Snow soup

I dunno what it is, but when it snows I crave soup. The way it warms you from the inside out is particularly appealing as the temperatures drop and the snow starts falling. Luckily for us, soup was already on the menu for dinner last night. Apparently my craving for soup is the equivalent of a bum knee or back acting up when it's rainy or when the seasons change. I have made chicken noddle and chicken and rice soup before, so we wanted something different. I, of course, hopped on Pinterest and searched for soup recipes. I found a bunch of great ones (more to follow, don't worry), but Chris has a soup place he sometimes orders from at work that has a chicken, lime, orzo soup that he loves, so when I came across the chicken lemon orzo soup I knew we had found the right choice!

Boiling the chicken

What you need:

1/2 cup orzo
Olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan)
1 1/2 carrots- chopped

1 1/2 celery- chopped

1/2 onion- chopped

1 clove garlic- minced

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

1/2 bay leaf 

1 1/2 (32 ounce) cartons low-sodium chicken broth (48 oz total)

Prepping the veggies

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 lime- zested

1/4 pound cooked chicken breast- ripped (suggested amount, but I used 1 and a half chicken breasts)

Bullion cubes (2)- optional

Special equipment: 

Pot that can hold over 48 oz.

Grater

What you do:

1) Boil water with two bullion cubes in it, once boiled, add the chicken and cook for 10 minutes or until done.  I used thinly sliced chicken breast, so it only took 10 mins.

2) Boil water in a different pot with olive oil and salt.  When boiling, add 1/2 cup orzo. Cook for 6 minutes stirring occasionally. When done, strain and set aside.

3) Chop 1.5 carrots, 1.5 celery, 1/2 onion, and mince 1 clove garlic. 

4) Zest 1 whole lime (use the smallest grater setting and grate the skin off of the lime).

5) Juice the left over lime to make 1/4 cup lime juice and set aside.

6) In a large pot, coat the bottom in olive oil and heat over medium heat. Once oil is heated add chopped carrots, celery, and onion.  Cook for 7 mins. 

7) Add garlic and cook for another minute.

8) Add 1/4 tsp thyme, 1/4 oregano, 1 tsp salt (aprox.), 1/4 tsp pepper (aprox.), 1/2 bay leaf and mix for 30 seconds. 

9) Add 1.5 cartons of chicken broth and bring to boil.

10) When soup boils, reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer partially covered for 10 minutes or until the veggies become tender.

11) Rip chicken into bit sized pieces. 

11) Add orzo, lime zest, lime juice, and chicken and cook for about 8 minutes. 

Getting close!

Boredom while waiting for the soup to be ready.

Yummy!

MargaritaPizzaVille

Pizza is always a fail safe as a dinner plan in this apartment, and since we are trying to do better about making our own food, we put it on the menu this week.  We made an absolutely fantastic margarita pizza last night, so I thought I'd share the recipe for all of you pizza lovers.

Just an FYI this pizza dough takes about an hour and a half in total (it needs time to rise).

What you will need:
1 cup warm water
1 tbsp honey
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
2 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil (plus a little extra)
About 3 cups bread flour
Mozzarella cheese- grated or sliced (for best results get a fresh ball of mozzarella and grate or slice yourself)*
Fresh tomato sauce... either make your own or buy some from a local grocery store (we get ours from a little market down the street that is absolutely amazing)
Fresh basil
Cling wrap

Special equipment:
Kitchen aid standing mixer with c-hook dough attachment (you can do without this, but keep in mind that you have to knead for about 6 minutes straight)
Deep cast iron pan or pizza stone...again, you can do without it, but cooking instructions will be a bit different.  

*Depends on your preference as to how much you need/use.

