Oven "Fried" Chicken

Y'all. How much would you love me if I told you that fried chicken is suddenly healthy? :-) Except that it's not fried. (Stay with me.) And it's not chicken.

I'm just kiddin'. It's totally chicken. Still not fried though. 

Also, it's skinless. DON'T BE MAD!

I promise it's just as delicious as the fried stuff. For real. I would never lie to you about such a thing. Fried chicken is serious. But this isn't fried. But baked skinless chicken is serious too. Probably more serious. 'Cause if you're gonna tell somebody to ditch their fried chicken for baked skinless chicken, you better not be jokin' around when you promise it's delicious. Am I right?

Well, anyway. I'll hush now so y'all can actually try this and stop being mad at me for telling you to make some baked skinless chicken instead of eating a big fat piece of fried chicken skin. The sooner you get this on your taste buds, the sooner you'll stop being mad. So let's get started.

Ingredients:

1 cup buttermilk (If you don't want to buy buttermilk, just splash about a teaspoon of lemon juice into a cup of milk and let it sit for a few minutes.)

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon sea salt, divided

1 teaspoon cracked black pepper, divided

10-12 pieces bone-in, skinless chicken

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup corn starch

1-1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoons Tony Chachere's seasoning, divided

butter flavored non-stick cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Whisk together buttermilk, mustard, garlic, 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon Tony Chachere's seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken and coat well. Cover and refrigerate and leave to soak in marinade up to 24 hours. (At least 30 minutes, but the longer the better for maximum flavor and juiciness.)

2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil and place wire rack on top. Coat with nonstick spray.

3. Mix together flour, paprika, thyme, baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon Tony Chachere's seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Add to sealable plastic container.

4. Remove chicken from marinade and add to flour mixture. Cover and shake to coat well. As you remove each piece of chicken from flour mixture, shake off excess flour and place on prepared rack.

5. Lightly (but evenly--you don't want to leave any dry flour) coat chicken with cooking spray and bake until golden brown and crispy, 50-60 minutes. (Make sure meat thermometer reads 160-165 degrees.)

6. Serve to people who have no idea you just saved them tons of calories, carbs and fat grams that they'll never, ever miss. :-D

Your Friday 4-Course Meal

Appetizer (a quick bite): Well, it's way past August 29th, isn't it? But this is still helpful information. 6 Tips From Disney Chefs for National 'More Herbs, Less Salt' Day

Entree (something to chew on for awhile): The New Food Legalism by Griffin Gulledge. So, so good.

Dessert (just for fun): Hahaha. Yep. (Except for me it would be nutella straight from the jar instead of cupcakes.)

Coffee (sip and savor slowly and repeatedly): "For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life." --Romans 5:10

The Good List

10. Llamas. They're so weird and awesome. Here are a few that lived down the road from us when we were in Vermont. They are so much fun to watch.

9. Our downstairs carpet is installed and ready for visitors! It looks great, but it feels even better. So soft and squushy. :-) This was the last big piece we needed to get fully moved in and settled into our new house. I'm excited to finish unpacking and set up this space.

8. Strawberries. They are pretty much perfect.

7. Watching TWO American Ninja Warriors complete the entire course for the first time ever. The girls and I love watching that show. The athletes are so impressive and their back stories so inspiring, but my favorite thing about the show is that while it is obviously competitive, most of the contestants are each other's biggest fans and supporters. Very refreshing.

6. The Book Thief. Every bit as wonderful as the many recommendations I received. Somehow tragic and hopeful, heartbreaking and delightful at the same time. I will forever be haunted by the line, "It was a good day in Nazi Germany."

5. The Escape Room in downtown Kansas City. Y'all. This was SO MUCH FUN!!! They lock you in a room for an hour, and you have to use only the clues in the room to figure out how to escape. So creative and interesting! We were told this room has a 45% escape rate. We did it with less than a minute to spare. ;-)

4. Living within 45 minutes of my childhood BFF after only seeing each other in person twice in the last 20+ years. (That's her in the picture above.) So awesome. So thankful.

3. Finally got a hard copy of this. Due to release in October. So proud of Jared and how hard he continues to work to creatively communicate the Gospel.

2. Watching the lunar eclipse Sunday night. So fascinating. I'm kind of obsessed with the moon anyway. This was a whole new level of awesome.

1. Hebrews 1:3-5-- He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

This is exquisite.

Spicy Breakfast Sausage

I'm sure some options are better than others when it comes to calorie count, saturated fat, etc., but almost all frozen/pre-cooked breakfast sausages are loaded with sodium even if they're not so bad in other areas. We don't need all that. This recipe is so crazy easy, there's just no need for the sodium-packed convenience versions anymore. Let's make this from now on instead, k?

