Unprocessed October party (and a new project)

The little girl greeted our halfway mark through October with, "I HATE unprocessed month!!"

It's easy to see why when you think about what unprocessed month means to the kiddos. Our dinners are basically unprocessed anyway, so there aren't a lot of changes there, at least not ones they notice. And they don't really notice the lack of unprocessed treats in their lunches (Annie's bunnies or a Simply Fruit fruit stick) because they appeared so rarely.

What unprocessed means to them is: no Oatmeal Squares for snacks (I'm doing pretty well managing the no cereal rule this time!), no going out for pizza or Chinese once a week, no stopping at the local frozen yogurt shop, and no special candy treats when Mommy is around (although the various grandparents have indulged a couple of times, and I didn't say no when they were given tootsie pops at the homecoming parade).

We had a talk about how this month didn't really mean that you couldn't have *any* treats -- it just means that we think a little more about the kinds of foods we choose to put in our bodies -- and really, that's not a bad thing, is it?

For myself, I'm being strict, trying not to "cheat" my own rules at all, but I don't want to micromanage the kids to the point where all they want is processed foods or to where they hate talking about food choices. And I'm not harassing hubby when he chooses to order a pizza when I'm not home or sneak a pop during parent/teacher conferences. Everyone has to make this work for him/herself.

Nevertheless, I decided we needed an unprocessed party today, so I made a cake: I used this recipe from KAF, but subbed in whole wheat pastry flour for the all-purpose. At some point, I'd like to try honey or maple syrup in my cake, but today, I just went with white. It was a party after all. I made a simple vanilla bean ice cream, opting not to use my normal recipe which calls for both cream cheese and corn syrup.

The cake also assisted me with my new baking goal -- at this point, I can comfortably follow a recipe to make just about any bread, cake, pie, cookie, pastry, etc. (Not that I'm an expert or anything, but I don't feel like I have soooo much to learn anymore.) But my cakes and cupcakes never *look* good. So I bought myself a little starter decorating set (I had been using an old one of my dad's with very little success), and have decided to work on decorating. So this cake fit multiple bills.




The little girl declared, "That looks magnificent, Mommy! This is the best unprocessed party ever!"

100% whole wheat lunches!

On Monday, I begin making four school lunches each morning because somehow (don't ask me how), my little one heads off to kindergarten this week.

I think the biggest change is going to be preparation... I can occasionally fly by the seat of my pants when making lunch for hubby and myself... And I was able to punt with the little guy's lunch a couple of times last year. But she doesn't eat the pre-prepared organic snacks (jammy sammies, smoothie pouches, applesauce pouches) that I used as emergency back-ups for him. And they prefer such different foods. And then I have to take into account time: I need to put in easy-to-eat foods that they can get through in their super short lunch period. And the little guy is much hungrier these days.

Anyway, I need to prepare. Today, I spent four hours of the afternoon making some 100% whole wheat lunch box goodies: Hamelman's toast bread, KAF's whole wheat blueberry muffins (for him), KAF's whole wheat chocolate chip muffins (for her, made with a little less sugar and less than half of the called-for chocolate chips), and KAF's whole wheat chocolate chip cookies (for all of us, made with half the called-for chips, in tablespoon sized for this weekend and teaspoon sized for lunches).

I've started making a lunch schedule, too, which hangs next to our weekly dinner plan. Wish me luck!

Ice cream sandwiches! (and why I love Evernote)

Do you use Evernote? Everclip? More than Pinterest or any other online tools, I have fallen in love with Evernote and its ability to organize all of my recipes.

It's so simple: I read a recipe on a friend's blog, in one of my cooking mags, in a newspaper article. I clip it with Everclip and voila! It is instantly in my Evernote collection of notebooks, which I can access even when I am not connected to the internet.

Evernote organizes information by notebook, and you can set up as many as you want. I have a bunch of notebooks...a couple for work (I occasionally use Evernote as a simple word processor to take notes at meetings), and then a ton for recipes: breakfast foods, lunch ideas, dinner main dishes, side dishes, desserts, breads, food tutorials, snacks. And then I have a notebook called Weekly Meals into which I dump any recipes that I want to make this week. It's so easy to switch recipes (notes) into different notebooks, so I can pull recipes from my other notebooks into that notebook for easy access and then put it back in its original notebook when I'm done.

