YOU got mail and it is not bills ~ September Foodie Penpal

I do a lot of blog surfing and one day when I was doing my surfing I came across this picture on their blog:

Want to join then go HERE

I clicked on it and thought it sounded like a good thing to do, but that is all I did ~ Thought.  In August I found some other blogs that had the same button on them, once again I clicked on them, and this time I did something about it.  AND I am glad I did.  Each month you are given someone's name to send a gift to and someone else has your name.  It was fun getting to know both people and corresponding with them.

This was my first month  and I was able to send my parcel to Desi from SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl.  I enjoyed reading her blog and trying to figure out what I could send her.  As she has some African heritage in her, I asked if she would like some spices that I had received from her and she jumped at that suggestions. So that went into the box and to see what I else I sent her please check out her blog at SteakNPotatoesKindaGurl.

I was matched up with Katie from If I Knew You Were Coming I Would Have Baked a Cake.  When I saw the name on her blog I knew she was my kind of girl... A CAKE... I love CAKE.  Her first email asked me a lot of questions of my likes and dislikes and one of the things that I told her was I would appreciate something that was authentic to where she lived.  I was so excited to open the box when I received it and when I did, I thought I HIT PAY DIRT! Wow the stuff that was in it...... but I also felt slightly guilty as I felt I didn't send very much to my penpal.   Here is what I got from Katie....................

Look at all this good stuff!

That first morning after opening up the package
I had Chai Tea with honey.
I did send Katie a message that I am not sure that
I am happy as she now got me hooked on honey in my tea :)

The next day I had a 4.5 hour drive to a conference
so the SomerSaults came with me to keep me company
and on the road... Along with another cup of Chai and honey!

The Mia's Kitchen Bistro Marinara became part of a dish that
I made.......

it was supposed to be eggplant lasagna but
ended up more like a soup or stew...
But was delicious thanks to the Marinara sauce from
California.

The Almond Butter and Chocolate are still waiting for me, but I have at least 2 more weeks or longer to wait for my next penpal box to arrive and I want to saver every morsel of this one... Katie ~~ Thank you so very much for the box of goodies, you are a great penpal and I hope that I can send you something back down the line.

Would you like to be a Foodie Penpal 

Here are the details from Lindsay's blog (The Lean Green Bean):

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

Click on the button if you would like to join Foodie Penpals... It is fun!

I am waiting patiently or maybe just a little impatiently for this coming month to both send my box of goodies to someone and receive another box.

til next time <3 <3 <3  Marlys 

Foodie Friend Friday - Sept 27/12

I am not really sure where the time goes 

but it is time for another 

Linky Party!

This week we will be having another great giveaway ~ 3 randomly picked entries will win  canister labels from A Mustard Seed Dream.  We will be using rafflecopter this week for the giveaway.  You do not have to link up a recipe but it will give you another chance of winning. Everyone needs to enter through rafflecopter to have their name put in the draw.  Please take a minute and check out her wonderful blog.

Last Week's Party Winners

Can I boast just a little bit?  This week my link of  Baked Rice with Eggplant and Zucchini received both Voted Top 3 and Most Clicks... Thank you to everyone that checked out my recipe. 

It makes me truly happy! 

Tin Foil Dinner
Italian Wedding Cookies
Roasted Basalmic Zucchini
Vegetarian Chili
and Fan Drawing - Jessica and Tara

Baked Rice with eggplant and zucchini
Vegan Crunch Wrap
Ginger and Lime Sandwich Cookies

Dark Chocolate Covered Pumpkin Truffle
Baked Rice with eggplant and zucchini
Vegan Philly Cheese Steak

Host Favorite

This week's host favorite goes to Vegetarian Momma for her Tomato Soup

Please feel free to grab your button from here or go
to Foodie Friends Friday 

My recipe for Homemade Tomato Soup with a twist

Now onto this week party

Members:

Foodie Friends Friday http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com

