Salt & Light... and BBQ sauce!

It's funny how little things can turn into great teaching moments. Right now I'm trying to use up things I have in my pantry and freezer instead of going to the store.  This leads to some creative cooking.  This morning I noticed we had some kalua pork and some leftover hamburger buns hanging out in our freezer. I also happen to have a head of cabbage that needs to be used up STAT.  So... pulled pork sandwiches for dinner it is!

My older girls (ages 3 & 4) are just starting to be old enough to cook with me.  I decided to have them help me make some BBQ sauce to go on the pulled pork. I have to say, the sauce came out REALLY good! We took our time tasting the ingredients before mixing them together, then we tried it before and after we cooked it so the girls could taste the difference.  The girls had a blast. AND an added benefit to having them help me in the kitchen is that they are more likely to try something new when they have helped make it. Now, they are both excited to try the pulled pork sandwiches! Woohoo! Score one for mama!

And here comes the teaching moment... while the sauce was cooling, the girls begin to play together with their tea set.  My oldest came to me and said "Here mama. I made you some hot chocolate! I stirred in the chocolate chips after it was hot to make it really chocolatey.  And I put a pinch of salt too." I asked her why she put the salt in and she replied, "I put in just a pinch. It will make it taste gooder." I smiled, gave her a hug and said, "Did you know that in the Bible, Jesus tells us to be salt and light?" She said "That's silly mama.  How can a person be salt and light?" So we looked up and read together the verse in Matthew 5:13-16

“You are the salt of the earth. If salt loses its taste, how can it be made to taste like salt again? It is no good. It is thrown away and people walk on it. You are the light of the world. You cannot hide a city that is on a mountain. Men do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. They put it on a table so it gives light to all in the house. Let your light shine in front of men. Then they will see the good things you do and will honor your Father Who is in heaven." 

By this point my 3 year old had come over to listen. I explained that just how we sometimes add salt to our food to make it taste better, Jesus asks us to be flavorful around people which means to be our best selves and be the type of people that other people want to spend time with. And then we talked about how when it gets dark in their room a little night light helps it not be so scary, and that Jesus wants us to be like the night light and help people who are lost or scared.  I asked them what might be some good ways to be both salt and light to people we know and meet.  They came up with this great list:  (1) showing people you care about them by having good manners (can you tell we've been working on that one?!"), (2) giving hugs when someone feels sad, and (3) being a friend and sharing your things. Well praise the Lord, they do listen! It's hard to believe they are only 3 & 4 years old sometimes!

And in case you are interested, here is the recipe for the BBQ sauce we made. My oldest says "It's gooder than good Mama!" We may even make up a huge batch and give it as Christmas gifts this year.  It really turned out tasty!

Hughes Girl's Sweet & Tangy BBQ Sauce

Ingredients:
1 cup catchup

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 teaspoon dehydrated garlic (garlic powder or fresh garlic could work too)

1 teaspoon each: powdered ginger, ground cinnamon, kosher salt

Directions:
Whisk all the ingredients in a small sauce pan. Heat over medium low heat, stirring occasionally. Cook for 20 - 30 minutes until the sauce has reduced.  We then used an immersion blender to break down the tomato chunks, and cooked for another 10 minutes. Let cool and enjoy!

Quote of the day: Talented

Sitting here with my girls, just after having our breakfast and my middle child is getting into the dress up box. She comes over to me with a silly little ruffled hat I knitted and announces "I can spin all kinds of hats because I'm talented. You can do that when you're 3 mama!" Her matter-of-fact tone just slays me! I love her! And I love these moments. Helps make the harder moments bearable and worth it.

Happy baby. Happy mama.

This is a picture of me and my littlest munchkin. She was enjoying an organic vanilla teething cookie. I was enjoying the rare moments of cuddle time. She's a girl on the move these days! Walking, running, climbing & wanting to do it all herself. She's never been a super cuddly baby, at least not with me. She's too busy checking out what her sisters are doing, getting into spaces and things she's not supposed to, learning new things and eating, eating, eating! But lately she's been a bit more cuddly, a bit more eager for a hug or to be held. Maybe because she is recently weaned, or maybe it is the whole separation anxiety stage that little ones start to go through at this age. Whatever the reason, it doesn't really matter. I'll take it! She is my last baby. I'll hold her anytime she wants to be held, and I will ignore those who whisper that I am spoiling her. I'll hold her even when she seems too heavy to carry. I'll hold her even when it's not convenient and I'm in the middle of some other task.

