play dough, for real

Yesterday, I felt like super mom. Made dinner in the crock pot, swept floors, played with baby, made homemade play dough. Today? Let's just roll with it and let it be what it is!

I used this recipe for play dough, and found it to be good. I didn't have quite enough cream of tartar, but it still turned out well! Smooth, soft, squishy, and almost exactly like the brand name stuff. It does have a bit of a salty, grainy texture, but that didn't bother me. Also, if it gets wet, the food coloring starts to bleed onto hands. But I can live with that! It also made A LOT of play dough - I split it into fourths and put away 3/4 of the dough in separate containers for another day.

Joshua loved it!

Citrus vinaigrette

I've been avoiding dairy products for almost two weeks now! So far, I can't say I've seen much improvement in baby Josh, but I have "cheated" for a slice of pizza and a spoonful of my mom's delicious chocolate buttercream. I bought almond milk last week, and I'm trying almond-coconut milk this week, I've tried rice cheese, and I'm mostly doing ok. I bought spinach salad to be sure I'm getting enough calcium, too. I do really miss yogurt and I'm wishing for ice cream, but it's ok. Mostly, I've been so surprised at how many prepared foods have milk or whey in them! I was shocked that my favorite crackers, salt and vinegar chips, and even spaghetti sauce have milk products in them.

Speaking of that spinach, though - I almost poured buttermilk ranch dressing all over it! I reached for the Italian instead, and realized I'd purchased the kind with Parmesan cheese in it - oops. So, what to do? Make dressing, of course! I did a quick search for easy vinaigrette recipes and settled on this one.

I gathered my ingredients, pleased that I actually had most of the in the house. I've been packing for our move this weekend, so many of our kitchen items are in boxes somewhere in the apartment.

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 lemon, zested (skipped this)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon honey (I couldn't get the jar open, so I used white sugar instead)
• 1/8 cup chopped fresh basil (I already packed the spices, so I left this out)
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar)

I guessed on measurements, because my measuring cups and spoons are packed. Surprisingly enough, it turned out deliciously!

I've been eating it on salads all week now. It's especially yummy with grilled chicken and dried berries. Hooray!

Now, back to packing boxes. Well, after I finish snuggling with baby Joshua as he naps :)

soup

It has been a week full of soup!

Poor Bradley came home from work with a head cold on Tuesday night. Commence operation soup week.

On Tuesday night, I doctored up a can of condensed chicken noodle soup - that meant boiling chopped carrots, onions and garlic, adding chunks of cooked basil pesto chicken, and tossing in some broccoli with the contents of the can. I even made some fresh bread in the bread maker. Poor hubby was impressed, but wasn't even able to finish one bowl. That's when I knew he was really really sick!

Wednesday, he felt even worse, but still went in to work. His coworkers were quick to tell him that he better take his plague-infected self out of the game before anyone else at work caught what he had, so he was home by mid-morning. I was happy to have him home so he could rest - he spent the rest of the day in hour-long naps and snuggling under blankets on the couch before sleeping 12+ hours at night. Lunch was a portion of a can of turkey noodle soup, with fresh bread and just-made banana muffins. But dinner? That was a from-scratch masterpiece soup that I'd like to repeat! Well, I may make some changes. But this was a pretty great start.

My mouth is already watering. Here's what I did:

Vegetable Beef Soup

2 T. butter
1/2 c. onion, finely chopped
1 c. carrot, finely chopped (about 2 large carrots)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 beef bouillon cube
4 c. water
2 c. white or russet potatoes, peeled and chopped (about 3-4 medium)
2 c. chopped broccoli
1 c. (or more) chopped, cooked roast beef
rosemary
basil
salt
pepper
shredded cheddar or mozzarella, for garnish

Melt the butter over low heat, and then add the onion and carrot. Raise heat to medium, and cook until the veggies are almost tender. Add garlic and cook another two minutes or so.

Add the water and bouillon cube, and bring to a boil. Add the potatoes and cook for a few minutes. Test for tenderness.Then, add the chopped broccoli and cook until almost tender. Add the beef and heat through.

