In other news, I think I have overcome my biggest kitchen fear.  Frying food.  I seriously had visions of shooting flames, sirens, and houses burning to the ground in matters of minutes.  

In short, our house is still standing, flames were non-existent, and the food was delish!

If you haven't checked out foodgawker.com, you probably should.  It's mainly food for your eyes but all the pictures link up to the actual recipe.

It was here that I found the delishiousness that is called Sesame Chicken.  The original recipe is here.  Apparently they adapted it from someone else.  And then I slightly changed some of the methods and ingredients to things I had at home/ what sounded easiest for my first frying experience. 

Sesame Chicken (adapted from Brown Eyed Baker):
Look here for beautiful pictures and better directions!

Yields 3-4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1-inch chunks
• 1 1/2 cups cornstarch
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3 large egg whites, beaten
• Canola oil for frying
• Sesame seeds, for garnish (didn't use)
• Sliced green onions, for garnish (didn't use)

For the marinade:

• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 tbsp chili paste with garlic (this is what I found in the Asian aisle of my grocery store, using more than the original recipe gave it a nice kick)

DIRECTIONS:

To make the marinade, whisk together chicken stock, soy sauce, honey, rice wine vinegar, brown sugar, cornstarch, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and 1/2 cup water in a large bowl.

In a gallon size Ziploc bag or large bowl, combine chicken and 6 tablespoons of the marinade; marinate for at least 30 minutes, turning the bag occasionally.

Drain the chicken from the marinade, discarding the marinade.

Heat remaining 1 tablespoon sesame oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add ginger and chili and garlic paste and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in 2 cups marinade until slightly thickened, about 3-4 minutes; keep warm.  You will notice this turn from light brown (from the cornstarch) to a rich and thick carmel color.  Yum!

In a large bowl, combine cornstarch, flour, baking soda and remaining marinade until it resembles coarse meal.

Dredge chicken in the egg whites, then dredge in the cornstarch mixture, pressing to coat.  (I ended up whipping the egg whites with my mixer and then just dumping the chicken in the bowl of egg whites and mixing them in it and pulling them out and putting them in the cornstarch mixture as needed.)

Pour about 2 inches of canola oil in the bottom of a large pan or wok.  Heat it on medium high heat until water droplets 'dance' on the oil.  This takes a bit of time.  Drop the chicken in to the oil and let it cook for about 2-3 minutes, flip it over and let cook until a nice deep golden color.  I had to check the first batch or two by cutting into the chicken to see if it was done.  I recommend doing this if you're a novice fryer until you see how long it takes for the chicken to be done.

The original author had you heat the oil in the oven and then fry it but I wasn't sure if I put it back in the oven to fry or what.  And I was nervous.  So I looked up a different fry method.  If you're seasoned fryer, you're probably laughing at me.  Laugh on.. laugh on.. I'll admit that it was probably hilarious to watch me try to do this.

Serve chicken immediately, tossed or drizzled with the marinade and served on rice.  Yum!


Excuse the dark pictures.. by the time dinner is ready, the sun is down!  Summer can't get here fast enough!

I probably could eat pizza every day of my life and rarely get sick of it.  In college I actually tested this theory and had a piece of pizza for lunch and dinner every day for a month.  Until one day they didn't have it out.  Only I'm not even kidding.

When I did an internship in college, I rated all of the pizza places by the number of minutes (or hours) that it was still delicious post oven.  I have never met a pizza, fresh out of the oven, that I didn't like.

Since he's been married to me, my husband has joined me on my pizza obsession willingly looking up pizza places in every town we visit and stopping by the restaurant with the best customer reviews.  

And has put up with every Friday night being pizza night. 

One of my very favorite pizza varieties is pear and gorgonzola pizza with walnuts.  I think I first tried this delightful pizza in Omaha of all places.  

Another one of our favorites?

Smoked salmon, goat cheese, pickled onion, and caper berry pizza.  Thank you Santa Fe!

