How to peel and prep a butternut squash

I have really started loving all kinds of squash this winter.  It used to be that the only squash in my vocabulary was zucchini and yellow squash with the occasional spaghetti squash.  I didn't buy spaghetti squash that often because it was very expensive.  A little tip:  It really isn't that expensive when you buy it in season! I tried a butternut squash a long time ago and it was such a bear to peel and finally get to the point I could eat it that I said, "Never again." I almost cut my finger off trying to get that darn thick peel off!

Well fast forward a few years in my life and my health journey and I find myself incorporating a vast number of new veggies into my diet.  I decided to try butternut squash again.  It has turned out to be one of my favorite foods and has been a good replacement for sweet potatoes for me right now.  I can't have sweet potatoes (or regular potatoes for that matter) because they are too starchy.  So butternut squash, spaghetti squash, acorn squash (SO good), zucchini and yellow squash are what I have been eating in moderation for some good vitamins and minerals.  Don't get me wrong, I eat a TON of other veggies but this post is about squash.

First thing is first.  You have to have the proper tool for peeling a butternut squash.  A knife (at least in my hands) wont cut it -literally. I use the Swissmar Peelers.  They are superior and stay sharp and don't rust.  I LOVE them!

This peeler is one of the best kitchen tools I own. It is the red one in the picture. It has two sister peelers that julienne cut and peel fruits and veggies as well. I literally use these peelers everyday in my prep for my meals.  This red one one is the one you use for peeling really thick peel like the peelings on a butternut squash. It is amazing how easy it is.

Here is the step by step process of peeling and prepping a butternut squash:

• First rinse and dry the squash.
• Start at one end and run the peeler along the side.  The outer thick skin will come right off.  Be careful because the peeler is sharp and if you slip and hit your hand you will cut yourself!. I have.
• Do this until all the peel is off.  Don't worry about the very ends. You will see why next.

• Cut of the top end and the bottom end with a sharp knife.
• Cut the bulb end apart from the cylindrical end.

• Cut the cylindrical portion in half.
• Cut in 1/2" thick slices.
• Cut each slice in 1/2" squares until the whole cylinder is cut up.

• Now cut the bulbous piece in half with a sharp knife.
• Scoop out the seeds with a spoon and throw them away. Or you could dry and plant them.
• Cut the squash in 1/2" slices.
• Cut slices into 1/2" strips (not pictured.)
• Cut the strips in 1/2" squares (as best you can with the shape.)  Some of them aren't exactly square.

Here are the beautiful orange tasty morsels!

There are so many good things you can do with butternut squash.  It has a slight sweetness and pairs well with most meats.  I boil mine in veggie/meat soup.  I have enjoyed these roasted in the oven with a little coconut oil, salt and pepper. It also goes well with the spices sage and thyme.  I also like to saute these in butter, ghee or coconut oil along with some rainbow chard, kale or spinach.  It makes a great side dish or snack for that matter.  It does take a bit of time to prep but once it is done you can store it in your fridge and use as needed.  It will last for a couple days.

Enjoy!

Join me for a few more "how to" posts in the upcoming months.  I will be posting on how to make ghee, how to make homemade raw milk yogurt, and how to make homemade sauerkraut.

Is there anything you can think of that you would like to know how to do in the  kitchen? Please send me your ideas and I may incorporate it into a blog post.

~Blessings~



A Home Remedy for Ear Infections

Tis' the season for sickness.  Inconvenient sickness. I dread sickness, I abhor sickness but it is a part of this fallen world. We must deal with it and at the same time try to take care of the "temple" God has blessed us with.

I tend to gravitate toward natural remedies and letting the body use it's God given abilities to fight off issues. I make my own remedies and also buy natural (or homeopathic remedies) to cure our ailments.  I thought I would share with you a natural remedy we use around here to get rid of any sign of an ear infection.  It has always worked - even on my Husband.

