One giant fluff loaf

It's the new year and I'm already starting my mental mood of "throw it all away!" which includes, use everything we have instead of buying new things, which apparently includes bread for dinner too. Also, it was like 1 degree out yesterday and I did not feel like going to the store to find some biscuits or bread to eat with dinner. This recipe has been sitting in my "to try" list for a while, it was ridiculously easy and we all loved it. What makes it Amish? No idea, all I know is it turned into amazingly fluffy bread. You could easily make this by hand, but I used my "fancy" bread mixer. Well, I call it that because usually that's the only thing I make in it. It's great at kneading the dough so you don't have to. So if you need some fresh bread or just need some carbs… this one is easy and uses easy pantry staples. It also just makes one giant loaf instead of multiple loaves that you have no idea what to do with.

Amish White Bread
Ingredients
1 cup warm water, 110-120°F
⅓ Cups granulated sugar
1 packet, 2 ¼ teaspoons instant yeast
3 cups all purpose flour
¾ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
In a small bowl, stir together the water, sugar, and yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes, until bubbles form.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment, add the flour, salt, and oil. Pour in the yeast mixture. Turn the mixer to medium and allow to knead until the dough no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes.
Roll into a tight ball and transfer to a greased bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a dark, warm, draft free place for 60 to 90 minutes, until doubled in size.
Deflate and shape into a log to fit in a 9x5 loaf pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a dark, warm, draft free place for 50 to 60 minutes, until doubled in size.
Preheat the oven to 350°F about 20 minutes before the second rise is done.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.
Brush the crust with melted butter and let cool for 10 minutes in the pan.
Remove loaf from pan and transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely

Gather up all the random things and make a casserole

Sometimes things happen and my best made plans get tossed in the air. That's what happened this last week. My nicely lined up menu for the week got tossed in the area and I punted every night. One of the planned recipes was this one. In my quest to use things from the cabinet and freezer, this used quite things in each - but kept getting pushed back. Saturday came and I decided to premake the casserole for the week. Had I read the recipe, I would have realized that making this in one night in a crazy week would not have worked. Do you need to make the wild rice ahead which takes almost an hour? Yeah and then bake it all together for a while too. I mean sure if you have time go for it, but meal prep is a great option. This makes a huge casserole; I ended up making one for dinner and one for the freezer. I did a little googling and figured out I could freeze a wild rice casserole and that's a win. Cook once - get two meals! This was a win - a great win. It was warm and cozy for dinner after a really cold day and wild couple of weeks.

Chicken Wild Rice Casserole
Ingredients
For the Casserole:
2 cups cooked wild rice
2 cups cooked chicken (shredded or diced)
1 small onion (diced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 cup mushrooms (sliced)
1 cup carrots (diced)
1 cup celery (diced)
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp dried thyme
For the Creamy Sauce:
1 can (10.5 oz) cream of mushroom soup
1 can (10.5 oz) cream of chicken soup
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk (or heavy cream for extra richness)
1 ½ cups shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Swiss)
For the Topping:
½ cup panko breadcrumbs (or crushed crackers)
2 tbsp butter (melted)
¼ cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 350°F to ensure it’s ready when your casserole is assembled.
If your wild rice isn’t already cooked, prepare it according to the package instructions. Wild rice takes about 45 minutes to cook, so plan accordingly.
In a large skillet, melt 2 tbsp of butter over medium heat. Add the diced onion, garlic, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Sauté for 5-7 minutes until softened. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme.
In a mixing bowl, whisk together:
Cream of mushroom soup, Cream of chicken soup, Chicken broth, Milk (or heavy cream), Shredded cheese (cheddar, Monterey Jack, or Swiss)
In a greased 9×13-inch baking dish, combine:
Cooked wild rice, Shredded chicken, Sautéed vegetables, Creamy sauce
Stir everything together until well-mixed.
In a small bowl, mix panko breadcrumbs, melted butter, and Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the casserole.
Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden and bubbly. Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

No one cried - we'll maybe I did, a little.

I was on kid entertainment duty one afternoon between the holidays and that included my seven-year-old niece. We decided sugar cookies would be fun, and I wanted to try this rolled buttercream frosting idea. It seemed like the perfect idea, no special decorating, just cut it out with a cookie cutter and away you go. That was not how it went. It was a LOT of mess... a lot of trial and error - mostly error - but we persisted and kept trying different things and we ended up with frosted cookies! Also, extra frosting to play with like playdough that was very tasty! I'm really unsure what the difference was from where I got this recipe - because this was not the texture I saw in the videos - at all, but the most important thing? The kids had fun and cookies got made with frosting! Considering cut out cookies are my least favorite kind of cookie to make - I'll take the fun and run with it.

