Hearty Fall Salad

With the kids all back in school and fall right around the corner, our menu is beginning to change. A few soups and chillies have already crept in on cooler days and I've been thinking more and more about my crockpot.

The other day Lyla and I went out to the garden to harvest what we needed for one of my favorite fall salads.

I came back inside with broccoli, red and green Winterbor kale, and red and green cabbage. Just about any cole crop will work, including thinly sliced Brussels sprouts.

Wash everything up and make sure it's good and dry.

The trick to a good salad with these robust veggies is to cut them up really small.

Set the vegetables aside and start making the walnut-pumpkin seed clusters.

Combine the following in a non-stick pan:
2 cups walnuts
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Stir often over medium heat until the liquid is just absorbed. The nuts should still look sticky, not dry. It's a quick few seconds between perfection and a tad overdone.

Pour out mixture onto greased wax paper, breaking up any large clusters with a spatula.

At this point I remind all my children NOT to touch the nuts. They are crazy hot. I allow them to cool a bit and then remind them AGAIN not to touch the nuts. Seriously, I've made these before around 4 PM and by 5 PM had hardly any left to go with our dinner salad. Buzzard children (head shaking).

Speaking of buzzard children...these Craisins WERE in a bowl, waiting to be the finishing touch for our colorful salad.

I've been lazy lately. No homemade dressing here.

All that's left is tossing it all together.

I served this the other day with grilled tuna on rye, but it goes so well with salmon. Not only do the flavors work well together, but the rich color of a good Alaskan salmon combines with the bold colors of the salad to create an incredible feast for the eyes.

Hmmm...I think I need to buy some salmon for later this week...

Hearty Fall Salad

Cut or tear in small pieces any combination of the following:
Broccoli
Cabbage
Kale
Brussels sprouts, thinly sliced

Set aside.

In a non-stick pan, combine the following:
2 cups walnuts
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup water

Stir often over medium heat until the liquid is mostly gone. Pour nut-mixture onto greased wax paper, breaking up any large chunks with a spatula. Allow to cool.

To assemble, toss leaves with walnut-pumpkin seed clusters and Craisins. Dress with poppyseed dressing.

Sliced Asian pears make a yummy addition, too.

Crumbly Baked Oatmeal

Before heading up to bed last night, I made Halle's absolute favorite breakfast treat. And really, I do mean treat. It's not exactly low in sugar. Hmmmmm...small wonder my six-year-old likes it so much.

You can find the original recipe here or follow along below.

First, whisk together the vegetable oil and white sugar.

Then, stir in the eggs, milk, salt, baking powder, and quick oats. If you only have regular oats, go ahead and use them. The texture will only be slightly different.

Stir everything together, then add 1/2 cup raisins.

Pour the mixture into a lightly grease pie pan and set aside.

Next, make the topping by combining the brown sugar and ground cinnamon in a separate bowl.

Sprinkle the the topping over the top of the oatmeal.

Put some plastic wrap over the whole thing and set it in the refrigerator. You're done for the night!

When you wake up in the morning, enjoy the fact that you have very little work to do in the kitchen before your little ones will think you are the best mom in the world. Seriously, this is what my children say when the aroma of crumbly baked oatmeal wafts up to their bedrooms. The house smells amazing.

If you used a glass pan, you might want to let it come to room temperature before tossing it into the hot oven. Otherwise, remove the plastic wrap and place the oatmeal in a preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for 35 minutes. The oatmeal should be firm to the touch when it's done.

I think these yummy crumbles look so pretty served in a shallow white bowl.

But the real treat comes when you add milk, or even better, half-and-half. Just pour a little bit over the top.

Your children will be singing your praises in no time.

Crumbly Baked Oatmeal

Whisk together:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup white sugar

Add and stir:

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp. salt

1 TBSP baking powder

3 cups quick oats

Stir in:

1/2 cup raisins

Pour the mixture into a lightly greased pie pan.

In a separate bowl combine:

2 TBSP brown sugar

1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Cover and refrigerate overnight. In the morning place in preheated 350 degree oven. Bake for 35 minutes.

Serve in bowls with milk and half-and-half to pour over the top.

Easy Refrigerator Pickles

For weeks, those plants barely seem to grow at all. I water them. I wait. I give them nice organic fertilizer. I wait. When no one is looking, I even talk to them. Until I feel ridiculous and stop. Then, all at once cucumber vines are climbing on top of one another and rambling through the garden.

The fruit comes on slowly at first. One or two cucumbers seem to take forever to reach a decent size. Then, by the beginning of August, I'm enthusiastically heading back to the kitchen with the first half-dozen or so pickling cucumbers of summer.

I pull out six pint-sized canning jars with lids and rims. Since I'm not sealing these jars, I reuse old jam lids.