At the first sign of any ear pain I put together a concoction of garlic infused coconut oil to use in the ear canal.  It is really easy to make. Let me share with you the recipe and how to make it.

Recipe for natural cure for a beginning ear infection

You will need:

~1-2 tsp. of GOOD (preferably organic) coconut oil

~a sliver (like 1/8th tsp.) of chopped fresh garlic clove

~Small saute pan

~small portion of a cotton ball

Put coconut oil and garlic in pan on low-medium heat.  Saute it together until you smell the garlic. The oil will be heated through and the garlic will have released some of it's juices.  Do not burn the garlic or cook the garlic too much.  Let the garlic coconut oil cool off a bit until it is just warm. 

Have your child lay on his or her side with hurting ear facing up.  Take a small spoon (or dropper) with a few drops of the oil on it and place it directly into the child's ear. Make sure the oil you use has NO garlic chunks in it. We don't want that going directly into the ear canal.  Have your child lay on their side for about 5 minutes to let the oil go in deep.  After the five minutes put the cotton ball in the ear to block any oil that makes its way out.  The best time to do this is right before bed BUT if your child has a painful earache during the day go ahead and do it right away.

Every single time we have used this remedy is has warded off an ear infection.  My oldest son has only gotten one full blown ear infection and that was years ago before I started using this remedy.  My husband and sons have never had one since using this solution.  Usually they wake up in the morning and the pain has fully subsided.

Do you know the benefits of coconut?  There are so many..... among many others it is an antifungal, antibacterial, antiparasitic and full of vitamins, miunerals and amino acids.  Check out this link to learn more: Coconut Research Center

How about the benefits of garlic?  It is a natural antibiotic, full of antioxidants, and can reduce your risk of cancer.  Find out more at this link: Dr. Christopher 

(Please note, I am not a doctor and do not assume any liability for this remedy.  I only know by my own experience that this has worked for our family.)

~Blessings~

Please note - I am not a medical doctor.  What I say on this blog is based on my own research along with my own personal experiences.  I assume no liability and my advice, ideas or suggestions should not replace those of your own practitioner.

Cherry Season

One of the reasons I love living where I do is that any time a fruit is in season I can go and pick it fresh from an orchard that is growing it.  Fresh and Local is what it is all about these days right?  I love supporting our local farmers and orchards.

Around this time of the year the cherries are in season and growing in abundance on the trees! This is the first time I have ever gotten to go to a cherry orchard that literally has hundreds of trees and pick fresh cherries off the trees.  Each tree was either loaded with sweet red cherries, Bing cherries or pie cherries.  Before now I didn't even know there were pie cherries!

I love picking fresh produce right from the plant because it helps my kiddos to know that food actually grows and doesn't just appear in a store!  It also helps them to understand that there is a lot of hard work and time that goes into harvesting fruits and vegetables.

We went with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousins and they brought one of their college friends too. Cody really enjoyed picking cherries with Johnny.

Corbin has a cherry in his mouth here.  They were so good looking it was hard to not taste a few!

Brother "love" time or wrestle time.

Our first bounty.

The whole crew.  Steve had to work that day as well as the second time we went :-(  He was missed. My parents were out of town the first time too. We took them when they got back into town though.  The pie cherries were more ripe then too.

The first time we went I picked 5 pounds of cherries and the second time I picked 7 pounds of cherries.  Another thing about local and fresh is the price!  They were only $1.00 a pound. 

I have had so much fun with these.  I bought a cherry pitter and pitted all of them.  I froze some for smoothies and to use later for cherry crisp and cobbler (Gluten free of course).  We also ate some of them for lunches. Then I made some Vanilla Dark Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream.  Oh my goodness was it good.  Click here for the recipe.  I didn't use alcohol or bittersweet chocolate. I used dark chocolate. I also added some vanilla.

This was divine.

