Thursday, December 13, 2012

Andes mint/vanilla meringue cookies!!!

Holy crap, you guys. 

Seriously.

Like, FOR REAL...



Andes mint/vanilla meringue cookies

Yields about 3 dozen cookies

4 eggs whites, room temperature
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. peppermint extract
1 c. white granulated sugar
1 10 oz. bag Andes creme de menthe baking pieces

Preheat oven to 200°

Place egg whites, cream of tartar, salt and extracts in mixer, turn mixer on to low and gradually increase the speed to medium as the egg whites begin to bubble and get fluffy.  Continue mixing until soft peaks form.

Begin to add the sugar one tablespoon at a time, while slowly increasing the speed to high.  Once all of the sugar has been incorporated, the mixture should be thick and glossy, forming stiff peaks.

Gently fold in chocolate/mint pieces.

Transfer mixture into a piping bag and pipe small peaks onto a parchment covered baking sheet.  Bake for 1½ hours, turn oven off and allow cookies to cool in the oven.

Enjoy!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Butter/herbed potatoes


Butter/herbed potatoes

6 large thin-skinned potatoes (red or yellow would work well)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
3 Tbsp. olive oil
Small handful (about 4 or 5 Tbsp.) fresh chopped herbs of your choice; I used thyme, sage and rosemary
Two good pinches of kosher or fine sea salt
Fresh milled black pepper, to taste


Preheat oven to 350°

Slice potatoes 1/8" thick, place on large baking sheet.

Stir together butter, oil and herbs.  Drizzle butter mixture over potatoes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Using your hands, toss potatoes to evenly coat and spread evenly on baking sheet.

Cover with foil.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Toss potatoes a bit and bake uncovered for another 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown and fork tender.

Enjoy!

Friday, October 19, 2012

We're MARRIED!!!

We finally did it!  After a five-year-long engagement, we finally made it legally binding!  And now, nearly three weeks later, I'm still exhausted.

I married my best friend!

As you might imagine, 99% of our wedding was DIY....  and if I didn't actually do it myself, then a friend or a family member probably did.

My mother-in-law made my dress.

A friend made the cake...

....and her husband officiated.

Some friends provided music...
...for the ceremony...

...and for the reception.

A bunch of people helped to decorate and set up.




And, of course, it wouldn't have been such an amazing day without all of our loved ones!

...and a special thank you to our photographer, Jamie Kelly of StrangeFate Photography for all of the wonderful pictures!!!

(Some tutorials will be up in the future, but no promises as to when, given that Halloween, Thanksgiving, birthdays and Christmas are on their way and I'll be crazy busy!!!)

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Crazy-mood-swing-momma is no fun in the morning...

"What is going on with my mood swings today?"  ....I wondered to myself...  But I just checked my "P tracker" app (which proudly displayed a single-digit number) and I know full well what my problem is today (well, that and the fact that I still haven't had any coffee this morning).  I just wish I'd realized what was going on before my girls left for school.

When I woke up and came upstairs, the girls were so well behaved-  dressed for school, willing to help get breakfast ready and even clean up.  I started off the day in a great mood.

Then it happened.........

I became mean Mommy.

It must've happened when I looked at the clock and realized that, if they didn't start moving a little faster, the girls were going to be late for school.  I started rushing them, which eventually turned into yelling, which turned into swearing- not so much *at* them, but more of a general cursing of everything that was going wrong around me.  It want until they left for school that I realized that *I* was what was going wrong.

My urgency to get them out the door on time, but lack of a want to help them get ready.  My wanting for them to get along, yet yelling at them for talking during breakfast because they "didn't have time" (god forbid they not finish their apples). 

......I guess I should see it as a good thing that I realize this is going on, so I can take steps to change it, but now I just feel like a shitty mother.  I don't want to be mean, or scare my kids into behaving.  I don't expect every morning to go by smoothly, but I need to let things happen without flipping out over things that don't necessarily matter.

I love my kids and I want them to remember me as a loving mother, not as some crazy bitch who freaked out every time something went wrong.

So, herein lies the question:  What can I do to change this behavior?

  • I can make sure I'm well rested....  I'm no longer in my early twenties, bedtime shouldn't be after midnight anymore.
  • I can make sure the kids are prepared ahead of time...  Making sure they have what they need to get ready doesn't mean I'm taking away their independence.
  • I can make sure *I'm* prepared ahead of time...  I have sooo many breakfast recipes pinned on Pinterest, I have no excuse to not be at least a little better prepared most days.  Hello, breakfast cookies that I can make a few days ahead of time.

