Breakfast Time!

I Wish You Could Smell This!
I promise no one will miss the cold cereal when you serve up a breakfast like this one! Butch and I worked together to bake/blend/mix up this delicious meal! I made the Cinnamon Bread Sticks, and Butch made the scrambled eggs and the Fruity Yogurt.



Cinnamon Bread
Start with half a batch of basic soaked dough.



Knead a rounded teaspoon of Real Salt, and a rounded teaspoon of baking soda into the dough.



Butter your stone and roll out the dough evenly. Spread a thin layer of butter over the dough, and then a thin layer of Sucanat.



Sprinkle cinnamon over the whole thing and then bake at 350 for 25 minutes.



Let it cool for a few minutes and then use your pizza cutter to slice it into squares. Big Guy calls these squares "sugar cubes!"

Fruity Yogurt



I poured 1 quart of my homemade, raw milk yogurt into the blender. (If you're not making yogurt yet, don't worry! Dannon makes a great plain yogurt. Just be sure to buy the full fat kind, not low-fat. Brown Cow is another brand that is pretty easy to find.) Butch added 3 bananas, 5 frozen strawberries, and a 1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla. Whiz that until it's well blended. It will be a little soupy. He poured the Fruity Yogurt into bowls and then I sprinkled a few teaspoons of Sucanat into each bowl.

What a great way to start the day!

Homemade Breakfast Cereal Recipe

There was a time, not too long ago, that a big chunk of our grocery money went to purchasing cold cereal. To tell the truth, I was a cereal addict! I enjoyed a bowl for breakfast and then once the kids were in bed I would enjoy another bowl. (OR TWO!) In the back of my mind somewhere I knew that it wasn't the most nutritious thing we could be eating, but I had lots of reasons why I felt justified in eating it. See if any of these reasons sound familiar. Just for fun let's do a "Top 10 Reasons to Eat Cold Cereal For Breakfast" list!

10. "It's magically delicious!" (Lucky Charms!)
9. The bus is going to be here in 10 minutes!
8. "It's part of this nutritious breakfast."
7. I got it on sale!
6. The kids really like it!
5. I don't have time to cook breakfast!
4. It's the "Breakfast of Champions!" (Wheaties - my favorite!)
3. I only get the kinds made with whole grains!
2. It's fortified with vitamins and minerals!
1. It's SOOOOOOOOOOO easy!

I have said all these and more at different times in my life! Here are a few quotes from a great book, Nourishing Traditions, by Sally Fallon.
"Boxed Breakfast cereals are made by the extrusion process, in which little flakes and shapes are formed at high temperatures and pressures. Extrusion processing destroys many valuable nutrients in grains, causes fragile oils to become rancid and renders certain proteins toxic. For a new generation of hardy children, we must return to the breakfast cereals of our ancestors."

Also from Sally Fallon's book - "In 1960, researchers at Ann Arbor University performed an interesting experiment on lab rats. Eighteen rats were divided into three groups. One group received cornflakes and water; a second group was given the cardboard box the cornflakes came in and water; and the control group received rat chow and water. The rats in the control group remained in good health throughout the experiment. The rats receiving the box became lethargic and eventually died of malnutrition. But the rats receiving cornflakes and water died before the rats who were given the box - the last cornflake rat died on the day the first box rat died."

The truth, and this was VERY hard for me to swallow, is that bagged/boxed breakfast cereals do more harm than good. If you need any further proof, look at the ingredient list. Sugar is almost always the number 2 or 3 ingredient.

SO! Knowing that they have no place in our diet, we are left with a few questions that were mind boggling to me. WHAT THE HECK DO WE HAVE FOR BREAKFAST? YOU MEAN I HAVE TO COOK ANOTHER MEAL? EVERY DAY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Let's all take a deep breath at this point...

Here's another truth. Yes, we need to cook breakfast each morning for our families. (I remember being a little angry at this.) The good news is that it's not that hard, once you get in the swing of it. You know you can trust me when I say this because I was once hooked on cereal and now we never have it and I know it's possible! With a little planning and a little preparation the night before, breakfast can be quick and easy. Not as quick as opening a box, but still pretty easy!

Here is a list of our favorite breakfasts.

