Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

We love chocolate chip cookies around here.  They are easy to throw together and pretty much please almost anyone, but sometimes they can get a little bit boring.  When I am feeling this way I opt to make "Chocolate Chocolate Chip" cookies instead.  All you have to do is take your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe (mine is Toll House) and substitute 1/2 cup of cocoa powder for 1/2 cup of the flour.  That's it and you end up with a totally different cookie!  Give it a try some time!

Naturally Fermented Vegetable Medley

As we continue our journey deeper in the world of fermented foods, Nate and I decided we were ready for a little spice.  Our first batch of sauerkraut was a dud.  It got moldy because we didn't watch the liquid levels close enough.  So that batch had to go in the trash.  The second batch of kraut turned out and we have already eaten it all gone.  We are anxiously awaiting a batch of fermented garlic-dill pickles.  They should be ready any day now.  Because it is winter and the house is colder, the pickles are taking closer to four weeks to ferment fully.  I made a batch in the summer in only two weeks, thanks to the warmer temps.  Nate and I threw together this beautiful vegetable mix to get another batch of something fermenting since it is taking so much more time.  We mixed cauliflower, daikon radish, carrots, jalapenos and garlic.  Looking back I probably should have added onion, too, but there will be more vegetable crocks in the future.  While we wait anxiously for our pickles, we have been feeding our fermented food needs with Topor's pickles from the store.  I love them because they are naturally fermented and they are less than half the price of Bubbie's pickles.  I will try and keep you updated on all of our fermented adventures!

Other posts on naturally fermented foods:

Naturally Fermented Sauerkraut
Boost Your Immune System Naturally

Green Smoothies to Start the Year Off Right

So whether or not you took your nutritional typing test yesterday, the fact remains that the majority of Americans do not get enough vegetables, raw food or good fats in their diets.  Sometimes a little creativity and concentrated effort can make a big impact on your health.  As we made our way through all the goodies, cookies, candies and hot chocolate of December, I could feel my body caving from too many carbs and too much sugar.  I immediately felt that I needed to get back to my "green smoothie days."

In the past I have drank a lot of green smoothies at different times for both health and weight loss reasons.  I first started when Julius was 5 months old when I felt I was not dropping the baby weight like I wanted.  Not only have green smoothies helped me lose weight and feel full for a good portion of the morning, they make me feel wonderful and energized.  My biggest problem has been consistency.  I have mainly only consumed them during warmer months.  At the end of December, I decided I could not wait for warmer weather because my family and I needed them.  More recently I have also discovered many foods that I wanted to incorporate into our family's diet and smoothies seemed like a perfect spot to sneak them in.  So in between Christmas cookies and gum drops I actually managed to make smoothies for the family during Christmas vacation.  Since school has started back up we have been having smoothies every other day or every two days.  That way I get a break from making them and no body seems to tire of them.

What's a green smoothie, you ask?  It is a smoothie that consists of both fruits and vegetables.  Some smoothie enthusiast actually like and prefer all-vegetable savory smoothies.  But around here we like them sweeter, so we stick to a ratio of 60% fruit and 40% vegetable.  I'll give you a run down of what's in our smoothie and why we chose those ingredients.

Our typical smoothie ingredients are:

• banana
• frozen spinach
• frozen mango
• frozen strawberries
• chia seeds
• sesame seeds
• ground flax seed
• coconut oil, melted
• raw honey
• filtered water
• homemade plain yogurt

I have no tried and true recipes, I just have experimented some and have learned ratios that make everyone happy.  I try and put as little honey in as needed and let the fruit be the main source of sweetness, but if you are used to a sweeter smoothie, a raw, natural and unprocessed form of sweetener will help you along.  Over time you may find you need less and less for your tastes.

My biggest food priorities in the smoothie are:

• Coconut oil
• spinach (or some other type of green)
• chia seeds
• sesame seeds
• ground flax seeds

These foods are my priorities because I have a harder time finding ways to incorporate them into our daily meals.  Fruit, yogurt, honey and water are easy to get in and don't have near the health benefits of the other ingredients.  What makes the above foods so special?

Coconut oil falls into that mysterious wonder food category with so many health benefits (amazingly good saturated fat, helps weight loss, blood sugar control, has antiviral and antiseptic qualities) it is hard to comprehend.  Head on over to Organic Facts to read more. Spinach or similar greens are packed with Vitamin K and other minerals that help strengthen bones.  Too much attention has gone to calcium through the years, and research has found that calcium is a dud if it doesn't have the proper vitamins and minerals working with it.  Greens provide those necessary complimentary nutrients to calcium.  Spinach and coconut oil work well together because it is proven that eating vegetables with a good saturated fat allows the body to better digest the vegetable and get more nutrients from it.  Most people are deficient in Vitamin K, so for that reason alone, greens added to smoothies are a big plus.

