Spur of the Moment

Spur of the moment.  That's what tonight's supper was.  Well, not really.  I actually pulled chicken out to thaw yesterday knowing I would use it for tonight's supper.  But the chicken was the only thing I had planned.  My son had been begging for cookies with M&M's in them and I remembered seeing a recipe in the cookbook that used M&M's, so I figured we could make those today.  While caring for a sick little girl, the last thing on my mind was a well-balanced meal (or pictures, for that matter, so no pictures this time).  So the menu ended up looking like this:

Menu

Poppy Chicken (p. 161)

Tossed Salad (no recipe)

Monster Cookies (p. 306)

While I was cooking the chicken tenders, we started mixing up the cookie batter.  Now, I didn't have butter OR crunchy peanut butter.  So I called the recipe contributor and asked her opinion about using Crisco instead of butter.  She said that her family always used part shortening in their cookies so to go ahead and try it.  Instead of peanut butter, I used creamy almond butter.  The cookies were probably not as sweet as they would have been had I used peanut butter (since what I used had no sugar in it), but they were plenty sweet enough for us.  Judging from the information I got over the phone, the cookies probably would have been a little softer if I had used butter.  Mine weren't hard or crunchy (except for the second round that I put in to bake after dinner while we were playing a game---and then promptly forgot about.  So those went into the trash.), but neither were they "moist and chewy," as we say in my family.  These are a GREAT cookie to make for special occasions or when you really are craving an all-around good cookie.

After the first batch of cookies came out of the oven, I put in the Poppy Chicken.  I had mixed the rest of the ingredients together while the cookies were baking.  I often make what I call "Poppyseed Chicken," and when I make it, I mix the poppy seeds in with the sour cream and soup.  I also usually use a little chicken broth and put some cayenne pepper in it for seasoning.  This time I made it according to the recipe.  It was good.  We all enjoyed it.  It didn't have the same kick that the one I usually make does (because of the cayenne), but it still had plenty of flavor.  It was also interesting having the poppy seeds on top rather than in the mixture.  Not a big deal either way, just interesting.  If you've never made a chicken casserole like this, I would highly recommend trying it.  It is easy, filling, and has a wonderful texture. 

Now, I think I'll go have a cookie.  

Special Delivery

Writer’s block.  I can’t figure out how to start this entry.  Nothing profound or clever is coming to mind.  The reason for this may be partially due to the fact that I didn’t get to eat any of what I made.  I was making a meal for a couple who just had a baby and decided it would be a good opportunity to make more recipes from the cookbook.  I can’t tell you how they turned out as far as taste, but they smelled and looked good!

Menu

Pineapple Casserole (p. 65, top one)

Green Beans with Tomatoes (p.77)

Ruth’s Chris Potatoes (p. 80)

World’s Best Pork Loin (p.165)

Storebought Mini Boule

The easiest recipe was the Ruth’s Christ Potatoes, but that was because I had made it for our family the day before and made enough for both meals at that one time.  So, I guess I did eat one thing I made. . .and it was quite delicious.

The pork was very simple to prepare and smelled fantastic.  I almost cut some off to taste it, but I showed restraint and saved it all for my friends.  I love that this recipe is  prepared and cooked inside aluminum foil as it made clean-up super easy.  This would be a good dish to fix on a Sunday morning, especially if your oven can be timed to turn on at a certain time. 

The pineapple casserole was also easy to make.  I lined my baking dish with foil so that I could lift and transfer the casserole to a disposable container.  I have started using disposable containers when I take meals to people so they don’t have to worry about washing and returning extra dishes.  I know many of you do that already, as I have experienced your generosity and fabulous cooking!  But back to the casserole.  The recipe says to mix pineapple, 5 T. sugar, flour, sugar, etc.  However, it should read “mix pineapple, 5 T. juice, flour, sugar”, etc.  After it baked and cooled, I lifted it out and put it into a different container.  It worked beautifully. 

The last thing I prepared were the green beans.  The mixture looked quite lovely and colorful.  It is always a pleasant change to have a fresh, new way to prepare a standard food.  I wrote instructions on how to heat up the food on the lids of the containers.  Hopefully, they were able to enjoy the foods almost as if they were right out of the oven.  I have seen the couple since, and they look fine, so at least I know I didn’t poison them.  And for those of you who are so faithful in serving others through meal preparation, thank you!  Your labor of love does not go to waste---(there is a pun in there somewhere. . .)!