Rolled Buttercream
1 stick salted, softened butter (1/2 cup)
2 TSP flavoring (I use vanilla)
1 TSP meringue powder
2 TSP light corn syrup
2.5 CUPS of powdered sugar

Mix together frosting and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Color in small sections.
Roll out between parchment paper and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Use cookie cutters to cut shapes.
Freeze for 20 minutes, then peel or use lifter to get shape off parchment on onto cookie.
Use corn syrup as glue to stick to cookie.

Yes, yes it is the best!

A friend of mine introduced me to this recipe for sugar cookies - she promised it was the best, it was easy enough for kids to do it. She even proved that twice over, baking cookies with our girls club, then the boys club! She's not wrong. This New Years I had my niece in from DC and decided we'd bake cookies with the kids. I mixed up the dough but the kids were in charge of rolling and cutting the cookies out - my least favorite kind of cookie! The kids did great and this dough worked wonderful for 7 year olds and 13 year olds. The kids also snatched little bits of dough which they also enjoyed. I loved the low bake time - it meant I could cycle through 3 trays of cookies pretty quickly and get to the decorating part of the day.

Best Sugar Cookies
1 Cup unsalted butter
1 Cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 egg
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all purpose flour

PREHEAT oven to 350° F.
In the bowl of your mixer, CREAM butter and sugar until smooth, at least 3 minutes
BEAT in extracts and egg.
In a separate bowl, COMBINE baking powder and salt with flour and add a little at a time to the wet ingredients.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If the dough looks crumbly keep mixing for 30 seconds to 1 minute longer. The dough should be pulling away from the sides of the mixer.
If the dough still looks too dry or stiff for your mixer, turn out the dough onto a countertop surface, flour surface as needed. Wet your hands and finish off kneading the dough by hand.
DO NOT CHILL THE DOUGH. Divide into workable batches (2-3 chunks), roll out onto a floured surface, and cut. You want these cookies to be on the thicker side (closer to 1/4 inch rather than 1/8).
Bake at 350 for 6-8 minutes. Let cool on the cookie sheet until firm enough to transfer to a cooling rack.

Need to get my head out of the cheese and cookies and remember my meal prep ways

New Year same old me - I don't make resolutions but it was time for something new for dinner that wasn't a cookie, ham, or cheese. I scanned the recipe - not the instructions, and got myself some instant Jasmine rice (I didn't know it was a thing) and quickly realized my mistake as I went to cook... Oops. But I used it and we moved on and good to go. Also that Teriyaki sauce looks complicated right? I mean sure all those things I don't have, but what I did have was a half a bottle of Teriyaki sauce from something else - done and done! This recipe was a lot of prep, lots of chopping as most Asian recipes are. But if you put the work in the prep, the cooking is actually simple and quick. Got this one in the oven and we all sat and just waited for it to come out of the oven. Chicken thighs are always a hit in my house - they are just better than other cuts of chicken, you can try to argue with me, I'll wait. Ok... anyway. I think this recipe could be made easier with prepping ahead. I need to remember how to do that... need to get my head out of the cheese and cookies and remember my meal prep ways.

Teriyaki Chicken and Rice Skillet
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/4 tsp. black pepper
pinch chili flakes (optional)
2 Tbsp. butter, unsalted
1/2 white onion, diced
2 large carrots, peeled and diced small
1 head broccoli, diced small
1 cup jasmine or basmati white rice
2 cups chicken broth
For the teriyaki sauce (or bottled sauce)
1/2 cup soy sauce
3 Tbsp. honey
2 Tbsp. sesame oil
2 Tbsp. mirin
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. chili garlic sauce
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tsp. fresh ginger, finely minced
2 tsp. cornstarch + 2 tsp. water
green onions (sliced on the bias) and sesame seeds for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Combine the seasonings together in a small bowl. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the seasonings all over the chicken. Heat the olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium heat. Brown the chicken on each side for 2-3 minutes, then set aside on a clean plate.
Add the butter to the pan and melt. Add in the onion, carrots and broccoli with a pinch of salt and cook 5-7 minutes or until vegetables are fragrant and softened just a bit.
Pour in the rice and stir for ~1 minute. Add the broth and then turn the heat off. Nestle the chicken into the pan, cover with foil and place in the oven for 35 minutes or until broth is absorbed and chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients together for the sauce and bring to a simmer. In a small ramekin, whisk together the cornstarch and water until the cornstarch is dissolved and the liquid looks milky white. Whisk into the sauce. The sauce will thicken, then remove from heat.
Serve the chicken and rice with the teriyaki sauce and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.