Is it Friday yet???

Some weeks just go on forever...or at least it seems that way.  This week started off like it was going to be a perfect summer start.  The kids were in great moods, we were getting out and biking or running daily and we had the pseudo empty nest while the boy is visiting his grandparents.  I can't put my finger on where it all went wrong, but I think it's the daycare kids just getting a tad bit out of control.  My kiddos are creatures of habit and two days of busy summer play was great but movie day in the middle of the week put them over the edge.  I hope they settle into the routine soon and we all get back to just enjoying our days and each other!

I tried yesterday to cajole them into better moods with their favorite side dish for lunch.  Apple Carrot Raisin salad.  No dice. It was a good effort though.

They ate it up.  And still grumped.  How is that possible with such a cheery salad??  Oh well.  I had a secret weapon that I deployed once the house was quiet and the hubby and I grabbed a few minutes of peace...

Homemade vanilla ice cream, homemade strawberry syrup and some yummy granola to top it all off!  I swear, I have dubbed this combo "Faux Strawberry Scooter Crunch" because it tastes JUST like those ice cream bars I used to down in middle school with my leftover lunch change I saved up.   Do you remember those?  Well, this brings back lots of memories of how good those bars were.  Worth scrimping to save up!

Speaking of scrimping to save up...the hubby and I have seriously been talking about changing our finances much in the way we've done our food.  Quality vs quantity is definitely something that can apply here as well.  We eat better, but eat less and enjoy our lives more as result.  I think the same principles can be applied there as well.  I think it will be a great journey and well worth the changes we will definitely be going through but we want to change our lives.  We may be worried to the extreme, but we've just become distrustful of the banks and the government and I don't want to feel that we have to rely on either one.  Is that crazy?  I don't know anymore.  It seems that there is just so much going on that the people aren't considered in.  I don't want any debt and all of the strings that come with it.  I will try and share our journey as we make these changes as well so that maybe somebody else out there will be blessed and encouraged by it just the same.  I know that God is in control, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be doing what we can to be where we need to be.

Okay, now on to the recipes.

Apple Carrot Raisin Salad

Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 large carrot; peeled and julienned or shredded


• 2 medium apples; peeled, cored and chopped


• 1/4 c organic raisins


• 2 T poppy seed dressing

Directions

1. Toss all ingredients together and serve

Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1 c heavy cream


• 1 c skim milk


• 1 c almond milk


• 1/2 c sugar


• 2 t vanilla extract

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together until sugar is dissolved


2. Pour into ice cream maker and process until no longer soft

Strawberry Syrup

Ingredients

• 2 c strawberries, capped and either whole if small or quartered if larger


• 3/4 c sugar

Directions

1. Put ingredients in medium saucepan and bring to a rolling boil


2. Stir frequently to avoid boiling over and cook for about 10 minutes


3. Remove from heat and cool before using

 

 

Why I Blog...

I asked a question about one of the blog networking/advertising sites on my Facebook page and when I commented back about the monthly revenue I am currently getting, it made me think about why I'm here.  What are my goals?  Who am I doing this for?  And, you know, there aren't easy answers to those questions.  Why do we choose to do any of the things we do in life?

Okay, I'll admit it.  When I first started food blogging, visions of being the next Pioneer Woman or Chef Tess were dancing around in my head. These were two bloggers that I followed pretty religiously and I loved them.  I wanted to be them.  But, somewhere along the line, I realized I'm not them and that's okay!  I'm me.  And whether that me is a blogger or not, I still enjoy sharing what I do every day with anyone who'll listen.

So, if I'm not the "next big thing" why spend hours documenting our meals, creating recipes, trying new things?  Easy.  Because I love it.  I love the photo shoots with our food.  I love looking back at my early pictures with fondness in the same way I look at my new pictures with pride and I hope that a year from now, I'll be doing the same thing with a whole new set of pictures.  It's a growth process that has given me a whole new arena to play in.  I mean, I love being a child care provider and there is a certain amount of creativity and play that goes into that career choice but the writer in me sometimes just needs to write.  I've done child care articles, written a curriculum but it's so familiar to me that it's too close for comfort at times.  Food blogging is not.  It's always new, always different because I'm always pushing myself to find that new thing for our family.  Changing up the old recipes and finding new ones is like a treasure hunt.

