braided spaghetti bread

When I first found this idea, I thought, "Duh. Why didn't we think of this a long time ago?" but every time I make it, we've always got at least one person who's mind is totally blown. I guess it is kind of cool.

Every so often, my mom and my step-dad will take trips and hire me as a babysitter/chauffeur/chef/entertainer for my teenage sisters. And by hire I mean they buy my plane ticket and leave me with the credit card.

...yeah, it's still not always the best idea, but my sisters get excited about it and the house is always standing when they get back, so...

This particular time I went to Texas, Jeremy came too and worked from his computer, and it was even more fun to spend the week with him around. But it also meant I was cooking for 4 or 5 people instead of 2, and I wanted to make something the girls would be excited about eating (yeah, they're teenagers, but still. It was supposed to be a fun week!). I only spent a couple of minutes searching before I found this one, and it quickly became a staple in my recipe arsenal.

This recipe is adapted from a Rhodes blog, so the recipe calls for a loaf of Rhodes bread dough or 12 Rhodes dinner rolls. I've made it with a Rhodes loaf, but I usually make it with my own bread recipe (which has been especially helpful in the UK where I haven't ever found Rhodes bread), because 1) it takes less time overall and 2) it's usually cheaper. If you decide to make it with a Rhodes loaf, just follow the instructions on the package about thawing (something like 2-4 hours for the loaf or 1-2 for the rolls). I'm going to explain it with instructions on how to use a homemade loaf (you don't have to do every step in my homemade bread loaf recipe, and you don't have to let it raise for quite as long either).

Ingredients

• 1 bread dough loaf
• 6 oz spaghetti cooked
• Roughly 1 cup thick spaghetti sauce
• 8 oz block of mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (if you have grated cheese more easily accessible, that works just as well)
• 1-2 egg whites, beaten
• Parmesan cheese
• Parsley flakes
• Garlic powder

Bread dough loaf ingredients

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (roughly)

Follow the instructions for bread-making (found again here) from the beginning through step 4. The dough needs to double in size so that you can fit all of the spaghetti on the loaf. When the dough has doubled, spread the dough on a greased 12x16 baking sheet (or whatever you've got that's big). Leave to rest while you make the spaghetti.

You can do whatever you want with this spaghetti. Use your favorite spaghetti sauce, add some sausage, extra seasonings, whatever you like. You do want to use thick spaghetti sauce because if it's too runny it will just make your loaf soggy. My husband loves spaghetti drowning in sauce, but I don't go overboard because, again, no one likes a soggy loaf of bread. You can be generous without drowning the noodles (or the loaf!). Mix everything into the spaghetti, and then when it's finished, place the spaghetti down the center of your bread dough in about a 4-inch column.

Kind of like this. I had just plopped the spaghetti on for the sake of a picture, but you need to have at least two inches on each side of the spaghetti for braiding (you can get away with an inch on the ends).

This is the sauce I used for this round (in the UK), and it was delicious. So if you're making it in Oxford... I'd definitely recommend it!

After you have the spaghetti down, top with your grated/cubes of mozzarella. Then cut strips about 1 1/2 inches thick all the way down either side (I do this with kitchen scissors. It's infinitely easier than trying this with a knife). Take the bigger pieces at either end and fold them over the spaghetti, then start a braid with the strips by alternating right over left (or left over right, however you want to start). Tuck the last piece under the strip closest to it. 

If you haven't already, beat your egg whites, and then brush the whole loaf with them. If you use a large egg, you may only need one egg, but I use small-medium eggs and always end up using 2, sometimes 3, depending on how generous I decide to be in each section. Season with parsley, parmesan cheese, and garlic powder, and put it in the over at 350 (or 180 and the fan setting in the UK) and bake for 30 minutes, or until it's golden brown. Cool, slice, and enjoy!

Because I'm not particularly skilled at guessing serving yields and sizes, I will tell you this: This can comfortably feed 2 adults who are famished or 4 averagely-hungry adults when served with a side salad. It could also easily be served to a crowd as an appetizer if you slice it like a loaf of bread and cut the whole thing in half. If you make three loaves, it will feed 5 jump ropers after a long day of practice and you will have maybe half a loaf leftover. However, when I made a single loaf for my husband, 12-year-old sister, and 14-year-old sister, I ate a single slice, and in that time the rest of the loaf disappeared, and they asked if I'd made another loaf. 