Anyways, I've never attempted much besides the basic pizza at home.  And the furthest limb I've branched to would be BBQ chicken.  Not exciting.  Still delicious.

So last Friday I decided to go for it.  To make life a little bit easier on my quest for great pizza I used pre-made store bought dough.  Then I looked up a bunch of different recipes until I got a pretty good idea of what I wanted to make.  And then, I only made half of the dough into this pizza in case it was horrible.

It went something like this (sorry about my lack of measurements.  That's why I cook instead of bake.)...

Pear and Gorgonzola Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 pear, thinly sliced (I used the cheapest variety available)
• 1 small onion, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp butter
• Drizzle of olive oil
• Generous drizzle of balsamic vinegar (about 1/4 cup)
• Sprinkle of sugar
• 1/2 cup of crumbled gorgonzola cheese
• 1 cup of shredded cheese (your choice)
• Crushed walnuts (probably 1/4 cup)
• 1/2 a bag of pre-made dough

Directions:

In a saucepan, melt butter and drizzle some olive oil in it.  Add the thinly sliced onions and sprinkle with sugar (enough to cover).  Cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent and slightly brown in color.  Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over and simmer until reduced and slightly syrupy.  Spread this on the crust as the 'sauce'.  Lay the sliced pears down and sprinkle with walnuts and gorgonzola cheese.  Finish with shredded cheese of your choice.  Bake at 425 F until cheese is melted and the crust is beginning to turn brown.  Enjoy!

I think about 6 months ago I posted some pictures of food I wanted to make when it got cold out. 

People, it is cold out.  I feel like I've been transported back to the northern midwest.  Commonly known as Minnesota.  

That's fine though, because it's given me plenty of time to make lots of soup.

Also, I realize that I never actually think when I type.  It's kind of like I'm carrying on this massive dialogue with  myself but my fingers aren't actually thinking about what I'm trying to say.  Which is why flour becomes flower and any use of the word 'there' needs the context around it to try to decide what it actually means.  Correct tense or plural vs. singular is out of the question for anything.

So what I'm really trying to say is that I like talking to myself but since I'm 'blogging' it makes it okay.  Also, when I blog I refer to the 2 people that actually read this as 'people' often.  It's me trying to justify that I'm not actually talking to myself.

Back to soup.  I have 4 different kinds of soup in the freezer because really, when you make soup for 10 but there's only 2 you have a lot leftover.

A recent soup victory was lasagna soup.  I think I pinned it and posted about it 6 months ago and finally got around to making it. (Back in August, I just checked!)

Simply delicious.  Well, really delicious but you get what i mean.

Plus, I think the original person that posted this recipe is also from the upper Midwest.  That means she knows how to cook good, warm food.  It's a necessity there.

I made this exactly as the recipe below indicates but added another 14 oz can of diced tomatoes and used 1 lb of ground beef and 1/2 lb of sausage.  Sausage and soup that's too soupy scare me. The changes that I made are reflected below.


Lasagna Soup
By: A Farm Girl Dabbles

• 1/2 lb. Italian sausage
• 1 lb. ground beef
• 3 c. chopped onions
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp. dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 T. tomato paste
• 1 14-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes
• 4 c. chicken stock
• 8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
• 1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the cheesy yum:

• 8 oz. ricotta
• 1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Preparation

 Add sausage and ground beef, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes.  Drain excess fat. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Add uncooked pasta and cook until al dente. Do not over cook or let soup simmer for a long period of time at this point, as the pasta will get mushy and absorb all the soup broth. You may even want to consider cooking the noodles separately, and then adding some to individual bowls before ladling the soup over them. (This is what I did.. my noodles always get too mushy in soup otherwise) This would be an especially smart move if you are anticipating any leftovers. Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the cheesy yum. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy yum in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

I'm finally getting around to posting the delicious casserole that made me wish I lived a little further south where copious amounts of butter were not only accepted but encouraged.  I originally got the idea from the Food Network recipe posted below and I ended up using that recipe exactly to make the biscuits but ended up making a completely different filling after getting the general idea of what they were going for.  