As far as goals go, I don't know if I have a lot of them for my little blog here.  I mean, my personal 2012 goal is to have 1000 likes or subscribers but that's just me.  Wouldn't that be cool?  Just to see a 4 digit number.  But if I don't make it, that's okay too.  I'd rather have a couple hundred subscribers who know me and love the recipes than 1000 who just passed through and never stop back at all.  A few months ago, I was contemplating a giveaway and I emailed another blogger who I adore...Anne at From My Sweet Heart asking for help on setting it up.  Her response?  Why do you want to do one?  And she went on to explain that the likes you get from making a giveaway "like-based" for lack of a better term only drives traffic in the short term.  It's better to slowly grow and build a base of fans who really appreciate what you do.  Okay, I am paraphrasing because there was much more to her email than that, but that's the general meaning behind it.  And she was right.  That was what I wanted.  So, not giveaways yet.  Maybe someday if some generous company wants to help out but if not, that's not why I'm here.  I'm here to share, to write and to enjoy the back and forth among bloggers and readers.

So, now that I've gone through and explained why I blog and what I do, I do think that I should mention that Foodbuzz, while not a big moneymaker as I probably thought it would be for me when I started a year and a half ago, has been a great partner for my site.  I hosted my first 24X24 dinner party with them in May and I was amazed at how helpful and quick they were to respond with payment, to questions, etc.   Sure, I make anywhere from .83 to 1.87 a month on click throughs and that isn't a lot of money but it pays for my hosting and it lets me keep blogging.  Isn't that what it's about?  Well, it is for me anyway.

I hope that you like the blog, that you enjoy coming here and reading my little observations and my crazy little recipes.  And now that the hubby and I both have gone vegetarian, there's a whole new journey afoot.  So, I hope that you keep reading and I'll keep writing...

Enjoy!

Sheri

Oh, and if you are interested in trying to make a living at your blog...there is a good post on Christian Personal Finance about it.  It's ALOT of work and requires dedication and persistence but it can be done.  And while you're there, just spend some time reading.  A lot of great info on that site!!  It's one of my favorite non-food blogs!

Multigrain Bread II

I've been playing around with bread recipes, trying to make it the right blend of grains to be healthy, still taste good and have a nice texture.  A tall order for sure, but since I make bread just about every other day, I had plenty of opportunities for practice.  Finally, I got to the point that the taste was right, and it had a decent texture but it just wasn't "fluffy" enough for me.  I hope you know what I mean because I just don't know how else to describe it.  I love the light texture of bread but I love whole grains and sometimes those aren't exactly easy to accomplish in the same loaf.

Until...I feel like shouting "ta-da" like the kids would do.  This loaf really was perfect.  I had a slice, or two, today and it was equally good plain or covered in some creamy peanut butter.  True test of any bread - does it pair well with peanut butter???

So, really all I did was tweak my oatmeal bread recipe. Funny, the answer was right there all the time and I kept trying recipe after recipe after recipe.  Well, you get the idea.   Either way, stroke of genius was just a bit late on this one.

Here's my bread after the second rise, just ready to pop into the hot oven!  I think the grains are showing through a little more easily and you can see the texture of the bread as well.  I can usually tell by the second rise whether a loaf is going to be light or dense.  Just  reading the dough without even touching it.  I think as you become more experienced at bread making those sorts of signs can pop out at you.

I've been helping a friend as she is transitioning to making her own bread and I feel helpless at times that I can't be there and see what's happening or tell her exactly what went wrong.  I know that trial and error is a part of the process but just the same, I've invited her to join me in the kitchen to make bread so when she joins me, I am thinking of making a step by step tutorial on making bread.  I'd love to hear if that's something that anyone out there is interested in!

Anyway, on to this recipe...before I start listing ingredients, I wanted to mention that this bread can EASILY be adapted to whatever grains you have on hand.  Don't feel that you need to get some obscure grain to make it work.  Just use what you have and go from there.  Some things to avoid though are things that contain high protein amounts like ground flax seed.  It will change the recipe.  A lot.  Just keep that in mind.  Also, I use a bread machine set on the dough cycle.  It can be done by hand, and it can be done in the bread machine.  I just like the loaf size of baking it in the oven.

Multigrain Bread II

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 c hot water


• 2 T butter


• 3 T honey (or sugar, maple syrup, agave nectar, etc.  Pretty flexible)


• 1 1/2 t salt


• 1 c oats (regular rolled oats are fine. I use quick cooking)


• 2 c bread flour


• 1 c whole wheat flour


• 2 T each: ground kamut, ground millet, ground buckwheat, quinoa, sesame seeds, flax seeds


• 4 T sunflower seeds (I've used pumpkin seeds with good results as well.)


