While Grandmom was gone, Michael and I enjoyed the foods that Grandmom can’t eat. One of our favorites is chicken wraps.

This recipe came as a modification of one my my favorite lunches at the hospital: Wrap day. Unfortunately, they use fried chicken breast nuggets, which are not particularly healthy. These get more of their heat from the chicken than the ranch dressing.

Yes, you could use sour cream instead of the spicy ranch, but really, it’s the dressing that makes the wraps. And about a quarter of the time we forget to make the rice, but I prefer the rice because it lets me use a lot less chicken.

Chicken Wraps
3 chicken thighs
1/2 vidalia onion, sliced
1 small red pepper
~1/2 head minced/crushed garlic
~1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
~1/2 tsp cumin
~1/2 tsp dried cilantro
~1 tsp dried oregano
~1/2 to 1 tsp red pepper
~1 tbsp lime juice
~1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
Melinda’s mango hot sauce (or other hot sauce)
whole wheat or other flour tortilla
Spanish or taco rice
shredded colby jack cheese
lettuce
tomato
spicy ranch dressing

Make the rice.

Slice the chicken into smallish pieces.

Mince the garlic into the olive oil.

Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon or so of canola or other high heat oil to the skillet. Saute the onion and red pepper.

Saute the chicken: add the chicken evenly to the pan and ignore it until it is cooked at least halfway through. Once the chicken is thoroughly cooked, add the garlic and other spices. Add the hot sauce and then follow with the lemon and lime juice. Add more lemon juice as needed, so make sure the spices evenly cover the chicken and onions.

Turn off the heat.

Heat the flour tortillas (we use the microwave).

Add chicken, rice, cheese, lettuce, tomato and ranch dressing to the tortilla.

Wrap and eat!


Great. Now I’m really hungry, and who knows when we’ll be able to make wraps again!

Well, I didn’t bake much, but I have finished seven books.

And the night is still young. I could still bake or read something yet this evening!

Alice Medrich’s Cookies and Brownies may be the most used cookbook on my shelf.

It’s also the one I can’t replace, despite the fact my copy is falling apart. (Right now on Amazon, you can buy a *used* paperback copy starting at $50. Hardback copies are starting at $64. And right now a “collectable” version is listed for $189.95 [I kid you not.])

When I’m down and need a chocolate fix, this is the recipe I make.

These are also the brownies that Gina would kill for. So don’t get between her and these brownies. (Just saying.)

As you can see, the page for Bittersweet Brownies has come loose from the book.

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Gotta do it right.

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I’ve been looking for different ways to battle my depression, and so I’ve bought a couple baking books this year. Why baking books? Because it’s difficult to remain depressed when you’re making cookies.

Last purchase was Nancy Baggett’s All-American Cookie Book, which I’d been eying for the past year or so.

After the book came, I spent a couple evenings on the sofa, first looking through the book, and then marking the recipes I wanted to try. Since I needed a recipe that didn’t have nuts or too much chocolate (due to Grandmom’s diet limitations) I decided to try the Lemon Jumbles, since after chocolate, my next favorite flavor is lemon.

If you are going to make cookies (or anything else) with lemon, always use fresh lemon. Most good lemon recipes call for both lemon zest and lemon juice.
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I also made another loaf of cinnamon bread over the weekend.

The interesting thing is that it was a little to long, and when I folded it under, it twisted on itself, and gave me an interesting shaped loaf (with air pockets).

I also didn’t add the topping.

Still delicious, without the topping.

Carrot cake is one of the only cakes I like. It’s moist and oh so delicious. And since it has carrots and pecans and pineapple, it’s almost like health food!

My boss got married over the weekend, so I made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting.

When I make these for us, I add everything but the pecans, fill several cup papers, then mix in the nuts and fill the rest of the cupcake papers. This way Grandmom can have come carrot cake, and I can still get the nuts I love. (Make sure to use different colored papers to keep everything straight.)

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 1/2 cups grated carrots
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup coconut
1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, drained (a smaller can is fine, I just like really moist carrot cake).

Preheat the oven to 350 F.


Grease either a 9×13″ pan or prepare cupcakes (I love the silicone cupcake holders. Place a cupcake paper in them and you’re set.)

Beat the eggs and the oil. Add the vanilla and sugar, and beat till mixture is light and frothy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Slowly add the flour mixture to the egg, sugar and oil mixture and mix until batter is smooth. Add the carrots, coconut, pineapple, and nuts.

Pour into rectangular pan or cupcake pans. Bake cake for 35 minutes. Start checking cupcakes after 15 minutes (I still don’t have a set time yet. Eventually.) Cake is done when cake tester comes out clean.

Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz cream cheese, softened
6 tbs butter, softened
1 lb powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla (Mexican vanilla is awesome here)
1 to 2 tbsp milk

Beat butter and cream cheese. Add powdered sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Add milk if needed to think.

Frost cooled carrot cake.

Eat. Yum!

from the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion All-Purpose Baking Cookbook. This is one of the cookbooks I regularly reach for when I’m baking. It’s not quite as good as the All-American Dessert Book, but then it doesn’t have as many tempting pictures, and I’m a sucker for good food pictures.

Homemade Oreos

Think they look good? They are!

The recipe can be found at Smitten Kitchen, and is very very easy. I use a ziploc freezer bag with a corner cut off to disperse the filling.