I have long heard the benefits of ground flax seed.  It is high in B vitamins, Omega-3 fatty acids, fiber and phytonutrients.  It is also cheap and readily available because of it's current popularity, so it makes a nice addition to a smoothie without hurting the pocketbook too much.  I can also get sesame seeds very cheap at my health food store.  Sesame seeds are high in copper, magnesium, manganese, and calcium.  They also have a high phytosterol content which helps lower blood cholesterol,  improve heart health, enhance the immune system and decrease malignancies.  The last little addition to our smoothies is chia seeds.  I have only recently heard of their benefits and now you can too!

7 Good Reasons To Start Eating Chia Seeds

1. Help weight loss. Chia seeds are popular for weight loss. They reduce food cravings by preventing some of the food that you eat from getting absorbed into your system. This blockage of calorie absorption makes them a great diet helper.
2. Feel fuller faster: They can also help your diet by making you feel full. This is because they absorb 10 times their weight in water, forming a bulky gel.
3. Hydration for athletes: They are also great for athletes because the "chia gel" can hydrate the body.
4. Reduce your blood pressure: There's evidence to suggest they can reduce blood pressure.
5. Omega-3: They are the richest plant source of Omega-3 (the vital fats that protect against inflammation—such as arthritis—and heart disease). In fact, they contain more Omega-3 than salmon!
6. Benefits for diabetes: Because chia seeds slow down how fast our bodies convert carbohydrates into simple sugars, studies indicate they can control blood sugar. This leads scientists to believe chia seeds may have great benefits for diabetics.
7. They are easier to digest than flax seeds, and don't need to be ground up.

So there you have it.  This post is very long and probably overwhelming.  I know I haven't even begun to give justice to the true benefits of such amazing foods.  The key is just to start somewhere.  If I recall correctly my first green smoothie had romaine lettuce and pears in it.  I just kind of expanded from there.  Most people have either made or drank a smoothie at some point.  Start by taking your average, full fruit smoothie and adding a handful of greens to it.  If that goes well, a tablespoon or two of melted coconut oil goes in pretty unnoticed.  After that is accomplished, experiment by adding a tablespoon or two of a healthy seed.  If you are worried about the taste, maybe these pics of little people sucking down their green smoothies will convince you that they can be quite tasty if done right!

Free Nutritional Typing

I was pretty excited today when I saw on Dr. Mercola's website that he now offers his nutritional type testing for free.  I have been very intrigued by this concept, but didn't want to shell out the $30 just to take the test.  Well, now you don't! 

Dr. Mercola offers this testing because he believes people require different diets or forms of fuel to help their bodies run at their best.  Some people require much more protein and fat in their diets.  Others require many more vegetables.  If you have been frustrated with your health, weight or overall well-being, the test only takes a few minutes and could point you in the right direction to make the changes you want.  The cool thing is the test comes with two free downloads.  One is a booklet explaining the nutritional types in depth, and the other is a cookbook outlining tons of recipes for each nutritional type.  All good stuff if you ask me.

I've already taken my test.  I came out as a mixed typed.  I require a pretty even amount of fats, proteins and vegetables!  What type are you?  Head on over to mercola.com to find out!

Can I Get 'Er Done?

As I continue to work my way through a small mountain of bins, I have a bit of doubt in the back of my mind.  Can I really get this all taken care of before tomorrow?  We will see.  Let's take a look at the list.

• Get back to daily school work 
• Finish "Ruby Holler" chapter book with the kids - we had more left than I realized.  We are on page 253 and need to get to 310 to finish, lots of reading today!
• Wash all the dirty towels and sheets
• clean both bathrooms
• clean off fan blades in our bedroom (it's gross!)
  
• Use up any remaining food in the fridge and grocery shop 
  
• Sort through clothing bins and store away clothing that is too small - more bins done, but as you can see above, lots more work to do!
• Find good dinner roll recipe for Thanksgiving - I am going with these Buttermilk-Onion Pull Apart Rolls
• finish Christmas gift ideas for our kids - one gift ordered online, three gifts purchased this weekend from store, just need to finish ordering a few more gifts online  

This year I don't have much Thanksgiving cooking to do, so I thought I put a little more effort into the rolls I was assigned (pun intended :).  So today I need to work on the dinner rolls and work on finishing this list.  I am super excited because I don't have to cook dinner tonight.  I purchased a voucher online that will get me 4 sub sandwiches for only $10 from a local sub shop downtown.  Whoohoo!  I thought that was a pretty good deal and Lenny's makes some tasty subs.

