A few weeks ago I decided to try growing my own sprouts! We've been enjoying having fresh sprouts every day. Today when we finished off the daily "crop" (one full quart jar of sprouts), My eldest asked if could start doing 2 jars a day!

In addition to being nutritional and culinary, it has been educational, and a perfect science unit for my children’s ages. We've looked at the nutrients in the different sprouts, talked about photosynthesis and the greening, the watering, and the growth process. Watching them sprout is amazing–it is just 4-6 days from dry seed to the table!

A brochure from the Sprout People, emphasizing the importance of draining thoroughly after each rinse, says, "do whatever it takes--shake, spin, bounce or dance with your sprouter..." Kendra is my primary sprout assistant, and enjoys "doing the sprout dance" to get all the water out of the jars.

The children were also amused at a line in the brochure stating, "If you want to you can talk to your sprouts and play them music." Kaira has been improvising, "Ode to Alfalfa" and other such pieces on the piano for their benefit. Ken and I know a farming family who broadcasts music over their crops, convinced it helps them grow. The children are skeptical, but intrigued. (Honestly, I'm skeptical but intrigued.)

So far we've sprouted alfalfa, adzuki, mung, a "French Garden" mix (with clover, arugula, cress, radish, fenugreek and dill) and a bean mix (lentils, garbanzo, pea and other legumes). The adzuki weren't to our taste, so we won't be doing them again, but the others have been fantastic.

I've been impressed with how easy it is. To eat a jar a day, we start a jar a day. At night I put some seeds in the jar and fill it with water. While I sleep, they soak.  Come morning, I drain them. 3x per day we rinse and drain. By day 4 or 5 we eat them for lunch! We've been eating them as a stand-alone salad, with a bit of dressing. (Sometimes I'll toss in some tomato or whatever else I have in the crisper.) It is really more convenient than ensuring I have fresh lettuce on hand all the time. (Although we enjoy spinach/romaine salads sometimes too.)

Even Ken has been eating them!  He suggested I try some grains.  He sampled sprouted barley at work and thinks it would make a good breakfast.  Since sprouted grains use the same procedure, sprouted grains  here we come!

Waaaaaaay back in December I'd posted about the unexplained quantities of millet in my pantry.  I even did a follow up explaining what millet is, with a picture and everything. But, until this morning, I'd made no further progress on actually using the millet. 

Tammy commented on  one of my millet posts and suggested making hot cereal! 

Posted by Tammy Dell, millet is a delicious breakfast cereal. It takes just 20 minutes to cook. You can put a little butter in the pan, and slightly brown the millet before you cook it, but it isn't necessary. For each cup of millet, use two cups of water. Bring to a boil, then let simmer. You should stir it a few times while it is cooking. Finally this morning I made up a batch, drizzled it with honey, and poured on a bit of cream... mmmm!  I browned it in butter first, as per Tammy's instructions, so it had little bit of a nutty texture.  The children enjoyed it too.  (Keegan ate a remarkable quantity, and Kaira and Kendra both asked for seconds.)   Anyway, a belated thank you to Tammy for this breakfast treat!  It took me a few months to get around to trying it, but it is sure to become a new favorite!  (Clicking on Tammy's name will take you to her blogspot blog.)

Commenting on Saturday's entry, Tina requested my Sourcream Muffin Recipe, SO... I'm posting it below!  I was thrilled that I could transfer my chart right out of Wordperfect (where I have most my recipies) and onto the blog!  Isn't it great when things work easily! (Assuming it shows up nicely for everyone else, that is!  Please let me know if it didn't show correctly on other computers.)

And a special note to Tina, I'm looking forward to the Butter Tart Muffin recipe!  MMM! That sounds scrumptious!

Disclaimer: we are rather high altitude.  I've always lived at least a mile above sea level, and have "risen to even greater heights" in recent years.  Therefore, the recipes I create may need adjustments for lowlanders.  I think you might need a touch less flour--perhaps about a Tablespoon less per batch? 

I usually do the x3--primarily because it works out well with the number of muffin tins I have.

