Hippo Sandwiches

Being sick sucks! Being a sick parent with kids who are also sick sucks even more! For the past week my poor boys have been battling a nasty head cold and, as of yesterday, my husband and I have caught it. Piles of used tissues are starting to pile up in our home, there is a hint of Mentholatum in the stale air, and the overall mood of our family has been quite gloomy. Yesterday, as I tucked my kids into bed for their nap, stroking their hair as I held a tissue up to my red and drippy nose, I began to think back on when my parents used to take care of me when I was sick. My mother was ever vigilant about keeping me pumped full of fluids as I laid under a mountain of blankets. I remember her stroking my hair and talking softly to me as she would give me my next dose of medicine. But in one particular memory, I remember my dad was coming home from a long and busy day (he was working two jobs at the time) when he decided to bring home some Taco Bell for dinner. Knowing that I was still feeling sick with very little appetite, he bought me a simple cup of re-fried beans with cheese on top. In that moment, it was the best tasting beans in the whole world. The warm cheesy beans were so kind to my sore throat as I ate, and it was the first "meal" I could really stomach all day. From that point on, any time I have gotten sick, I find myself wanting a nice cup of cheesy re-fried beans.

Comfort food can be powerful stuff. And I'm not just talking about the pint of ice cream you wolf down after a bad breakup, or the late-night bacon guacamole burger you make-out with at the end of a stressful work day. I mean the one dish that, no matter when you eat it, it awakens a memory deep within you that instantly brings a smile to your face. Even though I felt horribly sick, that silly little cup of re-fried beans my dad bought for me instantly turned my mood for the better. For some, it's a bowl full of chicken noodle soup. For others, it's a nice cup of lemon tea. Whatever it is that brings your tired and achy body just a little bit more comfort; I truly believe it can go a long ways towards helping you recover. As my mom used to say: where the mind goes, energy flows. To put it bluntly: happiness, even in the form of a meal, is powerful shit.

For myself, I often try to show my love to my family by providing good food. I like to go the extra mile to make healthy, delicious, fun food that can bring a smile to my family's face. As I sat there, watching my two boys sleep, their poor little stuffy noses and rattly breathing tugging at my heartstrings, I decided to make a dinner that night that would help lighten the mood for my family. So I set to work on making the most ridiculously cute and oh-so-tasty dinner they'd never forget: hippo sandwiches swimming in tomato soup. Yup, you read it correctly: hippo sandwiches. I was thrilled with how well they turned out and even more so at how happy and giggly it made my whole family (my husband included!). Those delicious little hippos did the job at comforting my family in a time of need, and I'm happy to say, after eating them, my family has quickly been on the mend. It's amazing what good food and a good mood can do for the body!

Perhaps some day, when my boys are adults and they come down with a head cold, they just might find themselves craving hippo sandwiches. I would love to see the look on their significant other's face when they say "Honey, can you make me a hippo for dinner tonight?"

Hippo Sandwiches

Ingredients for bread dough:
1 cup warm water
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoon quick rise yeast (aka instant yeast)

Add all ingredients to a bread machine in the above order, and choose dough setting. Or, if you don't have a bread machine, mix all ingredients in a bowl until a soft dough is formed. For dough into a ball and turn into a oiled bowl. Over and let rise for about an hour.

Ingredients for hippos:
bread dough (follow recipe above)
3-4 cheese sticks cut in half
pesto
1 egg + water (for egg wash)
melted butter for brushing on buns after baking
black beans

To make the hippos, I found a great website that shows you step by step instructions on how to put them together. The only variation I did is to stuff the body of the hippo with cheese and pesto. Check back here after you see the instructions below.
 http://www.handmadecharlotte.com/healthy-hungry-hippo-soup-recipe/?pp=1

When it comes to forming the dough ball for the body, roll it out flat like a small pizza. Next, put a spoonful of pesto in the middle (don't worry about spreading it around) followed with half a cheese stick. Grab the edges of the dough and, creating a pocket around the pesto and cheese, pinch and roll the edges together. When the filling is completely encased inside the dough, flip the dough ball over (so the pinched side is underneath) and use that as the body of your hippo.

Preheat oven to 375 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and lightly brush the paper with oil. Set baking sheet aside.

Once your hippos are stuffed and assembled, place them gently on the prepared baking sheet. Brush the hippos with egg wash and then bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes.