Best wishes to everyone as they prepare for tomorrow's Thanksgiving.  Remember to try your best to be "hushed and not rushed" this holiday season, just as Mrs. June Fuentes recommends. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Curry, Squash, and Black Bean Soup

Since I tend to make soup on the fly, Nate suggested that I write down this recipe to remember it in the future.  We eat soup every week, so this Indian spiced concoction was a nice change from some of our regular soup recipes.  This is a comforting soup in cold weather!  We enjoyed it with a jar of homemade applesauce from our friend Amy.

Curry, Squash, and Black Bean Soup Recipe

1 large pot of homemade beef or chicken broth
1 bag of black beans, soaked overnight and cooked until tender
1 large can of petite diced tomatoes
1 medium to large butternut squash, peeled and diced
1/3 head of cabbage, chopped
2 onions, diced
5 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
2 heaping tsp. sea salt
1/2 to 1 tsp. black pepper, to your liking
1 Tbsp. curry powder
2 tsp. dried cilantro or 2 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
1 to 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar (add enough to brighten the flavor)
Optional - 1 lb. cooked ground beef (really beef, pork, chicken or sausage would all go well with this soup, but it would be good without the meat, too.)

Place all ingredients into large soup pot.  If using fresh cilantro, wait to throw it in until the last 10 minutes of cooking.  Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes, or until squash and onion are tender.  Throw in cooked ground beef and add apple cider vinegar.  Enjoy!

Making Progress

So I am making some progress with my to-do list.  We all know that there are always parts of our to-do list that are easier to get moving on than other parts.  "Sorting bins and packing away too small clothes" has been on my list since September!  It just seems to take more effort to go to the basement, bring up bins and work my way through all the baby and kid clothes.  I am trying to donate items that I am not especially fond of and throw away anything I may have stored that is stained.  My goal is to end up with a few empty bins to store the large laundry basket of small clothes I have hidden in an upstairs closet.  I hate spending money on more bins if I can find some to use in the house.  One sad moment did come when I started sorting through a "mystery" unmarked bin.  It contained some 3T girl clothing, an 18 month boys winter coat, and a small pile of boys 9-12 month clothing that I never got to use with Gunnar.  There was some really cute things in there and it made me want to cry that I never found them when they would have been useful!  It just serves as motivation to really get the rest of my bins sorted and better organized.  I am sure there is bound to be a few more mystery bins discovered. 

So my list is looking more like this now:

• Get back to daily school work 
• Finish "Ruby Holler" chapter book with the kids
• Wash all the dirty towels and sheets
• clean both bathrooms
• clean off fan blades in our bedroom (it's gross!) - can you tell I am avoiding this?
• Use up any remaining food in the fridge and grocery shop  - um, I really need to do this tonight to avoid anymore take-out dinners!
• Sort through clothing bins and store away clothing that is too small - Progress is being made!
• Find good dinner roll recipe for Thanksgiving - I am thinking about this recipe
• finish Christmas gift ideas for our kids - some progress, but need to write a complete list and more importantly order stuff online

This publicly made list is helping hold me accountable.  If you feel you need an additional push of accountability, add your to-do list to the comments section and see if making your list public helps you accomplish more!

Black Bean Salad

I always get requests for this recipe, so I figured I needed to put it on my blog so I can tell people where they can find the recipe.  This recipe is fresh and delicious.  It makes a large amount, so its perfect for parties, potlucks or just sharing with others.  If you have no one to share it with, I would recommend only making half.

Black Bean Salad

4 cans of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 16 oz. bag of frozen corn, cooked and cooled
1 large red bell pepper, diced
2 bunches of green onions, chopped, green tops only
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
very generous amount of sea salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin and even a bit of cayenne pepper if you want some extra spiciness

Taste and adjust spices to your liking and add more olive oil as needed.  Refrigerate for a bit to let the flavors meld together.  Will keep covered in the fridge for several days, but will just get a bit juicier.  Enjoy!

