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Author: Mary | Just Take A Bite

Pumpkin Spice Cake

My in-laws are here this weekend, and today happens to be my father-in-law’s birthday. So I wanted to make a cake. I had thought about doing carrot cake. Then I wondered if I could add pumpkin and make a pumpkin carrot cake. I did some searching and found a recipe for pumpkin spice cake on Joy of Baking. So I went with that. And I’m glad I did. It turned out great!! Very easy to make. Rebecca helped me with it. Everyone enjoyed it last night. The original recipe uses a cream cheese frosting. I forgot to buy cream cheese this week 😛  So I made a maple buttercream. It worked very well with the pumpkin cake. I went for a simple decoration with crispy almonds (mostly due to time constraints…i.e. a fussy baby and a 3 year old trying to help :P). I had to have a taste too of course. I can’t make a new cake and not taste it 😛  It’s times like this that I wish I could eat grains 🙂  Yum!!! This is a perfect fall treat. Not the best frosting job…but I had a little helper 🙂  Since we are doing letter F this week Rebecca got to Frost Grandpa’s cake. We still need to work on her technique a bit 😉

Pumpkin Spice Cake

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/4 cups light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup fresh or canned pure pumpkin (about 1/2 of a 15 ounce can)
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups sifted cake flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 cup buttermilk, room temperature

Note: To make your own buttermilk combine 1/2 cup of milk with 1/2 tablespoon vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and let stand for 10 minutes before using.

For Garnish:

1/2 cup toasted and chopped walnuts or pecans

1 recipe maple buttercream (see recipe below) or cream cheese frosting

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour (or spray with Baker’s Joy) two – 8 inch (20 cm) cake pans (I use palm shortening and parchment paper…cake comes out perfectly every single time)

In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 2-3 minutes). Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the pumpkin puree and vanilla extract and beat until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices. Add the flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to the pumpkin batter, in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Divide the batter in half and then pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for approximately 25 – 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes and then invert and remove the cakes from their pans. Cool completely before frosting.

Place one of the cake layers, top side down, on a serving plate. Frost with a layer of icing. Place the second cake, top side down, onto the first layer and frost the top and sides of the cake. Garnish with chopped nuts, if desired. Refrigerate but bring to room temperature before serving.

Maple Buttercream

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup palm shortening
3 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
2 – 4 Tbsp. milk

Cream butter and shortening. Add sugar and maple syrup. Mix well. Add milk a little at a time until desired consistency. Use immediately or store in refrigerator.

Pumpkin Nut Butter Bread

Yesterday I made a pumpkin version of nut butter bread to go with our chicken apple chili. I just kind of guessed on quantities, lowering the pb to add the pumpkin. So I wasn’t sure how it would turn out. But it worked great! Rebecca loves it. We’ll see if our guests like it tonight 🙂

Pumpkin Nut Butter Bread

3/4 cup peanut butter (or any nut butter)
3/4 cups pumpkin
3 eggs
pinch salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1/3 – 1/2 cup honey

Blend all ingredients in a bowl (I do it by hand). Pour into a greased loaf pan (1 large or 2 smaller). Bake at 350 for 45-70 minutes (depends on the size of pan you’re using…just keep an eye on it that it doesn’t get too dark on top).

The Letter E

I had lots of ideas for this week, but we didn’t have time for very much. Here’s what we did do:

The Letter E

craft/science/nature – shape elephant, Earth, talk about eyes and ears, eggs – talk about them and eat them for dinner
baking project – eyeballs (mudballs)
character – encouraging
earn – we talked about how Rebecca can earn money. We are still deciding on her “job.” Then we can start actually “paying” her.
memory verse – “Come before him with joyful songs.”
outings – zoo, orchard
name – Rebecca now can spell her full name
Kindermusik assignment – blowing light objects  (find objects around the house and experiment…work on breathing/diaphragm)

Earth project
Shape Elephant
Zoo
Eyeballs
 

Meal Plans Week of 10-9-11

I just spent lots of time on my GAPS post, so I’ll have to make this one quicker to get it done on time.