Remove hippos from oven and, while they are cooling down, brush each one with melted butter. Following the instructions for assembling the hippos from the website posted above, add the black beans for the eyes and nostrils.

When the hippos are complete, gently place the baked hippo sandwich into a bowl of your favorite hot soup. Serve hot.

Hot Buttered Rum

It was Christmas morning when I had my first true taste of hot buttered rum. I say "true taste" because for years my mom had been serving my brother and I hot buttered rum sans the rum; basically hot water mixed with hot buttered rum mix (ie: brown sugar, spices, and vanilla ice cream). We were too young to have the alcoholic version of the drink and, to be honest, I was still legally too young when I had my first alcoholic version of hot buttered rum. There was only half a shot of rum at best in the entire drink, but it still made me feel pretty cocky to be drinking alcohol like bad ass (what can I say: I was a middle-schooler). When the creamy sweet drink hit my tongue followed by the unfamiliar bite of rum, I could feel the warmth travel down into my chest as my face grew more and more rosy with each sip. That particular Christmas morning was filled with random giggles, sleepy firelight, and a goofy grin I just couldn't explain.

So why is it called hot buttered rum? The brown sugar mix that you buy in stores tastes nothing like butter. Is there even butter in it? Don't get me wrong, it's friggan delicious! But I couldn't understand why it was called hot buttered rum when butter seemingly had nothing to do with this particular concoction. In order to answer that question, one must rewind back to the 1650s when Colonial America first started distilling rum from molasses imports. When hot buttered rum was originally made, it had very few ingredients. Typically it contained nothing more than: rum, hot water, sugar, butter, and nutmeg (or other mulling spices). That's it. Hey, what do ya know! It contains hot butter and rum; now the name makes sense, right? Today's modernized version is way more sweet and rich than it's original predecessor, now comprised of heavy amounts of brown sugar, spices, and ice cream. As our modern "hot buttered rum" leans dangerously in the territory of being a melted milkshake with rum, the original festive beverage is nearly all but extinct.

This winter, I decided to forgo the modern version of hot buttered rum and give the ol' original recipe a try. Although this recipe tastes almost nothing like today's hot buttered rum, it isn't nearly as overly sweet, and it has an alcoholic kick that will certainly leave you feeling warm on a cold winter's night! Although Spring is quickly approaching, there are still plenty of cold days left to give this recipe a try. So if you are brave enough to ditch today's standards for hot buttered rum and mix up a cup of true history, give this recipe a try.

Hot Buttered Rum

Ingredients:

1 tsp. brown sugar

boiling water

1 jigger rum

1 pat unsalted butter (plus a little extra to butter the inside of the mug)

nutmeg

Butter the inside of a mug. Drop in sugar, fill not quite half full with boiling water, add the rum and pat of butter, and stir. Grate nutmeg over the top. This makes one portion.

Pesto Sauce

I was a junior in high school when I got my first job. I was a line cook at a little hole-in-the-wall pizzeria. The entire restaurant was no bigger than my current living room, I had to work 10 hour shifts in the summer standing next to a 475 degree industrial oven, the restaurant only had one door and no windows (which I'm pretty sure breaks a few fire code laws), and even on my days off I still couldn't get the smell of pizza out of my hair. But it paid me enough to have gas for my beater car, and I could have as much free pizza as I wanted during my shift. So, as a hungry freedom-seeking teenager, it was the best job in the world.

As part of my job as a line cook, it was my responsibility to make extra sauces and restock all the toppings in between the lunch and dinner rush. I made every pizza sauce known to man: classic marinara, spicy red sauce, garlic herb, creamy Alfredo, BBQ sauce, and of course pesto sauce. Out of all the sauces, I absolutely loved making pesto sauce the most. My hands would become saturated in the intoxicating aroma of fresh basil leaves, causing me to, rather awkwardly, sniff my hands throughout the day followed by a deep sigh of relaxation. (Whatever! I was a teenager. I already confused and scared people. Why not tack on "creepy hand-sniffer" to my title as weird teenager?) The best part about pesto was, not only did it make a unique pizza sauce, but it blended beautifully with our garlic cream sauce as well (great for pasta or pizza). It was amazing on toasted sub sandwiches, and it elevated something as simple as a grilled cheese sandwich. It could be baked on chicken or salmon, and, when mixed with mayonnaise, it was fantastic on cold sandwiches and wraps. You could also mix some pesto in with some ranch dressing to make for one epic salad. (Cobb salads are amazing with pesto ranch, just so you know. ^_^)

To this day, after harvesting basil from my garden, I can still be found sniffing my hands as I whip up a big batch of pesto. If you give this recipe a try, you should also know that pesto freezes really well. You can use freezer bags that have been vacuum sealed. Or, you can also pour the pesto into an ice cube tray, freeze the pesto until it sets, and then dump the pesto cubes into a larger freezer bag. That way, when you need some pesto for a recipe, you can simply thaw out a couple cubes at a time rather than having to defrost an entire bag.

