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Apple Chips for your Next Care Package
Are you looking for something new to put in your next care package? How about a slice of home? A reminder of autumn? The taste of crispy apples. But how do you get it overseas without it turning bad, mushy, yucky? Enter the power of the dehydrator! To make these yourself you will need: Apples – 4 or 5 per batch An Apple Peeler / Corer (Here is an example over at Amazon) A Food Dehydrator (An example at Amazon) Wash and core your apples, but leave the peals on for some yummy added fiber. If you use a corer similar to mine you can simply push the peeler-arm back and it won’t…
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Full of Thanks
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday by far. Christmas and Easter shape my life but have become way too commercialized and, in general, we’ve lost the meaning. There’s not much pressure with Thanksgiving though. Wednesday I’ll turn the music up, bake some cookies, pies and bread. I’ll enjoy having the kids’ help once in awhile (especially with the cookie part) and then Thanksgiving, this year, we’ll head to hub’s family gathering; sixty to seventy of his closest relatives. No fuss, just family. I also love taking the time to enjoy what we are thankful for. This year, at dinner, we have gone around the table each day and said something we are thankful for. …
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Apple-Oatmeal Yeast Bread
Thanksgiving is zooming at us with rocket speed. Today might be Monday… but watch out! Thursday is coming into focus. Slow down and make some yeast bread. This recipe calls for apple cider which is prominent in the aroma. Welcome Thanksgiving week with a fresh loaf of bread. I think we all need something ‘to hold us up’ for the hard work of eatting a fantastic meal later! Oh yes, bring it on. Simple to make and bake, and totally wonderful to relax and taste the wholesome goodness of oats and apples. Yeast BreadApple-Oatmeal Bread1 c quick cooking rolled oats (not instant)¼ c packed brown sugar1 T butter 1 ½…
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Thanksgiving Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Bacon
EVERYTHING tastes better with bacon as the saying goes, right? Sweet potatoes, thyme, and bacon just proves the point. Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Bacon 2 lbs of sweet potatoes (about 2 large sweet potatoes)5 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 2 tsp of dried thyme)4 Slices of baconCoarse Salt (to taste)Ground Pepper (to taste) Preheat oven to 400. On a rimmed baking sheet, combine 2 pounds of peeled and cut sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 inch pieces), 4 slices of uncooked bacon cut into 1/2 inch pieces, and thyme. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until sweet potatoes are browned in spots and tender when pierced with a knife and bacon is crisp, about…
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The Grocery Bill
The grocery bill: One of the big chunks of our family budget and probably our largest ‘discretianary’ item in the list of many family expenses. How do you save? I enjoyed this article in the Times, “Millions of coupons: Military shoppers score savings on base“. It got me thinking about how we, you and me, can chunk down the amount we each spend on our weekly trips. It isn’t always about coupons but they sure can help! Clip, cut and organizeThe latest rave is coupons. I hear all about TLC’s Extreme Couponing, although I have to admit I’ve never watched it. Are you an ‘extreme-couponer’? My husband is the Sunday-morning newspaper coupon clipping addict. Every Sunday…
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Flourless Baked Berry Oatmeal Brunch Crunch
Sunrise service coming up with a brunch to follow. What to bring? When folks are allergic to flour, they search the table… When sugar is not friendly to a diabetic, they search the table. Here is a recipe for a flour less dish using Splenda Brown sugar. Baked Oatmeal1 1/2 C frozen blackberries1 T molasses1 1/3 c regular oats (Quaker oats)2 large eggs1/4 c firmly packed Splenda brown sugar (if using regular brown sugar use 1/2 c.)1/2 c unsweetened applesauce1/2 t ground cinnamon2 t. baking soda1/4 t baking powder1/2 t. salt2/3 c water1/4 c melted butterTopping1/2 c slivered almonds Spread blackberries evenly on the bottom of a lightly greased 8″…
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Tasty Tuesday: Dried Fruit, a great on-the-go, money-saving, snack
On the go! That describes our family of six! From high-school wrestling meets, to work meetings through lunch; from putting together quick school lunches to grabbing a snack on the way out the door to play with friends, healthy options at our finger tips are a necessity. A few years ago we caught the ‘dehydrating’ bug. Hubs learned to make homemade beef jerky. Then we expanded and learned to dry fruit. Fruit at our fingertips. Since it is Military Saves week it seems appropriate too to mention that we buy fruit in bulk when it is in season. This makes it not only a tasty treat but a treat full…
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Tasty Tuesday Slow Cooked Apples
Can you believe it is almost Thanksgiving? Oh what a wonderful time of year. A time set aside to think about thanks, giving thanks and filling the mind, spirit, belly and arms with fantastic treats! Our treats start arriving on Wednesday and the locals on Thursday. The smell of cleaning is strong in the house today. So strong that I just had to add some cinnamon and spice to the mix. Silver polish is great stuff… but when the trays and forks are shining and sparkling… it is time to dazzle the taste buds.In late September we went apple picking, and bought extras just for Thanksgiving get together. Leanne is…
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A Minute Out of the Norm: Cooking with the kids
It is summer time! School is out and the kids are thinking AHHHH a break from learning. HA! Little do they know that there is learning-opportunities in the every day 🙂 One of the boys ‘Summer Jobs’ options each week is to help Mom make dinner. It is usually one of the first chores chosen but little do they know what I have up my sleeve. They read the recipe to me They measure the ingredients. Just to make it fun sometimes if a recipe calls for a cup of something we figure out how to get up to a cup (without using the actual 1-cup measurer) … 2 half cups,…
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Fatherhood
I had the pleasure of reading a blog this morning on the DoD “Family Matters Blog“. It left me inspired, thankful, even a little wistful. It reminds me of the fact that parenthood doesn’t involve any sort of manual. Mothers, Fathers, we learned from our parents and we follow our heart. I will be the first to admit I have been blessed with some great men in my life; in particular, my dad and my husband. Dad is now a retired Air Force Colonel. 30-years in the service, he retired just as I announced I was pregnant with my first, *E*. Basically, all I knew as a child was the…
