Nancy on the Home Front

Prudent Pantry: Oats

Oats are a staple that everyone should have in their pantry! They have so many uses, as a hot cereal on a cold winter morning, for making bread, baking cookies or even making granola. You can use rolled oats as a meat extender in meat loaves. Oat flour makes rich thickeners for soups, gravies and stews. Oat flour will also add nutrition to your breads, muffins, crackers and desserts. Did you know that you can use 25% oat flour in making bread and the natural vitamin E in oats will help keep your breads from going stale so quickly? It also has numerous health benefits such as lowering your cholesterol due to its soluble fiber content. Oats are also rich in the B vitamins, contain the anti-oxidant vitamin E and oats are mineral rich as well. Oats contain high levels of complex carbohydrates, which have been linked to reducing the risk of cancer and the better control of diabetes. Oatmeal is ground oat groats, it can also be ground oats, steel-cut oats, crushed oats or rolled oats. The process of heating produces a nutty flavor to the oats.

Perhaps you are familiar with instant oatmeal, which is precooked and dried, usually with a sweetener, and flavoring added. You can eat oats uncooked as in muesli or cooked as in porridge. It only takes about 10-15 minutes to cook regular rolled oats. Quick rolled oats, being thinner, cook much quicker in 2-3 minutes. The instant rolled oats are the least nutritious, you should think seriously about using them in your every day cooking habits. However you decide to eat oats you should definitely have some on hand.

oats, oatmeal — Oats are a wonderful pantry staple.

Oats are much like barley with a hard outer shell that must be removed before it’s ready to eat. If you want to purchase oats you usually purchase them already hulled. Because of the antioxidants in oats, they are a good storing grain. For best storage conditions, pack them in airtight containers and store them in a cool place.

I use oats in many recipes. Here is a simple muffin recipe that I adapted from a recipe found on the epicurous.com website.

Oatmeal Muffins

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup dried cranberries

In a large bowl, combine oats and buttermilk and let stand 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400°F and butter twelve 1/2-cup muffin tins. Add egg, sugar and butter to oat mixture, stirring until just combined. Into another large bowl, sift together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and add to oat mixture, stirring until just combined. Fold in dried cranberries. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin tins. Bake muffins in middle of oven until golden and a tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Makes a dozen muffins.

muffins, cranberry oatmeal — Divide batter evenly into muffin tin

These muffins are delicious warm from the oven!

cranberry oatmeal muffins, home cooking — Warm muffins right from the oven, delicious!

muffins, homemade, cranberry oatmeal — Muffins right out of the oven.

Gardening: Forcing Bulbs – Update

forcing bulbs, indoor flowers — I love flowers!

Before Thanksgiving I wrote a post on forcing bulbs. I set up several containers of bulbs and placed them in a cool spot while we went away. Was I ever surprised when we got home and I saw all the green shoots coming up out of the bulbs! The bulbs were so healthy they had a huge root mass at the bottom of each bulb and were nearly forcing themselves out of the container!

Narcissus, paperwhites, indoor flowers — In full bloom and very tall!

I brought them upstairs and kept them watered. In what seemed a very short time I was rewarded by beautiful blooms.

paperwhites, indoor flowers, forcing bulbs — They needed support to keep from falling over.

Our kitchen has had a profusion of blooms for the last week. They were such a success I’m thinking of going back to the garden center and seeing if they have any bulbs left. I could start some more to enjoy in late January or early February!

flowers, forcing bulbs — I love flowers!

Narcissus, christmas lights — Narcissus and Christmas lights.

Frugal Tips: Snax Mix and Coffee Cans

Funny the things you grow up with and the things you don’t. In my house growing up I don’t ever remember my mother making any sort of Chex Mix at Christmas, she made other things such as delicious Christmas cookies which we loved to decorate. In the collection of recipes my mother-in-law gave me when I was to be married was a recipe for “Snax Mix” which I think I have made every year since I received it! It is so much a tradition in our family that my daughter says it isn’t Christmas without the Snax Mix! I usually make several batches and give them away to friends and neighbors.

