Cooking with Kelly

So a while back I posted how we have cut back considerably on our meat consumption around here.

I also posted how I had failed miserably when I tried to cook with tofu...it was awful, and I nearly threw in the towel.  But instead I did a little research and discovered some really good techniques when cooking with tofu.  For example, always soak up all the moisture out of it before cooking with it (maybe this is common sense to most, but I had no idea).  I wrap it in a clean kitchen towel and then set a heavy pot on top of it for about 15 minutes and that does the trick.  Also, bake the tofu first...who knew?!!  I cut it up into cubes and lay it out onto a cookie sheet with parchment paper, stick it in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes.  This allows the edges to be slightly crispy...much better!

I found these tips on Minimalist Baker.

I also found this next recipe there as well...and I'm happy to report that it was delicious!

The only downside is it took me a while to prepare and cook, and I'm definitely not a fan of elaborate menus when cooking for a family.  But, I will do it again...it just won't be a weekly thing for sure!

 Crispy Peanut Tofu and Cauliflower Rice Stir Fry

(That's a mouth full.)

Ryan and I really liked it...the kids were kinda "meh" about it...another reason I may not be doing it too often.

Another veggie recipe that we've been enjoying is a Chickpea Sandwich.

We go to the weekly mountain bike races and I have to pack a dinner so I'm always on the hunt for something quick and easy and that packs well.  I got this from allrecipes.

Vegetarian Chickpea Sandwich Filling

You can top it with whatever: lettuce, tomatoes...or my favorite, avocado.

And I used regular white bread in the photo because it's what I had on hand at the time but normally I would use a roll, crusty bread, or even a croissant.

So yeah, I'm making progress and just wanted to share a couple wins I had.

It's the little things us moms need to celebrate, right?

Cooking with Kelly: Grilled Salmon

It's been a great long while since I posted a recipe!  So here's a family favorite that is so super easy and fast! It's sure to please everyone...I promise! 

Grilled Salmon

salmon fillets (we'll cook up 5 for our family)

olive oil

steak seasonings

Parmesan cheese (I'm not fancy...I use Kraft...straight out of the green jar)

Lay the fillets onto a cookie sheet and give it a good coating of the olive oil.  Sprinkle the steak seasonings and cheese all over it...and throw it on the grill!

About 6 minutes per side and you're dinner is done!

And don't forget the left over bits on the cage...

pure goodness right there, people...pure goodness.

Wasn't that easy?!  Just throw some rice and a salad on the table and you're good to go!

And speaking of food.  This week the girls are celebrating Yucky Cereal Week!  

They finally decided to try something other than Trix this time.

Yucky cereal weeks: 2009,  2010,  2012 (not sure what happened to 2011)

See what I mean about getting Trix?!  Way to step out of your comfort zone girls!

My New Favorite

I bought this cookbook yesterday and it has quickly become my favorite...and I haven't even cooked anything from it yet!

This cookbook is different from others in that Ree Drumond (aka: Pioneer Woman) includes tons of stories about her own life.  She talks about her city life past and her present day ranch life, and how she was swept off her feet by real live cowboy (aka: The Marlboro Man).  And my favorite and necessity for a cookbook...she has TONS of photos of each recipe!  Which by the way, look really good!  She also includes tons of photos of the ranch.  I've pretty much read this book cover to cover yesterday in between chasing kids around.  And I'm sure I'll be visiting her site often. 

She kinda makes me want to live on a ranch or a farm...almost.

But you know, I do have to disagree with one thing.  She says a guy's butt looks best in a pair Wranglers.  I've never been a fan of Wranglers.  Me, I'm a Levi's girl through and through.  And I will add that Ryan owns all Levi's.

And speaking of Ryan, he comes back to me today...well, actually he arrives in the wee hours of Friday morning.  I'm so glad...we have missed him.  With this being the first week the girls have been out of school and with Ryan gone, Summer has been a shock to my system.  We've been staying busy, which is good, but I'll tell ya...I'm worn out!  

Cooking with Kelly: Scones

Sometimes I think scones get forgotten about...muffins always seem to take the center stage over scones.  But I prefer a scone (done right) over a muffin any time.  They are much denser than a muffin and don't have as much sugar...and if they're done correctly they're nice and moist.  They go hand in hand with a cup of coffee...or a cup herbal tea in my case.

This recipe comes from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook.

2 1/2 cups flour

2 Tbsp sugar

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup butter, cut into pieces

2 beaten eggs

3/4 cup whipping cream

1/2 cup dried currants or snipped raisins

Milk 

Sugar

In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Using a pastry blender (or fork), cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs.  Set aside.

In medium bowl combine eggs, whipping cream and currants.  Add mixture all at once to flour mixture.  Using fork, stir until moistened.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface.  Knead dough by folding and gently pressing dough for 10 to 12 strokes or until dough is nearly smooth.  Pat or lightly roll dough into an 8 inch circle.  Cut into 8 wedges.  

Place wedges 1 inch apart on an ungreased baking sheet.  Brush wedges with milk and sprinkle with additional sugar.  Bake at 400 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes or until golden.