Grandmom has been complaining that I haven’t been making enough things she can eat, so I made cinnamon bread on Sunday.

Cinnamon Swirl Bread
Dough:
1 cup warm water
4 tbsp butter
3 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup potato flour
1/4 cup dry milk
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups all purpose flour
Filling:
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp flour
1 egg
1 tbsp water
Topping:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp flour

Mix together the water, butter, sugar, potato flour, dry milk, and yeast. Add the salt and cinnamon. Slowly add all-purpose flour until smoothly incorporated. Knead with mixer for 5 to 10 minutes. Allow to rise for 1 to 1 1/2 hours in a slightly oiled bowl, covered with plastic wrap.

Once dough is finished rising, whisk together sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Beat together egg and water.

Roll dough into a large rectangle. Thickly brush some of the egg wash onto the dough rectangle (I only brushed on a light coating, and the swirl separated some). cover the surface of the dough with the cinnamon/sugar/flour.

Roll up the dough, and place into small, lightly greased loaf plan.

I rolled the dough up and then folded it under itself. They suggest rolling the dough longways.

Allow dough to rise for about an hour at room temperature.

After dough has risen, preheat oven to 350.

Pulse topping ingredients in food processor (recipe called for twice as much flour, but this made way too much topping, and the consistency seemed off). Brush egg wash into top of risen loaf. Sprinkle with topping. (I did this over a piece of parchment paper to make clean up easier.)

Back 350 for 45 minutes.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Slide knife or other utensil around edge of loaf to release from pan. Remove bread from pan. You’ll want to do this over parchment paper or waxed paper to make clean-up easier, as a bunch of the topping will fall off.

Completely cool and then eat.

From the King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion.

So, I’m having issues with anxiety today.

I’ve learned that the best way for me to deal with my anxiety is to remain busy. Yesterday I organized the basement and did laundry and made biscotti.

Today so far I’m making cinnamon bread. (I also baked double chocolate cookies, and did two more loads of laundry.)

The problem is that I can only bake so many things before the freezer become overwhelmed. And I can’t just leave baked goods sitting around because Grandmom will binge on them, and then her digestive tract will get upset, and that’s never a good thing.

So apparently you all need to come visit me so I can bake lots of different things and have them eaten immediately.

When can you get here?

I don’t care if I’ve posted about chocolate pudding before. I think I’m fighting off a cold, and I want chocolate pudding, and I don’t feel like writing about anything else.

This pudding is rich and creamy and I like to mellow it down a bit with fresh whipped cream, but it’s good without it (I just have a hard time eating an entire ramekin of it.)

Chocolate Pudding
2/3 cup sugar
3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
3 tbsp cocoa
1/8 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups milk (not skim)
2 tbsp butter (if using low fat milk)
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 1/2 tsp vanilla extract (I like to use Mexican vanilla)

Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt. Add a small amount of milk, and stir until all the the dry ingredients have been incorporated into the milk. Slowly add the remaining milk, stirring carefully. (Switch to using a spoon from here on out.)

Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly and making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. After the mixture has boiled for a few minutes it will thicken a bit. Remove from heat, and immediately add the bittersweet chocolate and vanilla. Stir until the chocolate is melted.


The author recommends putting the pudding through a sieve. I don’t bother, I just divide it into ramekins, cover the ramekins, and put them in the fridge.

From The All-American Dessert Book by Nancy Baggett. This is one of my favorite cookbooks. It’s got gorgeous pictures and I’ve loved every recipe I’ve tried.

I love this soup, and more shockingly, so does Michael. He’d prefer all the broccoli to be ground to bits, but too bad for him.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Fresh broccoli, one to three heads
4 tbsp olive oil
1 to 2 tbsp flour
2 cups stock, heated
2 cups milk
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
dash salt
1/2 tsp red pepper (or more)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Peel and chop the tender broccoli stems, discarding the lower woody potions. Divide the florets into bite size pieces.

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot, then saute the broccoli stems for about five to ten minutes (longer if they are large pieces). Add the flour and stir until dissolved. Pour in the hot broth, and stir. Add the 2 cups of milk. Add all but about a cup or so of the broccoli florets. Add salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.

Simmer for about ten minutes, or until stems are soft.

Puree soup in the blender.

Put soup back into pot on the stove, and add remaining florets and cheddar cheese. Stir and heat for about five minutes. Serve with slices of bread and butter.

Kim asked, and as I just made two batches, here’s the recipe.

Potato Soup
4 cups of hot broth (vegetable, chicken, or turkey)
4 or 5 medium red potatoes, cubed
1 or 2 leeks, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper

Slice/mince the whites of the leeks. Greens can be saved for stock. Wash the red potatoes and cube them. Do NOT peel. Potato skins are healthy and yummy.

Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium heat. Saute leeks until soft. Add salt and pepper until it smells nice. Add potatoes and continue to saute until you’re tired of stirring. Add 4 cups of hot broth. Cook over medium heat until potatoes are kind of soft/it starts to smell like soup.

Puree the soup in the blender.

Add more pepper to taste, if necessary.

Serve with bread and butter.

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Michael hates my recipes.

Looks like I’m going to be making soup to take out to my Dad, while I’m waiting for roads to clear enough for me to get out to my parent’s house.

I’m definitely going to make potato soup, and I’m also thinking corn chowder. Maybe a loaf of whole wheat bread while I’m at it.

I’ll let you know.