recipes

Discover the Wonders of Your Own Backyard (& a Backyard Quiche Recipe)

April 2, 2013

Thanks so much for your prayers and kind encouragement these past weeks/months as our family battled sickness after sickness. I am so grateful for each of you and so grateful to be feeing better again! (Plus I’m so excited to have the time and energy to blog again!)

I love the first spring in a new home. It’s so fun to watch the yard and see what surprises come up: a sunny patch of daffodils, a bush that’s radiant with flowers, or a tree whose unfolding leaves are so beautiful.

This year though, I’ve determined to do more than simply enjoy the beauty. I want to learn about the trees and flowers and even the weeds in our yard. I want to learn about them, and teach my children about them.

photo credit

Why?

Learning about the incredible variety of weeds that stubbornly grow beneath our feet, makes the grandeur of Creation come alive before your fingers (or toes). Plus, while you investigate the wonders, you’re soaking up Vitamin D from the sun and breathing in the fresh spring air.

Did you know that the early American settlers brought weeds to plant in the new world? That’s right. Millions of dollars a year are spent trying to eradicate the dandelions and other weeds so prized by the early settlers. (Read why dandelions are so loved here!)

For our neighbor’s sake, I’ll try to keep the dandelions at bay in the front yard, but dandelions, onion grass, plantain, red clover, wood sorrel, and the variety of other edible and medicinal weeds are more than welcome in our fenced-in, pet and pesticide-free backyard.

The children and I have had so much fun finding the weeds native to our yard, marveling at their uniqueness, and learning about them. We’ve been pleasantly surprised at how many of them are edible and even really good for you. (Always make sure, of course, that there are no inedible or poisonous look-alikes!)

To celebrate the arrival of fresh spring dandelions, we decided to make a “Backyard Spinach Quiche.” It was delicious, though next time I plan to add quite a few more dandelion petals.

Backyard Spinach Quiche

adapted from Better Homes & Garden

Ingredients

9 inch single pie crust (I replace the shortening with real butter and love it!)
8 beaten eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup cream or milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups frozen spinach, thawed (or 3 cups fresh spinach or fresh backyard greens!)
petals from 2+ dandelions, thoroughly washed
10-20 pieces onion grass, thoroughly washed & finely chopped (or 1/2 cup onion)
1/2 to 1 cup crumbled bacon or diced ham, optional
2/3 cup cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Bake un-pricked pie shell at 450F for 10 minutes, or until dry and set. Reduce oven to 325F.
Stir together remaining ingredients
Pour egg mixture into baked pastry shell. Cover edges with foil, if desired.
Bake at 325F for 45 to 50 minutes, or until knife inserted near the middle comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Linked up at Mama Moments, Growing Home, Encourage One Another, Healthy 2Day, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways,Works for Me, Wild Crafting Wednesday, Walking Redeemed, Proverbs 31, Natural Living, & Simple Lives

[Full disclosure: Links to products in this post are my referral links.]

Recipe: Mrs. Thompson’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

December 5, 2012

Chocolate, peanut butter, and oatmeal. Some of my very favorite foods.

Before moving, I tutored Literature and Western Civ to a small group of high schoolers. We had many wonderful discussions of great literature and historical exploits over cookies.

It was fun. Not only because the topics were wonderful and I had amazing students, but because just about anything discussed over a plate of cookies is fun.

My students liked the cookies, but when I brought out a plate of Mrs. Thompson’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars they really got into the discussion. (After a brief bunny trail in which we agreed that foods named after a person are among the best.)

Follow me over to Little Natural Cottage to get the recipe!

Tagged with: desserts • freezer friendly • gluten-free • guest post • recipes

Recipe: Buckwheat Pancakes

November 30, 2012

Buckwheat is not a grain. It’s not even a grass. It’s a gluten-free fruit that is “high in digestive protein and contains all eight essential amino acids,” according to Making Babies. [Enter for your chance to win a copy here!]

Buckwheat: a “fruit” that’s high in protein and naturally gluten-free

A gluten-free diet seems to be the new trend. I have dear friends who suffered health problems until removing gluten from their diets.

Thankfully, no one in our family has any food allergies (that I know of!) and I really hope that continues. But, adding a greater variety of whole foods into our diet seems like a prudent, and yummy, idea.

Buckwheat is naturally gluten-free and used to be a fairly common part of people’s diets until the last century. (We’re reading Farmer Boy and buckwheat pancakes are one of Almanzo’s favorite breakfasts!)

After watching Shoshanna make buckwheat pancakes in Making Babies they looked so yummy that I just had to see if I could turn our favorite whole wheat pancakes into buckwheat pancakes. It definitely worked!

I’ve made them four times in the last two weeks because they’re so easy and my kids keep asking for them. Plus, I ran out of eggs and they turn out light and fluffy even without eggs! [Check out 12 more of my healthy breakfast alternative to cereal!]

Buckwheat pancakes with maple syrup and chopped pecans on top. Yumminess!

