Meal Planning and Groceries

Lately, we have been making an effort to have a pretty strict grocery budget.  This involves actual meal planning, and making grocery lists.  Typically, I just go to the grocery store, buy stuff that's on sale, and then figure out what to have later.  This isn't a terrible way to shop, but it leads to a lot of last minute trips to the store after I've browsed pinterest, or read blogs and found something that I suddenly HAVE to have for dinner that night.

Honestly, how can you NOT suddenly run to the store for ingredients to make these pumpkin doughnuts?

The beauty of actually planning my meals is that I can pull up my pinterest boards and select meals that I've been intending to cook and (gasp) actually cook them.  We're not stuck eating ramen and boxed mac and cheese, and I don't usually hit thirty minutes before Nate gets home and suddenly think, "Shoot...what on earth are we having for dinner tonight?"  It's really pretty helpful.

I've created a little worksheet for myself to help me keep on track.  It includes the week's worth of meals, and a place for my grocery list.  I take the whole thing with me to the store so that I don't stray too far off track, and also so that I can track the spending and split the receipt immediately, if needed.  We use Mint for tracking our budgets, but you have to wait a day or so before receipts can be split, so this helps me remember by the time I get around to tracking online.  I thought I'd share the worksheet with you, in case you're looking to be a little more diligent in meal planning as well.  New Year's isn't the only time for resolutions, right?

Sourdough Bread!

UPDATE:  Since this post, I've used my starter, and this sourdough recipe to get the sourdough of my dreams.  The pictures are a lot to get through, but the recipe is easy, and turns out a delicious, chewy, and more sour loaf.  I highly recommend it if you're looking for more authentic sourdough.  The recipe below does make a delicious sandwich loaf.

I love sourdough bread.  Honestly.  Ever since I was about 10, and went to Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey, California and had the clam chowder in the sourdough bread bowl, it's been over.  Sourdough=my favorite.

I've always wanted to make it, and I knew that there was a starter involved, but I thought you had to get it from somewhere.  As though there were some ancient sourdough start from the first days of sourdough that was passed down from generation to generation.  So I resigned myself to never having my own sourdough because I was not privileged to be born into a Sourdough Starter Dynasty.

But...yeah, that's wrong.  You can totally make your own starter.  I was browsing through my Betty Crocker Bridal Edition Cookbook, and there it was--a sourdough recipe, and a recipe for a starter!  So, in case you want to make your own sourdough dreams come true, here's the recipe.  Be warned, it takes about a week and a half--a week for the starter to be ready, and a full 12.5 hours on the day that you'll be making it.  You'll only be actively doing anything for about an hour or so--but don't start it in the afternoon thinking you'll be eating it for dinner.

Unless you eat really late.

Sourdough Starter
1 teaspoon regular active dry yeast (I actually used instant yeast, because that's what I had--it worked.)
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour

1.  In a 3 qt glass bowl dissolve yeast in warm water.  Stir in milk, gradually stir in flour and beat until smooth.  cover with a towel or cheesecloth and let stand in a warm place for about 24 hours or until starter begins to ferment (it gets bubbly).  If you don't get any bubbles within 24 hours, throw it out and try again.  If you do (yay!), then stir it well, cover it with plastic wrap, and leave it in the same spot for 2-3 days.
2.  When the starter is really foamy, stir it well, pour into a 1 qt crock or glass jar with a tight fitting cover, and put it in the fridge.  Starter is ready to use when a clear liquid has risen to the top (this took another 2-3 days for me).
3.  Use the starter regularly--every week or so.  If the volume of the breads starts to decrease, dissolve 1 teaspoon of yeast, 1/2 cup milk, and 3/4 cup flour into the remaining starter.

Once your starter has reached this point, you're finally ready to make the bread!

