tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-151289552024-03-07T21:02:42.789-07:00The Story is Cooked!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06413857753128523605noreply@blogger.comBlogger78125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-80503007969530444862017-03-12T12:39:00.000-06:002017-03-12T12:39:25.351-06:00Rolls.I decided to make some rolls. Google pointed me to <a href="http://anoregoncottage.com/soft-100-whole-wheat-dinner-rolls/">this website</a>. I made them. They tasted good. The children loved having double-decker sandwiches made out of them this week.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8OxPy9Ha0ilKUmvt-aOXe-wvwI9YB0Wa-cLm3Uh6VIb0raVBoae1mzAG6awKNxmiAIQOoJ76rFJlQ9GsCQ6RG0oHwS3UQHPvnZVEFpKfVUIANyIWdkk72e49q7gtDgGVVKaiMg/s1600/WP_20170306_001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ8OxPy9Ha0ilKUmvt-aOXe-wvwI9YB0Wa-cLm3Uh6VIb0raVBoae1mzAG6awKNxmiAIQOoJ76rFJlQ9GsCQ6RG0oHwS3UQHPvnZVEFpKfVUIANyIWdkk72e49q7gtDgGVVKaiMg/s400/WP_20170306_001.jpg" width="400" height="286" /></a></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06413857753128523605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-37780018505322000472017-03-11T20:45:00.000-07:002017-03-11T20:45:31.605-07:00GranolaYears and years ago, I got frustrated with the price of granola and decided that it couldn't be that hard to make it myself. After looking at some recipes (I think one was an Alton Brown recipe) and at the ingredients in one of the bulk bin granolas sold at the Good Food Store in Missoula (see, it was at least 8 years ago that this happened!), I came up with this recipe. I am, probably, far to proud of it because I made it up myself (standing on the shoulders of giants) and because I really like it. This is a very forgiving recipe; for example, if we are out of oat bran, I just replace it with oats. No flax seeds? Oh well. Flaxless granola is eaten the world over.<br />
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Mix together in large bowl:<br />
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12 cups oats<br />
2-2.5 cups sliced and/or slivered almonds<br />
2 cups roasted salted sunflower seeds<br />
1/2 (ish) cup brown flax seeds<br />
2 1/4 (ish) cup oat bran<br />
1/2-1 cup brown sugar <br />
1 tablespoon salt<br />
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Mix together in smaller container (I often heat this in the microwave for 1 minute or so to make it more liquidy);<br />
3/4 cup oil<br />
1 cup honey<br />
Bake at 250 in 3 greased (it's very important to grease the pans) 9x13 pans, stirring every 25 minutes, for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool completely before storing. <br />
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To make it slightly more chunky, squish it all down with a spoon after you've taken it out of the oven the last time. According to the internet, there are ways to make granola more chunky, but I prefer my granola less chunky since I mix it in yogurt, so I don't bother with any of those ways. :)<br />
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Enjoy! This makes probably 4-5 quart jars full. I always store it in quart jars so that only small amounts are opened at a time, keeping it fresh (I'm too lazy to make it terribly frequently, so this is my solution).<br />
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Since the kids and I usually eat our granola with yogurt and blueberries, here's a picture of Judah with some of the blueberries we picked last summer. </div>
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Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-46320634428220428892017-01-28T13:11:00.001-07:002017-03-11T20:28:25.671-07:00Yogurt<a href="http://storycooked.blogspot.com/2017/01/enchilada-casserole.html">Previously</a> I mentioned that we use Dannon All Natural Whole Milk yogurt. For the last couple of weeks, however, our Wegmans has been out of stock. I can only assume this is due to the increased demand from you, our dear readers. All is not lost! We have in the past very successfully made our own yogurt. In fact, it is better and cheaper, but it does take a little bit of effort. Specifically, we use Yogourmet freeze dried yogurt starter and follow their directions. Three quart jars fit in our yogurt maker ring with the tall lid. I experimented with using the surface temperature feature of our IR thermometer (for humans), but it was not giving me repeatable values so I will stick with the kitchen stick thermometer in the future.<br />
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Rebekah's edit: we actually use half the starter that the Yogourmet directions call for--we're cheap, and we get good yogurt that way anyway!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06413857753128523605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-43514701247346368922017-01-11T11:26:00.002-07:002017-03-11T20:27:00.153-07:00Burritos Smothered in Green Salsa <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIz-9zUzVCE3MvyRLaMSs-9a5e2DMZyMsg2dgA3lkK21gfQDg3jHOa-SZb5j9X2vtW-naNDuzjJOyZNZLC6qvn54LU95gDStmkp7LZHOFoG3SUQ8dv2S-x7QFhSuu1YIShIToQNQ/s1600/WP_20170110_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIz-9zUzVCE3MvyRLaMSs-9a5e2DMZyMsg2dgA3lkK21gfQDg3jHOa-SZb5j9X2vtW-naNDuzjJOyZNZLC6qvn54LU95gDStmkp7LZHOFoG3SUQ8dv2S-x7QFhSuu1YIShIToQNQ/s320/WP_20170110_003.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
