Good Food Galore!

Hello all and happy December!

I feel as though I should preface this with a #PinterestWinning because 2 of the 4 recipes shared on here came from Pinterest (the two meals) and both were positively delicious! I can't believe that the year has flown by so quickly once again. 15 more days to Christmas morning! As a typical holiday tradition I have done my Christmas cookie making, and this year I decided to try out several new recipes. The first choice was a peppermint pinwheel:

http://www.christmas-cookies.com/recipes/recipe581.peppermint-pinwheels.html

I followed the recipe completely except for trading in peppermint extract for mint, only because I already had the peppermint and I had no desire to go to the store. I baked the first batch according to instructions but didn't like the way they turned out - they were slightly over cooked and the peppermint candies had melted through the fluffiness of the cookie. So for the second round I reduced the time to 8 minutes without candies, then pulled out the pan and added candies and baked them for one additional minute.

This is how they turned out after my slight adjustments:

Then for last week's dinner I found this gem of a recipe for a lighter chicken Alfredo from another blogger:

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/06/guiltless-chicken-alfredo-recipe.html

I mostly followed the recipe, but I did use regular cream cheese only because I already had it on hand, also I didn't have the more traditionally used fettuccine noodles, so I used the rotini from my pantry. I have always loved Alfredo but never made it from scratch, in part because it seemed difficult, but also because I didn't want to know just how fattening it was. Now I am not saying that this recipe is healthy, but the use of fat free milk and low fat cream cheese does make it more healthy than other versions. Also it didn't seem as overly rich as some full fat versions do. I highly recommend this recipe to Alfredo lovers. The only thing I might try different next time is to throw a few finely chopped fresh herbs from my garden in (maybe some basil and oregano) while cooking the garlic. (I am unfortunately missing the picture of this meal because my phone that it was taken on was stolen the next day.)

For my next cookie I played around with a classic cookie recipe for a little fun. I used a basic chocolate chip cookie recipe (found on the nestle chocolate chip bag) and followed it mostly. Here's what I changed:
- first I doubled the recipe
- instead of 2 tsp vanilla extract I used 1 peppermint and 1 vanilla
- instead of just chocolate chips I used 1 cup red and green M&Ms, 1/2 cup white chocolate chips, 3/4 cup chocolate chips, and 4 candy canes crushed up

- for baking I did have to squish the dough into flatter circles rather than balls so they would cook properly, also try to make sure the candy canes aren't on the bottom or edges because they will melt out of the cookie; I baked them for 9 minutes at the regular temperature.
**I took these to a Christmas cookie exchange and they won best tasting cookie!

For my very last recipe share, tonight I made Chicken Gloria from this recipe:

http://www.cookingwithsugar.com/moms-chicken-a-la-gloria-a-family-favorite-chicken-recipe/

I won't detail how to make it here because you can read it from the link, but can I just say that the creamy mushroom, sherry sauce smothering the chicken was to die for! I did use fat free milk instead of whole milk just for lower calories (not that it made it a healthy meal) and I used mozzarella cheese instead of the recommended (because I already had it). I paired this recipe with some simple green beans and brown rice. I want just thinking about it! Highly recommended!

Happy Christmas Season! Until next time friends.

Chicken Fricassee - New Year, New Food

One of my goals for this year is to try at least one new recipe every 2 weeks. That may not seem like much, but considering I eat lunch and dinner at work almost every week day it only leaves the weekends for my fun experimenting. The reason for this is that I have a very large binder full of recipes I have been collecting since roughly 2007, most of which I have yet to try. I'm hoping that I can really start going through them and as I do I will choose what I want to keep/repeat and what can go.

Week 1/2: Chicken Fricassee. For those who aren't familiar with this dish, don't be alarmed, I wasn't either until I clipped it out of a magazine. It's a traditional French dish, halfway between a saute and a stew. One of my favorite things about it? One dish. In a home without a dishwasher these things come into play.

First you brown the chicken in the pot.

Then you remove the chicken and add the mirepoix (a French term which essentially means celery, onion, and carrots).

After allowing the mirepoix to soften you add the mushrooms.

Then you add the white wine, chicken broth, and put the chicken back into the pot along with the tied herbs.