I seriously use it multiple times every day. When we were out west visiting my inlaws, I was able to bring all of my favorite recipes without bringing any cookbooks or magazines. Evernote even has a camera function, so I've taken pictures of some old family recipes to keep in my virtual notebooks. When I'm stuck for dinner inspiration, I just browse through my dinner folder.

Sometimes, a recipe looks good and then isn't that great; with one click, I delete it from my notebook. So easy.

Occasionally, I have recipes in my Weekly Meals notebook for quite a while, constantly reminding me that I MUST MAKE THESE...that was the case with ice cream sandwiches. I had recipes from both KAF and Deb at Smitten Kitchen saved, and I knew I needed to make one of the versions. After re-reading the recipes and the comments from SK, I decided to go with the version from KAF's blog (actually Jennie Schacht's recipe from her book i scream Sandwich). It seemed less fussy (you just bake the cookies as a large sheet and then cut them out rather than trying to roll them out and cut them before baking) and many of the SK comments suggested that, while delicious, those cookies were crispy rather than soft.

I used my normal vanilla ice cream recipe (Jeni's) and then made the other Jennie's :) sandwich cookies. After freezing them both on parchment-lined cookie sheets, I pulled them out and used cookie cutters (a heart and a small circle) to make some smaller sandwiches, and then a knife to cut out the rest in the more traditional rectangle. Rather than smearing the ice cream, I just used a cookie cutter on that tray, too; then I could be sure that everything fit together perfectly.

These were just as delicious as you'd imagine they would be. I wrapped each sandwich in plastic wrap, and put them in a tub in the freezer. They were the perfect treat at the beach today! (I used my Zak ice cream container to keep our four sandwiches cold.)

A journey to whole wheat

When I first started baking, I followed every recipe exactly...most breads and all cookies/muffins/etc relying exclusively on unbleached all-purpose flour. Some of my bread recipes during my various challenges called for other types: whole wheat, rye, pumpernickel, corn. My cabinets filled with different types of flour, but it was still the all-purpose that we purchased in twenty pound sacks and cycled through at unbelievable speed.

Eventually I heard enough/read enough to realize the benefits of whole grain and, following many recommendations, I started subbing in whole wheat - and then white whole wheat - for a quarter of my all-purpose flour. Gradually I started adding more and more, until finally, with this unprocessed challenge, I wondered, "What would happen if I used all white whole wheat...would anyone even notice?" The simple answer is: No.



Burger buns: I used KAF's best beautiful buns, but subbed in 400 g white whole wheat and 20 g vital wheat gluten. Made twice - gorgeous, fluffy, buttery buns both times.



Crackers: I used this buttermilk whole grain cracker recipe, subbing in a combination of white whole wheat and ground flax seeds. Yum!



Muffins: I've been subbing in increasing amounts of white whole wheat flour for the all-purpose in our muffins: garden harvest, banana chocolate chip. Scones, too, starting with Smitten Kitchen whole wheat berry scones. Sometimes I put in a scoopful of all-purpose, but the majority is always white whole wheat. Everyone gobbles them up just as quickly as before.



Pizza crust: I tried my first 100% whole wheat pizza crust this past week, and it was amazingly delicious. I used this recipe from KAF, omitting the sunflower seeds.



Spaghetti noodles: I've already written about these; we love them!



Tortillas: My biggest unprocessed/whole wheat success story may be these tortillas. We've had them with fajitas three times in the past two weeks, and they are so good. The kids aren't big fans, but they've tried them every time, in the hopes that eventually the taste will become more acceptable. Hubby and I love them, though, and I am getting so much better at making them. Last time, it took me only 20 minutes to roll and cook the whole batch!



Cookies: While this unprocessed challenge has helped us cut down on sweets a lot, every once in a while you need a little something, and I was intrigued by these 100% whole wheat chocolate chip cookies from KAF. It's true that they have a fair amount of processed sugars, but we tried them anyway. The little girl and I had fun baking them together this afternoon. We made tiny teaspoon-sized cookies, which baked perfectly in eight minutes, and hit the spot as a little after-dinner treat!

The gift of years

When I started this blog a little over three years ago, I was an enthusiastic baker (and cook), but not a very experienced one. I wanted to broaden my horizons, but was nervous to try new recipes, reluctant to stray from recipes as written, and quick to panic when anything didn't go as planned. I eagerly joined challenges (the BBA followed by the Modern Bakers and the Mellow Bakers), hoping to learn more.



