Bad news bears

It is a sad state of affairs around here.  Lydia began a good fever Saturday morning.  Since then, at least one girl (and usually two) has had it off and on.  This morning they all woke up happy and feeling better.  Now Lydia and Cora are both hot, and both sleeping.  To make matters worse, the weather is absolutely gorgeous here this week.  If they weren't sick, we'd be outside running our little tails off.  Instead, I have the windows open so the warm air and sunshine can saturate our house.  

So, while the girls have been doing this..

I've been doing this...

Filling my freezer, with the cutest assistant ever.  

We have many guests coming over the next few weeks, with extra mouths to feed.  And remember how I'm leaving my family for a weekend?  Well, I can't leave them empty handed.  You know how I love freezer meals.  I took this opportunity of relative quiet (aside from the groaning, crying, Ibuprofen dispensing, germ destroying, and cuddling) to wash my hands, make the kitchen a mess, wash my hands, and fill our freezer.  We now have meatballs and pepper penne, cranberry chuck roast for the grill, breakfast quiche, white chicken chili, broccoli pesto pasta, yogurt fruit snack cups, burrito mix, oatmeal raisin cookies, and cheesy ham and potatoes just waiting for us to enjoy.  

Bread

 Over the past year, I have been experimenting with making bread.  After various recipes that have been both good and bad, here is the winner.  It is a bread machine recipe so there is no kneading or waiting to rise.  Easy and delicious! 

1 1/4 c. warm water
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/3 c. honey
2 tsp. vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. raw quick oats
1/4 c. flax seed
1/4 c. gluten
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. bread flour
2 tsp. yeast
Put in bread machine in order given.  Set machine to whole wheat rapid setting.

Cinnamon crackle cookies

These cookies taste like Christmas.  They are excellent dipped in coffee or hot chocolate.

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons grated orange peel
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 teaspoon salt
Additional sugar

In a mixing bowl, cream butter, shortening and sugars.  Add the egg and extracts; mix well.  Combine the next eight ingredients; gradually add to the creamed mixture.  Shape into 1 inch balls; roll in sugar.  Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned.

Easy Sunday morning breakfast

If you are like me, Sunday morning can be a little crazy.  Getting everyone ready and out the door to church on time is a challenge. 

I want Sunday to be special.  It is the Lord's day.  I want to go out the door with a smile on our face, our hearts and minds ready to worship our magnificent God.  One thing I have discovered to help us out in this endeavor:

Cinnamon Rolls!

Buy a bag of frozen cinnamon roll dough from the grocery store.  Put them in a pan on Saturday night.  Place a towel over them and let them rise through the night.  On Sunday morning, pop them in the oven for about 15 minutes.  Spread the pre made frosting on the beauties.  Delicious and easy!  They are a Sunday morning tradition at our house.


I'm linking up with Works for Me Wednesday.  

Crunchy Granola Bars

1/4 c. canola oil
1/4 c. butter
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c. honey
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
5 c. old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. milled flax seed
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a saucepan, gently heat the oil, butter, sugar, and honey. Stir in the salt and cinnamon. When the butter melts and the sugar dissolves, stir in the oats, flour, and flax seed. Mix well and allow to cool slightly. Mix in the eggs and baking soda.

Spray a 15x10 jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Press the granola mixture firmly into the pan. Use a rolling pin to make sure the mixture is pressed tightly into the pan. Pay special attention to the corners and edges.

Bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cut into 24 bars. Allow to cool in the pan. When the bars are completely cold, remove from the pan.

My thoughts:

After the mixture has cooled, before baking, I add chocolate chips or craisins. You could also add seeds, nuts, or whatever you have on hand.

These are crunchy and crumbly when eating.

Fruit n Chocolate Oat Bars

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 2/3 c. mashed ripe bananas (about 5)
1 1/2 c. uncooked oats
1/2 c. dried cranberries
1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a 13x9x2 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Stir dry ingredients together in medium bowl and set aside.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add egg and bananas. Mix well. Add flour mixture beating on low just until well blended. Stir in oats, cranberries, and chocolate chips. Spread evenly in sprayed pan.

