Back from Thanksgiving Break!

Thanksgiving Break was certainly fun, but went way way too fast. Because of the holiday, everyone has been home from work and school and we've been eating out and at relatives all week. The only grocery shopping I've done has been for Thanksgiving so we have hardly any food in the house. I have to get to the store this week! Packing today's lunch felt like I was on an episode of Survivor:Lunchbox Edition or something.


I was also trying to make it in a hurry cause we were supposed to have some relatives visiting today and I wanted to get lunch packed early. I'm glad that I stowed away a few slices of spiral sliced ham from Thanksgiving. We discovered that the chic really liked it so I grabbed some thinking that she would like it in her lunchbox this week. The rest of the lunch is a modge podge of things in our pantry.

Heirloom cherry tomatoes, Celery stuffed with cream cheese, cranberries and dried peas, Red grapes, Spiral sliced ham, Whole wheat and Havarti cheese Christmas trees with carrots and peas.

And finally, thanks to Sheri, Astrid, and Arkonite_Babe for the Kreativ Blogger award!

According to the award, I have to list seven random things about me and pass it on to seven other bloggers. I will list my blog choices later this week, but for now, here are my seven things:

1. I'm claustrophobic.

2. I have a weird photographic memory for phone numbers.

3. I bake when I'm stressed.

4. I am a night owl.

5. I prefer winter vacations to the beach vacations.

6. I live next door to my parents.

7. I love board games.

A Healthier Cinnamon Babka

Happy Thanksgiving! I decided to take a break from my Thanksgiving cooking to post my cinnamon babka recipe from last week. When the chic asked me to make cinnamon bread, I immediately went to an awesome cinnamon babka recipe that I've used for years. It's in The Ultimate Bread Machine Cookbook by Tom Lacalamita. I've had this cookbook for almost 12 years and I think it is the best bread machine cookbook ever printed! I'm not big on baking bread in the machine...I like to use it for dough. And it has tons of awesome recipes for dough cycle, hand shaped breads.

Anyway, I decided to try to make it a bit healthier by adding ground flax and using half whole wheat flour. Make no mistake, I did not cut the sugar or butter. The butter, eggs, sugar, etc...are what make babka so so good. So it's still not the healthiest bread option. Consider it a somewhat improved version. I also wanted to use the Pullman pan. It turned out really well and honestly, I don't think my additions made a difference in the texture or taste. The hubs didn't even know that I did anything different until I told him. I use my bread machine to make the dough, cause it's easy and super easy to clean up. Here's the recipe:

Healthier Cinnamon Babka

(Enough dough for one Pullman pan and one regular loaf pan)

3 eggs

1 3/4 cup milk

3 T butter, softened

1 t vanilla

3 T sugar

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 c ground flax

2 c stone ground whole wheat flour

3 c all purpose flour

3/4 t salt

1 T vital wheat gluten

1 1/2 T yeast



Filling:

4 T butter

1/2 c white sugar

2 T cinnamon



Topping:

2 T butter

4 T sugar

large pinch cinnamon

4 T flour

Add all ingredients to bread machine in the order suggested by manufacturer. Set to dough cycle.

While dough is processing, mix filling and topping in separate bowls and set aside. Generously butter a Pullman pan.

When dough cycle is done, punch down and let rest for five minutes. Turn onto floured surface and cut off about 1/3 of the dough an set this 1/3 aside for another use (it's a perfect amount for a regular loaf pan).

Roll remaining dough out to 1/4" thick rectangle. Sprinkle filling on the rectangle and roll up tightly. Stretch dough to twice the length of the pan and place in pan in an "S" shape tucking ends under loaf. Cover and let rise till double.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Carefully make an indention down the middle of the loaf and brush with a beaten egg. Sprinkle with topping mixture. DO not use the lid for this loaf! Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown.

There are other variations of Babka. Cinnamon, cheese and chocolate are the most common varieties. Anyone remember the chocolate babka from Seinfeld?

Butternut Squash Soup

Well, this is the last lunch for a week. We have a Thanksgiving Feast on Friday and then the chic is out of school for Thanksgiving break! I've got a lot of cooking to do between now and then so I'll probably post some non-lunch related stuff over the next week. BUT, we have one more, so here goes...Butternut squash soup.