One of the containers I use to package up this Snax Mix is coffee cans. I collect them over the year and even have my mom saving them for me. I wrap a piece of wrapping paper around the can, put a bow on the top and it’s an instant Christmassy package. Very easy and very inexpensive!

coffee cans, inexpensive gift container — Coffee cans transformed!

coffee cans, gift wrap, prudent living — Wrapping paper can transform an ordinary coffee can.

Here is the recipe for Snax Mix. I’ve changed it ever so slightly to add more cereal, I figure adding more cereal without increasing the butter mix means it’s less fattening!

dried cereal, snack mix, munchies — Cereals are placed in a large roasting pan.

pretzels, dried cereal, snack mix — All ingredients combined.

Snax Mix

½ lb butter (2 sticks)
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp celery salt
1 tsp onion salt
½ tsp garlic salt
4 cups popped corn (1/2 cup un-popped popcorn)
2 cups unsalted nuts
4 cups cheerios
3 cups rice chex
3 cups corn chex
2 cups wheat chex
2 cups bite size-shredded wheat
Pretzel sticks
Mini bagel chips (optional)

Melt butter over low heat and add Worcestershire, celery salt, onion salt and garlic salt. Stir until combined. Place the popcorn, nuts, cereals, pretzels and mini bagel chips in a large roasting pan and pour the butter mix over; stir to make sure everything is coated. Bake 2 hours at 250 degrees, stirring every so often. Let cool and keep in an airtight container. I insert a plastic bag in the cleaned coffee can and then fill with the snax mix.

coffee can wrapped, gift idea — Snax mix in coffee can ready for gifting.

snack mix, gift ideas — The finished product, ready for snacking!

Linked to: HomegrownOnTheHill

Recipe Box: Pear & Bleu Cheese Salad

Remember those candied nuts I made earlier this week? They are a wonderful addition to this Pear and Bleu Cheese Salad. This will be served with what we’ll be eating on Christmas Day, I’m sure it is destined to become a family favorite!

Ingredients:

1 head of spinach or about 10 oz of fresh salad greens
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1-2 pears, thinly sliced
½ cup blue cheese, crumbled
½ cup candied pecans or walnuts (see Tuesday’s blog for recipe!)
1 avocado, cubed (optional)
¼ cup dried cranberries (optional)

Dressing:

¼ cup maple syrup
⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
¼ cup olive oil
⅓ cup mayonnaise
¾ tsp sea salt
¼ tsp ground pepper

salad, recipes, pears, lettuce — Layer the sliced pears on the lettuce.

Layer the greens, onion, pears, blue chees and, pecans. Add avocado or dried cranberries as desired. Blend the dressing ingredients together in a blender. Pour over the salad just before serving.

Enjoy!

candied pecans, pear, salad — Candied pecans on the top of the salad.

Linked To: HearthandSoulHop, FatTuesday, TheGatheringSpot

Prudent Pantry: Soft Wheat Berries

A few weeks ago I wrote about wheat berries. There are actually two types of wheat: hard and soft. The key difference between them is protein content. Where wheat is grown can determine protein content: Northwestern US and western Canada produce a hard wheat that’s very high in protein, while the southern US states grow a softer wheat with less protein. It is the protein that contains the gluten that allows bread and other baked goods to rise. Hard wheat is best for making breads and rolls. Since soft white wheat flour contains less protein it is typically used to create the buttery, crumbly texture associated with piecrusts, biscuits and cakes. Soft wheat flour intended for baking is often labeled pastry flour or cake flour, according to its primary use.

wheat berries, soft wheat, hard wheat, flour — Hard wheat berries (left), soft wheat berries (right).

wondermill grain mill, electric grain mill — My new WonderMill electric grain mill.

I recently purchased a new electric gain mill, the WonderMill. This will actually be an item that will be carried in the Prudent Living Market. I used it to grind some soft wheat berries and make a quiche. The result was delicious, the only flour I used was the flour ground from the soft wheat berries, it lived up to its reputation, the crust was buttery and flaky.