Take Two

Oh, the frustration!!  I finally got around to writing about the dinner I made from the cookbook this week only to have my computer crash and lose it all!  And no, I can’t recover the document; it kept sending up messages saying it couldn’t auto save, etc.  I had opened my original post talking about how I loved cooking and eating but didn’t enjoy writing so much.  Oh, the irony!  So here I am, writing this post again.  (Should I also mention I have about 3 other posts to write?  Why write when you can read or knit?)

Since I’m so far behind, I will work backwards and start with this week’s menu.

Menu

Chicken Cordon Bleu (p. 150)

Ruth’s Chris Potatoes (p. 80)

Pumpkin Bars (p. 291)

(I have just saved what I’ve written so far. . .) I started with the chicken.  Since some of our eating habits have changed, our family has a hard time eating an entire chicken breast; so I used chicken tenders.  The conventional chicken breasts seem to be getting bigger and thicker—have you looked at a chicken recently?  There is no way that what is in some of those packages is natural.  And when I discovered that the companies don’t have to disclose on the package if they add water or sodium fillers, I started changing the way I buy chicken.  Right now, I like Trader Joe’s choices.  (I would love to get a chicken directly from a farm; but until that happens, I will be content with what I can find.)  So, I lined the bottom of the casserole dish with chicken tenders and then followed the recipe exactly as is in the book.  (Press save here.)

I have made traditional chicken cordon bleu before.  It is one of my favorite ways to eat chicken, but I do not enjoy preparing it.  I don’t enjoy pounding the poultry, spreading the layers, rolling the poultry, putting in toothpicks, and dredging it in egg and then bread crumbs.  And when you are trying to keep peace and order in that post-nap/pre-dinner part of the day, who has time to do all that anyway?  But I was committed to making this recipe and doing that if I had to.  You can imagine my extreme delight when I discovered that all this recipe called for was layering everything on top of the chicken!  So simple!  And the flavor was just as savory as I remembered.  The texture was slightly different; a little more like a casserole than the traditional cordon bleu, but for a family meal, who cares?  Certainly not I, and neither did my husband or my son.  I think they may have enjoyed it even more.  This dish would work quite well for company or to take to a pot-luck.  (Press save here.)

Next I made the potatoes.  I chose this recipe because I didn’t want to peel potatoes, and the recipe didn’t say one had to do that.  The trickiest thing about making this recipe was scrubbing the potatoes and then slicing them.  You do have to “babysit” these potatoes a little bit in order to uncover them partway into the baking process and then add the cheese.  But in my opinion, that’s fairly easy to do.  And who can go wrong with potatoes, garlic, and cheese? 

The pumpkin bars were a little more involved and not just because I had a little help in the making of them.  I put the mix into an 11x7 pan just as the recipe said, only to discover that it made the bars really thick.  I went ahead and baked it that way though, as I am trying to follow the recipes.  Since the mixture was so thick, I ended up baking it for 45-50 minutes rather than the 25-30 the recipe suggested, and the middle was still slightly gooey.  If you make this recipe, I would recommend putting it in either a 9x13 pan or even splitting the mix between two smaller pans.  The smell of the pumpkin and the spices baking was wonderful, and the taste was everything a fall recipe should be—but really, any excuse to eat cream cheese icing will work for me!

(And save.)

A Series of Unfortunate Events

At the beginning of last week, we were on the ball at my house.  Monday was grocery shopping day; so I picked out all the recipes and made a list to ensure I would get all the ingredients I needed.  It was then that my series of unfortunate events started.  As I arrived at the grocery store, I realized the list was still on my dining table at home.  However, all the correct ingredients still ended up in my shopping cart.  I was super excited as the meat I was planning to fix was on sale!!  Added bonus! 