Sourdough Bread
1 cup sourdough starter
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups warm water
3 3/4 to 4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 Tablespoons Sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1.  in a 3 qt glass bowl, mix the sourdough starter, 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, and 2 cups warm water with a wooden spoon until smooth.  Cover, and let stand in a warm place for 8 hours.  To keep your starter going, add 3/4 cup milk, and 3/4 cup flour to the remaining starter in the container, stir until smooth, and let sit for 12 hours before putting back in the fridge.

Add Flour and Water

Let Stand for 8 hours (this is after about 5)

2.  Add 3 3/4 cups flour, sugar, salt, and vegetable oil.  Mix with a wooden spoon until the flour is absorbed.  The dough will still be pretty soft--it should be just firm enough to form into a ball and put on the counter to start kneading.  Don't add in the extra 1/2 cup of flour unless the dough can't be formed into a ball at all.

3.  On a heavily floured surface (seriously, like, one-whole-cup-of-flour, heavily floured, plus more possibly), knead the dough for 10 minutes, until the dough is soft and springy.

You know...in case you don't know how to knead?

 Place dough into a greased bowl, turning to coat all sides.  Cover, and let rise for 1 hour 30 minutes, or until dough has doubled in size.

4.  Grease a large cookie sheet.  Gently push the risen dough down a few times to release the air bubbles.  Split the dough in half, and form each half into a circular loaf.  Place the loaves on opposite ends of the cookie sheet, with plenty of room around the edges to allow it to rise.  Cut three slits in the top of each loaf and then cover and let rise for 45 minutes.

Unrisen dough

 5.  Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Brush the loaves with cold water, and place in the middle of the oven.  Cook for 35-45 minutes or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped.  Then, let cool for 1 hour.

Actually, I don't blame you if you don't want to wait, but it's really better if you do.  After a week and a half of work, I dove right in...and I was really disappointed.  I tried another piece about an hour later, and it was much better.  So...wait, just a bit at least.  Then it will be sourdough.  Delicious (though maybe not quite there) sourdough.

There are several things I might do differently the next time I make it--I followed all the steps almost exactly (instant yeast instead of regular, and I used cooking spray instead of shortening).  I bet you could use a machine to do the kneading, instead of doing it by hand, and I hear that your starter's flavor changes a little bit each time.  I'll definitely be doing this again, if only to make the week for the starter worthwhile.

Fruit Dumplings!

My husband spent two years in the Czech Republic and Slovakia serving a mission for our church.  Apart from a lot of language skills, and some pretty fantastic stories, he brought back a lot of love for some new types of food.

As we've tried out various types of food from his mission, I have to admit that I haven't had something yet that I don't like.  The foods are are comfort-type foods.  These fruit dumplings are no exception.  They may look like somewhat wrinkly dinner rolls, but just wait.

Not impressive looking.  Wait for iiiiiiiiiiiit.....

Once you add a little topping (I like sweetened cream cheese and a little nutmeg)...



And then cut into it's fluffy, fruity goodness:

You get something that not only looks delicious, but feels like a hug for your insides.

The visual on that is a little weird...just trust me.  They're really, really good.

Yeast Fruit Dumplings (adapted slightly from  Kynute Ovocne Knedliky)

Dough

2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
Pinch of sugar
¼ cup lukewarm water
¼ cup milk (room temperature)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon grated lemon peel
¼ cup sugar
½ teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
2 cups all-purpose flour 

Filling
Your choice of fruit--pitted cherries, plums, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, apricots--something that will soften quickly, as the dumplings don't cook very long.
Granulated Sugar

Topping
4 oz cream cheese
1/4 cup powdered sugar (more or less to your liking)
nutmeg

1.  Sprinkle the yeast in the lukewarm water with the pinch of sugar.  Wait a minute or two, and then stir everything in.  Wait 2-3 minutes after that to allow the yeast to get nice and bubbly, and nearly doubled in volume.

2.  Add all the other ingredients to the yeast mixture, except the egg yolks and the flour.  Mix well, then add in the egg yolks, one at a time.  Stir in the two cups of flour, to make a medium-firm dough.

3.  Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and begin to knead it, adding more flour as necessary.  You'll need to knead it for about 10 minutes (possibly longer), or until the dough is smooth and elastic.  Count this as your arm workout for the week.

