Quote of the Week

Learn to be satisfied.  It is

just as easy as being

dissatisfied-- and much

more pleasant.

Jacob de Jager

The Price is Right Game Night

Soo Much Fun!

Last night we had some friends over to play the price is right.  I am sure you could just buy a boxed game, but this was way more fun.  I am going to call this a craft because making the props took all my crafting skills. Of course Plinko was the big hit of the night and if you are going to make this buy a lot of dowels, it took me 5 trips to home depot before we had enough. Here is the list of all the games we made and hopefully you can tell from the picture what some of them looked like.  I am really excited to use this for birthday party's, family reunions, church activities and more. If you think you might want to try and make this stuff leave me a comment and I will tell you all the mistakes I made. 

Games:

It's in the bag

One Away

Bulls eye

Coming or Going

Plinko

Dice Game

Cliff Hanger

Check Game

Lucky Seven

Thats Too Much!

Hole in One

When and how to fertilize raspberries

 We got a lot of snow this weekend, which makes it the perfect time to fertilize raspberries.  Late winter, while there is still snow sprinkle some azalea food on top of the snow.  That is all.  As the snow melts the fertilizer is absorbed and believe me I have seen a difference in the years I do this and the years I forget.

Breakfast for Chickens

  Here is a quick picture of my chickens enjoying their breakfast of scrambled eggs and shells.

When I first got my chickens they were eating each others feathers so I did a little checking around and found out they needed protein. So I spoiled them and let them out of the coop to eat bugs.  That worked well in the summer when there was bugs to eat but what they really go crazy for is chicken scraps, eggs, shells and elk meat (I'm sure any red meat).  Now I am not going to give them good food, but the part of the chicken I won't eat or the egg left over from making french toast, or the left over roast I never got around to re-using.  It makes them happy, saves their feathers and makes bigger eggs.

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

Last weekend my nephews slept over and requested "normal pancakes" for breakfast.  I said whats a normal pancake and they said the white kind.  So I made buttermilk pancakes for them and my kids said they were blahh.  So this is what a normal pancake at our house is.  It is a great recipe because it does not require a grinder and has so much flavor you can eat just with fruit, or a bit of honey or syrup if you like.

Blender Pancakes:

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup wheat berries (just the regular wheat grain)

Add the following and blend for 1 to 2 min on the highest setting

Then add:

1 egg

1tsp. salt

1/3 cup of oil ( I never use oil you can easily substitute with applesauce or cottage cheese)

2/3 tsp. baking powder

2 tbs. honey

Blend all ingredients for 2 to 3 more minutes.  The thickness of your batter will depend on your blender so if it is too runny you will need to add more wheat or less milk then next time and just add some regular flour this time.  If the batter is still gritty then blend longer. I always double this recipe for our family of 6 and that leaves a few leftover for snacks later in the day.

Quote of the Week

For some reason this quote will not leave my mind lately.  My brain must be trying to tell me something.  It is from Jane Austins "Emma"

"Vanity working on a weak

mind creates all sort of mischief."

Quinoa Black Bean and Corn Salad

 I can not wait until summer, and not because of warmer weather and garden fresh veggies, but so I can eat this salad for dinner at least once a week.  It has a great lime and cilantro flavor and usually lasts for 2 to 3 dinners as a side dish.  I hope you like it as much as I do.  I  found the recipe on the Internet a while ago and have made it work for us.  First of all I have never been able to find red quinoa, and second of all I never put in the jalapeno peppers because that is going too far with the kids. I do prefer it more the second day after the flavors have mixed and sometimes I warm it up.

• Red Quinoa, black bean and corn salad
• Red quinoa and black bean salad
• FOR THE DRESSING:
• 5 Tablespoons Fresh Lime Juice
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• 1 whole Garlic Clove, Finely Mined
• ¼ cups Finely Chopped Fresh Cilantro
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cumin, Or To Taste
• ⅓ cups Olive Oil
• ½ teaspoons Freshly Ground Pepper, to taste
• _____
• FOR THE SALAD:
• 1-½ cup Red Quinoa (sold In Health Food Stores)
• 1 Tablespoon Table Salt, Add When Boiling Quinoa
• 1 can (14 Oz. Can) Black Beans, Drained, Rinsed
• 1-½ cup Corn Kernels, Fresh (cut From About 2 Large Ears)
• 1 cup Finely Chopped Colored Sweet Bell Peppers
• 1 whole Jalapeno Chilies, Seeded And Minced (wear Rubber Gloves)
• ¼ cups Finely Chopped Fresh Cilantro
• ¼ cups Finely Chopped Green Onions

Preparation Instructions

For the dressing:
In a small bowl whisk together lime juice, salt, minced garlic, chopped cilantro, and cumin and add oil in a stream, whisking. Add pepper to taste. Set aside.

