Early Summer

There is that magical evening when you see summer's first fireflies.
And eat sun-warmed strawberries in the morning and fresh strawberry cake after dinner.
Little events that announce summer is here.

We are so ready to soak it up!

Edible Egg Tempera Art

The Story of the World Activity Book had a great idea to teach about Byzantine art and egg tempera by  making Byzantine cross cookies painted with an egg tempera of sorts (egg yolk & food coloring paste). We took it further and painted some Easter eggs, too.

And then I forgot to set the timer and burned most of their masterpieces. 

It's the process, not the product... right?

 

Cranberry-Orange Granola

Another variation of our favorite granola recipe (for you Angela). It's only very slightly orange flavored... just enough.

Cranberry-Orange Granola

ingredients:

2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup wheat germ
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 cup flaked coconut (I use unsweetened)
1/3 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup maple syrup
3 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp orange zest

1/3 cup dried sweetened cranberries

Preheat oven to 275.
Combine first six ingredients in a bowl (oats thru pecans). Combine syrup, oil, water and zest in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and then drizzle over the oat mixture. Stir to coat. Transfer to a greased pan (I use a jelly roll pan covered with parchment paper - makes it easy to transfer to the counter to cool so you can use the same pan to start your next batch). Using your hands, form "clumps" of granola.
Bake for 30 minutes. THEN add the cranberries. Then bake for 15 more minutes.
Let it cool completely.

19 : 25 {gifting}

Busy here today preparing our gifts for the wonderful people who work at our church. We all love this day.

From our kids to the other pastors' kids - a tabletop s'more kit.

I found the fun red and white striped parchment paper at World Market.

Baker's twine to hold it all together.

I use these labels for everything. Cut the rounded corners off for a sharper/less Avery-label look.

The clear bags I had were too small. Oh well. It still works... kind of.

The kids loved assembling these. A can of Sterno fuel, a cellophane bag of marshmallows, a giant chocolate bar, a pack of graham crackers, and some long skewers.

While they did that, I made cranberry-orange granola.

These wooden snowflakes are from Crate and Barrel - came in a pack of 24. So pretty... I wish I bought more.

And we baked piles and piles of our favorite ginger cookies. I'll be packaging those today.

All the "Can I help?" kitchen questions, led me to pull out the oranges and cloves. Pomanders are a favorite, slow-down Christmas activity here. This way we could all be together. It's nearly impossible for all four of us to bake together in our kitchen.

I had to include this photo of Will - so proud of the car he built with his new birthday Lego set. This is a fabulous Creator set, if you need a last minute gift.

After-School Snack

It's been raining for two days here. When it rains, I bake.

I had about a cup of pumpkin in the fridge I wanted to use. It was hard to decide between Pumpkin Snickerdoodles and Baked Pumpkin Doughnut Holes; doughnut holes won.

Aren't they beautiful?

photo: The Craving Chronicles

Mine weren't quite so lovely, but they tasted so good. The kids were doing backflips. We will definitely be making them again.

Visit The Craving Chronicles for the recipe: Baked Pumpkin Doughnut Holes

my recipe notes:
There is enough batter to make more than 24 mini muffins - many of mine were too big and lost the round shape - looked more like muffins. Also, I only used the butter-sugar-cinnamon-coating for half of them. They are wonderful without it, just more muffin-y and less doughnut hole-y.

Next up: Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

photo: Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Pancake Apple Rings

You really must make these. So delicious.

I saw the idea on Pinterest a few weeks ago. Saturday morning I gave it a try and sliced one of the hundred or so apples we have in the house to throw in the last bit of pancake batter.

Seriously. You will not believe how good they are.

What I did:

• I peeled and cored an apple, then sliced it into very thin rings.
  
• Tossed them one at time into the pancake batter.
• Placed them on the griddle. Cooked them just pancakes.
• Put the rings-of-deliciousness on a plate and sprinkled them with cinnamon-sugar while they were still warm.
• Watched my family giggle as they devoured them.

Hint: use more than one apple! : )

It Was Time...

... to make the first batch of pumpkin bread. And so begins the season of all things pumpkin.

Here's a repost of a few favorite recipes...


