No knead cheese bread

 3 cups all purpose flour (or 1.5 c white whole wheat flour and 1.5 c all purpose)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dry active yeast

1 1/2 cup Warm water 95F-105F 

1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese

3 tbs fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, rosemary) or 3 tsp dried (I used Italian seasoning)

Mix flours through water until you have a shaggy ball. Cover with plastic and let rise 3-8 hours until doubled (I recommend overnight). 

Preheat a Dutch oven to 450 degrees. 

Turn dough out on a floured surface and fold in cheese and herbs. 

Bake 30 minutes covered, then uncover for  15 minutes until golden. 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

 1/2 c butter

1/2 c sugar

3/4 c brown sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1 c white whole wheat flour

1 c all purpose flour

1 c rolled oats

1 c chocolate pieces

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Beat better and sugars until well-combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until smooth. 

Stirn in flour, oats, baking soda, salt, and chips. 

Bake 10 - 12 minutes. 

Sweet Chex Mix

 12 oz corn Chex

12 oz rice Chex

12 oz pretzel rods

1 lb butter (can be less, must be enough to coat)

2 c brown sugar (can be less)

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp worcestershire sauce  

Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour, turning occasionally to prevent burning. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup (Instant Pot)

 5 cups chicken stock

14.5 oz diced tomatoes

1 medium onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1-2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp ground coriander

salt and pepper to taste

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken

14.5 oz black beans, drained

2 c frozen corn

1 TBS lime juice, if available

Add stock, onions, tomatoes, garlic, and chicken. Sprinkle with spices. 

Top with beans and corn. Do not stir. 

Pressure cook on high for 9 minutes. Natural release for 5-10 minutes (can hurry this step) .

Remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to pot and adjust seasoning to taste. 

Suggested toppings; Sour cream, cheese, tortilla chips, avocado. 

Lasagna Soup

 1 lb ground beef or turkey

1 clove garlic, minced

3.5 cups beef stock

1/2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/4 c parmesan cheese

1 small onion

1/4 tsp dried parsley

14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1.5 c mini pasta, uncooked (if not mini, pre-cook)

Saute meat, onion, and garlic over medium-high heat until the meat is well-browned, about 10 minutes. 

Season with salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and parsley. 

Stir in broth, tomatoes, and heat to a boil. 

Stir pasta. Reduce to medium and cook for 10 minutes or until pasta is tender.

Stir in cheese and adjust seasoning to taste. 

Whole Wheat No Knead Bread

I finally joined the no knead bread craze (again). A couple of years ago, I remember doing it once or twice with sourdough bread, but fell out of the habit...and my sour dough started died. I love that you can mix it the night before and in the morning have a crusty loaf of bread in less than an hour!

No Knead Bread (adapted from The Scratch Pantry)

1 1/4 c white whole wheat flour

2 c all purpose flour

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp active dry yeast  

1.5 c water (best is 110 degrees, 105-115 okay)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl until a dough forms. It may be sticky. 

Cover with plastic wrap and allow to rise overnight (12-18 hours). 

With floured hands, form into a ball and place on parchment paper. Allow to rest for 30 minutes or so while you preheat a dutch oven to 450 degrees. 

Place bread on parchment paper into the dutch oven and replace lid. Bake for 30 minutes. 

Remove lid and bake for another 8-10 minutes until golden brown. (If concerned about over-browning, reduce heat to 350. ) Bread is done when it sounds hollow or has reached an internal temperature of 204 degrees. 

Remove from dutch oven and cool on wire rack. 

Italian Wedding Soup

Italian Wedding Soup (recipe adapted from Tracey's Culinary Adventures)

10 cups chicken stock

2 cups water 

4 carrots, cut into 1/2-inch dice 

1 tablespoon (about 3 cloves) minced garlic, divided 

4 cups kale or spinach, chopped  

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving 

2 eggs, lightly beaten 1/2 cup plain bread crumbs 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

1/2 teaspoon pepper 

1 lb italian sausage (I used turkey sausage) 

1 1/4 cups small shaped pasta or tortellini

Make mini meatballs: 

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil, and spray with nonstick cooking spray. 

Combine the cheese, eggs, bread crumbs, the remaining 1 teaspoon of garlic, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Stir until well combined.  Fold in the sausage, but do not over mix

Use a small cookie scoop to portion the mixture into roughly 1-inch meatballs and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.

Make soup

Combine the chicken broth, water, carrots, 2 teaspoons of the garlic, and the kale (if using spinach, add at end) in a large pot over medium-high heat. 

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer until the carrots are tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Add the pasta to the soup. Continue simmering until the pasta is tender, about 10 minutes. 

