Tag Archives: Bread & Wine

Breakfast Cookies from Bread & Wine (gluten free)

15 Wednesday Oct 2014

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People. These breakfast cookies are KILLER. I’ve already made them three times. They make 12 cookies and I put them in little sandwich ziplock bags and freeze them. Then I just pull one out the night before and in the morning, breakfast is ready! They are SO healthy and DELICIOUS! Try them!

In this chapter Shauna talks about when they realized her husband couldn’t tolerate gluten. She shares that she used to struggle with people having different dietary limitations. It is frustrating to try to fit a meal into everyone’s requirements: dairy-free, gluten-free, etc. (Lindsay) But she came to a realization that in the same way she wouldn’t deny anyone the medicine that would heal them, she also could not deny them the foods that bring healing.

I love this quote: “The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved. It’s about declaring your table a safe zone, a place of warmth and nourishment. Part of that, then, is honoring the way God made our bodies, and feeding them in the ways they need to be fed.”

Ingredients

3 large ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups) *
1/4 C coconut oil, warmed just a little so it isn’t solid
1 t vanilla
2 C rolled oats
2/3 C almond meal
1/2 t sea salt
1 t baking powder
2/3 C shredded coconut
1/2 C chopped walnuts
1/4 C chocolate chips
1 t cinnamon (optional)

* One time I used 1 mashed banana and 1 can of pumpkin puree and added pumpkin spice seasoning for a fall treat and they worked out great!

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Instructions

In a large bowl, mash the bananas with a fork, then add in coconut, oil and vanilla.
Add the oats, amend meal, salt, and baking powder, and stir until combined. Add the coconut, walnuts, and chocolate chips, and stir again.

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Form the dough into 12 balls (I use my ice cream scoop) on a parchment-lined baking sheet and flatten them a little bit. (I always forget to flatten, but they work fine anyway) Bake at 350 degrees for 14-16 minutes.

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Bread & Wine Giveaway

27 Saturday Sep 2014

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As I’m cooking through Bread & Wine by Shauna Niequist, I thought it would be great fun to give away a copy of the book so someone could cook along with me! This is one of my favorite books by one of my most favorite authors.

If you’d like a copy, leave a comment on this post that answers this question:

What is your go-to recipe for comfort food?

One entry per person.

Giveaway ends October 1, 2014.

Annette’s Enchiladas from Bread & Wine

26 Friday Sep 2014

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Tonight I made Annette’s Enchiladas. I’ve never made enchiladas I don’t think. I don’t usually cook mexican food. It’s just not on my radar. Now that I live in the south however, there are Mexican restaurants on every block. Good ones.

As Shauna says “This is serious comfort food – like, ‘eat it with a fork straight out of the pan in the middle of the night’ comfort food.” She’s right. It totally is. After dinner. After we had all stuffed ourselves. After my brother-in-law took another helping saying “I’m not even hungry, it’s just so, so good.” When I was putting it away. I sneaked another fork, and ate some. Right out of the pan. I even texted Lindsay and said “You know in the book, how she says it’s so good you eat it out of the pan for a midnight snack? She’s right!” Its that good. It. Really. Is.

These are layered not rolled. It’s the Mexican version of lasagna. It’s brilliant because nothing gets dried out and its easy to cut and serve. I hope you love these as much as we did!

Ingredients

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1 C Sour Cream (I used plain Greek yogurt the 2nd time I made this)
1 28-oz can green enchilada sauce (Las Palmas is best)
2 4-oz cans green chilies, diced
3 C cooked chicken, shredded or diced
2 C Monterey Jack cheese, shredded
12 corn tortillas
1 C chicken broth
Cilantro

Instructions

Mix green sauce with chilies and sour cream.

Smooth 1 spoonful of the sauce around the bottom of a 9×13 pan.

Simmer the chicken broth in a skillet, and before placing each tortilla in the 9×13 pan, use tongs and pass the tortilla through the broth for just a few seconds. If you leave the tortillas in the broth for too long, they’ll fall apart, so just dip each one in for a few seconds to soften it before putting it in the enchilada pan.

Layer 4 tortillas over the first layer of sauce. (I fit 6)

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After tortillas, add half the chicken, then 1/3 of the sauce, then 1/3 of the cheese.
Repeat so there are 2 full layers (I ended up with 4 layers)

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Finish with a layer of tortillas, sauce, and cheese.

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Bake at 350 until warmed through and the cheese is melted, about 30-35 minutes.

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Let sit at least 15 minutes before cutting. Top with chopped cilantro.

Serves: 6

Enjoy! It’s SO yummy!

