Welcome to the Single World

I thought I had a week to figure out something funny to say in this blog, but we just can't resist diving in to this fun project!

So, as you may have all noticed, I'm single...no hubby to cook for, no kids to worry about feeding the right amount of fruits and vegetables. Also, no motivation to cook for myself :) There are a few things that work against me on the cooking front - I don't like it, I don't have the creative flair required for cooking, and I don't really like leftovers (unless its pizza or something pasta related).

So, all of this adds up to me eating quick and easy meals...basically, eating like you all probably did in university. The staples in my fridge/cupboards are as follows: Mini-wheats (highest priority), milk (to go with the aforementioned mini-wheats), Kraft singles (calcium!), English muffins (good for aforementioned cheese slices, or peanut butter), grapes (favourite fruit), apple (most transportable fruit), granola bars (10 am snack requirement), chicken (in the form of "fingers" or "breasts"), Kraft dinner, Lean Cuisines and Zoodles. Yes, I said Zoodles...typical Saturday lunch for this single lady! Now, I do eat other things, but these things are ALWAYS in stock around my house, and are my "go-to" foods.

Let me step back to justify this fairly atrocious (and vegetable deficient) diet. During the week, I go out for business lunches almost every day. Restaurant food everyday...crazy...but I try really hard to make sure I get a healthy dose of protein and veggies at lunch. So, I feel like I eat a big lunch, and can get away with just eating cereal or grilled cheese or fruit for dinner. Oh, and I should also mention that I frequently play my cards right and end up with dinner invites from my amazing friends, and get good home-cooked meals that way...I rarely ever turn down a dinner invite!

With my dirty eating habits now revealed, I will now share with you my favourite recipe for dinner, which is the only recipe that I could actually give you from memory and have complete confidence in making. I make it alot when I have company, for that reason (sorry Em...hope you aren't sick of it! Guess what you're getting when baby #2 comes?!?) My mom always made it for me as a kid, and it was actually referred to around our house as "My Favourite Casserole". It is the epitome of comfort food, for me.

My Favourite Casserole Recipe
- 1lb ground beef (Falls' ground beef really is the best...and Em doesn't pay me to say that!)
- 2 cans Campbell's tomato soup
- 1/2 bag of pasta (macaroni or Scoobi-doo are my favs)
- Boil pasta; Fry ground beef; mix soup (undiluted) into ground beef; add pasta and mix it all up!
There are lots of things you could do to this recipe - add some of your purees, fry onions with the beef, season it with something, put shredded cheese on top. But honestly, I like it just as it is!

Okay, as I was writing this blog, I just ate two chicken fingers and low-fat French fries (Cavendish - only 120 calories for a reasonable portion...such a good find!). Heavenly!

Now off to catch up on T.V. in my PJs....ahhhh, the single life....

Knotted Egg Buns

Hello Ladies!
This is a fantastic idea, thank you 'Julia2' for putting this together.

For my first blog I would like to chat about buns (or bread). I utterly enjoy baking bread but it doesn't always work out for me. (Not sure how many of you have tried it but it can be darn tricky!) And on top of it I struggle with the idea that it is pretty cheap to buy bread, so even though home made is so much tastier and makes your house smell wonderful is it really worth the time?

My family’s favourite buns right now are the knotted egg buns that I can buy at Sobey's. The problem is that they are so delicious that they are typically sold out. You need to go between 11am and 12am in order to get some (they don't bake them until 10, aren't cooled enough to be put on the self until 11 and tend to be sold out by 12, yes it is sad but I have checked this) so when I do find them I will buy all that they have and freeze any extras. I think that someone has caught on to this and is doing the same because the last few times I have gone they have already been sold out so, I have searched the web for a good egg bun recipe that actually works.

I have included the one I made this week at the end of the post. I have made quite a few changes to the original recipe and if you would like the original please let me know. There are also short cuts that you can take (like using a bread maker) but I actually find this cheating a bit when it comes to bread so I don't use one. If you like to though, I can let you know how to adapt the recipe for the bread maker. Anyhoo, this recipe has worked for me splendidly and was quite easy to make. I think that I have been officially converted (time permitting) to a home bun maker by this recipe (much like mayo... so much better when made fresh!). This recipe took me about 20 minutes to do with about 1½ hours of waiting time... not too bad for bread eh? It is also very forgiving so if you don’t wait for the rising, or leave it too long... it still works out!

So... again, if anyone would like the original recipe please let me know, here is my altered one.

Ingredients:
2 tsp original yeast
¼ cup hot tap water
¾ cup almond milk
3 eggs, beaten (1 for wash)
1 tbsp Fleishmann’s margarine
3 cups whole wheat flour
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt

Directions:

• Rinse the bowl of your Kitchen Aid for a few minutes with hot tap water to warm the bowl
• Add yeast to bowl with ¼ cup of hot tap water and allow to proof for 10 minutes, the yeast should double is size if it is active
• Add the remaining wet ingredients to your bowl and stir with the hook attachment on ‘stir’ for 30s.
• Add 2 cups of flour and mix on speed 2 for 2 minutes
• Add the remaining flour ½ cup at a time until the dough cleans the side of the bowl and sticks to the hook
• Remove the dough and lightly oil the outside before placing back in the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and place the bowl in the microwave with a glass of hot tap water to rise.
• Allow to rise for 30 minutes.
• Punch down dough and divide into 3 sections rolling each into a long rope.
• Knot one end of the rope and cut off. Each section should make 4 knots
• Place knots on a seasoned baking stone, cover again with the tea towel and place stone back into the microwave for an additional 30 minutes to rise
• Brush each bun with an egg wash
• Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden with your rack in the middle position
• Remove from sheet and place on a wire cooling rack once finished
• Can be stored at room temperature in a sealed container for 3 days, or frozen – fridge freezer for 3 months – deep freeze for 6.
• Yield 12
  

It really is easier then it looks, please don’t get turned off by all of the steps. I wanted to include everything so you would have all the little details.

Enjoy!

Book Club - The Julias

This blog has been created for a group of 7 women (and anyone else who would like to follow along) - as they read the book Julie and Julia for their November 2009 book club selection. Like Julie in the book, they must post a blog once a week, on their selected day, and describe a dish that they made for their family/friends that week. It could be one that was disasterous, had a favourite ingredient, was the result of a tough day, etc. They will collectively post each day for the month of November - should be fun! Either type out a favourite recipe here to share with the world, or bring it to book club at the end of November. Each member of book club should share one or two of their favourites and hopefully have a memory or reason they love the dish/dessert/etc. to share with the group as well.

Enjoy reading and posting ladies!