With the second batch of cherries I made these Cherry Almond Muffins.  I used agave instead of honey and coconut oil instead of olive or grapeseed.  They turned out great.  I couldn't have a bunch of cherries and not make some cherry pie filling.  I made multiple batches of the filling.  The pie cherries really do make a difference.  They give the pie filling that little bit of tartness, that zing. Up next for the cherries, canning with my Mom and Aunt this week making Cherry Jam.  Yummers!

The next fruit in season that I can't wait for is peaches.  These are my all time favorite fruit.  I will be picking a lot of these!

Do you have any cherry recipes that you make every year?  How about family traditions with cherries or fruits that are in season?  I would love to hear about it.

~Blessings~

Our Medieval Feast

It has been requested that I update my blog! Apparently the last post on Gluten Free Cinnamon Sugar Mini Donuts has been quite tempting.

I have been wanting to share this next post with you for a while but life has happened.  I am so grateful I am getting some time tonight to share.

One of the curriculums that I have been using this year is Konos. In particular I am using Konos in a box for Obedience. It has really been a lot of fun.  We have studied Light, Kings and Queens and now we are studying Horses. 

In Konos curriculum you have the option of doing various activities to really help the child learn (through hands on activities) about the certain subject. In this case we learned about Kings and Queens for 8 weeks.  I focused more on the biblical Kings and Queens and there were certain secular ones we didn't even touch.  We will save that for when my boys are older. It is important that they start out having a rooted biblical understanding in the early years. 

To culminate our unit Konos suggests holding a Medieval Feast.  While this seemed daunting at first once we got into it we had a great time. We went to Goodwill and shopped for costume apparel (or sheets and curtains to make apparel out of.)  We also got "Great Hall" decorations there and at the local craft store.  We had to be very creative because we were on a tight budget. It was also really nice because Steve had off during the time we were studying this so he was able to help Corbin and I out a lot in various activities. 

At the Medieval feast Corbin was going to be the King.  During our unit we created all the items a king would have:

Here is King Corbin's Orb (Kings hold to represent the church and the authority of the church)

We found a coconut candle at Goodwill and painted it gold. We added some sparkly decorations for the bling.  Corbin loved painting this and adding all the embellishments.  He also learned about a Maltese cross which we topped our orb with.

Here is King Corbin's Scepter (Represents protection like a shepherds staff)

Corbin is very proud of this scepter.  Mainly him and his Dad worked hard on this for many days.  The top gold ball is a squishy tennis ball painted gold and drilled with a hole to put the dowel through. The middle ball is a plastic lemon painted gold and drilled with a hole as well and the bottom blue ball is tinfoil.  As you can see I didn't comb Corbin's hair that morning.  Who knows I could have even still been in my PJ's taking that picture?  Oh the joy of homeschooling!

Here is a close up

We made an authentic (or almost authentic) invitation for our feast.

Here is the scroll rolled up with our wax seal.  I actually have red wax for sealing and a seal but I couldn't find it so we improvised and used candle wax and a pin.  It looked kind of weird but it did seal the scroll.

Here is the inside of the scroll.  Corbin helped me write the invite, type the invite and put them all together. He really got a kick out of giving them to the invitees.

There was quite a bit of sewing to do which is what took place of me spending time on this.  That creation will be coming soon.  I promise.  Anyway, Corbin helped me plan our costumes, cut fabric, glue various embellishments and he watched me sew.  I will let him sew soon.  (Yes I think sewing is something a boy needs to learn along with cooking and cleaning PROPERLY.  What happens when and if he is on his own someday?  He needs to be able to take care of himself or the family if his future wife gets sick or goes out of town.)

We made banners for our great hall, runners for our tables, tablecloths for our tables, King Corbin's costume, Cody's Knight in Training (or page) costume, Daddy's Lord of the castle costume and my Lady of the Land costume.  We also made a family coat of arms (not sewing related but you will see it in the pictures.  I forgot to take a picture of just the coat of arms.)

Here is our Great Hall (the area the nobility and their guests eat in.)  We told our guests that our "Great Hall" wasn't that great in terms of size.  We were a bit cramped but it all worked out.