So plan accordingly :)

one pan mexican quinoa

So I'm trying to be a little bit more healthy. Emphasis on "little bit".

I really enjoy food. I don't go overboard, I'm good at knowing when I'm full and when to stop and actually quitting while I'm ahead, and I make sure to stay active. So I pretty much eat whatever I want. I realize this isn't always a good idea, even if I'm not preoccupied with my figure, weight, or ability to exercise, so sometimes I try to find a healthier alternative to something I already enjoy. Especially if I can't tell that there's a huge difference when I make a substitution.

I also have this bag of quinoa that is going to expire if I don't use it all in the next month or two. So, honestly, my desire not to waste food was the larger motivator than my health. But whatever.

So I searched for quinoa recipes. Most were way too healthy for my tastes (if tofu is a main ingredient, I'll pass), but I realized I could just add what I wanted and take out what I didn't. And then I found this recipe that was basically just switching out rice for quinoa. And it was delicious. I made some changes, I added meat (because we're carnivores), and voila. Dinner 30 minutes later.

Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef (of course, there are great substitutions for this. Or you can omit it entirely. It's still really good without)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 c quinoa
• 1 c vegetable broth
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (fire roasted is delicious, but. Use what you have)
• 1 c corn
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• lime juice (1 lime is plenty)
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 1 avocado, diced

1.  (If you're using meat) Brown the beef. Drain and rinse (I've learned that rinsing really gets all of the fat off. Less oily and gross that way). Set aside, and rinse out your pan.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat, and cook the garlic and jalapeno for about a minute, until it starts to smell delicious.
3. Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring it all to a boil, then cover it and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer until the quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in meat, heat through, then add lime, cilantro, and avocado. Eat immediately.

If eating healthy always tastes this delicious, maybe I'll up my healthy food game. Just a little bit. 

the "little black dress" of pizzas: garlic chicken pizza

I feel like I need to be completely honest about something that I don't think anybody really knows: I love pizza. But not like everybody loves pizza. I LOVE pizza. "Like a fat kid loves cake"? No, that would be "kind of liking" pizza. Every chance I get to eat pizza, I take it. I really honestly don't think I'd be sick of it if I ate a different flavor of pizza every day (which I did, for a few months of my life. I worked at Empire Pizza as a senior, and I wanted to try all of them. If you want a recommendation, should you be in that part of South Florida, mashed potato bacon is my favorite).
So I think it fair to say that I'm somewhat of a pizza connoisseur. Yes, I will (often gladly) eat pizzas that are below elite rank, but when there is a more elite pizza available, I will be there, trying to shovel it down in the classiest way possible.

Now, pizza is rarely a classy thing. In fact, I don't know that, even with my choice of title, pizza is ever classy. But you can certainly dress it up. Especially if you're making your own, you cut it into squares instead of triangular slices, and your pizza is a wonderful mix of looking delicious and being healthy (little to no grease). Throw together individual side salads, and you could have a dinner party (probably not a black tie event though. Pizza's name still hasn't been cleared of "frat parties," "tailgate parties," and other events where daisy dukes and beer pong might be involved).

So here we have a pizza that you can dress up or dress down. It is delicious AND healthy. I've used it for birthdays, FIFA nights, post-football game meals that turned into FIFA nights, and date night with stemware. I probably wouldn't wear a little black dress to most of those things, but. You get the idea.

You can use what you have on hand and omit some of the cheeses or vegetables (in the one pictured, we omitted a few things), or you can make a trip to the store if you're feeling up to it, especially if you want to pick up soda. Or sparkling cider :)

Garlic Chicken Pizza

• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ready-made pizza crust (I make my own- recipe at the end)
• 1 1/2 c shredded cooked chicken
• 1 c chopped tomato
• 1 c chopped mushroom
• 1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 c crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 c finely shredded Parmesan
• 1/4 c chopped green onion

1. Preheat oven to temperature listed on the package (or 375 if you've made your own pizza crust).
2. Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Place crust on baking sheet; brush vinegar mixture over crust.
3. Top with chicken, tomato, and mushrooms. Sprinkle with cheeses and green onion.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheeses melt.

