Pumpkin Spice Latte

Nobody does it like Starbucks, nobody.  Seriously, what is it with that place?  I've said it before, and I'll say it again; I'm pretty sure they sprinkle just a little cocaine on the top of their drinks to make everyone crave more.  Their Pumpkin Spice Latte is no exception.  Chicago-ians (is that right?  Whatever, the people who live in Chicago) love it so much, that apparently they lobbied the Starbucks company to release it here earlier than other stores around the country.  It's that good.

You can also put the hot milk mix in the blender for
a super frothy drink.

When I indulge in a coffee shop drink, I usually try to opt for "skinny" or the sugar free varieties (because seriously, 400 calories for a drink is a bit excessive...).  Sadly, they don't have a "skinny" Pumpkin Spice.  Never fear, a quick internet search, a combo of a few recipes and my own ingenuity and BAM! A great knock off, lighter than the original.  Double the recipe and make one for a friend, and enjoy on a crisp fall day.  Ahhh.

Pumpkin Spice Latte
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp pumpkin puree
2 packets of splenda (or sugar to taste)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup strong brewed coffee
Cool Whip

In a glass measuring cup, combine all ingredients except coffee and Cool Whip.  Whisk vigorously.  Microwave for 1 minute or until very warm.  Whisk again until milk is really foamy (you can also put milk into a blender and blend it until foamy).  Pour into mug, and top with coffee.  Top that with Cool Whip, and add a dusting of pumpkin pie spice to the top.

Serves 1 delicious afternoon pick-me-up that didn't cost $4.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread

Baking with yeast is scary.  Oh, maybe not for my Nana and my mom-in-law Lisa, who are whizzes with the stuff, but I just have always felt that it's a little over my head.  Why?  I can read, and I can measure, so what's the big deal?  Sunday I decided to find out if I could count myself among the proud yeast-bosses.

I combined this recipe from two that I found on the internet (from Ellie Kruger (healthy) and Annie's Eats) because I wanted to use some whole wheat flour, and I also wanted the raisins to be a part of the dough, not just in the roll-up part.  I also chose not to use my mother-in-laws special "Coffee Cake" recipe because it has like 100293 tablespoons of butter, and I wanted to see if I could do a lighter version.  Here we go.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread
1 package active dry yeast
1 1/4 c very warm water
1 Tbsp sugar
3 Tbsp butter, softened
1 large egg
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp honey
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 3/4 cup-2 cups all purpose white flour
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2/3 cup raisins soaked in boiling water for 5 minutes
Brown sugar and cinnamon

In a large mixing bowl fitted with paddle attachment, combine yeast, water and sugar, stir briefly.  Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.  Then add in butter, egg, salt, honey, cinnamon, and flours.  Beat just until dough forms.  Switch attachment to a dough hook and knead on low speed for about 10 minutes.  Add raisins into bowl, and knead another 3-5 minutes.  If dough seems wet, add more flour until the dough doesn't stick to the sides of the bowl while raisins are kneading in.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.  Knead a few times with your hands (push out from the middle, turn, and fold some sides in.  Repeat).  Place dough into a lightly greased large bowl, turning dough once so the top is greasy too.  Cover loosely with plastic wrap.  Place dough in the oven (OFF!!!  don't turn the oven on....just keep it OFF) and turn the oven light on to generate some warmth.  Allow the dough to double in size.

Punch dough down and turn out onto board.  Push dough outward until it forms a circle.  Fold in the edges in thirds like a letter, then turn 90 degrees and fold again (you should end up with a square-like thing).  Put it back into the bowl and allow to rise and double again in the oven (OFF!!!)

Turn out onto board again, cut dough into 2 pieces and roll one piece into a 12x10 inch rectangle.  Sprinkle cinnamon and brown sugar all over the middle.  Fold in the left and right (long sides), and roll tightly starting from a short end.  Place loaf into a greased 9x5" loaf pan seam side down.  Do the same thing with the other half.  Again, cover and allow to rise until just peeking over the top of the pan.

Take off the seran wrap before you bake!!! That would be a mess

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly beat an egg, and brush the tops of both loaves with the egg (this is an egg wash, will make the top yummy and brown).  Bake for about 35 minutes, tenting with foil if the tops get too brown too fast.  Allow to cool 5 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely before cutting and serving.

Wow, we did it!!  Yeast bread!  It's super pillowy and soft, and has a nice spice from the cinnamon running throughout.  Maybe I'll try this yeast thing again sometime.

