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banana nutella spring rolls

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While we were in Houston in December, we stopped to have dinner at one of my favourite restaurants, P. F. Changs. We may have gone there a couple times, but more on that later.

We had ordered the banana spring rolls for the three of us to share.  Hubby and I were lucky to get a bite before Q inhaled the dessert. He loved it! How could you not? Bananas enveloped in the crisp spring roll wrapper and topped with ice cream and caramel. Yum!

This was a super easy dessert to make at home. In fact, it was made even better with Nutella!  A spread of chocolate down the middle of a spring roll wrapper, a spear of banana, rolled and fried to perfection. It’s fruit so it’s not bad for you, right?

win with starbucks!

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A big thank you to Starbucks Canada for helping me celebrate Food Mamma’s anniversary!

From mommy dates with peppermint mochas to dates with Q’s friends for steamed raspberry milk, Starbucks is one of my favourites.

Want a chance to win a prize pack from Starbucks?  There are a few ways to enter below. Winner will be chosen on Friday, March 14th.  Good luck!

 a Rafflecopter giveaway

shrimp po’boys for mardi gras

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Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, Pancake Day, Shrove Tuesday – that’s today! I had many ideas of what I wanted to make for the day. I thought about pancakes and thought about beignets. I decided to be practical though because what I really needed was dinner.

Mardi Gras is largely associated with New Orleans so what better way to honour it than with a classic – Shrimp Po’ Boy.  I found a fantastic recipe in the cookbook “The Southern Po’ Boy” by Todd-Michael St. Pierre.

With activities every evening, I didn’t have a lot of time but luckily this recipe was easy and didn’t take long at all. The cornmeal added a nice crunch to the shrimp. We used crusty rolls, spread with mayo and sriracha, and topped with lettuce, green onions and the crisp shrimp.

Q’s reaction when he took a bite….”Mamma, this is not good….this is awesome!”. So awesome in fact that he came home after martial arts and asked for more. Yay!

Shrimp Po’ Boy
From “The Southern Po’ Boy” by Todd-Michael St. Pierre

Fried Shrimp:
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp onion powder
canola oil, for frying
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup cornmeal

Make a spice mix by whisking together the salt, cayenne, garlic powder, paprika, oregano, thyme, black pepper, and onion powder in a small bowl.

Place the shrimp and 1 TB of the spice mix in a large bowl, sprinkle over the shrimp, and toss to coat.  Pour the buttermilk into a medium bowl.  Whish together the flour, cornmeal, and remaining spice mixture in another bowl.  Dip the seasoned shrimp into the buttermilk, then coat with the flour and cornmeal mixture, tapping off the excess. 

Working in batches, fry the shrimp until golden brown, about 4 minutes per batch.

birthday month

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It’s March! It’s a great month with lots to celebrate. Like my birthday. It’s also my blog’s anniversary! Hard to believe it’s been four years since I started documenting the food that we have eaten, either in my kitchen or at a restaurant. In our house, we usually do celebration week but I figured we would celebrate my blog all month long!

Q was only 1 when I started this blog. Over the years, we have spent a lot of time in the kitchen – baking, cooking, spending time together. I love that I am able to capture our moments on this blog.  Looking back at some of the recipes, I can recall what age Q was, if he was sitting in his bumbo while I cooked or whether he was helping me cut vegetables for dinner. This blog has been a fun creative outlet and has introduced me to so many fantastic people!

To help celebrate, I have partnered up with some AMAZING sponsors for some awesome giveaways – a few of the things that I love. A huge THANK YOU to Castello Canada, Cococo Chocolatiers, owners of Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut®, Edo Japan, London Drugs, Second Cup – McKenzie Town Centre and Starbucks Coffee Canada for your very generous prizes.

I figure we should start off the week with a Facebook contest. Check out my page, be sure to like it and follow the instructions to enter.  It’s super easy and you will be entered to win gift cards for Edo Japan!

Thanks for all your support. I’d love to hear from you, what you like, what you would like to see more of – any of your comments would be much appreciated.

chestermere eats: sunnyz vietnamese sub & amato gelato

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It’s always nice when new restaurants open in Chestermere. It’s even nicer when the food is delicious and the service is fantastic. This is the case with Sunnyz Vietnamese Sub & Deli. Sure there are a couple of other Vietnamese places in town, both of which are great, but another sub place is always welcome.

