Gingerbread Hot Chocolate

Last year after I made my Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Cookies, I kind of fell in love with everything gingerbread. This year after making the cookies once again, I decided to try to make a gingerbread hot chocolate, which really isn't that hard--you just add gingerbread ingredients (molasses, ginger, clove, and cinnamon) to the hot chocolate. It was almost like drinking one of my gingerbread cookies.

Gingerbread Hot Chocolate with Homemade Marshmallows

Makes 4 servings
Ingredients:
4 cups water or milk
1 1/3 cup hot chocolate mix (homemade or store bought)
2 tablespoons unsulphured molasses
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground clove

Directions:
Heat water or milk in a pan or in the microwave. Dissolve hot chocolate mix, molasses, and spices in water or milk. Pour into 4 mugs. Add marshmallows or Reddi Whip, if desired.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Drink Recipes:
Butterbeer from Harry Potter 
Pumpkin Hot Cocoa
Spiced Cinnamon Tea 
Spiced Cranberry Juice 
The World's Easiest Spiced Apple Cider 

Soy Wax Beans with Sesame Seeds

I don't think I had a wax bean until my mother-in-law handed me a big bag of beans (we also walked away with garden fresh kale, cabbage, and cucumbers). I now had to figure out what to do with them. After looking through a dozen recipes, I finally just chose one, nearly at random. It must have been fate because Eric and I devoured our entire supply of wax beans and immediately wanted more so we can make these again.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
1 pound wax beans, trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 pinch ground ginger
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar, packed
1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Toss the wax beans with olive oil on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes or until beans are tender and browned in spots. Toss beans halfway through.

Mix together soy sauce, ginger, lemon, and sugar in a medium bowl. Add roasted beans and toss. Garnish with sesame seeds.

Soy wax beans with Melt-your-mouth chicken

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Veggie Recipes:
Parmesan Veggie Crisps
A Basic Cauliflower Alfredo Sauce
Baked Potato Soup
Creamy Butternut Squash Soup
Cheesy Tomato Zucchini Bake 
Baked Parmesan Tomatoes
Alfredo Green Bean Casserole  

Asian Turkey Meatballs

Since my parmesan turkey meatballs were such a success with Eric (who is typically anti-ground turkey) I thought I'd push my luck and try a different turkey meatball recipe. How could I go wrong with hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and toasted sesame seeds? Answer is: I couldn't! With two successful ground turkey dishes, Eric says he'll happily eat any ground turkey dish I serve.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
Meatballs
20 ounces ground turkey
3 tablespoons plus1 teaspoon sesame oil, divided
1/2 cup Panko
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 egg
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
Toasted sesame seeds, garnish


Sauce
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine turkey, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, Panko, ginger, egg, garlic and green onions. With your hands, combine ingredients well. Shape meat into golf ball size meatballs (I made about 20) and transfer them to the cookie sheet. Brush meatball with the 3 tablespoons sesame oil.

Bake for 20 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through.

While the meatballs cook, prepare sauce. In a saucepan, stir hoisin sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and ginger together. Over medium heat, heat sauce until hot. 

Pour sauce over meatballs, garnish with toasted sesame seeds, and serve.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Dinner Recipes:
Spicy Cheese-Stuffed Turkey Burgers
Turkey Burger with Avocado Sauce
Spicy Parmesan Sausage Meatballs with a Whiskey Barbecue Sauce 
The Tale of Two Quiches: Ham and Broccoli Quiche
Lemon Pepper Chicken with Garlic Potatoes
Jalapeno Popper Chicken

Captain Morgan Chicken with Ginger Rice

I might have to start a compilation of boozy entrees because I feel like I've been cooking with alcohol a lot lately. Whether it's in a main dish or a dessert I just love the extra kick liquor gives to a recipe. I've especially fallen in love with spiced rum, which is the inspiration behind this dish. The ginger rice--made from instant rice--is the perfect side for this chicken.

