FFG -- Gourmet Granola

My amazing friend Lori hosts Friday Farm Girls @ Heart every week;

please click on her button to visit her blog

and to find out how you can participate!

A bowl of homemade granola

I'm slowly recovering from my back injury, and I'm happier this week!  I'm able to move around a bit more freely, and because of needing to stand frequently, I have found myself in my kitchen more often.  My practical farm-girl heart says, "If I need to stand, I may as well stand in the kitchen and do something!"

One morning, I enlisted the boys' help to make granola.  I posted a photo of this once a long time ago, but this time, I have photos and the recipe!!  :)

cinnamon, coconut chips, pepitas

Christine's Granola

This is a double recipe; the amounts are easier!  I usually triple the recipe to have extra throughout the week.  I list alternate ingredients (and notes) in parentheses, just in case you don't use what I use.  :)

1 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
1/2 cup coconut oil (or other oil)
1/2 cup honey
1 t vanilla
24 oz. rolled oats (sorry I don't know how many cups this is; I use a scale)
1 T cinnamon
1/2 t sea salt

Optional Ingredients (I use the above for plain granola, and add the below for "gourmet" granola; you can add as many or as few as you like!)
1/2 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds; I use raw Mexican)
1 cup coconut chips (from my bulk co-op, they are sweetened coconut shavings and totally yummy)
1 cup chopped nuts (I use a combination of raw walnuts, pecans, and slivered almonds)
1 cup raisins or other dried fruit (a friend just gave me dried cherries!!)

Combine sucanat, coconut oil, and honey in a saucepan.  Cook over low heat until sucanat is dissolved (it will be shorter if you use brown sugar).  Stir in vanilla.  Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients--I usually add the dried fruit after baking--in a large bowl and mix to combine.

Pour the liquid mixture into the oatmeal mixture, stirring until completely combined.  Spread into a baking pan, and bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes.  Remove to stovetop or potholders and stir in raisins.  Stir the mixture as it cools (it will become one single clump if you don't!).  Store in an airtight container; I use canning jars.

Stir to lift oats from the bottom of the bowl--this will help thoroughly combine the ingredients

See?  Warm granola + cold milk = large clump :)

Glass jar storage

Back to life,
Christine

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captured by Christine Anne

FFG--French Coconut Pie for Katia

My dear friend Lori hosts Friday Farm Girls at Heart every week;

please click on her button to visit her blog

and to find out how you can participate!

My dear online friend Katia requested this recipe, and I decided to post it today for her.  I have been in baking mode since Thanksgiving week, and I love to create a warm kitchen and to fill the house with wonderful aromas.  It seems there are so many events/reasons to bake during this month.  I love it!

Though I don't have a photo of just this pie, I'll re-post one of all of our Thanksgiving pies.  Yummm...

Back "row":  pumpkin, pumpkin pecan, French apple.

Front "row":  pecan, lemon buttermilk, French coconut.

French Coconut Pie

3 beaten eggs
3/4 cup sugar (I use cane juice crystals)
1 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tablespoon flour (I use freshly-milled whole-wheat)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cider or white vinegar (I use apple cider vinegar)
1 cup flaked coconut (I throw in a little extra!)
1 9" unbaked pie shell (I make a whole-wheat crust)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except coconut and pie shell.  Beat together until well-mixed and add coconut.  Pour into pie shell and bake for ten minutes.  Reduce heat to 325 degrees and bake for 40 minutes or until filling is set (top will be slightly golden).  Serves eight.

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

FFG--Yogurt Muffins

My dear friend Lori hosts Friday Farm Girls at Heart every week;

please click on her button above to visit her blog

and find out how you can participate!

I've been hooked on muffins for several weeks now.  Meaning, once I found a new recipe, tried it, and liked it, I started finding muffin recipes everywhere!  I shared in earlier posts about how I'm trying to keep my recipe binder down to just one binder--why do I need 25 muffin recipes?--and I'm sticking to my guns.

Several versatile recipes are all I need to change things up a bit.  For example, I began with maple crumb muffins.  Then when I didn't have the sour cream needed for those, I searched and found a recipe using cottage cheese.  Yep, you guessed it--I was low on both of those ingredients, but I had some yogurt in the fridge!  The search began, and I found the recipe below.

