She cooks

Chia Pudding

My boys never stop eating or exercising so I’ve been experimenting with new ways to increase our protein. I remembered that our hotel in San Diego had the most delicious overnight oats and chia pudding. I looked up some recipes, and wow, internet fitness people are serious about their chia pudding. 

The ratio is 2 cups liquid to 1/3 cup chia seeds. Mix/shake and then it sits in the fridge overnight and thickens up to a tapioca consistency. 

Our favorite liquid is SO yummy. 

1 core power vanilla protein drink is just shy of 2 cups and it’s perfect. 

No sweetener needed, just the shake and chia. We eat it plain. 

We also made it with almond coconut milk and it took longer to set up and it was less sweet. The consistency could be related to being a higher ratio of liquid, but either way, it was good. We topped this one with fruit. 

I’ve been sending a dinner plate or two up to my parents lately. This is a good thing because my dinners have been pretty lazy most nights over the past month with all the different activities we had going in May. 

One thing I’ve been doing pretty consistently is smoked chicken. Last night I made a rub with garlic, coriander, cumin, and chili powder. 

We put the sliced up chicken on salads of romaine lettuce, roasted diced sweet potatoes, a big scoop of quinoa salad with green onions, cilantro, sweet peppers, red wine vinegar, black beans, and diced mangoes. Recipe for that, here: 

https://ourbestbites.com/mango-quinoa-salad/

Topped the salads with avocados and a homemade smoked paprika vinaigrette that was SO good! 

Do yourself a favor and make this. It’s like a lays BBQ potato chip. 

Smoked Paprika Vinaigrette: 

Blend together: 

⅓ cup honey, 1 tablespoon dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon lime juice, ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, 1 ¼ teaspoons smoked paprika 1tsp minced garlic, 1 chopped green onion, 1 pinch white sugar, ½ cup olive oil. 

Baked Potato Soup

I made a killer baked potato soup for family lunch yesterday. 

Note—this photo is not mine, I forgot to take a pic.  But this pic from the internet looked just like my soup! 

BAKED POTATO SOUP

Cook 1/2 package bacon until crispy.

Chop up and set aside.

Sauté diced onions and celery in the bacon grease.

Add 1/4 flour, whisk, and cook the paste 2-3 minutes 

Slowly add 1.5-2 quarts (homemade) chicken stock 

Add about 3.5 lbs peeled and sliced 1/4in thick Yukon gold potatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer. 

When potatoes are tender give the pot a good stir to lightly mash some of the potatoes. 

Add 1TBS dry ranch seasoning

Add a splash of heavy cream, 2c shredded sharp cheddar. 

Stir to melt cheese. 

Top with sour cream, bacon crumbles, green onions, and shredded cheese. 

Homemade Pizza

Fridays (or Saturday) are traditionally pizza night around here.  Usually it’s takeout, occasionally we go out for a date and the kids eat frozen pizzas, and once a month or so I make calzones. 

This week, I made homemade pizza for the first time in over two years.  

Oh how we have missed this!  Nothing beats a good homemade pizza. Nothing. Artichokes, garlic, pears, pistachios, Parmesan 😍. Honestly though, the pepperoni ones were just as good, if not better.  

Crust: 1TBS yeast, 1c warm water, 2TBS oil, 1TBS honey, 4c flour, and a good pinch of salt. Makes two 10-12 inch pizzas. (I quadruple the recipe for my family 🤣) Bake on a stone at 400* for 8-10 min.

A few tips— I don’t have a pizza paddle anymore so I use cutting boards to slide the pizza onto the stone. I dust the surface with a bit of cornmeal to help them slide and to get that perfect crusty edge. 

Also, parchment paper is my BFF in the kitchen. 

Goldie Soup

Tonight I told the kids we were having a “French Dinner” to get them pumped about a new creamy root vegetable soup I came up with but I knew they’d turn their noses up at.  My plan worked and I served “French Golden Soup”, french baguettes, and an apple cranberry galette for dessert. They named the soup “Goldie Soup” and that’s what it is now. 

Soren helped me make it 😍

Goldie Soup  

1.5 lbs carrots peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch chunks

1 onion chopped

1/2 stick butter 

Sauté for 10 minutes 

Add

1 small sweet potato  peeled and cut into chunks

1-2 Yukon gold potatoes peeled and cut 

2 Quarts Homemade Stock 

1/4 tsp ginger 

Simmer 45 minutes, cool, then blend it up! 

Return to pot

Add

Black pepper

Fresh garlic or fresh thyme would have made this over the top delicious. I used some dried. 

