Day 25: Granola Bars {National Poetry Month & 30 Day Blog Challenge}

The original recipe is from Against the Grain* cookbook by Nancy Cain. I've modified it {of course}.

Ingredients:
2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup Trim Healthy Mama Baking Blend
1/4 cup snipped Viva Labs organic goji berries*
1 snack box of snipped raisins
1/4 cup Viva Labs organic raw cacao nibs*
1 cup shredded coconut
1 TBS unflavored NOW Foods gelatin* (optional)
1 TBS cinnamon
1/3 cup Trim Healthy Mama erythritol
1/2 cup honey
2-3 TBS unsulphured molasses
1 tsp vanilla
4 TBS butter (or coconut oil- that's what I was going to use)

Directions: (remember, I modified this)
Preheat oven to 300*F.

Grease 9x13 pan. Line with parchment paper if you have that.

Mix all dry ingredients, except erythritol, in a medium bowl. That's the first 7 ingredients. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the rest of the ingredients and heat. Bring to a rolling boil, for about 2 minutes.

Pour the sugar mix over dry mix. Stir until well combined.

Spoon into pan and flatten uniformly.

Bake for about 25 minutes. When done let cool in the pan completely. If you were lucky to have parchment paper you can remove that to let them cool on a rack. Otherwise, wait to cut into bars until it's completely cooled.

Of course, I don't follow directions- probably why I'm always tweaking recipes- and I went ahead and cut these before completely cool with no problems.

They taste yummy!

*Disclaimer: I was given the Viva Labs organic raw cacao nibs and organic goji berries for free for the purpose of reviewing on Amazon. This post is just to show one way I used them. *Links are Amazon affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.*

A quick poem because I just can't not have one: Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate.

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer's lease hath all too short a date.

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimmed;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance, or nature's changing course, untrimmed;

But the eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,

Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,

When in eternal lines to Time thou grow'st.

    So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,

    So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins {Four Tweaked Recipes}

Original recipe from The Ambitious Kitchen

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies for more info.

I've come across a few resources for subbing flours for whole wheat/white flour and so today thought I would do some experimenting. Here are four Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin recipes.
Each of these has the same directions for mixing and baking so I will write it once. Oh, if you want chunks of banana in your muffins (I usually like that), then mash up some banana separately from the liquids and add it with the chocolate chips.

For the recipes that say "Sugar Free" I used Lily's dark chocolate chips sweetened with stevia. The first recipe (not sugar free) I used Enjoy Life dark chocolate morsels sweetened with can sugar.

Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins**
Ingredients
1 cup brown rice flour
5 TBS potato starch
3 TBS tapioca starch
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 bananas*
1/4 cup honey
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS oil (or other cooking)
2 eggs
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt (or regular yogurt)
1 TBS milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions (this is really easy)
Preheat oven to 350*F. Grease a 12 muffin tin.
Whisk dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
Blend all wet ingredients together in a blender.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix.
Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into muffin tins.
Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes.
Enjoy!

**So far my favorite. It needs a smidgen less liquid I think. Perhaps I'd omit the TBS milk at the end.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins**
Ingredients
1 cup oat flour
3/4 cup oat fiber
1/4 cup oats
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 bananas*
4 doonks stevia powder (click here for conversion chart for sweets)
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS oil
3/4 cup egg whites
1/2 cup non dairy yogurt (I used So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk)
1 TBS non dairy milk
1/2 cup chocolate chips

See directions above.

**The amounts are not quite right. I think that this one needs something, I'm just not sure what. It tastes good (imho) but the texture is more like a biscuit than a muffin. On the outside at least. The inside is muffin-like.

These last two I haven't gotten to try out yet. But I will.

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins**
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup almond flour
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 bananas*
4 doonks stevia powder (or other sweet of choice)
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

See directions above.

**This may require less liquid because almond flour is usually more moist than other flours. When I get some I will give this a try and update. {hopefully}

Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Ingredients
1 cup oat flour
3/4 cup oat fiber
1/4 cup oats
3/4 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 bananas*
4 doonks stevia powder (click here for conversion chart for sweets)
1 TBS vanilla
1 TBS oil
2 TBS flaxseed + 6 TBS water
1/2 cup non dairy yogurt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

See directions above.

*The amount of banana is what was in the original recipe at ambitious kitchen. I think it is too much for these tweaked recipes. 2 bananas would probably work fine.

I also want to try a mix of the last two recipes, with the almond flour and flax "egg". 

{GF/DF/EF} Pancake Recipe -"My way"

I don't measure well. It usually shows in the end. However, I made pancakes yesterday and today without 'measuring' that turned out kind of yummy. Thought I'd share.

{Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free} Pancakes

Your results will undoubtedly differ. What you need:
1 large 'table' spoon- the kind you get out of your silverware drawer, not a measuring TBS.
1 cup measure- I use a one-cup Anchor-Hocking glass one
Medium mixing bowl- might even be able to get away with a small one...
Whisk

Ingredients:
Brown rice flour
Tapioca flour/starch
Sweet sorghum flour
Baking powder and soda
unsweetened almond milk (or dairy-free milk of choice)
Lemon juice
Oil, for mixing in or for the pan
Sweet of choice (I use Sweet Blend from THM)
Xanthan gum (with the starch and sorghum, I might leave this out next time)
Cinnamon if you'd like
Salt if you'd like

Directions:
Scoop 4-6 spoonfuls of brown rice flour into bowl. If they are heaping you'll need less; more leveled, use more. Scoop 2 spoonfuls of the tapioca flour/starch into the bowl. Scoop 1 spoonful of the sorghum into bowl.

Add about a TBS of baking powder- if you aren't 'measuring' like me then you'll just use your spoon and level it. Add about 1/2 tsp of baking soda. That's a bit on the tip of the spoon in my non-measuring method. Do the same with the xanthan gum.

Add powder sweet (if you use stevia, sweet blend, or other even sugar) to the bowl and mix. Also add the cinnamon and salt if you'd like.

In the glass measure cup, pour about 1 cup's worth of almond milk and add a splash of lemon juice. To this you'd add the oil if you intend to add it to the batter.

Pour the liquid into the dry ingredients. Whisk until smooth.

Oil pan; even if you added oil, I still think you'd need a little in the pan to prevent sticking. Cook like you cook any pancakes: Watch for bubbling, then flip and cook for until browned underside. I usually pierce the centers to be sure they aren't gooey in the middle.

Yum!

Gluten Free Cornbread

I've searched and searched for a gluten-free THM E cornbread recipe {that I was completely happy with} to no avail. They just do not meet the need I have to be gluten-free and "E". I decided to take one that was good for THM E and make it gluten free. 

The one I went with and tweaked can be found at Mrs. Criddle's Kitchen, and if not for the wheat flour, I might have tried to do that one. 

Gluten-Free Cornbread {THM E}

Ingredients:

1 cup cornmeal

1/3 cup oat fiber

3/8 cup oat flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup 0% Greek yogurt

3/4 cup + 3 TBS carton egg whites

6 TBS water

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425*F. Line a square baking pan {8x8 or 9x9} with parchment paper and lightly spray with nonstick spray. You can cut a square of parchment to fit the bottom of the pan, then use scraps to line the sides. 

In a medium bowl mix all dry ingredients. 

In a separate bowl mix all wet ingredients. Add to dry ingredients and mix well. You don't want clumps. {Well, I don't.}

After all is combined, pour into prepared pan and bake for about 30 minutes. 

Let rest a few minutes after baking. Cut into 9 pieces.

Notes: It is best to use sprouted blue corn for the cornmeal, but this is technically still an "E". 

If, no scratch that- when I make this again, I will up the oat fiber and decrease the oat flour. The latter gave it a bit of a gummy texture. I make my oat flour by grinding it up in my coffee grinder. Easy peasy.

The original recipe called for Sweet Blend. I've always liked cornbread with honey and I didn't want to change that memory. I just left out any sweet this time. And I think I need more salt next time.

Everyone {but the Warden perhaps} liked the cornbread. It was nice and moist and had {almost} the right texture. We had it with chili, for a nice cold weather dinner.

Gluten Free Drop Biscuits

Yay! I got my order of gf flours yesterday...and then the power went out. Go figure. Today I have made three batches of all-purpose flour to try out. Here are drop biscuits I made from "Experiment #1".

Flour ingredients: 

1/2 cup sorghum flour

1/2 cup brown rice flour

1/8 cup millet flour

1/8 cup buckwheat flour

1/8 cup quinoa flour

1/8 cup sweet white rice flour

1/2 TBS + 1/2 tsp glucomannan powder

Biscuit recipe:

1 3/4 cup flour above

1 TBS baking powder

1 tsp salt

6 TBS cold butter, cubed

1 cup almond milk -plus enough water to make a 'drop' biscuit dough consistency

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450*F. 

Mix flour well beforehand; add baking powder and salt. Mix. Cut in butter until resemble coarse crumbs. Add almond milk and water until desired 'drop' consistency is reached.

Grease cookie sheet. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto cookie sheet. Bake for about 17 minutes, until golden brown on top. Makes 15-18 biscuits. 

