I loved this challenge. 40 days of running {I missed 2}. Thanksgiving to New Years. I ran in the heat, cold, thunderstorms, freezing rain. I ran when I was sick, tired, happy, short on time, in a bad mood. I ran really … Continue reading
First off… Merry {belated} Christmas!
It has been so crazy around here lately that I haven’t gotten to make any new recipes, just our quick staple meals! But, I am back and have a few recipes to share!
So, I have had my share of kitchen fails. Like the time I tried to make a vodka cream sauce for some pasta one night and I put in enough vodka for Stuart and I to get to drunk off the sauce {bad idea}, or when I attempted to make Sunbutter {my version of Peanut butter, since I’m allergic} cookies and they turned out green and oh so disgusting, I am still on the hunt for a good recipe for Sunbutter cookies! But my most recent kitchen fail was the bread I am sharing today, lets just say that two batches of dough {if that’s what you can call it} ended up in the trash…but don’t worry I fixed the recipe so that yours will {hopefully} not turn out like my first 2 attempts!
The base of this bread is from The Pioneer Woman with an added twist from me! No one really has a name for this bread but I am dubbing it the best bread, because really it is!
I love the herbs peeking out from the middle of the bread. And that crust, to die for!
Best Bread
adapted from The Pioneer Woman
Ingredients
2 cups Bread Flour
1/2 cup Water
1/2 teaspoon Active or Instant Yeast {If active add to water before adding to flour to get the yeast going!}
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of each dried Parsley, Basil, Oregano
Directions
In a KitchenAid mixer with the dough hook attached combine all ingredients {this can be done by hand, but takes a while!}. On low-speed mix ingredients for 10-11 minutes.
After the dough has been kneaded cover with saran wrap and let dough sit for 1 hour or until it has doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 450*
When dough is ready knead it for a minute and form it into a dome. In a covered cast iron pot, place dough in the center of the pot, make an X on the top of the dough, drizzle with olive oil and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Cover and cook on the middle rack for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes take lid off the pan and cook for another 10-20 minutes. Mine only took about 12 minutes but oven temperatures may vary.
This bread has a crunchy crust, but is nice and soft in the middle, and I love the X on top. This will definitely be made again. I think I might try to do a citrus flavor for the next one… maybe an orange-rosemary bread! One last thing, this recipe is easily doubled for more bread!
A couple of months ago I went to the grocery store and was standing in front of the massive selection of green foods. I was looking for kale, but I spotted collard greens. The first thing I thought was gross. The second thing that came to mind was that I had never had collard greens so I , obviously, needed to buy this huge bunch of greens and learn to do something with them.
I got home, did some research on them. Learned a few things such as… They are very dirty and have to be super cleaned before eating, they are so good for you, and lastly they taste best with a little bacon added to them!
I have made these collards a dozen times now and just now wrote down what I do to them .
Please, don’t be afraid to try them. They are quite yummy, healthy and are an easy side to work into your weekly menu!
before the magic happens!
look at all of that goodness!
Collard Greens
Confession time…I love chicken.
It is no secret that my brother and I could eat chicken for every meal and be totally content in life. I also have a best friend who, yes, hates chicken. I don’t know how we are friends, although I do, she is the best and I love her despite this tiny little fact {Hi Nat!}.
Anyways, Stuart and I either roast or barbecue a whole chicken at least once every two weeks. It is the easiest thing to do and you can make so much food for the whole week with just the one little chick-chick!
I like to buy a chicken that is around 4-6 pounds. This seems to be enough for the two of us for 2-3 dinners, and lunches for me.
Once you remove all of the {yucky} insides, lay the chicken on a mat of paper towels and dry the chicken off.
I like to add teaspoon of olive oil to the chicken and then rub the whole thing with the salt, pepper, oregano, and basil, don’t forget to add some spices to the inside of the chicken too!
After the chicken has been seasoned I rub a little more olive oil on it {a tablespoon or so} and place it in a baking dish.
I stuff mine with 1/2 a lemon, a garlic clove, and 1/3 of an onion. This is totally optional though.
excuse the nasty chicken neck! …whoops!
I roast my chicken at 400* for 75 minutes, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the chicken {remember to not touch the thermometer to the bone} has reached 165*.
This chicken is so moist, and falls right off the bone. I like to cut mine up and Stuart usually eats the legs and I save the breast for enchiladas, chicken salad, or chicken sandwiches! There are endless options for lunches and dinners with just this one little chicken!
So there is a really fun blogger Jenn from peas and crayons, that hosts a little blog round-up each Wednesday where bloggers from all over post what they ate on {obviously} Wednesday.
I thought I would join in with her this week, so here are my eats for Wednesday {which is actually Tuesdays eats, but whatever!}
Breakfast // Apple Oatmeal Pancake topped with Sunbutter
Super easy and filling breakfast!
