Day 3 of Oatmeal

Tropical Oatmeal


3c. Oats
6c. water
pinch of kosher salt
1T. Freshly grated ginger

1/2c. chopped dried apricots
1/3c. chopped cashews
1/4c. coconut

Heat the water till boiling add the salt, ginger and oats. Cook till all the water is absorbed and. Divide into 6 bowls, and top with remaining ingredients. Serve with a little maple syrup, or brown sugar.

Butter Cream Icing

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

• 1/2cup butter
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 tablespoons milk

1. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, shortening, and vanilla. Blend in the sugar, one cup at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the milk, and continue mixing until light and fluffy. Keep icing covered until ready to decorate.

Day 3 of Oatmeal

Crunchy Pear Muffins

1/2 cup granola
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 mashed banana
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups finely diced peeled pear
3 T. Granola

Combine flour & next three ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well with whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine brown sugar & next four ingredients in a small bowl, add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in diced pear. Spoon batter into 9 muffin cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle batter with extra granola. Bake at 400ºF for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Remove from pans immediately. Place on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Day 2 of Oatmeal

AAA Oatmeal
Apples, Almonds, Allspice

Serves:6

6c. water
3 c. oats
2 apples, peeled and chopped
pinch of salt
1/4c. chopped almonds
1/2c. raisins or cranberries
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice


Heat water to boiling add oats, salt, apples, cinnamon, raisins, and allspice. Cook till all the water is absorbed. Serve with a little maple syrup.

First Day of Themed Oatmeal/Breakfast Week

Fruity Ginger Oatmeal
Serves:6

6 cups water
3 c. oatmeal
pinch salt
1 T. fresh grated ginger
1/2 c. dried cranberries, more or less as you like it
4 sliced nectarines, sliced
1/4 c. chopped cashews
1 T. butter
1tsp. ground cinnamon


Heat water and salt on stove till boiling in a large pot. Add oatmeal and ginger, cook till all water is absorbed and oatmeal is hot and bubbly. Meanwhile in a saucepan cook sliced nectarines, dried cranberries, cashews, butter, and cinnamon. Cook till fruit is tender. Divide oatmeal into 6 bowls and top with fruit mixture. Serve with maple syrup or brown sugar.

What did you make for Fathers Day?

Tuna Burgers with Carrot Ginger Sauce

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

• 1 small carrot, roughly chopped
• 1 1/2-inch piece ginger, peeled
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• Pinch of sugar
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

For the Burgers:

• 1 pound sushi-grade tuna
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• Juice of 1/2 lime
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 cup spicy sprouts, for garnish
• 4 whole-grain hamburger buns
• 1/2 avocado, sliced

Directions

Prepare the sauce: Pulse the carrot and ginger in a food processor until finely chopped. Add the vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce and sugar and process until smooth. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons water and combine; season with salt and pepper. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and set aside.

Prepare the burgers: Chop the tuna into chunks. Wipe out the food processor and add the tuna; pulse a few times to break up the pieces. In a bowl, mix 2 tablespoons olive oil, the soy sauce, lime juice, cilantro and ginger; season with salt and pepper. Pour over the tuna and process until well blended. Form into 4 patties; brush each lightly with the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil.

Preheat a grill or grill pan. Once hot, add the burgers and cook for 2 minutes on each side for rare, or to desired doneness.

Toss the sprouts in the carrot-ginger sauce. Place the burgers on buns and top with avocado and sprouts.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Cilantro

Ingredients

• 3 sweet potatoes, unpeeled
• Kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

Parcook the potatoes: Place in a pot of water and boil until fork-tender; let cool. Slice each potato lengthwise into eighths.

Preheat a grill to medium or place a cast-iron grill pan over medium heat. Mix 1 tablespoon salt, the lime zest and cayenne in a small bowl.

Brush the potato wedges with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill until golden brown on all sides (including the skin) and just cooked through, about 1 1/2 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter; immediately season with the salt mixture and sprinkle with cilantro.

Leave a comment and tell us what you made for that special person in your life!

