Spiced Couscous with Chicken and Broccoli

I don't know about you, but the holidays seem like they get busier every year. With all the shopping, birthdays, a funeral, family gathering out of town, and job hunting, I haven't really been able to make as many new meals and it has been almost a month since my last post!  I finally had some time yesterday to try this dish out and I think it might be my new favorite! I thought the cinnamon might be overpowering, but I was wrong. It's buttery, spicy, and comforting...definitely a keeper.

Ingredients
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground pepper
1 tsp kosher salt
3-4 medium carrots, thinly sliced
1 bunch of broccoli, rinsed and chopped into smaller pieces
3 cloves of garlic, minced
pinch of red pepper flakes
3 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 cup uncooked couscouse (plain)
2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup slivered or sliced almonds
small handful of raisins (about 1/4 cup or more if you like)
3-4 green onions, chopped
1/2 cup fresh chopped cilantro
sour cream and sirracha for topping

Directions
Heat olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes in a large skillet over medium heat until garlic starts to brown. Add the broccoli and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the chicken broth, a little salt and pepper to taste and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until tender. Set aside.

Bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add 1/2 tsp cinnamon, the ginger, 1 tsp kosher salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.  Add the carrots and cook for about 3-4 minutes or until tender. Drain the carrots and reserve the liquid.

Put the couscous and chicken in a medium bow and pour in 1 cup of the reserved carrot liquid. Cover with a plastic warp and let sit for 5 minutes. Then fluff couscous with a fork.

While you are waiting for the couscous to cook, melt the butter (in same skillet as broccoli) and add the raisins, green onions, almonds, and remaining 1/4 tsp of cinnamon. Cook for about 2 to 3 minutes then add the broccoli back in for just about a minute to heat it back up. Stir in the cilantro and remove from heat.

Divide the couscous/chicken into seperate bowls. Top with the carrots and add more cooking liquid if desired. Sprinkle with the almond and raisin mixture and more cilantro. Garnish with sour cream and sirracha.


Recipe Source: barely adapted from Food Network-I combined their Spiced Couscous and Chicken recipe with their Sauteed Broccoli recipe

A Belated Thanksgiving Recap

It may be a little late (ok an entire week) but I wanted to post about the great Thanksgiving I had. It was my first Thanksgiving not spent at my parents which was a little weird for me, but it was still wonderful. I had a great time at my in-laws and got to contribute a few dishes of my own. All of the food was really really good. My in-laws even had home grown sweet potatoes that they used in the sweet potato casseroles which were so good!! We did get to go to my parents on Friday and spend the weekend with my family and my Grandma who was visiting and had a great time there too. I am thankful for many things in my life and am lucky to have such a wonderful husband, family, and friends!

Ok, so here is what I made (Note: These are not original recipes. I followed the sources and just tweaked the directions slightly):

Homemade crescent rolls-I admit that the canned kind do taste good and are easy, but they are filled with hydrogenated oils and preservatives, so I decided to try my own

Ingredients
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
3 Tbsp warm water

3 eggs, beaten

1 cup warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp salt

1 stick melted butter plus extra for brushing on before baking

5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

 

Directions

1.Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a large bowl and let stand about 10 mintues or until it starts to foam

2.Mix in the rest of the ingredients until it forms into a dough (I used my paddle and then switched to my dough hook).

3.Cover the dough loosely with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let stand on the counter overnight. 

4.Take a small piece of dough and roll it into a rectangle about5 inches wide and about 8 inches long. Then cut it from corner to the opposite corner to form 2 triangles. Repeat until you have used up the dough. I got about 20 rolls (I suggest making a little smaller though and you can get more)

5.Brush the triangles with butter. Starting with the wide end of the triangle, roll loosely up. The tip of the triangle should end up in the middle on the top of the crescent. Put on the cookie sheets and brush with butter.

If you want the facy shape, just bend them slightly, forming a crescent moon shape.

6.Let stand for 3-5 hours on the sheets on the counter.

 

7.Bake at 375 degrees for around 8-12 min

 

*I obviously made mine too big, but they were still yummy! I might not let them rise as long next time and may even add a little more butter.