Baked Pumpkin French Toast

With the arrival of autumn, I had a real craving for something pumpkin.  I could go with our old standby of Spiced Pumpkin Pancakes, but instead we bravely tried out a pumpkin variety of baked french toast.  The results were very good.  When Julius saw this picture on my computer he told me he wanted more of "that."  It is a very easy recipe and tasted great the next day at room temperature, too!  We actually ate this for dinner.  We just added bacon and some vegetables to round out the meal.  Oh, and if you are trying to watch your carb and sugar intake, this may not be the type of recipe you are looking for, lol!

Baked Pumpkin French Toast

1 can of Pumpkin Pie Mix (natural preferred)
8 eggs, beaten
2 tsp. cinnamon
several dashes of other pie spices (cloves, allspice, nutmeg, ginger)
1 long loaf of stale french bread, cubed*

Crumble topping
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
4 Tbsp. of softened butter

Beat eggs.  Add spices and pumpkin pie mix and stir until combined.  Fold in bread cubes.  Pour contents of bowl into a well-buttered 9 X 13 pan.  Mix together brown sugar, cinnamon and butter with a fork.  Crumble sugar mixture on top of bread cubes.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.  Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees.  Enjoy!

*My grocery store sells old bakery bread for around a dollar.  Check to see if your store does the same so you are not paying full price just to let your bread go stale:)

REAL Cheesy Bacon Potato Soup

A few weeks back as I prepared to make some of the same boring soup that we eat all the time, I saw that I had a pound of bacon on hand and a spare block of cheddar. I knew that I needed to make a cheesy, bacon potato soup. But after much searching on the web, I was disappointed with the quality of recipes that I was finding. Most of the recipes called for processed cheese. If it called for real cheese, then it called for some type of canned soup. If it wasn't canned soup, then it included bouillon cubes or granules. Ugh!

I am not trying to cast judgment on those who utilize processed foods. I don't eat real, whole foods all the time. Last Tuesday night I was scarfing down a burrito from Taco Bell at midnight, courtesy of my loving husband, at my request. But when I go through the labor of love of cooking for my family, I want it to be real food. That way I don't have to stress about other occasions where processed foods will come into the picture.

So, with the limited recipe options, I went ahead and created my own. It turned out pretty good. This soup seems to get better after it sits in the fridge and is reheated. It makes a nice, cozy fall soup. Enjoy!

REAL Cheesy, Bacon Potato Soup

1 pound bacon
1/2 stick of butter
2 medium onions, chopped
2 large celery stalks, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
8 potatoes, cubed (peel if you prefer, I left the skins on)
6 -7 cups of chicken stock or broth(homemade is best)
1 1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups of shredded sharp cheddar
2 1/3 cups milk
1/3 cup flour
2 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped or 2 tsp. dried parsley

Cook bacon in large soup pot. Remove bacon and leave grease. Add 1/2 stick butter, onions, celery and carrots. Cook over medium-high heat until vegetables are soft and onions are getting transparent. Add potatoes and broth. Add salt and pepper. If using dried parsley, add now. Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes are tender. Add cheese and stir until melted. In a separate bowl stir flour into milk until mostly dissolved. Pour this into soup. Once bacon is cooled, chop and add it to soup. Stir continually for about 5 minutes or until soup has thickened. If using fresh parsley, add at the end. Check soup to see if additional salt and pepper are needed.

Everyone enjoyed this the first night and the next two days as we finished the leftovers at lunch. Enjoy!

Yogurt Crazy

I've been making our own yogurt and the kids are just bonkers over it. There are no pictures of Layla enjoying yogurt, because her sleepyhead was still in bed. I have to limit them, or they would eat it all gone in just a few days. Head on over to Small Notebook to learn how to make your own. So yummy and no yucky additives. We love our yogurt with honey, nuts, pumpkin seeds and dried fruit.

Yum

So we finally got around to making our own ice cream last week. Nate's parents got us an ice cream maker for Christmas, but in the mess of the whole day, the directions were thrown away. After months of procrastination, I found direction online and we gave chocolate coconut milk ice cream a try. Wow! Very delicious. Nate and I both thought it reminded us of fudgesicles. Yummy! Then we had a pleasant surprise when we took down our wreath from the front of our house to add some patriotic garland to it. A tiny bird had made a pretty impressive nest. What was so cool about all of this was a few weeks ago I got Layla a book called Marvin's Best Christmas Present Ever. In the story, a bird makes a nest in the wreath he made. It was so fun to have it happen in real life. Well, I better be off. The natives are hungry!

