Easy Chicken Tostadas

I love the quirky things about being Mormon.

Like the drinks we WON'T drink (like coffee and alcohol), or the food we WILL eat (like green jello w/carrots and casseroles with Cheez-it crackers).

But the best part our being a "peculiar people" is that we TOTALLY make fun of ourselves for it. We joke more about Mormon than people who aren't Mormon joke about us being Mormon.

There are Mormon movies, and books, and magazines...and there is always this tongue-in-cheek humor about ourselves that keeps us all giggling behind our Triple Combinations.

A couple days ago I introduced you to a cookbook that celebrated "Mormon" recipes...and yeah - there's a lot of stuff to use up your endless supply of zucchini from your garden and recipes of innovative things to do with food storage, along with classic casseroles and quick meals for those busy nights with MIA, Scouts, and presidency meetings.

Well - that cookbook has a companion, also by Julie Badger Jensen, and it is called Essential Mormon Celebrations: Secret Combinations for Holidays, Homecomings, Potluck Dinners, and More. I thought I'd highlight a recipe from it tonight...it is a very simple Chicken Tostada recipe. You don't really NEED a recipe for tostadas...it's like tacos or burritos...anything that is self-assemble, really...because it is usually "anything goes". It's one reason why those Mexican favorites are also favorites at MY house because everyone has different tastes, and can make their meal however they please.

Anyway - what I DO like about this recipe is that it is easy and quick and since it is Girl Scout night...both are requirements.

This makes six servings, so depending on how many you're feeding...you may want to double. To save time tonight, I'm replacing the chicken tenders with CostCo's pre-cooked canned chicken...a yummy substitute. Another alteration is that I'm switching the flour tortillas for corn...because that's what's in my fridge.

I'm also playing with her salsa recipe, adding onion, tomatillos and cilantro, and switching the vegetable oil originally called for in the salsa for extra virgin olive oil (just a personal taste thing). Our sides will be a yellow saffron rice, black beans, and chips and salsa!!
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Chicken Tostadas

2 TBS vegetable oil, plus more for cooking tortillas
2 pounds chicken tenders (or 2-3 cans CostCo cooked chicken)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies
1/2 cup sour cream
6 (6-inch) flour tortillas (we used about 12 corn tortillas)
1/2 small head iceberg lettuce, thinly sliced
1 cup grated Monterrey Jack or cheddar cheese
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 recipe Avocado Salsa (see below)

1. In a 3-qt. saucepan, heat 2 TBS vegetable oil over medium heat. Add chicken tenders and cook for about 10 minutes or until cooked through. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 to 60 seconds. Add green chilies and sour cream, stir well. Cook over low heat until hot. Cover and set aside.

2. Generously brush tortillas with vegetable oil on both sides. (Here's another deviation...we just pour oil in the pan, heat it up, and drop them in...but whichever way is fine). Place a well-greased 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Fry flour tortillas, one at a time, for about 30 seconds on each side or until lightly browned and blistered. Remove from skillet and stack. (I personally blot tortillas a bit to remove excess oil).

3. Arrange lettuce on each tortilla. Top with chicken mixture; sprinkle with cheese and tomato. Spoon Avocado Salsa on top of tostadas and serve immediately.

Avocado Salsa

3 TBS olive oil
2 TBS lime or lemon juice
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2 tomatillos, chopped
1 small or half a medium/large sweet onion, diced 2-3 TBS finely chopped cilantro

1. In a small bowl, combine all salsa ingredients and stir together.

2. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.
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(Keeping it real...a laid-back quick family meal at our house...some things I don't even take out of the pans they were cooked in...)

courtesy The Essential Mormon Celebrations: Secret Combinations for Holidays, Homecomings, Potluck Dinners and More by Julie Badger Jensen

Chicken Supreme A.K.A. The Perfect Conference Dinner

So, I have this great conference dinner recipe that I am very excited to share with you. I got it out of a cookbook called The Essential Mormon Cookbook: Green Jell-O, Funeral Potatoes, and Other Secret Combinations by Julie Badger Jensen.