 

Recipe source:Coffee with Mrs. Dani

Greenbean casserole with homemade french fried onions- I found a recipe on my Whole Foods app that looked good so I gave it a try

Ingredients
Cooking spray
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of cayenne (optional)
2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (I used an all natural whole wheat panko)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb grean beans, ends snapped and cut into about 2 inch pieces
1 (14.5 oz )can cream of mushroom soup (The original recipe said non-condensed which I couldn't find so I used condensed and added a little water. Find a natural or organic kind if you can)

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 425 and spray a large baking sheet (for the onions) and a casserole dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2.Combine the flours, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne in a large bowl. Add the onions and toss to coat. Add in the buttermilk and toss again.
3. In another large bowl, mix the breadcrumbs and oil. Add the onions and toss to coat.
4. Transfer the onions to the baking sheet and spread into a single layer.
5. Bake about 30 mins, tossing halfway through (be careful not to burn them!)
6. When onions are done,reduce the temp of the oven to 350.
7. While onions are baking, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
8. Add fresh green beans and cook for about 3 mins. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
9.Add the mushroom soup, a little water if needed, half of the onion rings, salt and pepper and toss. Transfer to the prepared casserole dish. Top with the rest of the onion rings and bake about 30 mins or until hot and bubbly.

Recipe source: Whole Foods

Pumpkin pie crunch-I have made this in the past and made a previous blog post about it, but this year I decided to make my own cake mix to sprinkle on top instead of using a box mix filled with hydrogenated oils and chemicals (unfortunately all of my pictures of this turned out blurry! I didn't have my husbands camera with me that I normally use)

Ingredients
1 can pumpkin
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar (I used organic)
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup melted butter
Cake mix (recipe below)- I made my own this year but you can use 1 box of Duncan Hines moist deluxe yellow mix if you don't want to make your own

2 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 cup non-fat dry milk
1 stick of cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Directions
1.Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl or food processor ( I used my immersian blender since I don't have a large food processor and it worked fine...just make sure you use a large enough bowl)
2. Add in the butter and vanilla and process until it is crumbly and resembles cornmeal
3. Freeze up to 2 months or use immediately

*This made more than I needed for the pumpkin pie crunch so I put the extra in the freezer and will make a cake with it.


Directions
1.Pre-heat oven to 350
2.Grease a 9x13 pan
3.Combine the pumpkin, evaporated milk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a large bowl and transfer to the prepared pan
4. Sprinkle with cake mix
5. Sprinkle on the pecans
6. Drizzle with melted butter
7. Bake for 50-55 mins or until golden brown

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream and refridgerate leftovers

Pour into greased 9x13 dish. Sprinkle with homemade (or storebought) cake mix. Sprinkle with 1 cup of chopped pecans. Drizzle with 1 cup of melted butter. Bake at 50-55 minutes at 350 degrees or until golden brown. Served with whipped topping. Refridgerate leftovers.
 Recipe source: Judy Roche of Hendersonville, TN

Cake mix recipe sources: Mel's Kitchen Cafe and Chickens in the Road

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I grew up as a vegetarian (I asked my parents where pork came from one night when I was about 5, and didn't eat any kind of meat again until I was about 16) and even though the rest of my family was not vegetarian, my mom always made sure I got my protein and ate well balanced meals. I'm sure buying and making special foods all the time for me wasn't always that easy or cheap especially with three other kids to feed, so thanks Mom! :)  Going out to eat was sometimes a little difficult too, but Chili's was always one of my favorites because of their yummy broccoli cheese soup. I am so dissapointed that they don't have it anymore!  Anways, I searched for a copycat recipe online last week and I only found a few and they all had "processed cheese loaf" aka Velveeta which I am not a big fan of. After having changed to natural/organic foods over the past few years I try to stay away from processed foods. I'm sure they probably use Velveeta or something similiar in Chili's broccoli cheese soup recipe and yes it's very tasty but I figured if I was making a homemade version I would stick with real cheese. My version didn't taste exactly like Chili's but it was really really good nontheless.

Ingredients
1/3 cup real butter
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
1 medium to large head of broccoli, chopped (I got about 4 cups of florets out of it but I wanted a good amount of broccoli in my soup. You can also use frozen broccoli)
1 (32oz) carton of vegetable broth
18-24 oz shredded cheddar cheese depending on how cheesy you want it (this would be about 1 1/2 to 2 bags or you can shred your own cheese from a block-this melts better since there are no anti-caking agents added to it)
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2/3 cup cornstarch
1 cup water
salt
pepper
chopped tomatoes for topping