Pumpkin Waffles

This recipe makes enough for our family of five with a few leftover. Serve with warmed maple syrup.

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup oil
1/8 teaspoon vanilla

In a large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients. In another bowl, combine the wet ingredients (eggs through vanilla). Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix well. Pour onto hot, lightly greased waffle iron.

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And if you opened a can of pumpkin for the waffles, you will have enough puree leftover for this yummy recipe: Pumpkin-Chocolate-Chip Squares. I made these last weekend for company. Perfect with a cup of good coffee.

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Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from a recipe I found on the back of a can of Whole Foods store brand pumpkin puree several years ago.

We have been making these for years. My kids love them! They are not sweet like pumpkin bread. Great for breakfast.

1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
3/4 cups milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup pumpkin puree

Preheat oven to 375. Grease 12 muffin cups.

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl combine egg, millk, and butter; stir in pumpkin. Add all at once to flour mixture. Stir until just moistened. Batter will be lumpy.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm, with butter. Makes 12 muffins.

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And last but not least, here is our favorite pumpkin bread recipe, too.

Enjoy!

Hannah's Favorite Apple-Cinnamon Muffins

These are good.

This is the last one and someone wants it.

Who can say no to 5 year-old in Batman pajamas?

Perfect for apple season, these are our favorite Sunday morning muffins. It's a variation of our basic muffin recipe. Hannah requested I sweeten them up a little, so I added a little extra brown sugar to the mix and sprinkle the tops with raw sugar before baking.

Apple-Cinnamon Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 C flour
• 3/4 C oats
• 1/3 C brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 egg
• 3/4 C buttermilk or sour milk (add 2 tsp white vinegar to milk to equal 3/4 C - let sit 5 min.)
• 1/4 C melted butter
• one small apple - peeled and finely diced
  
• raw sugar to sprinkle on top
  

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Combine wet ingredients a small bowl, combine thoroughly, then add to dry ingredients. Stir finely diced apple into batter. Use an ice cream scoop to fill 12 greased muffin cups (or paper lined). Sprinkle tops with raw/coarse sugar. Bake for 20 minutes or until tops spring back when pressed.

Caffeine

It has always been one cup, maybe two every morning.

I like my coffee hot and unless I am sitting down focused only on finishing my cup of hot coffee, it's not good to the last drop in my mind. And microwaved coffee that already has milk in it... bleh! So down the drain the lukewarm coffee goes. My new favorite drink doesn't have those issues.

Now I realize the season of wanting a tasty, *hot* beverage in my hands at all times is quickly approaching (so thankful for the extra hot option at Starbucks), but I'm excited about a new love in my life. Iced coffee. NEVER have I been a fan of cold coffee, but after reading what Pioneer Woman had to say about it I decided to give the cold-brewed method a try.


It is seriously amazing. My husband and I have had more caffeine in the past few weeks than we have had in years. If we have seemed a little jittery, you now know why. Decaf iced coffee is in our future.

Here's the link:
Perfect Iced Coffee
I make half a batch - which fills two pitchers with the might-as-well-be-gold coffee concentrate.

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

This has been on my list to do for a long time. After looking at several recipes, I've settled on this for now. We've been using it for a week with great results. I'll add updates here if I tweak the recipe...

Homemade Dishwasher Detergent

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Borax
• 1 cup baking soda
• 1/3 cup salt
• 1/3 cup citric acid (I ordered a pound of it from amazon)
• I also added a few drops of sweet orange essential oil (not necessary)
  

Use one tablespoon per load. Also, I use white vinegar as a rinse aid. Easy as that.

School Morning Breakfasts

All three of my kids love breakfast. It was easy to provide them with a hot, hearty breakfast on homeschool mornings. Now we need to be out the door by 7:30, making it a whole new kind of morning. But even with the early departure, we're unwilling to skimp on breakfast.

For my youngest and most selective eater, it's a meal he really needs. Lunches are being returned to me uneaten, so I want to make sure he at least has breakfast in his body. Peter's class is nut-free and that is proving to be an obstacle to my trail-mix-munching/peanut-butter-ball-snacking/PB&J lover/kid who declared the last week of summer "Peanut Butter and Jelly Week." I think it's good for him!... pretty soon he is going to get hungry and will be needing to embrace some variety. But back to breakfast...

Because my kids eat so much breakfast, I avoid boxed cereal. It's expensive and it doesn't stick with them. We do always keep a box handy for weekends in case they need and appetizer before I'm out of bed.

Here are our weekday morning favorites.

Blueberry-Oat or Apple-Cinnamon or Banana-Oat Muffins
Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 C flour
• 3/4 C oats
• 1/4 C brown sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  
• 1 egg
• 3/4 C buttermilk or sour milk (add 2 tsp white vinegar to milk to equal 3/4 C - let sit 5 min.)
• 1/4 C melted butter
  

Blueberry-Oat variation

• add 1/2 C to 1 C depending on your preference - fresh or frozen blueberries

Apple-Cinnamon variation

• increase cinnamon to 1 tsp and add one finely diced (or grated) apple
  

Banana-Oat variation

• add 3/4 C mashed banana and decrease butter/sour milk to 1/2 C

Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine dry ingredients in a mixing bowl. Combine wet ingredients (and banana if using) in a small bowl, combine thoroughly, then add to dry ingredients. Gently fold in blueberries (if using) into batter. Use an ice cream scoop to fill 12 greased muffin cups (or paper lined). Bake for 20 minutes or until tops spring back when pressed.

Egg Sandwiches
Just a fried egg on and whole wheat English muffin. The kids like butter and jelly on the muffin. I like cheese. Cheese always wins with me.

Power Pancakes
These really stick with you. The batter is so simple and can be made the night before in the blender with a quick remix in the morning.

Ingredients:

• 6 eggs
• 1 cup cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup canola/other vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp salt

In a blender combine all ingredients. Process on highest speed for one minute. Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto greased hot griddle. Flip when bubbles form on top; cook until other side is golden brown. We serve them just like regular pancakes - with warmed maple syrup.

Smoothies
There is one issue with smoothies and breakfast - they make my kids cold. So, it's a warm weather only breakfast in our house. I don't have a smoothie recipe, and what goes in changes all the time. For breakfast I add oats for a little heft. (Martha has a recipe.) My kids would need some scrambled eggs, too.

Baked Oatmeal (tweaked slightly recipe from Simple Bites)
SO easy and can be made the night before. It's in the oven for 30 minutes... enough time to make lunches! I love to make this when my husband will be out at an early breakfast meeting and I'm on my own.

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 cup maple syrup (or agave nectar, or combination of both)
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (I sometimes omit the cinnamon and toss in a handful of chocolate chips)
  
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup salted butter, melted (or coconut oil)
  
• 2/3 cup applesauce
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats

Grease a 2 quart baking dish. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients, except oats. Add oats and stir to combine. Transfer mixture into baking dish, spread evenly. Cover tightly with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic directly on top of the oat mixture. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, preheat oven to 375°F. It can go from the fridge to the oven - please remove the plastic wrap! Bake for about 30 minutes or until set.

My kids eat it on a plate with a fork. I sometimes put it in a bowl and pour milk on top.

Homemade Granola (with yogurt or milk) my recipe is here
I began with this recipe and tweaked it. Pam Anderson offers several variations.

Challah French Toast
It's just that. French Toast made with Challah bread. We don't have this often as I think it is pretty indulgent for a weekday breakfast. I buy the bread at Trader Joe's, cut the loaf in half and freeze it. Half a loaf will feed us all. The night before, take the bread out and mix up the egg mixture (eggs, milk, vanilla, a dash of nutmeg). In the morning all I have to do is heat up the griddle and slice and dip the bread and heat up the griddle. I do add cinnamon sugar to the tops while the first side cooks. Yum.

There are of course days we have just a big pot of oatmeal. With butter and cinnamon and maple syrup and milk... mmm....

Hearing "What smells so good, Mom?" as they bound down the stairs. Music to my ears.

OK, I'm in.

It's truly an organizational dream.

Delayed Opening

That means two things in our house...

snowflake pancakes


and day off of preschool for Peter to do what he loves most (seriously) - shovel snow.

My Week on a Clipboard : Part I

Before you go any further, know that this home management/organizing thing has become a hobby of mine. So, please excuse all the type-a-ness of this post. It's embarrassing, really. (but I. love. it.)

