Raisin Toast

Finally here is a breakfast special that I claim responsibility for. After approximately 24 years of making whole wheat bread in my Bosch machine using certified-organic wheat and fresh ground certified-organic flax I have tried and tested making Raisin Bread.

It is so easy ... and so yummy! I should have tried it much sooner.

Nevertheless, here is my recipe, it's no secret. Try it if you will.


Whole Wheat Raisin Bread

5 cups warm water
1/4 cup liquid raw honey
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup fresh ground flax
7 cups fresh ground whole wheat flour
3 TBSP yeast
Let rise about 10 minutes. Then add:
2 eggs
1 TBSP sea salt
1 Tsp vitamin C crystals
6-7 cups Whole wheat flour, fresh ground - add flour a cup at a time until dough comes cleanly off the sides of the mixer bowl. Knead another 10 minutes.

For Raisin Bread: add 2 heaping TBSP ground cinnamon and an additional 2/3 cup liquid raw honey and 1 cup of organic raisins. Knead until well incorporated. If the sides of the mixer bowl are sticky, add about 1/4 or 1/2 cup additional whole wheat flour. Knead again to incorporate that additional flour.

Remove dough from mixer onto oiled countertop. Divide dough into 6 portions. Oil 6 stainless loaf pans, form loaves and let rise about 40 minutes, until nice and high. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from oven. Let sit for 5 minutes then remove from pans onto bread rack to cool.
Enjoy fresh or toasted!

Pumpkin Granola Bars

Ok, finally, no pictures, but ... here's the recipe for Pumpkin Granola Bars that I mentioned in an earlier post:

Pumpkin Granola Bars

3 1/4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8 by 8 baking pan with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk oats, spices, and salt together. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk brown sugar, pumpkin, applesauce, honey, and vanilla extract until smooth. Pour over oats and stir well, until all of the oats are moist. Stir in chocolate chips.
4. Evenly press oat mixture into prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. The pumpkin keeps the bars moist, so make sure they are golden and set-you don’t want them to be under baked. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.
5. Using a sharp knife, cut into bars. Remove from pan and let cool completely.
Makes 10-12 granola bars*Note-these didn’t last long in our house, so feel free to double the recipe and bake in a 9 by 13 pan.

Slow Cooker Oat Groats

Another new breakfast favorite around here uses steel cut oat groats.

Groats are less processed, therefore healthier. They are also less expensive and with this recipe? They are quick & easy ... not to mention, yummy!

Another of my crew members has taken up this breakfast feature. It is a good job for little people -- no hot stuff, just throw it all together and turn it on. It gives them responsibility and makes them feel so important because ... the family is counting on them!

Prepared the night before it is ready to fit everyone's schedule in the morning:

It works best to use a heavy bowl that can sit in a water bath in your slow cooker. Trust me, clean up is a whole lot easier because the oats stick onto the crockpot in a crusty layer that is hard to get off, not to mention a sorry waste.

Slow Cooker Oats
1 1/2 oat groat
6 cups water
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Handful of raisins

Toss these into your heavy bowl. Place it into the crockpot. Fill crockpot with water up to the level of the water in the bowl. Turn on low for 8-10 hours.
If you'd it chewier, just set the crock onto the keep warm setting.

In the morning, add a sweetener like maple syrup or honey. Garnish with pecans or other nuts if you desire. Or drizzle with cream.
Then sit down and enjoy!

It's just that easy!

Homemade Healthy Chocolate

Coconut oil is VERY healthy for you. About 3 Tbsp. per day is the required amount you should try to ingest for optimal health benefits.

Chocolate, an all time favorite, is a great way to eat coconut oil.

Coconut Chocolate Almond Bark

3/4 cup virgin coconut oil
3 tsp. dutch cocoa
1/4 tsp stevia, to desired taste
1/2 cup sliced almonds (use whole almonds if desired -- or other nuts)

Mix until smooth. Pour into a wax paper lined pan/container. Freeze for 30 minutes. Remove, break into pieces. Enjoy!

