We really like waffles around here and I usually make them from scratch with this recipe I've shared before. I recently found a sourdough waffle recipe that I thought I would try out with my starter. They turned out really good and hubby even said he likes them better than the ones I usually make! They taste really good with strawberries, peaches, or syrup and this recipe makes quite a few so you could freeze some for later and then pop them in the toaster when you want to use them! Also, we rarely have buttermilk in our house, so I substituted 2 Tbsp of vinegar with enough milk added to make 2 cups that I let sit for a few minutes. I mixed my flour, starter, and milk the night before and put it in the fridge so I didn't heat up the milk either and it still turned out just fine.
Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sourdough starter, at room temperature
2 cups warm buttermilk (about 100 degrees)
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, starter, and buttermilk. Mix well. Cover and let stand at room temperature for about 45 minutes (or covered and refrigerated overnight).
Beat together eggs, milk, honey, and oil. Add to flour mixture and stir until blended. Combine baking soda and salt. Stir into batter, then let stand for 5 minutes.
Bake in a pre-heated electric waffle iron. Serve immediately or let cool on racks, package airtight and freeze. Makes twelve 4-inch square waffles.
I am linking this up with Raising Homemakers and Raising Olives. Be sure to head over there to read other posts about homemaking and breakfast recipes!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Living Room Re-do
I think I mentioned a while back that I was trying to get some new curtains for our family room before we had a bridal shower here a couple weeks ago. Well, the curtain project turned into more of a room redo project. Once I got my new curtains up, it just made all the other stuff stand out that needed some fixing, mainly the gap between our ceiling and wall paneling.
So we decided it was time to get the trim put up that we've always been meaning to get up. And of course that meant the ceiling needed to be painted so it would match the trim. One thing always leads to another! But we managed to get it done in time for the shower and I think it turned out pretty good! Sorry for the bad picture though, it is hard to get a good picture with windows in that doesn't reflect the flash or have too much sunlight making it hard to see the curtains.
The curtains are actually just drop cloths that I bought at Home Depot. The guy probably thought I was kinda strange going through all their boxes of drop cloths, but I needed 4 that were all the same color. If you ever try to make these, be aware that all drop cloths are not identical! The drop cloths are nice because they are fairly inexpensive and are already hemmed around the edges! Then I just found a trim that I liked at Wal-Mart and used heat and bond hem tape to iron it on the top on the backside. I folded down the tops and used clips to hang them on the rods. Now we finally have a finished and cozy family room!
So we decided it was time to get the trim put up that we've always been meaning to get up. And of course that meant the ceiling needed to be painted so it would match the trim. One thing always leads to another! But we managed to get it done in time for the shower and I think it turned out pretty good! Sorry for the bad picture though, it is hard to get a good picture with windows in that doesn't reflect the flash or have too much sunlight making it hard to see the curtains.The curtains are actually just drop cloths that I bought at Home Depot. The guy probably thought I was kinda strange going through all their boxes of drop cloths, but I needed 4 that were all the same color. If you ever try to make these, be aware that all drop cloths are not identical! The drop cloths are nice because they are fairly inexpensive and are already hemmed around the edges! Then I just found a trim that I liked at Wal-Mart and used heat and bond hem tape to iron it on the top on the backside. I folded down the tops and used clips to hang them on the rods. Now we finally have a finished and cozy family room!Monday, August 23, 2010
Tasty Tuesday - Sourdough Crackers
If you tried making the sourdough bread I posted about last week, you will find this recipe much easier. If you haven't tried any sourdough recipes yet, this is a great one to start with because it is so easy! These crackers taste just like Wheat Thins and I think they are so delicious. They usually don't last too long at our house!
Ingredients:
1 cup sourdough starter
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup white whole wheat flour, or as much as you need to make a stiff dough
1/2 tsp sea salt
Olive oil for brushing
Coarse salt (such as kosher or sea salt) for sprinkling on top
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the sourdough and the lard and mix thoroughly. Mix the salt in with 1/4 cup flour and add to the sourdough mixture. Knead it all together in the bowl, adding as much flour as necessary to make a stiff dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or put a lid on the bowl to prevent it from drying out. Leave the dough at room temperature for at least seven hours.
Ingredients:
1 cup sourdough starter
1/4 cup softened butter
1 cup white whole wheat flour, or as much as you need to make a stiff dough
1/2 tsp sea salt
Olive oil for brushing
Coarse salt (such as kosher or sea salt) for sprinkling on top
Directions:
In a large bowl, combine the sourdough and the lard and mix thoroughly. Mix the salt in with 1/4 cup flour and add to the sourdough mixture. Knead it all together in the bowl, adding as much flour as necessary to make a stiff dough. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or put a lid on the bowl to prevent it from drying out. Leave the dough at room temperature for at least seven hours.
Seven or more hours later, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Take a small portion of the dough (about 1/4 cup) and roll it out on a nonstick baking mat or parchment paper using a rolling pin, until it is very thin. Sometimes my dough is a little to stick and I have to use a little flour on the rolling pin.
