Category Archives: Food

Homemade Oat Scones

This morning the kids and I decided to do a little baking and this is what we came up with. They are Homemade Oat Scones, really tasty and extra delicious with warm apple cider. There are not many ingredients so they are fun for little ones to help with. There is no refined sugar in them and you could replace the egg with egg replacer and the butter with non-dairy butter to make them vegan if you like.

1 1/2 c All-purpose flour (or whole wheat flour – add more rice milk if you use whole wheat flour so the scones don’t get too dry)

2 c Quick cooking rolled oats (not instant)

1/4 c Maples sugar

4 tsp Baking powder

1/2 tsp Sea salt

1/2 c Semi-sweet Chocolate chips

1  Egg, beaten

1/2 c Butter

1/2 c Rice Milk

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mix the first 6 ingredients together in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. In another bowl beat egg until frothy. Mix in melted butter and rice milk. Pour into the well in the other bowl and stir until dough is well mixed. Pat into two circles and transfer onto a greased baking sheet. You can make then whatever thickness you would like and if you want you could even make one large circle. Score each top into 8 pie wedges. Bake at 425F for 15 minutes. Split while they are warm and serve with a warm drink:)

“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him” Psalm 34:8.

May you experience the blessing and the refuge of our Lord today!

French Toast Challah Muffins!

Wahoo I have a few minutes today to share this “to-die-for” muffin recipe with you while my kiddos are sleeping. This recipe was given to me by a friend who said it was a Sobey’s recipe. I have modified it a bit to suit what I had at the time and it turned out SO DELICIOUS!!! I had to share this recipe with you because these are absolutely amazing and I think all of you should at least try them! I called it French Toast Challah Muffins because that was the only kind of bread that I had but you can use any whole grain bread as well. I was able to make with with the leftover Challah bread I had last week! They taste amazing, took 5 minutes to prepare, AND my kiddos loved them!

French Toast Challah Muffins

3 eggs
1/2 cup of rice milk
1/3 cup of maple sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
1 tsp of cinammon
10 slices of multi-grain challah cubed
1 cup of frozen berries (we love blueberries)
2 tbsp of maple syrup

In a bowl add the first 5 ingredients.  Add bread and toss until egg is absorbed, then add berries.  Toss and divide into muffin tin (12 lrg) and drizzle with maple syrup.

Bake at 375F for 15-25 minutes.

Serve warm and add more maple syrup as desired!

Operation Organization!

For the past month or so I have been diligently organizing my home especially the kitchen, playroom and living room. I have been challenged to become more organized so that I do not waste time trying to get organized at difficult, high-stress times of the day. I have found that the more I organize my home the more efficient I am at making meals, cleaning up and planning ahead. I would like to include a disclaimer before you read this post. When I refer to organizing I am not talking about maintaining a perfect home by any means, homes are NOT meant to be perfect they are meant to be lived in, I am talking about how to keep your home organized so that you can enjoy living in it. There will be days when the inevitable happens and messes rage like a forest fire in our homes but  like forest fires they can be contained and taken care of when we act strategically! I hope some of these tips and tricks help you out to maintain a simple and peaceful home. My first tip is to buy a label maker and begin to label everything that can be labelled:)

The Kitchen

My kitchen is one place that I spend a lot of time and therefore it has been beneficial to spend a lot of time organizing my cupboards. I label my jars and organize my fridge so that I can access incredients and food products easily. I know where all the snacks are, I know how much of different food items we have and I can whip up meals quickly without trying to figure if I have the proper ingredients. This is especially important when my kids are hungry. I use glass jars as storage which allow you to see how much food is available so that if things are running out I can take a quick inventory and mark the necessary items on my grocery list. Glass jars are also good to keep food fresh and to avoid plastic leaching. I find that glass jars are great to store food in the fridge as well, they are space savers and because they are clear you can see what you are looking for.