.........I'm sure, no, I *know* that there are so many other things that I can change to improve myself and my attitude, but changes are easier in small doses. 

Friday, September 14, 2012

Picante Chicken and Rice

There are a few recipes that bring back fond childhood memories for all of us.  This is one of mine....  I can't remember if my mom found this recipe of the label of the Pace picante sauce, or if is was on from one of those every-ingredient-is-a-brand-name cookbooks, but man is this stuff go-od!

It started with her following the recipe (which I'm pretty sure is how she still makes it), but leave it to me, either being creative or cheap (depending on the night), to make substitutions and play around with cooking methods.  

This is the original recipe:
~~~~~~~~~~
Sweet and Spicy Picante Chicken (from pacefoods.com)

prep: 15 minutes
bake: 20 minutes
serves: 4

Ingredients:
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 
1 jar (16 ounces) Pace® Picante Sauce 
3 tablespoons packed light brown sugar 
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard 
1 cup regular long-grain white rice, prepared according to package directions (about 3 cups)


Directions:
Heat the oven to 400°F. Place the chicken into a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Stir the picante sauce, brown sugar and mustard in a small bowl. Pour the picante sauce mixture over the chicken.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through. Serve the chicken and sauce with the rice.
~~~~~~~~~~
Last night's version; made with chicken leg quarters
(a whole leg/thigh in one piece)

Over the years I've tried all kinds of new things with this recipe, and it is *always* tasty!  Here are a few of the changes I've made:
  • organic salsa - just 'cause it tastes better to me (I bet it'd be good with homemade or home-canned salsa, too)
  • double the sauce, then there's enough for dipping if you like
  • brown rice or even quinoa instead of white rice
  • cubed chicken breasts (makes of quick-cooking!)
  • canned chicken breast, drained (even quicker cooking!!)
  • stove top cooking- use either sauteed, cubed chicken breast or canned chicken (drained) and just cook the sauce down until it starts to thicken
  • (last night's version) chicken leg quarters (takes longer to cook, but tastes phenomenal) ...this required baking, then removing the chicken from the sauce and cooking the sauce down further on the stove top, but it was totally worth the extra time/effort.  Delicious.
  • thighs or legs would work fine as well
...just remember to adjust cooking times accordingly for whatever cut of meat you use.
...and ALWAYS check the doneness (is that a word?) by using a thermometer to test the internal temperature of your meat - chicken should be cooked to 160º-180º F (I err on the side of caution and cook mine to to 180º).

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Baked Apple Pork Loin Chops...



Baked Apple Pork Loin Chops

  • 8, tart, crisp apples, peeled (4 roughly chopped, 4 sliced thinly)
  • a little bit of water
  • 1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice, divided in half
  • 1/4 tsp. summer savory or thyme
  • 1 tsp.brown sugar
  • 8, 1" thick pork loin chops
  • a small bit of oil for searing chops

Preheat oven to 350°

Place chopped apples and a little water (about 1/8th of a cup to start) in a small saucepan, simmer until apples soften (adding more water during cooking if necessary).  Mash apples with a potato masher and stir in half of the pumpkin pie spice and the brown sugar.  Congratulations, you just made applesauce!

Drizzle a little oil in a frying pan and sear both sides of each pork chop.

Toss the sliced apples in the savory and the remaining 1/8th teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice.

Spread half of the sliced apples on the bottom of a large baking dish.  Lay the chops on top of the apples and slather each chop with a spoonful of applesauce.  Top with remaining apples.  Cover with foil and bake at 350° for one hour.  Uncover and continue to bake for another 20 minutes. 

Allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.  When you serve it, be sure to top it with some of the apples that were at the bottom, too.  Yum!


Back to school!!!

Yep, it's that time of year again!  I had the joy of sending my little ladies off to their new first grade and third grade classes on Wednesday, and mister O gets to start at his pre-K class on Monday!  What am I ever going to do with myself with no kids home for half the day???  ...my hope is that I'll get more housework done...

In preparation for school,
the girls spent some time making a WHOLE BUNCH of hair accessories!

Here is my girls' debut as bloggers; a tutorial on hair accessories:


Rye: We made alooooot of crafts!

