Cookie Karma and Pantry Progress

Cookie Karma

Last week my husband, Matt, was out of town with his unit.  As they were setting up he lost his phone.  I found out when his buddy let Matt use his phone to call me.  I got a call every night from the same number; his buddy let him call me from his phone.  I asked Matt to find out what his favorite cookies are and I'd make him a batch.  Turns out his favorite are sugar cookies, sans frosting.

I've made sugar cookies, but it's been a while....two or three years, at least.  The last time I made them was as a joint effort to the tune of five batches and enough cookies to cover my mom's counters, dining room table with both leaves, and two hutches.  This single batch has made 20 cookies so far and I have 1/3 of the dough left to bake!

The recipe is my great-grandmother's and is from an age where "mix ingredients" translated to order and individual steps beyond those two deceptively simple words.  There's an order, a rhythm, and if you go astray those cookies will turn out awful.  I'm happy to say the recipe converted to dairy free quite nicely; Earth Balance butter is a great substitute!!  The almond milk I used gave a nice light almond undertone to the cookies (and dough!).

I'm hoping Matt's buddy likes them as much as we do :)

Pantry in Progress

I mentioned at the last check in that I wanted to get containers before moving to the next phase.  I took

a tangent and decided to run measurement numbers first.  My pantry had a bunch of nails around the top that got my gears turning: could I move the shelves down and tackle two (or three) problem areas in one go?  The drawer my pans were stored in worked well enough, unless I needed the stock pan or the dutch oven; to get either of those I had to empty all of the other pans out first.  Then there was the large skillet; it wouldn't fit in the drawer, and had to go in a separate cupboard.  Then there were the lids, which mostly fit in a long, shallow drawer but had to be in there just so or it wouldn't close.  This culminated into a system that drove me absolutely batty every time I needed pans and/or lids.

I measured my two largest skillets, handles included, and worked with heights in the pantry.  My bottom shelf was as short as it could be, thanks to a pipe in the back of the pantry.  I measured bottles and storage containers, and decided all tall items would fit just fine on the bottom of the pantry.

Armed with a tape measurer and a pair of pliers, I rearranged the shelf heights.  I'll probably rearrange the contents again when I redo my spice cabinet (I have space I can use there).  The pantry is still not "done," but I'm happy with the domino effect to the rest of the kitchen!  I moved some of my casserole dishes to the drawer the pans were in, which let me put that cupboard in order; all of the lids are in there too, which freed up the long, shallow drawer they were in.  With that drawer empty, I put the specialty utensils (the apple corer I use to make tarts, the base for my ice cream maker--for the other stand mixer style--, the ravioli mold and mini roller...that kind of thing) in the drawer.  It's not in the main flow of the kitchen, but it's still accessible.  It also freed up loads of space for my main utensil drawer!  I can find things in there now!!


That's it for today.  Eat Happy!

Pantry, Pizza and Ice Cream

Chai Ice Cream

I'm going to a dinner party tomorrow with family; as the dessert is something loaded with dairy and wheat, I volunteered to make something both my brother and I could have.  With the warmer weather, I thought ice cream was in order.

I decided to google "ginger ice cream."  This gave me a lot of recipes that called for crumbling ginger snaps in pre-made vanilla ice cream.  I added "coconut" to the search field and kept looking.  After some sifting, I found an amazing recipe for Chai Ice
Cream here.  I haven't read this particular blog before, but I will be perusing the recipes after this one!   I took her recipe and modified it slightly; I used Chai tea instead of the black tea.  The spices just enhance the flavor.

I picked up some gluten/dairy free ginger snaps too to go with it.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Update:  I tasted this before it went into the freezer and I was skeptical.  The flavor was incredible the next day; I highly recommend letting this set in the freezer overnight to allow the flavors to develop.  I was also worried about ice crystals, as I did not use arrow root; I was pleasantly surprised there was a lack of ice crystals.  The texture was perfect after a few minutes warming on the counter.  Everyone raved about it, and the ginger snaps (gluten free, corn free, soy free and dairy free) made a great accompaniment!! This recipe is definitely a keeper!!  ~Nia 4/29/13

Portobello Mini Pizzas

I had an impulse at Costco this morning while grabbing spinach and baby bellas for my lunches.  They had these beautiful portobello "steaks" that were the size of my hand.  My adventurous side won, and I grabbed a four pack.  I've never cooked the big ones before, but I decided I wanted to live on the edge and try them.  I searched "portobello" in an app on my phone called Cornucopia (formerly Yummlite).  I found a recipe for appetizers using spinach and tomatoes and cheese; they looked pretty good.  Being a huge pizza fan, despite the cheese issue, my brain moved to pizza with how they looked.