Pour a little bit of olive oil on the rolled out dough and spread it to the edges of the dough with a pastry brush or your hand. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
Cut the dough vertically and horizontally into squares with a pizza cutter. Transfer the baking mat or paper onto your baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until just golden brown. Repeat in batches. The crackers shrink a little bit in the oven, so when you pull out your baking sheet, they will already be separated.
If you don't want to make all of the crackers in one day, the dough can be frozen in 1/4 cup amounts and then you can just pull out one or more and bake up a fresh batch when you want it!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tasty Tuesday - Sourdough Bread
Well, here is my first sourdough recipe to use with the starter I posted about last week. I have been making this recipe 1-2 times a week and have been having great success with it. If this is the first time you are using your starter, your bread might not turn out as well as you would like. The first time or two my bread didn't rise very well, but the starter gets better with age and the more you use it, so don't give up!
First you will need to take out 1 1/2 cups of your starter and let it come to room temperature. Don't forget to replace it with flour and warm water and let your starter sit in a warm place again before returning it to the fridge.
After your starter has warmed up, you are ready to begin! First mix 2 cups of bread flour and 1 package (or 2 1/4 tsp) of active dry yeast in the mixer. Then add 1 cup of very warm water (120-130 degrees) and your starter. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Then mix on high speed 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Next, add 1 tsp of salt and 1 1/4-2 1/4 more cups of flour, enough to make a soft dough. I have found that my bread turns out better if I leave the dough fairly sticky and should look like this:
If you have a mixer with a dough hook, that is the easiest way to knead your dough. Let it knead for 2 more minutes. If you don't have one, knead on a lightly floured surface for about 8 minutes. Then place in a greased bowl and turn to grease the top. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm place 30-60 minutes or until double.
Grease 2 loaf pans and sprinkle the bottoms with cornmeal. Punch the dough down, knead it for a minute or two, and divide in half. Roll each piece in to a 18x9 rectangle on a floured surface.
Roll tightly beginning on a 9 inch side then pinch the seams and ends to seal. Cover loosely with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray and let rise in a warm place 30-45 minutes or until double.
I hope yours turn out how you like them, but if not, don't give up! Keep trying until you get it, it is worth it! Next up to share with you will hopefully be a sourdough cracker recipe that I tried and loved, and soon I want to try a whole wheat sourdough bread recipe and will share how that goes once I do.
First you will need to take out 1 1/2 cups of your starter and let it come to room temperature. Don't forget to replace it with flour and warm water and let your starter sit in a warm place again before returning it to the fridge.
After your starter has warmed up, you are ready to begin! First mix 2 cups of bread flour and 1 package (or 2 1/4 tsp) of active dry yeast in the mixer. Then add 1 cup of very warm water (120-130 degrees) and your starter. Mix on medium speed for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Then mix on high speed 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Next, add 1 tsp of salt and 1 1/4-2 1/4 more cups of flour, enough to make a soft dough. I have found that my bread turns out better if I leave the dough fairly sticky and should look like this:
If you have a mixer with a dough hook, that is the easiest way to knead your dough. Let it knead for 2 more minutes. If you don't have one, knead on a lightly floured surface for about 8 minutes. Then place in a greased bowl and turn to grease the top. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm place 30-60 minutes or until double. Grease 2 loaf pans and sprinkle the bottoms with cornmeal. Punch the dough down, knead it for a minute or two, and divide in half. Roll each piece in to a 18x9 rectangle on a floured surface.Roll tightly beginning on a 9 inch side then pinch the seams and ends to seal. Cover loosely with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray and let rise in a warm place 30-45 minutes or until double.Before rising:
Heat your oven to 400 degrees and carefully cut three or four 1/4 inch diagonal slashed in the top of each loaf with a serrated knife. Bake the loaves for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool.
I hope yours turn out how you like them, but if not, don't give up! Keep trying until you get it, it is worth it! Next up to share with you will hopefully be a sourdough cracker recipe that I tried and loved, and soon I want to try a whole wheat sourdough bread recipe and will share how that goes once I do.
Friday, August 13, 2010
The Secret to Really Good French Toast
I have never really liked french toast all that much. I don't like the soggy bread taste. Recently I have come to love it however, after a little trick I learned to get it a little crispy instead. I thought I would share it with you since it is such a quick, easy breakfast that kids usually love. Before you dip your piece of bread in the egg/milk mixture, spread a little butter on each side. This prevents so much of the mixture from being absorbed into the bread. Then fry on your griddle or frying pan as usual. It should be a little crispy when done! I have also found that this works even better on homemade bread than store bought. Enjoy! (Unless you are like my hubby who loves the soggier version much better and even adds extra egg/milk mixture to his slices!)
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Do You Use Swagbucks?
