Flying meat flakes make pets live the best day in their life

I've been wanting to try gnocchi for a long time and finally picked up a package at our odd grocery store. The time is now! Decided a slow cooker soup was in order because our life is crazy busy and I like to try to make things easier. I always put the crockpot together early - a day or two even. That way I just ask Andy to put it in and turn it on that morning. I usually try to do crockpot meals when I'm not home for the day - otherwise I worry about it and poke and prod all day long. True set it and forget it is not being home and letting it cook. This recipe had a few additions an hour before serving but worked out great so I could sneak in a little walk before dinner on a cold snowy day. I was so proud of myself that I baked up some prosciutto and had it ready to top our soup! It was clumped in the container the night before so as I put my lunch in the fridge for the next day, I shook the container and shook prosciutto bits all over the kitchen, fridge, freezer, everywhere. Let's just say the dog AND the cat were my best friends and helped me clean up. Then? at serving time? Completely forget I even had the few remaining bits for on top of the soup. But alas! Tonight is leftover night and I plan to have some of that soup and try out those bits! Even if I had to sweep them out of my fridge into a container! Some days...

Slow Cooker Chicken Gnocchi Soup
2 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or chicken breasts)
2 cups carrots, small diced
2 cups white onion, small diced
2 cups celery, small diced
2 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp. Herbes de Provence or poultry seasoning
1/8 tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. red pepper chili flakes (optional)
1 Tbsp. chicken bouillon, or 1 cube
6 cloves garlic, pressed thru a garlic press
4 cups chicken stock or broth
salt and pepper, to taste. Be generous with the salt
1 lb. potato gnocchi
2 1/2-3 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup half and half or heavy cream
5 oz. baby spinach, or curly kale, gently torn or chopped
fresh parmesan, to garnish
3 oz. prosciutto

Instructions
Place the chicken, carrots, onion, celery, parsley, Herbes de Provence, paprika, chili flakes, chicken bouillon, garlic, chicken stock, salt, and pepper in a 6-quart slow cooker.
Be generous with the salt
Gently stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 7 hours.
Uncover and shred the chicken. I just do this in the slow cooker with two forks, or you can remove to a cutting board if that’s easier. Then add the chicken back in.
Whisk the cornstarch and half-and-half together. Pour into the soup. Add the gnocchi and spinach, place the lid back on, and cook for another 30-60 minutes on high. The soup should thicken and become creamy, keep stirring it and it should thicken. Add a little more cornstarch slurry if not thickening enough for your preference. Taste and adjust seasonings; add more salt and pepper as desired.
To make the crispy prosciutto, preheat the oven to 400°F. Lay prosciutto slices on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until crispy. Allow to cool, then break or chop into pieces.
Ladle into bowls, top with crispy prosciutto, and parmesan, and serve with warm, crusty bread.

Don't you go judging my midwestern weather....

Since I can't seem to get cinnamon chips shipped out to me from Utah... no really - they say it's too warm in my area - at least last I tried, I decided to give this a go with the intended mini chocolate chips. While my family isn't super excited about that, I was. These muffins are amazing. If you want a muffin that means business - these are them! Regardless of the mix in. They have a LOT of baking powder and you pile up the batter to make some tall delicious muffins! Eat them warm or pop them in the microwave for a little bit to melt that chocolate and make it even better! What a treat! Maybe I'll try to order those cinnamon chips again... the nerve, judging me and my midwestern weather! The nerve of some people!

Chocolate Chip Muffin Recipe
Ingredients
4 cups (480g) all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup (300g) granulated sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp nutmeg, can also use cinnamon
4 large eggs
1 cup (240ml) whole milk or 2% milk, can also use buttermilk
½ cup (118ml) vegetable oil, can also use olive oil, avocado oil, canola oil
4 Tbsp (57g) unsalted butter, melted & cooled
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups (340g) semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided (I used regular and minis)
In a mixing bowl combine the flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg. Stir with a spoon to combine, set aside.
In a larger mixing bowl combine the eggs, milk, vegetable oil, cooled & melted butter, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
Gradually mix the dry ingredients and 1 ½ cups chocolate chips into the wet ingredients, mixing just until combined. The batter will be very thick!
Cover the bowl with a towel and allow the batter to rest for 15 minutes. During this time, preheat the oven to 425ºF / 220ºC.
For bakery style muffins, line a 12 count muffin pan with 6 muffins liners, meaning you’ll only fill every other muffin well with batter. Fill the liners with 6-8 heaping tablespoons of batter. Top the muffins with the remaining chocolate chips. Sprinkle them with sanding sugar.
Place one pan in the center of the oven and bake for 7 minutes at 425ºF / 220ºC, then keep the muffins in the oven, turn the temperature down to 350ºF and bake for 12-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow the muffins to cool in the pan. Repeat with the remaining batter, bumping the temperature back up to 425ºF.

Measure once or twice or not at all...

I love a good carb and bread bowls are fantastic with soup – but what if you have more than one soup and just need some fresh rolls to dip into different soups? On Halloween we had our friends for dinner, while our kids were all out trick or treating – we were enjoying warm yummy soup and these amazing dinner rolls. This recipe makes an insane number of them. A giant tray of them! Next time I might freeze some dough balls or maybe half the recipe. They were puffy and delicious. Fantastic dipped into soup and also with some butter on them.
I think next time I would also weigh the dough and then each dough ball. I was winging it and it was clear in the different sizes of my rolls. Let’s be honest it’s about how they taste now if they were wonky in size, but it would be easier to cut them into smaller amounts and know you were somewhat even… hindsight right?

