Pomegranate Pancakes and Apple Cider Syrup

I had this awesome idea to do green and red pancakes for Christmas morning. Because really, how cool would that be? The other day we added spinach to our normal blender pancake recipe and it was, while not awesome (because hello, spinach) it was edible (thank you, syrup). The kids thought green pancakes were fun.

Tonight I tried to make red pancakes but here's the deal, I used pomegranates. At first I only added 1/2 the pomegranate seeds and the batter ended up gray. Gray is not really an appetizing food color. In fact, I won't eat Mexican gray squash simply because of the name. So I added the other half of the seeds and ended up with purple batter, which makes sense, since pomegranate juice is purple. Clearly, this was a well thought out experiment. The pancakes tasted fine and cooked up pancake colored, but what really made the meal awesome was this syrup from One Perfect Bite. YUM.
I think maybe beet juice would make red, or at the least pink, pancakes. I'll give it a try and report back.



Here are the recipes:

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes From Make a Treat With Wheat ( I think. The recipe is copied from my mom's house and I'm pretty sure it was in that cook book, which is now out of print.)

1 cup wheat berries
1 cup milk
blend on high for 2 minutes in a regular blender or 30 seconds in a commercial grade blender.
Add
1/2 cup additional milk blend additional 2 minutes or 30 seconds, depending on blender
1 egg
1/2 cup oil or applesauce
2 T sugar (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Blend until combined

VARIATIONS
Green Pancakes
Add a handful of spinach to the wheat and milk blending, reduce 1/2 cup milk to 1/4 cup or 1/3 cup depending on the spinach amount ( you want the batter to poor but not to be watery)

Pomegranate Pancakes
Add seeds from one pomegranate to
1 1/3 cup wheat berries
reduce total milk volume to 1 cup
may omit sugar, depending on sweetness of seeds

Apple Cider Syrup from One Perfect Bite
One Perfect Bite Syrup
1/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons butter, cubed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Whisk together dry ingredients, add wet stuff and bring to a boil. Stir while it's boiling until thickened and bubbly, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir for an additional 2 minutes. 

Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal

I've invented something.

I don't think it will come as any great shock that this something contains food. After all, I'm assuming you read the title of the post.

This morning my son was trying to talk me into "Whole Cream of Wheat" yet again. I have a rule: Cream of Wheat is OK every other day, not every day. On non-cream of wheat days, breakfast is a battle.

I offered eggs. I offered smoothies. I offered cold cereal, oatmeal, even apple PIE oatmeal. All I got was a lot of pouting until I figured that if I could make apple pie oatmeal, I could probably also figure out pumpkin pie oatmeal.

He said yes. Thank the heavens.

Granted, this recipe makes enough food to feed my family for two mornings. I consider that an added bonus. Now I don't have to come up with a breakfast he won't sneer at the day-after-tomorrow. Score. 

5 cups water
1 cup whole milk
sprinkle of salt (maybe 1/2 tsp for this amount of oats?)
2 1/2 cups oats (I like old fashioned but mostly have quick right now)
3/4 to 1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1/3-1/2 cup brown sugar (SOME members of my family don't know that breakfast doesn't have to result in a sugar coma...those people added yet more sugar to their bowls. Cretins. Or maybe I should call them pre-diabetics?)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp cloves

Mix it all up and cook at boil on the stove for 2ish minutes. Take off the heat, throw the lid on for another few minutes to let the oats finish softening. Enjoy.

Clearly, this would be better with whipped cream on top, but then, what isn't?

Recipe Review: Costa Vida Sweet Pork Salad

I should probably preface this post with a disclaimer: I don't eat pork, and I hate the scent of cilantro. When I say "hate" I mean, if I chop it, I'll vomit. I'm not a puker under any circumstances but it's that gross.

Mom thawed some pork the other day when I said I wanted meat. Sadly, pork is not meat. It's a dead pig. Pigs don't get any cuter upon death and they weren't exactly gorgeous to start with.


