Our Favorite Fall Desserts

Below you will find 2 of our favorite Fall desserts.  These 2 recipes we entered into a Fall Baking contest and both recipes took home the top prize!

The first one I've blogged about before, but I love this recipe for Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Since I'm trying to reduce our wheat consumption, I used rice flour in this recipe and the cookies were just as delicious (no one even knew).

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies inspired from the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

1 egg, beaten

½ cup butter softened

½ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup honey

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

Combine in large bowl.

1 cup white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

Combine in a separate, small bowl and blend into liquid mixture

1 cup finely shredded zucchini

12 oz chocolate chips

Stir these into other ingredients, mix well. Drop by spoonful onto greased baking sheet, and flatten with the back of a spoon. Bake at 350°, 10 to 15 minutes.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies

• Download the Recipe PDF

 

 

Lastly, Greta and I entered this Pumpkin Spice Roll into the Cable Fall Fest and took home a pretty sweet top prize!

 

Ingredients - PUMPKIN ROLL - inspired by an old Libby's recipe

• CAKE
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup real pumpkin
• 1 cup pecans (we like to crisp our pecans first)
• FILLING
• 1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar

Directions

FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan. Sprinkle with nuts.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Re roll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

COOKING TIP:Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Pumpkin Roll

Now is the time to start drying herbs too so today I started with basil.  Basil is pretty wet, so the best way to dry basil is to place it in a paper bag, and place it in the fridge standing upright.  I did this last year too and I had amazing dried basil to cook with all year.

Basil - hanging out in the fridge this week

My flowers are also still amazing which is pretty incredible for this time of year. 
 This year I planted most of our hanging baskets myself and they were just as beautiful as the ones I purchased pre-filled.  I also picked more Zinnia's and Dahlia's from the garden tonight too.

My Window Boxes - Still Beautiful in October

Most of our week and weekend was filled with Homecoming activities and I'm a little worn out from it all.

What did you do this weekend?  What is your favorite Fall dessert recipe?

Thanks for reading!
Kristin 

The Ups and Downs of September

Since I was slow to blog in September, I decided to summarize the month in pictures.

My birthday was quiet but the biggest and best surprise of all was my Grandma's recipe boxes AND Grandma's recipes from my Aunt Paula - what a wonderful surprise.

My Grandma's Recipe Boxes
Notice the first recipe is "Pigeon Church Lefse" - YUM!

The first day of school was really rough for everyone.  Here's the actual pictures which I never dared to share on Facebook when everyone else's kids looked so dang happy.



Graham's first day of high school - no chance he'd smile for me

Mom, no pictures today please
Notice, no picture of Gus - he was the one who would've smiled for me!

In their defense, the kids were moving into a new school and I know for a fact they were nervous. 

But, by the 3rd day of school we got everything figured out again:

The 3 G's - ready for school!

Graham started the football season off with a bang and did a FANTASTIC job on offense and defense and we LOVED watching him play.

Then he broke his arm playing football and will be in a cast until mid-December.

We went camping at Twin Lakes Campground in Drummond (OMG, beautiful) and had a great time except our tent collapsed during a rain storm one night and we had to head home in the middle of the night.  Good thing we were close to home.

Our tent collapsed as we were trying to sleep.  Too funny.

My cousin and I saw the ABSOLUTELY amazing band the Indigo Girls at the Big Tent.  There's something magical about Big Top Chautaqua in Bayfield and I can't wait to go back next year.  And the Indigo Girls just rocked the house.  AMAZING!!!

Erinn and I pre-concert - catching up by Lake Superior
I'm so lucky to have such an awesome cousin!

I finished my first marathon!!!!  Read about my marathon here.

26.2 - done!

Gus won a hula hoop contest at Fall Fest in Hayward.

Hula Hoop winner!  We do not even own a hula hoop but we'll have to get one!!

Greta won a baking contest at the Cable Fall Fest (more on that next week).

Greta with her prizes for winning the baking contest

Plus we did a ton of canning, cooking, gardening and went to many Varsity Football games (Greta cheered one night).  My favorite recipe for September:    Zucchini Crust Pizza.   And now we are ready for Fall!!!

What's your favorite part of Fall?

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

Zuchinni Crust Pizza

I've tried a lot of recipes over the last month with my in-season veggies from my garden, but as I mentioned earlier - my marathon focus (story here...) prevented me from actually taking a picture and blogging.  But, one recipe that was my absolute favorite:  Zucchini Crust Pizza.

I read the book Wheat Belly over the last month and it really convinced me that I need to reduce my wheat / gluten consumption so I'm always looking for gluten free recipes and this one fit the bill.  I tweaked it to fit the ingredients I had on hand.

