Southern Summertime Suppers

We've enjoyed filling our table with so much goodness fresh from the garden this season. The potatoes have been a hit every way I've made them. HW loves the tomatoes so much that he runs through the kitchen several times a day, grabs a couple and pops them in his mouth on the go. And the okra ~ wow! Normally, I never fry foods. But during okra season we just have to have some platters of this crispy southern goodness on the table, so I pull out the frying pan. It's truly worth the mess of frying just to see Baby S ask for "More kokra, puh-leeeeease!" The black-eyed peas have been very productive, too, even in this terrible heat wave we are having. We eat all we can, then fill the freezer with peas ~ we already have 11 quarts vacuum packed and stashed away for the winter! We are so thankful for all these goodies and for the chance it gives our children to learn about how God sends us our food. They are really looking forward to the melons and pumpkins next!

We eat this crispy okra like popcorn.

We've had some big beautiful reds, lots of grape tomatoes, plus these luscious little yellow pear tomatoes.
 They make a gorgeous salad with a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled on top. 

The black-eyed peas thrive in this heat, with a batch ready to pick every two days!

Our first cantaloupe! It was gone in minutes. 

Yummus Hummus

Here is a hummus recipe that will knock your socks off! This is fast and easy and so good you just want to eat it with a big spoon. But if you can hold out, make some good Easy Flat Bread and dip it with that instead. Oh, so good.

Yummus Hummus

3/4 olive oil
the juice and zest of 2 large lemons
2 cans of garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas), drained
2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp course salt

Blend all until smooth. Cover and refrigerate one hour to meld flavors, if you can leave it alone that long. Otherwise, just grab that big spoon and go for it.

Easy Flat Bread

3 cups flour, plus some for rolling out
3 T shortening
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp soda
1 cup cold water

Preheat skillet to medium high. Mix dry ingredients, then cut shortening into the mixture until crumbly. Add water and mix until a dough forms. Pinch off pieces of dough about the size of a tennis ball and knead each one a few strokes on a floured surface until smooth. Roll out dough, or press out with fingers until circle is about 1/2 inch thick. Add a tsp of olive oil to skillet, then cook bread on each side for about one minute until nicely browned. Serve with hummus.

I'm Mom to a Teen!

Our sweetheart R turned thirteen, and she is such a blessing to us all! She is so full of talent and such a ray of sunshine every day. After postponing the party for a while until we could all get well, we were finally able to celebrate with lots of family and had a great afternoon. And can you believe that R designed, made, and decorated her birthday cake?!

Happy Birthday, R! 

We love you!

Is she amazingly talented, or what?

Check out those precious, perfect little flowers she made!

The birthday girl ~ Happy 13th!

Yes, she thoroughly enjoys being taller than Mom

Best gal pals

Chocolate Turtles

We've been busy little elves around here, making up batches of holiday treats to share as gifts this season. Here is one of our favorite quick and easy gifts.

Chocolate Turtles
Fill a cookie sheet with square pretzels. Top each one with a Rolo or Dove chocolate covered caramel. Place a pecan half on top of the candy. Place sheet in a 250 degree oven for about 3 minutes. Remove from oven and gently press each pecan down into the chocolate candy. Let cool completely before removing from cookie sheet. I cool mine in the cold air on the shelf outside my kitchen window so they set up nicely.
After they are set they can be stored at room temperature. We wrap them in a clear plastic treat bag, tie it with a pretty ribbon, and put a tag on the bag. Of course we use pecans from our trees here at Pecan Bluff, and the kids do the picking up and shelling of all those nuts each winter so when Christmastime comes we have a good stash of pecans ready to use. They love making and giving these treats!

My Young Lady in the Kitchen

R made

this gorgeous apple pie

from scratch.

It tasted

as good

as it looks! 

Pecan Bluff Dinner Bell

I'm so proud of twelve-year-old R! As part of her 4H Foods and Nutrition project this year she is blogging about her cooking adventures at www.pecanbluffdinnerbell.blogspot.com

Go check it out, and encourage her with a comment!

