Happy Spring Break!

This small town gal is getting ready to visit The Big Apple for the first time. There will be pictures taken... lots and lots and lots of pictures taken. Happy Spring Break!

A Spring Picnic

The weather has been so warm that the kids were able to have a picnic in shorts the weekend before last.

They were playing outside but didn't want to come in for lunch. Charlotte asked if they could have a picnic and I was all too happy to say yes.

Kids In The Kitchen: Charlotte's Irish Brown Bread

Charlotte and I had fun the week of St. Patrick's Day, coming up with ways to add Irish foods into our meals. She took the lead on a batch of Irish Brown Bread.
Brown bread (which I think is the same as soda bread), is a really easy way to have bread ready in a flash. It's a quick bread (leavened with baking soda instead of yeast) so you just stir it together and then pop it in the oven. It's a perfect bread for kids to help make.

Charlotte's perfecting her measuring techniques.

She's gotten really good at cracking eggs.

Look at that concentration and steady hands.

Bread ready in under an hour! Can't beat that.

Jon and Evan topped their bread with butter and homemade peach jam. Charlotte and I are butter-only gals. We had scrambled eggs with our bread for our weeknight dinner. Breakfast for dinner is a favorite around here.

Irish Brown Bread

4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or traditional whole wheat)

3 Tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 cups coconut milk*

2 tsp. vinegar*

1 large egg

1/4 cup olive oil

*or use 1 1/2 cups of buttermilk instead of coconut milk and vinegar

Preheat oven to 375*. Grease 2 quart baking dish or 8"-9" cast iron skillet.

In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, stir together the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir ONLY until combined.

Scoop the thick batter into the prepared pan and spread around evenly.

Bake the bread for 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve the bread warm (though it's still good the next day warmed slightly in the microwave and spread with butter).

Peanut Butter and Honey Granola and Tips On Making Great Granola

This delicious granola is only slightly sweet, which is the way I like my granola. The peanut butter gives it a comforting but not overpowering flavor. It's fantastic as breakfast cereal with milk. Charlotte, who is super picky selective, loves this granola and loves when I pack it in her lunchbox. She loves peanuts so I made sure to leave the peanuts whole and chop the other nuts finely so she'd only notice the peanuts. I'm sneaky like that.

Granola is simple to make and VERY easy to adjust to your family's taste and what's in the pantry.

Peanut Butter and Honey Granola

"Glue"

2/3 cup honey

2/3 cup olive oil or melted coconut oil

1 cup peanut butter

2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

"Add-Ins"***

1 cup sunflower seeds

2 cups chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, etc.)

2 Tbsp. chia seeds

8 cups old fashioned rolled oats

2 cups quick oats (very important to use quick oats if you want clusters in your granola)

2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut

1/2 cup peanuts

***The "add-ins" can be changed almost endlessly as long as the amounts stay the same. Don't like chia seeds? Use sesame seeds. Don't have any sunflower seeds? Use pumpkin seeds. The only thing to keep in mind is to NOT add dried fruit to the granola at this point. It will burn in the oven. Dried fruit is only added after the granola is baked and cooled. ***

#1 - Put the "glue" ingredients into a microwave safe bowl or into a saucepan on the stove. Warm the ingredients just enough to make them easy to stir together. You don't want to make them super hot.

#2 - Add "glue" ingredients to the "add-ins" in a HUGE bowl.

#3 Stir together the "glue" and the "add-ins" until everything is well coated. Divide the mixture between 2 greased half sheet pans (with a rim). Press the mixture into the pan firmly. This the key to creating clusters.

#4 Bake pans at 250* for about 1 hour (rotating pans every 15 minutes). DO NOT STIR THE GRANOLA! This is how you create clusters. Watch the granola carefully toward the end of the cooking time. You want it to be golden brown... not deep brown. Take it out as soon as it reaches golden brown. Let it cool completely before you break up the granola and store it in air tight containers.

Yield : A LOT!! Enough to feed an army. You can cut this recipe in half and only make one sheet pan of granola but it stores really well and it's really delicious so I'd recommend you just make a full batch and share with friends.

See those great clusters? You'll get them every time and with any granola recipe as long as you follow my 3 tips (some quick oats, pressing into the pan, and no stirring).

Enjoy!

Summer Spring Has Sprung!

With temperatures in the upper 70's and into the 80's for two weeks, it feels more like the start of summer instead of the beginning of spring. I'm not quite ready for this heat since I know we'll have plenty of it when summer really arrives. The one benefit is that the spring flowers have bloomed even earlier this year. I took these pictures this morning. The pansies overwintered without trouble since we had such a mild winter.

Tulips are my favorite flower and I'm so happy that I finally remembered to plant tulip bulbs this past fall. This little pink one is the first to bloom. It's a little rough around the edges but still so pretty.

I had forgotten that I also planted more daffodils until these little guys bloomed. These are a later variety and have bloomed just when my earlier daffodils have stopped blooming.

We had a thunderstorm last night that brought LOTS of rain so these little blooms are still wet.

I can't wait until this one blooms. I can see it from my kitchen window and I've been watching it for days willing it to open soon!

The smelly Bradford pear trees have bloomed and some of them have most of their leaves. It's too bad the smell like rotting animals when they bloom because they're very pretty. Their little white petals float down like snow when the wind blows.

Happy Spring, everyone! (a day late)

For Aunt Katie...

My sister, Katie, asked for ballet class videos and here they finally are.


This is my favorite thing that the teacher has them do. Tell a bunch of 4-7 year olds to spin their way across the room. It's hilarious. They get so dizzy!






