Crackers!

My kids love crackers. They really love soda crackers. I buy them by the big box when they're on sale since it's most economical. I decided a while back I would try to start making my own crackers even though I still have several pounds of soda crackers in the basement. I may have to make a food bank donation :)

I was going to wait and do sourdough, but I kind of killed my starter. Then the other day I came across Penny's cracker recipe and thought, this sounds easy! So I gave it a go.

I did decide that I would do the right thing and soak the flour first. Unfortunately, I forgot to add kefir but I did remember before I went to bed, so I just worked it in (it had already been soaking for 6 hours at this point. I was also soaking flour for bread. Can't believe I forgot!)

I decided to cut them in neat shapes to add to the appeal for the kids. Plus each shape is a different flavor :)

So here's my recipe with variations.

Soaked Flour Crackers

2 cups whole grain flour of choice (I used whole wheat)

3/4 cup warm water

2 tbsp. kefir (or whey or lemon juice)

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp sea salt

cinnamon sugar (optional)

1 tsp. oregano and 2 tbsp. Parmesan cheese (optional; enough for third of the batch of crackers)

The night before making, mix the kefir with the water and add to the flour. Mix well, kneading into a smooth ball. Cover and let sit overnight. When ready to make, preheat oven to 350 degrees and knead the salt and coconut oil into the dough. Knead until it is smooth. Take a piece, cover with plastic wrap or parchment paper and roll it out until it is very thin, but not too thin or it will burn. Cut out and place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. If desired, sprinkle with sea salt or cinnamon sugar for a "pizza" tasting cracker (dried tomato powder could also be added). Use cookie cutters to make them fancy. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes, keeping an eye on them so they do not burn. Let cool (they will crisp as they cool). Eat!

There are endless possibilities for variations on this cracker. These three are the ones I thought would appeal most to my kids since the are so picky. The strawberry crackers are the sea salt, the halloween shapes are the cinnamon and the star crackers are the "pizza" ones. I think they are all very tasty!

Homemade Hot Dog Buns

I have been try for ages to find a good hot dog or hamburger bun recipe. I have attempted it before but never seem to be able to shape them properly. I don't make them enough to justify buying a hot dog bun pan (I can make hamburger buns just fine).

I found a very interesting blog the other day, Mennonite Girls Can Cook, and proceeded to read though a number of pages with the intention of looking through as much as possible. I bookmarked a number of recipes to go back and try.

They had a recipe for buns and I thought I would give it a try! I made the dough in the bread machine since I have a hard time kneading things these days.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons instant yeast

4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons white sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 cups hot tap water

I put these ingredients on the dough cycle and took it out after the first rising. I then rolled it out and cut into hot dog bun shapes. The first ones were really thick. I think what would work best is having them about as long as the hot dog and about two times as wide as the hot dog is around. Fold it over. Repeat for each one and place in a 9x13 pan so they aren't quite touching. Let rise until about double in height. Brush with an egg coat (beat a small egg with a couple tablespoons of milk; pullet eggs are great for this!). Bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, slit down the middle for a place to put the hot dog.

The kids moderately liked these, as in they each ate one but they also each had one that was too big to eat. Mark liked them. I thought they were good. I hope the next time I will be able to shape them better. The first picture is Ethan's and the second is mine. I love sauerkraut and this kind is really good. In all honesty, I don't like making it. This kind is $2.39 or I can get double the amount but chopped for $2.99. It is a really good tasting kraut.

With the leftover dough, I rolled it out, covered with butter and sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and made cinnamon rolls! The kids love these. Mark likes them with raisins and the kids don't so I did half and half.

I didn't bother with the soaked dough since it was kind of a last minute supper idea. My sourdough starter isn't doing very good so I may start again. I may make a regular one and a gluten free starter. All the gluten free flours are 20% off at bulk barn. I just need to watch the video so I'll know what I need.

Also, I know hot dogs aren't the greatest food but something we like. They are somewhat locally made and other than summertime, not something we have very often.

Oh The Irony!

***Edited to add that ended up not making the cake.  I hope she didn't read this and was offended :(**

I had a list of things I wanted to do when the kids went to school. In all honesty, I haven't done much on that list. One of the things was perfecting my cake making and decorating skills. I put that on the back burner since I only make a couple of fancy cakes a year.

Yesterday, I got a call from someone my mother-in-law was talking to whom she told I made fondant cakes. I was a little speechless. Here I was giving up on the idea of cake making and someone wants to pay me to make a cake. Not only giving up on cake making, but getting rid of my refined flours, sugars and food coloring. I almost tossed it all.

So now I just have to figure out how much to charge. That is the hard part. She was going to pay someone $125. There is a reason people charge that much for cakes. Being someone who always undercharges, I almost said $15 but that wouldn't even cover the supplies/ingredients, let alone time. I will also have to get a cake board and box, so I may charge $40, $35 if she returns the cake board and box. I have been watching videos all morning to refresh my mind about how to do it.

