Almond Joy Hot Chocolate

Although June comes tomorrow, this week has been cool and rainy, and last night I was really in the mood for some hot chocolate.  I've had this recipe bookmarked for a few months, so I finally got around to trying it last night.  It's very good and rich, similar to the Tres Leches Coconut Hot Chocolate of yore.  :)  But this one is different in that it uses almond milk and coconut milk together, to get those combined flavors.  I love using almond milk for this Hot Cocoa Mix, BTW.  I use store-bought because it's so creamy, yet only 40 calories per cup!  :)  (I get the shelf-stable kind; it's unsweetened.  My husband uses that now instead of cow's milk, and I use it often for cooking.  He loves when I make homemade Almond Milk, though!) 

If one used a vegan chocolate, this drink would be vegan!  I decided to go with milk chocolate though, since I prefer that flavor, as opposed to the darker chocolates.  I just cooked everything together in a little pan on the stove-top, instead of melting my chocolate first like the original recipe states. 

Almond Joy Hot Chocolate
adapted from Oh Nuts
Makes 1 large serving or 2 small ones

1 cup almond milk
1/4 cup coconut milk
1/3 cup milk or semi-sweet chocolate, or mix of chocolates
1-2 drops almond extract, optional
1-2 drops vanilla extract, optional
Lyle's Golden syrup, agave nectar, OR honey, optional

1.  Combine all ingredients, except the golden syrup, in a small saucepan over medium-low heat.  Whisk frequently until chocolate is melted and mixture is smooth.  If not sweet enough, add a squirt of Lyle's Golden syrup, agave, or honey to taste. 

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Easy Homemade Playdough

My mom made us homemade playdough growing up, and I've always meant to do so for my kids, but just never got around to it.  Until my daughter needed a medium with which to sculpt a school project, and I don't even know if they sell playdough around here.  Not wanting to venture to the store that day to check, I just looked up a recipe quickly and went for it. 

I ended up making four batches (the 4 colors shown above) because making one batch was SO easy and took only a few minutes!  Not only is this easy and cheap, the kids LOVE it!  It keeps them entertained for one to two hours each time they play with it, and they all sit and play with it together, which is nice.  I keep this in a cheap plastic container like Gladware, and it stores very nicely.  I've heard homemade playdough lasts forever.... we've only had ours about a month, but it's still good as new! 

Easy Homemade Playdough
adapted from Musings of a SAHM

1 cup flour

1 cup water

2 teaspoon cream of tartar

1/3 cup salt

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

food coloring (I used Wilton Gel food colorings)

1.  Mix together all the ingredients, except the food coloring, in a 2 quart saucepan (non-stick is best for this). Cook over low/medium heat, stirring. Once it begins to thicken, add the food coloring. Continue stirring until the mixture is much thicker and begins to gather around the spoon.  Remove the dough onto wax paper or a plate to cool.

2.  Once it cools (20-30 minutes), knead until totally smooth and playdough-like.  Store in an airtight container once it is totally cool. 

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Spinach-Pear Babyfood

We've been getting spinach from the Organic farm again, lately, and I wanted my baby to be able to partake of the spinachy goodness.  I wanted it to be a little bit sweetened for him, so I went with a spinach-pear combination.  The fresh pear made it sweet and juicy.  (Yes, I tasted it- it was good!!  It was like the baby version of a green smoothie).  I didn't bother steaming the pear; just chopped it up and used my immersion blender to puree that and the spinach together.  My baby loved it!!  He ate a big serving and we froze the rest in my silicone heart ice cube tray.

Spinach-Pear Baby Food
by What a Dish!

1 fresh pear (leave peel on for added fiber + nutrients)
2 small or one big handful baby spinach

1.  Rinse the pear and spinach.  Chop the pear into semi-large chunks.  Blend the pear and spinach together until smooth enough for your liking (can leave chunkier for older babies).  Serve right away or freeze for later.

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Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris

Happy Memorial Day!  This easy, refreshing drink is great for summer barbecues.  We've been having some beautiful weather here.  I hope everyone has had a great weekend.

Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris
adapted from Food

5 ounces fresh lime juice

16 ounces frozen sliced strawberries in syrup (or fresh)

2-4 tablespoons sugar, optional

1-2 cups ice cubes

1.  Fill a blender with the ingredients.  Blend until smooth. You may add a little water if too thick. Pour into chilled glasses.  (Optional- dip the (wet) rim of the glasses into sugar or kosher salt).