• 2 1/2 t yeast

Directions

1. Add hot water, honey, butter, salt to bread machine pan.


2. Add oats and flours on top of water. Do not stir in.


3. Gently sprinkle yeast on top of flour


4. Set machine to dough cycle and start cycle


5. When add in beep occurs, add quinoa, sesame seeds, flax seeds and sunflower seeds.


6. As dough cycle finishes, sprinkle kneading surface with flour and turn dough onto it.  Punch down dough and knead a few times, adding flour if needed.  Don't overwork the dough but be sure to press out as much air as possible.


7. Roll the dough into a rectangle, roll up like a jelly roll and turn ends over to be a loaf shape.


8. Put in oiled pan, and cover until risen about 1" above pan top


9. Preheat oven and bake at 375 for about 22-25 minutes.  Be sure oven is to temperature before putting bread in.  It needs that hot shot of air to finish the rise before baking.  Otherwise, it may fall flat.

Enjoy!

Sheri

 

Picnic Time...Empanaditas and Corn & Black Bean Salad

Today we were going to a cookout/picnic and each person was asked to bring a dish to share.  Since there are two of us, I opted to bring a salad and a dessert, one from each of us.  My choice for the salad is one of my favorite ones...Corn & Black Bean Salad.  I can't believe how unhealthified I used to make this...ranch dressing, cheddar cheese...ugh.  Not these days though.  It was perfect just like this!

It is just a combo of black beans, corn, tomatoes and garbanzo beans splashed with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sugar, salt and cilantro.  I did sprinkle a little feta cheese on just before serving.  It was so bright and crisp.  And it went quickly at the cookout.  We brought home very little of it.  I'm glad so many people enjoyed it!

My real test was making Empanaditas.  Now, I have been on a folded dough kind of kick since making Empanadas a few weeks ago, but these were different.  I found them on Eating Well's site listed as Pineapple Empanaditas but I saw something different reading the recipe.  I made a few swaps (of course!) and cut the cream cheese in half and substituted goat cheese for the missing half.  I also used almond milk instead of milk.  I thought the dough turned out well flavor-wise but it was a bit difficult to work with.  I had to be very gentle in handling it. I also swapped out the pineapple filling for 1/2 blackberry and 1/2 strawberry and used organic jams for the filling.

First, it was time to cut out all of the circles for filling..

Next, time to fill them...

First ones done are the blackberry filled ones..

Strawberry ones get a nice coating of confectioner's sugar.

These little beauties were perfect!  Small, easy to manage and I was happy we still got to bring some home.  Not that I wasn't willing to share, but it's always nice when you have a few leftovers to enjoy!

While I'm sharing, I realized I never shared my black bean burgers from last week...these are fantastic!  The recipe is from Eat, Live, Run and it's a keeper!



Enjoy!
Sheri

 

Cranberry Toasted Walnut Quinoa

Up until now we have really avoided quinoa.  Once, about 2 years ago, I tried making it for the family and was given a quick thumbs-down on my meal.  So, I mentioned that I was making it for dinner and the hubby was less than enthusiastic.  And then, once he had it, he had seconds.  I think I won him over...and me too!

This was super easy to make and it came out delicious.  It was similar to a pilaf, but with the quinoa and the walnuts, it made for a heartier meal.

I know my friends are out there saying, "I told you so!" and to them I say, "thank you."  It's great to have people telling you over and over how awesome something is until you finally listen.  I'm glad they didn't give up because I have lots more plans for that bag of quinoa I got from the grocery store today.  :)

Cranberry Toasted Walnut Quinoa

Ingredients

• 2 c cooked quinoa, cooked in vegetable broth for more flavor


• 1/2 c dried cranberries


• 1/4 cup of chopped toasted walnuts


• 1 1/2 c cooked mixed vegetables; I used thai blend from Cascadian Farms.  Blanched, chopped spinach or kale could be used too.

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients together.  That's it.  Too easy!

I love recipes like this because it reaffirms that quick doesn't have to mean unhealthy.  Cooking all of the separate ingredients and then mixing together probably took about 20 minutes and while we were waiting, we had a nice salad.  It's about finding those foods that work well for your body, your budget and your time!  They're out there!  Just be open to them, like we were open to quinoa.  We got the reward of a healthy, tasty supper...what's your reward?

Enjoy!

Sheri

 

Weekend + Fun with Family & Friends = Loving My Life!

