Cooking with Cast Iron

I absolutely love cooking with cast iron!  To me, there is nothing more enjoyable than using a well seasoned cast iron pan to cook dinner for my family.  Tonight I used my flat bottomed dutch oven to make stew on the stove.  I have shared this delicious recipe with you before on a previous post titled Prospectors Stew where you can find the recipe.

I like using cast iron for a few reasons.  A well cared for cast iron pan will last you your lifetime, and can easily be passed down to future generations.  They are very durable when treated well, and easy to care for.  I wish I had known the value of cast iron when we were first married.  I would have sought out cast iron and bought nothing else.  They are a pan to last a lifetime.  We have gone through several sets of inferior quality pans in the past twenty years.  We have tried expensive pans and nothing has held up even in the most gentle of use to cast iron.  The final straw came for me a few years back when I saw a piece of nylon coating from a skillet in our food that was cooking in the pan!  The nylon coating was breaking down from use and flaking off into our food.  I do not want chemicals in our food and was deeply concerned about the chemicals leaching into our food from a heated plastic surface.  This began my journey of slowly replacing inferior pans with cast iron.  I do have a very nice set of stainless non coated sauce pans that I will continue to use which I foresee lasting many years.  Until cast iron I had yet to find a skillet that would hold up to continued use.  Cast iron not only holds up, but gets better with age.  The more you cook with it, the more seasoning it has and it has a better non stick surface that any brand I have tried.

Cast iron is very easy to find here, I find pieces in antique malls and flea markets.  I recently picked up four pans of various sizes that I reconditioned and will soon post on how to clean and re-season cast iron.  The four pans I picked up cost me around $20.00 and they will far outlast any new pan for that amount!

As our dinner simmered away on the stove, my husband mixed up a batch of his famous Chocolate Chip Cookie dough. (secret family recipe)  I baked Chocolate Chip Cookies in one of my newly re-seasoned pans. 

Did I mention that Cast iron is also versatile?  They can be used on the stove top,  open fire, hot coals, or oven with no problems.  It all depends on your cooking style and methods.

 Yum!  Look at those delicious cookies fresh out of the oven!  They lifted right out of the pan.  Another great thing about cast iron is that they retain their heat and cook with a nice even temperature.  I cook on a fairly low heat with my pans because once they heat up they stay hot and do not require a very high temperature to maintain.  They heat so evenly, that I prefer to bake my bread in a large cast iron dutch oven.  The bread is delicious each and every time!

Before I used cast iron, I wasn't sure about how to care for my pans.  I had heard they were "high maintenance" and hard to use.  I assure you they are not.  I will soon write a post on the cleaning and care of cast iron.  I want to rid you of any concerns that might make you apprehensive about joining the growing list of cast iron lovers who are discovering what cooks have known for hundreds of years  about the durability and versatility of cast iron.

In our home, when I need to replace things, I am looking for things that I can obtain that will not wear out.  I would rather buy something second hand, save the money and never have to replace that item again.  I am not as concerned with fashion as I am concerned with quality.  My goal on our homestead is to be self sufficient and purchase as few things over time as possible.  Using cast iron fits these goals perfectly because it is a one purchase item.  With proper use and care, I will never be replacing my cast iron and never have to worry about replacing a cheap or inexpensive nylon coated pan that will go into the trash dump.  Cast iron is a win/win in my book!

Play Dough

A few days ago, my youngest dd and I decided it was a play dough kind of day.  So we gathered ingredients and made up a quick batch.  I believe, but because my page is torn cannot confirm that this recipe came from Mother Earth News several years ago.

2c. flour
1c. salt
2 Tbsp. Vegetable oil
2c. water with food coloring added
4 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix ingredients together in a saucepan over medium heat.  Stir constantly until mixture thickens.  Remove from heat and turn dough onto a plate to cool.  Store in a covered container or plastic bag.  Finished creations can be baked slowly in the oven until hardened, then painted.

 For this batch we used a combination of blue and green for this lovely turquoise color.  We use whatever food coloring for baking or cakes we happen to have on hand.  We have made a batch without color so the girls can bake them and paint them or do a hand print cookie.

