Range Pond State Park

After all the rainy weather we have had the last few weeks, today's amazing weather was a welcome relief and a perfect opportunity to enjoy the outdoors.  My younger son and I went to Range Pond State Park in Poland this afternoon for a hike.  We were not the only ones with the idea of going to Range Pond today however.  There were dozens of teens and other crazy Mainers soaking up the sun and playing in the water.  I kinda wished that I had thought to bring our swim suits and sand toys, but our hike was amazing just the same.  Check out the photos I took at Range to see the beautiful blue sky and puffy clouds against the water.  What an amazing Spring day!  

Baked Eggs

Recently a friend from Australia raved about eating "Baked Eggs" for brunch.  I thought it sounded yummy but had no clue what "Baked Eggs" were.  So last night  I did some research online and was intrigued by two baked egg dishes, one combines tomato sauce and chili powder and the other incorporates meatballs.   Essentially each dish has sauce on the bottom and an egg on the top which gets baked in the oven.  Bread is also served alongside the dish for sopping up the sauce.

This morning I decided to try out my own Italian Inspired Baked Egg recipe for breakfast.....

Italian Inspired Baked Eggs
1/2 cup Spaghetti Sauce
1/4-1/2 of one Italian Sausage link, cooked and crumbled
1/8-1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 Egg

Preheat oven to 375F.  Spray a small ramekin (a small oven proof bowl) with cooking spray.  Pour sauce into the bottom of the ramekin.  Add cooked sausage pieces to the sauce then layer on the mozzarella cheese. Crack one egg over the top of the cheese, being careful not to break the yolk.  Cook until the egg has set about 12-20 minutes (depending on how you like your eggs).  Let cool for 5 minutes or so.  Then enjoy with toast and or your favorite bread.    Printable Recipe

* Notes: I overcooked my eggs a little so my yolk was not runny.  If you prefer a more runny yolk stick to the lower end of the time.  I never set a timer so this is just a guesstimate.

I enjoyed my Baked Eggs dish with buttered French Bread and some Earl Grey Tea.  Let me just say that I thoroughly enjoyed my breakfast!  It was so much more satisfying than a bowl of cereal and milk or plain old scrambled eggs!  I will definitely be making more baked eggs in the future!

Have you ever made Baked Eggs before?

A Walk In the Woods

I really needed some time to myself today. So this afternoon I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and took a walk in the woods behind my home. I had fun snapping pictures of all the Spring greenery and other interesting things I found along the way. I purposely wore my rubber boots on my walk so that I could squish about in the mud and puddles. I felt like a little kid exploring the wild woods. Here is a slideshow of the things I snapped along the way...

My walk was so good for my soul. What have you done lately that lifted your spirits?

Locally Made Sausage

After 4-H yesterday we stopped by Maurice Bonneau's Sausage Kitchen, a small-family owned business that sells locally made, all-natural sausage.  I bought a package of Smoked Chorizo and a package of Italian Sausage with Sun Dried Tomatoes & Black Olives.  This morning I made some scrambled eggs with  Smoked Chorizo and cheese curds. It was so filling and delicious!

Scrambled Eggs w/ Mushrooms, Chorizo and Cheese Curds
2 1/4 cups sliced mushrooms
2 eggs
1/3 cup Chorizo diced (skins removed)
1/3 cup Cheese Curds
Kale, ripped up (optional)
Fresh Parsley for garnish

Spray a skillet with cooking spray.  In a bowl scramble the eggs.  Cook the mushrooms in the skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, stirring often.  Add the scrambled eggs, the Chorizo, Kale (optional) and the fresh cheese curds.  Scramble the mixture until the eggs are cooked through.  Remove to a plate and garnish with fresh parsley.  Makes 1-2 servings.
Printable Recipe

The Snow Cave

We have had quite a few snow storms this winter and it has really accumulated in our yard.  What do you do with all that snow besides shovel or snow blow it?  You build a snow cave!  The boys love to play inside, outside and on the cave every chance they get.  I snapped a few pictures of Ehric playing in the cave before his bus came this morning.  He is going to miss that cave when the snow melts!

A view from outside the cave.

 Ehric sitting inside the cave.

Standing outside the cave.

