New Year Challenge - Parsnips! #EPICURE #FEEDMEEPICURE

I've always been a big fan of cooking and baking, but like many of us, spent a number of years in a rut of making the same things all the time.  My hubby and I were introduced to Epicure and signed up for a kit with the big "joke" being that since we'd been plotting to do more cooking together, and changing things up that we were going to "Spice up" date night.. 

New Year - New Possibilities - Join our Team and get the kit for just 119! #EPICURE #FEEDMEEPICURE

 It's a new year and many of us have included a variety of resolutions on our annual list. 

For many of us it's about finding more time for family pursuits, hobbies and interests and of course finding more loonies to put into the budget on a regular basis.  

Epicure can help with all of those things - and MORE!  

You build your business YOUR way,  shop for yourself, or share with others..  
Just one qualifying order per year keeps you active - unlike other companies, if you decide that Epicure sales is not for you, you can always eat your kit!  It's win WIN! 

Would you like more information?  

Send your questions, comments and concerns to us at feedmeepicure@gmail.com ~  Join in January and get FREE Shipping on your starter kit! 

Shop 24/7 ~ Get Recipes ~ Get Inspired:  www.tammywilson.myepicure.com

Recipe Share: Braised Celery #EPICURE #FEEDMEEPICURE

And now for something completely different..   I know *I* wouldn't have dreamnt this one up!  

What recipes have you dreamnt up lately? Please share in the comments below! 

To place your epicure order please visit www.tammywilson.myepicure.com or email feedmeepicure@gmail.com ~  Send us your product Q's and requests too! 

Makes 4–6 servings

Cost Per Serving: 0.73

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 tsp (10 ml) olive oil
• 1 C (250 ml) onions, sliced thin
• 1 tsp (5 ml) Epicure Minced Garlic
• ¾ C (180 ml) prepared Epicure Chicken Bouillon
• 1 lb (450 g) celery, cut into 3-inch (7.5 cm) pieces
• 2 tsp (10 ml) Epicure Holiday Seasoning
• Epicure Sea Salt, to taste
• Epicure Black Pepper, to taste
• 3 Tbsp (45 ml) fine grated Parmesan

Instructions

1. In an Epicure Frying Pan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat, until onion wilts completely and starts to turn brown.
2. Add bouillon, celery, and seasonings to the pan. Cover and adjust to a steady simmer for 15 minutes or until the celery is soft when prodded with a fork.
3. Uncover and increase the heat to high to reduce any remaining liquid.
4. Top with salt, pepper, and Parmesan.

Per Serving : Calories 50, Fat 2.5 g (Saturated 1 g, Trans 0 g), Cholesterol 5 mg, Sodium 75 mg, Carbohydrate 6 g (Fibre 2 g, Sugars 2 g), Protein 2 g.

Tips: Braised celery is a perfect match with roast chicken or pork and is a tasty twist on everyone’s fridge staple.

Recipe Share: Chicken and Snow Pea Stir-fry #EPICURE #FEEDMEEPICURE

This looks like a great idea for lunch or dinner ~ won't you try it too?

Visit www.tammywilson.myepicure.com to get yours or e-mail feedmeepicure@gmail.com to place your order by e-mail. 

This recipe can be easily made with shrimp or a combination of shrimp and chicken.

Makes 4 servings

Cost Per Serving: 3.41

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 7 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb (450 g) boneless, skinless chicken, diced
• 1 Tbsp (15 ml) vegetable oil
• 1 - 2 tsp (5 - 10 ml) Epicure Asian Stir-fry Seasoning
• 1/3 C (80 ml) prepared Epicure Chicken Bouillon or Vegetable Bouillon
• 2 C (500 ml) snow peas
• 1 Tbsp (15 ml) sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Mix chicken with oil and Asian Stir-fry Seasoning.
2. Heat Epicure Eclipse^® Coated Professional Frying Pan to medium and add chicken. Stir-fry for about 5 minutes, add Bouillon and bring to a gentle simmer.
3. Add snow peas and cook until tender and liquid is reduced by about half. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Per Serving : Calories 260, Fat 9 g (Saturated 2 g, Trans 0 g), Cholesterol 95 mg, Sodium 90 mg, Carbohydrate 6 g (Fibre 2 g, Sugars 2 g), Protein 37 g.

