PinTuesday

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Some days, this seems like the best option.  At least temporarily.

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We're working on a lot of home projects... 

we've painted the office and the bathroom, 

and I think the pink stairs we inherited when we bought the house 

(and discovered after removing horrific teal carpet) 

should be next on the hit list.
Thinking grey treads and white risers?

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I'm ready for fall and hot dinners in the crock pot!  

I've never tried doing noodle dishes in a crockpot, but I think it's worth a try! :)

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How fun is this!  File it in the "dream house someday" category.  

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Fall is on the way! Can't wait to need sweaters again and for "warming up the kitchen" to be a positive to baking, not a drawback! ;)

Hearty Corn Muffins

Basic Corn Bread recipe (my version of the Joy of Cooking's recipe):
Grease pan, preheat oven to 425*, and combine:
1 c. flour
4 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 c. corn meal

Combine in separate bowl:
2 eggs (beaten), then beat in
6 T melted butter
2 1/4 c. milk
2 T honey

Pour liquid into the dry ingredients, combine with a few rapid strokes.  Bake about 25 minutes. (Muffins take less... I can't remember so maybe start checking them at 10 minutes?)

I took this cornbread batter and added browned ground beef, diced onions, corn, & cheese.  It was really good!  Next time I'll add more of all of them, and maybe some sour cream, to boost the protein so it can stand alone.

Also, I'll try not to leave them in the oven so long after the timer goes ("just finish changing this diaper, and then... oh, yes, wipe that kiddo's bottom too...") because some of them were a little dry (made three pans, so half a dozen are in the freezer now!). :)

Lovely Lemon Pound Cake

I started with what I consider the perfect pound cake recipe - moist and dense with crunchy edges, and perfect with a glass of milk or cup of coffee.  The original suggested 1tsp of almond extract, but although yummy I decided to experiment with alternatives.

 I think it is important to note that substituting lemon juice for lemon here will not get the same results.  I tried lemon juice first, and although I'm sure you could add more than I did and get a stronger lemon flavor, I don't think that you can reproduce the well rounded, strong-but-not-overwhelming lemon taste with lemon juice alone. You need one entire well scrubbed lemon, minus of course the seeds.  Oh, and I use my KitchenAid and my food processor.  I'm sure you can do it without those, but I'm just going to write it like I make it! :)

 Lovely Lemon Pound Cake
1 lb butter, softened
3 cups sugar
6 eggs
4 cups flour
3/4 cup milk
1 lemon, scrubbed well, sliced and de-seeded

Cream butter, gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Transfer butter/sugar mixture to food processor, process with lemon slices.  Scrape down with spatula and continue until lemon and peel are completely mixed and no pieces are larger than would be if you had finely grated "zest" instead.  Add eggs, beating after each.  Add flour, alternating with milk, ending with flour.  Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan and smooth with spatula.  Bake at 300* for 1 hour and 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 - 15 minutes at least (sometimes I don't get to it right away), remove to plate or wire rack.  Let cool.

cute face-making helpers optional

the key is real lemon!

pan ready to go!

And there you have it! Lovely Lemon Pound Cake.  No guarantees, but my husband took a bite and said "Wow!", and made sure that the leftover slices made it into his lunch! ;)  Let me know if you make it!

Now, all done except for the dishes...

Ah well.

(Post contains amazon affiliate links.)

Playdough!

 We used this recipe and made some homemade playdough today!  Nathan had never played with playdough, so I was a little apprehensive that he'd have trouble understanding that it wasn't food, but he did great and had a lot of fun with it!  :)

Do your kiddos like playdough?  Have you ever made playdough?

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Simple Granola

From the More with Less Cookbook (with a few minor alterations)

Makes 2 1/2-3 quts.
250*
1 hour

Preheat oven to 250*.  Combine in large mixing bowl:
2 c. whole wheat flour
7 1/2 c. rolled oats

Blend together separately
1/2 c water
1 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 cup honey
2 t vanilla
1 T salt
(Sometimes I like to add a big dollop of peanut butter!  And it tastes great with brown sugar instead of honey, just add a little extra water.)

Add blended liquids to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Spread out on 2 greased cookie sheets and bake 1 hour, or until dry and golden.  Store in covered containers. (I like reusing empty oatmeal containers.)

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Coconut Oil Fudge

I tried Lindsay's coconut oil fudge recipe recently... it is such a simple recipe that even though I've never made fudge I thought I'd give it a try. 

Honey, coconut oil, and cocoa powder in the blender...

The first time I made it I used the inexpensive coconut oil that we had on hand.  I liked it ok, although I felt that it was more "fudgy" in texture when frozen.  Micah felt that it had the texture of shortening and disliked the honey flavor.  Only he said it more tactfully than that. ;)

Undaunted, I tried it again, this time with Tropical Traditions coconut oil*.