Ingredients:

1-1/2 pounds lean ground turkey (or pork or chicken or whatever you like best)

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper

1 teaspoon ground sage

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 small jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

generous splash of Sriracha

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Form into patties about 1/2-inch thick.

2. Grill on grill pan or pan-fry in nonstick or cast iron pan over medium-high heat until nicely browned on the surface and cooked through.

So simple. So yummy. AND--you can make a double batch and freeze your own for later use. So. See what I mean? You really just don't need those other ones at all any more. :-)

Pastitsio (Sorta)

Pastitsio is basically an Italian version of Shepherd's Pie, usually with a tomato-ey ground beef mixture, macaroni, and a cheesey sauce. But if you know me or are getting to know me at all, you probably know I didn't want to use macaroni. ;-) So I substituted roasted cauliflower. So much healthier and honestly more flavorful if you ask me.

This is certainly not the most beautiful dish I've ever made, but it was very tasty, and as soon as I took the first bite, I immediately had a whole list of ideas as to how to make it even better. We'll see if any of those pan out the way they look/taste in my mind. But for now, this:

Ingredients:

I head of cauliflower, chopped in fairly small chunks 

olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1-1-1/2 pounds lean ground beef

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1/4 cup burgundy cooking wine

1/2 cup low sodium beef stock

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons coconut flour

1/2 cup milk

1 egg, beaten

salt and pepper to taste

Sriracha to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Toss cauliflower in olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast in the oven for 30-35 minutes until golden brown and somewhat caramelized.

2. Coat a nonstick or cast iron pan with olive oil and saute onion and garlic over low heat until onion is translucent and garlic is fragrant. Increase heat to medium and add beef. Cook until browned and then drain.

3. Return beef to pan and add tomato paste, beef stock, wine, Italian seasoning, and garlic powder. Salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

4. Add to roasted cauliflower 1/4 cup Parmesan and nutmeg and mix well.

5. In a 9x12 or similar casserole dish, layer half of the cauliflower mixture followed by the seasoned beef and then the second half of the cauliflower.

6. In small saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter and add coconut flour. Cook for about 30 seconds. Remove from heat and stir in milk until well-combined. Bring to boil, stirring constantly, until thickened. Temper egg by adding milk mixture 1 tablespoon at a time until egg mixture is warmed, then add back to milk in pot. Season with salt, pepper and Sriracha and pour over casserole.

7. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown and warmed through.

Your Friday 4-Course Meal

Appetizer (a quick bite): Slow Cooker Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili. I haven't tried this one yet, but it comes from Gina over at Skinny Taste, so I'm sure it's perfect. She's my favorite. (Have I mentioned that before?)

Entree (something to chew on for awhile): The Weakness of Ruth is Greater than the Strength of Samson-- J.D. Greear with a beautiful perspective on one of my favorite books of the Bible, sweet (but powerful) little Ruth.

Dessert (just for fun): It's comin'. Y'all ready? (I am.)

Coffee (sip and savor slowly and repeatedly): "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness." --Isaiah 65: 17-18

Leftovers Reimagined--Salmon Cakes

I am not a snob about leftovers. At all. In fact, there are several things like chili and soup and stew that I think taste better the second time around. But not fish. Reheated fish is not my jam. It needs a little extra lovin' to be delicious a second time. And this is one of my favorite ways to give it that extra love.

Salmon Cakes

Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups cooked salmon, skin and bones removed

1/4 cup almond meal

1/4 cup coconut flour

1/4 cup finely chopped celery

1/4 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 cup sour cream (I used light.)

1 tablespoon of your favorite spicy mustard (I used horseradish.)

1 egg, beaten

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles, drained

Instructions:

1. Flake salmon into large bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Cover and refrigerate for a few minutes to allow mixture to firm slightly.

2. Shape mixture into patties, about 3-4 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.

3. Spray nonstick or cast iron skillet with nonstick spray or use just enough coconut oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Over medium-high heat, cook patties 3-4 minutes on each side until golden brown on the surface and warmed through.

4. My favorite way to serve these is with leftover eel sauce and sriracha mayo from this recipe.

Acorn Squash Hash

I've seen lots of recipes floating around lately for all different kinds of (delicious, I'm sure) squash fritters. With "just enough flour" to act as a binder and "just enough oil" for a shallow fry. I will almost definitely try some of those at some point. They look yummy. But for now, I want something lighter. Something without the added carbs of flour and a little lighter on the oil. But with all of the flavor, of course. (I don't demand much of my food, do I?) This is what I came up with. It was a winner at my house. Let me know how it works in yours.

