Fail: Whole Wheat Pancakes

Source: Making the Best of Basics

So I tried to make some whole wheat pancakes with the rest of the flour my mother-in-law milled for me. It turned out disasterous. I didn't have quite as much flour left as the recipe called for, so I tried to tweak the other ingredients. Then, I remembered that I didn't have honey, so I tried to substitute brown sugar. And I didn't have buttermilk, so I just used regular milk. Wow! I really screwed this one up! The pancakes were super runny. So Husband tried to fix them by adding Krusteaz pancake mix. The consistency returned to normal and we thought they were fixed--hooray for Husband!--until we tried them. Husband took one bite and spit them out...I took that as my cue NOT to try them. Here's the original recipe. If you try it and it works, let me know. I will probably try again sometime and actually follow the recipe exactly...maybe then they will turn out!

Wholesome Whole Wheat Pancakes

1 c. oats
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/4 c. baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 T. honey
2 eggs
2 c. buttermilk
1/4 c. melted butter (I didn't get mine completely melted...BIG mistake!)

Stir dry ingredients to mix well. Add remaining ingredients and stir. Aging in refrigerator improves flavor. Add 1/4 c. wheat germ to dry ingredients for extra nutrition and flavor. Cook on greased hot griddle until brown.

Good luck! Let me know if your's turns out better than mine!

Funeral Potatoes

I have tried several different recipes for funeral potatoes, but have never found the one that was just like I had growing up. But this Easter, my mom asked me to make a pan of them for our dinner, so I took the opportunity to get the recipe she uses from her... now I've finally found the funeral potatoes that are "just like I remember". Now, I'm sure just like me, you have your favorite version of funeral potatoes (if you've ever had them...), but if you are looking for a good recipe, give this one a shot. Oh, sorry, no picture...

p.s. You may wonder why they are called funeral potatoes. In the LDS Church, there is somewhat of a tradition of providing a lunch after a funeral for the family of the deceased. This cheesy potato casserole usually makes an appearance there.

Source: my mom's ward cookbook from 35 years ago

1.5 pkgs southern-style hashbrowns
1 can cream of chicken
2 c. sour cream (1 lb container)
1.5 cups shredded cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tsp. onion flakes
1/2 c. milk, optional
cornflakes, crushed

Put the hashbrowns in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 5-10 minutes until hashbrowns are heated through. In a separate bowl, mix together cream of chicken, sour cream, and cheese. Add milk if you want it thinned down a little. When hashbrowns are heated through, season with salt & pepper and onion flakes. Mix potatoes in with cheese mixture. Spread into a 9x13 pan. Top with crushed cornflakes. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

Whole Wheat Waffles

Source: Making the Best of Basics: Family Preparedness Handbook

Well, I still had some whole wheat flour left over after the Honey Whole Wheat Bread, so I decided to try my hand at some whole wheat waffles that my mother-in-law makes. They turned out great! Husband loved them and my two-year-old ate almost an entire one himself. (I mean, almost all of both halves!) We topped them with butter, homemade jam, and syrup, of course. They definitely kept our tummies full for longer than their white counterparts. Here's the recipe:

1 1/4 c. sifted whole wheat flour
3 tsp. baking powder
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
3/4 tsp. salt
2-3 eggs, well beaten*
1 1/4 c. milk
3 Tbsp. oil

Sift together dry ingredients. Combine liquid ingredients in separate bowl. Stir in liquids. Bake on greased hot griddle until golden brown. (Can also use same recipe to make pancakes.)

*3 eggs makes the waffles hold together a little better. 2 eggs makes them softer and more fragile. I used 3.

Experiment: Apple Pie

This experiment was a FAILURE! But hey, that's okay. That's why they are call experiments, right? Well, I've made this Apple Pie several times before and it is usually a huge hit, but this one sat in my refrigerator for over a week until my dear husband took pity on the fridge and threw it in the garbage. What was the difference you ask? I tried using dehydrated apples that I rehydrated. When we bought our apple slices from the LDS Church Cannery (for a good, non-official explanation of what this is click here. Also, check out providentliving.org), the lady there mentioned how they made a great apple pie. I had never considered rehydrating the apples, I just snacked on them dry. So this is the first time I tried rehydrating them. I started with just a cup of apples and put in the suggested amount of water. Well, it just seemed like there was way too much water. So when I made the pie, I did the amount of water in half. Well, the apples didn't like that, and they soaked all the moisture out of the pie crust. It was one dry, crumbly pie. So, my question for all of you is, have you ever rehydrated dried apples? Any tips? I guess I'll have to experiment with this one a little more....