Chipper Date Brownies

While looking for a cookie recipe I ran across a cake-like brownie recipe that incorporated dates.  I have had dates in my fridge for the last month that have been calling for me to use them.  Today was the day! My family just enjoyed at least two pieces each (the boys begged for more) with a glass of milk. These were uber chocolately and good!

Chipper Date Brownies
Source: Better Homes and Gardens: Cookies and Candies (C) 1966

Wet ingredients:
1 8oz package (1 1/2 cups) pitted dates, chopped
1 cup boiling water
1 cup shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Dry ingredients:
1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

1/2-1 cup chopped Walnuts
1 6oz pkg (1 cup) semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease a 9 x 13 pan.  Combine chopped dates and boiling water; cool to room temperature.  Thoroughly cream shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla; stir in date mixture.  Sift together dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture.  Pour mixture into the pan.  Sprinkle nuts and chocolate chips evenly over the top.  Bake for 25-30 minutes or till done.  Cool for 10 minutes or so.  Cut into squares.

Notes: I greased the pan with Wilton Cake Release. My boys are not fans of nuts so I only made half with walnuts (see picture above).  But to my surprise Ehric asked for a piece with nuts and liked them.  Go figure!  Also, I cooked these for a lot longer than the recommended time.  They seemed a little too moist at 25-30 minutes, just check them every few minutes.

Printable Recipe

Pineland Farms Market

Since I've started to read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, I've been thinking a lot about incorporating more local foods into my family's diet. We already eat our own farm-fresh eggs and we drink milk from the farm down the road but we could be doing a lot more. So this morning I ventured over to  Pineland Farms Market  and came away with all of the following local fare:

Grandy Oats-Maine Grown Rolled Oats

Little Lad's- Original Granola

New Gloucester Village Store Bakery-Honey Wheat Bread

Olivia's Garden, New Gloucester- Fresh Basil & Spring Mix

Pineland Farms- Chicken Salad & Harvest Salsa

Pineland Farms Creamery- Cheddar & Fresh Cheese Curds

Pineland Farms Natural Meats- Boneless Shoulder Steak & Ground Beef

The Farmer's Eight Daughters-No Bake Cookies

I love that all of the items are made locally, have minimal packaging, and didn't break my food budget.  I love that I was the only shopper in the store and could shop at my own pace.  Also, as I drove the 6-8 minutes back to my house, I realized that this market (filled with local foods) is closer to my home than the grocery store (filled with food from who knows where) which is 20 minutes away.  So I saved gas to boot!   I am feeling so much more inspired now!

French Toast with Love

Earlier tonight the boys and I were looking at fun food ideas online and ran across a picture of french toast with a cut-out heart filled with strawberries.  Aiden decided that he wanted to eat that immediately and set to work gathering up the ingredients.  He apparently forgot that we ate tacos only 20 minutes earlier!  Momma indulged him and he got Ehic on board as well.  So for dessert the boys had French Toast with Love!

French Toast with Love
1/4 cup Milk*
1 Egg
dash of Vanilla Extract
dash of Cinnamon
few slices of Bread
Sliced Strawberries
Maple Syrup
Heart Shaped Cookie Cutter

Preheat Griddle.  In a bowl combine milk, egg, vanilla and cinnamon. Whisk the mixture together.   Dip each side of bread in the mixture let excess drip back into the bowl.  Cook both sides of the french toast over medium heat.  Cut out a small heart from each cooked slice.  Fill the cut-out space with sliced strawberries.  Serve with Maple Syrup.

Note: *I don't usually measure my ingredients when I make french toast so I am estimating on the milk.  Be conservative with the milk.  In my opinion it is better to have to make more of the mixture than to soak your bread.

Printable Recipe 

100th Day of School

Aiden just recently started going to Preschool at the beginning of February.  He is loving his time there. Today his class celebrated their 100th Day of School.  He was so proud of his 100th Day crown.  He is so cute!

My oldest son, Ehric, is in 1st grade and his class also recently had a 100th Day Celebration.  Each student brought in 100 things.  Ehric brought in 100 Calorie Snacks (his idea) and even shared them with kids in the class who forgot snacks (he has such a generous heart)!   All the Kindergarten-3rd graders had a 100th today parade through the school as well.  He had a lot of fun that day!