Ingredients:

2 small or 1 large acorn squash

1/2 leek, well washed (these can be sandy, so you'll want to separate it completely and soak in a sink or large bowl full of water) Alternately, you can just use a regular onion or even a few green onions. I just really like the crisp sweetness of leeks with this squash.

coconut oil (just enough to coat the pan)

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon salt

generous pinch of black pepper

Instructions:

1. Peel and seed squash. (Not gonna lie. This is a little tricky since these have pretty thick rinds, but they are worth the effort.) Just make sure you have a super sharp knife. (I wouldn't suggest a peeler unless you have one that is far better and sharper than any one I've ever owned.) I cut off the top and bottom, then set it flat and peel by cutting down the sides carefully. Once peeled and seeded, cut into large chunks and then shred in a food processor. Add shredded squash to large bowl.

2. Finely dice the leek. Add to squash.

3. Add Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper, and toss with hands to insure even mixture. 

4. Coat a pan with coconut oil (cast iron works great if you have it) and cook hash over medium heat until nicely browned and a bit crusty in parts. (You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your pan.)

5. Serve hot, garnished with an extra sprinkle of Parmesan if you like.

Your Friday 4-Course Meal

Appetizer (a quick bite): Grilled Avocado Halves with Cumin-Spiced Quinoa and Black Bean Salad. This sounds delicious. And also gives me lots of ideas. :-D

Entree (something to chew on for awhile): God, You've Got the Wrong Guy-- Tim Challies with wise counsel on a topic I'm guessing everyone has struggled with at some point (or daily if we're all being honest...)

Dessert (just for fun): Ridiculously adorable dog catching soccer balls. 

Coffee (sip and savor slowly and repeatedly): "Simple-minded trust in a big God beats big-minded thoughts of a small God every single time." --Jared C. Wilson

Spinach "Gnocchi" with Turkey Italian Sausage and Red Pepper Sauce

Finding replacements for pasta is one of my favorite culinary challenges. Not because I don't love me some pasta. I just really need to not eat all those carbs. Stupid carbs. Why do they have to be so delicious and addictive? Annoying. But they annoy me much less when I find yummy things to eat that serve the same purpose and are much more nutritious. Zucchini ribbons and spaghetti squash are two of my favorite substitutes so far, but tonight I made a play on gnocchi with just spinach, cheeses, egg and some spices, and it did not disappoint at all. Try it and see what you think!

For Gnocchi:

Ingredients:

1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed 

8 oz. ricotta cheese (I used light)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 egg, beaten

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Wrap spinach in a lint-free kitchen towel and squeeze excess liquid out.

3. Throw into a bowl and add ricotta, Parmesan, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix until all ingredients are well-combined. Add egg and mix well.

4. Form mixture into small ovals (about a teaspoon each) and place into buttered baking dish. Bake 20-25 minutes or until gnocchi are firm and slightly browned. 

For Red Pepper Sauce:

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, diced

1 clove garlic, finely minced

3 red bell peppers, seeded and diced (yellow or orange would work fine too)

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup heavy cream

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Melt butter in nonstick or cast iron pan. Add onions and saute until translucent. 

2. Add garlic, peppers, cumin, garlic powder and Italian seasoning and saute until peppers become tender.

3. Add chicken broth and simmer until reduced and thickened.

4. Transfer mixture to blender and blend to desired consistency. I like mine to have just a bit of substance to it--not completely smooth, but it's up to you. (Also: you may have to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender.)

5. Once blended, pour sauce mixture back into pan and add cream. Combine well and simmer. Salt and pepper to taste.

Other ingredients:

1 pound turkey Italian sausage, browned and drained

additional Parmesan for garnish

To serve, either layer gnocchi, then sausage, then sauce, then Parmesan. Or you can just toss it all together. Hint: it's a prettier presentation separated, but there is nothing in the world wrong with soaking everything in that amazing sauce, and it definitely tastes better that way. If you don't trust your guests to make sure they get plenty of sauce in each bite, just go ahead and mix it all together. They'll be glad you did. :-)

The Good List

10. The directTV commercials featuring NFL players. They make me giggle. I think Really High Voice Peyton Manning and Arts and Crafts Tony Romo are my favorites.

9. Amazon's subscribe and save feature. I don't know how new this is, but I only pretty recently discovered it. So helpful for all those ingredients that are so much cheaper to buy in bulk occasionally. It's like Christmas every time I get a shipment! :-)

8. Our downstairs carpet is being installed TOMORROW! This will be the final big step in getting completely moved in and settled here. I'm so excited!

7. Starting off my fantasy football league 1-0. This never lasts long, so I celebrate while I can. :-)

6. Macy is our rookie this year in fantasy football. Not only did she get a win last week, she got the MOST POINTS in the entire league! Nicely done, Mace!