4.  Place the dough into a greased bowl, turning to cover the dough.  Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise until doubled (35-45 minutes).  If you poke the dough, and the indentation remains, you're good.

5.  While the dough rises, take your fruit, and sprinkle it with granulated sugar until it's coated.  Cover and set aside.

6.  Take the dough out of the bowl, and roll it into a rectangle about 12" x 16"

--I made mine about the size of my silicon baking mat.  Cut the dough into 12 squares about 4" on all sides.  Place fruit into the middle of the square.  We used apricots for the pictures above.  Pitted, sugared, and then I placed a whole apricot (so, two halves) into each dumpling.  We also did raspberries, and did about 5-6 raspberries in each dumpling.

7.  Take the sides of each square and bring them together over the fruit--pinch and seal until you have the fruit entirely inside of the dough (you don't want things leaking out).  Really, make sure you pinch and seal them well.

8.  The original recipe says that you should boil the dumplings, but we've gotten a more rubbery dumpling using that method.  I used our steamer instead.  First, I sprayed down the steamer with cooking spray, then stuck 6 dumplings in the pan, and steamed them for about 10 minutes total, with no turning, and the lid on the pot.  Then do the other batch.

Lastly, drizzle whatever toppings you'd like to:  melted butter and granulated sugar, cream cheese topping, whatever makes your heart happy.  Eat them while they're still warm, but don't burn yourself on the hot filling.

Enjoy (probably should say, "Na Zdravie!")!

Oh, and if you're looking for something to do with those Egg Whites, you should try making Kayla's Macaroons.  I didn't get enough air out of mine, but they were still chewy and delicious, and I do plan to try them again.

Lemon Scones

My sister recently came to visit, and so I decided to make us something fancy for breakfast.  I've only made scones one other time with a mix that we got for our wedding, and they turned out awfully, so I was a little bit skeptical about making them again.  So many people loved them though, that they seemed to be worth a shot.

Oh baby.  Were they ever.  They were light and fluffy and biscutty and lemony, and glazed...

Now they're gone (just like our visitors, sadly)...but writing up this recipe is making me want to whip up some more.  Not a bad idea, considering that they're so easy to make.  

Glazed Lemon Scones (adapted slightly from all recipes)

Scones
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/3 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup milk
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

Glaze
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons water, or as needed

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.  Mix flour, white sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Cut in cold butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Whisk milk, lemon juice, and vinegar in a small bowl and stir into flour mixture until moistened; turn out onto a lightly floured surface. The dough will likely be very sticky.
3.  Knead dough briefly for 5 or 6 turns.  Be sure not to over-knead it.  The dough should be nothing like bread dough. Pat or roll into a 1 inch-thick round. Cut into 10 wedges and arrange on a baking sheet leaving 1 inch between each wedge.
4.  Bake in preheated oven until bottom edges are lightly tan, 11 to 14 minutes. Allow scones to cool for 15 minutes.
5.  While scones are cooling, stir confectioners' sugar, melted butter, 2 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice, and vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Add in water, if needed, to make more of a glaze texture.
6.  Drizzle glaze over warm scones

Katie was really excited about the cake for breakfast.

Grayson was too!

Super Delicious Banana Bread

Genuine reaction to eating it.

I found myself with 4 extremely ripe bananas yesterday, and so, clearly, they needed to become banana bread.  I started trolling pinterest, and all the recipes looked good, but so....fancy.  Fancy wasn't what I was going for.  I resorted to googling "Best Ever Banana Bread" and was led to All Recipes, which I have a love/hate relationship with.  Usually, the things that I've made from there are good, and the recipes are simple.  The ratings are where I get frustrated.  It seems like every comment on the recipes says "This recipe is SOOOOOOO good!!!!!! I added 3 cups of sugar, cut out all the oil, substituted in half a cow, and turned it into meatloaf instead of banana bread, but seriously, 5 Starzzzz!!!!!!"