So yes, oh the irony. Here I am trying to eat better and making pure sugary junk for pay. The even more ironic part is I plan to put the money in my grass fed meat fund! (that is where I put all my extra money and earned money from babysitting and such)

Right now, I have a bunch of things on the go. I wanted to try to make soaked flour bread machine bread. Around 4pm last night, I mixed the flour it would take for a loaf with a couple tablespoons of kefir and the water required for the recipe. I put it in the machine until the flour was completely soaked. I covered and let sit overnight. I proofed some yeast in warm water and honey then added it to the flour as well as some oil and a pinch of salt. I put it in the machine to mix and it was splashing everywhere! I tried putting a towel over it, but it wasn't working, so I stopped it and hand kneaded the flour mix with the other ingredients until it was able to mix better with the paddle. I generally don't do much kneading because of my hands (which is why I always use the bread machine), but it mixed well and seems to be a nice soft dough. It's on the first rise. I hope it turns out. I have a feeling I may have to tweak things a bit to get them just right.

Healthy Cookies

I have mentioned I am on the look out for recipes I can make that are good for the kids lunches when they go to school. I came across a recipe that is a winner! I found it here. They are called healthy cookies and they appear to be very versatile. They were very easy to make and we love them! They are egg free, dairy free and can be gluten free. They are also added sugar free but I put some honey in them. If I take a picture, I will add it here.

So here is the recipe:

Nikki's Healthy Cookie Recipe

3 large, ripe bananas, well mashed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, barely warm - so it isn't solid (or alternately, olive oil)
2 cups rolled oats
2/3 cup almond meal
1/3 cup coconut, finely shredded & unsweetened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
6 - 7 ounces chocolate chips or dark chocolate bar chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, racks in the top third.

In a large bowl combine the bananas, vanilla extract, and coconut oil. Set aside. In another bowl whisk together the oats, almond meal, shredded coconut, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Fold in the chocolate chunks/chips.The dough is a bit looser than a standard cookie dough, don't worry about it. Drop dollops of the dough, each about 2 teaspoons in size, an inch apart, onto a parchment (or Silpat) lined baking sheet. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes. I baked these as long as possible without burning the bottoms and they were perfect - just shy of 15 minutes seems to be about right in my oven.

Makes about 3 dozen bite-sized cookies.

Donut Muffins? Yum!

I was looking around for recipes that I thought would be good to make for the kids lunches and came across this recipe . Sure sounded like a winner to me! Note to self, learn to take better food pictures!

It took a while for me to get around to making it. When the kids saw it, they knew they would love it. So last night while making supper, I whipped up a batch. They are very easy to make. Shaylee did a lot of the work. They were done by the time we finished supper. I finished them up and tried them. MMmmmmmm!! Very good! Yummy, donut texture, sweet but not too sweet but it had a different taste that I could not put my finger on....kind of spicy but I thought it was just the nutmeg and cinnamon.

Later when I was putting everything away, I realized I put CUMIN in instead of cinnamon, lol! Yeah, that would account for that spicy taste. I used my cinnamon sugar shaker to coat the tops so it still had that cinnamon taste but despite the mix up in spices, they were still good. It was a good reminder to relabel my spices as the letters were wearing off which resulted in the mix up and I was so harried making supper and helping Shaylee get the muffins put together that I didn't even think to smell or double check before tossing it in.

So I linked the site but here is a text copy of the recipe with a couple of my notes added in.

Muffins that Taste Like Donuts
from lemanda on Tasty Kitchen

for the muffins:

1 3/4 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon (NOT cumin, lol!)
1/3 cup Oil (I used olive oil)
3/4 cup White Sugar
1 whole Egg
3/4 cup Milk

for the topping:

1/4 cup Butter
1/3 cup White Sugar
1 Tablespoon Cinnamon

Grease one standard size muffin pan.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and stir only to combine. Fill standard sized muffin tin with the batter, using a scant 1/4 cup per muffin (note from Carla: I used a silicone muffin pan so they would pop right out after)

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a bowl. Combine the white sugar with the cinnamon in another bowl. Shake muffins out while still hot. Dip muffins in butter, then into the sugar/cinnamon mix (note from Carla: I just spread the butter on top and sprinkled my cinnamon sugar on top). Let cool. Enjoy!

Makes 1 dozen.

Peanut Butter (and bean) Cookies

I made these before and the kids just loved them. I cannot remember which recipe I used so I am going to find another and convert it. I have not made them yet, but I will post if they are a success :)

Original with my adjustments on the side in bold:
INGREDIENTS:

* 1 1/4 cups flour, sift or stir before measuring (1 cup whole wheat, 1/4 cup bran and 1/4 cup flax)
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 cup shortening (1/2 cup cooked mashed white beans)
* 1/2 cup peanut butter
* 1/2 cup granulated sugar (1/2 equivalent of stevia
* 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed (1/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup molasses)
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
* 1 egg

PREPARATION:
Sift together flour, salt, and baking powder; set aside. Cream shortening, peanut butter, and sugars; beat in vanilla and egg. Stir in flour mixture, blending well. Shape mixture into 3/4-inch balls; place on greased baking sheets.
Flatten each cookie with the tines of a fork; dip fork in flour periodically to keep it from sticking to the peanut butter cookie dough.
Bake peanut butter cookies at 375° for about 10 to 12 minutes.

So we'll see how it goes. I'm sure it will be something that is cookie-like, lol! I'll be sure to take pictures. As long as the kids will eat it, that is what I consider success :)