Steaming Hot Oatmeal

Synchronicity was at play this morning in my kitchen. I had left over apple slices in my fridge from the snack Aiden didn't eat yesterday. I also had left over soaked raisins and brown sugar syrup from making Apple Dumplings last night. So I decided to use these leftovers to make a yummy hot oatmeal for breakfast. It was so warming to the soul on this very cold single digit morning in Maine!

Can you see the steam rising?

Apple-Raisin Oatmeal

Combine in a sauce pan: 1 3/4 cups boiling water, 1 cup Quick Oats, 1/2 cup Raisins, 1 small Apple diced, Brown sugar or maple syrup (add to your preference)

Cook over medium heat until oats are cooked (about 2 minutes). Put the oatmeal into individual bowls and then add a little bit of milk to each bowl. Stir to combine.

Note: I like to add slivered almonds or cut up walnuts to my bowl of oatmeal.

Printable Recipe.

Apple Dumplings

Yesterday when Ehric got home from school I asked him if he wanted me to make anything special to eat. He usually comes up with some pretty good ideas and yesterday was no exception. He said that in school they read a book that mentioned apple dumplings. So he said he was thinking all day that we should make some. So make some I did!

I had never made or had apple dumplings before last night. These reminded me of the baked apples my Memere would make for my sister and I when we were kids, but wrapped up in a pie crust. It took me a few hours to make this delicious dessert but it was definitely worth the effort!

Apple Dumplings

(Source: Classroom Cooking: Recipes for Teachers and Children by Jamien Morehouse (C)1978)

"a fairly time-consuming recipe...The pastry dough can be made a day in advance or packaged dough substituted."

Pastry:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup chilled margarine or butter

4 Tblsp lard or shortening

1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water

Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add butter and lard. Cut into flour with knives (or pastry cutter) until mixture is "sandy". Sprinkle 1/3 cup water over the flour and mix with a fork. Form dough into a ball, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate.

Dumplings:

6 Red Delicious apples, peeled and cored

lemon juice

1/2 cup raisins soaked in water for 30 minutes or so

butter

brown sugar

Syrup:

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

3/4 Cups water

2 Tblsp butter

Roll the pastry to 1/4" and cut into six squares. Place an apple on each square, sprinkle with lemon juice and fill the hollowed out apple with raisins. Top with 1/4 tsp butter and 1/2 tsp brown sugar. Brush the edge of the crust with water, pull up the sides of the pastry, and pinch closed so the apple is completely covered. Place on a baking sheet and refrigerate half an hour.

Meanwhile make the syrup: combine the syrup ingredients in a heavy saucepan, bring to a boil over moderate heat, and boil gently for 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 425F. Brush the dumplings with some of the syrup and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350F and bake 30 minutes longer, brushing dumplings with the syrup every 10 minutes or so. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla icecream.

Note: I ended up having a lot of syrup left over. I saved it in a jar to use with oatmeal or pancakes.

Printable Recipe.

Celebrating Valentine's Day

Yesterday we started to prepare for Valentine's Day by making homemade cards for each other and for my son's classmates. Ehric made us each a mailbox to put our Valentine's cards into, which you can see above. We had fun stuffing them full of our homemade cards and a few candies, which were eaten on the spot!

Last night I baked these Chewy Ginger Snap Cookies for Ehric's Valentine's Day class party. Even though they were not heart shaped they were well received. My son's teacher emailed me this afternoon asking for the recipe for "the-most-delicious-ever ginger cookies." I would have to agree. These are some of the best ginger cookies I have ever had. I wish I could claim the recipe!

I was inspired by this recipe for Snicker Bears and decided to make some for the boys as a special Valentine treat. I made a few substitutions (all-purpose flour instead of gluten free flour and white sugar instead of cane sugar) so my bears didn't come out exactly like the original recipe, but they still tasted yummy and were still cute in their own way. If I made these again I would either follow the original recipe or find a good Snickerdoodle recipe.

For breakfast this morning I decided to make a heart shaped pancake. I mixed up my regular pancake batter then poured it into the pan which I greased with Wilton Cake Release. I sprinkled on some Rainbow Sprinkles on top and then baked it at around 400 degrees for maybe 20-25 minutes or so. I played around with the temps and time so don't quote me on this. We split this four ways and ate it with maple syrup. It was delicious!

