Boredom Baking

    I had no reason to bake today, except that my friend Elena made me a copy of a recipe from a Martha Stewart magazine in the staff room yesterday that I thought I'd try.  We finally shoveled out from yet another snow storm and another snow day.  My parents picked me up for a much needed outing to the grocery store.  Have you ever been in the grocery store trying to remember a recipe and what you might need?  That's how I found myself today.  I was trying to visualize the recipe and the only ingredient I thought I needed was dried cherries, but I neglected to remember that I was out of dark chocolate chips.  Improvise!

Cherry Chocolate Chunk Cookies 

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup old fashion oats
1 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Method

1.Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. Mix butter, brown and white sugar until light and fluffy.  Next add the egg and vanilla and mix together.
4.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture.  Mix until well blended.  Then add the oats, cherries, and chocolate chips.
5.  Use an ice cream scoop (2 inches) to place batter on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.  Each cookie should be about 2 inches apart.
6. Bake for 13-14 minutes.  Turn the cookie trays half way through the baking time.
7.  Cool on wire racks.

This recipe made 25 LARGE cookies.

The Taste Test
    The original recipe called for 4.5 oz of dark chocolate coarsely chopped.  I didn't have that or semi sweet chips to I decided to mix milk chocolate and white chocolate chips.  I've never had dried cherries before.  They are similar to dried cranberries only a little more tart.  These cookies came out pretty big, so the spacing is important. 
   I sampled a broken cookie and they were very buttery and delicious, not much different than a regular chocolate chip cookie.  While these babies were baking I decided I would package them up and give them to our custodians at school tomorrow.  They deserve them with all the snow shoveling they have been doing.  Random baking turned random act of kindness.

Broccoli Soup

    Creamy broccoli soup has always been one of my favorites.  Oddly, I have never attempted to make it...until today!  Another recipe from February's Real Simple Magazine.

Broccoli Soup

Ingredients
2 bunches of broccoli (about 7 cups)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large potato or a few small ones, peeled and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese (white)

Method
1.  Heat oil in pot over medium heat.  Add onion and cook for 4-6 minutes.
2. Add broccoli, potato, broth, water, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat.  Cover and simmer under vegetables are tender (about 15 minutes).
3. Use an immersion blender to blend soup until it is smooth.  Add a bit of grated cheese to the top before serving.


The Taste Test
    I was a little worried about the taste of this soup given that there is no cream and very little cheese.  I was pleasantly surprised as I had my first taste.  You would never know that this soup was made without cream and a ton of cheese.  The potato really helps to give it a really thick and creamy taste.  I did grate a little cheese over my soup, which gave it just a bit of extra flavor but it would be totally fine on it's own.  I'm really excited about this one.  I can't wait for my sister to get home so I can make her a batch...it's one of her favorites too!

Homemade Granola

     Esty has a blog called Eatsy that I just stumbled across in my boredom induced by another snow day!  They were featuring a recipe for granola that intrigued me.  Granola in the grocery store is so expensive and who the heck knows what's in it for sure.  Yesterday, Arnauld and I passed a Whole Foods so I went in a explored the bulk bins for all of the things I needed. 

Homemade Granola

Ingredients
3 cups old fashion oats
3/4 cups raw almonds
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
3/4 cup pumpkin seeds (shelled)
1 tbsp honey
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1 cup dried cranberries
1 tsp cinnamon


Method
1. Preheat the oven to 325.
2. Mix everything, except the cranberries, in a large bowl.
3. Place the granola on a cookie sheet, in a thin layer.
4. Bake in the over for 45 minutes.  Stir every 10-15 minutes.
5. After taking the granola out of the oven, stir in dried cranberries.

This recipe made about 7 cups of granola.


The Taste Test
So far I've just nibbled on this a bit, but I'll be adding some to some yogurt later today and will give a real taste test then...

Tomato and Chickpea Soup

     My friend Erin is coming over for lunch later this afternoon.  She is bringing homemade hummus and we are going to make hummus wraps.  I searched around for something simple that would go along with our healthy lunch.  I finally decided on tomato and chickpea soup, a recipe I found on Simple Daily Recipes.  This will be the first recipe I try from this blog, so I'm excited to see how it comes out.  It seems simple enough!

Tomato and Chickpea Soup

Ingredients
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (14 oz)
3 cups of water or vegetable broth
1 cup of cooked brown rice
1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz)
5 cups spinach
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
salt and pepper


Method
1. In a large pot, cook the onion until soft over medium heat.  Toss in the garlic, chickpeas, water, rice, tomatoes, spinach, tomato paste, and parsley.  Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to simmer for about 25 minutes.  Stir from time to time.
2. Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.  Let the soup sit for about 10 minutes before serving.


The Taste Test
     Delicious!  This was so easy to make and tasted great.  A nice slice of crusty bread would make this the perfect meal.  

If we have to watch football, we might as well eat nachos!

