Homemade Bagels

Last night I found a recipe for Easy homemade Bagels. I was intrigued and excited to try it out. After reading other recipes and watching a few videos I felt like the Easy Bagel recipe was missing a few things. It's a Recipezaar recipe with no ratings and at least one missed ingredient. It says to add salt but there is no measurement for the salt. So...I took part of the Easy Bagel recipe, part of about 3 videos, one how-to article from Allrecipes.com and a few other recipes and made my own. After tasting them I would say I added too much salt and I would change my method for adding toppings to the bagels in the future.  But it was fun, not very difficult at all, and cost me ...maybe a buck? Not more than $2.

Here's what I did.

Dissolve a tbsp of brown sugar into 1.5 cups of lukewarm water. Sprinkle 1 tbsp of yeast on top of the water. Let it sit that way about 5mins. Hint: If you freeze your yeast you should let it sit out about 10mins to get to room temperature before using it.

Then whisk. Add 1 tbsp vegetable oil and 1/2 tbsp salt. 

Mix 4cups flour into yeast mixture one cup at a time. Dump onto counter to incorporate up to one more cup of flour until dough is ready. (A total of 4-5cups flour). Hint: As you kneed push more flour to the sides of the dough and keep folding and pushing until you get the desired consistency.

 It shouldn't be very sticky and when pulled it shouldn't easily tear. Here's what it will look like, notice most of the last cup of flour has incorporated into the dough:

Cover with a towel and let dough rise about 40mins. 

Towards the end of your rest time prepare to continue: Preheat oven to 450F. Bring a large pot (I used a stock pot) of water to a boil on the stove. Set out bowls of whatever toppings you would like to use. I used Kosher salt on half and cinnamon sugar on half. Prepare a baking sheet by sprinkling it with corn meal.

Punch air out of dough. Punch down and kneed about 8-10times. 

Divide dough into 12 pieces about the same size. Hint: Best way to do this is to divide the dough in half twice creating 4 equal pieces and then divide each of those into thirds. Also, it's easiest to cut dough with a serrated knife or kitchen shears.

Roll each piece into a ball. 

Stick your finger and thumb through the center of the ball to create a hole. Form the bagel shape from here. *Sorry, I don't have a photo of this b/c I couldn't do it while using the camera at the same time. Some people would rather roll out there dough and then form rings. Do whichever is easiest for you.* They should look like this when you're done:

Drop 4 bagels into the pot of water. Boil for 2 mins.

Flip by pushing on edge of bagel with a plastic spoon and boil for 2mins on the other side. This is what they look like just before you pull them out:

Remove with a slotted spoon to a towel to absorb some of the excess water off the bottoms.*Some people use paper towels but I hate buying them. They are used up quickly when a dish towel would have worked just fine. To me they are often an unnecessary expense but of course use whichever you prefer.

*From here I moved these to a baking sheet and sprinkled the toppings on the bagels but next time I will do it differently*. Dip each bagel into the topping of your choice. Be careful, they are very hot. You can use tongs or a fork to do this. Then transfer to baking sheet, topping side up. 

Repeat steps 9-11 with remaining 8 bagels (two more batches). 

Bake at 450F for about 15-20mins until brown and hollow sounding when tapped. 

*You can see that my excess sugar burned on the cookie sheet. I knew that would happen as soon as I followed the advice to sprinkle toppings on top. Next time dipping the bagels will prevent much of that.* The dark brown on some of my bagels is just cinnamon, they aren't burnt.

Let cool for a few mins but feel free to eat these warm! Here's one I cut into. Very good!

Veggie Pancakes

This is a recipe my friend Katy just gave me. I've tweaked it (of course). She found the recipe in a baby food book but it is really a great recipe to use for children of all ages (or even adults). The original recipe calls for only carrots and onions. I added zucchini and in the future I will add other veggies (such as broccoli and mushrooms) and I will use Parmesan cheese instead of cheddar or mozzarella (which I used this time around). When I use Parmesan I would use less as it has a stronger flavor. Any leftover fresh veggies would be great for this recipe.

This is a great kid-friendly food. I am sure my daughter will love these eventually and in a few years it will be a great recipe to have her "help" make.

• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg, yolk and white separated
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 3 medium carrots, shredded
• 1 small zucchini 
• 3 ounces shredded cheese

I started with shredding 3 carrots and 1 small zucchini. I also went ahead and shredded half a red onion. I figured it would work fine for this purpose and it did!

Sauté the onion and carrot in the butter, remove from heat. I didn't sauté the zucchini b/c it's already so soft I didn't think it needed to be softened. 

