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Homemade Crockpot Pasta Penne

Home Made Tomato Ground Beef Penne Pasta in Slow Cooker

Some times, it’s even hard to find 2 to 3 hours to make a lunch or dinner, and all there is is basic staples in your fridge/pantry. It’s not a problem, be inspired to change up the recipe with what’s in available to you!

Ingredients: (serves 4)
1 lb Ground Beef
2 sticks of Carrots
1/2 an onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp thyme
Penne Pasta
2 cups of Tomato Sauce
1/2 or 1 cup of Beef stock

First, if you have the time, brown the onions, ground beef, and garlic to develop more flavours. I didn’t have too much time, so I just placed everything into the crockpot.

You can then put in either pre-made pasta sauce, or you can make your own by flavouring up some crushed tomatoes with tomato sauce. If you’re making pasta sauce and you eat it a lot, it’s nice to make a giant batch and leave it in the fridge so it’s ready when you need some!

Then, you’re ready to put your pasta in! I just place the pasta in, and mixed it around for a bit. Set the crock pot on high for 1-2 hours or low for 2-3 hours. Add a splash of beef stock or water if your sauce is a little thicker before you close the lid and leave it for some time.

To enjoy, grate some cheese and season up the penne! It makes a great left over dish too!

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Rocky Mountain Soap Company – Ylang Ylang Hand Cream

Recently, I’ve been doing a lot more laundry, and my hands have been drying out a lot. I have been using many types of hand creams, but I wanted to try the Ylang Ylang Hand Cream from a local company – the Rocky Mountain Soap Company.

They do offer many other scents such as Lavender, and Lemon Grass. I picked Ylang Ylang because I thought it was the lightest scent that was still very pleasant! They say it’s the scent of white lily, and I really like the soft smell!

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Homemade Peanut Butter Bars

Home Made No Bake PB Bars

Ok, those who actually know me, I’m mildly allergic to peanut, but I really wanted peanut butter – enough so it won’t kill me! 🙂 Then, with tons of leftover peanut butter, I didn’t know what to do that was quick and simple.. so, I stumbled upon some easy dessert bar recipes that requires no baking! Fantastic! I modified my recipe from Kraft Recipes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup melted butter
1 cup graham cracker
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup Peanut Butter plus 2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup milk chocolate – I used baking chocolate, and it was quite bitter. Try chocolate chips!

This is an easy recipe! I don’t do a lot of baking as I’m not good at baking! So, this recipe was right up my alley! First, you melt the butter – once melted, pour the graham cracker, sugar and 1/2 cup of peanut butter.

Now, take this peanut butter mixture and press it into a container where you want to make your bars. Pack it in tight and hard if possible.

Now, you can either melt the chocolate in the microwave, but I did mine on a double broiler. You do this by taking a pot and filling it with some water – and bringing it up to a boil. Then, place a bowl that’s larger than the opening of the pot over the top of the pot. Now, you can melt your chocolate on that surface on top – never allowing any water into the mixing bowl.

Once the chocolate is completely smooth and melted, stir in the 2 tbsp of peanut butter in and mix until complete smooth and mixed

Now, you can pour this chocolate topping on top of the peanut butter bars and smooth the chocolate topping so it covers the entire dessert. Now, we have to refrigerate for at least 3 hours to set!

Now that your bars have set, it’s time to cut it up and enjoy!

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Homemade Vegetable Minestrone Soup

One evening, I was really wanting a nice hearty soup in a flash, so I made Vegetable Minestrone Soup which really doesn’t take long to make – and chances are, you got most of the ingredients in your fridge/pantry!

Ingredients (makes 4 servings):
2 sticks of carrots
1/2 large onion
2 roma tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
2 baby zucchini
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup instant polenta (fine)
2 tbsp warm temperature butter
handful cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

First, start with chopping up all your vegetables. Saute the onions and carrots first, and season with some salt and pepper.

Then, add in the tomatoes and zucchini, and garlic and let it come together for a few minutes. I like to add a small handful of cilantro at this stage too. You can use any fresh herbs you want, such as thyme, oregano, etc.

Add the chicken broth and let it boil and slowly add the polenta until the soup thickens. Then, just let it simmer until all the vegetables are softened, and finish off by stirring in the butter, and season again to taste with salt and pepper. Ladle into a bowl and enjoy!

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Homemade Japanese Miso Soup

I love Japanese food, and I’ve always wanted to make my own Miso Soup, so I finally got a package of White Miso Paste from my market, and found some bonito flakes and wakame from the Asian grocery store. They are tricky to find (well, for me at least!) but, I think it’s necessary for a miso soup. This simple homemade soup smells and tastes like miso soup when you go out to have a bowl!

Ingredients (makes 2 big bowls or 4 little bowls):
3 cup of water
3 tbsp bonito flakes
1 heaping tbsp white miso paste
1 tbps wakame
tofu cubes

To begin any soup – start with boiling some water.

When the water has come to a boil, put some bonito flakes into the water and reduce the heat, and let it steep for about 5 minutes.

Once that has steeped, you’re ready to put in the miso paste. Take a heaping tablespoon (or just 2 tablespoons) and put it into a bowl. Take some of the “soup in progress” into the bowl and mix to dissolve the miso paste so you get a dissolved and thinner consistency. Once you’ve achieved this, you’re ready to pour the miso solution into the soup. Bring the soup back up to a boil at this time, and let it boil for another 3 to 5 minutes.

By now, taste your soup to see if it needs additional salt. Add some if it needs more. To finish the soup, add the wakame flakes, and they will rehydrate and add lots of flavour into the miso soup. Once the wakame has rehydrate, you’re ready to serve and enjoy!

I also like to add some udon noodles to my miso soup, and it becomes and excellent and healthy lunch! Just boil some instant udon in the miso soup. Once the udon noodles are ready, you’re ready to eat too! If you want, you can top it off with sesame seeds, scallions or anything you like – really!