My roommate Lili makes granola on a regular basis to prepare for the week ahead, and after a couple weeks of our house being filled with toasty warm coconut smells, I begged her for the recipe. She typed up the recipe - more of a template, so it's flexible - via text, and I've written it out here to save it for myself. I've since been making it regularly myself, and love having it in the morning with any mix of kefir, fruit, milk, yogurt, or nut butter.
Dry Ingredients
3 cups rolled oats
1 - 1.5 cups nuts (sliced almonds, pecan pieces, walnuts, etc)
1/2 tsp. salt
Wet Ingredients
1/2 - 3/4 cup honey, molasses or maple syrup
1/4 - 1/2 cup oil (coconut, olive, etc)
Optional Add-ins
1 -2 cups seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, chia, etc)
1 cup Coconut
1-3 tsp. spices (Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Other Spices)
1/4 - 1/2 cup pumpkin (warm in saucepan before adding if using)
1/4 cup cocoa or 1 cup chocolate chipes
1/2 tablespoons uncooked quinoa
Preheat oven to 350. Cover baking sheet with foil or baking mats. Mix all dry ingredients in bowl (including add-ins). Add wet ingredients. Mix, taste and tweak to preference. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes total, stopping to stir 15 or 20 minutes in. Stop when looks toasty brown and smells incredible!
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breakfast. Show all posts
Friday, August 17, 2018
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Breakfast Apple & Egg Chop
This is a thing I like to eat for breakfast.
It's a small apple and a hard boiled egg, chopped up with other things that may include hard white cheese or avocado, pepitas or nuts for crunch, and topped with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and a little salt (or in this case salt I made ages ago that was mixed with crushed toasted nori).
It's a small apple and a hard boiled egg, chopped up with other things that may include hard white cheese or avocado, pepitas or nuts for crunch, and topped with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, and a little salt (or in this case salt I made ages ago that was mixed with crushed toasted nori).
Monday, September 19, 2016
Peaches & Cream Overnight Oats Parfait
Overnight oats or muesli is my absolute staple breakfast food, and the only thing that stops me from eating a bagel every morning. I will never, ever be a person who actually takes the time to make breakfast before work except on the rare, unicorn morning. Enter overnight oats, here to save the day. They're ideal because you can (quickly!) mix them up the night before, and then grab as you run out the door. You may be doubting me, because cold oatmeal sounds both weird and boring, but just take a chance with them if you haven't already.
My longtime favorite has been this recipe from Joy The Baker, but if I don't start changing up my flavors, I'll go running back into the toasty arms of my beloved bagels slathered in cream cheese. While I ate my breakfast last week at my work desk, I was struck by inspiration for a new variety, and it is better than I anticipated! Reminiscent of a yogurt parfait, but with more heft and less being-starving-twenty-minutes-later.
A few notes: I tried really hard to give measurements here, but for me it's really an unscientific process of what fits in a mason jar and looks like it'll be a good ratio. Kefir, if you don't already know, is a yogurt-like substance with the consistency of a thick liquid, making it a good fit to replace some milk and add some probiotics to your overnight oats. It even has more probiotics than yogurt does! The oats soak it up really nicely, but if you don't have Kefir, I'm sure you could stir together some plain yogurt and milk before pouring it over the oats. I was surprised by how good this was with these simple ingredients, but other add-ins that I think would be delicious would be unsweetened shredded coconut, pecans, almonds, a touch of brown sugar instead of honey, or maybe a pinch of nutmeg. The beauty of overnight oats is their flexibility.
For two mason jars of overnight oats:
1 cup oats
2 peaches
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup Almond milk (or whatever your preference)
1/2 cup Kefir
Honey
Set two sealable jars in front of you. Peel and dice peaches. Alternate filling with diced peaches and oats, stirring as you go and splitting evenly between the jars. Add 1 Tbsp chia seeds to each, stir. Add almond milk, stir. Drizzle with honey to taste, stir. Add Kefir, stir (stirring is key since the Kefir is a little thick, some of the oats may miss the nice liquid). You want the liquid to cover the oats, plus a little extra, since the oats will soak up what's there. Seal and place in your fridge overnight, or at least four hours.
My longtime favorite has been this recipe from Joy The Baker, but if I don't start changing up my flavors, I'll go running back into the toasty arms of my beloved bagels slathered in cream cheese. While I ate my breakfast last week at my work desk, I was struck by inspiration for a new variety, and it is better than I anticipated! Reminiscent of a yogurt parfait, but with more heft and less being-starving-twenty-minutes-later.
A few notes: I tried really hard to give measurements here, but for me it's really an unscientific process of what fits in a mason jar and looks like it'll be a good ratio. Kefir, if you don't already know, is a yogurt-like substance with the consistency of a thick liquid, making it a good fit to replace some milk and add some probiotics to your overnight oats. It even has more probiotics than yogurt does! The oats soak it up really nicely, but if you don't have Kefir, I'm sure you could stir together some plain yogurt and milk before pouring it over the oats. I was surprised by how good this was with these simple ingredients, but other add-ins that I think would be delicious would be unsweetened shredded coconut, pecans, almonds, a touch of brown sugar instead of honey, or maybe a pinch of nutmeg. The beauty of overnight oats is their flexibility.