5. Prepping red beans and sausage for dinner and then enjoying a cup of Community coffee while the beans soak. It's all very Louisiana nostalgic.

4. A live action version of Jungle Book is in the works for 2016. Anyone else excited about this? Looks pretty amazing to me!

3. The elusive little hummingbird I finally caught in photos a few days ago. He's been hanging out with me for weeks, but he's so quick, I keep missing him by the time I grab my camera.

2. Grace made fun of me for this yesterday, but I don't care. I'm still using a bookmark she made for me about 6 years ago. Preciousness.

1. Psalm 103. Sort of makes you forget you have anything to whine about, no?

Excerpts from Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist

I don't write book reviews. This is because it seems to me that the purpose of a review is to encourage someone to want to read the book. And since I am never a better writer than the writer of the book I'm recommending, I figure it is more compelling simply to share some of their better writing with you. :-) I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, but it's how my weird little mind works. So...

Please enjoy these delicious little morsels from Shauna Niequist in Bread & Wine. And then pick up a copy of the book for yourself. It is entirely delightful in every way.

• Bread is bread, and wine is wine, but bread-and-wine is another thing entirely. The two together are the sacred and the material at once, the heaven and earth, the divine and the daily.
• The particular alchemy of celebration and food, of connecting people and serving what I've made with my own hands, comes together as more than the sum of their parts.
• It happens when we enter the joy and the sorrow of the people we love, and we join together at the table to feed one another and be fed, and while it's not strictly about food, it doesn't happen without it. Food is the starting point, the common ground, the thing to hold and handle, the currency we offer to one another.
• Food is a language of care, the thing we do when traditional language fails us, when we don't know what to say, when there are no words to say....It's the thing that connects us, that bears our traditions, our sense of home and family, our deepest memories, and, on a practical level, our ability to live and breathe each day. Food matters.
• When you eat, I want you to think of God, of the holiness of hands that feed us, of the provision we are given every time we eat. When you eat bread and you drink wine, I want you to think about the body and the blood every time, not just when the bread and wine show up in church, but when they show up anywhere--on a picnic table or a hardwood floor or a beach.
• This isn't about recipes. This is about a family, a tribe, a little band of people who walk through it all together, up close and in the mess, real time and unvarnished.
• I'm not talking about cooking as performance, or entertaining as a complicated choreography of competition and showing off. I'm talking about feeding someone with honesty and intimacy and love, about making your home a place where people are fiercely protected, even if just for a few hours, from the crush and cruelty of the day.
• ...our goal, remember, is to feed around our table the people we love. We're not chefs or restaurateurs or culinary school graduates, and we shouldn't try to be. Make it the way the people you love want to eat it. Make it the way you love it. Try it a million ways and cross a few off the list because they were terrible, but celebrate the fact that you found a few new ways too--ways that are fresh and possibly unconventional but perfect for your family. That's the goal.
• I want to cultivate a deep sense of gratitude, of groundedness, of enough, even while I'm longing for something more. The longing and the gratitude, both. I'm practicing believing that God knows more than I know, that he sees what I can't, that he's weaving a future I can't even imagine from where I sit this morning.
• I want so badly to release my stranglehold on my plan, my way, my calendar. I want to be the kind of Christian who really does believe God holds the future and that even my best guesses are just that. I want to live without anxiety, fear, and deadlines. But it seems that every chance I get, I grab back those pretend reins and allow myself to believe the myth that I'm in control.
• Recipes are how we learn all the rules, and cooking is knowing how to break them to suit our tastes or preferences. Following a recipe is like playing scales, and cooking is jazz.
• Recipes are the scales, the training wheels, the paint-by-numbers that lead us to jazz, two-wheel riding, and our very own blank canvas.
• ...there's no replacement for what happens when we make something with our own hands, directed by our own senses, motivated by our own love for the people we're serving.
• What people are craving isn't perfection. People aren't longing to be impressed; they're longing to feel like they're home. If you create a space full of love and character and creativity and soul, they'll take off their shoes and curl up with gratitude and rest, no matter how small, no matter how undone, no matter how odd.
• The heart of hospitality is about creating spaces for someone to feel seen and heard and loved. It's about declaring your table a safe zone, a place of warmth and nourishment. Part of that, then, is honoring the way God made our bodies, and feeding them in the ways they need to be fed.
• I'm learning that feasting can only exist healthfully--physically, spiritually, and emotionally--in a life that also includes fasting.
• There has to be a way to live with health and maturity and intention while still honoring the part of me that loves to eat, that sees food as a way to nurture and nourish both my body and my spirit.
• I want people to sit down and feel at home, not like there's a scientist in the kitchen but like there's a sister there, someone who loves them, who understands their history and wants to remind them of something lovely, who wants to recall together a sweet time.