This batch will last us a long time if kept sealed up in the bag.  If it looks a bit dry or opaque around the edges then I place a fairly wet towel in with the play dough to re-moisten it.  It works really well and it extends the life a long time.  I have made several batches in several colors and used them for children's parties, when it was over I passed out recycled yogurt containers for them to package up the play dough and take home.  It was a big hit! Enjoy :)

What's for Dinner? Chicken Tortilla Soup

I  haven't felt so calm since back in April when our schedule first started filling up with end of school activities.  This week has been an eye opening experience as to how out of control my life feels when I spend so much time away from what  I truly enjoy, being here at home.

This week ended with a monthly gathering with friends, an evening away with other mom's.  I haven't laughed so hard for a long time and it was a fantastic night.  A definite recharge for all of us that were able to attend.  We get to catch up, chit chat, and relax together.  It is a very special group and I am very thankful that we are able to spend time together enjoying each others company.

Today though tired from a busy week of catching up here at home on chores, and an evening with friends, my first priority was to make sure dinner was simmering away.  What is for dinner?  Chicken Tortilla Soup!  My friend Amy gave me the recipe a couple of years ago.  I am so thankful, it is very quick, easy, and delicious.  If you have a veggie garden then your ingredients will be a canning jar of these ingredients.  If you do not, then it will be a can usually 14 1/2 oz. in size of each ingredient. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 lb. chicken breast  either cubed or shredded
1 can of corn, drained
1 can of either chili beans,  or kidney beans(these should be drained)
1 can of black beans drained
2 cans rotel
1 can 8oz. tomato sauce
1 diced onion
1 pkg taco seasoning

Combine all of these ingredients together in the crock pot on low in the morning, or for a few hours on  med or high in the afternoon.  Adjust your crock pot depending on how hot it gets and how long until you serve dinner.  The chicken is already cooked so you are warming and melding all the ingredients together and cooking the onion.  This is a good recipe for errand day!

We like to serve this with a dollop of sour cream on the top in our bowl.  Enjoy :)

Restrictions Lifted

Before we decided to try changing our eating habits, I was humming along quite well.  I really felt like things (home making) were going quite well and I was very happy.  I was learning and exploring new territories in my baking and cooking skills and excited about trying new things.  After watching a wonderful documentary we decided to change our cooking.  Yes, this seems quite simple.  We cut out meat, eggs, dairy, salt, sugar.  We previously only used whole grains as much as possible but really tried to eat only whole foods.  This entailed traveling extensively to another city to a health food market as our local food stores did not carry what we were seeking.  The cost was outrageous to purchase the products and after spending hours preparing meals I felt sad because I wasn't enjoying the flavor. Some recipes were quite good, but many just felt like they were missing something.  Do not get me wrong.  I have never felt in my life like we have eaten healthier than we did, but our whole family was not enjoying what I was spending long hours preparing.  After much debate I have decided to return to our traditional way of cooking, incorporating a few wonderful lessons learned.  It is possible to cook with much less butter and fat.  There are wonderful sweeteners that are healthy and sweet is appreciated when used sparingly.  Vegetables are delicious and there are many ways to prepare them without using butter in every dish.  All is not lost, in fact much has been gained.  I have learned some new skills, and learned what works for our family and what does  not.  Mostly, I am rejoicing in being able to resume exploring and learning new skills in the kitchen.  I feel like my restrictions have been lifted.  It has been such a set back that I even asked a co-moderator to step in for me, and she graciously accepted writing a segment to appear on the forum later that has to  do with baking.  It was a skill I had eagerly looked forward to writing about and learning more about before writing.  Now I look forward to learning from her writing as I start spreading my wings again and finding my way around the kitchen.

At the moment in all honestly I just feel sad.  Seriously?  Yes!  I absolutely love preparing delicious meals for my family and when you spend most of your day preparing food for your family that nobody enjoys that feels horrible.  They were very respectful and grateful to have these meals, but I could tell they were being polite and myself included did not enjoy them.  Today I plan on spending time menu planning, constructing a shopping list, and planning what I will make for dinner.  As I type even that last sentence I feel uplifted in my soul!  Food is such an important part of our lives and our home.  It's part of our culture and our memories, our time when spent gathering involves food and drink, our gardens are centered on providing delicious healthy foods for our home.  It is important and should be enjoyed.  So the restrictions are lifted, and I am looking forward to cooking again.  They key here is looking forward, that is something I have not felt like doing for a while in the kitchen.  I can feel the joy for cooking returning and it feels good.  Wishing everyone, no matter what your eating style joy in the kitchen :)

And for Dinner? Veg Pizza!

