Where we live.

Our New House 

 Homework Room

Entryway

Kitchen

Family Room

Master Bedroom

Baby's Room

Girl's Bedroom

Boy's Room

Mudroom

A place for papers

We keep this binder in the kitchen and it holds all the essential information (phone numbers and menus) that we need and the things that need to be saved temporarily (receipts and spelling lists).  

* This post is from 2011.  Now I do almost everything digitally.  See this post.  

Catherine's House

Before we moved I was able to take a few pictures of my friend Cat's house. It is amazing! She has always got a project. Notice the board and batten in the living room, refinished cabinets in the bathroom and refinished furniture throughout the house. . . and she built the beds!

Organized Home

July 2011
We moved. Now I am busy decorating and organizing our new home. This is the fun part!

Here is my plan for our home:

Oatmeal Scotchies

Oatmeal Scotchie Bars

(makes 20 bars)

1 cup butter or margarine

¾ cup sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 ½ cups quick oats

1 package (12 oz) butterscotch chips, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9-by-13 inch pan with cooking spray. In large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars and eggs until creamy. Blend flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oats. Stir into creamed mixture. Stir in 1 ½ cups butterscotch chips. Spread mixture into pan; sprinkle with remaining butterscotch chips. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool; cut into squares.

* to make cookies bake at 400 degrees for 6-7 minutes.

Authentic Margherita Pizza

Margherita Pizza Ingredients

Liz Edmunds, The Food Nanny

Makes one 16-inch pizza or two 12-inch pizzas

•                Basic Pizza Dough (see below)

•                2 pounds very ripe Roma or hot-house tomatoes

•                1/4 teaspoon salt

•                1/4 cup olive oil

•                8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced

•                2 tablespoons freshly grated

•                imported Parmigiano-Reggiano

•                Coarse salt and ground black pepper

•                14 small fresh basil leaves or 7 large, torn into pieces

Preparation

1.             Oil the pizza pan(s) and set aside.

2.             Prepare the pizza dough, roll it out, and place it in the prepared pan(s).

3.             Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

4.             Peel (optional, see Note) and dice the tomatoes, discarding the seeds, and combine with the salt and 1/4 cup oil in a bowl. Spread over the crust.

5.             Bake 15 to 20 minutes on the lowest oven rack. Remove pizza from oven and arrange the mozzarella and the Parmesan, if using. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle on additional olive oil. Return to oven till bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes.

6.             Top with basil and serve immediately.


Note: A simple way to peel tomatoes is by scalding them in boiling water. Here's how: Bring water to boil in a medium saucepan. On the bottom of each tomato, cut a shallow X with a paring knife; do not cut the flesh. With a large slotted spoon, drop each tomato in the boiling water. When the skin begins to curl back at the X, after 15 to 30 seconds, remove the tomatoes and place them in ice water to stop the cooking. Then simply peel off the skin.

Friday Night Pizza

We have Friday night pizza night at our house. Our kids love it, and believe it or not it is actually healthy. I make homemade whole wheat crust with fresh ground white wheat flour. We always have vegetables and use 2% reduced fat Mozzarella cheese. Our family would all agree that our pizza is better than a restaurant. . .and a lot healthier!


Almost all of my pizza ideas come from Liz Edmunds, "The Food Nanny." This is her pizza crust recipe that we love! I always double her recipe and freeze half so that I only make the dough every other week.

Basic Pizza Dough

(The Food Nanny)

One 16-inch medium-crust pizza or two 12-inch thin-crust pizzas or four 8-inch thin-crust pizzas

1 tablespoon active dry yeast


1 cup warm (105-115 degrees) water


2 tablespoons olive oil


1 tablespoon honey


1⁄4 teaspoon salt


3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour or half all-purpose and half whole wheat (See Note) *I use white wheat four

1. Mix the yeast and water in a small bowl, cover, and let stand until foamy, 5 to 10 minutes.

2. Mix the oil, honey, salt, and yeast mixture in a large mixing bowl. If using a food processor, add 1 cup of flour at a time, up to 3 cups, mixing well after each addition. You may have to stir in the third cup of flour by hand, depending on your machine. Or mix in all 3 cups of flour by hand with a wooden spoon.

