Apple Dumpling Cake for Supper

 Last night we had apple dumpling cake and popcorn for supper.  I had lots of apples and didn't really have anything else ready for supper. So what the heck?  I used this recipe I found at All Recipes. We all liked it.

3 lbs apples, cored and sliced (I didn't peel them)
2 cups all purpose flour, I used half white whole wheat
1 1/2 cups of sugar (I used only one cup)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs beaten
1 cup vegetable oil (I used half a cup oil and one half cup yogurt)
1 tsp ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 9x13 pan.

2. Place sliced apples in baking dish. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in eggs and oil; pack on top of apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes, or until topping is puffed and golden brown.

I Made Yogurt Twice

These are two of the four quarts of my second batch of yogurt.  I talked about doing it in this post and I finally did using my Igloo Play Mate Cooler, warm water, a candy thermometer, Dannon plain yogurt, and 2 % milk.  I followed most of the instruction in the link below.  It turned out ...well ...just like yogurt.  And the best part is it is less than a dollar per quart (unless you use organic milk in which case it is still cheaper than store bought).  Very satisfying!

Here's the link and a summary of what I did:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/cheese/yogurt_making/yogurt2000.htm

1)Scald a gallon of milk and let it cool to 50 degrees Celsius.  (I use metric because it's easier to remember). 

2)For starter, stir a cup of yogurt with a cup of milk until blended.  (Some people bring these to room temperature first.)

3)Stir the starter into the cooled milk until well mixed. 

4)Pour into four quart jars and one pint jar.  (I used a strainer for this as I think I should have used a pan with a heavier bottom and there were cooked pieces of milk coming out that were stuck to the bottom of the pan.) Pouring the milk into the jars can be a bit messy so I put the jars on a dishtowel to absorb some of the mess.  The pint can be used as starter yogurt for the next batch. 

5)Put the jars in the cooler and then pour water that is 50 degrees Celsius right out of the tap into the cooler using the candy thermometer to make sure it is the right temperature.  Make sure the water stays below the bottom of the lids.  I propped the little pint jar on top of an empty sideways pint jar so it was above the water level.  A little precarious but it seemed to work.

6)Close the cooler and let sit undisturbed for at least 6 hours.  The link with the recipe says 3 hours but  I just want to make sure.

Bread and Yogurt

Fall is in the air.  I've been making plans for beginning to make a few more things from scratch as I have done in the past.  Inspired by a friend who was making bread in her bread machine when I visited her last week I have started baking bread again.  I don't remember exactly when I stopped; but I think it was around last summer before or after my son was born in July.  I don't have a bread machine but I am seriously considering it for the first time.  Any suggestions?  I always see them at Good Will but I will have to look at them more closely next time I go.

I started making kefir a few years a go when my now almost three year old was a baby but probably haven't made it in at least two years.  It's nice because you can just make it at room temperature unlike yogurt where you need the right amount of heat and possibly a yogurt maker. I would like to try making yogurt however, as we would probably eat it more readily than kefir.   Here and here are a couple of posts with ideas for making it without a yogurt maker.   This article has some helpful information and kind of combines the two ways mentioned in the last two links.  They pour water of the right temperature into a small cooler and have canning jars full of the yogurt sit in that for the designated time.  It would really be a lot cheaper to make our own yogurt as milk from the store is much cheaper than buying yogurt from the store.

A little bit from the garden

This is a picture of just about all the beets from our garden.  I am going to bake them and slice them for supper.  We are really just beginner gardeners and have a small garden.  We got a little bit of some things (like beets) and some very small potatoes and onions and what seemed for a while like a lot of tomatoes.  My husband made salsa with those.  The tomato production seems to be slowing down a bit.  We were going to try our hand at canning but we will see how much more we get.  With the earlier tomatoes I made this delicious tomato salad.

Small Successes Vol. 2

1.  I finally called about having a sump pump put in our window well.  I found out I need to send them the contract signed along with ten percent of the payment first but at least I know what I need to do now. 

2.  I have been eating healthier.  I have been following the guidelines from a brochure I have for pregnant women from the March of Dimes.  It gives recommended amounts from each of the five food groups (grains, vegetables, fruits, milk, and proteins) for each day.  It really helps me not to over-do it with portion sizes and it helps me to make sure I get enough dairy and vegetables.  Getting enough vegetables is probably the most challenging thing.  I am not pregnant but I am nursing so its probably about right.  Now I just need to stick with this if I should become pregnant as this is when I really over do my eating.