Oatmeal (See my previous post on how to make REALLY good oatmeal.)
eggs
muffins (see my post about soaked dough for muffins)
fruit
yogurt with fruit
biscuits (see the soaked dough post for biscuits)

I mix and match these things to keep breakfast from being boring. We have oatmeal about 3 times a week. Every once and a while I make granola, but not very much. (Have you ever noticed that you get a case of the "toots" after you eat granola? That's your body telling you it cannot digest those unsoaked oats!) My kids are a lot better behaved in the mornings since we stopped eating cold cereal. The reason is that a bowl of cold cereal is digested and out of their systems very quickly! My breakfasts now are power packed with complex carbs and good fats that take time to be digested. My little ones usually need a snack a few hours later (smaller tummies) but my older kids and myself are usually not even hungry until lunch time!

I am so far off topic now! I started this post to give you a recipe for homemade breakfast cereal and instead I've stepped up on my soap box again. I will say just a bit more and then I will give you the recipe!

Just because we stopped eating cold cereal doesn't mean I don't still get cravings to sit down and enjoy it's crunchy taste. I think in my mind it's comfort food. I've read in the last few months about different homemade cereal recipes, but I didn't think they could possibly taste good so I never tried. Silly me! I finally made some this week and it turned out so good! It tastes to me like Raisin Bran! When you try this remember that learning to cook with REAL FOOD takes some trial and error. The first time I made it I had to do a few things differently than the recipe called for. The second time I made it I burned it a little. Just keep trying and learn how to make it work for you!

Drum Roll Please...

HOMEMADE COLD CEREAL
Makes about 10 cups

6 cups ground wheat
3 cups milk (raw is best)
1 cup water
1/4 whey, buttermilk or yogurt
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup butter, melted (not in the microwave!)
1/2 cup honey
1 tsp salt
1 TBLS pure vanilla
1 TBLS cinnamon

Mix flour, milk, water and whey/yogurt in a large bowl. Cover and let sit overnight. (If you are not using raw milk you don't need to leave it overnight or use any whey/yogurt. Processed milk will rot whereas raw milk will culture. The culturing milk and whey will make the nutrients in the flour more friendly and absorbable. See my posts about raw milk and soaking grains if you need to learn more about this.) In the morning or in the afternoon, when ever you have time, add the rest of the ingredients. Mix until you have a pourable batter. I usually have to add a cup and a half of water to this or it's too thick.

Preheat the oven to 350 and butter two 9x13 inch cake pans. Pour the batter equally into the two pans. Bake for about 35-40 minutes. Don't let it burn! When it's done a toothpick will come out clean from the center and it will feel springy to the touch. Let it cool. Get out two cookie trays and your blender. With a big spoon scoop out your cake-like cereal and process it in your blender in small batches until it's crumbly. Pour the crumbs onto the cookie trays. (This is the most time consuming part.) Turn your oven down to 200 or 250 degrees and put the trays in. You are going to keep them in the oven until the crumbs dry out completely. I do mine at 250 and it takes about 2 hours. Check it and stir it and taste it often so you will know when it's done. write down how long it took so you'll know next time!

When it's out, let it cool and then transfer it into some kind of sealable container. When you are ready to eat it add raisins to it and pour some (raw!) milk over it. It is so good and so worth the effort!

New Cookie Recipe

Graham Cracker Cookies

I am so excited about these cookies! I have been trying to perfect my own version of peanut butter cookies for a while. Yesterday I tweaked the recipe a little and they looked great when they came out of the oven! I served them to the family with a glass of raw milk. I dipped my cookie in my milk and took a bite. I was instantly transported back to my childhood and the memory of dipping graham crackers in milk. SO GOOD! These cookie cookies are light and fluffy thanks to arrowroot powder. There is no wheat in them at all! (Have you ever tried to make cookies out of whole wheat flour? Mine never turn out good!) You can eat these cookies without guilt - everything in them is REAL and GOOD FOR YOU!

What you need:

1/2 cup butter, softened (DON'T microwave it!)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1/2 cup sucanat
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp pure vanilla
2-3 cups arrowroot powder

What to do:

Heat the oven to 350. Get out your baking stones or cookie trays. In a large bowl mix the butter, peanut butter, sucanat and honey. Mix well with a fork. Add the eggs and baking soda, baking powder, and vanilla. Mix well. Add two cups arrowroot powder and mix well. Keep adding more arrowroot powder a little at a time until you can take a glob of dough and roll it into a ball in your hand without it sticking to you. To form the cookies, scoop out the dough with a tablespoon and roll it into a ball. Arrange the balls on your stone or tray so they have some space between them - probably about 12 to a tray. Mine took about 20 minutes to cook. After about 15 minutes check on them. They get really fluffy and they get cracks in them. You want them to be golden. It may take you a few batches to really know when yours are done. This recipe make about 20 medium cookies. Enjoy! (With raw milk of course!)

