Sunday Chef

Today I spend almost all day... cooking!  We enjoyed feasts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

As you know, I love to cook, but for the past few months it has been so hot that the last thing I've wanted to do was be in the kitchen.  Last night, a new friend on the island, Chris, hosted and filmed a cooking show and had a bunch of friends and spouses over for the season premiere.  It got me in the mood to cook, so I woke up, drooling and dreaming of food.

For breakfast...

[caption id="attachment_959" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="{ Aren't you jealous of this sweet stove?!? }"][/caption]

Raisin Bread French Toast

• Raisin Bread, sliced (the homemade raisin bread at IGA is delicious and perfect for French toast!)
• 3 to 4 eggs
• 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of milk
• butter
• cinnamon sugar
• syrup

Whisk together eggs and milk until frothy. Add a few pieces of bread and soak for a minute or two on each side. Melt a tablespoon or so of butter in skillet over medium heat.  Cook for a few minutes on each side, until browned. Continue soaking and cooking remaining bread. Once cooked, put French toast on a plate and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.  Serve with fresh fruit.  Delish!

{I made 8 pieces of French toast so we'd have some leftovers for breakfast tomorrow.  A good breakfast makes Mondays less horrid!}

For lunch I made...

Chicken and Avocado Soup

• 5 cups of chicken broth (I used water and chicken bouillon)
• 2 cups shredded chicken breast
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1/2 cups scallions, finely chopped
• 1 humongous local avocado 
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped fine
• 4 lime wedges
• 2 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• pinch cumin
• dash of chili powder

In a large pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add 1 cup of scallions and garlic. Sauté about 2 minutes then add tomatoes and sauté another minute, until soft. Add chicken stock, cumin and chili powder and bring to a boil. Simmer, covered on low for about 15-20 minutes.

In four bowls, fill each with 1/2 cup chicken, 1/2 avocado, remainder of the scallions, and cilantro. Ladle 1 cup chicken broth over the chicken and serve with a lime wedge.

This recipe is from Gina's Skinny Recipes, and I was so excited that I had all of the ingredients that I had to try it. {And it was fantastic, so you should try it, too!}

Charlie and I both LOVED this soup.  It was easy, healthy, and delicious.

What were not so healthy, but were equally delicious, were the Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwiches that we ate with the soup.

I will be making these recipes again, for sure!

For dinner, I made...

Chicken and Scallion Dumplings

• package of wonton/dumpling wrappers
• 2 chicken breasts {raw}, diced into small pieces
• a few scallion, finally chopped
• 1 to 2 T of ginger, grated and chopped*
• a few splashes of soy sauce
• a splash of sesame oil
• 2 carrots finally chopped
• 1/4 of a head of cabbage, finely chopped

Microwave carrots and cabbage in a plastic wrap covered bowl with 1/8 cup of water for 3-4 minutes to soften the veggies.

Remove carrots and cabbage from bowl with a slotted spoon and place in mixing bowl.  Allow the veggies a few minutes to cool, and then mix in all ingredients (except for dumpling wrappers).

Fill dumpling wrappers with 1 tablespoon of mixture and close using directions on package.

Add 2 teaspoons of canola oil to a skillet over medium heat.  Add dumplings (don't crowd pan) and shake pan occasionally so they don't stick.  Cook for a few minutes on each side, until lightly browned.  Finish cooking the dumplings by adding 1/4 cup of water to the pan and covering it, allowing the dumplings to steam for several minutes.  Continue cooking the rest of the dumplings the same way.

{This made about 25 dumplings.  We had a bunch of the wrappers left, so I put them in the freezer for later use.}

Make a quick dipping sauce for the dumplings.

Dipping Sauce for Dumplings

• 1/4 cup of soy sauce
• 1 to 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• splash of sesame oil
• 1 T of rice wine vinegar
• pinch of sugar or Splenda
• a dash of red pepper flakes {if you like a little heat}

Dip 'em and eat 'em!

*I keep my ginger voodoo doll (don't they look like voodoo dolls?!?) in the freezer.  When I need some for a recipe, a pull it out, frozen, and use a potato peeler to peel of the skin and grate pieces of ginger... they thaw right away, and just chop 'em up and throw 'em in my recipe!

Here's what Charlie had to say about today's meals:  "I give three thumbs up to the soup... and everything." -Charlie

Good stuff!