    Sourcream 'n Honey Muffins

 Each batch is approximately one dozen–perhaps a bit more

Ken is off this weekend, and it has been a splendid day! He woke up with a bug to play in the kitchen, so we did some "bonus" baking which included a double batch of the Honey Chocolate Chip Cookies and a triple batch of sourcream muffins (The muffins freeze well and we enjoy them for Sunday breakfasts–alternating with Breakfast Burritos and the Craisin Almond Cinnamon Bread). 

With Ken and the girls helping, I’ve filled the freezer with yummy and healthful treats! We even adapted the muffins and replaced the refined sugar with honey! Yum! 

I also mixed up some more of my own Herbs De Province blend. I'd given some to everyone at church as part of their Christmas baskets, and our organist says her daughter's family enjoyed it so much they wanted the recipe to make her own.  Of course I'm happy to share my recipe, but some of the ingredients are hard to find in our stores. Today I made up another large batch so she'll be set for a while while she tracks down (or grows) things like the lavender blossoms.  I'll post the recipe at the end of this entry as well.  It is lovely, delicate and adds French flair to soups, poultry, fish or cheese dishes.  I added a bit to our cheese fondue last night and it was delicious.

This evening Ken is giving the girls a special treat! Once or twice a year we brave the junk food and the playland germs and take them to McDonalds. Because few of our days provide fair weather for going to a park, they eagerly anticipate these semi-annual excersions to the indoor playland! I’m staying home to give Keegan a little one-on-one time.  He needs a bit of extra training.  (That baggie drawer is just TOO enticing to him.)  Keegan and I will read his Big Truck book, and just generally enjoy a quiet(er) house. 

I'll finish the laundry this evening as well, and hope to read First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind–a book on teaching Grammar by Jessie Wise.

Herbs De Provence Mix

2 tablespoon dried basil
2 tablespoon marjoram
2 tablespoon summer savory
 2 tablespoon thyme
 1 tablespoon zest
 2 crushed bay leaves
 2 teaspoons lavender
 1 teaspoon fennel

 

We've been trying to replace refined sugar with honey in our baking.  Last week I created a more healthful cookie recipe.  Even Ken liked them!  Today is baking day, so I made up another batch--double this time!  (The recipie below is for a single batch.)  Deliciously satisfying.

Honey & Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

•About 1 cup peanut butter (I'll confess, I guesstimated, and didn't bother with the measuring cup--too messy) (I used crunchy--We like the crunch.)

•1 cup honey (This I *did* measure.)

•4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) softened butter (real butter--I don't trust margarine, lol.)

•1 egg

•1/4 cup milk

•3 cups oats/oatmeal uncooked (I used old fashioned)

•2 teaspoons vanilla

•A couple cups of flour (See recipie for amount. Start with 1 3/4 cups) (I used fresh ground hard white wheat, not pastry, in this recipie. Others should work fine though. Store-bought flour would work too.)

•1 teaspoon baking soda

•1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips. MMMM!)

•1/4 cup flax seeds. (Wheat germ or finely chopped nuts could be substituted, or this ingredient could simply be omitted.)

Instructions:

•Cream together the butter, peanut butter and honey with electric mixer.

•Add the egg and milk and vanilla, beat it a little more 'till well mixed.

•Mix in the flax seeds. (Or wheat germ, or chopped nuts...)

•Combine the oats, 1 3/4 cups of the flour, and baking soda in separate bowl. Mix well, then add to creamed ingredients all at once.

•Mix the whole thing until well blended.

•While mixing, add flour until it is a good stiffish cookie-dough consistancy. (Altitude and other factors will influence the exact flour amount-especially with fresh ground wheat where moisture content can vary.)

•Stir in the chocolate chips.

•Preheat oven to 375.

•Roll into balls (or drop by rounded tablespoonfuls) onto UNgreased cookie sheets.

•Bake 7-10 minutes, or until lightly browned on top.

•Let cool.  Eat some.  Store the rest covered at room temp, or freeze.