Gentle Breezes and a GAPS Friendly Puffed Oven Pancake

Yesterday, I was so pleased as I entered my bedroom to see the breeze blowing my curtains around and even ruffling the bed skirt on my bed. I love when I can finally open up the windows and leave them open all day and all night. But, I shouldn't get too excited because I have been told that Saturday it is only suppose to be in the mid 40's. Oh the ups and downs of Midwest weather!


This weekend we had the pleasure of enjoying Nate's brother and sister-in-law's company. The kids are so excited when Jeremy and Tonya come to visit. The boys loved their morning cuddles with their uncle and Layla greatly appreciated the special readings from Charlotte's Web. Jeremy and Tonya even graciously ate our special diet food the whole weekend! I bet they never expected to give up grains and sugars for weekend! We also had the pleasure of our good friend Chad joining us for dinner Sunday evening.



The GAPS diet has been going well, though we have not been following the introduction diet completely. For the sake of sanity and the ease of pleasing everyone's palate, I have been introducing some foods from the full GAPS diet list of approved foods. We are trying to introduce foods as slowly as possible and make sure everyone is handling them well. In general, we all are continuing to feel better and have more energy. If you want to know more about the GAPS diet, head to this site for a bit more info, or just do a little "Googling" on the subject.

One of our best breakfast recipes yet, that everyone has enjoyed, has been a revamped version of the Better Homes and Gardens Puffed Oven Pancake. I just switched a few ingredients to make it GAPS friendly and thought it was good enough to share. This recipe is grain-free, too, so for anyone with gluten issues, it would be a good choice. If you have any lactose issues, just substitute the dairy/water amount for coconut or almond milk and maybe use coconut oil as a substitute for the butter/ghee.

GAPS Friendly Puffed Oven Pancake

1/4 cup butter or ghee
6 eggs, beaten
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup plain yogurt or kefir
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup honey
few dashes of salt
few dashes of cinnamon
3 or 4 apples, cored, sliced and cooked in a small amount of water
Cinnamon and honey to coat apples

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place butter in a 9 X 13 pan and place in oven to melt butter. Mix together beaten eggs, flour, yogurt/kefir, water, honey and salt. Add a few generous shakes of cinnamon. Retrieve pan from oven once butter has melted and spread the melted butter to coat the bottom of the pan. Place cooked apple slices in the pan. Sprinkle generously with cinnamon and drizzle with honey. Poor batter over apples and cook for 25 minutes or until slightly browned. Cut into squares and enjoy! We liked ours drizzled with yogurt and honey.

Apple Slices with Buttery Nut Spread

Looking for a new way to do an old snack? We blow through the apples pretty quickly around here, and sometimes, plain ol' apple slices can get a bit boring. Oh sure, we mix things up a bit by getting out the peanut butter and sometimes sprinkle a little cinnamon on them, but a bit more variety wouldn't hurt. I saw a recipe for a butter, cinnamon and pumpkin seed spread to serve with apple slices. I didn't have any pumpkins seeds on hand, so I substituted walnuts. The results were delicious. Though I wouldn't mind an audition of the pumpkin seed version, too!

Buttery Nut Spread

adapted from The Nourishing Gourmet

2 cups nuts
1 stick of butter, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
Dash of salt
3 Tbsp. - 1/3 cup of raw sugar, honey or maple syrup depending on how sweet you like your stuff!*

*(if you want your dip really smooth, use honey or maple syrup. If you wouldn't mind an interesting crunch to your dip, use raw sugar)

Process nuts, sugar/syrup, salt and cinnamon in food processor. Add butter and process until smooth. Serve with apple slices. Enjoy! My family sure did!

Mmmmmm

I am thinking about making these today.........

And maybe these, too!

If you need some good snacks for the weekend, go check these out!

Dairy-Free Hot Cocoa

Stuck on a dairy-free diet, or need to limit your dairy intake, but still want to enjoy a steaming mug of hot cocoa? We have found that this recipe hits the spot. The kids even love it!

Dairy-Free Hot Cocoa Recipe

1 can of coconut milk
2/3 can of water
1/3 cup of sugar
3 Tbsp. cocoa
dash of salt
splash of vanilla

Whisk all ingredients together and heat to desired temperature. Top with mini-marshmallows and enjoy! Serves 3

The Parade of Food Continues

Still nothing spectacular to write about. But I did manage to take pictures of what we ate for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Lame, I know! But it is all I got, lol!


These lovely bagels will keep you from ever wanting a grocery store bagel, EVER AGAIN. You can find the recipe here at Under the High Chair.