It is very similar to one of my favorite personal recipes for chicken. I like to wrap boneless, skinless chicken breasts in bacon (thick-cut applewood bacon, preferably), sprinkle generously with cracked black peppercorns, and bake in the oven for about 40 minutes. So when I saw this bacon-wrapped chicken recipe, I knew I just had to try it.

I have that reaction a lot with recipes involving bacon. I just have to make them.

Either that - or I have to add bacon to recipes that don't call for it. Because...well...bacon just makes everything better.

ANYWAY - this recipe updates mine by adding a sauce...which is great.

I made a few changes to it, as well. For example, the recipe asks that the bacon be wrapped around the chicken raw, then you add the sauce, and then everything gets cooked together. But I find that the bacon doesn't get as done as I like it to be that way.

So I start the bacon and get it to the "cooked but not crispy" (so it's still maneuverable) stage, and THEN proceed with the rest of the recipe.

The restaurant secret to those nice flat strips of perfectly cooked bacon is this: they cook it in the OVEN, not in a skillet. I lay my bacon out on a broiler pan with vents so the juices and grease can drip down, and cook at 350 for about 20 minutes (or 400 for about 10-15 minutes, if I'm in a hurry), flipping once half-way through (I cover the pan at the bottom with a couple layers of foil to aid in quick clean-up). It takes a bit longer, but you get far better, and less greasy, results...especially if you're "precision cooking" it for another recipe like this one.

The best part (besides the bacon) about this recipe, is you put it all together the night before, and it cooks while you're away at conference. You put it in before you leave, and you don't even have to rush home...you can stand around in the foyer chatting with people for a few minutes about speakers and such, and then when you get home, you have just enough time to whip up a salad and heat some rolls, and it's done!!

There is no need to double, as it feeds eight!! (another bonus!)

Chicken Supreme

2 (2.5-ounce) packages smoked, sliced, pressed beef (lunch meat...like the Carl Budding kind)

16 slices of bacon (the recipe calls for eight...but since I pre-cook mine, the "shrinkage" means I need 2 strips for each chicken breast)

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 cups sour cream

2 (10--3/4 oz.) cans cream of mushroom soup

1. Put beef slices in a greased 9x13-inch pan.

2. Roll two strips of bacon around each breast half. Fasten with toothpick if necessary. Layer over beef.

3. Combine sour cream and cream of mushroom soup. Pour over chicken. Cover with aluminum foil. Refrigerate overnight.

4. The next day, bake, covered, at 300 for 3 to 4 hours.

courtesy The Essential Mormon Cookbook: Green Jell-O, Funeral Potatoes, and Other Secret Combinations by Julie Badger Jensen

Parmesan Chicken Bundles

You know what I wish?
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I wish when I made dinner, it came out looking as pretty as the pictures in the recipe books.

I know that most food pictures in magazines and in recipe books are plastic or foam re-creations, and that's why they look so good. But there are some real honest-to-goodness chef people out there that take amazing pictures of food...like Smitten Kitchen, or Pioneer Woman, or Bakerella.

My food never looks that good.

Luckily, I have this awesome motto...Ugly Food Tastes Best. I even saw once that Smitten Kitchen blogged the same thing, which makes me feel a bit better.

Anyway - please forgive my unattractive pictures of food. At least you know it's real, and not cardboard and foam.

And therefore...it actually tastes good!

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I didn't double this recipe, as it makes 6 servings, and that's all that is eating home tonight. I served it with a garden salad and store-bought garlic bread.

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Ta-Da!!

Chicken Parmesan Bundles

4 oz cream cheese, softened

1 pkg (10 oz) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained

1-1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

6 TBS grated Parmesan cheese

6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves, pounded into 1/4-inch thickness

1 egg

A sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed

1-1/2 cups spaghetti sauce, heated

1. Preheat oven to 375. Mix cream cheese, spinach, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese and 3 TBS of the Parmesan cheese until well-blended; spread evenly onto chicken breasts. Starting at one of the short ends of each breast, roll up chicken tightly. Secure with wooden toothpicks, if desired. Set aside.

