Everything Bagel Pastry Braid

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I did not grow up in a bagel-friendly household. In fact, my dad has stated on several occasions that bagels are his least favorite bread product. Brian is the one who formally introduced me to good bagels. Up until then, I’d only ever tried the shitty ones you can buy at the grocery store. Once I tried a soft and chewy bagel for the first time I was totally hooked. We would gladly eat them every day at multiple meals if they didn’t make us fatter, and (more importantly) if there was a decent place to buy bagels in our small town.

Anyway, Brian’s all time favorite is hands down a toasted everything bagel with cream cheese. It’s simple, but it’s a classic for a reason. This pastry braid is my easy-to-make play on those flavors.

Frozen puff pastry is a lot easier to find around us than an acceptable bagel shop. Plus I always have a jar of my homemade everything bagel spice blend on hand for us to sprinkle on pretty much everything (pun intended). You can always overpay for a bottle of premixed everything bagel spice… but why would you? These can be filled with any number of sweet or savory fillings once you get the hang of braiding. It’s a pretty straightforward process: roll, cut, fill, fold.

Everything Bagel Pastry Braid

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Everything Bagel Pastry Braid

Ingredients

  • 2 puff pastry sheets
  • 8oz whipped cream cheese
  • 1/3 cup sliced green onion
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated onion powder
  • 1 egg
  • everything bagel spice

Directions

Step 1
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and roll out one sheet of thawed puff pastry dough on a floured surface to make it a slightly larger rectangle.

Use a sharp knife to cut two end flaps on both of the rectangle's shorter sides and one-inch slanted lines along the longer sides.

Make sure to leave a rectangle in the center of the pastry for your filling.
Step 2
Whip the salt, onion powder, and green onions into your softened cream cheese. In a small bowl beat the egg with a couple tablespoons of water to make an egg wash.

Spread half of the cream cheese mixture into the center of the rectangle.

Brush the end flaps and angled strips with your egg wash. Fold everything in, starting with the end flaps and then crossing over the strips. Check out the gif above to get the idea.
Step 3
Repeat with the other sheet of puff pastry, and then put both braids into the fridge to rechill before going into the hot oven.

After about 10 minutes move both braids to a parchment lined baking sheet.

Liberally brush with more of the egg wash and then sprinkle with as much or little of the everything bagel spice over the tops as you like.
Step 4
Here's one from the side so you can see how much it puffs up.
Step 5
Bake at 400 degrees for 30-45 minutes, or until it's puffed up, golden brown, and cooked through.
Step 6
This version is the simple classic, focusing on the classic combination of everything bagel flavor with cream cheese.

Step 7
But feel free to fill these any way you can think of. Adding scrambled eggs, breakfast meats, smoked salmon, or extra veggies would make this fantastic breakfast even heartier.

Any which way you fill it you can't lose.
Whole30 Thai Chicken Curry

Whole30 Thai Chicken Curry

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Brian and I created this curry while we were on the Whole30, and it has become one of our favorite go-to dinners. Even though we’ve been finished with our strict thirty day diet of “cans” and “cannots” this Thai Chicken Curry with Cauliflower Rice is still appearing on our dinner table almost every week.

You have to commit to prepping  a ton of veggies, but once everything is ready to cook the whole dish comes together like a snap. I always start by washing and chopping all the veggies. By the time I cut the chicken into bite-size pieces, I’m already halfway done with dinner!

Curries are like most stews, meaning that once you get the technique down you can play around with any number of ingredient combos and still get tasty results. I usually add some form of meat (chicken and shrimp being our favorites), but you could skip the meat and maybe add some nice mushrooms to turn this into a delicious and hearty vegetarian meal. There are also lots of veggies that we’ve used in the past like green beans or zucchini that didn’t make the cut this time, just because we had so much in the fridge.

This would be AMAZING over rice or even rice noodles! But since we’re both still on the weight loss train we always serve it up with Cauliflower Rice. I have really been surprised by how many delicious recipes fit into the Whole30 plan, and it’s been super easy to keep the low-carb low-dairy thing going with recipes like these on my Whole30 Pinterest board.

Whole30 Thai Chicken Curry Recipe

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Whole30 Thai Chicken Curry Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2lb Boneless Skinless Chicken (cut into bite-size pieces)
  • 2 Large Bell Peppers (thinly sliced)
  • 1 Medium Onion (thinly sliced)
  • 1 head Broccoli (cut into bite-size pieces)
  • 1-2 cup Snow Peas (trimmed)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon Ginger (minced)
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon Garlic (minced)
  • 3 Small Carrots (peeled and shredded)
  • 3 tablespoons Cilantro (freshly minced + more for garnish)
  • Juice from 1 large Lime
  • 1 can Coconut Milk
  • 1 heaped tablespoon Red Curry Paste
  • 2-2 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
  • Coconut Oil (about 2 1/2 Tbs total)
  • Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Directions

