Girls Night In

What better way to spend a Friday night in then with a good friend making amazing dinner and enjoying a glass (or two) of wine? Paige and I have been friends since we were wee little kids, due to going to different schools and moving to different towns for college we lost contact. Since Paige moved to Boise a few weeks ago we have been catching up while making healthy dinners together. It is nice to have someone who is just as interested in eating healthy to make dinner with. Tonight we opted for something a little different. Most of the time I make chicken dishes with an Asian flair and little dairy. Tonight we chose a recipe with a cream sauce and ate it with my favorite Surprise Mashed Potatoes and white wine spritzers. It was scrumtious!!!

Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Ingredients

Skinless chicken breasts

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 cup onion

1 cup thinly sliced mushroom caps

2 tablespoon dry white wine

1/4 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons heavy cream

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives

Steps

1) Season chicken with pepper and salt on both sides

2) Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once or twice and adjusting the heat to prevent burning until brown 12-16 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate and cover to keep warm.

3) Add onions to the pan and cook for a minute or so. Add mushrooms; cook stirring occasionally, until tender, about 2 minutes. Pour in wine; simmer until almost evaporated, scraping up any browned bits about 1 minute. Pour in broth and cook until reduced by half. Strin in cream and chives; return to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pan, turn to coat with sauce and cook until heated.

I sadly did not get any photos of this dinner....But trust me its amazing!!

ENJOY!!!

KareBears Cookie Care Package

When all else fails eat a cookie! After my dear friend Sami got married her mom was dealing with an empty nest and needed some cheering up, so I did what I know would cheer me up…I baked a few dozen cookies and put them in the mail for Karen. I tried two new recipes I had never made before and I must say they were both amazing and have moved to the top of my list of favorites. Karen had said she wanted something with cran-raisins and I had never made cookies with those before so I wracked my brain on what would pair with those to make the perfect cookie. Then it hit me: oatmeal cookies with cranraisins and white chocolate chips. YUMMY! The second kind of cookies I made her are called “SURPRISE” cookies and they are a wonderful SURPRISE to your taste buds. They are peanut butter dough with your choice of chocolate candy rolled in the center (Rolo, Mini Reeses, Hershey's Kiss, or any other kind of chocolate you can think of) and then roll the whole cookie in sugar.

Nothing makes me happier than knowing that people enjoy my baking. So when Karen wrote me to tell me she got the cookies and said they were some of the best cookies she had ever had it reminded me why I love cooking/baking. Because for me great food puts a smile on my face so if I can share that smile then I have achieved everything I wanted and then some.

Oatmeal Yummies

3/4 C Butter
1 3/4 C Flour
1 C Packed Brown Sugar
1/2 C Sugar
1 Egg
1 t Baking Powder
1 t Vanilla
1/4 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Cinnamon (optional)
2 C Rolled Oats

1 C Cranraisins

½-1 C White Chocolate Chips

In mixing bowl beat butter high speed for 30 seconds. Add half of flour, brown sugar, sugar, egg, baking powder, vanilla, and baking soda. Stir in cinnamon. Beat till thorughly combined. Beat in remaining flour. Stir in oats. Add Cranraisins and Chips.

Drop by rounded teaspoons 2 in. apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden. Cool cookies on wire rack.

Oatmeal cookies have always reminded me of going to my Grandpas house….These were not the same classic oatmeal cookies but I would say they were still amazing just on a different level.

Chewy “SURPRISE” Cookies

1-1/2 Cups butter flavored shortening

1-1/2 Cups peanut butter

2 cups sugar, divided

1-1/2 Cups packed brown sugar

4 eggs

1-3/4 Cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoons salt

A lot of mixed candies for center

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl, cream the shortening, peanut butter, 1-1/2 cups sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Combine dry ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Shape dough around candies so they are completely covered. Roll balls in remaining sugar. (I needed a lot more than ½ cup of sugar)

Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 or so minutes before moving to a cooking rack.

Please do enjoy these lovely creations. When someone is having a bad day give them with one of these amazing cookies and watch their frown disappear!