So here's the recipe I chose from the Picky Palate via Pinterest. Obviously, my palate is picky-er. Just say'n. Here it is copied and pasted in case you're too lazy to to click through.

(Obviously, I'm too lazy to take my own picture.)

Y'all know I don't DO recipes that require bottles of this and boxes of that, but I figured since I wasn't going to be eating it, it didn't really matter. Am I right? OK then.

Sweet Pork Salad with Cilantro Dressing

2-4 lb pork roast
1 ½ Cups Coca Cola (seriously, not joking. Talk about something I don't have laying about the house)
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Seasoning Salt

Sauce:
1 Cup Coca Cola
1 Cup ketchup (I used my organic HFCS free ketchup. What a waste of perfectly good product)

Dressing:
1 jar Herdez Salsa Verde (mild tomatillo salsa, I get it at Walmart, any size)
Equal amount of prepared ranch dressing (Hidden Valley)
1 Bunch Cilantro (ew. EW. EW! I did it, and I barfed but I was trying to be true to the recipe)

10 inch wheat or flour tortillas
Shredded green leaf lettuce
Black beans, I just used canned
Cilantro lime rice (steamed rice with chopped cilantro leaves and fresh lime juice, as much as desired)
Diced tomatoes, cheese, guacamole….etc
Crispy Tortilla Strips (flour tortillas cut into thin strips and fried in vegetable oil until browned)

1. Place roast in crockpot with Coke; season with salt, pepper and garlic seasoning. Cook on low overnight, until tender.Remove roast from crockpot, discard juices. Shred pork into bite size pieces and place back into pot on low.
2. Place Cola and ketchup in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring often. Heat to a low boil. Pour over shredded roast. Cook on low until ready to serve. (oops. I just saw this step. I was supposed to COOK it?)
3. For dressing, place equal parts salsa verde and ranch dressing into food processor or blender. Add Cilantro leaves and process until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
4. To serve: Place tortilla onto a large bowl or plate. Layer with lettuce, beans, rice, pork, dressing and tomatoes, cheese and guacamole. Cheese, guacamole and crispy tortilla strips not pictured, but really good in it!

VERDICT:

Obviously, it was totally gross. I made a cheese crisp and ate outside. I think the rest of the family ate it, but this could be because I didn't make lunch, either. Hello, there was pork in the kitchen. Like I'd go in there willingly?

Best Snack EVER

Holy Pizza Sauce, IB Nation.
My sister has discovered the secret to snacking.

It's salty, fast and HEALTHY.
I KNOW!!!!!! I'm excited, too!

Ready? OK.

Get a small zucchini. Slice it in thin strips or thin rounds. Zap in microwave for 30 seconds. Now get out your Costco container of shredded Parmesan. Oh, I know you have one! Hurry now.
Sprinkle the cheese over the zukes and zap for another 30ish seconds.
Devour.
Repeat.
I'd have taken a picture but every time we make it, there's no time before it's gone again. We kinda ran out of zucchinis. Seriously. Without putting them in unlocked cars.

Independence Day 2011

We started out the morning with Red White and Blue pancakes. (recipe to follow) It just seemed like the thing to do on the Fourth of July. The Hubs even volunteered to run to the store first thing to grab the fruit we needed.

Then we waited around for my sister and her husband to show up for our planned 8:30am walk around the lake. At 9:30 I called. At 10:30 we gave up and drove to the lake ourselves. At the end of the trail we ran into them coming the other direction. Zsa Zsa walked at least half of it on her own.

 She was fascinated by dragon flies, and thought they might eat her.

 The Boy is simply not as ambitious as my baby girl, and ended up being carried for quite a bit of the hike. We're working on effort with that kid. He's not internally motivated.  Like, at all.

The children both took glorious three hour naps during which the adults played cards. It was AWESOME. I can't remember the last time my oldest took a nap intentionally. We told him he had to rest if he wanted to go see the fireworks that night. I think it helped that we wore them out on our hike. :)

After dinner, I cleaned up the mess and collapsed into bed. Hubs and a couple sisters took the wee ones to the city fireworks display.

