Steel cut oats... AKA my favorite breakfast at the moment :)

If you like oatmeal at all I think you will like steel cut oats. They are really good for you and I like the bit of "chew" in the texture.

Honestly I had not even heard of "steel cut oats"until about a year ago. Luckily they are easy to find in most grocery stores in the same area of the store where you find your regular oatmeal.

There are a few different ways to cook them (none quick) but its worth it since its mostly waiting time no real "work" is involved.

I made this yesterday morning...

I know it's hard to see the oats since I covered it with fruit but it's under there :)

I made a single serving by following the directions on the package. It took about 45minutes to cook.

I added
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 cup of raisins (toward the end of cooking)

Toppings can be anything you like.Think dried fruit of your favorite nuts. Bananas and blackberries are my current favorite :)

If you want to make this for a crowd there are 2 options that I have found that work well with little effort... either cook overnight in a Crockpot or prepare the and let the oats soak in the cooking liquid over night then cook in the morning for 5-10 minutes.

Here are 2 recipes I have tried:  crockpot overnight steel cut oats

When I made this I had no apples or flax seed. It was still fine. Next time I will add an exrtra 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and at least 2 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla. ( if you are using a really good quality vanilla I would use a bit less)   *TIP* I am not a huge fan of Crock pot liners but for this it would be worth it! Mine was slightly overcooked and not the most fun to clean. Oh... it might not have been so bad if I had remembered to oil my crock :)

Recipe 2... overnight steel cut oats  It's Crazy good! Not to mention simple!

Easter 2013...

I was not sure if I wanted to have a repeat of our our mostly homemade easter this year but my daughter decided for me. She begged for me to make our treats again. Now that I am working part time I was not sure if I could swing it but I had a light week last week since the kids were on spring break so I gave it a shot.

Breakfast!

Notice the eggs on the window that the kids made yesterday. How fun is that? Oh and that white stuff on my lawn, yes that is still snow... I do not ever remember having this much snow on Easter EVER!

Our Breakfast Menu:
Fresh fruit... Cantaloupe, Strawberries & Grapes
Colored hard boiled eggs :)
A bit of bacon
Maple Sausage
Hopping Easter Bunny rolls   (It wouldn't be Easter without them)

The home made candy treats...

"Cadbury" eggs

"Reeses" eggs

"Peeps"  I forgot to take a picture before they got loaded into the baskets :)

lots of bunny rolls

Love this floppy eared "twisty" bunny!

I have links to most of the recipes for the candy in my previous Easter thread or click here

These Bunny rolls have been a tradition in my family since before I came along. My Great Aunt Christine Harris (otherwise known as "Auntie") found the recipe in a magazine and added them to the family brunch feast. I did not realize how much I missed them and all the traditions of our family Easter until I began making them for/with my kids.

Here is the recipe for the rolls with a printable version

Easter Bunny Rolls

Ingredients:
1 Packet Yeast (or 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup water warmed
1 cup Milk Warmed
1/3 cup Sugar
1/2 cup Shortening
1 Teaspoon Salt
5-5 1/2 cups sifted all purpose flour
2 Eggs, beaten
1/4 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons orange zest (grated orange peel)

Soften yeast in warmed water.
Combine milk, sugar, shortening & salt. When lukewarm mix in 2 cups of the flour. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in softened yeast. Add orange juice and zest (peel).
Add flour one cup at a time until dough is just barely sticky and still soft.
Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 - 10 minutes. dough should be soft, smooth and elastic.
Place dough into a lightly greased bowl. Turn dough to cover completely wit a light coating of oil. Cover and let rise for at least 2 hours or until dough is double in size.
Punch dough down and let rest for 10 minutes.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

To shape into bunnies cut a piece of dough a bit smaller than your hand. On a clean un-floured surface roll out into a rope.
for twisty bunnies use one piece of dough proximately 6-8 inches long. form into a "U" shape. grab at the bottom of the "U" and twist 2 times to form bunny and ears. cut a piece of dough the size of a marble roll into a ball and place in the opening at the bottom to form the "bunny tail. Place on parchment paper

For double roll shape bunnies use the same length of dough to form to dough circles. Cut 3 small pieces of dough to form 2 ears and a tail. Make sure to "snug up" the tail and ears to the dough rolls well not just place them "next to" the rolls. Tip... I assemble this type of bunny roll right on my parchment paper.