For the salad:
In a large bowl soak quinoa for at least 15 changes of minutes. Drain in a large fine sieve.  Bring quinoa and 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil then reduce heat to simmer and let cook for 20 min. covered.  Fluff with fork and cool completely.  ( I like to do this the night before and just put it in the fridge)

Combine in a large mixing bowl the beans, corn, remaining vegetables, herbs, and cooled quinoa. Toss gently with the dressing. Can be prepared a day ahead for flavors to combine. Serve at room temperature.

Birthday Gift Ideas

My very sweet neighbor had a birthday today so I wrapped up a loaf of bread and some eggs placed on a nest of floral moss.  She seemed to like it and hopefully something that will be used and not add to clutter.

This one may seem a bit odd but this weekend was my husbands 34th birthday and since my daughter will not eat cake we decided on rice crispy treats, but a birthday cake must be something right?  So I just molded and cut it into the shape of his favorite sport.  Hope you can tell what that is.

Apron Giveaway Winner!

Thank you everyone who made a comment over the last week.  I put all your names in a hat and let my 4 year old choose.  Sarah Smith from Oregon was chosen.  Don't worry I plan on doing more giveaways of my favorite things.

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

2 Cups Flour                                       ½ Cup Sugar

1 tsp. Salt                                            2 tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp baking soda                               ¼ tsp. cardamom

1 egg                                                   1 cup buttermilk

½ cube of butter melted then cooled

1 tsp. vanilla                                        1 Cup blueberries or raspberries (The original recipe called for 2 cups of berries, we found that to be too many for us, so you will have to decide if you like them loaded with berries or more muffin)

Mix all ingredients and fold in blueberries.  Fill 12 to 15 muffin tins and top with:

½ cup brown sugar                              ½ cup flour

½ cube of butter at room temp.          ½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

Sprinkle over the  top of muffins and bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 min.

Multi grain Bread

 We usually eat this or plain whole wheat bread, this is my favorite.  It has a lot of flavor and is a lot less crumbly than wheat bread can be.

Cooking Tip #1:  If you are going to be measuring honey, corn syrup or anything sticky like that, measure oil or spray with cooking spray first. This way honey pours out easily so you get the entire amount and you didn't have to scrape out with spoon.

 Cooking Tip #2: Bread needs two things to rise well, humidity and warmth.  So I do one of two things.  Option 1 is to plug the sink and fill with hot tap water place a cooling rack over sink (make sure it is stable so your bread doesn't fall into water) place rising loafs on rack and cover with light dish towel.  Option 2 works best if you have two oven. Heat one oven to 150 degrees with a dish of water on one rack, then turn off all heat and place covered bread in warm oven to rise.  When bread begins to rise above rim of bread pan, pre-heat other oven to 350.  Then just move loaves into baking oven.

Multi grain Bread

Boil 6 cups of water and add to
1 Cup sunflower seeds (flatten in hand mill)      
½ Cup of sesame seeds
½ cup flax seeds ( seeds need to be milled to get nutritional value)
1/3 cup millet                                                     
1/3 cup amaranth grain  
Let soak for at least an hour to soften then add:

2 cups 9 grain cereal                                          
1 c. gluten flour or 1 cup white flour
2/3 Cup honey                                  
4 Tbls. Dough enhancer
2/3 Cup of oil                                     
2 Tbls salt
2 Tbls. Yeast                                        
Wheat flour 6 – 8 cups

Knead for 8 min.  Shape into 5 loaves and let rise.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min.

If I am making this bread to go with a soup or something fancier than PB&J  I will make it into a round loaf, brush with butter and sprinkle with rosemary.  Then bake in a 450 to 500 degree oven.