Happy Birthday, America. I hope you're still around when my kids are having kids, and that you're worth living in. It's kinda sketchy right now, to be honest.

Blender Pancakes
1 Cup whole grain stuff (I used oat groats and wheat berries)
1 1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup oil or some oil/applesauce combo
2 Tbls sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Blend whole grain and one cup milk on high, three minutes. Add remainder of milk and blend two more minutes (you can just blend for 20 seconds if you have a Vitamix) add the rest of the ingredients and blend. Cook per usual.
Topping
1 lb strawberries, sliced
1 clam shell blue berries
2 bananas sliced
toss gently with a tablespoon or two of sugar or agave

Ovens and Hammers, and Banana Muffins

This morning I needed to bake two dozen banana muffins for the blood drive.
So I turned on my oven and started mixing.
Then my oven turned itself off.
And wouldn't turn back on again.
<insert cuss words>
I did what any rational person faced with a time crunch and weeks of sub-optimal oven operations would  do: I went to the tool box and got the hammer.

Then I beat the tar out of the oven control panel.

My oven started working again.

I think it's scared of me.
What? You already know The Hubs has said we're getting a new one. As soon as he can show me the money, I'll go get it. Until then we are eating soup, stir fry and anything else I can make on the stove top.
Crisis one, averted.

Banana Muffin Recipe

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 t baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups smashed bananas

1/2 cup milk (maybe, I eyeballed it)

1/2 cup oil

2 eggs

Fresh Apricot Coffee Cake (Quick)

I bought a case of apricots from Bountiful Baskets a week ago. 24 pounds. I had every intention of preserving these apricots, but I didn't like the results of my dried fruit attempt, and I'm too lazy/busy/tired to try fruit leather, which had been my original intent. So I've been eating mounds of apricots. My family refuses to join me. In an effort to force the issue, today I made cake for breakfast. Apricot Cake.

 Everyone ate apricots today. :) <Dance of happiness>

So here's what I did.


Basic Quick Coffee Cake Recipe for 9x13 pan.
(Feel free to halve the recipe and put it in a 9x9)
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup sugar (it IS a cake, after all)
1 tsp salt
4 tsp baking powder

2 eggs
1 1/3 cup milk
3 Tbls melted shortening or oil (the flavor is different, texture is similar)

Mix dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and mix just until dry ingredients are fully incorporated.
Dump out into a greased (Pam-ed) 9x13.
Wash fresh apricots. Cut in half and pit. Layer top of cake with apricots. I did four halves to a row width-wise and probably 6 or 7 rows.

Make a crumb topping of melted butter, cinnamon and brown sugar. I also added sliced almonds. Sprinkle over the top. Bake at 425 for roughly 25 minutes. I make no guarantees as to the amount of time this will take to bake. Currently my oven is having trouble maintaining a temp over 340 so I baked it at temps vacillating between to 310-340 for  at least 40 or 50 minutes. It was extremely frustrating.

It's super crumbly because it's 100% whole wheat. 

Also, I dished it super hot because we were starving.

A new oven is coming to the IdahoBecky Kitchen in the very near future. Heaven knows we need to make bread. It's been WEEKS since I've made bread. Seriously. I had to actually go to the store and buy it Saturday. My kids were begging for PBJ's, if you can believe. About broke my heart because I know that cellophane wrapped stuff tastes like cardboard. I don't know how people can stand it on a regular basis. Blech. Plus, my loaves cost about 75 cents to make and a decent loaf of bread costs over two bucks to buy!

PS I'm posting this instead of the open letter I wrote to my neighbors. The letter is MUCH more entertaining and informative. If you'd like to read it, let me know. The Hubs was worried they might somehow find out I blog, read the letter and be offended. Whatever. 