I'm pretty sure when you change the recipe drastically, you can't rate the original recipe based on whatever came out of your oven.  

So, rather than rate a recipe that I changed drastically, I'll just throw another banana bread recipe up on the internet.  

Oooh, it's banana bread that looks just like all the other banana breads!

Super Delicious Banana Bread

4 very ripe bananas
4 eggs
2/3 cup oil (this could easily be cut to 1/2 cup)
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 cups oats
2 1/2 cups of sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups AP flour
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees, grease pans. (2 regular bread loaves, or 8 mini loaves, or 4 mini and one regular...you can figure it out.)

Peel the bananas, place them in the bowl of a mixer with the eggs, oil, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Mix on medium-high until really well combined.

 In a blender, put in the 2 cups of oats.  Pulse a few times until the oats resemble flour.  Add in sugar, baking soda, and salt, and flour and pulse a few times to mix the dry ingredients well.  Add all the dry ingredients into the bowl of the mixer, and mix until everything is just combined.  Be careful not to over-mix.  Make enough batter for 2 large loaves, of 4 mini loaves and a large loaf.    Once you've poured your batter in, sprinkle chocolate chips over the top, and stir it a little bit right in the bread pan.  Bake for 45-60 minutes, depending on the type of pan you use.

Then I kept trying to take more pictures...she got tired of it.  Also, she does wear other shirts...but this is her Valentine's Shirt

Perfectly Pink Frosting

Do you all remember the big, pink, Granny B cookies from high school? Well, yesterday, I sort of accidentally recreated the pink frosting for Katie's cake: texture, thickness, and all.

In case you're searching for a bit of the super thick, very pink frosting yourself (just in time for Valentine's Day), here's the recipe:

2 sticks of butter
1 pound of Powdered Sugar
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup flour
1 t of Vanilla
7 drops of red food coloring
enough milk to thin

I had one stick of butter in the fridge, and one in the freezer.  I took the stick from the freezer and microwaved it for 30 seconds, which made it a bit melty in the middle.  I put both sticks in a bowl and beat them with the hand mixer until they were blended together and fluffy, and it was perfect--I'm sure you could just have two, non-melted soft-ish sticks of butter and be in great shape.  Either way, beat the two sticks of butter until they're soft, and then add in the powdered sugar and mix until the mixture resembles small crumbs.  Add in the flour and mix, then then add in the vanilla and food coloring.  At this point, the mixture will be very thick.  Start thinning it out with milk until it reaches your desired consistency.

By using flour in the mix, you end up with a more stable frosting, and you don't have to keep adding in more and more powdered sugar.  This also keeps the sweetness down a little bit, and helps it mix nicely with a cookie, or with a cake, that's already got enough sweetness in it.

Happy Valentines Day!

Creamy, Dreamy Macaroni and Cheese

I sincerely wish I could remember where I briefly read something about "Risotto-Style" Macaroni and Cheese. Unfortunately, my brain seems to be shot, and so I can't recall for the life of me where it was that I first read about it.  After a couple of google searches, I landed on a recipe that sounded fairly promising here.  I ended up doubling it (we like leftovers) and making a few other modifications and substitutions, and the result was SO delicious.  I have had problems in the past with homemade mac and cheese being cheesy enough, but this totally fit the bill.

2 T Butter
1 small-medium onion, diced
71/2 cups water
4 cubes beef bullion
3 cups elbow macaroni
1 cup half and half
3 T cream cheese
1.5 cups Cheddar Cheese
1.5 T Brown Mustard (or dijon, or some sort)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Add in the diced onion and cook until the onion is close to translucent, about 10 minutes.  Add in the pasta and stir around a little bit.  Add in the water and the bullion cubes (or 7 1/2 cups of the broth of your choice).  Bring to a boil, lower the heat to the lower end of medium, and allow to lightly boil (a little more than simmer) uncovered for 20 minutes.  Once the liquid is absorbed so that only about 1/4th of it remains, add in the half and half, and allow to simmer for another 6 minutes or so, until the sauce begins to thicken.  Then, add in everything else, stir until it's all melted and delicious, and allow it to sit for about 3-5 minutes before serving.

