Soaked Granola

Soaked granola - isn't that what everyone eats when they pour milk over their granola in the morning?

If you are familiar with Nourishing Traditions, you know that "soaking" is an important facet of their diet recommendations. They suggest that all grains and seeds should be soaked in an acid medium (such as yogurt or lemon juice) before being prepared for eating. According to their research, grains are hard to digest and can actually bind up important minerals.

I always rolled my eyes and considered those who cook according to Nourishing Traditions the worse food snobs ever.

We loved my peanut butter granola. I always considered it far better than typical breakfast cereal since it contained "real" food, oatmeal, nuts, coconut, peanut butter, and honey. But I must have been slightly convinced of their claim that dry roasting oatmeal makes it completely indigestible. Changing a toddler's diapers demonstrated that very little digestion was happening for some of the family. (I know. TMI. Sorry.)

A few months ago, I decided to attempt making a soaked granola. I was sure the extra steps would not be worthwhile and it would taste awful.

I was wrong. Very wrong. Yes, it was a few more steps, but nothing difficult. But the taste...we were instantly smitten. Ed immediately claimed it was the very best granola ever. The yogurt gives it just a slight tang, though not sour. It is super crunchy, almost like the nut clusters in Honey Bunches of Oats which is Ed's all time favorite box cereal.

I found several online recipes and combined them to come up with my version. I start by mixing the dry ingredients with water and yogurt and allow to sit for 8 or so hours.



The oatmeal absorbs the moisture and becomes a thick glob. I stir in the rest of the ingredients.

 

This may be the hardest part of the whole project. I give up on a spoon and just dig in with my hands. Licking my fingers may be the best part! Yummy!



I use my dehydrator to dry the granola but you can also dry in the oven. A dehydrator is easy since it doesn't need turned. Plus we get to enjoy the wonderful aroma for hours. I make a double batch in my eight tray dehydrator.



Want to try it?

Soaked Granola


6 cups rolled oats
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped nuts (peanuts, almonds, or walnuts)
1 cup plain yogurt or kefir
2 cup water
1 cup coconut
1 cup butter or coconut oil
1 cup honey
1 tsp salt
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup raisins, craisins, or dried apples

Stir together oats, flour, sunflower seeds, and nuts. Add yogurt and water. Stir well. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 8 hours.

Add coconut, butter, honey, salt, and cinnamon. Stir well, breaking up clumps with hands if needed.

Spread in dehydrator and dry at 145 degrees until completely dry and crispy. I often start at 145 for a couple hours, turn the granola then lower the temperature to about 125 and allow to dry all night.

If using the oven, spread in baking sheets. Parchment paper will help keep it from sticking. Bake at 250 degrees for an hour or until completely dried. Stir every 15 minutes.

When dry, store in an airtight container.

Window Frame Cork Board

There is no danger in this turning into a craft blog. I completely lack creative ideas, but occasionally I actually have a successful idea.

I was looking for a way to display the children's art work. Frequently, the children make drawing that they want to hang. Magnets on the fridge and tape on the walls was losing it's appeal. I needed something easy to change to a new picture but in some way look a little planned and less haphazard.

A friend gave me an old six pane window. I knocked out the glass (carefully) and all the old putty around the glass. I chose not to change the frame at all, just cleaned it up a little. I liked the look of the old chipped paint on the frame.



I bought a roll of thin cork and Ed glued the cork to foam board and cut it to size. He used glazing points to fasten the cork into the window frame. He added a wire and screws for hanging.

A simple project but I love the result. The cork isn't terribly secure and could pop out if handled roughtly, so I ask the children to let me push the tacks in. I think it looks great empty, or filled with the children's masterpieces.



Not fine art, but perfect for our home.

How do you display your children's artwork?

Where to find Water Softening Powder

Since I shared the recipe I use for homemade laundry detergent, I have had many questions concerning where to find Calgon water softening powder.

I purchased mine at a large grocery store in the laundry department. Since one box lasts quite a while, I have not needed to purchase for probably close two years. Maybe stores are no longer carrying it.



If you can't find water softening powder at your local store, you can purchase from Amazon.

The next question is whether the water softening powder is truly necessary if you have soft water? I can't answer that since I haven't tried the recipe without. I think the purpose of the water softening powder is to whiten laundry. If any of you have used this detergent recipe without adding water softening powder, let us know your results.

