My Muesli

My Muesli

1 C oats
2/3 C Uncle Sam Cereal (wheat berry flakes)
1/3 C Quinoa Flakes (also a cereal)
4 T wheat germ
4 T ground flaxseed
1/4 C chia seeds
1/3 C golden raisins

Combine all ingredients and keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Eat with yogurt or as a hot or cold cereal.

** 1/4 C serving is 141 calories, 4g fat, 5g fiber and 5g protein.
**When I lived in England, I loved muesli....Alpen Muesli to be exact.  You can buy it here now and it's delicious, but not particularly healthy.  So I made up my own version with less sugar and a little more umph!  I eat it mixed in greek yogurt and then topped with a little vanilla soy milk and fruit. I add the soy milk because it get's quite thick.  Traditionally, Europeans mix it with their yogurt or milk the night before and let it sit in the refrigerator over night. I like it both ways, but usually I don't think about it the night before.
**You could add anything you want to muesli...nuts, dates, dried fruit...no limit.  I change mine up all the time, but this is my base!

Magleby Feijoada

Magleby Feijoada

1 smoked ham hock
2 bay leaves
3 C dried black beans
1 T olive oil
1 large minced white onion
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 bunch of parsely finely chopped
1-2 lbs of ham, cubed
2-3 t salt
1 t pepper

Soak beans over night.  Discard water after soaking. If you are short on time, place beans in a pot and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil, turn off heat and let sit for an hour. Discard water.  Combine beans, ham hock, bay leaves and 2 t salt in pressure cooker pot. Add enough water to cover beans 3 inches. Cook for about 45 minutes in pressure cooker. Turn off heat and let pressure return to normal just by cooling down, or if in a hurry, release steam.  While beans are cooking, saute onion, garlic, parsley in a pan on a low flame. Cook until onions are translucent. Add ham and turn off heat.  When beans are done, remove ham hock and discard, add the onion and ham mixture to the beans.  Cook 20-30 more minutes or until you have your desired consistency.  Add pepper and more salt if desired.  If you add the salt before it is cooked down, the salt flavor intensifies and it might end up too salty.  Serve over rice or quinoa.

**Hans served his mission in Brasil and often craves Feijoada (Brasilian black bean stew).  Knowing what my kids like, I have kind of come up with my own combo.....it may not be Brasilian, but it tastes so good and everyone loves it!
**I truly hesitated putting this picture up, I know it looks so gross, but it really is delish and perfectly satisfying on a cold night!

Chicken Marsala

Chicken Marsala

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 pounds)
flour, for dredging
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 ounces prosciutto, thinly sliced
16 ounces mushrooms, sliced thickly
1 cup Marsala wine
1 cup chicken stock
4 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

Slice chicken breast in half to make them a thinner breast. Put the chicken breasts on plastic wrap and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them; pound with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/4-inch thick. Put some flour in a shallow platter and season with salt and pepper; mix with a fork to distribute evenly.

Heat the oil over medium-high flame in a large skillet. When the oil is nice and hot, dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour, shaking off the excess. Slip the cutlets into the pan and fry for 5 minutes on each side until golden, turning once – do this in batches if the pieces don't fit comfortably in the pan. Remove the chicken to a large platter  in a single layer in 200 degree oven to keep warm.

Lower the heat to medium and add the prosciutto to the drippings in the pan, saute for 1 minute to render out some of the fat. Now, add the mushrooms and saute until they are nicely browned and their moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Pour the Marsala in the pan and boil down for a minute or so. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a minute to reduce the sauce slightly. Stir in the butter and return the chicken to the pan; simmer gently for 1 minute to heat the chicken through. Return chicken to the warm serving dish.  Taste sauce and season with salt and pepper to liking. Pour sauce over chicken. Garnish with chopped parsley before serving. Yummy served with parmesan spinach potatoes.

** Grayson picked this for his 17th birthday dinner and I couldn't believe that it wasn't already on the blog, it has been a family favorite for years! Even though some of the kids hate mushrooms, they all love this and they just quietly take off the mushrooms....then I eat them!
**I often make the sauce first, to save on last minute timing and then add it to the chicken in the pan for the "second" cooking.

Zucchini "Noodles" with Pesto

Zucchini "Noodles" with Pesto

Pesto
2 C tightly packed basil leaves
1/2 C olive oil
3 T pine nuts
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 t salt
1/2 C grated parmigiano-reggiano

Zucchini Noodles
3 medium zucchini
1 T olive oil
3/4 lb dried spaghetti
shaved parmigiano-reggiano for serving

First make the pesto.  Put all the ingredients, except the parmigiano-reggiano into a food processor or good blender.  Process to a smooth, creamy consistency, stopping once or twice to scrape down the sides.  Transfer to a bowl and stir in the grated parmigiano-reggiano. Set aside.
Put a large pot of salted water over high heat.
Using a mandoline, or a sharp knife, cut zucchini into long skinny "noodles." Warm the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender but not mushy. 5-8 minutes. 

