(And All My) Work Be Praise

I finally  got to the baking I've been planning for weeks. First a full dehydrator and instant pot full of apples (for rings and applesauce, respectively), and then apple biscuits , orange zucchini bread and apple pecan bread . I made up the apple biscuits through cutting them out, then flash froze on a cookie sheet, to be stored in a ziploc bag for baking in the future. I doubled the apple pecan bread, and the orange zucchini bread made two loaves as written, but I only have three loaf pans. So I did half the zucchini batter as muffins. And, the exciting part for me, this week we replaced our toaster oven [the old one died] with a larger one that can fit an entire 9x13 pan. You know you're a dedicated homemaker when a new toaster/convection oven is the highlight of your week! So big and so shiny! And it fits my big stoneware pans! Baking haul, plus messy counters behind. The truth is, with my crew, three loaves of bread and twelve muffins is probably only two or three breakfa...

As I mentioned in my homeschool curriculum post , Silas and Toby are using Galloping the Globe  as their core guide this year. We're learning a lot about animals and their habitats, a few key people and people groups from each country, assorted facts about assorted other things . . . and food! The Galloping the Globe  text has a few recipes included, and I purchased Eat Your Way Around the World   and the Usborne Children's World Cookbook . (Note that the latter, while a beautiful book as Usborne books always are, is not terribly helpful for unique recipes.) Our first continent to study was Africa. Here's what we ate: Kenya : peanut bread Morocco: couscous with chicken, orange and date salad, honey-glazed carrots, date bars, mint green tea, square flat bread rgaif Bonus: we sat on the floor and ate off the coffee table! Nigeria: banana fritters Egypt:  shish kebabs and rice casserole biram ruz beef and onion kebabs, plus watermelon (which is grown there) Stay tuned f...

Apples, apples, apples. I got through all the pears, but still have probably 20 pounds of apples in the garage -- and that's after  making a sizable dent today! In a whirlwind of multi-tasking, I made, in this order: * apple cinnamon rolls (currently rising in the fridge to bake tomorrow)  *peeled and sliced rings for the dehydrator (ours has four trays, so however many apples that is . . . ) *a stock pot of chicken broth using the carcass from roast chicken earlier in the week (which of course has nothing to do with apples, but needed to be done) * apple butter (about a quart and a half, after it was all blended up) I spent the afternoon working on food for our geography studies, but I intend to post about those foods separately! A busy busy day in the kitchen -- so, as a side note, special thanks to whomever it was on Facebook who mentioned that there's a new season of the Great British Baking Show out. I don't remember who you are, but I'm grateful!

Technically, this isn't a *Friday* cooking post. Last Friday we took advantage of the glorious weather go to to the zoo . That turned out to be a great decision, as this past Friday, we had our first snowfall. Seven days from t-shirts and shorts to snow.  At least it melted by the afternoon! I did want to share quickly, though, about my favorite homemade hamburger buns  that I baked last week. I double the recipe to make 24, which lasts us three meals. I use all white whole wheat flour, freshly ground, and they are soft and delicious!  I also made two more batches of pear-apple sauce, and a big pot of these cinnamon pears  for the freezer. And lastly, this afternoon I whipped up this apple twist bread on a whim, for the sheer joy of baking something yummy! (Well, and because I still have dozens upon dozens of apples left in the garage.) I did one as the recipe said and one with pizza sauce and cheese . . . except that the cheese turned out to be moldy so I had to cu...

Between the boxes of apples we picked from my parents' neighbor's tree and the boxes of pears gifted to us by a dear friend at church, my Friday cooking is now more about using the produce than filling the freezer! (The freezer is getting pretty full anyway, and we have half a hog coming next month. We've been getting a quarter cow from farming friends for a few years, but this is our first time buying bulk pork!) I did another full pot of applesauce, but in the crockpot, and I swapped out about 1/3 of the apples for pears. It's delicious . However, I didn't peel the fruit, and the pear skin is a bit tougher than the apple skin. I don't mind it, but I think some of my kids will protest. I'll probably do another batch this week (soon, since the pears are starting to bruise!) and peel the fruit first. Much better than apple-pear sauce, though, is the pear fruit leather . We have a dehydrator, but it only has one solid sheet for drying purees, so I used two big...

