Recently, I bought myself a meat thermometer. I've never been very good at knowing when meat is done, and this little tool has helped me a lot.
Sweet and Sour Chicken Soup
1 large frying pan with a lid
stirring spatula
cutting board and serrated knife
can opener
***
2 chicken breasts (1 lb. of meat)
4 Tbsp. butter
thickener
1 pound frozen stir fry mix (or leftover noodles/rice and regular frozen veggies)
1 can pineapple chunks
1/4 cup lemon juice
2-4 Tbsp soy sauce
rosemary
pinch of garlic salt
***
1. Melt the butter in the frying pan on medium high heat. Add the chicken breasts and brown them on one side. Flip them over and add the pineapple juice from the can of pineapple and the rosemary and garlic salt. Turn down the heat to medium low and cook for 5-6 minutes. I used my new meat thermometer to see when they were done.
2. Remove the cooked chicken from the pan. Add 2 Tbsp. flour or a cornstarch slurry to thicken the pineapple juice to a sauce. Add the lemon juice and soy sauce. If you want a runny soup, add some water. If not, you'll have a very thick soup or a meal with a runny sauce.
3. When the sauce is made, add the frozen veggies and pineapple and mix to cover with the sauce. Cover and cook for 5 minutes or until the veggies are no longer covered in ice.
4. While the veggies cook, slice the chicken. Add it back into the pan with the noodles (if you used leftovers). Mix the sauce around all the chunks, and add water if it is too thick. Once the chicken is hot again, it's ready to serve.
It also tastes better the next day because the sweet and sour flavors have spread through the whole dish.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Recipe: Desserts
It has been a couple of crazy weeks- but the deadline has passed and life is calming down beautifully.
We had a family BBQ last weekend, and we were assigned to bring a dessert and help my dad bring all my siblings (my mom and sister were out of town). Since my youngest sister can't have wheat, I choose to do the family classic: Monster cookies!
The name comes from the original recipe, which made a huge amount of cookies. 12 cups of oatmeal makes a lot of cookies. I don't know how old the recipe is, but my mom's side of the family has had these at every family reunion I remember, including the ones with distant cousins. So I cut down the recipe and tweaked it to fit the random bits of sugar I had in the house.
Monster Kisses
1 mixing bowl
1 stirring spoon (you can use a mixer if you'd like)
measuring cups and spoons
cookie sheet (sprayed or very lightly greased)
cookie disher (those awesome spring loaded scoops!)
***
1/4 c. butter (that's half a stick), melted
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. peanut butter (don't skimp, it's better to have too much than not enough)
--
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 & 1/4 tsp. baking soda
--
3 to 3 & 1/2 cups oatmeal (quick cooking or rolled)
About 24 Hershey's kisses and/or a smaller bag of M&Ms
***
1. Mix the melted butter, and brown sugar together until it becomes crumbly. Then add the peanut butter and mix well.
2. Add the eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Beat the mixture until it becomes smooth and looks like just a lot of peanut butter. This is the glue of the cookie, and you don't want it to be grainy or not well mixed.
3. Add the oatmeal and mix it in until all of the little flakes of oatmeal are covered in the peanut buttery batter. If you put too much oatmeal in, you end up with peanut butter granola, not cookies.
4. Scoop the cookies onto the cookie sheet. Unwrap your Hershey's kisses and put one in the middle of each cookie. You'll probably need to help the dough form around the cookie, so make sure your hands are clean. If you don't have Kisses, shape each ball of cookie dough into a nest and put 3-6 M&Ms inside.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes and let them finish baking on the cookie sheet. They're supposed to look gooey and bubbly. Let them cool on the cookie sheet or they'll fall apart.
If the cookies are golden brown when you pull them out of the oven, they'll be burnt by the time you can get them off the cookie sheet without falling apart. When the cookie sheet is cooled completely, pull the cookies off and put in an airtight container.
They'll keep for up to a week. My family takes them backpacking and camping.
BONUS~
This weekend was my anniversary, so I made my husband some baby cobblers. Cobbler is my husband's favorite dessert.