Pesto
Ingredients:
3 cups basil leaves
4 cloves garlic, chopped
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups pine nuts or walnuts
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Process basil, garlic, and nuts together in a food processor fitted with a steel blade or in a blender until finely chopped. With machine running, pour in the oil in a thin, steady stream. Add the cheese and salt. Process briefly to combine. Remove to a bowl and cover until ready to use.

Refrigerate leftovers. Keeps for two weeks.

*Optional variation: substitute basil with fresh sage leaves.
**Sage pesto has a rich flavor that goes beautifully with poultry. Mix it in with scrambled eggs and Swiss cheese, or spread it on top of raw chicken breasts before baking in the oven.

My son was quite impressed with our basil harvest!

Granola

Nothing says nutritional breakfast like a big ol' bowl of granola. And nothing says sweet and crunchy lunch like a big ol' bowl of granola. And nothing says easy delicious dinner like a big ol' bowl of granola. And ya know what makes a really simple but filling snack? Yup! You guessed it: granola! 

Okay, so maybe not everybody loves granola as much as I do. During my collage years, when dorm life denied me constant access to a kitchen, I pretty much lived off of granola. With it coming in all different variations of flavors and mix-ins, I never grew bored of my breakfast heavy diet. (Not that I'm suggesting anyone should ever live solely off of cereal. EAT YOUR VEGGIES!!!) And since granola is typically protein packed, a little went a long way in satiating my hunger.

But what is better than eating ridiculous amounts of granola? Making ridiculous amounts of granola! Today, for the first time ever, I am going to share my all-time favorite recipe. A recipe I have kept locked away in my vault for safe keeping for over 10 years, helping me to create granola that has won over cereal lovers time and time again. The granola recipe I am posting here today is a great base recipe, but the variations you can create with it are endless. Depending on your own personal tastes, you can customize this recipe to create your own unique combo of flavors you can't find in a store. So please, please, please have fun with this recipe! And when you do, I would love to hear about the flavor fusions you have created, so please comment below on what delicious combinations you come up with.

After the basic recipe, I will also post a few suggestions for variations you can make that I have tried and loved! So here you go, my secret, favorite, most sacred recipe: granola!

Tasty Spoon's Homemade Granola

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 cups oatmeal (old fashioned. NOT instant!)

1/2 cup dry instant milk

3 tablespoons ground flax seed

3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Pinch of salt

*3/4 cup dried fruit & nuts

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Mix brown sugar, oil, and honey in a saucepan. Heat until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Combine dry ingredients in a large cake pan. Pour sugar mixture over dry mixture and stir to combine until almost all ingredients are moist (don't worry if it doesn't cover all the oats 100% yet. It will after it bakes in the oven). Mix in dried fruit.

Bake at 325 degrees for 10-15 minutes. Stir the granola and return to the oven. Bake for another 10-15 minutes. Repeat this process, stirring every 10-15 minutes, for 3-4 more times or until all the granola is golden brown.

Let the granola cool in the pan, stirring occasionally to avoid clumping as it cools. Store in an airtight container.

*Suggestions for dried fruit and nut combinations (these are ones I really enjoy): 

-raisins and walnuts

-blueberry and almonds

-walnuts and dried cranberries

-pistachios and broken up banana chips

-almond and dried coconut

-ginger and walnut (double the ground ginger in the recipe, plus add about 1/4 cup of chopped up candied ginger for a stronger flavor)

-almond and dark chocolate

A few other variations that I love are:

Peanut Butter Granola:

Add 1 cup of creamy peanut butter to the sugar mixture. Then add 1 cup of roasted peanuts in place of dried fruits. Continue recipe as described above.

Orange Cranberry Walnut Granola:

Add the juice of one large orange to the sugar mixture. Then add walnuts, dried cranberries, and 2 Tbl orange zest to the dry mixture. Continue recipe as described above.