Beefy Broccoli Squares

This is a recipe I believe my mom invented, and if she didn't that's how I remember it, so that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

RECIPE:
One recipe 12 stroke biscuits (recipe to follow)
one pound ground beef, browned and drained
1/3 cup sautéed onions ( I use a whole onion)
2 cups lightly steamed broccoli (because who likes overdone trees?)
2 cups shredded cheese (I used motz)
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. salt
pepper

Make biscuit recipe and flatten in bottom of greased 9x13 dish. Build up the sides about 1/2 inch.
Brown ground beef and drain. Sauté onions. Steam broccoli. Layer these ingredients over the raw biscuit dough. Sprinkle cheese on top.
Mix eggs, milk, salt and pepper until well combined. Poor over the other ingredients. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until set. If it's runny, it ain't done yet.

12 STROKE BISCUIT RECIPE
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk powder (not instant) (if you don't have milk powder, sub 3/4 cup milk for the powder and water
3/4 cup water (only if using milk powder, otherwise, see note above)
1/4 cup oil
Whisk dry ingredients together. Add liquid all at once, using big motions (strokes) mix dough 12 times, until just combined. Over mixing makes for a tough dough, but it takes practice to get all the ingredients combined in 12 strokes. :)
You can also add two tsp of sugar to the above recipe for "Rich Biscuits" which can be used for cobblers, poor man's short cake, etc.
I made this dinner last night, and accidentally added a whole teaspoon of salt instead of a half, so I just doubled the recipe and used half for dinner. I added a little powdered sugar to the remaining dough and then made peach cobbler for dessert. :)

Granola Bars

Carolina, this post is for you. :D
I made some granola bars. Not super impressed with them, but that didn't stop me from eating four so far today.

Here's the basic recipe:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
melt in microwave until runny. Add:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup puffed cereal (I used Kamut®, feel free to use puffed wheat or rice)
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup dried fruit
Mix together and put in a 8x8 plastic-lined pan and tamp down. Cut into 16 parts.
I felt these were too sweet. In fact, they made me a tad ill.

Here's my first modification:
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 cups oats
1 1/2 cups puffed cereal
1/2 cup chopped nuts
I did this in an 8x10 because of the added volume.

These didn't stick together as well, and were still too sweet. I think maybe just a cup of the rolled oats? How do I get it less sweet and still have it stick together? Butter? Coconut oil? This could get dangerous...

Momma's Carrot Cake

My Momma makes a mean carrot cake. It's so good, people at work request it often. Like, monthly.
If you've only ever had a boxed carrot cake, or a store carrot cake, somebody should seriously put you out of your misery now and bake you a REAL carrot cake. Or shoot you. You're choice.
I know! YOU could bake a real carrot cake! Here's how:

Cream Together:
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup oil
    then add:
3 eggs, beat to incorporate
    then add:
3 cups finely grated carrots (about 3/4 lb.)
    mix in:
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped walnuts

Mix until combined. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes in a 9x13 or one hour in a Bundt pan or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Frost with cream cheese frosting.

Here it is, complete with melting whipped cream. Oops. 

I toasted some coconut for the sides and crumbled leftover cheesecake and walnuts on top. 

YUMM-O! And also, I really need to stop letting The Hubs take food pictures. Ferills. 

Lemon Berry Cupcakes

A super yummy treat I invented out of necessity. (It's what I had on hand and could do in the time I had to bake.)

Sorry I don't have a picture of the middle. 

I was busy holding a newborn and The Hubs was standing in as cellphone camera operator. 

One box strawberry cake, prepared as per box instructions Stay with me. Y'all know I do not ever start a recipe with boxed anything, much less keep boxed cake mix on hand, but I had this left over from another project and was in a time crunch. These turned out so delicious I had to share!

Add the zest from one lemon

Small dollop of heavy cream or larger dollop of whipped cream

1-2 Tsp fresh lemon juice (judge it based on how thin your batter is getting)

Bake in lined muffin tins as instructed.

Frosting

1 stick butter

1 stick margarine (again, not a normal ingredient for me, but I'm broke this week!)

beat the living tar out of the butter/marg. until it's nice and fluffy the add:

3 1/2 cups non-sifted (or 4 cups sifted) powdered sugar (it's a pound of powdered sugar)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp lemon juice

zest from one lemon, finely grated

dollop of cream to smooth it out a bit if it's a tad grainy

Then fold in 1/4 cup blueberry puree. 