Veg Pizza for Dinner!

Several days ago when I wrote It Happens in Three's, I mentioned that our meat defrosting was a different story.  The rest of that story is this...

Two weeks ago we implemented a decision to make a permanent dietary change in our household.  We have several reasons, but the main reason was our health both in the now, and our health in the future.  We previously ate a typical American diet, I cooked most of our meals at home, but these meals were rich in carbohydrates and loaded with cheese and fats.  A staple ingredient in a lot of my cooking was butter.  I was cutting down on the butter usage, but had learned a long time ago it was better to use butter than a synthetic butter in baking.  I made fresh bread almost daily, and though we enjoyed vegetables and fruits, I do not feel like we ate as much of them as we should.  We also enjoyed the occasional meal out about once a week sometimes less, and delicious fresh baked treats.  We used a lot of flour, sugar, butter, and dairy.  I really felt that we needed to eat healthier.  Yes most of our foods were made from scratch and made at home, but I felt like it could be a lot more healthy.  My family balked at the thought of it!  We like rich, delicious food!!!

I started learning about baking with whole wheat flour, and substituting things like applesauce for butter or sugar in the recipes.  It wasn't well received the lack of sugar or butter part.  However, watching a documentary one day about eating a plant based diet really resonated with me.  I discussed it with my husband who watched the documentary with me again, and he agreed that it was a good idea for the health of our family.  We decided though it would be difficult, we would probably have a mutiny from the children, we would change our diet and adhere as closely as we could to a plant based diet, this involved eliminating dairy and meats..... yikes!  We had just packed our meat order into our deep freeze about two weeks previous to this lol.  We decided that we would eat meat on occasion, just not in our every day meals.  We donated all the food in our pantry that did not follow our new dietary plan so we wouldn't be tempted as this is a hard switch, and replaced it with only whole grains and healthy foods.  We were already eating whole grain bread and using whole grain pasta, but now we were watching the amount of salt and sugar that was in our pasta and any other product.  That was a little over two weeks ago and we are still going strong.  When the meat defrosted a bit my husband joked that it was a good thing we just went vegan!  A part truth but still a nice comic relief in the situation.  We do eat basically a vegan diet which is a plant based diet during the times we aren't eating meat.  We have eliminated as much salt and sugar from our diet as possible as well.  Previously I made meat based meals several times a week but we also had several non meat meals as well.  When I did cook with meat I used it sparingly.  It has been quite a transition but we are making it and most importantly we are seeing a steady improvement in how we feel.  I have much more energy for one and that is worth a lot!  I am slowly but surely feeling better and not so sluggish.  A very welcome change.  Yes, we are both loosing some weight but the real benefit is our health.  If I changed my diet for the loosing weight benefit I think I would be disappointed.  I would most likely have stopped eating a "vegan" diet and went back to our old diet style.  However, it is the way my body has improved and the feeling of health that we both have that has kept us going full steam ahead.  This positive feeling along with slow and steady moderate weight loss due to a healthier diet has been a bonus.  I am so thankful that we changed our diet!

I am not going to go into the fine details of why we transitioned, why we decided to give up meat and dairy in our day to day meals, and all the benefits of our diet change, but if you would like to know more or watch the documentary that helped us decide to change, all the science and information about our dietary change, I highly recommend the documentary I watched called Fork over Knife.  It is available on Netflix for those that have this program.  There is also a book and cookbook by the same name.  So now you know the story about the meat in the freezer :)

Weekend Celebration

This past weekend my Mom was able to come down and visit to celebrate my Birthday.  It was a belated birthday visit as we had a major snow storm in the state the previous weekend and neither of us felt it was a good idea to venture down.  What a wonderful weekend we had.  She was able to spend a couple of days with  us and we had a great time.  My mom, my daughters, and I all visited and laughed and quilted and crafted all weekend.  We had a lot of fun!

