vegetable puff pastry bites.

May 20, 2015 by mama lola 2 Comments

i have only recently discovered the fun of butter puff pastry!

i know, i know i admit i have been under a rock of sorts!

truth be told, i thought they were full of all sorts of yucky ingredients, but it actually isn’t.

i found some easy all-ready-to-go frozen puff pastry at the grocery store and left it out to thaw for a couple of hours. i followed the instructions on the package, and recommend you do the same.

i used a pizza roller to divide the puff pastry sheet into 9 somewhat even squares. they really don’t have to be perfect at all, as the pastry sheets can be pulled to fit your muffin pan if necessary. also, as you’ll see once the pockets are stuffed with the filling and you’ve twisted the tips of the corners together, that having perfect squares is not that important.

i sauteed my veggies in my skillet to bring out the yummy flavours in them before baking them in the oven.

then in a bowl i mixed the sauteed veggies and chunks of feta cheese.

prepare your muffin pan by greasing it up. i like to use real butter that i spread into each muffin slot with paper towel, other’s may prefer to use cooking spray. then place a puff pastry square into each slot, gently pushing down. fill each pocket with about a tablespoon of filling, take all four corners and twist them together. finally, brush of some whisked egg to add a nice golden shine to the baked vegetable puffs.

is your mouth watering right now?

don’t these wee vegetable puff pastry bites look amazing? they really so easy to make and a perfect add on to so many different meals! all of my three guys love to take these to work and school for lunch the next day… that is if we have any left over! haha!

on this day we had tofu steaks and and lovely green salad with them! yum!

vegetable puff pastry bites.

2015-05-05 17:31:17

Yields 18

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Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

20 min

Total Time

1 hr

Prep Time

40 min

Cook Time

20 min

Total Time

1 hr

Ingredients

1 pkg frozen puff pastry (i suggest buying the already rolled out kind, much easier to deal with)
3 tblsp olive oil
1 red pepper
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
3-5 mushrooms
1/4 cup feta cheese
lotsa fresh basil leaves
1/2 tsp coarse sea salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 egg

Instructions

1. thaw the puff pastry according to directions on the package.
2. preheat the oven to 350F. chop onions, garlic, mushrooms and peppers finely into small pieces.
3. heat a skillet, add olive oil and sautee onion and garlic until tender. add peppers, mushrooms, pepper, salt and finally fresh basil leaves.
4. once basil leaves have lightly wilted, in a separate bowl add feta to sauteed veggies. mix well, ensuring feta chunks are smallish.
5. divide thawed puff pastry sheet into approximately 9 squares. grease your muffin pan. place each square into the muffin pan, add approximately a tablespoon of filling, twist the corners of the squares together to ensure the filling stays inside. brush whisked egg on top of each veggie bite.
6. bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
7. serve, enjoy, savour!

bear & lion http://bearandlionmama.com/

butter puff pastry, vegetable bites, recipe

let me know how the recipe works for you!

enjoy!

donut round up!

May 11, 2015 by mama lola 2 Comments

i feel it is my responsibility to add this warning above. you may want to get a cloth or tissue for wiping the drool off of your chin.

just sayin”!

donut are making a kind of come back. they can be as easy or as complicated to make as you wish; there are countless recipes out there for them! i have included recipes that make my mouth water!

donuts are a treat and certainly not anything we eat regularly at our house. but, as a treat they are fun to make, kids love ’em and you can get creative with them! a friend of mine made a birthday donut cake by building a pyramid of donuts and topping it off with candles! it was awesome and easy, and you bethca her son LOVED it!

so let’s let the donut fun begin!

baked chocolate hazelnut crunch donuts by the little epicurean

quick and easy baked came mix mini donuts from it’s always autumn

gluten free pumpkin spiced donuts from flippin’ delicious

oreo over load donuts from the first year

baked funfetti donuts from sally’s baking addiction

how about something just as yummy, but perhaps a little healthier? here’s one of our fave recipes, my boys love these blueberry oatmeal muffin donuts. perfect for school lunches, after school, whatevs!

blueberry oatmeal muffin donuts by bear & lion

how are you holding up?

craving some round, delectable treats yet! haha!

happy monday peeps!

yummy roasted chickpeas.

