Everybody's got a Sunday routine. Some people head to church, others laze around reading the New York Times...me, I love to spend much of Sunday afternoons in the kitchen. Yesterday, I made banana bread for us to have for breakfast all week, the best oatmeal cookies ever (I added dried cranberries, walnuts, white and milk chocolate chips...yuuuum), a roasted chicken (for pumkin enchiladas later this week - still need to roast the pumpkin though), and coconut shrimp soup for dinner last night.
It took most of the afternoon and evening, but I love the warm kitchen and the radio on. It's my own little peaceful time of the week. I am still doing a horrible job of taking pictures, though I think I have one of the banana bread to upload (well, download from the camera, and then upload to the blog).
Tonight was a night off for me. The MP had dinner out while I was at yoga, and I had a bowl of Life cereal for dinner. That is so gourmet of me :)
Showing posts with label Bread. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bread. Show all posts
Monday, November 9, 2009
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
How I Spent my Sunday
Sunday was really dreary and rainy and chilly - it seems to be the norm, at least more often than not this fall. I decided to spend my afternoon in the kitchen. I started off with my new favorite cookies. These puppies are so good, I will never make a single batch again. I have been heating one up each night with just a few bites of vanilla ice cream, and think life may never be the same again. If MP tries to eat more than his allotted half, then he better watch out! Bless his heart, heaven knows how he manages to live with my and my "only child" weird food/eating ways.
Next up...I needed to use up some cauliflower that was about to bite the dust, so I tried this recipe on another blog I have recently discovered (thanks, facebook!). It was pretty tasty, but next time, I think I won't have the caraway seeds - I know they typically go well with curry, but I think it's one of those flavors that I will go ahead and admit is not one of my favorites. That said, this turned out as a great side dish. In fact, I think I could just add some cubed lamb to it and have a fantastic and easy dinner on my hands.
Next up - wheat muffins. Again, a recipe that I think will become an old standby. I am really going to try to make my own yeast rolls in the next week or so, but these guys are so quick and easy - not to mention the MP loves them. I know they're not a cibatta roll full of white flour and preservatives, but at $3.50 per 6 of those - not to mention the poor health of the grocery store option - I am going to try to provide most of our own bread in-house so to speak.
Finally dinner! From the farmer's market, Pasta Italia, the best ever fresh pasta. By the time the market closes for winter, this pasta will be available year round at HyVee and Schucks. I am so glad, I had been starting to hoarde it in the freezer, worried I wouldn't be able to get it. The spaghetti was coupled with a simple tomato/meatball sauce. I just sauteed some garlic in oil, added 3 cans of fire roasted tomatoes, a little oregano, basil and thyme. I let that cook down for about 20 minutes while I made the meatballs with an egg, about a third of a cup of milk, a cup of whole wheat crusty breadcrumbs, fresh parsley and 1lb of ground beef. I formed about 20 meatballs, and then dropped them into the tomato sauce, covering them, and cooked that for about 10 minutes. The leftovers for lunch today weren't bad either...
Next up...I needed to use up some cauliflower that was about to bite the dust, so I tried this recipe on another blog I have recently discovered (thanks, facebook!). It was pretty tasty, but next time, I think I won't have the caraway seeds - I know they typically go well with curry, but I think it's one of those flavors that I will go ahead and admit is not one of my favorites. That said, this turned out as a great side dish. In fact, I think I could just add some cubed lamb to it and have a fantastic and easy dinner on my hands.
Next up - wheat muffins. Again, a recipe that I think will become an old standby. I am really going to try to make my own yeast rolls in the next week or so, but these guys are so quick and easy - not to mention the MP loves them. I know they're not a cibatta roll full of white flour and preservatives, but at $3.50 per 6 of those - not to mention the poor health of the grocery store option - I am going to try to provide most of our own bread in-house so to speak.
Finally dinner! From the farmer's market, Pasta Italia, the best ever fresh pasta. By the time the market closes for winter, this pasta will be available year round at HyVee and Schucks. I am so glad, I had been starting to hoarde it in the freezer, worried I wouldn't be able to get it. The spaghetti was coupled with a simple tomato/meatball sauce. I just sauteed some garlic in oil, added 3 cans of fire roasted tomatoes, a little oregano, basil and thyme. I let that cook down for about 20 minutes while I made the meatballs with an egg, about a third of a cup of milk, a cup of whole wheat crusty breadcrumbs, fresh parsley and 1lb of ground beef. I formed about 20 meatballs, and then dropped them into the tomato sauce, covering them, and cooked that for about 10 minutes. The leftovers for lunch today weren't bad either...
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Freezer Burn
Well, whenever I cook soup-ish foods I try to freeze half for eating later on. I hope to sometime get more comfortable with freezing other types of food. I do love being able to just pop something out of the freezer and have a meal basically ready to go.
It's been a cold, rainy week in CoMo, and I have had a few more extracurricular activities than normal, so I haven't been making dinners. MP had weekend leftovers for lunch and dinner yesterday. Today he learned that mini-deep dish pizzas don't reheat too well in the microwave...
Tonight, I had a yoga class after work, so this morning I tossed some frozen chili in the fridge to thaw and made this great cornbread recipe:
Cheddar-Buttermilk Corn Bread Bon Appétit December 2002
Yield: Makes one 8x8-inch bread
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (packed) coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Mix in cheese. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter in another medium bowl to blend. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated; do not overmix. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until bread is golden on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely in pan on rack. Cover with foil and store at room temperature.)
Notes:
1. This is a great recipe, it only takes about 15 minutes to throw together, barely more time than finding that old box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix in the pantry and tearing into it...
2. I add some frozen corn kernals and a diced jalapeno pepper or two to the batter
3. It takes about 30 minutes to cook in my oven
We had the chili, cornbread, and tossed salad with leftover pumpkin/pecan pie for dessert.
It's been a cold, rainy week in CoMo, and I have had a few more extracurricular activities than normal, so I haven't been making dinners. MP had weekend leftovers for lunch and dinner yesterday. Today he learned that mini-deep dish pizzas don't reheat too well in the microwave...
Tonight, I had a yoga class after work, so this morning I tossed some frozen chili in the fridge to thaw and made this great cornbread recipe:
Cheddar-Buttermilk Corn Bread Bon Appétit December 2002
Yield: Makes one 8x8-inch bread
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (packed) coarsely grated extra-sharp cheddar cheese (about 4 ounces)
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
Preheat oven to 400°F. Butter 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan. Whisk first 6 ingredients in medium bowl to blend. Mix in cheese. Whisk buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter in another medium bowl to blend. Add buttermilk mixture to dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated; do not overmix. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until bread is golden on top and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cool completely in pan on rack. Cover with foil and store at room temperature.)
Notes:
1. This is a great recipe, it only takes about 15 minutes to throw together, barely more time than finding that old box of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix in the pantry and tearing into it...
2. I add some frozen corn kernals and a diced jalapeno pepper or two to the batter
3. It takes about 30 minutes to cook in my oven
We had the chili, cornbread, and tossed salad with leftover pumpkin/pecan pie for dessert.
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