Season with spices to your taste and top with shredded cheese. Enjoy!

P. S. Hubby took another sick day on Thursday to continue his recovery, and now he's feeling so much better! Thankful.

fresh tomatoes

The other day, my mom and my sister-in-law came to visit, which was wonderful. I love hugs, shopping time, and spending the day with people who love and understand me. Miss them already.

When they came, they brought me a bunch of material things:

1. African violet food. It's still here - I'll bring it to you when I see you at the baby shower, Mom!
2. Such cute little baby clothes!
3. Freshly picked roses and other lovely flowers for my bedside bouquet. Why bedside? Because that's the only room where the kitties are not allowed to be. And they would destroy a bouquet if it was out in the open and I wasn't looking.
4. Chocolate chip cookies. Hooray!!
5. Two large baskets of tomatoes and cucumbers from my brother and sister-in-law's garden! Hooray, hooray!

And then we spent the day shopping and thrifting. Two of my favorite things. :o)

When they went home after dinner, there were the tomatoes again, looking at me. How in the world can I eat that many tomatoes?

Salad? Yes, I like salad.

Um...mozzarella and tomato salad?

Cucumber tomato salad?

Tomato...SAUCE!!!

This, I have never attempted before. So I googled a recipe, and Smitten Kitchen's recipe came up first. She makes so many delicious-looking things, and it really was high time that I actually tried one of her recipes.

Now, I scored and blanched and peeled and seeded and chopped and mirepoix-ed just as suggested (minus the celery and onion and with the addition of another garlic clove). I simmered and squished and stirred.

And an hour later, there was sauce! Yay!

We ate it over spaghetti, with shredded parmesan (thanks, Mom!) and chicken. Delicious!

However, this was possibly the most time-consuming and tedious job ever, next to making grape pie. I would have to be highly motivated to do it again... we'll see!

burger buns

Well, friends, sometimes being short on pennies brings on wonderful things.

I know, you're probably thinking I'm a little off my rocker. I might be. But hang on.

It means that I can only purchase basics, and I have to make do with what I have. It means I have to be more creative and more careful.

And tonight, that meant that I made hamburger buns rather than buying them.

Success!!

I used this recipe, and believe it or not, I didn't change any of the ingredients. I did let them rise (raise? Where are the grammar police when I need them?) for 30 minutes instead of 10, though.

My tummy was making the strangest sounds, so I had to eat one to make sure they were okay for dinner consumption. The verdict?

So delicious. Soft, nice texture, not too done on the bottom, and oh! delicious with honey. Yes, I slathered honey on one.

And Brad loved them! He said they looked and tasted a lot like the ones he was used to his mom buying - score. In fact, his words as he walked in the kitchen were something to the effect of "Where did you get those rolls? They look like the ones my mom buys." Oh, that made me smile.

oatmeal cookies

Get to know my hubby a little bit, and you'll find out that the guy loves anything oatmeal or bran. Muffins, cookies, breads, cereal - it's a win in his book!

Last winter, he was asking me to make oatmeal cookies, and I diligently searched for a recipe. I had been getting a subscription to Disney's Family Fun magazine - one of those freebies that I didn't sign up for - and the next issue (March 2012) had a recipe for "A Better Oatmeal Cookie." The recipe is by Bill Collins, a personal chef in Massachusetts, whose blog is here. He looks pretty cool, and that's not just because he's a chai tea drinker. (He even has a recipe for chai!) Unlike other oatmeal cookie recipes, this one has such tiny amounts of sugar and fat - it's mostly oatmeal and raisins. I was skeptical, but tried it anyway. Of course, you know that I can't follow a recipe to a "t."

The first time around, I made these with dried cranberries and dried cherries - yum! They come out like granola cookies, not quite so much like a flat, chewy oatmeal cookie. They're delicious, and gone in no time when hubby's home. And, in my opinion, they almost count as a breakfast food or snack.