After reading Organized Simplicity, I was inspired to change a few things around here, mainly our family calendar and home school lesson planning.

Our Calendar:
For years, I have had a paper, notebook-style calendar and it worked well for me. I think and organize best with pencil to paper, so it was a good fit. Then I got an iPhone and everything changed. I had this super-powered tool in my pocket and a bulky planner in my bag. As much as I liked how my planner joined our family calendar with home school planning, it contained so much I didn't need and was proving to be rather bulky. Also, the school planning sheets were not customized to our subjects and schedule. So, I decided leave the paper family calendar in 2010 and move to Google Calendar (which already held my birthday calendar). Then I went on to create our own weekly lesson planning sheets. No more extra bulk.

What I am loving about Google Calendar vs. Paper:
(which leaves me wondering what took me so long to do this...)

• The ability to repeat an event. This works especially well with meal planning because really we don't have more than two weeks worth of Sunday-Friday meals. So, every other Tuesday we have stir fry, etc. Saturday evenings are left open for new recipes and going out. And it's all there waiting for me when I make the weekly grocery list.
• No space constraints. I don't have a pencil and a little box, so I can be as detailed about my day as I like. Because of this, I have added my weekly exercise schedule to my calendar - that is a huge motivator for me.
• Reminders. This is a life saver for me with birthdays and orthodontist appointments.
• Sharing. Even though my husband doesn't use Google Calendar, if he needs to check my calendar he can.
• And I always take my phone, so now I have my calendar, too. I know I am late to this way of life, but letting go of paper was a big deal for me.
  

Home School Lesson Plans:
Before our school year begins, I create a spreadsheet with each subject and what lessons need to be completed each week to get it all done in about 34 weeks. For instance, I know that in week 20 Will needs to do math lessons 76-79. With all that work completed ahead of time, I spend about an hour every weekend planning for the next week. That includes filling our file box and gathering books. Our file box has a folder for each school day filled with worksheets and papers needed for each day. Hannah (red) and Will (blue) keep things moving to the next day's folder if they are needed every day.

Before each week begins, I print out our lesson planning sheet, a grocery list, and a to do list/weekly chore sheet (I will post about this soon). It all goes on my clipboard. Along with any other papers I may need (like right now I have Peter's birthday party planning sheet in there, too). When the week is over, the lesson plans are transferred to my home management notebook.

Our lesson planning sheet:
(if anyone would like me to email them any of these documents just let me know)


My grocery list (with spaces for our weekly dinner schedule):
(the week begins on Thursday because I go to the store with the boys on Thursdays while Hannah is at piano)

16 : 25 {cozy in the kitchen}

It's snowing!


I prefer to enjoy the quietly falling snow from the kitchen.
When activities are canceled because of snow, I bake.

Working on pomanders at the counter, while I make...


these morsels of deliciousness.

I love cranberry-orange anything, so when I saw this recipe for a more healthful cookie...
well, I couldn't make them fast enough. Dad, you will love these!

Cranberry Orange Coconut Cookies
recipe from Passionate Homemaking

Here is the recipe as I made it. My kids would have probably appreciated sweetened dried cranberries instead of fresh, but I love the burst of tart surrounded by sweet that the fresh cranberries give.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup extra virgin coconut oil
  
• 1 1/2 cups turbinado raw sugar (original recipe called for rapadura/sucanat)
  
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons grated orange zest
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
  
• 2 1/2 cups unbleached white flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chopped fresh cranberries
• 3/4 cup unsweetened dried coconut flakes

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, with a mixer on medium speed, beat butter/coconut oil, raw sugar, egg, orange peel, orange juice, and vanilla until smooth and light.

2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture, stir to mix, then beat on low speed until dough comes together, about 1-2 minutes. You may have to add 1 more Tablespoon orange juice to get it to come together. Mix in cranberries and coconut flakes.

3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls and place about 2 inches apart on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet.

4. Bake in a 350° degrees until cookie edges just begin to brown, 12-15 minutes (shorter baking time will yield a chewier cookie; longer baking time will yield a crispier cookie). Let cookies cool on sheets for 5 minutes, then use a spatula to transfer to racks to cool completely.

