Rainy Day Goodies!!

Today was a rainy, dreary, Monday.  Not that I mind.  I love rainy days.   They put me in the mood to bake!!  So today we worked on school in the morning but the boys just weren't in the mood to stay focused.  We decided to move our lessons from the books to the kitchen, my favorite way to teach.  The boys had no objections to putting away their books for the day.  When I asked what we could make with all the apples we had left in our fruit bin Cam's immediate reply was "applesauce"!!  He loves applesauce and eats it almost every day.  I had not made applesauce since the boys were babies so I thought why not give it a whirl.  The boys helped me peel and core and quarter the apples.  We put them in a roaster, sprinkled them with cinnamon and into the oven they went.  We baked them at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes...

After they came out of the oven they were nice and soft and a sort of syrup had formed in the bottom of the pan.  I bet they would have been AWESOME over ice cream at this point...BUT we were making applesauce so we needed to mush them.  I think this was the part the boys were most excited about.  They took turns using our potato masher to mash them up.  We wanted ours a little chunky so we didn't mash too long...

Yummm.  This smelled amazing at this point so Cam had a taste.  He wasn't too sure at first, mostly because of the chunks...

LOL...He had himself all ready to gag...





BUT WAIT!!!!  What's this????

He loved it!  Really loved it.  He said "it warmed his heart", silly boy.

So next they wanted bread.  We happen to live right up the street from a Buttercrust bakery.  We love smelling the fresh baked bread every morning.  It never gets old.  So bread it was.  But I'm a cheater.  I'll admit it.  Some people love the idea of kneading and shaping and blah, blah, blah....Not me.  I broke my hand a year ago and kneading went out the window after that.  I have arthritis in that hand and it makes me miserable.  Sooooo, I cheat.  I love my bread machine to make dough for me.  It mixes and kneads and rises it.  Then I just punch it down, plop it in the pan, let it rise and bake. 

We don't like bread actually baked in the machine though so I always take it out after it rises and finish it in the oven.  I don't shape my dough either.  I know they all say to roll it out, and roll it up, and tuck in the ends...whatever.  Here's what I do, I punch it down, mush it into a loaf like shape and throw it in my greased bread pan.  It comes out great.  Never had a problem.  Warm bread with butter is an awesome snack.  I give it to the boys with a glass of milk and it is like a sedative.  Jared likes his toasted with fried eggs so that's probably what I'll make for him.  Here's the recipe for the bread...Enjoy!!!

Homemade Bread (the lazy way)

1 1/3 cups warm water ( about 110 degrees)

2 Tbsp. butter, softened

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 Tbsp. dry milk powder

2 tsp. salt

4 cups flour (I use bread flour)

2 1/4  tsp. yeast (or 1 packet instant yeast)

Place in bread machine in order given and run on dough cycle.  Once the cycle is over punch dough down.  Form into a loaf shape and place in greased 9x5" bread pan.  At this point you can rub the loaf with about 1 Tbsp. softened salted butter.  You don't have to, but I always do.  Cover and let rise for about 1 hour or until risen above pan edge.  Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 35-40 minutes.  Bread will sound hollow when tapped, if it is done.  Tip out of pan immediately and cool on wire rack.

What to do if you don't have a bread machine???  Combine water, sugar and yeast in a small bowl.  Let stand for about 10 minutes or until foamy.  Meanwhile mix all remaining ingredients, except butter, in a large bowl.  Add yeast mixture and butter to flour and mix well.  Turn out onto a lightly floured surface a knead for about 8-10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.  Place in a greased bowl, turning to grease top.  Let rise until doubled 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Follow remaining directions above.

A Great Website...

I found this website last week when looking for a few new recipes.  It is my kind of website.  So much variety!  Make sure you check out the recipes. 

Old Fashioned Living

Reminds me of things my grandma used to make.  Even a recipe for Pumpkin Fudge which I am definitely trying!!  They also have a lot of great ideas for crafts and games for kids.  Happy browsing...

