker to high and let the apple butter continue to cook uncovered for 2 additional hours or until it reached its desired thickness. Stir occasionally and add in vanilla and salt.
  7. Depending on how sweet the apple is that you’ve used, you may feel you need to add some more maple syrup.

Nutritional facts per Serving (2 tbsp)

  • Calories 56
  • Fat 1 g
  • Sugar 11 g
  • Carbohydrates 14 g
  • Protein 1 g
  • Fibre 4 g

This is easy. Due to the fact that you don’t peel the apples, it adds extra fibre. Mine turned out, not as thick as I’d have liked but it was still great. I only cooked it another hour thinking it was thick enough. Should have followed the recipe. I was told that depending on the sugar content of your apple, example honeycrisp, it will be sweeter and will thicken more quickly. You can store this in airtight containers in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or freeze for several months. Just thaw in the fridge overnight.

With most of my recipes, you can alter this, a little sweeter, a little less, thicker, more cinammon. Macintosh apples, honeycrisp, Gala, whichever you choose. This is a great way to use apples that you have too many off. So have fun and make this your own.

Best Dry Rub

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Best Dry Rub

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Dry rubs are mainly used on ribs to amplify their flavour. I have used this same rub on chicken, ribs of course and even liver. Yes liver.

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup of packed brown sugar
  • 2 tsp of salt
  • 2 tsp of black pepper
  • 2 tsp of smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp of garlic powder
  • 1 tsp of onion powder
  • 1 tsp of ground mustard
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp celery seed
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions


Mix all ingredients together. (make sure that the brown sugar is well broken up)

Nutritional facts


– Calories 26
– Fat 0.2 g
– Sugar 5.0 g
– Carbohydrates 6 g
– Protein 0.2 g
– Fibre 0.4 g

As you can see, that was easy. You can store in an airtight container for up to a month. I’m new to using rubs. I found this one online and have made it few times now. Yes, I did used it on liver. You can make it spicier, sweeter, or any influence you want. I do recommend that if you use use spices like oregano and such, make sure that they are ground. So, have fun and make this your own.

Creamy Lemon Yogourt Cake

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Creamy Lemon Yogourt Cake

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: Easy
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This lemon yogourt cake is very creamy, sweet and a little tangy. It’s an easy one bowl recipe with only four ingredients. You can make this in an air fryer or oven.

Ingredients

  • 1-3/4 cups of nonfat plain Greek yogourt
  • 1 cup of full fat sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 tbsp cornstarch
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp lemon zest

Directions

  1. Grease the interior of a 6-inch round cake pan or spring-form pan with cooking spray and then line bottom and sides with parchment paper.
  2. Add yogourt and condensed milk to a large bowl. Make sure to use a spatula to scrape the sides of your measuring cups so that all the condensed milk and yogourt gets into the mixing bowls. Whisk until smooth. Sift in cornstarch 1 tbsp at a time, whisking after each addition until no lumps remain.
  3. Stir in lemon juice and zest until evening incorporated.
  4. Pour batter into prepared cake pan.
  5. To cook in the air fryer: Preheat air fryer to 315 and bake for about 23 minutes. The surface of the cake should look done and have a partial caramelized appearance. The cake should not be very jiggly but the center should not be fully set, .
  6. To cook in the oven: Preheat oven to 350. Bake for about 45 minutes or until the surface of the cake looks fully cooked.
  7. Let the cake cool for several hours. You can do this two ways and the texture will be different depending on the method you choose. You can cool the cake at room temperature, the center will remain creamy and gooey. If you cool in the fridge, your cake will have a denser firmer texture.

Nutritional facts

  • Calories 172
  • Fat 3.0 g
  • Sugar 23.0 g
  • Carbohydrates 27.0 g
  • Protein 5.0 g
  • Fibre 3.0 g

If you like cheesecake, you will like this cake. The texture is similar. It is a cool refreshing cake. Great summer cake. I could see blueberries on top or strawberries. Have fun and make this your own.

