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

I am torn between baking and being outside today. It is the second half of November AND 60 degrees! I love Colorado and today is a great reminder, not that we needed it, as to why we love where we live!

I did make some awesome Granola this week though that I wanted to post. This recipe is adapted from a cookbook called Skinny Bitch In The Kitch.

Gunn Family Granola:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

2 cups oats - heat in oven till lightly toasted (about 10 mins)

mix together - 1 cup sliced almonds, 1/2 cup shred coconut, 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt, 1/3 cup flax seed

wisk together - 1/4 cup maple syrup, 3 TBS agave, 2 TBS grape seed oil

Stir all together and bake on a cookie sheet for 20 mins. Add dried fruit (apples, cranberries, raisins, etc) and let cool.

I ate this with yogurt on Thursday morning and it was Fantastic!

Ok seriously headed outside with my puppy! Enjoy your weekend!

Vegan.

I know there have been some questions about whether Kevin and I are going Vegan. AND after my last post there were even more questions.

Kevin answered "NO"

Heidi answered "kinda, but not really"

So not to confuse any of you more I will get straight to the point. For the past year of my life every time I ate I was miserable. I would have horrible stomach pains for at least two hours after every meal. We were really frustrated and decided to try an elimination diet to figure out if it was gluten, dairy, sugar, salt, etc. After 6 months of elimination diets we narrowed it down to dairy. In October I spent the entire month to the best of my ability staying completely off dairy/lactose. I felt amazing for the first time in 8 months!

I began to pick the brains of some educated friends and do some of my own extensive research. I spent hours on the internet, in the library, and with the dairy department at our local Whole Foods! They were great, by the way. :)

Our goal for 2010 was to figure out my stomach issues. We had a lot of success. I am un-officially lactose intolerant and we know my body does not break down the sugar when I consume any dairy products. Taking a dairy enzyme helps but the best solution we have found is to cut it completely out. This is where the term "vegan" plays a large key. Dairy is such a huge substance in our culture that it is contained in so many products. When an item is marked "vegan" it means that the product does not contain any animal by product. This is a safe and healthy way for us to determine if I can have it or not. So in our household we use the term "vegan" often, but not fully by the definition.

Our goal for 2011 is to visit a holistic doctor and become officially diagnosed. One of the women at our church who just moved here from IL with our church plant happens to be a holistic doctor who will be working Boulder. We know we found a perfect fit for me to see her and we are excited about the testing and information she can provide for us in our research.

As we come upon our almost one year mark of this journey I have LEARNED so much and am GRATEFUL for my health and knowledge regarding lactose intolerance and vegan diets.

So don't get scared away by our recipes that we post just because it says Vegan BECAUSE

... you HAVE to try that Vegan Chocolate Cake recipe... It is A M A Z I N G!

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

Finally back again! I have taken a bit of a break... not from the cooking and being in the kitchen

but rather just from blogging.

Since I last posted Kevin and I have enjoyed a trip to New Mexico to see some of our best friends and enjoy the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (hot air balloons). Turns out our trip to Snowmass to see the balloons was just a small taste; because in New Mexico we saw over 200!!! It was magical and beautiful and overall a wonderful trip.

My parents came to visit in mid October. Dad was here just for a weekend and mom stayed with us for two and half weeks. We made lots of great food and had fun at the Molly Brown House, Coors Tour, Painted Platter and lots of other adventures. She worked hard in our kitchen too; making cinnamon rolls and cooking down and freezing three giant pumpkins!

Thanks Mom!

Speaking of pumpkin... I tried a new recipe today. In our house we LOVE hummus so here is my recipe for an attempt to make pumpkin hummus.

Pumpkin Hummus

• 1 3/4 cups dry garbanzo beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 TBS lemon juice
• 1/3 cup tahini paste
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt to taste
• • 
    
• • I just throw it all in the food processor and then add a little water to get the right consistency. I was hoping that it wouldn't be too overpowered with the pumpkin and tahini paste always makes me nervous but...
  • • It turned out perfect!

We are also meeting up with friends tomorrow (saturday) for a double date at the Painted Platter (paint your own pottery place). When we are done we are planning to eat dinner and play some games here at the house. I'll be placing Vegan Chili in the crockpot before we leave in the morning and for dessert making Vegan Chocolate Cake.

Vegan Chocolate Cake

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-1/2 cups unbleached flour
• 3/4 cup sugar or other sweetener
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1 tsp. Baking soda
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 cup cold water

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, sugar, salt, baking soda, and cocoa powder in a bowl and stir with a fork until mixed. Make a well in the center and add the vanilla, oil, vinegar, and water. Stir with a fork until well mixed. Pour into a 9x9-inch baking dish (or cupcake pan), and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool completely, then frost with Chocolate Cream Frosting

Chocolate Cream Frosting

Makes enough for one 9-inch cake or 8 cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoon softened margarine (Earth Balance)
• 1-1/3 cups powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2-4 tablespoons water

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cream the margarine in a small bowl then add the sugar, cocoa, vanilla, and enough water to make a thick but spreadable frosting.

