Amazing Pancakes!

This absolutely amazing pancake recipe is based on the one in the book Flour Power by Marleeta F. Basey. They were so good and so filling! I ate mine with homemade peach butter on top...oh, my...perhaps we should call it an "unbutton your pants" kind of recipe....you know what I mean? Here goes:

2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour (I used freshly milled hard white winter wheat)
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1 T. brown sugar
1 t. salt
2 eggs
2 to 3 c. buttermilk (I subbed regular milk with a dab of vinegar)
2 T. oil

Mix together everything but the buttermilk. Add the buttermilk last to reach desired consistency. The author suggests something like thick mud stating that thicker batter results in less "gummy" pancakes, but she also cautions that the batter will thicken slightly while waiting to be cooked as the bran absorbs moisture. In other words, feel free to experiment with the liquid measurements!

Use a 1/3 c. measuring cup to measure your batter out...the size of each pancake will be consistent this way. You may need to use a spoon to spread the batter out a bit into a circular shape. If you, like me, love pancakes so much that you cannot confine them to breakfast, you might consider investing in an electric griddle. I got one for Christmas two years ago and LOVE it! I can cook 6 pancakes at a time without any oil or butter (because of the non-stick coating on it).

If you achieved the liquid/dry ratio, your pancakes will fluff up immediately after flipping it. The result is a hearty pancake that won't disappoint...even if it is served without sausage or bacon. The flavor is unbelievably rich, deep, and nutty...it seems almost a shame to top them with anything at all!

Now, as you all know, I find it almost impossible to follow a recipe without a bit of tweaking. To enhance the texture and nutritional quality of these pancakes, I ground my wheat a bit course to get a nice texture and also maintain the integrity of the fiber and I also added two heaping serving spoons full of cottage cheese to boost the protein content of these pancakes. They were much fluffier than the first batch I made, so I think I'll stick with that addition. You can also add blueberries, bananas, etc. as they are available.

Flour Power is filled with many more recipes and info on why milling your own grains is far better than buying previously milled flour. I would recommend it for those of you interested in home milling. If you are thinking you've heard me mention it before, you are correct...it was one of the books I received for FREE with my SwagBucks. If you are not a member, click on the link on the right and get started today! I'm about to earn another $5 Amazon.com gift card myself!!

Bagels

I ventured into the world of bagel making last night! It was fun to try and they are really yummy! Homestead Man said they were definitely better than store bought bagels, and they were made with fresh ground locally grown winter white wheat! I'm reading Flour Power (a book I got for FREE with my SwagBucks) and am so inspired by how much healthier freshly ground whole wheat flour is for our family!

I found the recipe, complete with step-by-step photos over at Heavenly Homemakes...this is a fantastic blog that features lots of healthy, delicious, from scratch recipes. Do you follow a blog that features scratch cooking recipes or cooking with freshly milled grains? Do tell!!

The grain mill....

...has arrived!! I knew it would be coming, so I stopped by the Whole Foods store and picked up a bag of this:



Then I poured it into the top of my lovely, new Nutrimill. Wee ones and I stared as the grains disappeared:





When we opened the flour bowl at the bottom of the machine...we found this stuff:





Of course, the point of freshly milled grain is to bake it asap! So, I whipped up a batch of banana bread.



Here, take a closer look...check out the wee bits of coconut I added to mix it up a bit:

Applesauce Bread (Okay...Cake....Whatever!)

Since my pantry overfloweth with applesauce, I decided to try baking with it! Now, I'm a big fan of subbing applesauce for the oil in baking, but I wanted to go beyond that. I used a basic recipe and did a bit of tweaking and came up with this yummmmmmmy applesauce bread (errrr...cake?):

Applesauce Bundt Cake

1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon allspice
2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 cup granulated sugar, packed
1 egg
2 cups chunky applesauce
1 cup coarsely chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray bundt pan with Pam (or whatever greasing method floats your baking boat)

Combine dry ingredients. Combine butter and both sugars in a separate bowl. Beat in egg then stir in applesauce. Stir in flour mixture until it is fully incorporated. Fold in pecans.

Pour into bundt pan and bake 60 to 70 minutes. You could drizzle this with a glaze, but it was yummy as is...better the second day, even!

Apple Pie Filling

The apple pie filling won out! I used this recipe from Recipezaar. After doubling the recipe to account for the amount of apples I had, my yield was 10 quart jars of apple pie filling with some syrup left over. Here are some pics:



The coolest thing about this canning session? The jars! These are the jars that Homestead Man's grandmother gave to me. One of the is a Mason jar with the liberty bell with the dates 1776-1976 on the side. Another is an Atlas jar. It's so awesome to think of all the things she might have canned in these jars.

