Feeling good enough to bake! YAY!

For the first time in about two months, I baked homemade bread!!! This week I baked our usual whole wheat yeast bread for sandwiches, etc. and I also tried a new recipe for a quick banana oat bread. It was a hit! Isaac loves it and I feel great about giving it to him for a snack or as part of his breakfast. Here's the recipe I used.

Like I've mentioned in my pregnancy posts, I haven't felt up to making dinner (or any meal, for that matter) for the past 6-7 weeks. I am almost 13 weeks along now, though, and am feeling SO much better in regards to the nausea, aversions, and exhaustion. I am praying that the worst is behind me!!! I plan to try and enjoy every moment of my second trimester!

Thank you Lord for my renewed energy and ability to spend time in the kitchen again! :)

Here's to cooking and baking for my family again!!!

I love my crock pot!

One of my favorite ways to cook dinner is by using my crock pot. I can cook healthy, homemade food without standing over the stove for half an hour. As you know from my post about preparing dry good mixes, I'm all about convenient ways to have healthy, natural food for my family. On days when I use my crock pot, I usually prepare the meal in the morning or around lunch time, and then I can forget about it for the rest of the day!

Today, I am making chicken and noodles in the crock pot.



My recipe is this:

Place in crock pot:
1-2 carrots, chopped
1-2 celery stalks, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cups chicken broth (I make my own whenever I buy a rotisserie chicken, and I freeze it in 3 cup servings)
2-3 teaspoons chicken bullion
1 can cream of chicken soup
1-2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken (I use chicken breasts; you can put them in whole or chopped)
1 cup bowtie noodles

Cook on low 6-8 hours OR cook on high 4 hours. This is one of those recipes that I have experimented with over time, so that's why the measurements aren't exact. Some days I feel like putting a little more of one ingredient or a little less of another... It usually always turns out great!

I can't wait to have this yummy meal on what is supposed to be a very cold night!

Lord, this weekend would be a perfect time for a snowfall! ;)

Homemade goodies

Yesterday was full of homemade food for our family! We love pizza around here, and we usually treat ourselves to a frozen Kashi pizza or, on especially crazy days, a Pizza Hut one. However, I had been wanting to make a pizza crust from scratch, using a recipe I found on Biblical Womanhood Online, so I decided to try my hand at it this week. When preparing for the meal, I decided to challenge myself and make the sauce from scratch, too. (Since we have all these little tomatoes in our backyard, I figured it would be worth a shot!)

Steven and I had rented a video to watch after Isaac went to bed (Meet the Browns by Tyler Perry - highly recommended!), and I wanted to have a treat for us to enjoy during the movie. However, we didn't have any prepared goodies, so I reached for my Nana's homemade brownie recipe and got to work on that, too!

To my surprise, everything tasted really delicious, and we enjoyed eating it all as much as I enjoyed preparing it. There's nothing like kneading your own dough and having a fresh homemade pizza...with sauce that came from the tomatoes you picked from your backyard...and yummy brownies to top it off!

Here are some pictures of the fruits of my labor. ;)

My homemade pizza sauce (lots of spices and garlic!!! I pulverized the my cherry tomatoes, added spices, garlic salt, a pressed garlic clove, and some cornstarch/water mixture and simmered for a while):


My kneaded pizza dough (using this recipe):


The pizza! (with homemade sauce, mozzerella cheese, and turkey pepperoni):


Brownie batter (tasty!):


Brownies all done!

Another yummy use for tomatoes!

My parents have grown tomatoes for the past few years in their garden, and they often make homemade salsa that is "to die for!" Since we have so many tomatoes this year, I had been researching different things to do with them when my mom and dad mentioned making salsa. With their help on the recipe, I spent Saturday morning chopping our tiny tomatoes up, along with onion, jalapeno, cilantro, and garlic. The result, after the flavors mingled in the fridge for a few hours, was a delicious fresh salsa. We are enjoying eating it with Trader Joe's Soy and Flaxseed Tortilla Chips. Yum!

Betsy's bread baking adventure

On Monday I attempted making homemade bread. My mom made homemade bread often when I was growing up, and I was so excited about bringing that wonderful bakery smell into my own home now. Well, after baking this bread, our home was indeed filled with that incredibly delectable fragrance. The bread itself was actually a great success, and -- to my surprise -- was really yummy. This particular loaf was a honey white bread. My next adventure will be to incorporate some whole wheat flour into the recipe to add some extra nutrition. However, being that this has no partially hydrogenated oils or preservatives, I feel like it's already a good start in helping our family take healthier lifestyle steps. I'm planning to start making this bread weekly instead of buying loaf bread at the store. Making the bread wasn't nearly as difficult as I had thought and it was actually fun!





What's new on my domestic adventure horizon? Making homemade yogurt and yogurt-cheese. I just read a recipe last night, and I am super-excited about trying it! It may have to wait until we're back home from the beach, though, but stay tuned for a blog about that adventure!