Cooking is Therapy

To me, cooking is one of the purest forms of therapy. Instead of focusing on whatever may be going on in life, you can pre-occupy your mind with the food: ingredients...tastes...smells...textures...timing.

 

And you feel a sense of accomplishment once you're done. Not only because you have something satisfying in front of you, but because it is YOURS. Your blood, sweat, and tears made those simple ingredients into a nutritious meal, a comforting snack, or even a mouthwatering dessert.

 

Jesus said there is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving. Even in food, I believe the truth in these words. Sharing with your mate or sharing with someone needy...Sharing with your best friend or sharing with a crowd, a certain sense of joy comes from creating something that you can enjoy together.

 

Whether you're making something you've made 1000 times before or exploring something entirely new, watching it come together and undergo a beautiful metamorphosis is truly something special. "That every man should eat and indeed drink and see good for all his hard work. It is the gift of God." Eccl 3:13

 

I hope that the next time you step into the kitchen, tired after a long day at work, or caring for the kids that maybe you can take a second to realize that what you're doing is really an act of love, and that is something to feel good about...even if it is just chili dogs and frozen broccoli! And maybe, just maybe you too will take a moment (be it ever so brief) to just enjoy the process.

Pumpkin French Toast Bake

I have seen several recipes for Pumpkin French Toast or Pumpkin Bread Pudding floating around the Internet lately, and I just loved the idea. I love breakfast, and if it's something I can just pop in the oven in the morning, that's even better!

The first time I made this, I followed the recipe pretty close, and the second time I tried a few different techniques. Somewhere in the middle I found something heavenly.

First I'll explain how I will probably make this when I make it again (which is pretty inevitable), and then I'll follow up with some tips on how you can personalize it.

PUMPKIN FRENCH TOAST
*1 loaf of good bread (I used sourdough from a local bakery)
*8oz of pumpkin puree (not pie filling)
*2c. Milk
*6 Eggs, beaten
*1 Tbsp Vanilla
*1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
* 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

First cube your bread into about 1 in. cubes and place in greased 11x7 casserole dish. In a separate bowl mix remaining ingredients. This makes what I am calling a custard. Pour your custard evenly over bread cubes. Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or overnight. (I did it overnight.) At this point, or in the morning, you can put together your streusel topping. 

Make a custard with eggs, milk, pumpkin, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, and cinnamon.

Pour that beautiful amber colored custard over top of your bread.

Cover as much of the bread as possible.

Streusel Topping
*1/2c. Brown Sugar
*1/2c. Flour
*1 tsp Cinnamon
*1/2 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
*1/2c. Cold Butter, cut in pieces
*Chopped pecans

Mix together 1st 4 ingredients. Cut in butter using a fork or even your hands until it is coarsely combined. Then add in the pecans. If you make it the night before, combine the dry ingredients and cut in the cold butter in the morning.  

I was a little lazy, and didn't combine the streusel well enough, but it still turned out awesome.

See, look how delicious this thing looks!

When you wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed, top your French Toast with the streusel topping and pop it in the oven @ 350° while you get yourself beautiful for the day. Serve with some syrup and you are good to go.

Additional tips:

*The first time I made the recipe I just used plain store bought bread. It tasted great this way too!

*Feel free to go heavy on the pumpkin if you want. I had a 16oz can, so using half allowed me to make the recipe twice.

*To give the dish more of a 'bread pudding' texture, gently toss the bread cubes in the custard and evenly coat before adding to your baking dish.

*Feel free to use whatever nuts you have on hand in place of the pecans...or no nuts at all if you so desire. You could even skip the streusel topping if you were in a real hurry, but I just love the texture and flavor it adds to the dish.

This tastes delicious as leftovers too, or for dinner, or for dessert, or a mid-afternoon snack...However you want it, this baby will fit the bill...

Crock Pot Potato Soup

Well, I'm sick again... I guess that's what happens when you work at a doctor's office! You know how it is when you're not feeling well... especially when you have things you have to do during the day. I was going to be out all day, so I planned ahead and used my lovely crock pot. I wanted something creamy and warm so I decided on a cheesy potato soup. Check out this quick and easy deliciousness.

First, I cut up the potatoes and threw them in.

Cube the potatoes

Add bouillon cubes, garlic, salt, pepper, and water.

Add chopped onion and 1/4 half and half.

OOPS! Almost forgot the bacon!



Pop on the lid, and cook on low for 6 hours or so.

6 hours later, doesn't look amazing yet, but don't worry!

Give the immersion blender a whir.

Add cream cheese and cheddar.

And some hot sauce for good measure.