Step 1
This is a meal that comes together fairly quickly... after chopping a million things. I always start this recipe by prepping all of the veggies first.
Step 2
Get everybody washed, chopped, and ready to go.
Step 3
Always prep all of your veggies first, and then dirty up your cutting board with the raw chicken. Cut it into bite-sized pieces and season with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Now that everything is good to go, heat 1 tablespoon of the coconut oil in a large skillet/wok/dutch oven on medium high heat.
Step 5
Brown the chicken pieces in two or three shifts and remove from pan. You may need to add a little extra coconut oil in between shifts.
Step 6
Once all of the chicken has been browned and removed from the pan add another tablespoon of coconut oil.
Step 7
Add the onions, peppers, garlic, ginger, and carrots. Stir and cook around 5 minutes.
Step 8
Add the broccoli, chicken, coconut milk, broth, and curry paste, and stir until everything (especially that clump of paste) is thoroughly incorporated.
Step 9
The amount of curry paste that you add here should be based on personal preference. Keep in mind that this is spicy and there's no taking it back once it's in there. Here's the heaping tablespoon that I used.
Step 10
Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil. Then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer around 15 minutes.
Step 11
Squeeze in the lime juice and add the snow peas. Simmer another 5 minutes.
Step 12
Stir in cilantro, and pull your yummy curry off the heat.
Step 13
Serve with lime wedges, extra cilantro, cauliflower rice, and a clear conscience!
Whole30 Thai Chicken Curry
Step 14
If you enjoy spicy, healthy comfort food, you'll love this dish... even if you're not rocking the Whole30!

Sriracha Bacon

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Sriracha Bacon is the way of the future.

I realize that it’s not exactly front page news that Sriracha is the best hot sauce in the universe. The whole world knows that at this point. But what you might not realize is that Sriracha Bacon is the best bacon in the universe. Okay, so maybe I’m being a little dramatic, but this truly is genius!

The idea for Sriracha Bacon occurred to me a couple weeks ago when Brian and I were having yet another conversation about how awesome Sriracha is, and trying to think of what to put it on next. It hit us at almost exactly the same time that it’s nuts, with as much as we use it, that I hadn’t added any Sriracha recipes to Craving Cobbler yet. This, of course, kicked off a whole new conversation. Well shouting match would probably be a more accurate description. Not the angry kind, just us shouting out recipe ideas at each other as fast and loud as our little Sriracha loving brains would allow.

Sriracha Bacon from cravingcobbler.com

The bacon idea was one that I shouted out I think, and it just seemed so simple. We both stopped shouting. Could something that seemed so simple and obvious once said out loud be as good as it sounds like it would be? It couldn’t. It’s just to easy.

Well I’m here to spread the word dear friends. It IS that easy! The only problem with this recipe is the fact that I haven’t already been making it for years.

Make this now or regret it later.

Sriracha Bacon Recipe

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Sriracha Bacon Recipe

Ingredients

  • 10oz thick sliced bacon (about 8 slices)
  • 1/3 cup Sriracha
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon honey
  • 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar

Directions

Step 1
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Add the sriracha, honey, and sugar to a bowl.
Step 2
Give it a good whisking, and then set up your bacon assembly line. This should include: your sweetened sriracha sauce, your bacon, and an aluminum foil lined rimmed baking pan topped with an oven-safe cooling rack.
Step 3
Give each slice of bacon a thorough dipping/coating of the spicy sauce only on one side. Lay the strips sauce side up on the cooling rack, being mindful not to overlap the slices.
Step 4
Pop them in the oven for around 40 minutes. I know it seems like a long time, but because of the Sriracha and sugars we have the oven at a lower temperature. Plus you really need to use some thick ass bacon here... Save the thin stuff for wrapping around tater tots or something. To keep your sweet and spicy strips of awesome from scorching in areas, you really want to roast these babies lower and slower.
Step 5
There's really nothing left to say except, "Pass the bacon!"

Sriracha Bacon

Apple Cider Pork with Kale Salad

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Here’s my autumn twist on stir-fry!

This is one of my easy weeknight go-to’s during the fall. Honestly, the hardest part of this meal is planning ahead an hour to marinate the pork! The marinade is practically two ingredients, plus, once you begin actually cooking, the whole thing comes together super fast. I made this on a Tuesday night after getting up at 4:30am, and working a full day. If this weren’t really an easy fix, there’s no way I would have attempted a “photo shoot dinner” on a workday.

I like to serve this with something green. Brian’s got lots of “Brianisms” or goofy one liners that he says a lot. One of them is “I need some green in my life.” Well here’s some green for everyone’s life. It’s my favorite way to eat raw kale at the moment. This is the basic version, but please add anything and everything you can think of. I’ve added pears, apples, pecans, pine nuts, and almonds before. Please comment if you think of any other great additions… I’m always trying to think of new things to dig for in salads!

