nomnom – Urban Suburban Mommy

It’s a Wrap!

Posted on July 25, 2017 by Danielle Reid Posted in Delicious Dishes .

Summer mealtimes tend to be quick and simple. Take the wrap. It’s as good a go-to as the stir-fry. Want to know the secret (and so simple) ingredient to an amazing wrap? Let me share.

Your wraps will never be the same…

There are two types of wrap-eating people in this world, the tortilla people and the lettuce people.

Whether your a “tortilla wrap person” or a “lettuce wrap person” the basics are identical. What you choose to wrap in is your personal preference.

In our house we have begun to move away from the tortilla and wrap and focus more on the lettuce wrap. I was extremely hesitant at first. Our home’s dependency on bread and pasta is serious. With kids on the go and picky eaters, those seem to be the easiest items to grab.

However, the more research I do, I realize that this dependency has to change. I am a firm believer in moderation, so I don’t intend to eliminate these foods, just reduce their portions and frequency. I encourage you to do the same.

It requires a little more creative planning, but the benefits are worth it.

These wraps are a regular meal in our house, usually a Tuesday or Wednesday dinner. There are no complaints – so in essence I think they are my favourite meal!!! Soon to be yours, too.

The secret to a good wrap is: The sauce!

Adding a little TLC to our sauces (mayo, dressing, etc) has such a powerful effect on our wraps and sandwiches. There are a million variations, but here’s the one I use in this wrap. Share your favourites in the comments.

What you need:

– 1/2 Chicken breast (or 2 thighs) per person, grilled *
– 1 package of bacon, cooked and diced
– 1 cup shredded cheddar
– 1 tomato, diced
– Lettuce to Wrap (optional) Iceberg, Romaine or Boston Lettuce for wrapping.
– Tortilla’s to Wrap – 12 inch (Optional)

Optional:

– 1/2 Avocado, diced
– 2 Hard boiled eggs, diced

Sauce:

– 1 1/2 cup mayo
– 1 tbsp – Southwest Seasoning
– 1 tbsp – Bell Pepper Rub
– Salt & Pepper to taste

What you do:

Grill the chicken: I always prefer to grill my chicken on an indoor grill to minimize dryness. On an indoor grill it’s approximately 5 minutes per side on Med-High.

Cook the bacon: My absolute favourite – mess free – way to cook bacon in the oven. Just lay it out on a pan at 350° for 27 minutes. It’s perfect for wraps and sandwiches – and there is no grease splash to clean up. Once you try it this way, you’ll never go back to frying!

Place diced chicken, diced bacon, diced tomato, cheddar and any optional ingredients into a large mixing bowl. Mix the sauce ingredients together and add to the mixing bowl.

Mix all ingredients well.

Build your wrap using either a tortilla or lettuce wrap. Scoop on 2 to 3 heaping spoonfuls of mixture to each wrap and fold the wrap up.

Folding is a bit of an art in itself, you’ll easily and quickly get the hang of it – here’s a guide:

Option:

You can even grill the finished wrap to add extra effect.

Serve immediately with our favourite side dish – a nice salad, chips, french fries, etc.

Feeling satiated at meals, reducing the snacking between meals and improving cognitive function are just some of the benefits from changing the way we look and consume our food. Do some research and some experimentation to see what works for you.

What are your favourite sauce seasonings? Comment below!

That’s a wrap! Enjoy!

Have a great week

Danielle’s Pampered Kitchen..Healthy Meals in Minutes

Fondue Chinoise

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in Delicious Dishes .

You may think you know fondue, but if you haven’t tried Fondue Chinoise, you haven’t seen anything yet.

Fondue Chinoise is two meals in one. First, you create a broth in the pot. Then you take a piece of cheese, and wrap the cheese a piece of thinly shaved slice of meat. You submerge it in the broth and let it cook. Give it three or four minutes, then take it out of the broth, let it cool for a minute, and then pop the cheesy filled piece of meat in your mouth and go “mmmmmmmm!!!”

photo: Kae Yen Wong

AND THEN, when you’re done dinner, you throw the leftover meat into the broth. Let it simmer and save it for the next day. It’s the most decadent, best beefy onion soup you’ll ever have. Toss in some cheese topped toast and you’ve got French Onion Soup.

What you need:

Broth
– 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
– 2 big bay leaves
– salt & pepper to taste
– 1 cup heavy red wine (or half cup win,e half cup brandy)
– one beef bouillon
– 6 cups water
– 2 large onions – halved and then sliced into long narrow strips, sauteed until deeply caramelized

photo: Leon Brocard

Meat & Cheese
– 1 pound of cheese, cut to half-inch cubes: Jarlsberg, Swiss or Havarti are best
– 1/3 pound of meet, thinly sliced, per person – usually found in the meat or freezer section

photo: Julien Carnot

What you do:

Put all contents of the broth into the fondue pot and get it simmering for an hour or two. You may need to top the pot off with water if you let it simmer long. You want to make sure that the onions are very caramelized as this will make the flavour really come out. You’ll get the best results by sauteeing the onions slowly, on medium-low heat in vegetable oil.

