What's cooking?

I have been a bit busy lately and have neglected my blog.  Here are some of the happenings over the last two weeks.

Everyone at our house loves pancakes.  These pancakes were made with whole spelt flour and home made buttermilk.  They were so delicious.  The kids had some friends over later in the day and they all ate the leftovers- plain! 

Want to make some for yourself?

 

‎The Best Pancakes  (this recipe came from my sister, who got it from my other sister- not sure where she got it)

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 Tbs sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt
2 cups buttermilk

4 Tbs (1/2 stick) butter-melted

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 

beat the eggs on medium speed til frothy

add remaining ingredients and stir just until the batter is
smooth and no lumps of flour remain, do not overbeat.  

(I think there were still small lumps when I stopped stirring.)

Ladle batter onto griddle heated to 350 F.  

When bubbles come to the top in the middle of the batter, flip and cook until browned.

I've been looking around the world wide web for good whole food recipes.  I am taking some ecourses from the GNOWFGLINS website.  There are recipes on the blog that looked quite good.  The one that stuck out the most was these Arabic Meatballs.  The kids gobbled them up!  We made them with ground beef, but I would love to try some ground lamb.

On the side, we served summer squash with onions sauteed in butter.  The kids didn't really love them, but Jeff and I sure did.  Fresh sauteed summer squash is so delicious!

We also had roasted brussel sprouts.  I have never seen such small brussel sprouts as these.  We cut them in half and tossed them in olive oil.  They were a bit bitter.  I am not sure if they were too young or too old, but I've had much better tasting in the past.

One of the reasons life has been so busy lately is the passing of my grandmother.  I wrote about her in a previous post.  She was 90 years old.  Drew and I flew out to Kansas City for her funeral.  It was nice to see everyone again- we were just there a month ago for a wedding!  It was fun to look through all of the pictures she had.  There were pictures of my dad and his sister when they were young- some with their parents and grandparents.  I only got to meet one of my great grandparents- my dad's grandmother.  She lived into her 90's as well.  My grandmother also had pictures of Europe at the end and right after WWII.  Those are really great pictures to find.  My dad and aunt were actually born in Germany after the war.  We got to rifle through all of her things trying to decide what to donate, sell and keep.  She had the biggest collection of post cards.  My sister Rebecca was always surprised to find another large stack of them in box after box.  We wonder if they are from all of the places she has been.  She traveled more than anyone I know.  She lived through the Great Depression, survived Polio, served in the WAC during WWII, got a bachelor's degree as a single mother in the 1950's (which today would be no big deal, but back then it was practically unheard of), and traveled the world throughout her life.   Lucky for us, my dad recorded her telling stories of her life and had them put on CDs for all of us.  She saw so much in her lifetime.

My inheritance was some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (apparently she had quite the candy stash and my dad wanted us to inherit it) and a CREPE PAN!!!!!  I know, it seems like such a simple thing.  My mother had the same crepe pan when I was growing up.  I have searched for a similar pan.  When we were going through her belongings, one box was labeled "crepe pan."  I was all over that!  I was so excited when I found it to be the ONE I have been searching for all these years.  I asked my dad if I could have it, as my kids are crepe fanatics as well.  So here is our first time putting it to use!  It took a few tries to get it right, but once I had it figured out it was the easiest thing ever.

Dip it in the batter and cook.  You don't really have to flip it because they are so thin, but sometimes I did.

I didn't get pictures, but we spread homemade strawberry jam on them and rolled them up.  The kids like theirs sprinkled with powdered sugar (or doused).  I also like fresh whipped cream, but didn't have the cream on hand.  I think we will be eating crepes more often around here!

What do you eat?

