The Noodle Soup

This is probably one of the few things I've made recently where I didn't use a recipe.  I made this up with my own brain.  Yes!  I can Brain.  Contrary to some people's opinions.

Because I went overboard with the noodles, it has been dubbed "The Noodle Soup."  The great thing is when I make up a dish of leftovers for Mrblocko to take with him to work, I don't need to pack any crackers.  There is literally no room for crackers in this soup.

Noodle Soup- with chicken and veggies from Mrsblocko's brain.
2T olive oil
2 small onions, diced
2 cloves of garlic, diced
2 medium sized carrots, diced
3 celery stalks, diced, leaves included if you have them
1 T cumin
1 c Salsa
8 c stock
2 c cooked quinoa
2 cooked, diced chicken breasts (mine were grilled)
18 lasagna noodles
1-2 t  Penzey's northwoods seasoning (or Penzey's northwoods fire seasoning if you can take the heat)

Boil water in a pan or tea kettle.  While the water is coming to a boil, in a large soup pot, cook onions, garlic, carrots and celery over medium heat until translucent.  About 5 min.  Add cumin and cook for 1 min.  Add salsa and cook for 1-2 min until simmering.  Add stock and bring to simmer.

Once water comes to a boil, place lasagna noodles in 9x13 pan and pour the boiling water over the noodles.  Let the water and noodles sit until the noodles become pliable, about 5-10 min.  Cut noodles into 1" wide fat strips.  Add noodles, chicken and quinoa.  Cook for 10 min until the noodles are fully cooked.  When everthing is eated through add northwoods fire seasoning.  We added ours to our bowls individually as Mrblocko likes a bit more heat in his soup.

Indoor Grilled Chicken

Last year I won a pretty swanky $25 gift card for Kohls from Vanilla Sugar.  I liked the Bobby Flay square grill pan so much that I picked one up for myself! 

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It looks like Kohls no longer carries this square cast iron grilling skillet.  I have no idea why because this thing is awesome! 

We also have a flat rectangle skillet that fits over two burners but it creates too much smoke and sets off the smoke alarm, so we never use it.  This smaller version can't cook as much at a time so that might be why.  Don't get me wrong, this smaller pan still makes the kitchen a bit hazy, but not enough to set off the alarms.

This pan is used mostly to grill up burgers. They taste so much better prepared on this pan than just in a regular skillet.  It's Mrblocko's job to do all grilling tasks.  Well, the cooking part at least.  Grilling for us is a team sport.  I do the prep work and he does the part with the heat.  I'm always afraid I will burn myself.  Particularly with the grill pan.  I know I'd do something dumb and grab the molten hot burning handle.

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One day last month I got a hankering for grilled chicken tacos.  Since it was super windy and insanely below zero freezing-ness, we grilled inside on our square grill pan.  It was like a little piece of summer invaded our kitchen. 

For the chicken I used this maranade that I adapted from the Betty Crocker website.
3 T vegetable oil
3 T lime juice
3 T  taco seasoning
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Place all  ingredients in a zip top bag and chill for 3 hours, rotating twice to make sure seasonings and liquid are evenly covering the chicken.

Grill over med-high heat 12-15 min turning once until chicken is cooked completely.  let stand 10 min before cutting so the juices get a chance to distribute evenly through the cooked meat.

We served our tacos with beans, avocado, olives, salsa, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes and sour cream.  I always load my tortilla so full that the filling falls out the end.  Every time.  Because I never learn.

You put WHAT in this Chocolate Pudding???

Avocados.

Yes.

I made pudding with avocados.

It sounds mega bizarre, but it resulted in a very rich wonderful pudding.

Although, I think this recipe could have been even better if it has booze in it.  It was my plan to use  the 1 T of Kahlua that the recipe called for. 

Then I opened the bottle.  It was chunky and sludgy.  Does alcohol go bad?  I had no idea.  The general consensus on the interwebs was that after 4 years, that Kahlua should be pitched.  So into the trash it went. 

Then I thought, "Oh! Chambord would taste great too!"

Not when it smells like cough syrup.

Sigh. 

At least the Kahlua had company in the garbage can.

I decided to just add another tablespoon of maple syrup in place of the booze. 

While we all thought the pudding was great, it was definitely missing something.  I sprinkled on a few mini chocolate chips and that really did the trick.

Mrblocko said that he could taste the avocado.  I certainly couldn't, and neither could Blockette.  I think he may have noticed it because he knew it was in there.  I'm certain if I had added the suggested Kahlua, or Chambord it would have masked any hint of the green fruit completely.

Even though Blockette watched me prepare this dessert, she was surprised when Mrblocko and I were discussing the flavor of the avocado.  She thought we were pulling her leg.  Although, I'm not sure where she would get that idea.  We NEVER do that.


Avocado Pudding adapted from Produce on Parade
1/4 c dark chocolate chunks or chips
2 ripe avocados
1/4 c cocoa powder
1/4 c maple syrup
1 T. Hazelnut Kahlua (or other liqueur or maple syrup)
1/4 t kosher salt
2 T almond milk

melt the chips in 30 second intervals in the microwave, stirring between each time until melted.  Blend remaining ingredients in food processor til smooth.  Add melted chocolate and puree, making sure to scrape down the sides so you don't have any green bits in your pudding.  Chill for at least 3 hours in the fridge.  Top with mini chips or nuts.

