Accidental Chicken Soup

Once again I forgot to measure, sorry! My mom, who just throws things together and never writes things down, has recently started whereas I have become the complete opposite. So here’s a rough breakdown of my methods, but the measurements I’m not sure about. This started out as boiling chicken for a salad, using a few things I learned from late night food network viewings, and turned into chicken soup after I added the carrots (needed to use them up) and soup started sounding a lot better than a salad.

• 1 boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 large clove garlic, smashed
• 2 green onions
• 1 diced carrot
• black pepper
• chicken stock

Cooked the onions, green onions, and garlic together on medium heat until translucent. Added about 2 to 3 cups of chicken stock, chicken, black pepper and carrots. Cover and bring to a boil over medium heat, then adjust to a low simmer and cook until chicken shreds apart easily with a fork (took about 50 minutes with my frozen chicken breast)

Spinach and Cheese Ravioli

This is going to be more of a “what I made” post instead of a recipe, since I forgot to write down how much of everything I used. I eyeballed the whole thing because I was using way less than the recipe I adapted this from. Recipe adapted from here

Here’s what I put in mine:

Not Quite Onion Rings and a Sandwich

This is more of a “what I ate today” since I haven’t felt much up to doing any real cooking lately. But here’s what I had today! The onion rings are adapted from Hungry Girl’s Lord of the Onion Rings recipe. I just used what I had on hand (small yellow onion instead of a large white onion, and Nature’s Path Organic Smart Bran instead of Fiber One. Some of the rings did burn a bit, I think because my onion was so small. I only used one, but probably could have used two of the onions I had to equal the size of the large onion in the Hungry Girl recipe. But, here’s what I used for mine:

Onion Rings

• 1 small yellow onion
• 1/4 cup egg whites
• 1/2 cup crushed Nature’s Path Organic Smart Bran Cereal

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cut edges off onion and remove outer skin. Cut into wide slices and separate into rings.

Fill a small bowl with egg whites.

Using a blender or food processor (I used my ninja food processor), grind the Smart Bran to a breadcrumb like consistency. Pour crumbs into a small dish.

One by one coat each ring in the egg whites, give them a shake, then coat them in the crumbs.

Place on an foil lined baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray. Cook for 20-25 minutes, flipping rings halfway through.

Toasted Ham Sandwich

• 2 slices sourdough bread
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 or 5 slices of honey ham
• 1 or 2 slices of mozzarella cheese (enough to cover the bread)
• 1 wedge of laughing cow light creamy swiss cheese
• a few squirts of honey mustard

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine olive oil and vinegar. Brush over 2 slices of sourdough bread. Set the rest aside.

Add the swiss cheese to one side and the mozzarella to the other. CRINKLE ham on the mozzarella side. It’s important to crinkle the lunch meat, not just lay it flat. Trust me, it makes the sandwich.

Close sandwich and wrap in foil. Place in oven for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the sandwich is heated all the way through. Open up and add the honey mustard, then enjoy, using the left over dressing to dip!

Strawberry Cake with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

Strawberries were on sale this week so I ended up with three 1 lb containers, and needed to find something to use up a bit of them fast. Came across this and decided to give it a go. I didn’t have any Cool Whip on hand though, so I decided to go with the cream cheese frosting that I found in this recipe. It is very moist, as in falling apart moist, but it’s sooo good.

Strawberry Cake

• 1 package of white cake mix
• 1 package of strawberry gelatin (4-serving size)
• 3/4 cup oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 1/4 cups fresh strawberries, cut into small pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch cake pan.

Beat together all cake ingredients and pour into cake pan.

Bake for 35 minutes, or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Leave in pan to cool completely before frosting.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 8oz package of cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar
• 3/4 cups mashed strawberries, drained
• Additional 4 or 5 strawberries, sliced, to garnish (optional)

Combine cream cheese and butter and mix on low speed for about a minute. Add sugar and strawberries and mix on low until fully incorporated.

Spread frosting over cake, and add strawberry garnish. Another option would be to chop up 1 1/4 cup of strawberries into small pieces and spread over the entire cake, then add frosting on top of that.

Poached Egg and Ramen

Haven’t felt up to making much lately, but saw this and decided to give it a try. I only had oriental flavored ramen, and really wanted something chickeny so I just used some bouillon. I added some Franks Red Hot because I couldn’t find my sriracha sauce, and I love a bit of heat with my ramen.

