the jacks' graze

baby Caroline is born!

2011-09-15T11:35:00.000-07:00

and here is her birth story

On Sunday night we had my parents, Joel, Janel, and David (brothers/sister-in-law) over. My mom and I had gone on a mile walk about 9:30p and I think Pete and I got to bed about 10:30. I woke up between 2-2:30am with a contraction and timed them at about 10 minutes apart. I waited a little to tell Pete to see if they were going to keep going. I told Pete and then called my mom about 3:30am because she was going to stay with Averi. After she got there Pete and I went on a walk (about 5am) around the neighborhood and called my midwife to give her a head’s up just in case things started speeding up. We went home and Pete suggested we go back to bed which we did. I rested for a couple hours in between contractions and I think I actually got some sleep - - and at least some good rest (good suggestion by Pete!). I got up around 7 and puttered about with my mom and Averi while Pete was able to continue catching up on sleep from switching over from his work schedule. I would hang out with mom and Averi and then go lay down again and rest or read while timing contractions which were still about 9-10 minutes apart. Thankfully it was a relatively nice day outside so my mom, Averi and myself (and Remington!) went outside and walked around on the dirt trails for a ways. We got back at about 10am and then I decided I was hungry so I ate. After that Pete and I then headed out to take another walk around the neighborhood and got a call from the midwife (Belinda) checking up on us. Contractions were about 7-8 minutes apart. (I was wanting to head to the hospital when they were 3-5 minutes apart.) After coming back Pete and I played some Mario on the computer then I went and took a shower and got changed in to a dress (I do not find elastic waistbands very comfortable during contractions!!). Contractions were usually around 7 minutes apart still but varied with a some being closer together. I think they were hurting more too. So I decided to lay down to see if they would slow down. They didn’t and were hurting enough and varying enough that we decided to leave. We went in to say goodbye to Averi and my mom (who were playing) and my mom took a picture of all of us. This made me a little discouraged that I was feeling pleasant enough to smile for a picture (as I remember from our Bradley class that if you can smile/pose for a picture you shouldn’t be going to the hospital yet) but I think after about 10hrs. of labor and whatever other reason it just felt right to go then. So leave we did, about 12:45pm. Pete had put some towels for me to sit on just in case my water broke on the way. We headed over to the hospital listening to the music I wanted to for our labor car ride (Fernando Ortego – Shadow of your Wings). I called the answering service for midwife and let her know we were on our way. I was still in way too good of a mood and Pete and I were having a mostly pleasent drive. The contractions did hurt pretty bad but they were pretty spread out still. I was still timing them and some were about 5 minutes apart, some longer. We prayed together (as I was concerned about this!!) that I woul be progressed enough to actually get admitted. We got there and got the paperwork done in the ER and were waiting for the transport when.... my water broke! Yeah! So after the transport guy came, we told him and he went to go find some towels for me to sit on in the wheelchair. After sitting down in the chair I asked if I could just walk – I thought it would feel better than sitting down!-- but he said no but he hurried us along to the OB floor. When we “pulled up” Belinda was waiting for us and said something like “off to the labor tub room” (there is only one labor tub room at the hospital and I was very much hoping to get it so that was a wonderful thing to hear!!!)! So off we went to the room (no triage necessary). Got checked by Belinda and was 6-7cm dilated. They monitored the baby in the hospital bed for as long as they needed to (I think 20 minutes?) and filled up the inflatable tub with warm water. After not needing to be on the monitor anymore I went straight in the tub and spent the next 2.5ish hours in there. It was great. Belinda must not have had any other patients in labor at the time as she was in there almost throughout my whole labor. Sitting on a chair, chatting with us in between contractions, coming over and encouraging me, helping me relax, giving suggestions to Pete on what to do to make me feel better, reading a magazine.... it was wonderful. The L/D nurse came in every 30min.-ish to monitor baby with a doppler which she could use underwater. Pete would pour water over my neck/shoulders during the contractions which was very relaxing. At some point Belinda talked about what position I wanted to be in while pushing and I told her something like I thought squatting made a lot of sense yaddie yaddie. She suggested we try “all fours” as I had been hunkering alot in a similar position through contractions in the tub. It was pretty crazy still seeing “Teenie” moving around in my belly so close to delivery, something I didn’t remember with Averi. I started getting more and more “verbal” through contractions though I had found being “verbal” helped even when they were far apart (at home, in the car, probably just more quietly verbal...). A little before 4pm I started feeling more pressure and felt that pushing made it feel better. At that sign I was helped out of the tub and covered with blankets (I had a bra top/panties on in the tub). Up to the reclined bed I got on my knees and held my upper body up with my arms. Pushing began! Belinda later said I was really pushing for 8 minutes (that was how long she said I was “complete”), I believe, but I was up there “pushing” for more like 15 minutes. Was I “yelling” and “screaming” at the end? OK, maybe. I think I felt a little more “freedom” to “yell/scream” because I had this nice pillow to yell/scream in to. That was a nice muffler. I was having back pain so Pete rubbed/pushed my back during contractions. So while this was all happening I could see a bunch of fluid coming out onto the bed... pushing pushing... it was also different than with Averi because I don’t think anyone ever told me when to push this time – I was pretty much just doing what I felt like. Belinda wasn’t saying much and I asked her at one point, can you see the head? She said something like, “she has a lot of hair!” (which was kind of interesting in hindsight because she would normally call baby “he” unless otherwise proven wrong, as she would say). Then I kept pushing and was like “he feels half way out can’t you just grab him”? Later to find out Caroline was born in a compound presentation with her hand by her head so Belinda was pretty much letting her fall out. She later said that if she would have touched the baby I would have torn really badly. So I guess she just guided the baby out/caught the baby and put her right on the bed where both Peter and I could see her and he made the announcement that she was a girl! I got to hold her right away before the placenta came out though Belinda had to tell me a couple times not to bring her up on me too far because it was a “short chord”. Caroline did have quite a bit of vernix on her still which I wouldn’t have expected being 6 days “overdue” and 8lbs 14.5oz (which they round to 15oz)! Placenta came out, chord clamped and Peter cut it. Belinda checked me to see if I needed any stiches and I didn’t need any – what a blessing! Caroline started breastfeeding maybe 10-15 minutes after she was born and didn’t seem to have any trouble whatsoever in doing it. After a bit of time the nursery nurse and got her weight and length. I then took a shower while Pete hung out with Caroline and the nurse doing her thing. I know a lot of people were praying for me and am so thankful for an uneventful, no tearing/episiotomy, less painful delivery!!!

books!

2011-08-24T19:52:00.001-07:00

My mom gives many books to Averi and "Teenie". This is a new book we got to open this week that Averi likes to read repeatedly. Grandma has it at her house too so Averi was already familiar with it. I am thankful for my mom who loves books and thrift store/yard sale deals. She has greatly increased our library at home!!

"almost there"

2011-08-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

It somehow seems that at 36 weeks pregnant Teenie should be here any day now. Possibly true, but possibly more like 30+ days. It also kind of seems to me that part of me should be dreading going into labor. Yes, it may have been the most painful experience of my life but what other pain have I ever had that has brought so much joy? I hope I would gladly endure much, much more discomfort then 10-12 hours of labor for the happy little feet that run around our house.

Another labor brings another round of unknowns. When will it happen? Will it be as long? Will it be my back again? Will I get to use the labor tub and will I even like it? How big is baby going to be? AND is our baby a boy or a girl????????

Soon I hope to know these things and experience the "happiest pain" I’ve ever had (round 2!). For now I best go about normal (whale) life and maybe while I am at it do some squats, kegels, try to go on walks, finish packing hospital bags, put a sheet on the bassinet, etc.