Yesterday we had Mimi's Pollo.  I made up a tripple batch, as we like to freeze a bunch of it.  Kaira and Kendra did an excellent job of shredding the chicken.

Here's the Recipie:

Mimi's Pollo

Ingredients:

Chicken chests or thighs (about 5 or 6 pieces)

2 Fresh chiles (Pasilla, Anaheim or Poblano)

Scallions (1 bunch)

Tomatoe Sauce (One big can)

Oil (I use olive)

Garlic

Onion

Tortillas

Salt and Spices

 

Instructions:

Fill med/large pan with water & boil chicken chests

(Throw whole onion and some garlic cloves in the pot of chicken while it boils.)
When chicken is cooked through remove from pot to cool.  Save broth!
Once Chicken cools, tear to thin shreds.
Get a pot with some oil (enough to cover the bottom of the pan)
Throw in the chile and the scallions and saute ‘em good.

Add some minced garlic (7 or 8 cloves)
Put the chicken in and saute it for 5- 7 minutes. You may have to add a little more oil.
When that is done, add the tomato sauce ( as much of the can as you like)
Add a cup or two of broth, salt and spices(salt, cumin, cilantro, Mrs. Dash)
Let the thing come to a good boil.

 

For soft tacos: Put a cup of oil or so in a pan and lightly fry a corn tortilla (about 10-15 seconds per side)

Fill the tortilla with the chicken and top with cheese, salsa, sourcream or your usual toppings.

Chicken mixture doubles easily & freezes well!

Suzie asked about the jam recipies so here goes!  I must say the Honey Lemon Pear is our favorite of the two I did this round--VERY yummy!

Because I used honey, not sugar, I used a purely citrus pectin that enables the jam to jell. With this pectin you can use any sweetener, or just plain fruit without sweetener at all. Most pectin won’t jell as well without sugar.

Before "jamming" mix up the Calcium water that comes with the Pomona’s Universal Pectin. You can keep it for a long time (several months) mixed up in the refrigerator.

Next I load up my dishwasher with jars and lids, and start it running. It usually finishes the cycle in about the time it takes me to get the jam ready, and so the jars come out HOT and STERILIZED without the mess of the boiling water methoud. (Note, for canning meats, pickles, and other things other than fruit jam, you’ll need to do a hot-water bath or pressure or something. This is just for fruit jams.)

Honey Lemon Pear Jam

Peel the pears, setting peals aside. Mash the fruit (I used a potato masher)

Put the reserved peels in the blender (you could throw away the peels, but why?)

Combine blenderized peels with mashed pears & measure the fruit into a pan.

Add lemon juice as per ratio below.

Add proper amount of calcium water as per ratios below.

Add thinly sliced lemons as per ratios below.

Add cinnamon sticks (broken in half to release more flavour)

Bring mixture to a boil, while stirring continuously, while waiting for it to boil, do the next step:

Measure honey in separate container. Thoroughly mix the pectin into honey.

Once fruit mixture reaches a boil add the pectine/honey mixture to it, stiring virorously for 2 minutes to fully dissolve the pectin.

Return the entire mixture to a boil, then remove from heat.

Fill HOT, sterilized jars from the dishwasher (or from boiling water if you did it the hard way, lol) to ½ inch from the top. Wipe rim of jars clean and screw on 2 piece lids. Within an hour (I think it is sooner) you’ll hear them "pop" as the lids seal.

 

Here’s the ratio table:

For every cup of fruit, add the following

Pectin: ½-3/4 teaspoon per Cup of mashed fruit

Honey: 1/8-1/3 cup per cup of mashed fruit

Calcium Water: 1 teaspoon per cup of mashed fruit

Lemon Juice: 1 Tablespoon per cup of mashed fruit

Fresh Lemons: 1 whole lemon, peeled and thinly sliced for every 4-7 cups of mashed fruit.

Cinnamon sticks: Oh, probably about as many cinnamon sticks as lemons. One cinnamon stick (broken in half) for every 4-7 cups of fruit

 

For both the Honey Lemon Pear and the Spiced ApricotPeach, I ended up with 14 cups of mashed fruit, so I multiplied all the things in my ratio table by 14.