Crock Pot Potato Soup
* 7 potatoes, cubed
* 1 onion, chopped
* 3 cubes chicken bouillon and 3c water
(You can use 3c chicken broth instead if ya have it.)
* 1/4c half and half
* 3oz cream cheese
* 1/2c cheddar cheese (plus more for topping)
* Franks hot sausce to taste
* Scallions for topping

*Cube potatoes and onion and put in slow cooker. Add chicken broth or bouillon and water. Add half and half, then cook on low for 6-8 hours depending on your crock pot. When you come back to it, blend it a little (either use an immersion blender or scoop some out and use a food processor or blender). I like to leave some chunks of potatoes so you have something to bite in to. Then add cream cheese and cheddar and stir to combine. It should just take a few minutes for it to melt. Once it is thoroughly mixed in, add just a little hot sauce. Then top it off with more delicious cheddar and scallions and enjoy the creamy goodness.

Breakfast Sandwiches

Ah, Northeastern Ohio...how you toy with us...chilly, warm, cold, warm, hot, then arctic freezing weather- and all in one month! You just can't make up your mind! Now last winter was very mild, hardly a snowstorm, but this year it seems like we will have a more typical winter. But what does all this have to do with breakfast sandwiches??

My husband and I very rarely get a day off from everything. Whether it be work or volunteering, we usually have somewhere we have to get up and go in the morning. Needless to say we don't often sit down and eat breakfast together. So when we did get a snow day yesterday, we took advantage of it! Nate went to the movie store and I started on breakfast. Several ideas crossed my mind. First I thought about this tasty 'Puffy Oven Pancake' I made a few years ago. It's extremely easy and very good, but Nate isn't a huge sweet eater (weirdo!), so then I was thinking of sausage gravy and biscuits but we had eaten that recently, so I decided on breakfast sandwiches.

As I perused Pinterest for easy biscuit recipes I happened on a recipe from Taste of Home for 'Angel Biscuits' that sounded worth trying, so I did (with a few changes).

Angel Biscuits inspired by Taste of Home
* 1 1/4oz package dry active yeast
* 1/4c warm water
* 1c warm buttermilk
* 2 1/2c all purpose flour
* 1tsp salt
* 1tsp baking powder
* 1/2tsp baking soda
* 1/2c room temperature butter (or shortening)

Combine the yeast and warm water. Leave it alone for 5 minutes and combine dry ingredients. Add buttermilk to yeast mixture and leave it alone again (yes I know that's hard!) Cut in the butter or shortening with a pastry blender (or just use a fork like I did). Combine until coarse: so there are no big hunks of butter. Next add your liquid ingredients and just combine.

Preheat oven to 450°. Roll dough out onto a floured surface and gently knead just a few times. Roll to a medium thickness, like the length of your thumbnail. Use a biscuit cutter, a cup, or just free form your biscuits and then place on a lightly greased cookie sheet or one covered with parchment paper. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.

Now the rest of the fun begins... I had a few pre-made breakfast goodies that I used to pull these sammies together, I cooked up several eggs over-medium (the sandwiches could be messy since we were eating at home) and of course CHEESE! Nate got a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit, and I made myself a sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit. The biscuits were so good; very light and flaky. They also go great with a little bit (or a lotta bit) of strawberry freezer jam on them.

What about you? What would you make for a stay at home breakfast or brunch?? Comment below!

Pop Tarts - my way



Yum! :)



I know, they're bad for me, and perhaps they don't actually taste that great, but I do admit to giving in to a hankering for a pop tart occasionally.

The original is a good go-to, a strawberry filling encased in flaky goodness with icing on top. And I looove the Hot Fudge Sundae pop tart. It's pretty addictive.  But guess what?! It's is super easy to make homemade pop tarts! They are ridiculously easy and I think they would even be a fun little dessert for parties because they're little hand-held novelties.

All you need is some jam (or whatever delectable filling you're in the mood for...nutella anyone?) And pie crust. (I use store bought.) 

Just jam and pie crust!

You can cut your crust into nice even pieces, or you can be lazy like me and just cut them into whatever shapes your crust normally forms.  I cut mine big enough to fold over instead of doing separate pieces for top and bottom.
Add a dollop of jam in the middle and fold over. Crimp edges and bake at 425· (or whatever temp your crust is suggested to cook at) for 7 or 8 minutes.
Now, if u wanna get really fancy, you can make a glaze or drizzle with melted chocolate. That's it! So easy and tasty! Hope you try these fun little treats!

Add a dollop of jam (no, not daisy!)




Fold your crust in half over top of the filling.



Crimp the edges with a fork to make 'em pretty.

You could make them all uniform in size...

But I wanted to use all my crust up, so I have some odd-shaped ones.