2.  Garnish with an extra strawberry, lime wedge, or an orange slice. Enjoy!

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Turkish Garden Salad

I love this salad- LOVE it.  I've made it about 5 times in the last few weeks.  It's from this Turkish cookbook I've mentioned before- which has been renewed from the library the maximum amount of times and now is scarily overdue, ooops!!  I'm scared to show my face in the library right now. 

Anyway, I love this salad.  It is so simple- a mix of good lettuce, tomato, fresh onion, and feta cheese.  Then a simple lemon and olive oil dressing.  The mix of flavors, though, simple as they may be, are just amazing!  They remind me of a Greek salad, which makes sense, since the countries border each other.  Make sure to use a fresh lemon.  I've made this salad both with baby spinach and Mache, or French Lamb's Lettuce, and both ways are very good.  The original recipe calls for Arugula, and although I can find it here sometimes, it never looks very fresh. 

Turkish Garden Salad
adapted from The Turkish Cookbook

Salad:
1 bag Lamb's Lettuce (Mache), Arugula, or baby spinach
1 small Spanish or red onion, peeled, sliced into thin rings
1/2-1 cup diced feta or firm ricotta-salata
About 15 cherry tomatoes, halved
Kalamata Olives

Dressing:
1 fresh lemon, juice
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
sea salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste

1.  Wash lettuce leaves and remove any large stems, if needed.  Dry and arrange the arugula/lettuce in a salad bowl.  Add the onions rings, cheese, tomatoes and olives.

2.  In a bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, garlic, mustard, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Pour the dressing over the salad and toss well. 

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Candied Orange Peel

Wow- I made these almost 2 months ago, but have had so many other things to blog about, that I'm just now getting around to posting them!  These were DELICIOUS!!  They were like homemade orange slice candy- but 100 times better.  (I LOVE orange slice candy).  They were chewy, citrusy, sweet- so good!  I didn't get as far as dipping them in chocolate- I made these right before our trip to Germany and had no time for dippage.  I need to try them again dipped in chocolate.  A few months ago, we ordered some chocolate-dipped orange peels online and they were so good, but so expensive! 

The original blogger tosses them in sugar after they've dried a bit, but I found that with our humid weather here, that was a waste, because the sugar kind of "melted" off a few hours later, anyway.  Plus, I prefer the smoother texture of the un-sugared ones.  The un-sugared ones are pictured above. 

 To get the peels off cleanly, I first sliced the oranges into slices, and then carefully peeled the peels off of each slice (pictured above).  This was the easiest, most stress-free way for me.  See the original recipe for another way.  Also, I'll post it below.  Closet Cooking says that you can do this with any citrus peel- I wonder how lemons would be! 

I tried to make these a second time, but instead of chewy and delicious, they were mushy and weird.  I had to throw them out.  I'm not sure what went wrong- but I did leave them unattended for quite a while.  They were either undercooked or overcooked, oops!  Lesson learned- don't go upstairs and watch a TV show while these are simmering away!  ;) 

Candied Orange Peel
adapted from Closet Cooking

3 oranges (navel work well)
2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 cup sugar

1. To peel the orange:  Cut the top and bottom from the orange.  Cut the peel each orange into 4 vertical pieces and remove from orange in one piece.  Cut the peel into thin strips.  Alternatively, you can cut each orange into slices and individually remove the peel from each slice. 

2.  Bring a pot of water to boil, reduce the heat to medium and cook the peels in boiling water for 15 minutes, drain and rinse.

3. Bring the water and sugar to a boil over medium heat in a sauce pan.  Add the peel, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until the peels are tender, about 45 minutes.  (Note:  You can save the liquid and use it as an orange-flavored simple syrup). 

4. Drain and place the peels on a cooling rack and let them sit until the coating is dry, anywhere from 24-48 hours.  If desired, toss in sugar a few hours after cooking.  You can also dip in chocolate once they are dry.  (Mine never really "dried", but just got drier.)

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Look What I Made!!!

I finally jumped on the Macaron bandwagon and gave them a try!  I especially wanted to try them after sampling them in France.  I was browsing recipe blogs one night last week, looking for a treat to make for a get-together at my house.  I stumbled upon Portuguese Girl Cooks blog, and her chocolate macarons looked so perfect and cute, I just had to try them!  I set my egg whites out right then so they'd be "aged" the next day when I went to make these. 