Dinner Rolls
2 ½ cups warm water
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
½ cup (1 stick) salted butter, melted
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup sugar
1 egg
7 cups all-purpose flour

Instructions
1. Combine warm water and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Stir in melted butter, salt, sugar, egg, and flour. Mix until combined, then knead 10 minutes until smooth.
2. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.
3. Punch down, shape into rolls, and place on a greased baking sheet. Cover and let rise until doubled again, about 30 minutes.
4. Bake at 350°F for 22–25 minutes, until golden brown.
5. Serve warm with butter — the ultimate soup-season side.

Apples and warm spices - oh my!

Here in blogging land it's fall and it's apple and pumpkin baking season. I've wanted to try this Apple Cinnamon Texas Sheet Cake for a bit but didn't really have a reason - a baby shower was the perfect reason! Maybe I used a few too many apples, hard to say, the batter oozed and dripped in the bottom of the oven, oops. A little vacuum job was needed. The frosting was very interesting, cook on the stovetop and pour on when the cake was hot. The cake turned out very tasty with great reviews... it was gooey... like hard to cut, but sure did taste good.

Apple Cinnamon Texas Sheet Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake:
2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cups (200 grams) granulated sugar
1 cup (200 grams) lightly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon grated nutmeg
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup (226 grams) salted butter
1 cup apple cider
2 large eggs, at room temperature and beaten
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (125 grams) sour cream
For the Apples:
2 cups (200 grams) peeled apples cut into small ¼-inch cubes
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the Glaze:
½ cups (113 grams) salted butter
¼ cup apple cider
3 cups (375 grams) powdered sugar
2 tablespoons sour cream
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Prep and Preheat. Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Lightly grease a half sheet pan (a pan that’s 17.25×12.25 with a 1-inch rim) and grease with butter or shortening and dust with flour. Set aside.
Whisk the Dry Ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. We’re building flavor right from the start.
Make the Warm Butter-Cider Mixture. In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the apple cider over medium heat until the mixture is steaming and just beginning to bubble. Carefully pour the hot mixture over the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth and glossy. The heat will help dissolve the sugars and bloom the spices—your kitchen will smell incredible.
Add the Eggs, Vanilla, and Sour Cream. Allow the batter to cool slightly (we don’t want scrambled eggs). Whisk in the eggs, vanilla extract, and sour cream until smooth and well combined. The batter will be loose and pourable. Pour the batter into the prepared sheet pan and spread it evenly with an offset spatula.
Toss and Top the Apples. In a small bowl, toss together the diced apples, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon until the apples are well coated. Scatter the apples evenly over the batter, then gently press and swirl them in with an offset spatula so they’re nestled just under the surface.
Bake the Cake. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs.
Make the Warm Glaze. While the cake bakes, melt the butter and apple cider together in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the powdered sugar, sour cream, and cinnamon until smooth and pourable.
Glaze While Hot. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, pour the warm glaze evenly over the hot cake. Use an offset spatula to spread it all the way to the edges. The glaze will seep into the top layer and create that shiny, sweet finish.
Cool and Slice. Let the cake cool until just warm before slicing into squares. Serve straight from the pan to happy friends and fam.

Let's do it again!

I've tried my hand at Pad See Ew before and oh what a fail! This was less of a fail and was pretty tasty. Was it like we get at our favorite place for Pad See Ew? Nope, but they have years of practice and great recipes behind their dishes, I have my own half ass attempts at things. This was pretty dang good. I added shreds of carrot since that's what normally comes in our take out. the noodles weren't the same but it's what Target had that I could order. I didn't have time to go to the Asian market this time. Maybe next time. I made this in a Dutch Oven and that worked pretty well. Noodles got a little sticky and stuck on the bottom so it was a bugger to clean but it's worth it for good food. This received "make it again" reviews. I think I would double the sauce, we are saucy folks. So lots of sauce for those noodles and veggies. Mmm... let's make it again!

Pad See Ew – Thai Stir Fried Noodles
Noodles
200g / 7 oz dried wide rice stick noodles , or 15 oz / 450g fresh wide flat rice noodles (Sen Yai)
Sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce (or all purpose)
2 tsp white vinegar (plain white vinegar)
2 tsp sugar (any type)
Stir Fry
3 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil , separated
2 cloves garlic cloves, very finely chopped
1 cup / 150g / 5oz chicken thighs (boneless, skinless), sliced
1 large egg
4 stems Chinese broccoli

Chinese Broccoli – trim ends, cut into 7.5cm/3" pieces. Separate leaves from stems. Cut thick stems in half vertically so they're no wider than 0.8cm / 0.3" thick.
Noodles – Prepare according to packet directions and drain. Time it so they’re cooked just before using – do not leave cooked rice noodles lying around, they break in the wok.
Sauce – Mix ingredients until sugar dissolves.
Cooking:
Heat oil: Heat 1 tbsp oil in a very large heavy based skillet or wok over high heat.
Cook garlic and chicken: Add garlic, cook 15 seconds. Add chicken, cook until it mostly changes from pink to white.
Chinese broccoli STEMS: Add Chinese broccoli stems, cook until chicken is almost cooked through.
Chinese broccoli LEAVES: Add Chinese broccoli leaves, cook until just wilted.
Scramble egg: Push everything to one side, crack egg in and scramble.
REMOVE chicken from wok: Remove everything in the wok onto a plate (scrape wok clean).
Caramelize noodles: Return wok to stove, heat 2 tbsp oil over high heat until it starts smoking (HOT is key!). Add noodles and Sauce. Toss as few times as possible to disperse Sauce and make edges of noodles caramelize – about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Add chicken back in: Quickly add chicken and veg back in, and toss to disperse. Serve immediately!