Simple Smoothies

Smoothies are a great way to get fruit and even veggies in, and to curb your craving for ice cream treats on a hot summer day. (In theory anyway...sometimes you just need icecream!)

I used to think you needed a little sherbet to make a tasty smoothie like they put in my favorite one at Jamba Juice, but in an effort to be healthier - I cut it out, and don't miss it a bit. If you haven't tried to make your own smoothie before - try these simple recipes. I usually just eyeball the amounts so these are approximations. They turn out slightly different every time, but always delicious!

Favorite Fruit Smoothie

1 cup frozen strawberries or peaches (Pick which flavor you want to stand out)

a few pieces of either strawberries or peaches (other than what you chose for the main flavor)

a few slices frozen banana

small squirt of honey (about 1/2 a tsp)

apple juice to blend 

Note: Sometimes I add a few raspberries or blueberries, or peeled pear slices. You can mix it up however you like. My family does not really enjoy the seedier berries in smoothies.

Favorite Green Smoothie

1 cup frozen green grapes

a few pieces frozen banana slices (about a half a small banana)

1 fresh pear washed and cut into slices, core and seed removed (you could do apple slices also)

1/2 cup fresh pineapple or 1 or 2 canned pineapple rings (optional)

1/2 a small cucumber peeled and sliced (optional)

a few baby carrots (optional -adds to the sweetness but does kinda make it a not as pretty green)

1-2 cups fresh spinach lightly packed

small squirt of honey (about 1/2 a tsp (optional))

apple juice to blend

WARNING: These will be big enough to share!

Prepping Your Ingredients:

I pretty much always keep smoothie ingredients on hand. 

I prefer to use frozen fruit and fruit juices to ice and water which I think water the flavor down too much. Fruit is already made up of a ton of water, and I also prefer the texture of frozen fruit to splintered ice. So I like to prep these things in advance.

Freezing bananas:

Slice a banana into circle sections and sprinkle lightly with a little sugar and lemon juice to keep them from browning. I do it on a paper plate and then slide them into a quart size freezer bag. Arrange in a single layer to freeze and they are easy to break apart a few sections at a time to use as needed. 

Freezing green grapes:

Wash and remove grapes from stems. Pat dry with paper towels or let air dry on your counter for a little while and store in large freezer bag. Don't worry too much if they are not completely dry - grapes are less apt to have problems sticking together.

Most of the other frozen ingredients I buy prepackaged, but when peaches are in season I sometimes pick some up and peel and freeze them in slices pretty much the same way I do bananas.

That's how I do smoothies! 

P.S. Follow the directions of your blender - Make sure the liquid gets down to the bottom, frozen items in small chunks next, and lighter items like leafy greens on top. Never stick your fingers in the blender! ;) 

Homemade Pizza

Finally sharing this at the request of my mom. Came up with this after discovering the most amazing cinnamon roll recipe. Quick Rise Cinnamon Rolls ...We kinda needed this as there are no really good pizza places close enough to our house. (We are kind of picky.) I love how easy it is to prepare. I love my bread machine. And it isn't all grease covered so we've never felt sick after eating it. So tasty - hope you like it too! :)

Lissy's Quick Rise Homemade Pizza

INGREDIENTS:

DOUGH:

1 cup milk

1/4 cup olive oil

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 package ‘rapid rise’ yeast (~ 2 1/4 tsp)

1 egg

ADDitional:

2 pizza pans & canola spray

1 Tbsp butter, melted

1 Tbsp olive oil

Garlic powder + Lawry's garlic salt

1 jar Ragu pizza sauce

toppings

Grated cheese: Mozzarella, Monterey Jack, parmesan, sprinkle of Feta

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425.

Warm milk in a saucepan until almost bubbling - wait for it to cool a little if it gets too hot. Pour oil and milk into tub of bread machine. Add mixed egg. Then add sugar, salt, and flour in that order. Scoop out a little indention in the middle of the flour and pour in yeast. Start dough kneading process. Watch kneading and add a sprinkling of flour or stir with soft tool as necessary. When dough has formed a soft ball set the timer and let it rise in the bread machine for just 10 minutes, then remove onto floured board. Cut the dough in 2 and let half sit wrapped in a towel while you roll the rest into a pizza crust with a rolling pin. Spray pans/or cookie sheets and transfer prepared dough onto them. Cover pizza dough with towels and let rise for another 25 minutes while you assemble your other ingredients.