I did not know this, but blueberries totally gel. 

Frost cakes and top with a blackberry. 

When I made these, I added the blueberry before I knew the frosting was grainy, so the blueberries were more incorporated than I would have wished due to the extra mixing. 

I hope your family likes them as much as mine did. 

The Cheesecake

Here are the recipes for cheesecake from earlier this week. The Carrot Cake deserves it's own post. Both are amazing, if you can manage not to overcook the carrot cake. I did not, and so when I layered the two cakes, it tasted like cheesecake heaven sandwiched between two layers of overdone despair.
I totally stole this recipe from off the interweb, but I can't remember from where, so sorry for not siting the original. It's now just a word.doc on my hard drive.

Bon Apetit!

Cheesecake Factory Cheesecake Recipe

Ingredients:

**if you prefer a crust without nuts, the recipe for the no-nuts crust is at the end of this recipe**

Crust:

1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
3/4 cup finely chopped vanilla wafers
2 tablespoons melted butter

Filling:

1 1/2 lbs cream cheese
1 1/3 cups sugar
5 large eggs
16 ounces sour cream
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Directions:

Crust Directions:

1. Mix all nuts and vanilla wafer crumbs with melted butter and press into a 9 inch buttered springform pan, trying to line the sides as much as possible about 1 1/2" up the sides of the pan, set aside.

Cheesecake Directions:

1. All the filling ingredients should be at room temperature.

2. Beat the cream cheese until light and fluffy with an electric mixer set on low (keep the setting at low during the entire mixing process).

3. Add the sugar a little at a time and continue beating until creamy.

4. Add one egg at a time and beat after each egg.

5. Add flour, vanilla and lemon juice, mix well.

6. Add the sour cream and beat well.

7. Pour cream cheese mixture into the springform pan.

8. Place on the top rack in the middle of a 325 degree F preheated oven for one hour and 15 minutes.

9. When time is up turn oven off, prop open oven door and leave in oven for one hour.

10. Remove from oven and let cool then refrigerate for 24 hours.

11. Remember this important tip : A cheesecake should season. The wait is worth it. The flavor ripens and becomes enriched.

Look Out World, I've Revolutionized Cheese

I'm not sure if the world is ready for this, but I've adult-ified that old childhood favorite, grilled cheese. And man! Is it good.
Here's what I did.
Three days before you want a grilled cheese (What, don't you get a detailed list of body-cravings a week ahead?) make a batch of artisan no-knead bread dough.
RECIPE:

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 cups  All-Purpose Flour
• 1 tablespoon Celtic sea salt (remember, it's magically delicious)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons instant yeast

Mix yeast, water and salt until mostly dissolved. Stir in flour. That's it.
Let it rise until the top goes flat, throw a lid on it and let it hang out in the fridge overnight.  The next day, pinch some off and shape into a loaf. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes after it's risen. The key to a crusty top is, right when you're putting the loaf in the oven, toss a 1/2 cup of water directly into the oven as you close the door. You might want to practice when the oven isn't hot...


After the bread is baked, you can make the grilled cheese any time, but the next day is best. Who wants to wait for a sandwich to cook when you have perfectly decent hot, fresh homemade bread, butter and honey? No one. That's who. 


RECIPE:
Two peices of aged, crusty artisan bread (not, whoa that's moldy, aged. just day-old is fine)
brie
cheddar
sundried tomatoes
Roasted Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
butter


Slather (yes, SLATHER) one slice of bread with butter. Lay face down in hot frying pan. Layer brie, cheddar and tomatoes. Top with second slice of butter-slathered bread.  I love the word "slather" and I love using it in non-Harlequinesque romance situations. Also, I would like to point out I just used a word that contains two 'Q's. That, my friends, takes talent. 


