Foodie Friday

Food is always a priority around here. I will happily surrender whatever "wiggle room" there may be in our budget for groceries - I can happily go weeks at a time without purchasing anything else. I read recently that it costs an average of $191 a week to feed a family of four real, unprocessed, whole foods. We may not spend that much each week, but when push comes to shove, I'd rather buy a few extra organic food items than a new shirt. It's just worth it to me. Here's a look at what happened in our kitchen this week, not an all-inclusive menu - just a few highlights:

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

• I already shared this recipe, but wanted to put it back out here because it is so easy and makes such a good loaf of bread. I made this for John and the girls to enjoy for tuna sandwiches the night that I taught Baby Sing and Sign this week and we've been enjoying it toasted in the mornings with a shmear of coconut oil.

Lemon Chicken and Orzo Soup - Using egg yolks in soup may seem odd - it did to me at first. But I've made this soup several times and the egg yolks give it such a great creaminess and, combined with the lemon, a wonderful flavor. I don't add any extra salt or other seasonings - just the veggies, chicken, broth, egg yolks, and lemon.

adapted from Good Life eats

• 1 large organic chicken breast
• 1/2 organic onion
• 2 organic carrots
• 1 large organic garlic clove; pressed
• 2 backyard egg yolks
• 1/2 organic lemon; juiced
• 1 32-ounce box organic, low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 C whole wheat orzo
• 2 C organic kale; chopped
• Saute the chicken breasts until cooked through; shred and set aside
• Saute the onion and carrots for 5-10 minutes in olive oil; add garlic and saute 2-3 minutes more
• In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks and lemon juice
• After veggies are softened and fragrant, pour in chicken broth; bring to a boil
• Temper egg yolks slowly with 1 C hot broth; add all back into pot
• Keep heat at or below medium - do not boil again
• Add shredded chicken and orzo; simmer until orzo is cooked
• Add kale and simmer until kale is wilted

Simple Whole Wheat Muffins
adapted from Pastry Affair

• 3 T organic, unsalted butter; melted
• 2 T organic coconut oil; melted
• 1/2 C organic coconut sugar
• 1 backyard egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 C organic whole wheat flour
• 3/4 C organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt (I've started using pink Himalayan salt for all my baking)
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 - 3/4 C whole milk (add milk last as the quantity depends on your flours - whole wheat varieties need more liquid)
• Bake at 350 degrees in a greased muffin tin
• I made mini-muffins and I think they baked for 10 minutes, or so (but keep an eye if you make these as I'm not positive); made 24 mini muffins

Whole Wheat Brownies
adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

• 1 stick organic, unsalted butter; melted
• 1 C organic coconut sugar
• 1 1/8 oz organic, unsweetened cocoa powder (I weighed this on our kitchen scale because I was dividing a recipe in half)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 large, backyard eggs
• 3/4 C organic, whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 C semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 C homemade toffee chips (this is the result of the over-cooked batch of Christmas caramels that we're putting to good use!)
• Preheat oven to 325 degrees
• Combine melted butter and sugar in a heat-proof bowl; place bowl over a pot of simmering water and heat until fully combined
• Remove from heat and add cocoa powder, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla
• Stir in eggs one at a time
• Add flour
• Mix in chocolate chips and toffee (or any other additions)
• Butter an 8x8 glass pan
• Bake for approximately 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean
• This batter was thick... but the brownies are soft and delish! As you can see, the 8x8 pan produces thick brownies - I might try the same recipe next time but a slightly larger dish with a decreased baking time, just to make some flatter treats. Not that we're complaining... these will be served up at our weekly group dinner tonight with Talenti vanilla bean gelato and Valentine's sprinkles, per the request of my lovely sous chefs. :)

My sweet little ogres...

One minute we're outside, riding bikes jacket-free. The next minute, we're bundled to the max, wearing boots and slurping soup. The cold weather has virtually no impact on the girls - they are in such a groove right now with one another... all day long, they move from playing Shrek and Fiona to coloring to the dollhouse to singing/dancing to legos to reading to pretending to be Maria and Liesel. I have always thought, in my back of my mind, that we should separate them occasionally - give each one some one-on-one time without the other. But we've just never seen it as a necessity - they get along so well the vast majority of the time that we just roll with it. Over the past couple of weeks, the tides have turned: if I'm running an errand, one might choose to go and one stay, which never happened before; they both always stuck together. However, during a split over the weekend, a song came on the car radio to which Elise commented "this would be much more fun to sing with Abby here". Upon returning home, John shared that, while playing "dizzy games", Abby commented "I wish Elise was here to play dizzy with me". 

