Apple Cider

Cider is something that should probably be around for the holidays anyway, but I find it so comforting and soothing when I feel sick. After having a barfalicious weekend, the idea of eating anything made me kind of nervous. So I sipped some hot, delicious cider, and the effect was instantaneous: I felt better, my stomach was less rocky.

Apple Cider

printable version

8 cups apple juice

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 orange

1/4 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

Stir juice, sugar and spices. Slice orange in half and quarter those halves. Place in juice. Heat to boiling, reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

I let mine simmer almost all day. I've been sick, and it has been so heavenly to pour myself a mug of flavorful cider. It's not the fanciest, but it's just as satisfying for my craving as any cider would be. 

To fancy it up a notch, use real cinnamon sticks, whole allspice, and add some whole cloves. Consider adding honey, lemon, or mint for some experimental fun. You might even use some storebought apple cider in place of the apple juice to pump it up (but I think that's silly). 

PS: This can be made in tea-form by putting all the non-juice items (especially if using cinnamon STICKS and WHOLE allspice/cloves) in a cheesecloth. The benefit? Um....you won't have "dregs" in your mug? 

Little Snippets from my Food Faux Pas History

You may have read my post about Pudding Frosting. Who gets those ideas? It's like "Hey, here's something no one else would think of, therefore I must be genius." Here's some more instances when my brain simply wasn't functioning on all cylinders (heh...I almost wrote "burners," but then I remembered that not everyone gets my humor. It's so dry it's dehydrated. Um..yeah, see?).

*Who needs substitutions? As a poor college student, I set about making box-macaroni and cheese for myself. But partway through, I discovered I had no butter. No big deal, I'd just leave it out. Then I discovered I had no milk. I thought --and who thinks like this?--"well, water will at least get the cheese powder to work on these noodles, right?" And it was so disgusting. Plain noodles would have been worlds better. I gagged it all down, wondering the whole time if starving might actually be a better idea (I soon after rearranged my food budget with my generous parents and ate much better foods).

* Breakfast for a less-than-cheery roommate...Jenn was helping and had to remind me to actually turn on the heat...

"Qait, the eggs won't cook themselves, you know."

"What? I know that. What are you talking about?"

* Buttermilk Brine Chicken for Michael's WHOLE FAMILY. Whoa, nerves.

And maybe this one doesn't count because the family liked it. But I really didn't. It was SO salty. WAY too salty...I just didn't tell anyone that the chicken had been soaking up the brine for...um...maybe a week? I conveniently don't remember.

* My favorite! This one isn't so much a food disaster; the table was set, the chicken looked passable (phewf), and everything was ready. From the kitchen, I asked the guest couple to please turn off the fan over the table so it wouldn't cool the food when I put it out.

The fan broke off the ceiling and crashed into the table. :|

Whoooow...forget breaking the ice, we broke dishes. I LAUGHED! But that poor couple. They never recovered. Conversation over dinner was very shy and quiet, despite our efforts. At least the food was glass-free.

Brown Melvins

These were invented by my brother Isaac during a cookie adventure where he was making all of us sisters laugh by messing with the recipe. If you've got a wickedly wonderful sense of humor, secretly drop a raisin into the mix when no one's looking. (I was Isaac's accomplice in this dastardly deed...but I was the one who ended up biting into that sneaky raisined cookie).
Get ready for amazing deliciousness!


Brown Melvins
printable version


1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
2 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp mint flavor (optional)
1/3 large banana
2 1/2 cups flour
~1/4 cup Mint Truffle cocoa drink mix
1 package semisweet chocolate chips
1 raisin (be secret about it)

Preheat oven to 375*.
In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy.
Add baking soda and salt, eggs, vanilla, mint and banana. Mix well.
Stir in flour and cocoa mix.
Stir in chocolate chips (and the raisin).

Bake 8-9 minutes on ungreased cookie sheet.
Cookies should be pretty brown-- this doesn't mean they're burned.

You can come up with a prize/chore for whoever finds the raisin! 

Cheesy Pasta

This is an easy emergency dinner or a comforting snack when you need something warm.

Cheesy Pasta

printable version

Cook some noodles (any kind--I used egg noodles). 