I chose to use almond milk so that I could eat these {butter, occasional cottage cheese and smidgen of greek yogurt is all I can seem to tolerate}. After all I am the only one that is choosing to be gf in the house. I would have used all almond milk but I ran out before I'd reached the right consistency. Water worked just fine. 

These were very yummy. I am so surprised, honestly. This is the second or third time that I have tried to make gf biscuits that I didn't end up throwing away. Nutritionally, I'm not sure these are wonderful but I can definitely see myself eating these occasionally. 

http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php 

I would like to experiment some more to lower the fat and raise the protein. And I might increase the baking powder, or use a combination of soda and powder. But really these were yummy. The kids even liked them *wink*.

Weekly Wrap-Up -03.07.14- Week Before Term 2 Exams

I attempted to start a weekly wrap-up last week but that didn't fly at all. The Weekly Barden didn't even get done! Not sure what was so different about last week but oh well; moving on. 

*This post contains Amazon affiliate links. See Disclosure/Policies.

Sunday I was sick. Stuffed head, achy in my bones, just not well. Stayed home all day and finished a paper for the last week of my classes. Should have put it off until Monday perhaps because I reread it {after I turned it in...yeah...} and it isn't very clear. But it's done.

I did get some more reading in of The Living Page*, Praying for Boys*, and a review book that is a verse by verse study on the book of Hebrews {I don't care for the book I'm reviewing, so it's difficult to make myself read it}. 
*affiliate links

Monday started well with Round Table and a chemistry experiment. We separated water. Fox had done it before at a homeschool co-op but Lee and I had not so that's what we did. Pretty neat! Fox suggested trying it with a car battery...I'm sure that would pretty awesome but it ain't happenin'.

It was fun to do this experiment. And super easy *wink*.

Oh, yes, and from reading in The Living Page, I was reminded that I've not put an entry in my Nature Journal in so long. This morning I could actually see some light in the window when I woke up so I decided to record that in the journal. I'd like to make it a habit {so many habits I'd like to make a habit *sigh*} each morning to record what I see and/or hear.

Tuesday has started... but I'm so very tired. I could not sleep last night, for whatever reason. I had heartburn which I've not had in a very long time, and a headache. I blame the Jelly Belly jelly beans I ate earlier in the day along with the peppermint patties around bed time... I do learn from my mistakes; I just don't always apply what I've learned.

I put an entry in the Nature Journal. I wanted to add a drawing but I'm just so tired, it wouldn't come out right to be sure. 

Today is Friday of sorts because tomorrow there is no school. Well, we are going on a field trip so there still is school but no book work. We are going to the Auto Show that runs March 1-9 this year. 

Wednesday we did what we planned. It was fun and exciting but I didn't find my car. LOL I'm on the lookout for my "next" car and was hoping for "the" car at the auto show. Last year we went and I really liked the Toyota Venza. This year, not so much. It's bigger and smaller at the same time, with much too much going on inside of it. Dh likes the Toyota Highlander which is way too big imho. 

I had a GoPro* for taking videos and photos. Perhaps dh will let me share the compilation video he makes of mine and his footage. He does great work with video stuffs. 
*affiliate link

I finished up the last bits for my two college classes. I am officially done for this term; just waiting for the grade the instructors will give. I already have registered for Summer term and ordered my books. It's funny; there are the same number of classes but more books for half the cost as last term. Eh well. The courses are titled Foundations of Exceptionality and Foundations of Education. I'm looking forward to them. I feel I've learned a lot in the two I just finished. Although what I learned was pretty much that Charlotte Mason hit the nail on the head way back before many. Also I learned that technology is crazy and being seen as the magic bullet for education. 

Thursday I woke up at 5:55 am but refused to get out of bed until 6:30 am. I think that I should actually get up every morning that I wake early; but I rarely do it. Even though I got up at the same time as most mornings, it felt like there was more accomplished. Coffee was made (I put Redmond clay and FCLO in my bulletproof coffee {coconut oil and butter} this morning for added nutritional value- wasn't too bad), discussion boards for classes checked, email checked, AO forum checked, and The Living Page read. It was a good morning. And I even got a shower in before the kids were up. That's an accomplishment! 

