Pumpkin Chicken Curry Soup

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Or in my world, with great masses of frozen pumpkin comes great need to find ideas to deal with it.

Pumpkin can be tricky to get rid of unless you want to create copious amounts of muffins, loaves and cookies. And I’m just one person. Eating it all would result in great mass-destruction of my thighs and ass.

So after staring into my fridge and cupboards for a couple minutes, I created a super tasty Pumpkin Chicken Curry Soup which will make a believer out of those who scoff soups and savoury items made with pumpkin. I enjoyed it so much that I have made it twice now and have been eating it nearly every day at work.

If you’re interested in making some for yourself and/or the family, here is my “recipe” for your enjoyment (keep in mind that I pulled this recipe out of nowhere so these measurements are not at all perfect and you might need to add a little extra this and little less of that to make it your own).

Make-Shift Pumpkin Chicken Curry Soup

- 1 large onion, diced

- 4 cloves garlic, minced

In a large pot with some vegetable or coconut oil, cook until softened (5 minutes). Add:

- 2 tbsp red curry paste

- 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger

- 3 stalks celery, diced

- 2 carrots, diced

Cook about 5-7 minutes or until veggies are softened. Add

- 3 small potatoes, peeled and cubed

- Enough chicken stock to cover the veggies

Bring the mixture to a boil, cover and simmer until everything is very soft. Add:

- 4 cups homemade pumpkin puree

Using a hand blender (or a regular blender if that’s all you have), blend the soup until it is mostly smooth (I like it to be a little chunky but I’m strange that way). Add:

- 2 cups diced cooked chicken

- Lots of black pepper

- Lots of Sriracha (or just a little if you’re a WIMP!)

Heat through and enjoy!

Note that I don’t add any extra salt because I use chicken stock and hot sauce which provides plenty of flavor for me. If you wanted to, you could also add some cream or yogurt to make it nice and creamy but I find that the texture is pretty delicious without it. Then again, I’m not into cream soups. You can also make it vegetarian by using vegetable stock and omitting all forms on chicken. Still tasty in vegetarian form!

I hope you all enjoy this recipe and actually give it a try. You can easily omit the potatoes if you want something with less carbs/starch, but I like how thick the potatoes make the soup.

It's funny. I was concerned about having too much pumpkin and not knowing what to do with it. Now I am panicking knowing that I'm already running low and will need more to keep up with my new soup addiction. Anyone have any pumpkins they want to contribute to my newest addiction? 

Lazy Pasta Lunch

I can define myself as a lazy cook who likes to put some effort into my food from time to time.

Sort of.

Alright, I am hard to define when it comes to my cooking and meal practices. People who know me think that it's amazing how I very rarely ever eat out and am always cooking fresh pots of something every week or couple of days. Yes I do put out the effort to cook for myself, but the stuff that I make is really lazy. 99% of what I make is just a one-pot meal (meaning everything goes into the pot, cooks and is done in 30ish minutes) which is so ridiculously easy for any person to do on a regular basis.

You say you're too busy to made home-cooked meals? Nope, not an excuse.

You say you can't afford the fresh ingredients and take-out is cheaper? Nope, not even going to believe it for a teeny tiny second.

Convenience foods (frozen dinners and pre-packaged meals) are cheaper and more time saving? Definitely not cheaper, but maybe a little bit easier if you only have 5 minutes to cook. But when you add up the time and money it takes to buy and make 7 frozen dinners, you can EASILY make one of Adrienne's lazy, but yummy, simple suppers.

I'm only cooking for myself, so I can be experimental from time to time and not worry about impressing anyone. If the meal flops, then at least it's only me eating it. What I do is just make a huge pot of something, portion it out into individual Tupperware containers, pop them into the freezer and VOILA! My lunch is ready for the next 5 shifts. So simple. So convenient. And delicious too (sometimes)!

Here is my creation today:

Adrienne's One-Pot Italian Pasta
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 green pepper, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 5 large mushrooms, chopped
- 2 tsp dried oregano and basil
- lots of black pepper and red chili flakes (omit if you can't handle the spice)
- 1 can (28 oz) diced tomatoes
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 1 can (19 oz) white navy beans
- 2-3 large handfuls of bow-tie pasta (or whatever small pasta you have in the cupboard)

In a large pot, cook the chicken until no longer pink. Add all of the veggies plus all of the spices. Cook about 10 minutes, or until the veggies soften a bit. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring the pot to a boil, cover and reduce the heat so that it gently boils. Cook about 20 minutes, or until the pasta is cooked. Top with some grated parmesan or cheddar cheese. ENJOY!