Tuesday morning, immediately after breakfast, I opened the cookbook to see what I needed to do first.  I knew the meat would take some time to prepare.  That’s when I noticed the “marinate overnight” phrase.  Normally, this wouldn’t stop me from making the dish.  I’m not cooking for prizes or stars or critics.  But since I’m really trying to follow the recipes, I decided this recipe would have to wait and we would eat something else.  So I then found another recipe that looked super easy and was basically a one-dish meal.  I decided I would make biscuits to go with it as well as cookies.  My new menu looked like this:

Menu

Easy Pot Roast (p.107)

Freezer Biscuits (p.215)

Rosie’s Peanut Butter Cookies (p.308)

Naturally, I didn’t have everything I needed for the pot roast (mainly, the roast), so it was off to the store for the second day in a row.  We took this adventure after lunch, and on arriving back at the house, it was naptime.  Once the children were in bed, I started in on the pot roast preparation.  “Easy Pot Roast” is an accurate title, for it was very easy to prepare.  I turned the oven temperature to 325° and began to put everything in my pot. I don’t have a roasting pan, so I used my large stock pot that I normally use for roasts.  I placed two celery stalks on the bottom of the pan in place of a wire rack.  I completed the preparations and had it in the oven in under 15 minutes!  I then proceeded with my other work of laundry, bills, phone calls, etc.

Let me put in a side note concerning a couple things I really like about this recipe.  We are working towards eating as little processed food as possible.  We still have a long way to go, but little by little our diet is definitely changing.  More veggies & fruits, more whole foods, different kinds of oils.  Maybe I will post more about that one day, but I wanted you to have a little background.  I love that this recipe uses olive oil.  It is one of the two main oils I am using these days.  (Coconut oil being the other.  I do also use sesame oil at times.)  I also used red onions as they are full of quercetin (http://healwithfood.org/health-benefits/eating-red-onions.php) and good for fighting certain sicknesses.  This recipe also uses carrots and peppers, making it very colorful and full of beneficial things!  The low-sodium V8 juice is another good choice.  The other ingredient I love is the apple cider vinegar.  If you can find an apple cider vinegar with lots of “mother” in it, you are making some really good choices for your family. http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/natural-health/the-benefits-of-apple-cider-vinegar/

But back to my unfortunate cooking day.  I remembered that I had forgotten to put the thyme in with the roast, so I planned to do that an hour or so before I pulled the roast out of the oven.  It seemed the yummy aroma was starting to fill the air.  (I wish there was a way to post scents along with pictures!  And speaking of pictures, I didn't get around to taking any this time.)  As I opened the oven to put the thyme in the pot, I realized that no blast of heat hit me.  Hmm.  No warmth was coming through the pot holder as I opened the lid; so I looked at the oven controls.  The temperature was set, but I had forgotten to turn on the oven!  I guess the fragrance from prepping the food had stayed in my nose.  By now it is almost 5:00!  Since my pot filled the entire height of the oven, there would be no biscuits.  Thankfully, my husband had a rehearsal and wouldn’t be home until 7 at the earliest, and of course, my children don’t care what they eat.  So I turned ON the oven, upping the temperature to 350° and adding more liquid to try to keep the roast from drying out as I tried to get it to cook a little more quickly. 

We did go ahead and make the cookie batter as I figured those could bake once the roast was done.  At 6:00, I took out some carrots and potatoes that had cooked and used those along with some leftovers for my children’s dinner.  My husband did arrive home at 7:00, hungry.   I decided to go ahead and check the roast to see if it was ready.  It was cooked and flavorful—not quite as tender as if it had it been cooked at a lower temperature for longer period of time, but it wasn’t something one had to chew too much!  We went ahead and ate it, and the taste was as wonderful as the aroma that filled the kitchen!

I then started putting cookies in the oven, the first pan according to the recipe.  Since my son had been asking to make chocolate chip cookies, I added chocolate chips to the next batch.  I sat back down at the table and got involved listening to how my husband’s day had gone, and before I knew it the cookies had been in 3 minutes too long!!  (And my oven overbakes anyway.)  So I quickly got up to take out the cookies.  The plain ones were on the top rack and did just fine.  The chocolate chip ones on the bottom—well, let’s just say that the bottoms of the cookies were the same color as the chocolate chips.  Thankfully, I had a little more batter so I did get about 8 nicely baked ones with chocolate chips in them. 

Maybe next time I forget to let something marinate we’ll just order pizza. 

