Oatmeal Pudding

For the last two weeks or so I have been craving warm vanilla soother.  I made this recipe from Heavenly Homemakers last year and it was so delicious and warm and comforting.  mmm.

However, the recipe calls for quite a bit of milk and eggs and I know my kids will just drink it down in two seconds and then want more.  Or something else. Or both.  Oiy.  So, I wanted to bulk it up a bit, that it might hold their tummies for at least a little while.

I made the warm vanilla soother recipe, (but only with three egg yolks because that's all we had), and I added one cup of oatmeal to it while it was cooking.  It ended up like warm vanilla soother oatmeal pudding.  Yum.  It was delicious.  :-)

Check out that yummie food!

But still, I did not want to make it very often because it really used up so much of my milk and eggs and also, even with the oatmeal added, the kids ate the whole thing and were still asking for more.  How can I tweak this recipe so that it is still yummie and creamy like pudding but still uses less eggs and milk?  Here is what I came up with:

Watch how I can eat it!

Oatmeal Pudding
3 cups water or milk
1 or 2 TBS yogurt
1 1/2 cups oatmeal
2 ripe mashed bananas
2 TBS ground flax (or you could add two eggs, or one egg and one TBS flax)
honey to taste (i think i added about 1/3 cup)
vanilla to taste (about 1 tsp)
cinnamon to taste (1/4 to 1/2 tsp)

the night before, put the water/milk, yogurt and oatmeal in a pan and stir it up.  cover it and leave it to soak overnight. in the morning, mash the bananas, and add the bananas, flax, honey, cinnamon and vanilla to the pan. cook over medium heat until it is nice and creamy.  stir frequently if you used eggs to make sure they don't scramble in your oatmeal-- gross! add more milk if you want it more creamy.  (i added 1/2 cup milk while cooking)

Yum, yum. :-)

Okay, so what would I do differently the next time I made this?  I would probably use one egg and 1 TBS flax and soak the oatmeal using at least 1 cup milk for added creaminess. And that's it.  I will definitely be making this creamy oatmeal pudding for breakfast again, and often. :-)

Pita Bread Recipe!

One time, long ago, I made pitas and they turned out perfectly!  I was thrilled to make them and they actually puffed up in the oven all by themselves! Then, I lost the recipe for hmm, over a year or so to the interwebs.  just couldn't find it. until, .... TODAY!!!

And I will share it with you, and myself, so I can find it again soon.  Because I love homemade pitas!!

Make sure you only roll them out to 1/4".  I used my handy rolling pin spacers that my husband got me for Christmas (or was it my birthday?) a year or two ago!  I was rolling mine too thin all those times I tried to make pitas and ended up with thick tortillas instead. 

Also, I took the suggestion of the first commenter, and added a 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of the oven for each batch of pitas I put in.  I only baked them for 4 minutes at around 500*.  They were great.  mmmm.  You better believe I will be dreaming of warm homemade pitas tonight!  :-)

Lentil Shepard's Pie

The other day I was wanting to eat Shepard's pie.  However, I didn't really want to make a meat based one, because we had had meat the last two or three days in a row.  I really wanted this comfort food, but was trying to figure out how to make it vegetarian.  I thought, what about lentils?  (I make a killer "Sloppy Sam's" using lentils!)  Lentils are very high in protein, but rather inexpensive to buy.  I happened to have some, and we had not eaten them for awhile. That being said, I googled, "Lentil Shepard's Pie." 

Here is the recipe I found and everyone really enjoyed it.  Sam, my picky one ate his whole bowl the first night (But wouldn't touch it the next day for lunch.)

I changed the recipe just a bit.  Cut up a carrot and cooked it with the lentils. (Make sure you add the carrot right at the beginning of the cooking, because I didn't and then the carrots were not quite cooked.) I used earth balance instead of butter and unsweetened coconut milk instead of milk.  I left out the thyme and added about a 1/2 TBS Worcestershire sauce.  Then I sprinkled peas on top of the lentil layer instead of corn. 

I really enjoyed this lentil Shepard's pie recipe and I will definitely make it again.  Also, I want to try the 'black bean burgers' and the 'simple french lentil soup' recipe listed on this site.

Menu Plan... Kind of!

Hey, everyone!

I have finally come up with somewhat of a menu plan for the next week or so.  I had to go to the store, and I wanted to make sure I bought lots of fruits and veggies-- but also ones that I would use up in the next week or week and a half.  I didn't want to just buy veggies all "willy-nilly" and then not know what to do with them or never end up using them before they went bad!

So, here's the list of meals that I came up with to eat in the next week.