The Energizer Bunny Garden

This morning, I put up another gallon size bag of breaded okra and summer squash (mostly okra), fresh from the garden. I sliced up a zucchini for stir frying and sealed it up with the food saver...then it went into the freezer. I'm also drying a tray of cherry tomatoes...which have just, finally, taken off.

The chickens are not missing out, either...I left several cukes on the vine to fatten up and have been throwing them in with the chickens each day. Aside from red, ripe tomatoes and soft bananas, the cukes are their favorite treat.

I've also made two batches of chicken stock recently and frozen it in ice cube trays. Here are the instructions I've been using for chickens stock, except that I use my crockpot. The stock makes a fantastic, healing soup and adds tremendous flavor to canned veggies.

Apple Butter Recipe

Apples are on sale again!! Here's the recipe I used last year for Crock Pot Applebutter.

CROCK POT APPLE BUTTER

Put 3 quarts of apples, sliced thin, in a crock pot and cook overnight on high. Next morning, add 2 teaspoons cinnamon, 3 cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cloves. Cook all day on low. Tastes like old-fashioned apple butter that is cooked in copper kettle.

Here's the one I found for apple pie filling:

APPLE PIE FILLING

Ingredients:
4 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons salt

10 cups water
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 drops yellow food coloring
6 pounds apples

Directions:
1. In a large pan, mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Add salt and water and mix well. Bring to a boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice and food coloring.
2. Sterilize canning jars, lids and rings by boiling them in a large pot of water.
3. Peel, core, and slice apples. Pack the sliced apples into hot canning jars, leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
4. Fill jars with hot syrup, and gently remove air bubbles with a knife.
5. Put lids on and process in a water bath canner for 20 minutes.

I bought 18 pounds of apples tonight, so I have to decide whether I want to make apple pie filling, apple butter, or applesauce...decisions, decisions, decisions!

Peach Butter...

We've been gone on our annual ocean trip, so I apologize for the lack of posting. We did stop in Fairfield, Texas along the way and bought a peck of peaches from Cooper Farms. Today I made some peach butter following the directions found on this website. Here's a pic of it cooking in the good ol' crock pot:



I ended up with six jars of peach butter! I'm so excited to learn to make this because it's one of my favorite biscuit toppings! My next challenge will be pumpkin butter! Yummy!

In the garden, we've got tomatoes, okra, yellow squash, and cucumbers coming in like crazy! We're up to a reasonably predictable 3 eggs per day, but we lost one of our hens...Shirley...to a heat stroke (we think). She died on a day when it was 107 degrees outside. Per the girls' request, we buried her out back with a cross and everything.

If any of you have an amazing pickle recipe, please share! I've canned up several batches of dill and bread & butter that have been a bit disappointing.

Zucchini Bread

Yesterday, while tending a neighbor's garden (they're away on vacation), the girls and I discovered THIS hiding under a huge leaf:



See that tiny round thing in the lower left??? It's a quarter...ummmmhmmmmm...that's one GINORMOUS zuke, people!

(Also, please note that said neighbor gave her blessing for harvesting any veggies that were ready...and this bad boy was definitely ready!)

So naturally, tonight I made zucchini bread! I tried a new recipe that contains pineapple, walnuts, and raisins along with the zukes...can you say healthy...and also sneaking in nutritious ingredients for two children...and YUM!

In the interest of NOT loosing this recipe, here it is:
http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001330zucchini_bread.php

Funny how my blog is also a great place for me to collect ideas!! ;-) Oh, and sweet neighbor, if you are reading, you will have a loaf of zucchini bread waiting for your return to Okie land!

Blackberry Syrup!

We've been really enjoying pancakes lately...for breakfast AND supper, so I decided to try making blackberry syrup with the berries from our bushes! We used this recipe from All Recipes. We had to half everything because we didn't have THAT many berries, but this is definitely one to add to the canning book!

Here are some pictures from the process:







In the interest of keepin' it real...after all this hanging and dripping, I was not satisfied with the amount of juice, so I sent the whole slurry through the Champion Juicer and got LOTS more juice! The juicer is fantastic for jellies, jams, and now....syrup! And all those pesky blackberry seeds went right out to the chickens! I never imagined all the uses for my juicer! Who'd have known?

I'm hoping to find some blackberries at the farmer's market to buy in bulk and make up a big batch of this syrup to can and put away for winter. As good as it tastes now, I can imagine that it will be heavenly in the middle of a long cold snap!

Fall Harvest Quick Bread

We made some delicious breakfast bread that is so healthy, moist, and not too sweet. I doubled this recipe so I could make some muffins and a loaf of bread.