Baby Strawberry Cobbler
1 cup chopped strawberries (we just used the fresh ones in the fridge)
1/4 cup or so of sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
---
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. oatmeal
1 tsp. spreadable butter
In one bowl mix the chopped strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice. Let it sit while you mix the graham cracker topping in a small ziploc bag.
Spray two little ramekins (the 7 oz. ones).
Sprinkle just enough graham cracker topping to cover the bottom of the ramekin. Add half of the strawberry mixture to each ramekin. Sprinkle the rest of the topping over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 3-5 minutes (just long enough to cook the oatmeal). Cool in the fridge.
Serve with whipped topping!
We had a family BBQ last weekend, and we were assigned to bring a dessert and help my dad bring all my siblings (my mom and sister were out of town). Since my youngest sister can't have wheat, I choose to do the family classic: Monster cookies!
The name comes from the original recipe, which made a huge amount of cookies. 12 cups of oatmeal makes a lot of cookies. I don't know how old the recipe is, but my mom's side of the family has had these at every family reunion I remember, including the ones with distant cousins. So I cut down the recipe and tweaked it to fit the random bits of sugar I had in the house.
Monster Kisses
1 mixing bowl
1 stirring spoon (you can use a mixer if you'd like)
measuring cups and spoons
cookie sheet (sprayed or very lightly greased)
cookie disher (those awesome spring loaded scoops!)
***
1/4 c. butter (that's half a stick), melted
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. peanut butter (don't skimp, it's better to have too much than not enough)
--
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 & 1/4 tsp. baking soda
--
3 to 3 & 1/2 cups oatmeal (quick cooking or rolled)
About 24 Hershey's kisses and/or a smaller bag of M&Ms
***
1. Mix the melted butter, and brown sugar together until it becomes crumbly. Then add the peanut butter and mix well.
2. Add the eggs, vanilla, and baking soda. Beat the mixture until it becomes smooth and looks like just a lot of peanut butter. This is the glue of the cookie, and you don't want it to be grainy or not well mixed.
3. Add the oatmeal and mix it in until all of the little flakes of oatmeal are covered in the peanut buttery batter. If you put too much oatmeal in, you end up with peanut butter granola, not cookies.
4. Scoop the cookies onto the cookie sheet. Unwrap your Hershey's kisses and put one in the middle of each cookie. You'll probably need to help the dough form around the cookie, so make sure your hands are clean. If you don't have Kisses, shape each ball of cookie dough into a nest and put 3-6 M&Ms inside.
5. Bake at 350 degrees for 9-11 minutes and let them finish baking on the cookie sheet. They're supposed to look gooey and bubbly. Let them cool on the cookie sheet or they'll fall apart.
If the cookies are golden brown when you pull them out of the oven, they'll be burnt by the time you can get them off the cookie sheet without falling apart. When the cookie sheet is cooled completely, pull the cookies off and put in an airtight container.
They'll keep for up to a week. My family takes them backpacking and camping.
BONUS~
This weekend was my anniversary, so I made my husband some baby cobblers. Cobbler is my husband's favorite dessert.
Baby Strawberry Cobbler
1 cup chopped strawberries (we just used the fresh ones in the fridge)
1/4 cup or so of sugar
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
---
1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. oatmeal
1 tsp. spreadable butter
In one bowl mix the chopped strawberries with the sugar and lemon juice. Let it sit while you mix the graham cracker topping in a small ziploc bag.
Spray two little ramekins (the 7 oz. ones).
Sprinkle just enough graham cracker topping to cover the bottom of the ramekin. Add half of the strawberry mixture to each ramekin. Sprinkle the rest of the topping over the top. Bake at 350 degrees for 3-5 minutes (just long enough to cook the oatmeal). Cool in the fridge.
Serve with whipped topping!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Confession time
I have a confession. I love to watch the growth of other people.
I realized it a little while ago when my husband asked me why I was so obsessed with analyzing 'The Next Food Network Star.' I loved 'Who Wants to Be A Superhero?' for the same reason.