Bake 20-25 minutes until edges are golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Cool completely. Cut into 24 bars.

My thoughts:

Again, I wrap these individually and freeze them for ready to go snacks.

This calls for a lot of bananas. I think my girls are half monkey with how many bananas we eat on a daily basis. If I don't have enough bananas, I substitute 1/3 cup applesauce for 1/3 cup banana.

Whole wheat apple crunch muffins

1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 cups chopped apples (about 2 medium apples)

Crunch topping:
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray. Combine first measure of flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and first measure of cinnamon in a bowl. Whisk and set aside.

In a second bowl, beat eggs, oil and applesauce. Pour egg mixture into flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in apples.

In a separate bowl, combine the oats, second measure of flour, brown sugar, and second measure of cinnamon. Cut the butter into the oat mixture using a fork or pastry knife until coarse crumbs form.

Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full. Top each muffin with oatmeal mixture. Bake for 20 to 23 minutes. Remove muffins from pan and place on a wire rack to cool.

My thoughts:
Because chopping all the apples is a bit of work, make a double or triple batch of these while you're at it. I peel and cut the apples while Madeline chops them with the Pampered Chef food chopper.

From now on, I'm not going to make the crunch topping. I'm just going to swirl a little combination of brown sugar and cinnamon on top before they bake. These are so delicious, the topping is really not necessary in my opinion. It is just extra work and another dirty bowl.

I make a large batch of these, then individually wrap them in foil. I put a dozen or so in a ziploc bag and freeze them.

This recipe is from the cookbook "30 Day Gourmet's Big Book of Freezer Cooking" by Nanci Slagle and Carol Santee. I love this cookbook!

Snack time

At our house, my girls ask for a snack about every five minutes. Unfortunately for them, we only have snacks twice a day.

Snacks are one of the more difficult items to keep healthy, while still being easy and somewhat mess free. I also try to get a protein or more than one food group in the snack. I sat down and came up with the following list of snack possibilities, then set a plan for snacks for the week, just like I plan my meals.

Yogurt
Snack mix (Cheerios, raisins, craisins, chocolate chips, or other tidbits mixed together in a baggie)
Crackers with peanut butter (My favorite crackers are Trader Joe's multi grain and Kashi original seven grain.)
Cereal with milk
Veggies with ranch dip (Carrots, celery, peppers. Anything they can dip is good.)
Chocolate fruit bar
Apples and pretzels
Apple muffin
Bagel with cream cheese
Granola bar
Crackers and cheese
Popcorn

Over the next couple days I will post the recipes for the chocolate fruit bar, granola bar, and apple muffins.

What do you do for snack time at your house?

Trying to be healthy

Over the last year, we have been renovating some of our eating habits. I think that we've always been relatively good eaters. We all eat quite a bit of vegetables and fruit. My philosophy has been, you can eat the dessert as long as you eat the vegetables too. I don't harp on my girls to eat, but provide good choices for them. We have never had a lot of McDonald's or convenience food. But we do love our chocolate chip cookies!

When we discovered Cora's allergies I had to stop and rethink what we eat. The research I did opened my eyes to ways we could all be healthier. It is a gradual process, and I am not a purist. Here are some of the changes we have made:

1. Eat food closer to its natural state. This means we eat butter, not margarine or shortening. We eat whole milk, not skim. We eat the fattiest yogurt we can afford. We eat "real" cheese slices, not processed "fake" cheese. We eat a Smart Balance peanut butter that still tastes good but has very few ingredients. I am grinding my own wheat to use for bread and baking. (Please forgive me for how homeschoolish this is. I use a bread machine for the bread, and overall it does not take as much time or effort as you would think. If I don't have time for it, I buy bread from the store.)

2. Stay away from artificial growth hormones and abundant antibiotics. Anderson Erickson, Target, and Aldi have non rBGH milk. I would love to drink non homogenized milk or completely organic milk, but right now can't afford it. I also aim to eat organic chicken with no antibiotics or hormones, but haven't found an affordable option for this either. Hurry up, Trader Joe's!