 I also melted two squares of baking chocolate in the melting coconut oil.  

Yes, only one is pictured, ignore the discrepancy! ;)

 The fudge in the pan, before being cooled down... 

I stored it in the fridge, but didn't have to freeze this batch for a good fudgy consistency.  The flavor was so much better... probably partly because of the difference in coconut oil, and partly because I added the baking chocolate.  Either way, that batch was approved by all.  Yay! 

Another perk of this recipe? No eggs, so I have no qualms about letting Nathan perform the very important job of taste tester!  He approved. ;)

____________________________________________________________________
* I will be reviewing Tropical Traditions coconut oil in a separate post.  
I will be repeating this disclaimer then but thought I would tag it onto this post as well for full disclosure.

Disclaimer: Tropical Traditions provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

Tortillas!

Combine in mixing bowl:
2 c. unsifted flour
1 t. salt
Cut in with pastry blender:
1/4 c. lard or shortening
When particles are fine, add gradually:
1/2 c. lukewarm water

Toss with fork to make a stiff dough.  Form into a ball and kneed thoroughly... To make dough easier to handle, grease surfacce, cover tightly, and refridgerate 4-24 hours before using.  Let dough return to room temperature before rolling out...
Roll as thin as possible on a lightly floured board, or between sheets of waxed paper (I like parchment paper for this step.)  Drop onto a very hot ungreased griddle. (I just use a frying pan).  Bake until freckled on one side, turn.

Enjoy!



Recipe from the 1983 printing of the  More with Less Cookbook, which I am borrowing from my mother. 

Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
7/8 cup honey (I used 1/3 c. sugar and 1/3 c. maple syrup Sunday morning... yum!)
1 stick butter
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
2 cups oats
3 cups flour
Raisins, craisins, blueberries, nuts, etc, if desired

Mix.  Pour into pan (I used a 7x11 glass pyrex Sunday morning).  Sprinkle top with oats, brown sugar, and nuts if you have time and desire.  Bake at 350 for 25-35 minutes, until fork inserted comes out clean. 

I put in about a cup of frozen blueberries.  Very yummy!  It is a really dense, filling breakfast.  Fine on its own with a big glass of milk. :)

Banana Breakthrough

Nathan likes eating little banana cubes, but he frequently had trouble picking them up and got frustrated because they were so slippery. Of course, the more you try to pinch up a banana cube, the slipperier it gets, so it would just get worse and I would end up having to feed him the little cubes, which wasn't as fun for either one of us as finger food would've been.

I don't know WHY I didn't think of this sooner... but I took some raisin bran flakes, put them in a baggy, and rolled the rolling pin over them until they were mostly crushed. Then I slice the banana as usual, put two or three pieces in the bag, and shake. I put those in front of him and he can finally just enjoy eating his now non-slippery banana! As a bonus, this gives him a (teeny) amount of fiber, which he also needs.

Yay! I would've shared a picture of this gourmet delight with all y'all, but my camera batteries are dead and we're out of AA's. Sorry. But I'm sure you can imagine it anyway, right?

Here is the recipe I use to make liquid laundry soap. I was going through so much that I decided that it would be worth the effort to make my own. Also if I run out I just make more instead of it being an emergency shopping trip! The friends who gave me this recipe thought it worked better than store-bought, and I completely agree. The load of Micah's work clothes that I tested it on came out cleaner than usual! The people who gave me the recipe calculated that it was about 2 cents per load of laundry. My washing soda was three dollars cheaper than theirs was, but I'm not motivated enough to do the math. ;-)

Liquid Laundry Soap
1/2 cup Borax
1/2 cup washing soda (or sodium carbonate)
1 cup soap flakes or a grated bar soap
2 gallons water
20 drops essential oil (optional- I didn't have any)

Combine Borax, washing soda, and most of the water. Boil soap flakes in remaining water, and add to first mixture. The soap will help gel the mixture. If your water is hard, add more washing soda. This recipe makes about 2 gallons, so have some jugs ready before you start!

Use about 1/2 cup of laundry soap per load.

If you have trouble finding the washing soda/sodium carbonate, as I did, check the pool section, where you might find it intended for use as a pH balancer. This is fine as long as it is only sodium carbonate. (I couldn't find washing soda at my Walmart, but my small local grocery had some.)

An alternate recipe I make just for our cloth diapers is 1C Borax, 1C Washing soda, and 1C Oxyclean (4 tablespoons for a medium load). I use this instead because I was told that the bar soap in the other recipe could make my diapers retain odor and repel water! This recipe has been working very well, and I like the fact that there aren't any scents or unknown ingredients going on a tender baby bottom!

My friend Anna also posted today about making laundry soap! She makes her own powdered version, which is very similar to my liquid recipe. She points out that it takes up less storage space, so if you're interested in making your own and that is a factor, you should definitely head over there!