Oh so easy, but yummy scones

I always find myself searching for a new breakfast recipe. Breakfast foods are probably my favorite thing to bake. But I do feel like I get stuck in a creativity rut more often than not.
Tonight I decided to make a scone..but in the past I always felt like it was more time consuming than I wanted. So this recipe is a delightfully easy but yummy recipe.

Chocolate Chip & Strawberry Scones
2 cups whole wheat pancake mix (not complete)- plus more for dusting
1/2 tsp baking powder
3 tbs raw sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
1/4 cup organic milk
2 TBS safflower or sunflower oil

mix the ingredients together then fold in 1/4 cup choc chips and 1/4 cup chopped and dried off strawberries
knead 5-6 times on a floured surface and form into a disk. cut into 8 triangles. sprinkle with raw sugar
bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 mins

Advent Calendar

This year we decided to do a family advent countdown devotional. We are using Thriving Family's outline which you can find at http://www.thrivingfamily.com/Features/Magazine/2011/advent/2011-advent-calendar-week-1.aspx
We are looking forward to introducing Desiring God's advent devotion guide as well. You can find it at
 http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/free-advent-devotional-guide
We believe it is important that you teach children the true meaning of Christmas and not leave to it just being about being good to receive presents from Santa. Don't get me wrong we totally go all out with Santa. We make the cookies, egg nog, write letters, and even have a family tradition of having Fenwick the elf visit the kids. If that is all our kids walked away with each year then we would be failing them as parents and giving them a false hope. It is vital that they know that the core meaning of Christmas is about the birth of Jesus and that He was sent to earth to live a perfect holy life and to die for us horrific sinners because of His righteous grace and love for us.

The kids and I thought it would be fun to make our own advent countdown calendar this year. It was pretty simple and we just used leftover scrapbooking material to make it.

We just added string to connect papers, punched out circles and added christmas stickers to make the beneath pictures, used premade squares to write the numbers on, and then hot glued the squares above the circles.

 Adi and Noah had fun writing the countdown numbers on the squares

Adi was excited to life the first number :)

Kefir

I have really been looking into the benefits of kefir and how to make my own. Thankfully a few friends have been nice enough to help me learn more about it. I am looking forward to starting my first milk kefir batch soon. But for now I have been using plain/unsweetened milk Kefir from Trader Joe's.
Here is a web site that has been really helpful to me while I am still learning about Kefir.
http://culturedfoodlife.com/Kefir.html

Some Fun Facts about the benefits of Kefir:

• Kefir has been called the “champagne of milk
• Kefir is a fermented milk which contains a mixture of several species of lactic cultures.
• Kefir is a remedy for digestive troubles because of its very low curd tension, meaning that the curd breaks up very easily into extremely small pieces.

Another great thing about Kefir is that you can use it in a variety of foods and drinks. We have made ice cream, smoothies, muffins, and now today bread.

Pumpkin Kefir Bread
Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl and set aside
2 cups white/whole wheat flour
2 TBS pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix wet ingredients in a large bowl
1/2 cup unsweetened natural applesauce
3/4 cup raw local honey
3/4 cup raw sugar or sucanat
1 egg white
1 tsp vanilla
2 TBS molasses
1 can pumpkin
1 cup milk kefir

Once the wet ingredients are well combined add the dry ingredients slowly.
Pour into loaf pan and can also make 6 muffins
Bread 325 degrees for 40-45 mins
Muffins 20-25 mins

Fall is in the air

My family and I just adore fall time! The smells of apple cinnamon, pumpkin baking, fire pits burning, and hot cocoa cooling down on the counter are just some of the wonderful fall aromas. We try to soak up every bit of the fall time as much as possible.
One of our favorite foods to make during this time of year is pumpkin. Whether it be muffins, bread, pancakes, cake, pie..we just love it all! I know it is still not "technically" fall, but in the Tuttle house we are starting out a little early :)So tonight the kids and I went on a pumpkin baking frenzy.

 Here is our Clean Pumpkin Bread
1/2 cup sucanat or organic brown sugar
1/2 cup raw honey
2 egg whites
1/3 cup yogurt
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp clove
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Spray 8 1/2" by 4 1/2" metal loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray with flour.
2. In large bowl, with wire whisk, combine brown sugar and egg whites. Add pumpkin, applesauce, yogurt, and vanilla extract; stir to combine.
3. In medium bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture; stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
4. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center of loaf comes out clean

Never too young

Mommy got a craving for some chocolate (big surprise right?lol) and little miss was grumpy so I thought well lets see if she wants to help mommy bake. She loved loved helping. She stirred and stirred her little heart out. It was so cute watching her have so much fun. I had Adi and Noah come look and they were so proud of her. They sat and cheered her on. My pantry is pretty bare this week and I have tried to stick to a healthier diet so I wanted something not high in fat, no eggs, butter, or gluten. So here is my take on a gluten free, egg free, butter free fudgey brownie