Last week was very busy with errands and outings. I finally got winter gear for the kids and new shoes for Rebecca. We went to the zoo and the orchard. We had Kindermusik and MOPS. And we tried to spend plenty of time outside in this awesome weather. So we didn’t do as much inside. But I did make crispy almonds, pecans, walnuts, cashews, brazil nuts and macadamia  nuts, almond pecan butter, graham crackers, dried apples, apple raisin bars and mudballs. Plus yesterday we got 8 fresh chickens. I froze 2 whole, cooked one and cut up/froze the last 5. I also made a lot of chicken stock (about 6 quarts). And we got about 50 chicken feet. So I froze some. And used some to make a batch of chicken broth (strained it this morning). Now I have a 2nd round of broth going with the feet and the bones from yesterday’s chicken. I should be better prepaired for GAPS eating this week 🙂

This week I’m sure will be crazy busy in the kitchen. We went apple picking yesterday and got a 1/2 bushel of apples. So it’s time for applesauce! I also got a 1/2 bushel of pears to make pearsauce (I think this was the last week to get pears). We got a bunch of squash at the orchard, so I need to bake and freeze that (though it’s not as critical to get it done this week…but I would at least like some to eat fresh this week). We will also be getting apples from my in-laws on Friday, so more applesauce next week too. I have several baking projects for the end of the week since we will have guests here. I’ll have to turn one of them into our F baking project this week. And since we’re doing the letter F I thought we should so some Favorite meals (Rebecca requested pizza) and some Fall meals (lots of pumpkin and squash). I also need mayo (made it this morning) and possibly more pesto.

Our pork should be ready soon. I’m excited for that. We are also probably doing a cow share soon. I need to talk to a friend about doing a pick up group.

Aside from working around the house, here’s what’s on our agenda. Today is church. Maybe we’ll have to do one more trip to Cone World with this warm weather. Monday is a shot for Abram and Meijer. Tuesday is Kindermusik and Farmer’s market (though I’ll likely skip the market). Wednesday is Heffron Farms to get milk and stock up on butter (don’t want to run out of that!). No plans for Thursday…stay home and try to get the house in order 😛  Friday we are having our furnace inspected and my in-laws will be here. They’ll stay overnight. No plans for Saturday yet. But I’m sure it won’t take much work to fill up the day 😛  And of course trying to keep up with Rebecca’s school work this week. Last week was so chaotic that we didn’t do as much as I would have liked.

Anyway, here’s what’s on the menu this week. Again, I’ll try to add links later if I have time.

This post is linked to Plan It Don’t Panic at Keeper of the Home.
————————–
S (prep lunch, strain/freeze broth, make mayo, church, cook/freeze squash, soak squash seeds)
  B – chicken stock, avocado, olives, chicken (me), banana chocolate chip pancakes (Justin)
  L – walnut grape chicken salad, broccoli, beets
  D – grilled brats, squash, leftover roasted veggies

M (make/can applesauce, dry squash seeds, make pesto, Dr. S., Meijer)
  B – chicken stock, squash, chicken salad (me), banana chocolate chip pancake, banana (Justin)
  D – chicken nuggets, red potato wedges, beans

T (make/can applesauce, FM, KM, make kefir, prep smoothie, freeze peppers)
  B – chicken stock w/ squash and beets, chx nuggets (me), yogurt, granola, grapes (Justin)
  D – chicken noodle soup (w/o noodles for me), honey ww bread

W (make/can pearsauce, roast beets, bake cake, HF, soak beans)
  B – leftover chicken soup w/ squash, beets and olives (me), kefir smoothie, ww bread w/ pb (Justin)
  D – pan fried fish w/ tartar sauce, beans

Th (prep scones, bake/freeze squash, freeze butter, bake bread, cook beans, clean, put away laundry)
  B –  chicken stock w/ veggies (me), sd english muffin, grapes (Justin)
  D – chicken apple chili, gf pumpkin nut butter bread, corn muffins

F (clean, make frosting, decorate cake, bake muffins, guests)
  B – leftover chili (me), apple slices w/ almond butter, yogurt (Justin)
  D – squash and sausage soup, apple dumpling muffins, pumpkin nut butter bread
  Des – pumpkin spice cake

S (bake scones, laundry, guests, family outing?)
  B – pumpkin white chocolate scones, fruit, yogurt (guests), squash soup (me)
  D – sausage pizza (Justin), TBD soup (me)

Crockpot Stuffed Peppers (Grain Free, Dairy Free, Nut Free, GAPS-legal)

Yesterday I had a doctor appt. in the afternoon, so I needed a prep ahead dinner. I decided to try making stuffed peppers in the crockpot. I didn’t really use a recipe. I just made a simple meat mixture and stuffed it into a couple peppers. 

