Basil Pesto

Did you know you can freeze pesto?  That's a good reason to make it in bulk.  I separate mine into sandwich bags (about 4 T per bag), but you can also freeze it in ice cube trays. 
Ingredients:
4 cups fresh packed basil leaves
5 cloves garlic
1 cup grated parmesan cheese (I cube mine)
salt/pepper to taste (remember parmesan is salty)
2 cups extra virgin olive oil (drizzle as being processed)
Pesto calls for pine nuts, but I don't use them, probably because they are not a staple in my house.
Serve with pasta and grilled chicken.  

Getting My Goat

This week, I bought a big honkin' log of goat cheese.  I like to spread it on triscuits for a quick snack or even lunch.  But, I also use it for two of my favorite recipes:

Roll goat cheese in chopped dried cranberries and pistachios.  Spread on crackers.  This is a crowd-pleaser.  It's great any time a year, but the colors are perfect for Christmas.

The second is fried or baked goat cheese.  Simply slice the goat cheese when it is very cold.  Dip in egg batter.  I have even used egg-beaters.  Dip in panko bread crumbs.  And, bake at about 350 degrees, turning once until slightly soft and browned.  Or, fry.  When I say "fry," I mean spray with Pam, and cook until browned.

 I like to serve on salad with balsamic vinegar.  Adding rotisserie chicken to the salad doesn't hurt either.

Chicken Salad

The tastiest way to make chicken salad?

Roast chicken in olive oil and salt/pepper for 30-45 min. at 400 degrees then shred chicken finely.

The easiest way to make chicken salad?

Buy Kirkland's canned chicken from Costco and open 6 cans, drain and dump in a bowl.

(Learned from my friend Kelly)

This is the base I generally use for my chicken salad:

Mayonnaise (Hellmann's with Olive Oil)

Sour Cream

Canola Oil (just to keep it from drying)

A touch of mustard (any kind)

A touch of lemon juice

We also add a lot to our chicken salad:

Red Onion

Craisins

Almonds or Walnuts

Apples

Grapes

And, tonight, bacon (turkey bacon from a bag)

Have you ever had hot chicken salad?

This is a great recipe:

Hot Chicken Salad on the Food Network

Small Group Dessert

I love getting together with my new small group.  They are dependable and encouraging.  They have reminded me of the importance of Magic Shell, which we now keep in our pantry.  One way they have shown their affection for me is by allowing me to share recipes that I enjoy or am trying for the first time.  We will be trying one of those tonight.  You can find it here.


Any recipe that allows me to pipe ingredients through a Ziploc bag is usually a favorite.  Cone-olis were fun and easy to make.  (I left out the almond extract and orange zest).

Summer Pasta Salad

Rotini Pasta

Cucumbers (seeded)

Grape Tomatoes

Green Onions

Mayonnaise

Canola Oil

Pepper

Boil pasta according to directions.  Add salt to the water.  Drain pasta. Rinse with cold water. In a bowl. Mix mayonnaise with canola oil.  Add all ingredients with vegetables chopped to desired size.  The amount of mayonnaise and oil used is based on preference, but be sure to use enough to keep salad from drying out.

This is great for a summer side.  Serve with grilled chicken or burgers.

Quick and Easy Dessert

There is one dessert that has stood the test of time at my house.  Chances are, if you ever make last minute plans to come to my house or make last minute plans to have me over and ask me to bring a dessert, you will have blondies.  My friend, Kari, gave this recipe to me years ago, and I cannot count the times I have used it.  When she passed it along, she commented that I would already have all of the ingredients.  If you make sure to keep chocolate chips in your house, you will too.


Blondies
Melt 1 stick butter
Add 2 C brown sugar
Add 2 eggs

I do not mix dry ingredients separately, but I stir them a little on top before mixing them in.


Add 1 1/2 C flour (I've started using whole wheat)
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
(I even added a scoop of ground flax seed this time around).
1 T vanilla


Stir in 1-1 1/2 C chocolate chips
For variety, you can use toffee chips, white chocolate chips, any variety or add nuts.


Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  I bake mine for 25.

Playing Favorites and Apple Pie Recipe

I struggle with arrogance.  I think I have all of the answers, and I can do things on my own.  Sometimes I tend to be a little arrogant with my cooking.  I'm not even a phenomenal cook, but when I do something well, I want others to experience all the joy my family looks forward to each night at the table.  (We had tacos tonight).


This is teachers' appreciation week at our school, and today, we provided the teachers with a meal.  I signed up for desserts for both of my girls' teachers.  But, this is the deal -- in signing up for their teachers, there is an understanding that the dessert may go to the faculty or staff member who has also been assigned to our class.  When I got to the school with my still warm, fresh baked apple pies, I handed them over to the moms in charge.  Then I asked if they knew who would get my pies.  Why didn't I just walk away?  I even hung around the 1st grade basket and persuaded the mom to give my dessert to the teacher rather than an assistant.  Did I mention this happened today?  I'm embarrassed to even be typing this.  The mom left to take the basket to the teacher, and I stayed to give the other basket (with brownies made by someone else) to the assistant.  I didn't know who it would be, and I still didn't know her when I handed over the basket.  She was so grateful and continued to say, "Did you do this for me?"  I felt a little uncomfortable, but the magnitude of what I had done still had not hit me.