Cut up/prepare toppings, sauce. Grate cheese.

Melt 1 Tbsp of butter in a cup, mix in 1 Tbsp olive oil. Once dough has risen, lightly brush on butter and oil mixture (not all of it, just to cover) then sprinkle with garlic powder & a little garlic salt. Bake in preheated oven for 6 minutes. Remove and add the sauce, cheese, and toppings. Bake an additional 8 minutes until done. Cut into 8 slices per pizza. Makes 16 slices.

NOTE:

Dough can be frozen for later use after initial 10 minute rise. May be divided into 3 for thinner crust pizza.

What's for dinner

Well...not beef most of the time in our house :) 

Wanted to share a few yummy recipes perfect for this time of year.

Made this yummy pork roast tonight with mashed potatoes and homemade rolls and a green veggie. It's one of our favorite ways to eat pork. Got the recipe long ago from an old friend, but altered it for the crock-pot.

Great Glazed Pork

Glaze:

½ c. distilled white vinegar or cider vinegar

1/3 c. light brown sugar

1/3 c. apple cider or apple juice

2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Pinch pepper

Pork tenderloin ( I buy a long one from Costco, cut into 4 to freeze)

Combine all glaze ingredients, mix thoroughly and set aside. 
Brown pork tenderloin in a little olive oil and glaze mixture then add to slow cooker and pour remaining glaze over top. Cook on low about 4 hours or until meat thermometer indicates done. Reserve juices for gravy or to dribble on top as desired.

This other recipe is one Mike says he could happily eat for Thanksgiving. I like how fast and easy it is to put together. One of my two picky kids will usually even eat it.

Maple Glazed Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

1 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

 1 pound chicken tenders

 2 teaspoons seasoning (such as Grizzly Joes')

 vegetable oil and or butter

 1/2 cup maple syrup

 1/2 cup sliced green onions (I usually use a little regular sautéed diced onion or leave it out)

Place the diced sweet potatoes into a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. In the meantime, sprinkle chicken tenders with seasoning; heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and cook the tenders until the meat is lightly browned and no longer pink inside, 5 to 8 minutes per side. Remove the chicken, and set aside. Stir the maple syrup into the skillet, scraping up and dissolving any browned flavor bits from the skillet. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 2 minutes, and stir in the onions.

When potatoes are tender drain and allow them to steam dry for a minute or two. Mash with a little butter, then spread in serving platter and top with the chicken tenders. Pour the maple sauce over the chicken to serve.

Cream of Chicken and Rice Soup and Our Favorite Rolls

Got this recipe from a sweet friend in our old ward who made it for us last year when I was feeling really crummy. I made it this week hoping it would kick Mike and Sierra's colds to the curb. Sierra turned up her nose, but the rest of us enjoyed it with some homemade rolls. 

I've been thinking I should share more recipes because I am always looking for something fresh to make for dinner when we get bored of the same old things and I sure appreciate coming across good recipes from real people.

Cream of Chicken and Rice Soup 

Eralee Jordan

1 zucchini, 1 carrot grated

1 sweet Vidalia onion

2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp olive oil or butter

4 c. chicken broth

4 c. milk

1 can cream of chicken soup

3 c. cooked rice

3 c. cooked chopped chicken (to make it really easy you can just cut up 2 Costco rotisserie chicken breasts)

1 Tbsp basil

pepper and salt to taste

Simmer 30 minutes.

My Favorite Roll Recipe while we're at it!

Roll Dough

Kris McKinney

Put in saucepan till butter melts:

1 c. milk

½ c. butter

¾ tsp. salt

½ c. sugar

Put in bowl, add:

3 eggs beaten

1 T yeast

1/3 c. water              

1 Tbsp. sugar

Flour to make soft dough (4 ¾ - 5 ¼ cups flour).

Bake 350° 15 minutes

Brush tops with butter while hot.

I made my rolls with rapid rise yeast this time to save time. Shape into dough ball and allow the first rise for only 10 minutes, form rolls and allow to rise 25 minutes more before baking. Turned out a little different taste and texture, but still yummy!

October Highlights

It's been a busy month, but we've had a few major milestones and fun celebrations worth blogging about. Probably too much for just one post! It's been fun for me to be in our own house as the weather is getting chillier and get to play domestic goddess, baking and cooking and making the house feel all cozy. Gotta enjoy this lifestyle while I can!
I love making good food for the people I love. Sierra loves to help - she sticks it out a lot longer than Lily. Isn't she such a cute kitchen helper!?

