"Wonder"ful Poppy Seed Muffin Mix

I have been busy getting gifts ready for Christmas! Here's one gift idea that would work for a neighbor, friend, co-worker or even family member. It works really good for someone who is single (or a couple) that wants to eat healthy food, but doesn't have much time or money - like a college student.

"Wonder"ful Poppy Seed Muffins {Refrigerator Mix}
Printable Recipe

*Makes 6 single batch recipes or 36 muffins total

*Note: This mix is best if kept in the refrigerator.

INGREDIENTS:
6 Cups whole grain wonder flour (or you can try flour ground from other grains)
1 Tbsp. Baking Powder
2 Cups Sugar
1 Tbsp. Salt
2 Tbsp. Poppy Seeds
1 Tbsp. Vanilla Powder **see note
1 Cup Powdered Milk  

DIRECTIONS:
Combine ingredients into a storage container for them and attach a label with the instructions for a "Wonder"ful Poppy Seed Muffins {Single Batch from Refrigerator Mix}.

*Note: If you've never heard vanilla powder, do a search. If you can't find it, just omit it and add 1/2 tsp. vanilla it to the ingredients for them to combine later.

"Wonder"ful Poppy Seed Muffins {Single Batch from Refrigerator Mix}

Printable Recipe

*Makes 6 muffins

INGREDIENTS:
1 egg 

½ Cup Water

¼ Cup oil

½ tsp. almond extract

1-1/2 Cup Muffin Mix

DIRECTIONS:
Mix egg, water, oil and almond extract. Add Muffin Mix and stir just until combined. Spray 6 muffin tins with oil and bake muffins at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.

Or if you don't want to use these as gifts, here's the full recipe:

Wonder Flour Poppy Seed Muffins {Single Batch}
Printable Recipe

*Makes 18 Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

3 Cups Wonder Flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup oil
1-1/2 tsp. almond extract
1-1/2 tsp. salt
3 eggs
1-1/2 Cups milk
1 Tbsp. poppy seeds
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla

DIRECTIONS:
Mix dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix wet ingredients in separate bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients and mix until just barely combined. Pour into muffin tins. Bake 350 F for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven. Cool and enjoy! 

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Frugal Friday: Is Making Homemade Bread Saving Me Money?

For those of you who have always wondered (like I have) whether it really is cost effective to make your own bread, I’ve done an analysis on it. To start with, let’s look at raw ingredients… In the recipe below, I’ve included the cost of each ingredient. The low estimate (in blue) is based on what I usually pay (when ingredients to go on sale and buying in bulk). The high estimate (in red)is based on actually prices taken from WinCo foods today (on December 13, 2011).

Whole Wheat Bread (Makes three 1.5-lb loaves)
3 C. hot water, microwave on high 2-3 min or until quite warm – FREE!!
1/3 C. oil – {Ranges from $0.10 to $0.14}
1/3 C. sugar – {Ranges from $0.07 to $0.09}
1 Tbsp. salt (put in first before adding yeast) - {$0.01}
3 C.+ freshly ground whole wheat flour (hard white wheat) – I measured last time and I use about 5 Cups of Hard White Wheat in this recipe…{Ranges from $0.70 to $1.12}
2 Tbsp yeast on top of flour {Ranges from $0.04 to $0.05}
½ C. gluten flour {Ranges from $0.28 to $0.32}

½ C. ground flax seed (optional) {$0.13}

Combine above ingredients in Bosch mixer with dough hook and mix. Add more whole wheat flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Then mix for an additional six minutes. Divide dough into 3 loaves (the dough will still be VERY sticky - so sticky that you won't be able to form your loaves without putting oil on your hands). Let rise until double or fills the bread pans. Bake 400 deg. for 5 min., 350 deg. for 25 min or until done.

Total cost of three 1.5-lb loaves of bread ranges from $1.33 to $1.86

Total cost of one 1.5-lb loaf of bread ranges from $0.44 to $0.62

(Electricity has not been included yet…if you want to see the total cost, see below…)

For those of you who are wondering where I got these numbers and want to see the full analysis, read on! But I’m warning you, there’s math involved and conversions! Which I love, but you may not…so…I apologize in advance.

Cost of Home-made Bread Full Analysis

For three 1.5 lb loaves of Bread

High Price taken from WinCo on December 13, 2011

Oil

A {1 Qt +1 pt} container of Store Brand Canola Oil = $2.50

{1 Qt + 1 pt} = 6 Cups

6 Cups = 18/3 Cups (We use 1/3 Cup in this recipe)

$2.50/18 = $0.14

I’ve seen Gallon containers of Canola oil go on sale for as low as $5.

1 Gal. = 16 Cups

16 Cups = 48/3 Cups

$5/48 = $0.10

Sugar

A 2 lb. bag of Store Brand brown sugar = $1.24 (I like to use brown sugar because it gives the bread a little more flavor)

There are about 227 tsp. servings in 2 lbs. of brown sugar

3 tsp. = 1 Tbsp.

227 tsp. = 75.67 Tbsp.

