5 Things: Kitchen Tool Roundup

Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday. 

RIP, Rebecca Black's career. 

I've been cooking a LOT lately - like all three meals at home for the last two weeks straight. Being snowed in doesn't make for easy restaurant access! But, you know, snow - so definitely worth it. 

I thought I'd share the utensils that I find myself reaching for over and over. This is not about featuring the "nicest" tools in my kitchen; rather, these are absolutely the most useful things I have in my kitchen. Not pictured: my Ove Glove. Which I actually use every day. So just pretend that's in there. 

1. Stick Blender. 
My trusty stick blender comes in handy when I need to blend batter, crush tomatoes, whip egg whites into meringues, or make the world's fluffiest scrambled eggs. It's way more convenient than lugging my large blender from its storage space underneath the counter, and it's dishwasher-safe, so the cleanup is so easy. You can buy this one here! 

2. Single-Serve French Press.
I had never used a French press until we received one as a wedding gift, but it completely changed the way I drink coffee. French press coffee is so intensely flavorful. It requires no electricity - nothing but hot water and fresh grounds - and you will seriously never go back. This is perfect for mornings when I only want a cup, and would also be the ideal size to travel with or take to work. You'd never have to depend on someone to make another pot again. At $25, this is a steal. Buy it on Amazon here! 

3. Biscuit Cutters in Assorted Sizes. 
These bad boys are used a LOT in my house. For biscuits (obviously), but also for cutting consistently shaped cookies out of dough, cutting circles out of bread for eggs in a basket - I love that these guys nest into each other for easy, aesthetic storage, and allow me to make pretty desserts that are all the same size. Found them online here. 

4. Miniature Glass Bowls. 
Oh. My. Gosh. I love these bowls so much. These were literally #1 on my Christmas list this year. I use them to portion out ingredients before I start cooking or baking, to carry peanut butter in if I'm snacking on the go, to serve nuts on a cheese plate, for yogurt every morning - the list goes on and on. I have four bowls and four plastic lids, but I could have 50 and still find ways to use them all. Impossible to convey the value of these guys. This link has a version that's pretty close to mine - and on Amazon Prime, no less! Buy them. You will not be sorry. 

5. Stainless Scoop and Cutter
Saved the best for last. Don't you hate it when you're chopping vegetables and you try to transfer them to your pan by balancing them on your knife, but they end up all over the floor? Worry. No. More. This tool is the ultimate in convenience for transferring any foods from one surface to another, for chopping those last few veggies you may have missed, and for tossing in the dishwasher when you're finished.

I got this tool in my stocking from my grandmother Nonnie a few years ago, and use it every single time I cook. It is my best friend in the kitchen. Buy one for $7 on Amazon here - I guarantee you, it'll be the best $6 you've spent in a long time. If you buy one and are disappointed, I'll buy you lunch. 

Happy cooking! Have a great weekend, friends. See you Monday! 

Big Giant (Very Healthy) Breakfast

MONKEY SALAD!

Now I have you hooked. Stay tuned to see what that is. 

I tend to align myself with Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope of Parks and Rec, who said: 

I am one of those people who loves to eat right when I wake up, and if I don't, I am a scary person. If I haven't eaten a protein-filled breakfast, I find myself starving by 10 AM. Jordan calls me the bottomless pit because I am hungry so many times a day. I think it's a blood sugar thing. Where my girls at? I know y'all are with me on this. 

Some people are not big "first-thing-in-the-morning" breakfast people. While I could eat my body weight in breakfast IMMEDIATELY upon waking up, Jordan is totally nauseated by the thought of eating tons of food first thing. 

Different strokes. 

So, although this breakfast is incredibly filling and delicious, like a Waffle House meal, it's also extremely well-balanced and healthy. It also works at any time of the morning - first thing, or as a brunch (and it's big enough that if you're a morning eater, it's worth the wait to cook and will do the trick to fill you up).  

I present to you: the Big Giant Healthy Breakfast, guaranteed to keep the people in your house full and happy all morning long, and maybe through lunch. 

Best part? It contains things I bet you already have in your kitchen. Walk with me. 

Yields: Breakfast for two. (Just multiply the recipe to feed more!) 

Ingredients: 
4 eggs (however many you want) 
1 potato
Almonds, cashews, or whatever nuts you have on hand
1 banana
Coconut shavings
Plain vanilla yogurt (omit the yogurt for a W30 version)
Assorted fruit (berries, pineapple, grapes - again, whatever you have)
Olive oil
Butter (or ghee)
Salt and pepper to taste
Rosemary 

1. Chop your potato into breakfast potato-sized chunks. Toss them onto a Silpat (or other non-stick baking surface).

2. Drizzle them in about 2 T of olive oil and turn them to coat completely.

3. Pop them into the oven on a high broil setting for about 7-9 minutes. Don't worry about seasoning yet - just let those bad boys cook for a bit.