When I walked in to Sunnyz, I was greeted with a friendly hello.  I couldn’t help but notice how clean the place was. The animated movie playing on the big tv was perfect to keep any child customers entertained.

The Lemongrass Sate Beef Sub was a flavourful sandwich with not a lot of heat so even Q could enjoy it. The bun was not too crusty and the pickled carrots and crunchy cucumbers provided a good contrast.  The little shop also has a variety of bubble teas as well as spring rolls and salad rolls.

This is a definite must try! The perfect finish? Head on over to Amato Gelato next door for a cool tasty treat. With so many flavours of gelato available, it’s hard to just pick one!

win tickets to the calgary home + garden show!

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There’s just one week left until the Calgary Home + Garden Show! From Thursday, February 27 to Sunday, March 2nd, be inspired by over 650 exhibitors, along with amazing designers and experts and even some TV personalities.

Along with all the ways to improve your home, the show has a couple of tasty features you won’t want to miss – The Beer Garden and Food Truck Alley! At The Beer Garden, you can wander through beautifully landscaped greenery while sipping a pint of local brew and snacking on goodies. Stop by the Food Truck Alley to score some top-notch eats from the kings of Calgary’s latest food craze. The food trucks at the show include Fiasco Gelato, Mighty Skillet, Shogun, Subs ‘ Bubbles, Sticky Ricky’s and Waffles and Chix.

Want to win tickets to the show? Leave a comment either here or on Facebook, or send me a tweet letting me know which food truck you are most looking forward to enjoying.

Contest closes on Wednesday, February 26th at 6am.  Good luck!

win tickets to calgary’s winefest!

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Winefest is back in Calgary for it’s 22nd year! Join fellow wine lovers at the Stampede Park BMO Centre this coming weekend, February 21st and 22nd. Sample hundreds of local and international wines and interact with wine experts looking to share their knowledge.

There will also be food! Attendees can nibble on a delicious selection of hors d’oeuvres from Stampede Catering, Springbank Cheese Company, COBS bread, Dave’s Hot Pepper Jelly, Nefiss Lezizz and The Ship & Anchor.

For tickets or additional info, go to http://www.celebratewinefest.com/.

Want to win tickets? I have a pair of tickets to give away for the Saturday afternoon session from 2 to 5pm. Comment on this post, on Facebook or send me a tweet. Winners will be chosen at random on Wednesday, February 19th at noon.  Good luck!

happy heart day! celebrating with chocolates, cookies and treats

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Happy Valentine’s Day!  Hope you all have a fabulous day spending time with the ones you love…or take the time to spoil yourselves rotten!

Hubby and Q woke up to a bouquet of chocolate dipped strawberries and some homemade chocolate turtles. Cocoa spiced pecans were also packed into jars for my two loves.

Every year, I make hubby a chocolate treat. In the past there have been truffles, home made Ferrero and even Almond Joy. This year, I decided on Turtles!  They were super easy to make, although a little less time cooking the caramel would have been ideal.

In case you overcook your caramel like I did, just chop the chocolates up and use them to top chocolate covered strawberries! It adds the perfect crunch to the juicy berries.

Shortbread cookies for work and cupcakes from yesterday’s kindergarten party rounded out our Valentine’s table. I had a box of President’s Choice Red Velvet mix from the holidays so made up the batter for that as well as the batter for sour cream cake. A scoop of each created the perfect red and white cupcake for Q to decorate with cream cheese frosting.

Chocolate Turtles

1 cup whole pecan pieces
1/2 cup cream
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 cup brown sugar
1 TB water
1 cup chocolate

Toast the pecans and place them in pairs on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Combine the cream, butter, brown sugar and water. Stir over medium heat until combined and smooth. Let the mixture come up to a boil and cook without stirring until 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Watch the caramel mixture carefully. Let the caramel sit for a minute and then pour a spoonful on each pair of pecans. Let the caramel set for at least an hour.

Melt the chocolate in a microwave, stirring after every 30 second interval.  Pour a spoonful on each caramel pecan bite. Let the chocolates set in the fridge.