Making Pizza With Soaked Dough

Pizza is one of everyone's favorite foods! Try this recipe and you will never feel guilty about eating "just one more slice" again!

You Will Need:
Pizza pans - stone is best
1 batch of Caralee's soaked dough (Makes three crusts. See previous post.)
Toppings of your choice:
We like - good quality pepperoni (look at the healthfood store)
olives
sliced mushrooms
pineapple
chopped green peppers
onions
sliced zucchini
cheese (Tillamook!)

Sauce #1
1 1/2 cups Daisy sour cream
1/2 - 1 tspn garlic powder
1-2 - 1 tspn onion powder
1/2 tspn Real Salt

Mix this all together and taste it. Experiment with how much of the spices you like. This also makes great veggie dip!

Sauce #2
1 can tomato sauce (I use my homemade ketchup!)
Add basil, oregano, garlic powder, Real salt - whatever you like!

To make the crust:
Take your dough, don't forget to add the salt and baking soda, and split it into three equal chunks! Heat your oven to 350. Sprinkle a little arrowroot powder on your pizza stone (so the dough won't stick) and roll the dough out into the shape of your pizza stone. Roll it out a little past the edge of the stone and then fold that little extra up to form the edge of the crust. Bake this for about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. If you have more than one stone you can be baking another crust while the first one cools. I have two stones and a metal pizza pan. Walmart sells really inexpensive round stones - a good investment! After it has cooled a little spread the sauce of your choice on the crust. Add the toppings of your choice, ending with the cheese. When all your crusts are cooked turn the oven onto broil. My oven lets me choose a high or low broil. I go with low. Put your completed pizza under the broiler for about 5 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove, let cool a little and ENJOY!!!

Tips:
1. If three is too many for your family - I feed all eight of us with three - just put your third chunk of dough in a plastic bag and put it in the fridge. Make buscuits with it tomorrow!

2. We like the sour cream sauce on an all veggie pizza and the tomato sauce on the pepperoni. The sour cream sauce is also good with chicken and pineapple!

3. Don't tell your kids this is "healthy" pizza. Have them help you put the toppings on and I guarantee they will eat it!

Be sure to ask me if you have any questions!

Soaked Dough Recipe

For a long time I have been making homemade whole wheat bread for my family. I thought that was the most nutritious choice UNTIL I learned about the benefits of soaking my grains. I had no idea how to make bread out of soaked grains! That is when the Good Lord sent me Caralee. She and her family moved into our neighborhood, and after only a few hours of knowing her it was clear she was a kindred spirit! She taught me how to make this soaked dough and I LOVE IT!

Caralee's Dough
4 cups buttermilk
1 cube butter, melted (on the stove top!)
6 cups whole wheat, ground (about 9 c. ground flour)
1 TBLS baking soda
1 TBLS real salt

Put the melted butter and buttermilk in a large bowl. (I use a glass bowl.) Add about 8 cups of the flour and mix well. Add more flour as needed to make a stiff dough. Cover the bowl tightly w/ plastic wrap and let it sit on your counter for
12 - 24 hours. When you are ready to use it add the baking soda and salt, knead well.

Tips:
~ I use buttermilk that I have cultured myself. To start it I bought some buttermilk from the healthfood store. I put 1/4 cup buttermilk in a glass quart jar, filled it the rest of the way up with RAW MILK, put a lid on it and set it on the counter for 12 hours. TA DA! Buttermilk. (You MUST use raw milk. Processed milk will just spoil in the jar. If you don't have access to raw milk you can just use the buttermilk from the healthfood store. It's not very expensive.) When you use the buttermilk just leave about a 1/4 cup in the bottom of the jar and fill it up with raw milk and start the process over. I culture mine in a 1/2 gallon jar now because we use so much of it!

~ You can make your buttermilk stretch by using 2 cups buttermilk and 2 cups water in this recipe. Right now I use 3 cups buttermilk and 1 cup water.

~ You can also use a good quality yogurt if you have no buttermilk. That's what I used when I first started making Caralee's Dough. I used 2 cups Dannon All Natural plain yogurt and 2 cups water. Just be sure the yogurt is not low fat.

~ Sometimes the outer layer of the dough takes on a grey appearance after it has soaked. THIS IS NORMAL! When you knead in the soda and salt it will almost disappear.

~ I make a batch of dough every night. I try to do it while I'm making dinner. Then I can make lots of fresh, soaked bread items the next day.