Sandwich Rolls

I really like sandwiches.  I particularly like these sandwich rolls.  It's a really good way to use up any sandwich type of ingredients you have on hand that might go bad if you don't use them up fairly quickly, because these rolls are perfectly delicious when you freeze them and then re-heat them later.  I usually stick with some kind of lunch meat and cheese sandwich, or a pizza variety, but this time, I decided to try a Peanut Butter and Jelly one too.

For the dough, I used Mel of Mel's Kitchen Cafe's French Bread Roll Recipe.  Make sure that your dough is still sticky when you've finished adding in flour, because that's how you'll end up with a tender and delicious bread.  I doubled this recipe so that I'd end up with 24 sandwich rolls at the end:  

French Bread Rolls

1 1/2 cups warm water

3/4 tablespoon instant yeast (or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast)
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups all-purpose flour


Put everything except the flour in your stand mixer, and mix well with the paddle attachment.  Add in 4 cups of the flour to make a very watery dough.  Switch to the dough hook, and add in the remaining flour, and let it knead for about 5-7 minutes.  Take out the dough hook, cover the bowl, and let it rise until doubled.  Mine only had to rise for 45 minutes, and it was definitely doubled at that point.  Once you get the dough, split it into two equal portions, and roll one of them out onto a floured surface like this:  

Yes, I already spread the peanut butter on this one...

Mine is about 11"x13",  but you can clearly see that it's not exact.  If you're making the peanut butter variety, microwave about 3/4-1 cup of peanut butter for 15-30 seconds so that it's very easily spreadable.  Spread the peanut butter all the way to the edges of your dough, leaving just a tiny space on the bottom for when you roll the dough up.

Mmmm...Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Then spread it with your favorite Jelly--this is black currant jelly from Grandpa Murray (it's delicious).  Roll the whole deal up starting from the top, and then slice it into 12 rolls.  You can do more of you so desire, but 12 worked out really well for me.

Rolls!

I lined this cookie sheet with aluminum foil because I suspected that the jelly would leak out and be quite sticky, and it was.  I would recommend lightly spraying the cookie sheet as well when you do this.  Cover with something (plastic wrap, kitchen towel, etc.) and allow to rise while you preheat the oven to 400 degrees F, and work with your second batch of dough.

 In the second batch of dough, I made this mix:

Spicy Yogurt Sauce (1 cup plain Greek yogurt mixed with about 1 t of hot sauce)
Brown mustard (spread only over the top 1/4th of the dough)
Mozzarella Cheese (probably 1.5 cups of shredded spread all over the dough)
Ham lunch meat
Baby spinach leaves


You could probably just substitute mayonnaise for the yogurt sauce, if you'd like.  I didn't notice anything weird because I used yogurt--there was no tangy-ness whatsoever.


Roll the whole thing up just like the peanut butter and jelly ones, and then cut into 12 rolls. Place onto a greased cookie sheet and cover to rise for a few minutes.

Mmmm...Hammy.

  At this point, your oven is probably preheated, you can go ahead and stick the peanut butter and jelly rolls in  to cook for 12-15 minutes.  Then, just switch out the cooked ones with the other set, and you'll end up with these:

Cooked Ham and Spinach Rolls

Close up of Ham and Spinach Roll

 I forgot to take pictures of the finished peanut butter ones while they were on the tray, but it wasn't that exciting.  After cooling, you can stick them in your freezer for a few hours and then just plop them into freezer bags to eat whenever you want them.  Katie requested a jelly sandwich today, so I took one of the Peanut butter ones out, stuck it in the microwave for 30 seconds, and got this:

Close up of Peanut Butter Roll...the next day

 I had to convince her it was the same thing as a sandwich, but once she tried it, she happily ate the whole thing.  These also work really nicely in lunches for people who have to go to work, especially since you can stick it in the microwave and have a warm roll for lunch.  If it's defrosted, you should probably only microwave it for about 15 seconds, so you don't turn the bread into rubber.

