Day of Cooking & Baking!

Laura’s Day of Cooking & Baking did not start until mid-afternoon as I did the following prior:

• I ran 6+ Mile Run!

 

 

The run took me around 90 minutes to complete, forgot my watch at home so I do not know exactly but I remember seeing 10:20a.m. on the microwave clock before leaving and I got home around noon so that sounds about right.

Overall, it was a good run and I am happy to report that my Knee did not bother me much during the run.  I could feel it but it didn’t hurt by any means.  Afterwards I was a bit stiff and sore but I popped a Advil to help with the swelling and soreness.

Also, seeing that this is the first long run I have done since My 1st 15K Race! at the end of September I was very pleased with my performance even with the amount of time it took me as I wasn’t planning to run it quickly in light of my past Knee issues.  So I decided prior to take lots of walking breaks.  4 in all, each around 2-4 minutes long.  And, I took my time while running and enjoyed the beautiful warm breezy sunny weather outside.

• Visited the Grocery Store!

Publix

Had to get all the ingredients for my Day of Cooking & Baking, plus I needed to stock up on some items that were low in the pantry and get food for the week as well.

• Attended to the loads of Laundry I had piling up!

 

• Ate a VERY late lunch!

Publix Boar's Head Turkey & Cheese Sub

Finally, around 3pm I started getting everything ready for my Day of Cooking & Baking………

Cooking Day - Prep Work1

Cooking Day - Prep Work2

And, than soon after I started on my first dish – Montreal Red Chicken! 

A recipe that I got from my Mother-In-Law who is from Montreal after repeated requests from my husband for me to make it several years ago.  =)

If you follow my blog you have seen me mention this dish before, however I have never taken you through how it is made step-by-step so I thought I would now on this super easy processing of making this dish that is best served the day after.

Step 1 - Fill Measuring Cups

Step 2 - Dice Onions & Garlic

Step 3 - Brown Chicken

Step 4 - Saute Onions & Garlic

Step 5 - Add in Ketchup & Hot Sauce

Step 6 - Add Sugar

Step 7 - Add Water, Vinegar & Spices

Step 8 - Pour Sauce Over Chicken In Baking Dish

Step 9 – Cook for 1 and 1/2 hours at 350 degrees

ALL DONE!!!

 Here is the recipe:

Montreal Red Chicken

Ingredients

• 6 pieces of chicken (white or dark meat), bone in but skin removed
• 1/4 pound of butter or vegetable oil
• 3 gloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 cup of ketchup
• 2 tablespoons of hot sauce
• 1/4 cup of cider vinegar
• 1/3 cup of sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup of water
• 1/2 teaspoon of savory
• 1 teaspoon of parsley

Directions

1. Brown chicken on both sides in butter or oil in a fry pan. Then place in a large casserole dish with a lid.
2. In some butter or oil add onion, garlic, ketchup, hot sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt, water, savory and parsley. Bring to boil and pour over chicken.
3. Cover and cook at 350 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.
4. Service with white rice.
5. *I usually make 1 1/2 times the sauce, it covers the chicken better!

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Next, I cooked Stuffed Peppers courtesy of Sarah @ Running To Slow Things down who posted about making them last week in stuffed to the gills.

They looked so good that I just had to make them, plus they are vegetarian so that was an added health bonus!  =) 

Recipe On Computer!

I followed the recipe on my computer in the kitchen, don’t you love the internet!

Since I already had my camera handy (and charged – – – unlike me I know) I am able to take you step-by-step through this recipe as well.

Step 1 - Gather Everything Together

Obviously as you can see I in the above picture I prepped everything before hand………..

1st – I diced the onions and garlic.

2nd – I diced the celery.

3rd – I grated the carrots.

4th – I opened up all the canned items and drained the black beans.

5th & Last – I cut the peppers in 1/2 and gutted them.

Step 2 - Cook Brown Rice

Step 3 - Saute Onions & Celery f/5 Minutes

Step 4 - Add Cumin & Mix

Step 5 - Add Spinach & Diced Tomatoes

Step 6 - Mix Everything Together

Step 7 - Add Shredded Carrots, Black Beans & Brown Rice

Step 8 - Add Cheese & Mix

Step 9 – Stuff Peppers & Top w/Tomato Soup

I almost forgot I added an additional step between Step 9 & 10, which was that I added large spoon fulls of Campbell’s Tomato Soup to the tops of each of my Stuffed Peppers. 

In my original non-vegeterian Stuffed Pepper’s recipe that is made with hamburger instead of black beans and non of the veggies except for the diced tomoatoes…..it calls for this step and I love it as the soup gives them a wonderful sweet and savory flavor so I thought I would do the same with this recipe and I think it helped a lot as the stuffing was really flavorful.

Step 10 - Baked @ 350 degrees f/1 Hour

Final Step - Remove f/Oven & Top w/Cheese & Bake f/15 Minutes

So there you have it, well “them”, don’t they look AMAZINGLY GOOD!!!

They are, I promise you will not be disappointed if you try them, YUM!

Here is the recipe:

Stuffed Peppers
Vegetarian Times, February 2009—plus some minor tweaking

• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 2 T. olive oil
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 T. ground cumin
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1, 10-oz. package frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 2-15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
• 1-15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 c. quinoa (OR, cook 1 c. dry rice as directed on package)
• 3 large carrots, grated
• 1-1/2 c. grated, reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 4 large red, green or yellow bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed

1. Heat oil in saucepan over medium heat.  Add onion and celery, cook 5 minutes or until soft.  Add cumin and garlic, saute 1 minute.  Stir in spinach and drained tomatoes.  Cook 5 minutes, or until most of liquid has evaporated.

2. If using quinoa: Stir in black beans, quinoa, carrots, and 2 c. water.  Cover, bring to a boil for 20 minutes.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender.  Stir in 1 c. cheese.  Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
If using rice: Stir in black beans, cooked rice, and carrots.  Stir, reduce heat to low and stir in cheese.  Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

3. Preheat oven to 350F.  Pour liquid from tomatoes in bottom of baking dish.

4. Fill each bell pepper half with heaping 3/4-cup quinoa or rice mixture, and place in baking dish.  Cover with foil, and bake 1 hour.  Uncover, and sprinkle each pepper with 1 T. remaining cheese.  Bake 15 minutes more, or until tops of stuffed peppers are browned.  Let stand 5 minutes.  Transfer stuffed peppers to serving plates, and drizzle each with pan juices before serving.

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On to the Baking portions of my day, which was prepped in the late afternoon and actually baked later that evening.

I present to you for your viewing pleasure……..Peanut Butter Cookies that Tina @ Carrots N’ Cake posted last week – Mission: Peanut Butter Cookies.

The Recipe

Again, I had my camera ready and waiting to take you through the few steps it took to bake these yummies………

Prep Work - Gather All The Ingredients

Step 1 & 2 - Put everything in the bowl & mix!

Step 3 - Form Into Dough

Step 4 - Form Into Dough "Balls"

Step 5 – Bake @ 350 degrees for 10 Minutes

Than, cool and eat………….

All Done & Ready To Eat!

 Here is the recipe:

Peanut Butter Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup softened butter
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup peanut butter + chocolate chips (mixed bag)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350*F.
• Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well until batter is blended evenly.
• Use a tablespoon to portion cookies on a greased baking sheet, approximately 1-2 inches apart.
• Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes. Do not overcook.
• Remove cookies from baking sheet and allow to cool on wire rack.
• Eat and enjoy!

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Well that about covers my Day of Cooking & Baking!

Hope you enjoy the post and will try some of the great recipes, I promise you will be happy you did!