 

 Some other things to remember in no particular order:

Deer sleeping just over the fence of our backyard and looking for food every day for almost 2 weeks where we could have a close up view of them. (that rail is my back patio)

Sierra's crazy cute fashion sense.

Lily starting her first sewing project - by hand - while I sewed their Halloween costumes.

Lily getting 2 teeth pulled at the dentist and doing awesome without having to be sedated!!!

Face paint at the school carnival.

Me painting an actual painting for the first time in how many years??? a kid's bathroom painting, but still!

Getting the broken up concrete the previous owners of our house used for decoration in our backyard removed. Woo hoo! Many thanks to our amazing neighbor who went above and beyond to help us do it! Fixing the falling down fence after it. (One less thing to have to do in the spring!)

Getting yummy pumpkin and huckleberry donuts at the pumpkin patch again this year. Always a good time.

Sierra saying Goodbye to Diapers!!! Oh yeah! Keep forgetting to share that one!

I will post more pictures of some of these fun things soon but in the meantime here are a couple of our favorite yummy recipes to share:

Sour Cream Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup mashed banana*

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup sour cream

Spray 1 loaf pan with cooking spray. Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.

Add dry ingredients, then bananas and sour cream, stir in nuts. Mix well and pour into pan. Sprinkle top with more chopped pecans if desired. Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until cooked through.

*Sometimes I make up the bananas with a little carrot shredded in my food processor.

Chocolate Chip Blueberry-Zucchini Muffins  (Makes 12 muffins)

1 1/2 cups flour (1 c. all purpose + 1/2 c. whole wheat)

1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp. salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup oil (I use melted butter, olive or canola & a little coconut oil

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 c. shredded zucchini & carrot.

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (or 1/4 c. chopped blueberries & 1 c. chocolate chips.)

plus cinnamon crumb topping (below)

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your muffin tin and paper liners.

Grate zucchini & squeeze out excess moisture with strong paper towel, shred carrot in food processor.

In a large bowl combine the sugar, egg, olive oil, milk and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in the zucchini. Add the flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix until just combined. Fold in the blueberries/chocolate chips. Spoon batter into the muffin cups.

Cinnamon Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/4 cup sugar, 1/6 cup flour, 2 Tbsp butter, and 3/4 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffins are starting to brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Enjoy!

If you add blueberries they will come out looking funny colors, but the taste is amazing! Tip: Don't seal up to store or they'll get soggy. Best eaten up the first day!

Best Cinnamon Roll Recipe

At least the best I've found! Very much like Cinnabon, and surprisingly quick and easy. They are a blessing from heaven.

We may or may not have made them twice this week... Well, we ended up with too much frosting the first time! (You don't need to double the batch) We had to do something to use up all that extra frosting! (It's a vicious delicious cycle!)

Anyway - here's the goods:

QUICK RISE Cinnamon ROLLS

INGREDIENTS:

DOUGH:

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, divided

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 envelope instant or ‘rapid rise’ yeast (~ 2 1/4 tsp)

1 egg

CINNAMON-SUGAR FILLING:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2.5 Tbsp. ground cinnamon

4 Tbsp. melted butter

1 Tbsp additional melted butter or coconut oil

CREAM CHEESE ICING:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1-2 Tbsp. milk (if needed)

Mix with an electric mixer.

DIRECTIONS:

Combine milk and butter in a pan and heat until butter is melted and milk is warm. Let it sit until mixture is warm, but not hot.

Pour into tub of bread machine or bread mixer. Add mixed egg. Then add sugar, salt, and flour in that order. Scoop out a little indention in the middle and pour in yeast. Start dough kneading process. When it has formed a soft ball let it rise for just 10 minutes and then get ready to form the rolls.

While it rises use a fork to mix together the cinnamon, sugars, and 4 Tbsp melted butter to make your filling.

When the dough is ready, turn it out onto a floured work surface. Use a floured rolling pin to roll the dough out into a large rectangle, about 14 x 9 inches. Brush on 1 Tbsp melted butter or coconut oil onto all but 1/4 in of far long edge. Sprinkle evenly with your cinnamon sugar filling.

Beginning at the close long edge, tightly roll up the dough. Dab water along the far edge and then give the final seam a little pinch so that it seals. Cut the rolled dough into 12 equal pieces. Place into a greased 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Spray lightly with canola oil. and cover with a towel. Let rise in a warm place for 25 minutes.