1/2 c heavy cream  because duh. 

So good!!!! Great work, Soren! 

Turkey Pot Pie

Do yourself a favor and make 2 extra crusts on thanksgiving when you’re whipping up your pies. This one in particular WINS. No contest. It’s just the best pie crust in all existence and no crust from anywhere will ever top it. It’s the top of the top, folks.  For sweet pies I brunch with milk and sprinkle with sugar. For a savory pot pie, I brush with milk and give one quick shake from the salt grinder on top for a little something something. Herbs de Provence or french grey salt would be an excellent topper. 

Ok here we go! 

Note-I don’t add many herbs or seasonings to this. Eva use the turkey is smoked and so flavorful, and the broth I use is homemade stock and a powerful punch of herbs. If you’re using canned broth or bullion, you might add some thyme or celery seed or whatever herbs you fancy. But please not safe because sage tastes like a combination of soap and morning sickness IMO) 

The best turkey pot pie:

So make your crust. (It’s intense but trust me and go with it, ok? Keep it chilled. Don’t over mix. You’re welcome.) 

1/2 cup butter

1/3 cup crisco

1 3/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup flour

1/3 cup water

#1 Combine 1/2 cup butter and 1/3 cup crisco using a pastry blender or two forks.

#2 Chill butter/crisco combo

#3 Combine 1 3/4 cup flour and 1/2 tsp salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.

#4 Combine 1/4 cup flour and 1/3 cup ICE water in a small bowl. This is the flour paste.

#5 Add the dry flour mixture to the butter/crisco mixture and blend with pasty blender to pea size. Avoid over mixing!

#6 Lastly, add flour paste and blend with a pastry blender for 15 more seconds. Form into a ball and divide in half.

#7 Roll out both halves of dough balls.  Place one in the pie pan. 

Now for the filling: 

I think frozen peas are kind of disgusting, but if you’re into them, add those too. You do you. 

Put Sliced carrots, celery, peeled and diced sweet potato, peeled and diced yukon gold potato in a big saucepan, cover with water, and boil until tender (10-15 min depending on size). 

Drain and set aside 

While veggies are boiling, sauté 1/2 an onion in 1/3 c butter. When onions are tender, add 1/3 c flour and cook the rue for 4-5 minutes.

Slowly add 1 3/4c turkey stock (broth) and maybe 1/2-2/3 c milk and whisk away to a lovely creamy sauce. 

Fill your pie crust with diced dark turkey meat (or white, or a mix, or cooked shredded chicken breasts  but diced up dark turkey is really the best here) 

Top with veggies. 

Season with freshly ground black pepper.

Pour white sauce over the top of the veggies. Pat with butter. 

Layer a pie crust on top with slits cut for vents. 

Bake at 400* for an hour and you’d BETTER cover those edges with a foil tent so they don’t get too dark. That’s just a crying shame after this labor of love, 

Giving Thanks 2020

We had a really mellow and really wonderful thanksgiving. The food was all so good! My dad “spatchcocked” and smoked a turkey and my mom did stuffing and gravy and green beans and a berry cobbler and berry salad. I made homemade rolls, an apple pie, a chocolate chocolate chocolate pie, cranberry sauce, crudités tray, and mashed potatoes.  Aaron contributed his traditional chips and dips/crackers cheese log and martinelli’s. We ate until we could eat no more! I had to lie down. It was absurd. But it was all so delicious! Here’s the recipe for Lacey Schofield’s cranberry salsa that she and Kasey now have us totally addicted to. 

It was wonderfully warm outside, so the kids jumped on the trampoline and rode bikes. We watched Home Alone for like the 4th time already this year, played cards (or favorite, this year, is called 12 days of Christmas) introduced the big girls to Downton Abbey (via Vid Angel), and the boys watched Star Wars in the loft.  We had a family zoom with the Willardsons and then set one up with all the Lawrences. It was fun to see cousin Matisse in Hawaii, Grandma Lynda and Grandpa Rob, and bring families together who are spread out all over between Utah, Canada, California, Idaho and Arkansas. Thankful for technology that has made this pandemic much more easily tolerated. We have so many friends and family who are very sick right now with Covid, and we pray for relief and a vaccine, soon!  

My dishwasher is still full of sour stagnant water, so we ate at my parents’ this year. My mom always sets such a pretty table. 

We have so much to be thankful for.  I loved watching the message of hope from the prophet last week. He encouraged us to practice more gratitude through prayer and outward expression, social media, journaling. Etc. I loved reading everyone’s posts and being uplifted by this challenge.

Cranberry Salsa: 

1 12oz bag fresh cranberries

1/4c fresh cilantro (or more!) 

