Tag Archives: cooking

Foodie Tuesdays: Amish Baked Oatmeal

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Ben’s favorite breakfast is baked oatmeal. I usually make him something quicker, like toast or eggs, but once in a while I get up early to make this treat. It’s soft, chewey and sweet. It’s also filling and staves off the snacking.

I adapted this recipe to make ours.

Gather your ingredients:

-3 Cups Oatmeal

-1 Cup Brown Sugar

-Tablespoon cinnamon

-2 teaspoons baking powder

-1 teaspoon salt

-1 Cup Milk or Almond Milk

-2 Beaten Eggs

-1/4 Cup Melted Margerine

-4 Tablespoons Plain Yogurt

-2 teaspoons Vanilla or White Vanilla Extract

-1/2 Cup Raisins 

Preheat oven to 350 F or 175 C

  
Mix together dry and wet ingredients separately.

Stir wet and dry mixtures together.

Coat a glass pan with margerine.

Pour mixture into pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. 

Yum!

  

Foodie Tuesdays: Persian in an Hour

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Today’s recipe is one of one my most successful food attempts of all time. It is close-your-eyes-and-enjoy-the-moment delicious. My husband told me that this is the best way I’ve ever made chicken and that I have to make it again.

Now, that’s what I like to hear.

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I have honestly never thought of trying Persian food before yesterday. Our neighbor down the hall is leaving the island in a few months, and he offered us the spices, food, and first aid stuff he doesn’t plan to use before he leaves. Do we have the most awesome neighbors ever, or what? Some of the spices he gave us are used in Persian food. He explained their uses enough to me to be able to Google intelligently and find some yummy recipes.

Behold, zeerah polow and chicken.

Zeerah polow is rice with cumin seeds. This and the chicken should take about four hours to make the right way, but I only had an hour before dinner time, so I sped things up a bit. Here’s Zeerah Polow in cut-time.

Gather your ingredients:

  • Brown rice, 3 cups
  • Cumin seeds, 3 tablespoons
  • One chicken quarter or two breasts
  • Olive oil
  • Plain yogurt, one cup
  • Dried mint, 1 tablespoon
  • Garlic powder, 1/2 tablespoon
  • Black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
  • Paprika, 1 teaspoon
  • Salt, 1/2 tablespoon
  • Flour, one cup

Rinse rice until the water is clear. Boil six cups of water and add rice. Simmer. Scoop rice from the bottom of the pan to the top every few minutes.

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Toast the cumin seeds in a pan. Set aside.

When the rice is done, drain rice and mix with cumin seeds.

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Meanwhile, prepare the chicken. Cut into strips.

Mix garlic powder and yogurt. Let chicken marinate in the mixture for ten minutes.

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Mix flour and rest of spices in another bowl.

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Heat oil 1/4 inch deep in a skillet. Coat chicken in flour/spice mixture and fry in oil until the chicken is cooked and the batter is crispy.

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Serve with limes. Enjoy!

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Christmas in the Caribbean

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We had a white Christmas this year… A white sand beach Christmas, that is.


While most of our med school compadres went back to the States or Canada for Christmas, Ben and I opted to stay on the island. My parents and my sister flew in to spend a week on the island with us, and we had a blast! Going home to see family is awesome, but it was even better to have them come see us this time.


Being in a new place calls for new traditions, but it also shows you how important the old ones are. Sometimes you just need the smell of homemade cinnamon rolls for it to really feel like Christmas.

We ditched some of the traditional Christmassy things– no lights outside, a small paper tree rather than a real evergreen, no Christmas cookies.


We kept some of our traditions– my great grandma’s Christmas cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning, reading Luke 2 from the Bible before opening presents, observing advent, Christmas carols on Christmas Eve, putting our gifts in hilariously ridiculous prank gift boxes.


We did some things we’ve never done before– “wine” (sparkling cider) and cheese for lunch, a trip to the beach.


On Christmas morning, we woke up to the sound of a restless puppy wanting to go outside. Ben took her on a short walk, and I made cinnamon rolls for breakfast. My parents and sister, Kaylee, came over after their morning run and we read the Christmas story in the Bible and opened gifts. When the cinnamon rolls were ready, we had breakfast.

 After this, we drove across the island to Wilderness for a hike. Before long, we could see a storm rising from the sea near St. Barth’s, so we ran back down the hill and jumped in the car just in time! We drove home and had sparkling cider, cheese, and crackers for lunch  (we’re practically on a French diet).

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My mom and I finished making the rest of the cinnamon rolls and we all headed down to Mullet Bay Beach. I grew up in Arizona and Ben grew up in subsaharan Africa, so neither of us have had many white Christmases. The lack of snow here on our tropical island was nothing new for us, but going to the beach was. It’s a welcome change!

  
At the end of the day, tired but happy, we had dinner of smoked chicken, mashed potatoes and rolls. We took a stroll to the casino to see the Christmas village in the parking lot. Then we set up the laptop and enjoyed our family favorite Christmas movie– Christmas Do-Over– while our worn-out little puppy snoozed at our feet.

The best Christmas traditions, to me, are not the ones that have to do with red and green garland, music, or food. The best tradition to have at Christmas is simply to be with family. Whether the family around you is your parents and siblings, spouse and children or your closest friends, let’s be thankful for the loved ones that God has given us.

Foodie Tuesdays: Parrotfish Fajitas

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Before you can begin to cook these deliciously fishy fajitas, you must obtain a fish. You could buy one at the grocery store, or you could catch one with your own rod and reel.