Reading Bestvater's book made me realize- again- that I need to supply my kiddos with the materials they need. Not cheap ones that I myself would not want. I've done this before, often, because I *know* that they will not take as good care as I would. Perhaps, though, they do not because I give the impression that that is what I expect to happen, rather than trusting them to care for the things as I would want them to. I bought a set of woodless colored pencils* for Fox today. A set all his own. He generally shares my Prismacolor* or Lee's set that she got for a birthday gift. And we are usually harping on him to be careful; don't drop them; don't sharpen them too roughly; etc. I don't know how good of quality the pencils I chose are but the description sounds nice and the reviews are favorable. I want him to have nice things that he will cherish and treasure. And use of course. 
*affiliate link

Tonight for dinner it's going to be a whole chicken cooked in the crockpot. I've never cooked one in the crockpot like this so I'm a little nervous. I started it at 10:00 am to be done by 6:00 pm. It was mostly thawed when I put it in the pot. I can smell it starting to cook now. Yum. If it doesn't get done by 6:00 pm that is fine; we usually eat dinner a little before 7:00 pm. 

{Edited: It's done by 5:00 pm! Now I have to figure what goes with it. Uh, I need to figure out what to do with it. I stripped the meat off and put all the 'sludge' and bones back in the crockpot with some more water and some apple cider vinegar to make chicken broth. When it's done, I'll strain all the bits out and mash them for the cat's food.} 

This morning after Round Table I all of a sudden decided next week will be Term 2 exam week. I don't recall us ever having a Term 2 exam. Lee asked if I had enough time to prepare and if the term was actually over yet. We've been a bit behind 'schedule' all year. I answered yes to both. 

I know what I will be doing when we are not doing school. {Edited: I'm going almost exclusively off of the AO exams for Y8 and Y10. How easy is that? *smile*}

I went grocery shopping by myself today. Normally the kids go with me and are a big help. They still had quite a bit of school to get done with so I opted for them to stay behind. The cost for the "week's" groceries was over $100. That's the highest it's been for quite awhile. I did get a double size of fish though, which will run into next week. And since I'm trying to get everyone on the THM plan, I had to buy more of what I'd consider "special" food {by that I mostly mean things like cottage cheese and greek yogurt}, and a lot more fresh veggies! That's something I've been trying to do for awhile. I actually purchased a bag of kale. At some point I am going to attempt to make kale chips. 

Later in the day, since it was so nice, being in the low 30s, I begged bribed convinced the kids to go out on a bike ride with me. It is much colder riding a bike but it was nice and fun. I want to take my camera out now and shoot some stills of nature. {Edited: I did take my camera out to the backyard. I posted my photos in this post.} 

Friday Yay! It's not like the week has been long though. We had two days on, one day off, and the last two days on. It's been a good week. And Friday has tea-time, pizza and a movie. It's a great way to end the week.

This morning the radio weather forecast says it will be 40s today. That means o.u.t.d.o.o.r. weather! We'll see how it goes. Also this morning for some strange reason, I remembered someone close mentioning that in the municipality that I live in we are allowed to have chickens. That makes me so very happy. I just need to convince hubby...well, just as soon as I figure out the rules. There really don't appear to be many. Keep them on your property, don't let them destroy others' property, keep them sanitary and keep the noxious odors down. Sound doable.

We had tea-time, and then Fox and I had a quick bike ride. For tea-time I made shortbread cookies. Normal recipe {uh, well, I used honey in place of sugar- not so normal?} and a gluten free recipe for me {yes, I shared}. We read from Eragon* again. 
*affiliate link

Gluten-free spiced shortbread {here's the original recipe}
1 1/2 TBS coconut flour*
1 1/2 TBS almond meal*
2 TBS butter
1/2 TBS honey & 1 stevia packet
cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, cloves {or 1/2 TBS cocoa powder for chocolate shortbread}
*affiliate link

Preheat oven to 365F. Mix all well and separate into 8 balls. Cover cookie sheet with parchment paper and space the 8 dough balls on the paper. Press them down into whatever shape you'd like. 

Cook for 9 minutes. Watch them 2 minutes til the end; they brown {burn} quickly. Remove from oven but let cool completely before removing from the cookie sheet. 

They were good. Next time I will either not use the stevia and even less of the honey or...well, I'm not sure. I like my shortbread to be butter more than sweet. 

Then we had to run an errand. Uh, the errand was to buy a new bookcase. I have books stacked too many places and books stacked on books on the existing bookshelves.

And now the day is just about done as it's almost 9:00 pm. Dh and I watched an episode of Ancient Aliens* {Amazon Instant Video link; affiliate}, while the kids watched some of Batman* {the old tv series; affiliate}. It was a night for laughter apparently *wink*. I have some reading I'd like to get done before heading to bed so off I go. Have a great weekend!

Adventures in Gluten Free... to be continued

Granted, it isn't the best photo ...and I forgot to take an 'after' photo. 

Today I felt adventurous and attempted to make uh, fat bread. I honestly have no idea what the name is really. I changed it to "Quick Brazil Nut Bread" because I used Brazil nuts. I would love to have used macadamia nuts but alas, they were not be found at the stores I went to. As it is, the Brazils were $5 for a cup! Spendy loaf of bread...

