In the Kitchen - S'mores on a Saturday Night

What to do on a Saturday night?  Well it is cold and snowy.. a perfect time for a fire in the fireplace and hunkering down inside with family.  Yes we have a television in the family room but we only occasionally sit down and watch tv.  What I would rather do than that is to create something in the kitchen with Journey.  It is a great mother/daughter bonding time, it teaches her things and the outcome can be SO YUMMY.

So last Saturday night as we started the fire going, Journey announced she was hungry for S'mores.  HMMM... marshmallows have not been in my cupboard for a very long time.. they are full of corn syrup and who knows what else...  commercial chocolate is just crap full of soy oil, soy lecithin and chemical preservatives... and graham crackers?  Well I did have a very old leftover box of graham crackers in the cupboard but shudder to actually eat them.  (one would advise that I should throw them away but since I very seldom throw anything away, they sit in the cupboard for "emergencies")

So it is just a good thing I have a well stocked pantry full of the raw ingredients that are most common in recipes like organic turbinado sugar, organic cane sugar, honey, sprouted wheat berries, homemade vanilla, milk, etc.  We decided to try a new experiment together and see if we could make our own Smores ingredients from scratch.  2 1/2 hours later and a decimated kitchen full of clean up work, we had our first S'more.

While it was really messy and a bit time consuming, I have to tell you I would not trade that 2 1/2 hours working with Journey in the kitchen for a fast, commercially adulterated S'more and it was TONS tastier!  This was the first time I had tried a fresh homemade marshmallow and I will never go back.  In fact, I plan to make another batch this week and surprise my sister and family with chocolate dipped fresh marshmallows at her birthday party... but that is tomorrow's project.

While I doubted if I could produce a real graham cracker myself, they were also delicious and enough like store-bought graham crackers to be great with S'mores.

The chocolate bars were probably the least like store-bought chocolate but flavorful and rich, just the same.  In fact, every day this week, Journey has taken a small piece of chocolate, a marshmallow, and a graham cracker in her lunch for a special treat.  She says the kids try to trade their food for hers and she won't let them.  But we have had the opportunity to share a bit with some non-family members and the marshmallows, especially, are getting rave reviews!

How to's and recipes will follow in subsequent blog posts today so stay tuned and bookmark the marshmallow blog for sure!  You will want to try this one yourself... and include your little ones in the making.. it was so much fun and who knew you could make them yourself?

The first lettuce harvest

My little basement greenhouse is paying off.  I have 60+ tomato plants, 4 cucumber, cabbage, broccoli, squash, herbs, leeks, hot peppers and now sweet peppers under the greenhouse lights.  I cannot believe that the investment of those grow lights will produce all those vegetables by the end of summer!

Today we had our first harvest of lettuce.  I used 2 grow trays filled with organic soil and have 2 flats of lettuce and spinach growing.  Now that they are of a decent size, it was time to thin the crop.  With the thinning comes the first harvest.

I took my handy salad spinner and brought each tray upstairs to the kitchen.  Using a small sharp scissors, I thinned some of the plants and many of the bigger outside leaves of my lettuce and spinach plants and got almost a whole bowl of baby lettuce for our next salad.

Thanks to the full spectrum fluorescent light fixtures hanging just 3 inches above the plants and the application of organic fish emulsion spray for nitrogen, along with frequent watering I have produced a garden in the basement.  Some of my tomatoes are already 6 inches tall and have been re-potted once already.

Tomorrow's lettuce salad for lunch will be wonderful!  I know how it was grown.. guarantee it to be organic and clean.  And will taste wonderful with my homemade ranch dressing made with homemade buttermilk and homemade yogurt!! 

I don't know why I never invested in grow lights until now... and the basement becomes highly productive space when a corner is used for growing our own food.  Seeds are cheap and easy to buy and these plants are easy to grow!!

