Nainaimo Bars

We raised our family in Toronto - so these Canadian cookies are a favorite.

Thanks to Taste of Home for this perfect recipe

Of course - I had to double it for our family. I hope that's enough!

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
3/4 cup butter, cubed
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped almonds, optional

FILLING:

2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons instant vanilla pudding mix
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons 2% milk

GLAZE:
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Line an 8-in. square baking pan with foil, letting ends extend over sides by 1 in. In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar and cocoa; add butter. Cook and stir over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into eggs. Return all to the pan, whisking constantly. Cook and stir until mixture reaches 160°. Remove from heat. Stir in cracker crumbs, coconut and, if desired, almonds. Press into prepared pan. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until set.

For filling, in a small bowl, beat confectioners' sugar, pudding mix, butter and milk until smooth; spread over crust.

In a microwave, melt chocolate and butter; stir until smooth. Spread over top. Refrigerate until set. Using foil, lift bars out of pan. Discard foil; cut into bars.

Dressel's Chocolate Whipped Cream Cake

I grew up in Chicago where the Dressel's bakery was located. Every year for my birthday we'd have their famous chocolate whipped cream cake. It was sold frozen in our local grocery stores. So yummy. Most years I try to recreated it - generally with so-so results.

This year's cake was pretty close!

Thanks to Modern Honey - I found a good moist chocolate cake. I used her suggestion and did a 1 1/2 recipe to make three layers.

Chocolate Cake:

• 1 3/4 cup Flour
• 1 3/4 cup Sugar
• 3/4 cup Cocoa high quality
• 2 teaspoons Baking Soda
• 1 teaspoon Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 cup Oil canola or coconut oil
• 2 Eggs
• 1 cup Buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
• 1 cup Hot Water

Chocolate Buttercream:

• 1 1/2 cups Butter softened
• 1 cup Cocoa
• 5 cups Powdered Sugar
• 1/3 cup Cream Half n Half or Milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, stir together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. If you have a flour sifter, sift all dry ingredients.
3. In mixing bowl, beat oil, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla for 1 minute. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until combined. Pour in hot water and mix together. The batter will be liquidy but that's a good thing -- it will create a moist cake.
4. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with non-stick cooking spray. You can also use three 8-inch cake pans for this recipe. Pour batter evenly into each pan. Bake at 22-27 minutes. Place toothpick or cake tester in the center of the cake to check if it comes out clean.
5. Let cool before frosting.

To make Chocolate Buttercream:

1. In mixing bowl, cream together Butter, Cocoa, Powdered Sugar, and Cream until light and fluffy. You may want to add more cream or milk depending on consistency. Once the cake has cooled and has been removed from pans, frost each layer with frosting.
2. Top with chocolate shavings, chocolate chips, sprinkles, M & M's or whatever your heart desires.

Recipe Notes

*This recipe makes three 8-inch thin layers to two 9-inch thick layers. If you would like to make a thick triple layer cake, 1 1/2 times the recipe and use three 9-inch cake pans.

This is one baked good that gets even better the next day if covered.

Whipped Cream Filling and Chocolate Ganache topping

I baked three 9 inch layers with parchment paper lining the bottom of the pan. I froze them overnight, thawed slightly the next day, and sliced each one into two layers to create two - three layer cakes.

I put stabilized whipped cream between the layers (recipe below) and chocolate ganache on top.

Buttercream is just to sweet so I made this simple ganache style frosting. I melted about 4 oz of chocolate and gradually stirred in about 2/3 cup of the heavy cream to make a spreadable topping.

To make the filling:

I whipped 3 cups of heavy cream and used the Genius Kitchen recipe to stabilize (tripled it):

INGREDIENTSNutrition

• 1teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 4teaspoons cold water
• 1cup heavy whipping cream (35%)
• 1⁄4cup sifted icing sugar(confectioners sugar)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a small pan, combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick.
2. Place over low heat, stirring constantly, just until the gelatin dissolves.
3. Remove from heat; cool (do not allow it to set).
4. Whip the cream with the icing sugar, until slightly thick.
5. While slowly beating, add the gelatin to whipping cream.
6. Whip at high speed until stiff.

One pan balsamic chicken veggie bake - Whole30 recipe

Made this tonight and we LOVED it!

Thanks to The Real Food Dietician for the delicious recipe!

