Monday, November 18, 2013

Cranberry Walnut Bread

I love good bread. I enjoy trying new kinds. Senor could eat his weight and then some, in breads.

I picked up a loaf of cranberry walnut bread at Publix a few weeks ago. It was "on sale" for a whooping $4 a loaf, but I was hungry, had saved a good amount on my groceries and wanted a loaf really badly. I'd tried it a few months back and had wanted to buy some ever since. Chalk it up to weak pregnancy hormones. I caved and splurged on the dinky loaf. Took it home and we all agreed it was good.

I also knew it couldn't be THAT hard to make. I was too lazy, though, to even think about making yeast bread.

That all changed when I finally researched recipes and decided I would try using my KitchenAid + dough hook for once. I have NEVER used my dough hook! I very much like to make my yeast breads in a bowl with my own hands. But last night, I just didn't want to do it and it seemed like the perfect recipe to try out with my KitchenAid.

Senor took the girls upstairs after dinner, to give them their baths and I went to work on the recipe. It literally came together so easily and quickly. It was in the bowl rising by the time the girls were back downstairs, all freshly scrubbed and jammied.
This is not my bread...but mine looked exactly like it. Again, I'm just too lazy to photo, touch-up, and post.

I tried to mix in the craisins and walnuts by hand...no. no. no. I threw it back into the mixer and let that dough hook do the manual labor for me. It worked beautifully.

Sat it over the stove to rise (1st rise) for about a hour, stuck 2 fingers in the dough, removed and the imprints stayed...1st rise done.

Rolled it out on the counter (kind of) into a quasi-rectangle, rolled it up and set it into a greased bread loaf pan...back on top of the stove for a second rising (again, about an hour)...pressed the side and the impression stayed...2nd rising DONE!

Into the oven it went for about 32-33 minutes and voila! Beautiful, perfect cranberry walnut bread. Delicious.

I think the only thing I would change, I might (MIGHT**) add a smidge more sweetner. It was good as is, but I do think Publix's version is slightly sweeter. Just a smidge. And probably up the cinnamon a bit...I like to taste my cinnamon more.

So, dust off your mixers and make some bread!! Your hands won't even have to get dirty or sticky!

Ingredients:
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (I used my Fleischman's)
1 c old fashioned oats (regular or quick min)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 cups bread flour
3-4 Tbsp vital wheat gluten (optional, but I highly recommend wheat gluten in homemade yeast breads)
1 c + 2 Tbsp water
3-4 Tbsp oil (vegetable or canola preferrably)
1/3 c pure maple syrup (or you could sub brown sugar...roughly 1/4-1/3 c)
1 c chopped walnuts (I did not measure, just threw in a lot)
1 c craisins (again, why measure? the more the merrier!)


  • 1. In your stand mixer bowl combine yeast, oats, cinnamon, salt and 1 cup of bread flour. Mix it together on low with your PADDLE ATTACHMENT.
  • 2. In  a small mixing bowl combine the water, oil, syrup. Stir it up and heat in the microwave for 20-45 sec until it feels warm to the touch. NOT hot, just warm...little more than luke warm. 
  • 3. Add liquids into the stand mixing bowl. Stir the dry + wet together (using PADDLE ATTACHMENT) on medium speed for 5-7 min...use this time to chop your walnuts. 
  • 4. Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix for 1 more minute. 
  • 5. Swap your attachment for the dough hook.
  • 6. Gradually add in remaining 2 cups of bread flour and the vital wheat gluten. Mix using dough hook on medium speed until it's all together and smooth. Then add in walnuts and craisins, allowign dough hook to do the dirty work...on med-low speed until everything is incoporated.
  • 7. Your dough should be nice and smooth, should not be sticky. Should be a ball. Remove it and place it in a large greased bowl. Cover lightly with plastic wrap or towel and set it in a warm, humid spot for about an hour (until it has doubled in size and when you stick a finger into the dough the pit stays after you remove your finger)
  • 8. Roll the dough out (to remove air) and push it into a 7"x14" rectangle (or something there about)...roll it up starting on the short end. Pinch the seams, place the roll seam side down in a greased loaf pan. lightly cover with plastic wrap or towel. Set it back in that warm, humid spot and allow it to rise again. 
  • 9. It is ready to bake when you press your finger into the top (lightly) and the finger impression stays....it shouldn't spring right back, if so let it keep rising.
  • 10. Preheat oven to 375F, place loaf of dough into the oven and back for 30-45 min...check around the 30-35 min mark. When it's beautifully golden on top and sounds hollow when it's thumped, your bread is done! Remove, cool and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Breakfast