Here it goes:

Ingredients

• 2 cups zucchini, finely grated, lightly packed
• ½-3/4 cup rice flour (or regular flour)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil (or vegetable)
• ½ teaspoon oregano
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ⅛ teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Place the grated zucchini in a strainer.
2. Sprinkle the zucchini with some salt, toss it to disperse.
3. Place the strainer over a large bowl, and let the zucchini drain for about 30 minutes.
4. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
5. Place the grated zucchini into a dry dish towel, and wring the towel over the sink until the water from the zucchini is squeezed out.
6. Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
7. Add flour as needed to make a dough (not too wet, not too dry).
8. On a parchment-lined baking sheet, spread the zucchini mix out into an oval shape. I use a fork to do this, and I press it down to compact it as well.
9. Place the pan on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for 20 minutes.

1. Remove the crust.
2. Turn the oven up to 500 degrees.
3. Top the pizza with sauce and cheese, vegetables (I used artichokes and olives)
4. Place the pan back into the oven on the bottom rack and bake for 3-4 minutes. Again, place the pan on the top rack for about 2 minutes.
5. Remove and let cool for 5-10 minutes to let everything set.

Zucchini Crust Pizza - baked on my Grandma's pan


This picture does not do this recipe justice but I have to tell you we LOVED it!!!  And, it's a good way to get rid of that extra zucchini.

Happy Saturday!
Kristin
 

My First Marathon - Check

I can finally check a marathon off my bucket list (woohoo!).   I did not just complete any marathon, but a SUPER hilly challenging course unlike any other called the American Birkebeiner Train Run.  The elevation is equivalent to climbing the Empire State Building 3 times in 26.2 miles - yup there's some crazy-steep hills!!

This race meant so much to me for so many reasons.  I was never athletic in high school or college and up until 5 years ago, I had never run before.  I'm 43, work full-time with 3 busy kids and I certainly do not have the body shape of your typical marathoner.  But, I took the risk, signed up, trained and I did it.  Now, if I can run a marathon I believe that anything is possible and I'll never underestimate myself again.

Here's my tips on how to meet your fitness goal:

1.  Schedule it:   if you have you it written in your schedule you have a better chance of not filling your time with other stuff.  And don't fool yourself, your physical health is extremely important and you need to take care of yourself. 

I prefer to workout first thing in the morning before my day gets filled up with other stuff AND I do not want to give myself a lot of time to think about that 20 mile run.  If you get up, meet your partners, and get to it you are more likely to make it happen.  On one of our 18 milers we met for the car drop off around 4:30 a.m.  Yes, it kinda' sucked but we got it done.

2.  Partner up:  meeting up with friends to exercise makes your time more enjoyable, you are accountable to show up, and it's the best free therapy you could ever ask for.  Also, my running friends were so supportive and also gave me the best tips from nutrition, sports bras to shoes.  Luckily my friend Stacey agreed to take on this crazy challenge with me (even though she's much faster it worked well to train together).

Stacey and me pre-marathon!

3.  Sign up:  by signing up a race you are committed to figure out a training plan.  Having friends to sign up for something similar also helps. 

4.  Switch things up:  living in Wisconsin means I have 4 glorious seasons and I change my workout schedule 4 times a year.  For this marathon, I only ran 3 times a week and the other 3 days I biked, swam or participated in yoga.  For me, running 3 times a week seems to be the magic number.  Last year I ran more and ended up with an injury.   Of course you have to do what works for you.

And here's what I learned from my marathon training:

1.  Perseverance!!!  Seriously, I almost quite training for the marathon after a bad 11 mile run and then a bad 13 mile run.   My friend Colleen paced me on the next 14 mile run and I found success - I felt great!  Had I quit after those 2 bad runs I never would have met my goal of being a Birkie Warrior.

2.  Focus:  While I usually have my eye on some sort of a goal, I have never experienced focus like I experienced for this marathon.  The marathon seemed to be all I could think about. The Sunday after the race I literally felt like I woke up from a dream / nap.  I looked around and realized so many areas I had let slide because my focus had been so laser sharp.  I had paid the mortgage and electricity, fed my kids and made sure they had clean underwear - BUT that's about it!  Everything else I had really let slide (including my blog)..  Let's just say I have a lot of make-up work to do BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!

3.  Pacing works:  For the Birkie Trail Marathon they have some tight cut off times in place, and I had a lot of anxiety about making the cut.  So, the morning before the race I wrote down the times I needed to safely make the cut-off points (i.e. - mile 3 - 8:35 am, mile 5 - 9:07 am, etc.).  Not only did this ease my anxiety, but as I reached each 2 mile spot on track or ahead of schedule I gave myself an internal high five.  Plus it was a great distraction. 

My Pacing Arms - thanks for Amy Rowley for taking the pic!

