2 new goals, for in the kitchen of course

I should probably start with just one, in fact I'm going to, but I have 2 things I want to do in the kitchen and am excited to start.I'm trying to help my family eat healthier, the biggest way I can do this is by making as much as I can in my own home that way I know what is going into our food and in turn into our bodies! One of the things I've been doing is making all of our bread, and I've been making them with a ratio of eithe 2:1 or 1:1 All purpose white flour and whole wheat flour. I've done this with bread, rolls, pancackes, waffles even our banana bread. My ultimate goal is to start grinding my own wheat for baking, how fun!
Also I want to start canning. I would love to make our own apple sauce (as I am also trying to cut out as much oil, butter, sugar in some of the baking I do). But also jams, sauces and as I'm sure there are endless possiblities, but again I have no means of getting started with this yet, so it is currently a 'goal' :)

I know nothing about either of these, fortunatly I have an amzing friend Chassidy who does both of these things, so she will me my go to girl to start both of these projects! In fact perhaps she should add to her blog *hint, hint*. Perhaps the grinder she uses and where she gets her wheat, maybe some canning posts as well...huh?

Eliana and I did spend some time in the kitchen yesterday. We made whole wheat banana bread as well as our own chicken broth.I of course forgot to take pictures because trying to do anything in the kitchen with a 4 year old can get distracting, so the next time we make these I will take some pictures and make a post for it.

Homemade granola bars

This were supper yummy and so easy to make. I love having things that Elly can help me make in the kitchen. She loves to help especially when it comes to cooking/baking. Our first batch we made chocolate chip and they were so good that when she asked for them she calls them 'candy bars'. We ate them up in a matter of days. I'm sure that store bought one probably have less calories and maybe fat (becaue of the butter) But I like that I know exactly what goes into these!

Granola Bars

1/2 cup and 1/3 cup butter, softened (13 1/3 tbsp.)

1/2 cup honey (6 oz.)

1 tsp. vanilla

1/3 cup brown sugar (2.7 oz.)

4 1/2 cups oats (15 oz.)

1 cup whole wheat flour (4 1/2 oz.), or all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1 cup add-ins (i.e. chocolate chips, cranberries, etc.)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl (or stand mixer). Press into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 325º for 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack; gently press down on bars after baking to flatten (I use a small, flat cutting board to press down on them). Cut into bars. Store in an airtight container.

(I'm aware that my pictures are not perfect or even great, they are all taken from my iphone because it is handly (ie always around) and easy)

Whipping cream Butter

My next venture was to make butter. I got the idea from one of my best friends Chassidy and her blog. It's made from whipping cream and leaves you with homemade butter an buttermilk(which I made wholewheat butter milk pancakes with the next morning!) My pint of cream yeilded approximatly a cup or so of butter and just under a cup of buttermilk.
It's so simple:

1. Grab a pint of whipping cream and poor it into a bowl. (I used my kitchaid mixer with the wisk attachment.)
2. Whip the cream until it gets stiff, it goes thru different stages:

• A frothy milk stage
• The whipped cream stage
• A break stage:where the whipped cream looks dry
• And the break down stage:continuous whipping will cause the air cells to collapse into butter and the cream will seperate into butter and butter milk.

From this point on if you are able to cover it, do. The  buttermilk or water sloshes around in the bowl and got my counters all wet.

3. Pour out the butter milk and keep the butter in the bowl.
4. You next have to "wash" the butter.  This is because if any of the buttermilk remains in the butter it will spoil more quickly (you can skip this step if you plan to use the butter with in 24 hours, say for baking)
5. Put cold water into the bowl (you want to make sure its cool enough so that the butter doesn't melt in the water, I just turns my tap to cold and used it right out of the focet) with your butter and contiue to mix (I switched over to the paddle attachment) the buttermilk out. Empty the milky water and continue until the water drained runs clear. It took me 7 rinses.
6. Then using a dry towl you have to 'dry' the butter by pushing any remaining water out.
And viola: homemade butter and butter milk
I didn't add any salt to the butter but you can if you would like.

A Turn for the better

Well, I've had a lot better luck in the kitchen the past few days. Infact E actually said last night, "I think you've got this bread thing down hun". Hooray! I went and bough a thermometer to make sure the water was the right temp for the yeast and I think that has made all the difference, I believe I had the water too hot the first time. They are simple recipes just out of the Betty Crocker cook book.