Moist and Fluffy Biscuits

Saturday mornings are big breakfast mornings around our house.  During the week it's an array of cold cereal, oatmeal, toast, and frozen pancakes and waffles (I make these myself on the weekends and then freeze them for the week).  But Saturday, oh Saturday, We love to have a big filling breakfast.  The idea of healthy usually goes out the window on Saturday, and that's ok right?  I mean it's only once a week.  HA!  Anyway, this past week I had a hankerin' , a hankerin' for biscuits.  Big, fluffy biscuits.  So, on Saturday we decided that biscuits it would be, for breakfast with cheese ('cause cheese makes everything better), eggs, and thin sliced hot ham.  Yummmm!  These sure beat the heck out of any fast food sandwich you could get and they were easy and fast!  I think we will be making these more often.  Now, a few things about the biscuits.  Biscuits are fickle, they don't like to be messed with too much.  Handle the dough as little as possible!!  Don't knead it!!  Don't stir the heck out of it.  Also, I used cake flour.  I could bore you with a bunch of technical reasons related to gluten and density, etc.  but cake flour works best for fluffy biscuits.  You can use all purpose, I won't be upset, but you probably will not get the lightest biscuits possible.  Also, use COLD butter.  You don't want your butter to break down too much so make sure it stays cold!!!

So here's the biscuit recipe...the rest is up to you!!

Big Fluffy Biscuits

2 cups cake flour ( or all purpose if you must)

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 cup butter (COLD, cut into small pieces)

3/4 cups milk or buttermilk

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees!  Don't forget this.  These biscuits need to be put into a HOT oven.

Prepare everything ahead of time that you will need.  Get out your biscuit cutter, flour your counter lightly, get out an ungreased baking sheet and melt a little bit of butter, a few tablespoons, and get out a pastry brush.  Now, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Place butter chunks in bowl with flour and rub or cut butter into flour until it resemble coarse meal.  Dump in milk or butter milk and stir JUST UNTIL COMBINED!!  Dump wet dough out onto floured surface and pat it out to about 1 inch thick.  Cut with a floured biscuit cutter and place on baking sheet.  Gather scraps and repat them out to cut out more biscuits, you should get 8 or more.  Now brush each with melted butter and place in oven.  Bake for about 10 minutes until lightly browned.  Remove from sheet and brush on more butter if desired.  ENJOY!!

Pumpkin Roll Cake

This is MY season...I am so excited that the official start of Autumn is only one day away.  I just love fall, the weather gets cooler, the leaves start to turn, there is all kinds of fall themed festivals and fairs and most of all, there are pumpkins.  I think pumpkin should have it's own food group.  I could eat some sort of pumpkin flavored food every day.  My favorite would have to be pumpkin pie, a classic, but I also like pumpkin cakes and puddings.  I am not picky when it comes to pumpkin!!  One of my favorites growing up as a kid was the pumpkin roll my Grandma Higgins used to make.  I remember her making a bunch all at once and then wrapping them in foil and putting them in the freezer.  She would bring out those frozen silver rolls at Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and we couldn't wait for dessert.  You could slice them right from the freezer and eat it half frozen.  Yumm.  I mean, whats not to love about a sweet, spicy, moist pumpkin cake wrapped around a rich, cream cheese filling.  Well, I guess if I could find one thing wrong with it, it would be the mess.  I am not a big fan of messes.  No, I can't say that...messes don't bother me, it's the cleaning them up that bothers me.  Really, who gets excited about doing dishes?  If you've ever made a pumpkin roll, then you know, there can be a mess.  You need to roll it up to cool in a towel covered with powdered sugar.  This gets sugar everywhere.  I am not fond of the whole towel rolling process.  So I thought...What if I could make a pumpkin roll without the roll?  I made the basic sheet pumpkin roll recipe and just left it in the sheet pan.   Then I topped it with the filling and place it in the fridge.  The first time it was just OK.  The cake was a little too thin.  Much better for rolling.  So I redid the cake part and upped the filling amount to make a nice thick frosting.  It came out great.  All the flavor of the original roll but with much less mess. Yummm.  Here's the recipe...ENJOY!!

Pumpkin Roll Cake

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 - 15 oz. can pumpkin puree

1 cup canola oil

4 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

Frosting:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup butter, softened

2 tsp. vanilla

4 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

In a medium bowl, beat sugar, pumpkin, oil and eggs.  In a separate, small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder,cinnamon, baking soda, and salt.  Add all at once to the pumpkin mixture and mix well.  Pour into a greased 15 x 10 in. baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 - 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool. 

Meanwhile, beat together the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a medium bowl.  Gradually add the confectioners sugar and beat until smooth.  Spread over cooled cake.  Refrigerate.

Two Bite Fudge Brownies...

