C is for Cookie

This blog was originally about my challenge (to myself) to have variety in what Daniel and I eat, but when I was told that "Ty and I would love to try our favorite neighbor's cousine" (my first non-family request for my food!) I was so happy!

If you are a Facebook junkie like me some people, you may know who this brave request is from; however, I'll make it easy on my blog readers. Although there's nothing like scrolling through someone's wall for hours...

My neighbor, Ali and I are one month and 23 days apart (one month and 24 days on a leap year) and we've known each other since just about then. I remember sitting on Ali's swing set waiting for her to come home from school (since we went to different elementary schools) and exploring at the Children's Museum Mr. Roger's exhibit. We used to scout out the best hills for sled riding and play in her Dad's office and my "clubhouse" (aka, under the stairs in our basement).

So, when Ali told me that she'd like to try something that I've made, I knew it had to be good. It couldn't be one of those "Hi blog readers, don't try this!"--it had to be tasty.

And, how could I go wrong with cookies?!

I had planned to make a dozen for Ali, with hopes for a few left over for me...well, 40 cookies, a cooking tin, a plate of cookies, and a drive to Pittsburgh later---I made my speedy deliver to Ali's house.



The cookies were moist and gooey right out of the oven, and like most homemade cookies I've made, they got a bit harder after sitting. No problem, just microwave for about 10 seconds. (I kind of microwaved a cookie at my parents' house for one minute and 10 seconds...oops! The burned smell eventually dissipated...)

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I ate my fair share of cookies that weekend, and was thanked by my Mom for leaving a few extra in the Costco sized tin of cookies I left in her fridge.

The best part of my cookie cooking? Ali told me they were like Mrs. Fields' cookies!


Score!

Who-don? Udon!

A lot of people set out solely to lose weight for their weddings, and yes, we both did try to shed a few pounds for our upcoming wedding, but our PRIMARY goal is not to lose weight unhealthfully, but to lose weight by being healthier than before.

I've been making a lot of salads, wraps, soups and other dinners without any added salt. I've been using more and more vegetables in our dinners and cutting back on any unnecessary indulgences. Can you say Frosties?

Tonight I made a recipe from epicurious for Udon Soup. It was tasty!

My only suggestions for this recipe: If you are going to include the yams 1) Cook them with the soup, then remove until serving or 2) Cook yams in a separate pot of boiling water and only add when serving.

Since I made the Udon Soup earlier in the day, the yams had a chance to soak up the broth and kind of "melt" down making the broth a bit sweet. I think next time, I will try cooking the yams separately so that they don't fall apart.

This was a nice, light, healthy and filling dinner.

And, just so you know, I eat what I make ;-) :

Tuna Apple Wraps and Lexie's Feta Salad

Bloggello! That is hello in Blogger language. You didn't know that? Okay, I just made it up. Hello world! I am back to updating---and boy, do I have a lot to update!

This past weekend was my bridal shower in Pittsburgh. My lovely maid of honor and bridesmaids organized a beautiful, fun, and yummy day for me. My bridal shower's theme was "Kitchen Gadget" and my friends and family were so very generous with wonderful and useful presents. I really have a fully stocked kitchen now.

Dan allowed me to install (and build!) my first kitchen island, so now I have a place to properly store my new gadgets. Why have nice things if they can't be taken care of? Right? Right.

For dinner last Tuesday (gasp!) we had TuTuna Apple Wraps, basically my version of the tuna sandwich that I used to get at Camille's Sidewalk Cafe in Pittsburgh when I used to live on North Craig Street. I took a large can of albacore white tuna, in water, and mixed with about 1.5 tbsp fat-free mayonnaise. Then, I chopped half of a Granny Smith apple and added it to the tuna. I mixed it up, and a delicious, fresh, citrus tuna filling. Seriously, add apple to your tuna, it is delicious!

On whole wheat wraps, I then put about 1 cup of the tuna mixture flanked by sliced tomato and Alfalfa sprouts. Ever wonder how to properly wrap a wrap to prevent spillage.




On the side we had Roasted Asparagus and Cashews. In a small skillet, add about 1/2 a tbsp of olive oil and about 10 asparagus stalks. Add a small amount of garlic powder and a small amount of powdered ginger. Make sure to stir around to coat evenly to avoid powder clumps. I just rolled the asparagus around with a spatula. After you add the spices, add about 1/4 cup of cashews (whole or pieces) and saute for about 10-15 minutes while stirring frequently.

I am so excited to make one of Lexie's recipes for the blog! Lexie sent me a recipe for a yummy Feta Salad. Use a large tomato, cut it into eights---(cut the tomato in half...then again...then again)Slice cucumber (about 1 cup) and about 1/2 cup red onion sliced in long slices. Add as many kalamata onions as you like!

Take a block of feta in brine, cut about 1inch x2inch pieces, season with pepper and place on top of salad. Season with oil and vinegar--and ENJOY! You will definitely enjoy this yummy salad!

Bon appetit!