 Add the meatballs to the soup (heat briefly to rewarm if necessary). Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Add cheese for serving. 

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Happy quarantine, stay-at-home, lock-down order, or whatever your state is calling it! Are you doing much baking? With our recent move, home school, teletherapy, and the pesky full-time job, I haven't baked all that much more than usual. But somehow, we're churning through the flours, so I might be understating thing just a bit.

I found this recipe in my collection, just ripped from a magazine or catalog. Unfortunately, no where on the page does it say where it's from, though I'm guessing King Arthur. It's titled"2015 Recipe of the Year," and I was truly impressed. The original recipe was double what I have here. I halved it to require only one stick of butter and make a more manageable number of cookies. Still, it made over 3 dozen delicious, bite-sized cookies! I warn you that they are super chocolatey with a high ratio of chips to dough, which is not a bad thing.

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare cookie sheet by greasing or covering with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugars together. Add the egg and vanilla, one at a time, beating well after each. Slowly mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop dough on to prepared baking pan, allowing at least 1 1/2" between cookies, as they will spread.

Bake 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.

I used a teaspoon sized cookie scoop and got at least 40 cookies. They are amazing!

Instant Pot Clam Chowder

I was skeptical of giving this recipe from Hip Pressure Cooking a try, but when I was planning our Super Bowl party and finally realized who was playing, a menu of “Cheeseteaks” and clam chowder fit the bill. The one could be made in the slow cooker and the other in the Instant Pot was a plus. Before you worry that the clams will get tough in the instant pot, if you are using canned clams as I did, they are added in at the end and simply heated through. The flavor comes from cooking the veggies in clam juice. New England Clam Chowder
1 cup chopped bacon (about 4-5 slices thick bacon)
1 medium onions, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 medium potatoes (red or russet), cubed
2 cups clam juice (8 oz bottled plus the juice from the canned clams was perfect)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig thyme

1 tbs butter
1 tbs flour
1 cup whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
11 oz frozen or canned clams (I used 2-6 oz cans)

Sauté bacon until it releases much of its fat. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to scrap up the bits of flavor from the bottom of the pot. Stir in the clam juice, potatoes, bay, thym and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook on high pressure for 6 to 7 minutes, depending upon the size and type of potatoes. Quick release when the time is finished. (I used my 6 qt instant pot and had no issues with steam).

Melt the butter in a small saucepan and stir in flour for a quick roux. With the instant pot on sauté-low, stir in the roux, milk cream and clams. Simmer the chowder, stirring ocassionaly until it has thickened slightly and the clams are heated through, about 5 minutes. You may sauté on medium if you are nearby and able to stir frequently. Season to taste.

Serves 4

Slow Cooker Hot Cocoa

(As you can see, making gingerbread houses is serious business.)

Just before Christmas, we hosted our first cold-weather kids' party--11 children plus 14 parent/grandparents and it was too cold to go outside. Although there was food and snacks galore, the hit of the party was the hot chocolate! Even though my husband is a fervent hot chocolate fan, it had never occurred me to serve hot chocolate in the slow cooker at a party. I'd done it with hot cider but never made that obvious leap.

Anyway, if I was going to do it, I decided I might as well do it decadently. Enter this recipe from Sally's Baking Addition. I've since made it not quite as decadent, using whatever milk I've had on hand. Toppings such as marshmallows, whipped cream, and even candy canes are essential for kids, but I'm good with it plain. Even though we've left it on warm for 4-6 hours, scorching has never been a problem but keep an eye on it just in case.

Slow Cooker Hot Cocoa
6 cups whole milk (or any lesser fat %)
2 cups heavy cream (or half and half)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, grated or chopped
1/4 cup (heaping) cocoa powder
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine all ingredients in a 4-6 quart slow-cooker. (Anything larger and I would double the recipe.) Whisk vigorously to incorporate the cocoa powder. Cook for 4-6 hours on low and 2-4 hours on high. Be sure to stir every 45-minutes to make sure the chocolate melts evenly and the mixture does not scorch. Switch to warm when the hot cocoa is a the desired temperature.

Serve with whipped cream, marshmallows, candy canes, etc.

Leftovers, assuming there are any, may be stored in the fridge and reheated in the microwave or on the stovetop.

Maple Syrup Banana Muffins

My Easy Banana Muffins recipe is one of the oldest in my recipe collection. They're definitely tasty, but my preferences for sweetness have changed significantly over the years. Now with two littles, I'm not too keen on feeding them tons of sugar in something homemade that's not a cake or a cupcake. That's why I was ecstatic to discover this recipe from Gimme Delicious that uses maple syrup (and not too much of it) as the sweetener.