Who doesn't love brownies???  Really rich fudgey chocolate brownies.  They just make your day :)  Chocolate is good for you too right??  I mean, that's what I keep telling myself anyway...  My husband recently joined a Men's Fraternity group through our church.  It is a really great chance for men to get together and fellowship and have some fun watching football.  Jared has really enjoyed this.  They have a book study and then watch the game together.  They take turns hosting it at their homes and the host cooks the goodies for them to munch on.  We don't have T.V. so our chance to host was out since we couldn't have the game.  We decided that my parents would host and we would help supply the goodies.  Our way of contributing.  So this week was my parents week to host and my mom was cooking all the snacks and I was relegated to make the desserts...big suprise.  Ha!!  I asked Jared what he wanted and his answer was brownies, right away.  He loves 'em.  I am down with a cold and wanted something super easy to make.  So I decided to make two bite brownies so they'd be easier to serve,and I made them with frosting because the only way to make a brownie better is to add frosting to it, right?  I did put some football theme sprinkles on them.  I also made a pumpkin sheet cake with cream cheese frosting because I'm in a fall mood and I bought a whole flat of canned pumpkin last week. I'll post that one later... So here are the brownies.  Enjoy!!

Two Bite Brownies

1 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup cocoa

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. vanilla extract

Stir cocoa into melted butter in a small bowl and set aside.  Blend together sugar and eggs.  Add flour, baking powder, and salt.  Blend well.  Add vanilla and melted butter/chocolate mixture.  Scoop into greased mini muffin tins (I used my cookie scoop).  Bake at 350 degrees for about 12-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into one brownie comes out clean.  Let cool in pan for 5 minutes and then remove to a cooling rack.

Let cool completely and then top with frosting.

Buttercream frosting

1/2 cup butter

1 tsp. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

4 cups powdered sugar.

Mix together butter, milk, and vanilla.  Slowly blend in sugar and more milk if needed to make a spreading consistency.

Try-It Tuesday (Soft Pretzels)

So my good friend Robyn over on  The Crafty Foodie blog and I got together today for a play/bake date.  We all had such a nice time together that we've decided to do it every week.  Each week we are going to decide on a new recipe to try out together and then get together to make it.  It gives the boys and I some much needed time away from the house, since our classroom is in the house some days we need a "field trip". 

So today was our first weekly date and we decided to try out a recipe Robyn had found on Allrecipes.com for homemade soft pretzels.  We mixed them and kneaded them in her Kitchen-Aid mixer.  We did follow the recipe exactly but found we had to add a good amount of water because the dough was really dry.  We let it rise for the amount of time stated and in hindsight I don't think it was long enough because our dough ended up being a little hard to roll out into pretzels.  We managed though, and had a great time of fellowship together while the dough was rising and the pretzels were baking.  We did practice a song we are going to be singing together on the 26th of September in church and for our first time singing together I think we did really well.  Anyway, back to the pretzels, the boys helped us roll them out into pretzel shapes and we put them in to bake.  After we took them out Robyn brushed a generous amount of melted butter over them and then we let them cool for a bit.  How were they???  Well, let me just say that we will not be going to the mall anymore for a pretzel...They were soooooo good!   I ate one while we were there at Robyn's house and I could not believe how much they tasted just like the pretzel place at our mall.  I was proud of us and our efforts!!  I love to find a good new recipe!!  My boys just loved them too.  So we brought a few home with us and they were our after school/work snack. 

Jared was wishing for more and so were the boys.  I wanted to try them again too and adjust the recipe a bit, using some whole wheat flour and maybe less of it so the dough would not be so dry.  So out came my bread machine and this time I adjusted the amount of flour and the dough came out beautifully!!  I did the dough cycle on my machine so it kneaded it and rose it for me.

So here's the dough...It rose so high it lifted the top of my bread machine!!  It rolled out nicely too.  When we made them today we got some pretty nice pretzel shapes from them, and then I thought tonight about trying to make pretzel buns for sandwiches.  This worked out nicely although I did have to bake them longer to get them done in the center.

               

Then I thought that I wanted MY favorite kind of pretzel form the mall chain and that is cinnamon sugar.  I twisted mine into a twist shape and baked them.  Then after dipping them in butter I dipped them into a cinnamon sugar mixture.  These were awesome right from the oven, nice and hot.  These were Peyton's favorite too.  He asked me for seconds!!



So this recipe made enough for us all to have a snack for tomorrow too...and I will be trying my pretzel buns out as well.  Here's the recipe...and one important thing; don't even bother making these unless you dip them in butter.  This is what makes this pretzel so good!!

