Macarons (Supposed to be a recipe that works well in Utah)

So I have always wanted to make these, but I bought a kit and only about half of them turned out... very disappointing so I vow to try again from scratch sometime when I have a calm baby. I will update when I make them and let you all know how they turn out!

Basic Macaron Shell

2 aged egg whites
3T plus 1t sugar

1/2C finely ground almond meal
1C powdered sugar

With a hand held blender(in a stainless steel bowl), beat egg whites until medium/soft peaks form then add sugar and beat until slightly firmer and glossy. In a separate bowl combine almond meal and powdered sugar and whisk until completely combined and even. Fold half of the dry mixture into the egg white mixture with a rubber spatula (fold gently, pressing against the sides of the bowl). Add the other half and repeat actions until a flowing batter is achieved. Pour mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a #4 large tip. Pipe onto parchment paper placed on top of the template. Allow to rest for 12-15 minutes then bake at 280 for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes on pan then pop off and place on a wire rack. Fill as desired.

*if you have a convection oven: bake at 280 for 10-12 minutes.
*for all other ovens: bake at 250 (placing your baking sheet on top of another, forming a "bubble") for 15 minutes.
*add food coloring and liquid flavoring to the egg whites at the time you add the sugar
*add any dry flavoring to the almond meal mixture prior to adding it to the egg whites

Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

I haven't tried this yet, however when I do I will update and let you all know how it was :)

Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham crumbs

5 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 Tbsp. sugar

Filling:

3- 8oz.pkgs. cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup canned pumpkin

3 eggs

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. allspice

Whipped Cream

Mix crust ingredients together, just till coated and crumbly. Press onto the bottom and 2/3 up the sides of an 8" springform pan. Bake for 5 min. at 350. Set aside.

Combine cheese, sugar and vanilla in large bowl, mix until smooth with an electric mixer. add pumpkin eggs, and spices, beat till smooth and creamy. Pour into the crust. Bake for 60-70 min. or till the top turns a bit darker. Remove from oven and allow to come to room temperature, then refrigerate. After it has thoroughly chilled, remove the pan sides and cut. Serve with whipped cream.

One Pan Enchilada Pasta

I love easy meals especially if I can make them healthy and I have been craving anything Mexican so this definitely tickled my fancy :) great 30 minute meal for when you don't want a lot of extra work in the kitchen and you don't want all the unknowns in hamburger helper.

Sorry no pictures for this one, I'll have to snap a couple the next time I make it.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 of a small onion, diced
• 1.25 pounds lean ground beef (or ground turkey)
• 1 packet of low-sodium taco seasoning (or homemade seasoning)
• 2 cups of low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 19 oz can of red enchilada sauce
• 8 oz (about 2 1/2 cups) of dried rotini pasta (We used the pasta that is like 25% veggie)
• 2 cups of freshly shredded Colby Jack cheese
• green onions
• black olives
• Onion, tomato, lettuce, sour cream, hot sauce... All optional of course but I make mine like real enchiladas with all the fun stuff on top. 

Instructions

1. In a large skillet or sauté pan, sauté garlic and onions in olive oil over medium low heat until softened.
2. Add ground beef and cook, breaking meat up with a wooden spoon until browned.
3. Once ground beef is cooked through, add taco seasoning, pasta, chicken broth and enchilada sauce to pan.
4. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover.
5. Cook on low, with pan covered for about 15 minutes.
6. Then remove lid and let simmer for additional 5 minutes until pasta is tender and sauce has reduced.
7. Remove from heat and stir in 1 cup of cheese.
8. Top pasta with additional cup of cheese and melt under broiler for a minute or two, or place lid back on pan and let heat from the pasta melt the cheese.
9. Garnish with black olives and green onions.
10. Serve with whatever yummy topping you enjoy on your enchiladas.

Jalapeno Cheddar Bagels

Initially I was really hesitant about making this recipe because Brady definitely has his bagel preferences and I didn't want to mess up or have him eating something nasty, but I braved it and guess what... IT WORKED!

So here is the recipe I used along with a couple warnings / suggestions. 

