dark chocolate chip cookies

dark chocolate chips
whole wheat flour
all brown sugar

Never forget the healing power of some warm, straight out of the oven chocolate chip cookies!!!

homemade bread

One of the best things in this world has to be homemade bread.  I could eat a whole loaf right out of the oven.  I tried the whole wheat and cinnamon raisin recipes from William Sonoma's bread book and they are great!  I took pictures so that you will want to make your own bread too.  Delicous, preservative free, wholesome bread for toast, sandwiches, snacking, and more.

A whole wheat loaf.

A cinnamon raisin loaf. (still with whole wheat flour)  like my drying rack?

Oh yeah.

the best banana bread

You should feel very fortunate because I am about to share the BEST banana bread recipe.  It's a family recipe and the only banana bread recipe I use.  It's moist, full of bananas, and beyond good.

Here's the recipe.

First, dissolve the baking soda in the milk and let sit.  In a separate, large bowl, cream your butter and sugar (1/2 cup sugar works fine too if you like things not so sweet).  Then, add your eggs to the butter/sugar and mix.

Then, you add the soda/milk mixture and mix. 

Next, mash your bananas with a fork.  I use frozen ripe bananas.  Just pop them in the microwave for 10 sec on each side to make them easier to peel.

Add them into the wet mixture.

Next, add in the dry ingredients (already mixed together in a separate bowl).  I use whole wheat flour.

Then, stir in 1 cup chopped walnuts (optional but so much better this way).

Spread batter in a greased 4" x 8"??, or whatever the normal size is for a loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean (Stick the toothpick deep into the center of the loaf and if there is no dough on the toothpick when removed, it's done.  If there is dough stuck to the toothpick, tryanother 5-10 minutes and repeat until done.)

I'm not kidding, this is the best banana bread you will ever have:)  Enjoy a warm slice with a cold glass of milk....mmmmmmm.  This bread is even better with farm fresh eggs and high quality butter!

orange beef, brown rice, and salad

This recipe comes from Everyday Food, Great Food Fast, a wonderful cook book!    Unfortunately, I think you have to buy the book to get the recipe... But, I'll show you pictures of the process.

Let. your meat rest in a bowl covered with foil for a few minutes.  Heat the sauce in the same pan, scrapping up the pan bits.  The sauce contains zest from an orange, soy sauce, and minced garlic.  Add some orange slices right before the next step.

Then, toss the meat back in with the sauce. 

 Serve with brown rice and a veggie. 

Dark chocolate covered bananas for dessert:)  (melted some dark chocolate chips in a pan with a pad of butter and splash of milk)



salmon, roasted potatoes, asparagus

For this dinner, first you want to start marinating the salmon (see below).  Then, you can work on the potatoes since those take the longest to cook.  I used small yukon gold potatoes and cut them in half lengthwise and then in quarters.  I cut up 5 of these and put them in a bowl and then added 1 tsp. rosemary, 1/2 tsp. Italian herbs, 1-2 tbsp. olive oil, and some salt and pepper.  Stir these up and then spread them on a baking sheet. 

Bake at 350 degrees for ~30 minutes or until browned and soft when pierced with a fork. Remember to rotate/mix up the potatoes once or twice while baking so that they do not burn on one side or stick to the pan.  I usually just open the oven door, slide the pan out a little wearing an oven mitt, and do this right then.  Alternatively, you can take the baking sheet out out, mix the potatoes, and put it back in.  This may be easier.

Now, I turned the oven up to broil.  Actually, I turned it up about 20 minutes into the baking time of the potatoes and moved the potatoes to the lowest rack.  That way, the salmon could go on the top rack.  You want the salmon to go close to the top of the oven.

Salmon:
I bought 2 fillets from the grocerie store and decided to make them different ways.  I marinated one fillet in a sauce of equal parts butter and brown sugar for ~1 hr. in the fridge.  For 1 fillet, melt ~3tbsp. butter and stir in 3 tbsp. brown sugar.  Transfer to a separate bowl and let cool down a bit (you don't want to cook the salmon in the sauce).  Then, I added the salmon fillet upside down (so that the flesh part would touch the sauce).  Reserve some of the sauce to spread on the salmon after it's done cooking.



Scrape off some of the marinade once ready to cook.  Place both fillets on a baking sheet on top of a piece of foil (which I forgot here!...see pic at end).  Salt and pepper the other fillet and squeeze some lemon juice on it. 

Broil for ~10 minutes.  It really depends on how thick the samon is and you want to keep a close eye on them.  These were ~1" thick in their thickest parts, so they took ~12 mintues total.  You want to slice through the thickest part of the salmon to make sure it is no longer translucent looking.  If it looks cooked through (becomes lighter and more opaque versus translucent and raw looking), then it's done!  Take the salmon out and turn off the oven.  Spread a little of the reserved marinade over the marinated fillet.  Slide your spatula under the fillet, but over the skin, and it should easily peel away from the skin while the skin sticks to the foil (again, I forgot the foil here!).  Foil makes for very easy cleanup.  You just wad up the oils and skins and through it away!

We had asaparagus for a veggie.  Just boil it in salted water until its as soft as you like it.  I boiled it ~8 minutes.

See the mess when you forget foil?  It wasn't too bad actually, but foil is easier.

homemade whole wheat pretzels!!!

These are DELICIOUS!!!  This recipe is from Laura's website http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/making-homemade-soft-pretzel.  I took some of my own pics and added a few extra details here.  I used King Arthur's hard white wheat flour which is a healthier flour because it is supposed to contain the bran and wheat germ...fiber and healthy fats.