You can see our banner in the background.  We also made and hung one on the front door of our castle.  The head table is always higher than the guests table.  Steve made some risers for our head table.  Traditionally there were no utensils at these feasts.  The guests just brought their own knives. I couldn't find any goblets to drink out of that worked for this feast. It would have been fun though.  We didn't use electric light.  We only used candles.  Traditionally the guests table did not have a runner on it either but I thought I would treat them nice and give them one.  I did not end up making our guests eat with no utensils either.  Hot food in our hands just wouldn't have worked quite right.

I printed the table manners for each guest.  I thought they were so funny.  These weren't on the traditional table either, it was just a known fact.  This is what they were in case you can't read them in the picture: Table Manners

Do not spit on or over the table. If you wash your mouth out while at the table, do not spit the water back into the bowl, but instead spit politely on the floor. Do not pick your teeth at the table with a knife, straw or stick. Do not leave bones on your plate, throw them on the floor for the dogs.

You can seen the coat of arms in the background on the shelf.  We had three of these in various places decorating our Great Hall.  Two of them were shields that we made and one was just for decoration. They had a lot of symbolism in them and Corbin really enjoyed making these. 

We got this candle holder for .50 or a $1 at Goodwill.  The salt cellar on the table was only for the head table.  Salt was scarce in those days and so at feasts only the royalty used salt.  It cost as much as gold back then!

Corbin had to write up a schedule of events for our feast.  Usually there are ten courses and in between and during each course there was entertainment.  There was no way I was making ten courses but I did make three.  In between each of those we had some entertainment.

Here is Corbin schedule of events (part of it is on the back of the paper so you can't see it all.)

Since there were only four of us with roles to play at the feast I ended up playing about 20 different roles (isn't that true of my life already?) I was the Lady of the castle, the surveyor, the peasant, the sculley maid, the pantler and more!  We ate off of "trenchers."  These were loaves of bread used for plates.  All the food went on them except the pasta dish which went in the bowls.  In between the first course Corbin read his paper he wrote about what it would be like to be a squire for a day and he also told us Titus 3:1 which he memorized during this unit.  He has jewels on his crown for his memorization. After the second course we all sang "God is so good".  At the end of the feast we sang "He is Lord" and recited Philippians 2:9-11. Usually there is more going on in between courses but I wasn't about to be the Jester or the Minstrel too!

Here is King Corbin in His Costume

We modeled his costume after King Richard the Lionhearted.  We mimicked some of the traditional costume.  He was supposed to wear a grey sweatshirt under his tunic but I totally forgot!  Oops. He was taking a Armor of God class at his Co-op this term too so he made these sandals (the shoes of peace) and sword (sword of the spirit) in that class.  They worked well for our costume.

Here is our Page (actually a little young for a page - they started at age 7), our little knight in training

Cody played along well during our feast.  He liked that his costume almost matched Daddy's.  Steve's costume was similar to this except his draped more over and around him rather than a tunic style. He also had a plastic sword to carry around unlike the dagger Cody has.  The absent minded professor (aka me) did not get pictures of it!  I also forgot to get pictures of my costume, the food and the guests.  My cousin dressed up as a monk!  My costume was a floor length cape style with a bright sparkly broach in the front.  I wore a dress underneath. I even put my hair up all roayl like! I wish I would have gotten a picture.

Here is King Corbin coming down the stairs.  I was so proud of him.  He usually does not like to be the center of attention (I never did either.) 

When all our guests arrived we announced him and presented him to the guests. He came down the stairs while everyone was staring at him. Then we all bowed to the royalty. I told him "Don't get too used to this part!"

Here was our menu:

Drinks

Wassail

Water

First Course

Bread and Cheese Platter

Second Course

Apricot Pasta (from Konos - you will have to buy the book for recipe due to copyright.  This was a favorite of the night.)

Roasted Pork with Carrots and Onions (I didn't use potatoes because there were no potatoes back then at this time. I slow cooked the pork and I know there were no crock pots either!)