Working Casual and Quinoa Muffins

When I was hired for this Diet Tech job, I knew going into it that it was a casual position. For those who are not familiar with what being a casual worker in a hospital setting, it basically means that you are given anywhere from 0-37.5 hours a week. Yep, read it again. ZERO - 37.5 hours a week. Being a casual means that you are the person they call when someone is sick or if someone needs a vacation. So I work a lot for the first few weeks because, a) they need to train me, and b) they can have me cover other Tech's upcoming vacation (which is what I am doing right now), and c) have it so that I can be "on call" and be capable of handling myself at the spur of the moment.

 So yes, being a causal kind of sucks because I can go a long time without working, which is what is going to happen in a few days. I have been working lots because I needed to get trained ASAP so that I could cover the vacation of my co-worker, but now that she is coming back in a few days, that means that I am not going to have any shifts for a while. I will be going 6 weeks without a shift which freaks me out since it's a scary idea to have zero income for that length of time. And it's hard to get a second job because I am basically on-call at all times. BUT! I talked to my boss about my concerns and that I was thinking about getting a second job serving. Then she said that it might screw things up since I will be starting full-time in a few months :) I guess they decided to give me a temporary full-time position to cover someone's maternity leave! I was stoked and relieved that they have enough confidence in me to cover a full-time position. I am still feeling shaky about my job since it is so much to take in, but knowing that they have that kind of confidence in me gives me a little more confidence in myself.

I have been tossing around ideas of what I could do to stay busy and make some money during that 6-week time, and the best I can come up with is dog-walking. I love dogs and I miss walking them, and I know that there must be people close by who need their dog walked while they are at work. I am in the process of making some posters and seeing what I can come up with. I wonder if anyone will respond? All I know is that I need to find something to keep me busy so that I am not crawling up the walls.

I will conclude this post with a recipe for Quinoa Muffins that I have been juggling with. I found it online a few weeks back and after making it once with poor success (the quinoa was undercooked due to poor instructions) I changed it around a bit to make it more my style. I have cooked quinoa dozens and dozens of times and when I was following the recipe I knew that it just wasn't right, but I followed it anyway because I'd never made this particular recipe before and wanted to give the recipe the benefit of a doubt. Unfortunately I was correct and the muffins were grainy and chewy. But after trying again with some tweaking of my own, here it is for your creating pleasure.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked quinoa (follow the recipe on the package. It's easier then having me explain the process and have you measure out exactly 2 cups)
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 apple, grated
• 1 large egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease 12-cup muffin pan (or use liners).
2. Combine all of the dry ingredients and cooked quinoa in a bowl.
3. Combine all of the wet ingredients and the raisins in a bowl.
4. Pour the wet into the dry and mix together until just combined.
5. Pour into muffin pan and bake 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Take the muffins out of the pan and cool on a wire rack

Warning - your muffin pan will be really full and basically overflowing with batter. Do not feel the urge to make extras because these do not rise all that much.

Thai Broccoli and Chicken Noodles

I stumbled upon this gem of a recipe yesterday and was delighted to see that everything I needed was already in my fridge. I looked over the original recipe and decided to tweak it slightly to fit my tastes. And the outcome was far more delicious and easy than I would have expected, so I decided to share it with the world! It's tangy, creamy, slightly sweet and all over enjoyable. If chowed it down too quickly to remember to take a picture. Enjoy!

Thai Broccoli and Chicken Noodles
- Cooked vermicelli noodles (rice noodles)
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
- 1 head of broccoli, washed and cut into florets
- 1 onion, sliced
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Sauce:
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp grated ginger-root
- 2 tbsp natural peanut butter (I used chunky)
- 1 tbsp Braggs, or soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1-3 tsp Sriracha sauce (or any hot chili sauce), depending on your love for it hot
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- 1/4 cup vegetable stock
- 1/4 cup water
Method:
1) Heat the coconut oil on med/high heat and add the broccoli. Stir-fry for 5 minutes then add the chicken, onion and shallot. Stir fry 5 more minutes.
2) While the vegetables cook, combine everything into a blender (or Magik Bullet like me!) and pour onto the cooking veggie mixture. Heat through.
3) Spoon the sauce over the cooked vermicelli noodles, top with some extra chopped green onions and enjoy!

Salted Almond Ice Cream

I've been putting off going through my boxes that have been in “storage” for the past 5 years (aka, my parent’s basement) but the past couple days I’ve been digging through the past, tossing out all the useless junk and reminiscing in the awesome stuff that I forgot that I owned. Case and point, my ice cream maker! As soon as I saw the Cuininart box I got all hyped up, tossed the base into the freezer and dove into my vast inventory of un-made-but-really-wanna-make recipes.

