Simply Scratch

I love a good food blog. Recently I stumbled upon Simply Scratch - and found myself lost... scrolling through pages and pages of the beautiful tasty recipes. I love the diverse selection - lots of creamy comfort foods and some great healthy options.

Image Source - Simply Scratch

This morning Barry awoke to the scent of these delicious pancakes - Cinnamon and Brown Sugar Swirled Pancake Muffins. They were delicious. I made them in muffin form as suggested with the recipe and they did not disappoint.

Image Source - Simply Scratch

For dinner we indulged in Baked Macaroni and Cheese also from Simply Scratch. I served the macaroni and cheese as the main dish with plenty of steamed broccoli and carrots to offset the insane creaminess. I did add some panko bread crumbs to the top along with shredded cheese to up the crunch.  Overall this recipe is a keeper and I will be pulling it out occasionally. I can't recommend it enough - Simply Scratch has oodles of tasty looking recipes. Check it out! 

Days like today are definitely ones to remember. Lots of good food - laziness on the couch and plenty of warm laundry to fold.

Loves!

Live & Eat

Sunday. Delicious Sundays.

Today was filled with good food and good living. 

I woke up early this morning to the sound of pouring rain. Rain, rain, rain. It rained solid and heavy here for at least a day. I spent the quiet of the morning baking a pie - using leftover phyllo pastry that I had needed in a recipe a few days ago. Barry woke to the smell of cinnamon and apples snuggled in warm pastry. We both enjoyed a slice early morning. I used this recipe.

In the afternoon we took to the yard to do some raking and organizing. The garden beds are now ready for the cold and the last of the winter crop seeds have been planted.

We roasted a lovely chicken for dinner with some potatoes and carrots. I currently have stock simmering on the stove (leftover chicken, the carcass, carrots, celery and spices).  I'm already dreaming of the wonderful soups it will yield.

Here is a sweet photograph of the pug. She lasted a few minutes outside before I scooped her up and brought her in. The cold of winter here is too rough for this pug.

We are now snuggled down for the night with a movie on and a warm blanket to keep us cozy.

Have a wonderful start to the week friends!

Loves!



 

P.S. I'm linking up to the Homestead Barn Hop here. 

Watermelon Love

Watermelon. One of my favorite fruits of summer.

Watermelon Gin and Tonic via a Cozy Kitchen

Watermelon Salad with Pine Nuts, Feta and Basil via The Traveler's Lunchbox



Watermelon Dippers

Watermelon Cookie Cutter Stars via foodopia

Watermelon Jam via Blondie's Cakes and Things


source

My absolute favorite way to eat watermelon is cubed and chilled in the fridge. Mmmm!

Happy August!

Loves!

Good For You Food

Lately I have been thinking a lot about good food, or whole foods. Foods that our grandparents ate. Mainly foods that don't require artificial preservatives, flavorings or colorants. I think eating well is a daily effort, and for the most part we can't be perfect. Without things like blended iced coffee drinks, slushies and the occasional burger with fries I would go crazy - these are my comfort foods. I am enjoying for the most part eating whole foods with as few processed elements as possible (and having an occasional cheat day in there too).

I feel a bit like a pioneer or amazon woman when I make meals all from scratch. The feeling is empowering. I can provide!

Potatoes Gratin from Nourishing Traditions page 409



Balsamic Carrot Salad page 194


Gosh I'm in love with this book. I've mentioned Nourishing Traditions a few times, but I really am in love with it. Nourishing Traditions is a cookbook (including over 600 recipes) as well as an encyclopedia of information on foods. There is a general emphasis within this book on eating as our families did 100 or more years ago - cutting down on the preservatives and artificial junk. The book does not however limit fat, instead it encourages the consumption of milk and cheese and butter! Oh gosh how I love butter. The book also encourages soaking grains (which we are now doing) as well as transitioning to a gluten free diet (which I can't do but we are making some efforts). I have learned so much by reading this book including so much new knowledge about probiotics and kefir grains. I love finding something truly inspiring and relate-able that I can apply to our lives.

I couldn't help but take a photo of my breakfast this morning. It was delicious and lovely.


Breakfast Soaked Oats (Nourishing Traditions) with chopped up dried apricot and ground flax seed with a side of sliced nectarine. Just what I need to start my day.

Have a wonderful day!