With this pizza, I made the crust, and I left out green onions, mushrooms, and feta cheese. I rarely have those on hand, so more often than not, our pizza is like this. Still pretty dang delicious.

No-Rise Pizza Crust

• 2 1/4 tsp yeast (or 1 packet)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 c lukewarm water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
• 1 tsp salt
• ~3 c flour

1. Combine the yeast and sugar in a bowl, then add the cup of water. Let react for 5-10 minutes. 
2. Preheat oven to 375.
3. Add the last 3 ingredients, starting with 2 cups of flour and then adding a little bit more at a time as needed.
4. Roll out in desired shape. Put on a greased pan, top, and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

If you decide to make your own crust, here's a tip: if you don't already have a can of cooked chicken (or want to save it for a more rushed day), use a chicken breast. Start the chicken boiling while you're waiting for the yeast to react, then it will be done cooking about the time you're done with your crust. Let the chicken cool while you prepare the vinegar mix, and after you've spread it on the crust, the chicken should be cool enough that you can handle it to shred it or dice it.

Enjoy!

white bean chili. or, "When I Was Waiting For A Baby and Bridian was in Europe"

When I was about 38 weeks pregnant, I decided I wanted to make a bunch of freezer meals. I didn't want us to even think about dinner for as long as possible after our baby was born and relatives left and friends stopped bringing food. So I started making a list of meals and ingredients I needed. As a "thank you" from my internship team, I'd received, among other things, a grocery store gift certificate, but I learned at this grocery store that you have to use the entire balance of the gift certificate in one shot- anything you didn't spend was just lost. So I made a long list. The day Berlin was due (because if nothing else, I am absolutely a procrastinator), we went shopping. We spent an hour or so finding everything we needed and then things we wanted and then things we thought maybe we should get just because we did NOT want to waste this gift certificate. Funny, because we made it to the balance, only overshooting by 20 cents. We were incredibly proud. And then when the cashier found out I was due that day, she laughed and said, "Better take another lap around the store!"

Yeah right. Like a Mortensen/Lindstrom was going to come on his due date. Ha.

So Thursday (we went shopping on Monday), when there was still no sign of a baby, I decided I should probably start cooking, since the baby was not going stay indefinitely snuggled inside of me, and I cooked up a storm all day (more on those recipes later). Closer to dinner time, I realized I hadn't really planned for dinner for that night. And I was not about to sacrifice a meal for a time when I didn't want to cook for a time when making one more meal after 10 was not really a big deal.

But I had zero ideas. Zero. Apparently cooking and creativity are inversely related.

Bridian was on her 6-week sabbatical somewhere in Denmark (or London. Who knows), but she'd been texting me when she periodically found internet. Most of our conversations were about life plans, of a little more epic proportion than what to eat for dinner that night, but. I braved the break in conversation topic. She laughed at me, especially at my problem of not being able to think of anything after cooking all day, and suggested this soup that she'd made for me one time and she thought I liked it. So she proceeded to text me the recipe. One. Ingredient. At. A. Time. Instructions weren't really included. I had to clarify a million things a million times. I finally scribbled everything on to a tiny scratch of paper to make sense of it and repeat it back to Bridian. I have lost this little scrap of paper half a million times and I really don't have any idea how I've managed to find it again (which is a huge reason in why I'm blogging this one). When I reminded her of this a couple of days ago, she laughed again. "Yeah, that sounds like something I would do."

Anyway, what resulted was one of my favorite soups of all soups. Which is saying something, because I've had are a lot of really great soups. This one is just... top 3. Super simple, super delicious. I use this one a lot for cold days and for bringing soup to friends who are sick/have just had a baby/both. I also love eating/serving this soup with homemade bread, if you care to know. But really, what soup isn't great with homemade bread?

1. Boil 1-2 chicken breasts (depending on how much chicken you want in your soup. When I double this, I use two and it's plenty). After they're cooked(10-15 minutes), let them cool until you can shred them. Save the broth!
2. Saute half an onion, diced, with a tablespoon of butter (in your soup pot).
3. Then add:

• 2 drained cans of great northern white beans
• 1 small can diced green chilies
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt and garlic powder to taste

Simmer for 10-15 minutes. When it's done, add 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1 cup of heavy cream.

I don't even have anything else to say. I've already ranted and raved about it, so- enjoy!