Whenever a recipe calls for 2 sticks of butter I try to compensate a little bit by adding extra vegetables.

I know... very noble of me.

Here's the link to the recipe of inspiration.

Chicken and Biscuits

For the chicken:
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 red potatoes, cubed
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 carrots, diced
1 onion, diced
2 cups frozen peas
4 cups chicken broth (1 carton)
1 stick of butter
1/2 cup of flour

For the biscuits: (taken directly from here)

• 2 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
• 3/4 cup half-and-half
• 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash

Directions:

Salt and pepper the chicken and bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until it's no longer pink in the center.  After it cools a bit, cut into bite sized  pieces.  Leave the oven on after taking the chicken out.


Meanwhile, melt 2 tbsp of butter in a pot and add the onion, celery, and carrot.  Let cook for 5-10 minutes until the onions are translucent and the carrots have softened.  Add the potatoes and continue to cook over medium high heat until the potatoes are easily poked with a fork.  Add the rest of the stick of butter and stir around until melted.  Add the flour (this will look really goopy but I promise it will work) and stir until everything is coated.  Add the chicken broth (I usually add it in thirds) and let thicken in between each addition of chicken broth.  Finally add the chicken.  


Coat a 9 X 13 in pan with cooking spray and pour the entire chicken mixture in.  Bake the chicken part of the dish for 20 minutes or for however long it takes you to make the biscuits.  :)


In a food processor combine the flour, baking powder, and salt and pulse a couple of times until combined.  Add the butter and pulse until the entire mixture has become pea sized bits of dough.  With the food processor running, add the half-and-half until just combined.


Take the entire mixture out and on a well floured surface, roll the dough out until it's about 1/2 an inch thick.  With a biscuit cutter (or a glass) cut out circles of dough.  Take the casserole out of the oven and top with biscuits.  Lightly brush the biscuits with egg wash and place back in oven.  Bake for 25 minutes or until biscuits are slightly browned.

Take out and enjoy the butter!!

I think I've made about half of her recipes.  And every single one is delicious.  And then I was going to make another one of her recipes again tonight but then this happened.

I started relaxing.  And I forgot to stop.  Therefore, dinner is defrosting in the microwave.  And that my friends, is why I always look for recipes that feed 12.  Leftovers in any form are money in our house.

This also happened today...

This is my husband catching up with modern day technology.  And it just so happened that I also had a free phone upgrade too... even though I just upgraded in July... and was able to turn my iPhone in for a new iPhone.  And got 2  bucks back because the trade in value was more than I'd have to pay for a new phone.

Just to be clear.  I told Sprint that they made a mistake and they told me it wasn't my fault that their computer system had a glitch and I should take advantage of the great offer.  

And so I did.  New phones are fun.

P.S. He thinks that the flashlight app might be the most brilliant feature ever.  I think his nephews would think the same thing.  And they're 5.  Hey, I'm letting the man have his fun.

Anyways, back to the lasagna.  I loved this recipe for a variety of reasons and the main one being that it didn't take me all day to make.  It maybe took half an hour tops in prep.  I also divided the recipe into two 9 by 9 pans and froze one.  It worked out perfectly.

The Pioneer Woman wins again!

The Best Lasagna
From: The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 pound Ground Beef
• 1 pound Hot Breakfast Sausage (I just used all ground beef because I'm not much of a sausage fan)
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 2 cans (14.5 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes
• 2 cans (6 Ounce) Tomato Paste
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Basil
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 3 cups Lowfat Cottage Cheese
• 2 whole Beaten Eggs
• 1/2 cup Grated (not Shredded) Parmesan Cheese (um.. Kraft green container, no-fridge style anyone?)
• 2 Tablespoons Dried Parsley
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 pound Sliced Mozzarella Cheese
• 1 package (10 Ounce) Lasagna Noodles
• (add 1/2 Teaspoon Salt And 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil To Pasta Water)

Preparation Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or saucepan, combine ground beef, sausage, and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat until browned. Drain half the fat; less if you’re feeling naughty. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons parsley, basil and salt. After adding the tomatoes, the sauce mixture should simmer for 45 minutes while you are working on the other steps.

