Handmade Bread: Day 2

Here's a peek at the sponge and soaker that I created yesterday.  They look pretty much the same to me.  One was a bit stickier than the other.

We aren't supposed to say the h-a-t-e word at our house, but I REALLY dislike kneading dough.  My homemade pizza crust recipe suggests kneading for 10 minutes.  10 MINUTES!  That's a kneading eternity!  Anyway, I tried to use my dough hook in the mixer for most of the work, but I did have to turn it out onto a floured surface for a bit of grunt work.

The recipe is very specific:  The loaf pan is placed on a baking stone on the bottom rack while a cast-iron skillet with a 1/2 c. water (for steam) sits on the top rack.

Finished product!

This process involved LOTS of wait time!  After kneading, allow to rise for 45 minutes.  Then, punch, down, shape for the pan, and allow to rise another 45 minutes.

While it is a bit lighter than my usual whole-wheat loaf, it still didn't rise nearly as much as I'd hoped.  Bad yeast?

So, while I'm glad that I can now say that I've tried this method, I'm not sure how often I'll be making it.  Today's part of the process really did take a lot of hands-on and wait time.  We'll see.  ;)

For entire recipe, click here.

Handmade Bread: Day 1

Okay, I'm opting to call this handmade bread rather than just homemade.  Since I make all of our bread on a regular basis using our bread maker, I'd say I've been going "homemade" for quite awhile.  Still, in the "bread community," if bread was popped out of a bread maker then it is not real bread.  While I'm not prepared to buy into such food snobbery, when I saw the subtitle for this 3-page-long recipe in my most recent Mother Earth News, I thought maybe it was time to try handmade bread.

Honestly, the impetus for taking on such a lofty project was two-fold:

1. As a wanna-be homesteader, how could I never have made real bread?

2. While my white breads and oatmeal bread almost always turn out great, my whole wheat breads are often bricks.  I suspect that I've got less-than-ideal flour and yeast.  Still, I thought it would be interesting to try this new recipe with the flour and yeast I always use and see whether I get better results this way.

The recipe called for things I pretty much always have on hand, so that made it easy. 

(Pictured here: whole wheat flour, instant yeast, an orange, yogurt, and kosher salt)

I learned that breadmaking involves creating a "soaker" and a "sponge" that are eventually combined with a few other ingredients to create the final product.  So, Day 1 of breadmaking involved creating the soaker and the sponge and allowing them to culture for the rest of the day.  The sponge is refrigerated while the soaker sits out on the countertop.  This first day really didn't involve much effort.  I'm hopeful!

For the entire recipe, click here.

Eating in Season: Butternut Squash Lasagna

This blonde lasagna makes use of butternut squash, which is locally in season, and can be prepared ahead of time and just popped into the oven before dinnertime (which is my second favorite way to do dinner -- 1st favorite is to use the CrockPot, of course).  Also, because the squash is pureed, you won't have to endure the "Mom,-what's-this?" question, as a little waves around his fork wielding an unidentified chunk of something.  (If you have a texture weirdo at your table, you know what I'm talking about.)

 Ingredients:
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1" cubes
1/2 c. water
4 Tbs. butter
1/3 c. flour
4 c. whole milk
pinch of nutmeg
12 no-boil lasagna noodles
2.5 c. shredded mozzarella
1/3 c. grated Paremesan

Heat the oil in a large skillet.  Add the cubed squash and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Pour in water, cover, and simmer over medium heat until the squash is tender, 15-20 minutes.  Mash or food process the squash to desired consistency.  Season with more salt and pepper to taste.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add flour and whisk for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk.  Bring to a low boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until sauce thickens, whisking often, about 5 minutes.  Add the nutmeg and more salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a 13"x9" baking dish with non-stick spray.  Spread 3/4 c. of sauce over baking dish.  Cover the bottom of pan with one layer of noodles.  Spread half the squash puree over the noodles.  Sprinkle with 1/2 c. of mozzarella cheese.  Drizzle with 1/2 c. of sauce.  Repeat layering once more, finishing with a layer of noodles covered only by white sauce.

Tightly cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove cover, sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan, and continue baking until the sauce bubbles and the top is golden, 15-20 minutes.  Let lasagna stand for 15 minutes before serving.

