Crackers/Flatbread

If I had known how easy it was to make my own crackers I would have done it a long time ago!  We picked up some cheddar made from goat's milk and some really good smoked cheddar at a good price at Whole Foods a few days ago and I was dying for a good cracker to enjoy with a slice of my cheese.

The commercial crackers and baked goods really bother me (go figure).  They come in a box and never mold or get bad (that is a CLUE).  The ingredient list usually includes processed flour and soy or canola oil and some other questionable long words I can't pronounce that probably serve as preservatives of some sort.  I just knew we could do better!

So tonight I found a recipe for Rosemary Flatbread that sounds so delicious I had to try it!  Journey helped me roll them out and mix the dough and I was happy to have her help and company in the kitchen and to show her how easy, once again, cooking can be.  So we baked these up:

The first challenge we found was that we did not have any dried rosemary in stock.  I have one little plant in the greenhouse that is pretty little and I had used the last of my dried rosemary a few days ago.  Then I remembered my antique herb dryer on the wall of the dining room that has some sprigs of dried herbs on them for show.  I believe my mother grew and dried these herbs herself so I trusted the source pretty well.  I took a little taste first and discovered the flavor of that ancient dried rosemary was really good and potent.  SCORE!

Funny story about this:  Mike watched me pull them down and said "what are you doing?"  I thought he was worried about the potential age or source of the dried herbs going into his cooking so I said "I am going to use it in the flatbread... it is ok.. I tasted it".  His response was "I am not worried about that... I am just tired of hitting that dried stuff every time I walk by it".   So funny...  I only had to harvest a few sprigs of it for the crackers so he will still have to avoid hitting it hanging against the wall... but only until I make a few more batches of these delicious crackers!  You can believe that if I have an edible decoration, I will eventually eat it!  Haha.

So with rosemary abundant I freshly ground up a cup and three quarters of sprouted wheat berries and laid out the ingredients for these crackers and Journey and I whipped them up in a jiffy.  Here is the recipe:

Rosemary Flatbread

1 3/4 cups flour
1 TBSP chopped rosemary plus a little to put on top
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt plus some more for the topping
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup olive oil plus some more to brush the tops before baking.

Preheat the oven and a baking sheet to 450 degrees.

Stir the first 4 dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Make a well in the center and add the water and oil.  Stir into a dough and turn out to knead 4 or 5 times.

Divide the dough into 3 pieces and roll each piece out thinly on parchment paper.  This is the part that Journey so expertly did!

Brush the tops with olive oil, throw a little extra salt and rosemary on top and bake 8 - 10 minutes.  I baked one at a time and just slid the finished cracker right off the baking sheet still on the parchment paper and slid the next one on to bake.  It was very simple to cut them up with a pizza cutter while they were still warm.

The instructions say to cool completely before storing in an airtight container on the counter-top.  As has been my experience with most other fresh baked goods, they last the best when refrigerated, as they have no preservatives (Praise the Lord!)

I cheated on this recipe and added some garlic powder and a little pepper to the dough with the rosemary and they are delicious.  I may experiment more with this recipe, as it was super easy and produced wonderful results!  We now have a cracker to park our cheese atop!

Taco Seasoning

As I try to stay away from commercially prepared processed foods, there are many things I miss and search for a substitute.  Taco seasoning is one of them.  We LOVE tacos at our house but gone are the days where I cook a pound of ground beef and open one of those envelopes of taco seasoning mix that I am now suspicious of.  I like to know there is as much purity in every food we consume so I really like to be in control of the ingredients I use in the kitchen.

Speaking of ground beef, what is the deal with the prices of ground beef lately.  Oh my goodness... we actually found some roast beef cheaper per pound than the local ground beef and bought several of them.  This week, when I was hungry for tacos and had no ground beef in the freezer I used the roast and cooked it up in the crockpot.  I have begun to cook my roast in leftover whey, as I usually have plenty of that around and feel it adds some additional nutrition to my meal over using water.  The roast cooks up very tender and flavorful in the whey in the crockpot and is very easy to do.  Once the roast beef was done, I had half a roast plus over a pound of chopped up roast beef to cook up into taco meat.