What you do:
In mixer bowl, pour 1 cup warm water and add 1 tbsp honey and 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast.
Stir until mixed, then let sit about 5-10 mins.  You will see little bubbles forming on the surface.
When you see bubbles, add 2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp olive oil, and a cup and a half of bread flour.
Mix completely.
Keep adding bread flour until dough no longer sticks to your hands (really make sure because too little flour can make the dough fall apart)
Use the c hook kitchen aid attachment and number 2 setting to knead the dough for a total of 6 minutes (or do it by hand).
Flour your hands, take the dough out and make it into a ball.
While the dough is out, lightly grease the inside of the bowl with olive oil.
Dab a little olive oil on the dough itself as well, but not too much.
Place the dough ball back into the bowl, and cover with cling wrap.
Let sit for 1-2 hours to let it rise.

While dough rises, prep the other ingredients.
Grate or slice the mozzarella.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

When the dough is ready, wipe olive oil along the inside of the cast iron pan.
Spread dough on the inside of the pan making a thick crust, start in the middle and work outwards.
When dough is in place, spoon tomato sauce onto the crust and spread it from the middle out.
Afterward sprinkle grated cheese, or place sliced disks over the pizza.
Add basil as a final touch. 
Put in oven for about 25 mins (watch carefully... start checking at 18 mins).
Make sure that you have a safe/heat-proof surface ready.
Take out (be incredibly careful...cast iron gets insanely hot).
Let cool about 10 mins, cut and serve.

I HIGHLY recommend.

 

A sandwhich a day...

Well... a sandwich a day might not be great for you, but once or twice a week is fine.

Chris and I have been trying to be better about making our own lunches instead of ordering out both to save money as well as eat better food. I have been spending a lot of time on Pinterest looking for healthy and fun lunches for the both of us.  The key is to look at the ingredients that you will have left over from making dinner (or leftovers from dinner). This isn't so much a recipe as a great way to package and store sandwiches in order to shorten the amount of time you spend making them and maximize the amount of time that they keep.  If your lives are anything like mine you are tired after work, and not too into thinking about the next days lunch. This is where meal planning comes into play. On Sunday (if that's your free day) come up with your meals for the week. Try and plan things that use similar ingredients (if you are making salad and chicken one night, do Mexican or Italian the next night to use up the rest of the peppers and onions, and maybe use the left over chicken for sandwiches) that you can use for other meals throughout the week.

An example of a week of meal planning is:
Sunday lunch: Sandwiches
Sunday dinner: Roasted chicken (use left overs for next day sandwiches), spinach, roasted potatoes

Monday lunch: Flattened sandwiches made Sunday (using left over chicken)
Monday dinner: Homemade pizza (using mozzarella that was used for the sandwiches)

Tuesday lunch: Flatted sandwiches made Sunday
Tuesday dinner: Lime chicken orzo soup and baguette

Wednesday lunch: Left over lime chicken orzo soup and baguette
Wednesday dinner: Enchiladas, homemade chips, and guacamole

Thursday lunch: Baked chicken tenders and avocado sauce
Thursday dinner: Chive butter chicken, garlic chive mashed potatoes, salad

Friday lunch: Chicken and salad
Friday dinner: Spaghetti with garlic gravy and herbs.

If you notice, we maximized the ingredients.  For the soup, we needed carrots and celery, but only needed 2 carrots, and 2 stocks of celery. As you know, they come with more than 2 per bag, so we have salad, for Thursday and Friday so we can use the rest of them without them going bad.

So, now, finally I will talk about the sandwiches.  It is hard to make sandwiches in advance, they always get soggy or just don't taste as good as they should. I saw this trick, and was a bit skeptical, but I tried it and it seemed to work reasonably well.

What you need:
Bread (baguette, ciabatta seem to work better...I would not recommend using regular sliced bread)

Sandwich ingredients (I made a standard mozzarella, tomato, basil)
Cling wrap
Heavy books

What you do:
If you are using a baguette, cut the bread in half lengthwise.
Put your ingredients in (think ahead about how the layers are...don't put soggy materials close to the bread although I had tomatoes against the bread and it held up ok)
Put the top of the bread back on and wrap the entire baguette in cling wrap tightly.
Place heavy books on sandwich for about 3 hours in the refrigerator.
Cut off pieces of sandwich as needed, keep the rest wrapped in cling wrap (preferably also in a Tupperware). 
Flattening them really helps hold them together.

