Harvest

Today was a great day in so many ways. I wanted to share it.

My oldest son cleaned the kitchen tonight without being asked. He really did a great job of putting away the leftovers, cleaning the stove and placing everything in its place. This may not seem like much to some but it's amazing around here. He turned 13 this spring and it would seem that I was losing touch with him. It was as though he was an add-on to the family instead of an integral piece. But he is coming back around to the family ways by the grace of God. His sense of belonging and loyal responsibility is growing. It has been a challenge at times. His emotions and passions are extreme. Would you expect anything less from the son of a drama queen and her artistic musician husband? With all humility and a desire for the greater glory of our Lord we are drawing nearer to Him together.

My second son took the swim test at the local pool today which allows visitors under 8 to dive off of the diving board. He not only passed the test with no problems but he dove off of the diving board into eleven feet of water again and again and again. He was elated. I am so proud of him for accomplishing this without any official swim lessons. He's not very daring by nature so this is a thrilling advance in his willingness to try new things and push himself beyond his comfort zone.

My oldest daughter was obedient today. When I asked her to get dressed she did it cheerfully and completely the first time I asked. This is not always the case and so I praise the Lord for allowing her to grow in her obedience to her parents. As I spend more conscious effort expecting my children's instant and cheerful compliance they grow more comfortable meeting and exceeding my expectations. They are joyful and energetic children that love to please their parents. With God's help we will continue to inspire such loving-kindness.

We also harvested our first produce from our community garden plot today. It was a bright yellow crookneck squash. Squash is not my husband's favorite vegetable but I know that it will be a meal enjoyed by our entire family. We have all worked so hard together preparing the soil, planting good seeds, feeding the soil and plants with organic food. We have kept the weeds at bay. We even tried our hand at organic composting. That is why the harvest is so cherished.

Our harvest of family responsibility, character development, obedience and squash have made today amazing in my eyes. I am in awe of how God loves me so much to allow me to reap bountifully what He has helped us sow. He is a good God.

Zucchini Brownies

Zucchini Brownies

These are very moist and great for snacking. I prefer them after they have completely cooled for a sweet treat with lots of nutrition. At around 100 calories and less than one gram of fat per brownie these are a smart choice instead of your usual chocolate indulgence.

Ingredients

3 cups zucchini -- grated

1-1/2 cups sugar

2/3 cup fat free plain yogurt

3 tsps vanilla

2 cups whole wheat flour

½ cup wheat bran

½ cup wheat germ

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsps baking powder

2 tsps baking soda

½ cup carob powder

2 T flaxseed

Directions

Preheat oven at 350. Prepare a 9X13" baking pan with cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, combine zucchini, sugar, yogurt, and vanilla.

In another mixing bowl, combine all the remaining dry ingredients.

Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients just until moistened.

Spread batter in prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Makes 24 bars.

Cover tightly and store in refrigerator.

Approximate nutritional value per brownie Calories 108; Total Fat >1 g; Protein 3 g; Total Carbs 25 g (including 3 g dietary fiber, 14 g sugar); Vitamin C 3%; Thiamin 10%; Riboflavin 7%; Niacin 7%; Vitamin B6 10%; Folate 5%; Vitamin B12 2%; Pantothenic Acid 5%; Calcium 5%; Iron 10%; Magnesium 8%; Phosphorus 14%; Potassium 4%; Sodium 12%; Zinc 8%; Copper 11%; Manganese 39%; Selenium 19%

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

These muffins are full of superfoods to promote cardiovascular health, brain health and all-around well-being. Enjoy these fresh from the oven for best results.

Ingredients

½ cup whole wheat flour

1 cup uncooked oatmeal

½ cup wheat bran

¼ all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup skim milk

2 egg whites or 1/4 cup egg substitute

¼ cup oil

¼ cup fat free yogurt

1 tablespoon lemon extract

1-1/3 cup blueberries (if using frozen, thaw first)

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line 12 2-1/2 inch muffin pan cups with paper baking cups. Spray the cups with non-stick spray.