It cooked all day in the crockp0t. What a super easy, super tasty dinner! I just ate the meat since peppers bother my little one. But it was still good. Even my daughter ate all of hers.

The peppers get super tender. You can peel the skins right off (a big bonus for kids). You can mix just about anything into the meat…rice, veggies, beans, cheese. I kept it very simple so that I could eat it. I used one pound of meat for 2 large peppers…that could easily serve 4 people.

Crockpot Stuffed Peppers

2 large bell peppers, top cut off, seeds/insides removed
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
1/3 cup ketchup
2 Tbsp. mustard
salt and garlic powder to taste
(any other fillings you like)

Prepare the peppers.

Mix the meat with the remaining ingredients. Stuff the meat mixture into the peppers.

Put the tops on the peppers.

Put a small amount of water in the bottom of the crockpot. Place the peppers inside (I found it worked well to have them against the sides since they get soft and can tip while cooking).

Cover and cook on high 4-8 hours or low 6-12 hours (I think I had mine on high for a few hours then switched it to low for the rest of the day…about 9 hours total).

Simple Ways to Add Nutrition to Your Day…They Even Work for Kids!

This is a post I started about a month ago. Figured I better finish and post it 😛  It’s just a few simple ways I’ve learned to add nutrition to our diet. I especially like that there are many easy ways to nourish a growing child…even a picky eater.

1. Raw egg yolks – This is about the easiest way to bump up nutrition in so many foods. And an especially great way to get picky eaters/non-egg eaters to eat eggs. Egg yolks can be mixed into just about anything without changing the texture or taste. Some of our favorite things to add them to are salad dressings, dips (like hummus), smoothies, yogurt (stir a yolk into plain yogurt and/or kefir and add a little honey…perfect breakfast or snack…one of Rebecca’s favorites…sometimes we mix in peanut butter too) and soup. Or if you’re like me and actually like the taste you can eat them plain. Sprinkle a little sea salt on a yolk…yum! Mix it with diced avocado…even better 🙂  I use these tricks to give Rebecca some egg almost daily.

2. Lemon juice – lemon juice is great for digestion and cleansing. I start every day with warm water mixed with some lemon juice.

3. Raw apple cider vinegar – this is similar to the lemon juice. It aids in digestion and helps with stomach acid. I drink warm water with ac vinegar every day before lunch. This is definitely an acquired taste. You can add a little honey if the vinegar is too strong for your taste.

4. Coconut oil – Coconut oil has so many health benefits. And you can use it in so many ways. I add it to smoothies and yogurt. Or I use in baking in place of butter. I also use it for cooking/frying, especially things like veggies and stir fry. You can mix a little with honey and refrigerate it for a sweet treat (kind of like fudge). Coconut oil is also great to use on your body. I use it as lotion. I also use it in my deodorant and toothpaste.

5. Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil – Olive oil is very healthy. Especially when used in a pure form. I use it liberally in salad dressings and dips (like pesto and hummus). It is not the best option for cooking/high heat.

6. Avocado – the fat in avocados is very healthy. I generally eat a minimum of one avocado a day. I love it plain, with sea salt. But I also add it to just about anything. I almost always add it diced into my soups. It is wonderful on sandwiches and salads. Avocado is especially great in smoothies. It is the key to thick, creamy smoothies or milkshakes. I’ve even used it in ice cream and pureed soups. A favorite breakfast for Rebecca is a milkshake/smoothie made with kefir, milk, egg yolk, honey, blueberries and avocado. Or sometimes for a treat I’ll make her a chocolate “shake” with milk, kefir, honey, cocoa, egg yolk and avocado.

7. Probiotics – probiotics are the good bacteria in your gut that aid in digestion and keep your immune system up. You can get them through food – fermented and cultured foods (kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut, sour cream, buttermilk, fermented ketchup, fermented veggies, etc.). And you can take supplements. I do a combo of the two. Rebecca, Abram and I all take a probiotic supplement daily. And we try to eat fermented and cultured foods daily.

8. Fermented cod liver oil – this is a very simple way to make sure you’re getting enough Vitamin A and D. Rebecca and I (and hence Abram 🙂 both take fermented cod liver oil/butter oil daily. Such great brain food, especially for children. Not many people get all of their omega-3, vitamin A and vitamin D through food and sun exposure alone. So taking CLO is a great way to make sure you get enough.