2. Beat egg in a shallow bowl or pie plate. Mix remaining 3 TBS Parmesan cheese and the cracker crumbs in a separate shallow bowl or plate. Dip chicken bundles in egg, then roll in crumb mixture. Place, seam-sides down, in 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with Pam.

(trick: I spray Pam ON my chicken bundles to help hold the cracker crumbs in place and aid in the browning process)

3. Bake 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Remove and discard toothpicks, if using. Serve topped with the spaghetti sauce and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Courtesy http://www.kraftfoods.com/

Costa Rican Beef and Chayote

Remember way back when, it my very first post, when I promised all the white girls out there that were afraid to visit the ethnic sections of their local grocer that I would slowly lead them down the path?

See - you know how I believe in easy recipes that EVERYBODY likes? Well - I believe that these recipes can include "exotic" ingredients, and still be easy, and quick, and delicious...and maybe even fun.

So tonight, we're going to introduce an ingredient...a vegetable...that I am willing to bet is new to most of you. It is called a chayote.

This is a chayote. Chayote is a tropical form summer squash about the size and shape of a pear. It is also called mirliton and christophene. It has deep lengthwise ridges and a center seed, like an avocado. I'm told that the harder the squash is, and the darker the green of the skin, the better the flavor is. To me, chayote has the consistency of a perfectly ripe and crisp apple, and in it's raw state tastes something like jicama or turnip.

Chayote has to be peeled, especially if it is large and the skin is tough. I use a vegetable peeler. I know some people prefer to peel it under running water because there is a sticky substance just under the skin that is a bit irritating (it disappears after cooking), but I've never had that problem (my chayotes are probably not big enough). Then I cut the chayote in half lengthwise, use my vegetable peeler to peel the skin in the little fold at the bottom, and use a medium-sized melon baller to extract the seed and tougher skin around the seed. From there, you can stuff it, dice it, or do anything you would normally do to a squash. I'm told they're excellent with cheese (I haven't tried yet...I always have some other crazy recipe for them to star in).

I got this recipe out of the March 2009 edition of Family Fun magazine. It turned out great. I didn't double, as I served it with lots of sides...refried beans, white rice, tortillas, and a tropical fruit cocktail (just a canned version that I chilled all day in the fridge).

Now - if you can't find chayote at your grocery store...don't freak. Substitute with zucchini. It'll work great. (I shouldn't hear this complaint from anyone here in South Florida...it is, after all, the Central and South American and Caribbean hub of the continental U.S.)

Enjoy!!

Costa Rican Beef and Chayote

2 TBS canola or olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound lean ground beef

1/2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

3/4 cup diced green pepper

2 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and finely chopped

(confession...I used half a can of diced tomatoes w/jalapenos because I was in a hurry and hate peeling tomatoes. Feel free to do the same)

2 TBS tomato paste

1 large chayote, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch dice, OR zucchini cut into 1/4-inch dice

1/2 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels

3 TBS finely chopped fresh cilantro

1. Heat oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Stir in garlic and saute for a few more seconds.

2. Add the meat, curry powder, salt, and pepper to the mixture. Continue to saute until the meat is cooked through, breaking into small bits with your wooden spoon, about 3 minutes.

3. Add the green pepper, tomatoes, tomato paste, chayote, and corn. Lower the heat, cover, and cook until chayote is tender, about 15 minutes (zucchini will take about 5 minutes to cook).

4. Stir in cilantro and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Courtesy Family Fun magazine, March 2009

The Pioneer Woman's Mac & Cheese

Have you been over to visit Ree yet?

You haven't?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Are you crazy? And don't you give me those big 'ol innocent "Who's Ree?" eyes! Get over there!! Right now!! Here's the link: http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/

Now go!!!

Well - wait. Go after you read this.

See, Ree is this lady who runs this web-site called The Pioneer Woman, and it chronicles her life as a city-bred modern woman who finds herself married to a cowboy and living on an honest-to-goodness real-live working cattle ranch.

It's one of my very favorite sites. For one thing, it's hilarious. For another, Ree champions all good homemakers everywhere. No matter your situation, she gets it...every dirty, stinking, unappreciated bit. And for another, she's a red-head.

