Radically Retired

Category: Food

  • Friday Freestyling … One Dish Delish

    Friday Freestyling … One Dish Delish

    Over the past couple of years, I’ve become intrigued by the simplicity of sheet pan meals.

    These easy-to-prepare creations are limited only by what ingredients you have on hand, your imagination and the oven temperature.

    My most recent attempt used farmer sausage, potatoes, carrots, bell peppers, and onions. While the oven pre-heated to 425° F, I cleaned, chopped, and cut the veg and sliced the sausage. I then just tossed it all into a bag and coated everything with a mixture of olive oil, herbs, and spices. From there, the mixture got spread out on a parchment paper lined, rimmed, baking sheet and baked until veggies were fork tender. (Approximately 1 hour)

    Because carrots are more dense than potatoes, they take a bit longer to bake. Next time, I may cut them into thinner slices to compensate for this.

    All in all, the meal turned out tasty and hubs-approved.

    Because the pan was large and I couldn’t think of appropriate props, the dish was challenging to photograph. I decided that fill the frame was the best option.

  • Special Spuds

    Special Spuds

    There’s a Canadian organization known as Second Harvest. It’s been operating since 1985 and is Canada’s largest food charity.

    Their mission is to reduce food waste from restaurants and grocery stores by “rescuing surplus foods” and then offering unspoiled, yet unsold food at no cost to the hungry.

    Last week, the organization delivered a truck load of potatoes to our community.

    These were big bags of spuds and there were lots of them!

    📸 Family Place, Weyburn, SK
    📸 Family Place, Weyburn SK

    Many folks showed up to get their free spuds.

    Once those in need got theirs, a new poster was added to The Family Place FB page:

    📸 Family Place

    My sis and I decided to go get some to help with the mission of no good food to the landfill.

    The potatoes were lovely, firm, fresh, and clean (feature photo)

    There’s a similar organization in the USA, known as Feeding America.

  • Four Wins for the Win

    Four Wins for the Win

    Since returning home from Texas and after listening to rave reviews from my sister on Instant Pot Yogurt, I decided to finally give it a try.

    My sister has been making her own IP Yogurt for some time and says she prefers the flavour and texture to store bought.

    I’ve now made my second batch and to say I’m impressed is an understatement.

    From one gallon of skim milk, I get 10 cups of Greek Yogurt (the container with the red lid contains 2 cups). It’s fat free and preservative free, and has the creamy consistency of Fage.

    In addition, I’m saving the whey (in the jar on the left) from straining, to add to smoothies, soups, and baking.

    Not only is the taste and texture better than store bought:

    >The gallon (4 litre) jug of milk I use costs on average $6.50 Cdn ($4.72 USD)

    >The 10 cups (2500 mls) of Greek Yogurt that the recipe makes would cost, on average around $21 CDN ($15 USD)

    So, considering the no preservatives, the usefulness of the whey, the price point, and the better texture and flavour, the lengthy process is a win, win, win,win.

  • Cinco de Mayo 2026

    Cinco de Mayo 2026

    Today, I decided to celebrate Cinco de Mayo all day via my food choices.

    Breakfast was one of my faves – avocado toast with salsa
    Lunch out with my sister in law, who also winters in south Texas – Quesadillas de Pollo. That’s not tequila by the way … it’s just ice water with a lemon in it. In hindsight, I should have requested a lime
    Dinner I prepared for hubs and me – Pork Carnitas with Guacamole, Salsa,
    and Sour Cream

    “More popular in the United States than in Mexico,Cinco de Mayo has become associated with the celebration of Mexican-American culture.” (From Wikipedia)

    Because we live half of our retirement lives in South Texas, in an area with a significant Mexican American population, I feel pulled towards celebrating the culture too. In my world (as a foodie), food is a key element of every culture.

  • Silencing the Tempters

    Silencing the Tempters

    I love imported chocolate, especially Swiss.

    I’m sure that this love of “shocklat” (as my paternal grandfather called it in his Swiss-German accent) is both learned and genetic.

    For Easter this year, in addition to my annual Lindt gold bunny, the Easter Bunny brought me a variety bag of Lindt bite-sized Easter Eggs.

    I enjoyed the bunny bit by bit for a few days after Easter. I weighed every ounce that I ate and counted every calorie.

    Even though they’ve called out to me almost every day from the treat cupboard in our kitchen, I’ve resisted those eggs … on most days.

    Yesterday, I finally silenced them.

  • Foreboding Shadows

    Foreboding Shadows

    Do you like poached eggs? If yes, how do you prepare yours?

    Yesterday morning, as the sun was coming up and peering through our balcony’s big sliding doors, I was looking for something for breakfast to both photograph and enjoy.

    I came across a recipe on Facebook for air fryer poached eggs.

    I love poached eggs and have made them using many different methods but never the air fryer.

    As I looked for a spot on my table to set up for a photo, it didn’t matter what spot I chose, the sun coming in the adjacent balcony doors caused long, dark shadows. I was hungry, so decided to just go with it.

    My air fryer poached eggs were a disappointing fail of epic proportions. After the time given in the recipe, they hadn’t set one bit and were just slimy, unpalatable blobs, mocking me from the ramekins they were supposed to be “cooked to perfection” in.