Tips: Flavour Changer: Make this a sweet and sour stir-fry by adding chunks of canned pineapple and a generous drizzle of white or cider vinegar towards the end of cooking. 

Recipe Share: Asian Noodle Soup #EPICURE #FEEDMEEPICURE

You can always tell when we get into cooler weather -- Tammy's hunting for new soup recipes.. :)   Give this one a go! 

To order supplies for this recipe, or something else you might dream up, visit www.tammywilson.myepicure.com  or contact feedmeepicure@gmail.com to get yours! 

Makes 8 C (2 L)

Cost Per Serving: 1.07

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 8 C (2 L) prepared Epicure Chicken Bouillon or Vegetable Bouillon
• 2 kaffir lime leaves
• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" (1 cm) cubes
• 1 1/2 C (375 ml) dried, thin egg noodles
• 2 C (500 ml) julienned (finely sliced) bok choy or Chinese cabbage
• 1/3 C (80 ml) julienned carrot
• 2 tsp (10 ml) Epicure Asian Stir-fry Seasoning
• Epicure Sea Salt, finely ground, to taste
• Epicure Black Pepper, finely ground, to taste

Instructions

1. In Epicure Eclipse^® Coated Wok or Epicure Multi-Purpose Pot, bring Bouillon and kaffir lime leaves to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer.
2. Add cubed chicken and poach until chicken is firm and cooked through. Remove and set aside.
3. Add noodles to broth and simmer until noodles are cooked.
4. Return chicken pieces to pot. Stir in bok choy or cabbage and carrots. Bring to a boil.
5. Stir in Asian Stir-fry Seasoning. Season with Sea Salt and Black
Pepper.

Per Serving (1 C (250 ml)) : Calories 120, Fat 3 g (Saturated 1 g, Trans 0 g), Cholesterol 25 mg, Sodium 100 mg, Carbohydrate 11 g (Fibre 1 g, Sugars 1 g), Protein 13 g.

Tips: Creative Cooking: Substitute Epicure Asian Stir-fry Seasoning with Epicure Thai Seasoning or Epicure Teriyaki Seasoning.

Recipe Share: "Healthier You" Hot and Sour Soup #EPICURE

Hot and Sour Soup is one of my teddybear's favourites ~ Will definitely have to give this one a try! 

Need supplies to give this one a go?  Visit www.tammywilson.myepicure.com to order, or contact us at feedmeepicure@gmail.com to get yours!  

Makes 4 servings

Cost Per Serving: 1.05

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 C prepared Epicure Chicken Bouillon or Epicure's Vegetable Boullion
• 2 Tbsp (30 ml) rice vinegar, or your choice
• 2 tsp (10 ml) sugar
• 2 Tbsp (30 ml) Epicure Red Pepper Jelly
• crushed chilies, to taste
• 1 1/2 tsp (7.5 ml) sesame oil
• 1/4 lb (125 g) cooked lean ground pork or chicken
• 1/4 C sliced mushrooms
• 2 green onions, sliced diagonally
• Fresh cilantro, to taste – optional

Instructions

1. Combine Bouillon, vinegar, sugar, Red Pepper Jelly, and crushed chilies in Epicure 12-cup Multi-Purpose Pot. Bring to a boil.
2. Reduce heat to medium, add pork and mushrooms, and simmer, uncovered, for approximately 5 minutes.
3. Stir well, garnish with green onions and cilantro, if desired, and serve.

Per Serving : Calories 120, Fat 6 g (Saturated 2 g, Trans 0 g), Cholesterol 20 mg, Sodium 85 mg, Carbohydrate 9 g (Fibre 1 g, Sugars 7 g), Protein 7 g.

Tips:
Preparation Tip: For a vegetarian version, add tofu instead of pork or chicken.

