Food Lush

Melt Aways: My Favorite Cookie

Editor's note: For our last week at Food Lush, I've asked the writers to share both a favorite post by another writer, from over the last three years, and a favorite post of their own. You'll see these posts linked to at the top of their new post for the week. Enjoy a stroll down Lush memory lane!

by Elsha

There are SO many posts I refer to regularly, but I especially love this cauliflower pizza crust from Carrie (even my kids like it!) From my own posts, I'll have to link to this one about cleaning your stovetop, because everyone should know this.

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For my last post here at Food Lush I've decided to leave you with the recipe for my very favorite cookies: melt aways. I've posted many cookie recipes in my time here, but I've held out on posting this one because my mom is a little more protective of this recipe than the others. But I just can't leave you without it, because these cookies are seriously the best.

(Sorry, my only picture is from our Christmas baking extravaganza. They're the ones with the green frosting.)

Melt Aways:

Beat until well mixed:

1/2 lb butter (don't substitute)

3/4 cups cornstarch

Add:

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1 cup flour

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

For the frosting beat 3 oz cream cheese, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 cup powdered sugar.

These are simple to make and they literally melt in your mouth (hence the name.) Don't leave the frosting off though, or you won't get the whole effect. The only tricky part is making sure you don't over-soften your butter. The dough should border on being crumbly. If it's really gooey or sticky you can refrigerate it to firm it up some. The recipe makes about 2 1/2 dozen cookies and if I'm not careful I can eat them all by myself.

Now, who wants to come over so I can make these for you?

Creamy white chili

by Elsha

It continues to be fridgedly cold here, so I'm always on the lookout for recipes to warm us up. This one fit the bill nicely. This chili recipe comes from The Taste of Home Cookbook which is one of my favorites. It was spicy and satisifying, we'll definitely be making it again.

{photo credit: tasteofhome.com}

Here's the recipe:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2 inch cubes 

1 medium onion, chopped

1-1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 cans (15-1/2 oz each) great northern beans, rinsed and drained

1 can (14-1/2 oz) chicken broth

2 cans (4 oz each) chopped green chilies

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

First, saute the chicken, onion, and garlic powder in oil until the chicken is cooked through. Add the beans, broth, chilies, and seasoning. Bring to a boil. Next, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and cream. Serve immediately.

I actually made this using canned chicken to save time, and because I only had frozen chicken breasts, but that worked great. I sauteed in olive oil, because that's my habit. Also, apparently I did not do a great job of reading the recipe through while I was making it, because I realized AFTER I added two cans of chopped green chilies that it called for two 4 oz cans and I had added two 7 oz cans. Whoops! Also, spicy! 

Estimating portion sizes

by Elsha

Now that I'm finally getting back into my healthier eating habits (10 days of vacation was basically 10 days of fast food) I'm remembering how important portion sizes are. I try to be aware of my portions, but measuring everything is a giant pain. Fortunately, I found this handy (ha!) little guide to estimating portion sizes using your hands! 

According to the website the portions are based on average-sized female hands. I'm a big fan of seeing portions represented like this because I can translate that onto my plate. Tell me a serving of meat is 3-4 oz and I have no idea what that means. Tell me a serving of meat is about the size of my palm and I'm all set! 

What do you do to keep track of your portion sizes?

Quick and easy Greek pasta salad

by Elsha

I've been visiting my sisters for the last several days (they live in the same town) and I always think it's fun to be in someone else's kitchen to see how they do things. What kind of food do they cook on a regular basis? Which foods do they consider "staples"? How is the kitchen organized? 

Anyway, for lunch one day, one of my sisters threw together this delicious and easy pasta salad. (Something I rarely think to make unless I'm taking it to a potluck.)

Here's what she put in:

Bow-tie pasta

Garbanzo beans

Chopped orange bell pepper 

Cucumber

Kalamata olives

Green olives

Cubed chicken (we baked chicken breasts, but you could use leftover chicken too.)

Feta cheese

Greek salad dressing

We didn't measure anything, just added until it looked good, and used enough dressing that everything got a nice coat. It was delicious, fresh, and even better the next day.

Do you have a favorite pasta salad recipe? 

Christmas Eve dinner

by Elsha

We don't have a set meal we make on Christmas Day. Often we have ham, but not always. In fact, this year we're having prime rib. However, we do have a set meal for Christmas Eve: soup in bread bowls. We usually make two kinds of soup, and we like to change it up, but we've been having soup in bread bowls on Christmas Eve for years now. 

I love this tradition. There's something about such a simple meal before all the celebrating on Christmas. We don't make any side dishes, or any dessert (although there are often cookies around), just soup and bread. It's an easy meal to prepare, (especially if you buy the bread bowls), which is definitely a good thing on Christmas Eve! It's a tradition I'm sure we'll continue for years to come.

What do you have for Christmas Eve dinner?

