Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup With Asparagus and Caramelized Mushrooms

This is my 2nd time making this dish and I LOVE it! It's kinda chickenoodlesoupy but with a lot more flavor! It's made with a ton of delicious, fresh, healthy ingredients from the farmers market, my yard, and of course Publix.

Ingredients:
6T Butter/Olive Oil
4 Chicken Breasts
2 48oz boxes of Chicken Broth
2 Lemons
1 Lime
2T white wine Vinegar
1/2T Sriracha
1/2 a red/purple Onion
4 cloves Garlic
1 large Carrot (or several smaller ones)
1/2 a Bell Pepper (I used green this time and orange last time, doesn't matter)
1 Bay Leaf
2T dried Thyme (or several fresh, sprigs if you have it)
1 sprig fresh Rosemary
Seasoning Salt (I use McCormic)
Paprika

1 Tomato
8oz Baby Bella Mushrooms
1 Shalot (or the other half of the red onion)
1 box Orzo pasta
Fresh Basil
Fresh Parsley
A bunch of Asparagus (and/or fresh chopped Spinach, Broccoli, Green Beans, Asparagus Beans...)

Ok, so first things first; chop up the onion and garlic, and zest the lemons. Trim the meat and season it with seasoning salt and paprika. Put half of the oil in large stock pot with all the garlic, half the onion, and a liiiitle bit of the lemon zest. Let that sizzle until the onions barely start to caramelize. Then, put the chicken in and sear it on each side. Once the chicken is seared you will add much of the remaining ingredients.... Add the rest of the chopped onion, juice of both lemons and the lime, white wine vinegar, diced carrot and Bell Pepper, Bay leaf, Thyme, and Rosemary. (All of the italicized ingredients at the bottom of the ingredient list are not added until the end!)

Bring all that to a boil then turn it down to simmer for a couple hours, until the chicken just starts to fall apart. You can speed this up by chopping up the chicken before seasoning and searing it.

So, when the meat is starting to fall apart it's time to initiate the next phase. I learned a little something about cooking mushrooms from this post; which is why the mushrooms receive the treatment they do. You will need to chop up the shallot and mushrooms. Put the remaining butter or oil in a large skillet and heat on medium heat. When the oil is hot, put in the chopped shallot and mushrooms and allow them to caramelize, stirring occasionally.
While the mushrooms caramelize, you will need to add the Orzo and diced Tomato to the soup. Then, when there's only a few minutes left add the Asparagus (chopped into bite sized pieces), chopped fresh Basil and Parsley (if you don't have fresh, just leave the Basil and Parsley out). When I add the Asparagus I remove the tough bottom section, but the bottom of the edible part I put in first, then the middle, then the top; each a minute or 2 after the previous, this keeps the tops from getting overcooked, the tops barely need to cook at all.
Immediately before serving, stir half of the caramelized shallot and mushrooms into the soup; save the other half to sprinkle on top as a garnish.

And there you have it! Lemon Chicken Orzo soup with Asparagus and Caramelized Mushrooms. The first time I made it I added chopped fresh Spinach near the end with the fresh Basil and Parsley. It was delish! We are starting to have a TON of Yard Long Beans (aka Asparagus Beans) in the garden, so I might try them next time, instead of Asparagus. I think Broccoli would be good in this soup as well (or instead).
Enjoy!

Change of plans...

A few months ago I said I would be getting co-op produce boxes for the foreseeable future... Well sometimes the future presents unforeseen circumstances that bring about change. This is one of those times, sort of. My reasons are MANY... here are a few of them.

First, the co-op changed the pick-up time from 4:30 to 2:15. The middle of the day on Saturday was inconvenient for me as I am typically in the middle of something, gardening, chores, homework.... I sucked it up and made the time for a few more weeks. But, at the same time I kept having items in my box that were unusable either due to spoilage, I had a ton of the item already (I'm looking at you potatoes), or because I didn't like the item. Yes, the co-op has a trade-in box. So you can trade stuff, but at a certain point that is a pain. I felt bad trading more than 1 or 2 items in the box, and sometimes the trade-in box didn't have anything I wanted. As far as the spoiled food, I get it, it happens. They do guarantee their product, but every week there was something and again it was kind of a pain, especially if I was planning something for that item.

While all of this was going on I made a life changing discovery.... There is a year-round farmers market 5 minutes from my house!!!! So, I didn't order a co-op box that week and we tried the farmers market instead. HOLY. CRAP.  That week I got SO MUCH fresh produce.... at least as much as was in one of the co-op boxes but.... I only spent $12 (as opposed to $20-25) and I got to hand select my items, meaning nothing went to waste. There was even vendors at the market selling farm fresh eggs and raw honey (the other two things the co-op provides). I was hooked!

We are still working on the yard but when planting season (September here in Florida) comes around our garden bed will be filled with beautiful soil and plants. The plan is to be able to grow as much of our produce as we can. Based on the research I have done, we should be able to grow most of what we eat. So, when that time comes I may not need to go to the farmers market anymore. I am growing almost all my own herbs now and I harvested my first home grown onions this week. I can't wait until I can just walk out into my yard and pick the veggies for that days meal! But for now, I will get what I need from my local farmers market :)

Avocado Pasta Sauce

I love pasta, especially with creamy sauce like Alfredo. Unfortunately, I am lactose intolerant and thus can only have it in limited quantities. Fortunately, I also love avocados! When I heard that I could make a delicious creamy pasta sauce out of them, I couldn't wait to try it! The first time I made it, I was hooked!

