Favorite Breakfast Recipes, Part 2

Hi Again!

I didn't get back to my blog as soon as I wanted but it is better than it has been!

Here are some more of our favorite everyday breakfast fares. These are eggy breakfasts. I wanted to put a picture of the breakfast pie but alas, that didn't work out. I put it in the oven, went upstairs and 2 1/2 hours later (this was in the evening) came down and heard the oven beeping. Needless to say it was toast and definitely not picture worthy. Eric said it looked like fudge brownies!

Breakfast Pie
This is a delicious unique "pie" that we first ate at the Eastholm Bed & Breakfast in Cascade, Co, just west of Colorado Springs, at the base of Pike's Peak. I asked for the recipe because I liked it so much and the owner gave it to me! It is really easy to make. We eat it about once a month or so and I've also made it for brunch-time baby showers. When I make it at home, I usually half the recipe, unless we have company or if I make it on the weekends now. Half the recipe is enough for the kids and I, but not enough if Eric is with us, especially if we want leftovers. Wesley can eat as much or more than I do at times! I have also made this with almond meal and gluten-free flour in place of the flour in the Bisquick. I like to serve this with bacon.

Ingredients
1 stick of butter
2 lbs small curd cottage cheese (4 cups)
6 eggs
6T sugar (I use only half that)
1 cup Bisquick (my homemade version - 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 TBS butter)

Melt butter & pour over cottage cheese in a large bowl. Add eggs, sugar and Bisquick, mixing well after each addition. Pour entire mixture into a 3 qt rectangular pyrex dish (lightly greased). Sprinkle with cinnamon & sugar, if desired. Bake at 350 F fro 45 minutes. Cut into squares & serve with fresh berries or fruit topped with plain or vanilla yogurt.

Family Omelet with Spinach and Cheddar
This is one I had forgotten about but made again recently. It is so easy that I'm going to put it back into the breakfast rotation. The original directions use parchment lining a sheet pan to roll up the omelet, but I find that takes too many steps so I changed it some.

Ingredients
Olive Oil for pan
1 cup of milk
1/3 cup all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour (almond meal or other substitutes are fine)
8 large eggs
1 TBS Dijon mustard
salt & pepper to taste
8 oz frozen spinach, thawed & drained (about 1 cup)
1-1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish with olive oil. In a bowl whisk together milk and flour. Add eggs, Dijon, 1 tsp salt 1/4 tsp pepper. Pour into pan. Sprinkle spinach on top. Bake until edges are set 15-18 minutes. Sprinkle with cheddar and bake for 6-9 minutes. Slice and serve. This is also good with bacon and/or toast or muffins.

Omelets
You probably don't need a recipe for this. But maybe someone out there is like me. I've tried all kinds of recipes for making omelets and none of them really turned out very pretty and were too complicated for this no-fuss-please cook. However, lately I found a simple recipe in a book called The Everlasting Meal. And also, my father in law makes good omelets. I've learned some from him too!

Ingredients
Butter
eggs
a bit of cream
cheese of your choice, shredded or thinly sliced
other ingredients as desired (red onion, peppers, chives, basil, mint, bacon, etc)
salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter in your pan. In a small bowl or measuring cup, beat desired amount of eggs with a bit of cream. Pour into your pan and scramble around a bit and then let it spread out. Then pull the sides away so that runny egg can run to the edges. Once all the runny part has set, add your other ingredients as desired. I sometimes cook the red onion before I cook the omelets. (I'm really in love with red onions at the moment!) Then lower the temp a bit (or take off the heat if you have an awful electric stove like mine), cover the pan with a lid for a bit to ensure the top of your omelet gets cooked through without burning the bottom (I still over cook the bottom a lot!). Then fold in half and slip onto a plate. Yummy!

NOTE: For my children, I only make 1-egg omelets. These are easier and super quick! I simply crack an egg in the pan, stir it around a bit with some cream (or I just leave it out) and let the runny parts fill in. I sprinkle with cheese and maybe some chives or garlic and fold it in half and serve.

Favorite Breakfast Recipes, Part 1

I've haven't written much in the last year or so, but I hope to write more. I like to write and share at least a few people read here. So, I thought I'd start with something easy.

