Jack be limbo, Jack be quick, Jack go unda limbo stick

So, I'm moving.  But I don't exactly when or exactly where.  In about ten days Mike and I are flying up to Spokane to look at houses and hopefully put in an offer but until then I am in limbo.  I walk around the house in circles.  I walk outside and stand in my front yard, look around, and walk back inside.  Being in limbo is no fun.  But there is a cure - it's a boring one but it really works - stay busy.  So to cure my limbo blues I've been drying peaches, making bread, and yesterday I make home dried tomatoes.

Last weekend we went up to Mike's parents in Boise and they have an amazing garden - they let me take as many tomatoes as I wanted - so I filled a big paper box full of beautifully ripe tomatoes.  Brought them home and made me some home dried tomatoes.  My mother in law also let me borrow her dehydrator.

I love love love sun-dried tomatoes but I had no idea how much better home dried tomatoes would be - they are AMAZING.  They are slightly sweet because they were ripened on the vine, they're slightly salty, and they're bursting with savory tomato flavor.  YUMMY!!!

It was a pretty simple process too.  I dunked the tomatoes in boiling water for 60 seconds - then into a bath of cold water.  Once they were cool enough to handle I took them out and their skins slid off easily.  I then quartered the tomatoes and put them in the dehydrator - as easy as that.  It took like 14-15 hours in the dehydrator for them to be ready so start early so you don't have to get up at 1 AM to check them like I did.

My favorite thing to do with dried tomatoes, beside just popping them in my mouth, is to make a sun-dried tomato pesto - I put this on sour dough bread with fresh mozzarella and a few basil leaves and then toast it - SO SO YUMMY!

One More Recipe!!! *updated

Homemade Graham Crackers

Here's a recipe I got from my cousin's wife just this morning and I made them in like ten minutes and my kids love them.  They are especially good with a glass of milk!
2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbl. brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (room temp.)
2 Tbl. honey
2 Tbl. milk

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter. Add the honey & milk. It will be crumby. I ended up mixing by hand but I bet a food processor would do the trick. Roll out on parchment paper until 1/4 in. thick and transfer to cookie sheet - paper and all. Score with fork and cut with roller. I made mine mini-sized and they are soo cute.  Bake 5 min. at 400 until lightly brown.

*For the life of me I CANNOT get them crackery in 5 minutes even though my cousin swears she can.  I must cook them for 10-12 minutes.  So, see which you like!

Man cannot live by bread alone...unless it's 100% whole wheat.

People have been asking me about my bread recipe for a while now and I've been slow in getting it up here for a few reasons.  First, it's not my recipe - it's a recipe that you can find in a lot of places on the internet.  Second, it's specific to a Bosch mixer and since not everyone has one of those I didn't know if there was much of a need/point.  And third, I'm lazy since it's on paper only and I didn't want to have to type it up.  But my copy is getting pretty ragged so I figured it was time.


First off, in order to get things done I have to put the littlest one on my back - which I did today.  He likes it and except for when he pulls my hair, I don't mind it either.  I still have other little hands getting into the wheat though.  In fact, as I type my kitchen floor has a layer of wheat grains scattered throughout.

I go through this process about once a week(maybe 6 days) - making four loaves of 100% whole wheat bread.  We love it and I have gotten used to the trouble of making it.


I start by grinding my flour - flour that comes from the mill that Kevin Bacon danced through in the movie Footloose.  We just finished out first 45 pound bucket - it went quicker than I thought it would.  For every cup of grain I get about a cup and a half of flour - give or take.