Over hot noodles, sprinkle: 

grated mozzarella

parmesan cheese 

garlic salt

Microwave 30 seconds if necessary to melt cheese. 

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the perfect texture for a cookie; they have a gently crisp outside just right for dipping in milk (the way my husband likes them) and a soft, chewy inside the way I like them. They also reheat well, just 8-10 seconds in the microwave for ~3 cookies, for the comfort of hot cookies with your milk. Mmm.
And I feel less guilty knowing there's oatmeal in them.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

printable version

1 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3 cups quick oats

1/2 package chocolate chips (or full package for double the fun...that's my style)

Preheat oven to 350*.

In a large bowl, beat together butter, brown sugar and sugar until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. 

Add flour mixture to sugars and mix well. 

Stir in oats and chocolate chips. 

Drop in little rounds onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes and cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. 

Makes nearly 5 dozen.

(For bar cookies: bake 30-35 minutes in ungreased 9x13 metal baking pan) 

No-Bake Cookies

Woops, we ate them all before taking a picture!

No Bake Cookies
printable version


2 cups sugar
3 TBS cocoa powder
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup butter
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups quick oats
(1 cup chopped nuts optional)

In medium saucepan, combine sugar and cocoa. Mix well. Add milk, mix well on medium heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Boil for 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Mix well until thickened, and drop cookies by spoonfuls (I use a TBS measure for the perfect size--cookie scoops are the same) onto cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap or tinfoil. For quicker cooling, place in freezer. When completely cooled, store in airtight container.

Egg-in-a-Hole

This hardly needs a recipe to describe what you do or what it is, but I've always thought this was a fun breakfast, and kids tend to love it.

Egg-in-a-Hole
printable version

Using a small-mouthed cup or small biscuit cutter, make a hole in a slice of bread (small enough to keep the crust intact).
Place bread in frying pan or on griddle and make sure edges are flat against surface (to prevent leakage).
Crack an egg into the hole! My kids seem to appreciate it when I whisk the egg first. They have an aversion to fried egg whites.
Fry a couple minutes on each side ora few minutes one side with a lid over the top.

We like to toast the leftover bread circles, too. It's fairly easy to mix up a little french toast egg stuff and do the bread circles that way--on the days that's worth your time/effort. 
You can eat these plain, buttered, with syrup or sprinkled with cheese. 

Roasted Grapefruit

If you're eating half a grapefruit for breakfast, it's probably because you like it. I think grapefruits are okay once in a while, and I don't mind their flavor for the most part, but I have a hard time with super-super-tangy stuff. They're very good for you, though! So this recipe (which cuts the tang just enough) helps me feel more excited about eating them.

Roasted Grapefruit
printable version


Set oven to broil or 350* (either will do fine, I prefer broil).
Slice grapefruit in half between "poles." As in, not from button to button. Am I being weird?
Using a serrated knife or grapefruit knife/spoon, separate wedges inside (leaving in place but creating gaps).
Set grapefruit halves on baking sheet, open half facing up.
Place a thin slice of butter over each half, sprinkle somewhat generously with brown sugar.
Roast in oven anywhere from 1-3 minutes (just go by preference of doneness).
1 minute will yield a hot grapefruit with glazed juiciness, 3 minutes will give you a more toasted look and flavor.

Good with cottage cheese on the side.

Variation: For the more savory approach, you can even sprinkle the grapefruit with parmesan cheese instead of brown sugar. The main idea is that the butter and roasting (you can stop there and forget sprinkling anything!) tone down the tanginess of the grapefruit and make it a warm breakfast dish.

Quick Cooking Chili

This is very easy, and it is very quick. It is perfectly satisfying and makes great leftovers, too, since the flavors just blend even more (as with most soups or chilis). I have a more complicated chili recipe, and there's a reason it's so deluxe, but this one is a great recipe to go to for the regular shortcut.

Quick Cooking Chili
printable version

1 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
1 fresh green pepper, diced (optional)
2 cans (10.75 oz each) tomato soup
1 can water
2 cups cooked red beans, rinsed and drained (close to 2 cans, 15 oz. each)
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce (or taco seasoning)
1 TBS molasses OR brown sugar
salt and pepper to taste

Brown the ground beef in pan. Drain.
Add diced onion and cook until tender.
Add green pepper, soup, water, and cooked red beans.
Add spices to taste.
Cook for 20 minutes on low heat on stovetop, stirring occasionally.