Robyn's View http://www.robynsviewathome.blogspot.com

Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://wifeofthecolonel.blogspot.com/

Lindsey at Family Food Finds  http://www.familyfoodfinds.com

Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings  http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com

Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.blogspot.com

Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.blogspot.com

Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com

R Dawn at Spatulas on Parade http://www.spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

Angie at A lil Country Sugar http://www.alilcountrysugar.blogspot.com

Erika at Chef Picky Kid http://www.chefpickykid.com

A Giveaway and Rules:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Homemade Tomato Soup with a twist

If you have been following my blog, you will realize that the morning of the party I like to feature one recipe from the previous weeks party.  To feature it,  means that I need to make it.  I prefer to have made it before I feature it.
Last week we had a Vegan Challenge and I thought it would be appropriate to make a vegan recipe. I have to apologize because I did turn this great vegan recipe into non-vegan by using milk as I didn't have any non-dairy milk in the house.  This Tomato soup recipe was linked up by Vegetarian Momma and tasted so good. The secret ingredient is maple syrup.  Would you have ever thought of putting maple syrup in tomato soup? ~ Me neither but it was GREAT!  My recipe is for only one serving and I used garden tomatoes instead of can tomatoes.

Homemade Tomato Soup with a Twist

adapted from Tomato soup

Ingredients:

1 tbsp red onion diced                                            

1 tsp oil                                                                      

3/4 cup crushed tomatoes 

1/2 cup milk (dairy or non dairy)                      

1 tsp maple syrup

In small sauce pot, heat oil and saute onion until soft.  Add tomatoes ( I used a combination of red and yellow tomatoes), bring to boil.  Reduce heat and let simmer for 5-6 minutes.  Add milk and maple syrup and remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes before eating.

I enjoyed my soup with a grilled cheese sandwich.

 When there is a chill in the air, soup is the best thing to eat to warm you up and a bowl full of yummy goodness, made from your garden vegetables.... Oh! So! Good!.

til next time <3 <3 <3 Marlys    

Doughnut Pancake with Maple Glaze

I am not really a pancake person, I can eat them but they aren't my favorite breakfast food.  I think that it is because I am the oldest of nine and every Saturday we would make pancakes for lunch. Being the oldest, I usually made them, so after making multiple batches of the dough and frying pancakes for what seemed like hours, I could barely eat any.

Not too long ago I found this recipe for Maple Glaze Doughnut Pancake from French Press.  I  LOVE doughnuts... they are probably one of my favorite foods.  I also love the Tim Horton's Maple Glazed Doughnuts, something that I can't get very often anymore.  So when I saw this recipe, I instantly started drooling and thinking about Tim Horton's and I had to try them.  These pancakes were downright delicious, I loved them. I just wish my husband would have the same liking as me... He was ok with them but I could tell that he wasn't quite impressed as I was.  Saying that I will still make these every once in awhile.

Doughnut Pancakes with Maple Glaze

For the pancakes:

1 cup flour

1 egg

3/4 -1 cup milk ( I used only 3/4 cup, they made the pancakes thicker)

1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp melted butter

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 - 1/2 tsp nutmeg ( I used 1/2 tsp)

1/4 tsp ginger

Mix dry ingredients together in bowl.  In separate bowl whisk together milk, egg, butter and pour over dry ingredients.  Whisk all ingredients until everything is combined.  Preheat griddle to 350 degrees or I used a heated pan on the stove.  Grease griddle or pan with either butter or cooking spray.  Place batter in  pastry bag or ziploc bag with corner snipped off and squeeze batter out in a circle leaving a hole in the middle.

Flip pancakes when underside looks brown and cook other side.  Keep warm in preheated 200 degree oven until all pancakes are done and glaze is made.  I don't have a very big frying pan so I need to cook one at a time.  I also made a few doughnut holes with the leftover batter.

  

Glaze:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp melted butter

2 tbsp milk or cream

1 tsp maple syrup - I used slightly more

1/4 tsp nutmeg 

Mix all ingredients together and drizzle over a  stack of pancakes.