 

Here you can see the ingredients(minus the flour) and my Bosch on the right.  I don't think I would be making bread this often if I didn't have a Bosch.  It's a workhorse and does an amazing job - I just add the ingredients and it does the rest.  Here is the recipe:

100% Whole Wheat Bread (Directions for Bosch Mixer, but can be made by hand)
(makes about 4 loaves)

5-6 cups hot tap water (hot to the touch;not hot enough to burn finger)
2/3 c. oil
2/3 c. honey
1/2 c. applesauce
2 tbsp. Kitchen Specialties dough enhancer
2 tbsp instant yeast
2 tbsp salt
2 tbsp vital wheat gluten
15-17 cups freshly milled whole wheat flour

Pour warm water into Bosch mixing bowl. Add approximately 5 cups flour on top of liquid. Then add dough enhancer, oil, honey, yeast, and gluten. Use the (M) momentary switch to mix well.

Add approx. 5 additional cups flour, and salt. Turn to speed 2. Continue ading flour 1/4 cup at a time until the dough pulls away cleanly from the sides of the bowl. Continue kneading on speed 2 for another 5 minutes.

Oil or grease hands and counter. Divide dough into equal portions and shape into loaves. Put into well greased pans. Let rise till double in size. Bake 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from pans and cool on wire rack. Top of loaves can be rubbed with water or butter for shiny appearance. Dough can be used for pizza crust or cinnamon rolls.

If you don't have a Bosch mixer you use a Kitchen-aid but I would half the recipe because Kitchen-aid motors can burn out on the heavy load of this bread.  You can also knead it by hand but it will need a double rising time - once in the bowl before you put it in the pans.  

 And when they are all done I pull them out and put them on their sides to cool.  Once they're cool I put them in bags so we can enjoy them over the next several days.  If I know we aren't going to be eating much bread I'll throw a couple loaves in the freezer.

Yummy, Healthy, & In Season: Mom's Baked Squash with Applesauce

I am a pretty big believer in eating in season and buying locally grown produce.  I owe most of that to this guy and this lady.  Not that I don't still buy ridiculous amounts of bananas every week but still I try and what I can.  And I KNOW a little makes a difference.  Anyhow, on to the point.  Here is a GREAT food that can meet all of the important criteria.  This recipe is something like the one from this book.  I love to eat it on cold afternoons or in the evening with I'm trying to refrain from the amazing cookies my husband always bakes.  It's like a great mix of apple & pumpkin pie - except really healthy!

Mom's Baked Squash with Applesauce

1 acorn squash
2 tablespoons of cider jelly, apple jelly, or currant jelly(I use apple butter)
salt
1 cup of applesauce
cinnamon & sugar

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Half the squash from top to bottom and scoop out the seeds.  Cut a small slice from the bottom of each half so the squash will sit flat as it bakes and place them in a casserole or baking dish with a lid.  Brush the jelly over the flesh of each half and then sprinkle with a little salt.  Cover and bake for 50-55 minutes or until the flesh is just tender.  If liquid has settled in the cavities spoon it out and then fill with applesauce.  Bake for 10 more minutes or until the applesauce is warm.  Sprinkle with copious amounts of cinnamon and sugar and enjoy!

Crock Pot Craziness...

I am a Mormon and Mormons have a tradition of fasting for two meals the first Sunday of every month. The fasting has at least two purposes. First off, the money we would have spent on those two meals we give to those who are in need, and secondly, fasting puts you in a much more humble(albeit sometimes grumpy) state of mind and opens up your heart a lot more.


Anyhow, it's really hard to cook when you are hungry so I know I should try to find good crock pot meals that will not only be tasty but will require very little time in the kitchen. But I often find that the meals are uninspired, unhealthy, old fashioned or all three.  So a couple of weeks ago when I got this forward I was so so excited.

Mike passed along a forward that had a LONG list of crock pot recipes.  And remember how I said I don't like to cook with a lot of canned goods - especially cream of you name it's?   Well, these recipes are are actually pretty free of stuff like that and much more exciting than the standard fare.  Today we had a cranberry pork loin and it was amazing. I mean AMAZING(well, do I have been fasting all day so...)! So here's the link the long list of recipes(well over 300) that I got in that forward:

CROCK POT RECIPES!!!