Salted Almond Ice Cream. Yep, no doubt that this is the one that I had to make. If there is one thing in the world that should have a shrine made for it so that we can all bow to it and celebrate its perfection, it is the combination of sweet and salty. The marriage of sweet and salty is possibly my favourite combination so when I saw this recipe, I had to Pin it and save it for another day.

This morning I made this recipe and was wowed by the result. Basically, you start by making a simple sweet almond custard. While that cools, you caramelize the almonds with sugar and salt until it makes a thick syrupy mass which is poured onto a plate to cool. The custard is poured into the ice cream maker and the salty/sweet almonds are tossed in with a few minutes left to go in the mixing process. So what you are left with is this amazingly sweet ice cream with crunchy salty almonds. YUM!!! Here’s the recipe if you want to give it a go!

Salted Almond Ice Cream

- 2 cups 2%milk

- 1 cup 10% cream

- 5 egg yolks

- ½ cup sugar

- ½ tsp salt

- ¾ tsp almond extract

- ½ tsp vanilla extract

- 2/3 cup chopped almonds

1) Over medium heat, heat the milk and cream, whisking occasionally, until bubbles form around the edge.

2) Whisk together the yolks, 1/3 cup sugar and ¼ tsp salt until thick and pale. Slowly pour 1 cup of the heated milk mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly. Then pour the egg mixture into the pot and while stirring constantly, cook until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Allow to cool fully.

3) Toast the almonds on medium heat. Add remaining 2 tbsp sugar and ¼ tsp salt to the pan.

4) Cook, stirring constantly until nuts caramelize (10-15 minutes). Cool on a plate and break apart when cooled.

5) Pour custard in your ice cream maker. Add the nuts when ice cream is nearly hardened and continue to mix until thickened. 

The Verdict Says...Delicious!

I've been hesitant to try some of the Candida Diet approved recipes that I've been finding online, but this is a really, really, REALLY boring diet if you don't try new recipes and be a bit adventurous. The recipes I have posted below are so good in fact, I would make them even if I wasn't depriving myself of all the normal delicious foods in the world.

The first one I made up after feeling sad about not being able to have tomatoes. No tomatoes means no madras which is a staple in this house. I love curry with madras being my favourite (until now perhaps?) I'm going off the top of my head with this one but I think I remember what I put in.
Adrienne's Anti-Candida Curry
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 3 chicken breasts, boneless skinless and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 medium onions, sliced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 large handfuls of fresh spinach
- 2-3 tsp curry powder
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 black pepper
- 1/2-1 full can coconut milk (unsweetened!)
Method: Cook the chicken in the coconut oil. Remove the chicken from the pan and saute the onions and garlic until a bit softened (about 5 minutes). Add all of the spices and cook another 2 minutes. Add the chicken back into the pan and pour in the coconut milk, bringing the mixture to a simmer. Stir in the spinach and simmer for 2 minutes. Serve with some quinoa or brown rice. ENJOY!

The next one I found on a website all about the Candida Diet and it is called Quinoa Meatloaf.  I'll admit that it seemed strange and I was hugely skeptical on this one, but when I looked at the ingredients, it's really not all that different from a regular meatloaf apart from using quinoa in place of breadcrumbs or some other binder. I used ground turkey in place of ground beef because I don't eat beef and I altered a few ingredients based on what I had on my pantry.
Quinoa Meatloaf
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1-2 chilies, depending on what kind of spice you like
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 3/4 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
Method: Grease a loaf pan with the olive oil. Place the onion, garlic and chili in a food processor and chop very finely (or do it by hand). Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and place into the loaf pan. Bake at 350F for 75 minutes or until cooked through. To make sure it's done, an internal reading should be at 71degrees when using a thermometer. (71 and it's done!) This recipe would be really good with some kind of tomato based sauce poured over top of it. YUM! I am going to make it again when I can have tomatoes and reap the benefits of it's goodness.

I hope some of you try one of these recipes and become convinced that even though I am in dietary hell, there is hope for those like me when it comes to flavour and good food.

Quinoa Carrot Muffins

While doing research on Ancient Grains for work (a topic I am a huge fan of because these grains are so delicious), I stumbled upon this recipe for Quinoa Carrot Muffins and decided to give them a try. I have never baked with quinoa flour before, had no idea what it tastes like or what the consistency in a recipe would be like, so I thought I would give it a go and try something new. Plus I am always interested in finding gluten-free recipes since people are always looking for good ones and I like being able to suggest them or how to alter their existing recipes to make them gluten-free.