While we were waiting for breakfast to cook Ehric and Aiden checked out their Valentine's mailboxes. They discovered that they also each had a little gift waiting for them as well. Here they are checking out their presents. Love must have been in the air today...the boys each decided that they liked each other's present better than their own and swapped gifts with one another with no bickering involved!

For lunch Aiden had a heart shaped grilled cheese sandwich. This made him very happy!

All-in-all our Valentine's was low-cost and low-key, but still special! I hope everyone had a great day with their families as well and didn't spend a fortune to show your love. Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Cream Scones

This morning I wanted something warm for breakfast but not our usual standbys. I decided to finally use the Cream Scones mix that I made last month. I loved that all I needed to do was add the butter and the cream. Not having to mix everything up this morning saved me a lot of time. They came out so good and were so deliciously good!

Cream Scones

(from Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen by Maria Helm Sinskey)

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tblsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp grated orange or lemon zest (optional)--I added orange zest.

1/2 cup dried currants (dried blueberries or other dried fruits can be substituted)--I added chocolate chips.

Wet Ingredients:
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 cup heavy cream, plus 1/4 cup for brushing

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and orange zest, if using. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture, and, using a pastry cutter or two table knives, cut the butter into pieces until it is the size of large peas. Add the currants and then the cream, and stir just until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, gather it into a ball, and knead lightly until uniform. Pat the dough into a round about 1 1/2" thick. You can either use a round biscuit cutter or cut into triangles. Arrange 2" apart on a tray and brush tops with cream. Bake about 12 minutes. Serve warm.
Printable Recipe.

Bento Box Snacks

Since I have been researching healthier eating for myself I have been getting inspired to feed my family healthier too. I've decided that instead of sending my oldest son to school with granola bars and Gogurts that I will put his new Froggy Bento box to good use and send him to school with some healthier and more creative snack options. So far the change has been happily accepted! See what I've packed for the last two days below:
Yesterday's snack was cheese peeled from a Cheese Head Cheese Stick, Pepperonis and Kashi TLC Honey Sesame Crackers. Delish!

This morning I filled the Froggy Bento box with green grapes, a few strawberries, star shaped bread pieces, a wedge of Laughing Cow and a packet of Grape Jelly. I am particularly proud of this one!

Schnitzel

Last night my hubby made Schnitzel for dinner. Schnitzel is pork that is flattened, breaded and fried. My husband picked up this family favorite when he was living in Germany while serving in the Air Force. We don't eat it very often but when we do it is such a treat! We usually serve honey mustard on the side for dipping. Yummy!

Schnitzel

boneless pork

Lemon Juice

Salt and Pepper

4-C Italian Bread Crumbs

Oil

Flatten the pork with a meat mallet. You want the pork to be kind of thin. Put the pork in some lemon juice for a few minutes. Heat up some oil in a frying pan. Remove the pork from the juice and then season both sides with Salt and Pepper. Dip both sides of the pork into the bread crumbs. Fry both sides of the pork until golden in the oil.
Printable Recipe

The above is how my family normally cooks Schnitzel. Last night we followed this Schnitzel recipe but made ours with seasoned bread crumbs instead of Panko. They came out fantastic, but we did miss the lemon flavor. So next time we will also soak them in lemon juice too.

Eggs in a Frame

Seeing this post about heart shaped 'Eggs in a Frame' brought me back to my childhood. I remember my Mom making this breakfast for my sister and I from time to time. She didn't use fancy cookie cutters though just a glass to cut a circle out of the middle. This morning I decided to carry on the tradition and made some star shaped ones for breakfast. They came out so good!

Eggs in a Frame

Bread-Cut a shape out of the center of the bread and then lay both the bread and cutout pieces on a hot griddle or pan

Egg-Crack the egg and pour into the center of the bread with the shape cut out

Cook the bread and egg on one side for a bit and then flip to cook the other side.