Healthy Eaters

I was asked again the other day how I "lucked out" because I  have four children who are healthy eaters. Well, pardon me, but it's not luck.

There are lots of things I do not take credit for with my children. I had nothing to do with their stunning looks, their mischievous smiles, or their athletic abilities.  But I do take credit, thankyouverymuch, for teaching them not to be finicky. 

I've been accused of having some secret formula, some amazing trick that helped me accomplish this feat. Pshaw. There are no tricks in parenting, just planning and consistent execution. Here's how we teach our kids to be healthy eaters. 

1. Love your kids. I love mine, so I don't want them to be fueled on junk food and have a mouth full of rotten teeth. I want the best for them in every way.  Teaching them to enjoy healthy foods is just one of the ways that I love my children. 

2. Don't be a short-order cook. I, for one, have just about all the work I can handle keeping these kiddos bathed, fed, and in line. I'm not about to start cooking separate meals for picky people three times a day. Don't start it when they are little. When they are little I offer healthful foods over and over again, until the child finally tries it. They may like it right away, or they may spit it out, and then try it again next time. Eventually, my kids have all learned to like just about everything, if given enough time. 

3. Don't make a federal case of it. They don't have to like everything, and they don't have to like asparagus just because you do. Each of my children has a few things they just don't like. That's fine. They are never required to eat every single dish I serve at a meal. For many years, R didn't like lettuce. So, when I served a big salad she could dip around the salad greens and choose the sliced peppers, olives, tomatoes, green onion, and shredded cabbage for her veggies. HA loves every veggie except tomatoes. So he gets to pick around those when he dips a pile of salad onto his plate. When I make sauteed onions and garlic, I always provide some other veggie choices, too, because HW is not an onion guy. So far, Baby S  likes any vegetable or meat, but prefers most things ground up. So, I'm still grinding lots of her meals for her. And I continue to offer her bits of everything we eat at every meal on her tray, just in case she wants to try it.

4. Serve a variety. I always serve a variety of healthy choices, especially if I already know one of the kids doesn't prefer something on the menu. And just so you know, offering "variety" around here is as simple as slicing up an apple or cutting some carrot sticks ~ I don't make multiple amazing recipes for each meal. Far from it.

5. When we have a new dish, everyone tries a bite. If they don't like it, they say, "No thank you" when they are offered a full-serving.  No violent retching or gagging is allowed. There is nothing more disheartening to a busy mama who has sweated in the kitchen over a new recipe, than for children to come to the table and say "Yuck!" I work hard to make wholesome meals, so if a dish doesn't float their boat they can taste it, then decline it politely. That's basic manners.

5. Don't do fast food and don't buy junk. People's tastes tend toward what they usually eat. Therefore, restaurant food and grocery store junk are rare treats around here. Steering away from the drive-through is not only good for the budget, it also helps kids develop a taste for good food. They learn early on that real food really does taste better than junk.

6. Let them grow it, and let them cook it. Children can't resist trying things that they grow and cook themselves!

7. Teach them to be thankful. When we pray at mealtimes, we strive to be truly grateful for the food in front of us. Our trip to Ethiopia gave us some insight into the reality of need in our world.  We saw and touched people who face the challenge every day of having enough food. Frankly, it's shameful for us to feel any way other than thankful for every single bite we have. 

Eat What You Grow - Weeks Five, Six, and Seven

The pears are doing great

The peaches are loaded

Sadly, there are only a few apples 

We are doing great on our challenge the past few weeks. The garden is producing well, and the family is still being good sports. Even the cook is managing to stay fairly well caught up and is still happy. We are saving big bucks on our grocery bill~ we've saved $100 this week alone!

Our biggest crops right now are all kinds of squash, cucumbers, peppers, and tomatoes. We've had a few strawberries to snack on, and enough onions to use when we need them. We are still digging potatoes as we want them, and I'm finishing using up the very last of the cabbage this week. 

