Spring must be in the air. I’m over most meals and starting to think of summer and warmer weather.
I made Plain chicken wings last night and have a ton left over so decided for lunch to make a Chicken Salad Sandwich.
Enjoy this flavourful creamy dressing over chopped apples, diced onions and chicken.
I love the LooneySpoons recipes by Janet and Greta Podleski and this is where I learned how to make a delicious dressing for chicken salads.
Dressing
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream
1 tbsp Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp orange juice
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper to liking
Whisk all ingredient together and set aside.
Next Steps
Dice half an Apple.
Dice up chicken (enough for a sandwich or two!). Add to bowl.
Dice up 1/8 cup of onion. Add to bowl.
Mix in the amount of dressing you prefer for your chicken salad.
If you like it more on the dry side, add a few spoonfuls; more moist add a few more spoonfuls. Toss together well.
I served on a sour dough bread, with Swiss cheese. I can also happily just eat this mix right out of the bowl! It would also be lovely, on a bed of fresh greens. Cranberries or raisins could be a lovely addition too!
It’s winter and it’s cold. I’m feeling discouraged from canned, store bought soup. Yes, they are convenient but where is the flavour?
I’m craving a hearty and tasty, and also soothing soup. Pumpkin comes to my mind.
Ingredients
1 can Pure Pumpkin
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 small cooking onion, chopped finely
4 small apples (I had Royal Gala on hand)
1/2 teaspoon Epicure Caesar dressing mix
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you can add more if you want spicer)
Freshly Ground pepper (to taste)
1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
4 1/2 tablespoons Epicure Vegetable Broth mix plus 3 cups water
1 cup Apple Cider
3 tablespoons Epicure Coconut Curry Seasoning Mix
1/2 cup whipping cream
Directions
In a large pot, melt butter and sauté onions over medium heat.
Add the diced Apple, spices, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
Add in the pumpkin, vegetable broth and apple cider. Mix well. Bring to a boil then let cook for 20minutes on lower heat. Stir regularity.
Then add whipping cream. Stir well. Keep on low heat for another 10 minutes then serve!
Enjoy!
* if you want a more smooth soup you can always use a blender after it is all cooked. It’s not overly chunky if you choose not to blender the soup and I like the chunks of apple and onion throughout *
We miss Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cakes. So for my husband’s birthday I attempted to make the best copy cat cake.
I started out by reviewing many recipes online. Then meshed then all together.
You will need:
Chocolate ice cream – one large package
Vanilla ice cream – one large package
Epicure Chocolate fudge mix
Kinnikinnick chocolate sandwich creme cookies (crumbled)
Icing For decorating
I used a 9 inch cake pan and lined it with cellophane (to make removal of slices easier later).
I then packed the carton of chocolate ice cream to the bottom of the pan.
Spreading the fudge
I whipped up the Epicure Chocolate Fudge and let it cool before I spread it over the chocolate ice cream. I then let the cake set another 30 minutes before putting the cookie crumble layer on.
Setting the cookie crumble
I couldn’t find gluten free cookie crumble, so I bought a package of Kinnikinnick chocolate creme filled cookies. I then crushed them to make the crumble.
Then put the cake back in freezer for 30 minutes to set.
Sometimes you are an adult when you are exposed to a new recipe! A friend told me about Cake Cookies! Who knew I could use a cake mix and turn it into a cookie ?!
Pick you favourite cake mix (I used Duinkerken)
2 eggs
3/8 Cup olive oil
Mix well. Then make small (about the size of 2 heaping tablespoons) balls. Place on a cookie sheet that has parchment paper.
Place in an oven pre-set to 350 degrees
Cook for about 15 minutes. Bottoms will be browned.
For a decant dessert, icing cookings and put two cookies together.
I had seen posts on the Canadian Celiac Facebook Support page about these Gluten free Noodle bowls found at Costco. I’d yet to find them. Then to my amazement – I did!
Who doesn’t miss Mr Noodles?! So I’m hoping these will be a nice alternative.
They come in a ready serve bowl with the noodles, flavour oil, soup base and hot chilli powder.
Add hot water to the inside line of the bowl then wait 3 minutes.
