Ramen Noodle Salad

One of my mom's friends gave me this recipe.

Salad:
1 sm head of cabbage, shredded
1 c celery (finely chopped)
1 bunch, including tops, of green onion (I used chives instead)
1 c toasted, slivered almonds
1 T sesame seeds, toasted lightly
1 bag ramen noodles, crushed, not cooked

Dressing:
5 T fresh lemon juice
3 T sugar
1/2 c grapeseed oil (I didn't have enough, so I used I mix of grapeseed and olive oil)
2 t Braggs Liquid Aminos (like soy sauce)

Mix the dressing the night before, put in jar and refrigerate.

When ready to serve, put dressing on vegetables. Add noodles, almonds and sesame seeds. Mix well.

Next time I think I'll use a little less oil and less sugar, but overall this was really good! Kids both ate it and asked for more!

Blueberry Oat Muffins

These are adapted from this recipe (because we didn't have oat bran).

2 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 c oatmeal ground into coarse flour (in blender)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 c Sucanat
1/2 c butter, melted
1 1/2 c milk, yogurt, kefir or buttermilk
2 eggs
2 Tbsp molasses
3 c blueberries

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients, add wet ingredients, mix well. Fold in blueberries. Bake for 20-25 min.

Makes 24 muffins

Ranch Dressing

I adapted this from Pioneer Woman's recipe but made it more of a dip rather than a dressing. The girls declared it "too herb-y, but I think it's yummy!

I didn't measure the herbs, so will include the amounts in the original recipe, I just picked some that I thought were about right.

1 clove garlic, chopped
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 c mayo (approx)
1 c sour cream (approx)
1/4 c chopped flat leaf parsley
1 to 2 Tbsp chopped chives
1 to 2 tsp chopped dill
2 sprigs oregano, chopped

mash galrlic and salt together with fork. Stir everything together, adjust to taste as needed.

It occured to me as I was finished chopping everything and stirring it together, that the mini bowl of my food processor would probably work great for this. So next time I think I'll just put all the herbs, including the garlic & salt, in the minibowl of the food processor and chop everything up, then add the sour cream & mayo and let it stir everything together.

I really like the flavor of this & it's easy and healthier too! (and cheap when all the herbs but the parsley grow in my garden LOL).

Blueberry Clafoutis

I found this recipe on the Nourished Kitchen website:

This can be served as a dessert or for breakfast/brunch.

1 to 1 1/2 c blueberries
3 eggs
1 c cream
2 heaping teaspoons flour
3 heaping teaspoons sucanat (or sugar)

Rinse & drain blueberries and layer on bottom of a pie plate. Whik together rest of ingredients & pour over blueberries, making sure to completely cover blueberries. Bake at 375 for 40 min or until clafoutis is brown on top & knife in center comes out clean. This is an easy, tasty, not too sweet dessert. My girls each ate a serving but didn't ask for seconds, so I'll be saving this recipe to serve when we have company to help me eat it.

Five Minute Bread

There are various versions of this floating around right now (and I have my name on the waiting list for the book at the library) but this one came through one a yahoo group I'm on & it seemed easiest and worth a try. I made a half recipe, baked one yesterday and the other today, and each day the girls & I polished off the whole loaf warm from the oven, YUM! When I asked hte girls if I was supposed to make more they gave a resounding YES!!!

3 c lukewarm water
1 1/2 Tbsp yeast
1 1/2 Tbsp salt
6 1/2 c flour (I used whole wheat, it was pretty dense bread, good flavor though, and worked fine since we were eating it all fresh, but for sandwiches or to keep longer, might do better w/ at least a blend, or adding gluten flour or something . . . )
Cornmeal (to sprinkle on baking stone)

Stir all but cornmeal together in a large bowl. Cover w/ plastic wrap (I used a towel instead) and let rise at room temperature for 2-5 hrs.

At this point you can bake some/all of it or put it in the fridge to use later (most recipes say to put it in a plastic bowl w/ a lid, this one didn't specify, I'm not a fan of plastic for food storage, so I put it in a glass bowl & set a plate over top as a lid).

When you want to bake some, take one grapefruit size bundle of dough and form into a ball, using extra flour if needed. Place on a baking stone sprinkled with cornmeal. Allow to rise about 45 min (mine didn't rise much, but our house is pretty cool right now, and I would guess using at least some white flour would mean it would rise more? Or maybe I should've let it sit longer?). Form an X slash on the top of the loaf. Bake for 20 min at 450 degrees.

