homemade almond 'milk'

Mmmm, homemade almond milk! This recipe can be made with any kind of nuts, but almond is my favorite. I've made this recipe with sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, cashews, and sometimes a blend. My husbands favorite is sunflower seed milk. It's really easy and taste so good! Also very nutritious to add to smoothies and recipes!!!

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You need:

1c almond or other nuts/seeds

3-4c water

vanilla extract (optional)

agave, honey, or other sweetener (optional)

First, rinse & soak 1c of nuts for 4-12 hours.

I usually soak overnight. If you soak for longer then 12 hours make sure to rinse and add fresh water. Sunflower seeds only need to be soaked for 2-4 hours

Rinse with fresh water. Put almonds with 2c of water in blender. Blend for a minute or so and add 1-2 more cups of water (so about 4c total) and blend more. Add a tsp of vanilla extract and sweeten to taste.

I usually sweeten with agave, honey, or fresh dates.

Strain through multi-layered cheesecloth or a cloth bag.

Yummy, delicious almond milk should be good for 3 days in the fridge.

and yes, I do drink it in a wine glass, I like fresh juice in a wine glass too, it makes it feel 'fancy' hehe!

I have been eating mainly raw foods for the past week, lots of fresh veggie juice, and the cooked food I do eat is mainly whole cooked grains (quinoa, rice, oats), steamed veggies, and eggs. I feel good eating this way, I have a lot more energy, but I spent over my grocery budget this week so I need to find some kind of balance to make this do-able!! Either way, I really love this almond milk!

no.more.white.flour!

Last month we went through an insane amount of flour, most of it white. I tend to make things half white and half wheat, but I've been baking a little too much lately! A couple months ago I discovered how yummy homemade soft pretzels are and homemade bagels... in addition to our usual- bread, tortillas, pizza dough, and sweet treats, I've been making bready goodness a little to much!

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After realizing how many lbs. of white flour we went through last month (too embarrassed to tell you) I went to the market and stocked up on spelt flour, whole wheat, barley flour, rye flour and yummy, healthy additions like wheat germ, oats, and ground flax seed. I have been making the yummiest whole grain breads! The kids love them too! I tend to improvise on the recipe, but next time I will try to write it down and share, because they have been coming out so, so good, I realized I prefer this soft, more dense multi grain bread anyway!!

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So bye, bye white flour, I'll see you on Valentines and then maybe at the next Birthday party, otherwise -your out of here!!

homemade tortillas

*Homemade Tortillas*

In a effort to save $, I make our bread and baked goods from scratch. I've made homemade tortillas a few times, they are sooooooooo good! They are a bit time consuming to make, but if your kids are old enough to help, it's fun:)

What I use-

3c flour (white, wheat, or a mix of the two)

1Tbs. baking powder

1tsp salt

3Tbs veggie oil

1c hot water

Mix it all together and form a ball, if you use whole wheat flour you may need to add a little more water. Grab a small ball (maybe a little less then a donut hole) and smooth out a bit in your hand. Roll with a rolling pin on a floured surface until round-ish, flat, and thin.

On an ungreased preheated griddle (I use cast iron/ medium heat) cook the tortilla until bubbles start to form, flip over and briefly cook.

Experiment with the thickness of the tortilla and how well you like it cooked. I was all proud of myself when I could finally get them really thin, but discovered I like them a bit thicker and not too well done:)

Give it a try!

Autumn Soup Recipe

Here is a yummy recipe I made the other day. I wasn't to sure about apples in soup, but it turned out great! Just had the last of it for dinner:) I tend to modify recipes a lot and never follow directions:) The original recipes, which is a bit different, is from the wonderful book 'Witch In The Kitchen'. I have made many recipes from this book and they have all turned out great. It goes through the 4 seasons and the recipes use the proper seasonal food. I don't think you have to be pagan to enjoy this book (but definitely open minded), the author shares some wonderful words of wisdom.