Razmah

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Razmah

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Easy
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I am always open to new ideas, recipes and international foods. A friend of mine gave me a recipe book for Christmas called “On the Himalayan Trail by Romy Gill”. I am proud to say I’m sharing my first Kashmiri recipe. This may be my first but won’t be my last out of this book.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp of ghee (I used olive oil)
  • 6 green cardamon pods
  • 4 black cardamon pods
  • 1 3 inch cinnamon stick
  • 3 dried bay leaves
  • 2 tsp of dried ginger
  • 1 tsp of ground fennel
  • 1 tsp of ground tumeric
  • 2 tsp of kashmiri chilli powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp of tomato paste
  • 1 1/2 cups of dried kidney beans soaked overnight, then drained and cooked until tender.
  • 4 cups of water
  • 2 cups of cooked basmati rice

Directions

  1. Heat the oil in large pan over medium heat.
  2. Add the whole spices and bay leaves and fry for 1 minute.
  3. Add the ground ginger, fennel, tumeric, chilli powder and salt.
  4. Stir together and add the cooked kidney beans and tomato paste and cook over a high heat for a couple of minutes.
  5. Add the hot water and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and cook for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
  6. Remove from heat and leave to rest for 30 minutes before serving with rice.

Nutritional facts


– Calories 376
– Fat 4.5 g
– Sugar 2 g
– Carbohydrates 64 g
– Protein 18.7 g
– Fibre 18.7 g

While resting, the beans soak up the beautiful juices and the dish becomes more flavourful. I made a mistake by discarding some of the juices as I thought it was too wet, my bad, won’t make that mistake again. You can add more tomato paste and tomatoes while making the base but make sure you check for acidity and you may need to add some sugar. You can also used canned beans to save time. You have try this and remember to have fun and make it your own.

Easy Healthy Tuna Casserole

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Easy Healthy Tuna Casserole

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Tuna casserole is a staple in many households. Recipes vary using Campbell’s condensed soups to heavy creams and cheeses. This one has a couple of twists that really help make it healthy. Hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 170 g of chopped mushrooms
  • 1 white onion chopped
  • 1 green pepper chopped (or any bell pepper)
  • 2 tbsp of minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp of black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1/4 tsp of cayenne
  • 267 g frozen peas (thawed)
  • 10 ounces of dry pasta of choice
  • 226 g of greek yogourt
  • 3 cans of tuna (in water) do not drain it
  • 8 tbsp of parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup of cheddar cheese
  • 8 ounces of bone broth
  • 4 ounces of milk
  • 1 serving of bread crumb
  • 2 avocados mashed

Directions

  1. Add oil to a large saute pan on medium-high heat.
  2. Add mushrooms, onions, garlic and bell pepper.
  3. Add in salt, pepper, cayenne and thyme. Mix well and let cook for a couple of minutes.
  4. Add the peas and let cook for another couple of minutes.
  5. Prepare your pasta. Cook it a couple of minutes less than what the box suggests (very al dente)
  6. In a large bowl add your pasta, vegetable mix, yogourt, tuna (with it’s water), 6 tbsp of the parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, avocado, bone broth and milk.
  7. Mix everything together until well incorporated.
  8. Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish.
  9. Top with remaining parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.
  10. Cover with foil and put into preheated oven at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.
  11. Remove foil and put it on broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Nutritional facts

  • Calories 430
  • Fat 11.7 g
  • Sugar 6 g
  • Carbohydrates 39.25 g
  • Protein 29.25 g
  • Fibre 8.85 g

Ok so what makes this healthy? This meal is a great source of protein, between the tuna, greek yogourt, bone broth, there is enough for the average meal. Avocado is known to help with cholesterol and fiber. Bone broth is a natural broth that is high protein per serving. Now if you don’t have bone broth you can still use low sodium fat free chicken or vegetable broth. It will only reduce your protein by 1 g.