Granola Recipe

We've been revamping breakfasts here lately, trying to make them healthier and less expensive along with adding new variations into the menu.

Granola has long been a favorite and for nearly as long, I've been thinking I should try making my own. An interesting recipe showed up in my search called Pumpkin Granola.

It caught my attention because we have a lot of pumpkin and hubbard squash from the bounty of last summer's harvest and I'm needing more ways to use it up.

WELL! This is a HIT!

Even if you don't like pumpkin, you should give this a try. Pumpkin Granola is absolutely delicious! Filled with flavor, spices and health! Inexpensive too, I might add. This one scores high all around for taste, health, cost and ease of preparation!

Eat it plain. Or use it for topping yogurt or ice cream, porridge or pudding. As a cereal with milk, it's better than all others ... or mix it with others.

And when you've tried that. Try making Pumpkin Granola Bars -- similar, but definitely easier to pack & neater in the car.

Pumpkin Granola just can't be beat!

Oh, btw, we have found that hubbard squash is wa-a-ay better than pumpkin in most recipes. It is sweeter, smoother and denser(not as "watery"). The picture below is a hubbard squash beside a size 12 shoe:



Where do you find hubbard squash, you say? At Klasse Woods Natural Farm, of course! Our biggest hubbard in 2010 weighed 47 lbs.! That's a whole lot of 1/2 cup packages for the freezer. Then again I make 1 cup packages 'cause I usually double or quad-ruple the recipe so that I have at least enough for a week, lol!

Nothing like cooking for a growing crew big time ... the easy way? I let one of the crew manage that operation. They love it. So do I! Lol!

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin Granola

6 cups rolled oats
1/4 tsp. ginge1/4 tsp. allspice
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
¾ tsp. salt
¾ cup brown sugar
½ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup applesauce
¼ cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1/2 cup pepitas (pumpkin seeds -- did you know that? I did not.)

1. Preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, spices, and salt. Mix well.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together brown sugar, pumpkin puree, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth. Pour wet ingredients into oat mixture and stir until the oats are evenly coated. They will be moist. Evenly spread the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove pan from the oven and stir. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until the granola is golden and crisp. Remove from the oven and stir in dried cranberries and pepitas. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
*Note-serve granola with yogurt, milk, or enjoy plain.

Appetizer

Our all-time favorite zucchini dish -- at least once a week in zucchini season, which started on June 17th this year for us. Whoohoo!



Do yourself a favor and give this appetizer dish a try! Be sure to try it with the Dill Dip too.

Go here for the Baked Zucchini recipe.

WW Chiffon Cake

This fabulous chiffon cake is made with only wholesome ingredients, including whole wheat flour ... and yet it still rose to the heights and retained its fluffy, moist texture until it was consumed -- and even in this household it lasted just over 24 hours. Well, it is a big cake!

Perhaps, I'll try little cakes sometime. You know they do have little tube pans now ... maybe someday.

Anyway, here's the recipe that Margaret shared with me a few years back (Thanks Marg!):

Chiffon Cake

1 1/2 c. ww. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. olive oil
3/4 c. cold water
10 egg whites
10 egg yolks
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1 c. sugar (or xylitol for lower carbs)
1 tbsp. guar gum

In a smaller bowl mix sugar, baking powder, oil, egg yolks and cold water.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Add cream of tartar. Fold in egg mixture gently until blended.

Pour into ungreased tube pan. Bake in slow oven -- 325 for 55 minutes on lowest rack. Increase temp. to 350 degrees, continue baking for 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven, invert pan to cool.

Remove from pan. Slice & serve with whipped cream & cherry sauce (or other fruit of your choice.)

It's a KEEPER !!!!

Our family uses a lot of salsa - Mexican dishes being our favorite meals ... In my years of making salsa, I've developed a superb recipe that others have frequently requested. That resulted in me adding it to the cookbook that I published in 2001.