We have a fairly good stash of frozen grated veggies to use in pasta sauces and soups this winter, and I love to see that stack of ziplocs when I open the freezer. We shared a big basket of goodies with church family, but we still have our work cut out for us tomorrow to try to catch up with all the veggies picked this weekend. A big thank you goes to Gram and DaddyDon for keeping up with the watering and weeding so well ~ this bounty really blesses our family, and we couldn't do it without their willing hands. 

Our latest favorite standby is Granny's special cucumbers. Mike remembers these with fondness from his childhood. He loves them, and now the boys are both big fans, too. 

Granny's Refrigerator Cucumbers

Peel and slice lots of cucumbers.

 Mix about equal parts of cold water and apple cider vinegar.

 Mix in sugar to sweeten to taste.

 Fill a mason jar with the cucumber slices

 and pour the mixture over it.

 Store in the refrigerator. 

I've been making these yummy cukes 3 quarts at a time, and they disappear quickly every time. Thanks, Granny. 

Summer Bread

At the store today R and I ran into our neighbors. We asked about their garden and found out they don't even have any squash planted this year. We told them we would bring them a batch. Then R added with relief, "We'd love to get rid of some. We're eating it for breakfast, lunch, and supper!"

So, I'm glad I got some good looking squash recipes emailed to me. The first one I tried was a BIG hit! It's called a bread, but it's more like cake. It was great for breakfast or snacks. Nobody gives a hoot that it's full of squash~ it's just good.

Summer Bread

3 eggs
1.5 cups of sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups flour
1 T baking powder
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
2 cups finely shredded summer squash

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9x13 inch baking pan with Pam. In a large bowl, beat the eggs till fluffy. Beat in the sugar, oil, and vanilla. Add all dry ingredients and mix. Gently fold in the squash. Spread into baking dish and bake about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Squash Recipes?

I just figured out how to make the counter visible, so now you can see it in the side bar. It counts the hits here at Pecan Bluff. I am amazed at how many of you friends are out there following our adventures every day... but you surely are a quiet and meek bunch! Don't be shy~ speak up!

So, here's a challenge where you may be able to help me out. I need great summer squash recipes. We are sort of drowning here in butternut, yellow crookneck, and zucchini. Any fabulous (and easy) squash recipes for me?

Eat What You Grow - Week Three and Four

I just came back from the garden and thought this would be a good time to update on our Living Off the Land Challenge~ Eat What You Grow. We finished week 3 and 4 well, and I'm pretty proud of how we are doing. Looks like we shaved about $100 off our grocery bill last month!

Spinach - If you remember, we were up to our eyeballs in the green stuff a couple of weeks ago. Then we had some rain, a few cool cloudy days, and a couple of days later the spinach was dead. That should teach us to enjoy bounty while we have it, shouldn't it? We loved trying several new recipes during the days of spinach, though!

Cabbage - I thought the cabbage would be a goner by now. It doesn't like heat, and things have been warming up here lately with lots of sunshine. But so far, it still tastes sweet and crisp. We are eating lots of cabbage roll casserole, sauteed cabbage, and veggie stir-fry with green and purple cabbage as the star. Looks like we can plan on another couple of weeks worth before the garden is empty of cabbage until next winter.

Onions - As usual, the onions are awesome. The tops are especially great right now. They don't have that yucky slime inside them that grocery store onion tops get. We are able to go through the row and just pick a top or two from each plant and leave the onion to grow some more. We are also pulling the bulbs as needed, too.

Asparagus - It has been slowing winding down. We still get a few shoots each day or so, but rarely enough for a recipe. We just eat them raw or toss them in a salad.

Salad Greens - Still going strong. The weather is warm enough now that we have to work to keep them from wilting, but the taste and texture is still good.

Zucchini - I picked the first cuties today! So excited!