Cheers to Saccharomyces cerevisiae (baker's yeast),
Amy

Fall Wreath=attempt at craftiness

I'm not a crafty person, I'm just not.  I've gone through several phases where I'll see cool DIY projects and think, "Yes!  I have to try this right now, this is what I've been waiting for."  I'll rush off to Wal-Mart/Michaels/JoAnn Fabrics or whatever, buy my stuff, and get to work.  Somehow, I always end up with a product looking a little ridiculous...kinda like we trained a Rhesus monkey named Charlie to use a hot glue gun.  My right brain is a little slow.

However, after I saw my good friend Kara (who oozes with craftiness, and is good at it) post about a wreath that she just "threw together," I've been wanting to try to make a seasonal wreath.  I tried to talk myself out of it, I really did, but I took myself down to Michaels and stood directionless and lost in front of the fall-colored leaves, glittered flowers, and tiny pumpkins.  Sigh.

I must have looked as lost as I felt because a store designer named Tom came to my rescue.  He gave me the run-down on how I would even attempt a project like that (he assured me it was super easy...of course it is, for a designer), showed me where the hot glue guns were, (sort of) approved of my color combination, and off I went.

Oh, need I also mention that I must have a virus of domesticality today, because while I was fighting with my wreath, I was subsequently trying to make yeast cinnamon raisin bread....from scratch.  More on that later.

What I ended up with doesn't look half bad, don't you think?  I'll proudly display it on my door, and save it to use next year.  And OMG, the Christmas section!  I'm making a holiday wreath (probably next weekend...you see what happens when I get a "crafty" bug?)  I'll share that disaster with you too.

Craft on my friends, craft on,
Amy

Brown Sugar Toffee Cookies

I promised you the best cookies ever, and here they are.  Brown Sugar Toffee Cookies.  They were a major hit at Peter's clinic today, and well, a hit with me.  I follow several blogs, and I came across this yesterday on Joy the Baker.  Brown Sugar Cookies?  Those sound amazing.  I changed a few things, like adding 2 chopped toffee bars to the batter.  The result is a crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, fall-like bit of heaven in a cookie.

Take the time to whisk together your dry ingredients,
or sift them.  It makes a difference!!

They really are fall-ish, like everything else I'm making now-a-days.  Why does toffee taste autumnal?  Maybe it's because toffee is kinda like caramel, caramel=caramel apples=apple picking=harvest=fall.  Glad we solved that equation.  Plus, there's a touch of spice from cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice, so that never hurts.

Really thick dough!!

I hope you enjoy these as much as we did.  I had all the ingredients on hand (with the exception of the toffee bars, but I ran downstairs to the convenience store in our apartment, and voila!!  Toffee bars!!).

Wonder what happened to this blob of dough?  Salmonella, I'm not scared.

Brown Sugar Toffee Cookies
Adapted from Joy the Baker

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
2 toffee bars, chopped
A few extra chocolate chips, if you feel it's necessary

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice.

In a mixer, beat butter and brown sugar on medium speed for about 3-5 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Add egg and vanilla extract, and beat for 1 minute more.  Make sure ingredients are well-combined.

Add the dry ingredients gradually to the butter and sugar mixer.  Beat until the dough just comes together.   Fold in toffee pieces with a spatula.

Using a cookie scoop (or 2 spoons), drop cookie dough onto well-greased baking sheets.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned.  Cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack to cool completely.  Enjoy!!

Stethoscopes, part 1: Flu

Ok soo...I promise to post a cookie recipe tomorrow, and PS, they are AMAZING.  Maybe my favorite cookies ever (and that is really saying something...).  However, I've done a lot of "Spatula" posting, and thought maybe, just maybe? someone wanted to hear something to do with "Stethoscopes."  I hope I don't bore anyone too badly.  Just remember, cookies tomorrow!!

Have you gotten a flu shot yet?  I'm sitting here with a sore left arm, so yes, I've gotten mine.  I have very few "soapbox" issues, and vaccination is one of them, so please, pretty please?  Get your flu shot.  "But I never get sick," you say?  I don't care.  Go to Walmart (or anywhere in public for that matter) on any random Wednesday and you could contract every nasty virus known to man, including the flu, so you should be protected.  Are you ever in contact with babies?  Little kids?  Pregnant women?  Older people?  Sick people?  Any people?  Then you need a flu shot to help prevent spreading it to these susceptible people.  Getting the flu as a "healthy" person is no picnic either.  In med school (the lecture years), we were told that you can diagnose the flu by a person laying in your office, unable to move because they feel sooooo crappy.  Stay away from that.