Mmmm...Brioche

 Yesterday, Jo posted about the best French Toast Recipe, and I knew that I needed to try it.  I thought about just making it with regular-type bread, but then, I was intrigued by the idea of making Brioche, so that had to happen.

Brioche is a long, but not a hard process.  Also, if you're making it by hand, good luck.  This dough took 20 minutes of kneading with the Kitchen-Aid.  I'm sure the use of a machine somehow makes it less authentic or something, but I don't mind.

It's so pretty!

Brioche (adapted only very slightly from the King Arthur Flour site)

2 3/4 Cups Flour
1/4 Cup Nonfat Dry Milk
3 T Sugar
1 1/4 t Salt
1 T Instant Yeast
3 Large Eggs
1/4 Cup Warm Water
10 T Butter (1 cube, plus 2 T)

Throw everything into your mixer (or your bread machine, set on "Dough"), mix with the paddle mixer on medium-high speed until your dough is all mixed together.  It will be sticky, and will not look at all like bread dough should look.  Don't panic, just leave the paddle on, and keep mixing on medium-high speed for 10 minutes.  Then, scrape down the sides of the bowl (it should feel more doughy now) and switch out the paddle for the dough hook.  Knead for another 5-10 minutes on a lower setting (I used a 2).  Once you're finished kneading the dough, it will still be very soft, but not terribly sticky.  Cover the bowl, and let rise for 1 hour.  Once that hour is done, it will not have risen very much.  Transfer the dough to the fridge and let rise for at least 2 more hours (At this point, you can let it rise overnight if you'd like to split up the time you have to pay attention to it). Once you're done with the fridge, it should have risen more noticeably.  Take the dough out and shape it however you'd like to use it.  I made two braided loaves.  The dough will have a very clay-like texture, and should shape very easily.  The two braided loaves should go into 8" bread pans, and will look quite tiny, even in the small pans.  Cover, and let the loaves rise for another 3 hours (this give it enough time to both warm up from the fridge, and fill the pans).  Once that's done, bake the loaves at 350 for 40-45 minutes.  If you don't want very dark bread (I didn't), tent the loaves with Aluminum foil after about 10 minutes.  The bread will have a slightly flaky, delicious crust, and a tender, amazingly delicious center.

Mmmm...Slightly Flaky Crust

 

Soft, Delicious Center

When I cut into the bread, I was pretty excited with how amazingly well it turned out.  I'm tempted now to try and make some croissants using the same recipe, and just shaping them into crescents.  The crust on the bread and the center are pretty much exactly the texture that I think a croissant should be...though I'm not really any great expert, admittedly.

And, for those who don't care about bread, here's a picture of Katie and I last night in our front yard area.  Isn't she adorable?  We didn't even tell her to pose.

Katie, and me, 21 weeks.

Christmas Food

Next to Christmas music, Christmas food is something that helps to get me in the spirit of the season. Mostly, this means that there's a lot of baking, candy making, and general eating of desserts and other deliciousness.

First, there are caramels. These are delicious. The first time Nate and I attempted to make caramels, we made them with some friends, thinking that they'd be easy and fun. Well, they were easy...but they took for.....ev......er. Seriously, we were adding like, 1/4 cup liquid from this 6 cup mixture and then it had to rise to the right temperature. The first attempt took like 3 hours total. We did end up with a mountain of caramel, but it was so much work...I was scared to try again.

Then, this year, I googled, "easy caramel recipe" and found this baby. In my opinion, it worked out just as well as the long, hard, expensive-ish one. Also, it took less time, and fewer ingredients--just make sure that you really do get it to the soft ball stage.

Next, there are cookies. I'm sure the rest of you out there have already discovered this, but cake mix cookies are the easiest thing ever. I've never made them until like, last week, and now, I wonder why. I made some devil's food cake cookies with semi-sweet chocolate chips...they were delicious. Think of the other combinations you could do though! Butterscotch chips and carrot cake cookies! Funfetti and m&m's! Chocolate and mint chips! Mmmm.

