Blueberry Cobbler

Hello. My name is Jodi and I want to be a baker.

I want to be a baker really bad. I am a cook but not a baker.

When I bake, things happen. My kitchen turns into a mad scientist laboratory where green things are exploding and there is crazy bubbling. A lot of bubbling. All the while, I am standing there with this dumbfounded look on my face and wondering what happened.

I have these grand notions of making my house smell of breads and my family slicing it and putting butter on it. They will be gazing at me with love because I shared my love for them through making bread...

Yeah I'm a baking romanticist.

So I am here to share my latest romantic baking recipe. Are you excited? I'm quite the romantic, just ask Andy. :)

Blueberry Cobbler (Doesn't that just sound like scrumptious summer right there?)

1 1/4 cup of unbleached white flour
1/2 cup of honey or succanat
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 1/2 tsp. aluminum free baking powder
3/4 cup whole milk
1/3 cup butter - melted/softened
2 cups blueberries - fresh, frozen and thawed, canned (I used home canned)
1 cup quick oats
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, add flour, sea salt and baking powder; blend. After well blended, add honey or succant, milk and melted/softened butter. Spread in a greased 8 x 8 inch baking dish. Evenly spread blueberries over mixture. In mixing bowl, combine quick oats, cinnamon and brown sugar. Evenly sprinkle over blueberries. Bake in heated oven for 40-45 minutes. Serve warm with or without ice cream. Enjoy!

Be Gone MSG - Homemade Taco Seasoning

Did you know that MSG could be contributing to your headaches and doing many other crazy things to your body? Yeah, it's true....

I am trying to rid my house of all prepackaged foods and foods that contain MSG. So today when I went to make dinner and found myself needing taco seasoning and none on hand, this was a good time to make some. It was so easy and most ingredients you'll have on hand. You should totally give it a try.

Taco Seasoning

1/3 cup (heaping) chili powder
1 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
1 3/4 tsp. onion powder
1 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 3/4 tsp. oregano (dried)
2 tbsp. paprika
4 tbsp. ground cumin
2 1/4 tbsp. sea salt
2 1/4 tbsp. pepper

Put all ingredients in a container and seal (air tight). Shake. Use seasoning to taste. (Andy said tonight that he thinks the amount we use depends on the meat we use.) Enjoy!

Menu Plan - July 7

Sunday, July 7
Pumpkin bread, yoghurt
Chicken enchiladas, refried beans
Re-runs

Monday, July 8
Smoothies
Sandwiches, pretzels
Grilled steaks, baked potatoes, salad

Tuesday, July 9
Scrambled eggs, cheese
Re-runs
Chicken with cream sauce, broccoli, salad

Wednesday, July 10
Use up cereal
Re-runs or sandwiches
French toast, eggs, bacon

Thursday, July 11
Yoghurt, fruit
Cheese, crackers, fruit
Chicken gnocci soup, salad, bread

Friday, July 12
Breakfast cookies, fruit
Macaroni and cheese, peas
Pizza, fruit ad veggie tray

Saturday, July 13
Pancakes, eggs
Re-runs
Salmon patties, macaroni and cheese, salad

Adjusting Our Eating

I was talking to a girlfriend on the phone yesterday. We were talking about all the crazy sickness that has been going on around the Davis' house.

It seems like all the sickness has increased when I stopped putting so much effort and thought into nourishing eating.

Here's the thing. I stopped worrying about nourishment and began worrying about getting our bellies full. Just getting dinner on the table.

Looking back, it links back to when we went back to store bought milk and not good, hormone free meats. We had sickness but not near what we have had now. Dylan's asthma was less persistent, I became pregnant without assistance and colds/flu didn't seem to be so frequent.

With all these thoughts of bringing my family back to the table and bringing nourishing foods back to our stomachs, my mind has been reeling with where to begin again. What I think are the most important things to implement back in our diet are...

Here is the list I have come up with:

• milk from Farmer Haney
• good hormone free meats from Landes
• raw cheese
• fermented dairy
• raw sugars

It's going to take a while to get all these healthy steps into place but I feel better just thinking about these changes. 

Fast Dinner Friday - Cooking Meat Ahead of Time

One of my secrets in the kitchen is to cook meat in bulk.

If I have a family pack of chicken breasts, you will find me putting them all in the slow cooker or marinating them and baking them. Five pound package of ground beef? You won't always see me cutting it into one pound packages. Brown it all at once.

You're going to be cooking at least some of it then so why not all?

This is a HUGE time savor.

Tonight our family is having chicken enchiladas. With already having the chicken cooked, the prep time is cut in about half to three-quarters. Here is my "go to" chicken enchilada recipe.