In each of these shows, and in most of our lives; we have a goal or dream. Each of us has the potential to achieve that dream- otherwise we wouldn't have been chosen to be tested and tried. Trials come in three parts- and as I watch these shows, I see how the reactions of the participants to these three trial elements determines who goes home each week. Oddly enough, for those of a literary mindset, the trials match the types of conflicts in stories.
The first trial each person must overcome is Man versus Situation. At first, when there are lots of different people in the group, it is how each participant responds to the situation/challenge of the week that determines who stays and who goes. On the Food Network, those who cannot cook or cannot capture the camera quickly go home, leaving only those who have discovered how to overcome the situations they are placed in with patience and some degree of focus. The questions to be asked in this trial are "How do you respond under pressure? Do you bend, or do you break? Do you know when and how to ask for help?"
The second trial each person must overcome is Man versus Man. Studies are showing that the ability to get along with and work with other people is a key determining factor to success in life, outranking raw talent and skills. A look at the newer curriculums for schools and business models shows a growing trend towards emphasizing the ability to work with and get along with other people. The days of cubicles are fading fast, replaced by more productive and energetic collaborative models. Social skills, best learned when young and malleable, are finally getting the emphasis they deserve. On the Food Network, especially with this last season, we see that the humble yet confident ability to work with and around others of differing skills and skill levels can be the difference between staying for this week and going home.
The third trial each person must overcome, and in my personal opinion, the hardest, is Man versus Self. At multiple points in our lives, we need to really find out who we are, not just what we are capable of doing. Thankfully, others can help us in our quest to find ourselves. Many people, especially children, can tell when you are being genuine and true to yourself or whether you are playing a role. As this season of The Next Food Network Star draws to a conclusion, this is trial that will send you home.
If you don't know how to cook many things, they can teach you.
If you don't play nicely with others, especially those you don't like or who seem to be working at cross-purposes, this too can be taught (it should be taught as an essential part of school- especially if you are homeschooling).
If you don't know who you are in a specific role- there's not much that can be done. Mentors and others you interact with can tell you when you are close and when you missed, but it's like playing the warmer/colder game. It takes time, and often takes a different amount of time for each person. Find those people who can tell when you are being genuine and use their comments to guide you.
I graduated with my degree in Elementary Education. I had the knowledge base and the methods. I knew the theories of child development and the ability to plan, differentiate, and integrate curriculum to take advantage of the developmental levels of my students. My weakness, and one that my teachers could not help me with, was classroom management. I did not know what was truly important and what was just social niceties. Gimmicks didn't work for me. I could teach a short lesson and do just fine, but extended contact with a group of kids quickly showed that something was lacking in my abilities. I tried mimicking the style of my cooperating teachers, and sometimes I was successful, other times the kids looked at me as though I'd come from a different planet. It wasn't until I started listening to the kids that I realized what I was missing. I needed a vision of what was truly important, and a safe place to escape from the pressures of teaching to focus just on who I was as a teacher.
The kids knew when I got it right, and they let me know. They also knew when I missed, and while they couldn't always tell me how I'd missed, they did tell me quite plainly when it happened. And so I spent two wonderful, life-changing years as an Americorps Literacy Aide at an elementary school. The teachers were patient with me and gave me opportunities to learn from their examples. Having 30+ examples of different styles and an entire year to observe from the sidelines showed me what I connected to, and the small groups I was able to practice with taught me how I teach. My mentors trusted me with responsibilities and approved of my efforts, but never failed to call me in for some sharp correction when it was needed. They helped me to instill the important things in my soul, and taught me to ask for help (a skill which my elementary and high school teachers had failed to teach me). To them I will ever be grateful. They helped me to burn away the dross from my soul and inspired me to focus on what is really important.
Now for my little push: Take a child development class- You'll also be better able to understand other people, especially children when they do weird things. (If you just want to study a little bit, look up Erickson's 8 stages, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and Piaget's theories- they cover pretty much everything). This really helped me to understand what was really important, and to never expect something contrary to the child's needs.
I realized it a little while ago when my husband asked me why I was so obsessed with analyzing 'The Next Food Network Star.' I loved 'Who Wants to Be A Superhero?' for the same reason.