I put the zucchini, yolk, cheese, and about 1/2 a cup of bread crumbs into a bowl. I added my sautéed veggies. 

Then I shaped the mix into pancakes a bit smaller than the palm of my hand. I dipped them in the egg yolk and then the bread crumbs and then fried them in a pan sprayed with non-stick spray. I'm sorry I don't have photos of this process but my hands were pretty messy!

I fit about 4 pancakes in my 7'' pan and while I was waiting for some to finish up I taste tested. Pretty good! Easy to handle and fun finger food for children.

My finished product.

My husband loved these. They kept well in the fridge although I might reheat them in the oven, toaster oven, or frying pan. 

This recipe will certainly be used in the future. My husband loved them. My daughter refused them and insisted we remove the pancake from her plate before she would eat anything else. She's a great eater but only 16 months old and these do look very new to her. 

Go-to Chili

We've had a lot of boring sandwich type of dinners for dinner lately. We've been pretty busy. Last night I had a Boca Burger.

Tonight Andy made dinner from a recipe/workout/nutrition planning type of book he has. It's our go-to chili recipe and makes a very fresh recipe cooked quickly over the stove.

• 1/2 lb ground beef, browned and rinsed
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 tsp jalapeño, de-seeded, finely diced
• 1 can black beans, drained and well rinsed
• 1 can red beans, drained and well rinsed
• 1 can diced tomatoes, not drained
• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp cumin  

1. Cook the jalapeno, green pepper, and onion in a pan sprayed with nonstick spray until soft.
2. Add remaining ingredients, stir, and cook until heated through. About 20mins. 

A serving is 1 cup and 255 calories. 

Sautéed Veggie and Chicken Sandwiches

I've recently learned that I have some health issues and loosing a few pounds would really help. Of course I already knew I needed to loose some weight but this has helped get things rolling. So hopefully you'll see better meal choices.

Tonight I made Sautéed Veggie and Chicken sandwiches. I used to make this all the time. It's a nice thing to make ahead and pack for lunches. I used to make it when I nannied and then just toasted some bread and warmed the veggies in the microwave.

You can use any of your favorite veggies but here's what I did tonight.

I heated some oil in a stir fry pan. And then I tossed in some:

• red onion (thinly cut into rings)
• garlic  
• broccoli 
• zucchini
• green pepper (I wish I had red instead)
• mushrooms (I actually didn't have this but I usually use mushrooms b/c I love them).
• diced cooked chicken (Optional. I used about 3ounces leftover lemony chicken you could use more chicken for a hungrier crowd). 

Add 2-4 tbls of balsamic vinegar and 2tsp dried rosemary (I crush mine in a mortar).

Sauté until tender (or whatever tenderness-mush level you most enjoy). 

Toss on some Parmesan cheese.

Remove from heat. 

Throw your favorite bread in the toaster (if you want) and top with the veggies. 

The amount of veggies you need is all up to how many people you're feeding. 

Variations: Use black beans instead of or in addition to the chicken. Use Southwest style seasonings.

You could also sauté in sesame oil and use some soy sauce or any of your favorite Asian sauces. 

Use just olive oil and then add some pasta sauce in the last few mins for an Italian feel. 

Super easy and versatile. My husband had a second sandwich. I should have made more but since we're home for lunch it isn't hard for me to cook :)

My husband said it was "stellar". He didn't say that about the tuna last night. That was good. This was "stellar". *Gush*

Lime & Honey Salmon w/Warm Black Bean and Corn Spinach Salad

This is a Rachel Ray recipe from her book, "365: No Repeats". I would love the book and I know pause to check prices on Amazon... Looks like I can get it for $2 at textbooks.com (used of course). Shipping is $4 or free after $25 which makes me tempted to find other books...We will see.

Ok, on to the recipe! This one is all cooked on top of your stove and is very quick to put together. I actually took photos for the first time but bear with me as I had to use my cell phone b/c I cannot find the charger to my digital camera. I'll have to toodledo that...

To get started this is what you'll need:
olive oil
1 med red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/2-1tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper
juice of 2 limes or 4tbsp bottled
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp chili powder
4 6ounce salmon fillets
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 10ounce box frozen corn kernels, defrosted (I used bagged and just eyeballed it)
1/2cup chicken broth or stock (I used frozen broth with 1/2 cup water)
1 15ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
6 cups baby spinach rinsed (I used regular spinach and cut off stems)

You will need two skillets/pans. 1 big enough for your fillets to lay in a single layer and one big enough for your salad (which is 6cups of spinach the corn and beans remember). Next time I'll use a bigger pan for the salad but I just tossed it in a bowl at the end.

