So I made some pita bread yesterday.
And it turned out amazing.
And it was the easiest thing ever.
And lots of fun to make. Lots.
I mixed up the dough on Monday and let it rise for an hour. Alright, so maybe I forgot about and and I let it rise for an hour and half. But that's the point. I messed it up and it still worked! Then, I covered the mixer bowl with a towel and put it in the fridge. Because I didn't feel like taking the time to make it on Sunday. Nor did I feel like making an effort to cover it with saran wrap instead of a towel.
I may have been in the middle of a good book.
Anyways, during this process the dough becomes buttery smooth.
Anyways, then you divide it into 8 separate little sections of dough. Roll them out flat (I found that thickness didn't really matter. I just made them as big as I wanted the final pita to be.) and heat up a skillet (original recipe recommends a cast iron skillet).
After the skillet is hot, place the pita on the hot pan and watch for bubbles to form. After the bubbles get to the size of your choice flip. I found that on medium high I let it cook for about a minute on the first side, flipped and cooked for another minute or two on the second, and then flipped one last time for another minute.
And you get these beauties!
We had them with shredded chicken, avocados, and whatever other random ingredients we could find the fridge and then I had them again with soup. Sooo easy. And cheap! Here's the link to the original recipe. Enjoy!
Gosh. I finally feel like I'm getting into the swing of fall cooking and the season is almost over! But that's okay because I decided pumpkin can move all the way into winter.
Amen.
This happened to me tonight. I got home from work, ate a quick snack.. or two, then headed upstairs to workout. Then I collapsed on my bed for an hour (!). Skipped the workout and took the post-workout shower. And now I feel like a pile. But not too much like a pile because I'm still not moving my booty upstairs to get in the workout.
It's the day before Thanksgiving. Not only should I be working out regular. I should be working out X 10. Because I just looked at how many calories the average Thanksgiving meal is and considering the fact that I go up for fourths.
Let's just say, based on the article, that I'm eating over 10,000 calories (is that even possible?). Trust me, our post-dinner football game does not burn that many calories.
Can't even wait.
Anyways, this lovely lady came to visit me on Monday!! (Or I should say ladies.. Love you Mom!)
Um.. probably should have tried to actually get ready that morning so I would like this epic picture...
Highlight of my life recently? I think so. They came in the morning and stayed for lunch. I've been dying to pumpkin scones but have never had the excuse. I knew that Cale and I would never eat an entire batch because we're kind of weeny about finishing baked goods. These were super easy and turn out perfectly.. and I'm not even a bake really. Also, other than the pumpkin, I found that it took normal ingredients. Which I love in all recipes because I really just keep the staples, if that, around. The only thing that I didn't have was half and half but I looked online and found that a substitute for half and half can be made by mixing 1 tbsp of melted butter with 1 cup of milk. It worked out perfectly in the recipe. What was even better was that my mom called that morning and said she was bringing down the best ever scones. Then I told her I just made some and it turns out we made the exact same thing. Hilarious. I found the recipe on Iowa Girl Eats. My mom found the exact recipe somewhere else so apparently this is floating around the web in multiple places. The only thing I did differently (other than the half and half substitute) was instead of making two different kinds of icing, I made just the regular kind but added the spices to that one. So there was just one spiced glaze that went on everything. 2 glazes.. I just don't have the patience for that. Starbucks Clone Pumpkin SconesFrom Iowa Girl Eats
Ingredients:2 cups flour 7 Tablespoons sugar 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) 3 Tablespoons half & half 1 egg 6 Tablespoons cold butter, cubed For the plain glaze: 1 cup + 1 Tablespoon powdered sugar 2 Tablespoons half & half **This is where I used the above amounts of powdered sugar and 'half and half' and added the below amounts of spices. And by spices I mean just the cinnamon and nutmeg. It made just the right amount for a light icing so if you love icing you might want to make more.For the spiced drizzle:1 cup + 3 Tablespoons powdered sugar 2 Tablespoons half & half 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg pinch ground ground ginger pinch ground ground cloves Directions:- Preheat oven to 425 degrees then line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In the bowl of a large food processor (or in a large bowl) combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Pulse or whisk to combine. Add cold butter and pulse until well incorporated and mixture is the texture of cornmeal. Alternatively, use your fingertips or a pastry butter to blend butter in.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, half & half, and egg. Add to flour mixture and pulse until just combined. Alternatively, stir until the dough comes together in a ball. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and gently knead 4 or 5 times to bring the dough together, then flatten into a circle 1″ thick. Using a pizza cutter, cut the dough in half, then cut each half into thirds.