Moo: Mommy helped us with our hairbands and such...

Rye: ...and we were late for dinner....

Moo: We used barrettes and hair ties,
and for some of the hair ties, we wired beads on.

Rye: I wired beads on a headband and it is really pretty....
and we did a lot of headbands.
We also hot-glued beads and jewelry glued this really pretty headband,
and it has a matching hair tie.

Moo: I made a Hello Kitty headband, it has Hello Kitty ribbon on it.
We hot-glued the ribbon on so that it looks wavy.
We put little dots of hot glue on in different spot and we pressed the ribbon onto the glue
- and then we did it to both sides.

Rye: I made a barrette with a hot glue gun,
but I found the button yesterday...  it came off of the barrette.
I learned to not put a button on a barrette using hot glue.
I should have used a wire or jewelry glue.

Moo:  I made a purple, fuzzy headband with some trim
that you could put on lamps or on the bottoms of purses,
because Riley and I were talking about maybe doing that for our next project.
I made the headband by taking some trim and I jewelry glued it to a headband.
I had to pinch it really tight so the trim wouldn't move while it was drying.
Then, I took some of the excess trim and then I, um, took a purple hair tie (so it would match)
and I found a wire that would go with it -I like yellow, so I did a yellow wire- it was a small wire.
I wrapped the wire around the trim and then I twisted it onto the hair tie.  

Rye:  Mommy made this pretty clip.
It had gold trim on it, and ribbon flowers.
She jewelry glued it all onto a clip.  

And she made a big barrette with a button holding some feathers together,
she hot-glued them and then jewelry glued the hot-glue onto the barrette.

Moo:  I have a tip for people who use barrettes for crafts;
don't hot glue the  stuff down.
You should use jewelry glue because hot glue and metal (or plastic)
don't stick to each other.
Hot-glue the, like, feathers together and then get your barrette ready
and put some jewelry glue on it after the hot glue is dried.



Please give my girls feedback and let them know how they did!  Thanks!  <3

Monday, August 6, 2012

Going wedding crazy....

...Seriously, now.  As much as I'm looking forward to our long overdue BIG DAY, the whole thing is driving me mad.

~late night meltdowns over petty little things

~a nearly week-long mini-freak-out because (ohmygod) there's a latrine at the forest preserve we booked for our venue.  I mean, seriously, it's a forest preserve...  have you ever been to one that *did* have a flushing toilet?

~ we need HOW much tulle?!?!

~100 4 ounce jars of jam, not to mention cutting out all of the fabric and the vellum toppers I designed

~two three bouquets that I'm hand-making from ribbons, laces, muslin, etc.  ....can't forget to make one to toss!

~Is my dress going to be finished in time???

~WE STILL DON'T HAVE A MUSICIAN BOOKED!

~budget budget budget budgetbudgetbudgetbidgetbidgerbujdfer

Gaaaaahhhh....  and it's ten to two in the morning and I just finished canning some stock.

Pictures of all of this wedding madness will be up soon.

Tutorial(s) coming soon as well.

Goodnight.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

The other day, the kids and I spent some time doing crafts together...


The girls each painted a disney princess figurine (Rye did cinderella and Moo did Belle).  

O colored a Spiderman picture and a frame for it.

Since it took the girls a lot longer to finish their craft, I had O help me with a few of the wedding decorations that need too be done for my tooquicklyapproaching wedding.


First, he put together his ring bearer "pillow" - which consisted of:

a small bit of dried moss

•a ready-made nest

•a short length of thin ribbon or string (about a foot and a half is more than enough, you can always trim it later)

•tacky glue or hot glue

We started off by threading both ends of the ribbon through the bottom of the nest so they came up through the top center of it next to each other, but with a stock or two between them so there was something to help hold them in place. Then we knotted the ribbon and positioned the moss in the nest so that the two ends of the ribbon had a little space between them, that way the rings will have somewhere to sit.  Finally, we glued the moss into place, let it dry, then O got to practice his job for the wedding!  He was so proud!

We had lots of moss leftover, so why let it go to waste? 

O stuffed the rest into jars until I told him they were full enough.

Some of  the jars we used were hanging jars that my mom and I made a few weeks ago...  They're pretty quick and easy to make.

...I plan on doing a tutorial on the hanging jars sometime in the very near future...

I still have one big furry-looking chunk of moss left, but I'm not sure what I want to do with it yet...  I'll figure something out, I'm sure.