Identity Crisis

Is it time for autumn or are we still enjoying summer?  Is anyone else confused?  I find it hard to know what clothes to put on in the morning.  And trying to decide what to cook is equally difficult as I always want different kinds of foods during different seasons. 
Today I really wanted some sort of comfort food, and chicken & biscuits seemed to fit the bill.  I also had recently received a butternut squash and an acorn squash that needed to be cooked.  A friend of mine posted on Facebook that she was making biscuits and gravy.  I thought maybe I should just go bum dinner off her but decided to get my act together and prepare dinner here instead—a very random, mixed-up, delicious dinner.

Menu

Mandarin Orange Salad (p.39)

Butternut Squash Soufflé (p.84)

Chicken & Biscuits (p.149)

In the morning, I put the butternut squash (and the acorn squash) in the oven to bake.  (On another note, one task I like least of all is prepping winter squash.  Cutting through the rind is hard enough, and then you have to get all the seeds out.  But the end result is worth it. . .I guess.)  Early in the afternoon I cooked some chicken to use for the main dish.  I also had some leftover roast chicken.  At 4:00 I started making the squash soufflé, with a little help.  I used brown sugar rather than white because that's what I had on hand.  Simple to mix together; simple to put into the oven.  It looked like it would be delicious. 

I then started combining ingredients for the chicken & biscuits.  Earlier in the day, I had gone to a specialty grocery store to pick up a few things.  They did not have refrigerated biscuits, and I really didn't want to drag everyone into another store, so I decided I would just make biscuits with some biscuit mix I had in my cupboard.  I mixed everything according to the recipe except for the biscuits and had the pan ready to go into the oven as soon as the soufflé came out of the oven.
 As I pulled the soufflé out, a wonderfully delectable aroma of cinnamon, vanilla, and nutmeg filled the kitchen.  It seemed fall had finally arrived.  Into the oven went the chicken for 15 minutes at 400^o.  I then pulled it out to put the biscuit mix on top and put it back in to bake for about 10 more minutes.  At that point, I couldn't wait any longer; I had to taste the soufflé.  I sampled a little from the corner.  Thanksgiving had arrived!  Imagine a very tasty pumpkin pie.  Yummm.
The chicken dish was finished, and I was preparing to get everything on the table.  At this point, my life turned into a comedy of errors.  I suddenly realized my meal wasn't complete.  I knew I MUST have planned some sort of green vegetable or dish.  Where was it?  And what was it going to be?  Then I remembered.  THE SALAD!! I had even gone to the store to get the mandarin oranges for it.  Thankfully, it was very easily and quickly prepared.  (I had to work quickly as I had a baby girl informing me quite loudly that she was ready for supper, and a little boy asking me every other minute, “Is it time to eat yet?”  And it was only 5:55!  We normally don't eat until later.  I think they must have smelled all the deliciousness and wanted to eat it.)

As I reached for the cutting board to chop the celery, a cooking utensil fell into the soufflé, creating a crater.  Oh well—it will still taste wonderful.  Then I reached for my container of soaked, toasted almonds, and the lid pulled off, causing the container to fall to the floor and almonds to go everywhere.  Sigh.  My son came running in to see what happened and started to pick up some almonds.  I stopped him, thinking he would step on them and create an even greater mess, to which he replied, "But Mom, I was going to help you clean up the mess."  Melt my heart.  So once we cleaned up the almonds, I began to prepare the dressing only to discover that I was out of white vinegar.   I substituted part apple cider vinegar and part rice vinegar.  It worked.  We got the dinner on the table without further incident and started in on our feast.  (And it wasn't much after 6:00 by this point.  The salad is a very good one to prepare when you are crunched for time.)  Another point of interest is that my cookbook is now broken in; there are now food stains on a couple of pages.

The salad was quite good, as was the dressing.  The balance of sweet and tangy seemed to be just right.  I think it would be better with the white vinegar, but it really was just fine as it was.  (The salad says “summer” to me.)  The soufflé was truly amazing.  I almost felt guilty eating it as a vegetable.  It was much too decadent for that—definitely my new favorite way to fix butternut squash.  The chicken & biscuits were, well, comfort food.  The texture was comfort, the warmth was comfort, and the taste was comfort.  A perfect way to chase away the rainy day blues or a chilly gray day.