4.  I have so much to be grateful for:   I'm mostly grateful for all of my Ski and Tea sisters that stuck around to see me finish.  My marathon was slow and I had many of my ski and tea sisters that completed other races that day and they either met me on the trail or cheered me in at the end.  Chad had to work and I had to get a babysitter for my kids so I didn't expect to see anyone at the finish but instead I had running friends who cheered me through the finish line.  Dang, I'm blessed and I'm so grateful to those of you that cheered me on that day or sent me energy from afar.

So, what's your goal?  After my marathon experience, I really believe that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.

Have a great weekend!!

Kristin

Training For My First Marathon

My personal bucket list has included running a marathon, and since I'm not get any younger I signed up (along with my friend Stacey).  I've been training for this event for MONTHS but I did not dare post because when I started training I wasn't sure physically I'd be able to run 26.2 hilly miles.  But less than a month away, I'm fairly confident I can do it.  And let me tell you, I'm a citizen athlete and this is a really big freaking deal for me.

Found this on Facebook and found it quite appropriate

Below you will find a sample of my weekly training plan, but what I've found is that running 3 days a week and biking or yoga the other days has left me feeling physically better than I have in a long time (don't want to gooch myself - but I'm feeling fantastic unless there's heat involved). 

I'm no expert but here's MY TRAINING LESSONS:

1.  Hydration

What I've learned this year is that I need to drink 10 glasses of water the day before my long run, and by drinking Gatorade or Nun during my run I feel properly hydrated.  If I start with a hydration deficit, I've learned that the run will be difficult or impossible.  Before my long runs I also eat 1 tablespoon of chia seeds which helps maintain blood sugar and helps maintain hydration.

2.  Eating

Sharkies Organic Chewies works best for me during a long run and I eat after the first hour and every 1/2 hour thereafter and this works great for me.

3.  Running with friends

Without the support of my running friends this race would not be possible.  Running friends have tagged along with me on these long runs, shuttled cars, brought extra water so I wouldn't have to carry so much, provided encouragement and their support has been invaluable.  Having company when you are out there running a trail for hours is absolutely critical for my success.  Usually by about mile 10 I'm not very talkative so I'm probably not the best company but I'm forever grateful (you know who you are).

4.  Sign up

I've said this before, but once you sign up for a race you are committed to follow a training plan - trust me, this works.   Luckily, my friend Stacey signed up for the race too so we've been following the same plan.   

5.  Anything is possible

My Spring workout schedule was very strange for me this year.  Normally, I transition from the Birkie ski race right into running and biking, but we had snow into May this year so I didn't start running until the 3rd week in May.  When I started running, I had to stop and walk during a 5 mile flat run with friends.  Thursday, I ran an 18 miler on the hilly Birkie trail.  Goes to show you, that if you follow a training plan anything is possible.  Honestly, up until recently I've said, "I could never run a marathon" and really believed it - but here I am!!

6.  Marathon training takes a lot of time

On the days of my long run, I can't help but feel a little guilty because the entire day is pretty much a "me day".  I'll spend hours running and many days when I get home I'm not exactly energetic.  I purposely have NOTHING planned the days of my long runs, because mentally when I'm running long I like to know that I have the freedom to go home and nap if I need to.   Mentally this is an important part of the process for me.

7.  Running in the heat is hard

Out of all my long runs, I've had 2 really ugly runs.  Both of them included high heat, humidity and massive amount of bugs.  On those 2 days, I seriously questioned whether or not I could run a marathon but on both of those days the humidity was at 90% and apparently that's a problem for me.  Lesson learned.  My 1 hour run today at 77 degrees was almost harder than my 18 mile run on Thursday at 45 degrees.  Isn't that crazy? 

8.  Hills

As I've mentioned before, the Birkie trail is a very hilly course but one thing that has helped me has been to keep my head up by looking up the hill (your head weighs 10 pounds), keep your butt in (pelvis up), and swing your arms completely parallel to your body.  Once I get tired, the super steep hills start feeling like I'm leg pressing 130 pounds and my thighs burn but by keeping my head up, swinging my arms and tilting my pelvis in it helps a bit.  Sounds fun, huh?

THIS WEEKS PLAN:

Sunday:  Run 6 - 7 miles
Monday:  Yoga - 1 hour
Tuesday:  Rest
Wednesday:  Run 20 miles (Gravel Pit to Telemark on the Birkie)
Thursday:  Rest
Friday:  Run 8 miles
Saturday:  Bike for 1 1/2 hours

Other than Wednesday, the plan is not really that bad and I've worked up to the long runs over the past few months.  Trust me, if I can do this anyone can. 

Thanks Honest Tea for the great reminder

Physically this will be challenging, but my biggest anxiety lies in the cut-off times.  Unfortunately, the cut-off times mean I'm going to have to hustle.  And, I've been telling myself if by chance I don't make the cut-offs, I know that I've followed the training plan and given it my best effort.   Hopefully I'll have a successful MARATHON post in less than a month!