Wouldn't be awesome to have your own personal chef? To wake up and walk downstairs to a warm, delicious breakfast that is all ready to go? Well, turn to your crock pot and say, "Hello, personal chef".

I know, I know. Mondays are supposed to be Muffins. Trust me, my oldest told me all about how we were supposed to be having muffins this morning, NOT apples grits.

But, I couldn't help it. I did not feel like waking up and making muffins (we ate all the rest of the 3 batches I've made this month...cough, cough...Senor). I knew last night I didn't want to wake up and make muffins. So, I decided to change up the schedule. I also knew we still had apples in the fridge that are not super great for just munching on, but they'd be awesome cooked.
No, this is not my picture. Mine was not nearly as pretty and I was too hungry to take any pictures this morning.

I wanted something warm, healthy and easy. So, I adapted a few recipes I came across and threw it all in the crock pot, turned it on LOW, and proceeded to go to bed. When Senor left for work, I asked him to turn it to "keep warm" after he had a bowl. When the girls and I finally made it downstairs a while later, all I had to do was scoop it into bowls, plop on some vanilla greek yogurt, a dash of cinnamon/sugar and voila! Healthy, hearty, warm breakfast!

It was so yummy. The girls both ate it up. And I took the rest and froze it in muffin tins for later, individual servings.

Slow Cooker Apple Pie Oatmeal
4-5 apples, any variety. Cored, peeled if you like, diced (large chunks)
2 1/2 c milk
1/2 c cream
3 cups water
2 cups steel cut oats (I like Bob's Red Mill)...and YES, they have to be steel cut oats
4-6 Tbsp brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter, cut into cubes
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4-1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp allspice
pinch or 2 of ginger
1/2 tsp (scant) of salt
1 c raisins (optional)

Directions: 
1. Spray your crock pot with non-stick spray.
2. Dump all ingredients into crock pot; stir up; cover and turn to LOW for 5-7 hours
3. It is done when the edges are slightly brown and oats are cooked.

Scoop up servings and top with any number of toppings! Chopped pecans, walnuts, craisins, vanilla yogurt, sprinkle of cinnamon, dash of sugar, honey, fresh banana or pear...little cream.  The possibilities are endless and delicious. 

Makes approx 8- 3/4 cup servings

If you want to freeze leftovers for a later (quick) meal...spray your muffin tin well. Plop your oatmeal into each tin (about 1/3 cup for each), place it in the fridge until it's all cooled off well. Then pop the muffin tin and oatmeal into the freezer until it's frozen. Remove it from the freezer, pop each out of the tin, toss into a freezer bag and place the bag back in the freezer. 

When you want a little oatmeal, simply remove the desired number of servings and thaw them in the microwave until they're warm (usually 3-7 min); be sure to stir it up a few times during the microwaving process. 

Saturday, November 2, 2013

November Meal Plan

I'll post this here for people who are interested, rather than assaulting people who come to our personal blog hoping for pictures of cute kids. :)

November’s meal plan:

I was surprised (pleasantly) that I did hear from several people that they liked the previous post about my grocery shopping habits/meal planning.

So I figured I’d do the same thing for November.