When I say versatile, I like muffin recipes to which you can add fruit, for example.  I also like changing the flavor by adding lemon or orange peel, a different flavor yogurt, or extra cinnamon and a dash of freshly grated nutmeg.  With these yogurt muffins, I didn't have lemon yogurt--the recipe was billed as "lemon yogurt muffins"--but I did have banana mango yogurt, so I used that.  I made these a second time, and added blueberries to the batter.  Serious yummies.  I also doubled the batch, and, since I have only one muffin tray, I made mini bread loaves with the second batch in my four-loaf mini bread pan.  We're saving those for Sunday morning breakfast when the household is bustling with church service preparations.

As I've written before, make "muffins for breakfast" even easier by prepping the evening before.  Mix together the dry ingredients, cover, and leave on the counter.  Set the butter in the bowl, cover, and leave on the counter to soften overnight.  Pull out the mixer, measuring cup(s), and other tools.  Set the muffin tins out and line them with papers.  It's amazing how quickly breakfast comes together when I do this!

Here's the recipe.  I usually use freshly ground whole-wheat pastry flour in my recipes, which means that the amount of flour listed is a little more than what the recipe called for.  But just a little!

Yogurt Muffins

1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup cane juice crystals (or sugar)
2 eggs
3/4 cup yogurt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
dash freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
2 teaspoons (or more) lemon juice

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line muffin tray with papers.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the yogurt and lemon juice.  Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg; stir into the yogurt mixture until just blended.  Spoon batter into the prepared muffin tin.

Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the top springs back when lightly touched.  Allow the muffins to cool for 10-15 minutes before removing them from the tin.

Place the confectioner's sugar in a small bowl.  Stir in the lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon at a time, until the mixture is drizzling consistency.  Drizzle over cooled muffins, and allow the icing to set before serving.  (NOTE:  I dipped my muffin tops into the drizzle, then turned them upright and placed them on the serving platter.)

Again, please visit Lori's wonderful blog to find out about

Friday Farm Girls at Heart!

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

FFG--A Versatile Breakfast

My dear friend Lori hosts Friday Farm Girls at Heart every week; please click on her button to the left to visit her blog and find out how you can participate!

Since I've posted so many pictures of pancakes, I thought I'd share the recipe with you.  If I haven't made preparations the night before, my boys will thoughtfully mix all the dry ingredients together for me in the morning.  They'll get out the griddle, pancake flipper, and everything else I need to get breakfast on the table.  I love my boys.  :)

Night-before prep is easy with this recipe; just mix all the dry ingredients together, and place measuring cups/spoons out so that in the morning you can pull all the wet ingredients together quickly.  Enjoy!

Whole-Wheat Pancakes

2 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1/4 cup cane juice crystals (or granulated sugar)
1 T + 1 t baking powder
1/2 (or so) cups rolled oats
1/4 cup lecithin granules (optional)
1/4 cup ground flax seed (optional)
2 beaten eggs
1 1/2 cups milk (less or more, depending on how thick you like the batter)
2 T oil (I use olive)

Stir together dry ingredients.  Add wet ingredients to dry; mix well (will probably be a little lumpy).  Pour about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake onto a lightly oiled griddle or heavy skillet.  Cook until golden brown on bottom, flipping to cook other side when pancake has a bubbly surface and slightly dry edges.  Serve with pure maple syrup, honey, butter, fruit topping, etc.  You can also add about a cup of chopped fruit to the batter.

I have posted so many pictures of pancakes that I'm not going to post one today!  And I know this has nothing to do with pancakes or even breakfast, but here is a garden photo from just a few days ago.  My September harvest is still going strong even in October; praise the Lord!

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

FFG--Soup's On!

Please click on Lori's button to the left to visit her blog and to participate in Friday Farm Girls at Heart!

During the fall and winter months, it's so nice to have soup for dinner.  In past years, we designated Tuesday night as soup night.  I haven't gotten into the Tuesday groove yet, but we've had soup several times now.  Homemade chicken soup is the best, and the easiest to make!