Recipe adapted from here.

Ingredients:
Chicken
3 tablespoons lemon juice
4 ounces Captain Morgan's spiced rum
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1-2 tablespoons olive oil

Rice
4 cups water
2 tablespoons butter
4 cups instant white rice
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground ginger
salt, to taste
 
Directions:
Chicken
Grease an 8x8-inch dish with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, mix together cayenne pepper, clove, cinnamon, ginger, pepper, salt, and thyme. Brush chicken breasts with olive oil then rub both sides of the breasts with the spices. Place chicken breasts in prepared pan, cover, and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (overnight is even better).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, rum, and brown sugar.

Uncover the chicken and pour the lemon mixture over the chicken breasts. Bake for approximately 1 hour or until chicken is cooked through, basting with juices every 10 to 15 minutes.

Rice
Bring the water and butter to a boil in a saucepan. Remove from heat, add rice, and cover. Let the rice sit for 5 minutes. Stir in ginger (for me, a little ginger goes a long way) and salt until you get the desired flavor.

Serve chicken over the ginger rice.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

More Chicken Recipes:
Lemon Pepper Chicken with Garlic Potatoes
Jalapeno Popper Chicken
Lime Mustard Chicken 
Margarita Chicken and Steak Fajitas 
Pizza Inspired Chicken 
Orange Chicken with Fried Rice 

Soft and Chewy Gingerbread Men Cookies

Source

In general, I prefer soft cookies over crisp cookies. I love gingerbread cookies (especially along side a mug of hot chocolate) but they are always crunchy. Oh, how I've longed for a soft gingerbread cookie--one that could hold a gingerbread man shape. I've tried my hand at making gingerbread cookies from scratch before and haven't had success. Then I found this recipe and all my gingerbread dreams came true! A soft, delicious gingerbread man cookie!

Recipe slightly adapted from here.

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into approximately 12 pieces and slightly softened
3/4 cup unsulphured molasses
2 tablespoons milk

Directions:

Pour flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda into a food processor, and process until the ingredients are combined. Place the butter pieces on top of the flour mixture and process until the mixture is sand-like. With the food processor running, slowly add the molasses and milk. Don't stop the machine until the dough is evenly moist and soft.*

Remove the dough from the food processor and divide it in half. Roll one half between two large pieces of parchment paper (dough will be very sticky) to 1/4-inch thickness. Repeat with the other half. Without removing the parchment paper, stack the dough on a cookie sheet and place in the freeze for 15 to 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease them with cooking spray. Remove one dough sheet from the freezer and remove the top parchment sheet. Cut dough into gingerbread people (or any other shape you desire; I also made snowflakes) and place them on cookie sheet, spacing them about an inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough. If the dough becomes too sticky, place it back in the freezer for 5 to 10 minutes. 

Bake for 8 to 11 minutes or until the center of the cookies set. Allow to cool on the cookie sheet for 2 minutes then transfer them to a wire rack.

Once the cookies have cooled to room temperature, decorate with royal icing, if desired. Store in an airtight container.

*The next time I make these, I'm not going to go it in the food processor. While it's easy clean up, my food processor barely accommodated all the ingredients. If you don't have a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, and baking soda with a whisk in a large bowl. Drop in the butter pieces and with an electric mixer, combine the ingredients on medium-low speed until the mixture becomes sand-like. Reduce speed to low and slowly add molasses and milk. Mix until dough is evenly moist and soft. 

 Eric told me that the cookies were really good and to prove it he was going to eat them. I married myself a strange man.

Enjoy!

~Krissy

Christmas 2013 Baking List

Cranberry Brownies

Chocolate Cover Cranberries

Honey Cake
Christmas Kiss Cookies 
Three Chocolate Truffles: Mint, Rum, and Orange

Cherry Snow Ball Cookies
The Best Sugar Cookies 
Stained Glass Cookies