Pumpkin Muffins, Made With Pumpkin Puree

Posted on February 8, 2012 by simply0637
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I can’t believe that this is my 150th blog post!  Seems like so many and hardly any.

Looking to make another lunch snack for Stella I wanted to use some of the pureed pumpkin that I put up in the fall.  I decided I would make a pumpkin muffin.  I am trying to make all my baked goods with flours that have been soaked and have started a fermenting or souring process.  All the recipes I came across for muffins has the added ingredients as fruit and not a puree, so I came up with my own recipe, in the hopes that the muffins would turn out edible!

Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

 

3 cups wheat flour
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup melted butter (if you are using unsalted butter add 1/4 tsp sea salt)
1/4 cup agave/maple syrup
2 tsp baking soda
2 cup pureed pumpkin
Flax seed meal

 

1. Soak the flour in buttermilk in a warm place for 12 – 24 hours (the muffins will rise better if you soak for 24 hours, which I did).

 

 

2. Melt the butter and let cool slightly.

Flour & buttermilk after 24 hours

 

3. The flour and buttermilk will be more like a dough than a muffin batter.  Add the pumpkin puree and the slightly beaten eggs.  Mix well.  You will really have to work the pumpkin and the eggs into the flour.

 

 

4. Add the butter and mix well.

5.  Add all the other ingredients, for the flax meal – I just added what looks good to me, but probably somewhere between 1/4 – 1/2 cup, and again, mix well.  This is a very thick batter.

6. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

7. Grease your muffin tins or use paper inserts.  Fill each cup about 3/4 of the way full. You will have to spoon the batter in.  I used a ladle and then a soup spoon to scrape the batter off into the muffin cups. I used paper inserts, thinking it would be easier for Stella in her lunch, but the muffins did stick to the paper.

8. Bake for about 30 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean.

9. Let the muffins cool slightly and then remove from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack.

I took these out of the oven and gazed at the 24 muffins, hoping and praying that they were edible….. and they were!  I really liked the consistency and flavor – almost tasted like I had added some bran.  They were moist, you could taste the pumpkin and were hearty but lite!  Stella had one immediately and then went ahead and packed one in her lunch for the next day!

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Kids Craft Corner – Make Your Own Valentine’s Day Cards

Posted on February 7, 2012 by simply0637
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I remember growing up making our own cards using paper doilies.  I went in search this year to find paper doilies and could not find them anywhere – I finally ended up buying a kit that had the heart doilies already cut.  Of course, after the cards were made I did come across the doilies in all places, but the traditional grocery store in the card section!  I think there is something about a homemade card compared to the character cards that you can buy and just address.  Stella was able to be creative and make the cards specifically for each student in her class.  These cards take some planning – they cannot be done in one evening, but what fun we had – cutting, gluing, sticking the stickers and talking about the kids in her class!

Making Homemade Valentine’s Day Cards

Materials Needed

Doilies or a card kit
Colored construction paper (pink & red)
Heart stencils or cookie cutters
Glue
Scissors
Stickers

1. Get all your supplies together and lay them out on your work table.

 

2. Trace different colored and size hearts.

 

 

3. Cut your hearts out.

4. Glue your hearts onto the cards in a design of your choosing.  Stella chose to do a big heart with a smaller heart on top – in different colors.

5. Decorate.  We chose to use valentine stickers, but you could use crayons, markers, glitter…

 

 

 

 

6. Address your cards and place in the envelopes.

Stella had so much fun making these and told me they were better than the cards we usually get and so much more fun to make! She only wants to do them this way from now on!

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Easy, No Knead Bread

Posted on February 6, 2012 by simply0637
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I love the smell of bread cooking in the house – it is very comforting.  I am sure, many of you, like me, when thinking of homemade bread- think of the mixing, the kneading, the waiting, the kneading and then some more waiting – but there is another way.  With this bread you mix, put it aside and go about your day, bake it and that’s it.  You will want to make homemade bread every week – it is that easy!

Easy, No Knead Bread

Ingredients

3 cups flour
Flour for dusting
1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cup water

You can watch the bread being made here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU and the steps are below.