The fun of fondue (or “fun”due as my brother likes to say) is that everyone cooks and eats at their own pace. The fondue pot is placed in the middle of the table with a burner beneath on medium to keep the broth simmering. You wrap a piece of meat around the cheese and secure it on the fork (you can pre-roll them or have guests wrap up their own). Then put the fork into the pot for about 3 to 5 minutes, until the meat is cooked through and the cheese has melted. Serve with some crust bread. And wine, this goes great with deep, rich red wine. You can also serve with a garlic aioli dip. It’s great for a dinner party or a family meal – or even an intimate dinner for two!

It’s hands-on and social. Depending on your family and friends, a little stealing may go on, but that’s only because it’s so delicious, and it’s hard to be patient waiting for those little morsels to cook up.

After cooking all that meat and cheese, the broth will be rich and flavourful. Dump the rest of the remaining meat into the broth and let it simmer. Serve the next day as soup, or you can add toasts with melted cheese and it makes the best French Onion Soup!

photo: Jay Kaye

Thanks for the recipe AP. I’ve made it many, many times, it’s always a hit, and it always reminds me of you!

Plain as a potato salad

Posted on July 19, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in Delicious Dishes .

Nothing brings back childhood memories of summer family picnics like a good ol’ bowl of potato salad. It’s not one of those dishes that gets made too often during the fall, winter and spring (unless prego cravings!) but come summer, it’s on everyone’s menu.

photo: Fenwench

I’m lucky because my sister-in-law makes the best potato salad. In. The. World.

Seriously. I don’t know how she does it, but there’s no better. She’s got all of the big family barbecues and picnics covered. My husband makes a mean potato salad too, though I’m not super crazy about the celery in his.

Me, I like mine on the plain side. I don’t like eggs so I prefer when the potato salad isn’t eggy or have hard-boiled eggs creamed in there.

(Really, who does that?!?!?!)

Because I’m fussy that way, my potato salad ends up being a big hit with kids and vegans. It’s yummy, but plain. I’m always hearing “You should add…” followed with suggestions from fennel to smoked trout.

But it will never happen.

I think this plain as a potato salad will be a hit with the whole family, feel free to make it a bit more funky with your own tasty twist!

What you need:

-6 or 7 big potatoes
-2 cups Miracle Whip (or mayo)
-1/3 cup onion, very finely diced
-2 tablespoons vinegar
-pinch of sugar
-1.5 tablespoons mustard
– tablespoon salt
-pepper to taste

What you do:

Boil potatoes in salt water until soft. Drain and cool. Peel potatoes if you prefer skinless potato salad, I like to leave the skins on sometimes. Cube potatoes and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine all other ingredients and whisk together. You can taste it at this point and see if you want to add anything. Vinegar for more sour, or more sugar for sweet. Salt and pepper to taste.

Variations:

You can add a little bit of Dijon mustard, fennel, bacon bits, sweet relish, or even turmeric – which will give it a brilliant golden colour. You can add sliced radish, celery, beets or even corn. If you’re an egg fan or you really want to sneak the protein in, mash 3 hardboiled eggs and add into the mix.

Toss this dressing over the potatoes and coat well. This recipe is so forgiving, if you want to add more Miracle Whip/mayo it will be more creamy – or halve it to keep it dry.

Garnish it with a little sprinkle of paprika, some sliced green onions or a few sprigs of parsley.

Side dish. Easy, fast and full of summer.

Popsicles = Summer

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Urban Suburban Mommy Posted in Delicious Dishes .

Popsicles are the best summer treat. Bright colours, sweet flavours, they’re the perfect cool-down for a kiddo on the go that doesn’t want to stop playing. And hey, they’re on a stick!

photo: Jamieanne

I have a few favourite recipes, but the great thing about popsicles is, as long as you have a mould, you can basically make any flavour you want. Of course, the standard orange, grape or lemon are always a hit, but you can get creative.

Pudding pops: Did you know you can freeze jello and pudding? Just prep it the way the package recommends and just freeze it in the moulds instead of in a bowl in the fridge.

Getting fancy: This takes some time because each layer has to freeze, but if you prep several juices, you can pour in a layer, let it freeze, pour in the next colour, let it freeze – and so on, and so on, until you’ve built up layers of colourful stripes. Or, if you tip the mould on a bit of an angle and fill it half way, you can let it freeze, straighten it up and fill the other half for a funky two-tone effect.

photo: Abi Porter

Fruit pops: Add a little bit of diced fruit to your pops. For thicker mixtures you can blend in the fruit, for thin liquids you may want to fill half, let freeze, add some fruit and top off with juice so that the fruit is suspended in the middle.

The basics: Any juice will freeze. You can make fresh squeezed or buy pre-made juices. Just fill the moulds and freeze. Milk will freeze – you can add some instant coffee and some sugar for a sweet adult treat, or some powdered chocolate for a chocolate popsicle.

My kids are crazy fans of piña coladas, and love this one the best:

What you need:

– 1 can of coconut milk or coconut cream
– 1 cup of pineapple, diced
– 1/2 cup pineapple juice (or 1/4 cup syrup if you’re using canned pineapples)
– 2-3 tablespoons white sugar (omit if using syrup from canned pineapples)
– tiny chunks of coconut, optional

What you do:

In a blender or food processor, whip together liquids and sugar for 1 minute. Then add fruit. Pulse blend 4 or 5 times. Pour mixture into moulds. Freeze and serve.

(The adult version of this can be made by adding 2 to 3 ounces of rum to the mixture!)

Popsicle hack!!!