I’ve found the more times I try my hand at making something new, like bagels, it’s just as easy, if not easier, than going to the store & buying a bag only to have some of it go bad because I didn’t finish it in time. Also, with your own recipe, you can modify the size & curtail it to what you want.
Ingredients:
1 cup bread flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 egg
Everything Bagel Seasoning
Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375° F. Use a nonstick mat and/ or spray nonstick spray on a baking sheet. Set a medium size pot with water to boil on the stove.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, & salt. Add in the Greek yogurt & stir until combined. Transfer dough to a lightly dusted counter & knead for a minute. Form into a ball & portion out into 4 equal sections. With each piece, create a bagel.
Take each bagel & place in boiling water for 30 seconds. Transfer to a cooling rack.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg to create an egg wash. Brush the tops of each bagel & then add seasoning. Transfer to prepared baking sheet.
Bake for 27 – 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Eat as is or slice & toast & add desired toppings.
I’m more of a coffee person than I am hot chocolate person. But, the other day upon waking, and the outside temperature read -3°, my husband said, “You know, hot chocolate sounds good this morning.” I had to agree.
Our oldest discovered, & has been using this recipe for the last year or two, & it’s a keeper.
The cast of characters:
Ingredients:
1 cup milk
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp sugar (granulated or powdered)
1 tbsp semisweet chocolate (or chocolate chips)
1/2 tbsp white chocolate chips
A few drops of vanilla
Optional: cinnamon & a bit of cayenne pepper
Preparation:
Add the ingredients to a saucepan & heat over medium heat, whisking to incorporate.
*For the two large cups shown above, I tripled the recipe.
Despite this being a savory & flavorful dish, it’s also all cooked in one skillet so you’re not spending a bunch of time cooking & cleaning. That’s a win in my book. This is also a flexible recipe as you can add or omit ingredients you want, don’t want, or don’t have on hand. Win-win!
Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/4 – 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
6 gloves of garlic, minced
S & P, to taste
1 onion, chopped
1 10oz can of Rotel (not drained)
8 oz can of tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups of beef broth
1 cup of long grain rice uncooked
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 can corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
Optional ingredients:
Cilantro
Sour cream
Pico de gallo
Guacamole
Preparation:
In a large skillet, over medium high heat, add the ground beef, all seasonings, including the onion, and cook until meat is done.
Drain grease from skillet.
Add Rotel, tomato sauce, minced garlic, beef broth, corn, beans, & uncooked rice to the skillet. Stir well, cover with a lid, and cook on medium-low heat for 15 – 20 minutes, or until rice is done. Stir once or twice throughout cooking process.
Once cooking is complete, top with shredded cheese & pop in the oven on broil until melted.
Garnish to your liking. Serve with tortillas or tortilla chips.
Enjoy!
Adapted slightly from: TikTok Cooking in the Midwest
This year, I managed to successfully cross off some of the books on my TBR list, but in all fairness, it grows exponentially & I doubt I’ll ever truly complete it!
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Cadavers, Mary Roach
Mortal Fear, Greg Iles
The Midnight Library, Matt Haig
The Turner House, Angela Flournoy
In Five Years: A Novel, Rebecca Serle
Wellness: A Novel Nathan Hill
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt
The Guest List, Lucy Foley
ADHD Explained, Edward Hallowel
As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow, Zoulfa Katouh
Denali: A Man, A Dog, And Theresa Friendship Of A Lifetime, Ben Moon
Tom Lake, Ann Patchett
Tangled Beginning, Sophie Andre
How Beautiful We Were, Imbolo Mbue
The Firekeeper’s Daughter, Angeline Boulley
The Vibrant Years, Sonali Dev
Leaving Time, Jodi Picoult
Atomic Habits, James Clear
Attached. The New Science of Adult Attachment and How It Can Help You Find – And Keep – Love, Amir Levine, M.D., & Rachel S. F. Heller, M.A.
Do Hard Things, Steve Magness
Never Lie, Freida McFadden
A Fever In The Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot To Take Over America, And The Woman Who Stopped Them, Timothy Egan
The Body Keeps The Score, Bessel Van Der Kolk, M. D.