If you have read all of my posts (way back in the beginning), you probably know that I have been trying to change our eating habits and lifestyle to become more healthy.  I got the Yoga Booty Ballet DVDs and did those for a bit (I still intend to use them but it interferes with my running program so it will have to wait until after the race in November).  Along with that, I was trying to cut back on sugar and introduce more vegetables into our diet. By diet, I mean what we eat, not a period of time when I starve myself.  After a long bout with post partum depression, I decided to try an alternate means to combat it than taking pills.  I went to a Naturopathic doctor.  The main thing that I was told would help was my diet.  I could control depression with what I ate.  I was introduced to eating foods based on blood type.  The biggest thing I got from the blood type way of eating was that you avoid ALL processed foods.  It also suggests that certain foods should be avoided, but it doesn't cut out yummy foods. 
In moving to our new area, I met someone who is, in many ways, a lot like me.  She introduced me to the Weston A. Price foundation and the book Nurturing Traditions by Sally Fallon.  I have looked into it a bit on my own, not having read the book.  Based on what I know from previous dieting, nutrition research, and the eating for your blood type experience, I think the best thing for myself and my family is to eat healthy foods we prepare in our home from whole foods. 
I will have to really focus on learning new recipes.  I am no longer going to be buying boxed cereal (or bagged for that matter) for my kids.  Who wouldn't want pancakes, muffins, waffles, or eggs and homemade toast for breakfast every morning?   Maybe one day my kids will even come to love oatmeal!  No more cheap sandwich bread from the store for their lunches.  Instead, they can have filling, wholesome sandwiches made with real meat (not salty, processed lunch meats) or homemade peanut butter (because I know that is all Ashley will eat) on homemade whole grain bread.
I am making a sourdough starter and am going to learn to make all sorts of things with it.  Did you know you can make sourdough waffles, pancakes, muffins, english muffins, and even cake?  Crazy!  Once my starter is ready, I am going to do it- it takes 2 weeks to get it going but will last for generations (that would be my kids and their kids, and their kids...) if you feed it properly.
Of course, Jeff is such a trooper.  He told me he will eat anything I make!  I promise I won't make lima beans, though.  I know how much he does not like them.
I think all of this means that I will probably be spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  It probably also means I will be spending a lot of time on the computer finding recipes!  Add that to keeping up with one very active baby and I think I will be pretty busy.  I will share recipes as I make them, as well as how we are enjoying (or not enjoying) this new adventure in becoming a healthy and happy family!

Homemade OREOs

These cookies have been a favorite of ours since my friend Heidi introduced us to them almost 4 years ago.





For the cookies:
1 box devil's food cake mix
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons water
2 Tablespoons oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix ingredients together.


Roll dough into small balls and place on baking sheet. I used the small Pampered Chef scoop just barely overfilled to portion the dough.

Bake for 10 minutes (the tops will crack). I usually get between 30 and 34 cookies (but you will end up with half that when you put them together).

I flatten the cookies just a little with my spatula.



Cool completely.

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar (or more to taste)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat. It is best to refrigerate the filling so it won't be soft, but you can also refrigerate the cookies after putting them together to let the filling set up.



Take two cookies and frost the wrong side of one with filling. Sandwich the two together and enjoy!

Chili Cookoff

This is the pot at the end of the evening:

Tonight was the annual church Chili/Chowder Cook-off (and Corn Feed). They combined two events into one this year. Usually, the Chili/Chowder Cook-off is around Halloween and we combine it with a Trunk-or-Treat. I have always taken mild chili. I always use the same recipe. It is the chili I grew up eating and I love it. Jeff was really hoping that there would be a really hot chili this year. The hot chilis at church are usually more medium than hot. Of course, the only hot chili had pork (to which Jeff is allergic) so he had to stick to medium and our mild chili. It is Jeff's favorite event of the year- he looks forward to all the chili he can eat! I have promised to find a way to make my chili hotter- and will make the mild version for the kids and the hot version for him. The biggest surprise of the night was winning first place!!!! I was quite shocked. Thanks to everyone who voted for my chili! Hope it makes my mom proud (since the recipe came from her)!
Can you guess what the prize was?

Cravings

I've been craving cinnamon bread. So last night I got back from girls night and the house smelled like freshly baked bread. I went to the kitchen, and sure enough, Jeff had made cinnamon bread. I was really full from dinner still, but I tried a small piece. It was yummy!
Jeff forgot about the second rise, so the loaves are rather small, but oh so yummy!
Thanks Jeff!

Mushrooms and Stars

I tried a new sauce for pasta tonight. It was looking so tasty as I was cooking the onions, green peppers, red peppers, and mushrooms in butter! How could it go wrong? Then it called for a can of condensed cream of chicken soup and some milk. So I added it. It is not bad. But I am just not loving the cream of soup taste. I think I will try a different cream base for it. We ate it with no delay! Jeff has seconds, so it can't be terribly bad. But I do feel this could be so much better if it didn't include a can of soup. Any ideas?