Well. This Zucchini Salsa that I tried this year has topped that! Everyone in the family gives raves reviews on this one, asking that I make ALL my salsa now using this new recipe. Does that speak volumes or what??





The zucchini recipe that Ken found this week in the Manitoba Co-operator sent in by Joy from B.C. can be found on our Klasse Woods Garden blog.

Do give this a try. I'm thinking this will extend my tomato crop which always seems too little -- while using up the zucchini which is in ample supply. Not only that, but the sweetness of the processed zucchini eliminates the necessity of added sweetener in the recipe. Win/win!! Yahoo! I like it when experiments work out so well!

Batter Writing Skills

Our littlest young men are getting to be my good helpers in the kitchen. Zucchini Cake has been THE cake to make recently. We make it in coconut & chocolate flavors.

Today, though we did something different: we had our phonics / spelling lesson in the cake batter.

They used a spoon as their writing tool and wrote the letters of the alphabet in the batter. Spelling words worked well in the batter too ... who knows they may even stick better in their little minds when written in batter, lol!

Of course, "erasing" batter is easy, so if they made a mistake they just "erased" and tried again.

In the end, the baked cake showed no traces of the lesson plan, but boys & Mom had fun learning together again. I trust the academic repetition mixed up with fun will have long lasting effects ...

What do You do with Chives?

Chives are ready early in spring. Though this year we're already into summer ... can you believe it??

Chives is something I look forward to using lavishly in our meals. They add color, nutritional health benefits and taste to our diet, waking up the taste buds to summer selections.

Chive cheese was introduced to us by some dear friends a few years ago. It is now a staple spread at our house throughout the summer:

Chive Cheese

1/2 cup chives, chopped
8 oz. cream cheese, softened

Use chive cheese: on bread, crackers, veggies, in egg, fish, or meat sandwiches ... and it is super good with a burger - it can even redeem a lowly hotdog!

- add chives to salads: green salads, macaroni salad, potato salad or egg salad.

- add to soups, sauces & casseroles.

- chop & freeze for use later in soups, sauces & casseroles


Did you know that the chive flowers are edible? Not only edible, but decorative as well. The chive flowers can be torn & tossed in salads adding a delightful color along with their delicate taste. Or use the whole blossom to garnish a dish.

Give Yourself a Shake

Now I can testify as a nursing mother as well, this shake continues to give me boundless energy (ok, perhaps that is a bit of an overstatement, but I do certainly have more energy when I have my daily breakfast shake) ... Baby Faith and I both get grouchy if I run out of hemp hearts.

Here is another version of my morning shake:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Shake

1 cup milk
1 Tsp. blackstrap molasses
2 tsp. honey
10 drops liquid stevia
1 tbsp. coconut oil
1 tbsp. peanut butter
1/2 tsp. instant coffee granules, optional
4 heaping Tbsp. hemp hearts
1 1/2 tsp. dutch cocoa
14-16 ice cubes

Blend & enjoy!

I'm enjoying the different flavors & the knowledge that I can put so many healthy ingredients into my diet so pleasantly and easily.

Resurrection Rolls

Great Aunt Mary blessed our children with delicious resurrection buns that she had made using her regular bun dough. She then brushed the tops with butter and sprinkled them with cinnamon & sugar mixture.They were delicious and perfectly formed.
Thanks Aunt Mary - you blessed us with your thoughtfulness.

I found the following quick & easy version on the Boyer's blog. Our young men really enjoyed this little project. Next time we'll be more careful to seal all the edges and bake it a little longer:

Resurrection Rolls


Use this object lesson help children understand the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This fun recipe uses Crescent rolls and a disappearing marshmallow!

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Ingredients:
Crescent rolls
Melted butter
Large marshmallows
Cinnamon
Sugar

Give each child a triangle of crescent rolls. The crescent roll represents the cloth that Jesus was wrapped in.