Cooking through Bread & Wine

15 Monday Sep 2014

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Last week Brighton and I went to see The Hundred Foot Journey. A movie about French cuisine, delicious Indian food, tension between cultures, class and style. Throughout all the tension and struggles there were BEAUTIFUL shots of food and a great storyline. It ended with a meal around a table embracing both cultures, people and food. See it. Its amazing.

We walked out of the theater, stomachs growling: demanding savory foods to satisfy their cravings. The next day we were at Mela’s, devouring a delicious Indian buffet for lunch. Fingers messy. Ripping pieces of naan, soaking up butter chicken and tikka masala with Basmati rice, while sipping warm chai. Delicious.

I started thinking. I need to cook more. I need to branch out more. I get in a cooking rut. I make grilled chicken. Then grilled chicken with salad. Then grilled chicken with a different marinade and rice. Then Thai curry chicken. And sometimes to switch it up I make hamburgers. And I’m better than that. Food is meant to be enjoyed. And savored. Not whipped up and scarfed down. I’m a good cook. I need to embrace it more.

So here’s my idea. It’s not a new idea. Or an original one. But its small, doable, and a good step towards my next new idea which I will share with you later. I am going to read through Shauna Niequist’s Bread & Wine again. I’ve read it multiple times, and even have the audio book. But I’m going to work through it again. This time creating every recipe. Learning all the steps. I’m going to learn how to make risotto, and mousse, and bread. I’m going to learn what exactly a cassoulet is. Because I have no idea. And I’m going to make each recipe mine. And then, I’m going to share it with you!

Shauna tells a story about journalist, Daniel Duane cooking with Thomas Keller, one of the great American chefs. “Keller told him to make the recipe once according to the instructions. The second time, he told Duane to rewrite the recipe in his own terms, adjusting for his taste, cutting out or adding steps according to what made sense to him. The third time, Keller said to make it without any recipe at all, just by his memory and tastes and hands. And at that point, he said, ‘The recipe is yours.'”

I’m going to follow these steps. Make the recipes mine. Have some amazing dinner parties, lots of champagne, and hopefully be a better cook at the end of it. There are 29 recipes. So I figure this will take me about two months. I will make all these and blog about them and share pictures. Hopefully add a guest blogger or two to keep things exciting. And then at the end of two months, I will share my fabulous idea for the next challenge!

Bread & Wine recipes COMING SOON!

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If you want to purchase Bread & Wine and cook along with me, click here!

Here’s Daniel Duane’s article about Thomas Keller. I thought it was pretty interesting.

I wrote a book review before Bread & Wine was released. To read that, click here.

Bread & Wine: A love letter to life around the table with recipes by Shauna Niequist

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

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Bread & Wine: A love letter to life around the table with recipes

“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’” Luke 22:19-21

The last supper, the first communion. Every time we come together to break bread and drink wine, a remembrance of the gospel. A symbol of Christ’s sacrifice made on our behalf. Bread. Wine.

This book was enchanting.  Shauna accentuates the connection between bread and wine and communion and Jesus body and blood and the table and food in our everyday lives. Some of my favorite things in life are reading and cooking so imagine a book full of great life stories, and recipes! I am the type of person who will read a cookbook cover to cover and study each recipe and technique.

I loved all the elements of this book. I have read Shauna’s other two books and really enjoyed them. I love her energy, and the simplistic style of her writing. She writes so raw. So honest. So down to earth. She shares stories from her life without reservation. She’s not afraid to be vulnerable or to be human. Mistakes and all.

She shares: “What’s becoming clearer and clearer to me is that the most sacred moments, the ones in which I feel God’s presence most profoundly, when I feel the goodness of the world most arrestingly, take place at the table. The particular alchemy of celebration and food, of connecting people and service what I’ve made with my own hands, comes together as more than the sum of their parts. I love the sounds and smells and textures of life at the table, hands passing bowls and forks clinking against plates and bread being torn and the rhythm and energy of feeding and being fed.”

Most chapters ended with a recipe that tied it all together. It made me feel like I got to enjoy an amazing dish while hearing a great story. Visiting with a friend who was sharing her day with me while we ate steamy risotto, or mac and cheese, or mango chicken curry.

I also appreciated that most of the recipes in the book were healthy and included a gluten-free option.  As I try to eat gluten-free this is huge for me! There is not one recipe that I will not try. I am excited to dive into this book again and cook the recipes as I go along.  I hope you pick up a copy. Stop by the grocery store. Invite some friends over. Read these stories and cook some great food. Enjoy the bread, the wine, the fellowship, and the remembrance of what Christ has done in your life.