Dinner is served (aka meal prepping)

(Not sewing related, unless you count the possibilities of extra hours which can then be spent sewing.)

I am NOT affiliated with anything I'm talking about here. I just stumbled upon this Meal Prepping plan and the related digital cookbooks, tried one out, liked the results very much, Instagrammed my cooked dinners, and had requests to share (both the recipes and the actual dinners! Hah!). So here I am. Sharing.

Meals above, left to right, top to bottom (which is the reverse order that I cooked them):

• Sweet & Spicy Pineapple Chicken
• Pork Loin in a Creamy Basil Sauce
• Barbecue Paprika Chicken
• Carnitas
• White Chicken Chili
• Cilantro Lime Chicken
• Asian Fusion BBQ  Chicken
• Korean Beef Tacos
• Thai Peanut Chicken

A few words about the website where these recipes/booklets live. It's www.laurengreutman.com and the recipe booklets can be found here. Although I had not heard of her before stumbling onto the recipe booklets via another completely unrelated website, Lauren Greutman markets herself as a frugal-living, "Personal Finance Expert" and she has appeared on numerous American TV talk and morning shows and has been featured in various magazines. I say all this not because I care about all that stuff but because YOU might care and think I'm getting a kickback or affiliate fee from her. I'm not. I get nothing from this plug. I'm just sharing something I like. Like with sewing patterns, only this time, it's dinner.

The recipes/meal planning stuff Lauren sells fits into her "frugal living" lifestyle but you'll mostly see other stuff, and not these recipes, on her website pages until you start digging. I make no judgment on the financial info and associated planners, etc. she markets. I just know that I think her recipe booklets are well worth the $5.97 each they cost. And here's why.

Lauren estimates in her booklets that she spends about $150-$165 for the 20 meals. But she shops at Aldi (famously inexpensive U.S. grocery store); I don't. Her pricing is from years ago; mine is from August 2019. She also didn't include some "pantry items" (those things you usually have on hand); I had to since I had just moved and had been not keeping stocked up in anticipation of the move. Finally, she made 20 meals; I made 18, because I just didn't think I needed to crockpot-cook spaghetti and meatballs, so that was the one meal from the booklet that I didn't make or eat . I still feel spaghetti/meatballs as a crockpot meal is kind of pointless but the other meals and the methods overcome any imaginary points deductions for that one. And hey, I guess *she* likes spaghetti/meatballs in the crockpot and it's her book, so ….   :-)

I didn't track every last dime because I went to one regular grocery store and also the local farmer's market and I also bought a few other things not intended for the crockpot (drinks, toiletries, dog food, useless junk, etc.) and I wasn't doing this to save money. I spent about $220 total, so deducting for non-dinner items, that's still pretty good for 18 dinners and many take-to-work lunches. But it's not really the cost that has me sold—it's the method of putting together the meals and the daily time savings and mental space freedom from NOT needing to decide what's for dinner every night and then making it. That, to me, is nearly priceless.

The method is essentially one big assembly line of adding ingredients to freezer bags. Once I got home from the store(s), the whole process took me about 2-3 hours. But I haven't cooked a dinner from scratch since and we've been eating some delicious meals. There is some "side" prep work, such as cooking rice or noodles, or adding an ingredient or two the morning of or when it's nearly cooked, but that's it. Those "side" preps take maybe 15 minutes.

The booklets include complete shopping lists that you can re-print as needed. And they include the "one touch" assembly line cheat sheets for assembling the freezer bags. This is the genius part because you deal with each ingredient just one time and then move on to the next. You do not assemble each meal separately. Instead, you create an assembly line of freezer bags and add ingredients to the bags as you move through the cheat sheets (which are grouped into categories such as Meats, Spices, Liquids, etc. to make it even more organized and easy). When done, each bag contains a full meal (2 of each meal). And surprisingly, my kitchen wasn't even that messy once I was done. I just had to wipe down a cutting board, put away the remainder of the dry/pantry ingredients, and load the bags into my freezer. If you have helpers (spouse, partner, kids), it would go even faster than the 2-3 hours it took me alone.

Photo credit: www.laurengreutman.com

After the cheat sheets/assembly line pages, each meal has its own page with a photo and instructions specific to that meal (crock times, any "side" prep, etc.). The booklet also includes a regular (non-assembly line) recipe for each meal should you want to make it by itself at a later time.

