Granola

I am SOOO addicted to this recipe!!  I usually double this, but we still go through all of it within a week.

In a large bowl mix
3 cups of oats
1 cup of coconut


In a saucepan, or small bowl heat 1/6 cup of coconut oil, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste), 1/4 cup of honey.  Heat just until simmering.  Pour over the oat mixture.

Toast on a cookie sheet at 350 stirring every 10 minutes until toasted.  usually 30 minutes.

My favorite way to eat this is either over yogurt, or with soy milk, and home dehydrated apples.  I dehydrate my apples in chunks rather than slice.  SOO yummy.  If you dry them long enough you can get sort of that freeze dried texture.  My mouth is watering!!!

This recipe came from Willow Bird Baking

Granola Balls

These tasty treats are a huge hit in our house. I double this recipe, and they are still gone in a day or so.

2 C. Rolled Oats
1/2 C Shredded Coconut (unsweetened)
1/2C. Natural Peanut Butter (no sugar added).  Our Fry's, and CostCo carry a pretty inexpensive natural PB.
1/2 C. Honey (remember to buy local honey so help with Alleries)
1/4 C. Brown Sugar- You can leave this out, but it help mute the strength of the honey a bit.  (Turbinado is a great natural brown sugar).
1/2 C. Trail Mix ( I just use raisins or craisins)

Toast the oats and the coconut at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. You can skip this step, but they end up pretty sticky, and I love the nutty flavor that toasting adds.  When they are done toasting, pour them in a large bowl.

Meanwhile:
Heat pb, honey, and brown sugar in a sauce pant until the sugar is dissolved.
Pour the PB mixture over the oats and stir.
Add the trail mix.
Form into 1 inch balls and refrigerate for one hour.

Meatless Lasagna

I'm always trying to find ways to serve vegetarian meals that please my husband.  I find it really difficult, but it's much easier in pasta when I can use a lot of cheese.. MMMMM CHEESE!!!

Pick your favorite pasta sauce.  I use Ragu with vegetables, or a plain sauce that I season with thyme, bay leaves, a little brown sugar, a little vinegar, and some beef bouillon.  For those of you who have to deal with heartburn, the vinegar helps minimize this.

Ingredients:
Pasta Sauce
Lasagna Noodles (9)
Cottage Cheese (Large tub)
Grated or Fresh Parmesan Cheese
Mozzarella Cheese
Baby Spinach

1. Boil the noodles according to package instructions and drain.  
2. While the noodles boil, put your cottage cheese in a large bowl.  Add some Parmesan cheese ( I'd say at least a 1/4 cup preferably more).  You can add an egg to this mixture, which will help thicken everything up.  
3. Shred some Mozzarella, I usually use a 16 oz block.
4. Put some of the sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan, this will stop the noodles from burning.
5. Place a layer of noodles down (about three noodles should cover the bottom ).  
6. Layer some more sauce on the noodles, then your cottage cheese, then mozzarella, then a layer of baby spinach.  Repeat the last two steps of the process two more times.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until the mozzarella on the top layer has melted.

Hawaiian Haystacks...

We served Hawaiian Haystack at the boys birthday party.  I think it might be a "Mormon" thing (like green jello with shredded carrot), because the only people who knew how to eat them were the Mormons.  ANYWHO....

This served about 12 people I believe.

Boil two whole chickens.  Peel off the fat, and then shred the meat and put it in a crock pot ( save the bones to make some delicious homemade broth!!).  Add to the crock two cans of Cream of Chicken, and one can of Cream of celery.  A pinch of salt, and 1 1/2 cans of water.  You just have to warm this up and keep it warm until it's ready to serve.

Make some rice

When you are read to eat you simply put some rice on your plate, and a scoop of the chicken mixture.
Top it with your choice of the following:
Diced peppers (I prefer red on this)
Chopped green onions
Chunks of Pineapple
Shredded Coconut
Chinese Noodles
Shredded Cheese
Chopped Almonds

Favorite White Sandwich Bread

Note:  I don not use a mixer for this recipe, so you will have to adjust the kneading times yourself if you do.  Here is a link to the original from Farm Girl Fare.  She has a lot of additional helpful info. as well!!

Ingredients:

• 10 Cups White Flour (Trading some of the white flour out for whole White-wheat give it sort of an English muffin flavor)
• 4 cups very warm water (about 110 deg.)
• 1 1/2 T Yeast
• 2 T Oil
• 2 T Sugar
• 2T Salt

How to make it:

1. Put 4 cups of the flour in a large bowl with the yeast.  Let it sit at room temp for a bit so you don't shock the yeast.
2. add 4 cups very warm water and stir vigorously until combined well.
3. Add the oil, sugar and stir.
4. Add as much remaining flour as you can stir.
5. Pour about a cup of flour on your counter and pour the dough on top.  Add about another 1/2 cup to the top, and start kneading it all in.  Knead until smooth and elastic, about 5-7 minutes.  You want to use as little flour as possible in the process.  
6. Place the bowl upside down over your dough.  Let it sit for 20 minutes.
7. Flatten dough out and add salt.  Knead it into the dough for a few minutes.
8. Flour the bowl and place the dough inside.  Cover with a damp cloth.  Let rise about 1 hour until double.
9. Flatten the dough, and divide into three portions.  I like to roll it with a rolling pin into a rectangle, then roll the rectangle and seal the bottom and the ends.  Place in well greased bread pans spray with cooking spray and cover  loosely with plastic wrap, or a damp cloth.  Let rise about 1 hour, again until double. If your room is not warm it will take longer to rise, but a longer rise is okay and makes the flavor even better.
10. Bake in the oven at about 375 until golden brown. ENJOY!!
11. Cut into a loaf, take a loaf to your neighbor, and keep the third for the rest of the week :)

Southwest Grilled Pizza

This is sort of a no measure recipe, I just eye balled it.

