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gluten-free vegetable pakora

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I am excited to be participating in the Hidden Valley Gluten-Free Challenge. Using Hidden Valley Ranch dressings, I was to come up with a gluten-free recipe for the holidays.

The first thing that came to mind were vegetable pakora. Using chick pea flour and the Spicy Ranch dressing for flavour, I coated vegetables like cauliflower, red pepper and onions with batter and fried them until golden brown. The resulting pakora were a hit and even got my 6 year old to eat his veggies without complaint!

To make the dressing go even further, I added some garlic chili sauce to the Spicy Hidden Valley Ranch dressing. This was the perfect dip to serve with the pakora.

This would be a great appetizer for holiday entertaining because it caters to not only those who are looking for gluten-free items but also the vegetarians in your life.


Hidden Valley Ranch products and other promotional consideration were received in exchange for providing the above recipe as part of a submission in a contest sponsored by Hidden Valley Ranch.

Vegetable Pakora

1 cup chick pea flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Spicy Dressing
1 cup water
vegetables (anything you prefer, like cauliflower, peppers, onions, potatoes…)

Mix all the ingredients together except for the vegetables. Once combined and the batter is nice and thick, coat the vegetables and fry until golden brown.

4th annual food bloggers bake sale

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I’m excited to participate once again in the Food Bloggers Bake Sale. In it’s 4th year, it gives us Calgary bloggers a reason to unite for a great cause.

This year, the charity we have aligned with is Brown Bagging For Calgary’s Kids.
Since 1990 BB4CK have been making sure Calgary kids have lunches.
Through the work of community groups and volunteers, they provide about
2,000 lunches each day to kids in school. Lunches are prepared in their
main kitchen, and in various other locations by community groups
including retirees, parent groups and local businesses. BB4CK works with
school staff members to identify needs and to plan how best to make
sure hungry students get the nutrition required to think clearly and
learn. Each lunch costs about $1 to make. Their goal is to make sure no
child goes hungry.

The event takes place on Saturday, November 29th at the Calgary Farmer’s Market. There will be some tasty treats by some very talented bloggers. Hope to see you there!

win a $50 gift card to orginal joe’s!

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Mealshare is great program where you buy a particular meal at a participating restaurant and one meal is donated to someone in need. Original Joe’s is the latest Mealshare partner allowing people to turn their “dining out” into “helping out”. Mealshare will provide one meal to someone in need with the purchase of every Miso Ramen Bowl. 

Original Joe’s also has a brand new Winter Warm-Up Menu featuring indulgent, bold and comforting flavours.To celebrate their new menu as well as this great partnership, you can win a $50 gift card to Original Joe’s.

Entering is easy! Just comment on this post which item on the Winter Warm-Up Menu are you most looking forward to trying. You can also enter on the Facebook page or via Twitter. Good luck!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

pecan butter tarts

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With Christmas just a few weeks away, I can’t help but to think of all the baking that’s in store. Butter tarts, while perfect for any occasion, are always more prevalent during this festive season.

A while back, there was a discussion about whether butter tarts should be filled with raisins and nuts or not. My favourite kind of tarts are filled with raisins and pecans.

The raisins have to be the dark plump variety. The yellow Sultana ones don’t have a place in these tarts. The filling is ooey gooey and and the pecans add the perfect contrast. I do cheat and use store bought unbaked tart shells. With this shortcut, these tarts are ready in less than 30 minutes! Makes it a little too easy to satisfy a craving.

Pecan Butter Tarts

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 egg
2 TB milk
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup dark raisins
3/4 cup pecans
12 – 15 unbaked tart shells

Combine the butter, sugar, egg, milk and vanilla until well combined. Add the raisins and pecans and mix well. Fill the tart shells with the mixture. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until the shells are golden. Enjoy!

mexican pasta shells

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In the last few weeks, Q has decided that Tuesdays are for tacos. Since they are quick and easy and loved by us all, we are happy to indulge his desire for Taco Tuesdays. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to put a spin on things – Mexican Pasta Shells. Inspired by K, my former co-worker, large pasta shells are filled with seasoned taco meat, covered in salsa and cheese. The baked dish is then topped with everything you would put in a taco.

I wasn’t sure what Q’s response would be. He is sometimes finicky with pasta, usually choosing other things over it. This dish, however, was a hit! I’m always thrilled anytime he goes back for seconds of anything.

There’s not really a recipe for this per se. I use taco seasoning when browning my meat. I stuffed the cooked shells with meat and layed them in a dish on top of salsa. I put more salsa on top and then covered it with cheese. Bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is melted. In K’s recipe, the taco meat is mixed with cream cheese. Hubby is lactose intolerant though, so I held off on the cream cheese. His portion of shells were also not covered in cheese.

Once out of the oven, top with onions, tomatoes and avocado and serve with sour cream. An easy and filling dish that’s everyone’s favourite.

hazelnut nutella cookies

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Q was home sick for a few days last week. It seems like something nasty is definitely making its rounds.  While most of his time involved naps and movies on the couch, we also managed to squeeze in some cookie making. I love chatting with Q while we are busy making something delicious. You can learn a lot from a six year old in the kitchen while they are distracted with stirring and measuring.

I had noticed a bag of hazelnuts sitting in the pantry just waiting for something tasty. I decided that these roasted would be perfect with some chocolate chips in cookie form. We decided a swirl of Nutella would be nice too.

We roasted the hazelnuts in a 350 degree oven just until we could smell the oils. I got a little distracted though, and almost burnt the lot! The nuts that we were using had skins on them so I dumped them into a tea towel and rolled them around until they were peeled. I chopped the nuts while Q measured out the sugar and flour. Once the batter was done, we took a big spoonful of Nutella and did a rough mix so that it was swirled through.

The cookies turned out amazing! The nuts and chocolate made them chunky but the cookies were soft and chewy.  They were a great afternoon snack with a cold glass of milk.  The toasted nuts added a great crunch and flavour. Even hubby, who normally stays away from the sweet stuff, enjoyed a few!

Hazelnut Nutella Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup hazelnuts, roasted and chopped
1 TB Nutella, heaping

Cream the butter and the sugars. Add the egg and vanilla. In the center of the mixture, add the flour, baking soda and salt. Mix until combined. Add the chocolate chips and nuts and mix until incorporated. Roughly mix in the Nutella. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Makes approximately 2 dozen.

my little foodie and his ultimate grilled cheese

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I can’t believe my little guy is six today! It’s been amazing to watch
him grow. There have been so many times that I have wanted to press
pause, making time go a little slower. But here he is in grade one, a
little man.

He has grown to be kind, loving and the best big brother ever. He has
also grown into quite the foodie. For his birthday dinner today, it’s
no surprise that he wants to go to his favourite restaurant Kinjo for
sushi.

At a sleepover recently at his cousin’s house, they were discussing
dinner and his request was duck. His cousins looked at him in disbelief,
happy to be eating the pasta they were served.

He loves coming up with creations like his bedtime snack a couple weeks
ago – French bread with Boursin, studded with pistachios.

He does love a good grilled cheese. When I asked him what the ultimate
grilled cheese sandwich would be, this is what he came up with.

French bread enveloping Boursin, Brie and Mozzarella. It was a good
combination and our one trial sandwich was not enough to fill our
bellies.
The Brie and mozzarella made the sandwich ooey gooey and the Boursin added an extra level of flavour.

Happy Birthday Q! Love you to the moon and back, a million times!