1 1/2 c. flour

1 c. oats

1 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 c. milk

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. oil

1 c. applesauce (unsweetened)

1/2 c. canned pumpkin

1 egg

Topping:

2/3 c. oats

1/4 c. brown sugar

1 t. cinnamon

2 T. butter (softened)

1. Combine the dry ingredients, mix well. Add wet ingredients, stir just until combined. Batter will be a bit lumpy.
2. Combine the topping ingredients with a fork. Sprinkle on top of the muffins or bread.
3. Bake in muffin tins (20 min.) or a loaf pan (60-75 min.) at 400 degrees.

The applesauce and pumpkin add some great nutrients to this bread and all those oats add fiber as well as keeping it moist and adding great texture. We used our own homemade applesauce. Anyone know if you can can your own pumpkin puree? I'd love to get a recipe for doing this.

As you can see, I am a true leader in BBA (Bread Baker's Anonymous)...for those who want to embrace our addiction!

Baby it's cold outside...

Here in Oklahoma we have a bit of an ice event occurring outside as I speak (er...write). On days like these, chili is in order! This is my favorite, super easy recipe:

1 onion
1 lb. of ground beef
3 cans of diced tomatoes (some combination of chili seasoned & onion varieties)
1 can of corn
1 can of black beans
1 can of dark red kidney beans
1 large bottle of V8 juice (Spicy)

1. Slice onion & brown ground beef. Cook the onion with the beef.
2. Put the ground beef & onion in a large crock pot with the remaining ingredients.
3. If the crock pot is put on low early in the morning, it will be ready for supper. I have to say, though, it is better the next day.

We ladle this over a bit of crumbled cornbread and top it all off with some shredded cheddar. Perfect for a cold winter day!

Homemade Granola

This morning I decided to try my hand at making my own granola. This recipe is from Women Not Dabbling in Normal:

Honey Granola

3 cups dry oatmeal
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2/3 cup butter (I used organic sweet cream butter)
1/2 cup almonds, crushed (I used pecans from my Grandmother-In-Law's trees)

1/2 cup honey (I used raw local honey)

First melt the butter in a 3 quart sauce pan over medium heat. Check out the deal I got in the fall on organic butter! This was for four sticks! It was nearing expiration, so I stocked up and put them in the freezer.

Add the honey and salt. Heat the honey briefly with the butter.

Add the oatmeal and pecans. Stir it up nicely. It smells really good.

Turn the mixture onto an ungreased cookie sheet, the kind with shallow sides; a large 9″ by 13″ pan works well too. Spread the granola out evenly and bake it at 375 degrees for 10-20 minutes. It should be a toasty brown. Why yes, my oven is incredibly clean!! How sweet of you to notice!(I just cleaned it on Tuesday...you shoulda seen it on Monday! ;-)

Now remove it from the oven and allow it to cool and crisp up right there in the pan. Store it in a half gallon mason jar.

This will be yummy with some milk and sprinkled on yogurt...or on fresh fruit...or over homemade vanilla ice cream...or....

BBA Unite!!!

This post is for fellow members of the Supreme Order of Bread Bakers Anonymous. I have discovered a wonderful secret for members only. (Okay...my mom discovered the secret.) After sampling the Mother Earth News bread I'm currently baking at record pace, my mother went to Sam's looking for a good deal on yeast. She found 2 lbs. of yeast for $4!!!! That's right...it's not a misprint...I won't have to buy yeast until September 2011 according to the expiration date on the package. Awesome!

In other BBA news, I mixed up a new batch of dough tonight and threw in two handfulls of wheat germ. I think it'll give the loaves a nice nutty taste. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Lastly, but also of notable BBA importance...I finally liberated 6 bananas out of the freezer to make two loaves of banana bread. I have a fantastic recipe for banana bread that has gotten rave reviews everywhere I take it.

Banana-rama Bread

1 1/2 c. sugar
1 stick sweet cream butter (unsalted)

2 eggs

4-6 bananas

1 t. soda

2 c. flour

1 t. vanilla

handful of pecans

1. cream butter & sugar
2. add eggs - mix
3. mash bananas & add to mixture
4. add flour, vanilla & pecans (if desired)
5. bake @ 325 for 55 min. (loaf pan) or 30 min. (cupcakes)

A few notes:

The kiddos love to mash the bananas! Hand 'em a fork and let them mush bananas to smithereens!

I've made this with half white flour & half wheat as well and been quite pleased with the results.

I never throw out a banana. Overripe ones go in the freezer then I thaw them as needed for bread. They look terrible when they thaw, but you just rip off the end and squeeze out the banana like toothpaste. I swear these make the best bread ever!

Also, I don't like chopping pecans so I add them whole. It's rather tasty to bite into a chunk of pecan!