If the dough seems too wet, mix in more flour, 1⁄4 cup at a time, until the dough is soft. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead in more flour, 1⁄4 cup at a time, until the dough is moderately stiff and somewhat firm to the touch, about 6 minutes.

3. Lightly grease pizza pan(s) or a cookie sheet(s) with oil. If you are making two or more thin-crust pizzas, divide the dough. With a rolling pin, roll out the dough on the floured surface. Gently stretch the dough to fill the pan(s).

4. Let the dough rise (it will not rise very much) while you make sauce and continue with the pizza recipe of your choice.

Note: I like this pizza crust best with half all-purpose flour and half whole wheat. I now keep my whole wheat flour in a canister right beside my all-purpose so I can dip into and add whole wheat to almost any bread dough or pancake or waffle batter.

TD&N Nutrient Analysis (based on 8 servings): Calories: 213; Total Fat: 4 g; Saturated Fat: 1 g; Polyunsaturated Fat: 1 g; Monounsaturated Fat: 3 g; Cholesterol: 0 mg; Sodium: 74 mg; Carbohydrates: 38 g; Fiber: 2 g; Protein: 5 g

Topping ideas: pepperoni, ham, pineapple, red peppers, green peppers, onions, fresh tomatoes, olives. . .

My personal favorite is "3 Cheese Pesto Pizza." I have the recipe in the week #1 recipes.

Good Morning Peach Crisp

Our recipe for Peach Crisp is a healthy recipe that we make for breakfast.  It is a nice change from cold cereal.  

Good Morning Peach Crisp 

2 cans sliced peaches (well drained)

3/4 cup granola (we like Quaker 100% natural Oats and Honey)

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp.  butter, melted

Place sliced peaches in 8x8 casserole dish. Sprinkle granola and cinnamon.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Bake at 400 degrees for about 12-15 minutes.  

(you can adjust the recipe if you like more granola or more peaches)

Smoothies

We love healthy smoothies at our house.  It is a great way for us to get our fruits (and veggies).
Here are a few of our favorite recipes:

Banana Winter Smoothie

1 banana, frozen
1 cup Dannon all natural vanilla lowfat yogurt
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. honey (optional)
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Cut the frozen banana into 3 or 4 chunks.  Place in blender with vanilla yogurt, cinnamon and honey.  Blend on high for 2 minutes or until smooth.  Pour into glass and top with dusting of ground nutmeg.

This week. . .

This week. . .

French Baguettes

This is a wonderful recipe from "The Food Nanny." It is very easy to make and perfect for any meal!

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 T. active dry yeast, (2 packets)
2 tsp sugar
3 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp salt
melted butter

In a small bowl combine 1/2 cup of the warm water, the yeast and 1 tsp of the sugar. Stir to combine and let mixture stand for about 5 minutes or until foamy.

In a large mixing bowl blend the flour, salt, the remaining teaspoon of sugar and the yeast mixture. Gradually add remaining water and mix until the dough forms a smooth ball that is not too sticky to handle (if it is too sticky add a little more flour) Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead briefly until the dough is smooth and elastic. (I mix in my Bosch on speed 1 for about 7 minutes).

Cut the dough in half and shape the halves into baguettes. Grease a baguette pan and place the loaves in the pan. Score the loaves down the middle, cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes or until doubled in size.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and place a shallow pan of water in the bottom of the oven to create steam. Bake the baguettes for 15 minutes. If desired brush the tops with melted butter halfway through the baking. For a softer crust, brush with butter when they have finished baking. This is the easiest bread recipe that I have made, I use it all the time!! (I also make it with part or all fresh ground white wheat flour)