No-Cook Playdoh

Maybe it's just that my pantry is the wrong place for playdoh, but up until I tried this recipe, all my playdoh batches went moldy. And that's annoying, because playdoh should last forever.This stuff does! So besides that, what makes this superior is that it's really easy to make several colors from one batch--you just knead the color in as opposed to coloring the water during cooking.

No-Cook Playdoh
printable version

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
2 TBS cream of tartar
2 TBS oil
1 cup boiling water

Mix dry ingredients, add wet, stir.
Knead in color. (Separate before kneading for different colored batches).

Mandarin Orange Salad

Technically, this is a jello salad...Utah Mormons are notorious for those. But you use the dry jello powder, so don't worry. It's safe. :D And it's so adaptable that a better title would be Fruit Jello Salad, except that sounds like what I said it's not: Utah Mormon Jello Salad. Nope, this stuff is scrumptious.

Mandarin Orange Salad
printable version

1 small carton (16 oz.) cottage cheese
1 small package (.6 oz) dry orange flavored jello
1 small carton (8 oz.) cool whip
3 cans (11 oz. each) drained mandarin oranges

Mix cottage cheese, jello and cool whip. Fold in mandarin oranges.

Variations: Endless! Fresh/frozen strawberries with strawberry jello
mini marshmallows with any jello/pudding
pineapples with pistachio jello/pudding
Etc! Any fruit with any accommodating jello/pudding!

Grandma's Granola

Grandma Drinda Hansen has perfected her granola recipe over the years, and even though I can't capture her exact idiosyncrasies, I can get close! I've watched her make this and made it with her, and it is the most satisfying granola I have ever had. My favorite way to eat it is on some vanilla yogurt with berries...and my second favorite way to eat it is all by itself, warm from the oven.

Grandma's Granola
printable version

Melt and stir together:
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup honey
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mexican vanilla
~1 cup peanut butter (pref. "Adam's")

Mix together and add to butter mixture:
4 cups oats (2 c rolled, 2 c quick)
1/2 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Pat into 11x15 pan (cookie sheet/jelly roll pan)
Bake at 300--
20 minutes, break enough to flip pieces over
15 minutes, flip
10 minutes, flip and break up remaining pieces into small chunks

Let cool (or eat warm--it's like cookies).
Amazingly delicious!!!

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

Doesn't everyone have a recipe for this dish? Seems like it's one of those meals. This is my own compilation, adapted from other versions of the recipe. It is quite good, and it has a little more flavor to it than some of the simpler versions.

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

printable version

4 skinned boneless chicken breast halves
1 lb. broccoli florets, cooked/steamed
* * *
1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of mushroom soup
1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
3/4 cup milk
* * *
1 minced garlic clove
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp italian seasoning
tiny pinch of powdered ginger
* * *
1 cup dry stuffing mix (or crushed Chex)
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Boil chicken and cut or shred.
Layer in 9x13 pan: chicken, steamed broccoli.
In separate bowl, mix soups, milk and spices. Spread over broccoli.
Sprinkle cheese over mixture.
Sprinkle stuffing mix or cereal over cheese.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Buttermilk Scones

Pictured with Deluxe Homestyle Chili. This isn't the most flattering picture-- it was taken with my phone. But these scones are delicious as you could want them to be! 

Buttermilk Scones

printable version

1 qt. hot buttermilk (4 cups)
2 TBS cooking oil
2 TBS instant yeast
4 TBS honey (or 1/2 cup sugar)
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. salt
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
4 cups bread flour
* * *
4 additional cups bread flour

Mix everything together very well; add last 4 cups of flour, mix till dough pulls away from the sides of mixing bowl (not too dry). Let rise until double.
Heat oil in electric skillet or fyer to 375-400. (Or heat in frying pan and use dough test when ready).
Roll dough out on a lightly oiled countertop to about 1/4" thick. Cut into slices with dough/pizza cutter (plastic recommended to avoid scratching counter). Rolling dough on oil instead of flour keeps the frying oil from getting messy).
The dough can rise a little after it's rolled and cut, but it doesn't have to (doesn't matter)!
If it's too thick, stretch it out before slipping it into the oil or the inside won't cook fast enough.
Fry about a minute or so till golden, flipping to fry both sides.
Set on paper towels when done.