I was a HUGE fan of this recipe! 


Thanks to Mother Earth News for this and many more recipes for eating in season.

Day 6: Left-Over Sweet Potato Cake

Well, this is it -- the final day of Sweet Potato Week.  During the course of the week, the leftover sweet potatoes have definitely piled up in our fridge.  And, as you know, I hate to waste food, so this cake made from leftovers was the perfect way to end the week.  Also, it'll be a pleasant surprise for the little ones who saw the sweet potatoes on the kitchen counter this morning and cried, "How many more days of sweet potatoes do we have left?!"

Ingredients:

1 3/4 c. sugar (+ or - depending on how much sugar is already in your potatoes.  Mine hadn't been sweetened much, so I went ahead and used this amount.)

1/2 c. vegetable oil

1/4 c. mayonnaise (if you've never baked with mayo, you've been missing out!)

3 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. of cooked, mashed sweet potatoes

2 c. flour

3 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 c. beer

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease your baking dish.  I used a bundt pan because I think it makes a pretty presentation, and I didn't plan to ice it, but you could also use a 9x13.)

2.  In mixer, combine sugar, oil, mayo.  Gradually beat in eggs.  Add vanilla and potatoes. 

3.  In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.  Add gradually to mixer, along with the beer.

4.  Taste batter at this point to be sure that it's sweet enough for your taste; add sugar, if needed.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

5.  Cool at least 15 minutes before turning bundt out onto serving tray.  Be sure it is thoroughly cooled before serving.

This recipe turned out great.  I'm not usually much for cake, but I like that it didn't need icing and that it made use of leftovers.  I was a bit skeptical about how it would taste, considering that I used sweet potatoes from 3 separate recipes.  But, I gave them a good rinse to try to wash away any herbs or spices from the surfaces and hoped for the best.  It really turned out great, though!

Thank you to AllRecipes.com for inspiring this recipe.

Day 5: Chili-Spiced Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Well, we're now 5 days in to Sweet Potato Week, and we're finally making a dent in the giant laundry basket full of sweet potatoes in the garage!

Yes, this recipe is for mashed taters, but don't think that means they're just any 'ole mashed potatoes.  The chili and orange really give these a fun kick.

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes (1.75 lbs. or so)

1/4 c. fresh orange juice

1 tsp. orange zest

1 Tbs. brown sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

3/4 tsp. chili powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1.  Bake sweet potatoes in 425-degree oven until soft, about 70 minutes.

2.  Once cool enough to handle, scoop out the insides into a large bowl and add the remaining ingredients.

3.  Mash!  (Or, if you're feeling brave, employ a little helper to mash for you.)

4.  Serve.

 

Tomorrow will be our final day of Sweet Potato Week, and I'm hoping it'll be a good one:  a dessert recipe that makes use of leftover sweet potatoes!

Thanks to Women's Health magazine for today's recipe. 

Day 4: Sweet Potato and Apple Soup

This soup is absolutely delicious.  Even the "texture weirdos" at your table should be satisfied by its creamy consistency.  The tang that the Granny Smith apples provide is amazing!

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

Kosher salt and pepper

2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" or smaller chunks

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and chopped

4 c. broth (I used chicken, but you could use vegetable to make this a vegetarian meal)

pinch of nutmeg

1.  Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add the onion, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper and cook until tender. 

2.  Add sweet potatoes, apple, broth, and nutmeg.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer, covered, until 'taters are tender. 

3.  Blend it all up!  I used my immersion blender so that I didn't have to dirty my standing blender.  (Be sure if you go this route, that your soup is deeper than the blades of your blender; otherwise, like me, you'll be wiping splattered sweet potato mixture out of your eyes and off of every surface in your entire kitchen.  Ah, well, you live and learn.)

We served this yummmmmy soup with salad, crusty bread, and "fancy cheese."  Be sure to eat your fancy cheese with your pinkies out, like we did!  ;) 

Thank you to Real Simple for inspiring this creation.

Day 3: Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Okay, seriously.  Is that not beautiful?

I've never had sweet potato in a salad, but when I took a look at the ingredients list for this one, I just had to try it.