I wasn’t as impressed with the Apricot Peach–it wasn’t bad, just not superb. I’d made a Spiced Peach this fall that was delicious, so I think it was the apricot I didn’t like in it. At any rate, here’s what I did:

Spiced Apricot Peach

Same dishwasher methoud for the jars, etc.

Same amount of honey, pectin, calcium water, and lemon juice per cup of fruit as the pears. (See ratio table above--except omit the sliced lemons)

Same blenderizing of the peels that I did on the pears.

 

The differences: I did NOT add the slices of lemon to the apricot peach that I did on the pear

And in addition to the cinnamon sticks, I added ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, and whole cloves and allspice in cloth tea bag to the boiling pulp. I also added some orange zest. I just added these spices "to taste" and don’t know the exact measurements.

I experimented one day, and we loved it. My husband took a loaf to work where his co-workers are begging for more.  (Kristy just made a batch, and it smells wonderful!  Usually it makes the house smell  scrumptious for at least 24 hours! MMM!)

Almond Craisin Cinnamon Bread

Mill 9-10 cups (pre-ground measurement) hard white wheat berries.

Then put in large mixer all at once:
7 cups of the freshly milled wheat (reserve the rest for later)
5 1/2 cups very warm water (steamy from faucet)
3/4 cup honey
2/3 cup oil (I used olive oil, but safflower or canola, whatever)
2 Tbs sea salt (regular salt would work fine)
3 Tbs gluten
3 Tbs cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice
2 tsp grated orange peel (same amt for fresh or dried from spice jar)
2 cups craisins
1 cup thinly sliced almonds
3 Tbs yeast (I use SAF yeast)

Mix it all together at once on medium speed until combined thoroughly.

Let it stand 20 minutes, then, while mixing on medium speed, begin adding the reserved flour 1 cup at a time until the sides of the bowl begin to clean. You may not end up using all the flour.

Begin kneeding time & kneed for 7-9 minutes. (while it is doing this turn your oven on to the WARM setting)

Place dough on clean oiled surface and divide into loaves, then put into prepared loaf pans (I use an olive oil/lecithin mixture to oil mine).

Place loaves in warmed oven, then turn the warmed oven OFF. Let them rise for 25 minutes or so.

After the 25 minutes mist loaves with warm water and sprinkle w/ cinnamon/sugar mixture.

Turn oven to 350 degrees, and cook loaves for 25-35 minutes.  (We are high altitude, so it may take less time where you live.)

Remove to cooking racks.

(Made 6 loaves with my 8" pans. Should make 4-6 loaves depending on pan size.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I made a butter/cream cheese spread to serve with it, but I frequently eat mine without (although Ken, the children, and Ken's co-workers definately liked it WITH the spread)

Whip together with mixer:
1 stick of butter (softened)
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese
1 tsp almond extract
powdered sugar to taste (a cup? two? the stuff is so fluffy)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yesterday was busy, as we finished sewing some jumpers and took down the Christmas decorations. We usually "undecorate" within a day or two of the 1st of the year, but with our post-Christmas trip to South Dakota, we were delayed this year. After we finished our undecorating, we celebrated with sparkling cider. Are your Christmas decorations still up?  Do you do anything special to make taking them down less anti-climactic?

As much as I love Christmas, it was nice to return our home to its "normal", restful, more sparse, decor. (And it will be a treat come December to transform it into a wonderland once again!) 

I'm posting my Freezer Mashed Potato Recipe for Sagerats who had left a comment the other day asking how I freeze them without it thawing out watery and runny. I think the secret may be the eggs and cream cheese. This recipe is my own adaptation, but I think I "springboarded" from something in one of my Freezer Cookbooks--possibly one of Jill Bond's?

Mashed potato casserole
Great as a side or stir in cubed ham, chicken, turkey or leftover steak  for a main dish.  Freezes GREAT!