Here are two images I found online of this bread, before baking and after. {They're pinnned to my Food & Drink board at Pinterest.}

My before and after somewhat resemble these but are different, of course. Things never turn out like the pictures! And their's call for macadamia nuts or almonds {or is it both?}.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients: 

5 large eggs

1 cup Brazil nuts, ground in the food processor until 'butter'

1 cup coconut flakes, ground in the food processor until they were fairly fine {but not 'butter' like; I just couldn't get it to do it}

1/2 tsp salt

2 TBS lemon juice

1 heaping tsp baking soda

In the processor I dumped the nuts and blended away until there was butter. When it was really smooth, and churning along nicely, I cracked an egg open and dropped it down the chute. I let it churn. Then I did the same with the second egg. Finally, I added the remaining three eggs and just let it mix. Then I dumped in the coconut flakes and salt, and let it blend even longer. {In retrospect, I'd put the coconut flakes in before the eggs since I didn't have coconut butter.} I turned it off and added the lemon juice, then gave it a pulse to mix some. And lastly, in went the baking soda with a last good churn, to make sure it was all mixed. 

I sprayed a glass bread pan with cooking spray and poured my batter into it. I think mine was more liquidy than the others I've seen. The bread baked for 35 minutes at 350*F. I think I would bake it for 40 minutes if I were to make it again. 

It rose about an inch...maybe. It smells like scrambled eggs. Fortunately, it doesn't taste like scrambled eggs! I'm tired of eating gluten free only to have egg-everything take it's place. 

The texture is a little spongey and it's a short loaf. I really can't see this being good for sandwich bread but it's perfect for how I ate it, with fresh peanut butter {grind-your-own from the store}. That photo up there is only the remaining half of the slice, just so you know.

If you're interested, here's the breakdown from Calorie Count, nutrition wise. I figured it can be sliced into 20 small pieces {that's what I'm going to do with it anyway}.

**and totally unrelated to bread.... I *love* Picmonkey!!**

Weekly Wrap-up: First week of 2013 (Week #13?) & Cranberry Pomegranate Pork Pot Roast

What a week! It went fast. Time just keeps speeding up…

Sunday- we had church, where it seems most families with children have been sick. Somehow we’ve missed it. Thankfully. It was the start of the winter schedule where we have morning service, lunch and fellowship followed by a shorter service. We usually get done about 2pm. We didn’t stay for the lunch and following because we’d forgotten that it started that Sunday. We plan on staying tomorrow. That was about all that happened on that day.

This might have been the day that I finished the book Kindred, but cannot be sure. It was …different. I was able to check it out from the library for reading on my computer- that’s never much fun for me. But it wasn’t available for Kindle. Anyway, moving on.

Monday- Back to school! Our first day back since…goodness before Thanksgiving I believe. That’s one reason I don’t know what “week” of school we are on. We did have school sporadically from the week after Thanksgiving to a week before Christmas but I don’t know how much. It is all written down, recorded, somewhere.

Monday’s are still babysitting day for Lee so we had less school. Actually *I* had none. All their work was independent. It was so nice and quiet. They were good and stayed on task.

About noon, however, I started having some strange lower back pain. By the time we got ready to go to Mentor, I could just hobble around. By 4:00pm, I just couldn’t really get around any longer. I sat in the car at Lee’s babysitting house for about 15-20 minutes in the car because I couldn’t stand to move around any more. And no, I didn’t ‘do’ anything to my back. I had been sitting in a kitchen chair for awhile. Before that, just my usual activities- no twisting, pulling or strenuous activity. It’s a mystery!

Tuesday- As far as school goes that’s when stuff started to get tough- for Lee at least. We now have a google document for schedules that we can both see and edit- even at the same time. I don’t think Lee has any more than she did before the break but those long weeks between, she’s just not used to it yet. Got out of the habit, I guess. Fox was done with his work around lunch time and that just irked Lee terribly.

Oh, and that back issue from Monday? It was very much worse on Tuesday. I laid on the couch pretty much all day. None of our together subjects got done; I just wasn’t up for it (no pun intended!). We didn’t go anywhere that day- not sure I could have made it to the car.

I think this is the day (but it may have been Wednesday) we went to the library and the store. I sat in the car while the kids did my bidding

I started and finished a couple of books while confined to the couch. I read The Time Traveler’s Wife (checked out from the library) and The Time Machine (free for the Kindle). I liked both but had qualms about both as well. It’s difficult to find good fiction, in my opinion.

