We're alive, just busy!

So we didnt die, and we have been eating: WE PROMISE!!!

Anne and I have been so so busy and we haven't had much time to make anything fancy(we do have some posts coming up though that we haven't had a chance to post). My family was in town for a couple days and my aunt decided it would be a good time to have a girls night out(and a good me to show off my new place). We went out to Milestones and enjoyed some appys and dinner :)

Speedy Stirfry

Basic Stirfry Sauce
(www.cdkitchen.com)

1 1/2 tsp seseme oil
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp minced ginger
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/8 tsp tobasco
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 tsp lemon or lime juice
1 1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

Heat the seseme oil in a small saucepan on medium heat. Add the ginger and garlic and stirfry 15-30 seconds to bring out the flavour. Add the chicken broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, tobasco, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Bring just to a boil, stirring. Dissolve cornstarch in rice vinegar and whisk into sauce. Heat until sauce thickens and reaches a full boil.



After too many late nights and early mornings we were feeling extremely tired and lazy tonight. Not to bore you, we decided it was time to switch it up a little and make something other then soup for a change. We used this sauce with approx. 4 cups of mixed stirfried veggies and garnished with seseme seeds. The result was a speedy and delicious supper. For a quick fix supper we recomend you give this recipe a try. Its a refreshing way to finish a long hot summer day and just relax.

Muffin Madness

Basic Corn Muffins (allrecipes.com)

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, grease or line muffin cups

In large bowl mix together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Add egg, oil and milk; stir gently to combine. Spoon batter into muffin cups

Bake at 400 for 15-20 mins or until toothpick inserted to muffin comes out clean.




We have been wanting to bake something for a while but since we are low on groceries we had to improvise a little. Instead of eggs we used 1/4 cup egg whites and we also replaced the oil with melted margarine. Lucky they still managed to work out and tasted pretty good. Minus the fact that Anne's stomach is killing her due to her wheat alleriges we will STILL be making them again ;)

Creamy Pepper Tomato Soup

Cooking oil 2 tsp
Chopped onion 1 cup
Chopped celery 1/2 cup
Chopped carrot 1/2 cup
Garlic clove 1 ( we used two)
All purpose flour 2 tbsp
Vegtable (or chicken stock) 3 cups
Can of plum tomatoes (with juice) 14oz
Jar of roasted red peppers 14oz
Tomato paste 1tbsp
Dried Rosmary 1/4 tsp
Bay leaf
Cream cheese, softened 1/4 cup

Heat cooking oilin large saucepan on medium. Add next 4 ingredients. Cook for 5-10 minutes, stirring often, until onion is softened .

Sprinkle with flour. Heat and stir for 1 minute.

Add 1 cup ofstock. Heat and stir until boiling and thickened. Add remaining stock and next 5 ingredients. Stir. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, to blend flavours. Discard bay leaf.

Add cream cheese. Carefully process with hand blender or in blender until smooth.




You guessed it another soup :) I'm sure you are used to that by now...we just can't help it, it is SO good! Have you ever had the boxed stuff and thought to your self,"I wonder how hard this would be to make?"...Well good news, ITS SIMPLE!!! In no time you will be chowing down on this vibrant and flavourful meal.
If you want to kick it up a notch, add some hotsauce and your tastes buds will be on fire. Quick, simple and delicious.

Not so magnificant Moroccan soup

Moroccan Lentis Soup

Cooking oil 2tsp
Chopped onion 1cup
Finely grated gingerroot 2tsp
Garlic cloves 2
Ground turmeric 1tsp
Ground cumin 1 tsp
Ground cinnamin 1 tsp
Bay leaf 1
Salt 1/8 tsp
Vegtable (or chicken) stock 6 cups
Dried green lentils 1 cup
Diced carrot 1 cup
Diced celery 1/2 cup
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Chopped cilantro OR parsley 1 tbsp
Grated lemon zest 1 tsp

Heat cooking oil in large saucepan on medium heat. Add onion. Cook for 5 to ten minutes stirring often, until softened .

Add next 7 ingredients. Heat and stir about 1 minute until fragrant .

Add next 4 ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, partially covered, for about one hour, stirring occassionally, until lentils are very soft. Discard Bay leaf.

Add remaining 3 ingredients.Stir.



Okay so we have to be honest with you, this was not a great soup. It wasn't terrible or anything but it isn't something we will be making again. It was partly because the lentils weren't fully cooked and the taste of cinnamon was a bit over powering. We liked the lemon aspect of it, but hey that isn't enough to make this a winner. We had high expectations for this but unfortunately this did not live up to them.