16 Tbsp. = 1 Cup

75.67 Tbsp. = 4.73 Cups in 2 lbs. of brown sugar

4.73 = 14.19/3 Cups (We use 1/3 Cup in this recipe)

$1.24/14.19 = $0.09

I’ve seen 2 lb. packages of brown sugar go on sale for as low as $0.99.

$0.99/14.19 = $0.07

Salt

Hopefully you already expect this to be really cheap…But in case you don’t…

A {1 lb. +10 oz.} container of store brand salt costs $0.44.

There are about 491 servings of salt in each package at ¼ tsp. each.

491/4 tsp. = 122.75 tsp.

3 tsp. = 1 Tbsp.

122.75 tsp = 40.92 Tbsp. (We use 1 Tbsp. in this recipe)

$0.44/40.92 =$0.01

I won’t analyze cheaper although I have seen salt go a lot cheaper than $0.44, but most of us don’t count our pennies that particularly...

Wheat

WinCo has bulk food bins and their wheat costs $0.51/lb. for hard red. I didn’t see hard white, but it’s usually comparable priced…

1 Cup = about .44 lbs. of wheat (I measured this the other night)

5 Cups = about 2.19 lbs. of wheat

2.19 lbs x $0.51/lb = $1.12

It’s a lot cheaper to buy wheat in bulk. I can usually get a 50 lb. bag of wheat for about $16 or less when it goes on sale.

50 lbs = 22.83/2.19 lbs (We use about 2.19 lbs. in this recipe)

$16/22.83 = $0.70

Yeast

Instant yeast was $3.18/lb in their bulk bins.

1 C = about .25 lbs of yeast (I measured this the other night)

16 Tbsp = 1 Cup

1 Tbsp = .015 lbs. (We use 1 Tbsp. in this recipe)

.015 lbs x $3.18/lb = $0.05

I’ve seen a 1 lb. package of instant yeast on sale go as low as $2.50

.015 lbs x $2.50/lb = $0.04

Gluten Flour

Gluten Flour cost $2.56/lb in their bulk bins.

½ Cup = .125 lbs (I measured this the other night – we use ½ cup in this recipe)

.125 lbs. x $2.56/lb. = $0.32

Online you can get a 25 lb. bag for $56.60 here.

That is equivalent to $2.26/lb.

.125 lbs. x $2.26/lb. = $0.28

Ground Flax Seed

I like to add this in my bread – it gives the bread a great texture and adds more nutrition!

Golden Flax seed costs $1/lb at WinCo (I buy the seed there and then just grind it in my blender)

½ Cup = .125 lbs (I measured this the other night – we use ½ cup in this recipe)

.125 lbs. x $1/lb. = $0.13

I won’t compare prices for flax seed because it’s not something you really want to buy in bulk due to the high oil content – it’s better just to buy it as needed!

So to summarize again…

The total cost of three 1.5-lb loaves of bread ranges from $1.33 to $1.86. The total cost of one 1.5-lb loaf of bread ranges from $0.44to $0.62. For raw ingredients.

Electricity

So…what about electricity you wonder…how much would it really add to the cost?…okay…we’ll add it and see.

According to my last electric bill I’m being charged about $0.10 per kWh (kilowatt hour) for electricity that I’ve used. I checked and my oven uses 7.9 KW so it costs $0.79 per hour to run. When I make bread I use it for about 45 minutes (15 minutes preheating time) so that’s about $0.59 added cost to all three loaves making the total cost range adjusted now to $1.92 to $2.45. Dividing this by 3, the new total cost of one 1.5-lb loaf of bread ranges from $0.64 to $0.82.

So is it cost effective? Well I guess if you want to know that you’d have to compare the price of what you would purchase a loaf of the same size for at a grocery store.

Pulling out my handy-dandy ads for the week, I see that Grandma Sycamore’s bread is on sale at my local grocery store for 2 for $4. It’s a 24 oz. loaf (which if you do the math is equivalent to my loaf size of 1.5 lbs.). So I can save between $1.18 and $1.36 per loaf by making my bread at home rather than buying Grandma Sycamore’s bread. Our family eats about 3 loaves a week. That’s a weekly savings of between $3.54 and $4.08. With 52 weeks in a year, that’s a yearly savings of between $184.08 and $212.16. I’m actually saving even more if you consider regular price instead of sale price.

Of course to find the real cost effectiveness for you, you’d have to take the cost of the loaf of bread you normally purchase. For me, I don’t buy cheap bread cause I can’t stand to eat it…that leads me to give an analysis on nutrition, but I’ll have to save that one for later...

So in conclusion, Yes! When you make homemade bread you are saving money! Even if you don’t shop sales and just buy ingredients at regular cost, you’ll still save money! So go for it! It’s worth it in more ways than one!