Here is Evan's favorite ballet move. Gallop across the room and leap over the yoga mat.




Charlotte is getting really good at this next "step and bent knee" move.





Oooo... this is a tough one. Have I mentioned how adorable it is to watch 4 year olds try to do ballet? I love taking them to class.



So, Aunt Katie, there are your videos. I'll be sure to take videos of their recital in May. It's sure to be very cute.

Kids In The Kitchen: Evan's Blueberry Mini Muffins

Evan wanted to bake blueberry muffins recently because "blueberries are his favorite".

Muffins are easy for beginning bakers and kids since you don't need any mixers or fancy techniques. You just need a bowl for the dry team and one for the wet team. Then you mix the two together. Well, why don't I let Evan show you how to do it....

I am letting Evan do more and more in the kitchen all by himself and I still have that cringe moment when he's pouring the wet ingredients into the bowl. I have to force myself to stay quiet and know that it's not a big deal if it spills. He gains so much more from learning to do it himself, mistakes included, then he would get if I insisted on helping to prevent a mess. Learning is messy. That's okay.

Evan used a cookie scoop to fill the muffin pan. He loved that thing.

He took this job really seriously and hardly looked up from his job. I let him do it all by himself but helped even out some of the muffins just before baking (with his help) so they'd bake evenly.
These cute little muffins are delicious and were quite a hit with the blueberry lovin' crowd around here.

Evan's Blueberry Mini Muffins

1 cup flour (we used whole wheat pastry flour)

1/2 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

2/3 cup vanilla yogurt (If you use plain yogurt, increase sugar to 1/2 cup)

1/4 cup oil (I use olive oil)

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen that has mostly thawed)

Preheat oven to 375*

Mix the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix the wet ingredients in a small bowl. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients along with the blueberries. Stir only until just combined. Scoop into greased or lined mini muffin pan. Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Makes about 24 mini muffins

**You can make these into regular muffins by using a standard muffin pan and increasing the cooking time to 20-22 minutes.

Of Snow, Ballet, and Produce

Here's a mixed bag of some of the things we've been up to the past few weeks. A few weeks ago we got some snow. In North Carolina, we know the snow melts often as soon as the sun hits it so I took the kids out at 8am to play.

I roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon in the oven. It was pretty good other then it being too salty. I forgot about bacon being salty and had too heavy a hand with the additional salt. The kids were not huge fans but did choke down their required few bites.

Evan helped me pull some carrots that had overwintered in the garden. I still have one bed left to pull before I can start planting for spring. I better get my rear in gear!

The kids have started a Park and Rec. beginner ballet class. I love Park and Rec. classes because they're fun without the pressure and intensity of a dance studio. I'm not looking to make my children into professional dancers (unless they decide they want to). I just want them to have fun and learn something new. I also love that the class is on Saturday mornings so it doesn't add stress to our weeknights.

Evan loves the parts where they leap and skip across the floor. Charlotte concentrates very hard and tries to look just like the teacher.

This was Evan's favorite part.

Charlotte loved learning the feet positions.

I would have taken them to another class this past Saturday but I locked us out of the house on our way to class. An hour later and $45 to a locksmith, we went for ice cream instead (to ease the disappointment of missing class). The following day, Evan asked me if I had my keys with me before I locked the door. He clapped for me when I said I did. He's supportive that way.

Tomato, Lentil, and Sausage Stew

It must be the lingering chilly weather that has me in a stew mood. Nothing like a hot bowl of stew and a piece of bread to warm you up. I loved this stew. I'm a big fan of lentils and kale, Jon's a huge fan of kielbasa, and the kids love carrots. A little something for everyone.


Tomato, Lentil, and Sausage Stew

2 or more quarts of chicken broth (depending on how thick you want it and how much liquid the lentils absorb.
4 medium carrots, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1- 1 1/2 cups of dried lentils, depending on how much you like them
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 can (6oz) tomato paste
1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
1 pound kielbasa, sliced
kale, as much as you like, washed and sliced
olive oil

In a large soup pot, brown the kielbasa in a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Once the kielbasa is browned on all sides, remove it from the pan and set aside for later. Add another tablespoon or two of olive oil and add the onions and carrots. Saute until the onions are translucent. Add chicken broth, lentils and brown sugar to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Stir in tomato paste, vinegar, kielbasa, and kale. Simmer for another 10 minutes to let the kale cook. Season with salt and pepper.

Serves: a whole lot! Share this with a friend or neighbor if your family doesn't like leftovers.

Our Favorite Chicken Soup

This simple chicken soup is comforting, inexpensive, and it's our favorite. The kids love it. Add a piece of homemade bread with butter on the side and you're in heaven. I make it every other week or so and anytime someone gets a cold.


Our Favorite Chicken Soup

1 whole chicken
1 onion
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots

But the above ingredients in a large crockpot and fill with water until 1 inch below the rim. Cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove the chicken and dice into chunks. If you end up with more meat then you need for the soup, save it for another recipe or chicken salad. Discard the veggies and strain and save the broth (I don't skim the fat from the broth).

3 stalks of celery, large dice
5-6 carrots, large dice
olive oil
2-3 cups of cooked chicken
reserved broth
salt and pepper to taste
frozen peas

In a large soup pot, saute carrots and celery in a bit of olive oil and the chicken fat that has risen to the top of the broth. Saute until are tender but still firm. Add chicken, chicken broth, and frozen peas. Bring to a simmer and add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer just until the peas have been heated through. Serve and enjoy!