Which is actually reason enough.

Anyway - Ree likes to cook, and she has some GREAT recipes. I have to say that every one I've tried, I've loved. So I'm going to share one of my favorites with you.

Keep in mind that when P-Dub (as she sometimes calls herself) posts a recipe...she goes all out. There are step-by-step instructions with gorgeous color photos, and lots of Pioneer Woman commentary (which is usually pretty funny). I recommend checking out the recipe on her site (along with all the others). But if you're impatient, you can get it here.

I'm not sure I have all the proper authority to re-print it, but as long as you know IT IS NOT MINE, and ALL PIONEER WOMAN, I think we're safe!!

But seriously...go check out her site. You won't be sorry!!

PS - One of the best things about Pioneer Woman recipes is that she is feeding her own family of 6, and usually a few ranch hands as well...so you RARELY need to double.

Pioneer Woman's Mac & Cheese

4 cups cavatappi

1/4 to 1/2 of a red onion, diced

equal amount of red pepper, diced

1 4 oz. can chopped green chilis

1 cup frozen corn

1 jalapeno, de-seeded and diced (if you dare)

1 heaping cup grated pepper jack cheese

2-3 cloves garlic

1 cup heavy cream

olive oil

2 TBS butter

salt and pepper

1. Boil pasta until al dente.

2. In a large skillet, add olive oil and saute onions, bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic, and corn over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add in canned chilis and stir around, then turn off heat.

3. Drain pasta and add it to skillet. Pour on cream, add cheese, then add salt and pepper to taste and stir gently. At the end, add 2 tablespoons butter and stir again. Salt and pepper to taste.

4. Serve as a side with steak, chicken, shrimp, or have it be the main course!!

Courtesy to The Pioneer Woman @ http://www.thepioneerwoman.com/.

Fridges and Fish Cakes

This is my fridge. Does it look like yours? Is yours covered in artwork, schedules, chore charts, menus, and random magnets? Is it decorated not only on the front, but also on the side? Is it also piled high on top with boxes of crayons, a flashlight, the lighter, and breakfast food that someone in your household has claimed as theirs?

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I'll tell you what...we've sold three homes in three states, and the first thing any realtor says upon walking in my kitchen is: "Good Golly! And clean off that fridge!!"

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But when my fridge is clean and atheistically pleasing, I am a mess. Because, like most homes with kids...the fridge is the central gathering place for my family. I have message boards and white boards and calendars ALL OVER MY HOUSE...but the fridge is still where the core of information for my family is.

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And one of the most important things on my fridge is my menu.

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Every two weeks, I sit down with cookbooks (both on-line and off), and plan out a menu.

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There are some things...usually low-budget, no-frills necessities that make the list every two weeks...things like "Breakfast for Dinner", or "Macaroni N Cheese Casserole". Those get used on nights that are extra busy and I don't want to have to concentrate to cook.

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There are some things that I make to use up an ingredient or item I have that isn't normally a staple...or sometimes, because something is on sale and I buy it and then have to plan a meal around it.

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That probably happens more often than I want to admit.

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And I always throw in a couple things that I've never made before...because I need variety.

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Then I arrange my menu and organize my meals. There are many factors to my method of organization. The obvious ones are things like trying and avoid having 7 straight nights of ground beef in a row. Then there is arranging the easy items for the busiest evenings. And then there is the consideration I give to my husband to make his favorites on nights that he will actually be home for dinner.

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After all that, I print it up and post it on the fridge. It looks something like this:

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(You'll notice that there's A LOT of chicken on this menu. That's because I apparently forgot that I already had a couple bags of chicken breasts in my freezer and then I went and bought MORE. Hey - I may be organized, but I'm not perfect).

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Anyway - while I'm making my menu, I'm also simultaneously making my grocery list. That way I know exactly what to get. I buy almost everything...there are some things, like milk and eggs, that need constant replenishment over a two-week period. And there are others, like asparagus, that I'm not using until Easter Sunday...way at the END of my menu...so I will be waiting until later to maintain optimum freshness. But everything else, I buy.

