Meals: March 2nd-7th

I haven't been cooking quite frequently the past two weeks or so.  I am not sure why that is, but the husband has noticed and has asked that we start cooking meals again haha! So, on Sunday (the 1st of the month) we went grocery shopping and my goal is to have one hot cooked meal for supper every day this week! 

 Smith's = $38.80

Rancho Market = $15.93

The above groceries plus what we have in the fridge & pantry will be everything we need to start our delicious week! 

MONDAY:

Breakfast = Oatmeal w/ apples, peanuts, & chocolate coconut milk
Lunch = Catered Cafe Rio (We attended a talk on the university campus)
Supper = Chicken cooked in a green enchilada sauce with boiled potatoes and a little salad!

TUESDAY:

Breakfast = Homemade (frozen) Breakfast Burrito + Cottage Cheese w/ sliced strawberries
Lunch = Scrambled eggs w/ toast + yogurt & an apple
Supper = Lightened Butter Chicken w/ quinoa 

WEDNESDAY:

Breakfast = Breakfast burrito that my husband brought home from work
Lunch = Leftovers from yesterday's supper (Lightened Butter Chicken)
Supper = Chicken Fajitas

THURSDAY:

Breakfast = Oatmeal Pancakes topped with Greek yogurt, granola, and strawberries (delicious!)
Lunch = Leftovers
Supper = Peruvian Seco

FRIDAY:

Breakfast = Oatmeal Pancake Leftovers
Lunch = Tuna & Crackers
Supper = Crab Ravioli & Salad

SATURDAY:

Breakfast & Lunch = Leftovers 
Supper = Make your own Nachos @ Bunco Ladies' Night; I made Fruity Pebbles Muffins to share!

I will conclude that it was a great week of food for us here!

Here's to more happiness baking and cooking in the kitchen!!!

See you in the kitchen,

Katie 

Pumpkin Bread

I used the last of the pumpkin puree that I had in the freezer to make pumpkin bread for when my grandparents came into town.  The recipe makes two loaves.  One was used for breakfast with the abuelos and the other for my in-laws for a dessert! I still can't believe how much I like this bread and it is so surprising because I never would have thought of pumpkin bread! I will continue to make pumpkin bread as long as I have access to pumpkin! 

Pumpkin Bread:
(recipe modified from Tastes from Lizzy T's)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oil
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie (see notes)

Directions:

1. Mix together oil, sugar, vanilla, eggs, and pumpkin.
2. Mix together remaining ingredients. 
3. Incorporate the dry and wet ingredients together. 
4. Pour mixture evenly into two well-greased loaf pans and bake at 350 degrees for 45-55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Notes:

• So delicious! Enjoy w/ butter, fruit on top, whipped cream, or plain! 

See you in the kitchen,

Katie 

Freezing Milk?!

We go through a lot of milk in this household of two.  My coffee is equal parts milk and equal parts coffee.  I cook with milk.  I drink milk.  Every good meal & dessert will have milk in it.  So when it goes on sale or is marked down on a manager's special, I get really excited.  And then I realize that I have 4 gallons of milk with two days to drink it...

But wait...you can FREEZE milk! This may be common knowledge for most, but not for me :( After recently purchasing several gallons of milk and not wanting it to go to waste, I learned that yes, milk can be frozen.  So, I portioned the milk out into glass jars and stuck them in the freezer.  They have been handy to have when I need to stretch the budget just a little or when I didn't realize that we finished the gallon the night before with no milk for coffee the next morning.  Out comes the frozen milk to save my coffee :D Shake it once thawed and you have delicious milk for wherever you need it! 

...and yes! The heavy whipping cream freezes nicely as well! Freeze in ice-cube trays, pop out, keep in baggies, and take a few out when you need to make soups creamy, desserts creamier, or to throw in your coffee!

...this works with buttermilk too!


See you in the kitchen,

Katie

Away for too long...

Ah! I haven't stopped cooking, but I certainly have stopped blogging...this has resulted in having waaay tooooo many food pictures without names/without memory.  I have made some delicious things, but I can't recall what I did to make the dish delicious! Haha, this is the reason I started blogging so that I could remember what I cook and recreate it for future meals! Whoops!

Well, here I go again :D I am excited to be back and start again! 

My newest favorite breakfast - this is a lot, because for the past eight years or so I have eaten oatmeal every single morning.  Oatmeal is sooo wonderful and it makes sure that my stomach is full until a break for lunch! Well, I now eat this Vanilla Chia Pudding about 2-3 times a week.  Wo. 

The recipe below is fairly standard; most chia puddings reflect something similar and then people make their own variations from there.  

Vanilla Chia Pudding:

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup milk (almond, coconut, soy, cow's)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon sweetener (honey, maple syrup, agave, brown sugar)
• 3-4 tablespoons chia seeds

Directions:

1. In a jar mix together ingredients.
2. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours.  The longer it sits, the more liquid the seeds absorb and provides for a thicker texture.  Let sit overnight and the pudding is good up to five days.
3. Pour into bowl/eat straight out of the jar and adorn with toppings!