In a medium mixing bowl, combine wheat flour, oatmeal, wheat bran, all-purpose flour, flaxseed, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix well with a spoon.

In a small bowl, combine milk, egg, oil, yogurt and lemon extract. Mix well.

Add wet mix to dry mixture and beat until well blended. Fold in blueberries.

Pour an equal amount of batter into each cup until cups are about 3/4 full. Sprinkle sugar evenly over muffins. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned and a toothpick inserted in center comes out dry.

Each muffin provides approximately 177 calories; 6 g fat ( >1 g saturated fat, 3 g monounsaturated fat, 3 g polyunsaturated fat, 713 mg Omega-3 fatty acids, 1343 mg Omega-6 fatty acids); 0.5mg Cholesterol; 241 mg Sodium; 27 g Carbohydrates( including 3.5g of Dietary Fiber and 10g Sugar); 5.5 g Protein. Daily Values Provided by one muffin are: Calcium 11%; Iron 18%; Magnesium 13%; Phosphorus 25%; Potassium 4%; Sodium 16%; Zinc 10%; Copper 17%; Manganese 53%; Selenium 15%.

(Nutrional information was calculated on nutitiondata.com)

Turkeys in an Oat Coat

I’ve found myself privileged to be able to experiment with some dietary changes for my husband. He was diagnosed with severe hypertension and I quickly researched some nutritional suggestions to help lower his blood pressure and improve his overall health. We are attempting to find a balance between reducing bad foods and increasing good foods. For example, we seek to reduce his fat intake while increasing whole grains. This recipe for Turkeys in an Oat Coat is my healthier alternative to pigs in a blanket. The turkey sausage is much lower in saturated fat than pork and the fortified baby cereal has oats which are great for heart health. This is not to mention the whole wheat flour which is a whole grain that is easy to gobble up!

Turkeys in an Oat Coat

Makes 28 wrapped sausages (You can easily half this recipe but I make the entire batch and freeze them for easy breakfasts for one or for many.)

Ingredients:

2 - Jenni-O Turkey Breakfast Sausage Links – 14 links each 14oz. package

3 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp molasses

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp salt

2 pkgs regular or quick-acting active dry yeast

2 1/4 cup very warm water (120 to 130 degrees)

4 cups Gerber Oat Baby Cereal

Oat Coat Instructions:

Mix whole wheat flour, molasses, honey, oil, salt, and yeast in large bowl. Add warm water. Beat on low speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Beat on medium speed 1 minute, scraping bowl frequently. Stir in enough of the oat cereal, 1 cup at a time, to make dough easy to handle. Depending on the humidity in the air you might also need to add in more whole wheat flour to reduce the stickiness of this dough. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead about 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Place in bowl sprayed with non-stick cooking spray; spray the top of dough with non-stick cooking spray. Cover and let rise in warm place 40 to 60 minutes or until double.

Turkeys:

While the dough rises cook the turkey links on the stovetop until golden brown and thoroughly cooked to appropriate internal temperature. Remove from pan. Drain on paper towel. Immediately place sausages into freezer until needed for assembly.

Assembly:

Dough is ready when indentation remains when touched. Lightly flour a rolling surface. Roll out half the dough into a rectangle until dough is about ¼ inch thick. Use pizza cutter to make 14 strips of dough. The rectangle and the strips do not have to be perfect. Just try to evenly distribute the dough. Remove sausage from freezer. Roll up links in dough strips until completely covered with dough on all sides and ends. Smooth dough slightly to evenly distribute dough and close all seams. Place on cookie sheet. Cover and allow to rise 20 minutes. Prepare the other half of the sausage and dough. After the first set has risen 20 minutes preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake: Bake one sheet at a time for 15 minutes or until bread coating is light golden brown.

This dough is a modification of my all-time favorite honey whole wheat bread recipe which I will post at a later date.