• ...that night wasn't about the food. The food and the table and the laughter helped to create sacred space, a place to give someone the gift of words. That's what the night was about--sacred space and words of love.
• I choose discipline, not because I'm out of control, not as a punishment, but because it heals me, helps me, and builds and resets something good inside me.
• ...entertaining isn't a sport or a competition. It's an act of love, if you let it be. You can twist it and turn it into anything you want--a way to show off your house, a way to compete with your friends, a way to earn love and approval. Or you can decide that every time you open your door, it's an act of love, not performance or competition or striving. You can decide that every time people gather around your table, your goal is nourishment, not neurotic proving. You can decide.
• I think about how valuable it is to live the life in front of you, regardless of how tempting it is to press your face to the glass of other people's lives online, even though doing that is so much safer and so entirely addictive.
• I practice.....being entirely where I am, glamorous or not, and what I find is that it's better to be in one place, wholly and full-heartedly, than a thousand splintery half-places, glamorous as they may be.
• I'm going to live in the body God made me, not because it's perfect but because it's mine. And I'm going to be thankful for health and for the ability to run and move and dance and swim. And this is what I'm not going to do: I'm not going to hide.
• Food matters because it's one of the things that forces us to live in this world--this tactile, physical, messy, and beautiful world--no matter how hard we try to escape into our minds and our ideals. Food is a reminder of our humanity, our fragility, our createdness. Try to think yourself through starvation. Try to command yourself not to be hungry, using your own sheer will. It will work for awhile, maybe, but at some point you'll find yourself--no matter how high-minded or iron-willed--face-to-face with your own hunger, and with that hunger, your own humanity.
• Body of Christ, broken for you. Blood of Christ, shed for you. "Every time you eat the bread and drink the wine," Jesus says, "remember me." Communion is connection, remembrance.
• My friend Shane says the genius of Communion, of bread and wine, is that bread is the food of the poor and wine the drink of the privileged, and that every time we see those two together, we are reminded of what we share instead of what divides us.
• I believe the bread and wine is for all of us, for every person, an invitation to believe, a hand extended from divine to human.
• And I believe that Jesus asked for us to remember him during the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the wine every time, every meal, every day--no matter where we are, who we are, what we've done.
• To those of us who believe that all of life is sacred, every crumb of bread and sip of wine is a Eucharist, a remembrance, a call to awareness of holiness right where we are.
• Holiness abounds, should we choose to look for it. The whisper and drumbeat of God's Spirit are all around us, should we choose to listen for them. The building blocks of the most common meal--the bread and the wine--are reminders to us; "He's here! God is here, and he's good." Every time we eat, every time we gather, every time the table is filled: He's here. He's here, and he is good.
• The table is where we store up for those days [when it all falls apart], where we log minutes and hours building something durable and strong that gets tested in those terrible split seconds. And the table is where we return to stitch our hearts back together after the breaking.
• The table is where time stops. It's where we look people in the eye, where we tell the truth about how hard it is, where we make space to listen to the whole story, not the textable sound bite.
• We don't come to the table to fight or to defend. We don't come to prove or to conquer, to draw lines in the sand or to stir up trouble. We come to the table because our hunger brings us there. We come with a need, with fragility, with an admission of our humanity. The table is the great equalizer, the level playing field many of us have been looking everywhere for. The table is the place where the doing stops, the trying stops, the masks are removed, and we allow ourselves to be nourished, like children.....If the home is a body, the table is the heart, the beating center, the sustainer of life and health.

Dinner Party!!!

Ok, not really. Actually not even close. It wasn't supposed to be dinner at all. Really the conversation was something like this:

"Do you think you could put together a few finger foods for a little get-together during the conference?"

"Of course. How many people? And do you have anything specific in mind?"

"Not sure yet. Maybe 8 or 10. And just simple stuff. Maybe a veggie tray and some cocktail sausages with barbecue sauce."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Are you new?"

That conversation led to this:

Because I have no restraint, and I'm completely allergic to the thought of anyone leaving my house hungry. But also, in my defense, because I anticipated that the number of guests might increase as we got closer to conference time, and I was right. We ended up with about 20, I think. And I was thrilled!

But enough about all of that. Shall we talk about the actual food? :-) This was the menu:

Veggie Tray: Pretty self-explanatory and super easy to throw together. Pretty much any variety of raw veggies works. I used grape tomatoes, cucumber, red peppers, carrots, and celery. And then I mixed a habanero and ranch dip from seasoning packets I had in my pantry. But you could just as easily get a bottle or two of salad dressing if you prefer.