This is a burrito smothered in <a href="http://storycooked.blogspot.com/2017/01/green-salsa-many-years-later.html">green salsa</a>. I made the burrito in our typical burrito making fashion, but then covered it in the newly made green salsa and stuck it in our trusty toast-r-oven on broil for a while. The kids preferred to avoid the salsa (it wasn't hot) and just have a normal burrito.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06413857753128523605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-41187611095494535922017-01-10T11:43:00.000-07:002017-01-10T11:43:32.242-07:00Green Salsa (many years later)I have made <a href="http://storycooked.blogspot.com/2008/02/green-salsa.html">green salsa before</a> and that always turned out well. At Wegmans yesterday they had some tomatillos that looked good, so I went for it today using <a href="http://mexicanfoodjournal.com/salsa-verde/">this</a> as my guide. Unlike last time I didn't broil the tomatillos and our blender recently broke (the plastic part around the blade cracked). Having forgot that it was broken I was at a loss for what to do when Rebekah reminded me that we don't care about the blender anyway because we always prefer the stick blender (easier clean-up, fine grain control over results). So I successfully have a batch of green salsa cooling down.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06413857753128523605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-35279022146477266832017-01-08T10:47:00.003-07:002017-01-08T10:47:38.136-07:00Cinnamon Muffins I needed to make something to take to our small group meeting this morning and quickly searched for cinnamon quick bread. The <a href="http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/cinnamon-swirl-quick-bread">second result</a> looked reasonable. Due to time, we baked at 400 as muffins, layering cinnamon in the middle and on top. The results were good.<br />
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Also, leftover enchilada casserole is good. </div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06413857753128523605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-65698440478017396832017-01-07T18:25:00.001-07:002017-01-07T18:25:13.996-07:00Enchilada Casserole Long ago I gave up on store-bought enchilada sauce. It is easy to make much better sauce at home. But, alas, I forgot what recipe I semi-followed before. Tonight I tried this one: <a href="https://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/08/red-enchilada-sauce/">https://www.budgetbytes.com/2012/08/red-enchilada-sauce/</a> and it was okay, but I will try something else next time.<br />
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I start with a layer of sauce, then corn tortillas alternating layers of beans (leftover black bean soup today), rice, and cooked peppers and onions. This time I also added some finely chopped kale on some layers. All the layers also have some cheese (cheddar) and sauce. Bake 350 for a bit (everything is already cooked so about 30 minutes). Should be ready when the cheese on top is browned. Serve with sour cream on top. We don't bother with sour cream and instead always have good quality plain yogurt with nothing added wherever sour cream is called for. It is best when we make our own, but we usually buy the Dannon All Natural Whole Milk yogurt. We have had good luck with most brands that only have cultured milk and some bacteria names in the ingredients.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06413857753128523605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-35678077102888478432017-01-04T10:01:00.001-07:002017-03-11T20:31:07.438-07:00We still eat food (red beans and rice)The original intent of sharing our food stories with all of our loyal readers was to selfishly keep a record of what we eat so that there was one canonical place to find out what it is exactly that we eat ourselves. We have failed to keep up with this and are again in a quandary, not knowing where to find the foods that we have liked in the past. So some more links are coming this way as we try to document foods once again. To start, red beans and rice is an amazing food. We use this recipe: <a href="https://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/02/vegan-red-beans-rice/">https://www.budgetbytes.com/2014/02/vegan-red-beans-rice/</a> (lots of wonderful foods there). I think it was red beans and rice that introduced us to smoked paprika, now a staple in our house and often requested as a topping at the table by both Judah and Junia. We omit the celery (Rebekah doesn't like it) and often garnish with thinly chopped kale (another staple in our house these days). I can't recall now if we do a crock-pot version, but we certainly do it with the fast bean soak method. Also, we probably double the amount of spices. More about kale later, as we have some right now.<br />