But back to taco seasoning.  I found a couple of wonderful recipes online and did my own configuring to make a batch of wonderful taco seasoning.  Even better than making some up for my family to use, I gave a jar to each of the girls in the family for Christmas presents so they could also enjoy it.  Making your own means being in control of the ingredients and ultimate flavor of the finished product and this was some GOOD stuff!!

Taco Seasoning:

1 TBSP chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 - 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 - 1 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 to 1 tsp salt 
1 tsp black pepper
Cayenne pepper would be optional (might add 1/4 tsp)


Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container with your other spices. 

2 to 3 tablespoons of this seasoning plus 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water is enough for one pound of cooked meat. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until most of the liquid is gone.

We used the seasoned taco beef wrapped in homemade tortillas (recipe here: http://thenewsuburbanpioneer.blogspot.com/2012/10/in-kitchen-homemade-whole-wheat.html) with some cheese, black beans, salsa, lettuce, black olives and sour cream and it was WONDERFUL.

My daughters use this taco seasoning in their Chicken Tortilla soup recipe and love it in there.

Spaghetti Squash

Magical spaghetti squash..  ... Since discovering this magnificent vegetable a few months ago, I have learned to love it for the nutrition (yellow vegetable) and for the taste.  Not only does it provide improved nutrition for my family, it is a way to get Journey to eat vegetables and replaces those pasta cravings that we occasionally have.

Pasta bought from the store, processed and made with white bleached flour is so so bad for you.  It raises blood sugars, provides NO nutritional benefit, and absolutely makes you fat!  But I have to admit that I love pasta dishes... delicious sauces over noodles.  But in reality, the noodle is just a vehicle for the sauce or you would be eating soup.

Spaghetti squash provides the perfect vehicle for sauces and is not only guilt-free but actually nutritious.  I can't wait to grow some in the garden next year!

Being a winter squash, it can be stored for a few weeks or even months in the right conditions and baking it could not be easier.  Just cut it in half and put olive oil on the cut sides after removing the seeds (dry those seeds in a window sill and save in the refrigerator until planting time in the spring and you have your own home-grown squash to last all winter).  Place the cut sides down in a shallow baking dish and put in a 350 degree oven for an hour or more.  Once cooled enough to handle, you can simply pull the stringy squash out... it looks just like spaghetti!

I froze a few bags of squash after baking my last one a month or so ago so today I thought we would try a new spaghetti squash recipe.  All I had to do was thaw out that squash and prepare it like this:

In a large fry pan, melt a bunch of butter (the more the merrier).. I used about 1/2 a stick.  Add to that some fresh garlic (you can never have enough garlic.. I probably used 2 tsp).  Into the garlic and butter I added some dried parsley and basil and a touch of oregano.  Then I added the thawed spaghetti squash and sauteed it all for a few minutes to mix up the flavors.  Salt and pepper to taste followed by a generous portion of Parmesan Cheese on top and we had a delicious side dish!

We all loved the finish result!  Delicious with any meal since garlic and butter can never be beat.  We had it with roast beef.  You should try it yourself... easy, fast, and lots of things could be tailored for an even better taste treat.  Maybe next time I will add some cauliflower or an additional vegetable to it!

In the Kitchen - 2 Gallons of milk =

I have been planning another pan of lasagna.  This time I found a wonderful recipe for spinach/broccoli lasagna.  It is in the oven now so I sure hope it is good!  It takes me a little while to go from "hungry for lasagna" to "eating lasagna".  With a commitment to making all my food from scratch, I have to plan ahead.  So I started a couple of days ago with 2 gallons of fresh whole Pickett Fence milk.  I can't say enough about the quality of their milk.  It is pasteurized, which is required by Iowa law but not hemogenized.  That means the cream rises to the top and it is absolutely delicious to drink but even better for making cheeses.