Another way I prepared to make these was looking up information from other sources.  Here is a good tutorial, with a ton of info.  I recommend reading it all before starting.  I found out some things: they are not spelled, or called "Macaroons" with two o's, but "Macarons", pronounced like the word "Macaroni" but without the "i" on the end.  They are made out of egg whites, two kinds of sugar, and ground almonds!!  You can fill them with anything your heart desires.  To color the meringue shells, the best thing to use is powdered food coloring.  I have some on the way.  :)  

Everything went well until I started piping them out onto my baking sheet.  I realized I didn't know the "right" way to pipe.  As a result, I was "swirling" the batter, and that isn't the correct way.  Youtube to the rescue!!!  View this super short vid to make everything clear. 

After piping, your shells will "rest" for about an hour before baking.  This is to harden the shell.  I think it has something to do with the "foot" of the macaron as well.  (The foot is the ruffly, little sticky-out part on the bottom of the macaron).  I had some errands to run, so my macarons rested for more like 2 hours, oops.  Next time I'll remain home and do exactly an hour! 

Like Portuguese Girl, I filled these with a ganache.  I used mostly milk chocolate along with some semi-sweet, since I love milk chocolate.  I increased the amount a bit, to make sure I would have enough.  It wasn't thickening fast enough, even though I stuck it in the fridge, so I whipped it with the whisk attachment in my Kitchenaid.  This thickened it nicely, and I was able to pipe it neatly into the Macarons. 

I'm SO excited I finally tried Macarons, and that they turned out decently!!  Now I just have to find uses for the leftover egg whites.  I used to have the opposite problem when I made homemade ice cream all the time- trying to use up those egg whites!  (My ice cream maker is sick now :( )

It's important to use a kitchen scale with Macaron recipes.  Also, a food processor is good to have on hand, along with a stand mixer, and piping bags/tools.

Chocolate Macarons

adapted from Portuguese Girl Cooks

Macarons:

110 grams blanched almonds, ground (OR use 110 grams almond flour/meal)
200 grams less 2 Tbsp. confectioners sugar
2 Tbsp cocoa powder
100 grams egg whites, aged at room temperature for 12-24 hours
50 grams granulated sugar

Ganache:

6oz semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped (I used milk + semi-sweet)
3/4 cup heavy cream

1. Using a food processor, pulse the almonds until they are finely ground. Alternatively, you can use ground almonds. Add in the confectioners sugar and cocoa powder and process until fully blended. Set aside.

2. Using a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy. Gradually add in the granulated sugar, and continue beating until the meringue is stiff, shiny, and stiff peaks form. Add the almond mixture to the meringue mixture, and using a rubber/silicone spatula, mix swiftly but gently until no streaks remain. The whole process should take no more than 50 strokes.

3. Line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment. Fill a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip (I used Wilton #12) with the batter. Pipe small rounds (about 1 1/2 inches in diameter) onto the baking sheets. Once you have piped out all of the batter, tap the cookie sheet on the counter to release any air bubbles. Let the maracons rest at room temperature for about an hour to allow them to harden their shells.

4. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Bake for about 8 to 10 minutes depending on size. Let the cookies cool completely before removing cookies from the cookie sheet.

To make the ganache:

5. Chop the chocolate and place in a small heatproof bowl. In a small saucepan over medium high, heat the heavy cream and let it come to a simmer. Remove and pour over the chopped chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes. Gently whisk until the ganache forms. Set aside to cool until it is thick enough to pipe. May want to place in the refrigeratot for faster cooling/thickening.

Assembly:

6. Once the cookies are completely cooled, match them up according to size. Pipe or spoon a layer of ganache onto the flat side of one of the cookies. Sandwich together with the remaining cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies.

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Paprika Chicken Stroganoff

This was delicious and easy to make.  I love Stroganoffs, although I don't love mushrooms and never include them.  I liked the use of paprika in this.  I used half smoked Spanish paprika- love that stuff!  We ate this over store-bought Spaetzle (brought back from Germany).  Actually, it was this meal that finally convinced me to make my own Spaetzle!  I think I made it the next day.  :) 

Paprika Chicken Stroganoff
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken tenders, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 tablespoon sweet paprika (I used some smoked paprika)
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
1 small yellow onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
8 ounces white button mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms, sliced (optional)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 3/4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup plain yogurt, creme fraiche, or sour cream
Hot, cooked egg noodles, for serving (about 12 ounces to 1 pound)
Fresh, chopped parsley for garnish

1.  In a medium bowl or shallow pie plate, toss the cubed chicken with the paprika, salt and pepper. Sprinkle the flour on top of the chicken and toss to coat.