Directions
1. In a large pot, melt the butter and then add the onion. Cook until softened
2. Add the broccoli and vegetable broth and simmer until the broccoli is tender
3. Reduce the heat and add the cheese. Stir until melted
4. Mix in the milk, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste
5. Whisk together the cornstarch and water in a small cup or bowl until dissolved. Stir into the soup  until it thickens
6. Puree soup with an immersian blender to desired consistancy (I didn't want huge chunks of broccoli so I pureed mine a little. But if you would rather not puree it, you can skip this step and your soup is ready to serve.)
7. Top with chopped tomatoes and more cheese if desired



Recipe source: adapted from GoodVeg on Squidoo

Stuffed Acorn Squash

For my first time making and eating acorn squash I was really happy. This recipe used many of my favorite ingredients like quinoa, spinach, and feta. Not only does it look pretty, it's also pretty healthy. As with stuffed peppers, you can really add anything you want to this. I also found out that acorn squashes last for a few weeks after purchase so I bought 2 and am already trying to decide what I want to do with our 2nd one.

Ingredients
1 Acorn squash
1Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup uncooked quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 red chili peppers, finely diced (remove seeds if you want it less spicy)
1/2-1 cup portabella mushrooms, chopped ( I used what I had in my fridge which was about 3/4 cup)
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
Juice of 1/2 lemon
salt
pepper

Directions
1.Pre-heat oven to 375
2. Cut acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds
3. Sprinkle each half with salt and pepper and add 1/2 tbsp butter to each
4. Roast for approximately 45 mins or until fork tender
5.While squash is roasting, cook the quinoa in the vegetable broth according to package directions
6. Saute the onions, mushrooms, garlic, and red chili peppers in the olive oil for about 8 mins or until nice and soft and then add the lemon juice
7.Turn the heat down and add the cooked quinoa then the spinach and stir until it begins to wilt
8. Add in the parsley and feta (save some for topping if you want)
9.Season with salt and pepper if desired
10. Add a few spoonfuls of mixture to each half of the roasted squash and top with parsley and feta
*You will probably have leftovers of the filling, but it is yummy by itself as leftovers.



Recipe source: just barely adapted from wearenotmartha.com

Halloween Pumpkin Spice Cookies with Maple Cinnamon Frosting

Happy Halloween! I finally got around to making some Halloween treats today even though they weren't really what I had in mind. With work and preparing for my fall festival this weekend, I didn't really have time to make anything too complicated. However, these were really really good (even though my decorating kinda sucks here). I made some pumpkin cookies a few weeks ago that I didn't care for but these were much better. And there are no artifical preservatives, flavors, or even colors. I admit that I do use food coloring/icing coloring when I make some of my desserts. It's almost impossible not to especially when making a dessert or cake to match a specific color or theme. But, I make everything from scrach and use real butter, real vanilla, cage free eggs and unbleached flour. I also use organic sugar when I can (it's pretty expensive so I use regular white sugar some of the time). And I stay away from shortening. I actually did find an organic brand made from palm oil and have used that a few times, but mainly stick with butter. Although these cookies definitely aren't healthy, I feel better that I am not eating cookies made from a box full of chemicals.  Anyways, hope everyone has a great Halloween tomorrow!

Ingredients
Cookies
1 3/4 cup unbleach all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder 

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp salt

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or use a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, etc.)

6 Tbsp unsalted butter

1 1/8 cups (packed) light brown sugar 

1 eggs

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 cup evaporated milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

 

Frosting
1 (8oz) pgk cream cheese
1/2 cup pumpkin puree (just use the rest of the can from what you used for the cookies)
1 Tbsp pure maple syrup
dash of cinnamon
3-4 cups powdered sugar

Directions
1. Pre-heat oven to 375. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2.Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice
3.Cream the butter and sugar then add in the egg and mix well
4. Add in the pumpkin, evaporated milk, and vanilla until well mixed
5.Slowly add in the flour mixture
6.Put the dough into a large piping bag (or ziplock bag if you do'nt have decorating bags and cut of the tip) and pipe 2 1/2 inch rounds that are about 1/2 inch thick.
7.Bake for about 12 mins or until the tops of the cookies spring back when touched.

For icing, cream the cream cheese and pumpkin. Add in the maple syrup and cinnamon. Slowly add in the powdered sugar to desired sweetness. This icing will be a little runny because of the pumpkin.

To decorate the cookies, I just melted some chocolate chips and piped on with a decorating bag with a small tip.