Creamy Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
2 cups cooked chicken
pepper
cumin
garlic powder
10 wheat tortilla shells
2 cups cheese (I use white cheddar)
1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. flour
2 cups chicken broth
1 can (4 oz) diced chiles

Preheat oven to 350 and great a 9x13 baking dish.

In bowl, mix chicken with a pinch of cumin, pepper and garlic powder. Then add one cup of cheese and mix. Fill tortillas with one-fourth to one-half of the chicken and cheese mixture. Place side by side in baking dish.

In a saucepan, melt butter and add flour. Cook on medium-low until mixture is bubbly. Slowly stir in chicken broth. Whisk over medium - high heat  until thick and bubbly. Turn down or take off heat.

Add sour cream and green chiles (I always puree my chiles). Be careful not to have on full or high heat. You don't want the sour cream to curdle.

Pour sour cream and chile mixture over enchiladas and bake for 20-25 minutes or until cheese on top is browned.

This meal is really easy to do all the prep work and stick in the fridge until you're ready to bake. Just add a couple extra minutes and dinner will be a super Fast Dinner!

Are We Weirdos?

Are we weirdos? Are we not normal?

Those were the questions Andy asked as I was kneading bread this morning. 

Why would you think that hunny? I just opened our fresh wheat berries, grinded fresh wheat flour from them and now I'm kneading homemade bread.... Are we different? Hmm....

I looked at him puzzled. He went on to talk about how birthday celebrations are usually done eating out or having pizza ordered. Not homemade and definitely not organic.

Maybe, he isn't crazy and was on to something. 

I had a friend that was in utter horror that I make family's birthday cakes and not purchase them from a store. Kind of reminded me of the baby carrots moment... 

Lincoln's five year old cake... Not too hateful, right? :) 

With all of this talk about us being weirdos, my mind starting wondering... Do a lot of people not celebrate in their homes because of all the work they *think*  it is to cook for a group?

Cooking for a group does not have to be expensive, hard or take a lot of time. 

In fact, the meal for over 25 people yesterday was easy and I used ONLY things I had on hand. Actually the food was made early and just left in the refrigerator until it needed heated for the party. 

The feast included - 

* bean soup

* chicken and noodles

* chili

* cheesy potato soup

* corn muffins

* salad (delegated)

* fruit (delegated)

* pumpkin bread

* cookies

* cake

* ice cream sundae bar

The BEST part! Most of the left overs could be put in the freezer for a later meal. Easy clean up and everyone loved it! 

What are some quick, inexpensive and easy ways that you feed a large group? Do you get carry-out or pizza for celebrations? Do you make your own cakes?

Sausage Gravy

Day 20 of 366... 

On of the biggest fears I had about this challenge was that I LOVE food and there are certain restaurants which have food that I crave All. The. Time.... 

Panera has soups and sandwiches that I love... 

A local family-owned restaurant has the best sausage gravy...

And the list continues on...

Learning how to make some of your favorite foods at home can be a big cost savings. Today I calculated just how much I was saving by making the sausage gravy from home... I was astonished!

But first - the recipe... :) 

Homemade Sausage Gravy

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk

1/2 pound sausage

salt and pepper

Brown sausage in a pan. Take sausage out of pan with slotted spoon. Leave grease in pan. 

Add the 1/4 cup of butter. Melt on medium heat. 

As butter is melting, add the 1/4 cup of flour. 

Stir. It will be extremely liquid-y. Stir constantly until it begins to boil. Turn heat to simmer/low for 10 minutes and stir occasionally. Add sausage. Stir and serve.

This is a super easy and quick recipe. Almost always we have the ingredients on hand for a quick and easy dinner. We pair it with hashbrown potatoes and eggs. Delightful!

Now for the "break-down":

• 1/4 cup of butter- that is half a $.69 item - we'll say 35 cents! :)
• 1/4 cup of flour - there are 30 1/4 cups in a 5 lb. bag of flour - Bag of flour (not on sale) is $2.99 / 30 is about 10 cents rounded up as well. We are out to 45 cents.
• 2 cups of milk - 16 cups on a gallon - milk is $2.50 around here. $2.50/16 is about 15 cents times 2 - 30 cents - up to 75 cents!
• sausage - We pay about $2 for our sausage where we buy it. We used half. So that's $1 - up to $1.75.
• bread to eat it on - We only get bread when it's on sale. We paid $1 and used half a loaf - 50 cents - up to $2.25.

$2.25! 

Now granted a lot of times we have eggs and potatoes with them but the eggs come from the chickens on family farm and are given to us at no cost and the potatoes are raised in the garden so no cost for them. BUT we often have leftovers and have at times just eaten the sausage gravy alone. It's rich and fills my family's tummies! :)

Now let's compare the cost of the sausage gravy at the local family restaurant to that of the gravy made at home. We generally had to buy three plates of the sausage gravy and biscuit plate to feed our crew. Each one of the plates cost $5 and then you add drinks and tax and tip. Let's just go on the sausage gravy - at the restaurant we would have paid $15 plus tax and at home I fed my family for $2.25 and tax free! That is at least a $13.75 savings!