Avocado pasta sauce is now in the list of go-to recipes for me! This weeks Produce Co-Op box has avocados in it. So, I figured now was a good time to finally write down the recipe...

Ingredients:
2-3 ripe avocados (pitted and pealed)
butter/olive oil
1 lemon
garlic salt
cream cheese

Optional ingredients:
Green onion/chives
basil
Parmesan
shredded mozzarella
sour cream
tomatoes
other herbs
bacon
anything else your imagination can come up with!

I cook the pasta first- I find that spaghetti type noodles don't work as well as other types (like bowtie, spiral, or elbow) since the sauce is kind of sticky, spaghetti/angel hair noodles tend to become a giant clump of pasta and sauce. Once it is done and strained, leave it in the strainer.
But, while the pasta is cooking I do the prep for the sauce.
First, the avocado needs smashing. I have done this in a food processor, potato ricer, and ziploc bag. If the avocado is soft enough, I just put it in a ziploc and smash it with my hands. I like this method best because it doesn't contribute to the pile of dishes I tend to create. If I don't have any bags, or the avocado is too firm to smash with my hands, I prefer the texture produced by the potato ricer versus the food processor.
Next, you need to zest the lemon. When the pot you cooked the pasta in is empty put it back on the burner on low, add a couple tablespoons of butter and/or olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the lemon zest and cook for a couple minutes. Then, add the avocado and the juice of the whole lemon. Stir that up. Add about 1/4-1/2 a block of cream cheese and few shakes of garlic salt. Some recipes I have seen for avocado pasta don't have any dairy in them, you can do that too. I even tried it with vegan "cheese" once, it just wasn't as good, in my opinion.
Once the cheese is melted and everything is well mixed, I add the pasta back to the pot and stir until the pasta is evenly coated. At this point I usually add a little Parmesan and/or some of the other optional ingredients I listed. That's it! Time to eat! I usually serve this pasta with fish but it's good with chicken or by itself too. One of my favorites with it is my Tomato Lime Tilapia (only I use fresh tomatoes now that I seem to have an endless supply of them from the co-op).

Give it a try! I Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Quick Refrigerator Pickles!

So, I LOVE pickles! I especially love it when they're super crisp and delicious.
Every time I get my hands on cucumbers, I turn at least some of them into pickles. I am told these are more marinated cucumbers. But, I'm not sure when they cross from marinated cucumber territory into pickle territory... they taste like pickles to me!

This recipe is for 2 Quart jars- So, half of each amount goes in each jar.
Ingredients:
2-3 large cucumbers
1/2 a bell pepper
1T whole black pepper
3T salt
3T white vinegar
8 pearl onions
6 cloves of garlic
a bunch of dill... differs based on fresh/dried
water

I simply chop the cucumbers and bell peppers, I take the papery outside off the onions and garlic, but I leave them whole. I split all the ingredients between the 2 jars and fill the rest of the way with water, leaving only a little space at the top (as seen in the picture). Then, shake them and put them in the fridge for 24 hours (shaking every 8 hours or so). DONE!

When I have enough fresh dill, I cram as much in there as seems reasonable. This time I only had a little fresh dill (my plants haven't recovered from the last batch of pickles). So, I supplemented with dried dill. When I have dried, store bought, dill I find the strength of their flavor varies greatly. (That being said, I usually use *about* 2T dried dill in each of the 2 jars and adjust accordingly.) You can use any amount of pretty much any ingredient EXCEPT the salt and vinegar. You can, of course, tweak those a bit too... but I can tell you from experience, it's easier to add more than remove it if it's too strong... Note: I have never had pickles that were "too dilly" I just don't know if that's possible. I have however, had pickles that are too oniony... please, learn from my mistakes. lol

As you can tell, the recipe is not exact. But, remember you can always add more after your first taste!

Hope you like it!

Modified French Chicken

I have this photocopy of a photocopy of a recipe that my mom cut out of a newspaper some 20+ years ago. I remember she would make a slightly altered version using white wine instead of red, fresh mushrooms instead of canned, and corn starch to thicken it, instead of tapioca. I have made it a number of times and each time I deviate a little further from the recipe. Well, the produce box this week had mushrooms in it and someone in the co-op posted a photo of mushrooms on some pasta and it reminded me of this recipe. So, that's what we had for dinner last night! As you can see, the original recipe was a crock pot recipe; If you use a crock pot you can just put the chicken in, put the chopped up veggies and other ingredients in the pot and turn it on low-medium. Stir occasionally. And it's done in 7+ hours. When I have time, I do cook it that way but, I didn't have that luxury this time. The following instructions are for stove-top preparation.