• Lentil Shepard's Pie (recipe coming tomorrow!) 
• Split Pea Burgers and spaghetti squash
• Spaghetti and Salad
• Vegetable soup
• Baked Beans with sweet potatoes and broccoli
• Indian Cauliflower and Potatoes with Indian veggie patties
• Bean soup 
• Pizza
• Farfalle with Broccoli

Yay!  This whole list is vegetarian.  Allright, I lied a bit.  The broccoli farfalle has anchovies.  :-) 

Pumpkin Scones

I made these pumpkin scones yesterday, and I think they are delicious!  I didn't even put the glazes on them and I cut the sugar almost in half. (just 1/4 cup!) Also, I used unsweetened coconut milk instead of half and half and 2/3 coconut oil and 1/3 butter.

Ellie calls them pumpkin pie. 

When we got back from the Nutcracker last night, we ate them for dessert-- one that would hold us over since we had eaten dinner so early. I drizzled a bit of warm honey on them and we all ate them right up. 

So, if you are in need of a pumpkin scone recipe, I would recommend checking this one out!

Applesauce Pie

A few weeks ago, I had no idea what was for lunch, and it was already lunch time!  I was in the mood for something different, and I thought of apple pie.  But, to make a whole apple pie and then bake it would not work for eating at lunch.  I tried a recipe I just thought up while we were making it, using things from the fridge, cabinets and fruit basket.  It turned out too sweet.  But we enjoyed it nonetheless.  I would definitely make this again, but it would have to be about half as sweet for me. 

First assemble three crazy helpers

First, we started with the crust.  This is where most of the over-sweetness was.  I will have to think of something other than dates to hold this crust together.  Or maybe see if less dates would work.  We used 1 cup of nuts, about 3/4 cup of dates, about a tablespoon of coconut oil and 1/2 cup of oats for the crust.  Just whiz it up in the food processor. 

Make sure to cover your ears while the food processor is on!

Next for the filling, we cut up three apples (I would do four or five next time!) and chopped them in the food processor also.  Then I added 2 TBS chia seeds, 1/2 cup of water and about 1 cup applesauce to a bowl and let it sit for a bit.  When you put chia seeds in water they kind of make a gel, which is what I was going for.  This is where the other extra sweetness came in-- we had sweetened applesauce that someone had given us leftover from Thanksgiving.  I put the apples into the pie crust and then the applesauce mix, but next time I would stir them all together before dumping it in the crust. 

The chia seed mixture

Finally, we let it chill in the refrigerator until it was time to eat.

As I said before, this was good, but it was too sweet.  I would try this again with less dates in the crust (and more nuts to replace them) and unsweetened applesauce. 

I am really interested in using chia seeds as a thickener, especially to make pudding like foods.  I hope to have more experimenting on this soon!

Crust:
1/2 cup dates
1- 1 1/2 cups nuts
3/4 cups oats
1 TBS coconut oil

blend together in the food processor.  press into pie pan.

Filling:
4-5 apples chopped in food processor
1+ tsp cinnamon
1 cup applesauce
2 TBS chia seeds
1/2 cup water

mix all ingredients in a bowl. dump into pie crust.  let the pie set up and/or chill before you eat it.  mmmm. 

ps.  now that I'm looking at this last picture it could really use some crumbly oat topping!

Vaccines

Here's a website with some very interesting information on the ingredients found in vaccines.  Good 'food for thought.'

http://vaxtruth.org/2011/08/vaccine-ingredients/

Flour Wars

I lost.  :-)

Photo credit: Benjamin (with my phone)

Breakfast

Pumpkin pancakes made with leftover pumpkin. Saving eggs for later, so we made a vegan version. 

Coffee leftover from last night.

Not pictured: smoothie made with 1/2 carrot, 1 handful spinach, 1/4 cup blueberries, 1 banana, 4 dates and 1 scoop of enriching greens.  

Still have the rest of that pumpkin to bake and cook into something delicious!

What do you think?

What do you think of the new look?  I am unsure.  :-P  Comments welcome.

Also, real blogging to hopefully commence soon.  I miss this! 

ps.  Today we made Thanksgiving dinner!  We always go away for real Thanksgiving, but try to have one on another day anyway.  We decided on the way to church this morning to make it today.  We went to Wegman's on the way home.... and had a lovely dinner with lovely friends.  On the menu: Turkey, Mom's stuffing (No sausage, though!), mashed sweet potatoes, fresh cranberry relish, gravy.  For dessert: pumpkin custard (Dairy free!), gluten free pumpkin bread, coffee and chamomile tea.  We even got out the china and let the kids use it too. :-)  no pictures, of course! 