Yield: 4 dozen.

15 : 25 {gifting}

Remember these?

Today we filled and delivered bags of goodies for all those
wonderful people that work with my husband at our church.

2 : 25 {making granola}

A daily post this advent season sharing a simple moment from our day.


Yummy Granola

ingredients
2 cups old-fashioned oats (NOT quick oats)
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
1/4 cup real maple syrup
3 Tbsp coconut oil (here is why I chose coconut oil)
1 Tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup dried cranberries (or cherries)

directions
Preheat oven to 275. Grease a jelly roll pan (9x13 to 12x17 size) or line with parchment paper. Mix oats, wheat germ, salt, and nuts. Set aside. Bring syrup, oil, water, and vanilla to a simmer in a saucepan over low heat. Drizzle over oat mixture, and stir to combine. Pour mixture onto pan. Using your hands, squeeze mixture to form small clumps. Bake at 275 for 30 minutes. Then add cranberries and bake for 15 more minutes, until golden brown.

Cool completely in pan and then fill a jar for a delicious and healthy gift.

And then feed your child a ginger cookie to keep him out of the granola. : )

Recipe Share

An afternoon snack of hot apple cider and popcorn drizzled with melted butter... I love this fall season of food! Just wanted to share a few new recipes we have been enjoying (and hope to enjoy soon) in our home....

Jennefer shared this recipe again for golden pancakes a few weeks ago, so I gave it a try. They were a hit and so easy it is to pull together. The big thing to love about these pancakes it they stick with your kids. Pancakes are a Saturday morning staple around here, but usually leave my kids searching for a snack mid-morning. This protein-dense version can keep them going through a early afternoon soccer game.

Golden Pancakes
adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup milk (skim, 2 %, almond, soy or rice will all work)
1/4 cup grapeseed/canola/other vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
In a blender combine all ingredients.
Process on highest speed for one minute.
Pour batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto greased hot griddle or non-stick skillet.
Flip when bubbles form on top; cook until other side is golden brown.

We serve them just like regular pancakes - with warmed maple syrup.

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This is another easy (blender) recipe. I love having leftovers for lunch...

Butternut Squash Soup
adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 small onion, chopped
4 Tbsp butter
2 medium-sized butternut squash, roasted*
1 carton of chicken broth (32 oz)
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 8 ounce package cream cheese (or even a little less)

Directions:
In a large saucepan, saute onions in butter until tender. Add squash, broth, marjoram, black pepper and cayenne pepper. Bring to boil; cook 20 minutes, or until squash is tender.

Puree squash and cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

* To roast the butternut squash: Preheat oven to 350. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and place it cut side down in a buttered casserole dish. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until the flesh is easily pierced with a fork. Let cool and scoop it out of its skin.

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And here is a recipe that I hope to make very soon, perhaps as a little Thanksgiving gift for friends. The only thing that is holding me back is my girl's recently acquired orthodontic appliance (expander) that should probably stay away from caramel corn.

Can't Stop Eating It! Caramel Popcorn
from Jill at Sweet Diva - a high school friend (and really good cook)

Ingredients:
6 quarts popped popcorn
2 cups brown sugar, packed
1 cup butter
1/2 cup corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt (I use 1/2 tsp.)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:
Place popcorn (6 qts. = about 24 cups) in a large bowl and set aside. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, butter, corn syrup and salt; bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla and baking soda; mix well. Pour over popcorn and stir until well-coated.

Pour into two greased 13-in. x 9-in.x 2-in baking pans. Bake, uncovered, at 250 for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Cool completely. (I find it easier to remove from the pan and break up when it is still SLIGHTLY warm.) Store in airtight container or plastic bags. Yield: about 5-1/2 quarts.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Thinking ahead to homemade Christmas gifts, I have two big bottles of homemade vanilla extract steeping in the pantry. I also have a box of cute, little bottles ready to be filled and labeled come December. Simple and homemade.... Perfect!

• The recipe I am using: Homemade Vanilla Extract from allrecipes.com
• For vanilla beans and bottles: Mountain Rose Herbs
• More tips from Passionate Homemaking : Homemade Vanilla Extract