***

On a side note, I saw this on pinterest today and thought it was sweet. It may have made me tear up a little so good thing I didn't see it right after having Teenie or I probably would have been bawling.

more kitchen gadgets, gizmos and projects

2011-06-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

there is a new food staple present at our house

for the pregnant one especially.

thanks to a generous loan of her truly wonderful (truly) Bosch from my mother-in-law I have started making better quality whole grain bread products including bread, pizza dough and tortillas. I have attended some classes here and learned quite a bit and been given some great recipes too. My mom and I went in on this so now we are able to make great homemade whole wheat tortillas. Not only does my whole-wheat-loving-self eat them diligently and feed them to Averi, who seems to like them very much, but even sometimes-does-everything-have-to-be-whole-wheat-?- Peter think that the machine was a good investment. That's quite the compliment to this cook.

I have made homemade ww tortillas before with a rolling pin/cast iron skillet but these just turn out much more supple, soft, and thin - - all without as much work!

tomato soup

2011-04-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

I'm not really a fan of high fructose corn syrup in my tomato soup but I certainly like the taste of Campbell's. I made this soup and hoped it would taste like Campbell's because, after all, isn't that what tomato soup is supposed to taste like? This soup did not taste exactly like it came out of the can but tasted quite possibly even better.

I modified the recipe slightly. I am not into super thick and creamy soups so I used skim milk and doubled up on the tomatoes (unintentionally the 1st time it but it was so good I did it the same way the 2nd time). I used ww flour the 2nd time (I didn't want to grind flour for just 2Tbsp. the soup called for the 1st time I made it) and didn't notice any taste difference. 1st time I used "normal" canned tomatoes, 2nd time used organic Muir Glen tomatoes - didn't notice a difference on that either.

For those who haven't seen this commercial for high fructose corn syrup it might be worth a watch... maybe.

a milestone

2011-03-24T20:30:00.001-07:00

Now that Averi is in bed... this was her first day since birth that she didn't nurse.

I didn't feel really emotional at all about not nursing her this morning and I don't think she cared a bit but now that I write about it I feel sentimental all of a sudden. Time does go quickly and even though at times it would have been nice if Peter had had the "equipment" to go feed Averi (who after 3-4mo.(?) of age wouldn't take a bottle) I am now especially thankful for the time that God made me her "special provider".

bubble dress

2011-03-21T09:32:00.000-07:00

I saw this tutorial a while ago and finally made one for Averi.

It was rather easy to make and probably took me 1-1.5 hours to complete. I'd like to make at least one more (that is for her size now =) and make it a little more carefully. For the effort I put into it, and the fact that I finished it at about 10:30pm, I was very happy with the way it turned out!

curried coconut chicken

2011-02-23T18:53:00.000-08:00

As I was browsing through recipes I saw this.

Not only did I have some frozen stir fry vegetables (Kroger brand, nonetheless) but also (light) coconut milk and last week I restocked my supply of chicken breasts.

We had this for dinner this evening and I REALLY liked it. I only made 2 chicken breasts and the 3 of us ate half of them (they were a pretty good size) and almost all of the veggies over brown rice. Averi seemed to really like this meal a lot!

I thought that putting in the frozen veggies at the beginning was going to make them WAY too cooked so I added them in with about 2-2.5 hours to go (I cooked it on low for most of it. The chicken was partially frozen when I started and it cooked for 7-8 hours on low primarily). I would not put the veggies in there ANY earlier than that and would probably do it a little bit later next time as they were plenty soft. I would also think about doubling the veggies and maybe also doubling the coconut milk/curry as I like having plenty of fluid for the rice. There was really plenty of "fluid" for our meal but the leftovers, which is mostly chicken, don't have THAT much.

Pete and I added quite a bit of salt to ours while we were eating and I added some red pepper flakes to mine which I thought was SUPER good. I don't know how much salt I would add to it in the crockpot (though I believe I did add some!) just because it was nice to just salt to our own taste.

I plan on making this again - it was super easy and I thought really really tasty!

mommy of 2

2011-02-19T18:13:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking recently about how babies are babies in the womb. Of course, a person with pro-life views would say that babies are people from conception, that's just how it is. It seems though that other words we say don't always add up to that in the end. I hear people commonly say a phrase like, "I'm going to be a grandma", when, if we truly believe a person is a person no matter how small (thank you Horton) wouldn't it be more appropriate to say, "I am a grandma, my grandchild just isn't out yet!!". I don't believe that when we say, "I'm going to be..." that we don't believe babies in utero aren't people... it's just the normal way of talking. I have, more than likely, been "guilty" of the same kind of phrases during Averi's pregnancy and probably already with Teenie's but now I realize I want to intentionally speak of Teenie as a person! Although it is hard to wrap my head around it Teenie, at almost 13weeks, is my baby as much as Averi is even though I can't see or even feel "him" yet.

Psalm 139...

13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.^a
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

May God bless and protect our children inside and outside the womb and draw them to Himself!

(baby at 15 weeks along)

you don't have to pay a lot for good news

2011-02-17T18:18:00.000-08:00

Before we knew about Averi I went and bought an expensive pregnancy test similar to this:

WITH a coupon I think I spent $10-$15 on it. Ouch!

I saw on some blog or coupon site that the Dollar Tree carries pregnancy tests that work just as well as "expensive" ones. SO I bought some of those - - I could buy multiple tests and not drain the budget!! - - and took the (unopened) one from CVS back.

Dollar Tree Test:

Lo and behold they work!

Not only did one of these great little Dollar Tree tests tell us about Averi (known as "Mini" in the womb) but, a little before Christmas, one of them also told us about baby Jacks #2 ("Teenie")!!

"Teenie" is due August 30th and we are so excited!

Happy Birthday Averi

2011-01-08T18:53:00.000-08:00

Happy 1st Birthday Averi!

Averi's LONG birth story! (read at your own risk!)

On a pre-labor note, our last midwife appointment which was on Thursday (1/7) we had an ultrasound and they thought baby was 9lbs. 10oz. with a 42 week old head size (90%tile). So, I had heard ultrasounds weren't always very accurate but if baby hadn't been delivered by the next Monday my midwife wanted me to go to hospital and get outpatient labor inducing gel stuff (cervidil, I believe). I had already purchased castor oil (which is now in our linen closet upstairs) for drinking on Saturday evening for a good last measure, if nothing happened before then. I did drink black cohosh, my mom brought me panda black licorice (which I do like, yum), drank cumin tea, and tried some accupressure too.