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Meal Planning

For the past 3 or 4 months, I've been trying to plan our nightly dinner meals two weeks in advance. I've been using the food nanny plan meal planner where you come up with a theme for every night of the week. I can definitely say that our food has tasted better and I've had less hassle and struggle with the kids trying new foods. I still make 1-2 new dishes a week, but they are more likely to try them now because they know what to expect and know that the next night something will be served that they know they like. If you haven't tried out meal planning, try it! It definitely works and is well worth the prep time for the dinner-time success. I decided that I will post some of my meal plans for those of you who struggle like I do to come up with what to have for dinner every night. Today I am planning my next 2 weeks of meals. I will shop once for most of the food and then go once or twice more during the 2 weeks to pick up fresh produce.

Here's the themes that I'm using:

Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
12 Italian	13 Fish	14 Leftovers	15 Kids Pick	16 Mexican Fiesta	17 Daddy's Pick	18 Italian
19 Comfort Food	20 Breakfast	21 Leftovers	22 Kids Pick	23 Pizza	24 Christmas Eve	25 Christmas

And here's what's on the menu:

Mon, Dec 12
Bean lasagna (I'm working out a new pressure cooker version that I will post in the future) with Fresh Bread and Sunshine Squash

Tues, Dec 13
Tilapia Scampi with brown rice and broiled vegetables.

Wed, Dec 14
Leftovers!

Thurs, Dec 15
Plain Noodles with Sauce (Can you tell this is a kid's pick???)

Fri, Dec 16
Normally Pizza night but this time we're doing a mexican fiesta.
Chicken taquitos, chips & Salsa, Green Salad, Cilantro-lime rice with oven-baked churros and hot cocoa for dessert

Sat, Dec 17
To be determined...my husband likes to see what's in the fridge and create on the spot...

Sun, Dec 18
Spaghetti Squash dinner with Breadsticks

Mon, Dec 19
Spicey Roasted Butternut Squash and Cream of Broccoli Soup

Tues, Dec 20
Cottage-fried potatoes & swedish pancakes

Wed, Dec 21
Leftovers!

Thurs, Dec 22
Red & White Mostaccioli (Food Nanny Recipe)

Fri, Dec 23
Pepperoni and Veggie Pizza

Sat, Dec 24
Our new Christmas eve tradition: a Bethlehem Supper based on ideas from here and here. See our post here from last year...
Chicken Shwarmas on pita bread, cheese cubes, fresh veggies, challlah bread, olives, hard boiled eggs

Sun, Dec 25
Turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, pistachio pudding, stuffing, rolls, sweet potatoes & pies....mmmmh!

Hopefully I'll be able to post some of the recipes soon! Meanwhile hope you are enjoying a wonderful holiday season! Merry Christmas!!

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Fresh Homemade Bread

My husband is the young men leader in our church ward. He works with boys in our neighborhood ages 12-18. He loves working with these boys and they love working with him! The young men's program they have activities every week which include scouting, service, and personal development activities. The other night he brought the boys over after they raked the leaves of some widows in the neighborhood. They were cold from being outside working and they crowded into our kitchen for hot cocoa and fresh, homemade bread. The boys come from different backgrounds - split families, strong families, working mothers, stay-at-home mothers, financially sound and financially struggling. It was amazing to me to see how in a matter of a few minutes 2 1/2 loaves of fresh, homemade bread vanished! Completely disappeared! The bread was gobbled up, with words of gratitude and enjoyment expressed between each bite. One boy even came up and gave me a big hug, which I found out later he was intending to give me since the 30-mile hike they took this summer. At the top of the mountain, after hiking 15 miles, Brandon pulled out a loaf of homemade bread and split it with the boys on the hike. He told me later that there was nothing to compare with the gratitude and enjoyment these boys felt eating that 3 or 4-day-old bread on top of the mountain top. One boy mentioned that he was going to give me a hug when he came back and I received it the other night, 5 months later.

There's something about fresh homemade bread that does wonders for the soul. It draws people into your home. It draws your family together. It bridges barriers between people. It unifies and strengthens. When fresh bread is shared it can communicate love, empathy, gratitude or belonging. This experience the other night re-emphasized to me why I love to make homemade bread. Yes it takes time. Yes it takes effort. But things that are worthwhile always do. Yes the 30 minutes of prep time, 30 minutes of rising time and 30 minutes of baking is worth it, for the benefits far out-way the costs.

If you need a good, easy recipe for homemade bread, here are some of my favorites that I make all the time:

Honey-Oat Wheat Bread

Whole-grain Oat Bread

Whole-Wheat Bread (Pictured above - this is my quickest, cheapest and most-often made bread)

In these recipes, you do use a stand mixer which makes the bread lighter and much quicker to make. But if you don't have a mixer, you can still make bread! Just follow the same recipes and knead it by hand for 10 minutes. Then let it rise twice - once in the bowl and once in the bread pans. You also really should get a grain mill so that you grind the grains fresh. The flours are so much more healthy and tastier that way. But if not, you can find hard white wheat flour in the grocery stores as well. This is recommended as the second option. The third option is to use the regular (hard red) wheat flour. This has a denser consistency so you may want to consider adding an additional 1/4 C. gluten flour to lighten the bread up even more. Any option you choose will be wonderful. It takes a little practice, but it's well worth it!

