Lovin' From the Oven

Cran-Pistachio Cookies

by 9 Comments

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With March coming to an end, I’m already thinking about April. It’s Earth Month! I’ve taken the pledge by the Bulk is Green Council (BIG) to purchase bulk foods once a week during Earth Month. BIG is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the environmental and economic benefits of purchasing foods from the bulk bins.

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Did you know that:

  • “If Americans purchased all of their almonds in bulk for 1 month, 6,000,000 pounds of waste would be saved from landfills. That’s the equivalent weight of 522.5 elephants.
  • Purchasing oatmeal from the bulk bins saves 5x the waste of its packaged equivalent.
  • If the average American family bought peanut butter in bulk for 1 month, 172 pounds of waste per family would be saved from entering landfills.
  • If Americans purchased all of their coffee from the bulk bins for 1 month (Earth Month), 20,000,000 pounds of foil packaging would be saved from landfills. That’s the equivalent weight of 7,667 compact cars.”

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That’s a whole lot one person/family can do for the world. Come and take the Love Bulk Foods pledge every week in April with me over at lovebulkfoods.com! You’ll be entered to win a prize pack filled with everything you need to create a natural pantry stocked with foods from the bulk bins. The prize pack includes:

  • two 100% recycled glass storage jars for an eco-friendly way to store bulk foods
  • one “Love Bulk” branded canvas, all-purpose , reusable tote bag for your grocery shopping trips
  • samples of food from the following companies that can be found in most bulk foods aisles of grocery stores nationwide:
  • non-GMO Certified whole grains from Lundberg Family Farms
  • natural and USDA-Organic trail mix from SunRidge Farms
  • USDA-Organic spices and tea from Frontier Natural Products Co-op
  • All natural French Vanilla and Wild Bluberry Flax granola from Attune Foods

Approximate value of the pack is $75. Winners will be drawn once a week during Earth Month.

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This is a soft cookie recipe from AllRecipes. The pistachio flavor from the pudding is very light, so the actual pistachios are a pleasant touch. It’s a great recipe that you can make with the kids, since most of the ingredients come from a box. This would also be a great recipe for Christmas because of the festive colors.

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Cran-Pistachio Cookies

Ingredients

  • 1 (1 pound 1.5 ounce) pouch Betty Crocker® sugar cookie mix
  • 1 (4 serving size) package pistachio instant pudding and pie filling mix
  • 1/4 cup Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup dry-roasted salted pistachio nuts, chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries, chopped

Directions

  1. Mix cookie mix, pudding mix and flour in bowl. Stir in melted butter and eggs until soft dough forms. Add pistachios and cranberries; blend well.
  2. Using small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Press with fingers to slightly flatten.
  3. Bake at 350 degrees F for 9 to 11 minutes. Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack. Cool completely. Store tightly covered at room temperature.
https://lovintheoven.com/cran-pistachio-cookies/

Hummus-Crusted Lemon Chicken

by 4 Comments

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I’m always looking for some new chicken recipes to make since we’re trying to cut down on our red meat intake and my DF doesn’t like fish. Chicken’s a nice, lean meat that we can eat on a daily basis. It’s just a matter of finding some new ways to cook/grill/bake it.

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My DF and I eat hummus on a regular basis, so this recipe immediately popped out to me. Coating your chicken with hummus and panko before baking it? Genius! I was also curious as to how hummus would hold up in the oven.

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As it turns out, it’s awesome. I loved the addition of grape tomatoes because it created a thick sauce at the bottom of the dish that was great on rice. The hummus locked in the moisture of the chicken while baking, creating a perfectly baked piece of meat.

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The panko crumbs turned a nice shade of brown and gave it a little crunch for texture.

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I’ll definitely be making this recipe from Rachel Schultz again!

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Hummus-Crusted Lemon Chicken

Serving Size: 3-4

Ingredients

  • 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 onion, sliced
  • 1 cup hummus
  • 2 lemons
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 cup panko
  • Salt & pepper
  • Zucchini & squash (optional-- I used grape tomatoes)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Arrange onion (the original poster used zucchini and squash as well, but I added grape tomatoes instead) in base of a 9×13 baking dish.
  2. In a bowl, coat chicken in hummus and transfer to baking dish on top of onions.
  3. Drizzle chicken breasts with lemon juice and top with panko, paprika, and salt & pepper.
  4. Bake for 30-35 minutes.
https://lovintheoven.com/hummus-crusted-lemon-chicken/

Mini German Pancakes

by 3 Comments

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These pancakes are AWESOME. Mostly because they change so much and shape while baking, but they taste great too. They rise and puff in the oven, and I was amazed at how pretty they came out despite my skeptical thinking.

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I added a sweet blueberry mixture in the middle, but the pancakes would taste great plain with maple syrup. You can even squeeze some whipped cream on top and add sliced strawberries if you want something a little fancier. It’s a great base recipe for you to get creative with.

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You could even make a breakfast bar and let people make their own personalized mini German pancakes! Leave out some chocolate chips, agave, peanut butter, powdered sugar, fresh fruit, jam, butter, bacon, Nutella, chocolate syrup… the possibilities are endless.

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See what I mean about them puffing up so perfectly from a thin batter? It’s amazing! Each pancake is unique in appearance, but all are equally delicious.

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I can’t praise this recipe enough. Even the ingredient list is simple! You should already have everything in your kitchen pantry right now. Don’t believe me? Go check!

You don’t even need to use your mixer. Whisk the batter by hand since it’s so light and airy anyways. You won’t even break a sweat.

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The recipe makes a lot so if you’re only feeding yourself, there’s no need to make the entire recipe. I cut the recipe in to 1/3 and made that. It was still plenty for my DF and I.

I also got a little impatient waiting for the sauce to thicken so I added more corn starch, but it wasn’t necessary. If I would have used less, the syrup would have been clearer (see how it’s just a little foggy?). Don’t make the same mistake I did! Be patient with your syrup thickening.

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Recipe from Chef in Training. Happy breakfast baking!

Print
Mini German Pancakes

Ingredients

  • 6 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1/4 cup butter melted
    • BLUEBERRY SAUCE/SYRUP
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3/4 tsp. lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp. cornstarch
  • 1 package (6 ounces or 1 1/4 cups) Driscoll’s Blueberries

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Whisk together eggs, flour, milk, salt vanilla and butter until smooth.
  3. Pour evenly into greased muffin tins about 1/2 way full.
  4. Bake for 15-18 minutes until done and puffed up.
    5. TO MAKE THE BLUEBERRY SAUCE/SYRUP:
  5. Cook water, sugar, lemon juice, vanilla and cornstarch in a medium saucepan over medium heat until it begins to thicken. Stir in blueberries and simmer for about 10 minutes.
  6. Fill each mini german pancake with blueberry sauce.
https://lovintheoven.com/mini-german-pancakes/

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