Classic White Bread

6	to 7 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour* or Better for Bread® bread flour
3	tablespoons sugar
1	tablespoon salt
2	tablespoons shortening
2	packages regular or quick active dry yeast (4 1/2 teaspoons)
2 1/4	cups very warm water (120° to 130°F)
2	tablespoons butter or margarine, melted, if desired In large bowl, stir 3 1/2 cups of the flour, the sugar, salt, shortening and yeast until well mixed. Add warm water. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough remaining flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle. Place dough on lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes or until dough is smooth and springy. Grease large bowl with shortening. Place dough in bowl, turning dough to grease all sides. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place 40 to 60 minutes or until dough has doubled in size. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched. Grease bottoms and sides of two 8x4-inch or 9x5-inch loaf pans with shortening or spray with cooking spray. Gently push fist into dough to deflate. Divide dough in half. Flatten each half with hands or rolling pin into 18x9-inch rectangle on lightly floured surface. Roll dough up tightly, beginning at 9-inch side. Press with thumbs to seal after each turn. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Pinch each end of roll to seal. Fold ends under loaf. Place seam side down in pan. Brush loaves lightly with butter. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in warm place 35 to 50 minutes or until dough has doubled in size. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 425°F. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire rack. Brush loaves with butter; cool. Whole Wheat Honey Bread 3 cups stone-ground whole wheat flour or graham flour 1/3 cup honey 1/4 cup shortening 1 tablespoon salt 2 packages regular or quick active dry yeast 2 1/4 cups very warm water (120°F to 130°F) 3 to 4 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour or Better for Bread™ flour Butter or margarine, melted, if desired Mix whole wheat flour, honey, shortening, salt and yeast in large bowl. Add warm water. Beat with electric mixer on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough all-purpose flour, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place 40 to 60 minutes or until double. Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched. Grease bottoms and sides of 2 loaf pans, 9x5x3 or 8 1/2x4 1/2x2 1/2 inches. Punch down dough and divide in half. Flatten each half with hands or rolling pin into rectangle, 18x9 inches, on lightly floured surface. Roll dough up tightly, beginning at 9-inch side, to form a loaf. Press with thumbs to seal after each turn. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal. Press each end with side of hand to seal. Fold ends under loaf. Place seam side down in pan. Brush loaves lightly with butter. Cover and let rise in warm place 35 to 50 minutes or until double. Move oven rack to low position so that tops of pans will be in center of oven. Heat oven to 375°F. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until loaves are deep golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. Remove from pans to wire rack. Brush loaves with butter; cool. I'm glad I kept it simple. The only changes I made are I used bread flour and whole wheat flour in a 2:1 ratio.  Now what I hope to perfect is the rolling and shapping of the loaf, which I'm sure comes with practice and since we go thru a loaf in 2-3 days, I feel I have plenty of practice ahead of me!

Dead Bread

My first loaf of bread kinda flopped on me. It tastes just fine and E is eating it but it did not rise so is pretty dense. I have researched a little and figure about everything that I could have done wrong I did...HA. The biggest thing I need to invest in is a thermometer, I think the temperature of the water is my biggest issue right now. Rise times and things like that I can play around with and master in time. I will not be buying bread any more at the store....so that means we're gonna have to get thru this loaf and I will try, try again!

The agenda for today is to make it to the store and start making a couple of the batch items I had planned, but I am slowly learning that what I hope to get accomplished everyday rarely gets done. I'm lucky if the dishes get washed

February Meal Plan

This week I have come to learn that with a demanding 4 year old and a 7 wk old that it takes me about 3 days to come up with a 1 week meal plan (and I havn't even created the shopping list yet..ah!) This is my first attempt to start switching our diet over to mostly home made goods and creating a frugal meal plan. I know that these things go hand in hand and am very excited to cut out the junk that is in our diets as well as save money by doing so. I can only get better as my stock pile grows and the freezer fills! I hope to eleborate on each of these meals in the coming week....we shall see if that happens.
To start I am going to be making this weekm, in big batches so that I can freeze some:
     Breakfast burritos
     Banana bread
     Waffles/pancakes
     Cookies
     Meatballs
I'm also going to attmept to make from scratch
     Sandwhich bread
     Granola Bars
And my rough meal plan (ie what I am going shopping for but havn't assigned days yet)
     Meat ball sandwhiches
     Meatloaf
     Beef Stew
     Chicken Cordon Blue
     Homestyle Chicken Dinner
     Bowtie Lasagna(double batch & freeze)
     Teriyaki Chicken(double batch & freeze)
     Red beans and rice
  
Today we have a busy day and cooking/baking probably wont start until tomorrow (except for the bread) We have Story Hour at the library, a run to the recycling center (my baby steps to being greener) Home for lunch. I will hopefully have made the shopping list by then so we can go to the store and then we have movie night at the library.

I will be posting my bread making attempt today, stay tuned.....

The Makings of a Homemaker: baby steps

I've joined the blogging world! Mostly I want to be able to write down what I'm trying to accomplish as a wife and a mother and hopefully be able to stick to it. I have so many Ideas of what I want to do and this blog will accompany all of it. I have ambitions of making everything from scratch, getting organzied in my home, homeschooling Eliana, you name it I probably want to try it. I believe that with baby steps eventually it will simplify my life even though now it seems over whelming, which is why I'm not going to change everything all at once. I'm more likly to incooperate the changes into my everyday life if I start small and add slowly.