So, we are trying to eliminate as much processed food as possible. However, I am not being a Nazi about it! At first when I have an idea to do something I just jump in whole hog and then burn out, beat myself up and get frustrated, feel like a failure, etc, etc, etc. You'd think by now I would learn that this is my pattern and go little bits at a time with a big endeavor/lifestyle change! But alas, I still do it! That has been the case with trying to not eat processed food (and just about every other endeavor I've tried) and would feel bad for feeding Catherine Multigrain Cheerios which besides bananas and strawberries and milk with molasses, has to be her favorite food! After several falls down this road, I've lightened up a little and decided that I'll just go a little at a time and if we never get rid of the Cheerios, it will be ok!

Catherine enjoying her oatmeal!

After so much reading and research and scouring of the internet and books about food and sugar, toxins, pesticides, organics, etc., etc, I've come to realize that something bad can be said about almost everything we eat, even the whole unprocessed food found on the perimeters of the grocery store. Yes, there are some really bad things I don't want to touch, but definitely not all.

Take eggs for instance. For years we've heard that eggs are bad, they raise cholesterol, etc. But I've read lately that that has been proven not to be the case. And in fact we need cholesterol for our brains and hormones to function properly. Yes, some people have high cholesterol but from what I've read there are other factors coming into play from a myriad of malfunctions that cause this, one of them being our processed food-sugar laden -Western diet, not from eating a pure food like eggs.

But then, what kind of eggs? There are so many options! Just normal? Cage-free? Pastured? Unpasteurized? Vegetarian fed? Added Omega 3???? It is really ridiculous!!!! And this is just for eggs! There are this many options for most of our food! No wonder I almost despise grocery shopping and menu planning. What kind of eggs do I buy? Well, I'd love to buy the ones from pastured chickens, that have been able to run around in the grass eating bugs and worms and seeds and all things that chickens are supposed to eat in the fresh air like the chickens that used to roam around in their yard down the road from us in the village in Lebanon, beside the donkey in the field next door. :) Not cooped up tightly in an artificial environment where they can hardly move! BUT, these pastured eggs are very expensive! So, I've tested a lot of different eggs and I've hit a middle of the road priced egg that I like. I picked the ones that have the brightest yellow yolk. That means there's lots of good stuff in there. These were not from the amish farms or the local farms, but just the Whole Foods brand, not organic eggs.

Trying to buy the purest food can be STRESSFUL and EXPENSIVE, so, I'll do what I can and not fret about it.

All that to say, breakfast has been relatively easy to go unprocessed for us. Yes, we do still eat cereal occasionally, mostly on Sunday mornings when we are in more of a hurry. It is usually some sort of Cheerio type cereal of varying brands with as little sugar as possible along with Rice Chex and/or Barbara's Oat Crunch that I get at Whole Foods or Natural Grocers. But usually I try to add some sort of protein like bacon, sausage, nuts, etc.

But here is out normal routine. On Monday, Wednesday and Fridays, I try to have some sort of oatmeal dish. This normally is comprised of an oatmeal mix I make up ahead of time that has mostly organic quick oats, some cinnamon, chopped pecans, naturally sweetened cranberries and some salt. Let's be honest. I can't eat oatmeal without the salt! Oatmeal has been one of those things that I have a hard time getting down without lots of added ingredients! So, I scoop that mix into our bowls, slap a slab of salted butter in each bowl along with a bit of maple syrup and sometimes a scoop of pumpkin or butternut squash puree. Then I pour hot water over it all, mix it up and let it sit for a few minutes. While that sits, I heat up some chicken apple sausage. (I know many say that microwaves are bad and I would probably agree but I just haven't made it that far down this journey to be able to eliminate it altogether!) Then I add bananas to fare and that is our meal for all of us for at least a few days a week. All my kids love it and me too. Eric gets a variation in that I put a 1/2 cup scoop of my oatmeal mix in a snack bag that he takes to work. He heats it up in water and puts honey on it.

Another oatmeal dish I make from time to time is baked oatmeal. Here is my recipe for that. It is a combination of my sister's recipe and one from Simply in Season, a cookbook I've grown to love and use often.

Baked Oatmeal for a Crowd (or for a family with children & husband that eat a lot!)

Preheat Oven to 350F.

Dry Ingredients: Mix together in a large bowl-
4 cups rolled oats
1/4 cup brown sugar (or sucanat or raw sugar) - you can use less!
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup total of nuts, seeds & dried fruit of your choice, in any combination.

Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, mix together -
2 cups of milk (any kind you like!)
3 eggs
4 TBS coconut oil or olive oil or melted butter (1/4 cup)
1/2 cup each applesauce and pumpkin or butternut squash puree or any 1 cup combo or single.
2 tsp vanilla

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Spread into a 9x13 inch pan. Bake at 350F for about 45 minutes.

I've also seen recipes where you can take crumble up this baked oatmeal and heat it in the oven again until it is toasted and then use it like cereal. Put some in a bowl and pour milk over it and voila! We haven't tried that yet though.

Pumpkin Pecan Bites

On Pumpkin Day, Wesley and I made these delicious cookies. They were crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I think adding chocolate chips would be a good addition too even though they are great without them. 

Pumpkin Pecan Bites

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup sugar (I used 1/3 cup and will probably use even less next time)

1 egg

1/2 cooked pumpkin

1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I used 1 tsp - this makes the cookie sweeter when you take away some of the sugar)

1 cup all purpose flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 regular)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon (I used a little more)

1/4 tsp cloves

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat Oven to 375F. Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer. Add the egg, pumpkin, and vanilla. Sift the dry ingredients together (except for the nuts) and add to the mixer and stir. Mix in the nuts. Drop by heaping tablespoons onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Makes about 30 cookies.

Taken from “The Kid’s Nature Book: 365 Indoor/Outdoor Activities and Experiences” by Susan Milord. 

Taylor's Table - Chicken Stock

I've been watching the movie Julie & Julia this evening while giving my first go at hand quilting. As for the quilting, I need a lot more practice. Since what I am working on is a real quilt I plan to use on my bed and not just for practice, I took out what I had tried. It just wasn't very pretty. Now, if only I could sew a straight line on my sewing machine! Even with lines drawn! All I have to do is connect the dots, so to speak, and still, I can't manage a straight line! It does look better than the hand quilting attempt though.

Anyway, while watching the movie and after this attempt at hand quilting I was inspired to finally write an entry on making homemade chicken stock. I've been meaning to do this ever since I started "Taylor's Table." Here are some things you might be wondering... Why make homemade chicken stock? Isn't it a lot of work? Is it really worth all the trouble? I once wondered these very same things. After learning the benefits of this scrumptious staple and having worked out an easy way to make it, I rarely, if ever, buy chicken stock from a store. I'm a homemade chicken stock snob. :)

Why make chicken stock at home? Have you ever read the ingredients on store bought broth or bouillon cubes? Here are the first few ingredients in beef cubes - salt, hydrolized vegetable protein, corn syrup, sugar, beef fat, monosodium glutamate. Need I write more? On the other hand, homemade stock is VERY good for you. It has natural ingredients which feed, repair, and calm the small intestines, it heals the nerves, improves digestion, reduces allergies, relaxes and gives strength. For more information on this read Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Furthermore, making stock at home saves money and is the backbone for many recipes. Not to mention, if you cook the whole chicken in the broth, you have all that cooked chicken you can use in other dishes like chicken pot pie, chicken casseroles, chicken tacos or burritos, pizza, etc. (Stock is made only with the bones of a chicken which makes the broth more clear, whereas, broth is made with the meat as well and is not as refined and more cloudy. Stock is what professionals use to make sauces and other things that Julia Child would make that I haven't venture to try yet. Sometimes I make stock; usually I make broth.)

Isn't it a lot of work? Surprisingly, as you will see below, chicken stock/broth can be very easy to make and store!

Is it really worth all the trouble? Besides all the benefits that I wrote in the response to the first question, homemade broth tastes really good!!! Also, because it makes so much, you almost always have some available. By the time you run out, you need more cooked chicken meat anyway.

So how do you make it?

1. Purchase a good chicken. I either buy a rotisserie chicken, an organic chicken if the budget allows, a grass fed organic chicken if I really have a big budget (these are much better for you! but I've only bought one) or just an ordinary chicken from the local mega-chain store for .98 a pound. Honestly, there is not really difference in outcome where taste is concerned.

2. Clean the chicken. If you want to make a stock, roast the chicken first (I'll post a recipe for this later) and eat it, or take the cooked meat off the bones and use it in a variety of ways.

3. Put the whole chicken, or the bones of the chicken in a stock pot. Fill the pot with cold water. Then, chop up a few carrots and celery, add an onion cut in big chunks and add a bay leaf or two. To save time with this, when you use the vegetables for other dishes on other days, take what is left over after chopping (the onion skins, the ends and peelings of the carrots, etc.), toss them in a ziplock bag and store them in the freezer until you make stock. Then, pull it out and simply dump it into the water with the chicken.