I made a couple teeny alterations to the original recipe and I am very impressed with how they turned out! So good in fact I thought I would share them with everyone! I know that the past few blog posts have been consistently recipes but really, recipes are a great asset for everyone. And honestly, if I didn't know these were gluten-free, I would never have guessed that this wasn't made with good 'ol fashioned wheat flour. Plus they have zero added fat in them. Bonus! The next time I make them I am going to experiment...maybe make some flax gel and toss in some as substitution for eggs. Oh the possibilities! 

Quinoa Carrot Muffins
- 1 1/3 cup quinoa flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 2/3 cup raisins
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2/3 cup plain fat-free yogurt
- 2 1/4 cups grated carrots

1) Pre-heat the oven to 350F. Prepare a muffin pan with paper muffin liners and set aside.
2) Combine the flour, bp, bs, salt, cinnamon and ginger in a large bowl. Mix in the raisins.
3) Mix together the eggs, brown sugar, yogurt and carrots in another bowl.
4) Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix until just combined. Divide evenly amongst the 12 muffin cups.
5) Bake 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Enjoy!

Say No to Nightshades

I was asked to write a blog post for my boss about the No-Nightshade diet for her patients who suffer from arthritis, inflammation and chronic pain. This blog post is dedicated to my mom.  I hope she reads this and thinks about trying this diet because I would love for her to not hurt so much all of the time. I love you mom.

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Painful inflammation is a problem for so many people, especially those with arthritis or other forms of chronic pain. For some people, it is recommended to try a No-Nightshade Diet for about 6-12 weeks to alleviate or eliminate the pain. A No-Nightshade Diet is a diet specifically designed to eliminate certain foods that contain alkaloid compounds that can build up in our tissues and alter our metabolism in a negative way. 

Foods known as Nightshades that contain these toxic alkaloids are:

Vegetables

- Bell peppers (green, red, yellow and orange peppers)

- Chili peppers (Jalapeno, Anaheim, Fresno, Pimento, Ancho, Chipotle, Habanero…etc)

- Eggplant

- Potatoes (all types but not including sweet potatoes)

- Tomatoes

- Tomatillos

Spices – typical in ethnic cuisines such as Mexican, Spanish, Caribbean, African, Indian, and East Asian.

- Cayenne

- Chili powder

- Curry powder

- Paprika

Fruits

- Cape gooseberry
- Goji berry
- Pepino
- Tamarillo

Other

- Tobacco

There are four mains tricks for success in this diet. The first is to be true to the diet because  some people are highly sensitive to these foods and even just a tiny bit (sneaking a french fry off of your friend’s plate) can trigger pain.

The second is to prepare your own food to ensure that you know exactly what is going into your mouth. Nightshades can sneak into so many processed and store bought foods such as gravy, sauces, fish sauce, condiments, salad dressings, baked beans, nuts, seasonings, breads, baked goods, crackers, breadings, stuffings, and cola drinks.  They may also be labeled on packages as flavours, natural flavours, natural flavourings, spices, potato starch, food starch, vegetable starch or vegetable protein, so you have to think of all the little extras that you add to your food to ensure that total elimination happens in your meals.

The third trick to success is to not be deprived and to know what you can have and what you can use to spice up your meals. If you love potatoes, try substituting into your diet foods like turnips, sweet potatoes, fried plantains and artichokes. Use summer squashes and zucchini in place of tomatoes.  Add lots of flavourful herbs and spice to your meals with garlic, cumin, basil, rosemary, oregano, turmeric, ginger, chives and onion.

The fourth and most important tip is to track everything you eat and write down your symptoms each day. Over time you will be able to track if and how long it took for the pain to subside. If your symptoms disappear while on the diet, you will know that nightshades are affecting your health and that their elimination will prove to be an effective long-term treatment for you. Plus, you can take the diet further and introduce one nightshade back at a time. For example, add just tomatoes back to the diet. If your pain gets worse again, take the tomatoes out and wait for the pain to subside. Then add green peppers back to your diet. Maybe they won’t bother you like the tomatoes did. Maybe they will. Each person reacts to these food items differently and some people may react to some foods but not others. Carefully tracking your food and symptoms is the key to knowing how your body responds to nightshades.