At this point my daughter woke up and cried in such a way that I knew I better not start cooking until my husband got home. She's been sick so luckily this isn't typical. Her's the little one:

In the meantime I made my marinade for the salmon and let it sit out for a few mins. Ray doesn't say to marinade the salmon but I didn't think it would hurt. 

For the Lime & Honey sauce combine: juice of 1 lime (or 2tbsp from a bottle), honey, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir and coat the salmon in the sauce. I set it on a plate while I waited for Daddy to get home to help me out.

In the salad pan sauté onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, and pepper in a couple tbsp oil. Cook about 3mins.It will look like this:

 While the onions are cooking preheat your salmon skillet. Add a few tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot cook your salmon 3-4 mins per side. You will notice I only made two fillets. I only made half as much sauce but I wanted to leave the recipe above for 4fillets. That's b/c I was only cooking for Andrew and I. Since I needed to use the spinach and halving canned goods results in leftovers anyway I made the full salad.

After the onions are cooked (about 3mins) add the corn and bell peppers and cook for 1min. Then add the chicken stock and cool for 2mins. Add the black beans and cook for 1 additional minute.

While your working on the salad don't forget about your fillets. Once the edges begin to look opaque it's time to flip the fillets. Be careful not to break the fillet which might happen if your sauce is becoming a sticky glaze (which it is). In the next photo the fillets are ready to flip.

Once they flipped they look like this:

They look a bit burnt but really they aren't ruined; it's just the glaze.

By now your salad is about done. Remove the pan from the fire and add in the spinach and cilantro. Toss to coat and allow the greens to wilt slightly. I had to toss mine in a large bowl so don't feel bad if that's the case for yourself!

Serve the salmon on top of the warm salad and enjoy! 

My husband LOVED this. He said something very close to, "I really like this because it isn't a "regular" everyday meal. It's like something I would order in a restaurant if I was being adventurous but you made it!" I said, "Thanks love" but I was gushing with pride on the inside. Really not hard at all! Thanks Rachel Ray!

I loved it too. We both marveled at how perfectly the salmon was cooked. Not at ALL overcooked which is very easy to do! I impressed myself but I think the easy recipe should get the credit!

Because I'm a parent who can't get enough of my family, here's one of Madelyn with her Daddy:

Hopefully I can find the power cord to my camera before my next meal because some of these photos are horrible and I apologize! 

Porcupine Balls (beef and rice meatballs) Slow Cooker style

Porcupine Balls are meatballs made mostly of beef and rice cooked in a tomato sauce. This particular recipe uses hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce which really adds a lot of great flavor!

I used a combinations of recipes for this one but relied heavily on a recipe posted on one of my favorite recipe blogs, Suburban Bliss. I'll include the link at the bottom.

Suburban Bliss made her's stove top and with two cuts of beef. It's 95F outside and I'm trying to keep my apartment cool so I tried it out in the slow cooker. It worked very well!

Following is the recipe as I tweaked it:



Meatballs:
- 1.5 lbs ground beef (use a leaner beef for less oily meatballs)
- 3/4cups uncooked rice
- 1/3cup tomato sauce (open a 14oz can and reserve the rest for later)
- a small onion finely diced (I wish I had spent the time to dice mine finer)
- 1 tablespoon dry parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

You'll also need:
- 1 can of condensed tomato soup
- ketchup
- 1-2 TBSP hot sauce
- 2 TBSP Worcestershire sauce



Mix these together and make meatballs aprox 2inches in diameter and drop them in the bottom of the slow cooker. I have a pretty big oblong one and this made about 1.5 layers. I put a bit of tomato soup on the first layer to prevent the balls from sticking to one another.

After the meatballs are in the pot top with about 1.5tsp tomato sauce and then a dab of ketchup.

In a bowl mix: remaining tomato sauce, remaining tomato soup, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce. Pour over meatballs. Add 1/2 cup water.

Cook on low 6-8 hrs or on high 4-5 hrs until meatballs are cooked through and rice is tender.

I served with green beans warmed on the stove with a bit of olive oil and some Parmesan herb seasoning. A simple salad would be nice too.

http://www.suburbanbliss.net/suburbanbliss/2009/12/did-they-eat-it-porcupine-meatballs.html

Tortellini Spinach and Sausage Soup

This is a recipe I found in the break room of Chapel Hill Academy when I was student teaching 7th and 8th graders back in 2005. It was winter, it was really cold, and I didn't have an oven in the basement apartment I rented. This was perfect. With salad and bread sticks I swear this soup is better than anything at Olive Garden!