Here is how the recipe goes:


* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
* 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
* 1 1/2 cups fresh sliced mushrooms
* 4 tablespoons butter
* 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup
* 1/3 cup milk


In a sauce pan over medium heat cook the onions, green pepper, red pepper, mushrooms and butter until mushrooms are tender. Stir in the cream of chicken sup and milk. Cook until smooth.


I added some basil, oregano, and cream. We mixed it with tiny star pasta. I don't think it made it better, but it did change the taste a little. I am sorta on the fence about this one. I would love any ideas you have to give it that extra umph!

And, Marianne, I don't want to hear your comments on how the picture could be "better if..." hehe

"Green Dinner"

We unintentionally had a green dinner on St. Patrick's day! I didn't even realize it went with the day's theme until I was mixing the pesto in the pasta. It was very good. Ashley all of her salmon and wanted more. Natalie ate all of her pasta and wanted more. So they switched plates and were happy! We usually have this once a week!



Salmon with Pesto Pasta


2 lbs salmon- cooked however

1⁄2 C pignoli (pine nuts imported from Italy)

1 C chopped fresh basil

1 C chopped fresh spinach leaves

1 large garlic clove

1⁄4 C freshly grated Romano

1⁄4 C freshly grated Parmesan

6 T butter softened

1⁄2 C olive oil

1/8 tsp fresh ground pepper


In food processor or blender with metal blade add pine nuts, basil, spinach, garlic, and cheeses. With motor running, add the butter and oil. Mix in the pepper. (this should take no more than 1 minute). Use with 1 lb cooked pasta. Toss with cooked salmon.

*****
I try to make several batches of pesto at once, especially in the summer when basil is in abundance! We put it in 1 cup containers and freeze it. The hot pasta will melt it, so we don't even defrost it. If you refrigerate or freeze it, be sure that you block air from touching it so it doesn't turn brown. The containers I use fit perfectly so the lid touches the pesto, but you can just put a layer of plastic wrap touching it inside the container if it doesn't fit perfectly!
We like to cook our salmon with lots of lemon pepper and pressed garlic.

As a side note: if you make the recipe exactly as indicated above, the whole pesto is 2207 calories with 213 grams of fat. I am not sure exactly how much pesto you end up with, but we usually divide one cup of pesto into 8-10 servings- a little pesto goes a long way! Hope this is helpful!

Chocolate Chip Spelt Cookies

I made these cookies today. Spelt needs less liquid than wheat, so I didn't quite get enough in there this time. I think I usually use about 1/4 cup more flour in this, but I think I didn't due to measuring mixups.

This is a recipe that originally called for all purpose (wheat) flour. I only changed the flour. Here is the recipe:

Chocolate Chip Spelt Cookies

Yeilds approximately 3 dozen to 60 depending on size

Ingredients:

* 2 1/2- 2 3/4 cups spelt flour (you can do any combination of white/whole flour)
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
* 3/4 cup granulated sugar
* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 large eggs
* 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
* 1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Directions:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

TIPS:
I used 1/2 white, 1/2 whole spelt in this batch. I have used all whole spelt and they were delicious.

Because spelt has a nuttier flavor than wheat, I don't use nuts. I probably wouldn't anyway. The spelt gives them a REALLY good flavor - in my opinion.

I am pretty sure I used 2 1/2 cups of flour this time, so maybe I usually use 1/4 extra spelt per 1 cup when replacing wheat flour.

I use the middle sized Pampered Chef scoop when putting the cookies on the cookie sheet. You can get a similar sized scoop at any kitchen store. I think it is about 2 tablespoons. I do not round the scoops.

I usually cook them for about 8 minutes. This gives a fairly soft cookie. I am not into cripsy cookies.

These are not puffy cookies. They are very flat. The chips stand up above the cookies. They are so delicious.


If you are looking to use spelt flour, it can pretty much replace wheat flour in a recipe, you will either need to use more flour or less liquid (and eggs and oil count as liquid). In breads, you will get a lower, more dense loaf. Spelt should also not be overworked. It is more fragile than wheat. It does make wonderful baked goods!

Remember, wheat has been changed to be more readily grown and used. Spelt is pretty much what it originally was. It doesn't grow anywhere under any conditions, like wheat. If you want a grain similar to wheat that isn't a highly changed hybrid, spelt is your grain!

