June 17, 2015
by Ashley
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Homemade Mac ‘n Cheese

I have made this mac n’ cheese for many years now. My kids seem to love it and it is a little better than a boxed version. I use any type of pasta I want and flax seed to thicken it.

Homemade Mac n’ Cheese

8 oz cooked pasta
1/2 cup 2% milk
2 tbsp milled flax seed
5 sliced american cheese

I cook the pasta and drain while I make the cheese sauce. My kids love american cheese (I should use mild cheddar but they don’t like the stringiness of it). Pour in the milk into sauce pan and add in the cheese. You can use a little more cheese if it doesn’t seem cheesy enough. Stir slowly together over medium heat and wait for cheese to melt. Add in flax seed to thicken sauce. Add in cooked pasta. Serve.

I usually thrown in a handful of frozen peas with the pasta cooking to add something green. If you have leftover baby food you need to use up…this is a great application for it as well. Use less milk and add in babyfood veggies and meat mixtures. Then add cheese. You can probably skip the flax seed if it is thick enough.

June 14, 2015
by Ashley
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Chocolate Pudding

Isla is my little sugar hound. She loves to eat sweets, play making sweets and even to pretend eating sweets. So she has been “making pudding” for days. She says she is mixing the ingredients and brings me a princess cup with a baby spoon and pretend pudding ready to eat.

Since she has been playing “pudding” for so many days, I decided to make some for her. We are planning on going on a picnic dinner with some friends at a local brewery, so I thought that the pudding would be a great dessert for the kids. I have these really handy silicone tubes for just this type of thing.

Isla helped make the pudding and really wanted a picture with the tubes we are going to put it in.

Almost done!

Our extra pudding, leftover after filling our silicone tubes.

Chocolate Pudding

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup baking cocoa
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 tsp kosher salt
4 cups 2% milk
2 tbsp butter
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a large sauce pan with high sides, whisk together sugar, cocoa, cornstarch and salt. Slowly add in milk and turn on heat. Constantly whisk until pudding comes to a full boil. Let boil for 2 minutes and turn off heat. Add in butter and vanilla; whisk together until well incorporated. Carefully pour into serving dishes and let cool. If you don’t like the hard skin on the top of pudding, you may put plastic wrap over touching the tops of the pudding.

June 12, 2015
by Ashley
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Homemade Lemonade

Lemonade is one of those things the kids beg for in the summer. It is also super easy to make, if you have the lemons. I can’t seem to find a good frozen lemonade that doesn’t have high fructose corn syrup…except for one at Trader Joe’s. I really like the taste of homemade lemonade the best.

Lemonade

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2/3 – 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 4 – 5 lemons)

4 cups water
3 cups ice

In a small sauce pan, heat up the 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to make a simple syrup. Once the sugar has been desolved, take off the heat and let cool. Squeeze lemon juice from lemons into a pyrex measuring cup. This way you know how much juice you are getting and can measure correctly. Combine juice and simple syrup in a pitcher and add ice and additional 4 cups of water.

I like my lemonade a little less tart, so I use less juice. You can add up to 1 cup of lemon juice to your taste.

Enjoy the summer!

June 11, 2015
by Ashley
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Maple Chocolate Chili Nuts

It is time for more nut recipes again! I am trying to come up with some healthy snacking options for us, so decided to try some new flavored nuts.

This is one that I found online, and used different nuts and a little more maple than suggested. Here is my version yet you can find the original recipe at the link below.

Maple Chocolate Chili Nuts

3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoon pure maple syrup, Grade B for baking
2 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted
2 cups pecans, almonds and/or walnuts
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon chipotle powder
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Mix everything but the nuts together. Toss with the nuts and then spread out on a baking sheet covered with a silpat or greased. Bake at 350°F for 8 minutes. Toss nuts and bake another 5 minutes. Pull out of oven and let cook on sheet before moving them.

Found original recipe at http://www.healthyseasonalrecipes.com/chocolate-chili-spiced-pecans/

June 3, 2015
by Ashley
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Greek Yogurt

We make our yogurt quite often, but you can do this with store bought yogurt as well.

Line a paper towel or cheese cloth over a large sieve. Set the sieve in as large bowl. Pour the yogurt into the lined sieve and set back into the fridge. Let sit for at least 2 hours. The longer you let it sit, the thicker it will become. The “water” that drains off will be greenish. This is the whey. You can use it in smoothies if you wish, but I usually end up throwing it away.

The remaining yogurt I put into a container and cover. This can be used in many different ways. Dressings, dips, replacing sour cream… or just eaten as is with a little honey or jam.

June 2, 2015
by Ashley
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Brussel Sprout & Veggie Soup

My latest creation. I was going to make a Kale & Turkey Soup…and ended up making this instead. When I start a soup for lunch, usually I have a plan in mind, or everything that is in the fridge gets added. This is one of those types of soups. Everything must go, but must be good as well. If you don’t have one of the ingredients below, feel free to substitute.