Curry Cravings

Curried Cauliflower Soup

Cooking oil 2tbsp
Chopped onion 2 cups
Chopped carroto 1 cup
Garlic cloves, minced 2(or 1/2 tsp powder)
Finely grated gingerroot 2tsp
Curry powder 1 tbsp
All-purpose flour 1/4 cup
Chicken(or vegtable) stock 4 cups
Chopped cauliflower 5 cups
Can of 2% evaporated milk 13.5 oz
Salt 1/4 tsp
Liquid honey 3 tbsp

Heat cooking oil in lard saucepan on medium. Add next 4 ingredients. Cook for 5 to 10 micutes, stiring often, until onion is softened.
Add curry powder. Heat and stir for about 1 minute until vegtables are coated and curry is fragrant.
sprinkle with clour. Heat and stir for 1 minute.
Slowly stir in 2 cups (500 mL) stock, scraping any brown bits from bottom of pan, until boiling and thinkened. Add remaining stock and next 3 ingredients. Stir. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, uncoverd, for about 15 minutes, stiring occasionally, until cauliflower is tender.
Add honey. Carefully process with hand blender or in blender until smooth.




YES WE ARE ALIVE!!!Both of us have had a few busy days but we are back:) After coffee with a friend and talking about Mad Mango cafe the craving for curry came back to us. We also had a HUGE(I'm not kidding this thing was massive) head of cauliflower we needed to use. Since we loved the silky smooth texture of the egg plant soup we had we decided a pureed soup was the way to go. To add something special to this recipe a touch of cilantro, hot sauce and perhaps even plain yogurt to garnish would be the perfect finishing touches to a devine recipe. We really do promise that this whole blog wont be soup, we are just working our way through an amazing soup cook book so bear with us :)

Heaven in a bowl

Eggplant and Tomato Soup

Olive oil 2 tbsp
Chopped eggplant 2 cups
Chopped onion 1 cup
Salt 1/8 tsp

Garlic clove, minced(or 1/4 tsp powder)

Tomatoa paste 1 tbsp

Vegtable (or chicken) stock 4 cups
Can of plum tomatoes (with juice) 14 oz
Bay leaf 1
Dried Oregano 1/2 tsp

Heat olive oil in large saucepan on medium-high. Add next 3 ingredients. Cook for about 5 minutes, stiring often, until onion is softened.

Add garlic. Heat and stir for about 1 minute until fragrant.

Add tomato paste. Heat and stir for 1 minute.

Add remaining 4 ingredients. Stir. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer, coverd, for 15 minutes, stiring occasionally, to blend flavours. Discard bay leaf. Carefully process with hand blender or in a blender until smooth.



I am writing this blog while Anne is in a food coma. Yes I am aware that we had "dinner" at 2am, but we had to fit it in some how...like the good girls we are ;)
Anyway Anne was a bit loopy so I made the soup, don't worry the drugs she took were prescribed. The two of us had never had eggplant before so trying this soup was a bit scary. WE LOVED IT THOUGH! You can almost feel the warmth of the Tuscan sun as you savour the flavour of this smooth and sophisticated soup. We enjoyed it very much and will be making it again soon, no doubt about that.

The best Oatmeal cookies EVER

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies(from The Frog Commissary Cookbook)

1 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups oats (rolled or "quick," but not "instant")
2 cups chocolate chips (about 12-oz.)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars until mixture is light in color. Beat in the eggs one at a time, followed by the milk and the vanilla extract.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Either by hand or with the mixer on low speed, gradually beat the flour in to the sugar mixture until just incorporated.
Stir in the oats and chocolate chips by hand.
Drop 1-inch balls of dough onto the cookie sheet, placing about 1 1/2 inches apart so they have room to spread.
Bake at 350F for 10-13 minutes, until golden brown at the edges and light golden at the center.
Cool on baking sheet for at least 1-2 minutes before transfering to a wire rack to cool completely.



So tonight Anne is going out to a BBQ with her boyfriend and we decided to make cookies for it. Since she wont be home tonight this will be our blog post for the day. Since we both have insomnia we decided it would be a GREAT idea to start baking at 3am. Hahaha more like Anne decided to play on my laptop while I baked ;P, okay I'll give her some credit...she did help a little. Anyway if you like gooey cookies with a bit of a crunch this is the cookie for you. They made our apt smell so wonderful!

Crazy about Cabbage

Cabbage bake

1/2 a medium onion,diced
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 small-med cabbage, shredded or chopped
2-10 oz cans tomato soup, undiluted
1 soup can full of chicken or veg broth
1-2 tsp italian seasonings( or just mix some parsley, basil,oregano, thyme etc)
salt and pepper
grated cheese to top ( we used soychedder)
( ground italian sausage if you're not vegeterian would be good in this)

Heat oven to 350 . Spray casserole dish with Pam, Chop all vegtables and garlic. Mix together and put in a large casserole dish. in a medium bowl mix together tomato soup, broth, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Pour over vegtables. Cover and bake in oven 30 mins. Top with grated cheese and bake 30 more mins. If you would like, remove cover and broil to brown cheese last few minutes.