Well...... Wed./Thurs. (1/6 & 1/7) night my mom came over and stayed with me to keep me company while Pete was at work. Friday (1/8) night she didn't end up coming over just because we hadn't really communicated earlier than like 7:30pm. Pete went to work and I talked to her and was like "I feel fine, you don't need to come over tonight..." so we planned on her coming over Saturday (1/9) night. Anyhow, I took Remington on a walk about 8pm (about 2 miles). I was accompanied by some Mormon Missionaries on bikes for part of it and talked with them. Remington and I then went to Target (he stayed in the car =) to get a couple things. On the way home from Target I was thinking I wanted to get in the shower when I got home (which had been a relaxing place for me during pregnancy). So I did just that and I just felt funny. Then I got out and laid down for a little. I think my mom called and asked me how I was feeling and I told her I was feeling kind of weird or some such. I puttered around, putting away the groceries, etc. I text Pete between and told him I was feeling a little "contracty" and I might call him later - I think at that point I was timing my contractions and they were b/w 5-10 min. apart. I sat down to read and write and my mom called to check up on me and ask if Pete was coming home - I told her I didn't want to "call wolf" and she was like, "you are 6 days past your due date and you had your membranes stripped yesterday, you are probably in labor." This comment helped me realize oh yes, probably true. Good point mom. So I kept timing contractions. Remington kept me company while I rested in bed (we called him my “doula”). After talking to Pete he wrapped up some things at work and came home about 2:30am (a great plus was, because I was still kind of staying on Pete’s work schedule, I had been only been up since about 4pm that day and Pete got up about 7pm, so the timing was great (thank you Lord!)!) By that time it was very nice he was home for moral support and there to rub my back when contractions came. He finished up packing up some stuff and timed the contractions. By now contractions, I believe, were b/w 3-5 minutes apart. We had decided to bring "munchkins" from for the nurses to give them with our birth plan. So we left to go to the hospital and stopped by Dunkin Donuts on the way. Being in the car during labor was very, very uncomfortable. We got to the hospital about 5am. My mom met us there to pick up Remington. She took a distant picture of us checking in at the ER. I was not in the mood for pictures which was a good sign that this labor was real (though now I like to see the picture!). I got checked and was 5-6cm. I was admitted. Started off in bed in the L+D room with the fetal monitor - I think pretty much ALL my labor pains were in my back so Pete was rubbing and pushing on it a lot (push harder please!). The nurse or midwife suggested I go in the shower - that was a most wonderful suggestion! I'd say I spent my most "comfortable" time in the shower standing up during contractions (leaning over/swaying like stretching my calves look) with Pete spraying the nozzle on my back from outside of the shower. I could even sit down on the bench in there and rest in between contractions. They had me try a birthing ball (that looks like a peanut - 2 balls together with a place to sit in the middle) - that was REALLY uncomfortable for me. So, let's see... I probably went back in bed for another fetal monitoring session then back in the shower - it was getting painful by then (not that it wasn't painful before but really painful now! About now was more when I was getting “verbal” during the pain). At one point I felt like pushing while in the shower. We pushed the call button in the bathroom. My midwife came in and checked me and said I was 8cm. She said something like it will be like you HAVE to push rather than just feeling like you want to push. I think very shortly after that though I went back in bed and things started going. I guess my midwife thought Averi was posterior till the end when she flipped around and, all to say, my back was HURTING. I was thinking before this time (pre-labor thoughts, ha!) how giving birth in a squatting position seemed like a great idea – No way was I going to do that then. so... I guess next was pushing time which lasted maybe 30-45 minutes. I was mostly on my back (hospital bed propped up "back" I recall, though my memory of some particulars are foggy) but they had me on my side a little too. The nurse was super helpful at this point in directing me (I think she said she had given birth to 3 of her own kids drug-free – what a blessing to have such a supportive nurse!) - take a deep breath.... next urge to push try to push for 10 seconds etc. etc. I was not a silent laborer. there was probably a hospital tour going past our room while I am yelling and grunting... I heard/saw the midwife call to make sure the Dr. was close by just in case he was needed… the Midwife asked if I wanted a mirror and by that point I had no desire for such, it just hurt! My water broke while pushing - midwife said she broke it with her finger nail. That was a crazy feeling too - so much water GUSHING out. It seemed like after a point her head must have got past my back bone or whatever was so uncomfortable. Then came the new hurt of coming out. I felt her head (I guess that's what that was!) with my hand 1 or 2 times while she was crowning. push push push... finally she came out at 10:43am! Baby was passed to me - she was bloodied up a bit but with no vernix to speak of (they said she had a little on her leg). As she was getting passed to me I saw that she was a girl and said so!! She got wiped down on me. It was crazy to see her the first time when she was all the way out - how big she looked and not even because she was 9lbs.! My midwife did give me an episiotomy (1st degree) and I tore a little too. I don't know what I would have done without Peter there pushing on my back and just being there for me... he helped alot!

A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. John 16:21

I'll be honest with you, It took me more than just the seconds after Averi was born to forget the pain though now I see her labor/birth as one of the most wonderful memories of my life.

What a joy our Averi girl is.

best carrot cake I've ever had

2010-12-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

I got this recipe from a friend (after she made it and I had some!!!) and Pete and I made it for the Jacks' side Christmas gathering.

INGREDIENTS

For cake:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan

• 2 teaspoons baking soda

• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 4 large eggs

• 2 cups sugar

• 3/4 cup vegetable oil

• 3/4 cup buttermilk

• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 1/3 cup fresh pineapple, crushed (I used canned!!!)

• 2 cups carrots, peeled and coarsely grated

• 1 1/3 cups loosely packed shredded, sweetened coconut

• 2 cups finely chopped walnuts

For buttermilk glaze:

• 1 cup sugar

• 1/2 cup buttermilk

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter

• 1 tablespoon light corn syrup

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

For frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, room temperature

• 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature

• 3 cups confectioners’ sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh orange juice

• 1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange zest

• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Recipe continues below ↓

DIRECTIONS

For cake:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Generously butter two 9-inch round cake pans, each about 1 1/2 inches deep. Dust each cake pan with about 1 tablespoon of flour and tap out the excess.

In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until blended. Add the sugar, oil, buttermilk and vanilla and thoroughly incorporate.

Add the pineapple, carrots, coconut and 1 cup of the walnuts and mix well, then add the flour and fold into the batter with a rubber spatula.

Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. Bake on the center rack of the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the sides of the cakes pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

For buttermilk glaze:
While the cake is baking, mix together the sugar, buttermilk, butter, corn syrup and baking soda until well blended in a small saucepan.

Set the pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer and cook for about 3 minutes, stirring, until heated through and the sugar dissolves. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the vanilla. Set aside and cover to keep warm.

Remove the cakes from the oven and put them, still in the pans, on wire racks sitting on baking sheets. Using a toothpick, poke about 20 holes in the top crust of each cake layer.

Do not poke holes deeper than halfway through the cakes.

Whisk the glaze and pour it evenly over the cake layers.

Let the cakes cool completely and then cover them, still in the pans, with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours, or until completely chilled.

For frosting:
In the bowl, using an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and set on medium speed or with a handheld mixer on medium speed, beat the butter and cream cheese for about 2 minutes or until fluffy.

Add the confectioners’ sugar, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla. Mix slowly so that the sugar doesn’t fly out of the bowl. Gradually increase the speed and beat for about 1 minute or until the frosting is smooth.

For assembly:
Remove the cake layers from the refrigerator and invert them on a work surface. You might need to run a kitchen knife around the edges to loosen the layers. Put 1 layer on a platter, glazed-side down.

Put about 1 1/2 cups (a third) of the frosting on the center of the cake layer and spread it evenly over the cake. There should be a layer of frosting about 1/2-inch thick.

If the frosting is soft, return the cake to the refrigerator to stiffen it up. Put the other layer on top of the cake, glazed-side down, and frost the top of the cake with about 1 1/2 cups (a third) of the frosting. With the remainder of the frosting, cover the sides of the cakes with a thin layer. With the tip of the spatula, press lightly into the top layer of frosting and pull it up to form little spikes. Repeat over the entire top of the cake.

Lightly sprinkle top of the cake with about 3 tablespoons of chopped walnuts. Press the remaining walnuts onto the sides of the cake. Serve at room temperature.

flourless cake

2010-12-18T18:44:00.000-08:00

I made two of these cakes for a Christmas event. I only used about half of the poppy seeds called for because I just didn't buy enough. I did not use glaze on it as I thought it was sweet enough by itself, though it was not very sweet. I also baked them in a 9" round cake pan as that is what I own.

I give this gluten-free recipe a 2 thumbs up!

the sweater dress

2010-12-04T18:21:00.000-08:00

There were a couple of online tutorials that helped me along with this idea... and I am not sure where those links are right now. here is my finished product!

This is made from a woman's sweater. It is the original neckline hem but I sewed it so the neckline was smaller. I wanted to get the bottom of the sweater in the dress (the closer together stripes) so I had to cut the sweater to get the right length for Averi. That left me with an unsightly seam so I thought the belt was a must. I was trying to sew on a belt made of some thicker cotton jean-ish material but had a very rough time sewing that with the ribbing of the sweater. Thankfully months ago I had picked up some random elastic at SAS and happened upon this thick blue elastic that I thought worked just fine for the belt!

numbers

2010-11-15T15:00:00.000-08:00

1 Christmas or birthday present for Averi... finished!

here's the tutorial. I filled mine with lentils because I had them on hand.

night time listening

2010-10-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

My mom gave us this CD before Averi was born. At the time I found it difficult/unappealing to listen to but I guess once I was listening to it with Averi (outside the womb!) it totally changed it for me. We now listen to these CDs very often while Averi is playing before bed or having her pre-bed meal.

