Taco seasoning.

If you were to open my spice cupboard right now, I can guarantee you that most of it would come crashing down on you. Not because I'm THAT messy, but because I have so many spices and blends. The best part about making your own spice blends, is that you can customize it to your taste. Maybe your allergic to something, or you like it spicy, or would like to cut the salt. It's all up to you. That being said, I'm going to share with you my all time favourite taco seasoning. 

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (sometimes I crush these more than how they come in the store)
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt (I use Himalayan salt)
1 teaspoon black pepper (I use fresh ground)

Directions:

Add all the ingredients in an airtight container. Shake. And voila. You have homemade taco seasoning.

Yields 1 lb of hamburger

This recipe is completely customizable.  I LOVE hot foods, so I almost always add more cayenne and red pepper flakes than the recipe calls for. Just don't do what I did and forget the cumin! That's crucial to the flavour.

-Chantal

Bacon Wrapped Chicken Bombs

I can't help but share one of my all time favorite foods; chicken bombs. I've made bacon wrapped chicken thousands of times, but it was always missing something. I couldn't quite put my finger on it. One day my boyfriend and I were making stuffed jalapeños and we had left over cream cheese and sweet chili sauce mix. We decided to experiment. With much trial and error, the bacon wrapped chicken bombs were born!

Ingredients:

-Chicken breast (butterflied)

-Jalepenos (washed, and halved)

-Cream cheese (or goats cheese)

-Bacon (thawed)

-Sweet chili sauce

Instructions:

Take about half a package of cream cheese and mix with the sweet chili sauce. I usually just keep mixing and adding until the flavor seems right. If possible, leave it overnight because it'll become more flavourful the longer it sits. Now is the time to add your spices if you a choose. I usually don't add anything, but you can put in salt, pepper, chipotle, or cayenne. 

If you don't know how to "butterfly" a chicken breast, nows the time to learn. Set your breast on a cutting board, and with a serated knife, cut it horizontally, about 3/4 the way through. When you open the breast up, it should be laying flat. If not just cut it a little more, but make sure not to peirce through the other side. 

Next you want to spread a good amount of your cream cheese mixture onto the breast. (Keep in mind some of it will spill out as it cooks)

Place half a jalepeno in the chicken breast, and fold over like a sandwich. 

Now this is the tricky part. Getting your slippery chicken wrapped. Take a slice of bacon and start at one end and gently wrap your chicken. I usually use 2 or 3 prices of bacon to do this. 

After I'm done wrapping it, I stick it onto a skewer to keep the bacon in place. It also helps when it comes time to turn your chicken bomb.

I also learned that if you brush some sweet chili sauce on the outside it becomes extra tasty! I did that twice, once before I put it in the over and a second time before I flipped it. 

Bake at 350 until done. Be sure to flip it once so the bacon on the bottom becomes cooked also well. 

When it is done you can serve with garlic mashed potatoes, or on a bed of rice. Either way I can guarantee you'll enjoy it.

-Chantal

Ginger Beef

The other day I had a craving for one of my favourite chinese dishes, but since I'm allergic to most take out, I set off on a journey to recreate it in my home. I've always had a love-hate relationship with ginger beef. I LOVED the ginger flavor of the sauce but I HATED the cheap cuts of beef they used to create it. Eventually I became allergic to some of the ingredients in it, and quit eating ginger beef all together. It wasn't up until recently that I've found a restaurant that would make it for me GLUTEN FREE. I was in heaven. That is until I was abruptly reminded of why I didn't like it.

When I started to make this I was a little discouraged with the recipes I was finding online. Most had ALOT of sugar, or ingredients I didn't have etc. So I did what I do with every recipe. I made my own.

Ingredients:

1.75 lbs steak (sliced)
Cornstarch
Oil of choice
Carrots (sliced diagonally)
Onion (julienned)
1/2 cup fresh ginger (minced)
10 garlic cloves (minced)
6 tablespoons soy sauce (I used VH gluten free)
8 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/2 cup of sugar
Red pepper flakes (to taste)
Salt and pepper (to taste)

Instructions:

I started off by cutting up 1.75 lbs of steak into little slices (It sounds like a waste of a perfectly good steak, but trust me it's worth it!) Make sure your steak is still cold, it's easier to work with, and keeps the steak tender.

Heat up your oil of choice on med-high. Meanwhile, take a zip lock bag and put in some cornstarch, your steak slices, and salt and pepper. Shake until fully coated.

Once oil is fully heated, add your coated beef. Flip after roughly 7 mins. I had to do mine in two batches.

Cut your onions and carrots. Also mince your garlic and ginger.

