Cottage Cheese

I love making things from scratch. If I am already making the effort to make perogies, I may as well make the cottage cheese as well! My friend Annie Sawatzky taught me how to make it. (She really needs her own recipe blog! She is so talented!) This recipe couldn't be easier!

1- 4 liter jug 3.25%milk 
1 liter buttermilk

Heat on high until it starts to simmer and froth starts to form on top. Turn heat as low as it will go and stir for 20 minutes.

Make sure it doesn't cook; only heat until it separates.

Drain through a strainer lined with a clean kitchen towel or cheesecloth. Let drain for several minutes and squeeze out remaining liquid.

Notes:

I tried a different recipe yesterday that used skim milk plus 3/4 cup vinegar. It worked very well. I think I goofed though because it came out looking like melted cheese and formed a large ball. I ran it through the food processor until it was crumbly and tasted excellent in the perogies.

Black Bean Chocolate Cookies

With protein in mind, I found this cookie recipe on Pinterest. The original poster is ElizasEdibles.com but I've made several changes. Feel free to check out her recipe for comparison sake.

1 can of black beans

2 Tbsp milk

3 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil

3 Tbsp oats (next time try 1/2 cup!)

2 Tbsp cocoa

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Mix first three ingredients in food processor until smooth. Add remaining ingredients. Mix until combined.

Drop onto baking sheet by teaspoonful. 

Bake for 10 minutes (next time try baking a little longer). Made 2 dozen small cookies.

Notes:

More oats would hide the bean texture a bit more. The batter is very soft, so it would be very easy to add quite a bit more oats without getting too dry.

Ten minutes left me with not-quite-done cookies, but we'll see how they taste when they're completely cooled.

These cookies need to be stored in the fridge.

Roasted Garlic and Parmesan Hummus

After looking on Pinterest to find a hummus recipe, and finding the "roasted garlic" version was actually garlic powder, I had to make my own recipe. I adapted this recipe from classycooking.com.

1 large head of garlic, roasted

2 cloves of fresh garlic

1 x 15oz can of chickpeas

3 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

3 Tbsp tahini

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

2 Tbsp oil

Coconut Banana Muffins

Another idea from The Green Forks (as were the Spinach Muffins). But I've changed it so much from the original that I'm making my own post. 

1 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup white flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup melted coconut oil

1/2 cup milk, warmed up

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup mashed banana

Combine dry ingredients.

Combine wet ingredients, keeping ingredients warm to keep oil as a liquid. 

Pour wet into dry, stir only enough to combine (about 18 strokes).

Bake at 400 degrees for 18 minutes. 

Makes 12 muffins.

Notes:

I used an immersion blender to mix liquid ingredients because we don't like banana chunks!

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.

__________ Like It's 1999

May 22, 1999. 

I thought I knew what it meant to commit to "for better or worse". I certainly didn't take it lightly. I suppose I could only prepare myself for a future that may include what I had already experienced in my past, not being familiar with other challenges that could happen. 

It has not been a difficult day, but I have been keenly aware of the different versions of this day over the years.

How many years was this a celebratory day? Anniversary trips, adventures, laughing and loving. How many years was it lonely or difficult? 

Today wasn't any of those. A kind text message waiting was for me when I woke up, wishing me a happy anniversary. 

I wasn't watching the clock like I would previous years, knowing which wedding activities we did each hour. I saw the time at 11:50 and realized we were almost married by then. 

I spent the day preparing for the girls to go away for the weekend, without me, which is usual. It's always difficult but it's how we do things and it always feels gross.

When I met Johan to drop off the girls, we grabbed quick takeout from Subway, which reminded me of our silly wedding day supper. The wedding was over, reception was done, photos were complete. We were hungry. So our entire bridal party went to a Chinese restaurant and had dinner. But today, Johan and the kids ate in the car on the way to church camp and I ate in my van on the way home.

Sixteen years in, we've got a 14 year old (fully grown man!), a 10 year old young lady, and our tiny little 7 year old that's still so much my baby. Where did the time go! 

It strikes me too that this isn't an especially sad day. There have been other sad years. Plenty of sad days within the years. It's disappointing, no doubt about it, that this is where things are at. Broken. 

I suppose it simply is a peaceful acceptance that this is how it is right now. Only God knows what May 22nd will look like in upcoming years. 