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

1 c. jarred roasted red pepper, thinly sliced (or, roast your own red bell peppers along side the sweet potatoes in the recipe)

2 Tbs. white wine vinegar

1 lb. spinach or arugula, torn into bite size pieces

2 sliced cooked chicken breasts

about 1/2 c. crumbled goat cheese

Okay.  So, I loved this recipe because I have a  laundry basket full of homegrown sweet potatoes sitting in the garage, a cold frame full of greens including spinach, cooked chicken breast from a backyard chicken leftover from another recipe earlier this week, homemade goat cheese in the freezer, and 1/2 jar of roasted red pepper leftover from the Super Stew I made recently sitting in the fridge.  That means that to create this beautiful bowlful of salad I didn't have to put a single item on the grocery list!

1.  Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

2.  Throw sweet potato chunks (and red bell pepper, if you're roasting your own) onto a large roasting pan, add oil, salt, and pepper and stir to coat.  Roast, stirring occasionally for 30-40 minutes. 

3.  Place the greens in serving bowl, top with potatoes, red pepper, chicken breast, cheese, and drizzle with the vinegar.

4.  Enjoy!

If you wanted to serve this salad as a side rather than a meal, just omit the cheese and chicken.

Mmmmm.  Beautiful, delicious, and nutritious!

Thank you to Women's Health magazine for inspiring this meal.

Day 2: Rosemary Sweet Potato Wedges

These are a great alternative to a deep-fried potato, and the rosemary is a special treat.

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. butter

2 Tbs. olive oil

2 tsp. dried rosemary

about 1-1.5 lb. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut up home-fry style

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1.  Heat oven to 450 degrees.   In a large saucepan, melt the butter with the oil over medium heat.  Have a super cute helper stir in the rosemary.

2.  Throw in the potatoes and stir to coat.

3.  Arrange the wedges on a large baking sheet so that they don't touch.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4.  Bake in the upper 1/3 of the oven for 20 minutes, turning once.  They should be softened and slightly browned. 

5.  Enjoy the beta-carotene-packed, crispy goodness!

Thanks to Women's Health Magazine for the recipe that inspired this creation.

Day 1. Baked Sweet Potato Latkes

Here we go!  It's Sweet Potato Week here on the blog, and we're going to kick this off with something I've never made before -- Baked Sweet Potato Latkes. 

While traditional latkes are skillet-fried and use regular potatoes, this recipe changes things up a bit.  This Jewish favorite typically consists of grated potatoes, chopped onion, and some type of binder (in this recipe, egg and flour are used).

Ready? 

Ingredients:

1 lb. grated sweet potatoes

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 egg, beaten

1/8 c. flour

1/8 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.

3.  Drop by quarter-cupfulls onto a baking sheet coated well with cooking spray.  Flatten.

4.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Flip and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

5.  Enjoy!

Their crispy exterior and oniony-sweet taste made these an excellent addition to a chicken dinner!

Thank you to Rodale recipe finder for today's recipe.

Totally From Scratch Pumpkin Pie!

John and Girl 1 love pumpkin pie.  I could take it or leave it.  But, I thought it would be fun to try to put one together for them to enjoy this Thanksgiving.  Plus, the kiddos were out of school Wednesday, so I knew I'd have all the help I needed.   

So, we started out with the pumpkin we'd had as part of our fall decorations and 3 separate recipes -- crust, filling, and whipped cream.

We started with the most awesome part, cleaning out the pumpkin goop!  Of course, we set aside the seeds for roasting.  The chickens got the goop and loved it!

Once cleaned out, we sliced the pumpkin into pieces* small enough to fit into my steamer basket and steamed until soft (about 20 minutes).  Once cool, I placed the skin side in the palm of my hand and spooned the pulp into the food processor.  We processed until smooth and separated our puree into 2 separate 2 cup portions, enough to make 2 pies.  (If you don't want to make 2 pies, freeze the extra 2 c. for later use.)

(*"sliced the pumpkin into pieces" does not really accurately describe what it looked like when I did this.  The pumpkin was TOUGH!  I'm pretty lucky to still have all my fingers and not to have taught the girls some new words during the whole slicing process.)