Poached Egg and Ramen

• 1 package of ramen
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 2 eggs
• chives
• red pepper flakes
• franks red hot sauce 

Bring 2 cups of water and 2 bouillon cubes to boil in a small saucepan, on medium heat.

Add noodles. Cook for 2 minutes.

Crack 2 eggs in a bowl and gently pour into the pan with the noodles. Cook another minute, then remove from heat.

Add hot sauce and red pepper flakes, garnish with chives, and enjoy!

Alton Brown’s Steel Cut Oatmeal

Found this while looking for something to use leftover buttermilk. OMG it’s so good, and super filling!! I normally have to add tons of cinnamon, brown sugar, or cinnamon sugar to eat oatmeal, but this didn’t need very much at all. It’s really good plain as well. The roasted oats and buttermilk add a really interesting flavor to it.

The recipe calls for regular whole milk, but I use goats milk for mine. I’m sure any milk substitute would work, but will obviously change the flavor significantly. I’ve been serving mine with apples and slivered almonds, however any fruit and nut combo would probably go good with this. Adapted from Alton Brown’s recipe.

Steel Cut Oatmeal

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 3 cups boiling water
• 1/2 cup goats milk
• 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon low-fat buttermilk
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Put 3 cups of water into the microwave and cook until boiling.

As water is heating up: In a large saucepan, melt butter and add the oats. Stir for 2 minutes to toast. Add the boiling water and reduce heat to a simmer. Keep at a low simmer for 25 minutes, without stirring.

Combine milk and half the buttermilk with the oatmeal. Stir to combine. Cook another 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add brown sugar and cinnamon; stir. Put into serving bowls (makes 4 servings) and add fruit or nuts to garnish, plus reserved buttermilk. Enjoy!

Franks Redhot Buffalo Chicken Dip

Saw this recipe while looking for a “game day snack” for watching hockey games. It looks gross, I know, but it’s SO yummy! I use Franks Original Redhot, but I hear it’s really good with their Buffalo Wing Sauce. With this particular batch, I totally goofed and only added one can of chicken. Still tasted good though! Adapted from the Frank’s website.

Frank’s Buffalo Chicken Dip

• 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup ranch salad dressing
• 1/2 cup Frank’s Redhot Sauce
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 cans (12.5 oz each) Swanson white premium chunk chicken breast in water, drained.

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

Soften cream cheese in microwave, then place in deep baking dish. Stir until smooth.

Mix in salad dressing, Franks RedHot sauce, and cheese. Stir in chicken.

Bake 20 minutes or until mixture is heated through; stir. Garnish as desired. Serve with crackers or vegetables.

Marble Cake

I made this for my fiance’s birthday cake. He couldn’t figure out what kind of cake he wanted, so I decided to make both! The recipe is from Martha Stewart. I never thought I’d use one of her recipes. I feel so dirty! I know it doesn’t look pretty, and I’m terrible when it comes to frosting things (especially such an odd shape for a cake), but I assure you it tastes amazing.

The recipe uses a 9-by-5 inch loaf pan… I really didn’t like the way it looked when it turned out. Kind of awkward looking for a cake. I’ll probably use a round cake pan next time. It turned out really moist, and absolutely delicious!

For the frosting I used some ready made cream cheese frosting we had in the back that needed to be used up. Definitely going to just make my own next time, because it was way too sweet for my tastes.

One note: make sure your eggs, butter, and buttermilk are all ROOM TEMPERATURE. It usually takes about 20 to 30 minutes if your ingredients were in the fridge. This ensures that butter and sugar will cream properly and hold more air, that butter will blend well into batter, that egg whites will be easier to beat, and that dry ingredients will combine easier.

Marble Cake

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2/3 cup buttermilk, room temperature
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9-by-5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray or butter; set aside.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each egg, and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Mix in vanilla. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and beginning and ending with the flour. Set aside 1/3 of the batter.

In a bowl, combine cocoa and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons of boiling water. Mix well using a rubber spatula until smooth. Add cocoa mixture to the reserved cake batter, stirring until combined.

Spoon batters into prepared pan in 2 layers, alternating spoonfuls of vanilla and chocolate to simulate a checkerboard. To create marbling, run a butter knife or wooden skewer through the batters in a swirling motion.

Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until cake tester comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Transfer pan to a rack to cool 10 minutes. Turn out cake from pan and cool completely on rack. When cool add frosting, if desired.

Cake will keep about 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.