2.  Heat the olive oil in a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat until hot. Add the chicken in a single layer and cook until golden brown on each side, tossing occasionally, about 5 minutes. The chicken will finish cooking fully a bit later so it doesn’t need to be cooked all the way through. Scrape the chicken onto a plate and set aside.

3.  Add another teaspoon of oil to the pan, if needed, and stir in the onions and optional mushrooms. Saute the mixture, stirring occasionally and scraping up the browned bits from the chicken, until the onion is translucent and the onions and mushrooms are browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute, until fragrant.

4.  Pour in about 1/4 cup of the chicken broth and deglaze the pan by scraping up any bits from the bottom. Stir in the tomato paste, whisking to combine. Add the rest of the chicken broth and the bay leaf, stirring well.

5.  Add the chicken back into the skillet and simmer the mixture over medium-low to medium heat, until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce thickens slightly, about 5-6 minutes. Stir in the yogurt (or creme fraiche or sour cream) and cook for about 2-3 minutes longer. If you would like the sauce to be a bit thicker, make a cornstarch slurry by mixing 1 tablespoon cornstarch with 1-2 tablespoons cold water. Add the cornstarch slurry to the simmering mixture in the skillet, whisking quickly to combine. Let the mixture simmer for 2-3 minutes until thickened. Serve over hot noodles and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

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Peanut Butter, Banana, & Oat Milkshake

This is another easy, healthy, and yummy recipe from Joy the Baker.  I made this for myself a few weeks ago as an afternoon snack and it was so good!  Since it was just a snack, I cut the reicpe in half.  I used pre-ground flax seeds and didn't bother to grind my oatmeal first.  I just let the blender grind that as much as it could.  My blender is not awesome or anything, so there were still a few tiny chunks or oatmeal, but it didn't bother me at all.  I plan on making this for breakfast soon, and sending my husband's portion with him in an insulated thermos. 

Go to Joy the Baker's blog to see her photos of this... mine look like muddy water compared to hers, lol!!  :)  But this is so good (and easy, healthy, etc) that I just had to put it on here.  Maybe I'll get a better picture next time I make it. 

Peanut Butter, Banana, & Oat Milkshake
adapted from Joy the Baker

2 cups cold almond milk (soy or cow's milk would also be delicious)

1 banana, peeled and cut into chunks (frozen is ideal)

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 heaping teaspoon honey

1 tablespoon flax seeds, ground into meal (I used pre-ground)

2 teaspoon old fashioned oats, ground fine*

1.  In a spice grinder, pulverize flax seeds and oats into a fine powder.  You can skip this if you use pre-ground flax seeds and don't mind some oatmeal pieces.

2.  In a blender combine almond milk, banana, peanut butter, honey, and ground flax and oats. Blend until no banana chunks remain, and the mixture is thoroughly incorporated. Pour into a glass and enjoy immediately.
*Use gluten-free oats if needed.

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Buttered Crouton Salad with Avocado & Smoked Salmon

This was a delicious and fun-to-make salad.  Thanks to Joy the Baker for another great recipe!!  We had this over Romaine lettuce.  The croutons, dressing, avocado and smoked salmon made for a great flavor combination.  We had this with homemade tomato soup, using the leftover homemade croutons in the soup.

Buttered Crouton Salad with Avocado & Smoked Salmon
adapted from Joy the Baker
Makes 2 Servings

For the Dressing:
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon white wine or champagne vinegar
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon capers, coarsely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad:
1/2 small baguette sliced into about 12 thick slices, then sliced in half into half moon shapes
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons olive oil
Salad greens, enough for 2 generous servings
1/2 ripe Haas avocado, sliced
enough smoked salmon for 2 generous servings, in bite size pieces
coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper

1.  To make the dressing, combine mustard, vinegar, and lemon juice in a small bowl. Whisk with a fork (or mini whisk) to combine. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil, whisking constantly. The slow drizzle and whisking will emulsify the dressing. Add the capers. Add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

2.  To make the salad, heat 1 tablespoon butter and 1 teaspoon oil in a medium sautee pan over medium heat. I used my large, counter-top griddle.  Once butter is melted, add half of the bread pieces to the pan. Cook until toasted, then flip and cook until toasted. Remove from the pan, add the remaining butter and olive oil, and cook the remaining bread pieces.

3.  On a serving plate, arrange salad greens. Carefully drizzle as much dressing as you’s like onto the greens. Toss to coat. Top greens with sliced avocado, and smoked salmon pieces. Top with warm bread pieces. Sprinkle the salad with salt and pepper and serve immediately.