Make sure to leave 1 1/2 to 2 inches between bunnies.

Cover and let the bunnies "proof"or rise a bit, about 30 minutes. Heat your oven to 375 degrees.

When rolls have puffed up a bit place them in oven and bake for 12 -15 minutes.

For a glossy look you can gently brush the rolls with an egg wash (whisked egg white and 1Tablkespoon of water) just before baking.

After the rolls have cooled store in an air tight container until ready to use. Frost just before serving.

Simple glaze recipe:
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 Tablespoon milk
1-2 cups of powdered sugar

Mix all ingredients to make a thin glaze

"Double roll" Bunny unfrosted

The "LOOT"

                                                                    Happy kids!








Happy Easter everyone!
Count your blessings and hug those you love as often as you can. You never know when life will throw you a curve ball!

Easy Peasy School Lunch ideas

Ok so in my community there has been lots of talk and work to improve our lacking school lunches. "The Boy" would get school lunch almost every day just because he just likes to get lunch at school but does not always eat it all. "The Girl" is the opposite but is liking the salad bar at her new school. Most days they bring lunch from home. Yes I do pack it for them in the morning but you could pack it the night before or do enough for the week on Sunday evening. Here are some ideas...

(EDIT January 2014)  Our School lunches have improved a lot since my original post. Is there still room for improvement? Yes, but now my kids eat school lunch more often than not. Partly because I am working part time now and also because it is a choice we have made. I am leaving these ides here in hopes to help other moms who are struggling with choices :)

Sandwiches... OK this is a no brainer but "think outside the bread" :)
Meat and cheese roll-ups... roll favorite lunch meat with cheese and secure with a toothpick
Meat and cheese cut into shapes... I don't have the time and patience for this but some kids love it and it helps them be more adventurous.
Crackers ... add with cheese and meat and you have home made Lunchables!
Leftovers... anything that can be eaten cold, IE: Pizza
Frozen grapes... My kids LOVE these. I buy lots when they are on sale wash take off the vine and freeze.
Home made muffins ... freeze them! they will be perfectly defrosted by lunch :)
Freeze yogurt cups  ... this was a revelation to me! My kids love it and it's like they get ice cream with lunch! You can freeze the individual cups from the store or buy the big tubs and make your own.
Apple sauce ... make your own and freeze like the yogurt! Or buy the super size jug at the store and portion it out into your own containers.
Cut / wedged Apples ...  There are a few ways to keep them from browning... drizzle any citrus soda you have over them. I have been using a lemon lime soda from Aldi it's about .89 for 1 liter. Or wedge then wrap tightly back into it's shape with a rubber band or plastic wrap. The surfaces won't be exposed so the sugar will not oxidize as fast turning it brown. Use less sweet varieties, they brown slower!

 I will be adding more to the list but this is a start.

I also want you to know that I used to only think I could put pre packaged snacks and goodies in my kids lunch. It is only over the last few years I have begun to get more creative with their lunches.

See my all about lunch page for some pics of my kids lunches

10 minute home made strawberry ice cream without an icream maker!

So I was reading one of my Favorite Blogs the other day and she had posted about this "5 minute berry ice cream without an ice cream maker". I thought "hmmm I'm going to have to try that one day." One of the ingredients was heavy cream which I almost never purchase so I just added it to my "to try someday" file and forgot about it.

 A few days later I went to a local food distribution program and got all this heavy cream as part of a package deal.

So I decided to give the ice cream recipe a whirl!

I hauled out my trusty food processor (thank you swagbucks for helping me purchase this awesome kitchen tool!) 
I adapted This recipe a bit to make it easier for me and accommodate what I had available.

10 minute Strawberry Ice cream
Here is the Printable recipe

Ingredients:
4 cups frozen Strawberries, sliced, halved or quartered
1/2 - 3/4 cup of white sugar (adjust to your personal taste)
1/2 pint heavy cream (the cute tiny container)

Directions:
Add strawberries to your food processor.
Pour sugar over the berries.

Disclaimer: My pictures are not great for this post as I was impatient and it was super hot outside and I wanted to get this done and in the freezer ASAP! Also please ignore the weird stains on my very old counter tops. I have tried everything to remove them and they will not come off.