And on a another note, I took the kids to Chicago to do all the touristy things you do in Chicago and we had the best time ever.  Once we got back, I asked the kids the highlights:  Gustaf said he loved the subway, Greta loved to watch the fashions, and Graham loved the Shedd Aquarium.  Chad had to work so he missed it this time, but we hope to get back soon.  We stayed at the amazing Silversmith Hotel in downtown because I found a screaming deal from Groupon.  

Chicago 2013 - EXTREME HAPPINESS RIGHT HERE!!!!

Have you taken a summer vacation yet?  What lessons have learned this training season?

Thanks for reading!

Kristin

Fermented Foods

With all the experiments going on in my kitchen, you'd almost think I'm getting ready to host a science fair.   On the top of the fridge I have my beloved kombucha, on my counter I have 3 stages of bread fermenting, and I started my own wine (mead).    So, what's with my new obsession with fermented foods?

Sour Dough Starter in my Grandma's Bowl

Last week I read Micheal Pollan's new book called Cooked.  Quite honestly, I really did not enjoy the first half of the book but in the last half he discussed the important of fermented foods. I've mentioned before that mentally and physically I started feeling amazing the day I started my kombucha addiction.  Well, Pollan sites many sources in his book which again emphasizes the importance of those live foods.  And because of the book I became inspired to try and conquer three new fermented foods:  Country Loaf Bread, Home-made wine (Mead), and Sauerkraut.


COUNTRY LOAF BREAD

Now, I'm not going to lie this bread was a lot of work and I slaved over this bread for 10 days (making my own sour dough starter, etc.) and as of to date I have yet to fully master Pollan's multi-grain bread.  The recipe is literally 10 pages long and if you are crazy enough to attempt this recipe you can google Micheal Pollan's recipe.  For years I've been wanting to master my own whole grain bread, and I'm getting closer!

My attempt at multi-grain bread

MEAD

Making Mead could not be easier not more delicious.  Basically, you add 1 part honey to 4 parts water, cover with an air lock (or a balloon or condom will work too - seriously) and wait for 3 weeks.  Delicious, sweet low alcohol wine with lots of good bacteria for your belly, mind and spirit.

My garden is REALLy producing right now.  I just picked 50 jalapenos which I pickled.

As for the sauerkraut, I'm ready to go but I'm waiting for my cabbage harvest.

Leaving for a little summer vacation to Chicago.  Do you have a summer trip planned?

Kristin

Garden Update - 2013

"Be as simple as you can be;  you will be astonished to see how uncomplicated and happy your life can become." Paramahansa Togananda.  When I started to analyze why I have not been blogging quite as much, this quote seemed to fit.  If I give myself the chance to slow down, breathe, laugh with my kids, and dance to the music I can find great joy.  And with 3 kids and a full-time job sometimes slowing down can be difficult but the payoffs are huge.

My garden is my happy place and right now we have a VERY prolific garden which includes broccoli, 30 pepper plants (wide variety of peppers), 40 tomato plants, pumpkins, zucchini, cucumbers, sweet peas, green beans, asparagus, zinnias, sunflowers and cauliflower. 

Here's a picture of the garden on June 20th:

Greta on June 20th - the skeets were REALLY bad that day

Six weeks later:

Greta in the same spot 6 weeks later - wow!

I'm 5 foot 6 and many of the tomato plants are taller than me

 

 

 

My tomato plants include a WIDE variety of heirlooms. 
This tomato plant is called a BORAGE.  It started out as a runt but with some
organic fertilizer and TLC it was soon over 5 feet tall.  The flowers are purple, lavender and occasionally hot pink.  I can't wait to see the end product.  By far this is my favorite plant in the garden.

 

Today's harvest includes a bunch of different peppers, broccoli and sweet peas featured on my Grandma's platter

Green beans have been abundant this year so I was able to preserve a bunch (pressure canning) for the winter.

Some of my favorite things in the world include running with friends, reading by the fire (it's cold here today), taking a little nap, laughing with the family, and gardening and I've had all that today so I'm feeling pretty darn blessed.  What are your favorite things?  How's your garden?

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

Bi-Monthly Book Review

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”    Doesn't this quote sum it up?  I'm not sure who wrote it but I love it.

Below you will find the books I've read over the past 2 months - 1 is the lowest score and 5 is the highest.

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn - 5 stars

-Charles William Eliot

 

As you know, I'm a total reading fanatic and when I am without a book I feel lost.   The quote above really captures how I feel about reading.  Often I hear, "how do you have time to read?" to which I reply:  "I do not watch tv, movies, and I read every night before I go to bed to prepare me for sleep." 

 

Before I digress anymore, here's my list of books:

 

Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern

The story of 2 lovestruck magicians and their adventures in the night circus.