I'll post my improv recipe when it's ready; it needs a lot of tweaking.  Needless to say though, it was super tasty!!  If you want the "baby" recipe before I post it, drop me a line.

Pantry In Progress

Tuesday night I emptied, purged, organized and inventoried my scary pantry.  I neglected to take before pictures...but I have some post-purge-in-progress shots.  Take my word for it, the pantry looks a lot better!!   I wrote down everything by category, and entered it into a spread sheet.  It let me filter by what needed a storage container, and that's where the money is!  I need 11 containers, seven of which are quart jars; a 12 pack of quart jars are $10-12 dollars.  They're cheap, they look nice, and they seal wonderfully.

 

Once everything has a nice air tight home I can move to the next phase: clear organization.  I've got some ideas, but I'll have to play around with the spaces before I'm ready to commit.  I'll post any progress as it happens!

 

That's it for tonight.

Eat Happy!

Pad Thai and My Pantry Project

Pad Thai

Dinner was Pad Thai tonight.  This is a staple dinner for me.  It's super easy, super quick, and filling.  Normally I use soba noodles, but I didn't have any in the pantry.  Instead, I used spiral pasta.  It was quite tasty!  If you're looking for something easy, this is it.  The base recipe I started with all those months ago was simple...and bland.  I've zinged it up a bit...which also added calories, because I upped the peanut butter too.  Even as a staple, I try to only make it once a month.  It makes a better backup than spaghetti with marinara; nothing against it, but variety in backups means we're less likely to eat out.

For the recipe, scroll to the bottom!

Pantry Projects

I love my kitchen in this house.  The only catch is I miss the plethora of pantry space in my old kitchen.  I have enough space, but the layout is more awkward.  As I have a little OCD, and my kitchen is a sore spot with me.  I've been itching to redo the cupboards.  I can't redo the kitchen in a permanent fashion (rental, you see) but I can change my food storage to match the new pantry.  I've gone from lots of shallow cupboards to one really deep one, and that takes a completely different approach.

I've searched images and scoured the web for inspiration.  I think I've finally figured out an approach...or at least, the first steps.  The biggest issue I'm having is I have no idea what's in there anymore, and not knowing what is there is a huge hurdle to organizing it.  I've made some simple spread sheets (think: graph paper lists) to document what I have, what needs a storage container, what needs just a simple container (like this can sorting idea), that kind of thing.  The hope is to have a newly organized pantry in the next couple weeks.

I'll post my progress!

That's it for tonight.

Eat Happy!

Pad Thai

• 2 bundles soba noodles or 3/4 cup cooked pasta

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1-2 chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1-3 tbs minced ginger

• 1/4 cup oil (olive, canola, vegetable)
• 2-4 eggs (do not pre-scramble)
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bell pepper
• 1/2 cup mushrooms (Broccoli, sprouts, etc)

Sauce:

• 1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• Hot sauce of your choice to taste
• Red pepper flakes for garnish

Let's get cooking:

1. Cook your pasta of choice per the package directions.  Drain and set aside.
2. Melt butter in a wok or deep skillet
3. Cook the chicken in the butter; when it is almost cooked through, add the ginger.
4. When the chicken is cooked, remove from the wok
5. Add the oil to the pan and heat
6. When the oil is hot, add the eggs and scramble in the oil (seriously, it makes a difference to scramble in the hot pan versus in a bowl)
7. As the eggs start to set, add the garlic and bell peppers and any other firm veggies.
8. Add the mushrooms and any other soft veggies before the eggs are completely set
9. Add the chicken to the mix, and add the sauce; stir to completely coat and incorporate sauce (the peanut butter will melt in the warm wok, just give it a little time and stir often
10. Toss with your pasta of choice; serve hot with red pepper flakes for more heat