Read Matthew 27:57-61

1. Give each child a marshmallow. This represents Jesus.
2. Have him/her dip the marshmallow in melted butter. This represents the oils of embalming.
3. Now dip the buttered marshmallow in the cinnamon and sugar which represents the spices used to anoint the body.
4. Then wrap up the coated marshmallow tightly in the crescent roll (not like a typical crescent roll up, but bring the sides up and seal the marshmallow inside.) This represents the wrapping of Jesus' body after death.
5. Place in a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes. (The oven represents the tomb - pretend like it was three days!)
6. Let the rolls cool slightly. The children can open their rolls (cloth) and discover that Jesus is no longer there, HE IS RISEN!!!! (The marshmallow melts and the crescent roll is puffed up, but empty.)

Now read Matthew 28:5-8

Explain: At the tomb, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary saw an angel, who told them not to be afraid. No one had taken Jesus' body, but He Had risen from the dead! The angel told the women to go and tell the disciples what they had seen, that Jesus had risen from the dead. They were so excited, they ran all the way home to tell the disciples the good news! He is risen from the dead! Alleluia!

After that Jesus appeared in person to Peter, then to the 12 disciples and after that, to more than 500 people. Jesus' appearance to eyewitnesses, those who saw Him with their own eyes, would give support and prove that Jesus rose from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:3-6).

By rising from the dead, Jesus proved once and for all that He was the Messiah, the Savior of the World, the Chosen One, and the Lamb of God. By dying on the cross and rising from the dead, Jesus did what no other had ever done before. As both God and man, He overcame sin, death, and hell. And now because of what Jesus has done, these things no longer have any power over those who believe in Jesus and allow His Spirit to lead and direct them. Rather than being slaves to sin and death, Christians ( those who love and believe in Jesus) are free to obey God and do good ( Romans 6:17-18). The Bible says in John 8:36, "If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."

However, we will only obey God if we listen to the Holy Spirit our helper. He enables believers in Jesus to do the right thing. It is important that we read the Bible (God's Word) because one of the ways the Holy Spirit helps us obey God is by reminding us of what He says to us in His Word. God's Spirit will never go against his Word. In fact, when we read God's Word, we are listening to the Holy Spirit. Of course, you won't always do the right thing; the Bible says this ) 1 John 1:5-10). But that is why we need to continue to confess our sins knowing that God forgives us, based on what Jesus did on the cross. This is also a reason we need to spend time with other believers in Christ so they can encourage us in our faith.

May you have a blessed and meaningful Easter!

- Author Unknown -

Enjoy!

Quick Quiche

This is one of our favorite breakfast meals, often even served up for lunch or supper. Do you ever feel like having breakfast @ suppertime? Here's how:

Quick Quiche
Crust:
1 cup bread crumb mix sprinkled evenly over the bottom of a 9x13 pan.

Filling:
4 cups cottage cheese
12 eggs
12 tbsp. cream
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
dash or pepper
1 head broccoli, chopped fine (use the stems also if trimmed & diced)
Mix well then pour gently over the crumb "crust".

Topping:
1 cup grated cheddar sprinkled evenly on top.

Optional: sprinkle bacon bits over the cheese OR crumbled fried sausage or ham can be sprinkled over the crumb base before adding the egg filling.

Bake @ 350 degrees for 30 minutes until a knife inserted comes out clean and center is firm. Remove from oven. Let stand a few minutes, then cut, serve & enjoy.

To make it quick:
1. Crumble and fry the sausage, ham or bacon in a large batch ahead of time. Then put into 1 cup portions and freeze for ready use.

2.Mix up a large batch of bread crumbs (I always use whole wheat) with seasonings:

4 cups bread crumbs
1 cup parmesean cheese
1 tsp. garlic salt
1/2 tsp. ground rosemary
2 tsp. oregano leaves

Store in an airtight container for ready use. I also use this bread crumb mixture for yummy baked zuchinni which I will post at a later date ... keep watching!

