Pre-Thanksgiving fast? Oh HELL NO!

I LOVE my mother's Thanksgiving feast. The cranberries... the stuffing... the apples and leaf-shaped squash (who knew that squash didn't grow this way?? my mom and her sneaky cookie-cutters...). Some people might be spending Thanksgiving Eve snacking on salads and sipping on water. We are spending this relaxing evening drinking milk and eating "Decadent Chocolate-Espresso Cookies" (original recipe found in a Hy-Vee mailer, with modifications by me). 

Decadent Chocolate-Espresso Cookies:

• 4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
• 1/3 C. organic unsalted butter
• 1 tsp organic cocoa powder
• 1 C. organic cane sugar
• 1 T. instant espresso powder
• 2 organic eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 C. organic whole wheat flour
• 1/4 tsp aluminum-free baking powder
• 1 C. mini semisweet chocolate chips

Combine chocolate chips (not including mini chips), butter, and cocoa powder in saucepan; heat over low until melted; set aside to cool. Combine sugar, espresso powder, eggs, and vanilla; stir in cooled chocolate/butter mixture; add flour, baking powder, mini chocolate chips. Let sit for 20 minutes until batter thickens. Bake for 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.

I feel like my belly is now sufficiently primed for the 2-day festival of food upon us. Our sweet little Abby is fighting a bronchial infection - Elise has been the best sister in the world, patting Abby on the back, bringing her blankets for snuggling, and providing ALL of us with entertainment galore. You should hear this kid's renditions of "Baa Baa Black Sheep", "Jack and Jill", and "Twinkle, Twinkle".  Today I'm thankful for a good night's sleep, healthy baby girls, nursery rhymes, and cookies. :)

Breakfast of champions

Breakfast is a meal of such importance, such power. We are "breaking" the overnight "fast", for crying out loud! Say you sleep 8 hours a night. That is 8 hours without a drink, without a morsel of food, without anything to quench your body's need for nourishment. Our bodies NEED breakfast, and in this house we meet that need head-on! 

Super porridge and fresh orange-apple juice

The girls had the oh-so-popular bowl of porridge this morning. At least once a week (if not twice), I toss into the blender:

• 1/2 C. organic brown rice
• 1/2 C. organic barley
• 6 T. organic millet

I then keep this concoction in the fridge to use in the mornings. To cook, I boil 2 C. water, add a heaping 1/2 C. of ground porridge mix, and simmer covered for 10 minutes. Today we added some cinnamon and nutmeg, honey to sweeten, and topped it with raisins.

Now, the "pow" this morning was our smoothie. By 8:30 this morning, the girls had consumed (shared between them):

• 2 whole organic carrots (juiced)
• 1 organic apple (juiced)
• 1/2 C. yogurt
• 1/2 C. organic baby spinach leaves
• 1/2 banana
• 4-5 frozen strawberries

We needed a super breakfast today to make sure that the Abby and Elise's bodies are loaded with cold-fighting powers to give the runny noses a fond farewell. Today is extra special because our buddy, Cohen, is here ALL day! The 3 tots are snoozing, I'm blogging, and the dog is lying in the sun. Everyone is happy...

Mid-morning snack time!

Playdoh! Here's a great homemade playdoh recipe.

Potato chips

Hello! Let me tell you - a hobbyist like myself just doesn't have enough hours in the day! I haven't blogged in a week, but I have made another hat, an awesome wreath (pics to come), and fed the fam some new and some old recipes. But, as I've said before, when blogging is another hobby, it sometimes has to take the back seat..

Potato chips. I am obsessed with homemade baked potato chips. They are so easy, so tasty, and are a perfect accompaniment to soup, which the weather has turned and soup season is upon us. Get slicing and baking:

Sweet Potato Chips

• 1 large organic sweet potato
• olive oil
• kosher salt
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Peel sweet potato and thinly slice (maybe 1/4th - 1/8th of an inch)
• Coat with approx. 1 T olive oil
• Sprinkle with kosher salt
• Spread in single layer on cookie sheet
• Bake for 15 minutes; flip chips over; increase oven temp to 400 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes, or so
• Baking time varies - approx 25 minutes total, but depends on oven and thickness of chips

Served with an organic kiwi and a gouda and apple grilled sandwich! 

We made these again last night with a little chicken and rice soup. The girls caught a little cold and I needed something hearty and full of goodness in their bellies last night. I don't have pics of the soup, but here's the simplicity of it:

Chicken and Rice soup

• Cook brown rice separately 
• Saute onions, carrots, celery in olive oil
• Push veggies to side of pot and make room to melt some butter
• Add 1-2 T. flour, whisk until thickens
• Pour in chicken broth (I used 2 C. homemade broth and 1 C. water)
• Add shredded, cooked chicken 
• Salt/Pepper
• Stir in cooked rice 

Gran saved the day yesterday - she had fresh homemade chicken broth as well as the meat off of the whole chicken she had cooked while making the broth. John and I both commented at dinner what a difference homemade broth makes. I think it will be on my list for the weekend, so I'll get the camera ready!

Hopefully another good night's sleep and leftover soup for dinner, and we'll have these faces back in no time:

Riding hand-me-down horses from the neighbor named
"Dapple-gray" and "Moo-choo" wearing "helmeys"

"Beans and rice!"

