Baking Night

Each Tuesday evening, the boys are going to Cub Scouts. The girls and I are going to stay home and bake. This past week, we made cinnamon rolls and wheat bread. Next week, we plan on making pumpkin bread. We still have one more loaf of wheat bread in the freezer, so I'm hoping to only bake wheat bread every other week. We'll see how it goes. I was really happy with how the wheat bread turned out. I learned how to measure flour properly for bread here. I used this recipe and was very happy with it. I also used King Arthur Organic Whole Wheat flour, and was very impressed with it! My goal is to use less and less white flour each time I make this bread.
Making bread is not hard. You just need to make sure you have the time carved out to do it. You mix it up, let the yeast proof, mix up some more, let it rise, punch it down and form into loaves or rolls, let it rise again, and finally you get to bake. It's not hard, it just takes TIME! One thing you do have to remember is homemade bread will mold more quickly. So, we always store ours in the fridge and freezer. I did use the bread machine to make the dough for the cinnamon rolls. But, the wheat bread had to be kneaded by hand.

The mess is worth it.

Recipes from Mom

One of my new favorite blogs to visit (daily) is Today's Housewife. This weekend they have invited readers to share their favorite recipes from Mom or another special relative. This is difficult for me, because it is hard to just pick one recipe. My mom was an amazing cook. She could cook or bake anything! When we'd go to church potlucks or family gatherings everyone would ask, "What did Aunt Norie bring?" They asked this question because they KNEW whatever she brought was going to be incredible!

When I got my first apartment in college, we sat down together and I copied down numerous recipes. I would cook things and then call home and tell Mom it just wasn't as good as hers. She would ask me how I prepared it, and I would explain to her how I followed the recipe exactly. Then she would reply, "Well, I usually add a little of this or a little of that." So, you see, my mom was a great cook, but I think what made her a great cook was her ability to take a recipe and make it her own. This made her a difficult cook to emulate.

Since my Mom has passed away, I really enjoy looking through her recipes and cookbooks. I especially love the ones in her own handwriting. Since this task of choosing just one recipe is difficult I chose to share the last bread recipe she shared with me (and we made this one together so I could learn all her tricks). This recipe is perfect for fall too!

Pumpkin Yeast Bread
3/4 cup warm milk
2 Tbsp. yeast
3/4 cup pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup oil
1-1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
5 to 5-1/2 cups of flour
Combine milk and yeast and set aside. Beat pumpkin, eggs, sugar, salt, and cinnamon, and oil. Mix yeast in with pumpkin mixture. Add flour in small amounts. Keep the dough soft. Let it rise until double. Punch down, and roll out into a jelly roll, put in 2 bread pans and let it rise again.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes.
You can also roll these out and form crescent rolls if desired. Baking time would cut down to around 12-15 minutes.

Another Meatless Meal

This is the meatless recipe we're going to try this week (minus the smoked sausage).

I was planning on Monday being our meatless meal each week. But, we had some leftovers in the fridge that needed to be consumed asap, so we're going to go meatless Tuesday!

Last week, Caitlyn from www.meatlessmonday.com left a comment on my Meatless Monday blog entry. First of all, I didn't even know there was some sort of national campaign to encourage all of us Americans to go meatless on Monday, I just happen to really like alliterations:-) Anyway, go check out the site I mentioned above. It's full of wonderful information and recipes!

Crockpot Roasted Chicken

Over at Today's Housewife their weekend theme is crockpot meals. So, I'm going to share one of our family's favorites.

Crockpot Roasted Chicken
1 chicken, whatever seasonings you prefer, and butter or olive oil.
Wash the chicken and pat try. Rub olive oil or butter all over the chicken. Season inside the cavity and outside. We are pretty basic around here. I just use salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. Lemon Pepper is good too. Make 2-3 balls of aluminum foil to place in the bottom of the crockpot to sit the chicken on, so it doesn't sit in all the juice/fat that will drip down while it cooks. I add about 1/2 cup of water, then place the bird on top of the aluminum balls.
Cook on low 6-8 hours, or high 4-6 hours.

Once the chicken is cooked there are so many things you can do with it. Eat roasted chicken with your favorite sides, or debone and freeze to add to soup, dumplings, or casseroles.

Apples Gallore!

Heath and I have been married almost 9 years. This is the 2nd time since we've been married that I've made apple dumplings. His mom gave me the recipe, and this recipe brings back lots of good memories for him. But, as you can see by the above pictures, why I do not make these very often. Coring apples is such a pain in the...arm!!!! But, K and I got the job done.

The Finished Product


Heath's Mom's Apple Dumpling Recipe:
Peel and core apples
Make Pie Crust, and roll out sections to wrap around each apple.
Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 3/4 cup water
1 Tbsp. nutmeg
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Pour over and bake 45 minutes @ 350 degrees

Washing Fruits and Vegetables:
This is something I've been doing for a while now. I used to just give everything a quick rinse under the sink, but it is so much healthier for everyone, if you will give them a good soak in a fruit and vegetable wash to remove any pesticides, wax, dirt, etc...I use Nature's Sunshine Concentrate. I love this because it's so much MORE than a fruit and vegetable wash!

Meatless Monday

This is something I've been wanting to do for several months, but finally got my planning and shopping organized to pull it off. Each Monday, we're going to go meatless for our evening meal. No, we're not going vegan. Although, I do believe there are numerous health benefits to having a diet that contains more plant-based foods versus animal-based foods. Another reason, I've been wanting to do this is to see if I see any savings in our weekly grocery bill.

Tonight we had bean and cheese burritos. I made the refried beans from scratch (it really sounds more difficult that it actually is), mexican rice, and a garden salad.

Pennsylvanians

On Wednesday, September 3rd, this family of Missourians officially became Pennsylvanians. I've set up a family blog to just post pics and stories about our family to better help family and friends out in the Midwest keep up with us. So, I'm thinking this blog may turn more into a homeschooling/housekeeping/cooking/ministry type blog. I think I have problems with focusing on just one topic...LOL!!!!