The Most Important 15 Minutes of My Day

You are probably expecting me to talk about prayer and Bible reading. Truly that is the most valuable minutes of the day. Without those activities, all other endeavors of my day fall flat.

But I'm thinking specifically of homemaking and organizing my time.

The most important minutes of my day are the 15 minutes at the end of my day. Wise use of those 15 minutes will avoid stress for the next day.

I utilize those 15 minutes in various ways.  Often I look over tomorrow's menu (or make a menu) and get needed items from the freezer to defrost. Maybe I'll sort laundry and start a load. If I have errands the next day, I can prepare my shopping list, pack my diaper bag, and gather items that need returned. Sometimes I even take items to the van, if I fear the morning rush will cause my mind to be left behind.

Spending a few minutes in the quiet of the evening preparing for the next day, results in fewer 5:00 dinner panics over a frozen chunk of meat. It means having the option of utilizing my slow cooker. It means fewer items forgotten or misplaced. It means getting an early start at hanging out laundry.

I'm not a morning person. Though I love how rising early can help me accomplish so much more in my day, often my brain takes a while to turn on. If laundry is prepped, meals begun, errands planned - I can jump into autopilot and "do the next thing" without analyzing what it is that I should be doing.

But as one who could be described as a night person, I also need to carefully keep a time limit. Every mom knows that the work is never ending and we could easily find work every night until midnight. But tired moms don't function well, and I am learning to value a decent bedtime. The work will still be there tomorrow

If we are home, we are rather strict on a 9:00 bedtime for our children. As anyone with many young active children understands, it isn't easy to carve out couple time when the children are awake. My goal is to spend a few minutes preparing for the next day, but then put away the cookbooks, turn off the computer, shut the door to the laundry, and focus on my husband.

Taking the time to deliberately consider what I can do each evening to bless the next day has been a valuable use of time in our home. I'd love to learn from you. What ways do you maximize your minutes to bless your family?

For Fear of Chocolate Pie

Recently, I've been thinking about fear and why I am intimidated by the most ridiculous things. Do I fear failure? Am I intimidated because I don't think I will measure up?

Readers often admit that they are scared to attempt to bake bread. I've baked bread since I was ten years old and have made every kind of blooper in the book. Yeast holds no power of intimidation over me.

But apparently, I have a fear of chocolate pie.

My husband loves chocolate pie. Most Christmas meals are not complete without a piece of his mother's chocolate pie. When we married, it was one recipe that he wanted me to get from his mother.

I planned to learn to make chocolate pie. I love cooking to please my husband. Besides, I loved chocolate pie as much as Ed did. But something held me back.

Was it fear of failure? Was it intimidation of his mother's wonderful flaky pie crust? Regardless of the cause, the result was that I never made chocolate pie.

Last year, I told Ed I'd try to make him a chocolate pie for his birthday, but I broke my word and made cheesecake instead. Surely after almost ten years of marriage, I could have mustered up enough courage to tackle my husband's favorite recipe!

But birthdays have a way of coming around again and this month, I finally did it. I actually made a chocolate pie. The result - a pie every bit as good as Ed's mothers (well, maybe the crust wasn't quite as good, but Ed didn't complain.)

The worse (or best) part - it was easy! I have no idea why I waited so long to make chocolate pie. It was almost embarrassingly easy.

I wonder how many of my other fears would be so easily conquered if I only made the first attempt?

Now I'll share the recipe with you, so you too can enjoy an easy chocolate pie! But I should note that this recipe could strike fear for another reason, it contains raw eggs. I don't have a problem with eating homegrown raw eggs, but if you do, you just missed the opportunity to eat a wonderful chocolate pie.

Chocolate Pie


1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 T milk
2 T sugar
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg whites
baked pie crust

Melt chocolate, milk, and sugar at low heat or on double boiler. Cool slightly. Beat egg yolks into chocolate one at a time. Stir in vanilla. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold chocolate and egg whites together. Pour into pre-baked pie crust and chill. Serve with whipped cream.

2011 Garden Review

Seed catalogs continue to arrive in the mail box, reminding me that I have not taken the time to review last year's garden and make plans for the coming planting season.