Good night!

Miller's at Last!

We finally made it to Miller's on Friday.  :-)  Despite the rain all day, it was a great day!  Chris worked a half day and came with us, and we met my MIL there, too!  Yay!

This trip was a real doosey!  I was out of everything! Here's a list of what I got:

50 lbs hard white winter wheat (2 months)
50 lbs oatmeal (4 months)
1 gallon honey (almost a year!)
2 lbs almonds (2 months, hopefully)
2 lbs cashews (2 months, ")
2 lbs walnuts (less than 2 months)
5 lbs raisins
2 lbs craisins (fruit sweetened-- really excited!)
2 lbs dates
2 lbs millet
5 lbs real salt
1 lbs hemp seeds
1 small pumpkin (for a pie!)
5 lbs pinto beans
10 lbs sucanat
10 lbs brown rice
3 juice boxes (for the thirsty children.  I usually pack water bottles, but forgot)
bunch of bananas
1 lb gluten
2 lbs buckwheat groats
1/2 lb yeast
granulated garlic
granulated onion
whole mustard seeds (2 packs- Chris wants to make mustard)
celery seeds
chili powder
ground mustard seeds
Annie's Worcestershire sauce
1/2 lb raw jack cheese
5 lbs carrots
1/2 gallon fresh organic apple cider
12 oz can tuna
2 packs sardines (Chris likes to take them for lunch sometimes and they were on sale!)

I might be forgetting some things, but this is a pretty good list.  I will have to go back in about two months (depends on how fast we go through the wheat), but I will not need nearly the things I needed on Friday.  Usually we buy at least ten dollars worth of 'snacky food' at Miller's (because we are hungry and I figure it's a special occasion-- always get mad at myself later for splurging so much).  This time around we only bought the juice boxes as a real splurge.  The kids ate bananas on the way to lunch, and drank their juice and all was good.  :-)

Well, anyway, that's about all.  I just thought some of you might be interested in what I actually buy when I go to Miller's.  And also, a list I might want to refer back to at a later time (WHAT do I need this week?).

Have a great week!

Cooking Tip #3

Chris and I were making tomato sauce this weekend.  We blanched the tomatoes, and put the skins in a different pile.  At the end of blanching, Chris suggested, "What if we put the skins in the food mill?"  I thought it couldn't hurt anything.  Guess what?  We milled the skins on the finest screen.  The skins will not go through the screen.  But we got about a cup of tomato juice out of them. (5-8lbs of tomatoes)

So, the next time you blanch tomatoes to peel and make sauce, mill the skins before you discard them to get all you can out of the tomato. 

My Strawberries

***Please Note, this post is from June.  I just found it, not published.  But I wanted you to know about my strawberries.***

On Saturday I went strawberry picking with my Benjamin.  I forgot to take any pictures.

I picked 10 lbs of strawberries.  It was the end of the season, and it was HARD PICKING.  My whole body hurt at the end of the day.  I think it will be worth it when we have yummie strawberries-- at least into the fall?  Maybe we'll make it to the winter if I'm really stingy.

Anyway, here's what I did with mine:

• Six quarts all together
• Three and a half quarts frozen
• One and a half or two dehydrated
• The rest we ate. (We could have just eaten them ALL, but I wouldn't allow it.)   :-) 

***Update:  The strawberries barely made it through July.  We put them in oatmeal for breakfast a lot, and Chris likes to take soaked oats with fruit.  He started taking strawberries every day and it didn't take long for my beloved strawberries to be finished off.  :-(  We still have the dehydrated ones, though.  I am saving those for mid-winter when we will have long forgotten how delicious summer fruit can be.***

A Sandwich!

Now, I have to start off this post by telling you, I had nothing to do with the invention of this sandwich.  I can take no credit.  It was all Chris.

Some of you may remember Chris' last sandwich experiment.

I would venture to say this one is ten times better!  :-)

One night, the kids were getting to bed late, and we had eaten dinner early, so I made them a snack (mostly so the three year old wouldn't wake at 5:30 screaming he was hungry.  This has happened before, and it's not pretty.).  I made almond butter and banana sandwiches on potato rolls we had leftover from something.  While I was making them, I was thinking,  "Man, it HAS been awhile since we have eaten, and I am hungry too!"  So, I decided to make myself and Chris sandwiches too.

I mentioned this to Chris who leaned over and whispered in my ear, "Only if it has Reese's  Peanut Butter Cups on it!" The man is a genius.  And they were delicious!