3rd shift house-wife?

2010-10-06T19:20:00.001-07:00

Yep, that was me.

Pete started working 3rd shift right after we got married. I did not want to be on an opposite schedule of my new husband so I tried to stay on his sleep schedule as much as possible. I am SO grateful I got to do that when I could (aka, pre-baby) and glad Pete was on board with me doing that too. I felt like I could keep myself fairly busy but I definitely did have some extra time on my hands at times. Here is one project I worked on a lot in the wee hours while I listened to books on tape, sermons, old time radio shows, etc.

I "finished" it a couple days ago. There is supposed to be more (a background...) but I don't know that I would have put in the many more hours it would have taken to finish it "completely". It was one of those projects that I would work on a lot sometimes then not work on it for days/weeks/months etc...

Now to get it framed!

Hooray! It fit!

2010-09-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

re-purposing bug

2010-09-18T21:30:00.000-07:00

I had a couple uncovered pillows and a couch without pillows on it. I made these pillow covers out of 2 men's shirts. It is not quite the formal sitting room look but I had the shirts on hand (thanks to my mom!) and the colors match our wall colors pretty well.

Tonight I sewed this shirt that I was going to make into something like this but in my excitement of thinking how I could use the buttons to make cool straps I must have cut up the pieces for the skirt. Wow, it's really not that late... I do rather like the straps though. Anyways, this was a woman's button up shirt. I wanted Averi to be able to wear the shirt/skirt combo tomorrow for church but hopefully she can wear the shirt and her corduroy skirt. That is, if it fits!!!!

homemade pita chips

2010-08-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

I made some ww pita bread that turned out rather poorly. I was making this for a party we were attending so pita chips were a possibility anyways but after I saw the pitas they were a must (= For one, I used my bread machine for the dough (which is probably more trouble than it's worth anyways with pita bread) and was not happy with how sticky the dough was after it had already risen (because I was not hand kneading it to know that it needed more flour!). So, I ended up adding more flour which, combined with not following rising times well, turned out a less than beautiful product. Thankfully I have this sweet cookbook and a useful recipe:

INGREDIENTS

4 8-inch whole wheat (or regular) pita breads, cut into wedges

1/4 c olive oil

1 tsp salt

1. Using a kitchen shears, cut around the outside of each pita bread to separate it into two rounds*. Brush the rough (inside) side of each pita with oil and sprinkle with salt. Stack up all the pita rounds and cut the stack into six pieces. (Sixths)

2. Adjust the oven rack to the upper-middle and lower-middle position and heat oven to 350. Spread pita triangles smooth-side down over 2 rimmed baking sheets.

3. Bake the chips until they begin to crisp and brown lightly, about 6 minutes. Remove baking sheets from the oven and flip the chips so their smooth side is up. Return the baking sheets to the oven, reversing their positions from top to bottom, and continue to bake until the chips are fully toasted, about 6 minutes longer. Remove baking sheets from oven and cool the chips before serving.

*I didn't have to cut many of them because most of my pita bread was very flat to begin with.

I thought they were delicious!

a dress

2010-08-11T20:04:00.001-07:00

The tutorial

I unwisely did not follow the directions of making it 1 inch wider at the top for a less than 12 month old and/or non-stretchy fabric (both of which apply to this dress) so it is definitely a tight squeeze to get Averi in to. Once she's in it, it fits well! (= I made another one with different fabric that is bigger and stretchier but haven't tried it on her yet.

a dress at first, a shirt at last

2010-07-17T20:33:00.000-07:00

another easy, use-fabric-I-have sewing project

It was going to be a dress till I ripped it (oops) to right about this length. In hindsight, I think it may have been a happy accident. Averi usually wears onesies or shirts unless it's Sunday anyways.

"Liberty Ball"

2010-07-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

easy patterns/tutorials, that's what I like
I have been given scraps of fabric from here and there. I sewed some together to form this patriotic specimen.

Happy Independence Day!

baby food making

2010-06-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

Recipe for Brown Rice Cereal

I made one batch and froze most of it in a silicone ice tray. In my opinion, the consistency after freezing/thawing was equally as good, if not better, than the first day.

Averi's room

2010-06-15T13:54:00.000-07:00

Averi's giraffe room is finally feeling finished
the little sign on the door was from Averi's bassinet at the hospital

the giraffe theme was inspired by the picture above which I saw and liked before we were pregnant. here it is more clearly

I liked "gender neutral" giraffes for our gender surprise baby...

... and the nursery letters, changing pad cover, etc. help make the room more pink for our Averi girl

my favorite part of the room (=

tastiness

2010-06-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

I was recently sharing my feelings of silliness for wanting to share recipes because sometimes I so loosely follow them. This is a great example. I make "it" pretty often and/or have some in the freezer. The only thing is I don't really measure much, use like a #10 of tomatoes from Sam's club that I puree (sans juice), don't use lemons, dump in some-odd packets of peppers from a pizza place, don't use that much EVOO...

it's a great recipe. (=

These next suckers are my, "I want chocolate in the form of bread but don't want to eat 'real brownies'" satisfy-er.

After making them multiple times slightly differently, I liked the outcome of my last batch:

Ingredients

3/4 cup ww flour
1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Combine sugar/salt and wet ingredients, add cocoa, add flour

Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes in an 8x8 or 9x9 pan. (though I went for a double recipe/bigger pan)

I like frozen/cold desserts so I cut them and wrapped them individually in saran and stuck them in the freezer.

And...
Applesauce: so easy and so so yummy
my mom got a killer deal here on apples so we ended spending about $2 for about 30 cups of applesauce

and it's so easy!
I looked at this for guidance but we did not use exact measurements, it didn't need sugar, and we waited for the cinnamon till we topped off our individually servings.

baby carriers

2010-05-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

This carrier (by Heather) was so nice for Averi to fall asleep in when she was smaller and we were on the road. I got such comments from strangers as, "She looks like an Anne Geddes baby" as well as, "Is that a baby in there?". I need to hone my skills in using it now that Averi is bigger

I liked the bjorn pretty well until I got to use the next one....

the mei tei (also by Heather) is easy to put on, easier on the back, and feels cozy too!

I like carrying Averi around! (=

tasty tropical treat

2010-04-17T20:56:00.000-07:00

Our wonderful neighbors took us out to Vietnamese food the other month and ordered us something similar to this for one of our desserts. Beans for dessert you may ask? Yep. Different but good. Honestly though the beans were not the highlight for me. It was the coconut milk. Deliciously creamy, icy cold.... I want some more.

While at Trader Joe's I spotted this:

I purchased it.

I like about 1 T. of white sugar per cup of coconut milk served over Sonic ice. The whole can is about 250calories (excluding the sugar) and is rich enough to share with at least one person (that is enough sharing for me).

chicken noodle soup for the sick (soul)

2010-03-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

I was sick

my wonderful husband made me this
I took some pictures and ate

it was very good though extra salt was added while we ate

he did not add the flour at the end (per my request)

it was also very good to be so nicely taken care of (=

don't eat this at home or anywhere else

2010-02-18T17:12:00.000-08:00

project: homemade liquid laundry detergent

I had been using some homemade powdered detergent out of the same ingredients that I liked. The liquid detergent is supposed to be even more cost effective so... sounds good to me!! It was super easy to make and so far seems to work just fine and dandy.

