Lemon Zesting Nightmare

I cannot zest. I just can't.  I thought I could. But I can't.  I used the small "hard cheese" side of my cheese grater, and it resulted in Lemon Rind mashed on that side.  Here is what I have.  See that large size with the little prongy looking stick-y outie thingies? Yeah, that part totally hoarded my lovely zest.  It was a mess. (As an aside to this story, I had to use my toothbrush to loosen up the zest to get it off the grater and into my cookie dough.  Don't judge.  I don't think I mentioned that to my family though, so now that the cookies have been devoured, I guess I could mention that little part about my toothbrush.  Okay back to Zesting... )

What was I doing?  Making my own Lemon Cookies.  You see, my oldest daughter likes Savannah Smiles cookies.  Girl Scouts? You know, $3.50 for 25 cookies? Yes, those.  So I made my own.  They were deee-lish.  

Recipe is from the internet somewhere.... I think Pinterest might be to blame.  I am avidly looking for the recipe now.  Bear with me? NO.  Bare with me? Well just wait a second. Or two.  

Okay, here's the credit where credit's due: Lemon Crinkle Cookies Original Recipe

Lemon Crinkle Cookies (My edits and comments are in blue)

Makes 2-3 dozen (makes 2 dozen REAL cookies) 

Ingredients:
½ cups butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoons vanilla extract
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon lemon zest (this is like the whole lemon- which held firm to my grater like a magnet) 
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice (If you like lemon flavor, double this amount.  Else it's just a hint.)
¼ teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoons baking powder
⅛ teaspoons baking soda
1-½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cups powdered sugar (Start off with 1/4 and then add more if you need it.  I threw away about half.)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease light colored baking sheets with non-stick cooking spray and set aside. (I used parchment paper and didn't grease at all.)

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest, and juice. Scrape sides and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients slowly until just combined, excluding the powdered sugar. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly. Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottoms begin to barely brown and cookies look matte {not melty or shiny}. Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. MAKE SURE YOU DO LET IT COOL ON THE PAN FOR 3 MINUTES. IT NEEDS TIME TO COOL AND COME TOGETHER. 

*If using a non-stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.

Crock Pot Roast

I haven't been feeling well these last few days, so after a strategic trip to Sam's Club yesterday, sans list of what I needed, I came home with a few pounds of Chuck Roast.  A fireman once told me, as did an ancient meat cutter, that Chuck is the best for roasting.

So to a crock pot on low I added the following:

• 2.75 lb chuck roast
• 2 cups water
• a half a bag of baby carrots
• one large white onion cut in quarters 
• 4 stalks celery cut in half once
• salt 
• pepper

Pop on the lid and wait 6-8 hours.  So the roast went in at 945 am and will be ready about 5pm ish.  I will know it is ready when I can pull it apart with a fork. 

To make clean up easy, I always use a crock pot liner.  You can find these roasting bags called Crock Pot Liners made by Reynolds in and around the baggie and foil section of your grocery store.  It's like a turkey roasting bag but made for the crock pot.  I love it.  

Gluten Free flour

About a year ago, I started trying to eat Gluten Free.  By trying I mean that I started eating nothing processed and no starches.  My goal was to limit myself to naturally occurring items and eliminating caffeine and carbonation.  It was a raging success.  But I didn't really delve deeply into Gluten Free foods.  I was really just a Gluten Avoider.  There's a difference.

So today I am finding myself wondering if it is possible to be natural, and still enjoy things like pancakes and breads.  The answer is yes.

I found this recipe for an All Purpose Mix that I think sounds like a winner.  I am going to try to make it this week and use it in my flour recipes.

From Gluten Free Girl's website I found this recipe for AP mix in a recipe for Muffins:

We’re working with 70% whole grains/30% starches.
Choose 700 grams of any combination of the following flours:AlmondAmaranthBrown RiceBuckwheatCornMilletOatQuinoaSorghumSweet Brown RiceTeff

And then throw in 300 grams of any combination of the following:

Arrowroot
Cornstarch
Potato Starch
Tapioca Flour
White Rice Flour

Her note: We like using 150 grams each of arrowroot and potato starch, at the moment. Combine the 700 grams of whole-grain flours with the 300 grams of starches in a big container. Shake it all up. You have whole-grain flour mix.