For the filling, combine all of the following:

1 12 oz. can evaporated milk

2 c. pumpkin puree

3 eggs

3/4 c. sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

Girl 2 was my right-hand gal.  She even washed dishes!

All 3 kiddos were excited about the roasted seeds.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that my homemade crust was a flop.  All was going smoothly until I tried to roll it up off the countertop and lay it in the pie pan.  It basically just crumbled up.  I was able to piece it together in the pan for one pie (because I was really hoping to have a completely homemade one), but I used a Pillsbury roll-out crust for the 2nd one.

Anyone have a great homemade crust recipe you'd like to share with me for next year?

We filled our crusts with pie filling and baked at 350 for FOREVER!  The recipe said 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife comes out clean in the center.  I think we baked for nearly 2 hours!  Because we had covered the crusts with a crust shield and foil, they didn't burn during this crazy long baking time.

HOWEVER . . . since I only had one crust shield, I tried to fashion one with foil for the other pie.  Apparently I didn't do so great a job.  I must have mashed down part of the crust, allowing the filling to spill out all over the baking sheet they were resting on.  See the pool of black they're sitting in?  Yep, that's the burnt pie filling that spilled out.  Bright side -- at least I set them on a pan and didn't have to spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning out the oven.

Here's a close up of where it spilled over the mashed-down crust.

On Thursday, just after we ran our morning 5K (the girls' first) and just before we headed to PawPaw's house for Thanksgiving dinner, we whipped up the homemade whipped cream to go on top.  We'd stored our mixing bowl and whisk in the freezer overnight so that they'd be very cold.  We added 1 1/2 c. heavy cream, 1 1/2 Tbs. sugar, and 1/2 tsp. vanilla to the bowl.

1.  Beat on low until small bubbles form, about 30 seconds.

2.  Increase to medium speed and continue beating until beaters leave a trail, about another 30 seconds.

3.  Increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form and it's nearly doubled in volume.

4.  Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

I think it turned out great!  The homemade cream was amazing and surprisingly simple.  Making the entire thing from scratch definitely took some time.  But, being able to make the pie the day before and just whip up the cream before serving made it doable.

Oh, before you go, don't forget to respond to Thursday's post by tomorrow in order to be entered into the drawing for the Thankfulness Journal. ;)

It's Beef, It's Chicken . . . No! It's Super Stew!

This yummy recipe came to me via Runner's World.  They claim that this combo of black beans (which pack filling fiber and muscle-building protein) and hot peppers (which may boost calorie burn) can help you lose weight even as you build muscle.  And,  by the way, it's delicious.

Ingredients:

2 tsp. olive oil

1 diced onion

1 sliced carrot

1 lb. beans (soaked overnight and cooked) or 2   15 oz. cans black beans, drained

28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1.5 c. broth (veggie or chicken)

1 c. sliced red pepper

1 Tbs. minced canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (see below for what I used instead)

1 tsp. cumin

salt and pepper, to taste

zest of 1 orange

1 Tbs. fresh thyme

I used this sandwich spread in place of the canned chipotle pepper. 

Heat the oil in a large pot  Cook the onion and carrot for 5-10 minutes, until soft.  Add beans, tomatoes, broth, peppers, cumin, salt, and pepper.  Simmer 20 minutes. 

Stir in orange zest and thyme.

Serve! 

Delicious.  And good for you!

Cornish Cross Processing

**This post does contain some photos of chicken carcasses.  If that is disturbing to you . . . have you never cooked a chicken?**

As you may recall, last week I invited each of you to join us for Friday morning's backyard chicken processing.  Unsurprisingly, I didn't have any guests that morning.  ;)  Oh, well, your loss -- I'd planned to send any visitors home with their very own chicken for dinner.  ;)

Here, you can see that John has carefully positioned the awaiting chickens so that they cannot see the processing table (it's on the other side of the grill). 

This picture and the next one really crack me up.  We both look like we're pretty unsure about what we're holding.  As you may recall from this post, these chickens were such mutants that they hardly even seemed like chickens to us.  Also, I was just in shock regarding how heavy they were compared to the Buff Orpingtons we'd slaughtered earlier in the summer.  These were easily twice their weight and at only 7.5 weeks old, they were half the age.