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Edit: We're abandoning the fast bean soak method after some semi-negative consequences and some research. Overnight soaking for the win!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06413857753128523605noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-23153955793862827082013-07-08T17:57:00.001-06:002013-07-08T17:57:03.304-06:00Jamaican Red Bean SoupI made this <a href="http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/vegetarian-recipes/jamaican-red-bean-stew.php">Jamaican Red Bean Soup</a>. It was really good. You should make it, too. And I actually followed the recipe (if scallions = Vidalia onions, red pepper flakes = cayenne pepper, and measurements are a general idea). Also, Judah liked it, though he did think it required a sip of milk after every bite. We're working on de-wimpifying him--it's a process.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-78179439892564517672013-05-21T07:46:00.001-06:002013-05-21T08:06:44.492-06:00Spicy Peanut NoodlesWe had a potluck at church this past Sunday, and since it was Pentecost, we decided to take spicy food. We've been making peanut sauce for steamed vegetables for awhile, but haven't written about it (since we haven't written at all in...years). I made some lo mein noodles, some peanut sauce, and some steamed vegetables as follows:
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Ok, I'm not actually going to tell you how to boil lo mein noodles--just read the directions on the package. Yes, I am advocating following directions in this instance.
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<b>Peanut Sauce</b> (usual recipe)
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1/4-1/2 cup sugar
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1/2 cup soy sauce
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1 Tbsp sesame oil
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some ginger
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some garlic
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3 Tbsp (at least) peanut butter (chunky or creamy)
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some Sriracha chili sauce (depending on your heat tolerance levels)
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Stir together on lowish heat until the peanut butter is melted and everything is mixed nicely.
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I thought we didn't have any sesame oil, so instead of sesame oil, per Ryan's suggestion, I heated some canola oil in the pan and then dumped in a lot of black sesame seeds and stirred for several minutes until they seemed toasty. Then I added the rest of the peanut sauce ingredients, and when it was done, I added the now-boiled lo mein noodles and transferred everything to a big bowl.
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While making the peanut sauce, I steamed carrots and broccoli for 10 minutes. After 5 of those minutes, I added some red bell pepper strips. After 2 more minutes, I added a large handful of sugar snap peas. When the vegetables were done, I mixed them into the noodles and added some green onions.
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We usually eat things like this hot, but since it's hard to keep food warm at church through the entire service, we stuck this in the fridge and served it cold. I liked it cold; Ryan wasn't convinced.
Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-64882762567673630702011-08-28T14:56:00.003-06:002011-08-28T15:11:38.671-06:00Black Bean and Corn SaladApparently, we post in August these days. Oops. Anyway, we have now made a black bean and corn salad twice, and we like it a lot. I made it up based on a similar salad I had when we were at <a href="http://www.maa.org/mathfest/">MathFest</a> this year (except that one had cilantro in it, and I despise cilantro. If you like cilantro, you should probably add it to your salad. Unless you're going to feed your salad to me or anyone else who can't stand cilantro. Then have a heart, and don't send us home with a metallic soapy taste in our mouths). So, anyway, here's somewhat of a recipe (when I say I made this up, I'm serious, so of course I didn't measure):
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<br />some cans of black beans, rinsed (number depends on size of group you're serving)
<br />some corn (the better the corn, the better the salad), cooked/unfrozen
<br />some onions, chopped (browned if you're like me and have trouble with raw onions)
<br />some green and/or red peppers, chopped (or another color; these can be browned with
<br /> the onions if you so desire)
<br />some tomato, chopped
<br />juice of a lemon or lime (or more than one, depending on how much of the previous
<br /> ingredients you're using)
<br />some olive oil (as in, a few tablespoons)
<br />some vinegar (I've been using white--probably 1/8-1/4 cup)
<br />some cumin
<br />some garlic powder or pressed garlic if you want it stronger
<br />some cayenne pepper
<br />some salt
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<br />Mix all the dressing-type ingredients together and pour on top of the other ingredients. Mix well; refrigerate for a few hours before serving.
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<br />If you like spicy (we do, in case you weren't aware), I think some jalapeños or jalapeño juice would be a nice addition. Of course, I forgot that I think that this morning when we were making the salad. Green onions could work, too, as could jalapeño-pickled carrots.
