In the Kitchen with Another Mama

Soup season!

2011-02-11T12:04:00.000-07:00

My kids get sooooo sick of soup in the winter. But it's so easy for me. And it's an easy way to use the vegetables that I have on hand. Last night I made Black Bean Soup and lately there has been Potato Leek (which is so ridiculously easy!) and Beef Vegetable and Chicken Noodle and Chicken and Brown Rice. And of course chili...chili with beef and beans and vegetarian chili and lentil chili. Chili is much better than soup because it comes with toppings like shredded cheese and sour cream.

This winter from our CSA we have gotten so many beets I can't believe it. We didn't get many during the regular season and I was a little bummed. Now they are making up for it, I tell ya! And some of these beets are huge and gorgeous! And because they are a cold storage vegetable, even if they get a little soft in the fridge they are still just fine. I'm thinking of doing some refrigerator beet pickles with some of them. I did some last fall from this recipe but didn't like how they turned out so "clove-y".

I have a batch of bread rising right now. I've been using my high altitude book a lot the past few weeks and have been so happy with the results. When I milled the flour for this bread, the flour smelled a little grassy. I hope the bread doesn't turn out like that or my chicken will have a fabulous snack later!

Crock Pot Ratatouille

2010-09-21T14:35:00.000-06:00

At this time of year, we have had zucchini in so many ways. And the squash and the eggplant are still coming in strong. I have a favorite easy way to use up this bounty that can easily be adjusted to taste and whatever veggies are on hand. The first night we had this over pasta with some browned Italian sausage. I eat it a lot for lunch with a little feta on top. And I've used it as a pizza sauce and toppings. Last weekend I put some on an open faced roll and melted a little cheese on top. YUM! I love this ratatouille!

Crock Pot Ratatouille

Layer in a crock pot
1 large onion, sliced
1 large eggplant, cut into bite sized pieces
1-2 zucchini, cut into bite sized pieces
1-2 yellow squash, cut into bite sized pieces
1-2 bell peppers, cut into bite sized pieces
8-16 ounces tomato sauce

Cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 3-4 hours.

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

2010-07-08T14:50:00.001-06:00

I've been using the same basic zucchini bread recipe for years, but I keep making little adjustments to it based on how I'm changing the way I cook. I used to be all about canola or vegetable oil and now you won't find any of that in my house. I've gotten lazy and tend to just have whole wheat pastry flour on hand now. Or I should say whole wheat pastry berries that I mill into flour. I even used to buy whole wheat flour before I learned how quickly it starts to lose it's nutritional value after it's been milled (at home or in a commercial mill).

And lately I've been making my same bread recipe into muffins for easier eating on the run. I bake them at 375 for 20 minutes and they are perfect!

Here's my updated recipe.

Noelle's Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

Cream together:
3 eggs
1/2 c melted butter or coconut oil
1/2 c turbinado
1/2 c sucanat
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 c shredded zucchini

Add:
3 c wheat pastry flour
1/4 c ground flax meal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp cinnamon

Mix until just combined. Pour into 2 prepared 8 inch x 4 inch loaf pans and bake at 325 for 50 minutes. For 24 muffins, bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

connected with our food

2010-07-05T10:24:00.000-06:00

Last night was one of those awesome food moments around here.

We went to our neighbors' front yard to pick some sour cherries from their tree. Then we pitted those cherries and got them warming and thickening for a cobbler. I made the cobbler topping and put it in the oven. While it was baking I mixed up some vanilla ice cream.

Within an hour, we were eating warm cherry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.

Those cherries went from tree to tummy in a matter of hours....YUM!

other blogs

2010-07-03T10:49:00.000-06:00

Life is just as full as always around here. Even though I haven't been blogging around here much, I have been blogging elsewhere.

Our CSA has a great blog and I will have my first post there soon.

I've also had the opportunity to blog about CSA life in a larger arena. It's an online community for farmers, mostly large scale farms and I am a unique voice in that community. You can find my posts here.

In between all of that, we've picked a big flat of strawberries and made jam and preserves. I've also canned some blueberry preserves when I found a great deal at the grocery store. And soon the zucchini baking will commence!

My head is spinning and I need to vent

2010-06-26T14:57:00.000-06:00

You know that saying, ignorance is bliss? Sometimes that’s how I feel about our food system in the US. Maybe I should stop reading things like Michael Pollan. Or looking at food labels in the grocery store. Maybe I should just put my head down and eat according to that stupid food pyramid.

How have we as Americans become so disconnected from our food that we think the government should tell us how to eat? Seriously, people! We resist government interventions in every other arena of our lives, but we allow the FDA to tell how much and what kinds of foods to eat?

They say it will make us healthier if we follow that pyramid. Then why are more people fatter every day? Obesity is now an epidemic, along with diseases like type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

And at what point did we begin to think that some company should cook for us or prepare our food? I understand the idea of convenience foods. Yes, my kids have had their share of boxed macaroni and cheese. But why would we serve that boxed food alongside a grocery store chicken nugget? Have you looked at the ingredients? It’s not chicken, bread crumbs and egg wash, I can tell you that much. But that’s all it needs to be so what is all that other stuff in there?

Who is going to fix this system? And does anyone else even care that it’s broken?

Eat your greens!

2010-03-10T13:39:00.000-07:00

Do you eat your greens? Do you want to but not sure how? We have been trying to have greens this fall and winter about once a week. We have done southern style braised greens a couple of times. But one of my absolute favorite recipes for greens is greens with carrots, feta and brown rice.

It is full of flavor with the greens and carrots, nutty brown rice and salty cheese. I made it this week with cojita cheese, a Mexican cheese that is a cross between feta and Parmesan. And I don't buy the frozen brown rice. Instead I make my brown rice in the oven.

Orange Burst Bars

2010-03-08T15:33:00.000-07:00

Around our house, we buy lots of fruit. Lots and lots of fruit. Most of it gets eaten right away, or at least in a timely fashion. But for some reason, we get bored with oranges or clementines. We can go through pounds and pounds of them, and then one day I realize the same 3 clementines have been in the fruit bowl for over a week. And at that point, NO one is going to eat them.

Now they aren't like bananas that I can throw in the freezer for smoothies or bread. And it's not like apples that can be diced and put into oatmeal. But years ago I found a recipe for Orange Burst Bars. They are a lot like lemon bars.....but orange. There is a yummy shortbread crust, and then a topping made from eggs, sugar, a little flour and whole oranges! I do cut up the orange to make sure there are no seeds in there, but my kids (my little boys especially) have LOVED putting a whole (or half) orange in the blender and watching it get all chewed up. It's a very simple recipe, too. So any time I have a few old, dried out oranges in that fruit bowl, we get these bars. You could actually use fresh oranges too!

Orange Burst Bars

Combine:

1 c melted butter

1/2 c powdered sugar

2 c flour

And pour into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, in a blender, combine:

4 eggs

1 1/4 c sugar (I used 1 c honey today...YUM!)

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/3 c flour

2 small or 1 1/2 medium oranges

Pour orange mixture over crust and bake an additional 20-25 minutes. Just like Lemon Bars, you could sprinkle the top with additional powdered sugar. Or I think some kind of chocolate drizzle would be awesome too!

where does your food come from?

2010-02-15T19:32:00.000-07:00

I saw this shocking video on YouTube tonight.

I've never been a fan of Whole Foods. I mean, yes, you can go in there and know that there is no high fructose corn syrup or red dye #40 in their stuff. But where do peaches come from in March? Not Georgia and not California and especially not Colorado. Or asparagus...that stuff is not growing anywhere near me right now. Or cantaloupe. Don't get me started!!! Yes I'm getting tired of eating cabbage and potatoes and carrots right now, but that's what we have folks.

Anyway....off my soapbox. I just wondered where your food comes from. I'm trying really hard to know where mine comes from.

Hot Fudge Peanut Butter Pudding Cake

2010-02-15T13:19:00.000-07:00

I saw this recipe just before Aleena's birthday in January and immediately thought of her. Like me, she adores her peanut butter and chocolate. And this is one of those cakes that makes the pudding sauce underneath so it doesn't require frosting. It just needs a little ice cream to go with it. And the best part? Well maybe not the best part...but it's made in the crock pot!

The recipe is here. I used my 6 quart oval crock pot. And I decided to double the cake portion because it just didn't look like enough for our family of 8 plus a friend. It would have been enough because we had half the cake leftover. I didn't double the sauce portion because that just seemed like a lot of sugar, but we didn't really have enough sauce for the amount of cake. But no one was complaining.

A word of caution...this is not for those interested in presentation. It was a very unattractive cake in the crock pot. But in the bowl, with the cake and the hot fudge pudding sauce and some vanilla ice cream....BLISS!

I look forward to making this one again. It will be nice in the summer too when it's too hot for the oven, but I still want to make a dessert. It will be perfect with homemade ice cream.

new breakfast idea, sausage and cheese biscuit roll up

2010-02-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

I saw a recipe for this the other day and it looked like something my family would really like. I'm not posting a recipe because it's just too easy.

Take your favorite biscuit recipe and roll it out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Try to keep it in a rectangle. Spread about 1 cup cooked sausage over the top, then add about 3/4 cup shredded cheese over that. Roll up jelly roll style and slice into 1 inch slices. Bake on cookie sheet like you would your biscuits.

I was a little heavy handed with the sausage and they fell apart some, but they were still really tasty. There are a few left too since my oldest son is on a sleep over!

It's a challenge!

2010-02-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted about this yet but I am part of a real food challenge sponsored by one of my favorite bloggers.

So far the challenge has been about cleaning out our pantries and refilling them with good things. We were also encouraged to do a soaked grain recipe. And today is starting a sourdough starter.

I think I am already messed up because yesterday I baked sourdough bread, but I think it will be OK.

A lot of these first few steps are ones I have already taken in our kitchen. If you're interested, you can still join in!

weekly menu

2010-01-31T22:23:00.002-07:00

Last week, I was out of the house by 8:30 on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I took kids to the dentist on 2 different days. I went to the county offices to turn in paperwork twice. I drove my father-in-law to the airport (which in Denver...DIA is in the middle of nowhere!). We also celebrated 2 birthdays, I made 1 set of classroom cupcakes and took one kid to the pediatrician for a check up.

I also managed to plow through all of our laundry pile. No small feat in this house.

This week looks to be equally messy. Monday I have to take Kelli in for dental surgery. We will be at the hospital for probably 4 hours all in all. She's getting 4 teeth extracted, 2 fillings, 2 sealants and a "frenectomy".

Tuesday afternoon I take my big boys to the dentist, and then D and I have a potluck meeting in the evening. Wednesday I have to take our middle son in for his middle school physical.

Then on the weekend, we have the Father/Daughter dance to prepare for. Our family is contributing fruit for a chocolate fondue. And of course there will be 2 little girls to dress.

So, with all that in mind, I have tried to make a simple plan for the week. (We are also at the end of our grocery budget so I have to wait until Saturday to do my big stock up which means I am using up all I can find in the freezer.)

Monday
Breakfast leftover muffins, frozen pancakes, leftover oatmeal with yogurt
Dinner chili with venison and beans
Prep soak oats

Tuesday
Breakfast baked oatmeal

Dinner going to a potluck and taking Asian cabbage slaw, kids will have pasta at home
Prep thaw chicken, bake bread

Wednesday
Breakfast eggs and toast
Dinner chicken pot pies
Prep start pancakes

Thursday
Breakfast pancakes
Dinner macaroni and cheese with winter squash puree and cauliflower mixed in
Prep thaw ribs

Friday
Breakfast hot cereal

Dinner short ribs, mashed potatoes, cabbage cooked with bacon and onions
Prep make big monthly grocery list

Saturday
Breakfast eggs with sausage, hash browns

Dinner salmon patties, roasted winter vegetables (carrots, beets and celeriac)
Prep grocery shopping, make muffins, soak beans

Sunday
Breakfast muffins

Dinner ham and beans
Prep weekly menu planning

lunch time!

2010-01-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

Today for lunch, I had some chicken salad, bread and butter pickles and kale chips.

OMG I think I have a new favorite! The kale has a strong flavor so it might not be for everyone, but I loved it!