Fruit Bowl: Again, pretty self-explanatory. And certainly fully adjustable. I like to use fruits that don't oxidize easily, but if you splash them with some lemon juice, you could use those too. Macy and Grace wanted to help with this one. Didn't they do a good job? We just hollowed out one half of a small watermelon and then refilled it and surrounded it with watermelon, cantaloupe and seedless grapes.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken Bites: For these, I used my Bacon-Wrapped Sriracha Shrimp recipe and just replaced the shrimp with chicken. The only difference is that you can marinate the chicken longer than the shrimp, preferably overnight if you have the time. Other than that, just follow the same recipe.

Crostini with Compound Butters: This is my favorite way to turn one baguette into appetizer, side dish and dessert. Just slice the baguette, toast it lightly, and serve with an assortment of your favorite compound butters. I used sweet basil butter (butter plus sweet basil paste), chili lime butter (butter plus chili powder, lime zest, and a pinch of salt) and blueberry basil butter (butter plus finely chopped blueberries and fresh basil). Compound butter is simply this: softened butter mixed with your favorite flavors. That's it. It's the easiest thing ever. No rules. Just add and taste until you think it's delicious! You can't really mess up. I've even used pureed shrimp with a little bit of Old Bay seasoning. Probably sounds weird, but it was delicious alongside a huge pot of tomato bisque. (Oh, and--you can mix these days in advance and store them in the freezer, then just take out in enough time to soften before serving.)

Chorizo Cheese Dip: I don't really think that needs any further explanation. Am I right? ;-) Recipe here.

Tomato Chutney: Sweet, savory, tangy, delicious. Recipe here.

Stuffed Mushrooms: Pretty much the perfect finger food. Recipe here.

Cookies: I promised that you could use my "Perfect Cookies" recipe to make dozens and dozens of varieties of delicious cookies. Here are 4 examples: 

Lemon Ginger White Chocolate Chip--lemon pudding mix plus 1/2 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger and 1 cup white chocolate chips

Semi-Sweet and White Chocolate Chip--this is the original recipe in the link posted above

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip--chocolate pudding mix plus 1 cup peanut butter chips and 1 cup chocolate chips

Blueberry Cheesecake--cheesecake pudding mix plus 1 cup dried blueberries and 1 cup white chocolate chips

My favorite thing about this menu is that you can set it out and be done with it. There is no follow up and no maintenance needed, which frees you to interact with your guests. Which is exactly what I did, and it was perfect! I hope these give you some good ideas for your next gathering. Enjoy!

Your Friday Four-Course Meal

Appetizer (a quick bite): Sriracha Caviar. I cannot wait to try this!

Entree (something to chew on for awhile): Organic Food, Essential Oils, and the Gospel of Grace by Stacy Reaoch. Good perspective on important (but not *of first importance*) topics.

Dessert (just for fun): You have to watch this at least twice so that you can focus on the Mom and the baby separately. But really you should probably watch it about 17 times. It doesn't get less awesome with repetition.

Coffee (sip and savor slowly and repeatedly): Grateful to Ray Ortlund for posting this gem over at TGC. The Exuberant Goodness of the Creator.

Chorizo Cheese Dip

Let's pinky promise to never again use Velveeta cheese, ok? I mean, no judgment. I've eaten (and served) plenty of it in the past. But my goal is to eliminate as much processed food as I possibly can from my life and the lives of the people I feed. And with a recipe this simple, we just don't need that stuff anymore. Let's eat real cheese from now on, k? Like this stuff. It's yummy!

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons cornstarch

12 oz. half and half

4 oz. light cream cheese (at room temperature)

8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, freshly shredded*

8 oz. extra sharp Cheddar cheese, freshly shredded*

1 can diced tomatoes with green chiles

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 pound chorizo

*You can really use any cheese. I like the cheddar for the flavor, but it's good to combine it with something a bit "meltier". Monterey Jack works well, but mozzarella would probably be just as good. Also, you could use pre-shredded if it's easier. I find that pre-shredded cheese is much less flavorful since it tends to dry out, so I like to shred just before using. But that's just me. ;-)

1. Brown chorizo. Drain and set aside.

2. Melt butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in cornstarch until combined and cook for about a minute, stirring constantly until nice and smooth and no longer grainy.

3. Add half and half and whisk until combined and smooth. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream cheese until melted and well-combined. Add cheese, one handful at a time, stirring after each addition until fully melted. (Keep at low heat to avoid graininess or separation.)

4. Stir in tomatoes w/ green chiles, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and cooked chorizo. Serve with raw vegetables or tortilla chips.