Wednesday- School, school, school. Fox did his without too much effort (and that’s just what I mean *sigh*) and Lee was overwhelmed. That’s about all I can say about that day for school.

Fox had Young Marines, after a few weeks break. Lee and I were going to go to evening church, Lee to teen discipleship and I to prayer meeting, but my back wouldn’t allow me to drive. We stayed home instead. Fun.

Thursday- It’s interesting how other days, farther past, I can recall more vividly than a day just two days ago. I do know that most of school was done although not without some fussiness. Otherwise, we didn’t go anywhere or do anything spectacular that I can recall.

Friday- Fox and I got up earlyish to buy some coffee- I have to have my coffee, you see. Well, no, not really but I sure do like it. I’ve gone months without it –just to see if I could, and I did, so now I drink it when I want –so I know I don’t ‘need’ it.

I downloaded Cozi to my Kindle Fire (it’s free), in the hopes of being more organized. I’m not entirely sure it’ll do any better than a piece of paper and a pen. I put in our shopping list and even messed that up Leave it to me…

The most exciting part of Friday, in my opinion, was that I made a super yummy pork pot roast with cranberry pomegranate juice. Here’s the recipe (with my tweaks in parentheses):

Ingredients:

• 1.5-2 lb pork roast (mine was 3.5 lbs!)
• 2 TBS oil (about right)
• 1 1/4 cups apple cider or juice (I used 3 cups Northland 100% cranberry pomegranate- I also added 1.5 cups water)
• 2 tsp beef bouillon granules (I used wrapped 4 cubes)
• 1/2 tsp dry mustard (I used…lol… about 1 TBS Hickory Farms Sweet Hot Mustard)
• 1/4 tsp pepper (about right)
• 3 medium red potatoes, cut into large pieces (I used 5 potatoes)
• 3 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces (I used a handful of baby carrots, some cut in half but most as-is)
• 3 medium parsnips, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces (omitted!- not opposed to the idea, just have never bought a parsnip)
• 1 large onion, cut into wedges (mine was medium, cut in fourths)
• 1/4 cup flour (I used cornstarch)

Directions (more or less):

• In a skillet, pour oil and heat on medium-high. After trimming fat from roast, brown each side in the oiled skillet. It doesn’t take very long at all!
• While it’s being browned, place potatoes, carrots and onions in bottom of crock pot (mine is a 7 quart, oval –worked wonderfully; if you are using a smaller roast, a 3 or 4 quart will work better). Mix together the juice, bouillon cubes and pepper. Put browned roast on top of vegetables. Pour juice mix over meat and vegetables. I added some water because the juice was just enough to get the vegetables. It was a big roast!
• Turn crock pot to low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours. When meat falls apart, it’s essentially done. Carefully remove meat and vegetables. Make a gravy from the juice/broth by adding in 1/4 cup cold water mixed either the flour or cornstarch (cornstarch works faster and doesn’t clump as easily, imho –but flour adds a better flavor) into the juice/broth and stirring until thickened. I actually poured it into a pan and did it on the stove but it was troublesome. I believe my crock pot was warm enough that I could have left it in there to do the gravy.
• Pour the gravy over the roast and vegetables and serve. We had pizza dough rolls with this.

Super yummy! Tonight I am using the leftover pork for shredded pork I wish I’d taken a photo of the yummy roast but it’s just food and I have the recipe

Saturday- That’s today and… ah, the kids (well, Lee and I but Fox has to go along as well) have a writer’s workshop to attend this afternoon and I’ve a mountain of dishes to do! It looks very nice out so we might go to the park, which we’ve not done in quite  a long time. My back is no where as bad as Monday or Tuesday but I can tell I will have to take it easy today still.

So, that’s been my week. How has yours gone? I’m going to try to link up with Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers and Homeschool Mother’s Journal but if I don’t…well, there’ll be other opportunities I suppose. *I did!*

Have a good weekend!

I’ve A Pen Obsession & Another Granola Recipe

What’s better than getting a box in the mail that you’ve been expecting and waiting for? Getting a box in the mail that you totally forgot you were expecting and waiting for! Because of Superstorm Sandy, I got a box that I’d fairly forgotten about.

The box itself was special, though. It’s funny. In my email I get offers from MyPoints that give me points towards gift cards and other ‘rewards’ just for clicking on the ad. In a particular offer, I could get a pack of 12 pens for free (be still my heart!)- just pay shipping –and earn points for anything I actually purchased. Since I had to pay shipping anyway, I browsed the site and found something else I wanted. The place I ordered from: Poppin.com

Never heard of them? Me either. But I got 30 points, 12 new pens and a little notebook.