Jalapeno Bagels

Last year Blockette's class read a book called Jalapeno Bagels.  At the end of the discussion period, the teacher brought in jalapeno bagels and cream cheese.  Blockette could not stop talking about how great those bagels were, and "when would I make them?"

I found a great recipe over at Veggie Mama, but the timing was never right.  It was too hot, I didn't have the ingredients, we had too many other bread products in the house, I was lazy, etc.  Over one of the many cancelled school days we had this winter, the universe aligned, and Blockette and I made Jalapeno Bagels.

As neither one of us is all that keen on heat, I erred on the side of caution and used only 1 jalapeno.  I think they would have tasted better with a bit more of a kick to them.  Next time I will use 2 jalapenos.

While I was mixing up the dough, Blockette exclaimed, "Where are the red bits?!  The ones we had at school had red bits."  As luck would have it I had some roasted red peppers in the freezer.  I used 1/4 of a pepper, but I think 1/2 a pepper would have been better.

 

Jalapeno Bagels adapted from Veggie Mama

1 3/4 c lukewarm water

1 t dried yeast

2 t salt

1 1/2 T sugar

5 c flour

1-2 jalapenos, minced

1/4-1/2 roasted red pepper, diced

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Mix water, yeast, salt and sugar and let proof for 5 min. Add flour.  When all the flour is combined, add jalapenos and red peppers. Knead for 10 min on low speed, adding more flour if needed until dough is stiff. Let dough rest 10 min, then divide into 12 pieces.  Roll dough pieces into balls and make into "O" shape by sticking your thumb through the middle and gently stretching out the circle.  Alternately you can roll into a snake and overlap the ends to make a ring.  Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1-1 1/2 hrs. Fill large pot with water and bring to a boil. Place bagels in boiling water until they float to the top – about 20-40 seconds.  Remove bagels to drain on parchment.  Transfer to baking sheet.  Bake at preheated oven at 375 for 30-50 min, or until outside is golden brown.  Let cool before slicing. 

A Jello Salad for Jello Haters Like Me

Yeah.  I'm the weirdo who doesn't like Jello.  Yes we exist.  Freaks of nature. 

So if I hate Jello so much, why make a Jello Salad?  Because, in my book Jello is like tomatoes.  Gross on their own because of the texture, but darn right scrumptious when mixed with something else!

The funny thing is that Mrblocko did not like the texture of the salad.  He said there was too many different things going on and it weird-ed him out.  We'll just chalk that up to the fact that the man will eat a tomato raw right out of the garden. Ew.

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I made this for a big potluck at church, so naturally I forgot to take a picture of it before leaving the house.  It, like many dessert type "salads" is not photogenic.  It was blobby and lumpy.  I wouldn't have had a clue how to make something like that even remotely attractive to eat.  The dish was empty before the night was through so nobody must have cared!

I found the jello salad recipe over at Something Swanky, but I just had to put in some additional goodies!


Jello Salad adapted from Something Swanky
8 oz cottage cheese (low fat is fine) (I used the fatty stuff)
3 oz Jello mix, any flavor (the sugar free mix works fine too) (I used Regular Sugar-y Orange)
8 oz cool whip(lite or sugar free is fine) (I used the extra creamy)
1 c Pecan pieces
8 oz pineapple tidbits, juice drained
8.25 oz mandarin orange slices, drained
1 heaping c mini marshmallows
1 c shredded coconut

In a large bowl, stir cottage cheese with Jell-O powder until mixed well. Fold in Cool Whip.
Gently mix in remaining ingredients.  Chill overnight, or at least 4 hours for flavors to meld.

Where I discover my dislike of warm almond milk

I love me some hot chocolate.  Unfortunately milk doesn't really like me.  I can have it in small amounts, just not 8oz in one sitting.

I've tried various brands coconut milk and rice milk and found them both to not be to my liking.  Then I found Silk almond milk.  While it doesn't taste a whole lot like dairy milk, I do enjoy the taste.

So it would be a logical conclusion that I would love a steaming cup of hot chocolate.  I even found this recipe from Never homemaker where it actually calls for almond milk in the recipe.  I took two sips and spit it out, cursing the recipe all the way to the sink.

Then I made myself a cup of instant hot chocolate with the almond milk.

Lather.
Rinse.
Repeat.

It wasn't the recipe from never homemaker...it was mine own tastebuds.

Sigh. I'm forced to settle for water based hot chocolate (boo.) or being doubled over in pain (boo.  hiss.)

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Alas.

A really old Crochet Finish

I think I made this shawl sometime over the summer of 2013.  It's another prayer shawl for church.

 I used nearly 2 skeins of Blue Mint Caron Simply Soft, and a partial skein of Oceana Caron Simply Soft.  I really love making shawls from this yarn.  They turn out so soft and comfy.  Blockette wants to keep every single one I make.

You can find the pattern for this shawl on ravelry or here.

 The cool thing about this shawl is it's funky partial hexagon shape.

This is a shawl you can really get bundled and wrapped up in.

The church seems to have a plethora of shawls these days so I think I'm going to call it quits on crocheting prayer shawls for the time being. 

Hope you find a good home and give lots of hugs to your owner little hexy blue shawl!  Happy travels.