 

Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn 

Very entertaining mystery with a psychological twist.  Highly recommend.

Women, Food and God, Geneen Roth - 2 stars
Non-fiction read on how to connect to your true hunger. 

Night Circus, Erin Morgenstein - 2 stars
Two lovestruck magicians are engaged in a night time circus.  For some reason I didn't love this book.

The Woodcutter, Reginald Hill - 3 1/2 stars
A very interesting novel about a man, the woodcutter, and his adventures.  Very good book but it took me a full month to finish it (kinda' long).

Sugar, Salt and Fat, Micheal Moss - 4 stars
A non-fiction book about how the food giants add sugar, salt and fat to make us eat more (hence, buy more).

Brotherhood, Deepak and Sanjiv Chopra - 1/2 star
True story about Deepak and his brother Sanjiiv growing up in India but I did not care for the writing.

Let's Pretend This Never Happened, Jenny Lawson -5 stars
A mostly true story about this quirky, hilarious blogger - LOVE!  Warning though - she swears a lot so I'd skip this book if that bothers you.

I haven't been blogging much because I've been spending all my time preparing for Graham's confirmation party, watching the boy's baseball games, gardening and work. 

Our Family Picture at Graham's confirmation - poor Gus is getting squished!

That's it for my review:  I'd run out and read Gone Girl and Let's Pretend This Never Happened if I were you!

What book are you reading?  I'd love to hear.

Thanks,

Kristin

More Asparagus

The asparagus season will be done by the end of this week, but luckily we pickled asparagus (recipe here) that we'll be able to enjoy this winter.  This week we tried a few new delicious asparagus recipes including asparagus hummus and asparagus egg frittata.

 

 

 

Hummus and Veggies on my Grandma's platter

I just read a book that I found enlightening and frightening called Sugar, Salt and Fat.  In the book you learn quickly that every food that is not whole or home-made basically contains crap ingredients (with a few exceptions) - even HUMMUS.  Now, I am a hummus freak and was shocked that the brand of hummus I've been eating for years contains GMO's (genetically modified organisms) so I'm determined to start making my own with in-season ingredients and you can find this recipe here.

Asparagus Frittata on my Grandma's dishes

This picture does not do this frittata justice, but it was quite delicious and the leftovers were even better.  Both times I covered this delicious egg bake with my home-made salsa (yum, yum).

ASPARAGUS FRITTATA

Garlic
Onion
Salt and Pepper
3 eggs
1/2 pound asparagus
3 large eggs
1/3 cup cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Saute onion and garlic until onion is clear.   Add asparagus and cook for about 3 minutes and add eggs.  Cook until the eggs are almost done, add salt and pepper, cheese and cook in the oven until the cheese is melted.  Delicious.

 

 

 

Greta's Room after a major purge session


We're still on track with  2013 Project Organization and this month we re-organized Greta's room.  I had a before pic (OMG) but it magically disappeared.  The other great thing is that I was almost out of items to sell on Ebay and by going through her room I discovered many items to sell and to donate. 


What's your favorite asparagus recipe?  If I get a chance, I hope to try another asparagus soup but I'm losing out on my window of opportunity.  I planted 13 asparagus plants though this Spring and they are thriving - I'm so happy.

Happy Sunday,

Kristin

 

Rhubarb Recipes

Now is the time to pick your rhubarb - wait a few more weeks and you will find your rhubarb to be too bitter.   The proper way to pick rhubarb is to reach down to the root and twist and the stalk easily releases.  When you cut rhubarb with a knife or scissors, you can harm the remaining stalks.

Not only is rhubarb delicious, it also has amazing health benefits that includes:

• Builds strong bones and teeth
• lowers cholesterol
• good source of fiber
• maintains a regular digestive system
• builds a healthy immune system
• prevents diabetes (high in vitamin K)

In years past I've made all sorts of different rhubarb recipes including rhubarb salsa, rhubarb salad and rhubarb salad dressing found here.    But this year, I've remained faithful to 2 different delicious recipes including rhubarb smoothies and rhubarb pie.

RHUBARB SMOOTHIE:

1 cup of rhubarb
1 cup of strawberries
1 cup of old fashioned oats or cooked quinoa
2 cups of milk / or soy milk
1 tablespoon of flaxseed
1/3 cup honey or agave nectar

Throw in a blender and combine.  You can also add spinach.

Rhubarb Smoothies in my Grandma's dishes

My Great Aunt Helen (founder of the Norske Nook)  has another winning recipe that we ALL love - rhubarb pie. 

Aunt Helen's Rhubarb Pie

4 - 5 cups fresh rhubarb
2 cups of sugar (or 1 cup sugar 3/4 cup stevia)
1/3 cup flour
3 eggs
1 double crust
4 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 350.  Place the rhubarb in a large bowl.  Poor the sugar over, add the flour and nutmeg, and mix it together.