Squash & Apple Soup

2 Lg apples
2c apple juice
2-3c cooked squash (I used butternut and pumpkin)
2 lg potatoes
1 med onion
ginger, nutmeg, garlic and salt to taste
veggie broth (as much as needed)

Saute onion in oil, add potatoes and apples for a few minutes, then add everything else. Bring to a boil and simmer until apples and potatoes are soft.

The original recipe said to remove seeds, peel and dice squash and add to soup uncooked. I just put the whole squash in the oven, cook for about 45min at 400 degrees. Let it cool a bit, scoop out seeds, remove yummy cooked squash and add in soup. I think this kind of recipe is very flexible and you can add more or less of just about anything and it will turn out good. I also added pumpkin pie spice and served with homemade bread:) Yum!

Yummy Griddle Scones

I made scones today, they turned out sooo good! You make them in a skillet:)

Apple Griddle Scones

3/4c all purpose flour
1tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4c wheat flour
1/2c sugar
4Tbs butter
1 egg
1/3c yogurt
1 large apple
1Tbs cinnamon (I used pumpkin pie spices)
1/4c nuts (optional, I used sliced almonds)

Mix dry ingredients well.
Pinch in the cold butter until crumbly, make a well in the center.
In a small bowl mix egg and yogurt.
Peel, core and finely chop apple and add to yogurt mix.
Pour yogurt mix in center of dry ingredients and stir with a fork to make a soft dough.
On a floured surface pat the dough and form a round 1/2 thick circle. (add a little more flour so It's not super sticky)
Cut into 8 triangles
Heat a griddle (heavy skillet) over medium/low heat and sprinkle with flour
Cook the scones for several minutes on each side, until golden brown.
Serve warm with butter, won't last long!

Yummy Bread

This is one of my favorite bread recipes! It always seems to turn out perfect! I usually use half white flour and half wheat flour, it also has 2 cups of oats in it that seem to disappear when baked! I have made it with all white and all wheat flour and it turns our great either way! I use my bread machine to prep the dough and bake it in my regular oven. I have included directions to make in bread over and by hand.

Yummy Wheat Bread-

1/2c water

1-1/2c milk (cow, unsweetened soy or almond)

2c rolled oats

3Tbs honey (or other sweetener)

2Tbs oil

1tsp salt

2c white flour

2c wheat flour

2tsp instant yeast (bread machine)

-or-

2Tbs active dry yeast (if prepping by hand)

Bread Machine Directions-

If making in a bread machine, add ingredients according to directions from manufacture. If it's like mine you add liquid, oil, salt, sweetener, last you add flour and yeast on top. I use the dough setting. It takes about 1 1/2 hours. I remove from bread machine and punch down and form dough into desired shape on a lightly floured surface. (If the dough is sticky kneed a little flour in)Place on a lightly oiled baking sheet or oiled bread pan. Let it rise for 10 minutes and bake for about 35 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Yum!!

To make by hand-

Heat 1/2c water to 105-115 degrees

In a small bowl min yeast and water, it should 'wake up' the yeast in within 5 min or so and start to get bubbly. Scald the milk and mix with oats. Add oil, honey, & salt.

Cool until lukewarm and add half the flour and yeast mixture. Beat with a wooden spoon. Add the rest of the flour and turn onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastics (10m or so). Let it rise in a warm place until it doubles. Punch down dough and let it rest for 10 min or so. Form into desired shape and place on lightly oiled baking sheet, Cover and let it rise another 40 min or so, until doubled. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 min.

The bread is done when your house is filled with the delicious smell of homemade bread and the bottom of the crust sounds hollow when tapped.

I do love to make bread by hand. I am hoping when the boys are a little older we can make it together. At the moment I am grateful for the bread machine. It makes it more practical for me to make all of our bread:)

makin play dough

This is Kylans goddess sculpture! He was playing with the play dough and said 'look, boobies!'

