tastiest butter chicken to ever come out of a jar

If you feel like Indian without going to a restaurant or slaving away at the stove I highly recommend "Amaya Butter Chicken Sauce".  I came across this gem in a jar at Whole Foods and I'm sure it's sold at other natural grocers as well.  It's a natural product with no preservatives, no artificial colors, flavours or fillers and it tastes absolutely delicious!  Apparently there is an Indian restaurant in Toronto called "Amaya The Indian Room" and this is their bottled sauce.  They carry a small line of products, the butter chicken sauce, a coconut curry sauce (which I wasn't a huge fan of), an Indian spicy ketchup and a mango mint chutney (which I haven't tried yet).  You can get more information on their sauces at http://www.amayagourmet.com/.

It's so convenient and makes for a super quick dinner as all you need to do is satay your chicken pieces then add the sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes or according to the instructions on the jar.  You could also add some heavy cream and fresh cilantro towards the end if you like.  I just paired up my meal with some yummy store bought Naan bread and made my girlfriends easy Raita recipe which I'm including.  If you're ever in Toronto, Amaya The Indian Room is located at 1701 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, ON.  I have never been but if you have, tell me if it's any good.  My husband is Indian and he loved this butter chicken so trust me, it's good!!!

Raita Recipe:

2 cups Greek Yogurt
1 Shredded Cucumber (drained)
1/2 Shredded Carrot (smaller shreds)
1 tsp Cumin
3 tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tbsp fresh mint (chopped)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Sugar or honey (just a very tiny pinch)

Just mix it all up and refrigerate for at least 30 min.

The tasty sauce

Delicious and super easy meal

angela’s best of Trader Joes list, it’s finally here!

Trader Joes is my favourite place to cross border shop right now for delicious natural and preservative free groceries.  I decided to compile a list of my favourite products at TJs for you to sample for yourself.   Here are my recommendations if you make it down there.  Trader Joes is located at 2410 James Street, Bellingham Washington in the U.S.A.  Happy shopping and eating!

Best of Tasty Spreads for your breads:

Lemon Curd.  It's great stuff if you're into lemony tartness
Sunflower Seed Butter.  I don't like it but my daughter loves it so I’m posting on Sophia's behalf.

Artichoke Antipasto Spread.  LOVE IT!  This would go soo nicely in an Italian style sandwich

Bruschetta.  LOVE IT!

Best of CHOCOLATE goodness:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups in Dark and Milk Chocolate.  "Winning"!

Milk Chocolate Malted Milk Eggs.  Delicious.

Best of Salty Sensations:

Roasted Seaweed Snack.  I’m addicted!

Lightly Salted Crunchy Green Beans.  OMG!

Best of Pickled or Jarred

Marinated Mushrooms With Garlic.  Yes, I drank the juice!

Best of From the Freezer to the Table:

Mandarin Orange Chicken.  Who needs Chinese takeout when you got this stuff.  This is outstanding!

Chicken Gyoza.  These were fantastic! Better than restaurant gyoza. 

Best Breakfast Bet

Danish Pancake Balls.  Delicious pancakes without the mess that goes along with making pancakes.

Best finds for $2.99

Regenerating Antioxidant Moisturizing Face Lotion.  Wow this stuff is dirt cheap and makes my skin feel like a million bucks! All my dryness due to weather was gone in days.

Nourish Spa Shampoo and Conditioner.  This stuff makes my hair feel like I’ve just stepped out of a salon, seriously comparable to salon quality.  All my tangles were gone and i loved the consistency of this stuff, you get a nice soft lather and a creamy condition.  Your hair will feel soft and not "weighed down". Seriously $2.99 for a good shampoo is unheard of here in Vancouver.

