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Angelman Syndrome, AAC and everything in between

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White Chicken Chili

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White Chicken Chili

White Chicken Chili  

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
  • 1 medium-sized onion, diced
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 Tablespoon Oregano
  • 1 Tablespoon Cumin
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 

Add:

  •  32-ounce box of chicken broth/stock
  • 12 ounces corn (canned, frozen or fresh)
  • 2 – 15 ounces canned white beans
  • 2 – 4.5-ounce cans green chilies

Add:

  • 3 cups shredded, or cubed chicken 
  • 1/2 cup sour cream (or coconut milk)
  • 2 Tablespoons salsa
  • 3 Tablespoons fresh cilantro

Garnish with:

  • fresh chopped cilantro
  • sour cream
  • shredded cheddar cheese
  • Tortilla chips
  1. Sauté the onion in olive oil till translucent
  2. Add spices and garlic, stir and cook for a minute till fragrant
  3. Add chicken broth, corn, beans and chilies, sour cream, salsa, and cilantro.
  4. Simmer for minimum 10-minutes, ideally for 20-minutes. With soups like this, the flavors tend to marry overnight, so go ahead, make this a day ahead.

Season with S&P to taste.

If it still lacks flavor, you can increase the spices to your liking, add more salsa, a tablespoon of Better than Bouillon, or all of the above. Like it creamier, add more sour cream. Like it hotter, add Tabasco or your choice of hot sauce. If you have chicken to use up, go ahead and add that too. This is a good way to use up rotisserie chicken.

*Serve the chili with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, a sprinkle of cilantro and a side of Tortilla chips

Chocolate Banana Bread

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Jessie likes to talk when she’s cooking

Growing up, my Mom made everything from scratch which meant she didn’t buy bread, cookies or prepared foods. This is just how it was. For the most part, I have followed her lead but I don’t always have time to bake like she did, however, I’ve found recipes that are much more time friendly. 

Jessie prefers making quick breads. They are simple and don’t take all day. When it comes to food, she isn’t always patient. During the summer we make zucchini bread and the rest of the year, she likes making banana bread and chocolate is her favorite:

Chocolate Banana Bread

  1. preheat oven: 350 degrees
  2. grease bread pan, line with waxed paper.
  3. make sure all ingredients are room temperature.
  • 3 large bananas mashed
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/3 cup melted butter
  • 1 tsp. vanilla
  • 1 1/2   cup flour
  • 1  tsp. baking soda
  • 1  tsp. salt
  • 1/2      cup cocoa
  • 1/2      chocolate chips
  • 1/2      cup chopped walnuts.
  • Avocado*
  1. Mash bananas. Add sugar and eggs, mix until smooth.
  2. Add butter and vanilla.
  3. Combine all dry ingredients (tossing the chips and nuts in the flour helps prevent them from sinking) then add to the bananas.
  4. Bake for 60-70 minutes
  5. *When we were short one banana for the recipe, we substituted it with an avocado. The avocado hides in the background but does make the bread extra moist.
  6. Of course, if you want traditional Banana Bread, just omit the chocolate and cocoa.
It took years to get her to peel a banana properly. It’s the little things we take for granted.

Making applesauce

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It has taken some practice, but Jess is finally getting the hang of peeling apples. 

Her first attempt, she peeled half an apple before walking away.

The second attempt, she’d turn the handle in the right direction, but the middle of the apple there was more resistance and  she’d reverse the direction.  This is a simple tool and going backwards doesn’t work well. 

Today was her third attempt.  By Jove, I think she got it!  Still not perfect, we are going in the right direction. 

Jess carried the pot of apples to the stove and went to town adding the cinnamon.  We are still working on portion control.

The first thing my Mom taught me to cook was applesauce. It was quick, didn’t require a recipe and kept the attention of my seven-year-old self.  The best part was eating the fresh sauce while it was still hot! 

Mom’s method was to cut up the apples, add water, bring to a soft boil, cooking till fork tender.  When the apples finished cooking, she then used a Foley food mill to remove the skin, making the sauce smooth and then would add the rest of the ingredients.  Some people like to leave the peel from red applies because it gives the sauce a blush color.

Instead of using a food mill, we prefer an apple peeler. I like to get the work done up front and it is more fun for Jess to use.  The peeler removes the core and 99% of the peel.  Add a couple of cups of water, a hint of brown sugar, a dusting of cinnamon, a splash of lemon juice and a few grains of salt.  Soft apples like Macintosh don’t take long to cook.  Finish using a potato masher.

Maybe by apple season, when the fruit is plentiful, we will go into production.  Jess just might make her own Christmas gifts for 2017.

Jess needs lots of encouragement to build her confidence.  I love how Jess grabs another apple at the end.  She makes me laugh.

New activities encourage her to use her Talker more.

The best part about cooking together is our conversation. Jess does more talking when we are doing something fun, especially when it involves food!.