Cover the dough with a damp towel and place in the oven (just somewhere out of the way and with no drafts of cold air).

See how much it rises in 1.5 hours?  Wonderful.  I had forgotten how easy it is to work with yeast, you just have to have time for the rising process.

Half of Laura's recipe made 7 pretzels.

Buttered and salted. OH MY GOSH THESE ARE GOOD!  We ate 2 with dinner...lol.  The only thing is is that they are on the sweeter side.  If you wanted more of a pretzel like snack, you might want to try adding less honey and more milk.

Oh, I could eat another right now! mmmmmmmm

spaghetti and salad

Whole wheat spaghetti with homemade tomato sauce (well, onions, hamburger, and herbs added to a jar of tomato sauce..I have yet to make it from tomatoes) and a fresh salad topped with avocado has to be one of the best meals ever!  We love our pasta nights! 

chicken pot pie!!!

You wanna talk about food?  Let's talk chicken pot pie.  YUMMM  I altered this recipe http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/chicken-pot-pie-ix/Detail.aspx.

1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cubed
1 cup sliced carrots
1 cup frozen green peas

1/2 cup sliced celery

3 red potatoes, cubed

2 tbsp. butter

half a medium onion, chopped

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

~2 1/2 cups chicken broth (full sodium kind...low sodium will make pot pie too bland)

2/3 cup milk (1 cup may work better as this pot pie could use a bit more liquid)

Place carrots, frozen peas, and potatoes in a pan.  Salt and pepper.  Cover with ~1/2 cup chicken broth and 1 cup water.  Simmer (slight boil) on medium heat for ~15 minutes or until veggies become slightly soft.  Drain and place in bowl.

Either use same pan or another pan (then can cook simultaneously as veggies) and place raw chicken in pan, add a little salt and pepper, and cover with water.  Simmer for ~15 minutes or until cooked through.  The reason why we boil the veggies and chicken is to get a more pot pie like flavor, as opposed to a browned, sauteed flavor.

Looks kinda weird, but that's OK.  Drain the chicken.  Then, I cut it up into smaller pieces and added it to a separate bowl containing the cooked veggies.

Next, brown the onions in the butter for a couple of minutes just until onions start releasing their juices and become somewhat soft.  Then, add in the flour and slowly add in the chicken broth and milk, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.  This takes ~5 minutes.  This is the flour I used, a great brand of whole wheat flour.

Turn off the heat once the sauce thickens up.  Pour over chicken/veggie mix and leave aside.

Next, make the pie crusts. This is the best pie crust recipe from Betty Crocker!!!  No vinegar necessary.  I love this pie dough...mmmmm.

2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup butter
1 tsp. salt
~1/4 cup ice cold water

Crumble the butter in the flour and salt with your fingers until you get a coarse mixture.

Next, add the ice cold water and gently mix together with your hands.  I always start forming a ball (it will not easily come together) and just continue adding more flour to the ball.  It's best to not work the dough too much and to not worry about forming a perfect ball.  There may still be some flour at the bottom of the bowl, but you can roll this in with the rest of the dough when rolling it out.  Split the ball of dough evenly into 2 smaller balls.

Roll out the dough, continuously flouring your surface so the dough does not stick.  Transfer to an 8"x8" pan and press against the edges.  The filling will completely fill this pan, so you can use a larger pan if you want.

Fill with veggie/chicken/sauce mixture.

Place second pie crust over top.  Make sure you have rolled your dough out enough that it overhangs about an inch on each side.  Then, you can tuck under those overhangs and make the pretty, curvy sides as shown below.  Cut slits in the top to release steam while cooking.

Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes.  Then, take out and let rest 10 minutes before diggin' in!

Oh. my. goodness.  This is wonderful.  I served it with a green salad topped with carrots, avocado, and grated parmesan cheese.  I can't wait for tomorrow's left overs!  Let me know if you try this recipe and how you like it??!!

And, dark chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert!!! (sorry no photo)  I melted 1 tbsp. butter in a pan, added some dark chocolate chips and stirred until they melted and then added in 2 tbsp. whole milk.  You need the butter and milk in order to make the chocolate dipping consistancy and to keep it from solidifying.  

smoothie n' grilled cheese

Sorry I have posted in awhile, but this recipe is worth the wait because it has a hidden veggie in it!  Well, maybe not hidden, but definitely not tastable.  It's a smoothie with spinach in it; and trust me, you cannot taste the spinach!  I have never liked smoothies or juices with veggies in them because I have always been able to taste the veggies and somehow this grosses me out a little (weird becuase I love veggies).  However, if you do not like veggies or do not like veggies mixed with your fruit but still want to get more veggies in your diet, you should try this smoothie!

1 1/2 cups frozen fruit (strawberries, peaches, blueberries, rasberries, or anything you like.  I usually use a lot of straberries with a little of something else)
1 cup fresh spinach, washed
1 banana (frozen or fresh)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup 100% juice (adds some sweetness to the unsweetened, frozen fruit)

Notes:
1. no need for ice or (vanilla ice cream.......ahem) in this smoothie!
2. freeze over-ripe bananas for smoothies or banana bread.  Pop in microwave for 10-15 seconds to be able to remove the peel quickly and without freezing your fingers

Put fruits/veggies in a blender.

 Add liquids.

Blend. mmmmmmm

See, you can barely see the spinach (little green specs) and you definitely cannot taste it!  Grilled cheese on all-natural whole wheat bread with this nutritious smoothie make an excellent lunch.