I used this "recipe" which was a smaller recipe than many I saw online. It makes 2 gallons as opposed to one I saw that made 10 gallons worth of soap.

supplies I used:

notice: WASHING soda not baking soda.
I found this at Fry's (I could not find it at my Walmart)
some sort of container

and there it is!

reports are that this detergent costs you about $.01 a load of laundry!

little pita buffalo chicken appetizers

2010-01-02T22:07:00.000-08:00

the sidesare not "real" carrots tastier than "baby"?

the prep

lettucetomatoesswiss cheese

olives

homemade pitas
we just made them "little" and used 50%-ish whole wheat/white
I think 100% whole wheat would be excellent as well

finished product

using this chicken

a little on the time consuming side but a fun project and very tasty indeed

peter pumpkin open house

2009-11-21T22:36:00.001-08:00

it is often difficult for me to explain what I do when I "work"... which isn't very often (here we go again)...
usually thrown into my explanation are key words like, "food", "nutrition", "wellness", and "special events".
I used to work at this facility 3 days a week, before married life, with the Wellness program.

here is a "special event" that I helped work in October. it's main focus is more on "fun" and "food" than "nutrition" (although whole grains were used in the baking of many of these goods). "fun" is an important part of "wellness" anyways!

this was made at paradise bakery and brought by a nurse on staff.

this is something really, really lovely that my friend, Cathy, makes and deserves to be the highlight dish for this post.
it's a pumpkin you see. but inside this pumpkin is....

...stew!
it is baked in that amazing looking pumpkin (and sweet skillet, but I digress). while serving, you are supposed to scoop out pumpkin with the stew as you wish - brilliant, lovely, and delicious!

pictured below are most of the other pumpkin goods that were served.
many people contributed

residents/wellness program members enjoying the food

a recipe book of many of the goods was available to those who wished-
-and I wished
(also made by Cathy)
this was the fourth annual peter pumpkin open house

pumpkin products

2009-11-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

The following recipes I used "home pureed" pumpkin. All in all, the pumpkin puree tasted, to me, just like the normal canned stuff though it's appearance was a lighter orange.

#1. I tried this Pumpkin Rice Pudding at the 4th annual "Peter Pumpkin Open House" (might post on that subject later...), liked it, and thought I'd try it at home. Made it. Undercooked the rice (I think because I used brown instead of white and didn't allow for that change while cooking it) and might just have undercooked the whole shebang.
Here it is:
this is cooked. it doesn't look too cooked now, does it?

The pumpkin flavor was good but the dish was not so hot all around.

#2. I stink at making pancakes. It doesn't seem to difficult... but somehow they never really turn out well. Peter is the pancake expert at our house. For some reason this doesn't deter me from trying to make them. These were supposed to be pumpkin pancakes.
hmm, not looking so good.

these are pumpkin pancakes "mid-trash"I can make waffles.
I decided to try to salvage the batter and stick it in the waffle iron.

I knew I liked waffle irons.
These were tasty although I preferred them "cold". probably because while warm they reminded me of the gummy pancakes I had just tasted.

#3. Sweet Success! Whole wheat pumpkin bread. No oil, just applesauce. delicious. Made 4 loaves so far and my last 2 cups of pumpkin puree will likely be dedicated to 2 more.

here is the recipe, it's a winner:

WW Pumpkin Bread

3 c. brown sugar
4 eggs
2 c. pumpkin
1 c. applesauce
4 1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cloves
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 c. nuts, chopped (optional)

Cream together brown sugar and eggs. Add pumpkin and applesauce and beat well. Add remaining ingredients and beat well. Pour into two greased and floured loaf pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Makes 2 loaves.

#4. Pumpkin Spice Latte in a crockpot.
No picture but it was good. Made it for a church small group Halloween party. I didn't use all the vanilla that was called for in the recipe (that is a ton!) but put in a whole (smallish) bottle of it when I roughly x4 or x5'd the recipe (so still quite a bit). One thing, I would have pureed my pumpkin a little more had I thought about the possibility of swallowing little pumpkin chunks every once in a while. (= still good, still good.

pulverizing a pumpkin

2009-10-21T23:05:00.000-07:00

some big pumpkins at superstition ranch market, in mesa, were $.10/lbs.
this pumpkin was around $.95

bonus pirates of the caribbean sticker

with the goop

sans goop - thanks mostly to a handy grapefruit spoon

boiling pumpkin seeds for later toasting

olive oil and salt for seeds

roasting in the toaster oven while pumpkin is baking in the oven

roasted!

there used to be more on that pan... someone ate some

I was slightly concerned after ignoring the pumpkins for about 1.5 hours to open the oven to this

I think a roasting pan would be a better option than a baking sheet for oven cleanliness

the sunken pumpkins

flipped!

it scooped out of the sunken pumpkin surprisingly easily

the leftovers

the goods

directions for puree
directions for seeds

As I have 99.9% of the time (if not more) only used pumpkin from a can for my baked pumpkin goods it should be interesting to see how much of a taste difference there will be with "fresh" pumpkin.
That will probably require another post soon.

pasta sauce

2009-08-22T23:14:00.000-07:00

cheese- - -check.
dough ingredients- - -check.
pasta sauce- - -negative.
google- - -check.
recipe found- - -check.
ingredients called for in said recipe - - -good enough.

this was easy - I used canned diced tomatoes (like they said not to in the recipe) and pulsed them a little in the vitamix for a more normal sauce consistency. I let it cook for a while on med/low to thicken (reduce). no lemons in the house for the zest - skip. used, I am guessing, 2-3x more red pepper flakes then called for and probably more tomatoes... It was good, easy, a little spicy, and went well with a fresh basil pizza. I'd make it again!

blender waffles

2009-08-22T22:52:00.000-07:00

This is yummy

it's made from this

and a couple of these home laid beauties

and... milk, yogurt (for oil), baking powder, sugar, and salt.

makes 6-8 waffles:
1 C. milk
1 C. uncooked whole wheat kernels (calls for +1 T. but I usually forget)
2 eggs
4 T. oil (which I substitute... yogurt, sour cream or applesauce)
2 tsp. baking powder
2 T. honey or sugar
1/2 tsp. salt

put milk and wheat in blender. blend on highest speed for 4-5 minutes or until batter is smooth. Add remaining ingredients and blend on low. bake in waffle iron until done.

these are good to eat right away or to freeze wrapped in saran for later consumption

crackers and corn tortillas

2009-08-16T00:20:00.000-07:00

The crackers of the day - imitation wheat thins and saltines

Kathleen came over and brought her cracker making experience as well as daughter and taste tester, Claire.

Kathleen rolling the dough

sprinkling the (Kosher) salt

Claire likes them and she's cute so... they must be good

Then we went on to make some corn tortillas

can you trust Masa to be authentic when there is a picture of a Caucasian Quaker on the front of the bag?
that is the question

unfortunately, we did not test both bags of Masa and used this kind

non-appetizing raw tortilla balls

the "I don't have a tortilla press" rolling out process - between grocery bags. It works.
and this is a belly shot...

rolled and cooked

we even ate some for lunch (with other stuff)!

That was a fun time indeed.

buffalo sammies

2009-08-08T23:35:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about making some BBQ chicken sandwiches. The thing is though, buffalo chicken sandwiches are... ummm... tastier. So I found this. I had around 7 hours till Pete usually leaves for work so there was just time enough (hopefully!). I began.

Frank's happens to be delicious. I've heard it is used by Jack in the Box for their new Mini Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches as well as rumors of it being the base for Native New Yorker's Hot Wings. If you like wing sauce, you might want to give it a try.

here we have chicken with some ingredients scattered about and around for a do-it-yourself kind of ranch salad dressing mix. I did not have a store-bought ranch mix on hand.

The chicken was ready in about 5 hours - I turned up the heat towards the 2nd half of the cooking time to try to ensure it being ready early enough.

After I started the chicken in the crockpot I was thinking how we'd have to go buy some rolls. this occurred to me after I had started making bread in our bread machine less than an hour before. Oh yeah... you can make rolls!