All too soon she will truly be too big to carry. She'll be "too old" for wanting cuddle time with mama. She will be running off with friends to giggle about boys instead of crawling up into my lap to giggle about nothing. So for today I am relishing all the cuddles and the giggles and the fact that she still fits in my lap. Today she's a happy baby and I am her happy mama.

Homemade Bread with Almost NO Kneeding!

We eat a lot of bread.  A LOT OF BREAD. My youngest now eats just about everything and anything we give her. And all three girls LOVE pb&j sandwiches, "gorilla" cheese sandwiches, and toast with eggs. And did I mention my hubby and I love hunks of bread smothered in butter, or avocado, or brie - just for a snack? Well as you can imagine, we go through bread FAST!

I like to make my own bread for a verity of reasons. One, I know precisely what is in it. Two, it is WAY cheaper to make your own (I save even more by buying my flour and yeast in bulk from Costco).  And three, it just tastes better! A few years back my friend Mary gave me a book that radically changed how I make bread -  Artisan Bread In 5 Minutes A Day. It is a fabulous book and I highly recommend it if you are interested in making all kinds of bread with little effort. Basically this method has you make the dough one day, stick it in the fridge, and then bake the next day. I took the basic dough recipe from the book and tweaked it a little for our taste. The recipe below makes about 3 loaves of bread and I've been known to double it. Did I mention we eat a lot of bread?  The dough is very versatile. Sometimes I bake it up in a loaf pan in the oven, and other times I will cook it up in the crock pot for a rustic round loaf (definitely my favorite method).  I also have commercial grade baguette pans that I use sometimes - this is my hubby's favorite. All methods use the same dough. And another great aspect of this method is that the the dough can stay in the fridge for up to a week! Try it, and I think you will agree that this method makes having homemade bread totally doable! So, without further ado, here is the recipe I use as well as the directions depending on the desired outcome. As always, let me know what you think!

INGREDIENTS
3 cups warm water + 2 T. buttermilk powder (or just the water)
1 T. oil (olive or canola)
1 T. active yeast
1 T. salt
6 cups unbleached all purpose flour (no need to sift, just scoop and sweep the excess)

MAKING THE DOUGH
1) Add all the ingredients, in order, to a large container with a lid. I use a 10 quart snapwear container which is large enough for a double batch. Be sure whatever container you use, that you have room for it in your fridge.
2) Mix all the ingredients until all the flour has been incorporated. I use a large, stiff, rubber spatula so I can get into all the corners.  You can also use your hands if you don't mind the sticky dough.  It will be a big, wet sticky blob.
3) Place the lid on top, but do not seal it, and leave it in a draft free place to rise.  I leave mine on my counter and place a tea towel over the top.
4) Let rise for a minimum of 2 hours until it has at least doubled in volume (see pics below). You can let it sit out for up to five hours.
5) Your dough is now ready to use if you just can't wait.  HOWEVER, it is much easier to use is you wait a day. Simply put the lid on, pop it in the fridge, and you are good to go.  You can use it anytime, up to a week.

RUSTIC ROUND - BAKING THE BREAD (Crock pot version)
Equipment needed: Parchment paper & a crock pot.
1) Take a sheet of parchment and line the bottom & up the sides of your crock pot.  No need to be super careful, just get it in there and smooth it into the corners and up the side, making it as flat as possible.
2) Grab your dough out of the fridge. Sprinkle the top of the dough lightly with flour, and with floured hands, grab off a grapefruit sized hunk of dough - approximately 1 lb.
3) Pull the sides towards the bottom, tucking under and dusting with flour as needed, until you have a smooth round ball.  Don't worry too much about making it perfect. This should be fast and not take too much time (see pics below).
4) Plop the dough into the crockpot, cover and turn on high.  Bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It will be done when the bread is a light golden brown (see pics below).
5) Remove and cool for at least 45 minutes to an hour before cutting into it. Trust me, its best to wait. I will understand if you can't though!