A few simple tricks to make sure your whole family is getting enough fat, vitamins, minerals and good bacteria in their diets. What do you do each day to stay healthy?

This post is linked to Fat Tuesday on Real Food Forager.

The Letter D

We had fun with the letter D this week learning about Dutch, dogs and dinos. Here’s what we did.

The Letter D

Baking – Dutch apple pie, Dutch letter cookies
Crafts/Science/Nature – Dutch windmills, dog puppets, dinosaur fossils, shape-a-saurus
Dancing
Days of the week – Rebecca now knows the days of the week.
Daddy – we made a D for Daddy.
Visit from grandparents
KM assignment – patterns
Memory Verse – Psalm 100: 2 Worship the Lord with gladness
Character – Discernment (making good choices)
Math – division, adding, subtracting, counting, patterns, sorting

Dutch windmill
 
Dog puppet
Visit from Grandpa and Grandma
 Shape-a-saurus
 Salt Dough
 Dino fossils and a D for Daddy
 Dutch letter cookies

Meal Plans Week of 10-2-11

Happy Anniversary to my parents! 38 years is something to celebrate 🙂  May God bless you with many more happy years together.

So as I mentioned in an earlier post Justin was in Germany all last week (wow, it is so much tougher to take care of 2 on your own than 1!!). So my week was all about keeping up with things rather than getting anything done. And Abram had a bit of a cold too (a fussy baby didn’t help us out much either :P). So we stayed home most of the week. We did do a lot of fun stuff at home…but we didn’t accomplish much. So this week I feel like I have a million things to catch up on. We are running out of just about everything, so plenty of errands to run this week. I just need to figure out which one to do first/what we’ll run out of soonest. And Rebecca has no fall/winter coat and her fall/winter shoes barely fit. So I need to shop for her very soon. Abram is also growing like a weed, and I’m already putting away some 9m clothes that are too small. So I have to assess his clothing situation again, even though I just got his drawers organized. For sure he needs some new sleep sacks. We only have pink ones from Rebecca that fit him 😛  Justin would like that remedied very quickly.

I tried to keep kitchen work to a minimum last week since I didn’t have any help with dishes. But I still managed to make pesto, kefir, mayo, broth/stock, Dutch letter cookies, Dutch apple pie and sourdough muffins. As I said we are running out of everything…including homemade goodies. So I have a long list of things to make this week. We are just about out of crispy nuts. So I need to stock up on nuts and soak/dry them. And make more nut butter (Rebecca goes through that very quickly). I want to dry apples since they are in season and use some to make apple raisin bars (another great breakfast or snack option for Rebecca). Our graham crackers are just about gone (another of Rebecca’s favorites), so I’d like to make a new batch. I’m sure we’ll try to do some kind of letter of the week baking project. And we’ll be getting a bunch of fresh chickens on Saturday. So I’ll have to cut them up and freeze them. Plus cook some and make broth and stock. I do need to make more lard, but I might hold off on that until next week. And to top it all of I’m doing GAPS intro now, so I need to keep up with having plenty of broth and other safe foods on hand for myself.

I’m very excited that we have ordered our pork (1/2 pig). It should be ready in a week or two. Better make sure the freezer has room.

This week we’re learning the letter E. I’m brainstorming our projects for the week.

So this week will be plenty busy. I don’t have everything planned out yet in terms of when to do what. But hopefully I’ll be able to get it all done. Today is church. Monday is either Meijer or Harvest Health. Tuesday is farmer’s market and kindermusik. Wednesday is Meijer or Harvest Health. Thursday I have an eye exam. And we could possibly make a run to Target to shop for the kids and stock up on a few things. Friday is MOPS. Saturday morning will be dealing with chickens. And we might go to the orchard in the afternoon. I hope we’re all feeling good and up for a busy week.

Meals are a bit tougher to plan so that I keep my family fed while I do intro. But I’m doing my best. Here’s what’s on the menu. I’ll try to add links later.