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Homemade German Spaetzle (My Dad's Recipe)

This stuff is soooo good.  We love getting it in restaurants in Germany, and love it when we're visiting my parents and my Dad makes it, but now I know I can make it at home!!  I'm so excited!!  After boiling the spaetzle, my Dad dries it for a bit and then cooks it in some oil to get some browned, crispy edges.  This is an authentic German recipe from an older German lady my Dad used to know- Frau Mohn.  It makes a TON!!!  (See below).

The picture above is what it looks like after boiling.  I'm kind of drying it out here.  I just let it sit out for a few hours, and then sauteed what we were eating that night in some oil (I threw in some butter too, just for good measure!)  I kept the rest in the fridge, and to heat it up, I just put it in an oiled non-stick skillet. 

The recipe calls for "frying" the noodles, but I would say I sauteed them- just used about a tablespoon of oil/butter, or so.  Some of them will be deliciously browned and crispy, but they don't turn hard.  These noodles are light and kind of chewy- they are so good!  We ate these with Beef Stroganoff and everyone LOVED it!  Beef Stroganoff is delicious on its own, but these noodles take it to a whole new level!!

My parents were kind enough to give me my own Spaeztle Press, and I'm so glad I finally got around to using it!!  It was so much easier than I thought it would be, and it was FUN!!  Lol.  You mix up a super-easy dough, let it sit for a few hours, and then press it through the press. 

The dough comes out like stringy worms and drops directly into salted, boiling water.  In about a minute, the noodles float to the top, you skim them out and lay them on a cutting board, and you're done!  Unless you decide to cook them later in some oil.  They are really good that way!  I think you can just eat them immediately though, if desired.  Like I mentioned before, I chose to only saute the noodles I was eating right away- I stuck the rest in the fridge and sauteed them as needed.

What to do with leftovers, if you have any?  I chose to make Mac & Cheese with them!!  I made the cheese sauce from this easy recipe, mixed it with the rest of my boiled spaetzle, and baked it!  We loved the Spaetzle Mac and Cheese.  (See bottom of the recipe for photo, below).

My Dad's Spaetzle

originally from Frau Mohn

5 1/2 cups flour (750 grams)

6 Tablespoons of dry Cream of Wheat cereal (wheat farina)

6 eggs

salt, about 1/2 teaspoon

1 cup milk

1/4- 1/2 cup water (add to desired consistency.  I did not need to use all of it because of my super humid climate)

1.  Mix everything (except water) until the batter comes together.  Add the water gradually, mixing until wet and sticky, and no traces of flour remain.  The dough will be very sticky and wet, but not too wet.  It should be quite soft, but not too loose.  You do not want it to fall apart when pressing through the press, but you don't want it to be super hard to press, either.  Think of this when mixing it up. 

2.  Let stand 1-2 hours.  I put it in the fridge for two hours, and removed it about 30 minutes before cooking, so it would come to room temperature and not be too stiff.  Run through a Spaetzleschwob (Spaetzle press) into salted, boiling water.  When the spaetzle rises to the surface, skim it off with a slotted spoon and set aside to dry on a board.  (I used my three largest cutting boards). 

3.  After it has dried (anywhere from 1 to 3 hours- it doesn't have to completely dry out here), saute it in a non-stick pan with a litte oil, until pieces are golden brown.  (Like my first photo, above).  I used 1-2 tablespoons of oil (and added a little butter, too) for a little over 1/3 of the spaetzle. 

4.  I stored un-sauteed leftovers in the fridge.  When ready to eat, saute cold spaetzle in butter or oil.  Or you can use it as-is in a baked pasta dish, like Macaroni and Cheese, pictured below.

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Turkish Rice with Chicken, Almonds & Saffron

We quite enjoyed this dish.  I checked out this Turkish cookbook from the library and loved looking through it.  This was the first dish I tried.  I tired a salad from the same cookbook a few days ago and LOVED it- I will post it on another day. 

This dish came together fairly easily, and was delicious.  I used white basmati rice, and it was tender and flavorful.  I just sauteed the almonds in a bit of oil; the original recipe calls for frying them in a 1/3 cup of oil, but I decided not to do that.  They were still delicious.  My saffron is probably too old, because it didn't turn the whole dish yellow, but it still lent some flavor to the rice.  I will have to make this again sometime with new saffron! 