Thanks, Kathy!

weekly menu

2010-01-24T19:47:00.000-07:00

It's been an off week so I didn't necessarily stick to my plan for last week, but it helped to have a plan to know where I was supposed to be going for the week.

Here's to a new week and and a new plan. This week my father in law heads back home so I'm making him some favorites on Monday. And my oldest turns 14 on Thursday and my middle son turns 11 on Friday so they have chosen the meals they want those nights, too.

Monday
Breakfast Malt-o-Meal
Dinner meatloaf, mashed potatoes with celeriac, corn and salad with blue cheese dressing
To-do bake bread, thaw chicken, soak oats

Tuesday
Breakfast baked oatmeal
Dinner chicken with carrots and bulgur, creamed spinach
To-do make coleslaw

Wednesday
Breakfast eggs and toast
Dinner BBQ, coleslaw and oven fries
To-do grocery shopping, start pancakes

Thursday
Breakfast whole wheat pancakes
Dinner angel hair primavera with shrimp and alfredo sauce
To-do thaw ground beef, start waffles

Friday
Breakfast chocolate chip waffles
Dinner bowties with meatballs and meatsauce
To-do thaw stew meat

Saturday
Breakfast ??? maybe leftovers
Dinner Beef stew and sourdough bread
To-do make muffins, bake bread, soak beans

Sunday
Breakfast muffins
Dinner (lunch) ham and beans
To-do menu plan

one of my favorite go to meals

2010-01-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight we are having Tangy Pork Chops. It's a recipe I found long long ago in a Taste of Home magazine and have since adapted a little for our family. It's one of those recipes that uses inexpensive meat, pantry ingredients and a crock pot. That always adds up to a winner for a busy mom!

I buy the big packages of bone in mixed chops when they are marked down really low. My husband hates pork chops with bones, but these are absolutely falling apart so it's not an issue. And we try to freeze lots of bell peppers in the late summer so I have those on hand too! I serve this with either rice or mashed potatoes to use all of the yummy sauce, too.

Tangy Pork Chops
6 or so pork chops (bone in is great, sirloin chops are great here too, even pork steak would work)
salt and pepper
2 medium onions, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped (or 2 T dried celery or 1/4 frozen celery)
1 large bell pepper, sliced
1 pint jar, stewed tomatoes (or a 14.5 oz can and in the summer I have used fresh tomatoes, diced)

1/2 c ketchup
2 T cider vinegar
1 T sucanat (or 2 T brown sugar)
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T lemon juice

slurry of 2 T cornstarch and 2 T cold water

First season chops with salt and pepper then place in bottom of crock pot. Add onions, celery, pepper and tomatoes. Combine remaining ingredients (except cornstarch and water) in a small bowl and pour over chops, stirring a little to make sure it's all covered.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Make slurry and pour into crock pot. Turn to high and cook until liquid is thickened, approximately 30-60 minutes.

The Falafel

2010-01-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

Dinner tonight was fabulous! I love it when it just turns out like it should and is yummy!

I did the chicken shawarma recipe I had posted and the quinoa tabbouleh. And I realized that I was a little lean on the food, even with a batch of homemade pitas and plenty of hummus. So I made falafels.

OMG! They were so yummy and super easy too. I fried them in my cast iron skillet with coconut oil. Thankfully I was in the midst of making pitas, getting in and out of a 500 degree oven so I wasn't tempted to mess with them. I just flipped them when they were really browned and took them out when the other side was good and browned.

I had never had falafel until a few weeks ago. It's a mixture of mashed garbanzo beans and bread crumbs with some spices and onion and garlic thrown in. Then it's shaped in a little ball and deep fried.

We will do this one again!

Even Lazier Cabbage Rolls

2010-01-17T18:24:00.003-07:00

In the winter we get lots of cabbages from our CSA. Our family loves cabbage cooked with onion and bacon or made into a coleslaw, too. But I remembered those cabbage rolls from my youth and wanted something like that.

But time is an issue for me somedays. And even when I have time, I don't necessarily want to spend it filling cabbage leaves and trying to arrange them in a casserole dish. Because remember, I'm cooking for 8 people. And even though there are 6 kids, they eat A LOT. So a little dish of 6 or 8 cabbage rolls would just be a good start. lol

My friend Kathy posted this recipe and variations a long time ago and it was a go to recipe here for a while. I would do her casserole version. I would do a big 10x13 pan of it and there were rarely leftovers. I needed to make more.

This fall I came up with my even lazier version, that feeds us all with a little leftovers. You may need to downsize this recipe if you don't feed an army like I do.

Even Lazier Cabbage Rolls

enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan

1 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

4-6 carrots, diced

2-3 pounds ground beef (or venison works great in this one too)

1 large or 2 medium heads of cabbage, rough chopped

46 oz can tomato juice (we have tons of these leftover from our WIC days)

1 c water

1 1/2- 2 cups white rice

salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet or dutch oven (I use my Le Cruset large oval French oven), drizzle the olive oil. Brown the onion for a couple minutes (you know, the amount of time it takes to mince the garlic). Add the ground beef and garlic. Brown until mostly cooked through. (the amount of time it takes to peel the carrots and dice them). Add the carrots and continue to cook. It takes a good stir to get it all incorporated. Then add the chopped cabbage. I let that cook for about 5 minutes, covered to let the cabbage start to wilt down.

Stir in the rice, tomato juice and water. Bring to a simmer and cook covered for about 40 minutes. Check about 20 minutes into the cooking time to check the amount of liquid. You may need to add more water. When the rice it cooked, season with salt and pepper and serve!

I gave ranges for meat and rice because some times I thaw more meat than other times. So the times when I have only 2 lbs of meat, I need to add more rice to stretch it out. My kids all love this. Very nice comfort food and super lazy!

Menu Plan Saturday?

2010-01-16T14:10:00.005-07:00

This is when I have time to do my planning so I'm trying to get it done now. I'm realizing that life is really crazy when I am working 40 hours of nights every week. I'm thankful for the job right now, but jeez, it wears me out some days!

Saturday
Breakfast
apple oven pancake and bacon OK that didn't happen for a variety of reasons, but my kids did make chocolate pancakes
Dinner Even Lazier Cabbage Rolls (I'll post a recipe for that one later), Spinach Casserole
To do Prep muffin batter, thaw chicken

Sunday
Breakfast Kefir Soaked Muffin, kefir smoothies
Dinner Chicken Taco Soup
To do start soaking quinoa, start waffle batter

Monday

Breakfast whole wheat waffles, yogurt with fruit

Dinner chicken shawarma, quinoa tabbouleh, pita and hummus and falafel if I get ambitious

To do make tabbouleh, make hummus, make pita, thaw pork chops, start oatmeal

Tuesday

Breakfast baked oatmeal

Dinner tangy pork chops with rice and Southern Style Braised Greens, biscuits

To do thaw ground beef

Wednesday

Breakfast hot cereal
Dinner meatloaf, roasted potatoes, corn and coleslaw

To do start pancake batter, thaw sausages

Thursday

Breakfast whole wheat pancakes, kefir smoothies

Dinner White Bean and Kale Soup, French bread

To do thaw chicken, start for stock

Friday

Breakfast Eggs and toast

Dinner Layered Chicken Enchilada Casserole (I'll totally be winging it!)

To do Menu planning for next week

I'm still figuring out when I'm making bread each week too. I like mixing it one day and shaping and baking another day. It's been a time saver.

Wednesday's dinner

2010-01-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of the dinner my husband made last night. I'm not the best with photography, especially using my phone as a camera. But the food was awesome. He grilled lamb chops (from our farm lamb that he picked up last week), and roasted some maple squash with apples, honey, muscavado and a bit of chipolte powder, and we also had roasted root vegetables...carrots, chiaogga beets and leeks.

It was a great meal, food from our farm share and I didn't have to cook! (Even though I do LOVE to cook)

menu plan Monday

2010-01-10T19:36:00.001-07:00

Monday-
leftover curry sauce with chicken and vegetables over rice

Tuesday-
beef brisket, mashed potatoes, corn and broccoli rabe

Wednesday-
Duane is going to cook!

Thursday-
soup/stew/chili

Friday-
even lazier cabbage rolls

Saturday-

lamb, bulgur and carrots

the beef tongue-update

2010-01-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

Well, it just looked weird in the crock pot all day. And when it was fully cooked and tender, I had my husband take it out. He took the tough skin or membrane or whatever it is off and then diced the tongue for our tacos.

The meat was super tender and tasty. Think about it...very lean and great texture. It's all muscle! And everyone sampled it. Everyone even had a taco. The girls followed that up with lots of water and a been and cheese burrito!

As for Spinner's question, no taste buds because that outer skin is gone. It just LOOKS icky at first. Then it's fine.

the beef tongue

2010-01-08T09:59:00.000-07:00

I just put the beef tongue in the crock pot. I'm using this recipe as a guide.

I just didn't expect the tongue to look so much like, well, a tongue. It's dark and bumpy. I tried to not think about it too much. I was going to take a picture, but... Maybe after it's cooked.

Thank goodness I'm making a big pot of refried beans too!

venison?

2010-01-07T10:38:00.000-07:00

I had to laugh about this. Aleena's friend came home with her on Tuesday. (She has a friend home with her a few times a week!) Aleena asked if the friend could stay through dinner. I said, "yes but we are having venison". Aleena turns to her friend and says, "it's just deer!" Like everyone eats deer but venison is just some weird fancy name! (The friend wound up staying through dinner but NOT eating.)

I used a recipe from Nourishing Traditions that had me marinate the chops in red wine, orange zest and some thyme. Then I browned the chops and let them simmer in the marinade for an hour. It was a hit. And a great way to use some of the venison that has been given to us.

I'm getting ready to thaw my beef tongue to use for tacos tomorrow night. Hubby is soooo excited I am making lengua tacos.

menu plan Monday

2010-01-04T18:58:00.000-07:00

It's Monday and I have at least thought about my menu this week. I even went out to the "meat" freezer and looked to see what I have that I need to use up.

This week I will be feeding my children venison chops on Tuesday, making beef stock from our Christmas prime rib bones for French onion soup on Wednesday and figuring out how to make lengua tacos and burritos for Friday. Lengua? Yep, that's Spanish for tongue.

I'll also make a huge beef brisket, mashed potatoes with gravy and corn on Saturday to soothe all their dietary souls, as well.

breakfast

2009-12-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

This morning I made baked oatmeal with diced apple in it. Why don't I make this more often? I'd forgotten how good it is. And I would rather my kids eat that than boxed cereal. I need to get back in the habit.

Quick and easy "fruitcake"

2009-12-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

I posted about this on my mama blog. I made this fruitcake recipe from King Arthur Flour a week or so ago. I didn't let the loaf cool enough before trying to get it out of the pan so some stuck to the bottom. There's nothing more tempting to a family of pickers than a warm loaf of something with little bits missing from the bottom. I mean, if you pick a little no one will really notice, right? Not until half the loaf is gone anyway!

So on Christmas Eve, I made a double batch. We do still have one loaf intact, but there are a lot of other treats around too. Again, I tried to get it out of the pan too soon (the 20 minutes the recipe advises is not enough time), but no one cares around here.

This fruitcake isn't really traditional at all. It is very heavy and dense. But it's missing some of the traditional fruitcake ingredients like candied fruits and peels. It is full of dried fruits and nuts. My family really loves it. It's not too sweet, and I'm sure that could be adjusted to your taste by adding more or less sugar, and it has a really nice flavor. It is quite filling and a yummy snack with some hot tea.

I'm sure it will be added to the regular list of holiday baking.

some new holiday baking

2009-12-24T08:40:00.000-07:00

Along with the traditional things I do for the holidays (fudge, truffles, chocolate crinkles, scones), I tried some new recipes this year. They were both HUGE hits.

I didn't have espresso powder, but these coal cookies were yummy anyway! I had to hide them since all the other holiday baking I've done this year has disappeared already! We need to have SOMETHING for Santa tonight. In fact, I had to make the second batch of fudge yesterday.

