Kally's Cauldron

I love kale! It's relatively versatile and a powerhouse of nutrition. One cup of raw kale contains 1g of dietary fibre, 2g of protein and accounts for 206% of your Vitamin A, 134% of your Vitamin C, 9% of your Calcium and 6% of your Iron. It's also a good source of Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Potassium, Copper AND Manganese. (source)

One of my favourite ways to serve kale is in this soup:




Veggie Kale Soup

A dollop of oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 bunch kale, remove stems and chop leaves
4 cups veggie broth
4 cups water
1 can diced tomatoes
6 white potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cans black beans
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp dried parsley


Heat oil in large soup pot. Cook onion and garlic til soft. Add in kale and cook until wilted. Stir in the rest. Simmer on medium for about 25 minutes (potatoes should be cooked through).

Notes: I always hate putting actual measurements for soup so use this as a framework. You can use any kind of beans you like. You can add salt and pepper but I find the soup tasty enough without (and if you opt to use just water and a bouillon cube you'll have more than plenty of salt)




Full Moon Blessings!!!

I miss posting my recipes, so I've decided to bring back Friday's Fare. Now I just have to remember to always take pics of what I cook LOL

This recipe is a personal favourite of both mine and Boo's. So basic, yet super yummy!! It's pretty easy to just throw together but for measurements sake, click here for the recipe.

Bangers and Mash

Make up your mashed potatoes however you like them best (I personally have started adding some herb and garlic cream cheese in...gives it a little extra oomph!). Heat the sausages through, then fry up the onions. Make up some gravy according to package directions (if you make it from scratch it's even tastier but I rarely have opportunity to do this since you need drippings from something). Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with some of the gravy, line up the sausages, pour on the rest of the gravy then top with mashed potatoes. Bake for about 20 minutes and voila! All done! If I recall, the recipe says to let the potatoes brown, but if you do that, everything's going to overcook...just let the sides get a bit crispy and you're likely good to go.

Bon appetit!

Just one and a half more days till Samhain!! Munchkin is getting super excited and, let's be honest here, so am I!! I have everything planned out for Sunday evening so it looks to be a lot of fun. The boys will be spending pretty much the whole weekend in their costumes (well, Bean's is a sleeper) what with two playdates and the Halloween parade at church. Saturday night we're heading over to my in-laws house to meet my brother-in-law's fiancee from the Phillipines which should be very exciting. Hopefully we're able to make her feel welcome, both to Canada and the family!

Well, last but not least, a dessert is required for an evening such as Samhain and what could be more fitting than pumpkin pie...but not just any pumpkin pie....creamy pumpkin pie! I've been making this for a few year's now and my family just love it. It's no bake which makes it even easier! One warning though: make sure to use INSTANT pudding mix otherwise it doesn't solidify properly (trust me, I learned the hard way!)

Creamy Pumpkin Pie

1 cup canned pumpkin (or use fresh of course!)
1 ¼ cup evaporated milk
¼ tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger (go easy)
1 regular size pkg Jello Vanilla INSTANT Pudding
1 baked and cooled 8” pie shell (I buy the pre-made graham ones)

Combine pumpkin, milk, salt and spices in a bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat slowly with an egg-beater until well mixed, about 1 minute. Pour into pie shell. Chill until set, about 2 hours.
Garnish with Cool Whip.

Gimme a T, gimme a G, gimme an I, gimme an F....what's that spell?
Thank Goodness It's finally Friday! Boo was working his support week and so left every day around 9:15am and got home about 8:30pm (except for Wednesday night when he arrived around 10pm). Munchkin has been go-go-go and Bean has been cry-cry-cry. I really wish I could figure out what was up with that little guy!
We have another insanely busy weekend ahead of us but at least we'll be together as a family! The plan is to go pick out our pumpkin on Sunday (weather permitting) so I'll be sure to have some photos of that! Otherwise it's a couple of get-together's with friends and a playdate (plus brekkie and church on Sunday morning).

Today's recipe isn't actually for food...I figure you need something festive and yummy to drink as part of your celebrations (or perhaps rit if you're like us and keep things "virgin" so Munchkin can partake). I don't have a picture but I'll try and make some up before Samhain and post it...otherwise it'll be part of the post-holiday wrap-up.

Apple Cider Punch

6 allspice, whole
6 cloves, whole
6 oz frozen lemonade
6 oz frozen orange juice
4 quarts apple cider
3 cinnamon sticks
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Tie allspice and cloves into cheesecloth. Combine next 6 ingredients in slow cooker. Add spice packet and heat on Low for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Yummy :)

I was so excited to get this lovely little package yesterday evening

This is the beautiful giveaway I won from Mother Moon :) Everything in it is just incredible!! Thank you so much!!

Today's recipe would make a nice entree for Samhain.

Roasted Pork Tenderloin

1 lb pork tenderloin
½ tsp ground sage
garlic salt to taste
1 (32 ounce) jar sauerkraut, drained
½ apple, cut in half
½ onion, cut in half
1/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 325F.