Have you ever heard of Swagbucks? I have been using Swagbucks for a while now and have been earning a lot of free stuff, just for using my computer! It is a search engine (similar to Google) that randomly rewards you with Swagbucks for using it. They have a Swag store with tons of items and gift cards that you can purchase with your swagbucks. One of the gift cards is a $5 Amazon cards and this is what I have found to be the best value, so that is what I always purchase when I get enough (450) saved up. I usually earn enough to purchase at least 2 of these a month! That's $10 free that I can use for anything on Amazon! Here are just a few of the things I have purchase with them so far:
It is great for getting "fun" stuff for the kids for school or gifts!
The easiest way to earn swagbucks is by using their toolbar. You just have to down load it and it will appear at the top of your internet screen. Then when you need to search for something, use it and you may randomly be awarded swagbucks in amounts anywhere from 5-50! I also use it for getting to facebook, email, etc instead of having them on my favorites list or typing in the whole address. I just type facebook and it searches facebook sites and then I just have to click on the one I want. It's really only one extra step and the prizes have been worth it! You can also go to their homepage and search from there or check out their other ways to earn, their blog, twitter, or facebook page for codes to enter and earn swagbucks.
If you want to sign up, and you use my referral link, I will also earn some swagbucks, so I would love it if you would! Also, for anyone who creates a new Swagbucks account before midnight on August 15th,you will get an extra 40 swagbucks if you enter the code BackToSchool. You always get 30 when signing up, so that will be a total of 70!
So what are you waiting for?!? Start Swagging and earning some great prizes!!!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Tasty Tuesday - Sourdough Starter
I really like making my own bread, but most of the recipes that I've tried end up too heavy and the kids don't want to eat it. A while back I decided to give sourdough bread a try because I love sourdough, but hate paying the high prices the stores charge for it. I also have read that sourdough is supposed to be healthier for you, so maybe this will help me eat better and keep my blood test levels down. The first thing you need to do to make sourdough though, is to get a starter going. Here is the recipe that I used and so far have had great success with it.
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour
1 package (2 1/4 tsp) regular or quick active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
Directions:
Mix flour and yeast in 4 quart or larger container. Gradually beat in water until smooth. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand in warm place 2-4 days until bubbly and sour smelling. Transfer to 2 quart or larger container with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate.
Your container doesn't need to be anything fancy. I reuse old food containers because after a while the starter starts to build up on the sides of the container and every once in a while I can just transfer the starter to a new one and toss the old one. Here is what my current one looks like:
The starter needs to be kept active by feeding or replenishing at least once a week. If you use some for baking, replace that with equal amounts of flour and warm water. For example if you use 1 cup starter, replace it with 1 cup flour and 1 cup warm water. If you don't use any for a while, you will need to feed it once a week at least by stirring in 1 Tbsp flour and 1 Tbsp warm water until smooth. After replenishing or feeding, you need to cover it loosely and let stand in a warm place 12-24 hours. Then cover tightly and refrigerate again. Here is what it should look like after sitting in a warm place for a while, nice and bubbly:
After it sits in the fridge for a while, it will begin to separate and not look so good, but you just need to stir it up until it is all blended again. As long as you store it in the fridge and keep feeding it, your starter could last you a long time. I've even heard that some bakeries have used the same starter for hundreds of years!
Hopefully I will get a few sourdough recipes that I've tried posted soon so you can start using your starter if you decide to give it a try!
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups bread or all-purpose flour
1 package (2 1/4 tsp) regular or quick active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (105-115 degrees)
Directions:
Mix flour and yeast in 4 quart or larger container. Gradually beat in water until smooth. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let stand in warm place 2-4 days until bubbly and sour smelling. Transfer to 2 quart or larger container with a tight fitting lid. Refrigerate.
Your container doesn't need to be anything fancy. I reuse old food containers because after a while the starter starts to build up on the sides of the container and every once in a while I can just transfer the starter to a new one and toss the old one. Here is what my current one looks like:
The starter needs to be kept active by feeding or replenishing at least once a week. If you use some for baking, replace that with equal amounts of flour and warm water. For example if you use 1 cup starter, replace it with 1 cup flour and 1 cup warm water. If you don't use any for a while, you will need to feed it once a week at least by stirring in 1 Tbsp flour and 1 Tbsp warm water until smooth. After replenishing or feeding, you need to cover it loosely and let stand in a warm place 12-24 hours. Then cover tightly and refrigerate again. Here is what it should look like after sitting in a warm place for a while, nice and bubbly: After it sits in the fridge for a while, it will begin to separate and not look so good, but you just need to stir it up until it is all blended again. As long as you store it in the fridge and keep feeding it, your starter could last you a long time. I've even heard that some bakeries have used the same starter for hundreds of years!Hopefully I will get a few sourdough recipes that I've tried posted soon so you can start using your starter if you decide to give it a try!
Please leave me a comment and share your favorite recipe so I can try out some new ones!
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
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This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.
To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org
This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact munchkinfarm at juno dot com.
This blog does not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship, or paid topic insertions. However, we will and do accept and keep free products, services, travel, event tickets, and other forms of compensation from companies and organizations.
This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.
The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.
This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.
To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.org
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