a weekend of baking: part 2

We have been busy baking/cooking again today using up that buttermilk. After an hour in the kitchen this morning and 3 yesterday I am beginning to feel like I could have been ok wasting half of that free buttermilk.... well maybe not. We are tired though and have enough food for an army, we will be sharing with friends and neighbors for sure!

Buttermilk Waffles

2 cups flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs, separated

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup butter, melted

1 teaspoon vanilla

In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, powder and salt. Set aside. In a medium bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry. In another bowl whisk together egg yolks, buttermilk, butter, and vanilla. Pour into dry ingredients and stir briefly until just combined. Fold whites into batter, Pour batter onto waffle maker.

makes 3 1/2 cups batter

Sausage Gravy

1 lb pork sausage

1 stick butter (i used less)

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp sage (optional, I didn't add this)

1 1/4 cup flour

1 1/2 quarts milk (6 cups)

Brown sausage well. Add butter and spices. When butter bubbles, stir in flour. Mix well. Add milk. Stir rapidly until thick (about 10-15 mins). Serve over biscuits.

*** I would post the biscuit recipe we used off of the buttermilk carton but they turned out horrible. I blame it on our high elevation. Next time we will just buy some!

We are freezing ALL of the waffles for Kevin to eat later on for a quick breakfast during the work week. We didn't put a dent in the gravy even though I halved the recipe so we put some in the fridge and the rest in the freezer for later. Not to mention we STILL have millet muffins to work though too. Well good news is we are eating Brinner this week! (breakfast for dinner, a favorite!!!)

Now off to the park to BBQ with some our best friends and their puppies! Croquet time too!!!

Pickles: part 1.5

I forgot I wanted to put my new pickle recipe here too! I love both olives and pickles and rarely buy them because they are so pricey. Specially when Kevin doesn't care for either one so I have to eat the whole jar myself. I decided earlier this summer that I was going to try making my own pickles and went hunting for canning supplies. I didn't end up buying/finding any but instead found a refrigerated pickle recipe that turned out AMAZING!

Preparing Cucumbers:

* if using slices cut 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch thick

* if using spears cut into eighths

Place cut cucumbers in jars (i just reused old ones we had at home, so a lemonade jar and a jelly jar worked great!)

Chop 1-2 cloves garlic and take 1-2 sprigs fresh dill and place in the jar with the cucumbers.

Make Sour Brine:

3 cups distilled white vinegar or cider vinegar

3 cups water

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons sea salt

2 tablespoons sugar

combine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil, let boil for 2 mins then remove from heat.

Pour Sour Brine into the jars over the cucumbers, garlic and dill. Put lid on tight and shake the jar. Place in the fridge for 24 hours and then enjoy! Will stay good for up to 1 month in the fridge!

Who knew this would be so easy and they turned out better than my favorite brand in the stores!

a weekend of baking: part 1

I went to Sunflower Market this week and was going to purchase a small carton of organic buttermilk to make Millet Muffins for breakfast this weekend. I was looking at which one was the best deal when I saw a carton containing four cups for 4.69. Then I checked the expiration date realizing that it was for THAT DAY! So I found one of the dairy guys and asked for a discounted price. He was shocked it was still shelved and very apologetic, crossed the barcode out and said better use this FREE buttermilk within the next 3 days!!!! YAH What a steal!

So this weekend I am busy baking and cooking with it. Turns out four cups of buttermilk is a lot! This morning we completed half of the work. Sunday we will tackle the other half.

Millet Muffins (click on the title for the real link for more info, nutrition and etc.)

makes 12 servings

MUFFINS:

• 2/3 cup uncooked millet
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup fat-free buttermilk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 
  BUTTER:
• 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped pecans or almonds, toasted (we use almonds!)
• 1 tablespoon honey or we use Agave

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare muffins, place millet in a spice or coffee grinder; pulse 6 times or until lightly crushed. Set aside.

Place sugar and egg in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well combined. Stir in millet, buttermilk, and 1/4 cup butter.

Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Add buttermilk mixture; stir just until moist. Let batter stand 5 minutes. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 18 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack. Remove muffins from pan; place on wire rack.

To prepare butter, combine 2 tablespoons butter, pecans, and honey, stirring well to combine. Serve with the muffins.

This next recipe is my mom's. She made the best zucchini bread growing up and wish she was here to make it for us. Hopefully mine turns out!

Mom's Zucchini Bread

3 eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup oil

1/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups shredded zucchini

1 tsp vanilla

3 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

3 tsp cinnamon

mix all together and pour into a greased and floured bread pan

bake at 325 for 45 mins

OH, and I forgot Sunflower also had Gala Apples (my favorite kind) on sale this week. They were only $0.57/lb!!! I bought ten pounds and decided to make some homemade applesauce. Kevin and I cut and peeled about 8 lbs of them this morning diced them and put them in the crockpot!

Crockpot Applesauce

8-10 lbs diced and peeled apples (use whatever kind you like or mix and match kinds)

1/2 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup sugar

cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 3-4. stir about every hour

when apples cook down mash with a potato masher

this keep great in the fridge for 2 months or easy to freeze and pull out later!!!