April 29, 2015 by mama lola Leave a Comment

i made a carrot ginger soup for my weekly soup exchange and i wanted to include something yummy with the soup, other than my usual parsley or cilantro garnish… and then it hit me.. KAPOW… roasted chickpeas!

it’s the easiest, yummiest add-on ever!

ok, so here we go.

i was pretty generous with my spices, because i wanted my chickpeas to POP with flavour and i used a large can.

roasted chickpeas

2015-04-22 09:48:51

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Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

15 min

Prep Time

5 min

Cook Time

15 min

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas
5 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp paprika
1 tsp sea salt
1 tblsp cumin
1 tblsp tumeric

Instructions

1. preheat oven to 425F. drain and rinse chickpeas.
2. oil your cookie sheet with olive oil. add chick peas.
3. in a separate bowl mix dry spices and sprinkle onto chickpeas. ensure chickpeas are evenly spiced. place in oven. let bake for 15 minutes.
5.add to soups, tacos, chili, salads or nibble on their own!

bear & lion http://bearandlionmama.com/

what do you think? they look pretty yummy, right?

i will be sharing my ginger carrot recipe soon, as well!

worth a try, i think! enjoy!

fancy birthday popcorn!

February 21, 2015 by mama lola 1 Comment

we celebrated a 7th birthday here on february 14th. yes, our sweet bear is getting bigger by the day!

he wanted to take something yummy to school to share with his classmates and i am not a huge fan of sending cupcakes; they are sweet and junky and full allergens, so not all kids can necessarily have some. last year i made these awesome fruit sushi’s, which were an even bigger hit than i ever could have imagined!

this year i kept things super simple and made some super fancy birthday pop corn!
i popped a couple of bags of popcorn, let it cool, then added some star & snowflake sprinkles, silver balls and traditional colourful sprinkles.

that was it.

done.

while it wasn’t quite the gourmet popcorn that my husband has treated me to in the past, the kids won’t know that! they will just see sparkles and love it.

dropped it off at school for the classes valentine’s day party where the kids started off the festivities with a heartfelt bonne fête for my bear! i left the bowl and afterwards heard from the kids that they LOVED the super fancy birthday popcorn!

easy. fast. but, AWESOME!

wontons for dinner!

January 9, 2015 by mama lola 2 Comments

after all the sweet and heavy foods of the christmas holidays, my taste buds have been craving all kinds of other flavours and textures. so, after surviving the the saturday after new years at the grocery store, i decided to spend two hours on the kitchen preparing food for my family. i’m not a great cook, but i do love it!

i was a little apprehensive about how my boys would respond to the wontons as recently my eldest, bear, has become quite.. um, opinionated about his food preferances. but, so my delight and surprise he loved them and both kids asked me to send them in their school lunches. (mama SCORE!)

here i am sharing what i included inside my wontons, but i think really you could stuff them with anything.

INGREDIENTS:

1 yellow onion finely chopped

1 block firm tofu crumbled

1 cup frozen peas

1 small carrot finely chopped

3-5 kale leaves finely chopped

sea salt

to taste curry powder

to taste cumin

fresh ground pepper

1 package of wonton wraps

small bowl of water

DIRECTIONS:

1. sautee all of the above ingredients until nice caramalized.

2. take a wonton wrap in one hand, fill it with about a table spoonful of your filling. wet your index finger in the water bowl, then follow the edges of your wonton wrap. you may need to wet your finger several times to ensure the all of the edges are wet with water. the water will act as glue.

3. when it is all wet, fold the wonton wrap over creating a triangle. place on a hot frying pan with olive oil. keep flipping and pushing the wontons around in the pan to ensure that they don’t stick or burn. i find a hot pan work best, but i suppose it depends on what kind of pan you are using.

4. i served the wontons with sweet and sour sauce, which the kids loved!

so, what do you think, easy enough to do? totally!

next time i’m going to commit more time and make more so i can freeze them!

uuni riisipuuro/ oven baked rice pudding

December 23, 2014 by mama lola Leave a Comment

my family adores rice pudding. during the christmas holidays it’s a treat that we gobble up a lot of. it’s easy to make and for me always reminds of my childhood christmases back home in finland.

i got this recipe from a finnish blogger, hellapoliisi. it’s super easy, simple and delicious!

since the recipe and blog are in finnish i will translate… you need sticky rice, milk, salt and a titch of butter. preheat your oven to 350F. butter your oven safe dish, add 2 cups rice, 1 cup milk and a pinch of salt. let it bake for about 1.5 hrs. serve while hot with sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top and a splash of milk. YUM!

i’ve also made yummy rice pudding in my crock pot. you can find that recipe HERE.

happy puddin’ eatin’!

blueberry oatmeal muffin donuts!