Quick Lunch

The other day, I had NO IDEA what we were going to eat for lunch.  I could not fall back on the good 'ole peanut(almond)-butter-and-jelly because we didn't have any bread.  I had not been to the store in who-knows-how-long because I have just been avoiding it because I have not had a menu plan in place for weeks and I am in denial that my kitchen spirals out of control with no direction when I do not have a menu plan which I do not have and the kitchen is spiraling even at this moment.

but i digress.

Anyway, as I was bathing the kids (we spent the morning in the garden-- pulling out brussels sprouts!) I was scouring my brain to think of something to have.  In the end, I was just pulling things from the fridge and the cabinets, hoping it would come together into some semblance of food my children might like.  Here's what happened:

Garlic-Butter Spaghetti with Lemon-Tuna Salad
The spaghetti was easy: 
1/2 lb spaghetti
2 cloves garlic
4 TBS butter

Melt the butter, press in and saute the garlic, toss with spaghetti. 

The Salad:
1 can tuna
Small can sliced black olives
1/2 green pepper, diced to desired size
1 tomato, seeded and diced to desired size
Lemon juice

Mix the first four ingredients.  Toss with lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.  I probably used about 2 TBS lemon juice, but I can't be sure.

I think it turned out pretty well.  I served the spaghetti with a spoon of the salad on top, but just mixed it all together as I was eating it.  Ben had two helpings, Sam had to be forced to eat (this is not unusual at our house), and Ellie-- well I think this picture sums up what she thought:

Brussels Sprouts Experiment

We recently pulled our brussels sprouts out of our garden.  Now, I have heard that I should wait until the first frost to do this.  However, we have a bunny infestation (I would call four bunnies in my garden an infestation, wouldn't you?!) And also, I had never staked them so they were falling over and starting to rot on the ground and I just felt like if I wanted to eat any brussels sprouts this year from our garden, I would have to take some action. 

I dug them out and pulled the leaves off from around where the brussels sprouts were, but the ones at the top were lush and green and I thought, I bet we could eat these or use them or something.  I have to admit, I am not a leafy green fan.  I just can't get excited about eating sauteed leafy greens.  Throw them in a soup, I'm alright.  But, the best way I have discovered to get the benefit of leafy greens without having to actually eat them (because let's be honest, I really just want the vitamins and minerals tied up in all that green goodness) is to juice them! 

I was nervous that the leaves were going to be overpowering and bitter.  I'm pretty sure all of our brussels sprouts are going to be that way.  When I juiced them this first time, I added a bit more sweet than I normally would.  Here's what I juiced-- four brussels sprouts leaves, the middle of a celery stalk that I had, two carrots and an apple.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was nice and sweet. 

I will definitely be juicing more of these leaves before they go bad!  Can't wait.  :-)

Donuts. MMM.

Luckily, before my wheat was completely gone, Chris and I decided to make donuts.  Although we had to half the recipe because we didn't have enough flour...

I'd say it was all worth it!  These donuts from Heavenlyhomemakers.com were super delicious. Not too sweet, but with the confectioners sugar on top you couldn't even tell.  Ben even said (while we were eating them), "Mom, these donuts are REALLY sugary!" (Ha! I've got him fooled.... )

:-P

Also, we fried them in lard.  (Yep, you read that right!)  They were really nice-- not greasy or oily as they have been when we have fried things in oil.  I do have to say, I have not tried frying donuts in palm shortening.  I wonder if that would have the same effect... hmm, I'll have to experiment!  After I go to Miller's, of course!

Dire State of my Pantry!

In the front is my empty sucanat containers... and if you look carefully, you can see the nearly empty gallon jar of honey behind

Lacking sugar.

All that is left of the 50lb bag of oats I bought in my Miller's video back in march...

I am COMPLETELY out of wheat!  What's a girl to do?!!? 

I also have no raisins, or craisins, am dangerously low on all my almonds, walnuts, cashews (out), pecans (out).  I am out of some key spices as well (like, mustard powder, onion powder, peppercorns, ... just off the top of my head).  I WILL go through my cabinets more thoroughly before we go later this week.  

Needless to say, a Miller's run is NECESSARY this week!  Looking forward to going with my MIL and also going to check out the Lancaster Central Market.  I might remember to take some pictures and possibly post them for you to see sometime in the next four to six months.  ;-)

Putting up Corn

What did you do during the hurricane?

We put up corn.  Six dozen.

It yeilded 21 bags filled with 3 cups of corn each.  This is NOT enough to get us through the winter.  We may do it again this weekend; we shall see.  Regardless of whether we do six dozen more corn this weekend or not, I am happy to at least have some corn ready for the winter.  Delicious, sweet, fresh, mmm.  :-)

A new era

Well, folks,

Tonight was the first time that our small family of five finished an entire pound of pasta in one sitting.