As I write this, it's been a little over 2 weeks since I made the freezer meals (August 4) and this past Sunday we started getting into the repeats. I usually take leftovers for lunch at work and some meals have been enough for 2 nights *and* my work lunch, plus we ate out (sushi!) and opted for pizza for 2 Friday nights. I figure I'll need to go "big" grocery shopping again this coming Saturday morning and do the prepping after. So, from August 4 to August 24, I will not have thought "What's for dinner?"and instead, it will have been ready to go when I get home from work. I love that.

I started out with Lauren's Meal Plan 3 booklet because when I was deciding to do this, I thought it had a good mix of recipes. I've now purchased the other booklets because I didn't want to take any chance of not being able to. Again, I am not affiliated. I do not benefit from anything I've written here in any way. I just really, really like the way Lauren's method is organized, how much time it saves, how tasty the meals are, and even that I'm saving money—although that was not my main goal for doing this. Just having good dinners ready to go after work was my desire. The other benefits are a bonus.

It seems as though Lauren has been doing this a while, going by references I've seen on her website to other booklets beyond the 1-4 currently for sale and the way the PDFs I bought are named. I don't know why those others aren't available any more. I would definitely have bought those too. Hah.

Let me know if you have any more questions and definitely let me know if you try this and what you think. I'm obviously a fan!

TGIF

It's been a busy work week and I'm so glad the weekend is here. I need the rest. It's a good busy, but still …

Speaking of work — look at the torture I've had to avert the last 4 months. These are the "birthday cakes." Every month on the middle Friday, they order in a bunch of cakes, pies, and cookies to celebrate that month's birthdays. I've been good and haven't had even a bite of any of these FOR FOUR MONTHS. But I do stop by and look at them. Today, I brought my cell camera to share the torture with you. Actually, it's not really too much torture. I'm so used to not eating sweets and carbs that these are easy to pass up, and I have the greater goal in mind. If I'm still around in March, maybe I'll request a veggie tray?? ;-)

Waiting for me when I got home was my houndstooth order from Gorgeous Fabrics. I'm hoping I get a chance to at least start my skirt this weekend. It would be nice to even finish it and pair it with a yet-to-be-bought sparkly red top for the Christmas lunch on the 16th. Beall's had a few, so maybe I'll stop by there tomorrow while I'm out.

For now, it's off to the sewing room to work on an OOO RAH wallet for my FNSI project. If I get that done, the skirt is next.

FNSI, and a Plug

Thanks for all of the nice comments on my latest wardrobe acquisitions. I wore the gray skirt, tee, and ivory cardigan today and loved the outfit!

There will be two FNSI's this month, with the first this Friday. Click on the link to hurry on over to Heidi's blog and sign up for this Friday, and you might also win a copy of my OOO RAH Wallet pattern and fabric to make it.



I'm plugging away on two wallets myself. I need to finish one of them tomorrow night and get it the heck in the mail. The other needs to be done too but it's not as urgent yet. I also received THREE purse orders today. Yikes. I immediately emailed these peeps to let them know that Christmas delivery was not an option. ;-) Looks like it's a good thing I bought some clothes cuz my personal sewing time just got chopped. It's OK. Extra money at Christmas is a Good Thing. I think I have an xbox or 2 to buy.

Tomorrow is a casual Christmas pot-luck lunch at the office for my department. We're also doing a silly Yankee Swap, with the main rule being that the gift you bring has to be something found around your house that you don't want. (Can I wrap up STBex?) So now I have to go hunt down something. I have an idea and it's not even a bad thing. Then I have to get up early to put together the salad I'm bringing. Or at least the parts of it. You can't really make a green salad too far in advance, so I'll bag up the toss-in's separately and then mix it all together just before lunchtime. I'm not the only one who mainly eats salads at lunch, but since I do, I wanted to be sure I had something I could actually eat. Tricky, eh? ;-)

Pleasing MY Palate

Yesterday, Michael posted about the "spaghetti cake" he made at the start of the weekend (forced to by Peter is the story I've heard). It sounded delicious to me and the deliciosity coincided with grocery shopping day. I'll let you read the specifics on Michael's blog, but I did make a couple of changes I'll show you below. I also increased portions since I'm cooking for increased servings. The main reasons for this post, however, are because (1) it's yummy and yummy should be shared, and (2) I thought Michael would like to see that his new blog is actually making a menu impact.

We had steak fajitas the night before so I had leftover meat. I shredded it up a la food processor and added the meat layer over the pasta.



Michael used cottage cheese. I used ricotta.



Michael finely grated his Asiago cheese. I couldn't find that insert for my grater so we got shreds.