Buckwheat Pancakes Recipe

adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook with inspiration from Making Babies and Almanzo

Ingredients

1 cup buckwheat
1 T. sugar or honey
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt (I just started using sea salt regularly and love it!)
1/2 cup buttermilk OR milk plus 1/2 T vinegar to make your own sour milk
1/2 cup water
1 egg OR 1 T ground flax plus 1 T additional water
1/4 cup oil (I use light olive oil)

Instructions

Start heating up the griddle.
If making your own sour milk, add 1/2 T vinegar to the 1/2 cup of milk and let it sit.
Meanwhile, mix together the dry ingredients
Then add the remaining wet ingredients to the sour milk and mix well.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just moistened.

Fry your pancakes. I usually make a “test” pancake just to make sure I have the griddle at the right heat. (The batter should sizzle softly and the top of the pancake should bubble and be lightly “glazed” before you have to flip it.)
Serve with hot maple syrup and chopped pecans. (I like making yogurt-based shakes to go on the side for added protein!)

Note: apparently, even buckwheat can cause allergic reactions in rare cases! Read more here.

Have you made buckwheat pancakes before? Or tried any new recipes you love?

[Full disclosure: links to products in this post are my referral links.]

linked up at Deep Roots at Home & Proverbs 31

Tagged with: buckwheat • healthy living • kitchen tips • recipes

Easy Homemade Chicken Broth

November 13, 2012

Chicken broth is one of those super foods that is high in nutrients, thrifty, and simple to make yourself.

The problem is, especially if you’re using a whole chicken, you have to touch a raw chicken.

There are two things I’m paranoid about. Raw chicken happens to be one of them. (Poison ivy is the other, in case you were curious.)

Making it the way I used to meant going beyond touching to cutting up a raw chicken. (You don’t want to know how much vinegar I used cleaning up the sink when I was done.) Which meant I really didn’t like making chicken broth.

Yes, one’s upside down on purpose. I heard that cooking the breast-side down would make it more tender, so I experimented. We couldn’t really tell a difference.

Then my mom told me she’d started doing: just bake the chicken, eat it for dinner, and cook the bones.

Brilliant, right?

You still have to rinse the raw chicken and pat it dry, but then all you do is season it and stick it in a pan to bake. I can handle that amount of raw-chicken-handling.

I usually bake two chickens at a time, to save time. Once the chicken is baked, serve for dinner.

After dinner, quickly debone the chicken (any little pieces of chicken are just going to make the broth better. Don’t stress about being too thorough!) Save the meat for future meals.

To make chicken broth

Toss the bones into a crockpot.
Add water and seasonings and any or all of the following: onions, garlic, celery, mushrooms, and eggshells (why eggshells? They’re a great source of calcium. Read more here.)
Then, add a couple tablespoons of vinegar. Not enough to make it taste like vinegar, just enough to help draw the calcium out of the chicken bones and eggshells. (According to this article, government studies show nearly 86% of US children are calcium deficient!) Calcium from chicken broth is a good way to help our children avoid being part of that 86%.
Cook the bones on high in the crockpot until they’re boiling, then turn it on low overnight.

In the morning, cool and freeze (or use to make a soup for dinner!)

Note: a good bone broth is gel-like, which indicates you removed lots of calcium from the bones.

Linked up at Living Green, Healthy 2Day, Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Works for Me, Natural Living, & Simple Lives

Tagged with: healthy living • kitchen tips • recipes

Homemade Pumpkin Purée and Pumpkin Seeds

October 25, 2012

photo credit

Though I gladly eat pumpkin all year round, I was excited to see fresh pumpkins in the store again.

Not only are pumpkins loaded with nutrition, it’s so easy to make fresh pumpkin purée (and pumpkin seeds!) yourself. Plus, it’s a fun project for little ones to help with.

We past our first fresh pumpkins out shopping recently and Rose begged for me to get one so she could make pumpkin seeds. I obliged.

In order to make good pumpkin puree, select healthy-looking pumpkins and wash the outside thoroughly.

Cut the pumpkin into thick slices and remove all the seeds and string.

Place the pumpkin slices in a large pot. Add a couple cups of water (I like my puree thick, so I don’t completely cover them), bring to a boil and then simmer for 30-60 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the pumpkin starts to stick to the pan, add more water. Once the pumpkin is soft, remove from heat.

Cool slightly and then scoop the soft flesh into a blender. Blend thoroughly.

Now you have fresh pumpkin puree to use in your favorite recipe. Place extra into freezer bags for use all year long.

While the pumpkin cooked and cooled, let your five-year-old remove every last seed from the strings, rinse the pumpkin seeds, and pat dry.

Place in a large pan, toss very lightly with oil/butter and your seasoning of choice. (I just used sea salt.) Bake at 350 for about 30-45 minutes, stirring regularly until the seeds are golden brown.

Store the seeds “for winter.” Though my children are highly attached to the idea of preserving food for winter, “winter” usually lasts all of three days around here.

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Now it’s your turn! Jenn and I would love to have you join us for our weekly Thrifty Thursday Blog Hop! Posts about living frugally, thrifty tips and tricks, money-saving DIY projects and gardening, frugal recipes, and encouraging posts on financial stewardship are all welcome. Link up to either of our blogs–your post will be displayed in both places.We’d be very grateful if you’d share only thrifty-themed posts. (Read full guidelines here.)