Finding "copycat" recipes of some of your restaurant foods could be a great way to get you back to the family table. 

How about you? Do you have any good "copycat" recipes?

I hope you have a blessed weekend and see you Monday!

*This post is linked to Frugal Fridays.*

Apples on sale "From The State Up North"

This past weekend as I walked through the grocery, I saw that apples were on sale for $.69/ pound. What an exciting and awesome deal to stumble across. As I gathered them up, my mind wondered back to my applesauce recipe. 


My family eats A LOT of applesauce. I make applesauce bread, pancakes and many other recipes with applesauce. It is also a much desired snack.


Today for Tempt Your Tummy Tuesday and Tasty Tuesday, I thought I would share my applesauce process with you. It's easy and everyone has the supplies on hand!

Remove stems, leaves and clean apples thoroughly. Core and slice. (You can peel them if you'd like. I have a Kitchen Aide mixer attachment that separates the apples from the skin after they are cooked. Sometimes, I also leave the skin on and use a potato masher. I then pull the skins out of applesauce. I, personally, feel like there are a lot of nutrients in the skin and I should keep them intact as long as possible. I might be right. I might be wrong but it makes me feel better! :) ) Put apples in pans and cover with water. Add 2 tablespoon lemon juice to keep the apples from turning brown.

On medium- high heat, slowly bring the apples to a boil. Boil for 25 minutes at a steady but not rolling boil. Cook apples until soft and apples are starting to fall off of skin. The next step is all up your personal preference. It really depends on my mood and what the kids have been eating. When the apples are of ample tenderness, assess the water level. Sometimes my kids like more fluid-y applesauce and sometimes that like chunky and think. If you like fluid-y, drain apples until water is just under the top layer of apples and mash using potatoes masher. If you like thicker applesauce, drain water to about two inches of liquid in pot and mash with potato masher. 

Spoon applesauce into clean and sanitized jars which have been expected for chips and nicks. Take a butter knife and press along side of jar to release air bubbles, wipe rim of jar mouth and wipe seal. Place on top and tighten ring around jar and seal.

After you put the applesauce in the jars, remove air bubbles, wipe jar rims, and put on lids and rings, the applesauce needs sealed. Some people freeze their applesauce. I choose to pressure "can" it. I don't really have a lot of freezer space so whatever I preserve through "canning" really helps.

Put the jars in a large stock pot or canning pot (needs a lid), cover with water (water needs to be one inch above jars) and bring water slowly to a rapid boil. 

When a rapid boil is reached, allow the boil continue for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes, turn off heat and leave to sit. When the jars are cool (Mine sit overnight) remove rings and make sure lids sealed. Applesauce is good, if sealed properly, for three years.

So if you see apples on sale in your area, grab a few and head home to make applesauce. It isn't hard and it has a great, fresh taste! Also remember this recipe next fall as apple orchards are coming alive!

An apple a day keeps the dentist away. So go and find some good apples!

Update and Concentrate

We are almost two weeks into our challenge and loving every minute of it. We have yet to miss eating out. It has been great. We have even endured sickness, exhaustion and crazy days already. Honestly, it has been so nice. As I browse the cookbooks, I get more and more excited about all the recipes I get to try. What fun!

Today I am going to pull out my soap box, hop up and hope you don't run away.

This journey/challenge was made for many reasons- bringing our family back to the table, health, finances and many more. Today I want to talk about something which I don't quite understand...

Juice vs. Juice Concentrate

I am a firm believer that high fructose corn syrup is NOT just "another sugar". I believe that it is slowly disabling and killing our bodies and minds. There are many studies linking HFCS to headaches, ADHD, diabetes and weight gain (just to mention a few).

Andy and I made it our mission to rid our home of it two years ago. And while we haven't done perfectly, we've made great strides.

One of the biggest struggles I had was with juice. My family loves juice. I LOVE juice. However it's extremely hard to find juice not containing HFCS.

I looked through pre-made juices and juice concentrates. I found one brand of juice concentrate which is generally healthy - Old Orchard. I really like it. Our local Meijer often has it on a 10 for $10 and get the 11th free. This is a really good deal for juice not containing HFCS.

This leads me into my next question. Why do we pay big companies to add water to our juice and pay an exorbitant amount of money for that water? Has our society gotten so lazy that we cannot add water and stir our juice? Just a "fruit" for thought... Get it? Fruit for thought?! Ha!

What kinds of juice do you buy for your family? With water or without? Why?  :)

Sweet juice thoughts until Monday!