Mitch’s guess: Egg loaf

WRONG! This makes the second time Mitch has guessed egg loaf this week.  How depressing.  It is obviously time to start branching out as Mitch seems to think that egg loaf has dominated our morning-time relationship.  Oh, fabulous.

The real answer is Blue Corn Pancakes. Since we are now living in the southwest–hey, Baby Cupcake is developing a desert-vocabulary with words like dirt, rocks, lizard, sunny, windy, and ouch (for tumbleweeds)–it seemed appropriate to go with this new favorite of southwestern-style pancakes this morning.

Pass the syrup. please

Blue Corn Pancakes

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 2 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup blue cornmeal
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• pinch salt

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Spoon onto a buttered skillet over medium-low heat and flip just like regular pancakes. Serve with syrup.

Source: adapted from the Food Network

I went with another early days recipe.  It was hard to decide.  I sort of wanted to do a Zone Diet recipe because I was pretty gung-ho about that during our time in Dominica.  I vividly remember one night when I had a small amount of fish and then was supposed to finish an entire bag of frozen vegetables.  At one point I had my head on the table to rest up before forcing down what was left; I was determined I could eat all of it just because Mitch thought I couldn’t/wouldn’t/shouldn’t!  In the end, Mitch thought I was psycho and I had an aversion to frozen veggies. Go figure.  And then I also considered cooking a turkey-ham in the microwave because that’s what we did for one of our Thanksgivings there.  However, I never want to eat that again so that was out. So I went with this…

The whole enchilada before baking

Enchiladas with homemade sauce.  Back in our island-life days, I had to make my own tortillas–using a wine bottle as a rolling pin. Actually, when family came to visit us, they would arrive with luggage stuffed full of tortillas, chips, crystal light, chocolate chips, even a grocery-store-made apple pie one time (thanks, Eric!).When we were out of tortillas, then I would make my own.  I definitely did not make my own tortillas tonight, but I did make the sauce.  This enchilada sauce is basially a spin-off of my favorite taco seasoning.

For the record, Mitch immediately knew that it was a tortilla-based meal from the hint.  However, he first guessed tacos…which could have been right.  And then he guessed quesadillas…which also could have been right. Eventually he made his way to enchiladas claiming that it’s all the same anyway. Ha. So we don’t make this sauce too much anymore because, for me, mexican food ends up being a veggie-less [gut-bomb] meal which is generally a big no-no for us now. It was a fun meal tonight though.

Enchilada Sauce

• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water

Combine all ingredients in sauce pan over low heat.

The good old days

First up, my hint is: the treat that got you through med school.

An alternative hint could have been the following: the easiest way to gain five pounds.

The answer of course is No Bakes–the delicious treat that combines butter, peanut butter, cocoa, vanilla, and oatmeal in the blink of an eye. It was the perfect treat when we lived in Dominica as these ingredients were available and I didn’t have to use the oven. When I made real cookies, I had to take cold showers as each batch baked because it was so smoking hot. I’m not kidding.

We mostly called these "No cocinars" which I'm sure is NOT the way to say "No bakes" in Spanish

Until today, I hadn’t made this recipe for over six years (read alternative hint if you want to know why), but I keep it around because I will always think of our early days together with this recipe.

No Bakes

1 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1/2 stick butter
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cups oatmeal

In a small saucepan, boil sugar, cocoa, butter, and milk. Let boil 1 minute.
Remove from heat. Add vanilla, peanut butter, and oatmeal. Mix well.
Spoon onto waxed paper or pour into small brownie pan. Cool, slice, and eat.

Quinoa smothered with zucchini, cranberries, and sliced almonds

Quinoa

1 cup quinoa
2 cups water or chicken broth
2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise and seeds removed by scraping with a spoon, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 big handfuls dried cranberries
2 big handfuls sliced almonds
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Rinse quinoa and then combine with water or chicken stock in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed.
Meanwhile sauté zucchini in olive oil until slightly tender (about five minutes).
Toss quinoa, zucchini, cranberries, and almonds. Season with salt and pepper.

Source: my hunger and desperation for a quick and healthy meal

Oh, man. PB with tortillas. In the bathroom. Something I highly DON’T recommend. Oh, well.

Here’s a quick guided tour of things around here.

Our freezer stash is just about gone.

The freezer stash was nice while it lasted.

I am the proud owner of a microwave. Why, yes, it does make life quite a bit easier. Who would have guessed? And so my love of Amazon continues…

Did you realize this amazing invention can reheat leftovers REALLY quickly?

The main piece of kitchen equipment getting the most use…

Yes, please!

My skills as a one-armed cook continue to improve.

It's not really an impressive meal unless you can make it (and eat it) with one arm.

And the real picture you want to see…

Sweet Cheeks!

Cupcake aprons for all the girls

Sweet Cheeks arrived about a month ago, and we all adore her.

Kisses for Sweet Cheeks

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 can pumpkin
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup (plus a few) chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees with oven rack in middle position.

In bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar for several minutes until fluffy. Add egg and combine well. Add vanilla and pumpkin; mix until well combined.
Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt; mix (starting at a low speed to avoid a flour cloud) until well combined. Add chocolate chips and mix.
Drop cookies in Tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheets covered in silpats or parchment paper. Bake at 350 degrees for 16-18 minutes.

Source: adapted from one of my favorite blogs, but I’m still trying to remember which one!

Blue corn pancakes At a fabulous girls’ weekend brunch, we had blue corn pancakes…that I then tried to recreate at home. I just went with the basic recipe (none of the toppings though I’m sure they’re delicious) on food network. It was a fun pancake change.

Frittata We’ve actually been making frittata for dinner and then eating the leftovers for breakfast. I love this basic recipe, but I make changes every time…I like Monterey jack instead of cheddar for this, I use 6 whole eggs instead of doing the 8 separated eggs, and we add cooked sausage whenever we can (which seems to be always).

Sweet potato muffins If you have wee ones, these muffins are a good find. Baby Cupcake had them at a play date and loved them (along with the graham cracker that someone had dropped on the floor and she snagged).

We’ve got about a week until the baby’s due date (!), so I’ve been on my horse making things to put in the freezer for those crazy first few weeks. Yes, on my horse, something like this…

Because no matter how loud and hectic things feel now, it is about to get doubled. Yay! Yay!

The freezer stockpile includes: manicotti, Mac & cheese, shredded chicken, taco chicken, spinach soup, tortilla soup, and roasted veggies (this may turn out soggy but I had to try). And baked goods: almond zucchini bread, chocolate chip cookie dough balls, chocolate peanut butter cookie dough balls, and ginger cake.

This seems like a good start (we won’t starve for a little while anyway), but we’ll stay on our horses around here until our new arrival gets here.