Roasted Turnips (I have never had turnips before, they were quite interesting)

Third Course

Poached Pears with Raspberry sauce

*I didn't eat off of a trencher because of my need to eat Gluten Free.  I did, however, buy a GF baguette (yep I was in a pinch, I didn't make my own) so that I could enjoy the bread and cheese course!

This feast was truly a celebration for all the hard work we had done for those eight weeks.  We made great memories.  Ones that I hope Corbin will remember fo a long time.

~Blessings~ 

Ooh Babycakes!

As promised I told you I would tell you about some really yummy gluten free cinnamon and sugar donuts I made.  I have to tell you this creation was inspired by my friend Jessi.  She made them for me first and although I am not sure the recipe she used they were delicious! I thought about them for two weeks after I had them, that is - until I made my own!

In order for me to make these just like my sweet friend did I needed to get a mini donut maker.  Thankfully I had a gift card to Kohl's and was able to buy one during one of their HUGE sales (that they have all the time.)

This little guy has been so much fun!  We made these for movie night the first time and we about gobbled them all up before we even sat down for the movie. 

Before I show you more pictures that are going to make you drool and your stomach growl I will share the recipe with you.  This is a recipe I can't take credit for but I did adapt it a teeny bit for the donut maker. I found the recipe which was created by Nicole Hunn of Gluten free on a Shoestring here at Living Without Magazine's site.  Check out the recipe and then come back paaleeease!.  I will share with you what I did differently. 

• I did not make the cinnamon milk, I just used plain milk.
• I used a scoop and put the batter into the donut maker.
• I dipped the donuts in coconut oil before I coated them with cinnamon and sugar.

(Aren't I ingenious? I changed it up so much!)  Just kidding.  There are not usually many things I change about Nicole's recipes.  They are just plain good.

Here is what I started out with:

Then:

Whala! Bing Bang Boom~ Mini Donuts!

Aren't they cute?

Now it's time to dip them in melted coconut oil.  You can dip one side or both.  I just did one side.

Just ignore the fact that I accidentally focused the camera on my wrinkly hand!  It certainly was meant to be! I know you're more interested in donuts.

Time for cinnamon and sugar...

Oops, ignore THE hand again.

Heaven, I'm in Heaven.

And now for a bite...

Look how light and fluffy these are.  You would never guess they are gluten free.  The crunch of the cinnamon and sugar on the outside and the moist crumb of the donut make them delightful.

I hope you enjoy these.  If you don't have a donut maker maybe you can find one at Kohl's when they have their 95% off sale!  These certainly didn't last long around our house.  I really savored each bite because I am soon going to be cutting out sugar from my diet for about 3-6 months.  For health reasons.  I would never choose to willingly give up such a divine part of life ~ sweets. It should only be temporary and short depending on the results. Have fun and let me know how your donut making goes.  What other gluten free creations can you come up with for this fun little machine?


~Blessings~

Our household staple meals

Hello and Happy December!  It sure has been fun around here preparing for Christmas and focusing on the reason for the season - Jesus.  I plan on posting some pictures in a later post this week of what has been happening in our house lately.

Since this is December we have tightened our budget a bit.  Our tightening required me to really focus on inexpensive staple meals that we have around here on a regular basis.  Below I will share our staple meal list with you of dinners that we regularly have.  These dinners usually translate into leftovers for lunch the next day as well.  Since I have two growing boys and a hungry husband the portions around here have to be large.

First, I always have homemade chicken stock in the freezer.  It is so easy to make and I usually take a day that I know I am going to be home most of the day and make it ~ once a month or sometimes twice.  I also usually have homemade (non-fried) refried beans in the freezer.  I just tried making my own chili beans to freeze last week too.  I noticed that I buy quite a few cans of chili beans so I figured, why not make my own?  It was easy and they turned out yummy. I will probably continue to do this regularly.  We always have rice and lentils on hand as well as chicken and ground turkey. 

