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.
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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.

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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.

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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.