3.  I have been drinking only one 12 oz. cup of coffee per day as opposed to the two 12 oz. cups that I normally drink.

Fasting to Feasting

The idea that God alone suffices is what kept going through my mind this Lent.  Many times I look to food for comfort so this Lent I worked to moderate my food intake by such things as: no snacking on popcorn, eating cereal instead of baked goods or bread with jam for breakfast, eating only one serving per meal, limiting snacks of all kinds, and mostly no sweets and junk food.  These were only general guidelines and not  hard and fast rules.  Nevertheless,  I generally stuck pretty close to this plan.Whenever I had a longing to eat something for comfort I told myself that, "Jesus is enough for me"  keeping in mind that the things of this world will pass away and provide us with only temporary pleasure and that lasting happiness can only come from God. 

So now that Easter is here (alleiluia) what attitude am I to take?  It's a time for feasting right?  In past years as soon as Easter rolled around I went back to my same old habits and of course overindulged on all the Easter candy.  I heard someone on Catholic Radio say that if you gave up chocolate for Lent then you should eat chocolate every day for Easter meaning that Easter is a time of feasting and a time to enjoy the gifts of God (being temperate was implied). So this is the approach I am trying to take.  I have been finding Easter candy at deep discounts at the stores and I have been buying it with the idea that I will eat only a little every day and not the whole bag at once.  So how have I been doing?  Well...  Better than I have done in past years.  Yesterday I had only one ice cream cone and 4 small marshmallow eggs and only the ears off of a small Hershey's bunny.  That kind of sounds like a lot; and maybe it is not ideal; but considering how I am, that's not bad, and after all we are supposed to be feasting, right?  Does anyone have any ideas about this?  I would love some input.

A St. Joseph's Day Meal

With St. Patrick's Day and St. Joseph's Day both in the same week, this week of Lent has been filled with lots of feasting rather than fasting.  Today is St. Joseph's day and it looks like I will be making a few goodies.  Once again I have truned to Catholic Cuisine for some feast day food ideas so today we will be having these rasberry cream cupcakes and this minestrone soup along with some frozen dinner rolls.  Apparently cream puffs are a traditional St. Joseph's Day food though I haven't taken the time to research the background of this.  Italian food is also traditional St. Joseph Day fare as St. Joseph's Day started in Sicily when upon praying to St. Joseph the people were rewarded with rain after a long drought.

St. Joseph pray for us!

Today is St. Patrick's Day.  I am going to make Irish Beef and Guiness Stew as found on Catholic Cuisine along with Shamrock Pretels also found on CC.  I have been making menu plans for the past four weeks.  I plan two weeks at a time as I go grocery shopping every two weeks.  The actual planning takes a long time to do.  I am thinking about planning for just one week at a time as this may be less stressful or maybe I just need more practice. 

"Winging it" isn't really descriptive of the meal planning I had been doing before.  Although I hadn't  really written out an official menu for each week, I had certain groceries I got on a regular basis for the meals that I made at least once during the week making sure I made a list of the groceries I would need for a few new dishes for the week as well. 

It is nice knowing what I am going to fix for supper on any given day though I think I make more labor intensive dishes than I would if I had a looser plan.  This means that I have been expending more energy on cooking and perhaps have less time for other things like blogging or reading blogs.  This may be one reason why I haven't posted in a while.

Anyway, it is a work in progress.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 12

1.  For Valentine's Day my husband made lobster tail and pork chops; and as if that were not enough he made chocolate mousse also. (I made the home made whip cream.)  Neither of us had had chocolate mousse before.  It was heavenly and it makes me so happy just thinking about it.

2.  Angelboy and I are seriously thinking that he will go to high school next year.  I think it will give us both more space and perhaps strengthen our relationship.  We may decide to go back to homeschooling but you don't know what will work until you try. 

3.  I am making French Lentil soup, salmon croquettes (recipe on back of can, I was originally going to make tuna salad using salmon), and homemade bread.  That sounds really good for a Lenten Friday supper.

4. I read a lot of the benefits of menu planning.  The only time I really plan a menu per se, is when I am going to try a new recipe and I need to make sure I get the proper ingredients from the store.  Otherwise I mostly buy the same stuff at the store and work with this.  Could anyone tell me why they think or don't think planning menus is helpful?

5.  One thing I am trying to do this Lent is to keep my in between meal eating to a minimum.  I think this will help me to be more mindful of what I eat.  Am I hungry?  How much do I need to eat to satisfy me?  What can I choose that is healthy?  I try to focus on the fact that I need Jesus more than I need that slice of cheese and learn to rely on him for happiness.  O.k. I am trying to loose a little weight too.

6.  I wasn't going to do seven quick takes but its much more fun to read everyone else's when you have some of your own to share.

7.  I'm trying to teach pumpkingirl how to help me clean the kitchen by sweeping, wiping, scraping off her plate and putting the recycling in its proper place.  That should keep her busy for a while.

For more quick takes see Jen and http://www.conversiondiary.com/.

Seven Quick Takes Volume 8

1. I had a beautiful Christmas. Although there were disappointments like my sister not coming and not being able to get very much alone time in with my husand, I felt that the consistent practice of our Advent devotions had the effect of making a little bit more room in my heart for Jesus. For me this meant things such as being touched by the fact that Almighty God became a helpless baby subject to human care. God is truly humble.