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Creamy Chicken Taquitos with Sweet and Savory Coconut Rice

I'm so excited about this dinner. Don't you love those dinners that just turn out exactly the way you wanted and get even better of a response from your family than you hoped? Well get ready because this exactly that kind of a recipe!! Caprene over at Eat your Veggies, peas posted this recipe for creamy chicken taquitos with sweet and savory coconut rice and I've been wanting to try it for a while. It intrigued me that the taquitoes were baked instead of deep fat fried and the rice sounded delicious. Well I'm so glad I finally did because it is one for the books.

Merry Christmas to my Dad - another gluten free, low fat, low sodium flavorful meal that he will love! I hope you enjoy it too!! :)

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Printable Recipe

*Note:Mix ½ Cup green salsa or enchilada sauce with 2 Cups sour cream for a yummy taquito dipping sauce!

INGREDIENTS:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 Cup green salsa or enchilada sauce
1 Tbsp. lime juice (fresh is best)
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. chopped garlic
3 Tbsp. or more chopped cilantro
2 Tbsp. chopped green onion
2 Cups or more cooked chicken, shredded *see note below
1 Cup shredded pepper jack cheese
Taco Size Corn or flour tortillas
2 Tbsp. canola oil
Non-stick cooking spray
Salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Mix softened cream cheese with green salsa or enchilada sauce, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and garlic until smooth. Add chicken, cilantro, green onion and cheese and mix well.

Line a cookie tray with parchment paper. Then wrap 3-4 tortillas at a time in a damp paper or cloth towel and microwave for about 20-30 seconds. This will prevent the tortillas from cracking when rolled.

Now you are ready to roll. Place 2-3 Tbsp.chicken mixture onto the edge of the tortilla. Roll the taquito and place seam side down on parchment lined cookie tray. If you overfill the taquitos, you may need a toothpick to hold them together. Continue rolling until you have used all the chicken mix.

Spray or brush the taquitos will oil to help them crisp in the oven. Sprinkle with salt (optional). Then bake in the oven at 425 for 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before eating.

*Note: if you use more chicken it makes it less spicy for the kids. I cooked my chicken in the electric pressure cooker for 25 minutes (just throw in the frozen breasts with about 1-1/2 cups of water) and they turned out perfect - soft and yummy.

Recipe Source: adapted from Eat Your Veggies Peas

Sweet and Savory Coconut Rice

Printable Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
2 Cups white or jasmine rice
1 - 14oz can coconut milk
2 Cups water
1 tsp. salt
1-2 tsp. white vinegar
2-3 tsp. sugar
1/4 Cup chopped green onions, optional (I didn’t use)
Black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS (Stovetop):
Combine rice, coconut milk, water, salt, vinegar and sugar in sauce pan. Bring to boil and then lower heat and cook for 20 minutes. Allow to stand before serving. Top with green onion and pepper if desired.

DIRECTIONS (Pressure Cooker):
Combine rice, coconut milk, water, salt, vinegar and sugar in pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 6 minutes. Naturally release pressure. Allow to stand before serving. Top with green onion and pepper if desired.

Recipe Source: adapted from Eat Your Veggies Peas

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Vegetarian Tacos

This recipe is so great! I love tacos, but really don't like making them very often because they use so much meat. When I discovered this recipe, I was so excited because now I don't have to use meat and my family doesn't know the difference! Look at this picture. Deceiving, isn't it? Not only do I save money by using beans, it's a lot healthier than meat, but flavor and texture is not sacrificed! :)

Black Bean Taco Filling

Printable Recipe

INREDIENTS:

2 Cups black beans, raw (see note below if you want to use canned)

2 eggs

2 Cups plain bread crumbs

1/2 Cup onion, diced

1 Cup carrots, finely shredded (or ½ cup carrots, ½ cup zucchini)

1/2 tsp. powdered garlic

4 Tbsp. olive or canola oil for frying

Taco Seasoning, to taste (use your favorite from the store or see my recipe below)

Accompaniments: Salsa, guacamole, shredded lettuce, cheese, sour cream, etc

DIRECTIONS:

Cook black beans in pressure cooker with 6 Cups water on high pressure for 50 min. Use quick release method.

Note: You can use canned beans if you don't want to use dry. I'd estimate about 3 cans of canned beans but maybe 4 - experiment until you get a good mixture.

Blend drained beans in food processor until smooth. Add a little water, if needed. Combine beans with veggies, crumbs and spices. To cook filling, heat oil in a non-stick skillet. Place bean mixture in skillet and cook on medium to medium-low heat. Crumble and turn until done. Season with taco seasoning to taste. Serve with salsa, guacamole, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese on soft or hard tacos. Tasty!!

Note: This recipe makes a lot, but it freezes well. I like to put leftovers in family serving size bags, freeze, and enjoy multiple times

Recipe Source: healthyfamilycookin.blogspot.com

This is so good with my fresh homemade salsa recipe. In not too long we won't have any tomatoes or peppers left, so I'm enjoying it while I can!!