I went to my friendly, neighborhood pharmacist at a grocery store and about 10 minutes later, I was vaccinated.

H1N1 !!  

"But I had one last year, I'm good," you say?  It doesn't work like that.  Anyone up for a quick game of "Introduction to Immunology?"  Great!  In a super fast nutshell, every time you're in contact with a new bug, or part of a bug, your immune cells go, "Wait!!  I've never seen this before, have you?"  And their neighbor white cell responds, "No dude, I haven't either.  Let me call the T helper cells, we'll get this straightened out."  And thus begins a beautiful orchestra of immunological complicated-ness that leaves you with cells to fight the current "infection"/vaccination, and others that will promise to remember this bug so that next time they can call the troops faster and better.  For some infections (polio is an example off the top of my head), those memory cells work for life.  For most others (common cold, influenza, tetanus), they work for much shorter than that.  Your "titers" (amount of good fighting antibodies in your blood) to influenza go down pretty quickly, so that by the time the next flu season comes around, you're naked again.  Naked!

The three strains in this year's vaccine are the same as last years (including H1N1), so after getting this year's shot, your cells will be like "Oh!  I remember this!  Thanks for the refresher, we've got your back".  Now of course, there are a bazillion (that's a scientific estimate) strains of the flu virus out there, so you won't be fully protected against ALL of them, but the three in the shot are considered the most likely to cause problems for that season, and the most deadly (H1N1 anyone?)

NO, you will NOT get the flu from getting the flu shot.  The shot contains dead viruses-D-E-A-D.  Sometimes people feel crappy after they get a shot, but that's just their immune system doing a bang-up job of making a good response.  So go forth, get vaccinated and stay out of (viral) trouble

Eating brown sugar toffee cookies after a shot will make you feel better,
("Dr") Amy

Apple Cranberry Quinoa

I'm sick of sandwiches...just sick of them.  Ugh, I cannot pack one more.  I knew I needed to make something this weekend that would be delish, hold up in a lunch box, and not require bread or turkey meat.  Enter quinoa salads.  "Omg, not another weird grain", I can hear you thinking.  Well, technically, this is a seed...

How many good-for-you items can we squeeze into one lunch-friendly recipe?  Like a lot.  Quinoa is great...I've only recently discovered it, but it's wonderful.  It's kinda-sorta like rice, I guess, but it has a lot more protein.  Also, it's gluten free!!! (if you're into that), and is jam packed with nutrients (we all should be into that).  Cook it up like rice: 1 quinoa:2 water/broth ratio.

Then there's edamame=soybeans.  Don't leave me now.  They are a fun little green bean-like thing, and you can find them shelled and frozen in the freezer section of your grocery store.  I like to keep some in the fridge and throw them on my salads for nice texture.  Toss them into this salad...don't be weirded out, just do it.  And hey, they're soybeans, so they'd be a great addition if you have peri-menopausal symptoms like hot flashes(ahem...I'm still in Gyne, I can talk like that).

The rest of the ingredients, you know: green onion, apple, cranberries, herbs, carrots.  Easy peasy.  The dressing is even healthy!  Lemon juice, apple juice, and salt/pepper is basically all you'll need.  If you're crazy, add some feta or parmesan cheese right before you serve.

Apple Cranberry Quinoa
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1/2 cup baby carrots, diced
5-6 green onions, sliced
1 apple, diced
1 cup frozen edamame, shelled, and cooked
3 Tbsp fresh flat leaf parsley and thyme
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1/3 cup apple juice
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp salt
2/3 cup dried cranberries

In a small saucepan, combine dried quinoa, baby carrots, and water.  Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes, or until quinoa is tender.  Meanwhile, combine all other ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.  Stir in quinoa and carrots, and taste to check seasoning.  Cover and store in the refrigerator to enjoy all well for lunch or as a great side dish.

A great fall day

Well, I have no recipes for you this time, folks.  I just thought I'd share some pictures from our fantastic fall Sunday.  We went with some friends to Hobart, IN to an apple orchard and went apple picking!  This is a newfound, beloved tradition of Peter and I (well, I love it).  There is just something so fun and exciting about the "gatherer" mentality and harvesting something (even if it's a small bag of apples...that counts as "farming", right?)