For two mason jars of overnight oats:
1 cup oats
2 peaches
2 tablespoons chia seeds
1/2 cup Almond milk (or whatever your preference)
1/2 cup Kefir
Honey
Set two sealable jars in front of you. Peel and dice peaches. Alternate filling with diced peaches and oats, stirring as you go and splitting evenly between the jars. Add 1 Tbsp chia seeds to each, stir. Add almond milk, stir. Drizzle with honey to taste, stir. Add Kefir, stir (stirring is key since the Kefir is a little thick, some of the oats may miss the nice liquid). You want the liquid to cover the oats, plus a little extra, since the oats will soak up what's there. Seal and place in your fridge overnight, or at least four hours.
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Guest Post: Bacon and Bell Pepper Quiche
It's high time my long-ago college roommate turned BFF, Tori, was invited to guest post. Our freshman year of college, we would haul all the kitchen items she had stored in her dorm room down the stairs to our sad dorm kitchen and make elaborate things that the kitchen was not built for, like lemon olive oil muffins. Her kitchen skill and dedication was an important starting point for my own love of cooking. Most importantly, she's a kind soul who on a recent visit to the sisters' childhood home made our loving Mum some of this in mini-quiche form to freeze for breakfast for the coming weeks:
Crust:
1 ½ cups cold salted butter cut into small pieces
3 cups flour
1 egg
5 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Filling:
Onion, thinly sliced
1 ½ bell peppers, chopped
8 slices bacon, fried and chopped
2 tablespoons butter
8 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Any crust will work for the quiche. I made an extra crust awhile back and had stuck it in my freezer so I used it for this quiche.
Here’s what I did to make the crust. In a large bowl, combine the cold cubed butter with the flour using a pastry cutter (or forks if you don’t have a pastry cutter) until the mixture is crumbly. Beat an egg in a separate bowl. Add the beaten egg to the flour mixture. Then add the cold water, vinegar, and salt. Stir all ingredients together until combined. Divide the dough in half and put each half in its own gallon sized plastic bag. Slightly flatten each ball of dough until it forms a disk about ½ an inch thick. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer. If you want to use the crust right away, pull it out about 15-20 minutes later. Otherwise pull the frozen crust out and leave it on the counter for about 30 minutes before rolling it out.
Preheat the oven to 400°. To make the filling, melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes. Remove the sautéed vegetables from the heat and allow them to cool. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, pepper, and a bit of salt. After it is whisked well, add the vegetables, bacon and cheese to combine. In a pie dish, place your crust and then pour in the egg mixture. If you have extra egg mixture, you can spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and then fill the tin with leftover mixture. These will bake faster than the quiche, but will still taste really good. Also you can freeze them after they are cooked. Cover the quiche lightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
food allergies and considerations: Could easily be made crustless, just be sure to grease the pan really well. Filling additions are easily adjusted, so you could leave out the bacon to make this vegetarian, but otherwise...bacon!
Crust:
1 ½ cups cold salted butter cut into small pieces
3 cups flour
1 egg
5 tablespoons cold water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
Filling:
Onion, thinly sliced
1 ½ bell peppers, chopped
8 slices bacon, fried and chopped
2 tablespoons butter
8 eggs
1 ½ cups milk
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Any crust will work for the quiche. I made an extra crust awhile back and had stuck it in my freezer so I used it for this quiche.
Here’s what I did to make the crust. In a large bowl, combine the cold cubed butter with the flour using a pastry cutter (or forks if you don’t have a pastry cutter) until the mixture is crumbly. Beat an egg in a separate bowl. Add the beaten egg to the flour mixture. Then add the cold water, vinegar, and salt. Stir all ingredients together until combined. Divide the dough in half and put each half in its own gallon sized plastic bag. Slightly flatten each ball of dough until it forms a disk about ½ an inch thick. Seal the bags and place them in the freezer. If you want to use the crust right away, pull it out about 15-20 minutes later. Otherwise pull the frozen crust out and leave it on the counter for about 30 minutes before rolling it out.
Preheat the oven to 400°. To make the filling, melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5-7 minutes. Remove the sautéed vegetables from the heat and allow them to cool. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, pepper, and a bit of salt. After it is whisked well, add the vegetables, bacon and cheese to combine. In a pie dish, place your crust and then pour in the egg mixture. If you have extra egg mixture, you can spray a muffin tin with cooking spray and then fill the tin with leftover mixture. These will bake faster than the quiche, but will still taste really good. Also you can freeze them after they are cooked. Cover the quiche lightly with aluminum foil, and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
 |
| making mini quiches for the Mom! These had spinach and tomato, and you can use crust for the mini form as well. |
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Baked Apples
Last night a few friends and I had a nice evening hanging out at home, for which I attempted to make butterbeer (be honest, sometimes you wish butterbeer was real more than magic when reading Harry Potter). The butterbeer, unfortunately, was a giant fail. Perhaps some things in life are better as fiction. My friends were so sweet and pretended to like it, but I felt an urgent need to redeem myself with a dessert to more accurately portray my skills in the kitchen.