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground sausage, browned. I've also used sausage patties or links browned and cut. Make sure to rinse the sausage or the soup will be oily. 
• 1 large can diced tomatoes
• garlic
• basil
• salt/pepper
• 3cans chicken broth or equivalent in water with bullion or homemade chicken stock, etc.
• 1 package frozen cheese tortellini (or dry)
• 1/2 "box" frozen spinach or about 3cups fresh

1. Combine sausage, tomatoes, seasonings, and broth in a large pot. Bring to a light boil. 
2. Add tortellini and cook to directions.
3. In last 2mins of cook time add spinach. 
4. Heat until spinach is hot and serve.

Low-fat/Low-Cal Iced Mocha

I've been playing games in my kitchen in attempts to find a treat to satisfy my sweet tooth. This cold coffee seems to do the trick!

In the bottom of a tall glass I mix 1 tablespoon of powdered cocoa with a splash of hot coffee and stir until smooth. Then I fill the glass with ice cubes. I pour coffee over the cubes leaving some room for milk. I add 1 packet of artificial sweetner. Top with a splash of skim or low-fat vanilla soy milk. Stir.

Sometimes I add more ice. I make a pot of coffee and let it cool and put it in the fridge sometimes..then I don't need ice. Sometimes I omit the cocoa altogether.

My husband helped me come up with this!

Caleb's Pasta Sauce

My favorite sauce: equal parts crushed and pureed tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, EVO, basil, oregano, and cayenne pepper (sparingly to taste). Avoid Hunts brand tomatoes and pre-seasoned tomatoes. Can add browned ground beef, sausage, sausage links, or meatballs.


I use a large can of each of the tomatoes and a tbls of each of the seasonings (to start) EXCEPT the cayenne pepper. Start with 1/4tsp. Then let this simmer on your stove as long as a few hrs. Taste often and add more seasonings to taste. 


This is my brother-in-law's recipe and he swears that Hunts brand tomatoes are more bitter than other brands. I would tend to agree with him on that. 

Sue's No Boil Lasagna w/my Favorite Sauce

No Boil Lasagna

You Need: 2 large eggs, 15-16ounce container Ricotta, 1/2cup shredded Parmesan cheese. 4cups your favorite pasta sauce, 4cups shredded mozzarella, 1 box lasagna noodles. A 9x13 in baking dish sprayed with non-stick oil.

Combine the eggs, Ricotta, and Parmesan in a small bowl.

Then layer things in the following order:

Sauce, noodles, ricotta mix, moz cheese, sauce. Repeat until done. Make sure you end with sauce then top with more moz cheese.

It's important that the noodles are always on top of the sauce.

Cover with foil! Bake at 350F for an hour. Remove foil for last 10-20mins if you like your cheese toasted. I know mine is done when a knife sinks into it and I think "Yum".

Serve with salad and bread.

Variations: cottage cheese can be used instead of Ricotta and is usually cheaper. Italian mix cheese can be used instead of Parmesan (also cheaper). Feel free to add meat to your sauce. I don't only because it makes it more costly and it's still good w/o it.

BTW: I've made this entirely from items purchased at Aldi. It freezes well. It's great to give to a family who needs a meal such as if someone in your church has surgery or has a new baby. It's inexpensive. Each lasagna makes 8-10 generous servings.

My favorite sauce: equal parts crushed and pureed tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, EVO, basil, oregano, and cayenne pepper (sparingly to taste). Avoid Hunts brand tomatoes and pre-seasoned tomatoes. Can add browned ground beef, sausage, sausage links, or meatballs.

Spicy Chinese Tacos

From Pillsbury Everyday Family Suppers 2007

-box 12 hard taco shells
-3boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bit size strips (I dice)
-i tsp gingerroot. you can freeze this!
-1 small glove garlic (I use the jarred stuff sometimes)
-2tbls soy sauce
-1 tbls honey
-1 large green onion
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded iceburg lettuce


*I like to double sauce ingredients. You can use water instead of doubling the soy sauce if you want to watch the salt. Also be careful with the red pepper flakes. Omit or make some with and some without for children who may not care for spicy.

1. Cook gingeroot, garlic, and chicken 3-5mins over med-high heat until lightly browned.
2. Stir in soy sauce, honey, onion, and red pepper to coat. reduce heat to low, cover and cook 5mins. stir occasionally. I like to let mine boiling lightly until the sauce thickens.  Cook until chicken is cooked through.