Graham Crackers

I looked all over the grocery store and Whole Foods for it.  What is it?  It is called graham flour.  Maybe this is something you are familiar with but I sure wasn't.. other than it must be in graham crackers, right?  That must be where they get their name and flavor.  At least that is what I always thought.  Well let me tell you, I couldn't find it but since then I have researched it and guess what?  It is a type of whole wheat flour where they use the whole wheat grain to grind it in a special fashion but it remains just whole wheat flour.

So I got busy with my dehydrated wheat berries, grinding them as I normally do to make wheat flour and being grateful someone did not sell me special expensive "graham flour"....

Graham crackers


2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or if you want to search high and low and find Graham flour, be my guest - these can also be made with other flour combinations)
½ cup turbinado, sucanat or brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon (more or less to taste)
½ tsp salt
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces
¼ cup honey
¼ cup milk (I actually used the leftover "milk" from making the butter last week)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract (try making you own with organic vanilla beans and vodka)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  I put Journey to work cutting up the cold butter into little pieces and since the KitchenAid was busy making me marshmallows, I chose the food processor and dough attachment for this recipe.  I was very happy with the results I got too!

In the food processor I mixed the dry ingredients then added Journey's butter pieces and pulsed until they were well incorporated into the mix.

We added the honey, milk, and vanilla and continued to process until a ball of dough was evident.

 

Cut this ball in half and work with 1/2 at a time.  If it is too soft or sticky you can refrigerate it for awhile.






Now comes the fun rolling part.  Do this between 2 pieces of parchment paper and try to roll your dough pretty thin (mine was a bit fat).  Roll it about 1/8 inch thick in a rectangle the size that will fit on your cookie sheet.

You can slide the parchment paper with the rolled dough rectangle right onto the cookie sheet (but take the top parchment paper off before baking).  Using a pizza cutter, I scored the dough into the size of crackers I wanted and popped them in the oven.  Journey had a good time making the little fork holes in the top - sort of like on store-bought graham crackers.

Bake 18 - 22 minutes. Watch the edges.. they may turn brown (but they are still tasty).  When you take them from the oven, cut them again on the lines you made.  Cool for just a few minutes before transferring them to a place to cool completely and separate the crackers.

I had to put some of my thicker crackers back in the oven (turned off but still warm) for about 10 - 15 minutes longer just to crisp them up so they would be good and dry before storing.  Remember they need to be completely cooled and dry before placing them in an airtight container.

These were so good!  We are still eating them ... for our S'mores that night, dipped in milk for a snack, in lunches, etc.  These are great crackers!

Homemade Chocolate

During our homemade S'more night on Saturday night we needed chocolate bars for our treat.  I had discovered before that chocolate can be made with sweetener, solid oil, and cocoa... it is that simple... really.  And so much better for you.  Cocoa is actually healthy and full of anti-oxidants.  Oils are not all bad either, in moderation (even though there are some bad ones out there).

Journey and I decided to create our own chocolate bars while the marshmallows were setting up.

In a double boiler on the stovetop combine:

1 cup melted fat (we used butter, cocoa butter, and some palm shortening to equal a cup)
1 cup cocoa
1/2 cup honey (or other sweetener)
1 tsp vanilla (or other flavor - imagine it with peppermint!)

Make sure all the fats are liquid before adding the rest of the ingredients!  Then make sure and thoroughly mix your concoction!  The cocoa butter added a different sort of cocoa taste to this so next time I may use a combination of coconut oil and butter without the cocoa butter... it will then have a milder flavor.

Be careful about letting water get into or drip into your pan because it will make the chocolate all grainy and not too smooth.

Then pour your cooling mixture onto waxed paper, into molds, or into a lightly creased shallow pan.  Or just dip some homemade marshmallows or strawberries into your "fondue".  Yummy... simple!

Our pan of chocolate bars was put in the refrigerator to set up fast and it did.  I did have a challenge getting it back out of the pan BUT was able to run some hot water on the outside and bottom of the pan the next day to cause it to loosen it's grip on the pan (even though I greased the pan).

My bars did not cut as straight as I wanted but homemade food doesn't have to look like it came from a machine (in fact it should not look that way).  I had misshapen chunks of thin chocolate bars.