Yum!!! Tomorrow in part 2 watch for Buttermilk Biscuits with Sausage Gravy and Buttermilk Waffles!

out of control garden!

This is how big our zucchini has gotten. I just picked these this afternoon and still have a couple still growing. Looks like I need to be making some Zucchini Bread this weekend!!!

The garden is completely out of control and it needs to be deadheaded and weeded SO badly! However, this picture is to show how big our broccoli has gotten. We have already had 3 good sized heads that were delicious and waiting on the nine more that are growing quickly!

This is the zucchini plants! They are huge and there is lots growing. Can't wait to taste the two above!

loving summer.

Life is SO busy these days. Guess that means it is still summer and we are headed into fall. We love it!

Today we are having lunch with a good friend from college who has been out on military training. So excited to have him back in Colorado for a couple weeks and hang out with him.

Tonight I have a work event! I am actually really excited about this one. Our preschool has rented out Splash Water Park in Golden. I can't wait to go play around in the pool with my cute kids for the evening. Kevin will be sporting his Five Finger shoes and aren't we all so excited! :)

Saturday is cleaning day in this messy dusty house of ours as well as our community garage sale. We won't be participating this year as this garage sale was just determined and advertised starting on Wednesday. That is not enough time to get stuff around for us but we are excited about finding some treasures from our neighbors!

Sunday is cooking club and I love cooking club! We have been meeting for over a year now and we have cooked and tried may things we would never have thought of ourselves. So fun! I am hosting for the month of August and I picked the ingredient Zucchini. I have some growing in my garden but for the recipe I am making I needed a really large one.

I picked this one!!!

Kevin shoe: size 12 - Zucchini: 5.6 lbs - Moose: 4.2 lbs

haha, I was pretty excited and it only cost me $2.50, what a steal! Check out our cooking club blog (click on link above) to see our yummy recipes for August!

Friday: What's Cooking In The Kitchen...

Seems like a long time since I have had a Friday at home to just relax and get some stuff done. Our weekends have been so busy and fall isn't looking like it will slow down much. I am loving all the time with friends and family we are getting but I do treasure my time at home with my amazing husband and super cuddly puppy!

Today in the kitchen I am getting some meal prep done. We have been getting an order of organic fresh fruits and veggies from Door to Door Organics, such a great company! We refer everyone to them and already have several people ordering as well. So every other tuesday we receive a 30 lb box on our doorstep and I get to be creative. Loving it!

Today in the Kitchen:

1. Coleslaw - our box contained a head of cabbage, carrots, and onions and I happen to have the ingredients for the dressing on hand. Can't wait to try this! Here is the recipe I am using:

• 8 cups finely diced cabbage (about 1 head)
• shopping
• 1/4 cup diced carrots (finely)
• 2 tablespoons minced onions
• Dressing:
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• Directions:
• • Cabbage and carrots must be finely diced.
  • Pour cabbage and carrot mixture into large bowl and stir in minced onions.
  • Prepare the dressing, mix until smooth and creamy.
  • Pour over Slaw and mix thoroughly.
  • Cover bowl and refrigerate several hours or overnight before serving.
  • 2. Pulled Pork Burritos - a coworker of mine gave me a great idea the other day! I told her I was making pot roast in my crockpot and she said her mom use to make that and then use the leftover pork to make burritos the next night. Mine will be more like fajitas with the onions and green peppers but I am so excited for this meal. Today I am preparing the pork with some cumin and green chilis to use in burritos sometime this weekend.
  • 3. I am also thawing chicken for Stir Fry this week and marinating the other part of the package for Buffalo Wings too. So I am cutting up all kinds of veggies (cabbage, zucchini, carrots, tri colored peppers, onion) Oh yeah and Lentils too! (the veggies reminded me)
  If I find the time I might make some chocolate chip cookies for a bbq this weekend but with Kevin's new schedule on Fridays coming home at noon that just might not happen! Well, except when he reads this and pouts they probably will get made afterall :)
  
  
  Have a great weekend and hope you all are enjoying summer! I know we are and are excited for Fall too.
  • 
    

Florida - July 1-6, 2010

In July we traveled to Florida for an extended weekend vacation. We got to spend time with Brad, Kevin's little brother in Orlando. Brad works for Disney World and showed us a backstage tour and did some resort hopping with us!

We loved Port Orleans Riverside ! We rented a "bike" and rode around the property to check it out.

One evening we played Mini Golf. When we took this picture Brad taught us that all cast members must learn to point with two fingers and not one. Only Mickey is allowed to do that otherwise it is considered rude in many cultures.

Halfway through our trip we rented a car, 2010 Ford Mustang Convertible and drove to Jacksonville for Matt and Kay "Ethel" Jacobs Weddings. The wedding was beautiful and it was so fun to see some old childhood friends and celebrate their marriage with them. (we have no wedding pictures... sorry it was a little busy with us both being in the wedding)

AND then I got to come home to this face! Doesn't get much better a WONDERFUL and FUN vacation and a CUTE welcome home!