Back to the sandwich. It's very important to make sure you get some cheddar shreds on the outside of the sandwich, and that those shreds get melted into the bread. Why? Because it's pretty. Also, who doesn't love cooked cheese? Fondue, fried cheese, baked cheese, grilled cheese...
After the sandwich is done cooking, plate it and slather (goodness, don't you just adore that word?) with roasted raspberry chipotle sauce (you can get it at Costco). 
As long as we're being totally honest with one another, the tomatoes really aren't necessary, they just up the "adultness" of the sandwich. It's really the sauce that sells it. :D

Raw Wild Rice Salad

When I first read the recipe for raw Wild Rice Salad this is what my brain said, that's barmy!" 

My brain has evidently been watching lots of British television. 

Then, because I was desperately hungry and had five days in which to soak rice, I tried it. 

Now this recipe is a staple and I make it twice a month or so. 

The original recipe comes from Rose Lee Calabro, courtesy of The Complete Book of Raw Food. Frankly, this cookbook only occasionally proffers edible food, but this is one recipe that is worth it.

Advanced Prep Time: 5 Days to sprout the rice

Active Prep Time: 15-20 min

Makes 2-4 servings

Soak 1 1/2 cups wild rice for five days, changing the water twice a day. I soak it in a Mason jar next to the sink, so I can remember to change the water. Do not, under any circumstance, use a wild rice BLEND. The other types of rice are so crunchy you wouldn't be able to make it through the meal without breaking a tooth, or scratching your larynx. (lar-EEnx, not lar-nix, you're welcome, Dr Boling).

After you've waited around for 5 days, pretty much dying of hunger, rinse your rice one last time and put it in a bowl. Now we're talking!

1/2 cup finely chopped bell pepper

1/4 red onion, minced

1 carrot, shredded

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1/4 cup raw corn

1 tomato, diced

2 Tbls fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried

4 Tlbs cold pressed olive oil

2 Tbls lemon juice

1/2 tsp Celtic sea salt. I don't know why regular sea salt won't work. Apparently the Celtic kind is magically delicious. 

Sorry about the picture quality. I think something is wrong with my camera.

I mean, other than the person operating it, that is.

Combine all ingredients. I like to let it sit so the flavors can mix a bit. But it's nice straight away as well. 

Also, it's tons better if, right before you eat it, a nicely sliced avocado is added to your bowl. But then, aren't most things better with avocado? Just the other day I saw avocado ice cream. Yes. Really. 

You Make It! :Baby Wipes

My friend, Whitney, is super awesome. She totally gets my organic-ness and raw-ness. In fact, she's introduced me to being aware of chemicals in the products we use and so I'm now even more neurotic than I used to be. So neurotic, in fact, that I just made my own baby wipes. Ferills.
It turns out the baby wipes you buy in the store contain things like formaldehyde, chlorine, dioxins and alcohol. Super. Making your own is not as easy as the washing detergent we made last week, but it's close! Or maybe I was just more tired tonight.

LIST OF INGREDIENTS
1 roll of quality paper towels (I used Bounty because that's what I had)
1 cup boiling water
1 heaping Tablespoon of coconut oil or other carrier oil
1/2 cup witch hazel
a few drops of Tea Tree Oil or Lavender oil
A couple light squirts of a chemical-free or chemical-light baby soap
Air-tight container for holding wipes

The point of the witch hazel is to soothe and the tea tree oil is an antimicrobial and thus natural preservative. The soap is obviously the part that cleans. Duh.

Cut the roll of paper towels in half. Or get your husband to do it, because honestly, it's a bit tedious.

Dissolve the oil in boiling water and remove from heat. Dump in the witch hazel, soap and essential oils.
Put towels in container. (FOOTNOTE: Apparently you're only supposed to do one of the cut rolls at a time. I didn't know this, and did both halves of the roll of paper towels. It still worked out, but apparently I won't use them fast enough. Oops.)
 Poor the mixture around the base and slap the lid on for 5-10 minutes. After that time, the cardboard center comes out of the rolls. Let sit overnight to fully absorb.

