I'm making whole wheat bread today

It's an overcast coolish day here in Wyoming.  A good day to run the oven!

I've started my bread sponge and soon the house will be filled with the wonderful aroma of home baked bread!

It's been a while since I've made bread.  I seem to go through spurts, on and off.  Last week we ran out of bread... so I decided to make some!  Thus began my "on spurt!"

I came up with a really yummy whole wheat recipe... that's what I love about making bread!  You can be really creative!  This recipe includes a bunch of ingredients from my home storage... like wheat berries (ground into flour), dried whole eggs, and dried milk powder.

Here's the recipe... Toni's Whole Wheat bread.

What do you have cooking today?

How to make Greek Yoghurt

I don't know how I stumbled upon this video.  I only know that several friends have mentioned how much they enjoy Greek Yoghurt... and I've had the thought that I should try some!

Here's the HOW TO video that I found:

Julia Child, her book

Has anyone read, "My Life in France" by Julia Child?

I picked it up at the book store last week.  Just love Julia!

Sunchokes...

Recently, the food co-op that I belong to gave us Jerusalem Artichokes.  They are the oddest looking root vegetable... and I've never had them!  Picture in your mind ginger root...

Today, I thought that I'd try this recipe...

I'm hosting a Shaklee Brunch on Wednesday... still pondering what yummies I will make!  I welcome your inspiration... and recipes!

New Year Eve cooking...

Oh no... the cooking has NOT stopped here in northern Wyoming!!!!

When I was growing up in Massachusetts our tradition was to get some Chinese food to enjoy for New Year's eve.

Now that I'm here in the boonies of northern Wyoming... we've taken on different traditions!

Today we'll be making some yummy food including our very favorite... Clam Chowda!

Our kitchen's going to be a buzz of activity... on the list:
Clam Chowda (Brattan's Boston Clam Chowder recipe... google it)
Egg Rolls  (this will be our first time!)
Sushi  (really California Rolls... thank you Keiko for teaching us how to make these!)

For fun...
Board Games!!!!

It's our family tradition....

Oh Christmas Tree...

It just doesn't seem like Christmas until we get our tree up and decorated!

So at some point today, I'll be hunting down a Christmas tree!  And tonight for FHE, we'll decorate it! Yay!

Boy do I have a busy day planned!  I'm so excited to begin the tile job in the 1st floor bathroom!  And I have a whole list of other things that need to happen today... but it's all going to start with 25 minutes on the treadmill... so off I go!!!!

Wish me luck with the tiling!

Happy Sunday...

It's an overcast morning here in northern Wyoming.  There is a possibility of snow they say...   I think that it has snowed, well at least flurried, every Sunday for the past 3 weeks!

But here in my sunny kitchen, I've got apple muffins and apple bread cooking!  No, you can't smell it yet, but soon the house will be filled with the delicious scent of cinnamon and apples!

Here's the recipe that I used:
Apple Muffins presented by Alexander Bed & Breakfast
3 1/2 C Flour
1 T Cinnamon
3 C finely chopped apples (I used my canned apples)
1 C Veg. Oil
2 C sugar (1/2 brown, 1/2 white)
3 Eggs
1 T salt
2 C chopped nuts
2 T soda
2 T vanilla

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Grease muffin tins. Thoroughly combine apples and sugar, then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix well. Add oil, egg, nuts and vanilla. Then mix in flour. The batter will be very thick and gooey. Fill muffin tins ⅔ full. Bake about 30 minutes. Can be frozen.

must remember gloves...

I was out to the hoop house this morning gathering some greens to go into my breakfast smoothie.   I just feel so good when I drink up my fruity green smoothies!

Oh my gosh is it ever chilly out there! I must remember to put ON MY gloves before attempting to remove the snow surrounding my hoop house!  It's only 18 degrees F out there!