This time, I had no butter in the house (WHAT?!), so I substituted vegetable oil for the melted butter in the recipe. It might just be the different oven I used, but they came out more moist than last time! Firm on the outside, and soft and chewy on the inside.

Another blogger has posted the recipe, but didn't care for it as we do! You have to realize that this is not ye-old-traditional-oatmeal-cookie. Here is the recipe, with my diversions (haha!) beside:

1/2 cup raisins (or dried cherries, dried cranberries, chocolate chips)
1/2 cup sifted flour (I used whole wheat)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon (heaping)
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (oh, darn. that's what I forgot to buy more of at the grocery today.)
1 egg (I used an XL egg this time)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I guessed, using the lid of the vanilla bottle for a measuring spoon)
1/4 cup butter, melted (or vegetable oil)
3 cups quick oats

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Place the raisins in a small bowl and cover with water, allowing them to soak for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir to blend evenly.

Set aside three tablespoons of the water from the bowl of raisins, then drain the raisins, discarding the remaining water.

Whisk the egg in a medium bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract, melted butter, and reserved raisin water. (If you're using vegetable oil, measure that in a liquid measuring cup first, then beat the egg right into measuring cup with the oil. I used a fork to "whisk." Add vanilla and water to these nicely whisked liquids.)

Make a well in the flour mixture, then pour in the egg mixture and blend well. Add the oats and raisins. The dough will be lumpy.

With a tablespoon or 1 1/2 tablespoon cookie scoop, place portions of the dough on the cookie sheets, flattening the tops slightly. (I used my hands to portion out dough, squeezed it into a suitably cookie-like shape, and then placed on the parchment. Messier, but effective. And fun.)

Bake the cookies one pan at a time (um, I did both at the same time on two different racks), rotating the pan halfway through (I switched and rotated the pans), until they're golden brown (just barely, at the edges!), for about 16 minutes (14 minutes in my older gas oven without an electronic timer). Allow to cook on the cookie sheet for 3-4 minutes (or not), then use a spatula to transfer to a wire rack for complete cooling.

Eat them all.

I think these would be pretty amazing with, say, slivered almonds mixed in - perhaps 1/4 c. Maybe I'll try that next time. Or - what if I used peanut butter to sub for the butter? Ooh... or Nutella? And what if I added cardamom, and subbed in golden raisins? I think I'll experiment again, soon!

Why only one cookie in the picture? Because the rest are tightly sealed in a plastic zip-top bag. If I take out more than one, more than one will disappear, if you know what I mean!

Strawberry Scones

Last night, I was planning to make biscuits to go along with dinner - ham, potatoes, salad for me, broccoli for hubby, and apple sauce. I pulled out my Betty Crocker cookbook for the recipe, but had sudden inspiration.

Chalk it up to pregnancy: the biscuits had to be sweet. With strawberries. I figured I'd add a couple more tablespoons of sugar, and call it a day. But then, I turned the page to the recipe for scones (page 74, Betty Crocker Cookbook, Bridal Edition). Yes! We'll have scones! For dessert, that is.

I set about making the scones recipe, figuring I probably had everything I needed (nope). So here's the recipe, with my changes in parentheses. You know I have a hard time sticking to a recipe!

1 and 3/4 c. all purpose flour
3 T granulated sugar
2 and 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

I sifted the dry ingredients together with my new vintage sifter, very much like this one. Did I tell you about that? Mom and I found it at a thrift store for a dollar. Sweet.

Anyway, I then had another moment of inspiration and decided to add the following:

1/2 t. cardamom
1/2 t. cinnamon

Betty clearly didn't know that this would make scones taste amazing-er.

Moving on. I then used my pastry blender to cut in the 1/3 c. cold butter, (cut into small pieces). Betty says to stir in the egg, vanilla, and just enough of the heavy cream (or skim milk!) so that the dough leaves the side of the bowl. Here are the quantities she recommends:

1 large egg, beaten (or not... I just cracked it into the mix)
1/2 t. vanilla
4-6 T of heavy whipping cream (um... make that skim milk)

Then, I skipped down to the raspberry variation of scones, and folded in about four large strawberries, cut into rough chunks. It was probably a little more than half a cup of fruit.