I'd Rather Be Sleeping

Saturday was such a beautiful day. . .for falling asleep on the couch.  All week I had been planning to cook a cookbook dinner.  I hadn't been to the grocery store in awhile, so it was going to be a "use what I have on hand" dinner.  Because we ended up with something every evening,  Saturday was the first night all week we were home together as a family.  But after staying busy all day, the last thing I really wanted to do was cook the fish I was planning for dinner.  It really was a day for fixing chili in the morning, letting it simmer all day, and just enjoying the evening; but at 5:00 p.m., it was too late for that.   Plus, I didn't have the correct ingredients for chili or anything along those lines.  So I opened the cookbook, figured out what to make along with the fish, and started spending time in the kitchen.

Menu

Honeyed Carrots (p.74)

Dressed-Up Asparagus (p.88)

Mushroom Rice Pilaf (p.68)

Baked Tilapia (p.172)

Judging from the times listed in the cookbook, I needed to start the carrots first.  The sauce was very simple to make, and while it was melting, I sliced the carrots.  The carrots called for 4 1/2 T. of butter, and the rice pilaf, which I started next, called for 4 T.  However, I used only 3 1/2 T. for the rice because it allowed me to use the rest of the stick of butter with the carrots.  I must admit that I love to coat rice in butter and cook it.  I'm not sure why, but both the aroma and sight of it make me happy.  The rice pilaf recipe calls for uncooked long-grain rice.  I used long-grain brown rice.  More on that later.

The tilapia was next.  This recipe was incredibly simple to put together.  I poured the butter sauce (more butter! Yum!) over the fish and placed it in the pre-heated oven.  Then I started the asparagus steaming while I continued to check on the carrots and the rice.  I pulled out the asparagus, poured the dressing over it, and then put the cherry tomatoes on it.  The green and red were beautiful together.  I overcooked the asparagus—not the fault of the recipe—I let it go for closer to 10 minutes.  That ended up being good for my family as they don't necessarily care for it too crunchy. 

The carrots were ready to be served, so I dished them up.  I think maybe I should have had the temperature be a little higher; I had it on medium-low.  They were cooked, but the center was still firm.  I was expecting them to be softer (probably because I cook carrots mostly with a roast or chicken and they get very soft).  But everyone enjoyed them (even my one year old) and there were no leftovers.  

The fish was excellent; not fishy and just the right amount of salt.  The flavors blended beautifully.  

Now for the rice pilaf.  The recipe said to let the rice simmer for "15-20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender."  I was excited about it taking so little time because when I cook rice it usually takes 45-60 minutes.  20 minutes came and went, and it wasn't even close to “tender.”   I let it go for 30 minutes (we started eating since everything else was ready), and it still wasn't tender.  I went ahead and served some of it so we could at least taste it.  The flavor was quite good.   But of course, it was still pretty crunchy.  I was mystified by this until I talked it over with my mom.  She asked if I had used brown or white rice.  I told her brown—I almost always use brown—and she said that brown rice takes at least twice as long to cook as white rice.  Since I don't use white rice, that thought never entered my mind.  I also didn't realize that there was long-grain white rice.  This cooking/blogging is SUCH an educational experience for me. So, if you use long-grain white rice, it should only take 15-20 minutes.  If you want to use long-grain brown rice, plan on it simmering for at least 45 minutes.  

And now, I'm going to fall asleep on the couch.

Easy Back to School Supper

Today was our first meal using recipes only from O Taste and See, Immanuel Baptist Church’s cookbook.  In my mind, the theme was “Back to School Supper.”  Something somewhat kid-friendly and somewhat easy so that you didn’t have to be stuck in the kitchen but could listen to your child talk about his day or help with homework.  As the hurricane threw everything slightly off-kilter, though, school has already started.  Oh well.  The meal was still tasty—and it was comfort food for these rainy, gray days. 

Menu

Bruschetta (p.3)

Green Salad (p.37)

Roasted Vegetables (p.89)

Easy Cheesy Lasagna (p.121)

Grandpa’s Easy Funfetti Cookies (p.304)

I started by making up the lasagna.  I was quite curious as to how this recipe would taste because I have never made Italian lasagna without meat.   I also always use eggs in my ricotta cheese mixture.  But I followed the recipe* and had it made and ready to go in the oven.  *(I substituted 1 T. Italian seasonings for the 2 T. dried parsley because I had forgotten to buy dried parsley at the store, which happened because I had forgotten to take my list to the store.  Sigh.  I also used whole milk ricotta cheese rather than part-skim because that’s what I had.) 

