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mexican pasta salad

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The best part of summer is the gatherings with friends. Barbecues and potlucks and beach picnics, the great weather is always a great excuse to get together.

Here’s an easy dish for your next potluck. Pasta salad seems to be a staple at most parties but kick it up a notch with a Mexican flair. Use your favourite pasta and toss it with whatever veggies you have on hand. The salad is tied together with a dressing made with sour cream and taco seasoning. Easy peasy and super tasty!

Mexican Pasta Salad

1 lb pasta, cooked
1 can black beans, rinsed
2 cans corn
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
3 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
1 TB taco seasoning

Combine the the pasta with the vegetables. In a bowl, combine the sour cream with the taco seasoning. Toss with the pasta mixture. Serve cold.

stampede wagon wheels

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It’s always a fun time in Calgary in July. Stampede is in full swing which means ten days of pancake breakfasts, the midway and lots of tasty carnival treats.

When we head down to the grounds, my kids and I always stop in for cookies and milk – a carton of milk and wagon wheel cookies, a steal at $2!

This year, Wagon Wheels has a limited edition Stampede theme. These classic marshmallow treats are in fun Stampede shapes – cowboy hats, wagon wheels and horseshoes! So fun!

sriracha-infused menu items at pizza 73…and a giveaway!

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Pizza is one of my favourite things. Carbs, cheese, sauce and an endless variety of toppings – what’s not to love? Usually when have pizza at home, you can be sure that the bottle of Sriracha is served alongside, adding just the perfect amount of heat.

Pizza 73 now has Sriracha-infused menu items, combining the delicious pizza with the spicy sauce. They sent us their new items to try and we loved them!

The Sriracha Chicken Pizza uses their
new Sriracha Honey Garlic Sauce as the base and is topped with
pineapple, chicken and fresh green peppers. Q couldn’t get enough of their chicken wings which were tossed in the same sauce. I thought they would be too spicy for him but that didn’t stop him from devouring them. They also have a new dipping sauce, the Sriracha Creamy Garlic Dipping Sauce which was perfect with their curly fries.

Want to win a $50 gift card to try out their new items for yourself? Leave a comment, either here, on Facebook, on Twitter or on Instagram, and let me know what you like on your pizza. Contest closes on Monday, July 11th at 11:59pm MST. Two winners will be chosen.  Good luck!

nanaimo bars

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Happy Canada Day! There’s always so much to do to celebrate Canada’s birthday. We spent the morning hanging by the lake, taking in some local celebrations.

Later in the day, we had a potluck with friends. I thought it would be fun to have some Canadian treats and definitely wanted Nanaimo bars to be on the menu.

Nanaimo bars actually take me back to my childhood. I remember making them with my mom in anticipation of sleepovers at my house with my friends. That and Nightmare on Elm Street pretty much summed up those nights with the girls.

I couldn’t find the recipe that we used to make so used this one from Anna Olson. I substituted almonds for the walnuts and didn’t add the salt on top. They were a hit!


Nanaimo Bars
Adapted from Anna Olson

Crust:
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 TB cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup sliced almonds
6 TB butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten

Filling:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups icing sugar
2 TB vanilla custard powder
Pinch of salt
3 TB milk
1 tsp vanilla

Topping:
4 oz semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 TB unsalted butter

Crust: Preheat the oven 350 degrees. Grease an 8″ square pan and line with parchment paper. Combine the graham crumbs with cocoa and salt, then add the coconut and nuts. Stir in the melted butter and the egg and stir until blended. Press into the prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes. Cool the crust completely before preparing the filling.

Filling: Beat the butter with 1 cup of the icing sugar, custard powder and salt until smooth. Add the milk and vanilla and beat, then add the remaining 1 cup of icing sugar. Spread evenly over the cooled crust.

Topping: Melt the chocolate and butter in a metal bowl placed over a pot of barely simmering water, stirring gently until melted. Cool the chocolate slightly and pour over the filling, smoothing it out with an offset spatula. Chill the pan for 2 hours before slicing into bars.

wonderful watermelon

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It’s almost time for the long weekend! Time for food on the grill, hanging with friends, and of course, watermelon! Watermelon is the ultimate summer time fruit. Summer memories always include hot days eating cold watermelon. It is so refreshing and also so versatile!

Having this delicious fruit as a sweet treat is an easy way to serve it, but I love adding a savoury touch. I drizzle watermelon with some olive oil and balsamic vinegar and finish with a sprinkle of feta and basil. Not a common pairing but oh so good!

The ideas on how to serve watermelon are endless. Check out all the fabulous recipes below!