I packed the rice/chicken/almonds into a very large pie dish and then inverted it.  It worked out wondefully!  Just use whatever you have on hand.  10-inch to 11-inch will work.  Like any recipe, make sure you read the directions all the way through before starting.  :)

Turkish Rice with Chicken, Almonds & Saffron

adapted from the The Turkish Cookbook

2 chicken breasts or 4-5 chicken tenders (about a pound),  cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon canola oil, divided
1/2 cup blanched whole almonds
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups extra-long grain white rice, soaked in warm, lightly salted water for 20 minutes
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, soaked in 1/3 cup warm water
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill, optional

1.  Season chicken cubes with salt and pepper to taste. In a medium skillet heat the 2 tablespoons of oil, and sauté the chicken cubes on all sides until golden brown.  Remove from pan and set aside.  (They will cook more later). 

2.  In a small skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil, add the blanched almonds and stir-fry for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until light brown or pink. Remove nuts with a slotted spoon and drain well on a double layer of paper towel to remove all excess oil.

3.  Drain the rice. In a large, non-stick skillet, heat the butter and sauté the rice for a few minutes, stir in the soaked saffron with the soaking water and the chicken broth. Mix well, season with salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Add the cooked chicken cubes and bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed and holes appear on the surface.
Remove from heat, place a double layer of paper towel over the rice, and cover the pan. Let stand for 10 minutes, then mix well.

5.  Arrange nuts on the bottom of a 12-inch round shallow dish, then spoon the rice over the nuts, pressing down gently with the back of a wooden spoon. Turn upside down on a round serving platter for serving. Sprinkle with fresh dill, if desired, and serve as a main course.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/04/4160157/recipe-rice-with-chicken-saffron.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/01/04/4160157/recipe-rice-with-chicken-saffron.html#storylink=cpy

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German Cheese Pretzel

When we were in Germany, my daughter got a big cheese-covered pretzel at a bakery.  I decided to make my own when we got home.  We can buy good, fresh pretzels here.  I used some good-quality white cheddar and put 2 thin slices over a pretzel, and baked it until it looked like this.  You may need to tear one of the pieces of cheese to fit.  I'm sure any good cheese would do.  Gouda, Muenster, swiss varieties, etc.  This is really good, and so filling! 

German Cheese Pretzel

1 large soft pretzel

2 pieces favorite cheese (not American, please!), thinly sliced

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.  Lay the pretzel on top, and lay the cheese on it.  You may need to tear the second piece into two pieces to fit evenly and cover the pretzel.

2.  Bake 5-10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly and browned in some places.  Let cool slightly before removing from the pan and eating. 

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Homemade Baby Food

I've been meaning to write this post for about the past three months.  We waited until my baby's six-month birthday to start him on solid foods.  We've started earlier with other babies, but now they're saying there's really no reason to start until 6 months of age, so that's what we did.  We did oatmeal first.  I ground up regular, whole oats in my food processor and then cooked them for baby M.  That was ok, but it's too much trouble to cook 1-2 tablespoons of food on a regular basis, so I never did homemade oats for him again.  Today he is 9 months old, so he's been having solid food for a good 3 months now!  :)

At first, I only fed him homemade baby food.  The photo above is the frozen little cubes I made for him.  You make and puree the food, freeze it in ice cube trays, and once frozen, stick them into ziplock bags.  Pictured below is the silicone ice cube tray I got from Amazon that is PERFECT for this!  Going from left to right (pic above): peaches, pears, peas, blueberry-pear, sweet potato (they have pale sweet potatoes here!), carrot, and plum.  He loves pretty much everything.  The plum is really tart, so I always mix that with something.  Sometimes I'll do carrots/pears/plums!  Mix them up!  Babies don't know that plums and carrots usually don't go together.  :)

Now that baby M is bigger and eating more and more foods, I only feed him homemade baby food every few days now.  I'm using store bought most of the time, gasp!  It's convenient and cheap, and he loves it.  His absolute favorite food right now is sweet potatoes, and it's SO much easier to go get 2 containers of it for $.90 than it is to buy a sweet potato, peel it, steam it, puree it, and freeze it.  Plus, he prefers the storebought sweet potato babyfood over my homemade sweet potatoes, for some weird reason!  BUT, other frutis and veggies are a lot easier to make babyfood out of.  A hand/stick blender is very handy to have on hand for this!  Don't forget to use only glass or ceramic if you are warming this in the microwave!