Brenna - As for the woman of the house, I'm tired. This gathering, washing, and preparing mounds of fresh food from the garden every day is hard and time-consuming. But it really has been so much fun and we've all learned so much! I'm glad we are doing this little experiment. I'm glad to have the land to grow our own food. But I'm mostly glad I don't have to do this for every meal, every day. No wonder women aged so quickly back in pioneer days.

Eat What You Grow - Week One and Two

We jumped in with both feet last week and started the Eat What You Grow Challenge off right.

Guess how much of that garden fresh spinach

 our family ate in one week?

Wait for it...

We ate a fully-packed 5 gallon bucket full of fresh spinach!

 Can you believe it?

Yes, we ate every bite of it, minus one meal that we cooked to drop off at a friend's house (this spinach lasagna ~ I added chicken chunks to it.) We had raw spinach with dip, spinach salads, and crispy leaves of spinach on sandwiches. We ate spinach in a couple of casseroles I made up. We ate spinach stir-fry, sauteed spinach, and 2 kinds of spinach lasagna. The kids loved all the new recipes we tried. We really enjoyed it, and we used up lots of great, green garden produce at its peak of freshness! 

Last night we had a wonderful chicken stir-fry with a head of shredded purple cabbage, lots of sliced onions and tops, a handful of tender asparagus, and, you guessed it~  a double handful of fresh spinach. It was absolutely the best stir-fry ever.

Today we plan to shell a gallon of pecans so we can make banana nut bread and have extra pecans ready on hand when I need them in the coming weeks. We sprinkle them on oatmeal, and the kids also eat pecans for a snack, so they disappear quickly. Tonight we will have pork chops with fresh salad with all kinds of gourmet greens. We will head to the garden in the morning to see what it offers for the rest of the week!

Meal From Scratch~ Start to Finish

As a part of our unit called Real Life University, twelve-year-old R was responsible for planning, preparing, and serving a complete meal made entirely from scratch. Now, we already cook from scratch around here. But we usually all pitch in on meal prep on a daily basis. So, this was her day to shine and do it all herself. She tackled the job with gusto and whipped up a feast fit for kings!

It was a long day for her, filled with cutting, chopping, browning, kneading, simmering, stirring, stuffing, rolling, and baking. I think she did it all that day. The menu she planned included a vegetable beef soup, homemade bread, a special green bean dish, and cinnamon rolls for dessert. Wow. It was so impressive, and so delicious. She enjoyed every minute, but she slept well that night, for sure.

She cut the beef evenly into one-inch pieces so it would cook nicely, then she started on the homemade bread.

Next it was time to chop veggies, and she handled it like a pro. After a quick check of the recipe book, she finished up the chopping and put everything on to simmer.

The cinnamon rolls were very involved, but she worked through some good techniques while making them. 

The whole meal was fabulous, and God sent a special backdrop out the dining room window while we ate dessert.

Looks like I'm working myself right out of a job around here, and we couldn't be more proud of our young homemaker.

Chewy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

This delicious cookie recipe is one I developed years ago. These cookies are so good! I always make a double batch and the kids gobble them up.

Chewy Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies

3/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup rolled oats OR quick cooking oats (we like either)


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl cream together butter, peanut butter, both sugars and vanilla. Add egg and beat well.
In another bowl whisk together flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to the creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in oats.
Drop by teaspoonfuls onto silpat or greased cookie sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes, just until edges are brown and centers appear set.
Let cool on cookie sheet for 3 minutes before removing to a wire rack or paper towel to cool.

Easy Pizza Crust

This dough is so awesome! It only takes a few minutes to make, no kneading or rising necessary. It works well as a crisp, thin crust or a soft, chewy crust. I even started making homemade pizza for our lunches this school year to use up some of the fresh basil and banana peppers that are growing like crazy. Lunchtime is usually a bit rushed around here, but after figuring out this recipe I don't think I can touch a frozen pizza again!