You want to make a change, go with cooked shredded chicken and add a half cup of milk. You can make this ahead of time and just reheat. This is what I call comfort food. Serve this up with a nice salad or veggie on the side and you have a complete meal. Also it’s relatively inexpensive to make.

Change it up, change the spices, vary your noodles, but most of all, have fun and make it your own.

Easy Caramel Sauce

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Easy Caramel Sauce

  • Servings: 16 tbsp (1 cup)
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Homemade caramel sauce is so simple, you’ll never want store bought again. Although isn’t that true of most homemade recipes.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup of light brown sugar packed
  • 4 tbsp of unsalted butter
  • 1 tsp of sea salt or to taste
  • 1/2 cup of half and half or use equal parts of heavy cream and milk
  • 1 tbsp of vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and simmer over low heat, whisking constantly or until thickened and no longer watery, 6-9 minutes. (Keep in mind that it will thicken as it cools.
  2. Serve warm, room temperature or chilled.

Nutrition Per Tablespoon

  • Calories 89
  • Fat 3 g
  • Sugar 13 g
  • Carbohydrates 13g
  • Protein 3.6 g
  • Fibre 0 g

If you use salted butter, reduce salt by 1/2. You can keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks. You can pop in the micro for 30 seconds to heat it up. As you can see in the pictures, I didn’t have light brown sugar, I only had dark, works just as well, just doesn’t look as traditional.

Now comes the fun part, what you can put this on. I have heard, apple pie, of course ice cream, in coffee, as a drizzle over cheesecake. The choice is yours and remember to have fun and make it your own.

Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

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Carrot Cake Sandwich Cookies

  • Servings: 14 sandwiches
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Christmas time is a time for sharing. My young protege chef, sent me, as a Christmas gift, a recipe book he made. These are recipes he makes at home. This is one of them. I’m sure you will love it.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of shredded carrots
  • 2/3 cup of packed brown sugar, divided
  • 1/4 cup of unsalted butter, divided
  • 2 tbsp of canola or vegetable oil
  • 1 tsp of grated orange rind
  • 3/4 tsp of vanilla extract, divided
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup of all purpose flour (I used unbleached)
  • 1 tsp of cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp of salt
  • 1/4 tsp of baking soda
  • 4 ounces of low fat cream cheese
  • 1 cup of powdered sugar (icing sugar)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Cover two baking sheets with parchment paper
  3. Combine carrot, 3 tbsp of brown sugar in a bowl and toss to coat.
  4. Place carrot mixture in a fine mesh strainer and let drain for 10 minutes. Discard fluid.
  5. Melt 2 tbsp of butter in microwave.
  6. Add oil and rind to butter, 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract and egg. Whisk together.
  7. Combine flour, remaining brown sugar, cinnamon, 1/4 tsp of salt and baking soda in a large bowl. Whisk together.
  8. Add carrot mixture, butter and stir until just combined.
  9. Drop dough by tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets for a total of 28 cookies. Gently pat to form circles.
  10. Bake for 11 minutes or until set. Let stand for 3 minutes. Remove cookies from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.
  11. Combine cream cheese, remaining 2 tbsp of butter, remaining 1/4 tsp of vanilla extract and remaining salt and beat with a mixer at medium speed for 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and beat at low speed for 1 minute or well combined. DO NOT OVER MIX.
  12. Spread 1 tbsp of icing on flat side of 1 cookie, top with other cookie flat side down.
  13. Keep refrigerated.

Nutrition Per Sandwich

  • Calories 174
  • Fat 7.0 g
  • Sugar 18.1 g
  • Carbohydrates 26.2 g
  • Protein 2.2 g
  • Fibre 0.7 g

I can tell you that his turned out nicer than mine. He then tells me that was why he was using a measuring tablespoon not a regular tablespoon for the measuring out of the dough. Now he tells me, lol.

I have to admit these were great. They are moist, fresh, and not overly sweet. You can add raisins if you like, or more cinnamon if that is what you want. After all, you just have to have fun and make them your own.

