Easy Peasy Crock Pot Bread!

I have two sick kids this week.  Nothing terrible, just some colds and sniffles, but as a result we had a "down day" yesterday.  A whole day at home gave me the opportunity to try out some new recipes that I've been really curious about.  So I spent the whole morning making homemade cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, and cannoli filling.  Sounds amazing, right?  Well, let me share a little lesson I learned...use full fat milk instead of skim or all your cheeses will turn out pretty tough instead of smooth and delicious.

This morning, in the light of a new day, and with all the failures of yesterday's attempts behind me, I decided to go to a recipe that I have made a number of times and know to be a winner...Crock Pot Whole Wheat Bread!  I found this recipe a couple months ago over at Food.com, and it's made regular appearances on my dinner table ever since.  Super simple to make, and better than any whole wheat bread I've ever attempted to make before - my whole family loves this one!  Slice it up while it's warm and slather it with some honey butter for a little whole wheat perfection!

Crock Pot Whole Wheat Bread

Ingredients:
1 Tbls. yeast
1/4 C. warm water
1 C. warm whey (if you've made crock pot yogurt, save the whey and use it here, if not, use skim milk or buttermilk)
1/2 C. rolled oats
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. olive oil
2 Tbls. honey
1 whole egg
1/4 C. wheat germ (in a pinch I've been known to use Cream of Wheat...)
2 3/4 C. whole wheat flour

Directions:
Grease a deep metal or glass bowl, or a 1 lb. coffee can, (I use the crock from a 1.5 quart crock pot!) and turn the crock pot onto high to pre-heat.  Dissolve the yeast in the warm water, and then combine all ingredients except the flour.  Once combined, add the four and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 min.  I actually just throw everything into my Kitchen Aid mixer and use the kneading hook to knead the dough for a few minutes until all the dough clings to the hook.  Turn the dough into your baking dish and cover loosely with foil.  Place a piece of crumpled foil or a small trivet (or canning lid) in the bottom of your crock pot with 1/2 C. water.  Place your can or bowl in the crock pot, cover and bake on high for three hours.

Holy Healthy Peanut Butter Balls Batman!!

Looking for a quick, easy, and healthy snack?  Look no further!  This treat is delicious, requires no baking, and is healthy to boot!  I found this recipe on one of my favorite blogs - Chocolate Covered Katie!  Seriously, if you haven't checked out her blog before, you need to get yourself over there right now!  Trust me, you'll thank me.

My kids love this as an afternoon snack.  In fact, my son Hudson would eat an entire plateful in a single sitting if I would let him!  Now admittedly, my neighbor kids all snicker when I ask if anyone "wants some peanut butter balls", but one taste of these treats and the snickering stops.  It's really hard to snicker while you're asking for seconds...

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls

Ingredients:
(These quantities are for a double batch, which is just about right for my family!)
1/2 C. peanut butter (I find that all-natural chunky PB works best)
1/2 C. plus a generous 1/3 C. raisins
1/4 C. roasted peanuts
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
salt to taste

Directions:
Here's the best part...throw it all into a food processor and combine until smooth.  You'll know when it's ready because the ingredients will all kind of pull together into a giant ball and just roll around the inside of the processor with the blade.  Then just scoop it into balls, cookies, bars, or just grab a spoon and dig in!!

The Brotherhood of Love...

I'm often amused at the situations God uses to teach me more about Himself, or to grow me in my walk.  It usually occurs in the mundane, day-to-day activities.  There I am, completing a task I've done a thousand times before, and BAM!  God hits me over the head with some profound realization about His goodness, His provision, or a million other little lessons He gently teaches me in the midst of busy days.

Parenting has proven to be one of God's major tools in my life.  I had absolutely no idea of the depth of God's sacrifice on my behalf until the first time I held my little girl in my arms.  I certainly had never noticed what an obnoxious backseat driver I could be (my poor hubby!) until I heard a little mimicking voice call out from the back of the car.  Listening to my children's prayers has taught me the power and beauty of simple faith.  And here I thought I was the one who was supposed to be teaching them!

