For the Love of Leftovers

Have you heard about this contest? We’re down to the four finalist recipes, and four of our writers over at Aiming Low have vlogged their attempt at making them in their own kitchen!

For a bit of a laugh and a chance to vote, head on over to watch Katie, Shauna, Tena and Maria botch up the recipes.

Back Burner Recipe Contest, Final Round

All contest entries will be published in a cookbook this spring, with the proceeds of the sale of the cookbook being donated to the Mayhew family.

101No Comments »http://www.loveleftovers.com/?p=101Aiming+Low%27s+Back+Burner+Recipe+Contest2010-02-02+16%3A43%3A00Amy

Adding the weekend into my weekly menu plan proved to be a great idea last week. There was enough in the fridge to keep us going and there was no stress on the weekend when it came time to figuring out dinner plans.

This week’s plan:

Monday: One of our favourite easy summer meals, Foccaccia Sandwiches, as seen here last summer.

Tuesday: Chef’s Salad, recipe courtesy of Everyday Food September 2007 edition.

Wednesday: French Onion Soup with help from my crock pot

Thursday: Homemade Big Macs. I’ve wanted to try to make a healthier version of these at home for some time.

Friday: Chicken Caesar Wraps

Saturday: Sloppy Joes. We always put sauteed peppers, onions and mushrooms on our version of these.

Sunday: Pasta with Turkey Meatballs & Bocconcini, recipe also courtesy of Everyday Food, September 2007 edition.

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura, at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

92No Comments »http://www.loveleftovers.com/?p=92Menu+Plan+Monday%3A+Week+of+August+242009-08-24+18%3A41%3A51Amy

I’ve decided to go ahead and plan meals for the weekend since this seems to be the most challenging time for finding something to eat at our house…if there aren’t any leftovers we just have a hard time finding the creativity to come up with something from scratch.

Monday: Reuben Sandwiches with Potato Salad. We haven’t had a good reuben for ages! Homemade reubens are never as good as the one served at Teddy’s in Oshawa, one of our favourite restaurants, but we can sure try.

Tuesday: Southwestern-style Hamburgers with Tortilla Chips

Wednesday: Cheese and Spinach Ravioli with Pesto, Garlic Bread and Caesar Salad. I don’t make pasta from scratch, but I will buy a fresh ravioli that is quick to cook and tastes great with any sauce. Pesto is nice and light for hot summer weather.

Thursday: Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon, Tomatoes and Pecans (Everyday Food, April 2007)

Friday: Pita Pizzas with Mozzarella and Fresh Garden Herbs and Tomato. There is a lot of basil growing outside in the garden, and the first ripe tomatoes are coming along out there, too, all of which will be perfect on these pita pizzas. Graham will toast these outside on the grill, so they’ll have a nice, smokey flavour.

Saturday: We’ll be attending a barbeque at a friend’s home for dinner.

Sunday: Pork Tenderloin with Sweet Potato Fries

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura, at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

872 Comments »http://www.loveleftovers.com/?p=87Menu+Plan+Monday%3A+Week+of+August+172009-08-17+13%3A36%3A46Amy

I’ll admit that not everything in this fruit salad was grown in my back yard garden, but three out of five of the ingredients were! I tossed together some juicy junks of Niagara-grown peaches (grown within 100 miles of our house), strawberries (sadly, not locally grown) and from our garden, raspberries, blackberries and some coarsely chopped Candy Lime Mint. We ate it with our lunch that day, but this would be lovely with breakfast, on top of waffles or pancakes. Summer in a bowl!

80No Comments »http://www.loveleftovers.com/?p=80From+the+garden%3A+Fruit+salad.2009-08-11+12%3A39%3A20Amy

I’m not sure if I mentioned this yet or not, but I have quit working at the restaurant where I was moonlighting as a waitress. Moonlighting implies that I was working long hours into the night, but that’s not really accurate. I was just working extra shifts there to help us get ahead. Now that I’m almost 26 weeks pregnant, though, working on my feet a few times a week was becoming increasingly difficult, and the restaurant wasn’t really busy enough for the money to be worth it anymore. So I’m free! Free to cook dinner at home most nights of the week. I really do enjoy cooking, but trying to plan my weekly menu around my schedule at the restaurant was a bit of a challenge, one that I’m happy to say has been eliminated.

This week I decided to try out a bunch of recipes from the recent issue of Everyday Food, one of my favourite sources for recipes.

Monday: Homemade Hamburgers (which Graham ended up grilling out in the rain) with Potato Salad. The hamburgers are my own recipe, and I picked up the potato salad in the deli section of our local grocery store.

Tuesday: Southwestern Steak Salad (Everyday Food, July/August 2009). I always have a hard time finding “skirt steak”, which this recipe calls for, but I think I found a suitable alternative at the store.

Wednesday: Chipotle Chicken and Rice (Everyday Food, July/August 2009)

Thursday: Corn and Shrimp Chowder with Bacon (Everyday Food, July/August 2009)

Friday: Fresh Linguini with Meat Sauce and Garlic Bread. This is more of a winter-style meal, but it’s one of my favourites.

Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Laura, at I’m an Organizing Junkie.

82No Comments »http://www.loveleftovers.com/?p=82Menu+Plan+Monday%3A+Week+of++August+102009-08-10+12%3A42%3A13Amy