Thankful.

WE HAVE SNOW! I love snow, but only the first 3 or 4 times then I am ready for it to melt and be nice again. However, on the first snow I am always Thankful.

As of around noon today we have about 8 inches at our house. I am loving this! Although I am thankful to be inside and not out and about in it. I went into work today and a lot of our kids took their own personal snow day so I was able to come home.

Rest.

I need it after a long emotional week and a busy weekend to come. Time to clean the house and cozy up by our fireplace with a cup of tea and wintery movie!

First though before I get to that cleaning... We have a tradition at our house when the first snow comes. I make baked oatmeal! YUM. Kevin loves it and I can never get enough of that amazing smell and warm oven on that first very cold day. Here is the recipe:

Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients:

1/3 cup oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg, beaten

2 cups oats

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup milk (I love coconut milk in it!)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup thinly sliced apples

Directions:

* Mix together oil, brown sugar and egg

* Add remaining ingredients (minus apples) and mix well.

* Pour into a greased pan

* Top w/ sliced apples

* Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes

Kitchen Notes:

* This easily doubles and is so good you might as well. You can eat it hot or always warm it up later. It reheats nicely.

* I put the apples on top and then sprinkle with more cinnamon and sugar.

* Some serve this with some warmed milk.

ENJOY!

Oh and THANK YOU for all the kind words and prayers for my family this week. My dad made it through Gall Bladder Surgery and is recovering well. We are SO excited to go home to visit them in three weeks. God is faithful and we are thankful!

Baking Therapy

My mom called this morning.

EARLY.

I knew when I saw her calling so early-

that it wasn't good news.

I could feel it in my stomach.

Today I am praying for my family.

I believe in a God who is Creator of all

He is FAITHFUL.

My trust is in Him.

Home seems VERY far away.

I want to be there.

I bake as therapy

and hug my puppy and husband of course

who are my rocks.

I normally bake from scratch, specially being lactose intolerant I like to know what is in my food. However Tastefully Simple just came out with these new scones and I couldn't wait to try them. They do contain a little bit of dairy in the mix but, today, they will be worth it.

(credit)

Cranberry Orange Scones

Ingredients:

1 box Cranberry Orange Scone Mix

1 cup yogurt

(I used Green Valley Organic Lactose Free Yogurt, Honey flavored)

Directions:

* Mix scone mix w/ yogurt and a little water if batter is too thick.

* Drop onto a greased cookie sheet and press down slightly.

* Sprinkle sugar packet on top

* Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.

* Cool, cut into wedges and serve warm

Kitchen Notes:

* The original recipe calls for butter and milk. I used yogurt as a sub. They turned out great!

* Box says you can add 1/2 cup white choc chips, if I would have had them I would have added. That sounds amazing.

Egg Rolls!

Once I experimented with egg rolls for the cooking club I was in.

They turned out great.

We loved them.

BUT... we forgot about putting them on our menu.

THEN! We got invited to experiment with making our own Sushi with some friends. So I decided I should pull out that egg roll recipe to serve as an appetizer. I can't wait to have these again and share them with friends.

Chinese Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

1/2 package egg roll wrappers (between 10-12)

1 tsp Garlic Garlic

2 green onions, chopped

1 1/2 cups slivered cabbage

1/4 cup slivered carrots

1/2 cup diced tofu

1/2 cup salad shrimp

1 cup chinese noodles

3 tbs soy sauce

pinch of sesame seeds

pinch of red pepper flakes

Directions:

* Mix all ingredients in a sauce pan (minus wrappers and shrimp).

* Saute until golden and add shrimp, cooking for 3 minutes.

* Fill egg rolls. When folding fold the corner facing you over the filling then fold in outward corners towards the center. Continue rolling until you get to the final corner (top) use your finger to brush some water on the corner then finish rolling. (this step holds it together when baking).

* Place on greased baking sheet and then spray the tops of the egg rolls with the cooking spray.

* Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes

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THEN! I was poking around on some of my favorite blogs and found this: Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls . YUM! I had to make these. They looked so easy and healthy too!

Here is my version:

Fiesta Egg Rolls

Ingredients:

2 cups corn

1 cup black beans

1 cup daiya vegan cheese

1 cup fresh roasted green chiles

2 green onions

2 tsp cumin

1 tbs Fiesta Party Seasoning

pinch of salt

1 package egg roll wrappers (need about 20)

Directions:

* Combine and mix all ingredients (minus egg roll wrappers) Do not need to precook.

* Place mixed ingredients into the egg roll wrapper working one sheet at a time. See directions above on previous recipe.

* Place on greased baking sheet and then spray the tops of the egg rolls with the cooking spray.

* Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes

Kitchen Notes:

* These were served with fresh salsa and guac! AMAZING

* I used dried black beans that I had cooked in my slow cooker and fresh roasted green chiles from Kevin's grandma! oh so good!

* You of course can use regular cheese if you aren't watching dairy/vegan. You could also add chicken, ground beef, pulled pork, etc.

Loving the versatility of egg rolls. There is so much you can do with that little egg roll wrapper. I am thinking about a vegan chocolate with bananas for a dessert one needs to happen in the near future!

Door to Door Organics

It is that time of year again. My favorite time of year. Fall!

For our family this means our beloved Farmer Markets are coming to a close for the season and we have eaten or frozen all the veggies we have attempted to grow in our garden. Around October I start to shop at Sunflower Market and Whole Foods again for my produce and love the debut of fall squashes; Butternut, Spaghetti, Acorn, etc. I can never get enough of fall produce.