Immediately when thinking of fall treats, a memory popped to mind of our mum pulling a tray of baked apples out of the oven when I was a kid. She used to sometimes throw them together as a spontaneous sweet treat - easy to make, and not terribly bad for you, as desserts go. I texted her for the recipe, and in less than an hour we had perfect bowls of warm, sweetly spiced apples, the puddles of their juices melting into scoops of vanilla ice cream. For me, it was a lovely serving of nostalgia and also kitchen redemption ( ;) ). I immediately felt like I was sitting at our kitchen table with a cozy snack before bed. I hope that they can bring you the same sentimentality, or help you to create new autumn memories.
4 apples
1//4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup nuts (pecans or walnuts, most likely)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
Drizzle of maple syrup
Vanilla Ice Cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Carve out center of apples with a paring knife and spoon, removing all seeds and leaving bottom somewhat thick (about a 1/2 inch). In a small bowl, mis brown sugar, nuts and spices. Feel free to play with different spices (allspice, pumpkin pie spice), or to add some dates or currants to the mix. Pack the mixture into the apple cores. Put a small pat of butter on top of each, roughly 1/2 tablespoon. Drizzle a little maple syrup on top if you like. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until soft. Pour the juices from apples from pan on top before serving, warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Immediately when thinking of fall treats, a memory popped to mind of our mum pulling a tray of baked apples out of the oven when I was a kid. She used to sometimes throw them together as a spontaneous sweet treat - easy to make, and not terribly bad for you, as desserts go. I texted her for the recipe, and in less than an hour we had perfect bowls of warm, sweetly spiced apples, the puddles of their juices melting into scoops of vanilla ice cream. For me, it was a lovely serving of nostalgia and also kitchen redemption ( ;) ). I immediately felt like I was sitting at our kitchen table with a cozy snack before bed. I hope that they can bring you the same sentimentality, or help you to create new autumn memories.
4 apples
1//4 cup of brown sugar
1/4 cup nuts (pecans or walnuts, most likely)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
Drizzle of maple syrup
Vanilla Ice Cream
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Carve out center of apples with a paring knife and spoon, removing all seeds and leaving bottom somewhat thick (about a 1/2 inch). In a small bowl, mis brown sugar, nuts and spices. Feel free to play with different spices (allspice, pumpkin pie spice), or to add some dates or currants to the mix. Pack the mixture into the apple cores. Put a small pat of butter on top of each, roughly 1/2 tablespoon. Drizzle a little maple syrup on top if you like. Bake for 30-45 minutes, until soft. Pour the juices from apples from pan on top before serving, warm from the oven with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Kaycee's Organic Raspberry Princess Muffins
Meet our youngest sister! Kaycee, age 7, loves singing, dancing, science, and animals (and being an Alaska girl, that means not only cats and dogs, but also eagles, whales, porcupines and arctic foxes). This is her first recipe on the sororial cooking blog, but it surely won't be the last.
Adapted from The Disney Princess Cookbook
Kaycee's Adaptations:
Substitute raspberries for blueberries
Substitute organic gluten free flour
Substitute organic brown sugar and butter
Eat with your Dad on a chilly Sunday!
Adapted from The Disney Princess Cookbook
Kaycee's Adaptations:
Substitute raspberries for blueberries
Substitute organic gluten free flour
Substitute organic brown sugar and butter
Eat with your Dad on a chilly Sunday!
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Chris's Foolproof Cold-Brew Coffee
My spouse has spent I-don't-know-how-many hours tinkering with his cold-brew, which is now my favorite coffee anywhere. He finally typed it up for us:
There are two great things about making cold-brew coffee. First, this method results in a very low-acid brew. The coffee is sweet and chocolatey, and great for mornings or before a long run. Second, once you make a pitcher of this, you've got coffee in an instant for at least a week.
The key here is the nut-milk bag. I've tried this just pouring the coffee through a filter or cheese cloth, and it takes forever and creates a big mess. With the bag, this is no harder than making a pot of tea.
Ingredients/equipment:
4 cups cold water
1 large bowl
1 large pitcher
(Optional) large coffee filter or cheesecloth + mesh strainer
This is a coffee-inefficient brew method, but fortunately you can use an inexpensive preground coffee. I usually use a store brand french roast.Eight O' Clock works great, too. There's no reason you can't grind your own, but I don't think it is really worth the effort here.
Here goes nothing:
1. Put the coffee in the nut milk bag, and the nut milk bag and the water in the bowl.
2. (Optional) Put something heavy on the nut-milk bag to keep it below the surface.
3. Put the coffee (in the nut milk bag in the water in the bowl) in the refrigerator for 12-18 hours, You can stir it up once or twice if you remember. Set a phone alarm so you don't let it sit too long.
4. Remove the nut milk bag from the bowl, giving it a good two-handed squeeze to get the last of the good stuff out.
5. Ladle or pour the coffee concentrate from the bowl to the pitcher. A bowl with a spout makes this easier.
6. (Highly optional) If you want to be really persnickety about this (like me), put a large coffee filter or cheese cloth in a strainer and pour the coffee through that into the pitcher to remove any fine sediment that got through the nut milk bag.
Now you've got a coffee concentrate that will last for a week in the fridge, probably two if you get a hermetic pitcher.
