Taco Bell Party Pack #FoodPicFriday

We make most of our meals at home, but sometimes we go out and buy some really ridiculous food. Take this big bag of Taco Bell we got last week. It was clearly the best deal for tacos, but it was truly an excessive amount of food: 10 tacos (6 hard, 4 soft), 2 fries, and 2 nachos + hot cheese sauce. The thing we didn't realize until we got home (and after I'd already eaten one) was that they accidentally put two burritos in the bag with our tacos. I don't eat at Taco Bell very often (once every five years I'd say), so I didn't realize I was eating a burrito and not a soft taco. So our crazy amount of food was even crazier than we expected.

Reverse Chocolate Chip Cookies #FoodPicFriday

I had some white chocolate chips on hand so I made some yummy reverse chocolate chip cookies. So good!! I'm really obsessed with chocolate right now. Like always, I guess.

Swiss Chalet Rotisserie Beef #FoodPicFriday

Swiss Chalet has added rotisserie beef to their menu, and the day Mom got the flyer in the mail advertising it, she immediately texted me that we had to go. She knows me so well.

We both tried a beef sandwich and we would definitely get them again. Very tasty. Mom ordered the Hot Rotisserie Beef Sandwich with fries and veggies, and I got the Rotisserie Beef Kaiser with a Greek salad. Next time we'll try the Rotisserie Beef dinner, especially since it is available as a festive special this time of year. Sounds good to me!

Curried Beef #FoodPicFriday

Curried beef served over rice with a side of fried garden zucchini. A wonderful meal that we got to eat twice (I love leftovers). Really, really, good.

Honey Garlic Chicken Legs #FoodPicFriday

We've started using the farmer raised chicken I got from my brother and the meat is really delicious. The birds are big, juicy, and flavourful - we just absolutely love them.

One of our favourite meals is pan fried chicken legs, and we vary between plain (just a little seasoning), curried, and honey garlic. Most recently we had honey garlic with the farm fresh chicken legs and it was probably the best I've ever had. John never measures when he cooks, but the sauce is a mixture of soy sauce, honey, and garlic powder. Served with rice and oh so good.

1/2 Dozen Zehrs Doughnuts #FoodPicFriday

My favourite doughnuts are from Zehrs bakery, a place I don't get to very often, but I love love love their doughnuts. Before a recent visit to Mom's, I told her I was craving them, and she offered to get some for me. Isn't she a sweetheart? Best Mom in the world.

My favourite out of this pile of doughnuts is the croissant. Not sure how they make it taste so amazing, but I could easily eat too many in row. So damn good.

Mandarin Desserts #FoodPicFriday

Our favourite Chinese buffet is Mandarin. We affectionately call it Mandy, and a trip there means you don't have to eat for the next twenty hours or so. There are so many different and wonderful food items to choose from, and everything smells delicious. I have many favourite dishes there (I really enjoy the surimi salad from the salad bar), but I always need to save room for dessert. It's like being a kid in a candy store, there are so many options.

For the month of July, Mandarin celebrated Canada Day with some Canadian style dishes. Mom and I went to check them out and one of the dessert options was chocolate dipped bacon! I had never tried it before, and it was surprisingly good.

This photo depicts my dessert plate from our visit. If I remember all these wonderful flavours correctly, I had: chocolate dipped bacon, maple cheesecake, coconut cream pie (a must have), a honey twist, a bear paw (with added whipped cream and smarties), and a butter tart. Delicious.

Summer BBQ Supper #FoodPicFriday

There's been a bit of heat wave here this week so oven cooking is off limits. BBQ only! We picked up some fresh farmer corn and new potatoes, and grilled them alongside some hamburgers and hot dogs. Love a good BBQ on a hot day. Wonderful!

(Mug) Brownie With Ice Cream #FoodPicFriday

There was vanilla ice cream in the freezer last week, and even though it is lovely on its own, I took it as an opportunity to make a fancy dessert at home. And fancy in this case is also easy, as I made a mug brownie in the microwave to go with it. There is something so simple and amazing about mixing a hot brownie with cold ice cream. The ice cream melts, the desserts blend... it is fantastic. It tasted like something I would order at a restaurant for $6. Love it.

The brownie takes no time to make, as I've memorized the recipe. (Dangerous).

I made this brownie before with coconut oil, and you can find that recipe here.

Mug brownie:
1 tbs margarine, melted
1 tbs water
splash vanilla
dash salt
1 tbs cocoa powder
2 tbs sugar
2 tbs flour

Method: Mix the melted margarine, water, vanilla, and salt in mug. Whisk in cocoa powder until fully combined. Add sugar; whisk to combine. Add flour, whisk to combine. Microwave for 1 minute.

Top with some vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Breaded Chicken Salad #FoodPicFriday

This easy but oh so tasty salad is topped with boxed chicken fingers that were cooked and chopped. This is my new favourite at home salad, which I covered in creamy poppy seed dressing to give it some extra yum. This salad is fresh spinach, grated carrot, chopped purple onion, and cucumbers. The best!