This Christmas, I really felt the difference the past few years have made. For one thing, I made everything - Christmas Eve dinner (chicken wild rice soup in bread bowls, salad with poppyseed dressing, doughnuts), Christmas morning breakfast (BBA cinnamon rolls), and Christmas dinner (glazed ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, green bean casserole, sugared cranberries, rustic apple pie, and vanilla bean ice cream) completely from scratch, and without asking our guests to bring anything.



Recipes that just a couple of years ago gave me fits - Maida's big apple pie, which I swore I would never make again - came together without a hitch.

Mishaps were easily dealt with: when the roll dough I was working with (a new recipe that I'd altered slightly - still not sure what went wrong) just would not behave normally, even after an hour of doctoring/waiting, I tossed it and was still able to have fresh rolls on the table at 6:00.



I was able to add two new recipes: these sugared cranberries which looked beautiful and were a good way to use up part of a leftover bag of berries, and this from-scratch green bean casserole which I absolutely loved (but I'm glad I didn't try it for Thanksgiving because I don't think it would've gone over well with the traditionalists).

When I realized in the midst of getting ready to put the ham in the oven that I'd forgotten to buy apple cider, I confidently subbed in chicken broth, and wasn't upset when it meant that the final product wasn't quite as good as last year's.

I'm so happy that even though everything in my kitchen doesn't turn out perfectly every time, I now have the experience and confidence not to panic, or get frustrated and give up, or even worse, let it ruin the celebration. Because a happy, healthy family, gathered together around the table, laughing and eating, is of course what the holidays are really about.

Weekend doughnuts

A month or so ago, a group if my Twitter pals got to talking about our doughnut pans (because, well, that's the kind of thing we talk about). We decided it would be fun to use our pans more frequently, and, thanks to Kayte, our doughnuts for weekend mornings pinterest board was born.

Baked doughnuts clearly fit in with a weekend full of baking, but they are also quick and easy enough for a busy morning. Mix the batter while the oven preheats, make the glaze and do the dishes during the eight minutes of baking time: 30 minutes tops between deciding we need a breakfast treat and enjoying fresh baked doughnuts...can't beat it! And easy enough for the kiddos to make, with a little bit of help.


First up were these pumpkin doughnuts from KAF, a clear favorite with everyone. I used half the batter to make 6 regular and 6 minis on Saturday morning, stuck the rest of the batter in the fridge over night, and made the rest on Sunday morning. Easy to do and way tastier than eating day-old donuts! We topped these with cinnamon-sugar (although the little girl preferred them plain).


Next, we made apple cider doughnuts, also from KAF. These were my least favorite, but hubby said that, with the glaze, they tasted like apple pie wrapped in apple pie. We used half cider glaze (powdered sugar, milk, boiled cider) and half cinnamon sugar.


Last week were citrus doughnuts: officially orange, but I think some of my orange zest from the freezer may have been lemon zest...who knows. I used a little extra zest and used orange juice for half the milk in the glaze. Yummy.


Today we had simple spiced doughnuts. Based on Kayte's experiences, I made a half recipe, but used the full amount of spice. I also used Kayte's glaze (powdered sugar, milk, cinnamon, and vanilla) for half; cinnamon sugar for the other half. A half recipe made five doughnuts, but it's clear I overfilled my pans, so I'll make six next time.

It's fun to get more use out of a specialty pan, and I can't wait to see what gets chosen for next weekend!

CI veggie soup

The cool breeze in the air (it was in the 40s when we got up this morning!) makes me anxious for fall baking, and we started today with these pumpkin donuts from KAF.




But it's not fall yet, and we still have a fridge full of CSA veggies to use up. We are nearing the end of our CSA summer, and I'm breathing a little sigh of relief that the pressure to use all of these veggies will soon be gone. At the same time, I'm sad to say goodbye to the abundance of summertime produce...not to mention summertime weather. :-)

With school back in session, my free time to browse magazines and websites for veggie recipes is just about zero, so I was beyond excited to see a recipe in my newest issue of Cook's Illustrated (the iPad version, which I just love!) that used up almost every single vegetable from this week's box: eggplant, summer squash, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, basil.

I was a little skeptical because the recipe didn't call for any typical soup filler: no meat, no beans, no pasta. Still, I wasn't going to pass up a perfect opportunity to use up my veggies. I made the soup this morning; as long as it called for a 20 minute rest to "let the flavors meld," I figured it wouldn't hurt to let it rest all day. Besides, soups are usually better when they're reheated.

