Fettuccine Alfredo

This is an adaptation of too many recipes to reference here. I used several as guides, but ultimately made some arbitrary changes both for my heart health's sake (for example, using a cup of butter felt excessive even with a full box of fettuccine) and for my own tastes. I so wanted to make this the authentic Italian way, but North America's love for cream (and my love for garlic!) won out. As always, do as you feel led if you give this a try!

Egg Salad

This is my basic egg salad recipe. I personally like to add more flavor to it (and have noted what I would usually add), but sometimes you've got what you've got and/or simple is what you're craving on a particular day. To each their own!

Thai-style Green Curry

 This is essentially Pailin Chongchitnant's wonderful recipe with the adaptations I generally make when it is what's for dinner in my family. It's a gorgeous recipe - as most Thai recipes are! - and beautifully adaptable depending on your dietary needs. Definitely follow Pailin's original recipe, and make whatever adjustments work best for you!

Sausage Breakfast Casserole

As you will see when you scroll down, I woke up this morning and chose cardiac issues! Needless to say, this is a delicious casserole as a result. I used Elise Bauer's lovely recipe as a base, but made a few changes to make this work better with my family's tastes. Change what you like if you give this a try, I certainly did!

Salmon Soup with Buckwheat Noodles

I love an easy meal, and I love a beautiful broth on a cool fall day. This adaptation of Hank Shaw's great original recipe is certainly both! I enjoy it as is, but as always make it your own!

Black Bean Soup

I'm in one of those seasons in life I sometimes think of as a 'Get Out, Right Now' season. (Thanks JoJo, twenty years later and your song's still stuck in my head!) Right now this primarily concerns our pantry, which I usually like to keep well stocked, but which now needs to be liquidated or given away in the next month. During today's perusal of the shelf survivors my gaze fell upon a can of black beans trying to hide off in a corner, and after watching a few videos on Instagram, the following recipe is what resulted!

Cardamom Mug Cake

I'm not sure how I'm jumping on board this trend train so late, but here I am! My husband is away, but my cravings are not, so mug cakes have answered my need for a dessert without a bunch of tempting leftovers! This recipe is for my favorite version (so far!), but it's beautifully flexible - you could easily sub in cinnamon for the cardamom and coconut milk for the milk to get a very different, delicious cake! If you're late to the mug cake phenomenon, definitely give it a try!

Ethiopian-style Spicy Split Peas

This is another beautiful dish from Ethiopia, and makes for a nice break from meat when you find yourself wanting one. My recipe is based on the one in the classic Exotic Ethiopian Cooking cookbook, but with modifications to better fit my tastes and preferences. (In particular, my recipe differs from the book's in the oil department - I just can't use two cups of olive oil in one dish no matter how delicious it might make it!) Modify it, make it as is - whatever you do, I hope this recipe brings a little of the warmth and beauty of Ethiopia into your life.

And since it's Ethiopian New Year's Eve as I write this, I wish everyone celebrating the New Year a happy and blessed 2017! May it be a bright and peaceful year for Ethiopia and the world.

Massaman Curry with Beef

This is another of Pailin's excellent recipes, which I'm posting here to record the modifications I made to fit the brand of curry paste available to me and my family's personal preferences. We absolutely love massaman curry, and this recipe in particular - I strongly recommend checking out Pailin's original recipe for a fuller version!

Banana Pecan Muffins

This is a great, versatile recipe largely based on Sally McKenny's lovely recipe. I've tweaked the spicing to better fit my personal preferences, and also made it easier to make vegan when needful. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Easy Curry Laksa

Many of my early dates with my spouse involved Singaporean-style curry laksa, so this dish - although not quite the same - holds a special place in our hearts. I have combined Woks of Life's lovely laksa recipe with Marion's more Thai-oriented version as I like to multipurpose ingredients rather than having twenty jars of different curry pastes on hand. I've also done some simplifying to reflect the other ingredients we generally have on hand in our currently North American-based pantry. Laksa is an amazingly delicious dish, so whether you try my adaptation below or the original recipes, you must give one of them a try, you won't regret it!

Ukrainian-style Braised Beef and Potatoes

This braised beef and potato dish - жаркое (zharkoye) - is a beautifully hearty, delicious taste of Eastern Europe. My recipe is a blend of Tatyana's lovely recipe and Catalina's version. I hope it warms your stomach and heart the way it does mine!