YUM! Can't wait to try this... the batter was good :) So now you might be wondering why everything is vegan... NO, we did not go Vegan but close. I will post more on this later this week because this is already overly long! Watch for that post!

Enjoy your weekend!

Snowmass Balloon Festival: September 17-18, 2010

We had so much fun this weekend in Snowmass. We went with friends of ours Noah and Sarah and enjoyed a nice little getaway in a fun hotel and playing at the balloon festival! Here are some pictures of the amazing hot air balloons we saw!

the dirty dozen cheat sheet.

This was too cute and helpful not to post!

No real post happening this weekend. I am not cooking much and not home a ton either on this beautiful FOUR day weekend I have! Out and About busy celebrating my birthday with family and friends! My husband has planned all my favorite activities and places around town in order to celebrate!

Estes Park

Boulder: larkburger, only natural pet store, ellies, tea and cakes, etc

Movies

Relaxing

Mini Golf

Yardhouse Happy Hour

Drive In Movie Theater

Taste of Colorado

Bus Ride Downtown

BBQ and Sunshine in the Park as a family

and much more!

HAPPY LABOR DAY!!!

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!

Peach Season!

We are in Colorado Peach Season.

Favorite!

Kevin and I both love peaches and want to enjoy them year round. Last week we went to Sunflower Market and bought 5 lbs of peaches because they were only 0.49/lb! I have been busy preparing them to keep for later use. A friend asked me the other day what I was going to do with all of them... well here we go:

First I peel them: it is pretty easy here are the steps -

1. bring a BIG pan of water to boil

2. cut an X with a knife in the bottom of the peach

3. place the peaches in the boiling water and let sit fully emerged for 3-5 minutes

4. prepare a cold bath for the peaches to go into, I place 3 cups of ice cubes and 3 cups of water in a metal bowl

5. use a slotted spoon to remove the peaches from the hot water to the cold, let peaches sit in the ice water for 2 minutes

6. pick up the peaches and rub your hand against them and the peel should come right off

THEN...

* dehydrate them: i sliced two of them up for dried peaches to put in our dried fruit mix

* freeze them: sliced three of them and put in 1 cup portions in ziplocks for our freezer

* eat them of course, we love them in the morning with yogurt or for an afternoon snack

* make PEACH COBBLER!!!

I have several Peach Cobbler recipes that I love but here is by far the simplest and best on

e.

Serves 6Hands-On Time: 10mTotal Time: 1hr 10m

Ingredients

• 8 peaches (about 2 1/2 pounds), cut into 1/2-inch-thick wedges
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup heavy cream
• vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350° F. In a bowl, toss the peaches with ¼ cup of the sugar and 2 tablespoons of the flour; transfer to an 8-inch square baking dish.
2. In a food processor, combine the remaining 1¼ cups flour and ¼ cup sugar with the butter, baking powder, and salt. Pulse until coarse crumbs form. Add the cream and pulse just until moistened (the dough will be slightly shaggy). Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto the peaches.
3. Place the baking dish on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until golden brown and bubbly, 40 - 50 minutes. Serve with vanilla ice cream, if desired.

Friday.

If you have been following me on facebook you will know that I have had bronchitis for 14 days now. I first started with a cold and slight symptoms on Saturday July 3rd while we were in Florida. It was a rough weekend with lots going on, little sleep, and the start of a horrible cough. All very well worth it though being able to celebrate with Matt and Kay on their wedding day!

I am not much into doctors. They are some of my least favorite people to go visit to deal with my health. I would much rather walk into Whole Foods and have them help me and take a natural organic route than to be given antibiotics. However on day 11, tuesday, I caved and went. It was confirmed I had bronchitis. (i already knew this! thanks!)

It is now day 14 and since day 11 I have been on 10 different medications and been to the doctor twice in a 24 hour period. I have been taken off all 10 of those medications because I had an allergic reaction to most of them. My body broke out in hives and my throat began to swell shut, on top of everything else I was already dealing with! Now in order to treat my bronchitis I am using an inhaler every four hours. For 48 hours I couldn't be further than 5 miles from an Urgent Care and Kevin or someone couldn't be more than 5 miles from me either so they could take me. Good think he works close to our home!

This is not working! I am not going to give up on it but my cough and the tightness in my lungs is not going away. I feel fine, other than this pesky cough. Now i'm going back to my own route since I can't have any antibiotics.

Thank You Doctors for well basically nothing... other than now you have $300.00 of our paycheck and I have missed 2 days of work. My sickness was escalated with a rash and my time was wasted in your office. Thank You for releasing me to go back to work as of Monday and allowing me to go White Water Rafting with my husband on Saturday, because I was going to go ANYWAYS!!!

There.

That is my soapbox. Because I have set at home for 3 days now.

Oh and as far as being in the kitchen. Not happening today, again. I am supposed to be "resting" anyways!