There are always interesting, um, surprises when home processing chickens, but this one was the most interesting this time.

This is the chicken that I'd just skinned.  Can you see the wing bone poking out on the right side of the photo?  That's what a normal wing bone looks like when I'm done.  When I skin them, I cut the wing at that joint because the smaller part is too difficult to skin/defeather.  It has two little bumps on the end.

This chicken has one normal looking bone (on the left) and one strange looking one (on the right).  Apparently, when Dexter attacked the chicks, he broke and dislocated this one's wing.  The wing had continued to grow but it was only attached to the rest of the body by a skin flap.  This bone healed like this, in a more rounded way and became discolored.  I really found this interesting, and sad.  I was angry at Dexter all over again.

Here are all the chickens once they'd been cleaned up and moved into the chicken-- 11 in all.

All packaged up and labeled and ready for storage! (Our freezer is getting very full!)

Pepper Jelly

A few weeks ago, upon seeing our pepper plant heavy with peppers, a visitor to our backyard farm told me that the best pepper jelly she'd ever had was made from habañeros.  I sent her home with enough peppers to make some for herself and then looked up a recipe to try for myself. 

It turned out great, so I thought I'd share.

Ingredients:

8-10 habañero peppers, cored and cut in pieces

8 green bell peppers, cored and cut into pieces

2 c. white vinegar

10 c. sugar (about a bag)

2 pouches liquid pectin

Green food coloring (as desired)

Also, be sure to have gloves on hand.  The habañeros are hot enough to burn your skin.

Peppers are cored and roughly chopped.

In small batches, blend peppers with vinegar until liquefied. 

Combine liquefied pepper/vinegar and sugar in a large pot and boil slowly for 10 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Stir in the liquid pectin and boil hard for 1 minute.  Skim off any resulting foam and add food coloring (if desired).  Pour jelly immediately into hot, sterilized canning jars, leaving 1/4" headspace.  Wipe jar rims and position lids and rings.  Process 5 minutes in a boiling water bath.

This recipe made about 10  half-pint jelly jars.  I had one jar that wasn't all the way full, so I stuck it into the fridge instead of the canner and we ate it that night with cream cheese and crackers.

Yum!  It looks a little soupy here, but it continued to set up, so most jars are a much thicker consistency. 

It was such a success that I plan to do another batch this week to give as Christmas gifts.  (If you turn out to be one of the lucky recipients, just act surprised. ;)

Onion Timesaver

With everything we've got going at dinnertime (homework, soccer practice, dance, backyard chores), it's a little daunting sometimes to reach for a recipe and see "1 c. chopped onion" on that recipe list.  Uggghh.  Either I've got to deal with hand slicing and dicing or the cleanup involved with pulling out the food processor.  In the moment, it's tempting to just grab some dinner-in-a-box and get on with it.

That's why I'm glad my mom taught me how to save time by keeping prepped onions in the freezer. 

This week, the 3 lb. bag of onions was only $.97 at my local store.  Did I need onions this week?  No.  But, I couldn't pass up the deal, so I decided to chop and freeze them for later use.

Peel and quarter them.

Throw them in the food processor and pulse until the desired texture is reached.

Fill snack-sized baggies with 1/2 c. of chopped onion each.

My 3 lb. bag yielded 12   1/2. c. baggies.

Arrange the snack baggies so that they'll lie flat inside a freezer gallon bag.  And, stick them in the freezer. 

When that recipe for pinto beans calls for "1 m. onion, chopped," just grab a baggie from the freezer and dump the onion brick into the CrockPot.  That's exactly what I did this morning!

Now, this may sound like extra work, but if you were already getting out your food processor to chop an onion for tonight's dinner, it wouldn't be.  Instead of just chopping one onion, chop a few pounds worth and freeze the excess.  You're still only cleaning up that food processor once!

Of course this kind of thinking works for lots of things.  Got a bell pepper about to go bad in the fridge?  Chop it and throw it into a freezer baggie for later use.  Corn?  Celery? 

You get the picture. 