Homemade Spring Rolls & Fried Rice—Guest Blog: Ami Rothberg

When I was growing up my family ate a lot of spaghetti, but my mom also had a few recipes that stuck in my mind. Some of them, like “noodle-bump soup” and homemade macaroni & cheese probably stuck somewhere else (say, my ass). But others, like homemade spring rolls and fried rice, are recipes I LOVE, not just because they are so easy, also because they are SO TASTY! I made these the other night for Katie and I, and we’ve been eating them for the past three days. Finally (or maybe sadly) they are gone! They turned out spectacularly but making them tends to be really messy, so be prepared for that!

Spring Roll Ingredients

2 packages Egg Roll wrappers

3 large carrots, shredded

½ head red cabbage, shredded

1 head bok choy, chopped fine (leave out leafy parts)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 large chicken breasts, cut into small chunks

2 Tbsp sesame or canola oil

1 C soy sauce

Oil for frying rolls

Filling:

Add oil to large crock-style pot

Cook chicken until white

Add onions, cook until nearly tender

Stir in rest of vegetables and soy sauce, cover and cook on low until tender

Allow to cool uncovered until room temperature

Egg Rolls:

Place on egg roll wrapper on a clean surface with a corner facing you

Dampen wrapper with water and paper towel

Squeeze juice out of approximately ¼ C of filling and place in middle of wrapper

Fold in bottom corner, followed by side corners and roll into top corner of wrapper

Place into skillet with oil heated to medium-hot

Cook on all sides until golden brown

Allow to cool on newspaper with paper towels layered on top to soak up excess oil

Enjoy with your favorite sauce—I prefer a mix of spicy mustard and soy sauce!

Fried Rice Ingredients

1 tsp oil

2 eggs

4 C white rice

left over sauce from spring roll filling

Scramble one of the eggs in the oil in a deep skillet

Add rice and ¼ C left over sauce with as many leftover vegetables as you desire

Stir in second egg and cook until nice and sticky!

You may want to try:

Lowering the sodium with low-sodium soy sauce

Using a different pan to fry the spring rolls to avoid the gigantic oily mess

Root Beer Cookies

St. Patrick's Day has come and gone. We had a work potluck at work to celebrate. So when i was wracking my brain trying to figure out what to bring to it the only thing that makes me thing of St. Patrick's Day was beer. However, you cant bring that to work let alone a workplace that is based on getting people sober. So i picked the next best thing: Root Beer Cookies.

I made these cookies for the potluck and they turned out edible...but i didn't think they were amazing. I don't know if it was due to feeling under the weather so the cookies weren't baked with love or if it was just due to the first time having made them, but i wasn't satisfied with the turnout.

I made them a second time over the weekend while i was home visiting family. My aunts told me they thought the Root Beer Cookies sounded good and asked for the recipe...I decided why just give them the recipe when I am home and can make them myself! This time the cookies were FANTASTIC!! A million times better. Again I don't know if it was that I felt better or what it was experience with the recipe, but they were far better than edible, they were scrumptious!

Ingredients

1 cup butter, softened

2 cups packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

3/4 tablespoon Root Beer Concentrate or Extract

4 Cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Frosting

3 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3/4 cup butter, softened

3 tablespoons water

1 1/4 teaspoon Root Beer Concentrate or Extract

Preheat 375

Bake for 10-12 Minutes

The dough for these cookies comes out like a sticky mousse. I recommend having a cookies scoop for these or your hands will be a total mess. I added a touch more extract to the frosting the second time to give them a little extra flavor.

I am not sure why but the flavor of these cookies is better the second day!

P.S. These are not the most attractive cookies....pretend you're blind and your taste buds will be in HEAVEN!!

Sushi

Sushi has not always been my thing. I was actually very late to jump on the sushi bandwagon. I had my first roll a little over a month ago; it was the plain and simple "California Roll." I am a tad scared raw or fishy things. Ever if it's imitation crab, I still like it!