4. Bring the water to a boil. When it starts to boil, use a large spoon to scoop out the foam. Then, reduce heat and simmer for at least 2 hours. Keep in mind that the longer you cook it, the more flavorful and nutritious it becomes. I have cooked it as long as perhaps 12 hours and as little as an hour.

5. Strain out the chicken, vegetables and bay leaves. If needed, you can use the broth right away; however, it might be kind of greasy.

6. To take out the greasiness, put the whole pot in the refrigerator for a day or two (I've left it in the fridge for as long as two weeks and it somehow still smelled and tasted wonderful!). The fat will coagulate on top. Simply skim it off the top.

You will probably have way more broth than you will be prepared to use right away. I have made as much as 20 cups of broth at one time. So, after a few failed attempts and broken jars, I've found an easy way to store the broth for later retrieval. Here's what you do... Pour your broth into ice cube trays. Pop them in the freezer until the broth is frozen, then store the cubes in a ziplock bag especially for freezers. 8 cubes make a cup, give or take a bit. This way, if you need two cups or eight, you can easily get what you need without having to thaw out way more than you need.

And that's it! Enjoy!

Taylor's Table - Awesome Granola

I have tried different granola recipes that have been okay but not really keepers. However, I have now found a keeper! It is super easy, too. It is from Family Feast for $75 a Week that I checked out from the library in an effort to keep grocery prices down. The book has lots of great tips and many good recipes.

We like to eat this granola with yogurt, on our cereal (Cheerios and Shredded Wheat), or in our oatmeal.

Easy Granola (This is the book's recipe, halfed).

6 cups oatmeal

1/4 cup flour

1/2 TBS cinnamon - 2 tsp.

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 cups of goodies (in the last batch I had a mix of 1 cup of sliced almonds, chopped pecans and sunflower seeds & a mix of 1 cup of dried currants, cranberries and chopped apricots).

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of oil (I used light tasting olive oil)

1. P reheat oven to 325F. Grease 2-3 large baking sheets with cooking spray.

2. Combine oats, flour cinnamon, nutmeg & goodies

3. Combine oil and honey in 2 cup glass measuring cup. Microwave on high 2 minutes or until hot. Pour over dry ingredients & mix well.

4. Spread mixture over baking sheets; bake until light to medium brown, 15-20 minutes each - bake each pan individually for best results.

5. Let granola cool completely. Break up. Store in air tight container for up to 4 weeks.

ENJOY!

Taylor's Table - Butternut Squash Soup with Chicken and Root Vegetables

I decided to finally cook one of the butternut squash I grew this year. I used some of it to make some baby food purees for Wes but I still had a lot left over. So I made something up! I had tasted a butternut squash bisque for babies that my neighbor makes as a business and thought it was delicious! I wanted to make something similar. This recipe was inspired by that baby food with a few additions! Don't be squeamish though. Give it a try first. I think you will really be pleased. The ingredients and directions may be a bit vague because I made this on the fly with what I had in the fridge.

• butter or olive oil (I think butter gives it a creamier flavor)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 parsnip, chopped (If you don't have this, you can leave it out but I think it adds a distinct and unique flavor to this soup!)
• 4 cups chicken broth? (I am not exactly sure how much broth I added!)
• 2 large new potatoes, cut up in 1 inch pieces and boiled or steamed.
• 2 cups or more butternut squash puree (I peeled the squash, cut it into pieces, cooked until soft, then mashed with a potato masher - or you can cut in half, lay cut side down in pan with a bit of water and cook at 350 until tender)
• 1 cup applesauce or cooked apples
• 1/2 - 1 cup shredded chicken
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 TBS butter
• Parmesan Cheese

Heat butter in Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add onions, carrots and parsnip and saute until tender. Add broth to the sauteed veggies. Add cooked potatoes, butternut squash, apples and chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. You may need to add more broth. Then puree with an immersion blender. Be careful not to burn yourself and wear and apron! When you are ready to serve the soup, add 2 TBS butter. Garnish with freshly shredded Parmesan cheese. Enjoy with a hunk of hardy bread and apple cider. ***This tastes even better left over!

* Thanks Randi for your inspiration!!!! :)

Taylor's Table -Pumpkins! Part 2

We've had a plethora of pumpkin dishes around here! Below, I've typed out a couple of more pumpkin filled recipes. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Makes 6-7 dozen, cut recipe in half for more manageable amount.)