<br />Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-27645662624808674162010-08-17T21:16:00.007-06:002021-07-26T08:13:46.310-06:00Curried Chickpea SaladWe went to a restaurant in Angelica for lunch on my birthday and had a curried chickpea wrap. We both liked it but agreed that we should be able to make it better at home. Tonight we had our first attempt based on <a href="https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/curried-chickpea-salad">this recipe</a>, but because I didn't want to waste the good ingredients in case we didn't like it, we halved the recipe. Also, <div> we had no limes, so we used lemon juice; </div><div> we had no olive oil, so we used just a tiny bit of vegetable oil; </div><div> we had no maple syrup, so we used honey; </div><div> we had no cumin seeds, so we used ground cumin; </div><div> we had no raisins, so we used dried apricots; </div><div> we had no red pepper, so we used green;</div><div> we had no red onions, so we used Vidalia*; </div><div> we had no fresh parsley**, so we used a bit of dried parsley; </div><div> we had no pitas, so we used homemade bread; </div><div> and we had no mixed greens, so we used red leaf lettuce. </div><div>I feel like this is some children's book about curried chickpea salad during the Great Depression.
By the way, we liked this a lot. Probably a new staple. </div><div><br /></div><div>Oh, and we added carrots and put toasted almonds on top. </div><div><br /></div><div>*which for some reason were cheaper at Wegmans than yellow onions were. </div><div><br /></div><div>**or cilantro, but there will never be cilantro in my mouth voluntarily if I'm in charge of cooking.</div>Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-25307375478915392682009-08-22T20:47:00.003-06:002009-08-22T20:55:21.713-06:00Western New York Food LamentWe survived our move, but we don't remember what we used to eat and we're having trouble procuring items we think are necessary (read: good tortillas and salsa and reasonably-priced bread flour). We now live at least 1/2 hour from any grocery store of consequence, we have an electric stove, and it's humid here--bread molds instead of going stale (so no excuse to make croutons) and cookies do not get better when they are left on the cooling rack overnight. We also fell out of the habit of planning our meals by the week (which we never reported here, but was really helpful). All in all, we're a bit food discombobulated. On the good side, there are tons of produce roadside stands, every tiny town (it seems) has at least one pizza, wings, and sub shop (which may be located in the gas station), and we bought a chest freezer before we left Missoula so we can stock up more easily when we make the pilgrimage to the good grocery store.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-7876394175176305182008-12-03T18:32:00.003-07:002008-12-03T18:39:55.661-07:00Onion and Garlic RollsWe have a ton of onions and garlic (it's a figurative ton, but I think it might actually be a garlic ton and an onion ton if we define those as new units of measurement), so when we volunteered to provide the bread for our Thanksgiving dinner with the Makis, Ryan thought it would be a good idea to make onion and garlic bread. At least, that's what I thought he thought; he apparently thought it was my idea and I had a specific recipe in mind. After much internet searching, we based our rolls on <a href="http://www.grouprecipes.com/4674/cheese-and-onion-bread.html">this recipe</a>. Of course, we didn't follow it exactly: we used 1 cup of wheat flour instead of all bread flour, chopped and pre-toasted (as in, toasted before putting in with the other ingredients) an entire (small--maybe 2 in. in diameter) onion, threw in some roasted garlic, used a lot more cheese (well, maybe twice as much), and of course only let the bread machine do the mixing and kneading and rolled the rolls ourselves. I think we baked them at 350 for 20-25 minutes. No one could taste the cheese, but the onions and garlic were detectable without being overwhelming (I was afraid they would be way too much).Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-84025351275661472202008-11-11T16:15:00.004-07:002008-11-11T16:33:38.642-07:00Super Mustard Cheese FondueWe had another evening of <a href="http://unpretentiousness.blogspot.com/2008/05/when-do-i-get-brownie.html">When Do</a> <a href="http://unpretentiousness.blogspot.com/2008/05/time-is-of-essence-when-it-comes-to.html">I Get</a> <a href="http://unpretentiousness.blogspot.com/2008/05/out-of-blue.html">A Brownie?