Breakfasts: again, this is just for the girls and me (sort of...I eat whatever sounds good) and Senor eats cereal 99% of the time
Sunday: ½ PB & J, fruit, milk  OR oatmeal bake muffins (basically I’m just going to make them in muffin tins and freeze them; thaw in the microwave when ready to eat) with milk and fruit.
Back-up bfast for Sundays is always cereal.

Monday: Muffin Monday. (I’m making several kinds of muffins—BB, carrot, pumpkin, banana and freezing them; thaw in the microwave when ready to eat), egg, and fruit

Tuesday: Toast Tuesday (cheese, plain or cinnamon toast), vegetable, fruit, cheese on the side if they don’t want cheese toast

Wednesday: Waffle Wednesday. (Again, I’m making a large batch and freezing them, they reheat well in the toaster or the oven), yogurt, and fruit

Thursday: SmooTHie Thursday (a stretch, I know!) I blend yogurt or milk with frozen fruit…pick some combo, ½ whole wheat mini bagel

Friday: “Fun” Friday. Some sort of “fun” food…cereal or some weird fruit. Milk. Fruit.  Sometimes I just put in the extra effort to make it look like a face or something.

Saturday: Super Saturday. Pancakes, Fresh oatmeal with fruit/nuts, French toast, etc….yogurt, fruit. Since Senor is home we generally try to make something special and yummy.

Lunches: This is just for the girls & I, Senor takes a sandwich or pasta or leftovers almost everyday. 
Sunday:  “Protein Pack” which translates into some form of carb (usually bread/pita or crackers), nuts/cheese/egg, vegetable, fruit

Monday: Pita, EVOO dip, vegetable, fruit, black beans/nuts, cheese

Tuesday: whole wheat mini bagel with PB (or plain), nuts on the side (if no PB), fruit, & vegetable

Wednesday: PB & graham crackers, milk, fruit/veg

Thursday: Cheese & crackers, veg & fruit

Friday: Pasta, egg/beans, cheese & veggie

Saturday: usually a toss up and some form of a lunch from earlier in the week…often depends on what they had for breakfast.

Our Dinners: in order of when we plan to eat them...(with my ahead-prep notes)…most of our meals I make sure will feed us for 2 nights (and sometimes more) so that I’m only cooking every other night or so.

Crepes-senor’s specialty

Pizza—I’ve made this ahead and frozen the dough, but honestly nothing beats fresh made pizza

Chicken Curry— diced up chicken & put into a large ziplock freezer bag. Measured diced onion into sandwich size bag, tossed into the freezer bag; in a snack size bag I mixed up all the spices garlic thru salt and put that little mixture bag into the big bag. Placed it all in one bag into the freezer with recipe card; coconut milk, tomato paste and sour cream/yogurt are all pantry/fridge items
I also set aside the bag of frozen peas and rubberbanded it to the chicken curry bag.

Minestrone w/bread- I put the first 6 ingredients in a bag. (I blanche the zuch first, just FYI).  I shred my carrots and put them in a little bag. And I mix all my spices into a bag and the pasta shells measured out into a little bag, I put all 4 bags together in the freezer...it's like a little kit; for the spinach I bought frozen, chopped spinach and will thaw and drain when time comes; it's not fresh, I know, but it all gets mushy anyways even if you use fresh. I put some whole-grain yummy bread in to freeze and it's ready to go.

Pork Tenderloin w/cherry sauce, butternut squash, green beans, maybe cheese grits- I made up the cherry sauce in advance, poured it back into the jar and put it in the fridge. The butternut squash I roasted in the oven and pureed it, a spoonful of maple syrup/butter…freeze flat in a ziplock bag in the freezer-thaw & microwave when ready to eat. GB I blanched and flash froze. I’ll steam them or toss them in boiling water—swirl with a little EVOO and sea salt. Cheese grits have to be made fresh…IF you’ve never tried grits, I HIGLY recommend you try this recipe sometime. It’s divine!

