Mocha Smoothie

One thing about South Carolina is that it's hot. Extremely hot. All the talk you hear about the oppressive humidity is, I'm discovering, not a joke. In a climate like this, cool, refreshing treats are an absolute necessity, and this is one of my favorites. Quick, cheap, easy, and relatively good (or at least not bad!) for you.

Ingredients:
1 cup fat-free milk
1 medium banana, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch slices, and frozen
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar or honey (I use sweetener)
1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons instant coffee crystals
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup small ice cubes or crushed ice

In a blender combine milk, banana, sugar, cocoa powder, coffee crystals, and vanilla. Cover and blend until smooth. Add ice cubes. Cover and blend until nearly smooth. (I'll often add a little hazlenut creamer or something like that, to change up the flavor- you could do pretty much anything here).

Makes 2 servings

Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies (makes 24)
1 cup flour (spoon flour into dry-measure cup and level off)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup chocolate chips
2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, foil, or silicone mats

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and set the rack on the lower and upper thirds of the oven.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat the butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Mix in the brown sugar, then the egg, applesauce, and vanilla.
4. Stir in the dry ingredients, then the oats and raisins.
5. Drop the batter by rounded tablespoons 2-inches apart on the baking sheets and use a fork to gently flatten the dough.
6. Bake the cookies for 10 to 12 minutes. Take them out of the oven as soon as they look slightly blond and are no longer wet on the top. Once cool, store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature.

Nobody likes crunchy cookies. You say you do, but trust me, you don't. What brings more comfort to the stomach and the soul (we won't comment its effects on the hips) than a warm chewy cookie with a cold glass of milk? And that's what you get here- a cookie that stretches when you bend it instead of breaks in two. Save a little bit of the dough and put it in the freezer to enjoy as a treat later. The only thing better than cookies fresh out of the oven is cookie dough from the icebox.

Chickpea Soup with Garam Masala and Cilantro

-2 16-ounce cans chickpeas, drained
-1 14-ounce can light coconut milk
-1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
-1/2 cup prepared salsa
-1 1/2 tsps. garam masala*
-1 tsp. ground ginger
-2 Tbs. frozen apple juice concentrate
-1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves
-Garnishes: 1/4 cup plain yogurt and 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

Purée all ingredients except garnishes in a blender until smooth. Pour into a large saucepan or Dutch oven, and bring to a simmer. Simmer, partially covered and stirring frequently, to blend flavors, 4 to 5 minutes. Serve, garnishing each portion with 1 Tb. of yogurt and 1 Tb. of green onions. Serves 4 *Garam masala is a blend of many Indian spices (national brands include McCormick and Spice Islands).

This is my first attempt at 'bean dishes' and I'm feeling very much like my brother. At first I was extremely wary of this stuff (especially since I added spinach, which probably wasn't a great change on my part as not only did it give it a bit of a weird flavor, but it turned the whole thing an odd shade of green) but it really grew on me. The best thing you can do for this soup is let it sit for a couple days in the fridge. This give the flavors time to blend, and I promise you this isn't poetic crap, it's the truth- this soup is MUCH better on day 3. Add some water or broth every time you heat up the leftovers. I tore up some pumpernickel bread and mixed it in, which was really good, and gave it a bit more consistency. Not bad for a first try.

Brown Sugar Fridge cookies
-1 C brown sugar
-1 C butter
-1 t vanilla
-1 large egg
-3 cups all-purpose flour
-1 ½ t cinnamon
-½ t baking soda
-½ t salt
-1/3 C chocolate chips

1. Beat brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed or mix with spoon. Stir in remaining ingredients except chips. Stir in chips.
2. Refrigerate 2 hours
3. Heat oven to 375 and bake 6-8 minutes or until light brown.