Anyway, making your own baby food is fun, very easy, and rewarding.  You know exactly what goes into every batch.  Want to use organic fruits?  Go for it!  I encourage every parent to try it at least once and see if it's something they like.  For the fruits, you decide if you want to peel or not.  I leave the peel on plums and pears.  I've never done nectarine, but plan to this summer.

You can also freeze pureed table food meals.  For instance, I made this beef stew recently.  At dinnertime, we pureed it up for baby M.  I froze his leftovers in my heart cube tray, and he'll enjoy those some other time.  Now, he's old enough that we're just lightly mashing things and not always pureeing them.  We had Taco Rice this week and he thoroughly enjoyed some smashed brown rice, bits of cheese, avocado, and spiced ground beef.  :)

Fruit Babyfood

1 fruit (peach, pear, plum, nectarine), peeled, if desired

water

1.  Wash and cut the fruit into bite-sized pieces and steam, in a steamer basket, over boiling water, until softened.  Puree in a blender, food processor, or using a stick/immersion blender, until smooth (to your preference).  You might need to add some water, depending on the fruit.  Serve or freeze in ice cube trays.  When solid, pop out into ziplock bags, label, and freeze.  

Fresh Veggie Babyfood

carrots, green beans, OR frozen peas (or a mixture)

water

1.  Wash and cut bigger veggies into bite-size pieces.  Steam, in a steamer basket, over boiling water, until softened (not long for peas).  Puree in a blender, food processor, or using a stick/immersion blender, until smooth (to your preference). You might need to add some water, depending on the veggies. Serve or freeze in ice cube trays. When solid, pop out into ziplock bags, label, and freeze.

Pear Blueberry Babyfood

1 fresh pear

1 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh

1.  If using frozen blueberries, let them thaw out in the fridge overnight.  You can drain if you want, but I like to keep the juices.  Wash, cut and steam pear, unless it is very ripe, and then you don't have to steam.  Puree the pear and blueberries together, until they reach your desired consistency.  Freeze in ice cube trays.  When thawed, if it is too thin, you can mix in some baby oatmeal or brown rice cereal to thicken it up. 

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Gummy Worm Soda

This was a fun one for the kids.  It was just ok for me, ha ha; I mainly made it for the kids.  You make homemade "soda" by mixing carbonated water with a simple syrup, and pouring it over gummy worms.  Easy, but impressive to the little ones!



Gummy Worm Soda
adapted from Cherry Tea Cakes

1 part simple syrup (see recipe below)
4-5 parts soda water (depending on how sweet you want it)
4 gummy worms

Mix it all together.  I served out of washed IBC Cream Soda bottles.  I love those bottles!

Simple Syrup1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup water

Boil the water and sugar together for five minutes. Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

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Chocolate Muddies

When we were first married, I made these cookies often.  Actually, these were the only cookies I ever made back then, for at least two years straight!  I guess I liked them so much I felt no need to branch out with other recipes.  They are very good though!  Making these again was like a blast from the past.  :) 

I first tried my now-favorite hot fudge recipe for these cookies, as they call for hot fudge.  Add the hot fudge either at room temp or cold, not hot. 

I used to make these with white chocolate and raspberry chocolate chips.  Remember Hershey's raspberry chocolate chips?  I don't think they still make those, but I found some raspberry chips on Nuts.com.  I have those on hand for later, but this time around, I used their thier mixed chocolate chips (milk, dark, white, peanut butter, and raspberry).  I loved the results!

Chocolate Muddies
adapted from Betty Crocker via Food.com

1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese, softened (Neufchatel cheese is okay)

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon almond extract

2 large eggs

2/3 cup chocolate fudge topping

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup white chocolate chips or 1 cup peanut butter chips

1 cup milk chocolate chips

1 cup semisweet chocolate chunk

(or use 2-3 cups of whatever chips you want; I used 2 cups

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line cookie sheet with foil or parchment paper (if using foil, grease with shortening).

3.  In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and butter with and electric mixer (medium speed) until fluffy, about 2 minutes.  Add sugars, extracts, eggs, and fudge topping.  Beat about 3 minutes, or until fluffy.

4.  Mix flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.  Stir flour mixture into butter mixture until evenly mixed.  Stir in chips.  Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls 2 inches apart onto cookie sheet.

5.  Bake 8-10 minutes, or until edges are set (cookies will appear underbaked).  Cool for 5 minutes, then remove to wire rack to fully cool.