Growing Onions

Has anyone had success growing onions.  Last year I bough a bag of bulbs from IFA and was so excited, but they just never got very big.  We still ate them and boy were they strong.  I thought we pulled them all up but I guess not because they have been growing all winter long, so now I am wondering if they need 2 seasons or if I will get the same result.  Also garlic does anyone know about growing garlic.

Apron Giveaway

This is one of my most favorite and used items in my entire home.

Years ago my mother-in-law made me one and I wear it every day, I carry the phone in one pocket, a dish towel in the other and any thing I take away from the kids goes into those large pockets. What I love most though is there are no ties.  The back just crosses over it's self.  It also fits all the time, no matter if you are 9 month pregnant or really skinny, it washes easily and never needs to be ironed. So now that I have told you why I love it I would like to pass it along someone else.  If you want a chance to have your name drawn out next Tuesday the 22nd of Feb all you need to do is look through this blog and make a comment about any post you like.  Thanks

 The Original

(below)



Gift Idea

 On my previous post about trarts there was a chocolate word on top.  I have seen these on a lot of other blogs so I tried them out.  Quite easy although I did do it twice first with Ziploc bag second with piping bag.  I liked the second result a lot more.  Since it took me two tries I had quite a lot of left over words and no tarts soooo I just wrapped them up on plates with a note to give ideas of things they could go on top of and to keep refrigerated and there you go some quick, inexpensive gifts for some friends and neighbors.  Since I was doing this for a family party I wrote out all of the kids names, which they all thought was special.  The possibilities are endless for this, my mind is racing with birthday cake ideas.

Tarts

 These are so delicious.  My mom always made them for party's I have carried on the tradition so tonight I made them for a family get together.  My sister said she loved coming to my house to eat all of our childhood treats.  This is a great one for barbeque's in the summer.

The Recipe:

1 Cup butter softened

1 Cup sugar

1 Egg (from a chicken you trust)

3 Cups flour

1/2 tsp almond flavoring

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

 The dough should be a wet crumbly consistency.

 Just a little tip, put all the tins on a cookie sheet and then spray.  This saves a lot of time instead of spraying individually.

 Put a generous amount of dough in the center of tin and press until there is excess coming up the sides, then gently knock off the extra.

Place in hot oven and bake for 8 to 10 min. When I cooked mine it was more like 12 min. They should just barely be beginning to brown.  Remove from oven and let sit for 10 to 15 min.  If you try to remove them too early the tins are hot and they are too soft.  If you leave them for 3 hours (like I did yesterday) then they are almost impossible to get out. So remove while warm, but set.

Once they have cooled completely and within an hour of so of serving fill with filling and top with desired pie filling.

Filling:

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup cream (whipped firm)

Make sure you whip the cream well before adding other ingredients if you don't it will never set up.  It will still be a little too runny when you are done mixing, just place in fridge and in a half hour or more it will be set.  I usually make all of this a day ahead it stores well for at least 2 to 3 days.

Aren't they beautiful?

I am still in my first year as a chicken owner, and although the cold weather has not made caring for chickens as enjoyable as it was in the summer I wanted to show off how proud I am of my hens.  I have five chickens and I was told they would slow down in the winter, which they did with all the snow keeping them stuck in the coop, however in the last few weeks we have had some warm days so they have been out eating up all the grass and what ever it is they find.  The Result:  five to six eggs a day for weeks in a row!  This is tons more than in the summer, so I am a happy chicken owner.

Quote of the week by Robert Frost

Love is an irresistible desire

ro be irresistibly desired.

By Robert Frost

Quote of the week by Georgia O'Keeffe

Nobody sees a flower,

really- it is so small-we haven't time,

 and to see takes time,

like to have a friend takes time.

Georgia O'Keeffe

Parmasean Chicken Strips

This was a meal my mom prepared a lot when we were teenagers and now it is something my kids always pick for dinner. There are two versions to the recipe.  I do the easy version and just by Italian seasoned bread crumbs, however I left my husband to do the cooking Saturday night and he followed the recipe and I must say they had a lot more flavor that way.