**You will notice that the stars that I cut out are missing. I sent them to school with Ehric for a snack.

Owl Spotting

Walking up the driveway with Ehric I happened to look up into a tree and spotted a Barred Owl. The tree is located right near our chicken coop so I think the owl was on the lookout for dinner. When I spotted it I immediately pointed it out to Ehric, and then ran in the house and grabbed my camera. I was able to snap this picture of the owl looking at us. I have seen owls close up at the local wild life park but never in my own backyard before. I am so excited!! Next time I see it I will be sure to call out "Who Cooks for you? Who Cooks for you all?" Maybe it will hoot back.

GF Waffles

Aiden said he wanted Maple Syrup for dinner. I said, "Would you like to dip something into the Maple Syrup?" We worked out a compromise...Waffles! Then I looked in the fridge and realized we didn't have any eggs! I decided to look online for some ideas and also looked over my usual recipe. I decide to take a stab at making up my own gluten free waffles (without eggs) with what I had one hand. I am happy to report that they came out great!

Gluten Free Waffles

1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Flour

1/2 tsp Xanthan Gum

3/4 tsp Baking Powder

1.5 tsp Sucanat w/some Cinnamon mixed in

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup applesauce

1 cup Blue Diamond Vanilla Almond Milk

1 tblsp Canola Oil

Preheat waffle maker. Combine dry ingredients. Then add wet ingredients. Whisk or stir to form a batter. Spray waffle maker with cooking spray. Add batter and cook until no longer steaming.

Note: Be diligent about spraying between batches. I found that these stuck easily when I forgot to spray.

GF Chocolate Chip Cookies

The boys asked if I could make Chocolate Chip cookies today. I decided to try this Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe but I made a few changes:

In place of the Gluten Flour mix I used 2 1/2 cups Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour; and for the chocolate I used 2 cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips. I added to the recipe 1/2 tsp salt; 1/4 tsp Almond Extract and 1 tsp cider vinegar.

Since the boys were impatient for cookies I made a small batch up first without refrigerating the dough first. The cookies took a little longer to cook than the original recipe said, but they still came out great. I have the rest of the dough setting up in the fridge for later.

The boys and I really liked these cookies. If you like your Chocolate Chip Cookies hard vs soft you will really like these! I can't tell that these are Gluten Free. I love that!

Ehric asked, "Can you make these again sometime?" Both boys enjoyed their cookies with some farm fresh milk (pictured above is Aiden). I guess these passed muster!

GF Crepes

This morning I was in the mood for crepes. I decided to forgo my usual recipe and make some gluten free ones; since I am experimenting with Gluten Free recipes lately. I found a recipe from Gluten Free Mom and let me just say these were really good! I have been eating crepes since I was a little girl and I thought these tasted and looked just like my regular crepes. Ehric had at least 3 or 4 of them, and when I asked how they were he said, "Amazing as always!" That just melted my heart! I will definitely make these again!

Notes: For the milk I used Blue Diamond Vanilla Almond Milk and for the flour I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour. I cooked my crepes in my cast iron crepe pan. This batch made 12 crepes.

GF Chicken Pot Pie

I love chicken pot pie but don't eat it very often because it is a little time consuming to make the traditional way (with a full pie crust). I found this recipe the other day for a Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie that looked really easy to make and only has a top crust. So yesterday, I cooked up some chicken and today I made my version of the recipe since I didn't have some of the ingredients in the original recipe. I've included my notes and prep instructions below.

This recipe was not as quick to make as I hoped, but it was worth the time to make. I enjoyed the filling tremendously and the topping was kind of like corn bread. I would make this dish again. It was so good on this cold Winter day!

Gluten Free Chicken Pot Pie

**Precook 1 lb of Chicken ahead of time.

For the Chicken-Vegetable Filling

First I prepped my vegetables.

2 cups of Broccoli florets (chopped)

25 Baby Carrots (thinly sliced)

1 small yellow onion (finely chopped)

2 garlic cloves (minced)

In a Dutch Oven I added 2 tblsp of Olive Oil and cooked the onions over medium heat until they were soft. Then I poured the onions into a bowl.

I combined the dry ingredients in a small bowl and whisked well:

2 tblsp rice flour, 1/2 tsp dried mustard, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper

In the Dutch oven I add 2-3 tblsp of Olive Oil then poured in the dry ingredients. I cooked the mixture over medium heat for a few minutes.

I slowly added a 14.5 oz can of Chicken stock to the dutch oven and whisked well. Once the mixture was boiling I added in dried basil (a few shakes) and my prepped vegetables. I turned the heat down to low and cooked the ingredients covered for 12 minutes.