1. I a large glass bowl, preferably one with a lid, mix together the flour, yeast, salt and water.  I mixed it all together with my hands, but you could use a wooden spoon.  You want to make sure that it is well mixed.

 

2. Cover with lid or plastic wrap and let sit for at least 12 hours, but up to 24 hours in warm location (70 degrees).

3. Go about your day or get a good night’s rest!

4. When the time has passed…..

5.  Place a dish towel on the counter and sprinkle with flour.

6. Turn the dough out onto the dish rag, must be cotton.  Sprinkle the dough with flour, corn meal or wheat bran and flatten the dough.  Fold all the sides in.

 

 

 

 

7. Place the ball seam side down on the towel, may have to dust with flour again.  Dust the top of the dough with flour and cover with another cotton dish towel.  Let rise again for about 2 hours. (I have made the bread and omitted this step and it turned out deliciouse!)

8. About 30 minutes before you are ready to bake the bread, turn the oven to 500 degrees and place a dutch oven in the oven, with the lid on.  You want the dutch oven to be hot when you place the dough inside.

9. When the dutch oven is good and hot, carefully take the top off and  take the dough and place inside the dutch oven, seam side up.  Shake the pan a couple of times to evenly distribute the dough. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

 

10.  Remove the lid and bake another 10 – 15 minutes, until golden brown.

11. Cool on a rack.  The crust will be hard and the inside so soft – yummy!!

I will be baking the bread often and will be experimenting with different flours and soaking in buttermilk or other fermenting liquids – stay tuned!

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Hanging Felted Hearts

Posted on February 6, 2012 by simply0637
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Originally posted February 1, 2012

Stella and I have been busy crafting, but have not done any new Valentine Day crafts and figured since it was that time of year!  I had totally forgotten about these and now need to go into our Valentine decoration box and find these – find a spot and hang them – I just love these!

Valentine’s Day is a couple weeks away and so hearts, candy and roses seem to be everywhere in the stores.  Valentine is one of my least favorite, if not my least favorite, holidays.  It seems odd to me that we need to show the people we love, overly, with gifts, flowers and cards on one particular day.  Shouldn’t we be telling the people around us what they mean to us on a pretty regular basis?  Ok – I will stop being a curmudgeon! With a grade school child in the house – Valentines is a big deal.

We have many activities planned and I completed one – hanging felted hearts.  This was really fun to make – I LOVE needle felting, it is very gratifying.

Hanging Felted Hearts

006 (2)

Items Needed

Wool roving (pink, red, white – your choice)
Felting needle
Beads
Ribbon
Cookie cutter
Felting pad
Needle and thread

1. Place your cookie cutter on the felting pad, then pull some wool roving – enough to really fill the cookie cutter.  I did 3 hearts, 1 red, 1 pink with the smaller cookie cutter and then with the larger cookie cutter I did one side red and one side pink.

 

2. Stuff the roving in the cookie cutter, evenly.  Taking either a felting needle or a felting tool – which I used in the beginning (the tool holds 1 – 6 needles and make felting a little faster for larger items) start felting the heart.  The cookie cutter will help protect your fingers. Pay close attention to the edges.

 

3. When the wool has become compacted, gently pry the wool from the felting pad and flip the heart over.  Now you need to felt the other side, keeping the cookie cutter in place as you felt.

 

 

 

 

4.  When both sides are well felted, take the heart out of the cutter and really shape the edges and felt the fuzzies stick up on both sides.

 

 

 

 

 

5. I decided to bead around the edge for the small hearts. String 3 beads on the thread, place on the heart and push the needle through and come up between the 1st and 2nd beads – push the needle through the 2nd and 3rd bead and then place 3 more beads on the thread.  Continue this way until your heart is beaded.

 

 

 

 

 

6. For the large heart – if you decide to do two colors.  Follow step 2, when you are ready for step 3, using wool roving of a different color, stuff it in and felt.  The colors will come through on the other side (nice effect).  When both sides are well felted, follow step 4.

 

7. For the bottom hanging heart I sewed a really nice bead on and let it dangle.

8. Now you need to connect the hearts.  Taking a stick object (I used a small paint brush) push a hole in in the “v” part on the top of the heart and then push a hole in on the bottom of the heart.