Monday, July 9, 2012

So far behind....

I feel like I'm a bad blogger...  There's so much that I could have been posting over the last few weeks!  I still have to post about my mom's and my mother-in-law's birthdays....  And my own! 

Not only has life been busy, but my computer suddenly decided to start being fussy.  That, in addition to the blogger app kind of sucking had led to my lack of posts as of late.

I sincerely apologize to anyone who reads my blog regularly and I promise to get back to posting more regularly as soon as possible - please keep in mind that I have a late September wedding approaching far too rapidly, so "as soon as possible" could mean whenever I'm done sending out thank-you notes.  Haha.

But seriously, wish me luck... 

Monday, June 25, 2012

Mmmmmojitos....

2 qt. [4 qt.] Mojito recipe

2 [4] limes

Mint leaves (a good handful [or two])

1 [2] liter[s] club soda - 33.8 fluid ounces [x 2]

3/4 [1 2/3] cup[s] white rum

Simple syrup: 1 [1 1/2] cup[s] each sugar and water, gently boiled together just until sugar dissolves into water

Muddle (smush together with a wooden spoon or muddler if you have one to release the oils and juices) mint and limes in two 2 qt. pitchers or mason jars.  Pour simple syrup and rum over muddled mixture and stir.  Add soda and stir gently.  Add ice as desired.

Enjoy!


Sunday, May 27, 2012

Making use of my time...

...while the kids are *all* hanging out with their grandparents!  It's eerily quiet here....

I've got tons of catching up to do on my blog, but for now, I'm getting lots done to prep for my upcoming September wedding!  Today's project was colored jars, which were inspired by this pin.

I'm really happy with how these turned out...
especially the green one!

Our wedding is going to be a laid-back outdoor affair at a forest preserve, so we're going with a rustic theme and no particular colors (which I this will make decorating not only easier, but more fun as well).

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Last night's project...

Recently, my loving fiance got me a new cellphone that I am wholeheartedly in love with.  For serious, you guys.  It's my first "smart phone", which very well could be the reason I love it so much, but this thing seriously rocks.  I can now keep track of my Myfitnesspal.com account (and I *do* -regularly, even!), my kids reward charts (I LOVE the iRewardChart app...  it's a star-based chart system with different tasks and rewards you can set yourself.  It's pretty sweet)!  I can even blog from my backyard now!  ...which I'm not doing at the moment, given that it's only 8:30 in the morning and I'm pretty focused on getting coffee in my bloodstream.  ....Oh, how my life has changed in about a week,  I question how I lived without it!  Kidding.  Sort of.

I love my phone so much that, of course, I had to make a pretty little case for it.  After much searching on Ravelry, I finally decided on this one.  It's so pretty...  unfortunately, I only had a little bit of yarn so I ended up running out before it was big enough to make the envelope-style case that I wanted.  Luckily, it *was* big enough to make a "sock" or sleeve...

I love it!

Here it is all buttoned up.

Needless to say, I still want to make the lined, envelope style case but I have plenty of other unfinished projects to finish before I move onto that one.  And, for now at least, I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out.

Friday, May 11, 2012

The sweet taste of summer...

Yes, I know that it's not summer yet, but it will be soon and I say bring it on!  ....I wonder if I'll still be saying that when the kids are out of school in a few weeks?  Hmm, anyway...

When I think about summer, one thing that comes to mind is bare feet.  Then I think about how nice the sun will feel.  Then I think about cookouts.....  oooh, summertime food!  Mom's potato salad, Martha Stewart's 1-2-3-4 lemon cake, homemade marshmallows, fresh pickin's from the garden...  I can't wait!

Yesterday's sunshine inspired me to bring out my sun tea jar, which I discovered leaks like crazy when I opened the fridge this morning and found a giant puddle of tea.  I guess I shouldn't be surprised.  It *is* older than me -it was a hand-me-down from my Gramma.  I was planning on doing a post about sweet sun tea the old-fashioned way, but it looks like I'll be showing you "single"-servings instead...  which might be for the better since not everyone has a sun tea jar, but most people have a few empty [mason] jars laying around...