Preheat your oven for 350 degrees F and make your icing. Once the rolls have risen, bake uncovered for 350◦ for 15-20 minutes, or until the rolls are slightly golden and cooked through. Remove and let cool for at least 5 minutes. Drizzle with icing and enjoy!

Homemade Gnocchi

This was a hit last night with my family (even Lily which is saying something) so since I was typing it up for myself anyway - I thought I would share! I was craving something different and delicious after roughly 2 weeks of scrounging and take out since my little surgery. Finally feeling better on my feet again (though I am not 100% recovered). Anyway, here's the recipe - my own experimental creation! Different enough from the various recipes I referenced to call my own :) Pillowy soft potato pasta with Alfredo sauce. Tomato and Bacon crumbles optional, but definitely a worthwhile addition! And it's a lot easier than the long instructions suggest :)

Gnocchi with Alfredo sauce

for the Gnocchi

2 cups mashed potatoes (do not over mix)

1/4 c. (or 1 large) egg, lightly beaten

1 c. flour or more to keep it from getting sticky

salt to taste

small amount of butter, if desired

Peel potatoes and dice into cubes before adding to boiling water. Cook for about 8 minutes or until fork penetrates easily, but before becoming too mushy. Scoop potato pieces out with a slotted spoon so you can save the water to boil your pasta in (though you can cook in fresh water if you prefer, but it will take less time to get your warm water boiling again). I added a tiny bit of butter to my potatoes and beat them slightly with beaters and then checked for lumps with a fork. Don't over mix. You want a nice fluffy consistency with no noticeable lumps. Let your potatoes cool. Now would be a good time to start your sauce and make preparations for other side dishes.

When your potatoes have cooled off mix in 1 cup of flour, egg, and salt to taste. Flour a large wooden cutting board and gently knead the dough adding flour a little at a time until the dough is moist but not sticky. (Mine were just slightly sticky) It should feel almost billowy. Cut the dough into 8 pieces. Gently roll each piece into a snake roughly the thickness of your thumb. Use a knife to cute pieces every 3/4th inch. Dust with a bit more flour. Make an indentation on each piece with a fork. You can find more detailed directions to shape them online, but my take is it doesn't have to be fancy, but it's nice to have them uniform and have a little texture to catch the sauce. 

Set each gnocchi aside on a floured surface until you are ready to boil them. They may get stickier as you let them sit, so wax paper with flour on top of that would be a good idea, as would grouping them by 20.

With your potato water boiling again, cook the gnocchi in batches by dropping them into the water about 20 at a time. Keep an eye on them - it doesn't take long. They will let you know when they are cooked by popping up to the surface of the water. I let them float there about half a minute more to make sure they were cooked through to the center - you can sample one to make adjustments. Have a large platter ready and use a slotted spoon to fish them out of the water. I sprayed my pile with a little olive oil before I added a newly cooked batch on top to keep them from sticking together. Continue cooking until all are done. Add your sauce and serve!

Homemade Alfredo sauce

3/4 a stick of butter

1 c. heavy whipping cream

1 c. fat free milk

3/4 cup fresh shredded Parmesan (grated works too)

1 tsp. flour

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. ground pepper, if desired

In a medium sauce pan, heat butter until it melts then whisk in the flour and spices before adding the milk and cream. When it just begins to bubble stir in Parmesan cheese. Continue cooking on medium to low until mixture thickens and your pasta is ready.

I cooked 2 slices of bacon beforehand to crumble over this, and also added about a half a cup fresh chopped tomato stirred with a little olive oil and onion powder and heated in a small saucepan. I would have just stirred the tomatoes into my sauce, but I had objections from one of the picker members of my family so I kept it separate & customizable :)

I also served with a side of asparagus. My favorite way to get perfectly cooked asparagus is to cut it into 1 inch pieces and boil for only 5 minutes. Should be easy to puncture with a fork, still with a slight crunch, not mushy, Check with a fork, taste it, and rinse with cool water if you need to stop the cooking process fast.

Mmmm... so good! The leftovers were too. So nice when I hit on something even Lily is pleased with, and I got requests to make this again!

