It's Just Lunch

Hi guys! I'm still alive! I haven't posted anything in forever because I've been so busy with school and work, but I'm getting back on it today! If you hadn't noticed, I've missed the "It's Just Lunch" post three weeks in a row (yesterday being the third week), so I'm making up for it by posting one late, and giving you a lot of dessert recipes this coming week :)

So I started making my own dressing about a year ago and I will never go back! Homemade dressing is so much tastier than store bought. I actually have an entire Pinterest board for dressings.. I'm kind of addicted. Anyway, I made this Raspberry Vinaigrette a while ago when it was still raspberry season. It was gone quite quickly!

 I also have this really awesome dressing container that has recipes on the side of it as well! I got one as a going away gift from a dear friend at church and loved it so much I grabbed another one when I saw it at a yard sale!

Raspberry Vinaigrette (found here)
2 C Raspberry Jam (we made our own fresh but I suppose you can use store bought as well)
1/2 C Rice Wine Vinegar
1/4 C Olive Oil

Mix well and enjoy!

It's Just Lunch

 So I definitely thought that this week's "It's Just Lunch" was going to be a dud. But luckily for me, it wasn't! They were absolutely delicious! Way better than bagels you would get from the store, and way less expensive! I was originally going to make these bagels for breakfast this morning and post them separately from "It's Just Lunch," but then I realized I still didn't have a post for this week so I'd better post these! And it worked out because they weren't done until noon anyway! If you do decide to make them, I would suggest starting the dough the night before, because it has to rise a while. 

 The one on the left was sprinkled with poppyseeds.

 This one was flavored with basil and oregano.

 The one in the middle is flavored with minced onion and garlic.

Whole Wheat Bagels (found here)

2 t Active Dry Yeast

2 t Sugar

1 1/2 C Warm Water

3 1/2 C Flour (I used 1 1/2 C white flour and 2 C wheat flour)

1 1/2 t Salt

Toppings: coarse salt, onion and garlic, poppyseeds, cinnamon sugar, rosemary and thyme, oregano and garlic, basically whatever you want! Experiment with your favorite spices or keep it simple with plain bagels

Sprinkle the yeast and sugar over 1/2 C warm water, but do not stir. Let sit for 5 minutes until frothy. While that is sitting mix the flour and salt in a stand mixer with the bread hook attachment. You can also do it in a large bowl with a spatula if you don't have a bread hook (but if you make a lot of bread they're definitely worth the investment). Make a well in the middle of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture and another 1/2 C warm water. Mix together until moist and dense. Add the other 1/2 C warm water 1 T at a time, just until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is slightly moist. Knead by hand for 10 minutes. Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and place a damp tea towel over it. Let it raise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. The best place for bread to rise is somewhere warm, so I just put mine in the oven at the lowest heat (mine only goes down to 170 degrees) with a small bowl of water under it. After the dough has doubled in size punch it down and let it rise an additional 15 minutes. Preheat your oven to 430 degrees and put a large pot of water on the stove to boil. Take out the dough and separate it into 8 equal parts. Mold your dough into discs by pressing them down on the counter. Poke a hole through the middle and stretch the hole out until it's about 1/3 the size of the bagel. (this isn't as hard as it sounds, just make it into a bagel shape) When your water is boiling float as many bagels will fit in the pot. Boil them for 1-2 minutes on each side (the longer you boil them the chewier they will be). After they have boiled you can add any toppings you like. If you want to add bigger spices or minced onion I would suggest adding it to an egg wash so it doesn't fall off when you bake it. Bake at 430 for 20 minutes. Enjoy!

It's Just Lunch

This weeks It's Just Lunch is SUPER easy! I've been wanting to try making cornbread in the waffle maker for a while now, but we've never had chili for me to put on it until now. We made chili for our church's dinner and had a little left over for me to use. 

 It was really easy to make, because we had a cornbread mix that I used for the cornbread. If you are looking for a recipe, this recipe looks delicious! I just mixed up the mix, stuck it in the waffle iron, and waited for the light to go off. Then I microwaved the leftover chili, topped with cheese and had lunch! Delicious and easy :)

It's Just Lunch

 Although it doesn't look too delicious, it tastes incredible! I'm trying to get as much out of raspberry season as possible. It's super easy to make and it lasts a super long time! I put mine on waffles made from bisquick mix, but you can spread it on whatever you like. 

Raspberry Butter (found and adapted from this recipe)

About 1/2 C Fresh Raspberries

1/2 C Butter, room temperature

1/3 C Powdered Sugar

Blend the raspberries, butter, and powdered sugar together until thoroughly combined. Chill until firm and spread on waffles, toast, or pancakes. Enjoy!

It's Just Lunch

 I have always loved hummus, but I don't usually get the chance to eat it because of two things. One, it's a little expensive, and two, my mom doesn't like it so she doesn't think to buy it. I've seen recipes going around Pinterest and have been meaning to try some for a while now, and I just got around to it because of "It's Just Lunch!" I had read lots of recipes and they all called for tahini, which is expensive. I looked up substitutes and got mixed responses. Some people say peanut butter would be a terrible substitute and the money to buy tahini is worth it, others say you can't taste the difference. So I decided just to try it and if it was terrible, well that was the point of this blog post series! So I mixed it all up and I think it's pretty good! I'll have to play around with the flavors a little bit, I think I'll browse the refrigerator section for inspiration! 