    I increased the temp a bit and added two minutes. The eggs were slightly more set, but still not edible. I like my poached eggs to have soft yolks but the whites have to be completely set.

    I added three more minutes. Now, the whites weren’t great but just slightly more set, and the yolks were overcooked. The surface was wrinkled and not one bit appetizing in appearance.

    I plated it up anyways, took the photo, and grudgingly ate my brekky.

    Strike that prep method from my list.

  • Mary and Me

    Mary and Me

    When I was growing up, Mary Moore was a household name among the womenfolk.

    Mary (Allen Clark) Moore, born in Hamilton in 1903, was a Canadian food writing legend. From 1928 to 1978, she was a nationally syndicated newspaper food columnist. Her columns, which appeared in as many as 25 daily newspapers across the country, were clipped and used by thousands of Canadians…

    … Moore was known for her heartwarming, highly personal recipe columns, in which she dispensed cooking advice and also encouraged her readers to take a long walk each day. *Exerpt from thewhig.com

    I remember both of my grandmas and my mom faithfully clipping the recipes from Mary’s column and either pasting or handwriting them into a notebook.

    Many of the main dishes and desserts I enjoyed in my youth came directly from Mary’s weekly newspaper offerings.

    When the first edition of her cookbook was released in 1978, I purchased a copy.

    To this day, it’s my all time favourite cookbook.

    In its pages, I can find recipes I remember my mom, my grandmas, and my friends’ moms and grandmas making. There are even recipes my high school home-ec teacher used in class.

    As I gently leaf through the ingredient stained pages of this well-used and mightily worn hardcover book, I’ll come across a familiar recipe and smile with a fond memory.

    One such recipe is Mock Marzipan Strawberries. My maternal grandma made these every year at Christmas and made them as table favours for my wedding.

    I now make them as well.

    These are mine

    Straight from the cookbook:

    First editions of this cookbook in excellent condition now sell for $200 CDN. My book is far from even good condition, but even if it was in excellent condition, no amount of money could purchase it.

  • 3 C’s: Chili, Comfort, Cleanup

    3 C’s: Chili, Comfort, Cleanup

    One of my favourite cold weather comfort foods is chili con carne. People seldom use the full name anymore and have shortened it to chili.

    Although this dish was originally Tex Mex (from the border area of Texas and Mexico), I can recall my mom at home in Canada making her version of it when I was a child. Mom always called it by its full name.

    In researching chili for this post, I was surprised to learn that the dish was introduced to eastern Canada in the early 1900’s. I wondered, given the distance, how that could be? Further reading explained that a group from San Antonio introduced it at a chili stand at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. This explained a lot, because Chicago is much closer and Canadians were very well represented at that fair.

    There are many variations of this hearty meat stew, and I make it a bit differently each time.

    The one in my feature photo has carrots, red bell pepper, button mushrooms, onions, celery, and three bean varieties with the lean ground beef and diced tomatoes. I prepared it in my Instant Pot, as I do all of my soups and stews. Pressure cooking has a way of locking in and enhancing flavours, which is key in one-pot meals.

    We like our chili either over a baked potato, or with a side of toast. Sometimes I garnish it with shredded cheese and/or sour cream.

    If you eat this dish, what sides do you enjoy with it? I’m always looking for new ideas.

    I used the Touch Retouch App to clean up the bowl. As I did this, I recalled cooking competitions on TV, and how the chefs always wipe the edges of the dishes and bowls before serving.

    By doing this task digitally, I was able to finally realize why that’s done.

    Here’s the dish before cleanup.

    Much more appealing with the dishing up smears removed, I think. Do you agree?

  • Boxed Dinner

    Boxed Dinner

    This week, Healthy Choice gourmet frozen steamer bowls are on sale at our local Co-op supermarket.

    I recalled liking these many years ago, so decided to pick up a few today.

    Wiki says this about the brand:

    According to ConAgra’s official corporate history, Healthy Choice came into being after then-ConAgra CEO, Charles “Mike” Harper suffered a heart attack in 1985. Forced to dramatically alter his diet, he came up with the idea of a line of healthier frozen foods.

    Hubs is away at a poker tournament this afternoon, so I decided to make one of these for my dinner.

    I wasn’t disappointed. The meal was colourful, flavourful, and the exact right amount for the lighter evening meal that I prefer. The chicken was tender and juicy, and with a 4 minute microwave cook, the noodles were the exact al dente that I like.

    An added plus is that the WW Points for this meal weighs in at only six. That’s a small number of points for a satisfying meal.

    Yes, btw – I’m back to tracking my food again with the WW App. In 2018, I lost 40 lbs by following the WW smart points system. For a long time, I maintained the loss with a few minor ups and downs in weight, no tracking, and exercise only. I’ve recently regained a few lbs that have been more resistive to leaving me, so back I go to tracking.

  • Shout Out Time

    Shout Out Time

    First off, my feature photo isn’t mine. It’s from the blogger I’m shouting out today.

    For some time, I’ve been following a recipe blog named “The Wholesome Spoon”

    Lex, the author is a young, midwest USA Mom who creates recipes that are easy to follow and have ingredients most of us have on hand or can easily access at our local supermarkets.

    I’ve tried many of Lex’s recipes and every one has been a hit with both hubs and me, as well as with our friends and family.

    I’d highly recommend that you check her blog out here . You won’t be sorry.