4 green onions 

3/4c sugar

1 seeded jalapeño 

Pinch of salt

2 Tbs fresh lime juice 

Pulse ingredients in a blender or food processor. 

Chill in fridge overnight

Pour over a block of cream cheese and eat with crackers. Sooooo good! 

Homemade: Bone Broth

Tonight I served my family chicken soft tacos with cilantro lime rice. 

The cilantro was from the jar of dehydrated cilantro that we made in the springtime.  Every time I serve  a meal with ingredients from my own yard, I feel like such a domestic queen. I get the same satisfaction using up chicken remains and kitchen scraps to create this insanely smooth and flavor intense bone broth. Something from nothing while my slow cooker does the labor is my kind of kitchen trophy. 

Bone Broth

Water

Chicken bones

1tsp cider vinegar 

3 cloves garlic 

2 whole carrots 

2 stalks celery 

1/3 red pepper 

1/2 green pepper

1/2 onion 

A few peppercorns 

A bunch of herbs from the garden (rosemary, thyme, oregano) 

I threw the remains of a rotisserie chicken and all of the ingredients listed above (most of the produce was what I could scrounge up in the bottom of the fridge drawers as I cleaned it out and spared the fate of being tossed out to the hens) into the crockpot, covered with water, and let them simmer on low for over 24 hours, adding about 3 more cups of water after the first 6 hours or so.  The result was incredible!   I don’t make bone broth very often because I don’t want to babysit a pot on my stove all day long. But my slow cooker? She’s a work horse and holds BFF status after this masterpiece. Soooo yummy, I strained it and sipped up a steaming hot bowl of it right away. The rest (shown above) was put into the freezer.  Look at those happy containers put up for a bitter cold winter’s day. 

Gratitude Month: Comfort Food

Oh I’m so thankful for comfort food! 

I made a killer homemade lasagne tonight.

I’m not lying, folks. This beauty is a trophy of domestic deity. 


Beef

Sausage 

Onion

Herbs 

Ricotta cheese

Italian blend cheese

Fresh Parmesan 

Fresh Garlic 

Eggs

Dry Italian seasoning 

Shredded mozzarella 

16-20 Lasagne noodles 

Brown 2 parts ground beef to 1 part ground sausage with diced onion. Add a tomato sauce, Italian herbs/seasonings, 1 clove fresh garlic, and let simmer down while you cook your lasagne noodles to al dente. Right before you assemble the lasagne, add a healthy dose of heavy cream 

Whisk together 16 oz ricotta cheese, 4oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, 3 gloves pressed garlic, 2 eggs, oregano, basil, thyme (or a dried Italian blend), and 1 cup shredded Italian blend or Asiago cheese. 

Layer: 

sauce, noodles, spread the creamy spread over the noodles, ladle the meat sauce, top with mozzarella, then noodles, creamy spread, sauce, cheese, noodles, creamy spread, sauce, cheese, x5 perfect layers. Don’t put the creamy layer on top though...just mozzarella and sauce.  Cover with foil and bake at 375* about 45 minutes. Let stand 5-10 min before cutting and serving and devouring your masterpiece. Serve with baguettes and salad. 

Blackened Honey Salmon

Blackened Honey Salmon 
Melt together: 
1/2 cup honey 

1/4 cup butter

2  tsp garlic (powder or salt)

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp onion powder 

Pour all over salmon fillets in a super hot skillet. Cook on med-hi for 6-8 min each side. 

Give a few generous grinds of sea salt on each side. 

Serve with blackened corn and sweet potato hash. 

To prepare this side dish I just cut a bunch of leftover steamed corn off the cobs and blackened it up a bit in a frying pan with diced sweet potatoes, red and orange sweet peppers, and onion. Sauté in butter and dust with Seasoning salt or cumin and a few squeezes of fresh lime. 

Chicken, Artichoke, and Wild Rice soup

I can’t get any drafts with pictures to post. I need to hire a guru to back up my blog and give it a makeover. I just found out like a month ago there’s an annoying cat icon image thingie in the middle of the screen. Well that’s annoying. And yet all three of you came back anyway. It’s probably for this recipe. 

I love me a pantry recipe! 

This is adapted from a recipe from Linsey G. Hers is almost the same but I omitted the cooking wine and added artichoke hearts. 