The Playroom

Our playroom is the one room in our house that we are the hardest on. Toys, running, jumping, hockey, crafts, music, homeschooling, and various other activities take place in this room. It is so important for me to keep things in order here otherwise it can become a war zone very quickly:) Our rule is that crafts (playdough, crayons, markers) stay at the craft table and everything is always returned to its place right after we are done using it. When we are done school in the morning, all our books go back in the book shelf. If we do painting or stamps, the aftermess is cleaned up immediately after we are done to avoid future messes:)

I have organized all the toys in such a way that if I need to take a quick sweep through the playroom I can have everything in its rightful place within 5 minutes. Having bins that are labeled also make it easy for our children to put away their toys without needing direction or instruction on how to do so. I go through our playroom on a regular basis and purge any toys that are broken or unused. Playrooms can quickly and easily become junk rooms so to avoid this I go through it every month.

Living Room

This is the room that we spend the most time in as a family. It is also the room which is the most visible in our home. I have had many people comment on how clean my house looks when they walk in and how clutter free it is. I can honestly say I do not spend every waking moment cleaning, in fact, it is quite the opposite. I do have a TRICK though and I will share it with you. Are you ready? Here it is…..drumroll please…“I always clean up right after an event takes place”. Profound isn’t it?:) Whether it is crafts, toys, eating lunch, bathtime, reading books, puzzles, playing dress-up, whatever the activity if you always pick up right after you will never end up playing catch-up. For example when we wake up in the morning, first thing we do is make beds and get dressed that way there is no room for messes to start in the rooms. After the toys are played with in our living room, everything goes back into it respective drawer; puzzles in the puzzle drawer, books in the book drawer, etc. And with toys and kids activities THEY cleanup their own messes and I stand by to help them tidy up, I am NOT an advocate of cleaning up after your kids all the time, they need to learn!

When we come in the house from an outing, all shoes, bags, coats, are put away immediately before we move onto something else. When we eat, all the food, is taken out, consumed and cleaned up right away. The only thing that they are allowed to keep out are their water bottles which they can access at any point during the day. We also have distinct times when we eat; breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, bedtime snack. I quickly learned the importance of scheduling meals when I had children. If I let them, they would graze for the entire day I would end up making and cleaning up meals 24/7! Having set meal times also really encourages the kids to eat well at each meal because they know they cannot eat whenever they want.

It is easy for our homes to get out of order quickly because there can be so much going on. I firmly believe that we can maximize our time as homemakers by maintaining organization and not letting things get out of control. Cleaning up can can be a daunting task it we wait too long and then become overwhelmed with a vast array of items spead everywhere. Maintenance is always best! Like a vehicle, it is better to take it in regularly to get checked rather than have it break down and need to get fixed because of necessity, and in turn find out that the breakdown could have been avoided if you would have come in a month ago for a check up:) Our homes need regular organization or “check ups” to avoid larger disasters. If you don’t already, try this “maintenance trick” for a week and I guarentee you will see great results:) It has made my life more simple and stress free and blessed me with even more time to spend with my little ones and enjoy being a mommy!

May you be free from the stress and worry of trying to be organized and enjoy the things that really matter in your life! May you experience the freedom and joy of living a simply beautiful life in a simply beautiful & organized home!

Challah Bread

I have had many of my readers and friends ask me for this challah recipe so I am going to post it on my blog rather than facebook it or email it out:) This recipe has taken many weeks even months to tweek but I have finally found a recipe that our whole family enjoys.

Challah is a traditional jewish sweet bread, we eat it Friday nights when we celebrate Shabbat as a family. It is delicious and uses all natural ingredients. We also eat it on Saturday mornings as challah french toast and Sunday afternoons as challah grilled cheese!! I hope you enjoy it, I would love to get feedback as to how you liked the bread once you try making it. Let me know!