Butternut Squash soup - Croutons,creme fraiche and pumpkin seeds to add the the soup - Fruit leather - Cheese curds - Homemade whole wheat flax cinnamon babka

The babka was a variation on my favorite cinnamon babka recipe. I really wanted to try making it in the Pullman pan AND I was trying to make it healthier but still yummy. It was. I literally had to wrap it in Press N Seal and walk away from the kitchen so I would stop eating it. The chic asked me to make her some cinnamon bread this morning so she should be thrilled to see this in her lunch! I will post the recipe later this weekend!

Gobble Gobble

A "Turkey" Sandwich is the chic's lunch tomorrow...

Oatmeal Raisin cookie, Fruit Bites, Carrot Chips, Flaxseed Cranberry and Pecan Crackers, Wallaby Organic Berry Yogurt, "Turkey" Sandwich

I say "Turkey" sandwich cause it's actually peanut butter and raspberry jam. The eye is a dry roasted pea, the beak is a carrot and the gobbler is red pepper. The feathers are strips of red pepper, carrot, celery, cucumber, and cheese.
I discovered that the Hello Kitty bento fits perfectly in the Laptop Lunchbox with a yogurt and the Laptop Lunchbox water. I've been really impressed with the Laptop Lunchbox insulated bag. I put a slim ice pack in the mesh pocket and her lunch stays cold WAY past lunchtime. The water bottle was surprising also. It doesn't look very impressive. Kinda flimsy actually. The first time I pulled it out of the box, I rolled my eyes. Here I spent all this money on a lunchbox, and THAT was the bottle included? But the thing is awesome! It hasn't leaked one time all year! Not once!

Fruit Leather!

I'm going to try to make Thanksgiving/Fall themed lunches this week unless the chic REALLY complains about the lack of flowers and frou frou. I'm really looking forward to moving past Thanksgiving, though, so I can make some Christmas lunches. THOSE will be fun!

Cheese curds, Cucumbers, Flaxseed Cranberry and Pecan Crackers, Homemade Fruit Leather over pecans and dried Cranberries, Turkey leaf sandwich.

I've been wanting to try making fruit leather for a long time. But, it seemed like such a time consuming process that I've kinda put it off and put it off. Well, I'm tired of trying to find all fruit fruit leather and I'm tired of paying so much for it. And really, I just love to make anything I can so that I know EXACTLY what is in it. So, after doing some Internet searching, I came up with a plan of attack and went to it. Here's how it went...

I used frozen strawberries this time. Two bags. Unsweetened. They aren't in season right now, or I would have bought fresh. So, I went with four cups of fruit and a half cup of water. I simmered these, covered, for 15 minutes.

(Everything gettin ready to simmer)

I mashed them with a potato masher and continued to cook, uncovered, until they got a bit thicker. This was only supposed to take 15 minutes or so, but I let it cook for a total of about 30 minutes. Next time I will only do 15 minutes, though. I think I let a bit too much water evaporate. You'll understand why in a minute.

(I don't know why my dad's camera keeps doing this, but this is the best one I have of it after I mashed it)

Then I stuck it in the blender and pureed the whole thing. It thickens up quite a bit when pureed. And as a warning...boiling hot strawberry puree WILL fly out of the top of the blender spout, burn your hand, and make a mess out of your kitchen when you hit the "on" button. Just sayin...I ended up putting a pot holder over the spout (after I treated my scalded hand, that is!)

(You shoulda seen the floor around the blender!)

(The Puree)

Everything I read says that you should line a baking sheet with "oven safe" plastic wrap. My plastic wrap is just store brand plastic wrap and it didn't say anywhere on the box that it was "oven safe". I stuck a piece in the microwave to test it and it didn't melt. That was good enough for me, so I used it. Four cups of fruit will make one baking sheet worth of fruit leather. I must warn you, however, that after being in the oven for a while, the edged do shrink up a bit, but the plastic under the fruit was just fine. After lining your baking sheet with plastic wrap, you pour the puree and level it out. This is important because otherwise it won't cook evenly (I know because MINE didn't cook evenly.)