Here One Moment, Liane Moriarty
All The Pretty Horses, Cormac McCarthy
Remember Me Tomorrow, Farah Heron
One True Loves, Taylor Jenkins Reid
When We Were Widows, Annette Chavez Macias
Slow Dance, Rainbow Rowell
The Answer Is No: A Short Story, Fredrik Backman
Some Everyday Thoughts, C. S. Lewis
The Most, Jessica Anthony
And How Does That Make You Feel: Everything You Never Wanted To Know About Therapy, Joshua Fletcher
The Perfect Wife, Blake Pierce
Intermezzo, Sally Rooney
My Favorite 5 (in order I read them)
* One of the aspects I appreciated about this book, in addition to the impeccable way the author weaves together this couple, their thoughts, ideas, & intricacies, is how he highlights various studies conducted proving a point to the not later be debunked. I recall some off these studies while pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in psychology years ago.
“If you cling too hard to what you want to see, you miss what’s really there.”
*If you’re considering this book, I highly recommend listening to the audio version. The voice, tone, & personality off the octopus is portrayed perfectly. IYKYK!
“It seems to be a hallmark of the human species: abysmal communication skills. Not that any other species are much better, mind you, but even a herring can tell which way the school it belongs to is turning and follow accordingly. Why can humans not use their millions of words to simply tell one another what they desire?”
* Such a feel good book about making peace with the past. I smiled & laughed many times while reading.
“Life. You blink & it’s gone. The passion. The boredom. The moment lived. The moment lost. In the end, they’re just crumbs stuck in the creases of memory. Remnants of tastes left on your tongue.”
* The quintessential book on trauma.
“Sophisticated imaging techniques have identified the origins of PTSD in the brain so that we now understand why traumatized people become disengaged, why they are bothered by sounds & lights, & why they may blow up or withdraw in response to the slightest provocation. We have learned how, throughout life, experiences change the structure & function of the brain, & even affect the genes we pass onto our children. Understanding many of the fundamental processes that underlie traumatic stress opens the door to an array of interventions that can bring the brain areas related to self regulation, self-perception, & attention back on line. We know not only how to treat trauma, but also increasingly, how to prevent it. And yet, after attending another wake for a teenager who was killed in a drive by shooting in the blue hill avenue section of Boston, or after reading about the latest school budget cuts in impoverished cities & towns, I find myself close to despair. In many ways we seem to be regressing with measures like the callous congressional elimination of food stamps for kids whose parents are unemployed or in jail, with the stubborn opposition to universal healthcare in some quarters. With psychiatry’s obtuse refusal to make connection between psychic suffering & social conditions. With the refusal to prohibit the sale or possession of weapons, whose only purpose is to kill large numbers of human beings. And with our tolerance for incarcerating a huge segment of our population, wasting their lives as well as our resources.
Discussions of PTSD still tend to focus on recently returned soldiers, victims of terrorist bombings, or survivors of terrible accidents, but trauma remains a much larger public health issue; arguably, the greatest threat to our national well-being. Since 2001 far more Americans have died at the hands of their partners, or other family members, than in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. American women are twice as likely to suffer domestic violence as breast cancer. The American Academy of Pediatrics estimates that firearms kill twice as many children as cancer does. All around Boston, I see signs advertising the Jimmy fund, which fights children’s cancer and for marches to fund research on breast cancer & leukemia. But we seem too embarrassed, or discouraged, to mount a massive effort to help children & adults learn to deal with the fear, rage, & collapse the predictable consequences of having been traumatized.”
I’ve never read a Liane Moriarty book I didn’t like. Several years ago, I had the pleasure of attending a book reading of hers. Many smiles spread across my face while reading this one. A unique storyline!
“And then I thought, alright let’s get this grief thing done. You’ve done it before, do it again. But experience makes no difference. You cannot project manage grief.”
For Christmas goodies this year, I opted to go a slightly different route than a new cookie recipe. As a kid, I remember a neighborhood friend’s mom who made homemade caramels – so many caramels they covered the entirety of their dining room table. The sweet, soft, buttery squares would melt in your mouth.
While they’re easy to make, I’ve never made homemade caramels before so when I saw this recipe for Apple Cider Caramels, I was intrigued & decided I would give it a go.
Ingredients:
2 cups apple cider
1/2 cup heavy cream
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
Preparation:
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper; set aside.
In a medium size saucepan, bring 2 cups apple cider to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat so that it’s simmering. Allow to simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Don’t use a lid! You want the water to evaporate through this process until it becomes a thick syrupy consistency. Turn the heat off & stir in the cream & butter, until butter is melted. With the heat still off, add the sugars until incorporated. Turn the heat back on to medium until it begins to boil. Once it starts to boil, don’t stir at all until a candy thermometer reaches 250°. Once temperature is reached, remove from heat, stir in cinnamon & salt, pour mixture into prepared pan (top with additional flaky salt, if desired) & place in refrigerator to set for a few hours.