This recipe makes 4 (1 lb) loaves (so rather than trying to figure out how big a grapefruit is, I'd just divide the dough in 4ths LOL)

Crockpot Spinach Lasagna

This recipe was posted on Menus 4 Moms a couple weeks ago & today was a good day to try it since dh wasn't coming home for lunch (he doesn't eat tomato sauce):

cooking spray
1 box lasagna noodles
1 jar spaghetti sauce
4 c mozzarella cheese
8 oz ricotta cheese
4 c fresh spinach
1/2 c water

Spray bottom & sides of crockpot. Place a few spoonfuls of sauce in crockpot to keep noodles from sticking. Break uncooked lasagna noodles into pieces & place 1/3 in a layer in crockpot. Pour 1/3 sauce evenly over noodles. Layer 1/2 the ricotta, 1/3 the mozarella, 1/2 of the spinach. Place a few spoonfuls of sauce lightly over spinach. Repeat layers: broken noodles, sauce, cheeses, spinach, a little more sauce. Layer rest of noodle pieces. Cover with rest of sauce, sprinkle rest of mozarella on top. Pour water around edges. Cover & cook on low for about 3 hours, until noodles are soft.

I don't know if it was because I was using lasagna noodles that had been in the cupboard forever, or just my crockpot, but I should've let it cook longer, will probably try 3 1/2 hrs next time. The recipe didn't say what size jar of speghetti sauce to use. I use Aldi's spaghetti sauce (read the ingredients, their chunky marinara doesn't have sugar/corn syrup, most of their others do), which may be a smaller jar than some brands? Anyway I felt like I needed more sauce, so used probably closer to 1 1/2 jars (had an open jar in the fridge so just used more out of it as needed). And it could've used a little salt (again, probably varies depending on the spaghetti sauce?). But all in all, it was super easy & all 3 of us liked it. The girls declared it "the best lasagna ever" so I have a feeling this will be a regular "treat" on days that we know in advance that Daddy's not coming home for lunch (or supper).

Garden Chowder

This is my adaptation of this recipe.

1 med to lg onion, chopped
1/4 c butter
1 c ea diced potatoes, celery, cauliflower, carrot & broccoli (or adapt to what you have/like, I skippe the carrots & cauliflower & doubled the potatoes & broccoli)
3 c water
3 tsp McKay's chicken seasoning
1 tsp salt
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 c flour
2 c milk
1 Tbsp minced fresh parsley
1/8 - 1/4 tsp ea paprika & coriander
2-3 c shredded cheddar cheese

In lg stockpot saute onion in butter (will probably add the garlic at that point next time too) until tender. Add vegetables, water, chicken seasoning & salt. Reduce heat, cover, simmer 20 min. Combine flour & milk till smooth, add to soup. Allow to thicken at low temperature. Add parsley & spices. Just before serving, stir in cheese till melted.

Lindsey says this freezes well, we only have one kid-size serving left (I made it for lunch yesterday) so I won't find out this time around LOL.

Sourdough Blackberry Muffins

I got this recipe from the Nourishing Gourmet.

2 c sourdough starter (I had a "scant" 2 cups once I took on cup out to feed for future use)
3 c whole wheat flour
1 c water

Combine these the night before, cover & leave on counter overnight.

In the morning, preheat oven to 400 F. Add the following to your flour mixture:

1 t salt
1/2 c melted coconut oil
1/2 c maple syrup
1 egg
1 t vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 to 1/2 t (I used a 1/2 t measure but didn't fill it full) ground nutmeg
1 t baking soda

Stir till thoroughly combined. Fold in 1 1/2 c fresh or frozen blackberries (I had a pint jar in the freezer, I used the whole thing, didn't bother to measure it). Fill greased muffin tins (I use stoneware) about 2/3 full. Bake 25 min, until slightly browned & toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan 5 min, then remove.

I got 12 regular muffins (pampered chef stoneware muffin pan) & I think 6 slightly smaller (I have an enamel covered heart shaped muffin pan that I used for the "overflow") muffins out of this. Girls ate 3 each, I'm congested so not tasting very well, but they seemed good. I would guess this recipe could be used with pretty much any fruit :)

Sourdough!!!!!

I'm so excited, I currently have 4 loaves of sourdough baking in my oven, fingers crossed that they come out ok, I'm hopeful, they raised like they were supposed to & LOOK like bread should look . . . And so, while they bake, I will post how I did this (and if they come out of the oven & are a flop I shall never publish this post LOL).

I kind of used a combination of information from this site & Laura's blog. I love the concept of catching wild yeast from the air (and suspect there's some great old strains floating around in my old, old house), but I just wasn't confident that it would work in my rather cold house, I might try Laura's method of starting the starter next summer just to see how it turns out . . . but for now, I "cheated" and used yeast to start my starter:

Starting the Starter:

In a half gallon mason jar (or a glass bowl, but don't use metal or plastic!) combine 2 c flour (I used white, partially because I was out of whole wheat at the moment & partially because some stuff I've read in the past (don't remember where) has indicated that it's easier to start starer w/ white flour), 2 t sucanet (or sugar), 2 1/4 t active dry yeast, 2 c warm water. Cover with a dish towel & let sit in a warm, draft-free place. This was where I had a dilemma, we keep our heat set around 64, there's not really any "warm" spot in this house. I finally opted to set the jar on the counter right next to the stove. There's a wall that protects it from drafts when the door is opened & I figured that way at least when we use the stove or oven it'll get a little extra warmth, but I don't know how warm it really got/stayed.