Before I write the meal list I want you to know that I am one who likes to try cooking one or two new meals a week.  However, when we are on a tight budget I can't venture out too much because sometimes the recipes require ingredients I don't normally have on hand. This list below is the basic list and when we have a little more to spend I get creative and try lots of new meals!

Our household staple meals (this list is not exhaustive):

* Bean and Cheese Burritos ~ I usually make my own Gluten Free Flour tortillas or if I am not feeling that ambitious I eat the beans and cheese with chips, sour cream and salsa.

* Tostadas  ~ we use the Gluten Free Corn tortilla shells

* Enchiladas ~ A family Favorite! Red sauce - only Rosarita brand and rotisserie white meat chicken make these to die for. I serve this with homemade Spanish rice, sometimes beans and a salad.

* Bobby's Goulash ~ Of course I make this Gluten Free by using wheat free tamari or Liquid Aminos and also Gluten Free Brown Rice Macaroni Pasta.  This feeds a lot of people if you make the whole recipe.  I usually only half it. I serve this with a salad.

* Homemade Pizza ~ Using a homemade pizza dough recipe from Gluten Free on a Shoestring - my favorite GF blog and Cookbook. 

* Benihana's Fried Rice ~ This recipe is from another one of my favorite cookbook series - Top Secret Restaurant Recipes. I add more veggies and peas to it and sometimes chicken if it is a "meat" night.

* Lentils and Rice ~ This is hearty and packed with fiber and protein.  You could always substitute Brown rice too. I serve this with a side of veggies, steamed or roasted.

* Hot Dogs ~ Actually this is not a staple in fact we rarely have hot dogs. It made it to my list this month because we happen to have them in the freezer.  When I make these I will wrap mine in a homemade GF flour tortillas or maybe make my own GF buns. Love having homemade baked beans with this and homemade potato salad.  Who say you can't have that in the winter?  We've even been known to roast them outside over the fire in the winter!

* Gluten Free Spaghetti and Meat Sauce (or just marinara depending on if it is a "meat" night.) ~ This is a quick simple throw together meal usually served with a veggie or side salad.

* Baked Potatoes with chili beans, cheese sauce and veggies (like steamed broccoli)

* Homemade Mac N Cheese ~ I change this up a little and of course make it Gluten Free with different flours and pasta.  This is such comfort food. I crave it! I serve this with some sort of veggie.

* Tacos ~ We love tacos.  They are so quick to make and filling.  They are an easy way to get veggies too. Sometimes if I don't have meat we make lentil tacos instead.  You just cook the lentils and season them with taco seasoning and serve the lentils as if they were the meat.  Yummy!

* Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup ~ during the winter this is so comforting. I crave this when I am sick (but usually I can't make it for myself.)  Now that we have a huge freezer I am going to start making double batches and freezing the extra to have on hand.  I will have to share my recipe sometime on here with you.

* Chili N' Cornbread (GF) ~ another easy meal. The cornbread lasts for a while so sometimes I have it for breakfast the next morning. 

* Spinach Lasagna ~ I spike mine with Alfredo sauce to make it even more irresistible! Of course I use Brown rice Gluten Free lasagna noodles too.

* Grilled Cheese Sandwiches ~ there are a myriad of ways to make these but most of all Steve and I like medium or sharp cheddar with brown deli mustard on ours.  Most people say "yuck" until they try it!  I make mine on my own homemade Gluten Free Sandwich bread.  The bread recipe I got from Gluten Free on a Shoestring

* Szechuan Meatballs with LoMein ~ Homemade and a recipe from GF on a Shoestring again.  This is a bit time consuming so I only do this one when I have more time to cook.  It is nice to have Asian food at home that I know is Gluten Free. Actually we had this tonight and I can't wait for leftovers tomorrow!

*BLTA Sandwiches (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato and Avocado, ~ We don't always have bacon on hand but when it is on sale I do buy it.  We love avocados here too. Now that I make my own Gluten Free Bread I can enjoy these sandwiches once again.