While the mixture was cooking I shredded my 1 lb of previously cooked of chicken. Since I didn't have sour cream I whipped up some cream (from our raw milk) with some lemon juice. I made about 3 tblsp of sour cream. I also preheated my oven to 425 degrees.

When the vegetables were done cooking I turned off the stove top. I added the chicken and sour cream to the dutch oven and stirred up the ingredients. Then I poured the vegetable mixture into a 9 x 13.

For the topping

In a small bowl I combined :

1/2 cup of cornmeal, 1/4 cup rice flour plus 2 tblsp, 2 tblsp tapioca flour, 3/4 tsp xanthan gum,

1 1/2 tsp of baking powder, 1/2 tsp salt,

In another small bowl I combined:

1 tblsp honey, 3/4 cup raw milk, 2 tblsp olive oil

Then I combined the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. I poured the batter onto the Chicken -Vegetable Mixture in the 9 X 13 and then carefully spread the mixture across the top.

I baked the dish for 30 minutes. Then let it cool for about 10-15 minutes.

Serves about 6.

Notes: I accidentally set my temp to 450* so my topping was a little darker than it should have been. Oops! So I pulled my Pot Pie out of the oven about five minutes sooner. Don't you hate it when that happens?

Black Bottom Cupcakes

Since both boys are home today due to the snow I decided to bake a special treat this afternoon. I made Black Bottom Cupcakes*. Wow, I think I died and went to chocolate heaven! These are so rich and delicious; and I love that they have a cream cheese topping. The boys and I enjoyed these with a glass of milk.

*Note: In place of the sorghum, tapioca and rice flour I used 1 1/2 cups of Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Flour. I also ran out of Baking cocoa so I used an 1/8 cup of hot cocoa mix. LOL! I cooked my cupcakes a little longer than I should have because I couldn't tell if they were cooked through since they are super chocolately. But they tasted awesome in my opinion! Once they cool I plan on putting a few in the freezer for another day.

Happy Groundhog Day!

I don't know what it is about Tuesdays and Wednesdays being the "official" snow days but that is the reality the past few storms. Since we didn't have to worry about our school routine this morning we all slept in a little later than usual. Well I at least layed down in bed later than usual. I am hopeful that we won't have too many more storms in our future since Punxsatawney Phil didn't see his shadow today. Supposedly we will have an early spring!

Lately, I have been running across a lot of Raw recipes and Gluten Free recipes. I've bookmarked a few that I want to try and have purchased a few pantry items so I can try my hand at them. This morning was the perfect opportunity to try Gluten Free Pancakes. I found a recipe and then tweaked it a bit to use what I had on hand. They tasted just like regular buttermilk pancakes to me, and the boys were oblivious to the fact they were not our usual mix and ate up a bunch. Here is the recipe I made:

Gluten Free Pancakes

Makes 20 4" Pancakes

1 1/3 + 3 tblsp Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All-Purpose Baking Powder

4 tblsp Dry Buttermilk Powder

1 tblsp Organic Sucanat and Cinnamon Mixed

1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum

2 eggs

3 tblsp Canola Oil

2 Cups of Water

Combine Dry Ingredients, then add Wet Ingredients. Stir to get rid of lumps. Cook on a hot griddle on medium heat. Flip when the first side bubbles.

Note: This recipe makes a lot of batter. It is also a thick batter. Next time I am going to halve the recipe.

Ehric and Aiden happily enjoying Gluten Free Pancakes!

Ceramic Egg Crate

Yesterday at Goodwill  I found this Williams Sonoma ceramic egg crate. I was so excited! I couldn't wait to get home and fill it with our farm fresh eggs. So cute!

Poutine

For lunch today I am enjoying Poutine, which is French Fries with Gravy & Cheese Curds. It is something that I like to eat every once and a while or when I can get my hands on some fresh cheese curds. I first tried this dish near the Maine-Canadian border when I was in my early 20s and fell in love with the combination of ingredients. What is strange to me is that I was raised in a French-Canadian family but do not recall us ever eating this dish. I do remember how much I loved it when my parent's would bring home Cheese curds after a trip to Canada though.

