52 New Recipes in 2019: Part 2

Posted on by Jessica Holzberg

Here’s the second installment of 52 new recipes in 2019. I am feeling good about my pace seeing as I am still ahead of the game even after falling off the map a bit in April/May for work, travel, and moving. If you missed part one, check it out here.

  1. Apple cinnamon oatmeal bars (3.5/5). These were fine but I’m standing by my original statement that the blueberry version of these bars is the best.
  2. Brussel sprouts tacos (3/5). Just felt kinda meh about these.
  3. Roasted cauliflower, chickpea, and arugula salad with dreamy tahini dressing, using this method for chickpeas (4/5). This was a solid lunch option that required minimal hands-on prep time. Will make again.
  4. Coconut turmeric oats (5/5). These were soo good that I ate them four weeks in a row. They’ve been in regular breakfast rotation ever since. I added a little more liquid (~2-3 Tbsp) to get the consistency more to my liking. Mango is mandatory!
  5. Lemon ricotta cookies (4/5). I had trouble creaming the butter and sugar together the day I made these for whatever reason so the texture felt a little off, but still a solid cookie.
  6. Strawberry coconut macaroons (4/5). Easy and tasty!
  7. Mojito pie (4.5/5). Also easy and tasty! Basically just key lime pie with mint.
  8. Best ever chicken enchiladas (4.5/5). I’ve made a few different very good enchilada sauces, but this one might be one of my faves because there is no chopping. The recipe comes together super quickly if you cook/shred chicken in the Crockpot ahead of time. I don’t think it needs this much cheese.
  9. Curried red lentils with coconut milk (3.5/5). Solid, very inexpensive meal for a weeknight. Needed some cayenne.
  10. Old-fashioned sour cream crumb cake (5/5). Very easy cake that is perfect for brunch or a holiday breakfast. Will make again.
  11. Fruit pizza (4.5/5). Fruit pizza makes me think of the 90s, and I am not mad about it. Great dessert for a summer party. I baked mine on a rectangular baking sheet using the same bake time and it came out fine.
  12. Grilled corn and zucchini salad with sun-dried tomato vinaigrette, with chickpeas using this method (4.5/5). Yes, yes, and yes. This has almost everything I love about summer in a salad and is pretty quick to pull together.
  13. Thai pineapple fried rice (3.5/5). This had been on my list to make for a while so perhaps I had built up my expectations too high, but I just felt kind of meh about this one. Probably will not repeat.

52 New Recipes in 2019: Part 1

Posted on by Jessica Holzberg

Here’s the first installment in my 52 new recipes in 2019 challenge: recipes 1-13. 2019 had a strong start! I plan to make many of these again.

  1. Chicken tzatziki bowl (5/5). I used this recipe for the chicken marinade and riffed on the rest. I did not use skewers and cut the chicken smaller for faster stovetop cooking. I might like this as much as Cava, which is pretty much the biggest compliment you can get from me. One of my new fave meals.
  2. Green goddess quinoa summer salad (5/5). Not just for summer! I omitted tomatoes, used the magic green sauce option, and added zucchini and nuts as suggested, which ended up being vegan. This was a solid lunch option and it would also be a good side dish to bring to a party.
  3. Best anytime baked chicken meatballs (5/5). These are some of the best simple meatballs I’ve ever made and also were the fastest ever. No chopping and best of all no sautéing before baking. Can be used in an infinite number of ways and seasonings can be changed up. New fave.
  4. Spicy peanut soba noodle salad (4.5/5). This was delicious! I skipped the chicken and it came together super quickly.
  5. Moroccan meatballs over brown rice (4/5). Highly, highly recommend blending the sauce after cooking (I used my immersion blender); otherwise, the sauce is fairly unappealing IMO. Also, this recipe makes a ton of sauce (no complaints about this!), so you can double the meatball recipe if you’d like.
  6. Crispy chickpea and za’atar salad (4/5). I used this method for the chickpeas, which is almost identical but uses a lower oven temp. I also used pre-cooked/peeled beets which makes this recipe super quick.
  7. Maple cinnamon oatmeal breakfast bars (4/5). I’ve made a few variations on these before (highly recommend the blueberry oatmeal breakfast bars). I liked these a lot but found them a tiny bit dry.
  8. Microwave chocolate mug cake (4/5). This is still very much a mug cake (AKA, dense and somewhat gummy), but a solid recipe for one. Beware, one serving is HUGE.
  9. Easy everyday curry with crispy baked tofu, jasmine rice, broccoli, and cauliflower (3.5/5). This was a 3 the first day and a 4 for leftovers. I used half the amount of broth and still found it a bit soupy for my liking on day 1, though it ended up being just right the next day once the rice absorbed some of it. Also, I used an entire container of green curry paste and still didn’t find it quite spicy enough. I think it is generally hard to make good curry at home, but this is one of the better recipes I’ve tried. Would make again but also open to other recipe ideas.
  10. Spicy Southwestern salad with avocado dressing (3.5/5). Needs some liberal salt and pepper, but a good lunch option. Used a pre-chopped salad bag and also added Crispy Baked Tofu for more protein.
  11. Classic mint chocolate brownies (3/5). I’m giving this one a split review because while they were pretty delicious (4.5/5), they were a huge PITA to make (1.5/5). While Sally’s Baking Addiction usually doesn’t let me down, these stuck to the pan and cracked when I cut them. I spent a lot of time making something (so many cooling steps!) that looked like a hot mess. Won’t be repeating.
  12. Chipotle sofritas tacos (3/5). The chipotle sauce and corn salsa were both delicious, but this just didn’t come together quite the way I hoped. The tofu didn’t absorb much of the sauce, making the tofu watery and taste just “meh” overall. I would try this again with a different protein or less sauce.
  13. Cauliflower rice chicken biryani (3/5). This was okay. I normally don’t mind cauliflower rice but found it pretty bland in this dish, and I wasn’t wowed enough by the chicken seasoning to want to attempt it again with white or brown rice. The dish definitely was improved with an improvised avocado topping, because duh.