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Roasted Garlic-Parmesan Cauliflower

This was absolutely delicious.  Delicious, easy, and healthy- what more could you want?  ;)  We had this before our Germany trip with a salad.... and I forgot what else; it's been too long!  This wasn't my boys' favorite, but what can you do- they are both kind of picky off and on.  My daughter ate some and liked it, I think, but my husband I and ate the rest.  It was so good!  And I don't even really like cauliflower other times I've had it.  Except for this soup- actually, I made both recipes with the same head of cauliflower, since it was such a ginormous head.  Over four pounds, I believe.

Roasted Garlic-Parmesan Cauliflower
adapted from Our Best Bites

3-4 Tbs olive oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 smallish head cauliflower
kosher salt and fresh pepper
2-3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place olive oil and garlic in a small glass or ceramic bowl. Heat in microwave for about 20 seconds and set aside.

2.  Remove stem and leaves from cauliflower head and trim into large florets. Slice each floret into 1/4 inch slices and place on a foil-lined baking sheet (or just a well-greased glass 9x13, like me). Drizzle with oil and garlic mixture and sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper. Use a spatula to toss to coat. Add more olive oil if needed. Bake for 15 minutes and then toss with spatula. Bake 10 more and then toss with Parmesan cheese. Continue baking for 5-10 minutes until golden brown on edges.  (Pierce one with a fork to make sure it is tender enough).

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Non-Alcoholic Margaritas

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  We had Moyetes and these delicious Virgin Margaritas today.  The Margaritas were easy to make and very delicious!  The kids LOVED them so much that they hardly ate dinner.  Crazy kids.  I doubled the recipe and they still wanted more.  They especially loved the salt on the rim of the glass and the lime garnish. 

You'll need frozen lime concentrate, orange juice, ice cubes, fresh limes, and kosher salt for this recipe.  As you can see, we just drank these out of wine glasses- we don't have any margarita glasses on hand.  Sadly, one of the glasses met its demise today at the hands of our 5-year old. :(  I wish we had an Ikea here so we could get more!  We still have enough until the baby gets old enough to partake with us, though.  Lol!

Virgin (Non-Alcoholic) Margaritas
heavily adapted from CD Kitchen
Makes 5-6 servings- easily cut in half

1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 lime, cut into 6-8 wedges, lengthwise
2 cans (12 ounces) frozen limemade concentrate
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water
2-4 cups ice cubes (add to taste- more or less, depending on what you want)

1.  Place the salt in a shallow dish. Rub the rim of individual margarita glasses with a lime wedge and dip the rims into the salt; set the glasses and lime wedges aside.

2.  In a blender, blend the limeade, orange juice, water, and ice cubes on high speed for 1 to 2 minutes, or until well blended and the ice cubes are crushed.

3.  Pour evenly into the glasses and garnish with the lime wedges. Serve immediately.

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Super Easy Chicken Tacos

The other day, I was at the store, looking for some ground beef so that I could make tacos that night.  Well, there was no ground beef there.  At all.  This happens a lot here, probably every week, if you are there on the wrong day.  I always keep at least 2 lbs. of ground beef in my freezer, but since I wanted it a few hours later I tried to think of other options for the filling.  (BTW, I have browned totally frozen ground beef before, without thawing it out, and it's just fine.  Just make sure to use a non-stick pan.  I just didn't feel like dealing with it that night).

Our store DID have rotisserie chickens ready, though!  So I brought one of those home and pulled all the meat off and stuck that in the fridge.  When dinnertime came, I just took out a non-stick skillet, added a tiny bit of olive oil, a lot of salsa and lime juice (and some water, when it started drying out), and some taco seasoning.  I just simmered this mixture, stirring often, until the chicken was warmed through.  Then we ate the chicken on whole wheat tortillas with lettuce, cheese, avocado, and sour cream.  I enjoyed these very much!  And if you want, go ahead and make chicken stock with the leftover CARCASS (I hate that word!  Ha ha!) of your spent rotisserie chicken. 

Make these for Cinco de Mayo tomorrow!  ;)

Super Easy Chicken Taco Meat
by What a Dish!

1/2 or 1 whole rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
1 teaspoon olive oil
salsa, to taste (1/4-1/2 cup, or more)
1 tablespoon (or more) taco seasoning
juice of 1/2 lime

1.  In a large, non-stick skillet, warm the oil.  Add the chicken and then the salsa, taco seasoning, and fresh lime juice.  Stire frequently with a rubber spatula until the mixture is warmed through.  Serve on tortillas with lettuce, tomato, avocado, cheese, and sour cream, if desired. 

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