Author Archives: stacey

2-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies

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I really love a great cookie that isn’t too heavy or too sweet. Bonus points if it doesn’t take too much work in the process. I have started to gravitate towards recipes that don’t use butter, flour, leavening agents, or sugars. This is a cookie I baked last year for Secret Santa at work. I gave it to Lucia, a lovely older Italian lady at my workplace. She loved these! They were right up her alley, too. Give it a try if you’re struggling to find a nice Christmas gift for neighbours, bosses, or co-workers.

2-Ingredient Shortbread Cookies:
1 C Almond Flour/Meal, superfine powder consistency
2 1/2 tbsp Maple Syrup (the good stuff, not that table crap)

Add the syrup to the almond flour 1 tbsp at a time until the dough becomes clumpy but doesn’t form a ball. Adjustments: If it forms a ball, add a teaspoon more almond flour. If the dough isn’t clumping enough, add a teaspoon more syrup.

Roll the dough out between two sheets of wax paper to 1/8″ – 1/4″ thickness. Cut into shapes from here. Lay on parchment paper on sheet trays for baking.

Bake at 250 degrees for 25-30 minutes. The cookie tops should not feel soft when fully baked up.

Alt: I used Amaretto liquor in Lucia’s batch. I simply subbed out 1 tbsp of syrup for the booze. It was just a lovely little kiss for her, and it wasn’t overpowering. She could taste it easily without it being overpowering.

DIY Oat Milk

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If you ask me, oat milk is the way to go with cold blender drinks. (I’m not a fan of it in hot coffee or hot chocolate – yuck!) I use a little bit in all of my smoothies if I have it on hand.

So, if you want to learn how to make your own, have a spare five minutes, have a high-speed blender, or have some oats about to go off, why not make your own oat milk to save yourself a lot of money?

DIY Oat Milk:
1 C Old Fashion Oats (fully unprocessed or milled oat flakes)
4 C Cold Water
1/8 or less Salt (as a preservative)
Tight Meshed Strainer
Bowl (to strain into)
Container (to chill your milk in)

That’s it, that’s all.

TIP: If you blend longer than 20 seconds, the oats gum up the milk liquid, making it harder to strain it all out.

Blend the three ingredients for 20 seconds (tops!). Time it with your phone app if you need to. Pour into strainer over a bowl. Push the oat mush around to allow the liquid milk to strain into the bowl with a spoon. When the mush has released everything it’s going to release, dump it into your recycle bin. I’m sure someone has a use for that ball of mush so nothing goes to waste, but I don’t. *shrugs*

What’s left in the bowl is your oat milk. At this point, pour it into a lidded container vessel so you can keep it in the fridge up to one week (or a bit more). You will notice when you pull it out for use the water and oat liquid has separated. Don’t worry. Shake it up and use it would as you’d use any other milk.

Enjoy!

Build A Tomato Soup

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How to build a good tomato soup. It’s amazing that so many don’t know the basics of this iconic soup. I guess it’s because soup out of can is so readily available. But sometimes you have what you need in your fridge and pantry, and you have the time to make your own. In those times, this is your template. Go forth and fortify yourself.

Beef Stew

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It’s getting to be that time of the year again. Oh, you know which one I’m talking about. Yup, the stewing season. I love this season so much, and yet I didn’t make a single stew last year for whatever reason (I can’t recall why right now), but I’m into it this year. Yee-haw.

Let me know what you think of this if you try it, and if you made any noticable changes that improves it. I’m always look for new ways to make old favourites.

Easy Café Pumpkin Muffins

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I like making café muffins with big, fat dome tops. The secret to achieve this effect is a 3-prong attack:
1. Overfill the muffin tin wells. Trust me!
2. Resist, at all costs, the urge to drop the muffin pan on the counter to burp the batter because you are conditioned to stop filling 2/3rds of the way up. Trust me!
3. Bake the muffins at 425 degrees for the first 5-8 mins, and them drop the temp to 350 degrees for the next 22-25 mins. Trust me!

Bring them out when the tops are no longer soft and gooey to the touch. Let them cool for at least 30 mins before diving in, lest you burn your mouth off. Ask my husband why I put this disclaimer in. He will tell you allllll about the singed skin in his mouth. 🙂

Easy Café Pumpkin Muffins:
1/2 Bag of Oatmeal Muffin mix (of choice, measuring at least 450 grams)
1 Egg
2 tbsp Veg Oil
1 tbsp Maple Syrup (the good kind, not the table version)
1/3 C each: Water / Pumpkin Puree
1 tea Pumpkin Spices, heaping
Pepita Seeds

Mix the batter until all the ingredients are happy with each other. Using a 4oz disher (cookie or ice cream scoop with trigger), place two portions on top of each other per muffin tin well.

Top each muffin batter with a big pinch of pepita seeds in the middle of each top (fear not, the seeds will spread out as the muffin grows in size to distribute them nicely).

Bake at 425 for the first 8 minutes, and at 350 for the next 20-22 minutes. Yield: 6-7.

Pink Drink

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I have been bringing these to work with me for a good chunk of August and September. I’m already looking forward to drinking more of it next Summer. 😀 It’s very easy to assemble and not too expensive to purchase the materials for. So, here we go:

The Pink Drink:
1/2 C chilled Pineapple Juice
1 C chilled White Grape Juice
1/8 C frozen Blue Berries
3 frozen strawberries
1/4 C chilled Coconut Milk, frothed
4-6 Ice Cubes

What I love the most about this drink is, as the fruit thaws, it releases lovely fruity juices into the other ingredients. It gets better tasting the longer I have it sitting in my large travel cup. As it sits, the coconut milk will start to separate from the acidic grape juice, so give it a shake before you open the lid to take a sip.

Auntie Stacey’s Taco Bowls

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l love any recipe that cleans out my fridge. This is one I keep returning to over and over again. I know it seems like a lot of prep, but it’s fast, easy prep. Nothing too complicated or even expensive. Give it a go when you’re craving Mexican rice bowls but don’t want to leave the house or even pay $15 for one serving.

Auntie Stacey’s Mexican Spice Blend:
2 tea each: Onion Powder / Garlic Powder / Ground Cumin
1 tea ea: Black Pepper / Seasoning Salt
1/4 tea Ground Red Hot Chili Pepper Flakes

Auntie Stacey’s Mexican Rice Bowl:
1 cup Jasmine Rice, rinsed twice + 1 1/2 cup water
Pinch Salt
2 tea Mexican Spice Blend
1″ x 2″ knob of Unsalted Butter, cubed
1/4 cup Red Pepper, diced
3 fistfuls Frozen Corn
1/3 cup Pinto Beans, canned/rinsed

Basic Mexican Ground Beef:
1 tbsp Oil
1/4 small Onion, diced
1 lbs Ground Meat of choice
1 tbsp Mexican Spice Blend

Topping Selections:
1/2 Roma Tomato, diced
1/3 cup Marble Cheese, grated
1/4 cup Sour Cream
1/2 cup Leaf Green, 1″ x1″ torn pieces
Pickled Jalapeno Rings (optional)
Pickled Red Onion Slices (optional)
Salsa of choice (optional)

And if you have any leftover ingredients like the cheese, the meat and the rice blend,  mix them together and stuff them into some steamed bell pepper halves. Top with a bit more cheese grate if you have it.