You will need:

1-2 lbs of chicken (I used 4 chicken breasts)

Mushrooms

Carrots

Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

1/2c Wine (white or red, both are good)

2T Butter (I used 1T of butter and 1T of my pepper oil)

2c Chicken Broth

1/2-1 Sweet Onion

3 cloves of Garlic

The leaves from a few sprigs of fresh Thyme (or 1/2t dried)

1 Bay Leaf

Corn Starch or Flour to thicken.

Salt to taste

Start by chopping up your garlic and onion into very small pieces.  Put that in a pot with the butter/oil and turn on low. Finish chopping the remaining veggies into bite size pieces set them aside for now. 

Turn up the burner to medium and when the pot is hot and the garlic and onions are sizzling add the chicken. Turning after a couple minutes, once the first side is just barely cooked. Then, you can add the all the remaining ingredients (except the corn starch/flour and about 1/4c of the chicken broth, save those till the very end). When it starts to boil turn the burner back to low.

I let this simmer on the stove for about an hour and a half while I finished up some homework. When everything in the pot is cooked through is long enough, but the longer you let it cook, the more tender the chicken will be and the more flavorful the sauce. I like to cook it as long as I can to get as close to the crock-pot-chicken as possible. Anyway, when it's about done mix the reserved 1/4c of broth with 1-2T corn starch or flour. I used flour this time, because I was out of corn starch; but I prefer the corn starch. Once mixed, add it to the pot, stir, and let simmer a couple more minutes until the sauce has thickened.

 I usually serve this over pasta, but I have also made it with rice and that was good too. Give it a try, let me know what you think!

Fire Roasted Pepper Infused Oil

I promised the Fire Roasted Pepper Oil recipe a couple weeks ago. So, here it is! It's super simple and makes adding a little extra flavor to a dish really easy.

You will need:
A canning jar or 2
Pure Olive Oil- not extra virgin
Peppers- So far, I've only done this with bell peppers and baby bell peppers but I'm sure you could use other peppers as well. I've heard chili pepper infused oil is really good!

In this batch used a total of 4 full size bell peppers for the 2 quart jars shown to the right. Half a pepper of each color (red, green, orange, and yellow) went into each jar.
I have seen similar recipes which included garlic and/or onions as well. I might try that next time!!

Preheat the oven to about 275°F. Wash the peppers, cut them in half, remove the seeds and stems. I wait and make this whenever I happen to be grilling so I don't have to light the grill just to roast peppers for 10 minutes. You could also roast them in the oven if you don't have, or don't want to use, a grill.

So, once the peppers are prepared, and the grill is hot, you put them on the grill for about 5 minutes on each side. Just until they are a little softened and have grill marks on them. You don't want them too charred or too mushy. They will cook a little more in the next step.

When they are ready, put half of each pepper in each jar. Then, pour the olive oil over them. You can really use as much or as little as you want but make sure to leave at least an inch or so of space at the top. Place the jars in a metal roasting pan and into your pre-heated oven until the oil in them is bubbling steadily, about 20-30 minutes. This is why you don't want to over fill the jars, so it doesn't bubble over. After the oil reaches a boil, remove the tray of jars from the oven and carefully place the jar lids on the jars. Make sure they are on straight in order to properly form a seal, but be careful the metal lids heat up fast! As the jars cool the lids should suction and seal. Allow them to cool all the way to room temperature before transferring them to the fridge.

From what I've read, the peppers and oil can be kept for up to 3 months in the refrigerator, or longer in the freezer. The oil becomes cloudy and solidifies a bit in the fridge making it really easy to scoop out a tablespoon or 2 for cooking. I find myself replacing olive oil with this pepper oil in pretty much all my dishes. So, I go through it pretty quickly but I did put one of these jars in the freezer because I doubt I could use both quarts within 3 months.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

*A note about canning: I am a complete noob to canning. I have a basic understanding but not much experience, yet. Many recipes similar to this make no reference to sealing the jars at all (most skip the oven step completely-but I think it gets more pepper flavor into the oil). It is refrigerator kept and is good for 3 months even without being sealed — So, sealing the jar is probably not imperative, for this recipe. I do wonder though, could properly sealed jars keep for longer, maybe even out of the fridge? I've read arguments against oven canning, but I can find just as many people who are pro-oven. Would I need to pressure can them, since there is oil involved?
Have you made or canned infused oils before? If so, what have you learned?

TACOS!

So, this weekend we spent most of the time working in the yard. We we did get to go to ECHO's annual Food and Farm Festival, which was awesome! While we were there we picked up some more plants for our backyard food forest in progress. If you have not been to ECHO, I highly recommend it! When we got back from that, we picked up this weeks produce box and headed home. I started cooking dinner and while it simmered we planted. What I made for dinner was inspired by the Cubanelle Peppers in this weeks box: TACOS!!


You will need:

1lb Ground Beef
1 Cubanelle Pepper
1 Baby Bell Pepper
2 Tomatoes
1 small Onion
4-5 cloves of Garlic
Fresh Oregano
Fresh Savory
1-2T Chili Powder
1-2T Sirracha
1 7oz can of Tomato sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste

I started by removing the seeds from the peppers (setting them aside for potential planting) and putting the peppers in the food processor with the tomatoes, garlic, and onion. I had a huge onion left from my produce box the other week. So, I used half of that instead of a whole normal sized onion. I chopped up the fresh herbs. I had never used Savory before; it is one if the things we got at ECHO. I really liked it!