* 2 cups butter, softened

* 2/3 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)

* 16 oz. can pumpkin puree or 2 cups

* 2 eggs

* 2 tsp vanilla

* 4 cups flour (2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, 2 cups whole wheat)

* 3 tsp cinnamon

* 2 tsp baking powder

* 1 tsp baking soda

* 1/2 tsp nutmeg

* 1/2 tsp allspice

* 1 tsp salt

* 2 cups chocolate chips

* 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Cream fat and sweetener. Add pumpkin, eggs, vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour and next six dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add to batter; mix well. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop rounded teaspoonfuls two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes (check at 15 minutes! The original recipe said 12-15 minutes but they needed to cook much longer in my oven).

These don't spread out much and loose their crunch easily but are very tasty! Any suggestions for keeping whole wheat cookies crunchy?

* Adapted from a recipe at kitchenstewardship.com

Creamy Southwestern Pumpkin Soup

(These flavors are not the norm for pumpkin recipes but very delicious! Give it a try!)

* 2 Tbs butter

* 1 large onion, chopped

* 1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

* 2 cloves garlic, minced

* 5 cups chicken broth

* 1 large baking potato, peeled and chopped

* 1 1/4 tsp salt

* 1/2 tsp chili powder

* 1/2 tsp chili powder

* 15 oz can pumpkin puree

* 1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro

* 2 cups milk

* sour cream (optional)

Melt butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, jalapeno pepper and garlic; saute 15 minutes. Add chicken broth and next 4 ingredients; cook, stirring often 30 minutes or until potato is tender. Remove from heat and let cool slightly (about 5-10 minutes). Use an immersion blender to puree all the ingredients of the soup. (If you don't have an immersion blender, you should get one! It saves so much time and cleanup!!!!! But if you don't heres' what to do - Process potato mixture, pumpkin and cilantro, in batches in a food processor or blender until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides. Return to Dutch oven); stir in milk and simmer 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated, if needed. Garnish with sour cream if desired.

* Makes 10 cups (enough for lots of leftovers!)

Taylor's Table - Pumpkins!!! Part 1

Note: I am changing the title of this series to Taylor's Table and will try to post once a week, but not necessarily on a certain day each week.

I love autumn! There's something about the crispness in the air and the brightness of the sky that makes me feel energetic and nostalgic. For some reason, fall makes me think of decades and centuries ago when people were harvesting roots and squash to keep for the winter in order to survive. Today I started reading Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (I read this series every few years to remind myself of the simplicity of life and how happy we can be with very little - here's a good link that talks about this). By coincidence, Laura shares in the beginning of the book some of her family's fall activities:

Now the potatoes and carrots, the beets and turnips

and cabbages were gathered and stored in the cellar,

for freezing nights had come.

Onions were made into long ropes, braided together

by their tops, and then hung in the attic beside wreaths

of red peppers strung on threads. The pumpkins and the

squashes were piled in orange and yellow and green

heaps in the attic's corners.

The barrels of salted fish were in the pantry, and

yellow cheeses were stacked on the pantry shelves.

She goes on to explain how Pa had killed a pig and deer and how they cut them up and smoked them over hickory chips in his log smoke house.

Don't worry, I am not going to teach you the intricacies of killing a pig and preparing the hams for the smoker. This is about pumpkins. I LOVE PUMPKINS! I even tried growing a pumpkin vine this year. One small pumpkin grew from it (pictured above). It is amazing how excited one can get over a small pumpkin growing in the backyard! I was so proud of it though I have no reason to be because the pumpkins were supposed to be profuse and large. I did absolutely nothing to the vine except water it occasionally. It a miracle that anything grew at all! Strangely enough, another one is now growing but I don't think it will be ripe before the frost.

So anyway, I have a few delicious pumpkin recipes that I want to share with you this week and next. I've tried many versions of these and at last have found ones I really love with a bit of my tweaking. (I can never leave a recipe alone!) Enjoy!

Pumpkin Waffles

2 cups flour (I used a mixture of buckwheat, white and whole wheat flour)

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg (or to taste - I don't like too much of this)

4 eggs

1 cup buttermilk (I used 1/2 cup yogurt and 1/2 cup milk mixed together)

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 TBS honey or molasses

1 tsp vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients and spices. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, buttermilk, pumpkin, and honey. Gently stir liquid mixture into dry mixture. Cook on waffle iron until deep golden brown (5 minutes worked well for us), and serve immediately.