Next, Betty says to knead the dough and flatten into an 8" circle. I skipped the kneading and just plopped the whole thing down on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. I sprinkled sugar on top, cut it into eight pieces without separating the pieces, and in the oven it went! About 20 minutes later, we had delicious, hot, strawberry scones. So good! We had ours with a bit of vanilla ice cream - the hubby approved.

improvisation: strawberry shortcakes

The other day, when I had made cookies for our little surprise, I had some leftover cookies that didn't get iced. They were in the freezer for a while, and I took them out last week to make (improvised) strawberry shortcakes!

First, I made some cream cheese frosting, following the Betty Crocker recipe. I mixed up just a little bit - about half the recipe - to use up the 4oz of cream cheese I had in the fridge.

Meanwhile, I defrosted some sliced strawberries from last summer's harvest.

Looking tasty!

Cookies: ready to go. First, I laid out five relatively flat-bottomed cookies, keeping another five to top them later.

Then, I spread a generous layer of cream cheese frosting on each cookie. Mmmm!

Next, I topped each cookie with some strawberry slices - pretty.

I love the way my Pyrex mixing bowls look in the background. Happy.

Next, I iced the underside of each of the reserved cookies...

...and made a cookie sandwich for each of the prepared strawberry cookies.

Then, of course, what would shortcake be without a sprinkling of powdered sugar?

They were delicious! Just the right amount of soft cookie, strawberry juice, and tangy cream cheese. Husband approved. :o)

friendship bread

Yes, the notorious, delicious, friendship bread. Or shall we say, "fiendship" bread? Don't get me wrong: I love my friends. I love to bake. Friendship bread, though, is a little much for me.

Maybe you haven't heard of it. Here's how it works:
Your friend gives you an innocuous looking bag of batter that, over the course of 10 days, you allow to ferment, adding milk, sugar, and flour to increase the amount of batter. On day 10, you divide the batter between four bags, keeping one for yourself, and giving the others away. This batter is called "starter."

This can quickly get out of hand if you're not on top of the baking every 10th day thing.

So, being the resourceful grad student I am, I decided to use all the starter to bake over break. Ta-da!

First, I made the "classic" friendship bread. But you know me - I just can't stick to the printed recipe if I think I can make it better! One of my goals was to use up the batter as quickly as possible, too, so I doubled the recipe. Here's the recipe, with my changes:

my version (original)
Set the oven at 350 degrees F. Grease four (two) loaf pans. Mix 1/4 c. granulated sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon, then dust the pans with half the sugar mixture. Reserve the rest of the sugar mixture.

In a large bowl mix:
6 eggs (3)
1 c. vegetable oil (1 c.- no doubling)
2 c. granulated sugar (1 c.)
4 tsp. cinnamon (2 tsp.)
3 tsp. baking powder (1.5 tsp)
1 tsp. salt (1/2 tsp.)
4 c. flour (2 c.)
no pudding (1 large or 2 small boxes instant vanilla pudding)
2 c. starter (1 c.)

Mix well, until no lumps remain. Pour equal amounts of batter into each loaf pan, sprinkling the tops with the reserved cinnamon sugar mixture. Bake 1 hour, remove from pans, and cool on wire racks. Mine came out a little crunchy on the outside, and I like that. Maybe bake yours at a lower temperature, or for less time, if you don't want the crunch.

That was delicious!

On to recipe # 2: Snicker doodles. I found the recipe here and didn't make any changes to it. Helpful hint: be sure to use real butter, and that the butter is soft enough to stir easily if you're going to mix by hand, as I did! I cut the butter into pieces, and then added the sugar and eggs, creaming the mixture. Then, I added the starter and gradually added the flour mixture. So yummy!

At this point, it was dinner time, and my dear friend, Nicki, called me. We chatted for an hour, and I abandoned all plans of using the last cup of starter. It was actually rather freeing to toss it in the trash can...