3. put about 1/4cup chicken in taco shell and top with lettuce. 




I'm usually a soft shell taco kinda girl but these are really best in hard shells and if you like lettuce ...well to me it's a must!

I served this with some green beans sautéed with mushrooms. I'm not sure if it was the green beans or maybe the sesame seeds I topped it (they are a bit old) with but they came out tasting like cardboard. It was a sad green bean day.

Sweet and Sour Chicken drumsticks w/dipping sauce

I found this recipe from mykitchensnippets.com. Pretty amazing!

I don't normally love dark meat but when it's less than a buck a lb it's hard to argue with. I often use it to make soups...boil the chicken down for to stock, remove the skin/bones, cube the meat and add whatever else to make a soup but when I saw this recipe I had to try it. Besides, soup season is pretty much over in Minnesota.

Marinate 2lbs (about 8) drumsticks with skin removed for at least two hours in:
1tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp lemon salt (I used kosher salt and some lemon juice, I have no clue if that's really a substitute but it tasted good)
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbls balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste (I skipped)

Bake at 400F for an hour on a cookie sheet lined with foil. I thought that seemed like a REALLY long time but they came out crispy on the outside and really juicy on the inside. Pretty amazing.

Dipping sauce:
1 tsp orange zest (I skipped)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 tsp coriander
salt and pepper to taste (skipped it again...soy sauce has enough salt)

When chicken is done bring ingredients of dipping sauce to a boil and then add a mixture of 1tbsp cornstarch and 2 tbsp water to thicken. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

The author suggested serving with roasted potatoes (which I would have just thrown in the oven with the chicken) and salad. I served it with rice. It was pretty amazing. We only have 5 drumsticks. Now I have a great recipe to use when drumsticks are on sale!

Note: Most people know this but for new cooks out there whenever using cornstarch to thicken a sauce always mix it with a bit of cold water before adding it a recipe. FYI just in case.

My Favorite Chicken Curry

This spicy chicken curry also uses bananas, apples, coconut, and nuts. It can get pretty spicy so for less bite cut down on the cayenne pepper. My one year old LOVES this stuff! She wants more and more. She ate it when our friends made it for us and we were amazed. At home we made it and she wasn't interested but the second time she begged for it. We hadn't bothered to give her any but she was so insistent that we gave her a taste and since then she gets very excited whenever we make it. I think it's one of her favorite foods. Her little eyes water from the spiciness of it but she still wants it! I would say that those results aren't typical, lol. The recipe was passed along from our friends, the Nash's and is as follows:

This recipe is written in steps. So sometimes you will need to add ingredients twice. I hope it doesn't confuse you!

I used a large pot for this to give me plenty of room to mix things up. Most of the time it's over medium heat. The idea on this is to bring it up to a good simmer but don't let it really boil (although I had to for part of it and I'll talk about that later).

K, to get started throw in the pot:

2sticks (I used one!) of butter
3 cups onion, diced (two medium)
3 tbls curry powder
1 tsp red pepper (cayenne)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp black pepper (we only have a grater...that took forever)
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp corriander

Cook over high heat 5 mins (to soften onions) THEN let simmer.

Then ADD: 1 cup diced apples, 1 cup sliced bananas, 1/2 cup dry roasted pecan halves (I used chopped tonight) and let simmer 20mins.

Then ADD:
1lb diced chicken (raw)
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp garlic powder (or salt and then omit salt)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 white pepper (I didn't have so I omitted)
1 cup diced apple (so yes, a total of 2cups)
Cook on HIGH 3mins (instead I let simmer about 20mins until chicken was done and then served immediately after adding the last 3 ingredients)

Add: 1.5 cups chicken stock (I happened to be making some so that worked out nicely!)
3/4 cup cream of coconut (I don't have this so I used coconut milk instead)
1/2 cup coconut (I can't read and added 1.5 cups but it was still fine, whoops!)
Let Simmer 15mins

Notes:
Dry roasted pecans: just throw them in a skillet on your stove on high for about 5mins shaking the nuts often. Or you can put under the broiler in your oven and watch em.
Add ins: Tonight I added about 1/4-1/2 cup raisins in with the last set of ingredients
I also added 4 (really small) cubed potatoes in the first set of ingredients. I think I should have at least partially cooked these before adding them. I ended up adding about 1cup of water and letting it boil down to cook the potatoes. It was still really good. I can't imagine harming this recipe very easily so no worries.

I served over Jasmine rice.

Easily serves 4-6 with a side salad you can get 8meals out of this. And super easy to double/triple.