Guest Post - BBQ by my "wonderful" Husband

This was largely an "impromptu" BBQ. I used to cook in Restaurants previously to Pastoring, Kris' Mom requested that I cook her a meal before she returned home to B.C. The meal is steak, with garlic prawns, sauteed veg. and a tortelini pasta salad.
The Steak was marinaded previously to grilling in an experiemental mixture of red wine and BBQ Sauce. I had been recommended by some friends a product which is available in Canada in the President's Choice line of products: Smokin' Habenero BBQ Sauce (it is made with habernero peppers and Tequila) YUM! I added about 1/4 cup of Red Wine (Cabernet Savignon) and about 1 cup of the BBQ Sauce. They steaks were marinaded for about 3 hours and during grilling I poured the unused marinade over the steaks. They were delicious.

The Sauteed Vegetables are simple. I chose some green and red peppers, carrots, snow peas, and onion and sauteed them lightly for 6-8 min. in a bit of oil. The carrots were cut very thin so that they were not super crunchy compared with the peppers. Avoid overcooking to bring out the most flavor.

The Tortelini Pasta Salad I made ahead of time. I bought some fresh cheese tortelini from our local supermarket and some fresh basil. Chop the fresh basil, add some ripe tomato, green onion,
olive oil, salt and pepper, and voila. The Tortelini was about 2 cups worth, 1-1/2 - 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped basil (keep all bits of stalk out), 1 whole medium tomato (ripe) you could also use a roma tomato, 1 sprig of green onion finely chopped, cover with olive oil, and a splash of red wine vinegar, salt and pepper to taste.

Next the Garlic Prawns.
I always use prawns that are either fresh or IQF - Individually Quality Frozen. I avoid any
shrimp or prawns which have been cooked and peeled previous to frozen- I find they are the equivalent to eating pink rubber. The prawns I purchased were butterflied (a cut down the back of the prawns which allows for easy peeling when thawed.) When I cook with garlic - I want to taste garlic. For about 25 prawns I pressed 2-3 cloves of garlic and set them asside.
I am a big believer in timing the cooking so that each part of the meal is perfectly cooked and is ready at the same time. Sautee the prawns in 2 tablespoons of margerine, add the garlic, and prawns and add a splash of white wine or cooking wine, and cover. The prawns are done when they turn a nice pink color, do not overcook. I hope you enjoy these recipies. I really enjoyed cooking this meal, and would certainly use these recipies again.


This is me, "the chef". The meal was thoroughly enjoyed by my Mother in Law!

Army Cake

My oldest turns 5 this week. We had his party a week early because coordinating a summer party and making sure all his friends are in town can be a tricky thing. He asked me to make an army cake, and really, I was flabbergasted at first. I had been planning a Hot Wheels one in my head. I think it turned out all right though. I'm very glad that Rachel at 5 year plan had recently posted an army themed cake which helped me a bit (but hers is so much better!). My son loved the cake which is the most important thing to me, and had a great time at his party!

Guest Recipe - Wraps by my husband

My husband decided to take a bunch of food that I made and combine it into wraps that he declared to be absolute perfection. Here's what he came up with:

First he put some of my hummus on the wrap


Then, he added some tzatziki


Followed by chicken salad mix


And then he wrapped it all up to enjoy!

An Award!

Thanks to Lisaloo for this Kreativ Blogger Award!
And here are the rules-

1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated

Alright 7 interesting things about me hmmmm....

1. Whatcha Eatin' is one of 4 blogs that I write. The others are Kristen's Contemplations, Bookworm Kristen and Clever Mamas - they each reflect different interests of my life, cooking, random thoughts and journalling, reading and parenting
2. I love to travel, the farthest away from home I've been was to Romania
3. I've visited all 10 Canadian provinces (but none of the territories yet)
4. I have 2 tattoos, a maple leaf and a daisy
5. I didn't realize until my husband pointed it out to me, but one of my biggest pet peeves is grocery store workers who don't get it right
6. My other big pet peeve are people who don't know how to drive that are on the road
7. I love old movies, Bogie, Fred and Ginger, Mickey & Judy putting on a show...any of them will do

And now 7 bloggers to nominate for this award:

1. Girlichef
2. The girls at Mennonite Girls Can Cook
3. Chow and Chatter
4. A Blog About Food
5. 5 Year Plan
6. Barbara Bakes
7. Three on Food


They are all really wonderful sites, full of good recipes! Check them out!

