{Slooow Cooker: Chicken Caesar Sandwiches & Moving!}

A good friend and roommate moved out yesterday. He & his long time girlfriend are moving into a really nice apartment. While we were moving, a beautiful double rainbow appeared! I think it's a perfect omen.


So, I've moved into my new office for school. I say we have a home for homeless furniture, because we seem to acquire our friends stuff as they move. Either way, I'm excited to decorate more. Plus, we actually bought curtains now, instead of using blankets to block the heat.

I have a bunch of new exciting posts coming! Especially since my basil is growing back nicely, after I chopped it down brutally. I may also have a few watermelons coming in. It's amazing what an apartment patio can grow in pots.

So until my exam is done, here's a lovely recipe! Perfect for summer, since you won't heat up your whole house!


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I have never been a huge fan of Caesar salad dressing. But this recipe was so good! Next time, I'll make my own Caesar salad dressing. The Girl Who Ate Everything

Ingredients
2 pd boneless skinless chicken thighs {I used chicken breast}
1/2 to 1 c of your favorite Caesar dressing {I like Newman's Own and Brianna's Asiago Caesar}
1/2 c shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 c fresh chopped parsley {I didn't have fresh, so 2 tsp of dried parsley}
1/2 tsp ground pepper
2 c shredded romaine lettuce
12 slider buns or 4-6 regular sized hamburger buns

I

Place chicken in a 3-4 quart slow cooker with 1-2 cups of water, cover and cook on low heat for 4-6 hours. {Mine is bigger, but just make sure there is plenty of liquid. I did 2 c chicken broth, 1 c water}

II
Remove chicken from the cooker and drain the water from the slow cooker. Place chicken on a cutting board and pull chicken into shreds, discarding any fat.

III
Place chicken back in the cooker and pour dressing, Parmesan cheese, parsley, and pepper over the top.Stir until mixed evenly. Cover and cook on high heat for 30 minutes or until mixture is hot.

IV
Place on bun, top with extra shredded Parmesan cheese and lettuce to serve!

Hope y'all enjoy!

{Busy Bee & Broccoli Cheese Soup}

 Its been so busy around here! I have yoga to enjoy, books to read, an exam to study for, a presentation to prep for... meanwhile, I'm still trying to at least cook every other night. It's not easy, but such is life!

So, I wanted to share the only panera bread soup that I love. It goes really well with the bread you just made. Credit to BudgetSavvyDiva

Ingredients
1/2 med onion, chopped
1/4 c melted butter
1/4 c flour
2 c half&half {or skim milk, but I tried half&half}
2 c chicken stock {I just used chicken broth. The difference is bones. The vegetarian in me just cried.}
1/2 pd fresh broccoli {florets only, and I did a head of broccoli as big as my head. because bathroom scales can't measure veggies, i guess.}
1 c carrots, julienne {How to julienne? Sounds like a dance. YouTube}
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp pepper
8 oz grated cheddar cheese

I

Saute onions in a little butter in a small pan – set aside.

II

In a large stockpot {I used the biggest pan I had}  melt the butter. 

Add flour and mix for 3 minutes.{This is a rue. Be sure to not burn it!}

III

Slowly add half- half – mixing the entire time.

Slowly add chicken stock- mixing the entire time.

 {My pan wasn't big enough, so I switched to a big pot. Worked well.}

Let simmer on low for 20 minutes.

IV

Add broccoli, carrots; onions and cook on low for 25 minutes.

V

Season with salt, pepper; nutmeg. Now the fun part!

Place soup in a blender or use an immersion blender and puree.

VI

Heat soup over low heat and add cheese and mix till melted.

I didn't have any bread bowls, but it was still lovely! 

I even had some as a snack in the middle of a Sunday.

Shows

 I love So You Think You Can Dance. 

{I have also been loving on Pretty Little Liars and The Bachelorette. 

The Jury is out on Jef, the Bachelorette's new guy.}

So before I forget to blog ever again, I had to document my top two favorite performances..

and one just for fun!

xx

Focaccia Bread & Sweet Tea

Finally, a successful loaf of bread! I have tried to make pita pockets before (probably not the best idea for a first attempt) and they failed miserably.

Here's is the recipe I used to make a delicious loaf of focaccia bread. I imagine this would taste great with a little basil and Parmesan cheese on top during the last few minutes of baking. Please let me know if you end up trying that! All credit to ColemansInLove

Important: 
 When they say 'warm' water. thats actually important. Not hot. Like what you would bathe a baby in, or so I've read. Also, I used whole wheat. I've read this can take longer than an hour to rise. 