Culinary Creativity

My husband’s mother was a very good cook. In fact, his whole family is full of people who love to cook. His grandmother, mother and father all owned restaurants at some time. This makes him a natural born lover of food. He just didn’t know what he was getting himself into by marrying me.

My mother and father worked very hard and long hours when I was growing up. We ate a lot of hamburger helper and canned vegetables. My mother never really seemed to enjoy being in the kitchen so I didn’t learn all the secrets and tips that many women bring with them into marriage.

It’s not that I don’t know how to cook. It’s not that I don’t enjoy cooking. I just didn’t have an arsenal of information to build on when were first wed.

In the beginning of our marriage, I made my debut in creative culinary arts. One night I was making meatloaf. I was so excited because this was not something my family ate when we were growing up but Michael and I both very much enjoyed down-home country cooking. I let Michael know what I was planning and got him all excited about the evening’s meaty meal. The time came to make the meatloaf and I realized that I didn’t have any crackers or bread crumbs. We only had one car which Michael had with him at work. I couldn’t walk to the grocery store and be back in time to have dinner ready. I really wanted to please Michael’s tastes but I had no reasonable substitute for the missing ingredient.

This meatloaf had to be good. So I closed my eyes and made a surprising substitution. I chose to take a chance not knowing if it would ruin dinner or be a masterpiece.

When Michael sat down to enjoy the dinner I gave him no indication of my dilemma. I didn’t even hint that there might be anything wrong with dinner at all. I just watched him very closely for any hint of displeasure. There was nothing. He genuinely enjoyed the meal and even commented on my first big attempt at cooking.

My substitution went completely under the radar. No raised eyebrows or suspicions. That is until later that night when Michael was looking for a little snack in the cupboards.

“Hey, what happened to the rest of my Pringles?”

I had to tell him the truth and he had no objections. The meatloaf did turn out yummy.

Recently I desperately wanted to make some Magic Bars only to find that my dear husband had given the kids almost all of the graham crackers for snack. So again I had a choice to make.

I scoured the pantry to find some reduced fat Triscuits and a few packets of McDonald’s granola that I’d saved from the yogurt parfaits. (I really don’t know how I thought I was going to use these packets but I just couldn’t waste them, and they give them to me attached to the parfait.) So that’s what I used.

They were so good. The granola added a little bit of cinnamon flavor and the triscuits gave a touch of salt.

Michael didn’t notice. Most of the time he can’t tell at all. But he always gets suspicious when I ask him, “So what did you think?”

Feeding 5 for $5.51

I enjoy making every dollar the Lord blesses us with stretch to its fullest capacity. One way I do this is to try and control our grocery spending. Each time I grocery shop I spend some time picking out items with their prices reduced for quick sale.

We had a very thrifty dinner tonight that incorporated many of my latest frugal finds. Tonight’s menu was spaghetti with meat sauce, steamed vegetables, organic mixed greens and Italian sweet bread. This made plenty for our growing family of 6 (with one of them only eating a few mushy carrots) and enough pasta for everyone’s lunch tomorrow plus veggies and salad to add to Michael’s lunch.

The vegetables were bought fresh from the produce section. The hamburger meat was from a 5 pound package that has provided several meals. The bread is a much-loved family favorite that has slumbered in the freezer waiting for such a time as this. This bread tastes fresh after reheating. I simply unwrap it, pop it in the microwave with a cloth napkin on top to trap the steam and keep it moist. It goes in on defrost for 3 minutes and then on high for 1 more minute.

Ingredients:

ground beef – 1/2 pound - $0.48 CLEARANCE

whole grain pasta - $1.00 on SALE

spaghetti sauce - $0.89 with COUPON

bread – $1.39 CLEARANCE

broccoli, carrots and snap peas - $1.00 CLEARANCE

organic salad ½ pkg - $.75 CLEARANCE

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Total Cost for Dinner - $5.51

(Dinner price does not include grape juice or dressings pictured.)

This meal was relatively healthy and it fed all of us for less than the price of one McDonald's "value" meal.