Marinated Salmon

This is a variation on a recipe I found in "Eat Shrink and Be Merry" by Janet and Greta Podleski. Their original recipe is for salmon skewers (called Skewer Always on my Mind) and has a couple more ingredients that I didn't have on hand. I used a big Salmon fillet and let the marinade sit on it for half an hour before broiling.

Marinade:
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey mustard
1 tbsp BBQ sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp each cumin, ground coriander, salt, ground pepper

1 1/2 lbs (680 g) salmon fillet

Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl. Mix well. Place salmon on a large plate. Pour marinade on top. Let sit for a half hour in the fridge. Pre-heat broiler to high setting. Place salmon onto a baking sheet. Broil for 15 minutes (approximate), probably more depending on the thickness of your salmon fillet. Keep checking to see that the salmon is cooked through at the thickest part (use a fork to flake). Be careful not to overcook or the salmon will become dry. I broil in my oven, so I made sure to put it in the centre of the oven so the top doesn't burn.

A variation on fruit salad

This is one of the easiest things I make and I have no idea why it gets such rave reviews. Well, I mean it's really, really tasty, but it's so easy! I just don't know why other people don't think of this, that's all. This is a great dish to bring to a summer BBQ or to a potluck, or just to enjoy with your family. I make it just with apples sometimes for breakfast and love it :o) These are completely non-measured measurements as I just throw everything in, but it gives you an idea!

cut up fruit of your choice
-apples, banana, blueberries, kiwi, strawberries, raspberries are what I used this time, you can use fresh or frozen, I'd just recommend taking the time to let the frozen fruit thaw on its own, rather than nuking it in the microwave (it will go mushy if you do that)
1 cup vanilla yogurt
2 spoons of brown sugar
a good squirt of honey
sprinkle of cinnamon (I have a great grinding kit from the Superstore, PC Brand mix of cinnamon, sugar and chocolate that I use instead, but cinnamon on it's own is good too)

Mix everything together and enjoy.

Black Bean and Corn Salad and a Candy Man

Church picnic time! Everyone brings a salad. Where do I turn to find my recipe? The Podleski sisters's Eat, Shrink and Be Merry of course (the original title being Kernel Austin). It's a really yummy, but different salad offering, a nice change.

1 tbsp olive oil
4 cups whole-kernel corn, canned or frozen (thaw first if using frozen)
1/2 cup minced red onions
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (optional)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp each ground cumin and chili powder
1 cup quartered grape tomatoes or 1 cup diced red bell pepper (I used a little of both)
1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tbsp minced fresh cilantro
1 tbsp hickory-flavored bbq sauce
1 tsp granulated sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn. Cook and stir until corn just begins to char (don't burn it!), about 8 minutes. Add onions, jalapeno, garlic, cumin and chili powder. Cook and stir 1 more minute. Remove from heat.
Transfer corn mixture to a large bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving.



This was a cute, edible craft the kids made at the picnic.

The body is a long skewer threaded with 3 large marshmallows. Put half a toothpick into each side of the body and thread a gummy worm on each for arms. A circle gummy completes it for the head. Some kids got really into it and added some gummy worms for feet and antenna too.

The Best Breakfast in New Brunswick

If you ever have the good fortune to visit my neck of the woods here in New Brunswick, Canada you need to go for breakfast at the market. The market is known by locals simply as that 'the market'. It refers to the Kingston Market on the Kingston Peninsula. There are 2 farmer's markets there, the old and new. The best breakfast is at the old.
The eggs are fresh, the bread is homemade (as is the jam on the table). It's just wonderful, worth the drive and ferry ride in the morning.