much better {bread}

i tried again. i'm bound and determined to make good, homemade bread. the kind my kids will remember and try to replicate. [note i haven't had the courage to replicate my mom's recipe...i just couldn't bear to ruin that recipe, so i will wait until i have developed my bread making skills just a bit more.]


so today i tried this recipe: honey whole wheat bread. and wah-la. i think it actually turned out. now the true test is the days following. even my last attempt was okay on it's baking day. however, the next few days...dry, course...bleh. so here's to hoping that this recipe will weather just a bit better. i'll keep you posted.

bread

i tried my hand at making bread for the very first time today. after all of those years watching my mother make perfect loaves, i gave it a shot. and let me tell you, they're not beautiful. but add a little bit of butter...and it's pretty darn tasty (although i do have a violent case of the hiccups now...related? i think so.)

now before you critique the dietitian for making white bread, just know that i didn't have any whole wheat flour. okay, okay, so a dietitian should have whole wheat flour, i'll repent and go get some for the next batch.

okay, on to the recipe. being absent minded, i forgot that i actually have a copy of my mom's fabulous bread recipe and went in search of this one: Easiest White Bread Recipe You Ever Tried. it is easy, however i still managed to botch the directions and did things in slightly the wrong order. oh well, my mom has assured me it didn't matter. (guess my mediocre results are due to inexperience.)

here are a few pics. lumpy, yes. nonuniform, yes. flat, a bit. tasty, pretty much.




verdict: next time try mom's french bread recipe. for now, we'll be eating lots of french toast.

and it begins...

we started planting our garden today. peas. potatoes. carrots. swiss chard. spinach. that's all for today.

on that note, i put together a plan for our garden with the 40'sq in mind. however, when we went back to our plot today, it's a whopping 80'sq. yikes. now what?!

okay, so i've quickly filled in most of my new space, but not too sure about my plan since i've not been a square food gardener before. any advice about trellises in the square food garden? do i need to leave space between them? should i orient them north-south (two to four 10' long rows) or east-west (six 4' long rows)? can i really grow tomatoes on a trellis? ah...questions!

2 new

2 new what? 2 new recipes...new to me anyways. both of these have been sitting in my mental 'what to make for dinner' file for a while now, so i finally got around to them this week. first mexican chicken (i don't know where i picked this up, so if it's yours, thanks...take credit in the comments!). second stromboli.


mexican chicken
4-5 boneless/skinless chicken breast (I semi thaw and chunk them in approx 2 inch cubes, but you can leave whole frozen, I just found that if I leave them whole, we only get 2 meals out of this, if I chunk them, we get 4 meals)
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans (I do not drain or rinse)
1 can ro-tel tomatoes (don’t drain)
cumin to taste (I love cumin so use approx 1 teaspoon)
garlic powder to taste (same note as above)
Option: If you have a lime hanging around, you can squeeze the lime juice in the pot too… or add a bit of the zest.

All in the pot.
Cook on low 7-8 hours or on high 4-6 hours in crockpot.
Serve over white rice with some shredded cheese, sour cream and diced avocados.
*notes in () are from the original author.

my notes: we quite liked this. i only used 1 chicken breast because that's all i had on hand, but it was still good. i did cut them into chunks, which i would do again, but i would also shred it about an hour before serving. i used frozen corn, just in case you were wondering. also, i served it over brown rice, just because that's what we prefer. i'll definitely make this again, mostly because it was super fast to throw together.


stromboli
*This recipe is courtesy of kristyn...thanks!

1 loaf Rhodes frozen bread dough, thawed but still cold
2-3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/3 pound thinly sliced ham
1/3 pound thinly sliced cheese of choice
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
garlic salt or garlic bread sprinkle, optional

On a lightly oiled surface, roll bread dough out into a 10x15 inch rectangle. Leaving 1-inch boarder on each side of bread dough, spread with mustard. Arrange slices of meat and cheese on dough, leaving 1-inch space along edges. Starting along one long side, roll Stromboli up "jelly roll" fashion. Pinch edges together to seal; fold ends under; brush top and sides with beaten egg; using a sharp knife, cut 1/2-inch deep vents along top; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and optional garlic salt. Place Stromboli on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray, seam side down. Cover with plastic wrap which has also been sprayed with non-stick spray; raise 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove plastic wrap and bake 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Cool 10-15 minutes, cut into 6 pieces and serve warm.


my notes: so technically this is not a new recipe. pretty sure mom made it in some form or another when i was growing up. also, i've made it several times into a pizza roll (also very good). but it was the first time i made the ham/cheese version. we also liked this one...it was a good week at the z's.

not dead

so...i'm alive. not dead. (you were glad to hear that i'm sure.) just uber busy with the thesis and the rest of life. so i guess that i could title this post 'attempt at surviving', but i won't. between our trip to orlando, cub scouts, thesis, thesis, thesis, thesis, thesis, thesis, and keeping our life running, not too much time is left for any projects. (although, i am currently giving up diet coke, so maybe that's a project.)

just wanted to say hi and for the record...i'm not dead.

shredded beef tacos

mmmmm....


2.3# beef round roast
2 cloves pressed garlic
2 small cans green chilies
1/2 white onion, chopped*
2-3 t cumin
3 sprigs fresh thyme
1 can beef broth**
275F
5 hours***

add black beans.colby jack cheese.guacamole.salsa.lime.cilantro.

among the many things i love, i love shredded beef tacos. pure goodness.

and since this was just one of those "attempts" here are a few notes for next time:
*that's all i had, otherwise it would have been a whole onion
**i would use additional fluid [water or beef broth], it was slightly dry, but still tasty
***though it was tender enough, if i had added more fluid, it could have cooked for another 45 minutes and been even more tender without being overdone

this recipe brought to you by bec and james...their recipe, slightly modified by me (only for time and temperature). thanks guys!

bit the dust

the basil bit the dust today. i had a glimmer of hope that it would make a miraculous recovery (especially since there was no real reason that i can think of that it was dying). but that was not the case. sad. maybe i will try again...