Chicken Pot Pie-I made up the entire pie and froze it unbaked. Will thaw and bake when it’s time to eat!  *These do tend to take more than a hour to bake from frozen. If thawed well they’ll bake in about 1-1.5 hours

BBQ, corn on the cobb, sweet potato fries/mashed sweet potatoes, lima beans—I just put the Boston Butt in the crock pot the night before and make the veggies fresh. This is a pretty easy meal to throw together if you remember to start the meat the night before.  *To make lima beans correctly, one must put the fatty ends of bacon in with them and simmer on low for 30-45 min…MMMMmmmm J 

Enchiladas-I always make up some mixture and it’s never the same recipe twice. This time it will be a cross of this, this and this…  So I’ll mix up the mixture and sauce, assemble the enchiladas and place them in a foil pan, freeze it.

Philly Dips…broccoli, carrots, and fruit (frozen or fresh)

Lasagna w/bread—this will be assembled and all put together, placed in the freezer…homemade stouffers lasagna ready to go. I do make mine in smaller foil containers b/c 9x13 in the freezer takes up a lot of space and we won’t eat that much in 2 nights. So I usually make 1 8x8 and then 1 or 2 loaf pans (depending on what I have left) and they’re also perfect size for a small family with a new baby delivery-meal. I toss in some fresh bread from the bakery and freeze it; thaw and heat in the oven when ready!...if you’re feeling fancy you can always sprinkle with some parmesan cheese and garlic butter.
*I’m trying this recipe for lasagna this time…I’ve tried several, still searching for the best one; I’ll let you know how this one goes

Chili with corn muffins, cheese/sour cream/green onions; fruit. Again, everyone has their favorite chili recipe. Most can be made ahead of time and frozen. As can the corn muffins…I went the easy route and bought Jiffy mix this month, but usually I will make them from scratch.  You can also go so far as to freeze the chopped green onions and shredded cheese so you’ll be sure to have it on hand. I generally freeze my chili in batches big enough for 1 night (I find about 1-1.5 cups is about 1 adult bowl); this is another super easy meal to deliver to friends if you need to drop-off a meal.

Teriyaki Flank Steak, Teriyaki rice, broccoli, butternut squash-This is an easy one! I mixed up the marinade and threw it in a freezer bag along with the steak; freeze it flat. Thaw and grill! The rice can be made ahead of time and flash frozen spread out on a cookie sheet; just make sure to undercook it a bit so when you heat it up it has a little wiggle room before getting mushy.

SW Eggrolls-I’m trying this recipe this month; going to assemble the eggrolls and filling then flash freeze them. I’ll thaw them and flash fry them in the skillet or bake them when it’s time to eat!

Quinoa Broccoli Casserole- I pinned this one and will make it all, assemble, freeze prior to the baking step. Just like you would a rice/chicken casserole. We’ll see how it tastes. Probably will add some onion, cheddar cheese, carrots and peas/asparagus

Sausage, Lentil Soup with bread- We’ve had this before, it’s delicious. You can make this into a kit as well; putting the sausage into a large zip loc bag, putting the onions, celery, carrots, 2 cloves of garlic into a bag. 2 bay leaves in a little bag. Put all the bags together in the big bag for a kit. Blanche and flash freeze your kale/swiss chard (literally, just drop it into the boiling water for a few seconds and then drench it in ice cold water….dry, lay out on a cookie sheet and freeze; once it’s frozen transfer to a Ziploc bag and put it with the rest of your kit).  You could even shred or measure your parmesan cheese and put it aside in a bag and freeze it so you have everything except the can of tomatoes and oil all set to go.