Once set, remove from refrigerator & allow to sit for 10 – 15 minutes to soften slightly. Once softened, cut into individual bite size pieces & wrap in parchment paper. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.
Caprese salad is known for its light & fresh taste. If you add in some marinated chicken & sandwich it between a ciabatta bun, you’ve got a heartier meal that won’t leave you feeling weighted down.
Ingredients:
1 lb marinated chicken (thighs or breasts)
1 tomato
1 fresh mozzarella ball
Basil
S & P
Balsamic glaze
Ciabatta rolls
For the marinade:
3/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 – 2 garlic cloves, grated
Juice of a half of a small lemon
Preparation:
In a bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the marinade & transfer to a gallon size bag. Add in chicken of choice & shake to incorporate the marinade evenly. You can also use bottled Italian dressing in lieu of making your own. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for a minimum of 4 hours. I like to do this the night before for maximum flavor.
Slice tomato & season with S & P.
Cook your chicken either on the grill or in a skillet until thermometer inserted in the middle reads 165°.
Toast the buns.
Assemble sandwiches with chicken, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, & drizzle with balsamic glaze.
Today is Halloween & the bags of candy are on the counter ready to hand out to all the trick or treaters that come to our door tonight. Fun size Snickers are just one of the goodies that will be in the bowl.
For a few years now, I’ve heard of people making faux snickers by removing the pits of medjool dates, filling with peanut butter, & dipping in chocolate & every time I would hear people profess, “how it tastes just like a Snickers” I would roll my eyes & move on.
As someone who can admit when she was wrong, let me break out my bull horn & say, “I was wrong!” They do. They absolutely do! The date functions like the nougat, & if you fill it with a crunchy peanut butter then coat in melted milk chocolate, you, too, will be saying “It tastes like a Snickers!”
There’s no recipe, per se, just literally slice the date to remove the pit, fill with crunchy peanut butter, dip in melted milk (or dark) chocolate, place on parchment paper & once set, store in the refrigerator in a sealed container & voila!
If you peruse any of my recipes, you’ll quickly find I don’t have an aversion to flour. If, by chance, you do, then these cookies are right up your alley because they are good. Not only that, but with just a few ingredients, you can have scrumptious cookies in no time.
Ingredients:
1 cup natural peanut butter – the kind with the oil on top that you have to stir in
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
Pinch of salt
1 tsp of vanilla extract
Chocolate chips
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375° F.
Mix together the first 5 ingredients until fully incorporated. Add in chocolate chips of choice. I used milk chocolate chips above & the similarity between these & a Reese’s peanut butter cup were striking!
Drop by mounds.
Bake for 8-11 minutes, depending on size. Start checking at 8 minutes.
When finished baking, place tray on cooling rack & place in refrigerator to cool. Once cooled, remove from baking sheet & store in a sealed Tupperware container in the refrigerator.
This is a dinner that comes together quickly & hits the essentials: protein, vegetable, & carbs – all in one dish – along with the other essential: FLAVOR!
Ingredients:
4 – 5 chicken sausage links, sliced (if the package of chicken sausages has 4, use that, or because mine had 5 & I didn’t want a lone one leftover, use all of them)
3 – 4 cups baby spinach
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp Thyme
2 cups chicken bone broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup Orzo, dry
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/3 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Ingredients:
Drizzle olive oil over a large skillet, bring to medium high heat, add chicken sausage, & cook/ heat for 6-7 minutes, until lightly browned. Add minced garlic & sauté for 30 seconds, stirring to ensure it doesn’t burn. Stir in orzo to toast for 60 seconds. Pour in chicken broth, heavy cream, & seasonings; mix well. Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat, cover & simmer for 10-12 minutes; stirring occasionally until orzo is tender & liquid is mostly absorbed. Stir in spinach leaves until wilted. Top with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
I tend to prefer charro beans, but tonight, given my mission to work through saved recipes, I opted for this recipe (that & we were having fajitas). I’m so glad I did – I found these to be absolutely perfect!
They’re called “cheater” refried beans because they’re made from a can as opposed to buying dried beans, sorting out the pebbles/ stones & then allowing to cook all day. At the end of the day, beans are beans – might as well save some time & crack open a can.
Ingredients:
2 cans of 15oz or 1 can of 28oz pinto beans (not drained)
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp flour
2-3 tbsps oil
1/2 cup Colby Jack cheese, shredded
3/4 tsp Kosher salt
Preparation:
In a medium saucepan, heat the oil to medium heat. Whisk in the chili powder & flour, stir in the beans, & mash. Allow it to thicken. Once thickened, add in shredded cheese, salt, & stir to combine.
TheCompanySheKeeps 