All posts filed under: Recipes

Homemade Chicken Gyros

Published by Tyler

Linda’s favorite kind of food is Mediterranean, but unfortunately it’s hard to find an authentic Mediterranean restaurant in the average American city. We haven’t ventured out yet to try and find a good spot here in Anchorage, but Linda will be letting you all know when we do. In the meantime, I’ve been following some good advice– happy wife, happy life (shout out to Joel!)– and making some Mediterranean-inspired dishes at home. This meal in particular was a good substitute for one of our favorite gyro joints from back in Indiana. (Which wasn’t so authentic… but it was definitely delicious. And cheap.) This is our chicken version, and it was both easy and fresh tasting. I highly recommend giving it a try. As usual, you’ll find a picture tutorial at the end, followed by the recipe.

Quinoa Chili with Avocado and Gouda

Published by Linda

Healthy? Check. Easy? Check. Delicious? Check. Sounds like a recipe fit for the Murphmans! This quinoa chili really fit all three requirements for the perfect midweek meal, and we think you should whip up a batch for yourself this autumn– the ultimate chili season! We didn’t originally intend to post this recipe, so I didn’t take as many photos as usual. (You mean you all don’t take the obligatory five photos of meal-making every night? No? Ok, just me.) However, after getting a couple comments on Instagram asking for the recipe, I thought this would be the easiest way to share with everyone. Hope you enjoy! Ingredients – 1 cup quinoa – 1 tablespoon olive oil – 3 cloves garlic, minced – 1 onion, diced – 2 (14.5-ounce) cans diced tomatoes – 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce – 1 (4.5-ounce) can diced poblano peppers – 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder, or more, to taste – 2 teaspoons cumin – 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika – 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar – 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander – Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste – …

Grilled Sausage Pizza w/ Honey Basil Vinaigrette

Published by Tyler

While we were preparing to leave Marion, we had a list of people that we still “owed” a meal at our house. I’m someone who likes to return favors or gifts using my own gifts. My gift is cooking, so people usually get fed. I haven’t heard any complaints yet. This returned favor was a long time coming. I made this meal for a coworker and his wife in order to thank them for the unbelievable graciousness they extended to our family during our wedding weekend in May 2013. I made this meal in June 2014. Better late than never, right? Well, sort of. I kind of feel terrible it took us this long, but we made it happen! Hopefully the deliciousness of this meal helped to forgive the tardiness of our thanks. Did someone help you out recently and you want to thank them? Then peruse the photos below, check out the recipe, bookmark this page, and load it up a year from now! :) Just kidding. Make this tonight.

A Breakfast At Home: Cinnamon Chip French Toast

Published by Tyler

About six years ago, I worked as a baker at Great Harvest Baking Company in Peoria and it immediately claimed the title as “my favorite job I’ve ever had”. So, when I found out that Anchorage had its very own Great Harvest and that it was actually the largest Great Harvest in the country, I knew I had to apply. After going to the bakery literally every day until they gave me an interview, I was finally hired. Last week was my first full week as a kneader and I absolutely love it. I’m sure I’ll talk more about the details of my job in the future. But in the meantime, let me show you the fruits (or breads) of my labor:

Cheesy Organic Quinoa Bites

Published by Tyler

There are milestones in everyone’s life. First car. First kiss. High school graduation. Marriage. Children. These moments tend to help define or change the direction of one’s life. I’ve experienced quite a few milestones in my own life: Leaving home and going to college in Indiana. Buying a house. Marrying my wife. Quitting my job, selling everything, and moving to Alaska. But, friends, I have just experienced a milestone that I know will change the trajectory of the rest of my life: We got a Costco Membership. Go ahead and laugh. But, you’re only laughing because you’ve never been to Costco. Once you’ve laid your eyes on 2 pounds of grass-fed organic sharp cheddar at only $4/pound, you know that you’ll never be the same. Oh, and did you know that you can get a 1/4 pound all-beef hotdog (or polish sausage) and a 20 oz. drink for $1.50 at the cafe inside the store? You didn’t? Well, then that explains why you don’t have a Costco membership yet. Alas, I digress. The sharing of my …

Quinoa and Black Beans with Peach Salsa

Published by Tyler

As we are preparing to move our entire lives across the United States, I’ve become more aware of the things left in my pantry. In a couple of days, I’m going to be required to keep or throw away the numerous pantry items. In menu planning this week, I purposely tried to use ingredients that would have made the “toss” list. First up: Quinoa! I found this recipe on my favorite website and it comes from the fine folks at this blog.

Cook the Book: Jerusalem #2 (Chicken Sofrito)

Published by Tyler

One of the reasons I love cookbooks is because of the pictures. You just can just flip to page after page and not only dream of the possibilities, but see them as well. If I’m cooking from a cookbook, it is most likely because I saw the picture of the dish in the book and decided I wanted it in my mouth. So, you’ll be surprised to see that this is what the recipe photo for Chicken Sofrito looks like in the cookbook: I mean, that man seems nice and all, but….not really appetizing. However, after I read the description and realized I had most of the ingredients on hand, I decided that I was going to give this one a shot. And let me tell you what is appetizing…Chicken Sofrito. A perfect comfort dish of tender chicken, fried soft potatoes, and 25 cloves of garlic. Oh, and wait until you see the picture of the finished product. Then you’ll see why they didn’t include a picture in the cookbook. But first, let me show you …

Hearty Kale Salad

Published by Linda

I do enjoy the occasional meat overload– that Brazilian steakhouse from our honeymoon was magnificent– but all told, I’m primarily an herbivore. Give me my greens and I’m as happy as a clam cabbage. Hence our dinner from earlier this week. Tyler has learned that every so often, on his [albeit gourmet] chicken and carbs diet, I go into withdrawal. All I want are “green crunchy things”. This time, I took it upon myself to tag all the “hearty salad” recipes I could find on foodgawker.com. Something that would bring me the veggie life I needed, while still providing a substantial dinner for Tyler.

Cook the Book: Jerusalem (Basmati & Wild Rice w/ Chickpeas, Currants and Herbs)

Published by Tyler

Cookbooks are an easy way to make me happy. They are my default answer to, “What do you want for Christmas/birthday/etc?”. Too often, however, I never crack the spine of the book, let alone actually cook a recipe from the pages. That all changed this Christmas. My sister-in-law Katrine gave me Jerusalem by Yottam Ottelengi and Sami Tamimi. I wouldn’t say that I’m someone who anticipates or researches cookbooks, but I’ve had my eye on Jerusalem for quite some time. Needless to say, when I opened that wrapping paper and saw that I now owned it, I was thrilled. So I decided, let’s finally get cookin’. How do I choose a recipe? Is it by the seasonal ingredients? Is it by what I have on hand? Nope, it’s by the pictures. And let me just say, the recipe for “Basmati & Wild Rice w/ Chickpeas, Currants and Herbs” has an awesome looking picture. I mean, just look at that. How can you look at that and not want to make it? Well, I did. And it was …

Cook the Book: Jerusalem (Basmati & Wild Rice w/ Chickpeas, Currants and Herbs)

Published by Tyler