Despite a wet spring, late garden, and dry summer, the Lord did bless us with an abundant harvest in 2011. Our worse challenge was the critters who wished to share our crop. Next year we need to be much more vigilant in pest control.

Our worse pest was ground hogs. I might have to give in and learn to shoot a gun. The varmints never show up when Ed is around but will walk within a few feet of me. Apparently they know I'm harmless.

Rabbits were another pest. They were almost tame and  hard to run off. They acted like they owned the place.

But the biggest change I need to make for next year is simply to plant more. I have been planting nearly the same amount the past few years but between our growing family and dry seasons, the harvest has not been enough. This year, we were blessed to receive green beans, potatoes, and tomatoes from family and friends, otherwise I would not have had nearly enough.



One of the best successes this year was the peas. I never have a good crop of peas. We love peas and it is discouraging to have a slim harvest of our favorite vegetable. This year we planted our peas in a new garden plot that was formerly pasture. We planted a far greater quantity of seeds than usual and chose two new (to us) varieties (Bolero and Encore both from Stokes).

I'm not sure what to give the credit. Was it the soil, the variety, our cool wet spring, or just that fact that we planted a huge amount? All I know is that we picked buckets of peas! (Thankfully a neighbor has a pea sheller and shells a bushel of peas for only $1.00.) I plan to mimic as closely as possible what we did last year and hope for the same success.

The new garden plots that we began in our pasture did well for certain crops and poor for others. The soil there is stony and drains well. It was perfect for our peas as our other garden lies low and was far too wet to plant in early spring. By the time the hot dry weather hit, the peas were over. Onions and potatoes also did well in those plots.

But the plots are too far from the house for any kind of pest control. The lettuce and beets had no chance. The squash were harassed and only one pumpkin escaped without at least one set of toothmarks. About half of the corn was pulled down and eaten. Next year we plan to keep the plants the varmints enjoy closer to the house where we can watch them easier and possibly protect better.

I appreciated Quinn's thoughts on trusting God for our harvest and focusing on doing what we do well, before adding new projects. After an overwhelming year in various fronts last year, my goals are to keep my garden plans simple and focus on growing those things that we know we can grow well.



Am I crazy to be thinking about gardening already? Please tell me that I'm not the only one! To be honest, one part of me wants to enjoy the winter's sabbatical. But then I get excited about making next year's garden better, pull a gardening book off the shelf, and start sketching garden plans.

Maybe I do have some farmer genetics passed down to me.

Favorite Lasagna

We love lasagna but I  rarely make it. The multiple steps and ingredients I don't usually stock, hold me back. I've tried simpler recipes, but keep coming back to this lasanga as our favorite.

The original recipe required part of a container of cottage cheese and didn't use a whole box of lasagna noodles. I disliked having partially used containers. Besides, while I was in the mess, it wasn't much more trouble to make several pans.

I adapted the recipe to make three 9x13 pans and use up complete containers.

This morning I simmered the sauce while I made lunch.

 

The noodles cooked while we cleaned up the kitchen. 



The cheese filling didn't take long to stir up.



The hardest thing about assembling the lasagnas was guessing how to make all the layers come out evenly. And that wasn't so difficult.



By the time I finished, I wondered why I think making lasagna is a big deal. Now I have a lasagna all ready for Ed's birthday next week and two more for the freezer. Anyone want to come over for lasagna?

Favorite Lasagna - Large Batch

Sauce:
4 lb ground beef
2 quart pizza sauce


OR instead of pizza sauce use:
2 quart tomato juice
4 (6oz) cans tomato paste
3 tsp salt
3 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic powder

Cheese Filling:
2 (24 oz) cottage cheese
6 eggs
1 1/2 cup paremesan cheese
4 T parsley flakes
3 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper


2 (16 oz) boxes of lasagna noodles (36 noodles)
2 lb shredded mozarella


Brown ground beef. Add pizza sauce OR sauce ingredients. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Combine cheese filling ingredients.

Cook noodles until just softened. Drain.

In three 9x13 pans, put a little sauce in bottom. Layer noodles, cheese filling, and sauce. Repeat two times. End with layer of noodles and any remaining sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Wrap tightly and freeze or bake at 375 for 30 minutes.