Planning Ahead for Fast, Healthy Food

I recently heard the term "healthy sauté" and was stupefied.  What could be healthy about cooking something down in butter?  Apparently, healthy sautéing substitiutes broth for the butter or oil typically used.  It does a similar job for a fraction of the calories.  Sounds great, huh?  The only problem is that you may only need a couple tablespoons of broth and hate to open a big can/jar/bag of broth for that small an amount and risk the rest of it going bad in the fridge before you get a chance to use it. 

Try this.  The next time you have some leftover broth, pour it into an icecube tray and freeze.  Once frozen, pop the cubes out into a freezer baggie and store.  When you need a couple tablespoons to prep those chopped onions, just toss a cube into the skillet and you're good to go!

I know this seems so basic, but I just thought of it yesterday when I made some broth, stored it in my standard 4 and 6 cup freezer bags and had only a cup leftover.  I hated to waste even a tad bit of it (it smelled so yummy as it was simmering that I was tempted just to drink it!), and the icecube idea came to me.  What do they say?  Necessity is the mother of invention. 

Today, I Was the Crazy Lady

I've been fussing a lot lately about the price of milk, since I've had to start buying it again.  Today, a gallon of store-brand milk was $4.18.  (Of course, using my sale papers, I was able to get it cheaper with a price match. ;)  But, I also noticed for the first time the goat milk that a friend had told me she'd seen on the shelf lately. 

Here it is -- complete with a cute little cartoonish-floppy-eared goat!  It also was $4.18 today . . . for 1 quart.  Let's do the math, shall we.  That's $16.72 per gallon!  Yowza!

This gives me an all new appreciation for Razz and her golden udders!

So, in case you were wondering, yes, that was me.  I was the crazy lady you saw taking photos of milk today at the grocery store.  ;) 

Maple-Roasted Chicken with Sweet Potatoes

My original plan had been to allow the sweet potatoes to cure for 2 weeks outside since the weather had been so warm.  But, the sudden onset of cold sent me scrambling to gather them all up off the picnic table.  With company on their way, I stashed them away in my closet in a laundry basket for the weekend.  Once our visitors were gone, though, I laid them out on the guest room bed and turned a space heater on to maintain about 85 degrees in that room for about another week.  Then, they'll go into colder storage in the garage.

In the meantime, I was finally ready to prepare a dish that I'd been anticipating all summer as those sweet potatoes developed underground.  In fact, I was walking on air as the smell of this dish took over the house.  This is one of my absolute favorite meals!  And, for the first time, we were able to prepare it with our own backyard chicken and homegrown sweet potatoes.  Yes, I was in heaven!

Ingredients:

1 chicken, cut into 8 pieces

1 yellow onion, cut into 1" pieces

2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

2 Tbs. olive oil

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

3 Tbs. maple syrup

6 sprigs fresh thyme

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Rinse chicken and pat dry.  Arrange the chicken, onion, and sweet potatoes in a 9x13" baking dish.  Drizzle the oil over the chicken and vegetables and season with the salt and pepper.  Toss to coat.

Drizzle with the maple syrup and top with the sprigs of thyme.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to using fresh herbs in recipes, I am tempted to scrimp.  After all, they're like $2.38 for the tiny package in the produce section, whereas I could just reach into my spice cabinet and produce a similar effect.  But, don't scrimp here!  The thyme will fill your house with the most amazing aroma as the chicken roasts.  Seriously, it may make you so joyous in anticipation that you can't help but sing.  Or, maybe that was just me.  ;)

Roast, stirring vegetables once, until chicken is cooked through, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. 

Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

I'd like to thank Real Simple for providing the original recipe several years back.   I've probably prepared it 20 times.  It makes a great dish for company because you can have it made up ahead of time, then just pop it in the oven when you're ready.

Milk: Is Organic Really the Best Choice?

Ahhh, milk.  As humans, it's generally the first food we consume.  Breastfeeding makes milk look so simple.  And, I suspect, there was a time, maybe when milk was delivered in glass bottles to our front porches, when milk beyond the breast was similarly simple.  But, today, we are blessed (or perhaps, cursed) to have a multitude of choices on the other side of the cold glass door in the refrigerated section of our markets.  As a consumer, I wish it were as simple as choosing between whole, 2%, or skim.

