Yes, I Stink at Blogging. Happy Easter

I've had a fantastic week of Spring Break with Steve-o this past week, and by fantastic I mean, I didn't do anything. Most importantly, I haven't worked even one. tiny. bit.
Glorious.

I know I've been a bad blogger. Seems like these days are getting away from me, between 3 busy boys, spring sunshine, and a growing business, I don't have much time for blogging anymore. I'll try to get on here more often for some random bits of goodness though.

Yesterday we're picked strawberries so today I'm home making jam from them while Steve takes the older two boys to an Easter Egg Hunt. I'm not too sure how wise it is to be making jam out of mushy, staining red berries with The Cyclone (#3) at my heels but we'll see how it goes.

Making jam is super easy - I posted a tutorial/recipe on it last year - go check it out and make some today. Super easy, not a lot of "stuff" needed, and just a handful of ingredients. :)

Happy Easter!

Angel Hair with Feta and Sun Dried Tomatoes

I've been trying to think of vegetarian dishes that we can eat that the whole family will like (read:Steve-o the Carnivore) so last night I went with pasta - that's safe, right?
It was DELISH and super easy so I thought I'd put it up here to pressure you into making it as well. It's so friggin' EASY - it's a great meal for school nights because you just whip all the stuff together and voila! Instant yummy meal.

It's relatively light too....
unless you gorge yourself and have 2 huge helpings.

Like I did.

Then it sits in your stomach for a rock for the next 3 hours.



Anyway.....

Angel Hair with Feta and Sun Dried Tomatoes

1 package of angel hair pasta

about 1/4 cup olive oil

4 -6 cloves of garlic, sliced or crushed (I like 'em sliced thinly)

3-4 oz. sundried tomatoes, softened and chopped (I added extra)
(took me forever to find these in the store. They're by the pasta sauces and Publix only carried this ONE brand - it's on the top shelf if you go there)

1 8-oz package of tomato basil feta cheese, crumbled
(if you're looking away (men) because you don't think you like feta cheese, JUST STOP IT. It adds a lot to the flavor of this dish - so just give it a chance, wouldja??)

1 cup grated Parmesan
(I didn't have Parmesan so I used a combination of Pecorino and Asiago and it was still really good. I'm sure you can substitute with whatever you have)

1 Bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped (I used considerably less - about a handful. Cuz I thought it was weird to put cilantro in a pasta dish).

salt & pepper to taste (and I also threw in some chopped basil too)

Then:
1. Start the pasta boiling and meanwhile...
2. Pour some olive oil into a skillet and saute the garlic on low-med heat. If you use some of the olive oil from the jar of tomatoes...YUM.
3. Throw in the tomatoes (that you've already chopped up a bit) and the cilantro and then turn off the heat. Do not add the cheeses in until last.
4. Drain your pasta or just serve it up individually on plates. Mix it all together and serve with a loaf of bread or baguette...or make up some bruschetta like we did.

ENJOY!

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cooking tip from me: Don't EVER drain your pasta after you cook it. I think that's an American thing...to think that you have to drain and rinse your pasta, and you DON'T! It just makes the pasta harder to work with as it "dries" and could lead to the ever-dreaded Sticky Pasta Mess. Just use a pasta spoon and scoop it right out of the water onto a plate or serving dish. I promise...it's much better that way.
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Lemme know if you try it!

Saturday Morning Waffles

A couple weeks ago I had about 25 extra minutes to kill before I picked the boys up from preschool so I stopped at the Goodwill around the corner. I typically don't like to go to Goodwill, because the other shoppers in that store look cannibalistic as they peruse the merchandise, hunting out all the "good stuff" before someone else gets it - no! I saw that suitcase from 1976 first! It's mine!MINE!
And it smells weird.

But anyway, I stopped there anyway and I bought a wafflemaker for $2.
And it's made me happy.

Here's the waffle recipe that I've been using:

1 c. whole wheat flour
1 c. white flour
-->You can just use 2 c. of regular flour if that's all you've got <---
4 tsp. baking powder
2 TBSP. sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. warm milk
1/3 c. butter, melted
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon

I also added: 2 TBSP. wheat germ and about 2 tsp. of flax seed.
But if you don't want wheat germ and flax seed, or if you don't even know where wheat germ and flax seed are located in the grocery store, then you can just skip those.

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then in a separate bowl beat the 2 eggs and add in the milk, butter, & vanilla.
Then mix it into your dry ingredients. Don't overmix it, (it should be lumpy) or the waffles will be dense. Pour some batter into the wafflemaker and let it cook until they're golden brown (they will have stopped smoking).
Transfer to a cooking rack (so they don't get soggy). You can also double the batch and freeze them just like freezer waffles and toast them on another day.

Go forth. Make waffles.

Strawberry Jam

Last Saturday we drove out to Van's Strawberry Farm and picked a bunch of fresh strawberries.
And then....get this: I made homemade strawberry jam.
Just like I did last year. And the year before that.

And now I'm going to tell you how.

Come on....don't be afraid, it's not hard. Really. And it tastes SOooooo much better than the store bought stuff. Besides, who wants high fructose corn syrup and red dye number 51 in their jelly??

