Pantry Storage 2012 Goal

I sat down and wrote a few 2012 goals on the 1st. One of them for the house was to be more purposeful with my food storage. By that, I mean to decide how much “stocking up” that I want to do and in what categories. I’ve been lowering our grocery bill by buying in bulk, etc. But that’s for a later post. Anyhow, to accomplish this goal,it would be good to know what I have to begin with. This led me to our first project of the year; get all of the food into the kitchen. You see, I had this large armoire in my living room stuffed full of canned goods and such. Seemed like a good idea at the time. It wasn’t.

As you can imagine, it was on my nerves. And it really wasn’t practical since I couldn’t tell what was in there anyway. Rob and I made a trip to Home Depot and bought some wire shelving to add to our little kitchen pantry. Believe me, I’m not complaining about the size of it. When we first moved in, all we had was a cabinet that was one can deep. Forget trying to put a cereal box in there! We carved the space out of a coat closet that was in the entry. I’ve really loved it since then. However, it was in need of some new love as you can tell.

 

Before:

What a mess. Couldn’t really find anything in there either.

 

After:

What a difference some added wire shelving can make!  I can see what I have and what I need. As an added bonus, all of my spices were able to move from their overcrowded cabinet by the stove, into the shelves on the door.

I moved the armoire over to the dining room because I still need storage for cookbooks and large appliances.

It’s a little too big over there also. But for now it’s holding a ton of “stuff” that I just can’t put anywhere else. I can live with it for now.

The most exciting part is that I can check it off of my goals list. I LOVE checking things off my list!

How about you? Have you started on any of your house goals for 2012?

I’m linking up with The Nester!

Healthy & Delicious Lemon Bar Recipe

                                                          source

I’ve adapted this recipe from the Gluten-Free Almond Flour cookbook by Elana Amsterdam. I bought the book awhile back and this is one of my favorite recipes so far. However, she uses Agave nectar for most of the sweetening and we’ve opted out of that because of the high fructose content. Today, I’m making my bars with Lime juice and using a new to me sweetener Madhava Organic Coconut Sugar (blonde), which I picked up at the health food store. You could certainly use honey or xylitol or stevia. All healthful alternatives.

They’ve come out of the oven and I tasted them while they were still warm. Let’s just say I could eat the whole pan before they chill. But I won’t…really…ok maybe.

Here’s the recipe. If you don’t have any Almond Flour, grind up some plain almonds in your food processor until they are a fine consistency. It works well in this recipe.

Crust

1 1/2 cups blanched almond flour (or see note above)

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp oil (grapeseed, olive, coconut, etc)

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp vanilla extract

Topping

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup honey (or 1/2 cup coconut sugar or xylitol ) I’ve used powdered Stevia but they come out quite tart. Still good though!

3 large eggs

1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (or lime)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 inch square baking dish with oil.

To make the crust, combine all of the crust ingredients until thoroughly combined and press dough into the bottom of baking dish. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes, until lightly browned.

While the crust bakes, in a blender (or food processor) combine all of the topping ingredients and process on high.

Remove crust from the oven and pour topping evenly over the hot crust.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the topping is golden brown. Let cool in the baking dish for about 30 minutes and then refrigerate for 2 hours to set. (if they make it that far!) Cut into bars and serve.                                                     

Delicious with a cup of hot, green tea. Let me know if you try it. Happy New Year!

Tanya

Linking up with Lisa at Sweet As Sugar Cookies! Go check out more yummy recipes.

Cupcakes

I bought Martha Stewart’s cupcake book and spent some time making cupcakes on the weekend. Who can resist?

Chai tea, dark chocolate, yellow buttermilk with Swiss buttercreme frosting. What’s not to love?


Tanya

Homemade Cookies Gone Bakery

I baked a couple dozen cookies to take to our Church Home Group tonight. They taste delicious (in my unbiased opinion). However, I wanted to present them in a special way. The way you feel when you go into a lovely, little patisserie that makes you feel like you’re having a special little indulgence with your coffee or tea. I’ve never been in an authentic French Bakery, but I have a good imagination. A flirty little French skirt is just what my glass cake stand needed.

 

Making it was simple and you probably have the supplies on hand already.

* A length of ribbon that fits around the edge of your cake stand.

* Double stick tape (in a pinch you could use a hot glue gun as long as you think that you could peel the glue off later. Glass is a pretty safe bet).

*A ruler, quilting or standard

*Exacto knife or scissors

* Old dictionary pages or any other decorative paper

*Parchment paper or plain wrapping paper to cover your cake plate, a paper doily would also work (this step is optional)

 

 

    

I first put my pink wrapping paper on top of the cake plate and cut around it with my Exacto knife. I’d be lost without it. Next I cut my dictionary pages in half lengthwise. Fold them in half lengthwise and put the folded edge (Important) under the ruler. Cut with your knife or scissors. I spaced the cuts about a half inch apart.