In each of these shows, and in most of our lives; we have a goal or dream. Each of us has the potential to achieve that dream- otherwise we wouldn't have been chosen to be tested and tried. Trials come in three parts- and as I watch these shows, I see how the reactions of the participants to these three trial elements determines who goes home each week. Oddly enough, for those of a literary mindset, the trials match the types of conflicts in stories.
The first trial each person must overcome is Man versus Situation. At first, when there are lots of different people in the group, it is how each participant responds to the situation/challenge of the week that determines who stays and who goes. On the Food Network, those who cannot cook or cannot capture the camera quickly go home, leaving only those who have discovered how to overcome the situations they are placed in with patience and some degree of focus. The questions to be asked in this trial are "How do you respond under pressure? Do you bend, or do you break? Do you know when and how to ask for help?"
The second trial each person must overcome is Man versus Man. Studies are showing that the ability to get along with and work with other people is a key determining factor to success in life, outranking raw talent and skills. A look at the newer curriculums for schools and business models shows a growing trend towards emphasizing the ability to work with and get along with other people. The days of cubicles are fading fast, replaced by more productive and energetic collaborative models. Social skills, best learned when young and malleable, are finally getting the emphasis they deserve. On the Food Network, especially with this last season, we see that the humble yet confident ability to work with and around others of differing skills and skill levels can be the difference between staying for this week and going home.
The third trial each person must overcome, and in my personal opinion, the hardest, is Man versus Self. At multiple points in our lives, we need to really find out who we are, not just what we are capable of doing. Thankfully, others can help us in our quest to find ourselves. Many people, especially children, can tell when you are being genuine and true to yourself or whether you are playing a role. As this season of The Next Food Network Star draws to a conclusion, this is trial that will send you home.
If you don't know how to cook many things, they can teach you.
If you don't play nicely with others, especially those you don't like or who seem to be working at cross-purposes, this too can be taught (it should be taught as an essential part of school- especially if you are homeschooling).
If you don't know who you are in a specific role- there's not much that can be done. Mentors and others you interact with can tell you when you are close and when you missed, but it's like playing the warmer/colder game. It takes time, and often takes a different amount of time for each person. Find those people who can tell when you are being genuine and use their comments to guide you.
I graduated with my degree in Elementary Education. I had the knowledge base and the methods. I knew the theories of child development and the ability to plan, differentiate, and integrate curriculum to take advantage of the developmental levels of my students. My weakness, and one that my teachers could not help me with, was classroom management. I did not know what was truly important and what was just social niceties. Gimmicks didn't work for me. I could teach a short lesson and do just fine, but extended contact with a group of kids quickly showed that something was lacking in my abilities. I tried mimicking the style of my cooperating teachers, and sometimes I was successful, other times the kids looked at me as though I'd come from a different planet. It wasn't until I started listening to the kids that I realized what I was missing. I needed a vision of what was truly important, and a safe place to escape from the pressures of teaching to focus just on who I was as a teacher.
The kids knew when I got it right, and they let me know. They also knew when I missed, and while they couldn't always tell me how I'd missed, they did tell me quite plainly when it happened. And so I spent two wonderful, life-changing years as an Americorps Literacy Aide at an elementary school. The teachers were patient with me and gave me opportunities to learn from their examples. Having 30+ examples of different styles and an entire year to observe from the sidelines showed me what I connected to, and the small groups I was able to practice with taught me how I teach. My mentors trusted me with responsibilities and approved of my efforts, but never failed to call me in for some sharp correction when it was needed. They helped me to instill the important things in my soul, and taught me to ask for help (a skill which my elementary and high school teachers had failed to teach me). To them I will ever be grateful. They helped me to burn away the dross from my soul and inspired me to focus on what is really important.
Now for my little push: Take a child development class- You'll also be better able to understand other people, especially children when they do weird things. (If you just want to study a little bit, look up Erickson's 8 stages, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and Piaget's theories- they cover pretty much everything). This really helped me to understand what was really important, and to never expect something contrary to the child's needs.
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