I am sure there are more to add to the list but this was what I came up with for this month.  I think it is great to live on a budget and tighten the reigns when needed because it forces me to be more creative in how I use the food I have and even the leftovers I have.  Food is a Feast on Joy around here!

Victory! Gluten Free Blueberry Coconut Muffins

Can I tell you? I have been craving muffins for some time now.  With this new lack of gluten in my diet, muffins aren't easy to come by anymore.  Sure, I can go buy gluten free muffins but there is nothing like a homemade, fresh out of the oven, warm muffin making the house smell all good. I miss baking in a big way!

Last weekend I took a gluten free cooking class and learned some tips and tricks to gluten free baking along with some yummy recipes.  It was such a blessing to me.

In the cooking class one of the recipes that we made was a poppy seed muffin that was really good.  I couldn't wait go home and make some on my own but change it up a bit. First of all I needed to add a whole grain flour to the basic flour mix she gave us.  The original recipe didn't have any whole grains in it and it was nutritionally void. The idea behind the recipe from Terry (who created it) is that these are not something you eat very often.  She found a good mix of flours that works and wants to stick with it because GF baking is a tough job. She bakes daily for her restaurant and it is a treat for us gluten free folks to have a homemade muffin or basket of fresh baked bread with butter on the table while eating out. I am grateful for her basic starter recipe to be able to adapt it to use in ways that fit our family.  Something she kept saying was "a recipe is a guide not a rule book."  It is so true but you have to have a good basic recipe to start with.  And now I have one!

While I can't share her recipe with you I can share my recipe that I created from her base recipe. 

These are really yummy muffins. Please try them.  They have a slight coconut taste and are lightly sweet.  You can add any fruit like dried cranberries, raisins, fresh mangoes or peaches, strawberries, raspberries, etc.  Another note is that if you want to cut back on the sugar content you should be able to substitute half amount honey, banana or applesauce. This substitution would probably work for the oil too.  *I have not tried the applesauce or banana yet but plan on it next time. If you try it, let me know how it works out. Pretty please?

Gluten Free Blueberry Coconut Muffins
Adapted from a recipe by Terry Meihaus

2 cups gluten free all purpose flour mix (choose your favorite)
1 cup coconut flour (this flour is so nutritious for you)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum (if your all purpose flour doesn't have it in it already)
1 cup sugar (or half sugar subsitute like honey as mentioned above)
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (can be almond or soy milk too)
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 tsp. gluten free vanilla extract
12 oz. fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. spray (with gluten free spray) 24 muffin cups or you can use cupcake paper liners.  Whisk dry ingredients together.  In separate bowl stir wet ingredients together (not blueberries).  Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.  Do not overmix. Fold in blueberries.  Bake at for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.   Cool for 10 minutes on wire racks.  Makes 24 muffins. 

Blessings!

Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries

I had been wanting to make this dessert since before I was told to abstain from gluten.  After that diganosis I really wanted to make it because I knew it was gluten free and would still be decadent and yummy.  Thse are the things I tend to miss with a GF diet. (I am adapting though.)

The perfect opportunity came with Easter to make this Pavlova.  What a wonderful spring dessert!

Do you know what a Pavlova is? 

Basically it is a 7-9 inch round of perfectly cooked meringue shaped like a basket.  Slightly crispy on the outside and marshmallowy on the inside.  You can fill it with fresh berries and drizzle on berry sauce or you can put a layer of homeade, tangy lemon curd down first, then top with berries.  There are really endless possibilities. 

I highly recommend making this.  It is easy, beautiful, tart, sweet, decadent and gooey all at the same time!

Click on the title for the recipe I used...

Pavlova with Lemon Curd and Berries

Boston Brown Bread

Recently, when visiting the library I came across and fun looking cookbook that ended up having some really good recipes in it.  I found a recipe for Boston Brown Bread in the book and just thinking about this bread brought me back to my childhood. 