Ingredients:
1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of warm water {Author says 105-115 degrees}
1 teaspoon of active dry yeast
& then
3 1/2-4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup of warm water
2 tsp of kosher salt
1 tbsp of olive oil
more coarse salt for sprinkling (such as sea salt)

I

The process starts the night before when you mix together 1/2 cup of flour, 1/2 cup of warm water & yeast. Mix until smooth & cover overnight. its going to make a sponge. For those of us who work all day {whoopee} you can start this process before you leave for your day.

II

If you have a kitchen aid, mix your sponge in that so that you can then easily add your 1 more cup of warm water & salt. Mix. Then gradually add flour. You want just enough so that your dough begins to pull away from the sides of your mixing bowl. Knead 8-10 minutes.

{I do not have a kitchen aid. I ended up using about 4 cups total. Just so that the dough was not so sticky I could not knead it. Be sure to knead for 8-10 minutes. The original author points out this helps the gluten develop, and the air pockets creates fluffier, tastier bread.}

III

Place your dough onto a lightly oiled bowl. {For me, the oil wouldn't drip out much if I turned it upside down.} Turn over once so your whole ball of dough is covered.

Let rise 'about an hour' or until doubled. For me, it actually took an hour.

IV

Now this part is odd.

Take a baking sheet. flour it & turn your dough directly onto it. 

Take a large bowl & turn it upside down so it covers the dough & let rest for 30 minutes. {Try to choose a bowl whose circumference (at the top) is about 11 inches. You'll see why in part six.}

V

If you have a baking stone, use it at this point & preheat in your oven.

I do not, so after about 15 minutes I preheat our oven to 475.

VI

Remove bowl after 30 minutes and very gently roll your dough out until it has a diameter of about 11". Don't overwork it, here. You don't want all of that rising you did to deflate!

Poke the bread to make about 1/2 inch dents every 2 or so inches. {See below.}

Then brush lightly with olive oil, top with sea salt & bake for 15-20 minutes. {For me, the brushing entailed getting my hand wet with olive oil. I'll get more of the advanced baking tools later...}

You'll know when your bread is done when you tap on it & it makes a nice hollow sound! 

 

 

I'm starting to feel like quite the little southern cook. A dear friend stopped by to help me make soup, and she drank half my sweet tea. What a compliment! It's easy, and super quick. So here's that recipe as well. It makes a gallon.

Ingredients:
6 bags of Lipton tea
2 cups of sugar (I have used 1/2 cup sugar equivalent of stevia as a substitute, tasted the same.) 

I

Place 3 cups of water into a sauce pan. Bring to boil.

 

II

Remove pot from the stove, and insert the 6 bags of tea. While you're waiting 5 minutes for the tea to steep, go ahead and pour the sugar into the pitcher.

 

III

After 5 minutes, remove the tea bags and pour to tea into the pitcher. Stir, stir, stir! Once fully stirred {is that a word?} start pouring in some water to fill the pitcher. I usually start to add a ton of ice at this point, so I can go ahead and enjoy it. Fill with water to the top, and enjoy!

 

Sorry for the horrible picture quality. If I post for a while, then I'll consider buying a nice camera. Any suggestions?  

 

{Double Chocolate Truffles!}

I have a huge sweet tooth. 

As I type, I am loving on a dark chocolate covered frozen banana!

 So I have begun this ‘homemaking’ journey by making some delicious double chocolate truffles with sea salt. All credit to:ColemansInLove .

Ingredients:

16 oz of dark chocolate {for the inner layer of your truffle}

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1 tbsp of vanilla extract

8 oz of meltable milk chocolate

sea salt for sprinkling

I

Place all of the dark chocolate in your double boiler. {Mine was simply a bowl atop a pot. Make sure steam can be released.} Heat on medium low until all chocolate is melted. For me, this took a while. Don’t get impatient or it will burn!

II

Add your can of condensed milk & vanilla. Stir to combine.

III

Remove from heat. Cover & refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight.(I couldn’t wait, so two hours passed…)

IV

Once removed from fridge, your chocolate should be cooled enough to work with & roll into small balls. The chocolate shouldn’t be really sticky. If it is, just put it back in and check on it in 15 minutes. I rolled a few balls with the thicker chocolate and put them on some wax paper and put them back in the fridge. I also put the rest of the dark chocolate back in to harden, and started with number 5.

V

Melt your milk chocolate on your double boiler & roll chocolate balls around until coated. A fork seemed to work well for me to help prevent huge blobs of chocolate. After a while, my milk chocolate started to get clumpy, probably because I got impatient and turned up the heat.

VI

Place on a pan covered in wax or parchment paper & sprinkle with sea salt. (Don’t be too generous with the salt.)

Makes about 45-50 truffles.

I gave a large portion of these away as a house warming gift, and they seemed to really appreciate it!

I have many more recipes to post, so hopefully I'll stay diligent. 

Comment if you have any questions! 

-B