When DH arrived home he brought strawberries for me so I could make this delicious dessert that I wanted to make for my birthday instead of a cake.  The recipe can be found here.It was really good!!!

Mom brought a couple of lovely gifts for my birthday, and one of them was this adorable kitchen towel set.

She said when she saw it, it reminded her of me, and my efforts both here on my blog, and what all of us at the Down to Earth forum are working toward.  What a very thoughtful and practical gift!  I am very blessed to have such  thoughtful friends and family, especially my loving parents!  Happy Monday :)

Tortillas

A very special friend of mine taught me how to make authentic mexican flour tortillas.  I hadn't made them for a really long time and decided this past week to make a batch for my dd's.  They were so delicious and just as I remembered them.  They used them to make breakfast burritos and I used them to dip in my soup!

So delicious!!!

Here is the recipe:  Tortillas De Harina (Flour tortillas)

6 Tbsp. Shortening
4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup warm water or more as needed

Work shortening into flour, salt, and baking powder with fingers.
Work in the warm water and add more a spoonful at a time as needed until dough comes away from bowl.
Seperate the dough into balls.  Then roll out on floured surface with floured rolling pin.
Heat heavy iron skillet or griddle very hot.
Keep iron greased, cook on both sides.
Enjoy :)

Muesli

 I am so happy to make the foods we previously purchased!   My memory is not always the greatest so I apologize for not remembering the source, but I heard from someone or somewhere that all the foods in the supermarket originally came from a grandmothers kitchen until they started manufacturing it prepackaged.  For some reason this immediately stopped my apprehension about my goal of making everything we had previously bought in the supermarket and making it at home.  It  made such perfect sense that at one time it was made from a recipe and there wasn't really any mystery to it.  That was the key and I  haven't looked back since.  Don't be afraid to roll up your sleeves and give something a try, the only thing you have to loose is the time it took you to decide to do it.   :)

Muesli is something that I have been wanting to make at home for a long time.  I am really excited at how well this turned out. Muesli is a pre packaged food I previously used to purchase.  I searched a few books and websites for a recipe and then checked with the manufacturer of the muesli I previously purchased for their ingredient list and concluded it is pretty much how you want to make your muesli.  The ratio of ingredients and what you use is up to you.  The recipe I created is the dry portion.  I use it to top my yogurt and add a little honey and either fresh fruit or dried cranberries, raisins, dates or figs as well, whatever I have on hand. 

 Muesli
6 cups Oats
1/2 cup flax seed
1/2 cup almond slivers
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Lightly toast if desired ....

Remove from hot pan, I pour mine into a casserole dish and let it cool before storing in a large container to avoid condensation in the jar.

Enjoy :)

Yogurt

I have really been striving to make as many of the foods we eat at home as possible instead of purchasing pre-made foods.  One of the foods that was a goal to make at home is yogurt.  I have read tutorials, read the how to's and still felt apprehensive.  I'm not new to cooking, not new to trying things, so why on earth the hesitation?  When we gathered with family over the holiday's a cousin was telling us how he made yogurt and how simple the process was.  I decided to give it a try when I returned home and start the new year with another purchased food off the grocery list.  It worked beautifully and is now on the do it at home list!  Here it is very simple and easy :)

Pour one gallon of milk into a large pot and stirring constantly, slowly bring just to a boil.  Turn off heat and allow to cool to a warm room temperature. (I used Vit D whole milk.  Do not allow milk to scald, the longer it takes to bring to temperature the more water evaporates from the milk.  The less runny your yogurt will be. )

Add one tablespoon of any plain live active culture yogurt that is room temperature.  Stir into milk.  (I added in vanilla for flavor at this point as well.)

As soon as the yogurt is stirred into the milk, pour into containers.  (For convenience I poured the yogurt into recycled containers to set up.  Instead of scooping the set up yogurt into containers later.  Later I plan on using wide mouth glass jars that can easily be sterilized.) 