</a> last night, complete with much hilarity, brownies, ice cream, and other snacks. One such snack I shall call "Super Mustard Cheese Fondue." We had some leftover bread from lunch with our small group yesterday and we had cheese, of course, so I decided that cheese fondue sounded excellent. I proceeded to search the internet for cheese fondue recipes, became impatient with finding a recipe for which we actually had everything, and decided to make up my own based very loosely on multiple recipes (big surprise--Rebekah's not following a recipe!). So I threw some cream cheese (probably about 3 ounces), some grated cheddar cheese (about 1 cup), some whole milk (we had whole milk because we were going to make ice cream to go on top of the brownies; I'm not even sure I want to attempt to give an amount--maybe 1/4-1/3 cup?), some white wine (could've been around two tablespoons), and some dry mustard powder (1 tsp? 1.5 tsps? hard to say) into the Little Dipper, covered it, and plugged it in. A little later I stirred it, added more cheddar--whatever amount fit, and mentioned to Ryan that some recipes I saw called for Worchestershire sauce. We are now the proud owners of a bottle of Worchestershire sauce which we have used precisely once (aha! I can give a definitive measurement in this post. Don't worry, there won't be any more) since purchasing it at least a month ago, so Ryan said that it could give the fondue a mysterious nutty flavor--sufficient encouragement for me to add some (3-4 dashes). Then I put the lid back on and let it all melt together, stirring occasionally--the stirring was more so I could taste it than because it was necessary. I cut the bread up into cubes and also cut some red pepper slices and carrot sticks for dippers. It was apparently a good fondue if you like mustard (or even if you only slightly like mustard), but I thought it was disgusting. Everybody else liked it, though, so I thought I should probably record this for all the mustard lovers out there. Personally, I love cheese. I was sorely disappointed.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-62599607782321575652008-10-31T20:22:00.003-06:002008-10-31T20:35:24.684-06:00MinestroneYes, we have been eating. No, we haven't been writing about it. At least not here. But, devoted readers, we're back to report on our latest culinary triumph: minestrone soup--it's shockingly easy and really good. Chop up some onions and red peppers and brown them with garlic (we recommend fresh garlic from the gobs of garlic you've recently acquired from friends, of course)--three cloves in this case. Then add 2-3 cups of vegetable broth, a can of tomatoes (not drained), a can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed), a can of green beans (drained--fresh or frozen would also work, but we had canned from a long time ago), some chopped carrots (we used 3 small ones), basil, oregano, salt, fresh cracked pepper, and Cholula hot sauce. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer for about 25 minutes. Add some pasta (we used small seashells), cover again, and simmer for another 10 minutes or so until the pasta is done. <br /><br />We really liked this. I think I liked it better than Olive Garden's minestrone, but I can't really remember since I've only had Olive Garden's minestrone once in the last 4 years or so. It would have been especially good with some fresh French bread.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-39284274765468140972008-07-20T20:11:00.003-06:002008-07-20T20:18:56.407-06:00Vegetable Mix (Some Might Call It a Salad)We got a cucumber at the grocery store because I wanted to try the recipe that <a href="http://jamieandcatherine.blogspot.com/">Catherine</a> suggested in her <a href="https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=15128955&postID=115038810299660272">comment</a> a long time ago. So for lunch today, I made it. Well, kind of--we didn't have any green peppers (they're $1.29/each at the cheapest right now and our pepper plants aren't even flowering yet, so it will be awhile before we're eating homegrown green peppers), so I used some red pepper and just cooked it with the onion. I'm also not a huge fan of vinegar, so I used our new <a href="http://www.wish-bone.com/Dressings/1974/Tuscan-Romano-Basil.aspx">salad dressing</a> (we had a coupon--you can print one from that website--and it was on sale). We had leftover pasta and garbanzo beans in the fridge (separately), so I added some of each. It was very good. Thanks, Catherine!Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-65271751144663973872008-05-14T13:53:00.005-06:002008-05-14T14:21:39.278-06:00Triple Chocolate Coffee Bean CookiesWe finally made <a href="http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001408.html">this recipe</a>. Yes, I changed the name, but that's because we used coffee beans, not espresso beans. I'm too cheap to buy chocolate-covered espresso beans, so I decided we could make our own, and certain places online said that one can use any dark roast to do so. Hence, we bought the darkest roast we could that was on sale at Albertsons and was free trade (conveniently, it was also organic and the same price as regular coffee--which we discovered it always is, even when they aren't all on sale--I've never actually looked at the coffee there before). Then, yesterday morning, instead of cleaning the house, I melted chocolate chips (Ghirardelli 60% cocoa, of course) in our <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Rival-32041C-16-Ounce-Little-Dipper/dp/B0000CCY14/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1210795152&sr=8-1">Little Dipper</a> (it was free with our big crock pot) and made chocolate-covered coffee beans...for the next hour. I am no longer too cheap to buy chocolate-covered espresso beans unless we're going to have a chocolate-covering party. I also made chocolate-covered almonds, a chocolate-covered oatmeal peanut butter cookie, and a big mass of chocolate and coffee beans when I was really sick of it at the end. I would like to say, however, that melting chocolate in the Little Dipper is the way to go. It took about 15-20 minutes to melt, but it didn't get very hot at all, and it stayed consistently melted (the Little Dipper stayed plugged in) for the entire time. I was pleased (the idea of melting chocolate in a crock pot came from <a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/">here</a>). <br /><br />Our friends Clara and Cindy came over for dinner and cookie making last night. We had <a href="http://storycooked.blogspot.com/2008/02/taco-soup.html">Taco Soup</a>, salad, and chips with cheesy salsa, and then we got down to the real reason anyone was there: making these cookies. We basically followed the recipe (except for all the caveats like "aluminum-free"--well, we may have followed those, but I don't actually know--I've never checked. I'm pretty sure our Costco eggs are not organic and I know our Albertsons imitation vanilla extract would not be considered "high quality") except that we used only 1 cup of (local) whole-wheat flour (not pastry flour) and 1.5 cups of (unbleached) white all-purpose flour and we used 1 cup white and 1 cup brown sugar. I thought the recipe was a bit too high maintenance--beat the butter until fluffy all by itself first? Really? But I actually followed the given directions. I don't think it made a bit of difference. The cookies are good, but Ryan is not a fan of the chocolate-covered coffee beans in them (he's not a fan of chocolate-covered espresso beans in general), and I think they'd be better without those as well; next time we'll add more chocolate chips or some peanut butter chips. <br /><br />Speaking of peanut butter, Clara and I decided that we could add peanut butter to the cookies as well next time (I usually make cookie recipes with 3/4 of the butter that they call for; we didn't this time, but I think it would have been fine--dare I say better?--if we had. So next time, we may use 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup peanut butter--if we're feeling adventuresome. Otherwise, we'll use 3/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup peanut butter. I say these things like we're actually going to carefully measure...you all know that's not true!). Clara and I also declared the dough to be (as usual) significantly better than the cookies, Ryan didn't comment, and Cindy is a rational, self-controlled person who is able to overcome her desire to eat cookie dough with raw eggs and did not partake of the dough.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-31101088229155481302008-05-12T10:43:00.003-06:002008-05-14T14:20:09.464-06:00Soda BreadWe made <a href="http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1591091">this recipe</a> last night to go with our <a href="http://storycooked.blogspot.com/2005/09/italian-chili-or-spaghetti-westerns.html">Italian Chili</a> (which had no zucchini, but did have some sun dried tomatoes and spinach). We used bread flour instead of all-purpose flour (it's bread--shouldn't it have bread flour in it?) and I was lazy and kneaded it in the bowl instead of on a floured surface. Well, I attempted to knead it in the bowl. The line in the recipe that says the dough will be sticky--well, that's a bit of an understatement. <br /><br />I'm not incredibly impressed with this bread. Ryan's assessment is that it's like cornbread, except with wheat. It definitely did not go with the Italian chili, but I really wanted bread. It was fast, which is a definite advantage some days. It's pretty good with honey or cinnamon sugar, but it will not make it onto the list of things I crave.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-57242533901375754182008-05-10T19:23:00.002-06:002008-05-10T22:33:19.870-06:00Sun Dried Goodness<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPudyU07iMj2Krb1SPgN8GLJmWsfXjuKX6mZcahnW3bBPts0bUi0JhiN1VfIc1Iac0Ree-mtnQSSTrLmqeKpVOsfhuEg6EsauGGo3NCebwf9Y8Gq6ieMIJH5pNyRJRUXFt3RU6TQ/s1600-h/IMG_0767.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPudyU07iMj2Krb1SPgN8GLJmWsfXjuKX6mZcahnW3bBPts0bUi0JhiN1VfIc1Iac0Ree-mtnQSSTrLmqeKpVOsfhuEg6EsauGGo3NCebwf9Y8Gq6ieMIJH5pNyRJRUXFt3RU6TQ/s400/IMG_0767.