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Nov 26, 2017

Have Some Crudite

Colorful Healthy Crudite Did you eat too much turkey? Is that second piece of pumpkin pie still haunting you? Have some crudite.

Most of us probably didn’t eat enough vegetables over Thanksgiving weekend. Green bean casserole is mostly casserole and not a lot of beans. And aren’t candied yams really a dessert? Thanksgiving dinner is a great tradition and I enjoyed mine just like everyone else, as well as the leftovers but there’s a big container of fresh vegetables in my fridge right now. I always keep crudite on hand but I made extra today.

Vegetables are our lifeline to good health and when you have colorful veggies ready as a snack, you’re doing a lot of good for your long term health. I mix the colors because each color has its own health benefit: yellow & orange for eyes and lungs, red for memory and immunity, green for bones and teeth, purple & blue for aging and blood pressure and that’s just naming a few. Eating a variety of colored vegetables will provide a variety of different antioxidants that can help keep us well.

Eating vegetables every day, both fresh and cooked, is like an insurance policy for your health. And fresh crudite is not only appealing to look at, it’s delicious.  Keep and container of fresh veggies in your fridge and see how fast they disappear! – Jenny Jones

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Filed Under: Nutrition, What I Cooked Today
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Nov 23, 2017

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing all my American friends and visitors a Happy Thanksgiving. And for all those committed to cooking all day for friends and family, like I am… good luck! It’s a challenge but very satisfying once you’re all done and putting away leftovers for tomorrow.

I already made my simple stuffing, gravy, cranberries, and pumpkin pie yesterday. Today it’s the turkey, mashed potatoes, and green beans and of course real whipped cream for the pie. My best wishes to everyone for a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I have much to be thankful for and never take my good fortune for granted. – Jenny Jones

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Filed Under: Holiday
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Nov 14, 2017

Fast No Knead Crusty Rolls

Quick & Easy Crusty RollsJust in time for Thanksgiving, here is an even faster way to make my original crusty rolls. And you can make them ahead and freeze. They freeze beautifully and you can re-crisp, directly from freezer to oven, in minutes. They are even more crusty when you freeze and reheat!

The original version takes 4 hours but this one is ready in half the time – TWO hours! Using more yeast and hot water, it’s the fastest way I know to make these fabulous dinner rolls. It’s important that your oven be preheated to 450° F and my oven takes 35 minutes to reach 450. It’s really best to use an oven thermometer to make sure your oven it hot enough as these rolls depend on the first blast of high heat to puff up and rise.

This dough is sticky so it may help to see how to shape the rolls by watching the video attached to my original version of No Knead Crusty Rolls.

These fabulous artisan rolls can be made ahead and nicely re-crisped the next day or better still, make, cool, and freeze and just reheat by placing them directly on the oven rack, preheated to 325 °F, for 10-12 minutes. I’m always excited when I can find a way to make something easier and faster, especially when it’s homemade bread. They’re not just dinner rolls – I had them for breakfast today.

So there are three ways to make these crusty rolls. One is my original 4-hour recipe. Two is the overnight version where you use cold water and let the dough sit out overnight. And third, this new, fastest way ever to make no knead crusty rolls – in two hours!  Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

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Filed Under: Breads/Muffins
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Nov 11, 2017

Swirled Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Easy One Rise Cinnamon Swirl BreadSomebody needs to stop me from eating my third slice of this delicious sweet bread! I’m happy to share my easy recipe for cinnamon swirl raisin bread and there are a few reasons why I think you’ll like it. First, it’s good! Second, it’s easy to make compared to most other recipes. Third, it’s a faster, one-rise recipe so the bread is ready to eat in 90 minutes. I use a mix of yellow and red raisins because I like the two different colors and textures.

Swirled loaves often wind up with gaps inside the loaf and it happens to me too. One day it’s perfectly tight and the next time I make it I get gaps but even with a gap, this cinnamon bread is still fantastic. I made the one below the exact same way as the one above, and it developed some small gaps but that didn’t stop me from enjoying it. With or without gaps, it’s the best cinnamon raisin bread I’ve ever had.

Cinnamon Swirl Raisin Bread GapsIf you’re tempted to spread butter on it before adding the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture, I do not recommend it because when I tried it, the loaf did not hold together as well. In fact, this bread has no butter at all – I make it with extra light olive oil and it’s delicious! I hope you’ll try this recipe, follow it exactly, and let me know how yours turned out. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

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Filed Under: Baking Without Butter, Breads/Muffins
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Oct 20, 2017

Dark Chocolate Loaf Cake

Whole Wheat Chocolate Loaf CakeHere’s a simple chocolate cake recipe that works equally well using whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose flour. In fact, it’s hard to tell the difference so I prefer making it whole wheat. It’s like a chocolate pound cake but healthier because it’s 100% whole grain but you can make it with all purpose flour if you like. And instead of butter I use extra light olive oil. What sends it over the moon is adding dark chocolate chips and toasted nuts.

The only cocoa I use for my baking is Dutch process because it’s never bitter and the result is a beautiful, dark chocolate cake. I can always find it (Droste brand) at World Market. Pound cakes tend to be heavy and dense but by beating the egg whites separately, it makes the cake lighter and taller. My loaf pan measures 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 inches.