If you keep your house fairly warm you can let the containers sit on the counter overnight covered.   Our house is cool so I turned the oven setting to warm 100F and let them sit covered and undisturbed in the warm oven for 12 hrs. 100F is the ideal temperature for the yogurt to cultivate. 

This is what it looks like 12 hours later! The yogurt is finished and I placed them in the refrigerator.

Delicious!!!  I added a small amount of honey to my yogurt when it is in individual dishes.  Purchased yogurt has a date of a month and a half stamped on it from the date I purchase it.  I am going to use this time frame as an approximate expiration date for my yogurt watching it closely.  I honestly don't think we will have any left that long :)   Happy yogurt making!!!

Using Real Butter

I cannot help but share my enthusiasm about the changes taking place particularly in my kitchen.  It seems that once you start your path to making the changes you would like to see in your home things start falling in place one by one.  Change doesn't always happen quickly, if you are making progression toward your goals that is change in a positive direction.

In my kitchen once we find a product we like we use it and many things we have used since we have been together.  When we run out they go on the grocery list and are replaced or stocked before they are used up.  On my quest to  reduce and hopefully eliminate  as many packaged products in my cooking as possible I am starting to look closely at what we are consuming and how I can replace those products with a better alternative.  In this case I have been taking a look at the butter spread we consume by the container full.  I have known and blindly closed my eyes to the ingredients because I wasn't sure of the solution.  Today we ran out and I decided that we would use butter sticks.  Real honest butter.  I tossed out the container but not before reading the ingredients.  I had to read a while to find milk....when discussing my decision my husband did not have a problem with it.  He called it whipped chemicals.  He did however tell me that I needed to get a container for the butter to sit on the counter to be spreadable.  His family used butter like this when he was growing up.  The only butter I have ever seen in these containers looked like a gross gooey mess that kids had been playing in so I wasn't too sure I wanted it on my counter.  Yuck!

I wanted to purchase a french butter keeper for the butter, however I am really looking at each item we need or want and really analyzing if we actually need it, or do we just want it.  I realized to my delight I had just what I needed on display in my hoosier and will not be purchasing anything for this change!  I excitedly took it out and washed it.  The girls made cinnamon toast and the butter worked perfectly and the most relief for me was no complaints about the butter switch.  I don't want my family to be miserable over this slow process of change.

Oh how exciting to use a piece of the pottery I have on hand  that I love so dearly!  The butter now sits on the counter and I am assured yet again, and happy that I have chosen to follow this path.  It is so rewarding when positive changes all come together seamlessly :)

Basic White Bread

Happy 12-12-12!!!  For the last time you will ever be able to use the same number for the month, day, and year it has been a good day and for that matter a wonderful year.

I have had consistent results with the bread I have been making so I am going to share the recipe with you.

It works well for sandwiches and toast which are both requirements in this house :)  As you can see I bake the bread in either a glass loaf pan or a stoneware pan.  I have only made this in my stand mixer as kneading is very difficult on my hands.

Basic  White Bread

2 pkg. active dry yeast
1c. warm water
1 c. milk
3 Tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 tsp. salt
3 Tbsp. butter
7-8 c. all purpose flour
Egg Glaze (optional) 1 egg white beaten with 1 Tbsp water

Sprinkle yeast into warm water.  Let stand until dissolved.  Heat milk. Pour into a large mixing bowl containing sugar, salt and butter.  Cool to lukewarm.  Stir in dissolved yeast.  Add 3-4 c. flour into bowl and mix until flour is worked into mixture, add the remaining flour until dough is smooth and no longer sticky about  4-5 min.  Place in a greased bowl covered with a towel in a warm place for 1 1/2 hrs. until doubled in size.  Punch dough down and knead lightly with hands to work out air bubbles.  Divide dough in half and place in greased bread pans.  Allow to rise covered again for 45 min .  Place in a pre heated oven at 375 degrees F.  for 30-35 min. or until brown and loaves sound hollow when thumped.
*if using  egg glaze glaze loaves before baking
*I rub butter on my loaves when I remove them from the oven and do not use glaze when baking.  For all grease in the recipe I instead use butter.

I hope these turn out as good for you as they do for our family.  They are delicious :)

Bread at Last!