I asked the girls yesterday afternoon what they wanted for dinner. "Beans and rice!". How could I say no to that? Healthy. Easy. Delicious. Yes, let's have beans and rice!

Beans and Rice

• 1 C. organic short grain brown rice (uncooked)
• 2 C. organic low sodium chicken broth + 1/2 C. water
• 1 can red kidney beans (drained)
• 1 can Muir Glen organic diced tomatoes without added salt
• 2 organic carrots; shredded
• 2 stalks organic celery; chopped
• 1/2 organic onion; chopped
• 1 organic zucchini; chopped
• 1/2 organic red pepper; chopped
• 1 big clove organic garlic; minced
• Chili powder
• Cumin
• Apple cider vinegar
• Ketchup
• Cook rice in chicken broth/water combo for 40 minutes
• Saute onion, carrots, celery, zucchini, pepper in olive oil
• Add garlic until fragrant
• Add tomatoes and beans
• Season with: salt, pepper, spices, vinegar, squirt of ketchup
• Serve over rice, topped with sour cream and fresh avocado

They say you're supposed to eat the rainbow.... so pretty! 

Nothing beats fresh avocado and the Organic Valley sour cream is great!

It's too bad...

they don't enjoy reading to one another...

Casserole-shmasserole, with broccoli!

Casseroles, crockpot creations, soups... these dishes all fall into the "one pot wonder" category, which in my opinion equals AWESOME! Now that the temps are dropping, one pot wonders become a must in this house. You can throw together a pot of something with nearly anything that you have in the house. Not even kidding! Here's the Broccoli and Rice Casserole that we like. It's hard to find recipes for broccoli, rice, and cheese that leave out the cream of mushroom soup. I haven't found a super-healthy replacement, so this recipe is nice because it just leaves that ingredient out all together.

Broccoli and Rice Casserole (as seen in Super Baby Food):

• 2 C., or so, of cooked brown rice (using chicken broth instead of water is nice for his recipe)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C. milk
• 1/2 C. shredded cheese (with a little extra to sprinkle on top before baking)
• 1 C. chopped fresh broccoli
• Onion, mushrooms, carrots, garlic - whatever combination you have that you can chop and saute before adding
• Salt and pepper
• Mix everything together and bake covered in a buttered dish at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

Pre-baking

You know you have a problem when...

It's not even 8:00 in the morning, and you've already served fresh, homemade cinnamon rolls to your family and you're keeping the oven hot because you made cookie dough the night before to bake up for the weekend.

I am a baking addict.

Happy weekend!

Thanks, Aubrey! Our little turkeys are adorable!

"Actually, me no like."

This afternoon I made a pumpkin smoothie. I found it to be tasty. Elise said "Mmmmm, Momma. Very good". Abby said "Actually, me no like". It's amazing how her cave-man talk meshes so well with words like "actually". Here's what went in:

• 1/2 C. organic canned pumpkin
• 1/2 C. (or a bit more) organic plain yogurt
• handful of frozen mango
• several good squirts of local honey
• organic 2% milk

I'm not sure if you've noticed lately, but the girls are getting cuter. I seriously cannot keep my hands off of them. I find myself saying "Can I hold you?" rather than having them constantly ask "Momma, hold?". They want to talk, read, sing, play, and snuggle all... day... long. And to be honest, actually I do too.

 

Muffin pizzas... MEOW!

I realized that there have been quite a few "sweet" posts lately and not nearly as many "savory" ones.  I stumbled across Everyday Food and was an instant fan from the cover headline alone: "54 delicious, fast, fresh, and easy recipes". And given the tiny size of the magazine, it is seriously ALL recipes. I am a recipe addict. I cannot stop searching for new things to cook or bake or mix or eat! On that note, if you're reading this and follow any stellar food blogs, please post their web address in the comments - share, share, share!

Okay, so the first recipe that I tried from Everyday Food was for "mini deep dish pizzas". Abby and Elise re-named this recipe "muffin pizzas", for obvious reasons. Here's all there is to it:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Mix up some pizza dough (I doubled this recipe)
• Spray a regular sized muffin tin with non-stick spray 
• Stretch out little 6-inch rounds of the pizza dough
• Line each muffin-cup with dough
• 6 of the pizzas were topped with:
• Chopped tomatoes and cheese first
• Chopped green peppers and browned turkey sausage next
• Finish with another round of chopped tomatoes and shredded cheese
• The remaining 5 pizzas were topped with:
• Chopped tomatoes and shredded cheese first
• Carmelized red onions, leeks, and browned turkey sausage next
• Add a few more chopped tomatoes and shredded cheese
• Finish with a few more onions/leeks
• Bake for 10-12 minutes, until edges start to brown slightly

Pre-baking

Post-baking

The recipe in the magazine does not call for sauce, which I agreed with. I worried that putting sauce down inside the muffin cups might result in soggy dough. During dinner, John suggested sauce on the side for dipping. Yes... yes we will have sauce on the side for dipping next time. Brilliant, simply brilliant!

On a totally unrelated note... Happy Halloween!

Surely a cuter pair of kittens has NEVER existed!

For our afternoon snack, I made this apple cinnamon bread again. Today, my whole grain combination was 1 C. whole wheat flour and 1/2 C. barley flour. I also added 1 C. organic canned pumpkin. The smell of apple cinnamon pumpkin bread was a perfect pairing with the cool, fall afternoon. Mmmmm....mmmmm... meow!