I browned the meat. Once the meat was about half way cooked, I poured in the salsa-y mix from the food processor along with the remaining ingredients. You can of course alter your amounts of everything, particularly the Chili Powder and Sirracha to your prefered level of spice.

I let that cook down for about 2 hours and soak up all the flavor. You could just cook until the meat is cooked through, but I would not add the can of tomato sauce. That way it isn't too runny, since the liquid won't have time to evaporate off.

I served it topped with chopped Grape Tomatoes, Romaine Lettuce (both from the produce box), black olives, shredded cheese, and sour cream. I wanted to have avocado on it too but they were not ripe enough. It came out super tasty!

Herb Roasted Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, and Potatoes

So, my produce box this week contained Brussels Sprouts.... I had tried them before and was not really a fan. But, that was years ago and I am re-trying things so... I kept them (as opposed to trading them in or giving them away). I am happy to report, I am glad I did!
I also had 3 GIANT carrots in my box and had no clue what to do with them. Into the dish they go! But, I felt it needed something else too.... Well, this weeks box also had a bunch of creamer potatoes (hmm... what's a "creamer" potato?).
I think it came out great! This dish was yummy and was quite colorful (if only I had some of the purple potatoes from a couple weeks ago left).


Preheat the oven to 425. And get to chopping...

You will need:
Brussels Sprouts
Carrot(s)
Creamer Potatoes
Fresh Thyme
Fresh Rosemary
Green Onion
4 cloves of Garlic
2 T Fire Roasted Pepper Oil (recipe coming soon*)
       You can use olive oil instead (If you do, maybe add some peppers to the dish)
A few shakes of Parmesan
Salt/pepper to taste

You'll notice I didn't really put in amounts for most of the ingredients... Well, I didn't measure them and the amounts are very flexible. If you love carrots, use more carrots. If you aren't so sure about the brussels sprouts, use a little less of those. I just used all the brussels sprouts from my box and one giant carrot and enough potatoes to have relatively even amounts of the three. Chop them all into bite-size pieces. I cut the garlic cloves into quarters (they were large) but you could mince them if you wanted. I have the green onions from the produce box 2 weeks ago growing in a jar in my kitchen. I can hardly use them in enough dishes to keep them trimmed! They just keep on growing! I chopped up the green tops of several of those. I got 2 whole sprigs of rosemary (but you probably want to pull these out before serving) and pulled the leaves off several sprigs of thyme.

I put all that, as well as the remaining ingredients, into a plastic bag and shook it to mix it and coat everything evenly with oil and seasoning. I poured it into a glass baking dish and put it in the oven for 20 min, took it out and stirred it and put it back in for another 20 min, until the carrots and potatoes were done. I served it with some slow-grilled chicken and it was delicious. I thought I made enough to have leftovers but we ATE IT ALL!

 I will definitely make it again. I might even remove brussels sprouts from the list of foods I "don't like"... Hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

~Sarah

A new day!

Well friends and followers (which at this point I am pretty sure is just my mother, HI Mom!), this post will not contain a recipe. It is to explain that there will be a bit of a shift in the blog. My love of cooking first manifested itself in a desire to experiment with recipes my mother taught me while I was growing up. That love has now evolved into creating recipes of my own from scratch.

So, what is different, you ask? Me. I am different. During the period of time since I have posted (2.5 years!), my life went through a bit of a shift. I decided to try to do less things that are bad for me and more things that are good for me. Now, that sounds very non-specific... I know. It was and is non-specific. This shift started with valuing myself. Something I had forgotten how to do. That is not what I am here to talk about though; I am here to talk about FOOD!

Part of treating myself poorly, was eating whatever was easiest and or cheapest. So, I started paying more attention to what I was eating. I am not going to get in to all the worrisome "food" that makes it into our diets... It is almost unavoidable to consume these questionable products, unless one goes to arguably extreme measures. Now, my long term plan may seem extreme to many, but in the short term, the plan is simply to make better food choices. Try new things, with an open mind. Try things I tried before and "didn't like," with an open mind. So far, it's going great! I now regularly eat many healthier foods that were not a part of my diet before.

I also started growing my own herbs. I loved being able to walk out on to the back patio, cut some fresh thyme and rosemary for use in my next meal. My partner and I are currently in the process of renovating our back yard. We intend to grow much more than just herbs. In addition to the herbs and fruit trees we started growing last year, this year we've have started: cucumbers, green beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, canary melon, onions, garlic and many others are on the way! All of that is to say, in addition to putting my recipes on this blog, I may also post about what we are growing and how our permaculture-type garden is going. I feel it is a part of the process of cooking, truly from scratch.

Another change that will affect the blog is a recent discover of mine... A few weeks ago I came across SWFL Produce Co-Op. I was very intrigued, as I have been doing a lot of research on CSA (community supported agriculture). While SWFL Produce isn't a CSA, they are providing (mostly) local, organic produce to the community on a subscription-like basis. They don't grow everything themselves and consumers aren't providing funds up front for the promise of food later, but they are providing a wonderful service by obtaining and organizing delicious fresh produce into boxes available for weekly pick-up. Fresh local produce without the risk of a CSA-- That sounds like a win-win to me. Each Monday the contents of the following Saturdays boxes are posted. Then, if you want a box (or several) you let them know which box(es) you want and then you go pick it up on Saturday. Simple.