Have you ever had a day that you wanted to capture and keep close at hand for those days that aren't as wonderful?  Saturday was that day for me.   I actually felt sad when it was time to go to sleep because I just didn't want the day to end.  We spent the whole day just enjoying our life and all of the little things that make it so special.  Beautiful weather and blue skies greeted our morning and there was even a chill to the air.  Perfect weather our first 5k of this year!  The race was Hope for Cope 5k and I was proud to wear their racing shirt.  It is a great organization and this was my first time running this course.  I was hoping for a PR (personal record) time but when I realized the run was almost all grass, no pavement, I wasn't sure it was possible.  And it wasn't.  I finished with a time of 30:14, about 3 minutes slower than my PR.  Ugh.  More grass running is in order!  But my disappointment was abated watching my niece, my nephew and my sister all running out there too!  Being joined by one of my favorite people in the world to run with, Kathleen, was a great treat too!  We all had a wonderful day and my hubby did PR it!  22:33 was his time.  Go hubby!

Time for some nourishment so we headed to Neato Burrito.  I don't know if they have one of these where you live, but it was my first time.  It was delicious!  I got a black bean hummus burrito and pretty quickly had an empty plate!  Next on the list was a bike swap where I scored some killer clothes deals!  My first matching jersey and shorts for biking! Grocery store was up next and while we were shopping, hubby mentioned that there was a Sweet Frog nearby.  You might have one of these places near you...it's a frozen yogurt and toppings bar where you can put whatever you want in the cup and pay by weight.  And it's pretty delicious!  I had a red velvet/cheesecake swirl with all kinds of yumminess on top.  Best way ever to end grocery shopping!

And now, it's time to get cooking!  I had so much food to make...corn and black bean salad, almond coconut milk, empanaditas, and while I'm at it, my cucumbers are getting soft so some refrigerator pickles are just the thing!  What a list!

First up, the milk.  We tasted a new product called Almond Coconut milk from Almond Breeze last week and I decided to make it ourselves.  We already make almond milk, it couldn't be that hard to add coconut, right?  Right.  It was super easy.  I just added coconut to my sprouted almonds in the vitamix, filled it up with water and turned it on.  It smelled pretty awesome!

I wonder if I need to change the writing on my pitcher?  I mean, it is almond coconut milk in there.  And it's delicious!  If you need the recipe, it's pretty simple.  I soak my almonds for a day, changing the water about 2-3 times or when it's cloudy.  I have a ratio of about 2 cups soaked almonds to about 5 cups of water and mix in the vitamix.  Then, I strain off the pulp with a jelly strainer bag and the milk that's left is the almond milk.  It's so easy.  We stopped buying processed almond milk long ago!

The pickles were equally easy but be warned, our house smelled while I was cooking the vinegar!  I used 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon salt.  I slow boiled the mixture until the sugar was dissolved and poured over the cucumbers.  (I added carrots too, aren't they pretty!?!)  Then I popped it in the fridge.  This was what I saw this morning...

They were so tasty!  A restaurant around here, Isaac's Deli, has little dishes of these types of pickled veggies they bring to the table while you're waiting.  Biting into one of those pickles made me think of all the lovely long lunches I've had there with my friend, Cindy.  I'm always amazed at the ability of food to transcend time and bring so many wonderful memories to wherever you are.  Food is the connection we all share.

I've good more stories and recipes to share but they'll have to wait...

Enjoy!

Sheri

The Best Blueberry Muffins. Ever. Seriously.

Dramatic?  Just a bit.  True?  Absolutely.  I wouldn't lie.  I loved these muffins so much more than I thought I would.  As I was making the recipe I thought it seemed like I was making cookies, not muffins, because the batter was SO thick.  I'm glad that I didn't tinker at all and let the magic happen.  And, yes, it was magic.  These muffins had a tenderness to the crumb that is really hard to find.  It was more like a fruited cupcake.  And delicious.  Did I mention that yet?  That's hard to believe because they were so delicious.  The daycare kids of course were also in love and had 2 muffins each.  My niece and nephew seemed pretty happy to take the leftovers (3 muffins out of 24 the day before!) this morning for breakfast.  Even so, I think we're all looking forward to the next time I make them.

I didn't even mention the crust on these muffins.  To die for.  I am not kidding when I say these are "must make!"

I found this recipe for Blueberry Muffins on The Pioneer Woman's page...I knew they had to be good :)  I just wasn't prepared for how good.

Some changes I made...I know I said I didn't tinker, and I really didn't BUT....I did not put sugar on top, we did not make a sauce , I used vanilla greek yogurt and I used frozen blueberries.  And those are my confessions for today's post.  :D

Please if you make them, let me know if you LOVED them as much as we did.  I'd hate to think I was all alone in my longing for more blueberry muffins!

[caption id="attachment_817" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="A few more muffins to take with you on your travels..."][/caption]