Me with the Linzer Cookies

We also made Linzer cookies this year--they're a bit more complicated, but they sure are pretty. When making these, just make sure that the shape you cut out in the middle leaves you enough dough to transfer to the cookie sheet...or better yet, transfer the base shape (like a circle, perhaps) to the sheet, and then cut the center part out of it. You can also use any jelly you please with these, and the bigger variety of jellies you use, the bigger the variety of colors you end up with.

We've also made some banana bread, some rolls, and tonight we had Orange Julius' (Orange Julii?) for dessert. These were all fantastically good--and the rolls freeze and re-heat really, really well. Still on the list of festive foods to try: fudge (any good recipes out there?) and a couple of cheese balls. This is in addition to whatever we have for Christmas Dinner...which will either be ham, and then some other good stuff, or hospital food. :)

But Who Will Help Me Eat the Cupcakes?

Last night, after watching Nate put together our awesome Graco Travel System, I decided that I should bake some treats. So I made These.

I have to say, I adore the way the mint cuts the richness of the cake. Not that I hate rich desserts. The mint really makes it feel light and refreshing.

The problem here, of course, is that I now have 20 cupcakes (yes, I did make 24...so?), and no one to help me eat them. Seriously, if you'd like to send help somehow, I wouldn't mind it at all.

The Sweet Life

Last night, Nate and I had some amazing food. I like my google reader, and in the recommended feeds, it linked me to a woman from our old ward's blog that had recipes on it. From there, I stole this recipe.

We made our own sweet pulled pork, and then we ate it with black beans and corn on homemade spinach tortillas. It was really, really, really good.

Here's the recipe:

Sweet Pulled Pork

For the Pork, buy yourself a picnic roast (also called the butt roast...even though it apparently comes from the shoulder). Place non-frozen roast in a crockpot. Add 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of salsa to the mix. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.

After you've cooked it, then pull the roast out, and pull it--just use forks and make it look shredded. Then put it back in the crockpot with the juices. Let it warm while you make

Spinach Tortillas
Pull the frozen chopped spinach out of your freezer that you thought you'd only use in casseroles. put 2 cups of it in a bowl and microwave it for about 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

While the Spinach is being nuked, mix 3 cups of flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, and 1/2 tsp salt with about 4 Tbs of olive oil. Mix until the oil is all mixed in and it looks a little like kind of crumby flour. If you grab a handful of it, it should stick together for a second before falling back into the bowl.

Take the spinach out of the microwave and stick it into a food processor/blender/something else to make it about the consistency of baby food. Ignore the smell...it's not that great.

Once it's liquid-y, dump the spinach into the flour mixture. Start kneading it with your hands. Be grateful you washed your hands first...then realize you wish you'd taken off your wedding ring first. Take off your wedding ring, then continue kneading the dough.

Split the dough into 8 balls. Roll out really thin...like...really, really thin. Cook in a frying pan with no oil for about 20 seconds each side. Stack the new tortillas underneath the old ones--this helps them to be softened after cooking.

In other non-food news, life is really good right now. We have a Christmas Tree, and stockings, and lights...it's lovely. We also only have a little bit before the end of the semester, Christmas, and New Years. For the most part, I'm so excited. I'm also a little bit sad though, because as soon as these things happen...they're over for a whole year. I plan to make the most of the holiday season. Pictures, and more food to follow.

Easy Quiche

I'm sure when you read that title, you either thought, "Duh, quiche IS super easy." I've stumbled upon a quiche recipe that is crazy easy to prepare, without buying a pre-made pie crust. You can make the whole thing in about an hour.

Taco Quiche

First, you take four flour tortillas and line your pie pan with them. If you're fancy enough to have a quiche pan, then you can use that instead.

Next, you cook some hamburger with an onion in a pan. Season the meat however you like. Then add in whatever else you want to--I added in some chopped spinach.