And I tried to get this fruitcake out of the pan too early so it tore off the bottom a little which prompted the whole family to devour it within a matter of minutes. I'm making a double batch today! I don't do the candied cherries since they have Red dye #40. And I added a mixture of dried apricots, dried cranberries and raisins.

another idea for butternut squash

2009-12-21T09:46:00.002-07:00

We tend to eat our winter squash in just a couple of different ways. We like it roasted with some honey and cinnamon. Sometimes we branch out and use maple syrup. Or I puree the cooked squash and use it in baked things like bread, muffins, cookies or cake.

But when I was recovering from my appendicitis I had lots of extra TV time. I saw an episode of Lidia's Italian Kitchen where she was doing an easier version of risotto using regular rice. One of the versions had butternut squash. So I made this last week. It was great with just a pork roast. It was our side with starch and vegetable and a different way to use the abundance of winter squash we have right now.

And Lidia was right. The consistency was more like a risotto than a regular rice side dish. Rich and creamy. And very simple, too!

Holiday treats

2009-12-12T06:55:00.002-07:00

I've been in the mood to do more holiday baking than in past years. In the last week I've made truffles with Emma, Molasses Cookies, Chocolate Mint Crinkles and then yesterday....

Carmel Corn and fudge!

For the carmel corn, I don't keep brown sugar on hand anymore so I used only 1 c of SuCaNat. It was still plenty sweet. And I did have corn syrup on hand because I keep thinking I'll try to make homemade marshmallows.

The fudge recipe is super easy and fast. And it is becoming Emma's specialty! We only use the walnuts, not the dried fruit or colored cherries. And we spread it in a 8x12 inch pan. Still very yummy!

how hard was that?

2009-12-11T09:19:00.002-07:00

Wednesday night we had chicken and dumplings for dinner. Sounds impressive, huh? After dinner I was thinking that it was the kind of meal that seems so difficult or time consuming but was so very simple. Here's how it happened.

I had to run errands in the morning and had a meeting in the afternoon, so I put a whole chicken in a big pot with water, some garlic cloves, salt and celery leaves first thing in the morning. (I could have added onion or carrots or any vegetable peels I had but I was in a hurry.) I let it go until about 3 that afternoon when I fished the chicken and bones out of the water. I let them cool in a big bowl for about 20 minutes until I could handle it all. Then I pulled all the meat off the bones and set it aside. I strained the remaining stock to make sure I had all the good bits out of it.

I melted 4 T of butter in my oval dutch oven, then sauteed some onions and added diced carrots. I stirred in 4 T of flour to help thicken it all up later then stirred in the stock from before. I added the chopped chicken back into the pot. I wished I'd had some frozen peas to add. That would have added some nice color, but we settled for only carrots. I stirred in about 1 cup of half and half and then the whole pot simmered for about 20 minutes to begin to thicken up and get the carrots nice and soft. Added some seasoning in there too.

Then Trey helped me mix up the dumpling recipe from the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook. (We actually tripled the batch!) And he plopped those on top. Lid on, simmered for 15 minutes and we were feasting!

So it didn't take a lot of time. Probably less than an hour of real hands on time, but it was so good and so hearty. I'm glad my kids will grow up knowing that dinner doesn't have to come from a microwave. That they will know that real food is quite easy to prepare with just a few skills.

Cranberry Streusel Pie

2009-11-13T10:21:00.002-07:00

Talking about Thanksgiving the other night, Trey reminded me that I have to make this one. It was new to us last year and we LOVED it.

Cranberry Streusel Pie

1 lb fresh cranberries, mashed
3/4 c sugar
1/2 c flour, divided
1/2 c brown sugar
1/2 c walnuts I was out so I used pecans
1 tsp butter

1 9-inch pie crust

Stir sugar and 1/4 c flour into mashed cranberries. Pour into pie crust.

Smash nuts into small pieces. Stir in brown sugar, 1/4 c flour and butter with pastry blender until crumb is formed. Sprinkle over pie.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

menu planning and grocery shopping

2009-11-09T11:58:00.002-07:00

Last week as I was thinking about my big monthly grocery shopping trip for the beginning of the month, I made a list of meals I could make just from what was in the freezer and pantry. Wow is all I can say. Remember that we got a side of beef last winter and have been given some venison lately. I also have canned and frozen a lot from summer. And last week I got the first of our winter share from our CSA. My list...

Pot Roast with potatoes and carrots

Sausage and Peppers served with pasta

Beef Brisket with roasted potatoes, carrots and beets

Tangy Pork Chops over rice

Shepherd's Pie made Friday evening with ground venison

Chicken Divan

Potato Leek Soup

Beef Stew

Vegetable Soup

Chicken Pot Pies

Spaghetti Squash and Meatballs

Sri Lankan Curry

Walnut Chicken with Bulgur

Turkey dinner

Steak with roasted potates and green beans Saturday night's dinner with friends over

My grocery shopping reflected that. I buy just a little from the produce department (bananas!) and then stock up on some pantry items.

Now I don't necessarily have a concrete meal plan, but I can look at that list in the evening and figure out what we can have for dinner the next night based on what I know I have going on the next day and how tired I am.

And tomorrow I am finally making that turkey that has been in the freezer since last January. The kids will be so excited for a practice Thanksgiving dinner!

some canning pictures

2009-11-02T12:30:00.006-07:00

It was a crazy summer here, not very hot at all. For certain crops, that wasn't good. The tomatoes were super late coming on here. Early tomatoes didn't come on until the end of August. I was nervous that we wouldn't have enough to can. We rely a lot on our home canned tomatoes throughout the winter and I was a little nervous.

But in the middle of September we had a hard freeze warning and Duane was able to pick lots of tomatoes. Here's a picture of red and yellow tomato sauce

It has been a GREAT year for peppers here in CO. I have soooo many frozen peppers of all colors: green, red, orange, yellow, ivory and even a few purple.

We made lots of salsa this year

And we pickled jalapenos, banana peppers and some anaheim peppers.

We included some carrots (orange and yellow) and some onion slices in the jalapenos, too. I think they are so pretty. And they taste YUMMY!!!

I love my farmers!

2009-10-22T09:18:00.003-06:00

In the past couple of weeks, we have had many meals that I realize have been completely provided by our CSA...veggies and meat, soups, stews. It was a really overwhelming thought that all the food on our table had been raised on the same few acres. Not something we could say about a meal prepared from only grocery store foods.

I love my farmers. They feed me...literally!

the flu-and soup season

2009-10-20T08:34:00.003-06:00

We have been so very sick the past week. My hubby and I both had the flu along with the 2 youngest. Two of the other kids have also had some variation of the flu and two have remained healthy. I find myself making lots of soup lately. It's easy, filling, inexpensive and a good way to use the massive amount of veggies that have accumulated this harvest season.

A favorite is Potato Leek

I start by sauteing 3 good sized leeks in about 1/4 cup of butter. They can absorb all that butter and start to burn so I sometimes need to add a little more butter. Then I add about 8-10 cups of diced potatoes. Yukon golds are the best, but the red ones or even fingerlings will work. I cover those with chicken stock or vegetable stock, bring to a boil and then simmer until the potatoes are soft and beginning to fall apart. The time this takes depends on the variety of potato, yukons are fast, fingerlings take longer. Then I use my immersion blender to puree out most of the lumps. Season to taste. Easy!

While I'm at it. I'll post this here for you all to see too! (OK so that means mostly my mom will know what we are having for dinner every night! lol)

Friday
steaks, roasted potatoes, roasted broccoli. calabacitas, green beans

Saturday
Block party-taking zucchini brownies, homemade ice cream (kids will do hand crank!) and potato salad

Sunday
Crock pot ribs, mashed potatoes, steamed beets, wilted lettuce salad

Monday
Q-ball parmesan, meatballs, garlic bread salad

Tuesday
Chile relleno casserole, turnips, kohlrabi and greens

Wednesday
hodge podge of leftovers and whatever veggies need to be eaten up for the week

I've missed you!

2009-07-17T15:37:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that I am sitting down to blog! It's been so long. Life got really busy in the spring. I was working 32 hours most weeks, and occasionally 40 hours. That was all at night while trying to maintain my life during the day as well. Blogging lost out to sleep. Reading blogs lost out to sleep. Basically if I had a second, I was resting. Then my husband and I used birthday money to get ourselves iPhones and I really had little use for a real computer. I could check my email and FaceBook at night while I wasn't sleeping.

But I have been blissfully unemployed since June 25. We will miss the paycheck, but everyone is happy to have a functional mama again. And I have 2 contracts lined up for August.

We are back to doing our farm thing. I love that. I forget what it is like to have so much fresh food around. It's WONDEREFUL. And I have been trying to sit down every Thursday when we get home and decide how and when I will use the produce we have. I don't want things to go to waste. I am also trying to plan when and what I will put up for later. Not much of that yet, but I did make a triple batch of zucchini bread last week. We ate some right away and froze some. We have already eaten some of the frozen too. Today I did a batch of muffins, peanut butter oat bars, and a double batch of brownies. Some to eat now, some to freeze for later, some for a block party tomorrow.

I have also accomplished what I never thought I would. I can make potato salad that is almost as good as Grandma Shorty's! She is my grandmother that was never a great cook, but she made the sweet pickles that I still make and her potato salad was my favorite. I would make potato salad sandwiches at her house! I finally made a potato salad last week that I thought was almost as good as hers. I'm making more for the block party tomorrow. I have a ton of new red potatoes. They are so so so good.

I look forward to trying to catch up with my blogging friends out there. Checking google reader on an iPhone is a challenge so I had given that up too. Maybe I'll get a chance to get back to it.

Happy cooking...happy eating!

survival mode

2009-04-12T18:38:00.002-06:00

The last week was crazy busy. This week will be much calmer, but I am still just trying to maintain. *sigh*

We have managed to eat. I have cooked and all that. Thankfully, my family is quite forgiving. We have eaten some less than stellar meals, Eaten some foods I wouldn't normally serve (like the leftover boxed mac and cheese from the church supper on Wednesday...they sent home all the leftovers with us.) But we were just trying to get through the week.

I am still working on a plan for this week. Tomorrow's dinner will have something to do with leftover ham, I'm sure. And we have plenty of leftover muffins and fruit from this morning, so the morning is covered too.

I'll keep you posted!

what plan?

2009-04-01T17:44:00.002-06:00

I'm not sure what happened this week, but I have been totally off of my menu plan. Well, not totally. We are having the planned meals, just not on the planned day. lol

Here are a couple of recipes. The spinach casserole we did last night was good. In fact, Trey did most of it with just a little help from me. You can see the recipe here.

We are trying to get different grains into our daily diet. It's so easy to overdo it on brown rice. I love this recipe. I love the hint of cinnamon and raisins and walnuts. And we have found that we really love bulgur.

Any new recipes for you all out there?

Menu Plan Monday

2009-03-29T20:31:00.002-06:00

So it's a start...Need to finish the end of the week. Need inspiration!

Monday
breakfast
eggs, toast, kefir smoothies
dinner
whole wheat pasta with bolognese sauce, salad, garlic bread
prep
prep oats, thaw roast

Tuesday
breakfast
baked oatmeal
dinner
crock pot fajitas
prep
grocery shopping, mill and soak wheat for pancakes

Wednesday
breakfast
whole wheat pancakes, kefir smoothies
dinner
chicken walnut bulgur, baked spinach
prep
make granola, bake bread, make yogurt, do milk order

Thursday
breakfast
cinnamon bread, eggs
dinner
leftovers, liver and onions for Duane
prep
thaw liver

Friday
breakfast
yogurt and granola
dinner
homemade pizza
prep
make pizza crust

Saturday
breakfast
dinner
prep

Sunday
breakfast
dinner
prep

chicks!

2009-03-21T09:05:00.002-06:00

Got some yesterday...see their pictures here

Menu Plan Monday

2009-03-15T19:20:00.003-06:00

I have been consistently making menu plans for a while again. Now that I am trying to feed us more traditionally...more whole foods, more natural meals, I have to plan more. Since breakfast is no longer a bowl of boxed cereal, I also have to plan for that. Most of the things I make for breakfast also require preparation, too.

So here is is my plan for breakfast, dinner and whatever I need to do to prepare for the next day or prepare for later in the week.

Monday
Breakfast
toast (with today's homemade bread) and eggs, kefir smoothies
Dinner
potatoes au gratin and ham, corn
Prep
thaw corned beef, make yogurt

Tuesday
Breakfast
homemade yogurt and granola parfaits with frozen berries
Dinner
corned beef, cabbage, potatoes anc carrots, irish soda bread
Prep
bake soda bread in afternoon, mill flour and soak for waffles, thaw chickens

Wednesdayday
Breakfast
waffles and kefir smoothies
Dinner
roast chicken, mashed potatoes, fried cabbage with bacon, roasted beets
Prep
prepare baked oatmeal before bed

Thursday
Breakfast
baked oatmeal
Dinner
Leftovers...and if there is nothing to eat, we'll have eggs!
Prep
make muffins, bake bread, make chicken stock

Friday
Breakfast
muffins and smoothies
Dinner
maybe homemade pizza, still deciding
Prep
mill and soak flour for pancakes, thaw beef

Saturday
Breakfast
pancakes. bacon, eggs
Dinner
crock pot beef fajitas
Prep
prep oatmeal, thaw roast, brew kombucha

Sunday
Breakfast
baked oatmeal
Dinner
pot roast, potatoes, carrots
Prep
do meal plan for next week...

For more meal plans you can visit 5 dollar dinners

Real Food Wednesday

2009-03-11T12:08:00.002-06:00

This is an ongoing thing that I have never participated in only read with delight. But today's topic is about getting kids to eat real food...and like it.

One of the staples around our house the past few weeks have been keifr smoothies. I've read about how great raw milk is and I really believe it to be true (more about that soon), but in Colorado it's illegal to sell raw milk unless you own a share in the cow. That would run our family about $8/gallon. Really not affordable right now.

But I want them to have the benefits of good milk. Right now we are trying to get the best milk we can afford and consume as much of it in it's cultured form as possible. Culturing helps to get some of those healthy nutrients back into the milk.

So one of our favorite ways to get some cultured milk each day is a morning smoothie.

For me and the 2 littles, I do

2 cups kefir
1 whole banana (Jack E loves to watch it disappear into the blender)
1/2 c frozen blueberries
1 Tbsp raw local honey

Blend it all together and enjoy!

You can see more kid friendly real food ideas here.

recipe tweaking

2009-03-11T10:21:00.001-06:00

Last week I posted a recipe for spice muffins. I made them again yesterday and updated the recipe with my changes. It also gave me an even 18, which suits my OCD much better than the 16 I had before.

Enjoy!

bloggy give away

2009-03-10T11:13:00.001-06:00

One of my favorite bloggers is hosting a chocolate giveaway. The chocolate is amazing. Made from only single beans. Only uses can sugar. So delicious. I'm hoping to win some!

You can check it out here.

don't think they noticed

2009-03-09T19:17:00.002-06:00

But I put pumpkin puree in their mac and cheese tonight. Hubby is out so I took advantage and made an easy dinner of homemade mac and cheese. Just before I stirred the shredded cheese into the white sauce I added a cup of pumpkin puree that I froze this fall.

I don't think anyone noticed any thing different, and I feel so much better that the got more veggies in them tonight.

liver and onions

2009-03-06T18:09:00.002-07:00

That's what I made for dinner tonight! Well. that's what I made for hubby. I did make something else for the kids that were home tonight, but they all tasted the liver. Most of them liked it, too. For me, it's a texture thing. But I did eat a few bites to get some that super nutrition.

And I did it the old fashioned way, with bacon and onions too. It's liver from our half a beef. So I know that their liver hasn't been working hard cleaning out as many toxins as conventional stock yard cattle. The flavor was really mild, too. I think next time I'll use it with some ground beef to make burgers.

making yogurt

2009-03-05T17:03:00.002-07:00

My friend came over this morning to see how I make my yogurt. It's one of my culturing habits I started in December and now it's part of my weekly routine. Making yogurt is one of those kitchen chores that takes some time, but not all of it is active time. Like baking bread. You have to be there to watch how it's rising, but you can do other things and just check in from time to time.

So the basics of my yogurt making habit....( this is where I realize I really need a decent camera so I could share pictures )

I start with a half gallon of milk, and heat it at medium heat for about 20 minutes until it reaches 180º F. This is to make sure that any competing bacteria are killed off. ( I usually unload my dishwasher and wipe down counters while it heats. )

Then the milk has to be cooled to 110º F so that when the starter is added ( more about that in a sec ) it won't be killed off. I set the pan of milk in a sink of cold water to do this. It takes 5-10 minutes depending on how full I fill the sink.

At this point I get my jars ready. ( Yogurt needs to be stored in clean glass jars so there is no residual gunk in there. I always use the same jars over and over. Once we have emptied a jar and it's been through the dishwasher, I set it aside. When I have 4 jars, I know it is time to make more. ) I put my 4 empty peanut butter jars into the other side of the sink with hot water. This gets the jars warmed so the yogurt stays at a more constant temp while it incubates.

( I use empty peanut butter jars because they have a wide mouth and are easy to empty. I would rather make smaller jars of yogurt and dip into them less so there is less separating too. You can easily use 2 quart jars, but I like the smaller jars. I think I will also get a different cooler at some point and even do individual cups for the kids to use in school lunches next fall. )

When the milk is at 110º, I stir in about 2 Tbsp of starter yogurt. This is just a little yogurt held back from my last batch. Originally it was plain yogurt (with active cultures) from the grocery store. I then take about 2 Tbsp out and put that aside to use as my starter next time. ( I keep my starter in a little plastic tupperware type container. It incubates on my stove top under a towel for the day. )

Then I stir in 2 teaspoons vanilla and 1/2 c raw sugar. ( Since we were used to eating store bought fruit flavored yogurt before, I am not making plain yogurt for the kids yet. It's a compromise right now, but they eat the yogurt and still think it's a little sour. Once our taste buds adjust, I will add less sugar I think. ) Then it's into the jars. I use my ladle and big funnel just like when I am canning. Before I fill each jar, I pour the hot water out and into my little cooler. The jars are only about half full. Yogurt doesn't need any head room. so I fill the jars to the brim.

I have an old cooler that would hold a six-pack of soda cans. It's really small and there is not a lot of extra room once the jars are in. If you need to use a bigger cooler, you can add a towel over the jars to insulate them too.

With 4 jars in the cooler and the water that was in the jars before in the cooler, the water level is about 3/4 of the way up the jar. That water needs to be about 100º. The yogurt then needs to incubate in the 100º water for 6-8 hours. Then into the fridge over night so it's completely set.

I like my yogurt thick and custardy ( which is why I don't like the crock pot method ) and this method yields that every time.

Some random other things:

The starter culture will work best if yogurt is made every week or so.

Longer incubation will make a tangier yogurt.

No matter how much milk you use, the ratios of ingredients stay the same.

More starter will actually produce a runnier end product, the opposite of what I would think.

It's really, really good...and with cherry preserves we made last summer it makes an awesome dessert.

soaked kefir spice muffins

2009-03-01T14:21:00.006-07:00

I have lots of kefir now that I got my own grains. I love it, but we don't drink smoothies every day. I used some to make buttermilk biscuits the other day and they were awesome. I decided to make some buttermilk spice muffins like the ones at Mimi's Cafe. But I did tweak the recipe a little to fall in line with how we are trying to eat now. I only topped a dozen of the muffins because I have one kiddo that doesn't like nuts. Next time I think I will skip the topping altogether and add the nuts to the batter. And D (the husband) thought they needed raisins or cranberries or something, but that's his personal preference. I thought the muffin itself was quite yummy.

Here's a link to the original recipe.

And here's my recipe

Soaked Kefir Spice Muffins

Combine 1 1/2 c kefir and 2 1/2 c freshly milled whole wheat pastry flour and let soak overnight.

In the morning.
cream 1/2 c butter
1/2 c turbinado

Add 3 eggs and beat for 1 minute.

Stir flour and kefir mixture to soften up and make more pliable then add to eggs, butter and sugar, and stir to mix.

Add
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Mix until combined.

Stir in 3/4 c dried cranberries or chopped nuts

Pour into prepared muffin tins and top with nut topping (optional, follows). Bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Yield 18 muffins

Nut topping, optional
1 c chopped walnuts
1/3 c cane sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

yummy snack

2009-02-28T14:07:00.002-07:00

I had some pitas from last Sunday that were getting a little dry so I thought I'd make pita chips. I cut the pitas into triangles, drizzled them with a little olive oil, sprinkled with 1 tsp cinnamon and 1 tsp cane sugar. Baked at 350 for about 10 minutes til they were really crunchy. I mixed 4 oz of cream cheese with about 2 Tbsp honey as a "dip".

YUM!

breakfast ideas

2009-02-24T14:05:00.003-07:00

I was talking to a friend the other day about how our diet switch has been going. Nothing has been that noticeably different for the kids except for breakfast. They ate cold boxed cereal 80% of the time. I loved it too, because they were really self sufficient with their breakfast (which is wonderful when I am working nights and getting home at 6:30 am). But what about now that mama has deemed cereal a less than healthy option?

My menu planning has to include breakfast now as well. Especially since I shared with you that I am trying to soak most of our grains before we eat them. So now as I plan our weekly menu (yes, I'm back to that again too), I also plan our daily breakfasts and any prep work (like baking bread or making yogurt) that will need to be done.

Here's one of my favorite breakfast choices right now. It is usually our Sunday morning option with some leftovers for later in the week if someone needs a snack or doesn't like the other breakfast choice of the day. This recipe is based on one from Urban Homemaker.

Baked Oatmeal

In a large glass bowl, combine
1/2 c melted butter or coconut oil
1 c Sucanat
4 c rolled oats
2 c kefir
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Let sit for 8-12 hours

In the morning add
3 beaten eggs
3 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt
a little milk to thin, if necessary

Bake in prepared 9x13 pan at 350 for 30 minutes.

*For Sunday mornings I like to add some vanilla extract to the oatmeal mixture and sprinkle about 1/2 c chocolate chips on top. We also like it with 1 diced apple stirred in before baking. Last Sunday I added 1/2 c walnuts and 1/2 dried cranberries to the mix. That was my favorite so far.

The original recipe is only for an 11x7 but I have changed it up to make more for our larger family. Even my non-oatmeal eaters like this one. Hope you like it. Let me know what variation you come up with.

soaking, fermenting and culturing...

2009-02-21T09:35:00.002-07:00

...that's what I've been up to. I keep thinking I'll blog soon, but then there is something else to do. I have been busy for sure, but I have been spending lots of time in the kitchen. I have been reading Nourishing Traditions and Wild Fermentation. They have been influencing a lot of what I am doing in the kitchen and what I am thinking about food.

So what are all those things I have been doing? I'll start with soaking. Whole grains are good for us. We've all heard that and know it to be true. We are all trying to consume more whole grains, too. Our family has been away from refined flours for quite a while. I started baking mostly all of our breads last winter. It's still an area that I am working through, trying to get a whole grain bread that we really love. I also mill our whole grain flours. When we buy whole wheat flour, there's really no standard that determines what is in that whole wheat flour. In fact, any flour made from wheat can be called "whole wheat flour", even all purpose four. Products made from those products can also be labeled that. Like twinkies that say they contain whole wheat flour. They are being literal and saying that they contain wheat flour and not rice flour or oat flour. Commercial whole wheat flours are really just refined flour (made from wheat) that has enough wheat bran and wheat germ added back to make it look healthier. (This info comes from Flour Power.)

That information really forms my belief that milling my own flour at home is worth the few minutes that it takes me. Buying whole wheat flour at the store just isn't getting what you think you are. Add into that the fact that as soon as the outer coating of that wheat berry is broken, the vitamins and minerals begin to break down. Have you ever smelled wheat flour that smelled a little off? It was probably rancid. The natural oils that are in the germ will "turn" depending on how the flour was initially milled and how it was stored. Even at home if I don't use all the flour I have milled, I will store it in the freezer to help preserve its nutrients.

So where does the soaking come into play? All grains (including oats) have phytic acid in their outer layer or their bran. This is really hard for us to digest. In our era of quick breads and quick cook oats, we have lost much of the time that our ancestors put into cooking their foods. By soaking flour or grains overnight (like with sourdough) we can neutralize some of that phytic acid by soaking in a slightly acidic liquid like kefir, yogurt or water with a little lemon juice or whey added. Not only is it easier to digest, but things also have a different texture. I make pancakes for the kids with whole wheat flour that I have soaked overnight in a mixture of milk and yogurt and they are super light and fluffy. If I made the pancakes without soaking first, the kids would definitely feel that they were eating something whole grainy, but after soaking, the pancakes aren't that much different that a refined flour product.

I do the same thing with oatmeal. The oats in the morning are much creamier. I never thought I would get them to eat anything other than flavored instant oatmeal packets. Not only are they full of extra ingredients, but they get expensive with 6 kids and many of them eating at least 2 packs of oatmeal at a time. Now I can buy inexpensive bulk oatmeal and soak it and add some chopped apple or something and everyone is happy.

Phytic acid also makes it harder for us to absorb some of the great nutrients in those grains. By neutralizing some of that acid, breaking it down, we can get more nutrition from what we are eating. Soaking also helps to break down some of the gluten in grains like wheat, oats, rye and barley. By consuming lots of these grains full of gluten we stress our digestive systems, resulting in the prevalence of a myriad of things like allergies, candida overgrowth and even celiac disease. Think about how our grocery stores are selling mostly refined flour products. In that refined flour, the germ and the bran have been removed, leaving a disproportionate amount of gluten in the flour and the products made from them. It's no wonder that there has been an uprising of celiac disease and gluten sensitivities. That is all we have consumed for a few decades. By using whole grains and soaking them, that gluten is more proportionate in what we are eating and also starting to be broken down for our bodies, helping our digestion.

I feel like I am all over the place with this. It is a pretty big topic to try to cover in one little blog post. I'm sure I'll have more to add later. And I'll tell you about culturing and fermenting later too.

salvageable

2009-02-03T20:12:00.002-07:00

That is the word to describe dinner at our house tonight. I saw a blog post about a yellow split pea and sausage soup. I thought I would do something like that. I had bought some natural polish sausage a couple weeks ago on sale and thought I'd use that with the dried split green peas I had.

I soaked my peas overnight. They looked great this morning. I put them in the crock pot with my kitchen stock from the fridge. This was where it all went wrong. I've been trying to incorporate more of the ideas I've been reading in Nourishing Traditions. Part of that is to add a little vinegar to bone broth to help get all the nutrients out of the bone. Well, I hadn't really read that part yet when I made the stock so I just added a big splash of vinegar to my pot of bones. It smelled really strongly of vinegar at the time, but I didn't worry about it. Too much.

I think there was just too much acid in my stock for my split peas to cook. After 5 hours or so on high, the peas were still like rocks. So I transferred the peas and the sausage to a soup pot (along with some sauteed onion, garlic, carrots and celery root). I added about 10 cups of water. After simmering for over an hour. Still hard as ever.

Soooooo. Last night I had made a pot roast. I had a ton of potatoes leftover and was thinking I would use them as a hash or something later this week. I pulled out the potatoes and put them in my big oval Le Cruset. I fished out the sausage, carrots and celery root and put that in along with some liquid.

Salvageable. And I made pita bread for the first time today. I figure as long as there is fresh bread on the table, the dinner can be so and so and no one will really care!

so much to say, so little time!

2009-01-29T15:59:00.002-07:00

It has been a great week for me in the kitchen. I have felt inspired to cook and plan meals. I have even planned breakfasts! Those have usually been up to the kids to fend for themselves, but since we are trying to get away from boxed cereal, I have had to make a plan. We've had pancakes and waffles and stove top oatmeal and baked oatmeal. Tomorrow will either be yogurt with fruit/granola or eggs and toast.

And I made a "clean" meatloaf, too. Not that my meatloaf has ever been from a box or anything, but I didn't use ketchup in it. Ketchup is one of the few last processed and full of high fructose corn syrup foods that we have around. And honestly, even organic Heinz is still not really great IMHO. Next summer I will try to can some homemade ketchup. But I digress. I used some tomato sauce with a little vinegar and a little honey and reduced it (with my sauteed onions) and added that to my meatloaf. Since I had my next batch of bread rising I used my last couple of slices of homemade bread to make the breadcrumbs even.

I can tell you are all impressed.

I do have some recipes that I want to post, but I also have Clay's birthday dinner to get to so it will have to wait another day.

I did make my first sauerkraut this week. D brought home some red cabbage from our CSA on Tuesday. He sliced it up super thin for me and I mixed it with the salt, pounded it in the jar, and let it sit. It was bubbling today so I put it in the fridge to sour. Can't wait! You can see the method I used here.

kitchen experiments

2009-01-27T09:14:00.002-07:00

I've been keeping busy in the kitchen lately. I've experimented with a few things too.

I tried making yogurt in the crock pot using this method. I really didn't like it as much as the stove top/little cooler method. And I read in Wild Fermentation that using more starter can actually make a less firm yogurt. So I will go back to the stove top method and just use a little starter instead of the whole cup of yogurt my friend suggested.

Aleena made some really AWFUL cookies. She was making it up as she went. She was proud because it didn't have any butter or eggs in it. Then she tasted them. Yep, they tasted like they had no butter or eggs in them. I really need to do better about teaching my kids about nutrition. They are getting brainwashed by that silly food pyramid. I could rant on about that but I'll save that for another day!

I made a mixture of molasses and honey the other day like this blog post. It is so good. I love the taste of molasses, but it can be too bitter. And I really love that my boys think it's a great substitute for pancake syrup. So many nutrients in molasses and honey.

I have another sourdough starter going. I used it to make pancakes on Saturday and want to make this spice bread with it, but I need some spelt for that so it may have to wait until next week. I am really going to try to use my sourdough better this time. Duane was really wanting sourdough french bread like you get at the stores last year so I abandoned my starter. But this time I'll try to be more creative with it so we can get the benefit of that natural fermented food.

In the past couple of weeks I made a recipe with bulgur. It was this walnut chicken recipe. We all really liked it. And we had greens that night too. They weren't great but the kids ate them. I'll definitely make them again.

I made a different batch of granola yesterday. It's more of a clumpy type. The kids like that to snack on. It will become a staple in the pantry I'm sure as we wean off of boxed cereals. I told the kids about the studies I posted about before. They were all disgusted and thankful for things like homemade oatmeal and pancakes as alternatives.

I have a winter squash cake recipe to post too. I'll get it up later today. It's a great breakfast cake or dessert.

what's wrong with cereal?

2009-01-22T15:24:00.004-07:00

I know we can probably all find any study that says anything we want it too, but I read this one about cereal the other day and it's freaking me out a little.

We rarely have anything in the house besides WIC cereals anyway because that's what we get with our vouchers, but I'm still not crazy about the fact that it's so processed. I hate having to read long ingredients lists. :oP And since I've read that study I really want to get away from them.

One big problem? Cereal has become the go to food in this house. After school snack, breakfast, easy supper. Today I made a batch of granola to help steer the kids towards something else. It's not difficult at all, but I know they will also want variety so I will continue to work on that.

There was a time when I thought they wouldn't survive the winter if I didn't buy instant flavored oatmeal packets. I stopped buying those this winter. I had some I got with free coupons, and the kids inhaled them, but when they were gone...they managed to find something else to eat. I know the same thing will happen with cereal.

Taking steps away from processed foods is hard, but it's important to me. And I am more and more amazed at what goes into my cart at the grocery store. The things in it are ingredients to make a myriad of things. I am still very much a work in process.

still reading

2009-01-19T11:25:00.003-07:00

I've been continuing to read my book and still thinking through a lot of things.

It resonates so much with me because I see that even as our "health" consciousness rises in the US...eating low fat foods, cutting back on sugar and using artificial sweeteners, using chemically altered products instead of real butter, buying white bread that has stuff added to it to make it more like whole grain bread...This country is fatter than ever! We have more diseases now that we didn't have 150 years ago. Sure people are living longer in a polluted environment now, but...

Last winter when I got my grain mill, I started reading about whole grains and how we really can't buy any whole wheat flour at the store. The nutrients in the wheat start to break down within a few hours. By the time it's packaged and in the stores, it's lost most of it's vitality. And if any of the oil from the kernel is still present, it's rancid by then.

Now this January I am reading more along the same lines. just how natural foods...in their fat laden states are good for us. Butter has nutrients, did you know that? Does that tub of hydrogenated oil we call margarine have any shred of naturalness left in it? Not really. We stopped eating margarine long ago. I realized that it has the same calories as butter. It just has processed fat as opposed to natural fat. So we chose natural fat.

Molasses and honey have nutrients too. Molasses is full of iron. And one of the easiest ways to protect yourself from seasonal allergies is to eat raw local honey. By ingesting that little bit of pollen, you allow your body to fight off the onslaught of it when it becomes bothersome.

Those are things I've known for a while. So as I read my book, I am feeling more and more comfortable with what I am reading. I will be making more changes to my family's already weird diet I'm sure.

Nourishing Traditions

2009-01-15T16:09:00.002-07:00

I've just begun reading this book.

Have you read it and what do you think? I think I will be changed by this book. I can feel it already. And I'm having a lot of inward struggle with it. The Weight Watcher in me wants to run away. The mother in me wonders how to do this.

I need to read some more.

lunch tote giveaway

2009-01-12T07:36:00.002-07:00

We all know that taking food with us is a much more cost effective way and healthful way to feed our families when we are on the run, and there's a giveaway for a brand new cute lunch tote here. Go check it out!

homemade yogurt

2009-01-07T08:24:00.002-07:00

A friend of ours gave us some of her homemade yogurt the other day. It was so good I decided it was time to go ahead and try it myself. I've been thinking of it for a while now. The kids go through Yoplait flavored yogurts really quickly, but I hate that one of the first ingredients is high fructose corn syrup. There are the natural brands without it, but they get pricey. I was really pleased that the kids were liking Ghena's homemade yogurt so I thought I'd try it.

(Now I have to confess that part of why they were devouring the yogurt is because we were also drizzling it with homemade chocolate sauce. But even that had natural ingredients in it.)

I asked Ghena how she made her yogurt. Part of why it's so yummy is that it has either whole or 2% milk. I decided that I wanted to go the nonfat route to make it easier for me with my quest to lose 5 pounds, and that way I could use nonfat milk powder too, to make it really affordable. There are instructions all over the internet on how to do it, so you can check out some simple ones here. The only difference was the addition of a box of unflavored gelatin. And I used the oven method which I don't think I will do again. My yogurt is runny and I think it's party due to the fat content and partly due to my incubation method.

I will be doing it again soon...well, after we eat this first batch. I'll let you know how it goes using the cooler incubation method. That's the one Ghena uses. And her stuff is AWESOME!

It's also great because you can use whatever you want as sweetener. I used turbinado last time, and I think I could have used more. (I think I used about 1/2 cup.) You could easily use honey or molasses or just table sugar. But you can control what goes in there. And I also used some of Lorrie's homemade vanilla extract. YUM!

really red sauce

2009-01-05T09:32:00.002-07:00

On Saturday the meals just kind of got away from me. The boys had been out since late morning and came home at 3:30 or so STARVING. I had planned on scalloped potatoes and ham for dinner, but had't started that yet. I made the boys some ham scrambled eggs instead. Then I wondered if anyone would really want dinner. I wound up making pasta at the last minute.

I took an idea I used last summer and used different veggies this time. Little did I realize the beets and carrots , well really the beets would turn the tomato sauce into something that looked like it belonged in a horror movie. Thankfully the kids ate it up with few questions!

menu plan Monday

2008-12-28T21:38:00.003-07:00

Yeah, I know it's only Sunday. And I am not posting a menu either. How's that for not sticking to my post's title?

I realized after doing a couple of menu plans that it's not really how I operate. Granted there are a few days here and there when I have absolutely no idea what we will eat later that night, but for the most part I seem to always have an idea of what I am doing. Maybe it's from doing the CSA for a few years now that I tend to think about what I have to use up and how I can do that in a new and exciting way. I realized that when I was doing menus I was having more leftovers. Usually I use my leftovers in another way later in the week, even the next night to make something new or just reheated.

So I am not going to do menu plan Monday's for a while. Maybe I will change my mind as our family's schedule changes in the next few months. We'll see.

Right now I have some chicken carcasses and a turkey carcass that I need to cook down and make stock. I will do that tomorrow. Then we will most likely have something from that process tomorrow night. Maybe chicken and dumplings or chicken noodle soup or chicken pot pie. Something like that. I also have a ham in the fridge. They have been on sale for 99¢/lb. Great deal and we all really like ham. In fact, it seems to be Jack E's favorite meat. I will do that later this week sometime. Then we can have a pot of ham and beans next weekend, too.

BTW, the laundry detergent is working great. I have been keeping track of how many loads I am getting from my batch. So far I am up to 15 (I didn't do much laundry last week due to Christmas), and I am just starting to make a mark on the bucket full. It does have some watery stuff with it. The detergent kind of gels up and then some of the liquid separates out. The liquid is only water so I just try to scoop a little of that up when I get my scoop of detergent too. The next thing I want to try is fabric softener. I know vinegar works great, but I want to make something with lavender or eucalyptus in it. I'll let you know how it works out.

OH, before I forget, I got the Kitchen Aid Professional 600 (or something like that) for Christmas from Santa. My white Kitchen Aid has been awesome, but I am afraid it could go out any time. My new mixer has a 6 quart capacity so I am hoping to be able to do bigger batches of bread. And I also got this awesome book. It is published by the Colorado State Extension office. It has a lot of information as well as recipes. I made banana bread from it today and was really pleased. I'll fill you in on what I learn. If you have never baked from scratch at altitude, then you don't realize how frustrating it can be. This book will be appreciated by my family I'm sure!

Boys are being crazy so I'd better check on them. You'd think they wouldn't act like maniacs when they know I am directly under them, but then again as my nighbor says, "1 boy, 1 brain. 2 boys, half a brain." Yes and with 3 boys, she says...you do the math! LOL

laundry detergent

2008-12-18T13:19:00.003-07:00

I told my husband this morning as he was leaving for work that I was going to make laundry detergent today. He said, "like you don't have enough to do already"

In a way, he's right, but at the same time, detergent is expensive and I am tired of buying it. It's something I always try to use a coupon with, but I still don't like spending the money on it.

Then I saw this and decided to go for it.

I couldn't find the Fels-Naptha soap, but after looking online at other recipes, I decided to use the bar of Zote soap I got last winter when my grocery store was doing a remodel and getting rid of a lot of stuff for cheap. I had read on this site that Zote was good for stain removal. So I picked up 2 bars. I've used one a little on some stains and it has worked. It has far less "stuff" in it than like Shout and I liked that. I honestly have no idea how much I paid for it, but I can't imagine that it was more than $1.99. I think it was probably 99¢, but I'll use the higher price to figure my price per batch below.

Yesterday I got the Borax and Washing Soda.

Price breakdown so far? I calculated the price of the ingredients that I have used so far. (I measured out the amount of Borax and Soda and weighed and then found how much of the total box I used to get the price per batch.)

Zote soap $1.00
Borax 23¢ (entire box was $4.59, I will get 20 batches of soap from the box)
Washing Soda 36¢ (entire box was $3.99 and I can get 11 batches from the box)

total:
$1.59

Not sure how many loads I'll get. I'll keep track of that and let you all know. But I think it's a great price so far. And I'm sure it works since I've found so many folks online making their own too. From what I've read, it's good for front loaders since it has minimal suds. And it's good for sensitive skin, too.

Squash Spice Cake

2008-12-14T15:22:00.004-07:00

This is a great not too sweet cake. We eat it for snacks or breakfast. I like to put dried cranberries in it instead of the raisins, but today I was out.

Spicy Squash Cake

2 c granulated sugar*
1 c brown sugar*
4 eggs, beaten
1 c vegetable oil*
2 c squash, cooked, strained
2 c flour*
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp gr cloves
1 tsp nutmeg
3/4 c raisins (optional)

In a large mixing bowl, blend sugars, eggs and oil. Beat in squash. In a separate bowl combine dry ingredients and stir into liquid mixture. Stir in raisins. Pour batter into a greased 10-inch tube pan. Bake 50-60 minutes in a 350 F oven.

*I've always made this with a combination of sucanat and turbinado. I use 1 c turbinado and 1/2 c sucanat. It's the right sweetness for us this way. I've used butter instead of oil, too, but it doesn't have the same crumb. And I've substituted all whole wheat flour or part whole wheat or all-purpose flour.

lots of leftovers

2008-11-28T09:14:00.003-07:00

The best part of cooking for a couple of days is NOT cooking for a couple more. We have leftovers galore and we'll be having buffet style meals all weekend. YAY!

Just figured out that my turkey this year cost about 35¢ per pound. What a deal! As I always try to shop the loss leaders in the grocery ads each week, I can't forget that this time of year, turkeys are right on up there as one of the best deals around.

Thanksgiving=cooking

2008-11-26T09:46:00.002-07:00

I come by it naturally. I have one of those grandmothers. The one that fills a table with everyone's favorite food just to say "I love you". She cooked amazing Thanksgiving dinners for us to all gather around and celebrate. This year I won't be with her on Thanksgiving, but I will call her to wish her a happy 90th birthday. How awesome!

The day before the big day I am baking pies with the girls. I'm making some deviled eggs as a surprise appetizer for the family. Getting my dinner rolls mixed up. They will rise for a few hours tomorrow while the turkey cooks. I hope to get a couple of casseroles started today too. I am baking my sweet potatoes right now. Then tomorrow is a day of cooking and eating. It will be a great time to be with our family.

Have a happy holiday everyone!

Menu Plan Monday

2008-11-17T07:12:00.001-07:00

No menu for this week yet. I am feeling really overwhelmed with what I need to do this week. I do have some ideas for meals for the next couple of days so I can catch my breath a little. I'll try to post our daily menus this week.

revisions

2008-11-11T14:03:00.003-07:00

I was planning on making chicken divan last night. Then I saw in my fridge the leftovers from turkey and dumplings last week. It was just the gravy with some turkey and a little bit of veggies. I decided to use that up instead of make something new. So I threw in the end of a huge bag of frozen mixed veggies and plopped some drop biscuits on top. It was a new meal. And cost effective since I didn't start with fresh meat.

I also booked a job interview for nearly dinner time on Thursday. So I will do my lasagna that day so the family can have dinner whether or not I am home in time. And instead of grabbing whole chickens to defrost I grabbed some pieces.

So tonight will be soyu chicken, rice, acorn squash and green beans I think. Then meatloaf tomorrow, pasta on Thursday and maybe breakfast on Friday? I don't even remember what I'd planned now!

Menu Plan Monday

2008-11-09T18:07:00.003-07:00

Last week I got really sick on Sunday night. I had an idea of what I wanted to do with my week's menu, but I never posted anything. Thank goodness for that leftover turkey. I was able to use that for leftovers and use some of my best no-plan meal plans. I'll tell you about those later this week. Here's my plan for this week.

Monday-chicken divan

Tuesday-crock pot lasagna, salad and bread (I'm not sure how I'll do this, but the idea intrigues me. I'll let you know!)

Wednesday-meat loaf, roast fingerling potatoes, acorn squash

Thursday- whole roast chicken, baked sweet potatoes, green beans

Friday- chicken tacos/burritos/quesadillas

Saturday- going to a party I think...need to take party food

Sunday- soup in crock pot for after church

Check out more Menu Plan Monday participants here.

should have known

2008-11-01T21:39:00.003-06:00

I put the turkey in the over this afternoon dreaming of all the yummy side dishes I could make to go with it.

Then reality hit. The cold that is creeping up on me, really made me want to nap. And then I found out that the neighbor's brew party had been moved to OUR garage.

Umm...there's barely just a path in there. Or I should say there WAS just barely a path in there! We put things away and threw away the stuff that should have gone in the trash long ago. We swept it out. And now it's ready for a party.

I did make some mashed potatoes and gravy and some steamed broccoli to go with the turkey. It was mostly for the littles since D and the boys were busy in the garage. While Aleena was giving them a bath, all three boys came in and wreaked havoc on the turkey. Granted D hadn't really eaten all day, and the kids have eaten hardly anything besides Halloween candy. But my 20 pound turkey? I have some leftovers, most of the breasts to make D's sandwiches this week and a pot of bones to use for stock. I had envisioned a few days of turkey leftovers to use as a base for meals.

I should have known. If it is out there, my family will EAT it! I will make a turkey tetrazzini this week. And have turkey for sandwiches and make a pot of either turkey and dumplings or turkey and noodles. Then there will be stock to freeze and use to make soup later this winter. Yum.

Now it's time to sit and relax for a while. Tomorrow morning I will figure out what party food I will put out. And look for another menu on Monday.

my menu

2008-10-31T15:01:00.002-06:00

I am really enjoying having a menu plan this week. Now dinner feels more like a normal part of the day. Like washing jeans or Mondays and towels on Thursdays (not that I'm so organized with my laundry! lol) I did decide to just do leftovers last night since Aleena and Trey had to be at the school at 6 and hubby didn't get home until around 5:30. No one starved! And because I had an easy dinner planned (or no dinner at all really), I baked bread yesterday.

I was looking at one of the other blogs I've been reading a lot $5 Dinners and saw that she had hew whole menu for November planned out. I am not that ambitious. But after I thought about it for a while, I also realized that the way we do our produce impacts that too. If we get spaghetti squash in our farm share one week this winter, it will be on the menu. Right now I have an excess of potatoes, so I really need to find more things to do with them. Potato Leek soup will be on the menu again soon. In the summers, we really tend to go with what we have on hand. Another great thing about that is that we pay a flat fee for an abundance of food. Jars and jars of tomato sauce, pickles, frozen corn and cauliflower and broccoli. That's how things stay economical for us.

Now, it's almost time to make my soup for tonight. A friend is bringing over beer cheese soup, so I am going with veggie noodle. Maybe I'll even add some chicken.

I can't wait to roast that turkey tomorrow! It will really feel like fall then.

the turkey!!!

2008-10-30T08:10:00.001-06:00

My plan will only work if I remember to defrost the turkey in time for Saturday! ARGH!

Acorn squash was so delicious last night. I think winter squash is about the world's most perfect food. Starchy, slightly sweet, full of vitamins. YUM! I can't wait to cook up some butternut this weekend to go with the turkey.

why it works

2008-10-29T09:54:00.002-06:00

One of the best things about having a menu plan for the week is a day like today. I am tired and uninspired. I would really rather be in my bed, but I have 2 children that need some supervision. But I planned ahead last night and pulled out my whole chicken to defrost. It's in the crockpot now. And I have planned to have acorn squash too. So while I was in the kitchen and moving, I cleaned my squash and got them in the baking dish and EVEN in the oven. Later this afternoon I can turn the oven on and they will be ready in no time. I think I will make some biscuits later and cook some orange and purple cauliflower and that's dinner.

Last night's dinner was really good. I haven't made meat loaf in a while and it's a favorite with everyone. I got it ready about 3;30 just before I had to take Trey to his guitar lesson. I put it in the oven with the time bake thing on and it was ready at 5:30 without me stressing. I also put some diced purple potatoes in with the meatloaf to roast alongside it. They did need a few more minutes at a higher oven temp to finish. I got the corn going and decided it didn't look like enough so I pulled out the rest of a bunch of organic spinach I had got for our soup last Sunday. I sauteed that with some garlic and olive oil and made a salad out of the remnants of a bag of lettuce, red bell pepper, apple slices, sunflower kernels and some parmesan cheese. I pulled some rolls out of the freezer to reheat and it was dinner.

My kids felt much better with a full table. Monday they were all a little disappointed to see just a casserole on the table for dinner!

Menu Plan Monday

2008-10-27T10:17:00.005-06:00

This is a new thing for me. I've been reading some new blogs this fall that participate in this and decided to join in. One of the reasons I haven't been posting much is that I have gone back to working a few nights a week as a postpartum doula. I love the work, but it does make my days a little weird. I find that I have to have small goals for each day and a PLAN to get me through when I am operating on less sleep than usual. I've been planning menus for a while, and I've posted them in my sidebar, but I decided to make a big production (and actual blog post) out of it this time.

The Menu Plan Monday is hosted by Organizing Junkie. Go check it out. There are lots and lots of ideas there.

Monday-stuffed cabbage casserole

Tuesday-meatloaf, roasted potatoes, corn

Wednesday-whole roast chicken, acorn squash and ???

Thursday-squash and ground beef skillet (I'll be totally improvising!)

Fiday-chicken veggie soup before trick or treating

Saturday-roast turkey (from last year's sale and still in the freezer) with mashed potatoes and veggies

Sunday- Left Overs!

eggplant recipe

2008-09-26T16:24:00.002-06:00

Apparently my hubby is sending friends to this blog for recipes that I haven't even posted here. I'll just post the link here for the baba ghanoush recipe I use. I use more garlic, less lemon and little to no olive oil. I put it all in a big bowl and just use my hand blender on it. Totally easy.

baba ghanoush

blanching

2008-09-24T13:42:00.002-06:00

That's what I was thankful for yesterday. Whoever thought of that one I am forever indebted. I had about 40# of tomatoes to put up yesterday. I canned a big batch of stewed tomatoes, and then froze the others to use in place of diced canned tomatoes. No easy put it through the kitchen aid attachment this time. I had to actually peel those things. I was so thankful to be able to blanche them and have the skins come right off. *sigh*

I still have a mountain of apples in my kitchen. Duane brought me some more yesterday, and these are really tasty even for eating. I think I need to make some pie filling with the other tart ones.

I told Duane last night at dinner that I had decided I was a little of an overachiever. Just when it comes to the kitchen, mind you. Monday I canned tomato sauce and peaches and made chicken divan for dinner. Yesterday I canned stewed tomatoes and froze more tomatoes. I made a pork roast and German red cabbage for dinner along with some whole wheat noodles (because I knew the kids wouldn't fill up on cabbage prepared like that) and then we had a peach pie with dried cranberries and streusel topping. Tonight I am planning on a veggie filled pasta sauce with some penne and frozen meatballs.

So why do I think I am an overachiever? Because I would normally feel apologetic for making such slim meals the past two days even though I was busy in the kitchen putting things up for later. I have been reading some of my friends' blogs and am surprised to see that a casserole can pass as dinner. WHAT? Or they may make a meat entree, a veggie side dish and a starch. And that's all. Only 3 things? Is that really a meal?

Now I'm not saying that I don't prepare meals like that too, but I feel guilty about it. Like I should prepare a banquet every time we have dinner. I do really like to cook. And my family really likes to eat. But I'm learning that it doesn't have to be like that every time. Wow.

My future daughters in law really are doomed anyway, though because my big boys think I could make anything and it would be wonderful! LOL

thankful

2008-09-22T12:33:00.002-06:00

Last week, Duane my husband came home from work with 2 huge bags of peaches. He had been at an empty house that day with a bountiful peach tree. We have eaten quite a few but today I decided to can what was left.

As I stood peeling my blanched peaches and filling quart jars, I was so thankful. I am thankful for the peaches, very truly free food. I am thankful for the know-how to be able to save these fruits for later. I am thankful that I know we will enjoy these special peaches and remember this season of our lives.

Am I funny for getting nostalgic over a bag of backyard peaches? maybe so...

an excess of melons...

2008-09-04T14:56:00.002-06:00

...has led me to making melon bread. Right now I have a lot of musk melons and white honeydew and orange honeydew. I have frozen some in chunks for eating in winter (when it will taste sooooo good), but yesterday I tried something new. Well new to me anyway. I have a friend that uses melon purees a lot like this apparently.

Melon Bread

Mix
3 eggs beaten
1/2 c turbinado (or more if your melons aren't as sweet)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract

stir in
3 cups melon puree

Sift together
3 c whole wheat pastry flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 ground ginger

Then add dry ingredients to wet ingredients just until moistened. Stir in
1 c chopped nuts (I used pecans)

Pour into 2 prepared 8x4 pans. Bake at 325 for 50-60 minutes.

Next time I make this, I think I will add a couple Tbsp of flax meal too. Trey called this bread "absolute yumminess" and he is my least carb/bread inclined child. It has a different flavor that is hard to describe. But we really liked it here!

I was looking online for recipes and saw where someone had replaced the oil in their recipe with some extra melon. Then I thought about how sweet our melons are and realized that I could add much less sugar than the recipes I was looking at called for. That led me to think about using melon puree in all kinds of recipes just as added sweetener. Like you would use applesauce I guess, but this adds sweet as well as the moisture. Personally I have nothing against things being sweet. I'm not militant about no sweets. Quite the opposite in fact. But I do like to use natural sweeteners whenever possible. And I like that this also adds a healthy dose of vitamin C and vitamin A (for the orange melons) and a host of other nutrients I probably don't even know about.

Somebody try this and let me know what you think!!!

bread

2008-08-27T08:33:00.002-06:00

I haven't baked bread in nearly a month it seems. I finally baked a batch last night. So good. And for those of you who feel daunted by it, it is really easy with a stand mixer. That does all the work for you.

neglected

2008-08-25T09:12:00.003-06:00

It's not that we haven't eaten or haven't had kitchen time, but life has been busy between school starting and my getting ready for a new job. I pickled a week ago Saturday. A few days before that I made plum jam and plum preserves. Last week I froze some corn and melon cubes. I have frozen cauliflower. I have canned green beans. I have some tomatoes that I need to do something with.

My goal for this week is to use up as much of the produce we have on hand as possible. Beets, turnips, cabbage, squash, peppers, eggplant. So I have some menu planning to do. I'll keep you posted.

chile relleno casserole

2008-08-12T10:10:00.002-06:00

I was looking for a casserole idea yesterday afternoon that I could put together and leave it to bake while I took Clay to his drum lesson. Little did I know it would also have to wait through my trip to after hours trauma with Jack E. Thank goodness for time bake on the oven!

I started with a large white onion and a pound of ground beef. After that was mostly browned, I added 2 cloves of chopped garlic and 2 cups of shredded zucchini (I feel guilty not serving some farm veggies with every meal these days) and let that cook down. I sprinkled in a good dose of salt and pepper and about 2 Tablespoons of chili powder. When it was cooked through, I stirred in about a dozen roasted green chiles. (I freeze my chiles in bags of 3 chiles per bag, so I defrosted 4 bags to use.) I probably could have gotten away with less chiles, but it was quite tasty as it was.

I poured that into a prepared 9x13 baking dish and topped it with cheese. Then I poured over that a mixture of 6 beaten eggs, 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp flour and 2 cups milk, seasoned with salt and pepper.

It baked at 350 for about 50 minutes, until it was bubbly and brown on top. We served it with a dollop of sour cream on top. That was the only offering for dinner and there was NONE left after half the family had seconds.

So here's the recipe in a little more readable format.

Chile Relleno Casserole

Brown together
1 large onion, diced
1 pound lean ground beef

when nearly done, add
2 cloves chopped garlic
2 cups shredded zucchini
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbsp chili powder

Then stir in
diced green chiles, 6-12, to taste

Pour into prepared 9x13 pan.

Top with 1 1/2 c shredded sharp cheddar cheese or jack cheese...more or less to family preference

Combine
6 eggs, beaten
1/4 c + 2 Tbsp flour
2 c milk
salt and pepper

Pour egg mixture over meat and cheese. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until browned and bubbly.

more zucchini ideas

2008-08-10T07:39:00.002-06:00

I really love this time of year in my kitchen. The abundance of fresh produce makes last minute meal planning really simple. If I had the foresight to thaw some kind of meat, I can go from there, and if I didn't, then I quickly defrost a pound or two of ground beef, grab my big skillet and start throwing stuff in.

The last couple of weeks I have tried to have more of an idea in place. Did you see the new thing in my sidebar that says what's for dinner this week? Really that's there for me. I have a place to write down my plan that won't get misplaced or colored on or thrown out. Friday I was going crazy looking for my grocery list. I couldn't find it and had to make a new one. I did finally find my list. Duane had taken my notebook with my list to drawn some plans for his dream bathroom. lol

I am starting to dread Sunday nights. Since Duane has been doing construction, I pack a lunch for him in the mornings. And I like to send him out the door with some kind of breakfast thing too. That means on Sundays I need to make sure that I have all the stuff I need for that ready. Baking bread, mixing up chicken salad or tuna salad, and getting an egg casserole ready is on the list. By Sunday night I just want to sit down and relax. Not the plan these days.

Today we are going to some friends' after church to brew beer. (That sounds kind of odd doesn't it? That's the oddity of my life!) I am taking some crock pot meatballs. I found the easiest thing. I take the frozen meatballs, add a jar of chili sauce and a can of cranberry sauce. Yum. Totally easy too. I need to go get those in the crock pot come to think of it.

I am also taking zucchini brownies.

Oh, back to the title about more zucchini ideas. This week I was looking at recipes online and found an Italian type of zucchini thing. I sauteed onion, zucchini and garlic, mixed it with some spaghetti sauce and baked that with a little cheese on top until it was nice and bubbly. It was a nice side dish that was different. I also thought it had a lot of possibilities. Adding ground beef or TVP or pasta.

Friday night we had a similar dish. I cooked some cheese tortellini and put that in the bottom of a casserole dish, Then I covered that with the onion, zucchini, garlic and bell pepper mixed with spaghetti sauce. Again with the cheese on top. It was a nice casserole to eat while we watched the Olympics.

OK, have to get to baking now. More later.

wow, it's been almost a week

2008-08-08T14:48:00.002-06:00

It's not that we haven't been eating or that I haven't been baking. I guess I have just been busy. I have made a couple of new baked items that I'll post soon. And I'm making a veggie and tortellini casserole for dinner that looks promising. I'll get that up soon too.

leftover mashed potatoes

2008-08-02T16:21:00.002-06:00

When there are leftover mashed potatoes, it always inspires me to make shepherd's pie. I can't believe we never had it when I was growing up. Really....meat and gravy-ish sauce topped with mashed potatoes. What's not to like? I only started making it here a couple of years ago, but it's easy and always a winner.

Since we have an abundance of zucchini right now, I did add that to my meat mixture. And it was really hot, so I just put the hot skillet, topped with mashed potatoes, under the broiler for a second to melt the cheesy top. It was a little runny, but still disappeared quickly.

Tonight, we're not going to the BBQ so I am making a big skillet of sauteed veggies and some pasta. Yum. And Aleena says we have to use the "good cheese".

good food is just good

2008-08-01T07:46:00.002-06:00

Lame title, but last night for dinner we had the first of the season's corn. I'm an Iowa girl. I love my corn on the cob. Not the kind that's at the grocery store and has been sitting around for days or even a week. That's the stuff that is starchy and gross. I always think of that as feed corn. No, I grew up getting corn off the back of some guy's truck on highway 5. Corn that had been picked that day. Corn that was fresh. Our farm corn now is a very close rival, let me tell you.

I had 4 ears last night.

And our melons are on at the farm too. We brought home muskmelon and red watermelon. I woke up this morning and could smell their flowery fragrance all through the house. mmmmm

We ate a watermelon for dessert last night. I think we have enough melons to have one a day until we go to the farm next week.

When we eat the food that is in season...locally in season, not in season a few thousand miles away, it just tastes better. I really think it's OK to gorge on corn and melon now. After all, the fresh corn will be over in about a month. We will most likely have melons for about 6 weeks. Just long enough to really get the taste and enjoy it before fall and apples and pears come into the daily rotation again.

Good thing zucchini season lasts all summer! :o)

need to change my zucchini bread recipe

2008-07-30T15:46:00.001-06:00

I'm not sure what's different lately but I don't like how it's turning out. I am going to update it now by reducing the amount of flax meal and maybe a little more oil?

Zucchini Corn Casserole

2008-07-29T19:38:00.002-06:00

My neighbor gave me the recipe yesterday. I had to make some adjustments based on what we had on hand, but we really enjoyed it.

Zucchini Corn Casserole

saute
1 onion in 2 Tbsp olive oil til softened

stir in
4 c sliced zucchini
2 cloves minced garlic

allow that to cook down a little

add 1/4 c chopped peppers (I used anaheims, the original called for chiles that I didn't have defrosted)
4 c frozen corn, defrosted (the original was a can of creamed corn, but I used what I had)

allow that to cook and reduce about 10 minutes

remove from heat and stir in 4 beaten eggs and 1/2 shredded sharp cheddar cheese

pour into prepared casserole, cover with another 1/2 c shredded cheese

bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes or until hot and bubbly

the long awaited....

2008-07-27T08:30:00.005-06:00

Peanut Butter Oat Bars with Chocolate Chips and zucchini

Cream together
1 c natural peanut butter
1/2 c butter
1/4 c sucanat
1/2 c turbinado

Add
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 tsp vanilla
3 c shredded zucchini

Stir in until combined
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Then stir in
1 1/2 c rolled oats
1 c chocolate chips

Spoon into prepared 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes

This recipe comes from combining my favorite peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookie with my zucchini oatmeal cookies. I made them as cookies and didn't really like them. They were a little cakey. So I tried them as bars. I didn't used butter in that try and had more oats. My friend Lorrie suggested more moisture. I am running low on peanut butter so i decided to add the butter that was in both original recipes. My reason for butter and not another fat comes from my desire to use what is most natural and adds more nutrition. Did you know that butter has Vitamin A? Check here for more info on butter. And click here to see the nutrition on margarine.

I didn't use as much oats this time simply because I ran out. I added all the oats I had.

Let me know how you like them!

cucumbers

2008-07-26T17:03:00.003-06:00

mmmmm...that was a new thing this week from our farm share. We got "slicers" this week. Those are what we typically think of as eating cucumbers. I like pickling cucumbers to eat too, but they weren't ready yet. I don't know that I plan on making many pickles this year. I made soooo many pickles last year and we still have quite a few. That way I can hopefully focus my energy somewhere else.

I took advantage of the cucumbers by making a big batch of my Grandma Joy's cucumbers and onions. It's one of those things that everyone has their own way of making. I like this version because the cukes and onions soak in salt water for 24 hours first. That really helps them to last a long time. My Grandma uses a lot of sugar in hers, but I don't add nearly that much. The bad part of that recipe is that it's 48 hours before we can eat them.

I made a batch of cucumber sunomo to eat in the meantime. It's the Japanese version of the recipe I guess. Here's my recipe for it.

Cucumber Sunomo

In a covered contained put
2 large cucumbers, sliced

Pour over the cucumbers
1/3 c rice wine vinegar
4 tsp sugar (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
about an inch of shredded gingerroot

Chill for 1 hour to allow flavors to blend.

I use white sugar here because I want it to totally dissolve. More natural sugars would work too, I just use white here. And for my ginger, I buy a gingerroot, peel it, wrap it in plastic wrap and freeze it. That's a trick from Rachel Ray. I like to do it that way because the ginger just kind of melts into whatever it's going into.

where have I been this week?

2008-07-23T20:28:00.002-06:00

D (my hubby) has been out of town this week. I have taken advantage of that and just not done as much in the kitchen. In fact, I have been going to bed earlier and enjoying not get up to make his coffee and lunch and see him out the door. (Although at this point in the week, I'd rather be getting up than being a single mom!)

I did some baking on Tuesday. The same banana zucchini bread and zucchini chocolate oatmeal muffins. I also tried my cookie/bar thing again. I'm not sure I like it yet. I'll post a recipe soon, promise!

OK, so it wasn't TERRIBLE

2008-07-20T08:45:00.001-06:00

the not enough zucchini bread that is. It's a little dry and crumbly, but it's still totally edible. I love the flavor of that bread...honestly love it

zucchini

2008-07-19T17:32:00.002-06:00

I totally love this vegetable. It's so prolific and a huge meal stretcher. We had it in several forms yesterday. First I sauteed some with some onion and a little ancho chile powder to use as a filling in a quesadilla. It was delicious. Different than a plain old cheese on a tortilla thing, but still really simple.

Then I baked. I made a cookie that will be better as a bar I think. I will try them again tonight to take to church in the morning and then post the recipe. I also made zucchini bread that was TERRIBLE. I only used half the zucchini I should have so it's really dry. I was distracted by my kiddos being crazy and swimming and driving each other nuts. But they are still eating it so go figure.

Then for dinner, I made a HUGE batch of my zucchini pancakes. We had some fruit with it and that was dinner. Well except for the q-ball zucchini that Duane "grilled" on the griddle. It's a round zucchini with a really mild taste. It's about as big as a grapefruit with pale skin. It has small seeds and really a firm texture. I will be using it to make a zucchini parmesan soon I think.

So we had zucchini for lunch, for snack and for dinner. And it was all different. No wonder our ancestors loved this vegetable!

inspired

2008-07-17T08:18:00.003-06:00

The other night I needed an idea. I was in the mood to do pasta for dinner. It's just easy and quick...and requires no baking or early planning like the crock pot. But I also felt like I needed to use more of the vegetables that are in my fridge. So I took a couple of ideas from a couple different places and made this sauce.

Vegetable Pasta Sauce

I'm not going to really write this out as a recipe since it was more an idea that can be adapted to whatever you have on hand. I used all vegetables from our farm share, the onions, peppers and tomatoes were frozen from last year, too.

I added these in the order listed. I cooked the onions and peppers on high to cook off a lot of the liquid, then I turned the heat to medium high until after the tomatoes were soft.

2 c chopped onions
1 c sliced bell pepper
broccoli, 2 medium crowns florets went in whole, and the stems were chopped first
2 c chopped carrots
2 large kohlrabi, shredded
2 1/2 large zucchini (about 6 c shredded)
9 medium tomatoes
6 cloves mashed garlic
salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp Italian seasoning

I let the onions and peppers cook away the liquid, then added a couple Tablespoons of oil to the pan with the broccoli, carrots and kohlrabi. That cooked for about 3-4 minutes then I added the zucchini. Another 3-4 minutes then I added the whole tomatoes (which I partially defrosted in the microwave). I let that cook for 10 minutes then I used my hand blender to puree it all. In went the seasonings, and the sauce was ready for a pound of pasta.

This was a chunkier sauce, not necessarily a tomato sauce. The leftovers were good too, and then I could really taste the broccoli in the sauce. It was a great way to have pasta and a veggie heavy sauce. High in vitamins and fiber, too.

yet another baked good with zucchini

2008-07-16T21:08:00.004-06:00

I needed some muffins for the morning. I had shredded zucchini to use up. You know what happens then. Instead of going to an old standby, I totally made this one up. Hope you like them.

Chocolate Oatmeal Zucchini Muffins

Soak for 15 minutes
2 c rolled oats in
2 c milk

In a large bowl, cream together
2 eggs
1/4 melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 c turbinado

Stir in
3 c shredded zucchini
and oatmeal mixture

In another bowl combine
3 c flour
1/2 c cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon

Add dry ingredients to wet just until combined. Fill prepared muffin pans 2/3 full. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes.

Makes 24 larger muffins

I used the rest of my whole wheat flour from my big baking day on Saturday. But that was only 2 cups so I added 1 cup of unbleached all purpose flour. My kids will think they are in heaven with such light muffins! :P

Zucchini Banana Bread

2008-07-15T11:48:00.004-06:00

A combining of recipes. One was from Laurel's Kitchen, a favorite of mine, but it's vegetarian so I tend to change things up there. This turned out really well. Very much a banana bread, and it's lower in fat, too. It's really moist because of the zucchini so you won't miss the fat at all!

Zucchini Banana Bread

Cream together:
1/3 c melted butter or coconut oil
1/3 c sucanat

Beat in
4 bananas, mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c shredded zucchini or other summer squash yellow would blend in really well

In another bowl, mix together
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour today I used a mix of soft wheat and hard wheat flours that were leftovers from my baking on Saturday
1/2 c wheat germ
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Add the dry ingredients to the wet, then stir in 1/2 c chopped nuts.

Pour into prepared 9x5 inch loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

I think this would also make good muffins. I'll let you know how those turn out next week! :P

what's for dinner?

2008-07-14T20:36:00.003-06:00

that was a question that plagued me all day today. Monday's are not good days for me. I work and don't get home till around 2, and then I have to leave at 4:30 to take Clay to his drum lesson. I walk back in the door around 5:45, met by starving children and a starving husband. Lately the weekends have been crazy too, so I don't have much of a plan or many leftovers to go from. Then there is the issue of produce.

A huge part of why we get a farm share is so that we really buy very little produce in the summer. I have bought only one or two onions since we have joined the farm. Those were to grill since we have chopped onions in the freezer to cook with. That's 2 onions in over 3 years. I bought a bag of potatoes last spring. Again, those were the first in YEARS. We really try to eat what we are given and not really buy much else. I do have a fridge full of vegetables right now, but I didn't have a lot of time to deal with things. In the past I have prepared casseroles to bake while I am at the lesson, then we have a hot dinner waiting for us. It was just too hot for that today. And I didn't spend any time prepping things for dinner when I came in from work today, because I was scrubbing my wood floors.

So here's what I had to work with in the meat department:

leftover grilled pork sirloin steaks

leftover roasted chicken

leftover shredded chicken in BBQ sauce

eggs

bacon

my veggies on hand?

onions

garlic

zucchini/yellow squash

yukon gold potatoes/new red potatoes

kohlrabi

green beans

carrots

lettuce

fennel

leftover turnip puff

leftover broccoli salad

There was a time when I would have really just wanted to order pizza or get burgers on a night like tonight. Instead I ran in the door at 5:50. I sauteed some onion in olive oil, then added diced new potatoes. While they cooked down a little I chopped 2 yellow squash and sliced the pork sirloin. I added that to the skillet too with a little chicken broth, covered it and let it simmer for 10 minutes. I reheated the turnip puff and pulled out the broccoli salad, too. By 6:15 we had dinner on the table. whew...

and I felt better for using what I had. I didn't defrost any extra meat since I had some cooked that I didn't want to go to waste. Tomorrow will be interesting again because I have an interview at 4 that will take about an hour. But I have more time at home to prep what I am doing. I am really in the mood to have chicken pot pie with that leftover chicken and some carrots and potatoes. We'll see what I do. It's supposed to be like 93 tomorrow so I don't know that I want to bake in the afternoon.

As far as the summer squash bread I made on Saturday goes, I decided I really don't like the way I made it. So I will tweak it again. I had used honey, and I just didn't like the honey taste in there. I want to make some zucchini banana bread tomorrow. I'll be putting a few different recipes together. I'll let you know how it turns out. And the sandwich bread I made the other day is AWESOME. But I want to do it again, to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

only brownies

2008-07-13T22:11:00.002-06:00

Today I baked my zucchini brownies. I took them to a party and left them. (It's a LONG story of why I had to run off.) When I got back a few hours later, the brownies were almost gone. And someone had also gotten into the summer squash bread! When I mentioned that the brownies had zucchini, one guy in particular was shocked. No one stopped eating them because of the green stuff, they just don't taste like they have a veggie in them. I also used my turbinado and sucanat in them along with some whole wheat flour. Since I was taking them to a gathering I did use some unbleached flour in there too.

Soon I'll post about why I choose the ingredients I do. But not tonight. I'm tired!

Sour Cherry Cake

2008-07-12T19:55:00.003-06:00

I found this somewhere online once when I was looking for things to do with sour cherries. My neighbor has some trees in front of her house and I always spend some time picking and pitting them. Growing up my mom had a friend with HUGE sour cherry trees and we would pick soooo many of them. I don't ever really remember what we did with them after the initial pie. Maybe my mom can remind me of that?

I picked some cherries the other night and froze them all once they were pitted. A friend came over yesterday and picked some too and she had asked me about this recipe. It's like a science experiment. When the sour cherries are added to the bowl, it has a little reaction in there. Aleena loves to make this cake about as much as she loves to eat it!

Sour Cherry Cake

Combine
1 egg, beaten
1 1/4 c sugar
1 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 c milk

Beat until smooth. Then add
1 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon

Fold in
2 c pitted sour cherries
1/2 tsp almond extract

that's the fun part!

Stir in 1/2 c pecans if desired

Pour into greased 9x9 pan. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Let cool and serve with whipped cream.