Egg Salad Sandwiches

Source: Betty Crocker's Cookbook

What always comes with Easter? An abundance of hard-boiled eggs! And since my two-year-old didn't care about the difference between the plastic eggs and the real ones, they were each thrown in the basket with the same force. So I ended up with several severally cracked eggs that needed immediate use. So I made Egg Salad sandwhiches for the first time in my life. The basic recipe is below in black. The notes in red are how I changed the recipe to make it work with the ingredients I had on hand. Mmmm...Mmmm...tasty!

6 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 c. mayonnaise or salad dressing
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 medium stalk celery, chopped (1/8 tsp. celery seed*)
1 small onion, chopped (1/4 tsp. onion powder*)
1-2 Tbsp. dill relish* (For crunch, since I didn't have celery or onion. Plus, it made it taste better, too!)
sliced bread

Mix everything together (except the bread, of course!), spread on bread. Eat and enjoy!

*These are all estimates, because I, of course, did not measure. Just do it to taste. A few shakes, a few squirts...whatever it takes!

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

Source: Favorite Family Recipes blog

This was my first attempt at whole wheat bread, and I do have to say it turned out quite yummy! I whipped up some honey butter (1/2 c. honey + 1/2 c. butter) to go with it and it was delicious.

Click here to see the original post for this recipe.

Honey Whole Wheat Bread

3 cups really warm water
1 1/2 Tbsp. yeast (or 2 yeast packets)
Dissolve and wait until yeast froths then add:
1/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. honey
1 Tbsp. salt
about 6 cups of whole wheat flour

I ended up added about 7 or 8 cups of flour, and it was still quite sticky. So I put a lot of regular white flour on the counter to knead the dough. Knead and then put in a large bowl (I sprayed my bowl with non-stick spray). Let rise until about double in size (about an hour in a warm location). Punch dough and take out of bowl. Knead on floured surface again. Divide dough into two loaves and put in sprayed and floured bread pans. Let rise again until double in size. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Brush top with butter and put back in oven for two minutes. Remove from oven, let cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove and let loaves finish cooling.

Tip: Bread is done when it sounds hollow when tapped on.

Tip: (I got this from Betty Crocker's Cookbook) For a shiny crust: top bread with egg beaten with a little water (for added touch, sprinkle with poppy, sesame, caraway seeds or rolled oats); for a softer, deep golden crust brush with butter; for a crisp crust brush lightly with water; for a soft, tender crust brush with milk.

Homemade Strawberry Freezer Jam

This is what 16 pounds of strawberries looks like turned into freezer jam:

While my sister was in town, we made some strawberry freezer jam. I have made this for the last three years now, and we always run out before I even get close to a chance at making some more. So I've started early this year and will continue to make it throughout the season. This stuff is {SO} good, has less than half the sugar of other jams, and so very, very easy to make--all thanks to this little ingredient:

You can find it a WinCo for $1.35 or Walmart for $1.54 (Walmart only carried it for a limited time, I think).

So here's how you do it:

You'll need:
4 lbs strawberries
1.5 cups sugar
1 pkg. Ball Freezer Jam pectin
freezer containers or jars

Cut the greens off of your strawberries, then crush them in a large bowl*. In a separate bowl, mix together sugar and pectin. Stir sugar/pectin mix into strawberries. Ladle into freezer containers, leaving about 1/2 inch head space. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes to set up, then put in freezer to store.

*Every other time I've done this, I have cut up the strawberries into fourths and crushed by hand with my potato masher. This time, I cut large ones in half (left small ones whole) and used my mini-food processor to crush them. It went SOOO much faster (and it was less tiring). I love that handy little tool!

Tip: Sometimes jam doesn't set up for whatever reason. (Or so I'm told. Using this recipe, it has every single time...I'm tell you: so easy!) If that happens, don't throw it out! Use it for an ice cream topping. Also, whether the jam sets up or not, it is more than just for bread. Here's a few things we do with our homemade strawberry freezer jam:
(To give credit where credit is due, my husband is the brilliant mastermind behind quite a few of these ideas)
-Add it to smoothies
-Add it to diet or protein shakes
-Mix it in with your granola or cereal (Husband likes to do this with Chex)
-Top pancakes and waffles with it before adding syrup. I do this to sneak fruit into my two-year-old's diet.
-Add about 1/2 (maybe a little more) to white or yellow cake mix cookies (I'll post the recipe for those soon!)
-Come to think of it, you could add it to several different cookie or cake mixes
-Water it down and use it for a fruit glaze--especially great for fruit tarts

We have planted raspberries this year, so when harvest rolls around I'll have to try making Raspberry Freezer Jam, too!