I remember going to the store with my mom and it was a huge treat for us to be able to buy a can of brown bread from the store. I couldn't wait to get it home, pop it out of the can, slice it, warm it up and top it with some cream cheese.  Yummy! It would still be a treat to do this today but I can't bring myself to spend the 4 or 5 dollars on this ~ especially when I can make it at home now!

Boston Brown bread is delicious and very unique in how it is cooked.  It is steamed in tin cans!  The texture is chewy and dense and it has a slightly sweet and nutty taste.  It tastes amazing warmed with butter or cream cheese on it.  I like to serve it to my family because it fills them up and is fairly healthy.

I made this the other day and it tasted just like I remembered it!  Actually better because it was fresh and no preservatives.

You have to try this you will love it.  Maybe it would be something fun to do with the kids too?  Everyone here thought it was cool how it steamed.

Here is the recipe:

Boston Brown Bread (from a book that I unfortunately did not write down the name!)

1 c. yellow cornmeal

1 c. rye flour

1 c. graham or whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

3/4 c. molasses

1 1/2 c buttermilk

1/2 c. raisins (optional)

Grease 2-3 16 oz. tin cans (cans that you saved from canned veggies or fruit) Set aside. Place a rack in the bottom of a very large stockpot (the kind you would uses for canning.) 

In a large bowl, sift together the cornmeal, flours, baking soda, and salt.  Stir in the molasses and buttermilk and mix well.

Fill the cans two-thirds full, cover with foil and place them on the rack in the stock pot.  Add hot water half way up the sides of the cans.  Cover the pot and heat to boiling.  Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hours or until the breads are firm to the touch and a long skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.  Check the water level occasionally to keep at the half way point.

Let the breads cool.  Unmold by by running a knife around the breads,  If the bread us stubborn, invert and give a few good shakes and it will come right out.

I doubled this recipe because I knew my family would love this. Sure enough they gobbled up all 5 loaves and asked me to make some more.

I'm Here!

I have been absent lately from blogging as much as I would like to.  I think about it everyday though.  Does that count?

May is always a VERY busy month around here.  We have two family birthdays and Mother's Day.  On top of that we have had some sickness and a myriad of life issues to be settled.  All is good though.

So aside from the above here are some of the things I have been up to:

+Going through a big box of heritage photos and memorabilia from my Grandma's side.  Seriously there are  some in there that are 100 years old.  I am organizing them into a power sort.  Once I am done with that I will be scanning the originals in to make digital storybooks for the family. A huge undertaking and very interesting to say the least.

+Making my first "dry rub" baby back ribs.  They turned out yummy!  Here is the recipe from one of my favorite cooking websites: Baby Back Ribs.

+Taking my boys to play at the park.

+Taking my boys to storytimes at various places.

+Enjoying our home fellowship weekly.

+Bidding farewell to the last MOMS of all Seasons at my church.  The Tea and Raffle went well.

+Attending the CFS Homeschool Expo for two days. It was very encouraging.

+Planning my next crop at the end of the month (the 29th).

+Planning a Creative Memories unit Meeting that I am hosting this month.

+Creating recipe cards in Storybook Creator Plus 3.0 to put into my Picfolio Milestones family recipe book
Here is one of our favorites:

+ Assembling and installing my sons NEW booster seat compliments of my Mother-in-law.

+Teaching Corbin reading and some math.

+Going to Garden Club with my boys.  Corbin gets to Garden with the Grandmas and Grandpas at a senior facility.  He gets to see seeds grow into beautiful vegetables and get to know some sweet elderly people.

+Helping Corbin make a model airplane.

+Making some cards with my cousin Stephanie's AWESOME stamps!
Here is one:

We have been having fun around here.  I have been choosing Joy and enjoying my family and the interests and talents that God has given me.  One thing on my list to do is get back to reading.  I haven't read in a while.  I have a Karen Kingsbury book waiting for me!

What have you been up to?