1/2 cup rice flour (can use any gluten free flour)

1/4 cup organic brown sugar

1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup non sweetned applesauce
1/4 cup safflower oil
mix together and bake in an 8x8 pan for 25-30 mins

Everything Basil

We finally have a trader joe's!!! I was so giddy going up and down every aisle at least 2 times :)
 I bought a bunch of organic basil to cook with this week and had fun creating different meals with one main ingredient.  I would have my own basil plant but I kill every plant..and I mean every single one :)
The first thing I made today was a baked basil chicken burger on top of a basil/chicken brown jasmine rice. We do not like chunks of onion so we always use onion powder but feel free to use fresh onion.
The rice was super easy and full of a lot of flavor.

Baked Basil Chicken Burger
1 lb hormone free ground chicken
3-4TBS mayo
3-4tsp chopped basil
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2TBS Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
mix all the ingredients together and refrigerate for about 20-30 mins so that they flavors absorb together.
make into patties, put on an oiled baking sheet, bake at 375 degrees for about 25 mins ,flip half way through. Makes about 5-6 patties

Basil Brown Jasmine Rice
1 cup cleaned rice
2 cups chicken stock
1TBS chopped basil
1 tsp garlic powder or 1/2 tsp minced
1 tsp olive oil
Place stock and rice in a saucepan and bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 25-30mins



Apple and Basil Muffins
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1 apple cleaned and minced up
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3TBS lemon juice
3TBS brown sugar
let sit in a bowl for 5 mins
add
1 organic egg (slightly beaten)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup organic vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup almond milk
1/4 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup raw honey

 mix together and sprinkle on top
2TBS brown sugar
1TBS raw sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

add dry ingredients to wet till combined. bake at 350 degree for 15-16 mins

Crazy Hot Dog Night? Themed Meals!

Meals can become monotonous. We can blow through a meal and not think twice about it. Years of public school trains us to eat like machines. Food is simply fuel that needs to be consumed according to a sectioned out pyramid chart. The fast pace of life only reinforces our robotic approach to eating. So when (if) we sit down to share a meal together it goes against all of the overwhelming assaults that life and training has battered us with.

A fun meal is a memorable meal. I’ve already posted about the benefits of singing around the table but we also try to spice things up by coming up with ‘theme’ nights. Themed meals are something to look forward to, something to participate in, and something to fondly look back on. There’s no formula to follow. Just think about what’s fun to do or serve.

One of our favorite themed meals is Crazy Hot Dog Night. This one is pretty simple. Just make some hot dogs and then take virtually everything edible out of the fridge and cupboard and place it on the counter. I’m talking ketchup, mayo, salad dressing, chips, peanut butter, jelly, hot sauce, soy sauce, cottage cheese, bananas, apples, carrots, honey, salt, pepper, raisins, crackers, and basically anything else we can think of. (I just thought of cereal…we haven’t done that one yet…) Then top your hot dog to make it crazy! (Warning: messes will be made so suck it up neat freak and have fun!)

While Crazy Hot Dog night is usually planned earlier in the week it’s not in our normal meal rotation. But we do have one themed meal a week that has been a big hit: Taco Tuesday. Again, pretty simple, but it’s something to look forward to and it’s always interesting coming up with different taco meals. I recommend frying your own corn tortilla shells. It tastes better than packaged shells and it’s pretty simple. Oil in a pan. Fry the tortilla. Don’t burn it. Then try to fold it into a shell (good luck…I’ve yet to master it…one day, corn tortilla my friend, one day…)

We have other themed meals that actually don’t have anything to do with food. The current favorite is Talk Like a Pirate Night. As long as the kids are eating their food, virtually all normal table manners fly out the window. Cups are usually pounded on the table and forks are held in your fists not your fingers. Menacing growls, hooked fingers, and squinty left eyes abound. Conversation is quite hilarious. When my 4 year old son wasn’t eating his food I said, “Avast! Ye best eat yer food ya scurvy dog or I’ll have ye shackled and sunk to the bottom o’Davy Jones’ locker!” He responded with an “Arrr! Matey! Shimber me timbers!” and a big sloppy pirate bite of food. Come to think of it, it’s quite therapeutic.

I said this in my last post but I want to say it again;

Of course we want our kids to have table manners and we want them to eat what’s on their plate, but what is more important than table manners, and even more important than finishing every last bite is the ongoing character shaping experience of joy that is found in a family fellowshipping together. I want my kids to remember that our times at the table were times of joy. Times where we not only talk about God, but sing about Him. I want them to remember good food and good fun. When I’m an old man I want to hear them tell stories about their time around the table that causes us to laugh until it hurts.

I want to encourage you to think up a few of your own themed meals. Come up with them together as a family! Don’t let food become mere fuel. Make food fun! Make memories together around your table.

I would love to hear what kind of themed meals you come up with or ones you already have!