Tasty. Healthy. Fast. Seasonal… Enjoy!

Apple Cider Pork with Kale Salad Recipe

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Apple Cider Pork with Kale Salad Recipe

Ingredients

  • 1 1/4lb pork tenderloin (in small cubes)
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 1/2 cup apple juice or apple cider
  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
  • 6 cups chopped kale
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • lemon juice
  • olive oil
  • kosher salt

Directions

Step 1
In a 2 cup measuring cup, measure out your apple cider vinegar and apple cider/juice.
Step 2
Add in the salt and pepper, and give it all a good stir.
Step 3
Pour into a 13x9 inch dish with your pork tenderloin cubes.

Spread the cubes out into an even layer so that everyone gets plenty of marinade.
Step 4
Cover with plastic wrap while pressing all the pieces down into the apple cider mixture.
Step 5
Pop into the fridge for an hour.

Once it's had at least an hour in the marinade, drain off the pork cubes.
Step 6
Spread them out onto several layers of paper towels.

Being drier when they go into the skillet will help them brown a bit better.
Step 7
Another thing that will help the pieces to brown is to cook the pork in two batches.

Heat about a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat, and add roughly half of your pork.
Step 8
This is just like a stir-fry. That means you'll be constantly moving the pieces around over a fairly high heat.

Toss the cubes around around 2 minutes and then pull to a plate.
Step 9
Add one more tablespoon of oil to your skillet, and brown the second batch for another two minutes.

Pour the first plateful of pork back into the skillet. Cover the whole thing with a lid, and simmer one minute.
Step 10
Remove the lid and let it bubble another 30 seconds to 2 minutes (depending on the size of your pork cubes). Be careful at this point, because dry pork is no fun for anyone involved. If you have really small pieces, then they're probably done about the time the lid comes off.
Step 11
I always pull one of the largest pieces and cut into it to make sure it's done. I figure once the bigger pieces are ready, then they're all good to go!

As soon as you think they're done, pull them out of the hot pan!
Step 12
As I said earlier, I always like to serve this with something green. Here I paired it with a super simple kale salad.

I de-stemmed, washed, and chopped about 6 cups of kale. Then I tossed it with equal parts lemon juice and olive oil (it was around 1/8 cup of each). Add in a sprinkle of kosher salt and a handful of sweetened and dried cranberries (about 1/2 cup), and you've got yourself an easy and tasty seasonal salad!
Step 13
Nestle a tasty pile of pork into the cranberry kale salad,
Step 14
and enjoy a deliciously healthy autumn dinner!
Brisby Day 2

Mrs. Alchemy Olivia Brisby has arrived

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Brisby has officially become part of the family! I picked her up early Friday afternoon, and in no time all of our hearts melted.

When Brisby and I went to go get Wyatt out of his bed Sunday morning, she was so excited to see him. I got to see her wag her tiny tail for the first time! He is easily her favorite in the house, though I like to think that I am a close second(Kerry’s been working every day since we got her). Now that her weekend is starting, I’m sure Kerry will quickly become Brisby’s new favorite.

Here are some photos of the first two days and a fun video of her playing with Wyatt.

[gdl_gallery title=”brisby-day-1-2″ width=”200″ ]

[youtube height=”HEIGHT” width=”WIDTH”]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfZrZZFHnO4&feature=plcp[/youtube]

Mrs. Brisby at 5 weeks old

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We got a new picture of Mrs. Brisby today. She is now 5 weeks old and super-cute. When Kerry saw the photo she squealed with delight.

Mrs. Brisby the Corgi Puppy Week 4

Mrs. Brisby the Corgi Puppy Week 4 Photos

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Today we got photos of Mrs. Brisby now a 4 week old corgi puppy. She is really starting to look like the Corgi she is going to be. We showed Wyatt photos on the phone and when asked who that was he said “my puppy”. There are two photos below. To see more, head over to the gallery page.

Mrs. Brisby the Corgi Puppy Week 4Mrs. Brisby the Corgi Puppy Week 4

Her name is Mrs. Brisby

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We have decided which girl is going to be ours. Wyatt looked at the two photos we were emailed yesterday and then he slid his finger across my phone to go back to this picture and said “Me love her.” Between that and Kerry already thinking this girl was a little cuter, it is official. The photo is a little fuzzy, but this is Mrs. Brisby…. if the name sounds familiar at all, it is because it is from the animated feature The Secret of Nimh.

Baby Corgi Puppies a Little Over 2 Weeks Old

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2.5 Week old Corgi Puppies2.5 Week old Corgi Puppy Close Up
Saddie and Bear’s corgi puppies are now two and a half weeks old. We just got two pictures of the girl puppies, one of which will be joining our family. Also, it is official, we are going to name her Mrs. Brisby!

CorgiCam

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We can’t seem to stop watching the CorgiCam in anticipation of getting our new puppy.