The play dough we made today:) Kylan picked the colors. It's pretty quick and easy to make, we made it during Everest's nap. The hardest part is remembering to get some cream of tartar the next time your at the market. This play dough has a great texture, much softer and more pliable then the store bought play dough.

Easy Play Dough-

2c flour

1 c salt

4 tsp cream of tartar

2c water

2Tbs oil

food coloring

Mix the flour, salt and cream of tartar. Add the water, oil, and food coloring. Cook over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Remove from pan and kneed until well blended and smooth. Keep in an air tight container or zip lock bag.

pizza

mushroom and basil

eggplant and zucchini

Mmmmm, pizza! We usually have pizza once a week and I wanted to share my pizza dough recipes. I do use my bread oven to prep the dough, it's not necessary, but makes it a little easier. I do generally use organic white flour, but often substitute 1/2c polenta (or corn) flour and 1/2c wheat flour. If you have a good wheat flour recipe please let me know!!

Simple thin crust pizza-

I like this recipe because you can make it last minute and don't have to wait for the dough to rise or anything. Its very simple-

3c. flour

1pk yeast (or 2 tsp instant yeast)

1 tbs olive oil

1tsp salt

1 tbs honey (or agave, sugar)

1c water

I put ingredients in bread machine on dough setting for 10 min just to mix, then take out and roll out dough, no waiting. You could also just mix by hand. I don't know if the yeast is necessary, but it was in the original recipe so I use it.

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Dough recipe #2

1c flat beer

2tbs butter

2tbs honey (or sugar)

1tsp salt

2 1/2c flour

2 1/4tsp yeast

I add in bread machine and use dough setting:) If you make by hand follow instructions on yeast package as far as temperature and rising time.

I usually precook the rolled out dough for 5-10 minutes or so in an 400* oven, then add marinara, pesto, cheese and toppings. Cook for about 15m, check after about 10m.

It's really quite simple once you've made it a few times and is kind of a treat that most people like. I usually make it on my husbands Friday:)

gingerbread cookies

We made gingerbread cookies yesterday. I love this recipe because it's easy, decent ingredients, and I'm not crazy about how they taste so I don't eat them:) They also don't have eggs in them, so they wee ones are free to eat the dough. Kylan loves rolling it out and cutting the shapes. We used candy coated sunflower seeds to decorate with:)

Children's Gingerbread cookies-

cream together-

1/2 c butter

3/4c brown sugar

mix in-

1 c molasses

add-

7c whole wheat pastry flour

2tsp baking soda

2 tsp powdered ginger

1/2 tsp salt

lots o cinnamon

add up to a cup of water to get the right constancy

roll out and cut into a gingerbread family

cook at 350 for about 10min

*enjoy*

Seven Grain Bread

Today I baked some delicious multi-grain bread. I usually bake twice a week, but I do cheat and use a bread machine to prep the dough and bake it in my regular oven.

I love this recipe because it uses whole wheat flour and 7-grain hot cereal mix and it comes our very moist and tasty. In the past when I have tried to make 100% whole wheat bread it ends up being to dry and dense... not this bread! Give it a try, it's my new favorite! It is originally from the book 'Uprisings, the whole grain baker book' which I highly recommend! But I modified it a bit-

*Seven Grain Bread*

2 & 1/4 c water

2Tbs molasses

3Tbs safflower oil

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbs yeast

5 c whole wheat flour

1 &1/2c 7-grain cereal (I used Bob's Red Mill 7 grain)

add to bread machine in order suggested by manufacture, use dough setting, then bake on 375 for about 35min. I usually make 2 med. loaves.

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Mix together molasses, 1 & 1/4c water, yeast, and 2c flour and let it rise until doubled.

Add the rest of the ingredience and knead until smooth, then let it rise until double again. Punch down and shape int 2 loaves. Let it rise and bake on 375 for 35min.

*enjoy*