9. With your cut piece of ribbon, use the paint brush to push the end of the ribbon inside the hole.  Use your felting needle to close the hole and secure the ribbon.

 

 

10. For the top of the hanging, make a loop using the ribbon, tie a knot with the ends and push into the hole.  Felt the hole closed.

Hang somewhere so that everyone can see!

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Kids Craft Corner – Valentine’s Wreath

Posted on February 3, 2012 by simply0637
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Since we took the Christmas wreath down there has been a void on our front door – it looks so empty, but no longer!  Stella and I decided to make a Valentine’s Day wreath.  We both had our parts of in designing and making the wreath – I did the wrapping, she did the tracing, me the cutting and Stella the layout and gluing. This work out well, since Stella told me she is not good at cutting!

Valentine’s Day Wreath

Materials Needed

Straw wreath
Wide red ribbon (quantity will depend on the size of the wreath – I used 2 1/2 rolls)
Felt (pink, red, white)
Heart stencils or cookie cutters, various sizes
Scissors
Glue ( I used the glue gun for securing the ribbon, but we used
Elmer’s for the hearts)

I wanted to get the smaller straw wreath, but the craft store was sold out, so I ended up getting the large one – I think 24″.  After we had started the wreath we ended up at a Goodwill store and believe it or not and it figures, they has 3 of the smaller straw wreath for sale, $0.99 each!  Of course, I bought them and they are now part of our crafting stash!

1. Wrap the wreath with a wide red ribbon, gluing the ends down with a glue gun.  I tried to have all the ends on one side, but that did not work and figured it really did not matter since we would be decorating the wreath.

 

 

 

 

2. Trace hearts on the different color felt, with different sizes of hearts.

3. Cut the hearts out.

4. Lay out your design with the hearts.  We layered them, fanned them and had singles. Stella did all the designing of how the hearts should be.

 

5. Glue the hearts onto the wreath.

 

 

6. Take a piece of ribbon and tie around the wreath leaving a large loop.  Use this loop to hang the wreath with.

Our door does not look so empty anymore!

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Planning the Garden

Posted on February 2, 2012 by simply0637
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I am getting the itch, to dig my hands into the soil and start planting.  It doesn’t help that we have had the strangest winter!!!  The last couple of days the temperature has been in the 60’s! I can’t get into the soil, but I can start planning.

After the car accident in my backyard in December, I am not sure what will come back and what will not.  I am not sure if the roots were taken up or if just the top of my perennials were destroyed, will just have to wait and see, but that does not help with my planning – maybe I will have more space.  My fence was put back up a couple of weeks back and in the process they had to take down a tree, in order to get the new footers in – so that definitely opens up some more space and will give my yard more sun.

I have been contemplating building a greenhouse that I could disassemble during the summer, so I have been reading and looking at plans.  I found a great site http://www.earthcaregreenhouses.com/garden-tips/how-to-build-a-greenhouse-plans/ . I was thinking that I would use my patio for the base – still need to do some more research and then get to building – I will try and hold off until mid-March.

I was fortunate that my garlic bed was not destroyed, since in 3 years I had finally remembered to plant it before the snow was on the ground.  All around, while walking the dog I am seeing bulbs pushing up through the soil – I even some some crocus budding yesterday morning – couldn’t believe it.

Covering it for the cold that may come

I have sorted through my seeds and decided on what I need to order or get from my fellow neighborhood gardeners.  I have also started plotting out the design of my beds.  A great site to use is Mother Earth’s Vegetable Garden Planner http://www.motherearthnews.com/garden-planner/vegetable-garden-planner.aspx , it has a wealth of information.  You can also use the site for 30 days free!

Visions of what is to come!

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Knit a Rectangle and Turn It Into a Hat

Posted on January 31, 2012 by simply0637
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I have had several people comment on the similarity of Martha Stewart and me – so I thought it was appropriate and a little funny when my mom sent me some knitting patterns from Martha’s magazine.  The patterns all are easy and look so much fun!  Since I can’t keep my hands idle for very long and to be able to knit and listen to Stella read to me or watch a movie with out having to think about a pattern – is really great – I had to start one!  I chose to make the hat, which really is just knitting a rectangle and the sewing up two seams – how much easier could a hat be?!

