Food & recipes | Hip to be Mom

On a roll

Dec 192011

You would not believe how I spent the whole of yesterday! Well, whoever said Sunday is a day of rest is wrong. We slaved from 8:30 in the morning till 9:00 at night. I baked 4 loaves of bread and 2 fruit cakes! With the help of my 2 budding bakers, of course. We worked so hard we darned near broke our backs. But it was fun.

Well, if we’re not going anywhere for the holidays, we might as well be baking up a storm, right? If you recall, I recently worked my flimsy little whisk to death. Today, my hand mixer broke. We’re on a roll here (literally) and had to take turns beating the batter by hand. My biceps are thanking me now and I’ll be showing off my toned arms tomorrow .

Of course, there’s nothing like homemade wholemeal bread bursting with flavor and goodness! Photos of our hard work coming up as soon as I get them downloaded.

We baked blueberry cream cheese muffins

Posted by Clairity 2 Responses »

Dec 162011

So as I was saying in my previous post, right after lunch, we drove straight to the baking supply store to buy the ingredients. There’s a baking fever going on in te Hip household. Well, Raine happened to grab one of these between classes one day and swore it’s the best thing everrr! Like all good big sisters, she bought one for Skye the next day and got her raving too.

This is the Blueberry Cream Cheese muffin that started it all. If you know me, you know I’ll be up the next day trying to replicate these at home. This recipe is inspired by one I found on AllRecipes.com.

2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 1/4 cups buttermilk
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup olive oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
blueberry filling
cream cheese, at room temperature

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with paper cups.
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and buttermilk.
Add in the sugar, honey, olive oil and egg.
Fill paper cups with 1 tablespoon muffin batter, followed by a spoonful of blueberry filling and a spoonful of cream cheese. Finish by topping with enough muffin batter to fill the cup almost to the top.
Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

These blueberry cream cheese muffins were so good they all got snapped up before I could take a picture. This is the only picture I managed to snap. So you got to take my word for it when I say they turned out beautifully .

Ready for the holidays

Posted by Clairity 3 Responses »

Dec 142011

I’m done with classes. I can’t believe today went that quick. It’s such a relief but I will miss my students for sure. Some came up to shake my hand. Some said they hope I’ll be teaching them next semester. A few said they wanted to take me to try the food from their country.

I really enjoyed this bunch of kids. Well, technically not all of them were teens, I had students in their 20s and 30s. Just some really nice people to work with and a few naughty ones too but I will miss them just the same.

Anyhow I came home, dropped off my bags and took the girls straight out to lunch…

… at Nando’s, one of our favorite places where we even have a table we call our own. We haven’t been there in like months. Love their grilled vegetables and peri� wedges.

What the girls and I really enjoy is the luxury of just sitting back and having a leisurely conversation over an unhurried lunch. This is probably the best time of the year for us to be able to do that. The holiday season is truly just that for us, the holidays where the girls are completely free from anything to do with school and homework.

I’ve never ever signed them up for any holiday classes or school camps of any sort. Come on, don’t be ridiculous, I would never do that to my kids ! The holidays are for kids to be themselves, to hang out, to do the stuff they’re too busy to do during the school year, and to pursue new interests if they so choose.

Such as canine psychology which Skye is so into these days, and exploring fashion and nail art which is Raine’s area. As for me, I’m giving my girls baking lessons at home even though I’ve never attended a single baking class myself, ho ho ho! Stay tuned for where we went after lunch.

Rebooting that morning routine

Posted by Clairity 4 Responses »

Dec 132011

Since I took on my teaching gig, my gym time has suffered. a. lot. Initially I thought I’d still be able to squeeze in one or two mornings a week. Turns out that between my class schedule and Raine’s, and all my class prep work and her assignments, midterms and finals, there hasn’t even been time for me to cook a proper lunch some days.

That’s not to say we haven’t been eating though. Me and the girls have been baking up a storm. Baking is therapy for stress but bad news for the waistline, and ours have expanded as a result of gobbling cheesecake (so good, so good!), blueberry cream cheese muffins (not so much) and biscotti (so addictive it’s hard to stop at one).

I do need to get my butt out of this chair and to the gym because I’m starting to feel like a deflated helium balloon. It’s not so much the guilt of eating those goodies. Let’s be honest here, it’s the holidays, right? and how often do I even eat cookies and cake – hardly ever, right ? Yeah, but the truth is I hate feeling lazy and lethargic more.

The good news is I have just 2 more classes this week and I’m done, well, except for grading the finals! Which means I’ll have all the time to go back to my beloved routine of working out and not having to rush around with my wet washed hair afterwards. Even Tyson, our beagle, has been looking at me lately with a tilted head like, gosh Mom, what the heck is up with that crazy hair-do?!!

Lunch, relived

Posted by Clairity 2 Responses »

Nov 292011

It’s the time of year to pig out. At around this time last year, we dined 2 nights in a row at a Tony Roma’s in San Diego. Good times, great company. We decided to do it again… at our local Tony Roma’s, just for old times’ sake.

So last weekend, while everyone was busy jamming up the POS systems on Black Friday, the girls and I were jamming to our own tune of…

Onion Loaf – as yummy as an appetizer can get! This plus the Potato Soup which we didn’t take a picture of.

Chicken Tenders – always a favorite with Skye, the feisty one.

Shrimp Scampi Pasta – always a favorite with Raine and me, the pasta die-hards.

So that’s lunch for the 3 of us. Throw in some lively conversation and laughs and we’re good.

Chicken on a stick

Posted by Clairity 3 Responses »

Nov 192011

I have to admit chicken can get boring after a while and sometimes for a new spin on a tired ingredient, you just need to play around with the esthetics a little bit. The result: these amazing chicken skewers.

I made these twice in 2 weeks. The first time, I made 10 chicken skewers for the 3 of us which clearly wasn’t enough when an unexpected dinner guest dropped in. The second time, I doubled it up and we had enough for leftovers.

If�crucial memory serves me, here’s what you need:

2 large chicken breasts, cubed
bacon, enough for one strip per skewer
2 onions, quartered
buttermilk
seasoning of your choice – I used some Thai tomyam rub that I happened to have but you can use your favorite rub
wooden skewers, soaked in water for 2-3 hours

Prep the chicken by marinating the cubes in the rub and buttermilk. You’ll want to do this ahead of time, cover with a plastic wrap and leave in the fridge for 2 hours. The buttermilk is what makes the chicken moist and tender.

Next comes the fun part – skewering. If you have older kids, rope them in for some kitchen fun. My girls loved helping out with this.

Start with a piece of onion. Then thread in one end of the bacon, leaving the other end hanging downward. Next, spear a chicken cube (followed by another piece of onion, if you like). Weave the bacon around it, letting the loose end hang down. Keep alternating bacon and chicken. You should be able to fit 4 chicken cubes on each skewer.

Throw your skewers on the grill if you have one. I don’t own any barbecue equipment so I grilled these in my oven for 30-40 minutes, flipping them over midway through. These chicken skewers take time and effort to put together but they’re so worth the wait. Best eaten with your favorite dip. Yums!

What’s your favorite way to cook chicken? Have you tried anything new with chicken recently? Care to share?