When we bought the cabbage for cabbage soup, we bought the most gicantic head EVER!!! So we kinda just threw some ideas around in our heads and this is what we came up with to try to use it up.... it was surprisingly delicious. Yeah not going to lie, by the end of the night ( 4 am....) it was gone. It turned out a bit liquidy but was still full of flavour... if you love your fiber{in the form of cabbage).. we reccomend you try this. If you dont like it ...well SCREW YOU;) : we will eat it for you hahaha nomnomnom.

Cabbage Soup

Cabbage Soup
(thrown together off the top of our heads... so approximated recipe)
1-2 tsp canola oil
1/2 a medium onion, chopped
1 small-medium carrot, chopped
1/2 a pepper, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 1/2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 a small-med sized head of cabbage, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
14 oz can of diced tomatoes
2 cups of vegtable juice ( we used motts garden blend)
3 cups water
3 cups chicken or vegtable broth
salt and pepper

Chopp all vegtables. Heat oil in pot on medium heat . Add carrots and onion to pot and cook until browned, stirring constantly. Add mushrooms, pepper and celery, until it begins to soften. Add garlic,cabbage, salt and peppe, stir. Add tomatoes, stir. Simmer about five minutes, stirring often. Add vegtable juice, broth and water, bring to boil. Reduce tempature and cover while simmering for atleast an hour. The longer the better.
( if broth seems to watered down tasting you can always add vegtable or chicken boullion powder.)


Having a rough day? Why not find comfort in some hearty homemade scrumptious old fashioned goodie- Cabbage Soup. Yup, we are still not sick of soup, but we promise we wont make it again tomorrow. If you are a cabbage addict, this soup is for you... also its a good way to use up the leftover vegtable juice from the tomato soup recipe...

There really isnt much else to say because we are still recovering from the ridiculous amount we just consumed...No lie- we cant even move...our stomachs might explode.

"We keep Starbucks in business"

Late post:july 7th

Unfortunately for our bank accounts, our favorite addiction is in easy walking distance..(less then five minutes unless ofcourse we get hit by a semitruck ..or a bus crossing the highway). On a hot summer day, our guilty pleasures include iced, cold caffeinated drinks. Infact we made a new discovery ( one that in two days anne has already consumed 8 of.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm)Welcome to your senses the best f*cking indulgence ever known to mankind: The non fat chai latte frappacinno ....but with whip still of course.

Campbells aint got sh*t on us!

Tomato Noodle Soup
courtsey of Companys Coming

Cooking oil 1/2 tsp
Finely chopped onion 1/2 cup
Finely chopped carrot 1/4 cup
Chicken stock (or veg stock) 3 cups
Can of diced tomoatos (with juice) 14oz
Can of vegtable cocktail juice (V8 juice) 10oz
Water 1 cup
Granulated sugar 2tsp
Dried Oregano 1/2stp
Dried Basil 1/2tsp
Pepper 1/8tsp
Spaghettini, broken up 1 3/4oz
(we used shells)

Heat cooking oil in large saucepan on medium high. Add onion and carrot. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring often, until vegtables start to brown.

Add next 8 ingredients. Stir. Cover. Bring to a boil.

Add Spaghettini (or shells). Stir. Reduce heat to medium, Boil Gently, partially covered, for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pasta is tender but firm.



So you are probably thinking these girls are crazy because, yes its soup AGAIN! But how can you not love soup?!? Also we had to use up our tomoatos (: This stuff is way better then the canned kind, its really not much work and barely takes any longer to make. This soup is qucik and delicous, it would be good with some grated cheese ontop. QUCIK go out and buy the ingredients(if you don't already have them in your pantry) and treat yourself to this nutrious feast.

Curry Rice Soup

Curry Rice Soup
courtesy or Company's Coming

Cooking Oil 2 tsp.
Chopped Onion 1 cup
Chopped Carrot 1 cup
Chopped Celery 1/2 cup

Curry powder 1-3 tsp.

Chicken (or vegtable) stock 4 cups
Water 2 cups
Long grain white rice 1/4 cup
Dry onion soup mix 2 tbsp.
(stir before measuring)

Chopped fresh aspargus 1 cup

Heat cooking oil in large saucepan on medium heat. Add next 3 ingerdients.

Cook for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring often,until onion is softened.
Add curry powder. Heat and stir for about 1minute or until fragrant.

Add next 4 ingredients. Stir. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer covered, for about 10 minutes until rice is almost tender.

Add asparagus. Simmer, covered, for about 3 minutes until asparagus is tender crisp.



After the taste of curry in the Laksa yesterday we decided to try a curry soup of our own. Not only is the smell amazing, the colors and taste are even better. We rate this soup 11/10. We are not sure if the left-overs will even make it to the freezer!

Asian Inspiration @ Mad Mango Cafe

Anne & I made a journey to one of the best kept secrets of our city. In the heart of downtown tucked away in a cornor we enjoyed a bowl of Laska Soup and Thai Hot and Sour Soup(Anne says - "but not like the crap you get at chinese take out"). With viberant colors and explosions of flavour, its hard not to love it.