* Serves 6-8 depending on appetites.

* Adapted from this recipe at Frugal Granola.

Pumpkin Bread

1 1/2 cups flour (I used 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup rapadura sugar or sucanat

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs beaten

1/4 cup water

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 cup chopped walnuts, optional

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Sift flour, salt sugar and baking soda.

2. Mix together pumpkin, eggs, oil, water, and spices. Then combine with dry ingredients, but not too thoroughly. Stir in nuts, if using.

3. Pour into well-buttered 9x5x3 in. loaf pan. Bake 50-60 minutes until skewer comes out clean. Turn out of pan & let cool on rack.

* Makes 1 loaf, can easily be doubled, or be made into muffins, just cook for less time.

* Adapted from a recipe at Simple Recipes from elise.com.

Pumpkin Scones -

Not super sweet but super Delicious!!! Scones aren't supposed to be sweet anyway! The other day I picked up a scone at a coffee shop thinking it would be the least sugar-fied item but it tasted like a donut!!!! They are supposed to be more like biscuits. Oh what we Americans do to good food!

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup rapadura or sucanat or light brown sugar

1/4 tsp ginger

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1/3 cup or more raisins, or chopped dried apples

1/4 cup toasted pecans or walnuts, optional

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/2 cup pureed pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla extract

Pumpkin Scones: Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Stir in the raisins and pecans, if using. In a separate bowl mix together the buttermilk, pumpkin puree and vanilla and then add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Mix just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix. Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 1 1/2 inches (4 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 4 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Brush the tops of the scones with the egg wash. Place the baking sheet inside another baking sheet to prevent the bottoms of the scones from over browning. Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpickinserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 8 scones.

* Adapted from this recipe at joyofbaking.com

Tuesday's Table - Homemade Apple Sauce

I started making applesauce last year when I realized how easy it could be and found some great looking apples at our local outdoor market. This stuff is GOOD and EASY! Here's how to make it.

*** Gather 10-12 (or however many will fit in your crockpot) apples of different varieties. The last version I made had a few granny smith's, a few cortlands, a couple of honey crisps, a few golden delicious, and a few galas. Peel these, if you like. You don't have to! Then, chop into one inch or smaller pieces.

***Dump the apples into your crock pot. Pour in about 1/2 cup of water or pure apple juice. Turn the dial to low and cook until apples are tender, 5-8 hours.

*** Use a potato masher to turn the apples into chunky sauce. Serve up in bowls and enjoy. This makes about two quarts.

***You'll notice this has no sugar or spice. I think you'll find you won't need it. Give it a try first before adding anything.

Tuesday's Table - Yogurt Mix-ins

When I was very young I hated yogurt. However, over the years I have grown quite fond of it - of the flavored kind, that is. While living in Lebanon pre-flavored yogurt was too expensive for us, not to mention the high sugar content along with other highly processed ingredients, so I tried to acquire a taste for plain yogurt. It worked to some extent. Sometimes I want to eat just plain yogurt, but I prefer a little flavor to tame the tartness. So this is the solution I came up with eventually.

I buy whole milk yogurt, mostly organic depending on the budget, or I make it at home. I also buy frozen fruits like strawberries or blueberries or raspberries. I let these thaw out and then toss them in the blender until they are pureed. Next, I pour the fruit purees into ice cube trays and freeze them. After freezing the individual cubes, I dump them into freezer bags to store. So when I want some fruity yogurt, I pull out a couple of cubes of fruit, thaw it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so. Then I mix in some yogurt to the thawed berries and dig in. Mmmmm....

Here are a few more simple ideas -

* Mix in crushed pineapple (I know it's canned but I figure it is better than the packaged pre-flavored yogurt - it is just pineapple in it's own juice.) with a bit of juice with the yogurt.

* Mix in a bit of maple syrup.

* Add a bit of vanilla and maybe some cinnamon or nutmeg.

So now when I eat pre-flavored yogurt, it is too sweet, I don't like the texture and it really doesn't even taste good.

Also, making plain homemade yogurt is fairly simple. Heat a quart of milk slowly to 180 degrees F. Then, let it cool to about 110 degrees F. This can take an hour or so. Next, mix in a 1/4 to 1/2 cup of yogurt. You can also add a TBS or two of powdered milk but you don't have to. If you have a yogurt maker, you simply pour the warm yogurt mixture into the jars provided, place them on the warmer, put the top on and set the timer for 8 or 10 hours. If you don't have a yogurt maker, you can simply pour the mixture in glass jars, wrap with a towel and keep in a warm place - the attic in summer is a great place, or in a cooler with a pot of boiling water. Let it sit until it looks solid.