What's in Season?

Often, I wonder as I surf the local grocery store ads, what is really in season and what is not.  Prices fluctuate, and that frustrates me.  I can buy 16oz of strawberries for $1.88 some times and others they are 2/$5 what the heck? Well, they're out of season.  Duh. (That duh was for me, not you!)  We love strawberries around our house, and well, right now, I think there is really only a few good ones in each box at this point.

So what's in season?  I found this great resource on the Dallas Farmer's Market website (just go there if you can it's a wonderful place) that tells you what to buy during which months for best produce.  There's also a seasonal list on organic.org too.

February: Broccoli (cancer fighting!), cauliflower, grapefruit, lemons, oranges, papayas, Tangelos.

The challenge is to make dishes with these fruits and veggies that are in season.  This list contains no must have organic items, but if you are really conscious about "The Dirty Dozen" go to Organic.org, and download this years list.  I find that funny that there's a yearly list, but I think as we know more, we can be more educated on what is safest.

If you are a salmon lover, you really should try this recipe from the food network: Salmon Kebobs with Quinoa and Grapefruit

Chicken that is NOT dry

I decided to try another Skillet Dinner from my Cook's Illustrated magazine.  It was a huge success.

I don't know about you, but I tend to make variations of dry chicken.  The recipe might say differently, but usually, I end up with Dry Chicken pot pie, or Super Dry Baked Chicken etc... you catch my drift.

So Skillet BBQ chicken was a success.

Here's all you have to do:

Rinse and pat dry with paper towels 4 skinless boneless chicken breasts.  Salt and pepper them on both sides.  Add a little oil to the bottom of a heavy skillet or pan that is oven safe *I used my cast iron pot* on medium high.  Sear both sides of the chicken for 2 minutes each side.  Remove from pan, add 1 1/2 cups to 1 3/4 cups of your favorite bbq sauce (the recipe in CI has a make it yourself bbq sauce that I kindly skipped) in the pan you just had the chicken in.  Add back in the bbq sauce and make sure to coat the chicken well.  Adjust your oven rack to upper medium height and then bake at 325 for 10-14 minutes.

Delish.  Soft, tender, which means the same thing, and juicy.  Yummy.

I can scan and send the recipe if you need it!

Herb Roasted Chicken Updated

It.was.a.freaking.success.

Remember this photo? It's the cover.  

Here's MINE:

I can honestly tell you, I started it at 3:30 pm and it was done at 5:45 pm.  1 hour of that time was soaking the bird in a brine (salt water).  Another 45 minutes was cook time.  The other minutes (I'm not a math person so sue me) were in prep or reading the recipe.  :) 

I will say 2 3 things: 

1. Cutting the back bone was weird, I had never done it, and I am SO glad I am not a doctor.
2. I didn't have a 12" skillet (a cast iron skillet would be idea) so I used my coated cast iron pot instead.  
3. Instead of using Tarragon and Thyme (not available on shortest notice from Kroger today), I subbed in Basil and Oregano as per the recipe suggestion.  Awesomeness.  

Who wants the recipe? I will email it to you right now.  I'm waiting.  

Okay, well, while I wait, here's more delish pictures of dinner tonight.  Be jealous.  I am so sad there isn't a drop left over.  

Juices left in the pan were used to make a sauce .  I simply added flour (remember this from a previous post?) and some herbed butter at the end with some LEMON juice.  It was so tasty. My husband said "creamy". That is saying something.

After adding the flour to the juices, and some chicken broth, letting it simmer for a few minutes makes it reduce and also thicken.

This is how it turned out after adding the herbed butter I basted the chicken with and shoved under the skin.  It was so wonderful with a little lemon juice too!