So....one day this weekend, make it a family affair and go out and pick ya some strawberries. Or heck, buy some at Publix. Or pick up some frozen ones - I won't judge you.
It's not as hard as it sounds, and it doesn't take too long either.

First you have to wash and hull your strawberries. I had actually picked about twice as much as this, but then I left them to sit on the countertop for 3 days and a bunch of them got MOLDY. Gross. Fresh strawberries do not last long, people. So if you pick 'em, better be ready to eat or can them within about a day to maximize freshness.

This is all that I ended up with, but it'll be plenty - you'll see. This is just a big mixing bowl of 'em.


You'll need a few basic supplies too. Canning jars like the ones below, for starters. There's a bunch of stuff that you can use to be a pro canner, but I try to keep it simple (i.e. spend as little money as possible) so I just have the basics.

Supplies:
Canning jars
A BIG pot. I use a lobster pot that we as a wedding gift.
Canning Tongs
A funnel of some sort

And that's about it. If you're keepin' it simple. Like me.

You'll also need the following ingredients:

Sugar (LOTS of it, if you're going with the full-sugar recipe - like 2 full bags from the grocery store)
Lemon Juice
Pectin (located next to the canning jars at the store)




1. First, you have to smash up your strawberries a little bit at a time. I used a potato masher, but you could use the bottom of a clean plastic cup. Or your hands. Whatever.

2. Then, we have to do a little prep work.
-Sterilize your jars by washing them in the dishwasher or in hot water. Keep them in some clean warm water - we'll use them in just a few.
-Put the lids in a pan on the stove with some water covering them and heat them up (no need to boil, just heat them up so the underside gets pliable and gummy).
-Fill your lobster pot 1/2 to 3/4 full of water and start it boiling.

3. While all that's going on, your strawberries are just sitting there, waiting patiently to be cooked. Measure out the correct amount of smashed stawberries, per the instructions in your box of Pectin. Mine called for 6 cups. So that's what I did. Because I follow directions like that.
Dump your strawberries in a large saucepan or pot and combine it with the pectin. I always put in a little more pectin than the directions call for - about 20% more. No need to measure, just open another package and dump some more in there. Stir it up and bring it to a full boil.

4. While those are heating up, you need to measure out your sugar.
Now, when you buy your pectin you can buy low-sugar kind or just regular kind. If you dont mind the high calorie count of jam made with regular pectin, you're going to need about 6-7 cups of sugar for each batch of jam.
Low-sugar pectins use juice and Splenda to cut the calories. Sometimes I make one batch of low-sugar and one regular, but this year I just did all of them full of sugar. Yum. Sugar.

5. After your berries and pectin are at a full boil (the kind that can't be stirred away), dump in your sugar, about 6-7 cups (check your pectin directions for the exact amount). Bring it to a hard boil again for one minute.

6. Remove from heat and then scoop off the foam from the top with a spoon.
7. Now, if you're a freak about your chunks of stawberries being evenly distributed throughout your jam, then you'll need to do this OPTIONAL STEP: Let the pan of jam sit for 5 minutes and then stir it up completely again. This helps the jam settle so the berries won't all float to the top after jarring them. I skip this step, because I dont have the time to mess with evenly distributed strawberries.

7. We're almost there! Now, pull your jars from the warm water you've been keeping them in (keeps them from breaking when you fill them with hot jam) and fill your jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of room at the top. This is where that funnel comes in handy.



8. Use some tongs to pull the lids from the pan of hot water and put them on the jars and screw on the rings. Once you have them filled up, place them in your lobster pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. That batch of jam gave me 3 pint-size jars and 2 cute little jars to give away.



9. After they've boiled for ten minutes, use your canning tongs to remove them from the pot and then set them out to cool. As they cool, you'll hear the jar lids pop and you'll know the jars are set and sealed.
After i made that batch, I started all over and made one more batch, so I ended up with a total of 7 big jars and 4 small ones.
They'll keep for about 8months to a year and they are REALLY yummy.


See?? It's not that hard. And it doesn't take very long either. After I washed and hulled the berries, it only took me about 2 hours start to finish to do all these jars.
My first year canning jam, I went a little crazy with the berries and had about 5 million jars of jam. Okay, not that many, but about 20. Good thing is, if you go overboard and get sick of making jam you can just throw the berries in the freezer and do them some other day.

So try it! it's a fun family activity and you'll have some great jam when you're done.

Of course there IS this small matter of the sink load of sticky messy dishes.....

We'll just leave those for Steve.

Yummy Pancakes

My boys LOVE pancakes. All 3 of them. Especially AJ, who is a pancake whore and would eat them for every meal, every day, if he could. And shape them into Mickey Mouse, if you please.

So....pancakes aren't exactly high on the nutrition scale, so I went hunting (and experimenting) with healthier alternatives. Previously, my only experience with "healthy" pancakes was my sister-in-law's "buckwheat" pancakes which are, in all honesty, GROSS (sorry, Manda), so I was cringing as I looked online for pancake recipes...but then this morning, I tried these, and they were YUMMY. Tyler of course, ate them up.....AJ the Pancake Whore liked them tremendously (despite the fact that they were not mixed up from a box with Aunt Jemima on the front), and Owen even begrudgingly ate a few bites (which is a miracle considering that he doesn't eat much of anything that doesn't taste, smell, or look like pizza, string cheese, oranges, or hotdogs).