Sorry I don't have a picture - we just had this dish yesterday and enjoyed it again as warmed up leftovers today ... but I didn't think about putting this onto a blogpost until this afternoon. Maybe I'll add a picture next time I make it.

Spring into Savings

Yet another great offer this time on topics like: saving money, getting-out-of-debt, frugal living and homemaking tips.


The ladies at LivingOnADime.com and MoneySavingMom.com. have just contacted me to let me know that with the rise in the price of groceries, they have decided to team up to offer you their two grocery savings e-courses along with a huge pile of bonus items. Even better, they are offering this Savin' O The Green 17 e-book package to our readers for $17, a substantial discount off of the regular price of $75 for these e-books.


The e-books that are included in this offer are:


Supermarket Savings 101 eCourse with audio downloads
Grocery Shopping On A Budget eCourse
Money Saving Meats e-book
Saving On Cleaning Supplies e-book
Eating Healthy On A Budget e-booklet
Is Eating Out Eating You Up? e-book
224 Meals In A Hurry e-book
Grocery Savings e-book
Menus That Make Cents e-book
Plan Ahead Leftovers e-book
Quick Dinners e-book
Menu Planning Made Easy
Simply Centsible Breakfasts
Simply Centsible Suppers
Kids Recipes
Menus On A Dime
470 Crockpot Recipes


For more information on this exciting offer, go here.

This is GOOD!

Remember eating snow?

How about "Snow Ice Cream"?

Just before Christmas I came across this rather unique (to me) recipe to make "Snow Ice Cream" - it came highly recommended ... so when our SK Christmas company arrived I enlisted the ladies (Thanks Karen & Janique) to help me make the dessert that we'd serve along with our lasagna supper!

The "experiment" turned out GREAT!

A tasty treat.

A fun activity.

An interesting concept.

A delightful dessert to finish off our supper ...


Snow Ice Cream

1 quart whipping cream or half 'n' half cream
1 tsp. vanilla, or 2 tsp if using imitation vanilla
1- 1 1/2 c. liquid honey
6 quarts fresh, clean, fluffy snow

Mix the cream, vanilla and liquid honey well. Then add the snow, folding in 2 cups at a time until thick like the consistency of ice cream.(At this point, we decided that a quick mix with an electric beater might make the finished product even smoother as we did have a few "chunks" of snow - but using a beater is, as of yet, an untried step).

Serve and enjoy! Add toppings if/as desired - of course, at this house, I had to serve it with cherry topping ... we try cherries with everything at least once! Smile! - this is a keeper!


Maybe I'll make it again & add a picture ... this first time, it disappeared before I even thought of a picture. Check back here to "see" how it delicious snow ice cream can look...

Try it sometime this winter. Add some varieties - I'm sure those could be many!

Note: I tweeked the original recipe to make it a healthier version, using honey instead of 2 cups white sugar - and that worked too! PTL!

A Traditional Treat

Peppernuts have become a tasty treat that my family requests each year. Though not the healthiest, the spices are certainly beneficial - I have tried tweeking the recipe using whole wheat flour & honey, but alas the end result is just not quite the same.

Besides enjoying these nuggets ourselves, they make excellent gifts! I like to mix up a batch for my Dad who enjoys them. My nephew requested a batch for his gift ... and this year I've used them to fill centerpieces on my festive tables. Brayden has added his creative touch...



There are literally books filled with various recipes & versions. Here's the recipe we use for this traditional German/Scandinavian/Danish treat:


Peppernuts

2 cups white sugar
2 cups Roger's syrup
1 lb. butter
1 tsp. ground anise
1 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Boil this mixture for two full minnutes. Then cool slightly and add:
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. baking powder
9 cups unbleached flour

Roll into finger thick "logs". Place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper and freeze the logs. Once frozen, use a sharp knife to slice logs into "coins". Place on pans (yup, this takes a while) and bake @ 350 degrees for 7 minutes until lightly browned on the bottoms. As the peppernuts cool they will harden. Store in a large glass jar ... and watch them disappear!

