by on February 4, 2019   •   22 Comments Dinner

Creamy Beef Stroganoff Soup

What’s keeping us warm this winter? This comforting creamy beef stroganoff soup. You can make it in minutes and only dirty one pot.

A beautiful new cookbook arrived on my doorstep shortly after the holidays and was immediately transported to the kitchen, where it hasn’t left since.

Today, Jan Scott, friend of Simple Bites, releases into the world Oven to Table: Over 100 One-Pot and One-Pan Recipes for Your Sheet Pan, Skillet, Dutch Oven, and More. It’s a passionate ode to home cooking without an ounce of pressure, written by an author who has logged many hours at the stove – and has figured out a thing or two along the way.

I’ve been a fan of one-pan/pot cooking for a while but was in need of new inspiration. Jan shares my passion for family food, writing the popular blog Family Bites, and we often find ourselves cooking the same dishes at the exact same time. I feel like Oven to Table was written specifically for me and I know you’ll find it relatable too.

The future of family food is this brilliantly creative and approachable cookbook. Read on to see what I’ve cooked from Oven to Table so far, and get the recipe for Creamy Beef Stroganoff Soup.

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by on January 17, 2019   •   13 Comments Dinner

A Stir-Fried Tofu Recipe Kids Will Eat (and love)

This feels like a quick little recipe that I should just tack onto a social media post or something, but I intentionally want to let it live here on the blog.

Why? Because this is a method you’re going to want to reference all the time – especially when the family gets hooked on tofu. This is the gateway recipe that finally solidified my kid’s acceptance of tofu – so it’s a big deal!

For a good long while now we’ve been consciously trying to eat less meat and I’ve had to look elsewhere for our protein. No problem: we love lentils, embraced the year of the pulse, and eggs have always been a mainstay. Tofu was always an ingredient that I really enjoyed but no one else really got excited about – until now.

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by on January 14, 2019   •   2 Comments Dinner

Sheet Pan Zesty Lamb Chops and Cauliflower

If you make a habit of pencilling in a weekly menu plan, you may want to add this recipe to the top of the list.

It’s simple enough for a weeknight dinner, but delicious (and pretty) enough for a special weekend feast. Either way, it only requires about fifteen minutes of active time, one large sheet pan and the broiler in your oven.

Lamb chops are ideal for quick, uncomplicated cooking and when the barbecue is buried in a snowdrift, the broiler does a decent job in its stead. Here I’ve paired the chops with wedges of cauliflower, which cook up in the same amount of time, making for an easy meal – and a fast clean-up.

This Sheet Pan Zesty Lamb Chops and Cauliflower hits all the buzz words: one-pan, low-carb, 15-minute meal, but you should make it because it’s so tasty!

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by on August 8, 2018   •   4 Comments Dinner

Grilled Peach and Chicken Kebabs

Every August when the Ontario peaches arrive in our markets, we tend to go a little stone-fruit crazy.

There’s always a large bowl of peaches ripening on our dining room table next to a stack of cloth napkins for a sticky afternoon snack. We slice peaches into our morning oatmeal and ice them for afternoon lemonade. I pair them with fresh tomatoes and soft cheese for a twist on a Caprese salad and stew them with brown sugar and spices into a sticky barbecue sauce.

And this summer, we’re skewering peaches with chicken and grilling them to perfection. It’s a fast and fun dinner that pairs perfectly with my Watermelon Greek Salad. There’s still time for plenty of patio meals before fall arrives, so read on for the recipe and start planing your next cookout.

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by on April 10, 2018   •   16 Comments Dinner

Comfort food for somber days: Red Lentil Lasagna

Canadians from coast to coast are mourning the loss of half a junior hockey team and their crew after a tragic accident last Friday in rural Saskatchewan.

Geographically, we’re the second largest country in the world but when in crisis, we’re a small, tight-knit community.  Yes, we’re around some 35 million people, yet I can imagine that the majority of us are keenly feeling this loss. I know I am. As a mother to hockey-loving boys, as a sister to a big brother, as a wife…I just can’t stop thinking about it and the tears keep coming.

I lost two friends when I was in my twenties – one to cancer and one in a freak car accident. That pain of loss is impossible to put into words, but I have experienced it. Twice.

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