Dinner is served!

Banana Bread/Cake Care Package

Instead of vegging in front of the TV last night, I baked. I don't know why, but my baking urges always seem to strike at night. I've been known to bake apple pies from scratch at 2 AM. Weird, I know.

Anyway … my younger son came home from a friend's house one day last month and just RAVED about her mom's banana bread. Hmm. I always thought *mine* was pretty good. LOL! He ended up getting the recipe from her to bring back to me. I figured he must be impressed if he did that, so I said I'd make it for him.

The first time I made it was right before Christmas and we brought it on our trip to visit the Marine. Unfortunately, said Marine was too sick to really want any and we ended up bringing a lot of it home (where it then disappeared quickly).

Younger son was asking for it again so I decided to make some for him, and for the Marine so he could actually eat it this time. I also baked and sent a bunch of the big chocolate chunk cookies you see in the photo. The care package of goodies makes me feel still useful as a mom. lol

Now, with that build-up, you'd think I would be raving about this recipe too. I'm not. It's OK and tastes fine; it's just a bit too sweet for me. But that explains why DS#2 loves it. He's a sugar fiend. ;-) The Marine will eat any baked sweets so it's good for him too.

I did add chopped walnuts this time, a must for banana bread IMO but which is not in the original recipe, and that improved it to my taste — a very little bite since I'm still trying to consciously eat healthier these days and this bread/cake is decidedly NOT low-calorie. However, I do like how all that sugar gives the bread/cake a slightly crispy crust. You can see how much DS#2 likes this, by how much is already gone from the cut loaf.

If you have a very sweet tooth or know someone who does, here's the recipe:

Grandma Harris' Sour Cream Banana Bread

1/2 Cup butter, room temp
2-1/2 Cups sugar (I know, right)
4 eggs
1 Cup smooshed ripe banana
1 Cup sour cream (I did use low-fat sour cream this 2nd time cuz that's what we had)
2-1/2 Cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla
Optional: 1 cup finely chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 325. (The recipe calls for 325, but I really used 350 since 325 seems too low to me.)

Combine dry ingredients and set aside. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well. Add banana. Slowly add dry ingredients and mix well. Add vanilla and sour cream (and the nuts, if you're using them).

Pour into a greased and floured 10" bundt pan. Bake 50-60 minutes, or until cake tester/toothpick comes out clean.

I made this the first time using the bundt pan but because I wanted two separate loaves so I could send the Marine one, I used two large loaf pans last night. The cooking time was about the same. I just set the timer for 40 minutes and tested. The loaves needed an extra 10 minutes, for a total of 50.

* * * * *

It was fun baking and texting with the Marine at the same time last night. I sent him pics of the goodies in progress and he's ready and waiting for them. They'll arrive tomorrow. The chow hall has good food, he says, but he's missing the homemade stuff from me. Awwwww.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

There has still been NO sewing around these parts. I've been waiting for my patterns to show up, and I must say that I am decidedly NOT impressed with sewingpatterns.com. I will never order from there again. Yes, that's harsh, but there are other options available to me that don't immediately take my money and then delay on the product. And yes, I could start a different project, but I've got that jacket in my head and nothing else is calling to me, so I wait.

Moving right along …

I don't make actual New Year's resolutions, so this isn't really that except that it happened to coincide with the time of year. Anyway, I'm sort of back on Weight Watchers. Being down in the dumps about missing my son has had me seeking out comfort food even more than usual and, well, it's got to stop!

I say "sorta back on" because I'm not officially all the way back on the WW plan yet only because I need to buy a new scale this weekend to have a starting point (ugh, I dread the number I will see when I do). After that purchase, I will pay the fee to join WW online so I have access to the plan's tools. Then I'll not be "sorta" and will be officially on the plan again. It's a good plan for me and it works with my life. Well, when I don't go running for the fast food and chocolate. Your mileage may vary.

I wasn't going to post anything until I was actually sewing something, but Michael's new blog, Pleasing My Palate, inspired me. For those who read Peter's Male Pattern Boldness, you'll recognize Michael as his partner (and photographer extraordinaire). For those who don't read MPB, what are you waiting for? ;-)

OK, so on to the food — Stuffed Cabbage Rolls.