Out of the first gallon of milk, I made cottage cheese.  This is really easy to do by adding 3/4 cup white vinegar to heated milk and separating the curds from the whey.  Here is a link to how to do it.  http://www.thenewsuburbanpioneer.blogspot.com/2012/12/in-kitchen-cottage-cheese.html    The cottage cheese curds are fresh and good.  Store them in the refrigerator until ready to use and then mix some whole milk or cream with them right before eating!

Then I used the second gallon of milk to make homemade mozzarella cheese.  This was the second time I made it and it turned out perfect this time!  It doesn't take much, just some rennet, which can be purchased online or at Beer Crazy in Urbandale (they have cheese making supplies in addition to brew-your-own-beer supplies) and some citric acid (also available in the same places).  Here is the link to how to make your own mozzarella cheese.  http://www.thenewsuburbanpioneer.blogspot.com/2012/11/in-kitchen-homemade-mozzarella-cheese.html This cheese was so fresh tasting and perfectly delicious that I had to keep my family out of it so I had enough for the lasagna!  I had to promise to make them some more soon to eat fresh.

Once I had made the mozzarella and the cottage cheese, I had about a gallon and half of whey left over.  Whey is a yellow liquid and full of great nutrition from the milk.  It can be used in place of water in most recipes so I store it in the refrigerator in glass jars until I can use it up.  Never waste!! 

So out of that 1 1/2 gallons of whey, I made Ricotta cheese and BUTTER!!  The butter was a first for me but I was so happy with the results.  To make ricotta, you have to leave the pan of whey out on the counter for 12 - 24 hours to develop sufficient acidity.  While this seemed very foreign and scary to me at first but I am comfortable with it now...  (how do you think they make it when you buy it at the store?- probably some chemical additive instead of leaving it on the counter - yuckier in my opinion)

After leaving the big pan of whey on the counter overnight, I looked inside to discover this nice layer of butter fat floating on top.  With further research, I discovered that it would be great to make butter from.  So I carefully skimmed all the cream fat from the top into my magic bullet cup.  After quite a bit of blending, I noticed it getting solid and found butter when I opened the cup!  Scooping the butter out, a little salt was added for flavor and this is what I ended up with:

When mixing in the salt, I did some pressing and removed a bit more of the whey liquid, adding that to my pot for more ricotta!  This butter is still on my counter and we are enjoying the taste of fresh butter on our toast and muffins! 

So on to make the ricotta for the lasagna.  Ricotta cheese is a bit tricky and my first attempt failed but this time I figured out to strain it through an actual tea towel instead of a cheese cloth and managed to capture all of the ricotta cheese this way.  Here is a link to making your own ricotta cheese:  http://www.thenewsuburbanpioneer.blogspot.com/2012/12/in-kitchen-ricotta-cheese-worked.html

So out of 2 gallons of whole milk (cost $10), I got a 16 ounce container of cottage cheese, a large chunk of mozzarella cheese, a small container of ricotta cheese, and enough butter for a few meals.  I consider that a win-win for our health (as all ingredients are fresh and without additives, and our pocket book!) 

Now even after the ricotta was made, I ended up with about a gallon or more of whey.  It is pure whey now.. clear yellow liquid that I have in the refrigerator.  I used a few tablespoons instead of the water to make the homemade wheat lasagna noodles and today used a few cups instead of water in my homemade garlic bread!  And there is still plenty left!  Maybe a crockpot of soup is in order later this week.  The whey does not add any different flavor when used in place of water in recipes but it does add nutrition!

While this seems a daunting process, it is a little time consuming but most of this can be done with minimal effort while you are doing other things in the kitchen.  Much of the cheese making is resting time so I use that time to make a batch of cookies or another loaf of fresh bread. 

Just final note:  If you are in town and want to try to make some mozzarella of your own, I can give you a little citric acid or rennet from my supply to save you from buying a quantity until you know how easy and delicious it is!  Just send me a message!  Or if you want to come over sometime when I am making something, let me know... I would love to have you and show you how!

