Bratwurst and Potatoes

One of our favorite meals lately has been a meal of Bratwurst and Potatoes.  Which actually seems a little odd, seeing as we haven't grilled them outside yet this year.

We all enjoy bratwurst - and not the prepackaged, precooked kind.  We like to get them from our local meat sellers. (Well, ok, we still like the prepackaged ones too - but like the others better.)  Usually I'm a little cautious when grilling these because I think it is always a trick to get the middle of the brat cooked through while not completely burning the outside.

I found a good tip on an episode of Kitchen Boss on TLC.  I don't watch it much - actually I think that is the only episode I've seen.  All the recipes can be found online.  The recipe I'll give you here actually is for an Italian sausage sandwich, but I use it for the brats.

Here is the recipe.

The tip I have used is to boil the brats first.  I boil them for about 10 minutes before grilling them.  It works really well, I think, and the end result is great.  The middles are cooked through - and you won't have to worry about burning the outside.

For our meals I also grill some onions and red peppers.  If I have some mushrooms I'll add those for myself too.

For the potatoes, I've been making some baked french fries.  I cut up some red skin potatoes into thin strips (french fry shape). I put oil on a pan, put the potatoes on the pan, sprinkle them with salt, pepper, a little garlic powder. Then I spray them all with an olive oil cooking spray and bake at 400 until they are soft.

Simple, easy, and enjoyable. :)

Sickies

*I started this post Tuesday - and apparently when you do that it retroactively adds it to your blog, interesting. It's like I turned back time... (Yes, I now have an 80s song in my head...sorry)**

Last week my husband and oldest were both a little under the weather. So I decided to make some chicken soup. Over a year ago we went to supper at my aunt's house and she served a chicken and potato soup. It was delicious, so I used that as inspiration.

I also made some wheat bread. The bread recipe was very easy and turned out great. We finished it off in about a week and it was still holding up very well. I've started to store my homemade bread in reused plastic bags in the microwave - it seems to work well - no sign of mold. The bread recipe was found here at Spillingbuckets.com.

Quick and Easy 100% Wheat Bread
(Makes 1 loaf)

1 1/2 C hot water
1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C honey
1 Tbsp molasses
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 cups (approx) whole grain wheat flour (I used Bronze Chief)
3/4 cup wheat bran (This is optional, I used a mix of oatmeal, wheat germ, and flaxseed - or you can just use all flour.)
1 package dry quick acting yeast (2 1/4 tsp for anyone else that buys in bulk.)

Combine the hot water, oil, honey, molasses, and salt in a bowl. Tip from the blog where I got the recipe: "If you pour the oil in the measuring cup first then the honey wont stick, and if you dip the tablespoon in the water/oil mixture before scooping the molasses it won't stick either."

Then add 1 cup of the flour to the mix - it will be runny. (See second picture) Stir in yeast.

Add 1 C Flour and the 3/4 wheat bran (or what substitutes you decide to use). Add the rest of the flour in 1/4 cup increments until the dough is still moist but no longer sticks to the side of the bowl. It will still be a little sticky. (You may use a little more or less than is called for)

Then cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 1/2 an hour. I preheat the oven and put the bowl on top. After the dough has risen, place it on a floured surface. Roll it around until it is covered in flour and in a rectangular shape (to fit your pan.)

Grease a loaf pan. I used a glass pan for the first loaf (as you can see in the pictures.) and a silicon one for the second. They both worked fine, however I wasn't very careful when putting the silicon pan in the oven so the loaf "deflated" a bit, but it turned out just fine.

Place the dough in the pan, cover, and let rise again until it is the size you want it to be. Both times I let mine rise for about 45 minutes.

Bake at 350 for either 36 minutes if your oven is preheated or 42 if it's not. Enjoy your wonderful homemade bread!

Chicken Potato Soup

3 small chicken breasts
Olive Oil
3 cans Chicken Broth
3 - 4 Carrots, sliced
3-4 Potatoes, cubed
1/2 Onion, sliced or diced (however you like)
Parsley about 1/4 cup
Garlic Powder
Salt
Pepper

* All ingredient quantities can be played with according to your own tastes.*

Pour some Olive Oil in the bottom of an oven safe dish. Put chicken in dish - drizzle with olive oil. Season to taste with some salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cover and put in oven at 350 until cooked through. (I want to say about an hour, but I can't remember for sure.) Meanwhile, put the chicken broth in a crock pot (or on the stove in a big pot.) Add a can full (or two) of water. Prep the carrots, potatoes, and onion and add to crock pot. Add the herbs, and spices. Place on high. (Probably medium or lower on the stove top. Play with it)
After the chicken is cooked through, remove from oven and shred (or cube - your preference.) and add to the crock pot. Cook for several hours - until the carrots and potatoes are soft.

--In Conclusion--

I made the two in conjunction, which worked out well - except that I started a little late and we ate a little later than I would have liked. I started baking the chicken, mixed up the bread and set it on the stove to rise, prepared the rest of the soup in the crock pot, surfed the web while the bread rose - put the bread into the loaf pan - let it rise some more, took the chicken out of the oven, put the bread in the oven, fed the baby, Yay fresh bread and soup for supper. :)