Using your hands, in the center of this mixture, make a well for the eggs.  Crack the eggs into the well and beat them with a fork.

When the eggs are mixed, gradually blend them into the rhubarb and flour mixture until the rhubarb is partially covered.

Add the filling into the pie crust and dot with thinly sliced butter. 

Cover with the top crust and slit.  Sprinkle with a little sugar.  Bake for around 1 hour.

Place a pan underneath because it might bubble over.

Rhubarb Pie on my Grandma's China - LOVE lilacs!!!!

I'm in the market for rhubarb - I'd like to make some rhubarb sauce and can for a later date but I've used up all my plants so let me know if you know where I can get some.  Yes, I checked the farmers market but didn't have any luck.

What are you making with rhubarb these days??

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

The 2013 Summer Bucket List

Wooohoo!  Summer has made it to Northern Wisconsin.  Just this week I stowed away the winter jackets, hats and mitts.  Hopefully we won't need them for a few months.

With summer vacation comes our annual bucket list.  Without a summer bucket list, it is pretty easy be consumed by the busyness of day to day life (laundry, vacuuming, etc.) but with the bucket list in hand we have a plan to experience as much as possible.  Life is short, so we are going to live it up. 

• Como Zoo
• Mini Golfing
• Go Carting
• Valleyfair Amusement Park
• Concert at Big Top Chautaqua
• Copper Falls
• Pioneer Village in Cameron
• Noah's Ark in Wisconsin Dells
• Picnic in the rose gardens in Duluth
• Beach day on Madeline Island
• Berry picking in Bayfield
• Beach day at Friendly Valley Beach
• Chicago Museums

I asked the kids what they want to do for their bigger summer vacation this year:  either Mt. Rushmore or Chicago and they chose Chicago!

And our garden is finally done - 37 tomato plants, 20 pepper plants, etc. - since we have a new spot I'm really hoping and praying it does well!  I'll be sure to keep you posted.

The finished garden and new addition to our back yard - still a work in progress

What do you have for summer plans?

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

DIY Kombucha

THE BENEFITS OF KOMBUCHA

Kombucha is an effervescent fermentation of sweetened tea also known as a delicious ancient healthy probiotic elixer. As I've discovered, do-it-yourself kombucha is simple.   Here's the potential health benefits which includes:

• lowers blood pressure 
• reduces risk of cancer
• reduces anxiety
• balances pH levels
• detoxifies the liver
• rebuilds connective tissue
•  helps reduce symptoms of arthritis
•  reduces symptoms of asthma
• alleviates constipation
• relieves headaches and migraines
• improves eyesight
• heals eczema
• heals ulcers
• lowers glucose levels. 

Isn't that amazing?  Even though kombucha has been around since the beginning of time, scientific research has never backed these claims up.  But here's my personal experience:  I've been drinking kombucha for 2 straight years and I feel better in many ways.  Because of the probiotic qualities I rarely get sick, I have more energy, my anxiety levels are down while at the same time making me feel cleansed daily.   If I go just a day without kombucha, I'm off.

DO-IT-YOURSELF KOMBUCHA

As part of my new financial plan, I knew I needed to start making my own kombucha.  At $4.00 or over per bottle, kombucha can really make a dent in the pocketbook. 

To get started, I ordered a kombucha culture (the bacteria) from Kombucha America for $14, but if you are a kombucha crackhead like me and you'd like some - I have plenty to share.  Just leave me a comment and I'll find a way to get it to you.  With each batch of kombucha, your bacteria mother creates a bacteria baby, so I'm finding that I'm constantly producing babies and they are up for adoption. 

My Kombucha factory - up above my fridge

Here's my stand-by proven recipe (I've made 15 batches and counting):

KOMBUCHA

3 quarts of black tea (you can not use green tea)
1 cup of sugar (no substitutes, the bacteria needs to eat the sugar to ferment)
1 teaspoon of sugar
4 black tea bags (MUST be black tea, I use decaf)
1/2 cup kombucha from your previous batch
1 kombucha bacteria
1 gallon glass container

Store in a dark place where the temperature is around 75-79 degrees. 

Bring water to a boil.  Add sugar and salt until completely dissolved.  Turn off burner and add 4 black tea bags until completely cool.  If the kombucha is not cooled down before you poor it into your glass container it will kill the bacteria. 
Once cooled, add the tea to a 1 gallon glass jar.  Add 1/2 cup of kombucha and the bacteria.  Cover the top of the glass jar.  I add a dish cloth and wrap duct tape around the container, but some people use coffee filters with rubber bands.  You can not brew kombucha in anything other than glass.  I was nervous and had a lot of questions when I started - but I just went for it and it was PERFECT so I've been going to town.  If you decide to make your own, I will be your support person because I LOVE everything about this wonder drink.