The flavors in this soup were just amazing, so complex and interesting; it has to be one of my favorites ever. I served it with cheese, fruit, and ciabatta from ABED. A perfect summer-turning-to-fall dinner.



I adjusted quite a few of the ingredient amounts because I just used what I had in the fridge. I get the feeling that this is quite a flexible recipe, and I would happily make it again with whatever amounts of the veggies I receive next week.

Italian vegetable soup
adapted from Cook's Illustrated
makes 6 servings

1/3 cup fresh basil
2 T dried oregano
2 tsp minced garlic
2 T evoo
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 eggplant (mine was 7.5 oz), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/4 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 T tomato paste
2 c water
28 oz fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced (or 28 oz can), save juices
1 - 2 summer squash (mine was 12 oz), cut into 1/2 inch chunks
2 bell peppers (mine were orange), seeded and cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 1/2 tsp salt
4 T olive oil
basil

1. Process the first five ingredients (basil through red pepper) in the food processor to make a paste.
2. Toss the eggplant with 1tsp salt and lay on a plate covered in coffee filters. Microwave on high until shriveled, about 8 minutes, tossing half way through.
3. Heat 1 T oil in a large dutch oven over high heat. Cook eggplant, potatoes,and onion for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Push veggies aside and add 1 T and the tomato paste, cooking until the tomato sauce starts to brown, 1 or 2 minutes. Stir the sauce in with the veggies.
4. Add the tomatoes, tomato juices, and water to the pot, and bring to a boil. Turn down to medium, cover, and cook for 20 minutes.
5. In a large skillet, heat 1 T of oil over medium-high. Add the peppers, squash, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cook for 10 minutes, until veggies are browned and softened. Push them aside and add the paste from step 1. Cook for a minute until fragrant, and then stir it in with the veggies.
6. Turn off the heat on the soup and then add the squash/pepper mixture. Pour a little liquid from the soup into the skillet and use it to scrape up any browned bits; stir those in to the soup, too.
7. Cover and let the soup rest for 20 minutes, or refrigerate until later in the day. Add fresh basil before serving.

Ciabatta rolls with Mother's Day jelly

When KAF posted this delicious-sounding recipe for ciabatta sandwich rolls, I immediately thought of my friend Di, who frequently bakes sandwich rolls from their site. Sure enough, the very next morning, I saw a tweet from Di, asking if anyone would be up for baking the rolls on Sunday. So Di, Kayte, and I planned a Twitter bake.

I knew it might be a little hectic to try to bake on Mother's Day, but hey, it's my day, right? And wouldn't it be wrong if I didn't bake on my day? :)

Late Saturday night when I got home from my bookclub, I quickly mixed up the starter; it couldn't have been easier. On Sunday morning, before we left for our trip to the Big Zoo, I mixed up the rest of the dough: all-purpose flour, instant yeast, salt, powdered milk, water, olive oil, and the starter. (I used my dough hook instead of my paddle attachment.) I let it rise for an hour on the counter, and then did a stretch and fold and stuck it in the fridge. When we got home from the zoo, the dough had clearly doubled in the fridge, so I pulled it out, divided it into 80 g portions and shaped them into flat rolls. And then I realized that I wouldn't have time to bake them before we left for dinner so...back into the fridge! When we got home, I pulled them out again. They puffed up in a few hours and I was able to dimple them and bake them before we went to bed.

This morning, my little guy was thrilled to see that we had bread! You see, at preschool, the kids made dandelion jelly, and he was really anxious for us to try it. (He goes to preschool at a nature center and one of his teachers, the same one who has chickens that occasionally give us eggs, is very interested in wild edibles.)

Recipe according to my little guy: "Here's how we make dandelion jelly. We picked dandelions and then we snipped them with scissors to get all the green stuff away. Then A [his teacher] boiled it to get light jelly. And then in the batch I was in, we putted it in. Then put in the jelly. Then put wrappers and stickers and labels on. I picked a Time to Relax hummingbird sticker. I wanted to give it sooner, but I decided to wait. So that's what we did."

So we enjoyed dandelion jelly on ciabatta rolls for breakfast, and then hubby used them for his lunch time sandwiches, and finally we used them as hamburger buns with dinner...quite a versatile roll! This is a make-again recipe for sure. I think Kayte and Di are both going to post their experiences with the ciabatta rolls later this week, so check them out!

Happy Mother's Day! :)