Now I am sure this soup would be out of this world delicious if I took the time to kick it up a notch and make a rue and add heavy cream and all that jazz. And I know y’all are raising an eyebrow at me as soon as you see condensed cream of chicken on the ingredient list, but listen, it’s good. And I’m a soup snob and still say it’s good.  And some night one of your two year olds might pour a whole bottle of glue on her head and then you might be glad you can whip this goodness up in a snap and let it simmer the 15 minutes it takes to wash her hair before it becomes a decopodge of hair and naughty giggles. Ha! 

Anyway, here we go. 

Chicken and artichoke wild rice soup

6 cups chicken stock

1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped up

1 box Uncle Ben’s original recipe long grain and wild rice 

2 cans chicken (I know. I know! Cook up your own if you want, you’ll be better for it. I choose time with this one and it’s all good)

1 26oz can cream of chicken soup. 

Put everything in a pot and let it do its thing. 

A squirt of fresh lemon juice gives it a little zip. 

 

Buttermilk Syrup

I've probably posted this recipe before, but I can never seem to find it when I need it, so here it is (again). 

Caramel Buttermilk Syrup (from Carly P) 

1/2c buttermilk 

1/2c butter 

1c sugar

1T corn syrup

1 t vanilla 

1 t baking soda

Mix first 5 ingredients in. Large sauce pan (go big! As you can see in the pic, it foams up when you add the baking soda.) 

Bring to near boil, add baking soda, cook one minute while stirring. 

Remove from heat and let cool. Add pancakes. :) 

"There's always money in the banana stand"

We introduced the neighborhood to chocolate dipped frozen bananas, today. They'd never even heard of them! 

If anyone else out there is missing out on this bit of goodness here's how to make them: 

Frozen Bananas

1) peel fresh bananas

2) cut bananas in half and stick a Popsicle stick in them. 

3) lay bananas flat on parchment or Saran wrapped baking sheet, freeze overnight.  

4) dip frozen bananas in melted chocolate (we used chocolate almond bark this time because it's easy to melt and work with. I think real chocolate tastes better) 

5) add sprinkles because sprinkles 

Next time, dark chocolate and toffee bits! 

Garden to Table

Look at all the green! Isn't it a happy sight? The spinach and kale were greenhouse winners this winter, but honestly, I used the fresh herbs more than anything. 

She got the beet :) 

I had plans to grill last night, but a heavy downpour of rain changed plans and this beauty was the fortunate result. 

Roasted Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

Preheat oven to 450*

Give the tenderloin a good rubdown with some olive oil and a generous splash of  balsamic vinegar. 

Lay in roasting pan (I line mine with parchment because caked on balsamic vinegar is a ridiculous challenge to clean.) 

Season with 3+ cloves of pressed fresh garlic and black pepper, then top with fresh thyme and rosemary (thanks, garden!) 

Next to the pork, I added a layer of chopped garden beets and carrots. 

Roast at 450* for 30 minutes. 

Pork perfection. 

This just in: beets still taste exactly like cooked dirt. Blech. The juices, however, were amazing and made the carrots savory and wonderful, and the vibrant drippings blended with the balsamic vinegar and gave the bottom of the pork an incredible punch of sweetness. Really really good. Even if the beets themselves tasted like I was chewing earth, they really added a unique little something something that dressed the dish beautifully. 

Apple Cider Pork Tenderloin

My allergies may be killin me, but I still knocked dinner outta the park tonight. Aaron dropped his fork on his empty plate and simply said, "That was excellence. Thank you." 

So here's the recipe, since it's one worth making again. My photos are...well pathetic, but just know the recipe has high praise from the Mister. 

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Apple Cider reduction glaze.  

Cut two pork tenderloins in half, so the 4 pieces will fit into a small roasting pan. 

Pat pork dry and brush with oil, then season with salt and pepper. 

Sear the pork (about 2-3 minutes each side) in a hot skillet to give it a nice browned crust. 

Place deseed pieces onto a roasting pan in a 450* oven. Roast 15-18 minutes 

While pork is roasting, whisk together 1 1/2 cups Apple cider and 1/2 Apple cider vinegar and pour into the hot skillet. Bring to a boil and let it cook down into a glaze by stirring occasionally and scraping up the flavor in the pan from searing the pork. 

Add cooked tenderloins back into the skillet and cook 1-2 more minutes to get coated with the cider reduction glaze. (It will thicken up almost like syrup as the water boils out.)  

 

I served this dish with parmesan risotto, pomegranate arils, and butter n brown sugar roasted acorn squash. It was perfectly autumnal. 

Ok so the yellow plate doesn't help, but trust me, dinner was en pointe. Kids loved it, too. 

(The squash took about 30-40 min to cook)

"A falta da pan, tortillas." Gringo Fiesta VI

It's the end of February, and at Fort Willy that means one thing: Gringo Fiesta! 