This week one of my boys made a bad decision and lost his pocket knife as a result.  The offending child was pretty heart broken, as he clips that thing onto his belt loop every morning (you know, just to be prepared!).  A little later that morning his brother came to me and asked if we could talk in private.  We went into my room, and this child proceded to plead with me on behalf of his brother.  He begged me not to take the knife away, or at the least, to only take it away for a limited time.  His little heart was broken for his brother, and he was moved to plead his brother's cause with me.

And there it was.  Am I moved in that way to plead before my heavenly Father for my brothers and sisters?  Do I bear their burdens and carry them before our Father who wants good things for His children?  If I was moved by my child, how much more so must God be when His children come to Him on behalf of one another?

So, I'll pray.  And I'll pray that God would not allow me to grow weary in praying.  And I'll trust that He will do what is best for His children.  And I'll trust that He will never stop teaching me new truths in the everyday moments...

Can it be?? Crock Pot Greek Yogurt!!

So, this is a recipe that I have only recently started making, but it is so fantastically simple and foolproof, that I just have to share!!

Our family is relatively new to the whole Greek Yogurt scene, but since discovering how amazingly healthy it is, how remarkably versatile it is, and how protein packed this deliciously creamy treat is, we've spent our fair share of money purchasing buckets of this stuff!  So, I began researching what makes yogurt Greek, and if I could do this myself at home.  And do you know what I discovered??  I could indeed make it myself, and for about a fifth of the cost of the store bought stuff!!  I generally followed the basic directions for crock pot yogurt from this super great post: http://www.nourishingdays.com/2009/02/make-yogurt-in-your-crock-pot/  though I made a few changes based on some other research I did.

Crock Pot Greek Yogurt

Ingredients:

• 1/2 gallon of Milk (you can use any kind of milk you would like - lowfat, whole, organic, I just use non-fat)
• 2-3 Tbls. Plain Yogurt (I used Chobani Plain Non-fat Greek Yogurt, but you can use any plain yogurt as your starter as long as it has live cultures)

Directions:

  Allow me to begin by saying that due to the amount of time the yogurt has to sit to actually become yogurt, I usually start this process around 2-3 in the afternoon so my yogurt can culture overnight.  Just figure out what time you want your yogurt ready in the morning, and count back 14-18 hours for your start time.

  Using a 4-4.5 quart crock pot, plug in and turn crock pot on to the low setting.  Pour a half gallon or 8 cups of milk into the crock pot.  Put the lid on and leave it to heat for 2 hours and 45 minutes.  After it has heated, turn off and unplug the crock pot, then just leave it alone for 3 hours.  After this, pull 1-2 cups of the milk out of the crock pot, and whisk in your starter yogurt.  Pour back into the crock pot with the rest of the milk and whisk thoroughly.  Wrap the entire crock pot in a thick towel and place in a warm spot (like the oven) for 8-12 hours.  At this point you have good old plain yogurt.  

  To make plain yogurt into Greek yogurt, you want to line a colander with a clean t-shirt that has no print or screening on it.  You want about 2 layers of material, so a t-shirt works great for this!  Place the lined colander into a large bowl, making sure that the colander is resting at least an inch above the bottom of the bowl.  Now pour all of that yogurt into your colander, cover the top with a little plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for about an hour.  What you'll see is that the yogurt solids, or yogurt cheese, is left sitting in the t-shirt, while a clear-yellowish liquid called whey, is drained into the bowl.    You may need to stir the yogurt every once in a while if you see whey sitting on the top.  You want your yogurt to reduce by about half, but once the whey is drained you are left with some lovely, creamy Greek yogurt!  I throw my whey out, but I'm sure you could probably find some recipe somewhere that uses the whey.   I also read that dogs really love the stuff, so if you can't bear with letting it go, find some sweet little pup to give it to and make their day!  Let your yogurt sit in the fridge for a good couple of hours before you use it for the best flavor, and remember to save at least a couple tablespoons so you can make another batch soon!! :)