Taco Seasoning Mix

Printable Recipe

*Yield 6-7 batches, 4 servings/batch

INREDIENTS:

¼ C. dried minced onion

¼ C. chili powder

2 Tbsp. salt

4 tsp. cornstarch

1 Tbsp. dried minced garlic

1 Tbsp. ground cumin

1 Tbsp. crushed red peppers

2 tsp. beef bouillon granules

1-1/2 tsp. dried oregano

DIRECTIONS:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, mix to combine. Store in an airtight container for up to one year.

To prepare tacos: Brown 1 lb hamburger; drain. Add 2 Tbsp. seasoning mix and 1/3 to ½ cup water. Bring to boil; cook and stir for 2 min.

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Cinnamon Swirl Bagels

What a great recipe I ran across for homemade bagels, the other day on this blog. I made them and yum, they are really really good. I did make a few adjustments as always. I used less flour than the recipe called for in mine so just be aware of that. I used quite a lot less (the first time I made them they were too dry). But without as much flour, they were really moist and yummy - not crumbly at all like other bagels I've made. I'll definitely be experimenting with the other kinds. So far I've only tried the cinnamon and the plain. Both were very tasty! Thanks Elizabeth for a great recipe!!

Cinnamon Swirl Bagels

1½ C. hot water (heated for a couple of minutes in the microwave)

2 ¼ C. freshly ground white wheat flour
1 Tbsp. yeast

1 tsp. salt

3 Tbsp. sugar

2 tsp. dough enhancer (optional)

2 Tbsp. vital wheat gluten
1/2  to 1 C. white flour 

Directions   

In a Bosch mixer add water, whole wheat flour and yeast. Mix with a dough hook for a couple of turns. Let this mix stand for 15 minutes. Then add salt, sugar, dough enhancer and gluten flour.  Add enough white flour until the dough just pulls from sides of the bowl. Mix for at least 6 minutes.  Remove dough and divide into 10 pieces and form round balls. Cover the dough balls and let rise for 12 minutes. Shape the bagels by pushing thumbs in the center of the dough balls to form a hole in the center. Place each bagel on a parchment lined baking sheet to rise for 20 minutes. While bagels are rising, preheat your oven to broil.  Then bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pan. When the bagels have risen, broil bagels about 2 minutes on each side, but do not let them get brown. After they have broiled, change oven temperature to 375 degrees.  Place the bagels in boiling water, about 3 at a time, and then turn stove top down to simmer.  Cook them 1 minute on each side. Set them on paper towels to drain.  After they have drained put them on a floured cookie sheet. Bake them for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

Variations:

See her recipe for other yummy variations!

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Dehydrating Tomatoes: Tomato Powder

Are you wondering what I'm going to do with all those green tomatoes? Well I'm really excited to share with you my newest method of preserving my tomatoes after the harvest...

First I put all the tomatoes in the basement to ripen on flat pieces of screen or wood that are suspended on buckets.


When the tomatoes ripen I wash them...



I cut off their stems and stick them in a blender (skins and all) to puree into blended tomato puree.

Heres what the tomato puree looks like.

 

In our basement I keep the dehydrator that is running almost all the time right now. I spread the puree out on the fruit roll sheets (of if you don't have those you can make your own using freezer paper. Dehydrate the tomato puree on 135 F for about 24 hours or so. Don't worry so much about the time - just dehydrate it until it's crispy and breaks when you bend it.

When it's finished break off the pieces and stick back in your perfectly dry blender (make sure it's all the way dry or you'll have to re-dry the powder. Blend and then wallaah...tomato powder!

Here's a close up view.

Store tomato powder in a mason jar with an oxygen absorber to seal the lid. Keeps for a long time if it's stored in a dark, dry place.

To rehydrate just add boiling hot water until the consistency you want. Add less water if you want a paste, more for a sauce. Experiment with how much you like. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and Italian seasoning for a delicious pizza sauce. Or mix a little into your homemade spaghetti sauces to thicken a little. The possibilities are endless with this stuff. I'm still experimenting, but I'm really excited about this simple, quick method that preserves tomatoes. It's especially nice for this time of year when you're burnt out from canning! Some of the benefits of drying instead of canning are:

• Less Space - this is a big one! You can store a lot of tomatoes in one canning jar. I estimate about 80 - 100 tomatoes per quart!
• Less Time - dehydrating with this method is a lot faster than canning and you can do a little each day so it's perfect for busy times of year.
• Nutrition - from what I've learned dehydrating preserves better the nutrition than canning, but I need to read up more about what the benefits are.

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The Harvest is in! Here are the tomatoes, peppers and summer squash! (And check out that pile of jalapenos!)

And here are the winter squash and melons!

We feel very blessed! The night before the frost, on a hunch, Brandon went out and covered all the tomatoes. We were very grateful the next day because it snowed and we may have lost most of them to the freeze. We picked them later that night. The green tomatoes will ripen down in our basement and the winter squash will decorate our house for 3-4 weeks until they cure and then we will stick them down in the basement to eat this winter!