At our Farmer's Market, Fernando and I visit Eric, from Nature's Choice Farm.  They raise 100% grass-fed cattle, plus free-range chickens and pigs.  We buy their farm-fresh eggs and whatever meat we can afford  Their prices are high, but as I've heard, good food isn't cheap, and cheap food isn't good.  This time, I asked Eric for the biggest chicken he had.  Well, they raise 'em big on their farm--it was nine pounds!

On Sunday evening, I put it in a large pot, covered it with filtered water, and simmered it all night.

Chicken simmering on the stove

About lunchtime, I removed the chicken and bones from the stock, and let everything cool down a bit.  I strained the stock, return in to the pot, and de-boned and chunked up all the chicken.  I froze three portions of cooked chicken for future meals, and saved a portion for my soup.

Late afternoon Monday, I got the stock boiling again, with a little salt and organic chicken soup base added.  Once it was boiling, I added carrots chopped by Joe!  He was so sweet to help me pull out the rest of our garden carrots and wash them, too.

The remaining garden carrots

I kept this soup simple, but I love to add chopped onion, celery, and any other vegetables that I have on hand.  The stock simmered for several minutes until the carrots were tender, then I added cooked whole-wheat egg noodles (I like to cook my pasta separately, then add it to the stock).

Since you can't have chicken soup without herbs, I picked some fresh garden parsley.

Freshly chopped parsley

Thomas, my official kitchen helper for the year, added the parsley.  Not only is he my kitchen helper (it's home-ec class!), he has become my photography assistant, since I can't add parsley and take a picture at the same time.  :)

Thomas adds the parsley

When we have soup for supper, we always have a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich.  This tradition was established growing up in my family, and it is now cemented in our own family!

Soup's on!  Time for supper!

Back to life,
Christine

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captured by Christine Anne

FFG--Chilly Mornings and a Harvest Breakfast

This post has been updated to reflect corrections

in the recipe below!!!

Welcome to another Friday Farm Girls at Heart!  Visit Lori's blog (click on her FFG button at right) to find out what it's all about!

Sometimes I chuckle as I write my Farm Girl posts, as I have no desire to live on a farm, drive a tractor, or milk a cow.  But my passion is everything at home--gardening, crafts, creating delicious meals, even cleaning--so there is a little bit of farm girl in my heart!

Now that mornings are chillier, I'm thinking about harvest, and baking, and lovely kitchen aromas.  My friend Stacy posted a recipe for baked oatmeal, which she tweaked to her family's liking.  I have tweaked it to my own family's liking, in honor of the harvest season, and below you will find my version.  You can find her version here.

Breakfast preparation the night before

I love breakfast recipes which you can partially make the night before.  It shortens the morning prep time and breakfast can be ready in a jiffy.  If you follow a recipe for any of the following examples, make sure your cookbook is also out the night before and opened to the correct page:

• Muffins--Mix the dry ingredients the night before.  Measure any wet ingredients into prep bowls, cover, and leave in fridge.  Set out muffin pan and line with cupcake papers.
• French Toast--Set out griddle or frying pan, bowl for egg, fork, and flipper.  I also set out cinnamon, which I put in my egg mixture.  If bread is homemade, make sure it's sliced.
• Pancakes--Mix the dry ingredients the night before, same as muffins.  Set out griddle, fork for mixing, and pancake flipper on the counter.  Set out measuring cups and spoons for wet ingredients.
• Oatmeal--See below for the recipe! 

Autumn Harvest Baked Oatmeal

The night before, combine:
3 cups rolled oats
2 cups buttermilk (or 2 cups milk + 2 T buttermilk, kefir, or yogurt)

Mix together and set aside until morning:
1 1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger
2 t baking powder
1 t salt
dash nutmeg (I grate mine fresh)
dash cloves

In the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees, and mix together in a bowl:
1 t vanilla
1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, melted
1/3 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 to 1/2 cup pureed pumpkin

To this mixture, add the oat mixture and the dry ingredients.  Pour into a buttered 11x7 baking pan and bake at 350 degrees 25-30 minutes.  Top with fruit, chopped nuts, ground flax seeds, warm milk, or drizzle with warm maple syrup.

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

FFG--Cinnamon-Oat Muffins and a Farm Photo :)

To find out about Friday Farm Girls at Heart, click on the link to the left and visit Lori's blog.  Then stay for a visit and chat with us!  We farm girls love company.