After having Sushi I wanted to go home and learn how to make it. Ami has made Sushi before so i asked if she wouldn't mind teaching me the art. A little disclaimer: We don't have a sushi roller so we improvised and just did it with our hands, which means our rolls weren't as tight as they could have been if we had the proper equipment. We also have no training and so the steps listed below are in no way professional steps, just the steps we took.

Here goes our Sushi Adventure

We stuck with two different kinds of rolls to make it easier ( and less expensive!) on ourselves.

Rolls

California Roll

Small Package of imitation Crab Meat

Mayonnaise

Avocado

Rice (sticky white)

Seaweed Wrap

Rice Wine Vinegar

Philadelphia Roll

Smoked Salmon ( Or fresh if you trust your source)

Cream Cheese (Brick so that you can slice into strips)

Green Onion

Cucumber

Rice

Seaweed Wrap

Rice Wine Vinegar

Wasabi

Soy Sauce

Pickled Ginger

STEPS

Step 1) Cook Rice

Step 2) Chop all veggies into long thin slices

Step 3) Chop all the Crab into very small pieces and add Mayonnaise until there is enough to make it easy to form (1-2 teaspoons)

Step 4) Lay out one seaweed wrap. Cover 3/4 of the wrap closest to you with a thin layer of rice, pressing firmly

Step 5) Place a row of meat/vegetables two or so inches into the rice.

Step 6) Roll the edge of the wrap closest to you away, covering the meat/vegetables. Tuck the edge in and pull it back toward you while pressing down. Keep pressing and pulling as you roll. Leave a bit of the wrap unrolled. Use the vinegar to wet the remaining so it will stick when you finish rolling.

Step 7) With a shirt knife cut in the middle of the roll. Place the (not) two parts of the roll next to each other with the cut edges aligned. Continue cutting the roll into one inch segments while being cautious not to smash the roll.

Step 8) Place the pieces on a pretty plate and admire your creation. Eat with wasabi, soy sauce, and ginger if you choose.

This was a fun culinary adventure. I am the type of person who is fine with following a recipe that tells me how much of each ingredient is needed and having the steps laid out for me when trying a new dish. However, this was nothing like that. Making Sushi was care free and dun. The more rolls we made the more we switched things up. What started out as California and Philadelphia rolls turned into 'lets try this' roll with both types of no fish , some vegetables here and some here.

I enjoyed making Sushi and can't wait to do it again and become better at rolling. Because i am terrible. My rolls were what would be equated to a BIG MAC sushi rolls.

Thanks Ami

Crappy Chocolate Chip Cookies... A guest blog by Ami Rothberg

It's appropriate that I am Katie's first guest-blogger. I'm her roommate, future sister-in-law, taste-tester and editor. The poor girl puts up with my insatiable hunger and never complains that I usually eat everything before she has time to get seconds on her fabulous dinners. Most every night after I eat more than my fair share of whatever scrumptious concoction Katie has come up with, I get the urge to eat more, usually something sweet, which is where this blog begins.

Last night after the EPIC mahogany chicken, mashed "potatoes," and roasted asparagus (YUM!) I decided to bake some cookies with the dark chocolate chips I picked up at Winco earlier that day to replace Katie's chocolate chips I ate the previous nights in an attempt to satisfy my sweet tooth. I've had a lot of success with cooking and baking in the past. I can think of few major kitchen debacles in my past, although I rarely experiment enough to experience problems. Suffice it to say I have (had?) confidence in my ability to follow recipe directions on the back of a chocolate chip package.

I swear I followed the directions as written, with one exception: I used fake sugar instead of regular sugar. This is the only thing I can think to have caused the disaster that resulted. My dark chocolate chip cookies didn't exactly melt in my mouth. What was pretty tasty cookie dough turned into chalk textured, dark-brown, crumbly garbage. Katie was so polite when she claimed they were tasty, but I didn't believe her. The taste of chocolate Katie claimed to satisfy her chocolate cravings was lost on me. I felt like a dog with peanut-butter in his mouth, trying to swallow without much success. Ok, so maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I was really depressed at the outcome of my baking.