For a really long time now one of my goals has been to replace our store bought sandwich bread with home made.  I have tried different delicious breads but for sandwiches they tear or  do not stay together.  I was looking for a certain consistency and texture in the bread.  Store bought bread is very soft and dense without tearing.  I think I have found a great first alternative.

 

It is so very delicious no matter how you eat it!!!  I am excited to keep experimenting with breads and learn more as I go. For now I am so thankful to have a sandwich bread replacement and cross one more pre made purchase off of my market list :)

As promised I am also including the link for the recipe for Chocolate Chip Scones for Donna ;) I found the recipe on an online recipe site and love them!

I am also including the link to enjoy the BBC series Victorian Farm and Edwardian Farm.  I could watch it each and every day.  Ruth is wonderful to learn from in the house and kitchen,  she isn't afraid to roll up her sleeves and give things a try.  The "boys" as Ruth calls them are so honest in their endeavors in the outdoors that you learn right along with them whether they succeed or not you learn.  It is a wonderful series and I hope you have time to enjoy as well.  Given the opportunity I would not hesitate to participate in a living history series.  I think it is so fascinating and what a rare and wonderful opportunity to fully immerse yourself in a period of history.  http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/victorian-farm/  I have typed out the link in case for some reason in the future the link is broken you can cut and paste the address.

People's Puppy Chow

Yesterday I made these delicious treats for a get together.  As I try and cook and convert my recipes to all things I can make at home I was seriously wondering how on earth I would duplicate corn chex cereal for things like this!  If I am at least limiting pre made items for now I will be happy.  Balance I keep telling myself..... this is called puppy chow.

 People's Puppy Chow
1 14 oz. box of corn chex cereal
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
1 stick butter
2c. powdered sugar

Melt butter, then chocolate chips and peanut butter all together in a large pan.  When completely melted add the box of corn chex.  Stir to coat as much as possible with the chocolate mixture.  Put one cup of powdered sugar in a very large bowl, pour in chocolate covered mixture, and add the remaining cup of powdered sugar.  Put tight fitting lid on bow and shake to sift sugar over all of the coated cereal.  It may be necessary to add more sugar to coat cereal.

I hadn't made scones for a while and decided they were a perfect Friday morning breakfast for the girls and I.  Yum!

Today we will be taking down Thanksgiving decorations and trimming the tree for Christmas and decking the halls!  My dd2 has been excitedly anticipating this all week.  Have a wonderful weekend :)

Gentle Day

Today was a nice slow day.  I rested and washed up some dishes and tidied up the house a bit.  I like days like this.  It is soothing and just feels gentle and calm.  I spent some time working on the scarf I am knitting for myself.  Each day I think it is cold outside, and the  next day is even colder!  There are a few warm days sprinkled in but it is persistently cold and to deny winter is on it's way is only being foolish.  I decided I needed to put aside a few projects for others and work on my scarf so I am also warm :)  I look forward to using it when it is finished.

 When it was dinner time I sauteed some onions and minced garlic and made a meat free sauce for spaghetti.  I have been trying to cook several meat free meals each week.  Slowly I am adding recipes to do this.  In time I will have a good variety and would like to eat less meats.  Meats are becoming even more expensive and I would like to eat from our garden next year as much as possible and reduce the amount I am going to the supermarket.  We live in a rural area and it costs not only in gas, but wear and tear on our vehicles to drive back and forth all the time.  In past months I have greatly reduced the amount that I go to town and have enjoyed this.  I like being home and enjoy doing things here.  I do enjoy gathering with my friends for quilting and an occasional breakfast, but I feel tired and disconnected from what I would like to be doing at home when I go too much. In short, I am a home body :)

 I am really looking forward to a productive garden so I am able to can my own sauce instead of using store bought.  I remember my mom using sauce that she canned from the garden when I was little.  I hope I am not being too optimistic.   My dh asked if I was aware how many tomatoes sauce used?  Hmmm, this is a good question to think about.  He wants to make sure if I am planning on making our own sauce, enough for all of next year, that I plant plan for enough tomatoes.  I need to do some research I believe! :)  Either way, it is goals like this that make me excited to have a productive garden.   :)

Going Backward in the Right Direction

Today I spent the day quietly knitting while watching Edwardian Farm and finished dd2's winter scarf.