The recipe can be scaled as long as you maintain the water-to-coffee ratio.
Again, it's a concentrate, so when ready to enjoy, pour over ice and add an equal amount water. (Or, if your name is "Sarah," about 2 parts water to one part concentrate,) Milk and simple syrup are optional but delicious.
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Light & Fragrant Gluten Free Zucchini Bread
Light & Fragrant Gluten Free Zucchini Bread
Slightly adapted to be gluten-free from Elise's zucchini bread, at Simply Recipes
1 cup gluten free all-purpose flour (I recommend Pamela's All Purpose Artisan Flour Blend or Cup 4 Cup Original Flour Blend)
1/2 cup slightly heartier gluten free flour - a biscuit mix would work fine here, as would almond meal or gluten free oat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 heaping teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 heaping teaspoon nutmeg
1 egg, beaten
1/2 heaping cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1.5 to 2 cups grated zucchini, drained
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grate your zucchini and press into a colander to drain. I use a nice zester to get a really fine grate. Pat dry with paper towels and set aside.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. In another bowl, beat your egg, then pour in melted butter and vanilla. Fold in the sugar and grated zucchini, then slowly stir together with your flour mixture.
Butter the bottom and sides of a regular loaf pan and pour in batter. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown on top and fully set.
Food Allergies and Ethics
Vegetarian and gluten-free.
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Heidi Swanson's Millet Muffins
This recipe is from Super Natural Every Day. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these muffins and promised my Mom I'd share the recipe with her. Putting millet in a baked good it gives this wonderful little bit of crunch. These are not oversweet, but also not bland in the slightest. They are perfect with butter and tea for breakfast or in the afternoon. Bake them!
Dry:
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup raw millet
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Wet:
1 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup coney
1/2 cup unsalted butter, barely melted
Grated zest and juice (2 TB) of one lemon
Preheat oven to 400. Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another. Add wet to dry and combine.
Divide batter into a greased standard 12-muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes.
Dry:
2 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 cup raw millet
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Wet:
1 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup coney
1/2 cup unsalted butter, barely melted
Grated zest and juice (2 TB) of one lemon
Preheat oven to 400. Mix together dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another. Add wet to dry and combine.
Divide batter into a greased standard 12-muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes.
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Guest Post: Coconut Granola
When my mom placed a big tin of this lovely mixture under my nose today, I swooned and ate half of it right up. Slightly sweet, satisfylingly crispy, perfect for a hike / workday morning / movie snack, and allegedly very easy to make (plus, Mom points out, it "makes a boatload"):
Dry ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats (use gluten free if needed)
1.5 cups pecans and/or almonds
1 cup coconut flakes
.25 cup sesame seeds
Wet ingredients:
1 cup coconut oil (melted in microwave)
.5 cup maple syrup
.5 tsp ea vanilla and almond extract
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp nutmeg
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, add to dry, and toss together. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 300 for 30 minutes.
Dry ingredients:
3 cups rolled oats (use gluten free if needed)
1.5 cups pecans and/or almonds
1 cup coconut flakes
.25 cup sesame seeds
Wet ingredients:
1 cup coconut oil (melted in microwave)
.5 cup maple syrup
.5 tsp ea vanilla and almond extract
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
.5 tsp nutmeg
Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl, add to dry, and toss together. Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 300 for 30 minutes.
Monday, December 8, 2014
Early Winter Breakfasts: Spiced Butternut Muffins with Bittersweet Chocolate
At some point during the Thanksgiving grocery shopping bonanza, I sent my husband out for a butternut squash. He returned with the largest gourd known to man, which, he informed me very grouchily, cost $9. A $9 squash?! Adding insult to injury (no, really, I tore my rotator cuff during the Thanksgiving festivities and am sure lifting this sucker didn't help) I ran out of time to make butternut soup on Thanksgiving day.
In a large bowl, sift together your dry ingredients. Set aside and preheat your oven to 350°F. Fill a 12-muffin pan with liners.
Food Allergies and Ethics
Gluten-free, vegetarian
We're determined that $9 is not going to go to waste, so we've since had squash in our chicken soup, squash cooked into quinoa polenta arepas, and now squash in these perfect. not-too-sweet breakfast muffins.
This recipe seems a bit fussy, but it's only because I was using up other leftover holiday ingredients, like buttermilk and heavy cream. You don't need to follow my lead here, and could definitely substitute plain old milk. And if you're not gluten free? You can sub the brown rice flour for whole wheat and use a regular all-purpose flour. The almond meal would still be a nice touch, or just increase the amount of one of the other flours by 1/2 cup.
Adapted slightly from this lovely recipe:
Spiced Butternut Muffins with Bittersweet Chocolate
Adapted a little from this lovely recipe at Making Thyme for Health
1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1/2 cup gluten free all purpose flour (I use this mix)
1/2 cup almond meal
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 cup roasted and mashed butternut squash**
2 eggs
2/3 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons butter, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate
In a separate bowl, mix together all of your wet ingredients, including the squash. I did this by hand with no problem, and my squash was pretty dry.
Slowly fold the contents of your wet bowl into the dry mix. Don't overdo it. Fold in the bittersweet chocolate last.