I made my sandwich on Sunday, and had my last bit today for lunch, so they keep for several days.

Chris's sandwich...As you can see, he had a lot more ingredients, but it still holds together quite well.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM!

For Christmas I got the amazing gift of an ICE CREAM MAKER!!!!  I have been wanting one for a long time.  I usually don't post things that require special equipment, but I was so excited about this I had to post. So far I have made two batches: strawberry and salted caramel.

Because I had never made ice cream before, I started with simple strawberry.

For my second batch, I decided to switch things up and try salted caramel. I got the recipe from the Kitchen Paper blog.

What you need:
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
3 eggs
Ice cream make** 
Pint sized storage container for the freezer

** Make sure that it has had the proper amount of time in the freezer. Mine takes 12 hours in the back of the freezer.

What you do:
1) In a frying pan, heat one cup sugar over medium heat stirring frequently until the sugar starts to melt, then switch to stirring occasionally.
2) When the sugar melts completely and turns a dark amber color, switch to low heat and add 1 1/4 cup heavy cream. Whisk until completely mixed.
3) Pour into separate bowl and add 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1/2 tsp salt.
5) Crack 3 eggs, and whisk.  Set aside.
4) Heat 1 cup whole milk, and the remaining cup of  heavy cream and 1/4 cup sugar over medium heat stirring constantly to not let it boil. When you see steam and small bubbles on the side, pour into egg mixture and whisk.
5) Pour the eggs and milk/sugar mixture back into the pot, and heat on medium heat stirring constantly for several minutes.
6) Pour into bowl with the caramel and whisk completely.
7) Let cool, then place in the refrigerator over night (at least 3 hours).
8) After the ice cream has set in the refrigerator, set up the ice cream maker, pour in contents and let the ice cream maker do its magic.
9) Pour into pint container and freeze.

 

I HIGHLY recommend an ice cream maker.  It is a fantastic gift and really fun for everyone. 

Milks Favorite Cookie...Bar

Oh Pinterest, how I love you. In searching for recipes the other day I stumbled across this one. I figured it would be a good one to try given that it was so easy and required fewer ingredients. In any case, these cookies and creame bars are FANTASTIC and are highly recommended. Not only are they really simple to make and require no special equipment or ingredients, but they are delicious and are a hit with any crowd (I tried them on adults and the kids in my class and everyone loved them).

First things first.

What you need:

Package of Oreos (I didn't use double stuff but I suppose you could)

Bag of marshmallows

4 tbsp of butter (and a little for greasing the pan)

1 tsp-1 tbsp vanilla

Zip lock bag (gallon sized)

A pan (doesn't really matter what size it just depends on how many bars you wanna make)

What you do:

1) Put Oreos into ziplock bag, push all the extra air out, close, and crush them onto the counter with your palm. Crush until they are small/medium crumbs. You can also use a blender for this part. Just be careful you don't get a hole in your bag. 

2) Grease pan completely with butter. Do not skip this step. Grease liberally.

3) In a medium-large pot, melt 4 tbsp butter over medium heat. 

4) Add marshmallows and stir frequently until marshmallows are melted and butter is mixed in. 

5) Add vanilla and mix completely. I used 1 tbsp. You can use however much you want or not at all. 

6) Add Oreos and stir until they are completely mixed.

7) Pour into pan and using a greased spatula spread evenly in pan. 

8) Let set about 10-20 mins and enjoy!!