* Just to be clear...this is the original recipe.  I actually have never used currants or raisins in my scones.  I prefer blueberries.  The scone pictured I used both raspberries and blueberries and they were delicious!  Also, I rarely have whipping cream on hand and usually just use whole milk and I find that they come out just as good!

Enjoy!

Cooking with Kelly: Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is for sure a family favorite around here!

And it's so so easy!!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 cans chicken broth (about 4 cups)

1 can refried beans (I use the no fat kind)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes w/ green chilies

1 cup frozen corn

Throw everything in a pot and heat through.  Simple as that!

Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese, and sour cream.  You'll love it...I promise.

Weekend Review

We had a great weekend.  Friday afternoon Ryan watched the girls so I could meet up with Jeff at Sundance to take advantage of the fresh powder.  However, driving up the canyon to get there was pretty scary, I nearly turned around.  The roads were very slippy and the snow was dumping!  Police were having people turn around if they didn't have chains or 4wheel drive.  Luckily, my sweet jeeper got me up there safe and I found Jeffy.  We had so much fun...but it was COLD and snowing pretty good the whole time...but the powder was awesome.

Jeffy and me on the lift.

Check out my sweet snow beard.  My face was pretty much frozen so I could have had snot and/or drool all over and I would have never known.

That looked like a good place to lay in the snow...or I may have biffed it.

Saturday I hit up yoga...Jeffy joined me this time.  I'm diggin' it.  And then Ryan skied with Jeff all afternoon. I know...we got some quality time with my little brother this weekend!  

I took the girls to the library and then they watched movies in the afternoon...yes, movies....plural...it was a lazy afternoon/evening.

Sunday we churched it up at our new time at 9:00 am.  I'm pretty sure this is our favorite time.  For those out of the know...our church changes times every year...last year we had 1:00...and next year we'll have 11:00.  But anyway, yeah, I'm diggin' the 9-12 time slot.  I love having the rest of the afternoon to do whatever we want...and in this case it was spent sitting by the fire and making these bad boys.

Snickerdoodle brownies.

I'm a big snickerdoodle fan, and these did not disappoint! They are so, so good!

You can find the recipe here.

In other news, it was -1 when I dropped the girls off at school this morning!  -1!!  Where am I living...North Dakota?!!  We haven't seen temps like these in a long time.  And if we do have temps like these they certainly don't last week after week like they have been.  The dogs however, are loving it since they pretty much live in the house now.

Ryan is in CO this week, so I'm holding down the fort.

Happy Monday.

Cooking with Kelly: Family Favorite

Who doesn't love a good chocolate chip cookie?  No one in this house, that's for sure!

I have tried lots and lots of cookie recipes...I stick with one for a while and then move on to another.  But, this one seems to be the family favorite!

Now, this is a very secret recipe...are you ready?

It's the original Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip recipe.

But here's the thing to make it super good.  Do not use your hand mixer when combining the flour to the wet ingredients.  Fold it in gently and don't over mix.  This is crucial when you only use butter in a cookie recipe.  If you over mix you will get flat, greasy cookies.  I learned this when my hand mixer died and I made cookies the old fashioned way with a wisk and wooden spoon....and I have yet to replace it.  I kinda like not using it...I'm getting back to my pioneer roots!  Plus it's good exercise!

Anyway, here's the recipe.

Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3/4 cup granulated sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 large eggs

2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup nuts

Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.  Beat butter, sugars and vanilla in large bowl until creamy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well.  Gradually add flour mixture and stir in chocolate and nuts.  Bake for 9-11 minutes in a 375 degree oven.  

*We skip the nuts and add both semi-sweet and white chocolate chips...mmmmm, good.

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What I'm cookin' up tonight.

I just realized that I already posted a soup with lentils a while back...so, sorry I'm not being more creative with my recipes.  Just think of it as another meal for you use to up all those leftover lentils you have in your pantry.  

Lentil and Sausage Soup

* This recipe comes from the Better Homes and Garden Cookbook 12th Edition*

2 14-ounce cans reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 cups water

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and drained

1 cup sliced celery (2 stalks)

1 cup carrots (2 medium)

1/2 cup chopped onion (1 medium)

1 teaspoon snipped fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 ounces cooked, smoked sausage links sliced

In a large saucepan combine chicken broth, water, lentils, celery, carrots, onion, dried thyme (if using), red pepper, and garlic.  Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, for 20 to 25 minutes or until vegetables and lentils are tender.  Stir in fresh thyme, if using, and sausage.  Heat through.

I have no idea how they get their lentils tender in 25 minutes!  Like I've said before, I like really soft lentils...so this soup has been simmering on my stove for the last 2 hours or so, and we still have another hour until dinner.  I've added another can of broth and a cup or so more of water.  I also added more carrots.  See what I mean?  I can never follow a recipe perfectly...but it smells super good, so I'm thinking it will turn out just fine!

Since I missed last week sharing a recipe I'm giving you a two-fer today.  This recipe I saw on Pinterest, and I've been craving it ever since I saw it!  I made it for tomorrow's breakfast.  We're celebrating the New Year in the morning since I was slighted on the actual day.  I was looking forward to eating unhealthy that morning, and dang it, I will make that happen, even if it's a bit late!