Let me tell you, when I went and got my first $25 "combo" box, I was blown away. They also have a $20 veggie box and a $20 fruit box, which I have gotten in the subsequent weeks. So much awesome food for such a great price! As a matter of fact, someone in the co-op did a price comparison. How much would the contents of each box cost if you purchased it at Publix? It turns out that we're saving an average $9 a box by purchasing the produce from SWFL Produce instead. On top of that, the money I do spend, supports local businesses and local farmers.

The picture to the right was the first box I got. Everything was fresh and delicious. I came home and immediately went to work cooking. That night I made refrigerator dill pickles and fire roasted pepper oil (will post the recipes when I get around to it). We had the Sweet Corn with dinner and it was delicious! I was hooked. This week was my 4th week and I will be getting the boxes for the foreseeable future.

In addition to saving money and allowing me to conveniently "shop locally", these produce boxes inspire me to create, try new things, and eat healthier. So, I have decided to share the recipes I am creating with the world and maybe inspire some other people too!

If you live in Charlotte or Lee County in Florida, I strongly suggest trying SWFL Produce. If you live elsewhere, look to see if there is something similar in your area. I bet you'll love it!

~Sarah

Chicken Noodle Soup with Great Great Grandma's Danish Dumplings.

So, this recipe is one of the recipes my mom taught me and is one of the first real meals I learned to make for myself after leaving for college. I have since tweaked the soup a LITTLE, but it is pretty true to the original. My Great Great Grandma's Danish Dumplings, however, I have not changed at all.* A good friend of mine says they "taste like Christmas" and she wasn't wrong! ;)
This meal is the epitome of comfort food, in my opinion. Every time I make it, I think about when I was a kid making the dumplings with my mom (and sometimes brother). When I am sick this is the only food that sounds good. I LOVE this dish!

Soup ingredients:

• 3-4 chicken breasts
• 1/4c butter
• 2 boxes chicken broth
• 1/2 a small sweet onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2t seasoning salt (more or less to taste)
• 1T parsley
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 stalks celery cleaned and cut into bite sized pieces
• about 1/2 a bag of baby carrots
• a little chicken bouillon (if you want a little extra flavor in the broth)
• 1-2 potatoes, diced (I haven't been adding this lately... I think there's plenty of starch in it already)
• 1/2 a package of egg noodles (I use "NoYolks")

Great Great Grandma's Danish Dumpling ingredients:

• 1/2c water
• 4T butter
• 1t salt
• 1t sugar
• 2/3c flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2t nutmeg (*I usually cut this in half, just as my mom did :)

I usually make a double batch of the dumplings with the amount of soup here.

The soup part of this dish is fantastic in the crockpot. However, I made it on the stove in a big stock pot this time. 

I melted the butter in the pan and added the onions and garlic. After a few minutes, I added the parsley and cooked over medium heat until the onions were clear. Then, I added the chicken, sprinkled the seasoning salt over them, and seared the outside for a couple minutes on each side. Once that was done, I added the chicken broth, bouillon, celery, and carrots. The hard part is now over... for now. Just put a lid on it, turn the heat down, and let it simmer for a few hours until the chicken is fall-apart-tender. 

The dumplings take about 45 min to make from start to finish, and the noodles that I use take about 12 minutes to cook. So you will want to time them accordingly to be sure not to over cook the noodles.

Dumpling dough before adding eggs. Cooling after adding flour.

To make my Great Great Grandma's Danish Dumplings, bring the water, butter, salt, and sugar to boil in a medium sized sauce pan. Once it has come to a full rolling boil for a min or two, quickly add the flour and mix well, stirring until the mixture forms a dough ball that does not stick to the sides of the pan. (Important note: Several of the times I made this dish the dough was too sticky and runny... the only thing I could come up with to explain why sometimes it comes out perfect and others it doesn't is, the times it doesn't work I didn't let it boil long enough. So, not enough water evaporated. It is just a theory... but if you think you know what else it could be, please let me know!) 

Dumpling dough after adding eggs and nutmeg.
Ready to go into the broth.

At this point, you will need to let the dough cool before adding the eggs, usually about 20 min, give or take, depending on how well your pot holds heat. (Sometimes I will make this part earlier and put it in the fridge while the soup cooks. If I do that, I take it out in enough time for it to come back to room temperature before I move on to the next step. I don't know if that really matters... but, as I mentioned, the recipe can be a bit... temperamental. So, I don't want to take any chances.) While I wait for the dough to cool I usually whisk together the eggs and nutmeg. 

Once the dough is cool you will add the eggs and nutmeg a little at a time and stir very well until all the lumps are out and the texture is consistant. (Now is about when you will want to add the noodles to the soup.) Drop spoonfuls of dumpling dough into boiling broth, cover and cook for about 5 minutes. 