Pear Salad and Chicken Aux Oignons, si'l te plait!

So, there's been a lot of chicken, right? I've decided to venture out into some other courses---salads, sandwiches, wraps, sides...

There are so many things you can do with wraps and sandwiches, and the possibilities of salads are endless. I think that if you make the taste and texture interesting, salads become thought of something other than the limp dried out lettuce and boring vegetables offered at a salad bar.

We are both being very careful about what we are eating because of our upcoming wedding, and it has paid off. We both have been exercising everyday and eating healthfully!

Friday night, we had a Fresh Pear Salad that I modified from a recipe that was in Kosher Delicious because there was no way to make the Fresh Pear and Plum Salad---I am allergic to fresh plums, and well, I haven't exactly been able to find canned plums! So basically, I took butter lettuce (baby arugula would work, too) and placed two halves of a pear (cut into four pieces total) on top of the salad. The dressing was home made, too! And we fell in love.


Without exact proportions, the dressing (does homemade dressing count as a separate recipe?) consisted of olive oil, white vinegar, dijon mustard, orange juice, honey and chipped chopped shallots (if you catch my reference...;-))

This salad recipe is something that I would bring to a picnic, barbeque, baby shower, wedding shower...etc, basically, it is good enough to share with others.


For dinner, I made Chicken Aux Oignons. In one of my first blog posts, I referenced this recipe and boy, was it tasty! A French recipe, this chicken dish was made solely on stove-top and still came out tasting like roasted chicken. This was delicious. A contender for my next blog cooking party extravaganza.

I then attempted to make Lime-infused Quinoa. The lime part was fine, but then I decided "it needs more citrus, lets add some lemon juice!"---big idea, big mistake. I then soaked the quinoa in chicken broth to help counteract the flavor, no go. I added about 1tsp of mint leaves, and stirred. I might try to remedy this and just add 1tbsp of lime juice for each 1/2c of quinoa. Dan still ate it and had seconds, so I wondering about his eating judgment...;-).

I stepped it up a notch this week and we're having some fun things! I'm excited to cook in Pittsburgh this weekend! Oh, by the way, Mom, I'll make the side dishes for Friday night's dinner, just a heads up!


Bon appetit!

Back in the Kitchen Tonight!

The spaceship that was my kitchen has been taken down and the chametz has returned! I am so excited to begin cooking again tonight.

My routine each week is to write out the week's recipes on an 8x11 line notepad. I write a big M with the necessary market purchases for Monday's recipes and so on. Today I have a big F and a big S.

If you have been keeping up, I'm up to 46 recipes! My blog is exactly 44 days old. Ultimately, I'd like to continue to keep the recipe count above the day count of the blog.

Before Passover, my parents, Daniel and I journeyed to Washington, DC to do a bit of museum hopping. We went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum

Then, we went to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History where I was able to see a replica of...Julia Child's kitchen! While there I mentioned my blog a few times, but no one wanted to offer me an exhibit at the museum. Oh well, maybe they don't want to have a red-walled kitchen like I do! Hmpfh!

Please send me any and all of your favorite recipes! My email is my name @ gmail!

Passover Goodies

Passover has always been a great time. As a kid, the pinnacle of Passover was finding the afikomen and being given a present. Then, in college, the best thing about Passover was just trying to keep it. I mean, there's only so much you can do in a dorm.

Lexie and I figured it out once: we bought a bottle of Manischewitz, a Passover Pizza and a movie and had a nice wine, dinner, and movie party.

Then came my apartment, where it was much easier to stash my Passover foods. And now, this has been my second time kashering the condo for Passover. (Last year, I said "forget it" and we ate at Dan's parents' the entire time)

I really hope you enjoy the Passover recipes! For you MOTs, they might seem pretty basic, but those that haven't tried it, Fried Matzah might look disgusting delicious!

This year, I was able to cook in our condo and bring the dishes over to Dan's parents. I was able to introduce everyone to how I start my dinners---serving Daniel and taking a picture!

Breakfasts

Matzah Brie (Fried Matzah) has an interesting consistency. It is kind of mushy like a pancake, but looks more like scalloped potatoes--without any sauce. The nice thing about fried matzah is that you can season it however you like. For instance, Dan is a salty matzah brie kind of guy, and I prefer sugar and cinnamon. I've a lot of different "seasonings" put onto Fried Matzah--even syrup (if Kosher for Passover). Some people like to saute onions and add them to the matzah brie.

Basically, for two people, you should fill a bowl with warm water, break about five sheets of matzah into about 1x1 inch or 2x2 inch broken up pieces. Let soak until soft. In a separate bowl, beat two eggs (I used only egg whites, so I used the whites of three eggs). Then using your hands, press the excess water from the matzah and put matzah into bowl with eggs. Mix up, and place in frying pan. Mix around until egg and matzah mixture is thoroughly cooked. Season and enjoy!




Matzah Meal Pancakes

I have to say, these hockey pucks are nothing like my Dad's fluffy matzah meal pancakes. His are so good that my family used to have them almost every Sunday morning when I was a youngin'.