Walah! You have tasty yogurt. You can tell that it is not an exact science. You really can't mess it up. I haven't had a bad batch yet. Sometimes the consistencies are different but I've never had just curdled milk. It always has that yogurty tartness which means it has all those millions of good bacteria our digestive tracts need.

Have fun experimenting!

Tuesday's Table

I've been wanting to write for months and months about some of the things I do around the kitchen to make our cuisine more wholesome. Finally, I'm going to do it. I thought it would be nice to try to post something on Tuesdays. Now, if you know me, you know that doing something consistently every week is a bit of a stretch, so that is why I was less vague by saying "on Tuesdays" not "every Tuesdays." This is just an intro to the way we eat and why. I'll start posting recipes next Tuesday, hopefully.

Over the last several years, I've been trying to eat more healthy realizing that what I eat directly affects my health in many ways. For I while I had developed hypoglycemia, had terrible insomnia, recurring sinus infections and still do struggle with infertility among a few other things. In an effort to try to get rid of these things, I have tried a myriad of different foods and "diets" most of which made me feel worse.

A few years ago I came across an entirely different attitude in what healthy eating means. My friend introduced me the cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallen and the corresponding website westonaprice.org. In a nutshell, this book and way of eating is based on the research of traditional food ways of groups of people with extraordinary health all over the world. What it boils down to is eating food at its most nutritious in the least processed way possible. It encourages eating whole, natural, real food - no low fat, no fat, low carb, etc - since that would mean it has been highly processed. The idea is that food is more nutrient dense and nutrients are more easily absorbed when eaten as nearly as it is found naturally than any processed food. It encourages eating whole milk (raw is most desirable), whole yogurt, natural cheeses, real eggs, whole soaked grains, real broth and lots of it, soaked and roasted nuts, lots of lactofermented foods, lots of fruits and vegetables, the whole animal - organ meats included, especially the liver, and cutting out all kinds of processed sugar and sugar substitutes.

So, I've been slowly trying to work toward this end. These are the things that I've been incorporating more and more. We drink whole milk (not ultra pasteurized), eat whole fat yogurt, aren't afraid of eggs, I make homemade broth, I sometimes soak my grains, we've been trying to cut out boxed cereal in the morning and most boxed and canned foods. We still buy boxed pasta, canned tuna, salmon, pears, pumpkin, green chilies and tomato products. Getting rid of the cereal has been the hardest so far, because it is so convenient! I'm desperately trying to find an easy solution. We've switched to Rapadura sugar, the most unprocessed sugar available, and we try to use it sparingly. We also use only raw honey and real maple syrup. (This is like gold in our house). We use only butter, olive oil and coconut oil for baking and sauteing. In doing so, I feel much better and we hardly ever get really sick now.

My goal in all this is of course to eat whole, real food and to do so as cheaply, conveniently and as easily as possible. So these posts on Tuesdays will be the result of lots of research and trial and error and experimentation. I hope you find this helpful, tasty and enjoyable.

Sin In A Bowl

Just something short to share something scrumptious I have discovered - homemade whipped cream. Oh my goodness! I made this up (it is super easy) and took a lick, and another lick, and another, and another. I turned to Eric and said, “This stuff is sin in a bowl. It’s gluttony waiting to happen!” I couldn’t help myself. I made this for the topping on the French Silk Pie that I made for Eric for Valentine’s Day. Wow! It simply melts in your mouth! Eric couldn’t even eat a whole slice it was so rich. It probably didn’t help that I told him how many grams of fat each slice has (I added it all up myself). No trans fats though. :) He didn’t have any trouble eating it the next day though. I ate a thin sliver with him, too - I had already overloaded on too much sugar.

Here is the recipe for the whipped cream. Enjoy!

• 1 pint whipping cream
  
• 1/2 tsp vanilla (or use other flavorings)
  
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  

Stir together the cream and vanilla into a 1 qt bowl or larger. Dump the sugar in and mix with a hand mixer for 4-5 minutes until it gets fairly stiff - the consistency of the fake stuff - but oh so much better! Trust me. You will never want to buy the fake stuff again after you eat this!