The Good List

10. Freshly painted toenails. Especially when they're blue, green, or silver.

9. The weirdly satisfying exercise of watching a huge pile of dirty laundry become a neatly stacked (or hung), freshly scented array of options for tomorrow morning.

8. Roasted garlic. Amen.

7. Our current weather forecast. I'm not mad about this at all.

6. Coconut oil. For cooking. For baking. For your skin. For your hair. For your pets. Just get a jar for every room in your house. It pretty much does everything you'll ever need in life.

5. The crazy amazing sunset we got to witness from Grace's bedroom window the other night. It was so vivid and colorful, it looked fake--like stained glass.

4. Spending Sunday morning with Kansas Mission Church, some of the kindest and most welcoming people I've ever met. (And they have beautiful stained glass.)

3. Ginormous willow trees. There is something so sweet and gentle and inviting about them. And a little bit whimsical. Kinda like the Granddad of trees.

2. A family outing to Grinter Farm in Lawrence, KS on Sunday. Acres and acres of massive sunflowers. Just gorgeous!

1. A Savior who loves, saves, lavishes, rescues, redeems, protects, adores. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. So thankful.

Tomato Chutney

Y'all. Don't be like me. A good chutney needs a couple hours to slowly simmer and thicken, so don't start yours at 9:30pm like I did this time. But if you do, stick your face as close to the pot as you can without singing off your eyebrows and get a good whiff of this deliciousness right when it all starts to melt together. And then put on your favorite Christmas record. Not a CD or playlist. It has to be a record for some reason. I don't know why. And it has to be Christmas, because for some reason the smell of this stuff makes me think of the holidays. Again, I don't know why. It just does. 

But no matter what else you do or what time of day you make this, just promise you'll make it often. It is so rich and flavorful, and it can be used in dozens of ways. Top meat or fish, pour it over pasta or quinoa, or even just use it as a dip all by itself or ladled over cream cheese. So good. So versatile. And aside from taking awhile to simmer away, it is super easy to prepare.

Ingredients:

2-3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes. Pretty much any kind. This time I used one pint of grape tomatoes and 4 or 5 plum tomatoes.

1/2 cup coconut sugar

1/2 teaspoon powdered stevia 

1 large green pepper, finely chopped

1 medium to large onion, finely chopped

2 tablespoons ketchup

a generous splash of Sriracha

1 teaspoon sweet basil paste

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Instructions:

Stir all ingredients together in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Once mixture begins to bubble a bit, reduce heat and simmer for up to 2 hours, stirring regularly until mixture has thickened to desired consistency.

Sushi Bowls

Alright, listen. I love me some sushi. And I typically love re-creating all of my favorite foods at home. But mad respect for the experts, yo. There is an art to perfectly rolled sushi that I simply haven't mastered. (Probably never will, but I'll keep trying.)

Meanwhile, though, I do still want to enjoy some of those flavor combinations at home. So--sushi bowls. Not quite the same, but still fun to mix and match in the same way you might build a roll (if you're so inclined.) 

This also allows me to use quinoa (my food crush) in place of rice without worrying about the roll falling apart since it's almost impossible to get quinoa to be as sticky and sturdy as rice within a roll. So yeah. Not all bad to just eat it out of a bowl I guess. Try it, and let me know what you think.

Oh, and don't skip the sauces on this! They are super simple to make, and they change the flavors from "good" to "magical". I promise.

Sriracha Mayo (Sauce #1):

Ingredients:

1/2 cup light mayo

1 tablespoon Sriracha (you can adjust to your heat tolerance)

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

Instructions: 

Mix well and set aside. (Store leftovers in refrigerator.)

Eel Sauce (Sauce #2):

Ingredients:

1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce

1/2 cup Mirin (sweet Japanese wine) If you can't find this, you can use dry sherry or marsala or really any cooking wine, but you will probably want to sweeten a bit.

1/2 cup coconut sugar

Instructions:

Combine all 3 ingredients in small sauce pan over medium high heat. Simmer at a gentle boil, stirring often, until reduced by about half. Set aside to cool and thicken. (Store leftovers in refrigerator.)

Sushi Bowls:

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked quinoa

1/2 leek, finely diced (Or really any onion. I just had a leek, and I really like them, so I threw it in there.)

1 teaspoon garlic paste

1/2 cup carrots, cut into matchsticks

1/2 cup cucumber, cut into matchsticks

1 cup frozen shelled edamame 

1 avocado, diced

1 pound shrimp, peeled and de-veined

6-8 oz. fresh tuna

coconut oil (for coating pan 3 times)

Instructions:

1. Prepare edamame according to package directions and set aside.

2. Coat a non-stick pan with coconut oil and saute leeks over medium heat just until fragrant and slightly wilted. Add cooked quinoa and garlic paste and heat just until well-combined and warmed through. Set aside. (It's totally fine to serve this at room temperature. No need to keep it piping hot.)