Indonesian Peanut Chicken

-3-3½ pounds cut up broiler-fryer chicken
-3/4 t salt
-½ t pepper
-2 T vegetable oil
-1 medium onion, chipped (½ C)
-1/3 C peanut butter
-1/4 C chili sauce
-½ t cayenne pepper
-1 C water
-1/4 C chopped salted peanuts
-1/4 C chopped red bell pepper

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper
2. Heat oil in 12-in skillet over med heat. Cook chicken in oil about 15 minutes, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides. Cover and cook over low heat about 20 minutes or until juice is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut. Remove chicken with tongs.
3. Drain all but 1 T drippings from skillet; heat over med heat. Cook onion in drippings, stirring occasionally, until tender; reduce heat. Stir in peanut butter, chili sauce, and red pepper. Gradually stir in water, stirring constantly, until peanut butter is melted.
4. Add chicken. Spoon sauce over chicken. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered about 5 minutes, spooning sauce frequently over chicken, until sauce is slightly thickened. Serve sauce over chicken. Sprinkle with peanuts and red bell pepper. Served over chinese noodles.

Yum, I made this dish on a relaxing Sunday night, and I really liked it. The recipe was easy to half, and I still had enough for 4 or 5 meals. A great way to employ that huge supply of Ramen you're storing beneath the sink.

Chicken Paprikash

-24 oz. (1.5 lbs) boneless skinless chicken breasts
-12 oz. sour cream
-48 oz. chicken broth
-1 onion
-3-4 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
-2 tablespoon garlic
-1 tablespoon salt
-1 teaspoon ground black pepper
-1/2 teaspoon ginger
-2 bay leaves
-corn starch (or preferably potato starch, if you have access to a health food store)
-olive oil

Make spaetzel; put in a bowl. Alternatively, you can buy spaetzel from the store, or prepare any type of noodles you prefer.

Chop up the chicken breasts into small pieces. Put the chicken and garlic in a pot; sautee in olive oil. Chop up the onion into small pieces. Put the onions and some chicken broth into the pot. For now, use just enough broth to keep everything submerged, but don't flood it. You should have some broth left over (maybe around 16 ounces); the remaining broth will be used below. Stir in the other spices (paprika, salt, black pepper, ginger, bay leaves). Simmer to let the chicken and onions cook thoroughly. When the chicken and onions are fully cooked, add the starch as a thickening agent, by mixing it into the remaining broth and pouring it into the pot. (If you're out of broth, use water; but ideally you will have exactly enough broth for this.) Remove from heat and let it thicken. Finally, mix in the sour cream, and it's ready to serve over spaetzel.

Spaetzel

-1/2 cup milk
-1 1/2 cups flour (Sapphire brand is preferred)
-3 eggs

Get a pot of water going at a high boil. Mix the milk, flour, and eggs in a bowl. The resulting batter should be a little thicker than Duncan Hines cake mix: a tiny bit stiff, but definitely not "dough". With a spoon, drop small blobs of batter into the boiling water, and let boil for about 20 minutes. Then you may fish out the spaetzel. Be advised that you need to keep the water at a high boil for this to work: the surfaces of the blobs really need to cook as soon as they hit the water. Then they magically don't stick together. Also be advised that the blobs will expand as they cook, so try not to make them very large. One way or another, you'll probably have to chop them up with a spatula when you're done anyway.

I made this when my parents were visiting for the 4th of July and we really enjoyed it. The spaetzel was a disaster- it burned (you could say it had a 'rich, smoky flavor') and a lot of it ended up a mushy mess that had to be drained out. We still ate it (Miller blood is tough). I found a better recipe in my Betty Crocker cookbook that I'll try next time. Or it's good over ramen noodles, which is how I fixed the leftovers the next day :)

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

-1 1/4 cups sugar
-1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
-2 eggs
-1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (3 medium bananas)
-1/2 cups of buttermilk
-1 teaspoon vanilla
-2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
-1 teaspoon baking soda
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-3/4 C chocolate chips (or to taste)

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9" x 5" x 3" pan. (Or 2 - 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 2 1/2 inch pans)
2. Mix together sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients except nuts and mix until just moistened. Stir in nuts. Pour into pan.
3. Bake 8-inch loaves for about 1 hour or 9-inch loaf 1 hour 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf from pan and remove from pan. Cool completely before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days or refrigerate up to 10 days.