4. While your potatoes are cooking, grab a skillet and melt enough butter just to coat the bottom of the pan. 

5. In a smaller bowl, whisk your eggs (yolks and whites) together, incorporating enough air so that you see bubbles after you've stopped whisking. 

6. Pour the whisked eggs into your buttered skillet over LOW HEAT, season with salt and pepper, and stir with a wooden spoon or non-stick spatula. The key to good scrambled eggs is no added dairy (I know, I know, but read this article) and cooking them low and slow. Takes a little longer, but SO worth it. 

7. Check on your potatoes. They should be singing in the oven and starting to get and golden brown. Pull out the baking sheet, season your potatoes with salt and rosemary to taste (don't overdo the rosemary - less is more). Toss to coat, then return your 'taters to the oven to finish cooking for another 5-7 minutes or so. 

8. At this point, your eggs should be done cooking. Remove them from heat and their skillet in order to stop the cooking process. Overcooked scrambled eggs are not terribly appetizing. 

9. These next steps are the easiest! Dollop some vanilla yogurt into small cups, top with fruit. Bada-bing-bada-boom. 

Tip: Every week, I buy fruit at the grocery store. Right when I get home, I wash, cut, and store all the fruit together in a bowl in my fridge. Having it ready to serve makes putting it over yogurt, snacking, and having some fruit for dessert a snap. Convenience is key in the kitchen!

9. Your 'taters should be deliciously golden brown by now. Pull them out of the oven and serve them up next to your gorgeous eggs. 

YUM.

10. Now, for the monkey salad! I wasn't kidding, this is real. Cut up a banana, toss some nuts (of your choice - I prefer cashews, Jordan prefers almonds) and coconut shavings into a small bowl, stir, and WHAM - a salad fit for a monkey's appetite - and yours. This also makes a killer snack for when your Whole 30 hunger rage kicks in. 

Now put all this deliciousness on a plate and enjoy! As the Barefoot Contessa would say, "How easy is that?" 

Grain-free, Dairy-free DELISH Tomato Soup.

This morning, we woke up to this gorgeousness outside. 

What better time to get in the kitchen and make something comforting and delicious? And, above all, healthy. 

I, like many of you, am starting the year with clean eating. This is the cleanest tomato soup I've ever made, and it somehow tastes like there's a 1/2 cup of heavy cream in it. TRULY delicious.

You can make it the "regular" way, or you can make it the Whole 30 compliant way. For W30 compliance, look for the asterisk in the ingredients list.

Ingredients: 

2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 Tbs butter (*clarified)
1 large garlic clove, smashed and peeled
2 Tbs all-purpose flour (*coconut flour)
3 cups of chicken or beef stock (*homemade stock)
28-oz. can whole peeled plum tomatoes (*peeled tomatoes - save the juice!) 
1-1/2 tsp sugar (*omit)
1 spring fresh thyme
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper 

Disclaimer: I am not a food photographer, nor do I think I'm Ina Garten (at least not without some wine). Bear with me. 

1. In a small bowl, purée the tomatoes and save the juice. I recommend using a stick blender (pictured above) if you have one - best tool for this kind of thing, and saves you dirtying up your blender. 

2. In a nonreactive 5-6 qt. Dutch oven, heat the oil and butter over low heat until it melts together. Add garlic and cook over low heat, stirring until garlic is soft, but not browned - about 6 minutes.. 

I heated the garlic too quickly and it burned at bit, as you'll see in subsequent photos. Oops!

I heated the garlic too quickly and it burned at bit, as you'll see in subsequent photos. Oops!

3. Add the flour and stir to coat the garlic. 

Warning! Don't let your garlic get this brown. :) 

Warning! Don't let your garlic get this brown. :) 

3. Add the broth, tomatoes with juice, sugar, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring to prevent the flour from sticking to the pan.

Looking good, right? 

Looking good, right? 

4. Cover the soup, reduce the heat to low, and let it simmer (stirring occasionally) for 40 minutes. Chef's note: At Chez Scott, we never wait 40 minutes because we (I) are (am) always ravenous, so even without that step, this soup is ri-donk-ulous. 

5. Serve by itself, adorned with sour cream, or alongside your favorite grilled cheese. Freezes beautifully, as they say, and even better on the second day.

I feel like many of us female cooks judge the success of a recipe by how much their husbands like it. If that's our measuring stick, we'll give this one two thumbs way up. It was so easy, so yummy, and is absolutely one of the healthiest tomato soups I've ever had. 

Perfect for a snowy mid-week meal.