Happy Harvest! Canning is almost done! I lost track of how much I've canned, but it's a lot more than I've ever done before! Glad it's about over. Now I can put my life back together and work on posting some of these recipes that I've been creating! :)

Ta ta for now,
Heather

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Yellow Squash Muffins

I think the harvest will be coming in tonight - it's getting kind of cold here...pictures to come soon.

And speaking of harvest. I have loved making our favorite muffins this summer and will miss them so much. My kids eat these up like there's never going to be another meal anytime soon. I doubled-plus-a-half (I don't know if that's the correct term - I made that one up...it means 2-1/2 x) this recipe using 5 small to medium sized yellow squash this morning. Boy were they good. My 6-year-old ate 5 of them and brought 2 to school for lunch. And I thought I was going to be able to freeze some...Hope you enjoy these as much as we do!

Yellow Squash Muffins

Printable Recipe

*Makes 1 dozen muffins

*Note: You can use ¼ Cup applesauce in place of half of the butter in this recipe if you want to cut the fat. They are still good, but you will notice a difference.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pound yellow summer squash, cut up
½ Cup butter, melted
1 egg
1-½ Cup wonder flour
½ Cup sugar or honey
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, bring the cut up yellow squash to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Drain the squash and puree in blender. Add the butter, honey (if using) and egg to blender and mix for a few seconds.

In a medium sized bowl, mix together the flour, sugar (if using), baking powder, and salt. Stir in the squash mixture. Fill greased muffin cups ¾ full and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Serve warm or cold.

*These muffins can be frozen and reheated.

Recipe Source: adapted from Friend Magazine

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Got Pears? Canning Tips

Don't those look good? Yep, in spite of the spaghetti sauce disaster we're still canning like crazy around here. Here are some tips for canning pears in case you've got a few extra on your hands like we do...

A few things to consider are:

• Always can ripe, mature fruit. If they taste bad fresh, they won't taste any better canned - in fact probably a lot worse.
• An average of 17-1/2 pounds is needed per canner load of 7 quarts; an average of 11 pounds is needed per canner load of 9 pints. A bushel weighs 50 pounds and yields 16 to 25 quarts—an average of 2-1/2 pounds per quart.

Here's how I can pears. You can find the source here:

Pears - halved

Procedure: Wash and peal pears. Cut lengthwise in halves and remove core. To prevent discoloration, keep pears in an ascorbic acid solution (I use a dissolved 500 mg vitamin C tablet per gallon of water). Prepare fruit syrup. For a quart load I use 3-4 Cups of sugar to 8 cups of water. Or pack pears in water, apple juice, or white grape juice. They are not very good in water because the sugar in the pears leaks out into the water so you are left with not very sweet pears.

Hot pack Method (Raw packs make poor quality pears): In a large saucepan place drained fruit in syrup, water, or juice and bring to boil. Boil for about 5 minutes. Fill jars with hot fruit and cooking liquid, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. Place halves in layers, cut side down. Adjust lids and process according to times below (based on your current elevation).

Processing Times:
Hot Pints
20 min (0-1,000 ft) 25 min (1,001-3,000 ft)
30 min (3,001-6,000 ft) 35 min (Above 6,000 ft)
Hot Quarts
25 min (0-1,000 ft) 30 min (1,001-3,000 ft)
35 min (3,001-6,000 ft) 40 min (Above 6,000 ft)

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When Canning Just Isn't Worth it: The Spaghetti Sauce Disaster

So as I mentioned in the previous post, our garden is producing like crazy. Of course it happens all at once so it can be a very stressful time of year. This year we've had a bumper crop of tomatoes. Within 5 days we picked 60 lbs of them! Well normally I would just can them as crushed tomatoes because it's fast, easy and versatile. I can do whatever I want with them later. Well this year I decided to be bold and brave and make the tomatoes into tomato sauce before I canned it. I spent several hours processing the tomatoes into the sauce. The first batch I processed the slow way and ended up with about twice the work. All in all I spent about 3 hours making the sauce and then I let it simmer for about 7 or 8 hours. It smelled good and I was excited. Because my recipe had peppers and onions in it, I had to pressure can it. It was too late that day so I decided just to do it in the morning.

The next day I pressure canned my tomato sauce into 9 pint sized jars and then let them cool off. Only 4 or so of them sealed. Frustrated, I put the unsealed jars back in the refrigerator and waited until I had more time to reprocess them. Well the next day I processed them again and this time only 3 out of 5 sealed. More frustration. The next day I made another batch of tomato sauce - this time the quick way only took me about an hour and half and 7 or 8 hours to simmer. I was looking at the recipe and realized that all of my other jars I had pressured at 10 lbs. pressure and I was supposed to pressure them at 15. Aaah! Oh well, I figured I could just re-pressure can them all the next day with my new sauce, this time using quart jars and they'd all fit in the canner at once.