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I'm only telling you this because it has helped IMMENSELY with the grocery budget to keep a menu and build a list off it. I find I am much less inclined to spur-of-the-moment shopping. I also have less food waste...because it keeps me closely in tune with what is in my fridge and pantry.

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Now I just need to master coupons...

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Tonight, we're making Fish Cakes for dinner. It is a simple dish than I can only make when Jason works because he HATES tuna (yeah - I have more picky-eater issues with the grown-ups than the kids in this house). It has something to do with his family always being really tight and his mom making Tuna Casserole WAY TOO OFTEN.

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Anyway - whether he likes it or not, tuna MUST be made...because it IS cheap, and easy, and for many families (not mine), it is the only fish kids will eat!!

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I like to try new tuna recipes, and I discovered this one about a year or so ago. My kids LOVE crab cakes, and this is just a version with tuna. I got the recipe off http://www.kraftfoods.com/, and they have variations that you can use for ALL KINDS of canned fish...from crab, to salmon, to shrimp. I recommend checking it out.

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To stick with the kid-friendly theme, I'm serving this with carrot sticks and ranch dressing, and a big bowl of strawberries that were INSANELY marked down for quick sale at CostCo. There is no need to double, as the recipe will make 12 cakes.

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FISH CAKES

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1 package Stove Top stuffing mix for chicken

3/4 cup water

1/3 cup mayo

2 cans (6 oz.) tuna, drained, flaked

2 TBS. sweet pickle relish

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup shredded carrots

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1. Mix everything together in a big bowl.

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2. Shape into 12 patties. You can use a hamburger press to make evenly sized patties, but I'm just not that anal. Form your patties tightly into a ball in your hands, and then press flat (ter). Place on a plate and cover. Refrigerate for 1 hour. You can make these in advance and refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Another random tip? I find that if I spray the patties on both sides with PAM, they hold their shape and brown more evenly.
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3. Heat a large nonstick skillet. Add a small amount of vegetable oil to heat and fry the patties. Add the patties to the skillet in batches. (This is where a deep-fryer would come in handy. I am wishing VERY hard for Mother's Day...)

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4. Cook 6 minutes or until golden brown on both sides, turning carefully after three minutes. And in case you're wondering why mine are more DARK brown than GOLDEN brown...I had to take care of a skinned knee and got distracted. They are still YUMMY!!!
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courtesy http://www.kraftfoods.com/

Amish Friendship Bread

or, The Saga of The Never-Ending Amish Friendship Bread

Amish Friendship Bread.

We love it. It makes great yummy bread. It gives us an excuse to talk to people and share our wisdom. It's kinda fun to mush the bag.

We also hate it. After a while, people see you coming with a big Ziploc baggie and they turn away and run in the other direction...fearful to be given yet another starter. Then we feel guilty about throwing it away. So we keep making more.

And therein lies my dilemma.

I've had Amish Friendship Bread hundreds of times. I know the blessings...and the dangers. But still, even after ALL my Amish Friendship Bread experience...I got caught in a doozie of an Amish Friendship Bread predicament.

I received a starter from a friend. I happily nurtured it for 10 days and shared it with others, baking a batch and keeping a bit of starter for myself. When the time came to split the starter again, I did...but I put off passing it around to friends. I put it off so long that it was time to split it again. So - that's what I did...I split it again...and promptly forgot to share it again.

Now I have 10 bags of Amish Friendship Bread starter on my counter...all ready to be split again. And truthfully - I don't have that many friends (maybe I should get off the computer and get out more?). So, I resolutely decided to bake ALL THE AMISH FRIENDSHIP BREAD...and freeze it.

Just for reference...each bag makes 4 batches. Each batch makes 2 loaves. Two loaves x Four batches = Eight loaves per bag. Eight loaves x Ten bags = 80 loaves of bread.

Yikes.

So, in honor of my massive 4 day baking extravaganza, I am posting the recipes for Amish Friendship Bread Starter and Amish Friendship Bread, along with all it's variations.

Just beware...Amish Bread is for SHARING (hence the "friendship" in it's name). So you better pass it along. Or have a really big freezer.