Back up meals: Sloppy Joe’s…I usually will make this up in advance, adding some green peppers and using ½ turkey and ½ ground beef. Freeze in a bag in portions suitable for 1 night. (1/3 c mixture is about right per sandwich) 

The winners and losers from October's trial recipes:
Winners: 
~Creamy Sweet Potato Soup: I made this Halloween Day and used a cream cheese/yogurt mixture to create "spider webs" on top; I also used sliced, frozen sweet potato I had in the freezer, tossed it into a pot with water and boiled 10 min til soft. Continued with the recipe.
The bacon and parmesan are a MUST on this...so good.

~Chicken Salsa Casserole: this one was so easy and was good. Not over-the-top, wow-everyone-you-know amazing, but definitely a good regular stand-by. My kids really liked it. 

~Lemon Orzo Soup with Chicken Meatballs. Yummy. Slight variation on your usual chicken noodle soup. I added more veggies...I wouldn't recommend getting too wild. Extra carrots, for sure, but I'd stick with no additions. 

Maybe, need some work:
~Pork Stir-Fry with Green Beans: This was good, had great flavor and was super easy to pull together since I'd done alot of the prep work earlier; however, it felt like it was lacking. We decided maybe some red peppers, carrots...something to bulk it up a bit...definitely needed some more veggies

~Crock Pot Chicken and Rice: This was eh, so-so. Very bland. It defnitely needed some major work to become a staple. I'd definitely go with the Chicken Salsa Casserole over this any day.

Losers:
~Slow Cooker Gyros. I think next time I'll just marinate my chicken in my regular greek marinade, use the crock pot and go from there. The flavor on these was SO bland and lacking. And watery. Just bleh. Even with homemade fresh Naan and tzatziki sauce...still blah. 

Flank Steak Teriyaki & Rice

My parents make this on special occasions and it is so yummy...coming from someone who doesn't like steak.  We always have it with teriyaki rice and some veggies.

I decided to make it for our family this month.

Steak Teriyaki
1/2 c soy sauce
6 Tbsp honey
4 Tbsp cider vinegar
2 tsp garlic, minced
1 c oil
1 tsp ginger powder
2 lb flank steak

  1. Whisk together first 6 ingredients well
  2. Pour over steak (in Tupperware or something) and marinate covered, overnight (or at least 8 hours)
Grill to your liking

Teriyaki Rice
2 cups instant rice
1 Tbsp butter
1-2 small cans mushrooms, drained
1 med onion, chopped
1 can beef consume

  1. In large skillet heat, melt butter; sautee onions and mushrooms til onions tender; add rice…stir and brown slightly.
  2. Pour in consume, cover immediately and turn off heat.


*** the measurements are not exact…basically you use the consume can to measure your rice and it should be equal 1 can consume to 1 “can” rice

Chicken Pot Pie

I am in the process of getting more of my own recipes onto this blog so I can get rid of my big white notebook...we'll see.

Anyways. Here's how I make chicken pot pie. Everybody does it their way.

Chicken Pot Pie (makes 2)
** can freeze extra one before baking for a quick meal later!
4-6 chicken breasts (bone + skin)
2-3 small red potatoes, diced
½-1 onion diced
2 stalks celery sliced
1/3 c frozen green peas
1/2 c frozen green beans
1 can of corn
1 small can mushrooms
1/3 c. frozen lima beans
2-3 carrots sliced
2 can cream chicken soup
2 frozen deep dish pie crusts
1 box phyllo dough sheets or 2 pie crusts tops...I know some folks do biscuits. Whatever floats your boat

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake pie crusts 10-12 min, remove and allow to cool
  2. Boil chicken in large stockpot until done, de-skin, de-bone and chop up breast meat
  3. In broth from chicken cook carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, peas, lima beans, green beans until tender; drain.
  4. In large mixing bowl mix together all ingredients, salt and pepper to flavor
  5. Fill each pie crusts with half the chicken mixture
  6. Top with phyllo dough (follow instructions on box for handling)…if freezing stop here and cover with plastic wrap, aluminum foil and freeze.
Bake 400 degrees until browned on top and hot in center