3. Coat pan again with coconut oil and toss shrimp over medium heat just until firm, pink and opaque. Set aside and cover to keep warm.

4. Coat pan one more time with coconut oil and increase heat to medium-high. Sear tuna ever so briefly on each side--no more than about 30 seconds. Just enough to get a nice brown layer of flavor on the outside but stay pretty rare on the inside. Remove from pan and slice.

5. Build bowls by beginning with quinoa/leek mixture. Then add veggies and avocado. Layer protein over top and drizzle with sauces. 

6. Go back for seconds, 'cause you're gonna want 'em. :-D

And just because I think it's so pretty, one more picture...

Stuffed Mushrooms

Stuffed mushrooms are one of my go-to items for almost any get-together I host where finger foods are involved. They are just the perfect little bite. Rustic and elegant at the same time. And somehow simultaneously indulgent and healthy. The best of all worlds. 

I've made them at least a dozen different ways, but this is one of my favorites. The sharpness of the sun-dried tomatoes and tangy goat cheese combines so perfectly with the melty creaminess of the mozzarella, and then it's all held together by those hearty, earthy little mushrooms. Just a good bite of food. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

24 (or so) Baby Bella or White Button mushrooms (I tend to opt for the bellas when I can, but sometimes they're quite a bit more expensive. No worries. The white ones work just fine. There is so much flavor going on in these, the mushroom is really just a vehicle to get the other stuff into your mouth. :-D)

coconut oil (for coating the pan)

1 large onion, finely diced

2-3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

1 cup baby spinach, torn into small pieces

1/3 cup goat cheese

1/2 teaspoon sweet basil paste

1/3 cup freshly grated mozzarella

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Parmesan

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 generous pinch freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons panko bread crumbs

Instructions:

1. Clean mushrooms by wiping with paper towels. (Don't rinse as the water could cause them to wilt too much before cooking.)

2. Preheat oven to 350.

3. Remove stems from mushrooms. (Save them for soup or something. You won't need them for this recipe.)

4. Heat just enough coconut oil to coat the bottom of a large skillet. Cook onions over medium heat until they begin to caramelize. Add garlic and sun-dried tomatoes and cook until garlic becomes fragrant. Add spinach and cook just until wilted.

5. In large bowl, combine goat cheese, mozzarella, 1/4 cup Parmesan, basil paste, and salt and pepper. Pour vegetable mixture over top and combine well.

6. Stuff mushrooms with cheese/vegetable mixture.

7. Combine last 2 tablespoons Parmesan with panko bread crumbs and sprinkle over top of mushrooms.

8. Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes, until nice and bubbly inside and golden brown on top.

Homemade Granola

Ok, I have another one of my weird confessions. I love granola and trail mix, but I nearly have panic attacks when I try to buy them at the store, because there are so many options, and none of them are exactly right. You know what I mean? Like this one has all of my favorite nuts but it has those weird little grainy pineapple chunks instead of delicious blueberries. Or that one has the right fruits, but it has those weird gigantic brazil nuts (pretty much the only nut I don't like). Or the most annoying--the ones that list the exact perfect combination of all of your favorite ingredients, but there are only 2 each of almonds, cashews, pecans, pistachios and blueberries, and the rest is peanuts. COME ON! Nothing against peanuts. I love 'em. But if I want peanuts, I'll buy peanuts. Are ya'll with me on this?

Anyway, the solution? Make it at home. It takes like 3-1/2 minutes (besides cooking time for the granola) to put the whole situation together. Super easy, and you can make sure it has whatever you want in it and nothing else. :-)

Here is the combination I used this time:

Ingredients:

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup cooked red quinoa

1/2 cup coconut sugar

zest of one large orange

1/2 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/3 cup maple syrup

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 325.

2. Combine oats, nuts, quinoa, coconut sugar, orange peel, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.

3. Melt together the butter and maple syrup. 

4. Drizzle syrup mixture over oat and nut mixture and combine well.

5. Spread evenly onto sprayed or parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so, until golden brown.

6. Remove from oven and allow to cool before storing in airtight container.

***It is also delicious to add dried fruits like blueberries and cranberries, but those shouldn't be added until after cooking. I like to keep the mixture plain so that in addition to having it as a stand alone snack, it can be used as a topping for baked/broiled fruits (in which case I don't need the dried fruit in there). But for sure throw in some dried blueberries or yogurt covered raisins if you like! And if you accidentally drop a few chocolate chips in there, too, I'm not here to judge. :-P