Pour into muffin tins and bake at 350°F for 25 minutes.
**You can either pre-roast your squash or puncture its skin and then microwave the heck out of it. You might get some more depth if you roast it, but for muffins I found the microwave a very acceptable cooking method.
Don't forget to roast and enjoy the seeds!
Food Allergies and Ethics
Gluten-free, vegetarian
Monday, November 10, 2014
Perfect Oven-Fried Potatoes
Easy peasy perfect oven-fried potatoes. Picture says it all, right?
Ingredients
Yellow potatoes (4-5 good-sized, could also use a larger number of tiny fingerlings)
Butter (1-2 Tbsp)
Salt
Pepper
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Put somewhere between 1-2 tablespoons of butter in a glass baking pan and place on the top shelf of your oven so that the butter heats with the oven. (You can do more or less butter depending on the size of your potatoes and your personal butter preference.)
Puncture your potatoes with a fork and place them together on a plate, then microwave for 5ish minutes or until tender. The first time you do this, stop halfway through and check. Watch not to turn them to mush, you want them to be cooked through, soft, but holding their shape. Sometimes if I have bigger potatoes, I flip them halfway through, too.
Next, quarter the steaming potatoes with a sharp knife. You could oven-fry 'em whole or halved, too, but you'll get a better crisp if you quarter them.
Pull out the baking pan and add your potatoes to the sizzling butter. It's ok to do this even if the oven isn't at 425 yet, you'll just have to watch your baking time. Don't be alarmed if the butter has browned a bit, then you just have brown butter fried potatoes and what's not to love about that! Toss with salt and pepper. Add more butter if you need after you see how coated the potatoes are. I go for a nice coat but not dripping.
Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. I like to finish off with a quick broil to get them even crispier. Flip them halfway through if you want, though sometimes I'm too lazy and it's fine.
Obviously, you can do this with more than 4-5 potatoes, I have just found that to be a nice size to serve alongside breakfast or lunch for P and I and have some leftovers. These are also delightful with a little grated cheese and a glass of red wine. Which I think counts as a reasonable working gal's dinner.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Summer Tea Smoothie With Strawberries + Avocado
It was 111° F here in Phoenix yesterday. With heat like that, a smoothie in the morning is basically a necessity, but the typical dairy + banana base loses its appeal.
Enter the summer smoothie made with sun-brewed green or herbal ice tea, avocado for creaminess, frozen berries, cinnamon, and honey. This morning, I covered frozen strawberries with tea I brewed in the sun yesterday using 1 bag of organic green and 2 bags of Tulsi Cleanse. After blending with my immersion blender, I added 1/2 an avocado and a ton of cinnamon and honey, then blended again until smooth. Light, hydrating, creamy, and delicious.
Enter the summer smoothie made with sun-brewed green or herbal ice tea, avocado for creaminess, frozen berries, cinnamon, and honey. This morning, I covered frozen strawberries with tea I brewed in the sun yesterday using 1 bag of organic green and 2 bags of Tulsi Cleanse. After blending with my immersion blender, I added 1/2 an avocado and a ton of cinnamon and honey, then blended again until smooth. Light, hydrating, creamy, and delicious.
Saturday, May 24, 2014
Yogurt: A Collaborative Sororial Post
Sarah dictated her foolproof yogurt-making process to ace interviewer Katelyn, who transcribed and gave it back for editing, and here you have it:
Homemade yogurt is awesome, saves a ton of $$, and isn't all that effortful, although it takes 1 or 2 tries to get in the swing of it. I make it roughly every 2 weeks on Sunday nights.
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You will need:
A starter yogurt. I like Noosa best if you can get it. Fage works great too. You need at least 2 TB; I usually use about 1/2 a cup. Or, you can buy a stable culture online at www.culturesforhealth.com. (They also have a lot of good advice and info on their site.)
Half a gallon of full-fat, high-quality, pasteurized (but not ultra-pasteurized) milk. If you make a gallon at a time, it takes a LOT longer to heat and cool the milk, so I've decided a half gallon is the perfect amount.
A stock pot big enough to hold all of your milk; a soup pot to boil water in for sterilizing things; a strainer; a whisk; a ladle; a cooking thermometer; enough canning jars to hold 1/2 gallon total; and a cooler big enough to hold all the jars. (Canning tools are nice to help handle the hot jars, but not necessary.)
About an hour (mostly because of the time to heat and cool the milk).
To make the yogurt:
1. Assemble equipment and get your starter yogurt out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature.
2. Heat the milk in the stock pot up to 175 degrees (Farenheit) to scald it. Start stirring when it gets up to about 165 to prevent it from boiling over. (Since we're using a strainer, don't worry too much about some milk cooking to the bottom of the pot.) As soon as it hits 175, take it off the heat.
3. Cool the milk to 120. This takes a LONG time at room temperature. I recommend putting the stock pot in the freezer with the lid off and checking the temperature frequently.
4. While the milk cools, fill your cooler with 90-degree water, just high enough that it won't come up to the lids of your jars and leak in. And start your saucepan of water boiling to sterilize the jars. (You can also sterilize your whisk, ladle, strainer, and canning tools at this point and lay them out on a clean towel.)
