Simple Chicken Stir-Fry

2 April, 20141 April, 2014Marissa

I found this easy, attractive chicken stir fry recipe on Pinterest. The original recipe, from Edible Mosaic, was for a Cabbage, Carrot, and Chicken Stir-fry that served two. I trippled the recipe for our family of 5, thinking my teenage brother would eat enough for two people. Turns out I was wrong — we had enough to feed 6 or 7 people. The left-overs were a great breakfast, though!

Cabbage, Carrot, & Chicken Stir-Fry

Simple Chicken Stir-Fry marissabaker.wordpress.com — marinade

Marinade

3 tablespoons water

1 1/2 tablespoons sesame oil

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

3 large clove garlic, minced

1 to 1 1/2-inch piece fresh ginger, grated

1 teaspoon sesame seeds

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Chicken

1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, sliced cross-wise into thin strips

1/3 cup tapioca starch

2 tablespoons sesame oil

3/4 cup water

1 lb green cabbage, sliced into thin shreds

6 medium carrots, thinly sliced on a diagonal

2 green onions, thinly sliced

extra sesame seeds for garnish

slivered almonds (optional)

Whisk together marinade ingredients. Stir in the chicken and let it marinade for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade, and reserve the remaining marinade for later use. Toss chicken with the tapioca starch.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of sesame oil to a wok or large skillet over high heat. Once the oil is hot, turn heat down to medium-high. Cook chicken in small batches in a single layer until browned, about 2 minutes on each side. Add more oil about halfway through cooking the chicken.

Once all the chicken is cooked, add the cabbage, carrot, reserved marinade, and 3/4 cup water to the wok or skillet. Scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet and toss vegetables with a wooden spoon. Cook for 3 to 5 minutes or until the veggies are crisp-tender, stirring frequently.

Turn off heat and add the chicken. Garnish with the green onion, more sesame seeds, and slivered almonds if desired. Serve over steamed rice.

Fruit and Seed Granola Bars

26 March, 201425 March, 2014Marissa

My brother has been begging me to come up with some kind of healthy, filling snack that he can munch on when he feels hungry (which seems to be all the time). Enter the Healthy Homemade Granola Bars from Beth at redandhoney.com. They are amazing, though you do have to keep them chilled to prevent melting, which makes them a bad choice to stuffing in a backpack or purse … not that we would know this from experience.

Fruit and Seed Granola Bars marissabaker.wordpress.com — Granola bar add-ins

There are many variations on these bars depending on the nut butter and add-ins you choose, but the version I’m posting today is my favorite. I’ve decided dried cherries are an essential ingredient. So are pumpkin seeds — I like the flavor and the green color looks great with the red dried fruit.

As an added bonus, these granola bars are unleavened, so they will still be perfect for snacking once the Days of Unleavened Bread start next month.

Fruit and Seed Granola Bars

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2/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup coconut oil
2/3 cup honey
2 cups oats
1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries and/or cherries)
1 cup seeds and nuts (peanuts, pumpkin, flax, chia and/or sunflower seeds)

Mix first three ingredients together, microwaving in 15 to 20 second bursts and stirring until the coconut oil is melted.

Stir-in the oats, dried fruit, seeds and nuts. Press the granola bar mixture into an ungreased 13×9-inch baking pan. Place granola bars in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours.

Once granola mixture is cooled and set, cut into bars. Wrap individually or package in snack bags. Store in the refrigerator or freezer.

Variations
You can replace the peanut butter with almond butter if you prefer the taste or have an allergy.

The two cups of dried fruit, seeds, and nuts can be substituted for a wide variety of add-ins, including chocolate chips, coconut flakes, and almonds. My sister prefers her add-ins to be 1 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup coconut flakes, and 1/2 cup peanuts. Just keep experimenting until you find a few mixtures that you love.

Crock-Pot Italian Roast

19 March, 201418 March, 2014Marissa

When we started raising our own beef, I decided it was time to experiment. So one time when I was putting a roast into the crock pot, I just started dumping spices in, added some of that red wine vinegar that was left over from a salad dressing, and thickened it to make a gravy. This is the result. My brother, who can single-handedly eat 1/3 to 1/2 of the roast by himself, tells me this is one of his favorite meals.

Crock-Pot Italian Roast

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1/2 cup tapioca or corn starch

2 cups water

2 cups beef broth

3/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

1, 3-pound roast of beef, unthawed

4-5 potatoes, cut

4-6 carrots, cut

In crock-pot, whisk the tapioca starch with about ½ cup of the water. Add the remaining water, broth, and seasonings. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

Place roast in the crock-pot. Cut enough potatoes and carrots to fill most of the remaining space in the crock-pot. Turn the crock pot on to cook at low or high heat (see below). Stir at least once in the first hour, to prevent starch from sticking to the bottom of the crock pot as it thickens.

Cooking times will vary between crock pots. As a general guide, cook on low heat for 6 to 7 hours, or until the meat is cooked through and falls apart. If speed is important, cook on high heat for about 4 hours. In this case, the roast will be less tender.