1 large (huge) casserole, or 2-3 small
5 lbs potatoes (If you use the red ones, they don’t need peeling, and make it look pretty!)
1 egg
1 tsp minced garlic
3 T butter
1 t salt
2t parsley
8 oz cream cheese
1 Tbs or so cream
Top with Paprika or Mozzarella cheese

Assembly:
Clean, quarter and boil potatoes.
When cooled enough, drain and remove potatoes to mixer bowl. Add eggs, cream cheese, butter and seasonings.
Mix with whisks (electric mixer--I use a Bosh, but use whatever you've got!) until the desired lumpyness. (We like ours fairly lumpy)
Add a Tablespoon of milk/cream or so as necessary to reach desired consistency.
Soon into greased casserole containers.
Top with desired topping–paprika, shredded cheese, cheese slices, almonds... My standby is either mozzarella or cheddar cheese
Refrigerate for up to 2 days or label and freeze for later.

Cooking:
Bake thawed casserole 375 for 45 min-1 hour until cooked through and top is golden. (Cover in foil first ½ hour or so)

As a compulsive reader, I'll read whatever is available. When material is scarce, even my husband's HandyMan magazines are fair game. His most recent issue had an intriguing article by Mike Berger, entitled, "Forging Iron, How metal working got its start".  In addition to being interesting from a historic perspective, it had a useful 19th century Blacksmith's tip on rustproofing--Something that could be useful to many a homemaker using cast-iron cookware!

"Place the item you want to treat on top of a kitchen stove and heat it to about 300 degrees. Remove the item from the stove (remember to protect your hands) and rub pure beeswax over the surface while the metal is hot. The heat causes the metal's pores to open, and they will soak up the beeswax like a sponge. Then set the item aside and let it cool naturally. As it does, the pores will close, trapping the beeswax within the surface of the metal and rendering the item rust-resistant. The treatment lasts about a year, at which point you can recoat the item. -MB"

My cast-iron cookware is enamel coated, so this doesn't apply, but I have an iron griddle that was left in our barn loft, and I'm going to try this tip on it!

We are still in survival mode with the colds, and I've not accomplished much this week.  The chorizo in the refrigerator was needing to be made into breakfast burritos, and I wasn't getting it done.  This morning my sweet husband began browning it, and we assembled the triple batch (or most of them) together before he went to bed.  Have I mentioned how much I love my husband?

Here's the recipe

---

12 eggs

2 TBS butter

1 lb Chorizo (Mexican Sausage--not the stuff in the tube, but stuff that looks more like ground beef).

1/3 cup salsa

3 cups shredded Cheddar/Monterey Jack cheeses mixed.

24 small flour tortillas

 

Brown the chorizo in large skillet and remove it to a big bowl.

Don't bother washing the skillet yet, use it to melt the butter.  While melts, beat the eggs, and add them to the skillet, along with the salsa .  Stir it frequently while it cooks, keep stirring and  cooking until scrambeled and set.

 

Dump the egg/salsa mixture in the bowl with the chorizo, then add the cheese.  Gently mix the whole mess together.

 

Warm tortillas as directed on the package.  (Makes it easier to make nice neat burrito bundles without the tortilla cracking.) Place about 1/4 cup mixture on each tortilla and roll into burittos.  That's it except for packing it up for storage! 

 

Wrap each buritto individually in foil, then put them in the freezer. 

 

To serve: Thaw burritos in refrigerator overnight, then bake (still wrapped in foil) 350 degrees for 15-30 minutes or until hot.

 

Serve with salsa and sourcream for dipping. Yum!

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Sundays are usually our "special breakfast" day.  I bulk cook muffins, or Craisin Almond bread as well as the burritos, and when the freezer is full of all three we alternate.  (They are a nice change from our hot cereals, etc, but not any extra work--less actually--on day of serving.  PERFECT for Sunday mornings!)  The past few weeks, however the freezer was depleted of these special treats.  I'm sure the children will be glad to resume our Sunday breakfast tradition. 

Today we did the above recipe x3, so there should be enough to get us through the holidays!  Next week maybe I'll do Craisin Almond bread!  MMMM!