Fourth of July Jam!

Fourth of July Jam!, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

Last weekend, I decided to visit a nearby farm that had fresh berries to pick. I came home with three baskets full of black raspberries, red raspberries and blueberries.

All week we have been enjoying the fruit. It is yummy on cereal, yogurt, or just to sample as snack food straight out of the fridge. I made a batch of muffins.

I used the remainder of my handpicked raspberries to whip up some Old Fashioned Raspberry Jam this morning. I thought it would be great hostess gifts for the parties we will be attending today! It was a cinch to make, here is the recipe:

Old Fashioned Raspberry Jam

4 cups (1 liter) granulated sugar
4 cups (1 liter) raspberries

1. Place sugar in an ovenproof shallow pan and warm in a 250°F (120°C) oven for 15 minutes. (Warm sugar dissolves better.)

2. Place berries in a large stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a full boil over high heat, mashing berries with a potato masher as they heat. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

3. Add warm sugar, return to a boil, and boil until mixture will form a gel (see tips, below), about 5 minutes.

4. Ladle into sterilized jars and process as directed for Shorter Time Processing Procedure .

Tip: To make a small boiling-water canner, tie several screw bands together with string or use a small round cake rack in the bottom of a large covered Dutch oven. Be sure the pan is high enough for 2 inches (5 cm) of water to cover the jars when they are sitting on the rack.

I found this on EPICURIOUS.COM here:

chives in my herb garden

chives in my herb garden, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

What will I do with them? How about some
Creamy Chive Salad Dressing
175 ml (3/4 cup) non-fat buttermilk
50 ml ( 1/4 cup) reduced-fat mayonnaise
75 ml (1/3 cup) finely chopped fresh chives
15 ml (1 tbsp) chopped fresh parsley
15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice
15 ml (1 tbsp) Dijon mustard
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk, mayonnaise, chives, parsley, lemon juice and mustard. Season with salt and pepper.
Full article found here.
How did I process this photo? I used a photoshop cross-processing action found here.

THOUGHTS ON CONSCIOUS EATING and STRAWBERRY MUFFINS

Well, at least one person read the post on my muffins, and busted me on the fact that I posted a link to the recipe I “adapted” but did not post my “adaptations” to the recipe. Unfortunately, for me this is a bit harder than it might be for someone who does a lot of cooking (you know someone who actually plans ahead, does shopping for ingredients, reads the recipe, follows it to the tee, and has yummy food all the time). I am the exact opposite. I don’t cook a lot. When I get the urge to make something from scratch, I usually don't have all of the necessary supplies. So, I have to get creative and compensate. It doesn’t always turn out well. This time I was lucky. But, I must backtrack a little…

I recently checked out a new book, Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes, from the local library. Since I was a little late in returning it (and had accumulated a $1.00 fine), I decided to renew the book and actually read it! Boy, am I glad I did. Salon.com reviewed the book as “an unusual blend of manifesto, self-help manual and cookbook designed to convince people that they can drastically improve their diets with relatively little discomfort.” The book contains healthy advice; and, provides lots of recipes for meals and snacks. 

In looking over the recipes, it was the snacks that got me to thinking. I am constantly pestering my kids about eating too much junk food. Mr. Bittman provides recipes for alternative snacks, that are so simple to make, but the kids might actually eat them. So it was this pondering about snack food and what we had in the cupboard, that led me to start thinking about all the good food we throw away unused, which brought me to open up the refrigerator and look inside. Yep, there was a huge container of fresh strawberries that were going to go bad if we didn’t eat them quickly.  

And, them came the AHA moment. I will make strawberry muffins! Those wonderful strawberries wouldn't go rotten after all!

Searching online I found the recipe at Smitten Kitchen. Since I had most of the ingredients, I thought that it would be pretty easy to wing this one. Here is what I did (my changes are in RED):

Whole Wheat  STRAWBERRY Muffins
ADAPTED FROM SMITTEN KITCHEN that was Adapted from King Arthur Flour

These dark, crazy moist muffins will keep well for several days, and the brown sugar on top, should you not skimp on it like I did, adds a crunchy touch, perfect for those of you who know that the lid is the best part.
Yield: They said 12, I got 15
1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour (USED ORGANIC WHOLE WHEAT FLOUR)
1 cup (4 1/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar
1/2 cup DARK BROWN SUGAR plus 1/4 cup for topping
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/3 CUP ORGANIC GREEK YOGURT and ½ CUP 1% MILK

ABOUT 6 BIG RIPE STRAWBERRIES CUT INTO LITTLE PIECES
1/2 cup ORGANIC GRANOLA

Preheat the oven to 450°F. LINE MUFFIN TIN WITH MUFFIN CUPS and set aside.
Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. [AT THIS POINT I WAS NOT FOLLOWING RECIPE WELL AND PUT IN THE WHOLE ½ CUP OF BROWN SUGAR – IT MADE MY MUFFINS EXTRA SWEET THUS THIS WAS A GOOD BLOOPER) Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. ADD THE YOGURT AND MILK – BEWARE I DID NOT MEASURE THE MILK BUT I THINK IT WAS ABOUT 1/3 CUP SO THAT THE MIX WAS WET ENOUGH TO STIR BUT STILL THICK.   Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the STRAWBERRIES and the ORGANIC GRANOLA HERE.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT.  MY FIRST EVER ADAPTED RECIPE (MY FIRST RECIPE EVER!) ON THIS BLOG.  THANKS to SANDI a::k::a KnitMy Rhino for nudging me along.  If you make these muffins and like them, you should go tell SANDI at CRAFTING WITH RHINOS.

BEWARE...you can't eat just ONE!

strawberry goodness

strawberry goodness, originally uploaded by poketypatch.

There is nothing like fresh strawberries! And, I have a whole bunch in the fridge that need to be eaten.  So, I decided to make some strawberry muffins.  I used as many organic ingredients as I had on hand - organic whole wheat, organic yogurt and granola, as well as some sugar, milk and fresh laid eggs!  I found a great recipe online at the smitten kitchen, which I adapted to what I had in my cupboard.  The results were fabulous!  My 12 yo son even stated that I had "outdone" myself.

Turkey Chili - Even Better the Next Day

With the cold, wet weather finally kicking in, I could eat soup at every meal. Since ground turkey was on sale in the market, I decided to cook up a batch of white turkey chili in my crockpot. We had it for dinner one night, and then lunch the next. Like any chili, the flavors intensified after being left overnight, and it was delicious the next day.

Turkey Chili Recipe (4 servings)

Brown 1 lb ground turkey on the stove.

Mix together in Crockpot:
Ground Turkey
1 can Great Northern Beans (I like Glory Foods seasoned beans)
1 cup of sliced onions
1/2 cup sliced green peppers
1 tsp of cumin
2tsps chili powder
1/2 tspground pepper
salt (to taste
2 cans of chicken broth

Cook on low for 4 - 6 hours.

Serve with a dollop of sour creme and fresh bread!
Enjoy!