Misc.

Since starting chiropractic care back in 2006, all our allergies have improved SO much.  I used to walk around sounding AWFUL.  My nose was constantly stopped-up, a lot of sneezing, nose blowing...just generally sounding real un-ladylike on a regular basis.  But now....no nose trouble.  No nose spray 24/7.  That's the biggest blessing to me.  There was more than one pregnancy, when I couldn't take anything to help my poor nose, when I would be up till 2 or 3 a.m. because I couldn't breathe.  But now, only relief.  LOVE my chiro!  We still struggle a little with tiredness during allergy season and a headache every now and then, but the improvement we have felt is too good to not be thankful these days. 

Another thing that has helped over the years has been cod liver oil.  I don't know what the deal is, but seems everyone has a big mental block where cod liver oil is concerned.  When I mention it to friends, I get, "eeeeew!  I could never take it.  It tastes awful!"  I don't get that.  If it's something that could be helpful to one's quality-of-life, why wouldn't one want to rush out to the store ASAP to get it!  I used to get sinus infections every spring and fall during allergy season.  Since starting taking it about seven years ago, I haven't had even ONE sinus infection.  My husband's high blood pressure is a thing of the past, the arthritis that was developing in my hands is gone.  I'll bet there are also other issues that have been taken care of that we don't even know about.  If you Google "cod liver oil benefits" you'll come up with some sites that have huge lists of the benefits of it.

Totally unrelated....I've finally worked out a Beans n' Rice recipe that my husband likes to eat.  Seems he's a big fan of salsa as an ingredient in things.  I first learned that with Beef Stew about a year ago.  I was out of canned tomatoes and grabbed a can of my Mom's homemade salsa as a last minute fix.  Then when I ran out of salsa and went back to regular ol' tomatoes, Darin noticed.  So back to salsa in the Beef Stew.  There's not a soul on the planet that would think that Darin Beard would ever eat Beef Stew because it has vegetables in it.  When we met, the only vege he ate was French Fries.  ;-)  But I've worn him down over the years....let's see...it's been a long haul...we'll be celebrating 19 years this August. 

Back to the Beans n' Rice.  I've been getting a tepid response from Darin every time I make it, and I just hate that.  It finally occurred to me yesterday to use salsa rather than canned tomatoes and that did the trick.  While I don't think he is in love with Beans n' Rice, he can now eat it without gagging.  ;-)  Here's my recipe if you're interested.  The great thing about this recipe is that it's fast and easy.

Beans n' Rice!

First off, I use this recipe to cook the rice.  I do it earlier in the day.  I put it in the oven while I’m taking care of lunch.  It’s SO easy and to me, less stressful than cooking it on the stovetop.

Here’s the rest... 
½ onion, chopped (or however much you want – Darin isn’t a huge fan of them in his food, so I keep it down to 1/2)
2 or 3 cloves garlic
1 - 2 t. chili powder
½ t. celery seed
½ t. pepper
16 oz. jar salsa
2 cans chili beans

The brown rice you cooked earlier.

Cook the onion and garlic in some olive oil for 5 minutes, then dump in the rest of the ingredients and heat through.  We can eat this plain, or on a tortilla with cheese and sour cream.  YUM.

Baby Food

I am a total geek.  I love to make baby food.  It all started, of course, with our first, 13 years ago.  After I had Ben, I quit my full-time job and got a part-time job at a bookstore.  Where else could a bookworm like me go? 

As an employee, I got a discount, and as a frugal gal, I scoured the Bargain Book shelves so my discount would go even farther.  One of the books I found was a Baby Food cookbook.  It freaked me out at first.  I mean, didn't babies just eat the food that came in jars from the grocery store?  I can't even remember the name of the book anymore.  I gave it away after our 3rd baby since we weren't going to have anymore kids.......I remember making things like "Tomato and Lentil Medley" (yes, they really ate it).  This book taught me how to puree the food and freeze it in ice cube trays, then store in freezer bags until needed.  Amazing. 

By the time Jack, our 3rd, was born, I was in the middle of starting up a Homeschool Support Group at our church and didn't use the cookbook.  I just pureed a bunch of veges and mixed likely ones together.  Easy.  Poor Jack.  He really has taken the brunt of things, being the 3rd and all.  God bless him.  How Darin and I should repay him for all he's had to deal with is another blog entry....