Christmas Cookies 2018

Posted on by Jessica Holzberg

Last year, I began what I hope to be an annual tradition: baking a ridiculous amount of Christmas cookies (you can find that post here). While every single recipe I made last year was great, I wanted to mix it up a bit. I decided to make two favorites from last year but also try some new recipes. Here’s what’s on my agenda this weekend:

  1. Peppermint mocha cookies
  2. Soft-baked white chocolate chip molasses cookies
  3. Cherry almond shortbread cookies
  4. Drop style Christmas sugar cookies
  5. Cinnamon roll cookies
  6. Butterscotch pretzel chocolate chip cookies

Looking for other suggestions? Here are the other recipes I made in 2017, all of which were great:

  1. Dark chocolate orange slice and bake cookies
  2. Salted vanilla toffee cookies
  3. Cranberry white chocolate pistachio cookies
  4. Crisp molasses cookies

And here are some others I considered (some might make it onto my 2019 list):

Happy holidays!

Thanksgiving 2018

Posted on by Jessica Holzberg

I’m not hosting Thanksgiving but will still be in the kitchen a decent bit this week. Here’s what’s on deck for me this long weekend:

Simmering: Stove top potpourri (left). Surefire way to generate “it smells good in here!” comments every time someone enters the house.

Breakfast-ing: Orange cranberry muffins

Snacking: Seasoned pretzels. Pro tip: Check whether your lemon pepper seasoning is salted. Last year I neglected to do this and the amount of salt between the pretzels and seasoning made this almost inedible. This year I used unsalted pretzels with my salt-containing seasoning and it was just right. Seriously easy (telework day friendly!) and addicting.

Drinking: Chai vanilla old fashioned. I made the chai syrup this past weekend and it smelled amazing.

Dessert-ing: The great pumpkin pie with this pie crust and Brown butter maple pecan pie bars. I have never made pie crust before. A little nervous about this! (I have store-bought as back-up).

While I imagine most people have their meal plan set by now, if you’re looking for breakfast or brunch ideas throughout the long weekend, here are some of the recipes that are on my radar (asterisk indicates I have made it before and liked it):

Wishing you a restful and happy holiday!

No Added Sugar January 2018

Posted on by Jessica Holzberg

For the month of January, I cut out added, artificial, and refined sugar. I wanted to re-calibrate my taste buds as well as be more aware of how sugar is added to everything we buy. The three staples of this program: 1) know all the names for sugar, 2) read labels even when you don’t think you need to, and 3) meal prep/cook at home as much as you can.

Overall, it was a good experience and I will continue to eat lower sugar, but it wasn’t life-changing. Here are some of my favorite recipes from the month:

Breakfast

Ground Turkey/Beef

Chicken

  • Baked chicken with Creole seasoning blend and 5 Minute Magic Green Sauce, side of sweet potato and broccoli roasted with olive oil, salt, & pepper: Inspired by Spicy Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Broccoli but exact instructions not followed. 1/4 of the seasoning recipe was more than enough.
  • Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala with Cauliflower and Peas over brown rice: I subbed in frozen cauliflower cooked 80% of the way in the microwave before adding to Instant Pot.
  • Burrito bowls: Brown rice, salsa chicken (see below), black beans (drained, rinsed, and warmed with 1 Tbsp taco seasoning), and toppings (e.g., guacamole, thawed sweet corn, salsa, hot sauce, cheese, plain Greek yogurt). For the salsa chicken, heat 1 lb. of chicken in Crockpot with 1 Tbsp taco seasoning, 1 jar of salsa, and (optional) ~1/4 cup chicken broth if you’re worried about dryness (I always am) for 8 hours on low. Shred once cooked through.
  • Mediterranean bowls: cauli rice, harissa shredded chicken, cabbage, cucumber, roasted red pepper sauce, hummus, homemade easy tzatziki (plain Greek yogurt, lemon juice, cucumber, dill, garlic salt, and pepper to taste). This would also be great with black olives and feta but I forgot to add them.
  • Crockpot Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup: I halved the amount of chicken broth so it would fit into my Crockpot and used yogurt instead of sour cream but kept everything else the same.

Vegetarian/Vegan

Christmas Cookies 2017

Posted on by Jessica Holzberg

My coworkers and I have lunch together every Tuesday. Many of our conversations turn to food and what we are making for dinner. We’ve talked about creating a cookbook for our division, but until that happens, I thought I would try to post here every once in a while again.

I baked six different kinds of cookies after work yesterday, and while I was seriously starting to question my sanity after washing my mixer, bowls, etc. that many times in a row, they all came out great! (And baking that much at one time is a great way to rid yourself of any desire to lick the spoon).

Hope my family and friends are ready to eat these this week, but for those I won’t be seeing, here are the recipes in case you’re looking for some ideas:

  1. Cherry almond shortbread cookies
  2. Dark chocolate orange slice and bake cookies
  3. Crisp molasses cookies
  4. Peppermint mocha cookies
  5. Salted vanilla toffee cookies
  6. Cranberry white chocolate pistachio cookies

I stuck with my girl Sally at Sally’s Baking Addiction for all of these recipes. I have made many things from her site and have never been disappointed. The caramel Snickers seven layer bars even won me a dessert competition at work.

Wishing everyone a happy and restful holiday season!