Minted Watermelon and Cucumber Salad from a Virtual Vegan

Raw Watermelon Candy from The Taste Space

Maple Lemon Fruit Salad from Bake For Granted

Watermelon and Strawberry Fruit Salsa from I Say Nomato

Watermelon Lime Honey Popsicles from Sugar Love Spices

Watermelon, Feta and Tomato Confit Stacked Salad from My Kitchen Love

Skinny Greek Chicken Bowl with Watermelon and Feta from Flavour & Savour

 Detoxifying Watermelon Mint Limeade from Justine Celina

Pink Power Smoothie-Juice from Occasionally Eggs

Grilled Peach, Strawberry & Watermelon Salsa from Bakers Beans

Watermelon Refresher from Bakers Beans

Watermelon Mint Paletas from Satori Design for Living

Vegan Watermelon Pizza Dessert from The Cookie Writer

Watermelon and Coconut Popsicles from The Cookie Writer

Watermelon “Cake” from Making Healthy Choices

Watermelon Rose Smoothie from Food Mamma

Watermelon Lime Spritzer from Food Mamma

Watermelon Feta Salad from Food Mamma

rhubarb spritz

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Do you know that I have never cooked with rhubarb? Until this year that is. We had a generous neighbour who gave me some to try. Thanks to a call out on Instagram, I got so many ideas. Needless to say, I’ve been busy trying some recipes.

Thanks to my friend Cheryl, she suggested a rhubarb simple syrup which could be added to club soda or water. I tried this tonight and loved it!

Such a simple recipe but so much flavour – and so refreshing for summer!

Rhubarb Spritz

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 cups rhubarb, chopped
mint
sparkling water

Bring the water, sugar and rhubarb to a boil. Strain and let cool.

Add ice and 1/4 cup of the simple syrup to a glass and top off with sparkling water.  Add some mint for more flavour.

keeping food fresh with GLAD!

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Summer is here and the weather is getting hot. It’s time for those favourite summertime fruit, barbecues with friends and spending time outdoors.

The last thing that anyone wants to worry about is food going back. Throwing away food is like putting money down the drain. Luckily GLAD has a collection of food protection products that can help in keeping food fresh longer.

In the summer, we like to be able to barbecue at the drop of a hat.  We marinate big batches of chicken or ground beef and like to have them ready in the freezer. It’s important that the meat stays as fresh as the day it was packed and not get any freezer burn. GLAD freezer bags are perfect for that!  When company is coming over, we just pull out a bag and no one knows that it was made in advance.

Spending the day in the kitchen when it’s hot outside is not one of my favourite things. When I do take the time to cook, I like to make big batches and store leftovers in the freezer. It’s easy to pull out what we need without slaving over a hot stove. The food containers can go from freezer to microwave to dishwasher which makes it super convenient. I like to store the food right away, to avoid it from going bad.

One of my favourite GLAD products is Press’n Seal Wrap. I like how it seals to different surfaces and even to itself. It’s perfect for storing food in containers where I have misplaced the lids. It’s also great for protecting food not in containers, like a half-eaten apple. The wrap sticks to itself and the food is  tightly sealed. I’ve used this for making individual salmon portions – so convenient!

On top of using these GLAD products, you can make food last longer by properly storing them in the fridge.

Check out this list of proper food storage from GLAD.

Disclaimer – GLAD sent me products to try and I was compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.

bbq’d naan

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I think the perfect accompaniment to any bbq is some fresh naan made right on the grill. It’s pairs so well with chicken and beef and satisfies any carb lover. The best is when it’s piping hot and covered in butter. Yes please.

We have tried many naan recipes over the years. Ones with yeast, ones without. Ones with yogurt and eggs. I think we have finally found a winner. I have made this version a few times and they turn out every time.

You don’t even need a tandoor to get soft and chewy naan. A bbq is all you need! They don’t take long, just put them on the grill for a couple minutes a side.

I’m using this recipe from Food.com but changed up the instructions a bit. I always use a mixer to knead the dough – why do more work than you need to? I also liked the results better when the dough had a few hours to rise. If you have less than an hour though, you will still get great tasting naan.

BBQ’d Naan
From Food.com

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 TB sugar
2 tsp dry active yeast
1 tsp salt
3 cups flour
butter

Combine the water, sugar and yeast in a mixing bowl and let sit for 5 minutes until foamy.  Add salt and flour and turn the mixer on until the dough comes together into a ball. Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Place the dough in a warm place and let rise for a minimum of 45 minutes. More than a couple hours is ideal.

After the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into 8 balls. Place on a parchment lined sheet and cover again with a damp towel. When ready to barbecue, roll the balls out and put them on the grill for a couple of minutes per side.  Remove from the heat and spread butter on the hot naan.