Maple Syrup Banana Muffins
Adapted from Gimme Delicious

2 c white whole wheat flour
1/4 c rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 c mashed bananas
2 eggs
1/2 c maple syrup (or honey)
1/3 c canola oil
1/4 c milk
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk dry ingredients together. Make a well in the center and add wet ingredients. Mix to combine.

Pour into greased or paper-lined muffin tins. Bake 20-25 minutes until springy to the touch or a toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 14-16 muffins

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes

It seems as though some weeks we're barely squeaking by in bananas come Saturday due to the battle between putting them in smoothies or the little guy consuming 1-2 each morning. Other weeks, we have nearly two bunches remaining at peak ripeness (or beyond). As there are only so many muffins I can bake at a time and only room for so many in the freezer, enter banana pancakes!

This recipe is adapted from a recipe from Simple Bites, titled "Fluffy Banana Pancakes." I habitually forget the melted butter in the microwave which means they're still delicious, but definitely not fluffy.

My little guy usually helps with the banana mashing...mash one, bite two, mash, bite, etc...Nonetheless this recipe makes a very large batch of pancakes, which I freeze for the rest of the week.

Banana Oatmeal Pancakes
Adapted from Simple Bites

1 c rolled oats
3 c white whole wheat flour
1.5 TBS ground flax
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 c milk
1 c yogurt (plain or vanilla, greek ok)
3 TBS melted butter or canola oil
1/3 c honey
1 1/3 cup smashed bananas, about 4 medium
2 eggs, lightly beaten

Whisk dry ingredients together, then mix in wet. Cool on a greased griddle until bubbles appear. Flip and cook until golden brown.

Makes at least 2 dozen

Apple Oatmeal Nut Muffins

I think my plan will be to post recipes with or without pictures, simply to preserve them in my collection. Then later I can return and add photos.

We managed to go apple picking twice this fall. Though I didn't get the variety or mass quantities that I have in past years, we had plenty for snacking and enough for some new baking adventures. My little guys are muffin fans, but many muffins have a ton of sugar and butter. I was very attracted to this recipe because it is sweetened with maple syrup and has very little oil/fat. This recipe makes a drier, almost savory muffin, but I like them as do the littles.

Apple Oatmeal Nut Muffins
(adapted from Food.com)

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup apple, coarsely grated
1⁄2 cup plain yogurt
1 egg
2 tablespoons canola oil 1 1⁄4 cups white whole wheat flour
2 1⁄2 teaspoons baking powder
1⁄2 teaspoon baking soda
1⁄2 teaspoon salt
1⁄3 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
2⁄3 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine oats, apple, maple syrup, yogurt, egg and oil in a medium sized bowl. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nuts. Fold the liquid ingredients into dry ingredients until just combined

Spoon batter using a muffin scoop into 12 large paperlined or greased muffin tins. Bake 20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.

Crepes, Crepes, Crepes!

As we're moving in less than a month, it's becoming rather urgent to get a bunch of recipes posted as I soon won't have my massive post-it collection on my kitchen cabinet to glance at if I don't feel like wading through my forty Pinterest boards. Since we had crepes for breakfast, I figured today was the day to post this.

For ages, crepes were simply a dessert thing to me. Berries, chocolate, and whipped cream! Who knew they could be less sweet (but still yummy) or savory and would make a great breakfast for lunch? After trying a few variations, I've decided that this is my favorite recipe. This recipe is simple and that it's mixed in the blender making for quick clean up makes it all the easier. Even my husband has made these! I typically use white whole wheat flour, but whole wheat pastry flour has worked in a pinch. I'm sure you could also omit the fiber and use all purpose.

White Whole Wheat Crepes
3 eggs
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup milk
¾ cup water
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter, melted + extra for cooking

Put all ingredients in blender and mix well. If the troops aren't too restless, let the mix stand about 15 minutes.

Melt and swirl around a small pat of butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Angle pan and pour about 1/4 cup or enough batter on one side to thinly and evenly cover the pan. Very quickly swirl the batter around to cover the pan in one thin layer.

When the pancake looks set (about 1-2 muinutes), start using a spatula to push the edges. Go slowly and stop if the pancake starts to tear and wait another minute. Flip the pancake, which should be golden brown, and cook till golden brown on the other side (another 1-2 minutes).

Remove from pan and serve with berries, chocolate, maple syrup, whipped cream, chicken, spinach, or anything your heart desires!

Store covered tightly with plastic wrap in the fridge for up to a few days. You may want to reheat using a wet paper towel.