This was a thank-you gift for Alycia for rescuing me from the park after I locked my keys in my car... long, silly story, but let's just say I handed her my spare keys along with a loaf of this stuff so as to avoid future predicaments. Chocolate banana bread is one of my favorite treats, but hard to say no to when it's in front of you, so bake at your own risk- or make sure you have a willing recipient!

Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie

-1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Cream of Chicken Soup
-1 can (about 8 ounces) whole kernel corn, drained
-2 cups cubed cooked chicken OR turkey
-1 pkg. (8 1/2 ounces) corn muffin mix
-3/4 cup milk
-1 egg
-1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Heat the oven to 400̊F. Stir the soup, corn and chicken in a 9-inch pie plate.
2. Stir the muffin mix, milk and egg with a fork in a small bowl until the ingredients are mixed. Spoon over the chicken mixture.
3. Bake for 30 minutes or until the cornbread is golden. Sprinkle with the cheese. Serves: 4

This is the first meal I hosted in my new little abode, a meal I shared with TJ and Alycia, eaten sitting on my couch with our plates balanced on our knees. Very cozy, and a yummy- and simple- Southern dish. Fresh corn would be a great addition- I also added some frozen veggies.

Baker's One Bowl Brownies

4 squares unsweetened baking chocolate (or 3 T cocoa + 1 T veggie oil)
3/4 C butter
2 C sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1 C flour
1 C chocolate chips

Microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter in large bowl on high 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate is completely melted.

Stir in sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; mix well. Add flour and nuts; stir until well blended. Spread into greased 13x9 inch pan.

Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out with fudgy crumbs. Cool in pan.

After graduation, I spent three weeks in Hillsdale and one in Monroe, and was able to eat a lot of good food during that time. The YoungLife team made- nay, created- the most phenomenal pizza that has ever touched my lips. Ham, pineapples, artichokes, pesto, sausage, several kinds of cheese, homemade tomato sauce... a special thanks to the Pi Phi house for unknowingly lending us much of their food. Margaret and I experimented with dishes including fish tacos (a recipe from her future mother-in-law), Thai basil ground chicken (a meal we shared with Hallie, Matt, Tony and Evan), more delicious pizza (I accidentally made about 9 times too much sauce the first time, so we had to use it up), bruschetta, and chili dogs (a great meal memory that includes Hannah, Mike, Julia Westblade, and Zach). Natalie visited for a weekend and we cranked out what was, hands-down, the best day of food I've ever experienced. That may not be true, but it is a delicious and peaceful in my mind. We made chicken tikki masala for lunch and shrimp linguine for dinner, when I may or may not have drank something close to an entire bottle of wine, plus some experimental mojitos, by myself. I think we had a taste (pun intended) that day of the lifestyle had by cultures like the Italian, Spanish and Mexican, who are so good at celebrating food, leisure and family in one fell swoop. Zach made his own concoction, a product of 18 cloves of garlic he chopped up without asking and was refused by Natalie and myself when he tried to add it to our dish. This garlic became what he calls Zach's Whiskey Chicken when combined with the leftover chicken and anything he found around the Von Sydow household (mustard, salt, whiskey... along with garlic, pretty much the staples of his diet), and then it sat and marinated in the fridge for, oh, 4 or 5 days, which probably isn't the most hygenic thing in the world but I figure between the alcohol and the heat, it's alright. The only dish I made that I have the recipe for is my last meal in Hillsdale, baked ziti, listed below. It was a good last meal.

Baked Ziti

1 lb italian sausage
1 lb pasta (ziti noodles)
3 cloves garlic
olive oil
1-2 quarts sauce
1 C grated parmesan
2-3 C mozarella

Brown sausage with oil- add sundried tomatoes and garlic. Add parsley, basil and sauce, and simmer. Cook pasta al dente and strain. Add parmesean and half of the mozarella to sauce. Pour sauce and pasta into a baking dish and toss well, sprinkle the rest of the mozarella on top. Place under broiler until cheese bubbles.