They came.

They ate. 

They grew mustaches.

Soren called his mustache, "my nose"

The 6th annual Gringo Firsta was celebrated with Kasey the Shaw Family. What more can I say? 

When winter gets long, eat lots of food. Then sing a little song and let friends change yer mood. 

It's a simple formula, really:

Food=Good

Friends=Good

Meg=Happy

Pork Carnitas 

2 pork tenderloins, 6-8 large fire roasted Hatch chilies (peels, stems, and seeds removed), 1 sliced red bell pepper, 1 sliced onion, 2 large tomatoes cut into chunks, 1TBS caldo de pollo. 

Everything into the crock pot and cook on low all day, baby. 

Shred, squeeze a fresh lime over the top, and eat on la abuela tortillas with black beans, cilantro lime rice, guac, salsa, cheese, sour cream, etc. 

I'm making a few family favorites this week: carne con chile, CPK southwest pizza, and my sweet potato and black bean enchiladas. 

I'm also planning to try a couple new dishes. I met a woman at a garage sale who gave me a recipe for Chicken Chilaquiles (which I typed in shorthand into my phone months ago and can't make sense of it all now) and I just watched 2 YouTube videos in Spanish to fill in the missing steps. I'll post a recipe and pic later.

We're also eating leftover pork on Tortas for dinner tonight. 

Snow Day 1

I don't claim to favor winter, but I can't resist a good snow day. When the weather reported potential snowfall, our hopes were up. 

We ate grilled cheese and chili and went to bed with great anticipation. 

Yes! 

We woke up to this winter wonderland. 

School canceled! 

Good thing we planned ahead. 

First, bundling up, snow play, sledding, and shoveling. 

How cute is this snow bunny? 

He only lasted 45 minutes. That frozen face is too sweet. 

I brought him inside and he stayed in his bib but enjoyed the snow from indoors. Smart boy. I joined him in watching the fun happening out below while I fed Sloane. Aaron shoveled the driveway and came in occasionally with wood for the fire. 

The snowball makers from. Auntie Amy were put to good use. That's a gift that keeps on giving year after year. Super fun toy! 

At one point the doorbell rang. 

It was Cupid at the door, delivering a snow valentine. "Look mom! It's a heart, for you!" Be. Still. My. Heart. 

Once the crew was officially frozen they came in seeking sustenance. I made smoothies and, to remind us of our days in the Wisconsin frozen tundra, some Max and Erma's style BBQ chicken quesadillas. 

BBQ Chicken Quesadillas

Grilled chicken

Sweet Baby Ray BBQ sauce

Favorite salsa

Green onions 

Supremo Queso

La abuela tortillas 

This is a lunch favorite where product brands are key to perfection. 

Chop up chicken and toss with a mixture of of 2/3 BBQ sauce 1/3 salsa. 

Heat griddle to 325* cook tortillas 1 minute on one side.

Flip tortillas, cover with cheese, spoon chicken onto 1/2 of each tortilla and top with diced green onions. 

Fold tortillas over in half and let each side cook an additional minute. Serve drizzled with ranch and/or BBQ and top with fresh pico, cilantro, or avocados. 

After lunch, we made chocolate dipped strawberries and delivered them to neighbors.

While Soren took his nap, Reese made popcorn in the whirly pop and we busted out Maleficent, the first of a couple redbox movies that we grabbed before the storm hit. Tender hearted Quincy cried that no one would just hug Maleficent when her heart was broken to make her not be mean angry. "If I was a fairy I would just hug her and be her friend so she would stay nice and not curse the baby. She's mean because she thinks no one loves her." Wise words of compassion from an 8 year old. 

Everyone just went back outside for round two of snow play.

Tonight: FHE, hot cider, bubble baths, and a few chapters of The World According to Humphrey, then Aaron and I will watch the other redbox when the kids go to bed.  

Today reminded me of a quote I read last week.

"Fatigue is the common enemy of us all—so slow down, rest up, replenish, and refill. Physicians promise us that if we do not take time to be well, we most assuredly will take time later on to be ill."

-Jeffrey R. Holland (Like a Broken Vessel, General Conference October 2013)

Today was the best way to slow down, rest up, replenish, and refill. Everyone trapped together with no pressure to accomplish the tasks of daily grind? Yes, please. Aaron did work from home for several hours today, but just having him here was really great. This snow day could not have come at a better time. As Corbin says, "I spent all of my fun today."

We just got the call that school has already been canceled for tomorrow. I am so thankful. I see fresh bread and a Harry Potter Marathon in our forecast.