Don't be scared...they're yummy. Try 'em:

Whole Wheat Pancakes

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup wheat germ
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 5 1/3 tablespoons unsalted butter (you could use canola oil if you don't want to use butter)
  
• 2 1/2 cups buttermilk (who has buttermilk on hand?? I used 1/2 yogurt, 1/2 skim milk, but you could use applesauce too. OR, if you want to make your own (sortof) buttermilk, add a few tablespoons of lemon or vinegar to regular milk)
  
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter (this is just to coat the pan....I used cooking spray)
• 2 tablespoons flax seed - not called for in the recipe, but I threw some in for nutritional value.
• You can also add in some other stuff....blueberries, smashed bananas, choc chips, whatever floats your boat. I kept mine plain, cuz I'm simple that way.
  

DIRECTIONS

1. In a food processor or in a large bowl (food processor is nice, but who has time for that?? I used a bowl), combine the whole wheat flour, white flour, wheat germ or oats, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, and salt.
2. Cut the butter into small pieces with a knife, and add the butter to the flour-mixture. Mix until the mixture has a sand-like consistency (like to would cut butter into a pastry or pie crust - I used a fork to smoosh the butter in...although a pastry cutter would work best - man, I wish I had one of those).
3. Make a well in the center of the flour-butter mixture, and add the buttermilk and eggs. Stir until the liquids are fully incorporated.
4. Heat a frying pan over medium heat and grease the surface with 1 tablespoon of butter or oil. Ladle the batter onto the surface to form 4 inch pancakes. Once bubbles form on the top of the pancakes, flip them over, and cook them on the other side for about 2 minutes.

Seriously, it's good....give it a try - don't knock it 'til you try it....and if you've had my sister in law's buckwheat pancakes...these taste nothing like them. :)
Love ya Manda!

Zucchini Yogurt Multigrain Muffins

I don't usually share recipes because...well, I don't bake all that often. And you might think, "elwww...zucchini" but you can't really taste a whole lot of zucchini in in and it's a healthy way to get a serving of vegatable...or to sneak it to your kidlets. Especiall with Tyler starting on table food now, I'm racking my brain for ways to sneak in healthy food (especially veggies) for him to eat.

Here's a yummy muffin recipe that's easily customizable to whatever you may have on hand. Feel free to tweak and play to suit your tastes and preferences....I did. And another tip: Double the recipe and freeze half - it freezes really well. And i have a thing for freezing stuff. But that's a blog for another day.

Zucchini Yogurt Multigrain Muffins

1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oat flour (I used oatmeal, ground up in the food processor to make it more fine)

1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (or smooshed bananas will work too)
1 cup plain yogurt (I used vanilla yogurt...sour cream would work too)
1 cup sugar (I used half a cup)
1/4 cup honey (I omitted this since babies aren't supposed to have honey)
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup shredded zucchini (make sure you squeeze all the liquid out of it)
1 cup shredded carrots ( once again, squeeze out all the juice)
1/2 cup raisins (soak 'em in hot water before you put them in, to soften them up)
I also threw in a couple tablespoons of wheat germ

1. Oven - 375 degrees
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl
3. Mis all the wet ingredients (except for the zucchini, carrots, and raisins) in another bowl
4. Combine wet and dry and then fold in the zucchini, carrots, and raisin.
5. Bake for 18-20 min.

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Like I said this is easy to play with (I made quite a few revisions)...if you don't like carrot, skip it and increase the zucchini. Or add more veggies. Or skip the white flour and use all wheat flour, or use whole wheat pastry flour in place of white flour. Or add bananas. Or chocolate chips, or nuts, or whatever. They rise beautifully and are really moist. Try it!

It Might As Well Be Crack

Pssssttt.
Hey you. Kid. Wanna try something so good it'll knock your socks off??

Then you must delve into this delectable treat. It's one of my favorite desserts...it chocolatey, it's peanut-buttery, it rich and oh-so deeeee-lish that it has solely contributed to the extra weight that I am physically unable to take off my body after birthing 3 children. It's so easy to make that there's no excuse for you to not drop everything you're doing, run to the kitchen and whip some up right this minute. It' a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup....only better.
Only a whole pan.
Only a whole pan that you can make up and devour all by yourself before the kids get home.

Try it:

Peanut Butter Bars

2 sticks butter, melted
1 cup peanut butter
1 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 1/3 cup powdered sugar

Combine the preceding ingredients in a bowl and spread in an ungreased 9x12 in pan. Or you could use a square pan if you want thicker, more calorie-packed bars. Melt 2 cups of chocolate chips on stovetop and spread on the peanut butter mixture. Cool and cut when set.
And if you like a firmer, less gooey bar, you could do what I do: Stick it in the fridge to chill it...under the bag of spinach in the way back...so your kids can't see it and eat it and you have it all to yourself.

Or something like that.


YUM.