Ingredients:

• Your favorite pizza dough, let it rise twice.  (or easier is a dough purchased from the bakery at your grocery store, or a Pillsbury refrigerated crust)
• Shredded Cheese, Monterey Jack, or Colby Jack is great for a SW style.  Add some cumin to the cheese probably a tablespoon or so
• Corn Cobs 2-3 husked
• Shredded Chicken
• Diced bell peppers (red, yellow, or orange)
• Dice tomatoes-fresh is best!!
• 2-3 sliced green onions. 
•   Any of your other favorite toppings

How to make it:

1. Start by heating your grill  you want to have a zone where the grill is using indirect heat.  When the grill is ready put the Corn on.  Grill for about 10 minutes on each side. You want the corn to be a LITTLE charred.
2. While the corn is grilling, start rolling out your dough.  You want to break off a piece of dough, and roll it as thin as you can get it.  We make them personal size pizzas, there's no need to make them round, just roll them out thin.
3. Take the corn off the grill, and cut it off the cob over a sheet of parchment, or waxed paper.  You can then easily pour it in a bowl this way.
4. Put your first dough on the grill, and close the lid.  Grill 2-3 minutes on the first side. You should see the grill lines when you flip it.  When it's ready flip it onto the cool side of the grill.side. 
5. You can now add your toppings and another crust. Close the lid to the grill and let it cook 2-3 minutes. Take it off when the cheese is all melted.

Send me a comment and let me know what you changed or added!

Yogurt in 9 easy steps.

There are several ways to make yogurt.  I started out making yogurt in a crock pot, but almost gave up because it always turned out too sour, and too runny.  Then a fellow "mostly health" nut invited me over to see how she makes yogurt.  I make a batch almost every week now and my kids LOVE it.

What you need:

• Double boiler, or 2 pots with handles that fit inside each other. You want the handles to rest on the edge of the outer pan. 
• A cooler
• A digital thermometer with an alarm ( again you can do this with a regular food thermometer, but you have to keep checking it)
• A gallon of milk ( we use 2%, but whole milk works great for kids, also make sure it is not ULTRA pasteurized)
• Half a cup of yogurt (after the first batch you can use your homemade yogurt for up to 10 batches)
• Colander
• Cheese Cloth or tulle - double thickness
• And a bowl to catch the whey

Here's how you do it:

1. Put water in the bottom of your double boiler, put it on the burner and turn it on. 
2. Poor the milk in the top of your double boiler and set it inside.
3. Set your thermometer to 180 degrees and stick in the pan with the milk.  You may want to stir once in a while, I usually stir it once or twice when I'm checking on it.
4. Put the lid on the pan.
5. Once the milk has reach 180 turn off the burner.  You can either place your pan of milk on the counter and wait for it to cool down to 120 (you'll want to set the alarm on your thermometer to 120) or you can stick the pan down in a little ice bath in your sink.
6. Mean while put your cooler in a place out of the way.  Some where safe for the next 7 hours.  I use my tub.Pour the hot water from the double boiler into the cooler and close the lid.
7. After the milk drops back to 120, stir in your half cup of yogurt.  DO NOT do this at a  higher temp, or you will probably kill the cultures.
8. Place your pan of milk in the cooler with the lid on.  Be careful that there is not too much water in the cooler.  If there is too much water, just unplug the drain for a few seconds ( or if your cooler doesn't have a drain just use a cup).  The water will need to stay between 90 and 120 for the full seven hours of sitting.  Set your alarm for the high to be 120 and the low to be 90, and set the gauge in the water.  I never have a problem maintaining the temperature.  If it does go down too much just run some hot water into the cooler (another good reason to set it in the tub).  
9. Leave it for 7 hours. Longer if you want really sour yogurt.   Left it 12 hours on accident once, edible but not the best in my opinion.

Straining the whey:

My Thermometer is something like this.
The cord is long.  Mine has a magnet on the back to
stick it to the stove or fridge.

1. Put the colander in a bowl.
2. Put the cheese cloth in the colander.
3. Pour in the yogurt and let the whey strain until the yogurt is the thickness you want. (I usually let it sit about an hour. Some people thicken it with a little pectin or dry milk, but I find straining it longer or shorter give me just the right texture.

Put the yogurt in a storage container and refrigerate.  I also save the way and use it in bread and waffles.  You can substitute the water or the milk in your favorite recipe for extra protein.

If your yogurt turned out lumpy, it didn't sit long enough.  If it turned out sort of stringy, or mucous like it sat a little too long.  Either way you can still eat it!  My favorite way to eat it is with brown sugar.  My kids love to add dry oatmeal and fruit.  I have a friend that pours it into small containers and tops it with a layer of blended fruit and sugar.

There is a way to make it with Raw milk, but since I can neither find nor afford raw milk I haven't tried it.  Ultimately you end up pasteurizing the milk in the process but in all of my "research" most of the comments have said that they couldn't get it to work quite right.