Apple cider donuts...delicious 

On the tractor to the fields...Flint was our driver

 There was also a HUGE barn that was filled with merchandise, apples, other produce, and food stands with cider, donuts, apple pie a la mode (next time...it looked delicious!).  We got there pretty early, and thank goodness, because when we were all done picking, it started to rain and there were a bazillion people there to purchase and pick.

When I got home, I totally should have studied for the OB/GYN shelf exam coming up this Friday, but I made applesauce...don't judge.  Anywho, I got a super sweet food mill from my mom-in-law Lisa last Christmas, after I told her how I slaved away at peeling, coring and slicing apples for my applesauce last year.  Basically, you just quarter whole apples, toss them in pots of boiling water, and cook until super soft.  Then crank through the food mill, and TA-DA!  Applesauce!!

Now, what I did isn't technically "canning"...I mean, I don't have pots of water heating up sterilized jars, or any of the other rules you must follow to make sure jars are shelf-stable.  I just don't have that kind of background knowledge to be fully confident that yes, my jars are completely sterile, and no, you will not get Clostridium botulinum toxicity from eating my canned goods.  So I refrigerate all my jars...and we eat them pretty quickly so it's not a big deal.

Candy Corn Rice Crispies

Confession: candy corn is one of my favorite candies.  When we get to September and I see it on the shelves, I imagine all the fun things I can make with them, but they usually get dumped into a candy dish and I am stuck wrestling with self-control every time I pass it.  Not this year, people, not this year.

I had some "old" Rice Crispies cereal from earlier in the summer when I made Scotcharoos, and I wanted to clear the box from my pantry.  I also had some "old-ish" marshmallows.  Perfect!  I whipped up a batch of regular rice crispie treats (here), and then folded in some candy corn.  This turned out to be a major success, as the candy corn softened a bit in the hot marshmallow mixture.

The trick to getting the crispies in a pan is WET hands...there's no way you're going to make it happen otherwise.  Too sticky!!  Then let them cool and dry out a bit before covering them (or slicing and serving).  I'd imagine you could stir in all kinds of fun seasonal treats...pumpkin-shaped sprinkles, fall-colored M&Ms, any leftover Halloween candy from your kid's bags...whatever you want.

Enjoying fall,
Amy

Beef and Tortellini Soup

After a long day at the hospital, it's hard to find time to squeeze everything in, including making a great dinner.  However, I am DETERMINED not to let M3 year (or any year, for that matter) stop me from having a great homemade dinner.  There are just too many quick and wonderful recipes for that type of shenanagans. 

Soup base, before tortellini and spinach

The tortellini float to the top when they are done!

This is a super easy, fall-ish soup that is perfect for crisp autumn days.  It really is quick to come together (a little chopping, open a few cans, and voila!), and it makes a big pot, so leftovers are abundant.  Great to take for lunch the next day (if you can find a microwave...I'm still searching), or for subsequent healthy and hearty dinners for the rest of the week. 

Yes, add the whole bag.  Don't be scared.  You need folic acid.

Beef and Tortellini Soup
1 lb lean ground beef
3 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp paprika
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
1 1/2 Tbsp pepper
1 onion, diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 cans (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can corn, drained
2 cans (14 oz) chicken broth
2 cups water
1 Tbsp garlic, minced
1 bag baby spinach
1 package whole wheat tortellini

In a large soup pot, brown beef; drain and rinse with cold water.  Add onions and carrots to pot and cook until softened.  Add beef and all seasonings, stir.  Add diced tomatoes, corn, chicken broth, water, and garlic.  Over medium-high heat, bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add tortellini to pot and boil for 3 minutes, then decrease heat and simmer for 20 minutes.  Stir in spinach (it will wilt down), and serve!

It's soup season...yay!

Amy

Pork Chops with Apples and Onions

Fall is just a great time of year, don't you think?  Not that I've had a whole lot of "outside time" to enjoy (nor do I project much for the future...), but the concept is beautiful.  I think I get excited for all the seasons, mainly because I'm slightly attention deficit and the "mood-swing weather" that the Midwest offers keeps me guessing. 

Last night we made Pork Chops with Apples and Onions...a recipe adapted from the back of the McCormick spice pack you can find in the spice aisle of the grocery store.  Peter did most of the cooking, under my general direction :)  We substituted the brown sugar for maple syrup...a nice, fall-like touch, I think. 

Only 6 more days left of Gyne...is anyone counting, or am I the only one?