Warning and Suggestions: 

• Make sure you wear gloves to cut the jalapenos or even use a chopper so you aren't touching them... I learned the the extremely hard way! OUCH!
• I was making this in my kitchen aid and it was way too much so I left out some flour... not good! So I suggest mixing it in the kitchen aid till the last 3/4 cup of flour and switch to kneading it by hand so you can get the rest of the flour in there and not kill the mixer. 
• I had to knead in the jalapenos by hand to after trying in the kitchen aid and making a huge mess when they just got pushed out. 

Okay I hope that is all my warnings... and if you don't like jalapenos I bet you could alter the recipe and ass cinnamon and raisins, or just cheddar, or whatever tickles your fancy. 

So here it is! the recipe says this should make 14 but I made 11 that were the size of bagels you can buy in the bakery. 

INGREDIENTS:

Sponge:
1 teaspoon instant yeast
4 cups (18 ounces) high-gluten or bread flour
2½ cups water, at room temperature

Dough:
½ teaspoon instant yeast
3¾ cups (17 ounces) high-gluten or bread flour
2½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons malt powder or 1 Tablespoon dark or light malt syrup, honey or brown sugar
8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups minced jalapeño peppers, seeds and membranes removed (about 12 to 14 peppers, depending on size)

To Finish:
1 Tablespoon baking soda
8 ounces sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded

DIRECTIONS:

1. To make the sponge, stir the yeast into the flour in a large mixing bowl. Add the water, whisking or stirring only until it forms a smooth, sticky batter (like pancake batter). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature for approximately 2 hours, or until the mixture becomes very foamy and bubbly. It should swell to nearly double in size and collapse when the bowl is tapped on the counter-top.

2. To make the dough, in the same mixing bowl (or in the bowl of an electric mixer), add the additional yeast to the sponge and stir. Then add 3 cups of the flour and all of the salt and malt powder. Stir (or mix on low speed with the dough hook) until the ingredients form a ball, slowly working in the remaining ¾ cup flour to stiffen the dough.

3. Transfer the dough to the counter and knead for at least 10 minutes (or for 6 minutes by machine). Add the Cheddar cheese and jalapenos during the last two minutes or so of kneading, and knead until evenly distributed. The dough should be firm, but still pliable and smooth. There should be no raw flour – all the ingredients should be hydrated. If you have an instant-read digital thermometer, the dough should register 77 to 81 degrees F. If the dough seems dry and rips, add a few drops of water and continue kneading. If the dough seems sticky or tacky, add more flour to achiever the stiffness required. The kneaded dough should feel satiny and pliable but not be tacky.

4. Immediately divide the dough into equal pieces (each piece should weigh approximately 4½ ounces). Form the pieces into rolls.

5. Cover the rolls with a damp towel and allow them to rest for 20 minutes.

6. Line 2 sheet pans with baking parchment and mist lightly with spray oil. Proceed with shaping the bagels: Push a hole through the center of the roll with your thumb and stretch out the hole to 2½ inches in diameter, making sure that the resulting ring has a fairly even thickness all the way around.

7. Place each of the shaped pieces 2 inches apart on the pan. Mist the bagels very lightly with the spray oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let the pans sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

8. Check to see if the bagels are ready to be retarded in the refrigerator by using the “float test”. Fill a small bowl with cool or room temperature water. The bagels are ready to be retarded when they float within 10 seconds of being dropped into the water. Take one bagel and test it. If it floats, immediately return the tester bagel to the pan, pat it dry, cover the pan, and place it in the refrigerator overnight (it can stay in the refrigerator for up to 2 days). If the bagel does not float, return it to the pan and continue to proof the dough at room temperature, checking back every 10 to 20 minutes or so until a tester floats. The time needed to accomplish the float will vary, depending on the ambient temperature and the stiffness of the dough.

9. The following day (or when you are ready to bake the bagels), preheat the oven to 500 degrees F with the two racks set in the middle of the oven. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (the wider the better), and add the baking soda. Have a slotted spoon or skimmer nearby.

