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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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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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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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Aug 21, 2017

Multi Grain No Knead Bread with Flax

No Knead Bread with FlaxIt’s been a long time since I bought bread. My favorite no knead bread is multi-grain and I decided to try it with some added ground flaxseed meal to see if it turned out. I love it! This was a high fiber bread to begin with and now, with added flaxseed, it has heart-healthy benefits because flax is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids.

I used my original recipe and simply added 1/4 cup of ground flaxseed meal and increased the water to 1 1/2 cups. Everyone is making no knead breads because they are so easy and the variations you can make are endless. If you want to try it, just make the two changes above and follow this original recipe.  – Jenny Jones

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Aug 18, 2017

Making Fruitcake for Christmas? Start Now.

FruitcakeA 106-year-old fruitcake has been discovered in an old explorer’s hut in Antarctica and it looked and smelled edible! I’ve always heard that properly stored fruitcakes can last for years but whoa! This fruitcake was wrapped in waxed paper and tucked into a tin box and most likely came to Antarctica with an English expedition in 1910. The cake survived much better than the tin box, which was badly corroded. It had a very slight rancid butter smell but other than that, they say the cake looked and smelled edible! The freezing cold in Antarctica had a lot to do with the cake’s survival.

A century old cake notwithstanding, any fruitcake needs time to “age” and should be started early. The aging period can be from 2 to 4 months. Sugar acts as a preservative and alcohol kills bacteria and prevents mold. Many fruitcakes are soaked in alcohol and those can actually last for years if you periodically add more alcohol. You do this by wrapping the cake in a towel soaked in brandy or wine and then covering tightly and keep it refrigerated. It’s generally recommended that soaked fruitcake should be consumed within two years.

I don’t have a recipe for fruitcake but there are lots of good ones to be found and it is a long standing tradition to give fruitcake as a Christmas gift. Not everyone likes this very dense and rich cake so if you make one, don’t be surprised if it gets re-gifted to you five years later! 🙂 – Jenny Jones

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Aug 4, 2017

How To Store Granola Bars

Best way to store granola barsI make more granola bars than almost any other recipe and I always have them available to take along as a snack in my purse or in the car. The best way to store granola bars is to wrap each one in a separate snack size plastic bag with all the air removed. Then keep them refrigerated and they last for weeks. Whenever I leave the house, I put one in my purse, or I put a few in my purse to give as gifts. Everyone loves a homemade granola bar so if you make them, consider giving them as gifts. By the way, these little plastic bags can be re-used. If you want to make these delicious and easy homemade granola bars, click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF ALL MY HOW-TO TIPS, Click here.

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Aug 3, 2017

How To Store Homemade Bread

How To Store Homemade BreadThe fact is that homemade bread will not keep as well as store bought bread but in spite of that, homemade bread will always taste better. It’s best enjoyed the first day so after you have slathered the first few slices with butter (oh, yeah! ?) freezing what’s left on the first day is the best idea. I suggest slicing and freezing it so you can thaw only the slices you need. (I separate my slices between wax paper for easy separation.)

If you do not freeze your bread the first day, here are a few tips:

1. Crusty bread can be stored uncovered at room temperature for the first day. By the end of the day, it’s best to wrap it in foil (not plastic) or in a paper bag and kept at room temperature for a second day. After the second day, it’s really best to freeze it.

2. Crusty bread will not be crusty the second day. You can re-crisp it by putting it cut side down on a piece of foil and place in a preheated 325° F oven, directly on your oven rack, for about 7-10 minutes.

3. Crusty bread should not be stored in plastic, which softens the crust. Aluminum foil is a better choice.

4. Crusty rolls are best frozen the day they are baked. To re-crisp, place frozen rolls directly on the oven rack in a preheated 325° F oven for 10-12 minutes. They’ll be even more crispy than first-baked.

5. A standard soft loaf is best stored tightly wrapped in foil or plastic at room temperature up to 2 days and after that should be refrigerated or frozen.

There is a lot of differing information available about storing homemade bread – not everyone agrees with storing bread in the refrigerator but it works for me.  Feel free to add your own tips if you like. – Jenny Jones

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Aug 2, 2017

How To Restore Crusty Bread

How To Restore Crusty BreadFor anyone wondering how to re-crisp a crusty loaf of bread, here’s how I do it. A lot of us are making no knead breads and the crusts don’t stay crispy forever. My way of restoring the crust is to put it back in the oven but you don’t want to dry out the cut side. Once the loaf is cut I press some foil on the cut side and place the loaf cut side down directly on the oven rack (the oven should be preheated to 325°F). I tried spraying the crust with water first and it didn’t seem to make much difference. Bake the loaf for 7-10 minutes and it will crisp right back up.

For lots more in my “How To Guide” click here.

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Jul 22, 2017

Chewy Fruit & Nut Clusters

Dark Chocolate Almond Cherry ClustersThis is a variation of my chocolate almond clusters and I love it. Instead of using whole almonds, I chopped them into pieces and added some chopped dried cherries and raisins. The result is a wonderfully chewy, dark chocolate, healthy sweet treat full of protein, heart-healthy fats, antioxidants and fiber. I used a dark chocolate bar (72% cacao) from World Market and followed the same process as my original recipe but instead of using tiny paper cups, I just dropped the clusters onto wax paper, let them cool, and then refrigerate.

The easiest way to refrigerate them is to slide a cutting board under the wax paper and place the whole thing in the fridge until the clusters are cold and set. Then you can put them all into a covered container but always keep them refrigerated; otherwise, the chocolate will melt in your hands. Next time you’re craving a chocolate bar or some m&m’s, try this healthier homemade fruit & nut dark chocolate cluster. Click here for the recipe. – Jenny Jones

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