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

You can find the recipe for this here.

I haven't tried it yet, it's sitting on my counter, surprisingly untouched so far...but good grief it looks good!

Happy Weekend y'all!

Oh, and in case you wondering...Rory is still going strong!  Go Rory!

Cooking with Kelly: Lentil Soup

When the weather is cold I love cooking soups and stews.  I love having something simmer on the stove.  Plus I love only have one pot to clean..actually, it's Ryan that appreciates it since he does the dinner clean up.

So for this week I picked out a soup from this cookbook.

It's probably one of my favorites because for every single recipe there's a photo to go with it...I love that. 

Lentil Soup

Ingredients

• 3 strips (3 ounces) bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 2 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth (3 1/2 cups)
• 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

• 
  
• Directions

1. In a Dutch oven (or other 5-quart pot with a tight-fitting lid), cook bacon over medium-low heat until browned and crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat.
2. Add onion and carrots; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in tomato paste, and cook 1 minute.
3. Add lentils, thyme, broth, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cover; cook until lentils are tender, 30 to 45 minutes.
4. Stir in vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Serve immediately.
   
   
   When I cook lentils I prefer them to be cooked really well...I don't like chewy lentils.  So their 30-45 minute cook time I extended quite a bit.  I doubled the recipe so I needed more cook time anyway...but I ended up letting it simmer for about an hour and half and I would have liked to let it simmer longer!  But I had a bunch of starving kids and husband so I had to get in it on the table.  But all in all, it was very good...a very hearty soup!

Cooking with Kelly: Chicken Piccata

This week's new recipe that I did: Chicken Piccata

I've actually cooked Chicken Piccata before...but it's been a great long while.  I'm not sure how I forgot about this one!  It's super easy and fast, plus everyone loves it!  Their are so many chicken piccata recipes out there...but I have found that Giada De Laurentiis (don't you just love her) from the Food Network makes a pretty darn good one!

Photo and recipe courtesy of Food Network.

Ingredients

• 2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts, butterflied and then cut in half
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• All-purpose flour, for dredging
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup brined capers, rinsed
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour and shake off excess.

In a large skillet over medium high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add 2 pieces of chicken and cook for 3 minutes. When chicken is browned, flip and cook other side for 3 minutes. Remove and transfer to plate. Melt 2 more tablespoons butter and add another 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter and oil start to sizzle, add the other 2 pieces of chicken and brown both sides in same manner. Remove pan from heat and add chicken to the plate.

Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock and capers. Return to stove and bring to boil, scraping up brown bits from the pan for extra flavor. Check for seasoning. Return all the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to platter. Add remaining 2 tablespoons butter to sauce and whisk vigorously. Pour sauce over chicken and garnish with parsley.

______________________________________________________________________________________

When I cook I don't always follow a recipe exactly...I do a bit of tweaking here and there...and I don't always measure perfectly.  So I'm pretty sure I used about half the butter (give or take) she called for.  I didn't want it to be too rich.

Enjoy!

Cooking with Kelly

Every stay at home mom is different...truly.  Some are exceptionally good at keeping a clean home, or extremely organized, perhaps crafty, or good at gardening, paying bills, volunteering at school, yadda, yadda, yadda.  And if you're good at it all...well, goodie for you.  I, however am not.  Although I really wish I could be more organized, that would be great!  But alas, I'm just not, and I need to accept that.

So anyway, I was thinking about my own "stay at home mom" talents and I think I'm pretty good at cooking.  I'm not a gourmet or anything like that.  My meals are family friendly, quick and easy most of time.  I think I'm pretty good at whipping something up last minute with whatever I have on hand...because that's usually what I do.  Remember, I'm not organized...if I were then I would have every meal planned out for the week and would never have that problem.

But like lots of moms we have a tendency to get into cooking ruts and staying with what we know.  So I decided to challenge myself with a new recipe every week.  I'll share them on this little blog of mine.  I'll let you know if it was a success or failure.  And I'll also share some of our family favorites too.

So, to celebrate pizza and movie night (which we'll be doing tomorrow night) I'm kicking if off with a family favorite: Pizza!

Pizza Dough

(This will make about 3 pounds of dough, enough to fill two jelly roll pans)

2 1/4  cups warm water

1/4  cup sugar

3 tsp. yeast

3 tsp. salt

6 cups flour (give or take...I really never measure this part)

olive oil for pans

Mix the warm water, sugar and yeast and let sit for 10-15 minutes or until really foamy.  Add 3 cups flour and the salt and mix well.  Continue adding flour and kneading dough until a dough ball forms but still slightly sticky.  Transfer to a greased bowl and let rise for 30-60 minutes.

Coat the pans with olive oil.  I divide the dough in half and spread onto two jelly roll pans.

Top with what ever your family loves!

Our favorites are BBQ chicken and grilled onions or pineapple and Canadian bacon.

Enjoy!

Happy Movie Night!

Next week I'll share a new recipe that I'm cooking up for my family.