3. Reduce high fructose corn syrup and soy, because they are genetically modified foods. This is a tough one. Corn syrup and soy are in almost everything. Part of my solution for this has been to use more homemade snacks instead of ready made crackers and such. I have a nummy granola bar recipe and healthy chocolate chip bar recipe I make in big batches, then wrap the servings individually and freeze. I made homemade strawberry freezer jam with sugar. We mix this with natural vanilla yogurt to make strawberry yogurt. I am working on finding brands and foods that have less soy and corn syrup in them, then sticking with them.

4. Avoid artificial colorings and preservatives. If I can't pronounce or understand the words in the ingredient list, maybe I shouldn't be eating it. The fewer ingredients the better. To help with this, I am making my own macaroni and cheese. It really doesn't take any longer than making it from the box. You boil the macaroni, then mix in some real cheese, milk, and a little cream cheese. The girls have adapted to this fine. Pop is a big no no in this category. Unfortunately, I really like Mountain Dew. This is all a balancing game, which means I am reducing my intake of pop and feeling good about it.

The bottom line is that I would rather have a sick child with a healthy soul than a healthy child with a sick soul. But I want to be a good steward of my family. To that end, I am going to do all I can to keep us healthy.

Dairy free smoothie

We are an eggs and bacon family. Mark grew up with his dad making a full breakfast every morning. He wanted to carry on the tradition. Thus, every morning we get a full breakfast, compliments of my beyond fabulous husband.

With Cora stuck in her no eggs no dairy diet, breakfast is now a problem. She can only eat so many Cheerios and bananas. One solution I have found is this delicious dairy free smoothie. It is packed with nutrition and keeps you full for a long time.

Powerhouse Smoothie
1 1/2 C. orange juice
1 1/2 C. rice milk
3 bananas
3 C. fruit
3 Tblsp. ground flax seed
handful of spinach
Mix all in blender.

Just so you know:
I freeze over ripe bananas in a Ziploc bag. When it is smoothie time, I simply take my bag of 3 bananas from the freezer and blend.
The fruit does not have to be exactly 3 cups. Use whatever frozen or fresh fruit you have available. We have used strawberries, blueberries, and peaches. All are delicious.
You can not see or taste the spinach. It adds a power punch of vitamins and nutrients without your kids knowing about it.

Freezer meals

Last Friday a friend and I got together (along with our 7 children) to prepare freezer meals. It has been on my radar to do this for a long time. With summer in full swing, I am realizing that I don't want to be slaving away in the kitchen. I want to be outside enjoying the nice weather (when it doesn't rain) too. Now I have 8 meals in the freezer, ready to pull out and bake for an easy supper. I'm sorry I don't have pictures to go along with this. I am new to this blogging business and keep forget to take pictures of our activities. Here are my tips for freezer meal marathons:

1. The most important part of mass freezer meal preparation is planning. I first made a list of our meals. Then I made a grand ingredient list. I went through each dish and wrote the ingredients on the grand list. I made tally marks for multiple items. I like to plan and organize, so this was actually fun for me.

2. Pre cook the meat. I figured out exactly how much meat we would need, both cooked and raw. I had her bring the ground beef, already cooked. I made the chicken, already cooked. I simply cooked it in a crock pot then shredded it the day before.

3. Have all the non perishable ingredients, recipes, and tools laid out. One of the difficult parts is having someone else try to figure out your kitchen. So, I had the ingredients and containers laid out in meal groups on the table. For example, there was a tater tot casserole section with 2 containers, the recipe, 2 cans of green beans, 2 cans of cream of mushroom soup, and seasonings. All the refrigerated items for the day were in one area of the refrigerator. I also had all my mixing bowls, spatulas, and measuring cups in the middle of the table ready to go. This handy tip was from my sister Marissa who has done this before.