Pam
1/2 an apple (warmed for 30 seconds in microwave)
2 egg whites
1/4 cup Oatmeal
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
Cut your apple into chunks. Warm in the microwave for 30 seconds. In a bowl mix your egg whites, oatmeal, vanilla, cinnamon, and apples together. Pam a skillet, put oatmeal/egg/apple mixture in skillet, flatten out a bit and let cook on one side for 3 minutes. Carefully flip pancake and cook on other side for 3 minutes. Top with whatever you like! Nut butter, honey, or maple syrup!
Lunch // Chicken with sautéed brussels sprouts and onions, and a light laughing cow cheese.
Snack // Clementine a couple of bites of brussels sprouts and pork while cooking dinner.
Dinner // Same as lunch but with some spinach and a few roasted potatoes to go along with it! {and lots of Franks and mustard!}
Treat // a small bite of homemade fudge!
I love the idea behind tracking, at least for one day a week, what you ate and then comparing your eats over time. You really get a good sense of how you eat based on how you felt that day… happy, stressed, if you did a hard workout, had a lazy day, I know that my moods can really influence what I eat!
I also wanted to talk about the Runners World holiday running streak I am participating in! You can get more info here but essentially you commit to running at least 1 mile a day from Thanksgiving until New Years Day! It is such a great way to get out and do some sort of exercise everyday! I was super exhausted after my crossfit workout yesterday and really did not want to get out and go run 1 mile, but I got home and ran right back out the door, and I actually felt less sore after my run! So I have 6 days down and 34 days to go! It is never to late to join in on the fun! Even if you can’t run the mile, you can get out there and walk!
Let me know in the comments if you are participating or if you are going to start!
Confession time…
My car has the ability to have Sirius/XM but it is so dang expensive that we refuse to pay for it…BUT they are having a free trial right now so I have, yes, been listening to the Christmas radio station non-freaking-stop. I told myself to wait for at least after Thanksgiving, but I caved. dangit. I love it. Sorry, not sorry.
{via}
I sometimes cook dinner while listening to the “La Vie En Rose” pandora station and pretend that I am in Paris, speaking beautiful French and making some extravagant French meal. Then I snap back to reality and realize I am in Houston, can’t speak a lick of French, and have no idea where I would even begin to learn how to cook French food. #dreams.
I have a new found love of soup. In the last month I have made…
- Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup {recipe soon!}
- Homemade Chicken Broth
and now, my personal favorite, Butternut Squash soup. It is creamy, yet light, and so very simple to throw together. It is a great starter dish!
Butternut Squash Soup
Time: 1 hour
Serves: 4
Ingredients
1 medium-large Butternut Squash
½ Sweet Onion, diced
1 cup Chicken Broth
½ cup Coconut Milk (real milk will work here!)
Pam spray or 1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP Salt
1 TBSP Pepper
1 TBSP Cinnamon
1 TBSP Garlic Powder
1 tsp. Dried Oregano
1 tsp. Dried Thyme
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Slice butternut squash length ways and remove the seeds, place meat side up and spray with a little Pam or rub a teaspoon of olive oil on each half, sprinkle each half with 1 tsp. of cinnamon. Place on baking sheet and bake in oven for 45 minutes. Heat a saucepan to medium heat and either spray with Pam or add your olive oil. Sauté your onion until translucent, about 5 minutes. Once the butternut squash has finished cooking take a knife and remove the skin, it should peel away very easily. Add butternut squash to sautéed onions and break up the squash with your spoon. Add in the chicken broth and let simmer for a couple of minutes. Add in the coconut milk, spices, and the rest of the cinnamon to the soup. Transfer your soup to either a food processor (what I used) or your blender. Blend, or process, until smooth. You might have to do this step in batches. Serve warm or chilled!
Happy almost Thanksgiving!!
I love crunchy food. Chips and crackers are my weakness. I am pretty sure I got my love for crunchiness from my mom, who is known to eat the burnt cheese from the bottom of pans {which I used to think was gross, but, since I am turning more into my mom every day… I have to admit, it is delicious!}
I set out on Monday night to find something crunchy that we could eat with our chili. Yes, Fritos came to mind, but I wanted something semi-healthy for us to crunch on and Fritos just weren’t going to cut it.
I searched my kitchen for something with a little crunch and all I came up with were tortilla chips and carrots. Neither would work for me. As I was putting the tortilla chips back I saw that I had cornmeal and thought I could recreate my Moms famous crunchy cornmeal cakes. Although, I am not sure that this is the recipe she uses, I just threw whatever I could find together… and these turned out to be so good. No leftovers in this house!
When I am not scooping up chili with one of these cakes, you can find me eating them with a little mustard mixed with some Franks hot sauce. You can also omit the jalapeños if you don’t like the spiciness!
Ingredients:
1 cup Cornmeal
1 Egg, beaten
1 Jalapeño, diced (if you want them spicy!)
Water (anywhere from 2 TBSP- 1/4 c… to make the mixture into a thick paste like consistency)
2 tsp of Slap Ya Mama, Tonys, or other “cajun” seasoning
3 TBSP of cooking oil (I used coconut, but canola would work!)
Directions:
Heat oil in a skillet. Mix cornmeal, egg, spices, jalapeños, and water in a bowl until combined. Once oil is heated add 1 TBSP of cornmeal mixture to oil and flatten out with the back of spoon. Fry for 3 minutes, or until browned, and flip and brown the other side!