(Ready for the oven)

Turn the oven to "warm" and wait...

and wait...(you can start seeing where it was thicker and not drying as fast)



and wait...


(This is right out of the oven. I tore off the bottom left corner. You know I'm an impatient cook! The bright spot is the sticky spot where it was too thick.)

I left mine in the oven for about 7 hours before pulling it out. It is supposed to be done when there are no sticky spots left, but since I didn't level mine well, I still had a thick spot that was sticky. I decided to pull it out, though, cause I didn't want the rest to get too dry.

Once out of the oven, the plastic wrap just peels off the back.


I tore it into strips and put it in a plastic baggie. At first I thought that it wasn't such a success. I cooked it too long in the initial thickening stage and when I took it out of the oven, parts of it were more crunchy than dried. And I had the sticky spot in the middle because I did a bad leveling job...okay NO leveling job, whatever. BUT I cut out the sticky spot and after being in the plastic baggie, the crunchy bit softened a bunch.


The last thing to do was test it out on the chics. And as luck would have it, we had one of our friend's kids over that day. So, I gave them all a piece and stood back to watch. It's hard to act like you don't care what they think of it. I was standing there trying to act aloof about it, all the while trying to read their facial expressions without outright staring at them. Anyway, a few minutes later, they came back for another piece, and then another. Pretty soon, they had eaten almost the entire baggie! It was a success!

Next time I make it, I will change a few things...I won't cook it for 30 minutes and stick to the 15 minutes in the thickening stage, I will put a pot holder on the blender BEFORE turning the switch on, I will level the puree, and I will make two pans! Oh, and I think I'm gonna try raspberry!

Hot Dog Ring

I wanted to take a little break from all the flowers. That seems to be the chic's favorite, but I started to feel like they were all the same. It will be short lived though. She's already requesting flowers for next week! She's a pre-planner like her mom!

Hot dog ring, Zucchini slices, Pirate's Booty, Cottage cheese with blueberries

We broke open a new package of Coleman Hot Dogs tonight and made a hot dog ring. I cut through the hot dog most of the way and cut off the ends to make a flat edge. Then I wrapped it around and pinned it together with a toothpick. I placed it on a whole wheat bread round, filled it with shredded cheese, and drizzled it with mustard. When she heats it up tomorrow, the cheese should be all melty and gooey.

This weekend I'm attempting to make my first batch of fruit leather so stay tuned for that adventure!

Not Quite Goat Cheese Salad

Tomorrow's lunch is a bit of leftovers...

Cranberry pecan salad with honey "goat cheese" dressing, Panko crusted chicken drumstick, Cherry yogurt pretzels, Powerball

I started off with all intentions of making a salad tonight with a honey goat cheese dressing. I even went today and bought more spring mix. But when I came home and started scooping ingredients in the Magic Bullet (which is a blender, btw), I found that my goat cheese smelled a bit off. I'm a little freaky about the whole spoiled food thing. If there's a date on it, by golly it's goin in the trash that day. So, although the goat cheese said it didn't expire until December, I chunked it. I had to come up with a solution quick since almost all the other dressing ingredients were in the Magic Bullet and I wasn't wasting 2 tablespoons of very expensive wild honey that I had already measured out. So, I decided to substitute sour cream since it is similarly tangy. I measured it out, turned the blender on, and crossed my fingers. Although it wasn't as thick and creamy as goat cheese would have made it, the sour cream was a great "in a pinch" substitute.

We came across a sale on organic free range chicken drumsticks last weekend. I usually don't buy drumsticks, but I couldn't tell you why. The chics really loved them. I rolled them in a bit of a mustard concoction and breaded them with panko bread crumbs. Then I baked them on a rack so the whole coating would get crispy. They turned out really well. The little chic even ate two of them.

And to continue yesterday's camera tirade...my cracker submission got rejected on Foodgawker (as usual) due to shadowing. I thought it was a great picture, but what do I know? But it DID get published on Tastespotting! My dad is letting me keep the camera till the weekend so there will be plenty more gratuitous photos I'm sure! Just look at the pecans...oooooh...close up...