Spicy Peanut Butter Noodles

An easy, delicious meal for any hour of the day (or night!). There's a wonderful sesame paste noodle recipe as well, but for the time being here's my favorite peanut butter version. These noodles make veganism look easy (I never even realized they were till a few times into making them!), and work great any time of the year. In the winter I put the sauce straight on the steaming, drained noodles, and in summer I give the noodles a cold water rinse before mixing. Hot or cold, they're delicious!

Easy Sausage Shakshuka

Shakshuka has long been a personal favorite, but what follows is my updated, simplified recipe for a relatively quick breakfast during the week. Modify as needed, and enjoy!

Kielbasa Pasta

It's Bright Week, so of course cheesy sausage is what's on the menu! What follows is an adaptation of this recipe, mostly tweaks to fit my tastes and preferences. Smoked paprika is my seasoning of the season I think, so it of course makes an appearance! Enjoy!

Baked Salmon Sushi Cups

I'm not one to get sucked into trends until they're well and truly no longer trendy, so I'm guessing that means these salmon sushi cups are officially over now...that being said, holy cow are they good! I mostly followed this recipe, but - as always! - made some modifications to suit my family's tastes. However you make it, definitely give some version of this a try, 'cause it is both ridiculously easy and ridiculously good!

Pan-Fried Tilapia with Smoked Paprika

What follows is a light adaptation of this recipe, mostly tweaks to amounts and types of seasonings. The results are delicious, and the prep time is minimal. Enjoy!

Korean Vegetable Pancakes / Yachaejeon

I have long loved Korea's beautiful array of savory pancakes, but this veggie version has become my go to for a quick 'n easy fix suitable for any time of the day or week. What follows is primarily Maangchi's beautiful recipe, but I also got the idea for a crispier result from the use of cornstarch in Jeeca's recipe. Feel free to use what's below or to make your own adjustments, and enjoy!

Golden Fried Rice with Chili Crisp

What follows is my adaptation of this lovely recipe, which I came across a bit ago while wasting time on Instagram. I adapted the original to better fit my family's tastes. So far our favorite version has involved Chinese sausage, but it's a flexible recipe that can be made to fit both carnivorous and vegetarian tastes alike. I hope you like it as much as we have!

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, 'n Corn Stew

Necessity is the mother of invention, and in this case necessity was clearing out more of our pantry and freezer. And I sure am happy it was, because I stumbled across this great recipe and then realized it was similar to one of my favorite salad recipes. The resulting fusion is a gorgeous cold weather version of my salad recipe, and makes a hearty, excellent vegan, vegetarian, or meaty meal depending on how you make it!

Satay Soup with Buckwheat Noodles

This recipe is a bit 'northeastern China meets Southeast Asia,' but I'm so glad the two did meet, 'cause the results are delicious! I used Jeeca's lovely recipe as a base, but obviously made a few changes to bring forward some Thai and Chinese elements. Recipes are only ever guides, not laws, so feel free to play with mine as well if you like!

Tomato Salad with Fish Sauce

This is one of those generically Asian - maybe Southeast Asian? - recipes that came together when I was trying to make a meal healthier in spite of the unhealthy things I'd already done to the main...and also I wanted to use up the ridiculous number of tomatoes we had in the fridge at the time. Suggestions are very much welcome! It was a hit as is, but I feel like it's missing something...

Sweet 'n Spicy Tuna Salad

This is another short 'n sweet ('n spicy!) recipe, inspired in this case by this lovely original recipe. My recipe is an adaptation of the original to my family's preferences and tastes, and is gorgeous as is on toast or some rice. Play with it as you like though and find what fits your tastes best!

Bacon Cheddar Egg Bites

This is a pretty easy, straightforward recipe to make healthy (healthier? healthy-ish?) egg bites à la Starbucks inspired both by my love for Starbucks' egg bites and my sister's own experiments in egg bite-making. What follows is my favorite, but changing out cheeses and/or meats or even popping a bit of broccoli in likely would go awry. I'm very much looking forward to experimenting with this recipe myself. As it is, tomorrow's 5am breakfast will be a much less enervating affair than such things usually are!

Homemade Hamburger Helper

I think a lot of North American kids - from my generation at least! - grew up eating Hamburger Helper fairly regularly. I remember falling out of love with it by middle school, and as far as I can recall I haven't had it since. (Not voluntarily anyways!) Lately, however, we've been trying to clean out our pantry and when trying to figure out what I could do to maximize pantry and freezer-emptying I realized that we had all the ingredients for hamburger helper. I didn't expect to particularly like the results - made from an adaptation of this lovely recipe - but it was a hit and made for decent leftovers the next day as well. There are a million versions of this out there, what's below is my twist made for my family's tastes. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!