I am now a believer in these amazing crisps. These rosemary, raisin and pecan crisps are delish with cream cheese, but can stand alone as a great snack, as well. I can't keep Layla and Julius out of them, and Layla doesn't even like raisins! It is a copycat recipe designed to save you money since the one's from Whole Foods run about 10 bucks a pop. This recipe is also from Under the High Chair. Click here to enter a new dimension of crispy cracker goodness!

A few weeks ago we purchased a grass-fed lamb, which we split with my parents. We enjoyed braised lamb chops last week. Layla loved them so much, that she has been asking for lamb almost every night. The other night I was making a shrimp dish, and she asked if she could have "a layer of shrimp with a layer of lamb underneath." I about wet myself I laughed so hard.


Tonight I made a lamb stew, loosely based on Alice Waters' beef stew recipe, in The Art of Simple Food. It called for a topping of chopped parsley and garlic, but Nathan and I both agreed we liked the stew better without it. We served it on pearled barley. Even though this meal didn't wow me, it was good and I enjoyed the different flavors and spices in it. I tend to get in a spice and flavor rut, since many of our meals have similar ingredients and seasonings. The lamb, roasted red peppers and cloves in this stew made for a nice change of pace. And like my mother always told me, "every meal does not have to be a party!" And now I tell my children, "you don't have to be in love with everything you eat!"

But it sure is fun, party or no party, when you get to eat things that you love!


What did you eat today?

Grilled Peanut Butter Chocolate Sandwhiches

As I continue to struggle to come up with things to blog about, you might find me relying heavily on the topic of food. After all, we really like to eat around here and it happens several times a day! If you happen to bore of food after awhile, I apologize. Maybe by that point I will have come up with something more interesting to share. For all of you food lovers who never bore of the subject, here ya go!

Grilled Peanut Butter Chocolate Sandwiches

Take your favorite peanut butter, some Nutella or other Chocolate Hazelnut spread, butter and two slices of bread. Butter outside pieces of bread. Spread peanut butter and Nutella on the other sides. Slap together and fry until golden brown. This may get a little messy while preparing, but good things never come without sacrifice! Enjoy! Your kids will think this is heavenly!

And the Winner is...

.......the lunch lady special, Salisbury Steak!

Get some black-eyed peas boiling with some bay leaves.

Cook chopped onion in butter until soft.

Mix together ground beef, egg, Worcestershire sauce, bread crumbs,
salt, pepper, garlic powder, and parsley.

Form into patties and cook until brown on both sides.
Transfer from pan, cover and keep patties warm.

Corn starch (mixed with cold water), mushrooms, broth and beer
will make your gravy.

Saute mushrooms in butter.

Add a couple cups of broth, 1/3 of a beer, and corn starch mixture.
Season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until thickens.

While I was cooking, Nate, Layla and Julius were out playing in the snow.
Gunnar decided to hang out with me in the kitchen.

Our slanted back yard and daddy's push-power make for a mini sledding hill.

And this is what we sat down to for dinner!
Everyone enjoyed it and we will be making it again.

What Holiday Season Would Be Complete Without Some Tasty Gingerbread Men!

image from The British Larder

This weekend, as I planned out our meals to get through the end of the week without major grocery shopping, I knew of one tasty treat that I could make with the supplies I had on hand. By whipping up a batch of gingerbread men, I would not only have enough cookies to share with some friends and family, I would be making my children ecstatically happy in the process.

Since I was low on butter, I figured I would just decorate my cute little spicy guys with some decorative chocolate candies and skip the frosting this year. Last year our gingerbread men got all decked out in some tasty butter frosting and they were delicious. This year's gingerbread men were a bit simpler, but just as tasty, especially with a nice hot drink!

This recipe is adapted from Aimee's recipe at Under the High Chair. I love her blog and her recipes always turn out well, too! This recipe makes a lot of dough, so plan on sharing some Christmas cookie love with those in your life so you don't end up eating them all yourself!

Gingerbread Men

(or any other shaped cookie your prefer)

5 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup molasses

Cream together butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients. Add eggs, one at a time to butter and sugar, mixing well in between. Add half of the dry ingredients and beat until combined. Add molasses and beat again. Finish with remaining dry ingredients. Divide dough into four or five pieces and press them about 1/2 inch thick. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up until three days. Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut out shapes. I pressed my little chocolate candies in the dough before baking. Bake for about 8 minutes at 350 degrees. Bake longer for crisp cookies or if using them as decorations. If you didn't decorate your cookies before baking, frost with your favorite frosting, sugars, sprinkles and candies. Enjoy!