Gluten Free Rosemary Focaccia

1 T. yeast
3 T. warm water
1 c. sorghum flour
1/4c. cornstarch
1/4 c. tapioca flour
1 T. xanthan gum
4 T. olive oil
3 T. honey
1/2c. soy milk
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg
1 T. Olive oil
1 T. sea salt
1 T. dried rosemary, crushed
1/2 c. sorghum flour(used for kneading and dusting)


In a bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Cool till luke warm. In another bowl, stir in the sorghum. cornstarch,tapioca and xanthan gum together. Mix well to get out any clumps. In a small bowl combine the oil, honey, and soy milk. Stir this into the yeast. Then add salt and the egg to the yeast mixture. Gradually add flour mixture to the yeast mixture. Once everything is mixed, stir vigorously 10 seconds. Cover bowl with a dish towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1/2 hr. Once the dough has risen, use some sorghum flour to liberally dust a counter top or cutting board, your hands, and the dough itself. Knead the dough several times on the floured surface. Keep dusting with the extra flour if the dough becomes sticky. Once the dough becomes handle able, form it into a flat puffy round and place in grease cookies sheet or pie pan. Cover and let rise 1 hr. Heat oven to 375. Liberally brush top of the focaccia with olive oil and sprinkle with coarse alt and crushed rosemary. Bake for 15-20 min. until top is a rich golden brown. Tap the bottom of the loaf with your fingers it should sound hollow when the bread is done. Allow to cool slightly before cutting into wedges.

The requested pie crust recipe.......

Here is the recipe I normally use, sometimes I do use half butter and half shortening, I have found out that when I do it makes the crust flaky and you still get that rich butter flavor.

Makes: 1 -9 inch pie crust ( it doubles great!)

1 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 c. plus 1 T. shortening

2-3 T. ice cold water

Mix your dry ingredients together. Cut in your shortening with a pastry blender, or use two knifes in a criss-cross motion. My sisters also just used there hands:) I prefer the pastry blender. I normally don't measure my water, I fill a cup about 1/2 full and then put ice cubes in it to make sure that it is truly ice cold. This is the most important part of the process. Next I pour in the water about 1 T. at a time, and use a fork to toss it around. When I get to the right consistency I use my hands to finish mixing it together. Then next very important part is not to over work or touch the dough. You want to touch it as least as possible, having the dough cold is essential for a flaky crust. I then pat it into a circle and roll it into the desired size. For the sides I usually pinch the dough between my fingers or use a fork to crimp the edges.

I also have tried this recipe using half whole wheat, you do have to be a little more gentle with the dough but it turns out good. Another thing I have tried is using all whole wheat and really cold coconut oil, the dough was very fragile but it sure was a lot healthier then using that shortening..... Hope these tips help. Also one more thing I have also refrigerated the dough before rolling it out to make sure that is stayed really cold so that it was really flaky.

If you have anymore questions just leave a comment and I will try to answer them:)

The Pie Crust Queen of the DeL Sisters Kitchen:)

Chef Esther

Chocolate Zucchini Cake with Butter Cream Frosting

Due to the abundance of zucchini coming from our flourishing garden, I decided to make zucchini cake for our weekly pot luck after church, we hope everyone enjoys eating it as much as I enjoyed making it. Hopefully you will see more zucchini recipes soon!

11/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/4c. oil
3 eggs
1/2c. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking powder
1tsp. baking soda
2 c. shredded zucchini
1/2 tsp. cinnamon(optional)
Cream sugar butter and oil. Beat in eggs, milk and vanilla. Combine dry ingredients and add. Stir in zucchini. Pour into a butterd 13x9inch pan bake at 350 for about 40 min. till done in center. Cool. Frost with butter cream or chocolate butter cream if desired.


Variation: Add 1 tsp. grated orange make glaze with 3/4 c. powdered sugar 1/2 tsp. grated oarange peel and 1/2 T. orange. Drizzle over cooled cake.

The recipe is here!