Take the meat mixture, drained of any fat and moisture, and put it in your tortilla lined pan. Then sprinkle your favorite kind of cheese on top.

in a separate bowl, beat 4 eggs with one cup of sour cream (I used plain yogurt instead), then pour the mixture on top of your meat. Put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Eggplant Recipe, and I love Vegetables

My dear friend Kaylala posted about the fact that she doesn't like to eat vegetables, but that she's trying. In that spirit, I present one of my favorite ways to eat vegetables.

A Really Good Way to Prepare Eggplant

First, break an egg into a small bowl, and add about a fourth of a cup of milk, scramble.

Second, on a dinner plate, sprinkle about a cup of flour.

Third, on another dinner plate, put some bread crumbs.

This step is optional, but if you're really picky (wink wink, elbow elbow) then you might want to peel it. DO NOT be thrown off or disgusted by the fact that the eggplant will quickly begin to become a little grayish.

Cut into circles by slicing along the eggplant. Then, dip the eggplant coins into the flour, then the egg, then the bread crumbs. They should be nice and coated. If you're not careful, your fingers will be too.

In a frying pan with a layer of oil (we like the olive kind) cook each side for about 2-3 minutes. Until the coating is nice and brown.

From here, you can try several different approaches. You could take the fried eggplant and turn it into Eggplant Parmesan. This involves layering the coins and then covering it with spaghetti sauce and cheese, and cooking it for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

We also like to eat the fried eggplant as sort of a chicken patty in sandwich form.

Now, you might say to yourself, "Doesn't frying the eggplant take all the goodness out of it?"

Umm...I don't know. But frying it in olive oil has to be better...right?

In addition to eggplant, I was thinking about all of this, and I realized that I really love vegetables, actually. I was a freaky kid who loved them ever since I can remember. I adore broccoli. It's actually my very favorite. I also like Brussels sprouts, asparagus, green beans, salads, etc. The only vegetable that I really didn't like when I was little was onions. Now, I loved them cooked. I can't say that they're my favorite raw still, but I do still like them. In fact, Nate and I are really looking forward to making a little apartment vegetable garden.

I don't know how my parents did it...but something they did worked. I am addicted to vegetables, and could likely become a vegetarian, if it weren't for the fact that I also love to eat chicken.

Enchanted

Nate and I went to see this movie this morning, and it was actually a lot of fun. It's hokey, and cheesy, but funny. For all of us girls who grew up in the Disney Princess Generation, it's a fun look at the crossover between fantasy and real life. I recommend going and seeing it...but maybe at a dollar theater if possible. There are other movies that I would rather pay full price to see, and, since we saw this one for free (with free popcorn!) I can say that it was definitely worth it.

Also, for lunch we had some quesadillas that I made that went way beyond where quesadillas usually go. In my opinion, they are delicious, albiet entirely unhealthy. For your possible eating pleasure, I present:

The Ultimate Quesadilla

1 can corn (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 package (8 oz) of Cream Cheese (or the 1/3 less fat kind with the name I can't pronounce)
1 chicken breast, cubed
1/2 white onion, diced
tortillas, with butter on one side
sour cream
cheddar cheese, shredded
tomatoes, diced

Take the chicken breast and cook in a pan until done with your favorite seasonings, then add onion and cook until translucent.
In a separate bowl, mix cream cheese, corn, and black beans.

Once the onions and chicken are cooked, add to the cream cheese mixture.
Take your buttered tortilla and place in frying pan with the butter side down, add about 2/3 cup of the cream cheese mixture to the inside of the tortilla, fold in half, and let it cook until the tortilla is brown on the bottom. Flip, and cook the other side to desired brownness (this only takes about 30 seconds, depending on the heat of your burner).

Once cooked, add a dollop of sour cream to the top, and sprinkle with tomato cubes and cheddar cheese. Eat and enjoy.

Seriously, I know this isn't good for you...but it's sooo tasty. Besides, all the veggies in it make that ok, right?