2. Here is a picture of the dutch oven my husband gave me for Christmas:

It's really beautiful. The picture doesn't do it justice. My husband also got me the cook book Soups from a Monastery Kitchen by Brother Victor-Antoine. Here is a picture of my cut-up vegetables, carrots, celery and turnips, that I used for making soup out of the book:

Many of the soups have relatively simple ingredients and are surprisingly tasty despite that.

3. I find myself looking forward to Monday when we will begin homeschooling again after a looooong amount of time off. I am having Angelboy plan what he will do next week with Math, Science, Language, and Geography. I may plan history, religion, and whatever else. I hope having him plan his own work and take more responsiblity for his own learning helps cut down on what I have to do. I was seriously thinking about having him go to public school full time after Christmas break because I didn't feel I was doing a good job of keeping on top of things and was worried about him getting a good education. We will at least finish this year at home. Next year is high school so we will see.

4. I think Angelboy would probably do well with keeping his faith and morality if he did go back to public school. I think having him home for the past 3+ years has been wonderful for grounding him in the faith. It's also been 3+ years since I have been in public school teaching. I am certain that much has changed in that short amount of time. They were just beginning to deal with the cell phone issue back then, but now I think that cell phones among teens is much more prevalent. Face Book is also much more widespread than it was just a few years ago. I know there is a lot of bad things that go on in public schools but there are also a lot of good kids and teachers. Its difficult deciding what to do.

5. One thing I would really like to do this year is get up earlier in the mornings on a more consistent basis. I would exercise and blog among other things and have time to plan my day. I need to reflect on what I would like to accomplish this year and make plans. Some solid plans to change certain behaviors and attitudes would certainly be a good idea. I need to work on patience and accepting times when things don't go as planned.

6. Last year I made the resolution to go to monthly confession and followed through even when I really didn't want to go. I need to make another commitment like this. First Friday Mass? Weekday mass at least one day a week? Daily rosary? Any ideas?

7. Well I need to get ready to go to church now. My husband is making blueberry muffins. Yum! One of the accomplishments I can claim for this year is more regular posting on my blog. Granted it started later in the year but it happened none the less. I look forward to another year of regular blogging. It is certainly one of my favorite things.

For more quick takes go to conversiondiary.com

A Few Scenes from the Past Two Weeks

Our first big snow of the year on December 12.

Buttery sugar cookies ready for the oven.

Espresso cutouts drizzled in white chcolate.

Finally a chance to go out and play in the snow.

Snowflakes made by Dad (the one at the very top and third from bottom), Uncle B. (the one at the bottom) and Angelboy (the rest of them).

Got some presents wrapped!

Dryer Isn't Working and That's O.K.

Yesterday for the feast of the Immaculate Conception I made Blueberry Muffins from this receipe at Catholic Cuisine. They were very good and rather decadent with the crumble on top even though I made the muffins with half whole wheat flour. I may leave the crumble off next time and see how that works for a somewhat healthier version as they seemed plenty sweet enough. I know--I'm no fun.

We had a busy day after mass and muffins. I went shopping for boots for the kids and bought some pants for my husband. I wanted to get this done before it got snowing too hard.

In the evening I found that my dryer wasn't working. When the towels didn't get dry the first time I thought my husband forgot to turn on the dryer; when they didn't get done the second time I knew something was up. The dryer was spinning but there was no heat.

At first I was a little bit distraught by this as I had a fair amount of laundry, but then I rememered a post I read by Heather at A Quiet Place of Rest where she talked about hanging up her laundry inside because the weather was overcast that day and how this also helpped with the dry air inside. So... I have been doing laundry and hanging things up to dry whereever I can find a place to hang them. I hung diapers last night and I couldn't believe how quickly they dried. It is the dry air I am sure. I love the fact that we are getting by (for now) without our dryer.

This seems like such a small thing to get excited about; but my excitement may be due in large part that doing without a dryer (even temporarily) can be counted as one of the many small steps that are leading us to live a more homemade, do-it-yourself, thrifty kind of life. I may try to find a place to hang a clothesline and try to do this on a more permanent basis. We'll see.

On another note...
Here are pictures my husband took of our back yard this morning. Yes, it snowed, and I think many people will have similar pictures on their blogs today.

Mostly Happy Sunday Dinner

Yesterday I made pork roast for supper. It was a good old-fashioned Sunday dinner. Was it picture perfect? No. There were fussy children and I became a little stressed and grouchy when the food was done and I was trying to get it set out in a somewhat attractive manner while it was still warm. We had invited my brother over and he was holding the baby (one of the fussing children)and singing Billy Joel songs (loudly). This was sweet, but in my state of mind only added to the chaos.