In the past we have enjoyed Door to Door Organics (click here for the website) we love their service and the produce is the best around. Great price for delivery of organic fruits and veggies that you can mix and match to make the perfect box for your family.

This fall, however, we are pinching pennies as I have my new business with Tastefully Simple up and running and we are knocking out some debt, specially those dreaded school loans. I am still up in the air regarding D2D and if Sunflower might be my better option for quality good priced produce, it does seem to be a tad cheaper.

We had a gift card for this past week so we sent our order in to D2D and as always were more than impressed with the selection and quality of our order.

I never want to waste any of our produce so here is my list that I worked on today!

First though, here is what we received in our box:

collard greens - green cabbage - butternut squash - yellow onion - russet potatoes - broccoli - green onions - leaf lettuce - red pepper - bananas - kiwi berries - grapes - oranges - apples - avocados

Here is what I made:

1. Collard Greens - click HERE for the recipe already on our blog (greens and onions)

2. Coleslaw - again click HERE (I used our cabbage, carrots I had, the yellow onion)

3. Roasted Butternut Squash - I used the bottom half of the squash and baked it at 350 for an hour top w/ EVOO and garlic garlic seasoning. Eat right out of peel!

4. Diced Butternut Squash - I used the top half cut into cubes, baked at 350 for 40 mins and seasoned with butter and season salt from Tastefully Simple of course!

5. Dairy Free Cream of Broccoli Soup - see recipe in previous post (used onion, broccoli, potatoes)

6. Thai Peanut Chicken - again click HERE for recipe (used red pepper, onion, green onion, broccoli)

7. Salads - (used lettuce, pepper, green onion, avocados)

Then we ate the fresh fruit and put some in our breakfast smoothies! It has been a great TWO weeks with our produce!

You will notice on my list "kiwi berries". If you have never experienced this fruit you need to. It is my favorite and I can't find it in stores :( Check them out HERE.

Here was our Saturday night dinner: Cubed Butternut Squash, Collard Greens, and Grilled Shrimp Scampi. YUM!

Kitchen Notes:

*When we have leftover veggies we either freeze them, cut them up and freeze in a bag marked "veg scraps for veggie stock". When I have enough I then cook them down for stock in my slow cooker and freeze the stock.

* If we have enough variety leftover instead of freezing for stock I make a great stir fry!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Here is a new slow cooker favorite that I discovered this week. So easy, healthy and tastes great too!

Cream of Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:

3 heads broccoli

1 large onion

5 cups chicken broth

2 cloves garlic

4 finely chopped potatoes

pinch of nutmeg

salt and pepper

Directions:

Chop and place all ingredients in slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours. Mash or put in food processor until you get a creamy texture you like.

Kitchen Notes:

* You could sub chicken broth for vegetable broth to make this vegan.

* I used a real onion but for the garlic I used 1/2 tsp of garlic garlic (Tastefully Simple).

* This freezes great as well!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Hummus

Alright I know the name of this is extra weird. You are potentially thinking hummus is meant to be savory not sweet. At least that is what I thought when I first saw this recipe.

I adapted my recipe from a food blog I follow called Pinch of Yum.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Hummus

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans

1/4 cup peanut butter

2 tbs carmel sauce

2 tbs cinnamon maple syrup

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

1/4 cup flour

mini chocolate chips

Directions:

Cook dried beans in slow cooker on high for 4 hours until soft, rinse and use (or just use canned ones).

Blend all ingredients minus flour and chocolate in a food processor.

Add flour by spoonful and blend then stir in chocolate.

Chill and serve on graham crackers.

Testing Notes:

If you can't find cinnamon maple syrup just use regular maple syrup and add a pinch of cinnamon to the recipe.

I used Lactaid milk but soy or coconut or any other milk sub would be great.

Tofu Lettuce Wraps

(photo credit)

Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

1 pound extra firm tofu, drained and diced to bite sized squares
salt and pepper, to taste
red pepper flakes, to taste
tamari soy sauce or Bragg's, to taste
3 tablespoons chopped garlic
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
2 1/2 cups shiitake mushrooms, chopped
1 head lettuce or Napa cabbage, large leaves removed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread tofu out on a cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and soy sauce. Bake for 35-45 minutes.

2. When that is almost done, heat up wok or frying pan and throw in the chopped garlic and ginger. Fry for about 5-7 minutes until they are softer. Throw in the shiitakes.

3. At this time, you can add more soy sauce, usually about 4 or 5 shakes. Also, if you’d like, some more salt and pepper and red pepper flakes.

4. Cook about another 10-12 minutes, then add the tofu and finish up the cooking, about 2-5 minutes. Spoon the mixture into the lettuce/cabbage leaves and roll them up!

Enjoy!

Fall: slowcooker applesauce, leaves changing, sleepy puppy!

Fall Colors in Southern Colorado (Alamosa, CO 2011)

Slowcooker Applesauce

Ingredients:

8-10 lbs diced and peeled apples (use whatever kind you like or mix and match kinds)

1/2 cup water

1 tsp cinnamon

1/3 cup sugar

Directions:

cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 3-4. stir about every hour

when apples cook down mash with a potato masher

this keeps great in the fridge for 2 months or easy to freeze and pull out later!!!

OH and btw Moose spent the weekend with his friends Basil, BQ, and Buttons and is beyond wore out. This is him half asleep on the arm of the couch!