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posted by Donald on 01/27/07

Oats! Their hearty whole grain taste is one of my favorites. In this recipe Mom combines them with coconut, honey and wheat germ to make the granola bars that we’ve come to enjoy both at home and on the road. They’re delicious but not overly sweet, packed with energy and easy to transport. Try for yourself!

1 cup of raisins
2 eggs

5 cups of oats
1 cup of whole wheat flour
½ cup of wheat germ
½ cup of coconut
½ cup of sliced almonds or sunflower seeds
1 cup of dry milk

1 teaspoon of vanilla
½ cup of oil or applesauce
1 cup of honey
¹/3 cup of water

Soak raisins in eggs for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine dry ingredients. Add raisins, eggs and wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Firmly press into greased 9 x 13 pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before cutting. Let cool completely before removing from pan. Makes about 30.

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posted by Esther on 12/23/06

Thursday evening found David and I, in full Christmas spirit, busily making our first batch of gingerbread cookies. We had just finished mixing up the dough when David peeked in the bowl, noticed it was sticky, and remarked, “I think we need another half cup of flour!” Looking at the recipe, I saw to my amazement that it read: “add up to one half cup additional flour if necessary to prevent sticking”. Wow! David is a natural chef!

As soon as the dough was ready, the cookie-cutting crew came. Unsatisfied with with the limitations of the cookie cutters and overflowing with artistic creativity, Donald, Michael, James, Daniel, Jonathan, David and I set to work creating original gingerbread men (and women!). The amount of dough that secretly disappeared in the process goes to show how tasty this recipe is.

1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine, melted
1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
½ cup evaporated milk
1 cup molasses
4 cups stone-ground or unbleached flour unsifted

Combine the sugar, ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda. Mix well. Add the melted margarine, evaporated milk, and molasses. Mix well. Add the flour 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly. The dough should be stiff enough to handle without sticking to fingers. Knead the dough for a smoother texture. Add up to ½ cup additional flour if necessary to prevent sticking. (We ended up adding a whole other cup.) When the dough is smooth, roll it out ¼ inch thick on a floured surface and cut it into cookies. Bake on floured or greased cookie sheets in a pre-heated 375° F. oven for 10 to 12 minutes. The cookies are done if they spring back when touched.

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posted by Esther on 12/5/06

There is a secret to getting everything you need from your daily bread. The greatest possible health benefits will be gained from your bread if you have a way to use freshly ground whole wheat. Flour loses almost all it’s vitamins 72 hours from the time it is ground. The nutrition in bread made from flour that is older than that comes from added artificial nutrients. The only way to healthily delay this loss is to freeze the bread, which we do quite often after slicing and double bagging it. We would by all means recommend purchasing a grinder and finding a source for buying wheat kernels so that you can enjoy every bite and experience the ultimate health benefits of fresh homemade bread. 

Ingredients: 

• ½ cup oil 
• ½ cup honey  
• 5 cups warm water (110 degrees) 
• About 15 cups whole wheat flour divided. Grinding 5 pounds (12 cups) of grain yields 17 cups of flour. 
• 2 ½ Tb. yeast 
• 1 ½ Tb. salt  
• 2 vitamin C tablets 500mg. 

In a small container crush vitamin C tablets, add yeast and salt and set aside. In Bosch mixer equipped with kneading hooks, put oil, honey and warm water. Add 6 cups of flour. Jog on medium until lumps are gone. Mix in the yeast mixture thoroughly. Add flour until it looks spongy (probably 3 cups). Cover bowel and let rise 30 min. 

Mix in flour until dough cleans the sides of the bowl (6 cups). Let Bosch run on lowest speed 6-7 min to knead dough. 

Lightly oil a clean counter, turn out your dough onto it and divide into 5 loaves (1 ½ pounds each). Place in 5 none-stick-sprayed loaf pans. Cover with a towel and let rise in warm place at least 30 min or until loaves look as big as you want them.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 min. Enjoy! 

You can also use this dough to make cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, buns and pizza crust.

4 Comments » | posted in Recipes

posted by Esther on 11/3/06

With so much pumpkin from the garden this year, what better way to use it than to make pumpkin pie! We like the honey in this recipe that replaces all the sugar, though we do serve it with cool whip or ice cream. This is perfect for Thanksgiving.

• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 cups of canned or cooked pumpkin
• ½ cup of honey
• ½ teaspoon of salt
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon *
• ½ teaspoon of ginger *
• ½ teaspoon of cloves *
• 1 2/3 cup of evaporated milk
• 1 large unbaked 9″ pie shell

Blend filling ingredients in order given. Pour into pie shell. Bake in preheated 425° oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° and continue baking for 45 minutes or until knife inserted in center of pie filling comes out clean. Cool.

* These three ingredients can be substituted with 1½ teaspoon of pumpkin spice.

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posted by Esther on 10/22/06

The days are getting colder and there is nothing like a good hot soup to warm you up. Hmmm. What kind of soup should we make? Around here pumpkin bisque is a logical answer. Last week Donald brought in over 300 pounds of melon squash which can be used just like pumpkin. The blending step is a little extra trouble but definately worth it if you have a minute. This is our 2nd favorite pumpkin soup recipe.

Chop and sauté in olive oil:

• 1 cup of celery
• 1 cup of onion

Add:

• 2 quarts of vegetables or chicken stock. (Set aside 1/2 cup to mix with cornstartch.)
• About 4 cups melon squash cut in chunks (or butternut squash or pumpkin)
• 2 potatoes cubed
• 1/2 teaspoon of thyme or 1-2 bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons of coriander (or 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 3/4 teaspoon cloves.)

Boil 20 min. Blend all together and return to pot. Add salt to taste and 2 tablespoons of cornstarch dissolved in the 1/2 cup chicken stock to thicken. Serve.

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