I still have many more items to try, these are the ones that definitely stand out and that I will purchase again regularly or stockpile, my new staples.  What are your favourites? Please share.



decorating your home with food...some tips

An inexpensive way to decorate, set a mood or stage your home rather than buy too many nick-knacks that will eventually be dated and go out of style, is to use food.  That's right, food!  Also, you don't need to worry about storing it when you want to change your decor, because once your done with your temporary displays you can just eat them ha ha!  Change them up every so often and definitely before they perish.  Use nice classic bowls, vases, trays and even cake stands that you can re-use in your scenes.  These small vignettes create a mood and portray a lifestyle.  They work for home staging, if your having guests over, or for yourself to enjoy and it beats looking at toasters and blenders, put those away in your cupboards.  Here are some examples of what I did in our home before an open house.  A tip, grab a cookbook with pictures, open it to your favorite simple recipe and grab a few of those non-perishable ingredients and place them on a tray.  Try to go with a recipe that requires pretty vegetables or fruits and go with a grouping of those in your display.  Hope I gave you some cool ideas to try at home.

in the kitchen, I set a scene for prepping an artichoke dish.  just put out a few ingredients on a tray along with some roasted Gorgonzola crackers from Trader Joes.  I thought the packaging was pretty.

the counter with a few different vignettes

on the opposite counter I set up 3 tall glass water bottles and a bunch of lemons, tip...the more fruits or veggies you use, the better your display, the look you want to go for is "abundance"

Cookbooks are great for kitchen displays, took off the cover of the Wolfgang Puck cookbook and discovered this pretty yellow hardcover.  Found this inexpensive cake stand at Target and these pretty meringues at Trader Joes...stacked some small plates and you've got a display.  Notice the triangle shape from the top of the book to the 2 items in front...a good design tip...

Wanted to make this upstairs little media room fun so I went with purple as the accent color.  Notice the pretty pink striped bag of Trader Joes Kettle corn.  Purple Hersheys kisses and a 4 pack of purple beers.. perfect for a movie night...snuggle up with your honey with that cozy lavender throw, you've got your popcorn, candy, beverages... see I just set a scene for you.

Purple pillow Homsense find.. LOVE LOVE LOVE Homesense

Chocolate Beer!!! Can't wait to crack one open after the viewings are all done and our home is sold.  Bought these puppies at Trader Joes (my favorite Grocery store of all time)

I even decorated INSIDE the cupboards... hey people looking at homes open your cupboards...this is my husbands stash of his favorite chocolate from TJ's

Set a little scene on the patio with some lemonade and outdoor pitcher and goblets added some lemons for some color pop-age



spotlight on a very talented artist...shelley a.

For the past few weeks we've been very busy staging our home to sell.  Our white walls needed more art, so I contacted a lovely young artist by the name of Shelley Ainsworth that I heard of through a friend.  She is an amazing make-up artist and portrait artist.  Her work is incredible, please check out her website http://www.artistrybyshell.com/.  The portrait work she has done is so detailed and precise that you'd think it's a photograph rather than a painting.  I needed some modern abstract art, described what I was looking for, what colors I required for the space and she delivered.  It was great working with Shelley, such a great upbeat personality and a perfectionist.  We chatted back and forth during the process, she was so open to suggestions.  I'm loving our new paintings and looking forward to getting some portrait work done with her in the future.  Thanks Shelley!  You're awesome!

my absolute favorite piece

i love the colors...this is the second in the series of 2

love the yellow!!



cake bites...an idea for easter

This morning while at Starbucks, I came accross these adorable little munchkin size cake bites on a stick.  Gave me an idea for Easter, make these little cake balls and decorate them to look like little mini Easter eggs.  So I got on google and searched these little suckers and came up with an abundance of recipes.  My favorite results and not to mention most gorgeous blog was http://www.bakerella.com/. 

Here's a recipe for cake bites from Bakerella.  You can use any cake mix and frosting you desire.  Check out the site as they have many many recipes and instructions to make all sorts of yummy festive balls.