Nice and crispy out of the oven

Yum! :)

Homemade Chicken and Noodles

So Black Friday has come and gone and now we have a computer again! Woop, woop!
Yes, we went without a computer for like 2 1/2 months. I don't know how I ever survived! haha :) Now I have been able to start some blogs on my cell phone, but I can't really figure
out how to get my pictures where I want them, so I am going to try to get back on track with blogging. I forgot how much I enjoy it! I hope you're excited because here is a great post... Homemade noodles! Y-U-M, yum!

My mom makes the best homemade chicken noodles; totally crave worthy. One of my secret talents (learned from her of course) is that I can make homemade noodles too. Pretty cool, huh?

However...it's not very often that they do come out of my kitchen because they're messy! Not really difficult, just messy. Sometimes I use my mom's top secret noodle recipe, sometimes I will use the recipe out of my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (everyone should have one, it has all the basics that you might need). And as a last resort, if I don't make my own noodles, I will use 'kluski' noodles from the grocery store.

 

So here is how I do it!

*First, the broth...
                 4 Chicken Breasts (or whatever cut you want to use)
                 Water (enough to cover + 2 inches)
                 1 Tbsp Salt
                 1 Tbsp Minced Garlic
                 1 Tbsp Mrs. Dash
                 1/2 Tbsp Pepper
                
I put about 4 chicken breasts in a stock pot. Cover with water plus an extra 2 inches or so. Add salt, garlic, pepper, and generic Mrs Dash. Heat on medium-high heat until boiling. Reduce to medium and cook for at least a half hour until chicken is cooked. Skim the water to get the gross stuff off the top. Remove chicken to a plate and shred apart with 2 forks, then return to the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low and work on your noodles.



Water, Chicken Breasts, Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Mrs. Dash

Skim the water. Yes, I know, EW...



* Now the noodles:
                  2 1/2c. all purpose flour
                  1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning (or better yet, 1/4 c. fresh herbs if you have them)
                  2 beaten eggs
                  1/3 c. water
                  1 tsp. cooking oil

Mix dry ingredients (use fresh herbs if you have them!). Add liquid ingredients and combine. Cover your table with a little flour and place your dough on it. Knead for 5-10 minutes until fairly smooth and less sticky. (You may need to add a little more flour.) Cover and let rest 10 minutes. Roll out with a rolling pin to 1/16th of an inch thick. Now my mom always rolled these like a jelly roll and sliced this way. I have trouble with mine sticking if I do that, so I just roll flat and use a pizza cutter make my noodles. Then, just let them hang out a bit. Some people let their noodles completely dry, I don't have that much patience. And it's never seemed to affect my noodles negatively.


Get ready to knead
 

Roll it out thin (1/16th of an inch)

See, thin

Don't cut directly on the table unless you're trying to add character!

*Now to put it all together. Increase your heat again and get your broth to boil. Add noodles a handful at a time so they don't become one giant lump. Once they are all incorporated, return to simmer.

 

If after a few minutes your broth is not thickening up, don't panic! There are a couple of things we can do... In fact that I had to do this time (I used too much water when boiling the chicken breasts). In a small bowl (or cup or whatever) Mix a little corn starch with some water and whisk in with the soup. If that doesn't do the trick, there is a sneaky little last ditch effort you can do. I call in a favor from my friend Campbell.... yes, that's right, toss in a can, or part of a can, of cream of chicken soup. You've done everything else yourself, so don't let it get ya down if you need to do this. No one has to know! ;). I enjoy these best on top of a nice scoop of mashed potatoes to add to the carb-y deliciousness, but it can be served as is.

Now that the weather is cold and days are short, it's a perfect opportunity to learn how to make homemade noodles. You can use them so many ways, but this is my favorite. Let me know if you have any questions or if I need to add more detail. Hope you enjoy!

 

That's right, look at that creamy goodness!

Quick Tip #1(breadcrumbs)

I didn't really have time to do a whole recipe today because I spent all day making food, i did make a ton of stuff! Avocado chicken salad for lunches, breakfast burritos, salmon, asparagus, parmesan roasted potatoes, peach cake/crumble, AND no bakes. But I did want to post a little something.

I saw a tip recently about using up what I like to call the "butt" of your loaf of bread. I personally don't mind them, but usually it's Nathan who is eating the sandwiches...and he doesn't really care for them. Now he'll eat 'em if I send 'em (he's sweet like that), but I usually try not to :)

Any-who... I was already baking, so I followed the tip I saw and threw those bad boys in the oven. I didn't even put them on a cookie sheet! About 5 minutes later (maybe 10, I didn't really time it), I pulled them out and let them cool.

Then I threw them in the food processor with some garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and a shake of S&P. Once it was done, I put them in a (mostly) empty parmesan cheese can. I had a few half empty boxes of breadcrumbs already in the pantry so I mixed them in and shook it up too. SO, to review:
-bake the bread slices
-grind up in food processor or blender with garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
-put in your desired container.

That's all folks! Hope you like it. Comment if you would like more quick tips!