Citrus Buns

You know I can't leave a recipe alone! I liked the orange roll recipe but I wanted to ramp up the amount of citrus in it. Here's what I came up with:

1 cup warm water

3/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp yeast

In blender:

1 peeled orange (zest saved for filling)

1 3/4 cups cooked potatoes

1 1/4 cups potato water

6 eggs

Dump blender mix into mixing bowl and add:

1/2 cup oil

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sour cream

1 tsp salt

12+ cups flour

Mix till dough is no longer sticky. Let rise for one hour in a warm, damp place.

Roll out 1/4 of the dough at a time, top with melted butter and filling mixture.

Filling:

3 cups sweetened coconut

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 Tbsp orange zest

Zest of 1/2 lemon (the rest goes into the glaze)

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Let rise for one more hour. Bake at 350 for 18 minutes. Top with glaze after baking.

Glaze:

2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup butter

1 Tbsp orange zest

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

If you end up with more buns than glaze, make cream cheese frosting:

1 block cream cheese

1/2 cup butter, softened

Zest of one orange

3 cups icing sugar

1/4 cup sour cream

I'm tired just writing it out!

Orange Rolls

A few years ago, I'm not sure exactly how it came about, but I received this recipe in a sort of full-circle moment. I understand this was my Mom's recipe, she had shared it with her friend from church, the friend became our neighbour after my Mom was hospitalized, and after I was grown and married, I was given the recipe. It was 20+ years after my Mom had given it to her friend. Thanks Henrietta Giesbrecht for this recipe. It is very special to me!

This is a huge recipe! I'll write it as it came to me, and I'll make a new post with all of the changes I made because it became an entirely new recipe.

4 cups water

1 cup margarine

1 cup sour cream

6 eggs

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups flour (plus 12-14 more cups)

2 Tbsp yeast

Let rise 1 hour.

Roll out, brush with butter, spread on mixture:

1 3/4 cup coconut

1 3/4 cup sugar

1 3/4 Tbsp orange rind

Roll up like cinnamon rolls and cut.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Glaze:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup margarine

1 Tbsp orange rind

Boil for a few minutes.

Put the glaze on after baking.

Notes:

Makes about 5-6 dozen buns.

Yogurt can be used in place of sour cream.

Spinach Muffins

I saw this on Pinterest, posted by The Green Forks, but I've made a couple of key changes for myself. The original recipe calls for fresh spinach but I use frozen. 

1/2 package of frozen spinach, thawed

1/2 cup banana

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup oil

1/4 to 1/2 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin.

Thaw frozen spinach but do not drain!

Whisk together the dry ingredients, set aside.

In blender, place oil, spinach, banana. Blend until completely smooth. Add vanilla.

Pour puréed mixture into dry ingredients, add 1/4 cup water, folding together until entirely combined. As you start to mix this, you'll be able to tell if it needs a bit more water.

Fill muffin cups 3/4 full, bake for 18-20 minutes.

Notes:

Very tasty with apple or applesauce instead of banana.

Also yummy with chocolate chips!

Spreadable Butter

1 lb butter, room temperature

1 cup oil

1/2 cup hot water

3/4 tsp salt

I dropped these four items in the mixer, whipped till it was smooth. I ended up with 1 1/2 500 mL containers full.

Banana Cake

Baking muffins is not a skill I possess. Well, I can bake them, just not so they turn out! This recipe is just right for me; it can be mixed a lot and it still turns out soft and moist.

This is from one of my top three recipe books: the Valley Mennonite Academy recipe book that I got as a wedding shower gift in 1999 from my Aunt Anne and cousins Joanne and Laura. The recipe contributer is my Aunt Kathy.

1 cup banana pulp

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup milk

Icing:

1/4 cup margarine

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp vanilla

3 cups icing sugar

1/3 cup banana pulp

Yellow food colouring, optional

Beat first five ingredients together; add dry ingredients. Mix well. Add milk. 

Bake in 9x13 pan or as cupcakes. 

Icing: beat well.

Notes:

I baked these at 350 for 20 minutes.

I used coconut oil instead of shortening.

I added 1/4 cup flax (it was 1/4 cup before I ground it which became nearly 1/2 cup) and reduced flour... BUT I just turned the pan in the oven and they look flat, so I'm realizing I should not have decreased flour. Silly mistake! 

January 13, 2015: swapped apples for banana and added 1 tsp cinnamon. I reduced sugar by 1/4 cup. Good!