In my dish above I used a beef based gravy, baked fries and a fresh cheese curds. It is so good!

Cold Snap

We are in for a cold snap for the next four days. Tonight we are supposed to be in the negatives and tomorrow the high will be 10 degrees (if we are lucky)! So I decided to make some Pea Soup to enjoy over the next few days. Whenever I make Pea Soup I think of my Pepere who used to make this soup when I was a child. Unfortunately I never got his recipe before he died, so I usually make the recipe off a local bean company's bag. Tonight I couldn't find the recipe I usually use, so I combined a couple recipes to make this delicious soup!

Green Split Pea Soup with Ham

1 lb dry Green split peas
1 Chicken Bouillon Cube
6 cups water
Ham Bone or 1/4 lb smoked ham, diced
1 cup chopped celery
1 medium carrot, diced
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Sort and rinse peas. In a 6 to 8 quart pot, add peas, bouillon cube and water. Bring to boiling; simmer 2 minutes. Remove from the heat, cover and let stand 1 hour. Add ham bone, celery, carrot, onion, garlic, bay leaf and thyme; heat to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until peas are soft. Remove bone; cut off meat and dice. If desired, remove bay leaf then put vegetable mixture through food mill, blender** or sieve. Return meat to soup; season to taste with salt and pepper.

Note: I usually use a hand held immersion blender.

French Toast

On Friday it snowed yet again. Since school was cancelled I decided to make a special breakfast, Raisin French Toast with sausages and orange juice. It was so good!

Raisin French Toast
6 slices Pepperidge Swirl Raisin Cinnamon Bread
1 oz milk
1 egg
Pinch of Cinnamon

Tiny bit of Vanilla Extract

Preheat griddle or pan (lightly butter or oil first). In a shallow dish scramble together the milk, egg, cinnamon and vanilla. Dip both sides of the the bread slices into the mixture and then cook both sides on the griddle.

Aiden ate half of his French Toast and then decided that he wanted to eat Pancakes. Since I had a hot griddle and a Pancake mix handy I humored him.

They both left the table happy with full tummies. "Snow day, yummy snow day!"

Snow Blowing & Hot Cocoa

It has been snowing for most of the day today and our driveway really needed to be plowed by the time Ehric got home from school. So after Ehric got off the bus and made snow angels he and Daddy got to work plowing the driveway. Daddy taught Ehric how to use our Case tractor and for a six year old he did awesome!! Maybe in a few years he will be plowing the driveway by himself.

Since it was snowing and it was cold out I figured everyone would want some hot cocoa. I decided that instead of using the Swiss Miss I would make some from scratch. So I dug out my Hershey's cookbook and made some Hot Cocoa. It was so good with the gingerbread we have leftover from our gingerbread house from Christmas. Everyone had a mug and warmed up!

Hot Cocoa

(from Hershey's 1934 Cookbook (C) 1992)

3 tblsp sugar
2 tblsp Hershey's Cocoa (or any baking cocoa)
Dash salt
1/4 cup hot water
1 1/2 cups milk
Marshmallows or marshmallow creme

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cocoa and salt; stir in water. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils. Boil and stir 2 minutes. Add milk. Heat to serving temperature, stirring occasionally. Do not boil. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Beat with rotary beater or wire whisk until foamy. Serve hot, topped with marshmallows.

Optional: before whisking add in a little bit of cinnamon.

Oatmeal Jammy Bars

Looking through the Family Meals cookbook today I decided to make the Oatmeal Jammy Bars for an afternoon snack. I really had a craving for strawberry jam bars but only had about a tablespoon, so I am experimenting with apple jelly. They were delicious!! I will definitely make these again!

Oatmeal Jammy Bars
(from Family Meals: Creating Traditions in the Kitchen by Maria Helm Sinskey)

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp baking soda
¾ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 ¼ cups old-fashioned rolled oats

¼ cup ground pecans or almonds (optional)

½ cup berry jam

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9” square baking pan or dish.

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, using your
hands to combine thoroughly. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture and cut in the
butter with a pastry cutter or two kitchen knives until the mixture is moist and crumbly. Add
the oats and nuts, if using, and toss to mix evenly.

Press two-thirds of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread the jam evenly over
the top. Crumble the remaining dough evenly over the top, and press down lightly.