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

- 1 large butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded, and cubed
- 1 onion, coarsely chopped
- 2 Tbsp cup of olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoon basil
- Dash of salt and black pepper
- 1 cup of sodium reduced chicken broth
- A few dashes of white wine (optional)

- Sprinkle of Romano cheese (optional)

In a large saucepan, heat the oil until hot and add onions. Cook over med-high heat, for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes (don’t brown it) If you are using the white wine, add at this point, then add the butternut squash, basil, chicken broth and lightly sprinkle with pepper. Cover, bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer until the squash is tender - about 10 minutes depending on how big the pieces are.

Next, put through your blender or food processor to make a smooth sauce (or blend it lightly for a chunky sauce). Pour over hot pasta and top with 1-2 tsp of shredded Romano cheese. Enjoy!

Burger Love

I wrote a blog post about PEI Burger Love for Rachelle's blog and felt the need to further this with my own blog about my own burger love...well...my Veggie Burger Love. I have a special rule that I always follow when I got a restaurant for the first time. If there is a veggie burger on the menu, I always order it. For me, the respect and effort that a restaurant puts into a veggie burger is a clear sign to how the rest of the menu will be. I am always HUGELY dissatisfied when my meal arrives and I find a burger patty that obviously came out of a box and they just tossed on the grill to heat. Boooooring! What I love is when the kitchen takes the time to invent and create a veggie patty made out of lentils, beans, veggies, seeds, etc, until they get the recipe that works for their business and are proud to serve to their vegetarian customers. No I am not vegetarian but I do not eat beef (if you need an update on my cow love, check this older blog post out) but I love veggie burgers and I always hope that restaurant owners take the time to create a meal option for those who opt out of eating meat but still want a culinary burger masterpiece.

Of all the restaurants that I have eaten in and all of the veggie burgers that I have devoured, here are some of the best that I have ever had.
- Daniel Brennan Brickhouse (Charlottetown, PEI) - Margie Loo's Vegetarian Burger. Loved the sweet relish paired with the garlicky cream sauce. This one might be my favourite of all time so far. Maybe.
- Cedar's Eatery (Charlottetown, PEI) - Veggie Burger. When I first bit into this burger I thought they screwed up and gave me a regular beef burger. It was so meaty and rich I mistook it for actual meal. Absolutely delicious.
- The Outer Clove (Nelson, BC) - The Orbit Burger. Definitely the messiest veggie burger but is stuffed full of flavour. I always order this when I visit the restaurant.
- The Kootenay Bakery Cafe (Nelson, BC) - Veggie Burger. When I worked here I would load it up with sprouts and shredded carrots then top it off with salsa verde and garlic cream cheese. Heaven!
- Calactus (Moncton, NB) - Big Marc Burger. Lots of flavour and lots of love.

I was feeling the need to make some burgers for myself and they turned out excellent! They are vegan and gluten free (if you have gluten-free oat flour or you can use chickpea flour). I wanted to share the recipe for everyone else to enjoy! Damn I should have taken a picture of the one I had for lunch! It was a beauty.

- 2 cans drained and rinsed kidney beans (I soak and cook my own beans, so roughly, about 3 cups of cooked beans)
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1/2 cup onion, diced
- 5 cloves garlic (yeah, I like a lot of garlic)
- 1/4 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley
- 2 tbsp tomato paste (or use ketchup if you don't want to open a can of tomato paste)
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 tsp curry powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp salt and pepper

Directions: Toss the parsley and garlic in a food processor and finely mince. Add the onions and pulse until well chopped. Add the kidney beans and pulse until well blended but some chunks of bean still remain. Spoon out into a bowl and add all the remaining ingredients. Allow to sit in the fridge for at least an hour to let the flavours meld together. Preheat oven to 375F. Shape into 8 patties and put on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip, then bake another 15 minutes. ENJOY!

MMMMmmmmmmm

Alright, I made this recipe tonight for dinner and it was so delicious that I felt that I needed to share it with the world! It's a white bean chili and the recipe is as follows:

- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced (I used double the amount because I have a love affair with garlic)
- 1 cup sliced button mushrooms (if you don't want to use mushrooms, add an extra can of beans)

*Saute these items in a large pot for 5 minutes
- 1 Tbsp cumin, coriander AND oregano
- 2 (4oz) cans of green chilis, chopped

* Add these to the pot and cook for a minute
- 3 cups chicken stock
- 2 cans (19oz) white beans, drained but not rinsed
- 1 pound cooked chicken, chopped
- 2 tsp jalapeno hot sauce (or more if desired

* Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 1.5 hours.

* Add salt and pepper to taste

The recipe suggested adding chopped cilantro and yogurt to your bowl when you spoon it out for yourself, but I didn't add these options. The chili was delicious without them. Please make this at home. I wouldn't steer you wrong.

Tip of the Day: There is no such thing as too much garlic.