Pasta e Fagioli

I love this soup. James and I went to Strongstart at a local school this morning where we played with lots of toys, had a snack, read some books, sang songs and played in the gym. It was a great morning (Jonjon was at home with Nana). When we left the gym we were surprised to see it snowing! It didn't last and hardly stuck but it was so cold! I decided to make this soup for a warm hearty dinner. It is one of my favourites. This may not be a true Pasta E Fagioli as I use chickpeas and kidney beans instead of cannelini beans but I like the pop of the chickpeas. I served it with some dinner buns and couldn't be happier (or more stuffed).

Ingredients

• 4 carrots, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 sweet basil Italian sausages, casings removed
• 1 small package (about half a pound) lean ground beef
• 1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 celery stalks, sliced
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 6-8 cups beef broth (I use a low sodium one)
• 1 can herb and garlic pasta sauce (I use a can of Thick and Rich pasta sauce, I love the taste, it adds a little more flavour than a can of tomato sauce)
• 1 tablespoon sundried tomato pesto (I use Classico brand)
• 3 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6oz. small pasta (I use either ditalini or the small bowties)

Melt 1 tablespoon butter in large pot. Add ground beef and sausge. Brown. Remove from pot, drain and set aside.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of butter. Add veggies. Cook until soft. Add meat and tomatoes, simmer 10 minutes. Add beans, broth, pasta sauce, and pesto. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes.

Add pasta, simmer an additional 30 minutes.

Serve and enjoy. This soup would taste great with some fresh grated parmesan cheese.

I'm taking a break from food today to talk about something that is really important to me. Last June my Uncle Bob passed away after a short, horrible fight against Pancreatic Cancer. He was diagnosed in March and we lost him in June. It's been over a year and it's still a struggle, impossible to believe he is gone. Pancreatic Cancer has horrible statistics, it's the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in Canada, only about six percent of people diagnosed live at least 5 years (please visit Pancreatic Cancer Canada for more information). More often than not it seems when someone is diagnosed with this disease making it to a year is a milestone. Unfortunately for my family my uncle didn't even make it 6 months. The reason I am sharing this is because November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month, however most people I talk to do not know this. I think it is important to bring awareness to this disease as many families are affected by it. Purple is the colour of Pancreatic Cancer, please wear some purple, buy some purple LED lights, donate, or just tell people about this horrible disease and maybe if we all keep talking about it more money will go towards Pancreatic Cancer research and other families will not have to go through the pain that my family and perhaps yours has gone through. And, if you are wondering, Uncle Bob or UB as I called him is the Uncle that called me KR, hence KR's kitchen. This blog is for him.

Auntie Diane's Cuban Pork Stew

My Auntie Diane makes this stew and it is so delicious. It is another favourite around here. When the weather gets cold its a good dish to make. It's really quick and simple. The pork tenderloin is super tender and makes the dish.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 pork tenderloin, cut in bite pieces (silver skin removed)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 2 red potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 green pepper, chopped

Melt butter in laege pot (I have a large wok that I use). Add onions and celery, cook 5 minutes. Add garlic cook 1 minute.

Toss pork with flour, add to pan. Cook through. Add all remaining ingredients except green pepper. Cook partially covered 20 minutes.

Add green peppers, cook an additional 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

Stir Fry

My mom and I went into Vancouver today to go to the Circle Craft Christmas Fair and do some shopping at Pacific Centre mall. Trips into town are so much fun. I love going into the city. While we did some early Christmas shopping the boys, Ryan and my Dad cleaned up our yard, we have mountains of leaves that needed to be raked. It was a great day for all, lots of fresh air for the boys and lots of shopping for the girls! Needless to say when dinner came around we were all pretty tired and not too interested in cooking, so we decided on a quick simple stir fry that my mom frequently makes. It turned out great and was a perfect dinner after a day of shopping.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 1 inch pieces
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
• 1 cup baby carrots, sliced lengthwise in half
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 3 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2-3 teaspoon sugar
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup onion, sliced thin
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons oil

Heat oil in wok (or large frying pan). Add chicken, garlic and ginger. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add onions, carrots, 3/4 cup chicken broth, soy sauce and sugar. Cover and cook over medium heat. Stir occasionally. Add broccoli, mushrooms, and red pepper. Cook 5 minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink).

Mix cornstarch with remaining chicken broth. Stir into chicken mixture. Cook, stirring frequently until sauce is thickened. Serve over rice.

S'mores Cupcakes

I'll admit it, I have never had s'mores before, lately though I've been really wanting to try them. Instead of making traditional s'mores though I opted for the cupcake version. I'm really glad I did. I found this recipe at Bakerella and decided to try it out. I did a couple things differently (she puts a ganache on the cupcakes whereas I thought they were great without and I did not put the topping in the centre of the cupcakes) but they turned out really good. I also made them into large and small cupcakes, I did 7 large ones and 6 mini ones but I think it would make about a dozen large size cupcakes. They are definately worth a try!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder (I used a little less and they were very chocolately)
• 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/2 cup oil
• marshmallows cut in half

Topping

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 1/4 cup butter, melted

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Divide equally into two bowls.

Stir cocoa into one flour bowl, graham cracker crumbs into the other.

Add 1/2 cup milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, 1/4 cup of oil to each bowl. Stir to combine.

Topping: combine ingredients until crumbly.

Assemble cupcakes in lined muffin tin. First put some of the graham cracker crumb batter in the bottom of the tins, add half a masrhmallow then the some chocolate batter and then sprinkle some topping on. Bake 15-20 minutes (until toothpick comes out clean when inserted.).