The recipe I used was a basic pie crust recipe:

¼ cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 cup of flour
Dash of salt
Up to 3 Tbsp of cold water, milk or buttermilk (I used buttermilk)

I used a pastry cutter to cut together the butter and flour until they were a uniform substance resembling coarse corn meal, then I added the salt.

pie crust, flour, butter, prudent pantry — Flour and butter cut together until fairly uniform.

Stirring with a fork I added the buttermilk until the dough stuck to itself. You can chill the dough to roll out later or you can roll it immediately and then chill the formed crust. This is what I did. While the crust was chilling I made the filling.

pastry dough, pie crust, whole wheat flour — Pie crust formed.

There are three more steps to making a quiche before you can bake it. These are: the cheese, the filling and the custard.The cheese – your first layer, by putting the cheese in first it forms a moisture resistant barrier between the filling and the crust, thus helping to keep the crust from getting soggy. You can use any type of cheese (Swiss types and cheddar work well), ¼ – ⅓ pound. I used ¼ cup of grated Swiss cheese.

The filling – here you can use your creativity. Spinach steamed with sautéed onions, mushrooms sautéed with scallions, tomato slices with crumbled bacon. I used leeks and spinach, which I cooked together. Layer this on top of your cheese.

The custard – beat together 3 eggs and 1 cup of milk (or 4 eggs and 1 ½ cup milk if you are using a larger pie pan). Pour it over the filling. I also sliced some grape tomatoes and placed them on top. Bake 35-40 minutes at 375 degrees. The result was wonderful and the soft wheat berries made a delicious flaky crust.

Quiche ready to go in the oven.	Cooked quiche ready to eat.
Shredded cheese on top of crust.	Spinach and leek filling is placed on top of the cheese.

My Garden: Transplanting Orchids

Transplanting Orchids

Transplanting orchids is not hard. If you have orchids eventually they will need to be transplanted. My daughter gave me three orchids that she rescued from her place of employment. The business where she worked would purchase orchids when they were blooming to decorate with. Later when they were finished blooming they were thrown away. My daughter asked if she could bring them home. When my daughter and her husband moved over seas I became caretaker of the orchids! They have done fine for the last two years however they have also grown and when there were as many roots cascading over the outside of the pot as were growing inside the pot I decided it was time to transplant! transplanting orchids

I found that repotting an orchid is not difficult, just different. Like other houseplants orchids need to be moved to larger containers as they grow. Your orchid may need repotting for one of two reasons. First, the orchid may have simply outgrown it’s pot. Repotting is necessary when the actual body of the plant, not just the roots, has grown over the pot’s edge. The other reason to transplant is if the growing medium has broken down so much that air can no longer circulate through to dry the roots between watering. Good drainage is vital to the health of your orchid, and a growing medium that is constantly soggy will lead to root rot.

The best time to repot an orchid is just after it has begun to produce new growth but before the new roots have begun to elongate. Do not repot when it is flowering or has just produced a spike. My orchid had finished blooming and was looking very tired looking, definitely a good time to repot.

I had a large plastic container that I put under the orchid and used to collect the old potting soil. I turned the orchid upside down over the container and gently dislodged it. Sometimes the roots stick to the edge of the pot, in which case you can use a sterilized knife to loosen the plant. With some gently persuasion my orchid came out of the pot. I then gently separated the roots and removed as much of the old potting mixture as I could. roots, orchid, transplanting

Before repotting, the roots will need to be carefully trimmed. Use sterilized scissors to remove any dead or damaged roots. They are easy to spot, being either dried and crispy or wet and mushy. Healthy roots are firm and white and have light-green growing tips. trimming roots, orchids

Have your new pot ready; it should be clean and rinsed well. Because orchids require good drainage, be sure to put clean stones, broken crockery or plastic foam peanuts in the bottom of the pots. Rinse the growing medium in water to hydrate it before use. Place some of the dampened mixture loosely on top of the drainage materials. Positions the orchid, and then carefully pack more of the planting mixture around the roots, firming it with your thumbs as you go. Make sure that, when finished, the top of the rhizome is level with the top of the potting mixture. transplanting orchid, gardening

Now my orchid should be much happier, it has fresh growing material and all the roots are in the pot. transplanted orchid Soon it should be sending out a new spike and I will be rewarded with beautiful blooms. Orchid, gardening, houseplants