 

 

Apply the ribbon to the folded outside edge with double stick tape.

 

Apply another piece of double stick tape to the back. Here it is before I pulled the backing of the tape off.  Next apply it to the edge of the cake plate and she’s dressed for dessert! It’s easiest to get it started onto the edge and then pull off your backing as you move around it. If I can do this,while my 7th grader passes back and forth complaining about his writing assignment, you can too. I hope you do because it’s cheap and easy (but doesn’t seem that way!).

 

 

Just had to show her again and this time with a little leg! Frenchy.

Pretty Flowers and Yummy Cupcakes!

I've been having a lot of fun with the Daffodils and Hyacinths that are blooming at the edge of the woods. They're really the only spring decorating I've done. But the smell of the Hyacinths is enough to put me in a spring state of mind. This arrangement will scent my guest bathroom. Cupcakes! Who can live without them? I made some for a church function a couple of weeks ago. Now I'm wondering what to make for Easter. I recently discovered that my oldest son likes Divinity candy. It was around $9. in the candy store we were at. I'd like to make some for Easter. Has anyone ever made it? Any good recipes to share?

The Taste of Summer

I found a great website if you would like to get out and pick some fresh fruit or veggies. You'll find a guide which lists farms by state. It is www.PickYourOwn.org. Now is the time to eat fresh produce, freeze it for winter, make jam, and make memories! We picked blueberries last week and we'll pick peaches this week! Have fun! photo: lookoutfarm.com

Blueberry Season is Here!

We went Blueberry picking today, which is a good thing. Blueberries are packed with vitamin C. In one cup you'll find about a fourth of what you need in a day. They're also a great source of fiber with four grams in that same cup. Besides all of their many nutritional assets, they taste delicious! I was never a big fan of blueberry pie with it's syrupy goo and mushy berries. But then I ate them fresh off of the bush. A completely different taste that is a must try. The ripe berries are plump and dark blue. They may even have a little bit of a powdery look to them. Pass over the mushy or blemished ones. If you're like me, you won't mind the berries with a little tinge of red still on them. These are a little more tart and are delicious for cobbler.

We have several pick your own farms in our area. They're worth finding. You might try asking at your Farmer's Market for a local u-pick farm. If all else fails, local produce stands and markets should have fresh berries. Put them on ice cream, cereal, yogurt, make a cobbler, or eat them fresh. You won't regret it!

top picture from: www.justdesserts.com

Chocolate Birthday Cake

I wanted to show you the Chocolate Ganache Cake that I made for my daughter-in-law's birthday. I got it off of the Martha Stewart website. Her recipe called for chocolate truffle eggs that had a blue tint. I just used some Easter eggs that came in a bag. They are chocolate and I think the color was just right. A lot less expensive than truffles also. It also called for Espresso powder but I just used a couple of teaspoons of strong, black coffee. My DIL's birthday was in April and we celebrated on Easter weekend because my son and wife live about three hours away. They are usually only able to visit on holidays. Of course we've been down to visit them and it's been a lot of fun. However, the time has come and they're moving back! I'm a very happy mom. I will hug them and squeeze them and never let them move away again. Well, in my mind anyway. ha ha

This cake was easy to make and I froze what we didn't eat. A couple of weeks later it was still delicious!

My son Michael and his wife Kari (pronounced car ee. The "a" is supposed to have the two dots over it but I always forget how to do it! )

War Eagle Mill

Have you ever baked your own bread? How about some Buckwheat pancakes or Blue cornbread? If you would like to give it a try I have a great place for you to order Organic flours, cornmeal and many other delicious goodies. According to their website, "War Eagle Mill's history begins with the story of a tenacious pioneer couple, Sylvanus and Katherine Blackburn, who understood the importance of fresh, natural food in the lives of families as far back as 1832 when the first mill was built."

I get the pleasure of visiting the three story mill and shopping for my goods in person. We usually try to make a stop at the Bean Palace restaurant that overlooks the War Eagle river. However, if you aren't going to be in the Northwest Arkansas area anytime soon, they'll send you a free catalog! The surrounding property that the mill sits on is also the location of a huge craft fair twice a year. My son and I counted license plates from 20+ states in the fall.

Just thought you would like to know about this unique location that is steeped in history and offers some great products for a healthy lifestyle also!

Yummy Leftover Eggs!

Now it's time to make Deviled eggs out of all of those leftover boiled Easter eggs. I usually add just a touch of horseradish with mayo and try different things on top such as dill, or cayenne pepper. I even put some flax seeds on top of them tonight. It added a little crunch, which I like, but admittedly it might not be for everyone! For more recipes take a look at http://www.deviledeggs.com/. I'm not making this up. Go check it out but first tell me what you add to your Deviled eggs!