- Place the wedges onto the prepared baking sheet and bake for 14-16 minutes, or until just starting to turn golden brown. Remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- When scones are cool, whisk together the plain glaze ingredients, then spoon on top and spread slightly. Let harden for 10 minutes, then whisk together the spiced drizzle ingredients and drizzle on top. Let harden completely, about 1 hour, before serving. Store in an air-tight container for 1 day.
**I made 3 regular sized scones and 9 mini scones. They cooked at the same time and turned out perfectly! Also, I have yet to remember to pick up parchment paper from the grocery store so I lightly sprayed a cookie sheet with cooking spray and then used a paper towel and wiped it across the entire cookie sheet so it was just the finest layer of cooking spray that remained.
This is what happened on Monday. Cale and I both had appointments in the morning. Mine got finished first and Cale's got cancelled. Then Cale found out that he could get all of his work stuff done on the computer at home instead of having to actually go into work.
Then we went grocery shopping.
Then we changed back into our pajamas because they're comfortable.
Then I proceeded to make bread bowls and 3 different pots of soup. For two people. It was a little absurd.
Then we had lots of plans for the night but we were both exhausted and still a little under the weather from the cold/flu business that was going on at our house.
So we cancelled all of our plans and stayed home instead. And it was the best decision ever.
P.S. This was supposed to be finished on Tuesday but my husband has been working on like 40 (okay 4) huge projects for work and has been on the computer from the time we get home from work until long after I go to bed. Boo.
P.P.S. I'm maybe planning on buying a whole turkey for just Cale and I. And not for Thanksgiving. Probably for a random Sunday. And mostly because leftover turkey is the best. Also, Thanksgiving may be my favorite holiday.
So anyways, back to the bread bowls. While they're nothing like the amazing bread bowls you can get at Panera... they're pretty good, probably healthier, and make your whole house smell amazing.
Homemade Whole Wheat Bread BowlsOriginal recipe found here from How Sweet It Is
Ingredients:2 cups lukewarm water 1/8 cup active dry yeast 2 tablespoons honey 2 tablespoons olive oil 3 cups whole wheat flour 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 large egg, slightly beaten Directions:In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook, add warm water, yeast, honey and olive oil, quickly mixing with a spoon. Let sit for 5-10 minutes until yeast gets foamy. In a separate bowl, measure out flour and salt.
Add in flour gradually with the mixer on low speed. Knead with the dough hook (I used the two lowest speeds for this) for 10-12 minutes, occasionally pulling the dough off with your hands and placing it back in the bowl. Remove dough from bowl (it will be sticky) and place it on a floured workspace. Knead it a few times by hand, adding a few sprinkles of flour until it's elastic and no longer super sticky. Oil a bowl with olive oil and place the bread in the bowl, flipping it to coat. Cover and set in a warm place (While I'm making everything I preheat my oven to the lowest temperature. Then as soon as it hits that temperature I turn off the oven. I cover the bowl with a damp towel and set it in the oven to rise.) to rise for 1.5 hours.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
After 1.5 hours, punch down dough and form into a large round, using more flour if needed to decrease the stickiness again. Cut the round into 4 equal pieces and roll them into balls. Place on a baking sheet, cover and let rise for 20-30 more minutes. Take the dough balls and roll them into tighter balls again, then brush each with beaten egg. Gently score the top of each loaf, then bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden. Let cool completely, then using a serrated knife, cut a round out of the middle and fill with soup![adapted from emeril]
I finally felt like a decent wife today.
Except I still haven't gotten my husband a birthday gift.. or card.. and his birthday is TOMORROW!
Yikes. Good thing we're not huge on birthdays,
And good thing I went to the grocery store and made him blueberry muffins. And bought the biggest steak package available for his birthday dinner.