Health Tip: Add sliced bamboo shoots and red peppers or cherry tomatoes for added colour and nutritional value.

What's For Dinner - Susan Surprise! A treat for Throwback Thurdsay! #TBT #FEEDMEEPICURE

If we’re being completely honest, I would hazard to guess that I’m not the only housewife out here who cringes when she hears the words “What’s For Dinner.” Or as our youngest used to say, “What’s for Food?” which would usually be followed by a chorus of "Feed Me!" over and again until she'd gotten the "right" answer for what she could have for an afterschool snack. Much like the enunciated “MoOom, I’m BoOOored” that parents everywhere are subject to all summer long; after that initial honeymoon is over, it gets to grating on ones nerves like nails on a chalk board. I set a goal of trying something new at least once a week. Sometimes that’s a completely new dish that I’ve stumbled across and other times it’s changing up the condiments and flavors for that dish just to see how it turns out. 

On several of the chat groups I have been in over the years we’ve had conversations running where someone would post the query “What’s for Dinner?” and everyone would respond by posting what their chosen meal that way was, and often how to prepare it. 

Sometimes a topic would be chosen, someone would post a particular ingredient, or perhaps something like egg free or vegetarian and others would share their recipes that fit into that particular category.  Sometimes a posted recipe would call for an ingredient or method that you’d never heard of and you’d be able to query others about that.

Earlier this week a few friends and I were online chatting and a couple of the girls were discussing their diet and counting up points and we got on the topic of cooking and recipes. At the time I’d mentioned I had two boneless, skinless chicken breasts thawing in the fridge and I was looking for inspiration.  Before too long there were a flurry of e-mails and my good friend Susan had sent a few of her favorites my way.  I immediately picked one out that seemed to jump off the page and began calculating what I might need to prepare it.

I have nicknamed this recipe “Susan Surprise” and to be fair even after having made and enjoyed it I cannot decide if the surprise is how easy it was to make, or just how awesome it turned out.  It’s definitely a keeper in our kitchen! 

Susan Surprise  (Makes 4 Servings)

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts                        4 pieces of Swiss cheese

1/2 stick of butter (1/4 of a LB)                                   1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup 

1 Package Pre-packaged stuffing mix                      cooking cherry (optional)

Pre-heat Oven to 325 degrees.

In a glass casserole dish (Susan suggests putting foil in first to save time later on clean up) put the chicken breasts in, and place one slice of Swiss cheese on each breast.  Pour soup mixture (from the can – don’t mix it into soup!).  Sprinkle with 1 C of stuffing mix, melt butter and drizzle over top of the entire casserole. 

Bake at 325 for an hour.

The Change-Up:

Being in different parts of the country we often have certain ingredients available at different times of the year but you can usually find a suitable substitution.  For this recipe I substituted a different brand of stuffing mix than had been suggested since it is not available in Canada.  I put a little more than a cup of mix in also because I didn’t want to waste the very little bit that would have been left over.

I also substituted grated cheddar cheese for the slices of Swiss cheese because it was what I had on hand. 

If you wanted to change this up further you could substitute another cream based soup (perhaps mushroom, or celery) and change the cheese to make it a completely different dish. Don't forget to try your favourite spice blend or san-sel to make this dish your own! 

I would suggest that you  choose chicken pieces that are all about the same size so that your cooking times aren’t thrown off.

I think when I do this recipe again next time I’ll also add some canned peas, or a mixed vegetable blend in when I add the soup.  It was a truly yummy dish – I just couldn’t help but think that there should have been some kind of veg in there somewhere.

Thanks to some wonderfully creative chat buddies and friends who love to brainstorm, “What’s for dinner?” has gone from being a mournful cry and is now a challenge to be conquered.  I am finding new ways to change things up, and menu planning has become fun again instead of dreading the dinner hour.

Do YOU have an ingredient or WFD challenge that you’d like to address?  Would you like to submit a tip, recipe, suggestion or other comment?  I’d love to hear from you!   Did you try this week’s recipe?  Let me know how it turned out.  How would you change it up?