5. When the milk gets to 120, take it out of the freezer, and whisk in your starter yogurt so the bacteria get mixed around.
6. Then, sterilize your jars one by one, ladling the milk mixture through the strainer into each one to fill it, putting a lid on it (not too tight), and putting it in the warm water in the cooler.
7. Leave the yogurt in the closed cooler for 10-12 hours (overnight works well). It should be quite thick and tart; the longer you leave it, the thicker and more tart it will get. Mine comes out thick enough that you can see little bubbles frozen on the surface around the edges.
NOTES:
- I like to sterilize because that way, the yogurt lasts a VERY long time (like a month!) in the fridge. When I tried skipping that step, I had a few batches go bad.
- I used to love thick greek-style yogurts, and experimented with straining my yogurt to get that thickness, but have come to love the delicate texture of unstrained yogurt.
- Commercial yogurts don't have stable cultures, so you need to either buy a stable culture like one from Cultures for Health (and then use your own yogurt to start each subsequent batch), or use a new starter each time. Since we usually eat up a whole batch before I get around to making another, it's been easier for me to just buy a new starter each time - and still cost-effective given the quantity.
- If you want to make a gallon at a time, 1/2 a cup of starter yogurt is still plenty.
- If you have a spot in your house that stays at a steady 90 or 95 degrees, you could skip the cooler and just put the jars there. (Top of water cooler, by heater, in greenhouse, etc.)
Homemade yogurt is awesome, saves a ton of $$, and isn't all that effortful, although it takes 1 or 2 tries to get in the swing of it. I make it roughly every 2 weeks on Sunday nights.
You will need:
A starter yogurt. I like Noosa best if you can get it. Fage works great too. You need at least 2 TB; I usually use about 1/2 a cup. Or, you can buy a stable culture online at www.culturesforhealth.com. (They also have a lot of good advice and info on their site.)
Half a gallon of full-fat, high-quality, pasteurized (but not ultra-pasteurized) milk. If you make a gallon at a time, it takes a LOT longer to heat and cool the milk, so I've decided a half gallon is the perfect amount.
A stock pot big enough to hold all of your milk; a soup pot to boil water in for sterilizing things; a strainer; a whisk; a ladle; a cooking thermometer; enough canning jars to hold 1/2 gallon total; and a cooler big enough to hold all the jars. (Canning tools are nice to help handle the hot jars, but not necessary.)
About an hour (mostly because of the time to heat and cool the milk).
To make the yogurt:
1. Assemble equipment and get your starter yogurt out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature.
2. Heat the milk in the stock pot up to 175 degrees (Farenheit) to scald it. Start stirring when it gets up to about 165 to prevent it from boiling over. (Since we're using a strainer, don't worry too much about some milk cooking to the bottom of the pot.) As soon as it hits 175, take it off the heat.
3. Cool the milk to 120. This takes a LONG time at room temperature. I recommend putting the stock pot in the freezer with the lid off and checking the temperature frequently.
4. While the milk cools, fill your cooler with 90-degree water, just high enough that it won't come up to the lids of your jars and leak in. And start your saucepan of water boiling to sterilize the jars. (You can also sterilize your whisk, ladle, strainer, and canning tools at this point and lay them out on a clean towel.)
5. When the milk gets to 120, take it out of the freezer, and whisk in your starter yogurt so the bacteria get mixed around.
6. Then, sterilize your jars one by one, ladling the milk mixture through the strainer into each one to fill it, putting a lid on it (not too tight), and putting it in the warm water in the cooler.
7. Leave the yogurt in the closed cooler for 10-12 hours (overnight works well). It should be quite thick and tart; the longer you leave it, the thicker and more tart it will get. Mine comes out thick enough that you can see little bubbles frozen on the surface around the edges.
NOTES:
- I like to sterilize because that way, the yogurt lasts a VERY long time (like a month!) in the fridge. When I tried skipping that step, I had a few batches go bad.
- I used to love thick greek-style yogurts, and experimented with straining my yogurt to get that thickness, but have come to love the delicate texture of unstrained yogurt.
- Commercial yogurts don't have stable cultures, so you need to either buy a stable culture like one from Cultures for Health (and then use your own yogurt to start each subsequent batch), or use a new starter each time. Since we usually eat up a whole batch before I get around to making another, it's been easier for me to just buy a new starter each time - and still cost-effective given the quantity.
- If you want to make a gallon at a time, 1/2 a cup of starter yogurt is still plenty.
- If you have a spot in your house that stays at a steady 90 or 95 degrees, you could skip the cooler and just put the jars there. (Top of water cooler, by heater, in greenhouse, etc.)
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Guest Post: Gluten Free Pumpkin Muffins
An email from our momma:
i made these this morning & they are YUM! left out the cloves & chocolate chips. Upped the nutmeg & ginger slightly, added ground flax seeds - tablespoon or 2, and chopped walnuts. I tossed some raw pepitas with a small amount of raw sugar & sprinkled on top of muffins before baking. The pumpkin seeds really added a nice crunch :D
XOXOXOXO
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Perfect Kale Breakfast Tacos
When P isn't around to make his famous scrambled eggs on corn tortillas, I like to make myself cheesy kale breakfast tacos. (Also fantastic served with tomato soup for dinner or lunch.)