I have made these with regular flour by accident, and they turned out just fine. If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute it for sour milk (or make your milk sour by adding lemon juice or vinegar, approximately 2 tsp per cup I think? It's not something that has to be exact).

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

This is a really summer-y salad, and even though it might sound like one of those old-people salads, it's actually very tasty. It's got a sweet flavor, and just the perfect balance of chewiness and crunchiness.

Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad
printable version

2 or 3 heads broccoli
1 head cauliflower
fresh spinach leaves
chopped bacon
cashews
sunflower seeds
raisins
red onions, chopped

Dressing:
1 cup mayo
1/4 cup sugar
1 TBS vinegar

Breadsticks

These are so easy, and they work perfectly as a side for pizza, pasta, chicken, soup, etc.! Anything you'd use breadsticks with! They are delicious. I have no picture...we got to them before the camera did.


Breadsticks
printable version

Stir together and let sit for 10 minutes:
2 cups lukewarm water
3 TBS sugar
1 TBS yeast

Add and beat until smooth and glossy:
3 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS oil

Knead in 2 1/2 cups flour. Let rise till double, approximately 30 minutes.
Roll into greased 11x15 pan (cookie sheet).

Brush on topping:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup mayo
2 TBS parmesan cheese
dash of salt or onion/garlic salt (really, any seasoning you prefer!)

Let rise until double. Cut with pizza cutter.
Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes.

Black Bean Salsa

This salsa has a sort of tangy flavor with the lime and cilantro. I love it so much! Most salsas are a little too spicey/hot for me, and this one is just perfect...so perfect that I eat a lot of it.


Black Bean Salsa
printable version

~12 servings
prep: 15 minutes
total: 45 minutes

1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (10 oz.) original diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained
1/2 cup whole kernel corn, frozen or canned and drained
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 TBS lime juice
1/4 tsp ground cumin

Mix altogether in medium bowl, cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Salmon Again!

I felt very enouraged by how easy my Salmon Pesto Mayo recipe is, so I did some experimenting and came up with another keeper. It's amazing.

With our very large salmon fillet, I used about 1/3 cup mayo.

Then I added (without measuring, sorry):
a drizzle of olive oil
a few big drips of lemon juice
generous dashings of salmon seasoning (yeah, totally cheating there)
thin sprinkling layer of smoked paprika (smoked is very different from regular, trust me).

Stir well! Broil salmon, spread sauce on it, broil again till sauce is bubbly. :) Follow pesto mayo recipe for cooking directions.

It is really good. I ate it during a week that I thought salmon sounded kind of gross, with all my pregnancy food-yuckiness, but Michael brought salmon home...and well, it was amazing. SO good.

Rice

Well, I've learned that some people have never made rice without a rice cooker. I've been told some of the advantages of using one, but they were so unimportant to me that I've already forgotten what they were. Not to be snooty, I'm just saying. Learn this way too.

1. Usually 2 parts water to 1 part rice, but read the instructions (and that right there sums up this post, I guess).
2. Put in pan together, bring to boil (as in, DON'T bring the water to a boil and then add rice)
3. Turn heat to low/simmer. 
4. Set timer for 20 minutes. 
5. Stir a couple times if you want, not really necessary.
6.  Makes about 4 cups cooked rice. 
7. With brown rice*, just let it cook for 45 minutes instead of 20, but the rules are the same.  

*Brown rice will never get as soft as white rice does--it just has a different texture. As for wild rice, I don't know how different that stuff is, I've never cooked with it yet (I hated it as a kid but now I think it's cool).

That's it.
Now here's what I always do in addition to that basic recipe:

With 2 cups of water and 1 cup of rice, I add 1 TBS butter and a few dashes of salt (like I shake the shaker over it all a few times). And sometimes I add the littlest bit of extra water and let the rice sit just a few minutes longer than 20 so that it will be soft for sure. I really like soft rice--it can be eaten "al dente" like some noodles, but...yeah, it's up to you.
Then I consider the rice PERFECT.

Here are some fun things you can try in your cooking!