Then, I get out the rest of the ingredients:

• 2 pounds pickling cucumbers, sliced (about 8 cups)
• 3 teaspoons pickling salt, divided
• 1/2 red onion, chopped or thinly sliced
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 1 TBSP mustard seed
• 1 TBSP celery seed
• 3 tsp chopped garlic

Here are the steps:

1. Wash the jars well with warm sudsy water and rinse them thoroughly.

2.  Layer the sliced cucumbers 1 cup at a time in a large bowl, lightly sprinkling 1/8 tsp of salt on each layer (a total of 1 tsp).

3. Gently stir in the onion. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set it aside for 1 hour at room temperature.

4. Drain off any liquid that's accumulated in the bottom of the bowl. Then, set the bowl aside.

5. Make the brine by combining the sugar, vinegar, water, mustard seed, celery seed, garlic and remaining 2 tsp of salt in a medium saucepan. Gradually bring the ingredients to a boil, stirring occasionally. Continue at a gentle boil until the sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. (FYI, this will NOT make your kitchen smell pretty.)

6. Pour the brine over the cucumbers and onions. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

7. Using a large spoon or tongs, divide the cucumbers and onions among the jars. Then, divide the remaining liquid evenly among the jars. If necessary, add extra vinegar until the cucumbers and onions are completely covered.

8. Slide a clean table knife down the side of each jar several times to help settle the contents and remove any air gaps. This usually creates more space at the top of each jar to add more cucumber slices if needed.

9. Screw the lids onto the jars and set them aside at room temperature. Once the contents have cooled, refrigerate the jars. Allow the pickles to marinate for at least 24 hours, preferably 48 before eating. Flavor will be fully developed in about a week- if no one eats them all first. Otherwise, they will last at least six weeks in the refrigerator.

I might have cut the original recipe out of an old Family Fun magazine about ten years ago. I don't think there's anything proprietary about it, though, since anyone can find several versions of it online.

These pickles are the best!! I admit, though, by the end of August after twisting cucumber after cucumber off the vines, facing yet ANOTHER batch of pickles adds a little slump to my shoulders. Happily, good friends are usually willing to take a few jars off my hands.

Freezable Zucchini Soup

Ewwww. What IS this green stuff? 

This might be your kids' first reaction to seeing zucchini soup dished out at the dinner table. But if they are anything like my kids, or their many friends that we've fed around our table, they will be pleasantly surprised. In fact, my kids can't get enough of this deliciously mild soup. And since someday I'm guessing they will want to make it for themselves, I'm sticking the recipe some place they'll be sure to find it.

There's nothing worse than getting halfway through a recipe only to discover that you are missing an essential ingredient, so I like to set everything out before I get started. Ahem...here I see I am missing white flour and fresh parsley.

To begin, add the following ingredients to a large pan or pot:

9 cups chopped zucchini

1 1/2 cups water

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 1/2 TBSP fresh parsley

6 tsp chicken base

Cover and cook until zucchini and onions are soft. Then puree in batches and return to the pan. FYI, I found this soup to be even yummier after I bought a quality blender. It just gets things that much smoother.

In the meantime, start the white sauce by melting 6 TBSP of butter in a non-stick pan.
Then stir in 6 TBSP white flour and 1/2 tsp ground pepper. While stirring, allow the flour the cook in the butter for a minute or so.

Then add 4 1/2 cups almond milk all at once.
Whisk. Whisk. Whisk.
Cook until thickened, stirring frequently.

Once the white sauce is thickened, pour it into the zucchini base. Stir and and allow to heat through.

Personally, I think the bright green color is lovely.

And my kids think it tastes great.

Oh, and if you have more zucchini in your garden right now than you know what to do with, you can freeze the zucchini base!! When your taste buds are ready for zucchini again in say, October, simply whip up the white sauce and add the defrosted zucchini base. Super simple.

Garden Fresh Zucchini Soup

Zucchini Base
Combine the following in a large pot:

9 cups chopped zucchini (can include other summer squash such as yellow crookneck, patty pan, etc.)

1 1/2 cups water

1 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp seasoned salt

1 1/2 TBSP fresh parsley

6 tsp chicken base

Cover and cook on medium heat until onions and zucchini are soft. Then, puree in batches and return to pan.

White Sauce

Melt 6 TBSP butter in a non-stick pan. Then add 6 TBSP flour and 1/2 tsp ground pepper. Stir and cook for about a minute.

Then add 4 1/2 cups almond milk (yes, you can use regular dairy milk, too*). Wisk and cook until thickened, stirring frequently.

Once white sauce has thickened, add it to the pureed zucchini base. Stir to combine and heat through.

* Honestly, we all like this soup a little better with 2% dairy milk, especially if we are planning on any leftovers for the next day (almond or soy milk really thickens it up by day two). BUT in an effort to have less animal products in our diet, we've been ditching more dairy in favor or almond or soy milk.

Texas Hot Wiener Sauce

Hot dogs and hamburgers.  With friends firing up their grills and stoking their campfires, they're almost unavoidable at this time of year.