Brussel Sprout & Veggie Soup

1 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups frozen brussel sprouts, deforsted & chopped
8 carrots, peeled & chopped
3 potatoes, peeled & diced
2 onions, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups white beans, cooked
6 cups water
2 tbsp chicken base or 4 bouillon cubes
1 tbsp beef base or 2 bouillon cubes
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp parsley
2 tsp thyme
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Peel & chop all ingredients. Add brussel sprouts through beans into dutch oven and saute for 10 minutes. Add in vinegar and cook another 1 minute. Add in everything else and let come to a boil. Take out about half of the soup (making sure to get the big chunks) and puree. Add back to soup and return to a boil. Cool and serve with a drizzle of olive oil.

June 1, 2015
by Ashley
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Breakfast Portabellas

Sometimes breakfast can get a little repetitive. My kids would like to eat pancakes or crepes everyday. They don’t seem to get sick of it. But I am a person who need variety. Even if a recipe has the same exact ingredients, I will rather have it plated in a different way then the same everytime. I have also been trying to cut down on the amount of bread I consume. Not completely, because bread is one thing I can’t live without, but just not at every single meal. I came up with these recently, trying to use up what was in the refridgerator and they turned out really well.

Portabella Stuffed with Baked Egg

2 portabella caps
2 tbsp water
2 eggs
salt & pepper to taste
3 tsp shredded parmesan

To help baking time, I precooked the portabella in a saute pan with a little water covered for about 3 minutes. Just to soften the mushroom. Then transfer it to a baking dish and crack an egg in the portabella. Salt & pepper to taste. Place in the oven on a rack 6 inches down and broil on high. Check frequently. The egg cooks in about 5 minutes. Shred a little parmesan on the top and you have a fancy breakfast.

May 21, 2015
by Ashley
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Rice Pudding

Tonight I made extra rice with dinner, with rice pudding in mind. I told the kids that I would make a delicious breakfast rice pudding, and they told me they won’t be eating it. Too bad for them! This time my rice pudding turned out really well. Very thick, and custardy. Not too runny or sugary. Give it a try and let me know what you think. We are going to serve it in the morning with some brandied Door County cherries we have been slowly eating this winter.

Rice Pudding

4 cups Arborio rice
4 cups 2% milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup nonfat dry milk
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla

Combine rice, milk, sugar, dry milk and salt in a large sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Simmer until thick, about 30 minutes.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk eggs and vanilla together. Gradually add a couple of heaping spoonfuls of rice into eggs while whisking constantly. You don’t want the eggs to cook. Once you have about 6 spoonfuls of hot rice mixture added to the eggs, pour the egg mixture in with the rest of the rice, stirring constantly. Keep stiring for two minutes. Remove from heat. It is ready to eat or reserve in the refrigerator for the next morning.

May 19, 2015
by Ashley
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Airy Knit Cowl

I love making presents for friends and family. I usually have really good intentions and attempt to make more than humanly possible. But once in a while, I will get my knit projects done in time. I made a cowl for my sister-in-law with this an easy stitch and a lightweight yarn. My intention was for it to be worn in the summer, but after I was finished it was a little heavier. She was excited to be able to wear it to work where she is cold all of the time.

I started it out thinking I would leave it long like a scarf, but then decided to connect the ends into a cowl shape.

Here is the scarf pattern I based this cowl off of called The Open Air Wrap. I cut down the size of the scarf by half since I wasn’t using the silk that was recommended. Turned out really well and was really easy to knit. Only thing that seemed difficult was if you dropped a stitch, you would have to back track and it is hard to figure out how to pick it back up.

May 16, 2015
by Ashley
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Multigrain Waffles

Weekends have been getting busier lately since spring has finally sprung. We seem to have a lot of plans and not as much down time. We have a lot of camping weekends, lake weekends and a small vacation coming up. Lots of fun places for us to try new recipes. I will try to keep up and share, but most nights I sit down with my family and forget completely about taking a picture of what we made and writing about it.

Since today is a nice, lazy Sunday morning for us. I decided to try these waffles out again. I made these a couple weeks ago, and forgot taking a picture before the kids devoured them. Having these in the freezer makes for a very easy morning and a fast breakfast for us and the kids. I just pop the frozen waffles into the toaster, and breakfast is ready in moments. This recipe can easily be used for pancakes as well and make about 10 waffles.

Multigrain Waffles

1 cup oats
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup plain yogurt
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp maple syrup

Blend oats in blender until flour like. Pour into a stand mixer along with the rest of the dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients. Slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients while mixer is on a low speed. Mix thoroughly. Heat waffle iron and spray with cooking spray. Cook 1/4 cup batter per waffle.