Here is the recipe. I split the flour pretty evenly whole wheat/white.

pre-risen dough

dough ready for it's second rising

voila! 2nd rising complete

pre-baked

ding!

post-baked

I didn't get a picture of the sandwiches put all together but they were really good. Really.

and while we're here let me introduce one of our newest kitchen utensils: Cleaver.

Welcome, Cleaver.
You might not get much use, but you look pretty neat just being around

Queen of Torts??

2009-08-06T21:44:00.000-07:00

I've made corn tortillas before - those are easy

the good news is - these are easy too!

I got the instructions/recipe from here.

These were made with 100% Whole Wheat Flour

:Ingredients were simple : mixed the dough : "de-ringed" for kneading:

:let dough rest: poked for no apparent reason: shaped and rested dough again:

:rolled on oiled surface: cooked:

:ate them:
OK - not all of them, yet. A number of them since last night, but not all of them.

thus saying, I plan on making these again but with less salt (probably half the salt). I don't know if I put a heaping tsp. in or if I did the classic Tbsp. for tsp. or what but the tortillas by themselves are much too salty. Thankfully covered with cheese or filled with peanut butter and honey they are just fine. That was a close one.

I made these this time because I was planning to go to Trader Joe's to purchase some of their 100% ww tortilla's and other baked goods. Then I realized I could try to make them. I think this was a better deal (money-wise, and probably comparable time-wise too since TJ's is about 35 min. away) and these are good - maybe even as good as TJ's!

'tis the season...

2009-07-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

...for strawberries!

We had a little left of this jam in our freezer from last year until very recently... it was actually still good after getting under the icy top

we choose to go the "reduced sugar" route this time after trying both last year

strawberry freezer jam

dehydrated strawberries

yummy!

Homemade Yogurt & Chocolate Sheet Cake

2009-06-20T00:01:00.001-07:00

Some of this Jack's kitchen adventures/experiments have been low on the to-do-list (along with many other things...) but hopefully the kitchen is back to being inhabited a little more often

Yogurt
Normal store-bought yogurt, if you don't buy plain, is often:
1. full of slightly, if not highly, disturbing ingredients
2. way to sweet to choke down
3. more expensive than I'd like (free would be preferable)

As we happened to be fortunate enough to have a yogurt maker passed down to us, we made yogurt. Actually, Pete made the first batch while I was feeling sick and my mom and I made the second while Pete was working. The pictures are mostly products of the second batch

2

pretty much all you need ingredient-wise is milk (we used skim) and 2 T. yogurt (used as a starter)
We also added some non-fat powdered milk.
Here's the directions we used:
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Yogurt

I have heard there are ways of using a crockpot to make yogurt although we haven't tried that, yet.

For eating purposes, it is rather bland by itself but delicious with honey.
I like berries on top too.

Cake

Secondly I made this for our church community group

those bumps on top are powdered sugar clumps (I hope!) that didn't quite make it. that was a sad misfortune and only so many could be picked out by a non-perfectionist youngest child (they probably taste real good that way anyways)

OK, honestly, I didn't even try this cake. I am not big on chocolate on chocolate with more chocolate, but some people are. I heard many good "reviews" and am inclined to believe them because I got the recipe from this super fun site which has a lot of yummy recipes on it. Maybe they also liked it because it has a lot of butter, sugar, and chocolate - also a possibility

Not the "healthiest" choice of baking but one should probably not bring whole wheat bran muffins when signed up for snacks - it just might not go over well

beans, refried

2009-06-13T01:31:00.000-07:00

OK, the sad part about this little bean story is that out of all the times I have made these the time I take pictures of the process they turn out to be my least favorite so far. Thankfully I believe I know why and can share that with you as well... alas.

Here's the Recipe

Starting off with "overnight" soaked pinto beans, add them to boiling water
with onions and garlic

A low effort way to peel garlic is to cut off the hard end, put them in a dishcloth and smash them against the counter.It works surprisingly well.
My thought is that a little older garlic works better than brand spanking fresh, but that is just a guess

simmer, simmer, simmer... the onions look different now

cook some onions in butter, add some seasonings...
(I use the same "big" pot for everything, I just transfer the cooked beans to
a bowl and then the vitamix to mash them)

And voila! You have yourself some homemade refried beans!

Now for the sad part. I used my vitamix too much, if that is possible... which apparently it is.
I "chopped" the onions in the said machine which, I believe, made them too runny and made the beans a little more oniony than I like. So the moral of the story is, chop, don't puree your onions! I think by cooking some more plain pinto beans (with salt) and adding them to my now frozen beans would solve the problem.

Notable Changes I made of the real recipe...
I used more beans than 1.25 cups because I think that is just too few!!
I didn't put cilantro in this batch, I didn't have any.
I have never used feta for garnish but that sounds interesting!

I like to use these refried beans (when they turn out less oniony!) for bean bowls:
layered- brown rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and usually some salsa for good measure.
They really are good!

A Greek Easter

2009-04-17T04:37:00.000-07:00

There were many a photo to be a had in many a home to document the preparation for this Easter Meal. Few were taken. Thankfully, I have a faithful photographer mom who saved this food from being neglected entirely as well as perhaps saving our camera from death by spurts of sizzling lamb grease. I am thankful for both.

On the Menu: Lamb, Chicken, Pitas, Tabouli, Tzatziki, Hummus, Lemon Rice, Greek Salad, Roasted Potatoes, and Squash
(Tasty Non-Greek Dessert Followed)

I was impressed with this picture

I did not make all the food seen in the pictures. The recipes for the food I made... I got the lamb recipe... here. The lemony greek rice... here. The greek potatoes... here. The Tabouli... here. Okay now, putting in links is fun.

just in case you ever think about making these...

the lamb went over well and seemed to be cooked as much as it should have been - this, I was happy about. I would advise, when making these, you make the patties small (we had them like gyros in a pita) because lamb is rich and one can get too much of it pretty quickly. I made them in a skillet (hence the spurts and sizzles from the grease). The Bashas by us seems to often have ground lamb on managers special... I'd advise to look for specials because full price, at least at Fry's, was mighty pricey.

the greek rice I put way more oregano in it than called for and way less garlic. The former because I thought it said tablespoons when in fact it said teaspoons (classic) and the latter because I thought there was going to be plenty of garlic going around in other dishes. That's probably what the author of the recipe meant anyhow. Anyways, I think the rice was one of my favorites. I might add more feta next time (I did not measure it when I put it in) because it was awfully nice to get a little chunk of feta with a bite of rice every once and while.
I didn't even use brown rice (shocker) and next time, if I make it again, I would be very tempted to do so.

Potatoes didn't seem to brown too well although they weren't unappetizing, (were they?), they just kind of tasted like potatoes.

The tabouli I think turned out well although I was lighter on the mint than I should have been. I'm not a huge tabouli fan in general so it's hard for me to say if it was really great. Let's just say we ate the leftover rice in a day or two but are still housing the tabouli in the fridge.

the bottom of the food pyramid

2009-03-01T22:22:00.000-08:00

We've been eating homemade bread lately

Homemade, by the breadmaker

The aforesaid breadmaker bakes a pretty great looking loaf, sometimes.
This particular time it baked a pretty great looking ball.
The sometimes globular structure produced by the breadmaker is readily pardoned for the ease of baking bread it supplies.
Looks aren't everything anyways.

here's is the recipe:
(from http://www.tammysrecipes.com/homemade_wheat_bread)

100% Whole Wheat Bread

Yield: 1 loaf(1.5lbs.)

Ingredients:

1/2 teaspoon soy lecithin (if using granules, add to the water at the beginning)

1 cup warm water (110-115 degrees F)
1 tablespoon milk
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten (replace 3 tablespoons of the flour)

3 cups (minus 3 tablespoons) whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons instant active dry yeast

a pinch of citric acid (use sparingly)

a sprinkling of ginger

Instructions:

1. *Combine first 6 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; stir.

2. Add flours and yeast, and knead until dough is smooth and elastic, about 10-15 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover with a clean towel and let rise until doubled, about 40 minutes.