Challah Bread

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups warm water

1 tbsp active dry yeast

1/2 cups of honey

4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 eggs (divided)

1 tbsp sea salt

4 cups multigrain all purpose flour (Or you can use whole wheat all purpose flour)

4 cups unbleached white flour

Directions:

In a large bowl mix warm water and yeast. Mix in honey, oil, 2 eggs until well mixed. Stir in flour a cup at a time making sure that it is gradually kneading until the dough becomes smooth not sticky. Sometimes you may need to add more flour if it is still too sticky. Once dough is mixed cover with a damp tea towel and let rise for 1 1/2 hours until dough has doubled in size.  Remove dough from bowl and divide into two equal pieces to make it easier to work with. Knead both balls of dough for 5 minutes each, take one ball and divide it into three more equal size pieces and roll out in long snake like rolls. Pinch the three pieces together at the top and braid, then pinch the bottom pieces as well. Place on a large greased cookie sheet and repeat with the other ball. This recipe make two large loaves. Once the two loaves at done, cover with a damp tea towel and let rise for another hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Remove the tea towel from the bread, loaves should have doubled in size again. Beat 1 egg in a glass and use a kitchen brush to paint egg onto the two loaves. Transfer loaves into the oven on the cookie sheet and bake for 30-40 mins. When you take the loaves out they should be completely cooked through. (My test to make sure they are cooked is by knocking on the bread and if it seems to make a hollow sound they should be done.) Remove from the cookie sheets and serve!! This bread is excellent with jam, honey, butter, etc. I usually wrap the leftover loaf/pieces up and put them in the fridge, they will keep for a week or so.

Preparing Piecrust

It’s apple season and I am really looking forward to all the things I am going to make with my apples this year. Our family loves apples!!! Especially honeycrisp apples, they are perfect for eating and they only come available in the fall! I have decided to make apple sauce and apple pies this weekend. I wanted to share my piecrust recipe because it is simple and tastes incredible, plus it is completely organic and doesn’t contain any artificial ingredients.

3 1/2cups unbleached all purpose white flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

2tsp sea salt

1 lbs lard

1 egg (either free run or local farm egg)

1tbsp vinegar

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in lard until it is crumbly and course. In a 1 cup measuring cup combine 1 egg (lightly beaten) and 2 tbps vinegar, then fill the rest of the cup with cold water, stir. Slow add mixture to the flour until it becomes sticky. Mix with your hands and form a large ball. Wrap in cersan wrap and put in the fridge or freezer until needed. Otherwise roll out and use in your pie plates. This recipe makes enough for 3 double crusted pies or 4 pies with the weaved top. I usually make the crusts one day and then the next day do the filling and combine them, otherwise I find the entire task quite daunting. Sometimes I will make a batch of this crust and freeze it and use it for the crusts when I make quiche. Enjoy!!!

Yummy Vegan Treats!

A wonderful friend of mine gave me the website for these amazing treats and I have since lost the link to the site but still have the recipe. These delicious “treat balls”, as my kids call them, have become a family favorite. When I make them I usually triple the recipe because they get eaten so quickly:) They are a completely natural and healthy way to enjoy some treats while pumping your body full of iron and protein. They are called Cocoa Coconut Balls. The recipe makes 12-14 balls depending how big you make them. Here is the recipe, try them and let me know what you think. My kids actually think they are chocolate because they are so sweet and appear to be brown because of the cocoa colour:)

1/2cup raw almonds

3/4cup raw walmuts

10-12 medjool dates (or 20 smaller dates) – pitted

2T unsweetened cocoa powder

1T coconut oil

2T unsweetened shredded coconut

1t vanilla extract

In a food processor blend the almonds and walnuts until they become a crumble. Empty them into a bowl. In the same food processor process dates, cocoa powder, coconut oil and vanilla. Add nut mixture back into food processor and pulse until all the ingredients are combine, do not mix too long. Empty into a bowl and form the mixture into small balls. Place on a cookie sheet and refrigerate for 20 minutes. Take them out and wrap in ceran wrap and store in the fridge. ENJOY!!