You might think that I just threw the cookies away, but if you know me, you would understand that I kept them for two reasons: first, they have chocolate and sugar in them, making them useful for something, somehow, and second, I don't really like to waste. I put them in a container in the fridge with the thought that maybe the easily crumbled cookies might be put to use as cake pops or something. This afternoon I decided to give them another try. Sitting in the fridge for 12 hours did actually help the cookies. They weren't so crumbly and were actually edible, but that doesn't mean I'm going to post the recipe (I don't have it anymore anyways!).

I realize now that part of the reason the cookies were so awful last night was that they are dark chocolate, thus not as sweet. I usually prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate, but maybe this recipe would be better with milk chocolate chips, who knows. I'm not really eager to try this recipe again, and honestly think Katie is the baker in the house so I don't think I'll be giving it another go any time soon. I'll just wait for Katie to make some more of her EPIC dinners, and even more EPIC desserts. Ya'all have some majorly tasty recipes from Katie to look forward to, I'm sure. Moral of this blog's story: it doesn't always work out, even if the recipe seems legit. Oh, and let those who know what they are doing bake the cookies (cough, cough, KATIE).

Hopefully my next guest blog will be about a recipe that was a success instead of an EPIC FAILURE!

EPIC Dinner

This is another great guilt- free dinner. As Ami would say it was EPIC! I was extra hungry tonight so I made two side dishes: roasted asparagus and surprise mashed “potatoes.” Surprise mashed “potatoes” have become my favorite thing since giving up carbohydrates. They give you the feeling of having regular mashed potatoes without the guilt.

Mahogany Chicken Ingredients

1/2 cup rice wine or medium-dry sherry

1/4 cup strong-brewed black tea

1/4 cup unsweetened pineapple juice or orange juice

2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

1/4 tsp salt

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into small cubes

1 tsp peanut or canola oil, divided

1 small red bell pepper, diced

2 scallions, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

Steps

Step 1) Combine wine, tea, juice, soy sauce in a bowl; set aside.

Step 2) Combine cinnamon, ginger, pepper and salt in a small bowl. Cut chicken and rub the spice mixture evenly on both sides of chicken.

Step 3) Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, reduce heat and cook no longer pink inside. Put on a plate and set aside.

Step 4) Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to the pan. Add bell pepper, garlic; cook for a minute or so. Add the reserved rice wine-tea mixture. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits.

Step 5) Reduce heat to low and add the chicken.

Roasted Asparagus

1lb Asparagus

1 ½ Tbsp peanut oil

1Tbsp Soy Sauce

1 tsp Sesame Oil

2 tsp sesame seeds

Steps

Preheat oven to 400 F

Step 1) Cut asparagus into 2 inches long pieces

Step 2) Place into a bowl with the peanut oil and mix until each piece is covered

Step 3) Place on a baking sheet and put into oven cook for 15 minutes

Step 4) Mix the soy sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds into a bowl

Step 5) Take out asparagus and add to mixture

Step 6) Place back on baking sheet and into the oven for another 5 minutes

Surprise Mashed “Potatoes”

1 head cauliflower

1 Tbsp butter

Splash of half-and-half or milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Steps

Step 1) Cut cauliflower into chunks

Step 2) Steam cauliflower until tender

Step 3) Add to blender with butter, and milk

Step 4) BLEND… It takes a while to get to a mashed potato consistency

Step 5) Salt and pepper to taste

Bon Appétit

Things to do for next time

-Cut the chicken into smaller chunks

-Cut the pepper into larger pieces so that they are easier to fork and don’t end up under the chicken and not eaten!

I have always had a love for cooking, the last few years the love has grown stronger. When I am at school I am thinking about trying a new recipe, when I am at work I am wishing I were home baking, and when I am cooking/baking I am super happy. Sounds a tad obsessive I know, but it is the one thing I can do to escape the stress of school!

These recipes were easy to make and very rewarding in taste. I love to make food knowing it is going to make someone happy. Ami has been a huge help! She has been the perfect food critic.

Recipes to come

Rootbeer cookies

Red Velvet Cake Pops