Next time I may add coconut and almonds (Journey's idea to replicate almond joys) or coat cookies or crackers with it ... or add almonds or other nuts to make sweet candy treats.

Now on to make graham crackers!!

Homemade Marshmallows

When Journey, my 11 year old, and I decided to make homemade S'mores, we decided it had to be from scratch.  The marshmallows, chocolate, and graham crackers that are commercially prepared have lots of unappealing and even unhealthy stuff in them like soy ingredients, flavorings, fillers, preservatives, corn syrup, etc.  None of that is allowed in our house or in our bodies whenever I have a choice in the matter.

So we searched high and low on the internet to find a recipe for homemade marshmallows and eventually found some that did not ask us to put corn syrup in them.  Here is our adventure with marshmallows... we had never made them before so we took pictures to chronicle our adventures.

There were many "sticking points" (sorry about that bad pun) along the way but our end result was a batch of marshmallows that are out of this world good!!

To start your adventure, find a square baking pan and dust the heck out of it with powdered sugar (yes, I had some leftover around but if you want to make powdered sugar yourself, just put grainy sugar in a food processor or blender and beat it really long and it will powder itself).  If you don't dust the pan liberally, you will never get the marshmallow out.. just a warning.

I actually might use more next time or even mix it with a bit of organic cornstarch

Next step is to combine 2 packets of unflavored Knox gelatin in 1/2 cup cold water and let it sit to th side for awhile.

On the stove in a saucepan combine 1/2 cup water with (gulp) 2 cups of granulated sugar (this was a tough one to swallow but I thought I better follow directions the first time I made them - next time I may substitute some honey for some of the sugar).  We used organic low processed cane sugar but stand warned - these are a sugary sweet.  No need to boil..just thoroughly dissolve all that sugar in the water.  Then add your gelatin/water mix and bring that to a boil.

Remove from heat once it is to a boil and pour it into a large mixing bowl and let it cool for a bit.  (really, that is what the directions said... "a bit"... so how long is that?  Well I let it cool for only a few minutes cause we wanted to eat S'mores before bedtime)

We decided to use the KitchenAid.  I chose the wire whisk but next time may try the beater attachment, as the marshmallow got so sticky that it was kind of hard to get out of the inside of that wire whisk.

Add 1/4 tsp salt and 2 tsp vanilla extract.  Now Beat!!  The instructions I used said beat until double in volume.  I beat for about 10 minutes at medium and then decided it was done.  By the time I finished beating I thought it was probably double in volume but by then it was REALLY STICKY.

Now try to get it out of the bowl.  Really... give it a try.  Try to pour it in your prepared pan.  Easier said than done.  It took both of us to coax that gooey mess out of the bowl and a bunch of it stuck to the beater, to the sides of the bowl and to the spatula.  And of course, that brought Journey to start placing her claim on the bowl, the beater, and all things gooey.

And of course it's Saturday night... so go ahead and try to lick that bowl honey... good luck!

I wonder if that goo would not have stuck so bad if I had tried to lightly "grease" that bowl before I started?  I don't know.. just food for thought.

So once we had it poured in the pan, we just left it on the counter to set up while we made the chocolate bars and graham crackers.

When it is "set up" you will know because you will touch it and it won't stick so much to your fingers.  We found it really took about a day to set up to the perfect consistency (not in the refrgerator - just on the counter)... but we cut it Saturday night anyway.   To cut this pan of goo, make sure you have a sharp knife and it is also coated with a light powdery substance.. ok we used more powdered sugar.  I coated the top of this pan with a dusting of sugar and tried to keep my knife sugared as well.  Cut it into squares and then Journey got to roll the squares in more sugar.. don't worry.. it barely sticks but does make the marshmallows more manageable and able to be stored in a baggy on the counter without sticking together.

Journey says they roast in the fireplace "weird".  They brown quickly but don't catch fire as easily.  They are wonderful by themselves or eaten all melty in S'mores.  The next day, the consistency was the best!  Here is what is left of our marshmallows.

I thought I might try to roll them in some fine coconut next time for an extra flavor boost and a little less sugar.