Ben had three plates,
Sam had four bowls,
and Ellie had two.

So, we have entered a new era in the Good household.  :-)

why I've been away

I've been reading. 

A book. 

A great book about food. 

Why YOU should feed your family healthful, nutrient rich food. 

And teach them about it too. 

It's called Disease Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Dr. Joel Fuhrman

It has been amazing.  All the things I have been leaning towards, with scientific studies cited, recipes to try, and even a suggested meal plan. 

Dr. Fuhrman advocates a vegetarian or near-vegetarian diet that is high in fruits and vegetables, low in fat, sugar, and salt, and non-dairy.

The book centers around how much of the disease in our country is a direct result of the food we eat.  If you could lessen your chance or your child's chance of heart disease or attack by simply changing your diet, wouldn't you? 

There are some things that I don't know if I will do that he suggests in the book, like cut back almost entirely of salt and oils.  But, I have realized from this book that we are in a good place in our family, but there are still steps we have to take to eat more healthfully.  I have been getting comfortable, and even slipping into habits to which I had not wanted to return.  This book really helped me see that and deepen my desire to feed my kids and my family the best food possible.  I also took the next step towards cutting out cheese and butter from our diets almost entirely.  I will try not to have cheese in the house, and I will keep only a small supply of butter for special occasions (and frying eggs, because seriously, what else can you fry an egg in?)

Anyway, I am here today to encourage you to get the book and check it out.  He is a family practitioner and encourages whole families to take small steps toward eating more healthfully.  It is a journey for everyone; we are all on a different path, at different stages, but there is always something you can do to eat a little more healthfully.  Maybe it is resolving to have one more piece of fruit each day.  Maybe it is resolving to go completely vegan. 

Anyway, I am here today to encourage you to check out the book.  I have been so busy reading it I haven't had time to blog.  It's an encouraging book-- there IS hope!  Check it out!

Cucumbers!

 This weekend, I came into the possession of some cucumbers:

DO YOU EVEN SEE HOW MANY THERE ARE HERE?!!?

Chris' grandfather has a garden (and grows a bit more than he needs...)  so, he gave us some while we were visiting this weekend.  I already made a batch of pickles with six pounds of these babies, and I didn't even use half of them!  I am so excited to have cucumbers to make pickles that we can enjoy for the rest of the year.  I think I will make another batch tomorrow.  We'll see.  Any ideas for cucumbers?

I juiced one with four kale leaves and a carrot this morning for my breakfast. The kids resoundingly rejected it. :-)

Recipe to make pickles
Taken from the book Stocking Up
6 pounds of cucumbers
1 gallon of 5% brine (3/4 c. salt per gallon)
2 cups vinegar
1/4 cup salt
3 cups water
2 teaspoons pickling spice
2 teaspoons mustard seeds per quart
2 cloves garlic per quart
handful dill per quart

cut up the cucumbers into the size pickles you want and soak them in the brine over night.  the next day, combine the vinegar, salt, water and pickling spice in a pan and bring to a boil.  i put the spices in a tea ball so you don't have to strain the liquid. sterilize five quart jars, rings and lids. pack the jars with the mustard seeds, garlic, dill and (of course!) the cucumbers. fill jars with the vinegar water to 1/2 inch headspace. process in a boiling water bath for 15 minutes.


Today, I am grateful for cucumbers, and people who share them.  :-)

join us at heavenlyhomemakers.com for gratitudesday!

Zucchini... Series, Part IV

I used my zucchini in a new and exciting way tonight for dinner! 

New to this series?  Check out the rest here, here, and here. :-)

Ok, so the actual prep on the zucchini itself is not a new concept.  But the combination of ingredients was weird and different, and... good!  So I will share it with you. 

Here is what I stacked on our plates for dinner tonight, starting from the bottom, going up.

Breaded, pan fried zucchini
Leftover pasta tossed in leftover vegan alfredo sauce (that's a post for another day!)
A slice of tomato
A fried egg

Let me tell you, it was definitely a weird combo, with the egg on top, but I thought the zucchini, pasta and tomato needed something.  And we like eggs.  And it just seemed to fit.  And, it did!  The flavors went really well together, and the three 'serious' eaters in the house (my husband, myself, and Benjamin) ate all of ours, and liked it. 

Do you have a new and exciting way to prepare zucchini? Please share!  I still have seven in my fridge! :-)

Zucchini... Series, Part III

Wondering what to do with all that zucchini?  Catch up on my other posts here and here!