Frugal Tips: Homemade Candied and Spiced Nuts

Candied nuts make a great DIY gift, are a delicious, portable snack and are wonderful on salads! Here are a few recipes for a no-fail method for a crunchy, toothsome treat but secretly cost you only minutes in the kitchen! If you have a membership to a food club like Costco or BJ’s I would suggest stocking up on a large bag of nuts. My favorites are peanuts or pecans. Almonds and cashews also work well. You can make spiced nuts or sweetened nuts depending on whether you are using cinnamon and sugar or other spices such as cayenne pepper and garlic salt. Try a few this holiday season, make them to enjoy as a family or give away as gifts! Friday I will be giving you another recipe using candied nuts, a delicious pear and blue cheese salad!

Candied Pecans

1 egg white
1 Tbsp. water
1 pound of pecans or walnut halves or pieces
⅓ – ½ cup sweetened (I used ⅓ cup maple syrup)
Pinch of salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla

Beat egg white together with water until it becomes stiff and fluffy. Fold in sweetener, salt, cinnamon and vanilla. Add pecans and toss to coat. Spread out on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for 1 hour, rotating every 15 minutes.

Spicy Cashews

4 cups roasted cashews
¼ cup butter
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ Tbsp. cayenne pepper
½ Tbsp. garlic salt
½ Tbsp. red pepper (optional)

Preheat an oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner. Set nuts aside. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Stir in the remaining ingredients. In a large bowl, combine the nuts and butter mixture. Toss until the nuts are thoroughly coated. Spread the nuts onto the baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Serve warm or let cool and store in an airtight container.

Honey-Roasted Peanuts

4 cups peanuts
2 Tbsp. butter
⅓ cup honey
½ tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. salt
⅓ cup superfine or baking sugar

Preheat an oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner. In a small saucepan over medium heat melt the butter. Add the honey, vanilla and 1 tsp. salt and stir until combined. In a large bowl, combine the nuts and honey-butter mixture. Toss thoroughly to coat the nuts. Spread the nuts onto the baking sheet and bake 20-25 minutes or until browned, stirring every 5 minutes.

Remove the nuts from the oven and stir and sprinkle generously and evenly with the sugar and remaining salt, shaking pan as you go to coat the nuts completely. Let cool, then stir once more, breaking up any large chunks. Store in an airtight container.

Sour Cream Chocolate Bit Cake

Friday is one of my favorite days in writing my blog. I love going through my recipes and deciding which one I’ll be sharing. Sometimes this takes a while as I have a lot of favorite recipes. Today I will be sharing a Sour Cream Chocolate Bit Cake.

Many years ago when I was engaged to be married one of the best presents I received was a collection of recipes from my mother-in-law. As a young bride with not a lot of cooking experience it was wonderful to start out married life with a collection of tried and true recipes, many of which were favorites of my husband!

An all time favorite, which I have been making for the last 30 years, is a recipe for Sour Cream Chocolate Bit Cake. This is an easy recipe that can be put together in a matter of minutes; just remember to put your butter in a bowl to soften. It is so delicious warm from the oven! It is also a perfect addition to lunch boxes. Enjoy!!

Now here is my confession! When I went to make this cake I realized I didn’t have any sour cream in the house and I really didn’t want to make the twenty minute drive to the nearest store so I looked up substitutions and found I could use yogurt instead along with an extra teaspoon of baking powder. The result was delicious and probably a healthier version but it didn’t rise as high and all the chocolate chips sunk to the bottom of the cake. Hence the flat looking cake in the pictures! I’ll have to show you a picture of the cake using sour cream another time, or make it yourself and see how beautiful it comes out!

Sour Cream Chocolate Bit Cake

Ingredients:

6 Tbsp butter, softened
1 cup and 1 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs
1 ⅓ cup all purpose flour
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup sour cream
1 pkg (6oz) semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix butter with the 1 cup of sugar until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time. In another bowl stir together flour, baking soda and baking powder and cinnamon. Add to the butter mixture. Mix in sour cream.

Pour batter into a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan. Scatter chocolate chips evenly over the batter, and then sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tbsp of sugar.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until done.