If you’re a chocolate lover like I am, I hope you like this moist and delicious, easy chocolate loaf cake. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Filed Under: Baking Without Butter, Sweets
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Oct 1, 2017

What I Cooked in October

Most people know that my favorite place to be is in the kitchen and to show you how much I enjoy “playing” there, I thought I would share what I cooked all this month. On the days I didn’t cook, we usually had leftovers as I prefer to eat at home than go to a restaurant. I hope my joy of cooking and baking will spark a similar passion in others to cook more at home.  And now, here’s what I cooked this month…

Oct. 31 – Tortillas, salad, baked ziti, tapioca pudding with chocolate swirl. (photo below)

Chocolate Tapioca PuddingOct. 30 – Asian salad, vegetable chicken soup

Oct. 29 – Granola, Greek salad, salmon patties, Greek spinach rice, dark chocolate almond clusters

Oct. 28 – No knead whole wheat bread, chicken noodle soup, my butter mix

Oct. 27 – Tuna salad, chicken stock, two bean turkey chili (photo below), whole wheat blondies

Two Bean Turkey Chili

Oct. 26 – Granola bars, sesame seed breadsticks

Oct. 25 – Deviled eggs, tortillas, vegetable soup, pork fried rice

Oct. 24 – Pork loin with roasted vegetables

Oct. 22 – Multi grain no knead bread, Caesar salad, fast rice & beans, tapioca pudding

Oct. 21 – Eggs & hash browns, no knead raisin walnut bread

Oct. 20 – Granola, salad, pesto pasta with chicken

Oct. 19 – Egg salad, marinated beets, stuffed grape leaves (photo below)

Oct. 18 – Tortillas, chicken noodle soup, chocolate loaf cake

Oct. 16 – Beet & cabbage borscht, salad, skinless chicken drumsticks

Oct. 14 – Chocolate loaf cake (photo below), vegetable-bean soup

Dark Chocolate Loaf Cake

Oct. 13 – Wound healing soup, faster whole wheat no knead bread, biscotti (for a gift)

Oct. 12 – Granola bars, deviled eggs

Oct. 11 – Chicken and mushrooms with steamed broccollini

Oct. 10 – Granola, vegetable-bean soup

Oct. 9 – Chewy chocolate clusters, tuna salad

Oct. 8 – Deviled eggs, caesar salad, leftover turkey chili

Oct. 6 – Multi grain no knead bread (photo below) It’s one I make the most.

Whole Grain No Knead BreadOct. 5 – Whole wheat french toast, chicken soup, spicy cabbage salad, turkey chili, double chocolate biscotti

Oct. 4 – Hard boiled eggs, granola bars (photo below), tomato salad, cabbage soup, tortillas, leftover baked ziti

How To Make Granola BarsOct. 3 – Simple whole wheat bread (photo below), whole wheat french toast, croutons, salad, leftover chicken pot pie, crispy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

Best Whole Wheat Bread RecipeOct. 2 – No knead bread, salad, baked ziti, chocolate loaf cake

Oct. 1 – Sesame seed breadsticks, salad, chicken pot pie, dark chocolate fudge brownies.

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Filed Under: What I Cooked Today
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Sep 26, 2017

Today: Simple Chocolate Cake

Best Chocolate Cake Recipe

I love this chocolate cake! Today I made baked ziti for dinner, along with a beautiful salad with two kinds of lettuce, orange pepper, cucumber, garbanzo beans, fresh peas, and red endive tossed with my Greek Salad Dressing. Before starting dinner, I had such a craving for chocolate cake and needed one I could make quickly because it was dessert for today’s dinner so I made my Easy One Bowl Chocolate Cake.

If you haven’t tried it yet, it is really fast and easy to make, uses no eggs, no mixer, and it’s super moist and delicious. You only need one bowl and it’s probably less work than using a mix. I promise you if you try this cake, you will never buy a mix again. I made it and it cooled down just in time to frost after dinner. Whenever I have a piece of this cake I never feel weighed down and always feel like I could have seconds but I don’t. It keeps really well so we will have dessert for days. At the end if there’s only one slice left, I always suggest that we arm wrestle for it!

If you want to make the best and easiest one bowl chocolate cake click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

Filed Under: Sweets, What I Cooked Today
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Sep 14, 2017

Easy Chicken & Spaghetti

Best Recipe Chicken and SpaghettiChicken breast simmered in marinara sauce turns out so tender you can cut it with a fork. This easy recipe takes less than 10 minutes of prep and the chicken cooks in the sauce unattended while you cook the pasta and make a salad. You do have a salad every day, right?

This recipe started because I wanted to try making chicken cacciatore but after chopping peppers and mushrooms and using chicken thighs, I found there was too much fat and not a lot of big flavor. So I tried simplifying it and came up with a lean and low fat version and now it’s just chicken with spaghetti, but with a lot of flavor but not a lot of work. It’s the simple, easy recipes that I always wind up making again.

Canned plum tomatoes are my go-to for pasta sauce and it’s so easy to make them into a smooth puree with a food processor. If you can find San Marzano tomaotes, that’s even better. You can always add more spices or a bay leaf or some crushed red pepper if you like but this is perfect for me just the way it is. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

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Filed Under: Main Dishes
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Sep 12, 2017

Time for More Breadsticks

Homemade BreadsticksI ran out of breadsticks again so it was time to make more. They keep disappearing because I have a breadstick with every salad and I have a salad every day. This time I made them using 100% all purpose flour and they are super crunchy. I make them so often I even bought a breadstick pan that’s perforated to help them bake up crispy with grooves so the sticks stay round.

This is one of the recipes I make the most because no one sells breadsticks that even come close to this good. The ones that come in a package are a waste of time and the occasional bakery that sells them – well they just don’t measure up. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

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Filed Under: Breads/Muffins, What I Cooked Today
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