The Spice Satchel

Thursday, April 14, 2011

chicken dinner

Two posts in a row about recipes I've found on simply recipes, and this one has two of her recipes!

Paul's cousin, Mary, and her friend, Brittany, came over for dinner on Monday. Mary lives in CA, so we don't get to see her often. Luckily we had a free night and could visit her while she was in DC. We really love having people over for dinner, because we love cooking yummy/fancyish food, and rarely get the chance.
Cardamom Honey Chicken and Butternut Squash Apple Cranberry Bake made a great meal (it would have been even better with some roasted asparagus), and afterward I made brownies, we ate warm out of the oven. Family conversation and good food- gotta love it, plus I love a good reason for using our china!

This was also a great opportunity to use the rest of the butternut squash I still had int he freezer from making Koleen's cake. Both of the recipes were delightful. Next time we make this chicken, we are going to try it in the crock pot. Actually, I have a chicken thawing in the fridge right now.

I left the skin on the apples, and it was super good. I hate peeling- apples, potatoes... so if I think I can get away with leaving the skin on, I will!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

chocolate tuxedo strawberries

I saw these on simply recipes, and they are so cute, I just had to see if I could make them! They are not dairy-free. Milk is what makes white chocolate white.
I bought strawberries and chocolate to melt. The unsweetened chocolate was not sweet enough on the strawberry, and the semi-sweet chocolate chips were too sweet- so I mixed them together, and it was perfect! Trader Joe's white chocolate is great because it has more cocoa in it than normal white chocolate.

They take time, and are messy to make, but are also totally worth it. I had 1 big flared strawberry, so I made it into the bride, and surrounded her with a groom and a bunch of men in tuxedos!

They take so much time because you dip the white, let it dry- dip the dark, let it dry- then put on the bows and buttons.

After trying to make the bows and buttons with a piping bag first, I actually personally found it easier to draw them on with a toothpick or skewer. I took them to work, to test them out, and everybody liked them. :)

Sunday, April 10, 2011

smoothie

This is the easiest, most tasty smoothie ever. Well, that's not entirely true, it would be better with boba in it.
It's just 3 ingredients:
1 cup(ish) of frozen fruit. More often than not, I use mango.


copyright: Cori 2011

1 banana, and 1 cup of rice milk (or you could use soy milk or whatever milk you want).

Full of fruit, calcium, and good for you. Mmm, mmm.
If the smoothie is too thick- add more milk. If it is too thin- add more frozen fruit.


copyright: Cori 2011

Thursday, April 7, 2011

stir fry

When I got home from dropping Paul off at class, it sure smelled like "Chinese food" in here.

Roughly 3 vegetables, some sliced meat and sauce is really all you need to make a yummy stir fry. Paul is the King of stir fry sauces, so I love when we can stir fry together! Almost all the recipes I've seen for stir fry, that have garlic in them, have you add that to the hot oil first, but I never do it that way. I always fry the meat for a minute or two first, and then add the garlic. I find it browns too quickly in the oil by itself.

When I find chicken breast for $2 or under at the grocery store, I have to buy it. Next, I always seem to want stir fry.- yum, yum.

Today is garlic/ginger asparagus chicken stir fry!

Asparagus, carrots and water chestnuts accompany minced ginger and garlic, black pepper and sliced chicken breast in Paul's sauce- which is different every time. This time it was spicy, sweet and smelled like molasses. Made from soy sauce, sherry, sriracha, sage, garam masala- homemade by us, ground ginger, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and a little corn starch to help it stick.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

chili

Rainy/gloomy/getting more and more chilly/gray/windy weather outside, means perfect chili weather. So today I stayed in my pjs, watched Law & Order on Netflix, did laundry and ate some chili.

1 lb ground turkey or 2 baked chicken breasts
1 diced onion, 3 cloves minced garlic
2-3 stalks sliced celery, 1 diced green bell pepper, 2-3 Tbls fresh snipped parsley, 3 sliced green onions
1 can (8oz) no salt added tomato sauce, 1 can (14-16 oz) diced no salt added tomatoes, 1 can low sodium garbanzo beans (rinsed or added w/ liquid- your choice)
1 Tbls chili powder, 1 tsp cumin and dried oregano, 1/2 tsp each: paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and black pepper
1 1/2- 2 cups liquid (any combination of chicken broth, beef broth, red wine and/or water)

Brown ground turkey w/ onions and garlic, drain fat. Add celery, green pepper, green onion and parsley, cook a few minutes. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, then add enough liquid to make the chili look like chunky soup. Simmer covered for 2-4 hours, the longer the better.
Great with crackers, on a baked potato or rice.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Birthdays! One of the best reasons to spend money on my photography!

When I find a good deal on photographic prints lately, it's hard for me not to utilize it. I'm loving sharing my photography as much as possible any way I can. The 3 collages above, I ordered for my Mom, Step Mom, and Sister for their birthdays this year. Koleen's birthday is today- and the last one of the bunch. Happy Birthday, I love you all! I tried to match each collage with the person (of course) :) My Mom wants nothing more to retire and move to a beautifully tropically warm place, and continually makes plans to do so. Nancy, loves flowers, to look at them, smell them, receive them- the colors, and bright, sunny beauty. Koleen's husband, Mike, is CEO of the US division of an e-commerce business with offices in Paris, France- Jackson, MI- and San Francisco, CA Commerce Guys. Since I had the privilege to visit San Fran for a day while in Nor Cal for my friend's, Nancy, wedding, I had some fabulous pictures of a place Koleen has not yet been to, but Mike goes all the time for work.
I can't wait to actually see them the next time I'm visiting family in MI :)

Thursday, March 31, 2011

cookies! molasses

Yum! Just thinking about these makes me want to eat another one :)
For these soft molasses cookies, I used all shortening, dark brown sugar, ginger, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg, then dipped them in raw sugar- sweet and spicy and delicious!

Paul and Cori