Some of you may recall my  post on ultra-pasteurized milk from a few months back.  A recent conversation with a fellow mom got me to thinking anew about milk choices. 

As with most decisions we must make, your milk selection depends upon your priorities.

Let me begin here:  nearly 80% of organic milk available in the U.S. is ultra-pasteurized (it's 1/2 gallon carton is a giveaway) -- ultra-pasteurized milk will not be found in a jug).  For a more detailed look at ultra-pastuerization, check this out.  In a nutshell, though, ultra-pasteurization involves using greater heat in the pasteurization process so as to extend the milk's shelf life.  This extreme heat, however, reorders the milk proteins so that the milk is now "dead" and is about nutritionally equivalent to water.   Some upscale groceries offer organic milk that is not ultra-pasteurized, but I'd say the majority of my readers don't live around the corner from Whole Foods, so where does that leave the rest of us?

Well, do you really know what organic means, anyway?  I didn't.  According to the National Dairy Council,  "the definition of organic milk refers to farm management practices, not to the milk itself. Stringent government standards ensure that both organic milk and regular milk are wholesome, safe and nutritious."   So, what about the anitbiotics, pesticides, and hormones we all fear in our milk?

The use of antibiotics in milking cows is not allowed, and the USDA and FDA test extensively to ensure that ALL milk, organic and conventional, is free of antibiotics.  Pesticides are going to be present in low levels in all milk, because they are in our water and soil.  I guess we're just supposed to deal with it.  :(  Hormones (specifically rBST) given to milking cows to increase production are not used in organic farming methods.  But, the good news, which was surprising to me, is how common it is for non-organic milk to be hormone free.

Here's a pic taken of the milk currently in my fridge.  See the pink strip across the bottom of the label?

The first line reads "Our farmers have pledged to not treat any of their cows with any artificial growth hormones."  Okay, look past the split infinitive, if you can. ;)  Despite the FDA's claims that the use of rBST does not affect the quality of the milk, in 2008, Wal-mart decided to go ahead and go hormone-free with their Great Value brand.  Coleman has apparently done the same.  So, hormone-free milk is not always organic milk.

So, if you can get hormone-free, antibiotic-free milk without having to pay the premium price involved with organics, why should anyone buy organic?  Well, this is where your priorities come in.  If your concern is providing your family with a safe, nutritionally-sound milk product, you do have non-organic options.  If your concern extends to the very cows that produce the milk, then organic may be the better choice. 

According to the L.A. Times article on USDA guidelines for organic milk production, "current rules require milk marketed as organic to come from cows whose feed was grown without chemical fertilizers, pesticides or genetically modified seeds. Herds can't be treated with hormones or antibiotics. . . . [and] cows must get plenty of fresh grass and spend at least four months a year grazing in pastures."

In short, the cows have a much greater quality of life.  So, it kind of comes down to this:  how big is your bubble?  Does it include just your family?  Or is it bigger?  And how high a price tag on organic milk will it take to bust that bubble?

Admittedly, all of this is pretty complicated.  If cost were not an issue, here's how I'd buy milk:

1st choice:  Organic, not ultra-pasteurized milk

2nd choice:  conventional, not ultra-pasteurized milk that claims to be rBST-free  (e.g. Great Value)

3rd choice:  organic, ultra-pasteurized milk (Horizon, etc.)

4th choice:  conventional, not ultra-pasteurized milk

5th choice:  conventional, ultra-pasteurized milk (surely we can all do better than this!)

As 1st choice is not a choice where I live, I'm going with 2nd choice right now, since our backyard goats are currently out of milk.  Luckily for me, this is also the cheapest option.

Now, I do not claim to be an expert when it comes to milk.  I don't have a degree that qualifies me to give you milk advice.  But, I've done a little research to get to this point.  Please don't just take my word for it, though; do your own bit of research and approach that refrigerated glass case with the confidence that comes from knowing you're making the best choice for you and your family.

Super Easy Homemade Yogurt

Okay!  I am super excited about this post!  Yes, I have discovered an easy way to make yogurt! 