Homemade Soft Pretzels

4 tsp. active dry yeast

1 tsp. brown sugar

1 1/4 cups warm water

4-4 1/2 cups flour (I used 2 cups all purpose and 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. butter, melted

4 cups boiling water

1/2 cup baking soda

For cinnamon sugar:

1 cup white OR brown sugar

3 Tbsp. cinnamon

Dissolve the yeast and 1 tsp. brown sugar in the warm water.  Let sit a few minutes until foamy.  Meanwhile combine the flour, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt together in the bowl of your mixer.  make a small well in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the butter and the yeast mixture.  Mix with the dough hook on the number 1 or 2 setting for 2 minutes or until combined and dough clings to hook.  Turn to speed 2 and knead for about 4 minutes until dough is smooth.  Turn out into a well greased bowl and flip to grease the top.  Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  

Once risen, punch dough down and divide into 12 equal parts.  Shape each into pretzel shapes, twists or knots for buns.  Mix together boiling water and baking soda in a medium bowl.  Dip each pretzels in this mixture and them place them on greased baking sheets.  Sprinkle with pretzel or kosher salt, if using.  Bake in a 450 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a shallow bowl in the microwave.  Remove the pretzels from the oven and, using tongs, dip each in butter, flipping to coat.  If making cinnamon sugar, shake in cinnamon sugar mixture at this point.  Place back on baking sheets to cool for a few minutes.   ENJOY!!

Honey Glazed Chicken...

We are chicken lovers.  Seriously, we rarely eat beef.  We love our chicken grilled, fried, roasted, sauteed, stir-fried, you name it.  We eat a LOT of chicken.  There is one thing that we don't really care for though, and that is drumsticks.  Don't know why, but none of us really seem to like them.  So, when my mom stopped by this week with two huge packages of chicken drums she had got for a really great price, we were less than enthusiastic about having them.  So, I was off to try to find a recipe for them.  The boys wanted fried, of course, but I was not in the mood for that mess.  So grilled was what we settled on.  This recipe is really a conglomeration of about 3 different recipes based on what I knew we would like.  This chicken was the BOMB!!!  Jared said it was the best chicken drums he had ever eaten.  Whoo yeah.  I love it when we find a new favorite.  You have to try it.  It would be good on breasts too or even ribs.  This is not a sauce though, more like a marinade, it is kind of thin.  Just keep basting the chicken in it while it grills.  I promise, it is awesome!!  So, here it is...

Honey Glazed Chicken

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1 cup ketchup

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. prepared mustard

1/2 cup good quality honey

2 tsp. worcestershire sauce

2 tsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. ground black pepper

Whisk all together.  Reserve 1 cup for basting.  Place chicken in 1 gallon ziploc bag and pour in marinade.  Refrigerate for several hours or overnight, turning to coat a few times.  Drain chicken and discard marinade left in bag.  Grill chicken over medium heat, basting with reserved glaze.

Keep an eye on your chicken so it doesn't burn...We grilled ours while trying to watch a football game, so we were a little distracted and our chicken got a little dark..It was still great!!

Meatball Sub Sliders

We had these for dinner last night.  I wanted something quick and kid friendly and these were a big hit with all of us.  Cameron loves meatballs although he will not eat ground meat...Go figure.  Anyway I got the idea from the Pioneer Woman's blog.  I didn't use her recipe I used my own to try to cut down on the fat and since we don't usually eat beef, I used turkey.  These were really simple and I guess you could use the already cooked frozen meatballs that you get at the store.  If you have the time and ability though, I would definitely make my own meatballs...sooo much better.  Feel free to use any sauce you like.  I used our own sauce that my mom and I canned last year.  So here they are:

First thing is to mix and roll your meatballs.

I always use my trusty Kitchen Aid to mix up my meatloaf and meatballs.  I used a cookie scoop for these to make them uniform.

Next you need to cut up and saute about half an onion in oil...add some minced garlic if you like.

Throw in your meatballs and saute them until they are well browned.

Once they are browned I just threw them into the slow cooker and dumped in the sauce.  I added some more minced garlic and some italian seasoning blend...

I was given this whole huge jar of italian seasoning by my good friend Robyn over on The Crafty Foodie blog.  Thanks Robyn!!

I let the meatballs cook on low in the slow cooker for a few hours while I did school with the boys.  Man did our house smell amazing!!  Anyway once they are good and hot and bubbly you'll want to slice some small rolls.

 

I just used some dinner rolls Jared picked up at the store, but you could make your own if you are feeling ambitious.

Next layer on some cheese.  I used lowfat mozzerella but you can use whatever you would prefer.

Top with a meatball and some sauce..