Then you remove the chicken and herbs, allow the sauce to reduce a little, add the liaison (a thickener made of egg yolks and heavy cream). Add lemon juice and tarragon, and serve.

Somewhere around the middle of making this I realized how wrong it would be to make a traditional French dish without having homemade French bread as well, so naturally I whipped up some quick french bread rolls. For everyone's information quick and French bread might as well be an oxymoron since they take approximately 2 hours. 

 

The verdict: Delicious. Tip for anyone who considers making this - I would de-bone my individual piece of chicken next time before putting it in the bowl because it is rather hard to do while it's soaking in the sauce.

So far I am enjoying my new project. 2 new recipes down and they both turned out well. Good food. Plus cooking is such a joy and stress reliever. No matter how tough a day or week I have I can always trust that when I walk into my kitchen it all melts away like butter on a pan.

Sleepover!

My dear friend Katie and I hosted a sleepover for the teenage girls at our church, and it was an absolute blast! We decided that for dinner we would have a "create your own pizza" night. I of course decided to make the crusts from scratch for the first time ever (and I personally think they turned out awesome and easy). These are some phone documentation of the pizza fun:

I might have over estimated the amount of dough needed just a little bit, but it turned out just fine because I brought dinner to a friend who just got home from having a baby the next day. The girls got to choose whatever toppings they wanted and make their own pizza look just the way they wanted.

This was my pizza, and if you can figure out what staple pizza ingredient is missing you either have a very good eye, or you know me very well.

As a side not I recently started going through the Book of Psalms and I cannot begin to describe to you how they are speaking to my soul. So forewarning, expect many to come.

Psalm 13

 "How Long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?

How long will you hide your face form me?

How long must I wrestle with my thoughts

and every day have sorrow in my heart?

How long will my enemy triumph over me?

Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.

Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death;

my enemy will say, "I have overcome him,"

and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

But I trust in your unfailing love;

my heart rejoices in your salvation.

I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me."

This Psalm describes how I feel right now quite perfectly. Who hasn't asked the Lord, "how long?" at some point in their life? I'm currently struggling with a place of uncertainty and direction. I don't know whether to go or stay, or what to do. But blaming God or being sorrowful is the easy way out - rejoicing in Him and trusting His way is better than yours, that is harder. That is how we should all strive to respond to hardship.

If you are God's child then trust Him, for He only has good planned for you.

Heirs to the Kingdom

Lately I've had more free time than is typical for me, so naturally I've filled it with things I love - namely photography and cooking.

In photography: There's this bridge near my mom's house in Austin, called the 360 bridge, to the outsider there is nothing special about it, it's just a bridge. For me though it holds special memories, one thing Austinites know is that it is a marvelous place to catch the sunrise and sunset, and you can see the city skyline from afar. For a while I had this idea of trying to capture the bridge lit up only by car lights and this is my attempt at it.

This is the city skyline, I would zoom it in more, but on the hill where it was taken it was very windy that evening and it's a tad bit blurry.

As for cooking there has been loads of deliciousness going on here. On last Sunday I made potato soup from scratch (unfortunately didn't take any pictures, and I already froze the leftovers) and Italian cheese bread. Friday I made chicken and vegetable soup and French bread.

Apparently I'm in a major soup and bread kind of mood - comfort food? And today I plan to make my famously delicious apple pie!

Heart/Scripture:

God has weighed several scriptures on my heart recently all similar in how they effect me.

"For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.Now if we are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." -Romans 8:15-17

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will." -Ephesians 1:3-5

"Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba. Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." -Galatians 4:6-7

I'm sure you will notice as I have that there is a common theme in these scriptures. That we are adopted into the family of God - to be called sons and daughters, to be heirs in the kingdom of Heaven, that we are to cry out to GOD as "Abba, Father." To some, the profoundness of this may be lost, but it has truly struck at my innermost being that The God who created the universe not only loves me and wants to save me, but He wants me to be His child. I who have sinned against Him, I who have turned my back on Him - He wants me. We as Christians could not ask for something better than this for God has not only given us salvation, but He is giving us His kingdom. Sometimes we jest that we just hope God will let us in, but He's not just going to "let us in" He's giving it to us as heirs. That is most remarkable to me.