I tried to make a heart shaped pancake.

We ate ours with strawberries... Enjoy!

til next time <3<3<3  Marlys

Linked up with: Mommy's Sweet Confession, Freedom Fridays, Tasty Thursdays  

Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party and Vegan Challenge

Last week we had 159 recipes linked up....

 a great party with great recipes and great bloggers

Sponsor Winner

Baker Becky - Cinnamon Rolls

Voted Top 3

Jenmi Jenmi - Plantation Ice Tea
Project Ever After - Roaste Cacao Cauliflower with Yogurt dip
Lemons for Lulu - Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes with Maple Buttercream

Most Clicked

Jenmi Jenmi - Plantation Iced Tea
Mommy's Sweet Confession - Apple Pie Mookies
This and That (yes my recipe :)) Spice Berry Drink

Host Favorite

This week when I picked my recipe, I wanted something that I would be able to make vegetarian for the Vegetarian Challenge that we doing for this weeks Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party and I picked....

Hungry Couple-Baked Rice and Zucchini Cakes

Please feel free to grab your button from here
or go to Foodie Friends Friday

my recipe for Baked Rice with Eggplant and Zucchini

My husband and I both loved this recipe, it had lots of flavour and was just yummy and vegetarian too.

This week party

this is what we are waiting for.....

this week's sponsor is Daiya Foods

Six lucky winner will win free cheese- Four are from linked up recipes, and two are guest links

My recipe for the Vegan Challenge is Baked Rice with Eggplant and Zucchini

Hosts:

Foodie Friends Friday http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com

Tracy at Busy Vegetarian Mom http://www.busyvegetarianmom.com

Robyn's View http://www.robynsviewathome.blogspot.com

Marlys at This and That  http://marlys-thisandthat.blogspot.com/

Lois at  Walking on Sunshine http://wifeofthecolonel.blogspot.com/

Lindsey at Family Food Finds  http://www.familyfoodfinds.com

Cindy at Cindys Recipes and Writings  http://www.cindysrecipesandwritings.com

Michelle at  From Calculus to Cupcakes http://www.fromcalculustocupcakes.blogspot.com

Cynthia at Feeding Big  http://www.feedingbig.blogspot.com

Jodie at Binomial Baker http://www.binomialbaker.blogspot.com

Amber at http://www.mamasblissfulbites.com/

Skye at http://www.avirtualessence.blogspot.com/

Let's Start the Party after the Rules:

When entering as fan... leave the "url" blank... It will still work... Thanks and good luck.

Baked Rice with Eggplant and Zucchini and Vegan Challenge

A while back we were asked to try and come up with a recipe using Daiya vegan cheese.  I will be the first to admit when I thought of vegan cheese I though blah... and was a little relieved that I wouldn't be able to do this challenge because Daiya vegan cheese was no where to be found in our area and I would have to drive at least 6 hours away to get it, so I put it out of my mind until a few days ago.  I went shopping at our local Co-op store ~ I love going there and see what new items they have as this store is a small place packed with just about everything.. I had picked up some bulk items and was going to the register and I happened to glance at the coolers that were near the register and you will never guess what I saw.... Daiya Vegan Cheese and much to my surprise it tasted quite good.
My next challenge was how do I make a vegan recipe... what can and can't I use and what should I make.  Foodie Friends Friday my new best place to look for a recipe came to the rescue.  I found this recipe from Hungry Couple called Baked Rice and Zucchini Cake on our last weeks linky party and as I read the recipe, light bulbs went on.  This would be perfect to use up the zucchini that I have and use the vegan cheese instead of the parmesan cheese that is called for and I would have a vegan recipe that used Daiya cheese for the challenge... Great! and I was getting my ingredients ready I spied an eggplant on the counter top that I just had gotten from my garden and thought why not use that too...