I often fill my soup to the brim with other goodies leaving no room for the dumplings. To remedy the situation I will cook the dumplings in a separate pot and add them to the soup just before serving. If you try to cram the dumplings into a pot that has too much in it already the dumplings get destroyed when you stir... It is also best to cook the dumplings in a separate pot if you make the soup part in the crockpot.

The only other deviations I make some times, particularly if I am impatient or sick, is put all the veggies and spices in the broth and bring that to a full boil until the veggies are cooked. Then, I cut up and add a rotisserie chicken from Publix. Instead of waiting hours for the chicken to be cooked and tender, it's ready in the time it takes to cook a carrot. And, it's almost as delicious! Also, sometimes I thicken the broth at the end with a little cornstarch... makes it more of a gravy than a soup, but it's tasty!

That just about covers it! Chicken Noodle Soup with my Great Great Grandma's Danish Dumplings is one of my favorite meals in the whole world! It is hardy, delicious and filling. 

Give it a try I know you will love it. :)

~Sarah

Citrus Teriyaki Chicken

To make this Citrus Teriyaki Chicken you will need:

2-4 chicken breasts

• Marinade:
• 3/4c teriyaki sauce/marinade
• 1T soy sauce (more or less depending on how salty you want it)
• 1T minced onions
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• Glaze:
• 3T olive oil
• 1 pinch red pepper flakes
• 1T orange rind
• 1/2T lemon rind (I didn't have a grater for the rinds. So, I just sliced a few twists off of the rind)
• juice of an orange
• juice of half a lemon
• 1T rice wine vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1T honey
• 1+1/2T corn starch combined with just enough water to mix and get a liquid. (this is for thickening the glaze at the end)

Start by combining all the marinade ingredients in a large zipper bag with the chicken and allow it to sit. I let mine sit for a few hours, but you can do more or less depending on how much flavor you want it to have. Mine actually had a little too much teriyaki flavor and not enough orange flavor. I have compensated a little bit in the recipe presented here; but you could probably sacrifice some of the marinating time and it would be just as good if not better.

Once the chicken has marinated for a while, you can start to prepare the glaze. In a large sauce pan, combine the olive oil, garlic, orange and lemon rinds, red pepper flakes. Let that heat up until it starts to bubble and give off some aroma. Then, pull the chicken out of the marinade, save the marinade though, and place chicken in the pot. Sear the outside of the chicken. Then, add the remaining glaze ingredients (except the corn starch) and pour some or all of the marinade in the pot as well. (I added all of it but as I said I would reduce the teriyaki flavor next time.) Stir, cover, and let simmer (stirring occasionally) for a couple hours until chicken is tender (for faster prep, cook chicken longer before adding glaze ingredients then just cook chicken until it is done all the way through). Right before serving combine the corn starch-water mix and bring sauce to boil just a couple minutes, until thickened. Serve and eat!

I served it with garlic herb couscous, mango slices, and french style green beans. It was very tasty (despite the imbalanced teriyaki/orange ratio).
Next time, I will do a few things differently: First, I will sear the chicken on the grill instead of in the pot, to give it just a little different flavor. I will also add more orange juice OR I will add some frozen orange juice concentrate so the sauce doesn't get too watery. And perhaps I will add some more red pepper flakes and honey, but we'll see about that. I believe this recipe will also work well in a crock pot.
Give it a shot!

~Sarah

Breaded Halibut

Halibut was on sale, so we bought some. I had never made halibut before, and I had no idea what to do with it! I did some googling, and I read that Halibut has very little fat content, which means that grilling and baking could dry it out. So, I decided frying it was the way to go. I also happened to have a TON of Rice Krispie cereal on hand, so I decided to try that as a breading for the Halibut!

To prepare the fish you will need:

• For breading
• 3c Rice Krispie cereal- crushed
• 1/2c parmesan 
• 2t lemon pepper
• 2t onion powder
• 1t garlic salt
• 1/2T parsley
• For wet mix:
• 1/2c mayonnaise
• 1T minced Garlic
• 2t Old Bay seasoning

To make the fish, put the Rice Krispies in a plastic bag (the large gallon size is best), and crunch them up. You can squeeze it, hit it with a hammer, or various other methods--but I find that rolling it with a rolling pin (or something else that is somewhat cylinder shaped, like a beer bottle lol ;) works great! Once the Rice Krispies are all crunched up, put in the remaining dry ingredients in the bag and shake to mix well.

In a bowl, mix together all of the wet ingredients.
Now, I used mayonnaise for the base of it because I wanted to try something new. When I have made breaded chicken in the past, I have used butter, or milk and egg, to wet the meat before breading.... and I am sure using either of those for this recipe would have been fine. But, I had seen some recipes that used mayo and I figure since mayo is mostly egg and oil (and a bunch of other crap), perhaps it was the best of both worlds. So, I gave it a shot! And, I must say, I will do it again!! It was thicker than the other "liquids" I have used, which meant that more breading stuck to it, and I like that--If meat is breaded, it needs to be crunchy!  