Decorating with food

by Elsha

Before we got our Christmas tree this year, we talked about making cranberry and marshmallow garlands. They're easy to make, just use a needle to put cranberries and marshmallows on a string. However, in the end we decided it would probably be tedious for the kids, since they're still pretty young. 

It got me thinking though, about the various other kinds of food we've used to decorate in the past. Here's the rundown:

3D sugar cookies. My brother in law made these for us a few times. He used these cookie cutters, and the results were adorable.

{photo credit: creativekidstuff.com}

Popcorn garlands. We made these a couple times growing up. They're a huge pain, because it's almost impossible to get popcorn on a string without the pieces falling apart.

Candy canes on the tree. As kids we loved putting candy canes on the tree, because we were allowed to take them off and eat them whenever.

Gingerbread men. The ones we made (in preschool maybe?) were actually ginger snaps glued on to felt backing. Cute ornaments though!

Gingerbread houses. We made these with the kids for the first time this year. Will only wanted to eat the decorating candy, but Kalena and my nephew had fun.

(Best decorating efforts of a 4 year old. Who definitely didn't put the house together.)

Sugar cookie ornaments. I haven't made these, for fear that my kids would take them all off and eat them in the first hour they were up. But my mom used to make them for the bottom half of the tree! Makes the tree extra irresistible to kids. 

Do you use food in your Christmas decorating? 

Cooking with kids

by Elsha

My older kids are four and almost three, and they LOVE to pretend to cook. I imagine that they would also love to help me actually cook, but I don't let them. I used to attribute it to age, four isn't nearly old enough to help with the cooking, right? But my four-year-old nephew helps his mom cook, as does his three-year-old brother. When my dad is cooking he'll let my kids help him. Apparently it's just me keeping them from helping more in the kitchen. 

This has made me curious.Do you let your kids help you cook? What age do you start? What kind of responsibilities do they get? I don't know if I'm ready to deal with their "help," but I don't want my kids to end up in college not knowing how to do anything but boil spaghetti noodles. Tell me how it works at your house!

Homemade dinner rolls

by Elsha

This Thanksgiving was the first one that Brian and I weren’t with family, which meant we were in charge of all the cooking. You would think that would encourage me to stick with what I already know, but nope! I decided I wanted homemade rolls with Thanksgiving dinner. This was a big thing since, as I’ve mentioned here before, I’ve never had good results baking anything with yeast. I was determined that this time I’d get it to work. Obviously I turned to the internet (I believe my search involved the word “easy”) and found this recipe for Favorite Dinner Rolls from Salad in a Jar.

You guys! They turned out great! 

(My first bread baking sucess!) 

They were exactly what I wanted. Wonderfully soft and delicious. Plus they were great for making turkey sandwiches. Here’s what I think made these a success where my other attempts failed: 1) I used a bread maker to make the dough and 2) I watched her video on how to form the rolls, so I knew how they were supposed to look. I’ll definitely be trying the cinnamon roll variation on these. Maybe for Christmas morning? We’ll see.

Did you have any successful new Thanksgiving dishes?

Broccoli potato soup

by Elsha

I love broccoli cheese soup. It’s creamy and comforting and delicious. However, my husband recently started avoiding dairy, so a cream based soup filled with cheese is sort of out of the question. Fortunately, with a little looking around and some modifications I managed an excellent dairy free substitute. 

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 to 2 lbs thick stemmed broccoli, stems peeled and diced, tops cut into pieces
1 1/2 lbs yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
3 cans (5-6 cups) chicken broth or vegetable broth
3 cups water

(There's a lot of chopping to do.)

First, saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil until the onion is soft. Then add the diced broccoli stems, half of the potatoes, the broth, and the water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the broccoli and potatoes are tender. 

Meanwhile, put the broccoli florets and the rest of the potatoes in a pot of water to cook. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer. 

When the broccoli stems and potatoes are tender, use an immersion blender to puree the soup smooth. Add the broccoli florets and the rest of the potatoes as soon as they are tender. Salt and pepper to taste. 

(photo credit: me. The lighting in our kitchen is so yellow!)

Pureeing the potatoes and broccoli stems gives the soup a nice creamy base without using any milk or cream, and the yukon gold potatoes give it a nice buttery taste. Using vegetable broth makes the soup vegan, or you can go the other direction and sprinkle cheese on the soup when you serve it. Either way, YUM!

Do you have a favorite broccoli soup recipe?

Fall Centerpieces

by Elsha

I don’t know about you, but I love to have a nice centerpiece on my table. I’m especially drawn to fall centerpieces. I don’t know if it’s the colors, or just that I love the season, or what, but I’m a fan. Here are some that I made for our table just for fun.

You can’t go wrong with apples for fall. Plus, you can eat your centerpiece.

Doesn’t everything look cuter in a basket? This one is way too small for our dining room table, so it's really just kitchen decor.

I just wanted to capture the colors of the leaves. These are actual leaves, so I don’t know how long they’ll last, but I’ll enjoy them while they do!

Do you do centerpieces or am I alone in my love?