I admit that I am a very picky eater. Since I am allergic to what feels like everything, I think I have sort of a right to be. Yes? No?
Anyways, I like to claim that I don’t eat a lot of foods that I actually will eat. Mashed potatoes, won’t ever eat them willingly, but I will have a bite of them if my mom is making her famous mashed potatoes for my brothers birthday. Hot dogs, I promise, and this is not Ford Factored {which for those who don’t know, is when a member of the Ford family exaggerates the truth just a little…} make me throw up every time I eat one, so this I actually don’t eat! And honestly, beans + chili used to fall under this category. I have claimed forever that I have never liked chili and especially chili with beans in it, but this recipe has forever changed my mind. The added beer, chipotle pepper, and ancho chili powder give this recipe a little kick that I haven’t tasted in any other chili recipe.
Ingredients:
1 TBSP olive oil
1 lb Ground Turkey
1/2 onion chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
3 TBSP ancho chili powder {or just regular chili powder}
1 TBSP cayenne pepper
1 TBSP salt
1 TBSP pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 TBSP brown sugar
1 chipotle in adobo sauce, chopped
1 TBSP of adobo sauce
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 6 oz can of tomato paste
1 cup of beer {whatever kind you have in your fridge, or if you don’t want to use beer, you can use chicken/beef broth!}
1 can of Black beans, drained {or kidney beans}
Toppings:
Sliced Jalapenos
Monterrey Jack Cheese
Chopped Onion
Directions:
In a large sauce pan drizzle in olive oil and saute the onion and garlic, on medium heat. Once the garlic and onion are browned add in your turkey and cook until no longer pink in the middle, about 5-8 minutes. When the turkey is done add in your spices, brown sugar, adobo chili pepper, adobo sauce, diced tomatoes, and tomato paste, stir to combine and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add the beer {or broth} and beans, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Take chili off the heat, let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
Serve garnished with any of the toppings above or whatever else you might like on top of your chili!
health tidbit: lean ground turkey is very low in fat, calories and cholesterol, but did you know that lean ground beef is higher in iron! So eat both, but make sure they are the lean variety and don’t forget to eat them in the right portion sizes!
Hi!!! I am so glad to actually get back to the blog! After SO many people have complained that I haven’t updated in forever, I thought I would get back into the swing of things! And since Stuart and I just bought our very first home :) and I now have a brand new kitchen I am SO excited to get back in the kitchen and try out some new recipes! I want to welcome you into my favorite room in our house….
Granite countertops, beautiful cabinets, and so much space for all of my pretty little things. I am in love.
Anyways, since we had a mini cold front come through, although now it is back in the 80′s..boo, I thought that it was the perfect time to make a nice, big, warm bowl of chicken tortilla soup! After the idea of cold temperatures combined with a big blanket, warm soup, and a good book got into my head I looked through all of my cookbooks, the internet and didn’t find one soup recipe that really stood out to me, except, of course, The Pioneer Woman’s Chicken Tortilla Soup recipe. It was simple and I had most of the ingredients already in my kitchen. So with the recipe on hand…err.. on my iPad, I set out to make my first soup of the season. I will say, that I had saved chicken bones from chickens that I have roasted and made my own broth (recipe for the roasted chicken/homemade broth to come soon!) and I think that this homemade broth is what made this soup so yummy, but I know that using Swanson or any other broth will be just as good!
{obviously this was Stuarts bowl!}
Chicken Tortilla Soup (minus the tortillas!)
{adapted from The Pioneer Woman}
{printable recipe here}
Ingredients:
Garnishes:
Directions:
With your stove on medium high heat generously spray the bottom of your pot with pam (you could use a TBSP olive oil here) and add in your diced onion, jalapeno, and garlic. Stir, and begin cooking, add in your spices. When the onions have browned shred your chicken and add it to the pot, stirring to combine. Pour in the salsa, broth, green chilies, and black beans. Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes.
Mix your cornmeal with a small amount of water, stir and add to soup. Simmer for an additional 30 minutes. During this time check your spices, I usually add another dash of chili powder, and a dash of salt. Turn off your heat and let your soup sit for at least 10 minutes!! This lets all the flavors meld together and make the soup so much yummier!
I usually leave the tortilla strips out of our soup, because I don’t like the soggy strips…BUT if you like the tortilla strips add sliced strips into the soup 5 minutes before serving!
I love to garnish mine with diced avocado and chopped cilantro, the simpler the better! For Stuart he goes for the avocado, cilantro, diced jalapeno, and of course cheese!
healthy tidbit: chicken thighs get a lot of bad rap for being higher in calories, and fat than the breast, but did you know that the dark meat has a higher iron and zinc content which can help your body ward off fatigue, fight off viruses, and it also is so much more flavorful! Just remember to remove the skin of the thighs (which is where the saturated fat lies!) IF you are concerned with the higher fat content (but I always say DON’T fear the fat!) go ahead and use just the breast of the chicken :)