Clearly, we think siblings are important (including the soon-to-be baby of the family who is currently kicking at about the same rate that I'm typing). But having the companionship of a twin is amazing and I love that we've kept them together - in so many families, especially when there are age differences, older ones head off to preschool when the babies are just becoming interactive. I feel like keeping the girls together has provided them with the time and the opportunities to learn how to navigate a truly intimate relationship, skills I have to believe will be powerful in future relationships. 

Toss A Toy

Ahhhh.... is there anything better than a little sunshine and fresh air? Why yes, yes there is: Sunshine and fresh air and a clean car and chickens! Perfect score!

Abby and Elise - you spent the afternoon outside yesterday, pretending to be Laura and Mary from Little House on the Prairie. As you can see in the pic, Abby, your pants are soaked from scooping and pouring the remaining snow/sludge/water. Elise, your hands were completely covered in mud, which you so proudly stated "made you look just like Laura", a fellow nature-lover. Abby, you made sure to give Pip some love because, according to you, "the chickens have not been held very much lately", which is entirely true. 

Some dirt, a few containers/pots, shovels to scoop with, fresh air, and a few chickens - those were the ingredients yesterday for happy kids. That's it. And the chickens are really an added bonus - this recipe could easily be pulled off without poultry. Sometimes I just have to sit back and watch the girls as they play as my reminder of how fulfilling the simplicity is. Peruse this blog entry: Why Fewer Toys Will Benefit Your Kids. Each and every bullet-point is an absolute "must" in my book-o-parenting. And if replacing a toy with an extra shovel or trading in the cute shoes for durable outdoor boots gets us one step closer, I'm all in! Yesterday was proof of how worthless toys can be and how much I love the continued influence of Laura and Mary Ingalls. 

Foodie Friday

Well, we learned today that, in this house, we do not indeed cry over spilt milk... we do cry over broken eggs. My morning started off with a half-full carton of backyard-fresh eggs hitting the kitchen floor. It was very traumatic; I can only imagine what poor Lavender will think when we tell her what I've done. The damn chicken survives a hawk attack (yes, you read that right - a few weeks ago, Peep set off the chicken war-cry and when I got out back, a Cooper's Hawk had Lavender pinned to the ground... never fear - with the help of my trusty dear dog, and a bit of shrieking and arm-flapping, the hawk left and Lavender's bloody wounds healed)... and all I can do to repay her hard work is splatter 6 of her eggs on the floor... ho-hum...

So, to satisfy your need for recipes on this blustery Friday, here are some breakfast staples that do not include eggs. *whimper, whimper*. You can see how our indoor animals are satisfying their needs on these cold, winter days:

Apple Ginger Scones
adapted from Cook's Illustrated, March/April 1994

• 2 C stone ground organic whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tsp cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 T organic unsalted butter
• 2 T local honey
• 1/4 C fresh-squeezed organic orange juice
• 1/2 C local whole milk
• 2 small organic apples; peeled and chopped
• 1/4 C organic candied ginger pieces
• Combine dry ingredients; cut in cold butter with pastry cutter
• In a separate bowl, combine honey, milk, and OJ
• Stir apples and ginger into dry ingredients then mix in wet ingredients
• Drop on parchment paper lined baking sheet (makes  8-9 fist-sized scones)
• Bake at 450 degrees for 10-12 minutes

Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Smoothie

• Frozen organic banana
• Frozen organic mango
• 2 organic navel oranges, peeled
• 2 C fresh organic kale
• 1/2 C organic plain whole milk yogurt
• Local elderberry juice
• Vitamin D3 drops (the girls take these; John and I take our extra D in pill form)

Carrot Fruit Smoothie

• 1 large organic carrot; peeled
• Frozen organic banana
• Frozen organic mango
• 2 organic navel oranges; peeled
• 1 C homemade almond milk
• 1 T organic unrefined coconut oil; melted