Put the fish pieces into the mayo mix to coat them. Then, put them into the breading, pushing down to make sure plenty of crunchiness sticks ;)

I fried them on medium heat, in a 50/50 olive oil/butter blend, for just a few minutes on each side until browned, and turned to brown all sides. You have to be pretty gentile in order to not knock off the breading. I knew mine was ready when the halibut fell apart. 

I made a packet of hollandaise sauce because I am lazy and soooooo bad at cream sauces... and put it over some pasta and a little over the halibut. It had the perfect lemony zing to compliment the fish.

The breaded halibut was TASTY! If halibut wasn't usually so expensive I would definitely buy it more. It was meaty, not at all fishy, and super tender. You should definitely try this one!

~Sarah

Tomato Lime Tilapia

This recipe is something I threw together the other night. It came out ok, but there are definitely some changes I will make next time. I was feeling incredibly lazy, and I compromised a little too much. lol Oh well!

Ingredients:

• 2 tilapia filets
• 2T olive oil/ butter
• 1/4 of a lime's juice
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 of an onion, chopped
• 1 can of diced tomatos (I used Rotel with lime and cilantro)
• lemon pepper seasoning or salt and pepper 

To make the tilapia, put about a tablespoon of olive oil in the bottom of a ceramic baking dish, lay the tilapia in it, and sprinkle seasoning salt on the filets. Spread the garlic and onion evenly over them, and slice up about a tablespoon of butter to put on top (or just drizzle over a little more olive oil). Then, squeeze the lime over it, and pour the can of tomatos on top. 

I baked it in the oven at 375 for 20'ish minutes (until the fish was done). 

And voila, Tomato Lime Tilapia! 

In retrospect, I would have done several things different. I think it would be better if I had drained the liquid off the tomatoes before adding them (I made the assumption it was the lime juice, of "cilantro and lime", but I think it was mostly water). Next time, I will probably use a little white wine in it; I just didn't have any this time.-- But I think it would be good :) 

This recipe is kind of similar to how I make arroz con pollo (I will post that recipe sometime soon). So, next time I will make it with saffron rice, instead of the angel hair pasta I used this time. It also might be better on the grill. Maybe.

Give it a shot, and let me know if you think of anything that could improve on this early version of Tomato Lime Tilapia!

~Sarah

Raspberry Glazed Salmon

Well, I happened to have a ton of raspberry jam on hand and decided to give it a whirl on some salmon. The recipe is very much still a work in progress; this was only the 2nd time I made it. It was better the first time but I don't remember what I did differently! :( Oh well! It was still very good and there's always next time! (I will update this if I figure it out)

For the salmon you will need:

• 1lb. salmon
• 2t minced garlic
• 1T dried onion (although I am sure fresh is just as good if not better)
• 1T olive oil
• 2T coconut oil
• juice of 1/4 a lime or lemon
• 1T white wine (or hard apple cider, as I had handy this evening ;) 
• salt to taste
• sriracha sauce (last time I used cayenne pepper but I think the sriracha has a better flavor, both work though)

For the raspberry glaze:

• 1/4c raspberry jam
• 1T white vinegar
• pinch of crushed red pepper flakes

I served with:

• strawberry, peach, mango salsa (just cut up fruit with a splash of lemon on it)
• Parmesan couscous (from a box)
• steamed artichoke (Mmmm! One of my favorites!)

To cook the salmon I have used the grill and the oven, I prefer the grill, I think. However, this time I used the oven. I put the olive oil on the bottom of a glass baking dish, which was just big enough to fit the fish. Then, put the salmon in and drizzled the coconut oil over top of it. I spread the onion, garlic, and sriracha sauce evenly over it and let it sit. I waited an hour or so, but you don't have to. Then, about 15 min before I put the salmon in the oven, I added the lemon/lime juice and white wine to the pan.

Meanwhile, I put all the ingredients for the raspberry glaze in a small sauce pan, put it on the stove (on medium-low heat) and stirred to remove all the lumps-- I kept this lightly bubbling, stirring often, until the fish was done.

I put the salmon in a 400 degree oven for about 15 min, until the salmon was almost done. I poured a little of the raspberry glaze, just enough to cover the top, over the fish and switch the oven to broil for a minute or two. Careful not to burn it; just caramelize the sauce a little bit.

Once the fish was out of the oven and on a plate, I drizzled a little more raspberry glaze over it, put some strawberry, peach, mango salsa on top and chowed down!

This fish is great with couscous, but I am sure it would be good with some pasta or coconut rice too! 

I think the dish is still missing something, but I'm not sure what it is. If you figure it out please tell me! 

Hope you enjoy!

~Sarah

Pineapple Coconut Curry Chicken

I would like to preface this first recipe by saying: I prefer things clear cut and exact. I am a very black and white person; no gray area... therefore, no room for mistakes. In order to think outside the box, I had to get over these notions (in the cooking world anyway). Just about every time I make a recipe I try changing it a little, adding something new-- Every great recipe starts out as an experiment; you never know what you will come up with!
I have made this particular dish different each time. I have never measured my ingredients and am, apparently, not very good at documenting their quantities... or the exact ingredients for that matter. So, I think the best thing to do is tell you the base of the recipe and then all the parts that I manipulated. That way, you can experiment with it and make it just the way you like it. :)


Pineapple Coconut Curry Chicken is one of the first (real) dishes I made that didn't originate from a recipe my mom taught me. I make it in a crockpot, but you could make it on the stove if you don't have much time. I really love crockpot chicken that is fall-apart tender. It takes about 5-6 hours to get to that point, but--patience is a virtue.