Cake Balls

1 box red velvet cake mix (cook as directed on box for 13 X 9 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (16 oz.)
1 package chocolate bark (regular or white chocolate) or you can use those colored chocolate melts
wax paper

Directions

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl.
2. Mix thoroughly with 1 can cream cheese frosting. (It may be easier to use fingers to mix together, but be warned it will get messy.)
3. Roll mixture into quarter size balls and lay on cookie sheet. (Should make 45-50. You can get even more if you use a mini ice cream scooper, but I like to hand roll them.)
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm. (Use a spoon to dip and roll in chocolate and then tap off extra.)



banana cream pie recipe

Well, this was my breakfast this morning, along with 1 tylenol, 1 advil and a cup of coffee (woke up with a migraine).  I'm not proud of eating this calorie laden indulgent treat first thing in the morning, but boy was it delicious.

I had this sudden craving and urge to make a banana cream pie last night, got my recipe from www.allrecipes.com.  Had awesome reviews and was a pretty simple and quick recipe.  I used a store bought crust which made it a breeze to make.  Try it out if you love banana cream pie, also, it tastes even better the next morning after it gets a chance to chill overnight.  If your good at making your own crust I'm sure it will be even more delicious.  I don't do homemade pie crust...that's something I will never master.

the finished pie, haha you can see the shadow of my iphone on the pie

sliced bananas on the crust before the custard is added

the yummy custard

Ingredients 



3/4 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups milk

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 tablespoons butter

1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked

4 bananas sliced

whipped cream

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner.
2. Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency.
3. Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes. Chill for an hour.
5. When chilled add your whipped cream and top with banana slices.  Chill again. 



bao bei chinese brasserie review

I've been really wanting to try Bao Bei, a new chinese brasserie located in Chinatown, so my husband I went for our wedding anniversary last week.  Bao Bei is a hip new trendy tapas style chinese restaurant.  It's old style chinese decor with a bit of a Shanghai feel, dim lighting, great ambiance and nice bar, make it a great place to sample a variety of delicious tapas with a group of friends or with your date.  The food is authentic chinese, prepared with high quality ingredients, you could really taste the quality.  All the menu items range from $4 $6-$9 $10-13(meatier dishes) each so you get a great variety, the waitress told us the magic number is around 5 items among 2 people, it was just perfect we were full but I still had room for dessert of course. 

We had the Mantou (steamed buns) with braised beef shortrib, hoisin, scallions, pickled cucumber, and roasted peanuts.  Hands down my favorite dish.  The little buns were really soft delicate, the beef was soo tender and delicious.  They were topped with hoisin sauce and pickled cucumber, and excellent combination of flavours.  I had only wished we ordered more, but didn't want to over eat.  Dish number two was the pearl bok choy with pork and black bean sauce, it was my second favorite.  The sauce was amazing.  My third favorite was the house special fried rice, the exotic mushrooms made it extra delicious. 
Then we had the Shao Bing, which consisted of sesame flatbread with braised pork butt, Asian pear, pickled onion and mustard greens presented as a sandwich.  It was pretty good, but not my favorite dish, there was just a little something missing I felt.  We then had the Pork Pot Stickers, they were nice and juicy with good flavour.  Finally for dessert I had the Almond Panna Cotta with lemon gastrique.  The panna cotta was delicious and rich, the gastrique sauce was sweet and a bit sour but a bit too overpowering.  I would have much enjoyed the panna cotta on its own or with a nice rasberry coulis instead.

Overall, I could taste the quality of the ingredients in the food.  The cocktails were very cool and yummy, apparently the owner used to bar tend at Chambar I believe).  I was happy with everything we ordered and can't wait to go back and order my favorites amongst the new items that I didn't order.  You'll love the food, the drink, the crowd and neat decor.

mantou...my favorite dish, i will be back for several orders of these

the house special fried rice was incredible, loved the mushrooms in particular

the pearl bok choy with pork...soo yummy!!

pork pot stickers

shao bing

lemon gastrique, confit kumquat, salted cinnamon almond brittle