With the cooling and the freezing involved in this recipe it can take "all day" or sometimes I even leave logs in the freezer to slice and bake at a later time ... breaking up the seemingly "tedious" task.

It is a Christmas activity that everyone can enjoy together ... of course, as they help they "nibble", but that's part of the fun!

Yup, I'm needing new oven mitts ... maybe they're all wrapped up?? Smile!

Necessity Invents Free Meals

Necessity is the mother of invention ...

Yesterday, it happened at our house. I wanted to make a stir-fry for supper, but I found I had only carrots and a half head of cabbage to go with the (free) chicken breast I chopped up. Just carrots & cabbage could have sufficed, but I usually like to have a bit more variety like zuchinni or something - it dawned on me that I had a half of a spaghetti squash sitting in my fridge from supper the night before.

Sure thing, peeled & diced & tossed in with the stir-fry it made for a perfect addition to the dish.

BONUS - it's healthy!

The added BONUS is that spaghetti squash is super easy to grow (in the past I remember growing wa-ay too much and end up giving it away or tossing it into compost in late spring ...). But the fact of the matter is that variety of squash lasts way longer into the winter than zuchinni - giving us more opportunities for "free" meals.

Whoo hoo! I was excited to discover this "invention"!

You better believe it - I'll be planting more spaghetti squash next spring than I had planned on.

Energizing Shake

Here's a great shake that pleasantly offers a lot of nutritional benefits:



Energizing Shake
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. blackstrap molasses
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. instant coffee granules, optional
2 heaping Tbsp. hemp hearts
14-16 ice cubes

Blend until smooth. Serve & enjoy!


The molasses could also be considered optional though it does add minerals & iron into your diet. I've found that this shake gives me a significant increase in energy - a good thing for the last trimester of my pregnancy, to be sure!

Edit note:
Now I can testify as a nursing mother, this shake continues to give me boundless energy ... Baby Faith and I both get grouchy if I run out of hemp hearts.

Here is another version of my morning shake:

1 cup milk
1 Tsp. blackstrap molasses
2 tsp. honey
10 drops liquid stevia
1 tbsp. coconut oil
1 tbsp. peanut butter
1/2 tsp. instant coffee granules, optional
4 heaping Tbsp. hemp hearts
1 1/2 tsp. dutch cocoa
14-16 ice cubes

I'm enjoying the different flavors & the knowledge that I can put so many healthing ingredients into my diet so pleasantly and easily.

Pick-Me-Up Shake

Here's a great shake that pleasantly offers a lot of nutritional benefits:

Energizing Shake
1 cup milk
1 Tbsp. blackstrap molasses
1 tsp. honey
1/2 tsp. instant coffee granules, optional
2 heaping Tbsp. hemp hearts
14-16 ice cubes

Blend until smooth. Serve & enjoy!


The molasses could also be considered optional though it does add minerals & iron into your diet. I've found that this shake gives me a significant increase in energy - a good thing for the last trimester of my pregnancy, to be sure!

Egg Sauce Recipe

The recipe I mentioned on the Fishing Friday post has quickly become a regular favorite whenever we serve fish, thanks to John Bishop in his book "Fresh" and to my daring, budding chef - my husband. Ken is the one who dared to try this new recipe, adapting it just a bit to make it easy using our staple kitchen ingredients and our family tastes.

This recipe though served with fish is called an egg sauce - now that is appropriate coming from an egg farm don't you think?

Egg Sauce
Make your regular white sauce or gravy using butter and flour (we use whole wheat). Then when done cooking add the zest of one lemon, 2 tbsp. parsley and mashed cooked eggs (2-3 eggs/cup milk). Garnish with slices of whole cooked egg on the serving platter.

We also spiced it up with garlic salt instead of just salt and pepper.

Yum!