Alfredo Sauce

I made an Alfredo Sauce last week that was really quite good. I have not ever attempted alfredo sauce before. I found several recipes and just made my own using what I actually had on hand. Here is the recipe:
Alfredo Sauce

1/4 cup butter
1 cup cream
1 garlic clove
1 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup grated romano
1/2 cup grated mozarella

Melt butter in saucepan over med low heat.
Add cream and garlic.
Simmer 5 minutes.
Add grated cheese and stir till melted.

Pour over cooked pasta.
Wake up sleeping child and watch them enjoy!

Thanksgiving Spread

This is our Thanksgiving Feast! We also have rolls and an Emerald Salad, but they are not pictured.
Our Turkey turned out sooooooo moist! It was delicious.

If you double click on the picture it will enlarge and you'll be able to see how moist it is!


Candied Yams.


Charles pretending to carve the Turkey-it was my job.


The non carved half of the Turkey. Isn't it beautiful?


The line-up.


Cranberry Orange Apple Relish


Stuffing.


Mashed Potatoes by Jeff.

We are all full and sleepy and watching WALL-E.
Happy Thanksgiving!

This is how we make lunch fun!

We found these cute sandwich cutters at Fred Meyer. We have 3 different kinds- 2 dinosaurs, 2 dolphins with a heart in between, and 2 hearts. Today was dino day. And the kids insisted on cups with lids and a straw! What is it about straws that make drinks so enticing?

Alona's dinos and drink


Natalie was eating one dino, and took the head off the other!

Zucchini Bread Yummmmm!

I made zucchini bread the other day, using the recipe Charles tried when he was here. Remember that disaster? Of course, I know what everything in my pantry really is, so it turned out well. I made another batch today. It is very moist and wonderful.
Here is the recipe:

4 c shredded zuchinni
3 c flour
2 1/2 c sugar
1 1/4 c vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
4 T + 1 t vanilla
1 T cinnamon
1 1/2 salt
1 1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 c nuts, optional

Preheat oven 325. Grease 2 9x5x3 pans. Blend all ingredients on low speed for 1 min, scraping bowl. Beat at medium for 1 minute. Bake 50 min to 1 hour or more if neccesary. Cool for 10 min. and remove to cool completely.

A funny story....

So, while Charles was here he wanted to make some zucchini bread with our monstrous zucchini. So he started while I was out. I am a bit odd in my cooking/baking as I have given myself over somewhat to the Eat 4 Your Blood Type way of living. I am not completely changed, but I do use some different foods. Here is a picture of my baking supplies. Some of the containers are labeled, some are not. Only one or two are labeled correctly. The sugar is labeled "pasta", the brown sugar is labeled correctly, the corn starch is labeled "baking soda", the white spelt flour labeled "cake", and the whole spelt flour labeled "unbleached". If you double click the picture, you will be able to see the labels. So, imagine Charles trying to figure out where my white wheat flour is stored without knowing I also have spelt flour in there. I walked in and he said he had figured out the white flour was labeled "cake". Oops. I told him it was spelt. Little did I realize he probably also used corn starch instead of baking soda. The white wheat flour is in a canister on the counter below the cupboard. He would never even think to look there! The corn starch thing wasn't even discovered until about a week later when he was baking a cake! I forgot to tell him that spelt flour uses less liquid. You should have seen the bread. It was about and inch and a half high, maybe two inches. It was so moist, it didn't really seem like it was cooked all the way when you look at it. I should have taken a picture. It was pretty funny. Charles wasn't too thrilled with it, but the kids, Jeff, and I loved it! It tasted fine, just REALLY moist and dense! Poor Charles will probably never want to bake at my house again. So now I have determined that I really need to relabel all of my baking goods. Sorry for the confusion Charles! The bread tasted good to me! I think I made up for my confusing kitchen when I made an apron for him to give to Kelly, who, by the way, is his girlfriend again- for real this time! Yay! Maybe she will send a picture of herself in the apron...

This week....

Tuesday the kids played in the tupperware box. We ordered a few things and it came in a giant box. Who needs toys?


Wednesday night I made spelt brownies (from the Spelt Healthy cookbook). They were yummy!

Thursday was a friend's birthday, so I started making her a gift. I just finished it, but at least it is beautiful! Hope she likes it. In case you were wondering, it is the Amy Butler Swing Bag and Scarf/Sash pattern.

This week has been hot. It's finally a real summer. Saturday was over 100˚ F. Luckily, there is hardly any humidity, so it is actually nice!