So the next day I started to do just that. But for some reason my pressure canner wouldn't seal right. I was losing steam out the lid and it just wasn't building up the pressure. I figured I'd better open the lid to add more water and when I did, I noticed that one of the lids had popped off the jar (that's never happened before!) so I put it back on and without thinking I went and grabbed some more water to replace what had steamed off - but I made a mistake and grabbed cold water! Ugh! Two of my jars cracked and spilled spaghetti sauce all over the canner. At this point I was really frustrated. I took out all the uncracked jars. Dumped the rest of the stuff in the garbage and put everything away for another day.

The next day I pulled out my canner again and tested it without jars to see if I could get it up to pressure. No luck so I decided to take it in to a fix-it place. They tested the seal on it and said it worked fine, you just had to jiggle it really good to get it to seal. Great...I took it home and gave it a try. Sure enough I finally got it up to pressure when it was empty. Then I when through the whole canning process again and placed my remaining 6 remaining quart jars in the canner and eventually got it up to pressure (after much coaxing). I processed them at the correct pressure this time, took them out and yep, that's right only 4 quarts sealed. I put the remaining sauce in the fridge and gave up. I figured we'd eat them for dinner some night.

Then this afternoon I heard a cry in the kitchen after my six-year-old son had opened the fridge to get out his afternoon snack. When I saw the floor I just laughed hysterically - that's all I could do at this point. In fact, I was actually a little relieved to be quite honest. So....rest in peace, dear spaghetti sauce. I got less than a 50% yield off my 60 lbs. of tomatoes and I don't think I'll be canning spaghetti sauce again any time soon...I figure with time, energy and broken jars, those 4 quarts are probably worth about $100 a piece.

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Can you guess what we've been doing this week?

The garden is producing like crazy! What a great blessing, but it also makes for a busy time of year. So far I've canned 28 quarts of applesauce, 14 pints of salsa and 28 quarts of crushed tomatoes and tons more to come. I'm hoping this year to post my salsa and pears canning tips to add to the list. Happy Harvest to you all!!

Canning Tips & Recipes:
Canning Introduction
Canning: Applesauce 
Canning: Dry Beans
Canning: Peaches
Canning: Tomatoes

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Red Quinoa Vegetable Lasagna

I have to tell you - I have been looking for a recipe like this for a long, long time! I finally created it myself! :) We love vegetable lasagnas but we don't usually write down the recipes and sometimes they work out and sometimes they don't. Well this one was amazing, even if I do say so myself! :) The nice thing about it is that it's very versatile and you can use whatever veggies you have in season (it is perfect for this time of year with all the fresh veggies around). I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! :)
Red Quinoa Vegetable Lasagna
2 C. spaghetti sauce
4 small tomatoes cut into eighths
1 C. chopped vegetables (squash, corn, turnips, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, etc)
4 sprigs fresh thyme, or ½ tsp. dried
1 C. uncooked red quinoa, cooked
1 16-oz. carton cottage cheese
1-2 tsp. Italian seasoning, or to taste (penzy’s tuscan sunset is wonderful)
2 C. Shredded Jack or Mozzarella cheese
¼ C. Shredded Parmesan cheese
¼ -1/2 C. water, optional
14 lasagna noodles, cooked till they barely bend but are still very hard (do not overcook!)

In a medium saucepan, add spaghetti sauce, chopped tomatoes, vegetables, and thyme. Simmer on medium-high heat until vegetables are tender. In a bowl, mix cooked quinoa with Italian seasoning and cottage cheese. When sauce is done, combine the sauce with the quinoa mixture. If sauce is too thick, add ¼ C. to ½ C. water until you reach a runny consistency (not necessary if tomatoes are really juicy).

In a 9 x 13” pan, add a little sauce on the bottom. Layer four lasagna noodles, sauce, and jack or mozzarella cheese. Do two more similar layers using three lasagna noodles. Use the remaining four lasagna noodles for the top layer, adding the sauce and cheese. Sprinkle the shredded parmesan cheese on the very top. Cover with tin foil. Put in oven and turn on to 350 F (no need to preheat). Bake for 50 minutes to 1 hour. Remove foil and broil until the cheese on top is bubbly and brown. Serve warm with corn on the cob and fresh bread.

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Dear August,

Wow, you've flown by as fast as July! And you were even better...more family reunions, a new nephew born, harvesting from the garden, more family in town, BBQs, school starting, celebrating our 10th anniversary, more family in town, lots of transitions and changes for the better and a million things more.

And I don't mean to brag, but guess what I had for breakfast this morning? Amazing! And do you know what made it all the better? We grew every piece of fruit in this from our own garden! :) And it tasted so good. Well I guess September will have to be the month that I start blogging again! Goodbye August. Can't wait to see you again next year!

Toodles,
Heather

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Dear July,

Where have you gone? You've slipped away after many family vacations, reunions, a huge garden to weed and care for, kids to entertain and family in town. I've still cooked a lot, but no time to post my recipes or share the fun I've had during your month. I did eat my first tomato out of the garden today and it was fantastic! Thanks to you July!

See you next year and I hope to enjoy August as much as I have you!