AND I just want to say my husband is the BEST EVER! He has taken care of the garden for me, went grocery shopping, taken me to the doctor, lived on less than minimal sleep because I lay in bed coughing, and so much more! Thank You Honey!!!

Garden Update: July 11, 2010

sorry the pictures are so tiny! I just can't get this to work today, check my facebook page for a better look!

I finally took some pictures of our garden for a little update on how it is growing. Now I just need to get out and pull some weeds! Below is broc and squash.

We have enjoyed several strawberries already this year and although they are growing slowly they are totally worth the wait! I also picked our first tomato this afternoon. The plant itself is not looking so great so it might be our only one :(

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

Back to being in the kitchen and couldn't be more excited! We have been gone for the past week visiting Kevin's little brother Bradley in Orlando, FL and also traveled up to Jacksonville for Kay and Matt's Wedding. Many pictures to come and more about our trip later!

I came back to a very full and beautiful garden, thanks to our neighbors who watered it daily for us! We have an almost ripe roma tomato and some broccoli sprouting. The squash plants are huge but no sign of of them yet an the strawberries are doing great! Pictures to come later this week for the garden as well!

I have been feeling a little under the weather since we returned home on Tuesday so other than going to work I have been sleeping and relaxing a lot. Trying to get more rest in today as this weekend we are helping friends move and celebrating the WORLD CUP!!!

While we were gone we preordered from Door to Door Organics so that we could come home to a box of fresh fruits and veggies. It arrived Tuesday afternoon and contained the most wonderful organic produce! Time to get creative because I have never cooked turnips, beets, or collard greens!

In the Kitchen:

1. Crockpot Cheese Enchiladas: for dinner tonight - click on the name for the recipe, so easy to make and all things I randomly had in my kitchen! love that.

2. Collard Greens: these were actually made last night (thursday) for dinner - I used an onion (from the box) and the collard greens we received and sauted the onion with garlic in a little EVOO then added the greens. turned out GREAT! I served it with homemade pesto pasta and garlic cheese bread! YUM! We are having this for lunch today as well, can't wait!~

Well back to researching these yummy veggies and relaxing. Watch for some posts this week on our FL trip and the garden!

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

This week has been so busy! Kevin has been traveling for work this week down to the Castle Rock area so it has made for busy and very long days for him! Our Honda Civic, that he drives, doesn't have air conditioning and it has been in the upper 80's this week. Last night we went to Dairy Queen, it was a much deserved cool treat for him!

Also this past week in Indiana my parents were hit by a big storm. From talking to my dad this morning he said there were 100 mile and hour winds and several tornados in one night that hit my hometown of Goshen, IN. Everyone is safe but a lot of people are out of power and there is tons of cleanup to be done. Check out the article and pictures from my hometown newspaper.

THE ELKHART TRUTH

This week we leave for vacation. Can't wait to get away for a while and enjoy being together, seeing family, and celebrating a dear friend as she gets married! We will post more about our trip including pictures when we return!

I am making some fruit in our dehydrator to make a dried fruit mix on the plane; it will include:

* apples

* strawberries

* kiwi

* peaches

I also have onion onion croutons going in the oven and getting ready to make some hamburger tator-tot casserole for lunch with Kevin.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

For Moose...

I got this through email today from the Only Natural Pet Store in Boulder, one of our favorite places. They have helped us so much in moving towards an all natural holistic diet for Moose. Check out this article!

click here (Healthy Products You Can Share with Your Furry Friends)

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

This weekend we are out camping again. Between camping and our season tickets to the Rapids AND 16 weddings all out of state; this summer is going to be a busy one.

I love it!

This week in the kitchen I ran my dehydrator ALL week! I think it is one of the most used and most loved appliances in my kitchen. Here is what it was filled with:

1. Blueberries (took about 15 hours)

2. Garlic (took over 48, only because I didn't slice them thin enough)

3. Apples (15 hours)

4. Mango (8 hours)

5. Onion (12 hours)

I used the Garlic and Onion to help refill some spices in my cabinet. I plan on doing red pepper at sometime too and making a steak seasoning/rub for grilling!

The fruit is always great by itself but we also love to mix it into trail mix for camping and traveling.

For camping this weekend we are eating the usual. Hobo Dinners, Hotdogs, Smores, etc. I am excited about some homemade baked beans I have been testing out. I made some earlier in the week and decided to do another batch for our weekend in the woods.

BAKED BEANS:

* 2 cups dried beans (rinse well)

* 4 tsp chicken or beef broth (optional)

* 1 large onion: diced finely

* 3 cloves garlic: diced finely

* 6 cups water

Place the above ingredients in crockpot on high for 6 hours or low for 10-12. When beans are soft enough to eat add the following:

* 1/4 cup brown sugar

* 1/4 cup ketchup

* 1/3 cup mustard

* salt and pepper to taste

I make them ahead of time and then just reheat them over the open fire while we are grilling hotdogs!

Hope everyone has a great weekend! Enjoy the beautiful weather!