Then I prepped for the bruschetta.  My mouth was watering as I did this.  The colors were so beautiful, and the basil (I used fresh) smelled AMAZING!  Basil is one of my all-time favorite aromas.  I completed the salad and the dressing, waiting, of course, to put the dressing on the salad until dinner.  Then I got to spend time with my two children as they got up from their naps. 

At 5:00 I put the lasagna into the pre-heated oven to bake and started cutting veggies for the roasted vegetable dish.  That took very little time, and once the vegetables were all mixed together, it looked like a picture in a magazine.  I also had a little help putting oil on the bread for the bruschetta.

At 5:30, the vegetables went into the oven.  Now, the veggies are supposed to cook for 30-35 min. at 400^o.  But my oven cooks hot, and I usually end up burning things if I follow the directions.  So I left it at 350^o (the temperature for the lasagna).  At 5:40ish I pulled out the lasagna and put in the bruschetta to toast for the first time.  And yes, I changed the oven to broil but left in the veggies.  I completed the bruschetta instructions, and once I pulled the finished product out, I turned the oven to just under 400^o to let the vegetables cook for another 10 minutes or so. 

 We started eating dinner before 6:00 (a rare occurrence for us) while the veggies were finishing.  We had the bruschetta and salad first.  The bruschetta was full of flavor and texture.  I know it is something that I will be asked to make again.  The salad was light and fresh (though I slightly overdressed it as I poured the dressing on it. . .oops.)  Eating all the “goodies” scattered among the lettuces was a treat.  My 3 year old didn’t really enjoy the dressing as it didn’t seem to be quite sweet enough for him.  His favorite dressing, though, is raspberry vinaigrette, which is much sweeter.

 

The lasagna, about which I was so curious, was quite tasty.   I prefer lasagna to spaghetti because of the texture, but my husband prefers spaghetti over lasagna.  (He’s not a huge ricotta cheese fan—he also really doesn’t care for undercooked lasagna noodles).  These noodles were cooked perfectly, though.  It seemed to be just the right amount of liquid.  Also, as the recipe called for one less layer than I normally put on my lasagna, it wasn’t as thick of a texture.  That scored big points with my husband.  So now I know!  The roasted vegetables were quite good and a nice change of pace from how I normally cook vegetables—something I will definitely try again.  My 3 year old was uncertain about the onion, the yellow squash, and the zucchini stating that he didn’t care for those (which is not a true statement), but he had to try one of each anyway.  Once they were eaten he said, “Mom, those are yummy!”

After supper, he and I made the cookies—which are always addictive.  So don’t make them unless you are ready to eat a lot of them or are able to give them away!  Taste and see that these recipes are good!

Welcome

Cooking through a cookbook and blogging about it. . .hmmm, sounds like a GREAT idea!  Maybe I should sell the idea; I’m sure it’s original.  Then again. . .

Even though the idea may not be original, I thought it might be fun to try to cook through the new Immanuel cookbook.  I’m going to attempt (the key word here is attempt) to do a complete meal from the cookbook once a week.  Mostly dinners—occasionally a breakfast or whatever kind of event needs to happen in order to make all the recipes.  Yes, I said ALL.  Again, please keep in mind that the key word is attempt.  This task is slightly daunting to me for a couple of reasons. 

1). The discipline of following a recipe.  When I cook, I tend to throw whatever I have together and make something out of it.  Sometimes it is successful; sometimes it isn’t.  I know that cooking (and especially baking) is a science, and the measurements, times, and temperatures are important; but who wants to measure when you can just pour or shake?  And I substitute almost every time I cook.

2.)  The discipline of journaling about the experience.  I’m not a writer.  I have tried to journal so many times in various ways on various subjects, and I rarely complete any.  Journaling about my Bible study—I  think I lasted a month.  Prayer journals—maybe a week.  Writing down cute stories and sayings of my children—not too successful there either.  I admire those who are writers and those who journal, and I have tried to become one of those types of people.  Maybe this time it will stick.

So why do this at all then?  Good question.  And my only answer is that it seemed like a good idea at the time. . .

Maybe it will introduce new people to each other.  Maybe it will encourage closer fellowship.  Or maybe we’ll all just get well fed.