My favorite part of making these, other than knowing my baby's bottom will be chemical free from now on, was smelling the coconut oil. YUM! It doesn't hurt that I just saved a bajillion dollars, either.

Baby wipes are big business. In 2000 the industry made $263.9 million. (http://www.enotes.com/how-products-encyclopedia/baby-wipes) I'm all about capitalism, so go team for that entrepreneurial spirit. Boo for making something we use on our BABIES, toxic. That's totally a Fail, Huggies. In case you were wondering.

Next week on You Make It!: Toothpaste. Yup. I'm totally serious.
Thanks to Whitney for the recipe and letting me re-blog her blog.

You Make It! :Laundry Detergent

I've had this recipe for a YEAR, courtesy of my friend, Steph, and I'm kicking myself for not trying it earlier because it seriously took 8 minutes of active time to create five GALLONS of concentrated laundry detergent.

Here's the cost breakdown:

$1.49 Fels-Naptha Soap (does one batch)
$3.49 Arm and Hammer Washing Soda (does many batches)
$3.74 20 Mule Team Borax (does many batches)
$2.44 5 gallon bucket
$0.97 bucket lid

Total cost to get started : $12.13. The only thing you'll need to re-buy is the bar of soap. Doesn't it make you a LITTLE steamed to know Tide charges about that for ONE gallon of soap? Yeah, me too.

1 Bar Fels-Naptha soap (or Sunshine, Ivory, Zote, Kirk's Hardwater Castle)
1/2 cup Borax
1 cup Washing Soda

The hardest part was finding washing soda, but I called around and found a Basha's that carries it.

Grate the bar of soap and add to four cups hot tap water you already put in a pan on the stove, because you were smart and knew I was going to have you use 4 cups hot water.

Melt the soap. My recipe says to stir constantly, but I didn't and it appears fine. However, if you love to stir stuff, go for it.

Fill a 5 gallon bucket half full with hot tap water. Add the powders and stir while your soap is melting on the stove. Add melted soap/water mixture to the powder/water mixture in the bucket and stir. Then fill the bucket up the rest of the way with hot water and stir again. If you want, you can add 10-15 drops of essential oil. Let it set overnight to gel up and give it a shake before you use it.

I was totally planning on adding citrus oil and maybe anise, but I can't find my essential oils since we moved back into our house. Sigh. I also can't find a can opener, but that's another story.

Back to the soap. Oh wait, we're totally done. That's it! For a top-load machine, use 1/3 cup to 5/8 cup per load and 1/4 cup for front loaders. I'm guessing all HE machines use the 1/4 cup measure.
I bet this 5 gallons of soap lasts me until July, at least. I'll keep you posted.

PS This soap doesn't sud much. That's a GOOD thing, since it doesn't contain sodium laurel sulfate, an added chemical in most liquid soaps whose purpose is to foam, but actually does stuff like kill babies and small animals. Or something.

Next week we're going to make our own baby wipes! YAY!

Awesome Banana Bread

I invented a new banana bread recipe yesterday. This recipe is not raw. :)

Here's the thing: I had three bananas on the counter that were too ripe to eat and too ripe to freeze for shakes, leaving only one real option-bread. I like my recipe, but I was feeling creative, so I experiemented.

Here you go.

3 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 egg
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup 2% greek yogurt
1 T olive oil

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 t cinnamon

bake 40 minutes at 350. Scarf before anyone else sees it.

Next time I think I will try to sour the greek yogurt with a tablespoon of lemon juice first. I think that would be SO good! It's so good, I didn't have a chance to take pictures. The fam inhaled it in minutes.

Raw Fettuccine Alfredo

I know some of you are going to laugh at me. OK, most of you, but I had to share tonight's dinner because it was so GOOD! Especially after the raw dinner failure that occurred Saturday night.

Plus, it's good if you're allergic to wheat, dairy or eggs!

Here's what I did, and the whole thing took MAYBE 15 minutes.