Zucchini Patties -- These were inspired by this recipe for corn fritters. We ate them with our hands, but you could even serve them as a hamburger replacement-- on buns, with all the fixin's!
1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 cup (about) coarse bread crumbs (I used bread I had on hand and cut it into tiny pieces)
(1 egg) -- again, I would have used it if I'd had one!
1 1/2 cups millet flour, masa harina, or corn meal
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp salt
garlic powder
-- beat the egg. mix the zucchini, bread crumbs and egg together.  mix the flour, water, salt and garlic powder together. this is where it gets messy. scoop out some zucchini mix with your hand (about an ice cream scoop's worth) and plop it into the flour mix.  then turn it over in the flour mix to coat the other side. then plop it into a heated cast iron skillet with some oil or palm shortening covering the bottom of the pan. flatten the blob into a patty looking shape. fry until golden brown and flip. fry the other side until golden brown.
-- this is messy.  don't say I didn't warn ya!  But it is good.  everyone liked them, and gobbled them all up!

Zucchini... Series, Part II

We had a good friend over for dinner last week, and I had  made these the night before for dinner.  We ended up not eating them, so I used them the next night.  I don't usually make recipes I haven't at least tried once for people who come over for dinner, but since it was a vegetarian meal, and she's vegetarian, I thought I would just go for it.  Other than the 'meat' balls falling apart because I tried to toss them with the spaghetti sauce, they were really good.  I even surprised myself on this one!

We also had fried eggplant (from our CSA!) with this meal and Chris said, "This is the first eggplant I have ever eaten that I didn't think was gross."  .... I'll take that as a complement!

Zucchini 'Meat' Balls-- okay, for these, I'll be honest.  I'm not sure exactly what I did.  I will try and tell you and then also tell you what I would have done to make them better.
1 medium zucchini, shredded
1 1/4 cup millet flour (masa harina or even corn meal would have the same affect)
1 1/4 cup water
(1 egg) I would have added, if I had any that day!
1/2 tsp salt
some basil
some garlic, or garlic powder
-- mix everything together except the zucchini.  fold in the zucchini.  grease 24 mini muffin pans. (this could also work on a greased cookie sheet, they just might spread out a bit).  spoon a small cookie scoop amount of dough (2 tsp? 1 TBS?) into each cup.  Bake at 350* for 30 minutes, or until they start to brown around the edges.  Serve as you would meat balls.
--DO NOT mix these in with the sauce. I did that, and they kind of fell apart.  I made them with spaghetti, but I think they would work in the place of sweedish meat balls too!  Just ladle the sauce on at the table, so they don't fall apart.

A Juicer

I am so thankful to day for our recently acquired JUICER!  I know it's not tuesday anymore, but I just had to write this post! 

We got our awesome new-to-us juicer from a sweet sweet friend!  She got a new one and just GAVE it to us!  The last three mornings, we have been experimenting with delicious, healthful juice. 

Monday it was kale apple pear carrot juice.  Very sweet and delicious!

Tuesday we had kale apple carrot.

And this morning we had kale apple carrot zucchini! 

This morning it was much less sugary than the last two mornings.  I really liked it, though!  I am excited that this is a new way for us to get lots of vitamins and minerals from fresh veggies that we wouldn't necessarily eat. I mean, I will eat kale.  But every day?  Not really.  Plus, you should see the kale plants in our garden-- they are huge!  So not only are we eating fruits and veggies, but they are fresh picked from our garden!  Yay! 

Since I am a little wary of only drinking juice and not eating the fiber of the food with the juice, I will not juice every day, or at least I will make juice that is low in or has no sugar.  But even this morning when the juice was not that sweet, two out of three kids drank everything I gave them.  :-) Regardless, I am still excited about this new avenue to explore! 

Thanks so much for my juicer! 

Zucchini... Series, Part I

what do you do with it all!??!

So, here are some things that I have done with my zucchini in the last few weeks.  I was going to make a mini-series about it, but with my blogging history, I better just put it all in one post and then you'll actually get to read about it!  :-P (While I was typing this post and it was getting longer and longer, I decided to split these recipes up!  Stay tuned all week as I share them with you!) 

Zucchini Oatmeal Coffee Cake -- made it this morning for breakfast.  I used 1/2 cup sugar for cake and topping, instead of the called-for amounts. Plus, I probably added 3 cups zucchini.