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5198973575499375906" /></a><br /><br /><br />Ryan picked the title, but I agree. We bought a bag of sundried tomatoes at Costco today, so we had to do something with them for dinner. This is the result. We put the pasta on, sauted the chicken with onions, garlic, sundried tomatoes, sundried tomato vinagrette, Italian seasoning, and oregano. When things were looking close to done, we added a bit of white wine for more flavor (I couldn't taste the wine, which is always the goal). About a minute before the pasta was done, we threw some spinach in with the chicken mixture. Then we put the finished pasta in the fancy bowls and topped it with the chicken mixture and feta. It was excellent. Next time (yes, there will be a next time), we'll use more spinach and less pasta.<br /><br /><br /><b>Update:</b> The picture didn't work the first time. And we forgot to mention that this was really easy. And fast.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-11699548954738921192008-05-05T10:45:00.002-06:002008-05-05T10:52:18.722-06:00Vegetarian CurryI made <a href="http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/2008/03/vegetarian-curry-crockpot-recipe.html">vegetarian curry</a> in the crockpot Thursday morning, so we ate it Thursday night. We didn't have celery (we never have celery--I strongly dislike celery), vegetable broth, or plain yogurt, so I put onions in it instead (onions belong in almost everything) and substituted beef broth and sour cream. I also added some green peppers (they, too, go in most anything) and skipped the peas (Ryan didn't seem to excited about them). We didn't get home until 8ish, so we didn't bother with rice or naan, but we did have <a href="http://storycooked.blogspot.com/2008/03/aunt-kathys-bread.html">bread</a> that I'd made earlier in the day. So, no, I didn't exactly follow the recipe (surprise!), but I would like to note that this recipe basically says it doesn't need to be followed (at least the vegetable list). It was good, but not amazing. It has gotten better with age, however. And rice. Rice makes it better.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-23995807414492560802008-05-05T10:12:00.006-06:002008-05-05T10:53:32.659-06:00Lemon-Lime Cheesecake BarsI don't really like the first Sunday of the month because we have to make food for <a href="http://storycooked.blogspot.com/2008/05/potluck.html">potluck</a> and for our small group meeting Sunday evening. It just seems a bit excessive most of the time--our church definitely fits the stereotype of liking to eat--we were once reading Richard Foster's <span style="font-style:italic;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Celebration-Discipline-Path-Spiritual-Growth/dp/0060628391">Celebration of Discipline</a></span> in our small group and we still had food for the meeting in which we talked about fasting--gobs of food! Anyway, this Sunday we were assigned to bring dessert to our small group meeting, which was going to involve a barbecue. Clearly, we needed something springy. As in, appropriate for Spring, not bouncy. We had some cream cheese in the refrigerator that I'd been wanted to use up (Western Family 1/3 less fat cream cheese is not a good substitute for other brands of such cream cheese--it has a teeny bit of the fat free cream cheese taste. However, it's fine for baking or cooking), so we decided that I would make <a href="http://kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/recipedetail.htm?recipe_id=104737&smid=1002912">this recipe</a> (doubled since our "small" group sometimes has 17 people there), except we called them lemon-lime cheesecake bars since we didn't have enough lemons to get 1/2 cup of lemon juice (okay, so we had part of one lemon), but we do have frozen lime juice. Hence, I used the lime juice and lemon peel. Also, I wanted a graham cracker crust instead of a Nilla wafer crust (I've never been a fan of Nilla wafers). The graham cracker crust required melted butter, so in what I consider my most recent moment of brilliance in the kitchen, I put the butter in the glass mixing bowl in the oven as it preheated. Hence, the butter quietly melted away while I crushed the graham crackers. Yes, the bowl got hot, too, but since I barely had to touch it in order to mix the sugar, graham cracker crumbs, and melted butter, my sleeves sufficed for hand protection, and it was cool enough by the time I had to dump the crust into the baking pan that I could touch it directly. There were no butter splatters on the microwave ceiling and no extra pan to clean. It was marvelous. So were the cheesecake bars with defrosted three berry mix (from Costco) on top. There were only 12 people at small group, so we have at least 1/3 of the pan left...come visit us and help us finish it! Oh, and we're discussing <a href="http://www.ivpress.com/cgi-ivpress/book.pl/code=3316"><span style="font-style:italic;">The Dangerous Act of Worship</span></a> in our small group, which is an excellent book if we do say so ourselves (we actually had one of our suggestions for a book accepted!).Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-90773460395324690752008-05-05T09:59:00.002-06:002008-05-05T10:11:57.780-06:00PotluckPotluck Sunday at our church is always a bit difficult for us--we don't want to take anything that needs to be baked because the ovens are always crowded and the potluck oven-use etiquette is entirely unclear, so we usually end up taking brownies or something in the crockpot. Yesterday (we have Potluck Sunday the first Sunday of every month, so this is a frequent issue) we had decided to ride our bikes to church, so the crockpot was clearly not a viable solution. I'm a fan of leaving the brownies in the pan in which they are baked, so they didn't seem to be the greatest solution either. Instead, we made a <a href="http://kraftfoods.com/kf/recipes/recipedetail.htm?recipe_id=56973">bean salad</a> because we had all those ingredients and I was sick of having the green beans in our freezer. Ryan liked it, and one of our friends asked for the recipe, but I was not impressed (of course, Ryan picked the recipe with the warning that I would not like it--which I was pretty clear on myself). It was okay, it transported well, it was very easy to make, and it looked pretty (we used black beans instead of garbanzo beans because I used all the garbanzo beans in curry earlier in the week--but that's another post), so I wasn't too disappointed that I had no desire to eat it.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-10046330872879601902008-04-29T20:29:00.004-06:002008-07-02T11:28:49.127-06:00Chocolate Hazelnut Latte CookiesI really want to try <a href="http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/001408.html">this recipe</a>, but we are currently (not that this is a strange state of affairs) lacking espresso beans, thus we cannot make chocolate covered espresso beans nor espresso powder. So I settled last night for making chocolate chocolate chip cookies based on a recipe from a Hershey's recipe sampler ("7 Great Ways to Make It Chocolate!"). My office mate declared these to be her favorite of my cookie products. I think they're pretty darn tasty myself and Ryan also claims to be a fan. I must confess my cookie making secret, however: really good chocolate makes any cookie a really good cookie (this is apparently not true for <a href="http://storycooked.blogspot.com/2008/04/peanut-butter-brownies.html">peanut butter brownies</a>)--in this case it was Ghiradelli 60% cocoa chocolate chips (the standard) and Ghardetto (no idea on the spelling on that one) cocoa powder. Here's the recipe: <br /><br />1 cup butter (softened)<br />1 1/2 cups white sugar<br />1/2 cup brown sugar (I'm sure 1 cup white and 1 cup brown would be fine--or any other proportions, for that matter)<br />2 eggs<br />2 tsps (ish--I never measure vanilla) vanilla extract<br />1 1/2 cups all purpose flour<br />1/2 cup wheat flour (the flour proportions can be changed also)<br />1 tsp baking soda<br />1/2 tsp salt<br />3/4 cup cocoa powder (but throw leftover hazelnut fake coffee mix into the 3/4 cup measuring cup before filling the rest with cocoa powder--yes, everyone should have a 3/4 cup measuring cup--it's my favorite one)<br />1 1/2- 2 cups chocolate chips<br /><br />Heat oven to 350. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla, beat well. Combine flour, cocoa, soda, salt; gradually blend into creamed mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto baking stone. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cool slightly, then move to wire rack to cool completely. <br /><br />One other cookie secret: I always use salted butter and close to the full amount of salt in the recipe--I think the end result tastes better that way, especially when it involves chocolate. Also, these are the directions from the original recipe. I didn't actually follow them very well, but the cookies are fine (as in, I mixed the eggs with the butter and sugar at the beginning and didn't do the whole "gradually blend" thing). <br /><br />Yes, I know there's nothing "latte" about these cookies really, but it sounded fancy. I'm sure a latte would be a lovely accompaniment to them.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15128955.post-74195092595810552132008-04-23T11:33:00.001-06:002008-04-23T11:39:42.740-06:00Peanut Butter "Brownies"I made <a href="http://thematzats.blogspot.com/2008/02/peanut-butter-brownies.html">this recipe</a> to welcome Ryan back to MT. Of course, I didn't actually follow the recipe: I melted the butter in the microwave (why in the world would you get a pan AND a mixing bowl dirty unless you had to?!), used about 1/4 cup of white sugar and 1/4 cup of brown sugar (and they are not lacking in sweetness) and about 1/4 cup of white flour and 1/4 cup wheat flour (by "about" I mean I was eyeballing 1/2 of the 1/2 cup measuring cup), and added 2 tsp cocoa powder, some peanut butter chips, and some chocolate chips. They're not bad...but they're not all I dreamed they would be. Not even close. I think they'd be better with creamy peanut butter, but we don't have creamy in the pantry regularly.Rebekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18253850307324638518noreply@blogger.com0