Amish Friendship Bread Starter

1 package active dry yeast

1/4 cup lukewarm water

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup milk

Combine yeast and water in a ceramic or glass bowl (no metal), or in a gallon-size Ziploc baggie (my fave). Dissolve yeast by letting stand 10 minutes. Add milk, sugar, and flour to mix and stir with a wooden spoon (no metal), or in the case of a baggie, mush well. THIS IS DAY ONE.

Amish Friendship Bread

Day One - The day you receive the bowl/bag or make the starter. DO NOTHING.

Day Two - Mush the bag or stir with a WOODEN spoon

Day Three - Mush the bag or stir with a WOODEN spoon

Day Four - Mush the bag or stir with a WOODEN spoon

Day Five - Mush the bag or stir with a WOODEN spoon

Day Six - Add 1 cup each - sugar, milk, flour

Day Seven - Mush the bag or stir with a WOODEN spoon

Day Eight - Mush the bag or stir with a WOODEN spoon

Day Nine - Mush the bag or stir with a WOODEN spoon

Day Ten - Combine in a large bowl:

The batter

1 cup flour

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup milk

1. Mix with a WOODEN spoon. Pour four scant 1 cup starters into Ziploc baggies. Label and date the bags. Keep one for yourself. Give the other three away with a copy of these instructions to your friends and relatives.

2. To the small amount of remaining batter in the bowl, add:

1 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

3 large eggs

1/2 cup of milk

Stir thoroughly. When well-mixed, add:

1 cup granulated sugar

3. In another bowl, mix:

2 cups flour

1-1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 large box vanilla pudding or 2 small boxes

2 tsp cinnamon

4. Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredients a little at a time, mixing well after each addition, until all ingredients are combined. Grease two large loaf pans, and coat with cinnamon-sugar mixture instead of flour. Pour in batter evenly. Sprinkle tops with additional cinnamon-sugar. Bake at 325 for 1 hour.

Variations

To make Chocolate Amish Friendship Bread:

Omit cinnamon and cinnamon-sugar dusting from recipe. Substitute chocolate pudding for vanilla pudding. Add a small bag of chocolate chips after batter is all blended.

To make Butterscotch Amish Friendship Bread:

Omit cinnamon and cinnamon-sugar dusting from recipe. Substitute butterscotch pudding for vanilla pudding. Add 1-1/4 cups butterscotch chips after batter is all blended.

To make Vanilla-Caramel Amish Friendship Bread:

Omit cinnamon and cinnamon-sugar dusting from recipe. Add 1-1/4 cups butterscotch chips after batter is all blended.

To make Banana Amish Friendship Bread:

Omit cinnamon and cinnamon-sugar dusting from recipe. Substitute Banana Creme pudding for vanilla pudding. Mush two small or (1 large) VERY ripe bananas and add after batter is all blended.

To make Lemon Amish Friendship Bread:

Omit cinnamon and cinnamon-sugar dusting from recipe. Substitute lemon pudding for vanilla pudding. Sprinkle tops with white granulated sugar OR, after removed from oven, while still warm, poke all over with holes and pour a mixture of 1/3 cup lemon juice and 2 cups powdered sugar over the top to create icing.

To make Coconut Amish Friendship Bread:

Omit cinnamon and cinnamon-sugar dusting from recipe. Substitute 1/2 coconut milk for regular milk. Add 1 cup finely shredded coconut to batter after it is all blended.

To make Cinnamon-Raisin Amish Friendship Bread:

Add 1 cup raisins to batter. To create a cinnamon-raisin ribbon, pour 1/4 of the batter in EACH loaf pan. Sprinkle heavily with cinnamon-sugar mixture and raisins. Add the remaining batter evenly on top of the cinnamon-raisin layer.

PS - I don't do nuts in my baked goods - but you can use them in any of these variations. Macadamia nuts would go well with the coconut, poppy seeds would mix well with the lemon, and walnuts and pecans will go in just about any of the variations, or the original.

PPS - After 4 days, I ended up with 40 loaves of bread. I had accidentally killed another batch because I was chatting on the phone and missed some key ingredients. After that, my starter died, and I had to throw the rest away.

And I wasn't sad.

Not one bit.