Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

YUM!!! These are perfect! I've tried a few different oatmeal raisin recipes, but these are so good that I'll probably never try a new recipe. Okay, well, that's unlikely, but they're still awesome.

I found the original recipe at Smitten Kitchen and I really haven't diverted much from the original recipe. The original makes a few dozen small cookies, and is technically a half recipe. I'm going to write the whole recipe, as I like to make it, which makes something like 50 or 60 cookies--so long as you keep them small. I freeze them, and they taste great right out of the freezer.

Ingredients

• 1 c oil (or butter, but then you'll need to melt it for the way I put it all together)
• 2/3 c brown sugar
• You can easily reduce this amount since the raisins/craisins are so sweet
• 2/3 c honey
• 2 large eggs
• 1 t vanilla extract
• 1 t baking soda
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1 t salt
• 1 1/2 c flour
• 3 c rolled oats
• 1 1/2 c raisins or craisins
• 1 c chopped walnuts, optional

Preparation

Mix the oil, sugar, honey, eggs, and vanilla in a bowl. I don't have a mixer, so I do it all with a wooden spoon. Once it's fairly homogenous-looking, sprinkle the baking soda on top and mix until it's homogenous again. Repeat that process for the cinnamon and salt. Do the same for the flour, mixing 1/2 c in at a time. Pour in the rolled oats, raisins/craisins, and walnuts if you're using them. (I never actually have.) Mix well.

Now here's the key: Refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour or more!!! Smitten Kitchen makes a big deal about this step, and I think it really works. It's what makes the cookies chewy.

Pre-heat your oven to 350˚F/175˚C.

Use 1 T to scoop the cookie dough onto a baking sheet, 2" apart. Bake 7-8 minutes, and remove when they are brown on the edges but are still under-cooked looking in the center. Leave the cookies on the tray for 5 minutes before removing them. 

Enjoy!

I got a little over-zealous with cookie dough placement

These cookies are 4-year-old approved!

"Mama, do they have sugar in them?!"

Here you can see how they need to be browned on the edges but under-cooked in the middle when you pull them out of the oven 

After 5 minutes on the baking sheet they have browned pretty much all over

Crunchy, Oven-Baked Chicken

This seriously yummy recipe came from Rachael Ray. Of course I can't find the original recipe, and I have changed things around to my liking anyway. :) You can make this into chicken breasts, or chicken fingers. I usually do fingers because the breading is so good, but I add one whole breast for a sandwich for Dan to take to work the next day.

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 c (or more) corn flakes
• 1 1/2 c bread crumbs 
• I save the crusts that I cut off the boys' PB&J sandwiches, save them in the freezer, and then blend them to make bread crumbs
• 2 T brown sugar
• 1 t salt
• 1/2 t ground black pepper
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• The original recipe calls for ground allspice, but I haven't found any here in SA. The cayenne pepper adds a bit of kick that is missing without the allspice
• dash of cayenne pepper
• 3 T olive oil
• 1.5 lbs chicken breasts, filleted, or cut into 2"x1" pieces
• 1/3 c flour
• 2 eggs, beaten

Preparation

Heat oven to 375˚F/190˚C.

Crush the cornflakes, and then mix in the breadcrumbs, sugar, salt, black pepper, cinnamon or allspice, and cayenne pepper if desired. Drizzle 3T olive oil over the mixture, and mix through.

Dredge chicken in flour, then dip in egg, then coat the chicken thoroughly in the breadcrumb/cereal mixture. Arrange on a baking sheet. Cook until brown and crisp--the original recipe calls for 15 min, but mine are usually done by about 8-10 minutes.

Serve with ketchup, honey mustard, or a dipping sauce of your choosing. Enjoy!

Chicken and Rice Soup

It's cold in New Mexico. We had a huge snowstorm in December–that's a big deal! Dinner just had to be soup, and it turned out so good that I decided to write it down. Originally I was planning on making chicken noodle soup, but since we were low on noodles and there was no way I was heading out to the grocery store, I opted to go with the rice we had in the pantry. I also dug out all of the leftover random vegetables still hanging out in the veggie drawer from Thanksgiving. I think the key to this soup is the chicken stock. I had a package of 6 boxes from Costco so I didn't feel bad using 3 boxes in one pot. It really made a difference with the creamy flavor. The result was delish!

Ingredients

• olive oil
• 4 small onions (or equivalent)
• 3 large garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 bunch of celery, chopped
• 4-ish cups of chopped carrots
• parsnips would be an excellent addition!
• 1 large red potato, diced
• 1 medium summer squash, diced
• 10-12 cups of chicken stock
• 2 chicken breasts (approx. 1+ pounds), diced
• 2-2 1/2 cups of white rice
• water as necessary
• salt to taste

Preparation

This is all very approximate because it was based on what we had. I suspect you can't really mess this up.

Heat olive oil in a stock pot, add onions, garlic, celery, and carrots as you chop them. Saute until onion is transparent and carrots are clearly cooking. Add potato, summer squash, and chicken stock; bring to a boil. Add diced chicken and let cook through. Add rice. Continue to simmer until rice is cooked. Add enough water until the consistency is what you're looking for. (The rice will continue to absorb liquids for a little while.) Salt to taste, and enjoy!