• Stir once per day
• Let sit 2-5 days, it's ready when it has a sour smell & loks bubbly (if it turns pnk/orange, throw it out!) I think mine took the full 5 days, which I was kind of expecting because of the cool temperatures in the house.
  
• Once it's done, stir, cover loosely w/ platic wrap & refrigerate.

After it had been in the fridge a day or so (I don't know if this is vital or not, it worked well for me because I declared it "done" on Friday and since Saturday is our Sabbath (day of rest) I wasn't going to be making bread on Sabbath anyway).

Two nights before I made bread, I took the starter out of the fridge & set it on the counter overnight, the next morning I fed it w/ 1 c flour (whole wheat this time, since that's what was handy), and 1 c water. I then went ahead & let it sit a full 24 hours (next time I use it I plan to try feeding straight from the fridge, then let sit overnight, then proceed as usual (so cut a day out of the process), I hadn't read through Laura's whole recipe until mid day yesterday & by that time starting to make the bread would've likely had it ready to bake about 3am LOL.

Making the bread:

This morning I stirred up my starter, put 1 cup in a clean quart jar, added 1 c flour & 1 c water to that & stirred it, and put it in the fridge for future use. I poured the rest (which was probably between 1 & 2 cups) into a glass bowl, added 2 t salt and 1 1/2 c water & stirred it all up. Then I began adding flour 2 cups at a time until it was the right consistency to knead. I added 6 cups flour & then probably another cup a little at a time once it was dough but still pretty sticky. The amount of flour will depend on how runny (& how much) your starter is, and the humidity in the air & who knows what else. Knead bread for 8-10 minutes (pausing a few times to check on kids playing outside which gives your arms a nice little break). Form dough into a ball. At this point Laura says to cut it w/ a knife into 3 sections BUT she has different bread pans than I do. I have relatively small (pyrex) glass bread pans, she also says that making balls of dough works better than one loaf. So . . . I started out by cutting my big ball of dough into 4 smaller balls, figuring 2 per bread pan. Then I got the pans out, looked at them, considered that the dough is to double in size prior to baking & then presumably will rise more while baking & promptly cut each of those 4 balls in half. So, I ended up w/ enough for 4 loaves of bread, each loaf consisting of 2 small balls of dough. Laura doesn't say to grease her pans, but she uses stoneware, since I was using glass, I greased my pans w/ coconut oil just in case. Put the dough in the pans put the pans in the oven w/ the light on but the oven off (and it hadn't been used this morning so it was cool) covered the loaves w/ a dishtowel & left them to rise. I think it only took 4 hours or so for them to rise, I was expecting longer, but the warmer temp of the oven, even with just the light on, may have sped things up (we also DID use the stove at lunch time which may have added some extra heat to the oven). And now I'm baking for 1 hr at 350, or until they sound hollow when thumped.

And the bread is done! It didn't rise as much as I thought it would while baking, so not the greatest for sandwiches, but the consistency & flavor is good (I just need to start with bigger balls of dough &/or let it rise more in the pans before baking), very mild on the sourdough flavor, but I've found that's generally true of whole wheat sourdough. The girls even ate a slice w/ butter & declared it good (though L has decided, over the last few months while I've been lazy about making bread, that storebought (white) bread is better than homemade). I will probably add abit more salt next time as well.

Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

This is adapted from here (but I've learned the hard way to actually WRITE OUT recipes I find online because blogs get deleted or set to members only w/o warning and suddenly I can't access my favorite recipes, so I'm also re-typing here).

6 T unsalted butter
4 oz bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped (couldn't find bittersweet, got unsweetened, will use a mix of unsweetened & semi-sweet next time (unless I can find bittersweet).
1/2 c dried cranberries
2 c whole wheat flour
2/3 c sucanet
1/2 c cocoa powder
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 c plus 2 T (divided) buttermilk (or mix plain yogurt & milk)
1 lg egg
1 tsp vanilla

12-24 hours ahead combine flour in mixing bowl w/ 1 1/4 c buttermilk. Mix well, form into a ball, cover w/ plastic wrap, leave on counter for 12-24 hrs.

When ready to bake, make sure oven rack is in center, preheat oven to 375, grease muffin pan.

Melt butter & 2 oz chocolate in microwave or double boiler, set aside.
Place cranberries in bowl & cover w/ hot water, set aside to soak.
To bowl with soaked flour add dry ingredients, stir to combine (I found this too dry to combine to any real degree). In separate bowl or measuring cup combine 2 Tbsp buttermilk, egg & vanilla. Add to dry ingredients, along w/ melted butter & chocolate. Stir to blend. Stir in remaining chopped chocolate & drained cranberries. do not overmix. Spoon into muffin pan. Bake 20 min. Let cool 5 min before removing from pan.

These are very rich/dark chocolate (especially w/ unsweetened chocolate)! I rarely drink milk (just not a fan of drinking it) but definitely wanted milk with this LOL. Next time, assuming I still can't find bittersweet chocolate, I'm thinking I'll use chocolate chips for the final stir-in (& the unsweetened for the melted). The girls each ate 3 of these, so obviously they liked them LOL.