A farm wife must love to cook.  That's my impression, anyway.  So I guess this suburbanite can say that she is a farm girl at heart!  I love cooking, baking, and discovering new recipes.

I tend to experience two phases in my kitchen and in my life in general:

1. The search to gather ________
2. The effort to de-clutter ________

I have filled in that blank with many different things:  books, science supplies, hats, shoes, kitchen gadgets...  The word recipes was in that blank for several years, but I have just finished Phase #2 by getting rid of  four or five cookbooks, and combining my recipes--two overflowing binders' worth--into one binder, with space to spare.

I determined that one can have only so many recipes.  I purged several which were similar, and kept only my favorite ones in all categories--breakfasts, main dishes, breads, muffins, cakes, etc.  (Click here to see my post about my recipe binder.)

I recently found some muffin recipes unique enough to try and keep.  I kept only a few, which you'll be seeing in future Farm Girls posts.  Muffins are great--if you find a basic recipe, you can add any sort of fruit to it to change it up a bit.  Or, add some lemon or orange peel for a slightly different flavor.  That's why I'm determined, in the recipe arena, to have just a few.

Cinnamon-oat muffin with a cup of tea

Cinnamon-Oat Muffins

1 cup old fashioned oats (not instant)
1 cup buttermilk

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/3 cup cane juice crystals (or sugar)
1/3 cup sucanat (or brown sugar)
1 egg
1 t pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour
1 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon

cinnamon-sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Combine the oats and buttermilk in a bowl and let stand for ten minutes.  In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, cane juice crystals, sucanat, egg, and vanilla.  Add the oat mixture and stir to blend.  Add the flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon and mix well.

Spoon the batter into paper-lined muffin cups (dozen).  Sprinkle each muffin with cinnamon-sugar.  Bake for 20 minutes; let cool for about five minutes before removing muffins to a cooling rack to cool.  Makes one dozen muffins.

Since we're sharing Friday Farm Girls, I leave you with this picture, just for fun.  Yes, I have been on a farm!

Not my back yard  :)

For every beast of the forest is Mine,

The cattle on a thousand hills.

I know every bird of the mountains,

And everything that moves in the field is Mine.

Psalm 50:10-11 nasb

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne

FFG > Cinnamon Cottage Cheese Muffins

To find out about Friday Farm Girls @ Heart, just click on the button to the right to visit Lori's blog and to read what it's all about!

This morning, I wasn't planning on making breakfast.  Due to sewing a quick fix for a blouse, I didn't get downstairs until almost 9am.  Jacob was getting set to leave for college, Thomas was working on an algebra quiz, Joseph was toasting some bread, and Danny was munching out of the fridge.

So when I half-heartedly asked, "Does anyone want me to make breakfast?"  I didn't expect a positive response.  But positive it was, and they agreed on muffins.  I figured if they helped, we could have muffins in the oven in a jiffy.  I grabbed my cookbook to start preparing a recent new favorite--Maple Crumb Muffins--then realized I didn't have enough sour cream.  We had cottage cheese instead.  Hmm.

Let me just say that the internet can be a wonderful thing!  I found a recipe, and altered it a tad for fresh whole wheat flour and for our love of cinnamon.  I licked the bowl scraper, and just knew I had a winner.  I share it with you here!  And of course, you already know I won't have pictures until--Lord willing--TOMORROW!  (Can you tell I'm just a bit excited??)

Cinnamon Cottage Cheese Muffins

1 1/2 C flour (I used whole-wheat, and used slightly more)
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 t cinnamon
1/4 C softened butter
3/4 C sugar (I use cane juice crystals)
1 egg
1 C cottage cheese
1/4 C milk

In a small bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a larger bowl, cream together the butter and sugar.  Add egg and mix well.  Add cottage cheese and milk and mix well.  Stir in dry ingredients until moistened.  Pour into paper-lined 12-muffin muffin tin.  I sprinkled a little cinnamon/sugar over the tops.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes.  Remove to wire rack to cool.

Since I can't bear to leave without a photo, here's one from my spring garden.

...The grass withers, the flower fades,

But the word of our God stands forever.

Isaiah 40:8 nasb

Back to life,
Christine

visit my photography blog!
captured by Christine Anne