10. Remove the bagels from the refrigerator and gently drop them into the water, boiling only as many as comfortably fit (they should float within 10 seconds). After 1 minute flip them over and boil another minute then pack onto the parchment covered tray. Sprinkle the bagels with the shredded Cheddar cheese as soon as they come out of the water. (I added jalapeno slices as well)

11. When all the bagels have been boiled and topped, place the pans on the two middle shelves in the oven. Bake for approximately 8 minutes, then rotate the pans, switching shelves and giving the pans a 180-degree rotation. (If you are only baking one pan at a time, keep it on the center shelf but still rotate 180 degrees.) After the rotation, lower the oven temperature to 450 degrees F and continue baking for about 8 minutes, or until the bagels turn golden brown.

12. Remove the pans from the oven and let the bagels cool on a rack for 15 minutes or longer before serving.

My all time favorite way to cook asparagus

I love asparagus but whenever I have had it in a restaurant it has been boiled... ick! So here is my oven method that I found the very first time I ever made it! I would eat this over french fries any day!

Set your oven to 400° F

To prepare the asparagus rather than cutting the ends, which can leave some of the hard woody part, I break them. Simply hold onto each end of it and bend it till it snaps this will ensure that you are left with only yummy tender asparagus and no hard woody stuff!

Rinse it well and make sure it is mostly dry (I have left it wet and it doesn't hold the oil and seasoning well).

Lay them on you cookie sheet or whatever you want to cook it on and drizzle about 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil on it (enough to coat all of the asparagus). Then sprinkle salt and pepper and toss them around to make sure all are coated well.

Finally spread them out so they are flat on the pan on pop them into the oven. I suggest 5-10 minutes or until it is a darker green and fragrant, you can also test with a fork for the desired crispness but I like mine on the crispy side and it is so flavorful. *You don't want it to turn brown or it will be soggy.

Lime Chicken with rice

This recipe has been a favorite since I worked at this group home and was able to cook from a 200 calorie entree cookbook by Betty Crocker. I love to use this for enchiladas, nachos, or just by itself with toppings that you would put on enchiladas or nachos. We made it last night and I was all out of rice so I used quinoa and I think it was even better and tricked us into thinking I had more chicken then usual (which I didn't).

Ingredients:

• 1 package (1 pound 4 ounces) chicken thighs (I use 3 or 4 thighs depending on the size and I buy the boneless skinless but you can buy bone in either way it falls apart after 8 hours)
• 1/4 fresh lime juice (1-2 limes)
• 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (reduced sodium is great)
• 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves (we use ground thyme and it works just as well, just whatever you have)
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 cup uncooked instant rice (or like I said quinoa)
• chopped fresh parsley, if desired

Directions:

1. Place chicken (frozen or thawed in slow cooker and add remaining ingredients except rice and parsley. 
2. Cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours. During last 15 minutes of cooking stir in rice (30 minutes if using quinoa).
3. The recipe says to remove the chicken and spoon rice onto a plate then add the chicken and top with parsley. I have found the chicken will just shred itself and mix with the rice and just be wonderful for enchilada fillings like I said. 

I hope you enjoy this one as much as we do!

Experimenting With Fish... Blackened Salmon

I have recently decided that we need to incorporate fish into our diets and have tried a few recipes and not loved any as much as this one. We have made this recipe twice now and it is definitely one of my favorites as I do not like fish that tastes fishy... While the ingredients sound like this will be really spicy it really isn't, it is actually balanced quite nicely. We usually pair it with steamer vegetables and rice-a-roni but I would would use whatever sides sound good to you. Warning: when you are "blackening" the fish it will sting your nose a bit.

I took this from the web since I forgot to take a
picture but this is how it should look. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 tbsp paprika
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter (I'm sure you can use salted and be fine)
Juice of one lemon
**optional: lemon to squeeze on top
4 6-ounce salmon fillets skinned (We only use three)

Directions: 
Heat oven to 400° F. 
In a shallow bowl combing the spices. 
In a saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter and add the lemon juice. 
Working with one salmon fillet at a time, dip the top and bottom halves first in the lemon butter, then in the spices. 
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the salmon until blackened, about two minutes per side. 
Transfer to oven (if skillet is oven proof use that, or move to a baking sheet) and cook for 8 minutes. 

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!