But, now I have (so many) cookies and four loaves of tasty sweet bread! Anyone want to come over for tea?

Crispy Caesar Chicken

Tonight was the first night this week that I actually had time to cook. Well, besides Sunday night. I guess I only skipped Monday, but it felt like a long time!

I tried something new tonight and I made up a baked chicken dish I wanted to share with you. The chicken came out wonderfully tender and moist - mmm!

I had mine with a fresh green salad and whole wheat toast with plum jam. Delicious!

Crispy Caesar Chicken - a Linnea original

2 chicken breasts, butterflied into 3/4" thick pieces and cut into portions
1/3 c. Marie's Creamy Caesar dressing
1/2 c. Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with cooking spray.

Pour dressing into a shallow bowl, and pour breadcrumbs onto a plate. Coat each piece of chicken in dressing first, and then in breadcrumbs. Place each piece of chicken on the baking sheet.

Bake for 12 minutes, turn each piece of chicken over, and then bake for about 14 minutes more.

Enjoy!!

Tropical Pineapple Cupcakes

My sister-in-law is here with me, and we made cupcakes! No surprise there...

I referenced a new cookbook from my MIL: "Scrumptious Cupcakes: For the Perfect Indulgence"

We decided on Tropical Pineapple Cupcakes:

2 slices canned pineapple in natural juice
1 T pineapple juice
6 T butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 c. superfine sugar
2/3 c. self-rising flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put paper liners in a muffin tin.
Drain the pineapple, reserving the juice. Finely chop the pineapple slices. Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat together until light and fluffy, then gradually beat in the egg. Add the flour and fold into the mixture. Fold in the chopped pineapple and pineapple juice. Spoon the batter into the paper liners.

At this point, I also chopped up and added maraschino cherries to the batter in each cup. My batter didn't go as far as the recipe said - I only had enough for 11 smallish cupcakes. Strange?

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until well risen and springy. Cool completely.

The recipe says to use a lemon cream cheese frosting - which sounds delicious - but I had no cream cheese. Instead, I made an orange butter cream!

5 T butter, softened
3-4 T orange juice
3 c. powdered sugar

Mix ingredients...and put on cupcakes!

And then I chopped more pineapple for garnish on the cupcakes! Can't wait to eat them...

weeknight potato soup

Tonight I made potato soup for the hubby and me! It turned out well, so I'm sharing. The recipe, that is. :o) This is a Linnea original.

Quick Potato Soup
Serves 2-4

3-4 medium red potatoes, or 2-3 peeled russet potatoes
1 large carrot
5-6 strips thick bacon
1 can cream of chicken soup
skim milk
1 clove garlic
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
freshly ground pepper
paprika
chives

1. Cut the potatoes into 1/4" cubes, leaving the skin on.
2. Peel the carrot and quarter it lengthwise, and then cut thin slices.
3. Combine the carrot and potatoes in a medium saucepan. Add the cream of chicken soup. Use the soup can to measure 1.5 cans of skim milk into the pan. Find the garlic press and squish the clove of garlic into the pan. Stir to combine.
4. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then reduce to a simmer - keep it uncovered to avoid a mess. Meanwhile, cook the bacon. I used the microwave to keep the smell contained. Trim the fat from the bacon, cut into bite-size pieces, and add to the soup.
5. Add black pepper, paprika, and chives to taste. I didn't add any salt because the bacon is salty enough.
6. When potatoes and carrots are tender, add 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese, stirring until it melts.
7. Serve!

Optional:
8. Rake in the compliments from hubby
9. Blog about it
10. Take the leftovers to school and eat it for lunch!

Southwest Skillet

Super leftover use! Sometimes I masquerade as superwoman, making magical things come out of my kitchen while still having time to sew, clean, do laundry, scrapbook, spend time with hubby, and study.

Ready? This will require kitchen courage and multitasking. Begin on Monday so that you can do all these steps.