I've always liked the traditional version of this meal. I like cabbage. A lot. (I even love Brussels sprouts.) Must be my German half. The other half is Italian, in case you were wondering. All of my grandparents went through Ellis Island, so the eating gene had not been Americanized too much when I was growing up and we had lots of authentic yummy meals, if not exactly the healthiest. Mealtimes at my Italian grandparents' was an *event*. And if it was a holiday too? OMG. ;-)

This version of Stuffed Cabbage Rolls keeps the flavor I like, but turns out a much healthier meal. And it's easy to make too.



1 Savoy Cabbage
1 Cup Brown Rice, cooked
2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
1/2 pound white mushrooms, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
3/4 pound ground turkey breast
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
3-4 cups of Marinara sauce (25 oz jar or your own)

Preheat oven to 350.

I didn't follow the recipe exactly because it calls for jarred sauce and fresh mushrooms, neither of which were on hand last night. Instead, I used canned mushrooms and then made up a quick red sauce using stewed tomatoes and tomato paste in cans, leftover green pepper bits, and traditional Italian herbs from the spice rack, which was cooked down a bit to reduce the liquid.

1. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.

2. Carefully separate the cabbage leaves until you have 8-10 good size leaves with the "thick" part near the core removed. You really only need 8, but 10 is good for filling in any "holes." Thinly slice the remaining cabbage.

3. Using tongs, immerse the big leaves into the boiling water for about 30 seconds, until they are wilted. Set aside.

4. Put the remaining cabbage slices into the boiling water and boil for about a minute. Drain and arrange in the bottom of a large baking pan.

5. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add onions and mushrooms and cook until veggies are tender, about 8-10 minutes. Remove to a large bowl.

6. To the vegetables, add the turkey, rice, egg, salt, and pepper and stir until well mixed. I used my hands. ;-)

7. Divide the turkey mixture among the 8 cabbage leaves. Fold in the sides and roll up to enclose the stuffing.

8. Place the cabbage rolls, seam-side down, on top of the sliced cabbage in the baking pan.

9. Drizzle with the marinara/tomato sauce.

10. Bake uncovered about 1-1/2 hours, or until the stuffing is cooked through.

Per serving (2 rolls): 431 calories, 8 pts

Bread Buddy Tutorial

I know you've all long forgotten been waiting impatiently for the tutorial. It's finally up at Moda Bake Shop, here.



I never realized the scorn I'd receive about some of the bread that comes into this house, and it looks like the comments (OK, only one so far) followed me to Moda Bake Shop too. The shame!! lol

I was supposed to have Fat Quarters from Moda to offer as a giveaway in conjunction with the MBS posting, but they seem to have been lost in the mail. I've been assured that at some point I will have them and I will offer them up to my readers at that time … and again open myself up to more bread flames. ;-)

Enjoy. (Or not.)

No More Squooshed Bread

(Cue Billy Mays voice)
Does your white bread often look like this after you've gotten it home from the grocery store?

Mine too. And it has ticked me off forEVER. Ask my sons, *every* time I'm in the store I wonder aloud why bread manufacturers don't use something more sturdy to package bread. Drives me nuts.

Well, no more — I have solved my problem (and maybe yours too?).

Presenting, the Bread Safe:



Inexpensive, sturdy, lightweight and re-usable.

But strong enough to protect that bread from shopping cart and drive-home mishaps.



But wait! There's more! It can also be folded up compact and portable so it's easy to stick in your purse on your way to the store on grocery day. And it's washable.



Now all I need to do is make another because we always buy at least 2 loaves at a time. And I'm thinking these will also make unique but useful Christmas presents.

Anyone interested in the directions to make one for yourself? Stay tuned!

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It's been a slow sewing week here. I was sick with a stomach flu mid-week (ugh!).

And then with the day-after-day rain we've been having, trees have been soaking up all the water and dropping branches left and right. About 3 AM Friday night/Saturday morning, one of our neighbor's trees fell on our power lines, creating a loud electrical explosion and then pitch darkness immediately after. And we have water on a well so our pump was dead without power too.

It took until 2 PM Saturday for the electric company to get here and fix it. And then "all" they did was string new cable. The old power lines the tree landed on are still holding up the tree and are about 6 feet off the ground, and I'm *assuming* not live anymore. I hope the job isn't quite finished and the power company is just waiting until they don't have to pay doubletime to a weekend crew. I'll be calling tomorrow to be sure.

But we stayed out of the fridge and freezer and the food was fine. And the rainy weather meant the house stayed cool too, without sun beating down on it. So, the only thing I lost was sewing time. It could've been worse.

Blondies for a Rainy Afternoon

It's a gray rainy day here, which I think justifies a batch of something rich and gooey. And, of course, with chocolate! These will take the gloom away. (Now, if we could only do something about the humidity.)



