White Chocolate Raspberry Pasta

Well I didn't mean to make homemade pasta. Originally I was trying to make...something else. But alas, it turned out pasta-like and I had some scraps and decided to boil them up.

It turned out pretty good! Accidental outcomes are fun.

So this pasta is...REALLY basic. Like, so easy, so simple. If you have access to flour and water, you can make it. So, that's a plus. Of course, that makes it less exciting (taste-wise). Except that it's homemade pasta. And maybe you're really not in the mood to go to the grocery store today (or you've already been a couple times!) and you just really want pasta. No fear, this pasta is ready in about 40 minutes. Most of that isn't even hard work.

It may not be necessary to take every step I did, because I was making the dough for something else. But I'm going to describe it how I did it.

This would serve 1 as a main dish, and perhaps 2 as a side (or a dessert as I made it)

White Chocolate Raspberry Pasta

Pasta:
1/3 c. flour
2-3 tbs of water
*optional: pinch of salt

Topping:
white chocolate chips (avoid the trans-fatty ones! I like Ghirardelli)
raspberries, fresh or frozen (thawed if frozen)

Combine flour and water until it forms a dough. Then cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 20-30 minutes.

Bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan.

After dough has rested, roll dough on a floured surface. It should be really thin in order for it to cook quickly!! There are lots of methods for cutting it, but I just sliced it with a nice big knife. (I've seen some fancy folding methods which look nice, but I didn't care if mine was a consistent size.)

Then throw the pasta in the boiling water and watch in fascination if you've never made homemade pasta before. Cook for about 5 minutes (or just taste-test them periodically as I did).

Strain pasta and top with white chocolate chips and raspberries. Enjoy!

Chai Almond Panocakelet

One thing I've recently learned, is that cooking doesn't really have rules.

So it kind of does. More like...laws of nature. You can't put sugar on pepperoni and expect it to taste like crackers. That would be ridiculous.

And there are ways which people have learned to cook certain things so that they turn out tasting really great. But those aren't really rules either. You don't have to follow the recipe, do you?

I'm not saying you shouldn't follow the recipe. I'm just saying...there's no rules that say you have to, if you're just cooking to cook.

This is why I sometimes read cookbooks more like regular books. I mean I read them. I don't sit down and pop one open and make it. If I want to make something, I like to read a couple of recipes for it. Do my research. Think about it. Then I make it, or I wait.

I like learning about the ingredients. I like knowing what egg does when you combine it with milk. Or what vinegar does when you combine it with baking soda (other than make a marvelous volcano!).

That's why I like baking. Because it's basically chemistry, but I'm not following any formulas or doing any difficult math. And I get to eat the finished product!

It's like experimenting. In my kitchen. With food. What could be more fun?

It's so great.

So this is something that I wanted to make this morning. Something between an omelet and a pancake. So kind of like a crepe. But bigger. It probably has a name, and correlates with some recipe somewhere. But I'm going to call it a panocakelet. Because I can. Say it aloud with me, "PANOCAKELET!"

Doesn't it sound yummy? I'll tell you how I made it.

Chai Almond Panocakelet

Ingredients (one serving)
for panocakelet batter:
1 egg
1 tsp flour
1/8 cup almond milk

pinch baking soda
pinch salt
1 tsp chai powder (I used green tea chai powder)

add-in: 1/8 cup of sliced almonds (I used raw, unsalted)

for "chai sauce":
Mix 1 tsp chai powder with small drops of almond milk until desired consistency is reached.
(I added nut butter as a thickener/to get the texture I wanted.)
You can make it into more of a frosting by adding powdered sugar, butter, and/or cream cheese.

Gather the ingredients, mix all batter ingredients.

Pour the panocakelet batter in a greased pan which has been warmed to medium-high heat. Flip when the bottom appears to be done (lift it up to check).

Then fill it with sliced almonds and chai...sauce!

It's a delicious eggy pancake. Panocakelet. Mmm. Enjoy!

Easy Homemade Tomato Onion Soup

The weather impacts my food choices quite often.

I made this soup on a rainy summer day, and it perfectly fit the mood!

It's really easy. In fact, this recipe made me so excited because it's faster than heating up canned soup on the stove. Actually I think it takes just as much time as heating up canned soup in the microwave if you don't do much chopping (and it's barely any).

I think homemade things are almost always better. It's not very often I try something homemade and decide I'll stick with the store-bought version. Hmmm, I know I've decided it for something.

Marshmallows might not be worth making homemade every single time you want a s'more. However, they're definitely better tasting, so they're worth making if you want something nicer and you've got the time.

Almond milk is also something I don't feel like making homemade that often because I feel wasteful with all the almond pulp that's left over! I've looked into using it somehow, but haven't found many good options. (Let me know if you know of some great almond pulp uses!)

So I totally get it...homemade is often better, but not always worth it.

In this case, I believe it is. It takes little/no extra time, you can add your own spices and ingredients, and you get to use fresh fruits and veggies! I'm a fan. Perhaps you will be one soon as well :)

Tomato Onion Soup

This recipe was adapted from the recipe book that comes with a Vitamix

Ingredients (for approx. 2 1/2 c.)
3 roma tomatoes
1/4 c. sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 c. onion
1 tsp bouillon
1 tbs plain greek yogurt
1 cup steaming hot water

Heat water in microwave. Then begin by measuring and chopping ingredients. 

Put everything in blender in the following order: tomatoes, onions, cheese, yogurt/paste, bouillon, then water. Then blend for 2-3 minutes on high.

Pour into a dish. Examine the thickness...mine was quite runny at first but got thicker after setting a few minutes.

Add croutons or enjoy with bread if you know what's good for you ;)

Ta-da! Easiest soup in the world? 

Could be.

Notes:

-I enjoy onions. This soup is pretty onion-y. If you're less of an onion fan, I might suggest either cooking the onions first or adding less.
-I used greek yogurt because I didn't have any tomato paste. If you have some, you might want to use that instead. I'm sure it would give it a stronger tomato taste and would make it less creamy.
-This soup would be GREAT with grilled cheese. If you plan to eat it with grilled cheese, you may not even need the cheddar cheese in the soup (but might want to add milk or something in that case)