THIS AND THAT

And guess what?  The garden is only 50% done.  Ugh.  Hopefully by the weekend.  We took out a 1/2 acre of forest to add the garden and more lawn.  Hopefully I'll have the finished garden to show you soon.

Garden In Progress

Thanks for reading!

Cooking - ha!  Picture by Meg Jung and make-up/hair by Jen Titus

Kristin

Asparagus - In Season

Asparagus is finally in season - last year we were eating asparagus in early May but this year because of the late Spring our fun has just begun!

Last year - I made lots of asparagus soup, and asparagus egg bakes (asparagus recipes) but this year I'm trying to keep everything simple.  Everybody LOVES grilled asparagus so every night I've been grilling it up (place on a grilling pan, drizzle with olive oil and salt and grill until tender).  Delicious!

Asparagus On the Grill

Today I also pickled asparagus for the first time.  In years past, I've tried freezing asparagus but it was never edible (mushy).  This is a delicious way to preserve your asparagus!  Our first jar of pickled asparagus is already gone.

Here's my recipe:

Ingredients:

4 pint canning jars
3 pounds of asparagus
2 1/2 cups vinegar
2 1/2 cups water
1 tablespoon pickling salt
1 tablespoon pickling spice

4 cloves of garlic
4 sprigs of dill
12 jalepeno's
dash cayenne pepper

Blanch asparagus (boiling water for 2 minutes then a cold water bath to stop the cooking). 

Add one clove of garlic, 1 sprig of dill, 3 jalepeno's and a dash of cayenne pepper to each jar.
Add asparagus to each jar tips to the top.

Boil vinegar, water pickling salt, and pickling spice.  Add this brine to the top of the jars.  If you do not have enough brine, add water to the top.

Use a hot water bath canner for 10 minutes.  Delicious!!!

Pickled Asparagus

I haven't been blogging much because my new garden project is just about killing me.  We started with a $500 budget with a goal of being done by Memorial Day.  Here it is June 1st, we've already spent $750 but we are closer to our goal.  Here's a picture of the work in progress:

Putting in the posts for the fence

We planted our seeds about a month ago and they are anxious to get in the ground!

Planting Seeds

But the good news is that I did get my new asparagus roots in the ground early.  In the meantime I stock up from Bashaw Valley in Shell Lake every time I drive past! 

What do you like to make with your asparagus?  And aren't the lilacs GLORIOUS this year!!  I am obsessed with the sight and smell of lilacs.

Spring has finally sprung!

Kristin

Cheap, Easy Healthy Lunch

Since my debt diet  began 6 weeks ago, I made the decision to pack healthier, reasonable lunches to prevent me from going out to lunch (which I used to do once per week).

READY TO GO SALADS

On Sunday nights I've been packing salad jars (yum) with the organic greens coming from Aldi's.  I've been packing them in canning jars with the salad dressing in the lids with the jar placed upside down.  At lunch time I just flip the jar over and I have a delicious lunch in a jar.  I've also been adding nutritional yeast to the jars, but I would add feta or blue cheese if I had it available.  I need some healthy fat in my salad to fill me up.    SOON, I hope be able to buy my produce from the farmer's market or harvest from my own garden.

Ready to go lunches and snacks
You'd be surprised at how many greens you can pack in

I've also been packaging up broccoli and cherry tomatoes for a snack.  I like to think I don't need a snack during the day but in reality around 3 or 4 p.m. every day I experience a drop in blood sugar and if I don't have a healthy snack I'm tempted to eat chocolate flavored twizzlers (I'm embarrassed to admit that I tried these at work this week - yuck).

AMY'S ORGANIC SOUPS

AND, if you are committed to healthy eating without a paying a ton of money - WALGREENS has a great sale on Amy's Organics Soup this week.  Back in my unconscious money days I would pay $4.19 per can but they are on sale (nation wide) this week for $1.99 per can.  I bought 18 cans so I should be set for awhile but be warned they will only let you buy 6 at a time.

If you have to pack a lunch, what do you bring?  I also like leftovers when we have them.

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

Selling Our Stuff

Since I started some serious financial planning with a clear vision of being "debt-free" as quickly as possible (including the house), I have been only focusing on how to bring in as much revenue as possible while keeping my family front and center.  With my goals of being debt-free I started to fixate on bringing in more revenue to pay down debt. 

We are very, very blessed in so many ways.  Gosh, we have enough to pay the bills and save money for various things, so I feel super guilty about wanting more but there's a clear method to my madness (it's called reaching my dream of being able to give back in a BIGGER better way).