Ta ta for now,
Heather

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Asian Rice Salad with Broiled Tilapia

Well I've been cooking a lot lately, but haven't had much time to blog about the finds I've made. Here's an asian rice salad that I found on this site that is great!

Sorry my picture is a bit blurry...We served the rice salad on a bed of lettuce fresh from our garden (don't mix the lettuce in - just put on plate and scoop salad on top and broiled tilapia. Yum.

Broiled Almond-Crusted Tilapia
Printable Recipe

*4 light servings

INGREDIENTS:
4 4-oz. tilapia fillets
1/4 Cup butter, melted
Seasoning salt
1/2 Cup ground almonds (pulsed in a blender)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat Broiler. Place tilipia fillets on a broiling pan or cookie sheet. Spread with melted butter. Sprinkle with seasoning salt, to taste and ground up almonds. Broil for 6 minutes or until tilipia is tender and flakes easily with a fork.

Recipe Source: healthyfamilycookin.blogspot.com

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Easy No-Knead Refrigerator Crescent Rolls

I love this recipe from hillbillyhousewife.com. Do you have recipes that use refrigerator crescent rolls (like pillsbury) and cringe every time you use them at the unhealthiness, expensiveness, etc? Well here's a great substitute for those. I've made them twice and have been amazed at the simplicity of them. They were especially perfect for Father's day yesterday when I needed a roll recipe that I didn't have to spend a lot of time with because we were at church. Wonderful recipe (with half whole-wheat flour!)

Here's what my dough looked like when I put it in the refrigerator. I love that I don't knead it and it turns out so wonderful! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I have!

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Making Yogurt Part II

I had one of my readers comment to me recently that they were trying to make homemade yogurt using my instructions and it was not turning out how they wanted it to. So I decided to give you some more tips to help you be successful in this.

Tip #1: Make sure you get the right kind of yogurt starter. I've tried many different brands and one of my favorites is Dannon. It consistently makes good yogurt that's not too runny or too clumpy.
But I think my all-time favorite starter is greek yogurt. They run about double the price of regular yogurt, but I think it's worth it. Especially since you just need to buy a small cup's worth and then you can make multiple quarts out of it. I like the yoplait brand of yogurt, especially their greek yogurt. I've recently discovered this one and it's smooth and creamy and really good consistency.
I talked to a friend who makes Greek yogurt a few days ago and she told me that traditionally greek yogurt is made with whole milk and a little cream. YUM, huh? But I've been making mine with 1% milk and it turns out just fine and is much healthier.

Be careful when using store brand yogurts for your starters. They might taste fine at first but after several batches, the quality often goes down. Not all do though, so experiment if you want. Don't use walmart brand plain yogurt!. That one does not do well, I can tell you for sure.

Tip #2: Make Yogurt fresh every week. If you don't make it for a while, start out with a fresh starter because the bacteria in the yogurt dies after a while. As long as you make it every week you can use some of your last batch as a starter without losing too much quality.

Tip #3: I'm still perfecting the time to culture our yogurt, but lately I've been going only about 6 hours and I've found it's just about perfect for us. When it comes out it should kind of stick together in the shape of the quart jar. If you want it thicker (and I usually do), you can pour out a little of the whey right after you culture it. Just gently tilt it and the excess whey should pour right out without spilling any of your yogurt. It still might be thinner than store-bought yogurt, but that's okay. As long as you got a good starter it should taste really really yummy. If you do want it really thick you can use a cheese-cloth to drip out more of the whey - until it becomes the consistency you want it. If you drip out all the whey, it turns into yogurt cheese which is good to use as a substitute for cream cheese.

Tip #4: If you accidentally culture your yogurt too long, it turns sour. Some people like it that way, but I don't. If you don't like the taste, start out with a fresh starter (don't use the bad one). A bad starter will make bad yogurt.

Tip #5: Use good milk, to make good yogurt. Again, the milk does matter. Don't use Walmart store brand. Use the tastiest kind of milk you can find.

Tip #6: When heating your milk, heat it on a medium to medium-low temperature. Don't be impatient. It might take a while to boil, but that's okay. It doesn't have to completely boil either. If you just want to heat it until it's good and hot, that should be fine as long as you're not using raw milk. If you're using raw milk that is unpasteurized, you'll probably want to boil the milk to kill the bacteria in the milk before using it to make yogurt. Strain it after boiling before putting it in your jar or you might end up with a yucky milky gooey thing that sits on the top when you boil the milk.

Finally here's another recipe you can use with your yogurt that is really good. My youngest son loves this for breakfast!

Fresh Strawberry yogurt
1 Cup plain yogurt
3 large fresh strawberries, chopped
1 tsp. vanilla powder, or to taste
xagave, honey or sugar, to taste
granola (optional)

Put yogurt and vanilla powder in a bowl, mix. Add sweetener to taste. Add chopped strawberries and sprinkle with granola, if desired. Enjoy!

I love strawberries this time of year! They are perfect and you can find them so cheap! Here's my favorite vanilla powder that my Mother-in-law introduced me to a while ago. This is so good! It makes your food smell heavenly!

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