Pulse until the sugar and berries are mixed well and crushed pretty fine.

Slowly add in cream through the opening in the food processor. 
This part can get a bit frustrating if your processor is a smaller model like mine (it's and 8 cup vs. 12)  but if you take off the top and carefully move things around a bit with a wooden spoon (if you use a spatula you may cut it on the blade and if you use a spoon you could damage your blade) you will be all set. Turn on again and let it run until everything comes together. It will look all nice and slushy.

At this point you can put it in a container and freeze it so it gets nice and hard or you can serve it right away to you salivating children. I did both :)

This is what it looked like served right away

This stuff is AMAZING! I will say that I much preferred it after it had frozen solid. It scoops just like ice cream should and had a much nicer flavor I think after it had been in the freezer for 24 hours.

After serving this your family will definitely think you are the awesomest (yes it's a word, well today it is anyway) person in the whole universe!

If you find that you are getting lots of ice crystals next time stir your freezer mixture every 1/2 hour for a couple hours. It will help break them up.

Fresh Picked Strawberries!

So last week the kids and I went out to a local farm to pick strawberries. I was super happy find a place that still had berries available because most of the local farms were already picked out. I had meant to go the week before but I was knocked out by one of the nastiest bugs I have ever had.

It  took us about an hour to pick all this...

I think the boy ate at least a pint and he definitely ate more than he picked. The girl did well picking, a bonus of her growing up a bit but she ate quite a few in the field too :) It was a gorgeous day and we had a blast.

The best part to me about this whole venture was that the kids did all the hulling!

Wahoo!

Yay me!

Thanks kids!











I then made approximately 20 pints of freezer jam... Phew what a day! Last year I managed to stretch the jam out all the way to the end of the school year. Hopefully I can do that again because the kids really love it. Last year I tried 3 different recipes and below is our favorite.

My Freezer Jam recipe. Here is the printable Strawberry Freezer Jam

4 cups of crushed strawberries
1 package of no/low sugar pectin
1/2 cup of honey (local is best)
1 1/2 cups sugar (next time I will try even less sugar)
1/4 cup water

Whir up your berries in a food processor or blender, then put into a heat safe bowl.
Add 2 Tablespoons of Pectin to the berry mixture.
Add rest of pectin to a medium saucepan with the sugar, honey and water. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. You just want to heat it up and get everything blended. Turn off heat and add sugar mixture to berries. Mix well to blend ingredients.
Pour into prepared containers. Let cool for a few minutes before adding lids. I let mine cool completely before I put them into the freezer.



I forgot to take a picture of my pile of finished jam but the bottom of my 10CU ft freezer is FULL!

The jam did not use up all our berries. I filled 2 trays of sliced berries to freeze (what I used for ice cream (recipe to come). We also ate lots with vanilla yogurt or put them on top of vanilla  ice cream. They were so huge and delicious it was well worth the work and effort!

Delightfully sinful snack, well... maybee not so sinful :)

So most of my friends know that I am a big time Aldi shopper. Over the past few weeks they have had great strawberries at a great price ($1.19 per Pound). Now, strawberries are not my favorite to just eat by themselves due to their slightly tart nature but I found a solution! I made a few variations on a cream cheese dip for them.

Version 1 (not the healthiest)
2 ounces of 1/3 lees fat creme cheesed
2-3 Tablespoons of powdered sugar or to taste
1/4 Teaspoon vanilla

Warm Cream cheese for 10-20 seconds in Microwave or until spreadable but not hot. Mix in powdered sugar and vanilla.

Wash 5-6 strawberries, cut off tops and cube or slice berries.

Layer berries and cream cheese mixture into a bowl. Enjoy!

Version 2 (slightly healthier version)
1 ounce cream cheese
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt

Warm Cream cheese slightly and whisk with yogurt. Layer with washed berries.

Version 3 The healthiest way to go...
Layer washed berries with vanilla yogurt :)

want to make it even better?

Add some sliced banana and drizzle some warmed Nutella on top MMM....

I was amazed how full I was after eating this.
If you really love a cheesecake type flavor version 1 is for you. I like that and version 2 VERY much!

Considering I have a serious sweet tooth I was really happy with this snack. I tried not to "drown" the berries in the creme so I would not counteract all the strawberry goodness.

How will you treat yourself this week?