Perfect Pickles

I thoroughly enjoy cooking with/canning natural and organic foods. I love the thought of eating and making real food without preservatives and other ingredients that I cannot even pronouce let alone spell:) Sometimes when I read the labels on certain food products I feel like I’m back in highschool learning about the periodic table of elements from chemistry class. So part of my mission this summer was to make my own jams, pies, pickles and to freeze in season fruits and veggies so that I can use them throughout the year! I would say that my pickles this summer were my greatest success. In this blog I am going to share how to make the pickles and what you will require to make them. First you will need a large stock pot which will hold the pickles while they cure for the 12 days.I wanted to share the recipe and a couple pictures. I didnt realize that pickling could be so simple. It took 12 days to make them but I only spent about 5 minutes each day adding to the mixture. It was extemely economical and now I have ten 2L jars of pickles to use for the next 10 months, which should take us to next summer. We love pickles, we eat about 1 jar a month. They are sweet crunchie pickles and used a lot of sugar but you can substitute with maple sugar it is completely natural and works just as well. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we have. The best time to make pickles in when pickling cucumbers are in season (July- early September), they are cheap and can be purchased at your local farmers market or at a local farm.

Here is the recipe:

Pickling Brine

In a large stock pot add 1 3/4 cup picking salt in a gallon of boiling water. Test for the strength by seeing if it will float an egg.

8 quarts cucumbers cut up. Put in brine for four days.

1st-4th day – Stir brine daily.

5th day – drain, pour boiling water over.

6th day – drain and discard water. Dissolve 2 tbsp alum in boiling water to cover.

7th day – drain and mix 8 cups vinegar with 8 cps sugar and put 3 tbsp mixed pickling spice in bag – bring to boil and pout over cucumbers.

8th day – drain, reheat vinegar mixture and add 2 cups sugar – pour over pickles.

9th day – add 2 more cups sugar, boil mixture – pour over pickles.

10th day – add 2 more cups sugar and boil – pour over mixture.

11th day – 2 more cups of sugar, boil and bottle.

Carob Oatmeal Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups all purpose whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup carob powder
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs (2tsp egg replacer + 4 tbsp water)
1/3 cup rice milk
1/2 cup mashed bananas
1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup pecans or walnuts chopped
1 cup rolled oats

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets. Combine flour, carob and baking soda. In a large bowl mix egg replacer and oil. Mix in rice milk, bananas and lemon juice. Gradually add dry incredients. Once it is all mixed add nuts and oats. You can also add in dark chocolate chips or carob chips. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden. Allow to cool and serve with rice milk or almond milk. I can’t wait for Judah to wake up and taste them! Mmmmmm…

Healthy Birthday Cakes

Here are a couple cake ideas that can be used for kids birthday cakes. They are sugar, milk and egg free! My son loves helping me bake and these cakes are perfect if you are doing baking because they contain no sugar or additives!!

Healthy Banana Cake

2 cups whole wheat flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
6 ripe mashed bananas
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup rice milk
Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Combine wet ingredients in another bowl and mix. Pour dry ingredients in with wet ingredients and mix together. Bake at 325F in a well greased pan for 1-1/2hr until cake is cooked through.
Whole Wheat Carrot Cake
2 cup whole wheat flour
1tsp baking powder
1tsp baking soda
pinch of sea salt
1 1/4cup water
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
1tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup grated carrots
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
Preheat oven to 325F. Combine dry ingredients in a bowl and mix. In a small sauce pan add water, raisins, nutmeg and cinnamon, bring water to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. Put carrots in a seperate bowl pour water mixture over and add applesauce, stir. Add dry ingredients and stir until cake is completely mixed. Pour into a well greased pan and bake for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Enjoy!

Vegan Chickpea Burgers

1 lb cooked chickpeas or 2 x 14 oz cans chickpeas
1 onion finely chopped
2 cloves or garlic
2 medium potatoes cooked and mashed
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp lemon juice
pepper to taste, whole wheat flour, extra virgin olive oil for frying
Put chickpeas into a bowl and mash well. Add onion, garlic, potato, soy sauce, lemon juice and pepper. Mix together well. With floured hands, shaped into patties. Coat well with flour and refrigerate for 1 hour. Heat a little extra virgin olive oil in a pan and fry burgers on each side until golden brown. Serve with whole wheat buns. Top with sprouts, spinach or lettuce, fresh cilantro, pickles and tomatoes!