Each time I made a yarn change the color pattern changed as well.  I didn't catch this criss cross pattern until I saw it in the photo.  It felt really good to get this put in her basket of mittens and hats so the first time it is cold she can wear it and be warm.  She loves it!

I started  chicken boiling this afternoon with seasonings to make chicken noodle soup for dinner.  When the knitting was finished I started to make dinner and to my horror I realized that I didn't have frozen noodles.  I took a breath and thought to myself "ok, you are ready for this do it!"  I had previously purchased a pasta cutter and have wanted to start making my own noodles but the frozen ones are not only convenient but I know they taste good!  Horrible excuse I know and what is the deal with this thinking anyway?  I always give things a try and really enjoy cooking.  I guess I put up a wall or something.  I pulled out four or five cookbooks and to my complete shock could not find a recipe for noodles!  Every recipe I read called for either dried or frozen noodles!!!  Now I knew without a doubt that this confirmed what I know to be true.  It was a sign it was high time for me to take another step back from the commercial preparation of our food and roll my sleeves up and tackle this head on.  I got online thankful for the vast amount of information available, located a recipe and went and made it.  It was without a doubt a step in the right direction.  Everyone liked them and DH and I thought they were better than the store bought ones!  I told DH what led to the noodle making and he went to the freezer and located the bag of frozen noodles lol.  We will use it when we need it but I guarantee that from now on we are enjoying our step back and will make them from scratch every time :)  For me, there truly is no greater satisfaction that making things yourself whenever possible.  I love that one step at a time we are backing away from processed foods and other items in our home.  There is a great satisfaction in making things that my family needs and providing for them in this way.  I encourage anyone that has the desire to go ahead and give making things a try instead of purchasing them from the market :)  I am sure you will be quite pleased with the results of your labor.

Trick-or-Treat!

For my trick I'm going to show you just a little peek of what I am working on!  I hope to finish this up soon and will reveal the whole thing soon!

For my treat... these delicious brownies baked in muffin cups and topped with candy melts poured into skeleton forms.  They are for the school Halloween party tomorrow. 

I really like Halloween and in our house we are really looking forward to all the festivities!  It's going to be spooktacular :)

Hummus

Hummus is one of my favorite's.  I made up a batch yesterday afternoon and DD2 declared that she loves hummus.  Hmmm I wonder where she gets that from? :)

This is the recipe that I have for Hummus. Enjoy :)

Yield 1 1/2 c.

1 1/4 garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. fresh garlic
2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp. tahini paste
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. freshly cracked black pepper
dash cayenne pepper
dash ground cumin, toasted
1 tsp. extra virgin olive oil to drizzle on top of finished dish before serving

1.   Place all of the ingredients into a food processor and puree mixture until smooth.
2.  Taste mixture and add more seasonings if desired.
3.  Served chilled with a drizzle of olive oil on top accompanied with breads and crackers.

Fall Cheesecake Bites

Today was bake sale day at the children's school.  The children love little cheesecake's.  Our nephew and I were sampling cheesecakes a few days back and he told me that he really liked the cheesecake with no "stuff" on it (New York Style).  So this week instead of topping them with cherry's I decided to top them with fall sprinkles.  They were a huge success and I'm so glad the children enjoyed them :)

I use a boxed cheesecake from the supermarket due to the amount of time I had before the sale.  I mix the crust and spoon about a serving spoon's amount into cupcake wrappers.

 I then use a 1/4 measuring cup and press down the graham cracker crust mixture.

