Thursday, November 25, 2010

Giving Thanks

Well, Thanksgiving is upon us, and Marc and I hadn't had much time to even consider the holiday until Tuesday.  It occurred to me that not only was Thanksgiving in 2 days, but that also means that Christmas is right around the corner...YIKES!  I will admit, I am not a huge holiday person, but I do get excited to give people gifts.  So yesterday I did some canning projects, some of which I cannot mention because of the high probability of them becoming Christmas gifts.  But one thing I made was some Cranberry Sauce with Blueberries for the upcoming feasts (8 pints to be exact).  This recipe was super easy, and although it isn't jellied like the canned stuff, I believe if you refrigerate it prior to using it will be thick enough to enjoy with the various holiday fixings.


Cranberry Sauce with Blueberries

6 cups whole cranberries, washed and picked over
1 cup blueberries
1 cup fresh orange juice
1 cup water
2 cups honey/maple syrup (whichever you have)

1) In a large sauce pan combine all ingredients.  Bring to a boil.
2) Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes.  You should hear the cranberries popping.
3) Sterilize jars and prepare boiling water bath.
4) Ladle cranberry sauce into sterile jars, cap and boil water bath for 15 minutes (pints).

Pretty easy!

In other news, our dog has taken a liking to yoga...or it could just be our yoga mat.  But this is something that I am thankful for this holiday...she always makes me smile!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Blonde Oatmeal Cookie Bombs


Today I decided to chip away at our bulk oats and made some awesome cookies for Marc to enjoy while I am away.  This recipe was super easy and the cookies delicious.  I really like how different they look compared to the run-of-the-mill chocolate chip oatmeal cookies too.  I will be making these again soon.  The name however, could use some work.  If you have any ideas, please share!

Blonde Oatmeal Cookie Bombs
Makes approximately 3 dozen.

1 cup extra virgin olive oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup honey
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sea salt
3 cups rolled oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease cookie sheets.
2) Combine first 5 ingredients and with an eggbeater, blend until creamy.
3) Add the flour, baking soda and salt and stir just until combined.
4) Add the remaining ingredients and blend.  Scoop onto cookie sheets 2 inches apart.  Cook approximately 10-12 minutes or until the edges just start to brown.
5) Let cool on cookie sheets 5 minutes, then remove and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Local Ingredients Used: honey, whole wheat flour, eggs

Eco-Conscious Backpacking Food


Well, I am off once again for another trip with the Outdoor Leadership Program.  This is their fall White Mountains trip and the first official "backpacking" trip of their year.  We will be carrying everything on our backs for the week in the beautiful national forest in NH.  I love this trip!

This year I have tried to make less of an impact on the earth by making most of my own food.  This means that I have been dehydrating things like a mad woman and hopefully they will be delicious and satisfying!  A couple great benefits of making my own chow is that I am throwing away much less plastic packaging and using way fewer Ziploc (my mortal enemy) and much of the produce I have dried has come right from our front yard!  That means the only carbon impact on the planet is the small amount of energy used for the dehydrator.  Whoo Hoo!  Now hopefully everything will be edible.  And on a side note, I impulsively bought a bulk bag of rolled oats at our Co-op.  Bulk bag being 50 lbs...might be the first time I regret buying bulk.  But our first attempt at granola was awesome and since we use oats a lot I am hoping it won't go to waste.  I will keep you posted.

Here's what I have made for the trip...

Breakfast: Oatmeal with homemade granola (putting that 50 lb bag to good use), earl grey tea.
Lunch: Instant soup (bulk), pepperoni, cheese and ciabatta bread.
Snacks: Dehydrated Cajun Sweet Potatoes, Beef Jerky from Hager's local cows, Salt and Vinegar Pumpkin Seeds, Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Power Bar and homemade Coconut Brownie Power Bar, honey roasted peanuts, vitamin chews.
Dinners: Tortellini with Village Veggies Tomato Sauce, Eggplant and ground beef (Hager's Cows of course).
Annies Whole Wheat Mac & Cheese with Spinach and Italian Sausage (Hager's own sausage).
Red Beans and Rice with Hager's Kielbasa and Chorizo sausage (kind of like a Jambalaya).
Asian Noodles with Teriyaki Tofu and Eggplant.
After Dinner Treats: Peirce Brothers Hot Cocoa (Greenfield MA company) with mint tea or decaf chai tea.  Dark chocolate squares.

It has been great experimenting with the dehydrator.  Who knew you could just make extra dinner and dehydrate the leftovers?  Pretty great!  I have saved a boat load of money by making my own and hopefully I can inspire some of the students to try the same in the future.

Peanut Butter Cup Alternative...Local Is Better!

Let me be clear: this recipe is not healthier for you, just better for the environment (and maybe a little big healthier).  Which in my book is a good excuse to have one of my favorite candies!  I came across this recipe a while back on another blog.  I thought it would have been more appropriate for Halloween, but lost track of time.  I have adapted the recipe to use local ingredients when possible (less petroleum used and more support for the community).  These are pretty delicious but rich, so make sure to use the mini muffin tins!
Sorry about the poor pictures.  I have lost my battery charger for our camera, thus the iPhone has been used.
Local Peanut Butter Cups
Makes approximately 24 mini-cups
*All links below are to the local company that provides this ingredient.

1 stick butter (1/2 cup) softened
3/4 cup all natural chunky peanut butter (obviously no one grows peanuts around Shelburne...)
3/4 cup whole wheat graham crackers (approximately 10 squares)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup dark chocolate chips (these are SUPER expensive, but worth the splurge for a treat, plus read about the benefits of cacao here)
1/4 cup milk

1) Line a mini-muffin tin with papers
2) In a food processor crush crackers (if you are super crafty you can try to make your own grahams with a recipe I found here.  I didn't try this yet, but the addition of local whole wheat flour would be amazing!).  Add butter, maple syrup and PB.  Process until smooth.
3) Using a cookie batter spooner (not sure what they are really called) scoop batter into muffin tins.
4) In a small sauce pan combine chocolate chips and milk.  Stir over medium low heat until completely melted.  It's important to keep stirring so it doesn't burn!
5) Spoon chocolate over peanut butter batter and spread to cover.  Place muffin tins in the freezer for 2-4 hours until set.
6) Remove from freezer 1/2 hour before eating.  Enjoy!  Be sure to keep the refridgerated when not being eaten because they become soft and gooey otherwise...not necessarily the worst thing, just not very clean.