Bake until the top is golden brown, 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely on a rack, and then cut
into bars. Makes 10 bars

Buttermilk Biscuits

With the house to myself this morning I decided to make biscuits to go along with the Red Lentil Soup I made yesterday. The biscuits came out so fluffy and tasted amazing with my soup. I was good though I only ate two. My family has been snacking on them all afternoon. Warm biscuits are great on a cold Winter day!

Buttermilk Biscuits

(from The Best Marjorie Standish: Chowders, Soups & Stews- Down East Recipes)

2 cups sifted flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp soda

2 tsp cream of tartar

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 rounded tblsp shortening

1 cup buttermilk

Sift flour, measure and sift together with salt, soda, cream of tartar and baking powder.

Cut in the shortening, using a pastry blender or 2 knives. Add the buttermilk quickly, using a fork for stirring into dry ingredients. Knead lightly on a floured board.
Cut in size biscuits desired, place on a greased pan and bake at 475 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Makes about 12 biscuits.

** I like to add 1 tbsp of sugar to the dry ingredients.
** If you do not have buttermilk you can use milk and lemon juice.

Winter Cooking

Earlier today I went to the wholesale club and restocked our fridge, freezer and pantry. Since we had a lot of bulk meats and other items I decided to do some cooking this afternoon. I prepared hamburger patties, Italian meatballs, BBQ meatloaf, cheesy scalloped potatoes, red lentil soup, and glazed carrots. We ate the meatloaf, the potatoes and the carrots for dinner. It was yummy!

Hamburger Patties
Ground Beef
Montreal Steak Seasoning
Lea & Perron's
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder

Mix together with your hands and shape into patties.

Italian Meatballs
2 lbs Ground Beef
2 Sweet Italian Sausages
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1 cup 4-C Italian Breadcrumbs
A few dashes oregano and Basil

Preheat an oven to 350 degrees. Lay out two baking trays. Slice open the sausages, remove the meat, tear apart and put in a large bowl with the ground beef. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix with your hands. Roll into small balls and space out meatballs on the trays. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

If using immediately, put the meatballs in a tomato sauce and simmer until ready to eat. The longer the better.

For later use: Once the trays and the meatballs are cool, put the baking trays in the freezer. When the meatballs are frozen remove the meatballs and place in a plastic storage bag. By freezing the meatballs first they will not stick together and then you can remove however many you need at a time.

BBQ Meat Loaf
1 1/2-2 lbs ground beef
2 beaten eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup 4C Italian Seasoned breadcrumbs
Few dashes onion Powder
Few dashes Garlic Powder
Few Dashes Ground Mustard
Few dashes Pepper
1 tsp Salt
A few shakes of any BBQ rub or seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layout a baking tray. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Shape into a loaf by hand on the baking tray. Bake at 350 for 50 minutes. Remove any grease, brush BBQ sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray's) onto the loaf and put bake in the oven for another 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and eat right away or eat the next day.

Glazed Carrots
Carrots-dice into small slices
Honey
Water
Orange juice (optional)

Put the diced carrots, a little bit of honey and a little bit of water in a baking dish and bake until cooked (when you can poke a fork through easily) or cook in a saucepan on a stove top adding the honey towards the end of the cooking.

Christmas Cake?

Last Monday while volunteering in Ehric's class his teacher made the following comment to the class..."All during Christmas break I kept wondering about Ehric's Christmas cake." I thought to myself, "Christmas cake?" A few minutes later I remembered that Ehric wrote a Christmas poem about Christmas being about Jesus' birthday and cake. I went over to his seat and asked him, "Is Christmas cake when we bake a cake for Jesus' birthday?" He said, "Yes!" Then it all made sense to me...for the past several years we have baked a simple cake on Christmas morning and have sung "Happy Birthday to Jesus" before eating the cake. In that moment I felt bad that I hadn't baked a cake this past Christmas. I told Ehric we would bake a Christmas Cake ASAP and sing "Happy Birthday to Jesus"!

Before Ehric got home from school I baked a spice cake. While it was starting to cool the cake split on the top. At first I was disappointed that the cake split, but when I looked closer I started to laugh when I saw that the split was in the shape of a 'J.' Apparently Jesus approves our our Christmas Cake!