One of the papers that came in the box was marked to make into a paper airplane. How awesome is that? My ds really liked that

And yes, I have a pen obsession. Love to collect pens. From anywhere and every where. No pen is safe. And I leave them everywhere (unfortunately). That clip thing in the box? That’s a pen…yep.

Here’s what I got from poppin (which to me looks like uiddod most of the time because I’m seeing it sideways lol).

Yellow is my favorite color but for some reason I just wanted the orange pens. I wonder now, after the fact, if I thought that the pens actually wrote in orange ink. Well, they do not; black ink. Of course, I had to get the yellow soft cover notebook. I’ve wanted a moleskine notebook for a long time but couldn’t justify the price. This might not have ‘moleskine’ in its name, it feels like one and looks like one and I like it!

I’ve even given each of my kiddos a pen. Isn’t that nice of me? heehee…

I’m never sure what to use each notebook I get so this one doesn’t really have a designated use either. So far I’ve written some Bible study notes, a few verses to look up again, and today I put in a granola recipe that I found while browsing Pinterest. I also put a recipe for granola bars, chewy like Quaker’s. And I’m going to share what I’m going to do with those recipes:

Granola- Super Simple:

• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar (might use a bit less since there’s sugar in the recipe for the bars…decisions, decisions)
• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon (I like cinnamon but wish I had some allspice…)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 TBS honey
• up to 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted (I really like coconut oil for some reason)

I have more oats and honey than the original recipe calls for in hopes of making a wee bit more. (Just read the fine print of the granola bar recipes and she increased the oats to 3 cups as well- huh!) The plan is to mix the dry ingredients separately from the wet. I’ll ‘cook’ the sugar, honey and oil until it’s all dissolved (the sugar). Then it’ll all be mixed well. On a cookie sheet at a temp of about 275- 350*F, –depending on my mood honestly –it should cook and be done within an hour.

After that, I’ll work on the bars but my recipe won’t have any chocolate or peanut butter chips. I’ll use some peanut butter in place of or with the butter.

And I’ll probably use my wee yellow (snicker –ahem) notebook to record my results. I’ll try to remember to do so here as well.

***Disclaimer: there are no affiliate links in this post –I actually purchased from poppin all on my own and just like to share what I got. As for the MyPoints reference, you can sign up for free at their website to earn points yourself to put towards gift cards and other rewards. I’m going to use my next accumulation of points for $25 into my PayPal. Right now I could get $10 gift cards to many different places like WalMart, Starbucks, Kmart, Sears, JCPenney, Kohl’s and a lot more but I don’t need anything from there. A gas card would be nice… Anyway, that’s the end of my little disclaimer. See more about my Disclosure/Policies if you’d like.

Granola Bars! Forgot the sugar…

I would like to give you a great recipe but… I just threw together some stuff I had on hand. I used:

• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 3 cups quick oats
• 2 cups flour (1/2 white, 1/2 whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup almond/coconut milk (it’s a mix that I bought on a whim- unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1/4 cup marshmallow crème (yea, I was trying to keep it together)
• 1 can frozen apple juice, thawed
• 1 cup flax seeds
• 1 tsp vanilla

I didn’t write this down so am going by memory here. One cool thing about granola, it’s so easy to make and you can rarely mess it up. Of course, I forgot the sugar in this batch so it is a bit bland. The apple juice gives it a bit of …a sour taste? That’s how the kids described it. Also, I did drizzle honey on the top of it while it was baking to see if that’d help it stay together (and sweeten it).

I mixed all ‘dry’ ingredients together. Liquid and wet ingredients were mixed in a large glass measuring cup. Eventually, it was all just glopped together. I greased a cookie sheet (with coconut oil- that stuff can make anything non-stick!) and pressed down the ‘dough’. I cooked it at 275*F for 30 minute increments. I think after the second 30 minutes, I scored the bars. Just keep an eye on the color and also poke it every so often to feel how ‘done’ it’s getting.

Finally after 1 1/2 hours (or was it 2?) I was able to transfer the bars to a cooling rack. Here are two photos- one with flash, one without. Both are without “sugar”

I have another post on my blog with a better recipe –in my humble opinion –for granola, in case you’re interested.

100% Whole Wheat Bread–Many photos!

It takes hours to make bread. But it is sooo worth it!

I’m fairly certain I’ve posted my attempts at bread on here. I used to be able to make beautiful white bread. It is after all not just about taste; it should look good, too. Well, that might not be true, it’s a nice thought anyway. I’ve never really had success with making whole wheat bread. I mean 100% whole wheat. Almost every recipe I can find for whole wheat is more white flour than whole wheat. I was determined today to find a recipe for 100% whole wheat, and make it successfully. Care to see how it turned out…?