Puppy Dog Cake #FoodPicFriday

Our friends Colleen and Brendan recently threw a puppy birthday party for their son. There were hot dogs, dog shaped cookies, cheese and crackers (with the cheese cut out as dog bones), as well as assorted treats served in new puppy bowls. All very cute and well done.

Colleen, who decorated the Beholder cake from last month, also made the dog cake for the birthday party. She used a combination of piped icing and fondant to make this cute little guy. A lot of work, but the result was adorable. Her son had a very happy birthday!

Hot Pepperettes #FoodPicFriday

On July 4th weekend, we had a nice time walking around the Sales Barn (aka Elmvale Flea and Farmers Market). The weather was beautiful (if a little hot), there were lots of people out, and lots of stuff to look at. There are some crazy book deals this year, with one vendor offering six books for $5. I got a pretty good haul of books last year, and I'm rather particular about what I own (even if it's less than a $1 per book), so I didn't add any books to my collection this time around.

I did pick up some hot pepperettes, which weren't lying about their name. Sometimes food listed as "hot" is actually more of a "medium" spiciness, but these didn't disappoint. They were Hot Hot Hot and super fun and easy to eat. The pepperettes were 12/$5.

Food Truck Fish and Chips #FoodPicFriday

One of the food-loving perks of living around here in the summer is the food trucks. We are a touristy area, so there are quite a few that are open in the summertime, hoping to entice people on their way to the beach. Or on their way home from the beach. Or just the regular inhabitants who love french fries. It isn't officially summer until I eat something deep fried off a truck, so I'm happy to report that when Mom and Dad visited last weekend we hit up Perky's Fish and Fries in Perkinsfield for some fabulous fish and chips. Just wonderful!

Soft Serve #FoodPicFriday

Sometimes there are bonuses to going on a daily walk. Maybe there is something really neat to take a photo of. Maybe there is someone really neat to say "hi" to. And maybe there is ice cream in the middle (and for most of the way home).

The corner store has their $2.00 soft serve ice cream back (although this year there is an option to get a smaller version for $1.50. To that I say "No thank you!"). Walking with ice cream is pretty great, especially on a beautiful day.

Ontario Strawberries #FoodPicFriday

Picked up some fresh Ontario strawberries from the local fruit market. These are fresh and tasty and super easy to eat.

Beholder Cake #FoodPicFriday

My favourite thing about gaming with my D&D group is making and sharing treats. In the past I've made some themed D20 dice cookies, along with an variety of other baking experiments that were thoroughly enjoyed while we battled monsters and solved mysteries during various campaigns. 

I am not the only baker in our group, and recently our friend Colleen made a Beholder monster cake for her husband's birthday. Nothing says happy birthday quite like a D&D monster.

Big Pile of Taco Fries #FoodPicFriday

INGREDIENTS:

A big pile of homemade french fries.

Taco meat (made with ground turkey, black beans, mushrooms, and diced tomatoes).

Shredded cheese.

Diced purple onion.

Salsa

Plain yogurt.

Happiness.

Vegetable Dip #FoodPicFriday

I bought mayo a few weeks ago and it was shrink wrapped with a package of vegetable soup mix. The mayo was already on sale ($2.99) and the soup mix is normally $1.50 or so, so it was a surprise deal. And also a welcome suggestion: make some dip! So I made the famous spinach dip, but left out the spinach. So this dip is just vegetable soup mix dip, which is really amazing. I have been serving it with vegetable sticks or rippled chips and this dip makes both things even better. YUM!

All you need for this dip:
1 container sour cream (500ml)
1 cup mayo
1 package vegetable soup mix

Mix all together and wait a few hours for the vegetables to hydrate and the flavours to sink in. Enjoy!

Boston Cream Doughnut #FoodPicFriday

When we've gotten a doughnut craving lately, we've gone to the local Coffee Time in Elmvale. I used to be a Tim Hortons or nothing kind of person, but since I stopped drinking coffee, I realized the treats are similar at other doughnut shops and sometimes even better. The Coffee Time doughnuts are a little bigger and to me they taste like doughnuts you might purchase from a fair. They are really quite good. I got really into their Walnut Cruller, but they didn't have them the last time I went, so Boston Cream was my next choice. Really, really good.

Applebee's Lunch #FoodPicFriday

In trying to find a good #FoodPic for today, I went back through my photos to find some shots from various Applebee's lunches with mom. We haven't been lately, as this winter was hard for various reasons. One or both of us was too sick to visit (stupid colds), the weather was too cold for cars to start (stupid temperature), or the weather was too snowy for driving (stupid snow). But it is definitely spring now, despite the still chilly temperatures that are sticking around (but I'll take -5°C over -25°C any day!).

So I found some food photos from last summer and I'll hopefully collect some more over the coming months of good weather.

Appetizer: Onion Petals with chilpotle mayo and signature sauce (both great for dipping).

Main: Oriental Chicken Salad. This is a favourite when I hit the Bee's. Must try making it at home at some point.