Rye looking sweet holding the kids' sun tea.
Raspberry hibiscus sweet tea tastes like kool-aid!
Win.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sweet Sun Tea
printable version of this recipe (with images)
printable version of this recipe (without images)

Here's what you'll need:

  • one quart [mason] jar, with a lid
  • filtered water
  • 3-4 tea bags (I like Tetley black tea, my kids like Lipton Raspberry Zinger, but you can use whatever you like )
  • 2-3 Tbsp. sugar or agave nectar, to taste (I like to use half and half...  sugar for the steeping, then agave for extra sweetness afterward)  - you could also use honey, of course
  • a few hours
Put the teabags and about half of the sweetener in the jar.  


Fill it up with water, screw the cap on...
You can already see the kids' raspberry hibiscus tea doing it's thang.
So pretty.

Give it a shake to get things going.

...and let it steep in the sunlight for a few hours...

how long depends on how hot and sunny it is,
you should be able to tell when it's done based on the color.  

Give it a taste.  If it's not strong enough, let it sit a bit longer.  If it's too strong, add a bit of water to dilute it.

Scoop out the tea bags and toss 'em in your compost.  If needed, add more of the sweetener of your choice to taste.

Serve over ice, with a lemon or lime wedge if you like.
...I didn't have a lemon or a lime...
This made me sad until I tasted the tea and it's awesomeness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...and while I had her outside, Rye got to help a little with the garden!

She's so strong!

Watering the potatoes.

Thanks for the help, little lady!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Canning my day away...

I love to have homemade chicken stock on hand.  I use it in so many recipes that It just makes sense for me to make it, rather than waste money (and unnecessary packaging) on the store bought stuff.  I've frozen it before, which is fine if I'm going to use it right away, but in most cases canning is my storage method of choice.

Chicken stock, duck stock
(surprisingly, the chicken is the darker stuff)


When I first started canning, I was totally intimidated by everything I had to learn...  until I realized that it's all pretty basic stuff, so long as you don't so anything stupid.

I think the most important things to keep in mind are....

  • Protect yourself and your surfaces.  Lay down towels to put hot jars on, use oven mitts, wear an apron...  that sort of thing.  You don't want to melt your counter tops, and you *definitely* don't want to melt your skin.
  • Sanitize, sanitize, sanitize!!!  I love my dishwasher for this.  Jars and rings can go in the dishwasher, just be sure to take 'em out while they're still HOT...  I'm about to explain why...
  • Hot into hot onto hot!  Everything should be hot!  Everything, being what you're canning, and all of your supplies.  Hot stock goes into a hot jar that gets topped with a hot lid and sealed with a hot ring, then it all goes into hot water in the hot pressure canner (or water bath, depending on what you're canning- I'll get into that later).  Keep your stuff hot because heat kills bacteria, which is the whole point of canning- to keep food fresh.  Also, if you don't mix hot and cold, your glass shouldn't break.  Simple as that.
  • Pay attention.  Just watch your stuff.  Especially if you're using a pressure canner, granted they have all sorts of safety features now so it won't explode all over you, you still need to make sure that the pressure is consistent.
I started canning with jams and pickles, which are great things to start with since you don't really need any special equipment.  This was how I discovered pickled green beans, which will have to get their own separate post because their pure awesomeness would end up taking over this post.  But yeah, pickles and jams  (and jellies and preserves) can be canned in a water bath instead of a pressure canner because they are high in acids and therefore don't need the high heat of a pressure canner to kill bacteria since the acids will do all of that dirty work.  In fact, I learned the hard way that using a pressure canner can actually *cook* your pickles and make them mushy.  Gross.

But today I'm telling you how I make my chicken stock...  and anything that has meat or veggies (except for pickled ones, of course) should *always* be done in a pressure canner.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chicken (or other meat) Stock
printable version of this recipe (with images)
printable version of this recipe (without images)

  • chicken carcass; or other meat of your choice (try to strip as much of the meat off the bones as you can, a little bit will add some flavor, but don't be wasteful about it)
  • water
  • a splash of white vinegar (this helps to pull the calcium from the bones, giving you a heartier stock)
...these are your three main ingredients...  I've made stock before with just chicken and water, which is fine since my chicken stock gets used in cooking and I can always add other flavors later.  The rest of these ingredients add flavor, but are totally optional.

  • sea salt
  • carrots, onion, celery (whole or chopped, it doesn't really matter since it's going to cook for a few hours)
  • herbs of your choice (my favorites for chicken stock are thyme and sage)
Now put everything in a slow cooker or a large stock pot 

and cover with water. 