Sautee the carrots first, add onions after a couple mins, then the ginger, and finally the garlic. I always add the garlic last because it will go bitter if cooked too long.

Once the carrots are tender but still a little crunchy, you can start to add your soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, sugar and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil.

This next step isn't necessary, but I added some cornstarch to thicken up the sauce a bit.

Toss in the cooked beef, and put it on top of cooked long grain rice. You are now free to enjoy this masterpiece!

I don't think I will ever go back to traditional take out after making this dish! The beef is soooo tender and it's packed full of flavour. This will for sure be one of your new favourites!  

-Chantal

Going Gluten Free - Chantal

Going gluten free: Take one.

     The day after my 19th birthday I wound up going to the hospital because I had so much stomach pain, I couldn't even comfortably sit at my desk job. I wrote down absolutely EVERY symptom I had and took it to the doctor. My regular doctor was out of town, I settled with a fill in, so I was already not a happy camper when I got there. Then when I actually got to see him he didn't even look like he cared about my pain, but he ordered some tests anyway. Do keep in mind, I was 19, had never gone to the doctor alone, and had no clue what I was looking for or even what tests I should be asking about.

     Moving on. The day I got the results back I was bed ridden, my boss was being a jerk, I was in an overly bad mood and I get this call from the doctor saying I can no longer eat gluten. Uh, ok, what's gluten?! After my long talk with him I hung up the phone and cried. I could no longer indulge in my favorite comfort foods! After very little research I determined that he was wrong. How could he be right? So I booked the biopsy for a month later. In that month I lived off of puffed rice and rice crispy cake. BIG mistake. You DO NOT go gluten free before testing for celiac's. I go in for the biopsy expecting to be put under, as I am terrified of the procedure, and they lay me down, spray my throat and put the tube in. I was in and out before my grandma could get through the line up at Tim Horton's. As you can already tell, I went down to get my results and he's confused at why I'm even there. So I made my way home, happier than heck and ate EVERYTHING gluten in sight.

Take two.

For the three years in between, they called it a lactose intolerance, gastrointestinal problems etc. Not one doctor seemed to care or want to look into it. But after I eventually stopped sleeping, I decided it was time to get serious about my health. I went from doctor to doctor trying to find one that didn't just brush it off as my paranoia. I got tested for allergies, sleep apnea, diabetes, and pretty much anything you can think of. I'm sure my teacher thought all the "doctors appointments" were just me skipping class. At my last resort I went to yet another doctor and while I was waiting, there it was  on his desk; pamphlets on celiac's disease. It caught my attention. I remembered that I was tested before so I grabbed every one I could, went home and did some real research. Every chance I got I bugged my classmate, Natasha for information on how she found out she had it. The next week I went back and told him to test me. While I was at it I got about 30 things checked (I am not exaggerating, I counted). In the mean time I went on a soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, low fat, low acid diet. Now I bet your wondering what I ate, a lot of rice and chicken. Then my results come back and wouldn't you know it, I'm allergic to gluten.
   
     As for my sleeping problem, that's more the end result of my stomach not absorbing vitamins properly. I was low on my ferritin iron and vitamin B12, and trust me your B12 makes a HUGE difference! The second they put me on the B12 shot my sleeping became normal, I wasn't drowsy all day or up all night. Yes I take a million different vitamins to get my levels back up, but I feel a million times better.

     My curiosity got the best of me, I booked a second biopsy even though my doctor said I was wasting my time. I had one whole week of gluten. In the end it was a total of two weeks (strep throat is a horrible thing). And you can imagine what I ate! I went to my Mother's house and ate all homemade bread, chocolate cake, and basically anything you can think of. It was the best/worst two weeks of my life. By the second day I was seriously ready to give up on the whole biopsy idea, but I persevered. The second time around they sedated me for the whole procedure. I got told I wouldn't remember it at all, it would be more comfortable, I would have strange conversations with people and then wouldn't remember them, and that I would sleep all day after. The truth is, none of that happened to me. I did sleep, but that was from me up worrying about it all night. So which would I do if i had to do it again? Honestly, without sedation was way faster, and less hassle. Some people might not be able to handle it, therefore they go the other way.

     I'm still waiting on the results back, but no matter what I will never go back to gluten. Being gluten free is the best thing I've done for myself, health wise. I make way better food choices now and my body is rewarding me for that, I no longer feel like a big blob of crap. Yes being gluten free is sometimes a pain in the butt (I personally hate eating out when I have to draw attention to myself and ask "are these fries coated?"). I've seen the consequences and am not willing to deal with it again.

-Chantal