Here's the recipe. My sons say milk is a mandatory beverage with these.

Ingredients:
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)
2/3 cup butter
2 cups packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1-1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1-1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

1. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in chopped nuts and set aside.

2. Melt butter (love the microwave for this!). Add brown sugar and mix well. Cool slightly.

3. In a large bowl, beat eggs and vanilla together and add sugar/butter mixture. Mix well.

4. Add flour mixture, a little at a time, mixing well.

5. Spread in 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until edges are firm and golden and shrinking away from the pan.

Cool for about 15 minutes and cut. Let sit another 15 minutes if you can, and then remove from pan. Makes 16 if you cut squares, 20 if you cut smaller rectangles.

* * * * *

And although I know Marjie is probably cringing, I have to share DS's blurry cellphone pic too. The pups always get to lick off the beaters around here. Don't worry - when they're done it goes through the dishwasher and all kooties are cleaned away. And they have much smaller tongues than Thor so fewer kooties, right? ;-)

Ditching My Old Love

Oh, McDonald's Caramel Frappé — how I used to love you. Until I found out that a medium has nearly SIX HUNDRED calories per serving. Yikes. Apparently the Golden Arches is taking (or giving?) nutrition lessons from Starbucks. I should've known. Actually, I strongly suspected. But I was taking a boat trip down The Nile. ;-)

Off to the grocery store and home with instant coffee, low-cal non-fat spray whipped "cream," and into the fridge and/or pantry for 1% milk, Splenda, caramel syrup, and ice.

A trip through the food processor (because just after I poured everything into the blender, I found out it was broken - SOB!) and voila! Low-cal, low-fat Frappés!

Pardon the crappy/frappé (hee hee) very yellow phone cam pic. But YUM! It tastes nearly identical to me and saves a trip to the drive-thru, not to mention about 450 calories.



Approximate measures because I do this stuff by "feel."

1 cup 1% milk
2 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp caramel syrup
2-3 packets Splenda (depending on desired sweetness)
ice, lots
spray whipped topping (or real cream if desired)
2 tsp caramel syrup (separate from first listing above)

Put first 4 ingredients into blender and fill remaining space with ice. Grind away until smooth consistency, adding more ice if necessary. Pour into glass leaving about 1/2" of space to the rim. Spray in whipped topping. Drizzle caramel over top. Yields 3-4 servings.

Now I need a new blender to more finely crush the ice and I'll be set for the summer.

Cooking, and Other Stuff

Wednesdays are usually quesadilla night here, so sayeth DS#2. Last night I took pics during the process.

First, the ingredients:

Southwest Chicken Quesadillas

(I tend not to really measure when I make these, so the amounts are best estimates. If you like less spicy, use less chili powder, chipotle, etc. You really can't go wrong with just winging it.)

3-4 boneless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 green bell pepper, deseeded and chopped
1 large onion, sliced medium thin
2 tbl chili powder
2 tbl powdered chipotle pepper
1-2 tsp salt
1/2 - 1 tsp black pepper
1-2 tbl dried cilantro (or sub fresh if you have it, I didn't last night)
one 16 oz can tomatoes (I usually buy "chili" tomatoes)
one-half* 16 oz can yellow corn (drained)
one-half* 16 oz can black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 small can green chiles

2-4 cups shredded cheese (I use a "fiesta" pre-mix)
10-15 10" flour tortillas
cooking spray

Optional: sour cream, jalapenos, and Kraft Spicy Ranch dressing for garnishments

*I store the other half of the can contents in plastic containers in the fridge and use them the next week.

Spray large skillet with cooking spray and cook chicken on medium heat until pink is gone. Drain. Add all of the remaining ingredients, except cheese, tortillas, and spray, and continue cooking until bell peppers and onions are soft.



Place tortillas in a stack and spray one side of each with cooking spray. Using a second skillet, lay one tortilla spray side down. Add a small handful of cheese to one half and then a scoop of the chicken mixture. Fold over and cook at medium heat until brown on the bottom, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and brown the other side.





I usually do two at once. I add the second to the pan after the first has been flipped once, which makes it easier for timing and for flipping a weird shape. ;-)



The rest is DS's job. He uses a pizza cutter and slices each quesadilla into 3 sections. And then arranges them all on a serving platter, as in the first photo above. As you can see, we make lots. But DS likes them for his lunch so some go for that the next day and the rest get eaten over the weekend. Cheaper than prepackaged microwave meals, and much tastier!