Hummus (found and adapted from this recipe)

1/4 C Peanut Butter

1/4 C Lemon Juice

1 Garlic Clove

1 t Salt

1 Can Chickpeas

Water

Paprika and Olive Oil for serving

Drain and rinse your chickpeas. Empty the can into a small pot and cover with water, so there is about an inch over the peas. Boil for 10-15 minutes or until soft. Drain the water, but keep it aside to add later. If you have a food processor you should use that, but since I didn't I used a handheld mixer and a bowl. I tried using a blender, but I found the mixer worked better. Mix the peanut butter, lemon juice, garlic, and salt together in the bowl. Add softened chickpeas and mix. At this point your hummus will be pretty dry. Add the cooking water a little at a time until you like the consistency. I added between 1/4-1/2 C of water. Mix until smooth. This will take a while, just be patient :) Add whatever other flavors you like, I sprinkled paprika, olive oil, and chili powder on mine. Enjoy with whatever you'd like to dip in your hummus!

It's Just Lunch

 My sister just got back from school to visit, and her absolute favorite thing to eat is pancakes. Usually we just make the bisquick kind, but since it was Sunday, I thought I'd do something a little special. So I browsed my "breakfast" board on Pinterest and came up with these Mexican Pancakes :) Cooler weather calls for cinnamon apples, right? And Sunday means breakfast for lunch, right? 

Mexican Pancakes (found here)

3 C Flour

4 T Sugar

1 T Cinnamon

3 t Baking Powder

3/4 t Salt

3 C Buttermilk

1/2 C Whole Milk

3 Eggs

1/3 C Butter, melted

3-4 Apples

2 T Butter

A hearty sprinkle of Cinnamon

Whisk together flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. Mix together buttermilk, whole milk, eggs, and melted butter. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and stir until just combined. The mixture will be quite runny. Meanwhile, peel and slice your apples and place them in a skillet. Add the butter and cinnamon and simmer. Heat your pancake griddle completely before pouring the batter onto the pan. Brown on both sides, top with softened cinnamon apples, and enjoy!

It's Just Lunch

  This week has been so crazy! Between babysitting and working I haven't had time to write any posts, much less make something cool for lunch! Therefore, today I give you sugar cookies! And let's be honest: sometimes you just eat cookies for lunch anyway. I made these with the kids I was babysitting yesterday. The recipe came from my new "The Joy of Cooking" cookbook from my awesome grandma!

Sugar Cookies

2 1/2 C Flour

1 1/2 t Baking Powder

3/4 t Salt

1 t Cinnamon

1 C Sugar

3/4 C Oil

2 Eggs

1 t Vanilla

Preheat your oven to 375. Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add the sugar, oil, vanilla and eggs. Mix until just combined. The mixture will be pretty crumbley, you just have to press it together before shaping and baking. Bake for 10-12 minutes and ice if desired. Enjoy!

It's Just Lunch

So this week's "It's Just Lunch" was kind of thrown together at the last minute. We were leaving Friday afternoon for Michigan and I had been working all week so I couldn't make anything for lunch. Then, we were trying to eat up all our leftovers so we wouldn't have anything going bad in our fridge while we were gone. I ended up making pasta salad with a totally made up recipe and it turned out pretty delicious! I made it with 1 C pasta salad, 1 C total of corn, peas, and carrots, and about 1/4 C of dressing that I had made for salad. Another thing that would have made it really delicious would be feta cheese, but I didn't have any at the time. 

 The dressing is called honey lime dressing, found on Pinterest, of course! 

Honey Lime Dressing (recipe found here)

1/4 C Lime Juice

2 T Olive Oil

2 T Honey

2 T Chopped fresh cilantro (I didn't have any fresh, so I used about 1 t of dried cilantro)

1 Garlic Clove

1/8 t Paprika

Enjoy!

It's Just Lunch

 And now, the moment you've all be waiting for... (at least I hope someone besides me was looking forward to this!) Week One of "It's Just Lunch." The basic idea is that once a week I'll do something special for lunch. Something besides the normal PB&J or microwaved leftovers. The name comes from the idea that it's literally one lunch a week. If I mess it up or it doesn't taste good it doesn't really matter. It's just lunch!

So for week one I made microwave mac and cheese and "fried" pickles. Both recipes are from Pinterest and both were delicious! I'll give you the recipe for the mac and cheese first. 

I used this recipe. I had seen on Pinstrosity that several of the "mac and cheese in a mug" pins were duds, so I used the one they recommended. 

Microwave Mac & Cheese

1/3 C Whole Grain 

1/3 + 1/4 C Water

1/3 C Cheese

2 t Milk

The whole grain pasta will cook differently than if you use white pasta. If you use white pasta it will probably just take a little less time to cook. Microwave the pasta and water in a very large mug (I had to transfer mine to a bowl because it boiled over) for 6 minutes, stirring at 4, 2, and 1 minute. Depending on how powerful your microwave is it may need to cook for a little more or less. Just keep an eye on it and you'll be fine. Add a heaping 1/3 C of cheese to the cooked pasta (leaving the thick water in the cup) and microwave for another 45 seconds to melt. Add a splash of milk, about 2 t, or however much you like, and stir. Enjoy!

 And now on to "fried" (baked) pickles. This is a messy recipe. It takes way longer if you don't just embrace the messiness. I used this recipe, slightly modified, and they came out delicious.

"Fried" Baked Pickles

3 Large Pickles

3 Eggs

3 T Milk

1 C Flour

1/2 C Bread Crumbs

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Mix the eggs and milk together and put the flour and breadcrumbs each in a seperate bowl. Slice your pickles into chips or spears. Dip the pickles in the flour, then the milk/egg mixture, then the breadcrumbs. Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 7-10 minutes. Dip in ranch and enjoy!