1. Shrimp jambalaya night! Use some diced tomatoes, but realize that the 32 oz can is way too much tomatoes.
2. Brown a pound of ground beef earlier in the week. Use something else for dinner instead (namely, cut up the Swedish meatballs from last week and use them in the pasta/creamy basil pesto/broccoli skillet), and refrigerate the cooked beef.
3. Make BBQ chicken drumsticks, mashed potatoes, and broccoli. Leave a drumstick for another night.
4. Have burritos, complete with chicken, diced tomatoes, black beans, and rice. That can of black beans was also huge.
5. Brainstorm. No, I did that for you. Here goes!

6. Make cornbread, using one box mix, one egg, 1/4 c. sour cream and 1/3 c. water. Bake at 350 degrees F for 40 minutes. This deviates from the Jiffy box mix recipe, which requires 1/3 c. milk and 1 egg, mixed, and baked at 450 for 20 minutes. Why? I used up the milk on my cereal this morning and had to improvise.

7. Make brownies at the same time (in a different bowl and pan, of course), stirring in 3/4 c. Nestle's peanut butter swirl chocolate morsels. Mmm. Bake for 40 mins at 350 with the cornbread. (This is slightly underbaked. Gooey; as I like it. Do not taste it before dinner. Do snack on the chocolate morsels and then put them out of reach.)


8. Raid the fridge. Dump half the ground beef into the skillet, followed by the black beans and diced tomatoes. Chop up half a green onion and add that to the pan. Unwrap the leftover chicken drumstick and cut the meat into bite-size pieces. Add to the skillet.


9. Secret weapon: taco seasoning. Sprinkle liberally onto the contents of the skillet. I used about half a packet without adding any water.

(Note: chopped onion, diced garlic, fresh cilantro, lime juice, and/or jalepeños would also be delicious additions)

10. Heat up the contents of the skillet until the green pepper is fork-tender. Taste it to make sure there's enough seasoning. Add more, if you want. I did.

11. Slice the cornbread and spoon the deliciousness on top!

Or, leave it on the side. As you prefer.

Enjoy! Serve with salsa and tortilla chips, if the mood strikes.

And finish off with brownies.
And another slice of cornbread.

Celebrate! You used up the leftovers.

comfort food

Since it is a (broken) furnace-like 40 degrees here in western New York, some comfort food was in order. Enter:

Potatoes Au Gratin, a new family favorite.
(adapted from All Recipes.com)

The cheesy goodness is just too much to contain! See the overflowing dish?

Recipe:
5 or so red potatoes, peeled and sliced into 1/4" pieces
buttered 2 quart dish - I used a glass loaf pan
two garlic cloves, minced
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon salt (and pepper to taste, if you want. I skipped that.)
2 cups milk - skim works just fine
1/2 cup shredded cheddar
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesan (I used powdered, but shredded would've been yummier yet)
breadcrumbs, if desired

1. Butter the dish. Seriously. I suppose you could use cooking spray or something healthy like that, but who would want to? :o)
2. Peel and slice potatoes, and lay them down in a single layer in the buttered dish.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 F. (The original recipe says 400 F)
In a sauce pan, melt the butter and add the minced garlic. All at once, add the flour and salt, whisking to combine.
4. Continuing to whisk, add the 2 cups of milk. Here comes the waiting game: whisk continuously until the mixture thickens. Not boils, just thickens. Just keep whisking. My wrist got really tired.
5. Once the mixture thickens, add all the cheese and whisk until it all melts. Remove from heat.
6. Pour a layer of cheesy sauce goodness over the first layer of potatoes. Add a second layer and pour on another layer of sauce. Repeat until you're out of potatoes, and make sure every last drop of cheese is slurped up makes it into the dish. I added a topping of Italian seasoned breadcrumbs here, but they disappeared with baking. Ineffective, I guess.
7. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil to prevent the awesomeness of cheese from coating your oven's wire racks. Place the glass dish on the baking sheet and cover with more foil.
8. Bake at 350 F for 2 hours, or at 400 for 1.5 hours. Check partway through to make sure it's not spilling over.
9. EAT!