Sundae Special!

Well as the saying goes, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” Harry Truman.

After making granola, most of dinner and Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Zucchini bread, I should have left the kitchen.  Instead I decided to make Pizza dough for our dinner on Tuesday.  I planned on doubling the recipe to freeze the remaining dough but instead I quadrupled the flour mixture and only doubled the wet/yeast mixture.  Uh oh. 

I realized my error while trying to stir the wet and dry.  To make up for my mistake, I doubled the wet/yeast mixture again and added it to my flour where I was met with a dough too big to knead.  I broke out my friend the Kitchen Aid Mixer and started kneading the dough in the bowl with the dough hook.  After shorting the circuit, I decided the dough had been kneaded enough and let it rise.  Sure enough, the dough did rise but I have a feeling it will be a bit tough.  We shall see on Tuesday. 

Not being able to look at any more dough, Matt has portioned the dough into a few sections and each piece is wrapped in saran wrap; all pieces are in the fridge now.  Hopefully the dough won’t be too bad and we will have a well stocked freezer. 

Alas, I had one more kitchen project to tackle, but decided it was probably in my best interest to hang up the apron for today. 

Instead I finished dinner.  On the menu for tonight was Bread Salad with Cranberries, Spinach and Chicken. 

Matt is not a fan of fennel, so I omitted it completely from the recipe.  Instead of marinating the chicken in

• Ground fennel
• Ground Coriander
• Kosher Salt
• Ground red pepper
• Olive Oil

I used

• Olive Oil
• Garlic Powder
• Salt

I followed the recipe for the dressing except for omitting the fennel and black pepper (I hate black pepper).

To make the “croutons,” I sliced some french bread and misted each slice with olive oil and sprinkled with garlic powder.  I broiled the bread until slightly brown on each side; after cool, I cut each piece into 4s.

I didn’t measure anything in the salad but on the plate was:

• Spinach
• Chicken
• Bread “Croutons”
• Craisins
• Roasted Chickeas and Fava beans for crunch
• shallots
• Feta Cheese
• Corn cut off the cob

Not something I would make again.  I am not the biggest fan of orange tasting things (except for oranges themselves) and so this dressing did not overly excite me – and it took a little longer then I would have liked to prepare.  Otherwise, I liked this combination of salad toppings and the bread “croutons” were an interesting addition – they were crisper then most croutons and took the flavor of the salad dressing.  Again, with a better dressing, I think they would have been great!

Cooking Light says, “Chicken, high in vitamin B12, teams up with spinach, nuts (not in my case), and a little oil to offer a one-dish meal loaded with vitamin E, vitamin C, and folate.”  Sweet – I got some excellent nutrients in today!

Now on to dessert, a few weeks ago I told Matt about Cookie “No Dough” ice cream that I saw on Megan’s Munchies.

So we broke out the Ice Cream maker, froze the bowl yesterday and today, Matt set out to make this delicious treat.

He made the recipe as is except he used all Whole Milk instead of Half-and-Half. 

Here is the mixture before going into the Ice Cream Maker

The ice cream was done early afternoon.  We sampled some of the mixture before putting in the freezer to chill completely.  Honestly, it tasted more like Vanilla ice cream (with chocolate chips). 

Tonight we served some up for dessert

As you can see from the first picture, the mixture is VERY icy.  In an attempt to make this ice cream not QUITE as bad for you, we sacrificed texture and creaminess.  I give Matt two thumbs up for trying something new – and trying to make it better for you. 

Challenge for the Week:  Last week while preparing my grocery list and menu for the week, I decided to make 5 days worth of new meals (mostly dinner).  The challenge kicked off tonight with the Bread Salad and will continue throughout the week ending on Thursday (Friday is leftovers this week). 

Does anyone else want to try a few new recipes this week?  Let me know – I would love to post some recipes and pictures of what you try.  If you are interested, email me at runleangreen@gmail.com