I've written the recipe to serve one person; multiply accordingly.
2 corn tortillas
Several thin slices of a sharp white cheddar
1/4 bunch of kale (you can substitute spinach if you don't have kale on hand)
Olive oil or butter
Salt
Plain greek yogurt
Salsa
Place a skillet on your burner over medium heat, with a thin pat of butter or layer of olive oil in the bottom. Clean and de-stem your kale, then add torn pieces to the pan. Sprinkle salt and let cook until quite tender.
Add both corn tortillas to the bottom of the skillet. Let fry in the remaining butter or oil. Add thinly sliced cheddar to each, then place kale on top to melt cheese. Fold each tortilla over and let fry on each side until crispy. Serve with plain greek yogurt and a bit of salsa.
Food Allergies and Ethics: Vegetarian and gluten free.
I've written the recipe to serve one person; multiply accordingly.
2 corn tortillas
Several thin slices of a sharp white cheddar
1/4 bunch of kale (you can substitute spinach if you don't have kale on hand)
Olive oil or butter
Salt
Plain greek yogurt
Salsa
Place a skillet on your burner over medium heat, with a thin pat of butter or layer of olive oil in the bottom. Clean and de-stem your kale, then add torn pieces to the pan. Sprinkle salt and let cook until quite tender.
Add both corn tortillas to the bottom of the skillet. Let fry in the remaining butter or oil. Add thinly sliced cheddar to each, then place kale on top to melt cheese. Fold each tortilla over and let fry on each side until crispy. Serve with plain greek yogurt and a bit of salsa.
Food Allergies and Ethics: Vegetarian and gluten free.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Caramelized Kimchi Scrambled Eggs
For about a week now, as everyone has probably heard, it has rained like I've never seen in Denver. It's like the summer of 2005 in New York when the subways kept flooding and the whole city was just streaming with water. (Needless to say, things are a lot worse than just rainy in a lot of the communities surrounding us, and I'm grateful that the rain has stayed out of our basement, our roof has held up, and we've been home safe and dry throughout.)
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The extra moisture has apparently led to some oversized veggies from our CSA, like last week's giant cabbage, which I took as my cue to finally make kimchi (I also included cucumbers, peppers, young leeks, and easter egg radishes from the CSA).
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When it was ready to eat, I wanted to do something a little more special than just rice (even though I'm sure that will be a frequent meal till we eat it all). This was just the ticket - flavorful comfort food on a rainy night:
Ingredients:
1-1.5 cups kimchi, plus more on the side
Black rice
4 eggs
1 TB milk
4 TB sugar
2 TB white vinegar
1 TB soy sauce
All you do is: Mix the kimchi (1 to 1.5 cups - eyeball it; it depends how tightly packed they are and how much you like), sugar, vinegar and soy sauce. In another bowl, whisk up 3 eggs and the yolk of the fork, plus the milk.
Heat a frying pan up to high heat, add the kimchi mixture, cover with a lid, and watch it carefully for the liquid to caramelize - about 5 minutes (don't let it burn!).
Once sticky, pour the egg mixture in, and scramble, stirring constantly until the eggs seem just a little bit runny. (My brother-in-law, who makes the most amazing scrambled eggs, taught me the trick is to stop then, because they'll keep cooking once you turn off the heat.)
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Eat with rice and more kimchi. Amazing.
Monday, July 29, 2013
Lemon Ricotta Waffles
This is one of those reposting-in-its-entirety moments, because this recipe is perfect.
[Picture please, Annalise!]
[Picture please, Annalise!]
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Vegan Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes
I'm almost fairly certain that you saw this recipe, saw the word pumpkin, and thought "Enough is enough. Thanksgiving is over. Fall is done. Pumpkin season is, too. Let's move on to gingerbread."
I fully support your thoughts on that. But here in Phoenix, things like weather and seasonal flavors have a mind of their own. The day after Thanksgiving I drove home from K's to find that the tree across the street from my house had just exploded with gorgeous yellow leaves. Trees do that here, they just sort of decide when they feel like being dressed in reds and yellows, or when they want to bring forth their own green (as a freshman in college, I found this to be the most curious and confounding thing. I still do). So I spent several minutes jumping and crunching in the leaves in the gutter, and then decided that I wanted to make one last pumpkin flavored item.
I wanted to feel the joy that comes from eating something pumpkin when it is actually fall out and also to use up the last of my homemade pumpkin spice and puree that I really don't want to have sitting in my pantry all year reminding me of the season I always miss out on.
Serendipitously, our mother recently sent us all a text proclaiming the goodness of this recipe, the lack of fat, and finally the details of how to accomplish it. If you'll recall from earlier guest posts by our Mum, she's quite busy but eager to share with her daughters any new discoveries she makes in the kitchen. As the first of the family to make the recipe, I'll allow her to share it with you in a similar fashion to her typical guest post/recipe sharing: via an enthusiastic text message.
A few things:
1) Mum calls them muffins. You could totally call them muffins, too, if you went without the generous slathering of cream cheese frosting that I went for.