First, I looked in various cookbooks that I have and finally found one in Laurel’s Kitchen (fitting name, dontcha think?). They call it Basic Whole-Grain Bread. It simply calls for water, brown sugar, active dry yeast, salt and whole wheat flour. In true *me* fashion, I edited the recipe:

• 2 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 package dry yeast (~2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/2 tablespoon salt
• 6 cups whole wheat flour

I substituted honey for the brown sugar because the b. sugar we have is really just white sugar with molasses. Although now that I am thinking on it, the honey tastes ‘diluted’ as well (do they even do that?). What can I say- I buy my foods at the ‘cheap’ store- you get what you pay for! The yeast I would have used the amount called for in the original recipe but I have the little individual sealed packs this time instead of the jar. It originally called for 1 full tablespoon of salt also and next time, I’ll follow that. I just don’t generally use much salt in cooking.

Also, there is no fat in this recipe! I’ve always used either butter or oil when I make bread. I wonder if I add it next time how it will affect it? Hmmm.

I’ll go through all my steps. I photographed every. single. step. I think. Even made two very short videos

Put warm water into a large bowl; mix in honey. Sprinkle the yeast on top. It will bubble shortly –within a few minutes at most. Make sure the water’s not too hot or cold. I usually pour it on my wrist. I like it a little warmer than I would make for a baby bottle. You could check what the ‘ideal’ temp is and go for that.

Note on the way I added the gluten: I put 1 tablespoon of it at the bottom of each cup I measured of flour so technically, I probably used 1 tablespoon less of the flour per cup than I say.

You can see the yeast bubbling in the photo to the left. Add 3 cups of flour to the mix and stir until it is nice and ‘smooth’. It wasn’t as thick as I thought it would be. Reminded me a bit of pancake batter.

Now add in 1 cup of flour (with the gluten) at a time, and the salt, and stir. I keep out the last cup of flour (and 1 tablespoon of gluten) for kneading –something my mom taught me.

I stirred it until it just stuck to the spoon and followed it around the bowl. Then I put some flour on the cutting board/counter to do my kneading.

I also sprinkled some of the 1 cup remaining flour on top of the dough to keep it from initially sticking to me. Kneaded the dough until it ‘absorbed’ the flour; then I sprinkled more on it. Eventually I used all of the 1 cup flour off the side.

Here’s a quick video of how I knead. Usually I use both hands but with one operating the camera, well… And here’s one of the elasticity of the dough after kneading. You want the dough to spring back when you press your finger in it.

After I kneaded the dough to the texture I was happy with (I could have kneaded it a bit longer now that I think about it), I put the dough back in the clean greased bowl I’d used to mix it earlier. I turned it once to coat both sides with oil to keep it from sticking as it rose. Covered it with a towel and put it in my oven with just the light on. I didn’t take a photo of the dough in the bowl but it filled it to about 2/3? I didn’t pay attention to the time either –oops- so I don’t know how long it took. Generally it’ll take at least 30 minutes unless it’s pretty warm where you put it. Oh, you don’t want it to be too warm, just free from drafts.

Here it is after rising to what I felt was double. Isn’t it pretty? And yes I do keep my sanitizing wipes wherever I am cooking. You just never know when you’ll need them…I’ll understand if you are concerned I poison the food if you come over to eat

Next I got two identical loaf pans –not a necessity, just I like to have the same so they bake the same –glass Pyrex. I greased them with oil.

Next I divided the dough semi-equally. I’m a little off After dividing them, I simply flattened them into the shape of the loaf pan. Just pressed them flat and squished so they would fit.

I pressed them into the loaf pans so that as much of the air bubbles were out. I don’t know if you can see the air bubble in the corner on the pan on the right, before I pressed it down more. The second photo shows that I at least gave it a good try to get rid of the air pocket.

I covered the loaf pans and put them back in the oven with just the light on to rise again.

Here they are after rising to just above the rim of the pans.

The lighting isn’t very good, sorry! But you get the idea I think I should have let them rise just a tad more…

Finally, I preheated the oven a few minutes before I wanted to bake the loaves, at 375*F. They baked for 37 minutes. Here they are freshly done.

I spread butter over the tops, sides and bottoms of the loafs after baking to help soften the crust.

I’ll admit that my loaves stuck and I worried I would have to share a torn up loaf but alas! it was released I used a butter knife to loosen the edges. Perhaps I didn’t oil it well enough; I used to use shortening.
Here are my loaves all done and ready to be eaten.

And who can resist a fresh baked loaf of bread? No one in our family! The first loaf (the smaller of the two) is about 1/2 gone already.

Success! It was mine!