First Foods

I checked out this book Baby Love from the library and have been making some homemade baby food for Sierra. She really liked the butternut squash. She does not like peas! Lily never did either. I actually came across it online when I was checking out valentine themed books for Lily and figured I could use a refresher, or let's face it - a better approach to introducing solids than however we did it with Lily. It turned out to be a book about making your own home made baby food. Sounded good to me. Bound to taste better and be cheaper than the store bought jarred stuff, and maybe Sierra wouldn't end up as picky as Lily! I started with the basics and loved the simple instructions that tell you just how many or what size of produce you need to buy, and ended up with 2 ice cube trays of each type of puree. To begin I made sweet potato, butternut squash, pear and applesauce with pomegranate juice for an extra little kick of nutrition, peas, and carrots. Lily even likes the pear and apple sauces and tried the sweet potato much to my surprise. Most of the recipes took hardly any time to make, and once frozen, it's so easy to just thaw out an ice cube of food to feed Sierra along with the baby cereals. I'm sort of jealous. The food smells and tastes really good - if only we could all eat so simply, quickly and nutritiously!

I'm loving homemade baby food!

I got a great tip from another mom I met at the park that I just love - about making my own yogurt melts by squirting little dabs of yogurt onto a sheet of wax paper and freezing it, then popping them off into a little container to store. I'd never thought of that - they sell freeze dried ones at the store. Sierra has not taken to yogurt the way Lily did as a baby, and even Lily doesn't really like it anymore. Well, the day I heard about it I made some to use up the Yo baby yogurt I had bought that it didn't seem like my kids were going to eat. That whole fat 'baby' yogurt is not cheap and I hated to see it wasted. Sierra loves being able to pick them up to feed herself, and even Lily likes them. I guess it tastes better frozen! I'm glad to have another easy pick up food for Sierra and to get some probiotics into both of my girls.

In the Soup

Anyway as we started getting low, and as Sierra is getting older I decided to make some more of the recipes. I checked out the book again, picked out a few different things to try and made a shopping list. This morning I started cooking. First I made some blueberry chocolate chip zucchini muffins because it had been a while and we love 'em! I love making healthy & delicious things for my family! Then when Sierra went down for her morning nap I busted out the stuff for "Alba's Chicken Soup." Lily was my little helper - until she decided to branch out into her own recipes for Lamby and Lisa's birthday party with my leftover veggie scraps. She was pretty interested watching me cook and de-bone the chicken and even wanted to start a little bone collection. I vetoed that, but was glad she wasn't as squeamish about the chicken carcass as I was most of my life.

Well, thank goodness Sierra took an extra long nap (hopefully I will not be paying for that tonight) because it turned out to be a long day of cooking! The chicken soup recipe they rave about in this book is packed full of vegetables! I had no idea how long it was going to take - or how much it was going to make! Just like the other recipes it ends with "..pour into 2 ice cube trays, wrap and freeze" I figured it would probably make a bit more soup that we could try too, or I could puree it all and have maybe double the amount to freeze, but I obviously didn't look and think about it that closely. By the end I had to separate it into 2 big stock pots and puree it batch after batch after batch in the blender to get it all done and a good consistency. My pot and the blender brimming with green chicken soup puree, I began to pour my trays. I only had 3 ready. I only have 4 total.

...Well, it's time to go shopping for more because with my three trays full I still had a full pot that filled up my largest Tupperware container! I don't want to dump that many ice cubes from the trays into freezer bags because I think by the time we get to use them all there will be too much freezer-burn. I certainly don't want to waste it! But that is a lot of the same kind of baby food to make and store and feed to one little baby who hasn't even tried it yet. I was so frustrated! All this work, all my efforts to save money and make nutritious food for my family and it wasn't even looking too appetizing! Mike was cracking jokes about inviting all my family over for dinner and telling me to take pictures so we could laugh about it later, but I was ready to cry. Ok, I did (briefly) cry. Sierra better learn to like this stuff because it is about to be her staple! It actually tastes pretty good if you add a little salt - I ate a whole bowl of it and wasn't grossed out - so I surely won't let it go to waste. And I feel a little more hopeful about the baby liking it after eating it than I did after seeing the bulk of it swimming there before me and her initial test face...

DRAMATIZATION

...but by the time we get through it - I'm not sure I will be making it ever again! Sometimes I feel like I just can't win. Seriously - I have too many stories of good ideas gone bad! But all is not lost - and I do love homemade baby food...we are just swimming in soup!

...And messes of toys, but they are worth it!