3. Punch dough down; knead for a few minutes until smooth and then form into a loaf. Place in greased loaf pan and cover. Let rise in a warm place until almost doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. If loaf starts browning too soon, lightly lay a piece of foil on top of the loaf to prevent too much darkening.

5. Remove bread from oven and allow to rest in pan for a few minutes. Remove to a wire rack and cover with a cloth. Slice and enjoy while still warm! Leftover bread can be stored in an airtight bag or frozen until needed.

*If you have a bread maker, you can use the dough setting to knead it for you. Just put ingredients in according to order listed.

(i) heart cookies and crackers

2009-02-14T04:00:00.000-08:00

While waiting for my honey to come home this Valentine's Morn, I baked these

Browned Butter Rolled Cookies

1 1/2 cup AP flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Adjust the oven rack to the upper third of the oven. Preheat to 350°F.

In a medium bowl whisk the flours, baking powder and salt.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook about 1 minutes, swirling the pan, until the butter turns a nutty brown. Transfer to a medium bowl. Add the sugar and oil. Beat with an electric mixer 1 minute on medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla; beat 2 minutes on medium-high speed. Add the flour mixture and mix on low speed until just combined. Divide the dough in half and press each piece into a disk.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. Working with one disk at a time, roll dough on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut out cookies with small (about 2- to 2 1/2-inch) cookie cutters. Place the cookies about 1/2 inch apart on the prepared baking sheets.

Bake the cookies in the upper third of the oven, 1 sheet at a time, 5-7 minutes until slightly golden on the edges (do not overbake). Let rest on cookies sheets 1 minute, then transfer with spatula to wire racks. Cool completely.

For a non-heart shaped project of late are two types of crackers: Multi-grain and Graham

Multi-grains in the works

finished product

I'd make these again!

Grahams in the works

finished product

This is my second time making these and I would make them yet again

Recipes:

Multi-Seed Crackerbread

2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole rye flour
1/2 cup whole yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup water - may not use all of it
3 tablespoons sesame seeds
2 tablespoons poppy seeds
2 tablespoon flax seeds
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
2 teaspoons dried rosemary
2 teaspoons dried tarragon
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons very coarse salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 450

In a medium bowl, whisk together flours, cornmeal and salt. Drizzle in olive oil and mix to combine - it will be pretty lumpy looking. Add about 3/4 cup of the water and mix together until the dough comes together. You want it to be stiff, but not crumbly - if it is too dry, add a bit more water. Scoop out dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until the dough becomes smooth and supple. Don't knead for 10 minutes like you would bread - you just want the dough to hold together well and be smooth. Divide into 8 equal portions and cover with saran wrap.

In a small bowl, mix together sesame seeds, poppy seeds, flax seeds, caraway seeds, rosemary, tarragon, thyme, salt and pepper.

Scatter about 1 tablespoon of the seed mixture onto your work surface - press one piece of dough into the seed mixture and begin to roll it with a rolling pin. Keep turning the dough as you roll it into the seed mixture - flip it over and add a bit more of the seed mixture if it begins to be too sticky. Roll the dough into whatever shape you can - you want to get the dough as thin as you can and have the seeds dispersed throughout the dough. Repeat with the remaining seed mixture and dough.

Place the dough on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake until the top is golden brown - about 7 to 10 minutes. Start watching very close at the 7 minute mark as it can go from golden to too dark in a snap. Remove and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

(Changes I made to this recipe: added Pumpkin seeds because I had them and I think they are yummy, I didn't have whole cornmeal on hand so I used regular old non-whole cornmeal, and I skipped the taragon and thyme on account of not having them)

Homemade Graham Cracker Recipe

makes 36 2 1/2 inch squares.

4 T (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1 egg

6 T sugar

4 T honey (Some graham crackers use half honey and half molasses. You might consider trying that as a variation.)

1/2 t baking soda

2 t water

3/4 t salt

1 1/2 C graham flour

3/4 C all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine the butter, egg and sugar in a bowl and beat until smooth and creamy.

Stir in the honey and blend.

Dissolve the baking soda in the water and add to the butter mixture.

Add the salt, graham flour, and all-purpose flour to the mixture and blend thoroughly. The dough should hold together and be manageable. If it is too "tacky" add a little more graham flour.

Liberally dust a surface with graham flour and roll the dough to a thickness of about 1/8 inch. For convenience in handling, cut the rolled dough into three or four sections that will fit on your cookie sheet.

With a knife, score the dough, without cutting through, into 2 1/2 inch squares. Or shape them with a cookie cutter!

Prick each square a few times with the tines of a fork.

Using a spatula, place the sections of scored cracker dough on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake on the first side for about 15 minutes, then turn the cracker over and bake for another 6 or 7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and cool on racks.

(Changes I made to this recipe: I ground some whole wheat flour and used that alone instead of white/graham flour, the first time I made them I used regular whole wheat flour alone)

new kitchen help

2008-12-21T23:11:00.000-08:00

his name is remington
here is what was cooking that day

Cranberry Orange Muffins (adapted from King Arthur Flour)

Makes 12 muffins

1½ cups white whole wheat flour
¾ cup quick-cooking rolled oats
¼ cup buttermilk powder or nonfat dry milk
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon orange zest (finely grated orange peel)
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
2 large eggs
⅔ cup (4.67 ounces) sugar
¾ cup milk
⅓ cup sour cream

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick vegetable cooking spray.

2. Whisk flour, oats, milk powder, baking powder, and orange zest in a large mixing bowl. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk egg until broken up. Add sugar and whisk until combined. Whisk in sour cream and milk.

3. Add cranberries and nuts, if using, to dry ingredients and stir to combine. Add milk mixture and fold with rubber spatula until batter comes together. Do not overmix.

4. Divide batter among 12 muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean, 18-20 minutes. Cool in pan 5 minutes, then transfer them to a rack.

Looking over this recipe, I am not remembering adding dry milk... O well.

Were they good? Eh. If you like cranberry-orange muffins, then I would say, yes (pretty enthusiastically too)! If you prefer a good banana nut or pumpkin muffin, like me, these aren't going to be top on your baking list. Anyway, if you want some, I have a dozen or two in my freezer.

Curiousity (trys to) help the budget

2008-11-07T03:57:00.000-08:00

I wondered how people used coupons to save bundles and wanted to know how to too. So, I went to a CouponSense meeting. That night I signed up, subscribed to the paper (I try to get at least 2 each Sunday), went to Walmart to get an organizing system (actually Pete did almost all the organizing) and have been pretty hooked on great deals ever since.

A couple days ago on a grocery trip I did 2 transactions at Fry's (my new favorite) and 1 at Albertson's.

I ended up with this for... ...$9
(tax included)

We, the Jack's, are still watching to see if the CouponSense subscription is worth the dues money (about $15 a month) but, the more weeks I have been a member the more I see it paying off.

and it's fun getting smokin' deals

pumpkin season here we come

2008-10-18T23:24:00.000-07:00

Unbaked 100% whole grain pumpkin cornbread with pepitas

Here it is baked
Here we have an unbaked pumpkin scone "log"
Here it is cut...

...and baked!

One thing that makes cold(er) weather a little more bearable is people's tendency to break out the pumpkin recipes - here we have two

Pumpkin is not the only positive ingredient in these baked goods - both were made with 100% genuine whole grains (King Arthur's White Whole Wheat and Bob's Red Mill Cornmeal)

The cornbread has a really good taste. A little dry (all the "liquid" in it is pumpkin!), yes, but a really good taste. For those who enjoy putting butter on their cornbread anyways
(and who doesn't) this cornbread would be just the thing.
The consistency while making it was pretty weird - I pretty much ended up "kneading" it by hand to mix in the pepitas and never had a chance to follow the directions, "Pour into pan". My method was more like, "Pick up orange dough ball and smoosh into prepared pan" -
whatever works.