Notes:

• Toppings: nuts (pecans and walnuts!), shredded coconut, chopped/sliced fruit, whatever you like!

See you in the kitchen!

Katie 

Coffee Crumb Cake

Wow! I came across this gem of course looking through pinterest.com.  Best eaten with a hot cup of coffee.  Below you will find the recipe.

New York Crumb Cake:
(recipe modified from bakedbree)

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons canola oil
• 4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 sticks butter, melted and cooled
• confectioners’ sugar

Directions:

1. Whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Whisk together the egg, milk, oil and vanilla. Mix together until the batter comes together.
3. Spray a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Spread the batter evenly and set aside.
4. Add the remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar, and cinnamon to a bowl.
5. Add the butter and mix until it forms large crumbs.
6. Sprinkle the crumbs evenly over the batter.
7. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the pan at least once during baking.

Notes:

• It is going to be torture. Your kitchen is going to smell like vanilla, cinnamon, and sugar. But you need to wait a little while before you devour this crumb cake. When the cake has cooled, dust confectioners’ sugar on top.

See you in the kitchen,

Katie

English Muffin Bread

Okay, so this is the first yeast bread recipe I feel comfortable posting!  I have made a couple, no several, no probably over 10 different bread recipes looking for the perfects ones.  

Like I said in an earlier post, I would like different recipes that satisfy the need for a good sandwich bread, good bread for toast, a good whole wheat bread, etc.  (Most of the breads that I have tried, while delicious, are often crumbly) Well this is a good toast bread! The bread is tasty anytime, but the best way to eat this bread is really toasted topped with your favorite butter (and maybe a little honey, sometimes!).  

The only drawback to this recipe is that it makes four loaves at a time. How is this a drawback? Well, I only have two loaf pans! :D So what I did, and you can see this in the picture below...is that I separated the dough into four like the recipe calls for.  Then the two balls that I couldn't bake right away, I wrapped in plastic wrap, set them side-by-side in a square glass baking pan, and put it in the freezer to be baked later. Well, well, well, what do you know. The yeast was so active, the bread rose in the freezer before it froze.  One of the loaves grew so fast, that it broke through the plastic wrap freezing in a bubble above the pan! I opened the freezer and started to laugh when I saw it. (When I did bake those two loaves later, they turned out just fine, though I might just buy two more loaf pans to make this a smoother process for next time :D)

Whoops!

English Muffin Bread:
(recipe mostly reproduced from onegoodthingbyjillee)

Ingredients:

• 5 1/2 cups warm water
• 3 packages rapid rise yeast
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 11 cups flour

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.
2. Divide dough into four parts, and place in four different greased loaf pans.
3. Let rise in pans until dough reaches top of pans.
4. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes or until golden brown.
5. 10 minutes before taking out of the oven, brush with melted butter.
6. Allow to cool before slicing!

Notes:

• For nice step by step pictures, click the link for the original recipe!
• You can use regular yeast, you just need to let the dough rise twice.
• Original author of recipe says to use either all-purpose flour or bread flour.  I have so far only used all-purpose and it is great!

See you in the kitchen,

Katie

Oatmeal

So I haven't been posting recently...I have been rather busy with not being busy...Right now I should be working on updating my resume as I apply for jobs...however I discovered a thing called Swagbucks which I might post about later.

I am a breakfast person. I need breakfast in the morning to sustain me throughout the day.

Oatmeal. Oatmeal. Oatmeal. 

Every morning.

This is how I like my oatmeal :D
Though I do like different types of oats as well!

Oatmeal for Breakfast

Ingredients:

• Traditional whole oats
• Water
• Salt
• "Add-ins"
• Cinnamon
• Ground flax seed
• Brown sugar
• Nuts (peanuts, walnuts, pecans)
• Fruit (chopped apples, bananas, strawberries, peaches, etc.)
• Milk

Directions:

1. For one serving: Boil 1 cup water with a light sprinkling of salt (~1/8 teaspoon).
2. Stir in 1/2 cup of oats and reduce heat to medium.
3. Cook for five minutes.
4. Transfer to bowl to be used and mix in all other ingredients.

Notes:

• I prefer to use the stove-top when cooking my oatmeal - too many times in the microwave, the water boils over the sides making a mess.  But once you learn how your certain oats react with different temperatures and times, use whatever method is easier!
• There are many nutritional benefits associated with cinnamon and flax seed.  Cinnamon may have antioxidant benefits and just adds delicious flavor.  Flax seeds are credited with containing omega-3 essential fatty acids, lignans, and fiber.  Just make sure you use ground flax seeds, its hard shell makes it harder for your body to break down and absorb its benefits (I grind the flax seed in my Magic Bullet).
• Nuts and fruit provide more texture to your bowl and milk is necessary for me!
• Tip - to make preparing your oatmeal quicker - I chop up the fruit (especially the apples) in larger quantities and just store it in the fridge until the next mornings.  

See you in the kitchen!

Katie