Cream Puff Recipe (pictured in the previous post)

Someone asked for the recipe for the cream puffs in the last post, so here it is. They are pretty easy to make. This is a pampered chef recipe. Profiteroles are miniature cream puffs. I use heavy whipping cream and make my own filling. The instructions for that are below the recipe.

Profiterole Puffs

Puffs:
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten

Filling and topping:
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbls chopped pistachios or almonds
1/4 cup prepared chocolate frosting, melted

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 375. For puffs, in 1.5 qt saucepan combine water, butter and salt; bring to a boil over high heat. Add flour all at once. Using Classic Scraper, stir mixture vigorously about 1 minute or until mixture leaves sides of pan and forms into a ball. Remove from heat; place dough into bowl. Add eggs and whisk until smooth and very thick.
2) Lightly spray mini muffin pan with oil using Kitchen Spritzer. Using slightly mounded Small Scoop, scoop batter into cups. Bake 22-25 minutes or until deep golden brown. Remove from oven and make a small cut into side of each puff to release excess steam. Remove puffs from pan and allow to cool completely.
3) For filling, combine whipped topping, powdered sugar and vanilla. Mix gently until well blended. Attach bizmark tip to Easy Accent Decorator, fill with filling and pipe into center of each puff. For topping, chop nuts and microwave frosting on high 5-10 seconds or until melted. Drizzle frosting over puffs and sprinkle with pistachios.

Yield: 24 puffs

I use real cream instead of cool whip, so here are the instructions for that.
Combine 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, 3/4 cup powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Beat with whisk till stiff peaks form, 5-7 minutes. Proceed as recipe directs.

Safety Town and Cream Puffs

Alona graduated from Safety Town on Friday. We celebrated by making cream puffs! Safety Town is a two week program that teaches new Kindergartners safety relating to just about everything from animals to buses, as well as introducing them to police officers and firefighters! It is fun for the kids and a great learning experience, as well.

Alona eating a cream puff in her Safety Town shirt.


The Cream Puffs

Spelt Bread!

I made my first batch of spelt bread ever! I ordered some dough enhancers from King Arthur Flour. So I made a batch using Mom's bread recipe. I used less water and oil, as spelt flour needs less liquid than wheat flour. I used vital wheat gluten, lecithin, ascorbic acid and diastic malt powder. I'm not sure I added them at the proper time, but the results aren't bad. As you can see from the picture, the bread isn't too dense. I used 1/2 white spelt and 1/2 wheat spelt. It rises more rapidly than wheat dough, especially when using a quick rise yeast. It only took 15 minutes for the first rise and 10 for the second! Yay! That makes for some quick bread! Ashley tried a piece and got excited. It passed! She has always eaten just about any bread I give her. I guess to her, bread is bread! We will see what Alona and Jeff think when they try it.
Here is the recipe:

This recipe is for a white (wheat) bread. I have listed the recipe how my mom wrote it and added the changes for spelt in parenthesis. It makes great white bread.

Makes 3 good size loaves

4 cups warm water (I used 3 1/2 with spelt flour)
2 pkgs or 2 Tablespoons yeast
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons oil (I used 1 1/2 T olive oil with spelt)

Put above ingredients in a large bowl (or 5-6 quart stand mixer bowl). Let sit for a minute or two. The yeast will start to dissolve.
Add 6 cups flour (I added 3 cups each white and whole spelt) and stir. (At this point I added some lecithin, vital wheat gluten, diastic malt, and ascorbic acid. not sure if that is when they should be added, but turned out fine) Slowly add more flour until you have to knead - it will take 4-6 cups more. (I used between 3 and 4 cups, half whole spelt, half white spelt). Knead for 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Let rise till doubles in size-up to 45 minutes. (mine only took 15 minutes, wheat flour takes longer) Gently pull dough out of bowl (no need to punch dough- it should deflate just taking it out onto the counter), divide into 3 sections and shape into 3 loaves. Put in greased bread pans and let rise up to 30 minutes(it may not take that long). preheat oven to 350˚F. Bake loaves 30-40 minutes. Remove from pans and brush tops with butter.
Enjoy!

Strawberry Jam!

I made strawberry freezer jam today! I can't wait till tomorrow when we can try some! It will be so yummy!
Now I'm off to do the laundry. If you don't hear from me for awhile come looking for me under the mountain of clothes and towels!