Calzones & Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

It has been over a month since I updated the blog.  It has been pretty busy in the house with the Christmas holiday, traveling out of state to see family, and most recently, caring for my father while he had a knee replacement.

I missed the kitchen and we had some challenges eating as healthy as I would have liked.  We survived on fresh fruit and most of my free time was absorbed with baking bread or putting together a quick homemade casserole to live on.  I really missed the kitchen.. especially when my only Christmas gift was a beautiful KitchenAid food processor.  It is a big one and takes quite a bit of counter space but it is so worth it.  I can chop onions for recipes, slice potatoes for scalloped potatoes and ham, and blend Citrusy Mashed Squash easily.

So this week I made homemade "hot pockets" or Calzones.  I used a chicken mixture and baked them inside of a whole wheat pizza crust.  They were so good that they passed the WHOLE FAMILY challenge.  Journey LOVES them (because there are no vegetables in them), Mike loves them because they are easy to heat up and grab, and my parents even loved them when I took a couple over to help mom feed dad during his recuperation at home.   So in a nutshell, you know they are GOOD!

The outsides are a snap to make.


Whole Wheat Pizza Dough
5 cups whole wheat flour (you can substitute store bought flour but sprouted and ground fresh is definitely best!)
1 tsp salt  (sea salt or mineral salts are best!)
4 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I buy in bulk but that is equal to 2 pouches if you have those around)
2 cups warm water (Ideally should be between 100 and 120 degrees but I now just test it to touch)
Mix all ingredients together (love the KitchenAid Mixer for this job!), knead for 3-4 minutes, then let the dough to “rest” for about 10 minutes.  This recipe will make 2 pizzas or about 10 Calzones depending on the size you make them.

The Insides
Here is the fun part.  While the Mixer is mixing, kneading, and letting the dough "rest", you can make the filling.  Get creative!  We made chicken and cream cheese calzones but you could use any filling!  We are planning to try some "taco calzones" and some pizza calzones in the future!

Recipe for cream cheese chicken filling:
2 TBSP olive oil
2 chicken breasts
1/2 cup onion (minced)
2 cloves garlic (minced or pressed)
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 TBSP butter
4 ounces of cream cheese (1/2 a brick)
1/4 tsp garlic salt or seasoned salt
2 TBSP milk

In a large pan, cook the onions, garlic and chicken in the olive oil on medium heat.

In another bowl, beat the cream cheese and melted butter.  Stir in the remaining ingredients and mix well.  Now you have the filling for the calzones.  This is the time you can get creative!  Add vegetables, change the seasonings, change the meat, add cheese... whatever you like!  I was tempted to add little baby peas or spinach to this filling but opted for simplicity so others in my family would really enjoy them.. so I added a little shredded cheddar cheese to my finished product!

To fill and finish the calzone
Divide the pizza dough into many equal small balls.  Roll or press each dough ball out on waxed paper or silicone cutting board surface so you can work well with it.  I pressed them as thin as I could and still hold in the stuffing.

Fill each one with the fillings and fold in half, sealing the sides.  Place on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish.  I brushed each of them with more butter and garlic before baking so they would be good and yummy and then sprinkled a little parsley on top of them.

Bake at 375 for about 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown.

You can store these in the refrigerator when cool and heat them up in the microwave (I prefer oven or toaster oven - it only takes about 10 minutes in the oven right from the refrigerator).

You can also freeze these.  Either before or after baking them.... and have bags of handy healthy meals to eat on the go.  If freezing them unbaked, you can bake them later from this frozen state in a 375 degree oven for 25 - 35 minutes.

Try these yourself and let me know what fillings you used and how your family likes them!  I once lived in Omaha and we had a restaurant there called Runza Hut.  They served the best little meat filled sandwiches like these but theirs had ground beef, seasoning, cheese, and cabbage... I MUST try some of those soon.