We didn't really eat the meal together either. I had to go up stairs and feed the baby as soon as I was done eating, and my husband couldn't eat when I was eating due the need to get his blood sugar where it should be first (he is diabetic). My two-year-old daughter had a cold and seemingly little appetite and was the other one of the fussing children so my husband put her to bed early (while I was feeding the baby) which seemed to be fine with her.

However, I did get to see my husband eat when I was done feeding the baby. This meant I watched him while he was eating to see if he liked what I had made. He did. He's easy to please and it did turn out pretty well if I say so myself.

So I made a meal that I was proud of (I wish I had photographed it) ,but at the same time I once again got to practice letting go of the things I had no control over. Children (especially very young children) are good at helping us with this.

Seven Quick Takes Vol. 5

~1~

Dh has been getting into country music recently. He can't get the station he normally listens to on his radio at work any more so he is listening to the country music station along with his classic rock station. He never liked country music before and always disparaged it in his younger days. I on the other hand, while not super country music fan, have always enjoyed listening to country music every now and then, especially on my way home from symphony rehearsals. So country music has been the new thing that we have in common these days. When he gets home from work he tells me about a new song he heard and I usually know exactly which one he is talking about. I'm kind of amazed with how many country songs I know from my minimal listening. We even watched the Country Music Awards on Wednesday.

~2~

I finally took a nick out of baby's thumb when I was cutting his fingernails this week. I had done the same thing to my two older children and was trying to be really careful so the same thing wouldn't happen to baby boy. But alas... I was cutting his nails while he was nursing. He didn't cry at all but he did look up with a little bit of surprise and he did bleed quite a bit. (poor kid)Their fingers and fingernails are so little and their fingernails are so sharp when they need to be cut.

~3~

Last night I tried a new recipe. They were Jacques Pepin potatoes via Rachel Ray. Apparently they were a recipe he grew up with. They use baby Yukon Gold potatoes but any small potato will do. It turned out pretty well but I think its one of those things where you need experience to get things the right consistency. The trick is to get them soft enough to slightly "pop" them open a crack but not so soft that they completely turn into mashed potatoes. I tried cutting the larger potatoes to make the potatoes all the same size but it works better to have whole potatoes because they are less likely to fall apart. Don't get me wrong, even the potatoes that fell apart were scrumptuous but they look fancier when the potatoes stay together I think. Here is the picture from the recipe web site. I should have taken a picture of the ones I made but I didn't think of that at the time.

Anyway, it is always invigorating to try new recipes. I had the usual chicken with these but taking the time to try something a little different always makes me feel so much more creative.

~4~

We had a basement waterproofer come and look at our problem egress window yesterday. He says there are no guarantees but he was for starting with the cheapest solution first and adding more pricey things if they were needed. Dh and I were thinking more along the lines of going with what is more sure to work even though it may be more expensive. What the basement guy considered more pricey didn't sound that bad to us as we were thinking that things could get much more expensive. However, we forgot to tell him about the problem of sometimes water coming in at a particular angle so that it shoots directly into the basement window itself which is one of the worst problems because you can't do much but roll up the carpet in that area and put towels down until the heavy rain is over. A fix that included draining water out of the window well like a sump pump wouldn't work with water coming directly into the window so we may have to talk about putting in a new kind of wall for the window well that doesn't allow water to come in through the cracks like the railroad ties do. I still think it might not be as expensive as we were thinking at first but we'll see.

~5~

Last night I went to my every other week Thursday night adoration at the perpetual adoration chapel. My husband and I take turns going every other Thursday night. This has worked out well for us. We have chosen a night and we stick with it for the most part.

~6~

Yesterday I took my toddler to the library musical story time for kids under three. I left the baby napping at home with my oldest. It was nice to take this time to be alone with her. She was somewhat interested in the story time but she wanted to play with the puzzles which were right next to where the story time was happening. So she played with the puzzles while keeping an eye on what was happening at the story time and would participate when it interested her.

~7~

On Sunday we visited my husbands mom and dad. It was a nice visit. They are in their early eighties and I am so thankful for each moment we get to spend with them. I always pray that they will be around for a while longer.

Out of the Meal Time Rut

I am so happy that I actually made something aside from the usual for our evening meal today and yesterday. The best part was that I was able to use ingredients that I already had and the meals were really very simple to make. I got the recipes from a bargain cook book I bought a few years ago. Yesterday I made beans and rice and today I made meat balls and had them on spaghetti. Mmmmm. I loved the spaghetti and meat balls!

I was really beginning to dread supper time when I would make the same thing over and over agian. It was the same with grocery shopping, buying the same ingredients to make the same thing week after week. The more you put into something the more you will get out of it applies in this situation. I just decided to look for something different to make and lo and behold I did it! Just a small variation seemed to make all the difference in my feelings about cookingl.