Lemon Quick Bread

12 March, 201412 March, 2014Marissa

I posted a form of this bread before — trying to turn it into a lemon-almond loaf — but it’s this version that I keep going back to when I want to make a lemony quick bread. This bread has a light lemon flavor — not too sweet, not too lemony. When you bake it, it almost develops a glaze on the top. The original recipe baked it in one loaf pan, but I was having trouble getting it to cook through without burning the edges, and then the center of the bread got squishy. Baking it in two pans, or four mini-loaf pans as I did here, or seems to do the trick.

Lemon Quick Bread

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3 cups flour

1, 3.5-ounce box lemon flavor instant pudding

1 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoons lemon juice

2 Tablespoons poppy seeds

Mix together flour, pudding mix, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. In large bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and butter. Add vanilla and lemon and mix well. Add the flour mixture, along with poppy seeds. Mix until just combined.

Grease and flour two 9x5x3-inch loaf pans, or four mini-loaf pans. Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pans and bake at 350°F for 35-45 minutes, or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Allow loaves to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10-15 minutes, then remove from pan to finish cooling on a wire rack. Allow to cool completely.

Lemon Quick Bread recipe, marissabaker.wordpress.com — ta-da!

Turkey Sausage Chowder

5 March, 20144 March, 2014Marissa

Here in Ohio, we’re back to weather that would make a penguin shiver. The only decent thing to do is make pots of creamy soup for lunch and then curl up with a warm blanket, a book, and a cat. Or you could share the soup with the cat, which Tiger seems to think is a good idea. He’s taken to begging whenever I sit down to eat anything, even if he knows he doesn’t like it (such as scrambled eggs).

I’m not sure if there ever was an original recipe for this soup — I wrote it down while watching my mother throw ingredients in a pot. It’s tasty and easy to make, which is why it and Cheese Burger Soup figure so prominently in our eating habits this time of year.

Sausage Chowder

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3 to 4 potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 3 cups)

4 to 5 carrots, sliced or chopped (about 2 cups)

1 cup frozen peas

2 cups water

1/2 of a 13-ounce package of turkey sausage

1 teaspoon chicken base

2 teaspoons onion powder

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

black pepper and salt, to taste

a pinch of cayenne pepper

Place chopped potatoes, carrots, and peas in a large sauce pan. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil.

Meanwhile, cut turkey sausage into cubes. Add sausage, chicken base, and onion powder when mixture in pot boils. Reduce heat and simmer till carrots and potatoes are done.

While vegetables are cooking, place flour in a small bowl or measuring cup and gradually whisk in milk until smooth. Once the vegetables are tender, add milk and flour to cooked mixture.

Add black pepper and salt to taste and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Turn up temperature to medium-high and stir regularly until the soup bubbles and thickens. Serve warm.

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my brother photo-bombing the Sausage Chowder, marissabaker.wordpress.com — my brother photo-bombing the chowder

No-Knead Cinnamon Rolls

26 February, 201425 February, 2014Marissa

I found this recipe on Pinterest, and it’s the only cinnamon roll recipe I make now. It’s originally from a blog called pReCiouS MoMentS. I’ve changed measurements that were in grams to cups or tablespoons, to make it easier to American cooks to follow. I also changed the scalding instructions — I wanted an exact temperature to aim for so I didn’t scorch the milk or kill the yeast, and it takes much less than an hour for my milk to cool to the right temperature. My rolls also have less filling, and I’ve added a glaze.

No-Knead Cinnamon Rolls

No-Knead Cinnamon Roll recipe, marissabaker.wordpress.com — first round of ingredients ready

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Dough

1 cup milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon yeast

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup white whole-wheat flour

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

4 Tablespoons brown sugar

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Glaze

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 Tablespoon milk

Mix milk, sugar and vegetable oil in a pan. Scald by heating to 150°F. Leave to cool for about 20 minutes, or until the temperatures is between 105°F and 115°F. Sprinkle yeast over the scaled mixture and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Place 2 cups flour in a mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add scalded mixture. Stir with a spatula until it comes together to form a thick batter. Cover and let the batter sit for at least 1 hour.

Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir until the mixture comes together. Rolls can be made now, or covered and chilled until needed. Dough will be easier to work with if chilled.

When ready to make the rolls, mix ground cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl. Dust the work surface and the top and bottom of dough freely with flour. Roll out the dough into a thin, rectangular shape. Dust the dough and work surface with flour when necessary.

Brush the rolled out dough with melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the surface. Roll the dough neatly in a line towards you, rolling as tightly as possible. Pinch the seams to seal.

Cut into 1-inch thick slices and arrange in a baking pan greased with butter. Use one 9×13-inch baking pan, or two 8×8-inch baking pans. Place the rolls close together so that they are almost touching.

Cover and leave to rise for 30 to 60 minutes, or until the rolls double in size. Rolls can be left to chill in the fridge over night and baked the next morning. If rolls have doubled in size in the refrigerator, bake right away. Otherwise leave to sit on counter until they double. Bake in preheated oven at 375°F for 12-16 minutes, or until golden brown.

Let rolls cool on the counter. Mix glaze ingredients and drizzle over cooled rolls.