I added some pineapple chuncks, a whole banana, an asian pear, juice of 1/2 lemon, some pomegranate seeds, 2 frozen strawberries and greens from the hoop house (including peppery arugula!) mixed with about a cup of water, ESP and Vanilla Cinch.  Yummy!!  I just love the taste of that peppery arugula in my shake!

I'm getting ready to paint the 1st floor bathroom.... final coat!  Did the brush work yesterday... now for the easy part!

A fast breakfast for kids (and us big kids too) who...

Good morning!  It's a bone chilling 12 degrees Fahrenheit this morning in northern Wyoming....  Burr...

Do you have kids that run out the door for school without eating breakfast?  Or maybe you find yourself running to work on an empty stomach...

One of boys has to be out the door before 6:45am... and really struggles with eating so early in the morning.

My friend Peg told me about these Energizing  Protein balls that she's made for years and suggested that I try them.   They are yummy!

I've come up with my own twist that the kids love!  And I call my version, Energizing Crispy Peanut Butter Balls!

Energizing Crispy Peanut Butter Balls... almost gone!

They're loaded with energy sustaining protein!!!!   And they only take a few minutes to whip up.

Here's what you need:

Shaklee Energizing Soy Protein... or... Shaklee Cinch Shake (I use chocolate)
Peanut Butter  (or my friend Peg suggested using Hazelnut butter or Cashew butter)
Rice Crispies
Honey or Agave

In a mixing bowl (I use my Kitchen Aid mixer with the mixer paddle), add 1 serving of Shaklee protein, an equal amount of peanut butter,  about 3 tablespoons or more of rice crispies... and enough honey (we use agave) to keep it all together.

Mix briefly until it forms a loose dough.

Form into little balls.  Put them on a pretty serving dish on the table at breakfast time and after school.

Freeze the extras... if there are any!

Magical Monday morning...

Magical Morning...

Sunday brought us fog so thick that we could barely see our neighbor’s house!  My son A had spent the night at his grandmorther’s Saturday night and as he made his trek home just a couple blocks said, “I just kept walking knowing that our house was there even though I couldn’t see it.”

As the sun rose this morning, we were treated to a magical morning of shiny frost crystals enveloping the countryside!  Hoar frost was covering everything!  

It's just magical!!!!  I love how the sunlight makes the crystals shimmer.  It is truly a winter wonderland out there!

I'm making split pea soup for Sunday dinner...

I haven't made split pea soup for ages... I mean it's been years and years.

I've got a ham bone in the freezer from Thanksgiving so I'm giving it a try using Emeril's recipe.

I may even make some sour dough bread to go with it!!!

Mission... use up left overs...

Hope that you had an enjoyable Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends!  I'm on a mission... that's a "use up left overs" mission!

The Turkey Pot Pie before it went into the oven.

In the works:
Turkey Pot Pie
Ham & Bean soup
Quiche Lorraine


We've been enjoying left over turkey, ham... and all the fixings!  Gosh, I think that we had enough food for 30 people even though we only had 16!

Today for my husband's lunch I made a nice sandwich of ground up some left over ham, mixed in some dill relish, celery, mayo topped with a nice piece of curly leaf lettuce on 9 grain bread.  I know... he's totally spoiled!

But for tonight, I've made up a Turkey Pot Pie and that used up a bunch of the dark meat. What's left of the dark meat is now in the freezer.

I've got some friends coming over for lunch tomorrow... and we're going to have ham & bean soup!

Tomorrow night I'll be making a couple quiches!  That will use up some of the extra ham. I've got company coming over for dinner!  Quiche is such a lovely dish to share!!!  We'll have quiche and salad!

Oh boy... Tuesday's going to be a wonderful busy day!!!

What is your favorite soup or stew?

It's really really cold here in northern Wyoming... a bone chilling 7 degrees Fahrenheit.  I'm thinking that this we would an excellent day for fresh bread and some kind of soup or stew...

I need some inspiration!  What are your favorites?  Would you share your recipe?

Perspective changes everything...

It's Saturday morning on a snowy, frigid morning in northern Wyoming....