     So many people are in a football craze these days, with the excitement of the Superbowl on everyone's mind.  Everyone except probably me.  Friday Arnauld came home from work pumped for all of the games this weekend.  The mere mention of ALL the games made me cringe.  But trying to put a positive spin on the situation, I decided to make nachos and invite the gang over.  I won't pretend that these are healthy because I didn't really even think about that last night as a created three trays of deliciousness.  The great thing about nachos is that they are hard to mess up and you can toss on anything that you love.  Here is what I used:

Nachos

Ingredients
Snyder Tortilla Chips
Mexican Shredded Cheese
Fresh Tomatoes, chopped
Pickled Jalapenos (from a jar)
Ground beef, prepared with a package of taco seasoning
Olives
Vegetarian Refried Beans
Avocado
Salsa
Sour Cream

Method
1. Before preparing the actual nachos, I made my variation of guacamole...which is very simple.  I started out by literally squeezing all of the avocado out of the skin.  I then use my hands to mush it all up.  I finish the guacamole off with some salt and pepper.  Sometimes if I'm feeling crazy I mix in a spoonful of salsa.  Someday I'll try making "real" guacamole.
2. Preheat the oven to 400.
3. Lay the tortilla chips in a single layer on a cookie sheet.  Add refried beans, tomato, beef, olives, and cheese.
4. Bake in over until cheese melts, about 10 minutes.
5. Serve with guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. 

I bought 2 bags of chips and made 3 trays of nachos.  I prepared one tray without beef for my vegetarian pals.

This snow day calls for spaghetti and meatballs...

     Another 2 feet of snow means a snow day in Connecticut...again!  It feels like there is a new storm brewing every few days.  I always look forward to the first few snowfalls of the year.  I love the clean look everything has before the snow is tainted with sand and footprints.  I also love the way the trees look when the branches are covered in snow.  Unfortunately, this part of a snow storm does not last that long.  Then reality sets in and shoveling has to get done and the excitement of a snow day settles and I find myself stir crazy!  What better way to cure the boredom than to cook?

     Last night one of Arnauld's co-workers mentioned that he was going to spend the night at his parents house and have spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.  This sounded good so Arnauld and I made a quick trip to the grocery store to get some ingredients so that we could make our own spaghetti and meatball dinner on this fine snow day.  Over the holidays my Uncle Tony mentioned a Giada recipe for tomato sauce that he has tried and really liked.  So that's on the agenda for later this evening.  I also had some ground chicken in the fridge so I've already mixed up a batch of chicken meatballs that I'm excited to get into the oven later tonight.

Chicken Meatballs

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground chicken
• 1 med onion minced
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup uncooked instant oatmeal
• 1 eggs
• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp  basil
• 1 tsp  oregano
• 1 tsp  parsley
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Method
1. Mince your onion and garlic or throw them in a food processor if you don't want to chop them. Add all the ingredients in a large bowl and mix together.
2. Form into equal sized meatballs.
3. Cover your sheet or pan with tin foil for easy clean up.
4. Bake at 425F for  20-25 minutes. Don't overcook or they will be dry. Break one open and make sure the center is cooked through before serving or cooling to freeze.

*I made 10 rather large meatballs with this recipe

Simple Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 (32-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
• 4 to 6 basil leaves
• 2 dried bay leaves
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, optional

Method

1. In a large casserole pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, basil, and bay leaves and simmer covered on low heat for 1 hour or until thick. Remove bay leaves and check for seasoning. If sauce still tastes acidic, add unsalted butter, 1 tablespoon at a time to round out the flavors.
2. Add half the tomato sauce into the bowl of a food processor. Process until smooth. Continue with remaining tomato sauce.
If not using all the sauce, allow it to cool completely and pour 1 to 2 cup portions into freezer plastic bags. This will freeze up to 6 months.

The Taste Test
    I'm not the greatest fan of Italian dishes, possibly because I take it for granted.  I have a straight from Italy Grandma who makes hundreds of jars of tomato sauce every summer and spaghetti and other pasta dishes are a part of every meal she makes.

     This sauce was really easy to make.  I didn't end up food processing half the batch because I added the meatballs before I remembered that step.  I actually liked the slight chunks of vegetables that were left in the sauce.  We had a lot of extra sauce since I only cooked half a pound of spaghetti.  I poured the leftover sauce into a freezer bag for another snowy day.

     The meatballs came out really soft, I think because they were baked rather than fried in a skillet.  They tasted good with the sauce.  Overall, these recipes are keepers for the few times a decade we may feel like tomato sauce and meatballs!

Small Treats

     This week I've gone back to some tried and true recipes.  Friday night, I stopped at the store on my way home from school after an early dismissal because of snow.  I picked up the things I needed to make homemade pizza.  When Arnauld finally made it home from work, there was hot pizza waiting for him.
    Earlier in the week I made the lemon and honey glazed chicken thighs that I previously posted and today I already have rice prepared to make brown rice and chickpea veggies burgers, which is already up on my blog as well.  I couldn't go a whole week without trying something new, so when I came across this recipe for mini-chocolate chip cookies I knew I could give them a whirl while my rice cooked.  They literally took 10 minutes start to finish.

Mini-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
2 Tbsp Butter, softened
2 tsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 Large Egg White
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips

Method
1. Blend together butter, oil, and sugar in a small bowl.  Add vanilla, salt, and egg white.
2. Combine flour and baking soda.  Combine with batter.  Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Drop 48 half teaspoons onto cookie sheets, leaving a bit of room between each cookie.  Bake at 375 for 5 minutes.


The Taste Test
     These little sweets are the perfect solution to a craving for chocolate without throwing good habits out the window.  They taste just like your favorite full size cookie and as long as you don't get carried away and eat the entire plate, you won't sacrifice whatever New Year Resolutions you may have set for yourself!  Now I'm off to deliver a plate of these to my Grandma.