In a medium bowl, mix cottage cheese, beaten eggs, grated Parmesan, 2 more tablespoons parsley, and 1 more teaspoon salt. Stir together well. Set aside. Cook lasagna until “al dente” (not overly cooked).

To assemble:
Arrange 4 cooked lasagna noodles in the bottom of a baking pan, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the cottage cheese mixture over the noodles. Spread evenly. Cover cottage cheese with a layer of mozzarella cheese. Spoon a little less than half the meat/sauce mixture over the top.

Repeat, ending with meat/sauce mixture. Sprinkle top generously with extra Parmesan.

Either freeze, refrigerate for up to two days, or bake immediately: 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until top is hot and bubbly.

People!  My grandma is coming today!  

So excited.  Also, booked our hotel room for New Year's in Nebraska.  It was bothering me that I had a lot of plans but I hadn't done anything to execute them. Therefore, before we even got out of bed today we booked a hotel for Christmas.

P.S.  We use Hotwire for almost all of our hotel reservations.  You don't know where you're staying until you hit 'buy' but we live for excitement such as this.  We ended up getting a 4-star hotel for 50% off so it was definitely worth it for us.  Now for some plane tickets to Myrtle Beach...

Anyways, back to the grilled cheese.  I've been so obsessive about only buying cheap food so we can spend more money on other things but sometimes it's fun to cook with food that isn't 1 dollar or less.

Hello, grilled cheese.  I've had this idea for, oh 4 years.  Ever since we last had brunch BEFORE WE WERE MARRIED at this little restaurant in Omaha.  I had an Brie and apple omelet (do you capitalize Brie in situations such as these?) and it was divine.

So, I splurged and bought some Brie, some tart green apples (for some reason this seemed like the right thing to use?) and we got the tomato basil bread from Panera.

Bread from Panera= worth it!

Then, as I was putting the sandwich together, I threw on some really thinly sliced sharp cheddar.  

I wish I had better pictures but I literally ate this in about 2 minutes flat. 

We had them again (!) for lunch today and will probably have them at least once more before we run out of bread.

P.S. I've had a slice of bread toasted with every meal this week.  It is so delicious!

And now, for your viewing enjoyment, a series of photos that attempts to get 7 children under the age of 5 looking in the same general direction at the same time.

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 Bowls
Original 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]

Phheww. My job called yesterday to tell me to come in late today because I was going to have to work late.  

They were not kidding.  I was there until 8:30.  At my old job this would be completely unsurprising but I'm deeply spoiled at this place and rarely have to stay after 4:30.  I tried to be really productive this morning but all that I got accomplished was a run.  Oh, and I ate breakfast at the table instead of in the car.  Big news.

The temperatures are definitely cooling down here.  Therefore, I can start pulling out the good old crock pot on a regular basis.  It is one of my most favorite kitchen appliances ever.  So easy.

Now I'm done typing because nothing is making sense anymore when I'm typing.  Long hours are a killer when you're really not used to them.



Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

- 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 small cans of green chilis
- 1 can enchilada sauce
- 1 large can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 cups of corn
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 1 diced green bell pepper
- 1 diced yellow onion

Throw everything into the crockpot.  Cook on low for 8 hours (or for however long you're at work).  After 8 hours, take out the chicken breasts and shred with a fork (they should be super tender).  Mix chicken back in and serve.  We always top it with avocado and shredded cheese and eat it with a side of corn chips but top it with whatever you'd usually use on tacos.  We always buy the same general ingredients and we always have avocado and shredded cheese on hand so that works.  *This turns out to more stew-ish, if you like more soup-ish add more chicken broth. Oh and if we have brown rice left over from something we throw that in too.