You will need:

• 3-4 chicken breasts (this is good on salmon* too!)
• 4-5T butter/coconut oil (I usually do about half of each ie. 3T butter 2T coconut oil)
• 1c chicken broth (this can be replaced with fruit juice or something if you are making this for salmon)
• 1 can coconut milk
• 1/2 a pineapple or a small can of pineapple (and a splash of juice)
• 1/2 a small to medium sweet onion- chopped
• 5-10 cloves of garlic- minced (we really like garlic)
• 3-5T curry powder (I find this varies greatly depending on brand)
• 2t seasoning salt (more or less to taste)
• 2T brown sugar

Additional, optional ingredients:

• 1/2 a lime's juice
• 1 small can water chestnuts
• 1 small can bamboo shoots
• 1/2 can baby corn
• other "stir-fry"veggies
• carrots
• a pinch crushed red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper (if you like a little spice)
• orange and/or mango juice
• sliced mango (this ingredient is best if added at the very end, better yet, as a garnish on the plate)
• honey (instead of brown sugar)

If you try anything else in it that you like, let me know! I will add it to the list :)


The great thing about crockpots is you can just put all the ingredients in and forget it... pretty much.
I put almost all of the main ingredients (except half the pineapple and 1/2c of coconut milk) and whatever additional ingredients I choose to use that time into the crockpot and turn it on. It is good to cook some of the pineapple in the sauce the whole time to flavor the sauce, but I like to keep some of it out till the last hour-- That way it has a fresher texture and flavor. Also, I hold about 1/2 a cup of the coconut milk until right before serving to make the sauce a little creamier. Those steps aren't completely necessary but I feel they enhance the flavor.

Once all the ingredients are in, just turn the crockpot on, give it a good stir, and wait... . . .
If you are able, stir it every couple hours (sometimes I turn it on and leave and it comes out just fine). Then, about an hour or so before you are ready to eat, throw in the rest of the pineapple.
If you cook it in the crockpot, it is done once the chicken falls apart when you stir the pot. Right before you are ready to serve, pour in that last half cup of coconut milk.

I usually serve it over coconut rice. You can also use plain rice or pasta, whichever you prefer.

To make coconut rice:

Instead of using only water to make the rice, replace half the water with coconut milk. Sometimes I replace the remaining water with chicken broth too.

So, for my rice, I use:

• 1c Basmati rice
• 1c coconut milk
• 1c chicken broth 

Simmer for about 20 min or until tender.

I usually splash a little soy sauce on mine before I eat (because I am a salt addict).


And you're ready to eat!! Try something new and let me know how you like it!! :)

~Sarah

What are you HUNGRY for??

Hello there!

My name is Sarah and I love to cook tasty food.

For as long as I can remember one of my favorite things to do has been cook. Growing up, some of my favorite memories were cooking with my mom. Whenever I have spare time (or not), one of the first things I think is "I want to make something yummy to put in my tummy!" So off to the kitchen I go, rummaging through the pantry and fridge to see what I have to work with. Usually, this is followed by a whole bunch of Goggling to see if there are any existing recipes for what I have set my heart on.

My obsession wasn't too demanding at first, just find a recipe, follow it, and hope it turns out... but after many failures and dishes that were lacking... something. I decided, if the recipes I found weren't good enough, I would just make up my own! It took a long time for me to get enough confidence in the kitchen to deviate from a recipe someone (I assumed was) more experienced than me had created. But after a while, I realized the dishes I did change I enjoyed much more, not only because it tasted better, but because I put more creative energy into it. I made it my own, and therefore, I felt more rewarded by the product and more motivated to do it again.

Now, that is not to say all the things I make turn out... it usually takes a few times before I have the ingredients and process tweaked to the point I am comfortable sharing it with anyone (other than my boyfriend/guinea pig). Most of my recipes are still, and maybe always will be, works in progress. Once I started doing this regularly, I started to think, the people creating these recipes I find aren't necessarily better cooks than me... they certainly don't know what I like--who says I have to cook by the book?! Isn't that what life is all about--breaking the rules, trying something new, and (hopefully) creating something beautiful!?

A long time ago, I was watching Anthony Bourdain (love him!). He was in some distant, exotic land, and there was a lady making food for him and her family. In her kitchen, she had a sign that said "What are you hungry for?" But, she didn't just mean food--she meant in life. What am I hungry for?.... Hmm, that is a good question! I am hungry to share the things that I love and the things that I have learned with others. Hungry to learn more, keep growing, and continue improving in all areas of my life.

That is where this blog comes in... I cannot just start force feeding everyone I know my "experiments." But, I still get great joy from feeding people. The solution: start writing my recipes down (finally), and sharing them with whomever will listen. My hope is this will also be a tool for me, to collaborate with other cooking enthusiasts willing to share their knowledge.

Welcome, I hope you find something you are hungry for!