We spent today adventuring around our island home: first to the French side for fishing and snorkeling, and then to the Dutch side to see Fort Amsterdam. My parents gave me a waterproof phone case for Christmas, so while Ben caught fish for dinner, I caught fish on camera.

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Parrotfish

Ben caught a parrotfish, two glasseye snappers, and two doctor fish. Since ciguatera toxin is prevalent in our area, we checked online to make sure the fish are safe to eat. We threw out the snappers because they are high-risk ciguatera carriers. The doctor fish were tiny and rarely carry the toxin anyway, so we kept them. We were a little concerned about the parrotfish since it was over six inches, but it’s low-risk so we decided to try it. I guess we’ll find out in the morning if we’re OK; Ciguatera poisoning hits within twelve hours.

I think we’ll be alright.

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Once the fish were home and cleaned, it was time to start cooking.

To make the fajitas, gather your ingredients:

  • four
  • water
  • salt
  • oil
  • fish
  • bell peppers
  • onions
  • shallots
  • lemon
  • Spices: salt, pepper, cumin, garlic salt

My favorite tortilla recipe is from Taste of Home. I never buy tortillas from the store anymore! Mix 2 cups of flour, a little salt, 3/4 cups of water and 3 Tablespoons of oil. Let rest, roll out, and fry.

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Season fish with salt, pepper, and lemon.

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Slice onions, bell peppers, and shallots into thin slices.

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Put a quarter cup of oil in a flying pan and heat it to medium heat. Mix in seasonings to your preference. Fry veggies for a few minutes and then add whole fish.

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Yum, yum! Smelling good, now. Make some rice while you cook the fish and veggies. The onions should be caramelized.

Remove from heat and allow to cool. Break out the salsa.

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Remove the skin from the fish, flake off the meat, and pile it all on the tortillas.

Enjoy your fajitas!

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Foodie Tuesdays: Meaty Noodle Thing

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I’m not sure what one might call this dish; I’m sure it has a name somewhere, but I don’t know it. I do know that it was yummy.

Ben’s first semester of medical school is over! Many people prepared to leave for the break with a still fully-stocked pantry, and I was happy to take the food off their hands for a discounted price. I now have more types of condiments and interesting Asian food than I even knew existed, and I’m looking forward to learning to make new things! One other spouse was generous enough to sell me the entire contents of her fridge for almost nothing– including  meat! Ground beef, even! That stuff is not cheap here, friends.  I was so thrilled with this blessing that I hurried home and threw together a pasta dish that smelled like Heaven had a barbeque.

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Here’s how to make my Meaty Noodle Thing:

Gather ingredients:

  • Package of macaroni pasta
  • One pound of ground beef, cooked
  • One jar of pasta sauce (I used Prego)
  • 1/3 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 1/4 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup of shredded cheese
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened yogurt
  • Garlic salt, pepper, salt, oregano to taste

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Prepare meat and pasta. Save the oil from the ground beef in the pan.

Heat up sauce.

Sauté the veggies in the beef oil. Add seasonings.

Mix cheese and yogurt into the sauce. Add veggies.

Mix pasta and sauce.

Enjoy!

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Foodie Tuesdays! Pumpkin Spice Latte Pie

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Hellooo holiday season! I love Thanksgiving and I love Christmas, so this part of the year is one of my favorites. To kick off the winter holidays, I’m starting a new segment called Foodie Tuesdays. Check back every week for new recipes! I’ll try to stick to international foods, but sometimes I just need some good American pie.

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This pi r squared.

 

As I mentioned in my post last week, I made a chocolate pumpkin spice latte pie for Thanksgiving. Here’s the recipe:

  • Gather ingredients.
    1. 1 1/2 – 2 lbs prepared pumpkin pie purée. I used one 2 lb can of pumpkin pie filling– the kind that is already spiced.
    2. I cup milk
    3. 4 eggs
    4. 1 1/2 cup melted butter (1 cup for crust and 1/2 cup for pie filling)
    5. Chocolate powder to taste (1/4 cup) if you want your latte to be a mocha
    6. Finely ground instant coffee to taste (1/4 cup)
    7. 1 cup crushed gingersnap cookies
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  • First, prepare your crust. We ground the gingersnap by soaking them in the 1 cup of butter and smashing them with a pastry cutter. You can put them in a plastic bag and crush them if that works better for you.
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  • Mix the crumbs with the butter and use a fork to evenly smash them to the bottom of your pie pan. I used a casserole because I don’t have a pie pan. Such is the budget expat life.
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  • Preheat your oven to 425* F
  • Beat your eggs. Add them, the milk, and the remaining butter to your pumpkin pie filling.
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  • Fill two small bowls with 1 cup of pie filling each. Add your coffee to one and your chocolate to the other. You may have to add extra of one or the other powder so that the pumpkin does not overpower the other flavors.
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  • Pour the orange pie filling into the pie pan. Smooth the surface.
  • Drop teaspoons of the coffee and chocolate pie filling all over the top of the orange pie filling
  • Use a butter knife to swirl and marbleize the two colors
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  • Put the pie in the oven and bake for 30-45 minutes. You should turn the temperature down to 350* F after the first 10 minutes.
  • Voilà! You have created a delicious treat to rival Starbuck’s most famous holiday drink.

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Check back next time to find out how to make your own earth-friendly Christmas tree for FREE.

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