I'm so proud of myself for sticking with this. I'm not doing a ton each week, but every little task completed helps! Today I made: A double batch of my favorite granola Two pumpkins, roasted whole to puree  A double recipe of these cinnamon apples . I don't think I used enough water in the instant pot, because I tried twice and even though I didn't get a "burn" notice, it wouldn't come to pressure. It got hot enough inside to cook the apples a little bit and thicken the glaze, though, and I think they'll end up just the right consistency after being heated. 16 cups of raw sliced apples made 8 cups of cooked cinnamon apples. I think I'll freeze most of it for pie, and some of it for a side dish with pork chops. Yay for fall food! Okay, it doesn't make the prettiest picture.  But can you imagine the cinnamon smell?!

What I really needed to do today: deal with the two remaining zucchini on my counter and bake ahead for breakfasts.  What I actually did today: threw some frozen chicken breast and a few other ingredients into Ziploc bags for quick "dump" meals.  First, a stir-fry for a family with a newborn: *In a gallon Ziploc bag: one red pepper, sliced half a large onion, sliced a tablespoon each (more or less) of ginger and garlic 2-3 chicken breasts, sliced *In a smaller bag or small jar: 1/2 cup soy sauce 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 tbsp cornstarch *Stir-fry the chicken and veggies until cooked through. Whisk the sauce until smooth, then add to the skillet. Cook until thick and bubbly. Serve over rice. Then I made up two freezer bags from this freezer cooking blog post , the Thai peanut chicken and the cranberry chicken. I chose these two solely on the basis of what ingredients I had in the pantry and fridge! As I said last time, I'll most likely do these in the instant pot rather than t...

In my last freezer cooking post , I mentioned using my instant pot instead of my crockpot for a recipe. This sparked a conversation on Facebook, and a friend (hi, Kelly!) asked if I'd done a post on instant pot recipes. I hadn't, since I haven't blogged much since I got my IP! So here it is. WHY I LOVE MY IP 1. While recipes do take longer than you'd expect (because you have to wait for the pot to come to pressure and release pressure), I can start it in the morning with a timer, or I can start it at 3pm when we typically finish our school day, or I can start it at 4:30 just in time for dinner (depending on the recipe). So flexible. 2. Flavors are bolder, without being diluted by crockpot-lid condensation. 3. I haven't had water spill over a pot of rice in three years. (I'll never go back to making rice on the stove!) 4. I don't have to thaw meat! [Cue happy dance.] MY FAVORITE RECIPES (an ongoing list, as I find things I love) BEEF 1. Chili. I barely even u...

Today I made a meal to take to a family with a newborn, so not everything I made was for the freezer. But I think all meal prep falls under the "freezer cooking" heading these days. :) Here's what I made today: * banana wheat germ mini muffins (This was a new recipe for me, and it's a winner!!)  * zucchini, carrot, apple muffins (This looks like a fussy recipe, but it doesn't have to be. I didn't bother with oat flour this time around.) *one jar of refrigerator pickles, out of cucumbers from my mom's garden and a recipe from a lady at church *2 gallon bags of orange chicken, from an old Kraft magazine (It says slow cooker, but I'll do it in the instant pot. I doubt I'll ever use my crockpot again, after the wonders of the IP!) And for the family with a new baby, as well as our dinner tomorrow: * rosemary olive oil bread *dark chocolate butterscotch brownies (also torn out of an old Kraft magazine) *hamburger vegetable soup, for which I used 2 pou...

Now that my parents live in town full-time, my kids have regularly scheduled times at Grandma and Grandpa's. On Fridays, Toby and Calvin spend the morning there, we all meet up for lunch, and then Levi, Owen, and Silas stay for the afternoon. Since the older three especially are so good at entertaining themselves, and because I let the younger ones have some screen time in the afternoon to force them to rest, I've found I have a fair bit of time to pursue my own agenda. I've frittered away several Fridays now without a plan, but this week I decided: Fridays would be perfect for working ahead in the kitchen. Since a little alliteration always makes things feel official, I hereby declare Freezer Cooking Fridays! Here's what I made today: a double batch of fudge bites (actually, Levi made them!) for snacks a triple batch of spinach cake muffins a triple batch of taco meat, some of which we'll eat for dinner tonight The next two recipes are both from this list of 15 fre...