Then more cheese...yummmmm

So there you have it.  Soooo yummy and so easy too!!  Enjoy...

Turkey Meatballs:

1 lb. lean ground turkey (I use 93% lean)

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs OR 1 cup fresh bread crumbs (I used whole wheat)

2 cloves minced garlic

1/4 cup finely minced onion

1/2 cup milk

1 egg

1 tsp. Italian seasoning blend.

Mix all together by hand or in your mixer.. Use a cookie scoop and roll to form meatballs.

Our $4.00 miracle...

As a parent of a child on the autistic spectrum I have spent countless hours researching, making phone calls, traveling to and from doctors and appointments, all in hopes of finding effective treatments for my son.  I suppose it is like they tell you, every child is different and each responds to different combinations of therapies and clinical treatments (or drugs).  We have had many different doctors for Cam over the years and each one has offered different options for him as far as treatment goes.  We have always been hesitant about using drugs for him but have relented to at least trying some different combinations to see what may help him.  Of course we also make sure to try to watch his diet, limiting salt and sugar and caffeine.  Making sure he eats his whole grains and takes supplements of omega 3's (which he hates) and a multi-vite since he is a produce hater...  Diet is a real challenge since he has texture difficulties and sometimes cannot swallow.  Lately I have been researching massage therapies as a means of relaxation for him since he suffers from some pretty severe tics which are increased by his anxiety over schoolwork and social events.  I have been reading about the benefits of acupuncture which we are not ready to try as of yet due to his fear of needles and anything having to do with what he sees as a doctors office.  Acupressure seems to be another thing that seems like it would work.  One website I had found though was really raving about the benefits of scalp massage for kids who have difficulty relaxing and sleeping due to ADHD ar ADD or OCD's.  This seemed interesting to me since Cam has a small obsession with playing with his head and rubbing it and asking me to brush his hair, cut his hair, rub his hair, etc.  So it seemed to me this may help him relax and maybe subdue the current tics he is dealing with.  It just so happened though that last week we sold our second car and ended up witha few extra dollars so we did a little clearance sale shopping.  I wondered into Bed, Bath, and Beyond, called by the huge banner for clearance sales they were having.  Cameron went with me while Jared and Peyton headed to Dick's Sporting Goods to browse.  Cameron kept asking me about the "funny whisk" in the corner and me, the lover of kitchen gadgets, had to check it out.  It turned out to be this:

Not a whisk but a scalp massager!!  It was only four dollars and so I decided to buy it and try it out on him to see if he would even respond to it.  I opened the package in the car and at first he was a bit hesitant as I guess to him it looked like needles.  He asked me if it would make him bleed!! I finally convinced him just to try it.  Form thE first moment I placed it on his head his eyes closed and he smiled a relaxed smile and said it felt soooo good!!  Now I find him coming in to my room in the morning with it in his hand asking me to rub his head.  He loves it and it is helping him to relax all over his whole body!!  He seems so much more content after a good scalp rub and the nasty head jerk has somewhat lessened too.  Not saying that this will work for everyone, but for the time being it works for us and that is good enough for me!!

Fire cooking

There are few greater simple joys in life than a meal cooked over an open fire.  What better way to relax than to sit back on a cool summer evening and enjoy the flames.  We love to camp and cook out over our campfire.  Many nights we will build a fire at home just so we can cook over it.  I guess it is that "pioneer spirit" in me, remembering all the hours spent reading the Little House books and wondering what it would be like to be a wagon traveler setting out with no idea of what came next or where you'd stop and settle.  One of our favorite campfire treats though, is the S'more, although I'm sure Laura Ingalls never had one of those.  Nothing better than chocolate, graham, and a perfectly toasty and melted marshmallow.  I know my boys just love the idea of having permission to "play" with fire and I don't think that they love the marshmallows as much as the idea of roasting it themselves.   We've done some experimenting over the years to try to find the perfect smore for us and the possibilities are as varied as the personality of the person making them.  We have managed to find our "Wolfe Family Favorite"  The one smore that everyone asks for and comes back for seconds...
                                       
So there it is.  Two chocolate chip cookies, (homemade or the famous blue package from the grocery store, whatever you prefer), a peanut butter cup, and a gorgeous melted marshmallow.  Sugar overload but Oh so good!!  Now if you prefer to take it over the top you could add a few banana slices and some strawberry jam, although I'm the only one who enjoys them this way.  Kind of like a sweet, ooey gooey, amped up PB&J...Yummmm!!  Happy roasting!!!