Tomato Sauce Love

I love tomato sauce. Most tomato sauces are simple, wholesome and delicious. Tomatoes are one of the few fruits/veggies that retain most of their vitamins and goodness through the canning process. That being said it is still delicious and a treat to occasionally make tomato sauce from scratch. This recipe was inspired by the Chunky Tomato Sauce recipe in Nourishing Traditions.


This recipe makes a double batch which will last two meals in our house. I would say it makes about 6-7 servings.

Ingredients
Tomatoes (I used 7)
Garlic (I used 3 large cloves)
Sea Salt 1 tsp
Pepper 3/4 tsp
4tbl balsamic vinegar
2tsp dried basil
optional, onion or other veggies


Dice.


Mince.


Add.


Throw in everything else and simmer for as long as you like. I went about 30-40 minutes.

The sauce takes a darker color from the balsamic vinegar.


You can serve as is or thin the mixture out a bit. I did this with my immersion blender.


Dinner.


Have a wonderful nourishing start to the week!


P.S. I'm linking up here and here and here.

A Lovely Stew

Last night we dined on homemade stew and corn muffins. It was delicious. It feels so good to make a meal that is nourishing and man pleasing. Do you ever feel proud when you make something delicious from scratch? Maybe proud isn't the right word, but it does certainly feel good.

Here's my man pleasing stew recipe. I started making this a few years ago when we first moved out. It is a wonderful crock pot recipe, however I have even made it in a dutch oven over an open fire. I am not a red meat person by any means so I always add extra potatoes and carrots to fill my bowl.

A Lovely Stew (with some measurements and some estimating)

stewing beef, the best stuff you can find
chicken stock, I used half of a carton of what I had left. Any stock would do nicely in this recipe, especially some homemade stuff.
handful of potatoes, quartered
2 tomatoes chopped roughly
carrots, sliced
1.5 cups of beer
1 pepper minced (you could also throw in an onion)
spices, thyme, dill, sage and parsley
celtic sea salt and pepper

I leave this on about 1o hours on low in my crock pot.

I start with the crock.


Then throw in the pepper. Everything cooks down so much I don't worry about making it pretty.


Now take some beautiful potatoes.


And quarter them.


And throw it all in the crock. Chop up some carrots too. Not sure where my carrot photo got to.


Dice up some tomatoes. They add a lot of goodness and depth to the soup.


Now for the spices. This is my wonderful dill that I dried in my dehydrator recently. I took pictures of the process to post but I have been using my beau's camera lately instead of our older one and I can't seem to get it to work with dill. It refuses to take pictures of dill. Odd, yes, and it is likely something I am doing wrong. So this is the blurry dill.


Beautiful organic Watkins spices.


Now throw some broth into the mix. I used about half a container.


Grab your stewing beef. Ethical beef makes for happy cows!



In goes the beer!


You could also sub red wine for the beer and that would be amazing.

Stir it all together and pop the lid on!


Now wait, awhile..

Mmm..


I scooped some of the carrots, tomatoes and peppers out and pureed them to add a bit more depth to the broth. I think this is why the soup does have almost an orang-y tinge.


Wholesome goodness.

Would you like a corn muffin to go with yours?


Perhaps 3?


Have a wonderful Thursday.

Loves!

Good bites my dear!

Strawberry Smoothie:

Strawberry Smoothie:
handful of strawberries (frozen)
1 individual container vanilla yogurt
splash of fruit juice

Do you ever have days where you set out to do one thing and somehow a million other things pile up as well? I should be studying for my final today, but it's on Friday and I thankfully have Thursday off so I will be cramming them. Today however is a day for my kitchen. I set out to make chicken meatballs today, realized we needed bread and decided while I was at it why not dirty more dishes and make a delicious smoothie treat.

The delicious sweetness of smoothies make me long for summer to come. Something inside of me says this summer will be truly wonderful, oh I hope so.

Chicken Meatballs:

Can you guess which egg is organic and which is just free range? ;)

2lb ground chicken
1 tsp seasoning salt
1 tsp garlic seasoning
1 c bread crumbs
2 eggs
handful of Parmesan cheese
Combine all, form balls, bake at 400* for 15 minutes


Result: Delicious, I like freezing them in little batches for spaghetti and pasta dishes.

Light wheat bread:

So yummy, I just ate a slice slathered with PB. I generally don't like making bread recipes with so many ingredients because it raises the costs, but this was well worth it. I also used my Kitchen Aid for most of the kneading.

Recipe:

http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/01/light-wheat-bread/

So there's my update...
And as my grandma would say,
Good bites my dear! Good bites!

Am