4. Buy your containers at the dollar store. I got packages of 3 foil 9x9 containers with lids for $1. All in all, we spent $64 to makes 16 good sized meals for a family of 5. I stocked up on chicken when it was $1.89/lb at Fareway. The rest of the ingredients were from Aldi. I love Aldi.

6. Prepare the meals with a friend who has a similar size family. That makes it easy to split the meals if you both need the same size portions. We had a lot of kids running around when we were preparing the meals, but they were better entertained with friends there than if I had done this without visitors. Plus, it was fun to have another adult to chit chat with while we worked.

The meals we made were: rainy day chicken, chicken nuggets, chicken tetrazzini, chicken rice casserole, sweet and sour chicken, tater tot casserole, baked pasta, and meatloaf. It is great to know there are delicious meals just waiting for us in the freezer.

Tastes like pink

Strawberries are one of my favorite foods. Because it is high season for strawberries right now, last Saturday became the day of the strawberries at our house. I perused the blog world for inspiration, then embarked on a strawberry adventure.


First, I called around to local U-Pick farms and groceries to find the best price on strawberries. Fareway had the best deal. I purchased two flats of strawberries, 22 pounds worth, for $30. These were not garden strawberries, but they were fresh, red, big, and delicious. I did not have to get a sore back or sunburn retrieving them from the field. While garden strawberries win the contest for taste, they are usually small, resulting in more energy and waste in preparing them.

I used one flat of strawberries to make homemade freezer jam. Delicious! It has a slightly different taste than traditional canned jam because there is no cooking involved. It basically tastes like you are eating fresh strawberries. Freezer jam is incredibly easy to make. One package of pectin makes 5 total 8-oz. containers. I made 26 8-oz. containers from one flat. Here is what I did:

1. Mix 1 1/2 cups sugar with one package no-cook-fruit-pectin in a large bowl. Let sit.
2. Puree strawberries in food processor to make 4 cups mashed strawberries.
3. Mix strawberries with sugar/pectin. Stir for 3 minutes.
4. Pour jam into container, leaving 1/2 inch at the top. Let sit for 30 minutes. Store in freezer for up to a year. Or, use immediately and store in refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. (It is highly unlikely it would last 3 weeks in the refrigerator without being gobbled up.)

Next, I made a scrumptious strawberry cake. When Anna took her first bite, she said it tasted like pink! I simply made a white box cake according to package directions. Then I made the strawberry frosting. I beat 2 sticks of butter until creamed, then added about 5 cups of powdered sugar and a dash of vanilla extract. Beat until a good consistency. Then, this is the magical part, add pureed strawberries! Use as much or as little of the strawberries as you want. In my opinion, the more strawberries the better.

I love making round cakes. They look so beautiful on a cake stand, and have the yummy frosting in the middle. However, in this case the bottom layer did not come out of the pan correctly so the cake is a bit lopsided and my strawberry ended up sliding off. Oh well. It still tasted great, like pink!

Taste of summer

With Memorial Day Weekend being the unofficial start of summer, you will want to build this recipe into your weekend plans. It is a bit of a process, but absolutely worth it.



Banana Split Supreme


3/4 cup butter, divided
2 cups confectioner's sugar
1 cup evaporated milk
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
24 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, crushed
3 medium firm bananas, cut in 1/2" slices
2 quarts vanilla ice cream, softened and divided
1 can crushed pineapple (20 oz,), drained
1 jar maraschino cherries (10 oz.), drained and halved
whipped topping, optional


In a saucepan, combine 1/2 cup of butter, sugar, milk, and chocolate chips. Bring to a boil over medium heat; boil and stir for 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool completely. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter, toss with cookie crumbs. Press into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan. Freeze for 15 minutes. Arrange banana slices over crust; spread with 1 quart of ice cream. Top with 1 cup of chocolate sauce. Freeze for 1 hour. Refrigerate remaining chocolate sauce. Spread the remaining ice cream over dessert; top with pineapple and cherries. Cover and freeze for several hours or overnight. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Reheat the chocolate sauce. Cut dessert into squares; serve with chocolate sauce and whipped topping if desired.