Easy Pizza Crust

1 package active dry yeast

1 t white sugar

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F)

2 1/2 cups bread flour

2 T olive oil

1 t salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 5 minutes. (This is when I send one kid out to pick the basil, one sets the table, and one chops up the peppers, tomatoes, olives, etc.)

Stir in flour, salt and oil. Beat until smooth (by hand, or I toss it all in my KitchenAid and let her rip.) Let rest in bowl 5 minutes.

Turn out dough onto greased pizza pan, or onto a Silpat baking mat on a cookie sheet. Use a little flour or olive oil on your hands to keep it from sticking while you pat it into shape. It will rise slightly during cooking, so make it as thin or thick as you like.

Prebake crust for 6 minutes. Assemble toppings. Top the prebaked crust with sauce and toppings, then return to bake for about 12-16 minutes until crust edges are golden brown. Let cool 5 minutes before cutting.

Note: if you use fresh Basil, don't add it to the pizza until after the baking~ that way it stays fresh and green.

Bulgogi

Here's what's for supper tonight at Pecan Bluff. It's delish!

Our kids eat a lot of this, so I triple the recipe for our family.

Korean Barbecued Beef (Bulgogi)

3 T soy sauce

1 T sesame oil

1 T sesame seeds

1 clove minced garlic

2 t sugar

pinch of salt

1 t freshly ground pepper

1 pound beef top sirloin or other thinly sliced beef

1 bag frozen asian stir fry vegetables

white rice

green or red leaf lettuce

Whisk together first 7 ingredients. Place meat and veggies in zipper bag to marinate for at least 3 hours. When ready to cook, preheat outdoor grill for high heat. Remove meat and veggies from marinade and place on large sheet of aluminum foil. Discard marinade. Place meat and veggies on grill and cook for 15 minutes or to desired doneness.

Serve with rice and big leafy lettuce leaves to wrap the beef and veggies.

Merry Christmas from Our Family!

Monday Funnies

We've had the pleasure of teaching Bible class to a great group of 3rd and 4th graders for the past few months. They are sweet and eager to learn, and we've enjoyed sharing their excitement while learning right along with them. Now we are taking a break from teaching until we get our Sweet Baby home and settled in. We will miss spending those Sunday mornings with our special students!

To express our love and appreciation for our class, I spent a long Saturday cutting out my special recipe sugar cookies into hearts. Then I lovingly iced and sprinkled each one. They turned out like this:

We printed up notes to remind the kids why we'd drilled them so hard on scripture memory and basic Bible knowledge. I bundled them up carefully, with enough extras for any visitors we might have that Sunday.

 
When the students came into the classroom I had a big, pretty platter of the cookie bundles in the back of the room, ready to pass out at the end of class. The children exclaimed about the pretty tray of treats. Then one burst my bubble.

"Wow! Are these Pop Tarts?"

What's Cookin'

My friend Kelly shared this great recipe. I tweaked it a bit to fit our tastes and it is absolutely delicious. I use home-grown zucchini, onion, pepper, garlic and herbs to use up some of our garden bounty. It's so easy, but the finished product could pass for gourmet restaurant fare. 

Zucchini Soup

Put a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a large stockpot. Coarsely chop several large zucchini (I use giants I find hidden in the garden), 2 large onions, a sweet red bell pepper, and a couple of cloves of garlic. Add them to the pot.  Toss in a handful of baby carrots. Saute everything for a few minutes, until the onion starts to turn translucent.

Remove any tough stems from a handful of herbs and toss them in. I use a big batch of sweet basil, English thyme, and rosemary. The house smells so good!

Add 3 cups of chicken broth and simmer until everything is soft. Remove from heat and add 4 ounces of cream cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste. I love to use fresh ground pepper.

Puree in a blender until completely smooth. I have an ancient hand-held blender stick gadget, so I puree it right in the pot so I don't have to wash the blender.  

Garnish with a sprig of rosemary. Super simple and delish!