Parmesan Chicken Strips
4 Chicken Breasts cut into strips
1/4 Cup Skim Milk
1/4 Cup Egg (I use 1 to 2 eggs from a chicken I trust)
2/3 Cup bread crumbs
2/3 Cup grated parmesan cheese (I use a mix of fresh grated and the powder)
1 1/4 tsp. dried whole basil
3/4 tsp dried whole thyme
1/4 tsp onion Powder
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Combine milk and egg in small bow.  Stir will.  Combine bread crumbs and next 5 ingredients.  Stir will.  Dip chicken strips in milk mixture.  Dredge in bread crumbs mixture.  Place chicken strips on sprayed baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for 18 min. or until lightly browned.

Tomato Basil Soup

When planning our menu for the week my husband requested tomato soup.  I found this one on cooking light and it is good.  Only 100 calories for 1 1/2 cups.  Of course then I splurged and bought a $5 loaf of rustic bread at the market.  I really can't wait until summer when I can make this with my own tomatoes and basil.

Ingredients

• 2  teaspoons  olive oil
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 3  cups  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 3/4  teaspoon  salt
• 3  (14.5-ounce) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2  cups  fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced
• Basil leaves (optional)

Preparation

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in the broth, salt, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 20 minutes. Stir in basil.
Place half of the soup in a blender; process until smooth. Pour pureed soup into a bowl, and repeat procedure with remaining soup. Garnish with basil leaves, if desired.

Jane Austin's Pride and Prejudice

I am so lucky to get to be in a book club. I read for leisure a lot in middle school, but during high school and college there seemed to be so much assigned reading that I pretty much never picked up book for pleasure. About 5 years ago by chance I attended book club at a friends home and was hooked. I still struggle to get one book a month read, but what I love is the diversity of other people choices. So what could be a better book for February than Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin. Of course the movie with Collin Firth has been a favorite for years (who could get tired of watching Colin Firth), however a few years ago I started my own collection of Jane Austin works and have now read it three times. I think what makes this such a classic is that it is every girls dream to be truly and deeply loved and to not even know it. Book club is actually tomorrow and I know there will be some who say it is boring and the language hard to understand and to them I would say memorize the movie then read the book and you will find yourself repeating Mr. Darcy's lines over in your head, anticipating his many memorable lines.

Quinoa Side Dish

Maybe everyone else in the world already knows about Quinoa (kee-wa)but I have only been using for about two months now and I love it. This is a a recipe for rice that I used to use, but is so much better with quinoa. I double it for my family of 6 so that there is enough for dinner and lunch tomorrow.

Quinoa and Broccoli Side Dish

1 Cup quinoa soaked (15min. at least) and rinsed in wire strainer

1 3/4 -2 Cups water

1 heaping Tbsp. of chicken or veg. bullion paste

Bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer and cover for 12 min.

1 Cup broccoli florets

1/2 Cup shredded carrots optional ( I have never added them today but had some leftover from another recipe and so I added them and I really like what the added color does for it and can you ever add too many veggies?)

Then add broccoli florets and shredded carrots for last 8 min. ( like mine quite small so that they cook faster)

Serve warm

Bran Flax Muffins

Yesterday my daughter requested cinnamon bran muffins for an after school snack. The problem with the recipe I have called for shortening, white flour, and processed cereals so I couldn't really feel too good about that being a healthy snack. So with a little searching I found a recipe that I think is suitable. They are not home yet but I ate three and then had to put them away to stop myself. They really are good. When you get to the part about the eggs I read that in an organic cooking magazine and have decided to add that to all of my recipes that contain eggs. Hopefully I can trust mine.

Bran Flax Muffins

1 1/2 Cups unbleached white flour ( I used fresh ground wheat)

3/4 Cup Flax meal

3/4 Cup Oat Bran

1 C. Brown sugar

2 tsp. Baking soda

1 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 1/2 Cups shredded carrots

2 peeled and shredded apples

1 Cup cinnamon chips ( or just add a couple TBSP of cinnamon)

3/4 Cup milk

2 eggs (from a chicken you can trust) beaten

1 tsp. vanilla

I left out:

1/2 cup raisins

1 Cup nuts

Mix all ingredients well in mixer and then fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way full. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 min.