Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken (good use of leftover store bought rotisserie chicken)/2 cups sauteed chopped frozen or baby spinach (I added peas and mushrooms as well on my second attempt)
1/2 chopped onion
1/2 cloves garlic minced
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin (optional)
pinch chilli powder (optional)
1/2 8-oz. package cream cheese
1 10-oz. can refrigerated crescent roll dough (you can use the regular size or the bigger crescents depending on if you want mini or larger puffs)
salt & pepper to taste
Note: You might have leftover filling depending on how much you fill each puff. The leftovers work great on their own or in grilled cheese sandwiches

Method

Preheat oven to 350F
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil till onion is tender and slightly browned.
Add cumin, chilli powder (if using) and salt and pepper. After a minute or two, add cooked chicken or spinach or anything else you are using as a filling and fry for 3-4 minutes.
Transfer mixture to a bowl and allow to cool for 8-10 minutes and then add cream cheese to incorporate.
Unroll crescent dough and divide to create triangles. Place 1-2 tablespoons of filling in each triangle. (Amount of filing depends on “size” of dough you are using). Fold sides over to create a free form pinwheel. Mine look different each time.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix everything in a bowl and combine well. Roll mixtures into balls. I use an ice cream scoop to make them all the same size. I put them on a cooling rack on top of a foil lined cookie sheet sprayed with a little cooking spray. Bake the meatballs at 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

Source: Baked Bree

Combine the sage, garlic and oil in a saucepan and sauté on medium-low heat for several minutes, until the garlic is golden.

Add the tomatoes, lemon juice and navy beans and continue to cook for about 10 minutes, until everything is hot. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot or chilled.

Serves: 6-8

Source: VegWeb

1. Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan. Add chopped garlic and stir constantly to make sure that neither the chili nor the garlic burns
2. After about a minute, add ground chicken (or turkey) and break it up with your spatula and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes
3. Add the broccoli and bell pepper
4. Mix soy sauce, sugar, fish sauce and lime juice and add to pan. Cook for a further 4-5 minutes
5. Stir in basil leaves and bean sprouts and heat for another minute. If you want to kick up the heat stir in some chili garlic sauce.

Serve with rice noodles.
Serves 2 adults and 1 kid

Adapted from a recipe posted on A Little Yumminess.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy; beat in egg yolk. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in almonds.
3. In a small bowl, whisk jam to loosen. (Stirring the jam with a fork or a whisk will enable it to spread smoothly over the dough.) Gently press half of dough into bottom of prepared dish. With the back of a spoon, gently spread jam over dough, leaving a 1/4-inch border so the jam doesn’t stick to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle remaining dough over top all the way to the edges; press gently to form top layer.
4. Bake until top is golden, 25 to 30 minutes; cool completely in dish. Cut into bars with a serrated knife.

Source: Martha Stewart

Thinly shave the zucchini lengthwise with a v-slicer (or mandoline or sharp knife). Mix lemon juice and oil in a bowl and season this well. Add in the zucchini and toss thoroughly. Let stand for 10 minutes or so to let the dressing absorb. Toss in the basil leaves and split salad between two plates. Put your sardines (or other complement) and toasted almonds on top.

Source: Group Recipe

Today, when they called out, I accepted their tempting offer to eat them. I still didn’t know what to do with them, so I asked The Internet to tell me what to do. The Internet said to eat them on toast with cream cheese or mustard. I opted for cream cheese.

Isadora, my most adventurous eater in the house, refused. (Don’t worry, I’ll try again.) I took a bite, and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor. Not too fishy! I asked The Internet to tell me more about sardines. The Internet said that sardines have hardly any mercury since they’re so low on the food chain. They’re also packed with Omega 3s and B12 vitamins. To top it off, one can (which is a single serving) offers 23 grams of protein. That’s 45% of your daily recommended allowance. Eat a can of sardines, and you’ll be sated for a long, long time.

I got bored with sardines on toast quickly, so I opted to make a salad. Behold: spinach, red quinoa, beets, avocado, sardines, goat cheese and a splash of lemon. Delish!

I need to find additional recipes for sardines. I’m about to dive into the intarwebs to look for some. See you in a couple of hours. In the meantime, add your favorite sardines recipes in the comments.

As a small token of our appreciation, we hosted a dinner party last night. I made Halibut en Papillote and Quinoa with roasted veggies. It was easy to prepare and rather tasty! It was fun to hang out with everyone since I usually don’t see anyone because I’ve already left for work. The girls were a bit wild during dinner though. I thought we could set up a kids table, and it started off okay, but within minutes, we realized that we really should have strapped them down in the high chairs. They’re just not quite ready for that kind of freedom yet.

Halibut en Papillote.

1 zucchini
1 crook neck squash
1 carrot
1 small red onion
4 cloves garlic
1 lemon
2 halibut steaks
salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary

Preheat oven to 400. Slice zucchini, squash, and carrots. Slice red onion into rings; cut rings in half. Halve garlic cloves. Toss vegetables with spices and divide among two sheets of parchment paper. Place a halibut on top of each stack of vegetables. Squeeze fresh lemon over fish and vegetables. Top with a slim pat of butter (optional) and a slice of lemon. Fold parchment paper into a package and bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes. Remove from paper (watch out for the steam) and serve.

Quinoa and Vegetables with Citrus Vinaigrette

* Cut 1/2 pound asparagus into 2-inch pieces and place on a shallow roasting pan with about 1 cup cherry tomatoes
* Toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper
* Roast in 425°F oven, stirring once or twice, until tender (about 15 minutes), then cool to warm
* While veggies roast, whisk together 2 tablespoons fresh lime or lemon juice, 2 teaspoons mild honey, 4 tablespoons olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl
* Add 4 cups cooked quinoa, roasted vegetables, and 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint to the bowl and stir gently to combine

Chicken Tacos

Layer in crock-pot in the following order:

16oz bag frozen corn
15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, still frozen
1 packet taco seasoning
16-ish oz jar of salsa

Cook on low in crock-pot for 6-8 hours (time will vary depending on your particular appliance). When done, remove chicken and fork-shred. Return chicken to crock-pot and mix with other ingredients. Serve as taco filling, or as taco salad, or nachos or over rice. Left-overs freeze beautifully.

Blondies
Adapted from How to Cook Everything

8 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Butter an 8×8 pan
Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.
Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below).
Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle. I always err on the side of caution with baking times — nobody ever complained about a gooey-middled cookie. Cool on rack before cutting them.
Further additions, use one or a combination of:

1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor
1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon mint extract in addition to or in place of the vanilla
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/4 cup bourbon, scotch or other whiskey; increase the flour by one tablespoon
2 tablespoons of espresso powder with the vanilla
Stir 1/2 cup dried fruit, especially dried cherries, into the prepared batter
Top with a vanilla butter cream or chocolate peanut butter cream frosting

For my adaptation, I added roasted flax seeds, walnuts, chocolate chips and butterscotch chips. I just pulled them out of the oven and they smell awesome! I can’t wait to have a bite. Yum!