When the pot of water boils, drop in the spaghetti.  Cook until al dente.  Using a pair of long handled tongs scoop the pasta directly from the pot into the skillet of cooked zucchini.  Add 1/2 cup of the pesto and toss the mixture well to ensure that each noodle-zucchini and spaghetti alike-has a thin, even coat of sauce.  Serve immediately, with additional salt and lots of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

**From A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg
**Such a fantastic summer side dish and adding the garden cherry tomatoes makes it divine!
**Before I had a mandolin, I would just make the zucchini, as a side dish, so good!

Peaches and Cream Pie

 Peaches and Cream Pie

Crust
1/2 C unsalted butter, softened
3 T sugar
1 lg egg yolk (room temp)
3 T heavy cream
1 1/2 C flour
1/4 t salt

Filling
1 pound (2 - 8oz pkg) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 C powdered sugar
1/2 C heavy cream
2 t vanilla

Topping
2 1/2 C sliced ripe peaches

Crust: In mixer, cream butter and sugar until smooth.  Add the egg yolk and cream, and mix well.  Add the flour and salt, beat until just combined.  Gather the dough into a ball and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to fit a 9 inch pie plate. Fold the edges under all around the rim and crimp.  Prick the bottom and sides all over with the tines of a fork (to prevent crust from puffing up). Cover the edge of the pie crust with aluminum foil. place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes at 375.  Carefully remove foil and continue baking 10-15 more minutes, or until crust is crisp and golden.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Filling: In mixer, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth and creamy.  Add the heavy cream and vanilla.  Beat on low until well combined. Refrigerate the filling until crust is completely cool. When crust is cool, spread the filling evenly in the crust with a rubber spatula.  Arrange the sliced peaches on top of the filling.  Refrigerate pie for at least 8 hours for filling to set.

**From Magnolia Bakery
**I refrigerated the filling after putting it in the pie shell, but just added the peaches before I served to prevent browning.  The peaches slid all over when I served the slices, but they were fresh and yummy!

Granola Cookie

Granola Cookie

3/4 C butter
1/2 C sugar
1/2 C brown sugar
1/4 C honey
1 egg
1 T vanilla
1 t cinnamon
1 t salt
1 T baking soda
1 3/4 C flour
2 1/4 C oats
1/2 C coconut
1/2 C chopped pecans (toasted if you like)
1/2 C chopped almonds (toasted or sliced if you like)
1/2 C golden raisins
1/2 C chopped dried apricots
1/2 C chopped white chocolate (or chips)

In a mixer, cream together butter, sugars and honey.  Add egg, vanilla, cinnamon and salt.  Mix well.  Add soda and flour. Mix well.  Add oats and coconut.  Mix until just incorporated.   Remove bowl from mixer, add coconut, pecans, almonds, raisins, apricots and white chocolate and then mix by hand with a heavy wood spoon.  It's a very stiff dough and you might actually need to use your hands.  I do.  Measure 1/4 C of dough, roll into a ball and flatten to an inch thick on the parchment or silpat lined baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 9-10 minutes or until golden and toasty around the edges and a bit on top.

**This is my first ever invented recipe.  It is a collaboration of several cookie recipes as well as a few favorite granola recipes.  I worked on it last year for a bit and couldn't get it right, so I walked away for a bit.  I decided to try it again and I'm closer than ever.  I may still tweak it a bit, but I need to walk away from ALL the granola cookies.  Test batches are killing me, I can't stop eating them. 
 **This recipe doesn't produce a huge batch, because this particular cookie is only eaten by me, Hans and Chloe.  So I don't like having a ton around.  However, it's super easy to double! And they are great frozen.
**A variation that I played with that is super good is substituting the 1/2 C of almonds and pecans for 1 C salted cashews. Yummy too.  You could sub anything you want for the last 5 ingredients and still have a great cookie. 
**PS. This wasn't the prettiest cookie of the batch, Chloe ate that one.... :)

Richest Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

Richest Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 C butter
3 eggs
2 C sugar
2 C brown sugar
2 t vanilla
7 C flour
2 t salt
2 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
3 C chocolate chips

In heavy mixer, mix cold butter and sugar until combined. Add eggs.  Add in vanilla, salt, soda, powder and then flour.  Add chocolate chips.  Bake at 375. 1 T cookies 6-7 min, 1/4 C 10-11 min.

**This was one of the first recipes I ever asked for, probably when I was 16.  My amazing sister in law has always been the best cook!  I changed it just a bit, and I don't know if it's better, but I'm lazy and I like measuring 2 t instead of 1 1/2! This makes a huge batch, hense the heavy mixer.  I've halved it before and just added 2 eggs.
**PS, best dough EVER to just eat out of the bowl.  We make it sometimes and just skip the eggs to eat the dough....and when I say we, I mean me and Chloe!