This post is linked to Plan it Don’t Panic at Keeper of the Home.
——————-
S (church, nursery, make stock)
  B – pea soup, lentil burger (me), sd muffins, yogurt (Justin)
  L – beef roast/veggies in cp (mostly broth and veggies for me)
  D – grilled ham and cheese, chicken lentil soup

M (boil eggs, HH, soak nuts)
  B – pea soup (me), egg and toast (Justin)
  D – tacos w/ salsa, sour cream, avocado, corn, cheese (broth w/ the beef and avocado for me…introduce some sour cream)

T (dry nuts, make graham crackers, FM, KM, Meijer)
  B – pea soup/beef stock w/ avocado (me), sd muffins, yogurt (Justin)
  D – beef veggie stir fry

W (make nut butter, dry apples, zoo, make apple raisin bars)
  B – hard boiled egg, toast (Justin), broth/soup (me)
  D – fried chicken, sweet potato fries, beans

Th (Target, eye doctor, E baking project)
  B – smoothie (me), apple raisin bars, yogurt (Justin)
  D – (prep ahead) – crockpot stuffed peppers

F (clean, MOPS)
  B – broth/soup (me), smoothie (Justin)
  D – scrambled eggs w/ bacon, roasted veggies, applesauce souffle

S (laundry, freeze chickens, make stock/broth, orchard)
  B – broth/soup (me), pancakes (Justin)
  D – roast chicken!, roasted red potatoes, veggies

Salt Dough

We’ve been learning the letter D this week. So we’ve been talking a little bit about dinosaurs. As I was looking for dino crafts I found an easy one for making fossils. You use salt dough. It was great for this craft. And it can be used for many other things. I’m sure I’ll be making it a lot with Rebecca for various projects. I love how simple it is to make…flour, salt, water. Rebecca basically made it herself. I only made a 1/4 of the recipe and it was plenty for our craft. I’ll post my quantities. We made two large fossils and a letter D (for our letter of the week and for Daddy :).

Salt Dough

1 cup flour
1/4 cup salt
3/8 – 1/2 cup water

Mix flour, salt and 3/8 cup water in a bowl. Add more water if too dry. Use dough to make handprints, fossils, beads, etc. Bake on baking sheet lined with parchment paper at 350 for about 1 hour…until dry. Paint when cooled.

To preserve it, you’ll need to spray it with polyurethane or clear varnish spray.

Dutch Letter Cookies

This week we are learning the letter D. So what’s more fitting for a Dutch girl than Dutch letter cookies? 🙂  I had actually never heard of these before. I just did a search for Dutch desserts and found this recipe on All Recipes.  So Rebecca and I made them yesterday. They turned out pretty well. I can’t say they are the easiest cookie to make with a small child. But still a fun one. The dough and filling are super easy to make. Rebecca liked helping with that. The assembly was a bit tougher. I think I should have made my dough a tiny bit wetter and rolled it a bit thinner. But the phone was ringing, baby crying, little hands trying to help and eat all the dough, etc. So I had to just do what I could. I didn’t end up making many actual letters. But we managed a couple. In the end they turned out ok and taste pretty good (this coming from someone who doesn’t really like almond/almond paste). I forgot to do the milk/sugar topping until after I had them in the oven already. So I quick took them out and just sprinkled a little sugar on. No milk. I had some filling leftover, so I just put that in a little dish and baked it with the cookies. That’s the grain free version of this dessert 😛  A fun experiment. Maybe we’ll try it again when Rebecca is a little older. And we have more time to roll and shape the cookies properly. I didn’t take any good pics since I was dealing with a baby that just woke up, trying to finish the cookies and get Rebecca to eat lunch.

Dutch Letter Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour (I used organic whole wheat flour)
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup butter, chilled
1/3 cup ice water
8 ounces almond paste
1 egg
1/4 cup white sugar (I used organic cane sugar)
2 Tbsp. milk
1/3 cup granulated sugar for decoration (I used organic cane sugar)

In a medium bowl, stir together flour and salt. Cut in chilled butter until the texture of the mix is mealy with pea sized lumps (I made the dough in my food processor). Add ice water gradually while stirring with a wooden spoon until dough forms a ball. Cover your dough and chill for 1/2 hour.

To make filling, in a small bowl, mix together the almond paste and sugar. Add the egg and mix well.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C ). On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 to 1/8 inch thickness, making as square as possible (I did this in two batches). Cut the dough into strips 6 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide (about the width of a ruler) (I made my strips much longer, else you’d never be able to shape it into a letter). Using a pastry bag or a strong plastic bag with a small hole cut from the corner, pipe almond filling down the center of the strip starting halfway down. Fold the top half of the strip down over the almond filling to match the bottom (I experimented with lengths/folds. And I made sure to seal the edges well).

Shape strips into desired letters, brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack.