Slow Cooked Oatmeal

Prep time: 10 min
Serves: 2

Everyone I've ever made this oatmeal dish for has loved it. This can be prepared in about ten minutes at night right before going to bed. When you get up in the morning, you'll smell the apples and cinnamon. My favourite apples in this recipe are galas, but any cooking apple will work. It's important that the apples are peeled, otherwise the peels fall off the apples during cooking and give the oatmeal a very odd texture.

INGREDIENTS

1 T vanilla extract
1 cooking apple (Gala, McIntosh, Granny Smith, etc.)
1 ½ c regular oatmeal (not quick oats)
1 T cinnamon
¼ cup sliced almonds
handful raisins
¼ c brown sugar
1 c milk
½ c water
¼ c unsalted butter or coconut oil

DIRECTIONS

1. Peel and dice apple into roughly ½ inch cubes.
2. Mix all ingredients except butter in slow cooker. Try with very little brown sugar to start. It can be added to each individual bowl if the oatmeal isn’t sweet enough.
3. Add butter or coconut oil, break it down to small pieces and mix around if it’s a big hard lump.
4. Slow cook on low setting for 5½ hours.

Butternut Squash Soup

Prep time: 30 min
Serves: 2-4

A very rich and creamy soup. The squash adds a nice sweetness to the soup and roasting it brings out its flavour.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium butternut squash
1 Tbsp butter or olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
3 cups broth
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup whipping or coffee cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Roast on a baking sheet at 400°F for 35 minutes.
2. While roasting, chop the onion and garlic and saute in a large saucepan with the butter or olive oil for 5 minutes.
3. Remove the squash from the oven and scrape the pulp into the saucepan. Discard the skin.
4. Add the broth and salt/pepper to taste.
5. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
6. Pour the soup into a blender and puree or use a hand blender.
7. Once smooth, add the cream and mix.
8. Pour the soup from the blender back into the saucepan and keep warm until ready to serve.

Carrot Ginger Soup

Prep time: 30 min
Serves: 4

A very flavourful and creamy soup.

INGREDIENTS

2 Tbsp butter
2 pounds carrots, chopped
1 onion, chopped
4 cups soup stock
3-4 cm ginger, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup whipping or coffee cream

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop up the onion and saute with the butter until clear in a large saucepan.
2. Chop up the carrots, peel and chop ginger, and add to the mixture, set heat to medium and stir occasionally until the carrots soften (~10 minutes).
   
3. Add the soup stock and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Throw it all into the blender and puree.
5. Add the cream.

Roasted Vegetable Fries

Prep time: 30 min, 45 min to bake
Serves: varies

This is a healthy and tasty why to roast various vegetables. The great thing is that it is very versatile and works for whatever vegetables you might have lying around. They also go well as finger food when having people over or visiting a potluck, but bring ketchup! The hosts may not have any.

Take your pick from the following vegetables.

• Yams
• Potatoes
• Sweet potatoes
• Beets
• Carrots
• Onions - they caramelize very well
  

INGREDIENTS

All or some of the vegetables listed above
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
1 tablespoon paprika

DIRECTIONS

1. Chop up the vegetables into fry-shaped pieces. Cut out the eyes of potatoes and any other undesirable parts of the vegetables. Peel if desired.
2. Place chopped vegetables in a large bowl.
3. Add olive oil, caraway seeds, and paprika.
   
4. Mix everything together so the vegetables are well-coated.
5. Heat oven to 375F and bake for 40-45 minutes. The onions tend to burn and should be added about 20 minutes after the rest of the vegetables.
   
6. Serve with ketchup.
   

Crepes

Prep time: 15 min for batter
Serves: 4

I've made this recipe a few times now when I've had people over. The nice thing about this recipe is that it scales well. Just make sure you have lots of eggs. 12 servings requires a dozen!

The flour can be just about any flour. The batter is very loose and there's enough egg in the mixture that it won't fall apart if using something weird like a rice flour.

These work great either sweet or savoury. Chilli goes well as a filling inside a rolled crepe. A good sweet topping is homemade strawberry sauce. Just take some frozen berries, heat in some corning ware over the stove on low heat until melted, then blend. Nutella and whipped cream also go well. Look at a Cafe Crepe menu for ideas.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups

flour

4

eggs

1 cup

milk

1 cup

water

1/2 teaspoon

salt

1/4 cup

melted butter

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and the eggs. Gradually add in the milk and water, stirring to combine. Add the salt and butter; beat until smooth.
2. Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. The temperature will be just right when water sizzles when dropped on the pan.
   
3. Pour or scoop 1/4 cup of the batter onto the pan for each crepe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.
4. Cook the crepe until the top has solidified, usually under 2 minutes. Flip it with a spatula and cook the other side for about 30 seconds.
   
5. Keep the crepes on a plate or corning ware in the oven at its lowest setting to keep them warm until they're all ready.

Slow Cooked Pulled Pork

Prep time: 20 min
Serves: 7 hungry men

This is the best pulled pork recipe I've ever made. I've made it for visiting guests many times and received only praise. It's been compared to Memphis Blues' pulled pork. I find the best place to buy cheap pork is Buy Low Foods. They tend to carry the cheaper cuts of meats, and that's exactly what you'll be looking for in this recipe. In fact, the fattier pork shoulder blade/butt roast is necessary as the fat helps break down the meat during the cooking process.

My favourite buns are the Portuguese Rolls sold at Save-on-Foods. They are soft and not crusty, which is perfect for this type of filling. I find that one roast is perfect for 7 people.

INGREDIENTS

1 medium	onion, chopped
1/2 cup(s)	ketchup
1/3 cup(s)	cider vinegar
1/4 cup(s)	(packed) brown sugar
1/4 cup(s)	tomato paste
2 tablespoon(s)	sweet paprika
2 tablespoon(s)	Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoon(s)	yellow mustard
1 1/2 teaspoon(s)	salt
1 1/4 teaspoon(s)	ground black pepper
4 pound(s)	boneless pork shoulder blade roast (fresh pork butt), cut into 4 pieces
12	soft sandwich buns or ciabatta rolls, warmed

DIRECTIONS

1. In 4 1/2- to 6-quart slow cooker pot, stir onion, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, paprika, Worcestershire, mustard, salt, and pepper until combined. Add pork to sauce mixture and turn to coat well with sauce.
2. Cover slow cooker with lid and cook pork mixture on low setting as manufacturer directs, 8 to 10 hours or until pork is very tender.
3. With tongs, transfer pork to large bowl. Turn setting on slow cooker to high; cover and heat sauce to boiling to thicken and reduce slightly.
4. While sauce boils, with 2 forks, pull pork into shreds. Return shredded pork to slow cooker and toss with sauce to combine. Cover slow cooker and heat through on high setting if necessary.
5. Spoon pork mixture onto bottom of sandwich buns; replace tops of buns. Serve sandwiches with pickles, potato chips, and hot sauce if you like.