I'm sitting at the kitchen island sipping on my fruity green smoothie enjoying a few quiet moments before the kids come home.  They spent the night at their grandmother's just down the street.

I'm thinking about my business... and fondly reminiscing over the past 17 years of my life!

I'm at that age where I have "perspective."  I mean... I have had some experience with different things and have learned lesson that I can now reflect upon...

I've decided that... Perspective changes everything!  It totally shades what we think and how we interpret things that happen in our lives!

I mean... I thought I new about this one thing (sorry for being vague...) but come to find out... I didn't know beans!  Well maybe I did know a few beans... but I didn't understand how it all fit together.... you know... like the big picture!

So, 17 years isn't a lot of time really... but I've gone from babies to teenagers... wow!

Life is such a grand adventure!

Just thinking... and sipping on my fruity green smoothie...

Parent Teacher Conference

Parent Teacher Conference
Over 2 hours later... I have emerged... Wow...

I love talking to the teachers, but standing in line for a really really loooong time... I don't know about that part!  I was having flash backs of sitting on the bridge going into Boston... car after car after car... just moving an inch or so at a time...

But that's done so moving on!

House Stuff
I primed the 1st floor bathroom this afternoon!  Yeah!  Sure felt good to get going on the bathroom again.  I so want to have that bathroom finished for Thanksgiving!!!  More details on my house blog... here.

Well got to run and get boy2 to get his reading done.

Canning 30#s of Green Beans

I belong to a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets.  Every week I get a basket of fresh vegetables and fresh fruit!  It's like Christmas every Saturday... waiting to see what goodies we'll have to pick up!!!

Sometimes my co-op has case lots... like last week, I got 30#s of green beans!!!

So this afternoon, my mom, aunt, and I cut up a big box full of green beans in preparation for canning!

I got my pressure canner out... had to find it first!  I'm on my second batch now... My canner holds 7 quarts at a time.  This batch will be a bit zippy... I added a garlic glove and slice of jalepeno pepper!

Green Smoothie adventures...

Green Smoothie adventures...
I love smoothies!  I've been drinking them for 13 years now!  I have them for breakfast and sometimes for lunch too!

Typically my smoothies include a cup of water, frozen fruit and ESP and/or Cinch.

But recently, I began hearing about the health benefits of adding greens to smoothies.... so... during the summer I started adding my garden greens too!

Apple, Pear, Banana green smoothie...
Today I made THE MOST delicious green smoothie yet!!!

Into my Vita Mix (high powered blender), I added:

• 1 cup  of water
• the juice of 1/2 a lemon
• 1 red delicious apple
• 1 pear
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup of spinach
• 3 sprigs of kale
• a little ice
• 1 serving ESP  

Yum!

I love FREECYCLE!

I joined our local FREECYCLE group recently.

It's such a great idea!  You OFFER want is still good and usable... and ASK for what you need!

A treadmill...
A few weeks ago I connected with a woman who had an older version treadmill to give away.  She had gotten a new one... and this one had to go.  So... I got it!  It works great for me!!!

Yarn...
I had a box of yarn that was just sitting around... so I OFFERED it!  It's gone!

Artist's Easel...
A water color artist had a homemade easel to give away.  I've been wanting one for my mother-in-law who is a newish oil painter!  Going to get it this week!

What a great way to recycle our good stuff!!!!

Want to trade?

Christine posted a comment on my garden blog... so I wandered over to her site and discovered a video all about the new economy of Swap Trading!  It's fascinating!



Wow!

I currently belong to FREECYCLE and have scored an older "works great for me" treadmill and... I have given away a box of yarn that was sitting around the house.

So... do you utilize any of the swap trade sites?  Do you have a favorite?  Could you share an experience?

whoa... I just got a call from one of Aaron's teachers...

You know, when the teachers call... I brace myself...

But I just a good call!  A call to tell me that son #2 is "getting it!"

So now... I pause and sigh with deep gratitude to that wonderful teacher for taking the time to make my heart sing!