If you're doing it in a slow cooker, just turn it on low and let it cook overnight.  If you're doing it in a stock pot, simmer it over low heat for 3-5 hours (or until it looks and tastes strong enough for your taste).



Strain through a fine mesh colander into a large bowl or a clean stock pot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At this point, you can either freeze your stock (after allowing it to cool, of course), or you can choose to can it!  Which is, after all, why we're here today.

So by now, you should have already sanitized your jars and rings in a hot dishwasher or a pot of simmering water, and your canning lids in a saucepan of simmering water.  From here, you need to follow the instructions that came with your pressure canner for processing instructions.  Mine says to process for 20-25 mins at 11 lbs. pressure.  

I have a Presto canner that my mom gave me for Christmas a couple years ago.  I love it and I need to use it more!  This is what Presto has to say about canning "soups" (stocks would also fit into this category).

I hope that you found this all to be interesting and helpful!  Now go get canning!  If you have any questions, please leave a comment below or on my facebook page.  Good luck canning!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Butter chicken and whole wheat naan

When a craving for Indian food hits, it hits me HARD.  Generally, I'd hold out until we can make it to an Indian restaurant, or I'd give in a buy a pouch of the ready-made stuff.  Last night I learned just how easy it is to make it myself!  And I can't even begin to explain just how satisfying it is to know that I can make such delicious, authentic tasting food *myself*!


There *is* a chicken thigh under all of that sauce!
I promise!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Butter Chicken
printable version of this recipe (with images)
printable version of this recipe (without images)


8 chicken thighs


3-4 Tbsp.  chana masala spice blend, plus some for sprinkling on the chicken (other recipes I found called for garam masala, but I couldn't find it -or the ingredients to make it- at the store I happened to be shopping at so I got a pre-mixed spice blend that you're supposed to make with chick peas that I ignored the directions on since I was only looking for a flavor that would work for butter chicken)


2 sticks of unsalted butter
2-3 cloves of minced garlic
large onion, diced
28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes
1 cup of heavy cream
salt to taste


Preheat oven to 400*.  Place chicken thighs in roasting pan skin side up and *lightly* sprinkle with spice blend.  Bake for one hour or until things are cooked through and skin is starting to peel and bubble.


Meanwhile, melt butter in a large, deep frying pan (or a smaller stockpot if you're unprepared like I was).  Simmer onions and garlic in butter over low heat until the onion begins to caramelize; about 15 minutes.  Sprinkle spice blend over the melted butter mixture and let them toast a bit; 2-3 minutes.  Stir in tomatoes and heavy cream and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.  Taste and salt to your preference.  Simmer over low heat until chicken thighs are cooked, stirring regularly.


When thighs are finished, add them to the butter sauce and simmer for 15-20 minutes.  Enjoy over rice with a side of naan.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Whole Wheat Naan

printable version of this recipe (with images)
printable version of this recipe (without images)



2 tsp. honey
1 1/2 c. warm water (110* F/45* C)
1 Tbsp. active dry yeast
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. minced garlic (optional)
2 c. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c white flour


olive oil for cooking


In a large bowl, dissolve honey in warm water. Sprinkle yeast over the top, and let stand for about 10 minutes, until foamy.


Stir the olive oil, salt and garlic into the yeast mixture, then mix in the whole wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour until dough starts to come together. Tip dough out onto a surface floured with the remaining all-purpose flour, and knead until all of the flour has been absorbed, and the ball of dough becomes smooth, about 10 minutes. Place dough in an oiled bowl, and turn to coat the surface. Cover loosely with a towel, and let stand in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.


When the dough is doubled, pinch and roll into golf ball-sized peices, formed into tight balls. Let rise for about 45 minutes, until doubled.


Cooking option 1: Heat olive oil over medium heat in a cast iron skillet or griddle.  Stretch dough, one piece at a time into a long, thin oval and place on the hot skillet.  Lightly fry until it turns golden brown, with a few darker spots where it hit the heat directly.


Cooking option 2:  Preheat oven to 400*.  Place stretched dough on a lightly greased cookie sheet or baking stone and brush with olive oil or melted butter.  Bake for 8 minutes or until browned.


Serve immediately or store in a zipper bag in the pantry or freezer.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This dish was a little spicy for my fiance and O, but Rye, Moo and I all *loved* it!  Rye, my formerly "picky" eater, was even the first to finish!

I'm looking forward to my leftovers!