Rub tenderloin with sage and garlic salt. Place tenderloin in a baking pan or casserole. Cover meat with half of the sauerkraut. Place the apple and onion, cut side down, on top of the sauerkraut. Cover with remaining sauerkraut. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Cover and bake in preheated oven for 1.5 hours or until internal temperature has reached 160F.

TGIF!! Bean decided that 3:30am was a good wake up time so I'm a little sleep-deprived today. I can't wait for the weekend to start!

Well ladies and gents, it's October 1st! The countdown to Samhain is on and the blog party has commenced!
I decided for my recipe Friday's that I would essentially give a complete meal over the course of this month. Today's fare would be an excellent starter. It's actually the carrot soup that I ended up making for Mabon but would work perfectly for Halloween as well. Carrots aren't officially a symbolic food for this Sabbat but, dude, they're orange LOL. This recipe also contains apples (they're the secret ingredient) which ARE symbolic for Samhain so I figured it all balances out.

Carrot Soup

1 tbsp butter or margarine
1 lb carrots, chopped
1 Granny Smith apple, chopped
½ Red Delicious apple, chopped
½ tsp cardamom
¼ tsp parsley
1 cup chicken stock
2 cups water (or enough to cover)
1 cup milk

Place butter, carrots, apples, cardamom and parsley into a large stock pot and cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add stock and water. Raise heat to bring soup to a boil. Turn heat to medium-low and continue to simmer for 30 minutes, adding extra water or stock as needed, until carrots are tender.

Pour soup into a food processor and blend until pureed, adding the milk as you go. Serve and enjoy!

Well, the Harvest Moon brought me a special little something. I won the giveaway over at Mother Moon's blog and I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to her! She writes an incredible blog and I encourage everyone to pop over for a visit! She's definitely doing something right with over 300 followers!! Thank you again Mother Moon!




Well, I wasn't able to do my rit last night but I was able to do the children's one with Munchkin. He really enjoyed participating...almost too much as he was really upset with me once we blew out the candle because I wouldn't re-light it!
We have a pretty busy weekend with having people over tomorrow in celebration of Munchkin's second birthday and then our Mabon celebration on Sunday. I have so much to do today, I barely know where to start!! Most of it's laundry unfortunately. Both boys are being particularly bratty challenging today so it's gonna be a long one.
With that, I'll leave you with today's fare.

This is another family favourite, and is practically the only way I can get my Munchkin to eat fish.

Ranch Breaded Fish Fillets

¾ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 pkg dry ranch-style dressing mix
2 ½ tbsp vegetable oil
4 small tilapia fillets

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Place the bread crumbs in a bowl. In a shallow dish, mix the dressing mix and oil to form a paste. Coat the tilapia fillets with the paste, then dredge in the bread crumbs to lightly coat.

Place the fillets on a baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy your Friday!

Well we've made it to Friday! We're off to my aunt's wedding reception out of town this weekend so I'll be posting next on Sunday rather than Saturday.
Today is produce delivery day! Every other Friday we receive a bin full of (mostly) local, organic produce. There's nothing more wonderful than having a fridge full of fresh, organic fruits and veggies!! Now if I could just find somewhere to buy organic meat that doesn't cost a small fortune, we'd be set

Speaking of fresh produce, I have 2 recipes today although I usually serve them both as an entree with some mashed potatoes or rice.
I got these recipes from Kraft. It’s become something of a family favourite. Super easy and super yummy!

Crispy Salsa Chicken

4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pouch chicken coating mix (sometimes known as Shake’n Bake)
½ cup salsa
½ cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 400F. Coat chicken with coating mix as directed on package. Place on ungreased baking sheet.

Bake 20 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Top each chicken breast with 2 tbsp salsa. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Yields: 4 servings

Fresh Peppers and Green Beans

2 onions, cut in thin slices
½ cup dressing, divided (anything oil-based will do)
1 lb green beans, trimmed
¼ cup water
1 red pepper, cut in thin slices

Cook onions in ¼ cup dressing in large skillet on medium heat for about 5 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring occasionally.

Add beans and water, stir. Cover and cook for 5 minutes.

Stir in peppers; cook covered for 5-8 minutes or until beans are crisp-tender. Remove from heat and stir in remaining dressing.

TGIF everyone!

Nothing fancy today, but this is a recipe for chicken salad that Boo pulled out of his butt (ok, obviously not literally but I can't tell you much it irritates me that he can just throw stuff together and make an amazing meal when I can barely follow a recipe! Sometimes I wonder who the witch in our house really is!!) So without further adieu:

Chicken Salad à la Boo

2 ½ cups roasted chicken, diced
2 tbsp mayo (adjust to your creaminess preference)
2 baby leeks, diced
1 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
¼ tsp pepper
splash hot sauce
salt to taste

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and serve.

Serving suggestion: We made sandwiches and added half a pickle in each.
Substitution suggestions: Canned flaked chicken instead of roasted chicken, 1 large leek instead of baby leeks.

Please forgive my awful photo...it only dawned on me just as we were finishing eating that I should probably include a picture. I promise I'll take nicer ones in future!!