Child’s Hat

Items Needed

Size 6 needles, I chose to use circular – gives me more room
1 skein wool yarn, I chose to use a wool blend that is washable, since this is a kids hat and I used 2 skeins of the same color – just easier for me
Darning needle

 

1. Cast on 72 stitches with 2 strands (or the amount of stitches that would equal 12″)

2. Knit every row (garter stitch) for 104 rows ( or the amount of rows that will equal 10 1/2″ – it took me 83 rows)

3. Bind off, weave in ends

Rectangle should measure 12″across x 10 1/2″long (this is what Martha’s pattern called for – mine turned out to be 18″ x 10 1/2″)

4. Fold rectangle in half, sew side seams

 

5. Since mine was bigger than the pattern called for – I turn the end over for a “cuff” and tacked in on both sides and the center of the back and middle.

 

 

You can also add a pom pom on each corner of the top of the hat – I am not a big fan of pom poms – so I have not yet decided on whether or not I will add them.

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A Fun Party Food

Posted on January 30, 2012 by simply0637
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With Super Bowl weekend coming up, I decided I would do a dip for the new recipe of the week.  I am not a football fan – ok, I used to be when I was college age and living in the South – football is a huge deal there!  I am not even sure I know who is playing in this year’s super bowl, but parties are planned and even if you do not follow football, someone you know does and may have invited you to their Super Bowl party.  So instead of the usual bring your dish of dip and veggies – try something new, different and yummy!

Butternut Squash Dip with Baked Crisps

Ingredients (Dip)

1 medium butternut squash (about 6 cups cubed)
2 Tbl olive oil
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp finely grated ginger
2 tsp fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped finely (or 1/2 tsp dried) yeah – I was able to use fresh from the herb garden!
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Ingredients (Baked Crisps)

4 tortillas (your choice of flavor)
Olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Dip

 

1. Peel the squash, cut in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds (you can wash and roast the seeds if you like).  Cut into 1″ cubes.

 

2. Place the cut squash in a medium-large saucepan and cover with water, plus 2″.  Bring to a boil, and then reduce heat to simmer for 5 – 10 minutes or until tender and easily pierced with a fork. Drain liquid (could save and use for making stock or your house plants) and let squash cool until you can handle.

3. Either use an immersion blender or place the cooked squash in a food processor with olive oil, garlic, ginger, thyme, rosemary and the salt and pepper.  Blend until smooth.  Season further if need be.  Simple!

 

 

 

 

 

Baked Crisps

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

 

2. Stack the tortillas and cut stack into 8 wedges.

3.  Arrange wedges in a single layer on baking sheets.

 

4. Using a mister (love mine) or a pastry brush, mist or brush both sides of each tortilla with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper or other seasoning of your choice.

 

5. Bake for 6 – 7 minutes or until crisp and turning golden.  After 5 minutes watch carefully to avoid burning.

6. Let cool, they get crisper as they cool.

If you happen to have any leftover – add some broth and now you have a soup! This went so fast in our house – we LOVED it!

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Making a Water Bottle Carrier from Old Neck Ties

Posted on January 27, 2012 by simply0637
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My neighbors gave me a bag of old ties knowing that I could do something with them.  I remembered seeing a blog posting of ties being used to make a water bottle carrier and wanting to try it.  Mateo, our neighbor’s son, wanted me to make one for him – so I did.  This was a really fun and easy project – taking no time.  It made me think about some other projects that I could make – one being a skirt – will have to think about that one.  A friend had seen a tie skirt at one of the department stores and gave me the idea – that is in my brain being mulled around, but there are also some other ideas I need sort out – who knows what will be next!

Neck Tie Water Bottle Carrier (thanks to http://blog.betzwhite.com/2008/09/two-tie-sling-tutorial.html )

Materials
2 neckties, same width and degree of taper (this is important!)
Ruler
Pins
Needle and thread
Sewing machine, optional

1. Line up the neckties in opposite directions, see below. Measure 14 inches from the corner of one tie point , mark with a pin.  Measure 14″ on the other tie, mark with a pin.  The pins should line up with the straight line of the other tie.