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Sqeamish Alert!

Instead of quesadillas, Chili had other plans: Fresh lizard (apologies to Geico!).







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And, finally, one reason it's been fairly quiet around here. DS#1 (2d from right) and his band left "on tour" last Friday. They've been through North Florida, Alabama, and are now in Nashville, Tennessee. They'll be gone another 3-4 days. DS promised that he'd call every day and so far he has. They're having a ball! Oh to be 18 (19 this weekend) again, without a care in the world!



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Now I'm off to Joann's to pick up muslin.

Pizza Shop

DS#1's favorite pizza topping is BBQ chicken. (He could eat chicken every night of the week, but that's another story.) Over the weekend we somehow ended up talking about BBQ chicken pizza and so I decided that I'd try making pizza dough in the bread machine and we'd have pizza for Monday night's dinner.

When we order pizza, the boys usually go through one themselves and I figured I'd need to make at least two pizzas. Until I read the recipe, I thought one batch of dough would be enough for two large pizzas. I was wrong. I'd have to make the dough twice.

I started making the dough yesterday morning, timing it so that the second batch would be ready when it was actually time to make the pizzas. While the first batch of dough was processing, I went ahead and cooked the chicken, added BBQ sauce, and then put it in a covered bowl to sit in the fridge for a few hours and marinate.

Here are the two pizzas assembled and ready to go in the oven.



DS anticipating the tasty goodness. (His words!)



One finished pizza and the accompanying salad.



It turned out great and tasted wonderful. The pizza was so filling that we could've gotten by with just one. But now DS and I have pizza leftovers for lunch today, so that's fine with us.

There's nothing really fancy about this recipe since I used some ready-made products and the dough recipe from my bread machine manual, but here it is:

BBQ Chicken Pizza & Bread Machine Pizza Dough

Dough:
1 Cup Beer or Water (I used water, we were out of beer)
1 tbsp. Shortening (I used olive oil)
1 tbsp. Sugar
1 tsp. Salt
3 Cups White Bread Flour
1-1/4 tsp. Yeast
2 tbsp. Cornmeal

1. Put all ingredients except for cornmeal into bread pan in the order listed.
2. Process on Dough setting.
3. Remove dough to a lightly floured surface. If necessary (it wasn't), knead in enough flour to make dough easy to handle.
4. Grease pans (two 12-inch, one 14-inch or one 15x10 inch) and sprinkle with cornmeal. (I used pizza stones so I didn't grease them but I did use the cornmeal.)
5. Roll out dough and place on pan/stone. (We used a combination of "pizza shop dough handling" and a floured rolling pin.)
5. Top each pizza with sauce, toppings, cheese, etc. Bake at 425 for 15-25 minutes, or until done. Pizza is done when edges of crust are golden and cheese is bubbly.
Yield: 1 large or 2 medium pizzas

Topping (for 2 large pizzas):
3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
2/3 bottle BBQ sauce
1-1/2 jars of pizza sauce (about 2-3 cups)
1 green pepper, chopped into small pieces
1/2 onion, sliced thin
handful of fresh cilantro
shredded cheese (4-6 cups) (I combined mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar and jack)
Cook chicken on stove until done. Add enough BBQ sauce to coat plus a little extra. Cook for a few more minutes until the BBQ sauce is absorbed. Remove from heat and set aside.

Pour 1-1/2 jars of pizza sauce into a bowl. Add 1/2 - 1 cup of BBQ sauce (amount is per your preference). Mix and then using a ladle, spoon over pizza crust and spread to within 1/2" of crust edge.

Sprinkle on cheese. Add BBQ chicken, onion slices, and green peppers. Add cilantro leaves over everything. (We like cilantro so we probably used more than average.)

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Is it lunchtime yet? ;-)

Super Bread for the Superbowl

First, I have to say Best Game Ev-ah! I'm not usually a Giants (or Patriots) fan, but we were all rooting for the G-Men last night and jumping up and hooting every time Brady was squashed down. And with as many times as Tommy Boy was hammered, it was almost aerobic exercise.

Ahem. OK, back to today's post.

I knew that once the pre-game stuff started I would be mostly planted in front of the tube. That meant I had to get the eats out of the way early in the day so the boys wouldn't be interrupting me watching Ryan Seacrest (Ryan Seacrest??) on the red carpet (red carpet??). Actually, it's Terry, Howie & Jimmy that I watch every Sunday during football season. I like the pregame shows almost as much as the games. What the heck was with a red carpet on Superbowl Sunday anyway?