MY BAD IDEAS:

Below you will find my ideas for raking in some easy money, although many of them are crazy.  Here it goes - brace yourself for my nutty ideas (I'm a little embarrassed here):

• Donate bone marrow ($50 for 90 minutes) - great cause but since I'm usually training for something this doesn't really work for me at this time
• Sell kombucha or jelly rolls - I finally found a few magic recipes, but I worry about the liability
• Sell my eggs and not the kind from chickens (I was only 1/2 serious).  Clinics pay top dollar for eggs but I was seriously not sure I could handle wondering if I had a child running around (when I mentioned this to Chad he really thought I was nuts)
• Sell my blog but I'm not great at self promotion and I'd need about 1000 more followers than I have right now - I'm just grateful to those of you who do read my blog.
• Pick up another job on weekends (not possible since I can't bear to miss a second of my kids lives)

***I'm embarrassed by this list but ??

FINALLY I SCORED!!!

MY WINNING IDEA:

• SELLING ON EBAY

Here's a list of what I've sold over the last month:

• Ipod 2GB Nano (one of the firsts)          $46
• Boy Scout Uniform                                  $ 7.00
• Nintendo DS (old)                                   $12
• Paintball Gun                                           $22
• Graham's shoes                                       $16.50
• IPad screen                                             $41
• Ipod Touch (broken)                               $36.00
• Gus' shorts                                              $5.00
• Gus' long sleeved shirt                             $6.00
• Gus' church outfit                                    $2.00
• Gus' hearing aid                                      $102
• Avon Pheasant Cologne Bottle               $5.00

Avon Cologne Bottle - remember these?  I just sold one for cheap.

This was literally crap I had laying around the house and I made $200 bucks with virtually no work at all.  I've been feeling very guilty since I like to donate all of my stuff, but I made a conscience decision to donate 50% and sell 50% until I'm living debt-free so I can really give back. 

Since ALL I seem to be able to talk about is my new vision of paying off the house and killing off my friend Sallie Mae, I've had more people ask me how I'm able to sell stuff on Ebay so I'll devote my next blog post to that topic.

Do you have any ideas on way to bring in more revenue?

May 2nd - I just might have cabin fever since we just received a ton of snow and I still went outside to drink my tea.

Happy May!

Kristin

April Projects

My Resolutions this year included going through the entire house one month at a time to organize, purge, and fix up if needed.  This month my goal was to jump start my financial planning and work on 14 year old Graham's room. 

Graham's Room - before

Graham's Room - after



While it's not perfect, it's a vast improvement from where we were earlier in the month.  We found this electric fireplace at a thrift shop, we found a large blue and brown print at another thrift shop and we ordered a new bed for him but it was back ordered until this week.  I shopped around and saved $300 by waiting a month to purchase the bed.

Guess what?  I'm also making money after I purge the rooms but I'll fill you in on that on Sunday's blog.

What are you organizing?  I'm actually enjoying my new system of organizing a room a month.  Next up:  Gus' room and office.

Thanks for reading,

Kristin

Great Aunt Helen's May Basket Jelly Roll

My Great Aunt Helen, who started the Norske Nook in Osseo, gave me a recipe many years ago for a May Basket Jelly Roll.   I was invited to a potluck affair this weekend, found the recipe and decided to whip it up since I had the ingredients and I did not want to go to the store.  Not only was it super simple, quick, cheap and delicious - but it was also very pretty.  This week I plan on making a few more so the kids can do a surprise "May Day" drop-off but I plan on trying poppyseed and lemon next.

Here's the recipe:

May Day Jelly Roll

4 eggs
1 1/3 cup sugar
7 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/3 cups flour
1 1/3 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoons salt
Enough powdered sugar to lightly cover a small dish towel

1.  Preheat the oven to 375.  In a large bowl bet the eggs until thick, then gradually beat in the sugar.

2.  Beat in the water and the vanilla all at once.  Then add the flour, baking powder, and salt at once and beat just until smooth.

3.  Prepare the jelly roll pan by lining the sides and bottom with wax paper.  Pour the batter into the prepared pan, and bake for 12 to 15 minutes.

4.  Cover the dish towel with powdered sugar and flow the jelly roll from the cookie sheet upside down onto the towel.  Peel off the wax paper, spread the cake with jelly (I used strawberry jam I made last year), and rolled it up.    Slice and serve.

May Basket Jelly Roll

May Basket Jelly Roll - Beautiful Once Sliced

And we are still skiing in Northern Wisconsin.  Greta got in another kilometer on the Birkie Trail yesterday.

Greta out for a ski 4/27 - through the mud puddles and all!

Oh, I am so happy with the recent shift in weather.  I'm finally blogging, reading, and putting together puzzles, outside in the screened in porch where I feel most at home.  And best of all I finally got out running and on my road bike.  Wooohooo!

Thanks for reading and Happy May Day (Wednesday)!

Kristin