Breakfast Deliciousness

Mike and I make elaborate breakfasts probably a bit too often. Not super elaborate, but more than the usual cereal or toast. You know, Pancakes or waffles with bacon and eggs, french toast, breakfast burritos, that sort of thing... I was a picky kid. When I was a kid I didn't like pancakes or waffles. Honey nut Cheerios were my staple - with the occasional bowl of Apple Jacks. I've gradually come to like a lot more things as I've grown older, and particularly since I've been married. Unfortunately I still don't like oatmeal or yogurt, and I had so much cereal as a kid I just got so tired of it I can't eat it anymore or very rarely. My staple breakfast now is a piece of toast with peanut butter on it. But on the weekends and sometimes other days when Mike is home for the morning we make a bigger breakfast together. We have a goal to cut back on it, but not to cut it out altogether. It's nice to have a good hearty breakfast together! Mike is usually head chef at breakfast. He's good at it. I have a hard time getting the pancakes just right, but I do make a pretty mean muffin. Mike has started calling me "Mom McMuffins" to the kids ever since we tried those blueberry zucchini muffins I once posted about, and then tried them again (and again) with chocolate chips - so good! 

Anyway, we'd gotten kind of tired of our standard breakfast fare. So for Christmas I got Mike an aebleskiver pan. My roommate Melissa in college introduced them to me - back when I was pickier - I didn't even try them then, but lately they have been on my mind...  Mike was not super excited to get this cast iron cookingware, until we tried it -- now it is his favorite Christmas present! Success! Always nice to surprise someone with something they never knew they always wanted :)

 Well, in case you've never heard of the aebleskiver... It's like a hollow round pancake ball you can fill with whatever you want. It's originally from Denmark - as is my family line - so I'm just going back to my roots loving these things! Actually, I kind of stink at cooking them - Mike is the pancake man, which is really why I gave him the pan. Originally you would put a slice of apple in the center which is how Aebleskivers got their name, but we tried bacon and eggs versions, and whip cream ones, all rolled in powdered sugar. Think bacon and egg donut - awesome! We also tried vanilla pudding, and aebleskivers with Nutella in them with some friends - the first time I'd tried that stuff, well - it was made for aebleskivers! It was like a soft homemade Ferraro Rocher. We tried cream cheese too, but didn't like it as well - maybe with a different batter. I'd love to try some potato based pancake recipe with less sweet of fillings!

You can buy a mix, but I just looked up a recipe. Here's the one I went with for other interested parties:

Aebleskivers

2 egg whites

2 egg yolks

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon white sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1-2 tsp cinnamon to taste

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 egg yolks

4 tablespoons butter, melted

2 cups milk or buttermilk

Melted butter or vegetable oil for frying

Powdered sugar

Fillings (whip cream, fruit, whatever sounds yummy to you)

Directions

In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until they can hold a stiff peak. Set aside.

Mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, sugar, cinnamon, egg yolks, melted butter and milk at one time and beat until smooth. Gently fold in the egg whites last.

Brush melted butter in each aebleskiver pan cup and heat until hot. Reduce to medium heat. Pour in about 2 tablespoons of the batter into each cup. As soon as they get bubbly around the edge, turn them quickly (Danish cooks use a long knitting needle, but one of those long two prong kitchen forks or even just a regular fork and spoon will work). Continue cooking, turning the ball to keep it from burning. Roll in powdered sugar and fill with your favorite things. 

Always like to share the goodness. Enjoy!

 

Feelin' Blueberry

It's been a while since my last post and I thought I should post something in September so here you have it. This should be a post all about Lily, but that will take a little more effort than I currently have the time or energy for...so mostly this post is about muffins. Let's face it, Lily is a bit more complex than muffins. :) Just thought I would share this yummy recipe we tried a week or so ago. A post just about Lily will be forthcoming.

The story:

Lily begged for us to buy some fresh blueberries at Sprouts and we agreed knowing she would probably not eat them all, but hoping she would anyway - because anytime we can get her to eat something healthier it is a victory! They were on sale so Mike was feeling a little bit more daring and bought two packages. I have to preface this by telling you - I have never really liked blueberries except as an ingredient in some very delicious homemade mixed berry ice-cream - nor have I really ever liked cooked fruit. Not pie, not struedel - well, there is one exception here too - banana bread. So I made these muffins for Mike and Lily, and to use up the blueberries - not really planning to eat them myself except maybe one tiny taste. I searched for a recipe that also had zucchini in it because zucchini bread is one of the few ways I can get vegetables into Lily's little body these days. So this is how they turned out:

