Easy as Pie Pudding

Last week was VBS at our church. I had the privilege of being the photographer for the entire event. It was so fun, I was so exhausted! There were a few days when I just laid on the floor while the Jellybean played around me and then when straight to bed (at 4:30) when the nerd got home. I didn't do much cooking at all. Here's another one of my quick chocolate fixes. It's pudding, you can make it in the microwave, it's easy. You can make this after a day of chasing down 500 kids on a large campus for individual pictures. Trust me.

100g White Sugar

40g Cocoa Powder (I like to use Hershey special dark, it's half dutch process and half regular)

3 Tbsp Cornstarch

450ml Milk

Mix together your sugar, cocoa, and cornstarch. (Use a microwave safe bowl)

Slowly add in your milk stirring constantly so you don't end up with dry lumpy bits.

Microwave on high one minute at a time until thick and shiny. It should take 4-6 minutes.

Let cool slightly and enjoy or place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the pudding and refrigerate to enjoy later. 

I like to add in a handful of chocolate chips while it's still hot and melt those in as well but that is completely optional. I also like to make half recipes of the dry mix and store those in pint size mason jars for later mixing.

Happy eating!

Tori

Brownie Bliss

Every once in a while you want something to bake. Something that doesn't involve scales or 6 flours and probably tastes very much like chocolate. The other night I had this very compulsion. It was horrible. There were no chocolate bars to be found and the chocolate chips just weren't cutting it. I remembered reading on a box of frozen brownies somewhere that you could make delicious treats with only potato starch. Thus the experiment began!

You'll need:
2 cups sugar
1 cup potato starch
3/4c cocoa
4 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 350

Grease a 9x5 pan liberally (Don't forget, I missed this step and now you don't get pictures. The brownies are delicious though!)

Cream your eggs and sugar together, then add your oil, salt and mix fully. Then slowly add in your cocoa and potato starch mixing fully.

Pour the batter into your pan and bake for 40-45min.

Sprinkle with chocolate chips or other sweet goodies before baking and mix it up. So easy!

Happy eating,
Tori

What a Whirlwind!

These past two weeks have been CRAZY. First the Jellybean got sick. She had a fever and an upset stomach for a few days but nothing super major. I played with my new bread machine all the while and life went on. 2 days after her fever started, The Nerd gets sick. Now he usually shakes these things pretty fast. If anyone in the family is known for having a body that blows illness out of proportion it's me. This time was very different. He comes home from work the next day and he has a rash all over his feet. I slapped some Benadryl cream on him and basically said "buck up!" One hour later we had driven to the urgent care. These stupid blisters (yeah, they turned into blisters) spread farther up his feet and popped up on his hands and around his mouth on his face. By this point I was out of my league. Turns out he had Hand Foot and Mouth Disease. A virus with an awfully descriptive name as it primarily affects your hands, your feet, and your mouth. He wasn't able to walk normally or stand up for long periods of time because his feet hurt so much. We fell behind on chores. He probably got it from Jellybean. We're lucky she didn't blister. It's extremely rare for adults to blister. I guess we're just lucky or something ha ha. A few days later I of course develop the fever and general ickys but luckily no rash. Needless to say our house was a wreck. Fortunately we didn't have any real complications!

Even though we mostly ate Chicken and Rice or Chicken and Dumplings here is a yummy meal that is a crispy cheesy treat.

Oven Fried Crispy Creamy Chicken.

You'll Need:
4 Chicken breasts (or 2 ridiculously large organic breasts from Sprouts that may have been from alien chickens)
6 Tbsp Crispy Coat (recipe below)
16oz Cream Cheese
4oz Milk
1 Tsp Celery Seed
1 Tbsp Kosher Salt (I use organic cream cheese, other brands like Philadelphia may need less salt)
1 Cup Shredded Colby Cheese (Or whatever cheese you like)

Preheat your oven to 375°

Put your crispy coat in a bag, then drop in one chicken breast at a time and shake to coat. (Yes, this is GF Shake n' Bake). Put your coated chicken breasts in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Cook for 25min at 375°.

Combine your cream cheese, milk, celery seed, and salt in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat and whisk until smooth and creamy.

Once the chicken is done pour some of your cream cheese sauce over each breast. The remaining sauce should go in the bottom of the dish. Then top each breast with 1/4c shredded cheese. Return to the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese has melted.

I like to serve this with rice, and maybe some broccoli. It's a simple and budget friendly meal!

Crispy Coat

You'll Need:
1 box Rice Squares Cereal (Like Chex, I use a gluten free store brand.)
1 Tbsp Dry Mustard
2 Tbsp Onion Powder
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Garlic Powder
2 tsp Paprika
2 Tbsp Kosher salt
2 tsp Black Pepper

Grind your cereal into a powder in a food processor, or smash it in a Ziploc with a rolling pin. (Kiddo helper time.) Make sure you have a fairly fine end product. Add in all your spices and salt and shake well to combine. I usually put my spices in the food processor with the cereal. That works very well.

I use this stuff as a breading and a binder in meatloaf or meatballs. It's pretty versatile.

Happy Eating,
Tori