SO.  We now have Henry (#4) and Sophia (#5).   I've been giddy over the new baby food recipes I've come across.  Really, for the most part, I'm cooking smarter these days.  I'll put something like Chicken Pot Pie on the menu, double the recipe, then puree the leftovers for Sophia.  Voila!  Baby food.  It's funny....I'll feed Sophia her Chicken Pot Pie and the older kids will walk by and say, "eeeeeew!  Baby food!"  That's when I say, "You ate this for dinner last night."  ;-)

So Chicken Pot Pie, Beef Stew, Homemade Applesauce, leftover Spaghetti - those are a few things I've made work double duty.  I also steam and puree veges on their own to freeze.  And I have a new cookbook.  It's Top 100 Baby Purees.  It's a pretty good book.  I've had to make baby food for a longer amount of time with Sophia because even at 13 months, the girl only has 5 teeth.  Here's one of the latest recipes I tried from my newest book.  Sophia loves it.  If you decide to make it for your babe, double, or even triple it.  I don't know about you, but I cook for the long-term.  ;-)

Creamy Chicken and Vegetables

1 T. vegetable oil
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 med. carrots, peeled and chopped
3/4 c. sliced mushrooms
1 T. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. milk
1/2 c. chopped cooked chicken
1/4 c. grated cheddar cheese

Heat the oil in a saucepan and saute the onion and carrots for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the mushrooms and saute for 3 minutes.  Stir in the flour and continue to cook for 1 minute.  Gradually stir in the stock and the milk.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook for 5 minutes.  Stir in the chicken and cook for 1 more minute.  Remove from the heat and stir in the cheese until melted.  Either chop into small pieces or puree for your baby. 
Makes 3 servings.

 

REAL Grilled Cheese

Imagine my surprise when my 12 year old son appeared in my room the other day when I was nursing the baby and he tells me he's fixing lunch.  Grilled Cheese sandwiches.  Groovy, man.  But then he tells me they are REAL Grilled Cheese sandwiches.  I thought, "well, what else would they be?"  No.  He meant that he was grilling them on our new grill.  And you know what?  They were the best grilled cheese sandwiches I've ever had.  They had that far out grilled flavor that was perfect.  I slurped up the broth from our chicken noodle soup with my sandwich- which he also warmed up on the burner that is attached to the grill - and was in Heaven.

I'm finding that I like having this older kid around.  He's finally starting to get productive ;-) and now, in addition to spontaneous lunch making, one night each week he cooks dinner for us.  That one night is such a blessing for me.  I could literally go and go and go.  There's always so much to do around here.  So First Son taking care of dinner for me once a week has freed me up on those evenings to get some other things done.  Here's the latest thing he made.  So good!

Stromboli Sandwiches

2 lbs. ground beef
1/4 c. finely chopped onions
1 c. ketchup
1 c. tomato sauce (we just use the entire can - I mean, what are we going to do with what's left???)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. dried oregano
1/2 t. fennel seed
1/2 t. italian seasoning

Cook the beef, drain, then add in the rest!  We serve this just like sloppy joes and everyone thinks it tastes better than sloppy joes.

Comfort Food

I really love cooking for my family.  It has become quite the adventure since Third Son has learned to push a chair around the kitchen to whichever cabinet I happen to be standing at to cook.  I suck it up and play along - not always easy because he always wants to help pour and stir.  A lot of our ingredients end up on the floor, counter, or us.  ;-)

So Third Son and I have been working together to perfect a recipe that I found over at Tammy's Recipes.  I love her recipes because they are usually the kind of recipes that my family goes for.  The recipe that we finally achieved perfection on is called Farmhouse Chicken.  Talk about comfort food.  This one is the best!  After much tweaking, here is our final result:

Farmhouse Chicken

1 c. butter
1 c. flour
8 c. milk
2 lbs. chicken, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
2 celery, sliced
1/2 c. shredded swiss cheese
2 t. salt
1 1/2 t. pepper
1 1/2 t. thyme
12 oz. package stuffing mix

In a pan, melt butter and then add flour.  Stir until bubbly, then cook one minute.  Slowly add in milk, stirring continually to avoid lumps.  Add chicken, carrots, celery, cheese, salt, pepper and thyme.  Cook and stir until bubbly - about 15 minutes.
Pour mixture into 13x9 inch pan (it will be REALLY full!).  Top with stuffing.  Bake, uncovered, at 350 for 30 minutes.

I really increased the size of this recipe because of the size of my family, so if you're interested in Tammy's original measurements, go HERE.  For the 2 lbs. of chicken, I use leftover chicken from a whole, baking chicken that we usually have for dinner the night before. 

