Category Archives: Cooking

Bleached Flour

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 22 September, 2013 None comments

What does that really mean? We buy our flour from Costco, and as my husband was carrying the big 25lb bag into our house he read “bleached flour.” What’s the mean, he asked as I was helping carry in the other boxes of Costco goodies. I told him it didn’t sound good but was actually pretty surprised to see that word on Costco’s bag of flour. Normally Costco is really good about being healthy, chemical and preservative free.

I know I’ve read many recipes that call for “unbleached flour” thinking “duh” who would buy the other. Well I’m that person; we all make simple mistakes or get into such routines that we don’t truly pay attention to what we are doing in life. This goes for everything, our marriage, children, friends, and even food. I took the time to look this up and realized it’s a chemical process they do to flour to make it whiter. Wow! I can’t believe the little things that are so toxic to our bodies that we simply ignore or don’t pay attention to. I’ve been in a good routine for awhile with the items I purchase without giving much thought to it. Clearly, I had overlooked this bag of chemical flour for quite some time. To my dismay, I realized routine isn’t always best.

Same goes for life, we get stuck in routines of marriage, kids, school, sports and much more that we lose sight of reality. Don’t get stuck in the mundane routine of life and let busyness take over. We were made to be still and listen yet we get out of this habit instantaneously. I was realizing this morning how our weekends have become filled with entertaining in the evenings and household chores during the day. This isn’t always bad, especially since we just moved and all, but when it becomes a weekly chore week in and week out, we need to refocus again. Weekends were created for relaxation and enjoyment. It’s good to spend that quality time as a family going to the park, enjoying dinner together, watching a football game, and just being. So when you buy the same bag of flour week in and week out and years later finally, your eyes are open to the harm that you have neglected unintentionally for years. Take a step back and reevaluate your “routine.”

Veggie Burgers

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 20 September, 2013 None comments

My dad came down to help build our laundry room. He raised the ceiling, added walls, sheetrock, electrical and much more. I did have a helping hand as my husband was out of town for work; I was standing on a ladder, holding a HUGE, HEAVY piece of sheetrock above my head while my dad nailed it down. There were a couple moments I questioned what would happen if I dropped it, that would not have been a pretty site, my thoughts led me back around to that NOT being an option. My arms were burning; the weight upon my shoulders while holding this wobbly giant on a wiggly ladder was definitely a lot of pressure as I knew dropping this would be a disaster and prolong the process immensely. If you know much about me, I hate heights and wiggly heights none the less. I also have what I call Popeye and buh-bye arms. I get the Popeyes from carrying my son, and the buh-byes haven’t changed. J This technique with my dad challenged the buh-byes rather than the Popeyes I already had.

While he was here he was sharing with me his new invention of yummy veggie burgers amidst our love for beefy beef burgers. He actually made it sounds pretty tasty and worth trying. Take a look and see…

I make my own buns and this is the recipe I use. Depending on my mood and what I am making I add either poppy seeds or cheddar cheese and mix it directly into the dough.

Buns:

3/4 c. hot water
2 T. oil
2 T. sugar
2 t. instant yeast
1 t. salt
1 egg
3-4 cups flour
Poppy seed (optional)
Cheddar Cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a standing mixture; I use Kitchen Aid. Beat till smooth and flour is fully mixed throughout. Add enough flour where the dough is slightly sticky, but doesn’t stick to your finger. Knead for about 5 minutes. If you are adding poppy seeds or cheddar cheese add this now. Divide into 8 portions and roll into 8 balls. Place on well greased cookie sheet and press down with the palm of your hand to flatten slightly. Cover with a tea towel and let rise till doubled. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Insides:

Avocado
Tomato
Cucumbers
Onion
Pickles
Lettuce
Blue Cheese crumbles
Blue cheese dressing

Slice the buns in half and brush with butter and garlic, broil in the oven or BBQ until lightly crispy. Spread Blue cheese dressing on each side of the bun and sprinkle blue cheese crumbles on top. Add slice avocado, tomato, onion, pickles and lettuce and enjoy.

