Recipes

Stressed Backwards Is Desserts

March 23, 2015 nk3302 Comments

If you’ve been keeping up with my blog, you know I’ve been stressing about Gerrit’s 4 month sleep regression. Much more so than I probably should be. But one day last week, I decided I needed a distraction. Baking!

Well, there really isn’t any bakeware here in TLF, so I had to figure out what I could make with the one pan we bought: a 9×9 square baking pan. This was made easier when I noticed I had two really yucky looking bananas on the counter (oops). I have a recipe for Strawberry Banana Bread that uses a 9×13 pan, but I figured I could cut it in half. So here’s the recipe that I made:

Strawberry Banana Bread

Total Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 9

Ingredients:

1/2 c. vegetable oil
1-1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 t. ground cinnamon
1-1/2 t. baking powder*
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. kosher salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 T. pure vanilla extract
2 large ripe bananas
1/2 lb. strawberries
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 T. fresh lemon juice

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil and flour a 9- by 13-inch casserole dish. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg, and salt.

2. In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add granulated sugar, oil, and vanilla and whisk to combine. Mash bananas (you should get about 1 cup) and stir into egg mixture. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and mix just until incorporated. Fold in strawberries.

3. Transfer batter to prepared dish and bake until a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for 5 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Spread icing over warm cake, then let cool completely.

* I accidentally bought baking powder instead of baking soda. After some research, I discovered you could replace baking soda with 2-3x the amount in baking powder. Good to know!

Quick and easy (even with a baby to entertain!), very yummy, and good for breakfast, a snack, or dessert! I love the bits of strawberry and hint-of-lemon glaze that brighten up an already delicious food. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Recipes

Sweet-and-Sour Beef with Rice

March 12, 2015 nk3303 Comments

Here’s another meal that is pretty easy to make while we are in TLF. Andrew really enjoys Asian cuisine and loves making stir-fry recipes. I usually like it when he makes a stir-fry as well, I just don’t like all the chopping that goes into them! This recipe doesn’t take too long and has good flavor — it’s become one of my favorites.

Sweet-and-Sour Beef

Prep/Total Time: 30 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 T. cornstarch
2 T. cold water
1 lb. beef top sirloin steak, cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
3 t. canola oil, divided
1 large green pepper, cut into 1/2″ pieces
1 large sweet red pepper cut into 1/2″ pieces
2 medium tart apples, chopped
1/2 c. + 2 T. green onion, chopped, divided
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
1/2 c. cider vinegar
hot cooked rice

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until smooth. Sprinkle beef with salt and pepper. In a large nonstick skillet or wok coated with cooking spray, heat 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Add beef; stir-fry 2-3 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from pan.

2. In same skillet, stir-fry peppers and apples in remaining oil for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 cup green onions; stir-fry 1-3 minutes longer or until peppers are crisp-tender. Remove from pan.

3. Add brown sugar and vinegar to skillet; bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to pan. Return to a boil; cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Return beef and pepper mixture to pan; heat through. If desired, serve with rice. Sprinkle with remaining green onion.

We usually make about a cup of jasmine rice to serve with this. We also add a little soy sauce to it… but we also really enjoy soy sauce. 🙂

Recipes

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

March 9, 2015 nk330Leave a comment

Although we are staying in TLF (temporary living facility) right now, it has not been bad at all! We’ve had a break from living out of suitcases; I couldn’t wait to unpack our things! We also have a kitchen, so I sent Andrew to Wal-Mart with a grocery list so we could have a break from frozen pizza and spaghetti. We have some pots and pans in the kitchen but not much for baking, so I had to find recipes that didn’t require a 9×13 (because most of them do). I also wanted to use some really quick and easy recipes, since Gerrit can be unpredictable in the evenings. Did I mention that I packed my recipe binder? 🙂 I used it once or twice in TLF in England, and it’s getting more use here in North Carolina.

Anyway, this was one of those evenings when Gerrit was being unpredictable! He had take 45 minute naps all day, so I wanted him to take one more catnap before bedtime. Andrew wasn’t having much luck with that last nap, so I sent him to start cutting up potatoes while I tried to get Gerrit to sleep. By the time our little guy finally conked out, Andrew was pretty involved in dinner preparation, so he said he’d just finish it. So I got a break!

Loaded Baked Potato & Chicken Casserole

Ingredients :
3 – 4 medium russet potatoes, scrubbed and diced (about 1.5 lbs. or 4 1/2 cups)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
6 slices bacon, cooked crisp, cooled and crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
4 green onions, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Instructions :
Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 9″ baking pan or casserole dish.
Spread half of the diced potatoes in bottom of pan. Place the diced chicken breasts evenly on top. Season chicken with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Sprinkle with half the bacon crumbles, 1/2 cup of the cheese, and half the green onions.
Spread the remaining diced potatoes on top, followed by the remaining bacon, another 1/2 cup cheese, remaining green onions and another 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Pour heavy cream over top of casserole and then dot with the butter. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1 hour. Uncover and bake another 30 minutes. In the last few minutes of baking, sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 cup cheddar cheese and bake until melted. Chop up some extra green onion to sprinkle on top before serving.

I found this recipe after I had Gerrit. I was looking for something that would be filling and wouldn’t be too tedious to make. I can’t remember if I found it via Pinterest or a Google search, but here’s the blog that I got it from. Andrew gets tired of casseroles, but even he liked this one!