I subbed asparagus for the broccoli and served it with a side of mashed potatoes.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 ¼ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breast, tenders or thighs (if large, cut in half)
• 1 head of broccoli, chopped into pieces (about 4 cups)
• 3 medium carrots, peeled and cut into skinny sticks (about 1 ½ cups)**
• 2 cups button mushrooms, halved if large
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup cherry or grape tomatoes
• 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup avocado or olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 3-4 tbsp. fresh basil, finely chopped + additional for topping
• 1 tsp. fresh thyme (1/2 tsp. dried)
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp pepper

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400℉. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
2. Combine balsamic vinegar, oil, garlic, basil, thyme, salt and pepper. Whisk to make sauce.
3. Place chicken in zip-lock bag with about 1/3 cup of the balsamic sauce. Toss and move chicken breast around to coat. Set in fridge (may marinate for longer period of time if you wish).
4. Meanwhile, chop veggies. **for more tender carrots, cut into skinny sticks. If you like carrots with a little crunch, cut them to the size as shown in photos.
5. Place veggies, EXCEPT for tomatoes, on the sheet pan. Pour remaining balsamic sauce over veggies and toss veggies to coat. Make sure all pieces are coated.
6. Remove chicken from zip-lock bag, move veggies around to make spaces for the chicken. Place chicken on pan.
7. Transfer pan to the oven and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from oven and add tomatoes and toss veggies. Place back into the oven.
8. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. This will depend on the thickness of the chicken. For example, tenders or small chicken breasts (as shown in photos) will need to bake for 5-7 additional minutes.To ensure chicken is done, you could also use a meat thermometer. Once thermometer reaches 165℉, remove pan from oven.
9. Top with chopped fresh basil. Serve and enjoy!

Salmon with Avocado Salsa

I made this tonight and it was delicious. I used Trader Joe's farmed salmon Thanks to The Cookie Rookie for the great recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs salmon cut into 4 portions
• 1 tbs light olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp ancho chili powder
• 1 tsp black pepper

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FOR THE AVOCADO SALSA

• 1 avocado cubed
• 1/2 red onion sliced or diced
• 2 limes juiced
• 1 tbs fresh cilantro chopped

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Mix the salt, chili powder, cumin, paprika, onion and black pepper together, rub the salmon fillets with olive oil and this seasoning mix
2. refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Pre-heat the grill.
4. Combine the avocado, onion, cilantro, and lime juice in a bowl and mix well, chill until ready to use.
5. Grill the salmon to desired doneness. (I grilled for about 5 minutes)
6. Top with avocado salsa and enjoy!

Ministrone Soup - Instant Pot and Stovetop versions

I made this last week - one of our very favorite soups ever!

From the Life Made Sweeter blog

My notes: I substitute a few fresh tomatoes (peeled) for part of the canned tomatoes. I added a little fennel seed and some cubed butternut squash.  Instead of all the different beans I just added a can of white kidney beans.  I didn't read the instructions carefully so I added pasta, spinach and balsamic right at the start - I ended up just cooking it all on sautee in the instant pot. I added extra spinach at the end. Oops - but it turned out perfect. Hope I can replicate it!

Ingredients

• 1 small onion about 1/3 cup, diced
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 medium carrot about 1 cup, chopped
• 1 large celery stalk about 1 cup, chopped
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 32 oz can diced tomatoes I usually use fire-roasted or Italian-style
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 bay leaf
• 32 ounce carton 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
• water - add only as much as needed to cover vegetables
• 1 medium zucchini around 2/3 cups, sliced into halves or quarters
• 1/4 cup canned or cooked red kidney beans drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup canned or cooked cannellini beans or great northern beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 cup dried small shell pasta use gluten free if necessary or leave out and add chopped potatoes or cauliflower instead**(see note about freezing)
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach chopped (optional)
• 1/2 - 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar optional but adds great flavor
• Shredded or grated Parmesan cheese for serving
• Fresh parsley finely chopped, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

FOR THE INSTANT POT VERSION:

1. Press the SAUTE button on your instant pot and allow to heat up for 2 minutes. Add olive oil and saute onions and garlic for about 3 minutes, or until fragrant. Add the rest of the ingredients up to the water.
2. Press Cancel then close the lid. Press the MANUAL (older models) or PRESSURE COOK (newer models) button and set on HIGH for 3 minutes. Turn the valve to SEALING.
3. After the soup has finished cooking for the 2 minutes and the instant pot beeps, do a quick release by turning the valve to VENT to release the pressure.
4. Once the pressure is released, open the lid and add zucchini, all the beans and the pasta. Press the SAUTE button and cook for another 5-6 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and cooked. Stir in spinach and allow to sit until wilted. Add more water as needed if you like a thinner soup.
5. Season with more salt and pepper as needed and stir in balsamic vinegar (if using) and serve warm with bread and top with Parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley if desired.

FOR THE STOVETOP VERSION

1. In a large heavy bottomed pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add carrots, onion, celery, garlic, and onion and saute for about 4 minutes, or until vegetables are slightly softened.
3. Add basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme and cook for an additional 1 minute. Add the tomato paste, bay leaves, vegetable broth, water, zucchini and both of the beans.
4. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes.
5. Stir in the pasta and and cook for another 10 minutes, or until pasta is cooked. Stir in the spinach and allow to wilt (about 1-2 minutes). Add more water as needed if you like a thinner soup. (***you can also cook the pasta directly with the soup but this soaks up more water so you may have to add more water. Just add the pasta after simmering for 20 minutes, then bring to a boil and allow to cook for another 8-10 minutes or until pasta is tender)
6. Season with more salt and pepper as needed and stir in balsamic vinegar (if using) and serve warm with bread and top with Parmesan cheese and garnish with parsley if desired.