What I make with soaked dough:
The options of what you can do with Caralee's Dough are many! Here are my favorite.

1. FLAT BREAD - Use a walnut sized clump of dough and roll it out thin. Cook it for a few minutes on each side in a little butter. Even easier if you have a tortilla press! You can wrap up lots of different things in it! My favorite is to top the flat bread with black beans, brown rice, cheese, sour cream, and salsa. I melt this under the broiler in my toaster oven. YUM!!

2. BISCUITS - I use half the dough and I add 1 TBLS of sucanat when I am kneading in the soda and salt. I roll out the dough and cut it into biscuit shapes with a round cookie cutter or a drinking glass. I place the biscuits on my rectangular baking stone and cook them for about 20 -25 minutes on 350. We like them with butter and honey.

3. MUFFINS - I use half the dough and add the salt and soda. I also add 3 eggs, 1 tspn pure vanilla, and 1/2 cup sucanat. For Apple muffins I add 1 peeled and grated apple, 1/2 cup raisins, 1 -2 tspn cinnamon and a dash of allspice or nutmeg. I mix this all together - this takes a few minutes, be patient! I put the mix in buttered muffin tins - it would be better in stone muffin pans - and cook for about 25 minutes. For banana muffins I add (after the soda, salt, eggs, vanilla and sucanat) 3 mashed bananas and 1 tspn cinnamon. You really could make them any flavor you want!

4. CINNAMON BREAD STICKS - I use half the dough and roll it out on my round or rectangular baking stone. (I sprinkle a little arrowroot powder on the stone so the dough won't stick.) I melt 3 TBLS of butter and 4 TBLS honey in a small pan. Add 1 tspn cinnamon. Spread the melted mix over the dough. Bake at 350 for about 20 -25 minutes. Let it cool for 5 minute and then use a pizza cutter to cut it into sticks.

There are lots of other things to do with Caralee's Dough! I will post more soon. Please ask me if you have any questions. Caralee said she would also be glad to help. Let me know if you want her contact info.

Ketchup In The Kitchen

SO, I tried my hand at making ketchup last night! First I will tell you that it tastes great and my kids like it! They had it on their scrambled eggs this morning. I have yet to be able to find an affordable brand of store-bought ketchup without high fructose corn syrup in it, so I planted 30 tomato plants in the spring with the goal in mind of making a years supply of ketchup myself.

Here's what I used:

A lot of tomatoes! Probably 20 pounds. Next time I make it I will measure!
2 large organic onions
5 cloves of garlic
1 cup real apple cider vinegar
2 cups sucanat (sweetener)
2-3 tbls salt
1 tsp ground black pepper

Here's what we did:
I filled a large pot half way full of hot water and brought it to a boil. Dillon put about 10 tomatoes at a time in the water and scalded them for 30 seconds. He took them out with a slotted spoon and put them in a bowl. He filled the bowl with cold water and let them sit for a minute. While he kept scalding the tomatoes I took the cooled ones and cut the core out of the top and sliced each tomato in half. Then I used my thumbs to press out the seeds and mushy stuff in the middle. I gave the tomato a squeeze to get any extra fluid out and then plopped it in my big stainless-steel pot. We worked like that until the pot was about 3/4ths full. I then chopped up the onions and pressed the garlic and put that in the pan. I stirred in the vinegar, sucanat, salt and pepper. I turned the heat under the pot to medium and crossed my fingers. After several hours of simmering I turned off the heat. I then got out the blender and blended about three cups of the soupy stuff at a time. (It's hot! Put a towel over the top in case any bubbles out.) After each batch of it was blended I poured it into a smaller stock pot I have. Once it was all blended and in the other pot I put the pot on a burner at about medium heat. This blended mixture simmered for another hour or so. You want to cook the tomatoes down until you get the consistency of ketchup. While it simmered I got 6 quart jars and lids ready. I took the pot off the heat and used a funnel to fill each jar. I put lids and rings on each one and then used my steamer to process 5 of them for 30 minutes. (You can use a water-bath to process them if that's what you have.) I stuck the other jar in the fridge to use right away.

The most important things I learned from this endeavor are:
1. Use Roma tomatoes if you can. They have less seeds.
2. Wear rubber gloves. Tomatoes are hard on your skin.
3. Start the whole process in the morning. I started at 4 in the afternoon and it took a long time!
4. You don't have to follow my recipe. Put what sounds good in it to you!

The final word on making ketchup it that it takes a long time, but is worth the effort! I am excited to make another batch soon!