Sebreena’s Pie Crust

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Sebreena’s Pie Crust

  • Servings: 4, 9 inch single pie crusts
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Pie crusts. Who hasn’t had a need for some. Well I tried making them once and they could have been used as weapons. Never did that again. A couple of days ago, I wanted to make Tourtiere a.k.a Meatpie, see this link. My recipe makes two meatpies. So off I go downstairs to the freezer and oh oh, I only have one package of 2 frozen pie shells. Stores are closed. Now what??? I asked a friend, who makes great flaky pies if she was willing to share her recipe. Here it is.

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks of unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces divided, 3/4 and 1/4
  • 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp of sugar
  • 1/2 cup of ice water

Directions

  1. Layout 3/4 of the butter pieces on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze until hard, at least 30 minutes. Refrigerate remaining butter.
  2. Combine flour, salt and sugar in a food processor.
  3. Add refrigerated butter and pulse to combine, about 10 times.
  4. Add frozen butter and pulse until mixture resembles course meal, with some blueberry size clumps.
  5. Add ice water, and immediately pulse until water is absorbed about 10 times. Squeeze a small amount of dough to make sure it holds together. Pulse a few more times if needed.
  6. Layout 2 pieces of plastic wrap. Empty half of the dough onto each piece Bring edges of wrap together to gather dough. Press into disks.
  7. Roll out disk, still wrapped in plastic, to 1/2 inch thick rounds about 9 inches in diameter.
  8. Refrigerate at least 45 minutes.

    9. Note, I’m not including the baking time, as it will depend on the recipe you are using this pie dough for.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 690
  • Fat 46.8 g
  • Sugar 8.3 g
  • Carbohydrates 60.4 g
  • Protein 8.75 g
  • Fibre 4.1 g

This dough can be refrigerated for 2 days or frozen up to a month. Now I must reiterate what Sebreena made sure I understood. ICE WATER and FROZEN BUTTER are key to success. She told me that once I’ve succeeded in making this, I would never go back to frozen pie shells. You know what, she was right. As you see in the pic, the ones on the left are her recipe and the ones on the right are the frozen pie shells. I was intimidated on trying this but I will be making these going forward. This is the one time that I will not tell you to make it your own. What you put inside is where you can get creative, have fun and make it your own.

Benson’s Shortbread Cookies

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Benson’s Shortbread Cookies

  • Servings: 24 cookies
  • Difficulty: Easy
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*Due to a typographical error, the original posting states 2 cups of icing sugar, when in fact the correct amount is ½ a cup. Sincere apologies for the error.*

What says Christmas more than cookies. I remember there always being shortbread cookies. Oh no, I don’t have a recipe! Tried a couple that didn’t quite turn out like I wanted. While talking to my best friend, she said she had a recipe from an old box of Benson’s corn starch that her mom used to make. To this day, those cookies reminder her of her mom. Well Benson’s is no longer around, but their recipe brought a smile to a lot of young faces. This recipe is too good to go forgotten with the times.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of corn starch
  • 1/2 cup of icing sugar (powdered sugar)
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup of softened butter

Directions

  1. Sift together flour, corn starch, and icing sugar
  2. With a wooden spoon, incorporate butter until a smooth dough forms
  3. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes
  4. Preheat oven to 300
  5. Roll dough to 1/4 inch thick and use cookie cutters for fun shapes
  6. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned
  7. Cool on wire rack

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 90
  • Sugar 2.54 g
  • Carbohydrates 8.9 g
  • Protein 0.61 g
  • Fiber 0.17 g
  • Fat 5.8 g

As you see in the picture, I added sprinkles. I did that to the dough as I was mixing the dough. (they are not counted in the nutritional facts) I’m not great at decorating. The size of your cookie cutters will determine how many cookies you get. Mine are approximately 3 inches from top to bottom. They are low enough on carbs and sugar that even diabetics can indulge in a cookie or two. Have fun and make them as festive as you like and make this old recipe your own.