Kinda weird looking coloring, but super yummy flavor (and this coming from a person who does not usually like blueberries or cooked fruit!) I have actually been looking forward to making them again, though this time I think I would try a little less sugar or honey instead (to make them healthier, and because I added the crumb topping) and half the amount of blueberries and cut them up in smaller pieces to better suit the tastes of my family. The blueberry begger herself ended up picking out most of the blueberries (though she gobbled up her Dad's pancakes the day before). I myself was hesitant about the juicy blueberry areas, but actually thought it was a pretty nice balance and didn't stop at just one muffin! Seriously. My tastes must finally be maturing! Still think I will stick to chocolate or banana cream when it comes to pie :)

The recipe:

Blueberry-Zucchini Muffins  (Makes 12 muffins)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups flour (1 cup all purpose + 1/2 cup whole wheat)

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

1/2 cup olive oil (I used a little butter + olive oil)

1/4 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup shredded zucchini packed (squeeze out excess moisture and blot with paper towel, I used a little shredded carrot with the zucchini to make up my one cup)

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease your muffin tin and paper liners.

In a large bowl combine the sugar, egg, olive oil, milk and vanilla, mixing well. Stir in the zucchini. Add the flours, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Mix until just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Spoon batter into the muffin cups.

I added a little cinnamon crumb topping from another recipe, but just halved these amounts: Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the muffins are light golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 

Enjoy!

Now that's comfort

Mmmm. Lasagna cooking in my crock-pot since this morning is making the house smell so good! It's been raining all day. At noon the sun was coming out, and for about 5 minutes I thought it was going to stop... then more clouds rolled in and blocked out the sun. It seemed like night already, it was suddenly so dark in the house! My hard-working husband was washing windows today in this crazy weather - so I figured I'd surprise him with lasagna goodness when he got home. Lucky his job today didn't require use of the ladder - that scares me. I took a short nap with Lily because she isn't sleeping too well. She just started a cold, and when she doesn't sleep well - we don't either. I don't normally like to nap during the day - it just makes me tireder, but today it was so cozy to snuggle under my blankets with the sound and chill of the rain in my room. That extra hour will help me make it through tonight.

Lately Lily has randomly been turning to me and saying: "You good mom, mama!" I really hope it's true. It makes me feel good to hear it from the person I'm mom to. I love how happy and sweet this kid is even when she's not feeling good. I mean - yeah, you can tell she's not happy when her nose starts running and all, but she'll still dance around and be silly in-between times. No wanting to lay in bed for her! I took her out to the porch all wrapped in a blanket to look at the rain. I wasn't sure she'd remember having seen that much before. She watched for a few minutes, and then asked me to make it stop because she wanted to watch Maggie and the Ferocious Beast. Ha ha! "Turn it off, mom - make it go away, I'm done watching the rain!" She just told me she needed some chocolate milk "to feel better". 

 

 

A few minutes ago as she was watching the rain pour down out the window and said: "We need to get some rain boots, mom so we can go out and splash in the puddles!" We definitely do! My brother has a big beach umbrella up over his scarecrow in the front yard. It looks more silly than scary - it's fun :) Anyway, just thought I'd share the crock-pot lasagna recipe. It's too good not to share. I love that you don't have to pre-cook the noodles. I don't make lasagna any other way. 

Crock-pot Lasagna

1 large (16 oz) carton cottage cheese
1 egg
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese
2 large jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce (1 lb+ jars)
Cooked ground beef or turkey, if desired
Sauteed onion & garlic to taste
Lasagna noodles (uncooked)
Grated Monterey Jack or Mozzarella
About ¼ cup warm water

Mix cottage cheese, egg, and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese together in a small mixing bowl.
Combine spaghetti sauce with cooked meat, sauteed onion & garlic.
Pour a little sauce mix in the bottom of the crock-pot (about one third mix).
Break some noodles to fit and lay in crock-pot – only about one layer.
Put a portion (about half) of the cottage cheese mix on those noodles.
Add another layer of noodles (place criss-cross from the first layer).
Pour more sauce on noodles (about ½ remaining mixture).
Sprinkle grated cheese on that.
Add noodles again (criss-cross), cottage cheese mix, noodles, the remaining sauce, and more grated cheese. Top with a little extra of the grated Parmesan.
Pour ¼ cup water over the top. Cover.
Cook on low about 6 hours or high for 3-4 hours. 

Enjoy!