Zucchini Pancakes -- use a basic pancake recipe and add a cup of shredded zucchini.  Or however much you like.  I always add a lot.  OOOh, and add some raisins.  I forgot when I made mine, but that would be so good!  Like zucchini bread but in little round cakes on your plate for breakfast!
--Here's my basic pancake recipe.  Taken from Betty Crocker, but off the top of my head, so it might not be perfect. :-)
1 c. flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1 TBS baking powder
1 TBS- 1/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. milk or water
2 TBS oil or melted butter
1 egg
--mix everything together and add whatever you want that sounds delicious.  be creative.

"Ice Cream"

K, so tonight I stumbled upon this blog with all these vegan recipes.  I was looking for a recipe for corn cake.  I don't know. I've never heard of corn cake before, but today, it sounded good to me and I wanted to see if it even existed.  Well, it does, and I am going to try it soon!

Anyway, on the top of the page was this amazing looking sorbet.  So I clicked on it and it looked so delicious.  I decided I wanted to try the blueberry banana recipe after dinner.  During dinner I presented this idea to Chris who made a face, and when I asked what was wrong with that idea, he said, "Well, first of all, there's the banana and the blueberry."  Ok, so the banana blueberry wasn't going to fly.  But I still wanted ice cream. 

After dinner, we were in the kitchen, and all the kids were asking when we were having ice cream (and I think Ellie was yelling something like, "NOW" in her sassiest voice), so I just started throwing things into the blender. 

Beet Blueberry Strawberry Sorbet
One small (fresh from the garden!) raw beet, shredded finely
Half cup of blueberries
One cup strawberries
About 1/3 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup coconut milk
Splash of lemon juice
Splash of rum or something (optional, keeps it softer after you put it in the freezer)

Put all ingredients in the blender.  Blend until desired consistency.  Taste for sweetness. Adjust if necessary. Eat right away, or put in ice cream freezer.  Then eat. 

It went over well.  There was none to put in the freezer.  There are lots of newly stained clothes in my house, though!  Enjoy!

Garden Picture Update

Here are some pictures I snapped in my garden the other day.  It's doing pretty well overall.  :-)  I can hardly believe it looked like this just a few short weeks ago! Here is a tour of the garden from the beginning of the season.  ;-)

Brussels Sprouts

One of two zucchinis

Tomatillos!

Sam and the falling down tomatoes

Potatoes

Zucchini

Cucumber

Acorn Squash!

Butternut Squash

Pepper Rows

Cute dirt baby and Chris (She LICKED off her hands after playing in the dirt.  Gross.)

Chris and our fallen over tomatoes after a storm.

Well, That's all I got tonight. 

Join us at smockityfrocks.com for other garden updates!

Menu Plan 7.11.2011

Hey!  It's 7/11!  Makes me think of slurpees... :-)

Well, it has been officially FOREVER since I posted a menu plan.  Or even had one, really. But this morning I sat down to think about what I would even buy at the store today, and I realized I should make a menu plan.  Or something.  So, I did.  Kind of.  :-) 

It's summer, and it's hot so I don't want to cook ever.  But Chris DID put in the A/C unit in our living room today!  So instead of being 95 in here at the end of the day, it will be 80 or 85, with no humidity!  Yay!  But I digress... here's the plan!

• Grilled mushroom 'burgers'
• Pasta salad
• Spaghetti
• Zucchini Cakes (hoping to post a recipe-- I made these last week and the recipe needs a little perfecting yet.  But I have 8 or 9 zucchini in my fridge, so I have plenty to practice with!) 
• Leg of lamb on grill
• Tuna Salad
• Egg Salad
• Bean and Rice burritos (we had these last week, and I made the best tortillas EVER! and some delicious tomato corn salsa to go with it) 
• Veggie wraps
• Tomato sandwiches
• Cauliflower and potato curry
• Quiche
• Chicken Tikka Masala

Well, that's what was on my list.  Ben requested soup... but I vetoed that due to the heat!  No one except Ben wants to eat soup in 90* weather!

Last night we had a picnic out back.  It was so hot, and we hadn't been home, so the house was closed up and stuffy, and there was at least a breeze blowing outside.  So we had tuna sandwiches (with tomato from the farmer's market and lettuce from my porch planter) and apple slices. 

Alright, the children are begging to go out, so we will ride bikes before it is 100* and while Ellie is asleep. I hope to get back on the blogging bandwagon sometime this week. :-)

Quick Garden Update...

Okay, so there are some updates from the garden, but I don't have pictures. Sorry!