Now, by my 9th try, I had figured out how to make yogurt out of my own goat milk, using my insulated yogurt maker, but that may not exactly help you, my reader, out very much, since you most likely don't have a dairy goat in the backyard or a Yogatherm in your pantry.

Since Razz is no longer producing milk for us and I'm back to buying from the grocery store, I thought this would be a great time to experiment with making yogurt using store-bought milk and gear that nearly any well-stocked kitchen has on hand.

(I just LOVE a good kitchen experiement!)

So, you'll want to start with store-bought whole milk.   I used 1/2 gallon.

Check your milk's label.  It can be pasteurized, but it cannot be "ultra-pasteurized" or cannot be labeled "UHT."  This milk is what you might call "dead" milk.  It will not support the bacterial growth necessary to produce yogurts or cheese because all those beneficial bacteria have been killed off during the ultra-pasteurization process. For more info on this, check here.)

Step 1:  Heat the milk to 180 degrees.  Because I was attempting to dirty the fewest dishes possible, I did this in my CrockPot.  I just set it on high and stirred and checked the temperature every once in awhile.  It probably took about an hour to reach 180 degrees.  If you're more pressed for time, you could heat the milk, using a double-broiler method, on the stovetop.

Step 2:  Once it's reached 180 degrees, bring the temperature down to 120 degrees.  I did this by removing my Crock from my Pot and setting it into a sinkful of icewater.  Check the temperature every few minutes because you really don't want it to drop any lower than 120 degrees before moving on the Step 3.

Step 3:  Using a whisk, stir in 2-3 Tbs. of plain active, live yogurt.



Step 4:  Cover and place Crock in oven.  (I'd used my oven about an hour earlier, so it was still slightly warm but not on.  You could probably heat it to 200 degrees, then turn it off when you put your Crock in to achieve a similar effect.)  Allow it to sit  undisturbed in the oven for 6-8 hours.  (If you're wondering, that's a yellow post-it note pictured on the oven that says "YOGURT!" to remind me that the oven is occupied so that I wouldn't forget and hit preheat for dinner without first removing my yogurt.)

When you remove it, you should have 1/2 gallon of yogurt.  Carefully transfer it to a storage container (I use quart mason jars).  Avoid stirring or otherwise disturbing it too much as movement causes it to break down and re-liquify.

This method will produce a yogurt texture similar to standard yogurt.  If you prefer a Greek yogurt texture, strain it using this method.

There ya go!  You've turned milk and 2 tablespoons of yogurt into 1/2 gallon of yogurt using only your oven and CrockPot!  It's like magic!

So, figuring out a way to make yogurt with store-bought cow's milk turned out not to be as difficult as my mastery of goat milk yogurt.  Still, I did have one botched attempt.  See photo below.

Yep.  This disgusting, curdled mess was the result of my first attempt.  (For the curious, rather than using the oven for Step 4, I tried keeping the Crock in the CrockPot set to "warm."  The problem was that "warm" was about 140 degrees, too warm for yogurt production.)

Black Bean Tacos

We pretty much have our favorite Spicy Black Bean Soup with cornbread for dinner every other Monday, so once every two weeks.  The recipe makes about double what our family can eat, so I was thrilled to stumble upon this yummy way to put the leftovers to good use.

After your family has eaten their fill of soup, drain the leftover soup, so that you're just left with the beans.  I usually have about 2 c. of beans left over.  When you're ready for those black beans to make their reappearance, add the following:

1/2 c. onion, chopped

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. paprika

2 Tbs. fresh chopped or 1 Tbs. dried cilantro

pinch of salt and pepper

Mash it all up with a potato masher.

Heat a few Tbs. of olive oil in a pan.  Add a corn tortilla and heat slightly as you add bean mixture and shredded cheese to one side.  Using your spatula, fold over the tortilla to create a taco.  Cook until crisp (about 3 minutes) then carefully flip it over to cook the other side.  Depending on the size of your pan, you can have 2 or 3 tacos cooking at once. 

Serve with salsa, shredded lettuce, sour cream, avocado -- whatever Mexican goodness you love!

These are an absolutely delicious way to work more beans into your diet.  After all, I seem to remember hearing somewhere that "beans, beans, they're good for your heart."  ;)