Cook the rice with coconut milk instead of water. (This also makes a great dish when you add sliced sausage and black beans, yum!)

Add a sprinkle of cinnamon! Be generous if you want, it's a very subtle hint of flavor.

Add sugar! 

Omit butter/salt and drop a bouillon cube or ~1 tsp granules. 

Experiment!




Here are some simple and cheap rice dishes (with finished, cooked rice):

The sausage one mentioned above-- use hot-dog-like sausages, not ground. I don't remember which kind is best, but usually something spicy. I want to say German. Even though this is a southern dish. Add black beans and sausage to cooked rice, continue to cook till everything's hot. Very good.

Put some cream of chicken soup over the rice. Serve with biscuits, too, if you want.

Add a generous sprinkle of sugar and pour a little bit of milk over the rice. Hot or cold, your preference. Kind of an old people cereal, but it's kind of tasty! :)

Add scrambled eggs, diced ham, teensy-chopped chives, and perhaps peas... and stick it in a frying pan to stir fry till everything's hot. Fried rice!

GOURMET

You have to try my salmon recipe. And then even better, you have to try it with a layer of thin-sliced raw almonds under the pesto mayo. WOW! WOW! It was perfect, it was amazing. How can I convince you?
I do not like weird crunchy things with dishes when the crunch seems to interrupt. I don't like M&Ms in my ice cream...I don't really even like sprinkles in it. I don't like fruit blobs in my yogurt. I've only recently come to not mind celery in my soup. Maybe you don't care, but that's why it's important to use thin-sliced almonds. They're not quite slivers, don't get almond splinters or anything. When they roasted under the sauce on the salmon, they softened enough that they simply added a deluxe chew to the dish, and the flavor was incredible.

*NOTE: since this is such a forgiving dish, you could technically mix the almonds into the sauce before spreading it on the salmon. The reason I wouldn't is I think the almonds wouldn't soften QUITE as much, and their flavor wouldn't seep into the salmon QUITE as well. But I'm absolutely certain it would still be really delicious. (Just don't put the almonds on TOP of the sauce because they will turn black within seconds. In which case, you scrape it all off and try again...like I said, it's a forgiving dish! I know. I've learned).*

That's what we made for my birthday dinner, a repeat of Michael's birthday dinner (differences: didn't blend side dishes, had pre-made rice so didn't add cinnamon, used a little more sauce, bla bla, I just went with it). It's just so good...a favorite for both of us! Here's the full menu:

• Salmon Pesto Mayo with Almonds (just pack them on the salmon in a somewhat generous layer, then spoon the sauce over; it will probably spill on the sides a bit, doesn't matter)
• Rice (make sure you use butter and salt when you cook it-- you can even add a sprinkle of cinnamon for a subtle, mysterious hint of luxury)
• Freshly sliced avacado (when it's cold it's an even awesomer blend with the salmon flavor. You can eat it separate, or you can dish the slices onto your rice, or you can take a bite of it with the salmon-- it's all good)
• Sauteed mushrooms
• Some kind of romantically sparkling drink (we used pear this time-- yum!)

Maybe a professional chef would tell me that these foods don't go together. But that chef would probably change their mind after tasting it all, because all these foods have a sultry, buttery taste that's contrasting enough between them all to add variety but close enough to keep the meal as one delicious experience from taste to taste. It's amazing, I'm serious. The avacado smooths into the salmon flavors and just...ahhh...and the rice butters it up with a warm new texture, and the sauteed mushrooms are the perfect touch for romance. Of course, the salmon tops it all. It is so, so, sooooo fantastic.

Also? This is all really fast and easy. Especially if you made the rice ahead of time (if not, rice cooks in about 20 minutes) (for all you rice-cooker-addicts, I will do a post of how to make rice...yeah, I'm not kidding).
The salmon, depending on its thickness, broils in about ten minutes, usually less.
The avacado? You slice it.
The sauteed mushrooms take something like...I don't know, less than ten minutes.
Ding! That's it!

The only thing not on the menu this time around was the glazed pineapple. That's okay. But it's a really wonderful dessert to top it all off.
But...and please don't get tired of me for saying this, I can hardly help myself...I didn't even feel like I needed dessert because the flavors were so delicious and perfect that I wanted them to sit in my mouth all evening. Mmmm.