Or you could go for the cream cheese frosting, add a little maple syrup to really outdo the fall flavor, and garnish the top with your leftover pumpkin spice. But just be real and call them cupcakes, eh?
2) I took Mum's advice and added a handful of pecans. I could pretend that I am totally the sort of pinterest-esque cook that ran outside to my pecan tree (I really have one of those, it's lovely) and cracked them fresh and tossed them in. But instead I'll level with you and admit that cracking pecans is actually quite difficult, and today, I just wanted simple and easy (which these cupcakes totally fulfilled). I'll level with you, and then we can all go back to pretending I'm that type of cook when I pin this in a few minutes.
3) I called them vegan because you remove the eggs and replace with pumpkin, but for it to be truly vegan one would need to check the box mix before baking and not add the cream cheese frosting (clearly). These could easily be gluten-free, also, if one found a gluten-free box mix instead.
There. I'll eat this under my pecan tree and then go put up the Christmas stockings I bought for my roommates and make some gingerbread or something. Promise. Holiday season, here we come.
I fully support your thoughts on that. But here in Phoenix, things like weather and seasonal flavors have a mind of their own. The day after Thanksgiving I drove home from K's to find that the tree across the street from my house had just exploded with gorgeous yellow leaves. Trees do that here, they just sort of decide when they feel like being dressed in reds and yellows, or when they want to bring forth their own green (as a freshman in college, I found this to be the most curious and confounding thing. I still do). So I spent several minutes jumping and crunching in the leaves in the gutter, and then decided that I wanted to make one last pumpkin flavored item.
yes, I am still wearing my fall pants. no judgement.
I wanted to feel the joy that comes from eating something pumpkin when it is actually fall out and also to use up the last of my homemade pumpkin spice and puree that I really don't want to have sitting in my pantry all year reminding me of the season I always miss out on.
Serendipitously, our mother recently sent us all a text proclaiming the goodness of this recipe, the lack of fat, and finally the details of how to accomplish it. If you'll recall from earlier guest posts by our Mum, she's quite busy but eager to share with her daughters any new discoveries she makes in the kitchen. As the first of the family to make the recipe, I'll allow her to share it with you in a similar fashion to her typical guest post/recipe sharing: via an enthusiastic text message.
Later notes from Mum: she made them with walnuts in the batter and cinnamon and nutmeg in the frosting and they were "stupendous".
A few things:
1) Mum calls them muffins. You could totally call them muffins, too, if you went without the generous slathering of cream cheese frosting that I went for.
go ahead, lick the spoon. you know you want to.
Or you could go for the cream cheese frosting, add a little maple syrup to really outdo the fall flavor, and garnish the top with your leftover pumpkin spice. But just be real and call them cupcakes, eh?
2) I took Mum's advice and added a handful of pecans. I could pretend that I am totally the sort of pinterest-esque cook that ran outside to my pecan tree (I really have one of those, it's lovely) and cracked them fresh and tossed them in. But instead I'll level with you and admit that cracking pecans is actually quite difficult, and today, I just wanted simple and easy (which these cupcakes totally fulfilled). I'll level with you, and then we can all go back to pretending I'm that type of cook when I pin this in a few minutes.
tree-picked pecans not used in the making of this recipe
3) I called them vegan because you remove the eggs and replace with pumpkin, but for it to be truly vegan one would need to check the box mix before baking and not add the cream cheese frosting (clearly). These could easily be gluten-free, also, if one found a gluten-free box mix instead.
There. I'll eat this under my pecan tree and then go put up the Christmas stockings I bought for my roommates and make some gingerbread or something. Promise. Holiday season, here we come.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Green Chili Souffle
Kate and I raided our mom's large bag of cleaned, individually
wrapped, frozen Hatch green chilis (<-- yes, she is that organized
and foresightful) to make this great-smelling breakfast on Christmas
morning. In the process, we also cleaned out (/raided) her recipe and
cookbook drawer. Kate nabbed a southwestern cookbook that suggested
dumplings made of tamale dough - brilliant, and just happens to be
gluten free. I got some high altitude bread books that might help me
with my serial baking failures in the Mile High City. Happy Holidays!
8 eggs (we used 6, I'd go to 8 or even 10 for more eggy layers)
Block of good cheddar, grated
6-8 green chilis, cleaned
Salt & pepper
Separate eggs. Beat whites until stiff. Whisk yolks till smooth and season with S&P; fold into whites as gently as possible.
Layer egg mixture, chilis, and cheese in a greased 9x13 baking dish, ending w/a layer of eggs so cheese doesn't get crispy. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, being careful not to overbake. Serve with avos, salsa, olives, plain yogurt, etc.
8 eggs (we used 6, I'd go to 8 or even 10 for more eggy layers)
Block of good cheddar, grated
6-8 green chilis, cleaned
Salt & pepper
Separate eggs. Beat whites until stiff. Whisk yolks till smooth and season with S&P; fold into whites as gently as possible.
Layer egg mixture, chilis, and cheese in a greased 9x13 baking dish, ending w/a layer of eggs so cheese doesn't get crispy. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes, being careful not to overbake. Serve with avos, salsa, olives, plain yogurt, etc.
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