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

Spontaneity

Baking on a Tuesday?

No joke, I decided to make cookies on a Tuesday.  I don't keep sweets in the house...mostly because I eat them.  When I'm craving sweets, it means I have to make them from scratch.  It makes me second guess if I actually want them too.

After seeing cookie posts from a friend yesterday on Facebook, and after craving sugar for a few days...I took the plunge and made peanut butter cookies.  With chunky peanut butter.  And shaved baking chocolate.  They are amazing!  I've never made these with chunky peanut butter....and while they're amazing with kisses squooshed into the top, the kisses are now off limits for me.  I improvised by grating some baking chocolate (big bricks of baking chocolate are safe from me...I'll munch on the chocolate/carob chips) into the batter and a little on top.

I had three, saved some for the hubby, and packaged the rest to take to work tomorrow.  I hope they appreciate them as much as I did.  They were worth the time!

Trial and Error

I'm trying to eat more veggies without drowning them in extra calories.  This meant that when I saw a "crunchy" cauliflower recipe, I wanted to give it a try.  It was a reminder that while all the ingredients sound delicious, the combination there-of might not be...it wasn't so bad I couldn't eat it, it just wasn't good enough for me to make it again.  I did find some alternatives for next time though!

Yesterday was a new chicken recipe that was a TOTAL winner!  Raspberry Chipotle chicken from Cooking Light.  Two words: 'amazing' and 'hot'!  And super easy.  I'm sure it would go really well with the cucumber salad in the recipe, but I'm not a cucumber person...I made Israeli Couscous pilaf instead.

Tonight was a new recipe too:  Blackened Shrimp Tacos (also from Cooking Light).  I can't decide on this one yet.  I misread the recipe for the garnish/sauce...which means I didn't have a dairy free alternative to substitute.  That being said, the coating on the shrimp was incredible!  I also roasted the cherry tomatoes, which gave a very nice flavor too.  I'll have to try it again with a closer following before I'll give a verdict...or take pictures, apparently.

That's it for tonight.

Eat Happy!  

Where's that Recipe?

Where's that Recipe?

If you search the web for recipe storage you'll get all sorts of results; boxes, websites, binders, bound books...the list goes on and on.  I thought about the card box: traditional, tried and true.  I had a binder (3" binder...yeah...) that I spent time printing oodles of recipes for when I moved out....that I never used... then a couple years back my mother-in-law got me some software called Living Cookbook.  Not only is this software super easy to use,  you can import recipes from the web (woot!), it gives the nutritional information (sometimes it's better not to know...haha!), and as if this isn't all awesome, it will let you print your own cookbook.  It will have a table of contents, index, and cover page...like so:

This is what the pages look like.  The ingredients and instructions are clear, the nutritional facts are easy to read, and print like this:

You can customize the colors (mine are purple and orange), and pretty much anything else you can think of, including sections and tags.  My personal favorite is the fact it will back up your files...which, in this day and age, is necessary.  I also like the fact that I can re-print any pages as needed.  Let's face it, cooking isn't clean, and we all know the recipes we use the most end up the most smeared and crunchy!

Having the search function in the software is nice too...especially when you've compiled.....ehm....over 160 pages of recipes and counting!

Check it out, it's well worth the money.  It makes sharing recipes easier too!!

That's it for this week.

Eat Happy!

Bread and Simple Dinners

Saturday Baking Trend

For the last three Saturdays I've baked bread.  It's been such a great way to start the weekend.  There's something to be said about taking the time to mix the dough, knead it, and fill the house with the smell of it baking.  We even shared a loaf with the neighbors who brought us cookies to welcome us to the neighborhood!

I've done three recipes too...this weekend was a winner for the standard loaf though.  I managed to make a killer "gluten" loaf that is super soft and super delicious.

This summer I plan on experimenting with sourdough recipes and rye recipes.  Yum!

Kitchen Time

Everyone has as sanctuary in their home, I think.  For some it's their bedroom, others it's their office.  For me, it's my kitchen.  I stream Netflix or watch DVDs or play music while I commune with the cooking gods and try my hardest not to submit any burnt offerings, food or otherwise.  There's just something special about putting your special touch into a recipe, that extra stir for luck or kneading dough to the beat of the music playing on your speakers.