• My tomatoes have bacterial speck... not much I can do about it I don't think. (That I have found in my research-- anyone else have experience with it?)
• Tomatoes also have blossom end rot... got to put some eggshells out there and water those sad plants!  It hasn't rained in weeks! 
• The eggplant is still (somehow, I don't know!) alive, producing very small eggplants that keep turning red-- Chris got a red china.  Haven't eaten them yet, though. 
• The zucchini is getting into gear.  We have five from our garden and three from our CSA in our fridge right now!
• We tried planting potatoes this year... but we planted them very late! and only seven or eight plants came up.  Oh, well, we'll get on that better next year!
• We DUG OUR GARLIC!  Hooray!  Now I need it to rain sometime in the future so I can plant something there! 
• We have baby acorn squash growing!  I love how the squashes start out so small and cute.  I can't wait to have delicious squash all winter. 
• We are making a cinnamon spray as per my MIL suggested.  We have yet to spray it.  Will keep you posted.  
• I picked one beet so far this year and we put it in a salad. Yum. 
• The brussels sprouts are getting all eaten up and sad.  I just want them to grow!  I am hoping some cinnamon spray might get them through. We'll see.

Maybe I will update this with some pictures tomorrow.  We went swimming today.  It was hot.  But I DO need to get out in the garden, give everything a good watering and also put some eggshells around the tomatoes.

check out other garden updates at smockityfrocks.com!

Good night for now!

Breakfast this morning...

My children ate wasabi peas with breakfast this morning and I'm not even kidding. 

That's all for now!

Happy Fourth!

Patriotic breakfast this morning...

Lunch!

Lunch today was a perfect summertime feast!

Cold leftover homemade baked beans, cold sauerkraut (sadly not homemade), tomato sandwich with homemade bread and farmer's market tomatoes, and farmer's market corn! Yum!

With flowers from the garden: echinachea, coriander and broccoli.

Hello again, world!

Dear Blogosphere,

I MISS YOU!

I have been so blessed to be away and busy with lovely summer things, that I have not had time to write.  Sometimes, not even time to get near my computer.  It's nice-- traveling, riding bikes, chalk, gardening, parks, pools, grilling,.... children going to bed at least an hour after they should every night.  :-) But it's sad, too, because I miss writing!

Okay, I will try to bring you up to date on everything that's been going on.

Here are some pictures, as they are worth so much more!

Cute boys in the garden!

20 lbs. of blueberries!  I acquired for $35!

The first ripe tomato.  Good thing I got this picture, because later that day, Chris let Ben eat it!

Cutest baby E.V.E.R.  Enjoying summer.

Flowers I planted by the front door.  To make it look pretty.  :-)

Blueberry pie.  Note the two plates, and the pie that's still out, so Chris and I could have another piece after we cleaned up for the night.  It was delicious.  And the kids got to have the rest of it for breakfast.  

 

Garden Update:

• We have had to stake up our tomatoes multiple times so far this year, as they keep falling over.  They are like a jungle.  :-) Not complaining.   
• We cut a bunch of lettuce this evening that was getting pretty big.  I guess we'll have a salad tomorrow! 
• I think we will be picking our first zucchini in the next day or two.  Our zucchini plants have gotten HUGE, and we haven't seen any squash bugs yet.  We are still braced for their return, as they wreaked havoc on our squash last year and we didn't know what they were until it was too late.  But this year we are prepared.  
• The pumpkins are still not doing great, but I am planning to plant two more in the next few days, so hopefully we'll get some good ones.  
• I think we are going to be digging our garlic soon, and I have been thinking what to put in place of it.  I'm leaning towards bush beans and beets.  The first batch of beets did not do well this year.  I picked one which we ate, but the rest have been slow growing. 

Update on other food fronts:

• Tonight we had millet pizza crust pizzas, with a twist.  The dough was NOT working for me, so I got out cookie cutters and made mini pizzas.  Then I baked them on a well oiled cookie sheet for about a half hour, added the toppings (sauce, zucchini slice, cheddar cheese), back in for about 10 minutes.  They were so good.  The crust was so much better than a big sheet, as it got crispy and delicious.  
• I also recently made an Indian dinner.  When I make Indian, I like to go all-out.  I made buttery spinach and potatoes (always delicious), and I tried two new dishes.  The first was not really Indian, but had cumin and complemented the flavors-- Cumin Socca.  It was good (a little salty), and the first time I really got it to set nicely.  Then I made deep fried cauliflower tossed in an Indian barbeque-type sauce.  They were really good.  mmmm. 
• With the twenty pounds of blueberries, I made some delicious blueberry jam today.  It made nine cups!  I am super excited to have jam that is low-sugar and I can keep it all year long.  I am looking forward to making other types of jam throughout the summer. 

Well, I feel that I have rambled enough.  Hopefully I will write again soon, but this whole summer thing has thrown off all schedules and normalcy in the Good household.