Sunday Night Dinner - Baked Chicken Legs

Earlier this summer we purchased a freezer pack of meat from Two Rivers Specialty Meats in North Vancouver. It was part of a fundraiser in support of Potluck Cafe Society, a Social Enterprise whose mission is to 'transform lives by creating jobs and providing healthy food for people living in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside'. It's a great organization and we were happy to support it, and even happier when we started using all of the great local meat we had purchased. Among the sausage, pork chops, bacon and ground beef there were chicken legs. I had never really cooked chicken legs and the first time we decided to just throw them on the BBQ. It would be an understatement to say that neither of us were too happy with them, and I thought, well, what am I going to do with the remaining 2 packs?

Luckily for us, I recently purchased Michael Smith's Family Meals cookbook. I kept thinking, maybe I'll put this on my Christmas wish list, but I just couldn't resist when it was 50% online, so I snapped it up. When it arrived I knew it was a good purchase. The book is full of tips for making cooking and eating more of a family affair, as well as great hints on quick snacks and meals for the whole family. I decided that in order to ensure this was indeed a good purchase, I would try and cook a new item each week from the book. This week I chose the 'Slow-Baked Chicken Legs with Barbecue Flavours'. Wow, it was such an easy dish, and I think we will definitely be making it again. This is a weekend dish, as it does take 3 hours to slow-bake, but it was so worth it. Plus it gave me a new appreciation for chicken legs.

Easy Weeknight Dinners - 30-Minute Turkey Chili

Growing up chili was a staple in our house, and when I think back I feel like it was often a Monday night meal. It's easy to make, and reheats really well. This meant that between all the music lessons, dance classes and theatre rehearsals, we could all grab a bowl of a good healthy meal. This recipe calls for ground turkey, but I'm sure chicken or beef would work just as well.  A note about tomato paste - see if you can find the tube, it is way easier to store especially when only using a tbsp here and there. I've tried freezing the leftovers from the small cans in ice cube trays and it never seems to work.

Make Ahead Meal - Cottage Pie

When I'm stressed and worrying about the work week ahead I will sometimes spend some extra time in the kitchen. Usually this involves prepping meals and veggies, but sometimes results in some extra baking for us to enjoy. Tonight I put on some Frank Sinatra, opened a bottle of red wine, and decided to make some Cottage Pie. Sometimes known as Shepherd's Pie, I use the name Cottage Pie because true Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb. While I probably could have used the time doing some prep work or drafting one of the four assignments due next week, at least we have some good meals in the freezer. I doubled the recipe so I have two Cottage Pie's ready to go.

Easy Weeknight Dinners - Macaroni and Creamy Cauliflower Sauce

I love macaroni and cheese, and will often whip up a batch on a whim. However, I'm sure it's not the healthiest thing to keep at the top of my roster of quick meals. I was really excited to see this version using cauliflower instead of cheese. There is still a bit of cheese, a tiny amount of cream, and the winner for all recipes - bacon! I used a new bacon I'd never tried from Two Rivers Meats that was part of a freezer pack I'd purchased for a fundraiser this summer. I've got to say, I might have found a new favourite bacon. One note for this recipe, the instructions say to use a blender, which I did. I think you could just as easily use a food processor to make the sauce, whatever you prefer.

Easy Weeknight Dinners - Chicken Curry in a Hurry

I never really ate curry until I moved away to University. It may have been growing up in a very Italian Northern Ontario city. We didn't really have a lot of diversity when it came to restaurants growing up, except for Chinese buffets which were pretty North American I'm sure. It's great to go back to my hometown now and see so many different restaurants, and even 2 sushi restaurants! That being said, I do love a good curry, and this dish has a lot of the flavours I enjoy. I used a red curry paste but I'm sure any one would work great. The next time I make it I would chop all of the veggies in advance, as that part did take a bit of time.  Overall though it was a pretty quick meal to prepare.

Easy Weeknight Dinners - Sauteed Mushroom Linguine

Sometimes I can be the last to admit how hard it is to juggle everything. Work, school, and a toddler make it difficult to keep up with the regular stuff like laundry and cleaning. Thankfully I have a great husband who pretty much takes care of the household stuff when I'm swamped with assignments and readings. However since I'm the one who gets off work first I take care of getting the little one's dinner. By the time we're done playing and Brent's home for bath and bed, it's hard to make a good healthy meal and easy to order take out or just make a sandwich. So I'm always on the lookout for easy weeknight dinners. The September Issue of Canadian Living contains 20 meals that they claim 'will be on the table in just 15 minutes, including prep time!'. One thing I will say is that I have found with Canadian Living recipes, they don't include the time it takes to get the ingredients to the state they list. For example, if a recipe includes 2 cups mushrooms, thinly sliced - the time on the recipe does not include slicing mushrooms. All that being said, this recipe was still pretty quick to get on the table. I modified using a few substitutes and it still worked out great.