I know a lot of people see cooking as a chore, something you have to do because it's required.  In a lot of ways it is, especially if you're on a budget and eating out every day is not an option, it is necessary.  It's really in how you look at it though.  We're on a budget; but cooking is like an adventure every night.  I can express my creativity and play.  I can decompress from work...which, let's be honest, chopping things with a really big knife is great for stress...and do something special for us.

I love my kitchen time, and I love my kitchen.  It's the best place in the house for me!

Simple Dinners

Tonight, despite being a Sunday, wasn't really a day to inspire lots of cooking.  I know, crazy after the shpeal before this section.  Sometimes being lazy is just how it is.  That being said, I still cooked dinner.

Lazy fallback #1?  Pasta with marinara.  Seriously.  You want to make it even easier?  Use jarred marinara that's pre-seasoned (I personally think it's still bland...but to each their own), or used pre-seasoned meat.  Tonight's lazy dinner was with Harmon's Spicy Italian Chicken Sausage and plain tomato sauce and those twirly pastas that I don't remember the name of.  Oh, and some of that homemade bread...from last week...it was the last of the loaf, so it was perfect for Texas toast garlic bread.  The pasta dish had no creativity (but you don't mess with perfection, and the sausage we used is perfect); the garlic toast though...oh my...softened vegan butter, garlic powder, basil (jarred in oil), and shredded goat gouda.  Baked for 15, broiled for 4.  Yeah.

This dinner is better than most dinners you'll pay for at cheap diners, and it's less guilt ridden too; based on my rough estimation, it was about, oh, $10 total.  For four servings.  Take that, budget.  I can win sometimes too!!

Have a great week everyone!!  Eat Happy!!

Soul Cooking

Bread

It's amazing how baking bread can make a kitchen smell like home.  There's just something about fresh bread that makes everything seem right.  I've heard some real estate agents will even get the oven ready breads and bake them before showing houses to make them seem homier to the people who view them.  Genius, if you ask me!

Nothing says home to me like bread; when I first moved out I had just learned making bread in my parents' bread maker.  After moving out, I learned the simple pleasure of making bread by hand.  By the time we got our stand mixer a few months later, I had developed muscles I didn't know where there from kneading dough and had an entirely knew respect for those who made bread without machines.  I develop my dough in the stand mixer these days but I do the final knead by hand; it lets me know if I need to adjust the flour or water, and no matter how chaotic my life is kneading bread grounds me and gives me a sense of peace.

Yesterday was the first time I've made bread since we've moved and it was overdue.  I feel like my kitchen is finally broken in.  Not to mention the yeast so was spectacularly active I ended up with three loaves instead of the recipe promised two...no complaints here!

Soup

Today was rainy and dreary outside; I'm torn on the rain though.  I love rain, and it clears out the inversion (nothing quite like tasting your air...yuck); not to mention it wasn't snow, and after the feet upon feet of snow we've gotten this winter, I'm all for a break.  The catch is our new yard is no longer frozen, and we're finding mud patches as the snow melts...which the dog is fond of.

Anyway, in honor the weather and at the request of my main cooking audience, my wonderful hubby, I made bean and pasta soup.  This is a great soup to kill off the random little bits of uncooked pasta that are left; you know the ones where there's just enough you can't bear throwing them out, but not quite enough to actually be a serving?  It's also great for those bits of bacon that won't go very far on their own (four pieces for four people? If you're creative, yes!).

The soup in the recipe below make 8 servings.

Eat Happy!

Bean and Pasta Soup

1 cup bacon, raw and cut into small pieces
1 small onion
3-4 cloves garlic
4 stalks celery, chopped
salt
oregano, basil, onion/garlic powder (if not using fresh) to taste
2 cans great northern or cannelloni beans, rinsed
8 cups beef stock
3-4 springs thyme
1/3-1/2 cup pasta

1. Cook bacon in a stock pot until cooked through and starting to crisp.  Remove from pan and drain on paper towel.  Drain all but 1 tbs grease
2. Cook onion until fragrant; add garlic and celery.  Season with salt and saute until onions are transparent and the celery beings to soften
3. Add beans to the pan and mix well
4. Season with oregano, basil and onion/garlic powders if not using fresh
5. Add stock and sprigs of thyme
6. Bring stock to boil and add pasta
7. Simmer until pasta is cooked
8. Serve hot and garnished with Parmesan (or asiago, or goat cheese.....)