Recipe says to let the chicken "rest" for 20 minutes while you make the sauce.  Easy enough.

Get Moving!

Many folks at the beginning of the year commit to weight loss, getting fit, and eating right.  Well how's that working for you? Seen one too many of these? (This is a salad if you are not into green things.)

So I was thinking about buying a treadmill.  I feel better having one.  I know it's just a piece of machinery, and you have to actually USE it for it to be effective. But still. I want to run, I think. So, I mentioned this in a conversation with a good friend of mine, Tanya, and she said something smart.  (Well she IS a teacher so that's something to consider!) She said this: Look on Craigslist in February after everyone's resolutions are dissolved.  :)  Smart Chick. (I could also walk around the block.  It IS an option. So could you.)

Maybe getting moving is just as hard as committing to eating healthy.  It is ridiculously hard to eliminate things from anyone's food intake.  No one wants to make changes.  We like what we like. We eat what we want.  But take a look down.  Are you "there" eating what you are eating? Seriously, I know Chocolate is a food group. However, there is a sense of accomplishment if you will just decide to do something different. Food included.  

I have found that just taking that plunge and doing it- whether or not you completely fail, is rewarding. I used to be afraid to fail because I kind of like to be perfect the first time.  If I thought I might fail, in the past, I would make up a really reasonable excuse to not participate so as to avoid inevitable failure. Now, times have changed.  I was a little tired of wondering what might happen if I tried.  Today, I might utterly burn dinner or fail at a Pinterest project, but at least I tried it, learned something (usually about how fast I can disarm my smoke detectors!) and I can change my focus to make it better.  Doing something and failing is better than doing nothing at all. I don't want to look back and regret not trying.  What can I say? It might also be my age.  Ha ha.  

So, it's February, and frankly, what are YOU waiting for? If your January was a failure or you didn't really accomplish that goal, and you are still eating processed foods and canned Cream of Chicken soup then consider today your day to do differently! January doesn't really count because it's just in the past now. You tried January, and failed or whatever you did that you're not so keen on.  So now it's time for you to succeed. I love the saying "If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies: Succeed Anyway." ~Mother Theresa. Word. 

Don't be afraid to succeed. Better yet, don't be afraid to fail first before you succeed.  My friend is doing the Paleo diet right now, and despite all the eliminations to her diet, and the fact that she +1 on the scale... she IS doing better than before. That's what she will tell herself despite that stupid number on a scale. Better choices.  Right stuff in. Wrong stuff in the trash. She's making a change and doing what is right over eating twinkies. I'm not sure if Amy eats Twinkies, actually. I don't remember the last time I had a twinkie either.  But I know Amy makes good food. She makes 'Lebanese good food.'  So, you and I relate to her statement "1 week on Paleo. No grains, no dairy, no alcohol. No fun. +1 pound in weight. Frustrating." But I know her, and she will keep going. One week doesn't define failure. Giving up does. What matters today is what you do for your health today. Tomorrow is coming. Yesterday could be your last bad decision. 

These aren't really my old running shoes.

After losing 30+ pounds this past summer, and with summer fast approaching us again, I was considering what I could do differently to change things up for myself. Same old stuff= boring. (Texas summers= March through November.  If you have snow right now, I am sorry. Move to Texas once you dig out.) So I came up with this really radical thought: How about I get moving.  Since I have successfully worn out my running shoes (by walking in them- not much running in those pair!) that I bought in 2008 or 2009, I went to a local shop recommended to me by my avid running friend (Run On!) and bought me a new pair of running shoes!  Now that I have shoes, I think I will run in them this time.  It's time to do differently. 

Here's a link to some races around the Texas area... maybe you don't live in Texas, but you want to run.  Google it. You can find a 5K race and enter to win- or really just enter to do something different on a Saturday morning. Running is not necessary either. Walk the whole darn thing if you can't or don't run.  But get moving.  Eating right is a start. Even if you walk, you just might enjoy the sense of accomplishment when you finish a 5K! 

If you don't change something about what you are doing, nothing will change. So I leave you with this: