Cranberry Streusel Pie

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

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

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!

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

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!

menu

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!

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

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?

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

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!

Got some yesterday...see their pictures here

Menu Plan Monday

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!