Carrot Fries-Thanks Tracy!

So I am spending time on facebook while watching the potato chips baking.  Journey ate all the chips (ok, we helped) and I have to make more for her lunch tomorrow (that is, unless, school gets called off due to snow.. but I doubt it).

My friend Tracy sent me a facebook message - you know the type.. "I thought of you when I saw this".  It was a Pinterest post about Carrot Fries.  What could be better than that?  So I told her I would try them and if I liked them I would write a blog for you to try it too.

Carrot fries = carrots, olive oil, salt, and an oven at 350 degrees.  And all that = YUMMY!

I was baking a batch of potato chips anyway so the oven was fired up and the salt and olive oil was out so I grabbed a carrot real quick and cut it thinly lengthwise.  Then I coated it in olive oil and salted it good and put it on the stoneware pan for about 15 minutes in the oven.

Can you see the little carrot pieces in amongst the potato chips?

Here is the verdict:  Delicious!!

Shout out to Tracy for thinking of me and sending me that link and for giving me yet another wonderful way to snack healthy and eat my vegetables!! 

In the Kitchen - What I learned making Waffles

Yesterday morning we were out of waffles.  That is a big deal in our house.  I try to make up a batch of waffles every so often and freeze some ahead.  Journey is the main waffle-eater at our house and while I usually have her start her day every day with an organic protein shake or bar and mineral juice, sometimes a homemade waffle just sounds wonderful so I let her indulge.

You are probably guessing that I would touch a frozen Eggo with a ten foot pole so I have to make my own.  They are very easy and freeze well so I can always have them in the freezer for a quick grab and heat treat.  My waffle recipe is buckwheat (great for lowering cholesterol and also gluten free - actually not a wheat at all) and buttermilk (can you say cultured dairy - full of good bacteria and healthy stuff) along with some eggs (farm fresh from my friend Shari's hens - she is selling them in the area if you want me to hook you up!)  and some good oil (sometimes coconut, sometimes grape oil).    There is everything right about these tasty waffles.

Here is how my kitchen looks while making a triple batch.. kind of trashed for a little while.  But you probably wanted to know what I learned, don't you?

I call this picture the "Waffle Explosion"

It is about the oil for the waffle iron.  For years I have used a non-stick cooking spray.. don't you have some of that in your cupboard?  I still do.  ugh.. read it... soybean oil, flavoring, whatever aerosol they use... just crap.  Like everything else manufactured for our convenience I guess.  But a waffle iron needs a little help or the waffles stick.  So I make sure and use my pump spray bottles.  If you are still using non-stick spray, consider getting a few of those to fill with your favorite healthy oils.

The one in the middle is the one you don't want to use.

I use the one on the right for my olive oil because it looks like an Italian style bottle (that way I remember what it is).  The one on the left is a Pampered Chef bottle that I keep grape oil in.  All you do is fill them, pump with the lid to build up a little pressure in the bottle and spray.  Cool deal!  They run between $6 and $13, depending on where you get them and can be used for years.  I found the one on the right at HyVee.

Here is another great little trick I learned making waffles yesterday.  It is one of those things that I wonder how I missed all these years so maybe you already know it...  When the waffle comes out of the waffle iron it is kind of limp and a little soggy. I just thought that was the way waffles should be and yet I have had good crisper firmer waffles when I ate out.  I always thought that had something to do with the waffle iron but NO...

Here is the trick:  When you take your waffles out of the waffle iron, lay them on the rack of a preheated oven (350) for a few minutes and they get a little crisper.  They also stay warmer that way if you are serving them for a meal and they hold the syrup well too.. absorbing it perfectly.

To freeze waffles for individual use, lay them single file on a cookie sheet and pop it in the freezer for about an hour to freeze before putting them in a freezer-safe bag or container.  You can pop them in the toaster just like an Eggo (shuddering).  I also use them to make sandwiches for Journey's lunch.  She loves a waffle/nutella or waffle/peanut butter sandwich for lunch!

Have fun making waffles!