I haven't been very creative in the kitchen lately. For that matter, I haven't cooked very much lately. Between the kids activities, work, grad school and a bum tooth, food hasn't really been a priority. For today's topic, we'll have to make to with a favorites list:
1. Homemade Artisan Bread. This is seriously easy. Flour, water, salt and yeast are all the ingredients you need. Oh, and time. You need at least 12 hours of rising time for this recipe, but it is so worth it! Total hands on-time is about 15 minutes and you end up with a delicious round loaf of bread that you would have paid a lot for in a bakery. That's my loaf shown above...I could hardly believe I made something that looked so professional! Eat it with soup, slice for sandwiches, or my favorite, put in pan while cooking eggs so it gets toasty and spread with jam. Yummy!
2. Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup. Another super easy one...potatoes, garlic, onion, chicken broth in slow cooker for hours, then made creamy with cream cheese. Of course it's delicious, just don't make a habit of it... this is not a healthy way to eat your veggies!
3. Home Made Body Wash. I don't know why, but when I saw this recipe, I just wanted to try it. It seems like I always have body wash on my shopping list. It's kind of expensive and doesn't really last very long. I ordered soap (Tom's of Maine) and vegetable glycerin from Amazon.com and bought distilled water at the grocery store. Grate the soap and combine it with the glycerin and distilled water in a big soup pot. Heat until melted and combined, then put in bottles to use. I use it for body wash and hand soap. Kind of a lot of work, but I like knowing that I made it and I don't freak out when the kids dump a half a bottle down the drain "by accident".
A couple weeks ago, I attended a Taste of Home Cooking School event in Fargo. It was a lot of fun and I got some great recipe ideas from the presenter. We also got two limited edition Taste of Home magazines full of recipes and a year subscription to Healthy Cooking. A few of the recipes I have tried so far:
4. Johnsonville Sausage Meatballs. Using Johnsonville Italian sausage links as the meat in these meatballs adds great flavor. These were really quick to make and went great with my homemade marinara and pasta.
5. Emeril's New Orleans Garlic Chicken. All I can says is Yummy...try it and you will see. Emeril takes "simple" breaded chicken breasts to a whole new level. Phil doesn't eat breading, but he said this chicken was so moist and tender I can make it again. That's a definite compliment coming from him!
6. Grilled Chicken, Pesto and Two-Cheese Naan Pizza. Using naan (Indian flat bread--I just buy it at Walmart off the clearance cart) as the crust, this pizza is super easy. Pesto sauce (which I still have a ton of in the freezer from last summer), chicken red peppers, olives and cheese all combine into this delicious meal. Try cooking it on the grill for a summery twist!
A few that I have bookmarked and will be trying in the near future:
1. Stacked Roasted Vegetable Enchiladas. Any excuse to get veggies on the table is a good one in my book. Roasting the veggies before putting this dish together just adds another dimension of deliciousness!
2. Spaghetti with Garlic, Olive Oil and Pepper Flakes Simple as that, nothing else. Whenever I cook pasta, I try to make double and stash some in the fridge for later in the week. I have a big baggie of spaghetti just waiting for some garlic and hot pepper flakes. As Rachel Ray would say...Yum-o!
3. Tomato, Basil, and Fresh Mozzarella Salad. I can't wait until summer comes and we start getting our weekly CSA boxes...this is what I dream about all winter when I'm eating frozen or store-bought produce. Maybe with the early melt, the deliveries from Red Goose Gardens will start early?
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