The lovely thing about Pho is you can add whatever you want. I added shredded carrots, slices of onions, spiralled cucumber and diced mushrooms.
I didn’t find the soup base overly flavourful. The second time I made up a bowl, I added a 1/2tsp of Epicure Chicken broth powder and a 1/2tsp of Epicure Vegetable broth powder. That seemed to help boost the soup base flavour.
I tend to make these for a lunch on the weekends or dinner during the week as they take time to prepare the ingredients. Since the bowl itself is really just a starting point.
But I’m happy to have this option, and our family has been enjoying them. Have you tried them yet?
I was so excited to try this and compare to Bob’s Red Mill Mix.
This kit makes two 12 inch pizza crusts. The big difference between this package and Bob Red Mill’s Mix is you must have quick rising yeast on hand. It’s not included in the mix.
Otherwise, it’s easy to blend in the yeast, add in the eggs, oil and warm water. I let it set and covered to rise for 10 minutes (instead of the suggested 5 minutes)
I greased up my hands. It was easy to divide and spread out. Way less stickier and easier to spread compared to when I made Bob Red Mill.
I did find it took about 25minutes to bake, instead of the 15 minutes that was recommended.
It was delicious! It was more bread like than hard cardboard which is like so many of the other frozen gluten free pizza crusts! Highly recommend!
Who doesn’t love ribs? When I was about to get married a few coworkers highly recommended the LooneySpoon cook books for easy but amazing recipes to amaze my husband.
Since the pandemic, the LooneySpoons Collection cookbook has been regularly referred to, since we have been home and wanting a variety of fresh meals to enjoy. One thing I do love about the recipes is they are easily adaptable – if you don’t have something – you probably have something close to it or atleast can decide if you can still make the dish without it affecting the overall effect. Or if you don’t like what they are adding – substitute your favourite fruit or veggie or spice!
I even came home the other night from work and my husband had used the book to use as his base to make homemade gluten free Mac and Cheese!!
The LoonySpoon cooking books have helped my family be more adventurous since our beginning and have taught me how to play with making bbq sauces and rubs.
Spice Rub:
1 tbsp Brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp Paprika
1 tsp Epicure Chipotle Aioli Mix
1/2 tsp Old Bay Seasoned Salt
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
Mix all spices together in a bowl
If you don’t have any ribs – don’t worry! You can also use pork tenderloin!
If using a pork tenderloin, you will want to pound the pork with a meat mallet until about 3/4 of an inch thickness
Then score one side of the tenderloin in one inch intervals (about the size of ribs) Do not cut all the way through.
Apply the spice rub onto both sides of the tenderloin. Rub in. Then wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to cook. Leaving it overnight in the fridge will give you the best flavouring to the pork. But even a couple of hours in the rub gives the meat a lovely flavour!
When ready to make your BBQ Sauce gather:
2 tablespoons butter
2 shallots minced
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup Hickory bbq sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
2 table spoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon Epicure Roast Chicken Seasoning
In a pot melt butter, then add shallots. Stir and lightly cook for about a minute or two on medium heat. You do not want to brown the shallots! Rather, you want to bring out their lovely flavour.
Add the rest of the ingredients, keep stirring. Let it cook for about 5 minutes. Then remove from heat.
Coat the tenderloin before putting on the bbq. Then baste between flips.
Once cooked, cut along the score lines.
Finger licking good ribs but it’s really just cut tenderloin!
I was soooo excited to see on their online site that they had a special, where I could get a sampling of their products (18 for $99)
I’ve heard so much about how great Duinkerken is. So how could I not resist?!
My first product to try is their muffin mix.
It comes plain so you can make it and add your favourite fruit or flavours. My daughter requested chocolate chip muffins.
I added 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. But also a few (about 1/4 cup) of the chocolate- white chocolate chips from PC.
I was so happy to see that this mix fills 12 muffin tin slots.
As promised on the box, they were cooked perfectly in 30 minutes.
They smell heavenly coming out of the oven
And WOW these taste amazing! You would never guess they are gluten free: moist, spongey, flavourful. These 12 muffins will not be lasting long in our household.
First bite
What is your favourite muffin to make with this mix? Let me know!
prissymuskoka 