If you're going to HAVE to eat a hot dog, may I suggest trying my mother's recipe for Texas Hot Wiener sauce? And trust me, I know!  I've tried unsuccessfully over the years to change the name; it's just too ingrained.

So here are the ingredients you will need:

1 pound ground beef

2 medium onions, chopped

1 tsp. ground cayenne

1 tsp. chili powder

2 cups ketchup

water

Brown the ground beef with the chopped onions.

Drain.

Stir in the cayenne, chili powder, and ketchup.

Cover the entire concoction with water.

Simmer uncovered until desired consistency.  Depending on how much water you added, this may take an hour or so.

To satisfy that side of you that insists on the finest of nutrition, be sure to prepare your plate with plenty of greens and fresh fruit before adding your Texas Hot Wiener.

Over the years of gathering friends and family for meals around the campfire, I've had countless requests for this recipe.  And over the years, we've learned that it's best to avoid breathing on anyone for the rest of the evening.

Update for all you wienie connoisseurs out there: Yes, the lack of certain spices in this recipe disqualify it from making a true Texas Hot Wiener, but it's still super yummy!

Swimming Rama

We like just about anything with peanut butter in it, including Swimming Rama.  Haven't heard of it?  I hadn't either until about a year ago.  Don't get me wrong, I am no stranger to Thai food.  I LOVE Thai food.  It's just that whenever we go out to eat, I always order the same thing.  At our favorite Chinese restaurant, I order the walnut shrimp and something called "volcano rice."  Every time.  At Panera Bread, I order a bowl of chicken noodle soup, with a toasted sesame seed bagel on the side.  Every time.
But one day, I got brave.  I passed over the usual Pad Thai on the menu and ordered something called Swimming Rama.  Where has this been all my life?!

So, I went home and did what any good home economist does- figured out how to make it on my own.  I tried several recipes, but finally settled on a version of the Thai Peanut Sauce recipe that came with my BlendTec blender.  The original recipe is great.  And really, besides doubling the recipe and omitting the hot pepper sauce, I've only made minor changes to fit our family's pantry.  Here's how I make it-

1/2 cup Lite coconut milk

1/4 cup fresh lime juice (or bottled, if you don't have fresh)

2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce

2 TBSP honey OR agave nectar

2 tsp chopped garlic

2 TBSP gingerroot

2/3 cup peanut butter

Throw all of the above ingredients in the blender.  

For some reason, I pulled out the honey for this photo, which is what the original recipe calls for, but I usually use agave nectar.  Either one works fine.

Blend.  That's it!  Sauce done.  I know, complicated, huh?

Now chop up 4 chicken breasts.  The day I learned that chopping partially frozen meat was so much easier than fully thawed, my whole world became a much better place.

Cook the chicken in a bit of oil.  I usually use canola oil for this.

Note:  it's advisable to clean up the stove from the previous night's dinner, before posting a photo of what you're currently making for dinner on your blog.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, add in the complicated sauce.  Barely warm it through.  Like for 30 seconds- maybe.  Too long and the sauce gets yucky.

Set out some sliced peaches and open a bag or box of spinach.

My littlest kids still need some convincing when it comes to fresh spinach, so I serve it separately.  That way they can opt for a smaller handful.

But for Wes, my oldest kids, and me...

bring on the fresh spinach!

Cookies

We have a new drainage ditch lining our steep driveway, so on Thursday I stepped out the front door to check how it was working in the heavy rain.  

Sophia made cookies.

My ten-year-old  is no stranger in the kitchen, particularly when it comes to baking cookies.

I have been working (and working) with her on reading recipes all the way through before beginning.  Also, on reading them carefully, paying attention to details.  I'm sure you can guess why.

There have been many times when I have been called back to the kitchen with questions like, "Doesn't this dough look kind of funny?" Or, "How am I supposed to roll all of these crumbs into a ball?"

So, it was no surprise to me when the front door opened and a voice called out, "Mom?  I accidentally put two CUPS of baking powder in the cookies.  Should I start over?"

Bless her heart.  Yes, I thought that would be a good idea.

Usually, after pulling one or two pans out of the oven, she caves.  "I think I'm done," she confesses.  "Can you finish baking the rest?"  Yep, we have LOTS of leftover cookie dough in our freezer.

But this time she baked up the whole recipe.  The recipe that calls for FIVE cups of white flour, and an ADDITIONAL FOUR cups of rolled oats, ground into flour.

126 Cookies.

She made 126 VERY TASTY cookies.  Perfect to dunk in a glass of cold milk.

Standing in the kitchen long enough to bake 126 cookies deserves special recognition at family council, right?  I mean, now I don't have to think so hard about how we are going to meet our recommended daily butter and sugar requirements.  Phew!

The award should really be entitled "Freezer Filler" but I liked the sound of "Pantry Packer" better.

Anyone want to offer me some free art lessons?  Anyone?

Good job, my darling "Pantry Packer!"