Somehow in my mind, I thought I'd be a better wife if I bought enough steak to feed a family of 6 instead of.. you know.. a family of 2. Whatever. The gesture is what counts.
P.S. Speaking of gestures...I also attempted to make some of his Grandma Doris's famous oatmeal raisin cookies. Messed them up. Fail sauce.
We're going to blame this one on the altitude for sure.
Except even his 94 year old grandpa can make them. And there's only like 5 total ingredients.
Who can't bake.. this girl!
Darn.
These were delicious if you were going for oatmeal raisin crackers.
I'm mostly over the cookie fail and will be trying them again.. once I can get over digging into more Crisco. I think Crisco may be one of the most disgusting cooking ingredients. Plus I think it's secretly related to mayonnaise. Except that my grandma also uses it in some of her recipes and she's a delightful cook. I'm going to make her send me more recipes so everyone can reap the benefits of her cooking. Delicious. Back to the subject of blueberry muffins. Basically they're my husband's favorite. The end. So I made two different kinds. Biscuit-esque blueberry muffins (my favorite and adequetly named " Perfect Blueberry muffins) and a new recipe I found for blueberry donut muffins. The blueberry donut muffins look divine but since I'd been cooking all night long already I couldn't even muster enough energy to try some. My husband said they were great. And he's a tough muffin critic for sure. You should follow the link above and make some of your own. I follow both recipes exactly except I didn't put the glaze on the blueberry donut muffins. Because my husband hates frosting. Actually, that's not entirely true. I put glaze on 4 muffins but didn't follow the recipe so it was more like a butter + sugar + lemon melted goodness on top. I think I'm now failing to make sense. And my eyes are gong blurry. Peace out! I'll be partying with my husband all day tomorrow. Can't wait. P.S. All day= He gets of work around 8 PM. Therefore we'll be partying for 2 hours before we go to bed. Yes!
Blueberries were on sale this week for cheeeap! The only bad thing about blueberries is they go bad quickly. So sometimes, even though we love us some blueberries we'll go the fridge to finish them and they'll be moldy. Dang. It just so happens that my husband's favorite kind of muffin are also blueberry. But not homemade blueberry muffins. The really cheap powered kind that have artificial blueberry flavoring and blue colored sugar lumps for blueberries. When we first married I was determined to make him real homemade blueberry muffins. About 2 weeks post making them he admitted he'd rather have his 'fake' blueberry muffins. (Note: This does not hurt my feelings, I probably laughed really hard. Have a mentioned we have amateur taste-buds.. maybe more like novice taste-buds.) This ended my quest to make the perfect homemade blueberry muffin. Until last night. Then I decided to attempt to conquer the fake blueberry muffin again. After a little research, I stumbled upon this recipe here. They. Were. Delicious. In fact, of the 10 blueberry muffins this recipe made, only 2 actually made it until this morning. They were almost biscuit-like in texture (the real biscuits, like they have in the South... no offense Denver, I'm sure you can also find fabulously flaky biscuits here... you're just not famous for them). Please do not tell my husband they were made with sour cream. If you do, I will once again be defeated by fake blueberry muffins. I also attempted to make mini frittatas. I didn't want to make quiche and we may or may not still have leftover ham from Christmas. And another tub in the freezer. I'm not admitting to this, I'm just saying it's possible. To make these: 1/2 green pepper 1/2 red, orange, or yellow pepper 1/2 onion 1 cup diced ham 1/2 cup shredded cheese (or leftover football party cheese cut into small pieces) 10 eggs Dice the peppers, onions, and ham into small pieces. Cook until peppers and onions are somewhat soft (if you use a milder onion you can probably skip this step). Add a spoonful of mixture to bottom of muffin tin and top with beaten egg mixture. Fill with egg until about 3/4 of the muffin tin is full. Add shredded cheese on top. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes. (Note: All these measurements are approximate and you can use whatever toppings you wish. Also, because these were egg and because I was too lazy to cut out individual pie crusts these kind of stick to whatever you put them in. But they taste delicious!). If you happen to make both muffins together they can cook at the same time. And you'll end up with a beautiful muffin tin that looks like this:
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