Another Manic Monday

I dunno about you all, but Mondays are always incredibly tiring. The last thing I wanna do on a Monday is cook followed by a big clean up. As of Jan. 1st, however, I am trying to cook more and eat out less. So I decided to plan a really nice meal in order to motivate us with really following through.  Not a surprise, but at least two of these recipes came from Pinterest.  You can find the original recipe for the gnocchi here, and the original recipe for the caprese garlic bread here. I stumbled across the sage butter sauce recipe while looking for a sauce with no cheese (Chris doesn't like cheese). I know it says to add Parmesan, but you can definitely do without it.

You should start with the garlic bread cause it takes the longest.
What you need:
Baguette
5 cloves garlic
1 stick butter
1 tsp dried basil (fresh basil preferable)
1 tomato
1 ball of mozzarella
Tin foil

What you do:
1) Preheat the oven to 350.
2) Mince garlic put in a mug with 1 stick butter. Add basil.
3) Melt in microwave (if you don't have one you can melt it on the stove) pausing every 30 seconds so that the butter doesn't overflow.
4) Cut baguette in half and spread melted garlic basil butter along BOTH SIDES of the baguette.
5) Cut the tomato and the mozzarella and place them on the bread. First the tomato then the mozzarella (or other way around).
6) Bake in oven (on baking sheet on aluminum foil) for 25 minutes (or until cheese is browned slightly) open faced. 

Lets start with the gnocchi.
What you will need:
2 small potatoes (I know this doesn't seem right, but it is)
2 cloves garlic
1 egg
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
pinch pepper
pinch salt
About 1 cup flour

What you do:
1) Boil water with oil and salt in it.
2)  Wash, peel, and slice the potatoes into small cubes.
3) When water is boiled add the potatoes and cook until a fork easily cuts through it.
4) While the potatoes are cooking, mince the two cloves of garlic.
5)  Strain the potatoes and put them into a bowl.
6) Mash with a fork.
7) Add the garlic and mix completely.
8) Add the egg, basil, oregnao, pepper, and salt and mix completely.
9) Add flour 1/3 of a cup at a time. Mix completely after each 1/3. When the batter gets too hard to stir transfer to a floured surface and knead the dough. When the dough no longer sticks to your hands you know its done.
10) Roll out dough do about 1/2 inch thickness.
11) Cut 1 inch strips.
12) Cut each of these strips every 1/2 inch.
13) Boil water with oil and salt, when water is boiled add 1/2 of the gnocchi. It will fall to the bottom.
14) When the gnocchi comes to the top cook for 5 more minutes.
15) Use a slated spoon to remove the gnocchi when it is finished and repeat the steps for the second half (or save it for another time).

While the second batch of gnocchi is cooking, start the sauce:
What you will need:
1 stick butter
1 clove garlic
1 tsp dried sage
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

What you do:
1) In a medium/large pan, melt butter and garlic together until garlic is slightly browned.
2) When garlic is browned, add age, salt, and pepper and stir until mixed.
3) Add first batch of gnocchi and cook until browned slightly stirring occasionally.
4) Repeat with the second batch.

Mooseless Mousse

Not only is this mousse recipe free of all moose it is also entirely free of dairy products making it a great gift or dessert for any vegan friends. I found the original recipe here, but have made some small changes.

What you will need:
1/4 cup almond milk
8 oz dark chocolate
8 oz silken tofu (I know some of you may be cringing about now, but it honestly does not taste weird and it doesn't have a weird consistency either)
1 can coconut milk

What you do:
1) Chop the chocolate into small pieces, even if you are using chips still spend some time chopping it will help melt them faster.
2) In a small saucepan heat 1/4 cup almond milk over medium heat until it is simmering (this will happen very quickly so make sure you are watching it).
3) When it begins to simmer, remove from heat and add chocolate.  Stir to mix completely.
4) When completely mixed set aside to cool slightly.
5) Pour tofu and coconut milk (add a little bit less than a can at first so that the mixture is a little thicker) into blender and add the chocolate.
6) Blend completely and chill for several hours until it sets.

Optional:
Serve in strawberries by cutting off the tip of the strawberry (so that it stands), cut off the top, and carve out the middle.  Fill with mousse.