Recipe source: adapted from myrecipes.com

Pumpkin Bread

I still have a bunch of canned pumpkin I'm itching to use up. So far I've made pumpkin coffee creamer, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies (good, but not my favorite so maybe I'll try these again), and even a face mask.  I'm pretty sure I've made pumpkin bread before but it has been a really long. I didn't have a recipe on hand so I did some searching. When I came across a pumpkin-beer bread, I immediately booked marked it. We had some Octoberfest beer on hand and I had everything else I needed so I gave it a shot. I tweaked the recipe just a little and I'm pretty sure it was a success. I got home from work and more than 1/4 of the loaf was gone. I had a small piece before I headed to work this morning, and my husband told me he ate some for breakfast and took huge piece to work for later in the day. I can definitely tell when he likes something and when he doesn't. But of course he always tells me everything I cook or bake is good :) And I wanted to share some pictures of the cute pumpkins my husband actually grew in our backyard and the pretty fall bows I made when my mom came to help me get ready for a Holiday craft fair I am doing in November :)

Ingredients
Butter for greasing the pan
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground allspice
1/8 tsp ground cloves
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup pumkin puree ( I used a little over a cup)
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup seasonal beer (I used Octoberfest, but use Pumpkin or some other fall beer if you have it)
* you could probably use pumpkin pie spice instead of each individual spice if you wanted

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 inch loaf pan
2. Combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices
3.Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Stir in the pumpkin and brown sugar, then stir in the eggs. Add in the beer (and drink the rest while your bread bakes!)
4. Add pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until combined. Transfer to loaf pan
5. Bake for about 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean



Recipe source: adapted from L.V. Anderson on Slate.com

Butternut Squash Pizza

With the abundance of pretty fall squashes available right now, I promised myself I would try and make at least a few dishes with them.  To be honest, I've never really made much with butternut squash (besides a soup I made last fall) or any of the other varieties in season. However, I decided to try and cook with them, whether the dishes turned out or not. The first dish I made was a butternut squash pizza. I have been using a super easy homemade pizza dough recipe I found on a blog called Oven Love, and I have used it several times now. You can throw it together in just a little more time than it takes to call your local pizza shop. We will order the occasional take out (we live in the boonies and the pizza places won't deliver to us..crazy!) but I've been making some pretty good homemade pizza if I do say so myself. It may not be the fanciest or even the most amazing pizza dough/crust I've ever had, but it's simple, it's tastes good, and I know the ingredients that are in it. I got a bit annoyed that my pizza stuck to the peel and messed up my almost perfect circle but I have since found that using parchment paper works wonders. I made 2 different pizzas on Monday (this butternut squash pizza is from a few weeks ago) and used parchment paper instead of cornmeal and flour and it was so easy to slide it onto the pizza stone. Plus, I didn't have to clean the peel!  Anyways, I was skeptical of this pizza at first, but after one bite it is definitely a keeper. I tweaked the original recipe a bit and spread roasted and smashed garlic onto the dough first, and also carmelized my onions in balsamic vinegar instead of roasting. But feel free to make your own revisions if you like. There are endless possibilties when it comes to homemade pizza.

Ingredients
1/2 white or yellow onion, thinly sliced
1/2 medium to large butternut squash-peeled, seeded, and thinly sliced
1 head of garlic
1 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
3-4 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt
Pepper
Asiago or Parmesan cheese
homemade pizza dough-click here for recipe (you can use premade/storebought if you want, but trust me-homemade is so much better)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Combine squash with the rosemary, about 2 Tbsp of olive oil, and a little salt and pepper in a baking or roasting dish
3.Chop the top off the garlic head, place in a small square of aluminum foil, drizzle with a little olive oil, and close up tightly. Place on a seperate baking sheet or right on your oven rack.
3.Bake squash and garlic for about 20 mins or both the squash and the garlic are tender.

4. While squash and garlic are cooking, heat a pan with a little olive oil and add the onions.  Cook for about 5 mins and then add about a tbsp or so of balsamic vinegar. Continue cooking until the onions are nice and soft.
5. Once garlic is cool enough to touch, squeeze out all the cloves and smash up with a fork.
6.Roll out your pizza dough on your pizza peel (unfortunately, my pizza stuck to my peel since I didn't know to use parchment paper when I made this. Cornmeal is supposed to work, but it didn't do the trick for me.)
7. Spread the garlic onto the dough

8. Top with the sliced squash and onions and sprinkle with however much cheese you want.
9.Bake for about 30 mins or until crust is lightly browned and cheese is melted.



Recipe source: adapted from: Allrecipes.com