April 7, 2014 by mama lola 31 Comments

um, YUM!

these delightful rings of goodness are the perfect after school snack.

a friend shared this muffin recipe with me, which she got from the food network.uk and, as usual i made the recipe my own with a few changes!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups rolled oats
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tblsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup frozen blueberries

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. preheat oven to 400F. grease your donut pans. i just use butter.

2. mix oats and milk in a medium-sized bowl. in a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, making a well in the center. stir in the liquid ingredients and the oatmeal mixture until just combined. be careful not to over mix!

3. fill donut molds to the top, and bake for 16-18 minutes until golden brown. do not over bake!

4. let cool and enjoy!

the donut pans by wilson’s are so awesome and make simple muffins into something extra fun! i bought ours from the bulk barn at $9.99 each!

my kids LOVED these donut muffins!

how to make fruit sushi!

February 20, 2014 by mama lola 3 Comments

my kids LOVE sushi! their favourite is the raw salmon. but, a lot of kids don’t share their enthusiasm for this japanese cuisine, so that’s why for bear’s 6th birthday i decided to make his class at school some yummy fruit sushi! i prefer these treats to cupcakes and cookies, as there are less concerns with allergens, these sushi bites are healthier and hey, they’re totally memorable too!!!

INGREDIENTS!

sticky rice (read instructions on package as they vary depending on brand)

mango, kiwi or any desired fruit

seaweed sheets

a bowl of water

* plus you will need a rolling mat

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. cook sticky rice as directed on package. let it completely cool down before using. cut fruit into strips, about the same thickness as an average adult finger.

2. place your rolling mat down on a flat surface, put a seaweed sheet on top, and then place your sticky rice on. try to ensure it is spread out fairly evenly.

3. place desired fruit onto the rice and using your mat, roll the ingredients making sure they are held together tightly. i found i had some excess seaweed at the end, so i cut it off and “glued” the edge of the seaweed sheet to the roll, by dabbing them in some water.

4. cut the roll into bite sized pieces. if they are lose and fall a part (this happened a couple of times for me) i just used more water to re-seal the seaweed ends. and, voila!

5. i served these to the kids in bear’s class as is, and some of them devoured lots. other’s were a little apprehensive about the seaweed, but i would say majority of the adorable kindergartner’s tried at least one!

HOW YUMMY DO THESE LOOK???

cranberry blueberry bars.

December 18, 2013 by mama lola 1 Comment

i found this delicious recipe from smitten kitchen, but tweaked it to fit the flavours i had in my cupboards.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup cold unsalted butter
1 egg or egg substitute
1/4 teaspoon salt
orange zest
4 cups cranberries and blueberries combined
1/2 cup white sugar
4 teaspoons cornstarch

INSTRUCTION:

1. preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and grease a 9×13 inch pan.

2. in a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup sugar, 3 cups flour, and baking powder. mix in salt and orange zest using a fork to blend in the butter and egg or egg substitute. the dough will be crumbly, but that’s what we want! pat half of dough into the greased pan.

3. in another bowl, stir together the sugar and cornstarch. with a potato masher, crush the cranberries in a bowl, mix in the blueberries. then, pour the cranberry blueberry mixture evenly over the crust and spread remaining dough over the berry layer.

4. bake in oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

this is an easy recipe to complete. the cranberries are tart, so some may prefer more sugar in the recipe, but i decided not to add sugar. instead, i will add a scoop of ice cream or make a big mug of hot chocolate to go with my yummy bar.

enjoy!

perfect fall apple recipes!

September 4, 2013 by mama lola 6 Comments

fall has arrived.
the kids are officially back to school. the trees are starting to slowly change colour and lose their leaves. people are taking about going apple picking and there’s even a crispness in the air on some mornings, oh yes, fall has definitely arrived.

this time of year i like to use my oven a lot for baking and dinners; we don’t have our furnace on so it’s a great way to warm up the house when needed. here are 10+ fall recipes to get your home smelling delicious and cozy this fall!