Sounds simple and it is, and it’s very tasty. Thanks to my dad! :)

Breakfast Bake

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 19 September, 2013 None comments

I normally make granola to have on hand and send with my husband for breakfast throughout the week. I send him with berries and milk, or berries and yogurt so he can have a variety with his granola. Although lately he has wanted something else and is worn out on cereal; I normally will send him with breakfast burritos as an alternative but because they require more eggs I wanted to think of something different this time around.

I decided I would make an “egg bake” since I could use it throughout the week rather then make something every night to help save on time. He has also been trying to eat completely different as he wants to lose a few pounds before our trip in two weeks. This being said, I am pretty limited when it comes to his “diet” because he likes to take extreme measures; no dairy, no carbs, no sugar… Well if you haven’t known, most things have carbs and sugar. He finally said he was willing to let me simplify recipes to a healthier version eliminating refined sugars.

I used what I had on hand and came up with this “breakfast bake” that sounds so original. J There are so many “breakfast bakes” as I’m sure everyone else is unsure what to call it, as am I.

Ingredients:

1 lb lean ground turkey
½ onion chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
½ yellow pepper diced
½ red pepper diced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
8 large eggs
1 ½ cup coconut milk
1 tbsp flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Corn tortillas
Shredded cheese (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a skillet combine turkey, onion, garlic, peppers, and mushrooms and cook through. While that is cooking, in a 9×13 greased pan lay down corn tortillas to cover the bottom, overlap so that you have a good thick layer on the bottom as a crust.

(I started making little burritos, don’t do this, the corn tortillas fall apart)

(Just cover the entire bottom with a thick layer of tortillas and lay mixture on top)

In a small bowl whisk eggs, milk and flour and add salt and pepper. Turn skillet off and add egg mixture and mix.

Dump the mixture on top of the tortillas. Lay another layer of tortillas on top of the mixture over lapping to get that thick “crusty” layer. Sprinkle with cheese and bake for 30-40 minutes until egg mixture doesn’t wiggle anymore.

This has lasted all week long for us as I send it with the hubby and my son and I eat it in the mornings as well.

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 17 September, 2013 None comments

So due to our sewer getting fixed and the manure pile being carried in garbage bags through our living room, I decided the smell is a complete diet trick and dinner may not be cooked tonight. (Click here to read about our sewer) Well, I actually can’t even use our sink due to the pipe being broken so I am going to resort to Buffalo Chicken Wraps tonight for an easy quick dinner since we all will need to eat at some point. Now I truly am not hungry as the smell is filling our house and making it seem as though it’s a stable and not a house anymore, but when that point comes this will be roughly a ten minute meal.

I buy rotisserie chickens from Costco as they do not pump hormones into their chickens, they are huge and produce a lot of meat and most of all provide quick meals on the go. I also buy white corn tortillas from Costco as they are very healthy, very few ingredients and they don’t fall apart when you roll them up. I normally buy white flour tortillas but had a sample of this and they are so tasty and better for you.

To be honest, I attempted one for lunch but quickly lost my appetite.

Buffalo Chicken Wraps:

White Corn Tortillas
Romaine Lettuce
Provolone Cheese
Sliced Tomatoes
Rotisserie Chicken
Franks Wing Sauce

Heat chicken in microwave for 30 seconds and toss chicken in a bowl with ¼ cup wing sauce and coat evenly. Depending on spice add more or less sauce that fits your taste buds. Coat a skillet with a little EVOO and place tortilla in pan and allow to lightly brown. This will make it taste more like a burrito than a cold chicken wrap. Place toppings in tortilla, wrap up and enjoy.

Serving with sautéed kale as we are addicted to this side lately and it’s so healthy for you!