Note: Typically I would have added dried oregano, thyme, and lemon juice if I was making chicken noodle soup, but the "pure" appearance of the white rice and stock without little dark spice flecks was very appealing to me. I feel like the soup flavor was as "pure" as it looked.. That said, feel free to spice to your own tastes. 

Homemade Chai Latte Concentrate

Mmmm... Yes. Pure deliciousness. 

Are you addicted to iced chai lattes in the summer like me? And hot chai lattes in the winter? Wait no longer, you can now make your own at home and it will taste just like Starbucks. Hooked? Yeah, I thought so.

A member of a naturally-minded listserv at that I am a part of recently posted a chai latte recipe. I've been itching for years to make my own but have never made the jump. Inspired, I followed her recipe, changing one or two things here and there, and wound up making a chai latte concentrate truly as good–or even better–than Starbucks.

Ingredients

• 1 to 1 1/2 gallons of water
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon whole cloves
• 1 tablespoon whole fennel
• 2 whole anise stars
• 8-10 allspice berries
• 1/2 vanilla bean split down the middle
• 1 tablespoon cracked cardamom seeds 
• as recommended by the woman who posted the original recipe, I crack them with my teeth
• optional: 1/2 tablespoon sliced ginger
• 10 bags of black tea
• sugar to taste

Preparation

Pour water into a stockpot and add all the spices (everything except for the tea and sugar). 

Bring to a low boil and continue to boil, mostly covered, for 2 hours.

30 minutes

2 hours

Turn off burner, add the tea bags, and steep for 1 hour.

I used Twinings Decaffeinated English Breakfast, but want try rooibos next time for a truly caffeine free tea.

Strain out the spices.

Add sugar to taste at this point. Last time I made this I used a combination of raw sugar and agave nectar and found that I had to keep adding more. This time I added 2 cups of refined sugar from the start and it was way too much. Ah well. :) ... The best way to gauge how sweet you want the concentrate is to sample it every once and awhile with a ratio of 1:1 to 3:2 chai concentrate to milk.

Bottle up some concentrate to freeze for later.

Now make a cup for yourself!

Start with the concentrate (mine is iced!)..

Add some milk..

And enjoy!

Kara's Overnight Baked Oatmeal

If Dan ever becomes a professor, Kara will be my inspiration. She is Dan's advisor's wife, and no one can host like Kara. She is gracious, kind, always smiling, incredibly interesting, an unbelievable mom, hosts parties with ease, and so much more – simply amazing!

Dan was out visiting Kara's family after they left Champaign a couple of years ago and went on a several-hour bike ride with his advisor. When they made it back home Kara had a delicious brunch prepared, including this Overnight Baked Oatmeal. He loved it so much that he asked her to email it to me. It's really unbeatable and it feeds a crowd with minimal work. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 4 1/2 cups boiling water
• 1/2 cup oil 
• Kara often reduces the oil and adds applesauce to fill its place
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp or less salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup rasins, chopped apples, nuts - all optional

Preparation

Combine oats and boiling water. Let stand until water is absorbed.

Add the remaining ingredients to the oatmeal/water mixture and combine. Put in a greased 9"x12" baking dish and refrigerate overnight.

Bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes.

Serves 6-8 people.

Kara recommends serving with milk. :)

The New Baby Meal List

When I was pregnant with Eland I cooked up a storm. We had lived in Albuquerque for less than a year when Eland was due, so I knew I couldn't count on many meals from friends since we didn't have a whole lot of them yet. Here's the list of what I made, so that whenever the next time comes around, I'll remember.

None of these meals had garlic, onion, or dairy. I replaced onion with leeks whenever I felt it was appropriate. I've heard that avoiding garlic, onion, and possibly dairy makes for a less gassy baby. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but neither of my boys were colicky, so I'm sticking with it.

• Plum chicken - 4 gladware tubs
• Taco meat - 2 gladware tubs
• Cubed cooked chicken (for chicken salad or salads in general) - 1 gallon bag
• Cincinnati-style chili - 3 gladware tubs
• Italian beef - 2 gladware tubs
• BBQ meatloaf - 4 gladware tubs
• Chimichangas - 18
• Chicken basil sausages - 6 uncooked links
• 1 package of hotdog buns
• Stuffed green peppers - 3 gladware tubs with 2 peppers each
• Nectarine-blueberry crisp - 3 gladware tubs
• Chicken pot pie - 2 pie-sized baking dishes, 2 individual bakers
• Chicken noodle soup - 8 gladware tubs
• Gnocchi (uncooked) - 1 gallon bag
• Beef in red wine sauce - 2 gladware tubs
• Brownies - 2 gallon bags containing 1/2 pan each
• Zucchini bread - 1 loaf cut in half with halves frozen separately
• Date bread - 1 loaf

Yes, this is a lot of food, and ambitious, but it helped so much to have these meals along with a bunch of others from friends to last us until I had the energy to cook again. (Dan did cook a few meals a week, too.) Also, this doesn't include little-prep meals like pasta with sauce from a jar and that sort of thing.

Now I can go throw out the written list that's still on my refrigerator...

Yet to Try: Vegetarian Split-Pea Soup

This looks so good, and it's dairy-free! http://www.girlsgonechild.net/2011/02/eat-well-meat-free-your-split-pea.html

I have my own split-pea soup which I plan on making tomorrow and will hopefully post about, but I do use ham in it. The above recipe looks fantastic.