After adding the cheesecake mixture I sprinkled fall sprinkles over the top and your done!  These would be great to take with you anywhere and if I had more time would have made traditional New York Style cheesecake and baked individual cups.  Yum :)

Prospectors Stew

Brrr the temperature has really dropped here early in the year.  Tonight it is supposed to be a chilly 34!  I usually take advantage of October as being a fairly middle of the road month and am able to leave both the heat and air off.  Sometimes it's a bit chilly and sometimes a bit warm but rarely ever flat out cold.  Last night DH convinced me to go ahead and set the thermostat to fifty five degrees.  I reluctantly agreed because this is after all my heat and air free month lol but go ahead and set it for sixty so they would be a bit warmer than expected when they woke up.  My treat :)  However...when I woke up it was fifty nine. Even I thought it was fairly cool!  Hmmmm, something didn't add up. DH spent a bit of time trouble shooting the heater as he works with things like this at his work all the time, in the end he believes it needs a  part we cannot obtain so tomorrow a call to the repair man.  Thankfully we are prepared and have two back up heat sources and everyone has several comforters and blankets.   With the cool in the house today I could only think of all things warm.

 I started my morning off making nice warm chocolate chip scones.  Then started a delicious pot of stew simmering all afternoon for dinner.  The house smelled wonderful.

While that was simmering my friend visiting for the morning asked for a quick review on knitting dishcloths before she set off for home.  When she left for home I repaired my DD1's sweater.  The things on the sleeve are bobby pins for your hair.  That is how she held it together to show me where it came undone. Very creative!!! This has hung in the closet to be repaired far too long.  I was so happy to finish it off and hang it up for her.
I made a quick dash to another friends who is a seamstress where she had two garbage bags full of fabric scraps for me to take!  She was cleaning out her sewing shop and posted on FB for anybody who wanted them to come pick them up.  My friend that was visiting told me about her post and walla!  I have two bags to go through and get what I would like from and pass on the rest to other sewing friends.  How amazing is that???  I gifted her with a cutting ruler holder in thanks.  I hope she can use it.  It's a wooden holder for cutting rulers to use with rotary cutters.  I now hang mine on the wall to take up less space.  She said she could use it so I was so happy to pass this on in return.  I am so appreciative for the scrap fabrics :)
 I dashed  back home and in between all of this we of course drank hot chocolate and I am at the moment learning to knit a pattern called entrelac knitting.  Oh wow!  I am looking forward to accomplishing this style of pattern because I think it will make a beautiful scarf.  I am not an advanced knitter. I am self taught so I could make dishcloths but I do pick things up fairly quickly so with practice at some point in time I might finish a scarf for DD2 lol  If not it has been fun and it's good to learn something new.

Recipe for Prospectors Stew:

1 lb. Kielbasa cut into bite size pieces
2 cans green beans 14 1/2 oz
2 cans cream of mushroom soup 14 1/2 oz
3-4 potatoes peeled and  diced
1 onion quartered
1-2 cloves of garlic minced
shredded cheddar cheese if desired.

Place all ingredients except cheese in pot.  Cook until potatoes and onion are soft.  OR place in the crock pot for 6-8 hrs. on low.

Hearty, delicious, and warm enjoy :)

Friendship Quiche

We have been very blessed this summer to be given delicious garden produce from friends and neighbors!  We did not plant a garden this year in anticipation of relocating at some point, and not sure when that may be we didn't want to leave a garden in full production mode.  That being said, I have missed fresh produce from the garden.  I was surprised and delighted when several kind hearted friends and neighbors shared their bounty with us.  Oh what a treat!!!  So in honor of them I created Friendship Quiche.  It is my normal Quiche recipe but it has included the produce of others given in friendship and believe me when I say it taste's better than any other quiche because of the heaps of kindness included inside :)

Pictured are ingredients including eggs, shredded chicken, sliced tomatoes, in the bowl spinach and minced onion.  You can see a peek in the top right corner of some summer squash!

This is the squash and tomatoes before the spinach and onions were added. 

The Friendship Quiche is out of the oven! The aroma was amazing and mouth watering!!!!!!

The Friendship Quiche was the most wonderful I have ever had.  It was only possible through the kindness and generosity of our friends and neighbors.  I can't wait to share our garden bounty with friends and neighbors next year!

Wishing the kindness of friends and neighbors to you all.  If for some reason you live in a place where sharing and this sort of kindness is so far unknown all it takes sometimes is for one person to set the standard.  If this is the case, I would like to share my favorite quote for inspiration..."Be the change that you wish to see in the world." Mahatma Gandhi~  How exciting to be a trendsetter for good!  Have a beautiful day :)