WHO Forgot to Take Out the Meat?

Shoot.
Totally me.
Seriously though guys, I know I am the only person who knows what the kitchen looks like in our house but why is it always my fault when there's nothing to eat?
Likely because this mentality has been passed down for generations. 
Way to go June Cleaver.

SO blame the mom, there's no thawing carcass on the counter.
I guess the mom gets to create something out of, um, hmmm, *digs in the cupboard and back of fridge wildly* quinoa!!

June never cooked with that before.
Me - 1, Mrs. Cleaver - 0!

Now how to make this into a complete meal you say?  Ha, I think I said that about 50 times while pacing the hallway. 
You know what I really wanted tonight?
Chicken parm.
I wanted it because we picked up the most awesome local"ish" buffalo mozzarella and I made a marinara sauce the other day.
Way to go not taking out the chicken!
hmmmmmmm......I wonder..........
You guessed it, I was ready to try something new tonight.
I should really do this more often.  Dinner tonight was AWESOME!

FAUX Chicken Parm, and I still got to use the buffalo mozz and my marinara!

So I do need to tell you it took some time, not like waiting for a cake to cool time but there are some steps.
First you need to rinse or soak your quinoa (I used red and white)

Then of course you need to boil it and let it cool a bit (20+ minutes).
Incorporate ingredients, form, fry and finally top with sauce/cheese and melt in the oven (15+)
Now the combining of ingredients etc. step could likely be scaled back if I had done this before, there were a few minor revisions and near catastrophes.  I'll give you the clean version.

Enjoy!

I'm listening to: Lonely Day - System of a Down

Fruit Eruption Muffin - Copycat Recipe

Ok, I don't know why people call it a 'copycat recipe' when in reality we all know that the fine establishments we find dishes to re-create at home don't give us their recipes to copy.
So lets just say this is a "made my own version of your idea without any instruction" recipe shall we?

For some this may be a fantastic new muffin recipe you have to try because you've never seen anything like it (and in that case, I made it up all on my own HA HA) but for others, you have heard, seen or eaten a "fruit explosion" muffin from Tim Horton's before.

If you follow my fan page on Facebook, you might have recently seen me post that I don't often make muffins. I see them floating around on pages/blogs and every time one catches my eye I think, hell ya, I've gotta make muffins. 
And then I go about my business and it never happens.
Kind of like when you think to yourself I should really clean out the fridge.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Then I woke up this morning, smoothied (like juiced only creamier LOL) and had a whack load of energy so on top of the other 75 things I wanted to do today, making muffins was at the top of the list!
So I did!

I used the base of my award winning (for reals) blueberry muffin recipe (because if it ain't broke don't fix it), added in some oatmeal, created a fruit mixture to put in the middle of the muffins and made these!

And yes, they are exploding with goodness!

Enjoy!

I'm listening to:  Kid Cudi - Pursuit of Happiness

Kid Friendly Watermelon Soup

Oh sitting on the stoop, big ole wedge in hand, juices dripping down your arm - that symbolizes summer for me for sure!

Now what kid feels the same about eating their veggies?
Mine does but he's a weirdo.

I wanted to create a kid friendly variation of my previous watermelon soup recipe for the National Watermelon Promotions Board, one of two recipes I am submitting for their Kid-tastic Watermelon Blogger Challenge.
Their request was quite simple.  An original recipe featuring watermelon that would get the kiddos excited about them....

No need for messy stickiness for this recipe!  You can drink it, with a spoon, slurp it up from a bowl, endless possibilities really and it doesn't even need to be for the youngens either.
This would be a perfect tag along to your family picnic or bbq.

Here's what you'll need for about 6-8 servings *bowls*

1/2 watermelon cubed
1 cucumber peeled and cubed
1 tsp olive oil
1 med. yellow pepper diced finely
1 med. red pepper diced finely
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 cantaloupe, cubed to bite sized pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Now, you can add other colour peppers, onion, other veggies or fruit but these are the ingredients I chose to use.
First puree watermelon and oil in batches in a blender or food processor. Pour juice through a strainer to make a clear liquid and add to a separate bowl.
Take a small handful of each of the other veggies *not fruit* and pulse. Pour this into the watermelon juice to give it a little consistency.
Simply add the rest of the fruits and veggies to the juice bowl, salt and pepper if you wish and cover. Refrigerate at least a few hours so the flavours merry together.
Easy, tasty, and slightly weird but definitely worth trying!

This post was supported by the National Watermelon Promotion Board by means of supplying a watermelon and tools in order to create and prepare a dish for their review.
The recipe was created by me, tasted by the family and requested to make again!