 

Chocolate cake…one piece at a time.

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img_2322After seeing a recipe for a three-ingredient chocolate cake, I accepted the challenge.

1 ripe banana
1 egg
1 Tablespoon Cocoa

Blend and pour batter into a ramekin, 3/4 full and bake.

This recipe makes one large ramekin or two small, but the size of banana may play a part.

So far, so good. The original recipe suggested to microwave, however, I attempted this years ago and found it inedible. This time I baked it for the suggested time and temperature, but this was not long or hot enough.

The second test cake, I baked it at 375 degrees for 16-18 minutes.  Of course, this doesn’t have the same texture as a traditional cake.  It reminded me more of bread pudding but without the bread!  Regardless, this was simple and tasty enough to make again.  Also, it’s best served warm.

Next attempt, I may add a handful of chopped nuts or chocolate chips to the batter.

We did add a dollop of whipped cream, but ice cream would be good too.

Put this under the category of “emergency” desserts.

If you need to omit the egg, I liked the suggestions made by Joy the Baker.

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Spaghetti…leftover or new beginnings

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IMG_0018
This didn’t photograph well, but don’t let that fool you. This was so good, this was all that was left to share.

After having spaghetti and meatballs, there’s often leftovers. What to do, what to do.  Sure, it can be reheated, or you can reinvent it and make a spaghetti pie.  Basically, you can add anything that works together and pleases your palate.

The world is your oyster when making Spaghetti pie.  If you double the recipe, use a spring form pan. This will make it taller and makes for a fun presentation for a party.

I didn’t have a large amount of pasta left over, so used a 9×11” casserole dish.  In my fridge, besides the meatballs, I had leftover pulled pork and fresh spinach. Yum!

Use this basic recipe as your guide:

preheat oven to 375 degrees

1 lb. cooked pasta (I used Angel Hair that was gluten free)
2 eggs
4 oz. Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp. garlic
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. oregano
8 oz. marinara sauce
1/4 cup water (or milk, half&half, vodka…)

4 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. sour cream
4 oz. mozzarella cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic
S&P to taste

  • Stir in the eggs, Parmesan and spices to the cooked pasta (you can use whatever pasta shape you have on hand). The eggs help the pasta retain its shape and prevents it from puddling on your plate.
  • Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of a prepared (greased) 9×11” pan.
  • Next use half of the spaghetti mixture
  • Dot this with the sour cream and cream cheese. I eyeball this and roughly drop a teaspoon of each like I do when baking cookies. Either shred or cut thin pieces of mozzarella.
  • I used a jarred marinara sauce (choose one that doesn’t have fructose corn syrup or sugar). If I cut the sauce with water, half&half, cream or even vodka, it tastes more homemade and loses the prepared-jar-taste.  Often I will add the liquid to the jar to get every last bit of sauce out of the jar, using just enough that it cleans it out, but not so much that it becomes runny.
  • Repeat this layer.

Bake at 375 for 35 minutes, or till bubbly

You really can’t go wrong. Use as much or as little cheese as you want.  If you don’t have mozzarella, there’s no rule saying you can’t use cheddar or Swiss. Ham or bacon, or just leftover veggies. If you have leftover chicken, just chop that up, add artichoke hearts and mushrooms and you have a completely different dish. As I said, the world is your oyster 🙂

Greek Ziti & Ice cream sandwiches

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We’ve been held up in the house too long for one reason or another.

When I’m bored, it’s my motivation to try new recipes.

IMG_8788Dinner:   If I had the ingredients, I would have made Pastitsio but ended up making a version of this Greek Ziti instead. When I say version, it means I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I improvise, substituting with half a box of Cavatappi noodles, 24 ounce jar of marinara sauce and a third cup of milk and gluten free panko crumbs.  The nice thing about making this type of dish, is that you don’t have to be as precise as when baking.

IMG_8790IMG_8791Dessert:. An ice cream sandwich recipe caught my eye. I’ve never attempted them before. I didn’t realize that they take no time at all to make. This took less time than baking a batch of cookies.

For these, I almost kept to the recipe. I replaced the all-purpose flour with GF flour.  I cooked this directly on the Silpat but it would have been just as easy to use parchment paper.

I chose not to soften the ice cream, but cut slices with a knife.  For the sandwich, I used a pizza cutter and a ruler.  It would have been fun to cut them in bite sized pieces.

If I spent more time, I could have made them look prettier, but it didn’t matter, they were eaten too quickly.

The nice thing about posting recipes is at least I know where I can find them!

Ingredients for sandwich, preheat oven to 350, cook for 10 minutes, cool before assembly

  • 1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 cup (100 grams) white granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup (65 grams) all purpose flour
  • 1/4 cup (25 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups (2 pints) (950 ml) Ice Cream (Homemade or Store Bought), slightly softened – see what happens in step 6 if you let it get too melty!!
  • 10 x 15 inch (25 x 38 cm) rimmed baking sheet