Raw Vegan GORP Truffles

1/4 c. raw sunflower seeds

1 c. oats

1/2c. chopped almonds

1/2 c. mixed dried berries

1/2 tsp. vanilla

2 T. tahini

1/4 c. almond butter

1/4c. honey

1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional)

Mix together and form into balls. Refriderate till firm! Enjoy these yummy cookies without guilt:)

Gluten Free Almond Joy Brownies

3 oz. gluten free dark chocolate
7 T. coconut oil, the stuff that tastes like coconut
1 c. light brown sugar
2 eggs
few drops of vanilla
1/2 c. ground almonds
2 T. plus 11/2 tsp. brown rice flour
Chocolate Glaze
1/4 c. coco powder
1/4 c. sugar
2 T. coconut oil
Heat over medium heat for 2 min. Pour on top of warm brownies and cool in fridge! Then sprinkle with
coconut and chopped almonds.
Heat oven to 350. Grease an 11x7 in. pan. Place chocolate and coconut oil in saucepan and melt over low heat. Stir in remaining ingredients and combine well. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and place in the oven for 30 min. until lightly springy in the center. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 min. Mark and divide into 15 squares.

Serve them with jam....................

or with butter and honey!

Cornmeal Muffin

1/3c. coconut oil/oil/ butter
1/3c. honey/sugar/maple syrup
1 1/2c. soy milk/water/ cows milk
2 eggs
1 1/2c. wheat flour/white flour
2 1/2t. baking powder
3/4t. baking soda
3/4t. salt
1c. yellow cornmeal/ white/ blue
1t. cinnamon is optional

Mix together the milk, honey, eggs, and coconut oil. If your coconut oil if more of the shortening consistancy, heat it up till it is melted.
Add the remaining ingredients. Divide the batter into 12 greased muffin tins. Bake for about 17-20min. on 375 degrees.

Cool a few minutes in the pan, them remove and serve with whatever you please! We like butter and honey, or jam!

* for this recipe I used coconut oil, honey, wheat flour, white cornmeal, and soy milk, and cinnamon.

Our first time sprouting!

Chocolate chip cookie dough cheesecake bars

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
Recipe from Crust
1 & 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 325°. Butter a 9″-square baking pan. Line pan with parchment paper, leaving enough to extend over the sides. Butter the parchment paper.
Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter until crumbs are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips.
Press crust mixture into bottom of pan and 1 inch up sides. Bake for 6 minutes. Set pan on wire rack to cool
Cookie Dough
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
Using an electric mixer , mix butter, brown sugar, sugar, salt, and vanilla extract at medium speed until smooth. Decrease mixer speed to low and add flour. Mix just until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips. Set aside.
Filling
10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and sugar just until smooth. Add egg and vanilla extract, beating just until blended.
Pour batter into baked crust. Drop cookie dough by teaspoonfuls over the top of the filling.
Bake about 30 minutes, or until set. Transfer to wire rack.
For chocolate topping, melt 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips in a double boiler or in the microwave. Add about 1/2 tablespoon of butter if necessary to make chocolate smooth. Drizzle over top of bars. Cool bars in pan completely, about an hour.
Using the edges of the parchment paper, remove bars from pan. Cut into bars and serve.

These were so good! We got the recipe from bakeorbreak, so head on over there for more great recieps!

PB Candy Short Bread

1c. butter softened
1/2c. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla
1/4t. salt
2 1/2c. flour
1/2c. finely chopped reese cups

Heat oven to 325, beat the butter on HI for 30sec. add the brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Beat until combined. Beat in as much flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in any remaining flour and the chopped candy. If neccessary gently knead the dough till it clings together. 

On a floured surface, roll the dough into 1/2in. thickness. Cut out into your desired shape, place on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 20min. if desired drizzle with chocolate, or peanut butter drizzle

Peanut Butter Drizzle

1c. powdered of powdered sugar

2T. peanut butter

1t. butter

1/2t. vanilla

Stir in 2-3T of milk till right consistantcy.

Chocolate Drizzle

3/4c. chocolate chips

1t. shortening

Melt on low heat till chocolate melts.