I've had so many people ask me about our "national day" celebrations that I thought I'd pop back on my now-mostly-ignored blog to tell you about it. I honestly don't remember how it started; probably the idea was put in my head by advertising e-mails from various restaurants. Back in December 2018, we decided it'd be fun to celebrate as many of these national days as possible. Towards the end of every month, I pull up the next month's list and enter anything I think we could do into my planner. Then I use my planner to plan the month's meals! It takes some of the "I don't know what to cook" pressure off, and we've tried some new things besides. (The national day item is written at the top of each day in pink.) The master list I use is here:  https://nationaldaycalendar.com/calendar-at-a-glance/  As you can see, there are several options for most days! Here are the ones we've done so far: Spaghetti Whipped Cream Apri...

I have two recipes in my collection from one of my mom's long-time friends, Julie. The first is your standard corn casserole made with Jiffy mix, which ranks as one of Levi's top five favorite foods. The second is the marinade I'm about to copy down for you. Julie says it's good on any sort of meat, but I've only used it for chicken. Dump everything in a bag with some chicken thighs (my personal preference), let it sit for a while -- I've done four hours up to two days -- and throw it on the grill. De-lish. The recipe below makes enough for two bags of chicken at my family's current size, so you can make one ahead for next time or freeze the marinade on its own (or just make half the recipe). Marinade 1-1/2 cups olive oil (or oil of your choice) 3/4 cup soy sauce 1/2 cup red wine vinegar 1/3 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce 2 tablespoons dry mustard 1 tablespoon pepper 2-1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 tablespoon parsley flakes 2 cloves crus...

Do you all make baking powder biscuits? They were a staple in my house growing up, and I love them. They're SO easy, and this is the recipe I turn to any time I'm making a pot of soup or something that needs a little bread on the side: Sift together: 2 cups flour (I use freshly ground white whole wheat) 1 tablespoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt Cut in  1/3 cup butter. ( Actually, I don't "cut in" butter anymore. I pulse the dry ingredients in my food processor, then pulse in chunks of butter until pebbly.  Transfer to bowl, if you used the food processor. )  Add 3/4 cup milk and stir to moisten. Roll out dough on floured surface, knead 2-3 times, and use juice glass or biscuit cutter to cut out biscuits. Or, plop it all on a baking sheet, pat into a rectangle, and use a flat spatula to cut into squares/rectangles/triangles/whatever shape you end up with. (Because really, who cares about having round biscuits?) Bake  for 12 minutes at 450 degrees. ...

Okay, this is going to be more of a monthly recap than weekly, because I haven't done one for a while. So don't think I did nothing but cook and read this week. ;) What I'm Cooking Oven "fried" pork chops . Isaac doesn't love pork, so I don't make it often, but periodically I get tired of chicken and beef and want something different. I actually ended up making this three times this month, because once I've bought a family pack of pork chops and a box of cornflakes, I might as well use them up! Skillet lasagna . I make a few changes to this, to keep it simple with pantry items I usually have. I use ground beef seasoned with sausage seasoning , skip the fresh parsely altogether, swap cottage cheese in for the ricotta (it's cheaper, and my kids will eat the leftovers), and stir the cottage cheese right into the skillet instead of dolloping on top. This is one of Owen's favorite meals. Creamy green chili beef . I make this any time I have l...

See past years here: 2015 , 2013 , 2012 I can't even begin to describe the ripple of excitement that went through me when I got the text message from my college BFF Jenny saying that they might be willing to make the trip up here to do our mostly-annual New Year's Eve celebration. She has a carseat-hating two-year-old, so I really thought it was out of the question, and we were in no position to travel there with a three-month-old. But when you've been best friends for almost half your lives (we'll hit that milestone in 2019), what's a few hours of screaming toddler?! This year boasted eight kids under eight years old: two sevens, one six, two fours, two twos (though Toby was just days away from his third birthday), and baby Calvin. We let Caleb (their seven-year-old) have Toby's bed so that he and Levi could share a room, and that alone was worth the trip. It was a "first sleepover" for both of them, and we couldn't hardly stand hearing th...