NOTE: Once it has cooled completely you can pop it into a ziplock bag and put it in the freezer to have at another time. When it is time to eat it, simply place the frozen bread in a 350* oven and bake for 20 minutes or until warmed through. See picture on the right for what the loaf looks like after browning further in the oven. If you have a large freezer, this is a nice option to have home made bread ready to go for bringing with a meal to a sick friend, or when you suddenly have company coming and need a little something to stretch your meal.


SANDWICH & BAGUETTE- BAKING THE BREAD (makes 1 loaf)
Additional items needed: Loaf pan OR baguette pan, oil, plastic wrap
1) Oil the bottom and sides of your loaf or baguette pan.
2) Follow steps 2 & 3 above shaping in to an oblong shape for a loaf pan & long snakes shapes for the baguette pan.
4) Plop the dough into the prepared pan. Brush plastic wrap with oil and with the oil side down, place it over the dough. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft free place for 45 minutes to an hour. I place mine in the oven.  Just don't forget to take it out when you go to preheat the oven!
5) Preheat oven to 350* and bake the bread for 45 - 55 minutes for a loaf or 30 - 40 minutes for baguettes. It will be done when the bread is golden brown, and hollow sounding when you knock on it.
6) Remove and cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove and cool for an additional 45 minutes on a cooling rack before cutting into it.

NOTE:  If your kids are like mine, they prefer their crust soft. I let the loaf cool completely and then bag it and slice into it the next day.

Chocolate Peanut Banana Goodness!

I'm in love with my vitamix blender. I'm using it almost everyday. Smoothies are the bulk of what I make in it, but I cannot wait to make soups in it this fall!

This morning I was in the mood for something sweet & creamy, but I wanted to keep it healthy. I had some chocolate coconut water that my hubby accidentally bought, so I started with that. Next I threw in some peanuts, some yogurt, some chia seeds, and a banana. I let it blend until everything was smooth. Oh. My. Goodness! So tasty! And good for you too. Yay!!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup chocolate coconut water

1 T. chia seeds

1 T. chopped peanuts (or peanut butter)

1 heaping T. honey Greek yogurt

1 banana

DIRECTIONS

Put everything in your blender. Process until smooth & enjoy. Makes one meal replacement smoothie.

Easy Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

Laying in bed this morning, trying to wake up pre-coffee, I began to mentally walk through my pantry contents to figure out what to serve for breakfast. My girls are like their mama and LOVE carbs for breakfast. I had cereal with milk almost EVERYDAY of my childhood. And I like cereal, but I cannot hack it every day. And we had cereal yesterday.

A few months ago I found this recipe for "pancake squares"  done in a 9 x 13 baking dish. The major benefit is that I'm not standing in the kitchen flipping pancakes while everyone else devours them. Plus, while the pancakes are in the oven doing their thing, I can focus on making my much loved coffee and reading a story to my kiddos! The square pancakes are made from scratch, and I figured if homemade from scratch pancakes can be baked up in the oven, why not boxed pancake mix? 

So this recipe is the tasty results of my laziness combined with my daily desire for something different. Pancakes baked up in the oven are a little more cake like and less pancake like. I took advantage of that texture and baked it up in an 8 x 8 pan instead of a 9 x 13. You could easily double the recipe, and it might be fun to try different fruit and spices. All 3 of my little girls seemed to really like this light, not too sweet breakfast cake.

Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Cake

INGREDIENTS:

1 apple

1 1/2 cups pancake mix

1 cup milk

1 egg

1 T. oil 

1 t. vanilla extract

2 t. cinnamon

Non-stick cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

1) Preheat oven to 350*. Spay sides & bottom of an 8 x 8 inch baking pan.

2) Peal and core the apple. Slice it into 8 wedges. Then cut each wedge into thin bite size slices. It is important to keep these thin so that the apples cook all the way and are nice & soft. 

3) Toss the apples with 1 t. of cinnamon in a bowl until all the apes are coated with some cinnamon. Spread the apples out on the bottom the prepared baking dish.

4) In a mixing bowl, combine the pancake mix, milk, egg, oil, vanilla & remaining cinnamon to form a smooth batter. 

5) Pour the batter gently over the apples, and bake for 20 minutes. Slice into squares and serve with butter & syrup.