I like to serve green beans, homemade applesauce and another recipe I got from Tammy.  Pumpkin Rolls.  Another to-die-for recipe.  It's a big recipe and usually provides enough rolls for 3 meals for my family.  I made some last night, and they are so good, that Second Son claimed the biggest one for himself.  We didn't realize it, but he licked it and placed it next to the cup he had been drinking water from.  I saw the roll as I was bagging them up, so threw it in with the rest.  Then tonight at dinner my husband and I found out what he did.  Of course we told him that was not the way to treat our food, but Second Son kept on and on and on about how he was cheated out of the biggest roll and yadda, yadda, yadda.  Well.  There was one roll left and Second Son asked for it.  My husband is not one to let things just slide, so he licked the roll and passed it to Second Son who said, "You didn't really lick it!"  His timing was off.  I had the roll in my hands, so I gave it a good lick, making sure he saw it!  He is very anti-germ and refused to eat it after that.  We all got a good laugh over that one. 

Anyway, go here to get the recipe.  I didn't do any tweaking.  Although I've been making it in my KitchenAid and the amount of dough is a bit much for it.  By the time the dough was ready to set aside to rise, my poor mixer was starting to smoke from the strain.  I think next time I'll half the recipe.

Breakfast at the Beards

Breakfast is a big deal around here.  Everyone is usually hungry first thing, and it has been my goal to serve something other than cold cereal for breakfast.  There's nothing more annoying than the kids begging for snacks all morning because their Cheerios didn't stick to their ribs longer than 45 minutes. 

Here is our newest recipe.  I found it while I was looking for camping recipes and decided to make it for my crew to eat for breakfast while they were gone.  It was a huge hit and lasted both days of the campout, making breakfast a no-brainer for them.

Peanut Butter Oat Breakfast Bars

1 1/3 c. peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

1 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. butter, softened

1/2 c. honey

2 eggs

2 t. vanilla

3 cups oats (quick, or old fashioned work fine)

1 c. flour

2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

Preheat oven to 325.  Prepare a 13x9 baking pan with nonstick spray; set aside.  Cream together peanut butter, brown sugar, butter and honey.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Add dry ingredients, mixing until well combined.  Spread evenly into prepared pan and bake 30 minutes.

If you missed my last post with breakfast recipes, check it out here.

It's a Lost Art

Biscuit making.  There is NOTHING like a homemade biscuit.  I have a friend who gets Hungry Jack biscuits and I keep trying to give her my recipe, but she resists!  ;-)  Homemade biscuits take longer than Hungry Jack, and I know we're all busy, but they don't take that much longer!  And you'll reap the benefits of big grins on the faces of your husband and kids when you serve up this special treat.

Flaky Baking Powder Biscuits

2 c. unbleached, white flour
2 c. whole wheat flour (see this recipe has whole wheat flour - now you're being all healthy about it)
2 T. sugar
8 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 c. butter (no margarine - go for the real stuff)
2 eggs
1 1/3 c. milk

Mix together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Cut in butter until mixure resembles coarse meal.  Combine egg and milk.  Add to flour mixture all at once, stirring just enough to make a soft dough that sticks together.

Turn onto floured surface and knead 15 times.  Roll out, cut and put onto ungreased baking sheet for 12 minutes at 425.

I used a cookie cutter and made heart biscuits in honor of Valentine's Day.

So Happy Together

One of the blessings of being a homeschooling family is that we can sit down and eat a nice breakfast together.  I've gotten real serious about this in the last couple of years and am constantly on the lookout for some good breakfast recipes.  Cereal just doesn't stick to the ribs like a good, warm meal does.  :-) 

 

Of course I have a certain criteria that must be met for it to be considered a good breakfast recipe.  Well, only two things.  They are:

1)  It needs to be something that I can stir up in 15 minutes or less.  I do not have time in the mornings to stand over the stove cooking up a huge concoction.

2)  It needs to be healthy and filling.

 

Here are a couple of our favorites.

 

Baked Oatmeal

The day before:

Stir together

6 c. oatmeal

2 c. milk

In the morning:

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together:

4 eggs

1 c. coconut oil

2 c. brown sugar

4 t. baking powder

2 t. salt

Stir in the oatmeal-milk mixture.  Pour into an 11x15 pan (I use my Pampered Chef bar pan) and bake for 25 minutes. 

YUMMMMYYYY!

 

German Pancake

1 c. flour (I use 1/2 c. wheat flour and 1/2 c. white flour)

1 T sugar

1 c. milk

6 eggs

1 t. vanilla

 

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine ingredients in a blender.  Liberally grease a 9x13 pan with coconut oil or butter.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.

 

This one is so pretty when it comes out of the oven, but it will fall, so make sure the kids are handy when you first open the oven.  :-)  I usually make two of these for our crew.

 

If you have any breakfast recipes that you like, send them my way!