The day's menu:

Late Lunch: Nachos and Terriyaki Wings (nachos from scratch, wings from freezer)
Very Late Dinner: Cowboy Chili with Cheese 'N Onion Bread

The Cowboy Chili you've seen before, here. The bread was absolutely delicious and perfect dipped into the Cowboy Chili. Yum. But don't plan to kiss anyone after eating it. ;-)

Cheese 'N Onion (Bread Machine) Bread

Makes a 2 lb. loaf

1-1/3 cups water
3 tbsp powdered milk
2 tbsp sugar
1-1/2 tsp salt
4 cups white bread flour
2 tbsp dried onion flakes
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1-1/4 tsp yeast

Place ingredients in the order listed into the bread pan and process on "Dough" setting.

Remove dough from pan and place in oiled bread baking dish/pan. Let rise for 45-60 minutes, until doubled in size.

Bake in preheated 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Remove, sprinkle a handful of shredded cheese over top and return to oven for another 20 minutes. Remove from baking dish and let cool on rack.


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And this?



That's one of the burners on my cooktop, which since Friday is fully operational again. Yay!!

Thanks Marjie!

Marjie left a comment on my blog when she tried the Sweet Potato Bread. Of course I had to go check out her blog, and when I did, I found some great recipes to try. Today was her Pane Toscana, (Tuscan Bread).

Marjie's Recipe:

Starter:

1-3/4 cups water
2-1/2 tsp. yeast
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour

Put these ingredients in your machine and set it for the dough cycle. Let it mix for 10 minutes, then turn it off and leave the starter sitting in the closed bread machine for one hour.

After one hour, add:

2-1/2 cups white flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt

Restart the bread machine to mix these with the starter. After about 15 minutes, when the dough is completely mixed, remove from the machine and form into 2 round, country style loaves. Let them rise for an hour or more, until doubled in size, then bake 35 to 40 minutes at 375.

And my changes:

Instead of forming into two loaves, I used my deep dish baking stone from Pampered Chef for one big, round loaf. I also lightly punched the dough down after the first rise and let it rise again for about 45 minutes. After baking for about 10 minutes, I brushed egg white over the top of the loaf and sprinkled on flax, toasted sesame, black caraway, midget sunflower, poppy, & anise seeds which is a mix purchased from King Arthur Flour and then let the loaf finish baking. It's out of stock—I almost typed OOP!— right now, but don't they look delicious!




The bread turned out nice, with a wonderful crusty-crust. The seeds add a nice country flavor (I sampled it!). I can't wait for the rest of dinner to be ready.

* * * * *

I'm plugging away on the Burda jeans and I'll update about those later.

Sweet Potato and Green Apple Bread

The bread turned out OK. Not spectacular in texture, but good-tasting. It looks pretty, though, doesn't it with its orange-y color. The main problem with this loaf is likely baker-error (mine!). I added too much sweet potato and didn't cut the water to compensate, which probably caused the bread to fall a bit during baking and resulted in a too-moist, heavy loaf. I'm going to try this one again since I still have one more sweet potato to use. Next time I'll measure the potato and apple more carefully and leave off those 2 extra tablespoons of water. I'll also add vital wheat gluten (1-2 tsp per 3 cups of flour) which helps bread to rise better. I usually add VWG when making the recipes in this book but I was in a hurry to get to the dogpark (or, more correctly, the dogs were in a hurry and underfoot) and so I was distracted and forgot.

The recipe is from The Best Low-Fat, No-Sugar Bread Machine Cookbook Ever (Madge Rosenberg). I like all of the recipes I've tried and the healthier (low-fat, no-sugar) aspect is a nice bonus, especially after the holidays. It's great to be able to add a flavorful bread to a meal without adding an additional 500 calories. Between the soup and a slice of this bread, we were all quite stuffed after dinner.

From the book:

Sweet Potato and Green Apple Bread

This bright sandwich bread packs in the vitamins. Fill slices with assertive vegetables like thinly sliced radishes or radish sprouts, slivered turnips, scallions, or arugula. Spicy chicken or tuna salad go well, too.

(Large Loaf 1-1/2 lbs)

1-1/2 tsp dry yeast
3 C bread flour
3/4 C yellow cornmeal
3/4 C mashed sweet potato
1/3 C chopped green apple, including peel (I used McIntosh cuz that's what I had)
1/2 tsp salt
1 C plus 2 tbl water

(Small Loaf 1 lb)

1 tsp dry yeast
2 C bread flour
1/2 C yellow cornmeal
1/2 C mashed sweet potato
1/4 C chopped green apple, including peel
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 C water

Add all ingredients in the order suggested by your bread machine manual and process on the basic bread cycle according to he manufacturer's directions.

Per (1-oz) serving: 90 calories, .4 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 4% calories from fat

If you try this, let me know how yours turns out.

For BeckyW

Here's the pic that was missing from yesterday's post. It's today's lunch and I'm eating it now so I'm not baking on an empty stomach.

Becky, I don't really have a recipe but I'll try to reconstruct what I did. For soups and stews, I tend to inventory what I have on hand and go from there.

I started with a little olive oil and chopped garlic in the bottom of a large pot over medium heat. I sautéed 1-1/2 onions (the other 1/2 is in the bread), carrots and celery left over from finger food during last week's football games and cut up soup size (about 2 big handfuls of each). Those continued to sautée while I was cubing 3 boneless chicken breasts, which I added to the mix and continued to cook until the chicken was fully-cooked.

I added some dried dill (about 2 T), salt (1 tsp) and pepper (1/2 tsp) and 3 peeled, cubed white potatoes (peeled). I let all of that simmer a bit and then I added 6 cups of chicken broth and another 6-8 cups of water (my pot is a big pot!).

I looked in the fridge to see what else I could empty and toss into the soup. I found about 3/4 cup of corn (I had used the rest for quesadillas on Wednesday) and 2 green onions so I tossed them in too. I also found some leftover cooked elbow macaroni, which I put on reserve to add at the end.

I started the soup after I had the bread dough going in the machine and then let it simmer until the bread was finished baking.

Before serving, I poured about 3/4 cup of cream and 1 T of cornstarch into the blender, whipped them together so the mixture wouldn't be lumpy, and then stirred the mixture into the simmering soup. After that, I added the macaroni and turned off the burner. The macaroni was already cooked and the hot soup heated it up almost instantly.

So, that's it.

For a recap of ingredients:

3 cubed boneless chicken breasts
1-2 yellow onions, sliced
a few green onions, sliced (optional)
diced carrots, about 3/4 cup
diced celery, about 3/4 cup
olive oil (about 1 T)
3/4 cup corn (frozen or canned)
3 medium white potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cup pasta, precooked and drained
chicken broth/bouillon (enough to equal 4-6 cups)
garlic, chopped (1-2 tsp)
1 T dill (or more, to taste)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup heavy cream (or milk)
1 T cornstarch
water (4-6 cups)

The amount of liquids depends on your pot size and how much soup you want.

The soup is even better today. But now I'm done with my early lunch and it's time to mess up the kitchen again. I didn't really gain any space in the fridge since I have a big container of leftover soup in lieu of smaller containers, but we'll be eating it today and tonight and by tomorrow it should be gone. Still, this week I'm particularly glad I have the second fridge out on the back porch. ;-)

A Plug for Sidewalk Shoes

I've had Sidewalk Shoes in my sidebar for a long time. It's one of my favorite blogs to read. I love what Pam puts together in her kitchen and her writing style, and her photos always look so darn appetizing. IOW, don't read when you're hungry. ;-)

This morning I took a peek at the latest entry and resistance was futile. I had already been thinking about making soup to empty out some space in the fridge in anticipation of Christmas Dinner preparations and leftovers. Her foccacia bread pushed me over the edge. Soup and foccacia for dinner it would be.

Although I didn't realize it this morning when planning, my foccacia would be the "poor woman's" version since I later found out I was very low on Rosemary and completely sans sea salt. (Already added to tomorrow's shopping list.) I subbed some thyme and tarragon and a pinch of chipotle.



When the bread came out of the oven, DS#1, who works at The Cheesecake Factory, couldn't get the plate of olive oil & ground pepper prepared fast enough — trying to impress us with his presentation knowledge. ;-)

Anyway, my point (yes, I do have one) is that this bread is absolutely delicious! And incredibly easy to make with a bread machine (Belinda, are you listening?). I made it this afternoon in the middle of holiday baking. Just a few minutes to toss the ingredients into the machine pan, and then later a few more minutes to turn the dough out into the pan. The machine, yeast, and oven do all of the hard work. I am definitely making this again next week when my mom, sister, and spouses are here.

The creamed chicken soup was very good too, but I forgot to take a photo of that while we had some in bowls. A shot looking down in the pot wouldn't do it any justice.