So here is the way I made this recipe 

Baked Rice with Eggplant and Zucchini

recipe adapted from Hungry Couple

Ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil

1/2 cup onions

1 clove garlic

1 cup egg plant diced

2/3 cup zucchini shredded

1/4 cup green beans - cut in small pieces

1 tsp greek seasoning

2 cups water

1 cup rice -- I used about 1/4 cup brown rice and 3/4 cup jasmine rice

1/2 cup diaya mozzarella style vegan cheese

salt and pepper to taste.  

In a pot, saute onions and garlic in olive oil until they become translucent. Add green beans and continue to cook for a few minutes. Once the green beans are starting to get soft, add egg plant and zucchini. Continue to cook for a few minutes on medium heat until veggies are soft.  Add 2 cups of water, rice, and greek seasoning.  Bring to a boil and then reduce to low and cook until water is evaporated and rice is soft, approximately 20 minutes.  Stir in cheese.

Spray two small oven safe pans or mini spring form pans if you have them with non-sticking cooking spray.  Divide mixture in two and place in each pan.  Bake in a 400 degree oven for approx 300 minutes or until top becomes a light golden brown.  Allow pans to cool and run a knife around edge of pans and careful unmold or turn over on plate.  Makes 2 servings.

cooking vegetables

place mixture in two oven safe pans-
I used my small corning ware pots

Enjoy

   I was delightful surprised on how good this tasted and the vegan cheese gave it an extra special taste. 

 I have changed my thoughts after eating this meal about vegan cheese!  

This coming week on September 21st we will have a Vegan Challenge on Foodie Friends Friday

 

til next time <3 <3 <3   Marlys

This post was not sponsored by Daiya Foods, and the opinions written are my own.  Daiya Foods is sponsoring the giveaway on September 21/12 Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party and Vegan Challenge. 

This recipe is linked: Gluten Free Fridays, Foodie Friends Friday 

Eggplant Pizza

This year we planted two eggplant plants and have had an abundance of  them and eggplant is something not everyone likes... So I have been trying to be creative in using them as I am not sure how they will freeze.  My husband thinks that I have been making too many eggplant recipes, but it is a vegetable that I enjoy as long as it is cooked with something else.  I had seen recipes for zucchini pizza so thought why not eggplant.

Eggplant Pizza

Ingredients

3 small eggplants - cut into slices

1/2 cup panko crispy bread crumbs

1 tbsp italian seasoning

1 egg

splash of milk

1 cup pizza sauce

proscuitto - 1 slice per eggplant

1/2 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup grated carrots

1/8 cup diced onions

1 tbsp fresh basil

1/2 cup tillamook garlic white cheese shredded

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix panko crumbs and italian seasoning in a bowl or I sometimes use a baggie for it. In a separate bowl whisk one egg and a splash of milk (maybe a tbsp or so).  Cut eggplant into strips/slices - about 1/4 inch in depth.  For the 3 eggplants I had I was able to cut them into 7 slices total.  Dredge each slice into the egg and then into the crumb mixture and place on greased pan or cookie sheet.  Place in oven and cook eggplants until you can get a fork through them easily ~ approximately 20 minutes.

Once eggplants are soft, take out of the oven and spread the pizza sauce over each slice.  Add 1 slice of proscuitto to each egg plant and then cover with tomatoes, carrots, onions.  Sprinkle with basil and spread cheese over the top.  Place back in oven and cook for another 15 minutes until cheese is melted and slightly brown.

fresh tomatoes

fresh eggplants

breaded egg plant

ready to go into the oven.

This pizza will need to be eaten with a fork and knife as the eggplant is slightly soft and will not stand up to being finger food.  The next time I make it I am going to try thinner slices and maybe some oil on the eggplant so they will be crisper or even fry the eggplant in a small amount of oil before breading it.  If anyone has any suggestions on making the egg plant crispier please leave me your suggestion.

Enjoy!

  

til next time <3 <3 <3 Marlys

Linked with ~~ Tasty Thursdays