Pork Chops with Apples and Onions
Adapted from McCormick "Apple and Sage Pork Chops" spice pack

1 "Apple and Sage Pork Chops" Spice Pack

• Contains 1 1/2 tsp rubbed sage, 1 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp thyme leaves, 1/2 tsp ground allspice, and 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
4 boneless pork chops
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
3 apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1/2 cup apple juice
1/4 cup maple syrup

Mix flour, all of the spices and salt in a small bowl.  Sprinkle both sides of chops with 1 Tbsp of seasoned flour.  Cook pork chops in hot oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat until browned on both sides.  Remove from skillet.  Add onions and apples.  Cook until tender.  Stir in juice, syrup and remaining seasoned flour until well mixed.  Return chops to skillet and bring to boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer 5 minutes or until pork chops are cooked through.

Beef Barley Skillet

I have a new-found appreciation for weekends.  Two glorious days to catch up on everything that was skimped on during the workweek (cleaning, exercise, sleep, studying, sleep).  What a concept!  During the first two years of medical school, the days all meant the same thing...studying for as many hours as you could tolerate.  I'm finally experiencing a true "workweek", and let me tell you, Saturday and Sunday are special :)

Friends for dessert, fun barbeque at Pete's school for alumni weekend, coffee with a friend, shopping, cleaning, decorating for fall, and of course, cooking.  Yes.  My bathroom went from abysmal to sanitary.  Lady had not one but 2 training classes.  And I made this great one-pot, healthy dinner, that freezes well, so we're set for some crazy, whirlwind weeknight.

So a word about barley...don't be scared.  I never really had it much before I found this recipe in a Healthy Cooking magazine.  It's super healthy, with tummy-pleasing fiber and like rice, it tastes like what you make it with.  It has a lovely texture, kinda between brown rice and oatmeal.  Did that weird you out?  Forget my analogy and try the recipe.  I think it'll be a hit!  Ground beef is always good, and you can pretty much load any veggies in it that are rumbling around in the bottom of your refrigerator.  As I mentioned, this makes a big skillet and the left-overs freeze great for later.  One pot meals=less dishes.  Another bonus.

Beef Barley Skillet
Taste of Home Healthy Cooking

1 lb lean ground beef
1/2 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 can (14 1/2 oz) beef broth
1 can (8oz) tomato sauce
1 cup water
2 small carrots, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
5-6 mushrooms, chopped
1 cup medium quick cook barley
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

In a large skillet, cook the beef, onion, pepper, and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Drain.  Add the broth, tomato sauce, and water.  Bring to a boil.  Stir in remaining ingredients, reduce heat, cover and simmer until barley is tender, about 15 minutes.  Turn off heat and let stand 5 minutes.

Weekends are wonderful,
Amy

PS:  Lady graduated, again!  This time from intermediate training class at Petsmart.  Doesn't she look thrilled?

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

Tomorrow is my last day on the OB floor, super bittersweet.  I'll be moving on to gyne surgery and clinic for the next two weeks, then leaving OB/GYN in my rearview mirror, headed for PEDS!!!  Anywho, I'll miss many of the residents and staff that I've been working with on labor and delivery, so how does a good Polish girl express these emotions?  Through baked goods, of course.  Now, here is another example of why it is brilliant to P-L-A-N out meals and baking extravaganzas the weekend before....so you don't need to go begging for eggs from a lovely friend named Jamie on floor 10.  But as it stands, I came home, decided I had almost all the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookie bars, found some eggs, and got to work.

Bars look great and are easy to eat, but truthfully, they are a lazy-person's cookie.  Think about it:  you make the same dough, but instead of having 3 pans and multiple batches in the oven, you smush the entire batter into one pan, throw it in the oven, (leave a dollop in the mixing bowl to "sample") and you're done!

I just made the cookie recipe from the back of a Nestle's white chocolate swirl chips bag (or the recipe found on the back of ANY chocolate chip bag...or the recipe your grandma always used...or the recipe you found on line...whatever, you can find a chocolate chip cookie recipe).  When the dough was done, I spread about 2/3 into the bottom of a 9x13" pan.  To the remaining dough, I beat in 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, and placed large "blobs" on top of the white dough.

Then, using a knife, spoon, your (clean) hands, and a little ingenuity, spread and swirl the chocolate dough into the white dough.  It'll take a minute, be patient, but don't mix so much that you end up with one colored dough.  We need a swirl effect here, people.  I sprinkled the top with more chips.  Why not?

Then bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes until golden and just set.  Don't overbake please.

Oh, your house will smell like home-baked heaven.  Share with friends, family, co-workers, crabby OB nurses, whomever.

Enjoy with milk!
Amy