Lemon Scrumptious Bars

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 15 September, 2013 None comments

We had some friends over for dinner on Friday night. It was a last minute decision because we were both free and hadn’t spent some time together as families in quite awhile. I am not too sure why, but I have had the worst sweet tooth for the last two weeks. Insanely bad! I have had absolutely no discipline, and not only during the evening when I choose to enjoy my treats, I’ve ventured into the mid morning sweet indulgences as well. So not good for me, but I haven’t seemed to stop this poor habit nor truly desired to, although I’m sure the scale would prompt this to happen sooner rather than later if I stepped on it. Funny how scales quickly show the indulgences of a couple weeks yet when you are good for months prior, the scale still never moves.

Enough of my rant, I chose to make lemon bars since my sweet tooth has been acting up lately it chose something tart instead of my usual affair with chocolate. Even my husband who isn’t a big lemon bar fan devoured this dessert quite promptly. Our guests said the combination of the crust and the glaze made these by far the best lemon bars ever. I must say, this was a very true statement. Today is Sunday and in only two days a whole 9×13 pan has been conquered. We decided they were perfect with our cup of coffee this morning and we might as well finish the pan; neither of us thought it was a good idea for them to sit all day, why not enjoy them now.

You must try this recipe even if you aren’t a big fan of lemon bars.

Lemon Scrumptious Bars:

Crust:

1 cup butter
2 cups flour
½ cup powdered sugar
1 tsp grated lemon peel

Blend together in a standing mixer and press in a 9×13 greased baking dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile make the filling.

Filling:

4 eggs
2 cups sugar
¼ cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon peel

Combine everything in a standing mixture and pour atop the half baked crust. Bake an additional 25-30 minutes or until light golden brown and the middle doesn’t jiggle.

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar
2-3 tbsp lemon juice

Combine the glaze and layer on top of the bars once they are FULLY cooled. Place in the fridge to harden glaze before serving.

These taste the best the next day to be honest. They are delicious the night of but something about them sitting over night makes them that much better.

Enjoy as dessert or truly with a cup o’ jo in the morning. Scrumptious!!!

I must pay tribute to sohowsittaste.com

Mantra Mondays

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 9 September, 2013 None comments

Every Monday I enjoy starting off the week getting prepared with food, dips, and goodies to have throughout the week. It honestly saves a lot of time taking 1 day to prepare. I schedule most of the time while my son is still sleeping in the mornings and at nap times. I get up early and immediately start whatever my plans are for the week.

This morning I made chocolate chip cookies, breakfast cookies, pesto, hummus, hard boiled eggs and bacon wrapped hot dogs for dinner Monday night. Sometimes I will make bread, granola, breakfast cookies, zucchini bread, etc. My biggest goal is to prepare snacks for the week. Cooper still takes two naps a day for the most part. His second nap I started preparing dinner so by the time he wakes up I can play with him and do last minute dinner prepping such as boil water for pasta or rice. I usually prep to the point that everything is ready to go into the oven and all I have to do is preheat the oven and pull the pan from the fridge to cook it. I get salad prepped or whatever it is I am doing that night for dinner, I make a point to do it during his second nap and this has really helped make good use of my time.

My advice for anyone who has kids is to make good use of their nap time especially if you choose one day out of the week for your cooking and baking. Utilizing one day and one day properly will help allow you to get the “me” time you want and deserve. I also send my hubby to work with breakfast and lunch because he leaves early enough and has low blood sugar he needs to eat all day long. I always make enough dinner to send for leftovers so I don’t have to over think his lunch or make something else.

By properly using your time once a week you will see how much time it truly saves the remainder of the week. You can also make a few meals and freeze them so on busy days you pop them out of the freezer and directly into the oven. One day can save hours of cooking later in the week. J If you really need you’re “me” time on Monday, make sure and take it once the kids lay their heads to rest for the night.

Try it; let me know how you think and if this helped you!

Quick Mango Shrimp

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 5 September, 2013 None comments

Yummy yum yum!!! Last night I needed a quick dinner in the midst of the chaos of this week. We have a lot of food in the freezer such as hot dogs, beef, turkey, chicken, shrimp, scallops, salmon, and much more. What was I going to make that sounded good? I decided to throw shrimp in a saucepan with EVOO and some seasonings, once cooked I added chopped mango and served over a quinoa rice blend. It was so simple, delicious, healthy and filling. These three simple ingredients were very good together.