THE NOODLES

All you need is a veggie peeler and some zucchini. Go at it. Wallah: noodles. I admit I did poor some hot water over this because I haven't gotten my head all the way around giving up hot dinner, but I'm guessing it didn't get above 105 degrees, so it totally still counts as raw.


THE SAUCE

2 cups roasted cashews (it's all I had, next time I'm going to try raw)
1/2 cup raw sprouted sunflower seeds (you can not sprout them, but I did)
1 1/2 cups water
3 cloves raw garlic
1 Tablespoon Thyme
salt
pepper

Blend it up in the Vitamix until it gets a bit warm and very smooth.

Everyone had seconds. Pretty yum and VERY healthy. I'm going to make this at least once a month. :)

Whole Wheat Oatmeal cake

I love oatmeal cake. In fact, I've never met one I haven't instantly inhaled half of liked.
Being as how this is Cleanse Week for me, and the fact that I'm insanely addicted to Oatmeal Cake, I'll just be sharing the recipe today. Making the cake to take pictures would be abject torture for me, and frankly, I love me more than I love you. :)

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Cake from Make a Treat With Wheat  written and compiled by Hazel Richards. Copyright in 1968, so she's probably dead now and won't mind, right?

1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
1 cup chopped raisins
Mix and set aside to cool

1/2 cup shortening or oil (I use oil because it's quicker, or applesauce if the entire cake will be eaten that day)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
2 well beaten eggs
Cream together

1 1/2 cups sifted whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
sift and add to creamed sugar mixture

ADD: soaked oatmeal and mix together. Bake in 9x13 pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or less, until done.

TOPPING:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
2 TB canned milk or cream
Boil 2 Minutes
Then add:
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Spread on hot cake and let cool. 
Mention that you burned the cake, so no one else will want to eat it. Then you can have it all to yourself. :)

Sweet Potato Soufflé (soo-flay)

A soufflé is a light, fluffy, baked cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients and served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler which means "to blow up" or more loosely 'puff up'" (from Wikipedia)


I don't think this recipe is a classic soufflé, but it is 100% delish!


When I posted on FB this week about making SPS, people I hardly ever talk to piped up and asked if this was the same dish I brought to a Christmas Party last year. 


Yes people, this dish/dessert is SO GOOD, people remember it an entire YEAR after they eat it. 
It's so good, I didn't get any pictures because my family inhaled it before I could whip out the camera. This, my friends, is a little like crack. You're mouth will be so happy when you eat it, it would kiss you, if it weren't already your mouth. I can 98.4% guarantee a kiss from SOMEONE if you make it. 
Props to Emily from Good Frau for giving me this recipe. Thanks Lady! (also, check out her cards. They are SUPER cute! She did some for a baby shower I hosted a while back, and the invites (and the super cool diaper bag we raffled from SewPosh, were the talk of the party.)

Here we go!

Ingredients:
4 lb. sweet potatoes cut into pieces
1 stick butter, cut into bits and softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
4 large eggs
3 tablespoons self-rising flour (google it, you can totally make your own)
1 cup milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon coconut extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
½ cup pecans, chopped
2 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions: 

Get your husband to peel potatoes.

(look how happy he is to help! I'm telling you: crack)

In a large kettle combine the potatoes and enough cold water
to cover them by 1 inch. 

(this is the last picture I got, because after this I was slapping hands away from the mashed spuds...crack)

Bring the water to a boil, and boil for 30 to 45 minutes, or until they are tender. Drain the potatoes and transfer them to a large bowl.

With an electric mixer beat the potatoes until they are smooth.
Beat in the butter, sugar, eggs (one at a time), flour, milk, salt, and extracts, beating until well combined. Pour into 1 large pan or two smaller ones.

In a small bowl combine the pecans, melted butter, brown sugar
and cinnamon. Sprinkle over soufflé and bake in the middle of
a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour.(I double this part, because hello: candied nuts!)

Serves 10 to 12 (but after you taste it, you'll know it really just serves one)

Think this sounds like something you want to try this Thanksgiving, but you want your mil to make it instead? You can totally just click on the share button at the bottom of the page. Just say'n...