Prudent Pantry: Barley

Barley is another staple I like to keep in my pantry. According to Wikipedia barley is a versatile cereal grain. It serves as a major animal fodder, as a base for malt for beer and certain distilled beverages and as a component of various health foods. It is also used in soups and stews and can even be used in bread! There are two kinds of barley, two row and six row. Two row barley has a lower protein content. I love adding barley to soups and stews. Pearl barley refers to covered barley that has been processed to remove the tough inedible outer hull and then pearled or polished. Barley may be pearled to varying degrees and labeled as regular, fine or pearl. Pearl barley is available in several forms; however, kernels or berries are the most common. Pearl barley may also be purchased flaked, cut or ground. It has a rich nutlike flavor and an appealing chewy, pasta-like consistency. Its appearance resembles wheat berries. Barley’s claim to nutritional fame is based on its being a very good source of fiber and selenium, and a good source of phosphorus, copper and manganese.

Storing barley is very easy. Pearled barley can be kept at room temperature for a longer time since most of the oils which could go rancid have already been removed. It should be stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place, in warmer months it should be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. If refrigerated or frozen in an airtight container, raw/uncooked badly may be stored for about 6 months.

I adapted this recipe from one I found on the TasteOfHome.com website. It makes a nice big pot of soup and freezes well. Perfect for those cold winter nights. Make a salad to go with it and you’ll have a complete meal!

Cobb Hill Barley Soup

1 pound chicken or turkey Italian sausage
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, sliced
4 cans (14-1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth
2 cans (15 ounces each) pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 cup medium pearl barley
1 large carrot, sliced
1 celery rib, sliced
1 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1/8 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
6 cups chopped fresh kale

In a Dutch oven, cook sausage and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in the broth, beans, tomatoes, barley, carrot, celery, sage and rosemary. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Stir in kale; return to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes or until vegetables are tender and kale is wilted.

Makes about 3 quarts of soup.

My Garden: Visiting a West Coast Garden

winter squash, produce, farming — Produce at a local farm.

Thanksgiving week was spent on the west coast visiting our daughter and son-in-law. I always enjoy seeing other parts of the country and while we were on the west coast we took a side trip to Eugene, Oregon to visit a friend of my husband’s. They’ve known each other since the age of four! He is an arborist and an avid gardener. It was fun to tour his garden and see how things grow in Oregon. I had no idea that this part of Oregon had such a mild climate. Eugene is the second largest city in Oregon and is home of the University of Oregon. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, about 50 miles east of the Oregon coast. Temperatures are pretty moderate; the average low in the winter is just above freezing. Summer temperatures average in the 80s.

garden, tomatoes, vegetables — Amazing to have fresh tomatoes in November!

heirloom tomatoes, tomatoes, vegetables, garden — This was an heirloom Russian tomato that was delicious!

After leaving Vermont where my garden is put to bed I was surprised at the number of vegetables still growing in this west coast garden! There were still tomatoes on the vine!

vegetables, broccoli, gardening — Broccoli ready to be picked!

vegetables, west coast garden, cauliflower — Beautiful cauliflower

Lots of kale, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots not to mention raspberries still available for picking!

raspberries, west coast garden, gardening — Surprise to find raspberries in November!

lemons, west coast gardening — The color is a little off but these are Myer Lemons!

There was even a Myer Lemon with lots of fruit growing in their garden! I was quite impressed. The dirt in the garden was rich, dark soil with not very many rocks. Quite a bit different from my Vermont garden!

row cover, garden, — Quick demonstration on making a row cover.

row cover, winter protection, — A wonderful, inexpensive row cover!

While we were touring the gardens our friend showed us how to create a simple row cover using hog panels! Each panel was cut to form about a six foot section with the side cut to form prongs which stuck into the garden. The panel was then formed into an arch and would be tied to stakes which were placed in the ground. It could then be covered with plastic to protect your plants. Very simple and quick! I’m going to have to give it a try next year. It was such fun to have a tour of a west coast garden! We even had time to take a hike on a nearby butte. Very educational to hike in the woods with an arborist, I look forward to visiting our friends again!