I wouldn't use my recipe, but here they are... I'll have to post my Dad's recipe one of these days because they iz good!

I used chocolate sauce on top!















Lunch

Matzah Pizza!
What is Passover without matzah pizza! As someone at Dan's office exclaimed "Is that pizza on a matzah?!" Why, yes, yes it is! And it is quite delicious! Maybe it is delicious because it tastes good, but I think people mostly enjoy it because it is genius!

Step 1: Take it out of the box
Step 2: Put the marinara on
Step 3: Place the cheese on top

And then you just bake it! (450F for about 5-10 minutes!)























































Sides

My Mom sent me a recipe from the Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle (Go Steelers!) for Carrot and Apple Kugel. This recipe was compiled by Angela Leibowicz. It was made by me!

1/4c vegetable oil or melted margarine
1 pound carrots
1 pound (about 3) apples
1 tsp sugar
1/3c matzah meal
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
3/4c toasted slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly oil a 4c pie plate or gratin dish.
Grate the carrots in a food processor (I used a grater); you should have about 4 cups of grated carrot.
Peel, core and grate apples; you should have about 1 cup.
Combine all ingredients except 1/4c of the toasted almonds in a bowl and mix well. Coarsely grate 1/4c toasted almonds. (I omitted the almonds since I am allergic...)
Transfer the contents of the bowl to the prepared baking dish, sprinkle with grated almonds and place in oven for 20-30 minutes, or until the mixture is heated through and a few brown spots appear on the top.

My tips: Use Gala or McIntosh apples. McIntosh get a little mushy when grated, but are wonderful for baking, so I used a mixture of Gala and McIntosh.
This dish definitely needs longer than 30 minutes in the oven. Keep checking, but my kugel was in the oven for almost 50 minutes.











Dinner

I would like to credit my sister-from-another-mister, Lauren, with being the first person to ever give me a recipe and invite me to make it with her! Lauren and I made her recipe for the Thai dish, Larb Gai. Although Passover precluded us from having enough lime juice, we all really enjoyed this spiceful (not spicy!) dish! I loved the texture and am so glad we made this! We had it plain as our main dish, but this could also be served as the stuffing for a lettuce wrap.

I don't have a picture for the Larb Gai, but next time I make it (or Lauren makes it)...I'll take a picture to post!

Desserts

Desserts were probably my favorite part of my Passover Challenge! I am proud to say that I came up with these recipes on my own---with inspiration for the Haystacks from a cooking project that my Mom's class made.

I thought to myself, "Gee, self, wouldn't it be nice to have something other than boxed, prepared desserts for Passover?" And I decided that for once, I should take a stand for Passover observers around the world! I made Passover Krispy Treats!

Michele's Passover Krispy Treats




















1 bag marshmallows (Kosher for Passover Manischewitz---very gooey!)

1/2 box (or 3c) of frosted Passover cereal


2 tbsp margarine

1) Lightly coat a baking dish with margarine or non-stick cooking spray.

2) Melt margarine in a large, tall-walled skillet.

3) Melt marshmallows, a few at a time in margarine.

4) Stir in cereal making sure that it is all coated.

5) Transfer into baking dish, let cool and serve!


Compliment Tally: Robbie, Lauren, Dan's Mom! They loved them...

Michele's Passover Haystacks
adapted from the 3-4 year old room's recipe at my Mom's school

To make about 12


1 1/2c chow mein noodles

8oz melted chocolate

1) Melt chocolate in a glass bowl in the oven and stir.
2) Break chow mein noodles into about 1inch and smaller pieces.
3) Mix chow mein noodles into melted chocolate to completely coat the noodles.
4) Form into small balls, haystacks, and place on greased aluminum foil (or baking sheet) to cool.
5) Place in fridge for at least 2 hours for chocolate to harden!

Dark chocolate delight!


Passover Apple Kugel (from the back of the Streit's Cake Meal Box)

3/4c Streit's Passover Cake Meal
3/4c sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/2c water
4 large cooking apples
1 tbsp lemon juice
4 eggs
1/4c oil

1) Preheat oven to 350F.
2) Grease a baking pan. (9x13)
3) Peel, core and cut apples into 1/4'' thick slices
4) Toss apples gently with lemon juice.
5) Combine cake meal, sugar and salt. Set aside.
6) Separate eggs---Mix yolks, water and oil until frothy.
7) Add the dry combine ingredients and sliced apples.
8) Beat egg whites until stiff and fold into apple mixture.
9) Pour into baking pan.
10) Bake for one hour, cool for 10 minutes before serving.

This was good! The taste kind of reminded Dan and I of bread pudding! My suggestion, buy an inexpensive Passover mixer so you can properly beat the egg whites until stiff. If I look funny at the wedding, it is because of the huge muscle in my right arm from beating the eggs by hand.

There they are! My Passover challenge, complete! Count 'em...eight dishes!

Bon appetit!