 

 

 

 

2. Pin edges of ties together, overlapping one slightly over the other about 1/8-1/4″ total. The ties need to be the same width for these 14″ of sewing. Use a wide zigzag to stitch down the center, or stitch by hand. The fabric may give when sewing make sure not to stretch the fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

3. Fold sewn part of ties in half, right side to right side, and line up sides.  Pin sides together and sew, using a straight stitch, turn right side out.

 

 

 

 

4. You can make the carrier as long or as short as you want – all you need to do is tie the skinny ends together.

This took less than 30 minutes to make!

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How To Make Your Own Yummy Granola Bars

Posted on January 26, 2012 by simply0637
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Continuing with my New Year’s resolution, I decided to try my hand at making granola bars for another lunch snack instead of store bought.  I found a great recipe on Smitten Kitchen (http://smittenkitchen.com/2010/02/thick-chewy-granola-bars/) and made some changes to the recipe.

We had our first snow fall of the New Year, so it was the perfect day to do some baking and experimenting.  I put some Etta James on the CD player, in tribute to a great singer as she passed away last Friday.  She has such a powerful voice and it kept the groove in the kitchen shaking and moving, along with some loud, most likely off-key singing!

Thick, Chewy Granola Bars

Ingredients (listed from Smitten Kitchen, with my alteration in pararenthis)

1 2/3 cups quick rolled oats (I do not have quick oats, so I used the same amount, but pulsed them in the food processor, to break them up a little)
1/2 to 3/4 cup granulated sugar (I used 1/2 cup organic cane sugar)
1/3 cup oat flour (I did not have oat flour, so I used the same amount of oats and processed in the food processor)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 to 3 cups dried fruits and nuts (my combo was: ground Chia seeds, dried apples, dried apricots, pecans and coconut)
1/3 cup peanut butter or another nut butter (I used sunflower seed butter) (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
6 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup honey, maple syrup or corn syrup (I used honey)
2 tablespoons light corn syrup (I used agave nectar)
1 tablespoon water

1. Put 1/3 cup oats into the food processor and pulse until it is a fine powder.

 

 

2. Place 1 2/3 cups oats in the food processor and pulse several times, to break them up a little. Pour into a large glass bowl along with the 1/3 cup oat flour.

3. Cut up your dried fruit.  I used apples and apricots that I had dried after picking them this past summer.  Actually I used my kitchen scissors and cut them.  Placing them into a measuring cup with some coconut, ground chia seeds(a friend gave me some to try – I am ordering these!) and pecans.  I did not measure any of the amount, just stopped when I hit the 3 cup mark.  I could have processed in the food processor, but chose not to.  I love using my pestle and mortar, so decided to do the nuts in that. Add to the oats.

 

 

 

 

4. Add the sugar, salt and cinnamon to the oats mixture.

 

5. Melt the butter.

6. Line a 8x8x2 pan with 1 piece of parchment paper and lightly oil the parchment paper and any exposed pan sides.  My parchment paper is wide and I did not have any exposed pan sides.

7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

8. In a separate bowl combine the vanilla, honey (sweetener), corn syrup (or replacement) water and the butter.  The heat of the butter will make the other ingredients become more fluid.

9. Add the liquid ingredients and nut/seed butter, if using to the oats mixture and mix until it is a crumbly consistency.

 

 

 

 

 

10.  Pour the mixture into the pan and distribute evenly, press down firmly to mold the mixture to the pan.

 

11.  Bake for 30 – 40 minutes, until they  are brown around the edges.  When you touch the center they will still seem soft, but that is ok – these are suppose to be chewy granola bars.

12. Cool the pan completely on a wire rack – you can lift the bars out using the parchment paper and place the parchment on bars onto a wire rack after about 20 – 30 minutes.  Let the bars cool completely – if you just can’t wait – place in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process.  Use a serrated knife to cut into bars.

To store, wrap the individual bars with plastic wrap or in a single layer in an airtight container.  You can also freeze them.  I keep mine in the refrigerator, but if it is not too humid you can leave them out.

I wanted to try these, so I used a dried fruit/nut mixture I could eat.  The next time I am going to use coconut oil instead of butter and then mix some dried strawberries, pineapple, ground chia seeds and shredded coconut – a tropical granola bar.

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