Ingredients:

Shrimp
Mango
Rice, quinoa, barley

Boil water and cook grain of choice and follow package instructions. In a saucepan add shrimp, garlic salt and parsley for flavor. Cook shrimp till mostly pink, turn the heat on low and add mango chunks. The shrimp will continue to cook as you are heating the mango through, if you overcook the shrimp it will become chewy. Once headed through remove from heat and pour over rice and serve.

I served this dish with a side of sautéed kale and it filled us up. Cooper ate about 6-7 shrimp along with some mango, he loved it.

Lemon Julep

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 3 September, 2013 None comments

I do not drink alcohol anymore. Now that I’ve had my baby I completely went 180. I knew that was the moment of truth; I needed to grow up in more ways than one and alcohol was clearly leading by far hence the fact that I was pregnant. After I gave birth I really had no desire to drink and haven’t since. To be completely honest I truly can’t explain how I feel physically and mentally but my body feels so healthy. I drank more than I should have but looking back I realized I abused what the whole point of alcohol is; to be social and not be drunk. (I definitely have my perspective on alcohol, but won’t divulge that information today) Getting pregnant was an immediate turn around in my life for many things. I saw things way more clear once I started to grow my little bun in my oven. Things changed and changed for the good; I’m blessed and thankful that this little man in my life had such an impact on me that I could have never experienced without him.

The reality of health is what you put into your body will come out whether good or bad. Hind sight is always 20/20 so they say; and having a glance back I realize how important it is to take care of our bodies. I see young kids, actually really young kids abuse pain killers, alcohol, and drugs. These kids are literally destroying their bodies before they even finish their growth spurt and development into womanhood or manhood. Who are their examples, are we as their parents helping or hindering? Leading by example, or leading by our words?

Enough of my tangent, this afternoon I really was longing for a delicious, tasty refreshment and was at a loss of what to make. As I left the grocery store realizing I have so many fresh herbs I decided I would attempt some sort of a concoction hoping for the best.

I made “lemonade” with some mint and basil. It was so refreshing and my husband even loved it. (He’s my yay or neigh for my creativity) He put himself on a “two drink maximum.” J

Ingredients

All natural lemonade (Newman’s Own or frozen works too unless you want to avoid HFCS)
Mint Leaves
Basil
¼ cup Lemon juice
Lemon slices
Honey (optional)

Mix lemonade, lemon juice and lemon slices into a pitcher. Do not add ice to the pitcher because it will dilute the taste. Mix honey with a smidgen of water to help with the consistency to mix better. Crush the mint leaves and basil leaves enough so you can smell them from afar. If you don’t have anything to crush them with you can use the back of a large spoon and press firmly damaging the leaves slightly. Add the whole bushel to the pitcher and mix well. Pour over a full glass of ice and top with a lemon slice.

We got a new patio set and BBQ and decided to enjoy the evening with dinner and our nonalcoholic drinks while cooper sat in his highchair eating cheerios and enjoying the sips of lemon julep his daddy and I were giving him. Life is beautiful!

Caprese Egg Bake

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 1 September, 2013 None comments

This morning is Labor Day Sunday. We decided against going to church this morning, I haven’t been feeling too well the last couple days and decided we should take it easy. I wanted to make a quick breakfast and went to my Caprese Egg Bake; super simple yet looks incredibly fancy.

I actually made this last year on Christmas morning for 15 people. I bought cherry tomatoes and sliced in half, added fresh mozzarella and diced it into small pieces. Everyone LOVED this meal and it was quick and easy for a large group.

Ingredients:

Eggs
Half and half (milk)
Fresh Basil
Spinach
Tomatoes
Mozzarella Cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mean while in greased ramekins add eggs. I add two eggs per ramekin to make them more filling. A top the eggs add shredded mozzarella cheese, sliced tomatoes basil and spinach. Top with a little more mozzarella cheese and add roughly 1 tbsp half and half.

Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes or until cheese is lightly browned and eggs are fully cooked. Serve with fresh fruit.

Chicken Pot Pie

Posted by Delightfully Doable on 31 August, 2013 None comments

Today we were headed out to the ocean while we encountered an accident that held us up for roughly 20 minutes. A little farther along we hit stopped traffic headed to Cannon Beach. We immediately made the decision to turn towards Tillamook as if we kept going than our options wouldn’t be there. We simply wanted a day to take our son to play in the sand for his first time. It’s Labor Day weekend and since most people leave for the weekend we thought Saturday we would be safe for traveling. Our beach trip turned into an adventure exploring new places we have never been before. We went to the Cheese Factory which was really fun for us as I learned that “Viola” actually is pronounced “why-la” as I was reading about the process of cheese I made a verbal assumption of pronouncing “viola” as it looks. My husband corrected me and then hysterically started laughing which in turn made me cry of laughter. We got quite the kick out of this as there were crowds of people to oversee this scenario.

I guess it is true you learn something new every day. Although this one was pretty funny as I was reading the words my head wanted to read “why-la” as it would flow with the sentence, although my brain corrected itself and read the word as it sounded which completely confused me even more. A quick moment of transition in my head made a great laugh for the day.

After the Cheese Factory we headed towards a couple beaches that were packed and the temperature dropped 10 degrees. We decided we would keep driving until we found a beach Cooper could actually play on. We ended up at Rockaway Beach which actually was very large and spacious. Lots of puppies running around, picnics to be had, and little ones building sand castles; this was the perfect stop. Cooper had lots of wiggles to get out as he had been in the car far too long. We parked the stroller up against a log and laid a blanket out for some lunch. He was so overjoyed with all his new surroundings that he possibly couldn’t find the time to eat a couple bites. Daddy ran in the ocean with him, chased a few waves, built sand castles and made a puddle that he decided was the perfect spot to sit. He LOVED the beach.

His diaper was soaked, heavy and filled with sand. He had sand everywhere including his little eyes, we ended the day with him crying from the sand in his eyes as we tried to change him into jammies (pj’s) for the ride home. We knew he was good and worn out and would sleep really well. It was such a joy to take our son to the beach and watch him see all new things and expand the little brain of his. Precious, priceless and wishing I could bottle up these moments.

We got home about 7pm and little man desperately needed a bath, food, and bed. We accomplished this while I scrambled to throw dinner on for Michael and I. While Michael bathed him I decided to make a quick chicken pot pie with leftover rotisserie chicken that needed to be used.

Oh my goodness, this was absolutely amazing!!! Definitely a great crust and fillings with magnificent flavors.

Crust: (similar to my Egg Tart recipe)

2 ½ cups flour
1 cup cold butter
¼ cup sugar
3-4 tbsp water

Filling:

1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen carrots
1 large onion diced
1 cup Rotisserie Chicken
1 cup Edamame Beans
1 TBSP Chicken Better Than Bouillon
4 TBSP Flour
1-2 cups Milk, depending on how thick your mixture is

May add additional broccoli and cauliflower as well or anything else you want

4 TBSP flour for thickening agent

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Blend together in a food processor the flour and butter until crumbly, add sugar and water. Dough will be sticky. Roll out on floured surface and knead in additional flour until able to roll without sticking to rolling pin. Divide in half and roll out big enough for a pie plate. Place in greased pie plate and roll remainder out. Meanwhile in a large saucepan add all vegetables and heat through. Once thawed add in diced cooked chicken. Heat through.

Add in chicken broth, milk and flour starting with 4 TBSP, if it’s not thick enough add a little more a little at a time. Let thicken on low heat for five minutes. Dump mixture into pie plate and top with pie top. Place in oven and bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes or until golden brown crust.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*Could also be made vegetarian.

You could make this and freeze while pie crust is uncooked. When ready to serve, take out of freezer and bake at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes or until the middle is bubbly and crust is golden brown.