While I was cooking dinner, the favoritism I had shown toward my child's teacher hit me like a ton of bricks.  At the time I was making my unfair decision, I wasn't intentionally withholding from the assistant, but I was definitely showing favoritism, and it was at her expense.


I've continued to be broken all night.  For that, I'm grateful.  While at the table, I told my family what happened.  When I was finished, Abby, my 7 year old, asked if she could pray for me.  Sidebar:  Abby does not show a lot of emotion.  She offers to pray the least of our children, and she appears (appears is the key word) to be the least spiritually involved.  Abby prayed for me personally, but she also said we look forward to mom making a pie for that lady.  


I'm grateful that I can't do things on my own and that I don't have all the answers.  I'm grateful for the blood that covers my shameful favoritism as well as the other sin issues you probably recognized in this post.  I'm grateful for a 7 year old that cares enough to pray for her hurting mother.  I'm grateful for the built in accountability of children.  I'm grateful for do-overs, so that I can try again at serving a well-deserving teacher's assistant.


My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. James 2:1


Oh, here is the stupid apple pie recipe if you are interested.  It's my mom's anyway, and when you see how easy it is, you'll really thing I'm dumb for being arrogant.


Apple Pie
Frozen pie crust (2) one for bottom, one for top
1 can apple pie filling
1 stick butter
1/2 C sugar
cinnamon to taste
Cane sugar for topping


Dump the apple pie filling into the bottom crust.  Cut up half of butter onto apples.  Top with 1/2 C sugar and as much cinnamon as you like.  After top crust has thawed a little, put it on top of the filling.  It's ok if it falls apart a little.  Cut up the rest of the butter on top.  Sprinkle more cinnamon with cane sugar.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes depending on your oven.  I like for the crust to be really brown and all butter to be baked in.

Roasted Garlic Potato Soup

I have to put this into words before I forget what I did tonight.  This soup is great for a cold night.  The ingredients are simple, but it did take some time.  I like to put time into my soup.  Time is what we have on this earth anyway, right?  It's all about what we decide to do with it.  When peeling potatoes, slicing onions and buttering bread, we are provided ample time to pray, meditate and reflect over God's goodness, His expectations and His Word.  So, here it is (the recipe):

2 garlic heads (roast with olive oil and salt @ 400 degrees for about 30 min) blended
6 slices bacon
2 T olive oil
Medium onion
2 (32 oz) cartons organic chicken stock
2 cups water
1/2 C milk (I use skim organic)
3 lbs potatoes, peeled, cubed
sea salt
pepper

Cut bacon into pieces and cook in a little olive oil.  Drain on paper towels.
Cook thinly sliced onion in remaining bacon grease on low heat for about 30 min.  The onion will all but dissolve into the soup.
Add chicken stock and water.
Bring to a boil.  Add desired amount of salt and pepper.
Add potatoes.  Boil until softened.  Mash about half of the potatoes.
Squeeze garlic out of heads. ( I added garlic with milk to Magic Bullet and blended)
Turn off heat and add garlic and milk.
Top with bacon.

The Table

One of my favorite places to be is in our dining room at the table with my family.  I love to cook for everyone, but being at the table is more about sharing our lives through the details of our day.  We start out by sharing something good and something bad (to get the ball rolling), but after years of training, our children need little probing.  


Every few weeks, I try to add a family project to the wall so that we can have a particular focus.  A few weeks ago, I posted 1 Thes. 5:18, and we spent a couple of weeks writing things we're thankful for.  Currently, we have 1 Cor. 10:31 posted.  It says, "So whether you eat or drink or... (we have a blank spot where we fill in all that we may be doing) ...whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."  We teach verses like these over dinner then use the activity over the following days.  Below is a picture.

The table has provided great opportunities for speaking the gospel into every day situations with one another.  This has also proven true when other families join us at the table to support us in our time of need or to be supported in their time of need.


There is another reason I love the table.  I love to cook!  I've always loved to cook, but I've spent the last year trying to cook healthier, more natural meals.  Below is a recipe we have enjoyed this winter.  I suppose this exact recipe could be found online, but I created this based on what I like in Tortilla Soup (so I'm taking credit for it).


Chicken Tortilla Soup


Roast 4 chicken breasts with skin and bone, drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and cumin.  Squeeze juice of one lime and roast lime as well.  Roast for one hour at 400 degrees.  Cool.  Shred.  Keep the lime.


In a pot, saute, a small diced onion in 2 T of olive oil for 4 minutes.  Add 2 cloves of garlic for 1 min.
Add:
2 boxes organic chicken broth (32 oz each)
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 can black beans (drained)
1 can corn (drained)
2 cans diced green chilis with juice
2 T cumin
1 t salt (more if needed)
1/2 t pepper (more if needed)
Brown Rice (I add the 1/2 cup already cooked rice)
Bring to a boil.  Drop to simmer.
Add chicken.
Squeeze in pulp of lime.  I think this is essential.


Topping:
Fresh avocado
Shredded Natural Monterey Jack Cheese
Sour cream
Tortilla Strips