I only tasted a bit of the scone (these are for a pumpkin event in a few days) but the bit I did taste was really great (and they don't even have icing on them yet - not that they are at all lacking in another less-than-nutritionally-desirable substance: butter).

I found these recipes here (changed the recipe to white whole wheat flour and 100% whole grain cornmeal) and here (changed the recipe to white whole wheat flour)

Amazingly easy, uncommonly healthy (especially for scones)

that's pumpkin for you

parting is such sorrow

2008-10-04T04:25:00.001-07:00

An incident on our road-trip rendered a life ending injury to our dear camera.

Thus causing a long period of silence.

flba (feed the local bears, anonymous)

2008-06-02T10:59:00.000-07:00

Camp(ing) - a time and place of relaxation - hunger is known to abound. Here are a couple of meals that are perfect for any camping trip. Quickly made, little cleanup, warm food. All you need is a heat source (be it a camp stove, fire, etc.), a skillet, and something to stir/roll with

Example one: canned chili skillet. best if eaten directly from skillet
(optional cheese added when removed from heat source)

Example two: skillet bratwursts (with mustard). best eaten with knife
(great breakfast food accompanied by raw oats/milk/honey)

next time you go camping, don't leave your skillet behind

chicken toes...

2008-06-02T03:48:00.000-07:00

...or fingers, whichever sounds more appetizing to you.

let's be frank - these are tasty, though rather low on the food quality chart.

making these yummy formerly-feathered-food-items is a good option because:

#1 the lack of a deep fryer breaks the temptation to plunge the breaded bird in oil before consumption (if in possession a deep fryer, beware of the lure of grease)
#2 the ability to make them out of:
a. chicken breast that not only looks and tastes like, but is, a real piece of meat
b. breading of your choosing

Start off with basic breadcrumb recipe:
pulverize bread to crumbs by whatever means possible.
My possible means involves one, handy vita-mix.
If not able to pulverize bread, purchase breadcrumbs.

the ingredients

the process

the raw

Crispy Baked Chicken Tenders

Serves 4

1 egg
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 pound chicken breast tenders
4 slices of any Mrs Baird's wheat bread
Vegetable oil spray

the baked

Preheat oven to 350° F.

Lightly spray a baking sheet with vegetable oil spray; reserve. In a shallow bowl, whisk together egg, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and chili powder; reserve. Rinse chicken tenders under cold water and pat dry with paper towels. In a food processor or blender, process the bread into soft bread crumbs and place in a shallow bowl. Dip chicken tenders in egg mixture to coat both sides. Dip chicken pieces in bread crumbs and place in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Lightly spray tops of chicken tenders with vegetable oil spray. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the center

the eaten

all tied up in knots

2008-04-28T11:46:00.000-07:00

"Guest baker Jill" and Jenni's project...

Soft Pretzels!You might wonder (as "Guest Baker Jill" demonstrates)...

...why one pretzel appears to be a (healthy) brown color while the other two look pasty white. Here is the reason:

(As stated before) I like my flour brown and whole so most things I make (that I plan on eating, at least) I attempt to make brown and um, whole (sorry for the repetition).

After rolling the pretzels into "logs" and shaping them into pretzels (with some rise/relax time mixed in), we decided to boil them before baking (like bagels!) which gave them a nice chewy "crust"

after baking we cooled them and... partook

Jill's report on the white flour version was, "These are amazing".

My report on the brown flour was that they reminded me of Trader Joe's (100%) Whole Wheat Pretzels (everyone's tried those right? Umm, no) but in a softer, chewier way.

Pete liked them too!!

I got a pretty good burn from the baking sheet while making these but failed to take a picture while my arm was at the height of it's crispiness. The scorch was worth it, they were good.

Cafe Sahara

2008-04-14T23:12:00.000-07:00

Eating at Pizza Hut, Olive Garden, Chili's, and the like can make going out to dinner a monotonous experience. Here is our first documented excursion in what we hope is a series of "Mom and Pop", or at least non-chain, restaurants.

Cafe Sahara
3641 East Baseline Rd
Gilbert, AZ 85234

Cuisine: Mediterranean & Indian

Atmosphere: Pleasantly dark with Hindi Music in background

Customers Present Upon Arriving: Zero (2 came in while we were there)

Drinks:
Nice bendy straws. Table setting lacked spoons wherewith to stir sugar in iced tea - the knife worked well though

Salad:
Arrived 3 minutes after placing order. Delicious dressing on the side

Main Course:
Arrived 13 minutes after placing order. Came with toasted pita bread

Jenni ordered Vegetarian Combination (labeled a Mediterranean dish)
The dish included Falafel, stuffed grape leaves, baba ghannouj, hummus & tabouli

This was the best tabouli I ever tasted. The falafel was very nicely spiced. The hummus was good, and the grape leaves were alright, but I don't know that I would have enjoyed any other grape leaves more.

Peter ordered Chicken in Peanut Sauce (labeled an Indian dish)

This dish came with rice.

The Chicken was a little greasy but thoroughly enjoyed by Peter who said he'd order it again. The rice was tender and all around good

Service:
The waitress was nice and very attentive

Cost:
$9.95 each for our meals plus a $2.25 drink brought us to $23.88

Nutrition Thoughts:
The salad greens were suspiciously iceberg-ish but had the bonus of extra veggies. The dressing seemed homemade and was not very heavy (possible tzatiki). The vegetarian* combo was nice with beans, olive oil, fresh (tasting) herbs, and veggies (in the tabouli) although I do believe the falafel was deep fried. The chicken dish, well, it sure had a lot of protein. The pita bread was unmistakenly made of refined flour but, was very good. All the food we ate seemed to be made at the restaurant (not shipped in bags to be reheated... with the exception (guessing) of the pita bread). Everything seemed very fresh. *No, Neither Peter nor Jenni Jacks are vegetarians

half-whole pizza

2008-04-13T21:32:00.000-07:00

(At Least) One of us is a big fan of Whole Grains.
This Pizza dough recipe was made (and eaten) with 50% Whole Wheat flour... the other unfortunate flour being of the refined variety. But, having made this recipe with both 100% and 50% Whole Wheat Flour, the 50%50% variety is rather tastier (although, taste isn't always everything : ).

"This tastes like real pizza".

Unfortunately the crust was rather tasteless (crust referred to here as area without toppings) because the salt was mistaking omitted.

Don't forget the salt.

Ingredients

¾ cup white flour

¾ cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp. salt

1 T. olive oil

1 T. sugar

½ package (¼ ounce) yeast

½ cup water

Directions

Combine sugar, water and yeast in a measuring cup or small bowl.
Combine flour and salt in a large bowl and make a well in the center.
Pour yeast mixture and oil in well and stir into dry ingredients until you have a soft dough.
If dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour.
Knead until smooth on a lightly floured surface.
Place in an oiled bowl, cover with a towel and let rise until doubled.
Punch down and let rest for 10 minutes.
Makes 1- deep dish or 2- 12-inch pizza crusts.
To bake, top with your favorite sauce, cheese, etc., and bake at 450°F for about 15 minutes or until crispy and cheese is bubbling.

formidable fish

2008-04-12T03:27:00.000-07:00

Note: Beware of the condition of seafood before purchasing.
Note Two: Purchase seafood at locations with excellent return policy.

Shopping at Wally World has been a great convenience to the Jacks' household.

#1 Wally World's Ad Match Policy (saving the Jacks' $$, or at least $)
#2 Wally World's 24 hour a day operation

Walmart is now also appreciated for refunding purchased Salmon that was reported rotten upon it's conveyance home. No hard evidence needed (although it was photo-journaled just in case suspicions arose), they just took our word.

Thanks Wally

Everyone Likes to Eat...

2008-04-05T00:47:00.000-07:00

Food. At least most people do. We, the Jacks, are going to munch around town (including the homestead) and let you know how we find it.